On the Banks of the Amazon

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  A HAPPY MEETING.

  A week had passed away. The two canoes keeping in company, we no longerfelt the solitude which had oppressed us as we navigated that vaststream, or the intricate labyrinth of channels, often far away from themain shore. Several times we had inquired of Antonio whether we wereapproaching the farm of Senhor Pimento, where our family were living."Paciencia; logo, logo," was his answer--"Patience; soon, soon we shallbe there." We turned off from the main stream, and ascended an igarapethickly shrouded by palms and other trees, completely shutting out thesky above us. At the end of the vista the bright sunlight shone on anopen space, where appeared a small lake, on the opposite side of whichwe could distinguish several buildings raised on piles--a large one inthe centre with a deep verandah, the palm-thatched roof of whichextended beyond the walls; the whole surrounded by plantations ofmandioca, cacao, peach-palms, and other trees.

  "Is that where we are going?" asked Ellen eagerly of Antonio. "We shallsee--we shall see, senorita!" he answered. Rounding a point, weobserved a hut beneath a grove of inaja palms; their leaves springingalmost from the ground, and spreading slightly out from the slenderstem, so as to form an open vase of the most graceful shape. Fewobjects of the vegetable kingdom are more beautiful. "Oh, what lovelytrees!" exclaimed Ellen. "And see! there is some one coming out fromamong them."

  As she spoke, a person emerged from the wood, engaged apparently inreading. As his back was towards us, he did not observe the approach ofthe canoes. "Oh, it is papa!" exclaimed Ellen; "I am sure of it." Andin another instant we were on shore, and Ellen flying over the ground.

  It was indeed a happiness to see her in our father's arms. "And my boystoo, safe after all your dangers!" he exclaimed, as he embraced us."And your young friend too!"

  Maria and Domingos came running up to kiss his hand, pleasure beaming intheir dark countenances. We hurried forward to the house, and in a fewminutes had the happiness of seeing our mother and Fanny. Even AuntMartha, I thought, looked far more kindly than she used to do, and wasas gentle and affectionate to Ellen as she could be. It was indeed ahappy meeting.

  We, of course, had to recount all our adventures; and thus most of thetalking was on our side, as Antonio had already told us all that hadhappened to them. Our Brazilian friend, Senhor Pimento, was a fineburly old gentleman, habited in light nankeen jacket and trousers, witha broad-brimmed hat. He was of a somewhat dark hue, and his wife, whowas a slight, active old lady, was considerably darker. Their familyconsisted of a son, who was away hunting at the time, and two daughters.I cannot call them fair, but they were attractive, lively girls, whohad lived in that remote district all their lives, and knew nothing ofthe world beyond, believing Para, next to Rio, to be its largest city.Fanny and her Portuguese friends were much pleased with Oria and Duppo,and delighted when they found that they could speak a little English, alanguage the two latter were trying to learn. The house was ofconsiderable size, built of palm-trees, thatched with palm-leaves; andeven the doors and windows were composed of palm-leaves, not opening onhinges, but being hooked up or taken down like mats. There were opengalleries round on either side, and several of the rooms were open also;and in these the hammocks of the men of the party were hung up. Thefloors were also of split palm-trees, and were raised about ten feetabove the ground, so as to be at a sufficient elevation during thehigher floods which occasionally inundate the larger portion of thatregion. None of the inmates of the house were idle. Senhor Pimento wasconstantly out, superintending his labourers; while Donna Josefa, hiswife, was engaged in household matters. The young ladies, it must beowned, were the least industrious of the family.

  Arthur had said nothing of the packet he had received from the recluse,yet I was sure that he would not lose a moment in opening it after thetime had arrived when he had permission to do so. Ellen came running tome the following morning, I having gone out before breakfast to lookround the farm. I saw by her beaming countenance that she was full ofsome matter of importance.

  "It is as I told you, Harry!" she exclaimed. "The recluse is Arthur'sfather--I knew it--I was sure of it. Arthur read to me last night someof the letter he gave him. Poor fellow, he is in a great state ofagitation, and blames himself for having come away and left him. Therecluse--that is to say, Mr Mallet--speaks somewhat vaguely of afearful event which compelled him to leave England; and he says that,though yearning to have his son by his side, he will not take him out ofthe path which Providence has placed him in, and from the protection ofkind friends--that he himself, long an outcast from his fellow-men,cannot help him, and that by starting alone in life he will have a farbetter prospect of success than should it be known whose son he is.These remarks, though Arthur is thankful to have found his father, havemade him very unhappy. He will talk to you by-and-by, when he hasthought the matter over; and do you know, the recluse--I mean, MrMallet--says that papa is an old friend of his, and that Arthur may tellhim so, as he is sure that though papa may not desire to meet him, hewill not in consequence withdraw his protection from his son."

  "That I am sure papa will not," I exclaimed. "Poor Arthur! I do notknow whether to be sorry or glad at what you have told me. Had hespoken to me I might have been better able to advise him."

  Ellen looked into my face. Perhaps she thought that I felt a littlejealous that Arthur had not first consulted me. We agreed not to sayanything about the matter, but to let Arthur speak to our fatherhimself, being assured that he would do what was kind and generous, andact as he judged for the best.

  Arthur during the day was, I observed, more silent than usual. He waswaiting, I suspected, to become more acquainted with our father beforeventuring to speak to him. I was not present when he did so.

  The day after our arrival Duppo came to me with a countenance of alarm."We get among witches!" he exclaimed, looking round cautiously. I askedhim what he could mean; and he then told me that he had seen the twoyoung ladies in a wood close to the house, amusing themselves by playingwith venomous snakes, which he was sure they could not do if they werelike other human beings. "Come, you see them," he said, wishing toprove his assertion correct; and he led me round the house, through thegrove of palms, where, sure enough, seated on a bench, from whence therewas a lovely view of the lake, were the two daughters of our host. Iconfess I was almost startled on seeing them with a number of brilliantlooking snakes. One was round each of their necks, while others theyhad twisted like bracelets, encircling their arms; and one of the girlswas holding another in her hand, allowing its forked tongue to dart outtowards her face. They were of a bright grass-green colour, withremarkably thin bodies; and it was curious to see the graceful way inwhich the lithe, active creatures crawled about, or lay coiled upperfectly at home in their laps. Unwilling to be an eavesdropper, I wasretiring, when I met Fanny and Ellen, and told them what I had seen, andDuppo's suspicions. Fanny laughed, saying they were perfectly harmless,and had been tamed by their friends, and returned with me to where thegirls were seated. Duppo, however, beat a retreat, evidently unwillingto be in such a dangerous neighbourhood. They were highly amused athearing of Duppo's alarm, and showed me that the snakes were perfectlyharmless. I took one in my hand, when the creature coiled itself roundmy arm, and I could admire at leisure its colour, and the beautifultopaz yellow of its eyes. The snakes were between two and three feetlong. They were so thoroughly tamed, that though placed on the groundthey did not attempt to escape, but came back immediately they werecalled by their young mistresses. So slender were their bodies, thatwhen coiled completely up I could place one on the palm of my hand.

  Though I told Duppo afterwards that I had actually handled the snakes,he was not convinced of their harmless character, and insisted that itwas another proof that they had been charmed by the white witches, whichhe still evidently considered our Brazilian friends. Oria, however, wasfar braver; for when she saw Fanny and Ellen play with the creatures,she without hesitation took one of them
up, and allowed it to coilitself round her neck, where it made a pretty ornament on her dark skin.

  Pedro, the son of our host, returned the next day with a boat-load ofturtle and fish which he had caught; as well as a number of birds, someof them of exquisite plumage. John, Arthur, and I begged to accompanyhim the next time he set out on a similar expedition; and we found thathe proposed starting again the following day. Meantime Senhora Josefa,with the assistance of her slaves, was employed in salting and dryingthe fish and fowl she had just received.

  We started in the morning with two canoes, equipped with nets, spears,and lines, bows and arrows, and blow-pipes as well as guns.

  The lower portion of the banks of the Amazon were at this time coveredwith water on either side, varying in height from one to ten feet, andin some places reaching twenty. This district, known as the Gapo,extends from the Napo upwards of seventeen hundred miles, to the veryborders of Peru. It thus becomes a region of countless islands,separated by expanses of water--but not open water, as forest treesappear growing out of it in all directions; while in other parts thereare numbers of lakes of all sizes--some many miles in extent, othersmere pools, dry in summer, but all abounding in fish of various sorts,in turtles and alligators. We could often, in consequence of theflooded state of the country, make short cuts in our canoe directlythrough the forest, in some places with a depth of five to ten feetbelow our keels.

  As we were paddling on through a scene such as I have described, wepassed near a raft secured to the trunks of four trees, on which was anIndian family, with a small fire burning on it. The mother was cookingfish, while the father lay in his hammock suspended between the trees.A small, crazy looking canoe was moored to it. The family appearedperfectly contented and unconcerned, and accustomed to the curious modeof life. Pedro told us they were Muras Indians. During the dry seasonthey live on the sand-banks, employed in catching turtle in the largeriver; and when the rainy season sets in they retire to these solitudes,whence they sally forth in their canoes to catch manatees and turtle,and fish of many sorts. We were proceeding away from the main stream bya broad water-path, with numberless narrower paths leading off in alldirections. During the first part of our voyage we could see for aconsiderable distance through the irregular colonnade of trees; but aswe progressed the path became narrower, and the trees grew closertogether, their boughs frequently stretching forth over our heads. Frommany of them beautiful bright yellow flowers hung down, the stemsseveral feet in length, while ferns and numerous air-plants thicklycovered the trunks of the palms or drooped over from their summits. Nowand then we passed through a thicket of bamboos, their slender foliageand gracefully-curving stems having arranged themselves in the mostelegant feathery bowers. Crossing through the forest, we passed a groveof small palms, their summits being but a few feet above us. They borebunches of fruit, which our Indians cut off with their knives. We foundit of an agreeable flavour. The birds feeding overhead now and thensent down showers of fruit, which splashed into the water round us.Frequently we heard a rustling in the leaves, and caught sight in manyplaces of troops of monkeys peeping down from among the dense foliage.Then off they would go, leaping from bough to bough through the forest.Here a flock of paroquets appeared in sight for a few moments. Now oneof the light-blue chatterers, then a lovely trogon, would seize a fruitas it darted by; or the delicate white wing and claret-coloured plumageof a lovely pompadour would glance from the foliage; or a huge-billedtoucan would pitch down on a bough above us, and shake off a fruit intothe water. Gay flowers, too, were not wanting, of the orchid tribe:some with white and spotted and purple blossoms; the most magnificent ofa brilliant purple colour, called by the natives Saint Ann's flower,four inches across. We plucked some, which emitted a most delightfulodour. At last we came out once more into the bright sunshine, at asmall lake, the surface of which was adorned in many parts withnumberless beautiful water-plants--graceful lilies, yellowbladder-worts, and numbers of a bright blue flower, which contrastedwith the green leaves. The whole track, indeed, consisted, we found, ofigarapes, lakes, and gapo; here and there patches of high and dry landso mingled together that we could not have told whether we were on themain shore or on an island.

  At length we reached another lake with higher banks, where Pedro told uswe would encamp and commence fishing. The little lake extended over anarea of about ten acres, and was surrounded by the forest. The borderswere somewhat swampy, and covered with a fine grass. On these bordersthe hunters erected little stages, consisting of long poles, withcross-pieces secured by lianas. The pool abounded with turtle. Ourhunters mounted the stages, armed with bow and arrow. The arrow was soformed that the head when it struck the animal remained in its body,while the shaft floated to the surface, though remaining attached to itby a long line. We remained in a larger canoe to watch proceedings,while Pedro and two Indians entered a smaller one. The Indians did noteven wait for the turtles to come to the surface; but the moment theysaw a ripple in the water, the man nearest shot his arrow with unerringaim, and it never failed to pierce the shell. As soon as one was shot,Pedro paddled towards it, and, taking the shaft and line in his hand,humoured the creature as a fisherman does a salmon, till, exhausted, itrose to the surface, when it was further secured by another arrow shotat it, and then with the two lines easily hauled into the canoe. Johnand I tried our skill; but our arrows missed their aim, and I verynearly shot our friend Pedro instead of the turtle.

  Another small canoe had been sent for, which now arrived. So rapidlywere the turtle shot that both canoes were actively engaged in pickingthem up. Fully forty were thus killed in a short time. The net wasthen spread at one end of the pool, while the rest of the party beganbeating the water from the opposite side with long poles, some along theedges and others in the canoes. We could see the backs of the turtlesas they swam forward. When they got close to the net the two ends wererapidly drawn together, surrounding a large number of them; and then allhands uniting at the ropes, quickly dragged it towards the shore. Asthey appeared above the water, the men seized them, and threw them intothe canoes, which came up to the spot. Many, however, managed toscramble out again before they were turned on their backs. Arthur and Irushed in with the rest to assist in their capture, when suddenly I feltan extraordinary sensation in my foot.

  "Oh, I have been bitten by a water-snake!" I exclaimed, leaping up.

  "And so have I!" cried Arthur. And we rushed on shore, both of uslooking anxiously down at our legs. No wounds, however, were to beseen.

  When the net was finally drawn on shore, after a vast number of smallturtle had been taken out of it, several curious fish were seen, andamong them five or six eel-looking creatures, with large heads. TheIndians cried out something; but not understanding them, I took up oneof the creatures to examine it, when instantly I felt the sensation Ihad experienced in the water, and now discovered that they were electriceels. To prove it yet further, I took out my knife, and Pedro, Arthur,and I, with several Indians, joined hands, when instantly the rest,greatly to their astonishment, felt the shock as if they had touched thefish itself. We persuaded the other Indians to try the experiment; andthey were greatly amused and astonished at finding the electric sparkpass through their systems.

  Altogether we caught upwards of a hundred turtle. We then moved on toanother lake with a sandy shore, where the net was again drawn for thesake of obtaining fish. I had never seen so many and various fish takentogether. It would be impossible to describe them. Among them was abeautiful oval-shaped fish, which the natives call _acara_. There arenumerous species, we heard: some of them deposit their eggs in the sand,and hover over them until the young are hatched; but there are otherswhich take still greater care of them, and have a cavity near the gills,in which the male takes up the eggs and carries them there, not onlytill they are hatched, but actually keeps the young fry in safety withinthem. When able to swim they go out and take exercise; but on theapproach of danger they rush back into their paren
ts' mouths forprotection. This cavity is in the upper part of the bronchial arches.I should scarcely have believed the fact from the report of the natives,had I not actually seen both the eggs and the young fry in theirparents' head. There are several species of fish in the waters of theAmazon which are thus wonderfully supplied with the means of protectingtheir young.

  "You shall now see another way we have of taking fish," said our friendPedro.

  We paddled off to a still part of the lake. He then poured out of acalabash some coloured liquid.

  "And now let us land," he said, "and while we take our dinner, watch theresult."

  The liquid, he told us, was produced from a poisonous liana called_tambo_. This is cut up into lengths, washed, and soaked in water,which becomes thus impregnated with the juice.

  Before dinner was over, as we looked out on the pool we saw the surfacecovered with fish floating on their sides, with their gills wide open.The canoe then pushed off, and collected them in great numbers. Thepoison appeared to have suffocated the fish, although only a smallquantity had been poured into the water.

  We were as successful in shooting birds, monkeys, and other game, as wewere in fishing. One of the Indians used his bow in a curious way,which we had not before seen employed. Throwing himself on his back, heplaced his feet lifted up above his body against the bow, and drew thestring to his head with both his hands. It was surprising what acorrect aim he could thus take. He quickly brought down several birdson the wing at a great height. He showed us also that he could shoot upin the air, and make the arrow fall wherever he pleased. Several timesit descended within a few inches of his own head or feet, where it stuckquivering in the ground. We dreaded that it might stick into him; buthe laughed at our fears, assuring us that there was not the slightestdanger, as he had practised the art from his boyhood, and could performstill more difficult feats. Darkness coming on prevented him fromexhibiting them. We spent the night on the driest spot we could find onthe banks of the lake. Blazing fires were lighted to keep jaguars,pumas, and boas at a distance.

  Next morning, loaded with the spoils of the chase, we commenced ourvoyage homewards. We were passing a dry, thickly-wooded island, when wecaught sight of a number of people among the trees, while fires wereburning in the centre of several open spots. We asked Pedro what theywere about.

  "They are my father's labourers," he said. "You shall come on shore,and we will see how they are employed."

  We found a number of Indians and a few blacks busily engaged in variousways; some in making gashes in the stems of trees, under each of whichthey placed a little clay cup or a shell, into which trickled the sapissuing from the wound. This sap we found was of the consistency ofcream. And now we saw for the first time the india-rubber with which wehad only before been acquainted when using it to rub out our pencilstrokes when drawing at school. The trees which were thus treated had abark and foliage not unlike that of the European ash; but the trunkswere of great size, and shot up to an immense height before throwing offtheir branches. People with large bowls were going about from tree totree, and emptying the contents of the little cups into them. Fromthence they were carried to their camp. Here we found large bowls fullof the cream-like sap. The labourers were provided with a number ofclay moulds of various shapes, though most of them were in the form ofround bottles. These moulds were dipped into the liquid, and then hungup to dry. As soon as one layer was dry the mould was again dipped in,and thus coat after coat was put on. Pedro told us it took several daysbefore the coating was considered sufficiently thick. It was then hardand white. This operation being finished, it was passed several timesthrough a thick, black smoke which issued from fires. We found thatthis smoke was produced by burning the nuts of the inaja and otherpalm-trees, by which means the dark colour and softness are obtained.The process is now complete; and the moulds being broken, the clay isemptied out, and the rubber is fit for sale.

  The Brazilian india-rubber tree--the _Siphonia elastico_(_caoutchouc_)--differs from the _ficus_ which furnishes theindia-rubber of Africa and the East Indies. It bears a small flower andcircular fruit, with strongly-marked divisions in the rind.

  Having left some of our game for provisioning the camp of theindia-rubber collectors, we made the best of our way homewards. Eveningwas coming on. We were still at some distance from home. The sky hadbecome overcast, and rain had begun to fall. It seemed impossible thatwe should find our way through the forest in the darkness. We enteredat length a channel, the land on one side of which was elevated somefeet above the water. As we were paddling along it, Pedro proposed thatwe should land and camp. Just then we caught sight of a fire burning ina shed at some distance from the bank.

  "We may there find shelter," said Pedro, "without having the trouble ofbuilding huts, which, after all, would not keep out the rain."

  We three accompanied him towards the fire. We found two Indiansstanding near it, both busily employed in concocting some mixture in alarge pot simmering over the flames. They were evidently, by the mannerin which they received us, displeased at our coming. Pedro, however,told them that we proposed spending the night at their hut; and sent tothe canoe for some game, which put them in better humour. He inquiredwhat they were about.

  "I see what it is. They are making the wourali poison for tipping thearrows for their bows and blow-pipes. See! we will make them show usthe process."

  After a little talk with the Indians, they consented to do as he wished.First they showed us some long sticks of a thin vine--the wouraliitself. This, with the root of a plant of a very bitter nature, theyscraped together into thin shavings. They were then placed in a sieve,and water poured over them into an earthen pot, the liquid comingthrough having the appearance of coffee. Into this the juice of somebulbous plants of a glutinous nature was squeezed, apparently to servethe purpose of glue. While the pot was simmering, other ingredientswere added. Among them were some black, venomous ants, and also alittle red ant, which stings severely. They seemed to set great valuealso on the fangs of two snakes, which, when pounded, were added withmuch ceremony. One, Pedro told us, was the venomous _labarri_; andanother, the largest among the venomous reptiles in America, known asthe _curucu_, or bushmaster (_Lachesis mutus_). The Indians, however,call it the _couana couchi_. It is of the most beautiful colour. Itsbody is brightly tinted with all the prismatic colours; and sometimes itis to be seen coiled round the branches of a tree, ready to strike itsprey. It is allied, I should say, to the fearful _fer de lance_, whichstrikes its prey with so rapid and straight a stroke that it isimpossible to escape it. A quantity of the strongest Indian red pepperwas lastly added; and as the ingredients boiled, more of the juice ofthe wourali was poured in as was required. The scum having been takenoff, the compound remained on the fire till it assumed the appearance ofa thick syrup of a deep brown colour. Whether all these ingredients arenecessary, I cannot say. Others also, I believe, are occasionally used.

  I should have observed that we, as well as the other Indians, weredesired to keep at a respectful distance during the operation, as it isconsidered that even the vapour ascending from the pot is injurious tohealth. Having been pronounced perfectly made, the syrup was pouredinto a number of little pots, and carefully covered over with skin andleaves. We observed that the two Indians who manufactured it washedtheir hands and faces frequently. Pedro purchased several pots whichhad thus been manufactured, as the poison is an article of commercethroughout the country.

  The Indians' hut was at some distance from the shed. After supper wehung up our hammocks, and after turning into them, went to sleep.Little did we think of the fearful danger we ran that night.