

THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July I, 1910. 



fever stories from the upriver rubber center it began to make 

 an impression, and I found myself formulating reasons for 

 dodging. But if one will self with a sufficiency of 



forebodings, a reaction is sure to come, and courage returns. 

 This was my case. And < f a suddi I id myself determined 



,:i Manaos 

 would do to me. Fur- 

 ther than that came the 

 bi lief that with com- 

 mon and care 



ould probably get 

 ■nh all right. They 

 win exceedingly nice, 

 thi se friends of mine. 

 when I rendered my de- 

 cision. One, with a 

 whimsical smile, said: 



"It's sure to be inter- 

 esting anyhow. Say 

 yi ur prayers and trust 

 in cascara." 



Another secured for 

 me the cabin de luxe on 

 a fine Hamburg- Ameri- 

 can boat and outlined a 

 river journey princely in 

 its comfort and very 

 speedy. This I refused, 

 although with real re- 

 gret. I had my eye on 

 one of the smaller Booth 

 boats that had accommo- 

 dations for only sixteen 

 passengers and would 

 carry on that trip only 

 two, myself and Com- 

 panion. It was a freight 

 boat, going upriver al- 

 most empty, which 



The anchor came up about 5 in the afternoon and, facing a 

 pleasant breeze, with half of the propeller out of water, "grind- 

 ing air,'' we started out through the tangb of low, heavily 

 wooded islands that clusti the mouths of the Para and 



["ocantins rivers, heading for the "Narrows" in the care of two 

 Indian pilots who knew the many channels day or night by in- 

 stinct. Unless it came on to rain very heavily we would run all 

 night. It was soon too dark to see much, so I turned in. 



1 Mr ON 1 11 1 AMAZON. 



Every one asserts that then 1- no need of mosquito bars 

 going up or down the Amazon, but I had mine adjusted in 

 spite of the pitying smile on the face of my Companion, who 

 didn't unpack his. I had an extremely self satisfied feeling 

 when 1 awoke about midnight and heard him at work hastily 

 getting his protector into position. Not that the mosquitos 

 were bad or numerous, but they were aboard. 



I was up at light and, after a bath in the alluvial soup 

 the river furnishes, went on deck. The boat was plowing 

 through a lakelike expanse of water, with islands in all direc- 

 tions. It is difficult for one who has not studied this subject 

 particularly to appreciate how many thousands of islands big 

 and little are crowded into the lower Amazon. The subject is 

 usually dismissed with the time worn statement that Marajo is 

 "twice the size of Massachusetts." Why not say that if all the 

 islands, with Marajo for a base, were piled one upon the other, 

 they would form a pyramid so high that a cannon ball, dropped 

 from the top at half past 7 in the morning, and falling at the 

 rate of 5,280 feet a second, would not reach the base until 

 late in December? 



As the river was rising we passed through and by acres of 

 floating grasses, weeds and logs, the larger masses being easily 

 avoided. About 10 o'clock we entered the Narrows, our chan- 

 nel being perhaps 300 yards wide. On either side the low lying 

 alluvial shores were thick with palms of various kinds, 

 together with Spanish cedars, rubber trees, acacias,, and 

 a great variety of hard woods, over which ran a riot of vines 

 big and little, every inch of land far out into the water being 

 crowded with luxuriant vegetation. 



Herring Bone Tapping. 



[ He', 0/ .it M usee ' !oeldi.] 



would mean hugging the shot' 1 

 avoid the current. It was a rubber 

 boat, and its captain had been mak- 

 ing the river journey for 30 years. 

 There would be no shuffleboard, no 

 pleasantly wasted hours in the smok- 

 ing room, no fascinating acquaint- 

 ances. All of which would give me 

 added time and opportunity for ob- 

 servation and work. 



We boarded the boat in the early 

 afternoon and the Captain promptly 

 gave us the run of the ship. There 

 was no social hall and the chart 

 house deck, above which was the 

 bridge, was roomy, high above the 

 water, screened from sun and rain, 

 and, although the Captain's private 

 domain, he made it ours for the river 

 voyage. If I had outfitted a swell 

 ocean going yacht the equipment 

 would not have been as practical as 

 that afforded by this steady, roomy, 

 matronly freighter. 



mm 



ijvijwaiij 



'M&£'-«*- J 



The Picnic Party at Oncas Island. 



