Across Unknown South America Part 26

May 29th. Remained at Sangrador in search of missing horse. Temperature: min. 54; max. 83 Fahr. Perfectly clear sky.

May 30th. Obliged to remain one more day at Sangrador. Horse missing still. All men have gone searching the forest for it. Temperature: min.

56 Fahr; max. 75 Fahr. Elevation 2,050 ft.

It was indeed a great treat to be able to converse with so intelligent a gentleman as Father Malan after the company I had been in since leaving Goyaz.

Father Malan was a man with a heart of gold and great courage. Under him the Salesians will some day continue their good work and spread happiness and culture among the few Indians who now remain in Matto Grosso. What had already been done by the Salesians was amazing. No doubt, with their great enterprise, they would certainly continue their good work of civilization and science combined.

Although the Salesians tried hard to induce men to accompany my expedition, their efforts were rewarded with no success; so that I had to be content with the handful of men I had with me. I foresaw disaster from that moment, for thirty was the least number of men I needed to carry out my work properly--and thirty good men at that. Instead, I only had six men, two of them extraordinarily plucky but quite uncontrollable; the others absolutely worthless.

Had I been a wise man I should have turned back. But I am not a wise man, and I never turn back; so that there only remained one thing to do--go on as best I could, come what might.

CHAPTER XX

Wild Animals--An Immense Chasm--Interesting Cloud Effects

ON May 31st (thermometer min. 56, max. 74 Fahr.) I decided to abandon the missing horse and proceed on my journey. I suspected, with reason, that the animal had been stolen. It was no use wasting any more time searching for it. We thus bade good-bye for good to the Salesians, and left the great basin of the Sangrador River (elev. 2,050 ft.).

We travelled over spa.r.s.ely wooded country to 2,350 ft. Tobacco-coloured soil was still under our feet, yellow spattered lava, then again reddish soil, wonderfully rich and fertile, if only it could be cultivated. The country was here peculiar for its many undulations until we arrived on the rim of a large basin, extending from north-west to south-east, of great campos, with stunted vegetation at first, but later with a truly luxuriant growth of vigorous-looking _Jtauba preta_ (_Oreodaphne Hookeriana_ Meissn.), with thick deep green foliage.

We crossed two streamlets flowing north. On going uphill we travelled on ma.s.ses of volcanic pellets (elev. 2,500 ft.). To the south we could see a number of hills, the sides of which showed the great effects of erosion by wind and water. Nearly all those hill ranges extended from east to west. A long depression could be observed cutting them from north to south.

That was a fine day for cloud effects, especially along the horizon, where they displayed horizontal lines, while they had great ball-like tops. Higher up, to the north-west, was feathery mist turning the sky to a delicate pale blue. A heavy, immense stratum of cloud in four perfectly parallel terraces extended on the arc from west to north.

We descended into a _cuvette_ with the usual cl.u.s.ter of vegetation in the centre and campos around. To the south-west of that _cuvette_ was an elongated but well-rounded mountain, extending from east to west, and beyond, to the S.S.W., in the far distance, an almost identical replica of it. We travelled on deep volcanic sand on the west slope of the _cuvette_ and in deep ashes at the bottom until we arrived at the Sangradorzinho River, flowing north.

June 1st (thermometer min. 55 Fahr.; max. 74; elev. 2,150 ft.). Heavy mist and rain-clouds, heavy and sultry atmosphere. Sky almost entirely covered by clouds.

Owing to trouble among my followers and waiting for one of my men, who had remained behind in a last effort to find the missing horse, we were unable to leave camp until nearly noon. We rose to an elevation of 2,400 ft., leaving behind the great _cuvette_, and marching over parallel domes extending from north to south. Between those domes in the depressions were sandy _cuvettes_ of verdant gra.s.s and the usual central _bosquets_.

Cinders and sand were still plentiful, with stunted, thin trees growing upon them. Several times that day we reached an elevation of 2,550 ft.

After pa.s.sing a streamlet flowing north, we kept at that elevation for a considerable distance, after which, having descended 100 ft. (2,450 ft.), we found ourselves in a most enchanting, oval-shaped _cuvette_ of cinders well covered with fresh verdure, and in its centre from north to south a row of _burity_ palms.

That was indeed a day of great surprises in the way of scenery. No sooner had we left that beautiful _cuvette_ than we came to a magnificent flat open valley extending from E.S.E. to W.N.W. In its northern part, where a pool of stagnant water was to be found, were innumerable _burity_ palms.

It was evident that during the rainy season that plain (elev. 2,350 ft.) must be entirely under water. In many places it was swampy, even at the time of my visit. It was most refreshing to the eyes to see such expanses of lovely green healthy gra.s.s. The mules and horses enjoyed it more than we did, neighing to their hearts' content when we emerged into the great verdant meadow. They tore away with their teeth at the delicious gra.s.s as they cantered along gaily.

Some of the enjoyment of the delightful scenery was taken away from me--not only that day, but every day during almost an entire year--owing to the stupid obstinacy of my men. They carried their magazine rifles fully loaded--eight cartridges in each--and while marching insisted on keeping the rifles c.o.c.ked; they would not hear of keeping them at safety--so that any extra jerk or a twig of a tree catching the trigger might cause the weapons to go off at any moment. This would have mattered little if they had slung their rifles in the usual way, pointing skyward or else towards the earth. But no-one could never induce a Brazilian to do things in a sensible way. No, indeed; they must carry their rifles horizontally upon the shoulder, the muzzles of the nearest weapons always pointing at me. It was no use remonstrating, as they might perhaps have misunderstood it as fear. So all I could do was to trust in Providence. I could not have done better, for Providence indeed watched over me and protected me on that expedition in a most merciful way--for which I am truly grateful. On several occasions--as was to be expected from the careless way in which the weapons were carried--now one rifle then another went off unexpectedly, and I came mighty near being shot. On other occasions the mules had narrow escapes. Once a bullet went right through the hat of one of my men, just missing his head.

In any case, I beg the reader to realize how pleasant it was to have the muzzle of a loaded rifle, ready to be fired, pointing at you in front for an average of eight to twelve hours a day for several months. I generally rode last in the caravan in order to prevent straggling, and also to see that any baggage which fell off the pack-saddles was recovered. This was unpleasant in more ways than one. First the clouds of dust raised by the animals as we marched over the sand and cinders, which filled my eyes, mouth and nose; then the constant attention to watch for lost baggage--besides the work of writing my notes as we rode along. The sound of the dangling bells of the mules was monotonous to a degree, and so was the aspect of the animals' tails swinging and slashing from one side to the other in order to drive away tormenting flies. Occasionally, when stung fiercely by a horse-fly, one or two animals would dash away wildly, tearing off in their career low branches of trees and even altogether knocking down good-sized trees, four or five inches in diameter.

This would seem impossible in any other country, but not in Brazil, where the majority of the trees were nearly entirely eaten up inside by ants.

The roots, owing to the substratum of lava spread horizontally near the surface, offered little resistance to side pressure upon the tree itself, so that frequently even the weight of a man leaning against a tree was sufficient to knock it down. I never shall forget how impressed I was the first time I saw my men cut the way through the forest, slashing down right and left good-sized trees with one swing each of their _falcon_--heavy-bladed knives some 2 ft. long.

What terrific strength! I thought, until I happened to lean against a tree, and down went the tree and myself too. Upon examination I found that merely the bark remained, with a few filaments inside--the rest of the interior having been entirely devoured by ants. Yet some of the top branches seemed still alive, and had leaves. Again, even when quite sound, those trees were extremely anaemic and soft, quite watery inside, and could be cut almost as easily as celery.

This does not mean that all the trees of Brazil were worthless. No, indeed. These remarks apply merely to that particular portion of Brazil in which I was then travelling--where, barring the _burity_ palms in the moist lands and marshes, the trees were mostly rickety and dwarfed, with mouldy barks, malformed limbs, and scanty leaves. That is why, when we came to the healthy ma.s.s of _burity_ palms and the lovely young gra.s.s, one felt just the same as when, after having been through a hospital, one emerges into the fresh air among healthy people.

That night we encamped on the heavenly meadow. We felt we had reached Paradise. For the first time great flocks of parrots and gorgeously-coloured macaws played about and enlivened the air with their shrill whistles and shrieks, and flew over the palms, gently swung to and fro by the wind. Then innumerable _colibris_--the tiny humming-birds, of marvellous iridescent metallic tints--sucked now from one then from another flower while still flying. Indeed, that spot seemed the rendez-vous of all the animals of that region. There you found _oncas_ (jaguar), _anta_ (a large pachyderm), the _Tapirus America.n.u.s_, the _tamandua bandeira_, with its worm-like tongue, (or _Myrmecophaga jubata_), and plenty of _veado_ (_Cervus elaphus_). The footmarks of all those animals were innumerable near the water.

The man I had left behind in order to make a further attempt at recovering the lost horse arrived that evening, his search having been unsuccessful. Undoubtedly the horse had been stolen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Strange Geometrical Pattern of Lava over Giant Volcanic Dome.]

Although the place where we had made camp was a regular paradise to look at--in the day-time--it might have been compared to warmer regions at night. Mosquitoes of all sizes and of all degrees of viciousness rose in swarms from the swamp at sunset, and made our life absolutely miserable.

To counterbalance the torture we had a wonderful sunset to look at. First the sky, of a golden colour, was intersected by graceful curves dividing it into sections like a melon; then it gradually became overladen with horizontal black and crimson lines to the west, black to the east and overhead.

June the 2nd was my birthday. I am superst.i.tious by nature, and I would have given anything to celebrate it with some lucky event, although I was at a loss to think of anything lucky that could have happened to me there. Indeed, I began my new year badly--much worse even than I expected. That was an ill-omen to me. First of all there was a terrible row among my men in camp. They had taken to their rifles. They wanted to shoot the cook. The man deserved punishment, perhaps, but not quite so severe a one. After a great deal of arguing I quieted them and got them to lay down their weapons. The cook's life was spared--worse luck for me.

I was sorry for it when I had my breakfast, for cooking more diabolical than his could not be imagined. During breakfast the news came that another horse of my caravan had been lost. So there was the prospect of another day wasted to recover it. My men were unable to trace it, so I resigned myself to the monetary loss and also to the inconvenience its absence would cause us.

My men felt the cold intensely during the night, the thermometer being as low as 51 Fahr. (minimum). During the day the maximum temperature was 85 Fahr. and 96 in the sun.

My only consolation that day was watching the innumerable birds and gazing at the magnificent sunset. The latter consisted that evening of three lines forming arches--two black to the west and the third white--stretching across the sky from north to south. From the higher black line radiations spread, subdividing the sky into rectangular designs--of almost equal size. To the east were great globular ma.s.ses of mist somewhat confused in shape.

The water at this camp was bad, the marsh being over a bed of decayed vegetable matter, which rendered the water of a brownish black colour, like strong tea. Its taste was foul. By digging a well a few yards from the lagoon I succeeded, however, in obtaining clean and good water, which filtered through the ashes and sand.

Our camp was at an elevation of 2,300 ft. During the night, June 2nd-3rd, the thermometer was higher than usual (min. 58 Fahr.), but my men felt the cold more than the previous night because of the heavy mist which set in after sunset, followed by a drizzling rain which damped everything. My men were all attacked by fever, which rendered them more irritable and ill-tempered than ever--if possible.

We did not leave camp until 11.30 a.m., rising again to the summit of the plateau some 50 ft. higher. There we had to describe a wide arc of a circle, as through the trees we perceived on our left an immense chasm, beyond which was a much disturbed landscape of striking ruggedness. We could see a huge circular crater with eroded lips, rising like the chipped edges of a gigantic cup, in the centre of the great volcanic basin. That depression with high vertical walls all round displayed a large gap to the W.N.W. and another to the south-west.

Twelve kilometres from our last camp--and still marching along the edge of the circle on the summit of the plateau--we came to a gra.s.sy _cuvette_, and then to another hollow with a few _burity_ palms. The wall overlooking the great circular depression was perpendicular, of red igneous rock, with projecting spurs ending in conical, much-corrugated hills. The curious opening to the south-west was much broken up in two places with gaps. In the distance beyond were three ranges of hills, the colour of which appeared a pure cobalt blue.

The central crater was formed by rugged red walls with spurs on the east and south-east sides. In the bottom was water with trees all round its edge. There were four square holes from which boiling water gurgled like feeble geysers, and three more holes of a more irregular shape.

The hill range on which we stood projected well into the centre of the great circular basin. It had on the west side perfectly vertical walls of black igneous rock. Its summit was chiefly formed of ferruginous erupted rock thrown up while in a state of ebullition, which had cooled into a conglomerate of minute globular ma.s.ses, in shape like the bubbles of boiling water. The great circle around us, as we stood on the outermost point of the projecting spur, was most impressive, with its brilliantly coloured red walls.

My men killed a _coati_--a peculiar, long-nosed carnivorous animal, which had characteristics in common with dogs, monkeys, and pigs. There were two kinds of _coati_ or _guati_, viz. the _coati de mundeo_ (_Nasua solitaria_), and the _coati de bando_ (_Nasua socialis_). Ours was a _Nasua solitaria_. It was a beautiful little animal, about the size of a small cat, with a wonderfully soft brown coat on its back, a yellowish red belly and bright yellow chest and throat. The chin was as white as snow. The long tail, 1 ft. long--was in black and yellow rings. It possessed powerful fangs on both the upper and lower jaws, a long, black, gritty or granular tongue, short ears, powerful short fore-paws with long nails--quite dog-like; long thighs extremely strong, short hips and hind legs, with callosity up to the knee--evidently to allow that part of the leg to rest flat upon the ground. The _coati_ had velvety black eyes of great beauty, well set in its small well-shaped head. It was a wild little fellow, extremely agile, and could kill a dog much larger than itself with comparative ease.

We circled the eastern and northern part of the great cauldron, always remaining on the summit of the plateau at elevations varying from 2,250 to 2,300 ft. We came upon patches of violet-coloured and then tobacco-coloured sand, and also upon quant.i.ties of dark brown sand, generally consolidated into easily friable rock. There were the usual deposits of grey ashes over the underlying volcanic rock which peeped through here and there.

On June 4th we were at the Cabeceira Koiteh (temperature, min. 53 Fahr.; max. 80 Fahr.; elev. 2,100 ft.). Close to this camp, from an outstretching spur, I obtained another magnificent view. To the E.S.E.

stretched from north-east to south-west a flat plateau, and to the east a flat mountainous block with an eroded pa.s.sage. Headlands branched off from the northern side of the ridges in a north-easterly direction.

Between them were basins thickly wooded in their lower depressions. The north-eastern portion of the flat range was almost vertical, with many angular and sharply pointed spurs projecting from it.

In the centre of the greater basin, of which the others were details, a low convex ridge bulged out, with three conical peaks--two of them at the highest point of the curve. Between the first and second cone two twin sub-craters were visible--evidently the two twin circles had formed part of the same crater--in the mountain side of the distant range. A third crater was some distance off to the south-west.

To the south-west in the background was a lovely view of flat highlands with huge tower-like rocks standing upright upon them. Then to the S.S.W.

a regular vertical d.y.k.e of rock stood on the top of an elongated conical base.

The elevation on the summit of the spur from which we obtained this lovely panorama was 2,200 ft.--or no more than 100 ft. higher than our camp.

We travelled again that same day on the northern edge of the great depression, and met three more _cuvettes_ of grey ashes with an abundant central growth of _buritys_. These were at a general elevation of 2,300 ft., the bottom of the depression being 50 ft. lower. On descending from the table-land, through a gap we discerned far away to the south a long flat-topped plateau extending from south-west to north-east and having a precipitous wall-face.

We got down to the Caxoeirinha stream, where we found an abandoned hut in the eroded hollow of the stream. The water flowed there over a bed of red lava and extremely hard conglomerate rock made up of lava pebbles and solidified ashes. Above this at the sides of the stream was a stratum some 10 ft. thick of grey ashes, and above it a stratum 2 ft. thick of red volcanic dust and sand.