THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



.-ever the creek, and revealed groups of arbo- 

 lescent arums standing like rows of spectres 

 *.u its banks. We had a glimpse now and 

 then into the black depths of the forest, 

 ^vvhere all was silent except the shrill stridu- 

 lation of wood crickets. Now and then a 

 sudden plunge in the water ahead would 

 *tartle us, caused by heavy fruit or some 

 nocturnal animal dropping from the trees. 

 The two Indians here rested on their paddles, 

 and allowed the canoe to drift with the tide. 

 A pleasant perfume came from the forest, 

 which Raimundo said proceeded from a cane- 

 field. He told me that all this^ laud was 

 owned by large proprietors at Para, who had 

 received grants from time to time from the 

 .-Government for political services. Raimun- 

 do was quite in a talkative humor ; he re- 

 Jateri to me many incidents of the time of the 

 " Cabanagem," as the revolutionary days of 

 1835-6 are popularly called. He said he had 

 been much suspected himself of being a rebel, 

 but declared that the suspicion was unfound- 

 ed. The only complaint he had to make 

 against the white man was, that he monopo- 

 lized the land without having any intention 

 or prospect of cultivating it. He had been 

 turned out of one place where he had squat- 

 ted and cleared a large piece of forest. I be 

 lieve the law of Brazil at this time was that 

 the new lauds should become the property of 

 those who cleared and cultivated them, if 

 their right was not disputed within a given 

 term of years by some one who claimed the 

 proprietorship. This land law has since been 

 repealed, and a new one adopted, founded on 

 that of the United States. Raimundo spoke 

 <rf his race as the red-skins, " pelle vermel- 

 io ;" they meant well to the whites, and only 

 begged to be let alone. " God," he said, 

 "had given room enough for us all." It 

 ivas pleasant to hear the shrewd, good-natured 

 fellow talk in this strain. Our companion, 

 Joaquim, had falltn asleep ; the n'ght air 

 was cool, and the moonlight lit up the fea- 

 tures of Rjiiruundo, revealing a more ani- 

 mated expression than is usually observable 

 in Indian countenances. I always noticed 

 that Indians were more cheerful on a voyage, 

 especially in the cool hours of night and 

 morning, than when ashore. There is some- 

 thing in their constitution of body which 

 makes them feel excessively depressed in the 

 hot hours of the day, especially inside their 

 houses. Their skin is always hot to the 

 touch. They certainly do not endure the 

 heat of their own climate so well as tin) 

 whites. The negroes are totally different in 

 this respect ; the heat of mid-day has very 

 little effect on them, and they dislike the cold 

 nights on the river. 



We arrived at our hunting ground about 

 half-past four. The channel was here 

 broader, and presented several ramifications. 

 It yet wanted an hour and a half to daybreak, 

 so Raimundo recommended me to have 

 nap. We both stretched ourselves oa the 

 benches of the canoe and fell asleep, letting 

 the boa drift with the tide, which was now 

 / 5 If pt well, considering the hardness 



of our bed, and when I awoke, in me middle 

 of a dream about home scenes, the day was 

 beginning to dawn. My clothes were quite 

 wet with the dew. The birds were astir, the 

 cicadas had begub their music, and the 

 Urania Leilus, a strange and beautiful tailed 

 and gilded moth, whose habits are those of a 

 butterfly, commenced to fly in flocks over the 

 tree-tops. Raimundo exclaimed, " Clarcia o 

 dia !" " The day brightens !" The change 

 was rapid ; the sky in the east assumed sud- 

 denly the loveliest azure color, across which 

 streaks of thin white clouds were painted. 

 It is at such moments as this when one feels 

 how beautiful our earth truly is ! The chan- 

 nel on whose waters our little boat was float- 

 ing was ab^ut two hundred yards wide ; 

 others branched off right and left, surround- 

 ing the group of lonely islands which termi- 

 nate the land of Caruapijo. The forest oa 

 all sides formed a lofty hedge without a 

 break ; below, it was fringed with mangrove 

 bushes, whose small foliage contrasted with, 

 the large glossy leaves of the taller trees, or 

 the feather and fan-shaped fronds of palms. 



Being now arrived at our destination, Rai- 

 muudo turned up his trousers and shirt- 

 sleeves, took his long hunting-knife, and 

 leaped ashore with the dogs. He had to cut 

 a gap in order to enter the forest, We ex- 

 pected to find Pacas and Cutias ; and the 

 method adopted to secure them was this : At 

 the preseut early hour they would be seen 

 feeding on fallen fruits, but would quickly, 

 on hearing a noise, betake themselves to tfieir 

 burrows : Raimundo was then to turn them 

 out by means of the dogs and Joaquim and 

 I were to remain in the boat with our guns, 

 ready to shoot all that came to the edge of the 

 stream the habits of both animals, when 

 hard-pressed, being to take to the water. 

 We hud not long to wait. The first arrival 

 was aPaca, a reddish, nearly tailless Rodent, 

 spotted with white on the sides, and interme- 

 diate in size and appearance between a hog 

 and a hare. My first shot did not take effect ; 

 the animal dived into the water and dici not 

 reappear. A second was brought down by 

 my companion as it was rambling about 

 under the mangrove bushes. A Cutia next 

 appeared , this is also a Rodent, about one- 

 third the size of the Paca : it swims, but does 

 not dive, and 1 was fortunate enough to shoot 

 it. We obtained in this way two more Pacas 

 and another Cutia. All the time the dogs 

 were yelping in the forest. Shortly after- 

 ward Raimundo made his appearance, and 

 told us to paddle to the other side of the 

 island. Arrived there, we landed and pre- 

 pared for breakfast. It was a pretty spot a 

 clean, white, sandy beach beneath the shade 

 of wide-spreading trees. Joaquim made a 

 fire. He first scraped fine shavings from the 

 midrib of a Bacaba palm-leaf ; these he piled 

 into a little heap in a dry place, and then 

 struck a light in his bamboo tinder-box with 

 a piece of an old file and a Hint, the tinder 

 being a felt-like, soft substance manufactured 

 by an ant (Polyrhachis bispinosus). By gen- 

 tle blowing the shavings ignited, car stick* 



