Across Unknown South America Part 46

Another island, 300 m. long--Martia Island--with a picturesque spur of rock at its south-easterly end, was next reached as we were going swiftly down a _corrideira_ in the channel to the right which we were following.

After the _corrideira_, as I was busy writing a description of the landscape, I was thrown off my seat. My men also had a similar experience, the canoe nearly turning turtle and becoming filled with water. Alcides had steered us right into the centre of a whirlpool.

These unexpected baths were not much to my taste--not so much for the discomfort they caused my person, as for the trouble they gave me in protecting my notebooks and instruments. Also, in these accidents we lost a considerable amount of our supply of salt, which melted away in the water, and the supply of flour and rice suffered from these unnecessary immersions.

A channel 30 m. wide separated Martia Island from a second island--Camilla Island--100 m. long, which must once certainly have formed part of it, but which had been separated by the eroding waters of the stream. Both islands were wooded, and were extremely pretty. Great heaps of rock, 20 m. in diameter and even more, occupied the centre of the stream after we had pa.s.sed the last island.

We had only gone 12 kil. 300 m. that day, so difficult had been the navigation.

During the night in less than one hour we caught two large _jahu_, one huge _pacu_ (_Prochilodus argentius_), the latter shaped like a sole, but of a much greater size, and with brilliant red patches on its body--a most delicately-tasting fish to eat--and a number of large _trahira_ (_Machrodon trahira_), also called by the Brazilians _rubaffo_ because of the noise they make in the water. Altogether over 200 lb. of fish were got out of the water in less than sixty minutes.

We found many _jenipapeiros_ (or _genipapeiro_) trees, from the stewed bark of which we made excellent tea. Its fruit was good to eat, and we used it for making sweets.

During the night of July 19th the minimum temperature was 67 F.

We started off gaily enough in the morning, pa.s.sing first a great boulder, 10 m. in diameter, sticking right out of the water; then an island 200 m. long contained in a basin 500 m. wide. We left the island--Ruby Island--which was 80 m. long, on our left, and went down a channel with strong eddies and whirlpools. Looking back at the eastern channel, we were glad we had not followed it, as it was extremely rocky.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Fine Cataract on the Arinos-Juruena River.]

The river was contracting in narrow necks and expanding into large basins, another of these being 450 m. broad. A strong rapid existed here, owing to the barrier formed across the stream by a central island of rock and other boulders. After that came a basin 700 m. wide, with three islands--Teffe I., Nair I., Rock I.--in its western part. The central and eastern pa.s.sages were difficult owing to the quant.i.ty of rocks which stood in the way, so we took the canoe down the channel from S.S.W. to N.N.E., which was also extremely bad, and where we had to let her down with the greatest care by means of ropes, the baggage having been previously unloaded. Even then the canoe got filled with water. That involved a great loss of time and waste of energy, so that we had to halt longer than usual in the middle of the day.

Our halting place was most picturesque, situated on volcanic rocks of great beauty, and overlooking a ca.n.a.l cut into the rocks, with strong and foaming rapids from east to west. Strong eddies formed at the end of the rapids.

After leaving the camp and negotiating the rapids, we came to an island 150 m. long--Magda Island--separated by a rocky narrow channel from another island, 50 m. long, west of it.

After the last rapid we were in a basin 800 m. wide and 1,000 m. long.

Strong _corrideiras_ or rapids occurred all the time, and rocks alone or in groups standing wherever they were not wanted. Farther on we came to another big basin, 1,000 m. wide, with a square island on its western side. The island--Eva Island--was 400 m. broad and of course of an equal length.

Another island, triangular in shape, 700 m. long--Rose Island--was then observed, after we had gone over some strong rapids in the pa.s.sage on the east side of it.

The river was flowing in a northerly direction, and shortly afterwards formed two channels--one north-west, the other south-west--which soon joined again.

A beautiful bank of white sand 120 m. long and 4 ft. high stretched along the edge of the water on the left side of us. Soon afterwards we entered an immense basin, 1,300 m. broad with a large island--May Island--on its western side.

One kilometre farther the island ended at a place where a lot of rocks stood out of the water. A little lower down other rocks spread right across the river in two parallel lines, forming very strong rapids, which were shot, our canoe coming within an ace of turning over.

The basin which followed was extremely rocky, with strong whirlpools, most troublesome to negotiate. Another island of irregular shape, 200 m.

long and 200 m. wide--Rita Island--was found in a large basin, 1,000 m.

broad, where we came to strong rapids and violent eddies and whirlpools, the latter most dangerous-looking. The water revolved with such force that it formed in the centre of each vortex holes from one to two feet in diameter.

The channel flowing north on the left side of the river seemed the better of the two, but it was strewn with rocks against which we had many collisions, owing to the strong current, the unmanageable canoe and the disobedient crew.

Another island 350 m. long--Eloisa Island--was to the north-east of Rita Island. Fifteen hundred metres farther on another _corrideira_ occurred.

A small tributary entered the Arinos on the right side.

We were then travelling in a N.N.E. direction, the river being in a straight line for some 3,000 m., in the course of which we came to a small island on the left side; then to a great island, 3,000 m.

long--Albert Rex Island--with beautiful forest upon it. There were two other islets in this channel, one a mere cl.u.s.ter of rocks, the other, north-east of the first and 150 m. in diameter--Belgium Island--having pretty vegetation upon it.

A fourth and fifth--Laeken Island, 300 m. in length, and Elizabeth R.

Island, 5,000 m. in length--were separated by a narrow channel. The latter had most gorgeous vegetation upon it; so tidy was everything in the thick forest, and the ground under it so clean that you might have imagined yourself in an English park.

Those islands were really too beautiful for words. Not being a poet, I cannot find appropriate language to describe their wonderful charm.

The river had a tendency to flow toward the west, and even for 1 kil. in a south-westerly direction. It had a width of 700 m. A small island 50 m.

in diameter, chiefly formed of acc.u.mulated rounded rocks which had rolled down and deposits of gravel, had formed in the centre of the stream.

Beyond it a charming little island, 180 m. long--Germaine Island--was found, on which we made our camp. It had an extensive gravel beach, on which I found beautiful crystals and pebbles of wonderfully coloured marble.

CHAPTER VIII

Magnificent Basins--Innumerable Rapids--Narrow Escapes--The Destructive Sauba Ants--Disobedient Followers--A Range of Mountains--Inquisitive Monkeys--Luck in Fishing--Rocky Barriers--Venus

WE left at 8 a.m. on July 20th, the minimum temperature during the night having been 57 F. We had hardly gone 1 kil. when we came to another island, 500 m. long--Mabel Island--quite as beautiful as the one on which we had camped. Small rapids were encountered where we just managed to avoid dangerous submerged rocks close to the right bank, near the entrance of a basin 900 m. wide.

All those basins were really magnificent to look at. This one, for instance, displayed a lovely island--Noailles Island--500 m. long, and 200 m. wide on its left side. Picturesque rocks of a vivid red colour peeped out of the water and broke the current, the spray that rose in the air forming pretty rainbows. There was a channel there, 300 m. wide, after pa.s.sing the last island. Then came one more great basin 700 m.

wide, and yet another pretty island, with a rocky spur.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Preparing the Canoe prior to descending a Rapid.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Nasty Rapid.]

We followed a course of 10 b.m. on the left side of the island--Margie Island--which was 500 m. long, and had a number of subsidiary islands formed by picturesque groups of rock.

We then came to one more great basin, with an immense quant.i.ty of rock in its western part. Many of the boulders showed a foliation in their strata with a dip of 45 east. The acc.u.mulation of boulders formed a formidable barrier before we reached an island most beautiful to gaze upon, so luxuriant was the vegetation on it.

This particular island was 200 m. long; next to it was another 150 m.

long; then, joined to this by a link of high rocks to the south-east, was a third, also of considerable beauty. So charming were these islands that I called the group the Three Graces Islands.

The river turned due west from that point in a channel of continuous rapids and violent eddies for some 3,000 m. We went down, the canoe being knocked about in a most alarming way on one or two occasions, and shipping so much water as to reach almost up to our knees inside it.

It was fortunate that all my photographic plates, note-books and instruments were in water-tight boxes, or they certainly would have been damaged beyond saving. This was not the case with my clothes, shoes, and bedding, which had now been wet for many days with no possibility of drying them, as we were travelling all day long and every day, and during the night the heavy dew prevented them from getting dry. Why we did not get rheumatism I do not know, as not only did we wear wet things all day long, but we slept in blankets soaked with moisture.

The moment I dreaded most was that in which we emerged from the rapid into the whirlpool which always followed, and in which the canoe swerved with such terrific force that it was all we could do to hold on and not be flung clean out of her--owing, of course, to the centrifugal force as she revolved quickly.

Making a survey of the river was getting to be a complicated and serious job, what with the numberless islands we encountered, the continuous rapids, and the constant changes of direction. I was busy writing, as fast as I could--only interrupted momentarily by involuntary shower-baths--prismatic compa.s.s and watch in hand all the time, the latter in order to measure the distances as accurately as possible.

We had now come to another group of islands in a line in the centre of the river. They had been at one time evidently all one, which had subsequently been eroded into five separate islands and an extensive bank of gravel and sand. Taken in succession from south to north, there was first an oblong island, thickly wooded, 120 m. long--Nina Island--having on its western side an elongated bank of sand and gravel; then, where a barrier of rocks stretched transversely across the stream and where extremely bad rapids occurred--three of them in succession, each worse than the last--was another island--Providence Island--1,400 m. in length.

When we reached any rapid we had to be quick in judging which was the best channel to follow, as the current was so strong that we had not sufficient strength to pull back against it. I generally selected the channel, my men by this time having gained sufficient confidence in my judgment, since so far we had had no serious mishap. But I foresaw that we should soon have an accident, as they were getting foolhardy, and in their ignorance attributed the wonderful luck we had had entirely to their own skill in navigation.

On that particular occasion we had hardly time to recover from shooting the first rapid with the velocity of an arrow, and were wet all over with the splash of the water, when we came to the second and third rapids, where the channel was so narrow and rocks were scattered so near the surface, that it was really a marvel to me how we got through without capsizing. The men in their excitement were shrieking wildly as we dashed through the foaming waters, and there were also yells of positive terror from the man ahead, who with a long pole in hand tried to save the canoe from dashing now upon one rock then upon another.

Below the rapids the three other islands were Dora Island, 200 m. long; Edna Island, 500 m. long; and Lucia Island, 700 m. long.

The river was flowing in a westerly and south-westerly direction, the banks showing a quant.i.ty of rubber trees all along. A tiny islet 50 m.

long had been eroded from the right bank, just above a strong _corrideira_, easily identifiable by later travellers who may visit it, since a huge rock stands there in the centre of the river.