Jules Verne (39 page)

LITTLE REMAINS to tell of the second part of the voyage down the mighty
river. It was but a series of days of joy. Joam Dacosta returned to a
new life, which shed its happiness on all who belonged to him.

The giant raft glided along with greater rapidity on the waters now
swollen by the floods. On the left they passed the small village of Don
Jose de Maturi, and on the right the mouth of that Madeira which owes
its name to the floating masses of vegetable remains and trunks denuded
of their foliage which it bears from the depths of Bolivia. They passed
the archipelago of Caniny, whose islets are veritable boxes of palms,
and before the village of Serpa, which, successively transported from
one back to the other, has definitely settled on the left of the river,
with its little houses, whose thresholds stand on the yellow carpet of
the beach.

The village of Silves, built on the left of the Amazon, and the town
of Villa Bella, which is the principal guarana market in the whole
province, were soon left behind by the giant raft. And so was the
village of Faro and its celebrated river of the Nhamundas, on which,
in 1539, Orellana asserted he was attacked by female warriors, who have
never been seen again since, and thus gave us the legend which justifies
the immortal name of the river of the Amazons.

Here it is that the province of Rio Negro terminates. The jurisdiction
of Para then commences; and on the 22d of September the family,
marveling much at a valley which has no equal in the world, entered that
portion of the Brazilian empire which has no boundary to the east except
the Atlantic.

"How magnificent!" remarked Minha, over and over again.

"How long!" murmured Manoel.

"How beautiful!" repeated Lina.

"When shall we get there?" murmured Fragoso.

And this was what might have been expected of these folks from the
different points of view, though time passed pleasantly enough with
them all the same. Benito, who was neither patient nor impatient, had
recovered all his former good humor.

Soon the jangada glided between interminable plantations of cocoa-trees
with their somber green flanked by the yellow thatch or ruddy tiles of
the roofs of the huts of the settlers on both banks from Obidos up to
the town of Monto Alegre.

Then there opened out the mouth of the Rio Trombetas, bathing with its
black waters the houses of Obidos, situated at about one hundred and
eighty miles from Belem, quite a small town, and even a
"citade"
with
large streets bordered with handsome habitations, and a great center for
cocoa produce. Then they saw another tributary, the Tapajos, with its
greenish-gray waters descending from the south-west; and then Santarem,
a wealthy town of not less than five thousand inhabitants, Indians for
the most part, whose nearest houses were built on the vast beach of
white sand.

After its departure from Manaos the jangada did not stop anywhere as it
passed down the much less encumbered course of the Amazon. Day and night
it moved along under the vigilant care of its trusty pilot; no more
stoppages either for the gratification of the passengers or for business
purposes. Unceasingly it progressed, and the end rapidly grew nearer.

On leaving Alemquer, situated on the left bank, a new horizon appeared
in view. In place of the curtain of forests which had shut them in up to
then, our friends beheld a foreground of hills, whose undulations could
be easily descried, and beyond them the faint summits of veritable
mountains vandyked across the distant depth of sky. Neither Yaquita,
nor her daughter, nor Lina, nor old Cybele, had ever seen anything like
this.

But in this jurisdiction of Para, Manoel was at home, and he could tell
them the names of the double chain which gradually narrowed the valley
of the huge river.

"To the right," said he, "that is the Sierra de Paracuarta, which
curves in a half-circle to the south! To the left, that is the Sierra de
Curuva, of which we have already passed the first outposts."

"Then they close in?" asked Fragoso.

"They close in!" replied Manoel.

And the two young men seemed to understand each other, for the same
slight but significant nodding of the head accompanied the question and
reply.

At last, notwithstanding the tide, which since leaving Obidos had begun
to be felt, and which somewhat checked the progress of the raft, the
town of Monto Alegre was passed, then that of Pravnha de Onteiro, then
the mouth of the Xingu, frequented by Yurumas Indians, whose principal
industry consists in preparing their enemies' heads for natural history
cabinets.

To what a superb size the Amazon had now developed as already this
monarch of rivers gave signs of opening out like a sea! Plants from
eight to ten feet high clustered along the beach, and bordered it with
a forest of reeds. Porto de Mos, Boa Vista, and Gurupa, whose prosperity
is on the decline, were soon among the places left in the rear.

Then the river divided into two important branches, which flowed off
toward the Atlantic, one going away northeastward, the other eastward,
and between them appeared the beginning of the large island of Marajo.
This island is quite a province in itself. It measures no less than
a hundred and eighty leagues in circumference. Cut up by marshes and
rivers, all savannah to the east, all forest to the west, it offers most
excellent advantages for the raising of cattle, which can here be seen
in their thousands. This immense barricade of Marajo is the natural
obstacle which has compelled the Amazon to divide before precipitating
its torrents of water into the sea. Following the upper branch, the
jangada, after passing the islands of Caviana and Mexiana, would have
found an
embouchure
of some fifty leagues across, but it would also
have met with the bar of the prororoca, that terrible eddy which, for
the three days preceding the new or full moon, takes but two minutes
instead of six hours to raise the river from twelve to fifteen feet
above ordinary high-water mark.

This is by far the most formidable of tide-races. Most fortunately the
lower branch, known as the Canal of Breves, which is the natural area of
the Para, is not subject to the visitations of this terrible phenomenon,
and its tides are of a more regular description. Araujo, the pilot,
was quite aware of this. He steered, therefore, into the midst of
magnificent forests, here and there gliding past island covered with
muritis palms; and the weather was so favorable that they did not
experience any of the storms which so frequently rage along this Breves
Canal.

A few days afterward the jangada passed the village of the same name,
which, although built on the ground flooded for many months in the
year, has become, since 1845, an important town of a hundred houses.
Throughout these districts, which are frequented by Tapuyas, the Indians
of the Lower Amazon become more and more commingled with the white
population, and promise to be completely absorbed by them.

And still the jangada continued its journey down the river. Here, at
the risk of entanglement, it grazed the branches of the mangliers,
whose roots stretched down into the waters like the claws of gigantic
crustaceans; then the smooth trunks of the paletuviers, with their
pale-green foliage, served as the resting-places for the long poles of
the crew as they kept the raft in the strength of the current.

Then came the Tocantins, whose waters, due to the different rivers
of the province of Goyaz, mingle with those of the Amazon by an
embouchure
of great size, then the Moju, then the town of Santa Ana.

Majestically the panorama of both banks moved along without a pause,
as though some ingenious mechanism necessitated its unrolling in the
opposite direction to that of the stream.

Already numerous vessels descending the river, ubas, egariteas,
vigilandas, pirogues of all builds, and small coasters from the lower
districts of the Amazon and the Atlantic seaboard, formed a procession
with the giant raft, and seemed like sloops beside some might
man-of-war.

At length there appeared on the left Santa Maria de Belem do Para—the
"town" as they call it in that country—with its picturesque lines of
white houses at many different levels, its convents nestled among
the palm-trees, the steeples of its cathedral and of Nostra Senora de
Merced, and the flotilla of its brigantines, brigs, and barks, which
form its commercial communications with the old world.

The hearts of the passengers of the giant raft beat high. At length they
were coming to the end of the voyage which they had thought they would
never reach. While the arrest of Joam detained them at Manaos, halfway
on their journey, could they ever have hoped to see the capital of the
province of Para?

It was in the course of this day, the 15th of October—four months and a
half after leaving the fazenda of Iquitos—that, as they rounded a sharp
bend in the river, Belem came into sight.

The arrival of the jangada had been signaled for some days. The whole
town knew the story of Joam Dacosta. They came forth to welcome him, and
to him and his people accorded a most sympathetic reception.

Hundreds of craft of all sorts conveyed them to the fazender, and soon
the jangada was invaded by all those who wished to welcome the return of
their compatriot after his long exile. Thousands of sight-seers—or
more correctly speaking, thousands of friends crowded on to the floating
village as soon as it came to its moorings, and it was vast and solid
enough to support the entire population. Among those who hurried on
board one of the first pirogues had brought Madame Valdez. Manoel's
mother was at last able to clasp to her arms the daughter whom her son
had chosen. If the good lady had not been able to come to Iquitos, was
it not as though a portion of the fazenda, with her new family, had come
down the Amazon to her?

Before evening the pilot Araujo had securely moored the raft at
the entrance of a creek behind the arsenal. That was to be its last
resting-place, its last halt, after its voyage of eight hundred leagues
on the great Brazilian artery. There the huts of the Indians, the
cottage of the negroes, the store-rooms which held the valuable cargo,
would be gradually demolished; there the principal dwelling, nestled
beneath its verdant tapestry of flowers and foliage, and the little
chapel whose humble bell was then replying to the sounding clangor from
the steeples of Belem, would each in its turn disappear.

But, ere this was done, a ceremony had to take place on the jangada—the
marriage of Manoel and Minha, the marriage of Lina and Fragoso. To
Father Passanha fell the duty of celebrating the double union which
promised so happily. In that little chapel the two couples were to
receive the nuptial benediction from his hands.

If it happened to be so small as to be only capable of holding the
members of Dacosta's family, was not the giant raft large enough to
receive all those who wished to assist at the ceremony? and if not, and
the crowd became so great, did not the ledges of the river banks afford
sufficient room for as many others of the sympathizing crowd as were
desirous of welcoming him whom so signal a reparation had made the hero
of the day?

It was on the morrow, the 16th of October, that with great pomp the
marriages were celebrated.

It was a magnificent day, and from about ten o'clock in the morning the
raft began to receive its crowd of guests. On the bank could be seen
almost the entire population of Belem in holiday costume. On the river,
vessels of all sorts crammed with visitors gathered round the enormous
mass of timber, and the waters of the Amazon literally disappeared even
up to the left bank beneath the vast flotilla.

When the chapel bell rang out its opening note it seemed like a signal
of joy to ear and eye. In an instant the churches of Belem replied to
the bell of the jangada. The vessels in the port decked themselves with
flags up to their mastheads, and the Brazilian colors were saluted by
the many other national flags. Discharges of musketry reverberated on
all sides, and it was only with difficulty that their joyous detonations
could cope with the loud hurrahs from the assembled thousands.

The Dacosta family came forth from their house and moved through the
crowd toward the little chapel. Joam was received with absolutely
frantic applause. He gave his arm to Madame Valdez; Yaquita was escorted
by the governor of Belem, who, accompanied by the friends of the young
army surgeon, had expressed a wish to honor the ceremony with
his presence. Manoel walked by the side of Minha, who looked most
fascinating in her bride's costume, and then came Fragoso, holding the
hand of Lina, who seemed quite radiant with joy. Then followed Benito,
then old Cybele and the servants of the worthy family between the double
ranks of the crew of the jangada.

Padre Passanha awaited the two couples at the entrance of the chapel.
The ceremony was very simple, and the same bands which had formerly
blessed Joam and Yaquita were again stretched forth to give the nuptial
benediction to their child.

So much happiness was not likely to be interrupted by the sorrow of
long separation. In fact, Manoel Valdez almost immediately sent in his
resignation, so as to join the family at Iquitos, where he is still
following the profession of a country doctor.

Naturally the Fragosos did not hesitate to go back with those who were
to them friends rather than masters.

Madame Valdez had no desire to separate so happy a group, but she
insisted on one thing, and that was that they should often come and see
her at Belem. Nothing could be easier. Was not the mighty river a bond
of communication between Belem and Iquitos? In a few days the first mail
steamer was to begin a regular and rapid service, and it would then only
take a week to ascend the Amazon, on which it had taken the giant raft
so many months to drift. The important commercial negotiations, ably
managed by Benito, were carried through under the best of conditions,
and soon of what had formed this jangada—that is to say, the huge raft
of timber constructed from an entire forest at Iquitos—there remained
not a trace.