THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



729 



tinn. The superiority of the fruit on the 

 Solimoens to that grown on the Lower Ama- 

 "Z'ms, and in the neighborhood of Para, is 

 very striking. At Ega it is generally as large 

 ;as full-sized peach, and when boiled almost 

 .as mealy as a potato ; while at Para it is no 

 bigger than a walnut, and the pulp is fibrous. 

 Bunches of sterile or seedless fruits some- 

 times occur in both districts. It is one of 

 the principal articles of food at Ega when in 

 season, and is boiled and eaten with treacle 

 or salt. A dozen of the seedless fruits make 

 a good nourishing meal for a grown-up per- 

 son. It is the general belief that there is 

 more nutriment in Pupunha than in fish or 

 Vacca marina. 



The seasons in the Upper Amazons region 

 offer some points of difference from those of 

 the lower river and the district of Para, which 

 two sections of the country we have already 

 seen also differ considerably. The year at 

 Ega is divided according to the rises and falls 

 of the river, with which coincide the wet and 

 dry periods. All the principal transactions 

 of life of the inhabitants are regulated by 

 1 hese yearly recurring phenomena. The pe- 

 culiarity of Jhis upper region consists in 

 there being two rises and two falls within the 

 year. The great annual rise commences 

 -about the end of February, and continues to 

 the middle of June, during which the river* 

 and lakes, confined during the dry periods to 

 I heir ordinary beds, gradually swell, and 

 overflow all the lower lands. The inunda- 

 tion progresses gently, inch by inch, and is 

 felt everywhere, even in the interior of the 

 forests, of the higher lands, miles away from 

 the river ; as these are traversed by numer- 

 ous gullies, forming, in the fine season, dry 

 spacious dells, which become gradually 

 transformed by the pressure of the flood into 

 broad creeks, navigable by small boats, un- 

 der the shade of trees. All the countless 

 swarms of turtle of various species then leave 

 the main river for the inland pools ; sand- 

 banks go underwater, and the flocks of wad- 

 ing birds then migrate northerly to the upper 

 waters of the tributaries which flow from 

 that direction, or to the Orinoco ; which 

 streams during the wet period of the Ama- 

 zons are enjoying the cloudless skies of their 

 dry season. The families of fishermen who 

 have been employed, during the previous four 

 or five months, in harpooning and salting 

 pirarucu and shooting turtle m the great 

 lakes, now return to the towns and villages, 

 heir temporarily constructed fishing cstab- 

 ishments becoming gradually submerged, 

 with the sand islets or beaches on which 

 hey were situated. This is the season, how- 

 ver, iii which the Brazil-nut and wild cacao 

 ipen, and many persons go out to gather 

 hese harvests, remaining absent generally 

 hroughout the months of March and April. 

 The rains during this time are not contmu- 

 )us ; they fall very heavily at times, but 

 arely last so long at a stretch as twenty-four 

 hours, and many days intervene of pleasant, 

 unny weather. The sky, however, is geu- 

 rally overcast and gloomy, and sometimes a - 



drizzling rain falls. 



About the fiistweek in June the flood is at 

 its highest, the water being then about 

 forty-five feet above its lowest point ; but it 

 vuries in different years to the extent of about 

 fifteen feet. The " euchente," or flow, as it 

 is called by the natives, who telieve this 

 great annual movement of the waters to be 

 of the same nature as the tide toward the 

 mouth of the Amazons, is then completed, 

 and all begin to look forward to the 

 ' ' vasante, ' ' or ebb. The provision made for 

 the dearth of the wet season is by this time 

 pretty nearly exhausted ; fish is difficult to 

 procure, and many of the less provident in- 

 habitants have become reduced to a diet of 

 fruits and farinha porridge. 



The fine season begins with a few days of 

 brilliant weather furious hot sun, with pass- 

 ing clouds. Idle men and women, tired of 

 the dulness and confinement of the flood sea- 

 son, begin to report on returning from their 

 morning bath, the oessation of the flow : as 

 agoas estad paradas, " the waters ba^e 

 stopped." The muddy streets, in a few 

 days, dry up ; groups of young fellows are 

 now seen seated on the shadj sides of the 

 cottages, making arrows and knitting fish- 

 ing-nets, with tucum twine ; others are busy 

 patching up and calking their canoes, large 

 and small : in fact, preparations are made on 

 all sides for the much longed-for " verao"' or 

 summer, and the " migration, "as it is called, 

 of fish and turtle ; that is, their descent from 

 the inaccessible pools in the forest to the 

 main river. Toward the middle of July the 

 sand-banks begin to reappear above the sur- 

 face of the waters, and with this change 

 come floc'ks of sandpipers and gulls, which 

 latter make known the advent of the fine sea- 

 son, as the cuckoo does of the European 

 spring, uttering almost incessantly their 

 plaintive cries as they fly about over the 

 shallow waters of sandy shores. Most of 

 the gayly-plumaged birds have now finished 

 moulting, and begin to be more active ; n the 

 forest. 



The fall continues to the middle of \jc o- 

 ber, with the intei ruption of a partial ris^ call- 

 ed " repiquet," of a few inches in the midst 

 of very dry weather in September, caused by 

 the swollen contribution 01 some large afflu 

 ent higher up the river. The amount of sub- 

 sidence also vaiies considerably, but it is 

 never HO great as to interrupt navigation by 

 large vessels. The greater it is the more 

 abundant is the season. Every one is pros, 

 perous -when the waters are low, the shallow 

 bays and pools being then crowded with the 

 concentrated population of fish and turtle. 

 All the peopV, men, women, and children, 

 leavo the villages, and spend the few weeks 

 of glorious weather rambling over the vast 

 undulating expanses of sand in the middle of 

 the Solimoens, fishing, hunting, collecting 

 eggs of turtle and pi oveis, and thoroughly 

 enjoying themselves. The inhabitants pray 

 always for a " vasante grande," or great bb. 



From the middle of October to the begin* 

 ning of January the second wet season gore* 



