Across Unknown South America Part 35

Owing to departing so late in the day from Diamantino, and the time we had wasted on the way with social compliments, we were only able to go 12 kil. that afternoon. We halted near the shed of a _seringueiro_ (rubber collector), at an elevation of 1,530 ft., close to the Chapesa, a streamlet flowing into the Agua Fria (cold water), which in its turn threw itself into the Rio Preto.

It was muggy and warm during the night--min. 65 Fahr.--with swarms of mosquitoes. We were glad to leave the next morning, following a north-westerly course across a wonderfully beautiful meadow with circular groups of trees and a long belt of vegetation along the stream. It was then that I made my first acquaintance in Brazil with the _seringueira_ (_Syphonia elastica_ or _Hevea brasiliensis_), which was fairly plentiful in that region. As we shall see, that rubber tree, producing the best rubber known, became more and more common as we proceeded north.

In the cuts of rivers, soft red volcanic rock was exposed, with a surface layer of white sand and grey ashes in the flat meadow. The padding of earth was thin. Except close to rivers and in extinct craters where the acc.u.mulations of earth and cinders were often deeper with a good supply of moisture from underneath, the trees were feeble and anaemic. There again I was amazed to find how unstable and weak most trees were. One could knock them down with a mere hard push--as the roots had no hold in the ground, where they spread horizontally almost on the surface, owing to the rock underneath which prevented their penetrating farther than the thin upper layer of earth, sand, and ashes. If you happened to lean against a tree 4 or 5 in. in diameter, it was not uncommon to see the tree tumble down and you too. The wood also of those trees was very brittle and watery, with no power of resistance worth mentioning.

Many were the streamlets which flowed into the Rio Preto at elevations from 1,450 to 1,500 ft., viz. the Burity Comprido, the Bujui, the Grinko, the Pomba, the Corgo do Campo, the Ribero Grande, and the Stiva. Many of those streamlets had beautiful beds of white marble pebbles, which made their cool and clear water look and taste perfectly delicious. Others, with soft black mud bottoms--especially in _cuvettes_--were extremely troublesome to cross.

On the banks of those streams were marvellous _pacobeira_ palms--a kind of giant banana palm, attaining a height of 30 to 40 ft., with a stem, ovoid in section, of great length, and from which shot out paddle-like leaves of immense size and of a gorgeous green, 6 to 7 ft. long and 3 ft.

wide.

On July 3rd we went through thick, dirty, low scrub and forest, except along streams, the banks of which were lined with tall anaemic trees 1 inch in diameter with a mere bunch of leaves from branches at the summit. We again met with several _cuvettes_--very gra.s.sy, with the usual florid growth of trees in the centre. Those depressions were 1,400 ft.

above the sea level. From many of the trees hung huge globes, like tumours. They were nests of _cupim_, the destructive white ants (_termes alb.u.m_), of which there were swarms everywhere in that region. In one night they ate up the bottoms of most of my wooden boxes and rendered many of our possessions useless. They ate up our clothes, injured our saddles by eating the st.i.tching--anything that was not of metal, gla.s.s, or polished leather was destroyed by those little devils.

We were beginning to descend gradually on the northern side of the table-land. After crossing a pa.s.s 1,350 ft. above the sea level we arrived on a lagoon to our left. Shortly after we reached the left bank of the Arinos River, separated there from the lagoon by a narrow tongue of high land--some 30 ft. high--between the two waters.

It was thus that on July 4th we encamped on that great tributary of the Amazon. We were still thousands of kilometres away from its mouth. My animals were quite exhausted and were unable to continue. Moreover, the forest near this great river--already, so near its birthplace, over 100 metres wide--would have made their coming along quite impossible, as the grazing was getting scarce, and would be scarcer still as we went on north. Then as the River Arinos took me in the direction in which I intended to travel, I had made up my mind to abandon the animals at that spot and attempt to navigate the river--diabolical as its reputation was.

We had now travelled on horseback some 2,000 kil. from the last railway station, of which about 600 kil. were over absolutely unknown country.

Rough as the travelling had been, it was mere child's play compared with the experiences we had to endure from that day on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map showing Author's Route.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map showing the Arinos and Arinos-Juruena Rivers.]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: A litre is a cube the sides of which are 3-7/8 in.]

END OF VOL. I

_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney Ltd., London and Aylesbury._

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Mouth of the Putamayo River.]

ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA

BY

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR

WITH 2 MAPS, 8 COLOURED PLATES, AND 260 ILl.u.s.tRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

_IN TWO VOLUMES_

VOL. II

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO

_Printed in 1913_

_Copyright in the United States of America by A. Henry Savage-Landor_

CONTENTS

VOL. II

CHAPTER I The River Arinos--A Rickety Canoe--Mapping the River--The _Siphonia Elastica_--Rubber and its Collection--An Enormously Rich Country--A German in Slavery pp. 1-15

CHAPTER II Hoisting the British Flag--An Escaped Slave--A Dilemma--Benedicto--The _Lutra Brasiliensis_--The Seringueiros--A Marvellous River--Rapids pp. 16-32

CHAPTER III Dangerous Navigation--Eddies--Whirlpools--An Extraordinary Creature--The Man X--Pedro de Toledo Island--An Interesting Rodent pp. 33-50

CHAPTER IV _Oleo Pardo_ Trees--Beautiful Palms--The River Bottom--Swarms of b.u.t.terflies--Millions of Bees--A Continuous Torture pp. 51-61

CHAPTER V Great Islands--The Trincho Fish--A Fisherman's Paradise--Alastor Island--Plentiful Rubber--The Civilized Man's Idea of the Tropical Forest--The War-Cries of the Indians--Swarms of Bees and b.u.t.terflies pp. 62-75

CHAPTER VI The _Tapirus America.n.u.s_--Striking Scenery--The _Mate_ Tree--Photography in Camp--Brazilian Way of Reasoning--A New Christopher Columbus--The Selection of our Camps--Beautiful Fruit--A Large Tributary pp. 76-91

CHAPTER VII Ideal Islands--Immense _Figueira_ Trees--The "Spider Monkey"--Great Variety of Fish in the Arinos--The Rocky Gateway into Diabolical Waters--Shooting Dangerous Rapids--Cutting a Way through the Forest--A Nasty Rapid--Plentiful Fish pp. 92-111

CHAPTER VIII Magnificent Basins--Innumerable Rapids--Narrow Escapes--The Destructive Sauba Ants--Disobedient Followers--A Range of Mountains--Inquisitive Monkeys--Luck in Fis.h.i.+ng--Rocky Barriers--Venus pp. 112-128

CHAPTER IX Dogs--Macaws--Crocodiles--A Serious Accident: Men flung into a Whirlpool--The Loss of Provisions and Valuable Baggage--More Dangerous Rapids--Wonderful Scenery--Dangerous Work--On the Edge of a Waterfall--A Risky Experience--Bravery of Author's Brazilian Followers--A High Wind from the North-East--A Big Lake pp. 129-150

CHAPTER X The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers--Elfrida Landor Island--Terrible Days of Navigation--Immense Islands--An Old Indian Camp--A Fight between a Dog and an _Ariranha_--George Rex Island--A Huge _Sucuriu_ Snake pp. 151-164

CHAPTER XI A Family of _Ariranhas_--Attacked by them--Three Nasty Rapids--Beautiful Sand Beaches--Exciting Experiences--Going down a Thundering Cataract--Alcides' Narrow Escape--A Night's Work in the Midst of a Foaming Rapid in order to rescue the half-submerged Canoe--Filippe's Courage--Visited by a Snake 20 ft. long pp. 165-181

CHAPTER XII A Tiny Globular Cloudlet warning us--Tossed in a Merciless Manner--Saved by Providence--Vicious Waters--A Diabolical Spot--A Highly Dangerous Crossing--A Terrible Channel--More Bad Rapids--On the Verge of a Fatal Drop down a Waterfall--Saved in Time--A Magnificent Sight--The August Falls--A Mutiny--The Canoe, weighing 2,000 lb., taken across the Forest over a Hill-range pp. 182-206

CHAPTER XIII A Double Whirlpool--Incessant Rapids of Great Magnitude--A Dangerous Channel--Nothing to Eat--Another Disaster pp. 207-219

CHAPTER XIV In the Hands of Providence--A Mutiny--Another Mutiny--Foodless--Hard and Dangerous Work--A Near Approach to Hades--Making an Artificial Channel among Thousands of Boulders--An Awe-inspiring Scene--The Fall of S. Simo--A Revolt pp. 220-234