The Western World Part 36

Besides cattle, horses, and mules, vast numbers of hogs range over the plain,--the descendants of those introduced by the early settlers, and which are now, from their ferocity, and the formidable size of their tusks, considered foes worthy of the lances of the bold hors.e.m.e.n. These lances, generally used in hunting, have played no insignificant part in the hands of the Llaneros, as well as in those of some of the fierce tribes of the desert, during the civil wars which so long disturbed the country.

A profusion of fruits in a state of nature grow in the woods and plains.

Among them are several species of wild guavas. Some are of exquisite flavour and aroma. One sort bears in rich profusion a number of brilliant scarlet, highly perfumed, and acidulous fruits. There are various kinds of custard apples, the inside a sweet and highly aromatic pulp filled with small seeds. Also the madrona, which resembles the lemon in shape and colour, and filled with a pulp enveloping several large nuts, the flavour not unlike strawberries. The tree which produces these fruits attains a height of sixty feet, and has a dense foliage of a brilliant green.

On a vine grows the monkey cacao bean, which these animals eagerly devour.

There are many leguminous trees, some bearing pods ten inches long, filled with rows of black beans enveloped in a snow-white and agreeably sweet pulp. Here also is the algarobo, or locust-tree of the New World; bearing pods filled with beans surrounded by a sweet farinaceous substance, of a highly nutritious quality.

Indeed, Venezuela is behind no other region of the world in the variety and quality of its natural productions.

PART FOUR, CHAPTER TWO.

GUIANA.

A wide belt of low land borders the ocean side of Guiana on the north-east of the continent, where white men dwell, in houses elevated on piles of timber, among sugar-estates and cotton-plantations, tall windmills, and numerous ca.n.a.ls crowded with s.h.i.+pping, which would present a thoroughly Dutch scene were it not for the stately cocoa-nut and cabbage-palms rising amid them, the dark-skinned labourers, the blue sky, and burning heat. The province is, however, for the most part a region of rugged mountains, dense forests, open savannahs, broad streams, cataracts, waterfalls, and rapids; where the yet untamed savage, making war on his neighbours, and sunk in the grossest barbarism, lives as his predecessors have done for centuries past.

Through the centre of the territory flows the Essequibo, the largest river between the Amazon and the Orinoco. Its source is among the same mountains which give birth to some of the tributaries of those mighty rivers, the one running to the north, the other to the south; thus adding to the wonderful network which unites the waters of South America.

It was through this region that the gallant Raleigh, and many bands of Spanish adventurers in succession, in spite of the most terrific dangers and difficulties, fought their way amid hostile natives in search of the far-famed El Dorado. Among the first bands was that led by the celebrated Philip Von Huten. They had heard that in the interior of the country there existed a golden region, surpa.s.sing even the wildest descriptions of that of Peru. It was said that some of the royal race of the Incas, escaping from their Spanish invaders, had established a new dynasty amid the mountains, on the sh.o.r.es of a beautiful lake, the sands of which contained gold in prodigious quant.i.ties. The houses of his capital were covered with plates of gold. The vessels of the royal palace were of the same metal; and so abundant was it, that the natives, anointing their bodies with a glutinous substance, sprinkled them over with the dust. The person of the sovereign was especially thus adorned by his attendants. Oviedo remarks--"As this kind of garment would be uneasy whilst sleeping, the prince washes himself every evening, and is gilded afresh in the morning;" thus proving that the empire of El Dorado is infinitely rich in mines.

Von Huten and his band, after desperate fighting, were compelled to retire, just as they believed they had seen in the far-off distance the s.h.i.+ning roofs of the splendid city. Their leader was preparing another expedition when he fell by the hand of an a.s.sa.s.sin.

Notwithstanding the dangers to be encountered from the fierce Caribs-- who, sheltered by trees and rocks everywhere, attacked their foes with poisoned arrows--and the numerous disappointments which occurred, fresh bands of adventurers, age after age, still believing in the fabled wealth which was to be their prize should they succeed, set forth, in hope of reaching the wonderful city. Some of Sir Walter Raleigh's followers declared, indeed, that they saw rocks s.h.i.+ning brightly with gold, and a mountain containing diamonds and other valuable stones, the l.u.s.tre of which blazed forth to a considerable distance.

Every marvellous fable found belief. The crew of an English s.h.i.+p, about that time exploring the Marowyne, stated that they had seen on its banks a gigantic race of men, who carried in their hands bows made of gold.

Wherever mica was seen glittering on the side of a mountain, it was supposed to be the same precious metal. Sir Walter Raleigh sent his faithful lieutenant, Captain Keymis, to carry on the expedition he was himself unable to undertake. His chief object, and that of his successors, was to discover the site of the golden city. Keymis, while sailing up the Essequibo, heard that by ascending one of its tributaries--the Rupunoony--he would certainly reach it.

Numerous other expeditions were organised by Spaniards and Portuguese.

Many of the unfortunate adventurers fell by the hands of the natives, others by famine and fatigue; and as late as the year 1776 a large band set forth, when many hundreds perished, one man only returning to tell the sad fate of his companions.

At length, in the quarter to which Captain Keymis had been directed, the small lake of Amucu was discovered, to which a river called the Parinia is connected; and from the geological structure of the surrounding country, is supposed to have been formerly much larger than at present.

Within and around it are islands and, rocks of mica, slate, and talc; "the materials," observes Humboldt, "out of which has been formed that gorgeous capital, whose temples and houses were overlaid with beaten plates of gold." Schombergh, who visited the lake, agrees with the German philosopher. Another traveller, Hillhouse, in 1830 ascended the Masaruni, which flows from the northern side of the mountains of Roraima, among which the lake is situated; and believes that its romantic valley was once the bed of a large lake twelve miles in width, and upwards of one hundred miles in length,--which long ago burst its barriers and gave rise to the fable still preserved among the Indians, and, till within almost the present century, believed in by the colonists themselves.

RIVERS:--THE ESSEQUIBO.

Let us take a glance over some of the rivers of the land.

The Essequibo, called by the Indians the "younger brother of the Orinoco," first claims attention. The mouth has rather the appearance of a vast lake than a river, its sh.o.r.es bordered by thick groves of that tree of curious structure, the mangrove, whose roots or seeds, borne on the ocean wave, strike wherever they can find a muddy soil, throughout every part of the tropics. Rising upwards on the roots, which it shoots downwards as it grows, the base of its stem is often six or eight feet from the ground--the stem itself seldom more than a foot in diameter, and from fifteen to twenty feet in height. Its thick stiff ribs, about eight inches long and nine inches wide, are of a dark sombre hue. This broad estuary, extending inland for thirty miles or more, with numerous picturesque islands covered by tropical vegetation rising out of it, is joined by the united streams of the Masaruni and Cuyuni, its own and their romantic waterfalls making a continuous navigation up them impossible. Yet, notwithstanding its impediments, these rivers afford the only means of communication, except along the foot-tracks of the Indians, through the dense forests, into the far-off interior. These forests commence in many parts close to the ocean, spreading often for thousands of square miles, broken sometimes by swamps, and at others by wide savannahs, open s.p.a.ces covered with gra.s.ses, and here and there clumps of trees. Even the sand-hills of moderate height bordering the Atlantic are clothed by the superb vegetation of the tropics,--the forest extending to, and even climbing up the sides of the Rocky Mountains. Vast timber trees, the purple and green heart, the stately mora, the locust-tree, raise their heads above their smaller brethren, conquering in the struggle for room to allow their foliage to expand; while below, the moist carpet of fallen leaves, fungi, and moss, increases the richness of the vegetation. Here also are numerous graceful palms,--the cocorite, from which the Indians form their poisoned arrows; the troali, with broad and long leaves, used for thatching their huts. The graceful manicol, rising to a great height, bends, like the weeping willow, its slender stem over the stream; and, with several other species of palm, it affords the succulent cabbage.

Beautiful parasites hang in every direction from the trunks and boughs-- sipos ascending and clinging in intricate network, interlacing the trunks and branches, and often supporting the remnants of the trees they themselves by their fatal embrace have destroyed; indeed, the same style of forest here exists as throughout the Valley of the Amazon.

As the flora is much the same on a similar alt.i.tude, so there is little difference in the fauna, although some species are found in Guiana which are unknown in the latter region. The native tribes, however--the red men of the wilds--differ considerably. Near the supposed site of the famed El Dorado at Pirara, situated on the borders of Brazil, some thirty years ago, an attempt was made to carry, not the gold that perishes, but the joyful news of salvation, to the long-benighted Indians in that region. It was blessed, and was prospering greatly, and gave promise of the speedy conversion of the Macusi tribe and others, when some Brazilian Roman Catholic priests, hearing of it, determined on its destruction, and induced their government to claim the region as Brazilian territory. A detachment of militia was despatched, and took possession of the village. The Indians, fearing lest the Brazilians might conduct them into slavery, dispersed into the forests and mountains, while the missionary with difficulty escaped with his life.

The distance to be traversed from the British capital of George Town to Pirara is about three hundred miles; and though the scenery is of that enchanting character which, as the enthusiastic Waterton describes it, made his soul overflow with joy, and roam in fancy through fairyland, yet, as it is through an almost uninhabited country, with numerous rapids and torrents, woods to be traversed, and mountains to be climbed, the difficulties are not contemptible.

"To surmount these obstacles to navigation," say Mr Brett, "it is necessary in some places to carry or haul the canoe overland at the sides of the fall. At others, advantage is taken of the eddies which are found at the base, and huge rocks that intercept the stream. The Indians pa.s.s from rock to rock by leaping, wading, or swimming, and, by means of a hawser, haul the boat through the rus.h.i.+ng water from one resting-point to another, the steersman keeping his seat, and--sometimes lashed to it--striving with his large paddle to guide in some degree her course. The roar of the water das.h.i.+ng and foaming against the surrounding rocks renders this operation as exciting as it is difficult.

Still more exciting and difficult is the task of descending these rapids. The safety of all then depends on their perfect steadiness, and on the bowman and steersman acting in concert, and with instant decision. The canoe is kept in the very centre of the current, one of her best hands kneeling with quick eye and ready paddles in the bow, and the rest of the crew exerting their strength to give her headway.

Darting swiftly along, she arrives at the head of the fall, and bounding downward, shoots into the surf below it, das.h.i.+ng it up on either side, and leaving her crew alone visible. If all be well, rising above the foam, she obeys the guiding paddles in stem and stern, and dances over the tumbling waves, while her excited crew exult at their success.

Whole families, however, even of Indians, are sometimes drowned; and in 1805 Captain Beresford, son-in-law of the governor, and four other gentlemen, with two of their crew, lost their lives in shooting the lower falls of the Masaruni."

THE BERBICE RIVER.

On the Berbice, which falls into the Atlantic about sixty miles eastward of George Town, the falls and rapids--which do not, however, reach to within one hundred and sixty miles of its mouth--are very numerous.

While the scenery round them is highly picturesque, they are extremely dangerous. Here is found the cascade of Idurewadde; and higher up, the cataract of Itabru. Above these again are more than forty falls and rapids, called by Schombergh the Christmas Cataracts, and which cost him and his companions immense labour to surmount. On their return, one of the party, rashly standing on the thwarts of the canoe while shooting the falls, upset it and was drowned.

Huge caymans abound in the river, and lie like logs of wood at the foot of the cataracts or rapids, watching stealthily to catch and swallow whatever the fierce current may bring down to them.

Above these falls is a lagoon, on which he discovered the now far-famed Victoria Regia, before that time unknown to the world. At the head of the Masaruni rises Mount Roraima, 7540 feet in height. It is the princ.i.p.al watershed, from which various streams flow in different directions into the three great rivers--Amazon, Orinoco, and Essequibo.

Hillhouse and Schombergh describe the side of the mountain as composed of cliffs, fifteen hundred feet in height, of compact sandstone, as perpendicular as if erected with the plumb-line, and overhung in part with low shrubs. Though distant, they appear as if in dangerous proximity. Around are detached ma.s.ses, apparently torn from those gigantic walls of nature; and every moment it seems as if one of them would block up the path, or cut off all retreat. In places the channel of the stream is so narrow that the canoe can hardly pa.s.s, in others it widens out into a shallow claret-coloured lake. At length a capacious basin is entered, black as ink, surrounded by a bold and extensive sh.o.r.e as white as chalk. The roar of the water is heard, but no current perceived; though there is a foam-like yeast on the surface, which remains all day without visible alteration. At length, in the distance, a broken white line is seen struggling through a cl.u.s.ter of granite rocks at the base of two quartz cliffs of a mixed character. This is the fall of Macrebah.

THE ARECUNA INDIANS.

In those mountain regions dwell the Arecunas, a fine st.u.r.dy race--with clear copper-tinted skins--unenc.u.mbered by clothing, though wearing feathers and other ornaments; long sticks through the cartilage of their nostrils, and still longer, richly adorned with tufts of black feathers, through their ears. Both s.e.xes are much tattooed; some of the women having dark blue lines across the upper lip, and extending in wavy curves over each cheek, looking like enormous curled moustaches. Others have a broad line round the mouth, which gives it the appearance of being far larger than it is in reality. The men wear the heads of humming-birds and of a bird of a beautiful blue colour in their ears; and round their waist, girdles of monkey's hair.

Schombergh, who visited them, says they made a great feast in his honour, when there was a grand display of gorgeous plumes, and head-dresses,--the whole winged tribe having apparently been put in requisition to furnish forth the most brilliant of their feathers. They had also necklaces of the teeth of monkeys and peccaries, and porcupines' quills; to which were attached long cotton fringes--which hung down their backs, and to which toucan and other skins were suspended securely. Feasting and dancing, kept up by the natives thus dressed, lasted the whole night; and the constantly-repeated burden of their song was--"Roraima of the red rock, wrapped in clouds, the ever-fertile source of streams."

THE CORENTYN RIVER.

Eastward of the Berbice, and greatly inferior in size to the Essequibo, is the Corentyn, which has its source near the equator, and forms the boundary of the British colony. A few Indians of various tribes dwell on its banks near the mouth, but above their last settlement desolation reigns supreme.

On the rocks near its banks may be seen a few rude carvings, the handiwork of a race long pa.s.sed away. Day after day the voyager on its waters pa.s.ses amid the wildest and most romantic scenery,--amid numerous islands, rocks, and rapids; but no human beings are seen--not a light canoe on its waters, not an habitation on its banks. At length, after a nine days' voyage, enormous rocks appear heaped together, opposing progress; vast chasms yawn beneath his feet when he lands, and at certain places the streams sink into the earth as if by magic, to reappear where least expected. A thundering noise is heard, and a mist hovers in the air, in which thousands of birds disport themselves,-- marking the position of the great cataracts of the Corentyn. The scene, however, is too vast to be beheld in its full grandeur from any single point of view. No waterfall in the territory surpa.s.ses them in grandeur.

The fierce Caribs, in the days of their power, inhabited the banks of the river, engaged in carrying into slavery the people of other tribes from far and near; but they, and those they oppressed, have pa.s.sed away--a few families only of their descendants remaining here and there--the one to boast of the prowess of their ancestors, the other to tell the tale of their woes.

THE DEMERARA RIVER.

High up the River Demerara--on which George Town, the capital of the colony, is built--where the river forces its way through the dense forest, is a fall of great picturesque beauty. Here, says Mr Brett, the cataract precipitates itself in one body over the rocky barrier; and huge ma.s.ses of rock, crowned with stately trees, divide it into channels ere it reaches its lower bed. Of these channels, there are two large ones in the centre, with smaller ones on either side. All are filled with great boulders, over which the dark waters toss and dash until they roll into the wide basin below, covering its surface and margin with ma.s.ses of yeasty foam. The length of the fall appears to be three or four hundred feet, though the perpendicular difference between the levels of the river above and below is sixty-five feet. Three-fourths of this cataract is hid from view by the luxuriant forest which clothes its sides and covers its islands. The misty spray--rising, when the river is full, from the channels between the tall trees--the rus.h.i.+ng noise, and a glimpse of the torrent here and there, show imperfectly its divided course. Could a clear view be obtained of it, it would be found to contain a spectacle full of beauty and interest.

Between that point and the Essequibo, with which the Demerara runs parallel, is a remarkable--almost perpendicular--rock called Maboora, the uppermost of a succession of natural terraces. The ascent to the summit from the forest below occupies some hours. From hence the broad Essequibo can be seen flowing, partly hidden by the range of hills. Its face is broken up by the rains of ages into huge boulders, but the top is level. In its western base is a large cavern, having an inner chamber with a narrow entrance. Here the beautiful c.o.c.k of the rocks, adorned with golden orange tints and double fan-like crest, makes his abode. The nests of these brilliant birds are at some distance from the sandy floor, and attached to the rocky sides.

NATIVE TRIBES.

But we must pa.s.s from the scenery of this region of cataracts and forests, to take another glance at the wild tribes who inhabit it. The most numerous and ferocious at one time, by far, were the cannibal Caribs; who for ages had inhabited the country, and were joined by their brethren, driven by the Spaniards from the islands they had long occupied. Whether the whole race had originally come from the north, scattering their bands and taking possession of the islands they pa.s.sed, seems uncertain.

When Columbus discovered the islands, to which he gave the name of the people, he had full evidence of their courage, ferocity, and cannibal propensities. At the same time, they paid great attention to agriculture, and brought home seeds and plants from the territories they overran. They were in the habit of attacking; other islands and the mainland, and carrying off the women as slaves; making prisoners of the men, to be killed and eaten. Their arms were clubs, and bows and poisoned arrows. Even the women were expert archers, and when their husbands were away remained to defend their homes. The hair of these savages was coa.r.s.e and long--their eyes, surrounded with paint, giving them a hideous expression; while their limbs were bound with bands of cotton, causing them to swell out into disproportionate size where unconfined. When attacked by the Spaniards, the men refused to be taken alive, and the women defended themselves with the fiercest courage after the death of their husbands.

In the British island of Saint Vincent several bands remained, who devastated the plantations, and committed many atrocities,--especially in the revolutionary war, when they were stirred up by the French. They were removed by the British Government to the island of Ruatan, in the Bay of Honduras, whence they emigrated to the neighbouring coast.

Meantime, they were extending their power on the Southern Continent, and became the dominant race on the Orinoco and Essequibo, their excursions reaching even to the provinces watered by the Amazon. Wherever they appeared, the other tribes were driven for refuge to the mountains and forests. They even ventured to attack the white settlers, and endeavoured to drive out the Spaniards from the city of Valencia when first established.

They incessantly attacked the natives on the banks of the Orinoco, sometimes ascending that river in numerous canoes; at other times crossing the highlands, and descending one or other of its tributaries, they would come suddenly on their foes, never failing to exterminate all who were their inferiors in power. They were, however, often fiercely opposed by some other tribes, and vast numbers cut off. During the fearful revolt of the negroes in the Dutch provinces, several tribes of them were engaged by the Dutch Government to a.s.sist the whites. Making their way through the forest, and concealing themselves by day, they would sally forth by night and attack the villages of the revolters-- setting fire to their roofs, and slaughtering the inmates, who fled from their burning habitations.

Sir Walter Raleigh describes them as a naked people, but valiant as any under the sky: and thus they remained, still rude and savage, till the common fate of other tribes overtook them. Powerful as they were, these wild hordes could only fight, overrun, oppress, and destroy; and even in their highest prosperity they were incapable of accomplis.h.i.+ng any great and useful work. Up to the close of the last century they were the most numerous, as well as the most warlike, of all the tribes.

Though their chiefs were not hereditary, if a son equalled his father in courage and skill, he succeeded to his power. To attain that office, it was necessary for him to be acquainted with every art and stratagem of savage warfare, and to possess more strength and bravery than the rest of his tribe. When a Carib aspired to be the chief, it was customary to expose him to the biting of ants; and if he could bear the torture without flinching, then he was considered fit for the office.

When a band determined on a predatory excursion, they would often, unlike other tribes, attack their enemies in the daytime, paddling their canoes against the current in order that the sound of their paddles should be heard by their enemies, and allow them time to prepare for battle. That they were cannibals, there appears no doubt; at least, they feasted on their enemies taken in battle, whose flesh they tore and devoured with the avidity of wolves. The men were put to death, while the women and children were preserved to be sold into slavery.