Travels on the Amazon

Even Senhor Seixus himself, an educated Brazilian and the Commandante of the district, inquired if the government of England were constitutional or despotic, and was surprised to hear that our Sovereign was a woman.

We at length procured two men, and proceeded on our journey up the river, having spent four days very pleasantly at Baião. As we went slowly along the shore, we saw on a tree an iguana, called here a chameleon, which Mr. Leavens shot, and our men cooked for their supper. In the evening, we anchored under a fine bank, where a large leguminous tree was covered with clusters of pink and white flowers and large pale green flat pods. Venus and the moon were shining brilliantly, and the air was deliciously cool, when, at nine o'clock, we turned in under our tolda, but mosquitoes and sand-flies would not allow us to sleep for some hours. The next day we had a good wind and went along briskly; the river was narrower and had fewer islands; palms were less abundant than below, but the vegetation of the banks was equally luxuriant. Here were plenty of porpoises, and we saw some handsome birds like golden orioles.

On the 9th, early in the morning, we arrived at Jutahí, a cattle estate, where we expected to get more men; but the owner of the place being out, we had to wait till he returned. We obtained here about a gallon of delicious new milk, a great treat for us. We shot a few birds, and found some small shells in the river, but none of any size or beauty, and could see scarcely any insects.

As the man we wanted did not arrive, we left on the 10th, hoping to meet him up the river. I walked across an extensive sandbank, where, about noon, it was decidedly hot. There were numerous little Carabideous beetles on the sand, very active, and of a pale colour with dark markings, reminding me of insects that frequent similar situations in England. In the afternoon we reached a house, and made a fire on the beach to cook our dinner. Here were a number of men and women, and naked children. The house was a mere open shed,—a roof of palm-thatch supported on posts, between which the rédés (hammocks) are hung, which serve the purpose of bed and chair. At one end was a small platform, raised about three feet above the floor, ascended by deep notches cut in a post, instead of a ladder. This seemed to be a sort of boudoir, or ladies' room, as they alone occupied it; and it was useful to keep clothes and food out of the way of the fowls, ducks, pigs, and dogs, which freely ranged below. The head of the establishment was a Brazilian, who had come down from the mines. He had in cultivation cotton, tobacco, cacao, mandiocca, and abundance of bananas. He wanted powder and shot, which Mr. Leavens furnished him with in exchange for tobacco. He said they had not had any rain for three months, and that the crops were much injured in consequence. At Pará, from which we were not distant more than one hundred and fifty miles, there had never been more than three days without rain. The proximity to the great body of water of the Amazon and the ocean, together with the greater extent of lowland and dense forest about the city, are probably the causes of this great difference of climate in so short a distance.

Proceeding on our way, we still passed innumerable islands, the river being four or five miles wide. About four in the afternoon, we came in sight of the first rocks we met with on the river, on a projecting point, rugged and volcanic in appearance, with little detached islands in the stream, and great blocks lying along the shore. After so much flat alluvial country, it had quite a picturesque effect. A mile further, we reached Patos, a small village, were we hoped to get men, and anchored for the night. I took a walk along the shore to examine the rocks, and found them to be decidedly volcanic, of a dark colour, and often as rugged as the scoriæ of an iron-furnace. There was also a coarse conglomerate, containing blackened quartz pebbles, and in the hollows a very fine white quartz sand.

We remained here two days; Mr. Leavens going up the igaripé to look for cedar, while we remained hunting for birds, insects, and shells. I shot several pretty birds, and saw, for the first time, the beautiful blue macaws, which we had been told we should meet with up the Tocantíns. They are entirely of a fine indigo-blue, with a whitish beak; but they flew very high, and we could not find their feeding-place. The insects most abundant were the yellow butterflies, which often settled in great numbers on the beach, and when disturbed rose in a body, forming a complete yellow and orange fluttering cloud. Shells were tolerably plentiful, and we added some new ones to our small stock. Since leaving Baião, a small fly, with curiously marked black and white wings, had much annoyed us, setting on our hands and faces in the quietest manner, and then suddenly piercing them like the prick of a needle. The people call it the Mutúca, and say it is one of the torments of the interior, being in many parts much more abundant than it is here.

Mr. Leavens having ascertained that there was no cedar within a mile of the water, we arranged to proceed the next day, when a pilot and two men from Patos had agreed to accompany us to the Falls. In the morning we waited till eight o'clock, and no one making their appearance, we sent to them, when they replied, they could not come; so after having waited a day, we were at last obliged to go on without them, hoping to be able to get as far as the Falls, and then return. Cedar was quite out of the question, as men could not be got to work the canoe, much less to cut timber. We had now altogether been delayed nine or ten days waiting for men, and in only one instance had got them after all. This is one of the greatest difficulties travellers here have to encounter. All the men you want must be taken from Pará, and if they choose to run away, as they are almost sure to do, others cannot be procured.

At ten in the morning we reached Troquera, on the west bank of the river, where there is a small igaripé, on which there are some falls. There were several families living here, yet they had not a house among them, but had chosen a nice clear space under some trees, between the trunks and from the branches of which they hung their rédés. Numbers of children were rolling about naked in the sand, while the women and some of the men were lounging in their hammocks. Their canoes were pulled up on the beach, their guns were leaning against the trees, a couple of large earthen pots were on the fire, and they seemed to possess, in their own estimation, every luxury that man can desire. As in the winter the place is all under water, it is only a summer encampment; during which season they collect seringa, grow a little cotton, mandiocca, and maize, catch fish and hunt. All they wanted of us was ammunition and caxaça (rum), which Mr. Leavens supplied them with, taking rubber in exchange.

We walked about a mile through the forest to the Falls on the igaripé. Black slaty rocks rose up at a high angle in the bed of the brook, in irregular stratified masses, among which the water foams and dashes for about a quarter of a mile: "a splendid place for a sawmill," said Mr. Leavens. There were no palms here, or any striking forms of tropical vegetation; the mosses and small plants had nothing peculiar in them; and, altogether, the place was very like many I have seen at home. The depths of the virgin forest are solemn and grand, but there is nothing in this country to surpass the beauty of our river and woodland scenery. Here and there some exquisite clump of plants covered with blossoms, or a huge tree overrun with flowering climbers, strikes us as really tropical; but this is not the general character of the scenery. In the second-growth woods, in the campos, and in many other places, there is nothing to tell any one but a naturalist that he is out of Europe.

Before leaving Troquera, I shot some goat-suckers, which were flying about and settling upon the rocks in the hot sunshine. We went on to Panajá, where there is a house occupied by some seringa-gatherers, and stayed there for the night. All along the sandy shore, from Baião to this place, are trailing prickly cassias, frequently forming an impenetrable barrier; and, in places, there is a large shrubby species, also prickly. The large-stemmed arums had now disappeared, and with them the ciganos. The next morning I went with our Indian, Alexander, to visit a lake, about a mile through the woods. There was a small montaria, which would just hold two, in which we embarked to explore it, and shoot some birds. Alligators were very abundant, showing their heads every now and then above water. Alexander fired at one, which immediately disappeared, but soon came up again, half turned over, and with one leg out of water; so we thought he was quite dead, and paddled up to secure him. I seized hold of the elevated claw, when—dash! splash!—over he turned, and dived down under our little boat, which he had half filled with water and nearly upset. Again he appeared at the surface, and this time we poked him with a long stick, to see if he were really dead or shamming, when he again dived down and appeared no more.

We went to the end of the lake, which was about a mile long, and then returned to the place where we had embarked. I had shot a kingfisher, and was loading my gun, when Alexander shot at a small coot or rail, and having a large charge, the shock threw me off my balance, and to save myself I dropped my gun into the water and very nearly swamped the canoe. I thought my shooting for this voyage was all over; but, luckily, the water was only three or four feet deep, and we soon hooked the gun up. I employed the rest of the morning in taking off the locks, and by careful cleaning and oiling got all right again.

We went on with a fair wind for a few hours, when two of our men proposed taking the montaria to go and shoot ducks at a place near, where they abounded; so Mr. B. and myself agreed to go with them, while Mr. Leavens proceeded a mile or two on, to get dinner ready and wait for us. We had about half a mile of paddling to reach the shore, then half a mile of walking over a sandy beach, when our Indians plunged into the forest along a narrow path, we following in silence. About a mile more brought us to some open ground, where there was abundance of fine grass and scattered clumps of low trees and shrubs, among which were many pretty flowers. We walked for a mile through this kind of country, along a track which was often quite imperceptible to us, till at length we reached an extensive morass covered with aquatic plants, with some clumps of bushes and blackened clumps of trees.

Our Indians, without saying a word, plunged in up to their knees, and waded after the ducks, which we could see at a distance, with egrets and other aquatic birds. As we could do nothing on shore, we followed them, floundering about in mud and water, among immersed trees and shrubs, and tangled roots of aquatic plants, feeling warm and slimy, as if tenanted by all sorts of creeping things. The ducks were far from easy to get at, being very wild and shy. After one or two ineffectual long shots, I saw one sitting on the top of a stump, and by creeping cautiously along under cover of some bushes, got within shot and fired. The bird flew away, I thought unhurt, but soon fell into the water, where I picked it up dead. It had been shot through the head, and flown, I suppose, in the same manner that fowls will run after being decapitated.

I then came out on to dry land, and waited for the Indians, who soon appeared, but all empty-handed. A pale yellow water-lily and some pretty buttercups and bladder-worts were abundant in the lake. We had a long row to reach the canoe, which we found at Jucahipuá, where Senhor Joaquim resided, who, we had been told, would pilot us up to the Falls. After a good dinner of turtle I skinned my birds, and then took a walk along the beach: here were fine crystalline sandstone rocks, in regularly stratified beds. In the evening a small Ephemera was so abundant about the candle as to fall on the paper like rain, and get into our hair and down our necks in such abundance as to be very annoying.

In the morning we passed the locality of the old settlement of Alcobaza, where there was once a fort and a considerable village, but now no signs of any habitation. The inhabitants were murdered by the Indians about fifty years ago, and since then it has never been re-settled. The river was now about a mile wide, and had fewer islands. There was a fine flat-bedded sandstone here, very suitable for building. We were shown a stone on which is said to be writing which no man can read, being circular and pothook marks, almost as much like the work of nature as of art. The water was here beautifully transparent, and there were many pretty fishes variously marked and spotted.

About noon we reached the "Ilha dos Santos," a small sandy island in the middle of the river, where there was a house, the inhabitants of which continually asked us for caxaça. We had a land-tortoise for dinner to-day, which was as good as turtle. Two hours further we landed for the night. The river was now very full of rocks and eddies, and we were unable to go in our large canoe. The next morning, having put our rédés and some provisions into the montaria, we started with two of our men and Senhor Joaquim, leaving one man and old Isidora in charge of the canoe till we returned. In about an hour we all had to get out of the boat for the men to pull it up a little rapid over some rocks. The whole river is here full of small rocky islands and masses of rock above and under water. In the wet season the water is fifteen to twenty feet higher than it was now, and this part is then safe for large canoes. We passed the mouth of an igaripé on the west bank, and another on the opposite side, in both of which gold is said to exist. Large silk-cotton-trees appear at intervals, raising their semi-globular heads above the rest of the forest, and the castanha, or Brazil-nut, grows on the river-banks, where we saw many of the trees covered with fruit.

We passed the Ilha das Pacas, which is completely covered with wood, and very abrupt and rocky. The rocks in the river were now thicker than ever, and we frequently scraped against them; but as the bottoms of the montarins are hollowed out of the trunks of trees and left very thick, they do not readily receive any injury. At three P.M. we reached Aroyas, a mile below the Falls. Here the bank of the river slopes up to a height of about three hundred feet, and is thickly wooded. There was a house near the river, with numerous orange-trees, and on the top of the hill were mandiocca and coffee plantations. We dined here; and when we had finished, the mistress handed round a basin of water and a clean napkin to wash our hands,—a refinement we had hardly expected in a room without walls, and at such a distance from civilisation.

After dinner we went on to see the Falls. The river was still about a mile wide, and more wild and rocky than before. Near the Falls are vast masses of volcanic rock; one in particular, which we passed close under in the montaria is of a cubical form, thirty feet on the side and twenty feet high. There are also small islands composed entirely of scoria-like rocks, heaped up and containing caves and hollows of a most picturesque appearance, affording evident proofs of violent volcanic action at some former period. On both sides of the river, and as far as the sight extends, is an undulating country, from four to five hundred feet high, covered with forest, the commencement of the elevated plains of central Brazil.

On arriving at the Falls we found the central channel about a quarter of a mile wide, bounded by rocks, with a deep and very powerful stream rushing down in an unbroken sweep of dark green waters, and producing eddies and whirlpools below more dangerous to canoes than the Fall itself. When the river is full they are much more perilous, the force of the current being almost irresistible, and much skill is required to avoid the eddies and sunken rocks. The great cubical block I have mentioned is then just under water, and has caused the loss of many canoes. The strata were much twisted and confused, dipping in various directions about 12°, with volcanic masses rising up among them. As nearly as we could judge by the distances we had come, these rapids must be in about 4° of south latitude, where a considerable bend in the river occurs. Above are numerous falls and rapids, and after a time the forest ceases, and open undulating plains are found. From the point we reached, the country becomes very interesting, and we much regretted that we were unable to explore it further.

On our return to Aroyas, our men, while descending the various smaller rapids, shouted and sang in the most wild and excited manner, and appeared to enjoy it amazingly. They had had a hard day's work, having paddled and poled about twenty miles against a powerful current, in some places so strong as to require all their exertions to keep the boat's head up the stream. At Aroyas we took some coffee, and then turned into our rédés in an open shed about twelve feet square, at the back part of the house, where six or eight other members of the family also found room for themselves. We were kept awake some time by our pilot, who had got drunk on caxaça, and was very violent and abusive, so to quiet him we administered another glass or two, which soon had the desired sedative effect. The next morning he looked very dull and sheepish; in fact, most of the Tapuyas, or half-civilised Indians, consider it disgraceful to get drunk, and seem ashamed afterwards.

After paying our hostess in biscuit, tea, and sugar, which were great luxuries to her, we started on our return to the canoe, which we reached about noon, having stayed an hour to explore the igaripé for gold, but without the smallest success. At the canoe we found that Isidora had some turtle stew ready, to which we did ample justice, and, finding the man we had left with him very ill, went on immediately to Jucahipuah, where he could have some "remedios" given him by the women. We found there a canoe going to Baião, and sent him by it, as he would thus get home sooner than if he remained with us.

While walking on the beach I saw a tall, narrow-leaved, white-flowered Polygonum, so like some of our British species as to call up thoughts of home and of my botanical rambles there. Many curious land-shells were found, but all dead and bleached, and though we searched repeatedly we could find no living specimens. The feathers of the blue macaw were lying about the ground where the people had been feasting off their flesh, but we could not succeed in obtaining any specimens.

Every night, while in the upper part of the river, we had a concert of frogs, which made most extraordinary noises. There are three kinds, which can frequently be all heard at once. One of these makes a noise something like what one would expect a frog to make, namely a dismal croak, but the sounds uttered by the others were like no animal noise that I ever heard before. A distant railway-train approaching, and a blacksmith hammering on his anvil, are what they exactly resemble. They are such true imitations, that when lying half-dozing in the canoe I have often fancied myself at home, hearing the familiar sounds of the approaching mail-train, and the hammering of the boiler-makers at the iron-works. Then we often had the "guarhibas," or howling monkeys, with their terrific noises, the shrill grating whistle of the cicadas and locusts, and the peculiar notes of the suacúras and other aquatic birds; add to these the loud unpleasant hum of the mosquito in your immediate vicinity, and you have a pretty good idea of our nightly concert on the Tocantíns.

On the morning of the 19th, at Panajá, where we had passed the night, I took my gun and went into the forest, but found nothing. I saw, however, an immense silk-cotton-tree, one of the buttresses of which ran out twenty feet from the trunk. On the beach was a pretty yellow Œnothera, which is common all along this part of the river, as well as a small white passion-flower. Mr. Leavens here bought some rubber, and we then rowed or sailed on for the rest of the day. In the afternoon I took the montaria, with Isidora, to try and shoot some of the pretty yellow orioles. I killed one, but it stuck in a thick prickly tree, and we were obliged to come away without it. We passed Patos in the afternoon; near it was a tree covered with a mass of bright yellow blossoms, more brilliant than laburnum, and a really gorgeous sight.

The next day we left the land of the blue macaw without a single specimen. From this place to the Falls we had seen them every day, morning and evening, flying high over the river. At almost every house feathers were on the ground, showing that this splendid bird is often shot for food. Alexander once had a chance at them, but his gun missed fire, and they immediately flew off. Lower down the river they are scarcely ever seen, and never below Baião, while from this place up they are very abundant. What can be the causes which so exactly limit the range of such a strongly-flying bird? It appears with the rock, and with this there is no doubt a corresponding change in the fruits on which the birds feed.

Our Indians seeing a likely place on the beach for turtles' eggs, went on shore in the montaria, and were fortunate enough to find a hundred and twenty-three buried in the sand. They are oily and very savoury, and we had an immense omelet for dinner. The shell is leathery, and the white never coagulates, but is thrown away, and the yolk only eaten. The Indians eat them also raw, mixed with farinha. We dined on the beach, where there was abundance of a plant much resembling chamomile. The sands were very hot, so that it was almost impossible to walk over them barefooted. The Indians, in crossing extensive beaches, stop and dig holes in the sand to cool their feet in. We now got on very slowly, having to tack across and across the river, the wind blowing up it, as it always does at this season.

Where we stopped for breakfast on the 21st, I shot a very prettily-marked small hawk. Insects were also rather abundant, and we captured some fine Papilios, and two or three new species of clear-winged Heliconia. Alexander found a bees'-nest in a hole in a tree, and got about two quarts of honey, which when strained was very sweet, but with a hot waxy taste. The comb consists of oval cells of black wax, very irregular in shape and size, and displaying little of the skill of our bees at home. The next night, rather late, we arrived at Jambouassu, the sitio of Senhor Seixus, where we were kindly received, and, about nine o'clock, turned into our rédés in his verandah.

The next morning I walked out to examine the premises. The whole of the forest, for some miles round the house, is a cacao plantation, there being about sixty thousand trees, which have all been planted; the small trees and brush having been cleared from the forest, but all the seringa and other large forest-trees left for shade, which the cacao requires. The milk from the seringa-trees is collected every morning in large univalve shells, which are stuck with clay to the tree, and a small incision made in the bark above. It is formed into shoes or bottles, on moulds of clay, or into flat cakes. It hardens in a few hours, and is blackened with a smoke produced by burning the nuts of the Urucurí palm, and is then india-rubber. Just before leaving this place I met with an accident, which might have been very serious. My gun was lying loaded on the top of the canoe, and wishing to shoot some small birds near the house, I drew it towards me by the muzzle, which, standing on the steps of the landing-place, was the only part I could reach. The hammer, however, lay in a joint of the boards, and as I drew the gun towards me it was raised up, and let fall on the cap, firing off the gun, the charge carrying off a small piece of the under-side of my hand near the wrist, and, passing under my arm within a few inches of my body luckily missed a number of people who were behind me. I felt my hand violently blown away, and looking at it, saw a stream of blood, but felt no pain for some minutes. As we had nothing to put to it, I tied it up with a quantity of cotton; and about twelve o'clock, the tide serving, we bade adieu to Senhor Seixus, who had treated us very kindly both here and at Baião.