Sty* $?G£pl |CthrartcB 
 
 ^nrtlf CUaroItna ;§>tatt 
 
 tHl|t© book foae presented by 
 
 Dr. George Rosen 
 
 N °J"H CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY L 
 
 S00835946 Z 
 
This book is due on the date indicated 
 below and is subject to an overdue 
 fine as posted at the circulation desk. 
 
 EXCEPTION: Date due will be 
 earlier if this item is RECALLED. 
 
 MAY 6 fiffi 
 
 APR 2 -5 W9? 
 
 S£P N Jb^ 1998 
 
 150M/01 -92— 941680 
 
] te 
 
 PAA" TO TT>TTE (V 
 
 
 
 V/ 
 
EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY 
 EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS 
 
 SCIENCE 
 
 BATES' NATURALIST ON 
 THE AMAZONS ■ WITH AN 
 APPRECIATION BY DARWIN 
 
this is no. 446 of ere ^m/-/.\;s 
 
 LIBI^'Pl^Y. THE PUBLISHERS WILL 
 BE PLEASED TO SEND FREELY TO ALL 
 APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED 
 AND PROJECTED VOLUMES, ARRANGED 
 UNDER THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS: 
 
 TRAVEL V SCIENCE $ FICTION 
 
 THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 
 
 HISTORY if CLASSICAL 
 
 FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 ESSAYS * ORATORY 
 
 POETRY & DRAMA 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 REFERENCE 
 
 ROMANCE 
 
 IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING: CLOTH, 
 FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP; LEATHER, 
 ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP; LIBRARY 
 BINDING IN CLOTH, & QUARTER PIGSKIN 
 
 London: J. M. DENT & SONS, Ltd. 
 New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 
 
THE® (&> (B 
 NATURALIST 
 ON THE RIVER 
 AMAZONS^ 
 
 HENRY^ALTER 
 BATES (&> (& 
 
 LONDON &.TORONTO 
 PUBLISHED BYJ M DENT 
 &.SONS DP &JN NEWYORK 
 BYE P DUTTON &. CO 
 
First Issue of this Edition . 1910 
 Reprinted .... 1914, 1921 
 
AN APPRECIATION 1 
 
 By CHARLES DARWIN 
 
 Author of " The Origin of Species," etc. 
 
 In April, 1S4S, the author of the present volume left England 
 in company with Mr. A. R. Wallace — " who has since acquired 
 ■wide fame in connection with the Darwinian theory of Natural 
 Selection" — on a joint expedition up the river Amazons, for 
 the purpose of investigating the Natural History of the vast 
 wood-region traversed by that mighty river and its numerous 
 tributaries. Mr. Wallace returned to England after four years' 
 stay, and was, we believe, unlucky enough to lose the greater 
 part of his collections by the shipwreck of the vessel in which 
 he had transmitted them to London. Mr. Bates prolonged his 
 residence in the Amazon valley seven years after Mr. Wallace's 
 departure, and did not revisit his native country again until 
 1 S59. Mr. Bates was also more fortunate than his companion 
 in bringing his gathered treasures home to England in safetv . 
 So great, indeed, was the mass of specimens accumulated by 
 Mr. Bates during his eleven years' researches, that upon the 
 working out of his collection, which has been accomplished (or 
 is now in course of being accomplished) by different scientific 
 naturalists in this country, it has been ascertained that repre- 
 sentatives of no less than 14,712 species are amongst them, of 
 which about Sooo were previously unknown to science. It 
 may be remarked that by far the greater portion of these 
 species, namely, about 14,000, belong to the class of Insects 
 — to the study of which Mr. Bates principally devoted his 
 attention — being, as is well known, himself recognised as no 
 mean authority as regards this class of organic beings. In 
 his present volume, however, Mr. Bates does not confine him- 
 self to his entomological discoveries, nor to any other branch 
 of Natural History, but supplies a general outline of his adven- 
 tures during his journeyings up and down the mighty river, 
 and a variety of information concerning every object of interest, 
 whether physical or political, that he met with by the way. 
 1 From Natural History Review, vol. iii. 1S63. 
 vii 
 
viii The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 Mr. Bates landed at Para in May, 1848. His first part is 
 entirely taken up with an account of the Lower Amazons — 
 that is, the river from its sources up to the city of Manaos or 
 Barra do Rio Negro, where it is joined by the large northern 
 confluent of that name — and with a narrative of his residence 
 at Para and his various excursions in the neighbourhood of 
 that city. The large collection made by Mr. Bates of the 
 animal productions of Para enabled him to arrive at the follow- 
 ing conclusions regarding the relations of the Fauna of the 
 south side of the Amazonian delta with those of other regions. 
 
 " It is generally allowed that Guiana and Brazil, to the north 
 and south of the Para district, form two distinct provinces 
 as regards their animal and vegetable inhabitants. By this 
 it means that the two regions have a very large number ol 
 forms peculiar to themselves, and which are supposed not tc 
 have been derived from other quarters during modern geological 
 times. Each may be considered as a centre of distribution in 
 the latest process of dissemination of species over the surface 
 of tropical America. Para lies midway between the two 
 centres, each of which has a nucleus of elevated table-land, 
 whilst the intermediate river-valley forms a wide extent of 
 low-lying country. It is, therefore, interesting to ascertain 
 from which the latter received its population, or whether it 
 contains so large a number of endemic species as would warrant 
 the conclusion that it is itself an independent province. To 
 assist in deciding such questions as these, we must compare 
 closely the species found in the district with those of the other 
 contiguous regions, and endeavour to ascertain whether they 
 are identical, or only slightly modified, or whether they are 
 highly peculiar. 
 
 " Von Mar this when he visited this part of Brazil forty years 
 ago, coming from the south, was much struck with the dissimi- 
 larity of the animal and vegetable productions to those of 
 other parts of Brazil. In fact the Fauna of Para, and the lower 
 part of the Amazons has no close relationship with that of 
 Brazil proper ; but it has a very great affinity with that of the 
 coast region of Guiana, from Cayenne to Demerara. If we 
 may judge from the results afforded by the study of certain 
 families of insects, no peculiar Brazilian forms are found in the 
 Para district; whilst more than one-half of the total number 
 are essentially Guiana species, being found nowhere else but 
 in Guiana and Amazonia. Many of them, however, are 
 modified from the Guiana type, and about one-seventh seem 
 
An Appreciation ix 
 
 to be restricted to Para. These endemic species are not 
 highly peculiar, and they may yet be found over a great 
 part of Northern Brazil when the country is better explored. 
 They do not warrant us in concluding that the district forms 
 an independent province, although they show that its Fauna 
 is not wholly derivative, and that the land is probably not 
 entirely a new formation. From all these facts, I think we 
 must conclude that the Para district belongs to the Guiana 
 province and that, if it is newer land than Guiana, it must 
 have received the great bulk of its animal population from 
 that region. I am informed by Dr. Sclater that similar results 
 are derivable from the comparison of the birds of these 
 countries." 
 
 One of the most interesting excursions made by Mr. Bates 
 from Para, was the ascent of the river Tocantins — the mouth 
 of which lies about 45 miles from the city of Para. This was 
 twice attempted. On the second occasion — our author being 
 in company with Mr. Wallace — the travellers penetrated as 
 far as the rapids of Arroyos, about 130 miles from its mouth. 
 This district is one of the chief collecting-grounds of the well- 
 known Brazil-nut (Bertholletia excelsa), which is here very 
 plentiful, grove after grove of these splendid trees being 
 visible, towering above their fellows, with the " woody fruits, 
 large and round as cannon-balls, dotted over the branches." 
 The Hyacinthine Macaw {Ara hyacinthina) is another natural 
 wonder, first met with here. This splendid bird, which is 
 occasionally brought alive to the Zoological Gardens of Europe, 
 " only occurs in the interior of Brazil, from 16 S.L. to the 
 southern border of the Amazon valley." Its enormous beak 
 — which must strike even the most unobservant with wonder 
 — appears to be adapted to enable it to feed on the nuts of the 
 Mucuja Palm {Acrocomia lasiospatha). "These nuts, which 
 are so hard as to be difficult to break with a heavy hammer, are 
 crushed to a pulp by the powerful beak of this Macaw." 
 
 Mr. Bates' later part is mainly devoted to his residence at 
 Santarem, at the junction of the Rio Tapajos with the main 
 stream, and to his account of Upper Amazon, or Solimoens — 
 the Fauna of which is, as we shall presently see, in many 
 respects very different from that of the lower part of the river. 
 At Santarem — " the most important and most civilised settle- 
 ment on the Amazon, between the Atlantic and Para " — 
 Mr. Bates made his headquarters for three years and a half, 
 during which time several excursions up the little - known 
 
x The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 Tapajos were effected. Some 70 miles up the stream, on its 
 affluent, the Cupari, a new Fauna, for the most part very- 
 distinct from that of the lower part of the same stream, was 
 entered upon. " At the same time a considerable proportion 
 of the Cupari species were identical with those of Ega, on the 
 Upper Amazon, a district eight times further removed than 
 the village just mentioned." Mr. Bates was more successful 
 here than on his excursion up the Tocantins, and obtained 
 twenty new species of fishes, and many new and conspicuous 
 insects, apparently peculiar to this part of the Amazonian 
 valley. 
 
 In a later chapter Mr. Bates commences his account 
 of the Solimoens, or Upper Amazons, on the banks of 
 which he passed four years and a half. The country is a 
 " magnificent wilderness, where civilised man has, as yet, 
 scarcely obtained a footing — the cultivated ground, from 
 the Rio Negro to the Andes, amounting only to a few score 
 acres." During the whole of this time Mr. Bates' head- 
 quarters were at Ega, on the Teffe, a confluent of the great 
 river from the south, whence excursions were made sometimes 
 for 300 or 400 miles into the interior. In the intervals Mr. 
 Bates followed his pursuit as a collecting naturalist in the same 
 " peaceful, regular way," as he might have done in a European 
 village. Our author draws a most striking picture of the 
 quiet, secluded life he led in this far-distant spot. The diffi- 
 culty of getting news and the want of intellectual society were 
 the great drawbacks — " the latter increasing until it became 
 almost insupportable." " I was obliged at last," Mr. Bates 
 naively remarks, " to come to the conclusion that the contem- 
 plation of Nature alone is not sufficient to fill the human heart 
 and mind." Mr. Bates must indeed have been driven to great 
 straits as regards his mental food, when, as he tell us, he took 
 to reading the Athencemn three times over, " the first time 
 devouring the more interesting articles — the second, the whole 
 of the remainder — and the third, reading all the advertisements 
 110m beginning to end." 
 
 Ega was, indeed, as Mr. Bates remarks, a fine field for a 
 Natural History collector, the only previous scientific visitants 
 to that region having been the German Naturalists, Spix and 
 Martius, and the Count de Castelnau when he descended t3ie 
 Amazons from the Pacific. Mr. Bates' account of the monkeys 
 of the genera Brachyuriis, Nyctipithecus and Midas met with 
 in this region, and the whole of the very pregnant remarks 
 
An Appreciation xi 
 
 which follow on the American forms of the Quadrumana, will 
 be read with interest by every one, particularly by those who 
 pay attention to the important subject of geographical dis- 
 tribution. We need hardly say that Mr. Bates, after the 
 attention he has bestowed upon this question, is a zealous 
 advocate of the hypothesis of the origin of species by deriva- 
 tion from a common stock. After giving an outline of the 
 general distribution of Monkeys, he clearly argues that unless 
 the " common origin at least of the species of a family be 
 admitted, the problem of their distribution must remain an 
 inexplicable mystery." Mr. Bates evidently thoroughly under- 
 stands the nature of this interesting problem, and in another 
 passage, in which the very singular distribution of the Butter- 
 Hies of the genus Heliconius is enlarged upon, concludes with the 
 following significant remarks upon this important subject: — 
 
 " In the controversy which is being waged amongst Naturalists 
 since the publication of the Darwinian theory of the origin of species, 
 it has been rightly said that no proof at present existed of the 
 production of a physiological species, that is, a form which will not 
 interbreed with the one from which it was derived, although given 
 ample opportunities of doing so, and does not exhibit signs of re- 
 verting to its parent form when placed under the same conditions 
 with it. Morphological species, that is, forms which differ to an 
 amount that would justify their being considered good species, have 
 been produced in plenty through selection by man out of variations 
 arising under domestication or cultivation. The facts just given are 
 therefore of some scientific importance, for they tend to show that 
 a physiological species can be and is produced in nature out of the 
 varieties of a pre-existing closely allied one. This is not an isolated 
 case, for I observed in the course of my travels a number of similar 
 instances. But in very few has it happened that the species which 
 clearly appears to be the parent, co-exists with one that has been 
 evidently derived from it. Generally the supposed parent also seems 
 to have been modified, and then the demonstration is not so clear, 
 for some of the links in the chain of variation are wanting. The 
 process of origination of a species in nature as it takes place succes- 
 sively, must be ever, perhaps, beyond man's power to trace, on 
 account of the great lapse of time it requires. But we can obtain 
 a fair view of it by tracing a variable and far-spreading species over 
 the wide area of its present distribution; and a long observation of 
 such will lead to the conclusion that new species must in all cases 
 have arisen out of variable and widely-disseminated forms. It 
 sometimes happens, as in the present instance, that we find in one 
 locality a species under a certain form which is constant to all the 
 individuals concerned; in another exhibiting numerous varieties; 
 and in a third presenting itself as a constant form quite distinct 
 from the one we set out with. If we meet with any two of these 
 modifications living side by side, and maintaining their distinctive 
 
xii The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 • 
 
 characters under such circumstances, the proof of the natural 
 origination of a species is complete; it could not be much more so 
 were we able to watch the process step by step. It might be objected 
 that the difference between our two species is but slight, and that 
 by classing them as varieties nothing further would be proved by 
 them. But the differences between them are such as obtain between 
 allied species generally. Large genera are composed in great part 
 of such species, and it is interesting to show the great and beautiful 
 diversity within a large genus as brought about by the working 
 of laws within our comprehension." 
 
 But to return to the Zoological wonders of the Upper 
 Amazon, birds, insects, and butterflies are all spoken of by 
 Mr. Bates in his chapter on the natural features of the district, 
 and it is evident that none of these classes of beings escaped 
 the observation of his watchful intelligence. The account of 
 the foraging ants of the genus Eciton is certainly marvellous, 
 and would, even of itself, be sufficient to stamp the recorder 
 of their habits as a man of no ordinary mark. 
 
 The last chapter of Mr. Bates' work contains the account of 
 his excursions beyond Ega. Fonteboa, Tunantins — a small 
 semi-Indian settlement, 240 miles up the stream — and San 
 Paulo de Olivenca, some miles higher up, were the principal 
 places visited, and new acquisitions were gathered at each of 
 these localities. In the fourth month of Mr. Bates' residence 
 at the last-named place, a severe attack of ague led to the 
 abandonment of the plans he had formed of proceeding to the 
 Peruvian towns of Pebas and Moyobamba, and " so completing 
 the examination of the Natural History of the Amazonian 
 plains up to the foot of the Andes." This attack, which 
 seemed to be the culmination of a gradual deterioration of 
 health, caused by eleven years' hard work under the tropics, 
 induced him to return to Ega, and finally to Para, where he 
 embarked, on the 2nd June 1859, for England. Naturally 
 enough, Mr. Bates tells us he was at first a little dismayed at 
 leaving the equator, " where the well-balanced forces of Nature 
 maintain a land-surface and a climate typical of mind, and 
 order and beauty," to sail towards the "crepuscular skies" 
 of the cold north. But he consoles us by adding the remark 
 that " three years' renewed experience of England " have 
 convinced him " how incomparably superior is civilised life 
 to -the spiritual sterility of half-savage existence, even if it 
 were passed in the Garden of Eden." 
 
An Appreciation xiii 
 
 The following is the list of H. W. Bates' published works: — 
 
 Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley, Paper read 
 before the Linnean Society, June 21, 1861 ; The Naturalist on the Amazons, 
 a Record of Adventure, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian 
 Life . . . during Eleven Years of Travel, 1863; 3rd Edition, 1873, with 
 a Memoir of the author by E. Clodd to reprint of unabridged edition, 1892. 
 
 Bates was for many years the editor of the Transactions of the Royal 
 Geographical Society ; the following works were edited and revised, or 
 supplemented by him: — Mrs. Somerville's Physical Geography, 1870; 
 A. Humbert, Japan and the Japanese, 1874; C. Koldewey, the German 
 Arctic Expedition, 1874; P. E. Warburton, Journey across the Western 
 Interior of Australia, 1875; Cassell's Illustrated Travels, 6 vols., 1869-1875; 
 E. Whymper, Travels among the Great Andes of the Equator (Introduction 
 to Appendix volume), 1892, etc.; Central America, the West Indies and 
 South America; Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel, 2nd 
 revised Ed., 1882; he also added a list of Coleoptera collected by J. S. 
 Jameson on the Aruwini to the latter's Story of the Rear Column of the 
 Einin Pasha Relief Expedition, etc., 1890; and an appendix to a catalogue 
 of Phytophaga by H. Clark, 1866, etc.; and contributed a biographical 
 notice of Keith Johnson to J. Thomson's Central African Lakes and Back, 
 1881. 
 
 He contributed largely to the Zoologist, Entomological Society's Journal, 
 A nnals and Magazine of Natural History, and Entomologist. 
 
 Life. — Memoir by E. Clodd, 1S92; short notice in Clodd's Pioneers of 
 Evolution, 1897. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE EDITION 
 OF 1864 
 
 Having been urged to prepare a new edition of this work for a 
 wider circle than that contemplated in the former one. I have 
 thought it advisable to condense those portions which, treating 
 of abstruse scientific questions, presuppose a larger amount of 
 Natural History knowledge than an author has a right to expect 
 of the general reader. The personal narrative has been left 
 entire,, together with those descriptive details likely to interest 
 all classes, young and old, relating to the great river itself, and 
 the wonderful country through which it flows, — the luxuriant 
 primaeval forests that clothe almost every part of it, the climate, 
 productions, and inhabitants. 
 
 Signs are not wanting that this fertile, but scantily peopled 
 region will soon become, through recent efforts of the Peruvian 
 and Brazilian governments to make it accessible and colonise 
 it, of far higher importance to the nations of Northern Europe 
 than it has been hitherto. The full significance of the title, the 
 " largest river in the world," which we are all taught in our 
 schoolboy days to apply to the Amazons, without having a dis- 
 tinct idea of its magnitude, will then become apparent to the 
 English public. It will be new to most people, that this noble 
 stream has recently been navigated by steamers to a distance 
 of 2200 geographical miles from its mouth at Para; or double 
 the distance which vessels are able to reach on the Yang-tze- 
 Kiang, the largest river of the old world ; the depth of water in 
 the dry season being about seven fathoms up to this terminus 
 of navigation. It is not, however, the length of the trunk 
 stream, that has earned for the Amazons the appellation of the 
 ' ; Mediterranean of South America," given it by the Brazilians 
 of Para; but the network of by-channels and lakes, which everv- 
 where accompanies its course at a distance from the banks, and 
 which adds many thousands of miles of easy inland navigation 
 to the total presented by the main river and its tributaries. 
 The Peruvians, especially, if I may judge from letters received 
 within the past few weeks, seem to be stirring themselves to 
 grasp the advantages which the possession of the upper course of 
 
 xv 
 
xvi The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the river places within their reach. Vessels of heavy tonnage 
 have arrived in Para, from England, with materials for the 
 formation of ship-building establishments, at a point situated 
 two thousand miles from the mouth of the river. Peruvian 
 steamers have navigated from the Andes to the Atlantic, and a 
 quantity of cotton (now exported for the first time), the product 
 of the rich and healthy country bordering the Upper Amazons, 
 has been conveyed by this means, and shipped from Para to 
 Europe. The probability of general curiosity in England being 
 excited before long with regard to this hitherto neglected country, 
 will be considered, of itself, a sufficient reason for placing an 
 account of its natural features and present condition within 
 re ich of all readers. 
 London, January, 1864. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PARA 
 
 P.AGE 
 
 Arrival — Aspect of the Country — The Para River — First Walk in the 
 Suburbs of Para — Birds, Lizards, and Insects of the Suburbs — 
 Leaf-carrying Ant — Sketch of the Climate, History, and present 
 Condition of Para ........ i 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 PARA 
 
 The Swampy Forests of Para — A Portuguese Landed Proprietor — 
 Country House at Nazareth — Life of a Naturalist under the 
 Equator — The drier Virgin Forests — Magoary — Retired Creeks 
 — Aborigines ......... 23 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PARA 
 
 Religious Holidays — Marmoset Monkeys — Serpents — Insects . . 46 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE TOCANTINS AND CAMETA 
 
 Preparations for the Journey — The Bay of Goajara — Grove of Fan- 
 leaved Palms — The lower Tocantins — Sketch of the River — 
 Vista alegre — Baiao — Rapids — Boat Journey to the Guariba 
 Falls — Native Life on the Tocantins — Second journey to Cameta 59 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 CARIPf AND THE BAY OF MARAJO 
 
 River Para and Bay of Marajo — Journey to Caripi — Negro Observ- 
 ance of Christmas — A German Family — Bats — Ant-eaters — 
 Humming-birds — Excursion to the Murucupi — Domestic Life 
 of the Inhabitants — Hunting Excursion with Indians — White 
 
 Ants 92 
 
 B xvii 
 
xviii The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LOWER AMAZONS PARA TO OBYDOS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Modes of Travelling on the Amazons — Historical Sketch of the Early 
 Explorations of the River — Preparations for Voyage — Life on 
 Board a large Trading- vessel — The narrow Channels joining the 
 Para to the Amazons — First Sight of the Great River — Gurupa 
 — The Great Shoal — Flat- topped Mountains — Santarem — 
 Obydos . • . . 116 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE LOWER AMAZON'S — OBYDOS TO MANAOS, OR THE BARRA 
 OF THE RIO NEGRO 
 
 Departure from Obydos — River Banks and By-channels — Cacao 
 Planters — Daily Life on Board our Vessel — Great Storm — Sand- 
 island and its Birds — Hill of Parentins — Negro Trader and 
 Mauhes Indians — Villa Nova, its Inhabitants, Forest, and 
 Animal Productions — Cararaucu — A Rustic Festival — Lake of 
 Cararaucii — Motiica Flies — Serpa — Christmas Holidays — 
 River Madeira — A Mameluco Farmer — Mura Indians — Rio 
 Negro — Description of Barra — Descent to Pari — Yellow Fever 141 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SANTAREM 
 
 Situation of Santarem — Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants — 
 Climate — Grassy Campos and Woods — Excursions to Mapiri, 
 Mahica, and Irura, with Sketches of their Natural History; 
 Palms, Wild Fruit-trees, Mining Wasps, Mason Wasps, Bees, 
 and Sloths 184 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 
 
 Preparations for Voyage — First Day's Sail — Loss of Boat — Altar do 
 Chao — Modes of obtaining Fish — Difficulties with Crew — 
 Arrival at Aveyros — Excursions in the Neighbourhood — White 
 Cebus and Habits and Dispositions of Cebi Monkeys — Tame 
 Parrot — Missionary Settlement — Enter the River Cupari — 
 Adventure with Anaconda — Smoke-dried Monkey — Boa- 
 constrictor — Village of Mundurucu Indians, and Incursion of a 
 Wild Tribe — Falls of the Cupari — Hyacinthine Macaw — Re- 
 emerge into the broad Tapajos — Descent of River to Santarem 211 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE UPPER AMAZONS VOYAGE TO EGA 
 
 Departure from Barra — First Day and Night on the Upper Amazons 
 — Desolate Appearance of River in the Flood Season — Cucama 
 
Contents xix 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Indians — Mental Condition of Indians — Squalls — Manatee — 
 Forest — Floating Pumice-stones from the Andes — Falling 
 Banks — Ega and its Inhabitants — Daily Life of a Naturalist at 
 Ega — The Four Seasons of the Upper Amazons . . . 256 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA 
 
 The River Teffe — Rambles through Groves on the Beach — Excursion 
 to the House of a Passe Chieftain — Character and Customs of 
 the Passe Tribe — First Excursion to the Sand Islands of the 
 Solimoens — Habits of Great River-turtle — Second Excursion — 
 Turtle-fishing in the Inland Pools — Third Excursion — Hunting 
 Rambles with Natives in the Forest — Return to Ega . . 295 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 ANIMALS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA 
 
 Scarlet-faced Monkeys — Parauacu Monkey — Owl-faced Night-apes 
 — Marmosets — Jupura — Bats — Birds — Cuvier's Toucan — Curl- 
 crested Toucan — Insects — Pendulous Cocoons — Foraging Ants 
 — Blind Ants ......... 345 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA 
 
 Steamboat Travelling on the Amazcns — Passengers — Tunantins — 
 Caishana Indians — The Jutahi — The Sapo — Maraua Indians — 
 Fonte Boa — Jovrney to St. Paulo — Tucuna Indians — Illness — 
 Descent to Para — Changes at Para — Departure for England . 378 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Finches 
 
 Sauba or Leaf-carrying Ant 
 
 Sauba Ant — Female ..... 
 
 Climbing Palm (Desmoncus) .... 
 
 Interior of Primaeval Forest on the Amazons 
 amphisb.ena ....... 
 
 Acrosoma Arcuatum ..... 
 
 Assai Palm (Euterpe Oleracea) 
 
 Bird-killing Spider (Mygale Avicularia) attacking 
 
 Ant-eater grappling with Dog 
 
 Humming-bird and Humming-bird Hawk-moth 
 
 Soldiers of different Species of White Ants — Ordinary 
 
 Shape of Worker — Winged Class 
 Acari'Fish (Loricaria Duodecimalis) 
 
 Flat-topped Mountains of Paraua-quara, Lower Amazons 
 Heliconius Thelxiope — Heliconius Melpomene 
 Musical Cricket (Chloroccelus Tanana) 
 PEURiRfMA Palm (Bactris) 
 Pelop.eus Wasp building Nest 
 Cells of Trypoxylon Aurifrons 
 Melipona Bees gathering Clay 
 The Jacuaru (Teius Teguexim) 
 Acara (Mesonauta Insignis) . 
 Sarapo (Carapus) — Needle-fish (Hemaramphus) 
 Bulging- stemmed Palm: Pashiuba Barrigudo 
 
 Ventuicosa) ...... 
 
 Uiki' Fruit ....... 
 
 Pupunha Palm ...... 
 
 Blow-gun, Quiver, and Arrow 
 
 Surubim (Pimelodus Tigrinus) 
 
 Arrow used in Turtle Shooting . 
 
 Turtle Fishing and Adventure with Alligator 
 
 Night Adventure with Alligator . 
 
 Umbrella Bird ...... 
 
 Scarlet-faced and Parauacu Monkeys . 
 Curl-crested Toucan ..... 
 
 Adventure with Curl-crested Toucans 
 Suspended Cocoon of Moth .... 
 
 Sack-bearing Caterpillar (Saccophora) . 
 Foraging Ants (Eciton Drepanophora) . 
 Foraging Ants (Eciton Erratica) constructing a Covered 
 
 Road — Soldiers sallying out on being disturbed 
 Masked-dance and Wedding-feast of Tucuna Indians 
 
 Maps 
 
 XX 
 
 (Iriartea 
 
 376 
 399 
 
 409 
 
THE NATURALIST ON THE 
 AMAZONS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PARA 
 
 Arrival — Aspect of the Country — The Para River — First Walk in the 
 Suburbs of Para — Birds, Lizards, and Insects of the Suburbs — Leaf- 
 carrying Ant — Sketch of the Climate, History, and present Condition 
 of Para 
 
 I embarked at Liverpool, with Mr. Wallace, in a small trading 
 vessel, on the 26th of April, 1S48; and, after a swift passage 
 from the Irish Channel to the equator, arrived, on the 26th of 
 May, off Salinas. This is the pilot-station for vessels bound to 
 Para, the only port of entry to the vast region watered by the 
 Amazons. It is a small village, formerly a missionary settle- 
 ment of the Jesuits, situated a few miles to the eastward of the 
 Para river. Here the ship anchored in the open sea, at a 
 distance of six miles from the shore, the shallowness of the 
 water far out around the mouth of the great river not permitting 
 in safety a nearer approach; and the signal was hoisted for a 
 pilot. It was with deep interest that my companion and 
 myself, both now about to see and examine the beauties of a 
 tropical country for the first time, gazed on the land where I, 
 at least, eventually spent eleven of the best years of my life. 
 To the eastward the country was not remarkable in appearance, 
 being slightly undulating, with bare sand-hills and scattered 
 trees ; but to the westward, stretching towards the mouth of the 
 river, we could see through the captain's glass a long line of 
 forest, rising apparently out of the water; a densely-packed 
 mass of tall trees, broken into groups, and finally into single 
 trees, as it dwindled away in the distance. This was the 
 frontier, in this direction, of the great primaeval forest charac- 
 teristic of this region, which contains so many wonders in its 
 
2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 recesses, and clothes the whole surface of the country for two 
 thousand miles from this point to the foot of the Andes. 
 
 On the following day and night we sailed, with a light wind, 
 partly aided by the tide, up the Para river. Towards evening 
 we passed Vigia and Colares, two fishing villages, and saw many 
 native canoes, which seemed like toys beneath the lofty walls 
 of dark forest. The air was excessively close, the sky overcast, 
 and sheet lightning played almost incessantly around the 
 horizon, an appropriate greeting on the threshold of a country 
 lying close under the equator! The evening was calm, this 
 being the season when the winds are not strong, so we glided 
 along in a noiseless manner, which contrasted pleasantly with 
 the unceasing turmoil to which we had been lately accustomed 
 on the Atlantic. The immensity of the river struck us greatly, 
 for although sailing sometimes at a distance of eight or nine 
 miles from the eastern bank, the opposite shore was at no time 
 visible. Indeed, the Para river is thirty-six miles in breadth 
 at its mouth; and at the city of Para, nearly seventy miles 
 from the sea, it is twenty miles wide; but at that point a series 
 of islands commences which contracts the river view in front 
 of the port. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th of May we arrived at our 
 destination. The appearance of the city at sunrise was pleasing 
 in the highest degree. It is built on a low tract of land, having 
 only one small rocky elevation at its southern extremity; it 
 therefore affords no amphitheatral view from the river; but 
 the white buildings roofed with red tiles, the numerous towers 
 and cupolas of churches and convents, the crowns of palm trees 
 reared above the buildings, all sharply defined against the clear 
 blue sky, give an appearance of lightness and cheerfulness 
 which is most exhilarating. The perpetual forest hems the 
 city in on all sides landwards; and towards the suburbs, 
 picturesque country houses are seen scattered about, half buried 
 in luxuriant foliage. The port was full of native canoes and 
 other vessels, large and small; and the ringing of bells and 
 firing of rockets, announcing the dawn of some Roman Catholic 
 festival day, showed that the population was astir at that 
 early hour. 
 
 We went ashore in due time, and were kindly received by 
 Mr. Miller, the consignee of the vessel, who invited us to make 
 his house our home until we could obtain a suitable residence. 
 On landing, the hot moist mouldy air, which seemed to strike 
 from the ground and walls, reminded me of the atmosphere of 
 
Para 3 
 
 tropical stoves at Kew. In the course of the afternoon a heavy 
 shower fell, and in the evening, the atmosphere having been 
 cooled by the rain, we walked about a mile out of town to the 
 residence of an American gentleman to whom our host wished to 
 introduce us. 
 
 The impressions received during this first walk can never 
 wholly fade from my mind. After traversing the few streets 
 of tall, gloomy, convent-looking buildings near the port, in- 
 habited chiefly by merchants and shopkeepers; along which 
 idle soldiers, dressed in shabby uniforms, carrying their muskets 
 carelessly over their arms, priests, negresses with red water-jars 
 on their heads, sad-looking Indian women carrying their naked 
 children astride on their hips, and other samples of the motley 
 life of the place, were seen; we passed down a long narrow 
 street leading to the suburbs. Beyond this, our road lay across 
 a grassy common into a picturesque lane leading to the virgin 
 forest. The long street was inhabited by the poorer class of 
 the population. The houses were of one story only, and had 
 an irregular and mean appearance. The windows were without 
 glass, having, instead, projecting lattice casements. The street 
 was unpaved, and inches deep in loose sand. Groups of people 
 were cooling themselves outside their doors: people of all 
 shades in colour of skin, European, Negro and Indian, but 
 chiefly an uncertain mixture of the three. Amongst them 
 were several handsome women, dressed in a slovenly manner, 
 barefoot or shod in loose slippers ; but wearing richly-decorated 
 ear-rings, and around their necks strings of very large gold 
 beads. They had dark expressive eyes, and remarkably rich 
 heads of hair. It was a mere fancy, but I thought the mingled 
 squalor, luxuriance and beauty of these women were pointedly 
 in harmony with the rest of the scene; so striking, in the view, 
 was the mixture of natural riches and human poverty. The 
 houses were mostly in a dilapidated condition, and signs of 
 indolence and neglect were everywhere visible. The wooden 
 palings which surrounded the weed-grown gardens were strewn 
 about, broken; and hogs, goats, and ill-fed poultry, wandered 
 in and out through the gaps. But amidst all, and compensating 
 every defect, rose the overpowering beauty of the vegetation. 
 The massive dark crowns of shady mangos were seen everywhere 
 amongst the dwellings, amidst fragrant blossoming orange, 
 lemon, and many other tropical fruit trees; some in flower, 
 others in fruit, at varying stages of ripeness. Here and there, 
 shooting above the more dome-like and sombre trees, were the 
 
4 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 smooth columnar stems of palms, bearing aloft their magnificent 
 crowns of finely-cut fronds. Amongst the latter the slim assai- 
 palm was especially noticeable, growing in groups of four or 
 five; its smooth, gently-curving stem, twenty to thirty feet 
 high, terminating in a head of feathery foliage, inexpressibly 
 light and elegant in outline. On the boughs of the taller and 
 more ordinary-looking trees sat tufts of curiously-leaved 
 parasites. Slender woody lianas hung in festoons from the 
 branches, or were suspended in the form of cords and ribbons; 
 whilst luxuriant creeping plants overran alike tree-trunks, roofs 
 and walls, or toppled over palings in copious profusion of foliage. 
 The superb banana (Musa paradisiaca), of which I had always 
 read as forming one of the charms of tropical vegetation, here 
 grew with great luxuriance: its glossy velvety-green leaves, 
 twelve feet in length, curving over the roofs of verandahs in the 
 rear of every house. The shape of the leaves, the varying shades 
 of green which they present when lightly moved by the wind, 
 and especially the contrast they afford in colour and form to 
 the more sombre hues and more rounded outline of the other 
 trees, are quite sufficient to account for the charm of this glorious 
 tree. Strange forms of vegetation drew our attention at almost 
 every step. Amongst them were the different kinds of Bromelia, 
 or pine-apple plants, with their long, rigid, sword-shaped leaves, 
 in some species jagged or toothed along their edges. Then there 
 was the bread-fruit tree — an importation, it is true; but remark- 
 able from its large, glossy, dark green, strongly digitated foliage, 
 and its interesting history. Many other trees and plants, curious 
 in leaf, stem, or manner of growth, grew on the borders of the 
 thickets along which lay our road; they were all attractive to 
 new comers, whose last country ramble of quite recent date was 
 over the bleak moors of Derbyshire on a sleety morning in April. 
 As we continued our walk the brief twilight commenced, and 
 the sounds of multifarious life came from the vegetation around. 
 The whirring of cicadas ; the shrill stridulation of a vast number 
 and variety of field crickets and grasshoppers, each species 
 sounding its peculiar note; the plaintive hooting of tree frogs 
 — all blended together in one continuous ringing sound, — the 
 audible expression of the teeming profusion of Nature. As 
 night came on, many species of frogs and toads in the marshy 
 places joined in the chorus: their croaking and drumming, far 
 louder than anything I had before heard in the same line, being 
 added to the other noises, created an almost deafening din. 
 This uproar of life, I afterwards found, never wholly ceased, 
 
Para 5 
 
 night or day: in course of time I became, like other residents, 
 accustomed to it. It is, however, one of the peculiarities of a 
 tropical — at least, a Brazilian — climate which is most likely to 
 surprise a stranger. After my return to England the death- 
 like stillness of summer days in the country appeared to me as 
 strange as the ringing uproar did on my first arrival at Para. 
 The object of our visit being accomplished, we returned to the 
 city. The fire-flies were then out in great numbers, flitting 
 about the sombre woods, and even the frequented streets. We 
 turned into our hammocks, well pleased with what we had seen, 
 and full of anticipation with regard to the wealth of natural 
 objects we had come to explore. 
 
 During the first few days, we were employed in landing our 
 baggage and arranging our extensive apparatus. We then 
 accepted the invitation of Mr. Miller to make use of his rocinha, 
 or country-house in the suburbs, until we finally decided on a 
 residence. Upon this we made our first essay in housekeeping. 
 We bought cotton hammocks, the universal substitute for beds 
 in this country, cooking utensils and crockery, and engaged a 
 free negro, named Isidoro, as cook and servant-of-all-work. 
 Our first walks were in the immediate suburbs of Para. The 
 city lies on a corner of land formed by the junction of the river 
 Guama with the Para. As I have said before, the forest, which 
 covers the whole country, extends close up to the city streets; 
 indeed, the town is built on a tract of cleared land, and is kept 
 free from the jungle only by the constant care of the Govern- 
 ment. The surface, though everywhere low, is slightly un- 
 dulating, so that areas of dry land alternate throughout with 
 areas of swampy ground, the vegetation and animal tenants 
 of the two being widely different. Our residence lay on the 
 side of the city nearest the Guama, on the borders of one of the 
 low and swampy areas which here extends over a portion 
 of the suburbs. The tract of land is intersected by well- 
 macadamised suburban roads, the chief of which, the Estrada 
 das Mongubeiras (the Monguba road), about a mile long, is a 
 magnificent avenue of silk-cotton trees (Bombax monguba and 
 B. ceiba), huge trees whose trunks taper rapidly from the ground 
 upwards, and whose flowers before opening look like red balls 
 studding the branches. This fine road was constructed under 
 the governorship of the Count dos Arcos, about the year 181 2. 
 At right angles to it run a number of narrow green lanes, and 
 the whole district is drained by a system of small canals or- 
 
6 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 trenches through which the tide ebbs and flows, showing the 
 lowness of the site. Before I left the country, other enterprising 
 presidents had formed a number of avenues lined with cocoa- 
 nut palms, almond and other trees, in continuation of the 
 Monguba road, over the more elevated and drier ground to the 
 north-east of the city. On the high ground the vegetation has 
 an aspect quite different from that which it presents in the 
 swampy parts. Indeed, with the exception of the palm trees, 
 the suburbs here have an aspect like that of a village green at 
 home. The soil is sandy, and the open commons are covered 
 with a short grassy and shrubby vegetation. Beyond this, the 
 land again descends to a marshy tract, where, at the bottom of 
 the moist hollows, the public wells are situated. Here all the 
 linen of the city is washed by hosts of noisy negresses, and here 
 also the water-carts are filled — painted hogsheads on wheels, 
 drawn by bullocks. In early morning, when the sun sometimes 
 shines through a light mist, and everything is dripping with 
 moisture, this part of the city is full of life : vociferous negroes 
 and wrangling Gallegos, 1 the proprietors of the water-carts, are 
 gathered about, jabbering continually, and taking their morning 
 drams in dirty wine-shops at the street corners. 
 
 Along these beautiful roads we found much to interest us 
 during the first few days. Suburbs of towns, and open, sunny, 
 cultivated places in Brazil, are tenanted by species of animals 
 and plants which are mostly different from those of the dense 
 primaeval forests. I will, therefore, give an account of what we 
 observed of the animal world during our explorations in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of Para. 
 
 The number and beauty of the birds and insects did not at 
 first equal our expectations. The majority of the birds we saw 
 were small and obscurely coloured; they were indeed similar, 
 in general appearance, to such as are met with in country places 
 in England. Occasionally a flock of small parroquets, green, 
 with a patch of yellow on the forehead, would come at early 
 morning to the trees near the Estrada. They would feed 
 quietly, sometimes chattering in subdued tones, but setting up 
 a harsh scream, and flying off, on being disturbed. Humming- 
 birds we did not see at this time, although I afterwards found 
 them by hundreds when certain trees were in flower. Vultures 
 we only saw at a distance, sweeping round at a great height, 
 over the public slaughter-houses. Several flycatchers, finches, 
 
 1 Natives of Galicia, in Spain, who follow this occupation in Lisbon and 
 Oporto, as well as at Para. 
 
Para 7 
 
 ant-thrushes, a tribe of plainly-coloured birds, intermediate in 
 structure between flycatchers and thrushes, some of which 
 startle the new-comer by their extraordinary notes emitted 
 from their places of concealment in the dense thickets; and 
 also tanagers, and other small birds, inhabited the neighbour- 
 hood. None of these had a pleasing song, except a little brown 
 wren (Troglodytes furvus), whose voice and melody resemble 
 those of our English robin. It is often seen hopping and climb- 
 ing about the walls and roofs of houses and on trees in their 
 vicinity. Its song is more frequently heard in the rainy season, 
 when the Monguba trees shed their leaves. At those times the 
 Estrada das Mongubeiras has an appearance quite unusual in 
 a tropical country. The tree is one of the few in the Amazons 
 region which sheds all its foliage before any of the new leaf- 
 buds expand. The naked branches, the sodden ground matted 
 with dead leaves, the grey mist veiling the surrounding vegeta- 
 tion, and the cool atmosphere soon after sunrise, all combine 
 to remind one of autumnal mornings in England. Whilst 
 loitering about at such times in a half-oblivious mood, thinking 
 of home, the song of this bird would create for the moment 
 a perfect illusion. Numbers of tanagers frequented the fruit 
 and other trees in our garden. The two principal kinds which 
 attracted our attention were the Rhamphoccelus Jacapa and 
 the Tanagra Episcopus. The females of both are dull in colour, 
 but the male of Jacapa has a beautiful velvety purple and 
 black plumage, the beak being partly white, whilst the same 
 sex in Episcopus is of a pale blue colour, with white spots on the 
 wings. In their habits they both resemble the common house- 
 sparrow of Europe, which does not exist in South America, its 
 place being in some measure filled by these familiar tanagers. 
 They are just as lively, restless, bold, and wary; their notes 
 are very similar, chirping and inharmonious, and they seem to 
 be almost as fond of the neighbourhood of man. They do not, 
 however, build their nests on houses. 
 
 Another interesting and common bird was the Japim, a 
 species of Cassicus (C. icteronotus). It belongs to the same 
 family of birds as our starling, magpie, and rook, and has a rich 
 yellow and black plumage, remarkably compact and velvety in 
 texture. The shape of its head and its physiognomy are very 
 similar to those of the magpie; it has light grey eyes, which give 
 it the same knowing expression. It is social in its habits ; and 
 builds its nest, like the English rook, on trees in the neighbour- 
 hood of habitations. But the nests are quite differently con- 
 
8 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 structed, being shaped like purses, two feet in length, and 
 suspended from the slender branches all round the tree, some 
 of them very near the ground. The entrance is on the side 
 near the bottom of the nest. The bird is a great favourite with 
 the Brazilians of Para: it is a noisy, stirring, babbling creature, 
 passing constantly to and fro, chattering to its comrades, and 
 is very ready at imitating other birds, especially the domestic 
 poultry of the vicinity. There was at one time a weekly news- 
 paper published at Para, called The Japim; the name being 
 chosen, I suppose, on account of the babbling propensities of 
 the bird. Its eggs are nearly round, and of a bluish-white colour, 
 speckled with brown. 
 
 Of other vertebrate animals we saw very little, except of the 
 lizards. These are sure to attract the attention of the new- 
 comer from Northern Europe, by reason of their strange ap- 
 pearance, great numbers, and variety. The species which are 
 seen crawling over the walls of buildings in the city, are 
 different from those found in the forest or in the interior of 
 houses. They are unpleasant-looking animals, with colours 
 assimilated to those of the dilapidated stone and mud walls on 
 which they are seen. The house lizards belong to a peculiar 
 family, the Geckos, and are found even in the best-kept chambers, 
 most frequently on the walls and ceilings, to which they cling 
 motionless by day, being active only at night. They are of 
 speckled grey or ashy colours. The structure of their feet is 
 beautifully adapted for clinging to and running over smooth 
 surfaces; the underside of their toes being expanded into 
 cushions, beneath which folds of skin form a series of flexible 
 plates. By means of this apparatus they can walk or run 
 across a smooth ceiling with their backs downwards ; the plated 
 soles, by quick muscular action, exhausting and admitting air 
 alternately. The Geckos are very repulsive in appearance. 
 The Brazilians give them the name of Osgas, and firmly believe 
 them to be poisonous; they are, however, harmless creatures. 
 Those found in houses are small ; but I have seen others of great 
 size, in crevices of tree trunks in the forest. Sometimes Geckos 
 are found with forked tails; this results from the budding of 
 a rudimentary tail at the side, from an injury done to the 
 member. A slight rap will cause their tails to snap off; the 
 loss being afterwards partially repaired by a new growth. The 
 tails of lizards seem to be almost useless appendages to the 
 animals. I used often to amuse myself in the suburbs, whilst 
 resting in the verandah of our house during the heat of mid-day, 
 
Para 9 
 
 by watching the variegated green, brown, and yellow ground- 
 lizards. They would come nimbly forward, and commence 
 grubbing with their fore feet and snouts around the roots of 
 herbage, searching for insect larvje. On the slightest alarm 
 they would scamper off; their tails cocked up in the air as they 
 waddled awkwardly away, evidently an incumbrance to them 
 in their flight. 
 
 Next to the birds and lizards, the insects of the suburbs of 
 Para deserve a few remarks. The species observed in the weedy 
 and open places, as already remarked, were generally different 
 from those which dwell in the shades of the forest. In the 
 gardens, numbers of fine showy butterflies were seen. There 
 were two swallow-tailed species, similar in colours to the English 
 Papilio Machaon; a white Pieris (P. Monuste), and two or three 
 species of brimstone and orange coloured butterflies, which do 
 not belong, however, to the same genus as our English species. 
 In weedy places a beautiful butterfly, with eye-like spots on 
 its wings, was common, the Junonia Lavinia, the only 
 Amazonian species which is at all nearly related to our Vanessas, 
 the Admiral and Peacock Butterflies. One day we made our 
 first acquaintance with two of the most beautiful productions 
 of nature in this department; namely, the Helicopis Cupido 
 and Endymion. A little beyond our house, one of the narrow 
 green lanes which I have already mentioned diverged from the 
 Monguba avenue, and led, between enclosures overrun with 
 a profusion of creeping plants and glorious flowers, down to a 
 moist hollow, where there was a public well in a picturesque 
 nook, buried in a grove of Mucaja palm-trees. On the tree- 
 trunks, walls, and palings, grew a great quantity of climbing 
 Pothos plants, with large glossy heart-shaped leaves. These 
 plants were the resort of these two exquisite species, and we 
 captured a great number of specimens. They are of extremely 
 delicate texture. The wings are cream-coloured; the hind pair 
 have several tail -like appendages, and are spangled beneath as 
 if with silver. Their flight is very slow and feeble; they seek 
 the protected under-surface of the leaves, and in repose close 
 their wings over the back, so as to expose the brilliantly spotted 
 under-surface. 
 
 I will pass over the many other orders and families of insects, 
 and proceed at once to the ants. These were in great numbers 
 everywhere, but I will mention here only two kinds. We were 
 amazed at seeing ants an inch and a quarter in length, and 
 stout in proportion, marching in single file through the thickets. 
 
io The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 These belonged to the species called Dinoponera grandis. Its 
 colonies consist of a small number of individuals, and are 
 established about the roots of slender trees. It is a stinging 
 species, but the sting is not so severe as in many of the smaller 
 kinds. There was nothing peculiar or attractive in the habits 
 of this giant among the ants. Another far more interesting 
 species was the Saiiba (CEcodoma cephalotes). This ant is 
 seen everywhere about the suburbs, marching to and fro in 
 broad columns. From its habit of despoiling the most valuable 
 cultivated trees of their foliage, it is a great scourge to the 
 Brazilians. In some districts it is so abundant that agriculture 
 
 
 HI 
 
 i. 
 
 Saiiba or Leaf-carrying ant. — i. Worker- minor; 2. Worker- major; 
 3. Subterranean worker. 
 
 is almost impossible, and everywhere complaints are heard of 
 the terrible pest. 
 
 The workers of this species are of three orders, and vary 
 in size from two to seven lines; some idea of them may be 
 obtained from the accompanying woodcut. The true working- 
 class of a colony is formed by the small-sized order of workers, 
 the worker-minors as they are called (Fig. 1). The two other 
 kinds, whose functions, as we shall see, are not yet properly 
 understood, have enormously swollen and massive heads; in 
 one (Fig. 2), the head is highly polished; in the other (Fig. 3), 
 it is opaque and hairy. The worker-minors vary greatly in 
 size, some being double the bulk of others. The entire body is 
 of very solid consistence, and of a pale reddish-brown colour. 
 The thorax or middle segment is armed with three pairs of 
 
Para 1 1 
 
 sharp spines; the head, also, has a pair of similar spines pro- 
 ceeding from the cheeks behind. 
 
 In our first walks we were puzzled to account for large 
 mounds of earth, of a different colour from the surrounding 
 soil, which were thrown up in the plantations and woods. Some 
 of them were very extensive, being forty yards in circumference, 
 but not more than two feet in height. We soon ascertained 
 that these were the work of the Saiibas, being the outworks, 
 or domes, which overlie and protect the entrances to their vast 
 subterranean galleries. On close examination, I found the 
 earth of which they are composed to consist of very minute 
 granules, agglomerated without cement, and forming many 
 rows of little ridges and turrets. The difference in colour from 
 the superficial soil of the vicinity is owing to their being formed 
 of the undersoil, brought up from a considerable depth. It is 
 very rarely that the ants are seen at work on these mounds; 
 the entrances seem to be generally closed; only now and then, 
 when some particular work is going on, are the galleries opened. 
 The entrances are small and numerous; in the larger hillocks 
 it would require a great amount of excavation to get at the 
 main galleries; but I succeeded in removing portions of the 
 dome in smaller hillocks, and then I found that the minor 
 entrances converged, at the depth of about two feet, to one 
 broad elaborately-worked gallery or mine, which was four or 
 five inches in diameter. 
 
 This habit in the Saiiba ant of clipping and carrying away 
 immense quantities of leaves has long been recorded in books 
 on natural history. When employed on this work, their pro- 
 cessions look like a multitude of animated leaves on the march. 
 In some places I found an accumulation of such leaves, all 
 circular pieces, about the size of a sixpence, lying on the path- 
 way, unattended by ants, and at some distance from any colony. 
 Such heaps are always found to be removed when the place is 
 revisited the next day. In course of time I had plenty of 
 opportunities of seeing them at work. They mount the tree 
 in multitudes, the individuals being all worker-minors. Each 
 one places itself on the surface of a leaf, and cuts with its sharp 
 scissor-like jaws a nearly semicircular incision on the upper 
 side; it then takes the edge between its jaws, and by a sharp 
 jerk detaches the piece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to 
 the ground, where a little heap accumulates, until carried off by 
 another relay of workers ; but, generally, each marches off with 
 the piece it has operated upon, and as all take the same road to 
 
I 2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 their colony, the path they follow becomes in a short time 
 smooth and bare, looking like the impression of a cart-wheel 
 through the herbage. 
 
 It is a most interesting sight to see the vast host of busy 
 diminutive labourers occupied on this work. Unfortunately 
 they choose cultivated trees for their purpose. This ant is 
 quite peculiar to Tropical America, as is the entire genus to 
 which it belongs; it sometimes despoils the young trees of 
 species growing wild in its native forests; but seems to prefer, 
 when within reach, plants imported from other countries, such 
 as the coffee and orange trees. It has not hitherto been shown 
 satisfactorily to what use it applies the leaves. I discovered 
 this only after much time spent in investigation. The leaves 
 are used to thatch the domes which cover the entrances to 
 their subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from the 
 deluging rains the young broods in the nests beneath. The 
 larger mounds, already described, are so extensive that few 
 persons would attempt to remove them for the purpose of 
 examining their interior; but smaller hillocks, covering other 
 entrances to the same system of tunnels and chambers, may 
 be found in sheltered places, and these are always thatched with 
 leaves, mingled with granules of earth. The heavily-laden 
 workers, each carrying its segment of leaf vertically, the lower 
 edge secured in its mandibles, troop up and cast their burthens 
 on the hillock; another relay of labourers place the leaves in 
 position, covering them with a layer of earthy granules, which 
 are brought one by one from the soil beneath. 
 
 The underground abodes of this wonderful ant are known to 
 be very extensive. The Rev. Hamlet Clark has related that 
 the Saiiba of Rio de Janeiro, a species closely allied to ours, 
 has excavated a tunnel under the bed of the river Parahyba, at 
 a place where it as broad as the Thames at London Bridge. 
 At the Magoary rice mills, near Para, these ants once pierced 
 the embankment of a large reservoir: the great body of water 
 which it contained escaped before the damage could be repaired. 
 In the Botanic Gardens, at Para, an enterprising French gardener 
 tried all he could think of to extirpate the Saiiba. With this 
 object he made fires over some of the main entrances to their 
 colonies, and blew the fumes of sulphur down the galleries by 
 means of bellows. I saw the smoke issue from a great number 
 of outlets, one of which was seventy yards distant from the 
 place where the bellows were used. This shows how extensively 
 the underground galleries are ramified. 
 
Para 1 3 
 
 Besides injuring and destroying young trees by despoiling 
 them of their foliage, the Sauba ant is troublesome to the 
 inhabitants from its habit of plundering the stores of pro- 
 visions in houses at night, for it is even more active by night 
 than in the day-time. At first I was inclined to discredit 
 the stories of their entering habitations and carrying off grain 
 by grain the farinha or mandioca meal, the bread of the poorer 
 classes of Brazil. At length, whilst residing at an Indian 
 village on the Tapajos, I had ample proof of the fact. One 
 night my servant woke me three or four hours before sunrise 
 by calling out that the rats were robbing the farinha baskets; 
 the article at that time being scarce and dear. I got up, 
 listened, and found the noise was very unlike that made by 
 rats. So I took the light and went into the store-room, which 
 was close to my sleeping-place. I there found a broad column 
 of Saiiba ants, consisting of thousands of individuals, as busy 
 as possible, passing to and fro between the door and my 
 precious baskets. Most of those passing outwards were laden 
 each with a grain of farinha, which was, in some cases, larger 
 and many times heavier than the bodies of the carriers. Farinha 
 consists of grains of similar size and appearance to the tapioca 
 of our shops; both are products of the same root, tapioca being 
 the pure starch, and farinha the starch mixed with woody 
 fibre, the latter ingredient giving it a yellowish colour. It was 
 amusing to see some of the dwarfs, the smallest members of 
 their family, staggering along, completely hidden under their 
 load. The baskets, which were on a high table, were entirely 
 covered with ants, many hundreds of whom were employed in 
 snipping the dry leaves which served as lining. This produced 
 the rustling sound which had at first disturbed us. My servant 
 told me that they would carry off the whole contents of the 
 two baskets (about two bushels) in the course of the night, if 
 they were not driven off; so we tried to exterminate them by 
 killing them with our wooden clogs. It was impossible, how- 
 ever, to prevent fresh hosts coming in as fast as we killed their 
 companions. They returned the next night; and I was then 
 obliged to lay trains of gunpowder along their line, and blow 
 them up. This, repeated many times, at last seemed to 
 intimidate them, for we were free from their visits during the 
 remainder of my residence at the place. What they did with 
 the hard dry grains of mandioca I was never able to ascertain, 
 and cannot even conjecture. The meal contains no gluten, and 
 therefore would be useless as cement. It contains only a small 
 
14 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 relative portion of starch, and, when mixed with water, it 
 separates and falls away like so much earthy matter. It may 
 serve as food for the subterranean workers. But the young or 
 larvze of ants are usually fed by juices secreted by the worker < 
 nurses. 
 
 Ants, it is scarcely necessary to observe, consist, in each 
 species,' of three sets of individuals, or, as some express it, of 
 three sexes — namely, males, females, and workers; the last- 
 mentioned being undeveloped females. The perfect sexes are 
 winged on their first attaining the adult state; they alone pro- 
 pagate their kind, flying away, previous to the act of repro- 
 duction, from the nest in which they have been reared. This 
 winged state of the perfect males and females, and the habit of 
 flying abroad before pairing, are very important points in the 
 economy of ants; for they are thus enabled to intercross with 
 members of distant colonies which swarm at the same time, and 
 thereby increase the vigour of the race, a proceeding essential 
 to the prosperity of any species. In many ants, especially those 
 of tropical climates, the workers, again, are of two classes, whose 
 structure and functions are widely different. In some species 
 they are wonderfully unlike each other, and constitute two well- 
 defined forms of workers. In others, there is a gradation of 
 individuals between the two extremes. The curious differences 
 in structure and habits between these two classes form an 
 interesting, but very difficult, study. It is one of the great 
 peculiarities of the Saiiba ant to possess three classes of workers. 
 My investigations regarding them were far from complete; I 
 will relate, however, what I have observed on the subject. 
 
 When engaged in leaf-cutting, plundering farinha, and other 
 operations, two classes of workers are always seen (Figs, i and 
 2, page 10). They are not, it is true, very sharply defined in 
 structure, for individuals of intermediate grades occur. All the 
 work, however, is done by the individuals which have small 
 heads (Fig. i), whilst those which have enormously large heads, 
 the worker-majors (Fig. 2), are observed to be simply walking 
 about. I could never satisfy myself as to the function of these 
 worker-majors. They are not the soldiers or defenders of the 
 working portion of the community, like the armed class m the 
 Termites, or white ants; for they never fight. The species has 
 no sting, and does not display active resistance when interfered 
 with. I once imagined they exercised a sort of superintendence 
 over the others; but this function is entirely unnecessary in a 
 community where all work with a precision and regularity 
 
Para 1 5 
 
 resembling the subordinate parts of a piece of machinery. I 
 came to the conclusion, at last, that they have no very precisely 
 defined function. They cannot, however, be entirely useless 
 to the community, for the sustenance of an idle class of such 
 bulky individuals would be too heavy a charge for the species 
 to sustain. I think they serve, in some sort, as passive instru- 
 ments of protection to the real workers. Their enormously 
 large, hard, and indestructible heads may be of use in protect- 
 ing them against the attacks of insectivorous animals. They 
 would be, on this view, a kind of " pieces de resistance," serving 
 as a foil against onslaughts made on the main body of workers. 
 The third order of workers is the most curious of all. If the 
 top of a small, fresh hillock, one in which the thatching process 
 
 / 
 4 
 
 Saiiba Ant. — Female. 
 
 is going on, be taken off, a broad cylindrical shaft is disclosed, 
 at a depth of about two feet from the surface. If this be 
 probed with a stick, which may be done to the extent of three 
 or four feet without touching bottom, a small number of colossal 
 fellows (Fig. 3) will slowly begin to make their way up the 
 smooth sides of the mine. Their heads are of the same size as 
 those of the class Fig. 2; but the front is clothed with hairs, 
 instead of being polished, and they have in the middle of the 
 forehead a twin ocellus, or simple eye, of quite different structure 
 from the ordinary compound eyes, on the sides of the head. 
 This frontal eye is totally wanting in the other workers, and is 
 not known in any other kind of ant. The apparition of these 
 strange creatures from the cavernous depths of the mine re- 
 minded me, when I first observed them, of the Cyclopes of 
 Homeric fable. They were not very pugnacious, as I feared 
 they would be, and I had no difficulty in securing a few with 
 my fingers. I never saw them under any other circumstances 
 
i 6 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 than those here related, and what their special functions may 
 be I cannot divine. 
 
 The whole arrangement of a Formicarium, or ant-colony, 
 and all the varied activity of ant-life, are directed to one main 
 purpose: — the perpetuation and dissemination of the species. 
 Most of the labour which we see performed by the workers has 
 for its end the sustenance and welfare of the young brood, 
 which are helpless grubs. The true females are incapable of 
 attending to the wants of their offspring; and it is on the poor 
 sterile workers, who are denied all the other pleasures of 
 maternity, that the entire care devolves. The workers are also 
 the chief agents in carrying out the different migrations of the 
 colonies, which are of vast importance to the dispersal and 
 consequent prosperity of the species. The successful debut of 
 the winged males and females depends likewise on the workers. 
 It is amusing to see the activity and excitement which reign in 
 an ant's nest when the exodus of the winged individuals is 
 taking place. The workers clear the roads of exit, and show 
 the most lively interest in their departure, although it is highly 
 improbable that any of them will return to the same colony. 
 The swarming or exodus of the winged males and females of 
 the Saiiba ant takes place in January and February, that is, at 
 the commencement of the rainy season. They come out in the 
 evening in vast numbers, causing quite a commotion in the 
 streets and lanes. They are of very large size, the female 
 measuring no less than two-and-a-quarter inches in expanse of 
 wing; the male is not much more than half this size. They 
 are so eagerly preyed upon by insectivorous animals that on 
 the morning after their flight not an individual is to be seen, a 
 few impregnated females alone escaping the slaughter to found 
 new colonies. 
 
 At the time of our arrival, Para had not quite recovered from 
 the effects of a series of revolutions, brought about by the hatred 
 which existed between the native Brazilians and the Portuguese; 
 the former, in the end, calling to their aid the Indian and mixed 
 coloured population. The number of inhabitants of the city 
 had decreased, in consequence of these disorders, from 24,500 
 in 1819, to 15,000 in 1848. Although the public peace had not 
 been broken for twelve years before the date of our visit, 
 confidence was not yet completely restored, and the Portuguese 
 merchants and tradesmen would not trust themselves to live 
 at their beautiful country-houses or rocinhas, which lie em- 
 
Para 17 
 
 bosomed in the luxuriant shady gardens around the city. No 
 progress had been made in clearing the second-growth forest 
 which had grown over the once cultivated grounds, and now 
 reached the end of all the suburban streets. The place had 
 the aspect of one which had seen better days ; the public build- 
 ings, including the palaces of the President and Bishop, the 
 cathedral, the principal churches and convents, all seemed con- 
 structed on a scale of grandeur far beyond the present require- 
 ments of the city. Streets full of extensive private residences, 
 built in the Italian style of architecture, were in a neglected 
 condition, weeds and flourishing young trees growing from large 
 cracks in the masonry. The large public squares were over- 
 grown with weeds, and impassable on account of the swampy 
 places which occupied portions of their areas. Commerce, 
 however, was now beginning to revive, and before I left the 
 country I saw great improvements, as I shall have to relate 
 towards the conclusion of this narrative. 
 
 The province of which Para is the capital was, at the time I 
 allude to, the most extensive in the Brazilian empire, being 
 about 1560 miles in length from east to west, and about 600 
 in breadth. Since that date — namely in 1853 — it has been 
 divided into two by the separation of the Upper Amazons as a 
 distinct province. It formerly constituted a section, capitania, 
 or governorship of the Portuguese colony. Originally it was 
 well peopled by Indians, varying much in social condition accord- 
 ing to their tribe, but all exhibiting the same general physical 
 characters, which are those of the American red man, some- 
 what modified by long residence in an equatorial forest country. 
 Most of the tribes are now extinct or forgotten, at least those 
 which originally peopled the banks of the main river, their 
 descendants having amalgamated with the white and negro 
 immigrants: 1 many still exist, however, in their original state 
 on the Upper Amazons and most of the branch rivers. On 
 this account Indians in this province are far more numerous 
 than elsewhere in Brazil, and the Indian element may be said 
 
 1 The mixed breeds which now form, probably, the greater part of the 
 population, have each a distinguishing name. Mameluco denotes the off- 
 spring of White with Indian; Mulatto, that of White with Negro; Cafuzo, 
 the mixture of the Indian and Negro; Curiboco, the cross between the 
 Cafuzo and the Indian; Xibaro, that between the Cafuzo and Negro. 
 These are seldom, however, well- demarcated, and all shades of colour 
 exist; the names are generally applied only approximatively. The term 
 Creole is confined to negroes born in the country. The civilised Indian is 
 called Tapuyo or Caboclo. 
 
1 8 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 to prevail in the mongrel population, the negro proportion 
 being much smaller than in South Brazil. 
 
 The city is built on the best available site for a port of 
 entry to the Amazons region, and must in time become a vast 
 emporium; for the northern shore of the main river, where 
 alone a rival capital could be founded, is much more difficult 
 of access to vessels, and is besides extremely unhealthy. 
 Although lying so near the equator (i° 28' S. lat.) the climate 
 is not excessively hot. The temperature during three years 
 only once reached 95 of Fahrenheit. The greatest heat of the 
 day, about 2 p.m., ranges generally between 89 and 94°; but 
 on the other hand, the air is never cooler than 73 , so that a 
 uniformly high temperature exists, and the mean of the year 
 is 8i°. North American residents say that the heat is not so 
 oppressive as it is in summer in New York and Philadelphia. 
 The humidity is, of course, excessive, but the rains are not so 
 heavy and continuous in the wet season as in many other 
 tropical climates. The country had for a long time a reputa- 
 tion for extreme salubrity. Since the small-pox in 1819, which 
 attacked chiefly the Indians, no serious epidemic had visited 
 the province. We were agreeably surprised to find no danger 
 from exposure to the night air or residence in the low swampy 
 lands. A few English residents, who had been established here 
 for twenty or thirty years, looked almost as fresh in colour as 
 if they had never left their native country. The native women, 
 too, seemed to preserve their good looks and plump condition 
 until late in life. I nowhere observed that early decay of 
 appearance in Brazilian ladies, which is said to be so general 
 in the women of North America. Up to 1848 the salubrity of 
 Para was quite remarkable for a city lying in the delta of a 
 great river in the middle of the tropics and half surrounded by 
 swamps. It did not much longer enjoy its immunity from 
 epidemics. In 1850 the yellow fever visited the province for 
 the first time, and carried off in a few weeks more than four per 
 cent, of the population. One disease after another succeeded, 
 until in 1855 the cholera swept through the country and caused 
 fearful havoc. Since then, the healthfulness of the climate has 
 been gradually restored, and it is now fast recovering its former 
 good reputation. Para is free from serious endemic disorders, 
 and was once a resort of invalids from New York and Massa- 
 chusetts. The equable temperature, the perpetual verdure, 
 the coolness of the dry season when the sun's heat is tempered 
 by the strong sea-breezes and the moderation of the periodical 
 
Para 1 9 
 
 rains, make the climate one of the most enjoyable on the face 
 of the earth. 
 
 The province is governed, like all others in the empire, by a 
 President, as chief civil authority. At the time of our arrival 
 he held also, exceptionally, the chief military command. This 
 functionary, together with the head of the police administra- 
 tion and the judges, is nominated by the central Government 
 at Rio Janeiro. The municipal and internal affairs are managed 
 by a provincial assembly elected by the people. Every villa or 
 borough throughout the province also possesses its municipal 
 council, and in thinly-populated districts the inhabitants choose 
 every four years a justice of the peace, who adjudicates in small 
 disputes between neighbours. A system of popular education 
 exists, and every village has its school of first letters, the master 
 being paid by the government, the salary amounting to about 
 £70, or the same sum as the priests receive. Besides common 
 schools a well-endowed classical seminary is maintained at Para, 
 to which the sons of most of the planters and traders in the 
 interior are sent to complete their education. The province 
 returns its quota of members every four years to the lower and 
 upper houses of the imperial parliament. Every householder 
 has a vote. Trial by jury has been established, the jurymen 
 being selected from householders, no matter what their race 
 or colour; and I have seen the white merchant, the negro 
 husbandman, the mameluco, the mulatto, and the Indian, all 
 sitting side by side on the same bench. Altogether the con- 
 stitution of government in Brazil seems to combine happily the 
 principles of local self-government and centralisation, and only 
 requires a proper degree of virtue and intelligence in the people 
 to lead the nation to great prosperity. 
 
 The province of Para, or, as we may now say, the two pro- 
 vinces of Para and the Amazons, contain an area of 800,000 
 square miles; the population of which is only about 230,000, 
 or in the ratio of one person to four square miles ! The country 
 is covered with forests, and the soil fertile in the extreme even 
 for a tropical country. It is intersected throughout by broad 
 and deep navigable rivers. It is the pride of the Paraenses to 
 call the Amazons the Mediterranean of South America. The 
 colossal stream perhaps deserves the name, for not only have 
 the main river and its principal tributaries an immense expanse 
 of water bathing the shores of extensive and varied regions, 
 but there is also throughout a system of back channels, con- 
 nected with the main rivers by narrow outlets and linking 
 
20 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 together a series of lakes, some of which are fifteen, twenty, 
 and thirty miles in length. The whole Amazons valley is thus 
 covered by a network of navigable waters, forming a vast 
 inland freshwater sea with endless ramifications, rather than a 
 river. 
 
 The city of Para was founded in 1615, and was a place of con- 
 siderable importance towards the latter half of the eighteenth 
 century, under the government of the brother of Pombal, the 
 famous Portuguese statesman. The province was the last in 
 Brazil to declare its independence of the mother-country and 
 acknowledge the authority of the first emperor, Don Pedro. 
 This was owing to the great numbers and influence of the 
 Portuguese, and the rage of the native party was so great in 
 consequence, that immediately after independence was pro- 
 claimed in 1823, a counter revolution broke out, during which 
 many hundred lives were lost and much hatred engendered. 
 The antagonism continued for many years, partial insurrections 
 taking place when the populace thought that the immigrants 
 from Portugal were favoured by the governors sent from the 
 capital of the empire. At length, in 1835, a serious revolt took 
 place which in a short time involved the entire province. It 
 began by the assassination of the President and the leading 
 members of the government; the struggle was severe, and the 
 native party in an evil hour called to their aid the ignorant and 
 fanatic part of the mongrel and Indian population. The cry 
 of death to the Portuguese was soon changed to death to the 
 freemasons, then a powerfully-organised society embracing the 
 greater part of the male white inhabitants. The victorious 
 native party endeavoured to establish a government of their 
 own. After this state of things had endured six months, they 
 accepted a new President sent from Rio Janeiro, who, however, 
 again irritated them by imprisoning their favourite leader, 
 Vinagre. The revenge which followed was frightful. A vast 
 host of half-savage coloured people assembled in the retired 
 creeks behind Para, and on a day fixed, after Vinagre's brother 
 had sent a message three times to the President demanding, in 
 vain, the release of their leader, the whole body poured into 
 the city through the gloomy pathways of the forest which 
 encircles it. A cruel battle, lasting nine days, was fought in 
 the streets; an English, French, and Portuguese man-of-war, 
 from the side of the river, assisting the legal authorities. All 
 the latter, however, together with every friend of peace and 
 order, were finally obliged to retire to an island a few miles 
 
rara 2 1 
 
 distant. The city and province were given up to anarchy ; the 
 coloured people, elated with victory, proclaimed the slaughter 
 of all whites, except the English, French, and American residents. 
 The mistaken principals who had first aroused all this hatred of 
 races were obliged now to make their escape. In the interior 
 the supporters of lawful authority, including, it must be stated, 
 whole tribes of friendly Indians and numbers of the better 
 disposed negroes and mulattos, concentrated themselves in 
 certain strong positions and defended themselves, until the 
 reconquest of the capital and large towns of the interior, in 
 1836, by a force sent from Rio Janeiro, after ten months of 
 anarchy. 
 
 Years of conciliatory government, the lesson learnt by the 
 native party and the moderation of the Portuguese, aided by 
 the indolence and passive goodness of the Paraenses of all 
 classes and colours, were only beginning to produce their good 
 effects about the time I am speaking of. Life, however, was 
 now and had been for some • time quite safe throughout the 
 country. Some few of the worst characters had been trans- 
 ported or imprisoned, and the remainder, after being pardoned, 
 were converted once more into quiet and peaceable citizens. 
 
 I resided at Para nearly a year and a half altogether, return- 
 ing thither and making a stay of a few months after each of my 
 shorter excursions into the interior, until the 6th of November, 
 185 1, when I started on my long voyage to the Tapajos and 
 the Upper Amazons, which occupied me seven years and a half. 
 I became during this time tolerably familiar with the capital of 
 the Amazons region, and its inhabitants. Compared with other 
 Brazilian seaport towns, I was always told, Para shone to great 
 advantage. It was cleaner, the suburbs were fresher, more 
 rural and much pleasanter on account of their verdure, shade, 
 and magnificent vegetation. The people were simpler, more 
 peaceable and friendly in their manners and dispositions; and 
 assassinations, which give the southern provinces so ill a reputa- 
 tion, were almost unknown. At the same time the Para people 
 were much inferior to Southern Brazilians in energy and industry. 
 Provisions and house rents being cheap and the wants of the 
 people few — for they were content with food and lodging of a 
 quality which would be spurned by paupers in England — they 
 spent the greater part of their time in sensual indulgences and 
 in amusements which the government and wealthier citizens 
 provided for them gratis. The trade, wholesale and retail, was 
 in the hands of the Portuguese, of whom there were about 2500 
 
22 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 in the place. Many handicrafts were exercised by coloured 
 people, mulattos, mamelucos, free negroes, and Indians. The 
 better sort of Brazilians dislike the petty details of shopkeeping, 
 and if they cannot be wholesale merchants, prefer the life of • 
 planters in the country, however small may be the estate and 
 the gains. The negroes constituted the class of field-labourers 
 and porters ; Indians were universally the watermen, and formed 
 the crews of the numberless canoes of all sizes and shapes which 
 traded between Para and the interior. The educated Brazilians, 
 not many of whom are of pure Caucasian descent — for the 
 immigration of Portuguese, for many years, has been almost 
 exclusively of the male sex— are courteous, lively, and intelligent 
 people. They were gradually weaning themselves of the 
 ignorant, bigoted notions which they inherited from their 
 Portuguese ancestors, especially those entertained with regard 
 to the treatment of women. Formerly the Portuguese would 
 not allow their wives to go into society, or their daughters to 
 learn reading and writing. In 1848, Brazilian ladies were only 
 just beginning to emerge from this inferior position, and 
 Brazilian fathers were opening their eyes to the advantages 
 of education for their daughters. Reforms of this kind are 
 slow. It is, perhaps, in part owing to the degrading position 
 always held by women, that the relations between the sexes 
 were and are still on so unsatisfactory a footing, and private 
 morality at so low an ebb, in Brazil. In Para I believe that an 
 improvement is now taking place, but formerly promiscuous 
 intercourse seemed to be the general rule among all classes, 
 and intrigues and love-making the serious business of the 
 greater part of the population. That this state of things is a 
 necessity depending on the climate and institutions I do not 
 believe, as I have resided at small towns in the interior, where 
 the habits, and the general standard of morality of the in- 
 habitants, were as pure as they are in similar places in England. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PARA 
 
 The Swampy Forests "of Para — A Portuguese Landed Proprietor — Country 
 House at Nazareth — Life of a Naturalist under the Equator — The 
 drier Virgin Forests — Magoary — Retired Creeks — Aborigines 
 
 After having resided about a fortnight at Mr. Miller's rocinha, 
 we heard of another similar country-house to be let, much better 
 situated for our purpose, in the village of Nazareth, a mile and 
 a half from the city and close to the forest. The owner was an 
 old Portuguese gentleman named Danin, who lived at his tile 
 manufactory at the mouth of the Una, a small river lying two 
 miles below Para. We resolved to walk to his place through the 
 forest, a distance of three miles, although the road was said to 
 be scarcely passable at this season of the year, and the Una 
 much more easily accessible by boat. We were glad, however, 
 of this early opportunity of traversing the rich swampy forest 
 which we had admired so much from the deck of the ship; so, 
 about eleven o'clock one sunny morning, after procuring the 
 necessary information about the road, we set off in that direction. 
 This part of the forest afterwards became one of my best 
 hunting-grounds. I will narrate the incidents of the walk, 
 giving my first impressions and some remarks on the wonderful 
 vegetation. The forest is very similar on most of the low lands, 
 and therefore one description will do for all. 
 
 On leaving the town we walked along a straight, suburban 
 road constructed above the level of the surrounding land. It 
 had low swampy ground on each side, built upon, however, and 
 containing several spacious rocinhas, which were embowered in 
 magnificent foliage. Leaving the last of these, we arrived at a 
 part where the lofty forest towered up like a wall five or six 
 yards from the edge of the path to the height of, probably, a 
 hundred feet. The tree trunks were only seen partially here and 
 there, nearly the whole frontage from ground to summit being 
 covered with a diversified drapery of creeping plants, all of the 
 most vivid shades of green; scarcely a flower to be seen, except 
 in some places a solitary scarlet passion-flower set in the green 
 
 23 
 
24 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 mantle like a star. The low ground on the borders between the 
 forest wall and the road was encumbered with a tangled mass 
 of bushy and shrubby vegetation, amongst which prickly 
 mimosas were very numerous, covering the other bushes in the* 
 same way as brambles do in England. Other dwarf mimosas 
 trailed along the ground close to the edge of the road, shrink- 
 ing at the slightest touch of the feet as we passed by. Cassia 
 trees, with their elegant pinnate foliage and conspicuous yellow 
 flowers, formed a great proportion of the lower trees, and 
 arborescent arums grew in groups around the swampy hollows. 
 Over the whole fluttered a larger number of brilliantly-coloured 
 butterflies than we had yet seen ; some wholly orange or yellow 
 (Callidryas), others with excessively elongated wings, sailing 
 horizontally through the air, coloured black, and varied with 
 blue, red, and yellow (Heliconii). One magnificent grassy- 
 green species (Colsenis Dido) especially attracted our attention. 
 Near the ground hovered many other smaller species very 
 similar in appearance to those found at home, attracted by the 
 flowers of numerous leguminous and other shrubs. Besides 
 butterflies, there were few other insects except dragonflies, 
 which were in great numbers, similar in shape to English 
 species, but some of them looking conspicuously different on 
 account of their fiery red colours. 
 
 After stopping repeatedly to examine and admire, we at 
 length walked onward. The road then ascended slightly, and 
 the soil and vegetation became suddenly altered in character. 
 The shrubs here were grasses, low sedges and other plants, 
 smaller in foliage than those growing in moist grounds. The 
 forest was second growth, low, consisting of trees which had 
 the general aspect of laurels and other evergreens in our gardens 
 at home: the leaves glossy and dark green. Some of them 
 were elegantly veined and hairy (Melastomae), whilst many, 
 scattered amongst the rest, had smaller foliage (Myrtles), but 
 these were not sufficient to subtract much from the general 
 character of the whole. 
 
 The sun, now, for we had loitered long on the road, was 
 exceedingly powerful. The day was most brilliant; the sky 
 without a cloud. In fact, it was one of those glorious days 
 which announce the commencement of the dry season. The 
 radiation of heat from the sandy ground was visible by the 
 quivering motion of the air above it. We saw or heard no 
 mammals or birds; a few cattle belonging to an estate down a 
 shady lane were congregated, panting, under a cluster of wide- 
 
rara 25 
 
 spreading trees. The very soil was hot to our feet, and we 
 hastened onward to the shade of the forest which we could see 
 not far ahead. At length, on entering it, what a relief! We 
 found ourselves in a moderately broad pathway or alley, where 
 the branches of the trees crossed overhead and produced a 
 delightful shade. The woods were at first of recent growth,, 
 dense, and utterly impenetrable; the ground, instead of being 
 clothed with grass and shrubs as in the woods of Europe, was 
 everywhere carpeted with Lycopodiums (fern-shaped mosses). 
 Gradually the scene became changed. We descended slightly 
 from an elevated, dry, and sandy area to a low and swampy one ; 
 a cool air breathed on our faces, and a mouldy smell of rotting 
 vegetation greeted us. The trees were now taller, the under- 
 wood less dense, and we could obtain glimpses into the wilder- 
 ness on all sides. The leafy crowns of the trees, scarcely two 
 of which could be seen together of the same kind, were now far 
 away above us, in another world as it were. We could only 
 see at times, where there was a break above, the tracery of the 
 foliage against the clear blue sky. Sometimes the leaves were 
 palmate, or of the shape of large outstretched hands; at others, 
 finely cut or feathery, like the leaves of Mimosae. Below, the 
 tree trunks were everywhere linked together by sipos; the 
 woody, flexible stems of climbing and creeping trees, whose 
 foliage is far away above, mingled with that of the taller inde- 
 pendent trees. Some were twisted in strands like cables, others 
 had thick stems contorted in every variety of shape, entwining 
 snake-like round the tree trunks, or forming gigantic loops and 
 coils among the larger branches; others, again, were of zigzag 
 shape, or indented like the steps of a staircase, sweeping from 
 the ground to a giddy height. 
 
 It interested me much afterwards to find that these climbing 
 trees do not form any particular family. There is no distinct 
 group of plants whose especial habit is to climb, but species of 
 many and the most diverse families the bulk of whose members 
 are not climbers seem to have been driven by circumstances to 
 adopt this habit. There is even a climbing genus of palms 
 (Desmoncus), the species of which are called, in the Tupi 
 language, Jacitara. These have slender, thickly-spined, and 
 flexuous stems, which twine about the taller trees from one 
 to the other, and grow to an incredible length. The leaves, 
 which have the ordinary pinnate shape characteristic of the 
 family, are emitted from the stems at long intervals, instead 
 of being collected into a dense crown, and have at their tips a 
 
26 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 s* y> ^* 
 
 ^w 
 
 i 
 
 number of long recurved spines. These 
 structures are excellent contrivances to 
 enable the trees to secure themselves by in 
 climbing, but they are a great nuisance to 
 the traveller, for they sometimes hang over 
 the pathway and catch the hat or clothes, 
 dragging off the one or tearing the other as 
 he passes. The number and variety of 
 climbing trees in the Amazons forests are 
 interesting, taken in connection with the fact 
 of the very general tendency of the animals, 
 also, to become climbers. 
 
 All the Amazonian, and in fact all South 
 American, monkeys are climbers. There is 
 no group answering to the baboons of the 
 Old World, which live on the ground. The 
 Gallinaceous birds of the country, the repre- 
 sentatives of the fowls and pheasants of Asia 
 and Africa, are all adapted by the position 
 of the toes to perch on trees, and it is only 
 on trees, at a great height, that they are to 
 be seen. A genus of Plantigrade Carnivora, 
 allied to the bears (Cercoleptes), found only 
 in the Amazonian forests, is entirely arboreal, 
 and has a long flexible tail like that of certain 
 monkeys. Many other similar instances 
 C \F* jflh ' cou ^ ^ e enumerated, but I will mention only 
 the Geodephaga, or carnivorous ground 
 beetles, a great proportion of whose genera 
 and species in these forest regions are, by 
 the structure of their feet, fitted to live 
 exclusively on the branches and leaves of 
 trees. 
 Many of the woody lianas suspended from trees are not 
 climbers, but the air-roots of epiphytous plants (Aroidese), which 
 sit en the stronger boughs of the trees above, and hang down 
 straight as plumb-lines. Some are suspended singly, others in 
 
 Climbing Palm 
 (Desmoncus). 
 
Para 27 
 
 clusters ; some reach halfway to the ground and others touch 
 it, striking their rootlets into the earth. The underwood in 
 this part of the forest was composed partly of younger trees of 
 the same species as their taller neighbours, and partly of palms 
 of many species, some of them twenty to thirty feet in height,, 
 others small and delicate, with stems no thicker than a finger. 
 These latter (different kinds of Bactris) bore small bunches of 
 fruit, red or black, often containing a sweet grape-like juice. 
 
 Further on the ground became more swampy, and we had 
 some difficulty in picking our way. The wild banana (Urania 
 Amazonica) here began to appear, and, as it grew in masses, 
 imparted a new aspect to the scene. The leaves of this beauti- 
 ful plant are like broad sword-blades, eight feet in length and 
 a foot broad ; they rise straight upwards, alternately, from the 
 top of a stem five or six feet high. Numerous kinds of plants 
 with leaves similar in shape to these but smaller clothed the 
 ground. Amongst them were species of Marantaceae, some of 
 which had broad glossy leaves, with long leaf-stalks radiating 
 from joints in a reed-like stem. The trunks of the trees were 
 clothed with climbing ferns, and Pothos plants with large, 
 fleshy, heart-shaped leaves. Bamboos and other tall grass and 
 reed-like plants arched over the pathway. The appearance of 
 this part of the forest was strange in the extreme; description 
 can convey no adequate idea of it. The reader who has visited 
 Kew may form some notion by conceiving a vegetation like that 
 in the great palm-house spread over a large tract of swampy 
 ground, but he must fancy it mingled with large exogenous 
 trees similar to our oaks and elms covered with creepers and 
 parasites, and figure to himself the ground encumbered with 
 fallen and rotting trunks, branches, and leaves; the whole 
 illuminated by a glowing vertical sun, and reeking with moisture. 
 
 We at length emerged from the forest, on the banks of the 
 Una, near its mouth. It was here about one hundred yards 
 wide. The residence of Senhor Danin stood on the opposite 
 shore; a large building, white-washed and red-tiled as usual, 
 raised on wooden piles above the humid ground. The second 
 story was the part occupied by the family, and along it was an 
 open verandah, where people, maie and female, were at work. 
 Below were several negroes employed carrying clay on their 
 heads. We called out for a boat, and one of them crossed over 
 to fetch us. Senhor Danin received us with the usual formal 
 politeness of the Portuguese; he spoke English very well, and 
 after we had arranged our business we remained conversing 
 
28 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 with him on various subjects connected with the country. Like 
 all employers in this province he was full of one topic — the 
 scarcity of hands. It appeared that he had made great exertions 
 to introduce white labour, but had failed, after having brought < 
 numbers of men from Portugal and other countries under 
 engagement to work for him. They all left him one by one 
 soon after their arrival. The abundance of unoccupied land, 
 the liberty that exists, a state of things produced by the half- 
 wild canoe-life of the people, and the ease with which a mere 
 subsistence can be obtained with moderate work, tempt even 
 the best-disposed to quit regular labour as soon as they can. 
 He complained also of the dearness of slaves, owing to the 
 prohibition of the African traffic, telling us that formerly a 
 slave could be bought for 120 dollars, whereas they are now 
 difficult to procure at 400 dollars. 
 
 Mr. Danin told us that he had travelled in England and the 
 United States, and that he had now two sons completing their 
 education in those countries. I afterwards met with many 
 enterprising persons of Mr. Danin's order, both Brazilians and 
 Portuguese; their great ambition is to make a voyage to 
 Europe or North America, and to send their sons to be educated 
 there. The land on which his establishment is built, he told 
 us, was an artificial embankment on the swamp; the end of 
 the house was built on a projecting point overlooking the river, 
 so that a good view was obtained, from the sitting-rooms, of 
 the city and the shipping. We learnt there was formerly a 
 large and flourishing cattle estate on this spot, with an open 
 grassy space like a park. On Sundays gay parties of forty or 
 fifty persons used to come by land and water, in carriages and 
 gay galliotas, to spend the day with the hospitable owner. Since 
 the political disorders which I have already mentioned, decay 
 had come upon this as on most other large establishments in 
 the country. The cultivated grounds, and the roads leading to 
 them, were now entirely overgrown with dense forest. When 
 we were ready to depart, Senhor Danin lent a canoe and two 
 negroes to take us to the city, where we arrived in the evening 
 after a day rich in new experiences. 
 
 Shortly afterwards we took possession of our new residence. 
 The house was a square building, consisting of four equal-sized 
 rooms ; the tiled roof projected all round, so as to form a broad 
 verandah, cool and pleasant to sit and work in. The cultivated 
 .ground, which appeared as if newly cleared from the forest, was 
 
Para 29 
 
 planted with fruit trees and small plots of coffee and mandioca. 
 The entrance to the grounds was by an iron-grille gateway from 
 a grassy square, around which were built the few houses and 
 palm-thatched huts which then constituted the village. The 
 most important building was the chapel of our Lady of Nazareth, 
 which stood opposite our place. The saint here enshrined was 
 a great favourite with all orthodox Paraenses, who attributed 
 to her the performance of many miracles. The image was to 
 be seen on the altar, a handsome doll about four feet high, 
 wearing a silver crown and a garment of blue silk, studded with 
 golden stars. In and about the chapel were the offerings that 
 had been made to her, proofs of the miracles which she had 
 performed. There were models of legs, arms, breasts, and so 
 forth, which she had cured. But most curious of all was a 
 ship's boat, deposited here by the crew of a Portuguese vessel 
 which had foundered, a year or two before our arrival, in a 
 squall off Cayenne; part of them having been saved in the boat, 
 after invoking the protection of the saint here enshrined. The 
 annual festival in honour of our Lady of Nazareth is the greatest 
 of the Para holidays ; many persons come to it from the neigh- 
 bouring city of Maranham, 300 miles distant. Once the president 
 ordered the mail steamer to be delayed two days at Para for 
 the convenience of these visitors. The popularity of the festa 
 is partly owing to the beautiful weather that prevails when it 
 takes place, namely, in the middle of the fine season, on the ten 
 days preceding the full moon in October or November. Para 
 is then seen at its best. The weather is not too dry, for three 
 weeks never follow in succession without a shower; so that all 
 the glory of verdure and flowers can be enjoyed with clear skies. 
 The moonlit nights are then especially beautiful; the atmo- 
 sphere is transparently clear, and the light sea-breeze produces 
 an agreeable coolness. 
 
 ^Ye now settled ourselves for a few months' regular work. 
 We had the forest on three sides of us; it was the end of the 
 wet season; most species of birds had finished moulting, and 
 every day the insects increased in number and variety. Behind 
 the rocinha, after several days' exploration, I found a series of 
 pathways through the woods, which led to the Una road ; about 
 half way was the house in which the celebrated travellers Spix 
 and Martius resided during their stay at Para, in 1819. It was 
 now in a neglected condition, and the plantations were over- 
 grown with bushes. The paths hereabout were very productive 
 of insects, and being entirely under shade were very pleasant 
 c 
 
30 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 for strolling. Close to our doors began the main forest road. 
 It was broad enough for two horsemen abreast, and branched 
 off in three directions; the main line going to the village of 
 Ourem, a distance of fifty miles. This road formerly extended 
 to Maranham, but it had been long in disuse and was now 
 grown up, being scarcely passable between Para and Ourem. 
 
 Our researches were made in various directions along these 
 paths, and every day produced us a number of new and interest- 
 ing species. Collecting, preparing our specimens, and making 
 notes, kept us well occupied. One day was so much like 
 another, that a general description of the diurnal round of 
 incidents, including the sequence of natural phenomena, will 
 be sufficient to give an idea of how days pass to naturalists 
 under the equator. 
 
 We used to rise soon after dawn, when Isidoro would go down 
 to the city, after supplying us with a cup of coffee, to purchase 
 the fresh provisions for the day. The two hours before break- 
 fast were devoted to ornithology. At that early period of the 
 day the sky was invariably cloudless (the thermometer marking 
 72 or 73 Fahr.); the heavy dew or the previous night's rain, 
 which lay on the moist foliage, becoming quickly dissipated by 
 the glowing sun, which rising straight out of the east, mounted 
 rapidly towards the zenith. All nature was fresh, new leaf and 
 flower-buds expanding rapidly. Some mornings a single tree 
 would appear in flower amidst what was the preceding evening 
 a uniform green mass of forest — a dome of blossom suddenly 
 created as if by magic. The birds were all active; from the 
 wild-fruit trees, not far off, we often heard the shrill yelping 
 of the Toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus). Small flocks of parrots 
 flew over on most mornings, at a great height, appearing in 
 distinct relief against the blue sky, always two by two chattering 
 to each other, the pairs being separated by regular intervals; 
 their bright colours, however, were not apparent at that height. 
 After breakfast we devoted the hours from 10 a.m. to 2 or 3 
 p.m. to entomology; the best time for insects in the forest 
 being a little before the greatest heat of the day. 
 
 The heat increased rapidly towards two o'clock (92 and 93 
 Fahr.), by which time every voice of bird or mammal was hushed; 
 only in the trees was heard at intervals the harsh whirr of a 
 cicada. The leaves, which were so moist and fresh in early 
 morning, now become lax and drooping; the flowers shed their 
 petals. Our neighbours the Indian and Mulatto inhabitants of 
 the open palm-thatched huts, as we returned home fatigued 
 
Para 
 
 3* 
 
 with our ramble, were either asleep in their hammocks or seated 
 on mats in the shade, too languid even to talk. On most days 
 in June and July a heavy shower would fall some time in the 
 afternoon, producing a most welcome coolness. The approach 
 of the rain-clouds was after a uniform fashion very interesting 
 to observe. First, the cool sea-breeze, which commenced to 
 blow about ten o'clock, and which had increased in force with 
 the increasing power of the sun, would flag and finally die 
 away. The heat and electric tension of the atmosphere would 
 then become almost insupportable. Languor and uneasiness 
 would seize on every one; even the denizens of the forest 
 betraying it by their motions. White clouds would appear in 
 the east and gather into cumuli, with an increasing blackness 
 along their lower portions. The whole eastern horizon would 
 become almost suddenly black, and this would spread upwards, 
 the sun at length becoming obscured. Then the rush of a 
 mighty wind is heard through the forest, swaying the tree -tops ; 
 a vivid flash of lightning bursts forth, then a crash of thunder, 
 and down streams the deluging rain. Such storms soon cease, 
 leaving bluish-black motionless clouds in the sky until night. 
 Meantime all nature is refreshed; but heaps of flower-petals 
 and fallen leaves are seen under the trees. Towards evening 
 life revives again, and the ringing uproar is resumed from bush 
 and tree. The following morning the sun again rises in a 
 cloudless sky, and so the cycle is completed; spring, summer, 
 and autumn, as it were, in one tropical day. The days are 
 more or less like this throughout the year in this country. A 
 little difference exists between the dry and wet seasons; but 
 generally, the dry season, which lasts from July to December, 
 is varied with showers, and the wet, from January to June, 
 with sunny days. It results from this, that the periodical 
 phenomena of plants and animals do not take place at about 
 the same time in all species, or in the individuals of any given 
 species, as they do in temperate countries. Of course there is 
 no hybernation; nor, as the dry season is not excessive, is 
 there any summer torpidity as in some tropical countries. 
 Plants do not flower or shed their leaves, nor do birds moult, 
 pair, or breed simultaneously. In Europe, a woodland scene 
 has its spring, its summer, its autumnal, and its winter aspects. 
 In the equatorial forests the aspect is the same or nearly so 
 every day in the year: budding, flowering, fruiting, and leaf 
 shedding are always going on in one species or other. The 
 activity of birds and insects proceeds without interruption, 
 
32 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 each species having its own separate times; the colonies of 
 wasps, for instance, do not die off annually, leaving only the 
 queens, as in cold climates ; but the succession of generations and 
 colonies goes on incessantly. It is never either spring, summer, 
 or autumn, but each day is a combination of all three. With 
 the dav and night always of equal length, the atmospheric 
 disturbances of each day neutralising themselves before each 
 succeeding morn; with the sun in its course proceeding mid- 
 way across the sky, and the daily temperature the same within 
 two or three degrees throughout the year — how grand in its 
 perfect equilibrium and simplicity is the march of Nature under 
 the equator ! 
 
 Our evenings were generally fully employed preserving our 
 collections, and making notes. We dined at four, and took tea 
 about seven o'clock. Sometimes we walked to the city to see 
 Brazilian life or enjoy the pleasures of European and American 
 society. And so the time passed away from June 15th to 
 August 26th. During this period we made two excursions of 
 greater length to the rice and saw-mills of Magoary, an estab- 
 lishment owned by an American gentleman, Mr. Upton, situated 
 on the banks of a creek in the heart of the forest, about twelve 
 miles from Para. I will narrate some of the incidents of these 
 excursions, and give an account of the more interesting observa- 
 tions made on the Natural History and inhabitants of these 
 interior creeks and forests. 
 
 Our first trip to the mills was by land. The creek on whose 
 banks they stand, the Iritiri, communicates with the river Para, 
 through another larger creek, the Magoary; so that there is 
 a passage by water; but this is about twenty miles round. We 
 started at sunrise, taking Isidoro with us. The road plunged 
 at once into the forest after leaving Nazareth, so that in a few 
 minutes we were enveloped in shade. For some distance the 
 woods were of second growth, the original forest near the town 
 having been formerly cleared or thinned. They were dense 
 and impenetrable on account of the close growth of the young 
 trees and the mass of thorny shrubs and creepers. These 
 thickets swarmed with ants and ant-thrushes; they were also 
 frequented by a species of puff-throated manikin, a little bird 
 which flies occasionally across the road, emitting a strange 
 noise, made, I believe, with its wings, and resembling the 
 clatter of a small wooden rattle. 
 
 A mile or a mile and a half further on, the character of the 
 woods began to change, and we then found ourselves in the 
 
Fara 33 
 
 primaeval forest. The appearance was greatly different from 
 that of the swampy tract I have already described. The land 
 was rather more elevated and undulating; the many swamp 
 plants with their long and broad leaves were wanting, and there 
 was less underwood, although the trees were wider apart. 
 Through this wilderness the road continued for seven or eight 
 miles. The same unbroken forest extends all the way to 
 Maranham and in other directions, as we were told, a distance 
 of about 300 miles southward and eastward of Para. In almost 
 every hollow part the road was crossed by a brook, whose cold, 
 dark, leaf-stained waters were bridged over by tree trunks. The 
 ground was carpeted, as usual, by Lycopodiums, but it was also 
 encumbered with masses of vegetable debris and a thick coating 
 of dead leaves. Fruits of many kinds were scattered about, 
 amongst which were many sorts of beans, some of the pods a 
 foot long, flat and leathery in texture, others hard as stone. In 
 one place there was a quantity of large empty wooden vessels, 
 which Isidoro told us fell from the Sapucaya tree. They are 
 called Monkey's drinking-cups (Cuyas de Macaco), and are the 
 capsules which contain the nuts sold under the name just 
 mentioned, in Covent Garden Market. At the top of the vessel 
 is a circular hole, in which a natural lid fits neatly. When the 
 nuts are ripe this lid becomes loosened, and the heavy cup falls 
 with a crash, scattering the nuts over the ground. The tree 
 which yields the nut (Lecythis ollaria), is of immense height. 
 It is closely allied to the Brazil-nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa), 
 whose seeds are also enclosed in large woody vessels; but these 
 have no lid, and fall entire to the ground. This is the reason 
 why the one kind of nut is so much dearer than the other. 
 The Sapucaya is not less abundant, probably, than the Ber- 
 tholletia, but its nuts in falling are scattered about and eaten 
 by wild animals; whilst the full capsules of Brazil-nuts are 
 collected entire by the natives. 
 
 What attracted us chiefly were the colossal trees. The 
 general run of trees had not remarkably thick stems ; the great 
 and uniform height to which they grow without emitting a 
 branch, was a much more noticeable feature than their thick- 
 ness; but at intervals of a furlong or so a veritable giant 
 towered up. Only one of these monstrous trees can grow 
 within a given space; it monopolises the domain, and none 
 but individuals of much inferior size can find a footing near 
 it. The cylindrical trunks of these larger trees were generally 
 about twenty to twenty-five feet in circumference. Von 
 
34 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 Martius mentions having measured trees in the Para district 
 belonging to various species (Symphonia coccinea, Lecythis sp. 
 and Cratseva Tapia), which were fifty to sixty feet in girth at 
 the point where they become cylindrical. The height of 
 the vast column-like stems could not be less than ioo feet 
 from the ground to their lowest branch. Mr. Leavens, at the 
 saw-mills, told me they frequently squared logs for sawing 
 a hundred feet long, of the Pao d'Arco and the Massaranduba. 
 The total height of these trees, stem and crown together, may 
 be estimated at from 180 to 200 feet: where one of them 
 stands, the vast dome of foliage rises above the other forest 
 trees as a domed cathedral does above the other buildings in a 
 city. 
 
 A very remarkable feature in these trees is the growth of 
 buttress-shaped projections around the lower part of their 
 stems. The spaces between these buttresses, which are generally 
 thin walls of wood, form spacious chambers, and may be com- 
 pared to stalls in a stable: some of them are large enough to 
 hold half-a-dozen persons. The purpose of these structures is 
 as obvious, at the first glance, as that of the similar props of 
 brickwork which support a high wall. They are not peculiar 
 to one species, but are common to most of the larger forest 
 trees. Their nature and manner of growth are explained when 
 a series of young trees of different ages is examined. It is 
 then seen that they are the roots which have raised themselves 
 ridge-like out of the earth; growing gradually upwards as the 
 increasing height of the tree required augmented support. 
 Thus they are plainly intended to sustain the massive crown 
 and trunk in these crowded forests, where lateral growth of 
 the roots in the earth is rendered difficult by the multitude of 
 competitors. 
 
 The other grand forest trees whose native names we learnt, 
 were the Moira-tinga (the White or King-tree), probably the 
 same as, or allied to, the Mora excelsa, which Sir Robert 
 Schomburgk discovered in British Guiana; the Samaiima 
 (Eriodendron Samauma) and the Massaranduba, or Cow-tree. 
 The last-mentioned is the most remarkable. We had already 
 heard a good deal about this tree, and about its producing 
 from its bark a copious supply of milk as pleasant to drink as 
 that of the cow. We had also eaten its fruit in Para, where it 
 is sold in the streets by negro market women; and had heard 
 a good deal of the durableness in water of its timber. We 
 were glad, therefore, to see this wonderful tree growing in its 
 
Para 35 
 
 native wilds. It is one of the largest of the forest monarchs, 
 and is peculiar in appearance on account of its deeply-scored 
 reddish and ragged bark. A decoction of the bark, I was told, 
 is used as a red dye for cloth. A few days afterwards we tasted 
 its milk, which was drawn from dry logs that had been stand- 
 ing many days in the hot sun, at the saw-mills. It was 
 pleasant with coffee, but had a slight rankness when drunk 
 pure; it soon thickens to a glue, which is excessively tenacious, 
 and is often used to cement broken crockery. I was told that 
 it was not safe to drink much of it, for a slave had recently 
 nearly lost his life through taking it too freely. 
 
 In some parts of the road ferns were conspicuous objects. 
 But I afterwards found them much more numerous on the 
 Maranham-road, especially in one place where the whole forest 
 glade formed a vast fernery; the ground was covered with 
 terrestrial species, and the tree trunks clothed with climbing 
 and epiphytous kinds. I saw no tree ferns in the Para district; 
 they belong to hilly regions; some occur, however, on the Upper 
 Amazons. 
 
 Such were the principal features in the vegetation of the 
 wilderness; but where were the flowers? To our great dis- 
 appointment we saw none, or only such as were insignificant in 
 appearance. Orchids are very rare in the dense forests of the 
 low lands. I believe it is now tolerably well ascertained that 
 the majority of forest trees in equatorial Brazil have small 
 and inconspicuous flowers. Flower-frequenting insects are also 
 rare in the forest. Of course they would not be found where 
 their favourite food was wanting, but I always noticed that 
 even where flowers occurred in the forest, few or no insects 
 were seen upon them. In the open country or campos of San- 
 tarem on the Lower Amazons, flowering trees and bushes are 
 more abundant, and there a large number of floral insects are 
 attracted. The forest bees of South America belonging to the 
 genera Melipona and Euglossa are more frequently seen feeding 
 on the sweet sap which exudes from the trees, or on the excre- 
 ment of birds on leaves, than on flowers. 
 
 We were disappointed also in not meeting with any of the 
 larger animals in the forest. There was no tumultuous move- 
 ment, or sound of life. We did not see or hear monkeys, and 
 no tapir or jaguar crossed our path. Birds, also, appeared to 
 be exceedingly scarce. We heard, however, occasionally, the 
 long-drawn, wailing note of the Inambu, a kind of partridge 
 (Crypturus cinereus?); and, also, in the hollows on the banks 
 
36 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 of the rivulets, the noisy notes of another bird, which seemed 
 to go in pairs, amongst the tree-tops, calling to each other as 
 they went. These notes resounded through the wilderness. 
 Another solitary bird had a most sweet and melancholy song; 
 it consisted simply of a few notes, uttered in a plaintive key, 
 commencing high, and descending by harmonic intervals. It 
 was probably a species of warbler of the genus Trichas. All 
 these notes of birds are very striking and characteristic of the 
 forest. 
 
 I afterwards saw reason to modify my opinion, founded on 
 these first impressions, with regard to the amount and variety 
 of animal life in this and other parts of the Amazonian forests. 
 There is, in fact, a great variety of mammals, birds, and reptiles, 
 but they are widely scattered, and all excessively shy of man. 
 The region is so extensive, and uniform in the forest clothing 
 of its surface, that it is only at long intervals that animals are 
 seen in abundance when some particular spot is found which 
 is more attractive than others. Brazil, moreover, is throughout 
 poor in terrestrial mammals, and the species are of small size; 
 they do not, therefore, form a conspicuous feature in its forests. 
 The huntsman would be disappointed who expected to find 
 here flocks of animals similar to the buffalo herds of North 
 America, or the swarms of antelopes and herds of ponderous 
 pachyderms of Southern Africa. The largest and most interest- 
 ing portion of the Brazilian mammal fauna is arboreal in its 
 habits; this feature of the animal denizens of these forests I 
 have already alluded to. The most intensely arboreal animals 
 in the world are the South American monkeys of the family 
 Cebida^, many of which have a fifth hand for climbing in their 
 prehensile tails, adapted for this function by their strong 
 muscular development, and the naked palms under their tips. 
 This seems to teach us that the South American fauna has been 
 slowly adapted to a forest life, and, therefore, that extensive 
 forests must have always existed since the region was first 
 peopled by mammalia. But to this subject, and to the natural 
 history of the monkeys, of which thirty-eight species inhabit 
 the Amazon region, I shall have to return. 
 
 We often read, in books of travels, of the silence and gloom 
 of the Brazilian forests. They are realities, and the impression 
 deepens on a longer acquaintance. The few sounds of birds 
 are of that pensive or mysterious character which intensifies 
 the feeling of solitude rather than imparts a sense of life and 
 cheerfulness. Sometimes, in the midst of the stillness, a sudden 
 
38 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 yell or scream will startle one; this comes from some defence- 
 less fruit-eating animal, which is pounced upon by a tiger-cat 
 or stealthy boa-constrictor. Morning and evening the howling 
 monkeys make a most fearful and harrowing noise, under which 
 it is difficult to keep up one's buoyancy of spirit. The feeling 
 of inhospitable wildness which the forest is calculated to inspire, 
 is increased tenfold under this fearful uproar. Often, even in 
 the still hours of midday, a sudden crash will be heard resound- 
 ing afar through the wilderness, as some great bough or entire 
 tree falls to the ground. There are, besides, many sounds which 
 it is impossible to account for. I found the natives generally 
 as much at a loss in this respect as myself. Sometimes a 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 silence tends to heighten the unpleasant impression 
 which they make on the mind. With the native it is always 
 the Curupira, the wild man or spirit of the forest, which pro- 
 duces all noises they are unable to explain. For myths are the 
 rude theories which mankind, in the infancy of knowledge, 
 invent to explain natural phenomena. The Curupira is a 
 mysterious being, whose attributes are uncertain, for they vary 
 according to locality. Sometimes he is described as a kind of 
 orang-otang, being covered with long, shaggy hair, and living 
 in trees. At others he is said to have cloven feet, and a bright 
 red face. He has a wife and children, and sometimes comes 
 down to the rocas to steal the mandioca. At one time I had a 
 Mameluco youth in my service, whose head was full of the 
 legends and superstitions of the country. He always went with 
 me into the forest ; in fact, I could not get him to go alone, and 
 whenever we heard any of the strange noises mentioned 
 above, he used to tremble with fear. He would crouch down 
 behind me, and beg of me to turn back; his alarm ceasing 
 only after he had made a charm to protect us from the 
 Curupira. For this purpose he took a young palm leaf, 
 plaited it, and formed it into a ring, which he hung to a branch 
 on our track. 
 
 At length, after a six hours' walk, we arrived at our destina- 
 tion, the last mile or two having been again through second- 
 growth forest. The mills formed a large pile of buildings, 
 pleasantly situated in a cleared tract of land, many acres in 
 extent, and everywhere surrounded by the perpetual forest. 
 We were received in the kindest manner by the overseer, Mr. 
 Leavens, who showed us all that was interesting about the 
 
Para 
 
 39 
 
 place, and took us to the best spots in the neighbourhood for 
 birds and insects. The mills were built a long time ago by a 
 wealthy Brazilian. They had belonged to Mr. Upton for many 
 years. I was told that when the dark-skinned revolutionists 
 were preparing for their attack on Para, they occupied the 
 place, but not the slightest injury was done to the machinery 
 or building, for the leaders said it was against the Portuguese 
 and their party that they were at war, not against the other 
 foreigners. 
 
 The creek Iritiri at the mills is only a few yards wide; it 
 winds about between two lofty walls of forest for some distance, 
 then becomes much broader, and finally joins the Magoary. 
 There are many other ramifications, creeks or channels, which 
 lead to retired hamlets and scattered houses, inhabited by 
 people of mixed white, Indian, and negro descent. Many of 
 them did business with Mr. Leavens, bringing for sale their 
 little harvests of rice, or a few logs of timber. It was interest- 
 ing to see them in their little, heavily-laden montarias. Some- 
 times the boats were managed by handsome, healthy young 
 lads, loosely clad in straw hat, white shirt, and dark blue 
 trousers, turned up to the knee. They steered, paddled, and 
 managed the varejao (the boating pole), with much grace and 
 dexterity. 
 
 We made many excursions down the Iritiri, and saw much of 
 these creeks ; besides, our second visit to the mills was by water. 
 The Magoary is a magnificent channel; the different branches 
 form quite a labyrinth, and the land is everywhere of little 
 elevation. All these smaller rivers, throughout the Para estuary, 
 are of the nature of creeks. The land is so level, that the short 
 local rivers have no sources and downward currents like rivers 
 as we generally understand them. They serve the purpose of 
 draining the land, but instead of having a constant current one 
 way, they have a regular ebb and flow with the tide. The 
 natives call them, in the Tupi language, Igarapes, or canoe- 
 paths. The igarapes and furos or channels, which are infinite 
 in number in this great river delta, are characteristic of the 
 country. The land is everywhere covered with impenetrable 
 forests; the houses and villages are all on the waterside, and 
 nearly all communication is by water. This semi-aquatic life 
 of the people is one of the most interesting features of the 
 country. For short excursions, and for fishing in still waters, 
 a small boat, called montaria, is universally used. It is made 
 of five planks ; a broad one for the bottom, bent into the proper 
 
40 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 shape by the action of heat, two narrow ones for the sides, and 
 two small triangular pieces for stem and stern. It has no 
 rudder; the paddle serves for both steering and propelling. 
 The montaria takes here the place of the horse, male, or camel 
 of other regions. Besides one or more montarias, almost every 
 family has a larger canoe, called Igarite. This is fitted with 
 two masts, a rudder, and keel, and has an arched awning or 
 cabin near the stern, made of a framework of tough lianas, 
 thatched with palm leaves. In the igarite they will cross 
 stormy rivers fifteen or twenty miles broad. The natives are 
 all boat-builders. It is often remarked, by white residents, 
 that an Indian is a carpenter and shipwright by intuition. It 
 is astonishing to see in what crazy vessels these people will 
 risk themselves. I have seen Indians cross rivers in a leaky 
 montaria, when it required the nicest equilibrium to keep the 
 leak just above water; a movement of a hair's breadth would 
 send all to the bottom, but they managed to cross in safety. 
 They are especially careful when they have strangers under 
 their charge, and it is the custom of Brazilian and Portuguese 
 travellers to leave the whole management to them. When 
 they are alone they are more reckless, and often have to 
 swim for their lives. If a squall overtakes them as they are 
 crossing in a heavily-laden canoe, they all jump overboard 
 and swim about until the heavy sea subsides, when they 
 re-embark. 
 
 A few words on the aboriginal population of the Para estuary 
 will here not be out of place. The banks of the Para were 
 originally inhabited by a number of distinct tribes, who, in 
 their habits, resembled very much the natives of the sea-coast 
 from Maranham to Bahia. It is related that one large tribe, 
 the Tupinambas, migrated from Pernambuco to the Amazons. 
 One fact seems to be well-established, namely, that all the 
 coast tribes were far more advanced in civilisation, and milder 
 in their manners, than the savages who inhabited the interior 
 lands of Brazil. They were settled in villages, and addicted 
 to agriculture. They navigated the rivers in large canoes, 
 called ubas, made of immense hollowed-out tree trunks; in 
 these they used to go on war expeditions, carrying in the prows 
 their trophies and calabash rattles, whose clatter was meant 
 to intimidate their enemies. They were gentle in disposition, 
 and received the early Portuguese settlers with great friendli- 
 ness. The inland savages, on the other hand, led a wandering 
 
Para 41 
 
 life, as they do at the present time, only coming down occa- 
 sionally to rob the plantations of the coast tribes, who always 
 entertained the greatest enmity towards them. 
 
 The original Indian tribes of the district are now either 
 civilised, or have amalgamated with the white and negro 
 immigrants. Their distinguishing tribal names have long 
 been forgotten, and the race bears now the general appellation 
 of Tapuyo, which seems to have been one of the names of the 
 ancient Tupinambas. The Indians of the interior, still remain- 
 ing in the savage state, are called by the Brazilians Indios, or 
 Gentios (Heathens). All the semi-civilised Tapuyos of the 
 villages, and in fact the inhabitants of retired places generally, 
 speak the Lingoa geral, a language adapted by the Jesuit 
 missionaries from the original idiom of the Tupinambas. The 
 language of the Guaranis, a nation living on the banks of the 
 Paraguay, is a dialect of it, and hence it is called by philolo- 
 gists the Tupi-Guarani language; printed grammars of it are 
 always on sale at the shops of the Para booksellers. The fact 
 of one language having been spoken over so wide an extent of 
 country as that from the Amazons to Paraguay, is quite an 
 isolated one in this country, and points to considerable migra- 
 tions of the Indian tribes in former times. At present the 
 languages spoken by neighbouring tribes on the banks of the 
 interior rivers are totally distinct ; on the Jurua, even scattered 
 hordes belonging to the same tribe are not able to understand 
 each other. 
 
 The civilised Tapuyo of Para differs in no essential point, 
 in physical or moral qualities, from the Indian of the interior. 
 He is more stoutly built, being better fed than some of them ; 
 but in this respect there are great differences amongst the 
 tribes themselves. He presents all the chief characteristics of 
 the American red man. The skin of a coppery brown colour, 
 the features of the face broad, and the hair black, thick, and 
 straight. He is generally about the middle height, thick-set, 
 has a broad muscular chest, well-shaped but somewhat thick 
 legs and arms, and small hands and feet. The cheek bones are 
 not generally prominent; the eyes are black, and seldom oblique 
 like those of the Tartar races of Eastern Asia, which are supposed 
 to have sprung from the same original stock as the American red 
 man. The features exhibit scarcely any mobility of expression ; 
 this is connected with the excessively apathetic and undemon- 
 strative character of the race. They never betray, in fact they 
 
42 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 do not feel keenly, the emotions of joy, grief, wonder, fear, and 
 so forth. They can never be excited to enthusiasm; but they 
 have strong affections, especially those connected with family. 
 It is commonly stated by the whites and negroes that the 
 Tapuyo is ungrateful. Brazilian mistresses of households, 
 who have much experience of Indians, have always a long list 
 of instances to relate to the stranger, showing their base in- 
 gratitude. They certainly do not appear to remember or think 
 of repaying benefits, but this is probably because they did not 
 require, and do not value such benefits as their would-be masters 
 confer upon them. I have known instances of attachment and 
 fidelity on the part of Indians towards their masters, but these 
 are exceptional cases. All the actions of the Indian show that 
 his ruling desire is to be let alone; he is attached to his home, 
 his quiet monotonous forest and river life; he likes to go to 
 towns occasionally, to see the wonders introduced by the white 
 man, but he has a great repugnance to living in the midst of 
 the crowd; he prefers handicraft to field labour, and especially 
 dislikes binding himself to regular labour for hire. He is shy 
 and uneasy before strangers, but if they visit his abode, he 
 treats them well, for he has a rooted appreciation of the duty 
 of hospitality ; there is a pride about him, and being naturally 
 formal and polite, he acts the host with great dignity. He 
 withdraws from towns as soon as the stir of civilisation begins 
 to make itself felt. When we first arrived at Para many Indian 
 families resided there, for the mode of living at that time was 
 more like that of a large village than a city; but as soon as 
 river steamers and more business activity were introduced, 
 they all gradually took themselves away. 
 
 These characteristics of the Para Indians are applicable, of 
 course, to some extent, to the Mamelucos, who now constitute 
 a great proportion of the population. The inflexibility of 
 character of the Indian, and his total inability to accom- 
 modate himself to new arrangements, will infallibly lead to his 
 extinction, as immigrants, endowed with more supple organisa- 
 tions, increase, and civilisation advances in the Amazon region. 
 But, as the different races amalgamate readily, and the offspring 
 of white and Indian often become distinguished Brazilian 
 citizens, there is little reason to regret the fate of the race. 
 Formerly the Indian was harshly treated, and even now he is 
 so in many parts of the interior. But, according to the laws of 
 Brazil, he is a free citizen, having equal privileges with the 
 whites; and there are very strong enactments providing against 
 
Para 43 
 
 the enslaving and ill-treatment of the Indians. The residents 
 of the interior, who have no higher principles to counteract 
 instinctive selfishness or antipathy of race, cannot comprehend 
 why they are not allowed to compel Indians to work for them, 
 seeing that they will not do it of their own accord. The 
 inevitable result of the conflict of interests between a European 
 and a weaker indigenous race, when the two come in contact, 
 is the sacrifice of the latter. In the Para district, the Indians 
 are no longer enslaved, but they are deprived of their lands, 
 and this they feel bitterly, as one of them, an industrious and 
 worthy man, related to me. Is not a similar state of things 
 now exhibited in New Zealand, between the Maoris and the 
 English colonists? 
 
 It is very interesting to read of the bitter contests that 
 were carried on from the year 1570 to 1759, between the 
 Portuguese immigrants in Brazil, and the Jesuit and other 
 missionaries. They were similar to those which have recently 
 taken place in South Africa, between the Boers and the English 
 missionaries, but they were on a much larger scale. The 
 Jesuits, as far as I could glean from tradition and history, were 
 actuated by the same motives as our missionaries; and they 
 seemed like them to have been, in great measure, successful, 
 in teaching the pure and elevated Christian morality to the 
 simple natives. But the attempt was vain to protect the 
 weaker race from the inevitable ruin which awaited it in the 
 natural struggle with the stronger one: in 1759, the Avhite 
 colonists finally prevailed, the Jesuits were forced to leave the 
 country, and the fifty-one happy mission villages went to ruin. 
 Since then, the aboriginal race has gone on decreasing in 
 numbers under the treatment which it has received ; it is now, 
 as I have already stated, protected by the laws of the central 
 government. 
 
 On our second visit to the mills, we stayed ten days. There 
 is a large reservoir and also a natural lake near the place, both 
 containing aquatic plants, whose leaves rest on the surface like 
 our water lilies, but they are not so elegant as our nymphsea, 
 either in leaf or flower. On the banks of these pools grow 
 quantities of a species of fan-leaved palm-tree, the Carana, 
 whose stems are surrounded by whorls of strong spines. I 
 sometimes took a montaria, and paddled myself alone down 
 the creek. One day I got upset, and had to land on a grassy 
 slope leading to an old plantation, where I ran about naked 
 
44 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 whilst my clothes were being dried on a bush. The creek 
 Iritiri is not so picturesque as many others which I subse- 
 quently explored. Towards the Magoary the banks at the 
 edge of the water are clothed with mangrove bushes, and 
 beneath them the muddy banks into which the long roots that 
 hang down from the fruit before it leaves the branches strike 
 their fibres, swarm with crabs. On the lower branches the 
 beautiful bird, Ardea helias, is found. This is a small heron of 
 exquisitely graceful shape and mien; its plumage is minutely 
 variegated with bars and spots of many colours, like the wings 
 of certain kinds of moths. It is difficult to see the bird in the 
 woods, on account of its sombre colours, and the shadiness of 
 its dwelling-places; but its note, a soft long-drawn whistle, 
 often betrays its hiding-place. I was told by the Indians that 
 it builds in trees, and that the nest, which is made of clay, is 
 beautifully constructed. It is a favourite pet-bird of the 
 Brazilians, who call it Pavao (pronounced Pavaong), or pea- 
 cock. I often had opportunities of observing its habits. It 
 soon becomes tame, and walks about the floors of houses 
 picking up scraps of food, or catching insects, which it secures 
 by walking gently to the place where they settle, and spearing 
 them with its long, slender beak. It allows itself to be handled 
 by children, and will answer to its name "Pavao! Pavao!" 
 walking up with a dainty, circumspect gait, and taking a fly 
 or beetle from the hand. 
 
 During these rambles by land and water we increased our 
 collections considerably. Before we left the mills we arranged 
 a joint excursion to the Tocantins. Mr. Leavens wished to 
 ascend that river to ascertain if the reports were true, that 
 cedar grew abundantly between the lowermost cataract and 
 the mouth of the Araguaya, and we agreed to accompany 
 him. 
 
 Whilst we were at the mills, a Portuguese trader arrived 
 with a quantity of worm-eaten logs of this cedar, which he had 
 gathered from the floating timber in the current of the main 
 Amazons. The tree producing this wood, which is named cedar 
 on account of the similarity of its aroma to that of the true 
 cedars, is not, of course, a coniferous tree, as no member of 
 that class is found in equatorial America, at least in the Amazons 
 region. It is, according to Von Martius, the Cedrela odorata, 
 an exogen belonging to the same order as the mahogany tree. 
 The wood is light, and the tree is therefore, on falling into the 
 water, floated down with the river currents. It must grow in 
 
Para 45 
 
 great quantities somewhere in the interior, to judge from the 
 number of uprooted trees annually carried to the sea, and as 
 the wood is much esteemed for cabinet work and canoe build- 
 ing, it is of some importance to learn where a regular supply 
 can be obtained. We were glad of course to arrange with Mr. 
 Leavens, who was familiar with the language, and an adept 
 in river-navigation; so we returned to Para to ship our 
 collections for England, and prepare for the journey to a new 
 region. 
 
CHAPTER -III 
 
 PARA 
 
 Religious Holidays — Marmoset Monkeys — Serpents — Insects., 
 
 Before leaving the subject of Para, where I resided, as already 
 stated, in all eighteen months, it will be necessary to give a 
 more detailed account of several matters connected with the 
 customs of the people and the Natural History of the neigh- 
 bourhood, which have hitherto been only briefly mentioned. 
 I reserve an account of the trade and improved condition of 
 Para in 1859 for the end of this narrative. 
 
 During the first few weeks of our stay many of those religious 
 festivals took place, which occupied so large a share of the 
 time and thoughts of the people. These were splendid affairs, 
 wherein artistically-arranged processions through the streets' 
 accompanied by thousands of people; military displays; the 
 clatter of fireworks, and the clang of military music, were super- 
 added to pompous religious services in the churches. To those 
 who had witnessed similar ceremonies in the Southern countries 
 of Europe, there would be nothing remarkable perhaps in these 
 doings, except their taking place amidst the splendours of 
 tropical nature; but to me they were full of novelty, and were 
 besides interesting as exhibiting much that was peculiar in the 
 manners of the people. The festivals celebrate either the 
 anniversaries of events concerning saints, or those of the more 
 important transactions in the life of Christ. To them have 
 been added, since the Independence, many gala days connected 
 with the events in the Brazilian national history; but these 
 have all a semi-religious character. The holidays had become 
 so numerous, and interfered so much with trade and industry 
 towards the year 1852, that the Brazilian Government was 
 obliged to reduce them; obtaining the necessary permission 
 from Rome to abolish several which were of minor importance. 
 Many of those which have been retained are declining in 
 importance since the introduction of railways and steamboats 
 and the increased devotion of the people to commerce; at the 
 time of our arrival, however, they were in full glory. The way 
 
 46 
 
Para 47 
 
 they were managed was in this fashion. A general manager 
 or " Juiz " for each festa was elected by lot every year in the 
 vestry of the church, and to him were handed over all the 
 paraphernalia pertaining to the particular festival which he 
 was chosen to manage; the image of the saint, the banners, 
 silver crowns and so forth. He then employed a number of 
 people to go the round of the parish and collect alms, towards 
 defraying the expenses. It was considered that the greater the 
 amount of money spent in wax candles, fireworks, music and 
 feasting, the greater the honour done to the saint. If the Juiz 
 was a rich man, he seldom sent out alms - gatherers, but 
 celebrated the whole affair at his own expense, which was 
 sometimes to the extent of several hundred pounds. Each 
 festival lasted nine days (a novena), and in many cases refresh- 
 ments for the public were provided every evening. In the 
 smaller towns a ball took place two or three evenings during 
 the novena, and on the last day there was a grand dinner. 
 The priest, of course, had to be paid very liberally, especially 
 for the sermon delivered on the Saint's-day or termination of 
 the festival, sermons being extra duty in Brazil. 
 
 There was much difference as to the accessories of these 
 festivals between the interior towns and villages and the capital ; 
 but little or no work was done anywhere whilst they lasted, and 
 they tended much to demoralise the people. It is soon per- 
 ceived that religion is rather the amusement of the Paraenses 
 than their serious exercise. The ideas of the majority evidently 
 do not reach beyond the belief that all the proceedings are, in 
 each case, in honour of the particular wooden image enshrined 
 at the church. The uneducated Portuguese immigrants seemed 
 to me to have very degrading notions of religion. I have often 
 travelled in the company of these shining examples of European 
 enlightenment. They generally carry with them, wherever 
 they go, a small image of some favourite saint in their trunks, 
 and when a squall or any other danger arises, their first impulse 
 is to rush to the cabin, take out the image and clasp it to their 
 lips, whilst uttering a prayer for protection. The negroes and 
 mulattos are similar in this respect to the low Portuguese, but 
 I think they show a purer devotional feeling; and in conversa- 
 tion I have always found them to be more rational in religious 
 views than the lower orders of Portuguese. As to the Indians; 
 with the exception of the more civilised families residing near 
 the large towns, they exhibit no religious sentiment at all. 
 They have their own patron saint, St. Thome, and celebrate 
 
48 
 
 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 his anniversary in the orthodox way, for they are fond of 
 observing all the formalities; but they think the feasting to be 
 of equal importance with the church ceremonies. At some of 
 the festivals, masquerading forms a large part of the proceed- 
 ings, and then the Indians really shine. They get up capital 
 imitations of wild animals, dress themselves to represent the 
 Caypor and other fabulous creatures of the forest, and act their 
 parts throughout with great cleverness. When St. Thome's 
 festival takes place, every employer of Indians knows that all 
 his men will get drunk. The Indian, generally too shy to ask 
 directly for cashaca (rum), is then very bold; he asks for a 
 frasco at once (two-and-a-half bottles), and says, if inter- 
 rogated, that he is going to fuddle in honour of St. Thome. 
 
 In the city of Para, the provincial government assists to 
 augment the splendour of the religious holidays. The proces- 
 sions which traverse the principal streets consist, in the first 
 place, of the image of the saint, and those of several other sub- 
 ordinate ones belonging to the same church; these are borne 
 on the shoulders of respectable householders, who volunteer for 
 the purpose : sometimes you will see your neighbour the grocer 
 or the carpenter groaning under the load. The priest and his 
 crowd of attendants precede the images, arrayed in embroidered 
 robes, and protected by magnificent sunshades — no useless 
 ornament here, for the heat is very great when the sun is not 
 obscured. On each side of the long line the citizens walk, clad 
 in crimson silk cloaks, and holding each a large lighted wax 
 candle. Behind follows a regiment or two of foot soldiers with 
 their bands of music, and last of all the crowd: the coloured 
 people being cleanly dressed and preserving a grave demeanour. 
 The women are always in great force, their luxuriant black 
 hair decorated with jasmines, white orchids and other tropical 
 flowers. They are dressed in their usual holiday attire, gauze 
 chemises and black silk petticoats; their necks are adorned 
 with links of gold beads, which when they are slaves are 
 generally the property of their mistresses, who love thus to 
 display their wealth. 
 
 At night, when festivals are going on in the grassy squares 
 around the suburban churches, there is really much to admire. 
 A great deal that is peculiar in the land and the life of its 
 inhabitants can be seen best at those times. The cheerful 
 white church is brilliantly lighted up, and the music, not of a 
 very solemn description, peals forth from the open windows and 
 doors. Numbers of young gaudily-dressed negresses line the 
 
Para 
 
 49 
 
 path to the church doors with stands of liqueurs, sweetmeats, 
 and cigarettes, which they sell to the outsiders. A short 
 distance off is heard the rattle of dice-boxes and roulette at 
 the open-air gambling-stalls. When the festival happens on 
 moon-lit nights, the whole scene is very striking to a new- 
 comer. Around the square are groups of tall palm trees, and 
 beyond it, over the illuminated houses, appear the thick groves 
 of mangoes near the suburban avenues, from which comes the 
 perpetual ringing din of insect life. The soft tropical moon- 
 light lends a wonderful charm to the whole. The inhabitants 
 are all out, dressed in their best. The upper classes, who come 
 to enjoy the fine evening and the general cheerfulness, are 
 seated on chairs around the doors of friendlv houses. There 
 is no boisterous conviviality, but a quiet enjovment seems to 
 be felt everywhere, and a gentle courtesy rules amongst all 
 classes and colours. I have seen a splendidly-dressed colonel, 
 from the President's palace, walk up to a mulatto, and politely 
 ask his permission to take a light from his cigar. When the 
 service is over, the church bells are set ringing, a shower of 
 rockets mounts upwards, the bands strike up, and parties of 
 coloured people in the booths begin their dances. About ten 
 o'clock the Brazilian national air is played, and all disperse 
 quietly and soberly to their homes. 
 
 At the festival of Corpus Christi there was a very pretty 
 arrangement. The large green square of the Trinidade was 
 lighted up all round with bonfires. On one side a fine pavilion 
 was erected, the upright posts consisting of real fan-leaved 
 palm trees — the Mauritia flexuosa, which had been brought 
 from the forest, stems and heads entire, and fixed in the ground. 
 The booth was illuminated with coloured lamps, and lined 
 with red and white cloth. In it were seated the ladies, not all 
 of pure Caucasian blood, but presenting a fine sample of Para 
 beauty and fashion. 
 
 The grandest of all these festivals is that held in honour of 
 Our Lady of Nazareth: it is, I believe, peculiar to Para. As I 
 have said before, it falls in the second quarter of the moon, 
 about the middle of the dry season — that is, in October or 
 November — and lasts, like the others, nine days. On the first 
 day a very extensive procession takes place, starting from the 
 Cathedra], whither the image of the saint had been conveyed 
 some days previous; and terminating at the chapel or hermitage, 
 as it is called, of the saint at Nazareth, a distance of more than 
 two miles. The whole population turns out on this occasion. 
 
50 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 All the soldiers, both of the line and the National Guard, take 
 part in it, each battalion accompanied by its band of music. 
 The civil authorities, also, with the President at their head, 
 and the principal citizens, including many of the foreign* 
 residents, join in the line. The boat of the shipwrecked Portu- 
 guese vessel is carried after the saint on the shoulders of officers 
 or men of the Brazilian navy, and along with it are borne the 
 other symbols of the miracles which Our Lady is supposed to 
 have performed. The procession starts soon after the sun's 
 heat begins to moderate — that is, about half-past four o'clock in 
 the afternoon. When the image is deposited in the chapel the 
 festival is considered to be inaugurated, and the village every 
 evening becomes the resort of the pleasure-loving population, 
 the holiday portion of the programme being preceded, of course, 
 by a religious service in the chapel. The aspect of the place 
 is then that of a fair, without the humour and fun, but, at the 
 same time, without the noise and coarseness of similar holidays 
 in England. Large rooms are set apart for panoramic and other 
 exhibitions, to which the public is admitted gratis. In the 
 course of each evening, large displays of fireworks take place, 
 all arranged according to a published programme of the 
 festival. 
 
 The various ceremonies which take place during Lent seemed 
 to me the most impressive, and some of them were exceedingly 
 well-arranged. The people, both performers and spectators, 
 conduct themselves with more gravity on these occasions, and 
 there is no holiday-making. Performances, representing the 
 last events in the life of Christ, are enacted in the churches or 
 streets, in such a way as to remind one of the old miracle plays 
 or mysteries. A few days before Good Friday, a torchlight 
 procession takes place by night from one church to another, 
 in which is carried a large wooden image of Christ bent under 
 the weight of the cross. The chief members of the govern- 
 ment assist, and the whole slowly moves to the sound of 
 muffled drums. A double procession is managed a few days 
 afterwards. The image of St. Mary is carried in one direction, 
 and that of the Saviour in another. The two images meet in 
 the middle of one of the most beautiful of the churches, which 
 is previously filled to excess with the multitudes anxious to 
 witness the affecting meeting of mother and son a few days 
 before the crucifixion. The images are brought face to face 
 in the middle of the church, the crowd falls prostrate, and a 
 Jachrymose sermon is delivered from the pulpit. The whole 
 
rara 5 1 
 
 thing, as well as many other spectacles arranged during the 
 few succeeding days, is highly theatrical, and well calculated 
 to excite the religious emotions of the people, although, perhaps, 
 only temporarily. On Good Friday the bells do not ring, all 
 musical sounds are interdicted, and the hours, night and day, 
 are announced by the dismal noise of wooden clappers, wielded 
 by negroes stationed near the different churches. A sermon 
 is delivered in each church. In the middle of it, a scroll is 
 suddenly unfolded from the pulpit, on which is an. exaggerated 
 picture of the bleeding Christ. This act is accompanied by 
 loud groans, which come from stout-lunged individuals con- 
 cealed in the vestry and engaged for the purpose. The priest 
 becomes greatly excited, and actually sheds tears. On one of 
 these occasions I squeezed myself into the crowd, and watched 
 the effect of the spectacle on the audience. Old Portuguese 
 men and Brazilian women seemed very much affected — sobbing, 
 beating their breasts, and telling their beads. The negroes 
 behaved themselves with great propriety, but seemed moved 
 more particularly by the pomp, the gilding, the dresses, and 
 the general display. Young Brazilians laughed. Several 
 aborigines were there, coolly looking on. One old Indian, 
 who was standing near me, said, in a derisive manner, when 
 the sermon was over, " It's all very good; better it could not 
 be " (Esta todo bom; melhor nao pude ser). 
 
 The negroes of Para are very devout. They have built, by 
 slow degrees, a fine church, as I was told, by their own unaided 
 exertions. It is called Nossa Senhora do Rosario, or Our Lady 
 of the Rosary. During the first weeks of our residence at 
 Para, I frequently observed a line of negroes and negresses, 
 late at night, marching along the streets, singing a chorus. 
 Each carried on his or her head a quantity of building materials 
 — stones, bricks, mortar, or planks. I found they were chiefly 
 slaves, who, after their hard day's work, were contributing a 
 little towards the construction of their church. The materials 
 had all been purchased by their own savings. The interior 
 was finished about a year afterwards, and is decorated, I 
 thought, quite as superbly as the other churches which were 
 constructed, with far larger means, by the old religious orders 
 more than a century ago. Annually, the negroes celebrate the 
 festival of Nossa Senhora do Rosario, and generally make it a 
 complete success. 
 
 I will now add a few more notes which I have accumulated 
 
52 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 on the subject of the natural history, and then we shall have 
 done, for the present, with Para and its neighbourhood. 
 
 I have already mentioned that monkeys were rare in the 
 immediate vicinity of Para. I met with three species only in 
 the forest near the city; they are shy animals, and avoid the 
 neighbourhood of towns, where they are subject to much per- 
 secution by the inhabitants, who kill them for food. The only 
 kind which I saw frequently was the little Midas ursulus, one 
 of the Marmosets, a family peculiar to tropical America, and 
 differing in many essential points of structure and habits from 
 *all other apes. They are small in size, and more like squirrels 
 than true monkeys in their manner of climbing. The nails, 
 except those of the hind thumbs, are long and claw-shaped like 
 those of squirrels, and the thumbs of the fore extremities, or 
 hands, are not opposable to the other fingers. I do not mean 
 to imply that they have a near relationship to squirrels, which 
 belong to the Rodents, an inferior order of mammals; their 
 resemblance to those animals is merely a superficial one. They 
 have two molar teeth less in each jaw than the Cebidae, the 
 other family of American monkeys ; they agree with them, how- 
 ever, in the sideway position of the nostrils, a character which 
 distinguishes both from all the monkeys of the old world. The 
 body is long and slender, clothed with soft hairs, and the tail, 
 which is nearly twice the length of the trunk, is not prehensile. 
 The hind limbs are much larger in volume than the anterior 
 pair. The Midas ursulus is never seen in large flocks; three 
 or four is the greatest number observed together. It seems to 
 be less afraid of the neighbourhood of man than any other 
 monkey. I sometimes saw it in the woods which border the 
 suburban streets, and once I espied two individuals in a thicket 
 behind the English consul's house at Nazareth. Its mode of 
 progression along the main boughs of the lofty trees is like that 
 of the squirrel; it does not ascend to the slender branches, or 
 take those wonderful flying leaps which the Cebidae do, whose 
 prehensile tails and flexible hands fit them for such headlong 
 travelling. It confines itself to the larger boughs and trunks 
 of trees, the long nails being of great assistance to the creature, 
 enabling it to cling securely to the bark; and it is often seen 
 passing rapidly round the perpendicular cylindrical trunks. It 
 is a quick, restless, timid little creature, and has a great share 
 of curiosity, for when a person passes by under the trees along 
 which a flock is running, they always stop for a few moments 
 to have a stare at the intruder. In Para, Midas ursulus is 
 
Para 53 
 
 often seen in a tame state in the houses of the inhabitants. 
 When full grown it is about nine inches long, independently of 
 the tail, which measures fifteen inches. The fur is thick, and 
 black in colour, with the exception of a reddish-brown streak 
 down the middle of the back. When first taken, or when kept 
 tied up, it is very timid and irritable. It will not allow itself 
 to be approached, but keeps retreating backwards when any 
 one attempts to coax it. It is always in a querulous humour, 
 uttering a twittering, complaining noise; its dark, watchful 
 eyes, expressive of distrust, observant of every movement which 
 takes place near it. When treated kindly, however, as it 
 generally is in the houses of the natives, it becomes very tame 
 and familiar. I once saw one as playful as a kitten, running 
 about the house after the negro children, who fondled it to 
 their hearts' content. It acted somewhat differently towards 
 strangers, and seemed not to like them to sit in the hammock 
 which was slung in the room, leaping up, trying to bite, and 
 otherwise annoying them. It is generally fed on sweet fruits, 
 such as the banana; but it is also fond of insects, especially 
 soft-bodied spiders and grasshoppers, which it will snap up 
 with eagerness when within 'reach. The expression of coun- 
 tenance in these small monkeys is intelligent and pleasing. 
 This is partly owing to the open facial angle, which is given as 
 one of 6o° ; but the quick movements of the head, and the way 
 they have of inclining it to one side when their curiosity is 
 excited, contribute very much to give them a knowing 
 expression. . 
 
 On the Upper Amazons I once saw a tame individual ot the 
 Midas leoninus, a species first described by Humboldt, which 
 was still more playful and intelligent than the one just 
 described. This rare and beautiful little monkey is only seven 
 inches in length, exclusive of the tail. It is named leoninus 
 on account of the long brown mane which depends from the 
 neck, and which gives it very much the appearance of a 
 diminutive lion. In the house where it was kept, it was familiar 
 with every one; its greatest pleasure seeming to be to climb 
 about the bodies of different persons who entered. The first 
 time I went in, it ran across the room straightway to the chair 
 on which I had sat down, and climbed up to my shoulder; 
 arrived there, it turned round and looked into my face, showing 
 its little teeth, and chattering, as though it would say, Well, 
 and how do you do? " It showed more affection towards its 
 master than towards strangers, and would climb up to his head 
 
54 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 a dozen times in the course of an hour, making a great show 
 every time of searching there for certain animalcula. Isidore 
 Geoffroy St. Hilaire relates of a species of this genus, that it 
 distinguished between different objects depicted on an engrav- 
 ing. M. Audouin showed it the portraits of a cat and a wasp ; 
 at these it became much terrified; whereas, at the sight of a 
 figure of a grasshopper or beetle, it precipitated itself on the 
 picture, as if to seize the objects there represented. 
 
 Although monkeys are now rare in a wild state near Para, a 
 great number may be seen semi-domesticated in the city. The 
 Brazilians are fond of pet animals. Monkeys, however, have 
 not been known to breed in captivity in this country. I 
 counted, in a short time, thirteen different species, whilst 
 walking about the Para streets, either at the doors or windows 
 of houses, or in the native canoes. Two of them I did not meet 
 with afterwards in any other part of the country. One of 
 these was the well-known Hapale Jacchus, a little creature 
 resembling a kitten, banded with black and grey all over the 
 body and tail, and having a fringe of long white hairs sur- 
 rounding the ears. It was seated on the shoulder of a young 
 mulatto girl, as she was walking along the street, and I was 
 told had been captured in the island of Marajo. The other 
 was a species of Cebus, with a remarkably large head. It had 
 ruddy-brown fur, paler on the face, but presenting a blackish 
 tuft on the top of the forehead. 
 
 In the wet season serpents are common in the neighbour- 
 hood of Para. One morning, in April, 1849, after a night of 
 deluging rain, the lamplighter, on his rounds to extinguish the 
 lamps, knocked me up to show me a boa-constrictor he had 
 just killed in the Rua St. Antonio, not far from my door. He 
 had cut it nearly in two with a large knife, as it was making 
 its way down the sandy street. Sometimes the native hunters 
 capture boa-constrictors alive in the forest near the city. We 
 bought one which had been taken in this way, and kept it for 
 some time in a large box under our verandah. This is not, 
 however, the largest or most formidable serpent found in the 
 Amazons region. It is far inferior, in these respects, to the 
 hideous Sucuruju, or Water Boa (Eunectes murinus), which 
 sometimes attacks man; but of this I shall have to give an 
 account in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 It frequently happened, in passing through the thickets, that 
 a snake would fall from the boughs close to me. Once I got 
 for a few moments completely entangled in the folds of one, a 
 
Para 5 $ 
 
 wonderfully slender kind, being nearly six feet in length, and 
 not more than half an inch in diameter at its broadest part. It 
 was a species of Dryophis. The majority of the snakes seen 
 were innocuous. One day, however, I trod on the tail of a 
 young serpent belonging to a very poisonous kind, the Jararaca 
 (Craspedocephalus atrox). It turned round and bit my trousers ; 
 and a young Indian lad, who was behind me, dexterously cut 
 it through with his knife before it had time to free itself. In 
 some seasons snakes are very abundant, and it often struck me 
 as strange that accidents did not occur more frequently than 
 was the case. 
 
 Amongst the most curious snakes found here were the 
 Amphisbasnse, a genus allied to the slow-worm of Europe. 
 Several species occur at Para. Those brought to me were 
 generally not much more than a foot in length. They are of 
 cylindrical shape, having, properly speaking, no neck, and the 
 
 Amphisbasna. 
 
 blunt tail which is only about an inch in length, is of the same 
 shape as the head. This peculiar form, added to their habit of 
 wriggling backwards as well as forwards, has given rise to the 
 fable that they have two heads, one at each extremity. They 
 are extremely sluggish in their motions, and are clothed with 
 scales that have the form of small imbedded plates arranged in 
 rings round the body. The eye is so small as to be scarcely 
 perceptible. They live habitually in the subterranean chambers 
 of the Sauba ant; only coming out of their abodes occasionally 
 in the night time. The natives call the Amphisbsena the " Mai 
 das Saiibas," or Mother of the Saiibas, and believe it to be 
 poisonous, although it is perfectly harmless. It is one of the 
 many curious animals which have become the subject of 
 mythical stories with the natives. They say the ants treat it 
 with great affection, and that if the snake be taken away from 
 a nest, the Saiibas will forsake the spot. I once took one 
 quite whole out of the body of a young Jararaca, the poisonous 
 species already alluded to, whose body was so distended with 
 its contents that the skin was stretched out to a film over the 
 
56 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 contained Amphisbaena. I was, unfortunately, not able to 
 ascertain the exact relation which subsists between these curious 
 snakes and the Sauba ants. I believe, however, they feed upon 
 the Saiibas, for I once found remains of ants in the stomach of* 
 one of them. Their motions are quite peculiar; the undilatable 
 jaws, small eyes and curious plated integument also distinguish 
 them from other snakes. These properties have evidently some 
 relation to their residence in the subterranean abodes of ants. 
 It is now well ascertained by naturalists, that some of the most 
 anomalous forms amongst Coleopterous insects are those which 
 live solely in the nests of ants, and it is curious that an 
 abnormal form of snakes should also be found in the society of 
 these insects. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Para is rich in insects. I do not 
 speak of the number of individuals, which is probably less 
 than one meets with, excepting ants and Termites, in summer 
 days in temperate latitudes ; but the variety, or in other words, 
 the number of species is very great. It will convey some idea 
 of the diversity of butterflies when I mention that about 700 
 species of that tribe are found within an hour's walk of the 
 town; whilst the total number found in the British Islands 
 does not exceed 66, and the whole of Europe supports only 321. 
 Some of the most showy species, such as the swallow-tailed 
 kinds, Papilio Polycaon, Thoas, Torquatus, and others, are seen 
 flying about the streets and gardens; sometimes they come 
 through the open windows, attracted by flowers in the apart- 
 ments. Those species of Papilio which are most characteristic 
 of the country, so conspicuous in their velvety-black, green, 
 and rose-coloured hues, which Linnaeus, in pursuance of his 
 elegant system of nomenclature, — naming the different kinds 
 after the heroes of Greek mythology, — called Trojans, never 
 leave the shades of the forest. The splendid metallic blue 
 Morphos, some of which measure seven inches in expanse, are 
 generally confined to the shady alleys of the forest. They 
 sometimes come forth into the broad sunlight. When we first 
 went to look at our new residence in Nazareth, a Morpho 
 Menelaus, one of the most beautiful kinds, was seen flapping 
 its huge wings like a bird along the verandah. This species, 
 however, although much admired, looks dull in colour by the 
 side of its congener, the Morpho Rhetenor, whose wings, on the 
 upper face, are of quite a dazzling lustre. Rhetenor usually 
 prefers the broad sunny roads in the forest, and is an almost 
 unattainable prize, on account of its lofty flight; for it very 
 
Para 
 
 57 
 
 rarely descends nearer the ground than about twenty feet. 
 When it comes sailing along, it occasionally flaps its wings, 
 and then the blue surface flashes in the sunlight, so that it is 
 visible a quarter of a mile off. There is another species of this 
 genus, of a satiny-white hue, the Morpho Uraneis; this is 
 equally difficult to obtain; the male only has the satiny lustre, 
 the female being of a pale-lavender colour. It is in the height 
 of the dry season that the greatest number and variety of 
 butterflies are found in the woods; especially when a shower 
 falls at intervals of a few days. An infinite number of curious 
 and rare species may then be taken, most diversified in habits, 
 mode of flight, colours, and markings: some yellow, others 
 bright red, green, purple, and blue, and many bordered or 
 spangled with metallic lines and spots of a silvery or golden 
 lustre. Some have wings transparent as glass; one of these 
 clear wings is especially beautiful, namely, the Hetaira 
 Esmeralda; it has one spot only of opaque colouring on its 
 wings, which is of a violet and rose hue; this is the only part 
 visible when the insect is flying low over dead leaves in the 
 gloomy shades where alone it is found, and it then looks like a 
 wandering petal of a flower. 
 
 Bees and wasps are not especially numerous near Para, and 
 I will reserve an account of their habits 
 for a future chapter. Many species of 
 Mygale, those monstrous hairy spiders, 
 half a foot in expanse, which attract the 
 attention so much in museums, are 
 found in sandy places at Nazareth. 
 The different kinds have the most 
 diversified habits. Some construct, 
 amongst the tiles or thatch of houses, 
 dens of closely-woven web, which, in 
 its texture, very much resembles fine 
 muslin; these are often seen crawling 
 over the walls of apartments. Others 
 build similar nests in trees, and are 
 known to attack birds. One very 
 robust fellow, the Mygale Blondii, 
 burrows into the earth, forming a broad, 
 slanting gallery, about two feet long, the 
 sides of which he lines beautifully with 
 silk. He is nocturnal in his habits. 
 Just before sunset he may be seen keeping watch within the 
 
 Acrosoma arcuatum. 
 
58 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 mouth of his tunnel, disappearing suddenly when he hears a 
 heavy foot-tread near his hiding-place. The number of spiders 
 ornamented with showy colours was somewhat remarkable* 
 Some double themselves up at the base of leaf-stalks, so as to 
 resemble flower-buds, and thus deceive the insects on which 
 they prey. The most extraordinary-looking spider was a 
 species of Acrosoma, which had two curved bronze-coloured 
 spines, an inch and a half in length, proceeding from the tip 
 of its abdomen. It spins a large web, the monstrous appendages 
 being apparently no impediment to it in its work; but what 
 their use can be I am unable to divine. 
 
 Coleoptera, or beetles, at first seemed to be very scarce. 
 This apparent scarcity has been noticed in other equatorial 
 countries, and arises, probably, from the great heat of the sun 
 not permitting them to exist in exposed situations, where they 
 form such conspicuous objects in Europe. Many hundred 
 species of the different families can be found, when they are 
 patiently searched for in the shady places to which they are 
 confined. It is vain to look for the Geodephaga, or carnivorous 
 beetles, under stones, or anywhere, indeed, in open, sunny 
 places. The terrestrial forms of this interesting family, which 
 abound in England and temperate countries generally, are 
 scarce in the neighbourhood of Para, in fact I met with only 
 four or five species; on the other hand the purely arboreal 
 kinds were rather numerous. The contrary of this happens in 
 northern latitudes, where the great majority of the species and 
 genera are exclusively terrestrial. The arboreal forms are 
 distinguished by the structure of the feet, which have broad 
 spongy soles and toothed claws enabling them to climb over 
 and cling to branches and leaves. The remarkable scarcity of 
 ground beetles is, doubtless, attributable to the number of ants 
 and Termites which people every inch of surface in all shady 
 places, and which would most likely destroy the larvae of 
 Coleoptera. Moreover these active creatures have the same 
 functions as Coleoptera, and thus render their existence un- 
 necessary. The large proportion of climbing forms of carnivor- 
 ous beetles is an interesting fact, because it affords another 
 instance of the arboreal character which animal forms tend to 
 assume in equinoctial America, a circumstance which points to 
 the slow adaptation of the Fauna to a forest-clad country 
 throughout an immense lapse of geological time. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE TOCANTINS AND CAMETA 
 
 Preparations for the Journey — The Bay of Goajara — Grove of fan-leaved 
 Palms — The lower Tocantins — Sketch of the River — Vista alegre — 
 Baiao — Rapids — Boat Journey to the Guariba Falls — Native Life on 
 the Tocantins — Second Journey to Cameta. 
 
 August 26th, 1848. — Mr. Wallace and I started to-day on the 
 excursion which I have already mentioned as having been 
 planned with Mr. Leavens, up the river Tocantins, whose 
 mouth lies about forty-five miles in a straight line, but eighty 
 miles following the bends of the river channels, to the south- 
 west of Para. This river, as before stated, has a course of 
 1600 miles, and stands third jn rank amongst the streams 
 which form the Amazons system. The preparations for the 
 journey took a great deal of time and trouble. We had first 
 to hire a proper vessel, a two-masted vigilinga twenty-seven 
 feet long, with a flat prow and great breadth of beam and fitted 
 to live in heavy seas; for, although our voyage was only a river 
 trip, there were vast sea-like expanses of water to traverse. It 
 was not decked over, but had two arched awnings formed of 
 strong wickerwork, and thatched with palm leaves. We had 
 then to store it with provisions for three months, the time we 
 at first intended to be away; procure the necessary passports;, 
 and, lastly, engage a crew. Mr. Leavens, having had much. 
 experience in the country, managed all these matters. He 
 brought two Indians from the rice-mills, and these induced 
 another to enrol himself. We, on our parts, took our cook 
 Isidoro, and a young Indian lad, named Antonio, who had 
 attached himself to us in the course of our residence at Nazareth. 
 Our principal man was Alexandro, one of Mr. Leavens's Indians. 
 He was an intelligent and well-disposed young Tapuyo, an 
 expert sailor, and an indefatigable hunter. To his fidelity 
 we were indebted for being enabled to carry out any of the 
 objects of our voyage. Being a native of a district near the 
 capital, Alexandro was a civilised Tapuyo, a citizen as free as 
 his white neighbours. He spoke only Portuguese. He was a 
 
 59 
 
60 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 spare-built man, rather under the middle height, with fine 
 regular features, and, what was unusual in Indians, the upper 
 lip decorated with a moustache. Three years afterwards I saw 
 him at Para in the uniform of the National Guard, and he called* 
 on me often to talk about old times. I esteemed him as a quiet, 
 sensible, manly young fellow. 
 
 We set sail in the evening, after waiting several hours in 
 vain for one of our crew. It was soon dark, the wind blew 
 stiffly, and the tide rushed along with great rapidity, carrying 
 us swiftly past the crowd of vessels which were anchored in the 
 port. The canoe rolled a good deal. After we had made five 
 or six miles of way the tide turned, and we were obliged to 
 cast anchor. Not long after, we lay ourselves down all three 
 together on the mat, which was spread over the floor of our 
 cabin, and soon fell asleep. 
 
 On awaking at sunrise the next morning, we found ourselves 
 gliding upwards with the tide, along the Bahia or Bay, as it is 
 called, of Goajara. This is a broad channel lying between the 
 mainland and a line of islands which extends some distance 
 beyond the city. Into it three large rivers discharge their 
 waters, namely, the Guama, trie Acara, and the Moju; so that 
 it forms a kind of sub-estuary within the grand estuary of 
 Para. It is nearly four miles broad. The left bank, along 
 which we were now sailing, was beautiful in the extreme; not 
 an inch of soil was to be seen; the water frontage presented 
 a compact wall of rich and varied forest, resting on the surface 
 of the stream. It seemed to form a finished border to the 
 water scene, where the dome-like, rounded shapes of exogenous 
 trees which constituted the mass formed the groundwork, and 
 the endless diversity of broad-leaved Heliconiae and Palms — 
 each kind differing in stem, crown, and fronds — the rich 
 embroidery. The morning was calm and cloudless; and the 
 slanting beams of the early sun, striking full on the front of 
 the forest, lighted up the whole most gloriously. The only 
 sound of life which reached us was the call of the Serracura 
 (Gallinula Cayennensis), a kind of wild-fowl; all else was so 
 still that the voices of boatmen could be plainly heard from 
 canoes passing a mile or two distant from us. The sun soon 
 gains great power on the water, but with it the sea-breeze 
 increases in strength, moderating the heat which would other- 
 wise be almost insupportable. We reached the end of the 
 Goajara about midday, and then entered the narrower channel 
 of the Moju. Up this we travelled, partly rowing and partly 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 61 
 
 sailing between the same unbroken walls of forest, until the 
 morning of the 28th. 
 
 August 29th. — The Moju, a stream little inferior to the 
 Thames in size, is connected about twenty miles from its 
 mouth by means of a short artificial canal with a small stream, 
 the Igarape-mirim, which flows the opposite way into the 
 water-system of the Tocantins. Small vessels like ours take 
 this route in preference to the stormy passage by way of the 
 main river, although the distance is considerably greater. We 
 passed through the canal yesterday, and to-day have been 
 threading our way through a labyrinth of narrow channels; 
 their banks all clothed with the same magnificent forest; but 
 agreeably varied by houses of planters and settlers. We passed 
 many quite large establishments, besides one pretty little 
 village called Santa Anna. All these channels are washed 
 through by the tides, — the ebb, contrary to what takes place 
 in the short canal, setting towards the Tocantins. The water 
 is almost tepid (77 Fahr.), and the rank vegetation all around 
 seems reeking with moisture. The country however, as we 
 were told, is perfectly healthy. Some of the houses are built 
 on wooden piles driven into the mud of the swamp. 
 
 In the afternoon we reached the end of the last channel, 
 called the Murutipucu, which runs for several miles between 
 two unbroken lines of fan-leaved palms, forming with their 
 straight stems colossal palisades. On rounding a point of land 
 we came in full view of the Tocantins. The event was announced 
 by one of our Indians, who was on the look-out at the prow, 
 shouting, "La esta o Parana-uassu ! " "Behold, the great 
 river ! " It was a grand sight — a broad expanse of dark waters 
 dancing merrily to the breeze; the opposite shore, a narrow 
 blue line, miles away. 
 
 We went ashore on an island covered with palm-trees, to 
 make a fire and boil our kettle for tea. I wandered a short 
 way inland, and was astounded at the prospect. The land 
 lay below the upper level of the daily tides, so that there was 
 no underwood, and the ground was bare. The trees were 
 almost all of one species of Palm, the gigantic fan-leaved 
 Mauritia flexuosa; on the borders only was there a small 
 number of a second kind, the equally remarkable Ubussu 
 palm, Manicaria saccifera. The Ubussu has erect, uncut 
 leaves, twenty-five feet long, and six feet wide, all arranged 
 round the top of a four-feet high stem, so as to form a figure 
 like that of a colossal shuttlecock. The fan-leaved palms, 
 
62 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 which clothed nearly the entire islet, had huge cylindrical 
 smooth stems, three feet in diameter, and about a hundred feet 
 high. The crowns were formed of enormous clusters of fan- 
 shaped leaves, the stalks alone of which measured seven to ten 
 feet in length. Nothing in the vegetable world could be more 
 imposing than this grove of palms. There was no under- 
 wood to obstruct the view of the long perspective of towering 
 columns. The crowns, which were densely packed together at 
 an immense height overhead, shut out the rays of the sun; and 
 the gloomy solitude beneath, through which the sound of our 
 voices seemed to reverberate, could be compared to nothing so 
 well as a solemn temple. The fruits of the two palms were 
 scattered over the ground ; those of the Ubussu adhere together 
 by twos and threes, and have a rough, brown-coloured shell; 
 the fruit of the Mauritia, on the contrary, is of a bright red hue, 
 and the skin is impressed with deep crossing lines, which give 
 it a resemblance to a quilted cricket-ball. 
 
 About midnight, the tide being favourable, and the breeze 
 strong, we crossed the river, taking it in a slanting direction, a 
 distance of sixteen miles, and arrived at eight o'clock the follow- 
 ing morning at Cameta. This is a town of some importance, 
 pleasantly situated on the somewhat high terra firma of the 
 left bank of the Tocantins. I will defer giving an account 
 of the place till the end of this narrative of our Tocantins 
 voyage. We lost here another of our men, who got drinking 
 with some old companions ashore, and were obliged to start on 
 the difficult journey up the river with two hands only, and they 
 in a very dissatisfied humour with the prospect. 
 
 The river view from Cameta is magnificent. The town is 
 situated, as already mentioned, on a high bank, which forms 
 quite a considerable elevation for this flat country, and the 
 broad expanse of dark-green waters is studded with low, palm- 
 clad islands, the prospect down river, however, being clear, or 
 bounded only by a sea-like horizon of water and sky. The 
 shores are washed by the breeze-tossed waters into little bays 
 and creeks, fringed with sandy beaches. The Tocantins has 
 been likened, by Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who crossed its 
 mouth in 1846, to the Ganges. It is upwards of ten miles in 
 breadth at its mouth; opposite Cameta it is five miles broad. 
 Mr. Burchell, the well-known English traveller, descended the 
 river from the mining provinces of interior Brazil some years 
 before our visit. Unfortunately, the utility of this fine stream 
 is impaired by the numerous obstructions to its navigation 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 63 
 
 in the shape of cataracts and rapids, which commence, in 
 ascending, at about 120 miles above Cameta, as will be seen 
 in the sequel. 
 
 August 30th. — Arrived, in company with Senhor Laroque, 
 an intelligent Portuguese merchant, at Vista Alegre, fifteen 
 miles above Cameta. This was the residence of Senhor Antonio 
 Ferreira Gomez, and was a fair sample of a Brazilian planter's 
 establishment in this part of the country. The buildings 
 covered a wide space, the dwelling-house being separated from 
 the place of business, and as both were built on low, flooded 
 ground, the communication between the two was by means of a 
 long wooden bridge. From the office and visitors' apartments 
 a wooden pier extended into the river. The whole was raised 
 on piles above high-water mark. There was a rude mill for 
 grinding sugar-cane, worked by bullocks, but cashaca, or rum, 
 was the only article manufactured from the juice. Behind the 
 buildings was a small piece of ground cleared from the forest, 
 and planted with fruit-trees, orange, lemon, genipapa, goyava, 
 and others ; and beyond this, a broad path through a neglected 
 plantation of coffee and cacao, led to several large sheds, where 
 the farinha, or mandioca meal, was manufactured. The plan- 
 tations of mandioca are always scattered about in the forest, 
 some of them being on islands in the middle of the river. 
 Land being plentiful, and the plough, as well as, indeed, nearly 
 all other agricultural implements, unknown, the same ground 
 is not planted three years together; but a new piece of forest 
 is cleared every alternate year, and the old clearing suffered to 
 relapse into jungle. 
 
 We stayed here two days, sleeping ashore in the apartment 
 devoted to strangers. As usual in Brazilian houses of the 
 middle class, we were not introduced to the female members of 
 the family, and, indeed, saw nothing of them except at a dis- 
 tance. In the forest and thickets about the place we were 
 tolerably successful in collecting, finding a number of birds and 
 insects which do not occur at Para. I saw here, for the first 
 time, the sky-blue Chatterer (Ampelis cotinga). It was on the 
 topmost bough of a very lofty tree, and completely out of the 
 reach of an ordinary fowling-piece. The beautiful light-blue 
 colour of its plumage was plainly discernible at that distance. 
 It is a dull, quiet bird. A much commoner species was the 
 Cigana or Gipsy (Opisthocomus cristatus), a bird belonging to 
 the same order (Gallinacea) as our domestic fowl. It is about 
 the size of a pheasant; the plumage is dark brown, varied with 
 
64 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 reddish, and the head is adorned with a crest of long feathers. 
 It is a remarkable bird in many respects. The hind toe is not 
 placed high above the level of the other toes, as it is in the 
 fowl order generally, but lies on the same plane with them; 
 the shape of the foot becomes thus suited to the purely arboreal 
 habits of the bird, enabling it to grasp firmly the branches of 
 trees. This is a distinguishing character of all the birds in 
 equinoctial America which represents the fowl and pheasant 
 tribes of the old world, and affords another proof of the adapta- 
 tion of the Fauna to a forest region. The Cigana lives in con- 
 siderable flocks on the lower trees and bushes bordering the 
 streams and lagoons, and feeds on various wild fruits, especially 
 the sour Goyava (Psidium sp.). The natives say it devours the 
 fruit of arborescent Arums (Caladium arborescens), which grow 
 in crowded masses around the swampy banks of lagoons. Its 
 voice is a harsh, grating hiss ; it makes the noise when alarmed, 
 all the individuals sibilating as they fly heavily away from tree 
 to tree, when disturbed by passing canoes. It is polygamous, 
 like other members of the same order. It is never, however, 
 by any chance, seen on the ground, and is nowhere domesti- 
 cated. The flesh has an unpleasant odour of musk combined 
 with wet hides — a smell called by the Brazilians catinga; it 
 is, therefore, uneatable. If it be as unpalatable to carnivorous 
 animals as it is to man, the immunity from persecution which 
 it would thereby enjoy would account for its existing in such 
 great numbers throughout the country. 
 
 We lost here another of our crew; and thus, at the com- 
 mencement of our voyage, had before us the prospect of being 
 forced to return, from sheer want of hands to manage the 
 canoe. Senhor Gomez, to whom we had brought letters of 
 introduction from Senhor Joao Augusto Correia, a Brazilian 
 gentlemen of high standing at Para, tried what he could do to 
 induce the canoe-men of his neighbourhood to engage with us, 
 but it was a vain endeavour. The people of these parts seemed 
 to be above working for wages. They are naturally indolent, 
 and besides, have all some little business or plantation of their 
 own, which gives them a livelihood with independence. It is 
 difficult to obtain hands under any circumstances, but it was 
 particularly so in our case, from being foreigners, and sus- 
 pected, as was natural amongst ignorant people, of being 
 strange in our habits. At length, our host lent us two of his 
 slaves to help us on another stage, namely, to the village 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 
 
 65 
 
 / 
 
 of Baiao, where we had great hopes of having this, our 
 urgent want, supplied 
 by the military com- r ' s r$*j. 
 
 mandant of the district. 
 September 2nd. — The 
 distance from Vista 
 Alegre to Baiao is about 
 twenty-five miles. We 
 had but little wind, and 
 our men were therefore obliged to row 
 the greater part of the way. The oars 
 used in such canoes as ours are made 
 by tying a stout paddle to the end of a 
 long pole by means of woody lianas. 
 The men take their stand on a raised 
 deck, formed by a few rough planks 
 placed over the arched covering in the 
 fore part of the vessel, and pull with 
 their backs to the stern. We started 
 at six a.m., and about sunset reached a 
 point where the west channel of the 
 river, along which we had been travelling 
 since we left Cameta, joined a broader 
 middle one, and formed with it a great 
 expanse of water. The islands here 
 seem to form two pretty regular lines, 
 dividing the great river into three 
 channels. As we progressed slowly, we 
 took the montaria, and went ashore, 
 from time to time, to the houses, which 
 were numerous on the river banks as 
 well as on the larger islands. In low 
 situations they had a very unfinished 
 appearance, being mere frameworks 
 raised high on wooden piles, and 
 thatched with the leaves of the Ubussu 
 palm. In their construction another 
 palm-tree is made much use of, viz., 
 the Assai (Euterpe oleracea). The 
 outer part of the stem of this species 
 is hard and tough as horn; it is split 
 
 into narrow planks, and these form a great portion of the walls 
 ,and flooring. The residents told us that the western channel 
 
 **mL j 
 
 Assai Palm (Euterpe 
 oleracea). 
 
66 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 becomes nearly dry in the middle of the fine season, but that at 
 high water, in April and May, the river rises to the level of the 
 house-floors. The river bottom is everywhere sandy, and the 
 country perfectly healthy. The people seemed to be all con- 
 tented and happy, but idleness and poverty were exhibited by 
 many unmistakeable signs. As to the flooding of their island 
 abodes, they did not seem to care about that at all. They 
 seem to be almost amphibious, or as much at home on the 
 water as on land. It was really alarming to see men and 
 women and children, in little leaky canoes laden to the water- 
 level with bag and baggage, crossing broad reaches of river. 
 Most of them have houses also on the terra firma, and reside 
 in the cool palm-swamps of the Ygapo islands, as they are 
 called, only in the hot and dry season. They live chiefly on 
 fish, shellfish (amongst which were large Ampullariae, whose 
 flesh I found, on trial, to be a very tough morsel), the never- 
 failing farinha, and the fruits of the forest. Amongst the 
 latter the fruits of palm-trees occupied the chief place. The 
 Assai is the most in use, but this forms a universal article of 
 diet in all parts of the country. The fruit, which is perfectly 
 round, and about the size of a cherry, contains but a small 
 portion of pulp lying between the skin and the hard kernel. 
 This is made, with the addition of water, into a thick, violet- 
 coloured beverage, which stains the lips like blackberries. The 
 fruit of the Miriti is also a common article of food, although 
 the pulp is sour and unpalatable, at least to European tastes. 
 It is boiled, and then eaten with farinha. The Tucuma (Astro- 
 caryum tucuma), and the Mucuja (Acrocomia lasiospatha), 
 grow only on the main land. Their fruits yield a yellowish, 
 fibrous pulp, which the natives eat in the same way as the 
 Miriti. They contain so much fatty matter, that vultures and 
 dogs devour them greedily. 
 
 Early on the morning of September 3rd we reached the right 
 or eastern bank, which is here from forty to sixty feet high. 
 The houses were more substantially built than those we had 
 hitherto seen. We succeeded in buying a small turtle; most 
 of the inhabitants had a few of these animals, which they kept 
 in little inclosures made with stakes. The people were of the 
 same class everywhere, Mamelucos. They were very civil; we 
 were not able, however, to purchase much fresh food from 
 them. I think this was owing to their really not having more 
 than was absolutely required to satisfy their own needs. In 
 these districts, where the people depend for animal food solely 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 67 
 
 on fishing, there is a period of the year when they suffer hunger, 
 so that they are disposed to prize highly a small stock when 
 they have it. They generally answered in the negative when 
 we asked, money in hand, whether they had fowls, turtles, or 
 eggs to sell. " Nao ha, sinto que nao posso lhe ser bom;" 
 or, " Nao ha, meu coracao." " We have none; I am sorry I 
 cannot oblige you; " or, " There is none, my heart." 
 
 Sept. yd to 7th. — At half-past eight a.m. we arrived at 
 Baiao, which is built on a very high bank, and contains about 
 400 inhabitants. We had to climb to the village up a ladder, 
 which is fixed against the bank, and, on arriving at the top, 
 took possession of a room, which Senhor Seixas had given 
 orders to be prepared for us. He himself was away at his sitio, 
 and would not be here until the next day. We were now quite 
 dependent on him for men to enable us to continue our voyage, 
 and so had no remedy but to wait his leisure. The situation 
 of the place, and the nature of the woods around it, promised 
 well for novelties in birds and insects; so we had no reason to 
 be vexed at the delay, but brought our apparatus and store- 
 boxes up from the canoe, and set to work. 
 
 The easy, lounging life of the people amused us very much. 
 I afterwards had plenty of time to become used to tropical 
 village life. There is a free, familiar, pro bono publico style of 
 living in these small places, which requires some time for a 
 European to fall into. No sooner were we established in our 
 rooms, than a number of lazy young fellows came to look on 
 and make remarks, and we had to answer all sorts of questions. 
 The houses have their doors and windows open to the street, 
 and people walk in and out as they please; there is always, 
 however, a more secluded apartment, where the female members 
 of the families reside. In their familiarity there is nothing 
 intentionally offensive, and it is practised simply in the desire 
 to be civil and sociable. A young Mameluco, named Soares, 
 an Escrivao, or public clerk, took me into his house to show me 
 his library. I was rather surprised to see a number of well- 
 thumbed Latin classics, Virgil, Terence, Cicero's Epistles, and 
 Livy. I was not familiar enough, at this early period of my 
 residence in the country, with Portuguese to converse freely 
 with Senhor Soares, or ascertain what use he made of these 
 books; it was an unexpected sight, a classical library in a 
 mud-plastered and palm-thatched hut on the banks of the 
 Tocantins. 
 
 The prospect from the village was magnificent, over the 
 
68 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 green wooded islands, far away to the grey line of forest on the 
 opposite shore of the Tocantins. We were now well out of the 
 low alluvial country of the Amazons proper, and the climate was 
 evidently much drier than it is near Para. They had had no 
 rain here for many weeks, and the atmosphere was hazy around 
 the horizon; so much so that the sun, before setting, glared 
 like a blood-red globe. At Para this never happens; the stars 
 and sun are as clear and sharply defined when they peep above 
 the distant tree-tops as they are at the zenith. This beautiful 
 transparency of the air arises, doubtless, from the equal distribu- 
 tion through it of invisible vapour. I shall ever remember, in 
 one of my voyages along the Para river, the grand spectacle 
 that was once presented at sunrise. Our vessel was a large 
 schooner, and we were bounding along before a spanking breeze 
 which tossed the waters into foam, when the day dawned. 
 So clear was the air, that the lower rim of the full moon 
 remained sharply defined until it touched the western horizon, 
 whilst, at the same time, the sun rose in the east. The two 
 great orbs were visible at the same time, and the passage from 
 the moonlit night to day was so gentle that it seemed to be 
 only the brightening of dull weather. The woods around 
 Baiao were of second growth, the ground having been formerly 
 cultivated. A great number of coffee and cotton trees grew 
 amongst the thickets. A fine woodland pathway extends for 
 miles over the high, undulating bank, leading from one house 
 to another along the edge of the cliff. I went into several of 
 them, and talked to their inmates. They were all poor people. 
 The men were out fishing, some far away, a distance of many 
 days' journey; the women plant mandioca, make the farinha, 
 spin and weave cotton, manufacture soap of burnt cacao shells 
 and andiroba oil, and follow various other domestic employ- 
 ments. I asked why they allowed their plantations to run to 
 waste. They said that it was useless trying to plant anything 
 hereabout; the Saiiba ant devoured the young coffee-trees, and 
 every one who attempted to contend against this universal 
 ravager was sure to be defeated. The country, for many miles 
 along the banks of the river, seemed to be well peopled. The 
 inhabitants were nearly all of the tawny-white Mameluco class. 
 I saw a good many mulattos, but very few negroes and Indians, 
 and none that could be called pure whites. 
 
 When Senhor Seixas arrived, he acted very kindly. He pro- 
 vided us at once with two men, killed an ox in our honour, and 
 treated us altogether with great consideration. We were not, 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 69 
 
 however, introduced to his family. I caught a glimpse once of 
 his wife, a pretty little Mameluco woman, as she was tripping 
 with a young girl, whom I supposed to be her daughter, across 
 the back yard. Both wore long dressing-gowns, made of bright- 
 coloured calico print, and had long wooden tobacco-pipes in 
 their mouths. The room in which we slept and worked had 
 formerly served as a storeroom for cacao, and at night I was 
 kept awake for hours by rats and cockroaches, which swarm in 
 all such places. The latter were running about all over the 
 walls; now and then one would come suddenly with a whirr 
 full at my face, and get under my shirt if I attempted to jerk 
 it off. As to the rats, they were chasing one another by dozens 
 all night long, over the floor, up and down the edges of the 
 doors, and along the rafters of the open roof. 
 
 September "jth. — We started from Baiao at an early hour. 
 One of our new men was a good-humoured, willing young 
 mulatto, named Jose; the other was a sulky Indian called 
 Manoel, who seemed to have been pressed into our service 
 against his will. Senhor Seixas, on parting, sent a quantity 
 of fresh provisions on board. A few miles above Baiao the 
 channel became very shallow; we got aground several times, 
 and the men had to disembark and shove the vessel off. Alex- 
 andre here shot several fine fish, with bow and arrow. It was 
 the first time I had seen fish captured in this way. The arrow 
 is a reed, with a steel barbed point, which is fixed in a hole at 
 the end, and secured by fine twine made from the fibres of 
 pine-apple leaves. It is only in the clearest water that fish 
 can be thus shot: and the only skill required is to make, in 
 taking aim, the proper allowance for refraction. 
 
 The next day before sunrise a fine breeze sprang up, and the 
 men awoke and set the sails. We glided all day through 
 channels between islands with long, white, sandy beaches, over 
 which, now and then, aquatic and wading birds were seen 
 running. The forest was low, and had a harsh, dry aspect. 
 Several palm trees grew here which we had not before seen. 
 On low bushes, near the water, pretty, red-headed tanagers 
 (Tanagra gularis) were numerous, flitting about and chirping 
 like sparrows. About half-past four p.m., we brought to at the 
 mouth of a creek or channel, where there was a great extent of 
 sandy beach. The sand had been blown by the wind into 
 ridges and undulations, and over the moister parts large flocks 
 of sandpipers were running about. Alexandro and I had a 
 long ramble over the rolling plain, which came as an agree- 
 
jo The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 able change after the monotonous forest scenery amid which 
 we had been so long travelling. He pointed out to me the 
 tracks of a huge jaguar on the sand. We found here, also, 
 our first turtle's nest, and obtained 120 eggs from it, which 
 were laid at a depth of nearly two feet from the surface, the 
 mother first excavating a hole, and afterwards covering it up 
 with sand. The place is discoverable only by following the 
 tracks of the turtle from the water. I saw here an alligator 
 for the first time, which reared its head and shoulders above 
 the water just after I had taken a bath near the spot. The 
 night was calm and cloudless, and we employed the hours 
 before bed-time in angling by moonlight. 
 
 On the 10th we reached a small settlement called Patos, 
 consisting of about a dozen houses, and built on a high, rocky 
 bank, on the eastern shore. The rock is the same nodular 
 conglomerate which is found at so many places, from the sea- 
 coast to a distance of 600 miles up the Amazons. Mr. Leavens 
 made a last attempt here to engage men to accompany us to 
 the Araguaya; but it was in vain; not a soul could be induced 
 by any amount of wages to go on such an expedition. The 
 reports as to the existence of cedar were very vague. All said 
 that the tree was plentiful somewhere, but no one could fix on 
 the precise locality. I believe that the cedar grows, like all 
 other forest trees, in a scattered way, and not in masses any- 
 where. The fact of its being the principal tree observed float- 
 ing down with the current of the Amazons is to be explained 
 by its wood being much lighter than that of the majority of 
 trees. When the banks are washed away by currents, trees of 
 all species fall into the river; but the heavier ones, which are 
 the most numerous, sink, and the lighter, such as the cedar, 
 alone float down to the sea. 
 
 Mr. Leavens was told that there were cedar trees at Trocara, 
 on the opposite side of the river, near some fine rounded hills 
 covered with forest, visible from Patos; so there we went. 
 We found here several families encamped in a delightful spot. 
 The shore sloped gradually down to the water, and was shaded 
 by a few wide-spreading trees. There was no underwood. A 
 great number of hammocks were seen slung between the tree- 
 trunks, and the litter of a numerous household lay scattered 
 about. Women, old and young, some of the latter very good- 
 looking, and a large number of children, besides pet animals, 
 enlivened the encampment. They were all half-breeds, simple, 
 well-disposed people, and explained to us that they were inhabi- 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta yi 
 
 tants of Cameta, who had come thus far, eighty miles, to spend 
 the summer months. The only motive they could give for 
 coming was, that " it was so hot in the town in the verao 
 (summer), and they were all so fond of fresh fish." Thus these 
 simple folks think nothing of leaving home and business to 
 come on a three months' picnic. It is the annual custom of 
 this class of people throughout the province to spend a few 
 months of the fine season in the wilder parts of the country. 
 They carry with them all the farinha they can scrape together, 
 this being the only article of food necessary to provide. The 
 men hunt and fish for the day's wants, and sometimes collect a 
 little India-rubber, salsaparilla, or copaiba oil, to sell to traders 
 on their return; the women assist in paddling the canoes, do 
 the cooking, and sometimes fish with rod and line. The weather 
 is enjoyable the whole time, and so days and weeks pass happily 
 away. 
 
 One of the men volunteered to walk with us into the forest, 
 and show us a few cedar-trees. We passed through a mile or 
 two of spiny thickets, and at length came upon the banks of 
 the rivulet Trocara, which flows over a stony bed, and, about 
 a mile above its mouth, falls over a ledge of rocks, thus forming 
 a very pretty cascade. In the neighbourhood, we found a 
 number of specimens of a curious land-shell, a large flat Helix, 
 with a labyrinthine mouth (Anastoma). We learnt afterwards 
 that it was a species which had been discovered a few years 
 previously by Dr. Gardner, the botanist, on the upper part of 
 the Tocantins. 
 
 We saw here, for the first time, the splendid Hyacinthine 
 macaw (Macrocercus hyacinthinus, Lath., the Araruna of the 
 natives), one of the finest and rarest species of the Parrot 
 family. It only occurs in the interior of Brazil, from 1 6° S. lat. 
 to the southern border of the Amazons valley. It is three feet 
 long from the beak to the tip of the tail, and is entirely of a 
 soft hyacinthine blue colour, except round the eyes, where the 
 skin is naked and white. It flies in pairs, and feeds on the 
 hard nuts of several palms, but especially of the Mucuja (Acro- 
 comia lasiospatha). These nuts, which are so hard as to be 
 difficult to break with a heavy hammer, are crushed to a pulp 
 by the powerful beak of this macaw. 
 
 Mr. Leavens was thoroughly disgusted with the people of 
 Patos. Two men had come from below with the intention, I 
 believe, of engaging with us, but they now declined. The 
 inspector, constable, or governor of the place appeared to be a 
 
72 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 very slippery customer, and I fancy discouraged the men from 
 going, whilst making a great show of forwarding our views. 
 These outlying settlements are the resort of a number of idle, 
 worthless characters. There was a kind of festival going on, 
 and the people fuddled themselves with cashiri, an intoxicating 
 drink invented by the Indians. It is made by soaking mandioca 
 cakes in water until fermentation takes place, and tastes like 
 new beer. 
 
 Being unable to obtain men, Mr. Leavens now gave up his 
 project of ascending the river as far as the Araguaya. He 
 assented to our request, however, to ascend to the cataracts 
 near Arroyos. We started therefore from Patos with a more 
 definite aim before us than we had hitherto had. The river 
 became more picturesque as we advanced. The water was very 
 low, it being now the height of the dry reason; the islands 
 were smaller than those further down, and some of them were 
 high and rocky. Bold wooded bluffs projected into the stream, 
 and all the shores were fringed with beaches of glistening white 
 sand. On one side of the river there was an extensive grassy 
 plain or campo with isolated patches of trees scattered over it. 
 On the 14th and following day we stopped several times to 
 ramble ashore. Our longest excursion was to a large shallow 
 lagoon, choked up with aquatic plants, which lay about two 
 miles across the campo. At a place called Juquerapud we 
 engaged a pilot to conduct us to Arroyos, and a few miles 
 above the pilot's house, arrived at a point where it was not 
 possible to advance further in our large canoe on account of 
 the rapids. 
 
 September 16th. — Embarked at six a.m. in a large montaria 
 which had been lent to us for this part of our voyage by Senhor 
 Seixas, leaving the vigilinga anchored close to a rocky islet, 
 named Santa Anna, to await our return. Isidoro was left in 
 charge, and we were sorry to be obliged to leave behind also 
 our mulatto Jose, who had fallen ill since leaving Baiao. We 
 had then remaining only Alexandra, Manoel, and the pilot, a 
 sturdy Tapuyo named Joaquim; scarcely a sufficient crew to 
 paddle against the strong currents. 
 
 At ten a.m. we arrived at the first rapids, which are called 
 Tapaiunaquara. The river, which was here about a mile wide, 
 was choked up with rocks, a broken ridge passing completely 
 across it. Between these confused piles of stone the currents 
 were fearfully strong, and formed numerous eddies and whirl- 
 pools. We were obliged to get out occasionally and walk 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 73 
 
 from rock to rock, whilst the men dragged the canoe over the 
 obstacles. Beyond Tapaiunaquara, the stream became again 
 broad and deep, and the river scenery was beautiful in the 
 extreme. The water was clear and of a bluish-green colour. 
 On both sides of the stream stretched ranges of wooded hills, 
 and in the middle picturesque islets rested on the smooth 
 water, whose brilliant green woods fringed with palms formed 
 charming bits of foreground to the perspective of sombre hills 
 fading into grey in the distance. Joaquim pointed out to us 
 grove after grove of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) on 
 the mainland. This is one of the chief collecting grounds for 
 this nut. The tree is one of the loftiest in the forest, towering 
 far above its fellows; we could see the woody fruits, large and 
 round as cannon-balls, dotted over the branches. The currents 
 were very strong in some places, so that during the greater 
 part of the way the men preferred to travel near the shore, and 
 propel the boat by means of long poles. 
 
 We arrived at Arroyos about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 after ten hours' hard pull. The place consists simply of a few 
 houses built on a high bank, and forms a station where canoe- 
 men from the mining countries of the interior of Brazil stop to 
 rest themselves before or after surmounting the dreaded falls 
 and rapids of Guaribas, situated a couple of miles further up. 
 We dined ashore, and in the evening again embarked to visit 
 the falls. The vigorous and successful way in which our men 
 battled with the terrific currents excited our astonishment. 
 The bed of the river, here about a mile wide, is strewn with 
 blocks of various sizes, which lie in the most irregular manner, 
 and between them rush currents of more or less rapidity. With 
 an accurate knowledge of the place and skilful management, 
 the falls can be approached in small canoes by threading the 
 less dangerous channels. The main fall is about a quarter of 
 a mile wide; we climbed to an elevation overlooking it, and 
 had a good view of the cataract. A body of water rushes with 
 terrific force down a steep slope, and boils up with deafening 
 roar around the boulders which obstruct its course. The wild- 
 ness of the whole scene was very impressive. As far as the eye 
 could reach, stretched range after range of wooded hills, scores 
 of miles of beautiful wilderness, inhabited only by scanty tribes 
 of wild Indians. In the midst of such a solitude the roar of 
 the cataract seemed fitting music. 
 
 September 17/A. — We commenced early in the morning our 
 
74 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 downward voyage. Arroyos is situated in about 4 10' S. lat.; 
 and lies, therefore, about 130 miles from the mouth of the 
 Tocantins. Fifteen miles above Guaribas another similar 
 cataract called Tabocas lies across the river. We were told 
 that there were in all fifteen of these obstructions to navigation 
 between Arroyos and the mouth of the Araguaya. The worst 
 was the Inferno, the Guaribas standing second to it in evil 
 reputation. Many canoes and lives have been lost here, most 
 of the accidents arising through the vessels being hurled against 
 an enormous cubical mass of rock called the Guaribinha, which 
 we, on our trip to the falls in the small canoe, passed round 
 with the greatest ease about a quarter of a mile below the 
 main falls. This, however, was the dry season; in the time 
 of full waters a tremendous current sets against it. We 
 descended the river rapidly, and found it excellent fun shooting 
 the rapids. The men seemed to delight in choosing the swiftest 
 parts of the current; they sang and yelled in the greatest 
 excitement, working the paddles with great force, and throw- 
 ing clouds of spray above us as we bounded downwards. We 
 stopped to rest at the mouth of a rivulet named Caganxa. 
 The pilot told us that gold had been found in the bed of this 
 brook; so we had the curiosity to wade several hundred yards 
 through the icy cold waters in search of it. Mr. Leavens 
 seemed very much interested in the matter; he picked up all 
 the shining stones he could espy in the pebbly bottom, in 
 hopes of finding diamonds also. There is, in fact, no reason 
 why both gold and diamonds should not be found here, the 
 hills being a continuation of those of the mining countries of 
 interior Brazil, and the brooks flowing through the narrow 
 valleys between them. 
 
 On arriving at the place where we had left our canoe, we 
 found poor Jose the mulatto much worse, so we hastened on to 
 Juquerapua to procure aid. An old half-caste woman took 
 charge of him; she made poultices of the pulp of a wild fruit, 
 administered cooling draughts made from herbs which grew 
 near the house, and in fact acted the part of nurse admirably. 
 We stayed at this place all night and part of the following day, 
 and I had a stroll along a delightful pathway, which led over 
 hill and dale, two or three miles through the forest. I was 
 surprised at the number and variety of brilliantly-coloured 
 butterflies; they were all of small size, and started forth at 
 every step I took, from the low bushes which bordered the 
 road. I first heard here the notes of a trogon; it was seated 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 75 
 
 alone on a branch, at no great elevation; a beautiful bird, 
 with glossy-green back and rose-coloured breast (probably 
 Trogon melanurus). At intervals it uttered, in a complaining 
 tone, a sound resembling the words " qua, qua." It is a dull 
 inactive bird, and not very ready to take flight when approached. 
 In this respect, however, the trogons are not equal to the 
 jacamars, whose stupidity in remaining at their posts, seated 
 on low branches in the gloomiest shades of the forest, is some- 
 what remarkable in a country where all other birds are exceed- 
 ingly wary. One species of jacamar was not uncommon here 
 (Galbula viridis); I sometimes saw two or three together seated 
 on a slender branch silent and motionless with the exception 
 of a slight movement of the head; when an insect flew past 
 within a short distance, one of the birds would dart off, seize 
 it, and return again to its sitting-place. The trogons are found 
 in the tropics of both hemispheres; the jacamars, which are 
 clothed in plumage of the most beautiful golden-bronze and 
 steel colours, are peculiar to tropical America. 
 
 At night I slept ashore as a change from the confinement of 
 the canoe, having obtained permission from Senhor Joaquim 
 to sling my hammock under his roof. The house, like all 
 others in these out-of-the-way parts of the country, was a large 
 open, palm-thatched shed, having one end inclosed by means 
 of partitions also made of palm-leaves, so as to form a private 
 apartment. Under the shed were placed all the household 
 utensils; earthenware jars, pots, and kettles, hunting and 
 fishing implements, paddles, bows and arrows, harpoons, and 
 so forth. One or two common wooden chests serve to contain 
 the holiday- clothing of the females; there is no other furniture 
 except a few stools, and the hammock which answers the 
 purposes of chair and sofa. When a visitor enters he is asked 
 to sit down in a hammock: persons who are on intimate terms 
 with each other recline together in the same hammock, one at 
 each end; this is a very convenient arrangement for friendly 
 conversation. There are neither tables nor chairs ; the cloth for 
 meals is spread on a mat, and the guests squat round in any 
 position they choose. There is no cordiality of manners, but 
 the treatment of the guests shows a keen sense of the duties of 
 hospitality on the part of the host. There is a good deal of 
 formality in the intercourse of these half-wild mamelucos, which, 
 I believe, has been chiefly derived from their Indian forefathers, 
 although a little of it may have been copied from the Portuguese. 
 
 A little distance from the house were the open sheds under 
 
76 
 
 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 which the farinha for the use of the establishment was manu- 
 factured. In the centre of each shed stood the shallow pans, 
 made of clay and built over ovens, where the meal is roasted. 
 A long flexible cylinder made of the peel of a marantaceous 
 plant, plaited into the proper form, hung suspended from a 
 beam; it is in this that the pulp of the mandioca is pressed, 
 and from it the juice, which is of a highly poisonous nature, 
 although the pulp is wholesome food, runs into pans placed 
 beneath to receive it. A wooden trough, such as is used in all 
 these places for receiving the pulp before the poisonous matter 
 is extracted, stood on the ground, and from the posts hung the 
 long wicker-work baskets, or aturas, in which the women carry 
 the roots from the roca or clearing; a broad ribbon made from 
 the inner bark of the monguba tree is attached to the rims of 
 the baskets, and is passed round the forehead of the carriers, to 
 relieve their backs in supporting the heavy load. Around the 
 shed were planted a number of banana and other fruit trees; 
 amongst them were the never-failing capsicum-pepper bushes, 
 brilliant as holly-trees at Christmas time with their fiery-red 
 fruit, and lemon trees; the one supplying the pungent, the 
 other the acid, for sauce to the perpetual meal of fish. There 
 is never in such places any appearance of careful cultivation, 
 no garden or orchard ; the useful trees are surrounded by weeds 
 and bushes, and close behind rises the everlasting forest. 
 
 There were other strangers under Senhor Joaquim's roof 
 besides myself, — .mulattos, mamelucos, and Indians, — so we 
 formed altogether a large party. Houses occur at rare intervals 
 in this wild country, and hospitality is freely given to the few 
 passing travellers. After a frugal supper, a large wood fire 
 was lighted in the middle of the shed, and all turned into their 
 hammocks and began to converse. A few of the party soon 
 dropped asleep; others, however, kept awake until a very late 
 hour telling stories. Some related adventures which had 
 happened to them whilst hunting or fishing; others recounted 
 myths about the Curupira, and other demons or spirits of the 
 forest. They were all very appropriate to the time and place, 
 for now and then a yell or a shriek resounded through the 
 gloomy wilderness around the shed. One old parchment-faced 
 fellow, with a skin the colour of mahogany, seemed to be a 
 capital story-teller; but I was sorry I did not know enough of 
 the language to follow him in all the details which he gave. 
 Amongst other things he related an adventure he had once had 
 with a jaguar. He got up from his hammock in the course of 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 77 
 
 the narrative to give it the greater effect by means of gestures ; 
 he seized a bow and a large taquara arrow to show how he slew 
 the beast, imitated its hoarse growl, and danced about the fire 
 like a demon. 
 
 In descending the river we landed frequently, and Mr. 
 Wallace and I lost no chance of adding to our collections; so 
 that before the end of our journey we had got together a very 
 considerable number of birds, insects, and shells, chiefly taken, 
 however, in the low country. Leaving Baiao we took our last 
 farewell of the limpid waters and varied scenery of the upper 
 river, and found ourselves again in the humid flat region of the 
 Amazons valley. We sailed down this lower part of the river 
 by a different channel from the one we travelled along in 
 ascending, and frequently went ashore on the low islands in 
 mid-river. As already stated, these are covered with water in 
 the wet season; but at this time, there having been three 
 months of fine weather, they were dry throughout, and by the 
 subsidence of the waters placed four or five feet above the level 
 of the river. They are covered with a most luxuriant forest, 
 comprising a large number of india-rubber trees. We found 
 several people encamped here, who were engaged in collecting 
 and preparing the rubber, and thus had an opportunity of 
 observing the process. 
 
 The tree which yields this valuable sap is the Siphonia 
 elastica, a member of the Euphorbiaceous order; it belongs, 
 therefore, to a group of plants quite different from that which 
 furnishes the caoutchouc of the East Indies and Africa. This 
 latter is the product of different species of Ficus, and is con- 
 sidered, I believe, in commerce an inferior article to the india- 
 rubber of Para. The Siphonia elastica grows only on the 
 lowlands in the Amazons region; hitherto the rubber has been 
 collected chiefly in the islands and swampy parts of the main- 
 land within a distance of fifty to a hundred miles to the west 
 of Para; but there are plenty of untapped trees still growing 
 in the wilds of the Tapajos, Madeira, Jurua, and Jauari, as far 
 as 1800 miles from the Atlantic coast. The tree is not remark- 
 able in appearance; in bark and foliage it is not unlike the 
 European ash; but the trunk, like that of all forest trees, 
 shoots up to an immense height before throwing off branches. 
 The trees seem to be no man's property hereabout. The people 
 we met with told us they came every year to collect rubber on 
 these islands, as soon as the waters had subsided, namely, in 
 August, and remained till January or February. The process 
 
78 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 is very simple. Every morning each person, man or woman, 
 to whom is allotted a certain number of trees, goes the round 
 of the whole and collects in a large vessel the milky sap which 
 trickles from gashes made in the bark on the preceding evening, 
 and which is received in little clay cups, or in ampullaria shells 
 stuck beneath the wounds. The sap, which at first is of the 
 consistence of cream, soon thickens ; the collectors are provided 
 with a great number of wooden moulds of the shape in which 
 the rubber is wanted, and when they return to the camp they 
 dip them into the liquid, laying on, in the course of several 
 days, one coat after another. When this is done the substance 
 is white and hard; the proper colour and consistency are given 
 by passing it repeatedly through a thick black smoke obtained 
 by burning the nuts of certain palm trees, after which process 
 the article is ready for sale. India-rubber is known throughout 
 the province only by the name of seringa, the Portuguese word 
 for syringe; it owes this appellation to the circumstance that 
 it was in this form only that the first Portuguese settlers noticed 
 it to be employed by the aborigines. It is said that the Indians 
 were first taught to make syringes of rubber by seeing natural 
 tubes formed by it when the spontaneously-flowing sap gathered 
 round projecting twigs. Brazilians of all classes still use it 
 extensively in the form of syringes, for injections form a great 
 feature in the popular system of cures; the rubber for this 
 purpose is made into a pear-shaped bottle, and a quill fixed in 
 the long neck. 
 
 September 24th. — Opposite Cameta the islands are all planted 
 with cacao, the tree which yields the chocolate nut. The 
 forest is not cleared for the purpose, but the cacao plants are 
 stuck in here and there almost at random amongst the trees. 
 There are many houses on the banks of the river, all elevated 
 above the swampy soil on wooden piles, and furnished with 
 broad ladders by which to mount to the ground floor. As we 
 passed by in our canoe we could see the people at their occupa- 
 tions in the open verandahs, and in one place saw a ball going 
 on in broad daylight; there were fiddles and guitars hard at 
 work, and a number of lads in white shirts and trousers dancing 
 with brown damsels clad in showy print dresses. The cacao 
 tree produces a curious impression on account of the flowers and 
 fruit growing directly out of the trunk and branches. There 
 is a whole group of wild fruit trees which have the same habit 
 in this country. In the wildernesses where the cacao is planted, 
 the collecting of the fruit is dangerous from the number of 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 79 
 
 poisonous snakes which inhabit the places. One day, when we 
 were running our montaria to a landing-place, we saw a large 
 serpent on the trees overhead, as we were about to brush past; 
 the boat was stopped just in the nick of time, and Mr. Leavens 
 brought the reptile down with a charge of shot. 
 
 September 261k. — At length we got clear of the islands, and 
 saw once more before us the sea-like expanse of waters which 
 forms the mouth of the Tocantins. The river had now sunk 
 to its lowest point, and numbers of fresh-water dolphins were 
 rolling about in shoaly places. There are here two species, 
 one of which was new to science when I sent specimens to 
 England ; it is called the Tucuxi (Steno tucuxi of Gray). When 
 it comes to the surface to breathe, it rises horizontally, showing 
 first its back fin; draws an inspiration, and then dives gently 
 down, head foremost. This mode of proceeding distinguishes 
 the Tucuxi at once from the other species, which is called Bouto 
 or porpoise by the natives (Inia Geoffroyi of Desmarest). When 
 this rises the top of the head is the part first seen; it then 
 blows, and immediately afterwards dips head downwards, its 
 back curving over, exposing successively the whole dorsal ridge 
 with its fin. It seems thus to pitch heels over head, but does 
 not show the tail fin. Besides this peculiar motion, it is dis- 
 tinguished from the Tucuxi by its habit of generally going in 
 pairs. Both species are exceedingly numerous throughout the 
 Amazons and its larger tributaries, but they are nowhere more 
 .plentiful than in the shoaly water at the mouth of the Tocantins, 
 i especially in the dry season. In the Upper Amazons a third 
 pale flesh - coloured species is also abundant (the Delphinus 
 pallidus of Gervais). With the exception of a species found in 
 the Ganges, all other varieties of dolphin inhabit exclusively 
 the sea. In the broader parts of the Amazons, from its mouth 
 to a distance of fifteen hundred miles in the interior, one or 
 other of the three kinds here mentioned are always heard rolling, 
 blowing, and snorting, especially at night, and these noises 
 contribute much to the impression of sea-wide vastness and 
 desolation which haunts the traveller. Besides dolphins in the 
 water, frigate birds in the air are characteristic of this lower 
 part of the Tocantins. Flocks of them were seen the last two 
 or three days of our journey, hovering above at an immense 
 height. Towards night we were obliged to cast anchor over 
 a shoal in the middle of the river to await the ebb tide. The 
 wind blew very strongly, and this, together with the incoming 
 flow, caused such a heavy sea that it was impossible to sleep. 
 
80 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 The vessel rolled and pitched until every bone in our bodies 
 ached with the bumps we received, and we were all more or ' 
 less sea-sick. On the following day we entered the Anapu, 
 and on the 30th September, after threading again the labyrinth 
 of channels communicating between the Tocantins and the 
 Moju, arrived at Para. 
 
 I will now give a short account of Cameta, the principal 
 town on the banks of the Tocantins, which I visited for the 
 second time, in June, 1849; Mr. Wallace, in the same month, 
 departing from Para to explore the rivers Guama and Capim. 
 I embarked as passenger in a Cameta trading vessel, the St. 
 John, a small schooner of thirty tons burthen. I had learnt 
 by this time that the only way to attain the objects for which 
 I had come to this country was to accustom myself to the ways 
 of life of the humbler classes of the inhabitants. A traveller 
 on the Amazons gains little by being furnished with letters of 
 recommendation to persons of note, for in the great interior 
 wildernesses of forest and river the canoe-men have pretty 
 much their own way; the authorities cannot force them to 
 grant passages or to hire themselves to travellers, and therefore 
 a stranger is obliged to ingratiate himself with them in order 
 to get conveyed from place to place. I thoroughly enjoyed the 
 journey to Cameta; the weather was again beautiful in the 
 extreme. We started from Para at sunrise on the 8th of 
 June, and on the 10th emerged from the narrow channels of 
 the Anapu into the broad Tocantins. The vessel was so full of 
 cargo that there was no room to sleep in the cabin; so we 
 passed the nights on deck. The captain or supercargo, called 
 in Portuguese cabo, was a mameluco, named Manoel, a quiet, 
 good-humoured person, who treated me with the most un- 
 affected civility during the three days' journey. The pilot was 
 also a mameluco, named John Mendez, a handsome young 
 fellow, full of life and spirit. He had on board a wire guitar 
 or viola, as it is here called; and in the bright moonlight nights, 
 as we lay at anchor hour after hour waiting for the tide, he 
 enlivened us all with songs and music. He was on the best of 
 terms with the cabo, both sleeping in the same hammock 
 slung between the masts. I passed the nights wrapped in an 
 old sail outside the roof of the cabin. The crew, five in number, 
 were Indians and half-breeds, all of whom treated their two 
 superiors with the most amusing familiarity, yet I never sailed 
 in a better managed vessel than the St. John. 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 8 I 
 
 In crossing to Cameta we had to await the flood-tide in a 
 channel called Entre-as-Uhas, which lies between two islands 
 in mid-river, and John Mendez, being in good tune, gave us an 
 extempore song, consisting of a great number of verses. The 
 crew lay about the deck listening, and all joined in the chorus. 
 Some stanzas related to me, telling how I had come all the 
 way from " Inglaterra," to skin monkeys and birds and catch 
 insects ; the last-mentioned employment of course giving ample 
 scope for fun. He passed from this to the subject of political 
 parties in Cameta; and then, as all the hearers were Came- 
 taenses and understood the hits, there were roars of laughter, 
 some of them rolling over and over on the deck, so much were 
 they tickled. Party spirit runs high at Cameta, not merely in 
 connection with local politics, but in relation to affairs of general 
 concern, such as the election of members to the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment, and so forth. This political strife is partly attributable 
 to the circumstance that a native of Cameta, Dr. Angelo Custodio 
 Correia, had been in almost every election one of the candidates 
 for the representation of the province. I fancied these shrewd 
 but unsophisticated canoe-men saw through the absurdities 
 attending these local contests, and hence their inclination to 
 satirise them ; they were, however, evidently partisans of Dr. 
 Angelo. The brother of Dr. Angelo, Joao Augusto Correia, a 
 distinguished merchant, was an active canvasser. The party 
 of the Correias was the Liberal, or, as it is called throughout 
 Brazil, the Santa Luzia faction; the opposite side, at the head 
 of which was one Pedro Moraes, was the Conservative, or 
 Saquarema party. I preserved one of the stanzas of the song, 
 which, however, does not contain much point; it ran thus: — 
 
 Ora pana, tana pana, pana tana, 
 Joao Augusto he bonito e homem pimpao, 
 Mas Pedro h6 feio e hum grande ladrao, 
 
 (Chorus) Ora pana, etc. 
 
 John Augustus is handsome and as a man ought to be. 
 But Peter is ugly and a great thief. 
 (Chorus) Ora pana, etc. 
 
 The canoe-men of the Amazons have many songs and choruses, 
 with which they are in the habit of relieving the monotony of 
 their slow voyages, and which are known all over the interior. 
 The choruses consist of a simple strain, repeated almost to 
 weariness, and sung generally in unison, but sometimes with 
 an attempt at harmony. There is a wildness and sadness about 
 the tunes which harmonise well with, and in fact are born of, 
 
82 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the circumstances of the canoe-man's life: the echoing channels, 
 the endless gloomy forests, the solemn nights, and the desolate 
 scenes of broad and stormy waters and falling banks. Whether 
 they were invented by the Indians or introduced by the Portu- 
 guese it is hard to decide, as many of the customs of the lower 
 classes of Portuguese are so similar to those of the Indians that 
 they have become blended with them. One of the commonest 
 songs is very wild and pretty. It has for refrain the words 
 " Mai, Mai " (" Mother, Mother "), with a long drawl on the 
 second word. The stanzas are very variable; the best wit on 
 board starts the verse, improvising as he goes on, and the 
 others join in the chorus. They all relate to the lonely river 
 life and the events of the voyage; the shoals, the wind; how 
 far they shall go before they stop to sleep, and so forth. The 
 sonorous native names of places, Goajara, Tucumanduba, etc., 
 add greatly to the charm of the wild music. Sometimes they 
 bring in the stars thus: — 
 
 A lua esta sahindo, 
 
 Mai, Mai! 
 A lua esta sahindo, 
 
 Mai, Mai! 
 As sete estrellas estao chorando, 
 
 Mai, Mai! 
 Por s'acharem desamparados, 
 
 Mai, Mai! 
 
 The moon is rising, 
 
 Mother, Mother! 
 The moon is rising, 
 
 Mother, Mother! 
 The seven stars (Pleiades) are weeping, 
 
 Mother, Mother! 
 To find themselves forsaken, 
 
 Mother, mother! 
 
 I fell asleep about ten o'clock, but at four in the morning 
 John Mendez woke me to enjoy the sight of the little schooner 
 tearing through the waves before a spanking breeze. The 
 night was transparently clear and almost cold, the moon ap- 
 peared sharply defined against the dark blue sky, and a ridge 
 of foam marked where the prow of the vessel was cleaving its 
 way through the water. The men had made a fire in the galley 
 to make tea of an acid herb, called erva cidreira, a quantity of 
 which they had gathered at the last landing-place, and the 
 flames sparkled cheerily upwards. It is at such times as these 
 that Amazon travelling is enjoyable, and one no longer wonders 
 at the love which many, both natives and strangers, have for 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 83 
 
 this wandering life. The little schooner sped rapidly on with 
 booms bent and sails stretched to the utmost. Just as day 
 dawned, we ran with scarcely slackened speed into the port of 
 Cameta, and cast anchor. 
 
 I stayed at Cameta until the 16th of July, and made a con- 
 siderable collection of the natural productions of the neigh- 
 bourhood. The town in 1849 was estimated to contain about 
 5000 inhabitants, but the municipal district of which Cameta 
 is the capital numbered 20,000; this, however, comprised the 
 whole of the lower part of the Tocantins, which is the most 
 thickly populated part of the province of Para. The produc- 
 tions of the district are cacao, india-rubber, and Brazil nuts. 
 The most remarkable feature in the social aspect of the place 
 is the hybrid nature of the whole population, the amalgamation 
 of the white and Indian races being here complete. The 
 aborigines were originally very numerous on the western bank 
 of the Tocantins, the principal tribe having been the Camutas, 
 from which the city takes its name. They were a superior 
 nation, settled, and attached to agriculture, and received with 
 open arms the white immigrants who were attracted to the 
 district by its fertility, natural beauty, and the healthfulness of 
 the climate. The Portuguese settlers were nearly all males, 
 the Indian women were good-looking, and made excellent 
 wives; so the natural result has been, in the course of two 
 centuries, a complete blending of the two races. There is now, 
 however, a considerable infusion of negro blood in the mixture, 
 several hundred African slaves having been introduced during 
 the last seventy years. The few whites are chiefly Portuguese, 
 but there are also two or three Brazilian families of pure 
 European descent. The town consists of three long streets, 
 running parallel to the river, with a few shorter ones crossing 
 them at right angles. The houses are very plain, being built, 
 as usual in this country, simply of a strong framework, filled 
 up with mud, and coated with white plaster. A few of them 
 are of two or three stories. There are three churches, and also 
 a small theatre, where a company of native actors at the time 
 of my visit were representing light Portuguese plays with con- 
 siderable taste and ability. The people have a reputation all 
 over the province for energy and perseverance; and it is often 
 said that they are as keen in trade as the Portuguese. The 
 lower classes are as indolent and sensual here as in other parts 
 of the province, a moral condition not to be wondered at in a 
 
84 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 country where perpetual summer reigns, and where the neces- 
 saries of life are so easily obtained. But they are light-hearted, 
 quick-witted, communicative, and hospitable. I found here a 
 native poet, who had written some pretty verses, showing an 
 appreciation of the natural beauties of the country, and was 
 told that the Archbishop of Bahia, the primate of Brazil, was 
 a native of Cameta. It is interesting to find the mamelucos 
 displaying talent and enterprise, for it shows that degeneracy 
 does not necessarily result from the mixture of white and 
 Indian blood. The Cametaenses boast, as they have a right to 
 do, of theirs being the only large town which resisted success- 
 fully the anarchists in the great rebellion of 1835-6. Whilst 
 the whites of Para were submitting to the rule of half-savage 
 revolutionists, the mamelucos of Cameta placed themselves 
 under the leadership of a courageous priest, named Prudencio; 
 armed themselves, fortified the place, and repulsed the large 
 forces which the insurgents of Para sent to attack the place. 
 The town not only became the refuge for all loyal subjects, 
 but was a centre whence large parties of volunteers sallied 
 forth repeatedly to attack the anarchists in their various strong- 
 holds. 
 
 The forest behind Cameta is traversed by several broad roads, 
 which lead over undulating ground many miles into the interior. 
 They pass generally under shade, and part of the way through 
 groves of coffee and orange trees, fragrant plantations of cacao, 
 and tracts of second-growth woods. The narrow brook-watered 
 valleys, with which the land is intersected, alone have remained 
 clothed with primceval forest, at least near the town. The 
 houses along these beautiful roads belong chiefly to mameluco, 
 mulatto, and Indian families, each of which has its own small 
 plantation. There are only a few planters with larger estab- 
 lishments, and these have seldom more than a dozen slaves. 
 Besides the main roads, there are endless bye-paths which 
 thread the forest and communicate with isolated houses. Along 
 these the traveller may wander day after day without leaving 
 the shade, and everywhere meet with cheerful, simple, and 
 hospitable people. 
 
 Soon after landing I was introduced to the most distinguished 
 citizen of the place, Dr. Angelo Custodio Correia, whom I have 
 already mentioned. This excellent man was a favourable 
 specimen of the highest class of native Brazilians. He had 
 been educated in Europe, was now a member of the Brazilian 
 Parliament, and had been twice president of his native province. 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 85 
 
 His manners were less formal, and his goodness more thoroughly- 
 genuine, perhaps, than is the rule generally with Brazilians. 
 He was admired and loved, as I had ample opportunity of 
 observing, throughout all Amazonia. He sacrificed his life 
 in 1855, for the good of his fellow-townsmen, when Cameta 
 was devastated by the cholera; having stayed behind with a 
 few heroic spirits to succour invalids and direct the burying 
 of the dead, when nearly all the chief citizens had fled from the 
 place. After he had done what he could he embarked for 
 Para, but was himself then attacked with cholera and died on. 
 board the steamer before he reached the capital. Dr. Angelo 
 received me with the usual kindness which he showed to all 
 strangers. He procured me, unsolicited, a charming country 
 house, free of rent, hired a mulatto servant for me, and thus- 
 relieved me of the many annoyances and delays attendant on 
 a first arrival in a country town where even the name of an inn 
 is unknown. The rocinha thus given up for my residence 
 belonged to a friend of his, Senhor Jose Raimundo Furtado, a 
 stout florid-complexioned gentleman, such a one as might be 
 met with any day in a country town in England. To him also 
 I was indebted for many acts of kindness. 
 
 The rocinha was situated near a broad grassy road bordered 
 by lofty woods, which leads from Cameta to the Aldeia, a 
 village two miles distant. My first walks were along this road. 
 From it branches another similar but still more picturesque 
 road, which runs to Curima and Pacaja, two small settlements,, 
 several miles distant, in the heart of the forest. The Curima 
 road is beautiful in the extreme. About half a mile from the 
 house where I lived it crosses a brook flowing through a deep 
 dell, by means of a long rustic wooden bridge. The virgin 
 forest is here left untouched; numerous groups of slender 
 palms, mingled with lofty trees overrun with creepers and 
 parasites, fill the shady glen and arch over the bridge, forming 
 one of the most picturesque scenes imaginable. A little beyond 
 the bridge there was an extensive grove of orange and other 
 trees, which yielded me a rich harvest. The Aldeia road runs 
 parallel to the river, the land from the border of the road to 
 the indented shore of the Tocantins forming a long slope which 
 was also richly wooded; this slope was threaded by numerous 
 shady paths, and abounded in beautiful insects and birds. At 
 the opposite or southern end of the town there was a broad 
 road called the Estrada da Vacaria; this ran along the banks 
 of the Tocantins at some distance from the river, and continued 
 
86 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 over hill and dale, through bamboo thickets and palm swamps, 
 for about fifteen miles. 
 
 At Camera I chanced to verify a fact relating to the habits 
 of a large hairy spider of the genus Mygale, in a manner worth 
 recording. The species was M. avicularia, or one very closely 
 allied to it; the individual was nearly two inches in length 
 of body, but the legs expanded seven inches, and the entire 
 body and legs were covered with coarse grey and reddish hairs. 
 I was attracted by a movement of the monster on a tree-trunk ; 
 it was close beneath a deep crevice in the tree, across which 
 was stretched a dense white web. The lower part of the web 
 was broken, and two small birds, finches, were entangled in 
 the pieces; they were about the size of the English siskin, and 
 I judged the two to be male and female. One of them was 
 quite dead, the other lay under the body of the spider not 
 quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy liquor or saliva 
 exuded by the monster. I drove away the spider and took the 
 birds, but the second one soon died. The fact of species of 
 Mygale sallying forth at night, mounting trees, and sucking 
 the eggs and young of humming-birds, has been recorded long 
 ago by Madame Merian and Palisot de Beauvois; but, in the 
 absence of any confirmation, it has come to be discredited. 
 From the way the fact has been related it would appear that 
 it had been merely derived from the report of natives, and had 
 not been witnessed by the narrators. Count Langsdorff, in 
 his Expedition into the Interior of Brazil, states that he totally 
 disbelieved the story. I found the circumstance to be quite 
 a novelty to the residents hereabout. The Mygales are quite 
 common insects: some species make their cells under stones, 
 others form artistical tunnels in the earth, and some build 
 their dens in the thatch of houses. The natives call them 
 Aranhas carangueijeiras, or crab-spiders. The hairs with which 
 they are clothed come off when touched, and cause a peculiar 
 and almost maddening irritation. The first specimen that I 
 killed and prepared was handled incautiously, and I suffered 
 terribly for three days afterwards. I think this is not owing 
 to any poisonous quality residing in the hairs, but to their 
 being short and hard, and thus getting into the fine creases of 
 the skin. Some Mygales are of immense size. One day I saw 
 the children belonging to an Indian family who collected for 
 me with one of these monsters secured by a cord round its 
 waist, by which they were leading it about the house as they 
 would a dog. 
 
88 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 The only monkeys I observed at Cameta were the Couxio 
 (Pithecia Satanas) — a large species, clothed with long brownish- 
 black hair — and the tiny Midas argentatus. The Couxio has a 
 thick bushy tail, and the hair of the head, which looks as if it 
 had been carefully combed, sits on it like a wig. It inhabits 
 only the most retired parts of the forest, on the terra firma, and 
 I observed nothing of its habits. The little Midas argentatus is 
 one of the rarest of the American monkeys; indeed, I have not 
 heard of its being found anywhere except near Cameta, where I 
 once saw three individuals, looking like so many white kittens, 
 running along a branch in a cacao grove: in their motions 
 they resembled precisely the Midas ursulus already described. 
 I saw afterwards a pet animal of this species, and heard that 
 there were many so kept, and that they were esteemed as great 
 • treasures. The one mentioned was full-grown, although it 
 measured only seven inches in length of body. It was covered 
 with long, white, silky hairs, the tail being blackish, and the 
 face nearly naked and flesh-coloured. It was a most timid 
 and sensitive little thing. The woman who owned it carried 
 it constantly in her bosom, and no money would induce her 
 to part with her pet. She called it Mico. It fed from her 
 mouth and allowed her to fondle it freely, but the nervous 
 little creature would not permit strangers to touch it. If any 
 one attempted to do so it shrank back, the whole body 
 trembling with fear, and its teeth chattered whilst it uttered 
 its tremulous frightened tones. The expression of its features 
 was like that of its more robust brother Midas ursulus; the 
 eyes, which were black, were full of curiosity and mistrust, and 
 were always kept fixed on the person who attempted to advance 
 towards it. 
 
 In the orange groves and other parts humming-birds were 
 plentiful, but I did not notice more than three species. I saw 
 one day a little pigmy belonging to the genus Phaethornis 
 in the act of washing itself in a brook; perched on a thin 
 branch, one end of which was under water. It dipped itself, 
 then fluttered its wings and pruned its feathers, and seemed 
 thoroughly to enjoy itself alone in the shady nook which it had 
 chosen— a place overshadowed by broad leaves of ferns and 
 Heliconise. I thought, as I watched it, that there was no need 
 for poets to invent elves and gnomes whilst Nature furnishes 
 us with such marvellous little sprites ready to hand. 
 
 My return-journey to Para afforded many incidents charac- 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 89 
 
 teristic of Amazonian travelling. I left Cameta on the 16th of 
 July. My luggage was embarked in the morning in the Santa 
 Rosa, a vessel of the kind called cuberta, or covered canoe. 
 The cuberta is very much used on these rivers. It is not 
 decked, but the sides forward are raised and arched over so as 
 to admit of cargo being piled high above the water-line. At 
 the stern is a neat square cabin, also raised, and between the 
 cabin and covered forepart is a narrow piece decked over, on 
 which are placed the cooking arrangements. This is called 
 the tombadilha or quarterdeck, and when the canoe is heavily 
 laden it goes under water as the vessel heels over to the wind. 
 There are two masts, rigged with fore and aft sails. The fore- 
 mast has often besides a main and top sail. The forepart is 
 planked over at the top, and on this raised deck the crew work 
 the vessel, pulling it along, when there is no wind, by means of 
 the long oars already described. 
 
 As I have just said, my luggage was embarked in the morn- 
 ing. I was informed that we should start with the ebb-tide in 
 the afternoon; so I thought I should have time to pay my 
 respects to Dr. Angelo and other friends, whose extreme courtesy 
 and goodness had made my residence at Cameta so agreeable. 
 After dinner the guests, according to custom at the house of 
 the Correias, walked into the cool verandah which overlooks 
 the river; and there we saw the Santa Rosa, a mere speck in 
 the offing miles away, tacking down river with a fine breeze. 
 I was now in a fix, for it would be useless attempting to over- 
 take the cuberta;, and besides the sea ran too high for any 
 montaria. I was then told, that I ought to have been aboard 
 hours before the time fixed for starting, because when a breeze 
 springs up, vessels start before the tide turns; the last hour 
 of the flood not being very strong. All my precious collections, 
 my clothes, and other necessaries were on board, and it was 
 indispensable that I should be at Para when the things were 
 disembarked. I tried to hire a montaria and men, but was 
 told that it would be madness to cross the river in a small 
 boat with this breeze. On going to Senhor Laroque, another 
 of my Cameta friends, I was relieved of my embarrassment; 
 for I found there an English gentleman, Mr. Patchett of Per- 
 nambuco, who was visiting Para and its neighbourhood on his 
 way to England, and who, as he was going back to Para in a 
 small boat with four paddles, which would start at midnight, 
 kindly offered me a passage. The evening from seven to ten 
 o'clock was very stormy. About seven, the night became 
 
90 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 intensely dark, and a terrific squall of wind burst forth, which 
 made the loose tiles fly over the housetops; to this succeeded 
 lightning and stupendous claps of thunder, both nearly simul- 
 taneous. We had had several of these short and sharp storms 
 during the past month. At midnight, when we embarked, all 
 was as calm as though a ruffle had never disturbed air, forest, 
 or river. The boat sped along like an arrow to the rhythmic 
 paddling of the four stout youths we had with us, who en- 
 livened the passage with their wild songs. Mr. Patchett and 
 I tried to get a little sleep, but the cabin was so small and 
 encumbered with boxes placed at all sorts of angles, that we 
 found sleep impossible. I was just dozing when the day 
 dawned, and, on awakening, the first object I saw was the 
 Santa Rosa, at anchor under a green island in mid-river. I 
 preferred to make the remainder of the voyage in company of 
 my collections, so bade Mr. Patchett good-day. The owner of 
 the Santa Rosa, Senhor Jacinto Machado, whom I had not seen 
 before, received me aboard, and apologised for having started 
 without me. He was a white man, a planter, and was now taking 
 his year's produce of cacao, about twenty tons, to Para. The 
 canoe was very heavily laden, and I was rather alarmed to see 
 that it was leaking at all points. The crew were all in the 
 water diving about to feel for the holes, which they stopped 
 with pieces of ray and clay, and an old negro was baling the 
 water out of the hold. This was a pleasant prospect for a 
 three-days' voyage! Senhor Machado treated it as the most 
 ordinary incident possible: " It was always likely to leak, for 
 it was an old vessel that had been left as worthless high and 
 dry on the beach, and he had bought it very cheap." 
 
 When the leaks were stopped, we proceeded on our journey, 
 and at night reached the mouth of the Anapu. I wrapped 
 myself in an old sail, and fell asleep on the raised deck. The 
 next day we threaded the Igarape-mirim, and on the 19th 
 descended the Moju. Senhor Machado and I by this time had 
 become very good friends. At every interesting spot on the 
 banks of the Moju, he manned the small boat and took me 
 ashore. There are many large houses on this river belonging 
 to what were formerly large and flourishing plantations, but 
 which, since the Revolution of 1835-6, had been suffered to 
 go to decay. Two of the largest buildings were constructed by 
 the Jesuits in the early part of the last century. We were told 
 that there were formerly eleven large sugar-mills on the banks 
 of the Moju, whilst now there are only three. At Burujuba 
 
The Tocantins and Cameta 91 
 
 there is a large monastery in a state of ruin ; part of the edifice, 
 however, was still inhabited by a Brazilian family. The walls 
 are four feet in thickness. The long dark corridors and gloomy 
 cloisters struck me as very inappropriate in the midst of this 
 young and radiant nature. They would be better in place on 
 some barren moor in Northern Europe, than here in the midst 
 of perpetual summer. The next turn in the river below Buru- 
 juba brought the city of Para into view. The wind was now 
 against us, and we were obliged to tack about. Towards 
 evening it began to blow stiffly, the vessel heeled over very 
 much, and Senhor Machado, for the first time, trembled for the 
 safety of his cargo; the leaks burst out afresh, when we were 
 yet two miles from the shore. He ordered another sail to be 
 hoisted, in order to run more quickly into port, but soon after- 
 wards an extra puff of wind came, and the old boat lurched 
 alarmingly, the rigging gave way, and down fell boom and sail 
 with a crash, encumbering us with the wreck. We were then 
 obliged to have recourse to oars; and as soon as we were near 
 the land, fearing that the crazy vessel would sink before reach- 
 ing port, I begged Senhor Machado to send me ashore in the 
 boat, with the more precious portion of my collections. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 CARIPI AND THE BAY OF MARAj6 
 
 River Para and Bay of Marajo — Journey to Caripi — Negro Observance of 
 Christmas — A German Family — Bats — Ant-eaters — Humming-birds 
 — Excursion to the Murucupi — Domestic Life of the Inhabitants — 
 Hunting Excursion with Indians — White Ants 
 
 That part of the Para river which lies in front of the city, 
 as I have already explained, forms a narrow channel; being 
 separated from the main waters of the estuary by a cluster of 
 islands. This channel is about two miles broad, and constitutes 
 part of the minor estuary of Goajara, into which the three 
 rivers Guama, Mojii, and Acara discharge their waters. The 
 main channel' of the Para lies ten miles away from the city, 
 directly across the river; at that point, after getting clear of 
 the islands, a great expanse of water is beheld, ten to twelve 
 miles in width; the opposite shore — the island of Marajo — 
 being visible only in clear weather as a line of tree-tops dotting 
 the horizon. A little further upwards, that is to the south-west, 
 the mainland on the right or eastern shore appears, this is 
 called Carnapijo; it is rocky, covered with the never-ending 
 forest, and the coast, which is fringed with broad sandy beaches, 
 ■describes a gentle curve inwards. The broad reach of the 
 Para in front of this coast is called the Bahia, or Bay of Marajo. 
 The coast and the interior of the land are peopled by civilised 
 Indians and Mamelucos, with a mixture of free negroes and 
 mulattos. They are poor, for the waters are not abundant in 
 fish, and they are dependent for a livelihood solely on their 
 small plantations, and the scanty supply of game found in the 
 woods. The district was originally peopled by various tribes of 
 Indians, of whom the principal were the Tupinambas and 
 Nhengahibas. Like all the coast tribes, whether inhabiting the 
 banks of the Amazons or the sea-shore between Para and Bahia, 
 they were far more advanced in civilisation than the hordes 
 scattered through the interior of the country, some of which 
 still remain in the wild state, between the Amazons and the 
 Plata. There are three villages on the coast of Carnapijo, and 
 several planters' houses, formerly the centres of flourishing 
 
 92 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 93 
 
 estates, which have now relapsed into forest in consequence of 
 the scarcity of labour and diminished enterprise. One of the 
 largest of these establishments is called Caripi ? at the time of 
 which I am speaking it belonged to a Scotch gentleman, Mr. 
 Campbell, who had married the daughter of a large Brazilian 
 proprietor. Most of the occasional English and American 
 visitors to Para had made some stay at Caripi, and it had 
 obtained quite a reputation for the number and beauty of the 
 birds and insects found there; I therefore applied for and 
 obtained permission to spend two or three months at the place. 
 The distance from Para was about twenty-three miles, round 
 by the northern end of the Ilha das oncas (Isle of Tigers), which 
 faces the city. I bargained for a passage thither with the cabo 
 of a small trading-vessel, which was going past the place, and 
 started on the 7th of December, 1848. 
 
 We were thirteen persons aboard : the cabo, his pretty mulatto 
 mistress, the pilot and five Indian canoemen, three young 
 mamelucos (tailor-apprentices who were taking a holiday trip 
 to Cameta), a runaway slave heavily chained, and myself. The 
 young mamelucos were pleasant, gentle fellows: they could 
 read and write, and amused themselves on the voyage with a 
 book containing descriptions and statistics of foreign countries, 
 in which they seemed to take great interest — one reading whilst 
 the others listened. At Uirapiranga, a small island behind the 
 Ilha das oncas, we had to stop a short time to embark several 
 pipes of cashaca at a sugar estate. The cabo took the montaria 
 and two men; the pipes were rolled into the water and floated 
 to the canoe, the men passing cables round and towing them 
 through a rough sea. Here we slept, and the following morn- 
 ing, continuing our voyage, entered a narrow channel which 
 intersects the land of Carnapij6. At 2 p.m. we emerged from 
 this channel, which is called the Aitituba, or Arrozal, into the 
 broad Bahia, and then saw, two or three miles away to the left, 
 the red-tiled mansion of Caripi, embosomed in woods on the 
 shores of a charming little bay. 
 
 The water is very shallow near the shore, and when the wind 
 blows there is a heavy ground-swell. A few years previously an 
 English gentleman, Mr. Graham, an amateur naturalist, was 
 capsized here and drowned with his wife and child, whilst 
 passing in a heavily-laden montaria to his large canoe. Re- 
 membering their fate, I was rather alarmed to see that I should 
 be obliged to take all my luggage ashore in one trip in a leaky 
 little boat. The pile of chests with two Indians and myself 
 
94 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 sank the montaria almost to the level of the water. I was kept 
 busy baling all the way. The Indians manage canoes in this 
 condition with admirable skill. They preserve the nicest 
 equilibrium, and paddle so gently that not the slightest oscil- 
 lation is perceptible. On landing, an old negress named 
 Florinda, the feitora or manageress of the establishment (which 
 was kept only as a poultry-farm and hospital for sick slaves), 
 gave me the keys, and I forthwith took possession of the rooms 
 I required. 
 
 I remained here nine weeks, or until the 12th of February, 
 1849. The house was very large and most substantially built, 
 but consisted of only one story. I was told it was built by the 
 Jesuits more than a century ago. The front had no verandah, 
 the doors opening on a slightly elevated terrace about a hundred 
 yards distant from the broad sandy beach. Around the 
 residence the ground had been cleared to the extent of two 
 or three acres, and was planted with fruit-trees. Well-trodden 
 pathways through the forest led to little colonies of the natives 
 on the banks of retired creeks and rivulets in the interior. I 
 led here a solitary but not unpleasant life; for there was a great 
 charm in the loneliness of the place. The swell of the river 
 beating on the sloping beach caused an unceasing murmur, 
 which lulled me to sleep at night, and seemed appropriate music 
 in those midday hours when all nature was pausing breathless 
 under the rays of a vertical sun. Here I spent my first 
 Christmas-day in a foreign land. The festival was celebrated 
 by the negroes of their own free will and in a very pleasing 
 manner. The room next to the one I had chosen was the 
 capella, or chapel. It had a little altar which was neatly 
 arranged, and the room was furnished with a magnificent brass 
 chandelier. Men, women, and children were busy in the chapel 
 all day on the 24th of December decorating the altar with 
 flowers and strewing the floor with orange-leaves. They invited 
 some of their neighbours to the evening prayers, and when the 
 simple ceremony began an hour before midnight, the chapel 
 was crowded. They were obliged to dispense with the mass, for 
 they had no priest; the service therefore consisted merely of a 
 long litany and a few hymns. There was placed on the altar a 
 small image of the infant Christ, the " Menino Deos " as they 
 called it, or the child-god, which had a long ribbon depending 
 from its waist. An old white-haired negro led off the litany, 
 and the rest of the people joined in the responses. After the 
 service was over they all went up to the altar, one by one, and 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 95 
 
 kissed the end of the ribbon. The gravity and earnestness 
 shown throughout the proceedings were remarkable. Some of 
 the hymns were very simple and beautiful, especially one begin- 
 ning " Virgem soberana," a trace of whose melody springs to 
 my recollection whenever I think on the dreamy solitude of 
 Caripi. 
 
 The next day after I arrived, two blue-eyed and red-haired 
 boys came up and spoke to me in English, and presently their 
 father made his appearance. They proved to be a German 
 family named Petzell, who were living in the woods, Indian 
 fashion, about a mile from Caripi. Petzell explained to me 
 how he came here. He said that thirteen years ago he came to 
 Brazil with a number of other Germans under engagement to 
 serve in the Brazilian army. When his time had expired he 
 came to Para to see the country, but after a few months' 
 rambling left the place to establish himself in the United 
 States. There he married, went to Illinois, and settled as 
 farmer near St. Louis. He remained on his farm seven or 
 eight years, and had a family of five children. He could never 
 forget, however, the free river-life and perpetual summer of the 
 banks of the Amazons; so he persuaded his wife to consent to 
 break up their home in North America, and migrate to Para. 
 No one can imagine the difficulties the poor fellow had to go 
 through before reaching the land of his choice. He first de- 
 scended the Mississippi, feeling sure that a passage to Para 
 could be got at New Orleans. He was there told that the only 
 port in North America he could start from was New York, so 
 away he sailed for New York; but there was no chance of a 
 vessel sailing thence to Para, so he took a passage to Demerara, 
 as bringing him, at any rate, near to the desired land. There 
 is no communication whatever between Demerara and Para, 
 and he was forced to remain here with his family four or five 
 months, during which they all caught the yellow fever, and one 
 of his children died. At length he heard of a small coasting 
 vessel going to Cayenne, so he embarked, and got thereby 
 another stage nearer the end of his journey. A short time 
 after reaching Cayenne he shipped in a schooner that was 
 going to Para, or rather the island of Marajo, for a cargo of 
 cattle. He had now fixed himself, after all his wanderings, in 
 a healthy and fertile little nook on the banks of a rivulet near 
 Caripi, built himself a log-hut, and planted a large patch of 
 mandioca and Indian corn. He seemed to be quite happy, 
 but his wife complained much of the want of wholesome food, 
 
q6 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 meat, and wheaten bread. I asked the children whether they 
 liked the country; they shook their heads, and said they would 
 rather be in Illinois. Petzell told me that his Indian neigh- 
 bours treated him very kindly; one or other of them called 
 almost every day to see how he was getting on, and they had 
 helped him in many ways. He had a high opinion of the 
 Tapuyos, and said, " If you treat them well, they will go 
 through fire to serve you." 
 
 Petzell and his family were expert insect-collectors, so I 
 employed them at this work during my stay at Caripi. The 
 daily occurrences here were after a uniform fashion. I rose 
 with the dawn, took a cup of coffee, and then sallied forth after 
 birds. At ten I breakfasted, and devoted the hours from ten 
 until three to entomology. The evening was occupied in pre- 
 serving and storing my captures. Petzell and I sometimes 
 undertook long excursions, occupying the whole day. Our 
 neighbours used to bring me all the quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, 
 and shells they met with, and so altogether I was enabled to 
 acquire a good collection of the productions of the district. 
 
 The first few nights I was much troubled by bats. The 
 room where I slept had not been used for many months, and 
 the roof was open to the tiles and rafters. The first night I 
 slept soundly and did not perceive anything unusual, but on 
 the next I was aroused about midnight by the rushing noise 
 made by vast hosts of bats sweeping about the room. The air 
 was alive with them; they had put out the lamp, and when 
 I relighted it the place appeared blackened with the impish 
 multitudes that were whirling round and round. After I 
 had laid about well with a stick for a few minutes they dis- 
 appeared amongst the tiles, but when all was still again they 
 returned, and once more extinguished the light. I took no 
 further notice of them, and went to sleep. The next night 
 several got into my hammock; I seized them as they were 
 crawling over me, and dashed them against the wall. The next 
 morning I found a wound, evidently caused by a bat, on my 
 hip. This was rather unpleasant, so I set to work with the 
 negroes, and tried to exterminate them. I shot a great many 
 as they hung from the rafters, and the negroes having mounted 
 with ladders to the roof outside, routed out from beneath the 
 eaves many hundreds of them, including young broods. There 
 were altogether four species — two belonging to the genus 
 Dysopes, one to Phyllostoma, and the fourth to Glossophaga. 
 By far the greater number belonged to the Dysopes perotis, a 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 97 
 
 species having very large ears, and measuring two feet from tip 
 to tip of the wings. The Phyllostoma was a small kind, of a 
 dark-grey colour, streaked with white down the back, and 
 having a leaf-shaped fleshy expansion on the tip of the nose. I 
 was never attacked by bats except on this occasion. The fact 
 of their sucking the blood of persons sleeping, from wounds 
 which they make in the toes, is now well established; but it 
 is only a few persons who are subject to this blood-letting. 
 According to the negroes, the Phyllostoma is the only kind which 
 attacks man. Those which I caught crawling over me were 
 Dysopes, and I am inclined to think many different kinds of 
 bats have this propensity. 
 
 One day I was occupied searching for insects in the bark of 
 a fallen tree, when I saw a large cat-like animal advancing 
 towards the spot. It came within a dozen yards before per- 
 ceiving me. I had no weapon with me but an old chisel, and 
 was getting ready to defend myself if it should make a spring, 
 when it turned round hastily and trotted off. I did not obtain 
 a very distinct view of it, but I could see its colour was that of 
 the Puma, or American Lion, although it was rather too small 
 for that species. The Puma is not a common animal in the 
 Amazons forests. I did not see altogether more than a dozen 
 skins in the possession of the natives. The fur is of a fawn 
 colour. On account of its hue resembling that of a deer common 
 in the forests, the natives call it the Sassu-arana, 1 or the false 
 deer; that is, an animal which deceives one at first sight by its 
 superficial resemblance to a deer. The hunters are not at all 
 afraid of it, and speak always in disparaging terms of its courage. 
 Of the Jaguar they give a very different account. 
 
 The only species of monkey I met with at Caripi was the 
 
 same dark-coloured little Midas already mentioned as found 
 
 near Para. The great Ant-eater, Tamandua of the natives 
 
 (Myrmecophaga jubata), was not uncommon here. After the 
 
 first few weeks of residence I ran short of fresh provisions. 
 
 The people of the neighbourhood had sold me all the fowls 
 
 they could spare; I had not yet learnt to eat the stale and 
 
 stringy salt-fish which is the staple food in these places, and for 
 
 several days I had lived on rice-porridge, roasted bananas, and 
 
 farinha. Florinda asked me whether I could eat Tamandua. 
 
 I told her almost anything in the shape of flesh would be accept- 
 
 1 The old zoologist Marcgrave called the Puma the Cuguacuarana, 
 probably (the c's being soft) a misspelling of Sassu-ar&na; hence the 
 name Cougouar employed by French zoologists, and copied in most works 
 on natural history. 
 
98 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 able; so the same day she went with an old negro named 
 Antonio and the dogs, and in the evening brought one of the 
 animals. The meat was stewed and turned out very good, 
 something like goose in flavour. The people at Caripi would 
 not touch a morsel, saying it was not considered fit to eat in 
 these parts ; I had read, however, that it was an article of food 
 in other countries of South America. During the next two or 
 three weeks, whenever we were short of fresh meat, Antonio 
 was always ready, for a small reward, to get me a Tamandua. 
 But one day he came to me in great distress, with the news that 
 his favourite dog, Atrevido, had been caught in the grip of an 
 ant-eater, and was killed. We hastened to the place, and found 
 the dog was not dead, but severely torn by the claws of the 
 animal, which itself was mortally wounded, and was now relaxing 
 its grasp. 
 
 The habits of the Myrmecophaga jubata are now pretty well 
 known. It is not uncommon in the drier forests of the Amazons 
 valley, but is not found, I believe, in the Ygapo, or flooded 
 lands. The Brazilians call the species the Tamandua bandeira, 
 or the Banner Ant-eater, the term banner being applied in 
 allusion to the curious colouration of the animal, each side of 
 the body having a broad oblique stripe, half grey and half 
 black, which gives it some resemblance to a heraldic banner. 
 It has an excessively long slender muzzle, and a wormlike 
 extensile tongue. Its jaws are destitute of teeth. The claws 
 are much elongated, and its gait is very awkward. It lives on 
 the ground, and feeds on termites, or white ants; the long 
 claws being employed to pull in pieces the solid hillocks made 
 by the insects, and the long flexible tongue to lick them up from 
 the crevices. All the other species of this singular genus are 
 arboreal. I met with four species altogether. One was the 
 Myrmecophaga tetradactyla; the two others, more curious 
 and less known, were very small kinds, called Tamandua-i. 
 Both are similar in size — ten inches in length, exclusive of the 
 tail — and in the number of the claws, having two of unequal 
 length to the anterior feet, and four to the hind feet. One 
 species is clothed with greyish-yellow silky hair; this is of rare 
 occurrence. The other has a fur of a dingy brown colour, 
 without silky lustre. One was brought to me alive at Caripi, 
 having been caught by an Indian clinging motionless inside a 
 hollow tree. I kept it in the house about twenty-four hours. 
 It had a moderately long snout, curved downwards, and ex- 
 tremely small eyes. It remained nearly all the time without 
 
ANT-EATER GRAPPLING WITH DOG 
 
ioo The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 motion, except when irritated, in which case it reared itself 
 on its hind legs from the back of a chair to which it clung, and 
 clawed out with its forepaws like a cat. Its manner of clinging 
 with its claws, and the sluggishness of its motions, gave it a 
 great resemblance to a sloth. It uttered no sound, and remained 
 all night on the spot where I had placed it in the morning. The 
 next day I put it on a tree in the open air, and at night it escaped. 
 These small Tamanduas are nocturnal in their habits, and feed 
 on those species of termites which construct earthy nests, that 
 look like ugly excrescences on the trunks and branches of trees. 
 The different kinds of ant-eaters are thus adapted to various 
 modes of life, terrestrial and arboreal. Those which live on 
 trees are again either diurnal or nocturnal, for Myrmecophaga 
 tetradactyla is seen moving along the main branches in the 
 daytime. The allied group of the Sloths, which are still more 
 exclusively South American forms than ant-eaters are, at the 
 present time furnish arboreal species only, but formerly ter- 
 restrial forms of sloths also existed, as the Megatherium, whose 
 mode of life was a puzzle, seeing that it was of too colossal a 
 size to live on trees, until Owen showed how it might have 
 obtained its food from the ground. 
 
 In January the orange-trees became covered with blossom — 
 at least to a greater extent than usual, for they flower more or 
 less in this country all the year round — and the flowers attracted 
 a great number of humming-birds. Every day, in the cooler 
 hours of the morning, and in the evening from four o'clock till 
 six, they were to be seen whirring about the trees by scores. 
 Their motions are unlike those of all other birds. They dart 
 to and fro so swiftly that the eye can scarcely follow them, and 
 when they stop before a flower it is only for a few moments. 
 They poise themselves in an unsteady manner, their wings 
 moving with inconceivable rapidity ; probe the flower, and then 
 shoot off to another part of the tree. They do not proceed in 
 that methodical manner which bees follow, taking the flowers 
 seriatim, but skip about from one part of the tree to another 
 in the most capricious way. Sometimes two males close with 
 each other and fight, mounting upwards in the struggle, as 
 insects are often seen to do when similarly engaged, and then 
 separating hastily and darting back to their work. Now and 
 then they stop to rest, perching on leafless twigs, -where they 
 may be sometimes seen probing, from the places where they sit, 
 the flowers with'-i their reach. The brilliant colours with 
 which they are adorned cannot be seen whilst they are flutter- 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 101 
 
 ing about, nor can the different species be distinguished unless 
 they have a deal of white hue in their plumage, such as Helio- 
 thrix auritus, which is wholly white underneath, although of a 
 glittering green colour above, and the white-tailed Florisuga 
 mellivora. There is not a great variety of humming-birds in 
 the Amazons region, the number of species being far smaller 
 in these uniform forest plains than in the diversified valleys of 
 the Andes, under the same parallels of latitude. The family 
 is divisible into two groups, contrasted in form and habits, 
 one containing species which live entirely in the shade of the 
 forest, and the other comprising those which prefer open sunny 
 
 &S5s 
 
 Humming-bird and Humming-bird Hawk-moth. 
 
 places. The forest species (Phaethorninas) are seldom seen at 
 flowers, flowers being, in the shady places where they abide, 
 of rare occurrence; but they search for insects on leaves, thread- 
 ing the bushes and passing above and beneath each leaf with 
 wonderful rapidity. The other group (Trochilinse) are not 
 quite confined to cleared places, as they come into the forest 
 wherever a tree is in blossom, and descend into sunny openings 
 where flowers are to be found. But it is only where the woods 
 are less dense than usual that this is the case; in the lofty 
 forests and twilight shades of the lowlands and islands they 
 are scarcely ever seen. I searched well at Caripi, expecting to 
 find the Lophornis Gouldii, which I was told had been obtained 
 in the locality. This is one of the most beautiful of all humming- 
 
102 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 birds, having round the neck a frill of long white feathers tipped 
 with golden green. I was not, however, so fortunate as to 
 meet with it. Several times I shot by mistake a humming-biid 
 hawk-moth instead of a bird. This moth (Macroglossa Titan) 
 is somewhat smaller than humming-birds generally are; but 
 its manner of flight, and the way it poises itself before a flower 
 whilst probing it with its proboscis, are precisely like the same 
 actions of humming-birds. It was only after many days' ex- 
 perience that I learnt to distingiush one from the other when 
 on the wing. This resemblance has attracted the notice of 
 the natives, all of whom, even educated whites, firmly believe 
 that one is transmutable into the other. They have observed 
 the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies, and think it 
 not at all more wonderful that a moth should change into a 
 humming-bird. The resemblance between this hawk-moth and 
 a humming-bird is certainly very curious, and strikes one even 
 when both are examined in the hand. Holding them sideways, 
 the shape of the head and position of the eyes in the moth are 
 seen to be nearly the same as in the bird, the extended proboscis 
 representing the long beak. At the tip of the moth's body 
 there is a brush of long hair-scales resembling feathers, which, 
 being expanded, looks very much like a bird's tail. But, of 
 course, all these points of resemblance are merely superficial. 
 The negroes and Indians tried to convince me that the two 
 were of the same species. " Look at their feathers," they said; 
 " their eyes are the same, and so are their tails." This belief 
 is so deeply rooted that it was useless to reason with them on 
 the subject. The Macroglossa moths are found in most countries, 
 and have everywhere the same habits; one well-known species 
 is found in England. Mr. Gould relates that he once had a 
 stormy altercation with an English gentleman, who affirmed 
 that humming-birds were found in England, for he had seen 
 one flying in Devonshire, meaning thereby the moth Macroglossa 
 stellatarum. The analogy between the two creatures has been 
 brought about, probably, by the similarity of their habits, there 
 being no indication of the one having been adapted in outward 
 appearance with reference to the other. 
 
 It has been observed that humming-birds are unlike other 
 birds in their mental qualities, resembling in this respect insects 
 rather than warm-blooded vertebrate animals. The want of 
 expression in their eyes, the small degree of versatility in their 
 actions, the quickness and precision of their movements, are 
 all so many points of resemblance between them and insects. 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 103 
 
 In walking along the alleys of the forest a Phaethornis frequently 
 crosses one's path, often stopping suddenly and remaining poised 
 in mid-air, a few feet distant from the face of the intruder. 
 The Phaethorninae are certainly more numerous in individuals 
 in the Amazons region that the Trochilinae. They build their 
 nests, which are made of fine vegetable fibres and lichens, densely 
 woven together and thickly lined with silk-cotton from the fruit 
 of the samauma tree (Eriodendron samauma), on the inner sides 
 of the tips of palm-fronds. They are long and purse-shaped. 
 The young when first hatched have very much shorter bills 
 than their parents. The only species of Trochilinae which I 
 found at Caripi were the little brassy-green Polytmus viri- 
 dissimus, the sapphire and emerald (Thalurania furcata), and 
 the large falcate-winged Campylopterus obscurus. 
 
 Snakes were very numerous at Caripi; many harmless species 
 were found near the house, and these sometimes came into the 
 rooms. I was wandering one day amongst the green bushes of 
 Guajara, a tree which yields a grape-like berry (Chrysobalanus 
 Icaco) and grows along all these sandy shores, when I was 
 startled by what appeared to be the flexuous stem of a creeping 
 plant endowed with life and threading its way amongst the 
 leaves and branches. This animated liana turned out to be a 
 pale-green snake, the Dryophis fulgida. Its whole body is of 
 the same green hue, and it is thus rendered undistinguishable 
 amidst the foliage of the Guajara bushes, where it prowls in 
 search of its prey, tree-frogs and lizards. The forepart of its 
 head is prolonged into a slender pointed beak, and the total 
 length of the reptile was six feet. There was another kind 
 found amongst bushes on the borders of the forest closely allied 
 to this, but much more slender, viz., the Dryophis acuminata. 
 This grows to a length of four feet eight inches, the tail alone 
 being twenty-two inches; but the diameter of the thickest part 
 of the body is little more than a quarter of an inch. It is of 
 light-brown colour, with iridescent shades variegated with 
 obscurer markings, and looks like a piece of whipcord. One 
 individual which I caught of this species had a protuberance 
 near the middle of the body. On opening it I found a half- 
 digested lizard which was much more bulky than the snake 
 itself. Another kind of serpent found here, a species of Helicops, 
 was amphibious in its habits. I saw several of this in wet weather 
 on the beach, which, on being approached, always made straight- 
 way for the water, where they swam with much grace and 
 dexterity. Florinda one day caught a Helicops whilst angling 
 
104 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 for fish, it having swallowed the fishhook with the bait. She 
 and others told me these water-snakes lived on small fishes, but 
 I did not meet with any proof of the statement. In the woods, 
 snakes were constantly occurring: it was not often, however, 
 that I saw poisonous species. There were many arboreal kinds 
 besides the two just mentioned; and it was rather alarming, 
 in entomologising about the trunks of trees, to suddenly en- 
 counter, on turning round, as sometimes happened, a pair of 
 glittering eyes and a forked tongue within a few inches of one's 
 head. The last kind I shall mention is the Coral-snake, which is 
 a most beautiful object when seen coiled up on black soil in the 
 woods. The one I saw here was banded with black and ver- 
 milion, the black bands having each two clear white rings. 
 The state of specimens preserved in spirits can give no idea of 
 the brilliant colours which adorn the Coral-snake in life. 
 
 Petzell and I, as already mentioned, made many excursions 
 of long extent in the neighbouring forest. We sometimes went 
 to Murucupi, a creek which passes through the forest about four 
 miles behind Caripi, the banks of which are inhabited by Indians 
 and half-breeds, who have lived there for many generations 
 in perfect seclusion from the rest of the world, the place being 
 little known or frequented. A path from Caripi leads to it 
 through a gloomy tract of virgin forest, where the trees are so 
 closely packed together that the ground beneath is thrown 
 into the deepest shade, under which nothing but fetid fungi 
 and rotting vegetable debris is to be seen. On emerging from 
 this unfriendly solitude near the banks of the Murucupi, a 
 charming contrast is presented. A glorious vegetation, piled 
 up to an immense height, clothes the banks of the creek, which 
 traverses a broad tract of semi-cultivated ground, and the 
 varied masses of greenery are lighted up with the sunny glow. 
 Open palm-thatched huts peep forth here and there from amidst 
 groves of banana, mango, cotton, and papaw trees and palms. 
 On our first excursion, we struck the banks of the river in front 
 of a house of somewhat more substantial architecture than the 
 rest, having finished mud walls, plastered and whitewashed, 
 and a covering of red tiles. It seemed to be full of children, 
 and the aspect of the household was improved by a number of 
 good-looking mameluco women, who were busily employed 
 washing, spinning, and making farinha. Two of them, seated 
 on a mat in the open verandah, were engaged sewing dresses; 
 for a festival was going to take place a few days hence at 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 105 
 
 Balcarem, a village eight miles distant from Murucupi, and they 
 intended to be present to hear mass and show their finery. 
 One of the children, a naked boy about seven years of age, 
 crossed over with the montaria to fetch us. We were made 
 welcome at once, and asked to stay for dinner. On our accept- 
 ing the invitation a couple of fowls were killed, and a whole- 
 some stew of seasoned rice and fowls soon put in preparation. 
 It is not often that the female members of a family in these 
 retired places are familiar with strangers ; but these people had 
 lived a long time in the capital, and therefore were more civilised 
 than their neighbours. Their father had been a prosperous 
 tradesman, and had given them the best education the place 
 afforded. After his death the widow with several daughters, 
 married and unmarried, retired to this secluded spot, which 
 had been their sitio, farm or country house for many years. 
 One of the daughters was married to a handsome young mulatto, 
 who was present and sang us some pretty songs, accompanying 
 himself on the guitar. 
 
 After dinner I expressed a wish to see more of the creek; so 
 a lively and polite old man, whom I took to be one of the 
 neighbours, volunteered as guide. We embarked in a little 
 montaria, and paddled some three or four miles up and down 
 the stream. Although I had now become familiarised with 
 beautiful vegetation, all the glow of fresh admiration came 
 again to me in this place. The creek was about a hundred 
 yards wide, but narrower in some places. Both banks were 
 masked by lofty walls of green drapery, here and there a break 
 occurring, through which, under overarching trees, glimpses 
 were obtained of the palm-thatched huts of settlers. The pro- 
 jecting boughs of lofty trees, which in some places stretched 
 half-way across the creek, were hung with natural garlands 
 and festoons, and an endless variety of creeping plants clothed 
 the water-frontage, some of which, especially the Bignonias, 
 were ornamented with large gaily-coloured flowers. Art could 
 not have assorted together beautiful vegetable forms so har- 
 moniously as was here done by Nature. Palms, as usual, 
 formed a large proportion of the lower trees; some of them, 
 however, shot up their slim stems to a height of sixty feet or 
 more, and waved their bunches of nodding plumes between us 
 and the sky. One kind of palm, the Pashiuba (Iriartea exorhiza), 
 which grows here in greater abundance than elsewhere, was 
 especially attractive. It is not one of the tallest kinds, for 
 when full-grown its height is not more, perhaps, than forty feet; 
 
106 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the leaves are somewhat less drooping, and the leaflets much 
 broader than in other species, so that they have not that 
 feathery appearance which those of some palms have, but still 
 they possess their own peculiar beauty. My guide put me 
 ashore in one place to show me the roots of the Pashiuba. 
 These grow above ground, radiating from the trunk many feet 
 above the surface, so that the tree looks as if supported on stilts ; 
 and a person can, in old trees, stand upright amongst the roots 
 with the perpendicular stem wholly above his head. It adds 
 to the singularity of their appearance that these roots, which 
 have the form of straight rods, are studded with stout thorns, 
 whilst the trunk of the tree is quite smooth. The purpose of 
 this curious arrangement is, perhaps, similar to that of the 
 buttress roots already described — namely, to recompense the 
 tree by root-growth above the soil for its inability, in conse- 
 quence of the competition of neighbouring roots, to extend it 
 underground. The great amount of moisture and nutriment 
 contained in the atmosphere may also favour these growths. 
 
 On returning to the house, I found Petzell had been well 
 occupied during the hot hours of the day collecting insects in a 
 neighbouring clearing. Our kind hosts gave us a cup of coffee 
 about five o'clock, and we then started for home. The last mile 
 of our walk was performed in the dark. The forest in this part 
 is obscure even in broad daylight, but I was scarcely prepared 
 for the intense opacity of darkness which reigned here on this 
 night, and which prevented us from seeing each other, although 
 walking side by side. Nothing occurred of a nature to alarm 
 us, except that now and then a sudden rush was heard amongst 
 the trees, and once a dismal shriek startled us. Petzell tripped 
 at one place and fell all his length into the thicket. With 
 this exception, we kept well to the pathway, and in due time 
 arrived safely at Caripi. 
 
 One of my neighbours at Murucupi was a hunter of reputa- 
 tion in these parts. He was a civilised Indian, married and 
 settled, named Raimundo, whose habit was to sally forth at 
 intervals to certain productive hunting-grounds, the situation of 
 which he kept secret, and procure fresh provisions for his family. 
 I had found out by this time, that animal food was as much a 
 necessary of life in this exhausting climate as it is in the North 
 of Europe. An attempt which I made to live on vegetable food 
 was quite a failure, and I could not eat the execrable salt-fish 
 Which Brazilians use. I had been many days without meat of 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 107 
 
 any kind, and nothing more was to be found near Caripi, so I 
 asked as a favour of Senhor Raimundo •permission to accom- 
 pany him on one of his hunting-trips, and shoot a little game 
 for my own use. He consented, and appointed a day on which 
 I was to come over to his house to sleep, so as to be ready for 
 starting with the ebb-tide shortly after midnight. 
 
 The locality we were to visit was situated near the extreme 
 point of the land of Carnapijo, where it projects northwardly 
 into the middle of the Para estuary, and is broken into a 
 number of islands. On the afternoon of January nth, 1849, I 
 walked through the woods to Raimundo's house, taking nothing 
 with me but a double-barrelled gun, a supply of ammunition, 
 and a box for the reception of any insects I might capture. 
 Raimundo was a carpenter, and seemed to be a very industrious 
 man; he had two apprentices, Indians like himself — one a young 
 lad, and the other apparently about twenty years of age. His 
 wife was of the same race. The Indian women are not always 
 of a taciturn disposition like their husbands. Senhora Dominga 
 was very talkative; there was another old squaw at the house 
 on a visit, and the tongues of the two were going at a great 
 rate the whole evening, using only the Tupi language. Raimundo 
 and his apprentices were employed building a canoe. Notwith- 
 standing his industry, he seemed to be very poor, and this was 
 the condition of most of the residents on the banks of the 
 Murucupi. They have, nevertheless, considerable plantations 
 of mandioca and Indian corn, besides small plots of cotton, 
 coffee, and sugarcane; the soil is very fertile, they have no 
 rent to pay, and no direct taxes. There is, moreover, always 
 a market in Para, twenty miles distant, for their surplus pro- 
 duce, and a ready communication with it by water. 
 
 In the evening we had more visitors. The sounds of pipe 
 and tabor were heard, and presently a procession of villagers 
 emerged from a pathway through the mandioca fields. They 
 were on a begging expedition for St. Thome, the patron saint 
 of Indians and Mamelucos. One carried a banner, on which 
 was rudely painted the figure of St. Thome with a glory round 
 his head. The pipe and tabor were of the simplest description. 
 The pipe was a reed pierced with four holes, by means of which 
 a few unmusical notes were produced, and the tabor was a 
 broad hoop with a skin stretched over each end. A deformed 
 young man played both the instruments. Senhor Raimundo 
 received them with the quiet politeness which comes so natural 
 to the Indian when occupying the position of host. The 
 
108 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 visitors, who had come from the Villa de Conde, five miles 
 through the forest, were invited to rest. Raimundo then took 
 the image of St. Thome from one of the party, and placed it by 
 the side of Nossa Senhora in his own oratorio, a little decorated 
 box in which every family keeps its household gods, finally 
 lighting a couple of wax candles before it. Shortly afterwards 
 a cloth was laid on a mat, and all the guests were invited to 
 supper. The fare was very scanty; a boiled fowl with rice, a 
 slice of roasted pirarucu, farinha, and bananas. Each one 
 partook very sparingly, some of the young men contenting 
 themselves with a plateful of rice. One of the apprentices 
 stood behind with a bowl of water and a towel, with which 
 each guest washed his fingers and rinsed his mouth after the 
 meal. They stayed all night: the large open shed was filled 
 with hammocks, which were slung from pole to pole; and on 
 retiring, Raimundo gave orders for their breakfast in the 
 morning. 
 
 Raimundo called me at two o'clock, when we embarked (he, 
 his older apprentice Joaquim, and myself) in a shady place 
 where it was so dark that I could see neither canoe nor water, 
 taking with us five dogs. We glided down a winding creek 
 where huge trunks of trees slanted across close overhead, and 
 presently emerged into the Murucupi. A few yards further on 
 we entered the broader channel of the Aitituba. This we 
 crossed, and entered another narrow creek on the opposite side. 
 Here the ebb-tide was against us, and we had great difficulty in 
 making progress. After we had struggled against the powerful 
 current a distance of two miles, we came to a part where the 
 ebb-tide ran in the opposite direction, showing that we had 
 crossed the water-shed. The tide flows into this channel or 
 creek at both ends simultaneously, and meets in the middle, 
 although there is apparently no difference of level, and the 
 breadth of the water is the same. The tides are extremely 
 intricate throughout all the infinite channels and creeks which 
 intersect the lands of the Amazons delta. The moon now broke 
 forth and lighted up the trunks of colossal trees, the leaves of 
 monstrous Jupati palms which arched over the creek, and 
 revealed groups of arborescent arums standing like rows of 
 spectres on its banks. We had a glimpse now and then into 
 the black depths of the forest, where all was silent except the 
 shrill stridulation of wood-crickets. Now and then a sudden 
 plunge in the water ahead would startle us, caused by heavy 
 fruit or some nocturnal animal dropping from the trees. The 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 109 
 
 two Indians here rested on their paddles and allowed the canoe 
 to drift with the tide. A pleasant perfume came from the 
 forest, which Raimundo said proceeded from a cane-field. He 
 toM me that all this land was owned by large proprietors at 
 Para, who had received grants from time to time from the 
 Government for political services. Raimundo was quite in a 
 talkative humour; he related to me many incidents of the time 
 of the " Cabanagem," as the revolutionary days of 1835-6 are 
 popularly called. He said he had been much suspected himself 
 of being a rebel, but declared that the suspicion was unfounded. 
 The only complaint he had to make against the white man was, 
 that he monopolised the land without having any intention or 
 prospect of cultivating it. He had been turned out of one 
 place where he had squatted and cleared a large piece of forest. 
 I believe the law of Brazil at this time was that the new lands 
 should become the property of those who cleared and cultivated 
 them, if their right was not disputed within a given term of 
 years by some one who claimed the proprietorship. This land- 
 law has since been repealed, and a new one adopted founded on 
 that of the United States. Raimundo spoke of his race as the 
 red-skins, " pelle vermelho; " they meant well to the whites, 
 and only begged to be let alone. " God," he said, " had given 
 room enough for us all." It was pleasant to hear the shrewd 
 good-natured fellow talk in this strain. Our companion, 
 Joaquim, had fallen asleep; the night air was cool, and the 
 moonlight lit up the features of Raimundo, revealing a more 
 animated expression than is usually observable in Indian 
 countenances. I always noticed that Indians were more 
 cheerful on a voyage, especially in the cool hours of night 
 and morning, than when ashore. There is something in their 
 constitution of body which makes them feel excessively 
 depressed in the hot hours of the day, especially inside their 
 houses. Their skin is always hot to the touch. They certainly 
 do not endure the heat of their own climate so well as the 
 whites. The negroes are totally different in this respect; the 
 heat of midday has very little effect on them, and they dislike 
 the cold nights on the river. 
 
 We arrived at our hunting-ground about half-past four. The 
 channel was here broader and presented several ramifications. 
 It yet wanted an hour and a half to daybreak, so Raimundo 
 recommended me to have a nap. We both stretched ourselves 
 on the benches of the canoe and fell asleep, letting the boat 
 drift with the tide, which was now slack. I slept well con- 
 
iio The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 i 
 
 sidering the hardness of our bed, and when I awoke in the 
 middle of a dream about home-scenes the day was beginning to 
 dawn. My clothes were quite wet with the dew. The birds 
 were astir, the cicadas had begun their music, and the Urania 
 Leilus, a strange and beautiful tailed and gilded moth, whose 
 habits are those of a butterfly, commenced to fly in flocks over 
 the tree-tops. Raimundo exclaimed " Clareia o dia! " — " The 
 day brightens! " The change was rapid: the sky in the east 
 assumed suddenly the loveliest azure colour, across which streaks 
 of thin white clouds were painted. It is at such moments 
 as this when one feels how beautiful our earth truly is ! The 
 channel on whose waters our little boat was floating was about 
 two hundred yards wide; others branched off right and left, 
 surrounding the group of lonely islands which terminate the 
 land of Carnapijo. The forest on all sides formed a lofty hedge 
 without a break: below, it was fringed with mangrove bushes, 
 whose small foliage contrasted with the large glossy leaves of 
 the taller trees, or the feather and fan-shaped fronds of palms. 
 
 Being now arrived at our destination, Raimundo turned up 
 his trousers and shirt-sleeves, took his long hunting-knife, and 
 leapt ashore with the dogs. He had to cut a gap in order to 
 enter the forest. We expected to find Pacas and Cutias; and 
 the method adopted to secure them was this: at the present 
 early hour they would be seen feeding on fallen fruits, but 
 would quickly, on hearing a noise, betake themselves to their 
 burrows : Raimundo was then to turn them out by means of the 
 dogs, and Joaquim and I were to remain in the boat with our 
 guns, ready to shoot all that came to the edge of the stream— 
 the habits of both animals, when hard-pressed, being to take to 
 the water. We had not long to wait. The first arrival was a 
 Paca, a reddish, nearly tailless Rodent, spotted with white on 
 the sides, and intermediate in size and appearance between a 
 hog and a hare. My first shot did not take effect; the animal 
 dived into the water and did not reappear. A second was 
 brought down by my companion as it was rambling about 
 under the mangrove bushes. A Cutia next appeared: this is 
 also a Rodent, about one-third the size of the Paca: it swims, 
 but does not dive, and I was fortunate enough to shoot it. We 
 obtained in this way two more Pacas and another Cutia. All 
 the time the dogs were yelping in the forest. Shortly after- 
 wards Raimundo made his appearance, and told us to paddle to 
 the other side of the island. Arrived there, we landed and 
 prepared for breakfast. It was a pretty spot — a clean, white, 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 1 1 i 
 
 sandy beach beneath the shade of wide-spreading trees. 
 Joaquim made a fire. He first scraped fine shavings from the 
 midrib of a Bacaba palm-leaf; these he piled into a little heap 
 in a dry place, and then struck a light in his bamboo tinder- 
 box with a piece of an old file and a flint, the tinder being 
 a felt-like substance manufactured by an ant (Polyrhachis 
 bispinosus). By gentle blowing, the shavings ignited, dry 
 sticks were piled on them, and a good fire soon resulted. He 
 then singed and prepared the cutia, finishing by running a spit 
 through the body and fixing one end in the ground in a slant- 
 ing position over the fire. We had brought with us a bag of 
 farinha and a cup containing a lemon, a dozen or two of fiery 
 red peppers, and a few spoonsful of salt. We breakfasted 
 heartily when our cutia was roasted, and washed the meal 
 down with a calabash full of the pure water of the river. 
 
 After breakfast the dogs found another cutia, which was 
 hidden in its burrow two or three feet beneath the roots of a 
 large tree, and took Raimundo nearly an hour to disinter it. 
 Soon afterwards we left this place, crossed the channel, and, 
 paddling past two islands, obtained a glimpse of the broad 
 river between them, with a long sandy spit, on which stood 
 several scarlet ibises and snow-white egrets. One of the 
 islands was low and sandy, and half of it was covered with 
 gigantic arum-trees, the often-mentioned Caladium arborescens, 
 which presented a strange sight. Most people are acquainted 
 with the little British species, Arum maculatum, which grows in 
 hedge-bottoms, and many, doubtless, have admired the larger 
 kinds grown in hothouses; they can therefore form some idea 
 of a forest of arums. On this islet the woody stems of the 
 plants near the bottom were eight to ten inches in diameter, 
 and the trees were twelve to fifteen feet high; all growing 
 together in such a manner that there was just room for a man 
 to walk freely between them. There was a canoe inshore, with 
 a man and a woman : the man, who was hooting with all his 
 might, told us in passing that his son was lost in the " aningal " 
 (arum-grove). He had strayed whilst walking ashore, and the 
 father had now been an hour waiting for him in vain. 
 
 About one o'clock we again stopped at the mouth of a little 
 creek. It was now intensely hot. Raimundo said deer were 
 found here; so he borrowed my gun, as being a more effective 
 weapon than the wretched arms called Lazarinos, which he,, 
 in common with all the native hunters, used, and which sell 
 at Para for seven or eight shillings apiece. Raimundo and 
 
1 1 2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 Joaquim now stripped themselves quite naked, and started off 
 in different directions through the forest, going naked in order 
 to move with less noise over the carpet of dead leaves, amongst 
 which they stepped so stealthily that not the slightest rustle 
 could be heard. The dogs remained in the canoe, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of which I employed myself two hours entomologising. 
 At the end of that time my two companions returned, having 
 met with no game whatever. 
 
 We now embarked on our return voyage. Raimundo cut two 
 slender poles, one for a mast and the other for a sprit: to these 
 he rigged a sail we had brought in the boat, for we were to 
 return by the open river, and expected a good wind to carry us 
 to Caripi. As soon as we got out of the channel we began to 
 feel the wind — the sea-breeze, which here makes a clean sweep 
 from the Atlantic. Our boat was very small and heavily laden ; 
 and when, after rounding a point, I saw the great breadth we 
 had to traverse (seven miles), I thought the attempt to cross in 
 such a slight vessel foolhardy in the extreme. The waves ran 
 very high: there was no rudder; Raimundo steered with a 
 paddle, and all we had to rely upon to save us from falling into 
 the trough of the sea and being instantly swamped were his 
 nerve and skill. There was just room in the boat for our three 
 selves, the dogs, and the game we had killed, and when between 
 the swelling ridges of waves in so frail a shell, our destruction 
 seemed inevitable ; as it was, we shipped a little water now and 
 then. Joaquim assisted with his paddle to steady the boat: my 
 time was fully occupied in baling out the water and watching the 
 dogs, which were crowded together in the prow, yelling with 
 fear; one or other of them occasionally falling over the side and 
 causing great commotion in scrambling in again. Off the point 
 was a ridge of rocks, over which the surge raged furiously. 
 Raimundo sat at the stern, rigid and silent; his eye steadily 
 watching the prow of the boat. It was almost worth the risk 
 and discomfort of the passage to witness the seamanlike ability 
 displayed by Indians on the water. The little boat rode beauti- 
 fully, rising well with each wave, and in the course of an hour 
 and a half we arrived at Caripi, thoroughly tired and wet 
 through to the skin. 
 
 On the 16th of January the dry season came abruptly to an 
 end. The sea-breezes, which had been increasing in force for 
 some days, suddenly ceased, and the atmosphere became misty; 
 at length heavy clouds collected where a uniform blue sky 
 had for many weeks prevailed, and down came a succession of 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 1 1 3 
 
 heavy showers, the first of which lasted a whole day and night. 
 This seemed to give a new stimulus to animal life. On the 
 first night there was a tremendous uproar — tree-frogs, crickets, 
 goat-suckers, and owls all joining to perform a deafening concert. 
 One kind of goat-sucker kept repeating at intervals through- 
 out the night a phrase similar to the Portuguese words, " Joao 
 corta pao," — "John, cut wood;" a phrase which forms the 
 Brazilian name of the bird. An owl in one of the Genipapa 
 trees muttered now and then a succession of syllables resembling 
 
 -8. Soldiers of different species of White Ants.- 
 worker. — 10. Winged class. 
 
 Ordinary shape oi 
 
 the word " Murucututu." Sometimes the croaking and hoot- 
 ing of frogs and toads were so loud that we could not hear 
 one another's voices within doors. Swarms of dragonflies 
 appeared in the daytime about the pools of water created by 
 the rain, and ants and termites came forth in the winged state 
 in vast numbers. I noticed that the winged termites, or white 
 ants, which came by hundreds to the lamps at night, when 
 alighting on the table, often jerked off their wings by a voluntary 
 movement. On examination I found that the wings were not 
 shed by the roots, for a small portion of the stumps remained 
 attached to the thorax. The edge of the fracture was in all 
 
114 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 cases straight, not ruptured: there is, in fact, a natural seam 
 crossing the member towards its root, and at this point the 
 long wing naturally drops or is jerked off when the insect has 
 no further use for it. The white ant is endowed with wings 
 simply for the purpose of flying away from the colony peopled 
 by its wingless companions, to pair with individuals of the same 
 or other colonies, and thus propagate and disseminate its kind. 
 The winged individuals are males and females, whilst the great 
 bulk of their wingless fraternity are of no sex, but are of two 
 castes, soldiers and workers, which are restricted to the functions 
 of building the nests, nursing and defending the young brood* 
 The two sexes mate whilst on the ground after the wings are 
 shed; and then the married couples, if they escape the numerous 
 enemies which lie in wait for them, proceed to the task of 
 founding new colonies. Ants and white ants have much that 
 is analogous in their modes of life: they belong, however, to 
 two widely different orders of insects, strongly contrasted in 
 their structure and manner of growth. 
 
 I amassed at Caripi a very large collection of beautiful and 
 curious insects, amounting altogether to about twelve hundred 
 species. The number of Coleoptera was remarkable, seeing 
 that this order is so poorly represented near Para. I attributed 
 their abundance to the number of new clearings made in the 
 virgin forest by the native settlers. The felled timber attracts 
 lignivorous insects, and these draw in their train the predaceous 
 species of various families. As a general rule the species were 
 smaller and much less brilliant in colours than those of Mexico 
 and South Brazil. The species too, although numerous, were 
 not represented by great numbers of individuals; they were 
 also extremely nimble, and therefore much less easy of capture 
 'than insects of the same order in temperate climates. The 
 carnivorous beetles at Caripi were, like those of Para, chiefly 
 arboreal. Most of them exhibited a beautiful contrivance for 
 enabling them to cling to and run over smooth or flexible 
 surfaces, such as leaves. Their tarsi or feet are broad, and 
 furnished beneath with a brush of short stiff hairs; whilst 
 their claws are toothed in the form of a comb, adapting them 
 for clinging to the smooth edges of leaves, the joint of the foot 
 which precedes the claw being cleft so as to allow free play to 
 the claw in grasping. The common dung-beetles at Caripi, 
 which flew about in the evening like the Geotrupes, the familiar 
 " shardborne beetle with his drowsy hum " of our English lanes, 
 were of colossal size and beautiful colours. One kind had a 
 
Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 1 15 
 
 long spear-shaped horn projecting from the crown of its head 
 (Phanaeus lancifer). A blow from this fellow, as he came 
 heavily flying along, was never very pleasant. All the tribes of 
 beetles which feed on vegetable substances, fresh or decayed, 
 were very numerous. The most beautiful of these, but not' the 
 most common, were the Longicornes; very graceful insects, 
 having slender bodies and long antennae, often ornamented with 
 fringes and tufts of hair. They were found on flowers, on 
 trunks of trees, or flying about the new clearings. One small 
 species (Coremia hirtipes) has a tuft of hairs on its hind legs, 
 whilst many of its sister species have a similar ornament on the 
 antennae. It suggests curious reflections when we see an 
 ornament like the feather of a grenadier's cap situated on one 
 part of the body in one species, and in a totally different part in 
 nearly allied ones. I tried in vain to discover the use of these 
 curious brush-like decorations. On the trunk of a living 
 leguminous tree, Petzell found a number of a very rare and 
 handsome species, the Platysternus hebneus, which is of a 
 broad shape, coloured ochreous, but spotted and striped with 
 black, so as to resemble a domino. On the felled trunks of 
 trees, swarms of gilded-green Longicornes occurred, of small 
 size (Chrysoprasis), which looked like miniature musk-beetles, 
 and, indeed, are closely allied to those well-known European 
 insects. 
 
 At length, on the 12th of February, I left Caripi, my Negro 
 and Indian neighbours bidding me a warm " adeos." I had 
 passed a delightful time, notwithstanding the many privations 
 undergone in the way of food. The wet season had now set in ; 
 the lowlands and islands would soon become flooded daily at 
 high water, and the difficulty of obtaining fresh provisions 
 would increase. I intended, therefore, to spend the next three 
 months at Para, in the neighbourhood of which there was still 
 much to be done in the intervals of fine weather, and then start 
 off on another excursion into the interior. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LOWER AMAZONS — PARA TO OBYDOS 
 
 Modes of Travelling on the Amazons — Historical Sketch of the early 
 Explorations of the River — Preparations for Voyage — Life on Board 
 a large Trading-vessel — The narrow Channels joining the Para to the 
 Amazons — First Sight of the Great River — Gurupa — The Great 
 Shoal — Flat-topped Mountains — Santarem — Obydos 
 
 At the time of my first voyage up the Amazons — namely, in 
 1849 — nearly all communication with the interior was by means 
 of small sailing-vessels, owned by traders residing in the remote 
 towns and villages, who seldom came to Para themselves, but 
 entrusted vessels and cargoes to the care of half-breeds or 
 Portuguese cabos. Sometimes, indeed, they risked all in the 
 hands of the Indian crew, making the pilot, who was also 
 steersman, do duty as supercargo. Now and then, Portuguese 
 and Brazilian merchants at Para furnished young Portuguese 
 with merchandise, and despatched them to the interior to 
 exchange the goods for produce among the scattered popula- 
 tion. The means of communication, in fact, with the upper 
 parts of the Amazons had been on the decrease for some time, 
 on account of the augmented difficulty of obtaining hands to 
 navigate vessels. Formerly, when the Government wished to 
 send any important functionary, such as a judge or a military 
 commandant, into the interior, they equipped a swift-sailing 
 galliota, manned with ten or a dozen Indians. These could 
 travel, on the average, in one day farther than the ordinary 
 sailing craft could in three. Indian paddlers were now, how- 
 ever, almost impossible to be obtained, and Government officers 
 were obliged to travel as passengers in trading-vessels. The 
 voyage made in this way was tedious in the extreme. When 
 the regular east-wind blew — the " vento geral," or trade-wind 
 of the Amazons — sailing-vessels could get along very well; but 
 when this failed they were obliged to remain, sometimes many 
 days together, anchored near the shore, or progress laboriously 
 by means of the " espia." The latter mode of travelling was as 
 follows. The montaria, with twenty or thirty fathoms of cable, 
 one end of which was attached to the foremast, was sent ahead 
 
 116 
 
Para to Obydos 1 1 7 
 
 with a couple of hands, who secured the other end of the rope 
 to some strong bough or tree-trunk; the crew then hauled the 
 vessel up to the point, after which the men in the boat re- 
 embarked the cable, and paddled forwards to repeat the process. 
 In the dry season, from August to December, when the trade- 
 wind is strong and the currents slack, a schooner could reach 
 the mouth of the Rio Negro, a thousand miles from Para, in 
 about forty days ; but in the wet season, from January to July, 
 when the east-wind no longer blows and the Amazons pours 
 forth its full volume of water, flooding the banks and producing 
 a tearing current, it took three months to travel the same dis- 
 tance. It was a great blessing to the inhabitants when, in 
 1853, a line of steamers was established, and this same journey 
 could be accomplished with ease and comfort, at all seasons, in 
 eight daysl 
 
 It is, perhaps, not generally known that the Portuguese, as 
 early as 17 10, had a fair knowledge of the Amazons; but the 
 information gathered by their Government, from various ex- 
 peditions undertaken on a grand scale, was long withheld from 
 the rest of the world, through the jealous policy which ruled in 
 their colonial affairs. From the foundation of Para by Caldeira, 
 in 1615, to the settlement of the boundary line between 
 the Spanish and Portuguese possessions, Peru and Brazil, in 
 1 781-91, numbers of these expeditions were in succession 
 undertaken. The largest was the one commanded by Pedro 
 Texeira in 1637-9, who ascended the river to Quito, by way of 
 the Napo, a distance of about 2800 miles, with 45 canoes and 
 900 men, and returned to Para without any great misadventure 
 by the same route. The success of this remarkable undertak- 
 ing amply proved, at that early date, the facility of the river 
 navigation, the practicability of the country, and the good 
 disposition of the aboriginal inhabitants. The river, however, 
 was first discovered by the Spaniards, the mouth having been 
 visited by Pinzon in 1500, and nearly the whole course of the 
 river navigated by Orellana in 154 1-2. The voyage of the 
 latter was one of the most remarkable on record. Orellana 
 was a lieutenant of Gonzalo Pizarro, Governor of Quito, and 
 accompanied the latter in an adventurous journey which he 
 undertook across the easternmost chain of the AJides, down 
 into the sweltering valley of the Napo, in search of the land of 
 El Dorado, or the Gilded King. They started with 300 soldiers 
 and 4000 Indian porters; but, arrived on the banks of one of the 
 
i 1 8 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 tributaries of the Napo, their followers were so greatly decreased 
 in number by disease and hunger, and the remainder so much 
 weakened, that Pizarro was obliged to despatch Orellana with 
 fifty men, in a vessel they had built, to the Napo, in search of 
 provisions. It can be imagined by those acquainted with the 
 Amazons country how fruitless this errand would be in the 
 wilderness of forest where Orellana and his followers found 
 themselves when they reached the Napo, and how strong their 
 disinclination would be to return against the currents and rapids 
 which they had descended. The idea then seized them to 
 commit themselves to the chances of the stream, although 
 ignorant whither it would lead. So onward they went. From 
 the Napo they emerged into the main Amazons, and, after 
 many and various adventures with the Indians on its banks, 
 reached the Atlantic; eight months from the date of their 
 entering the great river. 1 
 
 Another remarkable voyage was accomplished, in a similar 
 manner, by a Spaniard named Lopez d'Aguirre, from Cusco, in 
 Peru, down the Ucayali, a branch of the Amazons flowing from 
 the south, and therefore from an opposite direction to that of 
 the Napo. An account of this journey was sent by D'Aguirre, 
 in a letter to the King of Spain, from which Humboldt has given 
 an extract in his narrative. As it is a good specimen of the 
 quaintness of style and looseness of statement exhibited by 
 these early narrators of adventures in South America, I will 
 give a translation of it: " We constructed rafts, and, leaving 
 behind our horses and baggage, sailed down the river (the 
 Ucayali) with great risk, until we found ourselves in a gulf of 
 fresh water. In this river Marahon we continued more than ten 
 months and a half, down to its mouth, where it falls into the 
 sea. We made one hundred days' journey, and travelled 1500 
 leagues. It is a great and fearful stream, has 80 leagues of 
 fresh water at its mouth, vast shoals, and 800 leagues of wilder- 
 ness without any kind of inhabitants, 2 as your Majesty will see 
 from the true and correct narrative of the journey which we 
 have made. It has more than 6000 islands. God knows how 
 
 1 It was during this voyage that the nation of female warriors was said 
 to have been met with ; a report which gave rise to the Portuguese name 
 of the river, Amazonas, It is now pretty well known that this is a mere 
 fable, originating in the love of the marvellous which distinguished the 
 early Spanish adventurers, and impaired the credibility of their narratives. 
 
 2 This account disagrees with that of Acunna, the historiographer of 
 Texeira's expedition, who accompanied him, in 1639, on his return voyage 
 from Quito. Acunna speaks of a very numerous population on the banks 
 of the Amazons. 
 
 I 
 
Para to Obydos 1 1 9 
 
 we came out of this fearful sea ! " Many expeditions were 
 undertaken in the course of the eighteenth century; in fact, 
 the crossing of the continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic, 
 by way of the Amazons, seems to have become by this time a 
 common occurrence. The only voyage, however, which yielded 
 much scientific information to the European public was that of 
 the French astronomer, La Condamine, in 1743-4. The most 
 complete account yet published of the river is that given by 
 Von Martius in the third volume of Spix and Martius' Travels. 
 These most accomplished travellers were eleven months in the 
 country — namely, from July, 1819, to June, 1820 — and ascended 
 the river to the frontiers of the Brazilian territory. The 
 accounts they have given of the geography, ethnology, botany, 
 history, and statistics of the Amazons region are the most 
 complete that have ever been given to the world. Their 
 narrative was not published until 1831, and was unfortunately 
 inaccessible to me during the time I travelled in the same 
 country. 
 
 Whilst preparing for my voyage it happened, fortunately, that 
 the half-brother of Dr. Angelo Custodio, a young mestizo named 
 Joao da Cunha Correia, was about starting for the Amazons 
 on a trading expedition in his own vessel, a schooner of about 
 forty tons' burthen. A passage for me was soon arranged with 
 him through the intervention of Dr. Angelo, and we started on 
 the 5th of September, 1849. I intended to stop at some village 
 on the northern shore of the Lower Amazons, where it would be 
 interesting to make collections, in order to show the relations 
 of the fauna to those of Para and the coast region of Guiana. 
 As I should have to hire a house or hut wherever I stayed, 
 I took all the materials for housekeeping — cooking utensils, 
 crockery, and so forth. To these were added a stock of such 
 provisions as it would be difficult to obtain in the interior; 
 also ammunition, chests, store-boxes, a small library of natural 
 history books, and a hundredweight of copper money. I 
 engaged, after some trouble, a Mameluco youth to accompany 
 me as servant — a short, fat, yellow-faced boy named Luco, 
 whom I had already employed at Para in collecting. We 
 weighed anchor at night, and on the following day found our- 
 selves gliding along the dark-brown waters of the Moju. 
 
 Joao da Cunha, like most of his fellow-countrymen, took 
 matters very easily. He was going to be absent in the interior 
 several years, and therefore intended to diverge from his route 
 
120 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 to visit his native place, Cameta, and spend a few days with his 
 friends. It seemed not to matter to him that he had a cargo 
 of merchandise, vessel, and crew of twelve persons, which 
 required an economical use of time; " pleasure first and business 
 afterwards " appeared to be his maxim. We stayed at Cameta 
 twelve days. The chief motive for prolonging the stay to this 
 extent was a festival at the Aldeia, two miles below Cameta, 
 which was to commence on the 21st, and which my friend 
 wished to take part in. On the day of the festival the schooner 
 was sent down to anchor off the Aldeia, and master and men 
 gave themselves up to revelry. In the evening a strong breeze 
 sprang up, and orders were given to embark. We scrambled 
 down in the dark through the thickets of cacao, orange, and 
 coffee trees which clothed the high bank, and, after running 
 great risk of being swamped by the heavy sea in the crowded 
 montaria, got all aboard by nine o'clock. We made all sail 
 amidst the " adeos " shouted to us by Indian and mulatto 
 sweethearts from the top of the bank, and, tide and wind being 
 favourable, were soon miles away. 
 
 Our crew consisted, as already mentioned, of twelve persons. 
 One was a young Portuguese from the province of Traz os 
 Montes, a pretty sample of the kind of emigrants which Portugal 
 sends to Brazil. He was two or three and twenty years of age, 
 and had been about two years in the country, dressing and 
 living like the Indians, to whom he was certainly inferior in 
 manners. He could not read or write, whereas one at least 
 of our Tapuyos had both accomplishments. He had a little 
 wooden image of Nossa Senhora in his rough wooden clothes- 
 chest, and to this he always had recourse when any squall arose, 
 or when we got aground on a shoal. Another of our sailors 
 was a tawny white of Cameta; the rest were Indians, except 
 the cook, who was a Cafuzo, or half-breed between the Indian 
 and negro. It is often said that this class of mestizos is the 
 most evilly-disposed of all the numerous crosses between the 
 races inhabiting Brazil; but Luiz was a simple, good-hearted 
 fellow, always ready to do one a service. The pilot was an old 
 Tapuyo of Para, with regular oval face and well-shaped features. 
 I was astonished at his endurance. He never quitted the helm 
 night or day, except for two or three hours in the morning. 
 The other Indians used to bring him his coffee and meals, and 
 after breakfast one of them relieved him for a time, when he 
 used to lie down on the quarterdeck and get his two hours' 
 nap. The Indians forward had things pretty much their own 
 
Para to Obydos 121 
 
 way. No system of watches was followed; when any one was 
 so disposed, he lay down on the deck and went to sleep; but 
 a feeling of good fellowship seemed always to exist amongst 
 them. One of them was a fine specimen of the Indian race: a 
 man very little short of six feet high, with remarkable breadth 
 of shoulder and full muscular chest. His comrades called him 
 the commandant, on account of his having been one of the 
 rebel leaders when the Indians and others took Santarem in 
 1835. They related of him that, when the legal authorities 
 arrived with an armed flotilla to recapture the town, he was one 
 of the last to quit, remaining in the little fortress which com- 
 mands the place to make a show of loading the guns, although 
 the ammunition had given out long ago. Such were our 
 travelling companions. We lived almost the same as on board 
 ship. Our meals were cooked in the galley ; but, where practic- 
 able, and during our numerous stoppages, the men went in 
 the montaria to fish near the shore, so that our breakfasts and 
 dinners of salt pirarucu were sometimes varied with fresh food. 
 
 September 24th. — We passed Entre-as-Ilhas with the morning 
 tide yesterday, and then made across to the eastern shore — the 
 starting-point for all canoes which have to traverse the broad 
 mouth of the Tocantins going west. Early this morning we 
 commenced the passage. The navigation is attended with 
 danger on account of the extensive shoals in the middle of the 
 river, which are covered only by a small depth of water at this 
 season of the year. The wind was fresh, and the schooner 
 rolled and pitched like a ship at sea. The distance was about 
 fifteen miles. In the middle, the river-view was very imposing. 
 Towards the north-east there was a long sweep of horizon clear 
 of land, and on the south-west stretched a similar boundless 
 expanse, but varied with islets clothed with fan-leaved palms, 
 which, however, were visible only as isolated groups of columns, 
 tufted at the top, rising here and there amidst the waste of 
 waters. In the afternoon we rounded the westernmost point; 
 the land, which is not terra firma, but simply a group of large 
 islands forming a portion of the Tocantins delta, was then about 
 three miles distant. 
 
 On the following day (25th) we sailed towards the west,, 
 along the upper portion of the Para estuary, which extends 
 seventy miles beyond the mouth of the Tocantins. It varies 
 in width from three to five miles, but broadens rapidly near its 
 termination, where it is eight or nine miles wide. The northern 
 shore is formed by the island of Marajo, and is slightly elevated 
 
122 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 and rocky in some parts. A series of islands conceals the 
 southern shore from view most part of the way. The whole 
 country, mainland and islands, is covered with forest. We had 
 a good wind all day, and about 7 p.m. entered the narrow river 
 of Breves, which commences abruptly the extensive labyrinth 
 of channels that connects the Para with the Amazons. The 
 sudden termination of the Para at a point where it expands to 
 so great a breadth is remarkable; the water, however, is very 
 shallow over the greater portion of the expanse. I noticed, 
 both on this and on the three subsequent occasions of passing 
 this place in ascending and descending the river, that the flow 
 of the tide from the east along the estuary, as well as up the 
 Breves, was very strong. This seems sufficient to prove that 
 no considerable volume of water passes by this medium from 
 the Amazons to the Para, and that the opinion of those geo- 
 graphers is an incorrect one, who believe the Para to be one 
 of the mouths of the great river. There is, however, another 
 channel connecting the two rivers, which enters the Para six 
 miles to the south of the Breves. The lower part of its course 
 for eighteen miles is formed by the Uanapu, a large and inde- 
 pendent river flowing from the south. The tidal flow is said 
 by the natives to produce little or no current up this river— a 
 fact which seems to afford a little support to the view just 
 stated. 
 
 We passed the village of Breves at 3 p.m. on the 26th. It 
 consists of about forty houses, most of which are occupied by 
 Portuguese shopkeepers. A few Indian families reside here', 
 who occupy themselves with the manufacture of ornamental 
 pottery and painted cuyas, which they sell to traders or passing 
 travellers. The cuyas— drinking-cups made from gourds— are 
 sometimes very tastefully painted. The rich black ground- 
 colour is produced by a dye made from the bark of a tree 
 called Comateii, the gummy nature of which imparts a fine 
 polish. The yellow tints are made with the Tabatinga clay; 
 the red with the seeds of the Urucu, or anatto plant; and the 
 blue with indigo, which is planted round the huts. The art is 
 indigenous with the Amazonian Indians, but it is only the 
 settled agricultural tribes belonging to the Tupi stock who 
 practise it. 
 
 September 2?th- 3 oih.~ After passing Breves we continued our 
 way slowly along a channel, or series of channels, of variable 
 width On the morning of the 27th we had a fair wind, the 
 breadth of the stream varying from about 150 to 400 yards 
 
Para to Obydos 123 
 
 About midday we passed, on the western side, the mouth of the 
 Aturiazal, through which, on account of its swifter current, 
 vessels pass in descending from the Amazons to Para. Shortly 
 afterwards we entered the narrow channel of the Jaburu, which 
 lies twenty miles above the mouth of the Breves. Here com- 
 mences the peculiar scenery of this remarkable region. We 
 found ourselves in a narrow and nearly straight canal, not more 
 than eighty to a hundred yards in width, and hemmed in by 
 two walls of forest, which rose quite perpendicularly from the 
 water to a height of seventy or eighty feet. The water was of 
 great and uniform depth, even close to the banks. We seemed 
 to be in a deep gorge, and the strange impression the place pro- 
 duced was augmented by the dull echoes wakened by the voices 
 of our Indians and the splash of their paddles. The forest was 
 excessively varied. Some of the trees, the dome-topped giants 
 of the Leguminous and Bombaceous orders, reared their heads 
 far above the average height of the green walls. The fan-leaved 
 Miriti palm was scattered in some numbers amidst the rest, a 
 few solitary specimens shooting up their smooth columns above 
 the other trees. The graceful Assai palm grew in little groups, 
 forming feathery pictures set in the rounder foliage of the mass. 
 The Ubussu, lower in height, showed only its shuttlecock- 
 shaped crowns of huge undivided fronds, which, being of a 
 vivid pale-green, contrasted forcibly against the sombre hues 
 of the surrounding foliage. The Ubussu grew here in great 
 numbers; the equally remarkable Jupati palm (Rhaphia 
 taedigera), which, like the Ubussu, is peculiar to this district, 
 occurred more sparsely, throwing its long shaggy leaves, forty 
 to fifty feet in length, in broad arches over the canal. An 
 infinite diversity of smaller-sized palms decorated the water's 
 edge, such as the Maraja-i (Bactris, many species), the Ubim 
 (Geonoma), and a few stately Bacabas (CEnocarpus Bacaba). 
 The shape of this last is exceedingly elegant, the size of the 
 crown being in proper proportion to the straight smooth stem. 
 The leaves, down even to the bases of the glossy petioles, are 
 of a rich dark-green colour, and free from spines. " The forest 
 wall " — I am extracting from my journal — " under which we 
 are now moving, consists, besides palms, of a great variety of 
 ordinary forest-trees. From the highest branches of these 
 down to the water sweep ribbons of climbing plants of the most 
 diverse and ornamental foliage possible. Creeping convolvuli 
 and others have made use of the slender lianas and hanging air- 
 roots as ladders to climb by. Now and then appears a Mimosa 
 
< 
 
 i 24 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 or other tree having similar fine pinnate foliage, and thick 
 masses of Inga border the water, from whose branches hang 
 long bean-pods, of different shape and size according to the 
 species, some of them a yard in length. Flowers there are very 
 few. I see, now and then, a gorgeous crimson blossom on long 
 spikes ornamenting the sombre foliage towards the summits of 
 the forest. I suppose it to belong to a climber of the Com- 
 bretaceous order. There are also a few yellow and violet 
 Trumpet-flowers (Bignoniae). The blossoms of the Ingas, 
 although not conspicuous, are delicately beautiful. The forest 
 all along offers so dense a front that one never obtains a glimpse 
 into the interior of the wilderness." 
 
 The length of the Jaburu channel is about thirty-five miles, 
 allowing for the numerous abrupt bends which occur between 
 the middle and the northern end of its course. We were three 
 days and a half accomplishing the passage. The banks on each 
 side seemed to be composed of hard river-mud with a thick 
 covering of vegetable mould, so that I should imagine this 
 whole district originated in a gradual accumulation of alluvium, 
 through which the endless labyrinths of channels have worked 
 their deep and narrow beds. The flood-tide as we travelled 
 northward became gradually of less assistance to us, as it 
 caused only a feeble current upwards. The pressure of the 
 waters from the Amazons here makes itself felt: as this is not 
 the case lower down, I suppose the currents are diverted through 
 some of the numerous channels which we passed on our right, 
 and which traverse, in their course towards the sea, the north- 
 western part of Marajo. In the evening of the 29th we arrived 
 at a point where another channel joins the Jaburu from the 
 north-east. Up this the tide was flowing; we turned westward, 
 and thus met the flood coming from the Amazons. This point 
 is the object of a strange superstitious observance on the part 
 of the canoemen. It is said to be haunted by a Paje, or Indian 
 wizard, whom it is necessary to propitiate by depositing some 
 article on the spot, if the voyager wishes to secure a safe return 
 from the " sertao," as the interior of the country is called. The 
 trees were all hung with rags, shirts, straw hats, bunches 
 of fruit, and so forth. Although the superstition doubtless 
 originated with the aborigines, yet I observed, in both my 
 voyages, that it was only the Portuguese and uneducated 
 Brazilians who deposited anything. The pure Indians gave 
 nothing, and treated the whole affair as a humbug; but they 
 were all civilised Tapuyos. 
 
Para to Obydos 125 
 
 On the 30th, at 9 p.m., we reached a broad channel called 
 Macaco, and now left the dark, echoing Jaburu. The Macaco 
 sends off branches towards the north-west coast of Marajo. It 
 is merely a passage amongst a cluster of islands, between which 
 a glimpse is occasionally obtained of the broad waters of the 
 main Amazons. A brisk wind carried us rapidly past its 
 monotonous scenery, and early in the morning of the 1st of 
 October we reached the entrance of the Uituquara, or the 
 Wind-hole, which is fifteen miles distant from the end of the 
 Jaburu. This is also a winding channel, thirty-five miles in 
 length, threading a group of islands, but it is much narrower 
 than the Macaco. 
 
 On emerging from the Uituquara on the 2nd, we all went 
 
 Acari Fish (Loricaria duodecimalis). 
 
 ashore — the men to fish in a small creek; Joao da Cunha and 
 I to shoot birds. We saw a flock of scarlet and blue macaws 
 (Macrocercus Macao) feeding on the fruits of a Bacaba palm, 
 and looking like a cluster of flaunting banners beneath its 
 dark-green crown. We landed about fifty yards from the 
 place, and crept cautiously through the forest, but before we 
 reached them they flew off with loud harsh screams. At a 
 wild-fruit tree we were more successful, as my companion shot 
 an anaca (Derotypus coronatus), one of the most beautiful of 
 the parrot family. It is of a green colour, and has a hood of 
 feathers, red bordered with blue, at the back of its head, which 
 it can elevate or depress at pleasure. The anaca is the only 
 new-world parrot which nearly resembles the cockatoo of 
 Australia. It is found in all the lowlands throughout the 
 Amazons region, but is not a common bird anywhere. Few 
 
i 26 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 persons succeed in taming it, and I never saw one that had 
 been taught to speak. The natives are very fond of the bird 
 nevertheless, and keep it in their houses for the sake of seeing 
 the irascible creature expand its beautiful frill of feathers, 
 which it readily does when excited. The men returned with a 
 large quantity of fish. I was surprised at the great variety of 
 species; the prevailing kind was a species of Loricaria, a foot 
 in length, and wholly encased in bony armour. It abounds 
 at certain seasons in shallow water. The flesh is dry, but very 
 palatable. They brought also a small alligator, which they 
 called Jacare curua, and said it was a kind found only in 
 shallow creeks. It was not more than two feet in length, 
 although full-grown according to the statement of the Indians, 
 who said it was a " mai d'ovos," or mother of eggs, as they had 
 pillaged the nest, which they had found near the edge of the 
 water. The eggs were rather larger than a hen's, and regularly 
 oval in shape, presenting a rough hard surface of shell. Un- 
 fortunately, the alligator was cut up ready for cooking when 
 we returned to the schooner, and I could not therefore make a 
 note of its peculiarities. The pieces were skewered and roasted 
 over the fire, each man being his own cook. I never saw this 
 species of alligator afterwards. 
 
 October yd. — About midnight the wind, for which we had 
 long been waiting, sprang up, the men weighed anchor, and we 
 were soon fairly embarked on the Amazons. I rose long before 
 sunrise, to see the great river by moonlight. There was a 
 spanking breeze, and the vessel was bounding gaily over the 
 waters. The channel along which we were sailing was only a 
 narrow arm of the river, about two miles in width: the total 
 breadth at this point is more than twenty miles, but the stream is 
 divided into three parts by a series of large islands. The river, 
 notwithstanding this limitation of its breadth, had a most 
 majestic appearance. It did not present that lake-like aspect 
 which the waters of the Para and Tocantins affect, but had all 
 the swing, so to speak, of a vast flowing stream. The ochre- 
 coloured turbid waters offered also a great contrast to the 
 rivers belonging to the Para system. The channel formed a 
 splendid reach, sweeping from south-west to north-east, with a 
 horizon of water and sky both up stream and down. At 11 a.m. 
 we arrived at Gurupa, a small village situated on a rocky 
 bank thirty or forty feet high. Here we landed, and I had an 
 opportunity of rambling in the neighbouring woods, which are 
 intersected by numerous pathways, and carpeted with Lyco- 
 
Para to Obydos i 27 
 
 podia growing to a height of eight or ten inches, and enlivened 
 by numbers of glossy blue butterflies of the Theclida? or hair- 
 streak family. At 5 p.m. we were again under way. Soon 
 after sunset, as we were crossing the mouth of the Xingu the 
 first of the great tributaries of the Amazons, 1200 miles in length, 
 a black cloud arose suddenly in the north-east. Joao da 
 Cunha ordered all sails to be taken in, and immediately after- 
 wards a furious squall burst forth, tearing the waters into foam, 
 and producing a frightful uproar in the neighbouring forests. 
 A drenching rain followed: but in half an hour all was again 
 calm, and the full moon appeared sailing in a cloudless sky. 
 
 From the mouth of the Xingu the route followed by vessels 
 leads straight across the river, here ten miles broad. Towards 
 midnight the wind failed us, when we were close to a large 
 shoal called the Baixo Grande. We lay here becalmed in the 
 sickening heat for two days, and when the trade-wind recom- 
 menced with the rising moon at 10 p.m. on the 6th. we found 
 ourselves on a lee-shore. Notwithstanding all the efforts of our 
 pilot to avoid it, we ran aground. Fortunately the bottom con- 
 sisted only of soft mud, so that by casting anchor to windward, 
 and hauling in with the whole strength of crew and passengers, 
 we got off after spending an uncomfortable night. We rounded 
 the point of the shoal in two fathoms' water; the head of the 
 vessel was then put westward, and by sunrise we were bounding 
 forward before a steady breeze, all sail set and everybody in 
 good humour. 
 
 The weather was now delightful for several days in succes- 
 sion, the air transparently clear, and the breeze cool and 
 invigorating. At daylight, on the 6th, a chain of blue hills, 
 the Serra de Almeyrim, appeared in the distance on the north 
 bank of the river. The sight was most exhilarating after so 
 long a sojourn in a flat country. We kept to the southern 
 shore, passing in the course of the day the mouths of the Uru- 
 curicaya and the Aquiqui, two channels which communicate 
 with the Xingu. The whole of this southern coast hence to 
 near Santarem, a distance of 130 miles, is lowland and quite 
 uninhabited. It is intersected by short arms or back waters of 
 the Amazons, which are called in the Tupi language Parana- 
 mirims, or little rivers. By keeping to these, small canoes can 
 travel great part of the distance without being much exposed to 
 the heavy seas of the main river. The coast throughout has a 
 most desolate aspect: the forest is not so varied as on the higher 
 land; and the water-frontage, which is destitute of the green 
 
128 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 mantle of climbing plants that form so rich a decoration in 
 other parts, is encumbered at every step with piles of fallen 
 trees, peopled by white egrets, ghostly storks, and solitary 
 herons. In the evening we passed Almeyrim. The hills, 
 according to Von Martius, who landed here, are about 800 feet 
 above the level of the river, and are thickly wooded to the 
 summit. They commence on the east by a few low isolated 
 and rounded elevations; but towards the west of the village 
 they assume the appearance of elongated ridges, which seem as 
 if they had been planed down to a uniform height by some 
 external force. The next day we passed in succession a series 
 of similar flat- topped hills, some isolated and of a truncated- 
 pyramidal shape, others prolonged to a length of several miles. 
 There is an interval of low country between these and the 
 Almeyrim range, which has a total length of about twenty-five 
 miles: then commences abruptly the Serra de Marauaqua, 
 which is succeeded in a similar way by the Velha Pobre range, 
 the Serras de Tapaiuna-quara, and Paraua-quara. All these 
 form a striking contrast to the Serra de Almeyrim in being 
 quite destitute of trees. They have steep rugged sides, apparently 
 clothed with short herbage, but here and there exposing bare 
 white patches. Their total length is about forty miles. In the 
 rear, towards the interior, they are succeeded by other ranges of 
 hills communicating with the central mountain-chain of Guiana, 
 which divides Brazil from Cayenne. 
 
 As we sailed along the southern shore, during the 6th and 
 two following days, the table-topped hills on the opposite side 
 occupied most of our attention. The river is from four to 
 five miles broad, and in some places long, low wooded islands 
 intervene in mid-stream, whose light-green, vivid verdure 
 formed a strangely beautiful foreground to the glorious land- 
 scape of broad stream and grey mountain. Ninety miles 
 beyond Almeyrim stands the village of Monte Alegre, which 
 lis built near the summit of the last hill visible of this chain. 
 At this point the river bends a little towards the south, and 
 the hilly country recedes from its shores to re-appear at 
 Obydos, greatly decreased in height, about a hundred miles 
 further west. 
 
 We crossed the river three times between Monte Alegre and 
 the next town, Santarem. In the middle the waves ran very 
 high, and the vessel lurched fearfully, hurling everything that 
 was not well secured from one side of the deck to the other. 
 On the morning of the 9th of October, a gentle wind carried us 
 
130 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 along a " remanso," or still water, under the southern shore. 
 These tracts of quiet water are frequent on the irregular sides 
 of the stream, and are the effect of counter movements caused 
 by the rapid current of its central parts. At 9 a.m. we passed 
 the mouth of a Parana-mirim, called Mahica, and then found a 
 sudden change in the colour of the water and aspect of the 
 banks. Instead of the low and swampy water-frontage which 
 had prevailed from the mouth of the Xingu, we saw before us 
 a broad sloping beach of white sand. The forest, instead of 
 being an entangled mass of irregular and rank vegetation as 
 hitherto, presented a rounded outline, and created an impres- 
 sion of repose that was very pleasing. We now approached, in 
 fact, the mouth of the Tapajos, whose clear olive-green waters 
 here replaced the muddy current against which we had so long- 
 been sailing. Although this is a river of great extent — 1000 
 miles in length, and, for the last eighty miles of its course, four 
 to ten in breadth — its contribution to the Amazons is not 
 perceptible in the middle of the stream. The white turbid 
 current of the main river flows disdainfully by, occupying 
 nearly the whole breadth of the channel, whilst the darker 
 water of its tributary seems to creep along the shore, and is no 
 longer distinguishable four or five miles from its mouth. 
 
 We reached Santarem at 11 a.m. The town has a clean 
 and cheerful appearance from the river. It consists of three 
 long streets, with a few short ones crossing them at right angles, 
 and contains about 2500 inhabitants. It lies just within the 
 mouth of Tapajos, and is divided into two parts, the town and 
 the aldeia or village. The houses of the white and trading 
 classes are substantially built, many being of two and three 
 stories, and all white-washed and tiled. The aldeia, which 
 contains the Indian portion of the population, or did so formerly, 
 consists mostly of mud huts, thatched with palm leaves. The 
 situation of the town is very beautiful. The land, although 
 but slightly elevated, does not form, strictly speaking, a portion 
 of the alluvial river plains of the Amazons, but is rather a 
 northern prolongation of the Brazilian continental land. It 
 is scantily wooded, and towards the interior consists of un- 
 dulating campos, which are connected with a series of hills 
 extending southward as far as the eye can reach. I subse- 
 quently made this place my head-quarters for three years; an 
 account of its neighbourhood is therefore reserved for another 
 chapter. At the first sight of Santarem, one cannot help being 
 •struck with the advantages of its situation. Although 400 
 
Para to Obydos i 3 1 
 
 miles from the sea, it is accessible to vessels of heavy tonnage 
 coming straight from the Atlantic. The river has only two 
 slight bends between this port and the sea, and for five or six 
 months in the year the Amazonian trade wind blows with very 
 little interruption, so that sailing ships coming from foreign 
 countries could reach the place with little difficulty. We our- 
 selves had accomplished 200 miles, or about half the distance 
 from the sea, in an ill-rigged vessel, in three days and a half. 
 Although the land in the immediate neighbourhood is perhaps 
 ill adapted for agriculture, an immense tract of rich soil, with 
 forest and meadow land, lies on the opposite banks of the river, 
 and the Tapajos leads into the heart of the mining provinces 
 of interior Brazil. But where is the population to come from 
 to develop the resources of this fine country? At present the 
 district within a radius of twenty-five miles contains barely 
 6500 inhabitants; behind the town, towards the interior, the 
 country is uninhabited, and jaguars roam nightly, at least in 
 the rainy season, close up to the ends of the suburban streets. 
 
 From information obtained here, I fixed upon the next town, 
 Obydos, as the best place to stay at a few weeks, in order to 
 investigate the natural productions of the north side of the 
 Lower Amazons. We started at sunrise on the 10th, and being 
 still favoured by wind and weather, made a pleasant passage, 
 reaching Obydos, which is nearly fifty miles distant from 
 Santarem, by midnight. We sailed all day close to the southern 
 shore, and found the banks here and there dotted with houses 
 of settlers, each surrounded by its plantation of cacao, which 
 is the staple product of the district. This coast has an evil 
 reputation for storms and mosquitoes, but we fortunately escaped 
 both. It was remarkable that we had been troubled by mos- 
 quitoes only on one night, and then to a small degree, during 
 the whole of our voyage. 
 
 I landed at Obydos the next morning, and then bid adieu to 
 my kind friend Joao da Cunha, who, after landing my baggage, 
 got up his anchor and continued on his way. The town con- 
 tains about 1200 inhabitants, and is airily situated on a high 
 bluff, ninety or a hundred feet above the level of the river. 
 The coast is precipitous for two or three miles hence to the west. 
 The cliffs consist of the parti-coloured clay, or Tabatinga, which 
 occurs so frequently throughout the Amazons region; the strong 
 current of the river sets full against them in the season of high 
 water, and annually carries away large portions. The clay in 
 places is stratified alternately pink and yellow, the pink beds 
 
132 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 being the thickest, and of much harder texture than the others. 
 When I descended the river in 1859, a German Major of 
 Engineers; in the employ of the Government, told me that he 
 had found calcareous layers, thickly studded with marine shells 
 interstratified with the clay. On the top of the Tabatinga lies 
 a bed of sand, in some places several feet thick, and the whole 
 formation rests on strata of sandstone, which are exposed only 
 when the river reaches its lowest level. Behind the town rises 
 a fine rounded hill, and a range of similar elevations extends 
 six miles westward, terminating at the mouth of the Trombetas, 
 a large river flowing through the interior of Guiana. Hills and 
 lowlands alike are covered with a sombre rolling forest. The 
 river here is contracted to a breadth of rather less than a mile 
 (1738 yards), and the entire volume of its waters, the collective 
 product of a score of mighty streams, is poured through the 
 strait with tremendous velocity. It must be remarked, how- 
 ever, that the river valley itself is not contracted to this breadth, 
 the opposite shore not being continental land, but a low alluvial 
 tract, subject to inundation more or less in the rainy season. 
 Behind it lies an extensive lake, called the Lago Grande da 
 Villa Franca, which communicates with the Amazons, both 
 above and below Obydos, and has therefore the appearance of 
 a by-water or an old channel of the river. This lake is about 
 thirty-five miles in length, and from four to ten in width; but 
 its waters are of little depth, and in the dry season its dimen- 
 sions are much lessened. It has no perceptible current, and 
 does not therefore now divert any portion of the waters of the 
 Amazons from their main course past Obydos. 
 
 I remained at Obydos from the nth of October to the 19th of 
 November. I spent three weeks here, also, in 1859, when the 
 place was much changed through the influx of Portuguese 
 immigrants and the building of a fortress on the top of the 
 bluff. It is one of the pleasantest towns on the river. The 
 houses are all roofed with tiles, and are mostly of substantial 
 architecture. The inhabitants, at least at the time of my first 
 visit, were nai've in their ways, kind and sociable. Scarcely any 
 palm-thatched huts are to be seen, for very few Indians now 
 reside here. It was one of the earlv settlements of the 
 Portuguese, and the better class of the population consists 
 of old-established white families, who exhibit however, in some 
 cases, traces of cross with the Indian and negro. Obydos and 
 Santarem have received, during the last eighty years, con- 
 siderable importations of negro slaves; before that time a 
 
Para to Obydos i 33 
 
 cruel traffic was carried on in Indians for the same purpose of 
 forced servitude, but their numbers have gradually dwindled 
 away, and Indians now form an insignificant element in the 
 population of the district. Most of the Obydos townsfolk are 
 owners of cacao plantations, which are situated on the low 
 lands in the vicinity. Some are large cattle proprietors, and 
 possess estates of many square leagues' extent in the campo, 
 or grass-land districts, which border the Lago Grande, and other 
 similar inland lakes, near the villages of Faro and Alemquer. 
 These campos bear a crop of nutritious grass; but in certain 
 seasons, when the rising of the Amazons exceeds the average, 
 they are apt to be flooded, and then the large herds of half- 
 wild cattle suffer great mortality from drowning, hunger, and 
 the alligators. Neither in cattle-keeping nor cacao-growing 
 are any but the laziest and most primitive methods followed, 
 and the consequence is, that the proprietors are generally poor. 
 A few, however, have become rich by applying a moderate 
 amount of industry and skill to the management of their estates. 
 People spoke of several heiresses in the neighbourhood whose 
 wealth was reckoned in oxen and slaves; a dozen slaves and a 
 few hundred head of cattle being considered a great fortune. 
 Some of them I saw had already been appropriated by enter- 
 prising young men, who had come from Para and Maranham 
 to seek their fortunes in this quarter. 
 
 The few weeks I spent here passed away pleasantly. I 
 generally spent the evenings in the society of the townspeople, 
 who associated together (contrary to Brazilian custom) in 
 European fashion ; the different families meeting at one another's 
 houses for social amusement, bachelor friends not being excluded, 
 and the whole company, married and single, joining in simple 
 games. The meetings used to take place in the sitting-rooms, 
 and not in the open verandahs — a fashion almost compulsory 
 on account of the mosquitoes; but the evenings here are very 
 cool, and the closeness of a room is not so much felt as it is in 
 Para. Sunday was strictly observed at Obydos ; at least all the 
 shops were closed, and almost the whole population went to 
 church. The vicar, Padre Raimundo do Sanchez Brito, was an 
 excellent old man, and I fancy the friendly manners of the 
 people, and the general purity of morals at Obydos, were owing 
 in great part to the good example he set to his parishioners. 
 
 The forest at Obydos seemed to abound in monkeys, for I 
 rarely passed a day without seeing several. I noticed four 
 
134 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 species: the Coaita (Ateles paniscus), the Chrysothrix sciureus, 
 the Callithrix torquatus, and our old Para friend, Midas ursulus. 
 The Coaita is a large black monkey, covered with coarse hair, 
 and having the prominent parts of the face of a tawny flesh- 
 coloured hue. It is the largest of the Amazonian monkeys in 
 stature, but is excelled in bulk by the " Barrigudo " (Lagothrix 
 Humboldtii) of the Upper Amazons. It occurs throughout the 
 lowlands of the Lower and Upper Amazons, but does not 
 range to the south beyond the limits of the river plains. At 
 that point an allied species, the White-whiskered Coaita (Ateles 
 marginatus) takes its place. The Coaitas are called by zoolo- 
 gists spider monkeys, on account of the length and slenderness 
 of their body and limbs. In these apes the tail, as a prehensile 
 organ, reaches its highest degree of perfection; and on this 
 account it would, perhaps, be correct to consider the Coaitas as 
 the extreme development of the American type of apes. As far 
 as we know, from living and fossil species, the New World has 
 progressed no farther than the Coaita towards the production 
 of a higher form of the Quadrumanous order. The tendency of 
 Nature here has been, to all appearance, simply to perfect those 
 organs which adapt the species more and more completely to a 
 purely arboreal life; and no nearer approach has been made 
 towards the more advanced forms of anthropoid apes, which are 
 the products of the Old World solely. The flesh of this monkey 
 is much esteemed by the natives in this part of the country, 
 and the Military Commandant of Obydos, Major Gama, every 
 week sent a negro hunter to shoot one for his table. One day 
 I went on a Coaita hunt, borrowing a negro slave of a friend to 
 show me the way. When in the deepest part of a ravine we 
 heard a rustling sound in the trees overheard, and Manoel soon 
 pointed out a Coaita to me. There was something human-like 
 in its appearance, as the lean, dark, shaggy creature moved 
 deliberately amongst the branches at a great height. I fired, 
 but unfortunately only wounded it in the belly. It fell with a 
 crash headlong about twenty or thirty feet, and then caught a 
 bough with its tail, which grasped it instantaneously, and then 
 the animal remained suspended in mid-air. Before I could 
 reload it recovered itself, and mounted nimbly to the topmost 
 branches out of the reach of a fowling-piece, where we could 
 perceive the poor thing apparently probing the wound with its 
 fingers. Coaitas are more frequently kept in a tame state than 
 any other kind of monkey. The Indians are very fond of them 
 as pets, and the women often suckle them when young at then 
 
Para to Obydos 135 
 
 breasts. They become attached to their masters, and will 
 sometimes follow them on the ground to considerable distances. 
 I once saw a most ridiculously tame Coaita. It was an old 
 female, which accompanied its owner, a trader on the river, in 
 all his voyages. By way of giving me a specimen of its intelli- 
 gence and feeling, its master set to and rated it soundly, calling 
 it scamp, heathen, thief, and so forth, all through the copious 
 Portuguese vocabulary of vituperation. The poor monkey, 
 quietly seated on the ground, seemed to be in sore trouble at 
 this display of anger. It began by looking earnestly at him, 
 then it whined, and lastly rocked its body to and fro with 
 emotion, crying piteously, and passing its long gaunt arms 
 continually over its forehead; for this was its habit when 
 excited, and the front of the head was worn quite bald in con- 
 sequence. At length its master altered his tone. " It's all a 
 lie, my old woman; you're an angel, a flower, a good affection- 
 ate old creature," and so forth. Immediately the poor monkey 
 ceased its wailing, and soon after came over to where the man 
 sat. The disposition of the Coaita is mild in the extreme: it 
 has none of the painful, restless vivacity of its kindred, the 
 Cebi, and no trace of the surly, untameable temper of its still 
 nearer relatives, the Mycetes, or howling monkeys. It is, how- 
 ever, an arrant thief, and shows considerable cunning in pilfer- 
 ing small articles of clothing, which it conceals in its sleeping 
 place. The natives of the Upper Amazons procure the Coaita, 
 when full grown, by shooting it with the blowpipe and poisoned 
 darts, and restoring life by putting a little salt (the antidote to 
 the Urari poison with which the darts are tipped) in its mouth. 
 The animals thus caught become tame forthwith. Two females 
 were once kept at the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, and Geoffroy 
 St. Hilaire relates of them that they rarely quitted each other, 
 remaining most part of the time in close embrace, folding 
 their tails round one another's bodies. They took their meals 
 together; and it was remarked on such occasions, when the 
 friendship of animals is put to a hard test, that they never 
 quarrelled or disputed the possession of a favourite fruit with 
 each other. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Obydos was rich also in insects. In the 
 broad alleys of the forest a magnificent butterfly of the genus 
 Morpho, six to eight inches in expanse, the Morpho Hecuba, 
 was seen daily gliding along at a height of twenty feet or more 
 from the ground. Amongst the lower trees and bushes numerous 
 
136 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 kinds of Heliconii, a group of butterflies peculiar to tropical 
 America, having long narrow wings, were very abundant. The 
 prevailing ground colour of the wings of these insects is a deep 
 black, and on this are depicted spots and streaks of crimson, 
 white, and bright yellow, in different patterns according to 
 the species. Their eltsgant shape, showy colours, and slow, 
 
 Heliconius Melpomene. 
 
 sailing mode of flight, make them very attractive objects, and 
 their numbers are so great that they form quite a feature in 
 the physiognomy of the forest, compensating for the scarcity of 
 flowers. Next to the Heliconii the Catagrammas (C. astarte 
 and C. peristera) were the most conspicuous. These have a 
 very rapid and short flight, settling frequently and remaining 
 stationary for a long time on the trunks of trees. The colours 
 of their wings are vermilion and black, the surface having a 
 rich velvety appearance. The genus owes its Greek name 
 
Para to Obydos 137 
 
 Catagramma (signifying " a letter beneath ") to the curious 
 markings of the underside of the wings, resembling Arabic 
 numerals. The species and varieties are of almost endless 
 diversity, but the majority inhabit the hot valleys of the 
 eastern parts of the Andes. Another butterfly nearly allied to 
 these, Callithea Leprieurii, was also very abundant here at the 
 marshy head of the pool before mentioned. The wings are of 
 a rich dark-blue colour, with a broad border of silvery green. 
 These two groups of Callithea and Catagramma are found only 
 in tropical America, chiefly near the equator, and are certainly 
 amongst the most beautiful productions of a region where the 
 animals and plants seem to have been fashioned in nature's 
 choicest moulds. A great variety of other beautiful and curious 
 insects adorned these pleasant woods. Others were seen only 
 in the sunshine in open places. As the waters retreated from 
 the beach, vast numbers of sulphur-yellow and orange coloured 
 butterflies congregated on the moist sand. The greater portion 
 of them belonged to the genus Callidryas. They assembled in 
 densely-packed masses, sometimes two or three yards in circum- 
 ference, their wings all held in an upright position, so that 
 the beach looked as though variegated with beds of crocuses. 
 These Callidryades seem to be migratory insects, and have large 
 powers of dissemination. During the last two days of our 
 voyage the great numbers constantly passing over the river 
 attracted the attention of every one on board. They all crossed 
 in one direction, namely, from north to south, and the proces- 
 sions were uninterrupted from an early hour in the morning 
 until sunset. All the individuals which resort to the margins 
 of sandy beaches are of the male sex. The females are much 
 more rare, and are seen only on the borders of the forest, 
 wandering from tree to tree, and depositing their eggs on low 
 mimosas which grow in the shade. The migrating hordes, as 
 far as I could ascertain, are composed only of males, and on 
 this account I believe their wanderings do not extend very far. 
 A strange kind of wood-cricket is found in this neighbour- 
 hood, the males of which produce a very loud and not unmusical 
 noise by rubbing together the overlapping edges of their wing- 
 cases. The notes are certainly the loudest and most extra- 
 ordinary that I ever heard produced by an orthopterous insect. 
 The natives call it the Tanana, in allusion to its music, which is a 
 sharp, resonant stridulation resembling the syllables ta-na-na, 
 ta-na-na, succeeding each other with little intermission. It 
 seems to be rare in the neighbourhood. When the natives 
 
138 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 capture one, they keep it in a wicker-work cage for the sake of 
 hearing it sing. A friend of mine kept one six days. It was 
 lively only for two or three, and then its loud note could be 
 heard from one end of the village to the other. When it died 
 he gave me the specimen, the only one I was able to procure. 
 It is a member of the family Locustidae, a group intermediate 
 between the Cricket (Achetidae) and the Grasshoppers (Acri- 
 diidse). The total length of the body is two inches and a 
 quarter; when the wings are closed the insect has an inflated 
 
 Musical Cricket (Chloroccelus Tanana). 
 a. b. Lobes of wing-cases transformed into a musical instrument. 
 
 vesicular or bladder-like shape, owing to the great convexity of 
 the thin but firm parchmenty wing-cases, and the colour is 
 wholly pale-green. The instrument by which the Tanana 
 produces its music is curiously contrived out of the ordinary 
 nervures of the wing-cases. In each wing-case the inner edge, 
 near its origin, has a horny expansion or lobe; on one wing (b) 
 this lobe has sharp raised margins ; on the other (a), the strong 
 nervure which traverses the lobe on the under side is crossed by 
 a number of fine sharp furrows like those of a file. When the 
 insect rapidly moves its wings, the file of the one lobe is scraped 
 sharply across the horny margin of the other, thus producing 
 
Para to Obydos i 39 
 
 the sounds; the parchmenty wing-cases and the hollow drum- 
 like space which they enclose assisting to give resonance to the 
 tones. The projecting portions of both wing-cases are traversed 
 by a similar strong nervure, but this is scored like a file only in 
 one of them, in the other remaining perfectly smooth. Other 
 species of the family to which the Tanana belongs have similar 
 stridulating organs, but in none are these so highly developed 
 as in this insect; they exist always in the males only, the other 
 sex having the edges of the wing-cases quite straight and simple. 
 The mode of producing the sounds and their object have been 
 investigated by several authors with regard to certain European 
 species. They are the call-notes of the males. In the common 
 field-cricket of Europe the male has been observed to place 
 itself, in the evening, at the entrance of its burrow, and stridu- 
 late until a female approaches, when the louder notes are suc- 
 ceeded by a more subdued tone, whilst the successful musician 
 caresses with his antennae the mate he has won. Any one who 
 will take the trouble may observe a similar proceeding in the 
 common house-cricket. The nature and object of this insect 
 music are more uniform than the structure and situation of the 
 instrument by which it is produced. This differs in each of the 
 three allied families above mentioned. In the crickets the 
 wing-cases are symmetrical; both have straight edges and 
 sharply-scored nervures adapted to produce the stridulation. A 
 distinct portion of their edges is not, therefore, set apart for 
 the elaboration of a sound-producing instrument. In this 
 family the wing-cases lie flat on the back of the insect, and 
 overlap each other for a considerable portion of their extent. 
 In the Locustidae the same members have a sloping position on 
 each side of the body, and do not overlap, except to a small 
 extent near their bases; it is out of this small portion that the 
 stridulating organ is contrived. Greater resonance is given in 
 most species by a thin transparent plate, covered by a mem- 
 brane, in the centre of the overlapping lobes. In the Grass- 
 hoppers (Acridiidoe) the wing-cases meet in a straight suture, 
 and the friction of portions of their edges is no longer possible. 
 But Nature exhibits the same fertility of resource here as else- 
 where; and in contriving other methods of supplying the males 
 with an instrument for the production of call-notes indicates 
 the great importance which she attaches to this function. The 
 music in the males of the Acridiidee is produced by the scraping 
 of the long hind thighs against the horny nervures of the outer 
 edges of the wing-cases; a drum-shaped organ placed in a 
 
140 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 cavity near the insertion of the thighs being adapted to give 
 resonance to the tones. 
 
 I obtained very few birds at Obydos. There was no scarcity 
 of birds, but they were mostly common Cayenne species. In 
 early morning the woods near my house were quite animated 
 with their songs — an unusual thing in this country. I heard 
 here for the first time the pleasing wild notes of the Carashue, 
 a species of thrush, probably the Mimus lividus of ornitholo- 
 gists. I found it afterwards to be a common bird in the 
 scattered woods of the campo district near Santarem. It is a 
 much smaller and plainer-coloured bird than our thrush, and its 
 song is not so loud, varied, or so long sustained ; but the tone is 
 of a sweet and plaintive quality, which harmonises well with the 
 wild and silent woodlands, where alone it is heard in the morn- 
 ings and evenings of sultry tropical days. In course of time 
 the song of this humble thrush stirred up pleasing associations 
 in my mind, in the same way as those of its more highly 
 endowed sisters formerly did at home. There are several allied 
 species in Brazil; in the southern provinces they are called 
 Sabiahs. The Brazilians are not insensible to the charms of 
 this their best songster, for I often heard some pretty verses in 
 praise of the Sabiah sung by young people to the accompani- 
 ment of the guitar. I found several times the nest of the 
 Carashue, which is built of dried grass and slender twigs, and 
 lined with mud; the eggs are coloured and spotted like those 
 of our blackbird, but they are considerably smaller. I was 
 much pleased with a brilliant little red-headed mannikin, which 
 I shot here (Pipra cornuta). There were three males seated on 
 a low branch, and hopping slowly backwards and forwards, 
 near to one another, as though engaged in a kind of dance. In 
 the pleasant airy woods surrounding the sandy shores of the 
 pool behind the town, the yellow-bellied Trogon (T. viridis) 
 was very common. Its back is of a brilliant metallic-green 
 colour, and the breast steel blue. The natives call it the 
 Suruqua do Ygapo, or Trogon of the flooded lands, in contra- 
 distinction to the red-breasted species, which are named Suru- 
 quas da terra firma. I often saw small companies of half a 
 dozen individuals quietly seated on the lower branches of trees. 
 They remained almost motionless for an hour or two at a time, 
 simply moving their heads, on the watch for passing insects; 
 or, as seemed more generally to be the case, scanning the neigh- 
 bouring trees for fruit; which they darted off now and then, 
 at long intervals, to secure, returning always to the same perch. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE LOWER AMAZONS — OBYDOS TO MANAOS, OR THE BARRA 
 OF THE RIO NEGRO 
 
 Departure form Obydos — River Banks and By-channels — Cacao Planters 
 — Daily Life on Board our Vessel — Great Storm — Sand-island and its 
 Birds — Hill of Parentins — Negro Trader and Mauhes Indians — Villa 
 Nova, its Inhabitants, Forest, and Animal Productions — Cararaucu — 
 A rustic Festival — Lake of Cararaucu — Motuca Flies — Serpa — 
 Christmas Holidays — River Madeira — A Mameluco Farmer — Mura 
 Indians — Rio Negro — Description of Barra — Descent to Para — 
 Yellow Fever 
 
 A trader of Obydos, named Penna, was about proceeding in 
 a cuberta laden with merchandise to the Rio Negro, intending 
 to stop frequently on the road; so I bargained with him for 
 a passage. He gave up a part of the toldo, or fore-cabin as it 
 may be called, and here I slung my hammock and arranged 
 my boxes, so as to be able to work as we went along. The 
 stoppages I thought would be an advantage, as I could collect 
 in the woods whilst he traded, and thus acquire a knowledge of 
 the productions of many places on the river which in a direct 
 voyage it would be impossible to do. I provided a stock of 
 groceries for two months' consumption; and, after the usual 
 amount of unnecessary fuss and delay on the part of the owner, 
 we started on the 19th of November. Penna took his family 
 with him: this comprised a smart, lively mameluco woman, 
 named Catarina, whom we called Senhora Katita, and two 
 children. The crew consisted of three men, one a sturdy 
 Indian, another a Cafuzo, godson of Penna, and the third, our 
 best hand, a steady, good-natured mulatto, named Joaquim. 
 My boy Luco was to assist in rowing and so forth. Penna was a 
 timid middle-aged man, a white with a slight cross of Indian; 
 when he was surly and obstinate, he used to ask me to excuse 
 him on account of the Tapuyo blood in his veins. He tried to 
 make me as comfortable as the circumstances admitted, and 
 provided a large stock of eatables and drinkables; so that 
 altogether the voyage promised to be a pleasant one. 
 
 On leaving the port of Obydos we crossed over to the right 
 bank, and sailed with a light wind all day, passing numerous 
 
 141 
 
142 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 houses, each surrounded by its grove of cacao trees. On the 
 20th we made slow progress. After passing the high land at 
 the mouth of the Trombetas, the banks were low, clayey, or 
 earthy on both sides. The breadth of the river varies here- 
 about from two and a half to three miles, but neither coast is 
 the true terra firma. On the northern side a by-channel runs 
 for a long distance inland, communicating with the extensive 
 lake of Faro; on the south, three channels lead to the similar 
 fresh- water sea of Villa Franca; these are in part arms of the 
 river, so that the land they surround consists, properly speaking, 
 of islands. When this description of land is not formed wholly 
 of river deposit, as sometimes happens, or is raised above the 
 level of the highest floods, it is called Ygapd alto, and is dis- 
 tinguished by the natives from the true islands of mid-river, 
 as well as from the terra firma. We landed at one of the 
 cacao plantations. The house was substantially built; the 
 walls formed of strong upright posts, lathed across, plastered 
 with mud and whitewashed, and the roof tiled. The family 
 were mamelucos, and seemed to be an average sample of the 
 poorer class of cacao growers. All were loosely dressed and 
 bare-footed. A broad verandah extended along one side of the 
 house, the floor of which was simply the well-trodden earth; 
 and here hammocks were slung between the bare upright 
 supports, a large rush mat being spread on the ground, upon 
 which the stout matron-like mistress, with a tame parrot 
 perched upon her shoulder, sat sewing with two pretty little 
 mulatto girls. The master, coolly clad in shirt and drawers, 
 the former loose about the neck, lay in his hammock smoking 
 a long gaudily-painted wooden pipe. The household utensils, 
 earthenware jars, water-pots and saucepans, lay at one end, 
 near which was a wood fire, with the ever-ready coffee-pot 
 simmering on the top of a clay tripod. A large shed stood a 
 short distance off, embowered in a grove of banana, papaw, and 
 mango trees; and under it were the ovens, troughs, sieves, and 
 all other apparatus for the preparation of mandioca. The 
 cleared space around the house was only a few yards in extent; 
 beyond it lay the cacao plantations, which stretched on each 
 side parallel to the banks of the river. There was a path 
 through the forest which led to the mandioca fields, and several 
 miles beyond to other houses on the banks of an interior channel. 
 We were kindly received, as is always the case when a stranger 
 visits these out-of-the-way habitations; the people being 
 invariably civil and hospitable. We had a long chat, took 
 
Obydos to Manaos 143 
 
 coffee, and on departing one of the daughters sent a basket 
 full of oranges for our use down to the canoe. 
 
 The cost of a cacao plantation in the Obydos district is after 
 the rate of 240 reis or sixpence per tree, which is much higher 
 than at Cameta, where I believe the yield is not so great. The 
 forest here is cleared before planting, and the trees are grown 
 in rows. The smaller cultivators are all very poor. Labour 
 is scarce; one family generally manages its own small planta- 
 tion of 10,000 to 15,000 trees, but at the harvest time neigh- 
 bours assist each other. It appeared to me to be an easy, 
 pleasant life; the work is all done under shade, and occupies 
 only a few weeks in the year. The incorrigible nonchalance 
 and laziness of the people alone prevent them from surrounding 
 themselves with all the luxuries of a tropical country. They 
 might plant orchards of the choicest fruit-trees around their 
 houses, grow Indian corn, and rear cattle and hogs, as intelligent 
 settlers from Europe would certainly do, instead of indolently 
 relying solely on the produce of their small plantations, and 
 living on a meagre diet of fish and farinha. In preparing the 
 cacao they have not devised any means of separating the seeds 
 well from the pulp, or drying it in a systematic way; the con- 
 sequence is that, although naturally of good quality, it moulds 
 before reaching the merchants' stores, and does not fetch more 
 than half the price of the same article grown in other parts of 
 tropical America. The Amazons region is the original home 
 of the principal species of chocolate tree, the Theobroma cacao ; 
 and it grows in abundance in the forests of the upper river. 
 The cultivated crop appears to be a precarious one; little or 
 no care, however, is bestowed on the trees, and even weeding 
 is done very inefficiently. The plantations are generally old, 
 and have been made on the low ground near the river, which 
 renders them liable to inundation when this rises a few inches 
 more than the average. There is plenty of higher land quite 
 suitable to the tree, but it is uncleared, and the want of labour 
 and enterprise prevents the establishment of new plantations. 
 
 We passed the last houses in the Obydos district on' the 20th, 
 and the river scenery then resumed its usual wild and solitary 
 character, which the scattered human habitations relieved, 
 although in a small degree. We soon fell into a regular mode 
 of life on board our little ark. Penna would not travel by 
 night; indeed, our small crew, wearied by the day's labour, 
 required rest, and we very rarely had wind in the night. We 
 used to moor the vessel to a tree, giving out plenty of cable, so 
 
144 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 as to sleep at a distance from the banks and free of mosquitoes, 
 which although swarming in the forest, rarely came many 
 yards out into the river at this season of the year. The strono- 
 current at a distance of thirty or forty yards from the coast 
 steadied the cuberta head to stream, and kept us from drifting 
 ashore. We all slept in the open air, as the heat of the cabins 
 was stifling m the early part of the night. Penna, Senhora 
 Katita, and I, slung our hammocks in triangle between the 
 mainmast and two stout poles fixed in the raised deck. A 
 sheet was the only covering required, besides our regular cloth- 
 ing; for the decrease of temperature at night on the Amazons 
 is never so great as to be felt otherwise than as a delightful 
 coolness after the sweltering heat of the afternoons. We used 
 to rise when the first gleam of dawn showed itself above the 
 long, dark line of forest. Our clothes and hammocks were 
 then generally soaked with dew, but this was not felt to be an 
 inconvenience. The Indian Manoel used to revive himself by 
 a plunge in the river, under the bows of the vessel. It is the 
 habit of all Indians, male and female, to bathe early in the 
 morning; they do it sometimes for warmth's sake, the tempera- 
 ture of the water being often considerably higher than that 
 of the air. Penna and I lolled in our hammocks, whilst Katita 
 prepared the indispensable cup of strong coffee, which she did 
 with wonderful celerity, smoking meanwhile her early morning 
 pipe of tobacco. Liberal owners of river craft allow a cup of 
 coffee sweetened with molasses, or a ration of cashaca, to each 
 man of their crews; Penna gave them coffee. When all were 
 served, the day's work began. There was seldom any wind at 
 this early hour; so if there was still water along the shore the 
 men rowed, if not there was no way of progressing but by espia 
 In some places the currents ran with great force close to the 
 banks, especially where these receded to form long bays or 
 enseadas, as they are called, and then we made very little 
 headway. In such places the banks consist of loose earth, a 
 rich crumbly vegetable mould supporting a growth of most 
 uxunant forest, of which the currents almost daily carry away 
 large portions, so that the stream for several yards out is 
 encumbered with fallen trees, whose branches quiver in the 
 current. When projecting points of land were encountered it 
 was impossible, with our weak crew, to pull the cuberta against 
 the whirling torrents which set round them; and in such cases 
 we had to cross the river, drifting often with the current, a 
 mile or two lower down on the opposite shore. There generally 
 
Obydos to Manaos 145 
 
 sprung a light wind as the day advanced, and then we took 
 down our hammocks, hoisted all sail, and bowled away merrily. 
 Penna generally preferred to cook the dinner ashore, when there 
 was little or no wind. About midday on these calm days we 
 used to look out for a nice shady nook in the forest, with 
 cleared space sufficient to make a fire upon. I then had an 
 hour's hunting in the neighbouring wilderness, and was always 
 rewarded by the discovery of some new species. During the 
 greater part of our voyage, however, we stopped at the house 
 of some settler, and made our fire in the port. Just before 
 dinner it was our habit to take a bath in the river, and then, 
 according to the universal custom on the Amazons, where it 
 seems to be suitable on account of the weak fish diet, we each 
 took half a tea-cup full of neat cashaca, the " abre " or " open- 
 ing," as it is called, and set to on our mess of stewed pirarucu, 
 beans, and bacon. Once or twice a week we had fowls and 
 rice; at supper, after sunset, we often had fresh fish caught 
 by our men in the evening. The mornings were cool and 
 pleasant until towards midday; but in the afternoons the heat 
 became almost intolerable, especially in gleamy, squally weather, 
 such as generally prevailed. We then crouched in the shade 
 of the sails, or went down to our hammocks in the cabin, choos- 
 ing to be half stifled rather than expose ourselves on deck to 
 the sickening heat of the sun. We generally ceased travelling 
 about nine o'clock, fixing upon a safe spot wherein to secure 
 the vessel for the night. The cool evening hours were delicious ; 
 flocks of whistling ducks (Anas autumnalis), parrots, and 
 hoarsely-screaming macaws, pair by pair, flew over from their 
 feeding to their resting places, as the glowing sun plunged 
 abruptly beneath the horizon. The brief evening chorus of 
 animals then began, the chief performers being the howling 
 monkeys, whose frightful unearthly roar deepened the feeling 
 of solitude which crept on as darkness closed around us. Soon 
 after, the fireflies in great diversity of species came forth and 
 flitted about the trees. As night advanced, all became silent 
 in the forest, save the occasional hooting of tree-frogs, or the 
 monotonous chirping of wood-crickets and grasshoppers. 
 
 We made but little progress on the 20th and two following 
 days, on account of the unsteadiness of the wind. The dry- 
 season had been of very brief duration this year; it generally 
 lasts in this part of the Amazons from July to January, with 
 a short interval of showery weather in November. The river 
 ought to sink thirty or thirty-five feet below its highest point; 
 
146 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 this year it had declined only about twenty-five feet, and the 
 November rains threatened to be continuous. The drier the 
 weather the stronger blows the east wind; it now failed us 
 altogether, or blew gently for a few hours merely in the after- 
 noons. I had hitherto seen the great river only in its sunniest 
 aspect; I was now about to witness what it could furnish in 
 the way of storms. 
 
 On the night of the 22nd the moon appeared with a misty 
 halo. As we went to rest, a fresh watery wind was blowing, and 
 a dark pile of clouds gathering up river in a direction opposite 
 to that of the wind. I thought this betokened nothing more 
 than a heavy rain which would send us all in a hurry to our 
 cabins. The men moored the vessel to a tree alongside a hard 
 clayey bank, and after supper all were soon fast asleep, scattered 
 about the raised deck. About eleven o'clock I was awakened 
 by a horrible uproar, as a hurricane of wind suddenly swept 
 over from the opposite shore. The cuberta was hurled with 
 force against the clayey bank; Penna shouted out, as he started 
 to his legs, that a trovoada de cima, or a squall from up river, 
 was upon us. We took down our hammocks, and then all 
 hands were required to save the vessel from being dashed to 
 pieces. The moon set, and a black pall of clouds spread itself 
 over the dark forests and river; a frightful crack of thunder 
 now burst over our heads, and down fell the drenching rain. 
 Joaquim leapt ashore through the drowning spray with a 
 strong pole, and tried to pass the cuberta round a small pro- 
 jecting point, whilst we on deck aided in keeping her off and 
 lengthened the cable. We succeeded in getting free, and the 
 stout-built boat fell off into the strong current farther away 
 from the shore, Joaquim swinging himself dexterously aboard 
 by the bowsprit as it passed the point. It was fortunate for 
 us that he happened to be on a sloping clayey bank, where 
 there was no fear of falling trees; a few yards farther on, 
 where the shore was perpendicular and formed of crumbly 
 earth, large portions of loose soil, with all their superincumbent 
 mass of forest, were being washed away; the uproar thus 
 occasioned adding to the horrors of the storm. 
 
 The violence of the wind abated in the course of an hour, 
 but the deluge of rain continued until about three o'clock in 
 the morning; the sky being lighted up by almost incessant 
 flashes of pallid lightning, and the thunder pealing from side to 
 side without interruption. Our clothing, hammocks, and goods 
 were thoroughly soaked by the streams of water which trickled 
 
Obydos to Manaos 147 
 
 through between the planks. In the morning all was quiet; 
 but an opaque, leaden mass of clouds overspread the sky, 
 throwing a gloom over the wild landscape that had a most 
 dispiriting effect. These squalls from the west are always 
 expected about the time of the breaking up of the dry season 
 in these central parts of the Lower Amazons. They generally 
 take place about the beginning of February, so that this year 
 they had commenced much earlier than usual. The soil and 
 climate are much drier in this part of the country than in the 
 region lying farther to the west, where the denser forests and 
 more clayey, humid soil produce a considerably cooler atmo- 
 sphere. The storms may be therefore attributed to the rush 
 of cold moist air from up river, when the regular trade-wind 
 coming from the sea has slackened or ceased to blow. 
 
 On the 26th we arrived at a large sand bank connected with 
 an island in midriver, in front of an inlet called Maraca-uassu. 
 Here we anchored and spent half a day ashore. Penna's object 
 in stopping was simply to enjoy a ramble on the sands with 
 the children, and give Senhora Katita an opportunity to wash 
 the linen. The sandbank was now fast going under water with 
 the rise of the river; in the middle of the dry season it is 
 about a mile long and half a mile in width. The canoe-men 
 delight in these open spaces, which are a great relief to the 
 monotony of the forest that clothes the land in every other 
 part of the river. Farther westward they are much more 
 frequent, and of larger extent. They lie generally at the upper 
 end of islands; in fact, the latter originate in accretions of 
 vegetable matter formed by plants and trees growing on a 
 shoal. The island was wooded chiefly with the trumpet tree 
 (Cecropia peltata), which has a hollow stem and smooth pale 
 bark. The leaves are similar in shape to those of the horse- 
 chestnut, but immensely larger; beneath they are white, and 
 when the welcome trade-wind blows they show their silvery 
 undersides, — a pleasant signal to the weary canoe traveller. 
 The mode of growth of this tree is curious: the branches are 
 emitted at nearly right angles with the stem, the branchlcts 
 in minor whorls around these, and so forth, the leaves growing 
 at their extremities; so that the total appearance is that of 
 a huge candelabrum. Cecropice of different species are charac- 
 teristic of Brazilian forest scenery; the kind of which I am 
 speaking grows in great numbers everywhere on the banks of 
 the Amazons where the land is low. In the same places the 
 curious Monguba tree (Bombax ceiba) is also plentiful; the 
 
148 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 dark green bark of its huge tapering trunk, scored with grey, 
 forming a conspicuous object. The principal palm-tree on the 
 lowlands is the Jauari (Astryocaryum Jauari), whose stem, 
 surrounded by whorls of spines, shoots up to a great height. 
 On the borders of the island were large tracts of arrow-grass 
 (Gynerium saccharoides), which bears elegant plumes of flowers, 
 like those of the reed, and grows to a height of twenty feet, 
 the leaves arranged in a fan-shaped figure near the middle of 
 the stem. I was surprised to find on the higher parts of the 
 sandbank the familiar foliage of a willow (Salix Humboldtiana). 
 It is a dwarf species, and grows in patches resembling beds of 
 osiers; as in the English willows, the leaves were peopled by 
 small chrysomelideous beetles. In wandering about, many 
 features reminded me of the seashore. Flocks of white gulls 
 were flying overhead, uttering their well-known cry, and sand- 
 pipers coursed along the edge of the water. Here and there 
 lonely wading-birdsj were stalking about; one of these, the 
 Curicaca (Ibis melanopis), flew up with a low cackling noise, 
 and was soon joined by an unicorn bird (Palamedea cornuta), 
 which I startled up from amidst the bushes, whose harsh 
 screams, resembling the bray of a jackass, but shriller, disturbed 
 unpleasantly the solitude of the place. Amongst the willow 
 bushes were flocks of a handsome bird belonging to the Icteridae 
 or troupial family, adorned with a rich plumage of black and 
 saffron-yellow. I spent some time watching an assemblage 
 of a species of bird called by the natives Tumburi-para, on the 
 Cecropia trees. It is the Monasa nigrifrons of ornithologists, 
 and has a plain slate-coloured plumage with the beak of an 
 orange hue. It belongs to the family of Barbets, most of whose 
 members are remarkable for their dull inactive temperament. 
 Those species which are arranged by ornithologists under the 
 genus Bucco are called by the Indians, in the Tupi language, 
 Tai-assu uira, or pig-birds. They remain seated sometimes 
 for hours together on low branches in the shade, and are 
 stimulated to exertion only when attracted by passing insects. 
 This flock of Tamburi-para were the reverse of dull ; they were 
 gambolling and chasing each other amongst the branches. As 
 they sported about, each emitted a few short tuneful notes, 
 which altogether produced a ringing, musical chorus that quite 
 surprised me. 
 
 On the 27th we reached an elevated wooded promontory, 
 called Parentins, which now forms the boundary between the 
 provinces of Para and the Amazons. Here we met a small 
 
Obydos to Manaos 149 
 
 canoe descending to Santarem. The owner was a free negro 
 named Lima, who, with his wife, was going down the river to 
 exchange his year's crop of tobacco for European merchandise. 
 The long shallow canoe was laden nearly to the water level. 
 He resided on the banks of the Abacaxi, a river which dis- 
 charges its waters into the Canoma, a broad interior channel 
 which extends from the river Madeira to the Parentins, a 
 distance of 180 miles. Penna offered him advantageous terms, 
 so a bargain was struck, and the man saved his long journey. 
 The negro seemed a frank, straightforward fellow; he was a 
 native of Pernambuco, but had settled many years ago in this 
 part of the country. He had with him a little Indian girl 
 belonging to the Mauhes tribe, whose native seat is the district 
 of country lying in the rear of the Canoma, between the Madeira 
 and the Tapajos. The Mauhes are considered, I think with 
 truth, to be a branch of the great Mundurucu nation, having 
 segregated from them at a remote period, and by long isolation 
 acquired different customs and a totally different language, in 
 a manner which seems to have been general with the Brazilian 
 aborigines. The Munduruciis seem to have retained more of 
 the general characteristics of the original Tupi stock than the 
 Mauhes. Senhor Lima told me, what I afterwards found to 
 be correct, that there were scarcely two words alike in the 
 languages of the two peoples, although there are words closely 
 allied to Tupi in both. The little girl had not the slightest 
 trace of the savage in her appearance. Her features were 
 finely shaped, the cheek-bones not at all prominent, the lips 
 thin, and the expression of her countenance frank and smiling. 
 She had been brought only a few weeks previously from a 
 remote settlement of her tribe on the banks of the Abacaxi, and 
 did not yet know five words of Portuguese. The Indians, as 
 a general rule, are very manageable when they are young, but 
 it is a general complaint that when they reach the age of 
 puberty they become restless and discontented. The rooted 
 impatience of all restraint then shows itself, and the kindest 
 treatment will not prevent them running away from their 
 masters; they do not return to the malocas of their tribes, 
 but join parties who go out to collect the produce of the forests 
 and rivers, and lead a wandering semi-savage kind of life. 
 
 We remained under the Serra dos Parentins all night. Early 
 the next morning a light mist hung about the tree-tops, and 
 the forest resounded with the yelping of Whaiapu-sai monkeys. 
 I went ashore with my gun and got a glimpse of the flock, but 
 
150 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 did not succeed in obtaining a specimen. They were of small 
 size and covered with long fur of a uniform grey colour. I 
 think the species was the Callithrix donacophilus. The rock 
 composing the elevated ridge of the Parentins is the same 
 coarse iron-cemented conglomerate which I have often spoken 
 of as occurring near Para and in several other places. Many 
 loose blocks were scattered about. The forest was extremely 
 varied, and inextricable coils of woody climbers stretched from 
 tree to tree. Thongs of cacti were spread over the rocks and 
 tree-trunks. The variety of small, beautifully-shaped ferns, 
 lichens, and boleti, made the place quite a museum of crypto- 
 gamic plants. I found here two exquisite species of Longicorn 
 beetles, and a large kind of grasshopper (Pterochroza) whose 
 broad fore-wings resembled the leaf of a plant, providing the 
 insect with a perfect disguise when they were closed; whilst 
 the hind wings were decorated with gaily-coloured eye-like spots. 
 The negro left us and turned up a narrow channel, the 
 Parana-mirim dos Ramos (the little river of the branches, i.e., 
 having many ramifications), on the road to his home, 130 miles 
 distant. We then continued our voyage, and in the evening 
 arrived at Villa Nova, a straggling village containing about 
 seventy houses, many of which scarcely deserve the name, being 
 mere mud-huts roofed with palm-leaves. We stayed here four 
 days. The village is built on a rocky bank, composed of the 
 same coarse conglomerate as that already so often mentioned. 
 In some places a bed of Tabatinga clay rests on the con- 
 glomerate. The soil in the neighbourhood is sandy, and the 
 forest, most of which appears to be of second growth, is traversed 
 by broad alleys which terminate to the south and east on the 
 banks of pools and lakes, a chain of which extends through the 
 interior of the land. As soon as we anchored I set off with 
 Luco to explore the district. We walked about a mile along 
 the marly shore, on which was a thick carpet of flowering 
 shrubs, enlivened by a great variety of lovely little butterflies, 
 and then entered the forest by a dry watercourse. About a 
 furlong inland this opened on a broad placid pool, whose banks, 
 clothed with grass of the softest green hue, sloped gently from 
 the water's edge to the compact wall of forest which encom- 
 passed the whole. The pool swarmed with water-fowl; snowy 
 egrets, dark-coloured striped herons, and storks of various 
 species standing in rows around its margins. Small flocks of 
 macaws were stirring about the topmost branches of the trees. 
 Long-legged piosocas (Perra Jacana) stalked over the water- 
 
Obydos to Manaos 151 
 
 plants on the surface of the pool, and in the bushes on its 
 margin were great numbers of a kind of canary (Sycalis brasi- 
 liensis) of a greenish-yellow colour, which has a short and not 
 very melodious song. We had advanced but a few steps when 
 we startled a pair of the Jaburu-moleque (Mycteria americana), 
 a powerful bird of the stork family, four and a half feet in 
 height, which flew up and alarmed the rest, so that I got only 
 one bird out of the tumultuous flocks which passed over our 
 heads. Passing towards the farther end of the pool I saw, 
 resting on the surface of the water, a number of large round 
 leaves, turned up at their edges; they belonged to the Victoria 
 water-lily. The leaves were just beginning to expand (December 
 3rd), some were still under water, and the largest of those 
 which had reached the surface measured not quite three feet in 
 diameter. We found a montaria with a paddle in it, drawn up 
 on the bank, which I took leave to borrow of the unknown 
 owner, and Luco paddled me amongst the noble plants to 
 search for flowers, meeting, however, with no success. I learnt 
 afterwards that the plant is common in nearly all the lakes of 
 this neighbourhood. The natives call it the furno do Piosoca, 
 or oven of the Jacana, the shape of the leaves being like that 
 of the ovens on which Mandioca meal is roasted. We saw 
 many kinds of hawks and eagles, one of which, a black species, 
 the Caracara-i (Milvago nudicollis), sat on the top of a tall 
 naked stump, uttering its hypocritical whining notes. This 
 eagle is considered a bird of ill omen by the Indians; it often 
 perches on the tops of trees in the neighbourhood of their huts, 
 and is then said to bring a warning of death to some member 
 of the household. Others say that its whining cry is intended 
 to attract other defenceless birds within its reach. The little 
 courageous flycatcher Bem-ti-vi (Saurophagus sulphuratus) 
 assembles in companies of four or five, and attacks it boldly, 
 driving it from the perch where it would otherwise sit for 
 hours. I shot three hawks of as many different species; and 
 these, with a Magoary stork, two beautiful gilded-green jaca- 
 mars (Galbula chalcocephala), and half-a-dozen leaves of the 
 water-lily, made a heavy load, with which we trudged off back 
 to the canoe. 
 
 A few years after this visit, namely, in 1854-5, I passed 
 eight months at Villa Nova. The district of which it is the 
 chief town is very extensive, for it has about forty miles of 
 linear extent along the banks of the river: but the whole does 
 
152 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 not contain more than 4000 inhabitants. More than half of 
 these are pure-blood Indians, who live in a semi-civilised con- 
 dition on the banks of the numerous channels and lakes. The 
 trade of the place is chiefly in India-rubber, balsam of Copaiba 
 (which are collected on the banks of the Madeira and the 
 numerous rivers that enter the Canoma channel), and salt fish, 
 prepared in the dry season, nearer home. These articles are 
 sent to Para in exchange for European goods. The few Indian 
 and half-breed families who reside in the town, are many 
 shades inferior in personal qualities and social condition to 
 those I lived amongst near Para and Cameta. They live in 
 wretched dilapidated mud-hovels; the women cultivate small 
 patches of mandioca; the men spend most of their time in 
 fishing, selling what they do not require themselves and getting 
 drunk with the most exemplary regularity on cashaca, purchased 
 with the proceeds. 
 
 I made, in this second visit to Villa Nova, an extensive 
 collection of the natural productions of the neighbourhood. 
 A few remarks on some of the more interesting of these must 
 suffice. The forests are very different in their general character 
 from those of Para, and in fact those of humid districts generally 
 throughout the Amazons. The same scarcity of large-leaved 
 Musaceous and Marantaceous plants was noticeable here as at 
 Obydos. The low-lying areas of forest or Ygapos, which 
 alternate everywhere with the more elevated districts, did not 
 furnish the same luxuriant vegetation as they do in the Delta 
 region of the Amazons. They are flooded during three or 
 four months in the year, and when the waters retire, the soil 
 — to which the very thin coating of alluvial deposit imparts 
 little fertility — remains bare, or covered with a matted bed 
 of dead leaves, until the next flood season. These tracts have 
 then a barren appearance; the trunks and lower branches of 
 the trees are coated with dried slime, and disfigured by rounded 
 masses of fresh-water sponges, whose long horny spicule and 
 dingy colours give them the appearance of hedgehogs. Dense 
 bushes of a harsh, cutting grass, called Tiririca, form almost 
 the only fresh vegetation in the dry season. Perhaps the dense 
 shade, the long .period during which the land remains under 
 water, and the excessively rapid desiccation when the waters 
 retire, all contribute to the barrenness of these Ygapos. The 
 higher and drier land is everywhere sandy, and tall coarse 
 grasses line the borders of the broad alleys which have been 
 cut through the second-growth woods. These places swarm 
 
Obydos to Manaos 153 
 
 with carapatos, ugly ticks belonging to the genus Ixodes, which 
 mount to the tips of blades of grass, and attach themselves to 
 the clothes of passers-by. They are a great annoyance. It 
 occupied me a full hour daily to pick them off my flesh after 
 my diurnal ramble. There are two species; both are much 
 flattened in shape, have four pairs of legs, a thick short pro- 
 boscis and a horny integument. Their habit is to attach 
 themselves to the skin by plunging their proboscides into it, 
 and then suck the blood until their flat bodies are distended 
 into a globular form. The whole proceeding, however, is very 
 slow, and it takes them several days to pump their fill. No 
 pain or itching is felt, but serious sores are caused if care is 
 not taken in removing them, as the proboscis is liable to break 
 off and remain in the wound. A little tobacco juice is generally 
 applied to make them loosen their hold. They do not cling 
 firmly to the skin by their legs, although each of these has a 
 pair of sharp and fine claws connected with the tips of the 
 member by means of a flexible pedicle. When they mount to 
 the summits of slender blades of grass, or the tips of leaves, 
 they hold on by their fore-legs only, the other three pairs being 
 stretched out so as to fasten on any animal which comss in 
 their way. The smaller of the two species is of a yellowish 
 colour; it is much the most abundant, and sometimes falls 
 upon one by scores. When distended it is about the size of a 
 No. 8 shot; the larger kind, which fortunately comes only 
 singly to the work, swells to the size of a pea. 
 
 In some parts of the interior the soil is composed of very 
 coarse sand and small fragments of quartz; in these places no 
 trees grow. I visited, in company with the priest, Padre 
 Torquato, one of these treeless spaces or campos, as they are 
 called, situated five miles from the village. The road thither 
 led through a varied and beautiful forest, containing many 
 gigantic trees. I missed the Assai, Mirti, Paxiuba, and other 
 palms which are all found only on rich moist soils, but the 
 noble Bacaba was not uncommon, and there was a great 
 diversity of dwarf species of Maraja palms (Bactris), one of 
 which, called the Peuririma, was very elegant, growing to a 
 height of twelve or fifteen feet, with a stem no thicker than a 
 man's finger. On arriving at the campo all this beautiful 
 forest abruptly ceased, and we saw before us an oval tract of 
 land, three or four miles in circumference, destitute even of 
 the smallest bush. The only vegetation was a crop of coarse 
 hairy grass growing in patches. The forest formed a hedge all 
 
154 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 round the isolated field, and its borders were composed in great 
 part of trees which do not grow in the dense virgin forest, such 
 
 as a great variety of 
 bushy Melastomas, low 
 Byrsomina trees, myr- 
 tles, and Lacre-trees, 
 whose berries exude 
 globules of wax resem- 
 ^f|p\ bling gamboge. On the 
 3j margins of the campo 
 wild pine - apples also 
 grew in great quantity. The fruit 
 was of the same shape as our 
 cultivated kind, but much smaller, 
 the size being that of a moderately 
 large apple. We gathered several 
 quite ripe; they were pleasant to 
 the taste, of the true pine-apple 
 flavour, but had an abundance of 
 fully developed seeds, and only a 
 small quantity of eatable pulp. 
 There was no path beyond this 
 campo ; in fact all beyond is terra 
 incognita to the inhabitants of 
 Villa Nova. 
 
 The only interesting Mammalian 
 animal which I saw at Villa Nova 
 was a monkey of a species new to 
 me ; it was not, however, a native 
 of the district, having been 
 brought by a trader from the 
 river Madeira, a few miles above 
 Borba. It was a howler, prob- 
 ably the Mycetes stramineus of 
 Geoffroy St. Hilaire. The howlers 
 are the only kinds of monkey 
 which the natives have not suc- 
 ceeded in taming. They are often 
 caught, but they do not survive 
 captivity many weeks. The one 
 of which I am speaking was not 
 quite full grown. It measured sixteen inches in length, exclusive 
 of the tail; the whole body was covered with rather long and 
 
 Peuririma Palm (Bactris). 
 
Obydos to Manaos 155 
 
 shining dingy-white hair, the whiskers and beard only being of 
 a tawny hue. It was kept in a house, together with a Coaita 
 and a Caiarara monkey (Cebus albifrons). Both these lively 
 members of the monkey order seemed rather to court attention, 
 but the Mycetes slunk away when any one approached it. 
 When it first arrived, it occasionally made a gruff subdued 
 howling noise early in the morning. The deep volume of sound 
 in the voice of the howling monkeys, as is well known, is pro- 
 duced by a drum-shaped expansion of the larynx. It was 
 curious to watch the animal whilst venting its hollow cavernous 
 roar, and observe how small was the muscular exertion employed. 
 When howlers are seen in the forest there are generally three or 
 four of them mounted on the topmost branches of a tree. It 
 does not appear that their harrowing roar is emitted from sudden 
 alarm; at least, it was not so in captive individuals. It is pro- 
 bable, however, that the noise serves to intimidate their enemies. 
 I did not meet with the Mycetes stramineus in any other part of 
 the Amazons region; in the neighbourhood of Para a reddish- 
 coloured species prevails (M. Belzebuth); in the narrow channels 
 near Breves I shot a large, entirely black kind ; another yellow- 
 handed species, according to the report of the natives, inhabits 
 the island of Macajo, which is probably the M. flavimanus of 
 Kuhl; some distance up the Tapajos the only howler found is 
 a brownish-black species; and on the Upper Amazons the sole 
 species seen was the Mycetes ursinus, whose fur is of a shining 
 yellowish-red colour. 
 
 In the dry forests of Villa Nova I saw a rattlesnake for the 
 first time. I was returning home one day through a narrow 
 alley, when I heard a pattering noise close to me. Hard by 
 was a tall palm tree, whose head was heavily weighted with 
 parasitic plants, and I thought the noise was a warning that it 
 was about to fall. The wind lulled for a few moments, and 
 then there was no doubt that the noise proceeded from the 
 ground. On turning my head in that direction, a sudden 
 plunge startled me, and a heavy gliding motion betrayed a 
 ktrge serpent making off almost from beneath my feet. The 
 ground is always so encumbered with rotting leaves and 
 branches that one only discovers snakes when they are in the 
 act of moving away. The residents of Villa Nova would not 
 believe that I had seen a rattlesnake in their neighbourhood; 
 in fact, it is not known to occur in the forests at all, its place 
 being the open campos, where, near Santarem, I killed several. 
 On my second visit to Villa Nova I saw another. J had then 
 
156 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 a favourite little dog, named Diamante, who used to accompany 
 me in my rambles. One day he rushed into the thicket, and 
 made a dead set at a large snake, whose head I saw raised 
 above the herbage. The foolish little brute approached quite 
 close, and then the serpent reared its tail slightly in a horizontal 
 position and shook its terrible rattle. It was many minutes 
 before I could get the dog away; and this incident, as well as 
 the one already related, shows how slow the reptile is to make 
 the fatal spring. 
 
 I was much annoyed, and at the same time amused, with the 
 Urubu vultures. The Portuguese call them corvos or crows; 
 in colour and general appearance they somewhat resemble 
 rooks, but they are much larger, and have naked, black, 
 wrinkled skin about their face and throat. They assemble in 
 great numbers in the villages about the end of the wet season, 
 and are then ravenous with hunger. My cook could not leave 
 the open kitchen at the back of the house for a moment, whilst 
 the dinner was cooking, on account of their thievish propensities. 
 Some of them were always loitering about, watching their 
 opportunity, and the instant the kitchen was left unguarded, 
 the bold marauders marched in and lifted the lids of the sauce- 
 pans with their beaks to rob them of their contents. The boys 
 of the village lie in wait, and shoot them with bow and arrow; 
 and vultures have consequently acquired such a dread of these 
 weapons, that they may be often kept off by hanging a bow 
 from the rafters of the kitchen. As the dry season advances, 
 the hosts of Urubus follow the fishermen to the lakes, where 
 they gorge themselves with the offal of the fisheries. Towards 
 February, they return to the villages, and are then not nearly 
 so ravenous as before their summer trips. 
 
 The insects of Villa Nova are, to a great extent, the same as 
 those of Santarem and the Tapajos. A few species of all orders, 
 however, are found here, which occurred nowhere else on the 
 Amazons, besides several others which are properly considered 
 local varieties or races of others found at Para, on the Northern 
 shore of the Amazons or in other parts of Tropical America., 
 The Hymenoptera were especially numerous, as they always 
 are in districts which possess a sandy soil: but the many 
 interesting facts which I gleaned relative to their habits will 
 be more conveniently introduced when I treat of the same or 
 similar species found in the localities above-named. In the 
 broad alleys of the forest several species of Morpho were common. 
 One of these is a sister form to the Morpho Hecuba, which I 
 
Obydos to Manaos 157 
 
 have mentioned as occurring at Obydos. The Villa Nova 
 kind differs from Hecuba sufficiently to be considered a distinct 
 species, and has been described under the name of M. Cisseis; 
 but it is clearly only a local variety of it, the range of the two 
 being limited by the barrier of the broad Amazons. It is a 
 grand sight to see these colossal butterflies by twos and threes 
 floating at a great height in the still air of a tropical morning. 
 They flap their wings only at long intervals, for I have noticed 
 them to sail a very considerable distance without a stroke. 
 Their wing-muscles and the thorax to which they are attached, 
 are very feeble in comparison with the wide extent and weight 
 of the wings: but the large expanse of these members doubtless 
 assists the insects in maintaining their aerial course. Morphos 
 are amongst the most conspicuous of the insect denizens of 
 Tropical American forests, and the broad glades of the Villa 
 Nova woods seemed especially suited to them, for I noticed 
 here six species. The largest specimens of Morpho Cisseis 
 measure seven inches and a half in expanse. Another smaller 
 kind, which I could not capture, was of a pale silvery-blue 
 colour, and the polished surface of its wings flashed like a 
 silver speculum, as the insect flapped its wings at a great 
 elevation in the sunlight. 
 
 To resume our voyage. We left Villa Nova on the 4th of 
 December. A light wind on the 5th carried us across to the 
 opposite shore and past the mouth of the Parana-mirim do arco, 
 or the little river of the bow, so called on account of its being 
 a short arm of the main river, of a curved shape, rejoining the 
 Amazons a little below Villa Nova. On the 6th, after passing 
 a large island in mid-river, we arrived at a place where a line 
 of perpendicular clay cliffs, called the Barreiros de Cararaucu, 
 diverts slightly the course of the main stream, as at Obydos. 
 A little below these cliffs were a few settlers' houses: here 
 Penna remained ten days to trade, a delay which I turned to 
 good account in augmenting very considerably my collections. 
 
 At the first house a festival was going forward. We anchored 
 at some distance from the shore, on account of the water being 
 shcaly, and early in the morning three canoes put off, laden 
 with salt fish, oil of manatee, fowls and bananas, wares which 
 the owners wished to exchange for different articles required for 
 the festa. Soon after I went ashore. The head man was a 
 tall, well-made, civilised Tapuyo, named Marcellino, who, with 
 his wife, a thin, active, wiry old squaw, did the honours of their 
 house, I thought, admirably. The company consisted of fifty 
 
158 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 or sixty Indians and Mamelucos; some of them knew Portu- 
 guese, but the Tupi language was the only one used amongst 
 themselves. The festival was in honour of our Lady of Con- 
 ception; and when the people learnt that Penna had on board 
 an image of the saint handsomer than their own, they put off 
 in their canoes to borrow it; Marcellino taking charge of the 
 doll, covering it carefully with a neatly-bordered white towel. 
 On landing with the image, a procession was formed from the 
 port to the house, and salutes fired from a couple of lazarino 
 guns, the saint being afterwards carefully deposited in the 
 family oratorio. After a litany and hymn were sung in the 
 evening, all assembled to supper around a large mat spread 
 on a smooth terrace-like space in front of the house. The 
 meal consisted of a large boiled Pirarucu, which had been 
 harpooned for the purpose in the morning, stewed and roasted 
 turtle, piles of mandioca-meal and bananas. The old lady 
 with two young girls, showed the greatest activity in waiting 
 on the guests, Marcellino standing gravely by, observing what 
 was wanted and giving the necessary orders to his wife. When 
 all was done, hard drinking began, and soon after there was 
 a dance, to which Penna and I were invited. The liquor served 
 was chiefly a spirit distilled by the people themselves from 
 mandioca cakes. The dances were all of the same class, namely 
 different varieties of the " Landum," an erotic dance similar 
 to the fandango, originally learnt from the Portuguese. The 
 music was supplied by a couple of wire-stringed guitars, played 
 alternately by the young men. All passed off very quietly 
 considermg the amount of strong liquor drunk, and the ball 
 was kept up until sunrise the next morning. 
 
 We visited all the houses one after the other. One of them 
 was situated in a charming spot, with a broad sandy beach 
 before it, at the entrance to the Parana-mirim do Mucambo, a 
 channel leading to an interior lake, peopled by savages of the 
 Mura tribe. This seemed to be the abode of an industrious 
 family, but all the men were absent, salting Pirarucu on the 
 lakes. The house, like its neighbours, was simply a frame- 
 work of poles thatched with *palm-leaves, the walls roughly 
 latticed and plastered with mud : but it was larger, and much 
 cleaner inside than the others. It was full of women and 
 children, who were busy all day with their various employ- 
 ments; some weaving hammocks in a large clumsy frame, 
 which held the warp whilst the shuttle was passed by the hand 
 slowly across the six feet breadth of web; others spinning 
 
Obydos to Manaos 159 
 
 cotton, and others again scraping, pressing, and roasting man- 
 dioca. The family had cleared and cultivated a large piece of 
 ground; the soil was of extraordinary richness, the perpen- 
 dicular banks of the river, near the house, revealing a depth of 
 many feet of crumbling vegetable mould. There was a large 
 plantation of tobacco, besides the usual patches of Indian-corn, 
 sugar-cane, and mandioca; and a grove of cotton, cacao, coffee 
 and fruit-trees, surrounded the house. We passed two nights 
 at anchor in shoaly water off the beach. The weather was 
 most beautiful, and scores of Dolphins rolled and snorted about 
 the canoe all night. 
 
 We crossed the river at this point, and entered a narrow 
 channel which penetrates the interior of the island of Tupinam- 
 barana, and leads to a chain of lakes called the Lagos de 
 Cararaucu. A furious current swept along the coast, eating into 
 the crumbling earthy banks, and strewing the river with debris 
 of the forest. The mouth of the channel lies about twenty-five 
 miles from Villa Nova; the entrance is only about forty yards 
 broad, but it expands, a short distance inland, into a large 
 sheet of water. We suffered terribly from insect pests during 
 the twenty-four hours we remained here. At night it was 
 quite impossible to sleep for mosquitoes; they fell upon us by 
 myriads, and without much piping came straight at our faces 
 as thick as raindrops in a shower. The men crowded into the 
 cabins, and then tried to expel the pests by the smoke from 
 burnt rags, but it was of little avail, although we were half 
 suffocated during the operation. In the daytime the Motuca, 
 a much larger and more formidable fly than the mosquito, 
 insisted upon levying his tax of blood. We had been tormented 
 by it for many days past, but this place seemed to be^ its 
 metropolis. The species has been described by Perty, the 
 author of the Entomological portion of Spix and Martius' 
 travels, under the name of Hadrus lepidotus. It is a member 
 of the Tabanidae family, and indeed is closely related to the 
 Ha:matopota pluvialis, a brown fly which haunts the borders 
 of woods in summer time in England. The Motuca is of a 
 bronzed-black colour; its proboscis is formed of a bundle of 
 horny lancets, which are shorter and broader than is usually 
 the case in the family to which it belongs. Its puncture does 
 not produce much pain, but it makes such a large gash in the 
 flesh that the blood trickles forth in little streams. Many 
 scores of them were flying about the canoe all day, and some- 
 times eight or ten would settle on one's ankles at the same 
 
160 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 time. It is sluggish in its motions, and may be easily killed 
 with the fingers when it settles. Penna went forward in the 
 montaria to the Pirarucu fishing stations, on a lake lying 
 further inland; but he did not succeed in reaching them on 
 account of the length and intricacy of the channels; so after 
 wasting a day, during which, however, I had a profitable 
 ramble in the forest, we again crossed the river, and on the 
 16th continued our voyage along the northern shore. 
 
 The clay cliffs of Cararaucu are several miles in length. The 
 hard pink-and-red-coloured beds are here extremely thick, and 
 in some places present a compact stony texture. The total 
 height of the cliff is from thirty to sixty feet above the mean 
 level of the river, and the clay rests on strata of the same 
 coarse iron-cemented conglomerate which has already been so 
 often mentioned. Large blocks of this latter have been 
 detached and rolled by the force of currents up parts of the 
 cliff where they are seen resting on terraces of the clay. On 
 the top of all lies a bed of sand and vegetable mould, which 
 supports a lofty forest, growing up to the very brink of the 
 precipice. After passing these barreiros we continued our way 
 along a low uninhabited coast, clothed, wherever it was elevated 
 above high-water mark, with the usual vividly-coloured forests 
 of the higher Ygapo lands, to which the broad and regular 
 fronds of the Murumuru palm, here extremely abundant, served 
 as a great decoration. Wherever the land was lower than the 
 flood height of the Amazons, Cecropia trees prevailed, some- 
 times scattered over meadows of tall broad-leaved grasses, 
 which surrounded shallow pools swarming with water-fowl. 
 Alligators were common on most parts of the coast; in some 
 places we saw also small herds of Capybaras (a large Rodent 
 animal, like a colossal Guinea-pig) amongst the rank herbage 
 on muddy banks, and now and then flocks of the graceful 
 squirrel monkey (Chrysothrix sciureus), and the vivacious Caia- 
 rara (Cebus albifrons) were seen taking flying leaps from tree 
 to tree. On the 22nd we passed the mouth of the most easterly 
 of the numerous channels which lead to the large interior lake 
 of Saraca, and on the 23rd threaded a series of passages between 
 islands, where we again saw human habitations, ninety miles 
 distant from the last house at Cararaucu. On the 24th we 
 arrived at Serpa. 
 
 Serpa is a small village, consisting of about eighty houses, 
 built on a bank elevated twenty-five feet above the level of the 
 river. The beds of Tabatinga clay, which are here inter- 
 
Obydos to Manaos i 6 1 
 
 mingled with scoria-looking conglomerate, art in some parts 
 of the declivity prettily variegated in colour; the name of the 
 town in the Tupi language, Ita-coatiara, takes its origin from 
 this circumstance, signifying striped or painted rock. It is an 
 old settlement, and was once the seat of the district govern- 
 ment, which had authority over the Barra of the Rio Negro. 
 It was in 1849 a wretched-looking village, but it has since 
 revived, on account of having been chosen by the Steamboat 
 Company of the Amazons as a station for steam saw-mills and 
 tile manufactories. We arrived on Christmas-eve, when the 
 village presented an animated appearance from the number 
 of people congregated for the holidays. The port was full of 
 canoes, large and small — from the montaria, with its arched 
 awning of woven lianas and Maranta leaves, to the two-masted 
 cuberta of the peddling trader, who had resorted to the place in 
 the hope of trafficking with settlers coming from remote sitios 
 to attend the festival. We anchored close to an igarite, whose 
 owner was an old Juri Indian, disfigured by a large black 
 tatooed patch in the middle of his face, and by his hair being 
 close cropped, except a fringe in front of the head. In the 
 afternoon we went ashore. The population seemed to consist 
 chiefly of semi-civilised Indians, living as usual in half-finished 
 mud hovels. The streets were irregularly laid out, and over- 
 run with weeds and bushes swarming with " mocuim," a very 
 minute scarlet acarus, which sweeps off to one's clothes in 
 passing, and attaching itself in great numbers to the skin 
 causes a most disagreeable itching. The few whites and better 
 class of mameluco residents live in more substantial dwellings, 
 white-washed and tiled. All, both men and women, seemed to 
 me much more cordial, and at the same time more brusque in 
 their manners than any Brazilians I had yet met with. One 
 of them, Captain Manoel Joaquim, I knew for a long time 
 afterwards; a lively, intelligent, and thoroughly good-hearted 
 man, who had quite a reputation throughout the interior of 
 the country for generosity, and for being a firm friend of foreign 
 residents and stray travellers. Some of these excellent people 
 were men of substance, being owners of trading vessels, slaves, 
 and extensive plantations of cacao and tobacco. 
 
 We stayed at Serpa five days. Some of the ceremonies 
 observed at Christmas were interesting, inasmuch as they were 
 the same, with little modification, as those taught by the Jesuit 
 missionaries more than a century ago to the aboriginal tribes 
 whom they had induced to settle on this spot. In the morning 
 
1 62 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 all the women and girls, dressed in white gauze chemises and 
 showy calico print petticoats, went in procession to church, first 
 going the round of the town to take up the different "mor- 
 domos," or stewards, whose office is to assist the Juiz of the 
 festa. These stewards carried each a long white reed, decorated 
 with coloured ribbons; several children also accompanied 
 grotesquely decked with finery. Three old squaws went in 
 front, holding the " saire," a large semicircular frame, clothed 
 with cotton and studded with ornaments, bits of looking-glass, 
 and so forth. This they danced up and down, singing all the 
 time a monotonous whining hymn in the Tupi language, and at 
 frequent intervals turning round to face the followers, who then 
 all stopped for a few moments. I was told that this saire 
 was a device adopted by the Jesuits to attract the savages to 
 church, for these everywhere followed the mirrors, in which 
 they saw as it were magically reflected their own persons. In 
 the evening good-humoured revelry prevailed on all sides. The 
 negroes, who had a saint of their own colour— St. Benedito— 
 had their holiday apart from the rest, and spent the whole 
 night singing and dancing to the music of a long drum (gamba) 
 and the caracasha. The drum was a hollow log, having one 
 end covered with skin, and was played by the performer sitting 
 astride upon it and drumming with his knuckles. The cara- 
 casha is a notched bamboo tube, which produces a harsh rattling 
 noise by passing a hard stick over the notches. Nothing could 
 exceed in dreary monotony this music and the singing and 
 dancmg which were kept up with unflagging vigour all night 
 long. I he Indians did not get up a dance; for the whites and 
 mamelucos had monopolised all the pretty coloured girls for 
 their own ball, and the older squaws preferred looking on to 
 taking a part themselves. Some of their husbands joined the 
 negroes, and got drunk very quickly. It was amusing to 
 notice how voluble the usually taciturn redskins became under 
 the influence of liquor. The negroes and Indians excused their 
 own intemperance by saying the whites were getting drunk at 
 the other end of the town, which was quite true. 
 
 We left Serpa on the 29th of December, in company of an 
 old planter named Senhor Joao (John) Trinidade; at whose 
 sitio, situated opposite the mouth of the Madeira, Penna intended 
 to spend a few days. Our course on the 29th and 30th lay 
 through narrow channels between islands. On the 31st we 
 passed the last of these, and then beheld to the south a sea-like 
 expanse of water, where the Madeira, the greatest tributary of 
 
Obydos to Manaos 163 
 
 the Amazons, after 2000 miles of course, blends its waters 
 with those of the king of rivers. I was hardly prepared for a 
 junction of waters on so vast a scale as this, now nearly 900 
 miles from the sea. Whilst travelling week after week along 
 the somewhat monotonous stream, often hemmed in between 
 islands, and becoming thoroughly familiar with it, my sense of 
 the magnitude of this vast water system had become gradually 
 deadened; but this noble sight renewed the first feelings of 
 wonder. One is inclined, in such places as these, to think the 
 Paraenses do not exaggerate much when they call the Amazons 
 the Mediterranean of South America. Beyond the mouth of 
 the Madeira, the Amazons sweeps down in a majestic reach, to 
 all appearance not a whit less in breadth before than after this 
 enormous addition to its waters. The Madeira does not ebb 
 and flow simultaneously with the Amazons; it rises and sinks 
 about two months earlier, so that it was now fuller than the 
 main river. Its current therefore poured forth freely from its 
 mouth, carrying with it a long line of floating trees and 
 patches of grass, which had been torn from its crumbly banks 
 in the lower part of its course. The current, however, did not 
 reach the middle of the main stream, but swept along nearer 
 to the southern shore. 
 
 A few items of information which I gleaned relative to this 
 river may find a place here. The Madeira is navigable for 
 about 480 miles from its mouth; a series of cataracts and 
 rapids then commences, which extends, with some intervals of 
 quiet water, about 160 miles, beyond which is another long 
 stretch of navigable stream. Canoes sometimes descend from 
 Villa Bella, in the interior province of Matto Grosso, but not 
 so frequently as formerly, and I could hear of very few persons 
 who had attempted of late years to ascend the river to that 
 point. It was explored by the Portuguese in the early part of 
 the eighteenth century; the chief and now the only town on its 
 banks, Borba, 150 miles from its mouth, being founded in 1756. 
 Up to the year 1853, tne lower part of the river, as far as 
 about a hundred miles beyond Borba, was regularly visited by 
 traders from Villa Nova, Serpa, and Barra, to collect sarsapa- 
 rilla, copaiiba balsam, turtle-oil, and to trade with the Indians, 
 with whom their relations were generally on a friendly footing. 
 In that year many India-rubber collectors resorted to this 
 region, stimulated by the high price (2s. 6d. a pound) which 
 the article was at that time fetching at Para; and then the 
 Araras, a fierce and intractable tribe of Indians, began to be 
 
164 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 troublesome. They attacked several canoes and massacred 
 every one on board, the Indian crews as well as the white 
 traders. Their plan was to lurk in ambush near the sandy 
 beaches where canoes stop for the night, and then fall upon the 
 people whilst asleep. Sometimes they came under pretence of 
 wishing to trade, and then as soon as they could get the trader 
 at a disadvantage shot him and his crew from behind trees. 
 Their arms were clubs, bows, and Taquara arrows, the latter a 
 formidable weapon tipped with a piece of flinty bamboo shaped 
 like a spear-head; they could propel it with such force as to 
 pierce a man completely through the body. The whites of 
 Borba made reprisals, inducing the warlike Mundurucus, who 
 had an old feud with the Araras, to assist them. This state of 
 things lasted two or three years, and made a journey up the 
 Madeira a risky undertaking, as the savages attacked all comers. 
 Besides the Araras and the Mundurucus, the latter a tribe 
 friendly to the whites, attached to agriculture, and inhabiting 
 the interior of the country from the Madeira to beyond the 
 Tapajos, two other tribes of Indians now inhabit the lower 
 Madeira, namely, the Parentintins and the Muras. Of the 
 former I did not hear much; the Muras lead a lazy quiet life 
 on the banks of the labyrinths of lakes and channels which 
 intersect the low country on both sides of the river below 
 Borba. The Araras are one of those tribes which do not plant 
 mandioca; and indeed have no settled habitations. They are 
 very similar in stature and other physical features to the 
 Mundurucus, although differing from them so widely in habits 
 and social condition. They paint their chins red with Urucu 
 (Anatto), and have usually a black tattooed streak on each 
 side of the face, running from the corner of the mouth to the 
 temple. They have not yet learnt the use of firearms, have no 
 canoes, and spend their lives roaming over the interior of the 
 country, living on game and wild fruits. When they wish to 
 cross a river, they make a temporary canoe with the thick bark 
 of trees, which they secure in the required shape of a boat by 
 means of lianas. I heard it stated by a trader of Santarem, 
 who narrowly escaped being butchered by them in 1854, that 
 the Araras numbered 2000 fighting men. The number I think 
 must be exaggerated, as it generally is with regard to Brazilian 
 tribes. When the Indians show a hostile disposition to the 
 whites, I believe it is most frequently owing to some provoca- 
 tion they have received at their hands; for the first impulse 
 of the Brazilian red-man is to respect Europeans; they have 
 
Obydos to Manaos 165 
 
 a strong dislike to be forced into their service, but if strangers 
 visit them with a friendly intention they are well treated. It 
 is related, however, that the Indians of the Madeira were hostile 
 to the Portuguese from the first; it was then the tribes of 
 Muras and Torazes who attacked travellers. In 1855 I met 
 with an American, an odd character, named Kemp, who had 
 lived for many years amongst the Indians on the Madeira, 
 near the abandoned settlement of Crato. He told me his 
 neighbours were a kindly-disposed and cheerful people, and 
 that the onslaught of the Araras was provoked by a trader 
 from Bara, who wantonly fired into a family of them, killing 
 the parents, and carrying off their children to be employed as 
 domestic servants. 
 
 We remained nine days at the sitio of Senhor John Trinidade. 
 It is situated on a tract of high Ygapo land, which is raised, 
 however, only a few inches above high-water mark. This 
 skirts the northern shore for a long distance; the soil consist- 
 ing of alluvium and rich vegetable mould, and exhibiting the 
 most exuberant fertility. Such districts are the first to be 
 settled on in this country, and the whole coast for many miles 
 was dotted with pleasant-looking sitios like that of our friend. 
 The establishment was a large one, the house and out-buildings 
 covering a large space of ground. The industrious proprietor 
 seemed to be Jack-of-all-trades ; he was planter, trader, fisher- 
 man, and canoe-builder, and a large igarite was now on the 
 stocks under a large shed. There was great pleasure in con- 
 templating this prosperous farm, from its being worked almost 
 entirely by free labour; in fact, by one family, and its 
 dependents. John Trinidade had only one female slave; his 
 other workpeople were a brother and sister-in-law, two godsons, 
 a free negro, one or two Indians, and a family of Muras. Both 
 he and his wife were mamelucos; the negro children called 
 them always father and mother. The order, abundance, and 
 comfort about the place, showed what industry and good 
 management could effect in this country without slave-labour. 
 But the surplus produce of such small plantations is very 
 trifling. All we saw had been done since the disorders of 
 1835-6, during which John Trinidade was a great sufferer; he 
 was obliged to fly, and the Mura Indians destroyed his house 
 and plantations. There was a large, well-weeded grove of 
 cacao along the banks of the river, comprising about 8000 
 trees, and further inland considerable plantations of tobacco, 
 
1 66 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 mandioca, Indian corn, fields of rice, melons, and water-melons. 
 Near the house was a kitchen garden, in which grew cabbages 
 and onions, introduced from Europe, besides a wonderful variety 
 of tropical vegetables. It must not be supposed that these 
 plantations and gardens were enclosed or neatly kept, such 
 is never the case in this country where labour is so scarce; 
 but it was an unusual thing to see vegetables grown at all, and' 
 the ground tolerably well weeded. The space around the house 
 was plentifully planted with fruit-trees, some, belonging to the 
 Anonaceous order, yielding delicious fruits large as a child's 
 head, and. full of custardy pulp which it is necessary to eat 
 with a spoon; besides oranges, lemons, guavas, alligator pears, 
 Abius (Achras cainito), Genipapas, and bananas. In the shade 
 of these, coffee trees grew in great luxuriance. The table was 
 always well supplied with fish, which the Mura who was 
 attached to the household as fisherman caught every morning 
 a few hundred yards from the port. The chief kinds were the 
 Surubim, Pira-peeua, and Piramutaba, three species of Siluridse, 
 belonging to the genus Pimelodus. To these we used a sauce 
 in the form of a yellow paste, quite new to me, called Arube, 
 which is made of the poisonous juice of the mandioca root, 
 boiled down before the starch or tapioca is precipitated, and 
 seasoned with capsicum peppers. It is kept in stone bottles 
 several weeks before using, and is a most appetising relish to 
 fish. Tucupi, another sauce made also from mandioca juice, is 
 much more common in the interior of the country than Arube. 
 This is made by boiling or heating the pure liquid, after the 
 tapioca has been separated, daily for several days in succession, 
 and seasoning it with peppers and small fishes; when old it 
 has the taste of essence of anchovies. It is generally made as 
 a liquid, but the Juri and Miranha tribes on the Japura, make 
 it up in the form of a black paste by a mode of preparation I 
 could not learn; it is then called Tucupi-pixuna, or black 
 Tucupi. I have seen the Indians on the Tapajos, where fish 
 is scarce, season Tucupi with Sauba ants. It is there used 
 chiefly as a sauce to Tacaca, another preparation from mandioca, 
 consisting of the starch beaten up in boiling water. 
 
 I thoroughly enjoyed the nine days we spent at this place. 
 Our host and hostess took an interest in my pursuit; one of 
 the best chambers in the house was given up to me, and the 
 young men took me long rambles in the neighbouring forests. 
 I saw very little hard work going forward. Everyone rose 
 with the dawn, and went down to the river to bathe; then 
 
Obydos to Manaos 167 
 
 came the never-failing cup of rich and strong coffee, after 
 which all proceeded to their avocations. At this time, nothing 
 was being done at the plantations; the cacao and tobacco 
 crops were not ripe; weeding time was over, and the only 
 work on foot was the preparation of a little farinha by the 
 women. The men dawdled about; went shooting and fishing, 
 or did trifling jobs about the house. The only laborious work 
 done during the year in these establishments is the felling of 
 timber for new clearings; this happens at the beginning of 
 the dry season, namely, from July to September. Whatever 
 employment the people were engaged in, they did not intermit 
 it during the hot hours of the day. Those who went into the 
 woods took their dinners with them — a small bag of farinha, 
 and a slice of salt fish. About sunset all returned to the house ; 
 they then had their frugal suppers, and towards eight o'clock, 
 after coming to ask a blessing of the patriarchal head of the 
 household, went off to their hammocks to sleep. 
 
 There was another visitor besides ourselves, a negro, whom 
 John Trinidade introduced to me as his oldest and dearest 
 friend, who had saved his life during the revolt of 1835. I 
 have, unfortunately, forgotten his name; he was a freeman, 
 and had a sitio of his own, situated about a day's journey from 
 this. There was the same manly bearing about him that I 
 had noticed with pleasure in many other free negroes; but 
 his quiet, earnest manner, and the thoughtful and benevolent 
 expression of his countenance, showed him to be a superior man 
 of his class. He told me he had been intimate with our host 
 for thirty years, and that a wry word had never passed between 
 them. At the commencement of the disorders of 1835 he got 
 into the secret of a plot for assassinating his friend, hatched by 
 some villains whose only cause of enmity was their owing him 
 money and envying his prosperity. It was such as these who 
 aroused the stupid and brutal animosity of the Muras against 
 the whites. The negro, on obtaining this news, set off alone 
 in a montaria on a six hours' journey in the dead of night, to 
 warn his " compadre " of the fate in store for him, and thus 
 gave him time to fly. It was a pleasing sight to notice the 
 cordiality of feeling and respect for each other shown by these 
 two old men; for they used to spend hours together enjoying 
 the cool breeze, seated under a shed which overlooked the 
 broad river, and talking of old times. 
 
 John Trinidade was famous for his tobacco and cigarettes, 
 as he took great pains in preparing the Tauari, or envelope, 
 
i 68 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 which is formed of the inner bark of a tree, separated into 
 thin papery layers. Many trees yield it, amongst them the 
 Courataria Guianensis and the Sapucaya nut-tree, both belong- 
 ing to the same natural order. The bark is cut in long strips, 
 of a breadth suitable for folding the tobacco ; the inner portion 
 is then separated, boiled, hammered with a wooden mallet, 
 and exposed to the air for a few hours. Some kinds have a 
 reddish colour and an astringent taste, but the sort prepared 
 by our host was of a beautiful satiny-white hue, and perfectly 
 tasteless. He obtained sixty, eighty, and sometimes a hundred 
 layers from the same strip of bark. The best tobacco in Brazil 
 is grown in the neighbourhood of Borba, on the Madeira, where 
 the soil is a rich black loam; but tobacco of very good quality 
 was grown by John Trinidade and his neighbours along this 
 coast, on similar soil. It is made up into slender rolls, an inch 
 and a half in diameter and six feet in length, tapering at each 
 end. When the leaves are gathered and partially dried, layers 
 of them, after the mid-ribs are plucked out, are placed on a 
 mat and rolled up into the required shape. This is done by 
 the women and children, who also manage the planting, weed- 
 ing, and gathering of the tobacco. The process of tightening 
 the rolls is a long and heavy task, and can be done only by 
 men. The cords used for this purpose are of very great strength. 
 They are made of the inner bark of a peculiar light-wooded and 
 slender tree, called Uaissima, which yields, when beaten out, a 
 great quantity of most beautiful silky fibre, many feet in length. 
 I think this might be turned to some use by English manu- 
 facturers, if they could obtain it in large quantity. The tree is 
 abundant on light soils on the southern side of the Lower 
 Amazons, and grows very rapidly. When the rolls are suffi- 
 ciently well pressed they are bound round with narrow thongs 
 of remarkable toughness, cut from the bark of the climbing 
 Jacitara palm tree (Desmoncus macracanthus), and are then 
 ready for sale or use. 
 
 It was very pleasant to roam in our host's cacaoal. The 
 ground was clear of underwood, the trees were about thirty feet 
 in height, and formed a dense shade. Two species of monkey 
 frequented the trees, and I was told committed great depreda- 
 tions when the fruit was ripe. One of these, the macaco prego 
 (Cebus cirrhifer?), is a most impudent thief; it destroys more 
 than it eats by its random, hasty way of plucking and breaking 
 the fruits, and when about to return to the forest, carries away 
 all it can in its hands or under its arms. The other species 
 
Obydos to Manaos 169 
 
 the pretty little Chrysothrix sciureus, contents itself with 
 devouring what it can on the spot. A variety of beautiful 
 insects basked on the foliage where stray gleams of sunlight 
 glanced through the canopy of broad soft-green leaves, and 
 numbers of an elegant, long-legged tiger-beetle (Odontocheila 
 egregia) ran and flew about over the herbage. 
 
 We left this place on the 8th of January, and on the afternoon 
 of the 9th, arrived at Matari, a miserable little settlement of 
 Mura Indians. Here we again anchored and went ashore. The 
 place consisted of about twenty slightly-built mud-hovels, and 
 had a most forlorn appearance, notwithstanding the luxuriant 
 forest in its rear. A horde of these Indians settled here many 
 years ago, on the site of an abandoned missionary station, and 
 the government had lately placed a resident director over them, 
 with the intention of bringing the hitherto intractable savages 
 under authority. This, however, seemed to promise no other 
 result than that of driving them to their old solitary haunts 
 on the banks of the interior waters, for many families had 
 already withdrawn themselves. The absence of the usual 
 cultivated trees and plants gave the place a naked and poverty- 
 stricken aspect. I entered one of the hovels where several 
 women were employed cooking a meal. Portions of a large 
 fish were roasting over a fire made in the middle of the low 
 chamber, and the entrails were scattered about the floor, on 
 which the women with their children were squatted. These 
 had a timid, distrustful expression of countenance, and their 
 bodies were begrimed with black mud, which is smeared over 
 the skin as a protection against mosquitoes. The children 
 were naked, the women wore petticoats of coarse cloth, ragged 
 round the edges, and stained in blotches with murixi, a dye 
 made from the bark of a tree. One of them wore a necklace 
 of monkey's teeth. There were scarcely any household utensils ; 
 the place was bare with the exception of two dirty grass 
 hammocks hung in the corners. I missed the usual mandioca 
 sheds behind the house, with their surrounding cotton, cacao, 
 coffee, and lemon trees. Two or three young men of the tribe 
 were lounging about the low open doorway. They were stoutly- 
 built fellows, but less well-proportioned than the semi-civilised 
 Indians of the Lower Amazons generally are. Their breadth 
 of chest was remarkable, and their arms were wonderfully 
 thick and muscular. The legs appeared short in proportion to 
 the trunk; the expression of their countenances was unmis- 
 takably more sullen and brutal, and the skin of a darker hue, 
 
170 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 than is common in the Brazilian red man. Before we left the 
 hut, an old couple came in; the husband carrying his paddle, 
 bow, arrows, and harpoon, the woman bent beneath the weight 
 of a large basket filled with palm fruits. The man was of low 
 stature and had a wild appearance from the long coarse hair 
 which hung over his forehead. Both his lips were pierced with 
 holes, as is usual with the older Muras seen on the river. They 
 used formerly to wear tusks of the wild hog in these holes 
 whenever they went out to encounter strangers or their enemies 
 in war. The gloomy savagery, filth, and poverty of the people 
 in this place made me feel quite melancholy, and I was glad 
 to return to the canoe. They offered us no civilities; they did 
 not even pass the ordinary salutes, which all the semi-civilised 
 and many savage Indians proffer on a first meeting. The men 
 persecuted Penna for cashaca, which they seemed to consider 
 the only good thing the white man brings with him. As they 
 had nothing whatever to give in exchange, Penna declined to 
 supply them. They followed us as we descended to the port, 
 becoming very troublesome when about a dozen had collected 
 together. They brought their empty bottles with them and 
 promised fish and turtle, if we would only trust them first with 
 the coveted aguardente, or cau-im, as they called it. Penna 
 was inexorable: he ordered the crew to weigh anchor, and the 
 disappointed savages remained hooting after us with all their 
 might from the top of the bank as we glided away. 
 
 The Muras have a bad reputation all over this part of the 
 Amazons, the semi-civilised Indians being quite as severe upon 
 them as the white settlers. Every one spoke of them as lazy, 
 thievish, untrustworthy, and cruel. They have a greater re- 
 pugnance than any other class of Indians to settled habits, 
 regular labour, and the service of the whites; their distaste, in 
 fact, to any approximation towards civilised life is invincible. 
 Yet most of these faults are only an exaggeration of the funda- 
 mental defects of character in the Brazilian red man. There is 
 nothing, I think, to show that the Muras had a different origin 
 from the nobler agricultural tribes belonging to the Tupi nation, 
 to some of whom they are close neighbours, although the very 
 striking contrast in their characters and habits would suggest 
 the conclusion that their origin had been different, in the same 
 way as the Semangs of Malacca, for instance, with regard to 
 the Malays. They are merely an offshoot from them, a number 
 of segregated hordes becoming degraded by a residence most 
 likely of very many centuries in Ygapo lands, confined to a fish 
 
Obydos to Manaos 171 
 
 diet, and obliged to wander constantly in search of food. Those 
 tribes which are supposed to be more nearly related to the Tupis 
 are distinguished by their settled agricultural habits, their living 
 in well-constructed houses, their practice of many arts, such as 
 the manufacture of painted earthenware, weaving, and their 
 general custom of tattooing, social organisation, obedience to 
 chiefs, and so forth. The Muras have become a nation of 
 nomade fishermen, ignorant of agriculture and all other arts 
 practised by their neighbours. They do not build substantial 
 and fixed dwellings, but live in separate families or small hordes, 
 wandering from place to place along the margins of those rivers 
 and lakes which most abound in fish and turtle. At each 
 resting-place they construct temporary huts at the edge of 
 the stream, shifting them higher or lower on the banks, as the 
 waters advance or recede. Their canoes originally were made 
 simply of the thick bark of trees, bound up into a semi- 
 cylindrical shape by means of woody lianas; these are now 
 rarely seen, as most families possess montarias, which they have 
 contrived to steal from the settlers from time to time. Their 
 food is chiefly fish and turtle, which they are very expert in 
 capturing. It is said by their neighbours that they dive after 
 turtles, and succeed in catching them by the legs, which I 
 believe is true in the shallow lakes where turtles are imprisoned 
 in the dry season. They shoot fish with bow and arrow, and 
 have no notion of any other method of cooking it than by 
 roasting. It is not quite clear whether the whole tribe were 
 originally quite ignorant of agriculture; as some families on 
 the banks of the streams behind Villa Nova, who could scarcely 
 have acquired the art in recent times, plant mandioca; but, as 
 a general rule, the only vegetable food used by the Muras is 
 bananas and wild fruits. The original home of this tribe was 
 the banks of the Lower Madeira. It appears they were hostile 
 to the European settlers from the beginning; plundering their 
 sitios, waylaying their canoes, and massacring all who fell into 
 their power. About fifty years ago the Portuguese succeeded 
 in turning the warlike propensities of the Mundurucus against 
 them; and these, in the course of many years' persecution, 
 greatly weakened the power of the tribe, and drove a great part 
 of them from their seats on the banks of the Madeira. The 
 Muras are now scattered in single hordes and families over a 
 wide extent of country bordering the main river from Villa 
 Nova to Catua, near Ega, a distance of 800 miles. Since the 
 disorders of 1835-6, when they committed great havoc amongst 
 
172 
 
 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the peaceable settlements from Santarem to the Rio Negro, and 
 were pursued and slaughtered in great numbers by the Mun- 
 durucus in alliance with the Brazilians, they have given no 
 serious trouble. 
 
 There is one curious custom of the Muras which requires 
 noticing before concluding this digression; this is the practice 
 of snuff-taking with peculiar ceremonies. The snuff is called 
 Parica, and is a highly stimulating powder, made from the 
 seeds of a species of Inga, belonging to the Leguminous order 
 of plants. The seeds are dried in the sun, pounded in wooden 
 mortars, and kept in bamboo tubes. When they are ripe, and 
 the snuff-making season sets in, they have a fuddling-bout, 
 lasting many days, which the Brazilians call a Quarentena, and 
 which forms a kind of festival of a semi-religious character. 
 They begin by drinking large quantities of caysuma and cashiri, 
 fermented drinks made of various fruits and mandioca, but 
 they prefer cashaca, or rum, when they can get it. In a short 
 time they drink themselves into a soddened semi-intoxicated 
 state, and then commence taking the Parica. For this purpose 
 they pair off, and each of the partners, taking a reed containing 
 a quantity of the snuff, after going through a deal of unintel- 
 ligible mummery, blows the contents with all his force into the 
 nostrils of his companion. The effect on the usually dull and 
 taciturn savages is wonderful; they become exceedingly talka- 
 tive, sing, shout, and leap about in the wildest excitement. 
 A reaction soon follows; more drinking is then necessary to 
 rouse them from their stupor, and thus they carry on for many 
 days in succession. The Mauhes also use the Parica, although 
 it is not known amongst their neighbours the Mundurucus. 
 Their manner of taking it is very different from that of the 
 swinish Muras, it being kept in the form of a paste, and 
 employed chiefly as a preventive against ague in the months 
 between the dry and wet seasons, when the disease prevails. 
 When a dose is required, a small quantity of the paste is dried 
 and pulverised on a flat shell, and the powder then drawn up 
 into both nostrils at once through two vulture quills secured 
 together by cotton thread. The use of Parica was found by 
 the early travellers amongst the Omaguas, a section of the 
 Tupis who formerly lived on the Upper Amazons, a thousand 
 miles distant from the homes of the Mauhes and Muras. This 
 community of habits is one of those facts which support the 
 view of the common origin and near relationship of the 
 Amazonian Indians. 
 
Obydos to Manaos 173 
 
 After leaving Matari, we continued our voyage along the 
 northern shore. The banks of the river were of moderate 
 elevation during several days' journey; the terra firma lying 
 far in the interior, and the coast being either lowland or 
 masked with islands of alluvial formation. * On the 14th we 
 passed the upper mouth of the Parana-mirim de Eva, an arm 
 of the river of small breadth, formed by a straggling island 
 some ten miles in length, lying parallel to the northern bank. 
 On passing the western end of this, the main land again 
 appeared; a rather high rocky coast, clothed with a magnifi- 
 cent forest of rounded outline, which continues hence for 
 twenty miles to the mouth of the Rio Negro, and forms the 
 eastern shore of that river. Many houses of settlers, built at a 
 considerable elevation on the wooded heights, now enlivened 
 the river banks. One of the first objects which here greeted 
 us was a beautiful bird we had not hitherto met with, namely, 
 the scarlet and black tanager (Ramphoccelus nigrogularis), 
 flocks of which were seen sporting about the trees on the edge 
 of the water, their flame-coloured liveries lighting up the 
 masses of dark-green foliage. 
 
 The weather, from the 14th to the 18th, was wretched; it 
 rained sometimes for twelve hours in succession, not heavily, 
 but in a steady drizzle, such as we are familiar with in our 
 English climate. We landed at several places on the coast, 
 Penna to trade as usual, and I to ramble in the forest in search 
 of birds and insects. In one spot the wooded slope enclosed 
 a very picturesque scene: a brook, flowing through a ravine 
 in the high bank, fell in many little cascades to the broad 
 river beneath, its margins decked out with an infinite variety 
 of beautiful plants. Wild bananas arched over the water- 
 course, and the trunks of the trees in its vicinity were clothed 
 with ferns, large-leaved species belonging to the genus Lygo- 
 dium, which, like Osmunda, have their spore-cases collected 
 together on contracted leaves. On the 18th, we arrived at a 
 large fazenda (plantation and cattle farm), called Jatuarana. 
 A rocky point here projects into the stream, and as we found 
 it impossible to stem the strong current which whirled round it, 
 we crossed over to the southern shore. Canoes, in approaching 
 the Rio Negro, generally prefer the southern side on account 
 of the slackness of the current near the banks. Our progress, 
 however, was most tediously slow, for the regular east wind 
 had now entirely ceased, and the vento de cima or wind from 
 up river, having taken its place, blew daily for a few hours 
 
174 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 dead against us. The weather was oppressively close, and 
 every afternoon a squall arose, which, however, as it came 
 from the right quarter and blew for an hour or two, was very 
 welcome. We made acquaintance on this coast with a new 
 insect pest, the Pium, a minute fly, two thirds of a line in 
 length, which here commences its reign, and continues hence- 
 forward as a terrible scourge along the upper river, or Soli- 
 moens, to the end of the navigation on the Amazons. It comes 
 forth only by day, relieving the mosquito at sunrise with the 
 greatest punctuality, and occurs only near the muddy shores 
 of the stream, not one ever being found in the shade of the 
 forest. In places where it is abundant it accompanies canoes 
 in such dense swarms as to resemble thin clouds of smoke. It 
 made its appearance in this way the first day after we crossed 
 the river. Before I was aware of the presence of flies, I felt 
 a slight itching on my neck, wrist, and ankles, and, on looking 
 for the cause, saw a number of tiny objects having a disgusting 
 resemblance to lice, adhering to the skin. This was my intro- 
 duction to the much-talked-of Pium. On close examination, 
 they are seen to be minute two-winged insects, with dark- 
 coloured body and pale legs and wings, the latter closed length- 
 wise over the back. They alight imperceptibly, and squatting 
 close, fall at once to work; stretching forward their long front 
 legs, which are in constant motion and seem to act as feelers, 
 and then applying their short, broad snouts to the skin. Their 
 abdomens soon become distended and red with blood, and then, 
 their thirst satisfied, they slowly move off, sometimes so stupefied 
 with their potations that they can scarcely fly. No pain is felt 
 whilst they are at work, but they each leave a small circular 
 raised spot on the skin and a disagreeable irritation. The latter 
 may be avoided in great measure by pressing out the blood which 
 remains in the spot; but this is a troublesome task when one 
 has several hundred punctures in the course of a day. I took 
 the trouble to dissect specimens to ascertain the way in which 
 the little pests operate. The mouth consists of a pair of thick 
 fleshy lips, and two triangular horny lancets, answering to the 
 upper lip and tongue of other insects. This is applied closely 
 to the skin, a puncture is made with the lancets, and the blood 
 then sucked through between these into the oesophagus, the 
 circular spot which results coinciding with the shape of the lips. 
 In the course of a few days the red spots dry up, and the skin 
 in time becomes blackened with the endless number of dis- 
 coloured punctures that are crowded together. The irritation 
 
Obydos to Manaos 175 
 
 they produce is more acutely felt by some persons than others. 
 I once travelled with a middle-aged Portuguese, who was laid 
 up for three weeks from the attacks of Pium; his legs being 
 swelled *> an enormous size, and the punctures aggravated into 
 spreading sores. 
 
 A brisk wind from the east sprang up early in the morning 
 of the 22nd: we then hoisted all sail, and made for the mouth 
 of the Rio Negro. This noble stream at its junction with the 
 Amazons, seems, from its position, to be a direct continuation 
 of the main river, whilst the Solimoens which joins at an angle 
 and is somewhat narrower than its tributary, appears to be a 
 branch instead of the main trunk of the vast water-system. 
 One sees therefore at once, how the early explorers came to 
 give a separate name to this upper part of the Amazons. The 
 Brazilians have lately taken to applying the convenient term 
 Alto Amazonas (High or Upper Amazons) to the Solimoens, and 
 it is probable that this will gradually prevail over the old 
 name. The Rio Negro broadens considerably from its mouth 
 upwards, and presents the appearance of a great lake ; its black- 
 dyed waters having no current, and seeming to be dammed up 
 by the impetuous flow of the yellow, turbid Solimoens, which 
 here belches forth a continuous line of uprooted trees and 
 patches of grass, and forms a striking contrast with its tribu- 
 tary. In crossing, we passed the line, a little more than half- 
 way over, where the waters of the two rivers meet and are 
 sharply demarcated from each other. On reaching the opposite 
 shore, we found a remarkable change. All our insect pests had 
 disappeared, as if by magic, even from the hold of the canoe: 
 the turmoil of an agitated, swiftly flowing river, and its torn, 
 perpendicular, earthy banks, had given place to tranquil water 
 and a coast indented with snug little bays, fringed with sloping 
 sandy beaches. The low shore and vivid light green, endlessly- 
 varied foliage, which prevailed on the south side of the Amazons, 
 were exchanged for a hilly country, clothed with a sombre, 
 rounded, and monotonous forest. Our tedious voyage now 
 approached its termination; a light wind carried us gently 
 along the coast to the city of Barra, which lies about seven or 
 eight miles within the mouth of the river. We stopped for an 
 hour in a clean little bay, to bathe and dress, before showing 
 ourselves again among civilised people. The bottom was 
 visible at a depth of six feet, the white sand taking a brownish 
 tinge from the stained but clear water. In the evening I went 
 ashore, and was kindly received by Senhor Henriques Antony, 
 
176 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 a warm-hearted Italian, established here in a high position as 
 merchant, who was the never-failing friend of stray travellers. 
 He placed a couple of rooms at my disposal, and in a few hours 
 I was comfortably settled in my new quarters, sixty-rfour days 
 after leaving Obydos. 
 
 The town of Barra is built on a tract of elevated, but very 
 uneven land, on the left bank of the Rio Negro, and contained, 
 in 1850, about 3000 inhabitants. There was originally a small 
 fort here, erected by the Portuguese to protect their slave- 
 hunting expeditions amongst the numerous tribes of Indians 
 which peopled the banks of the river. The most distinguished 
 and warlike of these were the Manaos, who were continually 
 at war with the neighbouring tribes, and had the custom of 
 enslaving the prisoners made during their predatory expedi- 
 tions. The Portuguese disguised their slave-dealing motives 
 under the pretext of ransoming (resgatando) these captives; 
 indeed, the term resgatar (to ransom) is still applied by the 
 traders on the Upper Amazons to the very general, but illegal, 
 practice of purchasing Indian children of the wild tribes. The 
 older inhabitants of the place remember the time when many 
 hundreds of these captives were brought down by a single 
 expedition. In 1809, Barra became the chief town of the Rio 
 Negro district; many Portuguese and Brazilians from other 
 provinces then settled here; spacious houses were built, and it 
 grew, in the course of thirty or forty years, to be, next to San- 
 tarem, the principal settlement on the banks of the Amazons. 
 At the time of my visit it was on the decline, in consequence of 
 the growing distrust, or increased cunning, of the Indians, who 
 once formed a numerous and the sole labouring class, but having 
 got to know that the laws protected them against forced 
 servitude, were rapidly withdrawing themselves from the place. 
 When the new province of the Amazons was established, in 
 1852, Barra was chosen as the capital, and was then invested 
 with the appropriate name of the city of Manaos. 
 
 The situation of the town has many advantages; the climate 
 is healthy; there are no insect pests; the soil is fertile and 
 capable of growing all kinds of tropical produce (the coffee of 
 the Rio Negro, especially, being of very superior quality), and 
 it is near the fork of two great navigable rivers. The imagina- 
 tion becomes excited when one reflects on the possible future 
 of this place, situated near the centre of the equatorial part of 
 ■South America, in the midst of a region almost as large as 
 
Obydos to Manaos 177 
 
 Europe, every inch of whose soil is of the most exuberant 
 fertility, and having water communication on one side with 
 the Atlantic, and on the other with the Spanish republics of 
 Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Barra 
 is now the principal station for the lines of steamers which 
 were established in 1853, and passengers and goods are tran- 
 shipped here for the Solimoens and Peru. A steamer runs 
 once a fortnight between Para and Barra, and a bi-monthly one 
 plies between this place and Nauta in the Peruvian territory. 
 The steam-boat company is supported by a large annual grant, 
 about £50,000 sterling, from the imperial government. Barra 
 was formerly a pleasant place of residence, but it is now in a 
 most wretched plight, suffering from a chronic scarcity of the 
 most necessary articles of food. The attention of the settlers 
 was formerly devoted almost entirely to the collection of the 
 spontaneous produce of the forests and rivers; agriculture was 
 consequently neglected, and now the neighbourhood does not 
 produce even mandioca-meal sufficient for its own consumption. 
 Many of the most necessary articles of food, besides all luxuries, 
 come from Portugal, England, and North America. A few 
 bullocks are brought now and then from Obydos, 500 miles 
 off, the nearest place where cattle are reared in any numbers, 
 and these furnish at long intervals a supply of fresh beef, but 
 this is generally monopolised by the families of government 
 officials. Fowls, eggs, fresh fish, turtles, vegetables, and fruit, 
 were excessively scarce and dear in 1859, when I again visited 
 the place; for instance, six or seven shillings were asked for a 
 poor lean fowl, and eggs were twopence-halfpenny a piece. In 
 fact, the neighbourhood produces scarcely anything; the pro- 
 vincial government is supplied with the greater part of its 
 funds from the treasury of Para; its revenue, which amounts to 
 about fifty contos of reis (£5600), derived from export taxes on 
 the produce of the entire province, not sufficing for more than 
 about one-fifth of its expenditure. The population of the pro- 
 vince of the Amazons, according to a census taken in 1858, is 
 55,000 souls; the municipal district of Barra, which comprises 
 a large area around the capital, containing only 4500 inhabit- 
 ants. For the government, however, of this small number of 
 people, an immense staff of officials is gathered together in the 
 capital, and, notwithstanding the endless number of trivial 
 formalities which Brazilians employ in every small detail of 
 administration, these have nothing to do the greater part of 
 their time. None of the people who flocked to Barra on the 
 
178 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 establishment of the new government, seemed to care about the 
 cultivation of the soil and the raising of food, although these 
 would have been most profitable speculations. The class of 
 Portuguese who emigrate to Brazil seem to prefer petty trading 
 to the honourable pursuit of agriculture. If the English are a 
 nation of shopkeepers, what are we to say of the Portuguese? 
 I counted in Barra one store for every five dwelling-houses. 
 These stores, or tavernas, have often not more than fifty pounds' 
 worth of goods for their whole stock, and the Portuguese owners, 
 big lusty fellows, stand all day behind their dirty counters for 
 the sake of selling a few coppers' worth of liquors, or small 
 wares. These men all give the same excuse for not applying 
 themselves to agriculture, namely, that no hands can be 
 obtained to work on the soil. Nothing can be done with 
 Indians; indeed, they are fast leaving the neighbourhood 
 altogether, and the importation of negro slaves, in the present 
 praiseworthy temper of the Brazilian mind, is out of the 
 question. The problem, how to obtain a labouring class for a 
 new and tropical country, without slavery, has to be solved 
 before this glorious region can become what its delightful climate 
 and exuberant fertility fit it for — the abode of a numerous, 
 civilised, and happy people. 
 
 I found at Barra my companion, Mr. Wallace, who, since our 
 joint Tocantins expedition, had been exploring, partly with his 
 brother, lately arrived from England, the north-eastern coast 
 of Marajo, the river Capim (a branch of the Guama, near Para), 
 Monte Alegre, and Santarem. He had passed us by night 
 below Serpa, on his way to Barra, and so had arrived about 
 three weeks before me. Besides ourselves, there were half-a- 
 dozen other foreigners here congregated, — Englishmen, Germans, 
 and Americans; one of them a Natural History collector, the 
 rest traders on the rivers. In the pleasant society of these, 
 and of the family of Senhor Henriques, we passed a delightful 
 time ; the miseries of our long river voyagesVere soon forgotten, 
 and in two or three weeks we began to talk of further explora- 
 tions. Meantime we had almost daily rambles in the neigh- 
 bouring forest. The whole surface of the land down to the 
 water's edge is covered by the uniform dark-green rolling 
 forest, the caa-apoam (convex woods) of the Indians, charac- 
 teristic of the Rio Negro. This clothes also the extensive areas 
 of lowland, which are flooded by the river in the rainy season. 
 The olive-brown tinge of the water seems to be derived from 
 
Obydos to Manaos 179 
 
 the saturation in it of the dark green foliage during these annual 
 inundations. The great contrast in form and colour between 
 the forest of the Rio Negro and those of the Amazons arises 
 from the predominance in each of different families of plants. 
 On the main river, palms of twenty or thirty different species 
 form a great proportion of the mass of trees; whilst on the 
 Rio Negro they play a very subordinate part. The charac- 
 teristic kind in the latter region is the Jara (Leopoldinia pulchra), 
 a species not found on the margins of the Amazons, which has 
 a scanty head of fronds with narrow leaflets of the same dark 
 green hue as the rest of the forest. The stem is smooth, and 
 about two inches in diameter; its height is not more than 
 twelve to fifteen feet; it does not, therefore, rise amongst the 
 masses of foliage of the exogenous trees, so as to form a feature 
 in the landscape, like the broad-leaved Murumuru and Urucuri, 
 the slender Assai, the tall Jauari, and the fan-leaved Muriti of 
 the banks of the Amazons. On the shores of the main river the 
 mass of the forest is composed, besides palms, of Leguminosse, 
 or trees of the bean family, in endless variety as to height, shape 
 of foliage, flowers, and fruit; of silk-cotton trees, colossal nut- 
 trees (Lecythideae), and Cecropiae; the underwood and water- 
 frontage consisting in great part of broad-leaved Musaceae, 
 Marantaceae, and succulent grasses: all of which are of light 
 shades of green. The forests of the Rio Negro are almost 
 destitute of these large-leaved plants and grasses, which give 
 so rich an appearance to the vegetation wherever they grow; 
 the margins of the stream being clothed with bushes or low 
 trees, having the same gloomy monotonous aspect as the man- 
 groves of the shores of creeks near the Atlantic. The uniformly 
 small but elegantly-leaved exogenous trees, which constitute 
 the mass of the forest, consist in great part of members of the 
 Laurel, Myrtle, Bignoniaceous, and Rubiaceous orders. The 
 soil is generally a stiff loam, whose chief component part is 
 the Tabatinga clay, which also forms low cliffs on the coast 
 in some places, where it overlies strata of coarse sandstone. 
 This kind of soil and the same geological formation prevail, 
 as we have seen, in many places on the banks of the Amazons, 
 so that the great contrast in the forest-clothing of the two 
 rivers cannot arise from this cause. 
 
 The forest was very pleasant for rambling. In some directions 
 broad pathways led down gentle slopes, through what one 
 might fancy were interminable shrubberies of evergreens, to 
 moist hollows where springs of water bubbled up, or shallow 
 
180 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 brooks ran over their beds of clean white sand. ' But the most 
 beautiful road was one that ran through the heart of the forest 
 to a waterfall, which the citizens of Barra consider as the chief 
 natural curiosity of their neighbourhood. The waters of one 
 of the larger rivulets which traverse the gloomy wilderness, 
 here fall over a ledge of rock about ten feet high. It is not 
 the cascade itself, but the noiseless solitude, and the marvellous 
 diversity and richness of trees, foliage, and flowers, encircling 
 the water basin, that form the attraction of the place. Families 
 make picnic excursions to this spot; and the gentlemen — it is 
 said the ladies also — spend the sultry hours of midday bathing 
 in the cold and bracing waters. The place is classic ground to 
 the Naturalist from having been a favourite spot with the 
 celebrated travellers Spix and Martius, during their stay at 
 Barra in 1820. Von Martius was so much impressed by its 
 magical beauty that he commemorated the visit by making a 
 sketch of the scenery serve as background in one of the plates 
 of his great work on the palms. 
 
 Birds and insects, however, were scarce amidst these charm- 
 ing sylvan scenes. I have often traversed the whole distance 
 from Barra to the waterfall, about two miles by the forest road, 
 without seeing or hearing a bird, or meeting with so many as a 
 score of Lepidopterous and Coleopterous insects. In the thinner 
 woods near the borders of the forest many pretty little blue and 
 green creepers of the Dacnida? group, were daily seen feeding 
 on berries; and a few very handsome birds occurred in the 
 forest. But the latter were so rare that we could obtain them 
 only by employing a native hunter, who used to spend a whole 
 day, and go a great distance to obtain two or three specimens. 
 In this way I obtained, amongst others, specimens of the Trogon 
 pavoninus (the Suruqua grande of the natives), a most beautiful 
 creature, having soft golden green plumage, red breast, and an 
 orange-coloured beak; also the Ampelis Pompadoura, a rich 
 glossy-purple chatterer with wings of a snowy-white hue. 
 
 After we had rested some weeks in Barra, we arranged our 
 plans for further explorations in the interior of the country. 
 Mr. Wallace chose the Rio Negro for his next trip, and I agreed 
 to take the Solimoens. My colleague has already given to the 
 world an account of his journey on the Rio Negro, and his 
 adventurous ascent of its great tributary the Uapes. I left 
 Barra for Ega, the first town of any importance on the Soli- 
 moens, on the 26th of March, 1850. The distance is nearly 
 400 miles, which we accomplished in a small cuberta, manned 
 
Obydos to Manaos 181 
 
 by ten stout Cucama Indians, in thirty-five days. On this 
 occasion, I spent twelve months in the upper region of the 
 Amazons; circumstances then compelled me to return to Para. 
 I revisited the same country in 1855, and devoted three years 
 and a half to a fuller exploration of its natural productions. 
 The results of both journeys will be given together in subse- 
 quent chapters of this work; in the meantime, I will proceed 
 to give an account of Santarem and the river Tapajos, whose 
 neighbourhoods I investigated in the years 1851-4. 
 
 A few words on my visit to Para in 1851, may be here 
 introduced. I descended the river from Ega to the capital, a 
 distance of 1400 miles, in a heavily-laden schooner belonging to 
 a trader of the former place. The voyage occupied no less than 
 twenty-nine days, although we were favoured by the powerful 
 currents of the rainy season. The hold of the vessel was filled 
 with turtle oil contained in large jars, the cabin was crammed 
 with Brazil nuts, and a great pile of sarsaparilla, covered with 
 a thatch of palm leaves, occupied the middle of the deck. We 
 had, therefore, (the master and two passengers) but rough 
 accommodation, having to sleep on deck, exposed to the wet and 
 stormy weather, under little toldos or arched shelters, arranged 
 with mats of woven lianas and maranta leaves. I awoke many 
 a morning with clothes and bedding soaked through with the 
 rain. With the exception, however, of a slight cold at the 
 commencement, I never enjoyed better health than during this 
 journey. When the wind blew from up river or off the land, 
 we sped away at a great rate; but it was often squally from 
 those quarters, and then it was not safe to hoist the sails. The 
 weather was generally calm, a motionless mass of leaden clouds 
 covering the sky, and the broad expanse of waters flowing 
 smoothly down with no other motion than the ripple of the 
 current. When the wind came from below, we tacked down 
 the stream; sometimes it blew very strong, and then the 
 schooner, having the wind abeam, laboured through the waves, 
 shipping often heavy seas which washed everything that was 
 loose from one side of the deck to the other. 
 
 On arriving at Para, I found the once cheerful and healthy 
 city desolated by two terrible epidemics. The yellow fever, 
 which visited the place the previous year (1850) for the first 
 time since the discovery of the country, still lingered, after 
 having carried off nearly 5 per cent, of the population. The 
 number of persons who were attacked, namely, three-fourths 
 
1 82 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 of the entire population, showed how general is the onslaught 
 of an epidemic on its first appearance in a place. At the heels 
 of this plague came the smallpox. The yellow fever had fallen 
 most severely on the whites and mamelucos, the negroes wholly 
 escaping; but the smallpox attacked more especially the 
 Indians, negroes, and people of mixed colour, sparing the whites 
 almost entirely, and taking off about a twentieth part of the 
 population in the course of the four months of its stay. I 
 heard many strange accounts of the yellow fever. I believe 
 Para was the second port in Brazil attacked by it. The news 
 of its ravages in Bahia, where the epidemic first appeared, 
 arrived some few days before the disease broke out. The 
 government took all the sanitary precautions that could be 
 thought of; amongst the rest was the singular one of firing 
 cannon at the street corners, to purify the air. Mr. Norris, 
 the American consul, told me, the first cases of fever occurred 
 near the port, and that it spread rapidly and regularly from 
 house to house, along the streets which run from the waterside 
 to the suburbs, taking about twenty-four hours to reach the end. 
 Some persons related that for several successive evenings before 
 the fever broke out the atmosphere was thick, and that a body 
 of murky vapour, accompanied by a strong stench, travelled 
 from street to street. This moving vapour was called the 
 " Mai da peste " (" the mother or spirit of the plague "); and 
 it was useless to attempt to reason them out of the belief that 
 this was the forerunner of the pestilence. The progress of the 
 disease was very rapid. It commenced in April, in the middle 
 of the wet season. In a few days, thousands of persons lay 
 sick, dying or dead. The state of the city during the time the 
 fever lasted, may be easily imagined. Towards the end of 
 June it abated, and very few cases occurred during the dry 
 season from July to December. 
 
 As I said before, the yellow fever still lingered in the place 
 when I arrived from the interior in April. I was in hopes I 
 should escape it, but was not so fortunate; it seemed to spare 
 no new comer. At the time I fell ill, every medical man in 
 the place was worked to the utmost in attending the victims of 
 the^ other epidemic; it was quite useless to think of obtaining 
 their aid, so I was obliged to be my own doctor, as I had been 
 in many former smart attacks of fever. I was seized with 
 shivering and vomit at nine o'clock in the morning. Whilst the 
 people of the house went down to the town for the medicines I 
 ordered, I wrapped myself in a blanket and walked sharply to 
 
Obydos to Manaos 183 
 
 and fro along the verandah, drinking at intervals a cup of warm 
 tea, made of a bitter herb in use amongst the natives, called 
 Pajemarioba, a leguminous plant growing in all waste places. 
 About an hour afterwards, I took a good draught of a decoction 
 of elder blossoms as a sudorific, and soon after fell insensible 
 into my hammock. Mr. Philipps, an English resident with 
 whom I was then lodging, came home in the afternoon and 
 found me sound asleep and perspiring famously. I did not 
 wake till towards midnight, when I felt very weak and aching 
 in every bone of my body. I then took as a purgative, a small 
 dose of Epsom salts and manna. In forty-eight hours the fever 
 left me, and in eight days from the first attack, I was able to 
 get about my work. Little else happened during my stay, 
 which need be recorded here. I shipped off all my collections 
 to England, and received thence a fresh supply of funds. It 
 took me several weeks to prepare for my second and longest 
 journey into the interior. My plan now was first to make 
 Santarem head-quarters for some time, and ascend from that 
 place the river Tapajos, as far as practicable. Afterwards I 
 intended to revisit the marvellous country of the Upper Amazons, 
 and work well its natural history at various stations I had fixed 
 upon, from Ega to the foot of the Andes. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 S ANT ARE M 
 
 Situation of Santarem — Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants — 
 Climate — Grassy Campos and Woods — Excursions to Mapiri, Mahica, 
 and Irura, with Sketches of their Natural History; Palms, wild 
 Fruit-trees, Mining Wasps, Mason Wasps, Bees, and Sloths 
 
 I have already given a short account of the size, situation, and 
 general appearance of Santarem. Although containing not 
 more than 2500 inhabitants, it is the most civilised and im- 
 portant settlement on the banks of the main river from Peru to 
 the Atlantic. The pretty little town, or city as it is called, 
 with its rows of tolerably uniform, white-washed and red-tiled 
 houses surrounded by green gardens and woods, stands on 
 gently sloping ground on the eastern side of the Tapajos, close 
 to its point of junction with the Amazons. A small eminence 
 on which a fort has been erected, but which is now in a dilapi- 
 dated condition, overlooks the streets, and forms the eastern 
 limit of the mouth of the tributary. The Tapajos at Santarem 
 is contracted to a breadth of about a mile and a half by an 
 accretion of low alluvial land, which forms a kind of delta on 
 the western side; fifteen miles further up the river is seen at 
 its full width of ten or a dozen miles, and the magnificent hilly 
 country, through which it flows from the south, is then visible 
 on both shores. This high land, which appears to be a con- 
 tinuation of the central table-lands of Brazil, stretches almost 
 without interruption on the eastern side of the river down to 
 its mouth at Santarem. The scenery as well as the soil, vege- 
 tation, and animal tenants of this region, are widely different 
 from those of the flat and uniform country which borders the 
 Amazons along most part of its course. After travelling week 
 after week on the main river, the aspect of Santarem with its 
 broad white sandy beach, limpid dark-green waters, and line of 
 picturesque hills rising behind over the fringe of green forest, 
 affords an agreeable surprise. On the main Amazons, the 
 prospect is monotonous unless the vessel runs near the shore, 
 when the wonderful diversity and beauty of the vegetation 
 afford constant entertainment. Otherwise, the unvaried, broad 
 
 184 
 
Santarem 185 
 
 yellow stream, and the long low line of forest, which dwindles 
 away in a broken line of trees on the sea-like horizon and is 
 renewed, reach after reach, as the voyages advances, weary by 
 their uniformity. 
 
 I arrived at Santarem on my second journey into the interior, 
 in November, 185 1, and made it my head-quarters for a period, 
 as it turned out, of three years and a half. During this time 
 I made, in pursuance of the plan I had framed, many excursions 
 up the Tapajos, and to other places of interest in the surround- 
 ing reigon. On landing, I found no difficulty in hiring a suitable 
 house on the outskirts of the place. It was pleasantly situated 
 near the beach, going towards the aldeia or Indian part of the 
 town. The ground sloped from the back premises down to the 
 waterside, and my little raised verandah overlooked a beautiful 
 flower-garden, a great rarity in this country, which belonged to 
 the neighbours. The house contained only three rooms, one 
 with brick and two with boarded floors. It was substantially 
 built, like all the better sort of houses in Santarem, and had a 
 stuccoed front. The kitchen, as is usual, formed an outhouse 
 placed a few yards distant from the other rooms. The rent 
 was 12,000 reis, or about twenty-seven shillings a month. In 
 this country, a tenant has no extra payments to make; the 
 owners of house property pay a dizimo or tithe, to the 
 " collectoria geral," or general treasury, but with this the 
 occupier of course has nothing to do. In engaging servants, 
 I had the good fortune to meet with a free mulatto, an 
 industrious and trustworthy young fellow, named Jose, willing 
 to arrange with me; the people of his family cooking for us, 
 whilst he assisted me in collecting; he proved of the greatest 
 service in the different excursions we subsequently made. 
 Servants of any kind were almost impossible to be obtained at 
 Santarem, free people being too proud to hire themselves, and 
 slaves too few and valuable to their masters, to be let out to 
 others. These matters arranged, the house put in order, and 
 a rude table, with a few chairs, bought or borrowed to furnish 
 the house with, I was ready in three or four days to commence 
 my Natural History explorations in the neighbourhood. 
 
 I found Santarem quite a different sort of place from the 
 other settlements on the Amazons. At Cameta, the lively, 
 good-humoured, and plain-living Mamelucos formed the bulk 
 of the population, the white immigrants there, as on the Rio 
 Negro and Upper Amazons, seeming to have fraternised well 
 
1 86 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 with the aborigines. In the neighbourhood of Santarem the 
 Indians, I believe, were originally hostile to the Portuguese; 
 at any rate, the blending of the two races has not been here on 
 a large scale. I did not find the inhabitants the pleasant, easy- 
 going, and blunt-spoken country folk that are met with in other 
 small towns of the interior. The whites, Portuguese and 
 Brazilians, are a relatively more numerous class here than in 
 other settlements, and make great pretensions to civilisation; 
 they are the merchants and shopkeepers of the place; owners 
 of slaves, cattle estates, and cacao plantations. Amongst the 
 principal residents must also be mentioned the civil and military 
 authorities, who are generally well-bred and intelligent people 
 from other provinces. Few Indians live in the place; it is 
 too civilised for them, and the lower class is made up (besides 
 the few slaves) of half-breeds, in whose composition negro blood 
 predominates. Coloured people also exercise the different 
 handicrafts; the town supports two goldsmiths, who are mulat- 
 toes, and have each several apprentices; the blacksmiths are 
 chiefly Indians, as is the case generally throughout the province. 
 The manners of the upper class (copied from those of Para) are 
 very stiff and formal, and the absence of the hearty hospitality 
 met with in other places, produces a disagreeable impression at 
 first. Much ceremony is observed in the intercourse of the 
 principal people with each other, and with strangers. The 
 best room in each house is set apart for receptions, and visitors 
 are expected to present themselves in black dress coats, regard- 
 less of the furious heat which rages in the sandy streets of 
 Santarem towards mid-day, the hour when visits are generally 
 made. In the room a cane-bottomed sofa and chairs, all 
 lacquered and gilded, are arranged in quadrangular form, and 
 here the visitors are invited to seat themselves, whilst the 
 compliments are passed, or the business arranged. In taking 
 leave, the host backs out his guests with repeated bows, finish- 
 ing at the front door. Smoking is not in vogue amongst this 
 class, but snuff-taking is largely indulged in, and great luxury 
 is displayed in gold and silver snuff-boxes. All the gentlemen, 
 and indeed most of the ladies also, wear gold watches and guard 
 chains. Social parties are not very frequent; the principal 
 men being fully occupied with their business and families, and 
 the rest spending their leisure in billiard and gambling rooms, 
 leaving wives and daughters shut up at home. Occasionally, 
 however, one of the principal citizens gives a ball. In the first 
 that I attended, the gentlemen were seated all the evening on 
 
Santarem 187 
 
 one side of the room, and the ladies on the other, and partners 
 were allotted by means of numbered cards, distributed by a 
 master of the ceremonies. But the customs changed rapidly in 
 these matters after steamers began to run on the Amazons (in 
 1853), bringing a flood of new ideas and fashions into the 
 country. The old, bigoted, Portuguese system of treating 
 women, which stifled social intercourse and wrought endless 
 evils in the private life of the Brazilians, is now being gradually, 
 although slowly, abandoned. 
 
 The religious festivals were not so numerous here as in other 
 towns, and such as did take place were very poor and ill 
 attended. There is a handsome church, but the vicar showed 
 remarkably little zeal for religion, except for a few days now 
 and then when the Bishop came from Para, on his rounds 
 through the diocese. The people are as fond of holiday making 
 here as in other parts of the province; but it seemed to be a 
 growing fashion to substitute rational amusements for the pro- 
 cessions and mummeries of the saints' days. The young folks 
 are very musical, the principal instruments in use being the 
 flute, violin, Spanish guitar, and a small four-stringed viola, 
 called cavaquinho. During the early part of my stay at 
 Santarem, a little party of instrumentalists, led by a tall, thin, 
 ragged mulatto, who was quite an enthusiast in his art, used 
 frequently to serenade their friends in the cool and brilliant 
 moonlit evenings of the dry season, playing French and Italian 
 marches and dance music with* very good effect. The guitar 
 was the favourite instrument with both sexes, as at Para; the 
 piano, however, is now fast superseding it. The ballads sung 
 to the accompaniment of the guitar were not learnt from 
 written or printed music, but communicated orally from one 
 friend to another. They were never spoken of as songs, but 
 modinhas, or " little fashions," each of which had its day, 
 giving way to the next favourite brought by some young fellow 
 from the capital. At festival times there was a great deal of 
 masquerading, in which all the people, old and young, white, 
 negro, and Indian, took great delight. The best things of this 
 kind used to come off during the Carnival, in Easter week, and 
 on St. John's eve; the negroes having a grand semi-dramatic 
 display in the streets at Christmas time. The more select 
 affairs were got up by the young whites, and coloured men 
 associating with whites. A party of thirty or forty of these 
 used to dress themselves in uniform style, and in very good 
 taste, as cavaliers and dames, each disguised with a peculiar 
 
1 88 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 kind of light gauze mask. The troop, with a party of musicians, 
 went the round of their friends' nouses in the evening, and 
 treated the large and gaily-dressed companies which were there 
 assembled to a variety of dances. The principal citizens, in 
 the large rooms of whose houses these entertainments were given, 
 seemed quite to enjoy them; great preparations were made at 
 each place ; and, after the dance, guests and masqueraders were 
 regaled with pale ale and sweetmeats. Once a year the Indians, 
 with whom masked dances and acting are indigenous, had their 
 turn, and on one occasion they gave us a great treat. They 
 assembled from different parts of the neighbourhood at night, 
 on the outskirts of the town, and then marched through the 
 streets by torchlight towards the quarter inhabited by the 
 whites, to perform their hunting and devil dances before the 
 doors of the principal inhabitants. There were about a hundred 
 men, women, and children in the procession. Many of the men 
 were dressed Jn the magnificent feather crowns, tunics, and belts, 
 manufactured by the Mundurucus, and worn by them on festive 
 occasions, but the women were naked to the waist, and the 
 children quite naked, and all were painted and smeared red with 
 anatto. The ringleader enacted the part of the Tushaua, or 
 chief, and carried a sceptre, richly decorated with the orange, 
 red, and green feathers of toucans and parrots. The paje or 
 medicine-man came along, puffing at a long tauari cigar, the 
 instrument by which he professes to make his wonderful cures. 
 Others blew harsh jarring blasts with the ture, a horn made of 
 long and thick bamboo, with a split reed in the mouthpiece. 
 This is the war trumpet of many tribes of Indians, with which 
 the sentinels of predatory hordes, mounted on a lofty tree, gave 
 the signal for attack to their comrades. Those Brazilians who 
 are old enough to remember the times of warfare between 
 Indians and settlers, retain a great horror of the ture, its loud 
 harsh note heard in the dead of the night having been often 
 the prelude to an onslaught of bloodthirsty Muras on the out- 
 lying settlements. The rest of the men in the procession carried 
 bows and arrows, bunches of javelins, clubs, and paddles. The 
 older children brought with them the household pets; some 
 had monkeys or coatis on their shoulders, and others bore 
 tortoises on, their heads. The squaws carried their babies in 
 aturas, or large baskets, slung on their backs, and secured with 
 a broad belt of bast over their foreheads. The whole thing was 
 accurate in its representation of Indian life, and showed more 
 ingenuity than some people give the Brazilian red man credit 
 
Santarem 189 
 
 for. It was got up spontaneously by the Indians, and simply 
 to amuse the people of the place. 
 
 The people seem to be thoroughly alive to the advantages of 
 education for their children. Besides the usual primary schools, 
 one for girls, and another for boys, there is a third of a higher 
 class, where Latin and French, amongst other accomplishments, 
 are taught by professors, who, like the common schoolmasters, 
 are paid by the provincial government. This is used as a 
 preparatory school to the Lyceum and Bishop's seminary, well- 
 endowed institutions at Para, whither it is the ambition of 
 traders and planters to send their sons to finish their studies. 
 The rudiments of education only are taught in the primary 
 schools, and it is surprising how quickly and well the little 
 lads, both coloured and white, learn reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic. But the simplicity of the Portuguese language, 
 which is written as it is pronounced, or according to unvarying 
 rules, and the use of the decimal system of accounts, make 
 these acquirements much easier than they are with us. Students 
 in the superior school have to pass an examination before they 
 can be admitted at the colleges in Para, and the managers once 
 did me the honour to make me one of the examiners for the 
 year. The performances of the youths, most of whom were 
 under fourteen years of age, were very creditable, especially in 
 grammar; there was a quickness of apprehension displayed 
 which would have gladdened the heart of a northern school- 
 master. The course of study followed at the colleges of Para 
 must be very deficient; for it is rare to meet with an educated 
 Paraense who has the slightest knowledge of the physical 
 sciences, or even of geography, if he has not travelled out of 
 the province. The young men all become smart rhetoricians 
 and lawyers ; any of them is ready to plead in a law case at an 
 hour's notice ; they are also great at statistics, for the gratifica- 
 tion of which taste there is ample field in Brazil, where every 
 public officer has to furnish volumes of dry reports annually to 
 the government; but they are wofully ignorant on most other 
 subjects. I do not recollect seeing a map of any kind at San- 
 tarem. The quick-witted people have a suspicion of their 
 deficiencies in this respect, and it is difficult to draw them out 
 on geography; but one day a man holding an important office 
 betrayed himself by asking me, " On what side of the river was 
 Paris situated?" This question did not arise, as might be 
 supposed, from a desire for accurate topographical knowledge 
 of the Seine, but from the idea, that all the world was a great 
 
 H 
 
190 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 river, and that the different places he had heard of must lie on 
 one shore or the other. The fact of the Amazons being a 
 limited stream, having its origin in narrow rivulets, its begin- 
 ning and its ending, has never entered the heads of most of the 
 people who have passed their whole lives on its banks. 
 
 Santarem is a pleasant place to live in, irrespective of its 
 society. There are no insect pests, mosquito, pium, sand-fly, or 
 motuca. The climate is glorious; during six months of the 
 year, from August to February, very little rain falls, and the 
 sky is cloudless for weeks together, the fresh breezes from the 
 sea, nearly 400 miles distant, moderating the great heat of the 
 sun. The wind is sometimes so strong for days together, that 
 it is difficult to make way against it in walking along the 
 streets, and it enters the open windows and doors of houses, 
 scattering loose clothing and papers in all directions. The 
 place is considered healthy; but at the changes of season, 
 severe colds and ophthalmia are prevalent. I found three 
 Englishmen living here, who had resided many years in the 
 town or its neighbourhood, and who still retained their florid 
 complexions; the plump and fresh appearance of many of the 
 middle-aged Santarem ladies also bore testimony to the health- 
 fulness of the climate. The streets are always clean and dry, 
 even in the height of the wet season; good order is always 
 kept, and the place pretty well supplied with provisions. None 
 but those who have suffered from the difficulty of obtaining the 
 necessaries of life at any price in most of the interior settle- 
 ments of South America, can appreciate the advantages of 
 Santarem in this respect. Everything, however, except meat, 
 was dear, and becoming every year more so. Sugar, coffee, and 
 rice, which ought to be produced in surplus in the neighbour- 
 hood, are imported from other provinces, and are high in price ; 
 sugar, indeed, is a little dearer here than in England. There 
 were two or three butchers' shops, where excellent beef could be 
 had daily at twopence or twopence-halfpenny per pound. The 
 cattle have not to be brought from a long distance as at Para, 
 being bred on the campos, which border the Lago Grande, only 
 one or two days' journey from the town. Fresh fish could be 
 bought in the port on most evenings, but as the supply did not 
 equal the demand, there was always a race amongst purchasers 
 to the water-side when the canoe of a fisherman hove in sight. 
 Very good bread was hawked round the town every morning, 
 with milk, and a great variety of fruits and vegetables. Amongst 
 the fruits, there was a kind called atta, which I did not see in 
 
Santarem 191 
 
 any other part of the country. It belongs to the Anonaceous 
 order, and the tree which produces it grows apparently wild in 
 the neighbourhood of Santarem. It is a little larger than a 
 good-sized orange, and the rind, which encloses a mass of rich 
 custardy pulp, is scaled like the pine-apple, but green when 
 ripe, and encrusted on the inside with sugar. To finish this 
 account of the advantages of Santarem, the delicious bathing 
 in the clear waters of the Tapajos may be mentioned. There 
 is here no fear of alligators; when the east wind blows, a long 
 swell rolls in on the clean sandy beach, and the bath is most 
 exhilarating. 
 
 The country around Santarem is not clothed with dense and 
 lofty forest, like the rest of the great humid river plain of the 
 Amazons. It is a campo region; a slightly elevated and 
 undulating tract of land, wooded only in patches, or with 
 single scattered trees. A good deal of the country on the 
 borders of the Tapajos, which flows from the great campo area 
 of Interior Brazil, is of this description. It is on this account 
 that I consider the eastern side of the river, towards its mouth, 
 to be a northern prolongation of the continental land, and not 
 a portion of the alluvial flats of the Amazons. The soil is a 
 coarse gritty sand; the substratum, which is visible in some 
 places, consisting of sandstone conglomerate probably of the 
 same formation as that which underlies the Tabatinga clay in 
 other parts of the river valley. The surface is carpeted with 
 slender hairy grasses, unfit for pasture, growing to a uniform 
 height of about a foot. The patches of wood look like copses 
 in the middle of green meadows; they are called by the natives 
 " ilhas de mato," or islands of jungle; the name being, no 
 doubt, suggested by their compactness of outline, neatly de- 
 marcated in insular form from the smooth carpet of grass 
 around them. They are composed of a great variety of trees, 
 loaded with succulent parasites, and lashed together by woody 
 climbers like the forest in other parts. A narrow belt of dense 
 wood, similar in character to these ilhas, and like them sharply 
 limited along its borders, runs everywhere parallel and close to 
 the river. In crossing the campo, the path from the town 
 ascends a little for a mile or two, passing through this marginal 
 strip of wood ; the grassy land then slopes gradually to a broad 
 valley, watered by rivulets, whose banks are clothed with lofty 
 and luxuriant forest. Beyond this, a range of hills extends as 
 far as the eye can reach towards the yet untrodden interior. 
 Some of these hills are long ridges, wooded or bare; others are 
 
192 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 isolated conical peaks, rising abruptly from the valley. The 
 highest are probably not more than a thousand feet above the 
 level of the river. One remarkable hill, the Serra de Muruaru, 
 about fifteen miles from Santarem, which terminates the 
 prospect to the south, is of the same truncated pyramidal form 
 as the range of hills near Almeyrim. Complete solitude reigns 
 over the whole of this stretch of beautiful country. The in- 
 habitants of Santarem know nothing of the interior, and seem to 
 feel little curiosity concerning it. A few tracks from the town 
 across the campo lead to some small clearings four or five miles 
 off, belonging to the poorer inhabitants of the place; but, 
 excepting these, there are no roads, or signs of the proximity 
 of a civilised settlement. 
 
 The appearance of the campos changes very much according 
 to the season. There is not that grand uniformity of aspect 
 throughout the year which is observed in the virgin forest, and 
 which makes a deeper impression on the naturalist the longer 
 he remains in this country. The seasons in this part of the 
 Amazons region are sharply contrasted, but the difference is 
 not so great as in some tropical countries, where, during the 
 dry monsoon, insects and reptiles go into a summer sleep, and 
 the trees simultaneously shed their leaves. As the dry season 
 advances (August, September), the grass on the campos withers, 
 and the shrubby vegetation near the town becomes a mass of 
 parched yellow stubble. The period, however, is not one of 
 general torpidity or repose for animal or vegetable life. Birds 
 certainly are not so numerous as in the wet season, but some 
 kinds remain and lay their eggs at this time — for instance, the 
 ground doves (Chamaepelia). The trees retain their verdure 
 throughout, and many of them flower in the dry months. 
 Lizards do not become torpid, and insects are seen both in the 
 larva and the perfect states, showing that the aridity of the 
 climate has not a general influence on the development of the 
 species. Some kinds of butterflies, especially the little hair- 
 streaks (Theclse), whose caterpillars feed on the trees, make 
 their appearance only when the dry season is at its height. 
 The land molluscs of the district, are the only animals which 
 activate; they are found in clusters, Bulimi and Helices, con- 
 cealed in hollow trees, the mouths of their shells closed by a 
 film of mucus. The fine weather breaks up often with great 
 suddenness about the beginning of February. Violent squalls 
 from the west or the opposite direction to the trade-wind then 
 occur. They give very little warning, and the first generally 
 
Santarem 193 
 
 catches the people unprepared. They fall in the night, and 
 blowing directly into the harbour, with the first gust sweep all 
 vessels from their anchorage; in a few minutes, a mass of 
 canoes, large and small, including schooners of fifty tons 
 burthen, are clashing together, pell-mell, on the beach. I have 
 reason to remember these storms, for I was once caught in one 
 myself, whilst crossing the river in an undecked boat about a 
 day's journey from Santarem. They are accompanied with 
 terrific electric explosions, the sharp claps of thunder falling 
 almost simultaneously with the blinding flashes of lightning. 
 Torrents of rain follow the first outbreak; the wind then 
 gradually abates, and the rain subsides into a steady drizzle, 
 which continues often for the greater part of the succeeding 
 day. After a week or two of showery weather the aspect of 
 the country is completely changed. The parched ground in 
 the neighbourhood of Santarem breaks out, so to speak, in a 
 rash of greenery: the dusty, languishing trees gain, without 
 having shed their old leaves, a new clothing of tender green 
 foliage; a wonderful variety of quick-growing leguminous 
 plants springs up, and leafy creepers overrun the ground, the 
 bushes, and the trunks of trees. One is reminded of the sudden 
 advent of spring after a few warm showers in northern climates ; 
 I was the more struck by it as nothing similar is witnessed in 
 the virgin forests amongst which I had passed the four years 
 previous to my stay in this part. 'The grass on the campos is 
 renewed, and many of the campo trees, especially the myrtles, 
 which grow abundantly in one portion of the district, begin to 
 flower, attracting by the fragrance of their blossoms a great 
 number and variety of insects, more particularly Coleoptera. 
 Many kinds of birds; parrots, toucans, and barbets, which live 
 habitually in the forest, then visit the open places. A few 
 weeks of comparatively dry weather generally intervene in 
 March, after a month or two of rain. The heaviest rains fall 
 in April, May, and June; they come in a succession of showers, 
 with sunny gleamy weather in the intervals. June and July 
 are the months when the leafy luxuriance of the campos, and 
 the activity of life, are at their highest. Most birds have then 
 completed their moulting, which extends over the period from 
 February to May. The flowering shrubs are then mostly in 
 bloom, and numberless kinds of Dipterous and Hymenopterous 
 insects appear simultaneously with the flowers. This season 
 might be considered the equivalent of summer in temperate 
 climates, as the bursting forth of the foliage in February re- 
 
194 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 presents the spring; but under the equator there is not that 
 simultaneous march in the annual life of animals and plants, 
 which we see in high latitudes; some species, it is true, are 
 dependent upon others in their periodical acts of life, and go 
 hand-in-hand with them, but they are not all simultaneously 
 and similarly affected by the physical changes of the seasons. 
 
 I will now give an account of some of my favourite collect- 
 ing places in the neighbourhood of Santarem, incorporating 
 with the description a few of the more interesting observations 
 made on the Natural History of the localities. To the west of 
 the town there was a pleasant path along the beach to a little 
 bay, called Mapiri, about five miles within the mouth of the 
 Tapajos. The road was practicable only in the dry season. 
 The river at Santarem rises on the average about thirty feet, 
 varying in different years about ten feet; so that in the four 
 months, from April to July, the water comes up to the edge 
 of the marginal belt of wood already spoken of. This Mapiri 
 excursion was most pleasant and profitable in the months 
 from January to March, before the rains became too con- 
 tinuous. The sandy beach beyond the town is very irregular; 
 in some places forming long spits on which, when the east 
 wind is blowing, the waves break in a line of foam; at others 
 receding to shape out quiet little bays and pools. On the 
 outskirts of the town a few scattered huts of Indians and 
 coloured people are passed, prettily situated on the margin of 
 the white beach, with a background of glorious foliage; the 
 cabin of the pure-blood Indian being distinguished from the 
 mud hovels of the free negroes and mulattoes by its light con- 
 struction, half of it being an open shed where the dusky tenants 
 are seen at all hours of the day lounging in their open-meshed 
 grass hammocks. About two miles on the road we come to 
 a series of shallow pools, called the Laguinhos, which are 
 connected with the river in the wet season, but separated from 
 it by a high bank of sand topped with bushes at other times. 
 There is a break here in the fringe of wood, and a glimpse is 
 obtained of the grassy campo. When the waters have risen to 
 the level of the pools this place is frequented by many kinds of 
 wading-birds. Snow-white egrets of two species stand about 
 the margins of the ' water, and dusky-striped herons may be 
 seen half hidden under the shade of the bushes. The pools are 
 covered with a small kind of water-lily, and surrounded by a 
 dense thicket. Amongst the birds which inhabit this spot is 
 
Santarem 195 
 
 the rosy-breasted Troupial (Trupialis Guianensis), a bird re- 
 sembling our starling in size and habits, and not unlike it in 
 colour, with the exception of the rich rosy vest. The water at 
 this time of the year overflows a large level tract of campo 
 bordering the pools, and the Troupials come to feed on the 
 larvae of insects which then abound in the moist soil. 
 
 Beyond the Laguinhos there succeeds a tract of level beach 
 covered with trees which form a beautiful grove. About the 
 month of April, when the water rises to this level, the trees 
 are covered with blossom, and a handsome orchid, an Epiden- 
 dron with large white flowers, which clothes thickly the trunks, 
 is profusely in bloom. Several kinds of kingfisher resort to 
 the place: four species may be seen within a small space: the 
 largest as big as a crow, of a mottled-grey hue, and with an 
 enormous beak; the smallest not larger than a sparrow. The 
 large one makes its nest in clay cliffs, three or four miles 
 distant from this place. None of the kingfishers are so 
 brilliant in colour as our English species. The blossoms on 
 the trees attract two or three species of humming-birds, the 
 most conspicuous of which is a large swallow-tailed kind 
 (Eupetomena macroura), with a brilliant livery of emerald 
 green and steel blue. I noticed that it did not remain so long 
 poised in the air before the flowers as the other smaller species ; 
 it perched more frequently, and sometimes darted after small 
 insects on the wing. Emerging from the grove there is a long 
 stretch of sandy beach; the land is high and rocky, and the 
 belt of wood which skirts the river banks is much broader 
 than it is elsewhere. At length, after rounding a projecting 
 bluff, the bay at Mapiri is reached. The river view is charac- 
 teristic of the Tapajos: the shores are wooded, and on the 
 opposite side is a line of clay cliffs, with hills in the back- 
 ground clothed with a rolling forest. A long spit of sand 
 extends into mid-river, beyond which is an immense expanse 
 of dark water, the further shore of the Tapajos being barely 
 visible as a thin grey line of trees on the horizon. The trans- 
 parency of air and water in the dry season when the brisk east 
 wind is blowing, and the sharpness of outline of hills, woods, 
 and sandy beaches, give a great charm to this spot. 
 
 Whilst resting in the shade during the great heat of the 
 early hours of afternoon, I used to find amusement in watching 
 the proceedings of the sand wasps. A small pale green kind of 
 Bembex (Bembex ciliata), was plentiful near the bay of Mapiri. 
 
196 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 When they are at work, a number of little jets of sand are 
 seen shooting over the surface of the sloping bank. The little 
 miners excavate with their fore feet, which are strongly built 
 and furnished with a fringe of stiff bristles; they work with 
 wonderful rapidity, and the sand thrown out beneath their 
 bodies issues in continuous streams. They are solitary wasps, 
 each female working on her own account. After making a 
 gallery two or three inches in length in a slanting direction 
 from the surface, the owner backs out and takes a few turns 
 round the orifice apparently to see whether it is well made, 
 but in reality, I believe, to take note of the locality, that she 
 may find it again. This done the busy workwoman flies away; 
 but returns, after an absence varying in different cases from a 
 few minutes to an hour or more, with a fly in her grasp, with 
 which she re-enters her mine. On again emerging, the entrance 
 is carefully closed with sand. During this interval she has laid 
 an egg on the body of the fly which she had previously benumbed 
 with her sting, and which is to serve as food for the soft, footless 
 grub soon to be hatched from the egg. From what I could 
 make out, the Bembex makes a fresh excavation for every egg 
 to be deposited; at least in two or three of the galleries which 
 I opened there was only one fly enclosed. 
 
 I have said that the Bembex on leaving her mine took note 
 of the locality: this seemed to be the explanation of the short 
 delay previous to her taking flight; on rising in the air also 
 the insects generally flew round over the place before making 
 straight off. Another nearly allied but much larger species, 
 the Monedula signata, whose habits I observed on the banks 
 of the Upper Amazons, sometimes excavates its mine solitarily 
 on sand-banks recently laid bare in the middle of the river, 
 and closes the orifice before going in search of prey. In these 
 cases the insect has to make a journey of at least half a mile 
 to procure the kind of fly, the Motuca (Hadrus lepidotus), with 
 which it provisions its cell. I often noticed it to take a few 
 turns in the air round the place before starting; on its return 
 it made without hesitation straight for the closed mouth of the 
 mine. I was convinced that the insects noted the bearings of 
 their nests and the direction they took in flying from them. 
 The proceeding in this and similar cases (I have read of some- 
 thing analogous having been noticed in hive bees) seems to be 
 a mental act of the same nature as that which takes place in 
 ourselves when recognising a locality. The senses, however, 
 must be immeasurably more keen and the mental operation 
 
Santarem 197 
 
 much more certain in them than it is in man; for to my eye 
 there was absolutely no land-mark on the even surface of sand 
 which could serve as guide, and the borders of the forest were 
 not nearer than half a mile. The action of the wasp would be 
 said to be instinctive; but it seems plain that the instinct is 
 no mysterious and unintelligible agent, but a mental process 
 in each individual, differing from the same in man only by its 
 unerring certainty. The mind of the insect appears to be so 
 constituted that the impression of external objects or the want 
 felt, causes it to act with a precision which seems to us like 
 that of a machine constructed to move in a certain given way, 
 I have noticed in Indian boys a sense of locality almost as keen 
 as that possessed by the sand- wasp. An old Portuguese and 
 myself, accompanied by a young lad about ten years of age, 
 were once lost in the forest in a most solitary place on the banks 
 of the main river. Our case seemed hopeless, and it did not for 
 some time occur to us to consult our little companion, who 
 had been playing with his bow and arrow all the way whilst we 
 were hunting, apparently taking no note of the route. When 
 asked, however, he pointed out, in a moment, the right direction 
 of our canoe. He could not explain how he knew; I believe 
 he had noted the course we had taken almost unconsciously: 
 the sense of locality in his case seemed instinctive. 
 
 The Monedula signata is a good friend to travellers in those 
 parts of the Amazons which are infested by the blood-thirsty 
 Motuca. I first noticed its habit of preying on this fly one 
 day when we landed to make our fire and dine on the borders 
 of the forest adjoining a sand-bank. The insect is as large as 
 a hornet, and has a most waspish appearance. I was rather 
 startled when one out of the flock which was hovering about 
 us flew straight at my face: it had espied a Motuca on my 
 neck and was thus pouncing upon it. It seizes the fly not 
 with its jaws, but with its fore and middle feet, and carries it 
 off tightly held to its breast. Wherever the traveller lands on 
 the Upper Amazons in the neighbourhood of a sand-bank he is 
 sure to be attended by one or more of these useful vermin- 
 killers. 
 
 The bay of Mapiri was the limit of my day excursions by 
 the river-side to the west of Santarem. A person may travel, 
 however, on foot, as Indians frequently do, in the dry season 
 for fifty or sixty miles along the broad clean sandy beaches 
 of the Tapajos. The only obstacles are the rivulets, most of 
 
198 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 which are fordable when the waters are low. To the east my 
 rambles extended to the banks of the Mahica inlet. This 
 enters the Amazons about three miles below Santarem, where 
 the clear stream of the Tapajos begins to be discoloured by the 
 turbid waters of the main river. The Mahica has a broad 
 margin of rich level pasture, limited on each side by the straight, 
 tall hedge of forest. On the Santarem side it is skirted by high 
 wooded ridges. A landscape of this description always pro- 
 duced in me an impression of sadness and loneliness which the 
 riant virgin forests that closely hedge in most of the by-waters 
 of the Amazons never created. The pastures are destitute of 
 flowers, and also of animal life, with the exception of a few. 
 small plain-coloured birds and solitary Caracaia eagles whining 
 from the topmost branches of dead trees on the forest borders. 
 A few settlers have built their palm-thatched and mud-walled 
 huts on the banks of the Mahica, and occupy themselves chiefly 
 in tending small herds of cattle. They seemed to be all 
 wretchedly poor. The oxen however, though small, were sleek 
 and fat, and the district most promising for agricultural and 
 pastoral employments. In the wet season the waters gradually 
 rise and cover the meadows, but there is plenty of room for the 
 removal of the cattle to higher ground. The lazy and ignorant 
 people seem totally unable to profit by these advantages. The 
 houses have no gardens or plantations near them. I was told 
 it was useless to plant anything, because the cattle devoured 
 the young shoots. In this country, grazing and planting are 
 very rarely carried on together; for the people seem to have 
 no notion of enclosing patches of ground for cultivation. They 
 say it is too much trouble to make enclosures. The construc- 
 tion of a durable fence is certainly a difficult matter, for it is 
 only two or three kinds of tree which will serve the purpose in 
 being free from the attacks of insects, and these are scattered 
 far and wide through the woods. 
 
 Although the meadows were unproductive ground to a 
 Naturalist, the woods on their borders teemed with life; the 
 number and variety of curious insects of all orders which 
 occurred here was quite wonderful. The belt of forest was 
 intersected by numerous pathways . leading from one settler's 
 house to another. The ground was moist, but the trees were 
 not so lofty or their crowns so densely packed together as in 
 other parts; the sun's light and heat therefore had freer access 
 to the soil, and the underwood was much more diversified than 
 in the virgin forest. I never saw so many kinds of dwarf 
 
Santarem 
 
 199 
 
 palms together as here; pretty miniature species; some not 
 more than five feet high, and bearing little clusters of round 
 fruit not larger than a good bunch of currants. A few of the 
 forest trees had the size and strongly-branched figures of our 
 oaks, and a similar bark. One noble palm grew here in great 
 abundance, and gave a distinctive character to the district. 
 This was the CEnocarpus distichus, one of the kinds called 
 Bacaba by the natives. It grows to a height of forty to fifty 
 feet. The crown is of a lustrous dark-green colour, and of a 
 singularly flattened or compressed shape; the leaves being 
 arranged on each side in nearly the same plane. When I first 
 saw this tree on the campos, where the east wind blows with 
 great force night and day for several months, I thought the 
 shape of the crown was due to the leaves being prevented from 
 radiating equally by the constant action of the breezes. But 
 the plane of growth is not always in the direction of the wind, 
 and the crown has the same shape when the tree grows in the 
 sheltered woods. The fruit of this fine palm ripens towards 
 the end of the year, and is much esteemed by the natives, who 
 manufacture a pleasant drink from it similar to the assai 
 described in a former chapter, by rubbing off the coat of pulp 
 from the nuts, and mixing it with water. A bunch of fruit 
 weighs thirty or forty pounds. The beverage has a milky 
 appearance, and an agreeable nutty flavour. The tree is very 
 difficult to climb, on account of the smoothness of its stem; 
 consequently the natives, whenever they want a bunch of fruit 
 for a bowl of Bacaba, cut down and thus destroy a tree which 
 has taken a score or two of years to grow, in order to get at it. 
 
 In the lower part of the Mahica woods, towards the river, 
 there is a bed of stiff white clay, which supplies the people of 
 Santarem with material for the manufacture of coarse pottery 
 and cooking utensils : all the kettles, saucepans, mandioca ovens, 
 coffee-pots, washing-vessels, and so forth, of the poorer classes 
 throughout the country, are made of this same plastic clay, 
 which occurs at short intervals over the whole surface of the 
 Amazons valley, from the neighbourhood of Para to within the 
 Peruvian borders, and forms part of the great Tabatinga marl 
 deposit. To enable the vessels to stand the fire, the bark of 
 a certain tree, called Caraip6, is burnt and mixed with the 
 clay, which gives tenacity to the ware. Caraipe is an article 
 of commerce, being sold, packed in baskets, at the shops in 
 most of the towns. The shallow pits, excavated in the marly 
 soil at Mahica, were very attractive to many kinds of mason 
 
200 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 bees and wasps, who made use of the clay to build their nests 
 with. So that we have here another example of the curious 
 analogy that exists between the arts of insects and those of 
 man. I spent many an hour watching their proceedings: a 
 short account of the habits of some of these busy creatures may 
 be interesting. 
 
 The most conspicuous was a large yellow and black wasp, 
 with a remarkably long and narrow waist, the Pelopaeus fistu- 
 laris. This species collected the clay 
 in little round pellets, which it carried 
 off, after rolling them into a convenient 
 shape, in its mouth. It came straight 
 to the pit with a loud hum, and, on 
 alighting, lost not a moment in begin- 
 ning to work; finishing the kneading of 
 its little load in two or three minutes. 
 The nest of this wasp is shaped like a 
 pouch, two inches in length, and is 
 attached to a branch or other project- 
 ing object. One of these restless 
 artificers once began to build on the 
 handle of a chest in the cabin of my 
 canoe, when we were stationary at a 
 place for several days. It was so 
 intent on its work that it allowed me 
 to inspect the movements of its mouth 
 with a lens whilst it was laying on the mortar. Every fresh 
 pellet was brought in with a triumphant song, which changed 
 to a cheerful busy hum when it alighted and began to work. 
 The little ball of moist clay was laid on the edge of the cell, 
 and then spread out around the circular rim by means of the 
 lower lip guided by the mandibles. The insect placed itself 
 astride over the rim to work, and, on finishing each addition to 
 the structure, took a turn round, patting the sides with its feet 
 inside and out before flying off to gather a fresh pellet. It 
 worked only in sunny weather, and the previous layer was 
 sometimes not quite dry when the new coating was added. 
 The whole structure takes about a week to complete. I left 
 the place before the gay little builder had quite finished her 
 task: she did not accompany the canoe, although we moved 
 along the bank of the river very slowly. On opening closed 
 nests of this species, which are common in the neighbourhood 
 of Mahica, I always found them to be stocked with small 
 
 Pelopasus Wasp building 
 nest. 
 
Santarem 201 
 
 spiders of the genus Gastracantha, in the usual half-dead state 
 
 to which the mother wasps reduce the insects which are to 
 
 serve as food for their progeny. 
 
 Besides the Pelopaeus there were three or four kinds of 
 
 Trypoxylon, a genus also found in Europe, and which some 
 
 Naturalists have supposed to be parasitic, because the legs are 
 
 not furnished with the usual row of strong bristles for digging, 
 
 characteristic of the family to 
 
 which it belongs. The species 
 
 of Trypoxylon, however, are 
 
 all building wasps ; two of them 
 
 which I observed (T. albitarse 
 
 and an undescribed species) 
 
 .1 • . r • / Cells of Trypoxylon aunfrons. 
 
 provision their nests with 
 
 spiders, a third (T. aurifrons) with small caterpillars. Their 
 
 habits are similar to those of the Pelopaeus; namely, they carry 
 
 off the clay in their mandibles, and have a different song when 
 
 they hasten away with the burden to that which they sing 
 
 whilst at work. Trypoxylon albitarse, which is a large black 
 
 kind, three-quarters of an inch in length, makes a tremendous 
 
 fuss whilst building its cell. It often chooses the walls or doors 
 
 of chambers for this purpose, and when two or three are at 
 
 work in the same place their loud humming keeps the house in 
 
 an uproar. The cell is a tubular structure about three inches 
 
 in length. T. aurifrons, a much smaller species, makes a neat 
 
 little nest shaped like a carafe; building rows of them together 
 
 in the corners of verandahs. 
 
 But the most numerous and interesting of the clay artificers 
 
 are the workers of a species of social bee, the Melipona fasci- 
 
 culata. The Meliponse in tropical America take the place of 
 
 the true Apides, to which the European hive-bee belongs, and 
 
 which are here unknown; they are generally much smaller 
 
 insects than the hive-bees and have no sting. The M. fasci- 
 
 culata is about a third shorter than the Apis mellifica: its 
 
 colonies are composed of an immense number of individuals; 
 
 the workers are generally seen collecting pollen in the same 
 
 way as other bees, but great numbers are employed gathering 
 
 clay. The rapidity and precision of their movements whilst 
 
 thus engaged are wonderful. They first scrape the clay with 
 
 their jaws: the small portions gathered are then cleared by the 
 
 anterior paws and passed to the second pair of feet, which, in 
 
 their turn, convey them to the large foliated expansions of the 
 
 hind shanks which are adapted normally in bees, as every one 
 
202 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 knows, for the collection of pollen. The middle feet pat the 
 growing pellets of mortar on the hind legs to keep them in a 
 compact shape as the particles are successively added. The 
 little hodsmen soon have as much as they can carry, and they 
 then fly off. I was for some time puzzled to know what the 
 bees did with the clay; but I had afterwards plenty of oppor- 
 tunity for ascertaining. They construct their combs in any 
 suitable crevice in trunks of trees or perpendicular banks, and 
 the clay is required to build up a wall so as to close the gap, 
 with the exception of a small orifice for their own entrance and 
 exit. Most kinds of Meliponse are in this way masons as well 
 as workers in wax and pollen-gatherers. One little species 
 (undescribed) not more than two lines long, builds a neat 
 tubular gallery of clay, kneaded with some viscid substance, 
 
 Melipona Bees gathering clay. 
 
 outside the -entrance to its hive, besides blocking up the crevice 
 in the tree within which it is situated. The mouth of the tube 
 is trumpet-shaped, and at the entrance a number of pigmy 
 bees are always stationed, apparently acting as the sentinels. 
 
 A hive of the Melipona fasciculata, which I saw opened, 
 contained about two quarts of pleasantly-tasted liquid honey. 
 The bees, as already remarked, have no sting, but they bite 
 furiously when their colonies are disturbed. The Indian who 
 plundered the hive was completely covered by them; they took 
 a particular fancy to the hair of his head, and fastened on it by 
 hundreds. I found forty-five species of these bees in different 
 parts of the country; the largest was half an inch in length; 
 the smallest were extremely minute, some kinds being not more 
 than one-twelfth of an inch in size. These tiny fellows are 
 often very troublesome in the woods, on account of their 
 familiarity; for they settle on one's face and hands, and, in 
 crawling about, get into the eyes and mouth, or up the nostrils. 
 
Santarem 203 
 
 The broad expansion of the hind shanks of bees is applied in 
 some species to other uses besides the conveyance of clay and 
 pollen. The female of the handsome golden and black Euglossa 
 Surinamensis has this palette of very large size. This species 
 builds its solitary nest also in crevices of walls or trees; but 
 it closes up the chink with fragments of dried leaves and sticks 
 cemented together, instead of clay. It visits the caju trees, 
 and gathers with its hind legs a small quantity of the gum 
 which exudes from their trunks. To this it adds the other 
 materials required from the neighbouring bushes, and when 
 laden flies off to its nest. 
 
 To the south my rambles never extended further than the 
 banks of the Irura, a stream which rises amongst the hills 
 already spoken of, and running through a broad valley, wooded 
 along the margins of the water-courses, falls into the Tapajos, 
 at the head of the bay of Mapiri. All beyond, as before re- 
 marked, is terra incognita to the inhabitants of Santarem. The 
 Brazilian settlers on the banks of the Amazons seem to have 
 no taste for explorations by land, and I could find no person 
 willing to accompany me on an excursion further towards the 
 interior. Such a journey would be exceedingly difficult in this 
 country, even if men could be obtained willing to undertake 
 it. Besides, there were reports of a settlement of fierce run- 
 away negroes on the Serra de Mururaru, and it was considered 
 unsafe to go far in that direction, except with a large armed 
 party. 
 
 I visited the banks of the Irura and the rich woods accompany- 
 ing it, and two other streams in the same neighbourhood, one 
 called the Panema, and the other the Urumari, once or twice 
 a week during the whole time of my residence in Santarem, and 
 made large collections of their natural productions. These 
 forest brooks, with their clear cold waters brawling over their 
 sandy or pebbly beds through wild tropical glens, always had 
 a great charm for me. The beauty of the moist, cool, and 
 luxuriant glades was heightened by the contrast they afforded 
 to the sterile country around them. The bare or scantily 
 wooded hills which surround the valley are parched by the rays 
 of the vertical sun. One of them, the Pico do Irura, forms a 
 nearly perfect cone, rising from a small grassy plain to a height 
 of 500 or 600 feet, and its ascent is excessively fatiguing after 
 the long walk from Santarem over the campos. I tried it one 
 day, but did not reach the summit. A dense growth of coarse 
 
204 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 grasses clothed the steep sides of the hill, with here and there 
 a stunted tree of kinds found in the plain beneath. In bared 
 places, a red crumbly soil is exposed; and in one part a mass 
 of rock, which appeared to me, from its compact texture and 
 the absence of stratification, to be porphyritic; but I am not 
 Geologist sufficient to pronounce on such questions. Mr. 
 Wallace states that he found fragments of scoriae, and believes 
 the hill to be a volcanic cone. To the south and east of this 
 isolated peak, the elongated ridges or table-topped hills attain 
 a somewhat greater elevation. 
 
 The forest in the valley is limited to a tract a few hundred 
 yards in width on each side the different streams: in places 
 where these run along the bases of the hills, the hill-sides facing 
 the water are also richly wooded, although their opposite de- 
 clivities are bare or nearly so. The trees are lofty and of great 
 variety; amongst them are colossal examples of the Brazil nut 
 tree (Bertholletia excelsa), and the Pikia. This latter bears a 
 large eatable fruit, curious in having a hollow chamber between 
 the pulp and the kernel, beset with hard spines which pro- 
 duce serious wounds if they enter the skin. The eatable part 
 appeared to me not much more palatable than a raw potato; 
 but the inhabitants of Santarem are very fond of it, and under- 
 take the most toilsome journeys on foot to gather a basketful. 
 The tree which yields the tonka bean (Dipteryx odorata), used 
 in Europe for scenting snuff, is also of frequent occurrence here. 
 It grows to an immense height, and the fruit, which, although 
 a legume, is of a rounded shape, and has but one seed, can be 
 gathered only when it falls to the ground. A considerable 
 quantity (from iooo to 3000 pounds) is exported annually from 
 Santarem, the produce of the whole region of the Tapajos. 
 An endless diversity of trees and shrubs, some beautiful in 
 flower and foliage, others bearing curious fruits, grow in this 
 matted wilderness. It would be tedious to enumerate many of 
 them. I was much struck with the variety of trees with large 
 and diversely-shaped fruits growing out of the trunk and 
 branches, some within a few inches of the ground, like the 
 cacao. Most of them are called by the natives Cupu, and the 
 trees are of inconsiderable height. One of them called Cupu-ai 
 bears a fruit of elliptical shape and of a dingy earthen colour 
 six or seven inches long, the shell of which is woody and thin, 
 and contains a small number of seeds loosely enveloped in a 
 juicy pulp of very pleasant flavour. The fruits hang like 
 clayey ants'-nests from the branches. Another kind more 
 
Santarem 205 
 
 nearly resembles the cacao; this is shaped something like the 
 cucumber, and has a green ribbed husk. It bears the name of 
 Cacao de macaco, or monkey's chocolate, but the seeds are 
 smaller than those of the common cacao. I tried once or twice 
 to make chocolate from them. They contain plenty of oil of 
 similar fragrance to that of the ordinary cacao-nut, and make 
 up very well into paste; but the beverage has a repulsive 
 clayey colour and an inferior flavour. 
 
 My excursions to the Irura had always a picnic character. 
 A few rude huts are scattered through the valley, but they are 
 tenanted only for a few days in the year, when their owners 
 come to gather and roast the mandioca of their small clearings. 
 We used generally to take with us two boys — one negro, the 
 other Indian — to carry our provisions for the day; a few 
 pounds of beef or dried fish, farinha and bananas, with plates, 
 and a kettle for cooking. Jose carried the guns, ammunition 
 and game-bags, and I the apparatus for entomologising — the 
 insect net, a large leathern bag with compartments for corked 
 boxes, phials, glass tubes, and so forth. It was our custom 
 to start soon after sunrise, when the walk over the campos was 
 cool and pleasant, the sky without a cloud, and the grass wet 
 with dew. The paths are mere faint tracks; in our early 
 excursions it was difficult to avoid missing our way. We were 
 once completely lost, and wandered about for several hours 
 over the scorching soil without recovering the road. A fine 
 view is obtained of the country from the rising ground about 
 half way across the waste. Thence to the bottom of the valley 
 is a long, gentle, grassy slope, bare of trees. The strangely- 
 shaped hills; the forest at their feet, richly varied with palms; 
 the bay of Mapiri on the right, with the dark waters of the 
 Tapajos and its white glistening shores, are all spread out before 
 one, as if depicted on canvas. The extreme transparency of 
 the atmosphere gives to all parts of the landscape such clear- 
 ness of outline that the idea of distance is destroyed, and one 
 fancies the whole to be almost within reach of the hand. 
 Descending into the valley, a small brook has to be crossed, 
 and then half a mile of sandy plain, whose vegetation wears a 
 peculiar aspect, owing to the predominance of a stemless palm, 
 the Curua (Attalea spectabilis), whose large, beautifully pinnated, 
 rigid leaves rise directly from the soil. The fruit of this species 
 is similar to the coco-nut, containing milk in the interior of the 
 kernel, but it is much inferior to it in size. Here, and indeed 
 all along the road, we saw, on most days in the wet season, 
 
206 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 tracks of the Jaguar. We never, however, met with the animal, 
 although we sometimes heard his loud " hough " in the night 
 whilst lying in our hammocks at home, in Santarem, and knew 
 he must be lurking somewhere near us. 
 
 My best hunting ground was a part of the valley sheltered 
 on one side by a steep hill whose declivity, like the swampy 
 valley beneath, was clothed with magnificent forest. We used 
 to make our halt in a small cleared place, tolerably free from 
 ants and close to the water. Here we assembled after our toil- 
 some morning's hunt in different directions through the woods, 
 took our well-earned meal on the ground — two broad leaves of 
 the wild banana serving us for a tablecloth — and rested for a 
 couple of hours during the great heat of the afternoon. The 
 
 The Jacuaru (Teius teguexim). 
 
 diversity of animal productions was as wonderful as that of the 
 vegetable forms in this rich locality. It was pleasant to lie 
 down during the hottest part of the day, when my people lay 
 asleep, and watch the movements of animals. Sometimes a 
 troop of Anus (Crotophaga), a glossy black-plumaged bird, 
 which lives in small societies in grassy places, would come in 
 from the campos, one by one, calling to each other as they moved 
 from tree to tree. Or a Toucan (Rhamphastos ariel) silently 
 hopped or ran along and up the branches, peeping into chinks 
 and crevices. Notes of solitary birds resounded from a distance 
 through the wilderness. Occasionally a sulky Trogon would 
 be seen, with its brilliant green back and rose-coloured breast, 
 perched for an hour without moving on a low branch. A 
 number of large, fat lizards two feet long, of a kind called by 
 the natives Jacuaru (Teius teguexim) were always observed in 
 the still hours of mid-day scampering with great clatter over 
 
Santarem 207 
 
 the dead leaves, apparently in chase of each other. The fat of 
 this bulky lizard is much prized by the natives, who apply it as 
 a poultice to draw palm spines or even grains of shot from the 
 flesh. Other lizards of repulsive aspect, about three feet in 
 length when full grown, splashed about and swam in the water: 
 sometimes emerging to crawl into hollow trees on the banks of 
 the stream, where I once found a female and a nest of eggs. 
 The lazy flapping flight of large blue and black morpho butter- 
 flies high in the air, the hum of insects, and many inanimate 
 sounds, contributed their share to the total impression this 
 strange solitude produced. Heavy fruits from the crowns of 
 trees which were mingled together at a giddy height overhead, 
 fell now and then with a startling " plop " into the water. The 
 breeze, not felt below, stirred in the topmost branches, setting 
 the twisted and looped sipos in motion, which creaked and 
 groaned in a great variety of notes. To these noises were added 
 the monotonous ripple of the brook, which had its little cascade 
 at every score or two yards of its course. 
 
 We frequently fell in with an old Indian woman, named 
 Cecilia, who had a small clearing in the woods. She had the 
 reputation of being a witch (feiticeira), and I found, on talking 
 with her, that she prided herself on her knowledge of the black 
 art. Her slightly curled hair showed that she was not a pure- 
 blood Indian: I was told her father was a dark mulatto. She 
 was always very civil to our party; showing us the best paths, 
 explaining the virtues and uses of different plants, and so 
 forth. I was much amused at the accounts she gave of the 
 place. Her solitary life and the gloom of the woods seemed to 
 have filled her with superstitious fancies. She said gold was 
 contained in the bed of the brook, and that the murmur of the 
 water over the little cascades was the voice of the " water- 
 mother " revealing the hidden treasure. A narrow pass between 
 two hill sides was the portao or gate, and all within, along the 
 wooded banks of the stream, was enchanted ground. The hill 
 underneath which we were encamped was the enchanter's abode, 
 and she gravely told us she often had long conversations with 
 him. These myths were of her own invention, and in the same 
 way an endless number of other similar ones have originated 
 in the childish imaginations of the poor Indian and half-breed 
 inhabitants of different parts of the country. It is to be 
 remarked, however, that the Indian men all become sceptics 
 after a little intercourse with the whites. The witchcraft of 
 poor Cecilia was of a very weak quality. It consisted of throw- 
 
208 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 ing pinches of powdered bark of a certain tree, and other 
 substances, into the fire whilst muttering a spell — a prayer 
 repeated backwards — and adding the name of the person on 
 whom she wished the incantation to operate. Some of the 
 feiticeiras, however, play more dangerous tricks than this harm- 
 less mummery. They are acquainted with many poisonous 
 plants, and although they seldom have the courage to administer 
 a fatal dose, sometimes contrive to convey to their victim 
 sufficient to cause serious illness. The motive by which they 
 are actuated is usually jealousy of other women in love matters. 
 Whilst I resided in Santarem a case of what was called witch- 
 craft was tried by the sub-delegado, in which a highly respectable 
 white lady was the complainant. It appeared that some feiti- 
 ceira had sprinkled a quantity of the acrid juice of a large arum 
 on her linen as it was hanging out to dry, and it was thought 
 this had caused a serious eruption under which the lady 
 suffered. 
 
 I seldom met with any of the larger animals in these excur- 
 sions. We never saw a mammal of any kind on the campos; 
 but tracks of three species were seen occasionally besides those 
 of the Jaguar; these belonged to a small tiger cat, a deer, and 
 an opossum; all of which animals must have been very rare, 
 and probably nocturnal in their habits, with the exception of 
 the deer. I saw in the woods, on one occasion, a small flock of 
 monkeys, and once had an opportunity of watching the move- 
 ments of a sloth. The latter was of the kind called by Cuvier 
 Bradypus tridactylus, which is clothed with shaggy grey hair. 
 The natives call it, in the Tupi language, Ai' ybyrete (in Portu- 
 guese, Preguica da terra firme), or sloth of the mainland, to 
 distinguish it from the Bradypus infuscatus, which has a long, 
 black and tawny stripe between the shoulders, and is called 
 Ai Ygapo (Preguica das vargens), or sloth of the flooded lands. 
 Some travellers in South America have described the sloth as 
 very nimble in its native woods, and have disputed the justness 
 of the name which has been bestowed upon it. The inhabitants 
 of the Amazons region, however, both Indians and descendants 
 of the Portuguese, hold to the common opinion, and consider the 
 sloth as the type of laziness. It is very common for one native 
 to call another, in reproaching him for idleness, " bicho do 
 Embatiba " (beast of the Cecropia tree); the leaves of the 
 Cecropia being the food of the sloth. It is a strange sight 
 to watch the uncouth creature, fit production of these silent 
 shades, lazily moving from branch to branch. Every move- 
 
Santarem 209 
 
 ment betrays, not indolence exactly, but extreme caution. He 
 never looses his hold from one branch without first securing 
 himself to the next, and when he does not immediately find a 
 bough to grasp with the rigid hooks into which his paws are 
 so curiously transformed, he raises his body, supported on his 
 hind legs, and claws around in search of a fresh foothold. After 
 watching the animal for about half an hour I gave him a charge 
 of shot; he fell with a terrific crash, but caught a bough, in his 
 descent, with his powerful claws, and remained suspended. Our 
 Indian lad tried to climb the tree, but was driven back by 
 swarms of stinging ants ; the poor little fellow slid down in a sad 
 predicament, and plunged into the brook to free himself. Two 
 days afterwards I found the body of the sloth on the ground: 
 the animal having dropped on the relaxation of the muscles a 
 few hours after death. In one of our voyages, Mr. Wallace and 
 I saw a sloth (B. infuscatus) swimming across a river, at a place 
 where it was probably 300 yards broad. I believe it is not 
 generally known that this animal takes to the water. Our 
 men caught the beast, cooked, and ate him. 
 
 In returning from these trips we were sometimes benighted 
 on the campos. We did not care for this on moonlit nights, 
 when there was no danger of losing the path. The great heat 
 felt in the middle hours of the day is much mitigated by four 
 o'clock in the afternoon; a few birds then make their appear- 
 ance; small flocks of ground doves run about the stony hillocks; 
 parrots pass over and sometimes settle in the ilhas; pretty 
 little finches of several species, especially one kind, streaked 
 with olive-brown and yellow, and somewhat resembling our 
 yellow-hammer, but I believe not belonging to the same genus, 
 hop about the grass, enlivening the place with a few musical 
 notes. The Carashue (Mimus) also then resumes its mellow, 
 blackbird-like song; and two or three species of humming-bird, 
 none of which, however, are peculiar to the district, flit about 
 from tree to tree. On the other hand, the little blue and 
 yellow-striped lizards, which abound amongst the herbage 
 during the scorching heats of midday, retreat towards this hour 
 to their hiding-places; together with the day-flying insects and 
 the numerous campo butterflies. Some of these latter resemble 
 greatly our English species found in heathy places, namely, a 
 fritillary, Argynnis (Euptoieta) Hegesia, and two smaller kinds, 
 which are deceptively like the little Nemeobius Lucina. After 
 sunset the air becomes delightfully cool, and fragrant with the 
 aroma of fruits and flowers. The nocturnal animals then come 
 
210 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 forth. A monstrous hairy spider, five inches in expanse, of a 
 brown colour with yellowish lines along its stout legs — which 
 is very common here, inhabiting broad tubular galleries 
 smoothly lined with silken web — may be then caught on the 
 watch at the mouth of its burrow. It is only seen at night, 
 and I think does not wander far from its den; the gallery is 
 about two inches in diameter, and runs in a slanting direction, 
 about two feet from the surface of the soil. As soon as it is 
 night, swarms of goat-suckers suddenly make their appearance, 
 wheeling about in a noiseless, ghostly manner, in chase of 
 night-flying insects. They sometimes descend and settle on 
 a low branch, or even on the pathway close to where one is 
 walking, and then squatting down on their heels, are difficult 
 to distinguish from the surrounding soil. One kind has a long 
 forked tail. In the daytime they are concealed in the wooded 
 ilhas, where I very often saw them crouched and sleeping on 
 the ground in the dense shade. They make no nest, but lay 
 their eggs on the bare ground. Their breeding time is in the 
 rainy season, and fresh eggs are found from December to June. 
 Later in the evening, the singular notes of the goat-suckers 
 are heard, one species crying Quao, Quao, another Chuck-co-co- 
 cao; and these are repeated at intervals far into the night in 
 the most monotonous manner. A great number of toads are 
 seen on the bare sandy pathways soon after sunset. One of 
 them was quite a colossus, about seven inches in length and 
 three in height. This big fellow would never move out of the 
 way until we were close to him. If we jerked him out of the 
 path with a stick, he would slowly recover himself, and then 
 turn round to have a good impudent stare. I have counted as 
 many as thirty of these monsters within a distance of half a 
 mile. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 
 
 Preparations for Voyage — First Day's Sail — Loss of Boat — Altar do Chao 
 — Modes of obtaining Fish — Difficulties with Crew — Arrival at 
 Aveyros — Excursions in the Neighbourhood — White Cebus and 
 Habits and Dispositions of Cebi Monkeys — Tame Parrot — Missionary 
 Settlement — Enter the River Cupari — Adventure with Anaconda — 
 Smoke - dried Monkey — Boa-constrictor — Village of Mundurucu 
 Indians, and Incursion of a Wild Tribe — Falls of the Cupari — Hyacin- 
 thine Macaw — Re-emerge into the broad Tapajos — Descent of River 
 to Santarem 
 
 June, 1852 — I will now proceed to relate the incidents of my 
 principal excursion up the Tapajos, which I began to prepare 
 for, after residing about six months at Santarem. 
 
 I was obliged, this time, to travel in a vessel of my own; 
 partly because trading canoes large enough to accommodate a 
 Naturalist very seldom pass between Santarem and the thinly- 
 peopled settlements on the river, and partly because I wished 
 to explore districts at my ease, far out of the ordinary track of 
 traders. I soon found a suitable canoe; a two-masted cuberta, 
 of about six tons' burthen, strongly built of Itaiiba or stone- 
 wood, a timber of which all the best vessels in the Amazons 
 country are constructed, and said to be more durable than teak. 
 This I hired of a merchant at the cheap rate of 500 reis, or about 
 one shilling and twopence per day. I fitted up the cabin, which, 
 as usual in canoes of this class, was a square structure with its 
 floor above the water-line, as my sleeping and working apart- 
 ment. My chests, filled with store-boxes and trays for speci- 
 mens, were arranged on each side, and above them were shelves 
 and pegs to hold my little stock of useful books, guns, and 
 game bags, boards and materials for skinning and preserving 
 animals, botanical press and papers, drying cages for insects 
 and birds and so forth. A rush mat was spread on the floor, 
 and my rolled-up hammock, to be used only when sleeping 
 ashore, served for a pillow. The arched covering over the hold 
 in the fore part of the vessel contained, besides a sleeping place 
 for the crew, my heavy chests, stock of salt provisions and 
 
2 1 2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 groceries, and an assortment of goods wherewith to pay my 
 way amongst the half-civilised or savage inhabitants of the. 
 interior. The goods consisted of cashaca, powder and shot, a 
 few pieces of coarse checked-cotton cloth and prints, fish-hooks, 
 axes, large knives, harpoons, arrow-heads, looking-glasses, 
 beads, and other small wares. Jose and myself were busy for 
 many days arranging these matters. We had to salt the meat 
 and grind a supply of coffee ourselves. Cooking utensils, 
 crockery, water- jars, a set of useful carpenter's tools, and many 
 other things had to be provided. We put all the groceries and 
 other perishable articles in tin canisters and boxes, having found 
 that this was the only way of preserving them from damp and 
 insects in this climate. When all was done, our canoe looked 
 like a little floating workshop. 
 
 I could get little information about the river, except vague 
 accounts of the difficulty of the navigation, and the famito or 
 hunger which reigned on its banks. As I have before mentioned, 
 it is about iooo miles in length, and flows from south to 
 north; in magnitude it stands the sixth amongst the tributaries 
 of the Amazons. It is navigable, however, by sailing vessels 
 only for about 160 miles above Santarem. The hiring of men 
 to navigate the vessel was our greatest trouble. Jose was to 
 be my helmsman, and we thought three other hands would be 
 the fewest with which we could venture. But all our endeavours 
 to procure these were fruitless. Santarem is worse provided 
 with Indian canoemen than any other town on the river. I 
 found on applying to the tradesmen to whom I had brought 
 letters of introduction and to the Brazilian authorities, that 
 almost any favour would be sooner granted than the loan of 
 hands. A stranger, however, is obliged to depend on them; 
 for it is impossible to find an Indian or half-caste whom some 
 one or other of the head-men do not claim as owing him money 
 or labour. I was afraid at one time I should have been forced 
 to abandon my project on this account. At length, after many 
 rebuffs and disappointments, Jose contrived to engage one man, 
 a mulatto, named Pinto, a native of the mining country of 
 Interior Brazil, who knew the river well; and with these two 
 I resolved to start, hoping to meet with others at the first 
 village on the road. 
 
 We left Santarem on the 8th of June. The waters were then 
 at their highest point, and my canoe had been anchored close 
 to the back door of our house. The morning was cool and a 
 brisk wind blew, with which we sped rapidly past the white- 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 213 
 
 washed houses and thatched Indian huts of the suburbs. The 
 charming little bay of Mapiri was soon left behind; we then 
 doubled Point Maria Josepha, a headland formed of high cliffs 
 of Tabatinga clay, capped with forest. This forms the limit of 
 the river view from Santarem, and here we had our last glimpse, 
 at a distance of seven or eight miles, of the city, a bright line 
 of tiny white buildings resting on the dark water. A stretch 
 of wild, rocky, uninhabited coast was before us, and we were 
 fairly within the Tapajos. 
 
 Our course lay due west for about twenty miles. The wind 
 increased as we neared Point Cururu, where the river bends 
 from its northern course. A vast expanse of water here 
 stretches to the west and south, and the waves, with a strong 
 breeze, run very high. As we were doubling the Point, the 
 cable which held our montaria in tow astern, parted, and in 
 endeavouring to recover the boat, without which we knew it 
 would be difficult to get ashore on many parts of the coast, we 
 were very near capsizing. We tried to tack down the river; a 
 vain attempt with a strong breeze and no current. Our ropes 
 snapped, the sails flew to rags, and the vessel, which we now 
 found was deficient in ballast, heeled over frightfully. Contrary 
 to Joke's advice, I ran the cuberta into a little bay, thinking 
 to cast anchor there and wait for the boat coming up with the 
 wind; but the anchor dragged on the smooth sandy bottom, 
 and the vessel went broadside on to the rocky beach. With 
 a little dexterous management, but not until after we had 
 sustained some severe bumps, we managed to get out of this 
 difficulty, clearing the rocky point at a close shave with our 
 jib-sail. Soon after, we drifted into the smooth water of a 
 sheltered bay which leads to the charmingly situated village of 
 Altar do Chao; and we were obliged to give up our attempt to 
 recover the montaria. 
 
 The little settlement, Altar do Chao (altar of the ground, or 
 Earth altar), owes its singular name to the existence at the 
 entrance to the harbour of one of those strange flat-topped hills 
 which are so common in this part of the Amazons country, 
 shaped like the high altar in Roman Catholic churches. It is 
 an isolated one, and much lower in height than the similarly 
 truncated hills and ridges near Almeyrim, being elevated prob- 
 ably not more than 300 feet above the level of the river. It 
 is bare of trees, but covered in places with a species of fern. 
 At the head of the bay is an inner harbour, which communicates 
 by a channel with a series of lakes lying in the valleys between 
 
214 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 hills, and stretching far into the interior of the land. The 
 village is peopled almost entirely by semi-civilised Indians, to 
 the number of sixty or seventy familes; and the scattered 
 houses are arranged in broad streets on a strip of greensward, 
 at the foot of a high, gloriously-wooded ridge. 
 
 I was so much pleased with the situation of this settlement, 
 and the number of rare birds and insects which tenanted the 
 forest, that I revisited it in the following year, and spent four 
 months making collections. The village itself is a neglected, 
 poverty-stricken place : the governor (Captain of Trabalhadores, 
 or Indian workmen) being an old, apathetic, half-breed, who 
 had spent all his life here. The priest was a most profligate 
 character; I seldom saw him sober; he was a white, however, 
 and a man of good ability. I may as well mention here, that a 
 moral and zealous priest is a great rarity in this province: the 
 only ministers of religion in the whole country who appeared 
 sincere in their calling being the Bishop of Para and the Vicars 
 of Ega on the Upper Amazons and Obydos. The houses in the 
 village swarmed with vermin; bats in the thatch; fire-ants 
 (formiga de fogo) under the floors; cockroaches and spiders on 
 the walls. Very few of them had wooden doors and locks. 
 Altar do Chao was originally a settlement of the aborigines, 
 and was called Burari. The Indians were always hostile to the 
 Portuguese, and during the disorders of 1835-6 joined the 
 rebels in their attack on Santarem. Few of them escaped the 
 subsequent slaughter, and for this reason there is now scarcely 
 an old or middle-aged man in the place. As in all the semi- 
 civilised villages, where the original orderly and industrious 
 habits of the Indian have been lost without anything being 
 learnt from the whites to make amends, the inhabitants live in 
 the greatest poverty. The scarcity of fish in the clear waters 
 and rocky bays of the neighbourhood is no doubt partly the 
 cause of the poverty and perennial hunger which reign here. 
 When we arrived in the port our canoe was crowded with the 
 half-naked villagers — men, women, and children, who came to 
 beg each a piece of salt pirarucu " for the love of God." They 
 are not quite so badly off in the dry season. The shallow lakes 
 and bays then contain plenty of fish, and the boys and women 
 go out at night to spear them by torchlight; the torches being 
 made of thin strips of green bark from the leaf-stalks of palms, 
 tied in bundles. Many excellent kinds of fish are thus obtained; 
 amongst them the Pescada, whose white and flaky flesh, when 
 boiled, has the appearance and flavour of cod-fish; and the 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 215 
 
 Tucunare (Cichla temensis), a handsome species, with a large 
 prettily-coloured, eye-like spot on its tail. Many small Salmonidae 
 are also met with, and a kind of sole, called Aramassa, which 
 moves along the clear sandy bottom of the bay. At these times 
 a species of sting-ray is common on the sloping beach, and 
 bathers are frequently stung most severely by it. The weapon 
 of this fish is a strong blade with jagged edges, about three 
 inches long, growing from the side of the long fleshy tail. I once 
 saw a woman wounded by it whilst bathing; she shrieked fright- 
 fully, and was obliged to be carried to her hammock, where she 
 lay for a week in great pain; I have known strong men to be 
 lamed for many months by the sting. 
 
 There was a mode of taking fish here which I had not before 
 seen employed, but found afterwards to be very common on the 
 Tapajos. This is by using a poisonous liana called Timbo 
 (Paullinia pinnata). It will act only in the still waters of 
 creeks and pools. A few rods, a yard in length, are mashed 
 and soaked in the water, which quickly becomes discoloured 
 with the milky deleterious juice of the plant. In about half an 
 hour all the smaller fishes, over a rather wide space around the 
 spot, rise to the surface floating on their sides, and with the 
 gills wide open. The poison acts evidently by suffocating the 
 fishes; it spreads slowly in the water, and a very slight mixture 
 seems sufficient to stupefy them. I was surprised, on beating 
 the water in places where no fishes were visible in the clear 
 depths for many yards round, to find, sooner or later, sometimes 
 twenty-four hours afterwards, a considerable number floating 
 dead on the surface. 
 
 The people occupy themselves the greater part of the year 
 with their small plantations of mandioca. All the heavy work, 
 such as felling and burning the timber, planting and weeding, 
 is done in the plantation of each family by a congregation of 
 neighbours, which they call a " pucherum: " — a similar custom 
 to the " bee " in the backwood settlements of North America. 
 They make quite a holiday of each pucherum. When the 
 invitation is issued, the family prepares a great quantity of 
 fermented drink, called in this part Taroba, from soaked man- 
 dioca cakes, and porridge of Manicueira. This latter is a kind 
 of sweet mandioca, very different from the Yuca of the Peruvians 
 and Macasheira of the Brazilians (Manihot Aypi), having 
 oblong juicy roots, which become very sweet a few days after 
 they are gathered. With these simple provisions they regale 
 their helpers. The work is certainly done, but after a very 
 
2i 6 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 rude fashion; all become soddened with Taroba., and the day 
 finishes often in a drunken brawl. 
 
 The climate is rather more humid than that of Santarem. I 
 suppose this is to be attributed to the neighbouring country- 
 being densely wooded, instead of an open campo. In no part 
 of the country did I enjoy more the moonlit nights than here, 
 in the dry season. After the day's work was done, I used to 
 go down to the shores of the bay, and lie at full length on 
 the cool sand for two or three hours before bed-time. The soft 
 pale light, resting on broad sandy beaches and palm-thatched 
 huts, reproduced the effect of a mid-winter scene in the cold 
 north when a coating of snow lies on the landscape. A heavy 
 shower falls about once a week, and the shrubby vegetation 
 never becomes parched up as at Santarem. Between the rains 
 the heat and dryness increase from day to day : the weather on 
 the first day after the rain is gleamy, with intervals of melting 
 sunshine and passing clouds; the next day is rather drier, and 
 the east wind begins to blow; then follow days of cloudless 
 sky, with gradually increasing strength of breeze. When this 
 has continued about a week, a light mistiness begins to gather 
 about the horizon; clouds are formed; grumbling thunder is 
 heard, and then, generally in the night-time, down falls the 
 refreshing rain. The sudden chill caused by the rains produces 
 colds, which are accompanied by the same symptoms as in our 
 own climate; with this exception the place is very healthy. 
 
 June ijth. — The two young men returned without meeting 
 with my montaria, and I found it impossible here to buy a new 
 one. Captain Thomas could find me only one hand. This was 
 a blunt-spoken but willing young Indian, named Manoel. He 
 came on board this morning at eight o'clock, and we then got 
 up our anchor and resumed our voyage. 
 
 The wind was light and variable all day, and we made only 
 about fifteen miles by seven o'clock in the evening. The coast 
 formed a succession of long, shallow bays with sandy beaches, 
 on which the waves broke in a long line of surf. Ten miles 
 above Altar do Chao is a conspicuous headland, called Point 
 Cajetuba. During a lull of the wind, towards midday, we ran 
 the cuberta aground in shallow water and waded ashore, but 
 the woods were scarcely penetrable, and not a bird was to 
 be seen. The only thing observed worthy of note, was the 
 quantity of drowned winged ants along the beach; they were 
 all of one species, the terrible formiga de fogo (Myrmica saevis- 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 217 
 
 sima); the dead, or half-dead bodies of which were heaped up 
 in a line an inch or two in height and breadth, the line con- 
 tinuing without interruption for miles at the edge of the water. 
 The countless thousands had been doubtless cast into the river 
 whilst flying during a sudden squall the night before, and after- 
 wards cast ashore by the waves. We found ourselves at seven 
 o'clock near the mouth of a creek leading to a small lake, called 
 Aramana-i, and the wind having died away, we anchored, 
 guided by the lights ashore, near the house of a settler, named 
 Jeronymo, whom I knew, and who, soon after, showed us a 
 snug little harbour, where we could remain in safety for the 
 night. The river here cannot be less than ten miles broad ; it 
 is quite clear of islands and free from shoals at this season of the 
 year. The opposite coast appeared in the daytime as a long 
 thin line of forest, with dim grey hills in the background. 
 
 To-day (19th) we had a good wind, which carried us to the 
 mouth of a creek, culled Paquiatuba, where the " inspector " of 
 the district lived, Senhor Cypriano, for whom I had brought an 
 order from Captain Thomas to supply me with another hand. 
 We had great difficulty in finding a place to land. The coast 
 in this part was a tract of level, densely-wooded country, 
 through which flowed the winding rivulet, or creek, which 
 gives its name to a small scattered settlement hidden in the 
 wilderness; the hills here receding two or three miles towards 
 the interior. A large portion of the forest was flooded, the 
 trunks of the very high trees near the mouth of the creek 
 standing eighteen feet deep in water. We lost two hours work- 
 ing our way with poles through the inundated woods in search of 
 the port. Every inlet we tried ended in a labyrinth choked up 
 with bushes, but we were at length guided to the right place 
 by the crowing of cocks. On shouting for a montaria an Indian 
 boy made his appearance, guiding one through the gloomy 
 thickets; but he was so alarmed, I suppose at the apparition 
 of a strange-looking white man in spectacles bawling from the 
 brow of the vessel, that he shot back quickly into the bushes. 
 He returned when Manoel spoke, and we went ashore: the 
 montaria winding along a gloomy overshadowed water-path, 
 made by cutting away the lower branches and underwood. 
 The foot-road to the houses was a narrow, sandy alley, bordered 
 by trees of stupendous height, overrun with creepers, and 
 having an unusual number of long air-roots dangling from the 
 epiphytes on their branches. 
 
 After passing one low smoky little hut, half-buried in foliage, 
 
21 8 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the path branched off in various directions, and the boy having 
 left us, we took the wrong turn. We were brought to a stand 
 soon after by the barking of dogs; and on shouting, as is 1 
 customary on approaching a dwelling, "0 da casa!" (Oh of 
 the house!) a dark-skinned native, a Cafuzo, with a most un- 
 pleasant expression of countenance, came forth through the 
 tangled maze of bushes, armed with a long knife, with which he 
 pretended to be whittling a stick. He directed us to the house 
 of Cypriano, which was about a mile distant along another 
 forest road. The circumstance of the Cafuzo coming out armed 
 to receive visitors very much astonished my companions, who 
 talked it over at every place we visited for several days after- 
 wards; the freest and most unsuspecting welcome in these 
 retired places being always counted upon by strangers. But, 
 as Manoel remarked, the fellow may have been one of the un- 
 pardoned rebel leaders who had settled here after the recapture 
 of Santarem in 1836, and lived in fear of being inquired for by 
 the authorities of Santarem. After all our troubles we found 
 Cypriano absent from home. His house was a large one, and 
 full of people, old and young, women and children, all of whom 
 were Indians or mamelucos. Several smaller huts surrounded 
 the large dwelling, besides extensive open sheds containing 
 mandioca ovens and rude wooden mills for grinding sugar-cane 
 to make molasses. All the buildings were embosomed in trees: 
 it would be scarcely possible to find a more retired nook, and 
 an air of contentment was spread over the whole establishment. 
 Cypriano's wife, a good-looking mameluco girl, was superintend- 
 ing the packing of farinha. Two or three old women, seated 
 on mats, were making baskets with narrow strips of bark from 
 the leaf-stalks of palms, whilst others were occupied lining them 
 with the broad leaves of a species of maranta, and filling them 
 afterwards with farinha, which was previously measured in a 
 rude square vessel. It appeared that Senhor Cypriano was a 
 large producer of the article, selling 300 baskets (sixty pounds' 
 weight each) annually to Santarem traders. I was sorry we 
 were unable to see him, but it was useless waiting, as we were 
 told all the men were at present occupied in " pucherums," and 
 he would be unable to give me the assistance I required. We 
 returned to the canoe in the evening, and, after moving out 
 into the river, anchored and slept. 
 
 June 20th. — We had a light, baffling wind off shore all day 
 on the 20th, and made but fourteen or fifteen miles by six p.m.; 
 when, the wind failing us, we anchored at the mouth of -a 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 219 
 
 narrow channel, called Tapaiuna, which runs between a large 
 island and the mainland. About three o'clock we passed in 
 front of Boim, a village on the opposite (western) coast. The 
 breadth of the river is here six or seven miles: a confused 
 patch of white on the high land opposite was all we saw of the 
 village, the separate houses being undistinguishable on account 
 of the distance. The coast along which we sailed to-day is a 
 continuation of the low and flooded land of Paquiatuba. 
 
 June 21st. — The next morning we sailed along the Tapaiuna 
 channel, which is from 400 to 600 yards in breadth. We 
 advanced but slowly, as the wind was generally dead against 
 us, and stopped frequently to ramble ashore. Wherever the 
 landing-place was sandy it was impossible to walk about, on 
 account of the swarms of the terrible fire-ant, whose sting is 
 likened by the Brazilians to the puncture of a red-hot needle. 
 There was scarcely a square inch of ground free from them. 
 About three p.m. we glided into a quiet, shady creek, on whose 
 banks an industrious white settler had located himself. I re- 
 solved to pass the rest of the day and night here, and endeavour 
 to obtain a fresh supply of provisions, our stock of salt beef 
 being now nearly exhausted. The situation of the house was 
 beautiful; the little harbour being gay with water plants, 
 Pontederiae, now full of purple blossom, from which flocks of 
 stilt-legged water-fowl started up screaming as we entered. 
 The owner sent a boy with my men to show them the best 
 place for fish up the creek, and in the course of the evening 
 sold me a number of fowls, besides baskets of beans and farinha. 
 The result of the fishing was a good supply of Jandia, a hand- 
 some spotted Siluride fish, and Piranha, a kind of Salmon. 
 Piranhas are of several kinds, many of which abound in the 
 waters of the Tapajos. They are caught with almost any kind 
 of bait, for their taste is indiscriminate and their appetite most 
 ravenous. They often attack the legs of bathers near the shore, 
 inflicting severe wounds with their strong triangular teeth. At 
 Paquiatuba and this place I added about twenty species of 
 small fishes to my collection ; caught by hook and line, or with 
 the hand in shallow pools under the shade of the forest. 
 
 My men slept ashore, and on the coming aboard in the 
 morning Pinto was drunk and insolent. According to Jose, 
 who had kept himself sober, and was alarmed at the other's 
 violent conduct, the owner of the house and Pinto had spent 
 the greater part of the night together, drinking aguardente de 
 beiju,— a spiiit distilled from the mandioca root. We knew 
 
220 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 nothing of the antecedents of this man, who was a tall, strong, 
 self-willed fellow, and it began to dawn on us that this was not 
 a very safe travelling companion in a wild country like this. < 
 I thought it better now to make the best of our way to the next 
 settlement, Aveyros, and get rid of him. Our course to-day lay 
 along a high rocky coast, which extended without a break for 
 about eight miles. The height of the perpendicular rocks was 
 from ioo to 150 feet; ferns and flowering shrubs grew in the 
 crevices, and the summit supported a luxuriant growth of 
 forest, like the rest of the river banks. The waves beat with 
 loud roar at the foot of these inhospitable barriers. At two p.m. 
 we passed the mouth of a small picturesque harbour, formed by 
 a gap in the precipitous coast. Several families have here 
 settled; the place is called Ita-puama, or "standing rock," 
 from a remarkable isolated cliff, which stands erect at the 
 entrance to the little haven. A short distance beyond Ita- 
 puama we found ourselves opposite to the village of Pinhel, 
 which is perched, like Boim, on high ground, on the western 
 side of the river. The stream is here from six to seven miles 
 wide. A line of low islets extends in front of Pinhel, and a 
 little further to the south is a larger island, called Capitari, 
 which lies nearly in the middle of the river. 
 
 June 2yd. — The wind freshened at ten o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the 23rd. A thick black cloud then began to spread 
 itself over the sky a long way down the river; the storm which 
 it portended, however, did not reach us, as the dark threatening 
 mass crossed from east to west, and the only effect it had was 
 to impel a column of cold air up river, creating a breeze with 
 which we bounded rapidly forward. The wind in the after- 
 noon strengthened to a gale; we carried on with one foresail 
 only, two of the men holding on to the boom to prevent the 
 whole thing from flying to pieces. The rocky coast continued 
 for about twelve miles above Ita-puama: then succeeded a 
 tract of low marshy land, which had evidently been once an 
 island whose channel of separation from the mainland had 
 become silted up. The island of Capitari and another group 
 of islets succeeding it, called Jacare, on the opposite side, 
 helped also to contract at this point the breadth of the river, 
 which was now not more than about three miles. The little 
 cuberta almost flew along this coast, there being no perceptible 
 current, past extensive swamps, margined with thick floating 
 grasses. At length, on rounding a low point, higher land again 
 appeared on the right bank of the river, and the village of 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 221 
 
 Aveyros hove in sight, in the port of which we cast anchor 
 late in the afternoon. 
 
 Aveyros is a small settlement, containing only fourteen or 
 fifteen houses besides the church; but it is the place of residence 
 of the authorities of a large district; the priest, Juiz de Paz, 
 the subdelegado of police, and the Captain of the Trabalhadores. 
 The district includes Pinhel, which we passed about twenty 
 miles lower down on the left bank of the river. Five miles 
 beyond Aveyros, and also on the left bank, is the missionary 
 village of Santa Cruz, comprising thirty or forty families of 
 baptised Mundurucu Indians, who are at present under the 
 management of a Capuchin Friar, and are independent of the 
 Captain of Trabalhadores of Aveyros. The river view from 
 this point towards the south was very grand; the stream is 
 from two to three miles broad, with green islets resting on its 
 surface, and on each side a chain of hills stretches away in long 
 perspective. I resolved to stay here for a few weeks to make 
 collections. On landing, my first care was to obtain a house 
 or room, that I might live ashore. This was soon arranged; 
 the head man of the place, Captain Antonio, having received 
 notice of my coming, so that before night all the chests and 
 apparatus I required were housed and put in order for working. 
 
 I here dismissed Pinto, who again got drunk and quarrel- 
 some a few hours after he came ashore. He left the next day, 
 to my great relief, in a small trading canoe that touched at the 
 place on its way to Santarem. The Indian Manoel took his 
 leave at the same time, having engaged to accompany me only 
 as far as Aveyros; I was then dependent on Captain Antonio 
 for fresh hands. The captains of Trabalhadores are appointed 
 by the Brazilian Government, to embody the scattered Indian 
 labourers and canoe-men of their respective districts, to the 
 end that they may supply passing travellers with men when 
 required. A semi-military organisation is given to the bodies; 
 some of the steadiest amongst the Indians themselves being 
 nominated as sergeants, and all the members mustered at the 
 principal village of their district twice a-year. The captains, 
 however, universally abuse their authority, monopolising the 
 service of the men for their own purposes, so that it is only by 
 favour that the loan of a canoe-hand can be wrung from them. 
 I was treated by Captain Antonio with great consideration, and 
 promised two good Indians when I should be ready to continue 
 my voyage. 
 
 Little happened worth narrating during my forty days' stay 
 
222 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 at Aveyros. The time was spent in the quiet, regular pursuit 
 of Natural History: every morning I had my long ramble in 
 the forest, which extended to the back-doors of the houses, and 
 the afternoons were occupied in preserving and studying the 
 objects collected. The priest was a lively old man, but rather 
 a bore from being able to talk of scarcely anything except 
 homoeopathy, having been smitten with the mania during a 
 recent visit to Santarem. He had a Portuguese Homoeopathic 
 Dictionary, and a little leather case containing glass tubes 
 filled with globules, with which he was doctoring the whole 
 village. A bitter enmity seemed to exist between the female 
 members of the priest's family and those of the captain's; the 
 only white women in the settlement. It was amusing to notice 
 how they flaunted past each other, when going to church on 
 Sundays, in their starched muslin dresses. I found an intel- 
 ligent young man living here, a native of the province of Goyaz, 
 who was exploring the neighbourhood for gold and diamonds. 
 He had made one journey up a branch river, and declared to 
 me that he had found one diamond, but was unable to continue 
 his researches, because the Indians who accompanied him 
 refused to remain any longer: he was now waiting for Captain 
 Antonio to assist him with fresh men, having offered him in 
 return a share in the results of the enterprise. There appeared 
 to be no doubt, that gold is occasionally found within two or 
 three days' journey of Aveyros; but all lengthened search is 
 made impossible by the scarcity of food and the impatience of 
 the Indians, who see no value in the precious metal, and abhor 
 the tediousness of the gold-searcher's occupation. It is im- 
 possible to do without them, as they are required to paddle the 
 canoes. 
 
 The weather, during the month of July, was uninterruptedly 
 fine; not a drop of rain fell, and the river sank rapidly. The 
 mornings, for two hours after sunrise, were very cold; we were 
 glad to wrap ourselves in blankets on turning out of our ham- 
 mocks, and walk about at a quick pace in the early sunshine. 
 But in the afternoons the heat was sickening; for the glowing 
 sun then shone full on the front of the row of whitewashed 
 houses, and there was seldom any wind to moderate its effects. 
 I began now to understand why the branch rivers of the 
 Amazons were so unhealthy, whilst the main stream was pretty 
 nearly free from diseases arising from malaria. The cause lies, 
 without doubt, in the slack currents of the tributaries in the 
 dry season, and the absence of the cooling Amazonian trade- 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 223 
 
 wind, which purifies the air along the banks of the main river. 
 The trade-wind does not deviate from its nearly straight 
 westerly course, so that the branch streams, which run generally 
 at right angles to the Amazons, and have a slack current for a 
 long distance from their mouths, are left to the horrors of 
 nearly stagnant air and water. 
 
 Aveyros may be called the head-quarters of the fire-ant, 
 which might be fittingly termed the scourge of this fine river. 
 The Tapajos is nearly free from the insect pests of other parts, 
 mosquitoes, sand-flies, Motucas and piums; but the formiga de 
 fogo is perhaps a greater plague than all the others put together. 
 It is found only on sandy soils in open places, and seems to 
 thrive most in the neighbourhood of houses and weedy villages, 
 such as Aveyros: it does not occur at all in the shades of the 
 forest. I noticed it in most places on the banks of the Amazons, 
 but the species is not very common on the main river, and its 
 presence is there scarcely noticed, because it does not attack 
 man, and the sting is not so virulent as it is in the same species 
 on the banks of the Tapajos. Aveyros was deserted a few 
 years before my visit on account of this little tormentor, and 
 the inhabitants had only recently returned to their houses, 
 thinking its numbers had decreased. It is a small species, of 
 a shining reddish colour, not greatly differing from the common 
 red stinging ant of our own country (Myrmica rubra), except 
 that the pain and irritation caused by its sting are much greater. 
 The soil of the whole village is undermined by it: the ground 
 is perforated with the entrances to their subterranean galleries, 
 and a little sandy dome occurs here and there, where the insects 
 bring their young to receive warmth near the surface. The 
 houses are overrun with them; they dispute every fragment 
 of food with the inhabitants, and destroy clothing for the sake 
 of the starch. All eatables are obliged to be suspended in 
 baskets from the rafters, and the cords well soaked with copaiiba 
 balsam, which is the only means known of preventing them 
 from climbing. They seem to attack persons out of sheer 
 malice: if we stood for a few moments in the street, even at 
 a distance from their nests, we were sure to be overrun and 
 severely punished, for the moment an ant touched the flesh, 
 he secured himself with his jaws, doubled in his tail, and stung 
 with all his might. When we were seated on chairs in the 
 evenings in front of the house to enjoy a chat with our neigh- 
 bours, we had stools to support our feet, the legs of which as 
 well as those of the chairs, were well anointed with the balsam. 
 
224 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 The cords of hammocks are obliged to be smeared in the same 
 way to prevent the ants from paying sleepers a visit. 
 
 The inhabitants declare that the fire-ant was unknown on 
 the Tapajos before the disorders of 1835-6, and believe that 
 the hosts sprang up from the blood of the slaughtered Cabanas 
 or rebels. They have, doubtless, increased since that time, 
 but the cause lies in the depopulation of the villages and the 
 rank growth of weeds in the previously cleared, well-kept 
 spaces. I have already described the line of sediment formed 
 on the sandy shores lower down the river by the dead bodies of 
 the winged individuals of this species. The exodus from their 
 nests of the males and females takes place at the end of the 
 rainy season (June), when the swarms are blown into the river 
 by squalls of wind, and subsequently cast ashore by the waves, 
 I was told that this wholesale destruction of ant-life takes 
 place annually, and that the same compact heap of dead bodies 
 which I saw only in part, extends along the banks of the river 
 for twelve or fifteen miles. 
 
 The forest behind Aveyros yielded me little except insects, 
 but in these it was very rich. It is not too dense, and broad 
 sunny paths skirted by luxuriant beds of Lycopodiums, which 
 form attractive sporting places for insects, extend from the 
 village to a swampy hollow or ygapo, which lies about a mile 
 inland. Of butterflies alone I enumerated fully 300 species, 
 captured or seen in the course of forty days within a half-hour's 
 walk of the village. This is a greater number than is found in 
 the whole of Europe. The only monkey I observed was the 
 Callithrix moloch — one of the kinds called by the Indians 
 Whaiapu-sai. It is a moderate-sized species, clothed with long 
 brown hair, and having hands of a whitish hue. Although 
 nearly allied to the Cebi it has none of their restless vivacity, 
 but is a dull listless animal. It goes in small flocks of five or 
 six individuals, running along the main boughs of the trees. 
 One of the specimens which I obtained here was caught on a 
 low fruit-tree at the back of our house at sunrise one morning. 
 This was the only instance of a monkey being captured in such 
 a position that I ever heard of. As the tree was isolated it 
 must have descended to the ground from the neighbouring 
 forest and walked some distance to get at it. The species is 
 sometimes kept in a tame state by the natives: it does not 
 make a very amusing pet, and survives captivity only a short 
 time. 
 
 I heard that the white Cebus, the Caiarara branca, a kind of 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 225 
 
 monkey I had not yet seen, and wished very much to obtain, 
 inhabited the forests on the opposite side of the river; so one 
 day, on an opportunity being afforded by our host going over 
 in a large boat, I crossed to go in search of it. We were about 
 twenty persons in all, and the boat was an old rickety affair 
 with the gaping seams rudely stuffed with tow and pitch. In 
 addition to the human freight we took three sheep with us, 
 which Captain Antonio had just received from Santarem and 
 was going to add to his new cattle farm on the other side. 
 Ten Indian paddlers carried us quickly across. The breadth 
 of the river could not be less than three miles, and the current 
 was scarcely perceptible. When a boat has to cross the main 
 Amazons, it is obliged to ascend along the banks for half a 
 mile or more to allow for drifting by the current; in this lower 
 part of the Tapajos this is not necessary. When about half- 
 way, the sheep, in moving about, kicked a hole in the bottom 
 of the boat. The passengers took the matter very coolly, 
 although the water spouted up alarmingly, and I thought we 
 should inevitably be swamped. Captain Antonio took off 
 his socks to stop the leak, inviting me and the Juiz de Paz, 
 who was one of the party, to do the same, whilst two Indians 
 baled out the water with large cuyas. We thus managed to 
 keep afloat until we reached our destination, when the men 
 patched up the leak for our return journey. 
 
 The landing-place lay a short distance within the mouth of 
 a shady inlet, on whose banks, hidden amongst the dense woods, 
 were the houses of a few Indian and mameluco settlers. The 
 path to the cattle farm led first through a tract of swampy 
 forest; it then ascended a slope and emerged on a fine sweep 
 of prairie, varied with patches of timber. The wooded portion 
 occupied the hollows where the soil was of a rich chocolate- 
 brown colour, and of a peaty nature. The higher grassy, un- 
 dulating parts of the campo had a lighter and more sandy soil. 
 Leaving our friends, I and Jose took our guns and dived into 
 the woods in search of the monkeys. As we walked rapidly 
 along I was very near treading on a rattlesnake, which lay 
 stretched out nearly in a straight line on the bare sandy path- 
 way. It made no movement to get out of the way, and I 
 escaped the danger by a timely and sudden leap, being unable 
 to check my steps in the hurried walk. We tried to excite the 
 sluggish reptile by throwing handsfull of sand and sticks at it, 
 but the only notice it took was to raise its ugly horny tail and 
 shake its rattle. At length it began to move rather nimbly, 
 
226 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 when we despatched it by a blow on the head with a pole, not 
 wishing to fire on account of alarming our game. 
 
 We saw nothing of the white Caiarara; we met, however, 
 with a flock of the common light-brown allied species (Cebus 
 albifrons?), and killed one as a specimen. A resident on this 
 side of the river told us that the white kind was found further 
 to the south, beyond Santa Cruz. The light-brown Caiarara 
 is pretty generally distributed over the forests of the level 
 country. I saw it very frequently on the banks of the Upper 
 Amazons, where it was always a treat to watch a flock leaping 
 amongst the trees, for it is the most wonderful performer in 
 this line of the whole tribe. The troops consist of thirty or 
 more individuals, which travel in single file. When the fore- 
 most of the flock reaches the outermost branch of an unusually 
 lofty tree, he springs forth into the air without a moment's 
 hesitation and alights on the dome of yielding foliage belong- 
 ing to the neighbouring tree, maybe fifty feet beneath; all the 
 rest following the example. They grasp, on falling, with hands 
 and tail, right themselves in a moment, and then away they go 
 along branch and bough to the next tree. The Caiarara owes 
 its name in the Tupi language, macaw or large-headed (Acain, 
 head, and Arara macaw), to the disproportionate size of the 
 head compared with the rest of the body. It is very frequently 
 kept as a pet in houses of natives. I kept one myself for about 
 a year, which accompanied me in my voyages and became very 
 familiar, coming to me always on wet nights to share my 
 blanket. It is a most restless creature, but is not playful like 
 most of the American monkeys; the restlessness of its disposi- 
 tion seeming to arise from great nervous irritability and dis- 
 content. The anxious, painful, and changeable expression of 
 its countenance, and the want of purpose in its movements, 
 betray this. Its actions are like those of a wayward child; it 
 does not seem happy even when it has plenty of its favourite 
 food, bananas; but will leave its own meal to snatch the 
 morsels out of the hands of its companions. It differs in these 
 mental traits from its nearest kindred, for another common 
 Cebus, found in the same parts of the forest, the Prego monkey 
 (Cebus cirrhifer?), is a much quieter and better-tempered animal; 
 it is full of tricks, but these are generally of a playful character. 
 
 The Caiarara keeps the house in a perpetual uproar where it 
 is kept : when alarmed, or hungry, or excited by envy, it screams 
 piteously; it is always, however, making some noise or other, 
 often screwing up its mouth and uttering a succession of loud 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 227 
 
 notes resembling a whistle. My little pet, when loose, used to 
 run after me, supporting itself for some distance on its hind 
 legs, without, however, having been taught to do it. He 
 offended me greatly, one day, by killing, in one of his jealous 
 fits, another and much choicer pet — the nocturnal owl-faced 
 monkey (Nyctipithecus trivirgatus). Some one had given this 
 a fruit, which the other coveted, so the two got to quarrelling. 
 The Nyctipithecus fought only with its paws, clawing out and 
 hissing like a cat; the other soon obtained the mastery, and 
 before I could interfere, finished his rival by cracking its skull 
 with his teeth. Upon this I got rid of him. 
 
 On recrossing the river to Aveyros in the evening, a pretty 
 little parrot fell from a great height headlong into the water 
 near the boat; having dropped from a flock which seemed to 
 be fighting in the air. One of the Indians secured it for me, 
 and I was surprised to find the bird uninjured. There had 
 probably been a quarrel about mates, resulting in our little 
 stranger being temporarily stunned by a blow on the head from 
 the beak of a jealous comrade. The species was the Conurus 
 guianensis, called by the natives Maracana; the plumage green, 
 with a patch of scarlet under the wings. I wished to keep the 
 bird alive and tame it, but all our efforts to reconcile it to 
 captivity were vain; it refused food, bit every one who went 
 near it, and damaged its plumage in its exertions to free itself. 
 My friends in Aveyros said that this kind of parrot never 
 became domesticated. After trying nearly a week I was 
 recommended to lend the intractable creature to an old Indian 
 woman, living in the village, who was said to be a skilful bird- 
 tamer. In two days she brought it back almost as tame as the 
 familiar love-birds of our aviaries. I kept my little pet for 
 upwards of two years; it learned to talk pretty well, and was 
 considered quite a wonder as being a bird usually so difficult 
 of domestication. I do not know what arts the old woman 
 used: Captain Antonio said she fed it with her saliva. The 
 chief reason why almost all animals become so wonderfully 
 tame in the houses of the natives is, I believe, their being 
 treated with uniform gentleness, and allowed to run at large 
 about the rooms. Our Maracana used to accompany us some- 
 times in our rambles, one of the lads carrying it on his head. 
 One day, in the middle of a long forest road, it was missed, 
 having clung probably to an overhanging bough and escaped 
 into the thicket without the boy perceiving it. Three hours 
 afterwards, on our return by the same path, a voice greeted us 
 
228 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 in a colloquial tone as we passed " Maracana ! " We looked 
 about for some time, but could not see anything, until the 
 word was repeated with emphasis " Maracana-a ! " when we 
 espied the little truant half concealed in the foliage of a tree. 
 He came down and delivered himself up, evidently as much 
 rejoiced at the meeting as we were. 
 
 After I had obtained the two men promised, stout young 
 Indians, seventeen or eighteen years of age, one named Ricardo 
 and the other Alberto, I paid a second visit to the western side 
 of the river in my own canoe; being determined, if possible, to 
 obtain specimens of the White Cebus. We crossed over first to 
 the mission village, Santa Cruz, which consists of thirty or forty 
 wretched-looking mud huts, closely built together in three 
 straight ugly rows on a high gravelly bank. The place was 
 deserted, with the exception of two or three old men and 
 women and a few children. A narrow belt of wood runs behind 
 the village; beyond this is an elevated barren campo, with a 
 clayey and gravelly soil. To the south, the coast country is 
 of a similar description; a succession of scantily-wooded hills, 
 bare grassy spaces, and richly-timbered hollows. We traversed 
 forest and campo in various directions during three days with- 
 out meeting with monkeys, or indeed with anything that repaid 
 us the time and trouble. The soil of the district appeared too 
 dry; at this season of the year I had noticed, in other parts of 
 the country, that mammals and birds resorted to the more 
 humid areas of forest; we therefore proceeded to explore care- 
 fully the low and partly swampy tract along the coast to the 
 north of Santa Cruz. We spent two days in this way, landing 
 at many places, and penetrating a good distance in the interior. 
 Although unsuccessful with regard to the White Cebus, the 
 time was not wholly lost, as I added several small birds of 
 species new to my collection. On the second evening we 
 surprised a large flock, composed of about fifty individuals, of 
 a curious eagle with a very long and slender hooked beak, the 
 Rostrhamus hamatus. They were perched on the bushes 
 which surrounded a shallow lagoon, separated from the river 
 by a belt of floating grass: my men said they fed on toads 
 and lizards found at the margins of pools. They formed a 
 beautiful sight as they flew up and wheeled about at a great 
 height in the air. We obtained only one specimen. 
 
 Before returning to Aveyros, we paid another visit to the 
 Jacare inlet, leading to Captain Antonio's cattle farm, for the 
 sake of securing further specimens of the many rare and hand- 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 229 
 
 some insects found there; landing at the port of one of the 
 settlers. The owner of the house was not at home, and the 
 wife, a buxom young woman, a dark mameluca, with clear 
 though dark complexion and fine rosy cheeks, was preparing, 
 in company with another stout-built Amazon, her rod and lines 
 to go out fishing for the day's dinner. It was now the season 
 for Tucunares, and Senhora Joaquina showed us the fly baits 
 used to take this kind of fish, which she had made with her 
 own hands of parrots' feathers. The rods used are slender 
 bamboos, and the lines made from the fibres of pine-apple 
 leaves. It is not very common for the Indian and half-caste 
 women to provide for themselves in the way these spirited 
 dames were doing, although they are all expert paddlers, and 
 very frequently cross wide rivers in their frail boats without 
 the aid of men. It is possible that parties of Indian women, 
 seen travelling alone in this manner, may have given rise to 
 the fable of a nation of Amazons, invented by the first Spanish 
 explorers of the country. Senhora Joaquina invited me and 
 Jose to a Tucunare dinner for the afternoon, and then shoulder- 
 ing their paddles and tucking up their skirts, the two dusky 
 fisherwomen marched down to their canoe. We sent the two 
 Indians into the woods to cut palm-leaves to mend the thatch 
 of our cuberta, whilst I and Jose rambled through the woods 
 which skirted the campo. On our return, we found a most 
 bountiful spread in the house of our hostess. A spotless white 
 cloth was laid on the mat, with a plate for each guest and a 
 pile of fragrant newly-made farinha by the side of it. The 
 boiled Tucunares were soon taken from the kettles and set 
 before us. I thought the men must be happy husbands who 
 owned such wives as these. The Indian and mameluco women 
 certainly do make excellent managers; they are more industrious 
 than the men, and most of them manufacture farinha for sale 
 on their own account, their credit always standing higher with 
 the traders on the river than that of their male connections. 
 I was quite surprised at the quantity of fish they had taken; 
 there being sufficient for the whole party, including several 
 children, two old men from a neighbouring hut, and my 
 Indians. I made our good-natured entertainers a small present 
 of needles and sewing-cotton, articles very much prized, and 
 soon after we re-embarked, and again crossed the river to 
 Aveyros. 
 
 August 2nd. — Left Aveyros; having resolved to ascend a 
 branch river, the Cupari, which enters the Tapajos about eight 
 
230 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 miles above this village, instead of going forward along the 
 main stream. I should have liked to visit the settlements of 
 the Mundurucu tribe which lie beyond the first cataract of the 
 Tapajos, if it had been compatible with the other objects I had 
 in view. But to perform this journey a lighter canoe than 
 mine would have been necessary, and six or eight Indian 
 paddlers, which in my case it was utterly impossible to obtain. 
 There would be, however, an opportunity of seeing this fine 
 race of people on the Cupari, as a horde was located towards 
 the head waters of this stream. The distance from Aveyros 
 to the last civilised settlement on the Tapajos, Itaituba, is 
 about forty miles. The falls commence a short distance beyond 
 this place. Ten formidable cataracts or rapids then succeed 
 each other at intervals of a few miles; the chief of which are 
 the Coaita, the Bubure, the Salto Grande (about thirty feet 
 high), and the Montanha. The canoes of Cuyaba tradesmen 
 which descend annually to Santarem are obliged to be un- 
 loaded at each of these, and the cargoes carried by land on 
 the backs of Indians, whilst the empty vessels are dragged by 
 ropes over the obstruction. The Cupari was described to me 
 as flowing through a rich moist clayey valley, covered with 
 forests and abounding in game; whilst the banks of the 
 Tapajos beyond Aveyros were barren sandy campos, with 
 ranges of naked or scantily-wooded hills, forming a kind of 
 country which I had always found very unproductive in 
 Natural History objects in the dry season, which had now 
 set in. 
 
 We entered the mouth of the Cupari on the evening of the 
 following day (August 3rd). It was not more than a hundred 
 yards wide, but very deep: we found no bottom in the middle 
 with a line of eight fathoms. The banks were gloriously wooded ; 
 the familiar foliage of the cacao growing abundantly amongst the 
 mass of other trees, reminding me of the forests of the main 
 Amazons. We rowed for five or six miles, generally in a south- 
 easterly direction, although the river had many abrupt bends, 
 and stopped for the night at a settler's house, situated on a 
 high bank, and accessible only by a flight of rude wooden steps 
 fixed in the clayey slope. The owners were two brothers, 
 half-breeds, who with their families shared the large roomy 
 dwelling; one of them was a blacksmith, and we found him 
 working with two Indian lads at his forge, in an open shed 
 under the shade of mango trees. They were the sons of a 
 Portuguese immigrant, who had settled here forty years pre- 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 231 
 
 viously, and married a Mundurucu woman. He must have 
 been a far more industrious man than the majority of his 
 countrymen who emigrate to Brazil nowadays, for there were 
 signs of former extensive cultivation at the back of the house 
 in groves of orange, lemon, and coffee trees, and a large planta- 
 tion of cacao occupied the lower grounds. 
 
 The next morning one of the brothers brought me a beautiful 
 opossum, which had been caught in the fowl-house a little 
 before sunrise. It was not so large as a rat, and had soft ' 
 brown fur, paler beneath and on the face, with a black stripe 
 on each cheek. This made the third species of marsupial rat 
 I had so far obtained : but the number of these animals is very 
 considerable in Brazil, where they take the place of the shrews 
 of Europe, shrew mice and, indeed, the whole of the insecti- 
 vorous order of mammals, being entirely absent from Tropical 
 America. One kind of these rat-like opossums is aquatic, and 
 has webbed feet. The terrestrial species are nocturnal in their 
 habits, sleeping during the day in hollow trees, and coming 
 forth at night to prey on birds in their roosting places. It 
 is very difficult to rear poultry in this country on account of 
 these small opossums, scarcely a night passing, in some parts, 
 in which the fowls are not attacked by them. 
 
 August 5th.— The river reminds me of some parts of the 
 Jaburu channel, being hemmed in by two walls of forest, rising 
 to the height of at least a hundred feet, and the outlines of the 
 trees being concealed throughout by a dense curtain of leafy 
 creepers. The impression of vegetable profusion and over- 
 whelming luxuriance increases at every step. The deep and 
 narrow valley of the Cupari has a moister climate than the banks 
 of the Tapajos. We have now frequent showers, whereas we 
 left everything parched up by the sun at Aveyros. 
 
 After leaving the last sitio we advanced about eight miles, 
 and then stopped at the house of Senhor Antonio Malagueita, a 
 mameluco settler, whom we had been recommended to visit. 
 His house and outbuildings were extensive, the grounds well 
 weeded, and the whole wore an air of comfort and well-being 
 which is very uncommon in this country. A bank of indurated 
 white clay sloped gently up from the tree-shaded port to the 
 house, and beds of kitchen-herbs extended on each side, with 
 (rare sight!) rose and jasmine trees in full bloom. Senhor 
 Antonio, a rather tall middle-aged man, with a countenance 
 beaming with good nature, came down to the port as soon as 
 we anchored. I was quite a stranger to him, but he had 
 
232 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 heard of my coming, and seemed to have made preparations. I 
 never met with a heartier welcome. On entering the house, 
 the wife, who had more of the Indian tint and features than 
 her husband, was equally warm and frank in her greeting. 
 Senhor Antonio had spent his younger days at Para, and had 
 acquired a profound respect for Englishmen. I stayed here two 
 days. My host accompanied me in my excursions; in fact, 
 his attentions, with those of his wife, and the host of relatives 
 of all degrees who constituted his household, were quite trouble- 
 some, as they left me not a moment's privacy from morning 
 till night. 
 
 We had, together, several long and successful rambles along 
 a narrow pathway which extended several miles into the forest. 
 I here met with a new insect pest, one which the natives may 
 be thankful is not spread more widely over the country : it was 
 a large brown fly of the Tabanidse family (genus Pangonia), 
 with a proboscis half an inch long and sharper than the finest 
 needle. It settled on our backs by twos and threes at a time, 
 and pricked us through our thick cotton shirts, making us 
 start and cry out with the sudden pain. I secured a dozen or 
 two as specimens. As an instance of the extremely confined 
 ranges of certain species it may be mentioned that I did not 
 find this insect in any other part of the country except along 
 half a mile or so of this gloomy forest road. 
 
 We were amused at the excessive and almost absurd tame- 
 ness of a fine Mutum or Curassow turkey, that ran about the 
 house. It was a large glossy-black species (the Mitu tuberosa), 
 having an orange-coloured beak, surmounted by a bean-shaped 
 excrescence of the same hue. It seemed to consider itself as 
 one of the family: attended at all the meals, passing from one 
 person to another round the mat to be fed, and rubbing the 
 sides of its head in a coaxing way against their cheeks or 
 shoulders. At night it went to roost on a chest in a sleeping- 
 room beside the hammock of one of the little girls, to whom it 
 seemed particularly attached, following her wherever she went 
 about the grounds. I found this kind of Curassow bird was 
 very common in the forest of the Cupari; but it is rare on the 
 Upper Amazons, where an allied species, which has a round 
 instead of a bean-shaped waxen excrescence on the beak (Crax 
 globicera), is the prevailing kind. These birds in their natural 
 state never descend from the tops of the loftiest trees, where 
 they live in small flocks and build their nests. The Mitu 
 tuberosa lays two rough-shelled, white eggs; it is fully as large 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 233 
 
 a bird as the common turkey, but the flesh when cooked is 
 drier and not so well flavoured. It is difficult to find the 
 reason why these superb birds have not been reduced to 
 domestication by the Indians, seeing that they so readily 
 become tame. The obstacle offered by their not breeding in 
 confinement, which is probably owing to their arboreal habits, 
 might perhaps be overcome by repeated experiment; but for 
 this the Indians probably had not sufficient patience or intelli- 
 gence. The reason cannot lie in their insensibility to the 
 value of such birds, for the common turkey, which has been 
 introduced into the country, is much prized by them. 
 
 We had an unwelcome visitor whilst at anchor in the port of 
 Antonio Malagueita. I was awoke a little after midnight, as I 
 lay in my little cabin, by a heavy blow struck at the sides of 
 the canoe close to my head, which was succeeded by the sound 
 of a weighty body plunging in the water. I got up; but all 
 was again quiet, except the cackle of fowls in our hen-coop, 
 which hung over the side of the vessel about three feet from 
 the cabin door. I could find no explanation of the circum- 
 stance, and, my men being all ashore, I turned in again and 
 slept till morning. I then found my poultry loose about the 
 canoe, and a large rent in the bottom of the hen-coop, which 
 was about two feet from the surface of the water: a couple of 
 fowls were missing. Senhor Antonio said the depredator was 
 a Sucuruju (the Indian name for the Anaconda, or great water 
 serpent— Eunectes murinus), which had for months past been 
 hauntin? this part of the river, and had carried off many ducks 
 and fowls from the ports of various houses. I was inclined 
 to doubt the fact of a serpent striking at its prey from the 
 water, and thought an alligator more likely to be the culprit, 
 although we had not yet met with alligators in the river. 
 Some days afterwards the young men belonging to the different 
 sitios agreed together to go in search of the serpent. They 
 began in a systematic manner, forming two parties, each em- 
 barked in three or four canoes, and starting from points several 
 miles apart, whence they gradually approximated, searching all 
 the little inlets on both sides the river. The reptile was found 
 at last, sunning itself on a log at the mouth of a muddy rivulet, 
 and despatched with harpoons. I saw it the day after it was 
 killed: it was not a very large specimen, measuring only 
 eighteen feet nine inches in length, and sixteen inches in circum- 
 ference at the widest part of the body. I measured skins of 
 the Anaconda afterwards, twenty-one feet in length and two 
 
234 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 feet in girth. The reptile has a most hideous appearance, 
 owing to its being very broad in the middle and tapering 
 abruptly at both ends. It is very abundant in some parts of 
 the country; nowhere more so than in the Lago Grande, near 
 Santarem, where it is often seen coiled up in the corners of 
 farm-yards, and is detested for its habit of carrying off poultry, 
 young calves, or whatever animal it can get within reach of. 
 
 At Ega, a large Anaconda was once near making a meal of 
 a young lad about ten years of age, belonging to one of my 
 neighbours. The father and his son went, as was their custom, 
 a few miles up the Teffe to gather wild fruit; landing on a 
 sloping sandy shore, where the boy was left to mind the canoe 
 whilst the man entered the forest. The beaches of the Teffe 
 form groves of wild guava and myrtle trees, and during most 
 months of the year are partly overflown by the river. Whilst 
 the boy was playing in the water under the shade of these trees, 
 a huge reptile of this species stealthily wound its coils around 
 him, unperceived until it was too late to escape. His cries 
 brought the father quickly to the rescue; who rushed forward, 
 and seizing the Anaconda boldly by the head, tore his jaws 
 asunder. There appears to be no doubt that this formidable 
 serpent grows to an enormous bulk, and lives to a great age, 
 for I heard of specimens having been killed which measured 
 forty-two feet in length, or double the size of the largest I had 
 an opportunity of examining. The natives of the Amazons 
 country universally believe in the existence of a monster water- 
 serpent, said to be many score fathoms in length, which appears 
 successively in different parts of the river. They call it the 
 Mai d'agoa — the mother, or spirit, of the water. This fable, 
 which was doubtless suggested by the occasional appearance of 
 Sucurujus of unusually large size, takes a great variety of 
 forms, and the wild legends form the subject of conversation 
 amongst old and young, over the wood fires in lonely settle- 
 ments. 
 
 August 6th and ytk. — On leaving the sitio of Antonio Mala- 
 gueita we continued our way along the windings of the river, 
 generally in a south-east and south-south-east direction, but 
 sometimes due north, for about fifteen miles, when we stopped 
 at the house of one Paulo Christo, a mameluco whose acquaint- 
 ance I had made at Aveyros. Here we spent the night and 
 part of the next day; doing in the morning a good five hours' 
 work in the forest, accompanied by the owner of the place. In 
 the afternoon of the yth we were again under way: the river 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 235 
 
 makes a bend to the east-north-east for a short distance above 
 Paulo Christo's establishment, it then turns abruptly to the 
 south-west, running from that direction about four miles. The 
 hilly country of the interior then commences: the first token 
 of it being a magnificently-wooded bluff, rising nearly straight 
 from the water to a height of about 250 feet. The breadth of 
 the stream hereabout was not more than sixty yards, and the 
 forest assumed a new appearance from the abundance of the 
 Urucuri palm, a species which has a noble crown of broad 
 fronds, with symmetrical rigid leaflets. 
 
 We reached, in the evening, the house of the last civilised 
 settler on the river, Senhor Joao (John) Aracu, a wiry, active 
 fellow and capital hunter, whom I wished to make a friend of 
 and persuade to accompany me to the Mundurucu village and 
 the falls of the Cupari, some forty miles further up the river. 
 
 I stayed at the sitio of John Aracu until the 19th, and again, 
 in descending, spent fourteen days at the same place. The 
 situation was most favourable for collecting the natural pro- 
 ducts of the district. The forest was not crowded with under- 
 wood, and pathways led through it for many miles and in 
 various directions. I could make no use here of our two men 
 as hunters, so, to keep them employed whilst Jose and I worked 
 daily in the woods, I set them to make a montaria under John 
 Aracu's directions. The first day a suitable tree was found for 
 the shell of the boat, of the kind called Itauba amarello, the 
 yellow variety of the stone-wood. They felled it, and shaped 
 out of the trunk a log nineteen feet in length: this they dragged 
 from the forest, with the help of my host's men, over a road 
 they had previously made with cylindrical pieces of wood to act 
 as rollers. The distance was about half a mile, and the ropes 
 used for drawing the heavy load were tough lianas cut from 
 the surrounding trees. This part of the work occupied about 
 a week: the log had then to be hollowed out, which was done 
 with strong chisels through a slit made down the whole length. 
 The heavy portion of the task being then completed, nothing 
 remained but to widen the opening, fit two planks for the sides 
 and the same number of semicircular boards for the ends, make 
 the benches, and caulk the seams. 
 
 The expanding of the log thus hollowed out is a critical 
 operation, and not always successful, many a good shell being 
 spoilt by its splitting or expanding irregularly. It is first 
 reared on tressels, with the slit downwards, over a large fire, 
 which is kept up for seven or eight hours, the process requiring 
 
236 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 unremitting attention to avoid cracks and make the plank bend 
 with the proper dip at the two ends. Wooden straddlers, made 
 by cleaving pieces of tough elastic wood and fixing them with 
 wedges, are inserted into the opening, their compass being 
 altered gradually as the work goes on, but in different degree 
 according to the part of the boat operated upon. Our casca 
 turned out a good one: it took a long time to cool, and was 
 kept in shape whilst it did so by means of wooden cross-pieces. 
 When the boat was finished it was launched with great merri- 
 ment by the men, who hoisted coloured handkerchiefs for flags, 
 and paddled it up and down the stream to try its capabilities. 
 My people had suffered as much inconvenience from the want 
 of a montaria as myself, so this was a day of rejoicing to all 
 of us. 
 
 I was very successful at this place with regard to the objects 
 of my journey. About twenty new species of fishes and a con- 
 siderable number of small reptiles were added to my collection; 
 but very few birds were met with worth preserving. A great 
 number of the most conspicuous insects of the locality were 
 new to me, and turned out to be species peculiar to this part of 
 the Amazons valley. The most interesting acquisition was a 
 large and handsome monkey, of a species I had not before met 
 with — the white-whiskered Coaita, or spider-monkey (Ateles 
 marginatus). I saw a pair one day in the forest moving slowly 
 along the branches of a lofty tree, and shot one of them; the 
 next day John Aracu brought down another, possibly the com- 
 panion. The species is of about the same size as the common 
 black kind, of which I have given an account in a former 
 chapter, and has a similar lean body, with limbs clothed with 
 coarse black hair; but it differs in having the whiskers and a 
 triangular patch on the crown of the head of a white colour. 
 I thought the meat the best flavoured I had ever tasted. It 
 resembled beef, but had a richer and sweeter taste. During the 
 time of our stay in this part of the Cupari, we could get 
 scarcely anything but fish to eat, and as this diet ill agreed 
 with me, three successive days of it reducing me to a state of 
 great weakness, I was obliged to make the most of our Coaita 
 meat. We smoke-dried the joints instead of salting them; 
 placing them for several hours on a framework of sticks arranged 
 over a fire, a plan adopted by the natives to preserve fish when 
 they have no salt, and which they call " muquiar." Meat 
 putrefies in this climate in less than twenty-four hours, and 
 salting is of no use, unless the pieces are cut in thin slices and 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 237 
 
 dried immediately in the sun. My monkeys lasted me about 
 a fortnight, the last joint being an arm with the clenched fist, 
 which I used with great economy, hanging it in the intervals 
 between my frugal meals on a nail in the cabin. Nothing but the 
 hardest necessity could have driven me so near to cannibalism 
 as this, but we had the greatest difficulty in obtaining here a 
 sufficient supply of animal food. About every three days the 
 work on the montaria had to be suspended, and all hands 
 turned out for the day to hunt and fish, in which they were 
 often unsuccessful, for although there was plenty of game in 
 the forest, it was too widely scattered to be available. Ricardo 
 and Alberto occasionally brought in a tortoise or ant-eater, 
 which served us for one day's consumption. We made acquaint- 
 ance here with many strange dishes, amongst them Iguana eggs ; 
 these are of oblong form, about an inch in length, and covered 
 with a flexible shell. The lizard lays about two score of them 
 in the hollows of trees. They have an oily taste; the men 
 ate them raw, beaten up with farinha, mixing a pinch of salt 
 in the mess; I could only do with them when mixed with 
 Tucupi sauce, of which we had a large jar full always ready to 
 temper unsavoury morsels. 
 
 One day as I was entomologising alone and unarmed, in a dry 
 Ygapo, where the trees were rather wide apart and the ground 
 coated to the depth of eight or ten inches with dead leaves, I 
 was near coming into collision with a boa constrictor. I had 
 just entered a little thicket to capture an insect, and whilst 
 pinning it was rather startled by a rushing noise in the vicinity. 
 I looked up to the sky, thinking a squall was coming on, but 
 not a breath of wind stirred in the tree-tops. On stepping out 
 of the bushes I met face to face a huge serpent coming down a 
 slope, and making the dry twigs crack and fly with his weight 
 as he moved over them. I had very frequently met with a 
 smaller boa, the Cutim-boia, in a similar way, and knew from 
 the habits of the family that there was no danger, so I stood 
 my ground. On seeing me the reptile suddenly turned, and 
 glided at an accelerated pace down the path. Wishing to take 
 a note of his probable size and the colours and markings of his 
 skin, I set off after him; but he increased his speed, and I was 
 unable to get near enough for the purpose. There was very 
 little of the serpentine movement in his course. The rapidly 
 moving and shining body looked like a stream of brown liquid 
 flowing over the thick bed of fallen leaves, rather than a 
 serpent with skin of varied colours. He descended towards the 
 
238 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 lower and moister parts of the Ygapo. The huge trunk of an 
 uprooted tree here lay across the road; this he glided over in 
 his undeviating course, and soon after penetrated a dense 
 swampy thicket, where of course I did not choose to follow 
 him. 
 
 I suffered terribly from heat and mosquitoes as the river 
 sank with the increasing dryness of the season, although I 
 made an awning of the sails to work under, and slept at night 
 in the open air, with my hammock slung between the masts. 
 But there was no rest in any part; the canoe descended deeper 
 and deeper into the gulley, through which the river flows 
 between high clayey banks, as the water subsided, and with 
 the glowing sun overhead we felt at midday as if in a furnace. 
 I could bear scarcely any clothes in the daytime between eleven 
 in the morning and five in the afternoon, wearing nothing but 
 loose and thin cotton trousers and a light straw hat, and could 
 not be accommodated in John Aracu's house, as it was a small 
 one and full of noisy children. One night we had a terrific 
 storm. The heat in the afternoon had been greater than ever, 
 and at sunset the sky had a brassy glare: the black patches of 
 cloud which floated in it being lighted up now and then by 
 flashes of sheet lightning. The mosquitoes at night were more 
 than usually troublesome, and I had just sunk exhausted into 
 a doze towards the early hours of morning when the storm 
 began; a complete deluge of rain, with incessant lightning and 
 rattling explosions of thunder. It lasted for eight hours; the 
 grey dawn opening amidst the crash of the tempest. The rain 
 trickled through the seams of the cabin roof on to my collec- 
 tions, the late hot weather having warped the boards, and it 
 gave me immense trouble to secure them in the midst of the 
 confusion. Altogether I had a bad night of it; but what with 
 storms, heat, mosquitoes, hunger, and, towards the last, ill 
 health, I seldom had a good night's rest on the Cupari. 
 
 A small creek traversed the forest behind John Aracu's 
 house, and entered the river a few yards from our anchoring 
 place; I used to cross it twice a day, on going and returning 
 from my hunting ground. One day early in September, I 
 noticed that the water was two or three inches higher in the 
 afternoon than it had been in the morning. This phenomenon 
 was repeated the next day, and in fact daily, until the creek 
 became dry with the continued subsidence of the Cupari, the 
 time of rising shifting a little from day to day. I pointed out 
 the circumstance to John Aracu, who had not noticed it before 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 239 
 
 (it was only his second year of residence in the locality), but 
 agreed with me that it-must be the "mare." Yes, the tide! 
 the throb of the great oceanic pulse felt in this remote corner, 
 530 miles distant from the place where it first strikes the body 
 of fresh water at the mouth of the Amazons. I hesitated at 
 first at this conclusion, but on reflecting that the tide was 
 known to be perceptible at Obydos, more than 400 miles from 
 the sea; that at high water in the dry season a large flood from 
 the Amazons enters the mouth of the Tapajos, and that there 
 is but a very small difference of level between that point and 
 the Cupari, a fact shown by the absence of current in the dry 
 season; I could have no doubt that this conclusion was a 
 correct one. 
 
 The fact of the tide being felt 530 miles up the Amazons, 
 passing from the main stream to one of its affluents 380 miles 
 from its mouth, and thence to a branch in the third degree, is 
 a proof of the extreme flatness of the land which forms the 
 lower part of the Amazonian valley. This uniformity of level 
 is shown also in the broad lake-like expanses of water formed 
 near their mouths by the principal affluents which cross the 
 valley to join the main river. 
 
 August 21st. — John Aracu consented to accompany me to 
 the falls with one of his men to hunt and fish for me. One of 
 my objects was to obtain specimens of the hyacinthine macaw, 
 whose range commences on all the branch rivers of the Amazons 
 which flow from the south through the interior of Brazil, with 
 the first cataracts. We started on the 19th; our direction on 
 that day being generally south-west. On the 20th our course 
 was southerly and south-easterly. This morning (August 21st) 
 we arrived at the Indian settlement, the first house of which 
 lies about thirty-one miles above the sitio of John Aracu. The 
 river at this place is from sixty to seventy yards wide, and 
 runs in a zigzag course between steep clayey banks, twenty to 
 fifty feet in height. The houses of the Mundurucus, to the 
 number of about thirty, are scattered along the banks for a 
 distance of six or seven miles. The owners appear to have 
 chosen all the most picturesque sites — tracts of level ground 
 at the foot of wooded heights, or little havens with bits of 
 white sandy beach — as if they had an appreciation of natural 
 beauty. Most of the dwellings are conical huts, with walls of 
 framework filled in with mud and thatched with palm leaves, 
 the broad eaves reaching halfway to the ground. Some are 
 quadrangular, and do not differ in structure from those of the 
 
240 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 semi-civilised settlers in other parts; others are open sheds or 
 ranchos. They seem generally to contain not more than one or 
 two families each. 
 
 At the first house we learnt that all the fighting men had 
 this morning returned from a two days' pursuit of a wandering 
 horde of savages of the Pararauate tribe, who had strayed this 
 way from the interior lands and robbed the plantations. A 
 little further on we came to the house of the Tushaua, or chief, 
 situated on the top of a high bank, which we had to ascend by 
 wooden steps. There were four other houses in the neighbour- 
 hood, all filled with people. A fine old fellow, with face, 
 shoulders, and breast tattooed all over in a cross-bar pattern, 
 was the first strange object that caught my eye. Most of the 
 men lay lounging or sleeping in their hammocks. The women 
 were employed in an adjoining shed making farinha, many of 
 them being quite naked, and rushing off to the huts to slip on 
 their petticoats when they caught sight of us. Our entrance 
 aroused the Tushaua from a nap; after rubbing his eyes he 
 came forward and bade us welcome with the most formal polite- 
 ness, and in very good Portuguese. He was a tall, broad- 
 shouldered, well-made man, apparently about thirty years of 
 age, with handsome regular features, not tattooed, and a quiet 
 good-humoured expression of countenance. He had been several 
 times to Santarem and once to Para, learning the Portuguese 
 language during these journeys. He was dressed in shirt and 
 trousers made of blue-checked cotton cloth, and there was not 
 the slightest trace of the savage in his appearance or demeanour. 
 I was told that he had come into the chieftainship by inheritance, 
 and that the Cupari horde of Mundurucus, over which his fathers 
 had ruled before him, was formerly much more numerous, 
 furnishing 300 bows in time of war. They could now scarcely 
 muster forty; but the horde has no longer a close political 
 connection with the main body of the tribe, which inhabits 
 the banks of the Tapajos, six days' journey from the Cupari 
 settlement. 
 
 I spent the remainder of the day here, sending Aracu and 
 the men to fish, whilst I amused myself with the Tushaua and 
 his people. A few words served to explain my errand on the 
 river; he comprehended at once why white men should admire 
 and travel to collect the beautiful birds and animals of his 
 country, and neither he nor his people spoke a single word 
 about trading, or gave us any trouble by coveting the things 
 we had brought. He related to me the events of the preceding 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 241 
 
 three days. The Pararauates were a tribe of intractable savages, 
 with whom the Mundurucus have been always at war. They 
 had no fixed abode, and of course made no plantations, but 
 passed their lives like the wild beasts, roaming through the 
 forest, guided by the sun: wherever they found themselves at 
 night-time there they slept, slinging their bast hammocks, 
 which are carried by the women, to the trees. They cross the 
 streams which lie in their course in bark canoes, which they 
 make on reaching the water, and cast away after landing on the 
 opposite side. The tribe is very numerous, but the different 
 hordes obey only their own chieftains. The Mundurucus of 
 the upper Tapajos have an expedition on foot against them at 
 the present time, and the Tushaua supposed that the horde 
 which had just been chased from his maloca were fugitives 
 from that direction. There were about a hundred of them — 
 including men, women, and children. Before they were dis- 
 covered the hungry savages had uprooted all the macasheira, 
 sweet potatoes, and sugar cane, which the industrious Mundu- 
 rucus had planted for the season, on the east side of the river. 
 As soon as they were seen they made off, but the Tushaua 
 quickly got together all the young men of the settlement, 
 about thirty in number, who armed themselves with guns, 
 bows and arrows, and javelins, and started in pursuit. They 
 tracked them, as before related, for two days through the forest, 
 but lost their traces on the further bank of the Cuparitinga, 
 a branch stream flowing from the north-east. The pursuers 
 thought, at one time, they were close upon them, having found 
 the unextinguished fire of their last encampment. The foot- 
 marks of the chief could be distinguished from the rest by their 
 great size and the length of the stride. A small necklace made 
 of scarlet beans was the only trophy of the expedition, and this 
 the Tushaua gave to me. 
 
 I saw very little of the other male Indians, as they were 
 asleep in their huts all the afternoon. There were two other 
 tattooed men lying under an open shed, besides the old man 
 already mentioned. One of them presented a strange appear- 
 ance, having a semicircular black patch in the middle of his 
 face, covering the bottom of the nose and mouth; crossed lines 
 on his back and breast, and stripes down his arms and legs. 
 It is singular that the graceful curved patterns used by the 
 South Sea Islanders are quite unknown among the Brazilian 
 red men; they being all tattooed either in simple lines or 
 patches. The nearest approach to elegance of design which I 
 
242 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 saw, was amongst the Tucunas of the Upper Amazons, some of 
 whom have a scroll-like mark on each cheek, proceeding from 
 the corner of the mouth. The taste, as far as form is con- 
 cerned, of the American Indian, would seem to be far less 
 refined than that of the Tahitian and New Zealander. 
 
 To amuse the Tushaua, I fetched from the canoe the two 
 volumes of Knight's Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature. 
 The engravings quite took his fancy, and he called his wives, 
 of whom, as I afterwards learnt from Aracu, he had three or 
 four, to look at them; one of them was a handsome girl, 
 decorated with necklace and bracelets of blue beads. In a short 
 time others left their work, and I then had a crowd of women 
 and children around me, who all displayed unusual curiosity 
 for Indians. It was no light task to go through the whole of 
 the illustrations, but they would not allow me to miss a page, 
 making me turn back when I tried to skip. The pictures of 
 the elephant, camels, orang-otangs, and tigers, seemed most to 
 astonish them; but they were interested in almost everything, 
 down even to the shells and insects. They recognised the 
 portraits of the most striking birds and mammals which are 
 found in their own country; the jaguar, howling monkeys, 
 parrots, trogons, and toucans. The elephant was settled to be 
 a large kind of Tapir; but they made but few remarks, and 
 those in the Mundurucu language, of which I understood only 
 two or three words. Their way of expressing surprise was a 
 clicking sound made with the teeth, similar to the one we our- 
 selves use, or a subdued exclamation, Hm! hm! Before I 
 finished, from fifty to sixty had assembled; there was no push- 
 ing or rudeness, the grown-up women letting the young girls 
 and children stand before them, and all behaved in the most 
 quiet and orderly manner possible. 
 
 The Mundurucus are perhaps the most numerous and formid- 
 able tribe of Indians now surviving in the Amazons region. 
 They inhabit the shores of the Tapajos (chiefly the right bank), 
 from 3 to 7 south latitude, and the interior of the country 
 between that part of the river and the Madeira. On the Tapajos 
 alone they can muster, I was told, 2000 fighting men; the total 
 population of the tribe may be about 20,000. They were not 
 heard of until about ninety years ago, when they made war 
 on the Portuguese settlements; their hosts crossing the interior 
 of the country eastward of the Tapajos, and attacking the 
 establishments of the whites in the province of Maranham. 
 The Portuguese made peace with them in the beginning of the 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 243 
 
 present century, the event being brought about by the common 
 cause of quarrel entertained by the two peoples against the 
 hated Muras. They have ever since been firm friends of the 
 whites. It is remarkable how faithfully this friendly feeling 
 has been handed down amongst the Mundurucus, and spread 
 to the remotest of the scattered hordes. Wherever a white 
 man meets a family, or even an individual of the tribe, he is 
 almost sure to be reminded of this alliance. They are the 
 most warlike of the Brazilian tribes, and are considered also 
 the most settled and industrious; they are not, however,, 
 superior in this latter respect to the Juris and Passes on the 
 Upper Amazons, or the Uapes Indians near the head waters of 
 the Rio Negro. They make very large plantations of mandioca, 
 and sell the surplus produce, which amounts on the Tapajos to 
 from 3000 to 5000 baskets (60 lbs. each) annually, to traders 
 who ascend the river from Santarem between the months of 
 August and January. They also gather large quantities of 
 sarsaparilla, India-rubber, and Tonka beans, in the forests. 
 The traders, on their arrival at the Campinas (the scantily 
 wooded region inhabited by the main body of Mundurucus 
 beyond the cataracts) have first to distribute their wares — 
 cheap cotton cloths, iron hatchets, cutlery, small wares, and 
 cashaca — amongst the minor chiefs, and then wait three or 
 four months for repayment in produce. 
 
 A rapid change is taking place in the habits of these Indians 
 through frequent intercourse with the whites, and those who 
 dwell on the banks of the Tapajos now seldom tattoo their 
 children. The principal Tushaua of the whole tribe or nation, 
 named Joaquim, was rewarded with a commission in the 
 Brazilian army, in acknowledgment of the assistance he gave 
 to the legal authorities during the rebellion of 1835-6. It would 
 be a misnomer to call the Mundurucus of the Cupari and many 
 parts of the Tapajos, savages; their regular mode of life, agri- 
 cultural habits, loyalty to their chiefs, fidelity to treaties, and 
 gentleness of demeanour, give them a right to a better title. 
 Yet they show no aptitude for the civilised life of towns, and, 
 like the rest of the Brazilian tribes, seem incapable of any 
 further advance in culture. In their former wars they exter- 
 minated two of the neighbouring peoples, the Jumas and the 
 Jacares; and make now an annual expedition against the Para- 
 rauates, and one or two other similar wild tribes who inhabit 
 the interior of the land, but are sometimes driven by hunger 
 towards the banks of the great rivers to rob the plantations of 
 
244 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the agricultural Indians. These campaigns begin in July, and 
 last throughout the dry months; the women generally accom- 
 panying the warriors to carry their arrows and javelins. They 
 had the diabolical custom, in former days, of cutting off the 
 heads of their slain enemies, and preserving them as trophies 
 around their houses. I believe this, together with other savage 
 practices, has been relinquished in those parts where they have 
 had long intercourse with the Brazilians, for I could neither 
 see nor hear anything of these preserved heads. They used to 
 sever the head with knives made of broad bamboo, and then, 
 after taking out the brain and fleshy parts, soak it in bitter 
 vegetable oil (andiroba), and expose it for several days over 
 the smoke of a fire or in the sun. In the tract of country 
 between the Tapajos and the Madeira, a deadly war has been 
 for many years carried on between the Mundurucus and the 
 Araras. I was told by a Frenchman at Santarem, who had 
 visited that part, that all the settlements there have a military 
 organisation. A separate shed is built outside each village, 
 where the fighting men sleep at night, sentinels being stationed 
 to give the alarm with blasts of the Ture on the approach of 
 the Araras, who choose the night for their onslaughts. 
 
 Each horde of Mundurucus has its paje or medicine man, 
 who is the priest and doctor; fixes upon the time most pro- 
 pitious for attacking the enemy; exorcises evil spirits, and 
 professes to cure the sick. All illness whose origin is not very 
 apparent is supposed to be caused by a worm in the part affected. 
 This the paje pretends to extract; he blows on the seat of pain 
 the smoke from a large cigar, made with an air of great mystery 
 by rolling tobacco in folds of Tauari, and then sucks the place, 
 drawing from his mouth, when he has finished, what he pretends 
 to be the worm. It is a piece of very clumsy conjuring. One 
 of these pajes was sent for by a woman in John Aracu's family, 
 to operate on a child who suffered much from pains in the head. 
 Senhor John contrived to get possession of the supposed worm 
 after the trick was performed in our presence, and it turned 
 out to be a long white air-root of some plant. The paje was 
 with difficulty persuaded to operate whilst Senhor John and I 
 were present. I cannot help thinking that he, as well as all 
 others of the same profession, are conscious impostors, handing 
 down the shallow secret of their divinations and tricks from 
 generation to generation. The institution seems to be common 
 to all tribes of Indians, and to be held to more tenaciously 
 than any other. 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 245^ 
 
 I bought of the Tushaua two beautiful feather sceptres, with 
 their bamboo cases. These are of cylindrical shape, about three 
 feet in length and three inches in diameter, and are made by- 
 gluing with wax the fine white and yellow feathers from the 
 breast of the toucan on stout rods, the tops being ornamented 
 with long plumes from the tails of parrots, trogons, and other 
 birds. The Mundurucus are considered to be the most expert 
 workers in feathers of all the South American tribes. It is 
 very difficult, however, to get them to part with the articles, 
 as they seem to have a sort of superstitious regard for them. 
 They manufacture head-dresses, sashes and tunics, besides 
 sceptres; the feathers being assorted with a good eye to the 
 proper contrast of colours, and the quills worked into strong 
 cotton webs, woven with knitting sticks in the required shape. 
 The dresses are worn only during their festivals, which are 
 celebrated, not at stated times, but whenever the Tushaua 
 thinks fit. Dancing, singing, sports, and drinking, appear to 
 be the sole objects of these occasional holidays. When a day 
 is fixed upon, the women prepare a great quantity of taroba, 
 and the monotonous jingle is kept up, with little intermission, 
 night and day until the stimulating beverage is finished. 
 
 We left the Tushaua's house early the next morning. The 
 impression made upon me by the glimpse of Indian life in its 
 natural state obtained here, and at another cluster of houses 
 visited higher up, was a pleasant one, notwithstanding the 
 disagreeable incident of the Pararauate visit. The Indians are 
 here seen to the best advantage; having relinquished many of 
 their most barbarous practices, without being corrupted by too 
 close contact with the inferior whites and half-breeds of the 
 civilised settlements. The manners are simpler, the demeanour 
 more gentle, cheerful, and frank, than amongst the Indians 
 who live near the towns. I could not help contrasting their 
 well-fed condition, and the signs of orderly, industrious habits, 
 with the poverty and laziness of the semi-civilised people of 
 Altar do Chao. I do not think that the introduction of liquors 
 has been the cause of much harm to the Brazilian Indian. 
 He has his drinking bout now and then, like the common 
 working people of other countries. It was his habit in his 
 original state, before Europeans visited his country; but he is 
 always ashamed of it afterwards, and remains sober during 
 the pretty long intervals. The harsh, slave-driving practices of 
 the Portuguese and their descendants have been the greatest 
 curses to the Indians; the Mundurucus of the Cupari, how- 
 
246 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 ever, have been now for many years protected against ill- 
 treatment. This is one of the good services rendered by the 
 missionaries, who take care that the Brazilian laws in favour 
 of the aborigines shall be respected by the brutal and un- 
 principled traders who go amongst them. I think no Indians 
 could be in a happier position than these simple, peaceful, and 
 friendly people on the banks of the Cupari. The members of 
 each family live together, and seem to be much attached to 
 each other; and the authority of the chief is exercised in the 
 mildest manner. Perpetual summer reigns around them; the 
 land is of the highest fertility, and a moderate amount of light 
 work produces them all the necessaries of their simple life. It 
 is difficult to get at their notions on subjects that require a 
 little abstract thought; but the mind of the Indian is in a 
 very primitive condition. I believe he thinks of nothing except 
 the matters that immediately concern his daily material wants. 
 There is an almost total absence of curiosity in his mental 
 disposition, consequently he troubles himself very little concern- 
 ing the causes of the natural phenomena around him. He has 
 no idea of a Supreme Being; but, at the same time, he is free 
 from revolting superstitions — his religious notions going no 
 farther than the belief in an evil spirit, regarded merely as a 
 kind of hobgoblin, who is at the bottom of all his little failures, 
 troubles in fishing, hunting, and so forth. With so little mental 
 activity, and with feelings and passions slow of excitement, the 
 life of these people is naturally monotonous and dull, and their 
 virtues are, properly speaking, only negative; but the picture 
 of harmless homely contentment they exhibit is very pleasing, 
 compared with the state of savage races in many other parts of 
 the world. 
 
 The men awoke me at four o'clock with the sound of their 
 oars on leaving the port of the Tushaua. I was surprised to 
 find a dense fog veiling all surrounding objects, and the air 
 quite cold. The lofty wall of forest, with the beautiful crowns 
 of Assai palms standing out from it on their slender, arching 
 stems, looked dim and strange through the misty curtain. 
 The sudden change a little after sunrise had quite a magical 
 effect; for the mist rose up like the gauze veil before the 
 transformation scene at a pantomime, and showed the glorious 
 foliage in the bright glow of morning, glittering with dew 
 drops. We arrived at the falls about ten o'clock. The river 
 here is not more than forty yards broad, and falls over a low 
 ledge of rock stretching in a nearly straight line across. 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 247 
 
 We had now arrived at the end of the navigation for large 
 vessels — a distance from the mouth of the river, according to a 
 rough calculation, of a little over seventy miles. I found it 
 the better course now to send Jose and one of the men forward 
 in the montaria with John Aracu, and remain myself with the 
 cuberta and our other man, to collect in the neighbouring 
 forest. We stayed here four days; one of the boats returning 
 each evening from the upper river with the produce of the 
 day's chase of my huntsmen. I obtained six good specimens 
 of the hyacinthine macaw, besides a number of smaller birds, 
 a species new to me of Guariba, or howling monkey, and two 
 large lizards. The Guariba was an old male, with the hair 
 much worn from his rump and breast, and his body disfigured 
 with large tumours made by the grubs of a gad-fly (Oestrus). 
 The back and tail were of a ruddy-brown colour; the limbs 
 and underside of the body, black. The men ascended to the 
 second falls, which form a cataract several feet in height, about 
 fifteen miles beyond our anchorage. The macaws were found 
 feeding in small flocks on the fruit of the Tucuma palm 
 (Astryocaryum Tucuma), the excessively hard nut of which is 
 crushed into pulp by the powerful beak of the bird. I found 
 the craws of all the specimens filled with the sour paste to 
 which the stone-like fruit had been reduced. Each bird took 
 me three hours to skin, and I was occupied with these and my 
 other specimens every evening until midnight, after rav own 
 laborious day's hunt; working on the roof of my cabin by the 
 light of a lamp. 
 
 The place where the cuberta was anchored formed a little 
 rocky haven, with a sandy beach sloping to the forest, withm 
 which were the ruins of an Indian Maloca, and a large weed- 
 grown plantation. The port swarmed with fishes, whose move- 
 ments it was amusing to watch in the deep, clear water. The 
 most abundant were the Piranhas. One species, which varied 
 in length, according to age, from two to six inches, but was 
 recognisable by a black spot at the root of the tail, was always 
 the quickest to seize any fragment of meat thrown into the 
 water. When nothing was being given to them, a few only 
 were seen scattered about, their heads all turned one way in 
 an attitude of expectation; but as soon as any offal fell from 
 the canoe, the water was blackened with the shoals that rushed 
 instantaneously to the spot. Those who did not succeed in 
 securing a fragment, fought with those who had been more 
 successful, and many contrived to steal the coveted morsels 
 
248 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 from their mouths. When a bee or fly passed through the air 
 near the water, they all simultaneously darted towards it 
 -as if roused by an electric shock. Sometimes a larger fish 
 approached, and then the host of Piranhas took the alarm and 
 flashed out of sight. The population of the water varied from 
 day to day. Once a small shoal of a handsome black-banded 
 fish, called by the natives Acara bandeira (Mesonauta insignis, 
 of Gimther), came gliding through at a slow pace, forming a 
 very pretty sight. At another time, little troops of needle-fish, 
 eel-like animals with excessively long and slender toothed jaws, 
 sailed through the field, scattering before them the hosts of 
 smaller fry; and in the rear of the needle-fishes a strangely- 
 
 Acara (Mesonauta insignis). 
 
 shaped kind called Sarapo came wriggling along, one by one, 
 with a slow movement. We caught with hook and line, baited 
 with pieces of banana, several Curimata (Anodus Amazonum), 
 a most delicious fish, which, next to the Tucunare and the 
 Pescada, is most esteemed by the natives. The Curimata 
 seemed to prefer the middle of the stream, where the waters 
 were agitated beneath the little cascade. 
 
 The weather was now settled and dry, and the river sank 
 Tapidly — six inches in twenty-four hours. In this remote and 
 solitary spot I can say that I heard for the first and almost the 
 only time the uproar of life at sunset, which Humboldt describes 
 as having witnessed towards the sources of the Orinoco, but 
 which is unknown on the banks of the larger rivers. The noises 
 of animals began just as the sun sank behind the trees after a 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 249 
 
 sweltering afternoon, leaving the sky above of the intensest 
 
 shade of blue. Two flocks of howling monkeys, one close to- 
 
 our canoe, the other about a furlong distant, filled the 
 
 echoing forests with their dismal roaring. Troops of 
 
 parrots, including the hyacinthine macaw we were in 
 
 search of, began then to pass over; the different styles 
 
 of cawing and screaming of the various species making 
 
 a terrible discord. Added to these noises were the 
 
 songs of strange Cicadas, one large kind perched high 
 
 on the trees around our little haven setting up a most 
 
 piercing chirp; it began with the usual harsh jarring 
 
 tone of its tribe, but this gradually and rapidly became 
 
 shriller, until it ended in a long and loud note resembling 
 
 the steam-whistle of a locomotive engine. Half-a-dozen 
 
 of these wonderful performers made a considerable item 
 
 in the evening concert. I had heard the same species 
 
 before at Para, but it was there very uncommon: we 
 
 obtained here one of them for my collection 
 
 by a lucky blow with a stone. The uproar 
 
 of beasts, birds, and insects lasted but a 
 
 short time : the sky quickly lost its intense 
 
 hue, and the night set in. Then began the 
 
 tree-frogs — quack-quack, drum-drum, hoo- 
 
 hoo; these, accompanied by a melancholy 
 
 night-jar, kept up their monotonous cries 
 
 until very late. 
 
 My men encountered on the banks of the 
 stream a Jaguar and a black Tiger, and 
 were very much afraid of falling in with 
 the Pararauates, so that I could not, after 
 their return on the fourth day, induce them 
 to undertake another journey. We began 
 our descent of the river in the evening of 
 the 26th of August. At night forest and 
 river were again enveloped in mist, and the 
 air before sunrise was quite cold. There is 
 a considerable current from the falls to the 
 house of John Aracu, and we accomplished 
 the distance, with its aid and by rowing, 
 in seventeen hours. Sarap6 
 
 September 21st.— At five o'clock in the (Carapus). 
 afternoon we emerged from the confined 
 and stifling gully through which the Cupari flows, into the broad 
 
250 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 Tapajos, and breathed freely again. How I enjoyed the ex- 
 tensive view after being so long pent up: the mountainous 
 coasts, the grey distance, the dark waters tossed by a refreshing 
 breeze! Heat, mosquitoes, insufficient and bad food, hard 
 work and anxiety, had brought me to a very low state of health; 
 and I was now anxious to make all speed back to Santarem. 
 
 We touched at Aveyros, to embark some chests I had left 
 there and to settle accounts with Captain Antonio: finding 
 nearly all the people sick with fever and vomit, agaiist which 
 the Padre's homoeopathic globules were of no a 'ail. The 
 Tapajos had been pretty free from epidemics for sone years 
 past, although it was formerly a very unhealthy river. A 
 sickly time appeared to be now returning: in fact, the year 
 following my visit (1853) was the most fatal one ever experienced 
 in this part of the country. A kind of putrid fever broke out, 
 which attacked people of all races alike. The accounts we 
 received at Santarem were most distressing: my Cupari friends 
 especially suffered very severely. John Aracu and his family 
 all fell victims, with the exception of his wife: my kind friend 
 Antonio Malagueita also died, and a great number of people in 
 the Mundurucu village. 
 
 The descent of the Tapajos in the height of the dry season, 
 which was now close at hand, is very hazardous on account 
 of the strong winds, absence of current, and shoaly water far 
 away from the coasts. The river towards the end of September 
 is about thirty feet shallower than in June; and in many 
 places, ledges of rock are laid bare, or covered with only a small 
 depth of water. I had been warned of these circumstances by 
 my Cupari friends, but did not form an adequate idea of what 
 we should have to undergo. Canoes, in descending, only travel 
 at night, when the terral, or light land-breeze, blows off the 
 eastern shore. In the day-time a strong wind rages from 
 down river, against which it is impossible to contend, as there 
 is no current, and the swell raised by its sweeping over scores 
 of miles of shallow water is dangerous to small vessels. The 
 coast for the greater part of the distance affords no shelter: 
 there are, however, a number of little harbours, called esperas, 
 which the canoe-men calculate upon, carefully arranging each 
 night-voyage so as to reach one of them before the wind begins 
 the next morning. 
 
 We left Aveyros in the evening of the 21st, and sailed gently 
 down with the soft land-breeze, keeping about a mile from the 
 eastern shore. It was a brilliant moonlit night, and the men 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 251 
 
 worked cheerfully at the oars, when the wind was slack; the 
 terral wafting from the forest a pleasant perfume like that of 
 mignonette. At midnight we made a fire and got a cup of 
 coffee, and at three o'clock in the morning reached the sitio of 
 Ricardo's father, an Indian named Andre, where we anchored 
 and slept. 
 
 September 22nd. — Old Andre with his squaw came aboard 
 this morning. They brought three Tracajas, a turtle, and a 
 basketful of Tracaja eggs, to exchange with me for cotton cloth 
 and cashaca. Ricardo, who had been for some time very dis- 
 contented, having now satisfied his longing to see his parents, 
 cheerfully agreed to accompany me to Santarem. The loss of 
 a man at this juncture would have been very annoying, with 
 Captain Antonio ill at Aveyros, and not a hand to be had 
 anywhere in the neighbourhood; but if we had not called at 
 Andre's sitio, we should not have been able to have kept 
 Ricardo from running away at the first landing-place. He was 
 a lively, restless lad, and although impudent and troublesome 
 at first, had made a very good servant; his companion, Alberto, 
 was of quite a different disposition, being extremely taciturn, 
 and going through all his duties with the quietest regularity. 
 
 We left at 11 a.m., and progressed a little before the wind 
 began to blow from down river, when we were obliged again to 
 cast anchor. The terral began at six o'clock in the evening, 
 and we sailed with it past the long line of rock-bound coast near 
 Itapuama. At ten o'clock a furious blast of wind came from 
 a cleft between the hills, catching us with the sails close-hauled, 
 and throwing the canoe nearly on its beam-ends, when we were 
 about a mile from the shore. Jose had the presence of mind 
 to slacken the sheet of the mainsail, whilst I leapt forward and 
 lowered the sprit of the foresail; the two Indians standing 
 stupefied in the prow. It was what the canoe-men call a 
 trovoada secca or white squall. The river in a few minutes 
 became a sheet of foam ; the wind ceased in about half an hour, 
 but the terral was over for the night, so we pulled towards the 
 shore to find an anchoring place. 
 
 We reached Tapaiuna by midnight on the 23rd, and on the 
 morning of the 24th arrived at the Retiro, where we met a 
 shrewd Santarem trader, whom I knew, Senhor Chico Honorio, 
 who had a larger and much better provided canoe than our own. 
 The wind was strong from below all day, so we remained at 
 this place in his company. He had his wife with him, and a 
 number of Indians, male and female. We slung our hammocks 
 
252 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 under the trees, and breakfasted and dined together, our cloth 
 being spread on the sandy beach in the shade; after killing a t 
 large quantity of fish with iimbd, of which we had obtained a 
 supply at Itapuama. At night we were again under way with 
 the land breeze. The water was shoaly to a great distance off 
 the coast, and our canoe having the lighter draught went ahead, 
 our leadsman crying out the soundings to our companion: the 
 depth was only one fathom, half a mile from the coast. We 
 spent the next day (25th) at the mouth of a creek called Pini, 
 which is exactly opposite the village of Boim, and on the follow- 
 ing night advanced about twelve miles. Every point of land 
 had a long spit of sand stretching one or two miles towards the 
 middle of the river, which it was necessary to double by a wide 
 circuit. The terral failed us at midnight when we were near 
 an espera, called Mara'i, the mouth of a shallow creek. 
 
 September 26th. — I did not like the prospect of spending the 
 whole dreary day at Mara'i, where it was impossible to ramble 
 ashore, the forest being utterly impervious, and the land still 
 partly under water. Besides, we had used up our last stick of 
 firewood to boil our coffee at sunrise, and could not get a fresh 
 supply at this place. So there being a dead calm on the river 
 in the morning, I gave orders at ten o'clock to move out of 
 the harbour, and try with the oars to reach Paquiatuba, which 
 was only five miles distant. We had doubled the shoaly point 
 which stretches from the mouth of the creek, and were making 
 way merrily across the bay, at the head of which was the port 
 of the little settlement, when we beheld to our dismay, a few 
 miles down the river, the signs of the violent day breeze coming 
 down upon us — a long, rapidly advancing line of foam with the 
 darkened water behind it. Our men strove in vain to gain the 
 harbour; the wind overtook us, and we cast anchor in three 
 fathoms, with two miles of shoaly water between us and the 
 land on our lee. It came with the force of a squall : the heavy 
 billows washing over the vessel and drenching us with the 
 spray. I did not expect that our anchor would hold; I gave 
 out, however, plenty of cable and watched the result at the 
 prow; Jose placing himself at the helm, and the men standing 
 by the jib and foresail, so as to be ready if we dragged to 
 attempt the passage of the Mara'i spit, which was now almost 
 dead to leeward. Our little bit of iron, however, held its place ; 
 the bottom being fortunately not so sandy as in most other 
 parts of the coast; but our weak cable then began to cause us 
 .anxiety. We remained in this position all day without food, 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 253 
 
 for everything was tossing about in the hold; provision-chests, 
 baskets, kettles, and crockery. The breeze increased in strength 
 towards the evening, when the sun set fiery red behind the 
 misty hills on the western shore, and the gloom of the scene 
 was heightened by the strange contrasts of colour; the inkv 
 water and the lurid gleam of the sky. Heavy seas beat now 
 and then against the prow of our vessel with a force that made 
 her shiver. If we had gone ashore in this place, all my precious 
 collections would have been inevitably lost; but we ourselves 
 could have scrambled easily to land, and re-embarked with 
 Senhor Honorio, who had remained behind in the Pini, and 
 would pass in the course of two or three days. When night 
 came I lay down exhausted with watching and fatigue, and fell 
 asleep, as my men had done some time before. About nine 
 o'clock, I was awoke by the montaria bumping against the 
 sides of the vessel, which had veered suddenly round, and the 
 full moon, previously astern, then shone full in the cabin. The 
 wind had abruptly ceased, giving place to light puffs from the 
 eastern shore, and leaving a long swell rolling into the shoaly 
 bay. 
 
 After this I resolved not to move a step beyond Paquiatuba 
 without an additional man, and one who understood the navi- 
 gation of the river at this season. We reached the landing- 
 place at ten o'clock, and anchored within the mouth of the 
 creek. In the morning I walked through the beautiful shady 
 alleys of the forest, which were water-paths in June when we 
 touched here in ascending the river, to the house of Inspector 
 Cypriano. After an infinite deal of trouble I succeeded in 
 persuading him to furnish me with another Indian. There are 
 about thirty families established in this place, but the able- 
 bodied men had been nearly all drafted off within the last few 
 weeks by the Government, to accompany a military expedition 
 against runaway negroes, settled in villages in the interior. 
 Senhor Cypriano was a pleasant-looking and extremely civil 
 young Mameluco. He accompanied us, on the night of the 
 28th, five miles down the river to Point Jaguarari, where the 
 man lived whom he intended to send with me. I was glad to 
 find my new hand a steady, middle-aged and married Indian; 
 his name was of very good promise, Angelo Custodio (Guardian 
 Angel). 
 
 Point Jaguarari forms at this season of the year a high sand- 
 bank, which is prolonged as a narrow spit, stretching about 
 three miles towards the middle of the river. We rounded this 
 
254 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 with great difficulty in the night of the 29th; reaching before 
 daylight a good shelter behind a similar sandbank at Point 
 Acaratingari, a headland situated not more than five miles in 
 a straight line from our last anchoring place. We remained 
 here all day: the men beating timbd in a quiet pool between 
 the sandbank and the mainland, and obtaining a great quantity 
 of fish, from which I selected six species new to my collection. 
 We made rather better progress the two following nights, but 
 the terral now always blew strongly from the north-north-east 
 after midnight, and thus limited the hours during which we 
 could navigate, forcing us to seek the nearest shelter to avoid 
 being driven back faster than we came. 
 
 On the 2nd of October we reached Point Cajetuba, and had 
 a pleasant day ashore. The river scenery in this neighbour- 
 hood is of the greatest beauty. A few houses of settlers are 
 seen at the bottom of the broad bay of Aramana-i at the foot 
 of a range of richly-timbered hills, the high beach of snow- 
 white sand stretching in a bold curve from point to point. The 
 opposite shores of the river are ten or eleven miles distant, but 
 towards the north is a clear horizon of water and sky. The 
 country near Point Cajetuba is similar to the neighbourhood 
 of Santarem: namely, campos with scattered trees. We 
 gathered a large quantity of wild fruit: Caju, Umiri, and 
 Aapiranga. The Umiri berry (Humirium floribundum) is a 
 black drupe similar in appearance to the Damascene plum, and 
 not greatly unlike it in taste. The Aapiranga is a bright ver- 
 milion-coloured berry, with a hard skin and a sweet viscid pulp 
 enclosing the seeds. Between the point and Altar do Chao was 
 a long stretch of sandy beach with moderately deep water; our 
 men, therefore, took a rope ashore and towed the cuberta at 
 merry speed until we reached the village. A long, deeply- 
 laden canoe with miners from the interior provinces here passed 
 us. It was manned by ten Indians, who propelled the boat 
 by poles; the men, five on each side, trotting one after the 
 other along a plank arranged for the purpose from stem to stern. 
 
 It took us two nights to double Point Cururu, where, as 
 already mentioned, the river bends from its northerly course 
 beyond Altar do Chao. A confused pile of rocks, on which 
 many a vessel heavily laden with farinha has been wrecked, 
 extends at the season of low water from the foot of a high 
 bluff far into the stream. We were driven back on the first 
 night (October 3rd) by a squall. The light terral was carry- 
 ing us pleasantly round the spit, when a small black cloud 
 
Voyage up the Tapajos 255 
 
 which lay near the rising moon suddenly spread over the sky 
 to the northward; the land breeze then ceased, and furious 
 blasts began to blow across the river. We regained, with great 
 difficulty, the shelter of the point. It blew almost a hurricane 
 for two hours, during the whole of which time the sky over 
 our heads was beautifully clear and starlit. Our shelter at first 
 was not very secure, for the wind blew away the lashings of 
 our sails, and caused our anchor to drag. Angelo Custodio, 
 however, seized a rope which was attached to the foremast and 
 leapt ashore; had he not done so, we should probably have been 
 driven many miles backwards up the storm-tossed river. After 
 the cloud had passed, the regular east wind began to blow, and 
 our further progress was effectually stopped for the night. The 
 next day we all went ashore, after securing well the canoe, and 
 slept from eleven o'clock till five under the shade of trees. 
 
 The distance between Point Cururu and Santarem was accom- 
 plished in three days, against the same difficulties of contrary 
 and furious winds, shoaly water, and rocky coasts. I was 
 thankful at length to be safely housed, with the whole of my 
 collections, made under so many privations and perils, landed 
 without the loss or damage of a specimen. The men, after un- 
 loading the canoe and delivering it to its owner, came to receive 
 their payment. They took part in goods and part in money, 
 and after a good supper, on the night of the 7th October, 
 shouldered their bundles and set off to walk by land some 
 eighty miles to their homes. I was rather surprised at the 
 good feeling exhibited by these poor Indians at parting. Angelo 
 Custodio said that whenever I should wish to make another 
 voyage up the Tapajos, he would be always ready to serve me 
 as pilot. Alberto was undemonstrative as usual; but Ricardo, 
 with whom I had had many sharp quarrels, actually shed tears 
 when he shook hands and bid me the final " adeos." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE UPPER AMAZONS — VOYAGE TO EGA 
 
 Departure from Barra — First Day and Night on the Upper Amazons — 
 Desolate Appearance of River in the Flood Season — Cucama Indians 
 — Mental Condition of Indians — Squalls — Manatee — Forest — Float- 
 ing Pumice-stones from the Andes — Falling Banks — Ega and its 
 Inhabitants — Daily Life of a Naturalist at Ega — The Four Seasons of 
 the Upper Amazons 
 
 I must now take the reader from the picturesque, hilly country 
 of the Tapajos, and its dark, streamless waters, to the boundless 
 wooded plains, and yellow turbid current of the Upper Amazons 
 or Solimoens. I will resume the narrative of my first voyage 
 up the river, which was interrupted at the Barra of the Rio 
 Negro in the seventh chapter to make way for the description of 
 Santarem and its neighbourhood. 
 
 I embarked at Barra on the 26th of March, 1850, three years 
 before steamers were introduced on the upper river, in a cuberta 
 which was returning to Ega, the first and only town of any 
 importance in the vast solitudes of the Solimoens, from San- 
 tarem, whither it had been sent with a cargo of turtle oil in 
 earthenware jars. The owner, an old white-haired Portuguese 
 trader of Ega named Daniel Cardozo, was then at Barra, attend- 
 ing the assizes as juryman, a public duty performed without 
 remuneration, which took him six weeks away from his business. 
 He was about to leave Barra himself, in a small boat, and 
 recommended me to send forward my heavy baggage in the 
 cuberta and make the journey with him. He would reach Ega, 
 370 miles distant from Barra, in twelve or fourteen days; whilst 
 the large vessel would be thirty or forty days on the road. I 
 preferred, however, to go in company with my luggage, looking 
 forward to the many opportunities I should have of landing and 
 making collections on the banks of the river. 
 
 I shipped the collections made between Para and the Rio 
 Negro in a large cutter which was about descending to the 
 capital, and after a heavy day's work got all my chests aboard 
 the Ega canoe by eight o'clock at night. The Indians were 
 then all embarked, one of them being brought dead drunk by 
 
 256 
 
Voyage to Ega 257 
 
 his companions, and laid to sober himself all night on the wet 
 boards of the tombadilha. The cabo, a spirited young white, 
 named Estulano Alves Carneiro, who has since risen to be a 
 distinguished citizen of the new province of the Upper Amazons, 
 soon after gave orders to get up the anchor. The men took 
 to the oars, and in a few hours we crossed the broad mouth of 
 the Rio Negro; the night being clear, calm, and starlit, and 
 the surface of the inky waters smooth as a lake. 
 
 When I awoke the next morning, we were progressing by 
 espia along the left bank of the Solimoens. The rainy season 
 had now set in over the region through which the great river 
 flows; the sand-banks and all the lower lands were already 
 under water, and the tearing current, two or three miles in 
 breadth, bore along a continuous line of uprooted trees and 
 islets of floating plants. The prospect was most melancholy; 
 no sound was heard but the dull murmur of the waters; the 
 coast along which we travelled all day was encumbered every 
 step of the way with fallen trees, some of which quivered in the 
 currents which set around projecting points of land. Our old 
 pest, the Motuca, began to torment us as soon as the sun gained 
 power in the morning. White egrets were plentiful at the edge 
 of the water, and humming-birds, in some places, were whirring 
 about the flowers overhead. The desolate appearance of the 
 landscape increased after sunset, when the moon rose in mist. 
 
 This upper river, the Alto-Amazonas, or Solimoens, is always 
 spoken of by the Brazilians as a distinct stream. This is partly 
 owing, as before remarked, to the direction it seems to take at 
 the fork of the Rio Negro; the inhabitants of the country, 
 from their partial knowledge, not being able to comprehend 
 the whole river system in one view. It has, however, many 
 peculiarities to distinguish it from the lower course of the river. 
 The trade- wind, or sea-breeze, which reaches, in the height of 
 the dry season, as far as the mouth of the Rio Negro, 900 or 
 1000 miles from the Atlantic, never blows on the upper river. 
 The atmosphere is therefore more stagnant and sultry, and the 
 winds that do prevail are of irregular direction and short 
 duration. A great part of the land on the borders of the 
 Lower Amazons is hilly; there are extensive campos, or open 
 plains, and long stretches of sandy soil clothed with thinner 
 forests. The climate, in consequence, is comparatively dry, 
 many months in succession during the fine season passing with- 
 out rain. All this is changed on the Solimoens. A fortnight 
 
258 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 of clear sunny weather is a rarity: the whole region through 
 which the river and its affluents flow, after leaving the eastern- 
 most ridges of the Andes, which Poppig describes as rising like 
 a wall from the level country, 240 miles from the Pacific, is a 
 vast plain, about 1000 miles in length, and 500 or 600 in breadth, 
 covered with one uniform, lofty, impervious, and humid forest. 
 The soil is nowhere sandy, but always either a stiff clay, alluvium, 
 or vegetable mould, which latter, in many places, is seen in 
 water-worn sections of the river banks to be twenty or thirty 
 feet in depth. With such a soil and climate, the luxuriance of 
 vegetation, and the abundance and beauty of animal forms 
 which are already so great in the region nearer the Atlantic, 
 increase on the upper river. The fruits, both wild and culti- 
 vated, common to the two sections of the country, reach a pro- 
 gressively larger size in advancing westward, and some trees 
 which blossom only once a year at Para and Santarem, yield 
 flower and fruit all the year round at Ega. The climate is 
 healthy, although one lives here as in a permanent vapour bath. 
 I must not, however, give here a lengthy description of the region 
 whilst we are yet on its threshold. I resided and travelled on 
 the Solimoens altogether for four years and a half. The country 
 on its borders is a magnificent wilderness where civilised man, 
 as yet, has scarcely obtained a footing; the cultivated ground 
 from the Rio Negro to the Andes amounting only to a few 
 score acres. Man, indeed, in any condition, from his small 
 numbers, makes but an insignificant figure in these vast solitudes. 
 It may be mentioned that the Solimoens is 2130 miles in length, 
 if we reckon from the source of what is usually considered the 
 main stream (Lake Lauricocha, near Lima); but 2500 miles by 
 the route of the Ucayali, the most considerable and practicable 
 fork of the upper part of the river. It is navigable at all seasons 
 by large steamers for upwards of 1400 miles from the mouth 
 of the Rio Negro. 
 
 On the 28th we passed the mouth of Ariauu, a narrow inlet 
 which communicates with the Rio Negro, emerging in front of 
 Barra. Our vessel was nearly drawn into this by the violent 
 current which set from the Solimoens. The towing-cable was 
 lashed to a strong tree about thirty yards ahead, and it took 
 the whole strength of crew and passengers to pull across. We 
 passed the Guariba, a second channel connecting the two rivers, 
 on the 30th, and on the 31st sailed past a straggling settlement 
 called Manacapuru, situated on a high, rocky bank. Many 
 
Voyage to Ega 259 
 
 citizens of Barra have sitios, or country-houses, in this place, 
 although it is eighty miles distant from the town by the nearest 
 road. Beyond Manacapuru all traces of high land cease; both 
 shores of the river, henceforward for many hundred miles, are 
 flat, except in places where the Tabatinga formation appears in 
 clayey elevations of from twenty to forty feet above the line of 
 highest water. The country is so completely destitute of rocky 
 or gravelly beds that not a pebble is seen during many weeks' 
 journey. Our voyage was now very monotonous. After leaving 
 the last house at Manacapuru we travelled nineteen days with- 
 out seeing a human habitation, the few settlers being located 
 on the banks of inlets or lakes some distance from the shores 
 of the main river. We met only one vessel during the whole 
 of the time, and this did not come within hail, as it was drifting 
 down in the middle of the current in a broad part of the river, 
 two miles from the bank along which we were laboriously 
 warping our course upwards. 
 
 After the first two or three days we fell into a regular way of 
 life aboard. Our crew was composed of ten Indians of the 
 Cucama nation, whose native country is a portion of the borders 
 of the upper river in the neighbourhood of Nauta, in Peru. 
 The Cucamas speak the Tupi language, using, however, a 
 harsher accent than is common amongst the semi-civilised 
 Indians from Ega downwards. They are a shrewd, hard-work- 
 ing people, and are the only Indians who willingly and in a 
 body engage themselves to navigate the canoes of traders. The 
 pilot, a steady and faithful fellow named Vicente, told me that 
 he and his companions had now been fifteen months absent 
 from their wives and families, and that on arriving at Ega they 
 intended to take the first chance of a passage to Nauta. There 
 was nothing in the appearance of these men to distinguish them 
 from canoemen in general. Some were tall and well built, 
 others had squat figures with broad shoulders and excessively 
 thick arms and legs. No two of them were at all similar in 
 the shape of the head: Vicente had an oval visage, with fine 
 regular features, whilst a little dumpy fellow, the wag of the 
 party, was quite a Mongolian in breadth and prominence of 
 cheek, spread of nostrils, and obliquity of eyes; but these two 
 formed the extremes as to face and figure. None of them were 
 tattooed or disfigured in any way; and they were all quite 
 destitute of beard. The Cucamas are notorious on the river 
 for their provident habits. The desire of acquiring property is 
 so rare a trait in Indians, that the habits of these people are 
 
260 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 remarked on with surprise by the Brazilians. The first posses- 
 sion which they strive to acquire, on descending the river into 
 Brazil, which all the Peruvian Indians look upon as a richer 
 country than their own, is a wooden trunk with lock and key; 
 in this they stow away carefully all their earnings converted 
 into clothing, hatchets, knives, harpoon heads, needles and 
 thread, and so forth. Their wages are only fourpence or six- 
 pence a day, which is often paid in goods charged a hundred 
 per cent, above Para prices, so that it takes them a long time 
 to fill their chest. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a better-behaved set of men in a 
 voyage than these poor Indians. During our thirty-five days' 
 journey they lived and worked together in the most perfect 
 good fellowship. I never heard an angry word pass amongst 
 them. Senhor Estulano let them navigate the vessel in their 
 own way, exerting his authority only now and then when they 
 were inclined to be lazy. Vicente regulated the working hours. 
 These depended on the darkness of the nights. In the first 
 and second quarters of the moon they kept it up with espia, or 
 oars, until towards midnight; in the third and fourth quarters 
 they were allowed to go to sleep soon after sunset, and aroused 
 at three or four o'clock in the morning to resume their work. 
 On cool, rainy days we all bore a hand at the espia, trotting 
 with bare feet on the sloppy deck in Indian file, to the tune of 
 some wild boatman's chorus. We had a favourable wind for 
 two days only out of the thirty-five, by which we made about 
 forty miles; the rest of our long journey was accomplished 
 literally by pulling our way from tree to tree. When we 
 encountered a remanso near the shore, we got along very 
 pleasantly for a few miles by rowing: but this was a rare 
 occurrence. During leisure hours the Indians employed them- 
 selves in sewing. Vicente was a good hand at cutting out 
 shirts and trousers, and acted as master tailor to the whole 
 party, each of whom had a thick steel thimble and a stock of 
 needles and thread of his own. Vicente made for me a set of 
 blue-check cotton shirts during the passage. 
 
 The goodness of these Indians, like that of most others 
 amongst whom I lived, consisted perhaps more in the absence 
 of active bad qualities, than in the possession of good ones ; in 
 other words, it was negative rather than positive. Their phleg- 
 matic, apathetic temperament; coldness of desire and dead- 
 ness of feeling; want of curiosity and slowness of intellect, 
 make the Amazonian Indians very uninteresting companions 
 
Voyage to Ega 261 
 
 anywhere. Their imagination is of a dull, gloomy quality, and 
 they seemed never to be stirred by the emotions: — love, pity, 
 admiration, fear, wonder, joy, enthusiasm. These are character- 
 istics of the whole race. The good fellowship of our Cucamas 
 seemed to arise, not from warm sympathy, but simply from the 
 absence of eager selfishness in small matters. On the morning 
 when the favourable wind sprung up, one of the crew, a lad of 
 about seventeen years of age, was absent ashore at the time of 
 starting, having gone alone in one of the montarias to gather 
 wild fruit. The sails were spread and we travelled for several 
 hours at great speed, leaving the poor fellow to paddle after us 
 against the strong current. Vicente, who might have waited a 
 few minutes at starting, and the others, only laughed when the 
 hardship of their companion was alluded to. He overtook us 
 at night, having worked his way with frightful labour the whole 
 day without a morsel of food. He grinned when he came on 
 board, and not a dozen words were said on either side. 
 
 Their want of curiosity is extreme. One day we had an 
 unusually sharp thunder-shower. The crew were lying about 
 the deck, and after each explosion all set up a loud laugh; the 
 wag of the party exclaiming " There's my old uncle hunting 
 again ! " an expression showing the utter emptiness of mind of the 
 spokesman. I asked Vicente what he thought was the cause of 
 lightning and thunder? He said, " Timaa ichoqua," — I don't 
 know. He had never given the subject a moment's thought! 
 It was the same with other things. I asked him who made the 
 sun, the stars, the trees? He didn't know, and had never heard 
 the subject mentioned amongst his tribe. The Tupi language, at 
 least as taught by the old Jesuits, has a word — Tupana — signi- 
 fying God. Vicente sometimes used this word, but he showed 
 by his expressions that he did not attach the idea of a Creator 
 to it. He seemed to think it meant some deity or visible image 
 which the whites worshipped in the churches he had seen in 
 the villages. None of the Indian tribes on the Upper Amazons 
 have an idea of a Supreme Being, and consequently have no 
 word to express it in their own language. Vicente thought the 
 river on which we were travelling encircled the whole earth, 
 and that the land was an island like those seen in the stream, 
 but larger. Here a gleam of curiosity and imagination in the 
 Indian mind is revealed : the necessity of a theory of the earth 
 and water has been felt, and a theory has been suggested. In 
 all other matters not concerning the common wants of life the 
 mind of Vicente was a blank, and such I always found to be 
 
262 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the case with the Indian in his natural state. Would a com- 
 munity of any race of men be otherwise, were they isolated for 
 centuries in a wilderness like the Amazonian Indians, associated 
 in small numbers wholly occupied in procuring a mere sub- 
 sistence, and without a written language, or a leisured class to 
 hand down acquired knowledge from generation to generation? 
 
 One day a smart squall gave us a good lift onward; it came 
 with a cold, fine, driving rain, which enveloped the desolate 
 landscape as with a mist: the forest swayed and roared with the 
 force of the gale, and flocks of birds were driven about in alarm 
 over the tree tops. On another occasion a similar squall came 
 from an unfavourable quarter: it fell upon us quite unawares, 
 when we had all our sails out to dry, and blew us broadside 
 foremost on the shore. The vessel was fairly lifted on to the 
 tall bushes which lined the banks, but we sustained no injury 
 beyond the entanglement of our rigging in the branches. The 
 days and nights usually passed in a dead calm, or with light 
 intermittent winds from up river, and consequently full against 
 us. We landed twice a day, to give ourselves and the Indians 
 a little rest and change, and to cook our two meals — breakfast 
 and dinner. There was another passenger beside myself — a 
 cautious, middle-aged Portuguese, who was going to settle at 
 Ega, where he had a brother long since established. He was 
 accommodated in the fore-cabin, or arched covering over the 
 hold. I shared the cabin-proper with Senhores Estulano and 
 Manoel, the latter a young half-caste, son-in-law to the owner 
 of the vessel, under whose tuition I made good progress in 
 learning the Tupi language during the voyage. 
 
 Our men took it in turns, two at a time, to go out fishing; 
 for which purpose we carried a spare montaria. The master 
 had brought from Barra, as provisions, nothing but stale, salt 
 pirarucu — half rotten fish, in large, thin, rusty slabs — farinha, 
 coffee, and treacle. In these voyages, passengers are expected 
 to provide for themselves, as no charge is made except for 
 freight of the heavy luggage or cargo they take with them. 
 The Portuguese and myself had brought a few luxuries, such 
 as beans, sugar, biscuits, tea, and so forth; but we found our- 
 selves almost obliged to share them with our two companions 
 and the pilot, so that before the voyage was one-third finished, 
 the small stock of most of these articles was exhausted. In 
 return, we shared in whatever the men brought. Sometimes 
 they were quite unsuccessful, for fish is extremely difficult to 
 procure in the season of high water, on account of the lower 
 
Voyage to Ega 263 
 
 lands lying between the inlets and infinite chain of pools and 
 lakes being flooded from the main river, thus increasing tenfold 
 the area over which the finny population has to range. On 
 most days, however, they brought two or three fine fish, and 
 once they harpooned a manatee, or Vacca marina. On this last- 
 mentioned occasion we made quite a holiday; the canoe was 
 stopped for six or seven hours, and all turned out into the 
 forest to help to skin and cook the animal. The meat was cut 
 into cubical slabs, and each person skewered a dozen or so of 
 these on a long stick. Fires were made, and the spits stuck in 
 the ground and slanted over the flames to roast. A drizzling 
 rain fell all the time, and the ground around the fires swarmed 
 with stinging ants, attracted by the entrails and slime which 
 were scattered about. The meat has somewhat the taste of 
 very coarse pork; but the fat, which lies in thick layers between 
 the lean parts, is of a greenish colour, and of a disagreeable, 
 fishy flavour. The animal was a large one, measuring nearly 
 ten feet in length, and nine in girth at the broadest part. The 
 manatee is one of the few objects which excite the dull wonder 
 and curiosity of the Indians, notwithstanding its commonness. 
 The fact of its suckling its young at the breast, although an 
 aquatic animal resembling a fish, seems to strike them as some- 
 thing very strange. The animal, as it lay on its back, with its 
 broad rounded head and muzzle, tapering body, and smooth, 
 thick, lead-coloured skin, reminded me of those Egyptian tombs 
 which are made of dark, smooth stone, and shaped to the 
 human figure. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hard fare, the confinement of the canoe, 
 the trying weather, — frequent and drenching rains, with gleams 
 of fiery sunshine, — and the woeful desolation of the river scenery, 
 I enjoyed the voyage on the whole. We were not much troubled 
 by mosquitoes, and therefore passed the nights very pleasantly, 
 sleeping on deck wrapped in blankets or old sails. When the 
 rains drove us below we were less comfortable, as there was 
 only just room in the small cabin for three of us to lie close 
 together, and the confined air was stifling. I became inured 
 to the Piums in the course of the first week; all the exposed 
 parts of my body, by that time, being so closely covered with 
 black punctures that the little bloodsuckers could not very 
 easily find an unoccupied place to operate upon. Poor Miguel, 
 the Portuguese, suffered horribly from these pests, his ankles 
 and wrists being so much inflamed that he was confined to his 
 hammock, slung in the hold, for weeks. At every landing- 
 
264 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 place I had a ramble in the forest whilst the redskins made 
 the fire and cooked the meal. The result was a large daily- 
 addition to my collection of insects, reptiles, and shells. Some- 
 times the neighbourhood of our gipsy-like encampment was a 
 tract of dry and spacious forest, pleasant to ramble in; but 
 more frequently it was a rank wilderness, into which it was 
 impossible to penetrate many yards, on account of uprooted 
 trees, entangled webs of monstrous woody climbers, thickets of 
 spiny bamboos, swamps, or obstacles of one kind or other. 
 The drier lands were sometimes beautified to the highest degree 
 by groves of the Urucuri palm (Attalea excelsa), which grew 
 by thousands under the crowns of the lofty, ordinary forest 
 trees; their smooth columnar stems being all of nearly equal 
 height (forty or fifty feet), and their broad, finely-pinnated 
 leaves interlocking above to form arches and woven canopies of 
 elegant and diversified shapes. The fruit of this palm ripens 
 on the upper river in April, and during our voyage I saw im- 
 mense quantities of it strewn about under the trees in places 
 where we encamped. It is similar in size and shape to the 
 date, and has a pleasantly-flavoured juicy pulp. The Indians 
 would not eat it; I was surprised at this, as they greedily 
 devoured many other kinds of palm fruit whose sour and fibrous 
 pulp was much less palatable. Vicente shook his head when he 
 saw me one day eating a quantity of the Urucuri plums. I am 
 not sure they were not the cause of a severe indigestion under 
 which I suffered for many days afterwards. 
 
 In passing slowly along the interminable wooded banks week 
 after week, I observed that there were three tolerably distinct 
 kinds of coast and corresponding forest constantly recurring on 
 this upper river. First, there were the low and most recent 
 alluvial deposits, — a mixture of sand and mud, covered with 
 tall, broad-leaved grasses, or with the arrow-grass before 
 described, whose feathery-topped flower-stem rises to a height 
 of fourteen or fifteen feet. The only large trees which grow in 
 these places are the Cecropias. Many of the smaller and newer 
 islands were of this description. Secondly, there were the 
 moderately high banks, which are only partially overflowed 
 when the flood season is at its height; these are wooded with a 
 magnificent, varied forest, in which a great variety of palms 
 and broad-leaved Marantacece form a very large proportion of 
 the vegetation. The general foliage is of a vivid light-green 
 hue; the water frontage is sometimes covered with a diversified 
 mass of greenery; but where the current sets strongly against 
 
Voyage to Ega 
 
 265 
 
 the friable, earthy banks, which at low water are twenty-five to 
 thirty feet high, these are 
 cut away, and expose a 
 section of forest where the 
 trunks of trees loaded 
 with epiphytes appear in 
 massy colonnades. One 
 might safely say that 
 three-fourths of the land bordering the 
 Upper Amazons, for a thousand miles, 
 belong to this second class. The third 
 description of coast is the higher, undu- 
 lating, clayey land, which appears only 
 at long intervals, but extends sometimes 
 for many miles along the borders of the 
 river. The coast at these places is 
 sloping, and composed of red or varie- 
 gated clay. The forest is of a different 
 character from that of the lower tracts: 
 it is rounder in outline, more uniform in 
 its general aspect; palms are much less 
 numerous and of peculiar species — the 
 strange bulging-stemmed species, Iriartea 
 ventricosa, and the slender, glossy-leaved 
 Bacaba-i (CEnocarpus minor), being 
 especially characteristic; and, in short, 
 animal life, which imparts some cheerful- 
 ness to the other parts of the river, is 
 seldom apparent. This " terra firme," 
 as it is called, and a large portion of the 
 fertile lower land, seemed well adapted 
 for settlement; some parts were origin- 
 ally peopled by the aborigines, but these 
 have long since become extinct or amalga- 
 mated with the white immigrants. I 
 afterwards learnt that there were notmore 
 than eighteen or twenty families settled 
 throughout the whole country from 
 Manacapuru to Quary, a distance of 240 
 miles; and these, as before observed, do Bulging-stemmed Palm: 
 
 . ,. ., , ' . , . , ' Pa^hiuba barngudo 
 
 not live on the banks of the main stream, (iriartea ventricosa). 
 but on the shores of inlets and lakes. 
 
 The fishermen twice brought me small rounded pieces of very 
 
266 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 porous pumice-stone, which they had picked up floating on the 
 surface of the main current of the river. They were to me 
 objects of great curiosity as being messengers from the distant 
 volcanoes of the Andes: Cotopaxi, Llanganete, or Sangay, 
 which rear their peaks amongst the rivulets that feed some of 
 the early tributaries of the Amazons, such as the Macas, the 
 Pastaza, and the Napo. The stones must have already travelled 
 a distance of 1200 miles. I afterwards found them rather 
 common; the Brazilians use them for cleaning rust from their 
 guns, and firmly believe them to be solidified river foam. A 
 friend once brought me, when I lived at Santarem, a large piece 
 which had been found in the middle of the stream below Monte 
 Alegre, about 900 miles further down the river : having reached 
 this distance, pumice-stones would be pretty sure of being 
 carried out to sea, and floated thence with the north-westerly 
 Atlantic current to shores many thousand miles distant from 
 the volcanoes which ejected them. They are sometimes stranded 
 on the banks in different parts of the river. Reflecting on this 
 circumstance since I arrived in England, the probability of 
 these porous fragments serving as vehicles for the transporta- 
 tion of seeds of plants, eggs of insects, spawn of fresh-water 
 fish, and so forth, has suggested itself to me. Their rounded, 
 water-worn appearance showed that they must have been 
 rolled about for a long time in the shallow streams near the 
 sources of the rivers at the feet of the volcanoes, before they 
 leapt the waterfalls and embarked on the currents which lead 
 direct for the Amazons. They may have been originally cast 
 on the land and afterwards carried to the rivers by freshets; 
 in which case the eggs and seeds of land insects and plants 
 might be accidentally introduced and safely enclosed with 
 particles of earth in their cavities. As the speed of the current 
 in the rainy season has been observed to be from three to five 
 miles an hour, they might travel an immense distance before 
 the eggs or seeds were destroyed. I am ashamed to say that 
 I neglected the opportunity, whilst on the spot, of ascertaining 
 whether this was actually the case. The attention of Naturalists 
 has only lately been turned to the important subject of occa- 
 sional means of wide dissemination of species of animals and 
 plants. Unless such be shown to exist, it is impossible to solve 
 some of the most difficult problems connected with the distri- 
 bution of plants and animals. Some species, with most limited 
 powers of locomotion, are found in opposite parts of the earth, 
 without existing in the intermediate regions; unless it can be 
 
Voyage to Ega 267 
 
 shown that these may have migrated or been accidentally 
 transported from one point to the other, we shall have to come 
 to the strange conclusion that the same species had been created 
 in two separate districts. 
 
 Canoemen on the Upper Amazons live in constant dread of 
 the " terras cahidas," or landslips, which occasionally take place 
 along the steep earthy banks; especially when the waters are 
 rising. Large vessels are sometimes overwhelmed by these 
 avalanches of earth and trees. I should have thought the 
 accounts of them exaggerated if I had not had an opportunity 
 during this voyage of seeing one on a large scale. One morning 
 I was awoke before sunrise by an unusual sound resembling the 
 roar of artillery. I was lying alone on the top of the cabin; it 
 was very dark, and all my companions were asleep, so I lay 
 listening. The sounds came from a considerable distance, and 
 the crash which had aroused me, was succeeded by others much 
 less formidable. The first explanation which occurred to me was 
 that it was an earthquake; for, although the night was breath- 
 lessly calm, the broad river was much agitated and the vessel 
 rolled heavily. Soon after, another loud explosion took place, 
 apparently much nearer than the former one; then followed 
 others. The thundering peal rolled backwards and forwards, 
 now seeming close at hand, now far off; the sudden crashes 
 being often succeeded by a pause or a long-continued dull 
 rumbling. At the second explosion, Vicente, who lay snoring 
 by the helm, awoke and told me it was a " terra cahida "; but 
 I could scarcely believe him. The day dawned after the uproar 
 had lasted about an hour, and we then saw the work of destruc- 
 tion going forward on the other side of the river, about three 
 miles off. Large masses of forest, including trees of colossal 
 size, probably 200 feet in height, were rocking to and fro, and 
 falling headlong one after the other into the water. After each 
 avalanche the wave which it caused returned on the crumbly 
 bank with tremendous force, and caused the fall of other masses 
 by undermining them. The line of coast over which the land- 
 slip extended, was a mile or two in length; the end of it, 
 however, was hid from our view by an intervening island. It 
 was a grand sight; each downfall created a cloud of spray; 
 the concussion in one place causing other masses to give way 
 a long distance from it, and thus the crashes continued, swaying 
 to and fro, with little prospect of a termination. When we 
 
268 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 glided out of sight, two hours after sunrise, the destruction was 
 still going on. 
 
 On the 22nd we threaded the Parana-mirim of Arauana-i, one 
 of the numerous narrow by-waters which lie conveniently for 
 canoes away from the main river, and often save a considerable 
 circuit round a promontory or island. We rowed for half a 
 mile through a magnificent bed of Victoria water-lilies; the 
 flower-buds of which were just beginning to expand. Beyond 
 the mouth of the Catua, a channel leading to one of the great 
 lakes so numerous in the plains of the Amazons, which we 
 passed on the 25th, the river appeared greatly increased in 
 breadth. We travelled for three days along a broad reach 
 which both up and down river presented a blank horizon of 
 water and sky: this clear view was owing to the absence of 
 islands, but it renewed one's impressions of the magnitude of 
 the stream, which here, 1200 miles from its mouth, showed so 
 little diminution of width. Further westward a series of large 
 islands commences, which divides the river into two and some- 
 times three channels, each about a mile in breadth. We kept 
 to the southernmost of these, travelling all day on the 30th of 
 April along a high and rather sloping bank. 
 
 In the evening we arrived at a narrow opening, which would 
 be taken, by a stranger navigating the main channel, for the 
 outlet of some insignificant stream: it was the mouth of the 
 Teffe, on whose banks Ega is situated, the termination of our 
 voyage. After having struggled for thirty-five days with the 
 muddy currents and insect pests of the Solimoens, it was un- 
 speakably refreshing to find one's-self again in a dark-water 
 river, smooth as a lake, and free from Pium and Motuca. The 
 rounded outline, small foliage, and sombre-green of the woods, 
 which seemed to rest on the glassy waters, made a pleasant 
 contrast to the tumultuous piles of rank, glaring, light-green 
 vegetation, and torn, timber-strewn banks to which we had 
 been so long accustomed on the main river. The men rowed 
 lazily until nightfall, when, having done a laborious day's work, 
 they discontinued and went to sleep, intending to make for 
 Ega in the morning. It was not thought worth while to secure 
 the vessel to the trees or cast anchor, as there was no current. 
 I sat up for two or three hours after my companions had gone 
 to rest, enjoying the solemn calm of the night. Not a breath 
 of air stirred ; the sky was of a deep blue, and the stars seemed 
 to stand forth in sharp relief; there was no sound of life in the 
 
Voyage to Ega 269 
 
 woods, except the occasional melancholy note of some nocturnal 
 bird. I reflected on my own wandering life : I had now reached 
 the end of the third stage of my journey, and was now more 
 than half way across the continent. It was necessary for me, 
 on many accounts, to find a rich locality for Natural History 
 explorations, and settle myself in it for some months or years. 
 Would the neighbourhood of Ega turn out to be suitable, and 
 should I, a solitary stranger on a strange errand, find a welcome 
 amongst its people? 
 
 Our Indians resumed their oars at sunrise the next morning 
 (May 1st), and after an hour's rowing along the narrow channel, 
 which varies in breadth from 100 to 500 yards, we doubled a 
 low wooded point, and emerged suddenly on the so-called Lake 
 of Ega: a magnificent sheet of water, five miles broad — the 
 expanded portion of the Teffe. It is quite clear of islands, and 
 curves away to the west and south, so that its full extent is 
 not visible from this side. To the left, on a gentle grassy slope 
 at the point of junction of a broad tributary with the Teffe, 
 lay the little settlement: a cluster of a hundred or so of palm- 
 thatched cottages and white-washed red-tiled houses, each with 
 its neatly-enclosed orchard of orange, lemon, banana, and guava 
 trees. Groups of palms, with their tall slender shafts and 
 feathery crowns, overtopped the buildings and lower trees. A 
 broad grass-carpeted street led from the narrow strip of white 
 sandy beach to the rudely-built barn-like church, with its 
 wooden crucifix on the green before it, in the centre of the 
 town. Cattle were grazing before the houses, and a number 
 of dark-skinned natives were taking their morning bath amongst 
 the canoes of various sizes which were anchored or moored to 
 stakes in the port. We let off rockets and fired salutes, accord- 
 ing to custom, in token of our safe arrival, and shortly after- 
 wards went ashore. 
 
 A few days' experience of the people and the forests of the 
 vicinity showed me that I might lay myself out for a long, 
 pleasant, and busy residence at this place. An idea of the 
 kind of people I had fallen amongst may be conveyed by an 
 account of my earliest acquaintances in the place. On landing, 
 the owner of the canoe killed an ox in honour of our arrival, 
 and the next day took me round the town to introduce me to 
 the principal residents. We first went to the Delegado of 
 police, Senhor Antonio Cardozo, of whom I shall have to make 
 frequent mention by-and-by. He was a stout, broad-featured 
 man, ranking as a white, but having a tinge of negro blood; 
 
270 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 his complexion, however, was ruddy, and scarcely betrayed the 
 mixture. He received us in a very cordial, winning manner: 
 I had afterwards occasion to be astonished at the boundless 
 good nature of this excellent fellow, whose greatest pleasure 
 seemed to be to make sacrifices for his friends. He was a 
 Paraense, and came to Ega originally as a trader; but not suc- 
 ceeding in this, he turned planter on a small scale, and collector 
 of the natural commodities of the country, employing half-a- 
 dozen Indians in the business. We then visited the military 
 commandant, an officer in the Brazilian army, named Praia. 
 He was breakfasting with the vicar, and we found the two in 
 dishabille (morning-gown, loose round the neck, and slippers), 
 seated at a rude wooden table in an open mud-floored verandah, 
 at the back of the house. Commander Praia was a little curly- 
 headed man (also somewhat of a mulatto), always merry and 
 fond of practical jokes. His wife, Donna Anna, a dressy dame 
 from Santarem, was the leader of fashion in the settlement. 
 The vicar, Father Luiz Gonsalvo Gomez, was a nearly pure- 
 blood Indian, a native of one of the neighbouring villages, but 
 educated at Maranham, a city on the Atlantic seaboard. I 
 afterwards saw a good deal of him, as he was an agreeable, 
 sociable fellow, fond of reading and hearing about foreign 
 countries, and quite free from the prejudices which might be 
 expected in a man of his profession. I found him, moreover, a 
 thoroughly upright, sincere, and virtuous man. He supported 
 his aged mother and unmarried sisters in a very creditable way 
 out of his small salary and emoluments. It is a pleasure to be 
 able to speak in these terms of a Brazilian priest, for the oppor- 
 tunity occurs rarely enough. 
 
 Leaving these agreeable new acquaintances to finish their 
 breakfast, we next called on the Director of the Indians of the 
 Japura, Senhor Jose Chrysostomo Monteiro, a thin wiry Mame- 
 luco, the most enterprising person in the settlement. Each of 
 the neighbouring rivers with its numerous wild tribes is under 
 the control of a Director, who is nominated by the Imperial 
 Government. There are now no missions in the regions of 
 the Upper Amazons; the " gentios " (heathens, or unbaptised 
 Indians) being considered under the management and protec- 
 tion of these despots, who, like the captains of Trabalhadores, 
 before mentioned, use the natives for their own private ends. 
 Senhor Chrysostomo had, at this time, 200 of the Japura 
 Indians in his employ. He was half Indian himself, but was 
 a far worse master to the redskins than the whites usually are. 
 
Voyage to Ega 271 
 
 We finished our rounds by paying our respects to a venerable 
 native merchant, Senor Romao de Oliveira, a tall, corpulent, 
 fine-looking old man, who received us with a naive courtesy 
 quite original in its way. He had been an industrious, enter- 
 prising man in his younger days, and had built a substantial 
 range of houses and warehouses. The shrewd and able old 
 gentleman knew nothing of the world beyond the wilderness of 
 the Solimoens and its few thousands of isolated inhabitants; 
 yet he could converse well and sensibly, making observations 
 on men and things as sagaciously as though he had drawn 
 them from long experience of life in a European capital. The 
 semi-civilised Indians respected old Romao, and he had, con- 
 sequently, a great number in his employ in different parts of 
 the river: his vessels were always filled quicker with produce 
 than those of his neighbours. On our leaving he placed his 
 house and store at my disposal. This was not a piece of empty 
 politeness, for some time afterwards, when I wished to settle for 
 the goods I had had of him, he refused to take any payment. 
 
 I made Ega my headquarters during the whole of the time 
 I remained on the Upper Amazons (four years and a half). My 
 excursions into the neighbouring region extended sometimes 
 as far as 300 and 400 miles from the place. An account of these 
 excursions will be given in subsequent chapters ; in the intervals 
 between them I led a quiet, uneventful life in the settlement; 
 following my pursuit in the same peaceful, regular way as a 
 Naturalist might do in a European village. For many weeks 
 in succession my journal records little more than the notes made 
 on my daily captures. I had a dry and specious cottage, the 
 principal room of which was made a workshop and study; 
 here a large table was placed, and my little library of reference 
 arranged on shelves in rough wooden boxes. Cages for drying 
 specimens were suspended from the rafters by cords well 
 anointed, to prevent ants from descending, with a bitter vege- 
 table oil: rats and mice were kept from them by inverted 
 cuyas, placed half way down the cords. I always kept on hand 
 a large portion of my private collection, which contained a pair 
 of each species and variety, for the sake of comparing the old 
 with the new acquisitions. My cottage was whitewashed inside 
 and out about once a year by the proprietor, a native trader; 
 the floor was of earth; the ventilation was perfect, for the out- 
 side air, and sometimes the rain as well, entered freely through 
 gaps at the top of the walls under the eaves and through wide 
 
272 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 crevices in the doorways. Rude as the dwelling was, I look 
 back with pleasure on the many happy months I spent in it. I 
 rose generally with the sun, when the grassy streets were wet 
 with dew, and walked down to the river to bathe: five or six 
 hours of every morning were spent in collecting in the forest, 
 whose borders lay only five minutes' walk from my house: the 
 hot hours of the afternoon, between three and six o'clock, and 
 the rainy days, were occupied in preparing and ticketing the 
 specimens, making notes, dissecting, and drav/ing. I frequently 
 had short rambles by water in a small montaria, with an Indian 
 lad to paddle. The neighbourhood yielded me, up to the last 
 day of my residence, an uninterrupted succession of new and 
 curious forms in the different classes of the animal kingdom, 
 but especially insects. 
 
 I lived, as may already have been seen, on the best of terms 
 with the inhabitants of Ega. Refined society, of course, there 
 was none; but the score or so of decent quiet families which 
 constituted the upper class of the place were very sociable; 
 their manners offered a curious mixture of nai've rusticity and 
 formal politeness; the great desire to be thought civilised leads 
 the most ignorant of these people (and they are all very ignorant, 
 although of quick intelligence) to be civil and kind to strangers 
 from Europe. I was never troubled with that impertinent 
 curiosity on the part of the people in these interior places which 
 some travellers complain of in other countries. The Indians 
 and lower half-castes — at least such of them who gave any 
 thought to the subject — seemed to think it natural that strangers 
 should collect and send abroad the beautiful birds and insects 
 of their country. The butterflies they universally concluded 
 to be wanted as patterns for bright-coloured calico-prints. As 
 to the better sort of people, I had no difficulty in making them 
 understand that each European capital had a public museum, 
 in which were sought to be .stored specimens of all natural pro- 
 ductions in the mineral, animal, and vegetable kingdoms. They 
 could not comprehend how a man could study science for its 
 own sake; but I told them I was collecting for the " Museo de 
 Londres," and was paid for it; that was very intelligible. One 
 day, soon after my arrival, when I was explaining these things 
 to a listening circle seated on benches in the grassy street, one 
 of the audience, a considerable tradesman, a Mameluco native 
 of Ega, got suddenly quite enthusiastic, and exclaimed, " How 
 rich are these great nations of Europe! We half-civilised 
 creatures know nothing. Let us treat this stranger well, that 
 
Voyage to Ega 273 
 
 he may stay amongst us and teach our children." We very 
 frequently had social parties, with dancing and so forth; of 
 these relaxations I shall have more to say presently. The 
 manners of the Indian population also gave me some amuse- 
 ment for a long time. During the latter part of my residence, 
 three wandering Frenchmen, and two Italians, some of them 
 men of good education, on their road one after the other from 
 the Andes down the Amazons, became enamoured of this 
 delightfully situated and tranquil spot, and made up their 
 minds to settle here for the remainder of their lives. Three of 
 them ended by marrying native women. I found the society 
 of these friends a very agreeable change. 
 
 There were, of course, many drawbacks to the amenities of 
 the place as a residence for a European; but these were not of 
 a nature that my readers would perhaps imagine. There was 
 scarcely any danger from wild animals : it seems almost ridiculous 
 to refute the idea of danger from the natives in a country where 
 even incivility to an unoffending stranger is a rarity. A Jaguar, 
 however, paid us a visit one night. It was considered an extra- 
 ordinary event, and so much uproar was made by the men who 
 turned out with guns and bows and arrows that the animal 
 scampered off and was heard of no more. Alligators were rather 
 troublesome in the dry season. During these months there was 
 almost always one or two lying in wait near the bathing place 
 for anything that might turn up at the edge of the water; dog, 
 sheep, pig, child, or drunken Indian. When this visitor was 
 about every one took extra care whilst bathing. I used to 
 imitate the natives in not advancing far from the bank, and 
 in keeping my eye fixed on that of the monster, which stares 
 with a disgusting leer along the surface of the water; the body 
 being submerged to the level of the eyes, and the top of the 
 head, with part of the dorsal crest, the only portions visible. 
 When a little motion was perceived in the water behind the 
 reptile's tail, bathers were obliged to beat a quick retreat. I 
 was never threatened myself, but I often saw the crowds of 
 women and children scared, whilst bathing, by the beast making 
 a movement towards them ; a general scamper to the shore and 
 peals of laughter were always the result in these cases. The 
 men can always destroy these alligators when they like to take 
 the trouble to set out with montarias and harpoons for the 
 purpose; but they never do it unless one of the monsters, 
 bolder than usual, puts some one's life in danger. This arouses 
 them, and they then track the enemy with the greatest perti- 
 
274 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 nacity; when half killed they drag it ashore and dispatch it 
 amid loud execrations. Another, however, is sure to appear 
 some days or weeks afterwards, and take the vacant place on 
 the station. Besides alligators, the only animals to be feared 
 are the poisonous serpents. These are certainly common enough 
 in the forest, but no fatal accident happened during the whole 
 time of my residence. 
 
 I suffered most inconvenience from the difficulty of getting 
 news from the civilised world down river, from the irregularity 
 of receipt of letters, parcels of books and periodicals, and 
 towards the latter part of my residence from ill health arising 
 from bad and insufficient food. The want of intellectual 
 society, and of the varied excitement of European life, was also 
 felt most acutely, and this, instead of becoming deadened b) r 
 time, increased until it became almost insupportable. I was 
 obliged, at last, to come to the conclusion that the contempla- 
 tion of Nature alone is not sufficient to fill the human heart 
 and mind. I got on pretty well when I received a parcel from 
 England by the steamer, once in two or four months. I used 
 to be very economical with my stock of reading lest it should 
 be finished before the next arrival, and leave me utterly destitute. 
 I went over the periodicals, the AthencBum, for instance, 
 with great deliberation, going through every number three 
 times; the first time devouring the more interesting articles; 
 the second, the whole of the remainder; and the third, reading 
 all the advertisements from beginning to end. If four months 
 (two steamers) passed without a fresh parcel, I felt discouraged 
 in the extreme. I was worst off in the first year, 1850, when 
 twelve months elapsed without letters or remittances. Towards 
 the end of this time my clothes had worn to rags; I was bare- 
 foot, a great inconvenience in tropical forests, notwithstand- 
 ing statements to the contrary that have been published by 
 travellers; my servant ran away, and I was robbed of nearly 
 all my copper money. I was obliged then to descend to Para, 
 but returned, after finishing the examination of the middle 
 part of the Lower Amazons and the Tapajos, in 1855, with my 
 Santarem assistant and better provided for making collections 
 on the upper river. This second visit was in pursuit of the 
 plan before mentioned, of exploring in detail the whole valley 
 of the Amazons, which I formed in Para in the year 1851. 
 
 During so long a residence I witnessed, of course, many 
 changes in the place. Some of the good friends who made me 
 welcome on my first arrival, died, and I followed their remains 
 
Voyage to Ega 275 
 
 to their last resting-place in the little rustic cemetery on the 
 borders of the surrounding forest. I lived there long enough, 
 from first to last, to see the young people grow up, attended 
 their weddings, and the christenings of their children, and, 
 before I left, saw them old married folks with numerous 
 families. In 1850 Ega was only a village, dependent on Para 
 1400 miles distant, as the capital of the then undivided pro- 
 vince. In 1852, with the creation of the new province of the 
 Amazons, it became a city; returned its members to the pro- 
 vincial parliament at Barra; had it assizes, its resident judges, 
 and rose to be the chief town of the comarca or county. A year 
 after this, namely, in 1853, steamers were introduced on the 
 Solimoens; and from 1855, one ran regularly every two months 
 between the Rio Negro and Nauta in Peru, touching at all the 
 villages, and accomplishing the distance in ascending, about 
 1200 miles, in eighteen days. The trade and population, how- 
 ever, did not increase with these changes. The people became 
 more " civilised," that is, they began to dress according to the 
 latest Parisian fashions, instead of going about in stockingless 
 feet, wooden clogs, and shirt sleeves; acquired a taste for 
 money-getting and office-holding; became divided into parties, 
 and lost part of their former simplicity of manners. But the 
 place remained, when I left it in 1859, pretty nearly what it 
 was when I first arrived in 1850 — a semi-Indian village, with 
 much in the ways and notions of its people more like those 
 of a small country town in Northern Europe than a South 
 American settlement. The place is healthy, and almost free 
 from insect pests: perpetual verdure surrounds it; the soil is 
 of marvellous fertility, even for Brazil; the endless rivers and 
 labyrinths of channels teem with fish and turtle; a fleet of 
 steamers might anchor at any season of the year in the lake, 
 which has uninterrupted water communication straight to the 
 Atlantic. What a future is in store for the sleepy little tropical 
 village ! 
 
 After speaking of Ega as a city, it will have a ludicrous effect 
 to mention that the total number of its inhabitants is only 
 about 1200. It contains just 107 houses, about half of which 
 are miserably built mud-walled cottages, thatched with palm- 
 leaves. A fourth of the population are almost always absent, 
 trading or collecting produce on the rivers. The neighbour- 
 hood within a radius of thirty miles, and including two other 
 small villages, contains probably 2000 more people. The 
 settlement is one of the oldest in the country, having been 
 
276 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 founded in 1688 by Father Samuel Fritz, a Bohemian Jesuit, 
 who induced several of the docile tribes of Indians, then scattered 
 over the neighbouring region, to settle on the site. From 100 
 to 200 acres of sloping ground around the place were after- 
 wards cleared of timber; but such is the encroaching vigour 
 of vegetation in this country, that the site would quickly 
 relapse into jungle if the inhabitants neglected to pull up the 
 young shoots as they arose. There is a stringent municipal law 
 which compels each resident to weed a given space around his 
 dwelling. Every month, whilst I resided here, an inspector 
 came round with his wand of authority, and fined every one 
 who had not complied with the regulation. The Indians of the 
 surrounding country have never been hostile to the European 
 settlers. The rebels of Para and the Lower Amazons, in 
 1835-6, did not succeed in rousing the natives of the Solimoens 
 against the whites. A party of forty of them ascended the 
 river for that purpose, but on arriving at Ega, instead of meet- 
 ing with sympathisers as in other places, they were surrounded 
 by a small body of armed residents, and shot down without 
 mercy. The military commandant at the time, who was the 
 prime mover in this orderly resistance to anarchy, was a 
 courageous and loyal negro, named Jose Patricio, an officer 
 known throughout the Upper Amazons for his unflinching 
 honesty and love of order, whose acquaintance I had the 
 pleasure of making at St. Paulo in 1858. Ega was the head- 
 quarters of the great scientific commission, which met in the 
 years from 1781 to 1791, to settle the boundaries between the 
 Spanish and Portuguese territories in South America. The 
 chief commissioner for Spain, Don Francisco Requena, lived 
 some time in the village with his family. I found only one 
 person at Ega, my old friend Romao de Oliveira, who recol- 
 lected, or had any knowledge of this important time, when a 
 numerous staff of astronomers, surveyors, and draughtsmen, 
 explored much of the surrounding country, with large bodies 
 of soldiers and natives. 
 
 More than half the inhabitants of Ega are Mamelucos; there 
 are not more than forty or fifty pure whites; the number of 
 negroes and mulattos is probably a little less, and the rest of 
 the population consists of pure blood Indians. Every house- 
 holder, including Indians and free negroes, is entitled to a vote 
 in the elections, municipal, provincial, and imperial, and is 
 liable to be called on juries, and to serve in the national guard. 
 These privileges and duties of citizenship do not seem at present 
 
Voyage to Ega 277 
 
 to be appreciated by the more ignorant coloured people. There 
 is, however, a gradual improvement taking place in this respect. 
 Before I left there was a rather sharp contest for the Presidency 
 of the Municipal Chamber, and most of the voters took a lively 
 interest in it. There was also an election of members to repre- 
 sent the province in the Imperial Parliament at Rio Janeiro, in 
 which each party strove hard to return its candidate. On this 
 occasion, an unscrupulous lawyer was sent by the government 
 party from the capital to overawe the opposition to its nominee : 
 many of the half-castes, headed by my old friend John da Cunha, 
 who was then settled at Ega, fought hard, but with perfect 
 legality and good humour, against this powerful interest. They 
 did not succeed; and although the government agent committed 
 many tyrannical and illegal acts, the losing party submitted 
 quietly to their defeat. In a larger town, I believe, the govern- 
 ment would not have dared to attempt thus to control the 
 elections. I think I saw enough to warrant the conclusion that 
 the machinery of constitutional government would, with a little 
 longer trial, work well amongst the mixed Indian, white, and 
 negro population, even of this remote part of the Brazilian 
 empire. I attended, also, before I left, several assize meetings 
 at Ega, and witnessed the novel sight of negro, white, half-caste, 
 and Indian, sitting gravely side by side on the jury bench. 
 
 The way in which the coloured races act under the condi- 
 tions of free citizenship, is a very interesting subject. Brazilian 
 statesmen seem to have abandoned the idea, if they ever enter- 
 tained it, of making this tropical empire a nation of whites, with 
 a slave labouring class. The greatest difficulty on the Amazons 
 is with the Indians. The general inflexibility of character 
 of the race, and their abhorrence of the restraints of civilised 
 life, make them very intractable subjects. Some of them, how- 
 ever, who have learned to read and write, and whose dislike to 
 live in towns has been overcome by some cause acting early in 
 life, make very good citizens. I have already mentioned the 
 priest, who is a good example of what early training can do. 
 There can be no doubt that if the docile Amazonian Indians 
 were kindly treated by their white fellow-citizens, and educated, 
 they would not be so quick as they have hitherto shown them- 
 selves to be to leave the towns and return into their half wild 
 condition on the advancing civilisation of the places. The 
 inflexibility of character, although probably organic, is seen to 
 be sometimes overcome. The principal blacksmith of Ega, 
 Senhor Macedo, was also an Indian, and a very sensible fellow. 
 
278 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 He sometimes filled minor offices in the government of the 
 place. He used to come very frequently to my house to chat, 
 and was always striving to acquire solid information about 
 things. When Donati's comet appeared, he took a great 
 interest in it. We saw it at its best from the 3rd to the 10th 
 of October (1858), between which dates it was visible near the 
 western horizon, just after sunset; the tail extending in a 
 broad curve towards the north, and forming a sublime object. 
 Macedo consulted all the old almanacs in the place to ascertain 
 whether it was the same comet as that of 181 1, which he said 
 he well remembered. Before the Indians can be reclaimed in 
 large numbers, it is most likely they will become extinct as a 
 race; but there is less difficulty with regard to the Mamelucos, 
 who, even when the proportion of white blood is small, some- 
 times become enterprising and versatile people. 
 
 Many of the Ega Indians, including all the domestic servants, 
 are savages who have been brought from the neighbouring 
 rivers; the Japura, the Issa, and the Solimoens. I saw here 
 individuals of at least sixteen different tribes; most of whom 
 had been bought, when children, of the native chiefs. This 
 species of slave-dealing, although forbidden by the laws of 
 Brazil, is winked at by the authorities, because, without it, 
 there would be no means of obtaining servants. They all 
 become their own masters when they grow up, and never show 
 the slightest inclination to return to utter savage life. But the 
 boys generally run away and embark on the canoes of traders; 
 and the girls are often badly treated by their mistresses, the 
 jealous, passionate, and ill-educated Brazilian women. Nearly 
 all the enmities which arise amongst residents at Ega and other 
 places, are caused by disputes about Indian servants. No one 
 who has lived only in old settled countries, where service can 
 be readily bought, can imagine the difficulties and annoyances 
 of a land where the servant class are ignorant of the value of 
 money, and hands cannot be obtained except by coaxing them 
 from the employ of other masters. 
 
 Great mortality takes place amongst the poor captive children 
 on their arrival at Ega. It is a singular circumstance, that the 
 Indians residing on the Japura and other tributaries always fall 
 ill on descending to the Solimoens, whilst the reverse takes 
 place with the inhabitants of the banks of the main river, who 
 never fail of taking intermittent fever when they first ascend 
 these branch rivers, and of getting well when they return. The 
 finest tribes of savages who inhabit the country near Ega are 
 
Voyage to Ega 279 
 
 the Juris and Passes: these are now, however, nearly extinct, 
 a few families only remaining on the banks of the retired creeks 
 connected with the Teffe, and on other branch rivers between 
 the Teffe and the Jutahi. They are a peaceable, gentle, and 
 industrious people, devoted to agriculture and fishing, and have 
 always been friendly to the whites. I shall have occasion to 
 speak again of the Passes, who are a slenderly-built and superior 
 race of Indians, distinguished by a large, square tattooed patch 
 in the middle of their faces. The principal cause of their decay 
 in numbers seems to be a disease which always appears amongst 
 them when a village is visited by people from the civilised 
 settlements — a slow fever, accompanied by the symptoms of a 
 common cold, " defluxo," as the Brazilians term it, ending 
 probably in consumption. The disorder has been known to 
 break out when the visitors were entirely free from it; the 
 simple contact of civilised men, in some mysterious way, being 
 sufficient to create it. It is generally fatal to the Juris and 
 Passes: the first question the poor, patient Indians now put 
 to an advancing canoe is, " Do you bring defluxo? " 
 
 My assistant, Jose, in the last year of our residence at Ega, 
 " resgatou " (ransomed, the euphemism in use for purchased) 
 two Indian children, a boy and a girl, through a Japura trader. 
 The boy was about twelve years of age, and of an unusually 
 dark colour of skin: he had, in fact, the tint of a Cafuzo, the 
 offspring of Indian and negro. It was thought he had belonged 
 to some perfectly wild and houseless tribe, similar to the Para- 
 rauates of the Tapajos, of which there are several in different 
 parts of the interior of South America. His face was of regular, 
 oval shape, but his glistening black eyes had a wary, distrustful 
 expression, like that of a wild animal; and his hands and feet 
 were small and delicately formed. Soon after his arrival, find- 
 ing that none of the Indian boys and girls in the houses of 
 our neighbours understood his language, he became sulky and 
 reserved; not a word could be got from him until many weeks 
 afterwards, when he suddenly broke out with complete phrases 
 of Portuguese. He was ill of swollen liver and spleen, the 
 result of intermittent fever, for a long time after coming into 
 our hands. We found it difficult to cure him, owing to his 
 almost invincible habit of eating earth, baked clay, pitch, wax, 
 and other similar substances. Very many children on the 
 upper parts of the Amazons have this strange habit; not only 
 Indians, but negroes and whites. It is not, therefore, peculiar 
 to the famous Otomacs of the Orinoco, described by Humboldt, 
 
280 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 or to Indians at all, and seems to originate in a morbid craving, 
 the result of a meagre diet of fish, wild-fruitS) and mandioca- 
 meal. We gave our little savage the name of Sebastian. The 
 use of these Indian children is to fill water-jars from the river, 
 gather firewood in the forest, cook, assist in paddling the 
 montaria in excursions, and so forth. Sebastian was often my 
 companion in the woods, where he was very useful in finding the 
 small birds I shot, which sometimes fell in the thickets amongst 
 confused masses of fallen branches and dead leaves. He was 
 wonderfully expert at catching lizards with his hands, and at 
 climbing. The smoothest stems of palm-trees offered little 
 difficulty to him: he would gather a few lengths of tough, 
 flexible lianas; tie them in a short, endless band to support his 
 feet with, in embracing the slippery shaft, and then mount 
 upwards by a succession of slight jerks. It was very amusing, 
 during the first few weeks, to witness the glee and pride with 
 which he would bring to me the bunches of fruit he had gathered 
 from almost inaccessible trees. He avoided the company of 
 boys of his own race, and was evidently proud of being the 
 servant of a real white man. We brought him down with us 
 to Para: but he showed no emotion at any of the strange 
 sights of the capital; the steam-vessels, large ships and houses, 
 horses and carriages, the pomp of church ceremonies, and so 
 forth. In this he exhibited the usual dulness of feeling and 
 poverty of thought of the Indian; he had, nevertheless, very 
 keen perceptions, and was quick at learning any mechanical art. 
 Jose, who had resumed, some time before I left the country, 
 his old trade of goldsmith, made him his apprentice, and he 
 made very rapid progress ; for after about three months' teach- 
 ing he came to me one day with radiant countenance and 
 showed me a gold ring of his own making. 
 
 The fate of the little girl, who came with a second batch of 
 children all ill of intermittent fever, a month or two after 
 Sebastian, was very different. She was brought to our house, 
 after landing, one night in the wet season, when the rain was 
 pouring in torrents, thin and haggard, drenched with wet and 
 shivering with ague. An old Indian who brought her to the 
 door, said briefly, " ecui encommenda " (here's your little parcel, 
 or order), and went away. There was very little of the savage 
 in her appearance, and she was of a much lighter colour than 
 the boy. We found she was of the Miranha tribe, all of whom 
 are distinguished by a slit, cut in the middle of each wing of 
 the nose, in which they wear on holiday occasions a large 
 
n Voyage to Ega 281 
 
 button made of pearly river-shell. We took the greatest care 
 of our little patient; had the best nurses in the town, fomented 
 her daily, gave her quinine and the most nourishing food; but 
 it was all of no avail : she sank rapidly ; her liver was enormously 
 swollen, and almost as hard to the touch as stone. There was 
 something uncommonly pleasing in her ways, and quite unlike 
 anything I had yet seen in Indians. Instead of being dull and 
 taciturn, she was always smiling and full of talk. We had an 
 old woman of the same tribe to attend her, who explained what 
 she said to us. She often begged to be taken to the river to 
 bathe ; asked for fruit, or coveted articles she saw in the room 
 for playthings. Her native name was Oria. The last week 
 or two she could not rise from the bed we had made for her 
 in a dry corner of the room: when she wanted lifting, which 
 was very often, she would allow no one to help her but me, 
 calling me by the name of " Cariwa " (white man), the only 
 word of Tupi she seemed to know. It was inexpressibly touch- 
 ing to hear her, as she lay, repeating by the hour the verses 
 which she had been taught to recite with her companions in 
 her native village: a few sentences repeated over and over 
 again with a rhythmic accent, and relating to objects and 
 incidents connected with the wild life of her tribe. We had 
 her baptised before she died, and when this latter event happened, 
 in opposition to the wishes of the big people of Ega, I insisted 
 on burying her with the same honours as a child of the whites; 
 that is, as an " anjinho " (little angel), according to the pretty 
 Roman Catholic custom of the country. We had the corpse 
 clothed in a robe of fine calico, crossed her hands on her breast 
 over a " palma " of flowers, and made also a crown of flowers 
 for her head. Scores of helpless children like our poor Oria die 
 at Ega, or on the road; but generally not the slightest care is 
 taken of them during their illness. They are the captives made 
 during the merciless raids of one section of the Miranha tribe 
 on the territories of another, and sold to the Ega traders. The 
 villages of the attacked hordes are surprised, and the men and 
 women killed or driven into the thickets without having time 
 to save their children. There appears to be no doubt that the 
 Miranhas are cannibals, and, therefore, the purchase of these 
 captives probably saves them from a worse fate. The demand 
 for them at Ega operates, however, as a direct cause of the 
 supply, stimulating the unscrupulous chiefs, who receive all the 
 profits, to undertake these murderous expeditions. 
 
 It is remarkable how quickly the savages of the various 
 
282 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 nations, which each have their own, to all appearance, widely 
 different language, learn Tupi on their arrival at Ega, where it 
 is the common idiom. This perhaps may be attributed chiefly 
 to the grammatical forms of all the Indian tongues being the 
 same, although the words are different. As far as I could learn, 
 the feature is common to all, of placing the preposition after the 
 noun, making it, in fact, a /^/-position, thus: " He is come the 
 village from ; " " Go him with, the plantation to," and so forth. 
 The ideas to be expressed in their limited sphere of life and 
 thought are few; consequently the stock of words is extremely 
 small; besides, all Indians have the same way of thinking, and 
 the same objects to talk about; these circumstances also con- 
 tribute to the ease with which they learn each other's language. 
 Hordes of the same tribe living on the same branch rivers, 
 speak mutually unintelligible languages; this happens with the 
 Miranhas on the Japura, and with the Collinas on the Juriia; 
 whilst Tupi is spoken with little corruption along the banks of 
 the main Amazons for a distance of 2500 miles. The purity of 
 Tupi is kept up by frequent communication amongst the natives, 
 from one end to the other of the main river; how complete and 
 long-continued must be the isolation in which the small groups 
 of savages have lived in other parts, to have caused so complete 
 a segregation of dialects! It is probable that the strange in- 
 flexibility of the Indian organisation, both bodily and mental, 
 is owing to the isolation in which each small tribe has lived, 
 and to the narrow round of life and thought, and close inter- 
 marriages for countless generations, which are the necessary 
 results. Their fecundity is of a low degree, for it is very rare 
 to find an Indian family having so many as four children, and 
 we have seen how great is their liability to sickness and death 
 on removal from place to place. 
 
 I have already remarked on the different way in which the 
 climate of this equatorial region affects Indians and negroes. 
 No one could live long amongst the Indians of the Upper 
 Amazons, without being struck with their constitutional dislike 
 to the heat. Europeans certainly withstand the high tempera- 
 ture better than the original inhabitants of the country: I 
 always found I could myself bear exposure to the sun or un- 
 usually hot weather quite as well as the Indians, although not 
 well-fitted by nature for a hot climate. Their skin is always 
 hot to the touch, and they perspire little. No Indian resident 
 of Ega can be induced to stay in the village (where the heat is 
 felt more than in the forest or on the river), for many days 
 
Voyage to Ega 283 
 
 together. They bathe many times a day, but do not plunge in 
 the water, taking merely a sitz-bath, as dogs may be seen doing 
 in hot climates, to cool the lower parts of the body. The 
 women and children, who often remain at home, whilst the 
 men are out for many days together fishing, generally find some 
 excuse for trooping off to the shades of the forest in the hot 
 hours of the afternoons. They are restless and discontented in 
 fine dry weather, but cheerful in cool days, when the rain is 
 pouring down on their naked backs. When suffering under 
 fever, nothing but strict watching can prevent them from going 
 down to bathe in the river, or eating immoderate quantities of 
 juicy fruits, although these indulgences are frequently the cause 
 of death. They are very subject to disorders of the liver, 
 dysentery, and other diseases of hot climates, and when any 
 epidemic is about, they fall ill quicker, and suffer more than 
 negroes or even whites. How different all this is with the 
 negro, the true child of tropical climes! The impression 
 gradually forced itself on my mind that the red Indian lives as 
 a stranger, or immigrant in these hot regions, and that his con- 
 stitution was not originally adapted, and has not since become 
 perfectly adapted, to the climate. 
 
 The Indian element is very prominent in the amusements of 
 the Ega people. All the Roman Catholic holidays are kept up 
 with great spirit; rude Indian sports being mingled with the 
 ceremonies introduced by the Portuguese. Besides these, the 
 aborigines celebrate their own ruder festivals: the people of 
 different tribes combining; for, in most of their features, the 
 merry-makings were originally alike in all the tribes. The 
 Indian idea of a holiday is bonfires, processions, masquerading, 
 especially the mimicry of different kinds of animals, plenty of 
 confused drumming and fifing, monotonous dancing, kept up 
 hour after hour without intermission, and, the most important 
 point of all, getting gradually and completely drunk. But he 
 attaches a kind of superstitious significance to these acts, and 
 thinks that the amusements appended to the Roman Catholic 
 holidays as celebrated by the descendants of the Portuguese, are 
 also an essential part of the religious ceremonies. But in this 
 respect, the uneducated whites and half-breeds are not a bit 
 more enlightened than the poor dull-souled Indian. All look 
 upon a religious holiday as an amusement, in which the priest 
 takes the part of director or chief actor. 
 
 Almost every unusual event, independent of saints' days, is 
 made the occasion of a holiday by the sociable, easy-going 
 
284 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 people of the white and Mameluco classes; funerals, christen- 
 ings, weddings, the arrival of strangers, and so forth. The 
 custom of " waking " the dead is also kept up. A few days 
 after I arrived, I was awoke in the middle of a dark moist night 
 by Cardozo, to sit up with a neighbour whose wife had just 
 died. I found the body laid out on a table, with crucifix and 
 lighted wax-candles at the head, and the room full of women 
 and girls squatted on stools or on their haunches. The men 
 were seated round the open door, smoking, drinking coffee, and 
 telling stories; the bereaved husband exerting himself much to 
 keep the people merry during the remainder of the night. The 
 Ega people seem to like an excuse for turning night into day; 
 it is so cool and pleasant, and they can sit about during these 
 hours in the open air, clad as usual in simple shirt and trousers, 
 without streaming with perspiration. 
 
 The patron saint is Santa Theresa; the festival at whose 
 anniversary lasts, like most of the others, ten days. It begins 
 very quietly with evening litanies sung in the church, which 
 are attended by the greater part of the population, all clean and 
 gaily dressed in calicos and muslins; the girls wearing jasmines 
 and other natural flowers in their hair, no other head-dress 
 being worn by females of any class. The evenings pass 
 pleasantly; the church is lighted up with wax candles, and 
 illuminated on the outside by a great number of little oil lamps 
 — rude clay cups, or halves of the thick rind of the bitter orange, 
 which are fixed all over the front. The congregation seem very 
 attentive, and the responses to the litany of Our Lady, sung by 
 a couple of hundred fresh female voices, ring agreeably through 
 the still village. Towards the end of the festival the fun 
 commences. The managers of the feast keep open houses, 
 and dancing, drumming, tinkling of wire guitars, and unbridled 
 drinking by both sexes, old and young, are kept up for a couple 
 of days and a night with little intermission. The ways of the 
 people at these merry-makings, of which there are many in the 
 course of the year, always struck me as being not greatly 
 different from those seen at an old-fashioned village wake in 
 retired parts of England. The old folks look on and get very 
 talkative over their cups ; the children are allowed a little extra 
 indulgence in sitting up; the dull, reserved fellows become loqua- 
 cious, shake one another by the hand or slap each other on the 
 back, discovering, all at once, what capital friends they are. 
 The cantankerous individual gets quarrelsome, and the amorous 
 unusually loving. The Indian, ordinarily so taciturn, finds the 
 
Voyage to Ega 285 
 
 use of his tongue, and gives the minutest details of some little 
 dispute which he had with his master years ago, and which 
 every one else had forgotten; just as I have known lumpish 
 labouring men in England do, when half-fuddled. One cannot 
 help reflecting, when witnessing these traits of manners, on the 
 similarity of human nature everywhere, when classes are com- 
 pared whose state of culture and conditions of life are pretty 
 nearly the same. 
 
 The Indians play a conspicuous part in the amusements at 
 St. John's eve, and at one or two other holidays which happen 
 about that time of the year — the end of June. In some of the 
 sports the Portuguese element is visible, in others the Indian; 
 but it must be recollected that masquerading, recitative sing- 
 ing, and so forth, are common originally to both peoples. A 
 large number of men and boys disguise themselves to represent 
 different grotesque figures, animals, or persons. Two or three 
 dress themselves up as giants, with the help of a tall frame- 
 work. One enacts the part of the Caypor, a kind of sylvan 
 deity similar to the Curupira which I have before mentioned. 
 The belief in this being seems to be common to all the tribes 
 of the Tupi stock. According to the figure they dressed up at 
 Ega, he is a bulky, misshapen monster, with red skin and long 
 shaggy red hair hanging half way down his back. They believe 
 that he has subterranean campos and hunting grounds in the 
 forest, well stocked with pacas and deer. He is not at all an 
 object of worship nor of fear, except to children, being con- 
 sidered merely as a kind of hobgoblin. Most of the masquers 
 make themselves up as animals — bulls, deer, magoary storks, 
 jaguars, and so forth, with the aid of light frameworks, covered 
 with old cloth dyed or painted and shaped according to the 
 object represented. Some of the imitations which I saw were 
 capital. One ingenious fellow arranged an old piece of canvas 
 in the form of a tapir, placed himself under it, and crawled 
 about on all fours. He constructed an elastic nose to resemble 
 that of the tapir, and made, before the doors of the principal 
 residents, such a good imitation of the beast grazing, that 
 peals of laughter greeted him wherever he went. Another man 
 walked about solitarily, masked as a jabiru crane (a large animal 
 standing about four feet high), and mimicked the gait and 
 habits of the bird uncommonly well. One year an Indian lad 
 imitated me, to the infinite amusement of the townsfolk. He 
 came the previous day to borrow of me an old blouse and straw 
 hat. I felt rather taken in when I saw him, on the night of 
 
286 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the performance, rigged out as an entomologist, with an insect 
 net, hunting bag, and pincushion. To make the imitation 
 complete, he had borrowed the frame of an old pair of spectacles, 
 and went about with it straddled over his nose. The jaguar 
 now and then made a raid amongst the crowd of boys who 
 were dressed as deer, goats, and so forth. The masquers kept 
 generally together, moving from house to house, and the per- 
 formances were directed by an old musician, who sang the 
 orders and explained to the spectators what was going forward 
 in a kind of recitative, accompanying himself on a wire guitar. 
 The mixture of Portuguese and Indian customs is partly owing 
 to the European immigrants in these parts having been un- 
 educated men, who, instead of introducing European civilisation, 
 have descended almost to the level of the Indians, and adopted 
 some of their practices. The performances take place in the 
 evening, and occupy five or six hours ; bonfires are lighted along 
 the grassy streets, and the families of the better class are seated 
 at their doors, enjoying the wild but good-humoured fun. 
 
 We lived at Ega, during most part of the year, on turtle. 
 The great fresh-water turtle of the Amazons grows on the upper 
 river to an immense size, a full-grown one measuring nearly 
 three feet in length by two in breadth, and is a load for the 
 strongest Indian. Every house' has a little pond, called a 
 curral (pen), in the backyard to hold a stock of the animals 
 through the season of dearth — the wet months ; those who have 
 a number of Indians in their employ send them out for a 
 month when the waters are low, to collect a stock, and those 
 who have not, purchasing their supply; with some difficulty, 
 however, as they are rarely offered for sale. The price of turtles, 
 like that of all other articles of food, has risen greatly with 
 the introduction of steam-vessels. When I arrived in 1850 a 
 middle-sized one could be bought pretty readily for ninepence, 
 but when I left in 1859, they were with difficulty obtained at 
 eight and nine shillings each. The abundance of turtles, or 
 rather the facility with which they can be found and caught, 
 varies with the amount of annual subsidence of the waters. 
 When the river sinks less than the average, they are scarce; 
 but when more, they can be caught in plenty, the bays and 
 shallow lagoons in the forest having then only a small depth of 
 water. The flesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome; 
 but it is very cloying: every one ends, sooner or later, by 
 becoming thoroughly surfeited. I became so sick of turtle in 
 the course of two years that I could not bear the smell of it, 
 
Voyage to Ega 287 
 
 although at the same time nothing else was to be had, and I 
 was suffering actual hunger. The native women cook it in 
 various ways. The entrails are chopped up and made into a 
 delicious soup called sarapatel, which is generally boiled in the 
 concave upper shell of the animal used as a kettle. The tender 
 rlesh of the breast is partially minced with farinha, and the 
 breast shell then roasted over the fire, making a very pleasant 
 dish. Steaks cut from the breast and cooked with the fat form 
 another palatable dish. Large sausages are made of the thick- 
 coated stomach, which is filled with minced meat and boiled. 
 The quarters cooked in a kettle of Tucupi sauce form another 
 variety of food. When surfeited with turtle in all other shapes, 
 pieces of the lean part roasted on a spit and moistened only with 
 vinegar make an agreeable change. The smaller kind of turtle, 
 the tracaja, which makes its appearance in the main river, and 
 lays its eggs a month earlier than the large species, is of less 
 utility to the inhabitants although its flesh is superior, on 
 account of the difficulty of keeping it alive; it survives captivitv 
 but a very few days, although placed in the same ponds in 
 which the large turtle keeps well for two or three years. 
 
 Those who cannot hunt and fish for themselves, and whose 
 stomachs refuse turtle, are in a poor way at Ega. Fish, 
 including many kinds of large and delicious salmonidas, is 
 abundant in the fine season; but each family fishes only for 
 itself, and has no surplus for sale. An Indian fisherman remains 
 out just long enough to draw what he thinks sufficient for a 
 couple of days' consumption. Vacca marina is a great resource 
 in the wet season; it is caught by harpooning, which requires 
 much skill, or by strong nets made of very thick hammock 
 twine, and placed across narrow inlets. Very few Europeans 
 are able to eat the meat of this animal. Although there is a 
 large quantity of cattle in the neighbourhood of the town, and 
 pasture is abundant all the year round, beef can be had only 
 when a beast is killed by accident. The most frequent cause of 
 death is poisoning by drinking raw Tucupi, the juice of the 
 mandioca root. Bowls of this are placed on the ground in the 
 sheds where the women prepare farinha; it is generally done 
 carelessly, but sometimes intentionally through spite whan stray 
 oxen devastate the plantations of the poorer people. The juice 
 is almost certain to be drunk if cattle stray near the place, and 
 death is the certain result. The owners kill a beast which 
 shows symptoms of having been poisoned, and retail the beef 
 in the town. Although every one knows it cannot be whole- 
 
288 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 some, such is the scarcity of meat and the uncontrollable desire 
 to eat beef, that it is eagerly bought, at least by those residents 
 who come from other provinces where beef is the staple article 
 of food. Game of all kinds is scarce in the forest near the 
 town, except in the months of June and July, when immense 
 numbers of a large and handsome bird, Cuvier's toucan (Ram- 
 phastos Cuvieri) make their appearance. They come in well- 
 fed condition, and are shot in such quantities that every family 
 has the strange treat of stewed and roasted toucans daily for 
 many weeks. Curassow birds are plentiful on the banks of the 
 Solimoens, but to get a brace or two requires the sacrifice of 
 several days for the trip. A tapir, of which the meat is most 
 delicious and nourishing, is sometimes killed by a fortunate 
 hunter. I have still a lively recollection of the pleasant effects 
 which I once experienced from a diet of fresh tapir meat for a 
 few days, after having been brought to a painful state of bodily 
 and mental depression by a month's scanty rations of fish and 
 farinha. 
 
 We sometimes had fresh bread at Ega made from American 
 flour brought from Para, but it was sold at ninepence a pound. 
 I was once two years without tasting wheaten bread, and 
 attribute partly to this the gradual deterioration of health which 
 I suffered on the Upper Amazons. Mandioca meal is a poor, 
 weak substitute for bread; it is deficient in gluten, and con- 
 sequently cannot be formed into a leavened mass or loaf, but is 
 obliged to be roasted in hard grains in order to keep any length 
 of time. Cakes are made of the half-roasted meal, but they 
 become sour in a very few hours. A superior kind of meal is 
 manufactured at Ega of the sweet mandioca (Manihot Aypi); 
 it is generally made with a mixture of the starch of the root, 
 and is therefore a much more wholesome article of food than 
 the ordinary sort which, on the Amazons, is made of the pulp 
 after the starch has been extracted by soaking in water. When 
 we could get neither bread nor biscuit, I found tapioca soaked 
 in coffee the best native substitute. We were seldom without 
 butter, as every canoe brought one or two casks on each return 
 voyage from Para, where it is imported in considerable quantity 
 from Liverpool. We obtained tea in the same way; it being 
 served as a fashionable luxury at wedding and christening 
 parties; the people were at first strangers to this article, for 
 they used to stew it in a saucepan, mixing it up with coarse raw 
 sugar, and stirring it with a spoon. Sometimes we had milk, 
 but this was only when a cow calved; the yield from each cow 
 
Voyage to Ega 289 
 
 was very small, and lasted only for a few weeks in each case, 
 although the pasture is good, and the animals are sleek and fat. 
 Fruit of the ordinary tropical sorts could generally be had. 
 I was quite surprised at the variety of the wild kinds, and of 
 the delicious flavour of some of them. Many of these are 
 utterly unknown in the regions nearer the Atlantic; being the 
 peculiar productions of this highly favoured, and little known, 
 interior country. Some have been planted by the natives in 
 their clearings. The best was the Jabuti-puhe, or tortoise-foot; 
 a scaled fruit probably of the Anonaceous order. It is about 
 the size of an ordinary apple ; when ripe the rind is moderately 
 thin, and encloses, with the seeds, a quantity of custardy pulp 
 of a very rich flavour. Next to this stands the Cuma (Collo- 
 phora sp.) of which there are two species, not unlike, in appear- 
 ance, small round pears; but the rind is 
 rather hard, and contains a gummy milk, 
 and the pulpy part is almost as delicious 
 as that of the Jabuti-puhe. The Cuma 
 tree is of moderate height, and grows 
 rather plentifully in the more elevated 
 and drier situations. A third kind is the 
 Pama, which is a stone fruit, similar in 
 colour and appearance to the cherry, but „., . F .. 
 
 of oblong shape. The tree is one of the 
 
 loftiest in the forest, and has never, I believe, been selected for 
 cultivation. To get at the fruit the natives are obliged to climb 
 to the height of about a hundred feet, and cut off the heavily 
 laden branches. I have already mentioned the Umari and the 
 Wishi: both these are now cultivated. The fatty, bitter pulp 
 which surrounds the large stony seeds of these fruits is eaten 
 mixed with farinha, and is very nourishing. Another cultivated 
 fruit is the Puruma (Puruma cecropiaefolia, Martius), a round 
 juicy berry, growing in large bunches and resembling grapes in 
 taste. Another smaller kind, called Puruma-i, grows wild in 
 the forest close to Ega, and has not yet been planted. The 
 most singular of all these fruits is the Uiki, which is of oblong 
 shape, and grows apparently crosswise on the end of its stalk. 
 When ripe the thick green rind opens by a natural cleft across 
 the middle, and discloses an oval seed the size of a damascene 
 plum, but of a vivid crimson colour. This bright hue belongs to 
 a thin coating of pulp which, when the seeds are mixed in a plate 
 of stewed bananas, gives to the mess a pleasant rosy tint, and 
 a rich creamy taste and consistence. Mingua (porridge) of 
 
290 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 bananas flavoured and coloured with Uiki is a favourite dish 
 at Ega. The fruit, like most of the others here mentioned, 
 ripens in January. Many smaller fruits such as Wajuru (prob- 
 ably a species of Achras), the size of a gooseberry, which grows 
 singly and contains a sweet gelatinous pulp, enclosing two large, 
 shining black seeds; Cashipari-arapaa, an oblong scarlet berry; 
 two kinds of Bacuri, the Bacuri-siuma and the B. curua, sour 
 fruits of a bright lemon colour when ripe, and a great number 
 of others, are of less importance as articles of food. 
 
 The celebrated " Peach palm," Pupunha of the Tupi nations 
 (Guilielma speciosa), is a common tree at Ega. The name, I 
 suppose, is in allusion to the colour of the fruit, and not to its 
 flavour, for it is dry and mealy, and in taste may be compared 
 to a mixture of chestnuts and cheese. Vultures devour it 
 eagerly, and come in quarrelsome flocks to the trees when it is 
 ripe. Dogs will also eat it: I do not recollect seeing cats do the 
 same, although they go voluntarily to the woods to eat Tucuma, 
 another kind of palm fruit. The tree, as it grows in clusters 
 beside the palm-thatched huts, is a noble ornament, being, 
 when full grown, from fifty to sixty feet in height and often as 
 straight as a scaffold-pole. A bunch of fruit when ripe is a 
 load for a strong man, and each tree bears several of them. 
 The Pupunha grows wild nowhere on the Amazons. It is one 
 of those few vegetable productions (including three kinds of 
 mandioca and the American species of banana) which the 
 Indians have cultivated from time immemorial, and brought 
 with them in their original migration to Brazil. It is only, 
 however, the more advanced tribes who have kept up the 
 cultivation. The superiority of the fruit on the Solimoens to 
 that grown on the Lower Amazons and in the neighbourhood 
 of Para is very striking. At Ega it is generally as large as a 
 full-sized peach, and when boiled almost as mealy as a potato; 
 whilst at Para it is no bigger than a walnut, and the pulp is 
 fibrous. Bunches of sterile or seedless fruits sometimes occur 
 in both districts. It is one of the principal articles of food at 
 Ega when in season, and is boiled and eaten with treacle or 
 salt. A dozen of the seedless fruits makes a good nourishing 
 meal for a grown-up person. It is the general belief that there 
 is more nutriment in Pupunha than in fish or Vacca marina. 
 
 The seasons in the Upper Amazons region offer some points 
 of difference from those of the lower river and the district of 
 Para, which two sections of the country we have already seen 
 also differ considerably. The year at Ega is divided according 
 
Voyage to Ega 
 
 291 
 
 to the rises and falls of the river, with which coincide the wet 
 and dry periods. All the principal transactions of life of the 
 inhabitants are re- 
 gulated by these 
 yearly recurring ^== 
 phenomena. The <^ 
 peculiarity of this ^ 
 upper region con- 
 sists in there being 
 two rises and two 
 
 falls within the year. The great annual 
 rise commences about the end of February 
 and continues to the middle of June, 
 during which the rivers and lakes, con- 
 fined during the dry periods to their 
 ordinary beds, gradually swell and over- 
 flow all the lower lands. The inundation 
 progresses gently inch by inch, and is felt 
 everywhere, even in the interior of the 
 forests of the higher lands, miles away 
 from the river; as these are traversed by 
 numerous gullies, forming in the fine 
 season dry, spacious dells, which become 
 gradually transformed by the pressure of 
 the flood into broad creeks navigable by 
 small boats under the shade of trees. All 
 the countless swarms of turtle of various 
 species then leave the main river for the 
 inland pools; the sand-banks go under 
 water, and the flocks of wading birds i fl ■, 1 
 migrate northerly to the upper waters of " : «r\\] 
 the tributaries which flow from that direc- 
 tion, or to the Orinoco; which streams 
 during the wet period of the Amazons are 
 enjoying the cloudless skies of their dry 
 season. The families of fishermen who 
 have been employed, during the previous 
 four or five months, in harpooning and 
 salting pirarucu and shooting turtle in the 
 great lakes, now return to the towns and upun a m ' 
 
 villages; their temporarily constructed fishing establishments 
 becoming gradually submerged, with the sand islets or beaches 
 on which they were situated. This is the season, however, in 
 
2Q2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 which the Brazil nut and wild cacao ripen, and many persons go 
 out to gather these harvests, remaining absent generally through- 
 out the months of March and April. The rains during this time 
 are not continuous: they fall very heavily at times, but rarely 
 last so long at a stretch as twenty-four hours, and many days 
 intervene of pleasant, sunny weather. The sky, however, is 
 generally overcast and gloomy, and sometimes a drizzling rain 
 falls. 
 
 About the first week in June the flood is at its highest; the 
 water being then about forty-five feet above its lowest point; 
 but it varies in different years to the extent of about fifteen feet. 
 The " enchente," or flow, as it is called by the natives, who 
 believe this great annual movement of the waters to be of the 
 same nature as the tide towards the mouth of the Amazons, is 
 then completed, and all begin to look forward to the " vasante," 
 or ebb. The provision made for the dearth of the wet season is 
 by this time pretty nearly exhausted; fish is difficult to procure 
 and many of the less provident inhabitants have become 
 reduced to a diet of fruits and farinha porridge. 
 
 The fine season begins with a few days of brilliant weather — 
 furious, hot sun, with passing clouds. Idle men and women, 
 tired of the dulness and confinement of the flood season, begin 
 to report, on returning from their morning bath, the cessation 
 of the flow: as agoas estao paradas, " the waters have stopped." 
 The muddy streets, in a few days, dry up: groups of young 
 fellows are now seen seated on the shady sides of the cottages 
 making arrows and knitting fishing-nets with tucum twine; 
 others are busy patching up and caulking their canoes, large 
 and small: in fact, preparations are made on all sides for the 
 much longed-for " verao," or summer, and the " migration," as 
 it is called, of fish and turtle; that is, their descent from the 
 inaccessible pools in the forest to the main river. Towards the 
 middle of July the sand-banks begin to reappear above the 
 surface of the waters, and with this change come flocks of sand- 
 pipers and gulls, which latter make known the advent of the 
 fine season, as the cuckoo does of the European spring; utter- 
 ing almost incessantly their plaintive cries as they fly about 
 over the shallow waters of sandy shores. Most of the gaily- 
 plumaged birds have now finished moulting, and begin to be 
 more active in the forest. 
 
 The fall continues to the middle of October, with the inter- 
 ruption of a partial rise called " repiquet," of a few inches in 
 the midst of very dry weather in September, caused by the 
 
Voyage to Ega 293 
 
 swollen contribution of some large affluent higher up the river. 
 The amount of subsidence also varies considerably, but it is 
 never so great as to interrupt navigation by large vessels. The 
 greater it is the more abundant is the season. Every one is 
 prosperous when the waters are low; the shallow bays and pools 
 being then crowded with the concentrated population of fish and 
 turtle. All the people, men, women, and children, leave the 
 villages and spend the few weeks of glorious weather rambling 
 over the vast undulating expanses of sand in the middle of the 
 Solimoens, fishing, hunting, collecting eggs of turtle and plovers 
 and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The inhabitants pray 
 always for a " vasante grande," or great ebb. 
 
 From the middle of October to the beginning of January, 
 the second wet season prevails. The rise is sometimes not 
 more than about fifteen feet, but it is, in some years, much 
 more extensive, laying the large sand islands under water before 
 the turtle eggs are hatched. In one year, whilst I resided at 
 Ega, this second annual inundation reached to within ten feet 
 of the highest water point as marked by the stains on the trunks 
 of trees by the river side. 
 
 The second dry season comes on in January, and lasts through- 
 out February. The river sinks sometimes to the extent of a 
 few feet only, but one year (1856) I saw it ebb to within about 
 five feet of its lowest point in September. This is called the 
 summer of the Umari, " Verao do Umari." after the fruit of 
 this name already described, which ripens at this season. When 
 the fall is great, this is the best time to catch turtles. In the 
 year above mentioned, nearly all the residents who had a canoe, 
 and could work a paddle, went out after them in the month of 
 February, and about 2000 were caught in the course of a few 
 days. It appears that they had been arrested in their migration 
 towards the interior pools of the forest by the sudden drying 
 up of the water-courses, and so had become easy prey. 
 
 Thus the Ega year is divided into four seasons; two of dry 
 weather and falling waters, and two of the reverse. Besides 
 this variety, there is, in the month of May, a short season of 
 very cold weather, a most surprising circumstance in this other- 
 wise uniformly sweltering climate. This is caused by the con- 
 tinuance of a cold wind, which blows from the south over the 
 humid forests that extend without interruption from north of 
 the equator to the eighteenth parallel of latitude in Bolivia. 
 I had, unfortunately, no thermometer with me at Ega; the only 
 one I brought with me from England having been lost at Para. 
 
294 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 The temperature is so much lowered that fishes die in the river , 
 Teffe, and are cast in considerable quantities on its shores. 
 The wind is not strong; but it brings cloudy weather, and lasts 
 from three to five or six days in each year. The inhabitants 
 all suffer much from the cold, many of them wrapping them- 
 selves up with the warmest clothing they can get (blankets are 
 here unknown), and shutting themselves in-doors with a char- 
 coal fire lighted. I found, myself, the change of temperature 
 most delightful, and did not require extra clothing. It was a 
 bad time, however, for my pursuit, as birds and insects all 
 betook themselves to places of concealment, and remained in- 
 active. The period during which this wind prevails is called 
 the " tempo da friagem," or the season of coldness. The 
 phenomenon, I presume, is to be accounted for by the fact that 
 in May it is winter in the southern temperate zone, and that the 
 cool currents of air travelling thence northwards towards the 
 equator, become only moderately heated in their course, owing 
 to the intermediate country being a vast, partially-flooded plain 
 covered with humid forests. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA 
 
 The River Teffe — Rambles through Groves on the Beach — Excursion to 
 the House of a Passe Chieftain — Character and Customs of the Passe 
 Tribe — First Excursion to the Sand Islands of the Solimoens — 
 Habits of Great River-turtle — Second Excursion — Turtle-fishing in 
 the Inland Pools — Third Excursion — Hunting-rambles with Natives 
 in the Forest — Return to Ega 
 
 I will now proceed to give some account of the more interest- 
 ing of my shorter excursions in the neighbourhood of Ega. The 
 incidents of the longer voyages, which occupied each several 
 months,, will be narrated in a separate chapter. 
 
 The settlement, as before described, is built on a small tract 
 of cleared land at the lower or eastern end of the lake, six or 
 seven miles from the main Amazons, with which the lake com- 
 municates by a narrow channel. On the opposite shore of the 
 broad expanse stands a small village, called Nogueira, the 
 houses of which are not visible from Ega, except on very clear 
 days; the coast on the Nogueira side is high, and stretches 
 away into the grey distance towards the south-west. The 
 upper part of the river Teffe is not visited by the Ega people, 
 on account of its extreme unhealthiness, and its barrenness in 
 sarsaparilla and other wares. To Europeans it would seem a 
 most surprising thing that the people of a civilised settlement, 
 a hundred and seventy years old, should still be ignorant of the 
 course of the river on whose banks their native place, for which 
 they proudly claim the title of city, is situated. It would be 
 very difficult for a private individual to explore it, as the neces- 
 sary number of Indian paddlers could not be obtained. I knew 
 only one person who had ascended the Teffe to any considerable 
 distance, and he was not able to give me a distinct account of 
 the river. The only tribe known to live on its banks are the 
 Catauishis, a people who perforate their lips all round, and 
 wear rows of slender sticks in the holes: their territory lies 
 between the Purus and the Jurua, embracing both shores of 
 the Teffe. A large, navigable stream, the Bararua, enters the 
 lake from the west, about thirty miles above Ega; the breadth 
 
 295 
 
296 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 of the lake is much contracted a little below the mouth of this 
 tributary, but it again expands further south, and terminates 
 abruptly where the Teffe proper, a narrow river with a strong 
 current, forms its head water. 
 
 The whole of the country for hundreds of miles is covered 
 with picturesque but pathless forests, and there are only two 
 roads along which excursions can be made by land from Ega. 
 One is a narrow hunter's track, about two miles in length, 
 which traverses the forest in the rear of the settlement. The 
 other is an extremely pleasant path along the beach to the west 
 of the town. This is practicable only in the dry season, when 
 a flat strip of white sandy beach is exposed at the foot of the 
 high wooded banks of the lake, covered with trees, which, as 
 there is no underwood, form a spacious shady grove. I rambled 
 daily, during many weeks of each successive dry season, along 
 this delightful road. The trees, many of which are myrtles 
 and wild Guavas, with smooth yellow stems, were in flower at 
 this time; and the rippling waters of the lake, under the cool 
 shade, everywhere bordered the path. The place was the resort 
 of kingfishers, green and blue tree-creepers, purple-headed 
 tanagers, and humming-birds. Birds generally, however, were 
 not numerous. Every tree was tenanted by Cicadas, the reedy 
 notes of which produced that loud, jarring, insect music which 
 is the general accompaniment of a woodland ramble in a hot 
 climate. One species was very handsome, having wings adorned 
 with patches of bright green and scarlet. It was very common ; 
 sometimes three or four tenanting a single tree, clinging as 
 usual to the branches. On approaching a tree thus peopled, a 
 number of little jets of a clear liquid would be seen squirted 
 from aloft. I have often received the well-directed discharge 
 full on my face; but the liquid is harmless, having a sweetish 
 taste, and is ejected by the insect from the anus, probably in 
 self-defence, or from fear. The number and variety of gaily- 
 tinted butterflies, sporting about in this grove on sunny days, 
 were so great that the bright moving flakes of colour gave 
 quite a character to the physiognomy of the place. It was 
 impossible to walk far without disturbing flocks of them 
 from the damp sand at the edge of the water, where they con- 
 gregated to imbibe the moisture. They were of almost all 
 colours, sizes, and shapes: I noticed here altogether eighty 
 species, belonging to twenty-two different genera. It is a 
 singular fact that, with very few exceptions, all the individuals 
 of these various species thus sporting in sunny places were of 
 
Excursions around Ega 297 
 
 the male sex; their partners, which are much more soberly 
 dressed and immensely less numerous than the males, being 
 confined to the shades of the woods. Every afternoon, as the 
 sun was getting low, I used to notice these gaudy sunshine- 
 loving swains trooping off to the forest, where I suppose they 
 would find their sweethearts and wives. The most abundant, 
 next to the very common sulphur-yellow and orange-coloured 
 kinds, were about a dozen species of Eunica, which are of large 
 size, and are conspicuous from their liveries of glossy dark-blue 
 and purple. A superbly-adorned creature, the Callithea Markii, 
 having wings of a thick texture, coloured sapphire-blue and 
 orange, was only an occasional visitor. On certain days, when 
 the weather was very calm, two small gilded-green species 
 (Symmachia Trochilus and Colubris) literally swarmed on the 
 sands, their glittering wings lying wide open on the flat surface. 
 The beach terminates, eight miles beyond Ega, at the mouth of 
 a rivulet; the character of the coast then changes, the river 
 banks being masked by a line of low islets amid a labyrinth of 
 channels. 
 
 In all other directions my very numerous excursions were by 
 water; the most interesting of those made in the immediate 
 neighbourhood were to the houses of Indians on the banks of 
 retired creeks; an account of one of these trips will suffice. 
 
 On the 23rd of May, 1850, 1 visited, in company with Antonio 
 Cardozo, the Delegado, a family of the Passe tribe, who live 
 near the head waters of the Igarape, which flows from the south 
 into the Teffe, entering it at Ega. The creek is more than a 
 quarter of a mile broad near the town, but a few miles inland 
 it gradually contracts, until it becomes a mere rivulet flowing 
 through a broad dell in the forest. When the rjver rises it fills 
 this dell; the trunks of the lofty trees then stand many feet 
 deep in the water, and small canoes are able to travel the 
 distance of a day's journey under the shade, regular paths or 
 alleys being cut through the branches and lower trees. This 
 is the general character of the country of the Upper Amazons; 
 a land of small elevation and abruptly undulated, the hollows 
 forming narrow valleys in the dry months, and deep navigable 
 creeks in the wet months. In retired nooks on the margins of 
 these shady rivulets, a few families or small hordes of aborigines 
 still linger in nearly their primitive state, the relicts of their 
 once numerous tribes. The family we intended to visit on this 
 trip was that of Pedro-uassu (Peter the Great, or Tall Peter), 
 an old chieftain or Tushaua of the Passes. 
 
298 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 We set out at sunrise, in a small igarite, manned by six young 
 Indian paddlers. After travelling about three miles along the 
 broad portion of the creek — which, being surrounded by woods, 
 had the appearance of a large pool — we came to a part where 
 our course seemed to be stopped by an impenetrable hedge 
 of trees and bushes. We were some time before finding the 
 entrance, but when fairly within the shades, a remarkable 
 scene presented itself. It was my first introduction to these 
 singular water-paths. A narrow and tolerably straight alley 
 stretched away for a long distance before us ; on each side were 
 the tops of bushes and young trees, forming a kind of border to 
 the path, and the trunks of the tall forest trees rose at irregular 
 intervals from the water, their crowns interlocking far over our 
 heads, and forming a thick shade. Slender air roots hung down 
 in clusters, and looping sipos dangled from the lower branches; 
 bunches of grass, tillandsiae, and ferns, sat in the forks of the 
 larger boughs, and the trunks of trees near the water had 
 adhering to them round dried masses of freshwater sponges. 
 There was no current perceptible, and the water was stained of 
 a dark olive-brown hue, but the submerged stems could be seen 
 through it to a great depth. We travelled at good speed for 
 three hours along this shady road; the distance of Pedro's 
 house from Ega being about twenty miles. When the paddlers 
 rested for a time, the stillness and gloom of the place became 
 almost painful: our voices waked dull echoes as we conversed, 
 and the noise made by fishes occasionally whipping the surface 
 of the water was quite startling. A cool, moist, clammy air 
 pervaded the sunless shade. 
 
 The breadth of the wooded valley, at the commencement, is 
 probably more than half a mile, and there is a tolerably clear 
 view for a considerable distance on each side of the water-path 
 through the irregular colonnade of trees: other paths also, in 
 this part, branch off right and left from the principal road, 
 leading to the scattered houses of Indians on the mainland. 
 The dell contracts gradually towards the head of the rivulet, 
 and the forest then becomes denser; the water-path also 
 diminishes in width, and becomes more winding, on account of 
 the closer growth of the trees. The boughs of some are stretched 
 forth at no great height over one's head, and are seen to be 
 loaded with epiphytes; one orchid I noticed particularly, on 
 account of its bright yellow flowers growing at the end of flower- 
 stems several feet long. Some of the trunks, especally those 
 of palms, close beneath their crowns, were clothed with a thick 
 
Excursions around Ega 299 
 
 mass of glossy shield-shaped Pothos plants, mingled with ferns. 
 Arrived at this part we were, in fact, in the heart of the virgin 
 forest. We heard no noises of animals in the trees, and saw 
 only one bird, the sky-blue chatterer, sitting alone on a high 
 branch. For some distance the lower vegetation was so dense 
 that the road runs under an arcade of foliage, the branches 
 having been cut away only sufficiently to admit of the passage 
 of a small canoe. These thickets are formed chiefly of Bamboos, 
 whose slender foliage and curving stems arrange themselves in 
 elegant, feathery bowers: but other social plants,— slender green 
 climbers with tendrils so eager in aspiring to grasp the higher 
 boughs that they seem to be endowed almost with animal 
 energy, and certain low trees having large elegantly-veined 
 leaves, contribute also to the jungly masses. Occasionally 
 we came upon an uprooted tree lying across the path, its 
 voluminous crown still held up by thick cables of sipo, 
 connecting it with standing trees: a wide circuit had to be 
 made in these cases, and it was sometimes difficult to find 
 the right path again. 
 
 At length we arrived at our journey's end. We were then in 
 a very dense and gloomy part of the forest: we could see, how- 
 ever, the dry land on both sides of the creek, and to our right 
 a small sunny opening appeared, the landing-place to the native 
 dwellings. The water was deep close to the bank, and a clean 
 pathway ascended from the shady port to the buildings, which 
 were about a furlong distant. My friend Cardozo was god- 
 father to a grandchild of Pedro-uassu, whose daughter had 
 married an Indian settled in Ega. He had sent word to the 
 old man that he intended to visit him: we were therefore 
 expected. 
 
 As we landed, Pedro-uassu himself came down to the port to 
 receive us; our arrival having been announced by the barking 
 of dogs. He was a tall and thin old man, with a serious, but 
 benignant expression of countenance, and a manner much freer 
 from shyness and distrust than is usual with Indians. He was 
 clad in a shirt of coarse cotton cloth, dyed with murishi, and 
 trousers of the same material turned up to the knee. His 
 features were sharply delineated — more so than in any Indian 
 face I had yet seen ; the lips thin and the nose rather high and 
 compressed. A large, square, blue-black tattooed patch occupied 
 the middle of his face, which, as well as the other exposed parts 
 of his body, was of a light reddish-tan colour, instead of the 
 usual coppery-brown hue. He walked with an upright, slow 
 
300 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 gait, and on reaching us saluted Cardozo with the air of a man 
 who wished it to be understood that he was dealing with an 
 equal. My friend introduced me, and I was welcomed in the 
 same grave, ceremonious manner. He seemed to have many 
 questions to ask: but they were chiefly about Senhora Felippa, 
 Cardozo's Indian housekeeper at Ega, and were purely compli- 
 mentary. This studied politeness is quite natural to Indians 
 of the advanced agricultural tribes. The language used was 
 Tupi: I heard no other spoken all the day. It must be borne 
 in mind that Pedro-uassu had never had much intercourse with 
 whites : he was, although baptised, a primitive Indian, who had 
 always lived in retirement; the ceremony of baptism having 
 been gone through, as it generally is by the aborigines, simply 
 from a wish to stand well with the whites. 
 
 Arrived at the house, we were welcomed by Pedro's wife: a 
 thin, wrinkled, active old squaw, tattooed in precisely the same 
 way as her husband. She had also sharp features, but her 
 manner was more cordial and quicker than that of her husband : 
 she talked much, and with great inflection of voice; whilst the 
 tones of the old man were rather drawling and querulous. Her 
 clothing was a long petticoat of thick cotton cloth, and a very 
 short chemise, not reaching to her waist. I was rather surprised 
 to find the grounds around the establishment in neater order 
 than in any sitio, even of civilised people, I had yet seen on the 
 Upper Amazons: the stock of utensils and household goods of 
 all sorts was larger, and the evidences of regular industry and 
 plenty more numerous than one usually perceives in the farms 
 of civilised Indians and whites. The buildings were of the 
 same construction as those of the humbler settlers in all other 
 parts of the country. The family lived in a large, oblong, open 
 shed built under the shade of trees. Two smaller buildings, 
 detached from the shed and having mud- walls with low door- 
 ways, contained apparently the sleeping apartments of different 
 members of the large household. A small mill for grinding 
 sugar-cane, having two cylinders of hard notched wood; wooden 
 troughs, and kettles for boiling the guardpa (cane juice), to 
 make treacle, stood under a separate shed, and near it was a 
 large enclosed mud-house for poultry. There was another hut 
 and shed a short distance off, inhabited by a family dependent 
 on Pedro, and a narrow pathway through the luxuriant woods 
 led to more dwellings of the same kind. There was an abundance 
 of fruit trees around the place, including the never-failing 
 banana, with its long, broad, soft green leaf-blades, and groups 
 
Excursions around Ega 301 
 
 of full-grown Pupunhas, or peach palms. There was also a 
 large number of cotton and coffee trees. Amongst the utensils 
 I noticed baskets of different shapes, made of flattened maranta 
 stalks, and dyed various colours. The making of these is an 
 original art of the Passes, but I believe it is also practised by 
 other tribes, for I saw several in the houses of semi-civilised 
 Indians on the Tapajos. 
 
 There were only three persons in the house besides the old 
 couple, the rest of the people being absent; several came in, 
 however, in the course of the day. One was a daughter of 
 Pedro's, who had an oval tattooed spot over her mouth; the 
 second was a young grandson; and the third the son-in-law 
 from Ega, Cardozo's compadre. The old woman was occupied, 
 when we entered, in distilling spirits from card, an eatable root 
 similar to the potato, by means of a clay still, which had been 
 manufactured by herself. The liquor had a reddish tint, but 
 not a very agreeable flavour. A cup of it, warm from the still, 
 however, was welcome after our long journey. Cardozo liked 
 it, emptied his cup, and replenished it in a very short time. 
 The old lady was very talkative, and almost fussy in her desire 
 to please her visitors. We sat in tucum hammocks, suspended 
 between the upright posts of the shed. The young woman with 
 the blue mouth — who, although married, was as shy as any 
 young maiden of her race — soon became employed in scalding 
 and plucking fowls for the dinner, near the fire on the ground 
 at the other end of the dwelling. The son-in-law, Pedro-uassu, 
 and Cardozo now began a long conversation on the subject of 
 their deceased wife, daughter, and comadre. 1 It appeared she 
 had died of consumption — " tisica," as they called it, a word 
 adopted by the Indians from the Portuguese. The widower 
 repeated over and over again, in nearly the same words, his 
 account of her illness, Pedro chiming in like a chorus, and 
 Cardozo moralising and condoling. I thought the canim (grog) 
 had a good deal to do with the flow of talk and warmth of feel- 
 ing of all three: the widower drank and wailed until he became 
 maundering, and finally fell asleep. 
 
 I left them talking, and went a long ramble into the forest, 
 Pedro sending his grandson, a smiling well-behaved lad of about 
 fourteen years of age, to show me the paths, my companion 
 taking with him his Zarabalana, or blow-gun. This instrument 
 is used by all the Indian tribes on the Upper Amazons. It is 
 
 1 Co-mother; the term expressing the relationship of a mother to the 
 godfather of her child. 
 
302 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 generally nine or ten feet long, and is made of two separate 
 lengths of wood, each scooped out so as to form one-half of the 
 tube. To do this with the necessary accuracy requires an 
 enormous amount of patient labour, and considerable mechanical 
 ability, the tools used being simply the incisor teeth of the 
 Paca and Cutia. The two half tubes, when finished, are secured 
 together by a very close and tight spirally-wound strapping, 
 consisting of long flat strips of Jacitara, or the wood of the 
 climbing palm-tree; and the whole is smeared afterwards with 
 black wax, the production of a Melipona bee. The pipe tapers 
 towards the muzzle, and a cup-shaped mouthpiece, made of 
 wood, is fitted in the broad end. A full-sized Zarabatana is 
 heavy, and can only be used by an adult Indian who has had 
 great practice. The young lads learn to shoot with smaller 
 and lighter tubes. When Mr. Wallace and I had lessons at 
 Barra in the use of the blow-gun, of Julio, a Juri Indian, then 
 
 Blow-gun, quiver, and arrow. 
 
 in the employ of Mr. Hauxwell, an English bird-collector, we 
 found it very difficult. to hold steadily the long tubes. The 
 arrows are made from the hard rind of the leaf-stalks of certain 
 palms, thin strips being cut, and rendered as sharp as needles 
 by scraping the ends with a knife or the tooth of an animal. 
 They are winged with a little oval mass of samaiima silk (from 
 the seed-vessels of the silk-cotton tree, Eriodendron samaiima), 
 cotton being too heavy. The ball of samaiima should fit to a 
 nicety the bore of the blowgun; when it does so, the arrow can 
 be propelled with such force by the breath that it makes a noise 
 almost as loud as a pop-gun on flying from the muzzle. My 
 little companion was armed with a quiver full of these little 
 missiles, a small number of which, sufficient for the day's sport, 
 were tipped with the fatal Urari poison. The quiver was an 
 ornamental affair, the broad rim being made of highly-polished 
 wood of a rich cherry-red colour (the Moira-piranga, or red- 
 wood of the Japura). The body was formed of neatly-plaited 
 strips of Maranta stalks, and the belt by which it was suspended 
 from the shoulder was decorated with cotton fringes and tassels. 
 We walked about two miles along a well-trodden pathway, 
 
Excursions around Ega 303 
 
 through high caapoeira (second-growth forest). A large pro- 
 portion of the trees were Melastomas, which bore a hairy vellow 
 fruit, nearly as large and as well flavoured as our gooseberry. 
 The season, however, was nearly over for them. The road was 
 bordered every inch of the way by a thick bed of elegant Lyco- 
 podiums. An artificial arrangement of trees and bushes could 
 scarcely have been made to wear so finished an appearance as 
 this naturally decorated avenue. The path at length terminated 
 at a plantation of mandioca, the largest I had yet seen since I 
 left the neighbourhood of Para. There were probably ten acres 
 of cleared land, and part of the ground was planted with Indian 
 corn, water-melons, and sugar-cane. Beyond this field there 
 was only a faint hunter's track, leading towards the untrodden 
 interior. My companion told me he had never heard of there 
 being any inhabitants in that direction (the south). We crossed 
 the forest from this place to another smaller clearing, and then 
 walked, on our road home, through about two miles of caapoeira 
 of various ages, the sites of old plantations. The only fruits of our 
 ramble were a few rare insects and a Japu (Cassicus cristatus), 
 a handsome bird with chestnut and saffron-coloured plumage, 
 which wanders through the tree-tops in large flocks. My little 
 companion brought this down from a height which I calculated 
 at thirty yards. The blow-gun, however, in the hands of an 
 expert adult Indian, can be made to propel arrows so as to 
 kill at a distance of fifty and sixty yards. The aim is most 
 certain when the tube is held vertically, or nearly so. It is a 
 far more useful weapon in the forest than a gun, for the report 
 of a firearm alarms the whole flock of birds or monkeys feeding 
 on a tree, whilst the silent poisoned dart brings the animals 
 down one by one until the sportsman has a heap of slain by his 
 side. None but the stealthy Indian can use it effectively. The 
 poison, which must be fresh to kill speedily, is obtained only of 
 the Indians who live beyond the cataracts of the rivers flowing 
 from the north, especially the Rio Negro and the Japura. Its 
 principal ingredient is the wood of the Strychnos toxifera, a 
 tree which does not grow in the humid forests of the river plains. 
 A most graphic account of the Urari, and of an expedition under- 
 taken in search of the tree in Guiana, has been given by Sir 
 Robert Schomburgk. 1 
 
 When we returned to the house after mid-day, Cardozo was 
 still sipping cauim, and now looked exceedingly merry. It was 
 fearfully hot: the good fellow sat in his hammock with a cuya 
 
 1 Annals and Magazine of Natural History, vol. vii. p. 4ZI. 
 
304 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 full of grog in his hands; his broad honest face all of a glow, and 
 the perspiration streaming down his uncovered breast, the un- 
 buttoned shirt having slipped half-way over his broad shoulders. 
 Pedro-uassu had not drunk much; he was noted, as I afterwards 
 learnt, for his temperance. But he was standing up as I had 
 left him two hours previous, talking to Cardozo in the same 
 monotonous tones, the conversation apparently not having 
 flagged all the time. I had never heard so much talking 
 amongst Indians. The widower was asleep: the stirring, 
 managing old lady with her daughter were preparing dinner. 
 This, which was ready soon after I entered, consisted of boiled 
 fowls and rice, seasoned with large green peppers and lemon 
 juice, and piles of new, fragrant farinha and raw bananas. It 
 was served on plates of English manufacture on a tupe, or 
 large plaited rush mat, such as is made by the natives pretty 
 generally on the Amazons. Three or four other Indians, men 
 and women of middle age, now made their appearance, and 
 joined in the meal. We all sat round on the floor: the women, 
 according to custom, not eating until after the men had done. 
 Before sitting down, our host apologised in his usual quiet, 
 courteous manner for not having knives and forks; Cardozo 
 and I ate by the aid of wooden spoons, the Indians using their 
 fingers. The old man waited until we were all served before he 
 himself commenced. At the end of the meal, one of the women 
 brought us water in a painted clay basin of Indian manufacture, 
 and a clean coarse cotton napkin, that we might wash our hands. 
 The horde of Passes of which Pedro-uassu was Tushaiia or 
 chieftain, was at this time reduced to a very small number of 
 individuals. The disease mentioned in the last chapter had 
 for several generations made great havoc amongst them; many, 
 also, had entered the service of whites at Ega, and, of late years, 
 intermarriages with whites, half-castes, and civilised Indians 
 had been frequent. The old man bewailed the fate of his race 
 to Cardozo with tears in his eyes. " The people of my nation," 
 he said, " have always been good friends to the Cariwas (whites), 
 but before my grandchildren are old like me the name of Passe 
 will be forgotten." In so far as the Passes have amalgamated 
 with European immigrants or their descendants, and become 
 civilised Brazilian citizens, there can scarcely be ground for 
 lamenting their extinction as a nation; but it fills one with 
 regret to learn how many die prematurely of a disease which 
 seems to arise on their simply breathing the same air as the 
 whites. The original territory of the tribe must have been of 
 
Excursions around Ega 305 
 
 large extent, for Passes are said to have been found by the early- 
 Portuguese colonists on the Rio Negro; an ancient settlement 
 on that river, Barcellos, having been peopled by them when it 
 was first established; and they formed also part of the original 
 population of Fonte-boa on the Solimoens. Their hordes were 
 therefore spread over a region 400 miles in length from east to 
 west. It is probable, however, that they have been confounded 
 by the colonists with other neighbouring tribes who tattoo their 
 faces in a similar manner. The extinct tribe of Yurimauas, or 
 Sorimoas, from which the river Solimoens derives its name, 
 according to traditions extant at Ega, resembled the Passes in 
 their slender figures and friendly disposition. These tribes 
 (with others lying between them) peopled the banks of the main 
 river and its by-streams from the mouth of the Rio Negro to 
 Peru. True Passes existed in their primitive state on the banks 
 of the Issa, 240 miles to the west of Ega, within the memory of 
 living persons. The only large body of them now extant are 
 located on the Japura, at a place distant about 150 miles from 
 Ega: the population of this horde, however, does not exceed, 
 from what I could learn, 300 or 400 persons. I think it probable 
 that the lower part of the Japura and its extensive delta lands 
 formed the original home of this gentle tribe of Indians. 
 
 The Passes are always spoken of in this country as the most 
 advanced of all the Indian nations in the Amazons region. 
 Under what influences this tribe has become so strongly modified 
 in mental, social, and bodily features it is hard to divine. The 
 industrious habits, fidelity, and mildness of disposition of the 
 Passes, their docility and, it may be added, their personal beauty, 
 especially of the children and women, made them from the first 
 very attractive to the Portuguese colonists. They were, con- 
 sequently, enticed in great number from their villages and 
 brought to Barra and other settlements of the whites. The 
 wives of governors and military officers from Europe were always 
 eager to obtain children for domestic servants; the girls being 
 taught to sew, cook, weave hammocks, manufacture pillow-lace, 
 and so forth. They have been generally treated with kindness, 
 especially by the educated families in the settlements. It is 
 pleasant to have to record that I never heard of a deed of violence 
 perpetrated, on the one side or the other, in the dealings between 
 European settlers and this noble tribe of savages. 
 
 Very little is known of the original customs of the Passes. 
 The mode of life of our host Pedro-uassu did not differ much 
 from that of the civilised Mamelucos; -but he and his people 
 
306 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 showed a greater industry, and were more open, cheerful, and 
 generous in their dealings than many half-castes. The authority 
 of Pedro, like that of the Tushauas generally was exercised in 
 a mild manner. These chieftains appear able to command the 
 services of their subjects, since they furnish men to the Brazilian 
 authorities when requested; but none of them, even those of 
 the most advanced tribes, appear to make use of this authority 
 for the accumulation of property; the service being exacted 
 chiefly in time of war. Had the ambition of the chiefs of some 
 of these industrious tribes been turned to the acquisition of 
 wealth, probably we should have seen indigenous civilised 
 nations in the heart of South America similar to those found on 
 the Andes of Peru and Mexico. It is very probable that the 
 Passes adopted from the first to some extent the manners of the 
 whites. Ribeiro, a Portuguese official who travelled in these 
 regions in 1774-5, and wrote an account of his journey, relates 
 that they buried their dead in large earthenware vessels (a 
 custom still observed amongst other tribes on the Upper 
 Amazons), and that, as to their marriages, the young men 
 earned their brides by valiant deeds in war. He also states 
 that they possessed a cosmogony, in which the belief that the 
 sun was a fixed body with the earth revolving around it, was 
 a prominent feature. He says, moreover, that they believed in 
 a Creator of all things; a future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments, and so forth. These notions are so far in advance of the 
 ideas of all other tribes of Indians, and so little likely to have 
 been conceived and perfected by a people having no written 
 language or leisured class, that we must suppose them to have 
 been derived by the docile Passes from some early missionary 
 or traveller. I never found that the Passes had more curiosity 
 or activity of intellect than other Indians. No trace of a belief 
 in a future state exists amongst Indians who have not had much 
 intercourse with the civilised settlers, and even amongst those 
 who have it is only a few of the more gifted individuals who 
 show any curiosity on the subject. Their sluggish minds seem 
 unable to conceive or feel the want of a theory of the soul, and 
 of the relations of man to the rest of Nature or to the Creator. 
 But is it not so with totally uneducated and isolated people 
 even in the most highly civilised parts of the world ? The good 
 qualities of the Passes belong to the moral part of the character: 
 they lead a contented, unambitious, and friendly life, a quiet, 
 domestic, orderly existence, varied by occasional drinking bouts 
 and summer excursions. They are not so shrewd, energetic, 
 
Excursions around Ega 307 
 
 and masterful as the Mundurucus, but they are more easily 
 taught, because their disposition is more yielding than that of 
 the Mundurucus or any other tribe. 
 
 We started on our return to Ega at half-past four o'clock 
 in the afternoon. Our generous entertainers loaded us with 
 presents. There was scarcely room for us to sit in the canoe, 
 as they had sent down ten large bundles of sugar-cane, four 
 baskets of farinha, three cedar planks, a small hamper of coffee, 
 and two heavy bunches of bananas. After we were embarked 
 the old lady came with a parting gift for me — a huge bowl of 
 smoking hot banana porridge. I was to eat it on the road " to 
 keep my stomach warm." Both stood on the bank as we pushed 
 off. and gave us their adeos, " Ikuana Tupana eirum " (Go with 
 God): a form of salutation taught by the old Jesuit missionaries. 
 We had a most uncomfortable passage, for Cardozo was quite 
 tipsy, and had not attended to the loading of the boat. The 
 cargo had been placed too far forward, and to make matters 
 worse my heavy friend obstinately insisted on sitting astride 
 on the top of the pile, instead of taking his place near the stern ; 
 singing from his perch a most indecent love-song, and disre- 
 garding the inconvenience of having to bend down almost every 
 minute to pass under the boughs of hanging sipos as we sped 
 rapidly along. The canoe leaked, but not, at first, alarmingly. 
 Long before sunset, darkness began to close in under those 
 gloomy shades, and our steersman could not avoid now and 
 then running the boat into the thicket. The first time this 
 happened a piece was broken off the square prow (rodella); the 
 second time we got squeezed between two trees. A short time 
 after this latter accident, being seated near the stern with my 
 feet on the bottom of the boat, I felt rather suddenly the cold 
 water above my ankles. A few minutes more and we should 
 have sunk, for a seam had been opened forward under the pile 
 of sugar-cane. Two of us began to bale, and by the most 
 strenuous efforts managed to keep afloat without throwing over- 
 board our cargo. The Indians were obliged to paddle with 
 extreme slowness to avoid shipping water, as the edge of our 
 prow was nearly level with the surface; but Cardozo was now 
 persuaded to change his seat. The sun set, the quick twilight 
 passed, and the moon soon after began to glimmer through the 
 thick canopy of foliage. The prospect of being swamped in this 
 hideous solitude was by no means pleasant, although I calculated 
 on the chance of swimming to a tree and finding a nice snug 
 place in the fork of some large bough wherein to pass the night. 
 
308 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 At length, after four hours' tedious progress, we suddenly 
 emerged on the open stream where the moonlight glittered in 
 broad sheets on the gently rippling waters. A little extra care 
 was now required in paddling. The Indians plied their strokes 
 with the greatest nicety; the lights of Ega (the oil lamps in the 
 houses) soon appeared beyond the black wall of forest, and in a 
 short time we leapt safely ashore. 
 
 A few months after the excursion just narrated, I accom- 
 panied Cardozo in many wanderings on the Solimoens, during 
 which he visited the praias (sand-islands), the turtle pools in 
 the forests, and the by-streams and lakes of the great desert 
 river. His object was mainly to superintend the business of 
 digging up turtle eggs on the sand-banks, having been elected 
 commandante for the year, by the municipal council of Ega, of 
 the " praia real " (royal sand-island) of Shimuni, the one lying 
 nearest to Ega. There are four of these royal praias within the 
 Ega district (a distance of 150 miles from the town), all of which 
 are visited annually by the Ega people for the purpose of collect- 
 ing eggs and extracting oil from their yolks. Each has its com- 
 mander, whose business is to make arrangements for securing 
 to every inhabitant an equal chance in the egg harvest by 
 placing sentinels to protect the turtles whilst laying, and so 
 forth. The pregnant turtles descend from the interior pools to 
 the main river in July and August, before the outlets dry up, 
 and then seek in countless swarms their favourite sand islands; 
 for it is only a few praias that are selected by them out of the 
 great number existing. The young animals remain in the pools 
 throughout the dry season. These breeding places of turtles 
 then lie twenty to thirty or more feet above the level of the river, 
 -and are accessible only by cutting roads through the dense 
 forest. 
 
 We left Ega on our first trip, to visit the sentinels whilst the 
 turtles were yet laying, on the 26th of September. Our canoe 
 was a stoutly built igarite, arranged for ten paddlers, and 
 having a large arched toldo at the stern, under which three 
 persons could sleep pretty comfortably. Emerging from the 
 Teffe we descended rapidly on the swift current of the Soli- 
 moens to the south-eastern or lower end of the large wooded 
 island of Baria, which here divides the river into two great 
 channels. We then paddled across to Shimuni, which lies in the 
 middle of the north-easterly channel, reaching the commence- 
 ment of the praia an hour before sunset. The island proper is 
 
Excursions around Ega 309 
 
 about three miles long and half a mile broad: the forest with 
 which it is covered rises to an immense and uniform height, 
 and presents all round a compact, impervious front. Here and 
 there a singular tree, called Pao mulatto (mulatto wood), with 
 polished dark-green trunk, rose conspicuously amongst the 
 mass of vegetation. The sand-bank, which lies at the upper 
 end of the island, extends several miles, and presents an irregular, 
 and in some parts, strongly-waved surface, with deep hollows 
 and ridges. When upon it, one feels as though treading an 
 almost boundless field of sand: for towards the south-east, 
 where no forest-line terminates the view, the white, rolling plain 
 stretches away to the horizon. The north-easterly channel of 
 the river lying between the sands and the further shore of the 
 river is at least two miles in breadth; the middle one, between 
 the two islands, Shimuni and Baria, is not much less than a mile. 
 
 We found the two sentinels lodged in a corner of the praia, 
 where it commences at the foot of the towering forest-wall of 
 the island; having built for themselves a little rancho with 
 poles and palm-leaves. Great precautions are obliged to be 
 taken to avoid disturbing the sensitive turtles, who, previous to 
 crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand- 
 bank. The men, during this time, take care not to show them- 
 selves and warn off any fishermen who wishes to pass near the 
 place. Their fires are made in a deep hollow near the borders 
 of the forest, so that the smoke may not be visible. The 
 passage of a boat through the shallow waters where the animals 
 are congregated, or the sight of a man or a fire on the sand- 
 bank, would prevent the turtles from leaving the water that 
 night to lay their eggs, and if the causes of alarm were repeated 
 once or twice, they would forsake the praia for some other 
 quieter place. Soon after we arrived, our men were sent with 
 the net to catch a supply of fish for supper. In half an hour, 
 four or five large basketsful of Acari were brought in. The sun 
 set soon after our meal was cooked; we were then obliged to 
 extinguish the fire and remove our supper materials to the 
 sleeping ground, a spit of sand about a mile off; this course 
 being necessary on account of the mosquitoes which swarm at 
 night on the borders of the forest. 
 
 One of the sentinels was a taciturn, morose-looking, but sober 
 and honest Indian, named Daniel; the other was a noted char- 
 acter of Ega, a little wiry Mameluco, named Carepira (Fish- 
 hawk); known for his waggery, propensity for strong drink, and 
 indebtedness to Ega traders. Both were intrepid canoemen 
 
310 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 and huntsmen, and both perfectly at home anywhere in these 
 fearful wastes of forest and water. Carepira had his son with 
 him, a quiet little lad of about nine years of age. These men in 
 a few minutes constructed a small shed with four upright poles 
 and leaves of the arrow-grass, under which I and Cardozo slung 
 our hammocks. We did not go to sleep, however, until after 
 midnight: for when supper was over we lay about on the sand 
 with a flask of rum in our midst, and whiled away the still 
 hours in listening to Carepira's stories. 
 
 I rose from my hammock by daylight, shivering with cold; a 
 praia, on account of the great radiation of heat in the night 
 from the sand, being towards the dawn the coldest place that can 
 be found in this climate. Cardozo and the men were already 
 up watching the turtles. The sentinels had erected for this 
 purpose a stage about fifty feet high, on a tall tree near their 
 station, the ascent to which was by a roughly-made ladder of 
 woody lianas. They are enabled, by observing the turtles from 
 this watch-tower, to ascertain the date of successive deposits of 
 eggs, and thus guide the commandante in fixing the time for 
 the general invitation to the Ega people. The turtles lay their 
 eggs by night, leaving the water when nothing disturbs them, 
 in vast crowds, and crawling to the central and highest part of 
 the praia. These places are, of course, the last to go under 
 water when, in unusually wet seasons, the river rises before the 
 eggs are hatched by the heat of the sand. One could almost 
 believe, from this, that the animals used forethought in choosing 
 a place ; but it is simply one of those many instances in animals 
 where unconscious habit has the same result as conscious pre- 
 vision. The hours between midnight and dawn are the busiest. 
 The turtles excavate with their broad, webbed paws, deep holes 
 in the fine sand: the first comer, in each case, making a pit 
 about three feet deep, laying its eggs (about 120 in number) 
 and covering them with sand; the next making its deposit at 
 the top of that of its predecessor, and so on until every pit is full. 
 The whole body of turtles frequenting a praia does not finish 
 laying in less than fourteen or fifteen days, even when there is 
 no interruption. When all have done, the area (called by the 
 Brazilians taboleiro) over which they have excavated is distin- 
 guishable from the rest of the praia only by signs of the sand 
 having been a little disturbed. 
 
 On rising I went to join my friends. Few recollections of 
 my Amazonian rambles are more vivid and agreeable than 
 that of my walk over the white sea of sand on this cool morn- 
 
Excursions around Ega 311 
 
 ing. The sky was cloudless; the just-risen sun was hidden 
 behind the dark mass of woods on Shimuni, but the long line 
 of forest to the west, on Baria, with its plumy decorations of 
 palms, was lighted up with his yellow, horizontal rays. A faint 
 chorus of singing birds reached the ears from across the water, 
 and flocks of gulls and plovers were crying plaintively over the 
 swelling banks of the praia, where their eggs lay in nests made 
 in little hollows of the sand. Tracks of stray turtles were 
 visible on the smooth white surface of the praia. The animals 
 which thus wander from the main body are lawful prizes of the 
 sentinels; they had caught in this way two before sunrise, one 
 of which we had for dinner. In my walk I disturbed several 
 pairs of the chocolate and drab-coloured wild-goose (Anser 
 jubatus) which set off to run along the edge of the water. The 
 enjoyment one feels in rambling over these free, open spaces, is 
 no doubt enhanced by the novelty of the scene, the change being 
 very great from the monotonous landscape of forest which 
 everywhere else presents itself. 
 
 On arriving at the edge of the forest I mounted the sentinel's 
 stage, just in time to see the turtles retreating to the water on 
 the opposite side of the sand-bank, after having laid their eggs. 
 The sight was well worth the trouble of ascending the shaky 
 ladder. They were about a mile off, but the surface of the 
 sands was blackened with the multitudes which were waddling 
 towards the river; the margin of the praia was rather steep, 
 and they all seemed to tumble head first down the declivity into 
 the water. 
 
 I spent the morning of the 27 th collecting insects in the 
 woods of Shimuni ; assisting my friend in the afternoon to beat 
 a large pool for Tracajas, Cardozo wishing to obtain a supply 
 for his table at home. The pool was nearly a mile long, and lay 
 on one side of the island between the forest and the sand-bank. 
 The sands are heaped up very curiously around the margins of 
 these isolated sheets of water; in the present case they formed 
 a steeply-inclined bank, from five to eight feet in height. 
 What may be the cause of this formation I cannot imagine. 
 The pools always contain a quantity of imprisoned fish, turtles, 
 Tracajas, and Aiyussas. 1 The turtles and Aiyussas crawl out 
 voluntarily in the course of a few days, and escape to the main 
 river, but the Tracajas remain and become an easy prey to the 
 natives. The ordinary mode of obtaining them is to whip the 
 
 1 Specimens of this species of turtle are named in the British Museum 
 collection, Podocnemis expansa. 
 
312 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 water in every part with rods for several hours during the day; 4 
 this treatment having the effect of driving the animals out. 
 They wait, however, until the night following the beating before 
 making their exit. Our Indians were occupied for many hours 
 in this work, and when night came they and the sentinels were 
 placed at intervals along the edge of the water to be ready to 
 capture the runaways. Cardozo and I, after supper, went and 
 took our station at one end of the pool. 
 
 We did not succeed, after all our trouble, in getting many 
 Tracajas. This was partly owing to the intense darkness of 
 the night, and partly, doubtless, to the sentinels having already 
 nearly exhausted the pool, notwithstanding their declarations 
 to the contrary. In waiting for the animals it was necessary 
 to keep silence: not a pleasant way of passing the night; 
 speaking only in whispers, and being without fire in a place 
 liable to be visited by a prowling jaguar. Cardozo and I sat 
 on a sandy slope with our loaded guns by our side, but it was 
 so dark we could scarcely see each other. Towards midnight a 
 storm began to gather around us. The faint wind which had 
 breathed from over the water since the sun went down, ceased ; 
 thick clouds piled themselves up, until every star was obscured, 
 and gleams of watery lightning began to play in the midst of the 
 black masses. I hinted to Cardozo that I thought we had now 
 had enough of watching, and suggested a cigarette. Just then 
 a quick pattering movement was heard on the sands, and grasp- 
 ing our guns, we both started to our feet. Whatever it might 
 have been it seemed to pass by, and a few moments afterwards 
 a dark body appeared to be moving in another direction on the 
 opposite slope of the sandy ravine where we lay. We prepared 
 to fire, but luckily took the precaution of first shouting " Quem 
 vai la? " (Who goes there?) It turned out to be the taciturn 
 sentinel, Daniel, who asked us mildly whether we had heard a 
 " raposa " pass our way. The raposa is a kind of wild dog, 
 with very long tapering muzzle, and black and white speckled 
 hair. Daniel could distinguish all kinds of animals in the dark 
 by their footsteps. It now began to thunder, and our position 
 was getting very uncomfortable. Daniel had not seen anything 
 of the other Indians, and thought it was useless waiting any 
 longer for Tracajas; we therefore sent him to call in the whole 
 party, and made off ourselves, as quickly as we could, for the 
 canoe. The rest of the night was passed most miserably; as 
 indeed were very many of my nights on the Solimoens. A 
 furious squall burst upon us; the wind blew away the cloths 
 
Excursions around Ega 3 1 3 
 
 and mats we had fixed up at the ends of the arched awning of 
 the canoe to shelter ourselves, and the rain beat right through 
 our sleeping-place. There we lay, Cardozo and I, huddled 
 together, and wet through, waiting for the morning. 
 
 A cup of strong and hot coffee put us to rights at sunrise; 
 but the rain was still coming down, having changed to a steady- 
 drizzle. Our men were all returned from the pool, having 
 taken only four Tracajas. The business which had brought 
 Cardozo hither being now finished, we set out to return to Ega, 
 leaving the sentinels once more to their solitude on the sands. 
 Our return route was by the rarely frequented north-easterly 
 channel of the Solimoens, through which flows part of the waters 
 of its great tributary stream, the Japura. We travelled for 
 five hours along the desolate, broken, timber-strewn shore of 
 
 Surubim (Pimelodus tigrinus). 
 
 Baria. The channel is of immense breadth, the opposite coast 
 being visible only as a long, low line of forest. At three o'clock 
 in the afternoon we doubled the upper end of the island, and 
 then crossed towards the mouth of the Teffe by a broad trans- 
 verse channel running between Baria and another island called 
 Quanaru. There is a small sand-bank at the north-westerly 
 point of Baria, called Jacare; we stayed here to dine and after- 
 wards fished with the net. A fine rain was still falling, and we 
 had capital sport, in three hauls taking more fish than our canoe 
 would conveniently hold. They were of two kinds only, the 
 Surubim and the Piraepieua (species of Pimelodus), very hand- 
 some fishes, four feet in length, with flat spoon-shaped heads, 
 and prettily-spotted and striped skins. 
 
 On our way from Jacare to the mouth of the Teffe' we had a 
 little adventure with a black tiger or jaguar. We were paddling 
 rapidly past a long beach of dried mud, when the Indians 
 became suddenly excited, shouting " Ecui Jauarete; Jauari- 
 
314 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 pixuna!" (Behold the jaguar, the black jaguar!) Looking 
 ahead we saw the animal quietly drinking at the water's edge. 
 Cardozo ordered the steersman at once to put us ashore. By 
 the time we were landed the tiger had seen us, and was retrac- 
 ing his steps towards the forest. On the spur of the moment, 
 and without thinking of what we were doing, we took our guns 
 (mine was a double-barrel, with one charge of B B and one of 
 dust-shot) and gave chase. The animal increased his speed, 
 and reaching the forest border dived into the dense mass of 
 broad-leaved grass which formed its frontage. We peeped 
 through the gap he had made, but, our courage being by this 
 time cooled, we did not think it wise to go into the thicket 
 after him. The black tiger appears to be more abundant than 
 the spotted form of jaguar in the neighbourhood of Ega. The 
 most certain method of finding it is to hunt, assisted by a 
 string of Indians shouting and driving the game before them, 
 in the narrow restingas or strips of dry land in the forest, which 
 are isolated by the flooding of their neighbourhood in the wet 
 season. We reached Ega by eight o'clock at night. 
 
 On the 6th of October we left Ega on a second excursion; 
 the principal object of Cardozo being, this time, to search cer- 
 tain pools in the forest for young turtles. The exact situation 
 of these hidden sheets of water is known only to a few practised 
 huntsmen; we took one of these men with us from Ega, a 
 Mameluco named Pedro, and on our way called at Shimuni for 
 Daniel to serve as an additional guide. We started from the 
 praia at sunrise on the 7th in two canoes containing twenty- 
 three persons, nineteen of whom were Indians. The morning 
 was cloudy and cool, and a fresh wind blew from down river, 
 against which we had to struggle with all the force of our paddles, 
 aided by the current; the boats were tossed about most dis- 
 agreeably, and shipped a great deal of water. On passing the 
 lower end of Shimuni, a long reach of the river was before us, 
 undivided by islands; a magnificent expanse of water stretch- 
 ing away to the south-east. The country on the left bank is not, 
 however, terra firma, but a portion of the alluvial land which 
 forms the extensive and complex delta region of the Japura. 
 It is flooded every year at the time of high water, and is traversed 
 by many narrow and deep channels, which serve as outlets to 
 the Japura, or at least, are connected with that river by means 
 of the interior water-system of the Cupiyo. This inhospitable 
 tract of country extends for several hundred miles, and contains 
 
Excursions around Ega 315 
 
 in its midst an endless number of pools and lakes tenanted 
 by multitudes of turtles, fishes, alligators, and water serpents. 
 Our destination was a point on this coast situated about twenty 
 miles below Shimuni, and a short distance from the mouth of 
 the Anana, one of the channels just alluded to as connected 
 with the Japura. After travelling for three hours in mid- 
 stream we steered for the land, and brought to under a steeply- 
 inclined bank of crumbly earth, shaped into a succession of 
 steps or terraces, marking the various halts which the waters 
 of the river make in the course of subsidence. The coast line 
 was nearly straight for many miles, and the bank averaged 
 about thirty feet in height above the present level of the river: 
 at the top rose the unbroken hedge of forest. No one could 
 have divined that pools of water existed on that elevated land. 
 A narrow level space extended at the foot of the bank. On 
 landing the first business was to get breakfast. Whilst a couple 
 of Indian lads were employed in making the fire, roasting the 
 fish, and boiling the coffee, the rest of the party mounted the 
 bank, and with their long hunting knives commenced cutting a 
 path through the forest; the pool, called the Aningal, being 
 about half a mile distant. After breakfast a great number of 
 short poles were cut and were laid crosswise on the path, and 
 then three light montarias which we had brought with us were 
 dragged up the bank by lianas, and rolled away to be embarked 
 on the pool. A large net, seventy yards in length, was then dis- 
 embarked and carried to the place. The work was done very 
 speedily, and when Cardozo and I went to the spot at eleven 
 o'clock we found some of the older Indians, including Pedro 
 and Daniel, had begun their sport. They were mounted on 
 little stages called moutas, made of poles and cross-pieces of 
 wood secured with lianas, and were shooting the turtles as they 
 came near the surface, with bows and arrows. The Indians 
 seemed to think that netting the animals, as Cardozo proposed 
 doing, was not lawful sport, and wished first to have an hour or 
 two's old-fashioned practice with their weapons. 
 
 The pool covered an area of about four or five acres, and was 
 closely hemmed in by the forest, which in picturesque variety 
 and grouping of trees and foliage exceeded almost everything 
 I had yet witnessed. The margins for some distance were 
 swampy, and covered with large tufts of a fine grass called 
 Matupa. These tufts in many places were overrun with ferns, 
 and exterior to them a crowded row of arborescent arums, 
 growing to a height of fifteen or twenty feet, formed a green 
 
316 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 palisade. Around the whole stood the taller forest trees; 
 
 palmate-leaved Cecropiae; slender Assai palms, thirty feet high, 
 with their thin feathery heads crowning the 
 gently-curving, smooth stems; small fan-leaved 
 palms; and as a background to all these airy 
 shapes, lay the voluminous masses of ordinary 
 forest trees, with garlands, festoons, and streamers 
 of leafy climbers hanging from their branches. 
 The pool was nowhere more than five feet deep, 
 one foot of which was not water, but extremely 
 fine and soft mud. 
 
 Cardozo and I spent an hour paddling about. 
 I was astonished at the skill which the Indians 
 display in shooting turtles. They did not wait 
 for their coming to the surface to breathe, but 
 watched for the slight movements in the water, 
 which revealed their presence underneath. These 
 little tracks on the water are called the Siriri ; the 
 instant one was perceived an arrow flew from the 
 bow of the nearest man, and never failed to pierce 
 the shell of the submerged animal. When the 
 turtle was very distant, of course the aim had to be 
 taken at a considerable elevation, but the marks- 
 men preferred a longish range, because the arrow 
 then fell more perpendicularly on the shell and 
 entered it more deeply. 
 
 The arrow used in turtle shooting has a strong 
 lancet-shaped steel point, fitted into a peg which 
 enters the tip of the shaft. The peg is secured 
 to the shaft by twine made of the fibres of pine- 
 apple leaves, the twine being some thirty or forty 
 yards in length, and neatly wound round the body 
 of the arrow. When the missile enters the shell 
 the peg drops out, and the pierced animal descends 
 with it towards the bottom, leaving the shaft 
 floating on the surface. This being done the 
 sportsman paddles in his montaria to the place, 
 and gently draws the animal by the twine, humour- 
 ing it by giving it the rein when it plunges, until 
 it is brought again near the surface, when he 
 strikes it with a second arrow. With the increased 
 
 hold given by the two cords he has then no difficulty in landing 
 
 his game. 
 
 Arrow used 
 in turtle 
 shooting. 
 
Excursions around Ega 317 
 
 By mid-day the men had shot about a score of nearly full- 
 grown turtles. Cardozo then gave orders to spread the net. 
 The spongy, swampy nature of the banks made it impossible 
 to work the net so as to draw the booty ashore; another method 
 was therefore adopted. The net was taken by two Indians and 
 extended in a curve at one extremity of the oval-shaped pool, 
 holding it when they had done so by the perpendicular rods 
 fixed at each end; its breadth was about equal to the depth of 
 the water, its shotted side therefore rested on the bottom, 
 whilst the floats buoyed it up on the surface, so that the whole, 
 when the ends were brought together, would form a complete 
 trap. The rest of the party then spread themselves around the 
 swamp at the opposite end of the pool and began to beat, with 
 stout poles, the thick tufts of Matupa, in order to drive the 
 turtles towards the middle. This was continued for an hour or 
 more, the beaters gradually drawing nearer to each other, and 
 driving the host of animals before them; the number of little 
 snouts constantly popping above the surface of the water show- 
 ing that all was going on well. When they neared the net the 
 men moved more quickly, shouting and beating with great 
 vigour. The ends of the net were then seized by several strong 
 hands and dragged suddenly forwards, bringing them at the same 
 time together, so as to enclose all the booty in a circle. Every 
 man now leapt into the inclosure, the boats were brought up, 
 and the turtles easily captured by the hand and tossed into them. 
 I jumped in along with the rest, although I had just before 
 made the discovery that the pool abounded in ugly, red, four- 
 angled leeches, having seen several of these delectable animals, 
 which sometimes fasten on the legs of fishermen, although they 
 did not, on this day, trouble us, working their way through 
 cracks in the bottom of our montaria. Cardozo, who remained 
 with the boats, could not turn the animals on their backs fast 
 enough, so that a great many clambered out and got free again. 
 However, three boat-loads, or about eighty, were secured in 
 about twenty minutes. They were then taken ashore, and each 
 one secured by the men tying the legs with thongs of bast. 
 
 When the canoes had been twice filled, we desisted, after a 
 very hard day's work. Nearly all the animals were young ones, 
 chiefly, according to the statement of Pedro, from three to ten 
 years of age ; they varied from six to eighteen inches in length, 
 and were very fat. Cardozo and I lived almost exclusively on 
 them for several months afterwards. Roasted in the shell they 
 form a most appetising dish. These younger turtles never 
 H 
 
3 1 8 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 migrate with their elders on the sinking of the waters, but 
 remain in the tepid pools, fattening on fallen fruits, and, accord- 
 ing to the natives, on the fine nutritious mud. We captured a 
 few full-grown mother-turtles, which were known at once by 
 the horny skin of their breast-plates being worn, telling of their 
 having crawled on the sands to lay eggs the previous year. 
 They had evidently made a mistake in not leaving the pool at 
 the proper time, for they were full of eggs, which, we were told, 
 they would, before the season was over, scatter in despair over 
 the swamp. We also found several male turtles, or Capitaris, 
 as they are called by the natives. These are immensely less 
 numerous than the females, and are distinguishable by their 
 much smaller size, more circular shape, and the greater length 
 and thickness of their tails. Their flesh is considered unwhole- 
 some, especially to sick people having external signs of inflam- 
 mation. All diseases in these parts, as well as their remedies 
 and all articles of food, are classed by the inhabitants as " hot " 
 and " cold," and the meat of the Capitari is settled by unanimous 
 consent as belonging to the " hot " list. 
 
 We dined on the banks of the river a little before sunset. 
 The mosquitoes then began to be troublesome, and finding it 
 would be impossible to sleep here, we all embarked and crossed 
 the river to a sand-bank, about three miles distant, where we 
 passed the night. Cardozo and I slept in our hammocks slung 
 between upright poles, the rest stretching themselves on the 
 sand round a large fire. We lay awake conversing until past 
 midnight. It was a real pleasure to listen to the stories told 
 by one of the older men, they were given with so much spirit. 
 The tales always related to struggles with some intractable 
 animal — jaguar, manatee, or alligator. Many interjections and 
 expressive gestures were used, and at the end came a sudden 
 "Pa! terra! " when the animal was vanquished by a shot or a 
 blow. Many mysterious tales were recounted about the Bouto, 
 as the large Dolphin of the Amazons is called. One of them was 
 to the effect that a Bouto once had the habit of assuming the 
 shape of a beautiful woman, with hair hanging loose to her heels, 
 and walking ashore at night in the streets of Ega, to entice the 
 young men down to the water. If any one was so much smitten 
 as to follow her to the water-side, she grasped her victim round 
 the waist and plunged beneath the waves with a triumphant cry. 
 No animal in the Amazons region is the subject of so many 
 fables as the Bouto; but it is probable these did not originate 
 with the Indians, but with the Portuguese colonists. It was 
 
Excursions around Ega 319 
 
 several years before I could induce a fisherman to harpoon 
 Dolphins for me as specimens, for no one ever kills these animals 
 voluntarily, although their fat is known to yield an excellent 
 oil for lamps. The superstitious people believe that blindness 
 would result from the use of this oil in lamps. I succeeded at 
 length with Carepira, by offering him a high reward when his 
 finances were at a very low point; but he repented of his deed 
 ever afterwards, declaring that his luck had forsaken him from 
 that day. 
 
 The next morning we again beat the pool. Although we had 
 proof of there being a great number of turtles yet remaining, 
 we had very poor success. The old Indians told us it would be 
 so, for the turtles were " ladino " (cunning), and would take no 
 notice of the beating a second day. When the net was formed 
 into a circle, and the men had jumped in, an alligator was found 
 to be inclosed. No one was alarmed, the only fear expressed 
 being that the imprisoned beast would tear the net. First one 
 shouted, " I have touched his head; " then another, " he has 
 scratched my leg; " one of the men, a lanky Miranha, was thrown 
 off his balance, and then there was no end to the laughter and 
 shouting. At last a youth of about fourteen years of age, on 
 my calling to him, from the bank, to do so, seized the reptile by 
 the tail, and held him tightly until, a little resistance being over- 
 come, he was able to bring it ashore. The net was opened, and 
 the boy slowly dragged the dangerous but cowardly beast to land 
 through the muddy water, a distance of about a hundred yards. 
 Meantime, I had cut a strong pole from a tree, and as soon as 
 the alligator was drawn to solid ground, gave him a smart rap 
 with it on the crown of his head, which killed him instantly. 
 It was a good-sized individual; the jaws being considerably 
 more than a foot long, and fully capable of snapping a man's 
 leg in twain. The species was the large cayman, the Jacare- 
 uassu of the Amazonian Indians (Jacare nigra). 
 
 On the third day we sent our men in the boats to net turtles 
 in a larger pool, about five miles further down the river, and on 
 the fourth returned to Ega. 
 
 It will be well to mention here a few circumstances relative 
 to the large Cayman, which, with the incident just narrated, 
 afford illustrations of the cunning, cowardice, and ferocity of 
 this reptile. 
 
 I have hitherto had but few occasions of mentioning alligators, 
 although they exist by myriads in the waters of the Upper 
 Amazons. Many different species are spoken of by the natives. 
 
320 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 I saw only three, and of these two only are common: one, the 
 Jacare-tinga, a small kind (five feet long when full grown), 
 having a long slender muzzle and a black-banded tail ; the other, 
 the Jacare-uassu, to which these remarks more especially relate; 
 and the third the Jacare-curua, mentioned in a former chapter. 
 The Jacare-uassu, or large Cayman, grows to a length of eighteen 
 or twenty feet, and attains an enormous bulk. Like the turtles, 
 the alligator has its annual migrations, for it retreats to the 
 interior pools and flooded forests in the wet season, and descends 
 to the main river in the dry season. During the months of 
 high water, therefore, scarcely a single individual is to be seen 
 in the main river. In the middle part of the Lower Amazons, 
 about Obydos and Villa Nova, where many of the lakes with 
 their channels of communication with the trunk stream, dry up 
 in the fine months, the alligator buries itself in the mud and 
 becomes dormant, sleeping till the rainy season returns. On 
 the Upper Amazons, where the dry season is never excessive, it 
 has not this habit, but is lively all the year round. It is scarcely 
 exaggerating to say that the waters of the Solimoens are as well 
 stocked with large alligators in the dry season, as a ditch in 
 England is in summer with tadpoles. During a journey of five 
 days which I once made in the Upper Amazons steamer, in 
 November, alligators were seen along the coast almost every 
 step of the way, and the passengers amused themselves, from 
 morning till night, by firing at them with rifle and ball. They 
 were very numerous in the still bays, where the huddled crowds 
 jostled together, to the great rattling of their coats of mail, as 
 the steamer passed. 
 
 The natives at once despise and fear the great cayman. I 
 once spent a month at Caicara, a small village of semi-civilised 
 Indians, about twenty miles to the west of Ega. My enter- 
 tainer, the only white in the place, and one of my best and most 
 constant friends, Senhor Innocencio Alves Faria, one day pro- 
 posed a half-day's fishing with net in the lake, — the expanded 
 bed of the small river on which the village is situated. We set 
 out in an open boat with six Indians and two of Innocencio's 
 children. The water had sunk so low that the net had to be 
 taken out into the middle by the Indians, whence at the first 
 draught, two medium-sized alligators were brought to land. 
 They were disengaged from the net and allowed, with the coolest 
 unconcern, to return to the water, although the two children 
 were playing in it, not many yards off. We continued fishing, 
 Innocencio and I lending a helping hand, and each time drew a 
 
322 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 number of the reptiles of different ages and sizes, some of them 
 Jacare-tingas ; the lake, in fact, swarmed with alligators. After 
 taking a very large quantity of fish, we prepared to return, and 
 the Indians, at my suggestion, secured one of the alligators with 
 the view of letting it loose amongst the swarms of dogs in the 
 village. An individual was selected about eight feet long: one 
 man holding his head and another his tail, whilst a third took 
 a few lengths of a flexible liana, and deliberately bound the jaws 
 and the legs. Thus secured, the beast was laid across the 
 benches of the boat, on which we sat during the hour and a 
 half's journey to the settlement. We were rather crowded, but 
 our amiable passenger gave us no trouble during the transit. On 
 reaching the village, we took the animal into the middle of the 
 green, in front of the church, where the dogs were congregated, 
 and there gave him his liberty, two of us arming ourselves with 
 long poles to intercept him if he should make for the water, and 
 the others exciting the dogs. The alligator showed great terror, 
 although the dogs could not be made to advance, and made off 
 at the top of its speed for the water, waddling like a duck. We 
 tried to keep him back with the poles, but he became enraged, 
 and seizing the end of the one I held in his jaws, nearly wrenched 
 it from my grasp. We were obliged, at length, to kill him to 
 prevent his escape. 
 
 These little incidents show the timidity or cowardice of the 
 alligator. He never attacks man when his intended victim is 
 on his guard : but he is cunning enough to know when this may 
 be done with impunity: of this we had proof at Caicara, a few 
 days afterwards. The river had sunk to a very low point, so 
 that the port and bathing-place of the village now lay at the 
 foot of a long sloping bank, and a large cayman made his appear- 
 ance in the shallow and muddy water. We were all obliged to 
 be very careful in taking our bath; most of the people simply 
 using a calabash, pouring the water over themselves while 
 standing on the brink. A large trading canoe, belonging to a 
 Barra merchant named Soares, arrived at this time, and the 
 Indian crew, as usual, spent the first day or two after their 
 coming into port in drunkenness and debauchery ashore. One 
 of the men, during the greatest heat of the day, when almost 
 every one was enjoying his afternoon's nap, took it into his 
 head whilst in a tipsy state to go down alone to bathe. He was 
 seen only by the Juiz de Paz, a feeble old man who was lying in 
 his hammock, in the open verandah at the rear of his house on 
 the top of the bank, and who shouted to the besotted Indian to 
 
Excursions around Ega 323 
 
 beware of the alligator. Before he could repeat his warning, 
 the man stumbled, and a pair of gaping jaws, appearing suddenly- 
 above the surface, seized him round the waist and drew him 
 under the water. A cry of agony " Ai Jesus ! " was the last 
 sign made by the wretched victim. The village was aroused: 
 the young men with praiseworthy readiness seized their 
 harpoons and hurried down to the bank; but of course it was 
 too late, a winding track of blood on the surface of the water 
 was all that could be seen. They embarked, however, in 
 montarias, determined on vengeance: the monster was traced, 
 and when, after a short lapse of time, he came up to breathe — 
 one leg of the man sticking out from his jaws — was despatched 
 with bitter curses. 
 
 The last of these minor excursions which I shall narrate, was 
 made (again in company of Senhor Cardozo, with the addition 
 of his housekeeper Senhora Felippa) in the season when all the 
 population of the villages turns out to dig up turtle eggs, and 
 revel on the praias. Placards were posted on the church doors 
 at Ega, announcing that the excavation on Shimuni would 
 commence on the 17th of October, and on Catua, sixty miles 
 below Shimuni, on the 25th. We set out on the 16th, and 
 passed on the road, in our well-manned igarite, a large number 
 of people, men, women, and children in canoes of all sizes, wend- 
 ing their way as if to a great holiday gathering. By the morn- 
 ing of the 17th, some 400 persons were assembled on the borders 
 of the sandbank: each family having erected a rude temporary 
 shed of poles and palm leaves to protect themselves from the 
 sun and rain. Large copper kettles to prepare the oil, and 
 hundreds of red earthenware jars, were scattered about on the 
 sand. 
 
 The excavation of the taboleiro, collecting the eggs and 
 purifying the oil, occupied four days. All was done on a 
 system established by the old Portuguese governors, probably 
 more than a century ago. The commandante first took d<>wn 
 the names of all the masters of households, with the number of 
 persons each intended to employ in digging; he then exacted a 
 payment of 140 reis (about fourpence) a head, towards defray- 
 ing the expense of sentinels. The whole were then allowed to 
 go to the taboleiro. They ranged themselves round the circle, 
 each person armed with a paddle, to be used as a spade, and 
 then all began simultaneously to dig on a signal being given — 
 the roll of drums — by order of the commandante. It was an 
 
324 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 animating sight to behold the wide circle of rival diggers throw- 
 ing up clouds of sand in their energetic labours, and working 
 gradually towards the centre of the ring. A little rest was taken 
 during the great heat of mid-day, and in the evening the eggs 
 were carried to the huts in baskets. By the end of the second 
 day, the taboleiro was exhausted: large mounds of eggs, some 
 of them four to five feet in height, were then seen by the side of 
 each hut, the produce of the labours of the family. 
 
 In the hurry of digging some of the deeper nests are passed 
 over; to find these out the people go about provided with a 
 long steel or wooden probe, the presence of the eggs being dis- 
 coverable by the ease with which the spit enters the sand. 
 When no more eggs are to be found, the mashing process begins. 
 The egg, it may be mentioned, has a flexible or leathery shell; 
 it is quite round, and somewhat larger than a hen's egg. The 
 whole heap is thrown into an empty canoe and mashed with 
 wooden prongs; but sometimes naked Indians and children 
 jump into the mass and tread it down, besmearing themselves 
 with yolk and making about as filthy a scene as can well be 
 imagined. This being finished, water is poured into the canoe, 
 and the fatty mess then left for a few hours to be heated by the 
 sun, on which the oil separates and rises to the surface. The 
 floating oil is afterwards skimmed off with long spoons, made 
 by tying large mussel-shells to the end of rods, and purified over 
 the fire in copper kettles. 
 
 The destruction of turtle eggs every year by these proceed- 
 ings is enormous. At least 6000 jars, holding each three gallons 
 of the oil, are exported annually from the Upper Amazons and 
 the Madeira to Para, where it is used for lighting, frying fish, 
 and other purposes. It may be fairly estimated that 2000 more 
 jars-full are consumed by the inhabitants of the villages on the 
 river. Now, it takes at least twelve basketsful of eggs, or about 
 6000, by the wasteful process followed, to make one jar of oil. 
 The total number of eggs annually destroyed amounts, therefore, 
 to 48,000,000. As each turtle lays about 120, it follows that the 
 yearly offspring of 400,000 turtles is thus annihilated. A vast 
 number, nevertheless, remain undetected; and these would 
 probably be sufficient to keep the turtle population of these 
 rivers up to the mark, if the people did not follow the wasteful 
 practice of lying in wait for the newly-hatched young, and 
 collecting them by thousands for eating; their tender flesh and 
 the remains of yolk in their entrails being considered a great 
 delicacy. The chief natural enemies of the turtle are vultures 
 
Excursions around Ega 325 
 
 and alligators, which devour the newly-hatched young as they 
 descend in shoals to the water. These must have destroyed an 
 immensely greater number before the European settlers began 
 to appropriate the eggs than they do now. It is almost doubtful 
 if this natural persecution did not act as effectively in checking 
 the increase of the turtle as the artificial destruction now does. 
 If we are to believe the tradition of the Indians, however, it had 
 not this result; for they say that formerly the waters teemed 
 as thickly with turtles as the air now does with mosquitoes. 
 The universal opinion of the settlers on the Upper Amazons is, 
 that the turtle has very greatly decreased in numbers, and is 
 still annually decreasing. 
 
 We left Shimuni on the 20th with quite a flotilla of canoes, 
 and descended the river to Catua, an eleven hours' iourney by 
 paddle and current. Catua is about six miles long, and almost 
 entirely encircled by its praia. The turtles had selected for 
 their egg-laying a part of the sand-bank which was elevated 
 at least twenty feet above the present level of the river; the 
 animals, to reach the place, must have crawled up a slope. As 
 we approached the island, numbers of the animals were seen 
 coming to the surface to breathe, in a small shoaly bay. Those 
 who had light montarias sped forward with bows and arrows to 
 shoot them. Carepira was foremost: having borrowed a small 
 and very unsteady boat of Cardozo, and embarked in it with 
 his little son. After bagging a couple of turtles, and whilst 
 hauling in a third, he overbalanced himself; the canoe went 
 over, and he with his child had to swim for their lives, in the 
 midst of numerous alligators, about a mile from the land. The 
 old man had to sustain a heavy fire of jokes from his com- 
 panions for several days after this mishap. Such accidents are 
 only laughed at by this almost amphibious people. 
 
 The number of persons congregated on Catua was much 
 greater than on Shimuni, as the population of the banks of 
 several neighbouring lakes were here added. The line of huts 
 and sheds extended half a mile, and several large sailing vessels 
 were anchored at the place. The commandante was Senhor 
 Macedo, the Indian blacksmith of Ega before mentioned, who 
 maintained excellent order during the fourteen days the process 
 of excavation and oil manufacture lasted. There were also 
 many primitive Indians here from the neighbouring rivers, 
 amongst them a family of Shumanas, good-tempered, harmless 
 people from the Lower Japura. All of them were tattooed 
 
326 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 round the mouth, the bluish tint forming a border to the lips, 
 and extending in a line on the cheeks towards the ear on each 
 side. They were not quite so slender in figure as the Passes of 
 Perdo-uassu's family ; but their features deviated quite as much 
 as those of the Passes from the ordinary Indian type. This 
 was seen chiefly in the comparatively small mouth, pointed chin, 
 thin lips, and narrow, high nose. One of the daughters, a 
 young girl of about seventeen years of age, was a real beauty. 
 The colour of her skin approached the light tanned shade of the 
 Mameluco women; her figure was almost faultless, and the blue 
 mouth, instead of being a disfigurement, gave quite a captivating 
 finish to her appearance. Her neck, wrists, and ankles were 
 adorned with strings of blue beads. She was, however, ex- 
 tremely bashful, never venturing to look strangers in the face, 
 and never quitting, for many minutes together, the side of her 
 father and mother. The family had been shamefully swindled 
 by some rascally trader on another praia; and, on our arrival, 
 came to lay their case before Senhor Cardozo, as the delegado 
 of police of the district. The mild way in which the old man, 
 without a trace of anger, stated his complaint in imperfect Tupi 
 quite enlisted our sympathies in his favour. But Cardozo 
 could give him no redress; he invited the family, however, to 
 make their rancho near to ours, and in the end gave them the 
 highest price for the surplus oil which they manufactured. 
 
 It was not all work at Catua; indeed there was rather more 
 play than work going on. The people make a kind of holiday 
 of these occasions. Every fine night parties of the younger 
 people assembled on the sands, and dancing and games were 
 carried on for hours together. But the requisite liveliness for 
 these sports was never got up without a good deal of preliminary 
 rum-drinking. The girls were so coy that the young men could 
 not get sufficient partners for the dances, without first sub- 
 scribing for a few flagons of the needful cashaca. The coldness 
 of the shy Indian and Mameluco maidens never failed to give 
 way after a little of this strong drink, but it was astonishing 
 what an immense deal they could take of it in the course of an 
 evening. Coyness is not always a sign of innocence in these 
 people, for most of the half-caste women on the Upper Amazons 
 lead a little career of looseness before they marry and settle 
 down for life ; and it is rather remarkable that the men do not 
 seem to object much to their brides having had a child or two 
 by various fathers before marriage. The women do not lose 
 reputation unless they become utterly depraved, but in that 
 
Excursions around Ega 327 
 
 case they are condemned pretty strongly by public opinion. 
 Depravity is, however, rare, for all require more or less to be 
 wooed before they are won. I did not see (although I mixed 
 pretty freely with the young people) any breach of propriety on 
 the praias. The merry-makings were carried on near the 
 ranchos, where the more staid citizens of Ega, husbands with 
 their wives and young daughters, all smoking gravely out of 
 long pipes, sat in their hammocks and enjoyed the fun. 
 Towards midnight we often heard, in the intervals between 
 jokes and laughter, the hoarse roar of jaguars prowling about 
 the jungle in the middle of the praia. There were several 
 guitar-players amongst the young men, and one most persevering 
 fiddler, so there was no lack of music. 
 
 The favourite sport was the Pira-purasseya, or fish-dance, 
 one of the original games of the Indians, though now probably 
 a little modified. The young men and women, mingling 
 together, formed a ring, leaving one of their number in the 
 middle, who represented the fish. They then all marched 
 round, Indian file, the musicians mixed up with the rest, sing- 
 ing a monotonous but rather pretty chorus, the words of which 
 were invented (under a certain form) by one of the party who 
 acted as leader. This finished, all joined hands, and questions 
 were put to the one in the middle, asking what kind of fish he 
 or she might be. To these the individual has to reply. The 
 end of it all is that he makes a rush at the ring, and if he suc- 
 ceeds in escaping, the person who allowed him to do so has to 
 take his place ; the march and chorus then recommences, and so 
 the game goes on hour after hour. Tupi was the language 
 mostly used, but sometimes Portuguese was sung and spoken. 
 The details of the dance were often varied. Instead of the 
 names of fishes being called over by the person in the middle, 
 the name of some animal, flower, or other object was given to 
 every fresh occupier of the place. There was then good scope 
 for wit in the invention of nicknames, and peals of laughter 
 would often salute some particularly good hit. Thus a very 
 lanky young man was called the Magoary, or the grey stork; 
 a moist grey-eyed man with a profile comically suggestive of a 
 fish was christened Jaraki (a kind of fish), which was considered 
 quite a witty sally; a little Mameluco girl, with light-coloured 
 eyes and brown hair, got the gallant name of Rosa branca, or 
 the white rose; a young fellow who had recently singed his eye- 
 brows by the explosion of fireworks was dubbed Pedro queimado 
 (burnt Peter); in short every one got a nickname, and each time 
 
328 The Naturalist on the Amazorib 
 
 the cognomen was introduced into the chorus as the circle 
 marched round. 
 
 Our rancho was a large one, and was erected in a line with 
 the others, near the edge of the sand-bank which sloped rather 
 abruptly to the water. During the first week the people were 
 all, more or less, troubled by alligators. Some half-dozen full- 
 grown ones were in attendance off the praia, floating about on 
 the lazily-flowing, muddy water. The dryness of the weather 
 had increased since we had left Shimuni, the currents had 
 slackened, and the heat in the middle part of the day was almost 
 insupportable. But no one could descend to bathe without 
 being advanced upon by one or other of these hungry monsters. 
 There was much offal cast into the river, and this, of course, 
 attracted them to the place. One day I amused myself by 
 taking a basketful of fragments of meat beyond the line of 
 ranchos, and drawing the alligators towards me by feeding 
 them. They behaved pretty much as dogs do when fed ; catch- 
 ing the bones I threw them in their huge jaws, and coming 
 nearer and showing increased eagerness after every morsel. 
 The enormous gape of their mouths, with their blood-red lining 
 and long fringes of teeth, and the uncouth shapes of their bodies, 
 made a picture of unsurpassable ugliness. I once or twice fired 
 a heavy charge of shot at them, aiming at the vulnerable part 
 of their bodies, which is a small space situated behind the eyes, 
 but this had no other effect than to make them give a hoarse 
 grunt and shake themselves; they immediately afterwards 
 turned to receive another bone which I threw to them. 
 
 Every day these visitors became bolder; at length they 
 reached a pitch of impudence that was quite intolerable. 
 Cardozo had a poodle dog named Carlito, which some grateful 
 traveller whom he had befriended had sent him from Rio 
 Janeiro. He took great pride in this dog, keeping it well 
 sheared, and preserving his coat as white as soap and water 
 could make it. We slept in our rancho in hammocks slung 
 between the outer posts; a large wood fire (fed with a kind of 
 wood abundant on the banks of the river, which keeps alight 
 all night) being made in the middle, by the side of which slept 
 Carlito on a little mat. Well, one night I was awoke by a great 
 uproar. It was caused by Cardozo hurling burning firewood 
 with loud curses at a huge cayman which had crawled up the 
 bank and passed beneath my hammock (being nearest the 
 water) towards the place where Carlito lay. The dog had raised 
 the alarm in time; the reptile backed out and tumbled down 
 
330 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the bank to the water, the sparks from the brands hurled at him 
 flying from his bony hide. To our great surprise the animal 
 (we supposed it to be the same individual) repeated his visit the 
 very next night, this time passing round to the other side of our 
 shed. Cardozo was awake, and threw a harpoon at him, but 
 without doing him any harm. After this it was thought neces- 
 sary to make an effort to check the alligators ; a number of men 
 were therefore persuaded to sally forth in their montarias and 
 devote a day to killing them. 
 
 The young men made several hunting excursions during the 
 fourteen days of our stay on Catua, and I, being associated with 
 them in all their pleasures, made generally one of the party. 
 These were, besides, the sole occasions on which I could add 
 to my collections, whilst on these barren sands. Only two 
 of these trips afforded incidents worth relating. 
 
 The first, which was made to the interior of the wooded 
 island of Catua, was not a very successful one. We were twelve 
 in number, all armed with guns and long hunting-knives. Long 
 before sunrise, my friends woke me up from my hammock, 
 where I lay, as usual, in the clothes worn during the day; and 
 after taking each a cup-full of cashaca and ginger (a very general 
 practice in early morning on the sand-banks), we commenced 
 our walk. The waning moon still lingered in the clear sky, and 
 a profound stillness pervaded sleeping camp, forest, and stream. 
 Along the line of ranchos glimmered the fires made by each 
 party to dry turtle-eggs for food, the eggs being spread on little 
 wooden stages over the smoke. The distance to the forest from 
 our place of starting was about two miles, being nearly the 
 whole length of the sand-bank, which was also a very broad one ; 
 the highest part, where it was covered with a thicket of dwarf 
 willows, mimosas, and arrow grass, lying near the ranchos. We 
 loitered much on the way, and the day dawned whilst we were 
 yet on the road: the sand at this early hour feeling quite cold 
 to the naked feet. As soon as we were able to distinguish 
 things, the surface of the praia was seen to be dotted with small 
 black objects. These were newly-hatched Aiyussa turtles, 
 which were making their way in an undeviating line to the water, 
 at least a mile distant. The young animal of this species is 
 distinguishable from that of the large turtle and the Tracaja, 
 by the edges of the breast-plate being raised on each side, so 
 that in crawling it scores two parallel lines on the sand. The 
 mouths of these little creatures were full of sand, a circumstance 
 arising from their having to bite their way through many inches 
 
Excursions around Ega 331 
 
 of superincumbent sand to reach the surface on emerging from 
 the buried eggs. It was amusing to observe how constantly 
 they turned again in the direction of the distant river, after 
 being handled and set down on the sand with their heads facing 
 the opposite quarter. We saw also several skeletons of the 
 large cayman (some with the horny and bony hide of the animal 
 nearly perfect) embedded in the sand : they reminded me of the 
 remains of Ichthyosauri fossilised in beds of lias, with the 
 difference of being buried in fine sand instead of in blue mud. 
 I marked the place of one which had a well-preserved skull, and 
 the next day returned to secure it. The specimen is now in 
 the British Museum collection. There were also many foot- 
 marks of Jaguars on the sand. 
 
 We entered the forest, as the sun peeped over the tree-tops 
 far away down river. The party soon after divided ; I keeping 
 with a section which was led by Bento, the Ega carpenter, a 
 capital woodsman. After a short walk we struck the banks of 
 a beautiful little lake, having grassy margins and clear dark 
 water, on the surface of which floated thick beds of water-lilies. 
 We then crossed a muddy creek or watercourse that entered the 
 lake, and then found ourselves on a restinga, or tongue of land 
 between two waters. By keeping in sight of one or the other 
 of these there was no danger of our losing our way: all other 
 precautions were therefore unnecessary. The forest was 
 tolerably clear of underwood, and consequently easy to walk 
 through. We had not gone far before a soft, long-drawn whistle 
 was heard aloft in the trees, betraying the presence of Mutums 
 (Curassow birds). The crowns of the trees, a hundred feet or 
 more over our heads, were so closely interwoven that it was 
 difficult to distinguish the birds: the practised eye of Bento, 
 however, made them out, and a fine male was shot from the 
 flock; the rest flying away and alighting at no great distance: 
 the species was the one of which the male has a round red ball 
 on its beak (Crax globicera). The pursuit of the others led us 
 a great distance, straight towards the interior of the island, in 
 which direction we marched for three hours, having the lake 
 always on our right. 
 
 Arriving at length at the head of the lake, Bento struck off 
 to the left across the restinga, and we then soon came upon a 
 treeless space choked up with tall grass, which appeared to be 
 the dried-up bed of another lake. Our leader was obliged to 
 climb a tree to ascertain our position, and found that the clear 
 space was part of the creek, whose mouth we had crossed lower 
 
332 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 down. The banks were clothed with low trees, nearly all of 
 one species, a kind of araca (Psidium), and the ground was 
 carpeted with a slender delicate grass, now in flower. A great 
 number of crimson and vermilion-coloured butterflies (Cata- 
 gramma Peristera, male and female) were settled on the smooth, 
 white trunks of these trees. I had also here the great pleasure 
 
 Umbrella Bird. 
 
 of seeing for the first time, the rare and curious Umbrella Bird 
 (Cephalopterus ornatus), a species which resembles in size, 
 colour, and appearance our common crow, but is decorated with 
 a crest of long, curved, hairy feathers having long bare quills, 
 which, when raised, spread themselves out in the form of a 
 fringed sunshade over the head. A strange ornament, like a 
 pelerine, is also suspended from the neck, formed by a thick 
 pad of glossy steel-blue feathers, which grow on a long fleshy 
 lobe or excrescence. This lobe is connected (as I found on 
 
Excursions around Ega 333 
 
 skinning specimens) with an unusual development of the trachea 
 and vocal organs, to which the bird doubtless owes its singu- 
 larly deep, loud, and long-sustained fluty note. The Indian 
 name of this strange creature is Uira-mimbeu, or fife-bird, 1 in 
 allusion to the tone of its voice. We had the good luck, after 
 remaining quiet a short time, to hear its performance. It drew 
 itself up on its perch, spread widely the umbrella-formed crest, 
 dilated and waved its glossy breast-lappet, and then, in giving 
 vent to its loud piping note, bowed its head slowly forwards. 
 We obtained a pair, male and female: the female has only the 
 rudiments of the crest and lappet, and is duller-coloured alto- 
 gether than the male. The range of this bird appears to be 
 quite confined to the plains of the Upper Amazons (especially 
 the Ygapo forests), not having been found to the east of the 
 Rio Negro. 
 
 Bento and our other friends being disappointed in finding no 
 more Curassows, or indeed any other species of game, now 
 resolved to turn back. On reaching the edge of the forest we 
 sat down and ate our dinners under the shade; each man having 
 brought a little bag containing a few handsfull of farinha, and 
 a piece of fried fish or roast turtle. We expected our com- 
 panions of the other division to join us at mid-day, but after 
 waiting till past one o'clock without seeing anything of them 
 (in fact, they had returned to the huts an hour or two pre- 
 viously), we struck off across the praia towards the encampment. 
 An obstacle here presented itself on which we had not counted. 
 The sun had shone all day through a cloudless sky untempered 
 by a breath of wind, and the sands had become heated by it to 
 a degree that rendered walking over them with our bare feet 
 impossible. The most hardened footsoles of the party could 
 not endure the burning soil. We made several attempts; we 
 tried running: wrapped the cool leaves of Heliconice round our 
 feet, but in no way could we step forward many yards. There 
 was no means of getting back to our friends before night, except 
 going round the praia, a circuit of about four miles, and walking 
 through the water or on the moist sand. To get to the water- 
 side from the place where we then stood was not difficult, as a 
 thick bed of a flowering shrub, called tintarana, an infusion of 
 the leaves of which is used to dye black, lay on that side of the 
 sand-bank. Footsore and wearied, burthened with our guns, 
 and walking for miles through the tepid shallow water under 
 
 1 Mimbeu is the Indian name for a rude kind of pan-pipes used by the 
 Caishanas and other tribes. 
 
334 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the brain-scorching vertical sun, we had, as may be imagined; 
 anything but a pleasant time of it. I did not, however, feel any 
 inconvenience afterwards. Every one enjoys the most lusty 
 health whilst living this free and wild life on the rivers. 
 
 The other hunting trip which I have alluded to was under- 
 taken in company with three friendly young half-castes. Two 
 of them were brothers, namely, Joao (John) and Zephyrino 
 Jabuti: Jabuti, or tortoise, being a nickname which their 
 father had earned for his slow gait, and which, as is usual in 
 this country, had descended as the surname of the family. The 
 other was Jose Frazao, a nephew of Senhor Chrysostomo, of 
 Ega, an active, clever, and manly young fellow, whom I much 
 esteemed. He was almost a white, his father being a Portuguese 
 and his mother a Mameluca. We were accompanied by an 
 Indian named Lino, and a Mulatto boy, whose office was to 
 carry our game. 
 
 Our proposed hunting-ground on this occasion lay across the 
 water, about fifteen miles distant. We set out in a small mon- 
 taria, at four o'clock in the morning, again leaving the encamp- 
 ment asleep, and travelled at a good pace up the northern 
 channel of the Solimoens, or that lying between the island 
 Catua and the left bank of the river. The northern shore of 
 the island had a broad sandy beach reaching to its western 
 extremity. We gained our destination a little after daybreak; 
 this was the banks of the Carapanatuba, 1 a channel some 150 
 yards in width, which, like the Anana already mentioned, com- 
 municates with the Cupiyo. To reach this we had to cross the 
 river, here nearly two miles wide. Just as day dawned we saw 
 a Cayman seize a large fish, a Tambaki, near the surface; the 
 reptile seemed to have a difficulty in securing its prey, for it 
 reared itself above the water, tossing the fish in its jaws and 
 making a tremendous commotion. I was much struck also by 
 the singular appearance presented by certain diving birds having 
 very long and snaky necks (the Plotus Anhinga). Occasionally 
 a long serpentine form would suddenly wriggle itself to a height 
 of a foot and a half above the glassy surface of the water, pro- 
 ducing such a deceptive imitation of a snake that at first I had 
 some difficulty in believing it to be the neck of a bird; it did not 
 remain long in view, but soon plunged again beneath the stream. 
 
 We ran ashore in a most lonely and gloomy place, on a low 
 
 1 Meaning, in Tupi, the river of many mosquitoes: from carapana. 
 mosquito, and ituba, many. 
 
Excursions around Ega 335 
 
 sand-bank covered with bushes, secured the montaria to a tree 
 and then, after making a very sparing breakfast on fried fish 
 and mandioca meal, rolled up our trousers and plunged into the 
 thick forest, which here, as everywhere else, rose like a lofty 
 wall of foliage from the narrow strip of beach. We made 
 straight for the heart of the land, John Jabuti leading, and 
 breaking off at every few steps a branch of the lower trees, so 
 that we might recognise the path on our return. The district 
 was quite new to all my companions, and being on a coast 
 almost totally uninhabited by human beings for some 300 miles, 
 to lose our way would have been to perish helplessly. I did 
 not think at the time of the risk we ran of having our canoe 
 stolen by passing Indians; unguarded montarias being never 
 safe even in the ports of the villages, Indians apparently con- 
 sidering them common property, and stealing them without 
 any compunction. No misgivings clouded the lightness of 
 heart with which we trod forward in warm anticipation of a 
 good day's sport. 
 
 The tract of forest through which we passed was Ygapo, but 
 the higher parts of the land formed areas which went only a 
 very few inches under water in the flood season. It consisted 
 of a most bewildering diversity of grand and beautiful trees, 
 draped, festooned, corded, matted, and ribboned with climbing 
 plants, woody and succulent, in endless variety. The most 
 prevalent palm was the tall Astryocaryum Jauari, whose fallen 
 spines made it necessary to pick our way carefully over the 
 ground, as we were all barefooted. There was not much green 
 underwood, except in places where Bamboos grew; these 
 formed impenetrable thickets of plumy foliage and thorny, 
 jointed stems, which always compelled us to make a circuit to 
 avoid them. The earth elsewhere was encumbered with rotting 
 fruits, gigantic bean-pods, leaves, limbs, and trunks of trees; 
 fixing the impression of its being the cemetery as well as the 
 birthplace of the great world of vegetation overhead. Some of 
 the trees were of prodigious height. We passed many specimens 
 of the Moratinga, whose cylindrical trunks, I dare not say how 
 many feet in circumference, towered up and were lost amidst the 
 crowns of the lower trees, their lower branches, in some cases, 
 being hidden from our view. Another very large and remark- 
 able tree was the Assacu (Sapium aucuparium). A traveller on 
 the Amazons, mingling with the people, is sure to hear much of 
 the poisonous qualities of the juices of this tree. Its bark 
 exudes, when hacked with a knife, a milky sap, which is not 
 
336 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 only a fatal poison when taken internally, but is said to cause 
 incurable sores if simply sprinkled on the skin. My companions 
 always gave the Assacu a wide berth when we passed one. The 
 tree looks ugly enough to merit a bad name, for the bark is of 
 a dingy olive colour, and is studded with short and sharp, 
 venomous-looking spines. 
 
 After walking about half a mile we came upon a dry water- 
 course, where we observed, first, the old footmarks of a tapir, 
 and, soon after, on the margin of a curious circular hole full of 
 muddy water, the fresh tracks of a Jaguar. This latter dis- 
 covery was hardly made, when a rush was heard amidst the 
 bushes on the top of a sloping bank on the opposite side of the 
 dried creek. We bounded forward; it was, however, too late, 
 for the animal had sped in a few minutes far out of our reach. 
 It was clear we had disturbed, on our approach, the Jaguar, 
 whilst quenching his thirst at the water-hole. A few steps 
 further on we saw the mangled remains of an alligator (the 
 Jacaretinga). The head, fore-quarters, and bony shell were 
 the only parts which remained; but the meat was quite fresh, 
 and there were many footmarks of the Jaguar around the car- 
 case ; so that there was no doubt this had formed the solid part 
 of the animal's breakfast. My companions now began to search 
 for the alligator's nest, the presence of the reptile so far from the 
 river being accountable for on no other ground than its maternal 
 solicitude for its eggs. We found, in fact, the nest at the 
 distance of a few yards from the place. It was a conical pile 
 of dead leaves, in the middle of which twenty eggs were buried. 
 These were of elliptical shape, considerably larger than those 
 of a duck, and having a hard shell of the texture of porcelain, 
 but very rough on the outside. They make a loud sound when 
 rubbed together, and it is said that it is easy to find a mother 
 alligator in the Ygapo forests by rubbing together two eggs in 
 this way, she being never far off, and attracted by the sounds. 
 
 I put half-a-dozen of the alligator's eggs in my game-bag for 
 specimens, and we then continued on our way. Lino, who was 
 now first, presently made a start backwards, calling out " Jara- 
 raca! " This is the name of a poisonous snake (genus Craspe- 
 docephalus), which is far more dreaded by the natives than 
 Jaguar or Alligator. The individual seen by Lino lay coiled 
 up at the foot of a tree, and was scarcely distinguishable, on 
 account of the colours of its body being assimilated to those of 
 the fallen leaves. Its hideous, flat triangular head, connected 
 with the body by a thin neck, was reared and turned towards 
 
Excursions around Ega 337 
 
 us: Frazao killed it with a charge of shot, shattering it com- 
 pletely, and destroying, to my regret, its value as a specimen. 
 In conversing on the subject of Jararacas as we walked onwards, 
 every one of the party was ready to swear that this snake attacks 
 roan without provocation, leaping towards him from a con- 
 siderable distance when he approaches. I met, in the course 
 of my daily rambles in the woods, many Jararacas, and once or 
 twice narrowly very escaped treading on them, but never saw 
 them attempt to spring. On some subjects the testimony of 
 the natives of a wild country is utterly worthless. The bite of 
 the Jararacas is generally fatal. I knew of four or five instances 
 of death from it, and only of one clear case of recovery after 
 being bitten; but in that case the person was lamed for life. 
 
 We walked over moderately elevated and dry ground for 
 about a mile, and then descended (three or four feet only) to 
 the dry bed of another creek. This was pierced in the same 
 way as the former water-course, with round holes full of muddy 
 water. They occurred at intervals of a few yards, and had the 
 appearance of having been made by the hand of man. The 
 smallest were about two feet, the largest seven or eight feet in 
 diameter. As we approached the most extensive of the larger 
 ones, I was startled at seeing a number of large serpent-like 
 heads bobbing about the surface. They proved to be those of 
 electric eels, and it now occurred to me that the round holes 
 were made by these animals working constantly round and 
 round in the moist muddy soil. Their depth (some of them 
 were at least eight feet deep) was doubtless due also to the move- 
 ments of the eels in the soft soil, and accounted for their not 
 drying up, in the fine season, with the rest of the creek. Thus, 
 whilst alligators and turtles in this great inundated forest region 
 retire to the larger pools during the dry season, the electric eels 
 make for themselves little ponds in which to pass the season of 
 drought. 
 
 My companions now cut each a stout pole, and proceeded to 
 eject the eels in order to get at the other fishes, with which they 
 had discovered the ponds to abound. I amused them all very 
 much by showing how the electric shock from the eels could 
 pass from one person to another. We joined hands in a line 
 whilst I touched the biggest and freshest of the animals on the 
 head with the point of my hunting-knife. We found that this 
 experiment did not succeed more than three times with the 
 same eel when out of the water; for, the fourth time, the shock 
 was scarcely perceptible. All the fishes found in the holes 
 
338 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 (besides the eels) belonged to one species, a small kind of Acari ; 
 or Loricaria, a group whose members have a complete bony 
 integument. Lino and the boy strung them together through 
 the gills with slender sipos, and hung them on the trees to await 
 our return later in the day. 
 
 Leaving the bed of the creek, we marched onwards, always 
 towards the centre of the land; guided by the sun, which now 
 glimmered through the thick foliage overhead. About eleven 
 o'clock we saw a break in the forest before us, and presently 
 emerged on the banks of a rather large sheet of water. This 
 was one of the interior pools of which there are so many in this 
 district. The margins were elevated some few feet, and sloped 
 down to the water, the ground being hard and dry to the water's 
 edge, and covered with shrubby vegetation. We passed com- 
 pletely round this pool, finding the crowns of the trees on its 
 borders tenanted by curassow birds, whose presence was 
 betrayed as usual by the peculiar note which they emit. My 
 companions shot two of them. At the further end of the lake 
 lay a deep watercourse, which we traced for about half a mile, 
 and found to communicate with another and smaller pool. 
 This second one evidently swarmed with turtles, as we saw the 
 snouts of many peering above the surface of the water: the 
 same had not been seen in the larger lake, probably because we 
 had made too much noise in hailing our discovery, on approach- 
 ing its banks. My friends made an arrangement on the spot 
 for returning to this pool, after the termination of the egg 
 harvest on Catua. 
 
 In recrossing the space between the two pools, we heard the 
 crash of monkeys in the crowns of trees overhead. The chase 
 of these occupied us a considerable time. Jose fired at length 
 at one of the laggards of the troop, and wounded him. He 
 climbed pretty nimbly towards a denser part of the tree, and a 
 second and third discharge failed to bring him down. The 
 poor maimed creature then trailed his limbs to one of the top- 
 most branches, where we descried him soon after, seated and 
 picking the entrails from a wound in his abdomen; a most 
 heart-rending sight. The height from the ground to the bough 
 on which he was perched could not have been less than 150 feet, 
 and we could get a glimpse of him only by standing directly 
 underneath, and straining our eyes upwards. We killed him 
 at last by loading our best gun with a careful charge, and resting 
 the barrel against the tree-trunk to steady the aim. A few 
 shots entered his chin, and he then fell heels over head scream- 
 
Excursions around Ega 339 
 
 ing to the gronnd. Although it was I who gave the final shot, 
 this animal did not fall to my lot in dividing the spoils at the 
 end of the day. I regret now not having preserved the skin, 
 as it belonged to a very large species of Cebus, and one which I 
 never met with afterwards. 
 
 It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when we again 
 reached the spot where we had first struck the banks of the 
 larger pool. We had hitherto had but poor sport, so after dining 
 on the remains of our fried fish and farinha, and smoking our 
 cigarettes, the apparatus for making which, including bamboo 
 tinder-box and steel and flint for striking a light, being carried 
 by every one always on these expeditions, we made off in 
 another (westerly) direction through the forest to try to find 
 better hunting-ground. We quenched our thirst with water 
 from the pool, which I was rather surprised to find quite pure. 
 These pools are, of course, sometimes fouled for a time by the 
 movements of alligators and other tenants in the fine mud 
 which settles at the bottom, but I never observed a scum of 
 confervae or traces of oil revealing animal decomposition on the 
 surface of these waters, nor was there ever any foul smell per- 
 ceptible. The whole of this level land, instead of being covered 
 with unwholesome swamps emitting malaria, forms in the dry 
 season (and in the wet also) a most healthy country. How 
 elaborate must be the natural processes of self-purification in 
 these teeming waters ! 
 
 On our fresh route we were obliged to cut our way through 
 a long belt of bamboo underwood, and not being so careful of 
 my steps as my companions, I trod repeatedly on the flinty 
 thorns which had fallen from the bushes, finishing by becoming 
 completely lame, one thorn having entered deeply the sole of 
 my foot. I was obliged to be left behind; Lino, the Indian, 
 remaining with me. The careful fellow cleaned my wounds 
 with his saliva, placed pieces of isca (the felt-like substance 
 manufactured by ants) on them to staunch the blood, and 
 bound my feet with tough bast to serve as shoes, which he cut 
 from the bark of a Monguba tree. He went about his work in 
 a very gentle way and with much skill, but was so sparing of 
 speech that I could scarcely get answers to the questions I put 
 to him. When he had done I was able to limp about pretty 
 nimbly. An Indian when he performs a service of this kind 
 never thinks of a reward. I did not find so much disinterested- 
 ness in negro slaves or half-castes. We had to wait two hours 
 for the return of our companions; during part of this time I 
 
34° The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 was left quite alone, Lino having started off into the jungle 
 after a peccary (a kind of wild hog) which had come near to 
 where we sat, but on seeing us had given a grunt and bounded 
 off into the thickets. At length our friends hove in sight, 
 loaded with game; having shot twelve curassows and two 
 cujubims (Penelope Pipile), a handsome black fowl with a white 
 head, which is arboreal in its habits like the rest of this group 
 of Gallinaceous birds inhabiting the South American forests. 
 They had discovered a third pool containing plenty of turtles. 
 Lino rejoined us at the same time, having missed the peccary, 
 but in compensation shot a Quandu, or porcupine. The 
 mulatto boy had caught alive in the pool a most charming little 
 water-fowl, a species of grebe. It was somewhat smaller than 
 a pigeon, and had a pointed beak ; its feet were furnished with 
 many intricate folds or frills of skin instead of webs, and re- 
 sembled very much those of the gecko lizards. The bird was 
 kept as a pet in Jabuti's house at Ega for a long time afterwards, 
 where it became accustomed to swim about in a common hand- 
 basin full of water, and was a great favourite with everybody. 
 
 We now retraced our steps towards the water-side, a weary 
 walk of five or six miles, reaching our canoe by half-past five 
 o'clock, or a little before sunset. It was considered by every 
 one at Catua that we had had an unusually good day's sport. 
 I never knew any small party to take so much game in one day 
 in these forests, over which animals are everywhere so widely 
 and sparingly scattered. My companions were greatly elated, 
 and on approaching the encampment at Catua made a great 
 commotion with their paddles to announce their successful 
 return, singing in their loudest key one of the wild choruses of 
 the Amazonian boatmen. 
 
 The excavation of eggs and preparation of the oil being 
 finished, we left Catua on the 3rd of November. Carepira, who 
 was now attached to Cardozo's party, had discovered another 
 lake rich in turtles, about twelve miles distant, in one of his 
 fishing rambles, and my friend resolved, before returning to 
 Ega, to go there with his nets and drag it as we had formerly 
 done the Aningal. Several Mameluco families of Ega begged 
 to accompany us to share the labours and booty; the Shumana 
 family also joined the party; we therefore formed a large body, 
 numbering in all eight canoes and fifty persons. 
 
 The summer season was now breaking up; the river was 
 rising; the sky was almost constantly clouded, and we had 
 
Excursions around Ega 341 
 
 frequent rains. The mosquitoes also, which we had not felt 
 whilst encamped on the sand-banks, now became troublesome. 
 We paddled up the north-westerly channel, and arrived at a 
 point near the upper end of Catua at ten o'clock p.m. There 
 was here a very broad beach of untrodden white sand, which 
 extended quite into the forest, where it formed rounded hills 
 and hollows like sand dunes, covered with a peculiar vegetation : 
 harsh, reedy grasses, and low trees matted together with lianas, 
 and varied with dwarf spiny palms of the genus Bactris. We 
 encamped for the night on the sands, finding the place luckily 
 free from mosquitoes. The different portions of the party made 
 arched coverings with the toldos or maranta-leaf awnings of 
 their canoes to sleep under, fixing the edges in the sand. No one, 
 however, seemed inclined to go to sleep, so after supper we all 
 sat or lay around the large fires and amused ourselves. We had 
 the fiddler with us, and in the intervals between the wretched 
 tunes which he played, the usual amusement of story-telling 
 beguiled the time: tales of hair-breadth escapes from jaguar, 
 alligator, and so forth. There were amongst us a father and 
 son who had been the actors, the previous year, in an alligator 
 adventure on the edge of the praia we had just left. The son, 
 whilst bathing, was seized by the thigh and carried under water: 
 a cry was raised, and the father, rushing down the bank, plunged 
 after the rapacious beast, which was diving away with his victim. 
 It seems almost incredible that a man could overtake and master 
 the large cayman in his own element; but such was the case in 
 this instance, for the animal was reached and forced to release 
 his booty by the man's thrusting his thumb into his eye. The 
 lad showed us the marks of the alligator's teeth on his thigh. 
 We sat up until past midnight listening to these stories and 
 assisting the flow of talk by frequent potations of burnt rum. 
 A large shallow dish was filled with the liquor and fired : when 
 it had burnt for a few minutes the flame was extinguished and 
 each one helped himself by dipping a tea-cup into the vessel. 
 
 One by one the people dropped asleep, and then the quiet 
 murmur of talk of the few who remained awake was interrupted 
 by the roar of jaguars in the jungle about a furlong distant. 
 There was not one only, but several of the animals. The older 
 men showed considerable alarm, and proceeded to light fresh 
 fires around the outside of our encampment. I had read in 
 books of travel of tigers coming to warm themselves by the fires 
 of a bivouac, and thought my strong wish to witness the same 
 sight would have been gratified to-night. I had not, however, 
 
34 2 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 such good fortune, although I was the last to go to sleep, and my 
 bed was the bare sand under a little arched covering open at 
 both ends. The jaguars, nevertheless, must have come very 
 near during the night, for their fresh footmarks were numerous 
 within a score yards of the place where we slept. In the morn- 
 ing I had a ramble along the borders of the jungle, and found 
 the tracks very numerous and close together on the sandy soil. 
 
 We remained in this neighbourhood four days, and succeeded 
 in obtaining many hundred turtles, but we were obliged to 
 sleep two nights within the Carapanatiiba channel. The first 
 night passed rather pleasantly, for the weather was fine, and we 
 encamped in the forest, making large fires and slinging our 
 hammocks between the trees. The second was one of the most 
 miserable nights I ever spent. The air was close, and a drizzling 
 rain began to fall about midnight, lasting until morning. We 
 tried at first to brave it out under the trees. Several very large 
 fires were made, lighting up with ruddy gleams the magnificent 
 foliage in the black shades around our encampment. The heat 
 and smoke had the desired effect of keeping off pretty well the 
 mosquitoes, but the rain continued until at length everything 
 was soaked, and we had no help for it but to bundle off to the 
 canoes with drenched hammocks and garments. There was 
 not nearly room enough in the flotilla to accommodate so large 
 a number of persons lying at full length; moreover the night 
 was pitch dark, and it was quite impossible in the gloom and 
 confusion to get at a change of clothing. So there we lay, 
 huddled together in the best way we could arrange ourselves, 
 exhausted with fatigue and irritated beyond all conception by 
 clouds of mosquitoes. I slept on a bench with a sail over me, 
 my wet clothes clinging to my body, and to increase my dis- 
 comfort, close beside me lay an Indian girl, one of Cardozo's 
 domestics, who had a skin disfigured with black diseased patches, 
 and whose thick clothing, not having been washed during the 
 whole time we had been out (eighteen days), gave forth a most 
 vile effluvium. 
 
 We spent the night of the 7th of November pleasantly on the 
 smooth sands, where the jaguars again serenaded us, and on the 
 succeeding morning we commenced our return voyage to Ega. 
 We first doubled the upper end of the island of Catua, and then 
 struck off for the right bank of the Solimoens. The river was 
 here of immense width, and the current was so strong in the 
 middle that it required the most strenuous exertions on the 
 part of our paddlers to prevent us from being carried miles away 
 
Excursions around Ega 343 
 
 down the stream. At night we reached the Juteca, a small 
 river which enters the Solimoens by a channel so narrow that a 
 man might almost jump across it, but a furlong inwards expands 
 into a very pretty lake several miles in circumference. We slept 
 again in the forest, and again were annoyed by rain and mos- 
 quitoes; but this time Cardozo and I preferred remaining 
 where we were to mingling with the reeking crowd in the boats. 
 When the grey dawn arose a steady rain was still falling, and 
 the whole sky had a settled leaden appearance, but it was 
 delightfully cool. We took our net into the lake and gleaned 
 a good supply of delicious fish for breakfast. I saw at the 
 upper end of this lake the native rice of this country growing 
 wild. 
 
 The weather cleared up at ten o'clock a.m. At three p.m. 
 we arrived at the mouth of the Cayambe, another tributary 
 stream much larger than the Juteca. The channel of exit to the 
 Solimoens was here also very narrow, but the expanded river 
 inside is of vast dimensions: it forms a lake (I may safely 
 venture to say), several score miles in circumference. Although 
 prepared for these surprises, I was quite taken aback in this 
 case. We had been paddling all day along a monotonous shore, 
 with the dreary Solimoens before us, here three to four miles 
 broad, heavily rolling onward its muddy waters. We come to 
 a little gap in the earthy banks, and find a dark, narrow inlet 
 with a wall of forest overshadowing it on each side; we enter it, 
 and at a distance of two or three hundred yards a glorious sheet 
 of water bursts upon the view. The scenery of Cayambe is very 
 picturesque. The land, on the two sides visible of the lake, is 
 high, and clothed with sombre woods, varied here and there 
 with a white-washed house, in the middle of a green patch of 
 clearing, belonging to settlers. In striking contrast to these 
 dark, rolling forests, is the vivid, light-green and cheerful foliage 
 of the woods on the numerous islets which rest like water- 
 gardens on the surface of the lake. Flocks of ducks, storks, and 
 snow-white herons inhabit these islets, and a noise of parrots 
 with the tingling chorus of Tamburi-paras was heard from them 
 as we passed. This has a cheering effect after the depressing 
 stillness and absence of life in the woods on the margins of the 
 main river. 
 
 Cardozo and I took a small boat and crossed the lake to visit 
 one of the settlers, and on our return to our canoe, whilst in the 
 middle of the lake, a squall suddenly arose, in the direction 
 towards which we were going, so that for a whole hour we were 
 
344 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 in great danger of being swamped. The wind blew away the 
 awning and mats, and lashed the waters into foam: the waves 
 rising to a great height. Our boat, fortunately, was excellently 
 constructed, rising well towards the prow, so that with good 
 steering we managed to head the billows as they arose and 
 escaped without shipping much water. We reached our igarite 
 at sunset, and then made all speed to Curubaru, fifteen miles 
 distant, to encamp for the night on the sands. We reached the 
 praia at ten o'clock. The waters were now mounting fast upon 
 the sloping beach, and we found on dragging the net next morn- 
 ing that fish was beginning to be scarce. Cardozo and his friends 
 talked quite gloomily at breakfast time over the departure of 
 the joyous verao, and the setting in of the dull, hungry winter 
 season. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning of the ioth of November a 
 light wind from down river sprang up, and all who had sails 
 hoisted them. It was the first time during our trip that we had 
 had occasion to use our sails: so continual is the calm on this 
 upper river. We bowled along merrily, and soon entered the 
 broad channel lying between Baria and the mainland on the 
 south bank. The wind carried us right into the mouth of the 
 Teffe and at four o'clock p.m. we cast anchor in the port of Ega. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 ANIMALS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA 
 
 Scarlet - faced Monkeys — Parauacii Monkey — Owl -faced Night- apes — ■ 
 Marmosets — Jupura — Bats — Birds — Cuvier's Toucan — Curl-crested 
 Toucan — Insects — Pendulous Cocoons — Foraging Ants — Blind Ants 
 
 As may have been gathered from the remarks already made, 
 the neighbourhood of Ega was a fine field for a Natural History 
 collector. With the exception of what could be learnt from the 
 few specimens brought home, after transient visits, by Spix and 
 Martius and the Count de Castelnau, whose acquisitions have 
 been deposited in the public museums of Munich and Paris, 
 very little was known in Europe of the animal tenants of this 
 region; the collections that I had the opportunity of making 
 and sending home attracted, therefore, considerable attention. 
 Indeed, the name of my favourite village has become quite a 
 household word amongst a numerous class of Naturalists, not 
 only in England but abroad, in consequence of the very large 
 number of new species (upwards of 3000) which they have had 
 to describe, with the locality " Ega " attached to them. The 
 discovery of new species, however, forms but a small item in the 
 interest belonging to the study of the living creation. The 
 structure, habits, instincts, and geographical distribution of 
 some of the oldest-known forms supply inexhaustible materials 
 for reflection. The few remarks I have to make on the animals 
 of Ega will relate to the mammals, birds, and insects, and 
 will sometimes apply to the productions of the whole Upper 
 Amazons region. We will begin with the monkeys, the most 
 interesting, next to man, of all animals. 
 
 Scarlet-faced Monkeys. — Early one sunny morning, in the 
 year 1855, I saw- in the streets of Ega a number of Indians, 
 carrying on their shoulders down to the port, to be embarked 
 on the Upper Amazons steamer, a large cage made of strong 
 lianas, some twelve feet in length and five in height, containing 
 a dozen monkeys of the most grotesque appearance. Their 
 bodies (about eighteen inches in height, exclusive of limbs) 
 were clothed from neck to tail with very long, straight, and 
 shining whitish hair; their heads were nearly bald, owing to 
 
 345 
 
346 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the very short crop of thin grey hairs, and their faces glowed 
 with the most vivid scarlet hue. As a finish to their striking 
 physiognomy, they had bushy whiskers of a sandy colour, meet- 
 ing under the chin, and reddish-yellow eyes. These red-faced 
 apes belonged to a species called by the Indians Uakari, which 
 is peculiar to the Ega district, and the cage with its contents 
 was being sent as a present by Senhor Chrysostomo, the 
 Director of Indians of the Japura, to one of the Government 
 officials at Rio Janeiro, in acknowledgment of having been 
 made colonel of the new national guard. They had been 
 obtained with great difficulty in the forests which cover the 
 lowlands, near the principal mouth of the Japura, about thirty 
 miles from Ega. It was the first time I had seen this most 
 curious of all the South American monkeys, and one that appears 
 to have escaped the notice of Spix and Martius. I afterwards 
 made a journey to the district inhabited by it, but did not then 
 succeed in obtaining specimens; before leaving the country, 
 however, I acquired two individuals, one of which lived in my 
 house for several weeks. 
 
 The scarlet-faced monkey belongs, in all essential points of 
 structure, to the same family (Cebidae) as the rest of the large- 
 sized American species; but it differs from all its relatives in 
 having only the rudiment of a tail, a member which reaches in 
 some allied kinds the highest grade of development known in 
 the order. It was so unusual to see a nearly tailless monkey 
 from America, that naturalists thought, when the first speci- 
 mens arrived in Europe, that the member had been shortened 
 artificially. Nevertheless, the Uakari is not quite isolated from 
 its related species of the same family, several other kinds, also 
 found on the Amazons, forming a graduated passage between 
 the extreme forms as regards the tail. The appendage reaches 
 its perfection in those genera (the Howlers, the Lagothrix and 
 the Spider monkeys) in which it presents on its under-surface 
 near the tip a naked palm, which makes it sensitive and useful 
 as a fifth hand in climbing. In the rest of the genera of Cebidae 
 (seven in number, containing thirty-eight species), the tail is 
 weaker in structure, entirely covered with hair, and of little or 
 no service in climbing, a few species nearly related to our Uakari 
 having it much shorter than usual. All the Cebidae, both long- 
 tailed and short-tailed, are equally dwellers in trees. The 
 scarlet-faced monkey lives in forests, which are inundated during 
 great part of the year, and is never known to descend to the 
 ground ; the shortness of its tail is therefore no sign of terrestrial 
 
SCARLET-FACED AND PARAUACU MONKEYS 
 
348 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 habits, as it is in the Macaques and Baboons of the Old World. 
 It differs a little from the typical Cebidse in its teeth, the incisors 
 being oblique and, in the upper jaw, converging, so as to leave 
 a gap between the outermost and the canine teeth. Like all 
 the rest of its family, it differs from the monkeys of the Old World, 
 and from man, in having an additional grinding-tooth (premolar) 
 in each side of both jaws, making the complete set thirty-six 
 instead of thirty-two in number. 
 
 The white Uakari (Brachyurus calvus), seems to be found in 
 no other part of America than the district just mentioned, 
 namely, the banks of the Japura, near its principal mouth; and 
 even there it is confined, as far I could learn, to the western 
 side of the river. It lives in small troops amongst the crowns 
 of the lofty trees, subsisting on fruits of various kinds. Hunters 
 say it is pretty nimble in its motions, but is not much given to 
 leaping, preferring to run up and down the larger boughs in 
 travelling from tree to tree. The mother, as in other species 
 of the monkey order, carries her young on her back. Indivi- 
 duals are obtained alive by shooting them with the blow-pipe 
 and arrows tipped with diluted Urari poison. They run a con- 
 siderable distance after being pierced, and it requires an experi- 
 enced hunter to track them. He is considered the most expert 
 who can keep pace with a wounded one, and catch it in his arms 
 when it falls exhausted. A pinch of salt, the antidote to the 
 poison, is then put in its mouth, and the creature revives. The 
 species is rare, even in the limited district which it inhabits. 
 Senhor Chrysostomo sent six of his most skilful Indians, who 
 were absent three weeks before they obtained the twelve speci- 
 mens which formed his unique and princely gift. When an 
 independent hunter obtains one, a very high price (thirty to 
 forty milreis *) is asked, these monkeys being in great demand 
 for presents to persons of influence down the river. 
 
 Adult Uakaris, caught in the way just described, very rarely 
 become tame. They are peevish and sulky, resisting all 
 attempts to coax them, and biting any one who ventures 
 within reach. They have no particular cry, even when in their 
 native woods ; in captivity they are quite silent. In the course 
 of a few days or weeks, if not very carefully attended to, they 
 fall into a listless condition, refuse food and die. Many of them 
 succumb to a disease which I suppose from the symptoms to be 
 inflammation of the chest or lungs. The one which I kept as 
 a pet died of this disorder after I had had it about three weeks. 
 1 Three pounds seven shillings to four pounds thirteen shillings. 
 
Animals in and around Ega 349 
 
 It lost its appetite in a very few days, although kept in an airy 
 verandah; its coat, which was originally long, smooth, and 
 glossy, became dingy and ragged like that of the specimens seen 
 in museums, and the bright scarlet colour of its face changed to 
 a duller hue. This colour, in health, is spread over the features 
 up to the roots of the hair on the forehead and temples, and 
 down to the neck, including the flabby cheeks which hang down 
 below the jaws. The animal, in this condition, looks at a short 
 distance as though some one had laid a thick coat of red paint 
 on its countenance. The death of my pet was slow; during the 
 last twenty-four hours it lay prostrate, breathing quickly, its 
 chest strongly heaving; the colour of its face became gradually 
 paler, but was still red when it expired. As the hue did not 
 quite disappear until two or three hours after the animal was 
 quite dead, I judged that it was not exclusively due to the blood, 
 but partly to a pigment beneath the skin which would probably 
 retain its colour a short time after the circulation had ceased. 
 
 After seeing much of the morose disposition of the Uakari, I 
 was not a little surprised one day at a friend's house to find an 
 extremely lively and familiar individual of this species. It ran 
 from an inner chamber straight towards me after I had sat 
 down on a chair, climbed my legs and nestled in my lap, turn- 
 ing round and looking up with the usual monkey's grin, after 
 it had made itself comfortable. It was a young animal which 
 had been taken when its mother was shot with a poisoned 
 arrow; its teeth were incomplete, and the face was pale and 
 mottled, the glowing scarlet hue not supervening in these 
 animals before mature age; it had also a few long black hairs 
 on the eyebrows and lips. The frisky little fellow had been 
 reared in the house amongst the children, and allowed to run 
 about freely, and take its meals with the rest of the household. 
 There are few animals which the Brazilians of these villages 
 have not succeeded in taming. I have even seen young jaguars 
 running loose about a house, and treated as pets. The animals 
 that I had rarely became familiar, however long they might 
 remain in my possession, a circumstance due no doubt to their 
 being kept always tied up. 
 
 The Uakari is one of the many species of animals which are 
 classified by the Brazilians as " mortal," or of delicate constitu- 
 tion, in contradistinction to those which are " duro," or hardy. 
 A large proportion of the specimens sent from Ega die before 
 arriving at Para, and scarcely one in a dozen succeeds in reach- 
 ing Rio Janeiro alive. The difficulty it has of accommodating 
 
 wr 
 
35° The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 itself to changed conditions probably has some connection with 
 the very limited range or confined sphere of life of the species 
 in its natural state, its native home being an area of swampy 
 woods, not more than about sixty square miles in extent, 
 although no permanent barrier exists to check its dispersal, 
 except towards the south, over a much wider space. When I 
 descended the river in 1859, we had with us a tame adult 
 Uakari, which was allowed to ramble about the vessel, a large 
 schooner. When we reached the mouth of the Rio Negro, we 
 had to wait four days whilst the custom-house officials at 
 Barra, ten miles distant, made out the passports for our crew, 
 and during this time the schooner lay close to the shore, with 
 its bowsprit secured to the trees on the bank. Well, one morn- 
 ing, scarlet-face was missing, having made his escape into the 
 forest. Two men were sent in search of him, but returned 
 after several hours' absence without having caught sight of the 
 runaway. We gave up the monkey for lost, until the following 
 day, when he re-appeared on the skirts of the forest, and marched 
 quietly down the bowsprit to his usual place on deck. He had 
 evidently found the forests of the Rio Negro very different from 
 those of the delta lands of the Japura, and preferred captivity 
 to freedom in a place that was so uncongenial to him. 
 
 The Parauacu Monkey. — Another Ega monkey, nearly related 
 to the Uakaris, is the Parauacu (Pithecia hirsuta), a timid 
 inoffensive creature, with a long bear-like coat of harsh speckled- 
 grey hair. The long fur hangs over the head, half concealing 
 the pleasing diminutive face, and clothes also the tail to the tip, 
 which member is well developed, being eighteen inches in length, 
 or longer than the body. The Parauacu is found on the " terra 
 firma " lands of the north shore of the Solimoens from Tunantins 
 to Peru. It exists also on the south side of the river, namely, 
 on the banks of the Teffe, but there under a changed form, which 
 differs a little from its type in colours. This form has been 
 described by Dr. Gray as a distinct species, under the name of 
 Pithecia albicans. The Parauacu is also a very delicate animal, 
 rarely living many weeks in captivity; but any one who suc- 
 ceeds in keeping it alive for a month or two, gains by it a most 
 affectionate pet. One of the specimens of Pithecia albicans 
 now in the British Museum was, when living, the property of a 
 young Frenchman, a neighbour of mine at Ega. It became so 
 tame in the course of a few weeks that it followed him about the 
 streets like a dog. My friend was a tailor, and the little pet 
 used to spend the greater part of the day seated on his shoulder, 
 
Animals in and around Ega 351 
 
 whilst he was at work on his board. It showed, nevertheless, 
 great dislike to strangers, and was not on good terms with any 
 other member of my friend's household than himself. I saw no 
 monkey that showed so strong a personal attachment as this 
 gentle, timid, silent, little creature. The eager and passionate 
 Cebi seem to take the lead of all the South American monkeys 
 in intelligence and docility, and the Coaita has perhaps the most 
 gentle and impressible disposition ; but the Parauacu, although 
 a dull, cheerless animal, excels all in this quality of capability 
 of attachment to individuals of our own species. It is not 
 wanting, however, in intelligence as well as moral goodness, 
 proof of which was furnished one day by an act of our little pet. 
 My neighbour had quitted his house in the morning without 
 taking Parauacu with him, and the little creature having missed 
 its friend, and concluded, as it seemed, that he would be sure to 
 come to me, both being in the habit of paying me a daily visit 
 together, came straight to my dwelling, taking a short cut over 
 gardens, trees, and thickets, instead of going the roundabout 
 way of the street. It had never done this before, and we knew 
 the route it had taken only from a neighbour having watched 
 its movements. On arriving at my house and not finding its 
 master, it climbed to the top of my table, and sat with an air 
 of quiet resignation waiting for him. Shortly afterwards my 
 friend entered, and the gladdened pet then jumped to its usual 
 perch on his shoulder. 
 
 Owl-faced Night Apes. — A third interesting genus* of monkeys, 
 found near Ega, are the Nyctipitheci, or night apes, called Ei-a 
 by the Indians. Of these I found two species, closely related to 
 each other but nevertheless quite distinct, as both inhabit the 
 same forests, namely, those of the higher and drier lands, without 
 mingling with each other or intercrossing. They sleep all day 
 long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on insects and eat 
 fruits only in the night. They are of small size, the body being 
 about a foot long, and the tail fourteen inches, and are thickly 
 clothed with soft grey and brown fur, similar in substance to 
 that of the rabbit. Their physiognomy reminds one of an owl, 
 or tiger-cat: the face is round and encircled by a ruff of whitish 
 fur; the muzzle is not at all prominent; the mouth and chin are 
 small; the ears are very short, scarcely appearing above the 
 hair of the head; and the eyes are large and yellowish in colour, 
 imparting the staring expression of nocturnal animals of prey. 
 The forehead is whitish, and decorated with three black stripes, 
 which in one of the species (Nyctipithecus trivirgatus) continue 
 
352 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 to the crown, and in the other (N. felinus) meet on the top of 
 the forehead. N. trivirgatus was first described by Humboldt, 
 who discovered it on the banks of the Cassiquiare, near the 
 head waters of the Rio Negro. 
 
 I kept a pet animal of the N. trivirgatus for many months, a 
 young one having been given to me by an Indian compadre, as 
 a present from my newly-baptised godson. These monkeys, 
 although sleeping by day, are aroused by the least noise; so 
 that, when a person passes by a tree in which a number of them 
 are concealed, he is startled by the sudden apparition of a group 
 of little striped faces crowding a hole in the trunk. It was in 
 this way that my compadre discovered the colony from which 
 the one given to me was taken. I was obliged to keep my pet 
 chained up; it therefore never became thoroughly familiar. I 
 once saw, however, an individual of the other species (N. felinus) 
 which was most amusingly tame. It was as lively and nimble 
 as the Cebi, but not so mischievous and far more confiding in its 
 disposition, delighting to be caressed by all persons who came 
 into the house. But its owner, the Municipal Judge of Ega, 
 Dr. Carlos Mariana, had treated it for many weeks with the 
 greatest kindness, allowing it to sleep with him at night in his 
 hammock, and to nestle in his bosom half the day as he lay 
 reading. It was a great favourite with every one, from the 
 cleanliness of its habits and the prettiness of its features and 
 ways. My own pet was kept in a box, in which was placed a 
 broad-mouthed glass jar; into this it would dive, head foremost, 
 when any one entered the room, turning round inside, and 
 thrusting forth its inquisitive face an instant afterwards to stare 
 at the intruder. It was very active at night, venting at frequent 
 intervals a hoarse cry, like the suppressed barking of a dog, and 
 scampering about the room, to the length of its tether, after 
 cockroaches and spiders. In climbing between the box and the 
 wall, it straddled the space, resting its hands on the palms and 
 tips of the out-stretched fingers with the knuckles bent at an 
 acute angle, and thus mounted to the top with the greatest 
 facility. Although seeming to prefer insects, it ate all kinds of 
 fruit, but would not touch raw or cooked meat, and was very 
 seldom thirsty. I was told by persons who had kept these 
 monkeys loose about the house, that they cleared the chambers 
 of bats as well as insect vermin. When approached gently, my 
 Ei-a allowed itself to be caressed; but when handled roughly, it 
 always took alarm, biting severely, striking out its little hands, 
 and making a hissing noise like a cat. As already related, my 
 
Animals in and around Ega 353 
 
 pet was killed by a jealous Caiarara monkey, which was kept in 
 the house at the same time. 
 
 Barrigndo Monkeys. — Ten other species of monkeys were found, 
 in addition to those already mentioned, in the forests of the 
 Upper Amazons. All were strictly arboreal and diurnal in their 
 habits, and lived in flocks, travelling from tree to tree, the 
 mothers with their children on their backs; leading, in fact, a 
 life similar to that of the Pararauate Indians, and, like them, 
 occasionally plundering the plantations which lie near their line 
 of march. Some of them were found also on the Lower Amazons, 
 and have been noticed in former chapters of this narrative. Of 
 the remainder, the most remarkable is the Macaco barrigudo, or 
 bag-bellied monkey of the Portuguese colonists, a species of 
 Lagothrix. The genus is closely allied to the Coaitas, or spider 
 monkeys, having, like them, exceedingly strong and flexible 
 tails, which are furnished underneath with a naked palm like a 
 hand, for grasping. The Barrigudos, however, are very bulky 
 animals, whilst the spider monkeys are remarkable for the 
 slenderness of their bodies and limbs. I obtained specimens of 
 what have been considered two species, one (L. olivaceus of Spix ?) 
 having the head clothed with grey, the other (L. Humboldtii) 
 with black fur. They both live together in the same places, and 
 are probably only differently-coloured individuals of one and 
 the same species. I sent home a very large male of one of these 
 kinds, which measured twenty-seven inches in length of trunk, 
 the tail being twenty-six inches long; it was the largest monkey 
 I saw in America, with the exception of a black Howler, whose 
 body was twenty-eight inches in height. The skin of the face in 
 the Barrigudo is black and wrinkled, the forehead is low, with 
 the eyebrows projecting, and, in short, the features altogether 
 resemble in a striking manner those of an old negro. In the 
 forests, the Barrigudo is not a very active animal; it lives 
 exclusively on fruits, and is much persecuted by the Indians, on 
 account of the excellence of its flesh as food. From information 
 given me by a collector of birds and mammals, whom I employed, 
 and who resided a long time amongst the Tucuna Indians, near 
 Tabatinga, I calculated that one horde of this tribe, 200 in 
 number, destroyed 1200 of these monkeys annually for food. 
 The species is very numerous in the forests of the higher lands, 
 but, owing to long persecution, it is now seldom seen in the 
 neighbourhood of the larger villages. It is not found at all on 
 the Lower Amazons. Its manners in captivity are grave, and 
 its temper mild and confiding, like that of the Coaitas. Owing 
 
354 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 to these traits, the Barrigudo is much sought after for pets; but 
 it is not hardy like the Coaitas, and seldom survives a passage 
 down the river to Para. 
 
 Marmosets. — It now only remains to notice the Marmosets, 
 which form the second family of American monkeys. Our old 
 friend Midas ursulus, of Para and the Lower Amazons, is not 
 found on the Upper river, but in its stead a closely-allied species 
 presents itself, which appears to be the Midas rufoniger of 
 Gervais, whose mouth is bordered with longish white hairs. 
 The habits of this species are the same as those of the M. ursulus, 
 indeed it seems probable that it is a form or race of the same 
 stock, modified to suit the altered local conditions under which 
 it lives. One day, whilst walking along a forest pathway, I saw 
 one of these lively little fellows miss his grasp as he was passing 
 from one tree to another along with his troop. He fell head 
 foremost, from a height of at least fifty feet, but managed 
 cleverly to alight on his legs in the pathway; quickly turning 
 round he gave me a good stare for a few moments, and then 
 bounded off gaily to climb another tree. At Tunantins, I shot a 
 pair of a very handsome species of Marmoset, the M. rufiventer, 
 I believe, of zoologists. Its coat was very glossy and smooth; 
 the back deep brown, and the underside of the body of rich 
 black and reddish hues. A third species (found at Tabatinga, 
 200 miles further west) is of a deep black colour, with the ex- 
 ception of a patch of white hair around its mouth. The little 
 animal, at a short distance, looks as though it held a ball of 
 snow-white cotton in its teeth. The last I shall mention is the 
 Hapale pygma^us, one of the most diminutive forms of the 
 monkey order, three full-grown specimens of which, measuring 
 only seven inches in length of body, I obtained near St. Paulo. 
 The pretty Lilliputian face is furnished with long brown 
 whiskers, which are naturally brushed back over the ears. The 
 general colour of the animal is brownish-tawny, but the tail is 
 elegantly barred with black. I was surprised, on my return 
 to England, to learn, from specimens in the British Museum, 
 that the pigmy Marmoset was found also in Mexico, no other 
 Amazonian monkey being known to wander far from the great 
 river plain. Thus the smallest and apparently the feeblest, 
 species of the whole order, is one which has, by some means, 
 become the most widely dispersed. 
 
 The Jupurd. — A curious animal, known to naturalists as the 
 Kinkajou, but called Jupura by the Indians of the Amazons, 
 and considered by them as a kind of monkey, may be mentioned 
 
Animals in and around Ega 355 
 
 in this place. It is the Cercoleptes caudivolvus of zoologists, 
 and has been considered by some authors as an intermediate 
 form between the Lemur family of apes and the plantigrade 
 Carnivora, or Bear family. It has decidedly no close relation- 
 ship to either of the groups of American monkeys, having six 
 cutting teeth to each jaw, and long claws instead of nails, with 
 extremities of the usual shape of paws instead of hands. Its 
 muzzle is conical and pointed, like that of many Lemurs of 
 Madagascar; the expression of its countenance, and its habits 
 and actions, are also very similar to those of Lemurs. Its tail 
 is very flexible towards the tip, and is used to twine round 
 branches in climbing. I did not see or hear anything of this 
 animal whilst residing on the Lower Amazons, but on the banks 
 of the Upper river, from the Teffe to Peru, it appeared to be 
 rather common. It is nocturnal in its habits, like the owl-faced 
 monkeys, although, unlike them, it has a bright, dark eye. I 
 once saw it in considerable numbers, when on an excursion with 
 an Indian companion along the low Ygapo shores of the Teffe, 
 about twenty miles above Ega. We slept one night at the 
 house of a native family living in the thick of the forest, where 
 a festival was going on, and there being no room to hang our 
 hammocks under shelter, on account of the number of visitors, 
 we lay down on a mat in the open air, near a shed which stood 
 in the midst of a grove of fruit-trees, and pupunha palms. Past 
 midnight, when all became still, after the uproar of holiday- 
 making, as I was listening to the dull, fanning sound made by 
 the wings of impish hosts of vampire bats crowding round the 
 Caju trees, a rustle commenced from the side of the woods, and 
 a troop of slender, long-tailed animals were seen against the 
 clear moonlit sky, taking flying leaps from branch to branch 
 through the grove. Many of them stopped at the pupunha 
 trees, and the hustling, twittering, and screaming, with sounds 
 of falling fruits, showed how they were employed. I thought, at 
 first, they were Nyctipitheci, but they proved to be Jupuras, 
 for the owner of the house early next morning caught a young 
 one, and gave it to me. I kept this as a pet animal for several 
 weeks, feeding it on bananas and mandioca-meal mixed with 
 treacle. It became tame in a very short time, allowing itself to 
 be caressed, but making a distinction in the degree of con- 
 fidence it snowed between myself and strangers. My pet was 
 unfortunately killed by a neighbour's dog, which entered the 
 room where it was kept. The animal is so difficult to obtain 
 alive, its place of retreat in the daytime not being known 
 
356 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 to the natives, that I was unable to procure a second living 
 specimen. 
 
 Bats. — The only other mammals that I shall mention are the 
 bats, which exist in very considerable numbers and variety in 
 the forest, as well as in the buildings of the villages. Many 
 small and curious species, living in the woods, conceal them- 
 selves by day under the broad leaf-blades of Heliconias and other 
 plants which grow in shady places ; others cling to the trunks 
 of. trees. Whilst walking through the forest in the daytime, 
 especially along gloomy ravines, one is almost sure to startle 
 bats from their sleeping-places ; and at night they are often seen 
 in great numbers flitting about the trees on the shady margins 
 of narrow channels. I captured altogether, without giving 
 especial attention to bats, sixteen different species at Ega. 
 
 The Vampire Bat. — The little grey blood-sucking Phyllostoma, 
 mentioned in a former chapter as found in my chamber at 
 Caripi, was not uncommon at Ega, where everyone believes it 
 to visit sleepers and bleed them in the night. But the vampire 
 was here by far the most abundant of the family of leaf-nosed 
 bats. It is the largest of all the South American species, 
 measuring twenty-eight inches in expanse of wing. Nothing 
 in animal physiognomy can be more hideous than the counte- 
 nance of this creature when viewed from the front; the large, 
 leathery ears standing out from the sides and top of the head, 
 the erect spear-shaped appendage on the tip of the nose, the 
 grin and the glistening black eye, all combining to make up a 
 figure that reminds one of some mocking imp of fable. No 
 wonder that imaginative people have inferred diabolical instincts 
 on the part of so ugly an animal. The vampire, however, 
 is the most harmless of all bats, and its inoffensive character 
 is well known to residents on the banks of the Amazons. I 
 found two distinct species of it, one having the fur of a blackish 
 colour, the other of a ruddy hue, and ascertained that both feed 
 chiefly on fruits. The church at Ega was the headquarters of 
 both kinds ; I used to see them, as I sat at my door during the 
 short evening twilights, trooping forth by scores from a large 
 open window at the back of the altar, twittering cheerfully as 
 they sped off to the borders of the forest. They sometimes 
 enter houses ; the first time I saw one in my chamber, wheeling 
 heavily round and round, I mistook it for a pigeon, thinking that 
 a tame one had escaped from the premises of one of my neigh- 
 bours. I opened the stomachs of several of these bats, and 
 found them to contain a mass of pulp and seeds of fruits, 
 
Animals in and around Ega 357 
 
 mingled with a few remains of insects. The natives say they 
 devour ripe cajus and guavas on trees in the gardens, but on 
 comparing the seeds taken from their stomachs with those of 
 all cultivated trees at Ega, I found they were unlike any of 
 them; it is therefore probable that they generally resort to the 
 forest to feed, coming to the village in the morning to sleep, 
 because they find it more secure from animals of prey than their 
 natural abodes in the woods. 
 
 Birds. — I have already had occasion to mention several of 
 the more interesting birds found in the Ega district. The first 
 thing that would strike a new-comer in the forests of the Upper 
 Amazons would be the general scarcity of birds; indeed, it 
 often happened that I did not meet with a single bird during a 
 whole day's ramble in the richest and most varied parts of the 
 woods. Yet the country is tenanted by many hundred species, 
 many of which are, in reality, abundant, and some of them 
 conspicuous from their brilliant plumage. The cause of their 
 apparent rarity is to be sought in the sameness and density of 
 the thousand miles of forest which constitute their dwelling- 
 place. The birds of the country are gregarious, at least during 
 the season when they are most readily found; but the frugi- 
 vorous kinds are to be met with only when certain wild fruits 
 are ripe, and to know the exact localities of the trees requires 
 months of experience. It would not be supposed that the 
 insectivorous birds are also gregarious; but they are so; 
 numbers of distinct species, belonging to many different families, 
 joining together in the chase or search of food. The proceed- 
 ings of these associated bands of insect-hunters are not a little 
 curious, and merit a few remarks. 
 
 Whilst hunting along the narrow pathways that are made 
 through the forest in .the neighbourhood of houses and villages, 
 one may pass several days without seeing many birds; but now 
 and then the surrounding bushes and trees appear suddenly to 
 swarm with them. There are scores, probably hundreds of 
 birds, all moving about with the greatest activity — woodpeckers 
 and Dendrocolaptidae (from species no larger than a sparrow to 
 others the size of a crow) running up the tree trunks ; tanagers, 
 ant-thrushes, humming-birds, fly-catchers, and barbets flitting 
 about the leaves and lower branches. The bustling crowd loses 
 no time, and although moving in concert, each bird is occupied, 
 on its own account, in searching bark or leaf or twig; the barbets 
 visiting every clayey nest of termites on the trees which lie in 
 
358 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the line of march. In a few minutes the host is gone, and the 
 forest path remains deserted and silent as before. I became, 
 in course of time, so accustomed to this habit of birds in the 
 woods near Ega, that I could generally find the flock of asso- 
 ciated marauders whenever I wanted it. There appeared to 
 be only one of these flocks in each small district; and, as it 
 traversed chiefly a limited tract of woods of second growth, I 
 used to try different paths until I came up with it. 
 
 The Indians have noticed these miscellaneous hunting parties 
 of birds, but appear not to have observed that they are occupied 
 in searching for insects. They have supplied their want of 
 knowledge, in the usual way of half-civilised people, by a theory 
 which has degenerated into a myth, to the effect that the 
 onward moving bands are led by a little grey bird, called the 
 Uira-para, which fascinates all the rest, and leads them a weary 
 dance through the thickets. There is certainly some appear- 
 ance of truth in this explanation; for sometimes stray birds, 
 encountered in the line of march, are seen to be drawn into the 
 throng, and purely frugivorous birds are now and then found 
 mixed up with the rest, as though led away by some will-o'-the- 
 wisp. The native women, even the white and half-caste in- 
 habitants of the towns, attach a superstitious value to the skin 
 and feathers of the Uira-para, believing that if they keep them 
 in their clothes' chest, the relics will have the effect of attracting 
 for the happy possessors a train of lovers and followers. These 
 birds are consequently in great demand in some places, the 
 hunters selling them at a high price to the foolish girls, who 
 preserve the bodies by drying flesh and feathers together in the 
 sun. I could never get a sight of this famous little bird in the 
 forest. I once employed Indians to obtain specimens for me; 
 but, after the same man (who was a noted woodsman) brought 
 me, at different times, three distinct species of birds as the 
 Uira-para, I gave up the story as a piece of humbug. The 
 simplest explanation appears to be this ; that the birds associate 
 in flocks from the instinct of self-preservation, and in order to be 
 a less easy prey to hawks, snakes, and other enemies than they 
 would be if feeding alone. 
 
 Toucans. — Cuvier's Toucan. — Of this family of birds, so con- 
 spicuous from the great size and light structure of their beaks, 
 and so characteristic of tropical American forests, five species 
 inhabit the woods of Ega. The commonest is Cuvier's Toucan, 
 a large bird, distinguished from its nearest relatives by the 
 feathers at the bottom of the back being of a saffron hue, instead 
 
Animals in and around Ega 359 
 
 of red. It is found more or less numerously throughout the 
 year, as it breeds in the neighbourhood, laying its eggs in holes 
 of trees, at a great height from the ground. During most 
 months of the year, it is met with in single individuals or small 
 flocks, and the birds are then very wary. Sometimes one of 
 these little bands of four or five is seen perched, for hours 
 together, amongst the topmost branches of high trees, giving 
 vent to their remarkably loud, shrill, yelping cries, one bird, 
 mounted higher than the rest, acting, apparently, as leader of 
 the inharmonious chorus; but two of them are often heard 
 yelping alternately, and in different notes. These cries have a 
 vague resemblance to the syllables Tocano, Tocano, and hence 
 the Indian name of this genus of birds. At these times it is 
 difficult to get a shot at Toucans, for their senses are so 
 sharpened that they descry the hunter before he gets near 
 the tree on which they are perched, although he may be half- 
 concealed amongst the under- wood, 150 feet below them. 
 They stretch their necks downwards to look beneath, and on 
 espying the least movement amongst the foliage, fly off to 
 the more inaccessible parts of the forest. Solitary Toucans 
 are sometimes met with at the same season, hopping silently 
 up and down the larger boughs, and peering into crevices of 
 the tree-trunks. They moult in the months from March to 
 June, some individuals earlier, others later. This season of 
 enforced quiet being passed, they make their appearance 
 suddenly in the dry forest, near Ega, in large flocks, probably 
 assemblages of birds gathered together from the neighbouring 
 Ygapo forests, which are then flooded and cold. The birds 
 have now become exceedingly tame, and the troops travel 
 with heavy laborious flight from bough to bough amongst 
 the lower trees. They thus become an easy prey to hunters, 
 and every one at Ega, who can get a gun of any sort and a few 
 charges of powder and shot, or a blow-pipe, goes daily to the 
 woods to kill a few brace for dinner; for, as already observed, 
 the people of Ega live almost exclusively on stewed and roasted 
 Toucans during the months of June and July; the birds being 
 then very fat, and the meat exceedingly sweet and tender. 
 
 No one, on seeing a Toucan, can help asking what is the use 
 of the enormous bill, which, in some species, attains a length of 
 seven inches, and a width of more than two inches. A few 
 remarks on this subject may be here introduced. The early 
 naturalists, having seen only the bill of a Toucan, which was 
 esteemed as a marvellous production by the virtuosi of the 
 
360 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, concluded that the bird 
 must have belonged to the aquatic and web-footed order, as 
 this contains so many species of remarkable development of 
 beak, adapted for seizing fish. Some travellers also related 
 fabulous stories of Toucans resorting to the banks of rivers to 
 feed on fish, and these accounts also encouraged the erroneous 
 views of the habits of the birds which for a long time prevailed. 
 Toucans, however, are now well known to be eminently arboreal 
 birds, and to belong to a group (including trogons, parrots, and 
 barbets 1 ), all of whose members are fruit-eaters. On the 
 Amazons, where these birds are very common, no one pretends 
 ever to have seen a Toucan walking on the ground in its natural 
 state, much less acting the part of a swimming or wadingbird. 
 Professor Owen found, on dissection, that the gizzard in 
 Toucans is not so well adapted for the trituration of food as it 
 is in other vegetable feeders, and concluded, therefore, as 
 Broderip had observed the habit of chewing the cud in a tame 
 bird, that the great toothed bill was useful in holding and re- 
 masticating the food. The bill can scarcely be said to be a 
 very good contrivance for seizing and crushing small birds, 
 or taking them from their nests in crevices of trees, habits 
 which have been imputed to Toucans by some writers. The 
 hollow, cellular structure of the interior of the bill, its curved 
 and clumsy shape, and the deficiency of force and precision 
 when it is used to seize objects, suggest a want of fitness, if 
 this be the function of the member. But fruit is undoubtedly 
 the chief food of Toucans, and it is in reference to their mode 
 of obtaining it that the use of their uncouth bills is to be sought. 
 Flowers and fruit on the crowns of the large trees of South 
 American forests grow, principally, towards the end of slender 
 twigs, which will not bear any considerable weight; all animals, 
 therefore, which feed upon fruit, or on insects contained in 
 flowers, must, of course, have some means of reaching the ends 
 of the stalks from a distance. Monkeys obtain their food by 
 stretching forth their long arms and, in some instances, their 
 tails, to bring the fruit near to their mouths. Humming-birds 
 are endowed with highly-perfected organs of flight, with corre- 
 sponding muscular development, by which they are enabled to 
 sustain themselves on the wing before blossoms whilst rifling 
 them of their contents. These strong-flying creatures, however, 
 will, whenever they can get near enough, remain on their perches 
 whilst probing neighbouring flowers for insects. Trogons have 
 1 Captioning, G. R. Gray. 
 
Animals in and around Ega 361 
 
 feeble wings, and a dull, inactive temperament. Their mode of 
 obtaining food is to station themselves quietly on low branches 
 in the gloomy shades of the forest, and eye the fruits on the sur- 
 rounding trees, darting off, as if with an effort, every time they 
 wish to seize a mouthful, and returning to the same perch. 
 Barbets (Capitoninae) seem to have no especial endowment, 
 either of habits or structure, to enable them to seize fruits; and 
 in this respect they are similar to the Toucans, if we leave the 
 bill out of question, both tribes having heavy bodies, with feeble 
 organs of flight, so that they are disabled from taking their food 
 on the wing. The purpose of the enormous bill here becomes 
 evident. It is to enable the Toucan to reach and devour fruit 
 whilst remaining seated, and thus to counterbalance the dis- 
 advantage which its heavy body and gluttonous appetite would 
 otherwise give it in the competition with allied groups of birds. 
 The relation between the extraordinarily lengthened bill of the 
 Toucan and its mode of obtaining food, is therefore precisely 
 similar to that between the long neck and lips of the Giraffe and 
 the mode of browsing of the animal. The bill of the Toucan can 
 scarcely be considered a very perfectly-formed instrument for 
 the end to which it is applied, as here explained; but nature 
 appears not to invent organs at once for the functions to which 
 they are now adapted, but avails herself, here of one already- 
 existing structure or instinct, there of another, according as 
 they are handy when need for their further modification arises. 
 One day, whilst walking along the principal pathway in the 
 woods near Ega, I saw one of these Toucans seated gravely on 
 a low branch close to the road, and had no difficulty in seizing 
 it with my hand. It turned out to be a runaway pet bird; no 
 one, however, came to own it, although I kept it in my house 
 for several months. The bird was in a half-starved and sickly 
 condition, but after a few days of good living it recovered health 
 and spirits, and became one of the most amusing pets imaginable. 
 Many excellent accounts of the habits of tame Toucans have 
 been published, and therefore I need not describe them in detail, 
 but I do not recollect to have seen any notice of their intelli- 
 gence and confiding disposition under domestication, in which 
 qualities my pet seemed to be almost equal to parrots. I 
 allowed Tocano to go free about the house, contrary to my 
 usual practice with pet animals; he never, however, mounted 
 my working-table after a smart correction which he received 
 the first time he did it. He used to sleep on the top of a box 
 in a corner of the room, in the usual position of these birds, 
 
362 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 namely, with the long tail laid right over on the back, and the 
 beak thrust underneath the wing. He ate of everything that 
 we eat; beef, turtle, fish, farinha, fruit, and was a constant 
 attendant at our table — a cloth spread on a mat. His appetite 
 was most ravenous, and his powers of digestion quite wonderful. 
 He got to know the meal hours to a nicety, and we found it very 
 difficult, after the first week or two, to keep him away from the 
 dining-room, where he had become very impudent and trouble- 
 some. We tried to shut him out by enclosing him in the back- 
 yard, which was separated by a high fence from the street on 
 which our front door opened, but he used to climb the fence and 
 hop round by a long circuit to the dining-room, making his 
 
 Curl-crested Toucan. 
 
 appearance with the greatest punctuality as the meal was placed 
 on the table. He acquired the habit, afterwards, of rambling 
 about the street near our house, and one day he was stolen, so 
 we gave him up for lost. But two days afterwards he stepped 
 through the open doorway at dinner hour, with his old gait, 
 and sly magpie-like expression, having escaped from the house 
 where he had been guarded by the person who had stolen him, 
 and which was situated at the further end of the village. 
 
 The Curl-crested Toucan (Pteroglossus Beauharnaisii). — Of 
 the four smaller Toucans, or Arassaris, found near Ega, the 
 Pteroglossus flavirostris is perhaps the most beautiful in 
 colours, its breast being adorned with broad belts of rich crimson 
 and black; but the most curious species, by far, is the Curl- 
 crested, or Beauharnais Toucan. The feathers on the head of 
 this singular bird are transformed into thin, horny plates, of a 
 

 
 ADVENTURE WITH CURL-CRESTED TOUCANS 
 
364 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 lustrous black colour, curled up at the ends, and resembling 
 shavings of steel or ebony -wood : the curly crest being arranged 
 on the crown in the form of a wig. Mr. Wallace and I first met 
 with this species, on ascending the Amazons, at the mouth of the 
 Solimoens; from that point it continues as a rather common 
 bird on the terra firma, at least on the south side of the river, as 
 far as Fonte Boa, but I did not hear of its being found further to 
 the west. It appears in large flocks in the forests near Ega in 
 May and June, when it has completed its moult. I did not find 
 these bands congregated at fruit-trees, but always wandering 
 through the forest, hopping from branch to branch amongst the 
 lower trees, and partly concealed amongst the foliage. None 
 of the Arassaris, to my knowledge, make a yelping noise like 
 that uttered by the larger Toucans (Ramphastos); the notes of 
 the curl-crested species are very singular, resembling the croak- 
 ing of frogs. I had an amusing adventure one day with these 
 birds. I had shot one from a rather high tree in a dark glen in 
 the forest, and entered the thicket where the bird had fallen to 
 secure my booty. It was only wounded, and on my attempting 
 to seize it, set up a loud scream. In an instant, as if by magic, . 
 the shady nook seemed alive with these birds, although there 
 was certainly none visible when I entered the jungle. They 
 descended towards me, hopping from bough to bough, some of 
 them swinging on the loops and cables of woody lianas, and all 
 croaking and fluttering their wings like so many furies. If I 
 had had a long stick in my hand I could have knocked several 
 of them over. After killing the wounded one I began to prepare 
 for obtaining more specimens and punishing the viragos for 
 their boldness; but the screaming of their companion having 
 ceased, they remounted the trees, and before I could reload, 
 every one of them had disappeared. 
 
 Insects. — Upwards of 7000 species of insects were found in 
 the neighbourhood of Ega. I must confine myself in this place 
 to a few remarks on the order Lepidoptera, and on the ants, 
 several kinds of which, found chiefly on the Upper Amazons, 
 exhibit the most extraordinary instincts. 
 
 I found about 550 distinct species of butterflies at Ega. 
 Those who know a little of Entomology will be able to form 
 some idea of the riches of the place in this department, when I 
 mention that eighteen species of true Papilio (the swallow-tail 
 genus) were found within ten minutes' walk of my house. No 
 fact could speak more plainly for the surpassing exuberance of 
 
Animals in and around Ega 
 
 3 6 5 
 
 the vegetation, the varied nature of the land, the perennial 
 warmth and humidity of the climate. But no description can 
 convey an ^ * 
 
 sityinform : ; '^^^^f^^?^.-- '^-\^^l-' 
 
 and colour ■ t ^^_^^\ . ' v "^.nV^ ^f£i ^"^ 
 ofthisclass ^i^ -.^4X| '"^Ulfc^ 
 
 of insects in "^ 
 
 the neighbourhood of Ega. I paid especial attention 
 to them, having found that this tribe was better 
 adapted than almost any other group of animals or 
 plants to furnish facts in illustration of the modifi- 
 cations which all species undergo in nature, under 
 changed local conditions. This accidental superi- 
 ority is owing partly to the simplicity and distinct- 
 ness of the specific character of the insects, and 
 partly to the facility with which very copious 
 series of specimens can be collected and placed side 
 by side for comparison. The distinctness of the 
 specific characters is due probably to the fact that 
 all the superficial signs of change in the organisation 
 are exaggerated, and made unusually plain by 
 affecting the framework, shape, and colour of the 
 wings, which, as many anatomists believe, are 
 magnified extensions of the skin around the breath- 
 ing orifices of the thorax of the insects. These 
 expansions are clothed with minute feathers or 
 scales, coloured in regular patterns, which vary in 
 accordance with the slightest change in the con- 
 ditions to which the species are exposed. It may 
 be said, therefore, that on these expanded mem- 
 branes Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of 
 the modifications of species, so truly do all changes 
 of the organisation register themselves thereon. 
 Moreover, the same colour-patterns of the wings 
 generally show, with great regularity, the degrees 
 of blood-relationship of the species. As the laws of 
 Nature must be the same for all beings, the conclusions furnished , 
 by this group of insects must be applicable to the whole organic 
 world; therefore, the study of butterflies — creatures selected 
 
 Suspended 
 cocoon of .Moth. 
 
366 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 as the types of airiness and frivolity — instead of being despised, 
 will some day be valued as one of the most important branches 
 of Biological science. 
 
 Before proceeding to describe the ants, a few remarks may be 
 made on the singular cases and cocoons woven by the cater- 
 pillars of certain moths found at Ega. The first that may be 
 mentioned is one of the most beautiful examples of insect work- 
 manship I ever saw. It is a cocoon, about the size of a sparrow's 
 egg, woven by a caterpillar in broad meshes of either buff or 
 rose-coloured silk, and is frequently seen in the narrow alleys 
 of the forest, suspended from the extreme tip of an outstanding 
 leaf by a strong silken thread five or six inches in length. It 
 forms a very conspicuous object, hanging thus in mid-air. 
 The glossy threads with which it is knitted are stout, and the 
 structure is therefore not liable to be torn by the beaks of 
 insectivorous birds, whilst its pendulous position makes it 
 doubly secure against their attacks, the apparatus giving way 
 when they peck at it. There is a small orifice at each end of the 
 egg-shaped bag, to admit of the escape of the moth when it 
 changes from the little chrysalis which sleeps tranquilly in its 
 airy cage. The moth is of a dull slaty colour, and belongs to 
 the Lithosiide group of the silk-worm family (Bombycidae). 
 When the caterpillar begins its work, it lets itself down from 
 the tip of the leaf which it has chosen, by spinning a thread of 
 silk, the thickness of which it slowly increases as it descends. 
 Having given the proper length to the cord, it proceeds to weave 
 its elegant bag, placing itself in the centre and spinning rings of 
 silk at regular intervals, connecting them at the same time by 
 means of cross threads ; so that the whole, when finished, forms 
 a loose web, with quadrangular meshes of nearly equal size 
 throughout. The task occupies about four days : when finished, 
 the enclosed caterpillar becomes sluggish, its skin shrivels and 
 cracks, and there then remains a motionless chrysalis of narrow 
 shape, leaning against the sides of its silken cage. 
 
 Many other kinds are found at Ega belonging to the same 
 cocoon-weaving family, some of which differ from the rest in 
 their caterpillars possessing the art of fabricating cases with 
 fragments of wood or leaves, in which they live secure from all 
 enemies whilst they are feeding and growing. I saw many 
 species of these; some of them knitted together, with fine 
 silken threads, small bits of stick, and so made tubes similar to 
 those of caddice-worms; others (Saccophora) chose leaves for 
 the same purpose, forming with them an elongated bag open at 
 
Animals in and around Ega 367 
 
 both ends, and having the inside lined with a thick web. The 
 tubes of full-grown caterpillars of Saccophora are two inches in 
 length, and it is at this stage of growth that I have generally 
 seen them. They feed on the leaves of Melastomae, and as, in 
 crawling, the weight of so large a dwelling would be greater than 
 the contained caterpillar could sustain, the insect attaches the 
 
 Sack-bearing Caterpillar (Saccophora). 
 
 case by one or more threads to the leaves or twigs near which 
 it is feeding. 
 
 Foraging Ants. — Many confused statements have been pub- 
 lished in books of travel, and copied in Natural History works, 
 regarding these ants, which appear to have been confounded 
 with the Saiiba, a sketch of whose habits has been given in the 
 first chapter of this work. The Saiiba is a vegetable feeder, and 
 does not attack other animals; the accounts that have been 
 published regarding carnivorous ants which hunt in vast armies, 
 exciting terror wherever they go, apply only to the Ecitons, or 
 
368 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 foraging ants, a totally different group of this tribe of insects. 
 The Ecitons are called Tauoca by the Indians, who are always 
 on the look-out for their armies when they traverse the forest, 
 so as to avoid being attacked. I met with ten distinct species 
 of them, nearly all of which have a different system of marching ; 
 eight were new to science when I sent them to England. Some 
 are found commonly in every part of the country, and one is 
 peculiar to the open campos of Santarem ; but, as nearly all the 
 species are found together at Ega, where the forest swarmed 
 with their armies, I have left an account of the habits of the 
 whole genus for this part of my narrative. The Ecitons resemble, 
 in their habits, the Driver ants of Tropical Africa; but they 
 have no close relationship with them in structure, and indeed 
 belong to quite another sub-group of the ant-tribe. 
 
 Like many other ants, the communities of Ecitons are com- 
 posed, besides males and females, of two classes of workers, a 
 large-headed (worker-major) and a small-headed (worker-minor) 
 class; the large-heads have, in some species, greatly lengthened 
 jaws, the small-heads have jaws always of the ordinary shape; 
 but the two classes are not sharply-defined in structure and 
 function, except in two of the species. There is in all of them 
 a little difference amongst the workers regarding the size of the 
 head ; but in some species this is not sufficient to cause a separa- 
 tion into classes, with division of labour; in others the jaws are 
 so monstrously lengthened in the worker-majors, that they are 
 incapacitated from taking part in the labours which the worker- 
 minors perform; and again, in others the difference is so great 
 that the distinction of classes becomes complete, one acting the 
 part of soldiers, and the other that of workers. The peculiar 
 feature ifi the habits of the Eciton genus is their hunting for 
 prey in regular bodies, or armies. It is this which chiefly dis- 
 tinguishes them from the genus of common red stinging-ants, 
 several species of which inhabit England, whose habit is to 
 search for food in the usual irregular manner. All the Ecitons 
 hunt in large organised bodies ; but almost every species has its 
 own special manner of hunting. 
 
 Eciton rabax. — One of the foragers, Eciton rapax, the giant 
 of its genus, whose worker-majors are half-an-inch in length, 
 hunts in single file through the forest. There is no division 
 into classes amongst its workers, although the difference in size 
 is very great, some being scarcely one-half the length of others. 
 The head and jaws, however, are always of the same shape, and 
 a gradation in size is presented from the largest to the smallest, 
 
Animals in and around Ega 369 
 
 so that all are able to take part in the common labours of the 
 colony. The chief employment of the species seems to be 
 plundering the nests of a large and defenceless ant of another 
 genus (Formica), whose mangled bodies I have often seen in 
 their possession, as they were marching away. The armies of 
 Eciton rapax are never very numerous. 
 
 Eciton legionis. — Another species, E. legionis, agrees with E. 
 rapax in having workers not rigidly divisible into two classes; 
 but it is much smaller in size, not differing greatly, in this re- 
 spect, from our common English red ant (Myrmica rubra), which 
 it also resembles in colour. The Eciton legionis lives in open 
 places, and was seen only on the sandy campos of Santarem. 
 The movement of its hosts were, therefore, much more easy to 
 observe than those of all other kinds, which inhabit solely the 
 densest thickets; its sting and bite, also, were less formidable 
 than those of other species. The armies of E. legionis consist 
 of many thousands of individuals, and move in rather broad 
 columns. They are just as quick to break line, on being dis- 
 turbed, and attack hurriedly and furiously any intruding object, 
 as the other Ecitons. The species is not a common one, and 
 I seldom had good opportunities of watching its habits. The 
 first time I saw an army was one evening near sunset. The 
 column consisted of two trains of ants, moving in opposite 
 directions; one train empty-handed, the other laden with the 
 mangled remains of insects, chiefly larvae and pupae of other ants. 
 I had no difficulty in tracing the line to the spot from which 
 they were conveying their booty: this was a low thicket; the 
 Ecitons were moving rapidly about a heap of dead leaves; but 
 as the short tropical twilight was deepening rapidly, and I had 
 no wish to be benighted on the lonely campos, I deferred further 
 examination until the next day. 
 
 On the following morning, no trace of ants could be found 
 near the place where I had seen them the preceding day, nor 
 were there signs of insects of any description in the thicket; 
 but at the distance of eighty or one hundred yards, I came upon 
 the same army, engaged, evidently, on a razzia of a similar kind 
 to that of the previous evening; but requiring other resources 
 of their instinct, owing to the nature of the ground. They were 
 eagerly occupied, on the face of an inclined bank of light earth, 
 in excavating mines, whence, from a depth of eight or ten inches, 
 they were extracting the bodies of a bulky species of ant, of the 
 genus Formica. It was curious to see them crowding round the 
 orifices of the mines, some assisting their comrades to lift out 
 
37° The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 the bodies of the Formicae, and others tearing them in pieces, on 
 account of their weight being too great for a single Eciton; a 
 number of carriers seizing each a fragment, and carrying it off 
 down the slope. On digging into the earth with a small trowel 
 near the entrances of the mines, I found the nests of the Formicae, 
 with grubs and cocoons, which the Ecitons were thus invading, at 
 a depth of about eight inches from the surface. The eager free- 
 booters rushed in as fast as I excavated, and seized the ants in 
 my fingers as I picked them out, so that I had some difficultv 
 in rescuing a few entire for specimens. In digging the numerous 
 mines to get at their prey, the little Ecitons seemed to be 
 divided into parties, one set excavating, and another set carry- 
 ing away the grains of earth. When the shafts became rather 
 deep, the mining parties had to climb up the sides each time 
 they wished to cast out a pellet of earth; but their work was 
 lightened for them by comrades, who stationed themselves at 
 the mouth of the shaft, and relieved them of their burthens, 
 carrying the particles, with an appearance of foresight which 
 quite staggered me, a sufficient distance from the edge of the 
 hole to prevent them from rolling in again. All the work 
 seemed thus to be performed by intelligent co-operation amongst 
 the host of eager little creatures; but still there was not a rigid 
 division of labour, for some of them, whose proceedings I 
 watched, acted at one time as carriers of pellets, and at another 
 as miners, and all shortly afterwards assumed the office of con- 
 veyors of the spoil. 
 
 In about two hours, all the nests of Formicae were rifled, 
 though not completely, of their contents, and I turned towards 
 the army of Ecitons, which were carrying away the mutilated 
 remains. For some distance there were many separate lines of 
 them moving along the slope of the bank ; but a short distance 
 off, these all converged, and then formed one close and broad 
 column, which continued for some sixty or seventy yards, and 
 terminated at one of those large termitariums or hillocks of 
 white ants which are contructed of cemented material as hard 
 as stone. The broad and compact column of ants moved up 
 the steep sides of the hillock in a continued stream; many, 
 which had hitherto trotted along empty-handed, now turned 
 to assist their comrades with their heavy loads, and the whole 
 descended into a spacious gallery or mine, opening on the top 
 of the termitarium. I did not try to reach the nest, which I 
 supposed to lie at the bottom of the broad mine, and there- 
 fore in the middle of the base of the stony hillock. 
 
Animals in and around Ega 371 
 
 Eciton drepanophora. — The commonest species of foraging 
 ants are the Eciton hamata and E. drepanophora, two kinds 
 which resemble each other so closely that it requires attentive 
 examination to distinguish them; yet their armies never inter- 
 mingle, although moving in the same woods and often crossing 
 each other's tracks. The two classes of workers look, at first 
 sight, quite distinct, on account of the wonderful amount of 
 difference between the largest individuals of the one, and the 
 smallest of the other. There are dwarfs not more than one- 
 fifth of an inch in length, with small heads and jaws, and giants 
 half an inch in length with monstrously enlarged head and 
 jaws, all belonging to the same brood. There is not, however, 
 
 Foraging ants (Eciton drepanophora). 
 
 a distinct separation of classes, individuals existing which con- 
 nect together the two extremes. These Ecitons are seen in 
 the pathways of the forest at all places on the banks of the 
 Amazons, travelling in dense columns of countless thousands. 
 One or other of them is sure to be met with in a woodland 
 ramble, and it is to them, probably, that the stories we read 
 in books on South America apply, of ants clearing houses of 
 vermin, although I heard of no instance of their entering houses, 
 their ravages being confined to the thickest parts of the forest. 
 
 When the pedestrian falls in with a train of these ants, the 
 first signal given him is a twittering and restless movement of 
 small flocks of plain-coloured birds (ant-thrushes) in the jungle. 
 If this be disregarded until he advances a few steps farther, he 
 is sure to fall into trouble, and find himself suddenly attacked 
 by numbers of the ferocious little creatures. They swarm up- 
 
372 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 his legs with incredible rapidity, each one driving his pincer- 
 like jaws into his skin, and with the purchase thus obtained, 
 doubling in its tail, and stinging with all its might. There is 
 no course left but to run for it; if he is accompanied by natives 
 they will be sure to give the alarm, crying "Tauoca!" and 
 scampering at full speed to the other end of the column of ants. 
 The tenacious insects who have secured themselves to his legs 
 then have to be plucked off one by one, a task which is 
 generally not accomplished without pulling them in twain, 
 and leaving heads and jaws sticking in the wounds. 
 
 The errand of the vast ant-armies is plunder, as in the case 
 of Eciton legionis; but from their moving always amongst 
 dense thickets, their proceedings are not so easy to observe as 
 in that species. Wherever they move, the whole animal world 
 is set in commotion, and every creature tries to get out of then- 
 way. But it is especially the various tribes of wingless insects 
 that have cause for fear, such as heavy-bodied spiders, ants of 
 other species, maggots, caterpillars, larva? of cockroaches and 
 so forth, all of which live under fallen leaves, or in decaying 
 wood. The Ecitons do not mount very high on trees, and 
 therefore the nestlings of birds are not' much incommoded by 
 them. The mode of operation of these armies, which I ascer- 
 tained only after long-continued observation, is as follows. The 
 main column, from four to six deep, moves forward in a given 
 direction, clearing the ground of all animal matter dead or 
 alive, and throwing off here and there a thinner column to 
 forage for a short time on the flanks of the main army, and re- 
 enter it again after their task is accomplished. If some very 
 rich place be encountered anywhere near the line of march, for 
 example, a mass of rotten wood abounding in insect larvae, a 
 delay takes place, and a very strong force of ants is concen- 
 trated upon it. The excited creatures search every cranny and 
 tear in pieces all the large grubs they drag to light. It is curious 
 to see them attack wasps' nests, which are sometimes built on 
 low shrubs. They gnaw away the papery covering to get at 
 the larvae, pupae, and newly-hatched wasps, and cut everything 
 to tatters, regardless of the infuriated owners which are flying 
 about them. In bearing off their spoil in fragments, the pieces 
 are apportioned to the carriers with some degree of regard to 
 fairness of load: the dwarfs taking the smallest pieces, and the 
 strongest fellows with small heads the heaviest portions. Some- 
 times two ants join together in carrying one piece, but the 
 -worker-majors, with their unwieldy and distorted, jaws are 
 
Animals in and around Ega 373 
 
 incapacitated from taking any part in the labour. The armies 
 never march far on a beaten path, but seem to prefer the 
 entangled thickets where it is seldom possible to follow them. 
 I have traced an army sometimes for half a mile or more, but 
 was never able to find one that had finished its day's course and 
 returned to its hive. Indeed, I never met with a hive; when- 
 ever the Ecitons were seen, they were always on the march. 
 
 I thought one day, at Villa Nova, that I had come upon a 
 migratory horde of this indefatigable ant. The place was a 
 tract of open ground near the river side, just outside the edge 
 of the forest, and surrounded by rocks and shrubbery. A dense 
 column of Ecitons was seen extending from the rocks on one 
 side of the little haven, traversing the open space, and ascend- 
 ing the opposite declivity. The length of the procession was 
 from sixty to seventy yards, and yet neither van nor rear was 
 visible. All were moving in one and the same direction, except 
 a few individuals on the outside of the column, which were 
 running rearward, trotting alcng for a short distance, and then 
 turning again to follow the same course as the main body. 
 But these rearward movements were going on continually from 
 one end to the other of the line, and there was every appearance 
 of there being a means of keeping up a common understanding 
 amongst all the members of the army, for the retrograding ants 
 stopped very often for a moment to touch one or other of their 
 onward-moving comrades with their antennae; a proceeding 
 which has been noticed in other ants, and supposed to be their 
 mode of conveying intelligence. When I interfered with the 
 column or abstracted an individual from it, news of the dis- 
 turbance was very quickly communicated to a distance of 
 several yards towards the rear, and the column at that point 
 commenced retreating. All the small-headed workers carried 
 in their jaws a little cluster of white maggots, which I thought, 
 at the time, might be young larvae of their own colony, but 
 afterwards found reason to conclude were the grubs of some 
 other species whose nests they had been plundering, the pro- 
 cession being most likely not a migration, but a column on a 
 marauding expedition. 
 
 The position of the large-headed individuals in the marching 
 column was rather curious. There was one of these extraordi- 
 nary fellows to about a score of the smaller class ; none of them 
 carried anything in their mouths, but all trotted along empty- 
 handed and outside the column, at pretty regular intervals 
 from each other, like subaltern officers in a marching regiment 
 
374 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 of soldiers. It was easy to be tolerably exact in this observa- 
 tion, for their shining white heads made them very conspicuous 
 amongst the rest, bobbing up and down as the column passed 
 over the inequalities of the road. I did not see them change 
 their position, or take any notice of their small-headed comrades 
 marching in the column, and when I disturbed the line, they 
 did not prance forth or show fight so eagerly as the others. 
 These large-headed members of the community have been con- 
 sidered by some authors as a soldier class, like the similarly- 
 armed caste in Termites; but I found no proof of this, at least 
 in the present species, as they always seemed to be rather less 
 pugnacious than the worker-minors, and their distorted jaws 
 disabled them from fastening on a plane surface like the skin 
 of an attacking animal. I am inclined, however, to think that 
 they may act, in a less direct way, as protectors of the com- 
 munity, namely, as indigestible morsels to the flocks of ant- 
 thrushes which follow the marching columns of these Ecitons, 
 and are the most formidable enemies of the species. It is pos- 
 sible that the hooked and twisted jaws of the large-headed class 
 may be effective weapons of annoyance when in the gizzards or 
 stomachs of these birds, but I unfortunately omitted to ascer- 
 tain whether this was really the fact. 
 
 The life of these Ecitons is not all work, for I frequently saw 
 them very leisurely employed in a way that looked like recrea- 
 tion. When this happened, the place was always a sunny nook 
 in the forest. The main column of the army and the branch 
 columns, at these times, were in their ordinary relative posi- 
 tions j but, instead of pressing forward eagerly, and plundering 
 right and left, they seemed to have been all smitten with a 
 sudden fit of laziness. Some were walking slowly about, others 
 were brushing their antennae with their fore-feet; but the 
 drollest sight was their cleaning one another. Here and there 
 an ant was seen stretching forth first one leg and then another, 
 to be brushed or washed by one or more of its comrades, who 
 performed the task by passing the limb between the jaws and 
 the tongue, finishing by giving the antennae a friendly wipe. 
 It was a curious spectacle, and one well calculated to increase 
 one's amazement at the similarity between the instinctive 
 actions of ants and the acts of rational beings, a similarity 
 which must have been brought about by two different processes 
 of development of the primary qualities of mind. The actions 
 of these ants looked like simple indulgence in idle amusement. 
 Have these little creatures, then, an excess of energy beyond 
 
Animals in and around Ega 375 
 
 what is required for labours absolutely necessary to the welfare 
 of their species, and do they thus expend it in mere sportive- 
 ness, like young lambs or kittens, or in idle whims like rational 
 beings? It is probable that these hours of relaxation and 
 cleaning may be indispensable to the effective performance of 
 their harder labours, but whilst looking at them, the conclusion 
 that the ants were engaged merely in play was irresistible. 
 
 Eciton prcedator. — This is a small dark-reddish species, very 
 similar to the common red stinging-ant of England. It differs 
 from all other Ecitons in its habit of hunting, not in columns, 
 but in dense phalanxes consisting of myriads of individuals, 
 and was first met with at Ega, where it is very common. 
 Nothing in insect movements is more striking than the rapid 
 march of these large and compact bodies. Wherever they pass 
 all the rest of the animal world is thrown into a state of alarm. 
 They stream along the ground and climb to the summits of all 
 the lower trees, searching every leaf to its apex, and whenever 
 they encounter a mass of decaying vegetable matter, where 
 booty is plentiful, they concentrate, like other Ecitons, all their 
 forces upon it, the dense phalanx of shining and quickly-moving 
 bodies, as it spreads over the surface, looking like a flood of 
 dark-red liquid. They soon penetrate every part of the con- 
 fused heap, and then, gathering together again in marching 
 order, onward they move. All soft-bodied and inactive insects 
 fall an easy prey to them, and, like other Ecitons, they tear 
 their victims in pieces for facility of carriage. A phalanx of 
 this species, when passing over a tract of smooth ground, occu- 
 pies a space of from four to six square yards; on examining 
 the ants closely they are seen to move, not altogether in one 
 straightforward direction, but in variously-spreading contiguous 
 columns, now separating a little from the general mass, now 
 re-uniting with it. The margins of the phalanx spread out at 
 times like a cloud of skirmishers from the flanks of an army. 
 I was never able to find the hive of this species. 
 
 Blind Ecitons. — I will now give a short account of the blind 
 species of Eciton. None of the foregoing kinds have eyes of 
 the facetted or compound structure such as are usual in insects, 
 and which ordinary ants (Formica) are furnished with, but all 
 are provided with organs of vision composed each of a single 
 lens. Connecting them with the utterly blind species of the 
 genus, is a very stout-limbed Eciton, the E. crassicornis, whose 
 eyes are sunk in rather deep sockets. This ant goes on forag- 
 ing expeditions like the rest of its tribe, and attacks even the 
 
376 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 nests of other stinging species (Myrmica), but it avoids the 
 light, moving always in concealment under leaves and fallen 
 branches. When its columns have to cross a cleared space, 
 the ants construct a temporary covered way with granules of 
 earth, arched over, and holding together mechanically; under 
 this the procession passes in secret, the indefatigable creatures 
 repairing their arcade as fast as breaches are made in it. 
 
 Next in order comes the Eciton vastator, which has no eyes, 
 although the collapsed sockets are plainly visible; and, lastly, 
 the Eciton erratica, in which both sockets and eyes have dis- 
 
 Foraging ants (Eciton erratica) constructing a covered road — Soldiers 
 sallying out on being disturbed. 
 
 appeared, leaving only a faint ring to mark the place where 
 they are usually situated. The armies of E. vastator and E. 
 erratica move, as far as I could learn, wholly under covered 
 roads, the ants constructing them gradually but rapidly as they 
 advance. The column of foragers pushes forward step by step, 
 under the protection of these covered passages, through the 
 thickets, and on reaching a rotting log, or other promising 
 hunting-ground, pour into the crevices in search of booty. I 
 have traced their arcades, occasionally, for a distance of one or 
 two hundred yards; the grains of earth are taken from the 
 soil over which the column is passing, and are fitted together 
 without cement. It is this last-mentioned feature that dis- 
 tinguishes them from the similar covered roads made by Ter- 
 mites, who use their glutinous saliva to cement the grains 
 together. The blind Ecitons, working in numbers, build up 
 simultaneously the sides of their convex arcades, and contrive, 
 
Animals in and around Ega 377 
 
 in a surprising manner, to approximate them and fit in the 
 key-stones without letting the loose uncemented structure fall 
 to pieces. There was a very clear division of labour between 
 the two classes of neuters in these blind species. The large- 
 headed class, although not possessing monstrously-lengthened 
 jaws like the worker-majors in E. hamata and E. drepanophora, 
 are rigidly defined in structure from the small-headed class, 
 and act as soldiers, defending the working community (like 
 soldier Termites) against all comers. Whenever I made a 
 breach in one of their covered ways, all the ants underneath 
 were set in commotion, but the worker-minors remained behind 
 to repair the damage, whilst the large-heads issued forth in a 
 most menacing manner, rearing their heads and snapping their 
 jaws with an expression of the fiercest rage and defiance. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA 
 
 Steamboat Travelling on the Amazons — Passengers — Tunantins — Caishana 
 Indians — The Jutahi — The Sapo — Maraud Indians — Fonte Boa — 
 Journey to St. Paulo — Tucuna Indians — Illness — Descent to Para — 
 Changes at Para — Departure for England 
 
 November yth, 1856. — Embarked on the Upper Amazons 
 steamer, the Tabatinga, for an excursion to Tunantins, a small 
 semi-Indian settlement, lying 240 miles beyond Ega. The 
 Tabatinga is an iron boat of about 170 tons burthen, built at 
 Rio de Janeiro, and fitted with engines of fifty horse-power. 
 The saloon, with berths on each side for twenty passengers, is 
 above deck, and open at both ends to admit a free current of 
 air. The captain or " commandante," was a lieutenant in the 
 Brazilian navy, a man of polished, sailor-like address, and a 
 rigid disciplinarian; his name, Senhor Nunes Mello Cardozo. 
 I was obliged, as usual, to take with me a stock of all articles 
 of food, except meat and fish, for the time I intended to be 
 absent (three months); and the luggage, including hammocks, 
 cooking utensils, crockery, and so forth, formed fifteen large 
 packages. One bundle consisted of a mosquito tent, an article 
 I had not yet had occasion to use on the river, but which was 
 indispensable in all excursions beyond Ega, every person, man, 
 woman and child, requiring one, as without it existence would 
 be scarcely possible. My tent was about eight feet long and 
 five feet broad, and was made of coarse calico in an oblong 
 shape, with sleeves at each end through which to pass the cords 
 of a hammock. Under this shelter, which is fixed up every 
 evening before sundown, one can read and write, or swing in 
 one's hammock during the long hours which intervene before 
 bed-time, and feel one's sense of comfort increased by having 
 cheated the thirsty swarms of mosquitoes which fill the chamber. 
 We were four days on the road. The pilot, a Mameluco of 
 Ega, whom I knew very well, exhibited a knowledge of the 
 river and powers of endurance which were quite remarkable. 
 He stood all this time at his post, with the exception of three 
 or four hours in the middle of each day, when he was relieved 
 
 378 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 379 
 
 by a young man who served as apprentice, and he knew the 
 breadth and windings of the channel, and the extent of all the 
 yearly-shifting shoals from the Rio Negro to Loreto, a distance 
 of more than a thousand miles. There was no slackening of 
 speed at night, except during the brief but violent storms 
 which occasionally broke upon us, and then the engines were 
 stopped by the command of Lieutenant Nunes, sometimes 
 against the wish of the pilot. The nights were often so dark 
 that we passengers on the poop deck could not discern the 
 hardy fellow on the bridge, but the steamer drove on at full 
 speed, men being stationed on the look-out at the prow, to 
 watch for floating logs, and one man placed to pass orders to 
 the helmsman; the keel scraped against a sand-bank only once 
 during the passage. 
 
 The passengers were chiefly Peruvians, mostly thin, anxious, 
 Yankee-looking men, who were returning home to the cities of 
 Moyobamba and Chachapoyas, on the Andes, after a trading 
 trip to the Brazilian towns on the Atlantic sea-board, whither 
 they had gone six months previously, with cargoes of Panama 
 hats to exchange for European wares. These hats are made of 
 the young leaflets of a palm-tree, by the Indians and half-caste 
 people who inhabit the eastern parts of Peru. They form 
 almost the only article of export from Peru by way of the 
 Amazons, but the money value is very great compared with 
 the bulk of the goods, as the hats are generally of very fine 
 quality, and cost from twelve shillings to six pounds sterling 
 each; some traders bring down two or three thousand pounds' 
 worth, folded into small compass in their trunks. The return 
 cargoes consist of hardware, crockery, glass, and other bulky or 
 heavy goods, but not of cloth, which, being of light weight, 
 can be carried across the Andes from the ports on the Pacific 
 to the eastern parts of Peru. All kinds of European cloth can 
 be obtained at a much cheaper rate by this route than by the 
 more direct way of the Amazons, the import duties of Peru 
 being, as I was told, lower than those of Brazil, and the differ- 
 ence not being counter-balanced by increased expense of transit, 
 on account of weight, over the passes of the Andes. 
 
 There was a great lack of amusement on board. The table 
 was very well served, professed cooks being employed in these 
 Amazonian steamers, and fresh meat insured by keeping on 
 deck a supply of live bullocks and fowls, which are purchased 
 whenever there is an opportunity on the road. The river 
 scenery was similar to that already described as presented 
 
380 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 between the Rio Negro and Ega : long reaches of similar aspect, 
 with two long, low lines of forest, varied sometimes with cliffs 
 of red clay, appearing one after the other; an horizon of water 
 and sky on some days limiting the view both up stream and 
 down. We travelled, however, always near the bank, and, for 
 my part, I was never weary of admiring the picturesque group- 
 ing and variety of trees, and the varied mantles of creeping 
 plants which clothed the green wall of forest every step of the 
 way. With the exception of a small village called Fonte Boa, 
 retired from the main river, where we stopped to take in fire- 
 wood, and which I shall have to speak of presently, we saw no 
 human habitation the whole of the distance. The mornings 
 were delightfully cool; coffee was served at sunrise, and a 
 bountiful breakfast at ten o'clock; after that hour the heat 
 rapidly increased until it became almost unbearable; how the 
 engine-drivers and firemen stood it without exhaustion I cannot 
 tell; it diminished after four o'clock in the afternoon, about 
 which time dinner-bell rung, and the evenings were always 
 pleasant. 
 
 November nth to 30th. — The Tunantins is a sluggish black- 
 water stream, about sixty miles in length, and towards its mouth 
 from 100 to 200 yards in breadth. The vegetation on its banks 
 has a similar aspect to that of the Rio Negro, the trees having 
 small foliage of a sombre hue, and the dark piles of greenery 
 resting on the surface of the inky water. The village is situated 
 on the left bank, about a mile from the mouth of the river, and 
 contains twenty habitations, nearly all of which are merely 
 hovels, built of lath-work and mud. The short streets, after rain, 
 are almost impassable, on account of the many puddles, and 
 are choked up with weeds, — leguminous shrubs, and scarlet- 
 flowered asclepias. The atmosphere in such a place, hedged in 
 as it is by the lofty forest, and surrounded by swamps, is always 
 close, warm, and reeking; and the hum and chirp of insects and 
 birds cause a continual din. The small patch of weedy ground 
 around the village swarms with plovers, sandpipers, striped 
 herons, and scissor-tailed fly-catchers ; and alligators are always 
 seen floating lazily on the surface of the river in front of the 
 houses. 
 
 On landing, I presented myself to Senhor Paulo Bitancourt, 
 a good-natured half-caste, director of Indians of the neighbour- 
 ing river Issa, who quickly ordered a small house to be cleared 
 for me. This exhilarating abode contained only one room, the 
 walls of which were disfigured by large and ugly patches of 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 381 
 
 mud, the work of white ants. The floor was the bare earth, 
 dirty and damp; the wretched chamber was darkened by a 
 sheet of calico being stretched over the windows, a plan adopted 
 here to keep out the Pium-flies, which float about in all shady 
 places like thin clouds of smoke, rendering all repose impossible 
 in the daytime wherever they can effect an entrance. My 
 baggage was soon landed, and before the steamer departed I had 
 taken gun, insect-net, and game-bag, to make a preliminary 
 exploration of my new locality. 
 
 I remained here nineteen days, and, considering the short- 
 ness of the time, made a very good collection of monkeys, birds, 
 and insects. A considerable number of the species (especially 
 of insects) were different from those of the four other stations, 
 which I examined on the south side of the Solimoens, and as 
 many of these were " representative forms " x of others found 
 on the opposite banks of the broad river, I concluded that there 
 could have been no land connection between the two shores 
 during, at least, the recent geological period. This conclusion 
 is confirmed by the case of the Uakari monkeys, described in 
 the last chapter. All these strongly modified local races of 
 insects confined to one side of the Solimoens (like the Uakaris), 
 are such as have not been able to cross a wide treeless space 
 such as a river. The acquisition which pleased me most, in 
 this place, was a new species of butterfly (a Catagramma), 
 which has since been named C. excelsior, owing to its surpass- 
 ing in size and beauty all the previously-known species of its 
 singularly beautiful genus. The upper surface of the wings is 
 of the richest blue, varying in shade with the play of light, and 
 on each side is a broad curved stripe of an orange colour. It 
 is a bold flyer, and is not confined, as I afterwards found, to 
 the northern side of the river, for I once saw a specimen amidst 
 a number of richly-coloured butterflies, flying about the deck 
 of the steamer when we were anchored off Fonte Boa, 200 miles 
 lower down the river. 
 
 With the exception of three Mameluco families and a stray 
 Portuguese trader, all the inhabitants of the village and neigh- 
 bourhood are semi-civilised Indians of the Shumana and Passe 
 tribes. The forests of the Tunantins, however, are inhabited 
 by a tribe of wild Indians called Caishanas, who resemble much, 
 in their social condition and manners, the debased Muras of 
 the Lower Amazons, and have, like them, shown no aptitude 
 for civilised life in any shape. Their huts commence at the 
 
 1 Species or races which take the place of other allied species or races. 
 
382 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 distance of an hour's walk from the village,, along gloomy and 
 narrow forest-paths. My first and only visit to a Caishana 
 dwelling was accidental. One day, having extended my walk 
 further than usual, and followed one of the forest-roads until 
 it became a mere fiicada, or hunters' track, I came suddenly 
 upon a well-trodden pathway, bordered on each side with Lyco- 
 podia of the most elegant shapes, the tips of the fronds stretch- 
 ing almost like tendrils down the little earthy slopes which 
 formed the edge of the path. The road, though smooth, was 
 narrow and dark, and in many places blocked up by trunks of 
 felled trees, which had been apparently thrown across by the 
 timid Indians on purpose to obstruct the way to their habita- 
 tions. Half-a-mile of this shady road brought me to a small 
 open space on the banks of a brook or creek, on the skirts of 
 which stood a conical hut with a very low doorway. There 
 was also an open shed, with stages made of split palm-stems, 
 and a number of large wooden troughs. Two or three dark- 
 skinned children, with a man and woman, were in the shed; 
 but, immediately on espying me, all of them ran to the hut, 
 bolting through the little doorway like so many wild animals 
 scared into their burrows. A few moments after, the man put 
 his head out with a look of great distrust; but, on my making 
 the most friendly gestures I could think of, he came forth with 
 the children. They were all smeared with black mud and 
 paint; the only clothing of the elders was a kind of apron 
 made of the inner bark of the sapucaya-tree, and the savage 
 aspect of the man was heightened by his hair hanging over his 
 forehead to the eyes. I stayed about two hours in the neigh- 
 bourhood, the children gaining sufficient confidence to come 
 and help me to search for insects. The only weapon used by 
 the Caishanas is the blow-gun, and this is employed only in 
 shooting animals for food. They are not a warlike people, like 
 most of the neighbouring tribes on the Japura and Issa. 
 
 The whole tribe of Caishanas does not exceed in number 400 
 souls. None of them are baptised Indians, and they do not 
 dwell in villages, like the more advanced sections of the Tupi 
 stock; but each family has its own solitary hut. They are 
 quite harmless, do not practise tattooing, or perforate their 
 ears and noses in any way. Their social condition is of a low 
 type, very little removed, indeed, from that of the brutes living 
 in the same forests. They do not appear to obey any common 
 chief, and I could not make out that they had Pajes, or medicine- 
 men, those rudest beginnings of a priest class. Symbolical or 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 383 
 
 masked dances, and ceremonies in honour of the Jurupari, or 
 demon, customs which prevail amongst all the surrounding 
 tribes, are unknown to the Caishanas. There is amongst them 
 a trace of festival keeping; but the only ceremony used is 
 the drinking of cashiri beer, and fermented liquors made of 
 Indian-corn, bananas, and so forth. These affairs, however, 
 are conducted in a degenerate style, for they do not drink to 
 intoxication, or sustain the orgies for several days and nights in 
 succession, like the Juris, Passes, and Tucunas. The men play 
 a musical instrument, made of pieces of stem of the arrow-grass 
 cut in different lengths and arranged like Pan-pipes. With 
 this they wile away whole hours, lolling in ragged bast hammocks 
 slung in their dark, smoky huts. The Tunantins people say that 
 the Caishanas have persecuted the wild animals and birds to 
 such an extent near their settlements that there is now quite a 
 scarcity of animal food. If they kill a Toucan, it is considered 
 an important event, and the bird is made to serve as a meal 
 for a score or more persons. They boil the meat in earthen- 
 ware kettles filled with Tucupi sauce, and eat it with beiju, or 
 mandioca-cakes. The women are not allowed to taste of the 
 meat, but forced to content themselves with sopping pieces of 
 cake in the liquor. 
 
 November $oth. — I left Tunantins in a trading schooner of 
 eighty tons burthen belonging to Senhor Batalha, a tradesman 
 of Ega, which had been out all the summer collecting produce, 
 and was commanded by a friend of mine, a young Paraense, 
 named Francisco Raiol. We arrived, on the 3rd of December, 
 at the mouth of the Jutahi, a considerable stream about half a 
 mile broad, and flowing with a very sluggish current. This is 
 one of the series of six rivers, from 400 to 1000 miles in length, 
 which flow from the south-west through unknown lands lying 
 between Bolivia and the Upper Amazons, and enter this latter 
 river between the Madeira and the Ucayali. We remained at 
 anchor four days within the mouth of the Sapo, a small tributary 
 of the Jutahi flowing from the south-east; Senhor Raiol having 
 to send an igarite to the Cupatana, a large tributary some few 
 miles farther up the river, to fetch a cargo of salt fish. During 
 this time we made several excursions in the montaria to various 
 places in the neighbourhood. Our longest trip was to some 
 Indian houses, a distance of fifteen or eighteen miles up the 
 . a journey made with one Indian paddler, and occupying 
 a whole day. The stream is not more than forty or fifty yards 
 broad; its waters are darker in colour than those of the Jutahi, 
 
384 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 and flow, as in all these small rivers, partly under shade between 
 two lofty walls of forest. We passed, in ascending, seven 
 habitations, most of them hidden in the luxuriant foliage of the 
 banks; their sites being known only by small openings in the 
 compact wall of forest, and the presence of a canoe or two tied 
 up in little shady ports. The inhabitants are chiefly Indians 
 of the Maraud tribe, whose original territory comprised all the 
 small by-streams lying between the Jutahi and the Jurua, near 
 the mouths of both these great tributaries. They live in 
 separate families or small hordes; have no common chief, and 
 are considered as a tribe little disposed to adopt civilised customs 
 or be friendly with the whites. One of the houses belonged to 
 a Juri family, and we saw the owner, an erect, noble-looking old 
 fellow, tattooed, as customary with his tribe, in a large patch 
 over the middle of his face, fishing under the shade of a colossal 
 tree in his port with hook and line. He saluted us in the usual 
 grave and courteous manner of the better sort of Indians as we 
 passed by. 
 
 We reached the last house, or rather two houses, about ten 
 o'clock, and spent there several hours during the great heat of 
 mid-day. The houses, which stood on a high clayey bank, 
 were of quadrangular shape, partly open like sheds, and partly 
 enclosed with rude mud- walls, forming one or more chambers. 
 The inhabitants, a few families of Marauds, comprising about 
 thirty persons, received us in a frank, smiling manner: a 
 reception which may have been due to Senhor Raiol being an 
 old acquaintance and somewhat of a favourite. None of them 
 were tattooed; but the men had great holes pierced in their 
 ear-lobes, in which they insert plugs of wood, and their lips 
 were drilled with smaller holes. One of the younger men, a 
 fine strapping fellow nearly six feet high, with a large aquiline 
 nose, who seemed to wish to be particularly friendly with me, 
 showed me the use of these lip-holes, by fixing a number of 
 little white sticks in them, and then twisting his mouth about 
 and going through a pantomime to represent defiance in the 
 presence of an enemy. Nearly all the people were disfigured 
 by dark blotches on the skin, the effect of a cutaneous disease 
 very prevalent in this part of the country. The face of one 
 old man was completely blackened, and looked as though it had 
 been smeared with black lead, the blotches having coalesced to 
 form one large patch. Others were simply mottled; the black 
 spots were hard and rough, but not scaly, and were margined 
 with rings of a colour paler than the natural hue of the skin. 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 385 
 
 I had seen many Indians and a few half-castes at Tunantins, 
 and afterwards saw others at Fonte Boa, blotched in the same 
 way. The disease would seem to be contagious, for I was told 
 that a Portuguese trader became disfigured with it after co- 
 habiting some years with an Indian woman. It is curious 
 that, although prevalent in many places on the Solimoens, 
 no resident of Ega exhibited signs of the disease: the early 
 explorers of the country, on noticing spotted skins to be very 
 frequent in certain localities, thought they were peculiar to a 
 few tribes of Indians. The younger children in these houses 
 on the Sapo were free from spots; but two or three of them, 
 about ten years of age, showed signs of their commencement in 
 rounded yellowish patches on the skin, and these appeared 
 languid and sickly, although the blotched adults seemed not to 
 be affected in their general health. A middle-aged half-caste 
 at Fonte Boa told me he had cured himself of the disorder by 
 strong doses of sarsaparilla ; the black patches had caused the 
 hair of his beard and eyebrows to fall off, but it had grown 
 again since his cure. 
 
 When my tall friend saw me, after dinner, collecting insects 
 along the paths near the houses, he approached, and, taking 
 me by the arm, led me to a mandioca shed, making signs, as 
 he could speak very little Tupi, that he had something to show. 
 I was not a little surprised when, having mounted the girao, or 
 stage of split palm-stems, and taken down an object transfixed 
 to a post, he exhibited, with an air of great mystery, a large 
 chrysalis suspended from a leaf, which he placed carefully in 
 my hands, saying, " Pana-pana curi " (Tupi: butterfly by- 
 and-by). Thus I found that the metamorphoses of insects 
 were know to these savages; but being unable to talk with 
 my new friend, I could not ascertain what ideas such a pheno- 
 menon had given rise to in his mind. The good fellow did not 
 leave my side during the remainder of our stay; but, thinking 
 apparently that I had come here for information, he put himself 
 to considerable trouble to give me all he could. He made a 
 quantity of Hypadu or Coca powder, that I might see the 
 process; going about the task with much action and ceremony, 
 as though he were a conjuror performing some wonderful trick. 
 
 We left these friendly people about four o'clock in the after- 
 noon, and in descending the umbrageous river, stopped, about 
 half-way down, at another house, built in one of the most 
 charming situations I had yet seen in this country. A clean, 
 narrow, sandy pathway led from the shady port to the house, 
 
386 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 through a tract of forest of indescribable luxuriance. The 
 buildings stood on an eminence in the middle of a level cleared 
 space; the firm sandy soil, smooth as a floor, forming a broad 
 terrace around them. The owner was a semi-civilised Indian, 
 named Manoel; a dull, taciturn fellow, who, together with his 
 wife and children, seemed by no means pleased at being in- 
 truded on in their solitude. The family must have been very 
 industrious; for the plantations were very extensive, and 
 included a little of almost all kinds of cultivated tropical pro- 
 ductions : fruit trees, vegetables, and even flowers for ornament. 
 The silent old man had surely a fine appreciation of the beauties 
 of nature: for the site he had chosen commanded a view of 
 surprising magnificence over the summits of the forest; and, 
 to give finish to the prospect, he had planted a large quantity 
 of banana trees in the foreground, thus concealing the charred 
 and dead stumps which would otherwise have marred the effect 
 of the rolling sea of greenery. The only information I could 
 get out of Manoel was, that large flocks of richly-coloured birds 
 came down in the fruit season and despoiled his trees. The 
 sun set over the tree-tops before we left this little Eden, and 
 the remainder of our journey was made slowly and pleasantly, 
 under the chequered shades of the river banks, by the light of 
 the moon. 
 
 December 7th. — Arrived at Fonte Boa; a wretched, muddy, 
 and dilapidated village, situated two or three miles within the 
 mouth of a narrow by-stream called the Cayhiar-hy, which runs 
 almost as straight as an artificial canal between the village and 
 the main Amazons. The character of the vegetation and soil 
 here was different from that of all other localities I had hitherto 
 examined ; I had planned, therefore, to devote six weeks to the 
 place. Having written beforehand to one of the principal 
 inhabitants, Senhor Venancio, a house was ready for me on 
 landing. The only recommendation of the dwelling was its 
 coolness. It was, in fact, rather damp; the plastered walls 
 bore a crop of green mould, and a slimy moisture oozed through 
 the black, dirty floor; the rooms were large, but lighted by 
 miserable little holes in place of windows. The village is built 
 on a clayey plateau, and the ruinous houses are arranged round 
 a large square, which is so choked up with tangled bushes that 
 it is quite impassable, the lazy inhabitants having allowed the 
 fine open space to relapse into jungle. The stiff clayey eminence 
 is worn into deep gullies which slope towards the river, and the 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 387 
 
 ascent from the port in rainy weather is so slippery that one is 
 obliged to crawl up to the streets on all fours. A large tract 
 of ground behind the place is clear of forest, but this, as well as 
 the streets and gardens, is covered with a dense, tough carpet 
 of shrubs, having the same wiry nature as our common heath. 
 Beneath its deceitful covering the soil is always moist and soft, 
 and in the wet season the whole is converted into a glutinous 
 mud swamp. There is a very pretty church in one corner of 
 the square, but in the rainy months of the year (nine out of 
 twelve) the place of worship is almost inaccessible to the in- 
 habitants on account of the mud, the only means of getting to 
 it being by hugging closely the walls and palings, and so 
 advancing sideways step by step. 
 
 I remained in this delectable place until the 25th of January, 
 1857. Fonte Boa, in addition to its other amenities, has the 
 reputation throughout the country of being the headquarters 
 of mosquitoes, and it fully deserves the title. They are more 
 annoying in the houses by day than by night, for they swarm 
 in the dark and damp rooms, keeping, in the daytime, near the 
 floor, and settling by half-dozens together on the legs. At 
 night the calico tent is a sufficient protection; but this is 
 obliged to be folded every morning, and in letting it down 
 before sunset, great care is required to prevent even one or two 
 of the tormentors from stealing in beneath, their insatiable 
 thirst for blood, and pungent sting, making these enough to 
 spoil all comfort. In the forest the plague is much worse; but 
 the forest-mosquito belongs to a different species from that of 
 the town, being much larger, and having transparent wings; it 
 is a little cloud that one carries about one's person every step on a 
 woodland ramble, and their hum is so loud that it prevents one 
 hearing well the notes of birds. The town-mosquito has opaque 
 speckled wings, a less severe sting, and a silent way of going 
 to work; the inhabitants ought to be thankful the big, noisy 
 fellows never come out of the forest. In compensation for the 
 abundance of mosquitoes, Fonte Boa has no piums; there was, 
 therefore, some comfort outside one's door in the daytime; the 
 comfort, however, was lessened by their being scarcely any room 
 in front of the house to sit down or walk about, for, on our side 
 of the square, the causeway was only two feet broad, and to 
 step over the boundary, formed by a line of slippery stems of 
 palms, was to sink up to the knees in a sticky swamp. 
 
 Notwithstanding damp and mosquitoes, I had capital health, 
 and enjoyed myself much at Fonte Boa; swampy and weedy 
 
388 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 places being generally more healthy than dry ones in the 
 Amazons, probably owing to the absence of great radiation of 
 heat from the ground. The forest was extremely rich and 
 picturesque, although the soil was everywhere clayey and cold, 
 and broad pathways threaded it for many a mile over hill and 
 dale. In every hollow flowed a sparkling brook, with perennial 
 and crystal waters. The margins of these streams were para- 
 dises of leanness and verdure; the most striking feature being 
 the variety of ferns, with immense leaves, some terrestrial, 
 others climbing over trees, and two, at least, arborescent. I 
 saw here some of the largest trees I had yet seen; there was one 
 especially, a cedar, whose colossal trunk towered up for more 
 than a hundred feet, straight as an arrow; I never saw its 
 crown, which was lost to view, from below, beyond the crowd 
 of lesser trees which surrounded it. Birds and monkeys in 
 this glorious forest were very abundant; the bear-like Pithecia 
 hirsuta being the most remarkable of the monkeys, and the 
 Umbrella Chatterer and Curl-crested Toucans amongst the 
 most beautiful of the birds. The Indians and half-castes of 
 the village have made their little plantations, and built huts for 
 summer residence on the banks of the rivulets, and my rambles 
 generally terminated at one or other of these places. The people 
 were always cheerful and friendly, and seemed to be glad when 
 I proposed to join them at their meals, contributing the contents 
 of my provision-bag to the dinner, and squatting down amongst 
 them on the mat. 
 
 The village was formerly a place of more importance than 
 it now is, a great number of Indians belonging to the most 
 industrious tribes, Shumanas, Passes, and Cambevas, having 
 settled on the site and adopted civilised habits, their industry 
 being directed by a few whites, who seem to have been men of 
 humane views as well as enterprising traders. One of these 
 old employers, Senhor Guerreiro, a well-educated Paraense, 
 was still trading on the Amazons when I left the country, in 
 1859: he told me that forty years previously Fonte Boa was a 
 delightful place to live in. The neighbourhood was then well 
 cleared, and almost free from mosquitoes, and the Indians were 
 orderly, industrious, and happy. What led to the ruin of the 
 settlement was the arrival of several Portuguese and Brazilian 
 traders of a low class, who in their eagerness for business taught 
 the easy-going Indians all kinds of trickery and immorality. 
 They enticed the men and women away from their old employers, 
 and thus broke up the large establishments, compelling the 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 389 
 
 principals to take their capital to other places. At the time of 
 my visit there were few pure-blood Indians at Fonte Boa, and 
 no true whites. The inhabitants seemed to be nearly all 
 Mamelucos, and were a loose-living, rustic, plain-spoken and 
 ignorant set of people. There was no priest or schoolmaster 
 within 150 miles, and had not been any for many years: the 
 people seemed to be almost without government of any kind, 
 and yet crime and deeds of violence appeared to be of very rare 
 occurrence. The principal man of the village, one Senhor Justo, 
 was a big, coarse, energetic fellow, sub-delegado of police, and 
 the only tradesman who owned a large vessel running directly 
 between Fonte Boa and Para. He had recently built a large 
 house, in the style of middle-class dwellings of towns, namely, 
 with brick floors and tiled roof, the bricks and tiles having been 
 brought from Para, 1500 miles distant, the nearest place where 
 they are manufactured in surplus. When Senhor Justo visited 
 me he was much struck with the engravings in a file of 
 Illustrated London News, which lay on my table. It was 
 impossible to resist his urgent entreaties to let him have some 
 of them, " to look at," so one day he carried off a portion of the 
 papers on loan. A fortnight afterwards, on going to request 
 him to return them, I found the engravings had been cut out, 
 and stuck all over the newly whitewashed walls of his chamber, 
 many of them upside down. He thought a room thus decorated 
 with foreign views would increase his importance amongst his 
 neighbours, and when I yielded to his wish to keep them, was 
 boundless in demonstrations of gratitude, ending by shipping a 
 boat-load of turtles for my use at Ega. 
 
 These neglected and rude villagers still retained many 
 religious practices which former missionaries or priests had 
 taught them. The ceremony which they observed at Christmas, 
 like that described as practised by negroes in a former chapter, 
 was very pleasing for its simplicity, and for the heartiness with 
 which it was conducted. The church was opened, dried, and 
 swept clean a few days before Christmas Eve, and on the morn- 
 ing all the women and children of the village were busy decorat- 
 ing it with festoons of leaves and wild flowers. Towards 
 midnight it was illuminated inside and out with little oil lamps, 
 made of clay, and the image of the " menino Deus," or Child-God, 
 in its cradle, was placed below the altar, which was lighted up 
 with rows of wax candles, very lean ones, but the best the poor 
 people could afford. All the villagers assembled soon after- 
 wards, dressed in their best, the women with flowers in their 
 
390 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 hair, and a few simple hymns, totally irrelevant to the occasion, 
 but probably the only ones known by them, were sung kneeling; 
 an old half-caste, with black-spotted face, leading off the tunes. 
 This finished, the congregation rose, and then marched in single 
 file up one side of the church and down the other, singing 
 together a very pretty marching chorus, and each one, on reach- 
 ing the little image, stooping to kiss the end of a ribbon which 
 was tied round its waist. Considering that the ceremony was 
 got up of their own free will, and at considerable expense, I 
 thought it spoke well for the good intentions and simplicity of 
 heart of these poor, neglected villagers. 
 
 I left Fonte Boa, for Ega, on the 25th of January, making 
 the passage by steamer, down the middle of the current, in 
 sixteen hours. The sight of the clean and neat little town, 
 with its open spaces, close-cropped grass, broad lake, and white 
 sandy shores, had a most exhilarating effect, after my trip into 
 the wilder parts of the country. The district between Ega and 
 Loreto, the first Peruvian village on the river, is, indeed, the 
 most remote, thinly-peopled, and barbarous of the whole line of 
 the Amazons, from ocean to ocean. Beyond Loreto, signs of 
 civilisation, from the side of the Pacific, begin to be numerous, 
 and, from Ega downwards, the improvement is felt from the 
 side of the Atlantic. 
 
 September §ih, 1857. — Again embarked on the Tabatinga, 
 this time for a longer excursion than the last, namely to St. 
 Paulo de Olivenca, a village higher up than any I had yet 
 visited, being 260 miles distant, in a straight line, from Ega, 
 or about 400 miles following the bends of the river. 
 
 The waters were now nearly at their lowest point; but this 
 made no difference to the rate of travelling, night or day. 
 Several of the Parana mirims, or by-channels, which the steamer 
 threads in the season of full-water, to save a long circuit, were 
 now dried up, their empty beds looking like deep sandy ravines 
 in the midst of the thick forest. The large sand-islands, and 
 miles of sandy beach, were also uncovered, and these, with the 
 swarms of large aquatic birds; storks, herons, ducks, waders, 
 and spoon-bills, which lined their margins in certain places, 
 made the river view much more varied and animated than it 
 is in the season of the flood. Alligators of large size were 
 common near the shores, lazily floating, and heedless of the 
 passing steamer. The passengers amused themselves by shoot- 
 ing at them from the deck with a double-barrelled rifle we had 
 on board. The sign of a mortal hit was the monster turning 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 391 
 
 suddenly over, and remaining floating, with its white belly 
 upwards. Lieutenant Nunes wished to have one of the dead 
 animals on board, for the purpose of opening the abdomen, 
 and, if a male, extracting a part which is held in great estima- 
 tion amongst Brazilians as a " remedio," charm or medicine. 
 The steamer was stopped, and a boat sent, with four strong 
 men, to embark the beast; the body, however, was found too 
 heavy to be lifted into the boat; so a rope was passed round it. 
 and the hideous creature towed alongside, and hoisted on deck 
 by means of the crane, which was rigged for the purpose. It 
 had still some sparks of life, and when the knife was applied, 
 lashed its tail, and opened its enormous jaws, sending the 
 crowd of bystanders flying in all directions. A blow with a 
 hatchet on the crown of the head gave him his quietus at last. 
 The length of the animal was fifteen feet; but this statement 
 can give but an imperfect idea of its immense bulk and weight. 
 The numbers of turtles which were seen swimming in quiet 
 shoaly bays passed on the road, also gave us much amusement. 
 They were seen by dozens ahead, with their snouts peering above 
 the surface of the water; and, on the steamer approaching, 
 turning round to stare, but not losing confidence till the vessel 
 had nearly passed, when they appeared to be suddenly smitten 
 with distrust, diving like ducks under the stream. 
 
 We had on board, amongst our deck-passengers, a middle- 
 aged Indian, of the Juri tribe; a short, thickset man, with 
 features resembling much those of the late Daniel O'Connell. 
 His name was Caracara-i (Black Eagle), and his countenance 
 seemed permanently twisted into a grim smile, the effect of 
 which was heightened by the tattooed marks — a blue rim to the 
 mouth, with a diagonal pointed streak from each corner towards 
 the ear. He was dressed in European style — black hat, coat, 
 and trousers — looking very uncomfortable in the dreadful heat 
 which, it is unnecessary to say, exists on board a steamer, under 
 a vertical sun, during mid-day hours. This Indian was a man 
 of steady resolution, ambitious and enterprising; very rare 
 qualities in the race to which he belonged, weakness of resolution 
 being one of the fundamental defects in the Indian character. 
 He was now on his return home to the banks of the Issa from 
 Para, whither he had been to sell a large quantity of sarsaparilla 
 that he had collected, with the help of a number of Indians, 
 whom he induces, or forces, to work for him. One naturally feels 
 inclined to know what ideas such a favourable specimen of the 
 Indian race may have acquired after so much experience amongst 
 
392 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 civilised scenes. On conversing with our fellow - passenger, 
 I was greatly disappointed in him; he had seen nothing, and 
 thought of nothing, beyond what concerned his little trading 
 speculation, his mind being, evidently, what it had been before, 
 with regard to all higher subjects or general ideas, a blank. 
 The dull, mean, practical way of thinking of the Amazonian 
 Indians, and the absence of curiosity and speculative thought 
 which seems to be organic or confirmed in their character, 
 although they are improvable to a certain extent, make them, 
 like common-place people everywhere, most uninteresting com- 
 panions. Caracara-i disembarked at Tunantins with his cargo, 
 which consisted of a considerable number of packages of 
 European wares. 
 
 The river scenery about the mouth of the Japura is extremely 
 grand, and was the subject of remark amongst the passengers. 
 Lieutenant Nunes gave it as his opinion, that there was no 
 diminution of width or grandeur in the mighty stream up to 
 this point, a distance of 1500 miles from the Atlantic; and yet 
 we did not here see the two shores of the river on both sides at 
 once; lines of islands, or tracts of alluvial land, having by- 
 channels in the rear, intercepting the view of the northern 
 mainland, and sometimes also of the southern. Beyond the 
 Issa, however, the river becomes evidently narrower, being 
 reduced to an average width of about a mile; there were then 
 no longer those magnificent reaches, with blank horizons, 
 which occur lower down. We had a dark and rainy night after 
 passing Tunantins, and the passengers were all very uneasy on 
 account of the speed at which we were travelling, twelve miles 
 an hour, with every plank vibrating with the force of the engines. 
 Many of them could not sleep, myself amongst the number. At 
 length, a little after midnight, a sudden shout startled us: 
 " Back her! " (English terms being used in matters relating to 
 steam-engines). The pilot instantly sprung to the helm, and 
 in a few moments we felt our paddle-box brushing against the 
 wall of forest into which we had nearly driven headlong. For- 
 tunately the water was deep close up to the bank. Early in 
 the morning of the 10th of September we anchored in the port 
 of St. Paulo, after five days' quick travelling from Ega. 
 
 St. Paulo is built on a high hill, on the southern bank of the 
 river. The hill is formed of the same Tabatinga clay, which 
 occurs at intervals over the whole valley of the Amazons, but 
 nowhere rises to so great an elevation as here, the height being 
 about 100 feet above the mean level of the river. The ascent 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 393 
 
 from the port is steep and slippery; steps and resting-places 
 have been made to lighten the fatigue of mounting, otherwise 
 the village would be almost inaccessible, especially to porters 
 of luggage and cargo, for there are no means of making a cir- 
 cuitous road of more moderate slope, the hill being steep on all 
 sides, and surrounded by dense forests and swamps. The place 
 contains about 500 inhabitants, chiefly half-castes and Indians 
 of the Tucuna and Collina tribes, who are very little improved 
 from their primitive state. The streets are narrow, and in 
 rainy weather inches deep in mud; many houses are of sub- 
 stantial structure, but in a ruinous condition, and the place 
 altogether presents the appearance, like Fonte Boa, of having 
 seen better days. Signs of commerce, such as meet the eye at 
 Ega, could scarcely be expected in this remote spot, situate 
 1800 miles, or seven months' round voyage by sailing-vessels/ 
 from Para, the nearest market for produce. A very short 
 experience showed that the inhabitants were utterly debased, 
 the few Portuguese and other immigrants having, instead of pro- 
 moting industry, adopted the lazy mode of life of the Indians, 
 spiced with the practice of a few strong vices of their own 
 introduction. 
 
 The head-man of the village, Senhor Antonio Ribeiro, half- 
 white half-Tucuna, prepared a house for me on landing, and 
 introduced me to the principal people. The summit of the 
 hill is grassy table-land, of two or three hundred acres in extent. 
 The soil is not wholly clay, but partly sand and gravel; the 
 village itself, however, stands chiefly on clay, and the streets 
 therefore, after heavy rains, become filled with muddy puddles. 
 On damp nights the chorus of frogs and toads which swarm in 
 weedy back-yards creates such a bewildering uproar that it is 
 impossible to carry on a conversation indoors except by shouting. 
 My house was damper even than the one I occupied at Fonte 
 Boa, and this made it extremely difficult to keep my collections 
 from being spoilt by mould. But the general humidity of the 
 atmosphere in this part of the river was evidently much greater 
 than it is lower down; it appears to increase gradually in 
 ascending from the Atlantic to the Andes. It was impossible 
 at St. Paulo to keep salt for many days in a solid state, which 
 was not the case at Ega, when the baskets in which it is con- 
 tained were well wrapped in leaves. Six degrees further west- 
 ward, namely, at the foot of the Andes, the dampness of the 
 climate of the Amazonian forest region appears to reach its 
 acme, for Poeppig found at Chinchao that the most refined 
 
394 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 sugar, in a few days, dissolved into syrup, and the best gun- 
 powder became liquid, even when enclosed in canisters. At 
 St. Paulo refined sugar kept pretty well in tin boxes, and I had 
 no difficulty in keeping my gunpowder dry in canisters, although 
 a gun loaded over-night could very seldom be fired off in the 
 morning. 
 
 The principal residents at St. Paulo were the priest, a white 
 from Para, who spent his days and most of his nights in gambling 
 and rum-drinking, corrupting the young fellows and setting the 
 vilest example to the Indians; the sub-delegado, an upright, 
 open-hearted, and loyal negro, whom I have before mentioned, 
 Senhor Jose Patricio; the Juiz de Paz, a half-caste named 
 Geraldo, and lastly, Senhor Antonio Ribeiro, who was Director 
 of the Indians. Geraldo and Ribeiro were my near neighbours, 
 but they took offence at me after the first few days, because I 
 would not join them in their drinking bouts, which took place 
 about every third day. They used to begin early in the morn- 
 ing with Cashaca mixed with grated ginger, a powerful drink, 
 which used to excite them almost to madness. Neighbour 
 Geraldo, after these morning potations, used to station himself 
 opposite my house and rave about foreigners, gesticulating in a 
 threatening manner towards me by the hour. After becoming 
 sober in the evening, he usually came to offer me the humblest 
 apologies, driven to it, I believe, by his wife, he himself being 
 quite unconscious of this breach of good manners. The wives 
 of the St. Paulo worthies, however, were generally as bad as their 
 husbands; nearly all the women being hard drinkers, and 
 corrupt to the last degree. Wife-beating naturally flourished 
 under such a state of things. I found it always best to lock 
 myself in-doors after sunset, and take no notice of the thumps 
 and screams which used to rouse the village in different quarters 
 throughout the night, especially at festival times. 
 
 The only companionable man I found in the place, except 
 Jose Patricio, who was absent most part of the time, was the 
 negro tailor of the village, a tall, thin, grave young man, named 
 Mestre Chico (Master Frank), whose acquaintance I had made at 
 Para several years previously. He was a free negro by birth, 
 but had had the advantage of kind treatment in his younger days, 
 having been brought up by a humane and sensible man, one 
 Captain Basilio, of Pernambuco, his padrinho, or godfather. 
 He neither drank, smoked, nor gambled, and was thoroughly 
 disgusted at the depravity of all classes in this wretched little 
 settlement, which he intended to quit as soon as possible. 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 395 
 
 When he visited me at night he used to knock at my shutter; 
 in a manner we had agreed on, it being necessary to guard 
 against admitting drunken neighbours, and we then spent the 
 long evenings most pleasantly, working and conversing. His 
 manners were courteous, and his talk well worth listening to. 
 for the shrewdness and good sense of his remarks. I first met 
 Mestre Chico at the house of an old negress of Para, Tia Rufina 
 (Aunt Rufina), who used to take charge of my goods when I was 
 absent on a voyage, and this affords me an opportunity of giving 
 a few further instances of the excellent qualities of free negroes 
 in a country where they are not wholly condemned to a degrad- 
 ing position by the pride or selfishness of the white race. This 
 old woman was born a slave, but, like many others in the large 
 towns of Brazil, she had been allowed to trade on her own 
 account, as market-woman, paying a fixed sum daily to her 
 owner, and keeping for herself all her surplus gains. In a few 
 years she had saved sufficient money to purchase her freedom, 
 and that of her grown-up son. This done, the old lady con- 
 tinued to strive until she had earned enough to buy the house 
 in which she lived, a considerable property situated in one of the 
 principal streets. When I returned from the interior, after 
 seven years' absence from Para, I found she was still advancing 
 in prosperity, entirely through her own exertions (being a 
 widow) and those of her son, who continued, with the most 
 regular industry, his trade as blacksmith, and was now building 
 a number of small houses on a piece of unoccupied land attached 
 to her property. I found these and many other free negroes 
 most trustworthy people, and admired the constancy of their 
 friendships and the gentleness and cheerfulness of their manners 
 towards each other. They showed great disinterestedness in 
 their dealings with me, doing me many a piece of service without 
 a hint at remuneration; but this may have been partly due 
 to the name of Englishman, the knowledge of our national 
 generosity towards the African race being spread far and wide 
 amongst the Brazilian negroes. 
 
 I remained at St. Paulo five months; five years would not 
 have been sufficient to exhaust the treasures of its neighbour- 
 hood in Zoology and Botany. Although now a forest-rambler 
 of ten years' experience, the beautiful forest which surrounds 
 this settlement gave me as much enjoyment as if I had only 
 just landed for the first time in a tropical country. The 
 plateau on which the village is built extends on one side nearly 
 a mile into the forest, but on the other side the descent into the 
 
396 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 lowland begins close to the streets; the hill sloping abruptly 
 towards a boggy meadow surrounded by woods, through which 
 a narrow winding path continues the slope down to a cool shady 
 glen, with a brook of icy-cold water flowing at the bottom. At 
 mid-day the vertical sun penetrates into the gloomy depths of 
 this romantic spot ; lighting up the leafy banks of the rivulet and 
 its clean sandy margins, where numbers of scarlet, green, and 
 black tanagers and brightly-coloured butterflies sport about in 
 the stray beams. Sparkling brooks, large and small, traverse 
 the glorious forest in almost every direction, and one is con- 
 stantly meeting, whilst rambling through the thickets, with 
 trickling rills and bubbling springs, so well-provided is the 
 country with moisture. Some of the rivulets flow over a sandy 
 and pebbly bed, and the banks of all are clothed with the most 
 magnificent vegetation conceivable. I had the almost daily 
 habit, in my solitary walks, of resting on the clean banks of 
 these swift-flowing streams, and bathing for an hour at a time 
 in their bracing waters; hours which now remain amongst my 
 most pleasant memories. The broad forest roads continue, as 
 I was told, a distance of several days' journey into the interior, 
 which is peopled by Tucunas and other Indians, living in 
 scattered houses and villages nearly in their primitive state, the 
 nearest village lying about six miles from St. Paulo. The banks 
 of all the streams are dotted with palm-thatched dwellings of 
 Tucunas, all half-buried in the leafy wilderness, the scattered 
 families having chosen the coolest and shadiest nocks for their 
 abodes. 
 
 I frequently heard in the neighbourhood of these huts, the 
 " realejo " or organ bird (Cyphorhinus cantans), the most 
 remarkable songster, by far, of the Amazonian forests. When 
 its singular notes strike the ear for the first time, the impres- 
 sion cannot be resisted that they are produced by a human 
 voice. Some musical boy must be gathering fruit in the 
 thickets, and is singing a few notes to cheer himself. The 
 tones become more fluty and plaintive; they are now those of 
 a flageolet, and notwithstanding the utter impossibility of the 
 thing, one is for the moment convinced that somebody is play- 
 ing that instrument. No bird is to be seen however closely 
 the surrounding trees and bushes may be scanned, and yet the 
 voice seems to come from the thicket close to one's ears. The 
 ending of the song is rather disappointing. It begins with a few 
 very slow and mellow notes, following each other like the com- 
 mencement of an air; one listens expecting to hear a complete 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 397 
 
 strain, but an abrupt pause occurs, and then the song breaks 
 down, finishing with a number of clicking unmusical sounds like 
 a piping barrel organ out of wind and tune. I never heard the 
 bird on the Lower Amazon, and very rarely heard it even at 
 Ega; it is the only songster which makes an impression on the 
 natives, who sometimes rest their paddles whilst travelling in 
 their small canoes, along the shady by-streams, as if struck by 
 the mysterious sounds. 
 
 The Tuciina Indians are a tribe resembling much the 
 Shumanas, Passes, Juris, and Mauhes in their physical appear- 
 ance and customs. They lead like those tribes a settled agri- 
 cultural life, each horde obeying a chief of more or less influence, 
 according to his energy and ambition, and possessing its paje 
 or medicine-man, who fosters its superstitions; but they are 
 much more idle and debauched than other Indians belonging 
 to the superior tribes. They are not so warlike and loyal as the 
 Mundurucus, although resembling them in many respects, nor 
 have they the slender figures, dignified mien, and gentle dis- 
 position of the Passes; there are, however, no trenchant points 
 of difference to distinguish them from these highest of all the 
 tribes. Both men and women are tattooed, the pattern being 
 sometimes a scroll on each cheek, but generally rows of short 
 straight lines on the face. Most of the older people wear 
 bracelets, anklets, and garters of tapir-hide or tough bark; in 
 their homes they wear no other dress except on festival days, 
 when they ornament themselves with feathers or masked cloaks 
 made of the inner bark of a tree. They were very shy when 
 I made my first visits to their habitations in the forest, all 
 scampering off to the thicket when I approached, but on sub- 
 sequent days they became more familiar, and I found them a 
 harmless, good-natured people. 
 
 A great part of the horde living at the first Maloca or village 
 dwell in a common habitation, a large oblong hut built and 
 arranged inside with such a disregard of all symmetry that it 
 appeared as though constructed by a number of hands, each 
 working independently, stretching a rafter or fitting in a piece 
 of thatch, without reference to what his fellow-labourers were 
 doing. The walls as well as the roof are covered with thatch 
 of palm-leaves; each piece consisting of leaflets plaited and 
 attached in a row to a lath many feet in length. Strong upright 
 posts support the roof, hammocks being slung between them, 
 leaving a free space for passage and for fires in the middle, and 
 
398 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 on one side is an elevated stage (girao) overhead, formed of split 
 palm-stems. The Tucunas excel most of the other tribes in the 
 manufacture of pottery. They make broad-mouthed jars for 
 Tucupi sauce, caysuma or mandioca beer, capable of holding 
 twenty or more gallons, ornamenting them outside with crossed 
 diagonal streaks of various colours. These jars, with cooking- 
 pots, smaller jars for holding water, blow-guns, quivers, matiri 
 bags l full of small articles, baskets, skins of animals, and so 
 forth, form the principal part of the furniture of their huts both 
 large and small. The dead bodies of their chiefs are interred, 
 the knees doubled up, in large jars under the floors of their huts. 
 The semi-religious dances and drinking bouts usual amongst 
 the settled tribes of Amazonian Indians are indulged in to 
 greater excess by the Tucunas than they are by most other 
 tribes. The Jurupari or Demon is the only superior being 
 they have any conception of, and his name is mixed up with 
 all their ceremonies, but it is difficult to ascertain what they 
 consider to be his attributes. He seems to be believed in 
 simply as a mischievous imp, who is at the bottom of all those 
 mishaps of their daily life, the causes of which are not very 
 immediate or obvious to their dull understandings. It is vain 
 to try to get information out of a Tucuna on this subject; they 
 affect great mystery when the name is mentioned, and give very 
 confused answers to questions: it was clear, however, that the 
 idea of a spirit as a beneficent God or Creator had not entered 
 the minds of these Indians. There is great similarity in all 
 their ceremonies and mummeries, whether the object is a 
 wedding, the celebration of the feast of fruits, the plucking of 
 the hair from the heads of their children, or a holiday got up 
 simply out of a love of dissipation. Some of the tribe on these 
 occasions deck themselves with the bright-coloured feathers of 
 parrots and macaws. The chief wears a head-dress or cap made 
 by fixing the breast-feathers of the Toucan on a web of Bromelia 
 twine, with erect tail plumes of macaws rising from the crown. 
 The cinctures of the arms and legs are also then ornamented with 
 bunches of feathers. Others wear masked dresses: these are 
 long cloaks reaching below the knee, and made of the thick 
 
 1 These bags are formed of remarkably neat twine made of Br^meiia 
 fibres elaborately knitted, all in one piece, with sticks; a belt of thj same 
 material, but more closely woven, being attached to the top to suspend 
 them by. They afford good examples of the mechanical ability of these 
 Indians. The Tucunas also possess the art of skinning and stuffing birds, 
 the handsome kinds of which they sell in great numbers to passing 
 travellers. 
 
400 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 whitish-coloured inner bark of a tree, the fibres of which are 
 interlaced in so regular a manner that the material looks like 
 artificial cloth. The cloak covers the head; two holes are cut 
 out for the eyes, a large round piece of the cloth stretched on a 
 rim of flexible wood is stitched on each side to represent ears, 
 and the features are painted in exaggerated style with yellow, 
 red, and black streaks. The .dresses are sewn into the proper 
 shapes with thread made of the inner bark of the Uaissima tree. 
 Sometimes grotesque head-dresses, representing monkeys' 
 busts or heads of other animals, made by stretching cloth or 
 skin over a basket-work frame, are worn at these holidays. The 
 biggest and ugliest mask represents the Jurupari. In these 
 festival habiliments the Tucunas go through their monotonous 
 see-saw and stamping dances accompanied by singing and 
 drumming, and keep up the sport often for three or four days 
 and nights in succession, drinking enormous quantities of 
 caysuma, smoking tobacco, and snuffing parica powder. 
 
 I could not learn that there was any deep symbolical meaning 
 in these masked dances, or that they commemorated any past 
 event in the history of the tribe. Some of them seem vaguely 
 intended as a propitiation of the Jurupari, but the masker who 
 represents the demon sometimes gets drunk along with the rest, 
 and is not treated with any reverence. From all I could make 
 out, these Indians preserve no memory of events going beyond 
 the times of their fathers or grandfathers. Almost every joyful 
 event is made the occasion of a festival : weddings amongst the 
 rest. A young man who wishes to wed a Tucuna girl has to 
 demand her hand of her parents, who arrange the rest of the 
 affair, and fix a day for the marriage ceremony. A wedding 
 which took place in the Christmas week whilst I was at St. 
 Paulo was kept up with great spirit for three or four days; 
 flagging during the heats of mid-day, but renewing itself with 
 increased vigour every evening. During the whole time the 
 bride, decked out with feather ornaments, was under the charge 
 of the older squaws, whose business seemed to be, sedulously 
 to keep the bridegroom at a safe distance until the end of the 
 dreary period of dancing and boosing. The Tucunas have the 
 singular custom, in common with the Collinas and Mauhes, of 
 treating their young girls, on their showing the first signs of 
 womanhood, as if they had committed some crime. They are 
 sent up to the girao under the smoky and filthy roof, and kept 
 there on very meagre diet, sometimes for a whole month. I 
 heard of one poor girl dying under this treatment. 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 401 
 
 The only other tribe of this neighbourhood concerning which 
 I obtained any information were the Majeronas, whose territory 
 embraces several hundred miles of the western bank of the river 
 Jauari, an affluent of the Solimoens, 120 miles beyond St. Paulo. 
 These are a fierce, indomitable, and hostile people, like the 
 Araras of the river Madeira; they are also cannibals. The 
 navigation of the Jauari is rendered impossible on account of 
 the Majeronas lying in wait on its banks to intercept and murder 
 all travellers, especially whites. 
 
 Four months before my arrival at St. Paulo, two young half- 
 castes (nearly white) of the village went to trade on the Jauari; 
 the Majeronas having shown signs of abating their hostility for 
 a year or two previously. They had not been long gone, when 
 their canoe returned with the news that the two young fellows 
 had been shot with arrows, roasted, and eaten by the savages. 
 Jose Patricio, with his usual activity in the cause of law and 
 order, despatched a party of armed men of the National Guard 
 to the place to make inquiries, and, if the murder should appear 
 to be unprovoked, to retaliate. When they reached the settle- 
 ment of the horde who had eaten the two men, it was found 
 evacuated, with the exception of one girl, who had been in the 
 woods when the rest of her people had taken flight, and whom 
 the guards brought with them to St. Paulo. It was gathered 
 from her, and from other Indians on the Jauari, that the young 
 men had brought their fate on themselves through improper 
 conduct towards the Majerona women. The girl, on arriving 
 at St. Paulo, was taken care of by Senhor Jose Patricio, baptised 
 under the name of Maria, and taught Portuguese. I saw a good 
 deal of her, for my friend sent her daily to my house to fill the 
 water-jars, make the fire, and so forth. I also gained her good- 
 will by extracting the grub of an CEstrus fly from her back, and 
 thus cured her of a painful tumour. She was decidedly the 
 best-humoured and, to all appearance, the kindest-hearted 
 specimen of her race I had yet seen. She was tall and very 
 stout; in colour much lighter than the ordinary Indian tint, and 
 her ways altogether were more like those of a careless, laughing 
 country wench, such as might be met with any day amongst the 
 labouring class in villages in our own country, than a cannibal. 
 I heard this artless maiden relate, in the coolest manner possible, 
 how she ate a portion of the bodies of the young men whom her 
 tribe had roasted. But what increased greatly the incongruity 
 of this business, the young widow of one of the victims, a neigh- 
 bour of mine, happened to be present during the narrative, and 
 
402 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 showed her interest in it by laughing at the broken Portuguese 
 in which the girl related the horrible story. 
 
 In the fourtn month of my sojourn at St. Paulo I had a serious 
 illness, an attack of the " sizoens," or ague of the country, which, 
 as it left me with shattered health and damped enthusiasm, led 
 to my abandoning the plan I had formed of proceeding to the 
 Peruvian towns of Pebas and Moyobamba, 250 and 600 miles 
 further west, and so completing the examination of the Natural 
 History of the Amazonian plains up to the foot of the Andes. 
 I made a very large collection at St. Paulo, and employed a 
 collector at Tabatinga and on the banks of the Jauari for several 
 months, so that I acquired a very fair knowledge altogether of 
 the productions of the country bordering the Amazons to the 
 end of the Brazilian territory, a distance of 1900 miles from the 
 Atlantic at the mouth of the Para; but beyond the Peruvian 
 boundary I found now I should be unable to go. My ague 
 seemed to be the culmination of a gradual deterioration of health, 
 which had been going on for several years. I had exposed 
 myself too much in the sun, working to the utmost of my 
 strength six days a week, and had suffered much, besides, from 
 bad and insufficient food. The ague did not exist at St. Paulo; 
 but the foul and humid state of the village was, perhaps, suffi- 
 cient to produce ague in a person much weakened from other 
 causes. The country bordering the shores of the Solimoens 
 is healthy throughout; some endemic diseases certainly exist, 
 but these are not of a fatal nature, and the epidemics which 
 desolated the Lower Amazons from Para to the Rio Negro, 
 between the years 1850 and 1856, had never reached this 
 favoured land. Ague is known only on the banks of those 
 tributary streams which have dark-coloured water. 
 
 I always carried a stock of medicines with me; and a small 
 phial of quinine, which I had bought at Para in 1851, but never 
 yet had use for, now came in very useful. I took for each dose 
 as much as would lie on the tip of a penknife-blade, mixing it 
 with warm camomile tea. The first few days after my first 
 attack I could not stir, and was delirious during the paroxysms 
 of fever; but the worst being over, I made an effort to rouse 
 myself, knowing that incurable disorders of the liver and spleen 
 follow ague in this country if the feeling of lassitude is too much 
 indulged. So every morning I shouldered my gun or insect-net, 
 and went my usual walk in the forest. The fit of shivering very 
 often seized me before I got home, and I then used to stand still 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 403 
 
 and brave it out. When the stea*mer ascended in January, 1858, 
 Lieutenant Nunes was shocked to see me so much shattered, and 
 recommended me strongly to return at once to Ega. I took his 
 advice, and embarked with him, when he touched at St. Paulo 
 on his downward voyage, on the 2nd of February. I still hoped 
 to be able to turn my face westward again, to gather the yet 
 unseen treasures of the marvellous countries lying between 
 Tabatinga and the slopes of the Andes; but although, after a 
 short rest in Ega, the ague left me, my general health remained 
 in a state too weak to justify the undertaking of further journeys. 
 At length I left Ega, on the 3rd of February, 1859, en route for 
 England. 
 
 I arrived at Para on the 17th of March, after an absence in 
 the interior of seven years and a half. My old friends, English, 
 American, and Brazilian, scarcely knew me again, but all gave 
 me a very warm welcome, especially Mr. G. R. Brocklehurst (of 
 the firm of R. Singlehurst and Co., the chief foreign merchants, 
 who had been my correspondents), who received me into his 
 house, and treated me with the utmost kindness. I was rather 
 surprised at the warm appreciation shown by many of the prin- 
 cipal people of my labours; but, in fact, the interior of the 
 country is still the " sertao " (wilderness), — a terra incognita to 
 most residents of the seaport, — and a man who had spent seven 
 years and a half in exploring it solely with scientific aims was 
 somewhat of a curiosity. I found Para greatly changed and 
 improved. It was no longer the weedy, ruinous, village-looking 
 place that it appeared when I first knew it in 1848. The 
 population had been increased (to 20,000) by an influx of Portu- 
 guese, Madeiran, and German immigrants, and for many years 
 past the provincial government had spent their considerable 
 surplus revenue in beautifying the city. The streets, formerly 
 unpaved or strewn with loose stones and sand, were now laid 
 with concrete in a most complete manner; all the projecting 
 masonry of the irregularly-built houses had been cleared away, 
 and the buildings made more uniform. Most of the dilapidated 
 houses were replaced by handsome new edifices, having long 
 and elegant balconies fronting the first floors, at an elevation 
 of several feet above the roadway. The large, swampy squares 
 had been drained, weeded, and planted with rows of almond 
 and casuarina trees, so that they were now a great ornament to 
 the city, instead of an eyesore as they formerly were. My old 
 favourite road, the Monguba avenue, had been renovated and 
 joined to many other magnificent rides lined with trees, which 
 
404 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 in a very few years had grown to a height sufficient to afford 
 agreeable shade; one of these, the Estrada de Sao Jose, had 
 been planted with cocoa-nut palms. Sixty public vehicles, light 
 cabriolets (some of them built in Para), now plied in the streets, 
 increasing much the animation of the beautified squares, streets, 
 and avenues. 
 
 I found also the habits of the people considerably changed. 
 Many of the old religious holidays had declined in importance, 
 and given way to secular amusements; social parties, balls, 
 music, billiards, and so forth. There was quite as much pleasure- 
 seeking as formerly, but it was turned in a more rational direc- 
 tion, and the Paraenses seemed now to copy rather the customs 
 of the northern nations of Europe than those of the mother- 
 country, Portugal. I was glad to see several new booksellers' 
 shops, and also a fine edifice devoted to a reading-room supplied 
 with periodicals, globes, and maps, and a circulating library. 
 There were now many printing-offices, and four daily news- 
 papers. The health of the place had greatly improved since 
 1850, the year of the yellow fever, and Para was now considered 
 no longer dangerous to newcomers. 
 
 So much for the improvements visible in the place, and now 
 for the dark side of the picture. The expenses of living had 
 increased about fourfold, a natural consequence of the demand 
 for labour and for native products of all kinds having augmented 
 in greater ratio than the supply, through large arrivals of non- 
 productive residents, and considerable importations of money 
 on account of the steamboat company and foreign merchants. 
 Para, in 1848, was one of the cheapest places of residence on the 
 American continent; it was now one of the dearest. Imported 
 articles of food, clothing, and furniture were mostly cheaper, 
 although charged with duties varying from 18 to 80 per cent., 
 besides high freights and large profits, than those produced 
 in the neighbourhood. Salt codfish was twopence per pound 
 cheaper than the vile salt pirarucu of the country. Oranges, 
 which could formerly be had almost gratis, were now sold in the 
 streets at the rate of three for a penny; large bananas were a 
 penny each fruit; tomatoes were from two to three pence each, 
 and all other fruits in this fruit-producing country had advanced 
 in like proportion. Mandioca-meal, the bread of the country, 
 had become so scarce and dear and bad that the poorer classes 
 of natives suffered famine, and all who could afford it were obliged 
 to eat wheaten bread at fourpence to fivepence per pound, made 
 from American flour, 1200 barrels of which were consumed 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 405 
 
 monthly; this was now, therefore, a very serious item of daily 
 expense to all but the most wealthy. House-rent was most 
 exorbitant; a miserable little place of two rooms, without 
 fixtures or conveniences of any kind, having simply blank walls, 
 cost at the rate of £18 sterling a year. Lastly, the hire of 
 servants was beyond the means of all persons in moderate cir- 
 cumstances ; a lazy cook or porter could not be had for less than 
 three or four shillings a day, besides his board and what he could 
 steal. It cost me half-a-crown for the hire of a small boat and 
 one man to disembark from the steamer, a distance of 100 
 yards. 
 
 In rambling over my old ground in the forests of the neigh- 
 bourhood, I found great changes had taken place — to me, 
 changes for the worse. The mantle of shrubs, bushes, and 
 creeping plants which formerly, when the suburbs were undis- 
 turbed by axe or spade, had been left free to arrange itself in 
 rich, full, and smooth sheets and masses over the forest borders, 
 had been nearly all cut away, and troops of labourers were still 
 employed cutting ugly muddy roads for carts and cattle, 
 through the once clean and lonely woods. Houses and mills 
 had been erected on the borders of these new roads. The noble 
 forest-trees had been cut down, and their naked, half-burnt 
 stems remained in the midst of ashes, muddy puddles, and heaps 
 of broken branches. I was obliged to hire a negro boy to show 
 me the way to my favourite path near Una, which I have 
 described in the second chapter of this narrative; the new 
 clearings having quite obliterated the old forest roads. Only 
 a few acres of the glorious forest near Una now remained in 
 their natural state. On the other side of the city, near the old 
 road to the rice mills, several scores of woodsmen were employed 
 under Government, in cutting a broad carriage-road through 
 the forest to Maranham, the capital of the neighbouring province, 
 distant 250 miles from Para, and this had entirely destroyed the 
 solitude of the grand old forest path. In the course of a few- 
 years, however, a new growth of creepers will cover the naked 
 tree-trunks on the borders of this new road, and luxuriant 
 shrubs form a green fringe to the path: it will then become as 
 beautiful a woodland road as the old one was. A naturalist 
 will have, henceforward, to go farther from the city to find the 
 glorious forest scenery which lay so near in 1848, and work 
 much more laboriously than was formerly needed to make the 
 large collections which' Mr. Wallace and I succeeded in doing in 
 the neighbourhood of Para. 
 
406 The Naturalist on the Amazons 
 
 June 2, 1859. — At length^ on the 2nd of June, I left Para, 
 probably for ever; embarking in a North American trading- 
 vessel, the Frederick Demming, for New York, the United States 
 route being the quickest as well as the pleasantest way of reach- 
 ing England. My extensive private collections were divided into 
 three portions and sent by three separate ships, to lessen the 
 risk of loss of the whole. On the evening of the 3rd of June, 
 I took a last view of the glorious forest for which I had so much 
 love, and to explore which I had devoted so many years. The 
 saddest hours I ever recollect to have spent were those of 
 the succeeding night when, the Mameluco pilot having left us 
 free of the shoals and out of sight of land though within the 
 mouth of the river at anchor waiting for the wind, I felt that the 
 last link which connected me with the land of so many pleasing 
 recollections was broken. The Paraenses, who are fully aware 
 of the attractiveness of their country, have an alliterative pro- 
 verb, " Quern vai para (0) Para para," " He who goes to Para 
 stops there," and I had often thought I should myself have been 
 added to the list of examples. The desire, however, of seeing 
 again my parents and enjoying once more the rich pleasures of 
 intellectual society, had succeeded in overcoming the attractions 
 of a region which may be fittingly called a Naturalist's Paradise. 
 During this last night on the Para river, a crowd of unusual 
 thoughts occupied my mind. Recollections of English climate, 
 scenery, and modes of life came to me with a vividness I had 
 never before experienced, during the eleven years of my absence. 
 Pictures of startling clearness rose up of the gloomy winters, 
 the long grey twilights, murky atmosphere, elongated shadows, 
 chilly springs, and sloppy summers; of factory chimneys and 
 crowds of grimy operatives, rung to work in early morning by 
 factory bells; of union workhouses, confined rooms, artificial 
 cares, and slavish conventionalities. To live again amidst these 
 dull scenes I was quitting a country of perpetual summer, where 
 my life' had been spent like that of three-fourths of the people 
 in gipsy fashion, on the endless streams or in the boundless 
 forests. I was leaving the equator, where the well-balanced 
 forces of Nature maintained a land-surface and climate that 
 seemed to be typical of mundane order and beauty, to sail 
 towards the North Pole, where lay my home under crepuscular 
 skies somewhere about fifty- two degrees of latitude. It was 
 natural to feel a little dismayed at the prospect of so great a 
 change; but now, after three years of renewed experience of 
 England, I find how incomparably superior is civilised life, 
 
Excursions beyond Ega 407 
 
 where feelings, tastes, and intellect find abundant nourishment, 
 to the spiritual sterility of half-savage existence, even though 
 it be passed in the garden of Eden. What has struck me 
 powerfully is the immeasurably greater diversity and interest 
 of human character and social conditions in a single civilised 
 nation, than in equatorial South America, where three distinct 
 races of man live together. The superiority of the bleak north 
 to tropical regions, however, is only in their social aspect, for 
 I hold to the opinion that, although humanity can reach an 
 advanced state of culture only by battling with the inclemencies 
 of nature in high latitudes, it is under the equator alone that 
 the perfect race of the future will attain to complete fruition of 
 man's beautiful heritage, the earth. 
 
 The following day, having no wind, we drifted out of the 
 mouth of the Para with the current of fresh water that is poured 
 from the mouth of the river, and in twenty-four hours advanced 
 in this way seventy miles on our road. On the 6th of June, 
 when in f 55' N. lat. and 52 30' W. long., and therefore about 
 400 miles from the mouth of the main Amazons, we passed 
 numerous patches of floating grass mingled with tree-trunks 
 and withered foliage. Amongst these masses I espied many 
 fruits of that peculiarly Amazonian tree the Ubussu palm; this 
 was the last I saw of the Great River. 
 
MAP OF THE AMAZONS 
 
 This Map is in continuous sections in the following pages 
 
875 lB«-]fl|j 
 
 02/2B/9B 41245 *T 
 
THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND 
 
EVERYMAN . 
 I WILL GO WITH 
 
 •THEE. 
 & BE THY GVIDE 
 ■IN THY MOST NEED 
 [TOGO BY THY 5) VE 
 
BgaS^mwfflBmfl mam 
 
 m 
 
 iflifffafflil Wk