762 



THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZON& 



species of the genus, is a very stout-limbed 

 Eciton, the E. crassicornis, whose eyes aie 

 sunk in rather deep sockets. This ant goes 

 on foraging expeditions, like the rest of its 

 tribe, and attacks even the nests of other 

 stinging species (Myrmica), but it avoids the 

 light, always moving in concealment under 

 leaves and fallen branches. When its col- 

 umns have to cross a cleared space, the ants 

 construct a temporary covered way with 

 granules of earth, arched over, and holding 

 together mechanically ; under this the pro- 

 cession passes in secret, the indefatigable 

 creatures repairing their arcade as fast as 

 breaches are made in it. 



Next in order comes the Eciton vastator, 

 which has no eyes, althcmgh the collapsed 

 sockets are plainly visible ; and, lastly, the 

 Eciton erratica, in which both sockets and 

 eyes have disappeared, leaving only a faint 

 ring to mark the place where they are usual- 

 ly situated. The armies of E. vastator and 

 E. erratica move, as far as I could learn, 

 wholly under covered roads, the ants con- 

 structing them gradually but rapidly as they 

 advance. The column of foragers pushes 

 forward step by step under the protection of 

 these covered passages, through the thickets, 

 and on reaching a rotting log or other prom- 

 ising hunting-ground, pour into the crevices 

 in search of booty. I have traced their 

 arcades, occasionally, for a distance of one or 

 two hundred yards ; the grains of earth are 

 taken from the soil over which the column 

 is passing, and are fitted together without 

 cement. It is this last-mentioned feature 

 that distinguishes them from the similar cov- 

 ered roads made by Termites, who use their 

 glutinous sail va to cement the grains together. 

 The blind Ecitons, working in numbers, 

 build up simultaneously the sides of their 

 convex arcades, and contrive, in a surprising 

 manner, to approximate them and fit in the 

 key-stones without letting the loose unce- 

 mented structure fall to pieces. There 

 was a very clear division of labor between 

 the two classes of neuters in these blind spe- 

 cies. The large-headei class, although not 

 possessing monstrously lengthened jaws, like 

 the worker-majors in E. hamata and E. dre- 

 panophora, are rigidly denned in structure 

 from the small-headed class, and act as sol- 

 diers, defending the working community 

 (like soklier Termites) against all comers. 

 Whenever I made a breach in one of their 

 covered ways, all the ants underneath were 

 set in commotion, but the worker-minors re- 

 mained behind to repair the damage, while 

 the large-heads issued forth in a most menac- 

 ing manner, rearing their heads and snap- 

 ping their jaws with an expression of the 

 fiercest rage and defiance. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA. 



Steamboat travelling on the Amazons Passengers 

 Tunantins Caibhaoa Indians The Jutahi The 

 Sap6 Maraua Indians Fonte Boa Journey to St. 

 Paulo Tucuna Indians Illness Descent to 

 Para Changes at Para Departure for Fngland. 



^November 7th, 1850. Embarked on the 

 Upper Amazons steamser, the Tabatinga. for 

 an excursion to Tunantins, a small semi- In- 

 dian settlement, lying 24O miles beyond Ega. 

 The Tabatinga is an iron boat of about l?fr 

 tons burden, built at Rio de Janeiro, andi 

 fitted with engines of fifty-horse power. The 

 saloon, with berths on each side for twenty 

 passengers, is above deck, and open at bolh 

 ends to admit a free- current of air. The? 

 captain or " commandante' r was a lieutenant 

 in the Brazilian navy, a man of polished, 

 sailor-like address, and k rigid disciplina- 

 rian ; his name, Scnhor Nunes Mello Car- 

 dozo. I was obliged, as usual, to take with, 

 me a stock of all articles of food, except 

 meat and fish, for the time I intended to be-, 

 absent (three months) ; and the luggage, in- 

 cluding hammocks, cooking utensils, crock 

 ery, and so forth, formed fifteen large pack- 

 ages. One bundle consisted of a mosquito- 

 tent, an article I had not yet had occasion to- 

 use on the river, but which was indispensable 

 in all excursions beyond Ega, every person, 

 man. woman, and child, requiring one, as- 

 without it existence would be scarcely possi- 

 ble. My tent was about eight feet long and 

 five feet broad, and wa&made of coarse calico- 

 in an oblong shape, with sleeves at each end; 

 through which to pass the cords of a ham- 

 mock. Under this shelter, which is fixed ur> 

 every evening before sundown, one can read 

 and write, or swing in one's hammock dur- 

 ing the long hours which intervene before- 

 bedtime, and feel one's sense of comfort in- 

 creased by having cheated the thirsty swarma 

 of mosquitoes which fill the chamber. 



We were four days- on the road. The? 

 pilot, a mameluco of Ega, whom I knew 

 very well, exhibited a knowledge of the river 

 and powers of endurance which were quite 

 remarkable. He stood all this time at his 

 post, with the exception of three or four 

 hours in the middle of each day, when he 

 was relieved by a young man who served as 

 apprentice ; arid he knew the breadth and 

 windings of the channel and the extent of 

 all the \early-shif ting shoals from the Rio 

 Negro to Loreto, a distance of more than a 

 thousand miles. There was no slackening^ 

 of speed at night, except during the brier 

 but violent storms which occasionally broke 

 upon us, and then the engiues were stopped 

 by the command of Lieutenant Nunes, some- 

 times against the wish of the pilot. The 

 nights were often so dark that we passenger* 

 on the poop deck could not discern the hardy 

 fellow on the bridge ; but the steamer drove 

 on at full speed, men being stationed on the 

 lookout at the prow, to watch for floating 

 logs, and one man placed to pass orders fo- 

 the helmsman ; the keel scraped against a 

 \?nd bank only once during the passage. 



The passengers, were chiefly Peruvians, 

 mostly thin, anxious, Yankee-looking men, 

 who were returning home to the cities of 

 Moyobamba and Chachapoyas, on the Andes, 

 after a trading trip to the Brazilian towns on 

 the Atlantic sea-board, whither they had 

 ^e six months previously, with cargoes of 



