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N  THE  AM  A 
J  U  N  G  L I 

DVENTURES    IN    REMOTE  PAR! 
UPPER   AMAZON    RIVER,   Is 
SOJOURN  AMONG  CANNIBAL  I 


BY 

A  young  Indian  of  the  Mangeroma  tribe 
using  blow-gun  with  its  poisoned  arrows. 

EDITED  IN  PART  BY  J.  ODELL  MAUSER 

From  a  photograph  by  the  author. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

FREDERICK  S.  DEJLLENBAUGH 


86  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  ORIGINAL  PHOTOGRAPHS 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Ube  fmtcfeerbocfcer  press 

1912 


odrtf 


ortt 


A 


.SWOTTB  bsaosioq-  sti  rfoiw  nrr^-wokf  ^nh  ;/ 

lj  yd  rfqjjT^^'-: 


"X 


Ltiwt 


IN  THE  AMAZ 


JUNGLE 


^ 


""" 


ADVENTURES    IN    REMOTE  PARTS  OF   THE 

UPPER   AMAZON    RIVER,   INCLUDING   A 

SOJOURN  AMONG  CANNIBAL  INDIANS 


BY 

ALGOT\ANGE^ 

EDITED  IN  PART  BY  J.  ODELL  HAUSER 
WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

FREDERICK  S.  DELLENBAUGH 


WITH  86  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  ORIGINAL  PHOTOGRAPHS 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
Imicfeerbocfeer  press 

1912 


COPYRIGHT,  1912 

BY 
ALGOT    LANGE 


f 


Ube  Tftnfcftcrbocher  press,  l^ew 


So 

THE    MEMORY    OF 

MY    FATHER 


INTRODUCTION 

WHEN  Mr.  Algot  Lange  told  me  he 
was  going  to  the  headwaters  of  the 
Amazon,  I  was  particularly  interested  because 
once,  years  ago,  T  had  turned  my  own  mind 
in  that  direction  with  considerable  longing. 
I  knew  he  would  encounter  many  set-backs, 
but  I  never  would  have  predicted  the  adven- 
tures he  actually  passed  through  alive. 

He  started  in  fine  spirits:  buoyant,  strong, 
vigorous.  When  I  saw  him  again  in  New 
York,  a  year  or  so  later,  on  his  return,  he 
was  an  emaciated  fever- wreck,  placing  one 
foot  before  the  other  only  with  much  exertion 
and  indeed  barely  able  to  hold  himself  erect. 
A  few  weeks  in  the  hospital,  followed  by  a 
daily  diet  of  quinine,  improved  his  condition, 
but  after  months  he  had  scarcely  arrived  at 
his  previous  excellent  physical  state. 

Many  explorers  have  had  experiences 
similar  to  those  related  in  this  volume,  but, 
at  least  so  far  as  the  fever  and  the  cannibals 


fiHtlll*  I  tW 


VI 


Introduction 


are  concerned,  they  have  seldom  survived 
to  tell  of  them.  Their  interviews  with 
cannibals  have  been  generally  too  painfully 
confined  to  internal  affairs  to  be  available 
in  this  world  for  authorship,  whereas  Mr. 
Lange,  happily,  avoided  not  only  a  calamitous 
intimacy,  but  was  even  permitted  to  view 
the  culinary  preparations  relating  to  the 
absorption  of  less  favoured  individuals,  and 
himself  could  have  joined  the  feast,  had  he 
possessed  the  stomach  for  it. 

These  good  friends  of  his,  the  Mangeromas, 
conserved  his  life  when  they  found  him 
almost  dying,  not,  strange  as  it  may  appear, 
for  selfish  banqueting  purposes,  but  merely 
that  he  might  return  to  his  own  people.  It 
seems  rather  paradoxical  that  they  should 
have  loved  one  stranger  so  well  as  to  spare 
him  with  suspicious  kindness,  and  love  others 
to  the  extent  of  making  them  into  table 
delicacies.  The  explanation  probably  is  that 
these  Mangeromas  were  the  reverse  of  a  cer- 
tain foreign  youth  with  only  a  small  stock  of 
English,  who,  on  being  offered  in  New  York 
a  fruit  he  had  never  seen  before,  replied, 
'Thank  you,  I  eat  only  my  acquaintances" — 
the  Mangeromas  eat  only  their  enemies. 
Mr.  Lange's  account  of  his  stay  with  these 


Introduction  vii 

people,  of  their  weapons,  habits,  form  of 
battle,  and  method  of  cooking  the  human 
captives,  etc.,  forms  one  of  the  specially  inter- 
esting parts  of  the  book,  and  is  at  the  same 
time  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  ethnology 
of  the  western  Amazon  (or  Maranon)  region, 
where  dwell  numerous  similar  tribes  little 
known  to  the  white  man.  Particularly 
notable  is  his  description  of  the  wonderful 
wourahli  (urari)  poison,  its  extraordinary 
effect,  and  the  modus  operandi  of  its  making; 
a  poison  used  extensively  by  Amazonian 
tribes  but  not  made  by  all.  He  describes 
also  the  bows  and  arrows,  the  war-clubs,  and 
the  very  scientific  weapon,  the  blow-gun. 
He  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  photograph 
of  a  Mangeroma  in  the  act  of  shooting  this 
gun.  Special  skill,  of  course,  is  necessary 
for  the  effective  use  of  this  simple  but  terrible 
arm,  and,  like  that  required  for  the  boomerang 
or  lasso,  practice  begins  with  childhood. 

The  region  of  Mr.  Lange's  almost  fatal 
experiences,  the  region  of  the  Javary  River 
(the  boundary  between  Brazil  and  Peru), 
is  one  of  the  most  formidable  and  least  known 
portions  of  the  South  American  continent. 
It  abounds  with  obstacles  to  exploration  of 
the  most  overwhelming  kind.  Low,  swampy, 


viii  Introduction 

with  a  heavy  rainfall,  it  is  inundated  annu- 
ally, like  most  of  the  Amazon  basin,  and  at 
time  of  high  water  the  rivers  know  no  limits. 
Lying,  as  it  does,  so  near  the  equator,  the  heat 
is  intense  and  constant,  oppressive  even  to 
the  native.  The  forest-growth — and  it  is 
forest  wherever  it  is  not  river — is  forced  as  in 
a  huge  hothouse,  and  is  so  dense  as  to  render 
progress  through  it  extremely  difficult.  Not 
only  are  there  obstructions  in  the  way  of  tree 
trunks,  underbrush,  and  trailing  vines  and 
creepers  like  ropes,  but  the  footing  is  nothing 
more  than  a  mat  of  interlaced  roots.  The 
forest  is  also  sombre  and  gloomy.  To  take 
a  photograph  required  an  exposure  of  from 
three  to  five  minutes.  Not  a  stone,  not  even 
a  pebble,  is  anywhere  to  be  found. 

Disease  is  rampant,  especially  on  the 
smaller  branches  of  the  rivers.  The  incurable 
beri-beri  and  a  large  assortment  of  fevers 
claim  first  place  as  death  dealers,  smiting  the 
traveller  with  fearful  facility.  Next  come  a 
myriad  of  insects  and  reptiles — alligators, 
huge  bird-eating  spiders,  and  snakes  of  many 
varieties.  Snakes,  both  the  poisonous  and 
non-poisonous  kinds,  find  here  conditions 
precisely  to  their  liking.  The  bush-master 
is  met  with  in  the  more  open  places,  and  there 


Introduction  ix 

are  many  that  are  venomous,  but  the  most 
terrifying,  though  not  a  biting  reptile,  is  the 
water-boa,  the  sucuruju  (Eunectes  murinus)  or 
anaconda.  It  lives  to  a  great  age  and  reaches 
a  size  almost  beyond  belief.  Feeding,  as  gen- 
erally it  does  at  night,  it  escapes  common 
observation,  and  white  men,  heretofore,  have 
not  seen  the  largest  specimens  reported,  though 
more  than  thirty  feet  is  an  accepted  length, 
and  Bates,  the  English  naturalist,  mentions 
one  he  heard  of,  forty-two  feet  long.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  Mr.  Lange  should  have 
met  with  one  in  the  far  wilderness  he  visited, 
of  even  greater  proportions,  a  hideous  monster, 
ranking  in  its  huge  bulk  with  the  giant  beasts 
of  antediluvian  times.  The  sucuruju  is  said  to 
be  able  to  swallow  whole  animals  as  large  as  a 
goat  or  a  donkey,  or  even  larger,  and  the  nat- 
uralist referred  to  tells  of  a  ten-year-old  boy,  son 
of  his  neighbour,  who,  left  to  mind  a  canoe  while 
his  father  went  into  the  forest,  was,  in  broad 
day,  playing  in  the  shade  of  the  trees,  stealthily 
enwrapped  by  one  of  the  monsters.  His  cries 
brought  his  father  to  the  rescue  just  in  time. 

As  the  Javary  heads  near  the  eastern  slopes 
and  spurs  of  the  great  Peruvian  Cordillera, 
where  once  lived  the  powerful  and  wealthy 
Inca  race  with  their  great  stores  of  pure  gold 


x  Introduction 

obtained  from  prolific  mines  known  to  them, 
it  is  again  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Lange 
should  have  stumbled  upon  a  marvellously 
rich  deposit  of  the  precious  metal  in  a  singular 
form.  The  geology  of  the  region  is  unknown 
and  the  origin  of  the  gold  Mr.  Lange  found 
cannot  at  present  even  be  surmised. 

Because  of  the  immense  value  of  the  rubber 
product,  gold  attracts  less  attention  than  it 
would  in  some  other  country.  The  rubber 
industry  is  extensive  and  thousands  of  the 
wild  rubber  trees  are  located  and  tapped. 
The  trees  usually  are  found  near  streams 
and  the  search  for  them  leads  the  rubber- 
hunter  farther  and  farther  into  the  unbroken 
wilderness.  Expeditions  from  time  to  time 
are  sent  out  by  rich  owners  of  rubber  "  estates" 
to  explore  for  fresh  trees,  and  after  his  sojourn 
at  Remate  de  Males  and  Floresta,  so  full 
of  interest,  Mr.  Lange  accompanied  one  of 
these  parties  into  the  unknown,  with  the 
extraordinary  results  described  so  simply  yet 
dramatically  in  the  following  pages,  which  I 
commend  most  cordially,  both  to  the  experi- 
enced explorer  and  to  the  stay-by-the-fire, 
as  an  unusual  and  exciting  story  of  adventure. 

FREDERICK  S.  DELLENBAUGH. 

NEW  YORK,  November  24,  1911. 


PREFACE 

IT  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  a 
1  more  hospitable  and  generous  nation  than 
the  Brazilian.  The  recollection  of  my  trip 
through  the  wilds  of  Amazonas  lingers  in  all 
its  details,  and  although  my  experiences  were 
not  always  of  a  pleasant  character,  yet  the 
good  treatment  and  warm  reception  accorded 
me  make  me  feel  the  deepest  sense  of  grati- 
tude to  the  Brazilians,  whose  generosity  will 
always  abide  in  my  memory. 

There  is  in  the  Brazilian  language  a  word 
that  better  than  any  other  describes  the  feel- 
ing with  which  one  remembers  a  sojourn  in 
Brazil.  This  word,  saudades,  is  charged  with 
an  abundance  of  sentiment,  and,  though  a 
literal  translation  of  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at, 
its  meaning  approaches  "  sweet  memories  of 
bygone  days." 

Although  a  limitation  of  space  forbids  my 
expressing  in  full  my  obligation  to  all  those 
who  treated  me  kindly,  I  must  not  omit  to 

xi 


Xll 


Preface 


state  my  special  indebtedness  to  three  persons, 
without  whose  invaluable  assistance  and  co- 
operation I  would  not  have  been  able  to  com- 
plete this  book. 

First  of  all,  my  thanks  are  due  to  the 
worthy  Colonel  Rosendo  da  Silva,  owner  of 
the  rubber  estate  Floresta  on  the  Itecoahy 
River.  Through  his  generosity  and  his  inter- 
est, I  was  enabled  to  study  the  work  and  the 
life  conditions  of  the  rubber  workers,  the 
employees  on  his  estate. 

The  equally  generous  but  slightly  less 
civilised  Benjamin,  high  potentate  of  the 
tribe  of  Mangeroma  cannibals,  is  the  second 
to  whom  I  wish  to  express  my  extreme  grati- 
tude, although  my  obligations  to  him  are 
of  a  slightly  different  character:  in  the  first 
place,  because  he  did  not  order  me  to  be  killed 
and  served  up,  well  or  medium  done,  to  suit 
his  fancy  (which  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do) ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  because  he  took  a 
great  deal  of  interest  in  my  personal  welfare 
and  bestowed  all  the  strange  favours  upon  me 
that  are  recorded  in  this  book.  He  opened 
my  eyes  to  things  which,  at  the  time  and 
under  the  circumstances,  did  not  impress  me 
much,  but  which,  nevertheless,  convinced  me 
that,  even  at  this  late  period  of  the  world's 


Preface  xiii 

history,  our  earth  has  not  been  reduced  to 
a  dead  level  of  drab  and  commonplace  exist- 
ence, and  that  somewhere  in  the  remote  parts 
of  the  world  are  still  to  be  found  people  who 
have  never  seen  or  heard  of  white  men. 

Last,  but  not  least,  I  wish  to  express  my 
deep  obligation  to  my  valued  friend,  Fred- 
erick S.  Dellenbaugh,  who,  through  his  helpful 
suggestions,  made  prior  to  my  departure,  con- 
tributed essentially  to  the  final  success  of  this 
enterprise,  and  whose  friendly  assistance  has 
been  called  into  requisition  and  unstintingly 
given  in  the  course  of  the  preparation  of  this 
volume. 

A.  L. 

NEW  YORK,  January,  1912. 


„«**•* 


XIV 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    REMATE  DE  MALES,  OR  "CULMINATION 

OF  EVILS"       .       : "..;     ;..'        .         .         3 

II    THE   SOCIAL  AND   POLITICAL   LIFE   OF 

REMATE  DE  MALES  ....       55 

III  OTHER  INCIDENTS  DURING  MY  STAY  IN 

REMATE  DE  MALES  .          .          .          .81 

IV  THE  JOURNEY  UP  THE  ITECOAHY  RIVER  .       97 

V    FLORESTA:    LIFE  AMONG  THE  RUBBER- 
WORKERS         .....     161 

VI    THE    FATAL     MARCH    THROUGH     THE 

FOREST 253 

VII    THE  FATAL  "  TAMBO  No.  9"         .         .     277 

VIII    WHAT  HAPPENED  IN  THE  FOREST  .     293 

IX    AMONG  THE  CANNIBAL  MANGEROMAS     .     315 

X    THE  FIGHT  BETWEEN  THE  MANGEROMAS 

AND  THE  PERUVIANS         .         .         .     367 

INDEX 403 


xv 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  LITTLE  VILLAGE  BUILT  ON  POLES         .         .  5 

THE  JAVARY  RIVER        .....  9 

THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  ITECOAHY  RIVER      .         .  13 

NAZARETH 17 

TRADER'S  STORE    .         .         .         .         .         .21 

REMATE  DE  MALES  OR  " CULMINATION  OF  EVILS"  25 

THE  STREET  IN  REMATE  DE  MALES  ...  29 

GENERAL  VIEW  OF  REMATE  DE  MALES     .         .  33 

SUNSET  ON  THE  ITECOAHY  RIVER     ...  37 

AN  ANT  NEST  IN  A  TREE         ....  41 

THE  LAUNCH  "  CAROLINA  "  45 

THE  BANKS  OF  THE  ITECOAHY  49 

THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  ITUHY  RIVER  57 
THE  TOUCAN         .         .         .         .         Q         .61 

THE  BANKS  OF  THE  ITECOAHY  RIVER        .         „  65 

CLEARING  THE  JUNGLE  69 

URUBUS        .......  75 

"  NOVA  AURORA  " 83 

xvii 


XV111 


Illustrations 


"  DEFUMADOR"  OR  SMOKING  HUT   .  .       87 

MATAMATA  TREE  .  .91 

THE  URUCU  PLANT         .  99 

THE  AUTHOR  IN  THE  JUNGLE  .  .103 

THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  BRANCO  .          .  .107 

BRANDING  RUBBER  ON  THE  SAND-BAR      .          .     in 
THE  LANDING  AT  FLORESTA    .         .  .115 

THE  BANKS  AT  FLORESTA        .          .  .119 

A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  FLORESTA       .  .123 

MORNING      .......     127 

CORONEL  ROSENDO  DA  SlLVA  .          .          .  13! 

CHIEF  MARQUES 135 

INTERIOR  OF  A  RUBBER- WORKER'S  HUT   .  139 

JOAO     .  ...      143 

THE  MURUMURU  PALM  .          .          .          .  147 

A  "  SERINGUEIRO  "  TAPPING  A  RUBBER  TREE   .     151 
SMOKING  THE  RUBBER-MILK  .          .          .155 

FOREST  INTERIOR  .          .          .          .          .          .163 

A   FIG-TREE   COMPLETELY   OVERGROWN  WITH 
ORCHIDS    .......      167 

CHICO,  THE  MONKEY      .          .          .          .  171 

TURTLE  EGGS  ON  THE  SAND-BANK  .          .  175 

THE  PIRARUCU 181 

THE   LAST   RESTING-PLACE   OF   THE   RUBBER- 
WORKERS  .          .          .          .          .          .          .187 


Illustrations  xix 

PAGE 

ERINGUEIROS "  .  .       193 

JOAO      ....  .  .       199 

FLORESTA  CREEK  ...  .  205 

LAKE  INNOCENCE  .          .          .          .          .          .211 

ij 

ALLIGATOR  FROM  LAKE  INNOCENCE           .         .215 
ANOTHER  ALLIGATOR  FROM  LAKE  INNOCENCE   .     219 
RUBBER-WORKERS'   HOME  NEAR   LAKE   INNO- 
CENCE         223 

HARPOONING  A  LARGE  STING-RAY  .  .  .227 
SHOOTING  FISH  ON  LAKE  INNOCENCE  .  .231 

THE  PIRARUCU 235 

AMAZONIAN  GAME-FISH  ....  239 
THE  TRACK  OF  THE  ANACONDA — THE  SUCURUJU  .  243 
THE  PACA 247 

RUBBER-WORKER  PERREIRA  AND  WIFE  IN  THEIR 
SUNDAY  CLOTHES  .....  255 

A  "NEW  HOME"  SEWING-MACHINE  IN  AN 
INDIAN  HUT  ......  259 

THE  REMARKABLE  PACHIUBA  PALM-TREE          .  263 

KITCHEN  INTERIOR 267 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  FATAL  EXPEDITION      .  271 

A  HALT  IN  THE  FOREST           ....  279 

JUNGLE  SCENERY 285 

FOREST  CREEK 295 

TOP  OF  HILL                                               .         .  301 


xx  Illustrations 


PAGE 


MARSH-DEER  AND  MUTUM-BIRD     .          .          .  307 

JUNGLE  DARKNESS          .         .         .         .  317 

CREEK  IN  THE  UNKNOWN        .          .          .          .323 

EATING  OUR  BROILED  MONKEY  AT  TAMBO  No.  5  329 

HUNTING       .......  335 

THE  FATAL  TAMBO  No.  9                 .          .          .  341 

A  PHOTOGRAPH  OF  THE  AUTHOR       .          .          .  347 

THE  FRONT  VIEW  OF  TAMBO  No.  9            .          .  353 

CAOUTCHOUC  PROCESS  No.  i  .          .         .          .  359 

CAOUTCHOUC  PROCESS  No.  2  .          .         .         .  369 

CAOUTCHOUC  PROCESS  No.  3  .          .          .          .  375 

CREEK  NEAR  TAMBO  No.  9      ....  379 

THE  AUTHOR'S  WORKING  TABLE  AT  TAMBO  No.  9  385 
FOREST  SCENERY  NEAR  TAMBO  No.  9        .          .391 

OUR  PARTING  BREAKFAST        ....  395 

MANGEROMA  VASE          .....  399 


IN  THE  AMAZON  JUNGLE 


Remate  de Males, or 
"Culmination  of  Evils 


In  the  Amazon  Jungle 


CHAPTER  I 


REMATE  DE  MALES,  OR  "CULMINATION  OF  EVILS" 


MY  eyes  rested  long  upon  the  graceful 
white-painted  hull  of  the  R.  M.  S. 
Manco  as  she  disappeared  behind  a  bend 
of  the  Amazon  River,  more  than  2200  miles 
from  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  After  47  days  of 
continuous  travel  aboard  of  her,  I  was  at  last 
standing  on  the  Brazilian  frontier,  watching 
the  steamer's  plume  of  smoke  still  hanging 
lazily  over  the  immense,  brooding  forests. 
More  than  a  plume  of  smoke  it  was  to  me 
then;  it  was  the  final  link  that  bound  me  to 
the  outside  world  of  civilisation.  At  last  it 
disappeared.  I  turned  and  waded  through 
the  mud  up  to  a  small  wooden  hut  built  on 
poles. 

It  was    the    end    of   January,    1910,    that 

3 


4  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

saw  me  approaching  this  house,  built  on 
Brazilian  terra  firma — or  rather  terra  aqua, 
for  water  was  inundating  the  entire  land. 
I  had  behind  me  the  Amazon  itself,  and  to 
the  right  the  Javary  River,  while  the  little 
house  that  I  was  heading  for  was  Esperanca, 
the  official  frontier  station  of  Brazil.  The 
opposite  shore  was  Peru  and  presented  an 
unbroken  range  of  dense,  swampy  forest, 
grand  but  desolate  to  look  upon. 

A  middle-aged  man  in  uniform  came 
towards  me  and  greeted  me  cordially,  in  fact 
embraced  me,  and,  ordering  a  servant  to  pull 
my  baggage  out  of  the  water,  led  me  up  a 
ladder  into  the  house.  I  told  him  that  I 
intended  to  go  up  the  Javary  River,  to  a  place 
called  Remate  de  Males,  where  I  would  live 
with  a  medical  friend  of  mine,  whereupon  he 
informed  me  that  a  launch  was  due  this  same 
night,  which  would  immediately  proceed  to 
my  proposed  destination.  Later  in  the 
evening  the  launch  came  and  I  embarked  after 
being  once  more  embraced  by  the  courteous 
Ccr.  Monteiro,  the  frontier  official.  The 
captain  of  this  small  trading  launch  was  an 
equally  hospitable  and  courteous  man;  he  in- 
vited me  into  his  cabin  and  tried  to  explain 
that  this  river,  and  the  town  in  particular. 


A  Night  Voyage 


where  we  were  going,  was  a  most  unhealthy 
and  forbidding  place,  especially  for  a  foreigner, 
but  he  added  cheerfully  that  he  knew  of  one 
white  man,  an  Englishman,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded in  living  for  several  years  on  the 
Javary  without  being  killed  by  the  fever, 
but  incidentally  had  drank  himself  to  death. 

The  night  was  very  dark  and  damp,  and 
I  did  not  see  much  of  the  passing  scenery; 
a  towering  black  wall  of  trees  was  my  total 
impression  during  the  journey.  However,  T 
managed  at  length  to  fall  asleep  on  some  coffee- 
bags  near  the  engine  and  did  not  wake  till 
the  launch  was  exhausting  its  steam  supply 
through  its  whistle. 

My  next  impression  was  that  of  a  low  river 
bank  fringed  with  dirty  houses  lighted  by 
candles.  People  were  sitting  in  hammocks 
smoking  cigarettes,  dogs  were  barking  in- 
cessantly, and  frogs  and  crickets  were  making 
a  deafening  noise  when  I  walked  up  the  main 
and  only  street  of  this  little  town,  which  was 
to  be  my  headquarters  for  many  months  to 
come. 

After  some  inquiry,  I  finally  found  my 
friend,  Dr.  M — ,  sitting  in  a  dark,  dismal 
room  in  the  so-called  Hotel  Agosto.  With  a 
graceful  motion  of  his  hand  he  pointed  to 


8  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

a  chair  of  ancient  structure,  indicating  that 
having  now  travelled  so  many  thousand  miles 
to  reach  this  glorious  place,  I  was  entitled  to 
sit  down  and  let  repose  overtake  me.  Indeed, 
I  was  in  Remate  de  Males. 

Never  shall  I  forget  that  first  night's  ex- 
perience with  mosquitoes  and  ants.  Besides 
this  my  debut  in  a  hammock  for  a  bed 
was  a  pronounced  failure,  until  a  merciful 
sleep  temporarily  took  me  from  the  sad 
realities. 

Remate  de  Males  lies  just  where  a  step 
farther  would  plunge  one  into  an  unmapped 
country.  It  is  a  little  village  built  on  poles; 
the  last  "blaze"  of  civilisation  on  the  trail 
of  the  upper  river.  When  the  rainy  winter 
season  drives  out  of  the  forests  every  living 
creature  that  can  not  take  refuge  in  the  trees, 
the  rubber-workers  abandon  the  crude  stages 
of  the  manufacture  that  they  carry  on  there 
and  gather  in  the  village  to  make  the  best  of 
what  life  has  to  offer  them  in  this  region.  At 
such  times  the  population  rises  to  the  number 
of  some  500  souls,  for  the  most  part  Brazilians 
and  domesticated  Indians  or  caboclos. 

Nothing  could  better  summarise  the  at- 
tractions ( !)  of  the  place  than  the  name  which 
has  become  fixed  upon  it.  Translated  into 


11 

1  i 


A  Settler's  Triumph  u 


English  this  means  "Culmination  of  Evils," 
Remate  de  Males. 

Some  thirty  years  ago,  a  prospector  with 
his  family  and  servants,  in  all  about  a  score, 
arrived  at  this  spot  near  the  junction  of  the 
Javary  and  the  Itecoahy  rivers,  close  to  the 
equator.  They  came  by  the  only  possible 
highway,  the  river,  and  decided  to  settle. 
Soon  the  infinite  variety  of  destroyers  of 
human  life  that  abound  on  the  upper  Amazon 
began  their  work  on  the  little  household, 
reducing  its  number  to  four  and  threatening 
to  wipe  it  out  altogether.  But  the  prospector 
stuck  to  it  and  eventually  succeeded  in  giving 
mankind  a  firm  hold  on  this  wilderness.  In 
memory  of  what  he  and  succeeding  settlers 
went  through,  the  village  received  its  cynically 
descriptive  name. 

Remate  de  Males,  separated  by  weeks  and 
weeks  of  journey  by  boat  from  the  nearest 
spot  of  comparative  civilisation  down  the 
river,  has  grown  wonderfully  since  its  pioneer 
days.  Dismal  as  one  finds  it  to  be,  if  I 
can  give  an  adequate  description  in  these 
pages,  it  will  be  pronounced  a  monument  to 
man's  nature- conquering  instincts,  and  ability. 
Surely  no  pioneers  ever  had  a  harder  battle 
than  these  Brazilians,  standing  with  one  foot 


12  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

in  "the  white  man's  grave,"  as  the  Javary 
region  is  called  in  South  America,  while  they 
faced  innumerable  dangers.  The  markets 
of  the  world  need  rubber,  and  the  supplying 
of  this  gives  them  each  year  a  few  months' 
work  in  the  forests  at  very  high  wages.  I 
always  try  to  remember  these  facts  when 
I  am  tempted  to  harshly  judge  Remate  de 
Males  according  to  our  standards;  moreover, 
I  can  never  look  upon  the  place  quite  as  an 
outsider.  I  formed  pleasant  friendships  there 
and  entered  into  the  lives  of  many  of  its 
people,  so  I  shall  always  think  of  it  with 
affection.  The  village  is  placed  where  the 
Itecoahy  runs  at  right  angles  into  the  Javary, 
the  right-hand  bank  of  the  Itecoahy  forming 
at  once  its  main  and  its  only  street.  The 
houses  stand  facing  this  street,  all  very  primi- 
tive and  all  elevated  on  palm-trunk  poles 
as  far  as  possible  above  the  usual  high-water 
mark  of  the  river.  Everything,  from  the 
little  sheet-iron  church  to  the  pig-sty,  is  built 
on  poles.  Indeed,  if  there  is  anything  in 
the  theory  of  evolution,  it  will  not  be  many 
generations  before  the  inhabitants  and  do- 
mestic animals  are  born  equipped  with  stilts. 
Opposite  Remate  de  Males,  across  the 
Itecoahy,  is  a  collection  of  some  ten  huts  that 


Border  Etiquette  15 


'orm  the  village  of  Sao  Francisco,  while  across 
the  Javary  is  the  somewhat  larger  village  of 
Nazareth.  Like  every  real  metropolis,  you 
see,  Remate  de  Males  has  its  suburbs. 
Nazareth  is  in  Peruvian  territory,  the  Javary 
forming  the  boundary  between  Brazil  and 
Peru  throughout  its  length  of  some  700  miles. 
This  same  boundary  line  is  a  source  of  amusing 
punctiliousness  between  the  officials  of  each 
country.  To  cross  it  is  an  affair  requiring 
the  exercise  of  the  limits  of  statesmanship. 
I  well  remember  an  incident  that  occurred 
during  my  stay  in  the  village.  A  sojourner 
in  our  town,  an  Indian  rubber-worker  from 
the  Ituhy  River,  had  murdered  a  woman  by 
strangling  her.  He  escaped  in  a  canoe  to 
Nazareth  before  the  Brazilian  officials  could 
capture  him,  and  calmly  took  refuge  on  the 
porch  of  a  house  there,  where  he  sat  down  in  a 
hammock  and  commenced  to  smoke  cigarettes, 
feeling  confident  that  his  pursuers  would  not 
invade  Peruvian  soil.  But  local  diplomacy 
was  equal  to  the  emergency.  Our  officials  went 
to  the  shore  opposite  Nazareth,  and,  hiding  be- 
hind the  trees,  endeavoured  to  pick  off  their 
man  with  their  .44  Winchesters,  reasoning  that 
though  their  crossing  would  be  an  international 
incident,  no  one  could  object  to  a  bullet's 


16  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

crossing.  Their  poor  aim  was  the  weak  spot 
in  the  plan.  After  a  few  vain  shots  had 
rattled  against  the  sheet-iron  walls  of  the 
house  where  the  fugitive  was  sitting,  he  got 
up  from  among  his  friends  and  lost  himself 
in  the  jungle,  never  to  be  heard  of  again. 

About  sixty-five  houses,  lining  the  bank 
of  the  Itecoahy  River  over  a  distance  of 
what  would  be  perhaps  six  blocks  in  New 
York  City,  make  up  Remate  de  Males. 
They  are  close  together  and  each  has  a 
ladder  reaching  from  the  street  to  the  main 
and  only  floor.  At  the  bottom  of  every 
ladder  appears  a  rudimentary  pavement, 
probably  five  square  feet  in  area  and  con- 
sisting of  fifty  or  sixty  whiskey  and  gin  bottles 
placed  with  their  necks  downwards.  Thus  in 
the  rainy  season  when  the  water  covers  the 
street  to  a  height  of  seven  feet,  the  ladders 
always  have  a  solid  foundation.  The  floors 
consist  of  split  palm  logs  laid  with  the  round 
side  up.  Palm  leaves  form  the  roofs,  and 
rusty  corrugated  sheet-iron,  for  the  most  part, 
the  walls.  Each  house  has  a  sort  of  back- 
yard and  kitchen,  also  on  stilts  and  reached 
by  a  bridge. 

Through  the  roofs  and  rafters  gambol  all 
sorts  of  wretched  pests.  Underneath  the 


2 


W      w 

5S  -8 


A  Skyscraper  19 

houses  roam  pigs,  goats,  and  other  domestic 
animals,  which  sometimes  appear  in  closer 
proximity  than  might  be  wished,  owing  to 
the  spaces  between  the  logs  of  the  floor. 
That  is  in  the  dry  season.  In  the  winter, 
or  the  wet  season,  these  animals  are  moved 
into  the  houses  with  you,  and  their  places 
underneath  are  occupied  by  river  creatures, 
alligators,  water- snakes,  and  malignant,  re- 
pulsive fish,  of  which  persons  outside  South 
America  know  nothing. 

Near  the  centre  of  the  village  is  the  "sky- 
scraper," the  Hotel  de  Augusto,  which  boasts 
a  story  and  a  quarter  in  height.  Farther 
along  are  the  Intendencia,  or  Government 
building,  painted  blue,  the  post-office  yellow, 
the  Recreio  Popular  pink;  beyond,  the  resi- 
dence of  Mons.  Danon,  the  plutocrat  of 
the  village,  and  farther  "downtown"  the 
church,  unpainted.  Do  not  try  to  picture 
any  of  these  places  from  familiar  structures. 
They  are  all  most  unpretentious ;  their  main 
point  of  difference  architecturally  from  the 
rest  of  the  village  consists  in  more  utterly 
neglected  facades. 

The  post-office  and  the  meteorological 
observatory,  in  one  dilapidated  house,  presided 
over  by  a  single  self-important  official,  deserve 


20  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

description  here.  The  postmaster  himself 
is  a  pajama-clad  gentleman,  whose  appearance 
is  calculated  to  strike  terror  to  the  souls  of 
humble  seringueiros,  or  rubber- workers,  who 
apply  for  letters  only  at  long  intervals. 
On  each  of  these  occasions  I  would  see  this 
important  gentleman,  who  had  the  word 
coronet  prefixed  to  his  name,  Joao  Silva  de 
Costa  Cabral,  throw  up  his  hands,  in  utter 
despair  at  being  disturbed,  and  slowly  proceed 
to  his  desk  from  which  he  would  produce  the 
letters.  With  great  pride  this  " Pooh-Bah" 
had  a  large  sign  painted  over  the  door.  The 
post-office  over  which  he  presides  is  by  no 
means  overworked,  as  only  one  steamer 
arrives  every  five  weeks,  or  so,  but  still  he  has 
the  appearance  of  being  "driven."  But  when 
he  fusses  around  his  ' '  Observatorio  meteor  o- 
logico"  which  consists  of  a  maximum  and 
minimum  thermometer  and  a  pluviometer,  in 
a  tightly  closed  box,  raised  above  the  ground  on 
a  tall  pole,  then  indeed,  his  air  would  impress 
even  the  most  blase  town-sport.  I  was  in  the 
village  when  this  observatory  was  installed, 
and  after  it  had  been  running  about  a  week, 
the  mighty  official  called  on  me  and  asked  me 
confidentially  if  I  would  not  look  the  observa- 
tory over  and  see  if  it  was  all  right. 


81 


The  Observatory  23 

My  examination  showed  that  the  thermome- 
ters were  screwed  on  tight,  which  accounted 
for  the  amazingly  uniform  readings  shown 
on  his  chart.  The  pluviometer  was  inside 
the  box,  and  therefore  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  convince  scientists  that  the  clouds 
had  not  entirely  skipped  Remate  de  Males 
during  the  rainy  season,  unless  the  postmaster 
were  to  put  the  whole  observatory  under 
water  by  main  force.  He  also  had  a  chart 
showing  the  distribution  of  clouds  on  each  day 
of  the  year.  I  noticed  that  the  letter  "N" 
occupied  a  suspiciously  large  percentage  of 
the  space  on  the  chart,  and  when  I  asked  him 
for  the  meaning  of  this  he  said  that  "N" 
—which  in  meteorological  abbreviation  means 
Nimbus — stood  for  "NONE"  (in  Portuguese 
NAO).  And  he  thought  that  he  must  be 
right  because  it  was  the  rainy  season. 

The  hotel,  in  which  I  passed  several  months 
as  a  guest,  until  I  finally  decided  to  rent  a 
hut  for  myself,  had  points  about  it  which 
outdid  anything  that  I  have  ever  seen  or 
heard  of  in  comic  papers  about  "summer 
boarding."  The  most  noticeable  feature 
was  the  quarter-of-a-story  higher  than  any 
other  house  in  the  village.  While  this  meant 
a  lead  as  to  quantity  I  could  never  see  that 


24  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

it  represented  anything  in  actual  quality. 
I  would  not  have  ventured  up  the  ladder 
which  gave  access  to  the  extra  story  without 
my  Winchester  in  hand,  and  during  the  time 
T  was  there  I  never  saw  anyone  else  do  so. 
The  place  was  nominally  a  store-house,  but 
having  gone  undisturbed  for  long  periods 
it  was  an  ideal  sanctuary  for  hordes  of  vermin 
—and  these  the  vermin  of  the  Amazon, 
dangerous,  poisonous,  not  merely  the  an- 
noying species  we  know.  Rats  were  there 
in  abundance,  also  deadly  scolopendra  and 
centipedes;  and  large  bird-eating  spiders 
were  daily  seen  promenading  up  and  down 
the  sheet-iron  walls. 

On  the  main  floor  the  building  had  two  large 
rooms  across  the  centre,  one  on  the  front  and 
one  on  the  rear.  At  each  side  were  four 
small  rooms.  The  large  front-room  was  used 
as  a  dining-room  and  had  two  broad  tables 
of  planed  palm  trunks.  The  side-rooms 
were  bedrooms,  generally  speaking,  though 
most  of  the  time  I  was  there  some  were 
used  for  stabling  the  pigs  and  goats,  which 
had  to  be  taken  in  owing  to  the  rainy 
season. 

It  is  a  simple  matter  to  keep  a  hotel  on  the 
upper  Amazon.  Each  room  in  the  Hotel 


Cost  of  Living  27 

de  Augusto  was  neatly  and  chastely  furnished 
with  a  pair  of  iron  hooks  from  which  to  hang 
the  hammock,  an  article  one  had  to  provide 
himself.  There  was  nothing  in  the  room 
besides  the  hooks.  No  complete  privacy 
was  possible  because  the  corrugated  sheet- 
iron  partitions  forming  the  walls  did  not 
extend  to  the  roof.  The  floors  were  sections 
of  palm  trees,  with  the  flat  side  down,  making 
a  vSuccession  of  ridges  with  open  spaces  of 
about  an  inch  between,  through  which  the 
ground  or  the  water,  according  to  the  season, 
was  visible.  The  meals  were  of  the  usual 
monotonous  fare  typical  of  the  region.  Food 
is  imported  at  an  enormous  cost  to  this 
remote  place,  since  there  is  absolutely  no  local 
agriculture.  Even  sugar  and  rice,  for  in- 
stance, which  are  among  the  important  pro- 
ducts of  Brazil,  can  be  had  in  New  York  for 
about  one-tenth  of  what  the  natives  pay 
for  them  in  Remate  de  Males.  A  can  of 
condensed  milk,  made  to  sell  in  America  for 
eight  or  nine  cents,  brings  sixty  cents  on  the 
upper  Amazon,  and  preserved  butter  costs 
$1.20  a  pound. 

The  following  prices  which  I  have  had  to 
pay  during  the  wet  season  in  this  town  will, 
doubtless,  be  of  interest: 


28  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

One  box  of  sardines $  1 .20 

One  pound  of  unrefined  sugar .30 

One  roll  of  tobacco  (16  pounds) 21.30 

One  basket  of  farinha   retails   in    Para  for 

$4-50 I3-30 

One  bottle  of  ginger  ale .60 

One  pound  of  potatoes .60 

Calico  with  stamped  pattern,  pr.  yd .90 

One  Collins  machete,  N.  Y.  price,  $1.00  .  ...  12.00 

One  pair  of  men's  shoes i i.oo 

One  bottle  of  very  plain  port  wine,  22.000 

reis  or 7.30 

Under  such  circumstances,  of  course,  the 
food  supply  is  very  poor.  Except  for  a  few 
dried  cereals  and  staples,  nothing  is  used  but 
canned  goods;  the  instances  where  small 
domestic  animals  are  slaughtered  are  so  few 
as  to  be  negligible.  Furthermore,  as  a  rule, 
these  very  animals  are  converted  into  jerked 
meat  to  be  kept  for  months  and  months. 
Some  fish  are  taken  from  the  river,  but  the 
Amazon  fish  are  none  too  palatable  generally 
speaking,  with  a  few  exceptions;  besides,  the 
natives  are  not  skilful  enough  to  prepare 
them  to  suit  a  civilised  palate. 

A  typical,  well  provided  table  on  the  Ama- 
zon would  afford  dry  farinha  in  the  first 
place.  This  is  the  granulated  root  of  the 
Macacheira  plant,  the  Jatropha  manihot,  which 


as 


The  Bill  of  Fare  31 


to  our  palates  would  seem  like  desiccated 
sawdust,  although  it  appears  to  be  a  necessity 
for  the  Brazilian.  He  pours  it  on  his  meat, 
into  his  soup,  and  even  into  his  wine  and  jams. 
Next  you  would  have  a  black  bean,  which 
for  us  lacks  flavour  even  as  much  as  the 
farinha.  With  this  there  would  probably 
be  rice,  and  on  special  occasions  jerked  beef, 
a  product  as  tender  and  succulent  as  the  sole 
of  a  riding  boot.  Great  quantities  of  coffee 
are  drunk,  made  very  thick  and  prepared 
without  milk  or  sugar.  All  these  dishes  are 
served  at  once,  so  that  they  promptly  get  cold 
and  are  even  more  tasteless  before  their  turn 
comes  to  be  devoured. 

For  five  months  I  experienced  this  torturing 
menu  at  the  hotel  with  never-ceasing  regular- 
ity. The  only  change  I  ever  noticed  was 
on  Sundays  or  days  of  feast  when  beans  might 
occupy  the  other  end  of  the  table. 

But  what  can  the  Brazilians  do?  The  cost 
of  living  is  about  ten  times  as  high  as  in  New 
York.  Agriculture  is  impossible  in  the  regions 
where  the  land  is  flooded  annually,  and  the 
difficulties  of  shipping  are  enormous.  When 
I  left  the  hotel  and  started  housekeeping  on 
my  own  account,  I  found  that  I  could  not  do 
a  great  deal  better.  By  specialising  on  one 


32  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

thing  at  a  time  I  avoided  monotony  to  some 
extent,  but  then  it  was  probably  only  because 
I  was  a  "new  broom"  at  the  business. 

As  illustrating  the  community  life  that 
we  enjoyed  at  the  hotel,  I  will  relate  a  happen- 
ing that  I  have  set  down  in  my  notes  as  an 
instance  of  the  great  mortality  of  this  region. 
One  afternoon  a  woman's  three-months-old 
child  was  suddenly  taken  ill.  The  child 
grew  worse  rapidly  and  the  mother  finally 
decided  that  it  was  going  to  die.  Her 
husband  was  up  the  river  on  the  rubber  estates 
and  she  did  not  want  to  be  left  alone.  So 
she  came  to  the  hotel  with  the  child  and 
besought  them  to  let  her  in.  The  infant  was 
placed  in  a  hammock  where  it  lay  crying 
pitifully.  At  last  the  wailings  of  the  poor 
little  creature  became  less  frequent  and  the 
child  died. 

Before  the  body  was  quite  cold  the  mother 
and  the  landlady  commenced  clearing  a 
table  in  the  dining-room.  I  looked  at  this 
performance  in  astonishment  because  it  was 
now  evident  that  they  were  going  to  prepare 
a  "lit  de  parade"  there,  close  to  the  tables 
where  our  meals  were  served.  The  body 
was  then  brought  in.  dressed  in  a  white  robe 
adorned  with  pink,  yellow,  and  sky-blue  silk 


1 


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^^     b/> 

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A  Meal  in  a  Morgue 


35 


ribbons.  Loose  leaves  and  branches  were 
scattered  over  the  little  emaciated  body,  care 
being  taken  not  to  conceal  any  of  the  fancy 
silk  ribbons.  Empty  whiskey  and  gin  bottles 
were  placed  around  the  bier,  a  candle  stuck 
in  the  mouth  of  each  bottle,  and  then  the  whole 
thing  was  lighted  up. 

It  was  now  getting  dark  fast,  and  as  the 
doors  were  wide  open,  a  great  crowd  was  soon 
attracted  by  the  brilliant  display.  All  the 
"400"  of  the  little  rubber  town  seemed  to 
pour  in  a  steady  stream  into  the  dining-room. 
It  was  a  new  experience,  even  in  this  hotel 
where  I  had  eaten  with  water  up  to  my  knees, 
to  take  a  meal  with  a  funeral  going  on  three 
feet  away.  We  had  to  partake  of  our  food 
with  the  body  close  by  and  the  candle  smoke 
blowing  in  our  faces,  adding  more  local 
colour  to  our  jerked  beef  and  beans  than  was 
desirable.  More  and  more  people  came  in  to 
pay  their  respects  to  the  child  that  hardly  any 
one  had  known  while  it  was  alive.  Through 
it  all  the  mother  sat  on  a  trunk  in  a  corner 
peacefully  smoking  her  pipe,  evidently  proud 
of  the  celebration  that  was  going  on  in  honour 
of  her  deceased  offspring. 

The  kitchen  boy  brought  in  a  large  tray 
with  cups  of  steaming  coffee;  biscuits  also 


36  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

were  carried  around  to  the  spectators  who 
sat  against  the  wall  on  wooden  boxes.  The 
women  seemed  to  get  the  most  enjoyment 
out  of  the  mourning;  drinking  black  coffee, 
smoking  their  pipes,  and  paying  little  attention 
to  the  cause  of  their  being  there,  only  too 
happy  to  have  an  official  occasion  to  show  off 
their  finest  skirts.  The  men  had  assembled 
around  the  other  'table,  which  had  been 
cleared  in  the  meantime,  and  they  soon  sent 
the  boy  out  for  whiskey  and  beer,  passing 
away  the  time  playing  cards. 

I  modestly  inquired  how  long  this  feast 
was  going  to  last,  because  my  room  adjoined 
the  dining-room  and  was  separated  only  by 
a  thin  sheet -iron  partition  open  at  the  top. 
The  landlady,  with  a  happy  smile,  informed 
me  that  the  mourning  would  continue  till 
the  early  hours,  when  a  launch  would  arrive 
to  transport  the  deceased  and  the  guests  to 
the  cemetery.  This  was  about  four  miles 
down  the  Javary  River  and  was  a  lonely, 
half -submerged  spot. 

There  was  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  submit 
and  make  the  best  of  it.  All  night  the 
mourners  went  on,  the  women  drinking  black 
coffee,  while  the  men  gambled  and  drank 
whiskey  in  great  quantities,  the  empty  bottles 


a 

bb 

1 

S  2 


w  "o 

en  O 

^D  */) 

-  g 


Wading  to  Dinner 


39 


being  employed  immediately  as  additional 
candlesticks.  Towards  morning,  due  to  their 
heroic  efforts,  a  multitude  of  bottles  totally 
obliterated  the  "lit  de  parade"  from  view. 
I  managed  to  fall  asleep  completely  exhausted 
when  the  guests  finally  went  off  at  nine  o'clock. 
The  doctor  diagnosed  the  case  of  the  dead 
child  as  chronic  indigestion,  the  result  of  the 
mother's  feeding  a  three-months-old  infant 
on  jerked  beef  and  black  beans. 

Life  in  the  hotel  during  the  rainy  season 
is  variegated.  I  have  spoken  of  having  eaten 
a  meal  with  water  up  to  my  knees.  That 
happened  often  during  the  weeks  when  the 
river  was  at  its  highest  level.  Once  when  we 
were  having  our  noon-day  meal  during  the 
extreme  high- water  period  a  man  came  pad- 
dling his  canoe  in  at  the  open  door,  sailed 
past  us,,  splashing  a  little  water  on  the  table 
as  he  did  so,  and  navigated  through  to  the 
back  room  where  he  delivered  some  supplies. 

-During  this  feat  everybody  displayed  the 
cheerful  and  courteous  disposition  usual  to 
the  Brazilians.  At  this  season  you  must  wear 
wading  boots  to  eat  a  meal  or  do  anything 
else  about  the  house.  Sleeping  is  somewhat 
easier  as  the  hammocks  are  suspended  about 
three  feet  above  the  level  of  the  water,  but  an 


40  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

involuntary  plunge  is  a  thing  not  entirely  un- 
known to  an  amateur  sleeping  in  a  hammock; 
I  know  this  from  personal  experience. 

Every  morning  the  butcher  comes  to  the 
village  between  five  and  six  o'clock  and 
sharpens  his  knife  while  he  awaits  calls  for 
his  ministrations.  He  is  an  undersized  man 
with  very  broad  shoulders  and  a  face  remark- 
able for  its  cunning,  cruel  expression.  His 
olive-brown  complexion,  slanting  eyes,  high 
cheek-bones,  and  sharp-filed  teeth  are  all 
signs  of  his  coming  from  the  great  unknown 
interior.  His  business  here  is  to  slaughter 
the  cattle  of  the  town.  He  does  this  deftly 
by  thrusting  a  long-bladed  knife  into  the  neck 
of  the  animal  at  the  base  of  the  brain,  until 
it  severs  the  medulla,  whereupon  the  animal 
collapses  without  any  visible  sign  of  suffering. 
It  is  then  skinned  and  the  intestines  thrown 
into  the  water  where  they  are  immediately 
devoured  by  a  small  but  voracious  fish  called 
the  candiroo-escrivao.  This  whole  operation 
is  carried  on  inside  the  house,  in  the  back- 
room, as  long  as  the  land  is  flooded. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  during  the 
rainy  season  an  area  equal  in  size  to  about 
a  third  of  the  United  States  is  entirely  sub- 
merged. There  is  a  network  of  rivers  that 


AN  ANT  NEST  IN  A  TREE 
41 


Water,  Water,  Water 


43 


eventually  find  their  way  into  the  Amazon 
and  the  land  between  is  completely  inun- 
dated. In  all  this  immense  territory  there 
are  only  a  few  spots  of  sufficient  elevation 
to  be  left  high  and  dry.  Remate  de  Males, 
as  I  have  explained,  is  at  the  junction  of  the 
Itecoahy  and  the  Javary  rivers,  the  latter 
700  miles  in  length,  and  thirty  miles  or  so 
below  the  village  the  Javary  joins  the  Amazon 
proper,  or  Solimoes  as  it  is  called  here.  Thus 
we  are  in  the  heart  of  the  submerged  region. 
When  I  first  arrived  in  February,  1910, 1  found 
the  river  still  confined  to  its  channel,  with  the 
water  about  ten  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
street.  A  few  weeks  later  it  was  impos- 
sible to  take  a  single  step  on  dry  land 
anywhere. 

The  water  that  drives  the  rubber-workers 
out  of  the  forests  also  drives  all  animal  life 
to  safety.  Some  of  the  creatures  seek  refuge 
in  the  village.  I  remember  that  we  once  had 
a  huge  alligator  take  temporary  lodgings  in 
the  backyard  of  the  hotel  after  he  had  travelled 
no  one  knows  how  many  miles  through  the 
inundated  forest.  At  all  hours  we  could  hear 
him  making  excursions  under  the  house  to 
snatch  refuse  thrown  from  the  kitchen,  but 
we  always  knew  he  would  have  welcomed 


44  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

more  eagerly  a  member  of  the  household 
who  might  drop  his  way. 

And  now  a  few  words  about  the  people 
who  lived  under  the  conditions  I  have  de- 
scribed, and  who  keep  up  the  struggle  even 
though,  as  they  themselves  have  put  it,  "each 
ton  of  rubber  costs  a  human  life." 

In  the  first  place  I  must  correct  any  errone- 
ous impression  as  to  neatness  that  may  have 
been  formed  by  my  remarks  about  the  animals 
being  kept  in  the  dwellings  during  the  rainy 
season.  The  Brazilians  are  scrupulous  about 
their  personal  cleanliness,  and  in  fact,  go 
through  difficulties  to  secure  a  bath  which 
might  well  discourage  more  civilised  folk. 

No  one  would  dream,  for  an  instant,  of 
immersing  himself  in  the  rivers.  In  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  it  would  amount  to  suicide 
to  do  so,  and  the  natives  have  bathhouses 
along  the  shores;  more  literally  bathhouses 
than  ours,  for  their  baths  are  actually  taken  in 
them.  They  are  just  as  careful  about  clothing 
being  aired  and  clean.  Indeed,  the  main  item 
of  the  Brazilian  woman's  housekeeping  is 
the  washing.  The  cooking  is  rather  happy- 
go-lucky;  and  there  is  no  use  cleaning  and 
polishing  iron  walls;  they  get  rusty  anyhow. 

The  people  are  all  occupied  with  the  rubber 


ft 


A  Life  for  a  Ton  47 


industry  and  the  town  owes  its  existence  to 
the  economic  necessity  of  having  here  a 
shipping  and  trading  point  for  the  product. 
The  rubber  is  gathered  farther  up  along  the 
shores  of  the  Javary  and  the  Itecoahy  and 
is  transported  by  launch  and  canoe  to  Remate 
de  Males.  Here  it  is  shipped  directly  or  sold 
to  travelling  dealers  who  send  it  down  to 
Manaos  or  Para  via  the  boat  of  the  Amazon 
Steam  Navigation  Co.,  which  comes  up  during 
the  rainy  season.  Thence  it  goes  to  the  ports 
of  the  world. 

The  rubber- worker  is  a  well  paid  labourer 
even  though  he  belongs  to  the  unskilled  class. 
The  tapping  of  the  rubber  trees  and  the 
smoking  of  the  milk  pays  from  eight  to  ten 
dollars  a  day  in  American  gold.  This,  to 
him,  of  course,  is  riches  and  the  men  labour 
here  in  order  that  they  may  go  back  to  their 
own  province  as  wealthy  men.  Nothing  else 
will  yield  this  return;  the  land  is  not  used 
for  other  products.  It  is  hard  to  see  how 
agriculture  or  cattle-raising  could  be  carried 
on  in  this  region,  and,  if  they  could,  they  would 
certainly  not  return  more  than  one  fourth  or 
one  fifth  of  what  the  rubber  industry  does. 
The  owners  of  the  great  rubber  estates,  or 
seringales,  are  enormously  wealthy  men. 


48  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

There  are  fewer  women  than  men  in 
Remate  de  Males,  and  none  of  the  former  is 
beautiful.  They  are  for  the  most  part 
Indians  or  Brazilians  from  the  province  of 
Gear  a,  with  very  dark  skin,  hair,  and  eyes, 
and  teeth  filed  like  shark's  teeth.  They  go 
barefooted,  as  a  rule.  Here  you  will  find  all  the 
incongruities  typical  of  a  race  taking  the  first 
step  in  civilisation.  The  women  show  in 
their  dress  how  the  well-paid  men  lavish  on 
them  the  extravagances  that  appeal  to  the 
lingering  savage  left  in  their  simple  natures. 

Women,  who  have  spent  most  of  their  iso- 
lated lives  in  utterly  uncivilised  surroundings, 
will  suddenly  be  brought  into  a  community 
where  other  women  are  found,  and  immediately 
the  instinct  of  self-adornment  is  brought  into 
full  play.  Each  of  them  falls  under  the  sway 
of  ' '  Dame  Fashion '  '•  —for  there  are  the  latest 
things,  even  on  the  upper  Amazon.  Screaming 
colours  are  favoured;  a  red  skirt  with  green 
stars  was  considered  at  one  time  the  height 
of  fashion,  until  an  inventive  woman  discovered 
that  yellow  dots  could  also  be  worked  in. 
In  addition  to  these  dresses,  the  women  will 
squander  money  on  elegant  patent-leather 
French  slippers  (with  which  they  generally 
neglect  to  wear  stockings),  and  use  silk 


THE  BANKS  OF  THE  ITECOAHY 

From  a  photograph  taken  during  the  dry  season 


49 


Fashion's  Sway  51 


handkerchiefs  perfumed  with  the  finest 
Parisian  eau  de  Cologne,  bought  at  a  cost  of 
from  fourteen  to  fifteen  dollars  a  bottle. 
Arrayed  in  all  her  glory  on  some  gala  occasion, 
the  whole  effect  enhanced  by  the  use  of  a 
short  pipe  from  which  she  blows  volumes  of 
smoke,  the  woman  of  Remate  de  Males  is 
a  unique  sight. 


The  Social -and' 
Political  Life  in 
Reimvte  de  Males 


*#im,    ;;^itt^pU| 


53 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    SOCIAL   AND    POLITICAL   LIFE    OF    REMATE 
DE  MALES 


T 


HE  social  life  of  the  town  is  in  about  the 
same  stage  of  development  as  it  must 
have  been  during  the  Stone  Age.  When 
darkness  falls  over  the  village,  as  it  does  at 
six  o'clock  all  the  year  round,  life  practically 
stops,  and  a  few  hours  afterwards  everyone 
is  in  his  hammock. 

There  is  one  resort  where  the  town-sports 
come  to  spend  their  evenings,  the  so-called 
Recreio  Popular.  Its  principal  patrons  are 
seringueiros ,  or  rubber- workers,  who  have 
large  rolls  of  money  that  they  are  anxious  to 
spend  with  the  least  possible  effort,  and 
generally  get  their  desire  over  the  gaming 
boards.  The  place  is  furnished  with  a  billiard 
table  and  a  gramophone  with  three  badly 
worn  records.  The  billiard  table  is  in  constant 
use  by  a  certain  element  up  to  midnight,  and 

55 


56  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

so  are  the  three  eternal  records  of  the  gramo- 
phone. It  will  take  me  years  surrounded 
by  the  comforts  of  civilisation  to  get  those 
three  frightful  tunes  out  of  my  head,  and  I 
do  not  see  how  they  could  fail  to  drive  even 
the  hardened  seringueiros  to  an  early  grave. 

Another  resort  close  by,  where  the  native 
cachassa  is  sold,  is  patronised  principally 
by  negroes  and  half-breeds.  Here  they  play 
the  guitar,  in  combination  with  a  home-made 
instrument  resembling  a  mandolin,  as  accom- 
paniment to  a  monotonous  native  song, 
which  is  kept  up  for  hours.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  these  two  places,  the  village  does  not 
furnish  any  life  or  local  colour  after  nightfall, 
the  natives  spending  their  time  around  the 
mis-treated  gramophones,  which  are  found  in 
almost  every  hut. 

The  men  of  the  village,  unlike  the  women, 
are  not  picturesque  in  appearance.  The 
officials  are  well  paid,  so  is  everyone  else, 
yet  they  never  think  of  spending  money  to 
improve  the  looks  of  the  village  or  even 
their  own.  Most  of  them  are  ragged.  A  few 
exhibit  an  inadequate  elegance,  dressed  in 
white  suits,  derby  hats,  and  very  high  collars. 
But  in  spite  of  the  seeming  poverty,  there 
is  not  a  seringueirowho  could  not  at  a  moment's 


W  in 
>  £ 

II 
g  .8 
&  £ 

w      O 


§ 


Men  of  Millions  59 


notice  produce  a  handful  of  bills  that  would 
strike  envy  to  the  heart  of  many  prosperous 
business  men  of  civilisation.  The  amount 
will  often  run  into  millions  of  reis ;  a  sum  that 
may  take  away  the  breath  of  a  stranger  who 
does  not  know  that  one  thousand  of  these 
Brazilian  reis  make  but  thirty  cents  in  our 
money. 

The  people  of  the  Amazon  love  to  gamble. 
One  night  three  merchants  and  a  village 
official  came  to  the  hotel  to  play  cards. 
They  gathered  around  the  dining-room  table 
at  eight  o'clock,  ordered  a  case  of  Pabst  beer, 
which  sells,  by  the  way,  at  four  dollars  and 
sixty  cents  a  bottle  in  American  gold,  and 
several  boxes  of  our  National  Biscuit  Com- 
pany's products,  and  then  began  on  a  game, 
which  resembles  our  poker.  They  played  till 
midnight,  when  they  took  a  recess  of  half  an 
hour,  during  which  large  quantities  of  the 
warm  beer  and  many  crackers  were  consumed. 
Then,  properly  nourished,  they  resumed  the 
game,  which  lasted  until  six  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  This  was  a  fair  example  of  the 
gambling  that  went  on. 

The  stakes  were  high  enough  to  do  honours 
to  the  fashionable  gamblers  of  New  York, 
but  there  was  never  the  slightest  sign  of 


60  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

excitement.  At  first  I  used  to  expect  that 
surely  the  card  table  would  bring  forth  all 
sorts  of  flashes  of  tropic  temperament — even 
a  shooting  or  stabbing  affair.  But  the  com- 
posure was  always  perfect.  I  have  seen  a 
loser  pay,  without  so  much  as  a  regretful 
remark,  the  sum  of  three  million  and  a  half 
reis,  which,  though  only  $1050  in  our  money, 
is  still  a  considerable  sum  for  a  labourer  to 
lose. 

Once  a  month  a  launch  comes  down  from 
I  quit  os  in  Peru,  about  five  days'  journey  up 
the  Amazon.  This  launch  is  sent  out  by 
Iquitos  merchants,  to  supply  the  wants  of 
settlers  of  the  rubber  estates  on  the  various 
affluents.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  what  suf- 
fering would  result  if  these  launches  should 
be  prevented  from  reaching  their  destinations, 
for  the  people  are  absolutely  dependent  upon 
them,  the  region  being  non-producing,  as  I 
have  said,  and  the  supplies  very  closely 
calculated.  In  Remate  de  Males,  the  super- 
intendent, or  the  mayor  of  the  town,  gen- 
erally owns  a  few  head  of  cattle  brought  by 
steamer,  and  when  these  are  consumed  no 
meat  can  be  had  in  the  region  but  Swift's 
canned  "Corned  Beef." 

Then  there  are  the  steamers  from  the  outer 


b 

o 

W) 

£      C 


w   .t 

a  *> 

H     c 


Steamer  Days  63 


world.  During  the  rainy  season,  the  Maure- 
tania  could  get  up  to  Remate  de  Males  from 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  without  difficulty,  though 
there  is  no  heavy  navigation  on  the  upper 
Javary  River.  But  steamers  go  up  the  Ama- 
zon proper  several  days*  journey  farther.  You 
can  at  the  present  get  a  through  steamer  from 
Iquitos  in  Peru  down  the  Amazon  to  New 
York. 

These  boats  occasionally  bring  immigrants 
from  the  eastern  portions  of  Brazil,  where 
they  have  heard  of  the  fortunes  to  be  made 
in  working  the  rubber,  and  who  have  come, 
just  as  our  prospectors  came  into  the  West, 
hoping  to  take  gold  and  their  lives  back  with 
them.  Besides  passengers,  these  boats  carry 
cattle  and  merchandise  and  transport  the 
precious  rubber  back  to  Para  and  Manaos. 
They  are  welcomed  enthusiastically.  As  soon 
as  they  are  sighted,  every  man  in  town  takes 
his  Winchester  down  from  the  wall  and  runs 
into  the  street  to  empty  the  magazine  as 
many  times  as  he  feels  that  he  can  afford  in 
his  exuberance  of  feeling  at  the  prospect 
of  getting  mail  from  home  and  fresh  food 
supplies. 

On  some  occasions,  marked  with  a  red 
letter  on  the  calendar,  canoes  may  be  seen 


64  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

coming  down  the  Itecoahy  River,  decorated 
with  leaves  and  burning  candles  galore. 
They  are  filled  with  enthusiasts  who  are 
setting  off  fireworks  and  shouting  with  delight. 
They  are  devotees  of  some  up-river  saint, 
who  are  taking  this  conventional  way  of  paying 
the  headquarters  a  visit. 

The  priest,  who  occupies  himself  with 
saving  the  hardened  souls  of  the  rubber- 
workers,  is  a  worthy-looking  man,  who  wears 
a  dark-brown  cassock,  confined  at  the  waist 
with  a  rope.  He  is  considered  the  champion 
drinker  of  Remate  de  Males.  The  church 
is  one  of  the  neatest  buildings  in  the  town, 
though  this  may  be  because  it  is  so  small 
as  to  hold  only  about  twenty-five  people. 
It  is  devoid  of  any  article  of  decoration, 
but  outside  is  a  white-washed  wooden  cross 
on  whose  foundation  candles  are  burned, 
when  there  is  illness  in  some  family,  or  the 
local  patron  saint's  influence  is  sought  on 
such  a  problem  as  getting  a  job.  The  religion 
is,  of  course,  Catholic,  but,  as  in  every  case 
where  isolation  from  the  source  occurs,  the 
natives  have  grafted  local  influences  into  their 
faith,  until  the  result  is  a  Catholicism  different 
from  the  one  we  know. 

The  administration  of  the  town  is  in  the 


Some  Officials  67 


hands  of  the  superintendent,  who  is  a  Federal 
officer  not  elected  by  the  villagers.  His 
power  is  practically  absolute  as  far  as  this 
community  is  concerned.  Under  him  are 
a  number  of  Government  officials,  all  of 
whom  are  extremely  well  paid  and  whose 
duty  seems  to  consist  in  being  on  hand 
promptly  when  the  salaries  are  paid. 

The  chief  of  police  is  a  man  of  very  prepos- 
sessing appearance,  but  with  a  slightly  dis- 
coloured nose.  His  appointment  reminded 
me  of  that  of  Sir  Joseph  Porter,  K.  C.  B., 
in  Pinafore,  who  was  made  "ruler  of 
the  Queen's  navee"  in  spite  of  a  very  slight 
acquaintance  with  things  nautical.  Our  chief 
of  police  had  been  chef  dj  orchestre  of  the 
military  band  of  Manaos.  They  found  there 
that  his  bibulous  habits  were  causing  his  nose 
to  blush  more  and  more,  so  he  was  given  the 
position  of  Chief  of  Police  of  Remate  de  Males. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  in  his  new  position 
he  has  gone  on  developing  the  virtue  that 
secured  it  for  him,  so  there  is  no  telling  how 
high  he  may  rise. 

The  police  force  consists  of  one  man,  and 
a  very  versatile  one,  as  will  be  seen,  for  he 
is  also  the  rank  and  file  of  the  military  force. 
I  saw  this  remarkable  official  only  once. 


68  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

At  that  time  he  was  in  a  sad  condition 
from  over-indulgence  in  alcoholic  beverages. 
There  are  exact  statistics  of  comparison 
available  for  the  police  and  military  forces. 
The  former  is  just  two-thirds  of  the  latter 
in  number.  Expressed  in  the  most  easily 
understood  terms,  we  can  put  it  that  our  ver- 
satile friend  has  a  chief  to  command  him  when 
a  policeman,  and  a  coronel  and  lieutenant 
when  he  is  a  soldier.  Whether  there  is  any 
graft  in  it  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  money 
is  saved  by  the  police-military  force  being  one 
man  with  interchangeable  uniforms,  and  the 
money  must  go  into  somebody's  pocket. 
It  might  be  thought  that  when  the  versatile 
one  had  to  appear  in  both  capacities  at  once, 
he  might  be  at  a  loss.  But  not  a  bit  of  it. 
The  landing  of  one  of  the  down-river  steamers 
offers  such  an  occasion.  As  soon  as  the 
gangplank  is  out,  the  policeman  goes  aboard 
with  the  official  papers.  He  is  welcomed, 
receives  his  fee,  and  disappears.  Not  two 
minutes  afterwards,  the  military  force  in 
full  uniform  is  seen  to  emerge  from  the  same 
hut  into  which  the  policeman  went.  He 
appears  on  the  scene  with  entire  unconcern, 
and  the  rough  and  ready  diplomacy  of  Remate 
de  Males  has  again  triumphed. 


a  I 


W       CD 

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S 


Fatal  Maladies  71 


One  of  the  reasons  for  the  flattering  ( !)  name 
of  the  town,  "  Culmination  of  Evils,"  is  the 
great  mortality  of  the  community,  which  it 
has  as  a  part  of  the  great  Javary  district. 
Its  inhabitants  suffer  from  all  the  functional 
diseases  found  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
and,  in  addition,  maladies  which  are  typical 
of  the  region.  Among  the  most  important 
of  these  are  the  paludismus,  or  malarial 
swamp-fever,  the  yellow-fever,  popularly 
recognised  as  the  black  vomit,  and  last  but 
not  least  the  beri-beri,  the  mysterious  disease 
which  science  does  not  yet  fully  understand. 
The  paludismus  is  so  common  that  it  is  looked 
upon  as  an  unavoidable  incident  of  the  daily 
life.  It  is  generally  caused  by  the  infectious 
bite  of  a  mosquito,  the  Anopheles,  which  is 
characterised  by  its  attacking  with  its  body 
almost  perpendicular  to  the  surface  it  has 
selected.  It  is  only  the  female  mosquito 
that  bites.  There  are  always  fever  patients 
on  the  Amazon,  and  the  Anopheles,  stinging 
indiscriminately,  transfers  the  malarial 
microbes  from  a  fever  patient  to  the  blood 
of  well  persons.  The  latter  are  sure  to  be 
laid  up  within  ten  days  with  the  sezoes,  as 
the  fever  is  called  here,  unless  a  heavy  dose 
of  quinine  is  taken  in  time  to  check  it. 


In  the  Amazon  Jungle 


The  yellow  fever  mosquito,  the  Stygoma 
faciata,  seems  to  prefer  other  down-river 
localities,  but  is  frequent  enough  to  cause 
anxiety.  They  call  the  yellow  fever  the 
black  vomit,  because  of  this  unmistakable 
symptom  of  the  disease,  which,  when  once  it 
sets  in,  always  means  a  fatal  termination. 
The  beri-beri  still  remains  a  puzzling  malady 
from  which  no  recoveries  have  yet  been 
reported,  at  least  not  on  the  Amazon.  On 
certain  rivers,  in  the  Matto  Grosso  province 
of  Brazil,  or  in  Bolivian  territory,  the  beri- 
beri patients  have  some  chance  of  recovery. 
By  immediately  leaving  the  infested  district 
they  can  descend  the  rivers  until  they  reach 
a  more  favourable  climate  near  the  sea-coast, 
or  they  can  go  to  more  elevated  regions. 
But  here  on  the  Amazon,  where  the  only 
avenue  of  escape  is  the  river  itself,  throughout 
its  length  a  hot-bed  of  disease  where  no  change 
of  climate  occurs,  the  time  consumed  in 
reaching  the  sea-coast  is  too  long.  The  cause  j 
of  this  disease,  and  its  cure,  are  unknown. 
It  manifests  itself  through  paralysis  of  the 
limbs,  which  begins  at  the  finger-tips  and! 
gradually  extends  through  the  system  until  j; 
the  heart-muscles  become  paralysed  and  deat 
occurs. 


"Go  to  the  Ant 


73 


The  only  precautionary  measures  available 
are  doses  of  quinine  and  the  use  of  the  mos- 
quito-net, or  mosquitero.  The  Matter's  value 
as  a  preventive  is  problematical,  however,  for 
during  each  night  one  is  bound  to  be  bitten 
frequently,  yes,  hundreds  of  times,  by  the 
ever-present  insects  in  spite  of  all. 

But  if  we  curse  the  mosquito,  what  are  we 
to  say  of  certain  other  pests  that  add  to  the 
miseries  of  life  in  that  out-of-the-way  corner 
of  the  globe,  and  are  more  persistent  in  their 
attentions  than  even  the  mosquito?  In  the 
first  place,  there  are  the  ants.  They  are 
everywhere.  They  build  their  nests  under 
the  houses,  in  the  tables,  and  in  the  cracks 
of  the  floors,  and  lie  in  ambush  waiting  the 
arrival  of  a  victim,  whom  they  attack  from 
all  sides.  They  fasten  themselves  on  one 
and  sometimes  it  takes  hours  of  labour  to 
extract  them.  Many  are  the  breakfasts  I 
have  delayed  on  awaking  and  finding  myself 
to  be  the  object  of  their  attention.  It  proved 
necessary  to  tie  wads  of  cotton  covered  with 
vaseline  to  the  fastenings  of  the  hammock, 
to  keep  the  intruders  off.  But  they  even  got 
around  this  plan.  As  soon  as  the  bodies  of 
the  first  arrivals  covered  the  vaseline,  the 
rest  of  the  troops  marched  across  them  in 


74  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

safety  and  gained  access  to  the  hammock, 
causing  a  quick  evacuation  on  my  part. 
Articles  of  food  were  completely  destroyed 
by  these  carnivorous  creatures,  within  a  few 
minutes  after  I  had  placed  them  on  the  table. 
I  present  here  a  list  of  the  various  species 
of  ants  known  to  the  natives,  together  with 
the  peculiarities  by  which  they  distinguish 
them.  I  collected  the  information  from 
Indians  on  the  Seringal  "Floresta"  on  the 
Itecoahy  River. 

Aracara — the  dreaded  fire-ant  whose  sting  is  felt 
for  hours. 

Auhiqui — lives  in  the  houses  where  it  devours  every- 
thing edible. 

Chicitaya — its  bite  gives  a  transient  fever. 

Monyuarah — clears  a  large  space  in  the  forest  for 
its  nest. 

Sauba — carries  a  green  leaf  over  its  head. 

Tachee — a  black  ant  whose  bite  gives  a  transient  fever. 

Tanajura — one  inch  long  and  edible  when  fried  in  lard. 

Taxyrana — enters  the  houses  like  the  auhigui. 

Termita — builds  a  typical  cone-shaped  nest  in  the 
dry  part  of  the  forests. 

Tracoa — its  bite  gives  no  fever,  but  the  effect  is  of 
long  duration. 

Tucandeira — black  and  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  with 
a  bite  not  only  painful  but  absolutely  dangerous. 

Tucushee — gives  a  transient  fever. 

U$a — builds  large  nests  in  the  trees. 


• 


,x™,    . 


URUBUS 

Vultures  in  a  dead  tree  watching  for  prey 
75 


A  Fellow-Lodger 


77 


While  convalescing  from  my  first  attack 
of  swamp -fever,  I  had  occasion  to  study  a 
most  remarkable  species  of  spider  which 
•%  was  a  fellow  lodger  in  the  hut  I  then  occupied. 
In  size,  the  specimen  was  very  respectable, 
being  able  to  cover  a  circle  of  nearly  six 
inches  in  diameter.  This  spider  subsists  on 
large  insects  and  at  times  on  the  smaller 
varieties  of  birds,  like  finches,  etc.  Its 
scientific  name  is  My  gale  avicularia.  The 
natives  dread  it  for  its  poisonous  bite  and  on 
account  of  its  great  size  and  hairy  body. 
The  first  time  I  saw  the  one  in  my  hut  was 
when  it  was  climbing  the  wall  in  close  prox- 
imity to  my  hammock.  I  got  up  and  tried 
to  crush  it  with  my  fist,  but  the  spider  made 
a  lightning-quick  move  and  stopped  about 
five  or  six  inches  from  where  I  hit  the  wall. 

Several  times  I  repeated  the  attack  without 
success,  the  spider  always  succeeding  in 
moving  before  it  could  be  touched.  Some- 
what out  of  temper,  I  procured  a  hammer 
of  large  size  and  continued  the  chase  until 
I  was  exhausted.  When  my  hand  grew  steady 
again,  I  took  my  automatic  pistol,  used  for 
big  game,  and,  taking  a  steady  aim  on  the 
fat  body  of  the  spider,  I  fired.  But  with 
another  of  the  remarkably  quick  movements 


78  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  spider  landed  the  usual  safe  distance 
from  destruction.  Then  I  gave  it  up.  For 
all  I  know,  that  animal,  I  can  scarcely  call 
it  an  insect  after  using  a  big  game  pistol  on  it, 
is  still  occupying  the  hut.  About  nine  months 
later  I  was  telling  Captain  Barnett,  of  the 
R.  M.  S.  Napo  which  picked  me  up  on  the 
Amazon  on  my  way  home,  about  my  ill 
success  in  hunting  the  spider.  "Lange," 
he  asked,  "why  didn't  you  try  for  him  with 
a  frying-pan?" 


Other  Incidents 
during  my  Stay*  in 
Remote  de  Males 


79 


CHAPTER  III 

OTHER  INCIDENTS  DURING  MY  STAY  IN  REMATE 
DE  MALES 

DEMATE  DE  MALES,  with  Nazareth  and 
^  ^  Sao  Francisco,  is  set  down  in  the  midst  of 
absolute  wilderness.  Directly  behind  the  vil- 
lage is  the  almost  impenetrable  maze  of  tropical 
jungle.  If  with  the  aid  of  a  machete  one  gets 
a  minute's  walk  into  it,  he  cannot  find  his  way 
out  except  by  the  cackling  of  the  hens  around 
the  houses.  A  dense  wall  of  vegetation  shuts 
in  the  settlement  on  every  side.  Tall  palms 
stand  above  the  rest  of  the  trees;  lower  down 
is  a  mass  of  smaller  but  more  luxuriant  plants, 
while  everywhere  is  the  twining, "  tangled 
lianas,  making  the  forest  a  dark  labyrinth 
of  devious  ways.  Here  and  there  are  patches 
of  tropical  blossoms,  towering  ferns,  fungoid 
growths,  or  some  rare  and  beautiful  orchid 
whose  parasitical  roots  have  attached  them- 
selves to  a  tree  trunk.  And  there  is  always 

81 


82  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  subdued  confusion  that  betokens  the 
teeming  animal  life. 

Looking  up  the  Itecoahy  River,  one  can  see 
nothing  but  endless  forest  and  jungle.  And  the 
same  scene  continues  for  a  distance  of  some 
eight  or  nine  hundred  miles  until  reaching  the 
headwaters  of  the  river  somewhere  far  up  in 
Bolivian  territory.  No  settlements  are  to 
be  found  up  there;  a  few  seringales  from 
seventy-five  to  a  hundred  miles  apart  con- 
stitute the  only  human  habitations  in  this 
large  area.  So  wild  and  desolate  is  this  river 
that  its  length  and  course  are  only  vaguely 
indicated  even  on  the  best  Brazilian  maps. 
It  is  popularly  supposed  that  the  Itecoahy 
takes  its  actual  rise  about  two  weeks'  journey 
from  its  nominal  head  in  an  absolutely 
unexplored  region. 

I  found  the  life  very  monotonous  in  Remate 
de  Males,  especially  when  the  river  began  to 
go  down.  This  meant  the  almost  complete 
ending  of  communication  with  the  outer 
world;  news  from  home  reached  me  seldom 
and  there  was  no  relief  from  the  isolation. 
In  addition,  the  various  torments  of  the  region 
are  worse  at  this  season.  Sitting  beside  the 
muddy  banks  of  the  Itecoahy  at  sunset, 
when  the  vapours  arose  from  the  immense 


Nocturnal  Noises  85 


swamps  and  the  sky  was  coloured  in  fantastical 
designs  across  the  western  horizon,  was  the 
only  relief  from  the  sweltering  heat  of  the  day, 
for  a  brief  time  before  the  night  and  its 
tortures  began.  Soon  the  chorus  of  a  million 
frogs  would  start.  At  first  is  heard  only  the 
croaking  of  a  few;  then  gradually  more  and 
more  add  their  music  until  a  loud  penetrating 
throb  makes  the  still,  vapour-laden  atmo- 
sphere vibrate.  The  sound  reminded  me 
strikingly  of  that  which  is  heard  when  pneu- 
matic hammers  are  driving  home  rivets 
through  steel  beams.  There  were  other  frogs 
whose  louder  and  deeper-pitched  tones  could 
be  distinguished  through  the  main  nocturnal 
song.  These  seemed  always  to  be  grumbling 
something  about  "  Rubberboots — Rubberboots" 
By-and-bye  one  would  get  used  to  the 
sound  and  it  would  lose  attention.  The 
water  in  the  river  floated  slowly  on  its  long 
journey  towards  the  ocean,  almost  2500  miles 
away.  Large  dolphins  sometimes  came  to 
the  surface,  saluting  the  calm  evening  with 
a  loud  snort,  and  disappeared  again  with  a 
slow,  graceful  movement.  Almost  every 
evening  I  could  hear  issuing  from  the  forest 
a  horrible  roar.  It  came  from  the  farthest 
depths  and  seemed  as  if  it  might  well  represent 


86  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  mingled  cries  of  some  huge  bull  and 
a  prowling  jaguar  that  had  attacked  him 
unawares.  Yet  it  all  came,  I  found,  from 
one  throat,  that  of  the  howling  monkey. 
He  will  sit  alone  for  hours  in  a  tree-top  and 
pour  forth  these  dreadful  sounds  which  are 
well  calculated  to  make  the  lonely  wanderer 
stop  and  light  a  camp-fire  for  protection. 

On  the  other  hand,  is  heard  the  noise  of 
the  domestic  animals  of  the  village.  Cows, 
calves,  goats,  and  pigs  seemed  to  make  a  habit 
of  exercising  their  vocal  organs  thoroughly 
before  retiring.  Dogs  bark  at  the  moon;  cats 
chase  rats  through  openings  of  the  palm-leaf 
roofs,  threatening  every  moment  to  fall,  pur- 
sued and  pursuers,  down  upon  the  hammocks. 
Vampires  flutter  around  from  room  to  room, 
occasionally  resting  on  the  tops  of  the  iron 
partitions,  and  when  the}7  halt,  continuing 
to  chirp  for  a  while  like  hoarse  sparrows. 
Occasionally  there  will  come  out  of  the  dark- 
ness of  the  river  a  disagreeable  sound  as  if 
some  huge  animal  were  gasping  for  its  last 
breath  before  suffocating  in  the  mud.  The 
sound  has  its  effect,  even  upon  animals, 
coming  as  it  does  out  of  the  black  mysterious 
night,  warning  them  not  to  venture  far  for 
fear  some  uncanny  force  may  drag  them  to 


DEFUMADOR,      OR  SMOKING-HUT 
87 


Fevers 


89 


death  in  the  dismal  waters.  It  is  the  night 
call  of  the  alligator. 

The  sweet  plaintive  note  of  a  little  partridge, 
called  inamboo,  would  sometimes  tremble 
through  the  air  and  compel  me  to  forget  the 
spell  of  unholy  sounds  arising  from  the 
beasts  of  the  jungle  and  river.  Throughout 
the  evening  this  amorous  bird  would  call 
to  its  mate,  and  somewhere  there  would  be 
an  answering  call  back  in  the  woods.  Many 
were  the  nights  when,  weak  with  fever,  I 
awoke  and  listened  to  their  calling  and  answer- 
ing. Yet  never  did  they  seem  to  achieve  the 
bliss  of  meeting,  for  after  a  brief  lull  the  calling 
and  answering  voices  would  again  take  up 
their  pretty  song. 

Slowly  the  days  went  by  and,  with  their 
passing,  the  river  fell  lower  and  lower  until 
the  waters  receded  from  the  land  itself  and 
were  confined  once  more  to  their  old  course 
in  the  river-bed.  As  the  ground  began  to 
dry,  the  time  came  when  the  mosquitoes 
were  particularly  vicious.  They  multiplied 
by  the  million.  Soon  the  village  was  filled 
with  malaria,  and  the  hypodermic  needle 
was  in  full  activity. 

A  crowd  of  about  fifty  Indians  from  the 
Curuga  River  had  been  brought  to  Remate  de 


90  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Males  by  launch.  They  belonged  to  the 
territory  owned  by  Mons.  Danon  and  slept 
outside  the  store-rooms  of  this  plutocrat. 
Men,  women,  and  children  arranged  their 
quarters  in  the  soft  mud  until  they  could  be 
taken  to  his  rubber  estate  some  hundred  miles 
up  the  Javary  River.  They  were  still  waiting 
to  be  equipped  with  rubber -workers'  outfits 
when  the  malaria  began  its  work  among  them. 
The  poor  mistreated  Indians  seemed  to  have 
been  literally  saturated  with  the  germs,  as 
they  always  slept  without  any  protection 
whatever;  consequently  their  systems  offered 
less  resistance  to  the  disease  than  the  ordinary 
Brazilian's.  In  four  days  there  were  only 
twelve  persons  left  out  of  fifty-two. 

During  the  last  weeks  of  my  stay  in  Remate 
de  Males,  I  received  an  invitation  to  take  lunch 
with  the  local  Department  Secretary,  Professor 
Silveiro,  an  extremely  hospitable  and  well 
educated  Brazilian.  The  importance  of  such 
an  invitation  meant  for  me  a  radical  change 
in  appearance — an  extensive  alteration  that 
could  not  be  wrought  without  considerable 
pains.  I  had  to  have  a  five-months'  beard 
shaved  off,  and  then  get  into  my  best  New 
York  shirt,  not  to  forget  a  high  collar.  I 
.also  considered  that  the  occasion  necessitated 


MATAMATA  TREE 

Paddles  are  formed  from  the  buttresses  of  this  tree 


An  Antidote  93 

the  impressiveness  of  a  frock-coat;  which  I 
produced  at  the  end  of  a  long  search  among  my 
baggage  and  proceeded  to  don  after  extracting 
a  tarantula  and  some  stray  scolopendra 
from  the  sleeves  and  pockets.  The  sensation 
of  wearing  a  stiff  collar  was  novel,  and  not 
altogether  welcome,  since  the  temperature 
was  near  the  100°  mark.  The  reward  for 
my  discomfort  came,  however,  in  the  shape 
of  the  best  meal  I  ever  had  in  the  Amazon 
region. 

During  these  dull  days  I  was  made  happy 
by  finding  a  copy  of  Mark  Twain's  A  Tramp 
Abroad  in  a  store  over  in  Nazareth  on  the 
Peruvian  side  of  the  Javary  River.  I  took  it 
with  me  to  my  hammock,  hailing  with  joy 
the  opportunity  of  receiving  in  the  wilderness 
something  that  promised  a  word  from  "God's 
Own  Country."  But  before  T  could  begin 
the  book  I  had  an  attack  of  swamp-fever 
that  laid  me  up  four  days.  During  one  of 
the  intermissions,  when  I  was  barely  able  to 
move  around,  I  commenced  reading  Mark 
Twain.  It  did  not  take  more  than  two 
pages  of  the  book  to  make  me  forget  all 
about  my  fever.  When  I  got  to  the  ninth 
page,  I  laughed  as  T  had  not  laughed  for 
months,  and  page  14  made  me  roar  so  athleti- 


94  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

cally  that  I  lost  my  balance  and  fell  out  of 
my  hammock  on  the  floor.  I  soon  recovered 
and  crept  back  into  the  hammock,  but  out 
I  went  when  I  reached  page  16,  and  repeated 
the  performance  at  pages  19,  21,  and  24 
until  the  supplementary  excitement  became 
monotonous.  Whereupon  I  procured  some 
rags  and  excelsior,  made  a  bed  underneath 
the  hammock,  and  proceeded  to  enjoy  our 
eminent  humourist's  experience  in  peace. 


The  Journey*  up  the 
Itecozxhy  RiVer 


95 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  JOURNEY  UP  THE  ITECOAHY  RIVER 

WITH  the  subsiding  of  the  waters  came  my 
long- desired  opportunity  to  travel  the 
course  of  the  unmapped  Itecoahy.  In  the 
month  of  June  a  local  trader  issued  a  notice 
that  he  was  to  send  a  launch  up  the  river  for 
trading  purposes  and  to  take  the  workers  who 
had  been  sojourning  in  Remate  de  Males  back 
to  their  places  of  employment,  to  commence 
the  annual  extraction  of  rubber.  The  launch 
was  scheduled  to  sail  on  a  Monday  and  would 
ascend  the  Itecoahy  to  its  headwaters,  or 
nearly  so,  thus  passing  the  mouths  of  the 
Ituhy,  the  Branco,  and  Las  Pedras  rivers, 
affluents  of  considerable  size  which  are  never- 
theless unrecorded  on  maps.  The  total  length 
of  the  Branco  River  is  over  three  hundred 
miles,  and  it  has  on  its  shores  several  large 
and  productive  seringales. 
When  on  my  way  up  the  Amazon  to  the 

97 


98  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Brazilian  frontier,  T  had  stopped  at  Manaos, 
the  capital  of  the  State  of  Amazonas.  There 
T  had  occasion  to  consult  an  Englishman 
about  the  Javary  region.  In  answer  to  one 
of  my  inquiries,  T  received  the  following  letter, 
which  speaks  for  itself: 

Referring  to  our  conversation  of  recent  date,  I 
should  wish  once  more  to  impress  upon  your  mind 
the  perilous  nature  of  your  journey,  and  I  am  not 
basing  this  information  upon  hearsay,  but  upon 
personal  experience,  having  traversed  the  region  in 
question  quite  recently. 

Owing  to  certain  absolutely  untrue  articles  written 
by  one  H — -,  claiming  to  be  your  countryman,  I  am 
convinced  that  you  can  not  rely  upon  the  protection 
of  the  employees  of  this  company,  as  having  been 
so  badly  libelled  by  one,  they  are  apt  to  forget  that 
such  articles  were  not  at  your  instigation,  and  as 
is  often  the  case  the  innocent  may  suffer  for  the 
guilty. 

On  the  other  hand,  without  this  protection  you  will 
find  yourself  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  savage  and 
cannibal  Indians. 

I  have  this  day  spoken  to  the  consul  here  at  Manaos 
and  explained  to  him  that,  although  I  have  no  wish 
to  deter  you  from  your  voyage,  you  must  be  considered 
as  the  only  one  responsible  in  any  way  for  any  ill  that 
may  befall  you. 

Finally,  I  hope  that  before  disregarding  this  advice 
(which  I  offer  you  in  a  perfectly  friendly  spirit)  you 
will  carefully  consider  the  consequences  which  such] 


THE  URUCU  PLANT 


99 


Adverse  Counsel  101 

a  voyage  might  produce,  and,  frankly  speaking,  I 
consider  that  your  chance  of  bringing  it  to  a  successful 
termination  is  Nil. 

Believe  me  to  be,  etc., 

J.  A.  M. 

During  the  time  of  my  journey  up  the  river 
and  of  my  stay  in  Remate  de  Males,  I  had 
seen  nothing  of  the  particular  dangers  men- 
tioned in  this  letter.  The  only  Indians  I  had 
seen  were  such  as  smoked  long  black  cigars 
and  wore  pink  or  blue  pajamas.  The  letter 
further  developed  an  interest,  started  by  the 
hints  of  life  in  the  interior,  which  had  come 
to  me  in  the  civilisation  of  Remate  de  Males. 
I  was,  of  course,  particularly  desirous  of 
finding  out  all  I  could  about  the  wild  people 
of  the  inland  regions,  since  I  could  not  recall 
that  much  had  been  written  about  them. 

Henry  W.  Bates,  the  famous  explorer  who 
ascended  the  Amazon  as  far  as  Teffe,  came 
within  120  miles  of  the  mouth  of  the  Javary 
River  in  the  year  1858,  and  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement  about  the  indigenous  tribes  of 
this  region: 

The  only  other  tribe  of  this  neighbourhood  con- 
cerning which  I  obtained  any  information  was  the 
Mangeromas,  whose  territory  embraces  several  hun- 
dred miles  of  the  western  banks  of  the  river  Javary, 


102  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

an  affluent  of  the  Solimoes,  a  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  beyond  Sab  Paolo  da  Olivenca.  These  are 
fierce  and  indomitable  and  hostile  people,  like  the 
Araras  of  the  Madeira  River.  They  are  also  canni- 
bals. The  navigation  of  the  Javary  River  is  rendered 
impossible  on  account  of  the  Mangeromas  lying  in 
wait  on  its  banks  to  intercept  and  murder  all 
travellers. 


Now  to  return  to  the  letter;  I  thought  that 
perhaps  my  English  friend  had  overdrawn 
things  a  little  in  a  laudable  endeavour  to 
make  me  more  cautious.  In  other  words, 
it  was  for  me  the  old  story  over  again,  of 
learning  at  the  cost  of  experience — the  story 
of  disregarded  advice,  and  so  I  went  on  in 
my  confidence. 

When  the  announcement  of  the  launch's 
sailing  came,  I  went  immediately  for  an 
interview  with  the  owner,  a  Brazilian  named 
Pedro  Smith,  whose  kindness  I  shall  never 
forget.  He  offered  me  the  chance  of  making 
the  entire  trip  on  his  boat,  but  would  accept 
no  remuneration,  saying  that  I  would  find 
conditions  on  the  little  overcrowded  vessel 
very  uncomfortable,  and  that  the  trip  would 
not  be  free  from  actual  bodily  risk.  When 
even  he  tried  to  dissuade  me,  I  began  to  think 
more  seriously  of  the  Englishman's  letter,  but 


I 


THE  AUTHOR  IN  THE  JUNGLE 
I03 


Into  the  Mystery  105 


I  told  him  that  I  had  fully  made  up  my  mind 
to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  those  little  known 
regions.  I  use  the  term  "little  known" 
in  the  sense  that  while  they  are  well  enough 
known  to  the  handful  of  Indians  and  rubber- 
workers  yet  they  are  "terra  incognita" 
to  the  outside  world.  The  white  man  has 
not  as  yet  traversed  this  Itecoahy  and  its 
affluents,  although  it  would  be  a  system 
of  no  little  importance  if  located  in  some 
other  country — for  instance,  in  the  United 
States. 

My  object  was  to  study  the  rubber-worker 
at  his  labour,  to  find  out  the  true  length  of 
the  Itecoahy  River,  and  to  photograph  every- 
thing worth  while.  I  had  with  me  all  the 
materials  and  instruments  necessary — at  least 
so  I  thought. 

The  photographic  outfit  consisted  of  a 
Graflex  camera  with  a  shutter  of  high  speed, 
which  would  come  handy  when  taking  animals 
in  motion,  and  a  large-view  camera  with  ten 
dozen  photographic  plates  and  a  corresponding 
amount  of  prepared  paper.  In  view  of  the 
difficulties  of  travel,  I  had  decided  to  develop 
my  plates  as  I  went  along  and  make  prints 
in  the  field,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  ruining 
them  by  some  unlucky  accident.  Perhaps 


io6  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

at  the  very  end  of  the  trip  a  quantity  of 
undeveloped  plates  might  be  lost,  and  such 
a  calamity  would  mean  the  failure  of  the  whole 
journey  in  one  of  its  most  important  particu- 
lars. vSuch  a  disastrous  result  was  fore- 
shadowed when  a  porter,  loaded  with  my 
effects,  clambering  down  the  sixty-foot  incline 
extreme  low  water  made  at  Remate  de  Males, 
lost  his  balance  in  the  last  few  feet  of  the 
descent  and  dropped  into  the  water,  completely 
ruining  a  whole  pack  of  photographic  supplies 
whose  arrival  from  New  York  I  had  been 
awaiting  for  months.  Luckily  this  was  at 
the  beginning  of  this  trip  and  I  could  replace 
them  from  my  general  stock. 

A  hypodermic  outfit,  quinine,  and  a  few 
bistouries  completed  my  primitive  medical 
department.  Later  on  these  proved  of  the 
greatest  value.  I  would  never  think  of 
omitting  such  supplies  even  in  a  case  where 
a  few  pounds  of  extra  weight  are  not  rashly 
to  be  considered.  It  turned  out  that  in  the 
regions  I  penetrated,  medical  assistance  was 
a  thing  unheard  of  within  a  radius  of  several 
hundred  miles. 

A  Luger  automatic  pistol  of  a  calibre  of  nine 
millimetres,  and  several  hundred  cartridges, 
were  my  armament,  and  for  weeks  this  pistol 


The  " Carolina"  109 


became  my  only  means  of  providing  a  scant 
food  supply. 

Thus  equipped  I  was  on  hand  early  in  the 
morning  of  the  day  of  starting,  anxious  to  see 
what  sort  of  shipmates  I  was  to  have.  They 
proved  all  to  be  serin  gueiros,  bound  for  the 
upper  river.  Our  craft  was  a  forty-foot  launch 
called  the  Carolina.  There  was  a  large  crowd 
of  the  passengers  assembled  when  I  arrived, 
and  they  kept  coming.  To  my  amazement, 
it  developed  that  one  hundred  and  twenty 
souls  were  expected  to  find  room  on  board, 
together  with  several  tons  of  merchandise. 
The  mystery  of  how  the  load  was  to  be  accom- 
modated was  somewhat  solved,  when  I  saw 
them  attach  a  lighter  to  each  side  of  the 
launch,  and  again .  when  some  of  the  helpers 
brought  up  a  fleet  of  dugouts  which  they 
proceeded  to  make  fast  by  a  stern  hawser. 
But  the  mystery  was  again  increased,  when  I 
was  told  that  none  of  the  passengers  intended 
to  occupy  permanent  quarters  on  the  auxiliary 
fleet.  As  I  was  already  taken  care  of,  I 
resolved  that  if  the  problem  was  to  worry 
anybody,  it  would  be  the  seringueiros,  though 
I  realised  that  I  would  be  travelling  by 
"slow  steamer"  when  the  little  old-fashioned 
Carolina  should  at  length  begin  the  task  of 


*"** 


no  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

fighting  the  five-mile  current  with  this  tagging 
fleet  to  challenge  its  claim  to  a  twelve-horse- 
power engine. 

The  seringueiros  and  their  families  occupied 
every  foot  of  space  that  was  not  reserved  for 
merchandise.  Hammocks  were  strung  over 
and  under  each  other  in  every  direction, 
secured  to  the  posts  which  supported  the  roof. 
Between  them  the  rubber-coated  knapsacks 
were  suspended.  On  the  roof  was  an  indis- 
criminate mass  of  chicken-coops  with  feathered 
occupants;  and  humanity. 

About  midships  on  each  lighter  was  a  store- 
room, one  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  clerk 
who  accompanied  the  launch.  In  this  they 
generously  offered  me  the  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing my  headquarters  during  the  trip.  The 
room  was  about  six  feet  by  eight  and  contained 
a  multitude  of  luxuries  and  necessities  for  the 
rubber- workers.  There  were  .44  Winchester 
rifles  in  large  numbers,  the  usual,  indispensa- 
ble Collins  machete,  and  tobacco  in  six-feet- 
long,  spindle-shaped  rolls.  There  was  also  the 
"***"  Hennessy  cognac,  selling  at  40,000 
reis  ($14.00  gold)  a  bottle;  and  every  variety 
of  canned  edible  from  California  pears  to  Hor- 
lick's  malted  milk,  from  Armour's  corned  beef 
to  Heinz's  sweet  pickles. 


En  Route  113 


Every  one  was  anxious  to  get  started;  I, 
who  had  more  to  look  forward  to  than  months 
of  monotonous  labour  in  the  forests,  not  the 
least.  At  last  the  owner  of  the  boat  arrived, 
it  being  then  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
He  came  aboard  to  shake  hands  with  everyone 
and  after  a  long  period  of  talking  pulled  the 
cord  leading  to  the  steam- whistle,  giving 
the  official  signal  for  departure.  It  then 
developed  that  one  of  the  firemen  was  miss- 
ing. Without  him  we  could  not  start  on  our 
journey.  The  whistling  was  continued  for  fully 
forty  minutes  without  any  answer.  Finally, 
the  longed-for  gentleman  was  seen  emerging 
unsteadily  from  the  local  gin-shop  with  no 
sign  of  haste.  He  managed  to  crawl  on  board 
and  we  were  off,  amid  much  noise  and  firing 
of  guns. 

After  a  two-hours'  run  we  stopped  at  a 
place  consisting  of  two  houses  and  a  banana 
patch.  Evidently  the  owner  of  this  property 
made  a  side-business  of  supplying  palm-wood 
as  fuel  for  the  launch.  A  load  was  carried 
on  board  and  stowed  beside  the  boiler,  and 
we  went  once  more  on  our  way.  I  cannot 
say  that  the  immediate  surroundings  were 
comfortable.  There  were  people  everywhere. 
They  were  lounging  in  the  hammocks,  or 


ii4  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

lying  on  the  deck  itself;  and  some  "were  even 
sprawling  uncomfortably  on  their  trunks  or 
knapsacks.  A  cat  would  have  had  difficulty 
in  squeezing  itself  through  this  compact 
mass  of  men,  chattering  women,  and  crying 
children.  But  I  had  no  sooner  begun  to  reflect 
adversely  on  the  situation,  than  the  old  charm 
of  the  Amazon  asserted  itself  again  and  made 
me  oblivious  to  anything  so  trivial  as  personal 
comfort  surroundings.  I  became  lost  to  my- 
self in  the  enjoyment  of  the  river. 

That  old  fig-tree  on  the  bank  is  worth  look- 
ing at.  The  mass  of  its  branches,  once  so  high- 
reaching  and  ornamental,  now  lie  on  the 
ground  in  a  confused  huddle,  shattered  and 
covered  with  parasites  and  orchids,  while 
millions  of  ants  are  in  full  activity  destroy- 
ing the  last  clusters  of  foliage.  It  is  only  a 
question  of  weeks,  perhaps  days,  before  some 
blast  of  wind  will  throw  this  humbled  forest- 
monarch  over  the  steep  bank  of  the  river. 
When  the  water  rises  again,  the  trunk  with 
a  few  skeleton  branches  will  be  carried  away 
with  the  current  to  begin  a  slow  but  relentless 
drift  to  old  Father  Amazon.  Here  and  there 
will  be  a  little  pause,  while  the  river  gods 
decide,  and  then  it  will  move  on,  to  be  caught 
somewhere  along  the  course  and  contribute 


Monkey  Scouts  117 


to  the  formation  of  some  new  island  or  com- 
plete its  last  long  journey  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

As  the  launch  rounds  bend  after  bend  in 
the  river,  the  same  magnificent  forest  scenery 
is  repeated  over  and  over  again.  Sometimes 
a  tall  matamata  tree  stands  in  a  little  ac- 
cidental clearing,  entirely  covered  with  a 
luxuriant  growth  of  vegetation.  But  these 
are  borrowed  plumes.  Bushropes,  climbers, 
and  vines  have  clothed  it  from  root  to  topmost 
branch,  but  they  are  only  examples  of  the 
legion  of  beautiful  parasites  that  seem  to 
abound  in  the  tropics.  They  will  sap  the 
vitality  of  this  masterpiece  of  Nature,  until 
in  its  turn  it  will  fall  before  some  stormy 
night's  blow.  All  along  the  shore  there  is 
a  myriad  life  among  the  trees  and  beauti- 
fully coloured  birds  flash  in  and  out  of  the 
branches.  You  can  hear  a  nervous  chattering 
and  discern  little  brown  bodies  swinging  from 
branch  to  branch,  or  hanging  suspended  for 
fractions  of  a  second  from  the  network  of 
climbers  and  aerial  roots.  They  are  monkeys. 
They  follow  the  launch  along  the  trees  on  the 
banks  for  a  while  and  then  disappear. 

The  sun  is  glaring  down  on  the  little  craft 
and  its  human  freight.  The  temperature  is 


ii8  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

112  degrees  (F.)  in  the  shade  'and  the  only 
place  for  possible  relief  is  on  a  box  of  cognac 
alongside  the  commandant's  hammock.  He 
has  fastened  this  directly  behind  the  wheel 
so  that  he  can  watch  the  steersman,  an  Indian 
with  filed  teeth  and  a  machete  stuck  in  his 
belt. 

Would  anyone  think  that  these  trees,  lining 
the  shore  for  miles  and  miles  and  looking  so 
Beautiful  and  harmless  by  day,  have  a  mias- 
matic breath  or  exhalation  at  night  that  pro- 
duces a  severe  fever  in  one  who  is  subjected  for 
any  length  of  time  to  their  influence.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  even  the  most  fantastical 
scenic  artist  to  exaggerate  the  picturesque 
combinations  of  colour  and  form  ever  changing 
like  a  kaleidoscope  to  exhibit  new  delights. 
A  tall  and  slender  palm  can  be  seen  in  its 
simple  beauty  alongside  the  white  trunk  of 
the  embauba  tree,  with  umbrella-shaped  crown, 
covered  and  gracefully  draped  with  vines 
•and  hanging  plants,  whose  roots  drop  down 
Until  they,  reach  the  water,  or  join  and 
twist  themselves  until  they  form  a  leaf- 
portiere.  :  And  for  thousands  of.  square  miles 
this  ever  changing  display  of  floral^  splendour. 
|s  repeated  c  and  ^repeated.  '  And  it;  would  be 
&  treat  for.  an  o^ithpldgist  -  to  pass  rup  the 


, 


•e 

a 


A  Treat  for  the  Naturalist        121 


river.  A  hundred  times  a  day  flocks  of  small 
paroquets  fly  screaming  over  our  heads  and 
settle  behind  the  trees.  Large,  green,  blue, 
and  scarlet  parrots,  the  araras,  fly  in  pairs,  ut- 
tering penetrating,  harsh  cries,  and  sometimes 
an  egret  with  her  precious  snow-white  plum- 
age would  keep  just  ahead  of  us  with  graceful 
wing-motion,  until  she  chose  a  spot  to  alight 
among  the  low  bushes  close  to  the  water-front. 

The  dark  blue  toucan,  with  its  enormous 
scarlet  and  yellow  beak,  would  suddenly 
appear  and  fly  up  with  peculiar  jerky  swoops, 
at  the  same  time  uttering  its  yelping  cry. 
Several  times  I  saw  light  green  lizards  of  from 
three  to  four  feet  in  length  stretched  out  on 
branches  of  dead  trees  and  staring  at  us  as  we 
passed. 

Night  came  and  drew  its  sombre  curtain 
over  the  splendours.  I  was  now  shown  a 
place  of  unpretentious  dimensions  where  I 
could  suspend  my  hammock,  but,  unluckily, 
things  were  so  crowded  that  there  was  no 
room  for  a  mosquito-net  around  me.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances,  neglect  of  this  would 
have  been  an  inexcusable  lack  of  prudence, 
but  I  lay  down  trusting  that  the  draft  created 
by  the  passage  of  the  boat  would  keep  the 
insert  pests  away,  as  they  told  me  it  would. 


122  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

I  found    that    experience   had   taught  them 

rightly. 

To  the  post  where  I  tied  the  foot-end  of 
my  hammock  there  were  fastened  six  other 
hammocks.  Consequently  seven  pairs  of  feet 
were  bound  to  come  into  pretty  close  contact 
with  each  other.  While  I  was  lucky  enough 
to  have  the  hammock  closest  to  the  rail, 
I  was  unlucky  enough  to  have  as  my  next 
neighbour  a  woman;  she  was  part  Brazilian 
negro  and  part  Indian.  She  had  her  teeth 
filed  sharp  like  shark's  teeth,  wore  brass  rings 
in  her  ears,  large  enough  to  suspend  portieres 
from,  and  smoked  a  pipe  continually.  I 
found  later  that  it  was  a  habit  to  take  the 
pipe  to  bed  with  her,  so  that  she  could  begin 
smoking  the  first  thing  in  the  morning.  She 
used  a  very  expensive  Parisian  perfume, 
whether  to  mitigate  the, effects  of  the  pipe  or 
not,  I  do  not  know. 

Under  the  conditions  I  have  described  I 
lay  down  in  my  hammock,  but. found  that 
sleep  was  impossible.  There  was  nothing  to 
do  but  resign  myself  to  Fate  and  find  amuse- 
ment,, with "  all  the  philosophy  .possible,  by 
staring  at  the  sky.  I  counted  :the  stars.  QVet 
'and  qover  again  and  4riejd>  to,:ideijti£yj  old 
friends  .among  :  thej  ' constellations. ^ 


Through  the  Night  125 

them  the  Southern  Cross  was  a  stranger  to 
me,  but  the  Great  Dipper,  one  end  of  which 
was  almost  hidden  behind  the  trees,  I  recog- 
nised with  all  the  freedom  of  years  of  ac- 
quaintance. My  mind  went  back  to  the  last 
time  I  had  seen  it;  across  the  house-tops  of 
old  Manhattan  it  was,  and  under  what  widely 
different  conditions! 

At  last  a  merciful  Providence  closed  my 
eyes  and  I  was  soon  transported  by  the  arms 
of  Morpheus  to  the  little  lake  in  Central 
Park  that  T  had  liked  so  well.  I  dreamed  of 
gliding  slowly  over  the  waters  of  that  placid 
lake,  and  awoke  to  find  myself  being  ener- 
getically kicked  in  the  shins  by  my  female 
neighbour.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  in- 
dulge in  a  few  appropriate  thoughts  on  this 
community- sleeping- apartment  life,  and  then 
I  got  up  to  wander  forward,  as  best  I  could  in 
the  dark,  across  the  sleeping  forms  and  take 
refuge  on  top  of  my  case  of  cognac. 

We  seemed  to  be  down  in  a  pool  of  vast 
darkness,  of  whose  walls  no  one  could  guess 
the  limits.  I  listened  to  the  gurgling  of  water 
at  the  bow  and  wondered  how  it  was  possible 
for  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  guide  our  course 
without  colliding  with  the  many  tree  trunks 
that  were  scattered  everywhere  about  us. 


126  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

The  river  wound  back  and  forth,  hardly  ever 
running  straight  for  more  than  half  a  mile, 
and  the  pilot  continually  had  to  steer  the 
boat  almost  to  the  opposite  bank  to  keep  the 
trailing  canoes  from  stranding  on  the  sand-bars 
at  the  turns.  Now  and  then  a  lightning  flash 
would  illuminate  the  wild  banks,  proving  that 
we  were  not  on  the  bosom  of  some  Cimmerian 
lake,  but  following  a  continuous  stream  that 
stretched  far  ahead,  and  I  could  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  dark,  doubly-mysterious  forests  on 
either  hand;  and  now  and  then  a  huge  tree- 
trunk  would  slip  swiftly  and  silently  past  us. 

The  only  interruption  of  the  perfect  quiet 
that  prevailed  was  the  occasional  outburst 
of  roars  from  the  throat  of  the  howling  monkey, 
which  I  had  come  to  know  as  making  the  night 
hideous  in  Remate  de  Males.  But  the  present 
environment  added  just  the  proper  atmosphere 
to  make  one  think  for  a  second  that  he  was 
participating  in  some  phantasm  of  Dante's. 

There  was  no  particular  incident  to  record 
on  the  trip,  till  June  the  i6th,  in  the  night-time, 
when  we  arrived  at  Porto  Alegre,  the  glad 
harbour,  which  consisted  of  one  hut.  This 
hut  belonged  to  the  proprietor  of  a  serin  gale. 
I  followed  the  captain  and  the  clerk  ashore 
and,  with  them,  was  warmly  received  by  the 


^TTT'fl 


A  Brief  Stop  129 


owner,  when  we  had  clambered  up  the  ladder 
in  front  of  the  hut.  He  had  not  heard  from 
civilisation  for  seven  months,  and  was  very 
glad  to  see  people  from  the  outside  world, 
especially  as  they  were  bringing  a  consign- 
ment of  merchandise  that  would  enable  him 
to  commence  the  annual  tapping  of  the  rubber 
trees. 

About  a  dozen  seringueiros  and  their 
families  disembarked  here  and  went  without 
ceremony  to  their  quarters,  where  they  had 
a  fire  going  in  less  than  no  time. 

It  is  the  custom  in  this  section  of  Brazil 
to  make  visitors  welcome  in  a  rather  com- 
plicated manner.  You  first  place  your  arm 
around  the  other  man's  waist,  resting  the 
palm  of  your  hand  on  his  back.  Then  with 
the  other  hand  you  pat  him  on  the  shoulder, 
or  as  near  that  point  as  you  can  reach. 
Whether  it  recalled  my  wrestling  practice 
or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  the  first  time  T 
ever  tried  this,  I  nearly  succeeded  in  throwing 
down  the  man  I  was  seeking  to  honour. 

After  the  proprietor  had  greeted  each  of  us 
in  this  cordial  way,  we  sat  down.  A  large 
negress  made  her  appearance,  smoking  a  pipe 
and  carrying  a  tray  full  of  tiny  cups,  filled 
with  the  usual  unsweetened  jet-black  coffee. 


130  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

After  a  brief  stay,  during  which  business  was 
discussed  and  an  account  given  of  the  manner 
of  death  of  all  the  friends  who  had  departed 
this  life  during  the  season  in  Remate  de  Males, 
we  took  our  leave  and  were  off  again,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  amid  a  general  dis- 
charging of  rifles  and  much  blowing  of  the 
steam-whistle. 

The  night  was  intensely  dark,  what  moon 
there  was  being  hidden  behind  clouds  most 
of  the  time,  and  an  occasional  flash  of  light- 
ning would  show  us  that  we  were  running 
very  close  to  the  shores.  I  decided  to  go  on 
the  roof  of  the  right -hand  lighter,  where  I 
thought  I  would  get  better  air  and  feel  more 
comfortable  than  in  the  close  quarters  below. 
On  the  roof  I  found  some  old  rags  and  a  rubber 
coated  knapsack.  Taking  these  to  the  stern, 
I  lay  down  upon  them  and  went  to  sleep.  I 
imagine  that  I  must  have  been  asleep  about 
two  hours,  when  I  was  aroused  by  a  crashing 
sound  that  came  from  the  forepart  of  the  boat. 
Luckily,  I  had  fallen  asleep  with  my  eye- 
glasses on,  otherwise,  as  I  am  near-sighted, 
I  should  not  have  been  able  to  grasp  the 
situation  as  quickly  as  proved  necessary. 

We  were  so  close  to  the  shore  that  the 
branches  of  a  low-hanging  tree  swept  across 


Swept  Away  133 


the  top  of  the  lighter,  and  it  was  this  branch 
that  caused  the  turmoil  as  the  craft  passed 
through  it,  causing  everything  to  be  torn  from 
the  roof;  trunks,  bags,  and  chicken-coops, 
in  a  disordered  mass.  I  had  received  no 
warning  and  hardly  had  collected  my  senses 
before  this  avalanche  was  upon  me.  Seizing 
the  branches  as  they  came,  I  held  on  for  dear 
life.  I  tried  to  scramble  over  them  to  the 
other  part  of  the  roof,  but  having  fallen 
asleep  on  the  stern  there  was  no  chance. 

I  felt  myself  being  lifted  off  the  boat,  and 
as  I  blindly  held  on  I  had  time  to  wonder 
whether  the  tree  would  keep  me  out  of  the 
water,  or  lower  me  into  the  waiting  jaws  of 
some  late  alligator.  But  it  did  better  than 
that  for  me.  The  branches  sagged  under 
my  weight,  and  I  soon  saw  that  they  were 
going  to  lower  me  upon  the  trailing  canoes. 
I  did  not  wait  to  choose  any  particular  canoe, 
but,  as  the  first  one  came  beneath  me,  I 
dropped  off,  landing  directly  on  top  of  a 
sleeping  rubber- worker  and  giving  him  proba- 
bly as  bad  a  scare  as  I  had  had.  For  the 
remainder  of  the  night  I  considered  the  case 
of  cognac,  previously  referred  to,  a  marvel- 
lously comfortable  and  safe  place  to  stay. 

During  the  next  day  we  made  two  stops, 


134  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  at  the  second  took  on  board  eighteen  more 
passengers.     It  seemed  to  me  that  they  would 
have  to  sleep  in  a  vertical  position,  since,  as 
far  as  I  could  discover,  the  places  where  it 
could  be  done  horizontally  were  all  occupied. 
At  five  in  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  we  arrived 
at  a  small  rubber  estate  called  Boa  Vista, 
where  the  owner  kept  cut  palm-wood  to  be 
used  for  the  launch,  besides   bananas,  pine-  j 
apples,   and   a  small  patch   of   cocoa-plants. 
The  firemen  of  our  launch  were  busily  engaged 
in  carrying  the  wood,  when  one  of  them  sud- 
denly threw  off   his  load  and  came  running  j 
down  the  bank.     The   others   scattered  like  j 
frightened    sheep,    and    only  with    difficulty  J 
could  be  brought  to  explain  that  they  had  I 
seen   a   snake   of   a   poisonous   variety.     We  I 
crept  slowly  up  to  the  place  under  the  wood-  t 
pile  which  they  had  pointed  out.   and  there  [r 
about  a  foot  of  the  tail  of  a  beautifully  dec- 1 
orated  snake  was  projecting.     I  jammed  my  E 
twenty-four-inch    machete  through    it  longi- 1 
tudinally,  at   the  same   time   jumping  back,  i 
since  it  was  impossible  to  judge  accurately! 
where    the     head    might     come      from.     It 
emerged  suddenly  about  where  we  expected, 
the   thin   tongue   working   in   and   out   with 
lightning  speed  and  the  reptile  evidently  in 


• 


CHIEF  MARQUES 

'  is  remarkable  man  was  destined  to  figure  prominently  in  later  experiences 

135 


Canoe  for  a  Couch  137 


a  state  of  great  rage,  for  which  I  could  hardly 
blame  it,  as  its  tail  was  pinned  down  and 
perforated  with  a  machete.  We  dispatched 
it  with  a  blow  on  the  head  and  on  measuring 
it  found  the  length  to  be  nearly  nine  feet. 
The  interrupted  loading  of  wood  continued 
without  much  additional  excitement  and  we 
were  soon  on  our  way  again. 

That  night  I  passed  very  badly.  My 
female  neighbour  insisted  on  using  the  edge 
of  my  hammock  for  a  foot-rest,  and,  to  add 
to  my  general  discomfort,  my  hammock 
persisted  in  assuming  a  convex  shape  rather 
than  a  more  conventional  and  convenient 
concave,  which  put  me  in  constant  danger 
of  being  thrown  headlong  into  the  river, 
only  a  few  inches  away.  Finally,  I  took  my 
hammock  down  from  its  fastenings  and  went 
aft  where  I  found  a  vacant  canoe  among  those 
still  trailing  behind.  I  threw  my  hammock 
in  the  bottom  and  with  this  for  a  bed  managed 
to  fall  asleep,  now  and  then  receiving  a  blow 
from  some  unusually  low  branch  which  threat- 
ened to  upset  my  floating  couch. 

The  next  morning  it  was  found  that  we 
had  lost  two  canoes,  evidently  torn  loose 
during  the  night  without  anybody  noticing 
the  accident.  Luckily,  T  had  not  chosen 


138  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

either  of  these  to  sleep  in,  nor  had  anyone 
else.  I  cannot  help  thinking  what  my  feel- 
ings would  have  been  if  I  had  found  myself 
adrift  far  behind  the  launch. 

For  several  days  more  we  continued  going 
up  the  seemingly  endless  river.  Human 
habitations  were  far  apart,  the  last  ones  we 
had  seen  as  much  as  eighty-five  miles  below. 
We  expected  soon  to  be  in  the  territory  owned 
by  Coronel  da  Silva,  the  richest  rubber 
proprietor  in  the  Javary  region.  I  found 
the  level  of  this  land  we  were  passing  through 
to  be  slightly  higher  than  any  I  had  traversed 
as  yet,  although  even  here  we  were  passing 
through  an  entirely  submerged  stretch  of 
forest.  There  were  high  inland  spaces  that 
had  already  begun  to  dry  up,  as  we  could  see, 
and  this  was  the  main  indication  of  higher 
altitude  than  had  been  found  lower  down  the 
river.  Another  indication  was  that  big  game 
was  more  in  evidence.  The  animals  find  here 
a  good  feeding  place  without  the  necessity 
of  migrating  to  distant  locations  when  the 
water  begins  to  come  through  the  forest. 

At  a  place,  with  the  name  of  Nova  Aurora, 
again  consisting  of  one  hut,  we  found  a  quan- 
tity of  skins  stretched  in  the  sunlight  to  dry. 
They  were  mostly  the  hides  of  yellow  jaguars, 


Roast  Tapir  141 

or  pumas,  as  we  call  them  in  the  United  States, 
and  seven  feet  from  the  nose  to  the  end  of  the 
tail  was  not  an  unusual  length.  Although, 
as  we  learned,  they  had  been  taken  from  the 
animals  only  a  few  weeks  previously,  they  had 
already  been  partly  destroyed  by  the  gnawing 
of  rats.  A  tapir,  weighing  nearly  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  had  been  shot  the 
day  before  and  was  being  cut  up  for  food  when 
we  arrived.  We  were  invited  to  stay  and 
take  dinner  here,  and  I  had  my  first  oppor- 
tunity of  tasting  roast  tapir.  I  found  that 
it  resembled  roast  beef  very  much,  only 
sweeter,  and  the  enjoyment  of  this  food  be- 
longs among  the  very  few  pleasant  memories 
I  preserve  of  this  trip. 

While  they  were  getting  dinner  ready,  I 
noticed  what  I  took  to  be  a  stuffed  parrot 
on  a  beam  in  the  kitchen.  But  when  I 
touched  its  tail  I  found  that  it  was  enough 
alive  to  come  near  snapping  my  finger  off. 
It  was  a  very  large  arara  parrot  with  two 
tail  feathers,  each  about  thirty-six  inches 
long,  a  magnificent  specimen,  worthy  of  a 
place  in  a  museum.  Parrots  of  this  par- 
ticular species  are  very  difficult  to  handle, 
being  as  stupid  and  malicious  as  they  are 
beautiful.  They  often  made  me  think  of 


142  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

dandies  who  go  resplendent  in  fine  clothes 
but  are  less  conspicuous  for  mental  excellences. 
After  having  indulged  in  black  coffee,  we 
were  invited  to  give  the  house  and  the  sur- 
roundings a  general  inspection.  Directly 
behind  the  structure  was  the  smoking  hut, 
or  defumador,  as  it  is  called.  Inside  this 
are  a  number  of  sticks  inclined  in  pyramid 
form  and  covered  with  palm-leaves.  In  the 
floor  a  hole  was  dug  for  the  fire  that  serves 
for  coagulating  the  rubber-milk.  Over  this 
pit  is  hung  a  sort  of  frame  for  guiding  the 
heavy  stick  employed  in  the  smoking  of  the 
rubber.  At  this  time  the  process  had  not 
become  for  me  the  familiar  story  that  it  was 
destined  to  be.  Beneath  the  hut  were  several 
unfinished  paddles  and  a  canoe  under 
construction.  The  latter  are  invariably  of 
the  "dugout"  type.  A  shape  is  roughly  cut 
from  a  tree-trunk  and  then  a  fire  is  built 
in  the  centre  and  kept  burning  in  the  selected 
places  until  the  trunk  is  well  hollowed  out. 
It  is  then  finished  off  by  hand.  Paddles  are 
formed  from  the  buttresses  which  radiate 
from  the  base  of  the  matamata  tree,  forming 
thin  but  very  strong  spurs.  They  are  easily 
cut  into  the  desired  shape  by  the  men  and 
receive  decorations  from  the  hands  of  the 


JOAO 

The  gang-boss  at  Floresta 
143 


A  Collision  145 


women  who  often  produce  striking  colour 
effects.  A  beautiful  scarlet  tint  is  obtained 
from  the  fruit  of  the  urucu  plant,  and  the 
genipapa  produces  a  deep  rich-black  colour. 
These  dyes  are  remarkably  glossy,  and  they 
are  waterproof  and  very  stable. 

After  sunset  the  launch  was  off  again. 
Everything  went  quietly  until  midnight,  when 
we  were  awakened  with  great  suddenness. 
The  launch  had  collided  with  a  huge  log  that 
came  floating  down  the  stream.  It  wedged 
itself  between  the  side  of  the  boat  and  the 
lighter  and  it  required  much  labour  to  get 
ourselves  loose  from  it.  After  we  got  free, 
the  log  tore  two  of  the  canoes  from  their 
fastenings  and  they  drifted  off;  but  the  loss 
was  not  discovered  until  the  next  morning, 
when  we  were  about  thirty-five  miles  from 
the  scene  of  the  accident. 

Two  more  days  passed  without  any  incident 
of  a  more  interesting  nature  than  was  afforded 
by  occasional  stops  at  lonely  barracdos 
where  merchandise  was  unloaded  and  fuel  for 
the  engine  taken  in.  We  were  always  most 
cordially  received  by  the  people  and  invited 
to  take  coffee,  while  murmurs  of  "  Esta  casa  e 
a  suas  or  denes" — This  house  is  at  your  disposal 
1 — followed  our  departure.  Unlike  many  con- 


146  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

ventional  phrases  of  politeness,  T  do  not  know 
that  the  sentiment  was  entirely  exaggerated. 
It  is  typical  of  the  Brazilian  and  is  to 
be  reckoned  with  his  other  good  qualities. 
They  always  combine  a  respect  for  those 
things  that  are  foreign,  with  their  decided 
patriotism.  The  hospitality  the  stranger 
receives  at  their  hands  is  nothing  short  of 
marvellous,  and  no  greater  insult  can  be  in- 
flicted than  to  offer  to  pay  for  accommodations. 
I  find  any  retrospective  glance  over  the  days 
I  spent  among  these  people  coloured  with 
much  pleasure  when  I  review  incidents  con- 
nected with  my  contact  with  them.  There  is 
a  word  in  the  Portuguese  language  which 
holds  a  world  of  meaning  for  anyone  who  has 
been  in  that  land  so  richly  bestowed  with  the 
blessings  of  Nature,  Brazil.  It  is  saudadesi 
a  word  that  arouses  only  the  sweetest  and 
tenderest  of  memories. 

There  were  seven  more  days  of  travel 
before  we  reached  the  headquarters  of  Flor- 
esta,  the  largest  rubber-estate  in  the  Javary 
region.  It  covers  an  area  somewhat  larger 
than  Long  Island.  Coronel  da  Silva,  the 
owner,  lives  in  what  would  be  called  an  un- 
pretentious house  in  any  other  place  but 
the  Amazon.  Here  it  represents  the  highest 


THE  MURUMURU  PALM 

The  estrada  was  guarded  by  a  splendid  palm-tree 


To  the  Branco  149 

achievement  of  architecture  and  modern 
comfort.  It  is  built  on  sixteen-foot  poles 
and  stands  on  the  outskirts  of  a  half-cleared 
space  which  contains  also  six  smaller  buildings 
scattered  around.  The  house  had  seven 
medium-sized  rooms,  equipped  with  modern 
furniture  of  an  inexpensive  grade.  There 
was  also  an  office  which,  considering  that  it 
was  located  about  2900  miles  from  civilisation, 
could  be  almost  called  up-to-date.  I  remem- 
ber, for  instance,  that  a  clock  from  New  Haven 
had  found  its  way  here.  In  charge  of  the 
office  was  a  secretary,  a  Mr.  da  Marinha, 
who  was  a  man  of  considerable  education 
and  who  had  graduated  in  the  Federal  capital. 
Several  years  of  health-racking  existence  in 
the  swamps  had  made  him  a  nervous  and 
indolent  man,  upon  whose  face  a  smile  was 
never  seen.  The  launch  stopped  here  twenty- 
four  hours,  unloading  several  tons  of  merchan- 
dise, to  replenish  the  store-house  close  to  the 
river  front.  I  took  advantage  of  the  wait 
to  converse  with  Coronel  da  Silva.  He  invited 
me  cordially  to  stop  at  his  house  and  spend 
the  summer  watching  the  rubber-work  and 
hunting  the  game  that  these  forests  contained. 
It  was  finally  proposed  that  I  go  with  the 
launch  up  to  the  Branco  River,  only  two 


150  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

days*  journey  distant,  and  that  on  its  return 
I  should  disembark  and  stay  as  long  as  I 
wished.  To  this  I  gladly  assented.  We 
departed  in  the  evening  bound  for  the  Branco 
River.  On  this  trip  I  had  my  first  attack  of 
fever.  I  had  no  warning  of  the  approaching 
danger  until  a  chill  suddenly  came  over  me 
on  the  first  day  out  from  Floresta.  T  had 
felt  a  peculiar  drowsiness  for  several  days, 
but  had  paid  little  attention  to  it  as  one 
generally  feels  drowsy  and  tired  in  the  op- 
pressive heat  and  humidity.  When  to  this 
was  added  a  second  chill  that  shook  me  from 
head  to  foot  with  such  violence  that  T  thought 
my  last  hour  had  come,  I  knew  I  was  in  for 
my  first  experience  of  the  dreaded  Javary 
fever.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  take 
copious  doses  of  quinine  and  keep  still  in 
my  hammock  close  to  the  rail  of  the  boat. 
The  fever  soon  got  strong  hold  of  me  and  I 
alternated  between  shivering  with  cold  and 
burning  with  a  temperature  that  reached 
104  and  105  degrees.  Towards  midnight  it 
abated  somewhat,  but  left  me  so  nearly 
exhausted  that  T  was  hardly  able  to  raise 
my  head  to  see  where  we  were  going.  Our 
boat  kept  close  to  the  bank  so  as  to  get  all 
possible  advantage  of  the  eddying  currents. 


A  "  SERINGUEIRO"  TAPPING  A  RUBBER  TREE 
151 


Another  Collision  153 

I  was  at  length  aroused  from  a  feverish  slum- 
ber by  being  flung  suddenly  to  the  deck  of  the 
launch  with  a  violent  shock,  while  men  and 
women  shouted  in  excitement  that  the  craft 
would  surely  turn  over.  We  were  careened 
at  a  dangerous  angle  when  I  awoke  and  in 
my  reduced  condition  it  was  not  difficult  to 
imagine  that  a  capsize  was  to  be  the  result. 
But  with  a  ripping,  rending  sound  the  launch 
suddenly  righted  itself.  It  developed  that 
we  had  had  a  more  serious  encounter  with  a 
protruding  branch  than  in  any  of  the  previous 
collisions.  This  one  had  caught  on  the  very 
upright  to  which  my  hammock  was  secured. 
The  stanchion  in  this  case  was  iron  and  its 
failure  to  give  way  had  caused  the  boat  to  tilt. 
Finally  the  iron  bent  to  an  S  shape  and  the 
branch  slipped  off  after  tearing  the  post  from 
its  upper  fastenings.  It  was  a  narrow  escape 
from  a  calamity,  but  the  additional  excitement 
aggravated  my  fever  and  I  went  from  bad 
to  worse.  Therefore  it  was  found  advisable, 
when  we  arrived,  late  the  next  day,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Branco,  to  put  me  ashore  to 
stay  in  the  hut  of  the  manager  of  the  rubber 
estate,  so  that  I  might  not  cause  the  crew  and 
the  passengers  of  the  launch  inconvenience 
through  my  sickness  and  perhaps  ultimate 


154  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

death.  I  was  carried  up. to  the  ruaYand  placed 
in  a  hammock  where  I  was  given  a  heavy  dose 
of  quinine.  I  dimly  remember  hearing  the 
farewell-toot  of  the  launch  as  she  left  for  the 
down-river  trip,  and  there  T  was  alone  in  a 
strange  place  among  people  of  whose  language 
I  understood  very  little.  In  the  afternoon 
a  young  boy  was  placed  in  a  hammock  next 
to  mine,  and  soon  after  they  brought  in  a 
big,  heavy  Brazilian  negro,  whom  they  put 
on  the  other  side.  Like  me  they  were  suffering 
from  Javary  fever  and  kept  moaning  all 
through  the  afternoon  in  their  pain,  but  all 
three  of  us  were  too  sick  to  pay  any  attention 
to  each  other.  That  night  my  fever  abated  a 
trifle  and  I  could  hear  the  big  fellow  raving 
in  delirium  about  snakes  and  lizards,  which 
he  imagined  he  saw.  When  the  sun  rose  at 
six  the  next  morning  he  was  dead.  The  boy 
expired  during  the  afternoon. 

It  was  torture  to  lie  under  the  mosquito- 
net  with  the  fever  pulsing  through  my  veins 
and  keeping  my  blood  at  a  high  temperature, 
but  I  dared  not  venture  out,  even  if  I  had 
possessed  the  strength  to  do  so,  for  fear  of  the 
mosquitoes  and  the  sand-flies  which  buzzed  out- 
side in  legions.  For  several  days  I  remained 
thus  and  then  began  to  mend  a  little. 


Back  to  Floresta  157 

Whether  it  was  because  of  the  greater  vitality 
of  the  white  race  or  because  I  had  not  absorbed 
a  fatal  dose,  I  do  not  know,  but  I  improved. 
When  I  felt  well  enough,  I  got  up  and  arranged 
with  the  rubber-estate  manager  to  give  me  two 
Indians  to  paddle  me  and  my  baggage  down 
to  Floresta.  I  wanted  to  get  down  there 
where  I  could  have  better  accommodations 
before  I  should  become  sick  again. 


Life  Atnond 
The  Rubber  Workers 


159 


CHAPTER  V 
FLORESTA:  LIFE  AMONG  THE  RUBBER- WORKERS 

TT  was  half  past  five  in  the  morning  when 
we  arrived  at  the  landing  of  the  Floresta 
estate.  Since  it  was  too  early  to  go  up 
to  the  house  I  placed  my  trunk  on  the  bank, 
and  sat  admiring  the  surrounding  landscape, 
partly  enveloped  in  the  mist  that  always 
hangs  over  these  damp  forests  until  sunrise. 
The  sun  was  just  beginning  to  colour  the  east- 
ern sky  with  faint  warm  tints.  Before  me 
was  the  placid  surface  of  the  Ttecoahy,  which 
seemed  as  though  nothing  but  my  Indian's 
paddles  had  disturbed  it  for  a  century.  Just 
here  the  river  made  a  wide  turn  and  on  the 
sand-bar  that  was  formed  a  few  large  fresh- 
water turtles  could  be  seen  moving  slowly 
around.  The  banks  were  high  and  steep, 
and  it  appeared  incredible  that  the  flood 
could  rise  so  high  that  it  would  inundate 
the  surrounding  country  and  stand  ten  or 

161 


162  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

twelve  feet  above  the  roots  of  the  trees — a 
rise  that  represented  about  sixty-seven  feet 
in  all. 

When  I  turned    around    I   saw  the    half- 
cleared  space  in  front  of  me  stretching  over 
a  square  mile  of  ground.     To  the  right  was 
Coronel  da  Silva's  house,  already  described, 
and  all  about,  the  humbler  barracabs  or  huts  i 
of  the  rubber- workers.     In  the  clearing,  palm- 
trees  and  guava  brush  formed  a  fairly  thick 
covering  for  the  ground,  but  compared  with 
the  surrounding  impenetrable  jungle  the  little  j 
open  space  deserved  its  title  of  "  clearing." 
A  few  cows  formed  a  rare  sight  as  they  wan-  I 
dered  around  nibbling  at  the  sparse  and  sickly  I 
growth  of  grass. 

By-and-bye  the  sun  was  fully  up;  but  even  I 
then  it  could  not  fully  disperse  the  mists  I 
that  hung  over  the  landscape.  The  birds  $ 
were  waking  and  their  calls  filled  the  air.  I 

The    amorous   notes    of    the    inamboo    were  I 

< 

repeated  and  answered  from  far  off  by  its! 
mate,  and  the  melancholy  song  of  the  wacuraol 
piped  musically  out  from  the  vastness  ofl 
the  forest.  Small  green  paroquets  flew  about  I 
and  filled  the  air  with  their  not  altogether! 
pleasant  voices.  These  are  the  same  birds? 
that  are  well-known  to  the  residents  of  New] 


FOREST  INTERIOR 

The  gloom  that  pervades  these  immense  and  wonderful  woods 
163 


Sounds  at  Sunrise  165 

York  and  other  large  cities,  where  a  dozen 
of  them  can  often  be  seen  in  charge  of  an 
intrepid  Italian,  who  has  them  trained  to 
pick  cards  out  of  a  box  for  anyone  desiring 
his  fortune  told  for  the  sum  of  five  cents. 
Here  they  must  provide  by  their  own  efforts 
for  their  own  futures,  however.  Even  at 
this  hour  the  howling  monkey  had  not  left 
off  disturbing  the  peace  with  its  hideous 
din. 

Gradually  the  camp  woke  up  to  the  day's 
work.  A  tall  pa  jama-clad  man  spied  me  and 
was  the  first  to  come  over.  He  was  a  very 
serious-looking  gentleman  and  with  his  full- 
bearded  face  looked  not  unlike  the  artist's 
conception  of  the  Saviour.  He  bade  me 
welcome  in  the  usual  generous  terms  of  the 
Brazilians  and  invited"  me  into  the  house, 
where  I  again  met  Coronel  da  Silva.  This 
first-mentioned  grave-looking  man  was  Mr. 
da  Marinha.  The  kindness  with  which  he 
welcomed  me  was  most  grateful;  especially 
so  in  my  present  physical  condition.  I 
noticed  what  had  not  been  so  apparent  on  my 
first  meeting  with  him,  that  recent  and  con- 
tinuous ravages  of  fevers  and  spleen  troubles 
had  reduced  him,  though  a  fairly  young  man, 
to  the  usual  nerve-worn  type  that  the  white 


166  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

man  seems  bound  to  become  after  any  long 
stay  in  the  upper  Amazon  region. 

Not  knowing  where  T  might  stop  when  I 
left  Remate  de  Males,  I  had  brought  with  me 
a  case  of  canned  goods.  I  only  succeeded  in 
insulting  the  Coronel  when  I  mentioned  this. 
He  gave  me  his  best  room  and  sent  for  a  new 
hammock  for  me.  Such  attentions  to  a 
stranger,  who  came  without  even  a  letter 
of  introduction,  are  typical  of  Brazilian 
hospitality. 

After  a  plentiful  meal,  consisting  of  fried 
fish  and  roast  loin  of  tapir,  which  tasted  very 
good,  we  drank  black  coffee  and  conversed 
as  well  as  my  limited  knowledge  of  the 
Portuguese  language  permitted.  After  this, 
naturally,  feeling  very  tired  from  my  travels 
and  the  heat  of  the  day,  I  arranged  my  future 
room,  strung  my  hammock,  and  slept  until 
a  servant  announced  that  supper  was  served. 
This  meal  consisted  of  jerked  beef,  farinha, 
rice,  black  beans,  turtle  soup,  and  the  national 
Goiabada  marmalade.  The  cook,  who  was 
nothing  but  a  sick  rubber- worker,  had  spoiled 
the  principal  part  of  the  meal  by  disregarding 
the  juices  of  the  meat,  and  cooking  it  without 
salt,  besides  mixing  the  inevitable  farinha 
with  everything.  But  it  was  a  part  of  the 


A  FIG-TREE  COMPLETELY  OVERGROWN  WITH  ORCHIDS 
167 


An  Invalid  169 


custom  of  the  country  and  could  not  be  helped. 
De  gustibus  non  est  disputandum. 

When  this  meal  was  over.  I  was  invited  to 
go  with  the  secretary,  Mr.  da  Marinha,  the 
man  who  had  first  greeted  me  in  the  morning, 
to  see  a  sick  person.  At  some  distance  from 
the  house  was  a  small  barracao,  where  we 
were  received  by  a  seringueiro  named  Mar- 
ques. This  remarkable  man  was  destined 
to  figure  prominently  in  experiences  that  I 
had  to  undergo  later.  He  pulled  aside  a  large 
mosquito-net  which  guarded  the  entrance  of 
the  inner  room  of  this  hut.  In  the  hammock 
we  found  a  middle-aged  woman;  a  native 
of  Gear  a.  Her  face  was  not  unattractive 
but  terribly  emaciated,  and  she  was  evidently 
very  sick.  She  showed  us  an  arm  bound  up 
in  rags,  and  the  part  exposed  was  wasted  and 
dark  red.  It  was  explained  that  three  weeks 
before,  an  accident  had  forced  a  wooden 
splinter  into  her  thumb  and  she  had  neglected 
the  inflammation  that  followed.  I  asked  her 
to  undo  the  wrappings,  a  thing  which  I  should 
never  have  done,  and  the  sight  we  saw  was 
most  discouraging.  The  hand  was  swollen 
until  it  would  not  have  been  recognised  as  a 
hand,  and  there  was  an  immense  lesion 
extending  from  the  palm  to  the  middle  of  the 


170  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

forearm,  The  latter  was  in  a  terrible  con- 
dition, the  flesh  having  been  eaten  away  to  the 
bone.  It  was  plainly  a  case  of  gangrene  of  a 
particularly  vicious  character. 

Suddenly  it  dawned  upon  me  that  they  all 
took  me  for  a  doctor;  and  the  questions  they 
asked  as  to  what  should  be  done,  plainly 
indicated  that  they  looked  to  me  for  assistance. 
I  explained  that  I  had  no  knowledge  of 
surgery,  but  that  in  spite  of  this  I  was  sure 
that  if  something  were  not  done  immediately 
the  woman  would  have  little  time  to  live. 

I  asked  if  there  was  not  a  doctor  that  could 
be  reached  within  a  few  days'  journey.  We 
discussed  sending  the  woman  to  Remate  de 
Males  by  canoe,  but  this  idea  was  abandoned, 
for  the  journey  even  undertaken  by  the  most 
skilful  paddlers  could  not  be  made  in  less 
than  eighteen  days,  and  by  that  time  the 
gangrene  would  surely  have  killed  the  patient. 

Coronel  da  Silva  was  called  in.  He  said 
that  the  woman  was  the  wife  of  the  chief 
of  the  caucheros  and  that  her  life  must  be 
saved  if  possible.  I  explained  my  own  inca- 
pacity in  this  field  once  more,  but  insisted 
that  we  would  be  justified  in  undertaking 
an  amputation  as  the  only  chance  of  prevent- 
ing her  death. 


CHICO,  THE  MONKEY 

Then,  one  day,  he  returned,  chain  and  all 
171 


An  Amputation  173 


I  now  found  myself  in  a  terrible  position. 
The  operation  is  a  very  difficult  one  even  in 
the  hands  of  a  skilful  surgeon,  and  here  I  was 
called  to  perform  it  with  hardly  an  element- 
ary knowledge  of  the  science,  and  not  even 
adequate  instruments.  At  the  same  time, 
it  seemed  moral  cowardice  to  avoid  it,  since 
evidently  I  was  the  one  best  qualified,  and 
the  woman  would  die  in  agony  if  not  soon 
relieved.  I  trembled  all  over  when  I  concluded 
that  there  was  no  escape.  We  went  to  the 
room  and  got  the  bistoury  and  the  forceps 
given  me  by  a  medical  friend  before  I  left 
home.  Besides  these,  I  took  some  corrosive 
sublimate,  intended  for  the  preparation  of 
animal  skins,  and  some  photographic  clips. 
The  secretary,  after  a  search,  produced  an 
old  and  rusty  hacksaw  as  the  only  instrument 
the  estate  could  furnish.  This  we  cleaned 
as  carefully  as  possible  with  cloths  and  then 
immersed  it  in  a  solution  of  sublimate.  Before 
going  to  the  patient's  hut  I  asked  the  owner 
and  the  woman's  husband  if  they  were 
reconciled  to  my  attempt  and  would  not  hold 
me  responsible  in  case  of  her  death.  They 
answered  that,  as  the  woman  was  otherwise 
going  to  die,  we  were  entirely  right  in  doing 
whatever  we  could.  I  found  the  patient 


174  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

placidly  smoking  a  pipe,  her  injured  arm  over 
the  edge  of  the  hammock.  By  this  time  she 
understood  that  she  was  to  have  her  arm 
amputated  by  a  surgical  novice.  She  seemed 
not  to  be  greatly  concerned  over  the  matter, 
and  went  on  smoking  her  pipe  while  we  made 
the  arrangements.  We  placed  her  on  the 
floor  and  told  her  to  lie  still,  We  adjusted 
some  rubber  cloth  under  the  dead  arm.  Her 
husband  and  three  children  stood  watching 
with  expressionless  faces.  Two  monkeys, 
tied  to  a  board  in  a  corner,  were  playing  and 
fighting  together.  A  large  parrot  was  making 
discursive  comment  on  the  whole  affair, 
while  a  little  lame  dog  seemed  to  be  the 
most  interested  spectator.  The  secretary  took 
the  bistoury  from  the  bowl  containing  the 
sublimate  and  handed  it  to  me  with  a  bow. 
With  a  piece  of  cotton  I  washed  the  intended 
spot  of  operation  and  traced  a  line  with  a 
pencil  on  the  arm. 

Imagine  with  what  emotions  I  worked! 
After  we  had  once  started,  however,  we  forgot 
everything  except  the  success  of  our  operation. 
I  omit  a  description  of  the  details,  as  they 
might  prove  too  gruesome.  The  woman 
fainted  from  shock  just  before  we  touched 
the  bone, — Nature  thus  supplying  an  ef- 


Counter-Effects  of  Surgery        177 

fective,  if  rude,  anaesthetic.  We  had  for- 
gotten about  sewing  together  the  flesh,  and 
when  we  came  to  this  a  boy  was  dispatched 
to  the  owner's  house  for  a  package  of  stout 
needles.  These  were  held  in  the  fire  for  a 
few  seconds,  and  then  immersed  when  cold 
in  the  sublimate  before  they  were  used  to 
join  the  flesh.  By  the  time  it  was  done,  I 
was,  myself,  feeling  very  sick.  Finally  I  could 
stand  the  little  room  of  torture  no  longer, 
and  left  the  secretary  dressing  the  wound. 
Would  she  recover  from  the  barbaric  opera- 
tion? This  question  kept  coursing  through 
my  head  as  I  vainly  tried  for  a  long  time  to 
go  to  sleep. 

The  next  day,  after  an  early  observation  of 
my  patient,  who  seemed  to  have  recovered 
from  the  shock  and  thus  gave  at  least  this 
hope  of  success,  I  spent  my  time  going  around 
to  visit  the  homes  of  the  serin gueiros.  They 
were  all  as  polite  as  their  chief,  and  after 
exchanging  the  salute  of  "Boa  dia,"  they 
would  invite  me  to  climb  up  the  ladder  and 
enter  the  hut.  Here  they  would  invariably 
offer  me  a  cup  of  strong  coffee.  There  were 
always  two  or  three  hammocks,  of  which  I 
was  given  the  one  I  liked  best.  The  huts 
generally  consist  of  two  rooms  with  a  few 


178  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

biscuit -boxes  as  chairs,  and  Winchester  rifles 
and  some  fancy-painted  paddles  to  complete 
the  furniture. 

The  following  day  I  arose  with  the  sun  and; 
after  some  coffee,  asked  a  huge  small-pox- 
scarred  fellow  to  accompany  me  on  my  first 
excursion  into  the  real  jungle.  Up  to  this 
time  I  had  only  seen  it  from  my  back  porch 
in  Remate  de  Males  and  from  the  deck  of  the 
launch  Carolina,  but  now  I  was  in  the  heart 
of  the  forest  and  would  indulge  in  jungle 
trips  to  my  heart's  content.  We  entered 
through  a  narrow  pathway  called  an  estrada, 
whose  gateway  was  guarded  by  a  splendid 
palm-tree,  like  a  Cerberus  at  the  gates  of  dark 
Hades.  The  estrada  led  us  past  one  hundred 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  rubber  trees,  as  it 
wound  its  way  over  brooks  and  fallen  trees. 
Each  of  the  producing  trees  had  its  rough 
bark  gashed  with  cuts  to  a  height  of  ten  to 
twelve  feet  all  around  its  circumference. 
These  marks  were  about  an  inch  and  a  half 
in  length.  Alongside  of  the  tree  was  always 
to  be  found  a  stick,  on  the  end  of  which 
were  a  dozen  or  so  of  small  tin-cups  used 
in  collecting  the  rubber-milk.  Every  worker 
has  two  estradas  to  manage,  and  by  tapping 
along  each  one  alternately  he  obtains  the 


The  Howling  Monkey  179 

maximum  of  the  product.  This  particular 
estrada  was  now  deserted  as  the  seringueiro 
happened  to  be  at  work  on  the  other  one 
under  his  jurisdiction. 

It  was  in  a  sense  agreeable  to  work  there 
as  the  sun  could  not  penetrate  the  dense 
foliage  and  the  air  was  therefore  cool.  After 
we  had  walked  for  about  an  hour,  my  big 
guide  complained  of  being  tired  and  of  feeling 
unwell.  I  told  him  he  could  go  back  to  the 
camp  and  leave  me  to  find  my  way  alone. 
Accordingly  he  left  me  and  I  now  had  the  task 
of  carrying  without  assistance  my  large  8  x  10 
view-camera,  a  shotgun,  a  revolver,  and  a 
machete. 

Gradually  my  ear  caught  a  terrible  sound 
which  to  the  uninitiated  would  have  seemed 
like  the  roaring  of  a  dozen  lions  in  combat, 
but  the  dreadful  notes  that  vibrated  through 
the  forest  were  only  those  of  the  howling 
monkey.  I  always  had  a  great  desire  to  see 
one  of  this  species  in  the  act  of  performing 
this  uncanny  forest-concert,  therefore  I  left 
the  rubber  pathway  after  placing  my  camera 
on  the  ground,  up  against  a  rubber  tree,  and 
commenced  following  the  noise,  cutting  my 
way  through  the  underbrush.  I  walked  and 
walked,  but  the  sound  seemed  to  remain  the 


iSo  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

same  distance  away,   and  I   stopped  to  re- 
connoitre. 

I  hesitated  whether  to  proceed  or  not, 
fearing  I  might  lose  the  way  and  not  be  able 
to  find  my  camera  again.  The  monkey  was 
not  visible  at  all;  it  fact,  it  was  not  possible 
to  see  anything,  unless  it  was  very  close  by, 
so  dense  was  the  foliage.  I  laid  my  automatic 
pistol  on  a  fallen  tree-trunk,  and  was  trying 
to  figure  out  the  chances  of  getting  a  look  at 
my  simian  friend  and  at  the  same  time  not 
losing  my  valuable  property  on  the  pathway, 
when  I  heard  another  startling  sound,  this 
time  near-by.  I  prepared  myself  for  whatever 
species  of  animal  was  due,  and  could  feel  the 
excitement  a  hunter  knows  when  he  thinks 
he  is  about  to  get  a  sight  of  big  game.  Sud- 
denly the  undergrowth  parted  in  front  of  me 
and  a  herd  of  wild  boars  came  trotting  out. 
T  drew  a  bead  on  the  biggest  of  the  lot  and 
fired,  letting  five  soft-nose  bullets  go  through 
his  head  to  make  sure;  the  others  fled,  and  I 
hastened  to  the  spot  to  examine  my  prize  more 
closely.  It  was  a  boar  of  medium  size,  weigh- 
ing in  the  neighbourhood  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pounds,  and  he  had  a  fine  set  of 
tusks.  He  was  rather  vicious-looking  and  was 
doing  considerable  kicking  before  he  gave  up 


Curing  the  Rubber  183 

the  ghost.  It  was  impossible  for  me  to  carry 
him  through  the  bush  owing  to  the  fact  that 
I  had  the  valuable  camera  and  apparatus  to 
:ake  care  of,  so  I  made  a  mental  note  of  the 
spot,  and  cut  his  ears  off.  It  took  four  hours' 
search  to  find  the  camera,  in  spite  of  my  belief 
that  I  had  not  gone  far,  and  it  wras  late  in  the 
afternoon  when  I  arrived  at  headquarters. 

The  very  next  morning  there  was  a  good 
opportunity  to  see  the  smoking  of  rubber- 
milk.  A  seringueiro  had  collected  his  product 
and  when  I  went  to  the  smoking-hut  I  found 
him  busy  turning  over  and  over  a  big  stick, 
resting  on  two  horizontal  guides,  built  on 
both  sides  of  a  funnel  from  which  a  dense 
smoke  was  issuing.  On  the  middle  of  the 
stick  was  a  huge  ball  of  rubber.  Over  this 
he  kept  pouring  the  milk  from  a  tin-basin. 
Gradually  the  substance  lost  its  liquidity 
and  coagulated  into  a  beautiful  yellow-brown 
mass  which  was  rubber  in  its  first  crude  ship- 
ping state. 

The  funnel  from  which  the  smoke  issued 
was  about  three  feet  high  and  of  a  conical 
shape.  At  its  base  was  a  fire  of  small  wooden 
chips,  which  when  burning  gave  forth  an 
acrid  smoke  containing  a  large  percentage 
of  creosote.  It  is  this  latter  substance  which 


1 84  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

has  the  coagulating  effect  upon  the  rubber- 
milk.  When  the  supply  of  milk  was  exhausted, 
he  lifted  the  ball  and  stick  off  the  guides  and 
rolled  it  on  a  smooth  plank  to  drive  the 
moisture  out  of  the  newly-smoked  rubber. 
Then  he  was  through  for  the  day.  He  placed 
the  stick  on  two  forked  branches  and  put 
some  green  leaves  over  the  funnel  to  smother 
the  fire.  On  top  of  the  leaves  he  put  a  tin- 
can  and  a  chunk  of  clay,  then  filled  the  hole 
in  the  ground  with  ashes.  Under  this  arrange- 
ment the  fire  would  keep  smouldering  for 
twenty-four  hours,  to  be  used  anew  for  the 
next  repetition  of  the  smoking  process. 

In  the  afternoon  we  again  went  out  to  hunt. 
This  time  I  took  only  a  12-gauge  shotgun. 
As  we  travelled  through  the  forest  I  was 
impressed  once  more  by  the  fascination  of 
the  grandly  extravagant  vegetation. 

But  there  is  little  charm  about  it,  nothing 
of  the  tranquillity  our  idyllic  Catskills  or 
even  the  sterner  Adirondacks^  create.  There 
is  no  invitation  to  repose,  no  stimulus  to 
quiet  enjoyment,  for  the  myriad  life  of  the 
Amazon's  jungle  forest  never  rests.  There 
is  always  some  sound  or  some  movement  which 
is  bound  to  stir  in  one  the  instinct  of  self- 
preservation.  You  have  to  be  constantly 


Forest  Sounds  185 


alive  to  the  danger  of  disagreeable  annoyance 
from  the  pests  that  abound,  or  of  actual 
bodily  harm  from  animals  of  the  reptilian 
order. 

Were  I  in  possession  of  adequate  descriptive 
power  I  could  picture  the  impression  that 
this  jungle  creates  upon  the  mind  of  one  from 
the  North,  but  now,  as  I  once  more  sit  in  a 
large  city  with  sky-scrapers  towering  about 
me,  and  hear  the  rattling  noise  of  the  elevated 
railway  train  as  it  rushes  past,  my  pen  fails 
me  and  I  have  to  remove  myself  on  the  wings 
of  thought  to  those  remote  forests,  fully 
realising,  "Beatus  ille,  qui  procul  negotiis, 
ut"  etc.,  etc.  Then  I  can  feel  again  the  silence 
and  the  gloom  that  pervade  those  immense 
and  wonderful  woods.  The  few  sounds  of 
birds  and  animals  are,  generally,  of  a  pensive 
and  mysterious  character,  and  they  intensify 
the  feeling  of  solitude  rather  than  impart 
to  it  a  sense  of  life  and  cheerfulness.  Some- 
times in  the  midst  of  the  noon-day  stillness, 
a  sudden  yell  or  scream  will  startle  one,  coming 
from  some  minor  fruit-eating  animal,  set 
upon  by  a  carnivorous  beast  or  serpent. 
Morning  and  evening,  the  forest  resounds 
with  the  fearful  roar  of  the  howling  monkeys, 
and  it  is  hard,  even  for  the  stoutest  heart, 


i86  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

to  maintain  its  buoyancy  of  spirit.  The 
sense  of  inhospitable  wilderness,  which  the 
jungle  inspires,  is  increased  tenfold  by  this 
monstrous  uproar.  Often  in  the  still  hours 
of  night,  a  sudden  crash  will  be  heard,  as  some 
great  branch  or  a  dead  tree  falls  to  the  ground. 
There  are,  besides,  many  sounds  which  are 
impossible  to  account  for  and  which  the 
natives  are  as  much  at  a  loss  to  explain  as 
myself.  Sometimes  a  strange  sound  is  heard, 
like  the  clang  of  an  iron  bar  against  a  hard, 
hollow  tree;  or  a  piercing  cry  rends  the  air. 
These  are  not  repeated,  and  the  succeeding 
stillness  only  tends  to  heighten  the  unpleasant 
impression  which  they  produce  on  the  mind. 
The  first  thing  that  claimed  our  attention, 
shortly  after  we  started,  was  a  sound  of 
breaking  branches  and  falling  leaves,  some- 
where in  the  distance.  Through  the  trees 
I  could  perceive  that  it  was  a  big  dark-grey 
monkey,  which  we  had  alarmed.  He  was 
scrambling  up  a  tall  tree  when  I  fired  at  him. 
I  evidently  missed,  for  T  could  see  him 
prepare  for  a  mighty  jump  to  a  lower  tree 
where  he  would  be  out  of  sight.  But  in  the 
jump  he  got  another  load  of  pellets,  which 
struck  him  in  the  back.  His  leap  fell  short 
of  the  mark  and  he  landed  headlong  among 


A  Recuperating  Monkey          189 


some  bushes,  kicking  violently  as  I  came  up 
to  him.  As  he  seemed  strongly  built  and  had 
a  rather  savage  expression,  it  did  not  seem 
wise  to  tackle  him  with  bare  hands,  therefore, 
as  I  desired  to  get  him  alive,  I  ran  back  and 
procured  my  focussing  cloth,  which  I  tied 
around  his  head.  Thus  I  got  him  safely  back 
to  the  camp,  where  he  was  tied  to  a  board  and 
the  bullets  extracted  from  his  flesh.  Then 
his  wounds,  which  were  not  serious,  were 
bound  up  and  he  was  put  into  a  cage  with  a 
bunch  of  bananas  and  a  saucer  of  goat's  milk 
to  cheer  him  up  a  bit. 

The  suddenness  with  which  these  monkey 
delicacies  disappeared,  convinced  me  that 
his  complete  recovery  was  a  matter  of  only 
a  short  time,  unless  perchance  some  hungry 
rubber-worker,  surreptitiously,  had  removed 
these  viands  while  nobody  was  looking, 
for  bananas  and  milk  are  things  which  will 
tempt  any  Amazonian  from  the  narrow  path 
of  rectitude;  but  it  was  not  so  in  this  case. 
The  conviction  as  to  recovery  proved  right, 
and  with  the  improvement  of  his  health  he 
displayed  a  cheerful  and  fond  disposition 
that  decided  me  to  take  him  back  with  me 
to  New  York  when  I  should  go.  I  have  since 
been  informed  that  he  belonged  to  the 


190  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Humboldt  Sika  species.  I  watched  him  for 
several  months  and  came  to  like  him  for  the 
innocent  tricks  he  never  tired  of  playing. 
One  night  he  managed  to  liberate  himself 
from  the  tree  near  the  hut  where  he  was  tied. 
He  disappeared  for  two  days,  but  on  the 
third  he  returned,  chains  and  all.  He  had 
doubtless  found  life  in  the  jungle  trees 
not  altogether  cheerful  with  a  heavy  chain 
secured  to  his  waist,  and  he  had  returned 
reconciled  to  captivity  and  regular  meals. 
There  is  at  present  one  specimen  of  this  kind 
of  monkey  at  the  Bronx  Zoological  Gardens 
in  charge  of  the  head-keeper. 

At  the  time  of  low  water,  the  so-called 
pray  as  appear  at  the  bends  of  the  river; 
they  grow  with  the  accumulation  of  sand  and 
mud.  They  are  wide  and  often  of  a  consider- 
able area,  and  on  them  the  alligators  like 
to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  early  morning 
and  late  afternoon,  and  the  tartarugas,  or 
fresh- water  turtles,  lay  their  eggs.  These 
eggs  are  laid  in  the  months  of  September 
and  October  on  moon-lit  nights  and  are 
somewhat  smaller  than  the  ordinary  hen's 
egg,  the  yolk  tasting  very  much  the  same, 
but  they  are  covered  with  a  tough  parchment- 
like  shell.  Here  on  the  upper  Amazon  the 


A  Peculiar  Dish  191 


people  prepare  a  favourite  meal  by  collecting 
these  eggs  and  storing  them  for  two  or  three 
weeks,  when  they  tear  open  the  shell  and 
squeeze  out  the  yolks,  mixing  them  all  up 
into  a  mush  with  the  inevitable  farinha. 
Few  people,  except  native  Brazilians,  ever 
acquire  a  relish  for  this  remarkable  dish. 

I  spent  a  whole  day  waiting  for  the  elusive 
alligators  on  one  of  these  sand-bars,  but 
evidently  they  were  too  wise,  for  they  never 
came  within  camera-range.  I  did,  however,  see 
some  tapir-tracks,  leading  down  to  the  water's 
edge.  After  the  long  wait  I  grew  discouraged, 
and  chose  a  camping  place  farther  up  the 
river,  where  I  prepared  a  meal  consisting 
of  turtle  eggs  and  river  water.  The  meal 
was  not  absolutely  undisturbed,  as  the  air 
was  full  of  a  species  of  fly  that  derives  its 
principal  sustenance  from  the  bodies  of 
various  dead  animals  always  to  be  found 
through  the  jungle,  whose  teeming  life  crowds 
out  all  but  those  fittest  to  survive. 

I  had  begun  my  vigil  before  sunrise,  when 
there  are  two  or  three  hours  very  cool  and 
humid.  In  the  dry  season  the  dew  which 
collects  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
animal  and  plant  life.  For  the  tired  and 
thirsty  wanderer,  the  calyx  of  the  beautiful 


192  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

scarlet  orchid,  which  grows  abundantly  in 
this  region,  contains  the  refreshment  of  two 
or  three  ounces  of  clear,  cool  water.  But 
you  must  look  carefully  into  this  cup  of  nature 
to  see  that  no  insects  lurk  in  its  depths  to 
spoil  the  draught. 

I  have  previously  described  the  breakfast 
table  of  the  millionaire  Coronel  R.  da  Silva, 
with  its  black  beans,  the  dreadful  farinha,  the 
black  coffee,  and  the  handful  of  mutilated 
bolachas  or  biscuits.  The  only  variable  factor 
was  the  meat,  sometimes  wild  hog,  occasion- 
ally tapir,  and  very  often  the  common  green 
parrot  or  the  howling  monkey.  At  most  meals 
the  pirarucu  fish  appears,  especially  on  Mon- 
days when  the  rubber-workers  have  had  the 
whole  of  Sunday  in  which  to  indulge  in  the 
sport  of  shooting  this  gamy  two-hundred- 
pound  fish.  They  carry  their  pirarucu  to 
headquarters  and  courteously  offer  the  best 
cuts  to  the  Coronel,  afterwards  cutting  the  rest 
into  long  strips  and  leaving  them  to  dry  in  the 
sun.  Jerked  beef  was  always  to  be  relied  upon 
when  other  supplies  ran  low. 

There  must  have  been  some  terrible  mystery 
connected  with  the  milk.  There  were  twenty- 
one  cows  on  the  place,  but  never  a  drop  of 
milk  from  them  was  to  be  had.  I  was  always 


c/3      0) 

o   ^ 


O 


The  Cause  of  Fevers  195 


afraid  to  ask  any  questions  about  this  de- 
ficiency for  fear  T  might  be  treading  on 
dangerous  ground,  but  with  the  lack  of  any 
other  explanation  I  ascribe  it  to  continual 
sickness  from  which  the  cattle  must  probably 
suffer,  in  common  with  every  other  living 
thing  here. 

During  the  month  of  September,  the  number 
of  patients  from  fever,  pleurisy,  and  accidents, 
at  Floresta  headquarters,  amounted  to  82% 
of  the  population.  A  fever  resembling 
typhoid  resulted  in  several  cases  from  drinking 
the  river- water.  The  Coronel  claimed  that 
Mangeroma  Indians  living  in  the  interior 
about  150  miles  from  Floresta  had  poisoned 
the  creeks  and  affluents  of  the  Itecoahy  to 
take  revenge  upon  the  traders  who  brought 
the  much  dreaded  Peruvian  rubber-workers 
up  to  the  Itecoahy  River  estates.  These 
Peruvians  are  hated  because  they  abduct  the 
women  of  the  indigenous  tribes,  when  on 
their  expeditions  far  into  the  forests  where 
these  tribes  live,  and  consequently  they  are 
hunted  down  and  their  entrance  to  the  region 
as  far  as  possible  prevented. 

At  this  morning  hour  in  New  York  (Floresta 
is  on  the  same  meridian  as  New  York) ,  thou- 
sands of  toilers  are  entering  the  hot  subways 


196  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  legions  of  workers  are  filing  into  their  of- 
fices and  stuffy  shops  to  take  their  places  at 
the  huge  machinery  which  keeps  the  world  in 
motion.  At  the  very  same  hour  a  handful 
of  rubber-workers  are  passing  my  house, 
returning  from  their  first  trip  in  the  estradas, 
where  they  have  been  tapping  the  trees, 
and  on  their  way  to  the  huts  and  a  frugal 
breakfast.  Here  in  the  wilds  of  Brazil  there 
are  no  subways,  no  worry  about  the  "  market," 
nor  indeed  any  thought  for  the  morrow. 
Nature  supplies  the  rubber  trees,  and  the 
"boss"  the  tools  to  work  them  with;  the 
philosophy  of  the  rubber -worker  goes  no 
farther.  A  shirt,  trousers,  and  a  hat  are  all 
the  dress  that  fashion  requires,  and  often 
the  worker  even  finds  the  shirt  superfluous. 
He  wears  a  pair  of  overalls,  and  carries  slung 
over  his  shoulder  his  rifle  and  the  little  hatchet 
for  tapping  the  trees,  besides  a  small  rubber 
bag  in  which  he  keeps  a  supply  of  farinha  and 
jerked  beef,  should  he  be  prevented  from 
reaching  his  hut  in  regulation  time. 

The  seringueiro  is  free  in  his  movements 
and  in  his  mind,  he  is  a  quick  and  keen 
observer  of  nature,  and  an  expert  in  know- 
ledge of  the  cries  and  calls  of  the  animals  of 
the  forest.  He  knows  their  habits  and  hiding- 


The  Native  Naturalist  197 


places  to  perfection,  and  he  could  probably 
astonish  the  naturalist  by  informing  him  of 
many  things  he  has  observed  that  his  brother 
scientist  never  has  heard  of.  He  knows  the 
names  of  the  trees  and  plants  in  the  forest  and 
what  they  can  be  used  for,  though  his  know- 
ledge of  them  is  often  supplemented  by  supersti- 
tious imaginings.  He  knows  the  multitudinous 
fish  of  the  Amazon,  whether  they  are  to  be 
caught  with  a  net,  speared,  or  shot  with  bow 
and  arrows,  or,  if  the  hunter  is  of  a  progressive 
disposition,  shot  with  rifle  ball.  There  are 
varieties  that  have,  as  yet,  not  been  seen, 
classified,  or  identified  by  the  scientist  of 
to-day — I  am  positive  of  having  seen  several 
such. 

The  inhabitant  of  this  region  is  clean  in  his 
habits  and  in  his  mind  as  soon  as  he  gets 
away  from  the  evil  influence  of  civilisation 
— which  for  him  is  the  town  of  Remate  de 
Males  or  "  Culmination  of  Evils."  He  takes 
a  bath  at  least  twice  a  day,  and  attends  closely 
to  the  cleanliness  of  his  wardrobe,  which  for 
that  matter  does  not  absorb  any  considerable 
amount  of  time.  As  a  rule,  he  is  industrious, 
but  frequent  attacks  of  fever,  dysentery,  liver 
and  spleen  complaints,  or  pneumonia  make 
him  in  the  end,  like  all  living  things  here  not 


198  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

native  to  the  forests,  sluggish  in  general, 
and  irritable  on  occasion. 

A  little  distance  from  the  headquarters 
lies  a  beautiful  lake.  It  is  not  wider  than  the 
Itecoahy  itself,  four  hundred  feet  on  an  aver- 
age, and  is  about  five  miles  long.  It  runs  paral- 
lel with  the  river,  and  has  only  one  outlet.  In 
the  dry  season  this  amounts  to  nothing  more 
than  a  little  rivulet  across  which  a  large 
fallen  tree  has  formed  a  natural  bridge,  but 
in  January,  when  the  waters  rise,  the  creek 
is  so  full  that  the  servants  of  Coronel  da  Silva 
can  wash  the  linen  there.  After  some  weeks 
of  sojourn  at  Floresta,  I  found  my  way  to  this 
lake,  and  it  was  here  that  I  was  able  to  observe 
some  of  the  largest  specimens  of  Amazonian 
reptiles  in  their  haunts,  where  the  equatorial 
sun  had  full  opportunity  to  develop  an 
amazing  growth  of  faunal  and  floral  life. 

It  was  a  most  enchanting  stretch  of  water. 
I  had  heard  of  the  dangers  lurking  beneath 
its  surface  long  before  I  saw  it,  so  when  I 
arrived  there  one  morning  I  was  surprised 
to  find  a  placid  lake,  set  in  picturesque  and 
romantic  surroundings.  My  first  impulse 
was  to  exclaim,  partly  to  myself,  and  partly 
to  the  Indian  Joab  who  accompanied  me, 
"Why,  this  is  Lake  Innocence,"  so  peaceful 


JOA"0 

A  shirt,  trousers,  and  a  hat  are  all  that  fashion  requires 
199 


Lake  "Innocence"  201 


id  it  appear.  In  fact,  so  much  did  it  charm 
me  that  during  the  remainder  of  my  stay  at 
Floresta  there  was  hardly  a  day  some  part 
of  which  I  did  not  spend  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  this  lake.  But  it  was  treacherous. 
It  was  the  home  of  six  or  seven  old  alligators 
and  of  young  ones — too  numerous  to  count; 
the  oldest  reaching  a  length  of  about  seventeen 
feet.  They  would  lie  perfectly  still  under  the 
banks,  among  the  dead  branches  and  snags, 
which  made  the  shores  generally  inaccessible 
to  boat  or  canoe,  but  when  a'person  approached 
they  would  make  their  presence  known  by 
violent  splashing  in  the  water  and  repeated 
loud  grunts,  very  much  resembling  those  of 
a  walrus.  Then  they  would  burrow  under 
the  soft  mud  and  remain  quiet  for  an  hour  or 
two.  In  the  early  forenoon,  before  the  sun 
became  too  hot,  they  would  sun  themselves, 
but  in  the  sweltering  mid-day  hours  they 
remained  buried  in  the  mud,  and  were  then 
very  hard  to  rouse. 

I  found,  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  two 
alligator  nests,  formed  of  many  twigs  and 
branches  stuck  together,  half  in  the  water 
and  half  in  the  soft  slimy  mud.  There  they 
deposited  their  eggs,  oblong  tough  ones; 
and  one  could  always  count  on  rinding  the 


202  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

female  in  the  neighbourhood,  should  one 
desire  to  visit  her.  I  came  near  stepping  on 
one  of  these  female  alligators  during  a 
morning  hunt  with  my  camera.  I  was 
intently  examining  a  group  of  eggs  I  found 
under  a  cluster  of  branches,  when  I  was 
startled  by  a  splash  in  the  water  and  a  loud 
grunt.  As  fast  as  the  muddy  ground  would 
let  me,  I  scrambled  up  the  bank,  and  when  I 
reached  the  top  T  saw  the  alligator  swimming 
away  from  the  very  spot  where  I  had  been 
standing,  its  small  close-set  eyes  fastened  on 
me.  Then  it  disappeared  in  the  mud. 

My  next  encounter  occurred  one  forenoon, 
when  I  was  sitting  close  to  the  dried-up  canal 
which  formed  the  outlet  of  the  lake.  It 
was  almost  mid-day.  I  was  sitting  in  the 
shade,  safe  from  the  blazing  sun,  enjoying 
a  peaceful  smoke.  The  air  was  fairly  vibrat- 
ing with  heat,  causing  the  blood  to  surge 
through  my  veins.  Not  a  sound  was  heard 
except  the  irritating  buzz  of  the  ever-present 
mosquitoes.  For  some  time  I  had  been  aware 
of  the  slow,  stealthy  movement  of  a  large 
body  near-by,  though  only  half  consciously. 
The  heat  made  me  sluggish  and  sleepy,  but 
suddenly  I  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  moving 
thing,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  near  me. 


An  Encounter  with  an  Alligator      203 

Mechanically,  I  released  the  " safety"  of  my 
automatic  pistol,  and  then  realised  that  out 
of  the  reeds  near  me  was  creeping  a  medium- 
sized  alligator.  He  was  making  straight 
for  the  water,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  he 
was  cognisant  of  my  presence  or  not.  He  was 
moving  steadily,  advancing  a  few  inches, 
stopping  for  a  minute,  then  resuming  the 
journey.  I  believe  I  was  not  more  than  five 
feet  from  the  head  as  it  emerged  from  the 
fringe  of  reeds.  I  raised  my  camera,  secured 
a  focus,  and  snapped  the  shutter.  The  click 
of  the  apparatus  and  perhaps  my  movement 
drew  his  attention.  He  stopped  abruptly. 
The  long  jaws  opened  toward  me,  displaying 
an  enormous  expanse  of  pink  flesh  and  two 
rows  of  shining  teeth.  I  lost  not  a  second 
in  throwing  aside  the  camera  and  jumping 
back  to  a  position  of  relative  safety,  whence 
I  fired  into  the  open  mouth  of  the  beast.  I 
killed  him.  On  examining  the  carcass,  I 
noticed  that  he  had  unusually  large  eyes, 
indicating  that  he  was  a  young  specimen. 
A  few  days  later  I  again  went  to  this  lake 
— which,  from  my  remarks,  had  now  come  to 
be  generally  called  "Lago  Innocencia" — to 
catch  fish  with  my  Indian  friend  ]oab.  He 
carried  a  bow,  four  arrows  with  detachable 


204  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

heads,  and  a  harpoon  six  feet  long.  The 
little  boat  which  we  found  close  to  the  outlet 
of  the  lake  was  pushed  away  from  the  shore, 
we  each  seized  one  of  the  peculiarly  decorated 
paddles,  and  were  off,  looking  for  finny  game. 
We  paddled  quietly  along  near  the  shore, 
now  and  then  receiving  a  bump  from  some 
concealed  snag  which  nearly  upset  us.  It 
requires  considerable  skill  to  navigate  one 
of  these  poorly-made  dugouts,  the  slightest 
move  causing  a  disproportionate  amount  of 
disturbance  of  equilibrium. 

Suddenly  Joab  jumped  up,  his  black  eyes 
glowing  with  excitement.  He  motioned  me 
to  keep  quiet,  but  it  was  quiet  superfluous 
for  him  to  do  this,  as  I  was  unable  to  talk, 
or  even  look  around,  for  fear  the  canoe  might 
upset.  He  seized  the  harpoon,  and  with  a 
powerful  swing  sent  it  into  the  water  ahead 
of  us,  at  the  same  time  grasping  the  line  which 
was  attached  to  the  end.  The  spear  sank 
deep  into  the  water,  and  then  by  the  vivacity 
with  which  it  danced  around  I  could  tell  there 
was  something  on  the  end  of  it.  As  he  began 
to  pull  in  the  line,  the  struggle  became  so 
violent  that  I  crept  forward  on  my  knees  in 
the  bottom  of  the  canoe  and  helped  him 
recover  the  spear.  Only  after  some  strenuous 


FLORESTA  CREEK 

Over  this  creek  a  large  fallen  tree  has  formed  a  natural  bridge 

205 


The  Sting-ray 


207 


balancing  feats  and  a  stiff  fight  by  both  of 
us,  did  we  land  our  game.  It  was  a  large 
flat  fish  at  least  four  feet  square,  with  a  long 
whip-shaped  tail,  at  the  base  of  which  were  two 
barbed  bones  each  about  three  and  a  half 
inches  in  length.  Our  first  act  was  to  sever 
this  tail  with  a  hatchet,  as  it  was  far  too  active 
to  make  the  fish  a  pleasant  neighbour  in 
close  quarters.  When  the  sting-ray,  or,  as 
the  Brazilians  call  it,  the  araya,  was  dead, 
I  cut  out  the  two  barbed  bones  and  no  longer 
wondered  why  these  fish  are  so  dreaded  by 
those  who  know  them.  Joab  told  me  that 
they  attack  anyone  who  ventures  into  the 
water,  and  with  their  sharp,  barbed  bones  inflict 
a  wound  that  in  most  cases  proves  fatal,  for 
the  bones  are  brittle  and  break  off  in  the 
flesh.  Superstition  and  carelessness  are  the 
main  factors  that  .make  the  wound  dangerous ; 
the  people  believe  too  much  in  an  ever-present 
evil  spirit  which  abides  in  all  the  vicious  and 
fiendish  animals  of  the  forest  and  swamp. 
Once  wounded  by  any  of  these  malignant  crea- 
tures, they  believe  there  is  no  hope  of  recovery 
and  they  hardly  try  to  survive.  Besides,  lack 
of  proper  care  and  treatment  of  a  wound  gen- 
erally results  in  its  terminating  in  a  case  of 
septicaemia  and  ultimately  gangrene. 


208  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

I  have  mentioned  the  pirarucu  several  times 
as  being  the  largest  edible  fish  of  the  Amazon. 
When  full  grown,  it  attains  a  weight  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  In  Lake  Innocence 
we  saw  this  remarkable  fish  feeding  close  to 
the  shore  in  shallow  water,  surrounded  by 
a  school  of  young  ones.  The  old  one  was 
about  seven  feet  in  length  and  the  others, 
but  recently  hatched,  from  nine  to  ten 
inches.  The  Indian  who  pointed  them  out 
to  me  stood  up  in  the  bow  of  the  canoe  and, 
fitting  one  of  his  five-foot  arrows  to  the  bow- 
string, sent  it  through  the  air  and  into  the 
head  of  the  big  fellow. 

The  bow  which  he  used  was  of  his  own 
manufacture.  It  was  about  seven  and  a  half 
feet  long,  very  tough  and  straight,  and  made 
of  Caripari  wood.  The  shafts  of  the  arrows 
were  made  of  long  straight  reeds,  the  stalks 
of  a  certain  species  of  wild  cane.  The  de- 
tachable part  of  the  arrow  is  a  short  but 
extremely  hard  piece  of  wood  upon  which  is 
fitted  an  iron  head  with  two  barbs.  When 
the  point  pierces  the  flesh  this  hard  piece 
comes  off,  but  remains  attached  to  the  shaft 
by  a  short  stout  cord.  This  allows  the  shaft 
free  play  so  that  it  will  not  break  during  the 
struggles  of  the  victim.  Then  there  is  a  line 


The  Pirarucu  209 

attached  to  the  head  itself  so  that  the  hunter 
can  handle  the  struggling  animal  or  fish  by 
means  of  it  and  of  the  shaft  of  the  arrow. 
The  whole  contrivance  is  a  marvel  of  ingenu- 
ity in  meeting  the  conditions  the  Amazon 
hunter  is  called  on  to  face.  When  the  arrow 
struck  this  particular  pirarucu,  at  close 
range,  he  made  straight  for  the  shore,  hauling 
the  canoe  and  its  contents  after  him  at  con- 
siderable speed.  We  got  tangled  among  the  low 
branches  and  fought  the  fish  in  considerable 
danger  of  being  overturned — and  I  should 
not  at  all  care  to  be  capsized  on  Lake 
Innocence. 

Finally,  we  got  our  prize  ashore.  T  sent 
the  Indian  to  headquarters,  telling  him  to  go, 
as  fast  as  he  could  and  bring  assistance  so 
that  we  could  get  the  fish  home.  I  myself 
mounted  guard  over  the  carcass  to  see  that 
neither  the  turkey  buzzards  nor  the  carni- 
vorous mammals  should  destroy  it.  If  we 
had  left  it  alone  for  even  a  short  time, 
we  would  have  found,  on  our  return,  little 
to  remind  us  of  its  existence.  The  Indian 
returned  shortly  with  two  men.  They  stuck 
a  pole  through  the  great  gills  of  the  pirarucu 
and  in  this  fashion  carried  it  to  the  settlement. 

These  waters  contain  great    quantities  of 


210  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

another  and  smaller  fish  known  as  the  piranha, 
scientifically  termed  Serraselmus  piraya.  This 
is  quite  as  much  dreaded  by  the  natives 
as  the  alligator,  or  even  as  the  shark  along 
the  coast.  Its  ferocity  seems  to  know  no 
bounds.  It  will  attack  other  fish  and  bite 
large  pieces  out  of  their  fins  and  tails.  Al- 
though it  is  not  much  larger  than  the  herring 
it  can  make  fatal  attacks  on  man  when  in 
large  numbers. 

Mr.  C.  B.  Brown  in  his  work  on  Guiana 
gives  the  following  account  of  this  fish: 

The  piranhas  in  the  Corentins  were  so  abundant  and 
were  so  ferocious  that  at  times  it  was  dangerous  to 
go  into  the  water  to  a  greater  depth  than  the  knees. 
Even  then  small  bodies  of  these  hungry  creatures 
would  swim  in  and  make  a  dash  close  to  our  legs, 
and  then  retreat  to  a  short  distance.  They  actually 
bit  the  steering  paddles  as  they  were  drawn  through 
the  water  astern  of  the  boat.  A  tapir  which  I  shot 
as  it  swam  across  the  water  had  his  nose  bitten  off 
by  them  whilst  we  were  towing  it  to  the  shore.  The 
men  used  to  catch  some  of  them  for  the  sport  of  it, 
and  in  taking  the  hook  from  the  mouth  produced  a 
wound  from  which  the  blood  ran  freely.  On  throwing 
them  back  into  the  water  in  this  injured  condition, 
they  were  immediately  set  upon  and  devoured  by 
their  companions.  Even  as  one  was  being  hauled 
in  on  the  line,  its  comrades,  seeing  that  it  was  in 
difficulties,  attacked  it  at  once. 


^ 


Si 

a  a 


The  Piranha  213 

I  heard  about  these  fiends  but  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  witness  their  ferocity  until  one  day, 
in  crossing  the  river  in  a  dugout,  we  wounded 
a  wild  hog  that  had  also  decided  to  cross  at 
the  same  time  and  at  the  same  place.  The 
man  with  the  stern  paddle  seized  his  machete 
as  he  saw  the  hog  swimming  close  by  the 
port-side  of  the  canoe  and  stabbed  it  in  the 
shoulder,  intending  to  tow  it  ashore  and  have 
a  luxurious  dinner  of  roast  hog.  But  his 
dream  was  never  realised,  for  the  piranhas 
which  had  tasted  the  blood,  I  suppose,  came 
in  large  numbers  and  set  upon  the  unfortunate 
hog.  In  a  minute  the  water  seemed  to  be 
boiling,  so  great  was  the  activity  of  the  little 
demons  as  they  tore  away  pieces  of  the  flesh 
until  it  was  vanishing  by  inches.  When 
we  reached  the  other  shore  there  was  not 
enough  left  of  the  hog  to  furnish  a  single 
meal. 

Later  I  learned  that  certain  Indian  tribes 
leave  their  dead  in  the  river  for  the  piranhas 
to  strip  the  flesh  from  the  bones.  It  is  then 
customary  to  take  the  remaining  skeleton  and 
let  it  dry  in  the  sun,  after  which  it  is  rubbed 
with  the  juice  of  the  urucu  plant  (the  Bixa  Orel- 
lana),  which  produces  a  bright  scarlet  colour. 
Then  it  is  hung  up  in  the  hut  and  the  Indians 


214  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

consider  that  a  token  of  great  reverence  has 
been  thus  bestowed  on  the  deceased. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  fish,  I  will 
mention  another  species,  smaller  than  the 
piranha,  yet,  although  not  as  ferocious,  the 
cause  of  much  dread  and  annoyance  to  the 
natives  living  near  the  banks  of  the  rivers. 
In  fact,  throughout  the  Amazon  this  little 
worm-like  creature,  called  the  kandiroo,  is  so 
omnipresent  that  a  bath-house  of  a  particular 
construction  is  necessary.  The  kandiroo  is 
usually  three  to  four  inches  long  and  one 
sixteenth  in  thickness.  It  belongs  to  the 
lampreys,  and  its  particular  group  is  the 
Myxinos  or  slime-fish.  Its  body  is  coated 
with  a  peculiar  mucus.  It  is  dangerous  to 
human  beings,  because  when  they  are  taking 
a  bath  in  the  river  it  will  approach  and  with 
a  swift  powerful  movement  penetrate  one 
of  the  natural  openings  of  the  body  whence  it 
can  be  removed  only  by  a  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous operation. 

A  small  but  hard  and  pointed  dorsal 
fin  acts  as  a  barb  and  prevents  the  fish 
from  being  drawn  back.  While  I  was  in 
Remate  de  Males  the  local  doctor  was 
called  upon  to  remove  a  kandiroo  from  the 
urethra  of  a  man.  The  man  subsequently 


W      3 

U      c\S 


g       <L> 

^       Q^ 

w  *§ 

2  a 


! 


The  Kandiroo  217 

died  from  the  hemorrhage  following  the 
operation. 

Largely  through  the  danger  of  the  attack 
from  this  scourge,  though  perhaps  not  entirely, 
the  natives  have  adopted  the  method  of 
bathing  in  use.  A  plunge  into  the  river  is 
unheard  of,  and  bath-houses  are  constructed 
so  as  to  make  this  unnecessary.  A  hole 
about  eighteen  inches  square  is  cut  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor — built  immediately  above 
the  water — through  which  the  bather,  provided 
with  a  calabash  or  gourd  of  the  bread-fruit 
tree,  dips  water  up  and  pours  it  over  himself 
after  he  has  first  examined  it  carefully.  The 
indigenous  Indians,  living  in  the  remote 
parts  of  the  forest,  do  not  use  this  mode  of 
protection,  but  cover  the  vulnerable  portions 
of  the  body  carefully  with  strips  of  bark,  which 
render  complete  immersion  less  dangerous. 

During  my  walks  in  the  forest  I  often  came 
across  snakes  of  considerable  length,  but  never 
found  any  difficulty  in  killing  them,  as  they 
were  sluggish  in  their  movements  and  seemed 
to  be  inoffensive.  The  rubber- workers,  who 
had  no  doubt  had  many  encounters  with 
reptiles,  told  me  about  large  sucurujus  or 
boa-constrictors,  which  had  their  homes  in 
the  river  not  many  miles  from  headquarters. 


2i8  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

They  told  me  that  these  snakes  were  in 
possession  of  hypnotic  powers,  but  this, 
like  many  other  assertions,  should  be  taken 
with  a  large  grain  of  salt.  However,  I  will 
relate  an  incident  which  occurred  while  I 
lived  at  Floresta,  and  in  which  I  have  absolute 
faith,  as  I  had  the  opportunity  of  talking  to 
the  persons  involved  in  the  affair. 

Jose  Perreira,  a  rubber-worker,  had  left 
headquarters  after  having  delivered  his  weekly 
report  on  the  rubber  extracted,  and  was. 
paddling  his  canoe  at  a  good  rate  down  the 
stream,  expecting  to  reach  his  hut  before 
midnight.  Arriving  at  a  recess  in  the  banks 
formed  by  the  confluence  of  a  small  creek 
called  Igarape  do  Inferno,  or  the  Creek  of 
Hell,  he  thought  that  he  heard  the  noise  of 
some  game,  probably  a  deer  or  tapir,  drinking, 
and  he  silently  ran  his  canoe  to  the  shore, 
where  he  fastened  it  to  a  branch,  at  the  same 
time  holding  his  rifle  in  readiness.  Finally, 
as  he  saw  nothing,  he  returned  to  the  canoe 
and  continued  his  way  down-stream. 

Hardly  more  than  ten  yards  from  the  spot, 
he  stopped  again  and  listened.  He  heard 
only  the  distant  howling  of  a  monkey.  This 
he  was  used  to  on  his  nightly  trips.  No! 
there  was  something  else!  He  could  not  say 


:•  .A  ';: 


The  Sucuruju  221 

it  was  a  sound.  It  was  a  strange  something 
that  called  him  back  to  the  bank  that  he  had 
left  but  a  few  minutes  before.  He  fastened 
his  canoe  again  to  the  same  branch  and  crept 
up  to  the  same  place,  feeling  very  uneasy  and 
uncomfortable,  but  seeing  nothing  tha^could 
alarm  him — nothing  that  he  could  draw*  the 
bead  of  his  rifle  on.  Yet,  something  there 
was!  For  the  second  time  he  left,  without 
being  able  to  account  for  the  mysterious  force 
that  lured  him  to  this  gloomy,  moon-lit  place 
on  the  dark,  treacherous  bank.  Tn  setting 
out  in  the  stream  again  he  decided  to  fight 
off  the  uncanny,  unexplainable  feeling  that 
had  called  him  back,  but  scarcely  a  stone's 
throw  from  the  bank  he  had  the  same  desire 
to  return, — a  desire  that  he  had  never  before 
experienced.  He  went  again,  and  looked, 
and  meditated  over  the  thing  that  he  did 
not  understand. 

He  had  not  drunk  cachassa  that  day  and 
was  consequently  quite  sober;  he  had  not 
had  fever  for  two  weeks  and  was  in  good 
health  physically  as  well  as  mentally;  he  had 
never  so  much  indulged  in  the  dissipations  of 
civilisation  that  his  nerves  had  been  affected; 
he  had  lived  all  his  life  in  these  surroundings 
and  knew  no  fear  of  man  or  beast.  And 


222  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

now,  this  splendid  type  of  manhood,  free  and 
unbound  in  his  thoughts  and  unprejudiced 
by  superstition,  broke  down  completely  and 
hid  his  face  in  his  hands,  sobbing  like  a  child 
in  a  dark  room  afraid  of  ghosts.  He  had 
been  called  to  this  spot  three  times  without 
knowing  the  cause,  and  now,  the  mysterious 
force  attracting  him,  as  a  magnet  does  a  piece 
of  iron,  he  was  unable  to  move.  Helpless  as 
a  child  he  awaited  his  fate. 

Luckily  three  workers  from  headquarters 
happened  to  pass  on  their  way  to  their  homes, 
which  lay  not  far  above  the  "Creek  of  Hell," 
and  when  they  heard  sobbing  from  the  bank 
they  called  out. 

The  hypnotised  seringueiro  managed  to 
state  that  he  had  three  times  been  forced, 
by  some  strange  power,  to  the  spot  where 
he  now  was,  unable  to  get  away,  and  that  he 
was  deadly  frightened.  The  rubber- workers, 
with  rifles  cocked,  approached  in  their  canoe, 
fully  prepared  to  meet  a  jaguar,  but  when 
only  a  few  yards  from  their  comrade  they  saw 
directly  under  the  root  where  the  man  was  sit- 
ting the  head  of  a  monstrous  boa-constrictor, 
its  eyes  fastened  on  its  prey.  Though  it 
was  only  a  few  feet  from  him,  he  had  been 
unable  to  see  it. 


Length  of  Sucuruju  225 

One  of  the  men  took  good  aim  and  fired, 
crushing  the  head  of  the  snake,  and  breaking 
the  spell,  but  the  intended  victim  was  com- 
pletely played  out  and  had  to  lie  down  in  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe,  shivering  as  if  with  ague. 

The  others  took  pains  to  measure  the  length 
of  the  snake  before  leaving.  It  was  79  palmas 
or  52  feet  8  inches.  In  circumference  it  meas- 
ured ii  palmas,  corresponding  to  a  diameter 
of  28  inches.  Its  mouth,  they  said,  was  two 
palmas  or  sixteen  inches,  but  how  they  mean 
this  to  be  understood  I  do  not  know. 

This  event  happened  while  I  was  living  at 
headquarters.  I  had  a  long  talk  with 
Perreira,  but  could  not  shake  his  statement, 
nor  that  of  the  three  others;  nevertheless, 
I  remained  a  sceptic  as  to  this  alleged  charming 
or  mesmeric  power  of  the  snakes,  at  least  so 
far  as  man  is  concerned. 

At  that  time  we  were  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  the  monthly  launch  from  the  town  of 
Remate  de  Males,  and  had  spent  a  day 
weighing  rubber  at  the  camp  of  one  of  the 
employees,  half  a  day's  journey  from  head- 
quarters. The  rubber-pellets  were  loaded 
into  our  large  canoe  to  take  up  to  Floresta. 
We  spent  the  evening  drinking  black  coffee 
and  eating  some  large,  sweet  pineapples, 


226  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

whereafter  we  all  took  a  nap  lasting  until 
midnight,  when  we  got  up  to  start  on  our  night 
trip.  It  had  been  considered  best  to  travel 
at  night,  when  it  was  nice  and  cool  with  none 
of  the  pestering  insects  to  torture  us,  and  we 
were  soon  paddling  the  heavy  canoe  at  a  merry 
rate,  smoking  our  pipes  and  singing  in  the 
still,  dark  night.  Soon  we  rounded  a  point 
where  the  mighty  trees,  covered  with  orchids 
and  other  parasitic  plants,  sent  their  branches 
down  to  the  very  water  which  in  its  depths 
was  hiding  the  dreaded  water-snakes.  The 
only  sound  we  heard  was  the  weird  calling 
of  the  night-owl,  the  " Mother  of  the  Moon" 
as  the  Indians  call  it.  Except  this  and  the 
lapping  sound  of  water,  as  we  sped  along, 
nothing  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  the  night. 

I  was  in  the  act  of  lighting  another  pipe 
when  one  of  the  men  cried  out : 

"What's  this?" 

We  all  stopped  paddling  and  stared 
ahead  at  a  large  dark  object,  resting  on  a. 
moon -lit  sand-bar  not  far  from  us.  Then 
someone  said,  "  Sucuruju."  Few  people  can  i 
comprehend  the  feeling  that  creeps  into  one's 
heart  when  this  word  is  pronounced,  under 
such  circumstances,  in  the  far-off  forest,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night.  The  word  means  1 


HARPOONING  A  LARGE  STING-RAY 

He  seized  the  harpoon,  and  with  a  powerful  swing  sent  it  into  the  water 

227 


The  King  of  the  Swamps         229 

boa-constrictor,  but  it  meant  a  lot  more  at 
this  moment.  An  indescribable  feeling  of 
awe  seized  me.  I  knew  now  that  I  was  to  face 
the  awful  master  of  the  swamps,  the  great 
silent  monster  of  the  river,  of  which  so  much 
had  been  said,  and  which  so  few  ever  meet 
in  its  lair. 

Running  the  canoe  ashore  we  advanced  in 
single  file.  I  now  had  a  chance  to  inspect 
the  object.  On  a  soft,  muddy  sand-bar, 
half  hidden  by  dead  branches,  I  beheld  a 
somewhat  cone-shaped  mass  about  seven 
feet  in  height.  From  the  base  of  this  came 
the  neck  and  head  of  the  snake,  flat  on  the 
ground,  with  beady  eyes  staring  at  us  as  we 
slowly  advanced  and  stopped.  The  snake 
was  coiled,  forming  an  enormous  pile  of 
round,  scaly  monstrosity,  large  enough  to 
crush  us  all  to  death  at  once.  We  had  stopped 
at  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  feet  from  him, 
and  looked  at  each  other.  I  felt  as  if  T  were 
spellbound,  unable  to  move  a  step  farther 
or  even  to  think  or  act  on  my  own  initiative. 

The  snake  still  made  no  move,  but  in  the 
clear  moonlight  I  could  see  its  body  expand 
and  contract  in  breathing;  its  yellow  eyes 
seeming  to  radiate  a  phosphorescent  light. 
I  felt  no  fear,  nor  any  inclination  to  retreat, 


230  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

yet  I  was  now  facing  a  beast  that  few  men  had 
ever  succeeded  in  seeing.  Thus  we  stood  look- 
ing at  each  other,  scarcely  moving  an  eyelid, 
while  the  great  silent  monster  looked  at  us. 
I  slid  my  right  hand  down  to  the  holster  of 
my  automatic  pistol,  the  Qmm.  Luger,  and 
slowly  removed  the  safety  lock,  at  the  same 
time  staring  into  the  faces  of  the  men.  In 
this  manner  I  was  less  under  the  spell  of  the 
mesmerism  of  the  snake,  and  could  to  some  ex- 
tent think  and  act.  I  wheeled  around  while  I 
still  held  control  of  my  faculties,  and,  perceiv- 
ing a  slight  movement  of  the  snake's  coils, 
I  fired  point-blank  at  the  head,  letting  go  the 
entire  chamber  of  soft-nose  bullets.  Instantly 
the  other  men  woke  up  from  their  trance  and 
in  their  turn  fired,  emptying  their  Winchesters 
into  the  huge  head,  which  by  this  time  was 
raised  to  a  great  height  above  us,  loudly 
hissing  in  agony. 

Our  wild  yelling  echoed  through  the  deep 
forest.  The  snake  uncoiled  itself  and  writhing 
with  pain  made  for  the  water's  edge.  By  this 
time  we  were  relieved  of  the  terrible  suspense, 
but  we  took  care  to  keep  at  a  respectful 
distance  from  the  struggling  reptile  and  the 
powerful  lashing  of  its  tail,  which  would  have 
killed  a  man  with  one  blow. 


SHOOTING  FISH  ON  LAKE  INNOCENCE 

Fitting  one  of  his  five-foot  arrows  to  the  bow-string,  he  sent  it 
into  the  head  of  the  pirarucu 

231 


Skinning  the  Boa  233 

After  half  an  hour  the  struggles  grew  weaker, 
yet  we  hesitated  to  approach  even  when  it 
seemed  quiet  and  had  its  head  and  a  portion 
of  its  body  submerged  in  the  water.  We 
decided  to  stay  through  the  night  and  wait  here 
a  day,  as  I  was  very  anxious  to  skin  the  snake 
and  take  the  trophy  home  to  the  States  as  a 
souvenir  of  a  night's  adventure  in  this  far-off 
jungle  of  the  Amazon.  We  went  up  in  the 
bushes  and  lit  a  fire,  suspended  our  hammocks 
to  some  tree-trunks,  and  slept  soundly  not 
more  than  ten  yards  from  the  dying  leviathan. 

We  all  got  up  before  sunrise,  had  our 
coffee  in  haste,  and  ran  down  to  see  the  snake. 
It  was  dead,  its  head  practically  shot  to  pieces. 
We  set  to  work,  stretching  the  huge  body 
out  on  the  sand-bar,  and  by  eight  o'clock  we 
had  the  entire  snake  flat  on  the  ground, 
ready  to  measure  and  skin. 

It  was  a  most  astonishing  sight,  that  giant 
snake  lying  there  full  length,  while  around  it 
gathered  six  Amazon  Indians  and  the  one  soli- 
tary New  Yorker,  here  in  the  woods  about  as 
far  from  civilisation  as  it  is  possible  to  get. 
I  proceeded  to  take  measurements  and  used 
the  span  between  my  thumb  and  little  finger 
tips  as  a  unit,  knowing  that  this  was  exactly 
eight  inches. 


234  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  snake,  I 
continued  to  the  end  and  found  that  this 
unit  was  contained  eighty-four  times.  Thus 
84  times  8  divided  by  12  gives  exactly  56 
feet  as  the  total  length.  In  circumference, 
the  unit,  the  "palma,"  was  contained  8  times 
and  a  fraction,  around  the  thickest  part  of 
the  body.  From  this  I  derived  the  diameter 
2  feet  i  inch. 

These  measurements  are  the  result  of 
very  careful  work.  I  went  from  the  tail  to 
the  nose  over  again  so  as  to  eliminate  any 
error,  and  then  asked  the  men  with  me  also 
to  take  careful  measurements  in  their  own 
manner,  which  only  confirmed  the  figures 
given  above. 

Then  we  proceeded  to  skin  the  snake, 
which  was  no  easy  task  under  the  fierce  sun 
now  baking  our  backs.  Great  flocks  of 
urubus,  or  vultures,  had  smelled  the  carcass 
and  were  circling  above  our  heads  waiting 
for  their  share  of  the  spoils.  Each  man  had 
his  section  to  work  on,  using  a  wooden  club 
and  his  machete.  The  snake  had  been  laid 
on  its  belly  and  it  was  split  open,  following  the 
spinal  column  throughout  its  length,  the 
ventral  part  being  far  too  hard  and  un- 
yielding. About  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 


t 

I 


3  B 

D     bfl 


Doubted  by  the  Natives          237 


noon  we  had  the  work  finished  and  the 
carcass  was  thrown  into  the  river,  where  it 
was  instantly  set  upon  by  the  vigilant  piranhas 
and  alligators. 

Standing  in  front  of  this  .mmense  skin  I 
could  not  withhold  my  elation. 

"Men,"  I  said,  "here  am  T  on  this  the 
29th  day  of  July,  1910,  standing  before  a 
snake-skin  the  size  of  which  is  wonderful. 
When  I  return  to  my  people  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  tell  them  that  I 
have  seen  and  killed  a  boa-constrictor  nearly 
eighteen  metres  in  length,  they  will  laugh  and 
call  me  a  man  with  a  bad  tongue." 

Whereupon  my  friend,  the  chief,  rose  to 
his  full  height  and  exclaimed  in  a  grieved  tone : 
"Sir,  you  say  that  your  people  in  the  north 
will  not  believe  that  we  have  snakes  like 
this  or  even  larger.  That  is  an  insult  to 
Brazilians,  yet  you  tell  us  that  in  your  town 
Nova  York  there  are  barracaos  that  have 
thirty-five  or  even  forty  stories  on  top  of 
each  other!  How  do  you  expect  us  to  believe 
such  an  improbable  tale  as  that?" 

I  was  in  a  sad  plight  between  two  realities 
of  such  mighty  proportions  that  they  could 
be  disbelieved  in  localities  far  removed  from 
each  other. 


238  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

We  brought  the  skin  to  headquarters, 
where  I  prepared  it  with  arsenical  soap  and 
boxed  it  for  later  shipment  to  New  York. 
The  skin  measured,  when  dried,  54  feet  8 
inches,  with  a  width  of  5  feet  I  inch. 

Kind  reader,  if  you  have  grown  weary 
of  my  accounts  of  the  reptilian  life  of  the 
Amazon,  forgive  me,  but  such  an  important 
role  does  this  life  play  in  the  every-day 
experience  of  the  brave  rubber- workers  that 
the  descriptions  could  not  be  omitted.  A 
story  of  life  in  the  Amazon  jungle  without 
them  would  be  a  deficient  one,  indeed. 

There  is  a  bird  in  the  forests,  before  referred 
to,  called  by  the  Indians  "A  mae  da  lua"  or 
the  "Mother  of  the  Moon."  It  is  an  owl 
and  makes  its  habitation  in  the  large,  dead, 
hollow  trees  in  the  depths  of  the  jungle,  far 
away  from  the  river  front,  and  it  will  fly  out 
of  its  nest  only  on  still,  moonlit  nights,  to 
pour  forth  its  desolate  and  melancholy  song. 
This  consists  of  four  notes  uttered  in  a  major 
key,  then  a  short  pause  lasting  but  a  few 
seconds,  followed  by  another  four  notes  in  the 
corresponding  minor  key.  After  a  little  while 
the  last  two  notes  in  the  minor  key  will  be 
heard  and  then  all  is  still. 


The  Mother  of  the  Moon         241 

When  the  lonely  wanderer  on  the  river  in  a 
canoe,  or  sitting  in  his  hammock,  philosophises 
over  the  perplexing  questions  of  life,  he  is 
assisted  in  his  dreary  analysis  by  the  gloomy 
and  hair-raising  cry  of  the  mother  of  the  moon. 
When  the  first  four  notes  strike  his  ear,  he  will 
listen,  thinking  that  some  human  being  in  dire 
distress  is  somewhere  out  in  the  swamps,  piti- 
fully calling  for  help,  but  in  so  painful  a 
manner  that  it  seems  as  if  all  hope  were 
abandoned.  Still  listening,  he  will  hear  the 
four  succeeding  melancholy  notes,  sounding  as 
if  the  desolate  sufferer  were  giving  up  the 
ghost  in  a  last  desperate  effort.  The  final 
two  notes,  following  after  a  brief  interval,  tell 
him  that  he  now  hears  the  last  despairing  sobs 
of  a  condemned  soul.  So  harrowing  and  de- 
pressing is  this  song  that,  once  heard,  the 
memory  of  it  alone  will  cause  one's  hair  to 
stand  on  end  and  he  will  be  grateful  when  too 
far  away  to  hear  again  this  sob  of  the  forest. 

A  surprise  was  in  store  for  me  one  day  when 
I  visited  the  domicile  of  a  rubber-worker 
living  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  estate.  I 
expected  to  find  a  dwelling  of  the  ordinary 
appearance,  raised  on  poles  above  the  ground, 
but  instead  this  hut  was  built  among  the 


242  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

branches  of  a  tree  some  twenty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  earth.  I  commenced  climbing 
the  rickety  ladder  leading  to  the  door  of  the 
hut.  Half-way  up  a  familiar  sound  reached 
my  ear.  Yes,  I  had  surely  heard  that  sound 
before,  but  far  away  from  this  place.  When 
I  finally  entered  the  habitation  and  had  ex- 
changed greetings  with  the  head  of  the 
family,  I  looked  for  the  source  of  the  sound. 
Turning  round  I  saw  a  woman  sitting  at 
a  sewing-machine,  working  on  a  shirt  evi- 
dently for  her  husband.  I  examined  this 
machine  with  great  curiosity  and  found  it 
to  be  a  "  New  Home ' '  sewing-machine  from 
New  York.  What  journeys  and  transfers 
had  not  this  apparatus  undergone  before 
it  finally  settled  here  in  a  tree-top  in  this 
far-off  wilderness! 

One  afternoon  while  sitting  in  the  office 
at  headquarters  discussing  Amazonian  politics 
with  Coronel  da  Silva,  Francisco,  a  rubber- 
worker,  came  up  and  talked  for  a  while  with 
the  Coronel,  who  then  turned  to  me  and  said: 
"  Do  you  want  to  get  the  skin  of  a  black  jaguar? 
Francisco  has  just  killed  one  on  his  estrada 
while  collecting  rubbber-milk ;  he  will  take 
you  down  to  his  barracao,  and  from  there  he 


THE  TRACK  OF  THE  ANACONDA — THE  SUCURUJU 
243 


A  Black  Jaguar  245 

will  lead  you  to  the  spot  where  the  jaguar 
lies,  and  there  you  can  skin  him." 

I  thanked  Francisco  for  his  information 
and  went  for  my  machete,  having  my  pistol 
already  in  my  belt.  T  joined  him  at  the  foot 
of  the  river  bank  outside  the  main  building, 
where  he  was  waiting  for  me  in  his  canoe, 
and  we  paddled  down -stream  to  his  hut. 
On  our  way  (he  lived  about  two  miles  below 
Floresta)  he  told  me  that  he  was  walking  at 
a  good  rate  on  the  narrow  path  of  the  estrada 
when  he  was  attracted  by  a  growling  and 
snarling  in  the  thicket.  He  stopped  and  saw 
a  black  jaguar  grappling  with  a  full-grown 
buck  in  a  small  opening  between  the  trees. 
The  jaguar  had  felled  the  buck  by  jumping  on 
its  back  from  the  branches  of  a  tree,  and,  with 
claws  deeply  imbedded  in  the  neck,  broke  its 
spine  and  opened  its  throat,  when  Francisco 
drew  the  bead  on  the  head  or  neck  of  the 
jaguar  and  fired.  The  jaguar  fell,  roaring 
with  pain.  Francisco  was  too  much  in  a 
hurry  to  leave  the  narrow  path  of  the  rubber- 
workers  and  go  to  the  spot  where  the  victim 
was  writhing  in  its  death  agonies,  but  hastened 
on  for  his  dinner.  Remembering  later  that 
the  Coronel  had  offered  an  attractive  sum  of 
money  for  any  large  game  they  would  bag 


246  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

for  my  benefit,  and  having  finished  his  dinner, 
he  paddled  up  to  headquarters  and  reminded 
the  Coronel  of  the  promised  reward.  When 
we  came  to  the  hut  of  the  rubber-worker 
a  large  dog  greeted  us.  This  dog  looked  like 
a  cross  between  a  great  Dane  and  a  Russian 
greyhound;  it  was  rather  powerfully  built, 
although  with  a  softness  of  movement  that 
did  not  correspond  with  its  great  frame. 
Francisco  whistled  for  the  dog  to  follow  us. 
He  carried  his  Winchester  and  a  machete, 
while  I  discovered  that  my  pistol  had  been  left 
unloaded  when  I  hurried  from  headquarters, 
so  I  was  armed  with  nothing  but  a  machete. 
After  walking  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  we 
slowed  down  a  little  and  Francisco  looked 
around  at  the  trees  and  said  that  he  thought 
we  were  on  the  spot  where  he  had  heard  the 
growlings  of  the  jaguar.  It  was  nearing  half- 
past  five  and  the  sun  was  low  so  we  launched 
ourselves  into  the  thicket  towards  the  spot 
where  the  jaguar  had  been  killed. 

We  advanced  rapidly;  then  slower  and 
slower.  The  great  dog  at  first  had  been  very 
brave,  but  the  closer  we  came  to  the  spot  we 
were  looking  for,  the  more  timid  the  dog 
became,  until  it  uttered  a  fearful  yell  of 
fright,  and  with  its  tail  between  its  legs  slunk 


3s 

I ! 


Searching  for  the  Jaguar          249 

back.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  leave 
the  contemptible  brute  alone  with  its  fear, 
so  we  pushed  ahead.  Suddenly  we  came  to 
the  place,  but  there  was  no  jaguar.  There 
were  plenty  of  evidences  of  the  struggle. 
The  mutilated  body  of  a  beautiful  marsh-deer 
was  lying  on  the  moist  ground,  pieces  of  fur 
and  flesh  were  scattered  around,  and  the 
blood  had  even  spurted  on  the  surrounding 
leaves  and  branches.  Francisco  had  wounded 
the  jaguar,  no  doubt — at  least  he  said  so, 
but  plainly  he  had  not  killed  it  nor  disabled 
it  to  such  extent  that  it  had  remained  on  the 
spot. 

We  commenced  searching  in  the  underbrush, 
for  it  was  evident  it  could  not  be  far  off. 
The  bloody  track  could  be  followed  for  some 
distance;  in  fact,  in  one  place  the  thorny  roots 
of  the  remarkable  pachiuba  palm-tree,  the 
roots  that  the  women  here  use  for  kitchen 
graters,  had  torn  off  a  bunch  of  long,  beautiful 
hair  from  the  sides  of  the  jaguar,  which  very 
likely  was  weak  and  was  dragging  itself  to 
some  cluster  of  trees  where  it  could  be  safe, 
or  else  to  find  a  point  of  vantage  to  fall  upon 
its  pursuers. 

We  searched  for  some  time.  The  forest 
was  growing  dark,  and  the  many  noises  of 


250  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  night  began.  First  came  the  yelping 
of  the  toucan,  which  sounded  like  the  care- 
free yap-yap  of  some  clumsy  little  pup. 
Then  came  the  chattering  of  the  night  monkeys 
and  the  croaking  of  the  thousands  of  frogs 
that  hide  in  the  swamps.  And  still  no  traces 
of  the  jaguar.  Again  we  separated.  The  dog 
had  run  home  utterly  scared.  Now  and  then 
we  would  whistle  so  as  not  to  lose  track  of 
each  other.  I  regretted  that  I  had  been  so 
careless  as  to  leave  my  ammunition  at  home, 
as  it  might  happen  that  the  wounded  and 
enraged  cat  would  spring  at  us  from  some 
dark  cluster  of  branches,  and  then  a  machete 
would  hardly  be  an  adequate  weapon. 

We  searched  for  over  an  hour  until  it  was 
pitch  dark,  but,  sad  to  relate,  we  never  found 
that  jaguar.  We  went  home  silently.  Fran- 
cisco did  not  secure  the  reward. 

This  incident  is  of  no  particular  interest 
as  the  result  of  the  excursion  was  nil  and 
our  humour  consequently  very  bad.  But  it 
serves  to  show  how  the  mind  of  man  will  be 
influenced  by  local  surroundings,  and  how  it 
adapts  itself  to  strange  customs,  and  how  a 
novice  may  be  so  greatly  enthused  that  he 
will,  half-armed,  enter  upon  a  reckless  hunt 
for  a  wounded  jaguar. 


The  FatedMsvrch 
Through  the  Forest 


251 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FATAL  MARCH  THROUGH  THE  FOREST 

'HUS  I  lived  among  these  kind  and  hos- 
pitable people  for  five  months  until,  one 
day  my  lust  for  further  excitement  broke  out 
again,  induced  by  a  seemingly  commonplace 
notice  posted  outside  the  door  of  the  store- 
room. It  read :  ' '  The  men — Marques,  Freitas, 
Anisette,  Magellaes,  Jerome,  and  Brabo — are  to 
make  themselves  ready  to  hunt  caoutchouc  in 
the  eastern  virgin  forest."  Puzzled  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this,  I  consulted  the  Chief  and 
was  informed  that  Coronel  da  Silva  was  about 
to  equip  and  send  out  a  small  expedition 
into  the  forests,  far  beyond  the  explored 
territory,  to  locate  new  caoutchouc  trees, 
which  were  to  be  cut  and  the  rubber  or 
caoutchouc  collected,  whereupon  the  expe- 
dition was  to  return  to  headquarters  with 
these  samples  and  a  report  on  the  number 
of  trees  observed.  This  greatly  interested  me, 

253 


254  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  T  asked  the  Chief,  Marques,  whose  wife 
I  had  operated  upon  previously,  if  I  could 
accompany  him  on  this  trip.  He  consented 
unwillingly,  saying  that  it  was  very  dangerous 
and  that  the  same  number  of  men  that  went 
out  never  came  back.  However,  this  was 
too  rare  a  chance  to  let  pass,  and  I  made  my 
preparations  to  accompany  the  expedition 
on  this  journey  into  regions  where  even  the 
native  caucheros  had  never  before  been. 

On  a  Monday  morning  we  all  assembled 
at  the  Floresta  headquarters,  where  Coronel 
da  Silva  bade  us  good-bye,  and  at  the  same 
time  once  more  warned  me  against  venturing 
on  this  trip,  but  I  was  determined  and  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  give  it  up. 

The  expedition  consisted  of  the  six  men, 
above  mentioned,  all,  except  the  Chief, 
Marques,  unmarried.  After  leaving  the  main 
building  we  went  down  to  the  store-room  where 
we  chose  the  necessary  articles  of  food — enough 
to  last  us  for  three  or  four  weeks.  Our  staples 
were  to  be  dried  pirarucu,  the  largest  fish  of 
the  Amazon,  some  dried  or  "  jerked"  beef,  and 
a  large  quantity  of  the  farinha,  the  eternal 
woody  and  unpalatable  meal  that  figures 
on  every  Brazilian's  table.  Besides  these,  we 
carried  sugar,  coffee,  rice,  and  several  bottles 


The  Expedition  Started  257 

of  "Painkiller1'  from  Fulton  Street,  N.  Y. 
Hammocks  and  cooking  utensils  completed 
our  outfit.  I  took  with  me  a  large  plate 
camera,  photographic  plates  and  paper, 
chemicals,  scales  and  weights ;  also  a  magnify- 
ing glass,  a  primitive  surgical  outfit,  and  a 
hypodermic  needle  with  several  dozen  prepared 
"ampules."  My  men  were  armed  with  the 
usual  .44  Winchesters  and  some  ancient  muz- 
zle-loaders, while  I  had  my  Qmm.  automatic 
Luger  pistol.  When  we  were  fully  packed, 
each  man  carried  a  load  weighing  eighty-five 
pounds,  strapped  by  means  of  bark  strips 
to  the  shoulders,  with  his  rifle  in  his  left 
hand  and  a  machete  to  clear  the  path  in  his 
right. 

Thus  equipped,  we  left  headquarters,  not 
knowing  how  or  when  we  would  see  it  again, 
while  the  natives  fired  a  farewell  salute, 
wishing  us  God-speed. 

After  a  few  hours  by  canoe,  up  the  Itecoahy, 
we  left  the  river  and  turned  our  faces  inland. 
Our  way  now  led  through  dense  forest,  but 
for  four  hours  we  travelled  in  a  region  familiar 
to  the  rubber-workers,  and  we  were  able  to 
follow  pathways  used  by  them  in  their  daily 
work. 

Let  no  one  think  that  a  jungle  trail  is  broad 


258  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  easy.  As  I  stumbled  along  the  tortuous, 
uneven  path,  in  the  sweltering  mid  -  day 
heat,  pestered  by  legions  of  plums  or  sand- 
flies  and  the  omnipresent  mosquitoes,  climb- 
ing, fallen  trees  that  impeded  us  at  every  turn, 
I  thought  that  I  had  reached  the  climax  of 
discomfort.  Little  could  I  know  that  during 
the  time  to  come  I  was  to  look  back  upon  this 
day  as  one  of  easy,  delightful  promenading. 

The  four  hours'  march  brought  us  to  an 
open  place,  apparently  a  clearing,  where  the 
estrada  suddenly  seemed  to  stop.  Exhausted, 
I  threw  myself  on  the  moist  ground  while  the 
Chief  explained  our  position.  He  said  that 
we  were  now  at  the  end  of  the  cut  estrada 
and  that  beyond  this  we  would  have  no  path 
to  follow,  though  he  had  somewhat  explored 
the  region  farther  on  the  year  previous,  during 
a  similar  expedition.  We  found  that  the 
undergrowth  had  been  renewed  to  such  an 
extent  that  his  old  track  was  indistinguishable, 
and  we  had  to  hew  our  every  step.  When 
we  resumed  the  march  I  received  a  more 
thorough  understanding  of  what  the  word 
jungle  really  means.  Ahead  of  us  was  one 
solid  and  apparently  impenetrable  wall  of 
vegetation,  but  my  men  attacked  it  system-  j 
atically  with  their  heavy  machetes.  Slowly! 


Cutting  the  Path  261 

we  advanced,  but  I  wondered  that  we  made 
any  progress  at  all.  The  skill  of  these  sons 
of  the  forest  in  cutting  a  pathway  with  their 
long  knives  became  a  constant  wonder  to  me. 
Where  an  inexperienced  person  would  have  lost 
himself,  looking  for  a  round-about  easy  course, 
these  men  moved  straight  ahead,  hewing  and 
hacking  right  and  left,  the  play  of  the  swift 
blades  seemingly  dissolving  all  obstacles  in 
their  path.  Some  idea  of  the  density  of  the 
growth  can  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  if 
a  man  moved  off  he  became  instantly  invisible 
although  he  might  be  only  a  yard  or  two  away. 
Late  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  a  small 
hut  or  tambo  built  on  the  former  trip  by  the 
Chief.  It  was  nothing  but  a  roof  on  poles, 
but  it  was  a  welcome  sight  to  us  as  it  meant 
rest  and  food.  We  were  tired  and  hungry 
and  were  glad  to  find  a  small  creek  close  by 
where  we  could  refresh  ourselves,  taking  care 
to  keep  out  of  the  reach  of  the  alligators  and 
water-snakes  swimming  close  to  the  weeds 
by  the  shore.  For  our  supper  we  gave  the 
dried  pirarucu  flesh  a  boil  and  soaked  some 
farinha  in  water,  eating  this  tasteless  repast 
with  as  much  gusto  as  we  would  if  it  had  been 
roast  beef.  Let  me  here  recommend  this 
diet  for  any  gourmet  whose  appetite  has  been 


262  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

impaired,  and  he  will  soon  be  able  to  enjoy 
a  stew  of  shoe-leather.  One  of  the  men,  a 
good-natured  athlete,  Jerome  by  name,  was 
sent  out  after  fresh  meat,  and  brought  back 
a  weird  little  animal  resembling  a  fox  (cuti). 
We  decided  to  test  it  as  a  stew,  but,  lacking 
salt,  we  found  the  dried  pirarucu  preferable. 

The  excitement  of  the  night  was  furnished 
by  ants,  which  had  built  a  nest  in  the  tambo 
where  we  had  swung  our  hammocks.  The 
visitors  swarmed  up  poles  and  down  ropes 
and  would  not  be  denied  entrance.  Wads 
of  cotton  smeared  with  vaseline  and  bandaged 
around  the  fastenings  of  the  hammock  proved 
no  obstacle.  It  was  impossible  to  sleep; 
mosquitoes  came  to  the  assistance  of  the 
ants  and  managed  to  find  their  way  through 
the  mosquito-net.  To  complete  the  general 
11  cheerfulness,"  the  tree-tops  were  full  of 
little  spider-monkeys  whispering  mournfully 
throughout  the  dark  and  showery  night. 

The  second  day's  march  took  us  through 
the  region  which  the  Chief  had  explored  the 
year  before,  and  we  spent  the  night  in  another 
tambo  built  on  that  occasion.  Our  progress, 
however,  was  made  with  increasing  difficulty, 
as  the  land  had  become  more  hilly  and  broken 
and  the  forest,  if  possible,  more  dense  and 


Crossing  the  Creeks  265 

wild.  We  were  now  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  river -front  and  in  a  region 
where  the  yearly  inundation  could  never  reach.' 
This  stage  of  the  journey  remains  among  the 
few  pleasant  memories  of  that  terrible  expe- 
dition, through  what  I  may  call  the  gastronomic 
revel  with  which  it  ended.  Jerome  had  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  down  with  his  muzzle- 
loader  a  mutum,  a  bird  which  in  flavour  and 
appearance  reminds  one  of  a  turkey,  while  I 
was  so  lucky  as  to  bag  a  nice  fat  deer  (marsh- 
deer).  This  happened  at  tambo  No.  2.  We 
called  each  successive  hut  by  its  respective 
number.  Here  we  had  a  great  culinary  feast, 
so  great  that  during  the  following  days  I 
thought  of  this  time  with  a  sad  "Us  sont  passe, 
ces  jours  defete" 

Now,  guided  by  the  position  of  the  sun, 
we  held  a  course  due  west,  our  ultimate 
destination  being  a  far-off  region  where  the 
Chief  expected  to  find  large  areas  covered  with 
fine  caoutchouc  trees.  The  ground  was  hilly 
and  interspersed  with  deeply  cut  creeks  where 
we  could  see  the  ugly  heads  of  the  jararaca 
snakes  pop  up  as  if  they  were  waiting  for  us. 
There  was  only  one  way  of  crossing  these 
creeks ;  this  was  by  felling  a  young  tree  across 
the  stream  for  a  bridge.  A  long  slender 


266  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

stick  was  then  cut  and  one  end  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  creek,  when  each  man  seizing 
this  in  his  right  hand  steadied  himself  over 
the  tree  to  the  other  side  of  the  deep  treacher- 
ous water.  It  required  steady  nerve  to  walk 
this  trunk,  such  as  I  did  not  possess,  therefore 
I  found  it  safer  to  hang  from  the  levelled  bole 
by  my  hands  and  travel  across  in  that  manner. 
Tambo  No.  3  we  constructed  ourselves,  as  we 
did  every  other  for  the  rest  of  the  journey. 
We  always  selected  a  site  near  a  creek  that 
we  were  following,  and  cleared  away  the 
underbrush  so  as  to  leave  an  open  area  of  about 
twenty-five  feet  square,  always  allowing  one 
tree  to  remain  for  a  corner.  A  framework  of 
saplings  tied  together  with  strips  of  matamafa 
bark  was  raised  for  a  roof,  and  across  this 
were  laid  gigantic  leaves  of  the  murumuru, 
twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  long.  The  ham- 
mocks were  then  strung  beneath,  and  we 
managed  to  keep  comparatively  sheltered 
from  the  nightly  rain  that  always  occurs 
in  these  deep  forests.  After  the  frugal  meal 
of  pirarucu  and  dried  farinha,  or  of  some  game 
we  had  picked  up  during  the  march,  we  would 
creep  into  our  hammocks  and  smoke,  while 
the  men  told  hunting  stories,  or  sang  their 
monotonous,  unmelodious  tribal  songs. 


i  * 


A  Night's  Disturbance  269 


It  must  have  been  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning  when  I  was  awakened  by  a 
terrific  roaring  which  fairly  made  the  forest 
tremble.  Sitting  up  and  staring  fearfully  into 
the  darkness,  I  heard  the  crashing  of  under- 
brush and  trees  close  upon  us.  My  first 
thought  was  of  a  hurricane,  but  in  the  confu- 
sion of  my  senses,  stunned  by  the  impact  of 
sound,  T  had  few  clear  impressions.  My 
companions  were  calling  one  another.  The 
noise  grew  louder,  more  terrifying.  Suddenly 
the  little  world  around  me  went  to  smash 
in  one  mad  upheaval.  The  roof  of  the  tambo 
collapsed  and  fell  upon  us.  At  the  same 
instant  I  felt  some  huge  body  brush  past  me, 
hurling  me  sprawling  to  the  ground.  The 
noise  was  deafening,  mingled  with  the  shrieks 
and  excited  yellings  of  my  men,  but  the 
object  passed  swiftly  in  the  direction  of  the 
creek. 

Some  one  now  thought  of  striking  a  light 
to  discover  the  extent  of  the  damage.  The 
tambo  was  a  wreck;  the  hammocks  were  one 
tangled  mass.  Jerome,  who  had  jumped 
from  his  hammock  when  he  first  heard  the 
noise,  followed  the  " hurricane"  to  the  creek 
and  soon  solved  the  mystery  of  the  storm  that 
swept  our  little  camp.  He  told  us,  it  was  a 


270  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

jaguar,  which  had  sprung  upon  the  back  of 
a  large  tapir  while  the  animal  was  feeding  in 
the  woods  behind  our  tambo.  The  tapir 
started  for  the  creek  in  the  hope  of  knocking 
the  jaguar  off  its  back  by  rushing  through  the 
underbrush;  not  succeeding  in  this,  its  next 
hope  was  the  water  in  the  creek.  It  had 
chosen  a  straight  course  through  our  tambo. 

The  next  day  we  were  successful  in  killing 
two  howling  monkeys;  these  were  greeted 
with  loud  yells  of  joy,  as  we  had  not  been  able 
to  locate  any  game  during  the  last  twenty-four 
hours'  march.  This  is  easy  to  understand. 
We  were  much  absorbed  in  cutting  our  way 
through  the  bushes  and  the  game  was  scared 
away  long  before  we  could  sight  it. 

After  the  ninth  day  of  wearisome  journeying, 
the  Chief  found  signs  of  numerous  caoutchouc 
trees,  indicating  a  rich  district,  and  it  was 
accordingly  decided  that  tambo  No.  9  should 
be  our  last.  We  were  now  fully  150  miles 
from  the  Floresta  headquarters  and  some  120 
miles  back  in  the  absolutely  unknown.  That 
night  the  temperature  went  down  to  41° 
Fahrenheit,  a  remarkable  drop  so  close  to 
the  equator  and  on  such  low  ground,  but 
it  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
sun  never  penetrates  the  dark  foliage  of  the 


II 

E  u 
s  . 

w     CD 

04  a 

g  I 

3* 

H  w 
<J  05 
fe  S, 

5  S 


fa 

o   "ft 

18 


SU1 


Tambo  No.  9 


273 


surrounding  dense  forests  where  the  swamps 
between  the  hills  give  off  their  damp  exhal- 
ations. 

Up  to  this  point  I  had  not  feared  the  jungle 
more  than  I  would  have  feared  any  other 
forest,  but  soon  a  dread  commenced  to  take 
hold  of  me,  now  that  T  could  see  how  a  great 
danger  crept  closer  and  closer — danger  of 
starvation  and  sickness.  Our  supplies  were 
growing  scant  when  we  reached  tambo  No.  9, 
and  yet  we  lingered,  forgetful  of  the  precarious 
position  into  which  we  had  thrust  ourselves, 
and  the  violated  wilderness  was  preparing 
to  take  its  revenge. 

I  suppose  our  carelessness  in  remaining 
was  due  in  part  to  the  exhausted  state  to 
which  we  had  been  reduced,  and  which  made 
us  all  rejoice  in  the  comfort  of  effortless  days 
rather  than  face  new  exertions. 


TamboN^C) 

<& 

^ 


275 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FATAL  "  TAMBO  NO.  9" 

WE  were  three  weeks  at  tambo  No.  9 
before  the  sharp  tooth  of  necessity  began 
to  rouse  us  to  the  precarious  situation.  Occa- 
sionally a  lucky  shot  would  bring  down  a 
mutum  or  a  couple  of  monkeys  and,  on  one 
occasion,  a  female  tapir.  Thus  feasting  to 
repletion,  we  failed  to  notice  that  the  lucky 
strikes  came  at  longer  intervals;  that  the 
animals  were  deserting  our  part  of  the  forest. 
During  these  three  weeks  we  were  not  wholly 
idle.  The  Chief  had  the  men  out  every  day 
making  excursions  in  the  neighbourhood  to 
locate  the  caoutchouc  trees.  As  soon  as  a 
tree  was  found,  they  set  to  work  bleeding  the 
base  of  it  to  let  the  milky  sap  ooze  out  on  the 
ground  where  it  would  collect  in  a  small  pool. 
Then  they  would  fell  the  tree  and  cut  rings 
in  the  bark  at  regular  intervals  so  that  the 

milk  could  flow  out.     In  a  few  days  when  the 

277 


278  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

milk  had  coagulated,  forming  large  patches 
of  caoutchouc,  they  would  return  for  it.  The 
pieces  were  washed  in  the  creek  and  then  tied 
into  large  bundles  ready  for  transporting. 

In  all  they  located  more  than  800  caoutchouc 
trees.  At  this  time  too  I  made  my  remarkable 
discovery  of  gold  deposits  in  the  creek.  It 
seems  to  me  now  like  the  plot  of  some  old 
morality  play,  for  while  we  were  searching 
eagerly  for  the  thing  that  we  considered  the 
ultimate  goal  of  human  desires — wealth, 
the  final  master,  Death,  was  closing  his  net 
upon  us  day  by  day.  Our  food  supply  was 
nearly  gone. 

While  strolling  along  the  shores  of  the 
creek  in  search  of  game,  I  noticed  irregular 
clumps  or  nodules  of  clay  which  had  accumu- 
lated in  large  quantities  in  the  bed  of  the 
stream,  especially  where  branches  and  logs 
had  caused  whirlpools  and  eddies  to  form. 
They  had  the  appearance  of  pebbles  or  stones, 
and  were  so  heavy  in  proportion  to  their  size 
that  my  curiosity  was  aroused,  and  throwing 
one  of  them  on  the  bank  I  split  it  open  with  my 
machete.  My  weakened  heart  then  com- 
menced to  beat  violently,  for  what  I  saw 
looked  like  gold. 

I  took  the  two  pieces  to  my  working  table 


il 
°  * 

u 


Gold  281 


near  our  tambo,  and  examining  the  dirty- 
yellow  heart  with  my  magnifying  glass, 
I  found  the  following:  A  central  mass  about 
one  cubic  inch  in  size,  containing  a  quantity 
of  yellowish  grains  measuring,  say,  one  thirty- 
second  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  slightly  adhering 
to  each  other,  but  separating  upon  pressure 
of  the  finger,  and  around  this  a  thick  layer  of 
hard  clay  or  mud  of  somewhat  irregular  shape. 
It  immediately  struck  me  that  the  yellow 
substance  might  be  gold,  though  I  could  not 
account  for  the  presence  of  it  in  the  centre  of 
the  clay-balls. 

I  carefully  scraped  the  granules  out  of  the 
clay,  and  washing  them  clean,  placed  them 
on  a  sheet  of  paper  to  dry  in  the  sun.  By 
this  time  the  attention  of  the  other  men  had 
been  attracted  to  what  T  was  doing,  and  it 
seemed  to  amuse  the  brave  fellows  immensely 
to  watch  my  painstaking  efforts  with  the 
yellow  stuff.  I  produced  some  fine  scales 
I  had  for  weighing  chemicals  for  my  photo- 
graphic work,  and  suspended  these  above  a 
gourd  filled  with  water.  Then  I  went  down  to 
the  creek  and  collected  more  of  the  clay-balls 
and  scraped  the  mud  of  one  away  from  the 
solid  centre  of  what  I  took  to  be  grains  of 
gold.  A  fine  thread  I  next  wound  around 


282  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  gold  ball  and  this  was  tied  to  one  end  of 
the  balance.  After  an  equilibrium  had  been 
established,  I  found  that  the  weight  of  the 
gold  was  660  grains.  Next  I  raised  the 
gourd  until  the  water  reached  the  suspended 
ball,  causing  the  opposite  pan  of  the  scales 
to  go  down.  To  again  establish  equilibrium, 
I  had  to  add  35  grains.  With  this  figure  I 
divided  the  actual  weight  of  the  gold,  which 
gave  me  18.9,  and  this  I  remembered  was 
close  to  the  specific  gravity  of  pure  gold. 

Still  a  little  in  doubt,  I  broke  the  bulb  of 
one  of  my  clinical  thermometers  and,  placing 
the  small  quantity  of  mercury  thus  obtained 
in  the  bottom  of  a  tray,  I  threw  a  few  of  the 
grains  into  it,  and  found  that  they  immediately 
united,  forming  a  dirty-grey  amalgam.  I  was 
now  sure  the  substance  was  gold  and  in  less 
than  five  hours  I  collected  enough  to  fill  five 
photographic  5x7  plate-boxes,  the  only 
empty  receptacles  I  could  lay  my  hands  on. 
T  could  have  filled  a  barrel,  for  the  creek  was 
thick  with  the  clay-balls  as  far  as  I  could  see; 
but  I  had  a  continuous  fever  and  this,  with 
the  exhaustion  from  semi-starvation,  caused 
me  to  be  indifferent  to  this  great  wealth.  In 
fact,  I  would  have  gladly  given  all  the  gold 
in  the  creek  for  ONE  square  meal.  If  the 


He  Died  and  was  Buried         283 


difficulties  in  reaching  this  infernal  region 
were  not  so  great,  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  few 
men  could  soon  make  themselves  millionaires. 

The  deadly  fever  came  among  us  after  a  few 
days.  It  struck  a  young  man  called  Brabo 
first;  the  next  day  I  fell  sick  with  another 
serious  attack  of  swamp-fever,  and  we  both 
took  to  our  hammocks.  For  five  days  and 
nights  I  was  delirious  most  of  the  time,  listen- 
ing to  the  mysterious  noises  of  the  forest  and 
seeing  in  my  dreams  visions  of  juicy  steaks, 
great  loaves  of  bread,  and  cups  of  creamy 
coffee.  In  those  five  days  the  only  food  in 
the  camp  was  howling  monkey,  the  jerked 
beef  and  the  dried  farinha  having  given  out 
much  to  my  satisfaction,  as  I  became  so 
heartily  disgusted  with  this  unpalatable  food 
that  I  preferred  to  starve  rather  than  eat  it 
again.  At  first  I  felt  the  lack  of  food  keenly, 
but  later  the  pain  of  hunger  was  dulled,  and 
only  a  warm,  drugged  sensation  pervaded 
my  system.  Starvation  has  its  small  mercies. 

I  became  almost  childishly  interested  in 
small  things.  There  was  a  peculiar  sound  that 
came  from  the  deep  forest  in  the  damp  nights ; 
I  used  to  call  it  the  " voice  of  the  forest." 
To  close  one's  eyes  and  listen  was  almost 
to  imagine  oneself  near  the  murmuring  crowd 


284  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

of  a  large  city.  It  was  the  song  of  numer- 
ous frogs  which  inhabited  a  creek  near  our 
tambo.  Then  I  would  hear  four  musical 
notes  uttered  in  a  major  key  from  the  tree- 
tops  close  by,  soon  answered  by  another  four 
in  a  similar  pitch,  and  this  musical  and 
cheerful  (!)  conversation  was  continued  all 
night  long.  The  men  told  me  that  this  was 
the  note  of  a  species  of  frog  that  lived  in  the 
trees. 

One  day  the  jungle  took  the  first  toll  from 
us.  Young  Brabo  was  very  low;  I  managed 
to  stagger  out  of  my  hammock  to  give  him 
a  hypodermic  injection,  but  he  was  too  far 
gone  for  it  to  do  him  any  good.  He  died  in 
the  early  afternoon.  We  dug  a  grave  with 
our  machetes  right  behind  our  tambo.  No 
stone  marks  this  place;  only  a  small  wooden 
cross  tied  together  with  bark-strips  shows 
where  our  comrade  lies — a  son  of  the  forest 
whom  the  forest  claimed  again. 

The  arrival  of  Death  in  our  camp  showed  us 
all  how  far  we  were  in  the  grasp  of  actual, 
threatening  danger.  We  stood  about  the 
grave  in  silence.  These  men,  these  Indians 
of  the  Amazon,  were  very  human;  somehow, 
I  always  considered  them  equals  and  not  of 
an  inferior  race.  We  had  worked  together, 


w   -^ 

1 


. 


Quinine,  Quinine  287 


eaten  and  slept  and  laughed  together,  and  now 
together  we  faced  the  mystery  of  Death. 
The  tie  between  us  became  closer ;  the  frater- 
nity of  common  flesh  and  blood  bound  us. 

The  next  day  I  arose  and  was  able  to  walk 
around,  having  injected  my  left  arm  with 
copious  doses  of  quinine  and  arsenical  acid. 
Borrowing  thus  false  strength  from  drugs, 
I  was  able,  to  some  extent,  to  roam  around 
with  my  camera  and  secure  photographs  that 
I  wanted  to  take  home  with  me  to  the  States. 

I  had  constructed  a  table  of  stalks  of  the 
murumuru  palm-leaves,  and  I  had  made  a 
sun-dial  by  the  aid  of  a  compass  and  a  stick, 
much  to  the  delight  of  the  men,  who  were  now 
able  to  tell  the  hour  of  the  day  with  precision. 
The  next  day  I  had  another  attack  of  fever 
and  bled  my  arm  freely  with  the  bistoury, 
relieving  myself  of  about  sixteen  ounces  of 
blood.  Shortly  after  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  I  heard  a  shot  which  I  recognised 
as  being  that  of  Jerome's  muzzle-loader; 
soon  afterward  he  made  his  appearance  with 
a  splendid  specimen  of  a  jet-black  jaguar, 
killed  by  a  shot  behind  the  ear.  He  skinned 
it  after  first  asking  me  if  I  wanted  to  get  up 
and  take  a  photograph  of  it,  but  I  was  too 
weak  to  do  it  and  had  to  decline. 


288  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

The  Chief  one  day  brought  into  camp  a 
fine  deer  and  a  mutum  bird,  which  relieved 
our  hunger  for  a  while.  As  we  were  preparing 
a  luxurious  meal,  Jerome  returned  with  two 
red  howling  monkeys,  but  we  had  all  the  meat 
we  could  take  care  of,  and  these  monkeys 
were  rejected  and  thrown  away. 

By  this  time  the  Chief  informed  us  that 
enough  caoutchouc  trees  had  been  located 
to  justify  our  return  to  the  Floresta  head- 
quarters with  a  satisfactory  report — of  course, 
excepting  the  death  of  poor  Brabo.  Further- 
more it  was  decided  that  owing  to  the  lack 
of  provisions  we  should  separate.  He  directed 
that  the  men  Freitas,  Magellaes,  and  Anisette 
should  take  a  course  at  a  right  angle  to  the 
Itecoahy,  so  as  to  reach  this  river  in  a  short 
time,  where  they  were  to  procure  a  canoe 
and  secure  assistance  for  the  rest  of  us.  This, 
of  course,  was  a  chance,  but  under  the  cir- 
cumstances every  step  was  a  chance.  The 
Chief  himself,  Jerome,  and  I  would  retrace 
the  route  which  we  had  lately  travelled  and 
reach  Floresta  that  way.  The  evening  before 
our  departure  I  did  not  think  myself  strong 
enough  to  carry  my  load  a  single  step,  but 
the  hypodermic  needle,  with  quinine,  which 
had  now  become  my  constant  stand-by,  lent 


The  Departure  289 


me  an  artificial  strength,  and  when  the  pack- 
ing was  done  the  next  morning,  I  stood  up 
with  the  rest  and  strapped  the  load  on  my 
shoulders. 

We  parted  with  the  other  three  men  before 
sunrise,  with  clasps  of  the  hand  that  were 
never  to  be  repeated,  and  so  turned  our  faces 
toward  the  outer  world.  My  only  hope 
was  to  retain  sufficient  strength  in  my 
emaciated,  fever-racked  body  to  drag  myself 
back  to  Floresta,  and  from  there,  in  the  course 
of  time,  get  canoe  or  launch  connection  to 
the  frontier  down  the  river,  and  then  wait 
for  the  steamer  that  would  take  me  back  to 
"God's  Country,"  where  I  could  eat  proper 
food,  and  rest — rest. 

The  jungle  no  longer  seemed  beautiful  or 
wonderful  to  me,  but  horrible — a  place  of 
terror  and  death. 

In  my  drug-dazed  sleep  on  that  back-track, 
I  started  up  in  my  hammock,  bathed  in  a 
sweat  of  fear  from  a  dream;  T  saw  myself 
and  my  companions  engulfed  in  a  sea  of 
poisonous  green,  caught  by  living  creepers 
that  dragged  us  down  and  held  us  in  a  deadly 
octopus  embrace  The  forest  was  something 
from  which  I  fled;  it  was  hideous,  a  trap, 
with  its  impenetrable  wall  of  vegetation, 


IQ 


290  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

its  dark  shadows,  and  moist,  treacherous 
ground. 

I  longed  for  the  open;  struggled  for  it,  as 
the  swimmer  struggles  up  for  air  to  escape 
from  the  insidious  sucking  of  the  undertow. 

Starving,  weak  from  fever,  oppressed  by 
the  thought  of  death,  but  lashed  on  by 
stimulants  and  the  tenacity  of  life,  I  headed 
with  my  two  comrades  out  of  the  world  of 
the  unknown,  toward  the  world  of  men — to 
LIFE. 


What  Happened 
In  The  Forest 


291 


CHAPTER  VIII 


WHAT  HAPPENED  IN  THE  FOREST 

the  second  day  of  the  return  trip,  we  had 
a  remarkable  experience.  Probably  not 
more  than  two  hundred  yards  from  the  tambo 
where  we  had  spent  the  night,  we  heard  the 
noise,  as  we  thought,  of  a  tapir,  but  nothing 
could  surpass  our  astonishment  when  we  saw  a 
human  being.  Who  could  it  be  that  dared 
alone  to  disturb  the  solitude  of  the  virgin 
forest,  and  who  went  along  in  these  dreary 
woods  humming  a  melody? 

It  was  a  young  Indian  who  approached 
us  cautiously  when  Jerome  spoke  in  a 
tongue  I  did  not  understand,  and  evidently 
told  him  that  we  were  friends  on  the  way  back 
to  our  homes  by  the  river.  He  was  an  un- 
usually fine  specimen  of  a  savage,  well  built, 
beautifully  proportioned,  and  with  a  flawless 
skin  like  polished  bronze.  His  clothing 
was  limited  to  a  bark  girdle,  and  a  feather 

293 


294  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

head-dress   not    unlike   that    worn  by  some 
North  American  Indians. 

He  was  armed  with  bow  and  arrows  and 
a  blow-gun;  and  he  had  a  small  rubber  pouch 
filled  with  a  brownish  substance,  the  remark- 
able wourahli  poison.  He  explained  to  Jerome 
that  his  tribe  lived  in  their  maloca,  or  tribal 
house,  about  24  hours'  march  from  this  place, 
and  that  he  had  been  chasing  a  tapir  all  day, 
but  had  lost  its  track,  and  was  now  returning 
to  his  home.  He  pointed  in  a  north-western 
direction  with  his  blow-gun,  signifying  thereby 
the  general  route  he  was  going  to  follow  in 
order  to  reach  his  destination.  We  sat  down 
on  the  ground  and  looked  at  each  other  for 
quite  a  while,  and  thus  I  had  my  first  chance 
of  studying  a  blow-gun  and  the  poisoned 
arrows,  outside  a  museum,  and  in  a  place 
where  it  was  part  of  a  man's  life.  At  the 
time  I  did  not  know  that  I  was  to  have  a 
little  later  a  more  thorough  opportunity  of 
examining  this  weapon.  I  asked  the  Indian, 
Jerome  acting  as  interpreter,  to  demonstrate 
the  use  of  the  gun,  to  which  he  consented 
with  a  grin.  We  soon  heard  the  chattering 
of  monkeys  in  the  tree- tops,  and  deftly  in- 
serting one  of  the  thin  poisoned  arrows  in  the 
ten-foot  tube  he  pointed  the  weapon  at  a 


FOREST  CREEK 

We  were  glad  to  find  a  creek  close  to  our  tambo 


295 


Shooting  with  Blow-gun  297 

swiftly  moving  body  among  the  branches, 
and  filling  his  lungs  with  air,  let  go.  With 
a  slight  noise,  hardly  perceptible,  the  arrow 
flew  out  and  pierced  the  left  thigh  of  a  little 
monkey.  Quick  as  lightning  he  inserted 
another  arrow  and  caught  one  of  the  other 
monkeys  as  it  was  taking  a  tremendous 
leap  through  the  air  to  a  lower  branch.  The 
arrow  struck  this  one  in  the  shoulder,  but 
it  was  a  glancing  shot  and  the  shaft  dropped 
to  the  ground.  In  the  meantime  the  Indian 
ran  after  the  first  monkey  and  carried  it  up 
to  me.  It  seemed  fast  asleep,  suffering  no 
agony  whatever;  and  after  five  or  six  minutes 
its  heart  ceased  beating.  The  other  monkey 
landed  on  the  branch  it  was  aiming  for  in  its 
leap,  but  after  a  short  while  it  seemed  uneasy 
and  sniffed  at  everything.  Finally,  its  hold 
on  the  branch  relaxed,  it  dropped  to  the  ground 
and  was  dead  in  a  few  minutes.  It  was  a 
marvellous  thing  to  behold  these  animals 
wounded  but  slightly,  the  last  one  only 
scratched,  and  yet  dying  after  a  few  minutes 
as  if  they  were  falling  asleep.  It  was  then 
explained  to  me  that  the  meat  was  still  good 
to  eat  and  that  the  presence  of  poison  would 
not  affect  the  consumer's  stomach  in  the 
least;  in  fact,  most  of  the  game  these  Indians 


298  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

get  is  procured  in  this  manner.  I  was  lucky 
enough  to  secure  a  snap-shot  of  this  man  in 
the  act  of  using  his  blow-gun.  It  proved 
to  be  the  last  photograph  I  took  in  the  Brazil- 
ian jungles.  Accidents  and  sickness  subse- 
quently set  in,  and  the  fight  for  life  became 
too  hard  and  all-absorbing  even  to  think  of 
photographing.  He  left  us  after  an  hour's 
conversation,  and  we  resumed  our  journey 
homewards. 

We  had  a  slight  advantage  in  retracing 
our  former  path.  Although  the  reedy  under- 
growth had  already  choked  it,  we  were 
travelling  over  ground  that  we  knew,  and  it 
was  also  no  longer  necessary  to  delay  for  the 
building  of  tambos;  we  used  the  old  ones  again. 

Jerome  had  complained  for  some  time  of 
a  numbness  in  his  fingers  and  toes,  and  also 
of  an  increasing  weakness  of  the  heart  that 
made  every  step  a  torment.  The  Chief  and 
I  tried  our  best  to  cheer  him  up,  although  I 
felt  certain  that  the  brave  fellow  himself 
knew  what  dreadful  disease  had  laid  its  spell 
upon  him.  However,  we  kept  on  walking 
without  any  words  that  might  tend  to  lower 
our  already  depressed  spirits. 

But  our  march  was  no  longer  the  animated 
travel  it  had  been  on  the  way  out;  we  talked 


Exhaustion  299 


like  automatons  rather  than  like  human, 
thinking  beings.  Suffering,  hunger,  and  drugs 
had  dulled  our  senses.  Only  the  will  to 
escape  somehow,  the  instinct  of  self-preser- 
vation, was  fully  awake  in  us.  A  sweep  of 
the  machete  to  cut  a  barrier  bushrope  or 
climber,  one  foot  placed  before  the  other, 
meant  that  much  nearer  to  home  and  safety. 
Such  was  now  the  simple  operation  of  our 
stupefied  and  tired  brains,  brains  that  could 
not  hold  one  complex  thought  to  its  end;  too 
tired — tired ! 

At  nightfall  we  stumbled  into  our  old 
tambo  No.  7.  There  was  no  thought  of 
securing  food,  no  possibility  of  getting  any; 
we  had  been  too  tired  to  even  attempt  to 
shoot  game  during  the  day.  The  two  monkeys 
which  the  Indian  had  killed  with  his  blow- 
gun  were  the  only  food  we  had  and  these  we 
now  broiled  over  the  camp-fire  and  devoured 
fiercely.  After  this  meal,  none  too  good, 
we  slung  our  hammocks  with  difficulty  and 
dropped  in.  Jerome's  numbness  increased 
during  the  night.  We  were  up  and  on  the 
trail  again  with  the  dawn. 

In  the  afternoon  we  descended  a  hill  to 
find  ourselves  confronted  by  a  swamp  of 
unusual  extent.  The  Chief  was  in  the  lead 


300  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

as  we  crossed  the  swamp  and  we  lost  him 
from  our  sight  for  a  few  minutes.  While 
crossing  this  wide,  slimy-bottomed  place, 
I  noticed  a  peculiar  movement  in  the  water 
near  me,  and  soon  made  out  the  slender  bodies 
of  swamp -snakes  as  they  whipped  past 
among  the  branches  and  reeds.  These 
snakes  are  called  by  the  Brazilians  jararacas 
and  are  very  poisonous;  however,  I  had  no 
fear  for  myself  as  I  wore  heavy  buffalo-hide 
boots,  but  the  men  walked  barefooted,  and 
were  in  great  danger.  I  cried  out  a  warning 
to  Jerome,  who  took  care  to  thrash  about 
him.  We  supposed  that  we  had  passed  this 
snake-hole  without  mishap  when  we  rejoined 
the  Chief  on  "terra  firma."  He  was  leaning 
over,  as  we  approached  him,  and  he  turned 
a  face  to  us  that  was  stricken  with  fear.  He 
pointed  to  the  instep  of  his  right  foot  and 
there  on  the  skin  were  two  tiny  spots,  marked 
by  the  fangs  of  the  snake.  Without  a  word 
we  sank  to  the  ground  beside  him  in  despair. 
The  unfortunate  man,  with  dilated  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  ground,  crouched  waiting  for  the 
coming  of  the  pain  that  would  indicate  that 
the  poison  was  working  its  deadly  course, 
and  that  the  end  was  near  if  something  was 
not  done  immediately. 


TOP  OF  HILL 

The  land  had  become  more  hilly  and  broken 
301 


A  Desperate  Remedy  303 

Losing  no  more  time,  I  cried  to  Jerome  to 
pour  out  some  gunpowder  while  I  sucked 
the  wound.  While  doing  this  I  fumbled  in 
the  spacious  pockets  of  my  khaki  hunting- 
coat  and  secured  the  bistoury  with  which  I 
made  a  deep  incision  in  the  flesh  over  the 
wound,  causing  the  blood  to  flow  freely. 
In  the  meantime,  Jerome  had  filled  a  measure 
with  black  powder  and  this  was  now  emptied 
into  the  bleeding  wound  and  a  burning  match 
applied  at  once.  The  object  of  this  was  to 
cauterise  the  wound,  a  method  that  has  been 
used  with  success  in  the  outskirts  of  the  world 
where  poisonous  reptiles  abound  and  where 
proper  antidotes  cannot  be  had. 

The  Chief  stood  the  ordeal  without  a  mur- 
mur, never  flinching  even  at  the  explosion  of 
the  gunpowder.  Jerome  and  T  made  him  as 
comfortable  as  possible,  and  sat  sadly  by 
his  side  watching  him  suffer  and  die  by 
inches. 

It  is  no  easy  thing  to  see  a  man  meet  death, 
but  under  these  circumstances  it  was  particu- 
larly distressing.  The  Chief  had  been  a  man 
of  a  strong  constitution  particularly  adapted 
to  the  health-racking  work  of  a  rubber-hunter. 
He  it  was  who  with  his  forest-wisdom  had 
planned  all  our  moves,  and  had  mapped  our 


304  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

course  through  the  blind  forest,  where  a  man 
could  be  lost  as  easily  as  on  the  open  sea. 
He  had  proved  himself  a  good  leader,  save 
for  the  fatal  mistake  in  delaying  our  return, 
over-anxious  as  he  was  to  render  his  employer, 
Coronel  da  Silva,  full  and  faithful  service. 
He  was  extremely  capable,  kind,  and  human, 
and  a  good  friend  to  us  all. 

We  had  looked  to  him  for  advice  in  all 
our  needs.  He  knew  the  language  of  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  he  knew  a  way  out 
of  everything,  and  at  home  he  was  a  most 
devoted  father.  Now,  this  splendid  fellow, 
the  sole  reliance,  in  this  vast  arid  intricate 
maze,  of  Jerome  and  myself,  succumbed  before 
our  eyes  to  one  of  the  dangers  of  the  merciless 
wilderness.  He  was  beyond  all  hope.  Noth- 
ing in  our  power  could  to  any  extent  add  to 
the  prolongation  of  his  life  which  slowly  ebbed 
away.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  his 
respirations  grew  difficult,  and  a  few  moments 
later  he  drew  his  last  painful  breath.  He  died 
three  hours  after  being  bitten  by  ihejararaca. 
For  the  second  time  during  that  ill-fated 
journey  I  went  to  work  digging  a  grave  with 
my  machete,  Jerome  lending  me  whatever 
assistance  he  could  in  his  enfeebled  state. 
My  own  condition  was  such  that  T  had  to 


, 


Beri-Beri  305 


rest  and  recover  my  breath  with  every  few 
stabs  of  the  machete. 

We  completed  that  day's  journey  late  in 
the  afternoon,  arriving  at  tambo  No.  6 
after  taking  almost  an  hour  for  the  last  half 
mile.  Jerome  could  now  scarcely  stand  with- 
out my  assistance.  There  was  no  longer 
any  attempt  to  disguise  the  nature  of  his 
sickness.  He  had  beri-beri,  and  that  meant 
in  our  situation  not  the  slightest  chance  of 
recovery.  Even  with  the  best  of  care  and 
nursing  his  case  would  be  hopeless,  for  in 
these  regions  the  disease  is  absolutely  fatal. 

We  built  a  fire  and  managed  to  get  our 
hammocks  fastened  in  some  fashion,  but  there 
was  not  a  scrap  of  food  to  be  had.  The 
heart-leaves  from  a  young  palm  were  chewed 
in  a  mood  of  hopeless  desperation. 

The  next  morning  it  was  a  task  of  several 
minutes  for  me  to  get  out  of  the  hammock 
and  on  my  feet.  Jerome  made  several  painful 
efforts  and,  finally,  solved  his  problem  by 
dropping  to  the  ground.  He  could  not  rise 
until  I  came  to  his  assistance.  Then  we  two 
tottering  wrecks  attempted  to  carry  our  heavy 
loads,  but  Jerome  could  not  make  it;  he  cast 
from  him  everything  he  owned,  even  the 
smallest  personal  belongings  so  dear  to  his 


306  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

simple,  pure  soul.  It  was  heartrending  to 
see  this  young  man,  who  in  health  would  have 
been  able  to  handle  three  or  four  of  his  own 
size,  now  reduced  to  such  a  pitiful  state. 

And  in  my  own  case,  the  fever  which  I 
had  fought  off  by  constant  use  of  the  hypo- 
dermic needle,  now  swept  over  me  with 
renewed  violence.  The  drug  did  not  have 
the  same  effect  as  when  I  was  new  to  the 
ravages  of  the  fever. 

At  this  point  my  recollections  became 
almost  inextricably  confused.  I  know  that 
at  times  I  raved  wildly  as  I  staggered  on, 
for  occasionally  I  came  to  myself  with  strange 
phrases  on  my  lips  addressed  to  no  one  in  par- 
ticular. When  these  lucid  moments  brought 
coherent  thought,  it  was  the  jungle,  the 
endless,  all-embracing,  fearful  jungle,  that 
overwhelmed  my  mind.  No  shipwrecked 
mariner  driven  to  madness  by  long  tossing 
on  a  raft  at  sea  ever  conceived  such  hatred 
and  horror  of  his  surroundings  as  that  which 
now  came  upon  me  for  the  fresh,  perpetual, 
monotonous  green  of  the  interminable  forest. 

About  noon  the  weight  on  my  back  became 
unbearable  and  I  resolved  to  sacrifice  my 
precious  cargo.  I  threw  away  my  camera, 
my  unexposed  plates,  all  utensils,  and  four  of 


Q  £ 

2  05 

«  -d 

g  2 


•8 

b£ 


Death  of  Jerome 


309 


the  boxes  of  gold  dust.  This  left  me  with  one 
box  of  gold,  a  few  boxes  of  exposed  plates 
(which  I  eventually  succeeded  in  carrying 
all  the  way  back  to  New  York),  and  fifty-six 
bullets,  the  automatic  revolver,  and  the 
machete.  Last,  but  not  least,  I  kept  the 
hypodermic  needle  and  a  few  more  ampules. 

We  had  walked  scarcely  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  when  Jerome  collapsed.  The  poor  fel- 
low declared  that  he  was  beaten;  it  was 
no  use  to  fight  any  more ;  he  begged  me  to 
hurry  the  inevitable  and  send  a  bullet  through 
his  brain.  The  prospect  of  another  visitation 
of  Death  aroused  me  from  my  sttipor.  I 
got  him  to  a  dry  spot  and  found  some  dry 
leaves  and  branches  with  which  T  started  a 
fire.  Jerome  was  beyond  recognising  me.  He 
lay  by  the  fire,  drawing  long,  wheezing  breaths, 
and  his  face  was  horribly  distorted,  like  that 
of  a  man  in  a  violent  fit.  He  babbled 
incessantly  to  himself  and  occasionally  stared 
at  me  and  broke  out  into  shrill,  dreadful 
laughter,  that  made  my  flesh  creep. 

All  this  overwhelmed  me  and  sapped  the 
little  energy  I  had  left.  I  threw  myself  on 
the  ground  some  little  distance  from  the  fire, 
not  caring  if  T  ever  rose  again. 

How  long  it  was  before  a  penetrating,  weird 


310  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

cry  aroused  me  from  this  stupor,  I  do  not 
know,  but  when  I  raised  my  head  I  saw  that 
the  forest  was  growing  dark  and  the  fire 
burning  low.  I  saw  too  that  Jerome  was 
trying  to  get  on  his  feet,  his  eyes  bulging 
from  their  sockets,  his  face  crimson  in  colour. 
He  was  on  one  knee,  when  the  thread  of  life 
snapped,  and  he  fell  headlong  into  the  fire. 
I  saw  this  as  through  a  hazy  veil  and  almost 
instantly  my  senses  left  me  again. 

I  have  no  clear  knowledge  of  what  happened 
after  this.  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  night, 
my  madness  mercifully  left  me  insensible 
to  the  full  appreciation  of  the  situation  and 
my  future  prospects.  It  was  night  again 
before  I  was  able  to  arouse  myself  from  my 
collapse.  The  fire  was  out,  the  forest  dark 
and  still,  except  for  the  weird  cry  of  the  owl, 
the  uncanny  "  Mother  of  the  Moon."  Poor 
Jerome  lay  quiet  among  the  embers.  I  did 
not  have  the  courage,  even  if  I  had  had  the 
vStrength,  to  pull  the  body  away,  for  there 
could  be  nothing  left  of  his  face  by  now. 
I  looked  at  him  once  more,  shuddering,  and 
because  I  could  not  walk,  I  crept  on  all  fours 
through  the  brush,  without  any  object  in 
mind, — just  kept  moving — just  crept  on  like 
a  sick,  worthless  dog. 


No  Hope  311 

One  definite  incident  of  the  night  I  remem- 
ber quite  distinctly.  Tt  occurred  during  one 
of  those  moments  when  my  senses  returned 
for  a  while;  when  I  could  realise  where  T  was 
and  how  I  got  there.  I  was  crawling  through 
the  thicket  making  small,  miserable  progress, 
my  insensible  face  and  hands  torn  and 
scratched  by  spines  and  thorns  which  I  did  not 
heed,  when  something  bumped  against  my 
thigh;  I  clutched  at  it  and  my  hand  closed 
around  the  butt  of  my  automatic  pistol. 
The  weapon  came  out  of  its  holster  uncon- 
sciously, but  as  I  felt  my  finger  rest  in  the  curve 
of  the  trigger,  I  knew  that  some  numbed  and 
exhausted  corner  of  my  brain  had  prompted 
me  to  do  this  thing;  indeed,  as  T  weighed  the 
matter  with  what  coolness  I  could  bring  to  bear, 
it  did  not  seem  particularly  wicked.  With  the 
pistol  in  my  hand  and  with  the  safety  released, 
I  believed  that  the  rest  would  have  been  easy 
and  even  pleasant.  What  did  I  have  in  my 
favour?  What  prospect  did  I  have  of  escaping 
the  jungle?  None  whatever — none! 

There  was  no  shadow  of  hope  for  me,  and 
T  had  long  ago  given  up  believing  in  miracles. 
For  eight  days  I  had  scarcely  had  a  mouthful 
to  eat,  excepting  the  broiled  monkey  at 
tambo  No.  7,  shot  by  the  young  Indian. 


3i2  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

The  fever  had  me  completely  in  its  grasp. 
I  was  left  alone  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
from  human  beings  in  absolute  wilderness. 
T  measured  cynically  the  tenaciousness  of 
life,  measured  the  thread  that  yet  held  me 
among  the  number  of  the  living,  and  I  realised 
now  what  the  fight  between  life  and  death 
meant  to  a  man  brought  to  bay.  I  had  not 
the  slightest  doubt  in  my  mind  that  this  was 
the  last  of  me.  vSurely,  no  man  could  have 
been  brought  lower  or  to  greater  extremity 
and  live;  no  man  ever  faced  a  more  hopeless 
proposition.  Yet  T  could  or  would  not  yield, 
but  put  the  pistol  back  where  it  belonged. 

All  night  long  I  crawled  on  and  on  and  ever 
on,  through  the  underbrush,  with  no  sense 
of  direction  whatever,  and  still  I  am  sure 
that  T  did  not  crawl  in  a  circle  but  that  I 
covered  a  considerable  distance.  For  hours 
I  moved  along  at  the  absolute  mercy  of  any 
beast  of  the  forest  that  might  meet  me. 

The  damp  chill  of  the  approaching  morning 
usual  in  these  regions  came  to  me  with  a 
cooling  touch  and  restored  once  more  to  some 
extent  my  sanity.  My  clothes  were  almost 
stripped  from  my  body,  and  smeared  with 
mud,  my  hands  and  face  were  torn  and  my 
knees  were  a  mass  of  bruises. 


mong  The 
Cannibal 
Mangcro 


r  on  r 


CHAPTER  IX 

AMONG  THE  CANNIBAL  MANGEROMAS 

I  HAVE  a  vague  recollection  of  hearing  the 
barking  of  dogs,  of  changing  my  crawling 
direction  to  head  for  the  sound,  and  then, 
suddenly,  seeing  in  front  of  me  a  sight  which 
had  the  same  effect  as  a  rescuing  steamer  on 
the  shipwrecked. 

To  my  confused  vision  it  seemed  that  I 
saw  many  men  and  women  and  children,  and 
a  large,  round  house;  I  saw  parrots  fly  across 
the  open  space  in  brilliant,  flashing  plumage 
and  heard  their  shrill  screaming.  I  cried 
aloud  and  fell  forward  when  a  little  curly- 
haired  dog  jumped  up  and  commenced  licking 
my  face,  and  then  I  knew  no  more. 

When  I  came  to  I  was  lying  in  a  com- 
fortable hammock  in  a  large,  dark  room. 
I  heard  the  murmur  of  many  voices  and 
presently  a  man  came  over  and  looked  at  me. 
I  did  not  understand  where  T  was,  but  thought 

315 


316  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

that  T,  finally,  had  gone  mad.  I  fell  asleep 
again.  The  next  time  T  woke  up  T  saw  an 
old  woman  leaning  over  me  and  holding  in  her 
hand  a  gourd  containing  some  chicken-broth 
which  I  swallowed  slowly,  not  feeling  the  crav- 
ings of  hunger,  in  fact  not  knowing  whether 
I  was  dead  or  alive.  The  old  woman  had  a 
peculiar  piece  of  wood  through  her  lip  and 
looked  very  unreal  to  me,  and  T  soon  fell 
asleep  again. 

On  the  fifth  day,  so  T  learned  later,  I  began 
to  feel  my  senses  return,  my  fever  commenced 
to  abate,  and  I  was  able  to  grasp  the  fact 
that  T  had  crawled  into  the  maloca,  or  com- 
munal village,  of  the  Mangeromas.  I  was 
as  weak  as  a  kitten,  and,  indeed,  it  has  been 
a  marvel  to  me  ever  since  that  I  succeeded 
at  all  in  coming  out  of  the  Shadow.  The 
savages,  by  tender  care,  with  strengthening 
drinks  prepared  in  their  own  primitive  method, 
wrought  the  miracle,  and  returned  to  life  a 
man  who  was  as  near  death  as  any  one  could 
be,  and  not  complete  the  transition.  They 
fed  me  at  regular  intervals,  thus  checking 
my  sickness,  and  when  I  could  make  out 
their  meaning,  I  understood  that  I  could 
stay  with  them  as  long  as  T  desired. 

Luckily  I  had  kept   my  spectacles  on  my 


The  Maloca  319 

nose  (they  were  the  kind  that  fasten  back 
of  the  ears)  during  the  previous  hardships, 
and  T  found  these  sticking  in  their  position 
when  I  awoke.  My  khaki  coat  was  on  the 
ground  under  my  hammock,  and  the  first 
thing  was  to  ascertain  if  the  precious  contents 
of  its  large  pockets  had  been  disturbed,  but 
I  found  everything  safe.  The  exposed  plates 
were  there  in  their  closed  boxes,  the  gold 
dust  was  also  there  and  mocked  me  with  its 
yellow  glare,  and  my  hypodermic  outfit  was 
intact  and  was  used  without  delay,  much  to 
the  astonishment  of  some  of  the  men,  standing 
around  my  hammock. 

When  my  head  was  clear  and  strong  enough 
to  raise,  I  turned  and  began  my  first  visual 
exploration  of  my  immediate  surroundings. 
The  big  room  I  found  to  be  a  colossal 
hoxise,  forty  feet  high  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  diameter,  thatched  with  palm- 
leaves  and  with  sides  formed  of  the  stems  of 
the  pachiuba  tree.  It  was  the  communal 
residence  of  this  entire  tribe,  consisting,  as 
I  learned  later,  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
souls.  A  single  door  and  a  circular  opening 
in  the  roof  were  the  only  apertures  of  this 
enormous  structure.  The  door  was  very  low, 
not  more  than  four  feet,  so  that  it  was 


32O  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

necessary  to  creep  on  one's  knees  to  enter  the 
place,  and  this  opening  was  closed  at  night, 
that  is  to  say,  about  six  o'clock,  by  a  slid- 
ing door  which  fitted  so  snugly  that  I  never 
noticed  any  mosquitoes  or  plums  in  the  dark, 
cool  room. 

The  next  day  I  could  get  out  of  my  ham- 
mock, though  I  could  not  stand  or  walk  with- 
out the  aid  of  two  women,  who  took  me  over 
to  a  man  I  later  found  to  be  the  chief  of  the 
tribe.  He  was  well-fed,  and  by  his  elaborate 
dress  was  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the 
men.  He  had  a  very  pleasant,  good-natured 
smile,  and  almost  constantly  displayed  a 
row  of  white,  sharp-filed  teeth.  This  smile 
gave  me  some  confidence,  but  I  very  well 
knew  that  I  was  now  living  among  cannibal 
Indians,  whose  reputation  in  this  part  of 
the  Amazon  is  anything  but  flattering.  I 
prepared  for  the  new  ordeal  without  any 
special  fear — my  feelings  seemed  by  this  time 
to  have  been  pretty  well  exhausted  and  any 
appreciation  of  actual  danger  was  consider- 
ably reduced  as  a  result  of  the  gamut  of  the 
terrors  which  I  had  run. 

I  addressed  the  Chief  in  the  Portuguese 
language,  which  I  had  learned  during  my  stay 
at  Floresta  headquarters,  and  also  in  Spanish, 


Audience  with  the  Chief          321 


but  he  only  shook  his  head;  all  my  efforts 
were  useless.  He  let  me  know  in  a  friendly 
manner  that  my  hammock  was  to  be  my 
resting-place  and  that  T  would  not  be  molested. 
His  tribe  was  one  that  occupied  an  almost 
unknown  region  and  had  no  connection  with 
white  men  or  Brazilians  or  people  near  the 
river.  I  tried  in  the  course  of  the  mimical 
conversation  to  make  him  understand  that, 
with  six  companions  from  a  big  Chief's  maloca 
(meaning  Coronel  da  Silva  and  the  Floresta 
headquarters) ,  I  had  penetrated  into  the  woods 
near  this  mighty  Chief's  maloca, — here  I 
pointed  at  the  Chief — that  the  men  had  died 
from  fever  and  I  was  left  alone  and  that 
luckily,  I  had  found  my  way  to  the  free  men 
of  the  forest  (here  I  made  a  sweeping  move- 
ment with  my  hands).  He  nodded  and  the 
audience  was  over.  I  was  led  back  to  my 
hammock  to  dream  and  eat,  and  dream  again. 
Although  the  Chief  and  his  men  presented 
an  appearance  wholly  unknown  to  me,  yet 
it  did  not  seem  to  distract  me  at  the  first 
glance,  but  as  my  faculties  slowly  returned 
to  their  former  activity,  I  looked  at  them 
and  found  them  very  strange  figures,  indeed. 
Every  man  had  two  feathers  inserted  in 
the  cartilage  of  his  nose;  at  some  distance 


322  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

it  appeared  as  if  they  wore  moustaches. 
Besides  this,  the  Chief  had  a  sort  of  feather- 
dress  reaching  half  way  down  to  his  knees; 
this  was  simply  a  quantity  of  mutum  feath- 
ers tied  together  as  a  girdle  by  means  of 
plant -fibres.  The  women  wore  no  clothing 
whatever,  their  only  ornamentation  being 
the  oval  wooden  piece  in  the  lower  lip  and 
fancifully  arranged  designs  on  face,  arms, 
and  body.  The  colours  which  they  preferred 
were  scarlet  and  black,  and  they  procured 
these  dyes  from  two  plants  that  grew  in  the 
forest  near  by.  They  would  squeeze  the 
pulp  of  the  fruits  and  apply  the  rich-coloured 
juice  with  their  fingers,  forming  one  scarlet 
ring  around  each  eye,  outside  of  this  a  black 
and  larger  ring,  and,  finally,  two  scarlet  bands 
reaching  from  the  temples  to  the  chin. 

There  were  probably  sixty-five  families  in 
this  communal  hut,  all  having  their  little  house- 
holds scattered  throughout  the  place  without 
any  separating  partitions  whatever.  The 
many  poles  which  supported  the  roof  formed 
the  only  way  of  distinguishing  the  individual 
households.  The  men  strung  their  hammocks 
between  the  poles  in  such  a  way  that  they 
formed  a  triangle,  and  in  the  middle  of  this 
a  fire  was  always  going.  Here  the  women 


CREEK  IN  THE  UNKNOWN 

At  times  we  could  see  the  ugly  heads  of  the  jararaca  snakes  pop  up  as  if 

they  were  waiting  for  us 

323 


Family  Life 


325 


were  doing  the  cooking  of  game  that  the  men 
brought  in  at  all  times  of  the  day.  The  men 
;lept  in  the  hammocks,  while  the  women  were 
;reated  less  cavalierly;  they  slept  with  their 
tildren  on  the  ground  under  the  hammocks 
•ound  the  little  family  triangle.  As  a  rule 
they  had  woven  mats  made  of  grass-fibre 
and  coloured  with  the  juices  of  the  urucu 
plant  and  the  genipapa,  but  in  many  instances 
they  had  skins  of  jaguars,  and,  which  was 
more  frequent,  the  furs  of  the  three-toed 
sloths.  These  were  placed  around  the  family 
fire,  directly  under  the  hammocks  occupied 
by  the  men.  In  these  hammocks  the  men 
did  most  of  the  repair  work  on  their  bows 
and  arrows  when  necessary,  here  they  fitted 
the  arrow  heads  to  the  shafts,  in  fact,  they 
spent  all  their  time  in  them  when  not  actually 
hunting  in  the  forests. 

The  hospitality  of  my  friends  proved 
unbounded.  The  Chief  appointed  two  young 
girls  to  care  for  me,  and  though  they  were 
not  startling  from  any  point  of  view,  especially 
when  remembering  their  labial  ornaments 
and  their  early  developed  abdominal  hyper- 
trophies, they  were  as  kind  as  any  one  could 
have  been,  watching  me  when  I  tried  to  walk 
and  supporting  me  when  I  became  too  weak. 


326  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

There  was  a  certain  broth  they  prepared, 
which  was  delicious,  but  there  were  others 
which  were  nauseating  and  which  I  had  to 
force  myself  to  eat.  I  soon  learned  that  it- 
was  impolite  to  refuse  any  dish  that  was  put 
in  front  of  me,  no  matter  how  repugnant. 
One  day  the  Chiof  ordered  me  to  come  over 
to  his  family  triangle  and  have  dinner  with 
him.  The  meal  consisted  of  some  very  tender 
fried  fish  which  were  really  delicious;  then 
followed  three  broiled  parrots  with  fried 
bananas  which  were  equally  good;  but  then 
came  a  soup  which  I  could  not  swallow. 
The  first-  mouthful  almost  choked  me, — the 
meat  which  was  one  of  the  ingredients  tasted 
and  smelled  as  if  it  had  been  kept  for  weeks, 
the  herbs  which  were  used  were  so  bitter 
and  gave  out  such  a  rank  odour  that  my  mouth 
puckered  and  the  muscles  of  my  throat 
refused  to  swallow.  The  Chief  looked  at  me 
and  frowned,  and  then  I  remembered  the 
forest  from  which  I  had  lately  arrived  and 
the  starvation  and  the  terrors;  I  closed  my 
eyes  and  swallowed  the  dish,  seeking  what 
mental  relief  I  could  find  in  the  so-called 
auto-suggestion. 

But   T   had   the   greatest   respect   for  the 
impulsive,  unreasoning  nature  of  these  sons 


Habits  of  the  Mangeromas        327 

of  the  forest.  Easily  insulted,  they  are  well- 
nigh  implacable.  This  incident  shows  upon 
what  a  slender  thread  my  life  hung.  The 
friends  of  one  moment  might  become  vin- 
dictive foes  of  the  next. 

Besides  the  head-Chief  there  were  two  sub- 
Chiefs,  so  that  in  case  of  sickness  or  death 
there  would  be  always  one  regent.  They 
were  plainly  distinguished  by  their  dress, 
which  consisted  mainly  of  fancifully  arranged 
feather  belts  of  arara,  mutum,  and  trumpeter 
plumes  covering  the  shoulders  and  abdomen. 
These  articles  of  dress  were  made  by  young 
women  of  the  tribe:  women  who  wanted  to 
become  favourites  of  the  Chief  and  sub-Chiefs. 
They  often  worked  for  months  on  a  feather 
dress  and  when  finished  presented  it  to  the 
particular  Chief  whose  favour  they  desired. 

The  Chiefs  had  several  wives,  but  the  tribes- 
men were  never  allowed  to  take  more  than  one. 
Whenever  a  particularly  pretty  girl  desired 
to  join  the  household  of  the  Great  Chief  or  of 
a  sub-Chief,  she  set  to  work  and  for  months 
and  months  she  made  necklaces  of  alligator 
teeth,  peccary  teeth,  and  finely  carved  ivory 
nuts  and  coloured  pieces  of  wood.  She  also 
would  weave  some  elaborate  hammock  and 
fringe  this  with  the  bushy  tails  of  the  squirrels 


328  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  the  forest-cats,  and  when  these  articles 
were  done,  she  would  present  them  to  the 
Chief,  who,  in  return  for  these  favours,  would 
bestow  upon  her  the  great  honour  of  accepting 
her  as  a  wife. 

There  seemed  to  be  few  maladies  among 
these  people;  in  fact,  during  the  five  weeks 
I  spent  with  them,  I  never  saw  a  case  of  fever 
nor  of  anything  else.  When  a  person  died  the 
body  was  carried  far  into  the  woods,  where 
a  fire  was  built,  and  it  was  cremated.  The 
party  would  then  leave  in  a  hurry  and  never 
return  to  the  same  spot;  they  were  afraid  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Dead.  They  told  me  that 
they  could  hear  the  Spirit  far  off  in  the  forests 
at  night  when  the  moon  was  shining. 

The  men  were  good  hunters  and  were 
experts  in  the  use  of  bow  and  arrow  and  also 
the  blow-gun,  and  never  failed  to  bring  home 
a  fresh  supply  of  game  for  the  village.  This 
supply  was  always  divided  equally,  so  that 
no  one  should  receive  more  than  he  needed 
for  the  day.  At  first  glance  the  men  might 
appear  lazy,  but  why  should  they  hurry  and 
worry  when  they  have  no  landlord,  and  no 
grocer's  bills  to  pay;  in  fact,  the  value  of 
money  is  entirely  unknown  to  them. 

I  was  allowed  to  walk  around  as  I  pleased, 


The  Chief  as  a  Teacher  331 


everybody  showing  me  a  kindness  for  which 
I  shall  ever  gratefully  remember  these  "  sav- 
ages." I  frequently  spent  my  forenoons  on 
a  tree  trunk  outside  the  maloca  with  the 
Chief,  who  took  a  particular  interest  in  my 
welfare.  We  would  sit  for  hours  and  talk, 
he  sometimes  pointing  at  an  object  and 
giving  its  Indian  name,  which  I  would  repeat 
until  I  got  the  right  pronunciation.  Thus, 
gradually  instructed,  and  by  watching  the 
men  and  women  as  they  came  and  went, 
day  after  day,  I  was  able  to  understand  some 
of  their  language  and  learned  to  answer 
questions  fairly  well.  They  never  laughed 
at  my  mistakes,  but  repeated  a  word  until 
I  had  it  right. 

The  word  of  the 'Chief  was  law  and  no  one 
dared  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  this  man. 
In  fact,  there  would  have  been  nobody  to 
appeal  to,  for  the  natives  believed  him  vested 
with  mysterious  power  which  made  him  the 
ruler  of  men.  I  once  had  occasion  to  see  him 
use  the  power  which  had  been  given  him. 

I  had  accompanied  two  young  Indians,  one 
of  whom  was  the  man  we  had  met  in  the 
forest  on  our  return  trip  not  far  from  that 
fatal  tambo  No.  3.  His  name,  at  least  as 
it  sounded  to  me,  was  Rere.  They  carried 


332  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

bows  and  arrows  and  I  my  automatic  pistol, 
although  I  had  no  great  intention  of  using  it. 
What  little  ammunition  I  had  left  I  desired 
to  keep  for  an  emergency  and,  besides,  I 
reasoned  that  I  might,  at  some  future  time, 
be  able  to  use  the  power  and  noise  of 
the  weapon  to  good  advantage  if  I  kept 
the  Indians  ignorant  of  them  for  the 
present. 

We  had  scarcely  gone  a  mile,  when  we  dis- 
covered on  the  opposite  side  of  a  creek,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  away,  a  wild 
hog  rooting  for  food.  We  were  on  a  slight 
elevation  ourselves  and  under  cover  of  the 
brush,  while  the  hog  was  exposed  to  view  on 
the  next  knoll.  Almost  simultaneously  my 
companions  fitted  arrows  to  their  bow-strings. 
Instead  of  shooting  point  blank,  manipulating 
the  bows  with  their  hands  and  arms,  they 
placed  their  great  and  second  toes  on  the 
cords  on  the  ground,  and  with  their  left  arms 
gave  the  proper  tension  and  inclination  to 
the  bows  which  were  at  least  eight  feet  long. 
With  a  whirr  the  poisoned  arrows  shot  forth 
and,  while  the  cords  still  twanged,  sailed 
gracefully  through  the  air,  describing  a 
hyperbola,  fell  with  a  speed  that  made  them 
almost  invisible,  and  plunged  into  the  animal 


Two  Hunters  Dispute  333 


on  each  side  of  his  neck  a  little  back  from  the 
base  of  the  brain. 

The  hog  dropped  in  his  tracks,  and  I  doubt 
if  he  could  have  lived  even  though  the  arrows 
had  not  been  poisoned.  T}dng  his  feet 
together  with  plant-fibres  we  slung  the  body 
over  a  heavy  pole  and  carried  it  to  the  maloca. 
All  the  way  the  two  fellows  disputed  as  to 
who  was  the  owner  of  the  hog,  and  from  time 
to  time  they  put  the  carcass  on  the  ground 
to  gesticulate  and  argue.  I  thought  they 
would  come  to  blows.  When  they  appealed 
to  me  I  declared  that  the  arrows  had  sped 
so  rapidly  that  my  eyes  could  not  follow  them 
and  therefore  could  not  tell  which  arrow  had 
found  its  mark  first. 

A  few  yards  from  the  house  my  friends 
fell  to  arguing  again,  and  a  crowd  collected 
about  them,  cheering  first  the  one  then  the 
other.  My  suggestion  that  the  game  be 
divided  was  rejected  as  showing  very  poor 
judgment.  Finally,  the  dispute  grew  to 
such  proportions  that  the  Chief  sent  a 
messenger  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  trouble 
and  report  it  to  him. 

The  emissary  retired  and  the  crowd 
immediately  began  to  disperse  and  the 
combatants  quieted.  The  messenger  soon 


334  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

returned  saying  that  the  Great  Chief  would 
judge  the  case  and  ordered  the  men  to  enter 
the  maloca.  With  some  difficulty  the  hog 
was  dragged  through  the  door  opening  and 
all  the  inhabitants  crawled  in  after.  The 
Chief  was  decked  out  in  a  new  and  splendid 
feather  dress,  his  face  had  received  a  fresh 
coat  of  paint  (in  fact,  the  shells  of  the  urucu 
plant  with  which  he  coloured  his  face  and  body 
scarlet  were  still  lying  under  his  hammock), 
and  his  nose  was  supplied  with  a  new  set  of 
mutum  feathers.  He  was  sitting  in  his  ham- 
mock which  was  made  of  fine,  braided,  multi- 
coloured grass-fibres  and  was  fringed  with 
numerous  squirrel  tails.  The  whole  picture 
was  one  which  impressed  me  as  being  weirdly 
fantastic  and  extremely  picturesque,  the 
reddish,  flickering  light  from  the  fires  adding 
a  mystic  colour  to  the  scene.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  fire  from  where  the  Chief  was  sitting 
lay  the  body  of  the  hog,  and  at  each  end  of 
the  carcass  stood  the  two  hunters,  straight 
as  saplings ;  gazing  stolidly  ahead.  In  a  semi- 
circle, facing  the  Chief  and  surrounding  the 
disputants,  was  the  tribe,  squatting  on  the 
ground.  The  Chief  motioned  to  me  to  seat 
myself  on  the  ground  alongside  of  the  ham- 
mock where  he  was  sitting.  The  men  told 


HUNTING 

The  next  day  two  of  the  men  succeeded  in  killing  two  howling  monkeys 

335 


The  Chief  as  a  Judge  337 

their  story,  now  and  then  looking  to  me  for 
an  affirmative  nod  of  the  head.  After  having 
listened  to  the  argument  of  the  hunters 
for  a  considerable  time  without  uttering  a 
syllable,  and  regarding  the  crowd  with  a 
steady,  unblinking  expression,  with  a  trace 
of  a  satirical  smile  around  the  corners  of  his 
mouth,  which  suited  him  admirably,  the 
Chief  finally  spoke.  He  said,  "The  hog  is 
mine.— Go!" 

The  matter  was  ended  with  this  wise 
judgment,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  dispo- 
sition to  grumble  or  re-appeal  to  the  great 
authority. 

My  life  among  the  Mangeromas  was,  for 
the  greater  part,  free  from  adventure,  at  least 
as  compared  with  former  experiences,  and 
yet  I  was  more  than  once  within  an  inch 
of  meeting  death.  In  fact,  I  think  that  I 
looked  more  squarely  in  the  eyes  of  death  in 
that  peaceful  little  community  than  ever  I 
did  out  in  the  wilds  of  the  jungle  or  in  my 
most  perilous  adventures.  The  creek  that 
ran  near  the  maloca  supplied  the  Indians  with 
what  water  they  needed  for  drinking  purposes. 
Besides  this  the  creek  gave  them  an  abundant 
supply  of  fish,  a  dish  that  made  its  appearance 


338  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

at  every  meal.  Whatever  washing  was  to  be 
done — the  natives  took  a  bath  at  least  twice 
a  day — was  done  at  some  distance  down  the 
creek  so  as  not  to  spoil  the  water  for  drinking 
and  culinary  purposes.  Whenever  I  was 
thirsty  I  was  in  the  habit  of  stooping  down 
at  the  water's  edge  to  scoop  the  fluid  up  in 
my  curved  hands.  One  morning  T  had  been 
tramping  through  the  jungle  with  two  com- 
panions who  were  in  search  of  game,  and  I 
was  very  tired  and  hot  when  we  came  to  a 
little  stream  which  T  took  to  be  the  same  that 
ran  past  the  maloca.  My  friends  were  at 
a  short  distance  from  me,  beating  their  way 
through  the  underbrush,  when  I  stooped  to 
quench  my  thirst.  The  cool  water  looked  to 
me  like  the  very  Elixir  of  Life.  At  that 
moment,  literally  speaking,  I  was  only  two 
inches  from  death.  Hearing  a  sharp  cry 
behind  me  I  turned  slightly  to  feel  a  rough 
hand  upon  my  shoulders  and  found  myself 
flung  backwards  on  the  ground. 

"  Poison,"  was  the  reply  to  my  angry 
question.  Then  my  friend  explained,  and  as 
he  talked  my  knees  wobbled  and  I  turned 
pale.  It  seems  that  the  Mangeromas  often 
poison  the  streams  below  the  drinking  places 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  their  enemies.  In  the 


Enemies  339 

present  case  there  had  been  a  rumour  that 
a  party  of  Peruvian  rubber -workers  might 
be  coming  up  the  creek,  and  this  is  always 
signal  of  trouble  among  these  Indians. 
Although  you  cannot  induce  a  Brazilian  to  go 
into  the  Indian  settlements  or  malocas,  the 
Peruvians  are  more  than  willing  to  go  there, 
because  of  the  chance  of  abducting  girls. 
To  accomplish  this,  a  few  Peruvians  sneak 
close  to  the  maloca  at  night,  force  the  door, 
which  is  always  bolted  to  keep  out  the  Evil 
Spirit,  but  which  without  difficulty  can  be 
cut  open,  and  fire  a  volley  of  shots  into  the 
hut.  The  Indians  sleep  with  the  blow-guns 
and  arrows  suspended  from  the  rafters,  and 
before  they  can  collect  their  sleepy  senses 
and  procure  the  weapons  the  Peruvians,  in 
the  general  confusion,  have  carried  off  some 
of  the  girls.  The  Mangeromas,  therefore, 
hate  the  Peruvians  and  will  go  to  any  extreme 
to  compass  their  death.  The  poisoning  of 
the  rivers  is  effected  by  the  root  of  a  plant 
that  is  found  throughout  the  Amazon  valley; 
the  plant  belongs  to  the  genus  Lonchocarpus 
and  bears  a  small  cluster  of  bluish  blossoms 
which  produce  a  pod  about  two  inches  in 
length.  It  is  only  the  yellow  roots  that  are 
used  for  poisoning  the  water.  This  is  done 


340  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

by  crushing  the  roots  and  throwing  the  pulp 
into  the  stream,  when  all  animal  life  will  be 
killed  or  driven  away. 

It  seems  strange  that  during  my  stay 
among  the  Mangeromas,  who  were  heathens 
and  even  cannibals,  I  saw  no  signs  of  idolatry. 
They  believed  implicitly  in  a  good  and  an 
evil  spirit.  The  good  spirit  was  too  good  to 
do  them  any  harm  and  consequently  they  did 
not  bother  with  him;  but  the  evil  spirit  was 
more  active  and  could  be  heard  in  the  dark 
nights,  howling  and  wailing  far  off  in  the  forest 
as  he  searched  for  lonely  wanderers,  whom  he 
was  said  to  devour. 

Thinking  to  amuse  some  of  my  friends,  I 
one  day  kindled  a  flame  by  means  of  my 
magnifying  glass  and  a  few  dry  twigs.  A 
group  of  ten  or  twelve  Indians  had  gathered 
squatting  in  a  circle  about  me,  to  see  the 
wonder  that  I  was  to  exhibit,  but  at  the  sight 
of  smoke  followed  by  flame  they  were  badly 
scared  and  ran  for  the  house,  where  they 
called  the  Chief.  He  arrived  on  the  scene 
with  his  usual  smile. 

He  asked  me  to  show  him  what  I  had  done. 
I  applied  the  focussed  rays  of  the  sun  to 
some  more  dry  leaves  and  twigs  and,  finally, 
the  flames  broke  out  again.  The  Chief  was 


Some  Traps 


343 


delighted  and  begged  me  to  make  him  a 
present  of  the  magnifier.  As  I  did  not  dare 
to  refuse,  I  showed  him  how  to  use  it  and  then 
presented  it  with  as  good  grace  as  I  could. 

Some  time  after  this,  I  learned  that  two 
Peruvians  had  been  caught  in  a  trap  set  for 
the  purpose.  The  unfortunate  men  had 
spent  a  whole  night  in  a  pit,  nine  feet  deep, 
and  were  discovered  the  next  forenoon  by 
a  party  of  hunters,  who  immediately  killed 
them  with  unpoisoned,  big-game  arrows.  In 
contrast  to  the  North-American  Indians  they 
never  torture  captives,  but  kill  them  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

I  had  plenty  of  opportunity  to  investigate 
the  different  kinds  of  traps  used  by  the 
Mangeromas  for  catching  Peruvian  caboclos 
or  half-breeds.  First  of  all  in  importance 
is  the  pit-trap,  into  which  the  aforesaid  .men 
had  fallen.  It  is  simple  but  ingenious  in  its  ar- 
rangement. A  hole  about  nine  feet  deep  and 
eight  feet  wide  is  dug  in  the  ground  at  a  place 
where  the  caboclos  are  liable  to  come.  A  cover 
is  laid  across  this  and  cleverly  disguised  with 
dead  leaves  and  branches  so  as  to  exactly 
resemble  the  surrounding  soil.  This  cover 
is  constructed  of  branches  placed  parallel, 
and  is  slightly  smaller  than  the  diameter  of 


344  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

the  pit.  It  is  balanced  on  a  stick,  tied  across 
the  middle  in  such  a  manner  that  the  slightest 
weight  on  any  part  will  cause  it  to  turn  over 
and  precipitate  the  object  into  the  pit  whence 
egress  is  impossible.  Besides  this,  the  walls 
of  the  pit  are  inclined,  the  widest  part  being 
at  the  bottom,  and  they  gradually  slope 
inward  till  the  level  of  the  ground  is  reached. 
When  the  victim  is  discovered  he  is  quickly 
killed,  as  in  the  case  noted  above. 

The  second  trap,  which  I  had  an  opportunity 
to  investigate,  is  the  so-called  araya  trap. 
It  is  merely  a  small  piece  of  ground  thickly 
set  with  the  barbed  bones  of  the  sting-ray. 
These  bones  are  slightly  touched  with 
wourahli  poison  and,  concealed  as  they  are 
under  dead  leaves,  they  inflict  severe  wounds 
on  the  bare  feet  of  the  caboclos,  and  death 
follows  within  a  short  period. 

The  third  trap,  and  the  most  ingenious 
of  all,  is  the  blow-gun  trap.  One  day  the 
sub-Chief,  a  tall,  gloomy-looking  fellow,  took 
me  to  one  of  these  traps  and  explained  every- 
thing, till  I  had  obtained  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  complicated  apparatus.  The  blow- 
gun  of  these  Indians  is  supplied  with  a  wide 
mouth-piece  and  requires  but  slight  air  press- 
ure to  shoot  the  arrow  at  a  considerable  speed. 


An  Ingenious  Trap 


345 


In  the  trap  one  is  placed  horizontally  so  as 
to  point  at  a  right  angle  to  the  path  leading 
to  the  maloca.  At  the  "breech"  of  the  gun 
is  a  young  sapling,  severed  five  feet  above 
the  ground.  To  this  is  tied  a  broad  and 
straight  bark- strip  which,  when  the  sapling 
is  in  its  normal  vertical  position,  completely 
covers  the  mouth-piece.  The  gun  was  not 
loaded  on  this  occasion,  as  it  had  been  acci- 
dentally discharged  the  day  before.  To  set 
the  trap,  a  long,  thin,  and  pliable  climber, 
which  in  these  forests  is  so  plentiful,  is  attached 
to  the  end  of  the  severed  sapling,  when  this 
is  bent  to  its  extreme  position  and  is  then  led 
over  branches,  serving  as  pulleys,  right  across 
the  path  and  directly  in  front  of  the  mouth 
of  the  blow-gun  and  is  tied  to  some  small 
root  covered  with  leaves.  When  the  cabodo 
passes  along  this  path  at  night  to  raid  the 
Indian  maloca,  he  must  sever  this  thin  bush- 
rope  or  climber,  thereby  releasing  suddenly 
the  tension  of  the  sapling.  The  bark-flap 
is  drawn  quickly  up  against  the  mouth-piece 
with  a  slap  that  forces  sufficient  air  into  the 
gun  to  eject  the  arrow.  All  this  takes  place 
in  a  fraction  of  a  second;  a  slight  flapping 
sound  is  heard  and  the  arrow  lodges  in  the 
skin  of  the  unfortunate  cabodo.  He  can  never 


346  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

walk  more  than  twenty  yards,  for  the  poison 
rapidly  paralyses  his  limbs.  Death  follows  in 
less  than  ten  minutes. 

The  bodies  of  these  captured  caboclos 
are  soon  found  by  the  "police  warriors"  of 
the  tribe  and  carried  to  the  maloca.  On  such 
occasions  a  day  of  feasting  always  follows 
and  an  obscure  religious  rite  is  performed. 

It  is  true  that  the  Mangeromas  are  canni- 
bals, but  at  the  same  time  their  habits  and 
morals  are  otherwise  remarkably  clean.  With- 
out their  good  care  and  excellent  treatment,  I 
have  no  doubt  I  would  now  be  with  my  brave 
companions  out  in  that  dark,  green  jungle. 

But  to  return  to  my  story  of  the  two  Peru- 
vians caught  in  the  pit-trap:  the  warriors 
cut  off  the  hands  and  feet  of  both  corpses, 
pulled  the  big  game  arrows  out  of  the  bodies, 
and  had  an  audience  with  the  Chief.  He 
seemed  to  be  well  satisfied,  but  spoke  little, 
just  nodding  his  head  and  smiling.  Shortly 
after  the  village  prepared  for  a  grand  feast. 
The  fires  were  rebuilt,  the  pots  and  jars  were 
cleaned,  and  a  scene  followed  which  to  me 
was  frightful.  Had  it  not  happened,  I  should 
always  have  believed  this  little  world  out 
in  the  wild  forest  an  ideal,  pure,  and  morally 
clean  community.  But  now  I  could  only 


A  PHOTOGRAPH  OF  THE  AUTHOR 
347 


Eating  Human  Flesh  349 


hasten  to  my  hammock  and  simulate  sleep, 
for  I  well  knew,  from  previous  experience, 
that  otherwise  I  would  have  to  partake  of 
the  meal  in  preparation:  a  horrible  meal  of 
human  flesh!  It  was  enough  for  me  to  see 
them  strip  the  flesh  from  the  palms  of  the 
hands  and  the  soles  of  the  feet  and  fry  these 
delicacies  in  the  lard  of  tapir  I  hoped  to  see 
no  more. 

An  awful  thought  coursed  through  my  brain 
when  I  beheld  the  men  bend  eagerly  over  the 
pans  to  see  if  the  meat  were  done.  How  long 
would  it  be,  I  said  to  myself,  before  they 
would  forget  themselves  and  place  my  own 
extremities  in  the  same  pots  and  pans.  Such 
a  possibility  was  not  pleasant  to  contemplate, 
but  as  I  had  found  the  word  of  these  Indians 
to  be  always  good,  I  believed  I  was  safe. 
They  were  never  false  and  they  hated  false- 
hood. True,  they  were  cunning,  but  once 
their  friend  always  their  friend,  through 
thick  and  thin.  And  the  Chief  had  promised 
that  I  should  not  be  eaten,  either  fried  or 
stewed !  Therefore  I  slept  in  peace. 

I  had  long  desired  to  see  the  hunters  prepare 
the  mysterious  wourahli  poison,  which  acts 
so  quickly  and  painlessly,  and  which  allows 
the  game  killed  by  it  to  be  eaten  without 


350  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

interfering  with  the  nutritive  qualities.  Only 
three  men  in  this  village  understood  the  proper 
mixing  of  the  ingredients,  although  everybody 
knew  the  two  plants  from  which  the  poisonous 
juices  were  obtained.  One  of  these  is  a  vine 
that  grows  close  to  the  creeks.  The  stem  is 
about  two  inches  in  diameter  and  covered 
with  a  rough  greyish  bark.  It  yields  several 
round  fruits,  shaped  like  an  apple,  containing 
seeds  imbedded  in  a  very  bitter  pulp.  The 
other  is  also  a  vine  and  bears  small  bluish 
flowers,  but  it  is  only  the  roots  of  this  that 
are  used.  These  are  crushed  and  steeped  in 
water  for  several  days.  The  three  men  in 
our  village  who  understood  the  concoction 
of  this  poison  collected  the  plants  themselves 
once  a  month.  When  they  returned  from 
their  expedition  they  set  to  work  at  once 
scraping  the  first  named  vine  into  fine  shavings 
and  mixing  these  in  an  earthen  jar  with  the 
crushed  pulp  of  the  roots  of  the  second  plant. 
The  pot  is  then  placed  over  a  fire  and  kept 
simmering  for  several  hours.  At  this  stage 
the  shavings  are  removed  and  thrown  away 
as  useless  and  several  large  black  ants,  the 
Tucandeiras ,  are  added.  This  is  the  ant  whose 
bite  is  not  only  painful  but  absolutely  danger- 
ous to  man.  The  concoction  is  kept  boiling 


Wourahli  Poison  351 


slowly  until  the  next  morning,  when  it  has 
assumed  a  thick  consistency  of  a  brown  colour 
and  very  bitter  to  the  taste.  The  poison  is 
then  tried  on  some  arrows  and  if  it  comes  up 
to  the  standard  it  is  placed  in  a  small  earthen 
jar  which  is  covered  with  a  piece  of  animal 
skin  and  it  is  ready  for  use.  The  arrows, 
which  are  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  long,  are 
made  from  the  stalks  of  a  certain  palm-leaf, 
the  Jacy  palm.  They  are  absolutely  straight 
and  true;  in  fact,  they  resemble  very  much 
a  lady's  hat-pin.  When  the  gun  is  to  be  used, 
a  piece  of  cotton  is  wound  around  the  end 
of  an  arrow  and  the  other  end  or  point  inserted 
first  in  the  barrel,  the  cotton  acting  as  a 
piston  by  means  of  which  the  air  forces  the 
shaft  through  the  tube. 

The  men  always  carry  a  small  rubber- 
pouch  containing  a  few  drams  of  the  poison; 
the  pouch  was  worn  strapped  to  the  waist 
on  the  left  side,  when  on  their  hunting  excur- 
sions, and  they  were  extremely  careful  in 
handling  it  and  the  arrows.  The  slightest 
scratch  with  the  poison  would  cause  a  quick 
and  sure  death. 

I  was  so  far  recuperated  by  this  time  that 
I  thought  of  returning  to  civilisation,  and  I, 
accordingly,  broached  the  subject  to  the 


352  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Chief,  who  answered  me  very  kindly,  pro- 
mising that  he  would  send  me  by  the  next 
full-moon,  with  some  of  the  wourahli  men, 
down  to  the  Branco  River,  and  from  there 
they  would  guide  me  within  a  safe  distance 
of  the  rubber-estate,  situated  at  the  junction 
with  the  Itecoahy. 

One  day  I  was  informed  that  a  friendly 
call  on  a  neighbouring  tribe  was  being  con- 
templated and  that  I  could  accompany  the 
Chief  and  his  men. 

At  last  the  time  arrived  and  the  expedition 
was  organised.  I  was  not  absolutely  sure 
how  I  would  be  treated  by  these  up-stream 
Indians,  and  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  confess 
that,  in  spite  of  all  the  faithful,  unswerving 
friendship  which  the  Mangeromas  had  shown 
me,  I  had  it  in  my  mind  that  these  other 
Indians  might  harm  me,  so  black  was  the 
name  that  people  down  at  the  settlements 
had  given  them. 

Until  this  time,  as  related  above,  I  had 
thought  best  not  to  exhibit  the  character  of 
my  automatic  pistol,  and  I  had  never  used  it 
here,  but  before  I  started  on  this  journey  I 
decided  to  give  them  an  example  of  its  power, 
and  possibly  awe  them.  Inviting  the  Chief 
and  all  the  tribe  to  witness  my  experiment, 


Fashion  in  "  Jungle-Town  "       355 

I  explained  to  them  that  this  little  weapon 
would  make  a  great  noise  and  bore  a  hole 
through  a  thick  tree.  The  Chief  examined 
it  gingerly  after  I  had  locked  the  trigger 
mechanism.  He  had  heard  of  such  arms,  he 
said,  but  thought  that  they  were  much  larger 
and  heavier.  This  one,  he  thought,  must  be 
a  baby  and  he  was  inclined  to  doubt  its  power. 

Selecting  an  "assai"  palm  of  about  nine 
inches  diameter,  across  the  creek,  I  took 
steady  aim  and  fired  four  bullets.  Three  of  the 
bullets  went  through  the  same  hole  and  the 
fourth  pierced  the  trunk  of  the  palm  about 
two  inches  higher.  The  Chief  and  his  men 
hurried  across  the  creek  and  examined  the 
holes  which  caused  then  to  discuss  the  affair 
for  more  than  an  hour.  The  empty  shells 
which  had  been  ejected  from  the  magazine 
were  picked  up  by  two  young  girls  who 
fastened  them  in  their  ears  with  wire-like 
fibres,  whereupon  a  dozen  other  women 
surrounded  me,  beseeching  me  to  give  them 
also  cartridge-shells.  I  discharged  more 
than  a  dozen  bullets,  to  please  these  children 
of  the  forest,  who  were  as  completely  the 
slaves  of  fashion  as  are  their  sisters  of  more 
civilised  lands. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  started  up  the 


356  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

river.  In  one  canoe  the  Chief  and  I  sat  on 
jaguar  skins,  while  two  men  paddled.  In 
another  canoe  were  four  men  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows  and  blow-guns,  and  a  fifth 
who  acted  in  the  capacity  of  "Wireless 
Operator."  The  system  of  signalling  which 
he  employed  was  by  far  the  most  ingenious 
device  I  saw  while  in  Brazil,  and  considering 
their  resources  and  their  low  state  of  culture 
the  affair  was  little  short  of  marvellous. 

Before  the  canoes  were  launched,  a  man 
fastened  two  upright  forked  sticks  on  each 
side  of  one,  near  the  middle.  About  three 
and  a  half  feet  astern  of  these  a  cross-piece 
was  laid  on  the  bottom  of  the  craft.  To 
this  was  attached  two  shorter  forked  sticks. 
Between  each  pair  of  upright  forked  sticks 
was  placed  another  cross-piece,  thus  forming' 
two  horizontal  bars,  parallel  to  each  other, 
one  only  a  few  inches  from  the  bottom  of  the 
boat  and  the  other  about  a  foot  and  a  half 
above  the  gunwales.  Next,  four  slabs  of  Cari- 
pari  wood  of  varying  thickness,  about  three 
feet  long  and  eight  inches  wide,  were  suspended 
from  these  horizontal  bars,  so  as  to  hang  length- 
wise of  the  canoe  and  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees.  Each  pair  of  slabs  was  perforated 
by  a  longitudinal  slit  and  they  were  joined 


A  Musical  Telegraph 


357 


firmly  at  their  extremities   by  finely  carved 
and  richly  painted  end-pieces. 

The  operator  strikes  the  slabs  with  a  wooden 
mallet  or  hammer,  the  head  of  which  is 
wrapped  with  an  inch  layer  of  caoutchouc  and 
then  with  a  cover  of  thick  tapir-skin.  Each 
section  of  the  wooden  slabs  gives  forth  a  differ- 
ent note  when  struck,  a  penetrating,  xylo- 
phonic,  tone  but  devoid  of  the  disagreeably 
metallic,  disharmonic  bysounds  of  that  in- 
strument. The  slabs  of  wood  were  suspended 
by  means  of  thin  fibre-cords  from  the  cross- 
pieces,  and  in  this  manner  all  absorption  by 
the  adjacent  material  was  done  away  with. 

By  means  of  many  different  combinations 
of  the  four  notes  obtained 
which,  as  far  as  I  could 
ascertain,  were  DO — RE- 
MI — FA,  the  operator  was 
able  to  send  any  message  to  a  person  who 
understood  this  code.  The  operator  seized 
one  mallet  with  each  hand  and  gave  the  thick- 
est section,  the  DO  slat,  a  blow,  followed  by  a 
blow  with  the  left  hand  mallet  on  the  RE  slat ;  a 
blow  on  the  MI  slat  and  on  the  FA  slat  followed 
in  quick  succession.  These  four  notes,  given 
rapidly  and  repeated  several  times,  represented 
the  tuning  up  of  the  "wireless,"  calculated  to 


358 


In  the  Amazon  Jungle 


catch  the  attention  of  the  operator  at  the  maloca 
up-creek.  The  sound  was  very  powerful,  but 
rather  pleasant,  and  made  the  still  forest 
resound  with  a  musical  echo.  He  repeated 
this  tuning  process  several  times,  but  received 
no  answer  and  we  proceeded  for  a  mile.  Then 
we  stopped  and  signalled  again.  Very 
faintly  came  a  reply  from  some  invisible 
source.  I  learned  afterwards  that  at  this 
time  we  were  at  least  five  miles  from  the 
answering  station.  As  soon  as  communication 
was  thus  establivshed  the  first  message  was 
sent  through  the  air,  and  it  was  a  moment  of 
extreme  suspense  for  me  when  the  powerful 
notes  vibrated  through  the  depth  of  the  forest. 
I  shall  never  forget  this  message,  not  only 
because  it  was  ethnographically  interesting, 
but  because  so  much  of  my  happiness  depended 
upon  a  favourable  reply.  T  made  the  operator 
repeat  it  for  my  benefit  when  we  later  returned 
to  our  village,  and  I  learned  it  by  heart  by 
whistling  it.  When  printed  it  looks  like  this: 


After    each     message     the     operator     ex- 
plained   its   meaning.     The  purport  of  this 


\     / 


CAOUTCHOUC  PROCESS  NO.   I 

The  men  set  to  work  bleeding  the  base  of  the  Castilloa 
359 


Meeting  Strangers 


36i 


first  message  was  so  important  to  me  that  T 
awaited  the  translation  with  much  the  same 
feelings  that  a  prisoner  listens  for  the  verdict 
of  the  jury  when  it  files  back  into  the  court- 
room. 

Questions  and  answers  now  came  in  rapid 
succession.  "A  white  man  is  coming  with  us; 
he  seems  to  have  a  good  heart,  and  to  be  of 
good  character." 

Whereupon  the  deciding  answer  was  trans- 
lated: "You  are  all  welcome  provided  you 
place  your  arms  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe." 

Next  message:  "We  ask  you  to  place 
your  arms  in  the  maloca;  we  are  friends." 

After  the  last  message  we  paddled  briskly 
ahead,  and  at  the  end  of  one  hour's  work  we 
made  a  turn  of  the  creek  and  saw  a  large 
open  space  where  probably  five  hundred  In- 
dians had  assembled  outside  of  two  round 
malocas,  constructed  like  ours.  How  much  I 
now  regretted  leaving  my  precious  camera  out 
in  the  forest,  but  that  was  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  the  loss  could  not  be  repaired.  The 
view  that  presented  itself  to  my  eyes  was  a 
splendid  and  rare  one  for  a  civilised  man  to  see. 
The  crowd  standing  on  the  banks  had  never 
seen  a  white  man  before ;  how  would  they 
greet  me? 


362  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Little  dogs  barked,  large  scarlet  araras 
screamed  in  the  tree-tops,  and  the  little 
children  hid  themselves  behind  their  equally 
fearful  mothers.  The  tribal  Chief,  a  big  fellow, 
decorated  with  squirrel  tails  and  feathers 
of  the  mutum  bird  around  his  waist  and  with 
the  tail  feathers  of  the  scarlet  and  blue  arara- 
parrot  adorning  his  handsome  head,  stood  in 
front  with  his  arms  folded. 

We  landed  and  the  operator  dismantled 
his  musical  apparatus  and  laid  it  carefully 
in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe.  The  two  Chiefs 
embraced  each  other,  at  the  same  time  uttering 
their  welcome  greeting  "He — He"  I  was 
greeted  in  the  same  cordial  manner  and  we 
all  entered  the  Chief's  maloca  in  a  long  pro- 
cession. Here  in  the  village  of  the  kindred 
tribe  we  stayed  for  two  days,  enjoying  un- 
limited hospitality  and  kindness.  Most  of 
the  time  was  spent  eating,  walking  around  the 
malocas,  looking  at  dugouts,  and  at  the  farinha 
plants. 

On  the  third  day  we  went  back  to  our  maloca 
where  I  prepared  for  my  return  trip  to  civil- 
isation. It  was  now  the  beginning  of  October. 

I  would,  finally,  have  recorded  many 
words  of  the  Mangeroma  language  had  not 
my  pencil  given  out  after  I  had  been  there 


A  Social  Visit 


363 


a  month.  The  pencil  was  an  "ink-pencil," 
that  is,  a  pencil  with  a  solid  "lead"  of 
bluish  colour,  very  soft,  sometimes  called 
"indelible  pencil."  This  lead  became  brittle 
from  the  moisture  of  the  air  and  broke  into 
fragments  so  that  I  could  do  nothing  with 
it,  and  my  recording  was  at  an  end.  Fortun- 
ately I  had  made  memoranda  covering  the 
life  and  customs  before  this. 


c  Fight 

between  the 

Monger omi\s  and  the 

ruvians 


36S 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    FIGHT    BETWEEN    THE    MANGEROMAS   AND 
THE  PERUVIANS 

I  WAS  sitting  outside  the  maloca  writing 
my  observations  in  the  note-book  which 
I  always  carried  in  my  hunting-coat,  when  two 
young  hunters  hurried  toward  the  Chief,  who 
was  reclining  in  the  shade  of  a  banana-tree 
near  the  other  end  of  the  large  house.  It  was 
early  afternoon,  when  most  of  the  men  of  the 
Mangeromas  were  off  hunting  in  the  near-by 
forests,  while  the  women  and  children  attended 
to  various  duties  around  the  village.  Probably 
not  more  than  eight  or  ten  men  remained 
about  the  maloca. 

I  had  recovered  from  my  sickness  and  was 
not  entirely  devoid  of  a  desire  for  excite- 
ment— the  best  tonic  of  the  explorer.  The 
two  young  hunters  with  bows  and  arrows 
halted  before  the  Chief.  They  were  gesticu- 
lating wildly;  and  although  I  could  not 

367 


368  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

understand  what  they  were  talking  about, 
I  judged  from  the  frown  of  the  Chief  that 
something  serious  was  the  matter. 

He  arose  with  unusual  agility  for  a  man  of 
his  size,  and  shouted  something  toward  the 
opening  of  the  maloca,  whence  the  men  were 
soon  seen  coming  with  leaps  and  bounds. 
Anticipating  trouble,  I  also  ran  over  to  the 
Chief,  and,  in  my  defective  Mangeroma  lingo, 
inquired  the  cause  of  the  excitement.  He 
did  not  answer  me,  but,  in  a  greater  state  of 
agitation  than  I  had  previously  observed  in 
him,  he  gave  orders  to  his  men.  He  called 
the  "wireless"  operator  and  commanded  him 
to  bring  out  his  precious  apparatus.  This 
was  soon  fastened  to  the  gunwales  of  the 
canoe  where  I  had  seen  it  used  before,  on  my 
trip  to  the  neighbouring  tribe,  and  soon  the 
same  powerful,  xylophonic  sounds  vibrated 
through  the  forest.  It  was  his  intention  to 
summon  the  hunters  that  were  still  roaming 
around  the  vicinity,  by  this  "C.  Q.  D." 
message.  The  message  I  could  not  interpret 
nor  repeat,  although  it  was  not  nearly  as 
complex  as  the  one  I  had  learned  before. 
After  a  while,  the  men  came  streaming  into 
the  maloca  from  all  directions,  with  anxiety 
darkening  their  faces.  I  had  now  my  first 


Summons  by  Music 


37i 


inkling  of  what  was  the  cause  of  the  commo- 
tion, and  it  did  not  take  me  long  to  understand 
that  we  were  in  danger  from  some  Peruvian 
caboclos.  The  two  young  men  who  had 
brought  the  news  to  the  Chief  had  spied  a 
detachment  of  Peruvian  half-breeds  as  they 
were  camping  in  our  old  tambo  No.  6,  the 
one  we  had  built  on  our  sixth  day  out  from 
Floresta.  There  were  about  a  score  of  them, 
all  ugly  caboclos,  or  half-breed  caucheros, 
hunting  rubber  and  no  doubt  out  also  for  prey 
in  the  shape  of  young  Mangeroma  girls,  as 
was  their  custom.  The  traps  set  by  the 
Indians,  as  described  in  a  previous  chapter, 
would  be  of  no  avail  in  this  case,  as  the  number 
of  Peruvians  was  greater  than  in  any  previous 
experience. 

The  enemy  had  been  observed  more  than 
ten  miles  off,  in  an  easterly  direction,  when  our 
two  hunters  were  on  the  trail  of  a  large  herd 
of  peccaries,  or  wild  boars,  they  had  sighted 
in  the  early  morning.  The  Peruvians  were 
believed  to  be  heading  for  the  maloca  of  the 
Mangeromas,  as  there  were  no  other  settle- 
ments in  this  region  excepting  the  up-creek 
tribe,  but  this  numbered  at  least  five  hundred 
souls,  and  would  be  no  easy  prey  for  them. 

I   now  had   a  remarkable  opportunity   to 


372  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

watch  the  war  preparations  of  these  savage, 
cannibal  people,  my  friends,  the  Mangeromas. 
Their  army  consisted  of  twelve  able-bodied 
men,  all  fine  muscular  fellows,  about  five  feet 
ten  in  height,  and  bearing  an  array  of  vicious- 
looking  weapons  such  as  few  white  men  have 
seen.  First  of  all  were  three  club-men,  armed 
with  strong,  slender  clubs,  of  hard  and 
extremely  tough  Caripari  wood.  The  handle, 
which  was  very  slim,  was  provided  with  a 
knob  at  the  end  to  prevent  the  club  from 
slipping  out  of  the  hand  when  in  action. 
The  heavy  end  was  furnished  with  six  bicuspid 
teeth  of  the  black  jaguar,  embedded  in  the 
wood  and  projecting  about  two  inches  beyond 
the  surface.  The  club  had  a  total  length  of 
five  feet  and  weighed  about  eight  pounds. 
The  second  division  of  the  wild-looking  band 
consisted  of  three  spear-men,  each  provided 
with  the  three-pronged  spears,  a  horrible 
weapon  which  always  proves  fatal  in  the  hands 
of  these  savages.  It  is  a  long  straight  shaft 
of  Caripari  wood,  about  one  inch  in  thickness, 
divided  into  three  parts  at  the  end,  each 
division  being  tipped  with  a  barbed  bone  of 
the  sting-ray.  These  bones,  about  three  and 
a  half  inches  long,  were  smeared  with  wourahli 
poison,  and  thus  rendered  absolutely  fatal 


Our  Weapons 


373 


even  when  inflicting  only  a  superficial  wound. 
Each  man  carried  two  of  these  spears,  the 
points  being  protected  by  grass-sheaths. 
The  third  division  was  composed  of  three 
bow-and-arrow  men,  the  youngest  men  in 
the  tribe,  boys  of  sixteen  and  seventeen. 
They  were  armed  with  bows  of  great  length, 
from  six  to  seven  feet,  and  each  bore,  at  his 
left  side,  a  quiver,  containing  a  dozen  big- 
game  arrows  fully  five  feet  long.  These 
arrows,  as  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  were  not 
poisoned,  but  their  shock-giving  and  rending 
powers  were  extraordinary.  The  arrow-heads 
were  all  made  of  the  bones  of  the  sting-ray, 
in  themselves  formidable  weapons,  because 
of  the  many  jagged  barbs  that  prevent 
extraction  from  a  wound  except  by  the  use 
of  great  force,  resulting  in  ugly  laceration. 
The  fourth  and  last  division  consisted  of 
three  blow-gun  men,  the  most  effective  and 
cunning  of  this  deadly  and  imposing  array. 
As  so  much  depended  upon  the  success  of  a 
first  attack  on  the  Peruvians,  who  not  only 
outnumbered  us,  but  also  were  armed  with 
Winchesters,  the  blow-guns  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  older  and  more  experienced  men.  All, 
except  the  club-men,  wore,  around  the  waist, 
girdles  fringed  with  mutum  plumes,  and  the 


374  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

captains  added  to  their  uniforms  multi- 
coloured fringes  of  squirrel  tails.  Their 
faces  all  had  the  usual  scarlet  and  black 
stripes.  The  Chief,  and  his  principal  aide, 
or  sub-Chief,  had  on  their  gayest  feathers, 
including  head  ornaments  of  arara  plumes  and 
egrets.  The  club-men  were  naked,  except 
for  their  head-gear,  which  consisted  simply 
of  a  band  of  mutum  plumes.  When  the 
warriors  stood  together  in  their  costumes, 
ready  for  battle,  they  presented  an  awe- 
inspiring  sight. 

The  Chief  gave  the  order  for  the  bow-and- 
arrow  men  to  start  in  single  file,  the  others  to 
follow  after,  in  close  succession.  The  Chief 
and  I  fell  in  at  the  rear.  In  the  meantime 
I  had  examined  my  Luger  automatic  pistol 
to  make  sure  of  the  smooth  action  of  the 
mechanism,  and  found  besides  that  I  had  in  all 
thirty-seven  soft-nose  bullets.  This  was  my 
only  weapon,  but  previous  narrow  escapes  from 
death  and  many  close  contacts  with  danger 
had  hardened  me,  so  I  was  willing  to  depend 
entirely  upon  my  pistol.  The  women  and 
children  of  the  maloca  stood  around,  as  we 
disappeared  in  the  jungle,  and,  while  they 
showed  some  interest  in  the  proceeding,  they 
displayed  little  or  no  emotion.  A  couple  of 


§ 

^  «*-, 


en    «fi 

I? 

P4      JxO 


§  -g 


To  the  Front 


377 


sweethearts  exchanged  kisses  as  composedly 
as  if  they  had  been  bluecoats  parting  with 
the  ladies  of  their  choice  before  going  to  the 
annual  parade. 

Soon  we  were  in  the  dark,  dense  jungle 
that  I  was  now  so  well  acquainted  with, 
and,  strange  to  say,  the  green  and  tangled 
mass  of  vegetation  contained  more  terrors 
for  me  than  the  bloody  combat  that  was  to 
follow. 

For  an  hour  we  travelled  in  a  straight  line, 
pushing  our  way  as  noiselessly  as  possible 
through  the  thick  mass  of  creepers  and  lianas. 
About  three  o'clock,  one  of  the  scouts  sighted 
the  Peruvians,  and  our  Chief  decided  that 
an  attack  should  be  made  as  soon  as  possible, 
before  darkness  could  set  in.  We  stopped  and 
sent  out  two  bow-and-arrow  men  to  recon- 
noitre. An  anxious  half  hour  passed  before 
one  of  them  returned  with  the  report  that  the 
Peruvians  were  now  coming  towards  us  and 
would  probably  reach  our  position  in  a  few 
minutes.  I  could  almost  hear  my  heart 
thump;  my  knees  grew  weak,  and  for  a 
moment  I  almost  wished  that  I  had  stayed  in 
the  maloca. 

The  Chief  immediately  directed  certain 
strategic  movements  which,  in  ingenuity 


378  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  foresight,  would  have  been  worthy  of  a 
Napoleon. 

We  were  between  two  low  hills,  covered  with 
the  usual  dense  vegetation,  which  made  it 
impossible  to  see  an  advancing  enemy  at  a 
distance  of  more  than  five  yards.  The  three 
blow-gun  men  were  now  ordered  to  ascend  the 
hills  on  each  side  of  the  valley  and  conceal 
themselves  about  half-way  up  the  slopes,  and 
towards  the  enemy.  They  were  to  insert 
the  poisoned  arrows  in  their  guns  and  draw 
a  bead  on  the  Peruvians  as  they  came  on 
cutting  their  way  through  the  underbrush. 
The  bow-and-arrow  men  posted  themselves 
farther  on;  about  five  yards  behind  the  blow- 
gun  men,  with  big-game  arrows  fitted  to  the 
bowstrings,  ready  to  shoot  when  the  first  vol- 
ley of  the  deadly  and  silent  poisoned  arrows 
had  been  fired.  Farther  back  were  the  spear- 
men with  spears  unsheathed,  and  finally 
came  the  three  brave  and  ferocious  club -men. 
Of  these  last  warriors,  a  tall  athlete  was 
visibly  nervous,  not  from  fear  but  from 
anticipation.  The  veins  of  his  forehead  stood 
out,  pulsating  with  every  throb  of  his  heart. 
He  clutched  the  heavy  club  and  continually 
gritted  his  white,  sharp-filed  teeth  in  con- 
centrated rage.  It  was  wisely  calculated  that 


CREEK  NEAR  TAMBO  NO.  9 

Irregular  clumps  of  clay  had  formed  in  large  quantities  in  the 

bed  of  the  stream 

379 


Poisoned  Arrows  381 

the  Peruvians  would  unconsciously  wedge 
themselves  into  this  trap,  and  by  the  time 
they  could  realise  their  danger  their  return 
would  be  cut  off  by  our  bow-and-arrow  men 
in  their  rear. 

After  a  pause  that  seemed  an  eternity  to 
most  of  us  no  doubt,  for  the  savage  heart 
beats  as  the  white  man's  in  time  of  danger 
and  action,  we  heard  the  talking  and  shouting 
of  the  enemy  as  they  advanced,  following 
the  natural  and  easiest  route  between  the 
hills  and  cutting  their  way  through  the  brush. 
I  stood  near  the  Chief  and  the  young  club- 
man Arara,  who,  on  account  of  his  bravery 
and  great  ability  in  handling  his  club,  had 
been  detailed  to  remain  near  us. 

Before  I  could  see  any  of  the  approaching 
foe,  I  heard  great  shouts  of  anger  and  pain 
from  them.  It  was  easy  for  me  to  understand 
their  cries  as  they  spoke  Spanish  and  their 
cursings  sounded  loud  through  the  forest. 

The  blow-gun  men,  perceiving  the  Peruvians 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill  only  some  twenty  feet 
away,  had  prudently  waited  until  at  least 
half  a  dozen  were  visible,  before  they  fired  a 
volley  of  poisoned  arrows.  The  three  arrows 
fired  in  this  first  volley  all  hit  their  mark. 
Hardly  had  they  gone  forth,  when  other 


382  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

arrows  were  dexterously  inserted  in  the  tubes. 
The  work  of  the  blow-gun  men  was  soon 
restricted  to  the  picking  out  of  any  stray 
enemy,  their  long,  delicate,  and  cumbersome 
blow-guns  preventing  them  from  taking  an 
active  part  in  the  melee.  Now  the  conflict 
was  at  its  height  and  it  was  a  most  remarkable 
one,  on  account  of  its  swiftness  and  fierceness. 
The  bow-and-arrow  men  charging  with  their 
sting-ray  arrows  poisoned  with  the  wourahli 
took  the  place  of  the  cautiously  retreating 
blow-gun  men.  At  the  same  instant  the 
spear-men  rushed  down,  dashing  through  the 
underbrush  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  like  breakers 
on  a  stormy  night. 

The  rear-guard  of  the  Peruvians  now  came 
into  action,  having  had  a  chance  to  view  the 
situation.  Several  of  them  filed  to  the  right 
and  managed  to  fire  their  large-calibre  bullets 
into  the  backs  of  our  charging  bow-and-arrow 
men,  but,  in  their  turn,  they  were  picked  off 
by  the  blow-gun  men,  who  kept  firing  their 
poisoned  darts  from  a  safe  distance.  The 
fearful  yells  of  our  men,  mingled  with  the 
cursing  of  the  Peruvians,  and  the  sharp 
reports  of  their  heavy  rifles,  so  plainly  heard, 
proved  that  the  centre  of  battle  was  not  many 
yards  from  the  spot  where  I  was  standing. 


Fierce  Arara 


383 


The  club-men  now  broke  into  action;  they 
could  not  be  kept  back  any  longer.  The 
tension  had  already  been  too  painful  for  these 
brave  fellows,  and  with  fierce  war-cries  of 
"YOB — HEE — HEE"  they  launched  themselves 
into  the  fight,  swinging  their  strong  clubs 
above  their  heads  and  crushing  skulls  from 
left  to  right.  By  this  time  the  Peruvians 
had  lost  many  men,  but  the  slaughter  went  on. 
The  huge  black  clubs  of  the  Mangeromas 
fell  again  and  again,  with  sickening  thuds, 
piercing  the  heads  and  brains  of  the  enemy 
with  the  pointed  jaguar  teeth. 

Suddenly  two  Peruvians  came  into  view 
not  more  than  twelve  feet  from  where  the 
Chief,  Arara  the  big  club-man,  and  I  were 
standing.  One  of  these  was  a  Spaniard,  evi- 
dently the  captain  of  this  band  of  marauders 
(or,  to  use  their  correct  name,  caucheros). 
His  face  was  of  a  sickly,  yellowish  hue,  and  a 
big,  black  moustache  hid  the  lower  part  of 
his  cruel  and  narrow  chin.  He  took  a  quick 
aim  as  he  saw  us  in  his  path,  but  before  he 
could  pull  the  trigger,  Arara,  with  a  mighty 
side-swing  of  his  club  literally  tore  the 
Spaniard's  head  off.  Now,  at  last,  the  bonds 
of  restraint  were  broken  for  this  handsome 
devil  Arara,  and  yelling  himself  hoarse, 


384  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

and  with  his  strong  but  cruel  face  contracted 
to  a  fiendish  grin,  he  charged  the  enemy;  I 
saw  him  crush  the  life  out  of  three. 

The  Chief  took  no  active  part  in  the  fight 
whatever,  but  added  to  the  excitement  by 
bellowing  with  all  his  might  an  encouraging 
11  AA — oo — AH."  No  doubt,  this  had  a  highly 
beneficial  effect  upon  the  tribesmen,  for  they 
never  for  an  instant  ceased  their  furious  fight- 
ing until  the  last  Peruvian  was  killed.  During 
the  final  moments  of  the  battle,  several  bullets 
whirred  by  me  at  close  range,  but  during  the 
whole  affair  I  had  had  neither  opportunity 
nor  necessity  for  using  my  pistol.  Now, 
however,  a  caboclo,  with  a  large,  bloody 
machete  in  his  hand,  sprang  from  behind  a 
tree  and  made  straight  for  me.  I  dodged 
behind  another  tree  and  saw  how  the 
branches  were  swept  aside  as  he  rushed 
towards  me. 

Then  I  fired  point-blank,  sending  three 
bullets  into  his  head.  He  fell  on  his  face  at 
my  feet.  As  I  bent  over  him,  I  saw  that  he 
had  a  blow-gun  arrow  in  his  left  thigh ;  he  was 
therefore  a  doomed  man  before  he  attacked  me. 
This  was  my  first  and  only  victim,  during 
this  brief  but  horrible  slaughter.  As  I  was 
already  thoroughly  sick  from  the  noise  of 


</)  p. 

"oi  X 

O  « 

K  .22 

3  £ 

a 

a 

H 


Horrible  Slaughter  387 

cracking  rifles  and  the  thumping  of  clubs 
smashing  their  way  into  the  brains  of  the 
Peruvians,  I  rushed  toward  the  centre  of  the 
valley  where  the  first  attack  on  the  advance 
guard  of  the  enemy  had  taken  place,  but  even 
more  revolting  was  the  sight  that  revealed 
itself.  Here  and  there  bushes  were  shaking 
as  some  cabodo  crawled  along  on  all  fours 
in  his  death  agony.  Those  who  were  struck 
by  the  blow-gun  arrows  seemed  simply  to 
fall  asleep  without  much  pain  or  struggle, 
but  the  victims  of  the  club-men  and  the 
bow-and-arrow  men  had  a  terrible  death. 
They  could  not  die  by  the  merciful  wourahli 
poison,  like  those  shot  by  the  blow-gun,  but 
expired  from  hemorrhages  caused  by  the 
injuries  of  the  ruder  weapons.  One  poor 
fellow  was  groaning  most  pitifully.  He  had 
received  a  well-directed  big-game  arrow  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  abdomen,  the  arrow 
having  been  shot  with  such  terrible  force 
that  about  a  foot  of  the  shaft  projected  from 
the  man's  back.  The  arrow-head  had  been 
broken  off  by  striking  a  vertebra. 

The  battle  was  over.  Soon  the  urubus,  or 
vultures,  were  hanging  over  the  tree-tops 
waiting  for  their  share  of  the  spoils.  The 
men  assembled  in  front  of  the  Chief  for  roll-call. 


388  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

Four  of  our  men  were  killed  outright  by  rifle- 
bullets,  and.  it  was  typical  of  these  brave  men 
that  none  were  killed  by  machete  stabs. 
The  entire  marauding  expedition  of  twenty 
Peruvians  was  completely  wiped  out,  not 
a  single  one  escaping  the  deadly  aim  of  the 
Mangeromas.  Thus  was  avoided  the  danger 
of  being  attacked  in  the  near  future  by  a 
greater  force  of  Peruvians,  called  to  this  place 
from  the  distant  frontier  by  some  returning 
survivor. 

It  is  true  that  the  Mangeromas  lay  in  ambush 
for  their  enemy  and  killed  them,  for  the  greater 
part,  with  poisoned  arrows  and  spears,  but 
the  odds  were  against  the  Indians,  not  only 
because  the  caboclos  were  attacking  them 
in  larger  numbers,  but  because  they  came 
with  modern,  repeating  fire-arms  against  the 
hand  weapons  of  the  Mangeromas.  These 
marauders,  too,  came  with  murder  and  girl- 
robbery  in  their  black  hearts,  while  the 
Mangeromas  were  defending  their  homes  and 
families.  But  it  is  true  that  after  the  battle, 
so  bravely  fought,  the  Indians  cut  off  the 
hands  and  feet  of  their  enemies,  dead  or 
dying,  and  carried  them  home. 

The  fight  lasted  only  some  twenty  min- 
utes, but  it  was  after  sunset  when  we  reached 


A  Cannibal  Feast  389 

the  maloca.  The  women  and  children 
received  us  with  great  demonstrations  of 
joy.  Soon  the  pots  and  pans  were  boiling 
inside  the  great  house.  I  have  previously 
observed  how  the  Mangeromas  would  partake 
of  parts  of  the  human  body  as  a  sort  of  re- 
ligious rite,  whenever  they  had  been  suc- 
cessful with  their  man-traps ;  now  they  feasted 
upon  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  slain,  these 
parts  having  been  distributed  among  the 
different  families. 

T  crept  into  my  hammock  and  lit  my  pipe, 
watching  the  great  mass  of  naked  humanity. 
All  the  men  had  laid  aside  their  feather- 
dresses  and  squirrel  tails,  and  were  moving 
around  among  the  many  fires  on  the  floor  of 
the  hut.  Some  were  sitting  in  groups  dis- 
cussing the  battle,  while  women  bent  over  the 
pots  to  examine  the  ghastly  contents.  Here, 
a  woman  was  engaged  in  stripping  the  flesh 
from  the  palm  of  a  hand  and  the  sole  of  a 
foot,  which  operation  finished,  she  threw 
both  into  a  large  earthen  pot  to  boil ;  there, 
another  woman  was  applying  an  herb-poultice 
to  her  husband's  wounds. 

Over  it  all  hung  a  thick,  odoriferous  smoke, 
gradually  finding  its  way  out  through  the 
central  opening  in  the  roof. 


390  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

This  was  a  feast,  indeed,  such  as  few  white 
men,  I  believe,  have  witnessed. 

That  night  and  the  next  day,  and  the 
following  four  days,  great  quantities  of  chicha 
were  drunk  and  much  meat  was  consumed 
to  celebrate  the  great  victory,  the  greatest 
in  the  annals  of  the  Mangeromas  of  Rio 
Branco. 

Earthen  vessels  and  jars  were  used  in  the 
cooking  of  food.  The  red  clay  (Tabatinga 
clay)  found  abundantly  in  these  regions 
formed  a  superior  material  for  these  utensils. 
They  were  always  decorated  symbolically 
with  juices  of  the  scarlet  urucu  and  the  black 
genipapa.  Even  when  not  burned  into  the 
clay,  these  were  permanent  colours. 

Men  and  women  wore  their  hair  long  and 
unt rimmed  as  far  as  I  could  observe.  The 
older  and  more  experienced  of  the  tribesmen 
would  have  quite  elaborate  head-gear,  con- 
sisting of  a  band  of  mutum  plumes,  inter- 
spersed with  parrot-tail  feathers,  while  the 
younger  hunters  wore  nothing  but  a  band 
of  the  mutum  plumes.  The  body  was  un- 
covered, save  by  a  narrow  strip  of  bark  en- 
circling the  waist.  A  broad  piece,  woven 
of  several  bark-strips  into  a  sort  of  mat, 
protected  the  lower  anterior  part  of  the 


FOREST  SCENERY  NEAR  TAMBO  NO.  9 
391 


Good-bye 


393 


abdomen.     The    women    wore    no    clothing 
whatever. 

Their  colour  was  remarkably  light.  Prob- 
ably nothing  can  designate  this  better  than  the 
statement  that  if  a  Mangeroma  were  placed 
alongside  of  an  Italian,  no  difference  would 
be  noticeable.  Their  cheek-bones  were  not 
as  high  as  is  usual  with  tribes  found  on  the 
Amazon;  they  seemed  to  come  from  a  different 
race.  Their  eyes  were  set  straight  without 
any  tendency  to  the  Mongolian  slanting  that 
characterises  the  Peruvian  caboclos  and  the 
tribes  of  the  northern  affluents.  The  women 
had  unusually  large  feet,  while  those  of  the 
men  were  small  and  well-shaped.  The  general 
appearance  of  a  young  Mangeroma  was  that 
of  a  well-proportioned  athlete,  standing  about 
five  feet  ten  in  his  bare  feet.  No  moccasins, 
nor  any  other  protection  for  the  feet,  were 
worn. 

The  supply  of  wourahli  poison  had  run  low 
and  three  wourahli  men  were  to  go  out  in  the 
forest  to  collect  poison  plants,  a  journey 
which  would  require  several  days  to  complete. 
This  occasion  was  set  as  the  time  of  my 
departure. 

It  was  a  rainy  morning  when  I  wrapped  my 
few  belongings  in  a  leaf,  tied  some  grass-fibres 


394  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

around  them,  and  inserted  them  in  the  large 
pocket  of  my  khaki-coat.  The  box  with  the 
gold  dust  was  there,  also  the  boxes  with 
the  exposed  photographic  plates.  Most  of  the 
gold  had  filtered  out  of  the  box,  but  a  neat 
quantity  still  remained.  One  of  my  servants 
—a  handsome  girl — who,  excepting  for  the 
labial  ornaments,  could  have  been  transformed 
into  an  individual  of  quite  a  civilised  appear- 
ance by  opportunity,  gave  me  a  beautiful 
black  necklace  as  a  souvenir.  It  was  com- 
posed of  several  hundred  pieces,  all  carved  out 
of  ebony  nuts.  It  had  cost  her  three  weeks  of 
constant  work.  I  embraced  and  was  embraced 
by  almost  everybody  in  the  maloca,  after 
which  ceremony  we  went  in  procession  to 
the  canoe  that  was  to  take  me  down  to  the 
Branco  River.  The  Chief  bade  me  a  fond 
farewell,  that  forever  shall  be  implanted  in 
my  heart.  I  had  lived  here  weeks  among 
these  cannibal  Indians,  had  enjoyed  their 
kindness  and  generosity  without  charge;  I 
could  give  them  nothing  in  return  and  they 
asked  nothing.  I  could  have  stayed  here  for 
the  rest  of  my  natural  life  if  I  had  so  desired, 
but  now  I  was  to  say  good-bye  forever. 
How  wonderful  was  this  farewell !  It  was  my 
opportunity  for  acknowledging  that  the  savage 


To  the  Bran co  397 

heart  is  by  no  means  devoid  of  the  feelings 
and  sentiments  that  characterise  more  ele- 
vated, so-called  civilised  individuals. 

For  the  last  time  I  heard  the  little  dog 
bark,  the  same  that  had  licked  my  face  when 
I  fainted  in  front  of  the  maloca  upon  my  first 
arrival;  and  the  large  arara  screamed  in  the 
tree-tops  as  I  turned  once  more  towards  the 
world  of  the  white  man. 

The  journey  was  without  incident.  The 
wourahli  men  set  me  off  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Branco  River,  at  a  distance  which  T  covered 
in  less  than  five  hours  by  following  the  banks. 
I  was  greeted  by  Coronel  Maya  of  the  Com- 
pagnie  Trans atlantique  de  Caoutchouc,  who  sent 
me  by  canoe  down  the  old  Itecoahy,  until  we 
reached  the  Floresta  headquarters. 

Here  T  gave  Coronel  da  Silva  an  account 
of  the  death  of  Chief  Marques,  and  the  brave 
Jerome,  which  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
this  noble  man. 

The  three  men,  Magellaes,  Anisette,  and 
Freitas,  had  returned  in  safety  after  they 
separated  from  us. 

I  met  the  wife  of  Chief  Marques.  She  was 
the  woman  whose  arm  I  had  amputated. 
When  I  saw  her  she  was  carrying,  with  the 
arm  left  to  her,  a  pail  of  water  from  the 


398  In  the  Amazon  Jungle 

little  creek  behind  headquarters.  She  was  a 
different  woman,  and  I  was  pleased  to  know 
that  my  desperate  surgical  operation  had 
resulted  so  well.  Her  cheeks  were  full  and 
almost  rosy.  Her  health,  I  was  told,  except- 
ing for  occasional  attacks  of  ague,  was  very 
good. 

Soon  after,  the  launch  arrived  from  Remate 
de  Males  and  I  put  my  baggage  on  board. 
The  Coronel  accompanied  me  down  river  for 
about  forty -eight  hours  and  then,  reaching 
the  northern  extremity  of  his  estate,  he  bade 
me  a  fond  good-bye  with  the  words :  ' '  Sempre, 
illustrissimo  Senhor,  minha  casa  e  a  suas 
or  denes''  "My  house,  most  illustrious  Sir,  is 
always  at  your  disposal." 

When  I  arrived  at  Remate  de  Males  I  had 
another  attack  of  malaria,  which  almost 
severed  the  slender  thread  by  which  my  life 
hung;  my  physical  resistance  was  gone.  But 
I  managed  to  develop  my  plates  before 
breaking  down  completely,  and  after  having 
disposed  of  my  small  quantity  of  gold  dust, 
for  which  I  realised  some  three  hundred  and 
forty  dollars,  I  was  taken  down  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Javary  River,  where  I  had  landed  almost 
a  year  previous,  now  a  physical  and,  I  might 
almost  say,  mental  wreck.  I  stayed  in  the 


MANGEROMA  VASE 

399 


Sandy  Hook  Again  401 

house  of  Coronel  Monteiro,  the  frontier  official 
at  Esperanca,  for  five  long  days,  fighting  with 
death,  until  one  afternoon  I  saw  the  white 
hull  of  the  R.  M.  S.  Napo  appear  at  a  bend 
of  the  Amazon,  only  five  hundred  yards  away. 
Closer  she  came — this  rescuing  instrument 
of  Providence.  She  was  none  too  soon,  for  I 
had  now  reached  the  last  notch  of  human 
endurance.  She  dropped  anchor;  a  small 
gasoline  launch  was  lowered  into  the  water; 
three  white-coated  officers  stepped  into  it— 
they  came  ashore — they  climbed  the  stairs. 
The  captain,  a  stout,  kind-looking  Englishman, 
approached  my  hammock  and  found  therein 
a  very  sick  white  man.  I  was  carried  aboard 
and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  ship's  physi- 
cian. At  last  those  black  forests  of  the 
Amazon  were  left  behind.  After  twenty -two 
days'  sail,  Sandy  Hook  lighthouse  loomed 
on  our  port  side,  and  soon  after,  I  could 
rest — rest,  and  live  again! 


INDEX 


Alligator,  haunts  of  the,  201; 

encounter  with  an,  203,  215 

219 

Anaconda,  see  Sucuruju 
Ants,  attacked  by,  73;  varieties 

of,  74 
Arara- Parrot,  121,  141 

B 

Barigudo  monkey,  capture  of 
171,  186 

Barraca"o,  or  house,  construc- 
tion of,  5;  interior  of,  177 

Beri-beri,  symptoms  of,  298, 
305;  death  from,  309;  char- 
acter of,  72 

Bird-Eating  spider,  77 

Blow-Gun,  shooting  with,  294, 
297;  trap,  344;  length  of, 
294 

Boa-Constrictor,  see  Sucuruju 


Candiroo  or  Kandiroo,  habits 
of,  214,  217 

Caoutchouc-Tree,  barbarous 
extracting  of  milk  from,  277 

Castilloa  elastica,  see  Caout- 
chouc-Tree 

Cauchero,  170,  254 


D 


Deer,  appearance  of,  307 


Defumador,   or    smoking-hut, 

see  Rubber 
Dolphin,  85 


E 


Egret,  121 

Embauba-Tree,  poisonous  ex- 
halations of,  118 

Estrada  178 

Eunectes  murinus,  see  Sucu- 
ruju 


Farinha,  taste  of,  31;  popu- 
larity of,  1 66,  191,  192,  254, 
261,  266 


II 


Howling  monkey,  roar  of  the, 
86,  126;  hunting,  179;  as  an 
article  of  food,  270,  299; 
killed  by  blow-gun,  297 


Inamboo,  call  of  the,  89,  162 
Inundation,     height     of     the 

annual,  161 
Itecoahy  River,  length  of,  82 


Jaguar,  misfortune  in  hunting, 
245 


403 


404 


Index 


Jararaca-Snake,     result     from 

bite  of,  303 
Javary     fever,     see     Malarial 

fever 
Javary  River,  location  of,  15 

M 

Malarial  fever,    71;  symptoms 

of,  150,  154 
Maloca,  or  tribal  village,  size  of, 

319 

Mangeroma  Indian,  first  men- 
tioned by  H.  W.  Bates,  102; 
personal  encounter  with,  293 ; 
arrival  at  village  of,  315; 
mode  of  dressing  of,  321 

Matamata  tree,  use  of  the 
buttresses,  142;  use  of  the 
bark,  266;  appearance  of, 
91,  117 

Mosquitoes,  71,  72 

Mother  of  the  Moon,  super- 
stitiously  dreaded  cry  of,  238 

Murumuru  palm,  use  of  leaves, 
266;  appearance  of,  147;  use 
of  leaf-stalks,  287 

Musical  frogs,  284 

Musical  telegraph,  356:  code 
system  of,  358 

Mutum  bird,  appearance  of, 
307;  as  an  article  of  food, 
277,  288  _ 

Mygale  avicularis,  see  Bird- 
Eating  spider 

N 

Nazareth,  location  of,  15 
P 

Paca,  247 

Pachiuba  palm-tree,  use  of 
aerial  roots  of,  249;  appear- 
ance of,  263 

Paludismos,  see  Malarial 
fever. 

Peccary,  see  Wild  boar 


Piranha  fish,  habits  of,  210; 
encounter  with,  213 

Pirarucu  fish,  181,  235;  popu- 
larity of,  192,  254,  261,  265; 
size  of,  208;  capture  of,  209 

Poisoned  arrows,  manufacture 
of,  351;  shooting  with  294; 
killing  wild  boar  with,  333 


R 


Remate  de  Males,  location  of, 
12;  inhabitants  of,  8;  cost 
of  living  in,  27 ;  mortality  of, 
71;  administration  of,  67 

Rubber,  smoking  of,  milk, 
87,  155,  183;  loading  of, 
balls,  107;  branding  of, 
balls,  in;  tapping  of,  151; 
transshipment  of,  115 

Rubber-Tree,  tapping  of,  151 

Rubber- Worker,  see  Serin- 
gueiro 


Seringa!  rubber-estate,  size  of 
a  large,  146 

Seringueiro,  outfit  of,  196;  as  a 
naturalist,  197;  work  of  the, 
87,  178,  183;  general  appear- 
ance of,  143,  193,  255 

Solimoes  River,  43 

Sting-Ray,  capture  of  a,  207; 
barbed  bones  of,  used  for 
arrows,  373;  used  for  Indian 
traps,  343;  barbed  bone  of, 
used  for  spears,  372 

Sucuruju  or  Boa-Constrictor, 
alleged  hypnotic  powers  of, 
218,  221;  capture  and  skin- 
ning of,  226,  238;  track  of, 
243 


Tapir,  meat  of  the,  141 
Tartaruga,  see  Turtle-Eggs 
Toucan,  61,121;  cry  of  the,  250 


Index 


405 


Turtle-Eggs,  collecting,  175;  as 
an  article  of  food,  191 


U 


Urubus,  75 

Urucu  plant,  as  a  dye  for  mats, 
325;  as  a  dye  for  skeletons, 
214;  to  color  the  human 
body,  322,334;  paddles,  145; 
pottery,  390;  photo  of,  99 


V 


Vampire,  86 


W 

Water-Snake,  see  Sucuruju 
Wild  boar,  hunting  wild  boar, 
1 80;   boar  attacked  by  pir- 
anhas, 213 

Wourahli- Poison,  effect  of,  on 
monkey,  297;  preparation  of, 
349;  plant,  ingredients  of, 
350 


Yellow  fever,  72 


American  Waterways 


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430  pages,  with  80  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3.50  net 

This  is  the  first  effort  to  present  a  book  distinctively  on  the  Columbia 
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As  the  joint  possession  of  the  United  States  and  British  Columbia,  and 
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most  graphic  and  interesting.  No  other  book  equally  good  can  be  writ- 
ten for  many  years  to  come — not  until  our  knowledge  of  the  river  is 
greatly  enlarged." — The  Boston  Herald. 

"  Mr.  Dellenbaugh  writes  with  enthusiasm  and  balance  about  his 
chief,  and  of  the  canyon  with  a  fascination  that  make  him  disinclined  to 
leave  it,  and  brings  him  thirty  years  later  to  its  description  with  undimin- 
ished  interest. — New  York  Tribune. 


The  Ohio  River 

A  COURSE  OF  EMPIRE 
By  Archer  B.  Hulbert 

Associate  Professor  of  American  History,  Marietta  College, 
Author  of  "Historic  Highways  of  America,"  etc. 

390  pages,  with  100  Illustrations  and  a  Map.     $3.50  net 

An  interesting  description  from  a  fresh  point  of  view  of  the  interna- 
tional struggle  which  ended  with  the  English  conquest  of  the  Ohio  Basin, 
and  includes  many  interesting  details  of  the  pioneer  movement  on  the  Ohio. 
The  most  widely  read  students  of  the  Ohio  Valley  will  find  a  unique  and 
unexpected  interest  in  Mr.  Hulbert's  chapters  dealing  with  the  Ohio  River 
in  the  Revolution,  the  rise  of  the  cities  of  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  and  Louis- 
ville, the  fighting  Virginians,  the  old-time  methods  of  navigation,  etc. 

"A  wonderfully  comprehensive   and  entirely  fascinating  book."- 
Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 


merican   Waterways 


Narragansett   Bay 

Its  Historic  and  Romantic  Associations  and  Picturesque  Setting 

By  Edgar  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author  of  "  The  Hudson  River,"  u  Chronicles  of  Tarrytown,"  etc. 

340  pages,  with  50  Drawings  by  the  Author,  and  with  Numerous 
Photographs  and  a  Map.     $3.50  net 

Impressed  by  the  important  and  singular  part  played  by  the  settlers 
of  Narragansett  in  the  development  of  American  ideas  and  ideals,  and 
strongly  attracted  by  the  romantic  tales  that  are  inwoven  with  the  warp 
of  history,  as  well  as  by  the  incomparable  setting  the  great  bay  affords  for 
suck  a  subject,  the  author  offers  this  result  of  his  labor  as  a  contribution 
to  the  story  of  great  American  Waterways,  with  the  hope  that  his  readers 
may  be  imbued  with  somewhat  of  his  own  enthusiasm. 

"  An  attractive  description  of  the  picturesque  part  of  Rhode  Island. 
Mr.  Bacon  dwells  on  the  natural  beauties,  the  legendary  and  historical  asso- 
ciations, rather  than  the  present  appearance  of  the  shores." — N.  Y.  Sun. 


The  Great  Lakes 

Vessels  That  Plough  Them,  Their  Owners,  Theit  Sailors,  and  Their  Cargoes  / 
together  with  A  Brief  History  of  Our  Inland  Seas 

By  James  Oliver  Curwood 
244  pages,  with  72  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3,50  net 

This  profusely  illustrated  book,  as  entertaining  as  it  is  informing,  has 
the  twofold  advantage  of  being  written  by  a  man  who  knows  the  Lakes 
and  their  shores  as  well  as  what  has  been  written  about  them.  The  gen- 
eral reader  will  enjoy  the  romance  attaching  to  the  past  history  of  the 
Lakes  and  not  less  the  romance  of  the  present — the  story  of  the  great 
commercial  fleets  that  plough  our  inland  seas,  created  to  transport  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  metals  that  are  dug  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  To  the  business  man  who  has  interests  in  or  about  the  Lakes,  or 
to  the  prospective  investor  in  Great  Lakes  enterprises,  the  book  will  be 
found  suggestive.  Comparatively  little  has  been  written  of  these  fresh- 
water seas,  and  many  of  his  readers  will  be  amazed  at  the  wonderful 
story  which  this  volume  tells. 


American  Waterways 


The  St.  Lawrence  River 

Historical— Legendary — Picturesque 
By  George  Waldo  Browne 

Author  of  "  Japan — the  Place  and  the  People,"  "  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,"  etc. 

385  pages,  with  100  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3.50  net 

While  the  St.  Lawrence  River  has  been  the  scene  of  many  important 
events  connected  with  the  discovery  and  development  of  a  large  portion 
of  North  America,  no  attempt  has  heretofore  been  made  to  collect  and 
embody  in  one  volume  a  complete  and  comprehensive  narrative  of  this  great 
waterway.  This  is  not  denying  that  considerable  has  been  written  relating 
to  it,  but  the  various  offerings  have  been  scattered  through  many  volumes, 
and  most  of  these  have  become  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader. 

This  work  presents  in  a  consecutive  narrative  the  most  important 
historic  incidents  connected  with  the  river,  combined  with  descriptions  of 
some  of  its  most  picturesque  scenery  and  delightful  excursions  into  its 
legendary  lore.  In  selecting  the  hundred  illustrations  care  has  been  taken 
to  give  as  wide  a  scope  as  possible  to  the  views  belonging  to  the  river. 


The  Niagara  River 

By  Archer  Butler  Hulbert 

Professor  of  American  History,  Marietta  College;  author  of  "  The  Ohio  River," 

"  Historic  Highways  of  America,"  etc. 

350  pages,  with  70  Illustrations  and  Maps,     $3,50  net 

Professor  Hulbert  tells  all  that  is  best  worth  recording  of  the  history 
of  the  river  which  gives  the  book  its  title,  and  of  its  commercial  present 
and  its  great  commercial  future.  An  immense  amount  of  carefully  ordered 
information  is  here  brought  together  into  a  most  entertaining  and  informing 
book.  No  mention  of  this  volume  can  be  quite  adequate  that  fails  to  take 
into  account  the  extraordinary  chapter  which  is  given  to  chronicling  the 
mad  achievements  of  that  company  of  dare-devil  bipeds  of  both  sexes  who 
for  decades  have  been  sweeping  over  the  Falls  in  barrels  and  other 
receptacles,  or  who  have  gone  dancing  their  dizzy  way  on  ropes  or  wires 
stretched  from  shore  to  shore  above  the  boiling,  leaping  water  beneath. 


etc. 


I  American     Waterways 

- 

The  Hudson  River 

FROM  OCEAN  TO  SOURCE 

Historical  —  Legendary  —  Picturesque 

By  Edgar  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Chronicles  of  Tarrytown,"  "  Narragansett  Bay,'  .... 

600  Pages,  with  100  Illustrations,  Including  a  Sectional  Map  of  the  Hudson 
Rivee.     $3,50  net 

"The  value  of  this  handsome  quarto  does  not  depend  solely  on 

|   the  attractiveness  with  which  Mr.  Bacon  has  invested  the  whole  subject, 

it  is  a  kind  of  footnote  to  the  more  conventional  histories,  because  it 

throws  light  upon  the  life  and  habits  of  the  earliest  settlers.     It  is  a  study 

of  Dutch  civilization  in  the  New  World,  severe  enough  in  intentions  to 

be  accurate,  but  easy  enough  in  temper  to  make  a  great  deal  c;  humor, 

and  to  comment  upon  those  characteristic  customs  and  habits  which,  while 

they  escape  the  attention  of  the  formal  historian,  are  full  of  significance." 

______m^^_^_  Outlook. 

The  Connecticut  River 

AND  THE 

Valley  of  the  Connecticut 

THREE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  MILES  FROM  MOUNTAIN  TO  SEA 

Historical  and  Descriptive 

By  Edwin  Munroe  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Walks  and  Rides  in  the  Country  Round  About  Boston,"  etc. 

500  Pages,  with  100  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3,50  net 

From  ocean  to  source  every  mile  of  the  Connecticut  is  crowded  with 
reminders  of  the  early  explorers,  of  the  Indian  wars,  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Colonies,  and  of  the  quaint,  peaceful  village  existence  of  the  early  days  of  I 
the  Republic.      Beginning  with  the  Dutch  discovery,  Mr.  Bacon  traces  I 
the  interesting  movements  and  events  which  are  associated  with  this  chief  I 
river  of  New  England. 


American    Waterways 


The  Columbia  River 

Its  History — Its  Myths — Its  Scenery — Its  Commerce 

By  William  Denison  Lyman 
Professor  of  History  in  Whitman  College,  Walla  Walla,  Washington 

430  pages,  with  80  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3,50  net 
Reading  Circle  Edition.     Small  8vo.     $173  net 

This  is  the  first  effort  to  present  a  book  distinctively  on  the  Columbia 
River.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  author  to  give  some  special  prominence 
to  Nelson  and  the  magnificent  lake  district  by  which  it  is  surrounded. 
As  the  joint  possession  of  the  United  States  and  British  Columbia,  and 
as  the  grandest  scenic  river  of  the  continent,  the  Columbia  is  worthy  of 
special  attention.  In  the  volume  will  be  found  a  narrative  of  the  re- 
markable series  of  events  in  the  history  of  the  Columbia,  as  well  as  a 
portrayal  of  the  scenic  attractions  of  the  great  Western  river.  And 
through  the  pages  of  this  historically  competent  and  thoroughly  readable 
volume  breathes  the  very  spirit  of  the  West,  of  which  its  author  is  a 
devoted  son. 


American  Inland  Waterways 

Their  Relation  to  Railway  Transportation  and  to  the  National 
Welfare  /  Their  Creation,  Restoration,  and  Maintenance 

By  Herbert  Quick 

262  pages,  with  80  Illustrations  and  a  Map,  $3,50  net 
A  study  of  our  water  highways,  and  a  comparison  of  them  with  the 
like  channels  of  trade  and  travel  abroad.  This  book  covers  the  question 
of  waterways  in  well-nigh  all  their  aspects — their  importance  to  the  na- 
tion's welfare,  their  relations  to  the  railways,  their  creation,  restoration,  and 
maintenance.  The  bearing  of  forestry  upon  the  subject  in  question  is 
considered,  and  there  is  a  suggested  plan  for  a  continental  system  of 
waterways.  There  are  a  large  number  of  illustrations  of  the  first  interest. 


American    Waterways 


Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 

The   War  Trail  of  the  Mohawks  and  the  Battle-ground  of 

France  and  England  in  their  Contest  for  the 

Control  of  North  America 

By  W.  Max  Reid 

Author  of  "  The  Mohawk  Valley,"  "  The  Story  of  Old  Fort  Johnson,"  etc. 

400  pages*     With  90  Full"page  Illustrations  ftom  Otiginal  Photographs 
by  J,  Arthur  Maney,  and  Maps,     S3, 50  net, 

There  is  no  spot  on  American  soil  that  has  witnessed  more  battles, 
small  and  great,  than  the  narrow  shores  of  these  lakes,  making  history  for 
two  continents.  Men  that  live  in  history,  whose  names  are  inseparably 
connected  with  their  attenuated  lengths,  have  attained  victory,  or  suffered 
defeat,  under  the  shadows  of  their  wooded  mountains,  or  on  their  crystal 
waters.  Daring  explorers,  self-sacrificing  priests,  hardy  frontiersmen,  wily 
aborigines,  cultured  men  of  wealth  with  dreams  of  baronial  manors  and 
seignories  have  been  associated  with  their  history.  The  author  has 
seized  upon  these  dramatic  incidents  and  has  combined  them  in  a  nar- 
rative that  rn^es  with  unimpeded  swiftness. 


The  Mohawk  Valley 

Its  Legends  and  its  History 
By  W.  Max  Reid 

475  pages.     With  Seventy  Fu&page  Illustrations  from  Photographs 
by  J,  Arthur  Maney,     Net,  $3.50 

"This  is  a  book  of  intense  interest;  it  is  also  one  of  real  historic 
value.  There  move  before  us  stalking  Indians,  dashing  French  soldiers, 
the  red-coats,  the  proud  Tory,  the  indomitable  Jesuit,  while  above  all 
looms  and  dominates  the  picturesque,  big-hearted,  honorable,  loose-living 
Irishman,  Sir  William  Johnson.  The  book  is  beautifully  illustrated." 

The  Outlook 


American    Waterways 


The  Mississippi  River 
and   Its   Wonderful  Valley 

Twentyseven  Hundred  and  Fifty  Miles  from  Source  to  Sea 
By  Julius  Chambers,  F.R.G.S. 

Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Member  of  the  National  Geographic  Society. 

320  pages  with  80  Illustrations  and  Maps,     S3.5O  net 

The  Mississippi,  whether  it  be  considered  from  the  geographic  or 
historic  standpoint,  has  a  significance  which  few  rivers  possess.  It  is  the 
great  dividing  line  between  East  and  West ;  it  is  in  volume  surpassed 
only  by  the  Amazon,  in  length  only  by  the  Nile.  The  Spanish  conquis- 
tadores  and  the  Jesuit  fathers  paddled  over  its  waters  and  hewed  their 
way  through  the  wilderness  that  flanked  its  shores.  Its  peaceful  banks 
have  witnessed  in  silent  dismay  the  early  conflict  of  Redman  with  Red- 
man, the  later  warfare  of  Red  with  White,  and  the  more  recent  clash 
between  Northerner  and  Southerner.  Mr.  Chambers  has  recorded  in  a 
style  worthy  of  a  theme  so  mighty  the  great  events  that  have  been  enacted 
along  the  course  of  this  river. 


In  Preparation 

The  Story  of  the  Chesapeake 

By  Ruthella  M.  Bibbins 
Will  be  fully  illustrated  and  probably  published  at  S3. 50  net. 


SEP  27  1983 


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