Jules Verne (14 page)

"The frontier!" replied Joam.

And rising, he went to the side of the jangada, and looked long and
earnestly at the Ronde Island, with the waves breaking up against
it. Then his hand sought his forehead, as if to rid himself of some
remembrance.

"The frontier!" murmured he, bowing his head by an involuntary movement.

But an instant after his head was raised, and his expression was that of
a man resolved to do his duty to the last.

"BRAZA" (burning embers) is a word found in the Spanish language as far
back as the twelfth century. It has been used to make the word "brazil,"
as descriptive of certain woods which yield a reddish dye. From this
has come the name "Brazil," given to that vast district of South America
which is crossed by the equator, and in which these products are so
frequently met with. In very early days these woods were the object of
considerable trade. Although correctly called
"ibirapitunga,"
from the
place of production, the name of
"brazil"
stuck to them, and it has
become that of the country, which seems like an immense heap of embers
lighted by the rays of the tropical sun.

Brazil was from the first occupied by the Portuguese. About the
commencement of the sixteenth century, Alvarez Cabral, the pilot, took
possession of it, and although France and Holland partially established
themselves there, it has remained Portuguese, and possesses all the
qualities which distinguish that gallant little nation. It is to-day
the largest state of South America, and has at its head the intelligent
artist-king Dom Pedro.

"What is your privilege in the tribe?" asked Montaigne of an Indian whom
he met at Havre.

"The privilege of marching first to battle!" innocently answered the
Indian.

War, we know, was for a long time the surest and most rapid vehicle of
civilization. The Brazilians did what this Indian did: they fought, they
defended their conquests, they enlarged them, and we see them marching
in the first rank of the civilizing advance.

It was in 1824, sixteen years after the foundation of the
Portugo-Brazilian Empire, that Brazil proclaimed its independence by the
voice of Don Juan, whom the French armies had chased from Portugal.

It remained only to define the frontier between the new empire and that
of its neighbor, Peru. This was no easy matter.

If Brazil wished to extend to the Rio Napo in the west, Peru attempted
to reach eight degrees further, as far as the Lake of Ega.

But in the meantime Brazil had to interfere to hinder the kidnaping of
the Indians from the Amazon, a practice which was engaged in much to the
profit of the Hispano-Brazilian missions. There was no better method of
checking this trade than that of fortifying the Island of the Ronde, a
little above Tabatinga, and there establishing a post.

This afforded the solution, and from that time the frontier of the two
countries passed through the middle of this island.

Above, the river is Peruvian, and is called the Marañon, as has been
said. Below, it is Brazilian, and takes the name of the Amazon.

It was on the evening of the 25th of June that the jangada stopped
before Tabatinga, the first Brazilian town situated on the left bank, at
the entrance of the river of which it bears the name, and belonging to
the parish of St. Paul, established on the right a little further down
stream.

Joam Garral had decided to pass thirty-six hours here, so as to give
a little rest to the crew. They would not start, therefore, until the
morning of the 27th.

On this occasion Yaquita and her children, less likely, perhaps, than
at Iquitos to be fed upon by the native mosquitoes, had announced their
intention of going on ashore and visiting the town.

The population of Tabatinga is estimated at four hundred, nearly all
Indians, comprising, no doubt, many of those wandering families who
are never settled at particular spots on the banks of the Amazon or its
smaller tributaries.

The post at the island of the Ronde has been abandoned for some years,
and transferred to Tabatinga. It can thus be called a garrison town, but
the garrison is only composed of nine soldiers, nearly all Indians, and
a sergeant, who is the actual commandant of the place.

A bank about thirty feet high, in which are cut the steps of a not very
solid staircase, forms here the curtain of the esplanade which carries
the pigmy fort. The house of the commandant consists of a couple of huts
placed in a square, and the soldiers occupy an oblong building a hundred
feet away, at the foot of a large tree.

The collection of cabins exactly resembles all the villages and hamlets
which are scattered along the banks of the river, although in them
a flagstaff carrying the Brazilian colors does not rise above a
sentry-box, forever destitute of its sentinel, nor are four small
mortars present to cannonade on an emergency any vessel which does not
come in when ordered.

As for the village properly so called, it is situated below, at the
base of the plateau. A road, which is but a ravine shaded by ficuses and
miritis, leads to it in a few minutes. There, on a half-cracked hill of
clay, stand a dozen houses, covered with the leaves of the
"boiassu"
palm placed round a central space.

All this is not very curious, but the environs of Tabatinga are
charming, particularly at the mouth of the Javary, which is of
sufficient extent to contain the Archipelago of the Aramasa Islands.
Hereabouts are grouped many fine trees, and among them a large number of
the palms, whose supple fibers are used in the fabrication of hammocks
and fishing-nets, and are the cause of some trade. To conclude, the
place is one of the most picturesque on the Upper Amazon.

Tabatinga is destined to become before long a station of some
importance, and will no doubt rapidly develop, for there will stop the
Brazilian steamers which ascend the river, and the Peruvian steamers
which descend it. There they will tranship passengers and cargoes. It
does not require much for an English or American village to become in a
few years the center of considerable commerce.

The river is very beautiful along this part of its course. The influence
of ordinary tides is not perceptible at Tabatinga, which is more
than six hundred leagues from the Atlantic. But it is not so with the
"pororoca,"
that species of eddy which for three days in the height of
the syzygies raises the waters of the Amazon, and turns them back at the
rate of seventeen kilometers per hour. They say that the effects of this
bore are felt up to the Brazilian frontier.

On the morrow, the 26th of June, the Garral family prepared to go off
and visit the village. Though Joam, Benito, and Manoel had already
set foot in a Brazilian town, it was otherwise with Yaquita and her
daughter; for them it was, so to speak, a taking possession. It is
conceivable, therefore, that Yaquita and Minha should attach some
importance to the event.

If, on his part, Fragoso, in his capacity of wandering barber, had
already run through the different provinces of South America, Lina, like
her young mistress, had never been on Brazilian soil.

But before leaving the jangada Fragoso had sought Joam Garral, and had
the following conversation with him.

"Mr. Garral," said he, "from the day when you received me at the fazenda
of Iquitos, lodged, clothed, fed—in a word, took me in so hospitably—I
have owed you—"

"You owe me absolutely nothing, my friend," answered Joam, "so do not
insist—"

"Oh, do not be alarmed!" exclaimed Fragoso, "I am not going to pay it
off! Let me add, that you took me on board the jangada and gave me the
means of descending the river. But here we are, on the soil of Brazil,
which, according to all probability, I ought never to have seen again.
Without that liana—"

"It is to Lina, and to Lina alone, that you should tender your thanks,"
said Joam.

"I know," said Fragoso, "and I will never forget what I owe here, any
more than what I owe you."

"They tell me, Fragoso," continued Joam, "that you are going to say
good-by, and intend to remain at Tabatinga."

"By no means, Mr. Garral, since you have allowed me to accompany you to
Belem, where I hope at the least to be able to resume my old trade."

"Well, if that is your intention—what were you going to ask me?"

"I was going to ask if you saw any inconvenience in my working at my
profession on our route. There is no necessity for my hand to rust; and,
besides, a few handfuls of reis would not be so bad at the bottom of my
pocket, more particularly if I had earned them. You know, Mr. Garral,
that a barber who is also a hairdresser—and I hardly like to say a
doctor, out of respect to Mr. Manoel—always finds customers in these
Upper Amazon villages."

"Particularly among the Brazilians," answered Joam. "As for the
natives—"

"I beg pardon," replied Fragoso, "particularly among the natives. Ah!
although there is no beard to trim—for nature has been very stingy
toward them in that way—there are always some heads of hair to be
dressed in the latest fashion. They are very fond of it, these savages,
both the men and the women! I shall not be installed ten minutes in the
square at Tabatinga, with my cup and ball in hand—the cup and ball
I have brought on board, and which I can manage with pretty
pleasantly—before a circle of braves and squaws will have formed around
me. They will struggle for my favors. I could remain here for a month,
and the whole tribe of the Ticunas would come to me to have their hair
looked after! They won't hesitate to make the acquaintance of 'curling
tongs'—that is what they will call me—if I revisit the walls of
Tabatinga! I have already had two tries here, and my scissors and comb
have done marvels! It does not do to return too often on the same track.
The Indian ladies don't have their hair curled every day, like the
beauties of our Brazilian cities. No; when it is done, it is done
for year, and during the twelvemonth they will take every care not to
endanger the edifice which I have raised—with what talent I dare not
say. Now it is nearly a year since I was at Tabatinga; I go to find my
monuments in ruin! And if it is not objectionable to you, Mr. Garral, I
would render myself again worthy of the reputation which I have acquired
in these parts, the question of reis, and not that of conceit, being,
you understand, the principal."

"Go on, then, friend," replied Joam Garral laughingly; "but be quick!
we can only remain a day at Tabatinga, and we shall start to-morrow at
dawn."

"I will not lose a minute," answered Fragoso—"just time to take the
tools of my profession, and I am off."

"Off you go, Fragoso," said Joam, "and may the reis rain into your
pocket!"

"Yes, and that is a proper sort of rain, and there can never be too much
of it for your obedient servant."

And so saying Fragoso rapidly moved away.

A moment afterward the family, with the exception of Joam, went ashore.
The jangada was able to approach near enough to the bank for the landing
to take place without much trouble. A staircase, in a miserable state,
cut in the cliff, allowed the visitors to arrive on the crest of the
plateau.

Yaquita and her party were received by the commandant of the fort, a
poor fellow who, however, knew the laws of hospitality, and offered
them some breakfast in his cottage. Here and there passed and repassed
several soldiers on guard, while on the threshold of the barrack
appeared a few children, with their mothers of Ticuna blood, affording
very poor specimens of the mixed race.

In place of accepting the breakfast of the sergeant, Yaquita invited the
commandant and his wife to come and have theirs on board the jangada.

The commandant did not wait for a second invitation, and an appointment
was made for eleven o'clock. In the meantime Yaquita, her daughter,
and the young mulatto, accompanied by Manoel, went for a walk in the
neighborhood, leaving Benito to settle with the commandant about the
tolls—he being chief of the custom-house as well as of the military
establishment.

That done, Benito, as was his wont, strolled off with his gun into the
adjoining woods. On this occasion Manoel had declined to accompany him.
Fragoso had left the jangada, but instead of mounting to the fort he had
made for the village, crossing the ravine which led off from the right
on the level of the bank. He reckoned more on the native custom of
Tabatinga than on that of the garrison. Doubtless the soldiers' wives
would not have wished better than to have been put under his hands,
but the husbands scarcely cared to part with a few reis for the sake of
gratifying the whims of their coquettish partners.

Among the natives it was quite the reverse. Husbands and wives, the
jolly barber knew them well, and he knew they would give him a better
reception.

Behold, then, Fragoso on the road, coming up the shady lane beneath the
ficuses, and arriving in the central square of Tabatinga!

As soon as he set foot in the place the famous barber was signaled,
recognized, surrounded. Fragoso had no big box, nor drum, nor cornet
to attract the attention of his clients—not even a carriage of shining
copper, with resplendent lamps and ornamented glass panels, nor a huge
parasol, no anything whatever to impress the public, as they generally
have at fairs. No; but Fragoso had his cup and ball, and how that cup
and ball were manipulated between his fingers! With what address did he
receive the turtle's head, which did for the ball, on the pointed end
of the stick! With what grace did he make the ball describe some learned
curve of which mathematicians have not yet calculated the value—even
those who have determined the wondrous curve of "the dog who follows his
master!"

Every native was there—men, women, the old and the young, in their
nearly primitive costume, looking on with all their eyes, listening with
all their ears. The smiling entertainer, half in Portuguese, half in
Ticunian, favored them with his customary oration in a tone of the
most rollicking good humor. What he said was what is said by all the
charlatans who place their services at the public disposal, whether
they be Spanish Figaros or French perruqiers. At the bottom the
same self-possession, the same knowledge of human weakness, the same
description of threadbare witticisms, the same amusing dexterity, and,
on the part of the natives, the same wide-mouth astonishment, the same
curiosity, the same credulity as the simple folk of the civilized world.