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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Amazon Jungle, by Algot Lange
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In The Amazon Jungle
+       Adventures In Remote Parts Of The Upper Amazon River, Including A
+       Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians
+       
+
+Author: Algot Lange
+
+Release Date: February 4, 2005 [EBook #14898]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE AMAZON JUNGLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jeroen Hellingman & the PG Distributed Proofreaders Team
+
+
+
+
+
+                      In the Amazon Jungle
+
+               Adventures in Remote Parts of the
+                Upper Amazon River, Including a
+                 Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians
+
+                              By
+
+                          Algot Lange
+
+               Edited in Part by J. Odell Hauser
+
+        With an Introduction by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              To
+
+                         The Memory of
+
+                           My Father
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+When Mr. Algot Lange told me he was going to the headwaters of the
+Amazon, I was particularly interested because once, years ago, I had
+turned my own mind in that direction with considerable longing. I knew
+he would encounter many set-backs, but I never would have predicted
+the adventures he actually passed through alive.
+
+He started in fine spirits: buoyant, strong, vigorous. When I saw
+him again in New York, a year or so later, on his return, he was
+an emaciated fever-wreck, placing one foot before the other only
+with much exertion and indeed barely able to hold himself erect. A
+few weeks in the hospital, followed by a daily diet of quinine,
+improved his condition, but after months he had scarcely arrived at
+his previous excellent physical state.
+
+Many explorers have had experiences similar to those related in
+this volume, but, at least so far as the fever and the cannibals
+are concerned, they have seldom survived to tell of them. Their
+interviews with cannibals have been generally too painfully confined
+to internal affairs to be available in this world for authorship,
+whereas Mr. Lange, happily, avoided not only a calamitous intimacy,
+but was even permitted to view the culinary preparations relating to
+the absorption of less favoured individuals, and himself could have
+joined the feast, had he possessed the stomach for it.
+
+These good friends of his, the Mangeromas, conserved his life when
+they found him almost dying, not, strange as it may appear, for
+selfish banqueting purposes, but merely that he might return to his
+own people. It seems rather paradoxical that they should have loved
+one stranger so well as to spare him with suspicious kindness, and
+love others to the extent of making them into table delicacies. The
+explanation probably is that these Mangeromas were the reverse of
+a certain foreign youth with only a small stock of English, who, on
+being offered in New York a fruit he had never seen before, replied,
+"Thank you, I eat only my acquaintances"--the Mangeromas eat only
+their enemies.
+
+Mr. Lange's account of his stay with these people, of their weapons,
+habits, form of battle, and method of cooking the human captives,
+etc., forms one of the specially interesting parts of the book, and
+is at the same time a valuable contribution to the ethnology of the
+western Amazon (or Marañon) region, where dwell numerous similar tribes
+little known to the white man. Particularly notable is his description
+of the wonderful wourahli (urari) poison, its extraordinary effect,
+and the _modus operandi_ of its making; a poison used extensively
+by Amazonian tribes but not made by all. He describes also the
+bows and arrows, the war-clubs, and the very scientific weapon, the
+blow-gun. He was fortunate in securing a photograph of a Mangeroma in
+the act of shooting this gun. Special skill, of course, is necessary
+for the effective use of this simple but terrible arm, and, like that
+required for the boomerang or lasso, practice begins with childhood.
+
+The region of Mr. Lange's almost fatal experiences, the region of
+the Javary River (the boundary between Brazil and Peru), is one of
+the most formidable and least known portions of the South American
+continent. It abounds with obstacles to exploration of the most
+overwhelming kind. Low, swampy, with a heavy rainfall, it is inundated
+annually, like most of the Amazon basin, and at time of high water
+the rivers know no limits. Lying, as it does, so near the equator,
+the heat is intense and constant, oppressive even to the native. The
+forest-growth--and it is forest wherever it is not river--is forced
+as in a huge hothouse, and is so dense as to render progress through
+it extremely difficult. Not only are there obstructions in the way of
+tree trunks, underbrush, and trailing vines and creepers like ropes,
+but the footing is nothing more than a mat of interlaced roots. The
+forest is also sombre and gloomy. To take a photograph required an
+exposure of from three to five minutes. Not a stone, not even a pebble,
+is anywhere to be found.
+
+Disease is rampant, especially on the smaller branches of the
+rivers. The incurable _beri-beri_ and a large assortment of fevers
+claim first place as death dealers, smiting the traveller with fearful
+facility. Next come a myriad of insects and reptiles--alligators,
+huge bird-eating spiders, and snakes of many varieties. Snakes,
+both the poisonous and non-poisonous kinds, find here conditions
+precisely to their liking. The bush-master is met with in the more
+open places, and there are many that are venomous, but the most
+terrifying, though not a biting reptile is the water-boa, the sucurujú
+(_Eunectes murinus_) or anaconda. It lives to a great age and reaches
+a size almost beyond belief. Feeding, as generally it does at night,
+it escapes common observation, and white men, heretofore, have not
+seen the largest specimens reported, though more than thirty feet is
+an accepted length, and Bates, the English naturalist, mentions one
+he heard of, forty-two feet long. It is not surprising that Mr. Lange
+should have met with one in the far wilderness he visited, of even
+greater proportions, a hideous monster, ranking in its huge bulk with
+the giant beasts of antediluvian times. The sucurujú is said to be
+able to swallow whole animals as large as a goat or a donkey, or even
+larger, and the naturalist referred to tells of a ten-year-old boy,
+son of his neighbour, who, left to mind a canoe while his father went
+into the forest, was, in broad day, playing in the shade of the trees,
+stealthily enwrapped by one of the monsters. His cries brought his
+father to the rescue just in time.
+
+As the Javary heads near the eastern slopes and spurs of the great
+Peruvian Cordillera, where once lived the powerful and wealthy Inca
+race with their great stores of pure gold obtained from prolific mines
+known to them, it is again not surprising that Mr. Lange should have
+stumbled upon a marvellously rich deposit of the precious metal in
+a singular form. The geology of the region is unknown and the origin
+of the gold Mr. Lange found cannot at present even be surmised.
+
+Because of the immense value of the rubber product, gold attracts less
+attention than it would in some other country. The rubber industry
+is extensive and thousands of the wild rubber trees are located and
+tapped. The trees usually are found near streams and the search for
+them leads the rubber-hunter farther and farther into the unbroken
+wilderness. Expeditions from time to time are sent out by rich
+owners of rubber "estates" to explore for fresh trees, and after
+his sojourn at Remate de Males and Floresta, so full of interest,
+Mr. Lange accompanied one of these parties into the unknown, with
+the extraordinary results described so simply yet dramatically in
+the following pages, which I commend most cordially, both to the
+experienced explorer and to the stay-by-the-fire, as an unusual and
+exciting story of adventure.
+
+FREDERICK S. DELLENBAUGH.
+
+NEW YORK, November 24, 1911.
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+It is difficult, if not impossible, to find a more hospitable and
+generous nation than the Brazilian. The recollection of my trip through
+the wilds of Amazonas lingers in all its details, and although my
+experiences were not always of a pleasant character, yet the good
+treatment and warm reception accorded me make me feel the deepest
+sense of gratitude to the Brazilians, whose generosity will always
+abide in my memory.
+
+There is in the Brazilian language a word that better than any
+other describes the feeling with which one remembers a sojourn
+in Brazil. This word, _saudades_, is charged with an abundance of
+sentiment, and, though a literal translation of it is difficult to
+arrive at, its meaning approaches "sweet memories of bygone days."
+
+Although a limitation of space forbids my expressing in full my
+obligation to all those who treated me kindly, I must not omit to state
+my special indebtedness to three persons, without whose invaluable
+assistance and co-operation I would not have been able to complete
+this book.
+
+First of all, my thanks are due to the worthy Colonel Rosendo da Silva,
+owner of the rubber estate Floresta on the Itecoahy River. Through
+his generosity and his interest, I was enabled to study the work and
+the life conditions of the rubber workers, the employees on his estate.
+
+The equally generous but slightly less civilised Benjamin, high
+potentate of the tribe of Mangeroma cannibals, is the second to whom I
+wish to express my extreme gratitude, although my obligations to him
+are of a slightly different character: in the first place, because
+he did not order me to be killed and served up, well or medium done,
+to suit his fancy (which he had a perfect right to do); and, in the
+second place, because he took a great deal of interest in my personal
+welfare and bestowed all the strange favours upon me that are recorded
+in this book. He opened my eyes to things which, at the time and under
+the circumstances, did not impress me much, but which, nevertheless,
+convinced me that, even at this late period of the world's history,
+our earth has not been reduced to a dead level of drab and commonplace
+existence, and that somewhere in the remote parts of the world are
+still to be found people who have never seen or heard of white men.
+
+Last, but not least, I wish to express my deep obligation to my
+valued friend, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who, through his helpful
+suggestions, made prior to my departure, contributed essentially to
+the final success of this enterprise, and whose friendly assistance
+has been called into requisition and unstintingly given in the course
+of the preparation of this volume.
+
+
+A.L.
+
+NEW YORK, January, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Chapter
+
+    I       Remate de Males, or "Culmination of Evils"
+    II      The Social and Political Life of Remate de Males
+    III     Other Incidents During My Stay in Remate de Males
+    IV      The Journey up the Itecoahy River
+    V       Floresta: Life Among the Rubber-Workers
+    VI      The Fatal March Through the Forest
+    VII     The Fatal "Tambo No. 9"
+    VIII    What Happened in the Forest
+    IX      Among the Cannibal Mangeromas
+    X       The Fight Between the Mangeromas and the Peruvians
+            Index
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+    A Little Village Built on Poles
+    The Javary River
+    The Mouth of the Itecoahy River
+    Nazareth
+    Trader's Store
+    Remate de Males or "Culmination of Evils"
+    The Street in Remate de Males
+    General View of Remate de Males
+    Sunset on the Itecoahy River
+    An Ant Nest in a Tree
+    The Launch "Carolina"
+    The Banks of the Itecoahy
+    The Mouth of the Ituhy River
+    The Toucan
+    The Banks of the Itecoahy River
+    Clearing the Jungle
+    Urubus
+    "Nova Aurora"
+    "Defumador" or Smoking Hut
+    Matamata Tree
+    The Urucu Plant
+    The Author in the Jungle
+    The Mouth of the Branco
+    Branding Rubber on the Sand-Bar
+    The Landing at Floresta
+    The Banks at Floresta
+    A General View of Floresta
+    Morning
+    Coronel Rosendo da Silva
+    Chief Marques
+    Interior of A Rubber-Worker's Hut
+    João
+    The Murumuru Palm
+    A "Seringueiro" Tapping a Rubber Tree
+    Smoking the Rubber-Milk
+    Forest Interior
+    A Fig-Tree Completely Overgrown with Orchids
+    Chico, The Monkey
+    Turtle Eggs on the Sand-Bank
+    The Pirarucu
+    The Last Resting-Place of the Rubber-Workers
+    "Seringueiros"
+    João
+    Floresta Creek
+    Lake Innocence
+    Alligator from Lake Innocence
+    Another Alligator from Lake Innocence
+    Rubber-Workers' Home near Lake Innocence
+    Harpooning a Large Sting-Ray
+    Shooting Fish on Lake Innocence
+    The Pirarucu
+    Amazonian Game-Fish
+    The Track of the Anaconda--The Sucuruju
+    The Paca
+    Rubber-Worker Perreira and Wife in their Sunday Clothes
+    A "New Home" Sewing-Machine in an Indian Hut
+    The Remarkable Pachiuba Palm-Tree
+    Kitchen Interior
+    The Beginning of the Fatal Expedition
+    A Halt in the Forest
+    Jungle Scenery
+    Forest Creek
+    Top of Hill
+    Page Marsh-Deer and Mutum-Bird
+    Jungle Darkness
+    Creek in the Unknown
+    Eating our Broiled Monkey at Tambo No. 5
+    Hunting
+    The Fatal Tambo No. 9
+    A Photograph of the Author
+    The Front View of Tambo No. 9
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 1
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 2
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 3
+    Creek Near Tambo No. 9
+    The Author's Working Table at Tambo No. 9
+    Forest Scenery Near Tambo No. 9
+    Our Parting Breakfast
+    Mangeroma Vase  399
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+REMATE DE MALES, OR "CULMINATION OF EVILS"
+
+
+My eyes rested long upon the graceful white-painted hull of the
+R.M.S. _Manco_ as she disappeared behind a bend of the Amazon River,
+more than 2200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. After 47 days of
+continuous travel aboard of her, I was at last standing on the
+Brazilian frontier, watching the steamer's plume of smoke still
+hanging lazily over the immense, brooding forests. More than a plume
+of smoke it was to me then; it was the final link that bound me to
+the outside world of civilisation. At last it disappeared. I turned
+and waded through the mud up to a small wooden hut built on poles.
+
+It was the end of January, 1910, that saw me approaching this house,
+built on Brazilian terra firma--or rather terra aqua, for water was
+inundating the entire land. I had behind me the Amazon itself, and to
+the right the Javary River, while the little house that I was heading
+for was Esperança, the official frontier station of Brazil. The
+opposite shore was Peru and presented an unbroken range of dense,
+swampy forest, grand but desolate to look upon.
+
+A middle-aged man in uniform came towards me and greeted me cordially,
+in fact embraced me, and, ordering a servant to pull my baggage out
+of the water, led me up a ladder into the house. I told him that
+I intended to go up the Javary River, to a place called Remate de
+Males, where I would live with a medical friend of mine, whereupon
+he informed me that a launch was due this same night, which would
+immediately proceed to my proposed destination. Later in the evening
+the launch came and I embarked after being once more embraced by the
+courteous Cor. Monteiro, the frontier official. The captain of this
+small trading launch was an equally hospitable and courteous man; he
+invited me into his cabin and tried to explain that this river, and
+the town in particular, where we were going, was a most unhealthy and
+forbidding place, especially for a foreigner, but he added cheerfully
+that he knew of one white man, an Englishman, who had succeeded in
+living for several years on the Javary without being killed by the
+fever, but incidentally had drank himself to death.
+
+The night was very dark and damp, and I did not see much of the passing
+scenery; a towering black wall of trees was my total impression
+during the journey. However, I managed at length to fall asleep on
+some coffee-bags near the engine and did not wake till the launch
+was exhausting its steam supply through its whistle.
+
+My next impression was that of a low river bank fringed with dirty
+houses lighted by candles. People were sitting in hammocks smoking
+cigarettes, dogs were barking incessantly, and frogs and crickets were
+making a deafening noise when I walked up the main and only street
+of this little town, which was to be my headquarters for many months
+to come.
+
+After some inquiry, I finally found my friend, Dr. M----, sitting in
+a dark, dismal room in the so-called _Hotel Agosto_. With a graceful
+motion of his hand he pointed to a chair of ancient structure,
+indicating that having now travelled so many thousand miles to reach
+this glorious place, I was entitled to sit down and let repose overtake
+me. Indeed, I was in Remate de Males.
+
+Never shall I forget that first night's experience with mosquitoes and
+ants. Besides this my debut in a hammock for a bed was a pronounced
+failure, until a merciful sleep temporarily took me from the sad
+realities.
+
+Remate de Males lies just where a step farther would plunge one into
+an unmapped country. It is a little village built on poles; the last
+"blaze" of civilisation on the trail of the upper river. When the
+rainy winter season drives out of the forests every living creature
+that can not take refuge in the trees, the rubber-workers abandon
+the crude stages of the manufacture that they carry on there and
+gather in the village to make the best of what life has to offer them
+in this region. At such times the population rises to the number of
+some 500 souls, for the most part Brazilians and domesticated Indians
+or _caboclos_.
+
+Nothing could better summarise the attractions (!) of the place than
+the name which has become fixed upon it. Translated into English this
+means "Culmination of Evils," Remate de Males.
+
+Some thirty years ago, a prospector with his family and servants,
+in all about a score, arrived at this spot near the junction of the
+Javary and the Itecoahy rivers, close to the equator. They came by
+the only possible highway, the river, and decided to settle. Soon the
+infinite variety of destroyers of human life that abound on the upper
+Amazon began their work on the little household, reducing its number
+to four and threatening to wipe it out altogether. But the prospector
+stuck to it and eventually succeeded in giving mankind a firm hold
+on this wilderness. In memory of what he and succeeding settlers went
+through, the village received its cynically descriptive name.
+
+Remate de Males, separated by weeks and weeks of journey by boat
+from the nearest spot of comparative civilisation down the river,
+has grown wonderfully since its pioneer days. Dismal as one finds
+it to be, if I can give an adequate description in these pages, it
+will be pronounced a monument to man's nature-conquering instincts,
+and ability. Surely no pioneers ever had a harder battle than these
+Brazilians, standing with one foot in "the white man's grave," as the
+Javary region is called in South America, while they faced innumerable
+dangers. The markets of the world need rubber, and the supplying of
+this gives them each year a few months' work in the forests at very
+high wages. I always try to remember these facts when I am tempted to
+harshly judge Remate de Males according to our standards; moreover, I
+can never look upon the place quite as an outsider. I formed pleasant
+friendships there and entered into the lives of many of its people,
+so I shall always think of it with affection. The village is placed
+where the Itecoahy runs at right angles into the Javary, the right-hand
+bank of the Itecoahy forming at once its main and its only street. The
+houses stand facing this street, all very primitive and all elevated
+on palm-trunk poles as far as possible above the usual high-water
+mark of the river. Everything, from the little sheet-iron church
+to the pig-sty, is built on poles. Indeed, if there is anything in
+the theory of evolution, it will not be many generations before the
+inhabitants and domestic animals are born equipped with stilts.
+
+Opposite Remate de Males, across the Itecoahy, is a collection of
+some ten huts that form the village of São Francisco, while across
+the Javary is the somewhat larger village of Nazareth. Like every real
+metropolis, you see, Remate de Males has its suburbs. Nazareth is in
+Peruvian territory, the Javary forming the boundary between Brazil and
+Peru throughout its length of some 700 miles. This same boundary line
+is a source of amusing punctiliousness between the officials of each
+country. To cross it is an affair requiring the exercise of the limits
+of statesmanship. I well remember an incident that occurred during my
+stay in the village. A sojourner in our town, an Indian rubber-worker
+from the Ituhy River, had murdered a woman by strangling her. He
+escaped in a canoe to Nazareth before the Brazilian officials could
+capture him, and calmly took refuge on the porch of a house there,
+where he sat down in a hammock and commenced to smoke cigarettes,
+feeling confident that his pursuers would not invade Peruvian soil. But
+local diplomacy was equal to the emergency. Our officials went to the
+shore opposite Nazareth, and, hiding behind the trees, endeavoured to
+pick off their man with their .44 Winchesters, reasoning that though
+their crossing would be an international incident, no one could
+object to a bullet's crossing. Their poor aim was the weak spot in
+the plan. After a few vain shots had rattled against the sheet-iron
+walls of the house where the fugitive was sitting, he got up from among
+his friends and lost himself in the jungle, never to be heard of again.
+
+About sixty-five houses, lining the bank of the Itecoahy River over a
+distance of what would be perhaps six blocks in New York City, make up
+Remate de Males. They are close together and each has a ladder reaching
+from the street to the main and only floor. At the bottom of every
+ladder appears a rudimentary pavement, probably five square feet in
+area and consisting of fifty or sixty whiskey and gin bottles placed
+with their necks downwards. Thus in the rainy season when the water
+covers the street to a height of seven feet, the ladders always have
+a solid foundation. The floors consist of split palm logs laid with
+the round side up. Palm leaves form the roofs, and rusty corrugated
+sheet-iron, for the most part, the walls. Each house has a sort of
+backyard and kitchen, also on stilts and reached by a bridge.
+
+Through the roofs and rafters gambol all sorts of wretched
+pests. Underneath the houses roam pigs, goats, and other domestic
+animals, which sometimes appear in closer proximity than might be
+wished, owing to the spaces between the logs of the  floor. That is
+in the dry season. In the winter, or the wet season, these animals
+are moved into the houses with you, and their places underneath are
+occupied by river creatures, alligators, water-snakes, and malignant,
+repulsive fish, of which persons outside South America know nothing.
+
+Near the centre of the village is the "sky-scraper," the _Hotel
+de Augusto_, which boasts a story and a quarter in height. Farther
+along are the _Intendencia_, or Government building, painted blue,
+the post-office yellow, the _Recreio Popular_ pink; beyond, the
+residence of Mons. Danon, the plutocrat of the village, and farther
+"downtown" the church, unpainted. Do not try to picture any of these
+places from familiar structures. They are all most unpretentious;
+their main point of difference architecturally from the rest of the
+village consists in more utterly neglected façades.
+
+The post-office and the meteorological observatory, in one dilapidated
+house, presided over by a single self-important official, deserve
+description here. The postmaster himself is a pajama-clad gentleman,
+whose appearance is calculated to strike terror to the souls of
+humble _seringueiros_, or rubber-workers, who apply for letters
+only at long intervals. On each of these occasions I would see this
+important gentleman, who had the word _coronel_ prefixed to his name,
+João Silva de Costa Cabral, throw up his hands, in utter despair at
+being disturbed, and slowly proceed to his desk from which he would
+produce the letters. With great pride this "Pooh-Bah" had a large sign
+painted over the door. The post-office over which he presides is by no
+means overworked, as only one steamer arrives every five weeks, or so,
+but still he has the appearance of being "driven." But when he fusses
+around his "_Observatorio meteorologico_," which consists of a maximum
+and minimum thermometer and a pluviometer, in a tightly closed box,
+raised above the ground on a tall pole, then indeed, his air would
+impress even the most blasé town-sport. I was in the village when
+this observatory was installed, and after it had been running about
+a week, the mighty official called on me and asked me confidentially
+if I would not look the observatory over and see if it was all right.
+
+My examination showed that the thermometers were screwed on tight,
+which accounted for the amazingly uniform readings shown on his
+chart. The pluviometer was inside the box, and therefore it would have
+been difficult to convince scientists that the clouds had not entirely
+skipped Remate de Males during the rainy season, unless the postmaster
+were to put the whole observatory under water by main force. He also
+had a chart showing the distribution of clouds on each day of the
+year. I noticed that the letter "N" occupied a suspiciously large
+percentage of the space on the chart, and when I asked him for the
+meaning of this he said that "N"--which in meteorological abbreviation
+means Nimbus--stood for "_None_" (in Portuguese _Não_). And he thought
+that he must be right because it was the rainy season.
+
+The hotel, in which I passed several months as a guest, until
+I finally decided to rent a hut for myself, had points about it
+which outdid anything that I have ever seen or heard of in comic
+papers about "summer boarding." The most noticeable feature was the
+quarter-of-a-story higher than any other house in the village. While
+this meant a lead as to quantity I could never see that it represented
+anything in actual quality. I would not have ventured up the ladder
+which gave access to the extra story without my Winchester in hand,
+and during the time I was there I never saw anyone else do so. The
+place was nominally a store-house, but having gone undisturbed for
+long periods it was an ideal sanctuary for hordes of vermin--and
+these the vermin of the Amazon, dangerous, poisonous, not merely the
+annoying species we know. Rats were there in abundance, also deadly
+scolopendra and centipedes; and large bird-eating spiders were daily
+seen promenading up and down the sheet-iron walls.
+
+On the main floor the building had two large rooms across the centre,
+one on the front and one on the rear. At each side were four small
+rooms. The large front-room was used as a dining-room and had two
+broad tables of planed palm trunks. The side-rooms were bedrooms,
+generally speaking, though most of the time I was there some were
+used for stabling the pigs and goats, which had to be taken in owing
+to the rainy season.
+
+It is a simple matter to keep a hotel on the upper Amazon. Each room
+in the _Hotel de Augusto_ was neatly and chastely furnished with
+a pair of iron hooks from which to hang the hammock, an article
+one had to provide himself. There was nothing in the room besides
+the hooks. No complete privacy was possible because the corrugated
+sheet-iron partitions forming the walls did not extend to the roof. The
+floors were sections of palm trees, with the flat side down, making
+a succession of ridges with open spaces of about an inch between,
+through which the ground or the water, according to the season, was
+visible. The meals were of the usual monotonous fare typical of the
+region. Food is imported at an enormous cost to this remote place,
+since there is absolutely no local agriculture. Even sugar and rice,
+for instance, which are among the important products of Brazil,
+can be had in New York for about one-tenth of what the natives pay
+for them in Remate de Males. A can of condensed milk, made to sell
+in America for eight or nine cents, brings sixty cents on the upper
+Amazon, and preserved butter costs $1.20 a pound.
+
+The following prices which I have had to pay during the wet season
+in this town will, doubtless, be of interest:
+
+
+    One box of sardines                               $ 1.20
+    One pound of unrefined sugar                         .30
+    One roll of tobacco (16 pounds)                    21.30
+    One basket of farinha retails in Para for $4.50    13.30
+    One bottle of ginger ale                             .60
+    One pound of potatoes                                .60
+    Calico with stamped pattern, pr. yd.                 .90
+    One Collins machete, N.Y. price, $1.00             12.00
+    One pair of men's shoes                            11.00
+    One bottle of very plain port wine, 22,000 reis or  7.30
+
+
+Under such circumstances, of course, the food supply is very
+poor. Except for a few dried cereals and staples, nothing is used
+but canned goods; the instances where small domestic animals are
+slaughtered are so few as to be negligible. Furthermore, as a rule,
+these very animals are converted into jerked meat to be kept for months
+and months. Some fish are taken from the river, but the Amazon fish
+are none too palatable generally speaking, with a few exceptions;
+besides, the natives are not skilful enough to prepare them to suit
+a civilised palate.
+
+A typical, well provided table on the Amazon would afford dry farinha
+in the first place. This is the granulated root of the Macacheira
+plant, the _Jatropha manihot_, which to our palates would seem like
+desiccated sawdust, although it appears to be a necessity for the
+Brazilian. He pours it on his meat, into his soup, and even into his
+wine and jams. Next you would have a black bean, which for us lacks
+flavour even as much as the farinha. With this there would probably be
+rice, and on special occasions jerked beef, a product as tender and
+succulent as the sole of a riding boot. Great quantities of coffee
+are drunk, made very thick and prepared without milk or sugar. All
+these dishes are served at once, so that they promptly get cold and
+are even more tasteless before their turn comes to be devoured.
+
+For five months I experienced this torturing menu at the hotel with
+never-ceasing regularity. The only change I ever noticed was on Sundays
+or days of feast when beans might occupy the other end of the table.
+
+But what can the Brazilians do? The cost of living is about ten times
+as high as in New York. Agriculture is impossible in the regions
+where the land is flooded annually, and the difficulties of shipping
+are enormous. When I left the hotel and started housekeeping on my
+own account, I found that I could not do a great deal better. By
+specialising on one thing at a time I avoided monotony to some
+extent, but then it was probably only because I was a "new broom"
+at the business.
+
+As illustrating the community life that we enjoyed at the hotel,
+I will relate a happening that I have set down in my notes as
+an instance of the great mortality of this region. One afternoon
+a woman's three-months-old child was suddenly taken ill. The child
+grew worse rapidly and the mother finally decided that it was going
+to die. Her husband was up the river on the rubber estates and she
+did not want to be left alone. So she came to the hotel with the
+child and besought them to let her in. The infant was placed in a
+hammock where it lay crying pitifully. At last the wailings of the
+poor little creature became less frequent and the child died.
+
+Before the body was quite cold the mother and the landlady commenced
+clearing a table in the dining-room. I looked at this performance
+in astonishment because it was now evident that they were going to
+prepare a "_lit de parade_" there, close to the tables where our
+meals were served. The body was then brought in, dressed in a white
+robe adorned with pink, yellow, and sky-blue silk ribbons. Loose
+leaves and branches were scattered over the little emaciated body,
+care being taken not to conceal any of the fancy silk ribbons. Empty
+whiskey and gin bottles were placed around the bier, a candle stuck
+in the mouth of each bottle, and then the whole thing was lighted up.
+
+It was now getting dark fast, and as the doors were wide open,
+a great crowd was soon attracted by the brilliant display. All the
+"400" of the little rubber town seemed to pour in a steady stream into
+the dining-room. It was a new experience, even in this hotel where
+I had eaten with water up to my knees, to take a meal with a funeral
+going on three feet away. We had to partake of our food with the body
+close by and the candle smoke blowing in our faces, adding more local
+colour to our jerked beef and beans than was desirable. More and more
+people came in to pay their respects to the child that hardly any
+one had known while it was alive. Through it all the mother sat on
+a trunk in a corner peacefully smoking her pipe, evidently proud of
+the celebration that was going on in honour of her deceased offspring.
+
+The kitchen boy brought in a large tray with cups of steaming coffee;
+biscuits also were carried around to the spectators who sat against
+the wall on wooden boxes. The women seemed to get the most enjoyment
+out of the mourning; drinking black coffee, smoking their pipes, and
+paying little attention to the cause of their being there, only too
+happy to have an official occasion to show off their finest skirts. The
+men had assembled around the other table, which had been cleared in
+the meantime, and they soon sent the boy out for whiskey and beer,
+passing away the time playing cards.
+
+I modestly inquired how long this feast was going to last, because
+my room adjoined the dining-room and was separated only by a thin
+sheet-iron partition open at the top. The landlady, with a happy smile,
+informed me that the mourning would continue till the early hours,
+when a launch would arrive to transport the deceased and the guests
+to the cemetery. This was about four miles down the Javary River and
+was a lonely, half-submerged spot.
+
+There was nothing for me to do but submit and make the best of it. All
+night the mourners went on, the women drinking black coffee, while the
+men gambled and drank whiskey in great quantities, the empty bottles
+being employed immediately as additional candlesticks. Towards morning,
+due to their heroic efforts, a multitude of bottles totally obliterated
+the "_lit de parade_" from view. I managed to fall asleep completely
+exhausted when the guests finally went off at nine o'clock. The
+doctor diagnosed the case of the dead child as chronic indigestion,
+the result of the mother's feeding a three-months-old infant on jerked
+beef and black beans.
+
+Life in the hotel during the rainy season is variegated. I have spoken
+of having eaten a meal with water up to my knees. That happened often
+during the weeks when the river was at its highest level. Once when
+we were having our noon-day meal during the extreme high-water period
+a man came paddling his canoe in at the open door, sailed past us,
+splashing a little water on the table as he did so, and navigated
+through to the back room where he delivered some supplies.
+
+During this feat everybody displayed the cheerful and courteous
+disposition usual to the Brazilians. At this season you must
+wear wading boots to eat a meal or do anything else about the
+house. Sleeping is somewhat easier as the hammocks are suspended about
+three feet above the level of the water, but an involuntary plunge
+is a thing not entirely unknown to an amateur sleeping in a hammock;
+I know this from personal experience.
+
+Every morning the butcher comes to the village between five and
+six o'clock and sharpens his knife while he awaits calls for his
+ministrations. He is an undersized man with very broad shoulders and
+a face remarkable for its cunning, cruel expression. His olive-brown
+complexion, slanting eyes, high cheek-bones, and sharp-filed teeth
+are all signs of his coming from the great unknown interior. His
+business here is to slaughter the cattle of the town. He does this
+deftly by thrusting a long-bladed knife into the neck of the animal
+at the base of the brain, until it severs the medulla, whereupon
+the animal collapses without any visible sign of suffering. It is
+then skinned and the intestines thrown into the water where they
+are immediately devoured by a small but voracious fish called the
+_candiroo-escrivão_. This whole operation is carried on inside the
+house, in the back-room, as long as the land is flooded.
+
+It must be remembered that during the rainy season an area equal in
+size to about a third of the United States is entirely submerged. There
+is a network of rivers that eventually find their way into the Amazon
+and the land between is completely inundated. In all this immense
+territory there are only a few spots of sufficient elevation to be
+left high and dry. Remate de Males, as I have explained, is at the
+junction of the Itecoahy and the Javary rivers, the latter 700 miles
+in length, and thirty miles or so below the village the Javary joins
+the Amazon proper, or Solimoés as it is called here. Thus we are in
+the heart of the submerged region. When I first arrived in February,
+1910, I found the river still confined to its channel, with the water
+about ten feet below the level of the street. A few weeks later it
+was impossible to take a single step on dry land anywhere.
+
+The water that drives the rubber-workers out of the forests also drives
+all animal life to safety. Some of the creatures seek refuge in the
+village. I remember that we once had a huge alligator take temporary
+lodgings in the backyard of the hotel after he had travelled no one
+knows how many miles through the inundated forest. At all hours we
+could hear him making excursions under the house to snatch refuse
+thrown from the kitchen, but we always knew he would have welcomed
+more eagerly a member of the household who might drop his way.
+
+And now a few words about the people who lived under the conditions
+I have described, and who keep up the struggle even though, as they
+themselves have put it, "each ton of rubber costs a human life."
+
+In the first place I must correct any erroneous impression as to
+neatness that may have been formed by my remarks about the animals
+being kept in the dwellings during the rainy season. The Brazilians
+are scrupulous about their personal cleanliness, and in fact, go
+through difficulties to secure a bath which might well discourage
+more civilised folk.
+
+No one would dream, for an instant, of immersing himself in the
+rivers. In nine cases out of ten it would amount to suicide to do
+so, and the natives have bathhouses along the shores; more literally
+bathhouses than ours, for their baths are actually taken in them. They
+are just as careful about clothing being aired and clean. Indeed, the
+main item of the Brazilian woman's housekeeping is the washing. The
+cooking is rather happy-go-lucky; and there is no use cleaning and
+polishing iron walls; they get rusty anyhow.
+
+The people are all occupied with the rubber industry and the town
+owes its existence to the economic necessity of having here a shipping
+and trading point for the product. The rubber is gathered farther up
+along the shores of the Javary and the Itecoahy and is transported
+by launch and canoe to Remate de Males. Here it is shipped directly
+or sold to travelling dealers who send it down to Manaos or Para via
+the boat of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co., which comes up during
+the rainy season. Thence it goes to the ports of the world.
+
+The rubber-worker is a well paid labourer even though he belongs to
+the unskilled class. The tapping of the rubber trees and the smoking of
+the milk pays from eight to ten dollars a day in American gold. This,
+to him, of course, is riches and the men labour here in order that they
+may go back to their own province as wealthy men. Nothing else will
+yield this return; the land is not used for other products. It is hard
+to see how agriculture or cattle-raising could be carried on in this
+region, and, if they could, they would certainly not return more than
+one fourth or one fifth of what the rubber industry does. The owners of
+the great rubber estates, or _seringales_, are enormously wealthy men.
+
+There are fewer women than men in Remate de Males, and none of the
+former is beautiful. They are for the most part Indians or Brazilians
+from the province of Ceara, with very dark skin, hair, and eyes, and
+teeth filed like shark's teeth. They go barefooted, as a rule. Here
+you will find all the incongruities typical of a race taking the
+first step in civilisation. The women show in their dress how the
+well-paid men lavish on them the extravagances that appeal to the
+lingering savage left in their simple natures.
+
+Women, who have spent most of their isolated lives in utterly
+uncivilised surroundings, will suddenly be brought into a community
+where other women are found, and immediately the instinct of
+self-adornment is brought into full play. Each of them falls under
+the sway of "Dame Fashion"--for there are the _latest things_, even
+on the upper Amazon. Screaming colours are favoured; a red skirt with
+green stars was considered at one time the height of fashion, until an
+inventive woman discovered that yellow dots could also be worked in. In
+addition to these dresses, the women will squander money on elegant
+patent-leather French slippers (with which they generally neglect to
+wear stockings), and use silk handkerchiefs perfumed with the finest
+Parisian eau de Cologne, bought at a cost of from fourteen to fifteen
+dollars a bottle. Arrayed in all her glory on some gala occasion,
+the whole effect enhanced by the use of a short pipe from which she
+blows volumes of smoke, the woman of Remate de Males is a unique sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE OF REMATE DE MALES
+
+
+The social life of the town is in about the same stage of development
+as it must have been during the Stone Age. When darkness falls over the
+village, as it does at six o'clock all the year round, life practically
+stops, and a few hours afterwards everyone is in his hammock.
+
+There is one resort where the town-sports come to spend their
+evenings, the so-called _Recreio Popular_. Its principal patrons are
+_seringueiros_, or rubber-workers, who have large rolls of money that
+they are anxious to spend with the least possible effort, and generally
+get their desire over the gaming boards. The place is furnished with
+a billiard table and a gramophone with three badly worn records. The
+billiard table is in constant use by a certain element up to midnight,
+and so are the three eternal records of the gramophone. It will take
+me years surrounded by the comforts of civilisation to get those three
+frightful tunes out of my head, and I do not see how they could fail
+to drive even the hardened _seringueiros_ to an early grave.
+
+Another resort close by, where the native _cachassa_ is sold, is
+patronised principally by negroes and half-breeds. Here they play
+the guitar, in combination with a home-made instrument resembling
+a mandolin, as accompaniment to a monotonous native song, which
+is kept up for hours. With the exception of these two places, the
+village does not furnish any life or local colour after nightfall,
+the natives spending their time around the mis-treated gramophones,
+which are found in almost every hut.
+
+The men of the village, unlike the women, are not picturesque
+in appearance. The officials are well paid, so is everyone else,
+yet they never think of spending money to improve the looks of the
+village or even their own. Most of them are ragged. A few exhibit an
+inadequate elegance, dressed in white suits, derby hats, and very
+high collars. But in spite of the seeming poverty, there is not a
+_seringueiro_ who could not at a moment's notice produce a handful of
+bills that would strike envy to the heart of many prosperous business
+men of civilisation. The amount will often run into millions of reis;
+a sum that may take away the breath of a stranger who does not know
+that one thousand of these Brazilian reis make but thirty cents in
+our money.
+
+The people of the Amazon love to gamble. One night three merchants
+and a village official came to the hotel to play cards. They gathered
+around the dining-room table at eight o'clock, ordered a case of
+Pabst beer, which sells, by the way, at four dollars and sixty cents
+a bottle in American gold, and several boxes of our National Biscuit
+Company's products, and then began on a game, which resembles our
+poker. They played till midnight, when they took a recess of half
+an hour, during which large quantities of the warm beer and many
+crackers were consumed. Then, properly nourished, they resumed the
+game, which lasted until six o'clock the next morning. This was a
+fair example of the gambling that went on.
+
+The stakes were high enough to do honours to the fashionable gamblers
+of New York, but there was never the slightest sign of excitement. At
+first I used to expect that surely the card table would bring forth all
+sorts of flashes of tropic temperament--even a shooting or stabbing
+affair. But the composure was always perfect. I have seen a loser
+pay, without so much as a regretful remark, the sum of three million
+and a half reis, which, though only $1050 in our money, is still a
+considerable sum for a labourer to lose.
+
+Once a month a launch comes down from Iquitos in Peru, about five
+days' journey up the Amazon. This launch is sent out by Iquitos
+merchants, to supply the wants of settlers of the rubber estates on
+the various affluents. It is hard to estimate what suffering would
+result if these launches should be prevented from reaching their
+destinations, for the people are absolutely dependent upon them,
+the region being non-producing, as I have said, and the supplies
+very closely calculated. In Remate de Males, the superintendent, or
+the mayor of the town, generally owns a few head of cattle brought
+by steamer, and when these are consumed no meat can be had in the
+region but Swift's canned "Corned Beef."
+
+Then there are the steamers from the outer world. During the rainy
+season, the _Mauretania_ could get up to Remate de Males from
+the Atlantic Ocean without difficulty, though there is no heavy
+navigation on the upper Javary River. But steamers go up the Amazon
+proper several days' journey farther. You can at the present get a
+through steamer from Iquitos in Peru down the Amazon to New York.
+
+These boats occasionally bring immigrants from the eastern portions of
+Brazil, where they have heard of the fortunes to be made in working the
+rubber, and who have come, just as our prospectors came into the West,
+hoping to take gold and their lives back with them. Besides passengers,
+these boats carry cattle and merchandise and transport the precious
+rubber back to Para and Manaos. They are welcomed enthusiastically. As
+soon as they are sighted, every man in town takes his Winchester down
+from the wall and runs into the street to empty the magazine as many
+times as he feels that he can afford in his exuberance of feeling at
+the prospect of getting mail from home and fresh food supplies.
+
+On some occasions, marked with a red letter on the calendar, canoes
+may be seen coming down the Itecoahy River, decorated with leaves
+and burning candles galore. They are filled with enthusiasts who are
+setting off fireworks and shouting with delight. They are devotees of
+some up-river saint, who are taking this conventional way of paying
+the headquarters a visit.
+
+The priest, who occupies himself with saving the hardened souls of
+the rubber-workers, is a worthy-looking man, who wears a dark-brown
+cassock, confined at the waist with a rope. He is considered the
+champion drinker of Remate de Males. The church is one of the neatest
+buildings in the town, though this may be because it is so small as
+to hold only about twenty-five people. It is devoid of any article
+of decoration, but outside is a white-washed wooden cross on whose
+foundation candles are burned, when there is illness in some family,
+or the local patron saint's influence is sought on such a problem as
+getting a job. The religion is, of course, Catholic, but, as in every
+case where isolation from the source occurs, the natives have grafted
+local influences into their faith, until the result is a Catholicism
+different from the one we know.
+
+The administration of the town is in the hands of the superintendent,
+who is a Federal officer not elected by the villagers. His power is
+practically absolute as far as this community is concerned. Under
+him are a number of Government officials, all of whom are extremely
+well paid and whose duty seems to consist in being on hand promptly
+when the salaries are paid.
+
+The chief of police is a man of very prepossessing appearance, but
+with a slightly discoloured nose. His appointment reminded me of that
+of Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., in _Pinafore_, who was made "ruler of
+the Queen's navee" in spite of a very slight acquaintance with things
+nautical. Our chief of police had been _chef d' orchestre_ of the
+military band of Manaos. They found there that his bibulous habits
+were causing his nose to blush more and more, so he was given the
+position of Chief of Police of Remate de Males. It must be admitted
+that in his new position he has gone on developing the virtue that
+secured it for him, so there is no telling how high he may rise.
+
+The police force consists of one man, and a very versatile one,
+as will be seen, for he is also the rank and file of the military
+force. I saw this remarkable official only once. At that time he was
+in a sad condition from over-indulgence in alcoholic beverages. There
+are exact statistics of comparison available for the police and
+military forces. The former is just two-thirds of the latter in
+number. Expressed in the most easily understood terms, we can put it
+that our versatile friend has a chief to command him when a policeman,
+and a coronel and lieutenant when he is a soldier. Whether there
+is any graft in it or not, I do not know, but money is saved by the
+police-military force being one man with interchangeable uniforms, and
+the money must go into somebody's pocket. It might be thought that when
+the versatile one had to appear in both capacities at once, he might be
+at a loss. But not a bit of it. The landing of one of the down-river
+steamers offers such an occasion. As soon as the gangplank is out,
+the policeman goes aboard with the official papers. He is welcomed,
+receives his fee, and disappears. Not two minutes afterwards, the
+military force in full uniform is seen to emerge from the same hut
+into which the policeman went. He appears on the scene with entire
+unconcern, and the rough and ready diplomacy of Remate de Males has
+again triumphed.
+
+One of the reasons for the flattering (!) name of the town,
+"Culmination of Evils," is the great mortality of the community, which
+it has as a part of the great Javary district. Its inhabitants suffer
+from all the functional diseases found in other parts of the world,
+and, in addition, maladies which are typical of the region. Among the
+most important of these are the paludismus, or malarial swamp-fever,
+the yellow-fever, popularly recognised as the black vomit, and last but
+not least the beri-beri, the mysterious disease which science does not
+yet fully understand. The paludismus is so common that it is looked
+upon as an unavoidable incident of the daily life. It is generally
+caused by the infectious bite of a mosquito, the _Anopheles_, which
+is characterised by its attacking with its body almost perpendicular
+to the surface it has selected. It is only the female mosquito
+that bites. There are always fever patients on the Amazon, and the
+_Anopheles_, stinging indiscriminately, transfers the malarial microbes
+from a fever patient to the blood of well persons. The latter are sure
+to be laid up within ten days with the _sezoes_, as the fever is called
+here, unless a heavy dose of quinine is taken in time to check it.
+
+The yellow fever mosquito, the _Stygoma faciata_, seems to prefer other
+down-river localities, but is frequent enough to cause anxiety. They
+call the yellow fever the black vomit, because of this unmistakable
+symptom of the disease, which, when once it sets in, always means
+a fatal termination. The beri-beri still remains a puzzling malady
+from which no recoveries have yet been reported, at least not on the
+Amazon. On certain rivers, in the Matto Grosso province of Brazil,
+or in Bolivian territory, the beri-beri patients have some chance
+of recovery. By immediately leaving the infested district they can
+descend the rivers until they reach a more favourable climate near
+the sea-coast, or they can go to more elevated regions. But here
+on the Amazon, where the only avenue of escape is the river itself,
+throughout its length a hot-bed of disease where no change of climate
+occurs, the time consumed in reaching the sea-coast is too long. The
+cause of this disease, and its cure, are unknown. It manifests itself
+through paralysis of the limbs, which begins at the finger-tips and
+gradually extends through the system until the heart-muscles become
+paralysed and death occurs.
+
+The only precautionary measures available are doses of quinine and
+the use of the mosquito-net, or _mosquitero_. The latter's value as
+a preventive is problematical, however, for during each night one
+is bound to be bitten frequently, yes, hundreds of times, by the
+ever-present insects in spite of all.
+
+But if we curse the mosquito, what are we to say of certain other
+pests that add to the miseries of life in that out-of-the-way corner
+of the globe, and are more persistent in their attentions than
+even the mosquito? In the first place, there are the ants. They are
+everywhere. They build their nests under the houses, in the tables,
+and in the cracks of the floors, and lie in ambush waiting the arrival
+of a victim, whom they attack from all sides. They fasten themselves
+on one and sometimes it takes hours of labour to extract them. Many
+are the breakfasts I have delayed on awaking and finding myself to
+be the object of their attention. It proved necessary to tie wads
+of cotton covered with vaseline to the fastenings of the hammock,
+to keep the intruders off. But they even got around this plan. As
+soon as the bodies of the first arrivals covered the vaseline, the
+rest of the troops marched across them in safety and gained access to
+the hammock, causing a quick evacuation on my part. Articles of food
+were completely destroyed by these carnivorous creatures, within a
+few minutes after I had placed them on the table.
+
+I present here a list of the various species of ants known to the
+natives, together with the peculiarities by which they distinguish
+them. I collected the information from Indians on the Seringal
+"Floresta" on the Itecoahy River.
+
+
+_Aracara_--the dreaded fire-ant whose sting is felt for hours.
+
+_Auhiqui_--lives in the houses where it devours everything edible.
+
+_Chicitaya_--its bite gives a transient fever.
+
+_Monyuarah_--clears a large space in the forest for its nest.
+
+_Sauba_--carries a green leaf over its head.
+
+_Tachee_--a black ant whose bite gives a transient fever.
+
+_Tanajura_--one inch long and edible when fried in lard.
+
+_Taxyrana_--enters the houses like the _auhiqui_.
+
+_Termita_--builds a typical cone-shaped nest in the dry part of
+the forests.
+
+_Tracoã_--its bite gives no fever, but the effect is of long duration.
+
+_Tucandeira_--black and an inch and a half long, with a bite not only
+painful but absolutely dangerous.
+
+_Tucushee_--gives a transient fever.
+
+_Uça_--builds large nests in the trees.
+
+
+While convalescing from my first attack of swamp-fever, I had
+occasion to study a most remarkable species of spider which was a
+fellow lodger in the hut I then occupied. In size, the specimen was
+very respectable, being able to cover a circle of nearly six inches
+in diameter. This spider subsists on large insects and at times on
+the smaller varieties of birds, like finches, etc. Its scientific
+name is _Mygale avicularia_. The natives dread it for its poisonous
+bite and on account of its great size and hairy body. The first time
+I saw the one in my hut was when it was climbing the wall in close
+proximity to my hammock. I got up and tried to crush it with my fist,
+but the spider made a lightning-quick move and stopped about five or
+six inches from where I hit the wall.
+
+Several times I repeated the attack without success, the spider
+always succeeding in moving before it could be touched. Somewhat
+out of temper, I procured a hammer of large size and continued
+the chase until I was exhausted. When my hand grew steady again,
+I took my automatic pistol, used for big game, and, taking a steady
+aim on the fat body of the spider, I fired. But with another of the
+remarkably quick movements the spider landed the usual safe distance
+from destruction. Then I gave it up. For all I know, that animal, I
+can scarcely call it an insect after using a big game pistol on it,
+is still occupying the hut. About nine months later I was telling
+Captain Barnett, of the R.M.S. _Napo_ which picked me up on the Amazon
+on my way home, about my ill success in hunting the spider. "Lange,"
+he asked, "why didn't you try for him with a frying-pan?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OTHER INCIDENTS DURING MY STAY IN REMATE DE MALES
+
+
+Remate De Males, with Nazareth and São Francisco, is set down in the
+midst of absolute wilderness. Directly behind the village is the
+almost impenetrable maze of tropical jungle. If with the aid of a
+machete one gets a minute's walk into it, he cannot find his way out
+except by the cackling of the hens around the houses. A dense wall
+of vegetation shuts in the settlement on every side. Tall palms stand
+above the rest of the trees; lower down is a mass of smaller but more
+luxuriant plants, while everywhere is the twining, tangled _lianas_,
+making the forest a dark labyrinth of devious ways. Here and there
+are patches of tropical blossoms, towering ferns, fungoid growths, or
+some rare and beautiful orchid whose parasitical roots have attached
+themselves to a tree trunk. And there is always the subdued confusion
+that betokens the teeming animal life.
+
+Looking up the Itecoahy River, one can see nothing but endless forest
+and jungle. And the same scene continues for a distance of some eight
+or nine hundred miles until reaching the headwaters of the river
+somewhere far up in Bolivian territory. No settlements are to be found
+up there; a few _seringales_ from seventy-five to a hundred miles
+apart constitute the only human habitations in this large area. So
+wild and desolate is this river that its length and course are only
+vaguely indicated even on the best Brazilian maps. It is popularly
+supposed that the Itecoahy takes its actual rise about two weeks'
+journey from its nominal head in an absolutely unexplored region.
+
+I found the life very monotonous in Remate de Males, especially when
+the river began to go down. This meant the almost complete ending of
+communication with the outer world; news from home reached me seldom
+and there was no relief from the isolation. In addition, the various
+torments of the region are worse at this season. Sitting beside the
+muddy banks of the Itecoahy at sunset, when the vapours arose from the
+immense swamps and the sky was coloured in fantastical designs across
+the western horizon, was the only relief from the sweltering heat of
+the day, for a brief time before the night and its tortures began. Soon
+the chorus of a million frogs would start. At first is heard only the
+croaking of a few; then gradually more and more add their music until
+a loud penetrating throb makes the still, vapour-laden atmosphere
+vibrate. The sound reminded me strikingly of that which is heard when
+pneumatic hammers are driving home rivets through steel beams. There
+were other frogs whose louder and deeper-pitched tones could be
+distinguished through the main nocturnal song. These seemed always
+to be grumbling something about "_Rubberboots--Rubberboots_."
+
+By-and-bye one would get used to the sound and it would lose
+attention. The water in the river floated slowly on its long journey
+towards the ocean, almost 2500 miles away. Large dolphins sometimes
+came to the surface, saluting the calm evening with a loud snort,
+and disappeared again with a slow, graceful movement. Almost every
+evening I could hear issuing from the forest a horrible roar. It came
+from the farthest depths and seemed as if it might well represent
+the mingled cries of some huge bull and a prowling jaguar that had
+attacked him unawares. Yet it all came, I found, from one throat,
+that of the howling monkey. He will sit alone for hours in a tree-top
+and pour forth these dreadful sounds which are well calculated to
+make the lonely wanderer stop and light a camp-fire for protection.
+
+On the other hand, is heard the noise of the domestic animals of
+the village. Cows, calves, goats, and pigs seemed to make a habit of
+exercising their vocal organs thoroughly before retiring. Dogs bark
+at the moon; cats chase rats through openings of the palm-leaf roofs,
+threatening every moment to fall, pursued and pursuers, down upon the
+hammocks. Vampires flutter around from room to room, occasionally
+resting on the tops of the iron partitions, and when they halt,
+continuing to chirp for a while like hoarse sparrows. Occasionally
+there will come out of the darkness of the river a disagreeable
+sound as if some huge animal were gasping for its last breath before
+suffocating in the mud. The sound has its effect, even upon animals,
+coming as it does out of the black mysterious night, warning them not
+to venture far for fear some uncanny force may drag them to death in
+the dismal waters. It is the night call of the alligator.
+
+The sweet plaintive note of a little partridge, called _inamboo_,
+would sometimes tremble through the air and compel me to forget
+the spell of unholy sounds arising from the beasts of the jungle and
+river. Throughout the evening this amorous bird would call to its mate,
+and somewhere there would be an answering call back in the woods. Many
+were the nights when, weak with fever, I awoke and listened to their
+calling and answering. Yet never did they seem to achieve the bliss
+of meeting, for after a brief lull the calling and answering voices
+would again take up their pretty song.
+
+Slowly the days went by and, with their passing, the river fell lower
+and lower until the waters receded from the land itself and were
+confined once more to their old course in the river-bed. As the ground
+began to dry, the time came when the mosquitoes were particularly
+vicious. They multiplied by the million. Soon the village was filled
+with malaria, and the hypodermic needle was in full activity.
+
+A crowd of about fifty Indians from the Curuça River had been brought
+to Remate de Males by launch. They belonged to the territory owned by
+Mons. Danon and slept outside the store-rooms of this plutocrat. Men,
+women, and children arranged their quarters in the soft mud until they
+could be taken to his rubber estate some hundred miles up the Javary
+River. They were still waiting to be equipped with rubber-workers'
+outfits when the malaria began its work among them. The poor mistreated
+Indians seemed to have been literally saturated with the germs, as
+they always slept without any protection whatever; consequently their
+systems offered less resistance to the disease than the ordinary
+Brazilian's. In four days there were only twelve persons left out
+of fifty-two.
+
+During the last weeks of my stay in Remate de Males, I received an
+invitation to take lunch with the local Department Secretary, Professor
+Silveiro, an extremely hospitable and well educated Brazilian. The
+importance of such an invitation meant for me a radical change in
+appearance--an extensive alteration that could not be wrought without
+considerable pains. I had to have a five-months' beard shaved off, and
+then get into my best New York shirt, not to forget a high collar. I
+also considered that the occasion necessitated the impressiveness
+of a frock-coat, which I produced at the end of a long search among
+my baggage and proceeded to don after extracting a tarantula and
+some stray scolopendra from the sleeves and pockets. The sensation of
+wearing a stiff collar was novel, and not altogether welcome, since the
+temperature was near the 100° mark. The reward for my discomfort came,
+however, in the shape of the best meal I ever had in the Amazon region.
+
+During these dull days I was made happy by finding a copy of Mark
+Twain's _A Tramp Abroad_ in a store over in Nazareth on the Peruvian
+side of the Javary River. I took it with me to my hammock, hailing
+with joy the opportunity of receiving in the wilderness something
+that promised a word from "God's Own Country." But before I could
+begin the book I had an attack of swamp-fever that laid me up four
+days. During one of the intermissions, when I was barely able to move
+around, I commenced reading Mark Twain. It did not take more than
+two pages of the book to make me forget all about my fever. When I
+got to the ninth page, I laughed as I had not laughed for months, and
+page 14 made me roar so athletically that I lost my balance and fell
+out of my hammock on the floor. I soon recovered and crept back into
+the hammock, but out I went when I reached page 16, and repeated the
+performance at pages 19, 21, and 24 until the supplementary excitement
+became monotonous. Whereupon I procured some rags and excelsior,
+made a bed underneath the hammock, and proceeded to enjoy our eminent
+humourist's experience in peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE JOURNEY UP THE ITECOAHY RIVER
+
+
+With the subsiding of the waters came my long-desired opportunity
+to travel the course of the unmapped Itecoahy. In the month of June
+a local trader issued a notice that he was to send a launch up the
+river for trading purposes and to take the workers who had been
+sojourning in Remate de Males back to their places of employment,
+to commence the annual extraction of rubber. The launch was scheduled
+to sail on a Monday and would ascend the Itecoahy to its headwaters,
+or nearly so, thus passing the mouths of the Ituhy, the Branco,
+and Las Pedras rivers, affluents of considerable size which are
+nevertheless unrecorded on maps. The total length of the Branco River
+is over three hundred miles, and it has on its shores several large
+and productive _seringales_.
+
+When on my way up the Amazon to the Brazilian frontier, I had stopped
+at Manaos, the capital of the State of Amazonas. There I had occasion
+to consult an Englishman about the Javary region. In answer to one of
+my inquiries, I received the following letter, which speaks for itself:
+
+Referring to our conversation of recent date, I should wish once
+more to impress upon your mind the perilous nature of your journey,
+and I am not basing this information upon hearsay, but upon personal
+experience, having traversed the region in question quite recently.
+
+Owing to certain absolutely untrue articles written by one H----,
+claiming to be your countryman, I am convinced that you can not rely
+upon the protection of the employees of this company, as having been
+so badly libelled by one, they are apt to forget that such articles
+were not at your instigation, and as is often the case the innocent
+may suffer for the guilty.
+
+On the other hand, without this protection you will find yourself
+absolutely at the mercy of savage and cannibal Indians.
+
+I have this day spoken to the consul here at Manaos and explained
+to him that, although I have no wish to deter you from your voyage,
+you must be considered as the only one responsible in any way for
+any ill that may befall you.
+
+Finally, I hope that before disregarding this advice (which I offer
+you in a perfectly friendly spirit) you will carefully consider the
+consequences which such a voyage might produce, and, frankly speaking,
+I consider that your chance of bringing it to a successful termination
+is Nil.
+
+Believe me to be, etc.,
+
+J.A.M.
+
+
+During the time of my journey up the river and of my stay in Remate
+de Males, I had seen nothing of the particular dangers mentioned
+in this letter. The only Indians I had seen were such as smoked
+long black cigars and wore pink or blue pajamas. The letter further
+developed an interest, started by the hints of life in the interior,
+which had come to me in the civilisation of Remate de Males. I was,
+of course, particularly desirous of finding out all I could about the
+wild people of the inland regions, since I could not recall that much
+had been written about them.
+
+Henry W. Bates, the famous explorer who ascended the Amazon as far
+as Teffé, came within 120 miles of the mouth of the Javary River in
+the year 1858, and makes the following statement about the indigenous
+tribes of this region:
+
+The only other tribe of this neighbourhood concerning which I obtained
+any information was the Mangeromas, whose territory embraces several
+hundred miles of the western banks of the river Javary, an affluent
+of the Solimoës, a hundred and twenty miles beyond São Paolo da
+Olivença. These are fierce and indomitable and hostile people, like the
+Araras of the Madeira River. They are also cannibals. The navigation
+of the Javary River is rendered impossible on account of the Mangeromas
+lying in wait on its banks to intercept and murder all travellers.
+
+Now to return to the letter; I thought that perhaps my English friend
+had overdrawn things a little in a laudable endeavour to make me more
+cautious. In other words, it was for me the old story over again, of
+learning at the cost of experience--the story of disregarded advice,
+and so I went on in my confidence.
+
+When the announcement of the launch's sailing came, I went immediately
+for an interview with the owner, a Brazilian named Pedro Smith,
+whose kindness I shall never forget. He offered me the chance of
+making the entire trip on his boat, but would accept no remuneration,
+saying that I would find conditions on the little overcrowded vessel
+very uncomfortable, and that the trip would not be free from actual
+bodily risk. When even he tried to dissuade me, I began to think
+more seriously of the Englishman's letter, but I told him that I had
+fully made up my mind to penetrate the mystery of those little known
+regions. I use the term "little known" in the sense that while they
+are well enough known to the handful of Indians and rubber-workers
+yet they are "terra incognita" to the outside world. The white man
+has not as yet traversed this Itecoahy and its affluents, although
+it would be a system of no little importance if located in some other
+country--for instance, in the United States.
+
+My object was to study the rubber-worker at his labour, to find out the
+true length of the Itecoahy River, and to photograph everything worth
+while. I had with me all the materials and instruments necessary--at
+least so I thought.
+
+The photographic outfit consisted of a Graflex camera with a shutter
+of high speed, which would come handy when taking animals in motion,
+and a large-view camera with ten dozen photographic plates and a
+corresponding amount of prepared paper. In view of the difficulties
+of travel, I had decided to develop my plates as I went along and make
+prints in the field, rather than run the risk of ruining them by some
+unlucky accident. Perhaps at the very end of the trip a quantity
+of undeveloped plates might be lost, and such a calamity would
+mean the failure of the whole journey in one of its most important
+particulars. Such a disastrous result was foreshadowed when a porter,
+loaded with my effects, clambering down the sixty-foot incline extreme
+low water made at Remate de Males, lost his balance in the last few
+feet of the descent and dropped into the water, completely ruining
+a whole pack of photographic supplies whose arrival from New York I
+had been awaiting for months. Luckily this was at the beginning of
+this trip and I could replace them from my general stock.
+
+A hypodermic outfit, quinine, and a few bistouries completed my
+primitive medical department. Later on these proved of the greatest
+value. I would never think of omitting such supplies even in a case
+where a few pounds of extra weight are not rashly to be considered. It
+turned out that in the regions I penetrated, medical assistance was
+a thing unheard of within a radius of several hundred miles.
+
+A Luger automatic pistol of a calibre of nine millimetres, and several
+hundred cartridges, were my armament, and for weeks this pistol became
+my only means of providing a scant food supply.
+
+Thus equipped I was on hand early in the morning of the day of
+starting, anxious to see what sort of shipmates I was to have. They
+proved all to be _seringueiros_, bound for the upper river. Our
+craft was a forty-foot launch called the _Carolina_. There was a
+large crowd of the passengers assembled when I arrived, and they
+kept coming. To my amazement, it developed that one hundred and
+twenty souls were expected to find room on board, together with
+several tons of merchandise. The mystery of how the load was to be
+accommodated was somewhat solved, when I saw them attach a lighter to
+each side of the launch, and again, when some of the helpers brought
+up a fleet of dugouts which they proceeded to make fast by a stern
+hawser. But the mystery was again increased, when I was told that
+none of the passengers intended to occupy permanent quarters on the
+auxiliary fleet. As I was already taken care of, I resolved that if
+the problem was to worry anybody, it would be the _seringueiros_,
+though I realised that I would be travelling by "slow steamer" when
+the little old-fashioned _Carolina_ should at length begin the task
+of fighting the five-mile current with this tagging fleet to challenge
+its claim to a twelve-horse-power engine.
+
+The _seringueiros_ and their families occupied every foot of space
+that was not reserved for merchandise. Hammocks were strung over
+and under each other in every direction, secured to the posts which
+supported the roof. Between them the rubber-coated knapsacks were
+suspended. On the roof was an indiscriminate mass of chicken-coops
+with feathered occupants; and humanity.
+
+About midships on each lighter was a store-room, one of which was
+occupied by the clerk who accompanied the launch. In this they
+generously offered me the opportunity of making my headquarters
+during the trip. The room was about six feet by eight and contained
+a multitude of luxuries and necessities for the rubber-workers. There
+were .44 Winchester rifles in large numbers, the usual, indispensable
+Collins machete, and tobacco in six-feet-long, spindle-shaped
+rolls. There was also the "***" Hennessy cognac, selling at 40,000
+reis ($14.00 gold) a bottle; and every variety of canned edible from
+California pears to Horlick's malted milk, from Armour's corned beef
+to Heinz's sweet pickles.
+
+Every one was anxious to get started; I, who had more to look forward
+to than months of monotonous labour in the forests, not the least. At
+last the owner of the boat arrived, it being then two o'clock in the
+afternoon. He came aboard to shake hands with everyone and after a
+long period of talking pulled the cord leading to the steam-whistle,
+giving the official signal for departure. It then developed that one
+of the firemen was missing. Without him we could not start on our
+journey. The whistling was continued for fully forty minutes without
+any answer. Finally, the longed-for gentleman was seen emerging
+unsteadily from the local gin-shop with no sign of haste. He managed
+to crawl on board and we were off, amid much noise and firing of guns.
+
+After a two-hours' run we stopped at a place consisting of two houses
+and a banana patch. Evidently the owner of this property made a
+side-business of supplying palm-wood as fuel for the launch. A load
+was carried on board and stowed beside the boiler, and we went once
+more on our way. I cannot say that the immediate surroundings were
+comfortable. There were people everywhere. They were lounging in the
+hammocks, or lying on the deck itself; and some were even sprawling
+uncomfortably on their trunks or knapsacks. A cat would have had
+difficulty in squeezing itself through this compact mass of men,
+chattering women, and crying children. But I had no sooner begun to
+reflect adversely on the situation, than the old charm of the Amazon
+asserted itself again and made me oblivious to anything so trivial
+as personal comfort surroundings. I became lost to myself in the
+enjoyment of the river.
+
+That old fig-tree on the bank is worth looking at. The mass of its
+branches, once so high-reaching and ornamental, now lie on the ground
+in a confused huddle, shattered and covered with parasites and orchids,
+while millions of ants are in full activity destroying the last
+clusters of foliage. It is only a question of weeks, perhaps days,
+before some blast of wind will throw this humbled forest-monarch over
+the steep bank of the river. When the water rises again, the trunk
+with a few skeleton branches will be carried away with the current
+to begin a slow but relentless drift to old Father Amazon. Here and
+there will be a little pause, while the river gods decide, and then it
+will move on, to be caught somewhere along the course and contribute
+to the formation of some new island or complete its last long journey
+to the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+As the launch rounds bend after bend in the river, the same magnificent
+forest scenery is repeated over and over again. Sometimes a tall
+matamatá tree stands in a little accidental clearing, entirely
+covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation. But these are borrowed
+plumes. Bushropes, climbers, and vines have clothed it from root
+to topmost branch, but they are only examples of the legion of
+beautiful parasites that seem to abound in the tropics. They will
+sap the vitality of this masterpiece of Nature, until in its turn
+it will fall before some stormy night's blow. All along the shore
+there is a myriad life among the trees and beautifully coloured birds
+flash in and out of the branches. You can hear a nervous chattering
+and discern little brown bodies swinging from branch to branch,
+or hanging suspended for fractions of a second from the network of
+climbers and aerial roots. They are monkeys. They follow the launch
+along the trees on the banks for a while and then disappear.
+
+The sun is glaring down on the little craft and its human freight. The
+temperature is 112 degrees (F.) in the shade and the only place for
+possible relief is on a box of cognac alongside the commandant's
+hammock. He has fastened this directly behind the wheel so that he
+can watch the steersman, an Indian with filed teeth and a machete
+stuck in his belt.
+
+Would anyone think that these trees, lining the shore for miles and
+miles and looking so beautiful and harmless by day, have a miasmatic
+breath or exhalation at night that produces a severe fever in one who
+is subjected for any length of time to their influence. It would be
+impossible for even the most fantastical scenic artist to exaggerate
+the picturesque combinations of colour and form ever changing like
+a kaleidoscope to exhibit new delights. A tall and slender palm
+can be seen in its simple beauty alongside the white trunk of the
+embauba tree, with umbrella-shaped crown, covered and gracefully
+draped with vines and hanging plants, whose roots drop down until
+they reach the water, or join and twist themselves until they form a
+leaf-portière. And for thousands of square miles this ever changing
+display of floral splendour is repeated and repeated. And it would be
+a treat for an ornithologist to pass up the river. A hundred times
+a day flocks of small paroquets fly screaming over our heads and
+settle behind the trees. Large, green, blue, and scarlet parrots,
+the araras, fly in pairs, uttering penetrating, harsh cries, and
+sometimes an egret with her precious snow-white plumage would keep
+just ahead of us with graceful wing-motion, until she chose a spot
+to alight among the low bushes close to the water-front.
+
+The dark blue toucan, with its enormous scarlet and yellow beak,
+would suddenly appear and fly up with peculiar jerky swoops, at the
+same time uttering its yelping cry. Several times I saw light green
+lizards of from three to four feet in length stretched out on branches
+of dead trees and staring at us as we passed.
+
+Night came and drew its sombre curtain over the splendours. I was
+now shown a place of unpretentious dimensions where I could suspend
+my hammock, but, unluckily, things were so crowded that there was
+no room for a mosquito-net around me. Under ordinary circumstances,
+neglect of this would have been an inexcusable lack of prudence,
+but I lay down trusting that the draft created by the passage of the
+boat would keep the insect pests away, as they told me it would. I
+found that experience had taught them rightly.
+
+To the post where I tied the foot-end of my hammock there were fastened
+six other hammocks. Consequently seven pairs of feet were bound to
+come into pretty close contact with each other. While I was lucky
+enough to have the hammock closest to the rail, I was unlucky enough
+to have as my next neighbour a woman; she was part Brazilian negro
+and part Indian. She had her teeth filed sharp like shark's teeth,
+wore brass rings in her ears, large enough to suspend portières from,
+and smoked a pipe continually. I found later that it was a habit to
+take the pipe to bed with her, so that she could begin smoking the
+first thing in the morning. She used a very expensive Parisian perfume,
+whether to mitigate the effects of the pipe or not, I do not know.
+
+Under the conditions I have described I lay down in my hammock, but
+found that sleep was impossible. There was nothing to do but resign
+myself to Fate and find amusement, with all the philosophy possible,
+by staring at the sky. I counted the stars over and over again and
+tried to identify old friends among the constellations. Among them the
+Southern Cross was a stranger to me, but the Great Dipper, one end
+of which was almost hidden behind the trees, I recognised with all
+the freedom of years of acquaintance. My mind went back to the last
+time I had seen it; across the house-tops of old Manhattan it was,
+and under what widely different conditions!
+
+At last a merciful Providence closed my eyes and I was soon transported
+by the arms of Morpheus to the little lake in Central Park that I had
+liked so well. I dreamed of gliding slowly over the waters of that
+placid lake, and awoke to find myself being energetically kicked in the
+shins by my female neighbour. There was nothing to do but indulge in
+a few appropriate thoughts on this community-sleeping-apartment life,
+and then I got up to wander forward, as best I could in the dark,
+across the sleeping forms and take refuge on top of my case of cognac.
+
+We seemed to be down in a pool of vast darkness, of whose walls no
+one could guess the limits. I listened to the gurgling of water at
+the bow and wondered how it was possible for the man at the wheel
+to guide our course without colliding with the many tree trunks that
+were scattered everywhere about us. The river wound back and forth,
+hardly ever running straight for more than half a mile, and the pilot
+continually had to steer the boat almost to the opposite bank to keep
+the trailing canoes from stranding on the sand-bars at the turns. Now
+and then a lightning flash would illuminate the wild banks, proving
+that we were not on the bosom of some Cimmerian lake, but following a
+continuous stream that stretched far ahead, and I could get a glimpse
+of the dark, doubly-mysterious forests on either hand; and now and
+then a huge tree-trunk would slip swiftly and silently past us.
+
+The only interruption of the perfect quiet that prevailed was the
+occasional outburst of roars from the throat of the howling monkey,
+which I had come to know as making the night hideous in Remate de
+Males. But the present environment added just the proper atmosphere
+to make one think for a second that he was participating in some
+phantasm of Dante's.
+
+There was no particular incident to record on the trip, till June
+the 16th, in the night-time, when we arrived at Porto Alegre, the
+glad harbour, which consisted of one hut. This hut belonged to the
+proprietor of a _seringale_. I followed the captain and the clerk
+ashore and, with them, was warmly received by the owner, when we had
+clambered up the ladder in front of the hut. He had not heard from
+civilisation for seven months, and was very glad to see people from
+the outside world, especially as they were bringing a consignment of
+merchandise that would enable him to commence the annual tapping of
+the rubber trees.
+
+About a dozen _seringueiros_ and their families disembarked here and
+went without ceremony to their quarters, where they had a fire going
+in less than no time.
+
+It is the custom in this section of Brazil to make visitors welcome
+in a rather complicated manner. You first place your arm around the
+other man's waist, resting the palm of your hand on his back. Then
+with the other hand you pat him on the shoulder, or as near that
+point as you can reach. Whether it recalled my wrestling practice or
+not, I do not know, but the first time I ever tried this, I nearly
+succeeded in throwing down the man I was seeking to honour.
+
+After the proprietor had greeted each of us in this cordial way, we sat
+down. A large negress made her appearance, smoking a pipe and carrying
+a tray full of tiny cups, filled with the usual unsweetened jet-black
+coffee. After a brief stay, during which business was discussed and
+an account given of the manner of death of all the friends who had
+departed this life during the season in Remate de Males, we took our
+leave and were off again, in the middle of the night, amid a general
+discharging of rifles and much blowing of the steam-whistle.
+
+The night was intensely dark, what moon there was being hidden behind
+clouds most of the time, and an occasional flash of lightning would
+show us that we were running very close to the shores. I decided
+to go on the roof of the right-hand lighter, where I thought I
+would get better air and feel more comfortable than in the close
+quarters below. On the roof I found some old rags and a rubber coated
+knapsack. Taking these to the stern, I lay down upon them and went
+to sleep. I imagine that I must have been asleep about two hours,
+when I was aroused by a crashing sound that came from the forepart
+of the boat. Luckily, I had fallen asleep with my eyeglasses on,
+otherwise, as I am near-sighted, I should not have been able to grasp
+the situation as quickly as proved necessary.
+
+We were so close to the shore that the branches of a low-hanging tree
+swept across the top of the lighter, and it was this branch that caused
+the turmoil as the craft passed through it, causing everything to be
+torn from the roof; trunks, bags, and chicken-coops, in a disordered
+mass. I had received no warning and hardly had collected my senses
+before this avalanche was upon me. Seizing the branches as they came, I
+held on for dear life. I tried to scramble over them to the other part
+of the roof, but having fallen asleep on the stern there was no chance.
+
+I felt myself being lifted off the boat, and as I blindly held on I
+had time to wonder whether the tree would keep me out of the water,
+or lower me into the waiting jaws of some late alligator. But it did
+better than that for me. The branches sagged under my weight, and I
+soon saw that they were going to lower me upon the trailing canoes. I
+did not wait to choose any particular canoe, but, as the first one
+came beneath me, I dropped off, landing directly on top of a sleeping
+rubber-worker and giving him probably as bad a scare as I had had. For
+the remainder of the night I considered the case of cognac, previously
+referred to, a marvellously comfortable and safe place to stay.
+
+During the next day we made two stops, and at the second took on board
+eighteen more passengers. It seemed to me that they would have to sleep
+in a vertical position, since, as far as I could discover, the places
+where it could be done horizontally were all occupied. At five in the
+afternoon of this day, we arrived at a small rubber estate called Boa
+Vista, where the owner kept cut palm-wood to be used for the launch,
+besides bananas, pineapples and a small patch of cocoa-plants. The
+firemen of our launch were busily engaged in carrying the wood,
+when one of them suddenly threw off his load and came running down
+the bank. The others scattered like frightened sheep, and only with
+difficulty could be brought to explain that they had seen a snake
+of a poisonous variety. We crept slowly up to the place under the
+wood-pile which they had pointed out, and there about a foot of the
+tail of a beautifully decorated snake was projecting. I jammed my
+twenty-four-inch machete through it longitudinally, at the same time
+jumping back, since it was impossible to judge accurately where the
+head might come from. It emerged suddenly about where we expected, the
+thin tongue working in and out with lightning speed and the reptile
+evidently in a state of great rage, for which I could hardly blame
+it, as its tail was pinned down and perforated with a machete. We
+dispatched it with a blow on the head and on measuring it found
+the length to be nearly nine feet. The interrupted loading of wood
+continued without much additional excitement and we were soon on our
+way again.
+
+That night I passed very badly. My female neighbour insisted on
+using the edge of my hammock for a foot-rest, and, to add to my
+general discomfort, my hammock persisted in assuming a convex shape
+rather than a more conventional and convenient concave, which put me
+in constant danger of being thrown headlong into the river, only a
+few inches away. Finally, I took my hammock down from its fastenings
+and went aft where I found a vacant canoe among those still trailing
+behind. I threw my hammock in the bottom and with this for a bed
+managed to fall asleep, now and then receiving a blow from some
+unusually low branch which threatened to upset my floating couch.
+
+The next morning it was found that we had lost two canoes,
+evidently torn loose during the night without anybody noticing the
+accident. Luckily, I had not chosen either of these to sleep in,
+nor had anyone else. I cannot help thinking what my feelings would
+have been if I had found myself adrift far behind the launch.
+
+For several days more we continued going up the seemingly endless
+river. Human habitations were far apart, the last ones we had seen
+as much as eighty-five miles below. We expected soon to be in the
+territory owned by Coronel da Silva, the richest rubber proprietor in
+the Javary region. I found the level of this land we were passing
+through to be slightly higher than any I had traversed as yet,
+although even here we were passing through an entirely submerged
+stretch of forest. There were high inland spaces that had already
+begun to dry up, as we could see, and this was the main indication
+of higher altitude than had been found lower down the river. Another
+indication was that big game was more in evidence. The animals find
+here a good feeding place without the necessity of migrating to
+distant locations when the water begins to come through the forest.
+
+At a place, with the name of Nova Aurora, again consisting of one hut,
+we found a quantity of skins stretched in the sunlight to dry. They
+were mostly the hides of yellow jaguars, or pumas, as we call them
+in the United States, and seven feet from the nose to the end of the
+tail was not an unusual length. Although, as we learned, they had been
+taken from the animals only a few weeks previously, they had already
+been partly destroyed by the gnawing of rats. A tapir, weighing nearly
+seven hundred and fifty pounds, had been shot the day before and was
+being cut up for food when we arrived. We were invited to stay and
+take dinner here, and I had my first opportunity of tasting roast
+tapir. I found that it resembled roast beef very much, only sweeter,
+and the enjoyment of this food belongs among the very few pleasant
+memories I preserve of this trip.
+
+While they were getting dinner ready, I noticed what I took to be a
+stuffed parrot on a beam in the kitchen. But when I touched its tail
+I found that it was enough alive to come near snapping my finger
+off. It was a very large arara parrot with two tail feathers, each
+about thirty-six inches long, a magnificent specimen worthy of a place
+in a museum. Parrots of this particular species are very difficult
+to handle, being as stupid and malicious as they are beautiful. They
+often made me think of dandies who go resplendent in fine clothes
+but are less conspicuous for mental excellences.
+
+After having indulged in black coffee, we were invited to give the
+house and the surroundings a general inspection. Directly behind the
+structure was the smoking hut, or _defumador_, as it is called. Inside
+this are a number of sticks inclined in pyramid form and covered with
+palm-leaves. In the floor a hole was dug for the fire that serves for
+coagulating the rubber-milk. Over this pit is hung a sort of frame for
+guiding the heavy stick employed in the smoking of the rubber. At this
+time the process had not become for me the familiar story that it was
+destined to be. Beneath the hut were several unfinished paddles and a
+canoe under construction. The latter are invariably of the "dugout"
+type. A shape is roughly cut from a tree-trunk and then a fire is
+built in the centre and kept burning in the selected places until the
+trunk is well hollowed out. It is then finished off by hand. Paddles
+are formed from the buttresses which radiate from the base of the
+matamatá tree, forming thin but very strong spurs. They are easily
+cut into the desired shape by the men and receive decorations from
+the hands of the women who often produce striking colour effects. A
+beautiful scarlet tint is obtained from the fruit of the urueu plant,
+and the genipapa produces a deep rich-black colour. These dyes are
+remarkably glossy, and they are waterproof and very stable.
+
+After sunset the launch was off again. Everything went quietly until
+midnight, when we were awakened with great suddenness. The launch
+had collided with a huge log that came floating down the stream. It
+wedged itself between the side of the boat and the lighter and it
+required much labour to get ourselves loose from it. After we got
+free, the log tore two of the canoes from their fastenings and they
+drifted off; but the loss was not discovered until the next morning,
+when we were about thirty-five miles from the scene of the accident.
+
+Two more days passed without any incident of a more interesting
+nature than was afforded by occasional stops at lonely _barracãos_
+where merchandise was unloaded and fuel for the engine taken in. We
+were always most cordially received by the people and invited to take
+coffee, while murmurs of "_Esta casa e a suas ordenes_"--This house
+is at your disposal--followed our departure. Unlike many conventional
+phrases of politeness, I do not know that the sentiment was entirely
+exaggerated, It is typical of the Brazilian and is to be reckoned
+with his other good qualities. They always combine a respect for
+those things that are foreign, with their decided patriotism. The
+hospitality the stranger receives at their hands is nothing short of
+marvellous, and no greater insult can be inflicted than to offer to
+pay for accommodations. I find any retrospective glance over the days
+I spent among these people coloured with much pleasure when I review
+incidents connected with my contact with them. There is a word in the
+Portuguese language which holds a world of meaning for anyone who has
+been in that land so richly bestowed with the blessings of Nature,
+Brazil. It is _saudades_, a word that arouses only the sweetest and
+tenderest of memories.
+
+There were seven more days of travel before we reached the headquarters
+of Floresta, the largest rubber-estate in the Javary region. It covers
+an area somewhat larger than Long Island. Coronel da Silva, the owner,
+lives in what would be called an unpretentious house in any other
+place but the Amazon. Here it represents the highest achievement of
+architecture and modern comfort. It is built on sixteen-foot poles and
+stands on the outskirts of a half-cleared space which contains also six
+smaller buildings scattered around. The house had seven medium-sized
+rooms, equipped with modern furniture of an inexpensive grade. There
+was also an office which, considering that it was located about
+2900 miles from civilisation, could be almost called up-to-date. I
+remember, for instance, that a clock from New Haven had found its
+way here. In charge of the office was a secretary, a Mr. da Marinha,
+who was a man of considerable education and who had graduated in
+the Federal capital. Several years of health-racking existence in
+the swamps had made him a nervous and indolent man, upon whose face
+a smile was never seen. The launch stopped here twenty-four hours,
+unloading several tons of merchandise, to replenish the store-house
+close to the river front. I took advantage of the wait to converse
+with Coronel da Silva. He invited me cordially to stop at his house
+and spend the summer watching the rubber-work and hunting the game
+that these forests contained. It was finally proposed that I go with
+the launch up to the Branco River, only two days' journey distant, and
+that on its return I should disembark and stay as long as I wished. To
+this I gladly assented. We departed in the evening bound for the Branco
+River. On this trip I had my first attack of fever. I had no warning
+of the approaching danger until a chill suddenly came over me on the
+first day out from Floresta. I had felt a peculiar drowsiness for
+several days, but had paid little attention to it as one generally
+feels drowsy and tired in the oppressive heat and humidity. When to
+this was added a second chill that shook me from head to foot with such
+violence that I thought my last hour had come, I knew I was in for my
+first experience of the dreaded Javary fever. There was nothing to do
+but to take copious doses of quinine and keep still in my hammock close
+to the rail of the boat. The fever soon got strong hold of me and I
+alternated between shivering with cold and burning with a temperature
+that reached 104 and 105 degrees. Towards midnight it abated somewhat,
+but left me so nearly exhausted that I was hardly able to raise my
+head to see where we were going. Our boat kept close to the bank so
+as to get all possible advantage of the eddying currents.
+
+I was at length aroused from a feverish slumber by being flung suddenly
+to the deck of the launch with a violent shock, while men and women
+shouted in excitement that the craft would surely turn over. We
+were careened at a dangerous angle when I awoke and in my reduced
+condition it was not difficult to imagine that a capsize was to be the
+result. But with a ripping, rending sound the launch suddenly righted
+itself. It developed that we had had a more serious encounter with
+a protruding branch than in any of the previous collisions. This one
+had caught on the very upright to which my hammock was secured. The
+stanchion in this case was iron and its failure to give way had caused
+the boat to tilt. Finally the iron bent to an S shape and the branch
+slipped off after tearing the post from its upper fastenings. It
+was a narrow escape from a calamity, but the additional excitement
+aggravated my fever and I went from bad to worse. Therefore it was
+found advisable, when we arrived, late the next day, at the mouth of
+the Branco, to put me ashore to stay in the hut of the manager of the
+rubber estate, so that I might not cause the crew and the passengers
+of the launch inconvenience through my sickness and perhaps ultimate
+death. I was carried up to the hut and placed in a hammock where
+I was given a heavy dose of quinine. I dimly remember hearing the
+farewell-toot of the launch as she left for the down-river trip, and
+there I was alone in a strange place among people of whose language
+I understood very little. In the afternoon a young boy was placed in
+a hammock next to mine, and soon after they brought in a big, heavy
+Brazilian negro, whom they put on the other side. Like me they were
+suffering from Javary fever and kept moaning all through the afternoon
+in their pain, but all three of us were too sick to pay any attention
+to each other. That night my fever abated a trifle and I could hear
+the big fellow raving in delirium about snakes and lizards, which
+he imagined he saw. When the sun rose at six the next morning he was
+dead. The boy expired during the afternoon.
+
+It was torture to lie under the mosquito-net with the fever pulsing
+through my veins and keeping my blood at a high temperature, but I
+dared not venture out, even if I had possessed the strength to do so,
+for fear of the mosquitoes and the sand-flies which buzzed outside in
+legions. For several days I remained thus and then began to mend a
+little. Whether it was because of the greater vitality of the white
+race or because I had not absorbed a fatal dose, I do not know,
+but I improved. When I felt well enough, I got up and arranged with
+the rubber-estate manager to give me two Indians to paddle me and my
+baggage down to Floresta. I wanted to get down there where I could
+have better accommodations before I should become sick again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FLORESTA: LIFE AMONG THE RUBBER-WORKERS
+
+
+It was half past five in the morning when we arrived at the landing
+of the Floresta estate. Since it was too early to go up to the
+house I placed my trunk on the bank and sat admiring the surrounding
+landscape, partly enveloped in the mist that always hangs over these
+damp forests until sunrise. The sun was just beginning to colour the
+eastern sky with faint warm tints. Before me was the placid surface of
+the Itecoahy, which seemed as though nothing but my Indian's paddles
+had disturbed it for a century. Just here the river made a wide turn
+and on the sand-bar that was formed a few large freshwater turtles
+could be seen moving slowly around. The banks were high and steep,
+and it appeared incredible that the flood could rise so high that
+it would inundate the surrounding country and stand ten or twelve
+feet above the roots of the trees--a rise that represented about
+sixty-seven feet in all.
+
+When I turned around I saw the half-cleared space in front of me
+stretching over a square mile of ground. To the right was Coronel
+da Silva's house, already described, and all about, the humbler
+_barracãos_ or huts of the rubber-workers. In the clearing, palm-trees
+and guava brush formed a fairly thick covering for the ground, but
+compared with the surrounding impenetrable jungle the little open space
+deserved its title of "clearing." A few cows formed a rare sight as
+they wandered around nibbling at the sparse and sickly growth of grass.
+
+By-and-bye the sun was fully up; but even then it could not fully
+disperse the mists that hung over the landscape. The birds were waking
+and their calls filled the air. The amorous notes of the inamboo were
+repeated and answered from far off by its mate, and the melancholy
+song of the wacurão piped musically out from the vastness of the
+forest. Small green paroquets flew about and filled the air with
+their not altogether pleasant voices. These are the same birds that
+are well-known to the residents of New York and other large cities,
+where a dozen of them can often be seen in charge of an intrepid
+Italian, who has them trained to pick cards out of a box for anyone
+desiring his fortune told for the sum of five cents. Here they must
+provide by their own efforts for their own futures, however. Even at
+this hour the howling monkey had not left off disturbing the peace
+with its hideous din.
+
+Gradually the camp woke up to the day's work. A tall pajama-clad man
+spied me and was the first to come over. He was a very serious-looking
+gentleman and with his full-bearded face looked not unlike the artist's
+conception of the Saviour. He bade me welcome in the usual generous
+terms of the Brazilians and invited me into the house, where I again
+met Coronel da Silva. This first-mentioned grave-looking man was Mr. da
+Marinha. The kindness with which he welcomed me was most grateful;
+especially so in my present physical condition. I noticed what had
+not been so apparent on my first meeting with him, that recent and
+continuous ravages of fevers and spleen troubles had reduced him,
+though a fairly young man, to the usual nerve-worn type that the
+white man seems bound to become after any long stay in the upper
+Amazon region.
+
+Not knowing where I might stop when I left Remate de Males, I had
+brought with me a case of canned goods. I only succeeded in insulting
+the Coronel when I mentioned this. He gave me his best room and
+sent for a new hammock for me. Such attentions to a stranger, who
+came without even a letter of introduction, are typical of Brazilian
+hospitality.
+
+After a plentiful meal, consisting of fried fish and roast
+loin of tapir, which tasted very good, we drank black coffee and
+conversed as well as my limited knowledge of the Portuguese language
+permitted. After this, naturally, feeling very tired from my travels
+and the heat of the day, I arranged my future room, strung my hammock,
+and slept until a servant announced that supper was served. This meal
+consisted of jerked beef, farinha, rice, black beans, turtle soup,
+and the national Goiabada marmalade. The cook, who was nothing but
+a sick rubber-worker, had spoiled the principal part of the meal by
+disregarding the juices of the meat, and cooking it without salt,
+besides mixing the inevitable farinha with everything. But it was
+a part of the custom of the country and could not be helped. _De
+gustibus non est disputandum._
+
+When this meal was over, I was invited to go with the secretary,
+Mr. da Marinha, the man who had first greeted me in the morning,
+to see a sick person. At some distance from the house was a small
+barracão, where we were received by a _seringueiro_ named Marques. This
+remarkable man was destined to figure prominently in experiences that
+I had to undergo later. He pulled aside a large mosquito-net which
+guarded the entrance of the inner room of this hut. In the hammock
+we found a middle-aged woman; a native of Cearã. Her face was not
+unattractive but terribly emaciated, and she was evidently very
+sick. She showed us an arm bound up in rags, and the part exposed
+was wasted and dark red. It was explained that three weeks before,
+an accident had forced a wooden splinter into her thumb and she had
+neglected the inflammation that followed. I asked her to undo the
+wrappings, a thing which I should never have done, and the sight
+we saw was most discouraging. The hand was swollen until it would
+not have been recognised as a hand, and there was an immense lesion
+extending from the palm to the middle of the forearm. The latter was in
+a terrible condition, the flesh having been eaten away to the bone. It
+was plainly a case of gangrene of a particularly vicious character.
+
+Suddenly it dawned upon me that they all took me for a doctor; and the
+questions they asked as to what should be done, plainly indicated that
+they looked to me for assistance. I explained that I had no knowledge
+of surgery, but that in spite of this I was sure that if something
+were not done immediately the woman would have little time to live.
+
+I asked if there was not a doctor that could be reached within a few
+days' journey. We discussed sending the woman to Remate de Males by
+canoe, but this idea was abandoned, for the journey even undertaken by
+the most skilful paddlers could not be made in less than eighteen days,
+and by that time the gangrene would surely have killed the patient.
+
+Coronel da Silva was called in. He said that the woman was the wife
+of the chief of the _caucheros_ and that her life must be saved if
+possible. I explained my own incapacity in this field once more, but
+insisted that we would be justified in undertaking an amputation as
+the only chance of preventing her death.
+
+I now found myself in a terrible position. The operation is a very
+difficult one even in the hands of a skilful surgeon, and here I was
+called to perform it with hardly an elementary knowledge of the science
+and not even adequate instruments. At the same time, it seemed moral
+cowardice to avoid it, since evidently I was the one best qualified,
+and the woman would die in agony if not soon relieved. I trembled all
+over when I concluded that there was no escape. We went to the room
+and got the bistoury and the forceps given me by a medical friend
+before I left home. Besides these, I took some corrosive sublimate,
+intended for the preparation of animal skins, and some photographic
+clips. The secretary, after a search produced an old and rusty hacksaw
+as the only instrument the estate could furnish. This we cleaned as
+carefully as possible with cloths and then immersed it in a solution
+of sublimate. Before going to the patient's hut I asked the owner and
+the woman's husband if they were reconciled to my attempt and would
+not hold me responsible in case of her death. They answered that,
+as the woman was otherwise going to die, we were entirely right
+in doing whatever we could. I found the patient placidly smoking
+a pipe, her injured arm over the edge of the hammock. By this time
+she understood that she was to have her arm amputated by a surgical
+novice. She seemed not to be greatly concerned over the matter, and
+went on smoking her pipe while we made the arrangements. We placed her
+on the floor and told her to lie still. We adjusted some rubber cloth
+under the dead arm. Her husband and three children stood watching with
+expressionless faces. Two monkeys, tied to a board in a corner were
+playing and fighting together. A large parrot was making discursive
+comment on the whole affair, while a little lame dog seemed to be the
+most interested spectator. The secretary took the bistoury from the
+bowl containing the sublimate and handed it to me with a bow. With
+a piece of cotton I washed the intended spot of operation and traced
+a line with a pencil on the arm.
+
+Imagine with what emotions I worked! After we had once started,
+however, we forgot everything except the success of our operation. I
+omit a description of the details, as they might prove too
+gruesome. The woman fainted from shock just before we touched the
+bone,--Nature thus supplying an effective, if rude, anæsthetic. We
+had forgotten about sewing together the flesh, and when we came
+to this a boy was dispatched to the owner's house for a package of
+stout needles. These were held in the fire for a few seconds, and
+then immersed when cold in the sublimate before they were used to
+join the flesh. By the time it was done, I was, myself, feeling very
+sick. Finally I could stand the little room of torture no longer,
+and left the secretary dressing the wound. Would she recover from
+the barbaric operation? This question kept coursing through my head
+as I vainly tried for a long time to go to sleep.
+
+The next day, after an early observation of my patient, who seemed
+to have recovered from the shock and thus gave at least this hope
+of success, I spent my time going around to visit the homes of the
+_seringueiros_. They were all as polite as their chief, and after
+exchanging the salute of "Boa dia," they would invite me to climb
+up the ladder and enter the hut. Here they would invariably offer
+me a cup of strong coffee. There were always two or three hammocks,
+of which I was given the one I liked best. The huts generally consist
+of two rooms with a few biscuit-boxes as chairs, and Winchester rifles
+and some fancy-painted paddles to complete the furniture.
+
+The following day I arose with the sun and, after some coffee, asked
+a huge small-pox-scarred fellow to accompany me on my first excursion
+into the real jungle. Up to this time I had only seen it from my back
+porch in Remate de Males and from the deck of the launch _Carolina_,
+but now I was in the heart of the forest and would indulge in jungle
+trips to my heart's content. We entered through a narrow pathway called
+an _estrada_, whose gateway was guarded by a splendid palm-tree,
+like a Cerberus at the gates of dark Hades. The _estrada_ led us
+past one hundred to one hundred and fifty rubber trees, as it wound
+its way over brooks and fallen trees. Each of the producing trees
+had its rough bark gashed with cuts to a height of ten to twelve
+feet all around its circumference. These marks were about an inch
+and a half in length. Alongside of the tree was always to be found
+a stick, on the end of which were a dozen or so of small tin-cups
+used in collecting the rubber-milk. Every worker has two _estradas_
+to manage, and by tapping along each one alternately he obtains the
+maximum of the product. This particular _estrada_ was now deserted
+as the _seringueiro_ happened to be at work on the other one under
+his jurisdiction.
+
+It was in a sense agreeable to work there as the sun could not
+penetrate the dense foliage and the air was therefore cool. After we
+had walked for about an hour, my big guide complained of being tired
+and of feeling unwell. I told him he could go back to the camp and
+leave me to find my way alone. Accordingly he left me and I now had
+the task of carrying without assistance my large 8 x 10 view-camera,
+a shotgun, a revolver, and a machete.
+
+Gradually my ear caught a terrible sound which to the uninitiated
+would have seemed like the roaring of a dozen lions in combat, but
+the dreadful notes that vibrated through the forest were only those
+of the howling monkey. I always had a great desire to see one of this
+species in the act of performing this uncanny forest-concert, therefore
+I left the rubber pathway after placing my camera on the ground, up
+against a rubber tree, and commenced following the noise, cutting my
+way through the underbrush. I walked and walked, but the sound seemed
+to remain the same distance away, and I stopped to reconnoitre.
+
+I hesitated whether to proceed or not, fearing I might lose the way
+and not be able to find my camera again. The monkey was not visible
+at all; it fact, it was not possible to see anything, unless it was
+very close by, so dense was the foliage. I laid my automatic pistol
+on a fallen tree-trunk, and was trying to figure out the chances of
+getting a look at my simian friend and at the same time not losing my
+valuable property on the pathway, when I heard another startling sound,
+this time near-by. I prepared myself for whatever species of animal was
+due, and could feel the excitement a hunter knows when he thinks he is
+about to get a sight of big game. Suddenly the undergrowth parted in
+front of me and a herd of wild boars came trotting out. I drew a bead
+on the biggest of the lot and fired, letting five soft-nose bullets go
+through his head to make sure; the others fled, and I hastened to the
+spot to examine my prize more closely. It was a boar of medium size,
+weighing in the neighbourhood of one hundred and twenty-five pounds,
+and he had a fine set of tusks. He was rather vicious-looking and
+was doing considerable kicking before he gave up the ghost. It was
+impossible for me to carry him through the bush owing to the fact that
+I had the valuable camera and apparatus to take care of, so I made
+a mental note of the spot, and cut his ears off. It took four hours'
+search to find the camera, in spite of my belief that I had not gone
+far, and it was late in the afternoon when I arrived at headquarters.
+
+The very next morning there was a good opportunity to see the smoking
+of rubber-milk. A _seringueiro_ had collected his product and when
+I went to the smoking-hut I found him busy turning over and over a
+big stick, resting on two horizontal guides, built on both sides of
+a funnel from which a dense smoke was issuing. On the middle of the
+stick was a huge ball of rubber. Over this he kept pouring the milk
+from a tin-basin. Gradually the substance lost its liquidity and
+coagulated into a beautiful yellow-brown mass which was rubber in
+its first crude shipping state.
+
+The funnel from which the smoke issued was about three feet high and of
+a conical shape. At its base was a fire of small wooden chips, which
+when burning gave forth an acrid smoke containing a large percentage
+of creosote. It is this latter substance which has the coagulating
+effect upon the rubber-milk. When the supply of milk was exhausted,
+he lifted the ball and stick off the guides and rolled it on a smooth
+plank to drive the moisture out of the newly-smoked rubber. Then he
+was through for the day. He placed the stick on two forked branches
+and put some green leaves over the funnel to smother the fire. On top
+of the leaves he put a tin-can and a chunk of clay, then filled the
+hole in the ground with ashes. Under this arrangement the fire would
+keep smouldering for twenty-four hours, to be used anew for the next
+repetition of the smoking process.
+
+In the afternoon we again went out to hunt. This time I took only a
+12-gauge shotgun. As we travelled through the forest I was impressed
+once more by the fascination of the grandly extravagant vegetation.
+
+But there is little charm about it, nothing of the tranquillity our
+idyllic Catskills or even the sterner Adirondacks, create. There is no
+invitation to repose, no stimulus to quiet enjoyment, for the myriad
+life of the Amazon's jungle forest never rests. There is always some
+sound or some movement which is bound to stir in one the instinct
+of self-preservation. You have to be constantly alive to the danger
+of disagreeable annoyance from the pests that abound, or of actual
+bodily harm from animals of the reptilian order.
+
+Were I in possession of adequate descriptive power I could picture
+the impression that this jungle creates upon the mind of one from the
+North, but now, as I once more sit in a large city with sky-scrapers
+towering about me, and hear the rattling noise of the elevated railway
+train as it rushes past, my pen fails me and I have to remove myself on
+the wings of thought to those remote forests, fully realising, "_Beatus
+ille, qui procul negotiis, ut_" etc., etc. Then I can feel again
+the silence and the gloom that pervade those immense and wonderful
+woods. The few sounds of birds and animals are, generally, of a pensive
+and mysterious character, and they intensify the feeling of solitude
+rather than impart to it a sense of life and cheerfulness. Sometimes
+in the midst of the noon-day stillness, a sudden yell or scream will
+startle one, coming from some minor fruit-eating animal, set upon by a
+carnivorous beast or serpent. Morning and evening, the forest resounds
+with the fearful roar of the howling monkeys, and it is hard, even
+for the stoutest heart, to maintain its buoyancy of spirit. The sense
+of inhospitable wilderness, which the jungle inspires, is increased
+tenfold by this monstrous uproar. Often in the still hours of night,
+a sudden crash will be heard, as some great branch or a dead tree falls
+to the ground. There are, besides, many sounds which are impossible
+to account for and which the natives are as much at a loss to explain
+as myself. Sometimes a strange sound is heard, like the clang of an
+iron bar against a hard, hollow tree; or a piercing cry rends the
+air. These are not repeated, and the succeeding stillness only tends
+to heighten the unpleasant impression which they produce on the mind.
+
+The first thing that claimed our attention, shortly after we started,
+was a sound of breaking branches and falling leaves, somewhere in
+the distance. Through the trees I could perceive that it was a big
+dark-grey monkey, which we had alarmed. He was scrambling up a tall
+tree when I fired at him. I evidently missed, for I could see him
+prepare for a mighty jump to a lower tree where he would be out of
+sight. But in the jump he got another load of pellets, which struck
+him in the back. His leap fell short of the mark and he landed headlong
+among some bushes, kicking violently as I came up to him. As he seemed
+strongly built and had a rather savage expression, it did not seem
+wise to tackle him with bare hands, therefore, as I desired to get him
+alive, I ran back and procured my focussing cloth, which I tied around
+his head. Thus I got him safely back to the camp, where he was tied
+to a board and the bullets extracted from his flesh. Then his wounds,
+which were not serious, were bound up and he was put into a cage with
+a bunch of bananas and a saucer of goat's milk to cheer him up a bit.
+
+The suddenness with which these monkey delicacies disappeared,
+convinced me that his complete recovery was a matter of only a short
+time, unless perchance some hungry rubber-worker, surreptitiously,
+had removed these viands while nobody was looking, for bananas and
+milk are things which will tempt any Amazonian from the narrow path
+of rectitude; but it was not so in this case. The conviction as to
+recovery proved right, and with the improvement of his health he
+displayed a cheerful and fond disposition that decided me to take
+him back with me to New York when I should go. I have since been
+informed that he belonged to the Humboldt Sika species. I watched him
+for several months and came to like him for the innocent tricks he
+never tired of playing. One night he managed to liberate himself from
+the tree near the hut where he was tied. He disappeared for two days,
+but on the third he returned, chains and all. He had doubtless found
+life in the jungle trees not altogether cheerful with a heavy chain
+secured to his waist, and he had returned reconciled to captivity
+and regular meals. There is at present one specimen of this kind of
+monkey at the Bronx Zoölogical Gardens in charge of the head keeper.
+
+At the time of low water, the so-called _prayas_ appear at the bends
+of the river; they grow with the accumulation of sand and mud. They are
+wide and often of a considerable area, and on them the alligators like
+to bask in the sunshine of early morning and late afternoon, and the
+_tartarugas_, or fresh-water turtles, lay their eggs. These eggs are
+laid in the months of September and October on moon-lit nights and
+are somewhat smaller than the ordinary hen's egg, the yolk tasting
+very much the same, but they are covered with a tough parchment-like
+shell. Here on the upper Amazon the people prepare a favourite meal
+by collecting these eggs and storing them for two or three weeks,
+when they tear open the shell and squeeze out the yolks, mixing them
+all up into a mush with the inevitable farinha. Few people, except
+native Brazilians, ever acquire a relish for this remarkable dish.
+
+I spent a whole day waiting for the elusive alligators on one of
+these sand-bars, but evidently they were too wise, for they never came
+within camera-range. I did, however, see some tapir-tracks, leading
+down to the water's edge. After the long wait I grew discouraged,
+and chose a camping place farther up the river, where I prepared
+a meal consisting of turtle eggs and river water. The meal was not
+absolutely undisturbed, as the air was full of a species of fly that
+derives its principal sustenance from the bodies of various dead
+animals always to be found through the jungle, whose teeming life
+crowds out all but those fittest to survive.
+
+I had begun my vigil before sunrise, when there are two or three hours
+very cool and humid. In the dry season the dew which collects is of
+the greatest importance to animal and plant life. For the tired and
+thirsty wanderer, the calyx of the beautiful scarlet orchid, which
+grows abundantly in this region, contains the refreshment of two or
+three ounces of clear, cool water. But you must look carefully into
+this cup of nature to see that no insects lurk in its depths to spoil
+the draught.
+
+I have previously described the breakfast table of the millionaire
+Coronel R. da Silva, with its black beans, the dreadful farinha, the
+black coffee, and the handful of mutilated _bolachas_ or biscuits. The
+only variable factor was the meat, sometimes wild hog, occasionally
+tapir, and very often the common green parrot or the howling monkey. At
+most meals the _pirarucu_ fish appears, especially on Mondays when
+the rubber-workers have had the whole of Sunday in which to indulge
+in the sport of shooting this gamy two-hundred-pound fish. They carry
+their _pirarucu_ to headquarters and courteously offer the best cuts
+to the Coronel, afterwards cutting the rest into long strips and
+leaving them to dry in the sun. Jerked beef was always to be relied
+upon when other supplies ran low.
+
+There must have been some terrible mystery connected with the
+milk. There were twenty-one cows on the place, but never a drop of
+milk from them was to be had. I was always afraid to ask any questions
+about this deficiency for fear I might be treading on dangerous ground,
+but with the lack of any other explanation I ascribe it to continual
+sickness from which the cattle must probably suffer, in common with
+every other living thing here.
+
+During the month of September, the number of patients from fever,
+pleurisy, and accidents, at Floresta headquarters, amounted to 82% of
+the population. A fever resembling typhoid resulted in several cases
+from drinking the river-water. The Coronel claimed that Mangeroma
+Indians living in the interior about 150 miles from Floresta had
+poisoned the creeks and affluents of the Itecoahy to take revenge upon
+the traders who brought the much dreaded Peruvian rubber-workers up
+to the Itecoahy River estates. These Peruvians are hated because they
+abduct the women of the indigenous tribes, when on their expeditions
+far into the forests where these tribes live, and consequently they
+are hunted down and their entrance to the region as far as possible
+prevented.
+
+At this morning hour in New York (Floresta is on the same meridian
+as New York), thousands of toilers are entering the hot subways and
+legions of workers are filing into their offices and stuffy shops
+to take their places at the huge machinery which keeps the world
+in motion. At the very same hour a handful of rubber-workers are
+passing my house, returning from their first trip in the _estradas_,
+where they have been tapping the trees, and on their way to the huts
+and a frugal breakfast. Here in the wilds of Brazil there are no
+subways, no worry about the "market," nor indeed any thought for the
+morrow. Nature supplies the rubber trees, and the "boss" the tools to
+work them with; the philosophy of the rubber-worker goes no farther. A
+shirt, trousers, and a hat are all the dress that fashion requires,
+and often the worker even finds the shirt superfluous. He wears a
+pair of overalls, and carries slung over his shoulder his rifle and
+the little hatchet for tapping the trees, besides a small rubber bag
+in which he keeps a supply of farinha and jerked beef, should he be
+prevented from reaching his hut in regulation time.
+
+The _seringueiro_ is free in his movements and in his mind, he is a
+quick and keen observer of nature, and an expert in knowledge of the
+cries and calls of the animals of the forest. He knows their habits
+and hiding-places to perfection, and he could probably astonish the
+naturalist by informing him of many things he has observed that his
+brother scientist never has heard of. He knows the names of the trees
+and plants in the forest and what they can be used for, though his
+knowledge of them is often supplemented by superstitious imaginings. He
+knows the multitudinous fish of the Amazon, whether they are to be
+caught with a net, speared, or shot with bow and arrows, or, if the
+hunter is of a progressive disposition, shot with rifle ball. There are
+varieties that have, as yet, not been seen, classified, or identified
+by the scientist of to-day--I am positive of having seen several such.
+
+The inhabitant of this region is clean in his habits and in his mind as
+soon as he gets away from the evil influence of civilisation--which for
+him is the town of Remate de Males or "Culmination of Evils." He takes
+a bath at least twice a day, and attends closely to the cleanliness of
+his wardrobe, which for that matter does not absorb any considerable
+amount of time. As a rule, he is industrious, but frequent attacks of
+fever, dysentery, liver and spleen complaints, or pneumonia make him
+in the end, like all living things here not native to the forests,
+sluggish in general, and irritable on occasion.
+
+A little distance from the headquarters lies a beautiful lake. It is
+not wider than the Itecoahy itself, four hundred feet on an average,
+and is about five miles long. It runs parallel with the river, and has
+only one outlet. In the dry season this amounts to nothing more than a
+little rivulet across which a large fallen tree has formed a natural
+bridge, but in January, when the waters rise, the creek is so full
+that the servants of Coronel da Silva can wash the linen there. After
+some weeks of sojourn at Floresta, I found my way to this lake, and it
+was here that I was able to observe some of the largest specimens of
+Amazonian reptiles in their haunts, where the equatorial sun had full
+opportunity to develop an amazing growth of faunal and floral life.
+
+It was a most enchanting stretch of water. I had heard of the dangers
+lurking beneath its surface long before I saw it, so when I arrived
+there one morning I was surprised to find a placid lake, set in
+picturesque and romantic surroundings. My first impulse was to exclaim,
+partly to myself, and partly to the Indian João who accompanied me,
+"Why, this is Lake Innocence," so peaceful did it appear. In fact,
+so much did it charm me that during the remainder of my stay at
+Floresta there was hardly a day some part of which I did not spend
+in the immediate vicinity of this lake. But it was treacherous. It
+was the home of six or seven old alligators and of young ones--too
+numerous to count; the oldest reaching a length of about seventeen
+feet. They would lie perfectly still under the banks, among the dead
+branches and snags, which made the shores generally inaccessible to
+boat or canoe, but when a person approached they would make their
+presence known by violent splashing in the water and repeated loud
+grunts, very much resembling those of a walrus. Then they would burrow
+under the soft mud and remain quiet for an hour or two. In the early
+forenoon, before the sun became too hot, they would sun themselves,
+but in the sweltering mid-day hours they remained buried in the mud,
+and were then very hard to rouse.
+
+I found, on the shores of the lake, two alligator nests, formed of many
+twigs and branches stuck together, half in the water and half in the
+soft slimy mud. There they deposited their eggs, oblong tough ones;
+and one could always count on finding the female in the neighbourhood,
+should one desire to visit her. I came near stepping on one of these
+female alligators during a morning hunt with my camera. I was intently
+examining a group of eggs I found under a cluster of branches, when
+I was startled by a splash in the water and a loud grunt. As fast
+as the muddy ground would let me, I scrambled up the bank, and when
+I reached the top I saw the alligator swimming away from the very
+spot where I had been standing, its small close-set eyes fastened on
+me. Then it disappeared in the mud.
+
+My next encounter occurred one forenoon, when I was sitting close
+to the dried-up canal which formed the outlet of the lake. It was
+almost mid-day. I was sitting in the shade, safe from the blazing sun,
+enjoying a peaceful smoke. The air was fairly vibrating with heat,
+causing the blood to surge through my veins. Not a sound was heard
+except the irritating buzz of the ever-present mosquitoes. For some
+time I had been aware of the slow, stealthy movement of a large body
+near-by, though only half consciously. The heat made me sluggish
+and sleepy, but suddenly I awoke to the fact that the moving thing,
+whatever it might be, was near me. Mechanically, I released the
+"safety" of my automatic pistol, and then realised that out of the
+reeds near me was creeping a medium-sized alligator. He was making
+straight for the water, and I do not know whether he was cognisant of
+my presence or not. He was moving steadily, advancing a few inches,
+stopping for a minute, then resuming the journey. I believe I was
+not more than five feet from the head as it emerged from the fringe
+of reeds. I raised my camera, secured a focus, and snapped the
+shutter. The click of the apparatus and perhaps my movement drew
+his attention. He stopped abruptly. The long jaws opened toward
+me, displaying an enormous expanse of pink flesh and two rows of
+shining teeth. I lost not a second in throwing aside the camera and
+jumping back to a position of relative safety, whence I fired into
+the open mouth of the beast. I killed him. On examining the carcass,
+I noticed that he had unusually large eyes, indicating that he was
+a young specimen.
+
+A few days later I again went to this lake--which, from my remarks, had
+now come to be generally called "Lago Innocencia"--to catch fish with
+my Indian friend João. He carried a bow, four arrows with detachable
+heads, and a harpoon six feet long. The little boat which we found
+close to the outlet of the lake was pushed away from the shore, we
+each seized one of the peculiarly decorated paddles, and were off,
+looking for finny game. We paddled quietly along near the shore,
+now and then receiving a bump from some concealed snag which nearly
+upset us. It requires considerable skill to navigate one of these
+poorly-made dugouts, the slightest move causing a disproportionate
+amount of disturbance of equilibrium.
+
+Suddenly João jumped up, his black eyes glowing with excitement. He
+motioned me to keep quiet, but it was quiet superfluous for him to
+do this, as I was unable to talk, or even look around, for fear the
+canoe might upset. He seized the harpoon, and with a powerful swing
+sent it into the water ahead of us, at the same time grasping the line
+which was attached to the end. The spear sank deep into the water,
+and then by the vivacity with which it danced around I could tell
+there was something on the end of it. As he began to pull in the line,
+the struggle became so violent that I crept forward on my knees in
+the bottom of the canoe and helped him recover the spear. Only after
+some strenuous balancing feats and a stiff fight by both of us, did
+we land our game. It was a large flat fish at least four feet square,
+with a long whip-shaped tail, at the base of which were two barbed
+bones each about three and a half inches in length. Our first act was
+to sever this tail with a hatchet, as it was far too active to make
+the fish a pleasant neighbour in close quarters. When the sting-ray,
+or, as the Brazilians call it, the _araya_, was dead, I cut out the
+two barbed bones and no longer wondered why these fish are so dreaded
+by those who know them. João told me that they attack anyone who
+ventures into the water, and with their sharp, barbed bones inflict
+a wound that in most cases proves fatal, for the bones are brittle
+and break off in the flesh. Superstition and carelessness are the
+main factors that make the wound dangerous; the people believe too
+much in an ever-present evil spirit which abides in all the vicious
+and fiendish animals of the forest and swamp. Once wounded by any of
+these malignant creatures, they believe there is no hope of recovery
+and they hardly try to survive. Besides, lack of proper care and
+treatment of a wound generally results in its terminating in a case
+of septicaemia and ultimately gangrene.
+
+I have mentioned the _pirarucu_ several times as being the largest
+edible fish of the Amazon. When full grown, it attains a weight of two
+hundred and fifty pounds. In Lake Innocence we saw this remarkable
+fish feeding close to the shore in shallow water, surrounded by a
+school of young ones. The old one was about seven feet in length
+and the others but recently hatched, from nine to ten inches. The
+Indian who pointed them out to me stood up in the bow of the canoe
+and, fitting one of his five-foot arrows to the bow-string, sent it
+through the air and into the head of the big fellow.
+
+The bow which he used was of his own manufacture. It was about seven
+and a half feet long, very tough and straight, and made of Caripari
+wood. The shafts of the arrows were made of long straight reeds, the
+stalks of a certain species of wild cane. The detachable part of the
+arrow is a short but extremely hard piece of wood upon which is fitted
+an iron head with two barbs. When the point pierces the flesh this hard
+piece comes off, but remains attached to the shaft by a short stout
+cord. This allows the shaft free play so that it will not break during
+the struggles of the victim. Then there is a line attached to the head
+itself so that the hunter can handle the struggling animal or fish by
+means of it and of the shaft of the arrow. The whole contrivance is
+a marvel of ingenuity in meeting the conditions the Amazon hunter is
+called on to face. When the arrow struck this particular _pirarucu_,
+at close range, he made straight for the shore, hauling the canoe
+and its contents after him at considerable speed. We got tangled
+among the low branches and fought the fish in considerable danger
+of being overturned--and I should not at all care to be capsized on
+Lake Innocence.
+
+Finally, we got our prize ashore. I sent the Indian to headquarters,
+telling him to go, as fast as he could and bring assistance so that
+we could get the fish home. I myself mounted guard over the carcass
+to see that neither the turkey buzzards nor the carnivorous mammals
+should destroy it. If we had left it alone for even a short time,
+we would have found, on our return, little to remind us of its
+existence. The Indian returned shortly with two men. They stuck a
+pole through the great gills of the _pirarucu_ and in this fashion
+carried it to the settlement.
+
+These waters contain great quantities of another and smaller fish known
+as the _piranha_, scientifically termed _Serraselmus piraya_. This
+is quite as much dreaded by the natives as the alligator, or even as
+the shark along the coast. Its ferocity seems to know no bounds. It
+will attack other fish and bite large pieces out of their fins and
+tails. Although it is not much larger than the herring it can make
+fatal attacks on man when in large numbers.
+
+Mr. C.B. Brown in his work on Guiana gives the following account of
+this fish:
+
+The _piranhas_ in the Corentins were so abundant and were so ferocious
+that at times it was dangerous to go into the water to a greater depth
+than the knees. Even then small bodies of these hungry creatures would
+swim in and make a dash close to our legs, and then retreat to a short
+distance. They actually bit the steering paddles as they were drawn
+through the water astern of the boat. A tapir which I shot as it swam
+across the water had his nose bitten off by them whilst we were towing
+it to the shore. The men used to catch some of them for the sport
+of it, and in taking the hook from the mouth produced a wound from
+which the blood ran freely. On throwing them back into the water in
+this injured condition, they were immediately set upon and devoured
+by their companions. Even as one was being hauled in on the line,
+its comrades, seeing that it was in difficulties, attacked it at once.
+
+I heard about these fiends but had no opportunity to witness their
+ferocity until one day, in crossing the river in a dugout, we wounded
+a wild hog that had also decided to cross at the same time and at the
+same place. The man with the stern paddle seized his machete as he saw
+the hog swimming close by the port-side of the canoe and stabbed it in
+the shoulder, intending to tow it ashore and have a luxurious dinner of
+roast hog. But his dream was never realised, for the _piranhas_ which
+had tasted the blood, I suppose, came in large numbers and set upon
+the unfortunate hog. In a minute the water seemed to be boiling, so
+great was the activity of the little demons as they tore away pieces of
+the flesh until it was vanishing by inches. When we reached the other
+shore there was not enough left of the hog to furnish a single meal.
+
+Later I learned that certain Indian tribes leave their dead in the
+river for the _piranhas_ to strip the flesh from the bones. It is
+then customary to take the remaining skeleton and let it dry in the
+sun, after which it is rubbed with the juice of the _urucu_ plant
+(the _Bixa orellana_), which produces a bright scarlet colour. Then
+it is hung up in the hut and the Indians consider that a token of
+great reverence has been thus bestowed on the deceased.
+
+Before leaving the subject of fish, I will mention another species,
+smaller than the _piranha_, yet, although not as ferocious, the
+cause of much dread and annoyance to the natives living near the
+banks of the rivers. In fact, throughout the Amazon this little
+worm-like creature, called the _kandiroo_, is so omnipresent that a
+bath-house of a particular construction is necessary. The kandiroo is
+usually three to four inches long and one sixteenth in thickness. It
+belongs to the lampreys, and its particular group is the Myxinos or
+slime-fish. Its body is coated with a peculiar mucus. It is dangerous
+to human beings, because when they are taking a bath in the river
+it will approach and with a swift powerful movement penetrate one of
+the natural openings of the body whence it can be removed only by a
+difficult and dangerous operation.
+
+A small but hard and pointed dorsal fin acts as a barb and prevents
+the fish from being drawn back. While I was in Remate de Males the
+local doctor was called upon to remove a _kandiroo_ from the urethra
+of a man. The man subsequently died from the hemorrhage following
+the operation.
+
+Largely through the danger of the attack from this scourge, though
+perhaps not entirely, the natives have adopted the method of bathing
+in use. A plunge into the river is unheard of, and bath-houses are
+constructed so as to make this unnecessary. A hole about eighteen
+inches square is cut in the middle of the floor--built immediately
+above the water--through which the bather, provided with a calabash
+or gourd of the bread-fruit tree, dips water up and pours it over
+himself after he has first examined it carefully. The indigenous
+Indians, living in the remote parts of the forest, do not use this
+mode of protection, but cover the vulnerable portions of the body
+carefully with strips of bark, which render  complete  immersion
+less  dangerous.
+
+During my walks in the forest I often came across snakes of
+considerable length, but never found any difficulty in killing them, as
+they were sluggish in their movements and seemed to be inoffensive. The
+rubber-workers, who had no doubt had many encounters with reptiles,
+told me about large _sucurujus_ or boa-constrictors, which had their
+homes in the river not many miles from headquarters. They told me
+that these snakes were in possession of hypnotic powers, but this,
+like many other assertions, should be taken with a large grain of
+salt. However, I will relate an incident which occurred while I
+lived at Floresta, and in which I have absolute faith, as I had the
+opportunity of talking to the persons involved in the affair.
+
+José Perreira. a rubber-worker, had left headquarters after having
+delivered his weekly report on the rubber extracted, and was paddling
+his canoe at a good rate down the stream, expecting to reach his
+hut before midnight. Arriving at a recess in the banks formed by the
+confluence of a small creek called Igarapé do Inferno, or the Creek
+of Hell, he thought that he heard the noise of some game, probably a
+deer or tapir, drinking, and he silently ran his canoe to the shore,
+where he fastened it to a branch, at the same time holding his rifle
+in readiness. Finally, as he saw nothing, he returned to the canoe
+and continued his way down-stream.
+
+Hardly more than ten yards from the spot, he stopped again and
+listened. He heard only the distant howling of a monkey. This he was
+used to on his nightly trips. No! there was something else! He could
+not say it was a sound. It was a strange something that called him back
+to the bank that he had left but a few minutes before. He fastened
+his canoe again to the same branch and crept up to the same place,
+feeling very uneasy and uncomfortable, but seeing nothing that could
+alarm him--nothing that he could draw the bead of his rifle on. Yet,
+something there was! For the second time he left, without being able
+to account for the mysterious force that lured him to this gloomy,
+moon-lit place on the dark, treacherous bank. In setting out in the
+stream again he decided to fight off the uncanny, unexplainable feeling
+that had called him back, but scarcely a stone's throw from the bank
+he had the same desire to return,--a desire that he had never before
+experienced. He went again, and looked, and meditated over the thing
+that he did not understand.
+
+He had not drunk _cachassa_ that day and was consequently quite sober;
+he had not had fever for two weeks and was in good health physically as
+well as mentally; he had never so much indulged in the dissipations of
+civilisation that his nerves had been affected; he had lived all his
+life in these surroundings and knew no fear of man or beast. And now,
+this splendid type of manhood, free and unbound in his thoughts and
+unprejudiced by superstition, broke down completely and hid his face
+in his hands, sobbing like a child in a dark room afraid of ghosts. He
+had been called to this spot three times without knowing the cause, and
+now, the mysterious force attracting him, as a magnet does a piece of
+iron, he was unable to move. Helpless as a child he awaited his fate.
+
+Luckily three workers from headquarters happened to pass on their
+way to their homes, which lay not far above the "Creek of Hell,"
+and when they heard sobbing from the bank they called out.
+
+The hypnotised _seringueiro_ managed to state that he had three
+times been forced, by some strange power, to the spot where he now
+was, unable to get away, and that he was deadly frightened. The
+rubber-workers, with rifles cocked, approached in their canoe, fully
+prepared to meet a jaguar, but when only a few yards from their comrade
+they saw directly under the root where the man was sitting the head
+of a monstrous boa-constrictor, its eyes fastened on its prey. Though
+it was only a few feet from him, he had been unable to see it.
+
+One of the men took good aim and fired, crushing the head of the snake,
+and breaking the spell, but the intended victim was completely played
+out and had to lie down in the bottom of the canoe, shivering as if
+with ague.
+
+The others took pains to measure the length of the snake before
+leaving. It was 79 palmas or 52 feet 8 inches. In circumference it
+measured 11 palmas, corresponding to a diameter of 28 inches. Its
+mouth, they said, was two palmas or sixteen inches, but how they mean
+this to be understood I do not know.
+
+This event happened while I was living at headquarters. I had a
+long talk with Perreira, but could not shake his statement, nor that
+of the three others; nevertheless, I remained a sceptic as to this
+alleged charming or mesmeric power of the snakes, at least so far as
+man is concerned.
+
+At that time we were awaiting the arrival of the monthly launch from
+the town of Remate de Males, and had spent a day weighing rubber
+at the camp of one of the employees, half a day's journey from
+headquarters. The rubber-pellets were loaded into our large canoe
+to take up to Floresta. We spent the evening drinking black coffee
+and eating some large, sweet pineapples, whereafter we all took a
+nap lasting until midnight, when we got up to start on our night
+trip. It had been considered best to travel at night, when it was
+nice and cool with none of the pestering insects to torture us, and
+we were soon paddling the heavy canoe at a merry rate, smoking our
+pipes and singing in the still, dark night. Soon we rounded a point
+where the mighty trees, covered with orchids and other parasitic
+plants, sent their branches down to the very water which in its
+depths was hiding the dreaded water-snakes. The only sound we heard
+was the weird calling of the night-owl, the "Mother of the Moon"
+as the Indians call it. Except this and the lapping sound of water,
+as we sped along, nothing disturbed the tranquillity of the night.
+
+I was in the act of lighting another pipe when one of the men
+cried out:
+
+"What's this?"
+
+We all stopped paddling and stared ahead at a large dark object,
+resting on a moon-lit sand-bar not far from us. Then someone said,
+"_Sucuruju_." Few people can comprehend the feeling that creeps into
+one's heart when this word is pronounced, under such circumstances,
+in the far-off forest, in the middle of the night. The word
+means boa-constrictor, but it meant a lot more at this moment. An
+indescribable feeling of awe seized me. I knew now that I was to face
+the awful master of the swamps, the great silent monster of the river,
+of which so much had been said, and which so few ever meet in its lair.
+
+Running the canoe ashore we advanced in single file. I now had a
+chance to inspect the object. On a soft, muddy sand-bar, half hidden
+by dead branches, I beheld a somewhat cone-shaped mass about seven
+feet in height. From the base of this came the neck and head of the
+snake, flat on the ground, with beady eyes staring at us as we slowly
+advanced and stopped. The snake was coiled, forming an enormous pile
+of round, scaly monstrosity, large enough to crush us all to death at
+once. We had stopped at a distance of about fifteen feet from him,
+and looked at each other. I felt as if I were spellbound, unable to
+move a step farther or even to think or act on my own initiative.
+
+The snake still made no move, but in the clear moonlight I could
+see its body expand and contract in breathing; its yellow eyes
+seeming to radiate a phosphorescent light. I felt no fear, nor any
+inclination to retreat, yet I was now facing a beast that few men
+had ever succeeded in seeing. Thus we stood looking at each other,
+scarcely moving an eyelid, while the great silent monster looked at
+us. I slid my right hand down to the holster of my automatic pistol,
+the 9mm. Luger, and slowly removed the safety lock, at the same time
+staring into the faces of the men. In this manner I was less under
+the spell of the mesmerism of the snake, and could to some extent
+think and act. I wheeled around while I still held control of my
+faculties, and, perceiving a slight movement of the snake's coils,
+I fired point-blank at the head, letting go the entire chamber of
+soft-nose bullets. Instantly the other men woke up from their trance
+and in their turn fired, emptying their Winchesters into the huge
+head, which by this time was raised to a great height above us,
+loudly hissing in agony.
+
+Our wild yelling echoed through the deep forest. The snake uncoiled
+itself and writhing with pain made for the water's edge. By this time
+we were relieved of the terrible suspense, but we took care to keep
+at a respectful distance from the struggling reptile and the powerful
+lashing of its tail, which would have killed a man with one blow.
+
+After half an hour the struggles grew weaker, yet we hesitated to
+approach even when it seemed quiet and had its head and a portion
+of its body submerged in the water. We decided to stay through the
+night and wait here a day, as I was very anxious to skin the snake
+and take the trophy home to the States as a souvenir of a night's
+adventure in this far-off jungle of the Amazon. We went up in the
+bushes and lit a fire, suspended our hammocks to some tree-trunks,
+and slept soundly not more than ten yards from the dying leviathan.
+
+We all got up before sunrise, had our coffee in haste, and ran down to
+see the snake. It was dead, its head practically shot to pieces. We
+set to work, stretching the huge body out on the sand-bar, and by
+eight o'clock we had the entire snake flat on the ground, ready to
+measure and skin.
+
+It was a most astonishing sight, that giant snake lying there full
+length, while around it gathered six Amazon Indians and the one
+solitary New Yorker, here in the woods about as far from civilisation
+as it is possible to get. I proceeded to take measurements and used
+the span between my thumb and little finger tips as a unit, knowing
+that this was exactly eight inches.
+
+Beginning at the mouth of the snake, I continued to the end and found
+that this unit was contained eighty-four times. Thus 84 times 8 divided
+by 12 gives exactly 56 feet as the total length. In circumference,
+the unit, the "palma," was contained 8 times and a fraction, around
+the thickest part of the body. From this I derived the diameter 2
+feet 1 inch.
+
+These measurements are the result of very careful work. I went from
+the tail to the nose over again so as to eliminate any error, and then
+asked the men with me also to take careful measurements in their own
+manner, which only confirmed the figures given above.
+
+Then we proceeded to skin the snake, which was no easy task under the
+fierce sun now baking our backs. Great flocks of _urubus_, or vultures,
+had smelled the carcass and were circling above our heads waiting
+for their share of the spoils. Each man had his section to work on,
+using a wooden club and his machete. The snake had been laid on its
+belly and it was split open, following the spinal column throughout
+its length, the ventral part being far too hard and unyielding. About
+two o'clock in the afternoon we had the work finished and the carcass
+was thrown into the river, where it was instantly set upon by the
+vigilant _piranhas_ and alligators.
+
+Standing in front of this immense skin I could not withhold my elation.
+
+"Men," I said, "here am I on this the 29th day of July, 1910, standing
+before a snake-skin the size of which is wonderful. When I return to
+my people in the United States of America, and tell them that I have
+seen and killed a boa-constrictor nearly eighteen metres in length,
+they will laugh and call me a man with a bad tongue."
+
+Whereupon my friend, the chief, rose to his full height and exclaimed
+in a grieved tone: "Sir, you say that your people in the north will
+not believe that we have snakes like this or even larger. That is
+an insult to Brazilians, yet you tell us that in your town Nova York
+there are _barracãos_ that have thirty-five or even forty stories on
+top of each other! How do you expect us to believe such an improbable
+tale as that?"
+
+I was in a sad plight between two realities of such mighty proportions
+that they could be disbelieved in localities far removed from each
+other.
+
+We brought the skin to headquarters, where I prepared it with arsenical
+soap and boxed it for later shipment to New York. The skin measured,
+when dried, 54 feet 8 inches, with a width of 5 feet 1 inch.
+
+Kind reader, if you have grown weary of my accounts of the reptilian
+life of the Amazon, forgive me, but such an important role does this
+life play in the every-day experience of the brave rubber-workers
+that the descriptions could not be omitted. A story of life in the
+Amazon jungle without them would be a deficient one, indeed.
+
+
+There is a bird in the forests, before referred to, called by the
+Indians "_A mae da lua_," or the "Mother of the Moon." It is an owl and
+makes its habitation in the large, dead, hollow trees in the depths
+of the jungle, far away from the river front, and it will fly out of
+its nest only on still, moonlit nights, to pour forth its desolate and
+melancholy song. This consists of four notes uttered in a major key,
+then a short pause lasting but a few seconds, followed by another
+four notes in the corresponding minor key. After a little while the
+last two notes in the minor key will be heard and then all is still.
+
+When the lonely wanderer on the river in a canoe, or sitting in his
+hammock, philosophises over the perplexing questions of life, he is
+assisted in his dreary analysis by the gloomy and hair-raising cry
+of the mother of the moon. When the first four notes strike his ear,
+he will listen, thinking that some human being in dire distress is
+somewhere out in the swamps, pitifully calling for help, but in so
+painful a manner that it seems as if all hope were abandoned. Still
+listening, he will hear the four succeeding melancholy notes,
+sounding as if the desolate sufferer were giving up the ghost in a
+last desperate effort. The final two notes, following after a brief
+interval, tell him that he now hears the last despairing sobs of a
+condemned soul. So harrowing and depressing is this song that, once
+heard, the memory of it alone will cause one's hair to stand on end
+and he will be grateful when too far away to hear again this sob of
+the forest.
+
+A surprise was in store for me one day when I visited the domicile of
+a rubber-worker living at the extreme end of the estate. I expected to
+find a dwelling of the ordinary appearance, raised on poles above the
+ground, but instead this hut was built among the branches of a tree
+some twenty feet above the level of the earth. I commenced climbing
+the rickety ladder leading to the door of the hut. Half-way up a
+familiar sound reached my ear. Yes, I had surely heard that sound
+before, but far away from this place. When I finally entered the
+habitation and had exchanged greetings with the head of the family,
+I looked for the source of the sound. Turning round I saw a woman
+sitting at a _sewing-machine_, working on a shirt evidently for her
+husband. I examined this machine with great curiosity and found it
+to be a "New Home" sewing-machine from New York. What journeys and
+transfers had not this apparatus undergone before it finally settled
+here in a tree-top in this far-off wilderness!
+
+
+One afternoon while sitting in the office at headquarters discussing
+Amazonian politics with Coronel da Silva, Francisco, a rubber-worker,
+came up and talked for a while with the Coronel, who then turned to me
+and said: "Do you want to get the skin of a black jaguar? Francisco
+has just killed one on his _estrada_ while collecting rubber-milk;
+he will take you down to his _barracão_, and from there he will lead
+you to the spot where the jaguar lies, and there you can skin him."
+
+I thanked Francisco for his information and went for my machete,
+having my pistol already in my belt. I joined him at the foot of
+the river bank outside the main building, where he was waiting for
+me in his canoe, and we paddled down-stream to his hut. On our way
+(he lived about two miles below Floresta) he told me that he was
+walking at a good rate on the narrow path of the _estrada_ when
+he was attracted by a growling and snarling in the thicket. He
+stopped and saw a black jaguar grappling with a full-grown buck in
+a small opening between the trees. The jaguar had felled the buck
+by jumping on its back from the branches of a tree, and, with claws
+deeply imbedded in the neck, broke its spine and opened its throat,
+when Francisco drew the bead on the head or neck of the jaguar and
+fired. The jaguar fell, roaring with pain. Francisco was too much
+in a hurry to leave the narrow path of the rubber-workers and go
+to the spot where the victim was writhing in its death agonies,
+but hastened on for his dinner. Remembering later that the Coronel
+had offered an attractive sum of money for any large game they would
+bag for my benefit, and having finished his dinner, he paddled up to
+headquarters and reminded the Coronel of the promised reward. When
+we came to the hut of the rubber-worker a large dog greeted us. This
+dog looked like a cross between a great Dane and a Russian greyhound;
+it was rather powerfully built, although with a softness of movement
+that did not correspond with its great frame. Francisco whistled for
+the dog to follow us. He carried his Winchester and a machete, while
+I discovered that my pistol had been left unloaded when I hurried
+from headquarters, so I was armed with nothing but a machete. After
+walking for nearly half an hour, we slowed down a little and Francisco
+looked around at the trees and said that he thought we were on the
+spot where he had heard the growlings of the jaguar. It was nearing
+half-past five and the sun was low so we launched ourselves into the
+thicket towards the spot where the jaguar had been killed.
+
+We advanced rapidly; then slower and slower. The great dog at first had
+been very brave, but the closer we came to the spot we were looking
+for, the more timid the dog became, until it uttered a fearful yell
+of fright, and with its tail between its legs slunk back. There was
+nothing to do but to leave the contemptible brute alone with its fear,
+so we pushed ahead. Suddenly we came to the place, but there was no
+jaguar. There were plenty of evidences of the struggle. The mutilated
+body of a beautiful marsh-deer was lying on the moist ground, pieces of
+fur and flesh were scattered around, and the blood had even spurted on
+the surrounding leaves and branches. Francisco had wounded the jaguar,
+no doubt--at least he said so, but plainly he had not killed it nor
+disabled it to such extent that it had remained on the spot.
+
+We commenced searching in the underbrush, for it was evident it could
+not be far off. The bloody track could be followed for some distance;
+in fact, in one place the thorny roots of the remarkable _pachiuba_
+palm-tree, the roots that the women here use for kitchen graters,
+had torn off a bunch of long, beautiful hair from the sides of the
+jaguar, which very likely was weak and was dragging itself to some
+cluster of trees where it could be safe, or else to find a point of
+vantage to fall upon its pursuers.
+
+We searched for some time. The forest was growing dark, and the many
+noises of the night began. First came the yelping of the toucan, which
+sounded like the carefree yap-yap of some clumsy little pup. Then
+came the chattering of the night monkeys and the croaking of the
+thousands of frogs that hide in the swamps. And still no traces of the
+jaguar. Again we separated. The dog had run home utterly scared. Now
+and then we would whistle so as not to lose track of each other. I
+regretted that I had been so careless as to leave my ammunition
+at home, as it might happen that the wounded and enraged cat would
+spring at us from some dark cluster of branches, and then a machete
+would hardly be an adequate weapon.
+
+We searched for over an hour until it was pitch dark, but, sad to
+relate, we never found that jaguar. We went home silently. Francisco
+did not secure the reward.
+
+This incident is of no particular interest as the result of the
+excursion was nil and our humour consequently very bad. But it serves
+to show how the mind of man will be influenced by local surroundings,
+and how it adapts itself to strange customs, and how a novice may be
+so greatly enthused that he will, half-armed, enter upon a reckless
+hunt for a wounded jaguar.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE FATAL MARCH THROUGH THE FOREST
+
+
+Thus I lived among these kind and hospitable people for five months
+until one day my lust for further excitement broke out again, induced
+by a seemingly commonplace notice posted outside the door of the
+storeroom. It read: "The men--Marques, Freitas, Anisette, Magellaes,
+Jerome, and Brabo--are to make themselves ready to hunt caoutchouc
+in the eastern virgin forest." Puzzled as to the meaning of this,
+I consulted the Chief and was informed that Coronel da Silva was
+about to equip and send out a small expedition into the forests,
+far beyond the explored territory, to locate new caoutchouc trees,
+which were to be cut and the rubber or caoutchouc collected, whereupon
+the expedition was to return to headquarters with these samples and a
+report on the number of trees observed. This greatly interested me, and
+I asked the Chief, Marques, whose wife I had operated upon previously,
+if I could accompany him on this trip. He consented unwillingly, saying
+that it was very dangerous and that the same number of men that went
+out never came back. However, this was too rare a chance to let pass,
+and I made my preparations to accompany the expedition on this journey
+into regions where even the native _caucheros_ had never before been.
+
+On a Monday morning we all assembled at the Floresta headquarters,
+where Coronel da Silva bade us good-bye, and at the same time once
+more warned me against venturing on this trip, but I was determined
+and could not be persuaded to give it up.
+
+The expedition consisted of the six men, above mentioned, all, except
+the Chief, Marques, unmarried. After leaving the main building we
+went down to the store-room where we chose the necessary articles
+of food--enough to last us for three or four weeks. Our staples
+were to be dried _pirarucu_, the largest fish of the Amazon, some
+dried or "jerked" beef, and a large quantity of the farinha, the
+eternal woody and unpalatable meal that figures on every Brazilian's
+table. Besides these, we carried sugar, coffee, rice, and several
+bottles of "Painkiller" from Fulton Street, N.Y. Hammocks and cooking
+utensils completed our outfit. I took with me a large plate camera,
+photographic plates and paper, chemicals, scales and weights; also
+a magnifying glass, a primitive surgical outfit, and a hypodermic
+needle with several dozen prepared "ampules." My men were armed with
+the usual .44 Winchesters and some ancient muzzle-loaders, while I
+had my 9mm. automatic Luger pistol. When we were fully packed, each
+man carried a load weighing eighty-five pounds, strapped by means of
+bark strips to the shoulders, with his rifle in his left hand and a
+machete to clear the path in his right.
+
+Thus equipped, we left headquarters, not knowing how or when we
+would see it again, while the natives fired a farewell salute,
+wishing us God-speed.
+
+After a few hours by canoe, up the Itecoahy, we left the river and
+turned our faces inland. Our way now led through dense forest, but for
+four hours we travelled in a region familiar to the rubber-workers,
+and we were able to follow pathways used by them in their daily work.
+
+Let no one think that a jungle trail is broad and easy. As I stumbled
+along the tortuous, uneven path, in the sweltering mid-day heat,
+pestered by legions of _piums_ or sand-flies and the omnipresent
+mosquitoes, climbing, fallen trees that impeded us at every turn,
+I thought that I had reached the climax of discomfort. Little could
+I know that during the time to come I was to look back upon this day
+as one of easy, delightful promenading.
+
+The four hours' march brought us to an open place, apparently a
+clearing, where the _estrada_ suddenly seemed to stop. Exhausted,
+I threw myself on the moist ground while the Chief explained our
+position. He said that we were now at the end of the cut _estrada_
+and that beyond this we would have no path to follow, though he had
+somewhat explored the region farther on the year previous, during a
+similar expedition. We found that the undergrowth had been renewed
+to such an extent that his old track was indistinguishable, and we
+had to hew our every step. When we resumed the march I received a more
+thorough understanding of what the word _jungle_ really means. Ahead of
+us was one solid and apparently impenetrable wall of vegetation, but
+my men attacked it systematically with their heavy machetes. Slowly
+we advanced, but I wondered that we made any progress at all. The
+skill of these sons of the forest in cutting a pathway with their
+long knives became a constant wonder to me. Where an inexperienced
+person would have lost himself, looking for a round-about easy course,
+these men moved straight ahead, hewing and hacking right and left,
+the play of the swift blades seemingly dissolving all obstacles in
+their path. Some idea of the density of the growth can be gathered
+from the fact that if a man moved off he became instantly invisible
+although he might be only a yard or two away.
+
+Late in the afternoon we reached a small hut or _tambo_ built on
+the former trip by the Chief. It was nothing but a roof on poles,
+but it was a welcome sight to us as it meant rest and food. We were
+tired and hungry and were glad to find a small creek close by where
+we could refresh ourselves, taking care to keep out of the reach of
+the alligators and water-snakes swimming close to the weeds by the
+shore. For our supper we gave the dried _pirarucu_ flesh a boil and
+soaked some farinha in water, eating this tasteless repast with as much
+gusto as we would if it had been roast beef. Let me here recommend
+this diet for any gourmet whose appetite has been impaired, and he
+will soon be able to enjoy a stew of shoe-leather. One of the men, a
+good-natured athlete, Jerome by name, was sent out after fresh meat,
+and brought back a weird little animal resembling a fox (_cuti_). We
+decided to test it as a stew, but, lacking salt, we found the dried
+_pirarucu_ preferable.
+
+The excitement of the night was furnished by ants, which had built
+a nest in the _tambo_ where we had swung our hammocks. The visitors
+swarmed up poles and down ropes and would not be denied entrance. Wads
+of cotton smeared with vaseline and bandaged around the fastenings of
+the hammock proved no obstacle. It was impossible to sleep; mosquitoes
+came to the assistance of the ants and managed to find their way
+through the mosquito-net. To complete the general "cheerfulness,"
+the tree-tops were full of little spider-monkeys whispering mournfully
+throughout the dark and showery night.
+
+The second day's march took us through the region which the Chief
+had explored the year before, and we spent the night in another
+_tambo_ built on that occasion. Our progress, however, was made with
+increasing difficulty, as the land had become more hilly and broken
+and the forest, if possible, more dense and wild. We were now at a
+considerable distance from the river-front and in a region where the
+yearly inundation could never reach. This stage of the journey remains
+among the few pleasant memories of that terrible expedition, through
+what I may call the gastronomic revel with which it ended. Jerome had
+succeeded in bringing down with his muzzle-loader a _mutum_, a bird
+which in flavour and appearance reminds one of a turkey, while I was so
+lucky as to bag a nice fat deer (marsh-deer). This happened at _tambo_
+No. 2. We called each successive hut by its respective number. Here we
+had a great culinary feast, so great that during the following days I
+thought of this time with a sad "_ils sont passé, ces jours de fête_."
+
+Now, guided by the position of the sun, we held a course due west, our
+ultimate destination being a far-off region where the Chief expected
+to find large areas covered with fine caoutchouc trees. The ground
+was hilly and interspersed with deeply cut creeks where we could see
+the ugly heads of the _jararaca_ snakes pop up as if they were waiting
+for us. There was only one way of crossing these creeks; this was by
+felling a young tree across the stream for a bridge. A long slender
+stick was then cut and one end placed at the bottom of the creek, when
+each man seizing this in his right hand steadied himself over the tree
+to the other side of the deep treacherous water. It required steady
+nerve to walk this trunk, such as I did not possess, therefore I found
+it safer to hang from the levelled bole by my hands and travel across
+in that manner. _Tambo_ No. 3 we constructed ourselves, as we did every
+other for the rest of the journey. We always selected a site near a
+creek that we were following, and cleared away the underbrush so as to
+leave an open area of about twenty-five feet square, always allowing
+one tree to remain for a corner. A framework of saplings tied together
+with strips of _matamata_ bark was raised for a roof, and across this
+were laid gigantic leaves of the _murumuru_, twenty-five to thirty
+feet long. The hammocks were then strung beneath, and we managed to
+keep comparatively sheltered from the nightly rain that always occurs
+in these deep forests. After the frugal meal of _pirarucu_ and dried
+farinha, or of some game we had picked up during the march, we would
+creep into our hammocks and smoke, while the men told hunting stories,
+or sang their monotonous, unmelodious tribal songs.
+
+It must have been about two o'clock in the morning when I was awakened
+by a terrific roaring which fairly made the forest tremble. Sitting
+up and staring fearfully into the darkness, I heard the crashing
+of underbrush and trees close upon us. My first thought was of a
+hurricane, but in the confusion of my senses, stunned by the impact
+of sound, I had few clear impressions. My companions were calling one
+another. The noise grew louder, more terrifying. Suddenly the little
+world around me went to smash in one mad upheaval. The roof of the
+_tambo_ collapsed and fell upon us. At the same instant I felt some
+huge body brush past me, hurling me sprawling to the ground. The noise
+was deafening, mingled with the shrieks and excited yellings of my men,
+but the object passed swiftly in the direction of the creek.
+
+Some one now thought of striking a light to discover the extent of
+the damage. The _tambo_ was a wreck; the hammocks were one tangled
+mass. Jerome, who had jumped from his hammock when he first heard
+the noise, followed the "hurricane" to the creek and soon solved
+the mystery of the storm that swept our little camp. He told us,
+it was a jaguar, which had sprung upon the back of a large tapir
+while the animal was feeding in the woods behind our _tambo_. The
+tapir started for the creek in the hope of knocking the jaguar off
+its back by rushing through the underbrush; not succeeding in this,
+its next hope was the water in the creek. It had chosen a straight
+course through our _tambo_.
+
+The next day we were successful in killing two howling monkeys;
+these were greeted with loud yells of joy, as we had not been able
+to locate any game during the last twenty-four hours' march. This is
+easy to understand. We were much absorbed in cutting our way through
+the bushes and the game was scared away long before we could sight it.
+
+After the ninth day of wearisome journeying, the Chief found signs
+of numerous caoutchouc trees, indicating a rich district, and it was
+accordingly decided that _tambo_ No. 9 should be our last. We were
+now fully 150 miles from the Floresta headquarters and some 120 miles
+back in the absolutely unknown. That night the temperature went down
+to 41° Fahrenheit, a remarkable drop so close to the equator and on
+such low ground, but it was undoubtedly due to the fact that the sun
+never penetrates the dark foliage of the surrounding dense forests
+where the swamps between the hills give off their damp exhalations.
+
+Up to this point I had not feared the jungle more than I would have
+feared any other forest, but soon a dread commenced to take hold
+of me, now that I could see how a great danger crept closer and
+closer--danger of starvation and sickness. Our supplies were growing
+scant when we reached _tambo_ No. 9, and yet we lingered, forgetful
+of the precarious position into which we had thrust ourselves, and
+the violated wilderness was preparing to take its revenge.
+
+I suppose our carelessness in remaining was due in part to the
+exhausted state to which we had been reduced, and which made us
+all rejoice in the comfort of effortless days rather than face new
+exertions.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE FATAL "TAMBO NO. 9"
+
+
+We were three weeks at _tambo_ No. 9 before the sharp tooth of
+necessity began to rouse us to the precarious situation. Occasionally
+a lucky shot would bring down a _mutum_ or a couple of monkeys and,
+on one occasion, a female tapir. Thus feasting to repletion, we
+failed to notice that the lucky strikes came at longer intervals;
+that the animals were deserting our part of the forest. During these
+three weeks we were not wholly idle. The Chief had the men out every
+day making excursions in the neighbourhood to locate the caoutchouc
+trees. As soon as a tree was found, they set to work bleeding the
+base of it to let the milky sap ooze out on the ground where it would
+collect in a small pool. Then they would fell the tree and cut rings
+in the bark at regular intervals so that the milk could flow out. In
+a few days when the milk had coagulated, forming large patches of
+caoutchouc, they would return for it. The pieces were washed in the
+creek and then tied into large bundles ready for transporting.
+
+In all they located more than 800 caoutchouc trees. At this time too I
+made my remarkable discovery of gold deposits in the creek. It seems
+to me now like the plot of some old morality play, for while we were
+searching eagerly for the thing that we considered the ultimate goal
+of human desires--wealth, the final master, Death, was closing his
+net upon us day by day. Our food supply was nearly gone.
+
+While strolling along the shores of the creek in search of game, I
+noticed irregular clumps or nodules of clay which had accumulated in
+large quantities in the bed of the stream, especially where branches
+and logs had caused whirlpools and eddies to form. They had the
+appearance of pebbles or stones, and were so heavy in proportion to
+their size that my curiosity was aroused, and throwing one of them
+on the bank I split it open with my machete. My weakened heart then
+commenced to beat violently, for what I saw looked like gold.
+
+I took the two pieces to my working table near our _tambo_, and
+examining the dirty-yellow heart with my magnifying glass, I found the
+following: A central mass about one cubic inch in size, containing
+a quantity of yellowish grains measuring, say, one thirty-second of
+an inch in diameter, slightly adhering to each other, but separating
+upon pressure of the finger, and around this a thick layer of hard
+clay or mud of somewhat irregular shape. It immediately struck me
+that the yellow substance might be gold, though I could not account
+for the presence of it in the centre of the clay-balls.
+
+I carefully scraped the granules out of the clay, and washing them
+clean, placed them on a sheet of paper to dry in the sun. By this
+time the attention of the other men had been attracted to what I was
+doing, and it seemed to amuse the brave fellows immensely to watch
+my painstaking efforts with the yellow stuff. I produced some fine
+scales I had for weighing chemicals for my photographic work, and
+suspended these above a gourd filled with water. Then I went down to
+the creek and collected more of the clay-balls and scraped the mud of
+one away from the solid centre of what I took to be grains of gold. A
+fine thread I next wound around the gold ball and this was tied to
+one end of the balance. After an equilibrium had been established,
+I found that the weight of the gold was 660 grains. Next I raised
+the gourd until the water reached the suspended ball, causing the
+opposite pan of the scales to go down. To again establish equilibrium,
+I had to add 35 grains. With this figure I divided the actual weight
+of the gold, which gave me 18.9, and this I remembered was close to
+the specific gravity of pure gold.
+
+Still a little in doubt, I broke the bulb of one of my clinical
+thermometers and, placing the small quantity of mercury thus obtained
+in the bottom of a tray, I threw a few of the grains into it, and
+found that they immediately united, forming a dirty-grey amalgam. I
+was now sure the substance was gold and in less than five hours I
+collected enough to fill five photographic 5 × 7 plate-boxes, the
+only empty receptacles I could lay my hands on. I could have filled a
+barrel, for the creek was thick with the clay-balls as far as I could
+see; but I had a continuous fever and this, with the exhaustion from
+semi-starvation, caused me to be indifferent to this great wealth. In
+fact, I would have gladly given all the gold in the creek for _One_
+square meal. If the difficulties in reaching this infernal region
+were not so great, I have no doubt that a few men could soon make
+themselves millionaires.
+
+The deadly fever came among us after a few days. It struck a young
+man called Brabo first; the next day I fell sick with another serious
+attack of swamp-fever, and we both took to our hammocks. For five
+days and nights I was delirious most of the time, listening to the
+mysterious noises of the forest and seeing in my dreams visions of
+juicy steaks, great loaves of bread, and cups of creamy coffee. In
+those five days the only food in the camp was howling monkey,
+the jerked beef and the dried farinha having given out much to my
+satisfaction, as I became so heartily disgusted with this unpalatable
+food that I preferred to starve rather than eat it again. At first I
+felt the lack of food keenly, but later the pain of hunger was dulled,
+and only a warm, drugged sensation pervaded my system. Starvation
+has its small mercies.
+
+I became almost childishly interested in small things. There was a
+peculiar sound that came from the deep forest in the damp nights;
+I used to call it the "voice of the forest." To close one's eyes and
+listen was almost to imagine oneself near the murmuring crowd of a
+large city. It was the song of numerous frogs which inhabited a creek
+near our _tambo_. Then I would hear four musical notes uttered in a
+major key from the tree-tops close by, soon answered by another four
+in a similar pitch, and this musical and cheerful(!) conversation was
+continued all night long. The men told me that this was the note of
+a species of frog that lived in the trees.
+
+One day the jungle took the first toll from us. Young Brabo was very
+low; I managed to stagger out of my hammock to give him a hypodermic
+injection, but he was too far gone for it to do him any good. He
+died in the early afternoon. We dug a grave with our machetes right
+behind our _tambo_. No stone marks this place; only a small wooden
+cross tied together with bark-strips shows where our comrade lies--a
+son of the forest whom the forest claimed again.
+
+The arrival of Death in our camp showed us all how far we were in
+the grasp of actual, threatening danger. We stood about the grave in
+silence. These men, these Indians of the Amazon, were very human;
+somehow, I always considered them equals and not of an inferior
+race. We had worked together, eaten and slept and laughed together,
+and now together we faced the mystery of Death. The tie between us
+became closer; the fraternity of common flesh and blood bound us.
+
+The next day I arose and was able to walk around, having injected my
+left arm with copious doses of quinine and arsenical acid. Borrowing
+thus false strength from drugs, I was able, to some extent, to roam
+around with my camera and secure photographs that I wanted to take
+home with me to the States.
+
+I had constructed a table of stalks of the _murumuru_ palm-leaves,
+and I had made a sun-dial by the aid of a compass and a stick, much to
+the delight of the men, who were now able to tell the hour of the day
+with precision. The next day I had another attack of fever and bled
+my arm freely with the bistoury, relieving myself of about sixteen
+ounces of blood. Shortly after nine o'clock in the morning I heard
+a shot which I recognised as being that of Jerome's muzzle-loader;
+soon afterward he made his appearance with a splendid specimen of a
+jet-black jaguar, killed by a shot behind the ear. He skinned it after
+first asking me if I wanted to get up and take a photograph of it,
+but I was too weak to do it and had to decline.
+
+The Chief one day brought into camp a fine deer and a _mutum_ bird,
+which relieved our hunger for a while. As we were preparing a luxurious
+meal, Jerome returned with two red howling monkeys, but we had all
+the meat we could take care of, and these monkeys were rejected and
+thrown away.
+
+By this time the Chief informed us that enough caoutchouc trees had
+been located to justify our return to the Floresta headquarters
+with a satisfactory report--of course, excepting the death of
+poor Brabo. Furthermore it was decided that owing to the lack of
+provisions we should separate. He directed that the men Freitas,
+Magellaes, and Anisette should take a course at a right angle to the
+Itecoahy, so as to reach this river in a short time, where they were
+to procure a canoe and secure assistance for the rest of us. This,
+of course, was a chance, but under the circumstances every step was
+a chance. The Chief himself, Jerome, and I would retrace the route
+which we had lately travelled and reach Floresta that way. The evening
+before our departure I did not think myself strong enough to carry
+my load a single step, but the hypodermic needle, with quinine, which
+had now become my constant stand-by, lent me an artificial strength,
+and when the packing was done the next morning, I stood up with the
+rest and strapped the load on my shoulders.
+
+We parted with the other three men before sunrise, with clasps of the
+hand that were never to be repeated, and so turned our faces toward
+the outer world. My only hope was to retain sufficient strength in
+my emaciated, fever-racked body to drag myself back to Floresta, and
+from there, in the course of time, get canoe or launch connection
+to the frontier down the river, and then wait for the steamer that
+would take me back to "God's Country," where I could eat proper food,
+and rest--rest.
+
+The jungle no longer seemed beautiful or wonderful to me, but
+horrible--a place of terror and death.
+
+In my drug-dazed sleep on that back-track, I started up in my hammock,
+bathed in a sweat of fear from a dream; I saw myself and my companions
+engulfed in a sea of poisonous green, caught by living creepers
+that dragged us down and held us in a deadly octopus embrace. The
+forest was something from which I fled; it was hideous, a trap, with
+its impenetrable wall of vegetation, its dark shadows, and moist,
+treacherous ground.
+
+I longed for the open; struggled for it, as the swimmer struggles up
+for air to escape from the insidious sucking of the undertow.
+
+Starving, weak from fever, oppressed by the thought of death, but
+lashed on by stimulants and the tenacity of life, I headed with my
+two comrades out of the world of the unknown, toward the world of
+men--to _Life_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FOREST
+
+
+On the second day of the return trip, we had a remarkable
+experience. Probably not more than two hundred yards from the _tambo_
+where we had spent the night, we heard the noise, as we thought, of a
+tapir, but nothing could surpass our astonishment when we saw a human
+being. Who could it be that dared alone to disturb the solitude of
+the virgin forest, and who went along in these dreary woods humming
+a melody?
+
+It was a young Indian who approached us cautiously when Jerome spoke
+in a tongue I did not understand, and evidently told him that we were
+friends on the way back to our homes by the river. He was an unusually
+fine specimen of a savage, well built, beautifully proportioned, and
+with a flawless skin like polished bronze. His clothing was limited
+to a bark girdle, and a feather head-dress not unlike that worn by
+some North American Indians.
+
+He was armed with bow and arrows and a blow-gun; and he had a small
+rubber pouch filled with a brownish substance, the remarkable wourahli
+poison. He explained to Jerome that his tribe lived in their _maloca_,
+or tribal house, about 24 hours' march from this place, and that he
+had been chasing a tapir all day, but had lost its track, and was now
+returning to his home. He pointed in a north-western direction with
+his blow-gun, signifying thereby the general route he was going to
+follow in order to reach his destination. We sat down on the ground
+and looked at each other for quite a while, and thus I had my first
+chance of studying a blow-gun and the poisoned arrows, outside a
+museum, and in a place where it was part of a man's life. At the time
+I did not know that I was to have a little later a more thorough
+opportunity of examining this weapon. I asked the Indian, Jerome
+acting as interpreter, to demonstrate the use of the gun, to which he
+consented with a grin. We soon heard the chattering of monkeys in the
+tree-tops, and deftly inserting one of the thin poisoned arrows in the
+ten-foot tube he pointed the weapon at a swiftly moving body among the
+branches, and filling his lungs with air, let go. With a slight noise,
+hardly perceptible, the arrow flew out and pierced the left thigh of a
+little monkey. Quick as lightning he inserted another arrow and caught
+one of the other monkeys as it was taking a tremendous leap through
+the air to a lower branch. The arrow struck this one in the shoulder,
+but it was a glancing shot and the shaft dropped to the ground. In the
+meantime the Indian ran after the first monkey and carried it up to
+me. It seemed fast asleep, suffering no agony whatever; and after five
+or six minutes its heart ceased beating. The other monkey landed on the
+branch it was aiming for in its leap, but after a short while it seemed
+uneasy and sniffed at everything. Finally, its hold on the branch
+relaxed, it dropped to the ground and was dead in a few minutes. It
+was a marvellous thing to behold these animals wounded but slightly,
+the last one only scratched, and yet dying after a few minutes as if
+they were falling asleep. It was then explained to me that the meat
+was still good to eat and that the presence of poison would not affect
+the consumer's stomach in the least; in fact, most of the game these
+Indians get is procured in this manner. I was lucky enough to secure
+a snap-shot of this man in the act of using his blow-gun. It proved
+to be the last photograph I took in the Brazilian jungles. Accidents
+and sickness subsequently set in, and the fight for life became too
+hard and all-absorbing even to think of photographing. He left us
+after an hour's conversation, and we resumed our journey homewards.
+
+We had a slight advantage in retracing our former path. Although the
+reedy undergrowth had already choked it, we were travelling over
+ground that we knew, and it was also no longer necessary to delay
+for the building of _tambos_; we used the old ones again.
+
+Jerome had complained for some time of a numbness in his fingers
+and toes, and also of an increasing weakness of the heart that
+made every step a torment. The Chief and I tried our best to cheer
+him up, although I felt certain that the brave fellow himself knew
+what dreadful disease had laid its spell upon him. However, we kept
+on walking without any words that might tend to lower our already
+depressed spirits.
+
+But our march was no longer the animated travel it had been on the
+way out; we talked like automatons rather than like human, thinking
+beings. Suffering, hunger, and drugs had dulled our senses. Only the
+will to escape somehow, the instinct of self-preservation, was fully
+awake in us. A sweep of the machete to cut a barrier bushrope or
+climber, one foot placed before the other, meant that much nearer to
+home and safety. Such was now the simple operation of our stupefied
+and tired brains, brains that could not hold one complex thought to
+its end; too tired--tired!
+
+At nightfall we stumbled into our old _tambo_ No. 7. There was no
+thought of securing food, no possibility of getting any; we had
+been too tired to even attempt to shoot game during the day. The two
+monkeys which the Indian had killed with his blow-gun were the only
+food we had and these we now broiled over the camp-fire and devoured
+fiercely. After this meal, none too good, we slung our hammocks with
+difficulty and dropped in. Jerome's numbness increased during the
+night. We were up and on the trail again with the dawn.
+
+In the afternoon we descended a hill to find ourselves confronted by
+a swamp of unusual extent. The Chief was in the lead as we crossed the
+swamp and we lost him from our sight for a few minutes. While crossing
+this wide, slimy-bottomed place, I noticed a peculiar movement in the
+water near me, and soon made out the slender bodies of swamp-snakes
+as they whipped past among the branches and reeds. These snakes are
+called by the Brazilians _jararacas_ and are very poisonous; however,
+I had no fear for myself as I wore heavy buffalo-hide boots, but the
+men walked barefooted, and were in great danger. I cried out a warning
+to Jerome, who took care to thrash about him. We supposed that we had
+passed this snake-hole without mishap when we rejoined the Chief on
+"terra firma." He was leaning over, as we approached him, and he
+turned a face to us that was stricken with fear. He pointed to the
+instep of his right foot and there on the skin were two tiny spots,
+marked by the fangs of the snake. Without a word we sank to the
+ground beside him in despair. The unfortunate man, with dilated eyes
+fixed upon the ground, crouched waiting for the coming of the pain
+that would indicate that the poison was working its deadly course,
+and that the end was near if something was not done immediately.
+
+Losing no more time, I cried to Jerome to pour out some gunpowder
+while I sucked the wound. While doing this I fumbled in the spacious
+pockets of my khaki hunting-coat and secured the bistoury with which
+I made a deep incision in the flesh over the wound, causing the blood
+to flow freely. In the meantime, Jerome had filled a measure with
+black powder and this was now emptied into the bleeding wound and a
+burning match applied at once. The object of this was to cauterise the
+wound, a method that has been used with success in the outskirts of
+the world where poisonous reptiles abound and where proper antidotes
+cannot be had.
+
+The Chief stood the ordeal without a murmur, never flinching even at
+the explosion of the gunpowder. Jerome and I made him as comfortable
+as possible, and sat sadly by his side watching him suffer and die
+by inches.
+
+It is no easy thing to see a man meet death, but under these
+circumstances it was particularly distressing. The Chief had been a man
+of a strong constitution particularly adapted to the health-racking
+work of a rubber-hunter. He it was who with his forest-wisdom had
+planned all our moves, and had mapped our course through the blind
+forest, where a man could be lost as easily as on the open sea. He had
+proved himself a good leader, save for the fatal mistake in delaying
+our return, over-anxious as he was to render his employer, Coronel
+da Silva, full and faithful service. He was extremely capable, kind,
+and human, and a good friend to us all.
+
+We had looked to him for advice in all our needs. He knew the language
+of the wild beasts of the forest, he knew a way out of everything,
+and at home he was a most devoted father. Now, this splendid fellow,
+the sole reliance, in this vast and intricate maze, of Jerome and
+myself, succumbed before our eyes to one of the dangers of the
+merciless wilderness. He was beyond all hope. Nothing in our power
+could to any extent add to the prolongation of his life which slowly
+ebbed away. About four o'clock in the afternoon his respirations grew
+difficult, and a few moments later he drew his last painful breath. He
+died three hours after being bitten by the _jararaca_. For the second
+time during that ill-fated journey I went to work digging a grave
+with my machete, Jerome lending me whatever assistance he could in
+his enfeebled state. My own condition was such that I had to rest
+and recover my breath with every few stabs of the machete.
+
+We completed that day's journey late in the afternoon, arriving
+at _tambo_ No. 6 after taking almost an hour for the last half
+mile. Jerome could now scarcely stand without my assistance. There was
+no longer any attempt to disguise the nature of his sickness. He had
+_beri-beri_, and that meant in our situation not the slightest chance
+of recovery. Even with the best of care and nursing his case would
+be hopeless, for in these regions the disease is absolutely fatal.
+
+We built a fire and managed to get our hammocks fastened in some
+fashion, but there was not a scrap of food to be had. The heart-leaves
+from a young palm were chewed in a mood of hopeless desperation.
+
+The next morning it was a task of several minutes for me to get out of
+the hammock and on my feet. Jerome made several painful efforts and,
+finally, solved his problem by dropping to the ground. He could not
+rise until I came to his assistance. Then we two tottering wrecks
+attempted to carry our heavy loads, but Jerome could not make it;
+he cast from him everything he owned, even the smallest personal
+belongings so dear to his simple, pure soul. It was heartrending
+to see this young man, who in health would have been able to handle
+three or four of his own size, now reduced to such a pitiful state.
+
+And in my own case, the fever which I had fought off by constant use
+of the hypodermic needle, now swept over me with renewed violence. The
+drug did not have the same effect as when I was new to the ravages
+of the fever.
+
+At this point my recollections became almost inextricably confused. I
+know that at times I raved wildly as I staggered on, for occasionally
+I came to myself with strange phrases on my lips addressed to no one
+in particular. When these lucid moments brought coherent thought,
+it was the jungle, the endless, all-embracing, fearful jungle, that
+overwhelmed my mind. No shipwrecked mariner driven to madness by long
+tossing on a raft at sea ever conceived such hatred and horror of his
+surroundings as that which now came upon me for the fresh, perpetual,
+monotonous green of the interminable forest.
+
+About noon the weight on my back became unbearable and I resolved to
+sacrifice my precious cargo. I threw away my camera, my unexposed
+plates, all utensils, and four of the boxes of gold dust. This
+left me with one box of gold, a few boxes of exposed plates (which
+I eventually succeeded in carrying all the way back to New York),
+and fifty-six bullets, the automatic revolver, and the machete. Last,
+but not least, I kept the hypodermic needle and a few more ampules.
+
+We had walked scarcely a quarter of a mile when Jerome collapsed. The
+poor fellow declared that he was beaten; it was no use to fight any
+more; he begged me to hurry the inevitable and send a bullet through
+his brain. The prospect of another visitation of Death aroused me
+from my stupor. I got him to a dry spot and found some dry leaves and
+branches with which I started a fire. Jerome was beyond recognising
+me. He lay by the fire, drawing long, wheezing breaths, and his face
+was horribly distorted, like that of a man in a violent fit. He
+babbled incessantly to himself and occasionally stared at me and
+broke out into shrill, dreadful laughter, that made my flesh creep.
+
+All this overwhelmed me and sapped the little energy I had left. I
+threw myself on the ground some little distance from the fire, not
+caring if I ever rose again.
+
+How long it was before a penetrating, weird cry aroused me from this
+stupor, I do not know, but when I raised my head I saw that the forest
+was growing dark and the fire burning low. I saw too that Jerome was
+trying to get on his feet, his eyes bulging from their sockets, his
+face crimson in colour. He was on one knee, when the thread of life
+snapped, and he fell headlong into the fire. I saw this as through
+a hazy veil and almost instantly my senses left me again.
+
+I have no clear knowledge of what happened after this. Throughout the
+rest of the night, my madness mercifully left me insensible to the
+full appreciation of the situation and my future prospects. It was
+night again before I was able to arouse myself from my collapse. The
+fire was out, the forest dark and still, except for the weird cry of
+the owl, the uncanny "Mother of the Moon." Poor Jerome lay quiet among
+the embers. I did not have the courage, even if I had had the strength,
+to pull the body away, for there could be nothing left of his face
+by now. I looked at him once more, shuddering, and because I could
+not walk, I crept on all fours through the brush, without any object
+in mind,--just kept moving--just crept on like a sick, worthless dog.
+
+One definite incident of the night I remember quite distinctly. It
+occurred during one of those moments when my senses returned for a
+while; when I could realise where I was and how I got there. I was
+crawling through the thicket making small, miserable progress, my
+insensible face and hands torn and scratched by spines and thorns
+which I did not heed, when something bumped against my thigh; I
+clutched at it and my hand closed around the butt of my automatic
+pistol. The weapon came out of its holster unconsciously, but as I felt
+my finger rest in the curve of the trigger, I knew that some numbed
+and exhausted corner of my brain had prompted me to do this thing;
+indeed, as I weighed the matter with what coolness I could bring to
+bear, it did not seem particularly wicked. With the pistol in my hand
+and with the safety released, I believed that the rest would have been
+easy and even pleasant. What did I have in my favour? What prospect
+did I have of escaping the jungle? None whatever--none!
+
+There was no shadow of hope for me, and I had long ago given up
+believing in miracles. For eight days I had scarcely had a mouthful to
+eat, excepting the broiled monkey at _tambo_ No. 7, shot by the young
+Indian. The fever had me completely in its grasp. I was left alone
+more than one hundred miles from human beings in absolute wilderness. I
+measured cynically the tenaciousness of life, measured the thread that
+yet held me among the number of the living, and I realised now what the
+fight between life and death meant to a man brought to bay. I had not
+the slightest doubt in my mind that this was the last of me. Surely,
+no man could have been brought lower or to greater extremity and live;
+no man ever faced a more hopeless proposition. Yet I could or would
+not yield, but put the pistol back where it belonged.
+
+All night long I crawled on and on and ever on, through the underbrush,
+with no sense of direction whatever, and still I am sure that I did
+not crawl in a circle but that I covered a considerable distance. For
+hours I moved along at the absolute mercy of any beast of the forest
+that might meet me.
+
+The damp chill of the approaching morning usual in these regions came
+to me with a cooling touch and restored once more to some extent my
+sanity. My clothes were almost stripped from my body, and smeared with
+mud, my hands and face were torn and my knees were a mass of bruises.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AMONG THE CANNIBAL MANGEROMAS
+
+
+I have a vague recollection of hearing the barking of dogs, of
+changing my crawling direction to head for the sound, and then,
+suddenly, seeing in front of me a sight which had the same effect as
+a rescuing steamer on the shipwrecked.
+
+To my confused vision it seemed that I saw many men and women and
+children, and a large, round house; I saw parrots fly across the
+open space in brilliant, flashing plumage and heard their shrill
+screaming. I cried aloud and fell forward when a little curly-haired
+dog jumped up and commenced licking my face, and then I knew no more.
+
+When I came to I was lying in a comfortable hammock in a large, dark
+room. I heard the murmur of many voices and presently a man came over
+and looked at me. I did not understand where I was, but thought that
+I, finally, had gone mad. I fell asleep again. The next time I woke
+up I saw an old woman leaning over me and holding in her hand a gourd
+containing some chicken-broth which I swallowed slowly, not feeling
+the cravings of hunger, in fact not knowing whether I was dead or
+alive. The old woman had a peculiar piece of wood through her lip
+and looked very unreal to me, and I soon fell asleep again.
+
+On the fifth day, so I learned later, I began to feel my senses
+return, my fever commenced to abate, and I was able to grasp the
+fact that I had crawled into the _maloca_, or communal village,
+of the Mangeromas. I was as weak as a kitten, and, indeed, it has
+been a marvel to me ever since that I succeeded at all in coming
+out of the Shadow. The savages, by tender care, with strengthening
+drinks prepared in their own primitive method, wrought the miracle,
+and returned to life a man who was as near death as any one could be,
+and not complete the transition. They fed me at regular intervals,
+thus checking my sickness, and when I could make out their meaning,
+I understood that I could stay with them as long as I desired.
+
+Luckily I had kept my spectacles on my nose (they were the kind that
+fasten back of the ears) during the previous hardships, and I found
+these sticking in their position when I awoke. My khaki coat was on the
+ground under my hammock, and the first thing was to ascertain if the
+precious contents of its large pockets had been disturbed, but I found
+everything safe. The exposed plates were there in their closed boxes,
+the gold dust was also there and mocked me with its yellow glare,
+and my hypodermic outfit was intact and was used without delay, much
+to the astonishment of some of the men, standing around my hammock.
+
+When my head was clear and strong enough to raise, I turned and began
+my first visual exploration of my immediate surroundings. The big room
+I found to be a colossal house, forty feet high and one hundred and
+fifty feet in diameter, thatched with palm-leaves and with sides formed
+of the stems of the _pachiuba_ tree. It was the communal residence of
+this entire tribe, consisting, as I learned later, of two hundred and
+fifty-eight souls. A single door and a circular opening in the roof
+were the only apertures of this enormous structure. The door was very
+low, not more than four feet, so that it was necessary to creep on
+one's knees to enter the place, and this opening was closed at night,
+that is to say, about six o'clock, by a sliding door which fitted so
+snugly that I never noticed any mosquitoes or _piums_ in the dark,
+cool room.
+
+The next day I could get out of my hammock, though I could not
+stand or walk without the aid of two women, who took me over to a
+man I later found to be the chief of the tribe. He was well-fed,
+and by his elaborate dress was distinguished from the rest of the
+men. He had a very pleasant, good-natured smile, and almost constantly
+displayed a row of white, sharp-filed teeth. This smile gave me some
+confidence, but I very well knew that I was now living among cannibal
+Indians, whose reputation in this part of the Amazon is anything but
+flattering. I prepared for the new ordeal without any special fear--my
+feelings seemed by this time to have been pretty well exhausted and
+any appreciation of actual danger was considerably reduced as a result
+of the gamut of the terrors which I had run.
+
+I addressed the Chief in the Portuguese language, which I had learned
+during my stay at Floresta headquarters, and also in Spanish but he
+only shook his head; all my efforts were useless. He let me know
+in a friendly manner that my hammock was to be my resting-place
+and that I would not be molested. His tribe was one that occupied
+an almost unknown region and had no connection with white men or
+Brazilians or people near the river. I tried in the course of the
+mimical conversation to make him understand that, with six companions
+from a big Chief's _maloca_ (meaning Coronel da Silva and the Floresta
+headquarters), I had penetrated into the woods near this mighty Chief's
+_maloca_,--here I pointed at the Chief--that the men had died from
+fever and I was left alone and that luckily, I had found my way to
+the free men of the forest (here I made a sweeping movement with my
+hands). He nodded and the audience was over. I was led back to my
+hammock to dream and eat, and dream again.
+
+Although the Chief and his men presented an appearance wholly unknown
+to me, yet it did not seem to distract me at the first glance, but
+as my faculties slowly returned to their former activity, I looked
+at them and found them very strange figures, indeed. Every man had
+two feathers inserted in the cartilage of his nose; at some distance
+it appeared as if they wore moustaches. Besides this, the Chief had
+a sort of feather-dress reaching half way down to his knees; this
+was simply a quantity of _mutum_ feathers tied together as a girdle
+by means of plant-fibres. The women wore no clothing whatever, their
+only ornamentation being the oval wooden piece in the lower lip and
+fancifully arranged designs on face, arms, and body. The colours which
+they preferred were scarlet and black, and they procured these dyes
+from two plants that grew in the forest near by. They would squeeze
+the pulp of the fruits and apply the rich-coloured juice with their
+fingers, forming one scarlet ring around each eye, outside of this a
+black and larger ring, and, finally, two scarlet bands reaching from
+the temples to the chin.
+
+There were probably sixty-five families in this communal hut,
+all having their little households scattered throughout the place
+without any separating partitions whatever. The many poles which
+supported the roof formed the only way of distinguishing the individual
+households. The men strung their hammocks between the poles in such a
+way that they formed a triangle, and in the middle of this a fire was
+always going. Here the women were doing the cooking of game that the
+men brought in at all times of the day. The men slept in the hammocks,
+while the women were treated less cavalierly; they slept with their
+children on the ground under the hammocks around the little family
+triangle. As a rule they had woven mats made of grass-fibre and
+coloured with the juices of the _urucu_ plant and the _genipapa_,
+but in many instances they had skins of jaguars, and, which was more
+frequent, the furs of the three-toed sloths. These were placed around
+the family fire, directly under the hammocks occupied by the men. In
+these hammocks the men did most of the repair work on their bows and
+arrows when necessary, here they fitted the arrow heads to the shafts,
+in fact, they spent all their time in them when not actually hunting
+in the forests.
+
+The hospitality of my friends proved unbounded. The Chief appointed
+two young girls to care for me, and though they were not startling
+from any point of view, especially when remembering their labial
+ornaments and their early developed abdominal hypertrophies, they were
+as kind as any one could have been, watching me when I tried to walk
+and supporting me when I became too weak. There was a certain broth
+they prepared, which was delicious, but there were others which were
+nauseating and which I had to force myself to eat. I soon learned
+that it was impolite to refuse any dish that was put in front of me,
+no matter how repugnant. One day the Chief ordered me to come over to
+his family triangle and have dinner with him. The meal consisted of
+some very tender fried fish which were really delicious; then followed
+three broiled parrots with fried bananas which were equally good;
+but then came a soup which I could not swallow. The first mouthful
+almost choked me,--the meat which was one of the ingredients tasted
+and smelled as if it had been kept for weeks, the herbs which were
+used were so bitter and gave out such a rank odour that my mouth
+puckered and the muscles of my throat refused to swallow. The Chief
+looked at me and frowned, and then I remembered the forest from which
+I had lately arrived and the starvation and the terrors; I closed my
+eyes and swallowed the dish, seeking what mental relief I could find
+in the so-called auto-suggestion.
+
+But I had the greatest respect for the impulsive, unreasoning nature
+of these sons of the forest. Easily insulted, they are well-nigh
+implacable. This incident shows upon what a slender thread my life
+hung. The friends of one moment might become vindictive foes of
+the next.
+
+Besides the head-Chief there were two sub-Chiefs, so that in case of
+sickness or death there would be always one regent. They were plainly
+distinguished by their dress, which consisted mainly of fancifully
+arranged feather belts of _arara_, _mutum_, and trumpeter plumes
+covering the shoulders and abdomen. These articles of dress were made
+by young women of the tribe: women who wanted to become favourites of
+the Chief and sub-Chiefs. They often worked for months on a feather
+dress and when finished presented it to the particular Chief whose
+favour they desired.
+
+The Chiefs had several wives, but the tribesmen were never allowed to
+take more than one. Whenever a particularly pretty girl desired to
+join the household of the Great Chief or of a sub-Chief, she set to
+work and for months and months she made necklaces of alligator teeth,
+peccary teeth, and finely carved ivory nuts and coloured pieces of
+wood. She also would weave some elaborate hammock and fringe this
+with the bushy tails of the squirrels and the forest-cats, and when
+these articles were done, she would present them to the Chief, who,
+in return for these favours, would bestow upon her the great honour
+of accepting her as a wife.
+
+There seemed to be few maladies among these people; in fact, during
+the five weeks I spent with them, I never saw a case of fever nor of
+anything else. When a person died the body was carried far into the
+woods, where a fire was built, and it was cremated. The party would
+then leave in a hurry and never return to the same spot; they were
+afraid of the Spirit of the Dead. They told me that they could hear
+the Spirit far off in the forests at night when the moon was shining.
+
+The men were good hunters and were experts in the use of bow and arrow
+and also the blow-gun, and never failed to bring home a fresh supply
+of game for the village. This supply was always divided equally,
+so that no one should receive more than he needed for the day. At
+first glance the men might appear lazy, but why should they hurry
+and worry when they have no landlord, and no grocer's bills to pay;
+in fact, the value of money is entirely unknown to them.
+
+I was allowed to walk around as I pleased, everybody showing me a
+kindness for which I shall ever gratefully remember these "savages." I
+frequently spent my forenoons on a tree trunk outside the _maloca_
+with the Chief, who took a particular interest in my welfare. We
+would sit for hours and talk, he sometimes pointing at an object
+and giving its Indian name, which I would repeat until I got the
+right pronunciation. Thus, gradually instructed, and by watching
+the men and women as they came and went, day after day, I was able
+to understand some of their language and learned to answer questions
+fairly well. They never laughed at my mistakes, but repeated a word
+until I had it right.
+
+The word of the Chief was law and no one dared appeal from the
+decisions of this man. In fact, there would have been nobody to appeal
+to, for the natives believed him vested with mysterious power which
+made him the ruler of men. I once had occasion to see him use the
+power which had been given him.
+
+I had accompanied two young Indians, one of whom was the man we had
+met in the forest on our return trip not far from that fatal _tambo_
+No. 3. His name, at least as it sounded to me, was Reré. They carried
+bows and arrows and I my automatic pistol, although I had no great
+intention of using it. What little ammunition I had left I desired to
+keep for an emergency and, besides, I reasoned that I might, at some
+future time, be able to use the power and noise of the weapon to good
+advantage if I kept the Indians ignorant of them for the present.
+
+We had scarcely gone a mile, when we discovered on the opposite
+side of a creek, about one hundred and fifty yards away, a wild hog
+rooting for food. We were on a slight elevation ourselves and under
+cover of the brush, while the hog was exposed to view on the next
+knoll. Almost simultaneously my companions fitted arrows to their
+bow-strings. Instead of shooting point blank, manipulating the bows
+with their hands and arms, they placed their great and second toes
+on the cords on the ground, and with their left arms gave the proper
+tension and inclination to the bows which were at least eight feet
+long. With a whirr the poisoned arrows shot forth and, while the
+cords still twanged, sailed gracefully through the air, describing
+a hyperbola, fell with a speed that made them almost invisible, and
+plunged into the animal on each side of his neck a little back from
+the base of the brain.
+
+The hog dropped in his tracks, and I doubt if he could have lived
+even though the arrows had not been poisoned. Tying his feet together
+with plant-fibres we slung the body over a heavy pole and carried it
+to the _maloca_. All the way the two fellows disputed as to who was
+the owner of the hog, and from time to time they put the carcass on
+the ground to gesticulate and argue. I thought they would come to
+blows. When they appealed to me I declared that the arrows had sped
+so rapidly that my eyes could not follow them and therefore could
+not tell which arrow had found its mark first.
+
+A few yards from the house my friends fell to arguing again, and a
+crowd collected about them, cheering first the one then the other. My
+suggestion that the game be divided was rejected as showing very
+poor judgment. Finally, the dispute grew to such proportions that the
+Chief sent a messenger to learn the cause of the trouble and report
+it to him.
+
+The emissary retired and the crowd immediately began to disperse and
+the combatants quieted. The messenger soon returned saying that the
+Great Chief would judge the case and ordered the men to enter the
+_maloca_. With some difficulty the hog was dragged through the door
+opening and all the inhabitants crawled in after. The Chief was decked
+out in a new and splendid feather dress, his face had received a fresh
+coat of paint (in fact, the shells of the _urucu_ plant with which he
+coloured his face and body scarlet were still lying under his hammock),
+and his nose was supplied with a new set of _mutum_ feathers. He was
+sitting in his hammock which was made of fine, braided, multi-coloured
+grass-fibres and was fringed with numerous squirrel tails. The whole
+picture was one which impressed me as being weirdly fantastic and
+extremely picturesque, the reddish, flickering light from the fires
+adding a mystic colour to the scene. On the opposite side of the fire
+from where the Chief was sitting lay the body of the hog, and at each
+end of the carcass stood the two hunters, straight as saplings, gazing
+stolidly ahead. In a semi-circle, facing the Chief and surrounding the
+disputants, was the tribe, squatting on the ground. The Chief motioned
+to me to seat myself on the ground alongside of the hammock where he
+was sitting. The men told their story, now and then looking to me for
+an affirmative nod of the head. After having listened to the argument
+of the hunters for a considerable time without uttering a syllable, and
+regarding the crowd with a steady, unblinking expression, with a trace
+of a satirical smile around the corners of his mouth, which suited him
+admirably, the Chief finally spoke. He said, "The hog is mine.--Go!"
+
+The matter was ended with this wise judgment, and there seemed to be
+no disposition to grumble or re-appeal to the great authority.
+
+My life among the Mangeromas was, for the greater part, free from
+adventure, at least as compared with former experiences, and yet I was
+more than once within an inch of meeting death. In fact, I think that
+I looked more squarely in the eyes of death in that peaceful little
+community than ever I did out in the wilds of the jungle or in my most
+perilous adventures. The creek that ran near the _maloca_ supplied
+the Indians with what water they needed for drinking purposes. Besides
+this the creek gave them an abundant supply of fish, a dish that made
+its appearance at every meal. Whatever washing was to be done--the
+natives took a bath at least twice a day--was done at some distance
+down the creek so as not to spoil the water for drinking and culinary
+purposes. Whenever I was thirsty I was in the habit of stooping down
+at the water's edge to scoop the fluid up in my curved hands. One
+morning I had been tramping through the jungle with two companions
+who were in search of game, and I was very tired and hot when we
+came to a little stream which I took to be the same that ran past the
+_maloca_. My friends were at a short distance from me, beating their
+way through the underbrush, when I stooped to quench my thirst. The
+cool water looked to me like the very Elixir of Life. At that moment,
+literally speaking, I was only two inches from death. Hearing a sharp
+cry behind me I turned slightly to feel a rough hand upon my shoulders
+and found myself flung backwards on the ground.
+
+"Poison," was the reply to my angry question. Then my friend explained,
+and as he talked my knees wobbled and I turned pale. It seems that
+the Mangeromas often poison the streams below the drinking places
+in order to get rid of their enemies. In the present case there
+had been a rumour that a party of Peruvian rubber-workers might be
+coming up the creek, and this is always a signal of trouble among
+these Indians. Although you cannot induce a Brazilian to go into the
+Indian settlements or _malocas_, the Peruvians are more than willing
+to go there, because of the chance of abducting girls. To accomplish
+this, a few Peruvians sneak close to the _maloca_ at night, force the
+door, which is always bolted to keep out the Evil Spirit, but which
+without difficulty can be cut open, and fire a volley of shots into
+the hut. The Indians sleep with the blow-guns and arrows suspended
+from the rafters, and before they can collect their sleepy senses
+and procure the weapons the Peruvians, in the general confusion,
+have carried off some of the girls. The Mangeromas, therefore, hate
+the Peruvians and will go to any extreme to compass their death. The
+poisoning of the rivers is effected by the root of a plant that is
+found throughout the Amazon valley; the plant belongs to the genus
+_Lonchocarpus_ and bears a small cluster of bluish blossoms which
+produce a pod about two inches in length. It is only the yellow roots
+that are used for poisoning the water. This is done by crushing the
+roots and throwing the pulp into the stream, when all animal life
+will be killed or driven away.
+
+It seems strange that during my stay among the Mangeromas, who were
+heathens and even cannibals, I saw no signs of idolatry. They believed
+implicitly in a good and an evil spirit. The good spirit was too good
+to do them any harm and consequently they did not bother with him;
+but the evil spirit was more active and could be heard in the dark
+nights, howling and wailing far off in the forest as he searched for
+lonely wanderers, whom he was said to devour.
+
+Thinking to amuse some of my friends, I one day kindled a flame by
+means of my magnifying glass and a few dry twigs. A group of ten or
+twelve Indians had gathered squatting in a circle about me, to see
+the wonder that I was to exhibit, but at the sight of smoke followed
+by flame they were badly scared and ran for the house, where they
+called the Chief. He arrived on the scene with his usual smile.
+
+He asked me to show him what I had done. I applied the focussed rays
+of the sun to some more dry leaves and twigs and, finally, the flames
+broke out again. The Chief was delighted and begged me to make him a
+present of the magnifier. As I did not dare to refuse, I showed him
+how to use it and then presented it with as good grace as I could.
+
+Some time after this, I learned that two Peruvians had been caught
+in a trap set for the purpose. The unfortunate men had spent a whole
+night in a pit, nine feet deep, and were discovered the next forenoon
+by a party of hunters, who immediately killed them with unpoisoned,
+big-game arrows. In contrast to the North-American Indians they never
+torture captives, but kill them as quickly as possible.
+
+I had plenty of opportunity to investigate the different kinds
+of traps used by the Mangeromas for catching Peruvian _caboclos_
+or half-breeds. First of all in importance is the pit-trap, into
+which the aforesaid men had fallen. It is simple but ingenious in its
+arrangement. A hole about nine feet deep and eight feet wide is dug
+in the ground at a place where the _caboclos_ are liable to come. A
+cover is laid across this and cleverly disguised with dead leaves and
+branches so as to exactly resemble the surrounding soil. This cover
+is constructed of branches placed parallel, and is slightly smaller
+than the diameter of the pit. It is balanced on a stick, tied across
+the middle in such a manner that the slightest weight on any part will
+cause it to turn over and precipitate the object into the pit whence
+egress is impossible. Besides this, the walls of the pit are inclined,
+the widest part being at the bottom, and they gradually slope inward
+till the level of the ground is reached. When the victim is discovered
+he is quickly killed, as in the case noted above.
+
+The second trap, which I had an opportunity to investigate, is the
+so-called _araya_ trap. It is merely a small piece of ground thickly
+set with the barbed bones of the sting-ray. These bones are slightly
+touched with wourahli poison and, concealed as they are under dead
+leaves, they inflict severe wounds on the bare feet of the _caboclos_,
+and death follows within a short period.
+
+The third trap, and the most ingenious of all, is the blow-gun
+trap. One day the sub-Chief, a tall, gloomy-looking fellow, took me
+to one of these traps and explained everything, till I had obtained
+a thorough knowledge of the complicated apparatus. The blow-gun of
+these Indians is supplied with a wide mouth-piece and requires but
+slight air pressure to shoot the arrow at a considerable speed. In
+the trap one is placed horizontally so as to point at a right angle
+to the path leading to the _maloca_. At the "breech" of the gun is a
+young sapling, severed five feet above the ground. To this is tied a
+broad and straight bark-strip which, when the sapling is in its normal
+vertical position, completely covers the mouth-piece. The gun was
+not loaded on this occasion, as it had been accidentally discharged
+the day before. To set the trap, a long, thin, and pliable climber,
+which in these forests is so plentiful, is attached to the end of
+the severed sapling, when this is bent to its extreme position
+and is then led over branches, serving as pulleys, right across
+the path and directly in front of the mouth of the blow-gun and
+is tied to some small root covered with leaves. When the _caboclo_
+passes along this path at night to raid the Indian _maloca,_ he must
+sever this thin bushrope or climber, thereby releasing suddenly the
+tension of the sapling. The bark-flap is drawn quickly up against
+the mouth-piece with a slap that forces sufficient air into the gun
+to eject the arrow. All this takes place in a fraction of a second;
+a slight flapping sound is heard and the arrow lodges in the skin of
+the unfortunate _caboclo_. He can never walk more than twenty yards,
+for the poison rapidly paralyses his limbs. Death follows in less
+than ten minutes.
+
+The bodies of these captured _caboclos_ are soon found by the
+"police warriors" of the tribe and carried to the _maloca_. On such
+occasions a day of feasting always follows and an obscure religious
+rite is performed.
+
+It is true that the Mangeromas are cannibals, but at the same time
+their habits and morals are otherwise remarkably clean. Without their
+good care and excellent treatment, I have no doubt I would now be
+with my brave companions out in that dark, green jungle.
+
+But to return to my story of the two Peruvians caught in the pit-trap:
+the warriors cut off the hands and feet of both corpses, pulled
+the big game arrows out of the bodies, and had an audience with the
+Chief. He seemed to be well satisfied, but spoke little, just nodding
+his head and smiling. Shortly after the village prepared for a grand
+feast. The fires were rebuilt, the pots and jars were cleaned, and a
+scene followed which to me was frightful. Had it not happened, I should
+always have believed this little world out in the wild forest an ideal,
+pure, and morally clean  community. But now I could only hasten to my
+hammock and simulate sleep, for I well knew, from previous experience,
+that otherwise I would have to partake of the meal in preparation: a
+horrible meal of human flesh! It was enough for me to see them strip
+the flesh from the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet and
+fry these delicacies in the lard of tapir I hoped to see no more.
+
+An awful thought coursed through my brain when I beheld the men bend
+eagerly over the pans to see if the meat were done. How long would it
+be, I said to myself, before they would forget themselves and place
+my own extremities in the same pots and pans. Such a possibility
+was not pleasant to contemplate, but as I had found the word of
+these Indians to be always good, I believed I was safe. They were
+never false and they hated falsehood. True, they were cunning, but
+once their friend always their friend, through thick and thin. And
+the Chief had promised that I should not be eaten, either fried or
+stewed! Therefore I slept in peace.
+
+I had long desired to see the hunters prepare the mysterious wourahli
+poison, which acts so quickly and painlessly, and which allows the
+game killed by it to be eaten without interfering with the nutritive
+qualities. Only three men in this village understood the proper mixing
+of the ingredients, although everybody knew the two plants from which
+the poisonous juices were obtained. One of these is a vine that grows
+close to the creeks. The stem is about two inches in diameter and
+covered with a rough greyish bark. It yields several round fruits,
+shaped like an apple, containing seeds imbedded in a very bitter
+pulp. The other is also a vine and bears small bluish flowers, but it
+is only the roots of this that are used. These are crushed and steeped
+in water for several days. The three men in our village who understood
+the concoction of this poison collected the plants themselves once
+a month. When they returned from their expedition they set to work
+at once scraping the first named vine into fine shavings and mixing
+these in an earthen jar with the crushed pulp of the roots of the
+second plant. The pot is then placed over a fire and kept simmering
+for several hours. At this stage the shavings are removed and thrown
+away as useless and several large black ants, the _Tucandeiras_, are
+added. This is the ant whose bite is not only painful but absolutely
+dangerous to man. The concoction is kept boiling slowly until the
+next morning, when it has assumed a thick consistency of a brown
+colour and very bitter to the taste. The poison is then tried on some
+arrows and if it comes up to the standard it is placed in a small
+earthen jar which is covered with a piece of animal skin and it is
+ready for use. The arrows, which are from ten to twelve inches long,
+are made from the stalks of a certain palm-leaf, the Jacy palm. They
+are absolutely straight and true; in fact, they resemble very much
+a lady's hat-pin. When the gun is to be used, a piece of cotton is
+wound around the end of an arrow and the other end or point inserted
+first in the barrel, the cotton acting as a piston by means of which
+the air forces the shaft through the tube.
+
+The men always carry a small rubber-pouch containing a few drams of
+the poison; the pouch was worn strapped to the waist on the left side,
+when on their hunting excursions, and they were extremely careful
+in handling it and the arrows. The slightest scratch with the poison
+would cause a quick and sure death.
+
+I was so far recuperated by this time that I thought of returning to
+civilisation, and I, accordingly, broached the subject to the Chief,
+who answered me very kindly, promising that he would send me by the
+next full-moon, with some of the wourahli men, down to the Branco
+River, and from there they would guide me within a safe distance of
+the rubber-estate, situated at the junction with the Itecoahy.
+
+One day I was informed that a friendly call on a neighbouring tribe was
+being contemplated and that I could accompany the Chief and his men.
+
+At last the time arrived and the expedition was organised. I was not
+absolutely sure how I would be treated by these up-stream Indians,
+and I am almost ashamed to confess that, in spite of all the faithful,
+unswerving friendship which the Mangeromas had shown me, I had it in
+my mind that these other Indians might harm me, so black was the name
+that people down at the settlements had given them.
+
+Until this time, as related above, I had thought best not to exhibit
+the character of my automatic pistol, and I had never used it here,
+but before I started on this journey I decided to give them an
+example of its power, and possibly awe them. Inviting the Chief and
+all the tribe to witness my experiment, I explained to them that
+this little weapon would make a great noise and bore a hole through
+a thick tree. The Chief examined it gingerly after I had locked the
+trigger mechanism. He had heard of such arms, he said, but thought
+that they were much larger and heavier. This one, he thought, must
+be a baby and he was inclined to doubt its power.
+
+Selecting an "assai" palm of about nine inches diameter, across the
+creek, I took steady aim and fired four bullets. Three of the bullets
+went through the same hole and the fourth pierced the trunk of the
+palm about two inches higher. The Chief and his men hurried across the
+creek and examined the holes which caused then to discuss the affair
+for more than an hour. The empty shells which had been ejected from the
+magazine were picked up by two young girls who fastened them in their
+ears with wire-like fibres, whereupon a dozen other women surrounded
+me, beseeching me to give them also cartridge-shells. I discharged
+more than a dozen bullets, to please these children of the forest,
+who were as completely the slaves of fashion as are their sisters of
+more civilised lands.
+
+Early the next morning we started up the river. In one canoe the
+Chief and I sat on jaguar skins, while two men paddled. In another
+canoe were four men armed with bows and arrows and blow-guns, and a
+fifth who acted in the capacity of "Wireless Operator." The system
+of signalling which he employed was by far the most ingenious device
+I saw while in Brazil, and considering their resources and their low
+state of culture the affair was little short of marvellous.
+
+Before the canoes were launched, a man fastened two upright forked
+sticks on each side of one, near the middle. About three and a
+half feet astern of these a cross-piece was laid on the bottom of
+the craft. To this was attached two shorter forked sticks. Between
+each pair of upright forked sticks was placed another cross-piece,
+thus forming two horizontal bars, parallel to each other, one only
+a few inches from the bottom of the boat and the other about a foot
+and a half above the gunwales. Next, four slabs of Caripari wood of
+varying thickness, about three feet long and eight inches wide, were
+suspended from these horizontal bars, so as to hang length-wise of
+the canoe and at an angle of forty-five degrees. Each pair of slabs
+was perforated by a longitudinal slit and they were joined firmly at
+their extremities by finely carved and richly painted end-pieces.
+
+The operator strikes the slabs with a wooden mallet or hammer, the
+head of which is wrapped with an inch layer of caoutchouc and then
+with a cover of thick tapir-skin. Each section of the wooden slabs
+gives forth a different note when struck, a penetrating, xylophonic,
+tone but devoid of the disagreeably metallic, disharmonic bysounds of
+that instrument. The slabs of wood were suspended by means of thin
+fibre-cords from the crosspieces, and in this manner all absorption
+by the adjacent material was done away with.
+
+By means of many different combinations of the four notes obtained
+which, as far as I could ascertain, were _Do--Re--Mi--Fa_, the
+operator was able to send any message to a person who understood
+this code. The operator seized one mallet with each hand and gave
+the thickest section, the _Do_ slat, a blow, followed by a blow with
+the left hand mallet on the _Re_ slat; a blow on the _Mi_ slat and on
+the _Fa_ slat followed in quick succession. These four notes, given
+rapidly and repeated several times, represented the tuning up of the
+"wireless," calculated to catch the attention of the operator at the
+_maloca_ up-creek. The sound was very powerful, but rather pleasant,
+and made the still forest resound with a musical echo. He repeated this
+tuning process several times, but received no answer and we proceeded
+for a mile. Then we stopped and signalled again. Very faintly came
+a reply from some invisible source. I learned afterwards that at
+this time we were at least five miles from the answering station. As
+soon as communication was thus established the first message was sent
+through the air, and it was a moment of extreme suspense for me when
+the powerful notes vibrated through the depth of the forest. I shall
+never forget this message, not only because it was ethnographically
+interesting, but because so much of my happiness depended upon
+a favourable reply. I made the operator repeat it for my benefit
+when we later returned to our village, and I learned it by heart by
+whistling it. When printed it looks like this:
+
+After each message the operator explained its meaning. The purport
+of this first message was so important to me that I awaited the
+translation with much the same feelings that a prisoner listens for
+the verdict of the jury when it files back into the court-room.
+
+Questions and answers now came in rapid succession. "A white man
+is coming with us; he seems to have a good heart, and to be of good
+character."
+
+Whereupon the deciding answer was translated: "You are all welcome
+provided you place your arms in the bottom of the canoe."
+
+Next message: "We ask you to place your arms in the _maloca_; we
+are friends."
+
+After the last message we paddled briskly ahead, and at the end of
+one hour's work we made a turn of the creek and saw a large open
+space where probably five hundred Indians had assembled outside of
+two round _malocas_, constructed like ours. How much I now regretted
+leaving my precious camera out in the forest, but that was a thing of
+the past and the loss could not be repaired. The view that presented
+itself to my eyes was a splendid and rare one for a civilised man
+to see. The crowd standing on the banks had never seen a white man
+before; how would they greet me?
+
+Little dogs barked, large scarlet _araras_ screamed in the tree-tops,
+and the little children hid themselves behind their equally fearful
+mothers. The tribal Chief, a big fellow, decorated with squirrel tails
+and feathers of the _mutum_ bird around, his waist and with the tail
+feathers of the scarlet and blue _arara_-parrot adorning his handsome
+head, stood in front with his arms folded.
+
+We landed and the operator dismantled his musical apparatus and laid
+it carefully in the bottom of the canoe. The two Chiefs embraced each
+other, at the same time uttering their welcome greeting "_He--He_." I
+was greeted in the same cordial manner and we all entered the Chief's
+_maloca_ in a long procession. Here in the village of the kindred
+tribe we stayed for two days, enjoying unlimited hospitality and
+kindness. Most of the time was spent eating, walking around the
+_malocas_, looking at dugouts, and at the farinha plants.
+
+On the third day we went back to our _maloca_ where I prepared for
+my return trip to civilisation. It was now the beginning of October.
+
+I would, finally, have recorded many words of the Mangeroma language
+had not my pencil given out after I had been there a month. The
+pencil was an "ink-pencil," that is, a pencil with a solid "lead" of
+bluish colour, very soft, sometimes called "indelible pencil." This
+lead became brittle from the moisture of the air and broke into
+fragments so that I could do nothing with it, and my recording was
+at an end. Fortunately I had made memoranda covering the life and
+customs before this.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE MANGEROMAS AND THE PERUVIANS
+
+
+I was sitting outside the _maloca_ writing my observations in the
+note-book which I always carried in my hunting-coat, when two young
+hunters hurried toward the Chief, who was reclining in the shade of
+a banana-tree near the other end of the large house. It was early
+afternoon, when most of the men of the Mangeromas were off hunting in
+the near-by forests, while the women and children attended to various
+duties around the village. Probably not more than eight or ten men
+remained about the _maloca_.
+
+I had recovered from my sickness and was not entirely devoid of
+a desire for excitement--the best tonic of the explorer. The two
+young hunters with bows and arrows halted before the Chief. They
+were gesticulating wildly; and although I could not understand what
+they were talking about, I judged from the frown of the Chief that
+something serious was the matter.
+
+He arose with unusual agility for a man of his size, and shouted
+something toward the opening of the _maloca_, whence the men were
+soon seen coming with leaps and bounds. Anticipating trouble, I
+also ran over to the Chief, and, in my defective Mangeroma lingo,
+inquired the cause of the excitement. He did not answer me, but,
+in a greater state of agitation than I had previously observed in
+him, he gave orders to his men. He called the "wireless" operator
+and commanded him to bring out his precious apparatus. This was soon
+fastened to the gunwales of the canoe where I had seen it used before,
+on my trip to the neighbouring tribe, and soon the same powerful,
+xylophonic sounds vibrated through the forest. It was his intention
+to summon the hunters that were still roaming around the vicinity, by
+this "C.Q.D." message. The message I could not interpret nor repeat,
+although it was not nearly as complex as the one I had learned
+before. After a while, the men came streaming into the _maloca_
+from all directions, with anxiety darkening their faces. I had now my
+first inkling of what was the cause of the commotion, and it did not
+take me long to understand that we were in danger from some Peruvian
+_caboclos_. The two young men who had brought the news to the Chief
+had spied a detachment of Peruvian half-breeds as they were camping
+in our old _tambo_ No. 6, the one we had built on our sixth day out
+from Floresta. There were about a score of them, all ugly _caboclos_,
+or half-breed _caucheros_, hunting rubber and no doubt out also for
+prey in the shape of young Mangeroma girls, as was their custom. The
+traps set by the Indians, as described in a previous chapter, would
+be of no avail in this case, as the number of Peruvians was greater
+than in any previous experience.
+
+The enemy had been observed more than ten miles off, in an easterly
+direction, when our two hunters were on the trail of a large
+herd of peccaries, or wild boars, they had sighted in the early
+morning. The Peruvians were believed to be heading for the _maloca_
+of the Mangeromas, as there were no other settlements in this region
+excepting the up-creek tribe, but this numbered at least five hundred
+souls, and would be no easy prey for them.
+
+I now had a remarkable opportunity to watch the war preparations
+of these savage, cannibal people, my friends, the Mangeromas. Their
+army consisted of twelve able-bodied men, all fine muscular fellows,
+about five feet ten in height, and bearing an array of vicious-looking
+weapons such as few white men have seen. First of all were three
+club-men, armed with strong, slender clubs, of hard and extremely
+tough Caripari wood. The handle, which was very slim, was provided
+with a knob at the end to prevent the club from slipping out of the
+hand when in action. The heavy end was furnished with six bicuspid
+teeth of the black jaguar, embedded in the wood and projecting about
+two inches beyond the surface. The club had a total length of five
+feet and weighed about eight pounds. The second division of the
+wild-looking band consisted of three spear-men, each provided with
+the three-pronged spears, a horrible weapon which always proves fatal
+in the hands of these savages. It is a long straight shaft of Caripari
+wood, about one inch in thickness, divided into three parts at the end,
+each division being tipped with a barbed bone of the sting-ray. These
+bones, about three and a half inches long, were smeared with wourahli
+poison, and thus rendered absolutely fatal even when inflicting only
+a superficial wound. Each man carried two of these spears, the points
+being protected by grass-sheaths. The third division was composed
+of three bow-and-arrow men, the youngest men in the tribe, boys of
+sixteen and seventeen. They were armed with bows of great length,
+from six to seven feet, and each bore, at his left side, a quiver,
+containing a dozen big-game arrows fully five feet long. These arrows,
+as far as I could ascertain, were not poisoned, but their shock-giving
+and rending powers were extraordinary. The arrow-heads were all made
+of the bones of the sting-ray, in themselves formidable weapons,
+because of the many jagged barbs that prevent extraction from a wound
+except by the use of great force, resulting in ugly laceration.
+
+The fourth and last division consisted of three blow-gun men, the
+most effective and cunning of this deadly and imposing array. As so
+much depended upon the success of a first attack on the Peruvians,
+who not only outnumbered us, but also were armed with Winchesters,
+the blow-guns were in the hands of the older and more experienced
+men. All, except the club-men, wore, around the waist, girdles fringed
+with _mutum_ plumes, and the captains added, to their uniforms
+multi-coloured fringes of squirrel tails. Their faces all had the
+usual scarlet and black stripes. The Chief, and his principal aide, or
+sub-Chief, had on their gayest feathers, including head ornaments of
+_arara_ plumes and egrets. The club-men were naked, except for their
+head-gear, which consisted simply of a band of _mutum_ plumes. When
+the warriors stood together in their costumes, ready for battle,
+they presented an awe-inspiring sight.
+
+The Chief gave the order for the bow-and-arrow men to start in single
+file, the others to follow after, in close succession. The Chief and I
+fell in at the rear. In the meantime I had examined my Luger automatic
+pistol to make sure of the smooth action of the mechanism, and found
+besides that I had in all thirty-seven soft-nose bullets. This was my
+only weapon, but previous narrow escapes from death and many close
+contacts with danger had hardened me, so I was willing to depend
+entirely upon my pistol. The women and children of the _maloca_ stood
+around, as we disappeared in the jungle, and, while they showed some
+interest in the proceeding, they displayed little or no emotion. A
+couple of sweethearts exchanged kisses as composedly as if they had
+been bluecoats parting with the ladies of their choice before going
+to the annual parade.
+
+Soon we were in the dark, dense jungle that I was now so well
+acquainted with, and, strange to say, the green and tangled mass of
+vegetation contained more terrors for me than the bloody combat that
+was to follow.
+
+For an hour we travelled in a straight line, pushing our way as
+noiselessly as possible through the thick mass of creepers and
+lianas. About three o'clock, one of the scouts sighted the Peruvians,
+and our Chief decided that an attack should be made as soon as
+possible, before darkness could set in. We stopped and sent out two
+bow-and-arrow men to reconnoitre. An anxious half hour passed before
+one of them returned with the report that the Peruvians were now
+coming towards us and would probably reach our position in a few
+minutes. I could almost hear my heart thump; my knees grew weak,
+and for a moment I almost wished that I had stayed in the _maloca_.
+
+The Chief immediately directed certain strategic movements which,
+in ingenuity and foresight, would have been worthy of a Napoleon.
+
+We were between two low hills, covered with the usual dense vegetation,
+which made it impossible to see an advancing enemy at a distance of
+more than five yards. The three blow-gun men were now ordered to ascend
+the hills on each side of the valley and conceal themselves about
+half-way up the slopes, and towards the enemy. They were to insert the
+poisoned arrows in their guns and draw a bead on the Peruvians as they
+came on cutting their way through the underbrush. The bow-and-arrow
+men posted themselves farther on about five yards behind the blow-gun
+men, with big-game arrows fitted to the bowstrings, ready to shoot
+when the first volley of the deadly and silent poisoned arrows had
+been fired. Farther back were the spear-men with spears unsheathed,
+and finally came the three brave and ferocious club-men. Of these last
+warriors, a tall athlete was visibly nervous, not from fear but from
+anticipation. The veins of his forehead stood out, pulsating with every
+throb of his heart. He clutched the heavy club and continually gritted
+his white, sharp-filed teeth in concentrated rage. It was wisely
+calculated that the Peruvians would unconsciously wedge themselves
+into this trap, and by the time they could realise their danger their
+return would be cut off by our bow-and-arrow men in their rear.
+
+After a pause that seemed an eternity to most of us no doubt, for the
+savage heart beats as the white man's in time of danger and action,
+we heard the talking and shouting of the enemy as they advanced,
+following the natural and easiest route between the hills and cutting
+their way through the brush. I stood near the Chief and the young
+club-man Arara, who, on account of his bravery and great ability in
+handling his club, had been detailed to remain near us.
+
+Before I could see any of the approaching foe, I heard great shouts
+of anger and pain from them. It was easy for me to understand their
+cries as they spoke Spanish and their cursings sounded loud through
+the forest.
+
+The blow-gun men, perceiving the Peruvians at the foot of the hill
+only some twenty feet away, had prudently waited until at least half a
+dozen were visible, before they fired a volley of poisoned arrows. The
+three arrows fired in this first volley all hit their mark. Hardly
+had they gone forth, when other arrows were dexterously inserted in
+the tubes. The work of the blow-gun men was soon restricted to the
+picking out of any stray enemy, their long, delicate, and cumbersome
+blow-guns preventing them from taking an active part in the mêlée. Now
+the conflict was at its height and it was a most remarkable one,
+on account of its swiftness and fierceness. The bow-and-arrow men
+charging with their sting-ray arrows poisoned with the wourahli took
+the place of the cautiously retreating blow-gun men. At the same
+instant the spear-men rushed down, dashing through the underbrush at
+the foot of the hill, like breakers on a stormy night.
+
+The rear-guard of the Peruvians now came into action, having had
+a chance to view the situation. Several of them filed to the right
+and managed to fire their large-calibre bullets into the backs of
+our charging bow-and-arrow men, but, in their turn, they were picked
+off by the blow-gun men, who kept firing their poisoned darts from a
+safe distance. The fearful yells of our men, mingled with the cursing
+of the Peruvians, and the sharp reports of their heavy rifles, so
+plainly heard, proved that the centre of battle was not many yards
+from the spot where I was standing.
+
+The club-men now broke into action; they could not be kept back any
+longer. The tension had already been too painful for these brave
+fellows, and with fierce war-cries of "_Yob--Hee--Hee_" they launched
+themselves into the fight, swinging their strong clubs above their
+heads and crashing skulls from left to right. By this time the
+Peruvians had lost many men, but the slaughter went on. The huge
+black clubs of the Mangeromas fell again and again, with sickening
+thuds, piercing the heads and brains of the enemy with the pointed
+jaguar teeth.
+
+Suddenly two Peruvians came into view not more than twelve feet from
+where the Chief, Arara the big club-man, and I were standing. One of
+these was a Spaniard, evidently the captain of this band of marauders
+(or, to use their correct name, _caucheros_). His face was of a sickly,
+yellowish hue, and a big, black moustache hid the lower part of his
+cruel and narrow chin. He took a quick aim as he saw us in his path,
+but before he could pull the trigger, Arara, with a mighty side-swing
+of his club literally tore the Spaniard's head off. Now, at last,
+the bonds of restraint were broken for this handsome devil Arara, and
+yelling himself hoarse, and with his strong but cruel face contracted
+to a fiendish grin, he charged the enemy; I saw him crush the life
+out of three.
+
+The Chief took no active part in the fight whatever, but added
+to the excitement by bellowing with all his might an encouraging
+"_Aa--Oo--Ah_." No doubt, this had a highly beneficial effect upon the
+tribesmen, for they never for an instant ceased their furious fighting
+until the last Peruvian was killed. During the final moments of the
+battle, several bullets whirred by me at close range, but during the
+whole affair I had had neither opportunity nor necessity for using
+my pistol. Now, however, a _caboclo_, with a large, bloody machete
+in his hand, sprang from behind a tree and made straight for me. I
+dodged behind another tree and saw how the branches were swept aside
+as he rushed towards me.
+
+Then I fired point-blank, sending three bullets into his head. He
+fell on his face at my feet. As I bent over him, I saw that he had
+a blow-gun arrow in his left thigh; he was therefore a doomed man
+before he attacked me. This was my first and only victim, during this
+brief but horrible slaughter. As I was already thoroughly sick from
+the noise of cracking rifles and the thumping of clubs smashing their
+way into the brains of the Peruvians, I rushed toward the centre of
+the valley where the first attack on the advance guard of the enemy
+had taken place, but even more revolting was the sight that revealed
+itself. Here and there bushes were shaking as some _caboclo_ crawled
+along on all fours in his death agony. Those who were struck by the
+blow-gun arrows seemed simply to fall asleep without much pain or
+struggle, but the victims of the club-men and the bow-and-arrow men had
+a terrible death. They could not die by the merciful wourahli poison,
+like those shot by the blow-gun, but expired from hemorrhages caused
+by the injuries of the ruder weapons. One poor fellow was groaning
+most pitifully. He had received a well-directed big-game arrow in
+the upper part of the abdomen, the arrow having been shot with such
+terrible force that about a foot of the shaft projected from the
+man's back. The arrow-head had been broken off by striking a vertebra.
+
+The battle was over. Soon the _urubus_, or vultures, were hanging
+over the tree-tops waiting for their share of the spoils. The men
+assembled in front of the Chief for roll-call. Four of our men were
+killed outright by rifle-bullets, and it was typical of these brave men
+that none were killed by machete stabs. The entire marauding expedition
+of twenty Peruvians was completely wiped out, not a single one escaping
+the deadly aim of the Mangeromas. Thus was avoided the danger of being
+attacked in the near future by a greater force of Peruvians, called
+to this place from the distant frontier by some returning survivor.
+
+It is true that the Mangeromas lay in ambush for their enemy
+and killed them, for the greater part, with poisoned arrows and
+spears, but the odds were against the Indians, not only because the
+_caboclos_ were attacking them in larger numbers, but because they
+came with modern, repeating fire-arms against the hand weapons of the
+Mangeromas. These marauders, too, came with murder and girl-robbery
+in their black hearts, while the Mangeromas were defending their homes
+and families. But it is true that after the battle, so bravely fought,
+the Indians cut off the hands and feet of their enemies, dead or dying,
+and carried them home.
+
+The fight lasted only some twenty minutes, but it was after sunset
+when we reached the _maloca_. The women and children received us
+with great demonstrations of joy. Soon the pots and pans were boiling
+inside the great house. I have previously observed how the Mangeromas
+would partake of parts of the human body as a sort of religious rite,
+whenever they had been successful with their man-traps; now they
+feasted upon the hands and feet of the slain, these parts having been
+distributed among the different families.
+
+I crept into my hammock and lit my pipe, watching the great mass of
+naked humanity. All the men had laid aside their feather-dresses and
+squirrel tails, and were moving around among the many fires on the
+floor of the hut. Some were sitting in groups discussing the battle,
+while women bent over the pots to examine the ghastly contents. Here,
+a woman was engaged in stripping the flesh from the palm of a hand
+and the sole of a foot, which operation finished, she threw both
+into a large earthen pot to boil; there, another woman was applying
+an herb-poultice to her husband's wounds.
+
+Over it all hung a thick, odoriferous smoke, gradually finding its
+way out through the central opening in the roof.
+
+This was a feast, indeed, such as few white men, I believe, have
+witnessed.
+
+That night and the next day, and the following four days, great
+quantities of _chicha_ were drunk and much meat was consumed to
+celebrate the great victory, the greatest in the annals of the
+Mangeromas of Rio Branco.
+
+Earthen vessels and jars were used in the cooking of food. The red clay
+(Tabatinga clay) found abundantly in these regions formed a superior
+material for these utensils. They were always decorated symbolically
+with juices of the scarlet _urucu_ and the black _genipapa_. Even
+when not burned into the clay, these were permanent colours.
+
+Men and women wore their hair long and untrimmed as far as I could
+observe. The older and more experienced of the tribesmen would have
+quite elaborate head-gear, consisting of a band of _mutum_ plumes,
+interspersed with parrot-tail feathers, while the younger hunters wore
+nothing but a band of the _mutum_ plumes. The body was uncovered,
+save by a narrow strip of bark encircling the waist. A broad piece,
+woven of several bark-strips into a sort of mat, protected the lower
+anterior part of the abdomen. The women wore no clothing whatever.
+
+Their colour was remarkably light. Probably nothing can designate this
+better than the statement that if a Mangeroma were placed alongside
+of an Italian, no difference would be noticeable. Their cheek-bones
+were not as high as is usual with tribes found on the Amazon; they
+seemed to come from a different race. Their eyes were set straight
+without any tendency to the Mongolian slanting that characterises
+the Peruvian _caboclos_ and the tribes of the northern affluents. The
+women had unusually large feet, while those of the men were small and
+well-shaped. The general appearance of a young Mangeroma was that of
+a well-proportioned athlete, standing about five feet ten in his bare
+feet. No moccasins, nor any other protection for the feet, were worn.
+
+The supply of wourahli poison had run low and three wourahli men were
+to go out in the forest to collect poison plants, a journey which
+would require several days to complete. This occasion was set as the
+time of my departure.
+
+It was a rainy morning when I wrapped my few belongings in a leaf,
+tied some grass-fibres around them, and inserted them in the large
+pocket of my khaki-coat. The box with the gold dust was there, also
+the boxes with the exposed photographic plates. Most of the gold had
+filtered out of the box, but a neat quantity still remained. One of my
+servants--a handsome girl--who, excepting for the labial ornaments,
+could have been transformed into an individual of quite a civilised
+appearance by opportunity, gave me a beautiful black necklace as
+a souvenir. It was composed of several hundred pieces, all carved
+out of ebony nuts. It had cost her three weeks of constant work. I
+embraced and was embraced by almost everybody in the _maloca_, after
+which ceremony we went in procession to the canoe that was to take
+me down to the Branco River. The Chief bade me a fond farewell, that
+forever shall be implanted in my heart. I had lived here weeks among
+these cannibal Indians, had enjoyed their kindness and generosity
+without charge; I could give them nothing in return and they asked
+nothing. I could have stayed here for the rest of my natural life if I
+had so desired, but now I was to say good-bye forever. How wonderful
+was this farewell! It was my opportunity for acknowledging that the
+savage heart is by no means devoid of the feelings and sentiments
+that characterise more elevated, so-called civilised individuals.
+
+For the last time I heard the little dog bark, the same that had licked
+my face when I fainted in front of the _maloca_ upon my first arrival;
+and the large _arara_ screamed in the tree-tops as I turned once more
+towards the world of the white man.
+
+The journey was without incident. The wourahli men set me off near the
+mouth of the Branco River, at a distance which I covered in less than
+five hours by following the banks. I was greeted by Coronel Maya of
+the _Compagnie Transatlantique de Caoutchouc_, who sent me by canoe
+down the old Itecoahy, until we reached the Floresta headquarters.
+
+Here I gave Coronel da Silva an account of the death of Chief Marques,
+and the brave Jerome, which made a deep impression upon this noble man.
+
+The three men, Magellaes, Anisette, and Freitas, had returned in
+safety after they separated from us.
+
+I met the wife of Chief Marques. She was the woman whose arm I had
+amputated. When I saw her she was carrying, with the arm left to
+her, a pail of water from the little creek behind headquarters. She
+was a different woman, and I was pleased to know that my desperate
+surgical operation had resulted so well. Her cheeks were full and
+almost rosy. Her health, I was told, excepting for occasional attacks
+of ague, was very good.
+
+Soon after, the launch arrived from Remate de Males and I put my
+baggage on board. The Coronel accompanied me down river for about
+forty-eight hours and then, reaching the northern extremity of
+his estate, he bade me a fond good-bye with the words: "_Sempre,
+illustrissimo Senhor, minha casa e a suas ordenes_," "My house,
+most illustrious Sir, is always at your disposal."
+
+When I arrived at Remate de Males I had another attack of malaria,
+which almost severed the slender thread by which my life hung; my
+physical resistance was gone. But I managed to develop my plates
+before breaking down completely, and after having disposed of my
+small quantity of gold dust, for which I realised some three hundred
+and forty dollars, I was taken down to the mouth of the Javary River,
+where I had landed almost a year previous, now a physical and, I might
+almost say, mental wreck. I stayed in the house of Coronel Monteiro,
+the frontier official at Esperança, for five long days, fighting with
+death, until one afternoon I saw the white hull of the R.M.S. _Napo_
+appear at a bend of the Amazon, only five hundred yards away.
+
+Closer she came--this rescuing instrument of Providence. She was none
+too soon, for I had now reached the last notch of human endurance. She
+dropped anchor; a small gasoline launch was lowered into the water;
+three white-coated officers stepped into it--they came ashore--they
+climbed the stairs. The captain, a stout, kind-looking Englishman,
+approached my hammock and found therein a very sick white man. I was
+carried aboard and placed in the hands of the ship's physician. At last
+those black forests of the Amazon were left behind. After twenty-two
+days' sail, Sandy Hook lighthouse loomed on our port side, and soon
+after, I could rest--rest, and _live_ again!
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Amazon Jungle, by Algot Lange
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Amazon Jungle, by Algot Lange
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In The Amazon Jungle
+       Adventures In Remote Parts Of The Upper Amazon River, Including A
+       Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians
+
+
+Author: Algot Lange
+
+Release Date: February 4, 2005 [EBook #14898]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE AMAZON JUNGLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jeroen Hellingman & the PG Distributed Proofreaders Team
+
+
+
+
+
+                      In the Amazon Jungle
+
+               Adventures in Remote Parts of the
+                Upper Amazon River, Including a
+                 Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians
+
+                              By
+
+                          Algot Lange
+
+               Edited in Part by J. Odell Hauser
+
+        With an Introduction by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              To
+
+                         The Memory of
+
+                           My Father
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+When Mr. Algot Lange told me he was going to the headwaters of the
+Amazon, I was particularly interested because once, years ago, I had
+turned my own mind in that direction with considerable longing. I knew
+he would encounter many set-backs, but I never would have predicted
+the adventures he actually passed through alive.
+
+He started in fine spirits: buoyant, strong, vigorous. When I saw
+him again in New York, a year or so later, on his return, he was
+an emaciated fever-wreck, placing one foot before the other only
+with much exertion and indeed barely able to hold himself erect. A
+few weeks in the hospital, followed by a daily diet of quinine,
+improved his condition, but after months he had scarcely arrived at
+his previous excellent physical state.
+
+Many explorers have had experiences similar to those related in
+this volume, but, at least so far as the fever and the cannibals
+are concerned, they have seldom survived to tell of them. Their
+interviews with cannibals have been generally too painfully confined
+to internal affairs to be available in this world for authorship,
+whereas Mr. Lange, happily, avoided not only a calamitous intimacy,
+but was even permitted to view the culinary preparations relating to
+the absorption of less favoured individuals, and himself could have
+joined the feast, had he possessed the stomach for it.
+
+These good friends of his, the Mangeromas, conserved his life when
+they found him almost dying, not, strange as it may appear, for
+selfish banqueting purposes, but merely that he might return to his
+own people. It seems rather paradoxical that they should have loved
+one stranger so well as to spare him with suspicious kindness, and
+love others to the extent of making them into table delicacies. The
+explanation probably is that these Mangeromas were the reverse of
+a certain foreign youth with only a small stock of English, who, on
+being offered in New York a fruit he had never seen before, replied,
+"Thank you, I eat only my acquaintances"--the Mangeromas eat only
+their enemies.
+
+Mr. Lange's account of his stay with these people, of their weapons,
+habits, form of battle, and method of cooking the human captives,
+etc., forms one of the specially interesting parts of the book, and
+is at the same time a valuable contribution to the ethnology of the
+western Amazon (or Maranon) region, where dwell numerous similar tribes
+little known to the white man. Particularly notable is his description
+of the wonderful wourahli (urari) poison, its extraordinary effect,
+and the _modus operandi_ of its making; a poison used extensively
+by Amazonian tribes but not made by all. He describes also the
+bows and arrows, the war-clubs, and the very scientific weapon, the
+blow-gun. He was fortunate in securing a photograph of a Mangeroma in
+the act of shooting this gun. Special skill, of course, is necessary
+for the effective use of this simple but terrible arm, and, like that
+required for the boomerang or lasso, practice begins with childhood.
+
+The region of Mr. Lange's almost fatal experiences, the region of
+the Javary River (the boundary between Brazil and Peru), is one of
+the most formidable and least known portions of the South American
+continent. It abounds with obstacles to exploration of the most
+overwhelming kind. Low, swampy, with a heavy rainfall, it is inundated
+annually, like most of the Amazon basin, and at time of high water
+the rivers know no limits. Lying, as it does, so near the equator,
+the heat is intense and constant, oppressive even to the native. The
+forest-growth--and it is forest wherever it is not river--is forced
+as in a huge hothouse, and is so dense as to render progress through
+it extremely difficult. Not only are there obstructions in the way of
+tree trunks, underbrush, and trailing vines and creepers like ropes,
+but the footing is nothing more than a mat of interlaced roots. The
+forest is also sombre and gloomy. To take a photograph required an
+exposure of from three to five minutes. Not a stone, not even a pebble,
+is anywhere to be found.
+
+Disease is rampant, especially on the smaller branches of the
+rivers. The incurable _beri-beri_ and a large assortment of fevers
+claim first place as death dealers, smiting the traveller with fearful
+facility. Next come a myriad of insects and reptiles--alligators,
+huge bird-eating spiders, and snakes of many varieties. Snakes,
+both the poisonous and non-poisonous kinds, find here conditions
+precisely to their liking. The bush-master is met with in the more
+open places, and there are many that are venomous, but the most
+terrifying, though not a biting reptile is the water-boa, the sucuruju
+(_Eunectes murinus_) or anaconda. It lives to a great age and reaches
+a size almost beyond belief. Feeding, as generally it does at night,
+it escapes common observation, and white men, heretofore, have not
+seen the largest specimens reported, though more than thirty feet is
+an accepted length, and Bates, the English naturalist, mentions one
+he heard of, forty-two feet long. It is not surprising that Mr. Lange
+should have met with one in the far wilderness he visited, of even
+greater proportions, a hideous monster, ranking in its huge bulk with
+the giant beasts of antediluvian times. The sucuruju is said to be
+able to swallow whole animals as large as a goat or a donkey, or even
+larger, and the naturalist referred to tells of a ten-year-old boy,
+son of his neighbour, who, left to mind a canoe while his father went
+into the forest, was, in broad day, playing in the shade of the trees,
+stealthily enwrapped by one of the monsters. His cries brought his
+father to the rescue just in time.
+
+As the Javary heads near the eastern slopes and spurs of the great
+Peruvian Cordillera, where once lived the powerful and wealthy Inca
+race with their great stores of pure gold obtained from prolific mines
+known to them, it is again not surprising that Mr. Lange should have
+stumbled upon a marvellously rich deposit of the precious metal in
+a singular form. The geology of the region is unknown and the origin
+of the gold Mr. Lange found cannot at present even be surmised.
+
+Because of the immense value of the rubber product, gold attracts less
+attention than it would in some other country. The rubber industry
+is extensive and thousands of the wild rubber trees are located and
+tapped. The trees usually are found near streams and the search for
+them leads the rubber-hunter farther and farther into the unbroken
+wilderness. Expeditions from time to time are sent out by rich
+owners of rubber "estates" to explore for fresh trees, and after
+his sojourn at Remate de Males and Floresta, so full of interest,
+Mr. Lange accompanied one of these parties into the unknown, with
+the extraordinary results described so simply yet dramatically in
+the following pages, which I commend most cordially, both to the
+experienced explorer and to the stay-by-the-fire, as an unusual and
+exciting story of adventure.
+
+FREDERICK S. DELLENBAUGH.
+
+NEW YORK, November 24, 1911.
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+It is difficult, if not impossible, to find a more hospitable and
+generous nation than the Brazilian. The recollection of my trip through
+the wilds of Amazonas lingers in all its details, and although my
+experiences were not always of a pleasant character, yet the good
+treatment and warm reception accorded me make me feel the deepest
+sense of gratitude to the Brazilians, whose generosity will always
+abide in my memory.
+
+There is in the Brazilian language a word that better than any
+other describes the feeling with which one remembers a sojourn
+in Brazil. This word, _saudades_, is charged with an abundance of
+sentiment, and, though a literal translation of it is difficult to
+arrive at, its meaning approaches "sweet memories of bygone days."
+
+Although a limitation of space forbids my expressing in full my
+obligation to all those who treated me kindly, I must not omit to state
+my special indebtedness to three persons, without whose invaluable
+assistance and co-operation I would not have been able to complete
+this book.
+
+First of all, my thanks are due to the worthy Colonel Rosendo da Silva,
+owner of the rubber estate Floresta on the Itecoahy River. Through
+his generosity and his interest, I was enabled to study the work and
+the life conditions of the rubber workers, the employees on his estate.
+
+The equally generous but slightly less civilised Benjamin, high
+potentate of the tribe of Mangeroma cannibals, is the second to whom I
+wish to express my extreme gratitude, although my obligations to him
+are of a slightly different character: in the first place, because
+he did not order me to be killed and served up, well or medium done,
+to suit his fancy (which he had a perfect right to do); and, in the
+second place, because he took a great deal of interest in my personal
+welfare and bestowed all the strange favours upon me that are recorded
+in this book. He opened my eyes to things which, at the time and under
+the circumstances, did not impress me much, but which, nevertheless,
+convinced me that, even at this late period of the world's history,
+our earth has not been reduced to a dead level of drab and commonplace
+existence, and that somewhere in the remote parts of the world are
+still to be found people who have never seen or heard of white men.
+
+Last, but not least, I wish to express my deep obligation to my
+valued friend, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who, through his helpful
+suggestions, made prior to my departure, contributed essentially to
+the final success of this enterprise, and whose friendly assistance
+has been called into requisition and unstintingly given in the course
+of the preparation of this volume.
+
+
+A.L.
+
+NEW YORK, January, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Chapter
+
+    I       Remate de Males, or "Culmination of Evils"
+    II      The Social and Political Life of Remate de Males
+    III     Other Incidents During My Stay in Remate de Males
+    IV      The Journey up the Itecoahy River
+    V       Floresta: Life Among the Rubber-Workers
+    VI      The Fatal March Through the Forest
+    VII     The Fatal "Tambo No. 9"
+    VIII    What Happened in the Forest
+    IX      Among the Cannibal Mangeromas
+    X       The Fight Between the Mangeromas and the Peruvians
+            Index
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+    A Little Village Built on Poles
+    The Javary River
+    The Mouth of the Itecoahy River
+    Nazareth
+    Trader's Store
+    Remate de Males or "Culmination of Evils"
+    The Street in Remate de Males
+    General View of Remate de Males
+    Sunset on the Itecoahy River
+    An Ant Nest in a Tree
+    The Launch "Carolina"
+    The Banks of the Itecoahy
+    The Mouth of the Ituhy River
+    The Toucan
+    The Banks of the Itecoahy River
+    Clearing the Jungle
+    Urubus
+    "Nova Aurora"
+    "Defumador" or Smoking Hut
+    Matamata Tree
+    The Urucu Plant
+    The Author in the Jungle
+    The Mouth of the Branco
+    Branding Rubber on the Sand-Bar
+    The Landing at Floresta
+    The Banks at Floresta
+    A General View of Floresta
+    Morning
+    Coronel Rosendo da Silva
+    Chief Marques
+    Interior of A Rubber-Worker's Hut
+    Joao
+    The Murumuru Palm
+    A "Seringueiro" Tapping a Rubber Tree
+    Smoking the Rubber-Milk
+    Forest Interior
+    A Fig-Tree Completely Overgrown with Orchids
+    Chico, The Monkey
+    Turtle Eggs on the Sand-Bank
+    The Pirarucu
+    The Last Resting-Place of the Rubber-Workers
+    "Seringueiros"
+    Joao
+    Floresta Creek
+    Lake Innocence
+    Alligator from Lake Innocence
+    Another Alligator from Lake Innocence
+    Rubber-Workers' Home near Lake Innocence
+    Harpooning a Large Sting-Ray
+    Shooting Fish on Lake Innocence
+    The Pirarucu
+    Amazonian Game-Fish
+    The Track of the Anaconda--The Sucuruju
+    The Paca
+    Rubber-Worker Perreira and Wife in their Sunday Clothes
+    A "New Home" Sewing-Machine in an Indian Hut
+    The Remarkable Pachiuba Palm-Tree
+    Kitchen Interior
+    The Beginning of the Fatal Expedition
+    A Halt in the Forest
+    Jungle Scenery
+    Forest Creek
+    Top of Hill
+    Page Marsh-Deer and Mutum-Bird
+    Jungle Darkness
+    Creek in the Unknown
+    Eating our Broiled Monkey at Tambo No. 5
+    Hunting
+    The Fatal Tambo No. 9
+    A Photograph of the Author
+    The Front View of Tambo No. 9
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 1
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 2
+    Caoutchouc Process No. 3
+    Creek Near Tambo No. 9
+    The Author's Working Table at Tambo No. 9
+    Forest Scenery Near Tambo No. 9
+    Our Parting Breakfast
+    Mangeroma Vase  399
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+REMATE DE MALES, OR "CULMINATION OF EVILS"
+
+
+My eyes rested long upon the graceful white-painted hull of the
+R.M.S. _Manco_ as she disappeared behind a bend of the Amazon River,
+more than 2200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. After 47 days of
+continuous travel aboard of her, I was at last standing on the
+Brazilian frontier, watching the steamer's plume of smoke still
+hanging lazily over the immense, brooding forests. More than a plume
+of smoke it was to me then; it was the final link that bound me to
+the outside world of civilisation. At last it disappeared. I turned
+and waded through the mud up to a small wooden hut built on poles.
+
+It was the end of January, 1910, that saw me approaching this house,
+built on Brazilian terra firma--or rather terra aqua, for water was
+inundating the entire land. I had behind me the Amazon itself, and to
+the right the Javary River, while the little house that I was heading
+for was Esperanca, the official frontier station of Brazil. The
+opposite shore was Peru and presented an unbroken range of dense,
+swampy forest, grand but desolate to look upon.
+
+A middle-aged man in uniform came towards me and greeted me cordially,
+in fact embraced me, and, ordering a servant to pull my baggage out
+of the water, led me up a ladder into the house. I told him that
+I intended to go up the Javary River, to a place called Remate de
+Males, where I would live with a medical friend of mine, whereupon
+he informed me that a launch was due this same night, which would
+immediately proceed to my proposed destination. Later in the evening
+the launch came and I embarked after being once more embraced by the
+courteous Cor. Monteiro, the frontier official. The captain of this
+small trading launch was an equally hospitable and courteous man; he
+invited me into his cabin and tried to explain that this river, and
+the town in particular, where we were going, was a most unhealthy and
+forbidding place, especially for a foreigner, but he added cheerfully
+that he knew of one white man, an Englishman, who had succeeded in
+living for several years on the Javary without being killed by the
+fever, but incidentally had drank himself to death.
+
+The night was very dark and damp, and I did not see much of the passing
+scenery; a towering black wall of trees was my total impression
+during the journey. However, I managed at length to fall asleep on
+some coffee-bags near the engine and did not wake till the launch
+was exhausting its steam supply through its whistle.
+
+My next impression was that of a low river bank fringed with dirty
+houses lighted by candles. People were sitting in hammocks smoking
+cigarettes, dogs were barking incessantly, and frogs and crickets were
+making a deafening noise when I walked up the main and only street
+of this little town, which was to be my headquarters for many months
+to come.
+
+After some inquiry, I finally found my friend, Dr. M----, sitting in
+a dark, dismal room in the so-called _Hotel Agosto_. With a graceful
+motion of his hand he pointed to a chair of ancient structure,
+indicating that having now travelled so many thousand miles to reach
+this glorious place, I was entitled to sit down and let repose overtake
+me. Indeed, I was in Remate de Males.
+
+Never shall I forget that first night's experience with mosquitoes and
+ants. Besides this my debut in a hammock for a bed was a pronounced
+failure, until a merciful sleep temporarily took me from the sad
+realities.
+
+Remate de Males lies just where a step farther would plunge one into
+an unmapped country. It is a little village built on poles; the last
+"blaze" of civilisation on the trail of the upper river. When the
+rainy winter season drives out of the forests every living creature
+that can not take refuge in the trees, the rubber-workers abandon
+the crude stages of the manufacture that they carry on there and
+gather in the village to make the best of what life has to offer them
+in this region. At such times the population rises to the number of
+some 500 souls, for the most part Brazilians and domesticated Indians
+or _caboclos_.
+
+Nothing could better summarise the attractions (!) of the place than
+the name which has become fixed upon it. Translated into English this
+means "Culmination of Evils," Remate de Males.
+
+Some thirty years ago, a prospector with his family and servants,
+in all about a score, arrived at this spot near the junction of the
+Javary and the Itecoahy rivers, close to the equator. They came by
+the only possible highway, the river, and decided to settle. Soon the
+infinite variety of destroyers of human life that abound on the upper
+Amazon began their work on the little household, reducing its number
+to four and threatening to wipe it out altogether. But the prospector
+stuck to it and eventually succeeded in giving mankind a firm hold
+on this wilderness. In memory of what he and succeeding settlers went
+through, the village received its cynically descriptive name.
+
+Remate de Males, separated by weeks and weeks of journey by boat
+from the nearest spot of comparative civilisation down the river,
+has grown wonderfully since its pioneer days. Dismal as one finds
+it to be, if I can give an adequate description in these pages, it
+will be pronounced a monument to man's nature-conquering instincts,
+and ability. Surely no pioneers ever had a harder battle than these
+Brazilians, standing with one foot in "the white man's grave," as the
+Javary region is called in South America, while they faced innumerable
+dangers. The markets of the world need rubber, and the supplying of
+this gives them each year a few months' work in the forests at very
+high wages. I always try to remember these facts when I am tempted to
+harshly judge Remate de Males according to our standards; moreover, I
+can never look upon the place quite as an outsider. I formed pleasant
+friendships there and entered into the lives of many of its people,
+so I shall always think of it with affection. The village is placed
+where the Itecoahy runs at right angles into the Javary, the right-hand
+bank of the Itecoahy forming at once its main and its only street. The
+houses stand facing this street, all very primitive and all elevated
+on palm-trunk poles as far as possible above the usual high-water
+mark of the river. Everything, from the little sheet-iron church
+to the pig-sty, is built on poles. Indeed, if there is anything in
+the theory of evolution, it will not be many generations before the
+inhabitants and domestic animals are born equipped with stilts.
+
+Opposite Remate de Males, across the Itecoahy, is a collection of
+some ten huts that form the village of Sao Francisco, while across
+the Javary is the somewhat larger village of Nazareth. Like every real
+metropolis, you see, Remate de Males has its suburbs. Nazareth is in
+Peruvian territory, the Javary forming the boundary between Brazil and
+Peru throughout its length of some 700 miles. This same boundary line
+is a source of amusing punctiliousness between the officials of each
+country. To cross it is an affair requiring the exercise of the limits
+of statesmanship. I well remember an incident that occurred during my
+stay in the village. A sojourner in our town, an Indian rubber-worker
+from the Ituhy River, had murdered a woman by strangling her. He
+escaped in a canoe to Nazareth before the Brazilian officials could
+capture him, and calmly took refuge on the porch of a house there,
+where he sat down in a hammock and commenced to smoke cigarettes,
+feeling confident that his pursuers would not invade Peruvian soil. But
+local diplomacy was equal to the emergency. Our officials went to the
+shore opposite Nazareth, and, hiding behind the trees, endeavoured to
+pick off their man with their .44 Winchesters, reasoning that though
+their crossing would be an international incident, no one could
+object to a bullet's crossing. Their poor aim was the weak spot in
+the plan. After a few vain shots had rattled against the sheet-iron
+walls of the house where the fugitive was sitting, he got up from among
+his friends and lost himself in the jungle, never to be heard of again.
+
+About sixty-five houses, lining the bank of the Itecoahy River over a
+distance of what would be perhaps six blocks in New York City, make up
+Remate de Males. They are close together and each has a ladder reaching
+from the street to the main and only floor. At the bottom of every
+ladder appears a rudimentary pavement, probably five square feet in
+area and consisting of fifty or sixty whiskey and gin bottles placed
+with their necks downwards. Thus in the rainy season when the water
+covers the street to a height of seven feet, the ladders always have
+a solid foundation. The floors consist of split palm logs laid with
+the round side up. Palm leaves form the roofs, and rusty corrugated
+sheet-iron, for the most part, the walls. Each house has a sort of
+backyard and kitchen, also on stilts and reached by a bridge.
+
+Through the roofs and rafters gambol all sorts of wretched
+pests. Underneath the houses roam pigs, goats, and other domestic
+animals, which sometimes appear in closer proximity than might be
+wished, owing to the spaces between the logs of the  floor. That is
+in the dry season. In the winter, or the wet season, these animals
+are moved into the houses with you, and their places underneath are
+occupied by river creatures, alligators, water-snakes, and malignant,
+repulsive fish, of which persons outside South America know nothing.
+
+Near the centre of the village is the "sky-scraper," the _Hotel
+de Augusto_, which boasts a story and a quarter in height. Farther
+along are the _Intendencia_, or Government building, painted blue,
+the post-office yellow, the _Recreio Popular_ pink; beyond, the
+residence of Mons. Danon, the plutocrat of the village, and farther
+"downtown" the church, unpainted. Do not try to picture any of these
+places from familiar structures. They are all most unpretentious;
+their main point of difference architecturally from the rest of the
+village consists in more utterly neglected facades.
+
+The post-office and the meteorological observatory, in one dilapidated
+house, presided over by a single self-important official, deserve
+description here. The postmaster himself is a pajama-clad gentleman,
+whose appearance is calculated to strike terror to the souls of
+humble _seringueiros_, or rubber-workers, who apply for letters
+only at long intervals. On each of these occasions I would see this
+important gentleman, who had the word _coronel_ prefixed to his name,
+Joao Silva de Costa Cabral, throw up his hands, in utter despair at
+being disturbed, and slowly proceed to his desk from which he would
+produce the letters. With great pride this "Pooh-Bah" had a large sign
+painted over the door. The post-office over which he presides is by no
+means overworked, as only one steamer arrives every five weeks, or so,
+but still he has the appearance of being "driven." But when he fusses
+around his "_Observatorio meteorologico_," which consists of a maximum
+and minimum thermometer and a pluviometer, in a tightly closed box,
+raised above the ground on a tall pole, then indeed, his air would
+impress even the most blase town-sport. I was in the village when
+this observatory was installed, and after it had been running about
+a week, the mighty official called on me and asked me confidentially
+if I would not look the observatory over and see if it was all right.
+
+My examination showed that the thermometers were screwed on tight,
+which accounted for the amazingly uniform readings shown on his
+chart. The pluviometer was inside the box, and therefore it would have
+been difficult to convince scientists that the clouds had not entirely
+skipped Remate de Males during the rainy season, unless the postmaster
+were to put the whole observatory under water by main force. He also
+had a chart showing the distribution of clouds on each day of the
+year. I noticed that the letter "N" occupied a suspiciously large
+percentage of the space on the chart, and when I asked him for the
+meaning of this he said that "N"--which in meteorological abbreviation
+means Nimbus--stood for "_None_" (in Portuguese _Nao_). And he thought
+that he must be right because it was the rainy season.
+
+The hotel, in which I passed several months as a guest, until
+I finally decided to rent a hut for myself, had points about it
+which outdid anything that I have ever seen or heard of in comic
+papers about "summer boarding." The most noticeable feature was the
+quarter-of-a-story higher than any other house in the village. While
+this meant a lead as to quantity I could never see that it represented
+anything in actual quality. I would not have ventured up the ladder
+which gave access to the extra story without my Winchester in hand,
+and during the time I was there I never saw anyone else do so. The
+place was nominally a store-house, but having gone undisturbed for
+long periods it was an ideal sanctuary for hordes of vermin--and
+these the vermin of the Amazon, dangerous, poisonous, not merely the
+annoying species we know. Rats were there in abundance, also deadly
+scolopendra and centipedes; and large bird-eating spiders were daily
+seen promenading up and down the sheet-iron walls.
+
+On the main floor the building had two large rooms across the centre,
+one on the front and one on the rear. At each side were four small
+rooms. The large front-room was used as a dining-room and had two
+broad tables of planed palm trunks. The side-rooms were bedrooms,
+generally speaking, though most of the time I was there some were
+used for stabling the pigs and goats, which had to be taken in owing
+to the rainy season.
+
+It is a simple matter to keep a hotel on the upper Amazon. Each room
+in the _Hotel de Augusto_ was neatly and chastely furnished with
+a pair of iron hooks from which to hang the hammock, an article
+one had to provide himself. There was nothing in the room besides
+the hooks. No complete privacy was possible because the corrugated
+sheet-iron partitions forming the walls did not extend to the roof. The
+floors were sections of palm trees, with the flat side down, making
+a succession of ridges with open spaces of about an inch between,
+through which the ground or the water, according to the season, was
+visible. The meals were of the usual monotonous fare typical of the
+region. Food is imported at an enormous cost to this remote place,
+since there is absolutely no local agriculture. Even sugar and rice,
+for instance, which are among the important products of Brazil,
+can be had in New York for about one-tenth of what the natives pay
+for them in Remate de Males. A can of condensed milk, made to sell
+in America for eight or nine cents, brings sixty cents on the upper
+Amazon, and preserved butter costs $1.20 a pound.
+
+The following prices which I have had to pay during the wet season
+in this town will, doubtless, be of interest:
+
+
+    One box of sardines                               $ 1.20
+    One pound of unrefined sugar                         .30
+    One roll of tobacco (16 pounds)                    21.30
+    One basket of farinha retails in Para for $4.50    13.30
+    One bottle of ginger ale                             .60
+    One pound of potatoes                                .60
+    Calico with stamped pattern, pr. yd.                 .90
+    One Collins machete, N.Y. price, $1.00             12.00
+    One pair of men's shoes                            11.00
+    One bottle of very plain port wine, 22,000 reis or  7.30
+
+
+Under such circumstances, of course, the food supply is very
+poor. Except for a few dried cereals and staples, nothing is used
+but canned goods; the instances where small domestic animals are
+slaughtered are so few as to be negligible. Furthermore, as a rule,
+these very animals are converted into jerked meat to be kept for months
+and months. Some fish are taken from the river, but the Amazon fish
+are none too palatable generally speaking, with a few exceptions;
+besides, the natives are not skilful enough to prepare them to suit
+a civilised palate.
+
+A typical, well provided table on the Amazon would afford dry farinha
+in the first place. This is the granulated root of the Macacheira
+plant, the _Jatropha manihot_, which to our palates would seem like
+desiccated sawdust, although it appears to be a necessity for the
+Brazilian. He pours it on his meat, into his soup, and even into his
+wine and jams. Next you would have a black bean, which for us lacks
+flavour even as much as the farinha. With this there would probably be
+rice, and on special occasions jerked beef, a product as tender and
+succulent as the sole of a riding boot. Great quantities of coffee
+are drunk, made very thick and prepared without milk or sugar. All
+these dishes are served at once, so that they promptly get cold and
+are even more tasteless before their turn comes to be devoured.
+
+For five months I experienced this torturing menu at the hotel with
+never-ceasing regularity. The only change I ever noticed was on Sundays
+or days of feast when beans might occupy the other end of the table.
+
+But what can the Brazilians do? The cost of living is about ten times
+as high as in New York. Agriculture is impossible in the regions
+where the land is flooded annually, and the difficulties of shipping
+are enormous. When I left the hotel and started housekeeping on my
+own account, I found that I could not do a great deal better. By
+specialising on one thing at a time I avoided monotony to some
+extent, but then it was probably only because I was a "new broom"
+at the business.
+
+As illustrating the community life that we enjoyed at the hotel,
+I will relate a happening that I have set down in my notes as
+an instance of the great mortality of this region. One afternoon
+a woman's three-months-old child was suddenly taken ill. The child
+grew worse rapidly and the mother finally decided that it was going
+to die. Her husband was up the river on the rubber estates and she
+did not want to be left alone. So she came to the hotel with the
+child and besought them to let her in. The infant was placed in a
+hammock where it lay crying pitifully. At last the wailings of the
+poor little creature became less frequent and the child died.
+
+Before the body was quite cold the mother and the landlady commenced
+clearing a table in the dining-room. I looked at this performance
+in astonishment because it was now evident that they were going to
+prepare a "_lit de parade_" there, close to the tables where our
+meals were served. The body was then brought in, dressed in a white
+robe adorned with pink, yellow, and sky-blue silk ribbons. Loose
+leaves and branches were scattered over the little emaciated body,
+care being taken not to conceal any of the fancy silk ribbons. Empty
+whiskey and gin bottles were placed around the bier, a candle stuck
+in the mouth of each bottle, and then the whole thing was lighted up.
+
+It was now getting dark fast, and as the doors were wide open,
+a great crowd was soon attracted by the brilliant display. All the
+"400" of the little rubber town seemed to pour in a steady stream into
+the dining-room. It was a new experience, even in this hotel where
+I had eaten with water up to my knees, to take a meal with a funeral
+going on three feet away. We had to partake of our food with the body
+close by and the candle smoke blowing in our faces, adding more local
+colour to our jerked beef and beans than was desirable. More and more
+people came in to pay their respects to the child that hardly any
+one had known while it was alive. Through it all the mother sat on
+a trunk in a corner peacefully smoking her pipe, evidently proud of
+the celebration that was going on in honour of her deceased offspring.
+
+The kitchen boy brought in a large tray with cups of steaming coffee;
+biscuits also were carried around to the spectators who sat against
+the wall on wooden boxes. The women seemed to get the most enjoyment
+out of the mourning; drinking black coffee, smoking their pipes, and
+paying little attention to the cause of their being there, only too
+happy to have an official occasion to show off their finest skirts. The
+men had assembled around the other table, which had been cleared in
+the meantime, and they soon sent the boy out for whiskey and beer,
+passing away the time playing cards.
+
+I modestly inquired how long this feast was going to last, because
+my room adjoined the dining-room and was separated only by a thin
+sheet-iron partition open at the top. The landlady, with a happy smile,
+informed me that the mourning would continue till the early hours,
+when a launch would arrive to transport the deceased and the guests
+to the cemetery. This was about four miles down the Javary River and
+was a lonely, half-submerged spot.
+
+There was nothing for me to do but submit and make the best of it. All
+night the mourners went on, the women drinking black coffee, while the
+men gambled and drank whiskey in great quantities, the empty bottles
+being employed immediately as additional candlesticks. Towards morning,
+due to their heroic efforts, a multitude of bottles totally obliterated
+the "_lit de parade_" from view. I managed to fall asleep completely
+exhausted when the guests finally went off at nine o'clock. The
+doctor diagnosed the case of the dead child as chronic indigestion,
+the result of the mother's feeding a three-months-old infant on jerked
+beef and black beans.
+
+Life in the hotel during the rainy season is variegated. I have spoken
+of having eaten a meal with water up to my knees. That happened often
+during the weeks when the river was at its highest level. Once when
+we were having our noon-day meal during the extreme high-water period
+a man came paddling his canoe in at the open door, sailed past us,
+splashing a little water on the table as he did so, and navigated
+through to the back room where he delivered some supplies.
+
+During this feat everybody displayed the cheerful and courteous
+disposition usual to the Brazilians. At this season you must
+wear wading boots to eat a meal or do anything else about the
+house. Sleeping is somewhat easier as the hammocks are suspended about
+three feet above the level of the water, but an involuntary plunge
+is a thing not entirely unknown to an amateur sleeping in a hammock;
+I know this from personal experience.
+
+Every morning the butcher comes to the village between five and
+six o'clock and sharpens his knife while he awaits calls for his
+ministrations. He is an undersized man with very broad shoulders and
+a face remarkable for its cunning, cruel expression. His olive-brown
+complexion, slanting eyes, high cheek-bones, and sharp-filed teeth
+are all signs of his coming from the great unknown interior. His
+business here is to slaughter the cattle of the town. He does this
+deftly by thrusting a long-bladed knife into the neck of the animal
+at the base of the brain, until it severs the medulla, whereupon
+the animal collapses without any visible sign of suffering. It is
+then skinned and the intestines thrown into the water where they
+are immediately devoured by a small but voracious fish called the
+_candiroo-escrivao_. This whole operation is carried on inside the
+house, in the back-room, as long as the land is flooded.
+
+It must be remembered that during the rainy season an area equal in
+size to about a third of the United States is entirely submerged. There
+is a network of rivers that eventually find their way into the Amazon
+and the land between is completely inundated. In all this immense
+territory there are only a few spots of sufficient elevation to be
+left high and dry. Remate de Males, as I have explained, is at the
+junction of the Itecoahy and the Javary rivers, the latter 700 miles
+in length, and thirty miles or so below the village the Javary joins
+the Amazon proper, or Solimoes as it is called here. Thus we are in
+the heart of the submerged region. When I first arrived in February,
+1910, I found the river still confined to its channel, with the water
+about ten feet below the level of the street. A few weeks later it
+was impossible to take a single step on dry land anywhere.
+
+The water that drives the rubber-workers out of the forests also drives
+all animal life to safety. Some of the creatures seek refuge in the
+village. I remember that we once had a huge alligator take temporary
+lodgings in the backyard of the hotel after he had travelled no one
+knows how many miles through the inundated forest. At all hours we
+could hear him making excursions under the house to snatch refuse
+thrown from the kitchen, but we always knew he would have welcomed
+more eagerly a member of the household who might drop his way.
+
+And now a few words about the people who lived under the conditions
+I have described, and who keep up the struggle even though, as they
+themselves have put it, "each ton of rubber costs a human life."
+
+In the first place I must correct any erroneous impression as to
+neatness that may have been formed by my remarks about the animals
+being kept in the dwellings during the rainy season. The Brazilians
+are scrupulous about their personal cleanliness, and in fact, go
+through difficulties to secure a bath which might well discourage
+more civilised folk.
+
+No one would dream, for an instant, of immersing himself in the
+rivers. In nine cases out of ten it would amount to suicide to do
+so, and the natives have bathhouses along the shores; more literally
+bathhouses than ours, for their baths are actually taken in them. They
+are just as careful about clothing being aired and clean. Indeed, the
+main item of the Brazilian woman's housekeeping is the washing. The
+cooking is rather happy-go-lucky; and there is no use cleaning and
+polishing iron walls; they get rusty anyhow.
+
+The people are all occupied with the rubber industry and the town
+owes its existence to the economic necessity of having here a shipping
+and trading point for the product. The rubber is gathered farther up
+along the shores of the Javary and the Itecoahy and is transported
+by launch and canoe to Remate de Males. Here it is shipped directly
+or sold to travelling dealers who send it down to Manaos or Para via
+the boat of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co., which comes up during
+the rainy season. Thence it goes to the ports of the world.
+
+The rubber-worker is a well paid labourer even though he belongs to
+the unskilled class. The tapping of the rubber trees and the smoking of
+the milk pays from eight to ten dollars a day in American gold. This,
+to him, of course, is riches and the men labour here in order that they
+may go back to their own province as wealthy men. Nothing else will
+yield this return; the land is not used for other products. It is hard
+to see how agriculture or cattle-raising could be carried on in this
+region, and, if they could, they would certainly not return more than
+one fourth or one fifth of what the rubber industry does. The owners of
+the great rubber estates, or _seringales_, are enormously wealthy men.
+
+There are fewer women than men in Remate de Males, and none of the
+former is beautiful. They are for the most part Indians or Brazilians
+from the province of Ceara, with very dark skin, hair, and eyes, and
+teeth filed like shark's teeth. They go barefooted, as a rule. Here
+you will find all the incongruities typical of a race taking the
+first step in civilisation. The women show in their dress how the
+well-paid men lavish on them the extravagances that appeal to the
+lingering savage left in their simple natures.
+
+Women, who have spent most of their isolated lives in utterly
+uncivilised surroundings, will suddenly be brought into a community
+where other women are found, and immediately the instinct of
+self-adornment is brought into full play. Each of them falls under
+the sway of "Dame Fashion"--for there are the _latest things_, even
+on the upper Amazon. Screaming colours are favoured; a red skirt with
+green stars was considered at one time the height of fashion, until an
+inventive woman discovered that yellow dots could also be worked in. In
+addition to these dresses, the women will squander money on elegant
+patent-leather French slippers (with which they generally neglect to
+wear stockings), and use silk handkerchiefs perfumed with the finest
+Parisian eau de Cologne, bought at a cost of from fourteen to fifteen
+dollars a bottle. Arrayed in all her glory on some gala occasion,
+the whole effect enhanced by the use of a short pipe from which she
+blows volumes of smoke, the woman of Remate de Males is a unique sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE OF REMATE DE MALES
+
+
+The social life of the town is in about the same stage of development
+as it must have been during the Stone Age. When darkness falls over the
+village, as it does at six o'clock all the year round, life practically
+stops, and a few hours afterwards everyone is in his hammock.
+
+There is one resort where the town-sports come to spend their
+evenings, the so-called _Recreio Popular_. Its principal patrons are
+_seringueiros_, or rubber-workers, who have large rolls of money that
+they are anxious to spend with the least possible effort, and generally
+get their desire over the gaming boards. The place is furnished with
+a billiard table and a gramophone with three badly worn records. The
+billiard table is in constant use by a certain element up to midnight,
+and so are the three eternal records of the gramophone. It will take
+me years surrounded by the comforts of civilisation to get those three
+frightful tunes out of my head, and I do not see how they could fail
+to drive even the hardened _seringueiros_ to an early grave.
+
+Another resort close by, where the native _cachassa_ is sold, is
+patronised principally by negroes and half-breeds. Here they play
+the guitar, in combination with a home-made instrument resembling
+a mandolin, as accompaniment to a monotonous native song, which
+is kept up for hours. With the exception of these two places, the
+village does not furnish any life or local colour after nightfall,
+the natives spending their time around the mis-treated gramophones,
+which are found in almost every hut.
+
+The men of the village, unlike the women, are not picturesque
+in appearance. The officials are well paid, so is everyone else,
+yet they never think of spending money to improve the looks of the
+village or even their own. Most of them are ragged. A few exhibit an
+inadequate elegance, dressed in white suits, derby hats, and very
+high collars. But in spite of the seeming poverty, there is not a
+_seringueiro_ who could not at a moment's notice produce a handful of
+bills that would strike envy to the heart of many prosperous business
+men of civilisation. The amount will often run into millions of reis;
+a sum that may take away the breath of a stranger who does not know
+that one thousand of these Brazilian reis make but thirty cents in
+our money.
+
+The people of the Amazon love to gamble. One night three merchants
+and a village official came to the hotel to play cards. They gathered
+around the dining-room table at eight o'clock, ordered a case of
+Pabst beer, which sells, by the way, at four dollars and sixty cents
+a bottle in American gold, and several boxes of our National Biscuit
+Company's products, and then began on a game, which resembles our
+poker. They played till midnight, when they took a recess of half
+an hour, during which large quantities of the warm beer and many
+crackers were consumed. Then, properly nourished, they resumed the
+game, which lasted until six o'clock the next morning. This was a
+fair example of the gambling that went on.
+
+The stakes were high enough to do honours to the fashionable gamblers
+of New York, but there was never the slightest sign of excitement. At
+first I used to expect that surely the card table would bring forth all
+sorts of flashes of tropic temperament--even a shooting or stabbing
+affair. But the composure was always perfect. I have seen a loser
+pay, without so much as a regretful remark, the sum of three million
+and a half reis, which, though only $1050 in our money, is still a
+considerable sum for a labourer to lose.
+
+Once a month a launch comes down from Iquitos in Peru, about five
+days' journey up the Amazon. This launch is sent out by Iquitos
+merchants, to supply the wants of settlers of the rubber estates on
+the various affluents. It is hard to estimate what suffering would
+result if these launches should be prevented from reaching their
+destinations, for the people are absolutely dependent upon them,
+the region being non-producing, as I have said, and the supplies
+very closely calculated. In Remate de Males, the superintendent, or
+the mayor of the town, generally owns a few head of cattle brought
+by steamer, and when these are consumed no meat can be had in the
+region but Swift's canned "Corned Beef."
+
+Then there are the steamers from the outer world. During the rainy
+season, the _Mauretania_ could get up to Remate de Males from
+the Atlantic Ocean without difficulty, though there is no heavy
+navigation on the upper Javary River. But steamers go up the Amazon
+proper several days' journey farther. You can at the present get a
+through steamer from Iquitos in Peru down the Amazon to New York.
+
+These boats occasionally bring immigrants from the eastern portions of
+Brazil, where they have heard of the fortunes to be made in working the
+rubber, and who have come, just as our prospectors came into the West,
+hoping to take gold and their lives back with them. Besides passengers,
+these boats carry cattle and merchandise and transport the precious
+rubber back to Para and Manaos. They are welcomed enthusiastically. As
+soon as they are sighted, every man in town takes his Winchester down
+from the wall and runs into the street to empty the magazine as many
+times as he feels that he can afford in his exuberance of feeling at
+the prospect of getting mail from home and fresh food supplies.
+
+On some occasions, marked with a red letter on the calendar, canoes
+may be seen coming down the Itecoahy River, decorated with leaves
+and burning candles galore. They are filled with enthusiasts who are
+setting off fireworks and shouting with delight. They are devotees of
+some up-river saint, who are taking this conventional way of paying
+the headquarters a visit.
+
+The priest, who occupies himself with saving the hardened souls of
+the rubber-workers, is a worthy-looking man, who wears a dark-brown
+cassock, confined at the waist with a rope. He is considered the
+champion drinker of Remate de Males. The church is one of the neatest
+buildings in the town, though this may be because it is so small as
+to hold only about twenty-five people. It is devoid of any article
+of decoration, but outside is a white-washed wooden cross on whose
+foundation candles are burned, when there is illness in some family,
+or the local patron saint's influence is sought on such a problem as
+getting a job. The religion is, of course, Catholic, but, as in every
+case where isolation from the source occurs, the natives have grafted
+local influences into their faith, until the result is a Catholicism
+different from the one we know.
+
+The administration of the town is in the hands of the superintendent,
+who is a Federal officer not elected by the villagers. His power is
+practically absolute as far as this community is concerned. Under
+him are a number of Government officials, all of whom are extremely
+well paid and whose duty seems to consist in being on hand promptly
+when the salaries are paid.
+
+The chief of police is a man of very prepossessing appearance, but
+with a slightly discoloured nose. His appointment reminded me of that
+of Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., in _Pinafore_, who was made "ruler of
+the Queen's navee" in spite of a very slight acquaintance with things
+nautical. Our chief of police had been _chef d' orchestre_ of the
+military band of Manaos. They found there that his bibulous habits
+were causing his nose to blush more and more, so he was given the
+position of Chief of Police of Remate de Males. It must be admitted
+that in his new position he has gone on developing the virtue that
+secured it for him, so there is no telling how high he may rise.
+
+The police force consists of one man, and a very versatile one,
+as will be seen, for he is also the rank and file of the military
+force. I saw this remarkable official only once. At that time he was
+in a sad condition from over-indulgence in alcoholic beverages. There
+are exact statistics of comparison available for the police and
+military forces. The former is just two-thirds of the latter in
+number. Expressed in the most easily understood terms, we can put it
+that our versatile friend has a chief to command him when a policeman,
+and a coronel and lieutenant when he is a soldier. Whether there
+is any graft in it or not, I do not know, but money is saved by the
+police-military force being one man with interchangeable uniforms, and
+the money must go into somebody's pocket. It might be thought that when
+the versatile one had to appear in both capacities at once, he might be
+at a loss. But not a bit of it. The landing of one of the down-river
+steamers offers such an occasion. As soon as the gangplank is out,
+the policeman goes aboard with the official papers. He is welcomed,
+receives his fee, and disappears. Not two minutes afterwards, the
+military force in full uniform is seen to emerge from the same hut
+into which the policeman went. He appears on the scene with entire
+unconcern, and the rough and ready diplomacy of Remate de Males has
+again triumphed.
+
+One of the reasons for the flattering (!) name of the town,
+"Culmination of Evils," is the great mortality of the community, which
+it has as a part of the great Javary district. Its inhabitants suffer
+from all the functional diseases found in other parts of the world,
+and, in addition, maladies which are typical of the region. Among the
+most important of these are the paludismus, or malarial swamp-fever,
+the yellow-fever, popularly recognised as the black vomit, and last but
+not least the beri-beri, the mysterious disease which science does not
+yet fully understand. The paludismus is so common that it is looked
+upon as an unavoidable incident of the daily life. It is generally
+caused by the infectious bite of a mosquito, the _Anopheles_, which
+is characterised by its attacking with its body almost perpendicular
+to the surface it has selected. It is only the female mosquito
+that bites. There are always fever patients on the Amazon, and the
+_Anopheles_, stinging indiscriminately, transfers the malarial microbes
+from a fever patient to the blood of well persons. The latter are sure
+to be laid up within ten days with the _sezoes_, as the fever is called
+here, unless a heavy dose of quinine is taken in time to check it.
+
+The yellow fever mosquito, the _Stygoma faciata_, seems to prefer other
+down-river localities, but is frequent enough to cause anxiety. They
+call the yellow fever the black vomit, because of this unmistakable
+symptom of the disease, which, when once it sets in, always means
+a fatal termination. The beri-beri still remains a puzzling malady
+from which no recoveries have yet been reported, at least not on the
+Amazon. On certain rivers, in the Matto Grosso province of Brazil,
+or in Bolivian territory, the beri-beri patients have some chance
+of recovery. By immediately leaving the infested district they can
+descend the rivers until they reach a more favourable climate near
+the sea-coast, or they can go to more elevated regions. But here
+on the Amazon, where the only avenue of escape is the river itself,
+throughout its length a hot-bed of disease where no change of climate
+occurs, the time consumed in reaching the sea-coast is too long. The
+cause of this disease, and its cure, are unknown. It manifests itself
+through paralysis of the limbs, which begins at the finger-tips and
+gradually extends through the system until the heart-muscles become
+paralysed and death occurs.
+
+The only precautionary measures available are doses of quinine and
+the use of the mosquito-net, or _mosquitero_. The latter's value as
+a preventive is problematical, however, for during each night one
+is bound to be bitten frequently, yes, hundreds of times, by the
+ever-present insects in spite of all.
+
+But if we curse the mosquito, what are we to say of certain other
+pests that add to the miseries of life in that out-of-the-way corner
+of the globe, and are more persistent in their attentions than
+even the mosquito? In the first place, there are the ants. They are
+everywhere. They build their nests under the houses, in the tables,
+and in the cracks of the floors, and lie in ambush waiting the arrival
+of a victim, whom they attack from all sides. They fasten themselves
+on one and sometimes it takes hours of labour to extract them. Many
+are the breakfasts I have delayed on awaking and finding myself to
+be the object of their attention. It proved necessary to tie wads
+of cotton covered with vaseline to the fastenings of the hammock,
+to keep the intruders off. But they even got around this plan. As
+soon as the bodies of the first arrivals covered the vaseline, the
+rest of the troops marched across them in safety and gained access to
+the hammock, causing a quick evacuation on my part. Articles of food
+were completely destroyed by these carnivorous creatures, within a
+few minutes after I had placed them on the table.
+
+I present here a list of the various species of ants known to the
+natives, together with the peculiarities by which they distinguish
+them. I collected the information from Indians on the Seringal
+"Floresta" on the Itecoahy River.
+
+
+_Aracara_--the dreaded fire-ant whose sting is felt for hours.
+
+_Auhiqui_--lives in the houses where it devours everything edible.
+
+_Chicitaya_--its bite gives a transient fever.
+
+_Monyuarah_--clears a large space in the forest for its nest.
+
+_Sauba_--carries a green leaf over its head.
+
+_Tachee_--a black ant whose bite gives a transient fever.
+
+_Tanajura_--one inch long and edible when fried in lard.
+
+_Taxyrana_--enters the houses like the _auhiqui_.
+
+_Termita_--builds a typical cone-shaped nest in the dry part of
+the forests.
+
+_Tracoa_--its bite gives no fever, but the effect is of long duration.
+
+_Tucandeira_--black and an inch and a half long, with a bite not only
+painful but absolutely dangerous.
+
+_Tucushee_--gives a transient fever.
+
+_Uca_--builds large nests in the trees.
+
+
+While convalescing from my first attack of swamp-fever, I had
+occasion to study a most remarkable species of spider which was a
+fellow lodger in the hut I then occupied. In size, the specimen was
+very respectable, being able to cover a circle of nearly six inches
+in diameter. This spider subsists on large insects and at times on
+the smaller varieties of birds, like finches, etc. Its scientific
+name is _Mygale avicularia_. The natives dread it for its poisonous
+bite and on account of its great size and hairy body. The first time
+I saw the one in my hut was when it was climbing the wall in close
+proximity to my hammock. I got up and tried to crush it with my fist,
+but the spider made a lightning-quick move and stopped about five or
+six inches from where I hit the wall.
+
+Several times I repeated the attack without success, the spider
+always succeeding in moving before it could be touched. Somewhat
+out of temper, I procured a hammer of large size and continued
+the chase until I was exhausted. When my hand grew steady again,
+I took my automatic pistol, used for big game, and, taking a steady
+aim on the fat body of the spider, I fired. But with another of the
+remarkably quick movements the spider landed the usual safe distance
+from destruction. Then I gave it up. For all I know, that animal, I
+can scarcely call it an insect after using a big game pistol on it,
+is still occupying the hut. About nine months later I was telling
+Captain Barnett, of the R.M.S. _Napo_ which picked me up on the Amazon
+on my way home, about my ill success in hunting the spider. "Lange,"
+he asked, "why didn't you try for him with a frying-pan?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OTHER INCIDENTS DURING MY STAY IN REMATE DE MALES
+
+
+Remate De Males, with Nazareth and Sao Francisco, is set down in the
+midst of absolute wilderness. Directly behind the village is the
+almost impenetrable maze of tropical jungle. If with the aid of a
+machete one gets a minute's walk into it, he cannot find his way out
+except by the cackling of the hens around the houses. A dense wall
+of vegetation shuts in the settlement on every side. Tall palms stand
+above the rest of the trees; lower down is a mass of smaller but more
+luxuriant plants, while everywhere is the twining, tangled _lianas_,
+making the forest a dark labyrinth of devious ways. Here and there
+are patches of tropical blossoms, towering ferns, fungoid growths, or
+some rare and beautiful orchid whose parasitical roots have attached
+themselves to a tree trunk. And there is always the subdued confusion
+that betokens the teeming animal life.
+
+Looking up the Itecoahy River, one can see nothing but endless forest
+and jungle. And the same scene continues for a distance of some eight
+or nine hundred miles until reaching the headwaters of the river
+somewhere far up in Bolivian territory. No settlements are to be found
+up there; a few _seringales_ from seventy-five to a hundred miles
+apart constitute the only human habitations in this large area. So
+wild and desolate is this river that its length and course are only
+vaguely indicated even on the best Brazilian maps. It is popularly
+supposed that the Itecoahy takes its actual rise about two weeks'
+journey from its nominal head in an absolutely unexplored region.
+
+I found the life very monotonous in Remate de Males, especially when
+the river began to go down. This meant the almost complete ending of
+communication with the outer world; news from home reached me seldom
+and there was no relief from the isolation. In addition, the various
+torments of the region are worse at this season. Sitting beside the
+muddy banks of the Itecoahy at sunset, when the vapours arose from the
+immense swamps and the sky was coloured in fantastical designs across
+the western horizon, was the only relief from the sweltering heat of
+the day, for a brief time before the night and its tortures began. Soon
+the chorus of a million frogs would start. At first is heard only the
+croaking of a few; then gradually more and more add their music until
+a loud penetrating throb makes the still, vapour-laden atmosphere
+vibrate. The sound reminded me strikingly of that which is heard when
+pneumatic hammers are driving home rivets through steel beams. There
+were other frogs whose louder and deeper-pitched tones could be
+distinguished through the main nocturnal song. These seemed always
+to be grumbling something about "_Rubberboots--Rubberboots_."
+
+By-and-bye one would get used to the sound and it would lose
+attention. The water in the river floated slowly on its long journey
+towards the ocean, almost 2500 miles away. Large dolphins sometimes
+came to the surface, saluting the calm evening with a loud snort,
+and disappeared again with a slow, graceful movement. Almost every
+evening I could hear issuing from the forest a horrible roar. It came
+from the farthest depths and seemed as if it might well represent
+the mingled cries of some huge bull and a prowling jaguar that had
+attacked him unawares. Yet it all came, I found, from one throat,
+that of the howling monkey. He will sit alone for hours in a tree-top
+and pour forth these dreadful sounds which are well calculated to
+make the lonely wanderer stop and light a camp-fire for protection.
+
+On the other hand, is heard the noise of the domestic animals of
+the village. Cows, calves, goats, and pigs seemed to make a habit of
+exercising their vocal organs thoroughly before retiring. Dogs bark
+at the moon; cats chase rats through openings of the palm-leaf roofs,
+threatening every moment to fall, pursued and pursuers, down upon the
+hammocks. Vampires flutter around from room to room, occasionally
+resting on the tops of the iron partitions, and when they halt,
+continuing to chirp for a while like hoarse sparrows. Occasionally
+there will come out of the darkness of the river a disagreeable
+sound as if some huge animal were gasping for its last breath before
+suffocating in the mud. The sound has its effect, even upon animals,
+coming as it does out of the black mysterious night, warning them not
+to venture far for fear some uncanny force may drag them to death in
+the dismal waters. It is the night call of the alligator.
+
+The sweet plaintive note of a little partridge, called _inamboo_,
+would sometimes tremble through the air and compel me to forget
+the spell of unholy sounds arising from the beasts of the jungle and
+river. Throughout the evening this amorous bird would call to its mate,
+and somewhere there would be an answering call back in the woods. Many
+were the nights when, weak with fever, I awoke and listened to their
+calling and answering. Yet never did they seem to achieve the bliss
+of meeting, for after a brief lull the calling and answering voices
+would again take up their pretty song.
+
+Slowly the days went by and, with their passing, the river fell lower
+and lower until the waters receded from the land itself and were
+confined once more to their old course in the river-bed. As the ground
+began to dry, the time came when the mosquitoes were particularly
+vicious. They multiplied by the million. Soon the village was filled
+with malaria, and the hypodermic needle was in full activity.
+
+A crowd of about fifty Indians from the Curuca River had been brought
+to Remate de Males by launch. They belonged to the territory owned by
+Mons. Danon and slept outside the store-rooms of this plutocrat. Men,
+women, and children arranged their quarters in the soft mud until they
+could be taken to his rubber estate some hundred miles up the Javary
+River. They were still waiting to be equipped with rubber-workers'
+outfits when the malaria began its work among them. The poor mistreated
+Indians seemed to have been literally saturated with the germs, as
+they always slept without any protection whatever; consequently their
+systems offered less resistance to the disease than the ordinary
+Brazilian's. In four days there were only twelve persons left out
+of fifty-two.
+
+During the last weeks of my stay in Remate de Males, I received an
+invitation to take lunch with the local Department Secretary, Professor
+Silveiro, an extremely hospitable and well educated Brazilian. The
+importance of such an invitation meant for me a radical change in
+appearance--an extensive alteration that could not be wrought without
+considerable pains. I had to have a five-months' beard shaved off, and
+then get into my best New York shirt, not to forget a high collar. I
+also considered that the occasion necessitated the impressiveness
+of a frock-coat, which I produced at the end of a long search among
+my baggage and proceeded to don after extracting a tarantula and
+some stray scolopendra from the sleeves and pockets. The sensation of
+wearing a stiff collar was novel, and not altogether welcome, since the
+temperature was near the 100 deg. mark. The reward for my discomfort came,
+however, in the shape of the best meal I ever had in the Amazon region.
+
+During these dull days I was made happy by finding a copy of Mark
+Twain's _A Tramp Abroad_ in a store over in Nazareth on the Peruvian
+side of the Javary River. I took it with me to my hammock, hailing
+with joy the opportunity of receiving in the wilderness something
+that promised a word from "God's Own Country." But before I could
+begin the book I had an attack of swamp-fever that laid me up four
+days. During one of the intermissions, when I was barely able to move
+around, I commenced reading Mark Twain. It did not take more than
+two pages of the book to make me forget all about my fever. When I
+got to the ninth page, I laughed as I had not laughed for months, and
+page 14 made me roar so athletically that I lost my balance and fell
+out of my hammock on the floor. I soon recovered and crept back into
+the hammock, but out I went when I reached page 16, and repeated the
+performance at pages 19, 21, and 24 until the supplementary excitement
+became monotonous. Whereupon I procured some rags and excelsior,
+made a bed underneath the hammock, and proceeded to enjoy our eminent
+humourist's experience in peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE JOURNEY UP THE ITECOAHY RIVER
+
+
+With the subsiding of the waters came my long-desired opportunity
+to travel the course of the unmapped Itecoahy. In the month of June
+a local trader issued a notice that he was to send a launch up the
+river for trading purposes and to take the workers who had been
+sojourning in Remate de Males back to their places of employment,
+to commence the annual extraction of rubber. The launch was scheduled
+to sail on a Monday and would ascend the Itecoahy to its headwaters,
+or nearly so, thus passing the mouths of the Ituhy, the Branco,
+and Las Pedras rivers, affluents of considerable size which are
+nevertheless unrecorded on maps. The total length of the Branco River
+is over three hundred miles, and it has on its shores several large
+and productive _seringales_.
+
+When on my way up the Amazon to the Brazilian frontier, I had stopped
+at Manaos, the capital of the State of Amazonas. There I had occasion
+to consult an Englishman about the Javary region. In answer to one of
+my inquiries, I received the following letter, which speaks for itself:
+
+Referring to our conversation of recent date, I should wish once
+more to impress upon your mind the perilous nature of your journey,
+and I am not basing this information upon hearsay, but upon personal
+experience, having traversed the region in question quite recently.
+
+Owing to certain absolutely untrue articles written by one H----,
+claiming to be your countryman, I am convinced that you can not rely
+upon the protection of the employees of this company, as having been
+so badly libelled by one, they are apt to forget that such articles
+were not at your instigation, and as is often the case the innocent
+may suffer for the guilty.
+
+On the other hand, without this protection you will find yourself
+absolutely at the mercy of savage and cannibal Indians.
+
+I have this day spoken to the consul here at Manaos and explained
+to him that, although I have no wish to deter you from your voyage,
+you must be considered as the only one responsible in any way for
+any ill that may befall you.
+
+Finally, I hope that before disregarding this advice (which I offer
+you in a perfectly friendly spirit) you will carefully consider the
+consequences which such a voyage might produce, and, frankly speaking,
+I consider that your chance of bringing it to a successful termination
+is Nil.
+
+Believe me to be, etc.,
+
+J.A.M.
+
+
+During the time of my journey up the river and of my stay in Remate
+de Males, I had seen nothing of the particular dangers mentioned
+in this letter. The only Indians I had seen were such as smoked
+long black cigars and wore pink or blue pajamas. The letter further
+developed an interest, started by the hints of life in the interior,
+which had come to me in the civilisation of Remate de Males. I was,
+of course, particularly desirous of finding out all I could about the
+wild people of the inland regions, since I could not recall that much
+had been written about them.
+
+Henry W. Bates, the famous explorer who ascended the Amazon as far
+as Teffe, came within 120 miles of the mouth of the Javary River in
+the year 1858, and makes the following statement about the indigenous
+tribes of this region:
+
+The only other tribe of this neighbourhood concerning which I obtained
+any information was the Mangeromas, whose territory embraces several
+hundred miles of the western banks of the river Javary, an affluent
+of the Solimoes, a hundred and twenty miles beyond Sao Paolo da
+Olivenca. These are fierce and indomitable and hostile people, like the
+Araras of the Madeira River. They are also cannibals. The navigation
+of the Javary River is rendered impossible on account of the Mangeromas
+lying in wait on its banks to intercept and murder all travellers.
+
+Now to return to the letter; I thought that perhaps my English friend
+had overdrawn things a little in a laudable endeavour to make me more
+cautious. In other words, it was for me the old story over again, of
+learning at the cost of experience--the story of disregarded advice,
+and so I went on in my confidence.
+
+When the announcement of the launch's sailing came, I went immediately
+for an interview with the owner, a Brazilian named Pedro Smith,
+whose kindness I shall never forget. He offered me the chance of
+making the entire trip on his boat, but would accept no remuneration,
+saying that I would find conditions on the little overcrowded vessel
+very uncomfortable, and that the trip would not be free from actual
+bodily risk. When even he tried to dissuade me, I began to think
+more seriously of the Englishman's letter, but I told him that I had
+fully made up my mind to penetrate the mystery of those little known
+regions. I use the term "little known" in the sense that while they
+are well enough known to the handful of Indians and rubber-workers
+yet they are "terra incognita" to the outside world. The white man
+has not as yet traversed this Itecoahy and its affluents, although
+it would be a system of no little importance if located in some other
+country--for instance, in the United States.
+
+My object was to study the rubber-worker at his labour, to find out the
+true length of the Itecoahy River, and to photograph everything worth
+while. I had with me all the materials and instruments necessary--at
+least so I thought.
+
+The photographic outfit consisted of a Graflex camera with a shutter
+of high speed, which would come handy when taking animals in motion,
+and a large-view camera with ten dozen photographic plates and a
+corresponding amount of prepared paper. In view of the difficulties
+of travel, I had decided to develop my plates as I went along and make
+prints in the field, rather than run the risk of ruining them by some
+unlucky accident. Perhaps at the very end of the trip a quantity
+of undeveloped plates might be lost, and such a calamity would
+mean the failure of the whole journey in one of its most important
+particulars. Such a disastrous result was foreshadowed when a porter,
+loaded with my effects, clambering down the sixty-foot incline extreme
+low water made at Remate de Males, lost his balance in the last few
+feet of the descent and dropped into the water, completely ruining
+a whole pack of photographic supplies whose arrival from New York I
+had been awaiting for months. Luckily this was at the beginning of
+this trip and I could replace them from my general stock.
+
+A hypodermic outfit, quinine, and a few bistouries completed my
+primitive medical department. Later on these proved of the greatest
+value. I would never think of omitting such supplies even in a case
+where a few pounds of extra weight are not rashly to be considered. It
+turned out that in the regions I penetrated, medical assistance was
+a thing unheard of within a radius of several hundred miles.
+
+A Luger automatic pistol of a calibre of nine millimetres, and several
+hundred cartridges, were my armament, and for weeks this pistol became
+my only means of providing a scant food supply.
+
+Thus equipped I was on hand early in the morning of the day of
+starting, anxious to see what sort of shipmates I was to have. They
+proved all to be _seringueiros_, bound for the upper river. Our
+craft was a forty-foot launch called the _Carolina_. There was a
+large crowd of the passengers assembled when I arrived, and they
+kept coming. To my amazement, it developed that one hundred and
+twenty souls were expected to find room on board, together with
+several tons of merchandise. The mystery of how the load was to be
+accommodated was somewhat solved, when I saw them attach a lighter to
+each side of the launch, and again, when some of the helpers brought
+up a fleet of dugouts which they proceeded to make fast by a stern
+hawser. But the mystery was again increased, when I was told that
+none of the passengers intended to occupy permanent quarters on the
+auxiliary fleet. As I was already taken care of, I resolved that if
+the problem was to worry anybody, it would be the _seringueiros_,
+though I realised that I would be travelling by "slow steamer" when
+the little old-fashioned _Carolina_ should at length begin the task
+of fighting the five-mile current with this tagging fleet to challenge
+its claim to a twelve-horse-power engine.
+
+The _seringueiros_ and their families occupied every foot of space
+that was not reserved for merchandise. Hammocks were strung over
+and under each other in every direction, secured to the posts which
+supported the roof. Between them the rubber-coated knapsacks were
+suspended. On the roof was an indiscriminate mass of chicken-coops
+with feathered occupants; and humanity.
+
+About midships on each lighter was a store-room, one of which was
+occupied by the clerk who accompanied the launch. In this they
+generously offered me the opportunity of making my headquarters
+during the trip. The room was about six feet by eight and contained
+a multitude of luxuries and necessities for the rubber-workers. There
+were .44 Winchester rifles in large numbers, the usual, indispensable
+Collins machete, and tobacco in six-feet-long, spindle-shaped
+rolls. There was also the "***" Hennessy cognac, selling at 40,000
+reis ($14.00 gold) a bottle; and every variety of canned edible from
+California pears to Horlick's malted milk, from Armour's corned beef
+to Heinz's sweet pickles.
+
+Every one was anxious to get started; I, who had more to look forward
+to than months of monotonous labour in the forests, not the least. At
+last the owner of the boat arrived, it being then two o'clock in the
+afternoon. He came aboard to shake hands with everyone and after a
+long period of talking pulled the cord leading to the steam-whistle,
+giving the official signal for departure. It then developed that one
+of the firemen was missing. Without him we could not start on our
+journey. The whistling was continued for fully forty minutes without
+any answer. Finally, the longed-for gentleman was seen emerging
+unsteadily from the local gin-shop with no sign of haste. He managed
+to crawl on board and we were off, amid much noise and firing of guns.
+
+After a two-hours' run we stopped at a place consisting of two houses
+and a banana patch. Evidently the owner of this property made a
+side-business of supplying palm-wood as fuel for the launch. A load
+was carried on board and stowed beside the boiler, and we went once
+more on our way. I cannot say that the immediate surroundings were
+comfortable. There were people everywhere. They were lounging in the
+hammocks, or lying on the deck itself; and some were even sprawling
+uncomfortably on their trunks or knapsacks. A cat would have had
+difficulty in squeezing itself through this compact mass of men,
+chattering women, and crying children. But I had no sooner begun to
+reflect adversely on the situation, than the old charm of the Amazon
+asserted itself again and made me oblivious to anything so trivial
+as personal comfort surroundings. I became lost to myself in the
+enjoyment of the river.
+
+That old fig-tree on the bank is worth looking at. The mass of its
+branches, once so high-reaching and ornamental, now lie on the ground
+in a confused huddle, shattered and covered with parasites and orchids,
+while millions of ants are in full activity destroying the last
+clusters of foliage. It is only a question of weeks, perhaps days,
+before some blast of wind will throw this humbled forest-monarch over
+the steep bank of the river. When the water rises again, the trunk
+with a few skeleton branches will be carried away with the current
+to begin a slow but relentless drift to old Father Amazon. Here and
+there will be a little pause, while the river gods decide, and then it
+will move on, to be caught somewhere along the course and contribute
+to the formation of some new island or complete its last long journey
+to the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+As the launch rounds bend after bend in the river, the same magnificent
+forest scenery is repeated over and over again. Sometimes a tall
+matamata tree stands in a little accidental clearing, entirely
+covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation. But these are borrowed
+plumes. Bushropes, climbers, and vines have clothed it from root
+to topmost branch, but they are only examples of the legion of
+beautiful parasites that seem to abound in the tropics. They will
+sap the vitality of this masterpiece of Nature, until in its turn
+it will fall before some stormy night's blow. All along the shore
+there is a myriad life among the trees and beautifully coloured birds
+flash in and out of the branches. You can hear a nervous chattering
+and discern little brown bodies swinging from branch to branch,
+or hanging suspended for fractions of a second from the network of
+climbers and aerial roots. They are monkeys. They follow the launch
+along the trees on the banks for a while and then disappear.
+
+The sun is glaring down on the little craft and its human freight. The
+temperature is 112 degrees (F.) in the shade and the only place for
+possible relief is on a box of cognac alongside the commandant's
+hammock. He has fastened this directly behind the wheel so that he
+can watch the steersman, an Indian with filed teeth and a machete
+stuck in his belt.
+
+Would anyone think that these trees, lining the shore for miles and
+miles and looking so beautiful and harmless by day, have a miasmatic
+breath or exhalation at night that produces a severe fever in one who
+is subjected for any length of time to their influence. It would be
+impossible for even the most fantastical scenic artist to exaggerate
+the picturesque combinations of colour and form ever changing like
+a kaleidoscope to exhibit new delights. A tall and slender palm
+can be seen in its simple beauty alongside the white trunk of the
+embauba tree, with umbrella-shaped crown, covered and gracefully
+draped with vines and hanging plants, whose roots drop down until
+they reach the water, or join and twist themselves until they form a
+leaf-portiere. And for thousands of square miles this ever changing
+display of floral splendour is repeated and repeated. And it would be
+a treat for an ornithologist to pass up the river. A hundred times
+a day flocks of small paroquets fly screaming over our heads and
+settle behind the trees. Large, green, blue, and scarlet parrots,
+the araras, fly in pairs, uttering penetrating, harsh cries, and
+sometimes an egret with her precious snow-white plumage would keep
+just ahead of us with graceful wing-motion, until she chose a spot
+to alight among the low bushes close to the water-front.
+
+The dark blue toucan, with its enormous scarlet and yellow beak,
+would suddenly appear and fly up with peculiar jerky swoops, at the
+same time uttering its yelping cry. Several times I saw light green
+lizards of from three to four feet in length stretched out on branches
+of dead trees and staring at us as we passed.
+
+Night came and drew its sombre curtain over the splendours. I was
+now shown a place of unpretentious dimensions where I could suspend
+my hammock, but, unluckily, things were so crowded that there was
+no room for a mosquito-net around me. Under ordinary circumstances,
+neglect of this would have been an inexcusable lack of prudence,
+but I lay down trusting that the draft created by the passage of the
+boat would keep the insect pests away, as they told me it would. I
+found that experience had taught them rightly.
+
+To the post where I tied the foot-end of my hammock there were fastened
+six other hammocks. Consequently seven pairs of feet were bound to
+come into pretty close contact with each other. While I was lucky
+enough to have the hammock closest to the rail, I was unlucky enough
+to have as my next neighbour a woman; she was part Brazilian negro
+and part Indian. She had her teeth filed sharp like shark's teeth,
+wore brass rings in her ears, large enough to suspend portieres from,
+and smoked a pipe continually. I found later that it was a habit to
+take the pipe to bed with her, so that she could begin smoking the
+first thing in the morning. She used a very expensive Parisian perfume,
+whether to mitigate the effects of the pipe or not, I do not know.
+
+Under the conditions I have described I lay down in my hammock, but
+found that sleep was impossible. There was nothing to do but resign
+myself to Fate and find amusement, with all the philosophy possible,
+by staring at the sky. I counted the stars over and over again and
+tried to identify old friends among the constellations. Among them the
+Southern Cross was a stranger to me, but the Great Dipper, one end
+of which was almost hidden behind the trees, I recognised with all
+the freedom of years of acquaintance. My mind went back to the last
+time I had seen it; across the house-tops of old Manhattan it was,
+and under what widely different conditions!
+
+At last a merciful Providence closed my eyes and I was soon transported
+by the arms of Morpheus to the little lake in Central Park that I had
+liked so well. I dreamed of gliding slowly over the waters of that
+placid lake, and awoke to find myself being energetically kicked in the
+shins by my female neighbour. There was nothing to do but indulge in
+a few appropriate thoughts on this community-sleeping-apartment life,
+and then I got up to wander forward, as best I could in the dark,
+across the sleeping forms and take refuge on top of my case of cognac.
+
+We seemed to be down in a pool of vast darkness, of whose walls no
+one could guess the limits. I listened to the gurgling of water at
+the bow and wondered how it was possible for the man at the wheel
+to guide our course without colliding with the many tree trunks that
+were scattered everywhere about us. The river wound back and forth,
+hardly ever running straight for more than half a mile, and the pilot
+continually had to steer the boat almost to the opposite bank to keep
+the trailing canoes from stranding on the sand-bars at the turns. Now
+and then a lightning flash would illuminate the wild banks, proving
+that we were not on the bosom of some Cimmerian lake, but following a
+continuous stream that stretched far ahead, and I could get a glimpse
+of the dark, doubly-mysterious forests on either hand; and now and
+then a huge tree-trunk would slip swiftly and silently past us.
+
+The only interruption of the perfect quiet that prevailed was the
+occasional outburst of roars from the throat of the howling monkey,
+which I had come to know as making the night hideous in Remate de
+Males. But the present environment added just the proper atmosphere
+to make one think for a second that he was participating in some
+phantasm of Dante's.
+
+There was no particular incident to record on the trip, till June
+the 16th, in the night-time, when we arrived at Porto Alegre, the
+glad harbour, which consisted of one hut. This hut belonged to the
+proprietor of a _seringale_. I followed the captain and the clerk
+ashore and, with them, was warmly received by the owner, when we had
+clambered up the ladder in front of the hut. He had not heard from
+civilisation for seven months, and was very glad to see people from
+the outside world, especially as they were bringing a consignment of
+merchandise that would enable him to commence the annual tapping of
+the rubber trees.
+
+About a dozen _seringueiros_ and their families disembarked here and
+went without ceremony to their quarters, where they had a fire going
+in less than no time.
+
+It is the custom in this section of Brazil to make visitors welcome
+in a rather complicated manner. You first place your arm around the
+other man's waist, resting the palm of your hand on his back. Then
+with the other hand you pat him on the shoulder, or as near that
+point as you can reach. Whether it recalled my wrestling practice or
+not, I do not know, but the first time I ever tried this, I nearly
+succeeded in throwing down the man I was seeking to honour.
+
+After the proprietor had greeted each of us in this cordial way, we sat
+down. A large negress made her appearance, smoking a pipe and carrying
+a tray full of tiny cups, filled with the usual unsweetened jet-black
+coffee. After a brief stay, during which business was discussed and
+an account given of the manner of death of all the friends who had
+departed this life during the season in Remate de Males, we took our
+leave and were off again, in the middle of the night, amid a general
+discharging of rifles and much blowing of the steam-whistle.
+
+The night was intensely dark, what moon there was being hidden behind
+clouds most of the time, and an occasional flash of lightning would
+show us that we were running very close to the shores. I decided
+to go on the roof of the right-hand lighter, where I thought I
+would get better air and feel more comfortable than in the close
+quarters below. On the roof I found some old rags and a rubber coated
+knapsack. Taking these to the stern, I lay down upon them and went
+to sleep. I imagine that I must have been asleep about two hours,
+when I was aroused by a crashing sound that came from the forepart
+of the boat. Luckily, I had fallen asleep with my eyeglasses on,
+otherwise, as I am near-sighted, I should not have been able to grasp
+the situation as quickly as proved necessary.
+
+We were so close to the shore that the branches of a low-hanging tree
+swept across the top of the lighter, and it was this branch that caused
+the turmoil as the craft passed through it, causing everything to be
+torn from the roof; trunks, bags, and chicken-coops, in a disordered
+mass. I had received no warning and hardly had collected my senses
+before this avalanche was upon me. Seizing the branches as they came, I
+held on for dear life. I tried to scramble over them to the other part
+of the roof, but having fallen asleep on the stern there was no chance.
+
+I felt myself being lifted off the boat, and as I blindly held on I
+had time to wonder whether the tree would keep me out of the water,
+or lower me into the waiting jaws of some late alligator. But it did
+better than that for me. The branches sagged under my weight, and I
+soon saw that they were going to lower me upon the trailing canoes. I
+did not wait to choose any particular canoe, but, as the first one
+came beneath me, I dropped off, landing directly on top of a sleeping
+rubber-worker and giving him probably as bad a scare as I had had. For
+the remainder of the night I considered the case of cognac, previously
+referred to, a marvellously comfortable and safe place to stay.
+
+During the next day we made two stops, and at the second took on board
+eighteen more passengers. It seemed to me that they would have to sleep
+in a vertical position, since, as far as I could discover, the places
+where it could be done horizontally were all occupied. At five in the
+afternoon of this day, we arrived at a small rubber estate called Boa
+Vista, where the owner kept cut palm-wood to be used for the launch,
+besides bananas, pineapples and a small patch of cocoa-plants. The
+firemen of our launch were busily engaged in carrying the wood,
+when one of them suddenly threw off his load and came running down
+the bank. The others scattered like frightened sheep, and only with
+difficulty could be brought to explain that they had seen a snake
+of a poisonous variety. We crept slowly up to the place under the
+wood-pile which they had pointed out, and there about a foot of the
+tail of a beautifully decorated snake was projecting. I jammed my
+twenty-four-inch machete through it longitudinally, at the same time
+jumping back, since it was impossible to judge accurately where the
+head might come from. It emerged suddenly about where we expected, the
+thin tongue working in and out with lightning speed and the reptile
+evidently in a state of great rage, for which I could hardly blame
+it, as its tail was pinned down and perforated with a machete. We
+dispatched it with a blow on the head and on measuring it found
+the length to be nearly nine feet. The interrupted loading of wood
+continued without much additional excitement and we were soon on our
+way again.
+
+That night I passed very badly. My female neighbour insisted on
+using the edge of my hammock for a foot-rest, and, to add to my
+general discomfort, my hammock persisted in assuming a convex shape
+rather than a more conventional and convenient concave, which put me
+in constant danger of being thrown headlong into the river, only a
+few inches away. Finally, I took my hammock down from its fastenings
+and went aft where I found a vacant canoe among those still trailing
+behind. I threw my hammock in the bottom and with this for a bed
+managed to fall asleep, now and then receiving a blow from some
+unusually low branch which threatened to upset my floating couch.
+
+The next morning it was found that we had lost two canoes,
+evidently torn loose during the night without anybody noticing the
+accident. Luckily, I had not chosen either of these to sleep in,
+nor had anyone else. I cannot help thinking what my feelings would
+have been if I had found myself adrift far behind the launch.
+
+For several days more we continued going up the seemingly endless
+river. Human habitations were far apart, the last ones we had seen
+as much as eighty-five miles below. We expected soon to be in the
+territory owned by Coronel da Silva, the richest rubber proprietor in
+the Javary region. I found the level of this land we were passing
+through to be slightly higher than any I had traversed as yet,
+although even here we were passing through an entirely submerged
+stretch of forest. There were high inland spaces that had already
+begun to dry up, as we could see, and this was the main indication
+of higher altitude than had been found lower down the river. Another
+indication was that big game was more in evidence. The animals find
+here a good feeding place without the necessity of migrating to
+distant locations when the water begins to come through the forest.
+
+At a place, with the name of Nova Aurora, again consisting of one hut,
+we found a quantity of skins stretched in the sunlight to dry. They
+were mostly the hides of yellow jaguars, or pumas, as we call them
+in the United States, and seven feet from the nose to the end of the
+tail was not an unusual length. Although, as we learned, they had been
+taken from the animals only a few weeks previously, they had already
+been partly destroyed by the gnawing of rats. A tapir, weighing nearly
+seven hundred and fifty pounds, had been shot the day before and was
+being cut up for food when we arrived. We were invited to stay and
+take dinner here, and I had my first opportunity of tasting roast
+tapir. I found that it resembled roast beef very much, only sweeter,
+and the enjoyment of this food belongs among the very few pleasant
+memories I preserve of this trip.
+
+While they were getting dinner ready, I noticed what I took to be a
+stuffed parrot on a beam in the kitchen. But when I touched its tail
+I found that it was enough alive to come near snapping my finger
+off. It was a very large arara parrot with two tail feathers, each
+about thirty-six inches long, a magnificent specimen worthy of a place
+in a museum. Parrots of this particular species are very difficult
+to handle, being as stupid and malicious as they are beautiful. They
+often made me think of dandies who go resplendent in fine clothes
+but are less conspicuous for mental excellences.
+
+After having indulged in black coffee, we were invited to give the
+house and the surroundings a general inspection. Directly behind the
+structure was the smoking hut, or _defumador_, as it is called. Inside
+this are a number of sticks inclined in pyramid form and covered with
+palm-leaves. In the floor a hole was dug for the fire that serves for
+coagulating the rubber-milk. Over this pit is hung a sort of frame for
+guiding the heavy stick employed in the smoking of the rubber. At this
+time the process had not become for me the familiar story that it was
+destined to be. Beneath the hut were several unfinished paddles and a
+canoe under construction. The latter are invariably of the "dugout"
+type. A shape is roughly cut from a tree-trunk and then a fire is
+built in the centre and kept burning in the selected places until the
+trunk is well hollowed out. It is then finished off by hand. Paddles
+are formed from the buttresses which radiate from the base of the
+matamata tree, forming thin but very strong spurs. They are easily
+cut into the desired shape by the men and receive decorations from
+the hands of the women who often produce striking colour effects. A
+beautiful scarlet tint is obtained from the fruit of the urueu plant,
+and the genipapa produces a deep rich-black colour. These dyes are
+remarkably glossy, and they are waterproof and very stable.
+
+After sunset the launch was off again. Everything went quietly until
+midnight, when we were awakened with great suddenness. The launch
+had collided with a huge log that came floating down the stream. It
+wedged itself between the side of the boat and the lighter and it
+required much labour to get ourselves loose from it. After we got
+free, the log tore two of the canoes from their fastenings and they
+drifted off; but the loss was not discovered until the next morning,
+when we were about thirty-five miles from the scene of the accident.
+
+Two more days passed without any incident of a more interesting
+nature than was afforded by occasional stops at lonely _barracaos_
+where merchandise was unloaded and fuel for the engine taken in. We
+were always most cordially received by the people and invited to take
+coffee, while murmurs of "_Esta casa e a suas ordenes_"--This house
+is at your disposal--followed our departure. Unlike many conventional
+phrases of politeness, I do not know that the sentiment was entirely
+exaggerated, It is typical of the Brazilian and is to be reckoned
+with his other good qualities. They always combine a respect for
+those things that are foreign, with their decided patriotism. The
+hospitality the stranger receives at their hands is nothing short of
+marvellous, and no greater insult can be inflicted than to offer to
+pay for accommodations. I find any retrospective glance over the days
+I spent among these people coloured with much pleasure when I review
+incidents connected with my contact with them. There is a word in the
+Portuguese language which holds a world of meaning for anyone who has
+been in that land so richly bestowed with the blessings of Nature,
+Brazil. It is _saudades_, a word that arouses only the sweetest and
+tenderest of memories.
+
+There were seven more days of travel before we reached the headquarters
+of Floresta, the largest rubber-estate in the Javary region. It covers
+an area somewhat larger than Long Island. Coronel da Silva, the owner,
+lives in what would be called an unpretentious house in any other
+place but the Amazon. Here it represents the highest achievement of
+architecture and modern comfort. It is built on sixteen-foot poles and
+stands on the outskirts of a half-cleared space which contains also six
+smaller buildings scattered around. The house had seven medium-sized
+rooms, equipped with modern furniture of an inexpensive grade. There
+was also an office which, considering that it was located about
+2900 miles from civilisation, could be almost called up-to-date. I
+remember, for instance, that a clock from New Haven had found its
+way here. In charge of the office was a secretary, a Mr. da Marinha,
+who was a man of considerable education and who had graduated in
+the Federal capital. Several years of health-racking existence in
+the swamps had made him a nervous and indolent man, upon whose face
+a smile was never seen. The launch stopped here twenty-four hours,
+unloading several tons of merchandise, to replenish the store-house
+close to the river front. I took advantage of the wait to converse
+with Coronel da Silva. He invited me cordially to stop at his house
+and spend the summer watching the rubber-work and hunting the game
+that these forests contained. It was finally proposed that I go with
+the launch up to the Branco River, only two days' journey distant, and
+that on its return I should disembark and stay as long as I wished. To
+this I gladly assented. We departed in the evening bound for the Branco
+River. On this trip I had my first attack of fever. I had no warning
+of the approaching danger until a chill suddenly came over me on the
+first day out from Floresta. I had felt a peculiar drowsiness for
+several days, but had paid little attention to it as one generally
+feels drowsy and tired in the oppressive heat and humidity. When to
+this was added a second chill that shook me from head to foot with such
+violence that I thought my last hour had come, I knew I was in for my
+first experience of the dreaded Javary fever. There was nothing to do
+but to take copious doses of quinine and keep still in my hammock close
+to the rail of the boat. The fever soon got strong hold of me and I
+alternated between shivering with cold and burning with a temperature
+that reached 104 and 105 degrees. Towards midnight it abated somewhat,
+but left me so nearly exhausted that I was hardly able to raise my
+head to see where we were going. Our boat kept close to the bank so
+as to get all possible advantage of the eddying currents.
+
+I was at length aroused from a feverish slumber by being flung suddenly
+to the deck of the launch with a violent shock, while men and women
+shouted in excitement that the craft would surely turn over. We
+were careened at a dangerous angle when I awoke and in my reduced
+condition it was not difficult to imagine that a capsize was to be the
+result. But with a ripping, rending sound the launch suddenly righted
+itself. It developed that we had had a more serious encounter with
+a protruding branch than in any of the previous collisions. This one
+had caught on the very upright to which my hammock was secured. The
+stanchion in this case was iron and its failure to give way had caused
+the boat to tilt. Finally the iron bent to an S shape and the branch
+slipped off after tearing the post from its upper fastenings. It
+was a narrow escape from a calamity, but the additional excitement
+aggravated my fever and I went from bad to worse. Therefore it was
+found advisable, when we arrived, late the next day, at the mouth of
+the Branco, to put me ashore to stay in the hut of the manager of the
+rubber estate, so that I might not cause the crew and the passengers
+of the launch inconvenience through my sickness and perhaps ultimate
+death. I was carried up to the hut and placed in a hammock where
+I was given a heavy dose of quinine. I dimly remember hearing the
+farewell-toot of the launch as she left for the down-river trip, and
+there I was alone in a strange place among people of whose language
+I understood very little. In the afternoon a young boy was placed in
+a hammock next to mine, and soon after they brought in a big, heavy
+Brazilian negro, whom they put on the other side. Like me they were
+suffering from Javary fever and kept moaning all through the afternoon
+in their pain, but all three of us were too sick to pay any attention
+to each other. That night my fever abated a trifle and I could hear
+the big fellow raving in delirium about snakes and lizards, which
+he imagined he saw. When the sun rose at six the next morning he was
+dead. The boy expired during the afternoon.
+
+It was torture to lie under the mosquito-net with the fever pulsing
+through my veins and keeping my blood at a high temperature, but I
+dared not venture out, even if I had possessed the strength to do so,
+for fear of the mosquitoes and the sand-flies which buzzed outside in
+legions. For several days I remained thus and then began to mend a
+little. Whether it was because of the greater vitality of the white
+race or because I had not absorbed a fatal dose, I do not know,
+but I improved. When I felt well enough, I got up and arranged with
+the rubber-estate manager to give me two Indians to paddle me and my
+baggage down to Floresta. I wanted to get down there where I could
+have better accommodations before I should become sick again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FLORESTA: LIFE AMONG THE RUBBER-WORKERS
+
+
+It was half past five in the morning when we arrived at the landing
+of the Floresta estate. Since it was too early to go up to the
+house I placed my trunk on the bank and sat admiring the surrounding
+landscape, partly enveloped in the mist that always hangs over these
+damp forests until sunrise. The sun was just beginning to colour the
+eastern sky with faint warm tints. Before me was the placid surface of
+the Itecoahy, which seemed as though nothing but my Indian's paddles
+had disturbed it for a century. Just here the river made a wide turn
+and on the sand-bar that was formed a few large freshwater turtles
+could be seen moving slowly around. The banks were high and steep,
+and it appeared incredible that the flood could rise so high that
+it would inundate the surrounding country and stand ten or twelve
+feet above the roots of the trees--a rise that represented about
+sixty-seven feet in all.
+
+When I turned around I saw the half-cleared space in front of me
+stretching over a square mile of ground. To the right was Coronel
+da Silva's house, already described, and all about, the humbler
+_barracaos_ or huts of the rubber-workers. In the clearing, palm-trees
+and guava brush formed a fairly thick covering for the ground, but
+compared with the surrounding impenetrable jungle the little open space
+deserved its title of "clearing." A few cows formed a rare sight as
+they wandered around nibbling at the sparse and sickly growth of grass.
+
+By-and-bye the sun was fully up; but even then it could not fully
+disperse the mists that hung over the landscape. The birds were waking
+and their calls filled the air. The amorous notes of the inamboo were
+repeated and answered from far off by its mate, and the melancholy
+song of the wacurao piped musically out from the vastness of the
+forest. Small green paroquets flew about and filled the air with
+their not altogether pleasant voices. These are the same birds that
+are well-known to the residents of New York and other large cities,
+where a dozen of them can often be seen in charge of an intrepid
+Italian, who has them trained to pick cards out of a box for anyone
+desiring his fortune told for the sum of five cents. Here they must
+provide by their own efforts for their own futures, however. Even at
+this hour the howling monkey had not left off disturbing the peace
+with its hideous din.
+
+Gradually the camp woke up to the day's work. A tall pajama-clad man
+spied me and was the first to come over. He was a very serious-looking
+gentleman and with his full-bearded face looked not unlike the artist's
+conception of the Saviour. He bade me welcome in the usual generous
+terms of the Brazilians and invited me into the house, where I again
+met Coronel da Silva. This first-mentioned grave-looking man was Mr. da
+Marinha. The kindness with which he welcomed me was most grateful;
+especially so in my present physical condition. I noticed what had
+not been so apparent on my first meeting with him, that recent and
+continuous ravages of fevers and spleen troubles had reduced him,
+though a fairly young man, to the usual nerve-worn type that the
+white man seems bound to become after any long stay in the upper
+Amazon region.
+
+Not knowing where I might stop when I left Remate de Males, I had
+brought with me a case of canned goods. I only succeeded in insulting
+the Coronel when I mentioned this. He gave me his best room and
+sent for a new hammock for me. Such attentions to a stranger, who
+came without even a letter of introduction, are typical of Brazilian
+hospitality.
+
+After a plentiful meal, consisting of fried fish and roast
+loin of tapir, which tasted very good, we drank black coffee and
+conversed as well as my limited knowledge of the Portuguese language
+permitted. After this, naturally, feeling very tired from my travels
+and the heat of the day, I arranged my future room, strung my hammock,
+and slept until a servant announced that supper was served. This meal
+consisted of jerked beef, farinha, rice, black beans, turtle soup,
+and the national Goiabada marmalade. The cook, who was nothing but
+a sick rubber-worker, had spoiled the principal part of the meal by
+disregarding the juices of the meat, and cooking it without salt,
+besides mixing the inevitable farinha with everything. But it was
+a part of the custom of the country and could not be helped. _De
+gustibus non est disputandum._
+
+When this meal was over, I was invited to go with the secretary,
+Mr. da Marinha, the man who had first greeted me in the morning,
+to see a sick person. At some distance from the house was a small
+barracao, where we were received by a _seringueiro_ named Marques. This
+remarkable man was destined to figure prominently in experiences that
+I had to undergo later. He pulled aside a large mosquito-net which
+guarded the entrance of the inner room of this hut. In the hammock
+we found a middle-aged woman; a native of Ceara. Her face was not
+unattractive but terribly emaciated, and she was evidently very
+sick. She showed us an arm bound up in rags, and the part exposed
+was wasted and dark red. It was explained that three weeks before,
+an accident had forced a wooden splinter into her thumb and she had
+neglected the inflammation that followed. I asked her to undo the
+wrappings, a thing which I should never have done, and the sight
+we saw was most discouraging. The hand was swollen until it would
+not have been recognised as a hand, and there was an immense lesion
+extending from the palm to the middle of the forearm. The latter was in
+a terrible condition, the flesh having been eaten away to the bone. It
+was plainly a case of gangrene of a particularly vicious character.
+
+Suddenly it dawned upon me that they all took me for a doctor; and the
+questions they asked as to what should be done, plainly indicated that
+they looked to me for assistance. I explained that I had no knowledge
+of surgery, but that in spite of this I was sure that if something
+were not done immediately the woman would have little time to live.
+
+I asked if there was not a doctor that could be reached within a few
+days' journey. We discussed sending the woman to Remate de Males by
+canoe, but this idea was abandoned, for the journey even undertaken by
+the most skilful paddlers could not be made in less than eighteen days,
+and by that time the gangrene would surely have killed the patient.
+
+Coronel da Silva was called in. He said that the woman was the wife
+of the chief of the _caucheros_ and that her life must be saved if
+possible. I explained my own incapacity in this field once more, but
+insisted that we would be justified in undertaking an amputation as
+the only chance of preventing her death.
+
+I now found myself in a terrible position. The operation is a very
+difficult one even in the hands of a skilful surgeon, and here I was
+called to perform it with hardly an elementary knowledge of the science
+and not even adequate instruments. At the same time, it seemed moral
+cowardice to avoid it, since evidently I was the one best qualified,
+and the woman would die in agony if not soon relieved. I trembled all
+over when I concluded that there was no escape. We went to the room
+and got the bistoury and the forceps given me by a medical friend
+before I left home. Besides these, I took some corrosive sublimate,
+intended for the preparation of animal skins, and some photographic
+clips. The secretary, after a search produced an old and rusty hacksaw
+as the only instrument the estate could furnish. This we cleaned as
+carefully as possible with cloths and then immersed it in a solution
+of sublimate. Before going to the patient's hut I asked the owner and
+the woman's husband if they were reconciled to my attempt and would
+not hold me responsible in case of her death. They answered that,
+as the woman was otherwise going to die, we were entirely right
+in doing whatever we could. I found the patient placidly smoking
+a pipe, her injured arm over the edge of the hammock. By this time
+she understood that she was to have her arm amputated by a surgical
+novice. She seemed not to be greatly concerned over the matter, and
+went on smoking her pipe while we made the arrangements. We placed her
+on the floor and told her to lie still. We adjusted some rubber cloth
+under the dead arm. Her husband and three children stood watching with
+expressionless faces. Two monkeys, tied to a board in a corner were
+playing and fighting together. A large parrot was making discursive
+comment on the whole affair, while a little lame dog seemed to be the
+most interested spectator. The secretary took the bistoury from the
+bowl containing the sublimate and handed it to me with a bow. With
+a piece of cotton I washed the intended spot of operation and traced
+a line with a pencil on the arm.
+
+Imagine with what emotions I worked! After we had once started,
+however, we forgot everything except the success of our operation. I
+omit a description of the details, as they might prove too
+gruesome. The woman fainted from shock just before we touched the
+bone,--Nature thus supplying an effective, if rude, anaesthetic. We
+had forgotten about sewing together the flesh, and when we came
+to this a boy was dispatched to the owner's house for a package of
+stout needles. These were held in the fire for a few seconds, and
+then immersed when cold in the sublimate before they were used to
+join the flesh. By the time it was done, I was, myself, feeling very
+sick. Finally I could stand the little room of torture no longer,
+and left the secretary dressing the wound. Would she recover from
+the barbaric operation? This question kept coursing through my head
+as I vainly tried for a long time to go to sleep.
+
+The next day, after an early observation of my patient, who seemed
+to have recovered from the shock and thus gave at least this hope
+of success, I spent my time going around to visit the homes of the
+_seringueiros_. They were all as polite as their chief, and after
+exchanging the salute of "Boa dia," they would invite me to climb
+up the ladder and enter the hut. Here they would invariably offer
+me a cup of strong coffee. There were always two or three hammocks,
+of which I was given the one I liked best. The huts generally consist
+of two rooms with a few biscuit-boxes as chairs, and Winchester rifles
+and some fancy-painted paddles to complete the furniture.
+
+The following day I arose with the sun and, after some coffee, asked
+a huge small-pox-scarred fellow to accompany me on my first excursion
+into the real jungle. Up to this time I had only seen it from my back
+porch in Remate de Males and from the deck of the launch _Carolina_,
+but now I was in the heart of the forest and would indulge in jungle
+trips to my heart's content. We entered through a narrow pathway called
+an _estrada_, whose gateway was guarded by a splendid palm-tree,
+like a Cerberus at the gates of dark Hades. The _estrada_ led us
+past one hundred to one hundred and fifty rubber trees, as it wound
+its way over brooks and fallen trees. Each of the producing trees
+had its rough bark gashed with cuts to a height of ten to twelve
+feet all around its circumference. These marks were about an inch
+and a half in length. Alongside of the tree was always to be found
+a stick, on the end of which were a dozen or so of small tin-cups
+used in collecting the rubber-milk. Every worker has two _estradas_
+to manage, and by tapping along each one alternately he obtains the
+maximum of the product. This particular _estrada_ was now deserted
+as the _seringueiro_ happened to be at work on the other one under
+his jurisdiction.
+
+It was in a sense agreeable to work there as the sun could not
+penetrate the dense foliage and the air was therefore cool. After we
+had walked for about an hour, my big guide complained of being tired
+and of feeling unwell. I told him he could go back to the camp and
+leave me to find my way alone. Accordingly he left me and I now had
+the task of carrying without assistance my large 8 x 10 view-camera,
+a shotgun, a revolver, and a machete.
+
+Gradually my ear caught a terrible sound which to the uninitiated
+would have seemed like the roaring of a dozen lions in combat, but
+the dreadful notes that vibrated through the forest were only those
+of the howling monkey. I always had a great desire to see one of this
+species in the act of performing this uncanny forest-concert, therefore
+I left the rubber pathway after placing my camera on the ground, up
+against a rubber tree, and commenced following the noise, cutting my
+way through the underbrush. I walked and walked, but the sound seemed
+to remain the same distance away, and I stopped to reconnoitre.
+
+I hesitated whether to proceed or not, fearing I might lose the way
+and not be able to find my camera again. The monkey was not visible
+at all; it fact, it was not possible to see anything, unless it was
+very close by, so dense was the foliage. I laid my automatic pistol
+on a fallen tree-trunk, and was trying to figure out the chances of
+getting a look at my simian friend and at the same time not losing my
+valuable property on the pathway, when I heard another startling sound,
+this time near-by. I prepared myself for whatever species of animal was
+due, and could feel the excitement a hunter knows when he thinks he is
+about to get a sight of big game. Suddenly the undergrowth parted in
+front of me and a herd of wild boars came trotting out. I drew a bead
+on the biggest of the lot and fired, letting five soft-nose bullets go
+through his head to make sure; the others fled, and I hastened to the
+spot to examine my prize more closely. It was a boar of medium size,
+weighing in the neighbourhood of one hundred and twenty-five pounds,
+and he had a fine set of tusks. He was rather vicious-looking and
+was doing considerable kicking before he gave up the ghost. It was
+impossible for me to carry him through the bush owing to the fact that
+I had the valuable camera and apparatus to take care of, so I made
+a mental note of the spot, and cut his ears off. It took four hours'
+search to find the camera, in spite of my belief that I had not gone
+far, and it was late in the afternoon when I arrived at headquarters.
+
+The very next morning there was a good opportunity to see the smoking
+of rubber-milk. A _seringueiro_ had collected his product and when
+I went to the smoking-hut I found him busy turning over and over a
+big stick, resting on two horizontal guides, built on both sides of
+a funnel from which a dense smoke was issuing. On the middle of the
+stick was a huge ball of rubber. Over this he kept pouring the milk
+from a tin-basin. Gradually the substance lost its liquidity and
+coagulated into a beautiful yellow-brown mass which was rubber in
+its first crude shipping state.
+
+The funnel from which the smoke issued was about three feet high and of
+a conical shape. At its base was a fire of small wooden chips, which
+when burning gave forth an acrid smoke containing a large percentage
+of creosote. It is this latter substance which has the coagulating
+effect upon the rubber-milk. When the supply of milk was exhausted,
+he lifted the ball and stick off the guides and rolled it on a smooth
+plank to drive the moisture out of the newly-smoked rubber. Then he
+was through for the day. He placed the stick on two forked branches
+and put some green leaves over the funnel to smother the fire. On top
+of the leaves he put a tin-can and a chunk of clay, then filled the
+hole in the ground with ashes. Under this arrangement the fire would
+keep smouldering for twenty-four hours, to be used anew for the next
+repetition of the smoking process.
+
+In the afternoon we again went out to hunt. This time I took only a
+12-gauge shotgun. As we travelled through the forest I was impressed
+once more by the fascination of the grandly extravagant vegetation.
+
+But there is little charm about it, nothing of the tranquillity our
+idyllic Catskills or even the sterner Adirondacks, create. There is no
+invitation to repose, no stimulus to quiet enjoyment, for the myriad
+life of the Amazon's jungle forest never rests. There is always some
+sound or some movement which is bound to stir in one the instinct
+of self-preservation. You have to be constantly alive to the danger
+of disagreeable annoyance from the pests that abound, or of actual
+bodily harm from animals of the reptilian order.
+
+Were I in possession of adequate descriptive power I could picture
+the impression that this jungle creates upon the mind of one from the
+North, but now, as I once more sit in a large city with sky-scrapers
+towering about me, and hear the rattling noise of the elevated railway
+train as it rushes past, my pen fails me and I have to remove myself on
+the wings of thought to those remote forests, fully realising, "_Beatus
+ille, qui procul negotiis, ut_" etc., etc. Then I can feel again
+the silence and the gloom that pervade those immense and wonderful
+woods. The few sounds of birds and animals are, generally, of a pensive
+and mysterious character, and they intensify the feeling of solitude
+rather than impart to it a sense of life and cheerfulness. Sometimes
+in the midst of the noon-day stillness, a sudden yell or scream will
+startle one, coming from some minor fruit-eating animal, set upon by a
+carnivorous beast or serpent. Morning and evening, the forest resounds
+with the fearful roar of the howling monkeys, and it is hard, even
+for the stoutest heart, to maintain its buoyancy of spirit. The sense
+of inhospitable wilderness, which the jungle inspires, is increased
+tenfold by this monstrous uproar. Often in the still hours of night,
+a sudden crash will be heard, as some great branch or a dead tree falls
+to the ground. There are, besides, many sounds which are impossible
+to account for and which the natives are as much at a loss to explain
+as myself. Sometimes a strange sound is heard, like the clang of an
+iron bar against a hard, hollow tree; or a piercing cry rends the
+air. These are not repeated, and the succeeding stillness only tends
+to heighten the unpleasant impression which they produce on the mind.
+
+The first thing that claimed our attention, shortly after we started,
+was a sound of breaking branches and falling leaves, somewhere in
+the distance. Through the trees I could perceive that it was a big
+dark-grey monkey, which we had alarmed. He was scrambling up a tall
+tree when I fired at him. I evidently missed, for I could see him
+prepare for a mighty jump to a lower tree where he would be out of
+sight. But in the jump he got another load of pellets, which struck
+him in the back. His leap fell short of the mark and he landed headlong
+among some bushes, kicking violently as I came up to him. As he seemed
+strongly built and had a rather savage expression, it did not seem
+wise to tackle him with bare hands, therefore, as I desired to get him
+alive, I ran back and procured my focussing cloth, which I tied around
+his head. Thus I got him safely back to the camp, where he was tied
+to a board and the bullets extracted from his flesh. Then his wounds,
+which were not serious, were bound up and he was put into a cage with
+a bunch of bananas and a saucer of goat's milk to cheer him up a bit.
+
+The suddenness with which these monkey delicacies disappeared,
+convinced me that his complete recovery was a matter of only a short
+time, unless perchance some hungry rubber-worker, surreptitiously,
+had removed these viands while nobody was looking, for bananas and
+milk are things which will tempt any Amazonian from the narrow path
+of rectitude; but it was not so in this case. The conviction as to
+recovery proved right, and with the improvement of his health he
+displayed a cheerful and fond disposition that decided me to take
+him back with me to New York when I should go. I have since been
+informed that he belonged to the Humboldt Sika species. I watched him
+for several months and came to like him for the innocent tricks he
+never tired of playing. One night he managed to liberate himself from
+the tree near the hut where he was tied. He disappeared for two days,
+but on the third he returned, chains and all. He had doubtless found
+life in the jungle trees not altogether cheerful with a heavy chain
+secured to his waist, and he had returned reconciled to captivity
+and regular meals. There is at present one specimen of this kind of
+monkey at the Bronx Zooelogical Gardens in charge of the head keeper.
+
+At the time of low water, the so-called _prayas_ appear at the bends
+of the river; they grow with the accumulation of sand and mud. They are
+wide and often of a considerable area, and on them the alligators like
+to bask in the sunshine of early morning and late afternoon, and the
+_tartarugas_, or fresh-water turtles, lay their eggs. These eggs are
+laid in the months of September and October on moon-lit nights and
+are somewhat smaller than the ordinary hen's egg, the yolk tasting
+very much the same, but they are covered with a tough parchment-like
+shell. Here on the upper Amazon the people prepare a favourite meal
+by collecting these eggs and storing them for two or three weeks,
+when they tear open the shell and squeeze out the yolks, mixing them
+all up into a mush with the inevitable farinha. Few people, except
+native Brazilians, ever acquire a relish for this remarkable dish.
+
+I spent a whole day waiting for the elusive alligators on one of
+these sand-bars, but evidently they were too wise, for they never came
+within camera-range. I did, however, see some tapir-tracks, leading
+down to the water's edge. After the long wait I grew discouraged,
+and chose a camping place farther up the river, where I prepared
+a meal consisting of turtle eggs and river water. The meal was not
+absolutely undisturbed, as the air was full of a species of fly that
+derives its principal sustenance from the bodies of various dead
+animals always to be found through the jungle, whose teeming life
+crowds out all but those fittest to survive.
+
+I had begun my vigil before sunrise, when there are two or three hours
+very cool and humid. In the dry season the dew which collects is of
+the greatest importance to animal and plant life. For the tired and
+thirsty wanderer, the calyx of the beautiful scarlet orchid, which
+grows abundantly in this region, contains the refreshment of two or
+three ounces of clear, cool water. But you must look carefully into
+this cup of nature to see that no insects lurk in its depths to spoil
+the draught.
+
+I have previously described the breakfast table of the millionaire
+Coronel R. da Silva, with its black beans, the dreadful farinha, the
+black coffee, and the handful of mutilated _bolachas_ or biscuits. The
+only variable factor was the meat, sometimes wild hog, occasionally
+tapir, and very often the common green parrot or the howling monkey. At
+most meals the _pirarucu_ fish appears, especially on Mondays when
+the rubber-workers have had the whole of Sunday in which to indulge
+in the sport of shooting this gamy two-hundred-pound fish. They carry
+their _pirarucu_ to headquarters and courteously offer the best cuts
+to the Coronel, afterwards cutting the rest into long strips and
+leaving them to dry in the sun. Jerked beef was always to be relied
+upon when other supplies ran low.
+
+There must have been some terrible mystery connected with the
+milk. There were twenty-one cows on the place, but never a drop of
+milk from them was to be had. I was always afraid to ask any questions
+about this deficiency for fear I might be treading on dangerous ground,
+but with the lack of any other explanation I ascribe it to continual
+sickness from which the cattle must probably suffer, in common with
+every other living thing here.
+
+During the month of September, the number of patients from fever,
+pleurisy, and accidents, at Floresta headquarters, amounted to 82% of
+the population. A fever resembling typhoid resulted in several cases
+from drinking the river-water. The Coronel claimed that Mangeroma
+Indians living in the interior about 150 miles from Floresta had
+poisoned the creeks and affluents of the Itecoahy to take revenge upon
+the traders who brought the much dreaded Peruvian rubber-workers up
+to the Itecoahy River estates. These Peruvians are hated because they
+abduct the women of the indigenous tribes, when on their expeditions
+far into the forests where these tribes live, and consequently they
+are hunted down and their entrance to the region as far as possible
+prevented.
+
+At this morning hour in New York (Floresta is on the same meridian
+as New York), thousands of toilers are entering the hot subways and
+legions of workers are filing into their offices and stuffy shops
+to take their places at the huge machinery which keeps the world
+in motion. At the very same hour a handful of rubber-workers are
+passing my house, returning from their first trip in the _estradas_,
+where they have been tapping the trees, and on their way to the huts
+and a frugal breakfast. Here in the wilds of Brazil there are no
+subways, no worry about the "market," nor indeed any thought for the
+morrow. Nature supplies the rubber trees, and the "boss" the tools to
+work them with; the philosophy of the rubber-worker goes no farther. A
+shirt, trousers, and a hat are all the dress that fashion requires,
+and often the worker even finds the shirt superfluous. He wears a
+pair of overalls, and carries slung over his shoulder his rifle and
+the little hatchet for tapping the trees, besides a small rubber bag
+in which he keeps a supply of farinha and jerked beef, should he be
+prevented from reaching his hut in regulation time.
+
+The _seringueiro_ is free in his movements and in his mind, he is a
+quick and keen observer of nature, and an expert in knowledge of the
+cries and calls of the animals of the forest. He knows their habits
+and hiding-places to perfection, and he could probably astonish the
+naturalist by informing him of many things he has observed that his
+brother scientist never has heard of. He knows the names of the trees
+and plants in the forest and what they can be used for, though his
+knowledge of them is often supplemented by superstitious imaginings. He
+knows the multitudinous fish of the Amazon, whether they are to be
+caught with a net, speared, or shot with bow and arrows, or, if the
+hunter is of a progressive disposition, shot with rifle ball. There are
+varieties that have, as yet, not been seen, classified, or identified
+by the scientist of to-day--I am positive of having seen several such.
+
+The inhabitant of this region is clean in his habits and in his mind as
+soon as he gets away from the evil influence of civilisation--which for
+him is the town of Remate de Males or "Culmination of Evils." He takes
+a bath at least twice a day, and attends closely to the cleanliness of
+his wardrobe, which for that matter does not absorb any considerable
+amount of time. As a rule, he is industrious, but frequent attacks of
+fever, dysentery, liver and spleen complaints, or pneumonia make him
+in the end, like all living things here not native to the forests,
+sluggish in general, and irritable on occasion.
+
+A little distance from the headquarters lies a beautiful lake. It is
+not wider than the Itecoahy itself, four hundred feet on an average,
+and is about five miles long. It runs parallel with the river, and has
+only one outlet. In the dry season this amounts to nothing more than a
+little rivulet across which a large fallen tree has formed a natural
+bridge, but in January, when the waters rise, the creek is so full
+that the servants of Coronel da Silva can wash the linen there. After
+some weeks of sojourn at Floresta, I found my way to this lake, and it
+was here that I was able to observe some of the largest specimens of
+Amazonian reptiles in their haunts, where the equatorial sun had full
+opportunity to develop an amazing growth of faunal and floral life.
+
+It was a most enchanting stretch of water. I had heard of the dangers
+lurking beneath its surface long before I saw it, so when I arrived
+there one morning I was surprised to find a placid lake, set in
+picturesque and romantic surroundings. My first impulse was to exclaim,
+partly to myself, and partly to the Indian Joao who accompanied me,
+"Why, this is Lake Innocence," so peaceful did it appear. In fact,
+so much did it charm me that during the remainder of my stay at
+Floresta there was hardly a day some part of which I did not spend
+in the immediate vicinity of this lake. But it was treacherous. It
+was the home of six or seven old alligators and of young ones--too
+numerous to count; the oldest reaching a length of about seventeen
+feet. They would lie perfectly still under the banks, among the dead
+branches and snags, which made the shores generally inaccessible to
+boat or canoe, but when a person approached they would make their
+presence known by violent splashing in the water and repeated loud
+grunts, very much resembling those of a walrus. Then they would burrow
+under the soft mud and remain quiet for an hour or two. In the early
+forenoon, before the sun became too hot, they would sun themselves,
+but in the sweltering mid-day hours they remained buried in the mud,
+and were then very hard to rouse.
+
+I found, on the shores of the lake, two alligator nests, formed of many
+twigs and branches stuck together, half in the water and half in the
+soft slimy mud. There they deposited their eggs, oblong tough ones;
+and one could always count on finding the female in the neighbourhood,
+should one desire to visit her. I came near stepping on one of these
+female alligators during a morning hunt with my camera. I was intently
+examining a group of eggs I found under a cluster of branches, when
+I was startled by a splash in the water and a loud grunt. As fast
+as the muddy ground would let me, I scrambled up the bank, and when
+I reached the top I saw the alligator swimming away from the very
+spot where I had been standing, its small close-set eyes fastened on
+me. Then it disappeared in the mud.
+
+My next encounter occurred one forenoon, when I was sitting close
+to the dried-up canal which formed the outlet of the lake. It was
+almost mid-day. I was sitting in the shade, safe from the blazing sun,
+enjoying a peaceful smoke. The air was fairly vibrating with heat,
+causing the blood to surge through my veins. Not a sound was heard
+except the irritating buzz of the ever-present mosquitoes. For some
+time I had been aware of the slow, stealthy movement of a large body
+near-by, though only half consciously. The heat made me sluggish
+and sleepy, but suddenly I awoke to the fact that the moving thing,
+whatever it might be, was near me. Mechanically, I released the
+"safety" of my automatic pistol, and then realised that out of the
+reeds near me was creeping a medium-sized alligator. He was making
+straight for the water, and I do not know whether he was cognisant of
+my presence or not. He was moving steadily, advancing a few inches,
+stopping for a minute, then resuming the journey. I believe I was
+not more than five feet from the head as it emerged from the fringe
+of reeds. I raised my camera, secured a focus, and snapped the
+shutter. The click of the apparatus and perhaps my movement drew
+his attention. He stopped abruptly. The long jaws opened toward
+me, displaying an enormous expanse of pink flesh and two rows of
+shining teeth. I lost not a second in throwing aside the camera and
+jumping back to a position of relative safety, whence I fired into
+the open mouth of the beast. I killed him. On examining the carcass,
+I noticed that he had unusually large eyes, indicating that he was
+a young specimen.
+
+A few days later I again went to this lake--which, from my remarks, had
+now come to be generally called "Lago Innocencia"--to catch fish with
+my Indian friend Joao. He carried a bow, four arrows with detachable
+heads, and a harpoon six feet long. The little boat which we found
+close to the outlet of the lake was pushed away from the shore, we
+each seized one of the peculiarly decorated paddles, and were off,
+looking for finny game. We paddled quietly along near the shore,
+now and then receiving a bump from some concealed snag which nearly
+upset us. It requires considerable skill to navigate one of these
+poorly-made dugouts, the slightest move causing a disproportionate
+amount of disturbance of equilibrium.
+
+Suddenly Joao jumped up, his black eyes glowing with excitement. He
+motioned me to keep quiet, but it was quiet superfluous for him to
+do this, as I was unable to talk, or even look around, for fear the
+canoe might upset. He seized the harpoon, and with a powerful swing
+sent it into the water ahead of us, at the same time grasping the line
+which was attached to the end. The spear sank deep into the water,
+and then by the vivacity with which it danced around I could tell
+there was something on the end of it. As he began to pull in the line,
+the struggle became so violent that I crept forward on my knees in
+the bottom of the canoe and helped him recover the spear. Only after
+some strenuous balancing feats and a stiff fight by both of us, did
+we land our game. It was a large flat fish at least four feet square,
+with a long whip-shaped tail, at the base of which were two barbed
+bones each about three and a half inches in length. Our first act was
+to sever this tail with a hatchet, as it was far too active to make
+the fish a pleasant neighbour in close quarters. When the sting-ray,
+or, as the Brazilians call it, the _araya_, was dead, I cut out the
+two barbed bones and no longer wondered why these fish are so dreaded
+by those who know them. Joao told me that they attack anyone who
+ventures into the water, and with their sharp, barbed bones inflict
+a wound that in most cases proves fatal, for the bones are brittle
+and break off in the flesh. Superstition and carelessness are the
+main factors that make the wound dangerous; the people believe too
+much in an ever-present evil spirit which abides in all the vicious
+and fiendish animals of the forest and swamp. Once wounded by any of
+these malignant creatures, they believe there is no hope of recovery
+and they hardly try to survive. Besides, lack of proper care and
+treatment of a wound generally results in its terminating in a case
+of septicaemia and ultimately gangrene.
+
+I have mentioned the _pirarucu_ several times as being the largest
+edible fish of the Amazon. When full grown, it attains a weight of two
+hundred and fifty pounds. In Lake Innocence we saw this remarkable
+fish feeding close to the shore in shallow water, surrounded by a
+school of young ones. The old one was about seven feet in length
+and the others but recently hatched, from nine to ten inches. The
+Indian who pointed them out to me stood up in the bow of the canoe
+and, fitting one of his five-foot arrows to the bow-string, sent it
+through the air and into the head of the big fellow.
+
+The bow which he used was of his own manufacture. It was about seven
+and a half feet long, very tough and straight, and made of Caripari
+wood. The shafts of the arrows were made of long straight reeds, the
+stalks of a certain species of wild cane. The detachable part of the
+arrow is a short but extremely hard piece of wood upon which is fitted
+an iron head with two barbs. When the point pierces the flesh this hard
+piece comes off, but remains attached to the shaft by a short stout
+cord. This allows the shaft free play so that it will not break during
+the struggles of the victim. Then there is a line attached to the head
+itself so that the hunter can handle the struggling animal or fish by
+means of it and of the shaft of the arrow. The whole contrivance is
+a marvel of ingenuity in meeting the conditions the Amazon hunter is
+called on to face. When the arrow struck this particular _pirarucu_,
+at close range, he made straight for the shore, hauling the canoe
+and its contents after him at considerable speed. We got tangled
+among the low branches and fought the fish in considerable danger
+of being overturned--and I should not at all care to be capsized on
+Lake Innocence.
+
+Finally, we got our prize ashore. I sent the Indian to headquarters,
+telling him to go, as fast as he could and bring assistance so that
+we could get the fish home. I myself mounted guard over the carcass
+to see that neither the turkey buzzards nor the carnivorous mammals
+should destroy it. If we had left it alone for even a short time,
+we would have found, on our return, little to remind us of its
+existence. The Indian returned shortly with two men. They stuck a
+pole through the great gills of the _pirarucu_ and in this fashion
+carried it to the settlement.
+
+These waters contain great quantities of another and smaller fish known
+as the _piranha_, scientifically termed _Serraselmus piraya_. This
+is quite as much dreaded by the natives as the alligator, or even as
+the shark along the coast. Its ferocity seems to know no bounds. It
+will attack other fish and bite large pieces out of their fins and
+tails. Although it is not much larger than the herring it can make
+fatal attacks on man when in large numbers.
+
+Mr. C.B. Brown in his work on Guiana gives the following account of
+this fish:
+
+The _piranhas_ in the Corentins were so abundant and were so ferocious
+that at times it was dangerous to go into the water to a greater depth
+than the knees. Even then small bodies of these hungry creatures would
+swim in and make a dash close to our legs, and then retreat to a short
+distance. They actually bit the steering paddles as they were drawn
+through the water astern of the boat. A tapir which I shot as it swam
+across the water had his nose bitten off by them whilst we were towing
+it to the shore. The men used to catch some of them for the sport
+of it, and in taking the hook from the mouth produced a wound from
+which the blood ran freely. On throwing them back into the water in
+this injured condition, they were immediately set upon and devoured
+by their companions. Even as one was being hauled in on the line,
+its comrades, seeing that it was in difficulties, attacked it at once.
+
+I heard about these fiends but had no opportunity to witness their
+ferocity until one day, in crossing the river in a dugout, we wounded
+a wild hog that had also decided to cross at the same time and at the
+same place. The man with the stern paddle seized his machete as he saw
+the hog swimming close by the port-side of the canoe and stabbed it in
+the shoulder, intending to tow it ashore and have a luxurious dinner of
+roast hog. But his dream was never realised, for the _piranhas_ which
+had tasted the blood, I suppose, came in large numbers and set upon
+the unfortunate hog. In a minute the water seemed to be boiling, so
+great was the activity of the little demons as they tore away pieces of
+the flesh until it was vanishing by inches. When we reached the other
+shore there was not enough left of the hog to furnish a single meal.
+
+Later I learned that certain Indian tribes leave their dead in the
+river for the _piranhas_ to strip the flesh from the bones. It is
+then customary to take the remaining skeleton and let it dry in the
+sun, after which it is rubbed with the juice of the _urucu_ plant
+(the _Bixa orellana_), which produces a bright scarlet colour. Then
+it is hung up in the hut and the Indians consider that a token of
+great reverence has been thus bestowed on the deceased.
+
+Before leaving the subject of fish, I will mention another species,
+smaller than the _piranha_, yet, although not as ferocious, the
+cause of much dread and annoyance to the natives living near the
+banks of the rivers. In fact, throughout the Amazon this little
+worm-like creature, called the _kandiroo_, is so omnipresent that a
+bath-house of a particular construction is necessary. The kandiroo is
+usually three to four inches long and one sixteenth in thickness. It
+belongs to the lampreys, and its particular group is the Myxinos or
+slime-fish. Its body is coated with a peculiar mucus. It is dangerous
+to human beings, because when they are taking a bath in the river
+it will approach and with a swift powerful movement penetrate one of
+the natural openings of the body whence it can be removed only by a
+difficult and dangerous operation.
+
+A small but hard and pointed dorsal fin acts as a barb and prevents
+the fish from being drawn back. While I was in Remate de Males the
+local doctor was called upon to remove a _kandiroo_ from the urethra
+of a man. The man subsequently died from the hemorrhage following
+the operation.
+
+Largely through the danger of the attack from this scourge, though
+perhaps not entirely, the natives have adopted the method of bathing
+in use. A plunge into the river is unheard of, and bath-houses are
+constructed so as to make this unnecessary. A hole about eighteen
+inches square is cut in the middle of the floor--built immediately
+above the water--through which the bather, provided with a calabash
+or gourd of the bread-fruit tree, dips water up and pours it over
+himself after he has first examined it carefully. The indigenous
+Indians, living in the remote parts of the forest, do not use this
+mode of protection, but cover the vulnerable portions of the body
+carefully with strips of bark, which render  complete  immersion
+less  dangerous.
+
+During my walks in the forest I often came across snakes of
+considerable length, but never found any difficulty in killing them, as
+they were sluggish in their movements and seemed to be inoffensive. The
+rubber-workers, who had no doubt had many encounters with reptiles,
+told me about large _sucurujus_ or boa-constrictors, which had their
+homes in the river not many miles from headquarters. They told me
+that these snakes were in possession of hypnotic powers, but this,
+like many other assertions, should be taken with a large grain of
+salt. However, I will relate an incident which occurred while I
+lived at Floresta, and in which I have absolute faith, as I had the
+opportunity of talking to the persons involved in the affair.
+
+Jose Perreira. a rubber-worker, had left headquarters after having
+delivered his weekly report on the rubber extracted, and was paddling
+his canoe at a good rate down the stream, expecting to reach his
+hut before midnight. Arriving at a recess in the banks formed by the
+confluence of a small creek called Igarape do Inferno, or the Creek
+of Hell, he thought that he heard the noise of some game, probably a
+deer or tapir, drinking, and he silently ran his canoe to the shore,
+where he fastened it to a branch, at the same time holding his rifle
+in readiness. Finally, as he saw nothing, he returned to the canoe
+and continued his way down-stream.
+
+Hardly more than ten yards from the spot, he stopped again and
+listened. He heard only the distant howling of a monkey. This he was
+used to on his nightly trips. No! there was something else! He could
+not say it was a sound. It was a strange something that called him back
+to the bank that he had left but a few minutes before. He fastened
+his canoe again to the same branch and crept up to the same place,
+feeling very uneasy and uncomfortable, but seeing nothing that could
+alarm him--nothing that he could draw the bead of his rifle on. Yet,
+something there was! For the second time he left, without being able
+to account for the mysterious force that lured him to this gloomy,
+moon-lit place on the dark, treacherous bank. In setting out in the
+stream again he decided to fight off the uncanny, unexplainable feeling
+that had called him back, but scarcely a stone's throw from the bank
+he had the same desire to return,--a desire that he had never before
+experienced. He went again, and looked, and meditated over the thing
+that he did not understand.
+
+He had not drunk _cachassa_ that day and was consequently quite sober;
+he had not had fever for two weeks and was in good health physically as
+well as mentally; he had never so much indulged in the dissipations of
+civilisation that his nerves had been affected; he had lived all his
+life in these surroundings and knew no fear of man or beast. And now,
+this splendid type of manhood, free and unbound in his thoughts and
+unprejudiced by superstition, broke down completely and hid his face
+in his hands, sobbing like a child in a dark room afraid of ghosts. He
+had been called to this spot three times without knowing the cause, and
+now, the mysterious force attracting him, as a magnet does a piece of
+iron, he was unable to move. Helpless as a child he awaited his fate.
+
+Luckily three workers from headquarters happened to pass on their
+way to their homes, which lay not far above the "Creek of Hell,"
+and when they heard sobbing from the bank they called out.
+
+The hypnotised _seringueiro_ managed to state that he had three
+times been forced, by some strange power, to the spot where he now
+was, unable to get away, and that he was deadly frightened. The
+rubber-workers, with rifles cocked, approached in their canoe, fully
+prepared to meet a jaguar, but when only a few yards from their comrade
+they saw directly under the root where the man was sitting the head
+of a monstrous boa-constrictor, its eyes fastened on its prey. Though
+it was only a few feet from him, he had been unable to see it.
+
+One of the men took good aim and fired, crushing the head of the snake,
+and breaking the spell, but the intended victim was completely played
+out and had to lie down in the bottom of the canoe, shivering as if
+with ague.
+
+The others took pains to measure the length of the snake before
+leaving. It was 79 palmas or 52 feet 8 inches. In circumference it
+measured 11 palmas, corresponding to a diameter of 28 inches. Its
+mouth, they said, was two palmas or sixteen inches, but how they mean
+this to be understood I do not know.
+
+This event happened while I was living at headquarters. I had a
+long talk with Perreira, but could not shake his statement, nor that
+of the three others; nevertheless, I remained a sceptic as to this
+alleged charming or mesmeric power of the snakes, at least so far as
+man is concerned.
+
+At that time we were awaiting the arrival of the monthly launch from
+the town of Remate de Males, and had spent a day weighing rubber
+at the camp of one of the employees, half a day's journey from
+headquarters. The rubber-pellets were loaded into our large canoe
+to take up to Floresta. We spent the evening drinking black coffee
+and eating some large, sweet pineapples, whereafter we all took a
+nap lasting until midnight, when we got up to start on our night
+trip. It had been considered best to travel at night, when it was
+nice and cool with none of the pestering insects to torture us, and
+we were soon paddling the heavy canoe at a merry rate, smoking our
+pipes and singing in the still, dark night. Soon we rounded a point
+where the mighty trees, covered with orchids and other parasitic
+plants, sent their branches down to the very water which in its
+depths was hiding the dreaded water-snakes. The only sound we heard
+was the weird calling of the night-owl, the "Mother of the Moon"
+as the Indians call it. Except this and the lapping sound of water,
+as we sped along, nothing disturbed the tranquillity of the night.
+
+I was in the act of lighting another pipe when one of the men
+cried out:
+
+"What's this?"
+
+We all stopped paddling and stared ahead at a large dark object,
+resting on a moon-lit sand-bar not far from us. Then someone said,
+"_Sucuruju_." Few people can comprehend the feeling that creeps into
+one's heart when this word is pronounced, under such circumstances,
+in the far-off forest, in the middle of the night. The word
+means boa-constrictor, but it meant a lot more at this moment. An
+indescribable feeling of awe seized me. I knew now that I was to face
+the awful master of the swamps, the great silent monster of the river,
+of which so much had been said, and which so few ever meet in its lair.
+
+Running the canoe ashore we advanced in single file. I now had a
+chance to inspect the object. On a soft, muddy sand-bar, half hidden
+by dead branches, I beheld a somewhat cone-shaped mass about seven
+feet in height. From the base of this came the neck and head of the
+snake, flat on the ground, with beady eyes staring at us as we slowly
+advanced and stopped. The snake was coiled, forming an enormous pile
+of round, scaly monstrosity, large enough to crush us all to death at
+once. We had stopped at a distance of about fifteen feet from him,
+and looked at each other. I felt as if I were spellbound, unable to
+move a step farther or even to think or act on my own initiative.
+
+The snake still made no move, but in the clear moonlight I could
+see its body expand and contract in breathing; its yellow eyes
+seeming to radiate a phosphorescent light. I felt no fear, nor any
+inclination to retreat, yet I was now facing a beast that few men
+had ever succeeded in seeing. Thus we stood looking at each other,
+scarcely moving an eyelid, while the great silent monster looked at
+us. I slid my right hand down to the holster of my automatic pistol,
+the 9mm. Luger, and slowly removed the safety lock, at the same time
+staring into the faces of the men. In this manner I was less under
+the spell of the mesmerism of the snake, and could to some extent
+think and act. I wheeled around while I still held control of my
+faculties, and, perceiving a slight movement of the snake's coils,
+I fired point-blank at the head, letting go the entire chamber of
+soft-nose bullets. Instantly the other men woke up from their trance
+and in their turn fired, emptying their Winchesters into the huge
+head, which by this time was raised to a great height above us,
+loudly hissing in agony.
+
+Our wild yelling echoed through the deep forest. The snake uncoiled
+itself and writhing with pain made for the water's edge. By this time
+we were relieved of the terrible suspense, but we took care to keep
+at a respectful distance from the struggling reptile and the powerful
+lashing of its tail, which would have killed a man with one blow.
+
+After half an hour the struggles grew weaker, yet we hesitated to
+approach even when it seemed quiet and had its head and a portion
+of its body submerged in the water. We decided to stay through the
+night and wait here a day, as I was very anxious to skin the snake
+and take the trophy home to the States as a souvenir of a night's
+adventure in this far-off jungle of the Amazon. We went up in the
+bushes and lit a fire, suspended our hammocks to some tree-trunks,
+and slept soundly not more than ten yards from the dying leviathan.
+
+We all got up before sunrise, had our coffee in haste, and ran down to
+see the snake. It was dead, its head practically shot to pieces. We
+set to work, stretching the huge body out on the sand-bar, and by
+eight o'clock we had the entire snake flat on the ground, ready to
+measure and skin.
+
+It was a most astonishing sight, that giant snake lying there full
+length, while around it gathered six Amazon Indians and the one
+solitary New Yorker, here in the woods about as far from civilisation
+as it is possible to get. I proceeded to take measurements and used
+the span between my thumb and little finger tips as a unit, knowing
+that this was exactly eight inches.
+
+Beginning at the mouth of the snake, I continued to the end and found
+that this unit was contained eighty-four times. Thus 84 times 8 divided
+by 12 gives exactly 56 feet as the total length. In circumference,
+the unit, the "palma," was contained 8 times and a fraction, around
+the thickest part of the body. From this I derived the diameter 2
+feet 1 inch.
+
+These measurements are the result of very careful work. I went from
+the tail to the nose over again so as to eliminate any error, and then
+asked the men with me also to take careful measurements in their own
+manner, which only confirmed the figures given above.
+
+Then we proceeded to skin the snake, which was no easy task under the
+fierce sun now baking our backs. Great flocks of _urubus_, or vultures,
+had smelled the carcass and were circling above our heads waiting
+for their share of the spoils. Each man had his section to work on,
+using a wooden club and his machete. The snake had been laid on its
+belly and it was split open, following the spinal column throughout
+its length, the ventral part being far too hard and unyielding. About
+two o'clock in the afternoon we had the work finished and the carcass
+was thrown into the river, where it was instantly set upon by the
+vigilant _piranhas_ and alligators.
+
+Standing in front of this immense skin I could not withhold my elation.
+
+"Men," I said, "here am I on this the 29th day of July, 1910, standing
+before a snake-skin the size of which is wonderful. When I return to
+my people in the United States of America, and tell them that I have
+seen and killed a boa-constrictor nearly eighteen metres in length,
+they will laugh and call me a man with a bad tongue."
+
+Whereupon my friend, the chief, rose to his full height and exclaimed
+in a grieved tone: "Sir, you say that your people in the north will
+not believe that we have snakes like this or even larger. That is
+an insult to Brazilians, yet you tell us that in your town Nova York
+there are _barracaos_ that have thirty-five or even forty stories on
+top of each other! How do you expect us to believe such an improbable
+tale as that?"
+
+I was in a sad plight between two realities of such mighty proportions
+that they could be disbelieved in localities far removed from each
+other.
+
+We brought the skin to headquarters, where I prepared it with arsenical
+soap and boxed it for later shipment to New York. The skin measured,
+when dried, 54 feet 8 inches, with a width of 5 feet 1 inch.
+
+Kind reader, if you have grown weary of my accounts of the reptilian
+life of the Amazon, forgive me, but such an important role does this
+life play in the every-day experience of the brave rubber-workers
+that the descriptions could not be omitted. A story of life in the
+Amazon jungle without them would be a deficient one, indeed.
+
+
+There is a bird in the forests, before referred to, called by the
+Indians "_A mae da lua_," or the "Mother of the Moon." It is an owl and
+makes its habitation in the large, dead, hollow trees in the depths
+of the jungle, far away from the river front, and it will fly out of
+its nest only on still, moonlit nights, to pour forth its desolate and
+melancholy song. This consists of four notes uttered in a major key,
+then a short pause lasting but a few seconds, followed by another
+four notes in the corresponding minor key. After a little while the
+last two notes in the minor key will be heard and then all is still.
+
+When the lonely wanderer on the river in a canoe, or sitting in his
+hammock, philosophises over the perplexing questions of life, he is
+assisted in his dreary analysis by the gloomy and hair-raising cry
+of the mother of the moon. When the first four notes strike his ear,
+he will listen, thinking that some human being in dire distress is
+somewhere out in the swamps, pitifully calling for help, but in so
+painful a manner that it seems as if all hope were abandoned. Still
+listening, he will hear the four succeeding melancholy notes,
+sounding as if the desolate sufferer were giving up the ghost in a
+last desperate effort. The final two notes, following after a brief
+interval, tell him that he now hears the last despairing sobs of a
+condemned soul. So harrowing and depressing is this song that, once
+heard, the memory of it alone will cause one's hair to stand on end
+and he will be grateful when too far away to hear again this sob of
+the forest.
+
+A surprise was in store for me one day when I visited the domicile of
+a rubber-worker living at the extreme end of the estate. I expected to
+find a dwelling of the ordinary appearance, raised on poles above the
+ground, but instead this hut was built among the branches of a tree
+some twenty feet above the level of the earth. I commenced climbing
+the rickety ladder leading to the door of the hut. Half-way up a
+familiar sound reached my ear. Yes, I had surely heard that sound
+before, but far away from this place. When I finally entered the
+habitation and had exchanged greetings with the head of the family,
+I looked for the source of the sound. Turning round I saw a woman
+sitting at a _sewing-machine_, working on a shirt evidently for her
+husband. I examined this machine with great curiosity and found it
+to be a "New Home" sewing-machine from New York. What journeys and
+transfers had not this apparatus undergone before it finally settled
+here in a tree-top in this far-off wilderness!
+
+
+One afternoon while sitting in the office at headquarters discussing
+Amazonian politics with Coronel da Silva, Francisco, a rubber-worker,
+came up and talked for a while with the Coronel, who then turned to me
+and said: "Do you want to get the skin of a black jaguar? Francisco
+has just killed one on his _estrada_ while collecting rubber-milk;
+he will take you down to his _barracao_, and from there he will lead
+you to the spot where the jaguar lies, and there you can skin him."
+
+I thanked Francisco for his information and went for my machete,
+having my pistol already in my belt. I joined him at the foot of
+the river bank outside the main building, where he was waiting for
+me in his canoe, and we paddled down-stream to his hut. On our way
+(he lived about two miles below Floresta) he told me that he was
+walking at a good rate on the narrow path of the _estrada_ when
+he was attracted by a growling and snarling in the thicket. He
+stopped and saw a black jaguar grappling with a full-grown buck in
+a small opening between the trees. The jaguar had felled the buck
+by jumping on its back from the branches of a tree, and, with claws
+deeply imbedded in the neck, broke its spine and opened its throat,
+when Francisco drew the bead on the head or neck of the jaguar and
+fired. The jaguar fell, roaring with pain. Francisco was too much
+in a hurry to leave the narrow path of the rubber-workers and go
+to the spot where the victim was writhing in its death agonies,
+but hastened on for his dinner. Remembering later that the Coronel
+had offered an attractive sum of money for any large game they would
+bag for my benefit, and having finished his dinner, he paddled up to
+headquarters and reminded the Coronel of the promised reward. When
+we came to the hut of the rubber-worker a large dog greeted us. This
+dog looked like a cross between a great Dane and a Russian greyhound;
+it was rather powerfully built, although with a softness of movement
+that did not correspond with its great frame. Francisco whistled for
+the dog to follow us. He carried his Winchester and a machete, while
+I discovered that my pistol had been left unloaded when I hurried
+from headquarters, so I was armed with nothing but a machete. After
+walking for nearly half an hour, we slowed down a little and Francisco
+looked around at the trees and said that he thought we were on the
+spot where he had heard the growlings of the jaguar. It was nearing
+half-past five and the sun was low so we launched ourselves into the
+thicket towards the spot where the jaguar had been killed.
+
+We advanced rapidly; then slower and slower. The great dog at first had
+been very brave, but the closer we came to the spot we were looking
+for, the more timid the dog became, until it uttered a fearful yell
+of fright, and with its tail between its legs slunk back. There was
+nothing to do but to leave the contemptible brute alone with its fear,
+so we pushed ahead. Suddenly we came to the place, but there was no
+jaguar. There were plenty of evidences of the struggle. The mutilated
+body of a beautiful marsh-deer was lying on the moist ground, pieces of
+fur and flesh were scattered around, and the blood had even spurted on
+the surrounding leaves and branches. Francisco had wounded the jaguar,
+no doubt--at least he said so, but plainly he had not killed it nor
+disabled it to such extent that it had remained on the spot.
+
+We commenced searching in the underbrush, for it was evident it could
+not be far off. The bloody track could be followed for some distance;
+in fact, in one place the thorny roots of the remarkable _pachiuba_
+palm-tree, the roots that the women here use for kitchen graters,
+had torn off a bunch of long, beautiful hair from the sides of the
+jaguar, which very likely was weak and was dragging itself to some
+cluster of trees where it could be safe, or else to find a point of
+vantage to fall upon its pursuers.
+
+We searched for some time. The forest was growing dark, and the many
+noises of the night began. First came the yelping of the toucan, which
+sounded like the carefree yap-yap of some clumsy little pup. Then
+came the chattering of the night monkeys and the croaking of the
+thousands of frogs that hide in the swamps. And still no traces of the
+jaguar. Again we separated. The dog had run home utterly scared. Now
+and then we would whistle so as not to lose track of each other. I
+regretted that I had been so careless as to leave my ammunition
+at home, as it might happen that the wounded and enraged cat would
+spring at us from some dark cluster of branches, and then a machete
+would hardly be an adequate weapon.
+
+We searched for over an hour until it was pitch dark, but, sad to
+relate, we never found that jaguar. We went home silently. Francisco
+did not secure the reward.
+
+This incident is of no particular interest as the result of the
+excursion was nil and our humour consequently very bad. But it serves
+to show how the mind of man will be influenced by local surroundings,
+and how it adapts itself to strange customs, and how a novice may be
+so greatly enthused that he will, half-armed, enter upon a reckless
+hunt for a wounded jaguar.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE FATAL MARCH THROUGH THE FOREST
+
+
+Thus I lived among these kind and hospitable people for five months
+until one day my lust for further excitement broke out again, induced
+by a seemingly commonplace notice posted outside the door of the
+storeroom. It read: "The men--Marques, Freitas, Anisette, Magellaes,
+Jerome, and Brabo--are to make themselves ready to hunt caoutchouc
+in the eastern virgin forest." Puzzled as to the meaning of this,
+I consulted the Chief and was informed that Coronel da Silva was
+about to equip and send out a small expedition into the forests,
+far beyond the explored territory, to locate new caoutchouc trees,
+which were to be cut and the rubber or caoutchouc collected, whereupon
+the expedition was to return to headquarters with these samples and a
+report on the number of trees observed. This greatly interested me, and
+I asked the Chief, Marques, whose wife I had operated upon previously,
+if I could accompany him on this trip. He consented unwillingly, saying
+that it was very dangerous and that the same number of men that went
+out never came back. However, this was too rare a chance to let pass,
+and I made my preparations to accompany the expedition on this journey
+into regions where even the native _caucheros_ had never before been.
+
+On a Monday morning we all assembled at the Floresta headquarters,
+where Coronel da Silva bade us good-bye, and at the same time once
+more warned me against venturing on this trip, but I was determined
+and could not be persuaded to give it up.
+
+The expedition consisted of the six men, above mentioned, all, except
+the Chief, Marques, unmarried. After leaving the main building we
+went down to the store-room where we chose the necessary articles
+of food--enough to last us for three or four weeks. Our staples
+were to be dried _pirarucu_, the largest fish of the Amazon, some
+dried or "jerked" beef, and a large quantity of the farinha, the
+eternal woody and unpalatable meal that figures on every Brazilian's
+table. Besides these, we carried sugar, coffee, rice, and several
+bottles of "Painkiller" from Fulton Street, N.Y. Hammocks and cooking
+utensils completed our outfit. I took with me a large plate camera,
+photographic plates and paper, chemicals, scales and weights; also
+a magnifying glass, a primitive surgical outfit, and a hypodermic
+needle with several dozen prepared "ampules." My men were armed with
+the usual .44 Winchesters and some ancient muzzle-loaders, while I
+had my 9mm. automatic Luger pistol. When we were fully packed, each
+man carried a load weighing eighty-five pounds, strapped by means of
+bark strips to the shoulders, with his rifle in his left hand and a
+machete to clear the path in his right.
+
+Thus equipped, we left headquarters, not knowing how or when we
+would see it again, while the natives fired a farewell salute,
+wishing us God-speed.
+
+After a few hours by canoe, up the Itecoahy, we left the river and
+turned our faces inland. Our way now led through dense forest, but for
+four hours we travelled in a region familiar to the rubber-workers,
+and we were able to follow pathways used by them in their daily work.
+
+Let no one think that a jungle trail is broad and easy. As I stumbled
+along the tortuous, uneven path, in the sweltering mid-day heat,
+pestered by legions of _piums_ or sand-flies and the omnipresent
+mosquitoes, climbing, fallen trees that impeded us at every turn,
+I thought that I had reached the climax of discomfort. Little could
+I know that during the time to come I was to look back upon this day
+as one of easy, delightful promenading.
+
+The four hours' march brought us to an open place, apparently a
+clearing, where the _estrada_ suddenly seemed to stop. Exhausted,
+I threw myself on the moist ground while the Chief explained our
+position. He said that we were now at the end of the cut _estrada_
+and that beyond this we would have no path to follow, though he had
+somewhat explored the region farther on the year previous, during a
+similar expedition. We found that the undergrowth had been renewed
+to such an extent that his old track was indistinguishable, and we
+had to hew our every step. When we resumed the march I received a more
+thorough understanding of what the word _jungle_ really means. Ahead of
+us was one solid and apparently impenetrable wall of vegetation, but
+my men attacked it systematically with their heavy machetes. Slowly
+we advanced, but I wondered that we made any progress at all. The
+skill of these sons of the forest in cutting a pathway with their
+long knives became a constant wonder to me. Where an inexperienced
+person would have lost himself, looking for a round-about easy course,
+these men moved straight ahead, hewing and hacking right and left,
+the play of the swift blades seemingly dissolving all obstacles in
+their path. Some idea of the density of the growth can be gathered
+from the fact that if a man moved off he became instantly invisible
+although he might be only a yard or two away.
+
+Late in the afternoon we reached a small hut or _tambo_ built on
+the former trip by the Chief. It was nothing but a roof on poles,
+but it was a welcome sight to us as it meant rest and food. We were
+tired and hungry and were glad to find a small creek close by where
+we could refresh ourselves, taking care to keep out of the reach of
+the alligators and water-snakes swimming close to the weeds by the
+shore. For our supper we gave the dried _pirarucu_ flesh a boil and
+soaked some farinha in water, eating this tasteless repast with as much
+gusto as we would if it had been roast beef. Let me here recommend
+this diet for any gourmet whose appetite has been impaired, and he
+will soon be able to enjoy a stew of shoe-leather. One of the men, a
+good-natured athlete, Jerome by name, was sent out after fresh meat,
+and brought back a weird little animal resembling a fox (_cuti_). We
+decided to test it as a stew, but, lacking salt, we found the dried
+_pirarucu_ preferable.
+
+The excitement of the night was furnished by ants, which had built
+a nest in the _tambo_ where we had swung our hammocks. The visitors
+swarmed up poles and down ropes and would not be denied entrance. Wads
+of cotton smeared with vaseline and bandaged around the fastenings of
+the hammock proved no obstacle. It was impossible to sleep; mosquitoes
+came to the assistance of the ants and managed to find their way
+through the mosquito-net. To complete the general "cheerfulness,"
+the tree-tops were full of little spider-monkeys whispering mournfully
+throughout the dark and showery night.
+
+The second day's march took us through the region which the Chief
+had explored the year before, and we spent the night in another
+_tambo_ built on that occasion. Our progress, however, was made with
+increasing difficulty, as the land had become more hilly and broken
+and the forest, if possible, more dense and wild. We were now at a
+considerable distance from the river-front and in a region where the
+yearly inundation could never reach. This stage of the journey remains
+among the few pleasant memories of that terrible expedition, through
+what I may call the gastronomic revel with which it ended. Jerome had
+succeeded in bringing down with his muzzle-loader a _mutum_, a bird
+which in flavour and appearance reminds one of a turkey, while I was so
+lucky as to bag a nice fat deer (marsh-deer). This happened at _tambo_
+No. 2. We called each successive hut by its respective number. Here we
+had a great culinary feast, so great that during the following days I
+thought of this time with a sad "_ils sont passe, ces jours de fete_."
+
+Now, guided by the position of the sun, we held a course due west, our
+ultimate destination being a far-off region where the Chief expected
+to find large areas covered with fine caoutchouc trees. The ground
+was hilly and interspersed with deeply cut creeks where we could see
+the ugly heads of the _jararaca_ snakes pop up as if they were waiting
+for us. There was only one way of crossing these creeks; this was by
+felling a young tree across the stream for a bridge. A long slender
+stick was then cut and one end placed at the bottom of the creek, when
+each man seizing this in his right hand steadied himself over the tree
+to the other side of the deep treacherous water. It required steady
+nerve to walk this trunk, such as I did not possess, therefore I found
+it safer to hang from the levelled bole by my hands and travel across
+in that manner. _Tambo_ No. 3 we constructed ourselves, as we did every
+other for the rest of the journey. We always selected a site near a
+creek that we were following, and cleared away the underbrush so as to
+leave an open area of about twenty-five feet square, always allowing
+one tree to remain for a corner. A framework of saplings tied together
+with strips of _matamata_ bark was raised for a roof, and across this
+were laid gigantic leaves of the _murumuru_, twenty-five to thirty
+feet long. The hammocks were then strung beneath, and we managed to
+keep comparatively sheltered from the nightly rain that always occurs
+in these deep forests. After the frugal meal of _pirarucu_ and dried
+farinha, or of some game we had picked up during the march, we would
+creep into our hammocks and smoke, while the men told hunting stories,
+or sang their monotonous, unmelodious tribal songs.
+
+It must have been about two o'clock in the morning when I was awakened
+by a terrific roaring which fairly made the forest tremble. Sitting
+up and staring fearfully into the darkness, I heard the crashing
+of underbrush and trees close upon us. My first thought was of a
+hurricane, but in the confusion of my senses, stunned by the impact
+of sound, I had few clear impressions. My companions were calling one
+another. The noise grew louder, more terrifying. Suddenly the little
+world around me went to smash in one mad upheaval. The roof of the
+_tambo_ collapsed and fell upon us. At the same instant I felt some
+huge body brush past me, hurling me sprawling to the ground. The noise
+was deafening, mingled with the shrieks and excited yellings of my men,
+but the object passed swiftly in the direction of the creek.
+
+Some one now thought of striking a light to discover the extent of
+the damage. The _tambo_ was a wreck; the hammocks were one tangled
+mass. Jerome, who had jumped from his hammock when he first heard
+the noise, followed the "hurricane" to the creek and soon solved
+the mystery of the storm that swept our little camp. He told us,
+it was a jaguar, which had sprung upon the back of a large tapir
+while the animal was feeding in the woods behind our _tambo_. The
+tapir started for the creek in the hope of knocking the jaguar off
+its back by rushing through the underbrush; not succeeding in this,
+its next hope was the water in the creek. It had chosen a straight
+course through our _tambo_.
+
+The next day we were successful in killing two howling monkeys;
+these were greeted with loud yells of joy, as we had not been able
+to locate any game during the last twenty-four hours' march. This is
+easy to understand. We were much absorbed in cutting our way through
+the bushes and the game was scared away long before we could sight it.
+
+After the ninth day of wearisome journeying, the Chief found signs
+of numerous caoutchouc trees, indicating a rich district, and it was
+accordingly decided that _tambo_ No. 9 should be our last. We were
+now fully 150 miles from the Floresta headquarters and some 120 miles
+back in the absolutely unknown. That night the temperature went down
+to 41 deg. Fahrenheit, a remarkable drop so close to the equator and on
+such low ground, but it was undoubtedly due to the fact that the sun
+never penetrates the dark foliage of the surrounding dense forests
+where the swamps between the hills give off their damp exhalations.
+
+Up to this point I had not feared the jungle more than I would have
+feared any other forest, but soon a dread commenced to take hold
+of me, now that I could see how a great danger crept closer and
+closer--danger of starvation and sickness. Our supplies were growing
+scant when we reached _tambo_ No. 9, and yet we lingered, forgetful
+of the precarious position into which we had thrust ourselves, and
+the violated wilderness was preparing to take its revenge.
+
+I suppose our carelessness in remaining was due in part to the
+exhausted state to which we had been reduced, and which made us
+all rejoice in the comfort of effortless days rather than face new
+exertions.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE FATAL "TAMBO NO. 9"
+
+
+We were three weeks at _tambo_ No. 9 before the sharp tooth of
+necessity began to rouse us to the precarious situation. Occasionally
+a lucky shot would bring down a _mutum_ or a couple of monkeys and,
+on one occasion, a female tapir. Thus feasting to repletion, we
+failed to notice that the lucky strikes came at longer intervals;
+that the animals were deserting our part of the forest. During these
+three weeks we were not wholly idle. The Chief had the men out every
+day making excursions in the neighbourhood to locate the caoutchouc
+trees. As soon as a tree was found, they set to work bleeding the
+base of it to let the milky sap ooze out on the ground where it would
+collect in a small pool. Then they would fell the tree and cut rings
+in the bark at regular intervals so that the milk could flow out. In
+a few days when the milk had coagulated, forming large patches of
+caoutchouc, they would return for it. The pieces were washed in the
+creek and then tied into large bundles ready for transporting.
+
+In all they located more than 800 caoutchouc trees. At this time too I
+made my remarkable discovery of gold deposits in the creek. It seems
+to me now like the plot of some old morality play, for while we were
+searching eagerly for the thing that we considered the ultimate goal
+of human desires--wealth, the final master, Death, was closing his
+net upon us day by day. Our food supply was nearly gone.
+
+While strolling along the shores of the creek in search of game, I
+noticed irregular clumps or nodules of clay which had accumulated in
+large quantities in the bed of the stream, especially where branches
+and logs had caused whirlpools and eddies to form. They had the
+appearance of pebbles or stones, and were so heavy in proportion to
+their size that my curiosity was aroused, and throwing one of them
+on the bank I split it open with my machete. My weakened heart then
+commenced to beat violently, for what I saw looked like gold.
+
+I took the two pieces to my working table near our _tambo_, and
+examining the dirty-yellow heart with my magnifying glass, I found the
+following: A central mass about one cubic inch in size, containing
+a quantity of yellowish grains measuring, say, one thirty-second of
+an inch in diameter, slightly adhering to each other, but separating
+upon pressure of the finger, and around this a thick layer of hard
+clay or mud of somewhat irregular shape. It immediately struck me
+that the yellow substance might be gold, though I could not account
+for the presence of it in the centre of the clay-balls.
+
+I carefully scraped the granules out of the clay, and washing them
+clean, placed them on a sheet of paper to dry in the sun. By this
+time the attention of the other men had been attracted to what I was
+doing, and it seemed to amuse the brave fellows immensely to watch
+my painstaking efforts with the yellow stuff. I produced some fine
+scales I had for weighing chemicals for my photographic work, and
+suspended these above a gourd filled with water. Then I went down to
+the creek and collected more of the clay-balls and scraped the mud of
+one away from the solid centre of what I took to be grains of gold. A
+fine thread I next wound around the gold ball and this was tied to
+one end of the balance. After an equilibrium had been established,
+I found that the weight of the gold was 660 grains. Next I raised
+the gourd until the water reached the suspended ball, causing the
+opposite pan of the scales to go down. To again establish equilibrium,
+I had to add 35 grains. With this figure I divided the actual weight
+of the gold, which gave me 18.9, and this I remembered was close to
+the specific gravity of pure gold.
+
+Still a little in doubt, I broke the bulb of one of my clinical
+thermometers and, placing the small quantity of mercury thus obtained
+in the bottom of a tray, I threw a few of the grains into it, and
+found that they immediately united, forming a dirty-grey amalgam. I
+was now sure the substance was gold and in less than five hours I
+collected enough to fill five photographic 5 x 7 plate-boxes, the
+only empty receptacles I could lay my hands on. I could have filled a
+barrel, for the creek was thick with the clay-balls as far as I could
+see; but I had a continuous fever and this, with the exhaustion from
+semi-starvation, caused me to be indifferent to this great wealth. In
+fact, I would have gladly given all the gold in the creek for _One_
+square meal. If the difficulties in reaching this infernal region
+were not so great, I have no doubt that a few men could soon make
+themselves millionaires.
+
+The deadly fever came among us after a few days. It struck a young
+man called Brabo first; the next day I fell sick with another serious
+attack of swamp-fever, and we both took to our hammocks. For five
+days and nights I was delirious most of the time, listening to the
+mysterious noises of the forest and seeing in my dreams visions of
+juicy steaks, great loaves of bread, and cups of creamy coffee. In
+those five days the only food in the camp was howling monkey,
+the jerked beef and the dried farinha having given out much to my
+satisfaction, as I became so heartily disgusted with this unpalatable
+food that I preferred to starve rather than eat it again. At first I
+felt the lack of food keenly, but later the pain of hunger was dulled,
+and only a warm, drugged sensation pervaded my system. Starvation
+has its small mercies.
+
+I became almost childishly interested in small things. There was a
+peculiar sound that came from the deep forest in the damp nights;
+I used to call it the "voice of the forest." To close one's eyes and
+listen was almost to imagine oneself near the murmuring crowd of a
+large city. It was the song of numerous frogs which inhabited a creek
+near our _tambo_. Then I would hear four musical notes uttered in a
+major key from the tree-tops close by, soon answered by another four
+in a similar pitch, and this musical and cheerful(!) conversation was
+continued all night long. The men told me that this was the note of
+a species of frog that lived in the trees.
+
+One day the jungle took the first toll from us. Young Brabo was very
+low; I managed to stagger out of my hammock to give him a hypodermic
+injection, but he was too far gone for it to do him any good. He
+died in the early afternoon. We dug a grave with our machetes right
+behind our _tambo_. No stone marks this place; only a small wooden
+cross tied together with bark-strips shows where our comrade lies--a
+son of the forest whom the forest claimed again.
+
+The arrival of Death in our camp showed us all how far we were in
+the grasp of actual, threatening danger. We stood about the grave in
+silence. These men, these Indians of the Amazon, were very human;
+somehow, I always considered them equals and not of an inferior
+race. We had worked together, eaten and slept and laughed together,
+and now together we faced the mystery of Death. The tie between us
+became closer; the fraternity of common flesh and blood bound us.
+
+The next day I arose and was able to walk around, having injected my
+left arm with copious doses of quinine and arsenical acid. Borrowing
+thus false strength from drugs, I was able, to some extent, to roam
+around with my camera and secure photographs that I wanted to take
+home with me to the States.
+
+I had constructed a table of stalks of the _murumuru_ palm-leaves,
+and I had made a sun-dial by the aid of a compass and a stick, much to
+the delight of the men, who were now able to tell the hour of the day
+with precision. The next day I had another attack of fever and bled
+my arm freely with the bistoury, relieving myself of about sixteen
+ounces of blood. Shortly after nine o'clock in the morning I heard
+a shot which I recognised as being that of Jerome's muzzle-loader;
+soon afterward he made his appearance with a splendid specimen of a
+jet-black jaguar, killed by a shot behind the ear. He skinned it after
+first asking me if I wanted to get up and take a photograph of it,
+but I was too weak to do it and had to decline.
+
+The Chief one day brought into camp a fine deer and a _mutum_ bird,
+which relieved our hunger for a while. As we were preparing a luxurious
+meal, Jerome returned with two red howling monkeys, but we had all
+the meat we could take care of, and these monkeys were rejected and
+thrown away.
+
+By this time the Chief informed us that enough caoutchouc trees had
+been located to justify our return to the Floresta headquarters
+with a satisfactory report--of course, excepting the death of
+poor Brabo. Furthermore it was decided that owing to the lack of
+provisions we should separate. He directed that the men Freitas,
+Magellaes, and Anisette should take a course at a right angle to the
+Itecoahy, so as to reach this river in a short time, where they were
+to procure a canoe and secure assistance for the rest of us. This,
+of course, was a chance, but under the circumstances every step was
+a chance. The Chief himself, Jerome, and I would retrace the route
+which we had lately travelled and reach Floresta that way. The evening
+before our departure I did not think myself strong enough to carry
+my load a single step, but the hypodermic needle, with quinine, which
+had now become my constant stand-by, lent me an artificial strength,
+and when the packing was done the next morning, I stood up with the
+rest and strapped the load on my shoulders.
+
+We parted with the other three men before sunrise, with clasps of the
+hand that were never to be repeated, and so turned our faces toward
+the outer world. My only hope was to retain sufficient strength in
+my emaciated, fever-racked body to drag myself back to Floresta, and
+from there, in the course of time, get canoe or launch connection
+to the frontier down the river, and then wait for the steamer that
+would take me back to "God's Country," where I could eat proper food,
+and rest--rest.
+
+The jungle no longer seemed beautiful or wonderful to me, but
+horrible--a place of terror and death.
+
+In my drug-dazed sleep on that back-track, I started up in my hammock,
+bathed in a sweat of fear from a dream; I saw myself and my companions
+engulfed in a sea of poisonous green, caught by living creepers
+that dragged us down and held us in a deadly octopus embrace. The
+forest was something from which I fled; it was hideous, a trap, with
+its impenetrable wall of vegetation, its dark shadows, and moist,
+treacherous ground.
+
+I longed for the open; struggled for it, as the swimmer struggles up
+for air to escape from the insidious sucking of the undertow.
+
+Starving, weak from fever, oppressed by the thought of death, but
+lashed on by stimulants and the tenacity of life, I headed with my
+two comrades out of the world of the unknown, toward the world of
+men--to _Life_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FOREST
+
+
+On the second day of the return trip, we had a remarkable
+experience. Probably not more than two hundred yards from the _tambo_
+where we had spent the night, we heard the noise, as we thought, of a
+tapir, but nothing could surpass our astonishment when we saw a human
+being. Who could it be that dared alone to disturb the solitude of
+the virgin forest, and who went along in these dreary woods humming
+a melody?
+
+It was a young Indian who approached us cautiously when Jerome spoke
+in a tongue I did not understand, and evidently told him that we were
+friends on the way back to our homes by the river. He was an unusually
+fine specimen of a savage, well built, beautifully proportioned, and
+with a flawless skin like polished bronze. His clothing was limited
+to a bark girdle, and a feather head-dress not unlike that worn by
+some North American Indians.
+
+He was armed with bow and arrows and a blow-gun; and he had a small
+rubber pouch filled with a brownish substance, the remarkable wourahli
+poison. He explained to Jerome that his tribe lived in their _maloca_,
+or tribal house, about 24 hours' march from this place, and that he
+had been chasing a tapir all day, but had lost its track, and was now
+returning to his home. He pointed in a north-western direction with
+his blow-gun, signifying thereby the general route he was going to
+follow in order to reach his destination. We sat down on the ground
+and looked at each other for quite a while, and thus I had my first
+chance of studying a blow-gun and the poisoned arrows, outside a
+museum, and in a place where it was part of a man's life. At the time
+I did not know that I was to have a little later a more thorough
+opportunity of examining this weapon. I asked the Indian, Jerome
+acting as interpreter, to demonstrate the use of the gun, to which he
+consented with a grin. We soon heard the chattering of monkeys in the
+tree-tops, and deftly inserting one of the thin poisoned arrows in the
+ten-foot tube he pointed the weapon at a swiftly moving body among the
+branches, and filling his lungs with air, let go. With a slight noise,
+hardly perceptible, the arrow flew out and pierced the left thigh of a
+little monkey. Quick as lightning he inserted another arrow and caught
+one of the other monkeys as it was taking a tremendous leap through
+the air to a lower branch. The arrow struck this one in the shoulder,
+but it was a glancing shot and the shaft dropped to the ground. In the
+meantime the Indian ran after the first monkey and carried it up to
+me. It seemed fast asleep, suffering no agony whatever; and after five
+or six minutes its heart ceased beating. The other monkey landed on the
+branch it was aiming for in its leap, but after a short while it seemed
+uneasy and sniffed at everything. Finally, its hold on the branch
+relaxed, it dropped to the ground and was dead in a few minutes. It
+was a marvellous thing to behold these animals wounded but slightly,
+the last one only scratched, and yet dying after a few minutes as if
+they were falling asleep. It was then explained to me that the meat
+was still good to eat and that the presence of poison would not affect
+the consumer's stomach in the least; in fact, most of the game these
+Indians get is procured in this manner. I was lucky enough to secure
+a snap-shot of this man in the act of using his blow-gun. It proved
+to be the last photograph I took in the Brazilian jungles. Accidents
+and sickness subsequently set in, and the fight for life became too
+hard and all-absorbing even to think of photographing. He left us
+after an hour's conversation, and we resumed our journey homewards.
+
+We had a slight advantage in retracing our former path. Although the
+reedy undergrowth had already choked it, we were travelling over
+ground that we knew, and it was also no longer necessary to delay
+for the building of _tambos_; we used the old ones again.
+
+Jerome had complained for some time of a numbness in his fingers
+and toes, and also of an increasing weakness of the heart that
+made every step a torment. The Chief and I tried our best to cheer
+him up, although I felt certain that the brave fellow himself knew
+what dreadful disease had laid its spell upon him. However, we kept
+on walking without any words that might tend to lower our already
+depressed spirits.
+
+But our march was no longer the animated travel it had been on the
+way out; we talked like automatons rather than like human, thinking
+beings. Suffering, hunger, and drugs had dulled our senses. Only the
+will to escape somehow, the instinct of self-preservation, was fully
+awake in us. A sweep of the machete to cut a barrier bushrope or
+climber, one foot placed before the other, meant that much nearer to
+home and safety. Such was now the simple operation of our stupefied
+and tired brains, brains that could not hold one complex thought to
+its end; too tired--tired!
+
+At nightfall we stumbled into our old _tambo_ No. 7. There was no
+thought of securing food, no possibility of getting any; we had
+been too tired to even attempt to shoot game during the day. The two
+monkeys which the Indian had killed with his blow-gun were the only
+food we had and these we now broiled over the camp-fire and devoured
+fiercely. After this meal, none too good, we slung our hammocks with
+difficulty and dropped in. Jerome's numbness increased during the
+night. We were up and on the trail again with the dawn.
+
+In the afternoon we descended a hill to find ourselves confronted by
+a swamp of unusual extent. The Chief was in the lead as we crossed the
+swamp and we lost him from our sight for a few minutes. While crossing
+this wide, slimy-bottomed place, I noticed a peculiar movement in the
+water near me, and soon made out the slender bodies of swamp-snakes
+as they whipped past among the branches and reeds. These snakes are
+called by the Brazilians _jararacas_ and are very poisonous; however,
+I had no fear for myself as I wore heavy buffalo-hide boots, but the
+men walked barefooted, and were in great danger. I cried out a warning
+to Jerome, who took care to thrash about him. We supposed that we had
+passed this snake-hole without mishap when we rejoined the Chief on
+"terra firma." He was leaning over, as we approached him, and he
+turned a face to us that was stricken with fear. He pointed to the
+instep of his right foot and there on the skin were two tiny spots,
+marked by the fangs of the snake. Without a word we sank to the
+ground beside him in despair. The unfortunate man, with dilated eyes
+fixed upon the ground, crouched waiting for the coming of the pain
+that would indicate that the poison was working its deadly course,
+and that the end was near if something was not done immediately.
+
+Losing no more time, I cried to Jerome to pour out some gunpowder
+while I sucked the wound. While doing this I fumbled in the spacious
+pockets of my khaki hunting-coat and secured the bistoury with which
+I made a deep incision in the flesh over the wound, causing the blood
+to flow freely. In the meantime, Jerome had filled a measure with
+black powder and this was now emptied into the bleeding wound and a
+burning match applied at once. The object of this was to cauterise the
+wound, a method that has been used with success in the outskirts of
+the world where poisonous reptiles abound and where proper antidotes
+cannot be had.
+
+The Chief stood the ordeal without a murmur, never flinching even at
+the explosion of the gunpowder. Jerome and I made him as comfortable
+as possible, and sat sadly by his side watching him suffer and die
+by inches.
+
+It is no easy thing to see a man meet death, but under these
+circumstances it was particularly distressing. The Chief had been a man
+of a strong constitution particularly adapted to the health-racking
+work of a rubber-hunter. He it was who with his forest-wisdom had
+planned all our moves, and had mapped our course through the blind
+forest, where a man could be lost as easily as on the open sea. He had
+proved himself a good leader, save for the fatal mistake in delaying
+our return, over-anxious as he was to render his employer, Coronel
+da Silva, full and faithful service. He was extremely capable, kind,
+and human, and a good friend to us all.
+
+We had looked to him for advice in all our needs. He knew the language
+of the wild beasts of the forest, he knew a way out of everything,
+and at home he was a most devoted father. Now, this splendid fellow,
+the sole reliance, in this vast and intricate maze, of Jerome and
+myself, succumbed before our eyes to one of the dangers of the
+merciless wilderness. He was beyond all hope. Nothing in our power
+could to any extent add to the prolongation of his life which slowly
+ebbed away. About four o'clock in the afternoon his respirations grew
+difficult, and a few moments later he drew his last painful breath. He
+died three hours after being bitten by the _jararaca_. For the second
+time during that ill-fated journey I went to work digging a grave
+with my machete, Jerome lending me whatever assistance he could in
+his enfeebled state. My own condition was such that I had to rest
+and recover my breath with every few stabs of the machete.
+
+We completed that day's journey late in the afternoon, arriving
+at _tambo_ No. 6 after taking almost an hour for the last half
+mile. Jerome could now scarcely stand without my assistance. There was
+no longer any attempt to disguise the nature of his sickness. He had
+_beri-beri_, and that meant in our situation not the slightest chance
+of recovery. Even with the best of care and nursing his case would
+be hopeless, for in these regions the disease is absolutely fatal.
+
+We built a fire and managed to get our hammocks fastened in some
+fashion, but there was not a scrap of food to be had. The heart-leaves
+from a young palm were chewed in a mood of hopeless desperation.
+
+The next morning it was a task of several minutes for me to get out of
+the hammock and on my feet. Jerome made several painful efforts and,
+finally, solved his problem by dropping to the ground. He could not
+rise until I came to his assistance. Then we two tottering wrecks
+attempted to carry our heavy loads, but Jerome could not make it;
+he cast from him everything he owned, even the smallest personal
+belongings so dear to his simple, pure soul. It was heartrending
+to see this young man, who in health would have been able to handle
+three or four of his own size, now reduced to such a pitiful state.
+
+And in my own case, the fever which I had fought off by constant use
+of the hypodermic needle, now swept over me with renewed violence. The
+drug did not have the same effect as when I was new to the ravages
+of the fever.
+
+At this point my recollections became almost inextricably confused. I
+know that at times I raved wildly as I staggered on, for occasionally
+I came to myself with strange phrases on my lips addressed to no one
+in particular. When these lucid moments brought coherent thought,
+it was the jungle, the endless, all-embracing, fearful jungle, that
+overwhelmed my mind. No shipwrecked mariner driven to madness by long
+tossing on a raft at sea ever conceived such hatred and horror of his
+surroundings as that which now came upon me for the fresh, perpetual,
+monotonous green of the interminable forest.
+
+About noon the weight on my back became unbearable and I resolved to
+sacrifice my precious cargo. I threw away my camera, my unexposed
+plates, all utensils, and four of the boxes of gold dust. This
+left me with one box of gold, a few boxes of exposed plates (which
+I eventually succeeded in carrying all the way back to New York),
+and fifty-six bullets, the automatic revolver, and the machete. Last,
+but not least, I kept the hypodermic needle and a few more ampules.
+
+We had walked scarcely a quarter of a mile when Jerome collapsed. The
+poor fellow declared that he was beaten; it was no use to fight any
+more; he begged me to hurry the inevitable and send a bullet through
+his brain. The prospect of another visitation of Death aroused me
+from my stupor. I got him to a dry spot and found some dry leaves and
+branches with which I started a fire. Jerome was beyond recognising
+me. He lay by the fire, drawing long, wheezing breaths, and his face
+was horribly distorted, like that of a man in a violent fit. He
+babbled incessantly to himself and occasionally stared at me and
+broke out into shrill, dreadful laughter, that made my flesh creep.
+
+All this overwhelmed me and sapped the little energy I had left. I
+threw myself on the ground some little distance from the fire, not
+caring if I ever rose again.
+
+How long it was before a penetrating, weird cry aroused me from this
+stupor, I do not know, but when I raised my head I saw that the forest
+was growing dark and the fire burning low. I saw too that Jerome was
+trying to get on his feet, his eyes bulging from their sockets, his
+face crimson in colour. He was on one knee, when the thread of life
+snapped, and he fell headlong into the fire. I saw this as through
+a hazy veil and almost instantly my senses left me again.
+
+I have no clear knowledge of what happened after this. Throughout the
+rest of the night, my madness mercifully left me insensible to the
+full appreciation of the situation and my future prospects. It was
+night again before I was able to arouse myself from my collapse. The
+fire was out, the forest dark and still, except for the weird cry of
+the owl, the uncanny "Mother of the Moon." Poor Jerome lay quiet among
+the embers. I did not have the courage, even if I had had the strength,
+to pull the body away, for there could be nothing left of his face
+by now. I looked at him once more, shuddering, and because I could
+not walk, I crept on all fours through the brush, without any object
+in mind,--just kept moving--just crept on like a sick, worthless dog.
+
+One definite incident of the night I remember quite distinctly. It
+occurred during one of those moments when my senses returned for a
+while; when I could realise where I was and how I got there. I was
+crawling through the thicket making small, miserable progress, my
+insensible face and hands torn and scratched by spines and thorns
+which I did not heed, when something bumped against my thigh; I
+clutched at it and my hand closed around the butt of my automatic
+pistol. The weapon came out of its holster unconsciously, but as I felt
+my finger rest in the curve of the trigger, I knew that some numbed
+and exhausted corner of my brain had prompted me to do this thing;
+indeed, as I weighed the matter with what coolness I could bring to
+bear, it did not seem particularly wicked. With the pistol in my hand
+and with the safety released, I believed that the rest would have been
+easy and even pleasant. What did I have in my favour? What prospect
+did I have of escaping the jungle? None whatever--none!
+
+There was no shadow of hope for me, and I had long ago given up
+believing in miracles. For eight days I had scarcely had a mouthful to
+eat, excepting the broiled monkey at _tambo_ No. 7, shot by the young
+Indian. The fever had me completely in its grasp. I was left alone
+more than one hundred miles from human beings in absolute wilderness. I
+measured cynically the tenaciousness of life, measured the thread that
+yet held me among the number of the living, and I realised now what the
+fight between life and death meant to a man brought to bay. I had not
+the slightest doubt in my mind that this was the last of me. Surely,
+no man could have been brought lower or to greater extremity and live;
+no man ever faced a more hopeless proposition. Yet I could or would
+not yield, but put the pistol back where it belonged.
+
+All night long I crawled on and on and ever on, through the underbrush,
+with no sense of direction whatever, and still I am sure that I did
+not crawl in a circle but that I covered a considerable distance. For
+hours I moved along at the absolute mercy of any beast of the forest
+that might meet me.
+
+The damp chill of the approaching morning usual in these regions came
+to me with a cooling touch and restored once more to some extent my
+sanity. My clothes were almost stripped from my body, and smeared with
+mud, my hands and face were torn and my knees were a mass of bruises.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AMONG THE CANNIBAL MANGEROMAS
+
+
+I have a vague recollection of hearing the barking of dogs, of
+changing my crawling direction to head for the sound, and then,
+suddenly, seeing in front of me a sight which had the same effect as
+a rescuing steamer on the shipwrecked.
+
+To my confused vision it seemed that I saw many men and women and
+children, and a large, round house; I saw parrots fly across the
+open space in brilliant, flashing plumage and heard their shrill
+screaming. I cried aloud and fell forward when a little curly-haired
+dog jumped up and commenced licking my face, and then I knew no more.
+
+When I came to I was lying in a comfortable hammock in a large, dark
+room. I heard the murmur of many voices and presently a man came over
+and looked at me. I did not understand where I was, but thought that
+I, finally, had gone mad. I fell asleep again. The next time I woke
+up I saw an old woman leaning over me and holding in her hand a gourd
+containing some chicken-broth which I swallowed slowly, not feeling
+the cravings of hunger, in fact not knowing whether I was dead or
+alive. The old woman had a peculiar piece of wood through her lip
+and looked very unreal to me, and I soon fell asleep again.
+
+On the fifth day, so I learned later, I began to feel my senses
+return, my fever commenced to abate, and I was able to grasp the
+fact that I had crawled into the _maloca_, or communal village,
+of the Mangeromas. I was as weak as a kitten, and, indeed, it has
+been a marvel to me ever since that I succeeded at all in coming
+out of the Shadow. The savages, by tender care, with strengthening
+drinks prepared in their own primitive method, wrought the miracle,
+and returned to life a man who was as near death as any one could be,
+and not complete the transition. They fed me at regular intervals,
+thus checking my sickness, and when I could make out their meaning,
+I understood that I could stay with them as long as I desired.
+
+Luckily I had kept my spectacles on my nose (they were the kind that
+fasten back of the ears) during the previous hardships, and I found
+these sticking in their position when I awoke. My khaki coat was on the
+ground under my hammock, and the first thing was to ascertain if the
+precious contents of its large pockets had been disturbed, but I found
+everything safe. The exposed plates were there in their closed boxes,
+the gold dust was also there and mocked me with its yellow glare,
+and my hypodermic outfit was intact and was used without delay, much
+to the astonishment of some of the men, standing around my hammock.
+
+When my head was clear and strong enough to raise, I turned and began
+my first visual exploration of my immediate surroundings. The big room
+I found to be a colossal house, forty feet high and one hundred and
+fifty feet in diameter, thatched with palm-leaves and with sides formed
+of the stems of the _pachiuba_ tree. It was the communal residence of
+this entire tribe, consisting, as I learned later, of two hundred and
+fifty-eight souls. A single door and a circular opening in the roof
+were the only apertures of this enormous structure. The door was very
+low, not more than four feet, so that it was necessary to creep on
+one's knees to enter the place, and this opening was closed at night,
+that is to say, about six o'clock, by a sliding door which fitted so
+snugly that I never noticed any mosquitoes or _piums_ in the dark,
+cool room.
+
+The next day I could get out of my hammock, though I could not
+stand or walk without the aid of two women, who took me over to a
+man I later found to be the chief of the tribe. He was well-fed,
+and by his elaborate dress was distinguished from the rest of the
+men. He had a very pleasant, good-natured smile, and almost constantly
+displayed a row of white, sharp-filed teeth. This smile gave me some
+confidence, but I very well knew that I was now living among cannibal
+Indians, whose reputation in this part of the Amazon is anything but
+flattering. I prepared for the new ordeal without any special fear--my
+feelings seemed by this time to have been pretty well exhausted and
+any appreciation of actual danger was considerably reduced as a result
+of the gamut of the terrors which I had run.
+
+I addressed the Chief in the Portuguese language, which I had learned
+during my stay at Floresta headquarters, and also in Spanish but he
+only shook his head; all my efforts were useless. He let me know
+in a friendly manner that my hammock was to be my resting-place
+and that I would not be molested. His tribe was one that occupied
+an almost unknown region and had no connection with white men or
+Brazilians or people near the river. I tried in the course of the
+mimical conversation to make him understand that, with six companions
+from a big Chief's _maloca_ (meaning Coronel da Silva and the Floresta
+headquarters), I had penetrated into the woods near this mighty Chief's
+_maloca_,--here I pointed at the Chief--that the men had died from
+fever and I was left alone and that luckily, I had found my way to
+the free men of the forest (here I made a sweeping movement with my
+hands). He nodded and the audience was over. I was led back to my
+hammock to dream and eat, and dream again.
+
+Although the Chief and his men presented an appearance wholly unknown
+to me, yet it did not seem to distract me at the first glance, but
+as my faculties slowly returned to their former activity, I looked
+at them and found them very strange figures, indeed. Every man had
+two feathers inserted in the cartilage of his nose; at some distance
+it appeared as if they wore moustaches. Besides this, the Chief had
+a sort of feather-dress reaching half way down to his knees; this
+was simply a quantity of _mutum_ feathers tied together as a girdle
+by means of plant-fibres. The women wore no clothing whatever, their
+only ornamentation being the oval wooden piece in the lower lip and
+fancifully arranged designs on face, arms, and body. The colours which
+they preferred were scarlet and black, and they procured these dyes
+from two plants that grew in the forest near by. They would squeeze
+the pulp of the fruits and apply the rich-coloured juice with their
+fingers, forming one scarlet ring around each eye, outside of this a
+black and larger ring, and, finally, two scarlet bands reaching from
+the temples to the chin.
+
+There were probably sixty-five families in this communal hut,
+all having their little households scattered throughout the place
+without any separating partitions whatever. The many poles which
+supported the roof formed the only way of distinguishing the individual
+households. The men strung their hammocks between the poles in such a
+way that they formed a triangle, and in the middle of this a fire was
+always going. Here the women were doing the cooking of game that the
+men brought in at all times of the day. The men slept in the hammocks,
+while the women were treated less cavalierly; they slept with their
+children on the ground under the hammocks around the little family
+triangle. As a rule they had woven mats made of grass-fibre and
+coloured with the juices of the _urucu_ plant and the _genipapa_,
+but in many instances they had skins of jaguars, and, which was more
+frequent, the furs of the three-toed sloths. These were placed around
+the family fire, directly under the hammocks occupied by the men. In
+these hammocks the men did most of the repair work on their bows and
+arrows when necessary, here they fitted the arrow heads to the shafts,
+in fact, they spent all their time in them when not actually hunting
+in the forests.
+
+The hospitality of my friends proved unbounded. The Chief appointed
+two young girls to care for me, and though they were not startling
+from any point of view, especially when remembering their labial
+ornaments and their early developed abdominal hypertrophies, they were
+as kind as any one could have been, watching me when I tried to walk
+and supporting me when I became too weak. There was a certain broth
+they prepared, which was delicious, but there were others which were
+nauseating and which I had to force myself to eat. I soon learned
+that it was impolite to refuse any dish that was put in front of me,
+no matter how repugnant. One day the Chief ordered me to come over to
+his family triangle and have dinner with him. The meal consisted of
+some very tender fried fish which were really delicious; then followed
+three broiled parrots with fried bananas which were equally good;
+but then came a soup which I could not swallow. The first mouthful
+almost choked me,--the meat which was one of the ingredients tasted
+and smelled as if it had been kept for weeks, the herbs which were
+used were so bitter and gave out such a rank odour that my mouth
+puckered and the muscles of my throat refused to swallow. The Chief
+looked at me and frowned, and then I remembered the forest from which
+I had lately arrived and the starvation and the terrors; I closed my
+eyes and swallowed the dish, seeking what mental relief I could find
+in the so-called auto-suggestion.
+
+But I had the greatest respect for the impulsive, unreasoning nature
+of these sons of the forest. Easily insulted, they are well-nigh
+implacable. This incident shows upon what a slender thread my life
+hung. The friends of one moment might become vindictive foes of
+the next.
+
+Besides the head-Chief there were two sub-Chiefs, so that in case of
+sickness or death there would be always one regent. They were plainly
+distinguished by their dress, which consisted mainly of fancifully
+arranged feather belts of _arara_, _mutum_, and trumpeter plumes
+covering the shoulders and abdomen. These articles of dress were made
+by young women of the tribe: women who wanted to become favourites of
+the Chief and sub-Chiefs. They often worked for months on a feather
+dress and when finished presented it to the particular Chief whose
+favour they desired.
+
+The Chiefs had several wives, but the tribesmen were never allowed to
+take more than one. Whenever a particularly pretty girl desired to
+join the household of the Great Chief or of a sub-Chief, she set to
+work and for months and months she made necklaces of alligator teeth,
+peccary teeth, and finely carved ivory nuts and coloured pieces of
+wood. She also would weave some elaborate hammock and fringe this
+with the bushy tails of the squirrels and the forest-cats, and when
+these articles were done, she would present them to the Chief, who,
+in return for these favours, would bestow upon her the great honour
+of accepting her as a wife.
+
+There seemed to be few maladies among these people; in fact, during
+the five weeks I spent with them, I never saw a case of fever nor of
+anything else. When a person died the body was carried far into the
+woods, where a fire was built, and it was cremated. The party would
+then leave in a hurry and never return to the same spot; they were
+afraid of the Spirit of the Dead. They told me that they could hear
+the Spirit far off in the forests at night when the moon was shining.
+
+The men were good hunters and were experts in the use of bow and arrow
+and also the blow-gun, and never failed to bring home a fresh supply
+of game for the village. This supply was always divided equally,
+so that no one should receive more than he needed for the day. At
+first glance the men might appear lazy, but why should they hurry
+and worry when they have no landlord, and no grocer's bills to pay;
+in fact, the value of money is entirely unknown to them.
+
+I was allowed to walk around as I pleased, everybody showing me a
+kindness for which I shall ever gratefully remember these "savages." I
+frequently spent my forenoons on a tree trunk outside the _maloca_
+with the Chief, who took a particular interest in my welfare. We
+would sit for hours and talk, he sometimes pointing at an object
+and giving its Indian name, which I would repeat until I got the
+right pronunciation. Thus, gradually instructed, and by watching
+the men and women as they came and went, day after day, I was able
+to understand some of their language and learned to answer questions
+fairly well. They never laughed at my mistakes, but repeated a word
+until I had it right.
+
+The word of the Chief was law and no one dared appeal from the
+decisions of this man. In fact, there would have been nobody to appeal
+to, for the natives believed him vested with mysterious power which
+made him the ruler of men. I once had occasion to see him use the
+power which had been given him.
+
+I had accompanied two young Indians, one of whom was the man we had
+met in the forest on our return trip not far from that fatal _tambo_
+No. 3. His name, at least as it sounded to me, was Rere. They carried
+bows and arrows and I my automatic pistol, although I had no great
+intention of using it. What little ammunition I had left I desired to
+keep for an emergency and, besides, I reasoned that I might, at some
+future time, be able to use the power and noise of the weapon to good
+advantage if I kept the Indians ignorant of them for the present.
+
+We had scarcely gone a mile, when we discovered on the opposite
+side of a creek, about one hundred and fifty yards away, a wild hog
+rooting for food. We were on a slight elevation ourselves and under
+cover of the brush, while the hog was exposed to view on the next
+knoll. Almost simultaneously my companions fitted arrows to their
+bow-strings. Instead of shooting point blank, manipulating the bows
+with their hands and arms, they placed their great and second toes
+on the cords on the ground, and with their left arms gave the proper
+tension and inclination to the bows which were at least eight feet
+long. With a whirr the poisoned arrows shot forth and, while the
+cords still twanged, sailed gracefully through the air, describing
+a hyperbola, fell with a speed that made them almost invisible, and
+plunged into the animal on each side of his neck a little back from
+the base of the brain.
+
+The hog dropped in his tracks, and I doubt if he could have lived
+even though the arrows had not been poisoned. Tying his feet together
+with plant-fibres we slung the body over a heavy pole and carried it
+to the _maloca_. All the way the two fellows disputed as to who was
+the owner of the hog, and from time to time they put the carcass on
+the ground to gesticulate and argue. I thought they would come to
+blows. When they appealed to me I declared that the arrows had sped
+so rapidly that my eyes could not follow them and therefore could
+not tell which arrow had found its mark first.
+
+A few yards from the house my friends fell to arguing again, and a
+crowd collected about them, cheering first the one then the other. My
+suggestion that the game be divided was rejected as showing very
+poor judgment. Finally, the dispute grew to such proportions that the
+Chief sent a messenger to learn the cause of the trouble and report
+it to him.
+
+The emissary retired and the crowd immediately began to disperse and
+the combatants quieted. The messenger soon returned saying that the
+Great Chief would judge the case and ordered the men to enter the
+_maloca_. With some difficulty the hog was dragged through the door
+opening and all the inhabitants crawled in after. The Chief was decked
+out in a new and splendid feather dress, his face had received a fresh
+coat of paint (in fact, the shells of the _urucu_ plant with which he
+coloured his face and body scarlet were still lying under his hammock),
+and his nose was supplied with a new set of _mutum_ feathers. He was
+sitting in his hammock which was made of fine, braided, multi-coloured
+grass-fibres and was fringed with numerous squirrel tails. The whole
+picture was one which impressed me as being weirdly fantastic and
+extremely picturesque, the reddish, flickering light from the fires
+adding a mystic colour to the scene. On the opposite side of the fire
+from where the Chief was sitting lay the body of the hog, and at each
+end of the carcass stood the two hunters, straight as saplings, gazing
+stolidly ahead. In a semi-circle, facing the Chief and surrounding the
+disputants, was the tribe, squatting on the ground. The Chief motioned
+to me to seat myself on the ground alongside of the hammock where he
+was sitting. The men told their story, now and then looking to me for
+an affirmative nod of the head. After having listened to the argument
+of the hunters for a considerable time without uttering a syllable, and
+regarding the crowd with a steady, unblinking expression, with a trace
+of a satirical smile around the corners of his mouth, which suited him
+admirably, the Chief finally spoke. He said, "The hog is mine.--Go!"
+
+The matter was ended with this wise judgment, and there seemed to be
+no disposition to grumble or re-appeal to the great authority.
+
+My life among the Mangeromas was, for the greater part, free from
+adventure, at least as compared with former experiences, and yet I was
+more than once within an inch of meeting death. In fact, I think that
+I looked more squarely in the eyes of death in that peaceful little
+community than ever I did out in the wilds of the jungle or in my most
+perilous adventures. The creek that ran near the _maloca_ supplied
+the Indians with what water they needed for drinking purposes. Besides
+this the creek gave them an abundant supply of fish, a dish that made
+its appearance at every meal. Whatever washing was to be done--the
+natives took a bath at least twice a day--was done at some distance
+down the creek so as not to spoil the water for drinking and culinary
+purposes. Whenever I was thirsty I was in the habit of stooping down
+at the water's edge to scoop the fluid up in my curved hands. One
+morning I had been tramping through the jungle with two companions
+who were in search of game, and I was very tired and hot when we
+came to a little stream which I took to be the same that ran past the
+_maloca_. My friends were at a short distance from me, beating their
+way through the underbrush, when I stooped to quench my thirst. The
+cool water looked to me like the very Elixir of Life. At that moment,
+literally speaking, I was only two inches from death. Hearing a sharp
+cry behind me I turned slightly to feel a rough hand upon my shoulders
+and found myself flung backwards on the ground.
+
+"Poison," was the reply to my angry question. Then my friend explained,
+and as he talked my knees wobbled and I turned pale. It seems that
+the Mangeromas often poison the streams below the drinking places
+in order to get rid of their enemies. In the present case there
+had been a rumour that a party of Peruvian rubber-workers might be
+coming up the creek, and this is always a signal of trouble among
+these Indians. Although you cannot induce a Brazilian to go into the
+Indian settlements or _malocas_, the Peruvians are more than willing
+to go there, because of the chance of abducting girls. To accomplish
+this, a few Peruvians sneak close to the _maloca_ at night, force the
+door, which is always bolted to keep out the Evil Spirit, but which
+without difficulty can be cut open, and fire a volley of shots into
+the hut. The Indians sleep with the blow-guns and arrows suspended
+from the rafters, and before they can collect their sleepy senses
+and procure the weapons the Peruvians, in the general confusion,
+have carried off some of the girls. The Mangeromas, therefore, hate
+the Peruvians and will go to any extreme to compass their death. The
+poisoning of the rivers is effected by the root of a plant that is
+found throughout the Amazon valley; the plant belongs to the genus
+_Lonchocarpus_ and bears a small cluster of bluish blossoms which
+produce a pod about two inches in length. It is only the yellow roots
+that are used for poisoning the water. This is done by crushing the
+roots and throwing the pulp into the stream, when all animal life
+will be killed or driven away.
+
+It seems strange that during my stay among the Mangeromas, who were
+heathens and even cannibals, I saw no signs of idolatry. They believed
+implicitly in a good and an evil spirit. The good spirit was too good
+to do them any harm and consequently they did not bother with him;
+but the evil spirit was more active and could be heard in the dark
+nights, howling and wailing far off in the forest as he searched for
+lonely wanderers, whom he was said to devour.
+
+Thinking to amuse some of my friends, I one day kindled a flame by
+means of my magnifying glass and a few dry twigs. A group of ten or
+twelve Indians had gathered squatting in a circle about me, to see
+the wonder that I was to exhibit, but at the sight of smoke followed
+by flame they were badly scared and ran for the house, where they
+called the Chief. He arrived on the scene with his usual smile.
+
+He asked me to show him what I had done. I applied the focussed rays
+of the sun to some more dry leaves and twigs and, finally, the flames
+broke out again. The Chief was delighted and begged me to make him a
+present of the magnifier. As I did not dare to refuse, I showed him
+how to use it and then presented it with as good grace as I could.
+
+Some time after this, I learned that two Peruvians had been caught
+in a trap set for the purpose. The unfortunate men had spent a whole
+night in a pit, nine feet deep, and were discovered the next forenoon
+by a party of hunters, who immediately killed them with unpoisoned,
+big-game arrows. In contrast to the North-American Indians they never
+torture captives, but kill them as quickly as possible.
+
+I had plenty of opportunity to investigate the different kinds
+of traps used by the Mangeromas for catching Peruvian _caboclos_
+or half-breeds. First of all in importance is the pit-trap, into
+which the aforesaid men had fallen. It is simple but ingenious in its
+arrangement. A hole about nine feet deep and eight feet wide is dug
+in the ground at a place where the _caboclos_ are liable to come. A
+cover is laid across this and cleverly disguised with dead leaves and
+branches so as to exactly resemble the surrounding soil. This cover
+is constructed of branches placed parallel, and is slightly smaller
+than the diameter of the pit. It is balanced on a stick, tied across
+the middle in such a manner that the slightest weight on any part will
+cause it to turn over and precipitate the object into the pit whence
+egress is impossible. Besides this, the walls of the pit are inclined,
+the widest part being at the bottom, and they gradually slope inward
+till the level of the ground is reached. When the victim is discovered
+he is quickly killed, as in the case noted above.
+
+The second trap, which I had an opportunity to investigate, is the
+so-called _araya_ trap. It is merely a small piece of ground thickly
+set with the barbed bones of the sting-ray. These bones are slightly
+touched with wourahli poison and, concealed as they are under dead
+leaves, they inflict severe wounds on the bare feet of the _caboclos_,
+and death follows within a short period.
+
+The third trap, and the most ingenious of all, is the blow-gun
+trap. One day the sub-Chief, a tall, gloomy-looking fellow, took me
+to one of these traps and explained everything, till I had obtained
+a thorough knowledge of the complicated apparatus. The blow-gun of
+these Indians is supplied with a wide mouth-piece and requires but
+slight air pressure to shoot the arrow at a considerable speed. In
+the trap one is placed horizontally so as to point at a right angle
+to the path leading to the _maloca_. At the "breech" of the gun is a
+young sapling, severed five feet above the ground. To this is tied a
+broad and straight bark-strip which, when the sapling is in its normal
+vertical position, completely covers the mouth-piece. The gun was
+not loaded on this occasion, as it had been accidentally discharged
+the day before. To set the trap, a long, thin, and pliable climber,
+which in these forests is so plentiful, is attached to the end of
+the severed sapling, when this is bent to its extreme position
+and is then led over branches, serving as pulleys, right across
+the path and directly in front of the mouth of the blow-gun and
+is tied to some small root covered with leaves. When the _caboclo_
+passes along this path at night to raid the Indian _maloca,_ he must
+sever this thin bushrope or climber, thereby releasing suddenly the
+tension of the sapling. The bark-flap is drawn quickly up against
+the mouth-piece with a slap that forces sufficient air into the gun
+to eject the arrow. All this takes place in a fraction of a second;
+a slight flapping sound is heard and the arrow lodges in the skin of
+the unfortunate _caboclo_. He can never walk more than twenty yards,
+for the poison rapidly paralyses his limbs. Death follows in less
+than ten minutes.
+
+The bodies of these captured _caboclos_ are soon found by the
+"police warriors" of the tribe and carried to the _maloca_. On such
+occasions a day of feasting always follows and an obscure religious
+rite is performed.
+
+It is true that the Mangeromas are cannibals, but at the same time
+their habits and morals are otherwise remarkably clean. Without their
+good care and excellent treatment, I have no doubt I would now be
+with my brave companions out in that dark, green jungle.
+
+But to return to my story of the two Peruvians caught in the pit-trap:
+the warriors cut off the hands and feet of both corpses, pulled
+the big game arrows out of the bodies, and had an audience with the
+Chief. He seemed to be well satisfied, but spoke little, just nodding
+his head and smiling. Shortly after the village prepared for a grand
+feast. The fires were rebuilt, the pots and jars were cleaned, and a
+scene followed which to me was frightful. Had it not happened, I should
+always have believed this little world out in the wild forest an ideal,
+pure, and morally clean  community. But now I could only hasten to my
+hammock and simulate sleep, for I well knew, from previous experience,
+that otherwise I would have to partake of the meal in preparation: a
+horrible meal of human flesh! It was enough for me to see them strip
+the flesh from the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet and
+fry these delicacies in the lard of tapir I hoped to see no more.
+
+An awful thought coursed through my brain when I beheld the men bend
+eagerly over the pans to see if the meat were done. How long would it
+be, I said to myself, before they would forget themselves and place
+my own extremities in the same pots and pans. Such a possibility
+was not pleasant to contemplate, but as I had found the word of
+these Indians to be always good, I believed I was safe. They were
+never false and they hated falsehood. True, they were cunning, but
+once their friend always their friend, through thick and thin. And
+the Chief had promised that I should not be eaten, either fried or
+stewed! Therefore I slept in peace.
+
+I had long desired to see the hunters prepare the mysterious wourahli
+poison, which acts so quickly and painlessly, and which allows the
+game killed by it to be eaten without interfering with the nutritive
+qualities. Only three men in this village understood the proper mixing
+of the ingredients, although everybody knew the two plants from which
+the poisonous juices were obtained. One of these is a vine that grows
+close to the creeks. The stem is about two inches in diameter and
+covered with a rough greyish bark. It yields several round fruits,
+shaped like an apple, containing seeds imbedded in a very bitter
+pulp. The other is also a vine and bears small bluish flowers, but it
+is only the roots of this that are used. These are crushed and steeped
+in water for several days. The three men in our village who understood
+the concoction of this poison collected the plants themselves once
+a month. When they returned from their expedition they set to work
+at once scraping the first named vine into fine shavings and mixing
+these in an earthen jar with the crushed pulp of the roots of the
+second plant. The pot is then placed over a fire and kept simmering
+for several hours. At this stage the shavings are removed and thrown
+away as useless and several large black ants, the _Tucandeiras_, are
+added. This is the ant whose bite is not only painful but absolutely
+dangerous to man. The concoction is kept boiling slowly until the
+next morning, when it has assumed a thick consistency of a brown
+colour and very bitter to the taste. The poison is then tried on some
+arrows and if it comes up to the standard it is placed in a small
+earthen jar which is covered with a piece of animal skin and it is
+ready for use. The arrows, which are from ten to twelve inches long,
+are made from the stalks of a certain palm-leaf, the Jacy palm. They
+are absolutely straight and true; in fact, they resemble very much
+a lady's hat-pin. When the gun is to be used, a piece of cotton is
+wound around the end of an arrow and the other end or point inserted
+first in the barrel, the cotton acting as a piston by means of which
+the air forces the shaft through the tube.
+
+The men always carry a small rubber-pouch containing a few drams of
+the poison; the pouch was worn strapped to the waist on the left side,
+when on their hunting excursions, and they were extremely careful
+in handling it and the arrows. The slightest scratch with the poison
+would cause a quick and sure death.
+
+I was so far recuperated by this time that I thought of returning to
+civilisation, and I, accordingly, broached the subject to the Chief,
+who answered me very kindly, promising that he would send me by the
+next full-moon, with some of the wourahli men, down to the Branco
+River, and from there they would guide me within a safe distance of
+the rubber-estate, situated at the junction with the Itecoahy.
+
+One day I was informed that a friendly call on a neighbouring tribe was
+being contemplated and that I could accompany the Chief and his men.
+
+At last the time arrived and the expedition was organised. I was not
+absolutely sure how I would be treated by these up-stream Indians,
+and I am almost ashamed to confess that, in spite of all the faithful,
+unswerving friendship which the Mangeromas had shown me, I had it in
+my mind that these other Indians might harm me, so black was the name
+that people down at the settlements had given them.
+
+Until this time, as related above, I had thought best not to exhibit
+the character of my automatic pistol, and I had never used it here,
+but before I started on this journey I decided to give them an
+example of its power, and possibly awe them. Inviting the Chief and
+all the tribe to witness my experiment, I explained to them that
+this little weapon would make a great noise and bore a hole through
+a thick tree. The Chief examined it gingerly after I had locked the
+trigger mechanism. He had heard of such arms, he said, but thought
+that they were much larger and heavier. This one, he thought, must
+be a baby and he was inclined to doubt its power.
+
+Selecting an "assai" palm of about nine inches diameter, across the
+creek, I took steady aim and fired four bullets. Three of the bullets
+went through the same hole and the fourth pierced the trunk of the
+palm about two inches higher. The Chief and his men hurried across the
+creek and examined the holes which caused then to discuss the affair
+for more than an hour. The empty shells which had been ejected from the
+magazine were picked up by two young girls who fastened them in their
+ears with wire-like fibres, whereupon a dozen other women surrounded
+me, beseeching me to give them also cartridge-shells. I discharged
+more than a dozen bullets, to please these children of the forest,
+who were as completely the slaves of fashion as are their sisters of
+more civilised lands.
+
+Early the next morning we started up the river. In one canoe the
+Chief and I sat on jaguar skins, while two men paddled. In another
+canoe were four men armed with bows and arrows and blow-guns, and a
+fifth who acted in the capacity of "Wireless Operator." The system
+of signalling which he employed was by far the most ingenious device
+I saw while in Brazil, and considering their resources and their low
+state of culture the affair was little short of marvellous.
+
+Before the canoes were launched, a man fastened two upright forked
+sticks on each side of one, near the middle. About three and a
+half feet astern of these a cross-piece was laid on the bottom of
+the craft. To this was attached two shorter forked sticks. Between
+each pair of upright forked sticks was placed another cross-piece,
+thus forming two horizontal bars, parallel to each other, one only
+a few inches from the bottom of the boat and the other about a foot
+and a half above the gunwales. Next, four slabs of Caripari wood of
+varying thickness, about three feet long and eight inches wide, were
+suspended from these horizontal bars, so as to hang length-wise of
+the canoe and at an angle of forty-five degrees. Each pair of slabs
+was perforated by a longitudinal slit and they were joined firmly at
+their extremities by finely carved and richly painted end-pieces.
+
+The operator strikes the slabs with a wooden mallet or hammer, the
+head of which is wrapped with an inch layer of caoutchouc and then
+with a cover of thick tapir-skin. Each section of the wooden slabs
+gives forth a different note when struck, a penetrating, xylophonic,
+tone but devoid of the disagreeably metallic, disharmonic bysounds of
+that instrument. The slabs of wood were suspended by means of thin
+fibre-cords from the crosspieces, and in this manner all absorption
+by the adjacent material was done away with.
+
+By means of many different combinations of the four notes obtained
+which, as far as I could ascertain, were _Do--Re--Mi--Fa_, the
+operator was able to send any message to a person who understood
+this code. The operator seized one mallet with each hand and gave
+the thickest section, the _Do_ slat, a blow, followed by a blow with
+the left hand mallet on the _Re_ slat; a blow on the _Mi_ slat and on
+the _Fa_ slat followed in quick succession. These four notes, given
+rapidly and repeated several times, represented the tuning up of the
+"wireless," calculated to catch the attention of the operator at the
+_maloca_ up-creek. The sound was very powerful, but rather pleasant,
+and made the still forest resound with a musical echo. He repeated this
+tuning process several times, but received no answer and we proceeded
+for a mile. Then we stopped and signalled again. Very faintly came
+a reply from some invisible source. I learned afterwards that at
+this time we were at least five miles from the answering station. As
+soon as communication was thus established the first message was sent
+through the air, and it was a moment of extreme suspense for me when
+the powerful notes vibrated through the depth of the forest. I shall
+never forget this message, not only because it was ethnographically
+interesting, but because so much of my happiness depended upon
+a favourable reply. I made the operator repeat it for my benefit
+when we later returned to our village, and I learned it by heart by
+whistling it. When printed it looks like this:
+
+After each message the operator explained its meaning. The purport
+of this first message was so important to me that I awaited the
+translation with much the same feelings that a prisoner listens for
+the verdict of the jury when it files back into the court-room.
+
+Questions and answers now came in rapid succession. "A white man
+is coming with us; he seems to have a good heart, and to be of good
+character."
+
+Whereupon the deciding answer was translated: "You are all welcome
+provided you place your arms in the bottom of the canoe."
+
+Next message: "We ask you to place your arms in the _maloca_; we
+are friends."
+
+After the last message we paddled briskly ahead, and at the end of
+one hour's work we made a turn of the creek and saw a large open
+space where probably five hundred Indians had assembled outside of
+two round _malocas_, constructed like ours. How much I now regretted
+leaving my precious camera out in the forest, but that was a thing of
+the past and the loss could not be repaired. The view that presented
+itself to my eyes was a splendid and rare one for a civilised man
+to see. The crowd standing on the banks had never seen a white man
+before; how would they greet me?
+
+Little dogs barked, large scarlet _araras_ screamed in the tree-tops,
+and the little children hid themselves behind their equally fearful
+mothers. The tribal Chief, a big fellow, decorated with squirrel tails
+and feathers of the _mutum_ bird around, his waist and with the tail
+feathers of the scarlet and blue _arara_-parrot adorning his handsome
+head, stood in front with his arms folded.
+
+We landed and the operator dismantled his musical apparatus and laid
+it carefully in the bottom of the canoe. The two Chiefs embraced each
+other, at the same time uttering their welcome greeting "_He--He_." I
+was greeted in the same cordial manner and we all entered the Chief's
+_maloca_ in a long procession. Here in the village of the kindred
+tribe we stayed for two days, enjoying unlimited hospitality and
+kindness. Most of the time was spent eating, walking around the
+_malocas_, looking at dugouts, and at the farinha plants.
+
+On the third day we went back to our _maloca_ where I prepared for
+my return trip to civilisation. It was now the beginning of October.
+
+I would, finally, have recorded many words of the Mangeroma language
+had not my pencil given out after I had been there a month. The
+pencil was an "ink-pencil," that is, a pencil with a solid "lead" of
+bluish colour, very soft, sometimes called "indelible pencil." This
+lead became brittle from the moisture of the air and broke into
+fragments so that I could do nothing with it, and my recording was
+at an end. Fortunately I had made memoranda covering the life and
+customs before this.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE MANGEROMAS AND THE PERUVIANS
+
+
+I was sitting outside the _maloca_ writing my observations in the
+note-book which I always carried in my hunting-coat, when two young
+hunters hurried toward the Chief, who was reclining in the shade of
+a banana-tree near the other end of the large house. It was early
+afternoon, when most of the men of the Mangeromas were off hunting in
+the near-by forests, while the women and children attended to various
+duties around the village. Probably not more than eight or ten men
+remained about the _maloca_.
+
+I had recovered from my sickness and was not entirely devoid of
+a desire for excitement--the best tonic of the explorer. The two
+young hunters with bows and arrows halted before the Chief. They
+were gesticulating wildly; and although I could not understand what
+they were talking about, I judged from the frown of the Chief that
+something serious was the matter.
+
+He arose with unusual agility for a man of his size, and shouted
+something toward the opening of the _maloca_, whence the men were
+soon seen coming with leaps and bounds. Anticipating trouble, I
+also ran over to the Chief, and, in my defective Mangeroma lingo,
+inquired the cause of the excitement. He did not answer me, but,
+in a greater state of agitation than I had previously observed in
+him, he gave orders to his men. He called the "wireless" operator
+and commanded him to bring out his precious apparatus. This was soon
+fastened to the gunwales of the canoe where I had seen it used before,
+on my trip to the neighbouring tribe, and soon the same powerful,
+xylophonic sounds vibrated through the forest. It was his intention
+to summon the hunters that were still roaming around the vicinity, by
+this "C.Q.D." message. The message I could not interpret nor repeat,
+although it was not nearly as complex as the one I had learned
+before. After a while, the men came streaming into the _maloca_
+from all directions, with anxiety darkening their faces. I had now my
+first inkling of what was the cause of the commotion, and it did not
+take me long to understand that we were in danger from some Peruvian
+_caboclos_. The two young men who had brought the news to the Chief
+had spied a detachment of Peruvian half-breeds as they were camping
+in our old _tambo_ No. 6, the one we had built on our sixth day out
+from Floresta. There were about a score of them, all ugly _caboclos_,
+or half-breed _caucheros_, hunting rubber and no doubt out also for
+prey in the shape of young Mangeroma girls, as was their custom. The
+traps set by the Indians, as described in a previous chapter, would
+be of no avail in this case, as the number of Peruvians was greater
+than in any previous experience.
+
+The enemy had been observed more than ten miles off, in an easterly
+direction, when our two hunters were on the trail of a large
+herd of peccaries, or wild boars, they had sighted in the early
+morning. The Peruvians were believed to be heading for the _maloca_
+of the Mangeromas, as there were no other settlements in this region
+excepting the up-creek tribe, but this numbered at least five hundred
+souls, and would be no easy prey for them.
+
+I now had a remarkable opportunity to watch the war preparations
+of these savage, cannibal people, my friends, the Mangeromas. Their
+army consisted of twelve able-bodied men, all fine muscular fellows,
+about five feet ten in height, and bearing an array of vicious-looking
+weapons such as few white men have seen. First of all were three
+club-men, armed with strong, slender clubs, of hard and extremely
+tough Caripari wood. The handle, which was very slim, was provided
+with a knob at the end to prevent the club from slipping out of the
+hand when in action. The heavy end was furnished with six bicuspid
+teeth of the black jaguar, embedded in the wood and projecting about
+two inches beyond the surface. The club had a total length of five
+feet and weighed about eight pounds. The second division of the
+wild-looking band consisted of three spear-men, each provided with
+the three-pronged spears, a horrible weapon which always proves fatal
+in the hands of these savages. It is a long straight shaft of Caripari
+wood, about one inch in thickness, divided into three parts at the end,
+each division being tipped with a barbed bone of the sting-ray. These
+bones, about three and a half inches long, were smeared with wourahli
+poison, and thus rendered absolutely fatal even when inflicting only
+a superficial wound. Each man carried two of these spears, the points
+being protected by grass-sheaths. The third division was composed
+of three bow-and-arrow men, the youngest men in the tribe, boys of
+sixteen and seventeen. They were armed with bows of great length,
+from six to seven feet, and each bore, at his left side, a quiver,
+containing a dozen big-game arrows fully five feet long. These arrows,
+as far as I could ascertain, were not poisoned, but their shock-giving
+and rending powers were extraordinary. The arrow-heads were all made
+of the bones of the sting-ray, in themselves formidable weapons,
+because of the many jagged barbs that prevent extraction from a wound
+except by the use of great force, resulting in ugly laceration.
+
+The fourth and last division consisted of three blow-gun men, the
+most effective and cunning of this deadly and imposing array. As so
+much depended upon the success of a first attack on the Peruvians,
+who not only outnumbered us, but also were armed with Winchesters,
+the blow-guns were in the hands of the older and more experienced
+men. All, except the club-men, wore, around the waist, girdles fringed
+with _mutum_ plumes, and the captains added, to their uniforms
+multi-coloured fringes of squirrel tails. Their faces all had the
+usual scarlet and black stripes. The Chief, and his principal aide, or
+sub-Chief, had on their gayest feathers, including head ornaments of
+_arara_ plumes and egrets. The club-men were naked, except for their
+head-gear, which consisted simply of a band of _mutum_ plumes. When
+the warriors stood together in their costumes, ready for battle,
+they presented an awe-inspiring sight.
+
+The Chief gave the order for the bow-and-arrow men to start in single
+file, the others to follow after, in close succession. The Chief and I
+fell in at the rear. In the meantime I had examined my Luger automatic
+pistol to make sure of the smooth action of the mechanism, and found
+besides that I had in all thirty-seven soft-nose bullets. This was my
+only weapon, but previous narrow escapes from death and many close
+contacts with danger had hardened me, so I was willing to depend
+entirely upon my pistol. The women and children of the _maloca_ stood
+around, as we disappeared in the jungle, and, while they showed some
+interest in the proceeding, they displayed little or no emotion. A
+couple of sweethearts exchanged kisses as composedly as if they had
+been bluecoats parting with the ladies of their choice before going
+to the annual parade.
+
+Soon we were in the dark, dense jungle that I was now so well
+acquainted with, and, strange to say, the green and tangled mass of
+vegetation contained more terrors for me than the bloody combat that
+was to follow.
+
+For an hour we travelled in a straight line, pushing our way as
+noiselessly as possible through the thick mass of creepers and
+lianas. About three o'clock, one of the scouts sighted the Peruvians,
+and our Chief decided that an attack should be made as soon as
+possible, before darkness could set in. We stopped and sent out two
+bow-and-arrow men to reconnoitre. An anxious half hour passed before
+one of them returned with the report that the Peruvians were now
+coming towards us and would probably reach our position in a few
+minutes. I could almost hear my heart thump; my knees grew weak,
+and for a moment I almost wished that I had stayed in the _maloca_.
+
+The Chief immediately directed certain strategic movements which,
+in ingenuity and foresight, would have been worthy of a Napoleon.
+
+We were between two low hills, covered with the usual dense vegetation,
+which made it impossible to see an advancing enemy at a distance of
+more than five yards. The three blow-gun men were now ordered to ascend
+the hills on each side of the valley and conceal themselves about
+half-way up the slopes, and towards the enemy. They were to insert the
+poisoned arrows in their guns and draw a bead on the Peruvians as they
+came on cutting their way through the underbrush. The bow-and-arrow
+men posted themselves farther on about five yards behind the blow-gun
+men, with big-game arrows fitted to the bowstrings, ready to shoot
+when the first volley of the deadly and silent poisoned arrows had
+been fired. Farther back were the spear-men with spears unsheathed,
+and finally came the three brave and ferocious club-men. Of these last
+warriors, a tall athlete was visibly nervous, not from fear but from
+anticipation. The veins of his forehead stood out, pulsating with every
+throb of his heart. He clutched the heavy club and continually gritted
+his white, sharp-filed teeth in concentrated rage. It was wisely
+calculated that the Peruvians would unconsciously wedge themselves
+into this trap, and by the time they could realise their danger their
+return would be cut off by our bow-and-arrow men in their rear.
+
+After a pause that seemed an eternity to most of us no doubt, for the
+savage heart beats as the white man's in time of danger and action,
+we heard the talking and shouting of the enemy as they advanced,
+following the natural and easiest route between the hills and cutting
+their way through the brush. I stood near the Chief and the young
+club-man Arara, who, on account of his bravery and great ability in
+handling his club, had been detailed to remain near us.
+
+Before I could see any of the approaching foe, I heard great shouts
+of anger and pain from them. It was easy for me to understand their
+cries as they spoke Spanish and their cursings sounded loud through
+the forest.
+
+The blow-gun men, perceiving the Peruvians at the foot of the hill
+only some twenty feet away, had prudently waited until at least half a
+dozen were visible, before they fired a volley of poisoned arrows. The
+three arrows fired in this first volley all hit their mark. Hardly
+had they gone forth, when other arrows were dexterously inserted in
+the tubes. The work of the blow-gun men was soon restricted to the
+picking out of any stray enemy, their long, delicate, and cumbersome
+blow-guns preventing them from taking an active part in the melee. Now
+the conflict was at its height and it was a most remarkable one,
+on account of its swiftness and fierceness. The bow-and-arrow men
+charging with their sting-ray arrows poisoned with the wourahli took
+the place of the cautiously retreating blow-gun men. At the same
+instant the spear-men rushed down, dashing through the underbrush at
+the foot of the hill, like breakers on a stormy night.
+
+The rear-guard of the Peruvians now came into action, having had
+a chance to view the situation. Several of them filed to the right
+and managed to fire their large-calibre bullets into the backs of
+our charging bow-and-arrow men, but, in their turn, they were picked
+off by the blow-gun men, who kept firing their poisoned darts from a
+safe distance. The fearful yells of our men, mingled with the cursing
+of the Peruvians, and the sharp reports of their heavy rifles, so
+plainly heard, proved that the centre of battle was not many yards
+from the spot where I was standing.
+
+The club-men now broke into action; they could not be kept back any
+longer. The tension had already been too painful for these brave
+fellows, and with fierce war-cries of "_Yob--Hee--Hee_" they launched
+themselves into the fight, swinging their strong clubs above their
+heads and crashing skulls from left to right. By this time the
+Peruvians had lost many men, but the slaughter went on. The huge
+black clubs of the Mangeromas fell again and again, with sickening
+thuds, piercing the heads and brains of the enemy with the pointed
+jaguar teeth.
+
+Suddenly two Peruvians came into view not more than twelve feet from
+where the Chief, Arara the big club-man, and I were standing. One of
+these was a Spaniard, evidently the captain of this band of marauders
+(or, to use their correct name, _caucheros_). His face was of a sickly,
+yellowish hue, and a big, black moustache hid the lower part of his
+cruel and narrow chin. He took a quick aim as he saw us in his path,
+but before he could pull the trigger, Arara, with a mighty side-swing
+of his club literally tore the Spaniard's head off. Now, at last,
+the bonds of restraint were broken for this handsome devil Arara, and
+yelling himself hoarse, and with his strong but cruel face contracted
+to a fiendish grin, he charged the enemy; I saw him crush the life
+out of three.
+
+The Chief took no active part in the fight whatever, but added
+to the excitement by bellowing with all his might an encouraging
+"_Aa--Oo--Ah_." No doubt, this had a highly beneficial effect upon the
+tribesmen, for they never for an instant ceased their furious fighting
+until the last Peruvian was killed. During the final moments of the
+battle, several bullets whirred by me at close range, but during the
+whole affair I had had neither opportunity nor necessity for using
+my pistol. Now, however, a _caboclo_, with a large, bloody machete
+in his hand, sprang from behind a tree and made straight for me. I
+dodged behind another tree and saw how the branches were swept aside
+as he rushed towards me.
+
+Then I fired point-blank, sending three bullets into his head. He
+fell on his face at my feet. As I bent over him, I saw that he had
+a blow-gun arrow in his left thigh; he was therefore a doomed man
+before he attacked me. This was my first and only victim, during this
+brief but horrible slaughter. As I was already thoroughly sick from
+the noise of cracking rifles and the thumping of clubs smashing their
+way into the brains of the Peruvians, I rushed toward the centre of
+the valley where the first attack on the advance guard of the enemy
+had taken place, but even more revolting was the sight that revealed
+itself. Here and there bushes were shaking as some _caboclo_ crawled
+along on all fours in his death agony. Those who were struck by the
+blow-gun arrows seemed simply to fall asleep without much pain or
+struggle, but the victims of the club-men and the bow-and-arrow men had
+a terrible death. They could not die by the merciful wourahli poison,
+like those shot by the blow-gun, but expired from hemorrhages caused
+by the injuries of the ruder weapons. One poor fellow was groaning
+most pitifully. He had received a well-directed big-game arrow in
+the upper part of the abdomen, the arrow having been shot with such
+terrible force that about a foot of the shaft projected from the
+man's back. The arrow-head had been broken off by striking a vertebra.
+
+The battle was over. Soon the _urubus_, or vultures, were hanging
+over the tree-tops waiting for their share of the spoils. The men
+assembled in front of the Chief for roll-call. Four of our men were
+killed outright by rifle-bullets, and it was typical of these brave men
+that none were killed by machete stabs. The entire marauding expedition
+of twenty Peruvians was completely wiped out, not a single one escaping
+the deadly aim of the Mangeromas. Thus was avoided the danger of being
+attacked in the near future by a greater force of Peruvians, called
+to this place from the distant frontier by some returning survivor.
+
+It is true that the Mangeromas lay in ambush for their enemy
+and killed them, for the greater part, with poisoned arrows and
+spears, but the odds were against the Indians, not only because the
+_caboclos_ were attacking them in larger numbers, but because they
+came with modern, repeating fire-arms against the hand weapons of the
+Mangeromas. These marauders, too, came with murder and girl-robbery
+in their black hearts, while the Mangeromas were defending their homes
+and families. But it is true that after the battle, so bravely fought,
+the Indians cut off the hands and feet of their enemies, dead or dying,
+and carried them home.
+
+The fight lasted only some twenty minutes, but it was after sunset
+when we reached the _maloca_. The women and children received us
+with great demonstrations of joy. Soon the pots and pans were boiling
+inside the great house. I have previously observed how the Mangeromas
+would partake of parts of the human body as a sort of religious rite,
+whenever they had been successful with their man-traps; now they
+feasted upon the hands and feet of the slain, these parts having been
+distributed among the different families.
+
+I crept into my hammock and lit my pipe, watching the great mass of
+naked humanity. All the men had laid aside their feather-dresses and
+squirrel tails, and were moving around among the many fires on the
+floor of the hut. Some were sitting in groups discussing the battle,
+while women bent over the pots to examine the ghastly contents. Here,
+a woman was engaged in stripping the flesh from the palm of a hand
+and the sole of a foot, which operation finished, she threw both
+into a large earthen pot to boil; there, another woman was applying
+an herb-poultice to her husband's wounds.
+
+Over it all hung a thick, odoriferous smoke, gradually finding its
+way out through the central opening in the roof.
+
+This was a feast, indeed, such as few white men, I believe, have
+witnessed.
+
+That night and the next day, and the following four days, great
+quantities of _chicha_ were drunk and much meat was consumed to
+celebrate the great victory, the greatest in the annals of the
+Mangeromas of Rio Branco.
+
+Earthen vessels and jars were used in the cooking of food. The red clay
+(Tabatinga clay) found abundantly in these regions formed a superior
+material for these utensils. They were always decorated symbolically
+with juices of the scarlet _urucu_ and the black _genipapa_. Even
+when not burned into the clay, these were permanent colours.
+
+Men and women wore their hair long and untrimmed as far as I could
+observe. The older and more experienced of the tribesmen would have
+quite elaborate head-gear, consisting of a band of _mutum_ plumes,
+interspersed with parrot-tail feathers, while the younger hunters wore
+nothing but a band of the _mutum_ plumes. The body was uncovered,
+save by a narrow strip of bark encircling the waist. A broad piece,
+woven of several bark-strips into a sort of mat, protected the lower
+anterior part of the abdomen. The women wore no clothing whatever.
+
+Their colour was remarkably light. Probably nothing can designate this
+better than the statement that if a Mangeroma were placed alongside
+of an Italian, no difference would be noticeable. Their cheek-bones
+were not as high as is usual with tribes found on the Amazon; they
+seemed to come from a different race. Their eyes were set straight
+without any tendency to the Mongolian slanting that characterises
+the Peruvian _caboclos_ and the tribes of the northern affluents. The
+women had unusually large feet, while those of the men were small and
+well-shaped. The general appearance of a young Mangeroma was that of
+a well-proportioned athlete, standing about five feet ten in his bare
+feet. No moccasins, nor any other protection for the feet, were worn.
+
+The supply of wourahli poison had run low and three wourahli men were
+to go out in the forest to collect poison plants, a journey which
+would require several days to complete. This occasion was set as the
+time of my departure.
+
+It was a rainy morning when I wrapped my few belongings in a leaf,
+tied some grass-fibres around them, and inserted them in the large
+pocket of my khaki-coat. The box with the gold dust was there, also
+the boxes with the exposed photographic plates. Most of the gold had
+filtered out of the box, but a neat quantity still remained. One of my
+servants--a handsome girl--who, excepting for the labial ornaments,
+could have been transformed into an individual of quite a civilised
+appearance by opportunity, gave me a beautiful black necklace as
+a souvenir. It was composed of several hundred pieces, all carved
+out of ebony nuts. It had cost her three weeks of constant work. I
+embraced and was embraced by almost everybody in the _maloca_, after
+which ceremony we went in procession to the canoe that was to take
+me down to the Branco River. The Chief bade me a fond farewell, that
+forever shall be implanted in my heart. I had lived here weeks among
+these cannibal Indians, had enjoyed their kindness and generosity
+without charge; I could give them nothing in return and they asked
+nothing. I could have stayed here for the rest of my natural life if I
+had so desired, but now I was to say good-bye forever. How wonderful
+was this farewell! It was my opportunity for acknowledging that the
+savage heart is by no means devoid of the feelings and sentiments
+that characterise more elevated, so-called civilised individuals.
+
+For the last time I heard the little dog bark, the same that had licked
+my face when I fainted in front of the _maloca_ upon my first arrival;
+and the large _arara_ screamed in the tree-tops as I turned once more
+towards the world of the white man.
+
+The journey was without incident. The wourahli men set me off near the
+mouth of the Branco River, at a distance which I covered in less than
+five hours by following the banks. I was greeted by Coronel Maya of
+the _Compagnie Transatlantique de Caoutchouc_, who sent me by canoe
+down the old Itecoahy, until we reached the Floresta headquarters.
+
+Here I gave Coronel da Silva an account of the death of Chief Marques,
+and the brave Jerome, which made a deep impression upon this noble man.
+
+The three men, Magellaes, Anisette, and Freitas, had returned in
+safety after they separated from us.
+
+I met the wife of Chief Marques. She was the woman whose arm I had
+amputated. When I saw her she was carrying, with the arm left to
+her, a pail of water from the little creek behind headquarters. She
+was a different woman, and I was pleased to know that my desperate
+surgical operation had resulted so well. Her cheeks were full and
+almost rosy. Her health, I was told, excepting for occasional attacks
+of ague, was very good.
+
+Soon after, the launch arrived from Remate de Males and I put my
+baggage on board. The Coronel accompanied me down river for about
+forty-eight hours and then, reaching the northern extremity of
+his estate, he bade me a fond good-bye with the words: "_Sempre,
+illustrissimo Senhor, minha casa e a suas ordenes_," "My house,
+most illustrious Sir, is always at your disposal."
+
+When I arrived at Remate de Males I had another attack of malaria,
+which almost severed the slender thread by which my life hung; my
+physical resistance was gone. But I managed to develop my plates
+before breaking down completely, and after having disposed of my
+small quantity of gold dust, for which I realised some three hundred
+and forty dollars, I was taken down to the mouth of the Javary River,
+where I had landed almost a year previous, now a physical and, I might
+almost say, mental wreck. I stayed in the house of Coronel Monteiro,
+the frontier official at Esperanca, for five long days, fighting with
+death, until one afternoon I saw the white hull of the R.M.S. _Napo_
+appear at a bend of the Amazon, only five hundred yards away.
+
+Closer she came--this rescuing instrument of Providence. She was none
+too soon, for I had now reached the last notch of human endurance. She
+dropped anchor; a small gasoline launch was lowered into the water;
+three white-coated officers stepped into it--they came ashore--they
+climbed the stairs. The captain, a stout, kind-looking Englishman,
+approached my hammock and found therein a very sick white man. I was
+carried aboard and placed in the hands of the ship's physician. At last
+those black forests of the Amazon were left behind. After twenty-two
+days' sail, Sandy Hook lighthouse loomed on our port side, and soon
+after, I could rest--rest, and _live_ again!
+
+
+
+
+
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