Across Unknown South America Part 42

Many huge _trincho_ fish followed our canoe for some time, gazing curiously at us. They came so impudently near that my men actually hit them on the head with their paddles.

One more streamlet entered the Arinos on the right side just before we reached a big basin, 250 m. in diameter, with wonderful gravel beaches in regular little mounds stretching half-way across the basin. Another little tributary (on the right side) came next, 7,000 m. farther down stream. The vegetation was there so dense and so entangled that we could find nowhere a suitable spot on which to land for our midday halt. About noon, however, _chapada_ and open country again appeared on the right bank for a distance of some 2,000 m.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Formidable Vortex.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Going down a Violent Rapid in a Narrow Channel.]

There we indulged in a plentiful lunch, the country round being as still as death. Not a sign could be seen anywhere of a human being; not a column of smoke indicating the presence of man rose anywhere in the clear sky. Nowhere did we meet disturbed vegetation; nowhere did we notice a trail or a pa.s.sage through the vegetation coming to the water; nowhere did we meet abandoned camps or any signs whatever that human beings had ever lived there. There was no animal life of fair size on the surface; no parrots, no monkeys, no mammals of any kind--only millions of insects, which made one's life a burden.

It was not so with the river, which was swarming with innocent fish, only too ready to be killed and supply us with excellent meals. The reason, of course, that the river was so full of fish, and that the fish displayed such delightful simplicity, was because there were there no human beings.

Soon after leaving camp--all the happier for an excellent lunch--we came once more to thick, beautiful, clean forest on both sides. Again rubber was plentiful, and absolutely untouched by the collector's hand. The river was getting amazingly beautiful, 200 m. wide all along, the water like a faultless silver mirror irreproachably reflecting each leaf, each branch of the motionless trees on both banks. There was not a breath of wind to disturb the tranquillity of that deliciously restful scene.

Yet one more gorgeous island--Alastor Island--300 m. long and 80 to 100 m. wide, was seen. It was preceded on the south-east side by innumerable gravel mounds just emerging above the water surface, then by a magnificent gravel beach with numberless beautiful crystals. On the left bank a tributary 15 m. wide entered the Arinos from the south-west.

The river was getting more and more entrancing at every turn. Profuse blossoms of the most gorgeous yellow shone resplendent in all their beauty against the background of dark green foliage. The entire edge of the forest was festooned with daintily-leafed creepers and with myriads of convolvuli of the purest amethyst colour.

There was poetry in the scene--frequently disturbed, perhaps, by the inconceivable oaths of the man to whom was entrusted the heavy task of baling out the water from the canoe, which leaked badly. She was fissured from end to end, and we had no effective means of preventing the water coming in; in fact, if the baling were not done quickly and continuously with a bucket, the water soon gained and reached the platform on which we had placed the baggage. Our feet, of course, were in water all day long. We did not mind that so much. In fact, our feet got so soaked with moisture that we could peel off the skin in big patches with the greatest ease.

After travelling across a basin 250 m. broad, we came to a _corrideira_ with shallow water. We dashed with great speed sideways over a bank of gravel, and nearly turned turtle. The gravel was banked up against the lee side of the canoe, and with a strong current pushing her we had the greatest trouble to pull her off again.

There was a great deal of rubber, particularly on the left bank, while on the right, _chapada_ was again observed. The river was so wonderfully tidy that, had it not been for its great breadth, one would have felt as if going through a watercourse in England.

From the east came a little tributary, 2 m. wide, on the right bank.

Another beautiful island, 500 m. long and 80 m. wide--Helena Island--a most enchanting place, preceded by the usual gravel mounds and beach, was pa.s.sed in the afternoon. Small streamlets entered the main stream, one on each side--one 6 kils. beyond Helena Island, the other one a little farther.

The river maintained its average width of 200 m. nearly all the time.

Late in the afternoon we pa.s.sed on the left bank a hill 120 ft. high, belonging to a range that extended from E.S.E. to W.N.W. at an angle to the river, which there flowed in a direction almost north. There was plenty of rubber of excellent quality near the water.

Shortly after leaving this range we came to a lagoon, then to open campos behind a thin row of stunted trees on the left bank. The lagoon was situated at a point where the river described a curve from north to 70 b.m. Two small streamlets entered the Arinos on the right. We made camp near a small lagoon in the forest shortly after sunset.

The distance we had travelled during the last two days was 86 kil. 900 m.

on July 11th, and 76 kil. 600 m. on July 12th, or altogether 163 kil. 500 m.

To anybody accustomed to travelling in equatorial countries it seems amazing, on returning to civilization, to find what curious notions people have of the tropical forest. Even in the case of writers of distinction I could quote many pa.s.sages which are painfully ridiculous.

One of the greatest modern Italian writers, for instance--who, by the way, in one of his latest novels, copied almost word for word many pages from my books--added the poetic touch that in the tropical forest flowers were found so large that they could not be picked, and fruit so enormous that no human tooth could bite it! Again, the majority of people believe that it is impossible to go through the forest without cutting your way all the time--the "cutting a way through" meaning to most people the constant chopping down of trees of all sizes, undergrowth, bamboos, _liane_, and other creepers. As a matter of fact, any experienced traveller has much less trouble in going through the forest than people imagine. This is not the case with people unacquainted with the forest, or with people whose sense of observation is not much developed. One can go sometimes for miles through the dense forest without once using knives at all; although necessarily a knife must be carried, as there are places where a cut from its blade will make pa.s.sing through more comfortable. This is particularly true of the Brazilian forest. The forests of that country, especially in the central region where I was then travelling, were wonderfully clean, when once you entered them, although, when seen from the river, they appeared impenetrable. Near the water, owing to the moisture, there was frequently a thick but narrow belt--only a few metres wide--of dense growth. Beyond it, when you were in the forest itself, nothing grew under the trees, and the ground was just as clean as the best kept English park. One could walk in comfort without the slightest trouble, an occasional well-applied blow with the heavy-bladed knife disentangling in a second an interfering _liana_ which might stand in one's way.

It must not be forgotten that you can get under or over _liane_, or shift them on one side, without ever having the trouble of severing them. It is only occasionally, when they are entangled, that it saves time to cut them. Barring an occasional thick belt along the Amazon River, it is almost safe to a.s.sert that an experienced man can travel, alone, anywhere in the forests of Brazil without carrying a penknife. This is not the case, of course, when you are travelling with a caravan and with baggage, when a sufficiently large pa.s.sage has to be opened.

In Africa the equatorial forests are incomparably more difficult to traverse than the Brazilian forests, and those who a.s.sert the Brazilian forests to be impenetrable only say so because they do not know what they are talking about. Even when it comes to actually chopping down trees in the Brazilian forests, one blow with the axe or with the knife will easily cut down a fair-sized tree. As I have already stated elsewhere, most of the Brazilian forest trees have no resistance whatever. They are full of water, and, with a judicious blow, can be cut almost as easily as celery. Many are the trees also, the inside of which near the ground has been eaten up entirely by ants, and it was not uncommon when you leant heavily against a tree that you and the tree tumbled down. Ants do not seem to attack lactiferous trees, such as those producing rubber, which therefore flourished in that particular region.

Most of the trees in that particular part of the forest were small in diameter, and only had branches or leaves at a very great height. That was why the forests in Brazil looked so extraordinarily clean beneath, in contrast to the equatorial forest in such countries as Central Africa or the Philippine Islands. The wonderful cleanliness of the river, to which I have so often alluded, was a great contrast to the ma.s.ses of floating decomposing vegetation which is always to be seen in the African rivers.

The minimum temperature during the night of July 13th was 51 Fahr.

During that night we were suddenly roused by our dogs barking furiously.

We heard strange noises, as if people were trying to run away quickly through the forest. Indians had, much to our surprise, come quite close to our camp, and had it not been for the alarm given by the dogs we should most likely have been attacked by them. In the morning we heard in the distance their war-cries and piercing ululations, which rent the air. Judging merely by the noise they made, there must have been from thirty to fifty of them. My men were greatly excited over this experience. These Indians belonged, I think, to the Tapanhonas tribe.

We left our camp at 7.45 in the morning. As the river was there in an almost straight line for 8 kil., we continued hearing--more and more faintly, of course, as we went on--for some distance the excited yells of the Indians.

The left bank, through which a streamlet cut its way into the Arinos, was fairly open with _chapada_. An island, 150 m. wide and 200 m. long--Julia Island--was next seen. It had an extensive beach of gravel at its southern end, and the island itself was covered with dense and very beautiful vegetation. Another streamlet 1 m. wide entered the Arinos opposite the island from the left side. Farther on another streamlet, 3 m. wide at the mouth, and coming from the north, flowed into the main stream on the right side. Three and a half kilometres farther another tributary streamlet, also 3 m. wide, was met on the right. We there saw _chapada_ on both banks as we went along, with merely a thin edge of trees along the river.

Where the river described a graceful elbow, a charming tongue of land, with deliciously green gra.s.s upon it, was most refreshing to the eyes. A river 8 m. wide at the mouth was met a little way beyond on the left side. We noticed opposite that place a beautiful spot for making a camp, but it was not a convenient hour for us, and so we went along.

About 1,500 m. farther down a long narrow island (200 m. long, 80 m.

wide)--Gemma Island--heavily wooded, was pa.s.sed and admired. It had the usual gravel spit on its southern or up-stream point, the river in that particular spot flowing due north in a perfectly straight line for 4,000 m. The island stood in the centre of a basin 200 m. broad. There were _campos_ and _chapada_ on the left bank.

We landed on the island, and found most beautifully clean forest, nice and cool in the greenish dim light which penetrated through the dense ma.s.ses of foliage. Particularly noticeable for their beauty were the handsome large mimosas.

On the right bank of the river was forest with plenty of rubber trees, but occasionally even on that side patches of what the Brazilians call _serrado_ (close forest) were met with.

A hill range 120 ft. high formed a crescent from west to north-west on the left side of the stream. A kilometre and a half farther forest was to be seen on the left side of the river; whereas on the right was _chapada_ and _campos_, quite open. A picturesque rocky island, 15 m. in diameter, in laminated horizontal and rich brown volcanic rock, rose 3 ft. above the water in the centre of the stream. From that spot for 2 kil. I noticed _chapada_ on the right bank; then after that was beautiful dense forest on both sides, with innumerable vigorous rubber trees.

The river there was 200 m. wide and had shallow water with strong _corrideiras_ over enormous parallel transverse dunes of sand and gravel which formed the bottom. Islets of gravel were exposed, especially near the left bank and in the centre, leaving only a more or less navigable channel near the right bank.

We ran aground many a time along the 500 m. of shallow water, varying from 6 in. to 3 ft. deep. We emerged into a large basin 300 m. wide where eddies of no great strength were formed. On the edge of the beautiful basin we halted for our lunch, and to take the usual astronomical observations at local noon. We were in lat. 12 26'5 S.; long. 56 47'

W.

I do not know if I have ever seen such swarms of bees and b.u.t.terflies as I saw at that place. They seemed to swoop down upon us in myriads from all sides. Taking the solar observations with the s.e.xtant and artificial horizon, I endured positive torture with the hundreds of bees which settled on my forehead, nose and hands; while thousands of mosquitoes and ants stung my legs, arms and face in those spots where it was not possible to wrap myself up with towels.

It will be noticed in most of the photographs which were taken along the river, and some of which ill.u.s.trate this book, that all my men have their heads wrapped up. This was done as a protection against the tantalizing insects. The temperature was warm; that day, for instance, was 105 F. in the sun and 86 in the shade.

We left again at 1.15, my men being--for a change--in a good mood, owing to the amusing time we always had fishing. We had been making excellent progress during the last two or three days. The strange man X enlivened our journey with diabolical songs and with crude wit, which sent his companions into fits of laughter. When they were in a merry mood or excited, I noticed that they paddled along much quicker and better, so I did not try to put a check to the abominable language which would have jarred the feelings of any one not born and bred in the interior of Brazil.

It was quite interesting to me to find in that region so much _chapada_ and open country, as I had fully expected to find thick forest all along.

What struck me particularly on the Arinos, and which I could not very well explain, was that nearly invariably, when you had thick forest on one side of the stream, you had open country on the other, and only seldom noticed either forest or campos on both sides of the stream at the same time.

After pa.s.sing _chapada_ on the left bank we came to a great many rocks just above water. A river 3 m. wide entered the Arinos on the right side, and there was to be seen an immense quant.i.ty of beautiful rubber trees--as yet untouched by human being. The river kept its width of 200 m. After going along _chapada_ on the left bank for some 3 kil., we came to magnificent forest--this time on both sides--with a luxuriant growth of rubber trees.

The scene, in its wonderful quietude, was most impressive. It made one's heart bleed to think that such rich land should lie unknown and unexploited in these enlightened and enterprising days of the twentieth century.

The sky above us was always interesting, with its typical filaments of mist, their lengthy radiations faintly marked upon the vivid blue of the sky vault and making a centre in the north. These radiations were in appearance not unlike giant ostrich feathers. They were formed, I think, over the great streams which flowed northwards into the Amazon.

We were troubled that day with numerous eddies and shallow water, owing to the great width of the river. Innumerable mounds of gravel rose in the centre of the stream up to a few inches below the water level.

Another hill range, 100 ft. high, met that day was crescent-shaped, the arc of a circle thus described being from south-east by east to north-east.

The hill range on the north-east side of us was eroded, exposing a red vertical wall 60 ft. high. A small river 2 m. wide coming from the east entered the Arinos on the right bank.

For 3,500 m. from that point the stream had an average width of 250 m., and was really magnificent with the wonderful cleanliness of the water--not the slightest impurity, not a speck of wood or a leaf floating upon its surface.

Fourteen kilometres of heavenly navigation--barring X's language and the comments of his companions--and we came to an ideal triangular island, 1,200 m. long, 200 m. wide at its broadest point, with the usual extensive gravel spit at its southern end--Victor Emmanuel Island. The vegetation upon it was too gorgeous for words, but there was no animal life except insects.

Four kilometres farther a basin 300 m. in diameter and from 1 to 6 ft.

deep was crossed, in which a strong _corrideira_ was met. The navigable channel was in the centre of the basin. A stream 10 m. wide, of most beautiful crystalline water, which had its origin from the south-west, threw itself into the Arinos on the left side, some 2,000 m. below the basin.

From this point for 8 kil. the river flowed with a slight deviation of 10 in a northerly direction. The left bank of the river was now quite open, with patches of _chapada_ and somewhat taller but still stunted vegetation beyond; a thin row of tall trees lined the river side. On the right bank was luxuriant forest, and again plenty of beautiful rubber trees. Two islets of gravel were next seen.

We were experiencing great difficulty in getting suitable camping places at the right time when we needed them. By 4.30, having come across a spot which seemed suitable, we halted, having gone that day 85 kil. 700 m.