On the Banks of the Amazon

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  OUR VOYAGE RECOMMENCED.

  I was awoke the following morning by an unusual commotion among ourfour-footed and feathered friends. The monkeys were chattering away andrunning along the rafters, up and down the posts; the parrots weretalking energetically together; while True every now and then ran to thedoor and gave a peculiar bark, coming back again under my hammock. Johnand Domingos were quickly aroused by his barks. "What can be thematter!" I exclaimed. "Some animal is outside," answered John,springing out of his hammock. "It has probably been trying to find anentrance into our hut. If a puma or jaguar, we will soon settle him."

  "Oria thinks it is some big serpent, from the way the animals arefrightened," said Ellen, from her room.

  "Whether big serpent or savage beast, we need not fear it, my sister,"answered John, going to the door, which we always kept closed at nightfor safety's sake.

  What was our dismay to see a huge serpent coiled round the post of theverandah, with its head moving about as if in March of prey. Dupposprang forward and shut to the door, exclaiming, "_Boiguaeu_!" EvenTrue ran behind us, not liking to face the monster. From the glimpse wegot of it, it seemed of enormous size, and might readily have crushedtwo or three people together in the folds of its huge body. John and Iwent back and got our guns ready, while Domingos and Duppo kept guard atthe door.

  "I said those pets of Ellen's would serve as baits some day for one ofthose creatures!" exclaimed John. "However, if we can hit it in thehead, we need not fear its doing us any harm."

  Having carefully examined the loading of our firearms, we told Domingosagain to open the door. He seemed, however, very unwilling to do so,alleging that the serpent might dart in and seize some one before wecould kill it. Not till John had insisted upon it would he consent."Oh, my dear young masters, do take care!" he exclaimed. "If you wouldbut wait, perhaps the creature would crawl away. Suppose you miss it,you do not know what may happen."

  "Now," cried John, "calm your fears, and open the door."

  Domingos on this pulled open the door, springing back himself at thesame time, while John and I stepped forward with our rifles, ready tofire. The serpent was gone. We looked about in every direction. Itwas not pleasant to know that so dangerous a monster was in ourneighbourhood. Domingos said he was sure it was hid away somewhere, andDuppo agreed with him. We hunted about anxiously, but nowhere could wediscover it. Believing that it had altogether gone away, we told Ellenand her companions that they might venture out. Ellen came fearlessly,but Maria and the Indian girl were evidently far from satisfied, and Isaw them glancing round anxiously in every direction. However, as thesnake did not appear, we had breakfast, and then went down to work atthe canoe. John told me that he had engaged four Indians to paddle her,and that he expected them that morning. We were working away, when weheard a low cry, and Oria was seen running towards us with looks ofterror in her countenance. She uttered a few hurried words to herbrother, the meaning of which we could not understand; but he soonshowed us by signs that something had happened at the hut. On gettingnear--for it was concealed where we were at work--we saw, to our dismay,the boa-constrictor coiled as before round one of the outer supports,and evidently intent on making an entrance into the hut. The door wasclosed. We heard Ellen's and Maria's voices calling from within. Wehad unfortunately left our guns in the verandah, and could not get atthem without approaching dangerously near to the huge reptile. Everymoment I dreaded to see it break through the slight door. John andDomingos had hatchets in their belts, but we were possessed of no otherweapons. How to get rid of the creature was the question. We shoutedat the top of our voices, hoping to frighten it away, but our cries hadno effect. Every moment we knew, too, that it might come down andattack us. Ellen and Maria were naturally in a great state of alarm.They had secured all their pets, though John suggested that bysacrificing some of them they might possibly satisfy the boa. Heshouted out to them a recommendation to that effect. "No, Senor John,no!" answered Maria from within. "Senora Ellen says she would remainhere for a week, rather than give up one to the horrid monster."

  As we stood at a respectful distance, the serpent now and then turnedhis head, as if he would dart at us, when Domingos cried out, "Oh, myyoung masters! fly! fly! The boiguaeu is coming!"

  "We must cut its head off if it does!" exclaimed John, "I have a greatmind to dash in and get hold of my gun."

  I entreated him not to attempt so rash an experiment. While we werewatching the serpent, the Indians we had been expecting appeared,emerging from the thick part of the forest, Duppo and Oria ran towardsthem. They seemed to be telling them about the boa. Instead of comingon to our assistance, however, away they started back into the forest.

  "The cowards!" exclaimed John; "they have run off and left us to fightthe battle by ourselves."

  "I am not quite so certain of that," I answered.

  We waited. Still the boa did not move, but continued watching the door.Probably through one of the chinks its eye had caught sight of Nimbleor True, who had also fortunately been inside. After waiting till ourpatience was nearly exhausted, the Indians re-appeared, carrying betweenthem a young peccary, while others carried long coils of sipos. At somelittle distance from the hut they stopped, when one of them climbed atree, to which he secured a loop of sipos, passing through it anotherlong line. At the end of this a loop was formed. With a stake theysecured the peccary close to the loop, so that to get at it the serpentmust run its head through the noose. The peccary, having its snout tiedup, was unable to squeak. As soon as the arrangement was made, theyretired to a distance, holding the other end of the line. One of themthen unloosed the peccary's muzzle, when the creature instantly began togrunt. At that instant the serpent turned its head, and, unwinding itshuge body, made its way towards the animal. In another moment almostthe peccary was struck, and the huge serpent began to fold its bodyround it. Its own head, however, was meantime caught in the noose, butthis it apparently did not feel, and opening its wide jaws, began tosuck in the animal. As it did so the Indians pulled the noose tighterand tighter. The teeth of the reptile are so formed that it could notagain force the peccary out of its mouth, while the noose prevented itswallowing it. John and I eagerly sprang forward and seized our guns,but Duppo now coming up, told us that there was no necessity to usethem, as in a short time the boa would be dead.

  As the boa lay on the ground John boldly rushed up and gave it a blowwith his axe. The natives now without fear forced their spears into thecreature's mouth, and dragged out the mangled body of the peccary. Thisdone, they hoisted the serpent up by the neck to the branch of the tree,whence it hung down, showing us its full length, which could not havebeen much less than twenty-five feet. To make sure that it would notcome to life again, one of them climbed up, and with his knife splitopen the body. Even during the short time it had coiled itself roundthe peccary it had broken every bone in the creature's body. I observedthat it placed coil above coil, as if to increase the force of thepressure, and it had instantly begun to swallow its prey without firstlubricating it, as it is erroneously described as doing. The part ofthe peccary which had entered the mouth was, however, covered withsaliva, but this had only been poured upon it in the act of swallowing.

  We thanked the Indians for the assistance they had given us in killingour enemy. They had come, they said, to finish the canoe, and also toinquire about Maono and Illora, whose absence had caused the tribe greatalarm. They had also brought us some mandioca-flour and a supply offruits. Farinha or flour, I should say, is produced from the sameroot--cassava, or manioc--as is tapioca, and is like it in appearance,only of a yellower colour, caused by the woody fibre mixed with the purestarch which forms the tapioca. There were also several cabbage-palms,always a welcome addition to our vegetables. Among the fruit were somepine-apples, which had been procured in a dry treeless district--so weunderstood--some miles in the interior.

  Ellen begged that they
would remove the body of the serpent to adistance, as she did not at all like seeing it hanging up to the treenear us. Fastening sipos to it, they accordingly dragged it away. Bythe following morning not a particle of it remained, it having furnisheda feast to several armadillos, vultures, and other birds of prey.

  The last evening of our stay had arrived. Our provision were ready forembarking, and all our goods packed up. I was awoke by hearing Domingoscry out--

  "Some rats, or other creatures, have got into the hut, and are eating upthe farinha."

  On striking a light, we hurried to the corner in which our provisionswere stored, intending to drive out the intruders, when, instead ofrats, we found a column of ants passing to and fro between the door andour baskets of food. Each of them carried a grain of a tapioca-likesubstance as big as itself. In vain we tried to drive them off. Thoughhundreds were killed, others came on in a most determined manner, as ifthey had resolved to rob us at all cost. At last John proposed that weshould blow them up. We called out to Ellen not to be alarmed, and thenspread a train of powder across the column, when we set it on fire.This seemed to stagger them, but others still came on. Not till we hadperformed the operation three times did they seem to discover theirdanger, when the first coming on turned round and warned those behind,and the whole took their departure. The next morning we traced them toa spot at a considerable distance, where we came upon a mound of earthbetween two or three feet high, and nearly eleven yards incircumference. This we found was the dome which protected the entranceto the abode of our visitors of the previous night. It was a wonderthey had not found us out before. It was of a different colour to thesurrounding ground. This was owing to its being composed of theunder-soil brought up from below. We perceived a number of small holesin the sides--the commencement of galleries. We discovered, on digginginto it, that each led to a broad gallery four feet in diameter. Thisagain led down into the centre of the wonderful habitation.

  "Hilloa!" cried Arthur; "here comes Birnam Wood in miniature."

  He was at some distance from us. On going up to him we found whatlooked like a vast number of leaves moving along over the ground. Onexamining them, we discovered that each was of the size and shape of asmall coin, and carried by an ant. On tracing them back we found thetree at which they were at work. It was covered by vast multitudes.Each ant was working away at a leaf, cutting out a circle with its sharpscissor-like jaws. As soon as the operation was complete, it lifted itup vertically and marched away towards the mound. As one lot oflabourers descended, others ascended and took their places, so that in ashort time the tree was denuded of leaves. These leaves were used, wediscovered, to thatch the domes of their galleries and halls to keepthem dry, and protect the young broods in the nests beneath them. Onebody of workers was employed in bringing the leaves which they cast downon the hillock, while another placed them so as to form the roof,covering them with a layer of earth brought up in single grains withprodigious labour from the soil below. There appeared to be threedifferent classes of workers--some employed entirely below, othersacting as masons or tilers, and others entirely engaged in bringing thematerials from a distance. There were, besides, soldiers armed withpowerful mandibles, who accompanied the workers for defence, and walkedbackwards and forwards near them without doing anything. They have alsoa queen-ant, who dwells in the centre of their castle, and is engaged inlaying the eggs, not only to furnish broods for the colony, but to sendforth vast numbers of winged ants to form new ones. At the commencementof the year the workers can be seen clearing the galleries, andevidently preparing for some important event. Soon afterwards a vastnumber of winged males and females issue forth, the females measuringtwo and a quarter inches in expanse of wing, though the males are muchsmaller. Few of them, however, escape to enjoy existence, for they areimmediately set upon by numbers of insectivorous animals and devoured.The few females who escape become the mothers of new colonies.

  While digging, we came upon a snake-like creature about a foot long.Directly Duppo saw it he entreated us not to touch it, as it wasfearfully poisonous, and called it the mother of the saubas. We,however, knew it to be perfectly harmless. He declared that it had ahead at each end of its body. We convinced him, however, that he waswrong, by showing him the head and tail. The body was covered withsmall scales, the eyes were scarcely perceptible, and the mouth was likethat of a lizard. He asserted that the sauba-ants are very muchattached to the snake, and that, if we took it away, they would alldesert the spot. In reality, the snake found a convenient hiding-placein the galleries of the ants, while, when in want of food, it could atall times make a substantial meal off them. When the ant-eater opensone of these galleries, the workers immediately run off and hidethemselves, while the soldier-ants rush forth to attack the intruder,and, of course, immediately fall victims; thus preserving, by thesacrifice of their own lives, the rest of the community. The peculiarmotion of the snake we found, scientifically called _amphisbaenae_,wriggling as it does backwards and forwards, has given rise to the ideaof its having two heads. Duppo told us many other stories about it,which I have no space to mention. These ants sometimes form mounds fromthirty to forty yards in circumference, and have been known to burroweven under rivers. As they attack fruit-trees, they are a great pest tothe inhabitants of the settled parts of the country, and are sometimesdestroyed by forcing fumes of sulphur through their galleries. Theirchief use in the economy of Nature seems to be the consumption ofdecayed vegetable matter, as they are exclusively vegetarians.

  While the Indians were getting the boat down to the water, and Ellen andher attendants, assisted by Domingos, were packing up, John, Duppo, andI took a ramble into the woods to kill some more game, as we were notlikely to have anything but fish for some time to come. As we weregoing along, I heard the twittering of some dull-plumaged birds in thebushes, and was trying to get a shot at them, when I saw John, who was alittle way ahead, jumping about in the most extraordinary manner. Duppocried out, on seeing him, "Tauoca!" and made a sign to us to run off,himself setting the example. John followed. "I have been attacked byan army of ants," he exclaimed. "See, here are hundreds sticking tome." Duppo and I went to his assistance, and we found his legs coveredwith ants with enormous jaws, holding on so tight to the flesh that, inpulling them off, the heads of many were left sticking in the woundsthey had made. We caught sight of the column which was advancing, aboutsix deep, with thinner columns foraging on either side of the main army.Creatures of all sorts were getting out of their way with good cause,for whenever they came upon a maggot, caterpillar, or any larvae, theyinstantly set upon it and tore it to pieces, each ant loading itselfwith as much as it could carry. A little in front of them was a wasp'snest, on a low shrub. They mounted the twigs, and, gnawing away at thepapery covering, quickly got at the larvae and the newly-hatched wasps.These they carried off in spite of the efforts of the enraged parents,who kept flying about them. They were ecitons, or foraging ants, ofwhich there are numerous species. They also came upon a bank, in theircourse, in which was a nest belonging to a large species of white ant.They forced their way in, attacked them, and dragged out the bodies ofthe slain. These were cut into three or four pieces, each of which waslifted up by an eciton and carried off.

  However, a volume could be filled with accounts of the numberless antsand termites of South America, and their curious and varied habits. Onespecies is quite blind; others tunnel as they go, or form ways to enablethem to make their attacks in secret. For this purpose the littlecreatures will form miles of covered ways. Some build their nests ofclay in trees, and others hollow out abodes under the bark. They vary,too, in size and form. Some are half an inch long; some white, othersred and black; some sting furiously. The ants inhabiting trees arethose which commit depredations in houses chiefly. The most annoying ofthe species is the fire-ant--a little creature of a shining reddishcolour. They live in the sand, where they form subterranean galleriescovered by a sandy dome. They enter hous
es, and attack eatables of allsorts. When they attack human beings they fix their jaws in the flesh,and, doubling up their tails, sting with all their might; and a veryfearful sting it is. When we met with them we were obliged to smear theropes of our hammocks with balsam of _copauba_. Eatables are suspendedin baskets by ropes covered with the same balsam, and the legs of chairsand footstools are also covered to prevent their climbing up andstinging those sitting on them. Villages have sometimes been desertedin consequence of the attacks of these fierce little insects. However,they are only found on the sandy banks of the river and drier parts ofthe country.

  After this digression I must continue my narrative. We shot only two orthree birds, and then had to hurry back to prepare for our departure.Our new canoe floated well, but was smaller than we could have wished.Over the centre was an awning of palm-leaves, under which was seatedEllen, with her black and brown attendants and her numerous pets,surrounded by our goods and chattels. Four Indians sat in the bows topaddle, while John and Domingos took it by turns to steer. Duppo hadespecial charge of the various pets, while I was glad to be relievedfrom the labour of paddling. I had my gun ready for a shot, and we keptout our books of natural history, which I wished to search through, andtwo or three others for reading. We were thankful to be once more onour voyage, but still we could not help looking with some interest andregret at the beautiful spot in which we had spent the last few weeks."All on board?" cried Domingos. "On, boys, on!" and giving a shove withhis pole, we left the bank and glided down the stream, our dark-skinnedcrew keeping time with their paddles to the monotonous song which theystruck up. Although the wet season was commencing, the weather promisedto be fair for a time; and we hoped soon to have Arthur on board, and tocontinue our voyage without interruption till we should at length fallin with those dear ones of whom we were in search.

  I have already described the broad river, and the wall of strangelyvaried and lofty trees which border it. We kept along the left bank,not to run the risk of missing the entrance to the igarape of therecluse, as we called it.

  "Do you think we shall persuade him to come with us?" asked Ellen. "Ishould be so delighted if we could draw him out of his strange way oflife and restore him to society."

  John thought there was little chance of our doing so.

  "If anybody can, I think Arthur may," I observed.

  "Then you agree with me in my notion?" said Ellen.

  "It is possible you may be right," I answered; "but yet it would be verystrange."

  The recluse formed the chief subject of our conversation during theday's voyage. At length we approached his igarape. I almost expectedto see him and Arthur standing on the bank, but looked out in vain. Togive them notice of our approach, I fired off my rifle. We had alreadymade the canoe fast at our former landing-place. Ellen, John, and Iwere going towards the hut when Arthur appeared. "O Arthur will hecome--will he come?" cried out Ellen.

  Arthur shook his head. "I am very glad to see you," he said; "but ifyou had delayed a few days longer perhaps he would have made up hismind. However, you must come and try what you can do."

  "And how is Maono?" I asked.

  "He is wonderfully recovered, but is still unable to move."

  "I hope he and his wife will not insist on Oria remaining with them!"said Ellen.

  "I think not," answered Arthur. "Were it not for their other children,they would like to come themselves, I suspect, were Maono better. Butyou must come and see our friend; he has been so kind and gentle, andtalked a great deal to me. I have been greatly puzzled to know themeaning of some of his questions. Sometimes he spoke as if he wouldlike me to remain with him; but when I told him that I could not leaveyou, my old friends, he agreed that I ought not."

  As we entered the open space before the hut of the recluse he advancedto meet us, and courteously invited us to remain till the next day. Wehad wished to push on, as we had still some hours of daylight; butArthur begged us so earnestly to remain, that at last John agreed to doso. The Indians built themselves a hut near the canoe, in whichDomingos remained to watch over our goods; while we passed the night atthe hermitage. Ellen tried her utmost to persuade our host to accompanyus; but he declined, saying that he could not abandon his present modeof life, and would not desert his patient Maono till he had recovered.Maono and Illora showed more pleasure at seeing us than is usuallyexhibited by Indians. His head was still bound up, and both he and hiswife appeared clothed in light garments, which, though not sopicturesque as their savage want of attire, made them look much morecivilised.

  The next morning we were on foot before daybreak, and havingbreakfasted, and bid farewell to the chief and his wife, repaired atearly dawn to the canoe, attended by the recluse. Again Arthurentreated him to accompany us, observing that Maono had so far recoveredthat Illora might attend to him without his aid. He seemed to hesitate,but finally shook his head, saying, "It cannot be; no, it cannot be!"

  "Then do you wish me to remain with you?" asked Arthur, looking up inhis face.

  The recluse seemed to be agitated with contending feelings. "No, boy,no!" he answered. "I cannot allow you to leave friends who have shownthat they are interested in your welfare. But take this packet, and donot open it till you have rejoined Mr Faithful's family. You will, Idoubt not, ere long find them, for from the information I have obtainedthey some time ago proceeded down the river. Where they are settled Icannot tell, but two if not more messengers have been despatched by themin search of you, some of whom have either gone higher up the river, orhave fallen victims to the treacherous savages."

  Arthur took the packet from the recluse with a look of surprise.

  "It will explain all," said the latter. "Put it by now, and keep itcarefully. I have acted for the best, and you will acknowledge thatwhen you come to notice the contents."

  Saying this, he pressed Arthur's hand, and assisting Ellen into thecanoe, waved an adieu, and turning hastily round, with long hastystrides hurried back towards his abode. The Indians stood up andsaluted him with signs of respect, and then, at the command of Domingos,began to ply their paddles, and we once more recommenced our voyage.Arthur watched the recluse till he disappeared among the trees.

  "It is very, very strange," I heard him say to himself; "I cannotunderstand it." Several times he pulled out the packet and looked at itwistfully. "I must not disobey him," he added aloud, "and yet I long toknow what he meant by giving me this."

  "So do I," said Ellen; "but I am sure you ought to obey him."

  Arthur started; he seemed not to be aware that he had been speakingaloud.

  John looked at Ellen. "Sister," he said rather gravely, "do not utteryour ideas; whatever they may be, you are likely to be wrong."

  Ellen was silent. Arthur replaced the packet in his wallet, and thesubject was not again alluded to. For several hours we glided down thestream without interruption. In the middle of the day we landed to giveour crew rest and to cook our dinner. While the men were resting, werambled through the forest with Duppo. We took Duppo that we might notrun the risk of losing our way. We had gone on for some distance, whenhe exclaimed, "_Jacare tinga_!" I called True close to me, knowing thatthe words meant alligator. Duppo crept cautiously on. Every moment weexpected to come up with the monster, though on dry ground we knew wehad little cause to fear it. "What is that?" exclaimed John, and hefired his rifle at a creature which went bounding through the forest.For a moment I caught sight of a jaguar, and directly afterwards we cameon an alligator which had evidently just been killed by the jaguar. Ishould have liked to have seen the combat in which the fierce mammal hadcome off victorious. What mighty strength it must have put forth tokill the huge reptile which lay mangled before us, a considerableportion of the interior devoured. Duppo, on seeing it, began to searchabout in the neighbourhood, and came before long on a conical pile ofdead leaves, from among which he dug out upwards of twenty eggs. Theywere nearly twice the size of those of a duck, and of an ellipticalsha
pe. The shells were very hard, of the texture of porcelain, andextremely rough on the outside. Duppo rubbed them together, producing aloud sound. Then he shook his head, as much as to say, "If the motherwere alive that would bring her, but there she lies;" and he then toldus that it was the way his people had of attracting alligators when theyfound a nest, knowing that the female is sure to be near, and will cometo see what is the matter with her eggs. We carried them on board as apresent to our crew, knowing that they would be acceptable, as thenatives are very fond of them. At night we landed on an island, andbuilt our huts in the same style that we had done on descending theNapo. And thus, with various incidents which I have not space torecount, we proceeded on our voyage for several days withoutinterruption.