Jules Verne (16 page)

In taking him on board the fazender had obeyed a sentiment of humanity.
In the midst of these vast Amazonian deserts, more especially at the
time when the steamers had not begun to furrow the waters, it was very
difficult to find means of safe and rapid transit. Boats did not ply
regularly, and in most cases the traveler was obliged to walk across
the forests. This is what Torres had done, and what he would continue to
have done, and it was for him unexpected good luck to have got a passage
on the raft.

From the moment that Benito had explained under what conditions he had
met Torres the introduction was complete, and he was able to consider
himself as a passenger on an Atlantic steamer, who is free to take part
in the general life if he cares, or free to keep himself a little apart
if of an unsociable disposition.

It was noticed, at least during the first few days, that Torres did not
try to become intimate with the Garral family. He maintained a good deal
of reserve, answering if addressed, but never provoking a reply.

If he appeared more open with any one, it was with Fragoso. Did he not
owe to this gay companion the idea of taking passage on board the raft?
Many times he asked him about the position of the Garrals at Iquitos,
the sentiments of the daughter for Manoel Valdez, and always discreetly.
Generally, when he was not walking alone in the bow of the jangada, he
kept to his cabin.

He breakfasted and dined with Joam Garral and his family, but he took
little part in their conversation, and retired when the repast was
finished.

During the morning the raft passed by the picturesque group of islands
situated in the vast estuary of the Javary. This important affluent of
the Amazon comes from the southwest, and from source to mouth has not
a single island, nor a single rapid, to check its course. The mouth is
about three thousand feet in width, and the river comes in some miles
above the site formerly occupied by the town of the same name, whose
possession was disputed for so long by Spaniards and Portuguese.

Up to the morning of the 30th of June there had been nothing particular
to distinguish the voyage. Occasionally they met a few vessels gliding
along by the banks attached one to another in such a way that a single
Indian could manage the whole—
"navigar de bubina,"
as this kind
of navigation is called by the people of the country, that is to say,
"confidence navigation."

They had passed the island of Araria, the Archipelago of the Calderon
islands, the island of Capiatu, and many others whose names have not yet
come to the knowledge of geographers.

On the 30th of June the pilot signaled on the right the little village
of Jurupari-Tapera, where they halted for two or three hours.

Manoel and Benito had gone shooting in the neighborhood, and brought
back some feathered game, which was well received in the larder. At the
same time they had got an animal of whom a naturalist would have made
more than did the cook.

It was a creature of a dark color, something like a large Newfoundland
dog.

"A great ant-eater!" exclaimed Benito, as he threw it on the deck of the
jangada.

"And a magnificent specimen which would not disgrace the collection of a
museum!" added Manoel.

"Did you take much trouble to catch the curious animal?" asked Minha.

"Yes, little sister," replied Benito, "and you were not there to ask
for mercy! These dogs die hard, and no less than three bullets were
necessary to bring this fellow down."

The ant-eater looked superb, with his long tail and grizzly hair; with
his pointed snout, which is plunged into the ant-hills whose insects
form its principal food; and his long, thin paws, armed with sharp
nails, five inches long, and which can shut up like the fingers of one's
hand. But what a hand was this hand of the ant-eater! When it has got
hold of anything you have to cut it off to make it let go! It is of this
hand that the traveler, Emile Carrey, has so justly observed: "The tiger
himself would perish in its grasp."

On the 2d of July, in the morning, the jangada arrived at the foot of
San Pablo d'Olivença, after having floated through the midst of numerous
islands which in all seasons are clad with verdure and shaded with
magnificent trees, and the chief of which bear the names of Jurupari,
Rita, Maracanatena, and Cururu Sapo. Many times they passed by the
mouths of iguarapes, or little affluents, with black waters.

The coloration of these waters is a very curious phenomenon. It is
peculiar to a certain number of these tributaries of the Amazon, which
differ greatly in importance.

Manoel remarked how thick the cloudiness was, for it could be clearly
seen on the surface of the whitish waters of the river.

"They have tried to explain this coloring in many ways," said he, "but
I do not think the most learned have yet arrived at a satisfactory
explanation."

"The waters are really black with a magnificent reflection of gold,"
replied Minha, showing a light, reddish-brown cloth, which was floating
level with the jangada.

"Yes," said Manoel, "and Humboldt has already observed the curious
reflection that you have; but on looking at it attentively you will see
that it is rather the color of sepia which pervades the whole."

"Good!" exclaimed Benito. "Another phenomenon on which the
savants
are
not agreed."

"Perhaps," said Fragoso, "they might ask the opinions of the caymans,
dolphins, and manatees, for they certainly prefer the black waters to
the others to enjoy themselves in."

"They are particularly attractive to those animals," replied Manoel,
"but why it is rather embarrassing to say. For instance, is the
coloration due to the hydrocarbons which the waters hold in solution, or
is it because they flow through districts of peat, coal, and anthracite;
or should we not rather attribute it to the enormous quantity of minute
plants which they bear along? There is nothing certain in the matter.
Under any circumstances, they are excellent to drink, of a freshness
quite enviable for the climate, and without after-taste, and perfectly
harmless. Take a little of the water, Minha, and drink it; you will find
it all right."

The water is in truth limpid and fresh, and would advantageously replace
many of the table-waters used in Europe. They drew several frasques for
kitchen use.

It has been said that in the morning of the 2d of July the jangada had
arrived at San Pablo d'Olivença, where they turn out in thousands those
long strings of beads which are made from the scales of the
"coco de
piassaba."
This trade is here extensively followed. It may, perhaps,
seem singular that the ancient lords of the country, Tupinambas and
Tupiniquis, should find their principal occupation in making objects
for the Catholic religion. But, after all, why not? These Indians are
no longer the Indians of days gone by. Instead of being clothed in the
national fashion, with a frontlet of macaw feathers, bow, and blow-tube,
have they not adopted the American costume of white cotton trousers, and
a cotton poncho woven by their wives, who have become thorough adepts in
its manufacture?

San Pablo d'Olivença, a town of some importance, has not less than
two thousand inhabitants, derived from all the neighboring tribes. At
present the capital of the Upper Amazon, it began as a simple Mission,
founded by the Portuguese Carmelites about 1692, and afterward acquired
by the Jesuit missionaries.

From the beginning it has been the country of the Omaguas, whose name
means "flat-heads," and is derived from the barbarous custom of the
native mothers of squeezing the heads of their newborn children between
two plates, so as to give them an oblong skull, which was then the
fashion. Like everything else, that has changed; heads have re-taken
their natural form, and there is not the slightest trace of the ancient
deformity in the skulls of the chaplet-makers.

Every one, with the exception of Joam Garral, went ashore. Torres also
remained on board, and showed no desire to visit San Pablo d'Olivença,
which he did not, however, seem to be acquainted with.

Assuredly if the adventurer was taciturn he was not inquisitive.

Benito had no difficulty in doing a little bartering, and adding
slightly to the cargo of the jangada. He and the family received an
excellent reception from the principal authorities of the town, the
commandant of the place, and the chief of the custom-house, whose
functions did not in the least prevent them from engaging in trade. They
even intrusted the young merchant with a few products of the country for
him to dispose of on their account at Manaos and Belem.

The town is composed of some sixty houses, arranged on the plain which
hereabouts crowns the river-bank. Some of the huts are covered with
tiles—a very rare thing in these countries; but, on the other hand, the
humble church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, has only a roof of
straw, rather more appropriate for a stable of Bethlehem than for an
edifice consecrated to religion in one of the most Catholic countries of
the world.

The commandant, his lieutenant, and the head of the police accepted
an invitation to dine with the family, and they were received by Joam
Garral with the respect due to their rank.

During dinner Torres showed himself more talkative than usual. He spoke
about some of his excursions into the interior of Brazil like a man
who knew the country. But in speaking of these travels Torres did not
neglect to ask the commandant if he knew Manaos, if his colleague would
be there at this time, and if the judge, the first magistrate of the
province, was accustomed to absent himself at this period of the hot
season. It seemed that in putting this series of questions Torres looked
at Joam Garral. It was marked enough for even Benito to notice it,
not without surprise, and he observed that his father gave particular
attention to the questions so curiously propounded by Torres.

The commandant of San Pablo d'Olivença assured the adventurer that the
authorities were not now absent from Manaos, and he even asked Joam
Garral to convey to them his compliments. In all probability the raft
would arrive before the town in seven weeks, or a little later, say
about the 20th or the 25th of August.

The guests of the fazender took leave of the Garral family toward the
evening, and the following morning, that of the 3d of July, the jangada
recommenced its descent of the river.

At noon they passed on the left the mouth of the Yacurupa. This
tributary, properly speaking, is a true canal, for it discharges its
waters into the Iça, which is itself an affluent of the Amazon.

A peculiar phenomenon, for the river displaces itself to feed its own
tributaries!

Toward three o'clock in the afternoon the giant raft passed the mouth
of the Jandiatuba, which brings its magnificent black waters from the
southwest, and discharges them into the main artery by a mouth of four
hundred meters in extent, after having watered the territories of the
Culino Indians.

A number of islands were breasted—Pimaicaira, Caturia, Chico,
Motachina; some inhabited, others deserted, but all covered with superb
vegetation, which forms an unbroken garland of green from one end of the
Amazon to the other.

ON THE EVENING of the 5th of July, the atmosphere had been oppressive
since the morning and threatened approaching storms. Large bats of ruddy
color skimmed with their huge wings the current of the Amazon. Among
them could be distinguished the
"perros voladors,"
somber brown above
and light-colored beneath, for which Minha, and particularly the young
mulatto, felt an instinctive aversion.

These were, in fact, the horrible vampires which suck the blood of the
cattle, and even attack man if he is imprudent enough to sleep out in
the fields.

"Oh, the dreadful creatures!" cried Lina, hiding her eyes; "they fill me
with horror!"

"And they are really formidable," added Minha; "are they not, Manoel?"

"To be sure—very formidable," answered he. "These vampires have a
particular instinct which leads them to bleed you in the places where
the blood most easily comes, and principally behind the ear. During
the operation the continue to move their wings, and cause an agreeable
freshness which renders the sleep of the sleeper more profound. They
tell of people, unconsciously submitted to this hemorrhage for many
hours, who have never awoke!"

"Talk no more of things like that, Manoel," said Yaquita, "or neither
Minha nor Lina will dare sleep to-night."

"Never fear!" replied Manoel; "if necessary we will watch over them as
they sleep."

"Silence!" said Benito.

"What is the matter?" asked Manoel.

"Do you not hear a very curious noise on that side?" continued Benito,
pointing to the right bank.

"Certainly," answered Yaquita.

"What causes the noise?" asked Minha. "One would think it was shingle
rolling on the beach of the islands."

"Good! I know what it is," answered Benito. "Tomorrow, at daybreak,
there will be a rare treat for those who like fresh turtle eggs and
little turtles!"

He was not deceived; the noise was produced by innumerable chelonians of
all sizes, who were attracted to the islands to lay their eggs.

It is in the sand of the beach that these amphibians choose the most
convenient places to deposit their eggs. The operation commences with
sunset and finishes with the dawn.

At this moment the chief turtle had left the bed of the river to
reconnoiter for a favorable spot; the others, collected in thousands,
were soon after occupied in digging with their hind paddles a trench six
hundred feet long, a dozen wide, and six deep. After laying their eggs
they cover them with a bed of sand, which they beat down with their
carapaces as if they were rammers.