Chapter Chapter 14 · STILL DESCENDING

. STILL DESCENDING

At daybreak on the morrow, the 27th of June, the cables were cast off,

and the raft continued its journey down the river.

An extra passenger was on board. Whence came this Torres? No one exactly

knew. Where was he going to? “To Manaos,” he said. Torres was careful to

let no suspicion of his past life escape him, nor of the profession that

he had followed till within the last two months, and no one would have

thought that the jangada had given refuge to an old captain of the

woods. Joam Garral did not wish to mar the service he was rendering by

questions of too pressing a nature.

In taking him on board the fazender had obeyed a sentiment of humanity.

In the midst of these vast Amazonian deserts, more especially at the

time when the steamers had not begun to furrow the waters, it was very

difficult to find means of safe and rapid transit. Boats did not ply

regularly, and in most cases the traveler was obliged to walk across

the forests. This is what Torres had done, and what he would continue to

have done, and it was for him unexpected good luck to have got a passage

on the raft.

From the moment that Benito had explained under what conditions he had

met Torres the introduction was complete, and he was able to consider

himself as a passenger on an Atlantic steamer, who is free to take part

in the general life if he cares, or free to keep himself a little apart

if of an unsociable disposition.

It was noticed, at least during the first few days, that Torres did not

try to become intimate with the Garral family. He maintained a good deal

of reserve, answering if addressed, but never provoking a reply.

If he appeared more open with any one, it was with Fragoso. Did he not

owe to this gay companion the idea of taking passage on board the raft?

Many times he asked him about the position of the Garrals at Iquitos,

the sentiments of the daughter for Manoel Valdez, and always discreetly.

Generally, when he was not walking alone in the bow of the jangada, he

kept to his cabin.

He breakfasted and dined with Joam Garral and his family, but he took

little part in their conversation, and retired when the repast was

finished.

During the morning the raft passed by the picturesque group of islands

situated in the vast estuary of the Javary. This important affluent of

the Amazon comes from the southwest, and from source to mouth has not

a single island, nor a single rapid, to check its course. The mouth is

about three thousand feet in width, and the river comes in some miles

above the site formerly occupied by the town of the same name, whose

possession was disputed for so long by Spaniards and Portuguese.

Up to the morning of the 30th of June there had been nothing particular

to distinguish the voyage. Occasionally they met a few vessels gliding

along by the banks attached one to another in such a way that a single

Indian could manage the whole--_“navigar de bubina,”_ as this kind

of navigation is called by the people of the country, that is to say,

“confidence navigation.”

They had passed the island of Araria, the Archipelago of the Calderon

islands, the island of Capiatu, and many others whose names have not yet

come to the knowledge of geographers.

On the 30th of June the pilot signaled on the right the little village

of Jurupari-Tapera, where they halted for two or three hours.

Manoel and Benito had gone shooting in the neighborhood, and brought

back some feathered game, which was well received in the larder. At the

same time they had got an animal of whom a naturalist would have made

more than did the cook.

It was a creature of a dark color, something like a large Newfoundland

dog.

“A great ant-eater!” exclaimed Benito, as he threw it on the deck of the

jangada.

“And a magnificent specimen which would not disgrace the collection of a

museum!” added Manoel.

“Did you take much trouble to catch the curious animal?” asked Minha.

“Yes, little sister,” replied Benito, “and you were not there to ask

for mercy! These dogs die hard, and no less than three bullets were

necessary to bring this fellow down.”

The ant-eater looked superb, with his long tail and grizzly hair; with

his pointed snout, which is plunged into the ant-hills whose insects

form its principal food; and his long, thin paws, armed with sharp

nails, five inches long, and which can shut up like the fingers of one’s

hand. But what a hand was this hand of the ant-eater! When it has got

hold of anything you have to cut it off to make it let go! It is of this

hand that the traveler, Emile Carrey, has so justly observed: “The tiger

himself would perish in its grasp.”

On the 2d of July, in the morning, the jangada arrived at the foot of

San Pablo d’Olivença, after having floated through the midst of numerous

islands which in all seasons are clad with verdure and shaded with

magnificent trees, and the chief of which bear the names of Jurupari,

Rita, Maracanatena, and Cururu Sapo. Many times they passed by the

mouths of iguarapes, or little affluents, with black waters.

The coloration of these waters is a very curious phenomenon. It is

peculiar to a certain number of these tributaries of the Amazon, which

differ greatly in importance.

Manoel remarked how thick the cloudiness was, for it could be clearly

seen on the surface of the whitish waters of the river.

“They have tried to explain this coloring in many ways,” said he, “but

I do not think the most learned have yet arrived at a satisfactory

explanation.”

“The waters are really black with a magnificent reflection of gold,”

replied Minha, showing a light, reddish-brown cloth, which was floating

level with the jangada.

“Yes,” said Manoel, “and Humboldt has already observed the curious

reflection that you have; but on looking at it attentively you will see

that it is rather the color of sepia which pervades the whole.”

“Good!” exclaimed Benito. “Another phenomenon on which the _savants_ are

not agreed.”

“Perhaps,” said Fragoso, “they might ask the opinions of the caymans,

dolphins, and manatees, for they certainly prefer the black waters to

the others to enjoy themselves in.”

“They are particularly attractive to those animals,” replied Manoel,

“but why it is rather embarrassing to say. For instance, is the

coloration due to the hydrocarbons which the waters hold in solution, or

is it because they flow through districts of peat, coal, and anthracite;

or should we not rather attribute it to the enormous quantity of minute

plants which they bear along? There is nothing certain in the matter.

Under any circumstances, they are excellent to drink, of a freshness

quite enviable for the climate, and without after-taste, and perfectly

harmless. Take a little of the water, Minha, and drink it; you will find

it all right.”

The water is in truth limpid and fresh, and would advantageously replace

many of the table-waters used in Europe. They drew several frasques for

kitchen use.

It has been said that in the morning of the 2d of July the jangada had

arrived at San Pablo d’Olivença, where they turn out in thousands those

long strings of beads which are made from the scales of the _“coco de

piassaba.”_ This trade is here extensively followed. It may, perhaps,

seem singular that the ancient lords of the country, Tupinambas and

Tupiniquis, should find their principal occupation in making objects

for the Catholic religion. But, after all, why not? These Indians are

no longer the Indians of days gone by. Instead of being clothed in the

national fashion, with a frontlet of macaw feathers, bow, and blow-tube,

have they not adopted the American costume of white cotton trousers, and

a cotton poncho woven by their wives, who have become thorough adepts in

its manufacture?

San Pablo d’Olivença, a town of some importance, has not less than

two thousand inhabitants, derived from all the neighboring tribes. At

present the capital of the Upper Amazon, it began as a simple Mission,

founded by the Portuguese Carmelites about 1692, and afterward acquired

by the Jesuit missionaries.

From the beginning it has been the country of the Omaguas, whose name

means “flat-heads,” and is derived from the barbarous custom of the

native mothers of squeezing the heads of their newborn children between

two plates, so as to give them an oblong skull, which was then the

fashion. Like everything else, that has changed; heads have re-taken

their natural form, and there is not the slightest trace of the ancient

deformity in the skulls of the chaplet-makers.

Every one, with the exception of Joam Garral, went ashore. Torres also

remained on board, and showed no desire to visit San Pablo d’Olivença,

which he did not, however, seem to be acquainted with.

Assuredly if the adventurer was taciturn he was not inquisitive.

Benito had no difficulty in doing a little bartering, and adding

slightly to the cargo of the jangada. He and the family received an

excellent reception from the principal authorities of the town, the

commandant of the place, and the chief of the custom-house, whose

functions did not in the least prevent them from engaging in trade. They

even intrusted the young merchant with a few products of the country for

him to dispose of on their account at Manaos and Belem.

The town is composed of some sixty houses, arranged on the plain which

hereabouts crowns the river-bank. Some of the huts are covered with

tiles--a very rare thing in these countries; but, on the other hand, the

humble church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, has only a roof of

straw, rather more appropriate for a stable of Bethlehem than for an

edifice consecrated to religion in one of the most Catholic countries of

the world.

The commandant, his lieutenant, and the head of the police accepted

an invitation to dine with the family, and they were received by Joam

Garral with the respect due to their rank.

During dinner Torres showed himself more talkative than usual. He spoke

about some of his excursions into the interior of Brazil like a man

who knew the country. But in speaking of these travels Torres did not

neglect to ask the commandant if he knew Manaos, if his colleague would

be there at this time, and if the judge, the first magistrate of the

province, was accustomed to absent himself at this period of the hot

season. It seemed that in putting this series of questions Torres looked

at Joam Garral. It was marked enough for even Benito to notice it,

not without surprise, and he observed that his father gave particular

attention to the questions so curiously propounded by Torres.

The commandant of San Pablo d’Olivença assured the adventurer that the

authorities were not now absent from Manaos, and he even asked Joam

Garral to convey to them his compliments. In all probability the raft

would arrive before the town in seven weeks, or a little later, say

about the 20th or the 25th of August.

The guests of the fazender took leave of the Garral family toward the

evening, and the following morning, that of the 3d of July, the jangada

recommenced its descent of the river.

At noon they passed on the left the mouth of the Yacurupa. This

tributary, properly speaking, is a true canal, for it discharges its

waters into the Iça, which is itself an affluent of the Amazon.

A peculiar phenomenon, for the river displaces itself to feed its own

tributaries!

Toward three o’clock in the afternoon the giant raft passed the mouth

of the Jandiatuba, which brings its magnificent black waters from the

southwest, and discharges them into the main artery by a mouth of four

hundred meters in extent, after having watered the territories of the

Culino Indians.

A number of islands were breasted--Pimaicaira, Caturia, Chico,

Motachina; some inhabited, others deserted, but all covered with superb

vegetation, which forms an unbroken garland of green from one end of the

Amazon to the other.