The Thief at the End of the World
Page 37
57. “a noise like a kettle-drum” Ibid.
57. “perfectly bewildered” Ibid., p. 146.
58. “concoctions of feathers, chopped and tortured into abnormal forms” Asa Briggs, Victorian People (London: B. T. Batsford, 1988), p. 271, quoting “Mrs. Hawers,” the Victorian fashion critic and author of The Art of Beauty (1878), The Art of Dress (1879), and The Art of Decoration (1891).
59. “Brother mule, I cannot curse you” “Moravian Civic and Community Values,” http://moravians.org.
59. “The little chief seemed to take a great fancy to me” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes of a Journey Through the Wilderness, p. 149.
59. The first king, known only as Oldman . . . or assassinated by a “Captain Peter Le Shaw” From “Mosquitos, A Brief History,” www.4dw.net/royalark/Nicaragua/mosquito2.htm.
61. “Bowing my head, I stepped across the little trench” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes of a Journey Through the Wilderness, p. 165.
61. “lay down and rose again with the sun” Ibid., p. 164.
61. “Left alone . . . I soon found” Ibid.
61. “exceedingly difficult . . . the feathers usually fly off in a cloud” Ibid., p. 167.
61. “strong cup of tea . . . never a greater source of enjoyment than on such an occasion” Ibid., p. 165.
62. “It was a long time before I became used” Ibid., pp. 165-66.
62. “knowing that they are easily killed” Ibid., p. 166.
62. “myriads of minute cockroaches” Ibid., p. 172.
62. “was so unendurable” Ibid., pp. 172-73.
62. “much injured, as they lay helplessly in their hammocks” Ibid., p. 172.
62. “peculiar aversion to wet . . . mouthfuls of water at the head of the column” Ibid., pp. 171-72.
62. “filliped it off ” Ibid., p. 172. In the 1980s, zoologist Kenneth Miyata was collecting moths in western Ecuador when one of these ants dropped down the neck of his shirt and stung him four times. “Each sting felt as if a red hot spike was being driven in. My field of vision went red and I felt woozy.” After an hour of “burning, blinding pain,” Miyata endured a sore back and lymph nodes in his armpit so painfully swollen that he was unable to move his arm for two days. Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata, Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America (New York: Scribner’s, 1984), p. 108.
63. “I know of nothing so suggestive of reflection” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes of a Journey Through the Wilderness, p. 168.
63. “Great First Cause of all . . . broke the unusual stillness” Ibid.
63. Spaniards from Honduras Marc Edelman, “A Central American Genocide: Rubber, Slavery, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Guatusos-Malekus,” Comparative Studies in Society and History (1998), vol. 40, no. 2, p. 358.
63.Castilla elastica,the main source of latex in Nicaragua The British naturalist Thomas Belt said that the trees died after tapping because the harlequin beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) laid eggs in the cuts, and the grubs bored “great holes through the trunks.” Thomas Belt, The Naturalist in Nicaragua (London: Edward Bumpus, 1888, first published 1874), p. 34.
64. “leaving none alive to tell the tale” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 159.
64. “their decidedly light apparel” Ibid., p. 158.
64. “scrupulous honesty” Ibid., p. 217.
64. “remembering probably that I was but a stranger from some distant land of barbarism” Ibid., p. 202.
64. “I am sure if some of those who condemn Indians as a lazy race” Ibid., p. 215.
64. “Temple himself was nearly black” Ibid., p. 181.
65. “poised in psychological uncertainty . . . on the margin of each but a member of neither” Everett V. Stonequist, The Marginal Man: A Study in Personality and Culture Conflict (New York: Russell & Russell, 1961), p. 1.
65. “a contrast to the quiet of the Indian part of the encampment . . . leaving the Blewfields trader, his son, and myself alone” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, pp. 181-82.
66. “being thirsty without hunger” Ibid., p. 200.
66. “driving their covered ways” Ibid., p. 201.
66. “go with me into the interior” Ibid., p.198.
67. “they continued on their journey north” Ibid., p. 206.
67. “As it was Christmas week, he went to a dance in the evening” Ibid.
67. “disgusting process” Ibid., p. 189.
68. “just before dawn . . . I heard the crying of the women” Ibid., p. 207.
68. “and I heard the rattle of their paddles while it was yet dark” Ibid.
68. “creeping down the steep bank” Ibid.
68. “looked quite pale and complained that he felt very sick” Ibid., p. 208.
69. “wild, matted tangle of flowering vines” Ibid., p. 194.
69. “our oaks, elms, and beeches stand out” Ibid.
69. “[A]t all the other places we passed the Indians had fled” Ibid., pp. 210-211.
69. “a view of great extent and beauty” Ibid., p. 224.
70. “Temple and I saw enough to convince us” Ibid.
70. “were cooking at a stove what looked more like beefsteak” Ibid., p. 226.
70. “took me to his room . . . where a dinner of beefsteak and bread was already on the table” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 227. A good overview of the history of the Cornish miners in Latin America can be found in “The Cornish in Latin America,” www.projects.ex.ac.uk/cornishlatin/anewworldorder.htm; Alan Knight, “Britain and Latin America,” in The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth Century, Andrew Porter, ed., vol. 3 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 127.
71. “I recognized him at once” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 229.
72. “we passed Kissalala” Ibid., p. 244.
72. “The missionary standing, book in hand” Ibid., p. 262.
72. “the Moskito men were very superior in war” Ibid.
72. “I was surprised to meet one day, near Temple’s lodge” Ibid., p. 282.
73. “[T]he captain loudly deplored the falling off of the warlike spirit” Ibid., p. 284.
73. “It was a strange sight” Ibid., p. 285.
74. “The mountains behind Porto Bello looked very beautiful” Ibid.
74. “racing to and fro” Ibid.
74. “I walked along this line one day for some distance” Ibid., p. 286.
Chapter 4: The Mortal River
75. “the very rocks are robed in the deepest green” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 3.
75-76. Great Show of Singing and Talking Birds From “Canaries, Singing, and Talking Birds,” Illustrated London News, Feb. 15, 1868, www.londonancestor.com.
76. “all that many Creoles enjoyed along its banks” Alfred Jackson Hanna and Kathryn Abbey Hanna, Confederate Exiles in Venezuela (Tuscaloosa, AL: Confederate Publishing Co., 1960), p. 31.
76. only 12,978 settled in Venezuela Ibid., p. 32.
77. “the main purpose of his journey was to study the rubber trade” Edward V. Lane, “The Life and Work of Sir Henry Wickham: Part II—A Journey Through the Wilderness,” India Rubber Journal, vol. 125 (Dec. 12, 1953), p. 17.
77. “a young Englishman who accompanied me” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 4.
77. Lane called him a sailor Lane, “The Life and Work of Sir Henry Wickham: Part II—A Journey Through the Wilderness,” p. 16.
78. “self-respecting British prig” Howard Wolf and Ralph Wolf, Rubber: A Story of Glory and Greed (New York: Covici, Friede, Publishers, 1936).
78. “What a difference there is in the appearance of the boat’s crew from an English man-of-war” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 3.
78. “a very fine specimen of a West Indian soldier” Ibid., p. 4.
78. “Our little craft, about the size of a Margate lugger, was well manned” Ibid, p. 9.
78. “had traversed the Spanish main” Ibid., p. 10.
78. “One hardly expects to find such a pitch of education” Ibi
d.
78. “where the greener water of the sea” Ibid., p. 6.
79. “paddling as for dear life” Ibid., p. 7.
79. “possess the knowledge of an ointment” Ibid., p. 8.
79. “rough-paved, but clean streets” Ibid., p. 16.
80. “and a more villainous-looking collection of different types of men I think I never beheld” Ibid., p. 21.
80. “one of the last of the southern settlers who came two years before” Ibid., p. 19.
80. 8,000-10,000 former Confederates Lawrence F. Hill, “The Confederate Exodus to Latin America, Part I,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 2 (October 1935), p. 103.
81. “a gold and diamond country . . . other commercial agricultural products” Charles Willis Simmons, “Racist Americans in a Multi-Racial Society: Confederate Exiles in Brazil,” Journal of Negro History, vol. 67, no. 1, p. 35.
81. “the fingers of Manifest Destiny pointed southward” Simmons, “Racist Americans in a Multi-Racial Society: Confederate Exiles in Brazil,” p. 35.
81. “the sphere of human knowledge . . . merely incidental” John P. Harrison, “Science and Politics: Origins and Objectives of Mid-Nineteenth Century Government Expeditions to Latin America,” Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 35, no. 2 (May 1935), pp. 187-192.
81. Price Grant Frank J. Merli, “Alternative to Appomattox: A Virginian’s Vision of an Anglo-Confederate Colony on the Amazon, May 1865,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 94:2 (April 1986), p. 216; and Alfred Jackson Hanna and Kathryn Abbey Hanna, Confederate Exiles in Venezuela (Tuscaloosa, AL: Confederate Publishing Co., 1960), p. 56.
82. “was not blessed with a particularly amiable temper” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, pp. 21-22.
82. “I believe exercise is even more essential” Ibid., p. 16.
82. “A shock from an eel would send a bather” Ibid., p. 20.
83. “I cannot remember ever having received a more terrible shock” Humboldt is quoted in Anthony Smith, Explorers of the Amazon, p. 234.
83. “poor Rogers was stuck by araya” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 20.
83. “who was quite motherly to Rogers” Ibid., p. 22.
83-84. “for picking up, and caring for stray chicks of doubtful pedigree” Ibid.
84. “It was most amusing to see what pride they took in being British subjects” Ibid.
84. “fast little native-built lancha” Ibid., p. 24.
84. “I proposed exploring the Caura” Ibid.
85. “the jingling of little bells” Ibid., p. 31.
85. “There does not appear to be much actual fighting” Ibid., p. 34.
85. “a feeling of giddy faintness” Ibid., pp. 37-38.
85. “I began taking doses of quinine and drinking plentifully cream of tartar water” Wallace is quoted in Redmond O’Hanlon, In Trouble Again: A Journey Between the Orinoco and the Amazon (New York: Vintage, 1988), p. 3.
86. “to the brink of the river” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 38.
86. “good natured Barbados woman” Ibid., p. 42.
86. “did not fear as to the result” Ibid.
87. “declaring himself unwell . . . I was much disappointed” Ibid., p. 45.
87. “At this, the height of the rainy season, little or no land is to be met with” Ibid., p. 46.
87. “gave forth their peculiar mewing cry” Ibid., p. 47.
87. “[O]nce it has embraced the trunk of a forest tree” Ibid., p. 50.
88. “stands self-supported, a great tree” Ibid.
89. “They were very noisy” Ibid., p. 56.
89. “When one is unwell, it is especially unpleasant. . . . the ball drilled a hole through the body, and continued its way” Ibid., pp. 57-58.
89. “pitchy-dark” Ibid., p. 59.
89. “wanted to take me home with him” Ibid., p. 60.
90. “I managed to control my legs. . . . I did not remember anything until the fever lessened” Ibid., p. 61.
91. “myriads of fireflies sparkled like gems” Ibid., p. 67.
91. “a pair of ferocious moustaches” Ibid., p. 68.
91. “dreaded Guahibos” Ibid., p. 67.
92. “Shortly after the separation of Venezuela from the mother country” Richard Spruce is quoted in Redmond O’Hanlon, In Trouble Again: A Journey Between the Orinoco and the Amazon (New York: Vintage, 1988), p. 32.
92. “an unpleasant air of mortality” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 69.
92. “their faces being covered with black spots” Ibid.
92. “Whilst I gazed into the tomb” Ibid., p. 72.
93. “It is singular . . . that these people endeavour” Ibid., p. 77.
93. “I was sorry to see Castro bend his bright toledo” Ibid., pp. 76-77.
93. “with a stupid grin” Ibid., pp. 79-80.
93. “good-looking matron” Ibid., p. 78.
94. “It is a wonder that these simple people do not even more seclude themselves” Ibid.
95. “The air was heavy with the odour of the flowers” Ibid., p. 83.
95-96. “We found that the whole of the inhabitants had been seized by a kind of mania” Ibid., p. 88.
96. “decidedly stupid” Ibid., p. 93.
97. What exactly had he done? There are many descriptions of the work of the rubber tapper, from Richard Spruce, Henry Bates, and Alfred Wallace to contemporary commentators, but the most painstaking in his observation seems to have been Algot Lange, The Lower Amazon: A Narrative of Exploration in the Little Known Regions of the State of Para, on the Lower Amazon, etc. (New York: Putnam’s, 1914), pp. 51-60. Like Wickham, Lange collected rubber himself, so one can imagine his boredom as he turned the paddle dipped in latex and began to count the number of times he moved his shoulder and rotated his wrist as he turned the heavy rubber-spit over the smoking fire.
99. “shut out from the rest of the world” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 91.
99. “watch the cold shadows of night gradually creep up from the water” Ibid.
99. Psychologists have suggested thatplace,as a force Laura M. Fredrickson and Dorothy H. Anderson, “A Qualitative Exploration of the Wilderness Experience as a Source of Spiritual Inspiration,” Journal of Experimental Psychology 19 (1999), p. 22.
99. “elvish littleti-timonkeys.” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 94.
Chapter 5: Instruments of the Elastic God
100. “The constant irritation . . . caused my hands and feet to swell” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 92.
100. “not so painful as I had anticipated” Ibid., p. 101.
100. “the pangs of thirst he will suffer after such a gorge of salt fish” Ibid.
101. “The first time I felt them, I could not imagine what on earth” Ibid., p. 98.
101. “Edible. . . . Good to eat, and wholesome to digest” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (Toronto: Coles, 1978, first published 1881), p. 34.
102. “[E]ach time the fit of nausea returned, I became quite powerless” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 103.
102. “but the sun was too powerful . . . the remainder of my strength fast failing” Ibid., p. 104.
102. “I remember little of what passed” Ibid.
102-3. “For five days I was delirious . . . and cups of creamy coffee” Algot Lange, In the Amazon Jungle: Adventures in Remote Parts of the Upper Amazon River, Including a Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians (New York: Putnams, 1912), p. 283.
103. “the voice of the forest . . . the murmuring crowd of a large city” Ibid., pp. 283-284.
103. “I saw myself engulfed . . . a place of terror and death” Ibid., pp. 289-290.
103. “It is almost something unbelievable to those who do not know the jungle” Michael Taussig, “Culture of Terror-space of Death: Roger Casement’s Putumayo Report and the Explanation of Terror,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 26:3 (1984), p. 483, quoting P. Francisco de Vilanova, introduction to P. Francisco de Iqualada, Indios Amazonicas: Colección
Misiones Capuchinas, vol. VI (Barcelona, 1948).
104. “he found several vultures calmly awaiting his death” Edward V. Lane, “The Life and Work of Sir Henry Wickham: Part II—A Journey Through the Wilderness,” p. 18.
104. “I recollect one afternoon. . . . I think I never felt so grateful for anything” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 104.
105. “the little pale man of the forest” Ibid.
105. “the sure precursor of evil” Ibid. The tale of the vengeful spirit is also related in Claude Lévi-Strauss, The Raw and the Cooked: Introduction to a Science of Mythology, vol. 1., trans. John and Doreen Weightman (New York: Harper Colophon, 1975, first published in France as Le Cru et le Cuit, 1964, Librairie Plon), p. 264.
105. The Prayer of the Dry Toad Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques (New York: Atheneum, 1981, first published 1951), trans. John and Doreen Weightman, p. 363.
105. “In so remote a situation . . . there must be a mine of gold in that direction” Henry Wickham, Rough Notes, p. 109.
106. “unable to work for some time past” Ibid., p. 111.
106. “helplessly sick” Ibid., p. 115.
106. “on the cool and limpid water of the Black River” Ibid., p. 123.
106. “very suggestive of a return to civilization” Ibid., p. 138.
107. “Nothing has been discovered which would even be a substitute” Thomas Hancock, Personal Narrative of the Origin and Progress of the Caoutchouc or India-Rubber Manufacture in England (London: Longman, 1857), p. iii.
107. “the ultimate hard currency of exchange” “Blood for Oil?” London Review of Books, April 21, 2005, p. 12.
108. “The introduction of the invaluablecinchonasinto India” James Collins, “On India Rubber, Its History, Commerce and Supply,” Journal of the Society of Arts, vol. 18 (Dec. 17, 1869), p. 91.
109. in some cases, as high as 13.7 percent Drayton, Nature’s Government, p. 210.
109. “it was necessary to do for the india-rubber and caoutchouc-yielding trees” Clements Markham is quoted in Dean, Brazil and the Struggle for Rubber, p. 12.
109. “When it is considered that every steam vessel afloat” Clements Markham is quoted in John Loadman, Tears of the Tree: The Story of Rubber—A Modern Marvel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 83.