Across Unknown South America

CHAPTER IX

My men were extremely irritable and morose that morning, and even our dogs were most troublesome. We had had a great deal of trouble with the dogs; they were as disobedient and untrainable as the men. Nearly every morning we had to waste a considerable time in getting the animals back into the canoe. When we were ready to start they generally dashed away into the forest and the men had to go and fetch them and bring them back. That particular morning one dog—the best we had—escaped, and my men searched for more than an hour, but were unable to find him. In trying to run after him they got their feet full of thorns, and they became so enraged that they decided to abandon the dog on the island. I called him for more than half an hour, trying to save his life, but the animal refused to come. So, much to my sorrow, we had to pull out without him, and undoubtedly the poor beast eventually must have died of starvation, as there was no food whatever to be obtained in the forest on the island.

The dogs were quite amusing to watch while in the canoe, their terror when we shot rapids being quite manifest. They were an additional source of danger to us, for once or twice while shooting rapids strewn with rocks they would jump out of the canoe on to the rocks as we were shaving past them, and we lost much time on several occasions in order to rescue them. In going through the forest the poor animals had suffered much from the attacks of ants and all kinds of insects, many parasites having got inside their ears and where the skin was softer under their legs, causing terrible sores.

They never got fond of anybody, no matter how well they were treated. In fact, unlike all other dogs of any other country, they never seemed even to recognize any of us. Alcides had become the owner of the abandoned dog in a peculiar way at the beginning of our journey, when travelling with my caravan of mules. The dog was going along with a man travelling in the opposite direction to ours. Alcides, who at the time was eating some bread, whistled to the dog, and from that moment the animal left his master and came along with us.

Perhaps Brazilian dogs do not give affection because they never receive any. They were so timid that when you lifted your hand to caress them they would dash away yelling, with their tails between their legs, as if you had been about to strike them. I tried time after time to make friends with them—and I am generally quick at making friends with animals—but I gave up in despair the hope of gaining the slightest affection from those dogs.

When we came to the end of the island we found another great barrier of foliated rock extending from east to west, 500 m. across. The basin showed, moreover, three sets of giant rocks on the left side. In the north-easterly part where the river narrowed again there stood a range of hills 300 ft. high, extending from west to east, and parallel to the rocky barrier across the basin. A streamlet 3 m. wide coming from the south-west entered the Arinos from the left bank. The hill range which stood along the right bank of the river showed a rocky formation of a greyish colour right up to its summit, and was, in fact, a mere great rocky barrier with only a few trees growing in interstices which had been filled with earth and sand. The southern aspect of the range was an almost vertical wall.

The river was proceeding mostly in a westerly and north-westerly direction for long stretches of 3,500 m., 4,000 m., 2,000 m., until we came to an equilateral-triangular island, 300 m. each side—Erminia Island. A small channel not more than 20 m. across separated this from an irregularly-shaped island, 600 m. long—Niobe Island. After this came a low island of sand and gravel 5 ft. high and 300 m. long, with merely a few trees upon it, whereas the other two islands were covered with dense and most beautiful vegetation. The main channel of the river was 400 m. wide.

Araras (macaws) of great size and of a beautiful vermilion colour flew overhead, shrieking wildly at the sight of us. We began to find a great many jacarés (Caiman fissipis) or crocodiles. I saw one sleeping placidly on an islet of gravel. I landed and photographed it, subsequently waking it with a start by throwing a stone at it. My men, who were following cautiously behind me, opened a fusillade and killed it.

It was really amusing to watch the astonishment of the few animals and birds we met in that deserted part of Brazil, as none of them had seen a human being. They evidently did not know what to make of us. They generally looked with curiosity and surprise, and my men could fire shot after shot before they would attempt to run, or, if they were birds, fly away.

There were in that region some fine specimens of the cigana (Opisthocomus cristatus) and of the jacú (Penelope cristata). The cigana was beautiful to look at, with brown and yellow stripes, not unlike a pheasant, and a tuft of bright yellow feathers on the head. All of a sudden we came upon great numbers of these birds, and they supplied us with good meals.

Terrifying Rapid shot by Author and his Men in their Canoe.

There were again plenty of rubber trees in the forest, plenty of fish in the river. The climate was not too hot—merely 87° F. in the shade, 105° in the sun—the insects not too troublesome; so that it seemed to us a paradise on earth.

We had now before us a great expanse of 5,000 m. of straight river to 345° b.m., with two parallel ranges of hills extending from west to east. The second range was the higher of the two—some 600 ft., whereas the first was only 200 ft. high.

What I took to be a great river coming from 75° b.m. (N.E.), 250 m. wide, joined the Arinos from the right side; but I was puzzled whether this was not a mere arm of the Arinos. In the quick survey I was making, and with the many things which occupied my mind at every moment, the river being moreover so wide, it was impossible, single-handed, to survey everything carefully on every side. Therefore this may have been a mere arm of the Arinos which I mistook for a tributary. It was not possible for me to deviate from my course every moment to go and ascertain problematic details, but it will be quite easy for subsequent travellers to clear up this point now that attention has been drawn to it.

An island, 1,000 m. long—Olivia Island—was found at the point where the main arm of the river flowed in a direction of 345° b.m., and where to the north-west, north, and north-east, three hill ranges were before us—one 300 ft. high, extending from south-west to north-east on the left side of the river; another thickly wooded hill from west to east, also 300 ft. high; and yet another one, the highest of all, behind it from S.S.W. to N.N.E., on the right bank. The river was 350 m. wide, and its water almost stagnant.

Another barrier of rock held up the stream. We came to an island 800 m. long, 300 m. wide—Sabrina Island—on the left side of the stream, which showed a beautiful spit of white sand at its southern end.

I halted on the bank where the island began in order to take observations for latitude and longitude, and as the day was a very clear one I took forty-eight consecutive sights of the sun with the sextant. Lat. 10° 35′·1 S.; long. 58° 12′ W. While I was busy observing the sun I thought I heard curious noises in the forest just behind me. The dogs all of a sudden jumped up, barking furiously, and I heard the sounds of what seemed an escaping person dashing away through the thick growth near the stream. My men were greatly excited, saying it was an Indian who had come quite close to me, and was about to shoot an arrow while I was busy with my sextant and chronometers. All through lunch they sat with their loaded rifles next to them, in case we might be attacked.

The river now flowed in a straight line for 5,000 m. in a north-westerly direction. Half-way along was a large triangular island—Pandora Island; then farther on the left another island, 2,000 m. long—Sibyl Island.

The river was of extraordinary beauty in that region. The tall range of hills to the north-west of us showed beautiful cobalt-blue tones against the whitish and grey sky; while the dark green foliage of the trees and the yellow blooms of the Oleo pardo trees visible here and there, the immaculate white sandy beach along the water line, together with the brilliantly red and yellow rocks which stood out of the crystalline emerald water, formed indeed a beautiful scene for the painter's brush.

It did not do to be poetically inclined when travelling on the Arinos. I had hardly time to realize how beautiful that scene was when we found ourselves confronted by another big barrier of rocks, through which we went over a swift corrideira.

A basin was formed, 900 m. wide, with an extensive island of rock on the right side of it. Then we suddenly came to a terrible-looking rapid at an incline so steep that I foresaw trouble in store for us. There was no way of stopping anywhere, as the current was swiftly taking us down.

"We are lost!" shouted one man. "Jesus Maria Santissima!"

"Paddle away! paddle away, for Heaven's sake!" I shouted, as I knew that speed alone could save us from disaster.

Down went the canoe at an angle of 45° in the foaming and twisting waters of the rapid. Where the water curled right over itself the heavy canoe was lifted up in the air like a feather, and as I turned round to shout to Alcides to steer straight ahead I saw his expanded eyes looking in terror at the terrific whirlpool which was facing us at the bottom of the rapid.

"No! no!" cried Alcides.

"Straight—straight! For God's sake, straight!" shouted I; and as I saw the canoe swerve to the right I again shouted to Alcides to steer straight in order to avoid the dangerous part of the whirlpool.

Alcides would not steer straight, but steered us instead on the right for the very centre of the whirlpool. No sooner did the prow of the canoe enter the circle of the rotating water, which formed a deep concave hollow 70 or 80 m. in diameter, than, dipping her nose in the water, she was flung right up into the air, revolving on herself. Baggage and men all tumbled over, two men being thrown with terrific force clean out of the canoe. A lot of baggage disappeared into the whirlpool. The canoe, although filled with water, righted herself and spun round helplessly at an alarming speed. The impact had been so violent that the men, in tumbling over, had lost all the paddles except one.

We heard the cries of the two men in the water, and I saw them struggle in order to keep themselves afloat. I gave a sigh of relief that the two men—already a long distance from us—were, by a great stroke of luck, the only two who could swim. I urged them to have courage and we would come to their rescue, although for a moment I could not think how we should do it, as we had only one paddle left and the steering gear had got torn away from its socket, although Alcides with great courage had managed to save it. I ordered my men to paddle with their hands and with the large oar which was used for steering. We were tossed about in a terrific manner, the men and canoe going round and round the whirlpool in an absolutely helpless fashion.

Author's Men shooting a Crocodile.

What distressed me more than anything was when I saw the two men getting nearer and nearer the centre, although they made a desperate struggle to swim away from it. In our effort to get to them by using the steering oar, the canoe, for some reason or other, swung round upon herself two or three times, and I saw with gladness the men gradually getting nearer. It was a moment of joy when I saw Antonio, who was a powerful swimmer, within only a few feet of the canoe. His face was ghastly, with an expression of terror upon it. He was quite exhausted, and was shouting pitifully for help. The man X was a few yards farther off.

The canoe suddenly swung round, going right against Antonio, who grasped the side of the boat and proceeded in such haste to climb on board that he came within an ace of capsizing her. A few moments later we were alongside of X, but he was so exhausted that he had not the strength to climb up. We seized him and with great difficulty lifted him inside the canoe.

We continued to go round and round the vortex in a helpless fashion, endeavouring with the steering oar to get out of that perilous position. As I gazed around I saw my camp bed and bedding, which were enclosed in a water-tight canvas bag, still floating close to the centre of the whirlpool. Alas! a moment later they were sucked down. Most of our cooking utensils which were loose in the canoe had been washed overboard. Two of our casseroles were floating gracefully in a circle round the whirlpool.

It is curious how people's mentality will work on such occasions. After we had been some minutes endeavouring to get away from the centre of the whirlpool, one of my men, who had recovered from the fright, saw the cooking pans, which were about to disappear. His first impulse was to shout that we must go and get them!

It was with some relief that we were able to extricate ourselves, and eventually reached the outer edge of the whirlpool, where the water changed direction, and the canoe was swung violently, entering a patch of comparatively placid water. Paddling with our hands we slowly reached the bank, and nearly an hour later—it having taken us all that time to go about 150 m.—we baled the water out of the canoe and proceeded to examine the amount of our loss.

Nearly all the cooking utensils, as I have said, had disappeared; two boxes of tinned provisions had gone overboard and were lost for ever; a bag of flour and a bag of rice had vanished in those terrible waters; a package containing a great part of my clothes had also gone for ever, as well as some of the clothing of my men. What was worse than all for me, my camp-bed and all my bedding were lost, which would compel me in the future to sleep either on the ground—which was practically impossible in that region owing to the number of ants and other insects—or else do as I did, sleep on four wooden packing-boxes, which I placed in a line. They made a most uneven and hard bed, as I had, of course, no mattress and no covering of any kind. A despatch-box, with some money, a lot of important official letters and other documents, were lost, and also my mercurial artificial horizon and one of my chronometers. A number of other things of less importance were also gone and quite beyond recovery.

We worked hard all that afternoon and the greater part of the night in shaping new paddles out of trees we had cut down with the axes, which were fortunately not lost. The new paddles were even more primitive and clumsy than those we had before.

We dried what remained of our baggage in the sun during the afternoon. The beautiful sandy beach on which we had landed looked very gay with all the articles I had spread out from some of my trunks, including a dress-suit which I hung on a young palm, and other such articles, which looked rather incongruous in that particular region. All the white linen clothes I possessed had gone, and there only remained some good serge clothes which I had kept for my arrival in civilized places again. My water-tight boxes had been knocked about so much that they had got injured and let in a good deal of moisture.

One of my valuable cameras was badly damaged in the accident, and one of my sextants was soaked to such an extent that it took me the best part of two hours to clean it all up again. I saved the negatives which were in the damaged camera by developing them at once during the night while they were still wet.

My men were greatly excited over the accident, especially the two who had fallen into the water. In a way I was glad it had happened, as I was in hopes it might be a good lesson to them and they might be a little more careful in the future. Had Alcides obeyed my orders we should have gone through safely. I pointed that out to him, but it was no use; even then he maintained that in order to be safe you must steer right into the whirlpool and not out of it—which really made me begin to feel rather nervous, as I fully expected, as we went along, to find worse rapids than those we had negotiated so far, since we still had to get down from 1,000 ft. or so to the sea level.

We halted for the remainder of the day. I spent a miserable night sleeping on the packing-boxes, now that my bed had gone for ever. I did not deserve that bit of ill-luck, for indeed my camp-bed was the only thing I possessed which gave me a little comfort. After working hard all day and the greater part of the night, a few hours spent lying down flat on the stretched canvas of the bed were most enjoyable; although never, throughout the entire journey, was I able to sleep soundly, as I always had to be on the alert, never knowing what might happen.

A Cataract in the River Arinos.

Author's Canoe among Great Volcanic Rocks.

The night of July 22nd was fairly cool, the minimum temperature being 58° F. When we proceeded on our journey in the morning we passed an island 1,500 m. long—Arabella Island. The river was now flowing due west. Again we came upon rocks in the centre and upon the right side of the river, with a strong corrideira and with dangerous submerged rocks close to the surface. There was an islet 150 m. long on the right side in a basin 500 m. broad. A hill 100 ft. high stood on the left side of the stream, while a hill range 300 ft. high was now visible to the W.N.W.

We had little time to admire the beautiful scenery, for we soon found ourselves upon another great barrier with a terrible-looking rapid. I asked my men if they preferred to shoot it, as the exertion of loading and unloading the canoe was certainly heavy.

"No, no, no, no!" they all cried in a chorus.

We therefore unloaded the canoe, and with considerable trouble and waste of time we led her down the rapid by means of ropes. Even led in that fashion with the greatest care, the canoe was entirely filled with water.

Islets of rock of considerable beauty rose from the river on the right-hand side. As we got a little way farther, slightly more to the north-west, another hill range, perhaps a little higher than the one we had already observed, began to disclose itself to the north-west, on the right side of the river. As we advanced I further ascertained that the first range extended in a general direction from south-west to north-east. The river had actually eroded its way through this range. Strong rapids were again met with at that point, the channel being strewn with innumerable sharp-edged rocks, most unpleasant if you were to come in contact with them.

A small islet with a picturesque spur of rock on the north side was here seen; then a larger island, 300 m. long—Evelina Island—also on the left side. The river flowed for 3,000 m. in a N.N.W. direction, and at the end of that distance a rectangular island, 200 m. long and 80 m. wide—Eileen Island—embellished it. Like most of the islands in that particular portion of the river it had a beautiful spur of rock on its eastern side, preceded by a little islet also of rock. We passed to the left of this island. It was separated by a channel 80 m. wide from another narrow island, 200 m. to the west of it—Diana Island.

Just before getting to a third range extending from south-west to north-east, and, like the other two, about 300 ft. high, we came upon a long barrier of rock spreading diagonally for about 1,000 m. from south-west to north-east. A long narrow island (200 m. long)—Bertha Island—began from that point close to the right bank, and another had been separated by the water from the bank itself. A tributary 2 m. wide was observed on the left side. We kept close to the left bank and passed on our right an island 300 m. long—Sophia Island.

So numerous were the islands following one another that I was beginning to have great difficulty in supplying sufficient names for them all.

More rapids were reached, and were of terrific force—especially in the centre of the river. It took me some little time to find a suitable passage, but at last I found a channel 25 m. wide through which I got the canoe among innumerable rocks. We went over a great filare—by which word the Italians cleverly define an extensive alignment in the stratum—of rock of extreme hardness which had evidently been fractured in some violent commotion of the earth, and had left sharp edges which cut just like knives close to the surface of the water. This rocky obstacle extended as usual from south-east to north-west.

A tiny streamlet entered the river on the left not far from the hill range on that same side. The trees in that particular region had a most peculiar appearance: their high, perfectly straight stems, quite free from branches or leaves up to their very summit, looked like so many columns, mostly of a whitish colour. Many, however, were encircled, others absolutely smothered with creepers. The scenery was really beautiful; it was like travelling through fairyland.

In the centre of the basin 400 m. wide to which we next came was an island, 80 m. in diameter—Gingillo Island—and to the south-west of it a small islet with an extensive beach and accumulation of rocks in a northerly direction. On the southern side of the river a sand beach, interspersed with rocks, spread almost across, as far as the latter island.

I took 55 astronomical sights in order to get the exact latitude and longitude (lat. 10° 30′·7 S.; long. 58° 19′ W.), and to check the time of the second chronometer, which still remained in my possession. We had made poor progress that day as far as the distance went—only 17 kil. 100 m.

We had come to some nasty rapids, which at first looked quite impassable by water, some of the waves shooting up so high in the air as to make it out of the question for any canoe to go through.

There was another extensive filare of rock, so beautifully polished that it looked almost as if it had been varnished over. It was evidently an ancient flow of lava, with great holes in it here and there. The flow spread from south-west to north-east, was of a brilliant shining yellow, and most beautiful to look at.

I had to make my camp on the rocks near this rapid, where we unloaded the canoe in order to take her down by means of ropes by the eastern channel—very narrow and very unpleasant, but it was the only one possible. It was all we could do to hold the canoe as she tobogganed down the incline, and we had some nasty falls on the slippery rock trying to hold her.

We had a dangerous bit of work to do the moment we had descended the rapid, for we had then to navigate the canoe right across the basin, where whirlpools of some magnitude were formed, directly over a waterfall of some height and pouring down great volumes of water with a terrific roar on the north-east side of the basin; then along the really terrifying rapid on the south-west side. It was necessary to do that, as I had observed that it was only on the opposite side of the river that we could possibly take the canoe down, and no other course was open to us than to go across that dangerous spot.

We had to be smart about it, or we certainly should have perished. My men behaved splendidly. We had reloaded the canoe. The quarter of an hour or so which it took us to cross that basin was somewhat exciting, as we struggled through the various whirlpools, the current all the time dragging us closer and closer to the waterfall, while my men were paddling with all their might and Alcides was steering right against the current in order to prevent the fatal leap.

I urged the men on, and they paddled and paddled away, their eyes fixed on the fall which was by that time only a few metres away from us. They were exhausted in the frantic effort, and their paddles seemed to have no effect in propelling the canoe. The men, who were always talkative, were now silent; only the man X exclaimed, as we were only eight or ten metres from the fall: "Good-bye, father and mother! I shall never see you again!" The other men gave a ghastly grin.

Preparing to descend a Rapid.

A Cataract in the Arinos River.

"Go on! Row! row!—For God's sake row!" I shouted to them, as I saw they had given themselves up for lost. "Row!" I shouted once more; and as if the strength had suddenly come back to them they made a frantic effort. The canoe went a little faster for a minute or two—just enough for us to clear the waterfall and to drift alongside some rocks which stood in the centre of the stream. We were saved.

My men were so exhausted that we had to rest there for some time before we could proceed to cross the dreadful rapid down the other portion of the barrier.

I was glad we had had that experience, because it showed me that after all it was possible to make brave men of men who were absolutely pusillanimous before. When I mentioned that we still had to go over the other dangerous part, they said, much to my delight:

"We are Brazilians—we are afraid of nothing! We will come with you." And what is more, they did.

They smoked a few cigarettes. I had always supplied them with ample tobacco in order to keep them in a good temper. Then when I gave the order to start they jumped gaily into the canoe, shouting again:

"We are Brazilians! We are afraid of nothing!"

So we began negotiating the second portion of that nasty crossing. There is nothing I admire more than courage. My men went up in my estimation that day at least a hundred per cent.

The second part of our crossing was just as dangerous as the first part—perhaps more so. The men, however, behaved splendidly, and rowed with such vigour that we got through safely and quickly above the most difficult portion, and eventually landed upon a mass of rocks on the opposite side of the stream.

There we had a busy time, as we had once more to unload the canoe, cut a way through the forest in order to convey the baggage overland to a spot about half a mile farther down stream; then we had to come back to take the canoe by means of ropes down the rapid itself.

It was necessary for one of us to be inside the canoe in order to steer her while being led down. Alcides, who was indeed an extraordinarily brave man, would not hand over his job to anybody else, and insisted on being allowed to steer the canoe. It was with great reluctance that I allowed him, as he could not swim. When we proceeded to let the canoe down by the small western channel, the foaming waters and high waves rolling back upon themselves with great force were most troublesome to negotiate. The canoe was repeatedly lifted right out of the water, and gave us holding the ropes such violent jerks that we were flung in all directions. When I got up again, still holding on to the rope, Alcides had disappeared. He had been pitched clean out of the canoe. Fortunately, a moment later I saw that he was clinging to the steering gear, which we had made extra fast in order that it might stand the great strain.

We managed to pull the canoe and Alcides close to the rocks. Eventually we all had to go into the water up to our necks and lead the canoe by hand with the greatest care in the swift current for the remaining distance. Once or twice we were nearly overpowered by the current, and we were glad when, nearly two hours later, our job was finished, and, absolutely exhausted, we made camp for the night on the rocks.

The men were so excited that during the entire night they sat up commenting on the experience of the day. Their remarks were quite amusing, especially their imitations of the rush of the water, the bumping of the canoe, and Alcides' sudden disappearance and narrow escape from drowning.

The waterfall and rapids spread across the river at that spot for some 650 m. During the night of July 24th the thermometer showed a minimum temperature of 62° F.

I noticed a small streamlet 1 m. wide on the left bank, and to the W.S.W. a conical hill rising over a gently sloping undulating range 350 ft. above the river level—that is to say, about 1,400 ft. above the sea level.

A strong wind sprang up, which caught us sideways and produced such high waves breaking over the canoe, and so severe a motion, that my men became ill. We had to stop, until the wind abated, on a small charming island. As we were approaching the island Alcides sent us right over a rock which was sticking some 2 ft. above water. The bottom of the canoe was so scraped in the violent collision that a good deal of the stuffing with which we had filled the longitudinal crack was torn off, and she quickly filled with water. When we halted more garments had to be destroyed in order to fill up the aperture to the best of our ability.

When the storm was over we continued our journey, going over some rapids in quite a novel way. The men were quarrelling among themselves and had stopped paddling, the paddles being waved in the air in a threatening way as they spoke violently to one another. Alcides had also left the steering gear, and in his fury against the other men had seized his rifle in order to give force to his words. We were approaching the rapid. I advised them to continue their quarrel after we had gone through, but they would not listen to me. The prow of the canoe, just as we were about to enter the rapid, was caught in a rock, and the canoe swung right round, so that we shot the rapid floating down stern first. We shipped a lot of water, the refreshing bath somewhat cooling the excitement of my men, who, realizing the danger when we entered the whirlpool, took to paddling again.

I discovered from their conversation during the night that my men were imbued with the idea that I had a guardian angel attending my person, and that no matter what happened while they were with me they would have no mishap.

The river gradually turned northwards again. I noticed on the right side a hill-range 350 ft. high, extending from south-west to north-east.

The wind came up again, tossing the canoe about considerably. My men once more became seasick owing to the rolling. The new paddles we had made from fresh wood after our accident in the rapids did not prove much of a success, the wood splitting badly. We had to keep the various pieces together by tying them with string. I could not help laughing when I looked at my men paddling. One paddle had a quadrangular blade; another formed an elongated oval; a third had originally been circular but was then reduced to the shape of a half-moon, the other half having been washed away.

Lake formed where the Arinos and Juruena Rivers meet.

Going through a Rapid.

For 4,000 m. the river had flowed due west, then it turned to 310° b.m. Two large islands in succession—one 400 m. long and 350 m. wide—Pericles Island; the second of an equal width to the first, and 700 m. long—Aspasia Island—were seen.

A high wind from the north-east and east continued the entire day, and broke into occasional severe gusts that were most troublesome to us. Heavy rain-clouds hung over our heads. My men felt cold and shivery and quite miserable in the choppy waters, which made them extremely ill. Their faces were green and yellow, their eyes had a pitiful expression in them. They looked as if they were all being led to execution. The temperature of the atmosphere was only 75° F.

Shortly before sunset, after a beautiful stretch of river of 4,000 m. to 335° b.m. (N.N.W.), followed by one of 4,000 m. 5° farther to the north, we came to an immense basin—a regular lake—4,000 m. long, 1,500 m. wide, with two lovely islands in its northerly part. It was there that the great River Juruena, coming from the south-west, joined the Arinos. We had the greatest difficulty in crossing the big, deep lake, because of the high wind which was blowing at the time. The waves were high and caught us on one side; the rolling was so heavy that on many occasions we shipped a great deal of water and nearly capsized. When we got into the centre of the lake the wind increased in fury. My men were very ill and much scared—for we had a great expanse of water on all sides and we could not bale the water out of the canoe fast enough, so quickly was she filling. I urged on the men all the time and took an extra paddle myself to encourage them. We made slow progress, the men suffering greatly. I had to wait for their convenience every few moments when they were badly indisposed.

We tossed about for the best part of two hours, until at last we reached the opposite side of the lake. In a hurry to land, Alcides threw the canoe over some rocks on which the water was breaking with fury. However, the water was shallow at that point. We jumped out, and eventually, trembling with cold, we beached the canoe on a most beautiful island, where we made our camp for the night.

CHAPTER X

It was my intention to take soundings right across the mouth of the Arinos and also across the mouth of the Juruena, but unluckily, owing to the strong easterly wind which prevailed that day, it was quite impossible for me to attempt such a task at the mouth of the Arinos, and equally impossible was it to proceed back across the lake to the mouth of the Juruena to measure the volume of water which came out of that river. Without any attempt at mathematical accuracy I should say that the two rivers carried an almost equal volume of water.

Where we landed there were two separate islands, one of which I named after my sister—the Elfrida Landor Island; the other one, next to it, I named Francesco Island. The Elfrida Landor Island—really most beautiful to look at—was 800 m. long; Francesco Island was 1,200 m. in length but not quite so broad.

There was a most picturesque channel 200 m. wide, with marvellous rocks forming a barrier across it, on the right side of the river, between Francesco Island and the right bank. The main part of the stream, however, flowed in a much larger channel between the left bank and Elfrida Landor Island.

The joint Arinos-Juruena River had now a total width of 500 m., and flowed in a direction of 15° bearings magnetic. I took accurate observations with the hypsometrical apparatus in order to determine the exact elevation of that important spot: water boiled at the junction of the Juruena and Arinos at 210°·4¾, while the temperature of the air was 70° F.; in other words the elevation of the place was 987 ft. above the sea level.

Author's Canoe going down a Cataract.

I also took observations there for latitude and longitude. Lat. 10° 21′·7 S.; long. 58° 35′ W. The Juruena entered the lake from bearings magnetic 250° (W.S.W.), the Arinos from bearings magnetic 100° (E.S.E.). The minimum temperature during the night on Elfrida Island was 57° F. My men suffered a great deal from the cold, as they had got badly chilled with the wet and the high wind during the day. Most of them complained of severe rheumatic pains and violent toothache. They could not understand why I did not have any pains of any kind—and to tell the truth, neither could I, after all we had gone through of late.

When we left Elfrida Landor Island on July 25th we had a beautiful stretch of river 4,000 m. long in a straight line, but with a good many rocks strewn in the channel. The men paddled unwillingly, as they said they were aching all over; but the current was strong and we were going along fairly quickly. My men said that we must now have come to the end of all the rapids. I did not care to disillusion them, although I suspected that we still had hard days in store. We had not proceeded very far when a rumbling noise warned us that we were approaching danger. There was a rapid on the east side of the river, but it left a fairly easy passage on the west. A little farther, however, we came to a very bad rapid, and had to unload the canoe, which we were obliged to let down carefully with ropes. My men, who felt feverish and irritable, owing to our previous day's experience, were greatly upset at this new obstacle facing us.

The river was 500 m. wide at this part. The rocks on which we trod when we took the canoe down were so sharp that they cut our feet. It was not possible to wear shoes, as when we had them on we slipped on the rock and had no hold upon the ropes. My men, in their state of weakness, had not sufficient strength to hold the canoe, and the moment she entered the swift current she escaped, dragging one man into the rapid. I jumped into the water after him, and just managed to grab him before he was swept away altogether in the terrific current. We were all drenched, and as the wind blew with great violence that day, and there was no sun to warm us up, we felt the cold very much.

The canoe was thrown mercilessly now against one rock, then against another; but, as luck would have it, after she had made several pirouettes, we, running all the time with our bleeding feet on the sharp rocks along the bank, were eventually able to recapture her at the end of the rapid. Then came the job of going back to fetch all the baggage and bring it down, baling the water out of the canoe, and starting off once more.

My men were tired; they said they could stand the work no more, and they wanted to remain there and die. It took much persuasion to make them come on. I succeeded principally by giving them a good example, carrying down most of the loads that day myself from the upper end of the rapid to the lower—a distance of several hundred metres. I was getting tired, too, of carrying the heavy loads, but I never let my men see it; that would have been fatal.

The river was divided into two channels by a group of islands which must at one time have been one great triangular one, subsequently worn by parallel and transverse channels into seven islands. The first, most southerly, was 300 m. broad, 150 m. long, and of a triangular shape. The three immediately behind this, and of irregular shapes, had an average length of some 700 m.; whereas the last group of three, all of elongated shapes, had a length of 300 m. each. I was getting to the end of the list of names for all those islands, and I was at a loss to find seven names all of a sudden, so I called the group the Seven Sisters Islands. At the end of the group the river narrowed to 400 m. in width between a long island to the west and the right bank, and flowed due north for 12,000 m. in a direct line—indeed a most beautiful sight. Fifteen hundred metres down that distance a great barrier of columnar or cylindrical rocks stuck out of the water from W.S.W. to E.N.E. North of those rocks on the left side, upon the island, not less than 5,000 m. long—Lunghissima Island—was a beautiful yellow sand beach 200 m. long, which formed a separate islet with trees upon its northerly half. Numerous rocks obstructed the east side (right) of the river.

Farther on, another lovely sandy islet 100 m. long had formed behind a number of rocks, and was of a clean, beautiful yellowish white, with a few shrubs and trees growing upon it. All those sand beaches were extremely interesting to me. I invariably landed upon them. I had made a wonderful collection of all the minute plants and delightful miniature flowers which grew upon these beaches—an immense variety, indeed, but of such small dimensions and of such delicate tints that it required sometimes a great strain of eyesight to see them at all. Some were really most beautiful. I spent a good deal of time and patience in collecting, pressing, and classifying those dainty little sand-plants, and I was beginning to flatter myself that I had formed a complete collection.

At the spot where Lunghissima Island came to an end a large triangular island was to be seen on the left of us. A great barrier of rocks stretched across the stream, a prominent cluster of picturesque boulders forming a powerful spur which cut the current at the southern part of the triangle of land.

Although the thermometer marked 93° in the sun my men complained of the intense cold, partly because they all had fever, partly also because the wind was extremely strong that day and caused waves of some size in the stream, which dashed against the canoe and splashed us all over. Again my men were seasick that day, and got furious with me as I could not help laughing at their plight.

With a slight deviation of 20° to the west came another stretch of 4,000 m. in a straight line. A two-humped range of hills now loomed before us to the north-west. We had gone along the side of another elongated island 8,000 metres in length—Yolanda Island. When we came to the end of this great island, two other islands parallel to each other were disclosed to the west of us, one 1,000 m. long—Carmela Island—the other 600 m.—Stella Island. The first had a pretty island 300 m. long—Hilda Island—next to it on the east side. We halted at the end of Yolanda Island and there took observations for latitude and longitude, thirty-one consecutive sights of the sun being taken. Lat. 10° 13′·3 S; long. 58° 35′ W.

The Immense Waves encountered by Author in emerging from the Channel in the Rapid of the Inferno.

(The canoe with its occupants shot up vertically in the air.)

When we resumed our journey four more islets were visible and a barrier of rock from north-west to south-east again stretching right across the stream. Just beyond lay Romola Island, 1,200 m. long and equally broad. At the end of the island we found a channel 100 m. wide, separating it from two neighbours on the east; in fact, much to my dismay, we found ourselves in a regular maze of islands and rocks, and my time was fully employed keeping an account of and measuring them.

A crescent-shaped island—Urania Island—1,000 m. in length, with most wonderful vegetation upon it, was now on our left. That region was extraordinarily rich in rubber. The channel which we had followed was strewn all over with rocks. Another island, 400 m. long—Caterina Island—followed. The current in the Arinos-Juruena River had a speed of 80 m. a minute. The river in places where no islands lay had a width of 200 m. The water was most beautifully clear, of a lovely emerald green, with a wonderful white sand bottom clearly visible although the river had considerable depth in many places. Yet another island, 600 m. long—Una Island—came in sight to the right of us; then another between two companions, forming almost a circle round the central isle. The river now formed a basin not less than 800 m. wide with innumerable rocks at the entrance. We went on kilometre after kilometre, spending our time in avoiding unpleasant rocks, when again we came first to fairly strong rapids, then to an extremely dangerous rapid, which we shot, as we were carried away into it before we had time to realize where we were. We had the greatest difficulty in extricating ourselves from the many terrifying whirlpools at the end of the rapid, in a great basin 900 m. wide. We found a most beautiful halting place on a natural terrace of volcanic rock some 20 ft. above the river, with a dome of rock in the centre.

I met signs of Indians close to the river. Evidently a tribe had once halted there, but apparently many years before our arrival. I discovered their fireplaces, several carved pieces of wood, and some fragments of rudimentary pottery in the neighbourhood of this picturesque spot. In exploring round the place I also found some almost entirely obliterated indications of several ancient trails which had been made by the Indians in the forest.

Looking toward bearings magnetic 340°, and also in the opposite direction to the south, most gorgeous river scenes were before us. This was by far the most beautiful spot I had come across on the river so far. I therefore named the huge island on which I stood George Rex Island. I gave Alcides orders to carve the name on a tree, but as he was an anarchist he refused to do it, excusing himself by saying that he had injured his hand.

At that camp we caught over 400 lb. of fish in less than half an hour—three jahus among the number, each weighing over 40 lb. Then we also captured two cachorra or dog fish, which possessed vicious-looking molars of great length, not unlike those of a big dog. Each of these fish weighed over 30 lb. Then we got eight trahiras, some 20 lb. each in weight. With the little salt which remained we preserved some of the fish, as we were now getting very short of food. However, we had excellent meals most of the time on the river, frying the fish with fat which we extracted from the fish itself.

During the night of July 26th we had a minimum temperature of 55° F., but as we had had plenty to eat the previous evening—in fact, too much—we did not feel the cold quite so severely.

Ariranhas in large families were plentiful near that spot, and came close several times, grinding their teeth at us, especially when we were slaughtering the fish on the bank. We kept watch during the entire night, as on that occasion they were truly vicious. Our dogs, for a change, became quite sportive. One of them, named Negrino, got furious with the ariranhas, and, driven mad by their unmusical noises, actually jumped into the stream to go to their attack. In a moment he had quantities of ariranhas upon him, and was bitten savagely, one ear being nearly torn off. He endeavoured to beat a retreat, but by that time he was in mid-stream and struggling for dear life against his enemies. We put out in the canoe at once and went to his rescue, eventually getting him on board in an exhausted condition, and bleeding terribly all over.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast of boiled and fried fish before leaving camp at 9 o'clock in the morning. We were sorry to leave the beautiful camp—the best we had had since we had been on the River Arinos. There were before us two great channels. The one flowing east was the larger of the two, fully 400 m. wide and 3,000 m. long in a straight line. As we were paddling along we passed on our left a triangular island the southern side of which was 2,000 m. long, the south-east side 500 m.—Angela Island.

Where the river deviated to 30° b.m. a perfectly straight stretch of 8,000 m. was before us—a most beautiful sight. Two parallel islands, only 50 m. wide, one 400 m. the other 300 m. long, were on the right of us, in the part of the river where George Rex Island, which was still to the right of us, described a graceful semicircle. Fifteen hundred metres farther down George Rex Island came to an end with a beautiful spit of sand 200 m. long. Just beyond, still on our right, another island, 400 m. long—Rosalinda Island—was passed, also with a lovely spit of sand 200 m. in extent. The river at this place had a total width of 500 m. At a point 5,000 m. down the straight stretch due east we came to three parallel elongated islands, two of them 300 m. long, the third 1,000 m. in length, all three on the right of us as we floated down. A barrier of rocks extended right across the stream from north-west to south-east, at a spot where on our left side, at b.m. 330°, a hill range extended northwards. With a slight deviation of 10° eastward (40° b.m.) another beautiful stretch of 6,000 m. was before us. More islands, more clusters of picturesque rocks were passed. First came a group of two islands, the larger 350 m. long—Vanessa Island; then a beautiful clean sand-spit 150 m. long, almost in mid-stream, preceded a group of three parallel islands—Philomela Island, 400 m. long, Portia Island, 300 m. and Psyche Island, 4,500 m. Beyond these were two more islands, one triangular in shape in the centre of the stream—Rhea Island—some 250 m. long, with a strong corrideira at its north-easterly terminus.

A Giant Sucurí Snake with Entire Deer contained in its Digestive Organs.

A most gorgeous sand-bank of great length now lay on our left, while on the right we had two small islets, one 100 m. long, another, beyond it, 500 m. long. A tributary entered the Arinos-Juruena at that spot on the right side. Where the river turned again due east for 3,000 m., another set of parallel islands with a chain of hills beyond them on the right bank was to be seen. The hill range extended from north-west to south-east. All these ranges, with a backbone of rock underneath, formed, as it were, the ribs which held up the central plateau of Brazil. We were now in a region of wonderful accumulations of sand; nearly all the islands showed a sand-spit of great length on the up-stream side. Great islands occurred once more: Paulina Island, 2,500 m. long, on our left; another, 200 m. long—Olivia Island—on our right; and a third—Clara Island—just beyond it. A long tail of rocks followed, and the channel was strewn with dangerous rocks where the river had cut its way through the range of hills.

What must have been formerly an immense island which had become cut up into three was now on the left of us as we followed the central channel in an easterly direction. The first of these was comparatively small; the next—Tristan Island—was 1,500 m. long; the third—Isolda Island—1,000 m. long. All were of extraordinary beauty. Rubber trees were to be seen, but not in such great numbers as we had found farther up the stream. Evidently the soil was somewhat too rocky and not sufficiently moist for their healthy growth.

From due east the river suddenly turned to due north, diverted by the great rib of rock which had formerly made part of the hill range we had now on our right. We had a good deal of trouble here, as difficult rapids were encountered, and sharp, cutting rocks, collision with which would have been fatal for us. Our canoe, after the many bumps we had already experienced, gave alarming signs that she might split in two longitudinally at any moment. For 5,000 m. the river flowed in a northerly direction. Great domes of granite and immense boulders were scattered near the left bank, and rocks of all sizes and shapes emerged from the water all over the basin, which was 600 m. across. Another barrier of rock stretched from north-east to south-east and formed a high drop in the river. We had to unload the canoe once more upon some rocks in mid-stream, then let her gently down the step of foaming waters by ropes. We were then in a magnificent basin 1,000 m. wide, with a great cluster of impressive rocks on the right side, in front of two enchantingly beautiful islands—Melisande Island, 400 m. long, Pelleas Island, 700 m. long—on the left.

Whenever I was gazing enraptured at the heavenly scenery Alcides always managed to send the canoe on to some rock, which quickly brought me back, not to earth but to water. His principle in life was always to do the worst thing and then you knew that nothing worse could happen—a topsy-turvy philosophy for which we all had to suffer. Emerging from the basin, we had two channels before us, one to the N.N.E., the other N.N.W. Gigantic palm trees such as we had seen along the River Arinos were now to be seen all along the banks of the river. We saw in the water not far from us a large sucuriú snake (Eunictes murinus), fully 6 in. in diameter. It peeped its head out of the water to gaze curiously into our canoe, and caused some excitement among my men.

Another immense barrier of rocks with most troublesome rapids extended from south-west to north-east right across the stream. That seemed a great place for snakes, especially in the narrow and tortuous channel which we followed, between a great island—Victor Emmanuel Island—and the left bank. We were going along fairly gaily when I saw a huge snake—another sucuriú—floating upon the water among the foliage and branches of a fallen tree. The section of the body which I could perceive measured fully 2½ ft. in diameter, and I must say that for one moment—we were only about 20 ft. away from it—I was somewhat surprised, as my quickly calculating mind constructed in my imagination a snake at least 100 ft. long. My men immediately took to their rifles, and were about to open a fusillade, but I stopped them, not caring to disturb the sleep of so gigantic a reptile. It was with some relief that, as the canoe floated quietly a little farther, I perceived the head of the snake resting gracefully in a sound slumber upon a branch of the tree out of the water. The head was of more normal proportions. We landed a little distance away as quietly as possible, my men trembling all over with excitement and fear in case the reptile should wake up. Then all together they opened a fusillade until a bullet actually struck the snake and it wriggled about. There was a stampede of all my men through the foliage and plants which grew along the stream. The snake was dead. When they had made quite sure that life was extinct my men returned and pulled the snake out of the water. Although the section we had seen floating was so big, the rest of the body was not more than 4 in. in diameter. The snake had eaten an entire veado (deer), and that was the cause of the great swelling of the central part of its body. The shape of the devoured animal could be seen plainly inside it. The photograph of the reptile which I took is given in one of the illustrations of this book. The light was not good for photographic purposes, as it was late in the afternoon and the snake, which after all was only 18 ft. 5 in. long, lay under the shadow of the foliage, which made photography rather difficult. As I was trying to get a second photograph my men proceeded with their knives to open the snake and see what was inside. The terrific odour which ensued when they did so made us violently ill, causing desperate vomiting. I have seen it stated, in some books which have been published about South America, that snakes of incredible length are believed to exist on that continent. Undoubtedly the notion has been suggested by the fact that inexperienced travellers have seen immensely broad traces of snakes along the soft ground near rivers. Measuring the diameter of those trails they came to the conclusion that the snake was 80 to 100 ft. long, and without taking further trouble to ascertain they stated they had actually seen a snake of that length. Whereas, as a matter of fact, as in the case I have described, the immense diameter of the snake was merely in the section which enclosed some big animal which had been swallowed.

An Easy Rapid.

Going through a Narrow Channel.

CHAPTER XI