Across Unknown South America Part 40

The River dos Patos came from the S.S.E., then bent to the east where its sources were.

Lucky Island was 250 m. in length. The river had an average width of 80 m. As we went along my men sang gaily, particularly X, who seemed like a bird let out of its cage, so happy did he feel at being a free man again.

His repertoire was not of the choicest kind, but what was lacking in quality was made up in quant.i.ty. For some hours we were treated to a vocal concert, X's solos sending my men into fits of merriment. His wit--of the crudest kind--was sometimes funny.

This great gaiety seemed most weird in that region where silence reigned supreme always. The voices seemed to travel immense distances, echoed from one side to the other of the river. Words were reproduced with great clearness by the echo two or three times over. Especially when we had forest on both sides of the stream was the echo particularly perfect.

Quant.i.ties of rubber trees--absolutely going to waste--were to be seen now on one side, then on the other, of the river where the banks were wooded.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Rapid on the Arinos River.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Taking the Canoe through a Narrow Channel.]

Another most beautiful island, 800 m. long and 80 m. wide--Pedro de Toledo Island--was pa.s.sed. It had a channel 10 m. wide in a north-westerly direction, another, which we followed, 50 m. broad, north-east. On emerging from this channel at the end of the island we were in a basin 140 m. in diameter. Some 3 kils. farther, another great basin was crossed--very shallow, only 2 ft. deep--with a gravel bottom.

The current was swift. Then, 2 kils. beyond, yet another basin, 100 metres wide, 1 ft. deep, with strong eddies, was crossed. The river, which had so far kept more or less in a northerly direction, at that point actually swung round in two consecutive angles from 350 north to due south, in which direction it flowed for 1,000 m. An immaculately white beach was on the right of us, on which we duly stranded. It was quite enough for Alcides to see an obstacle of any kind in the river for him to send the canoe right over it. I seized that opportunity to land and commence a most interesting collection of the innumerable minute sand plants which were to be found on those beaches.

Where the river turned north once more there stood a hill 100 ft. high, the lower half of which was of red volcanic rock, the upper half of yellow earth. Along the water's edge a thick and florid growth of bamboo could be seen in many places, while on the edge of the forest hung myriads of purple convolvuli. For hundreds of kilometres the Arinos was indeed one of the most ideally beautiful rivers I have ever seen. Its banks of alluvial formation, 25 to 30 ft. high, had _chapada_ on their tops. Farther on the _chapada_ gave way once more to dense forest with plentiful rubber trees. Another basin, 150 m. in diameter, was met with, after which we entered a channel from 40 to 50 m. wide, through which the stream was compressed.

A pretty little islet of gravel, 100 m. long, 20 m. wide, and rising 6 ft. above the water, had a tuft of trees growing on it, and a spur, also of gravel, extending westward for more than another 100 m. The river in that section flowed in a W.N.W. direction for 1,400 m.

We soon after came to a shallow basin (1 ft. deep) 100 m. wide, in which eddies were strong and troublesome. There were many pointed rocks scattered about in its bed of gravel, as well as three parallel rocky barriers right across the basin.

A rivulet 2 m. wide at the mouth entered the Arinos on the right side, while on the left side we had an island 800 m. long, leaving two channels, one 10 m. wide, the other 40 m. A tiny streamlet flowed into the main stream on the left. Banks, regular dunes of gravel, were formed where the river broadened into basins. We came to a basin 400 m. wide and extremely shallow. Three channels--W.N.W., N.W., and N.N.E.--were formed in the river by two islands, each 400 m. long--the Two Sisters Islands--which were in the centre. We found the N.N.E. channel the best.

Where the river narrowed again to a width of 50 m. huge rocks stood in the centre. From that point for some 300 m. we went over a succession of gravel banks and nasty rocks forming barriers across the stream.

Small streamlets entered the Arinos, one on the left, the other on the right. A cl.u.s.ter of high rocks was on the right bank. On both sides were extensive white sand beaches. The river soon widened to 100 m. in a basin with an islet 12 ft. high, and a cl.u.s.ter of trees on its north-east side.

Another island 6 ft. high, 80 m. long--Mosquito Island--with a spit of gravel to the south, was near it.

Rubber trees were most plentiful on the right bank where the forest was thick, whereas on the left bank was _chapada_. Huge gorgeous b.u.t.terflies with black-striped brown wings and velvety bodies flew in great numbers around the canoe. Some settled on my hat, hands, and on the sleeves of my white shirt. They were so unaccustomed to see human beings that when touched they did not attempt to fly away.

The river was getting more and more wonderful every hour as we went along--in great straight lines of 3,500 m., 3,000 m., 2,200 m., 2,000 m., 4,000 m., in length.

Some ducks rose from the water only a few yards in front of the canoe.

The man who was behind me fired with his carbine close to my head. The bullet grazed my right ear. It was a trifle trying to be travelling with such careless sportsmen, but the best thing was to say nothing and go on.

A big island--Pa.s.sos Island--300 m. long, preceded by a smaller islet 80 m. long--Pa.s.sos Junior I.--was subsequently pa.s.sed, where the river formed a channel (N.W.) 50 m. wide and a minor one (W.) 30 m.

The river there changed from a westerly course to W.S.W. Once more we had before us a great wall of red rock which at first seemed to bar our way.

In the lower section of the wall was a cave eroded by water and extending some way back. It was too low to be entered by the canoe. The lower stratum of the wall was at an angle--in other words, had a dip of 21--while the stratum above it, 30 ft. in thickness, intersected by a yellow band, was perfectly horizontal. On the left side of this high natural wall was a charming waterfall of limpid water. Farther on a great land-slip displayed for a length of 40 m. brilliant red earth over a stratum 60 ft. thick of white chalk. The river, which described a number of turns, was bordered on the left side by a hill range covered with handsome trees.

The ardour of my men for rowing had already pa.s.sed away. They smoked and sang the whole time, and let the current--fortunately strong--carry us along. Whenever I remonstrated they scooped the water carelessly with their paddles for a few minutes. As is the case with individuals mentally deficient, everything seemed to distract them. One moment it was the flight of a _jacutinga_--a handsome black gallinaceous bird with a white crest. Another moment it was the jump of an inquisitive fish. Many _mergulho commun_ (_Podiceps America.n.u.s_), wonderfully graceful, velvety black birds with long beaks, flew about unconcerned from tree to tree.

Whenever anything moved about anywhere, the paddles were abandoned, the rifles were seized, and there was a regular fusillade. The men seldom hit anything, although on many occasions, with the unsteady canoe, we all of us had narrow escapes. One day the man in front of me fired a shot at a bird--but so close to my head, not more than one foot away, that the concussion blinded me for several seconds. On other occasions the rifles went off when they were not expected to. I had ceased to give orders of any kind about the careful use of the weapons. It was time and lung-power absolutely wasted, and only made things worse.

After floating down a beautiful stretch of 3,000 m., two more islands were reached within a great circle over 200 m. wide. A small tributary entered the Arinos on the right bank. Another island, 500 m. long, was seen farther down, at the end of which, where two channels met again, violent eddies were produced by the meeting of the two strong currents.

Immense quant.i.ties of _Siphonia elastica_ were there to be seen on both sides of the stream in the forest, which was getting more and more luxuriant as we proceeded on our journey farther north. Many wild banana palms (_bananeira do matto_) were to be seen here and there along the lovely, deliciously clean river, with its extraordinarily tidy banks.

Another great basin, 300 m. in diameter, was met, with three islands and two gravel beaches in its centre. The two princ.i.p.al islands--Paolo and Francesca--were each 100 m. long and 50 m. wide.

We now made the acquaintance of the _capivara_ (_Hydroch.o.e.rus capibara_), a rodent which we found common farther down in those waters. It was a stupid animal. When fired at several times by my men it remained perfectly still, gazing at its enemies. It was only when a bullet hit the ground too near that it would move away, surprised more than concerned.

After going down a _corrideira_ (small rapid) we encountered thousands of white and lemon-yellow b.u.t.terflies. On islets of red earth swarms of them were basking in the sun--which was getting hotter and hotter as we got farther north.

Again we were soon after faced by a high natural wall of brilliant yellow and red colouring. In its western part it showed a white stratum 3 ft.

thick upon a layer of yellow lava of an equal thickness. A stratum of lighter yellow was nearest the surface of the water, while above was a thick layer of grey earth. On the right side, at this point, a tributary streamlet flowed into the Arinos. The basin formed by the crescent-shaped wall was perfectly circular. When the river emerged from it, it folded back from 40 b.m. to 290.

Owing to the steepness of the banks we experienced difficulty in finding a suitable camping place for the night. Eventually at sunset we had to clear with our big knives a patch in the dirty forest on the edge of the stream. I never liked to camp out of sight of the canoe in case anything happened during the night--an attack, a flood, a forest fire, or anybody trying to steal or get away with the canoe; the danger from my own men being quite as great as from any enemy I could have found. I well knew that if we lost that canoe we were done for entirely.

There was a great falling off in the distance covered that day owing to the laziness of my men. We had only gone 67 kil. 600 m.--or 22 kil. 250 m. less than the previous day, when we had travelled less hours and gone easily over a distance of 89 kil. 850 m.

CHAPTER IV

_Oleo Pardo_ Trees--Beautiful Palms--The River Bottom--Swarms of b.u.t.terflies--Millions of Bees--A Continuous Torture

THE night of July 10th was cool--minimum temperature 58 F. When we departed at 7.10 in the morning the river was extremely tortuous at first--in one place actually veering from north to due south. On the right side of us was a lake divided by a low bank, 3 to 5 ft. high, from the river by which it was fed. The entrance into the lake was narrow. We had hardly gone 1 kil. when we found ourselves in a great basin 300 m.

long, 200 m. wide, with one large island--Nellie Island--150 m. in length, and several other small islets in its centre.

Another lagoon was shortly after reached on the right bank, its inlet being 10 m. wide.

The waters of the Arinos were, at this point, of a leaden placidity. We seemed to travel slowly now that the current did not help us. The river was again compressed into a deep channel 50 m. wide. Before us loomed a cliff 100 ft. high, reflected with irreproachable faithfulness in the almost still waters of the stream. There was not a breath of wind to disturb the mirror-like surface, nor to cool our sweating brows in the stifling heat of the broiling sun. The lower 40 to 60 ft. of the cliff was red, the upper light yellow--almost white. Where we reached this rocky wall there was a circle 150 m. in diameter, with a low, thickly-wooded triangular island, 80 m. long, 100 m. wide--Eleonora Island.

The north-eastern pa.s.sage was shallow, with a stony bottom. We followed the northern channel along the vertical wall. On leaving the island we came to a stretch 2,500 m. long of beautiful water flowing due north, with ideally fascinating banks embellished by dense vegetation--neat, clean, and healthy--of the richest green.

After crossing a bay, 100 m. wide, with volcanic rocks showing through on both banks and in the river bed, the stream was squeezed through a rocky neck 25 m. wide, and spread again immediately afterwards to its normal width of 50 m. We were beginning to find big rocks more frequently, many in the river channel--a bad sign for us, for I feared we might soon encounter rapids.

Wonderful _oleo pardo_ trees (_Myrocarpus frondosus_ Fr. All.), with their octopus-like branches hanging down to the water, were fairly common in that region. There were two kinds of _oleo_ trees in Brazil--the brown or _oleo pardo_ and the red or _oleo vermelho_, the latter technically known as _Myrospermum erytroxylon_ Fr. All.

We subsequently entered a basin 150 m. wide which contained a circular island 100 m. in diameter--Horus Island.

Eight hundred metres farther we came to another large circular bay with a large globular ma.s.s of lava on its left side. The current was very swift over a nasty rocky bottom. The canoe was suddenly flung by the current between an acc.u.mulation of rocks and an island, and, as we found it impossible to turn, floated down at an uncomfortable speed through a narrow channel, dodging as best we could the many ugly rocks just below the surface of the water. At the end of this channel we encountered violent eddies forming wide circles of most treacherous water--although on the surface it looked placid enough.

The tributary Sumidoro, 30 m. wide at its mouth, entered the Arinos from the west-south-west at this point. Its water was deliciously clear. A little way off to the left we could hear the noise of a waterfall on the Sumidoro, before it joined the Arinos.

The river, after the meeting of this important tributary, became even more exquisitely beautiful than before. Rocks strewn about added to the picturesqueness of the landscape as well as to the dangers of navigation, while springs of crystalline water, cool and quite delicious to drink, descended here and there from the banks.

The river had an average width of 60 m. in this part, and was much strewn with broken-up volcanic boulders, especially on the left bank. On the right bank was a beach of immaculate white sand. For 300 m. we went over a great stony place with shallow water. We had to be careful, but all the same many times did we b.u.mp with great force and get stuck upon submerged rocks--which we could not see owing to the blinding, glittering refraction of the sun upon the troubled waters.

A tributary 4 m. wide, coming from the north-east, entered the Arinos on the right bank. A great number of rubber trees were to be seen on the right bank, where the forest was luxuriant; but not on the left bank, where the growth of trees was scanty. _Caranda_ or _burity_ or _tuc.u.man_ palms were plentiful along the water's edge near the spot where a small rivulet entered the Arinos on the left bank. Two thousand metres farther down we came upon denuded country, low, and liable to inundation when the river rose. Farther on were campos and open country, with the exception of a thin row of trees immediately along the river. On the left we had luxuriant forest, wonderfully healthy, neat and clean. The stream was there beautiful--60 to 70 m. wide.

When we had gone 10 kils. 800 m. more the entire channel became strewn with rocks and mounds only 1 ft. below the surface of the water, and not unlike parallel small dunes of sand with a deposit of gravel upon them.

For 700 m. the river was obstructed and navigation rendered somewhat troublesome.

Where the river turned from bearings magnetic 310 to 360 (due N.) we went over a nasty stony place with a strong _corrideira_ above it, and we were confronted with a rocky barrier almost the entire width across the stream. We kept on the west side, the only way where it was possible to get the canoe through. A little farther another _corrideira_, stronger than the first, obliged us to find a pa.s.sage on the east side of the river--which bore upon its bank _campos_ and _chapada_. Curious mounds of white sand and gravel were visible in the centre of the river, and also near the left bank below the second _corrideira_; then we came to parallel ridges of white sand and gravel right across the river bottom at an angle of 45 in relation to the general direction of the stream.

Two tributaries, one 3 m. wide on the left bank, the other 4 m. wide on the right side (the latter coming from the north-east), swelled the Arinos from that point. The width of the stream was now increased to 80 m., the water being shallow. The bed of the river was ever changing, and supplied me with constant interest. It was adorned with strangely precise triangles of beautiful white sand exposed through a layer of gravel which covered most of the river bottom.