INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



83 



had to cross a shallow river which meant unloading 

 and reloading the cargo. In these parts, although 

 bridges are built, they are not repaired so that 

 there is always a period of several months during 

 which the community has to get along without a 

 bridge. The last truck which tried to cross on 

 the ruined bridge nearby fell into the river and it 

 was said a child was killed in the accident. 

 Although having four or five thousand inhabitants, 

 Rosario has no electric lights, no running water, 

 and no public sewage system. I was interested in 

 this quaint old town with its ancient Catholic 

 church and public square, for it was from here that 

 Von den Steinen, Max Schmidt, and many other 

 anthropologists have headed northeast to the 

 Xingu or northwest to Paressi and Nambicuara 

 country. 



We put up at a "pensao" or inn where we ate 

 our evening meal of rice, beans, and dried meat 

 topped off with "goiabada" (a kind of stiff, very 

 sweet jam) and coffee. The inn was lighted by 

 lamps common in the interior — a tin can filled 

 with kerosene with a round wick sticking out 

 through the top. Later everyone slung his own 

 hammock from the hooks which stuck out all 

 around the walls for this purpose. Our rest was 

 far from peaceful, however, for other trucks kept 

 coming in during the night, the truckers demand- 

 ing food and lodging. 



Next morning at dawn we were on the road and 

 were soon winding up the steep escarpment to the 

 top of the great sandstone plateau which divides 

 the watersheds of the Amazon and the Paraguay 

 Rivers. At noon, over an open fire, the two 

 Brazilian women prepared a lunch of boiled rice 

 and dried salt pork stewed in vinegar, onions, 

 garlic, and tomato paste. At 6 o'clock we arrived 

 at Parecis telegraph station where we put up for 

 the night in an empty rubber storehouse. During 

 the night the south wind began to blow, and the 

 morning broke cold and drizzly. 



After a small cup of coffee we climbed on top 

 of the trucks, wrapped blankets around us, and 

 pulled a tarpaulin over our legs. Although the 

 temperature was not lower than 60° F., the ex- 

 posure to the wind and drizzle caused considerable 

 discomfort, particularly because the temperature 

 of the preceding day had been around 90° F. 



We were now well along on that part of the 

 central plateau known as the Cerra dos Parecis. 



The soil here is sandy and the rainfall insufficient 

 to support a forest. The vegetation consisted of 

 stunted piqui, mangabeira, fruta de lobo, lixeiro, 

 and other gnarled cerrado trees with the surface 

 sparcely covered with bunches of wiry grass and 

 other drought-resistant plants. During the whole 

 day we saw only four deer and two rheas, which 

 gives some idea of the poverty of the area. This 

 is public domain and apparently unwanted by 

 stockmen owing to its poor soil and lack of water. 

 By now we had left the telegraph line, which 

 crosses unbridged rivers, and were winding around 

 the headwaters of the streams. That night we 

 camped at Sucuruina where two palm-leaf-cov- 

 ered sheds, left by "tropeiros," provided some 

 shelter from the drizzling rain. 



The following day the skies cleared and from the 

 tops of the folds in the plateau we obtained 

 magnificient views of the great plain. What few 

 trees could be seen were no more than 5 or 6 feet 

 high. A curious phenomena seen along the plateau 

 are the patches of forest of 5 to 10 acres in extent 

 which appear to grow straight out of the semi- 

 desert. Evidently ground water comes near the 

 surface in these spots, permitting the growth of a 

 genuine forest. Another interesting sight was the 

 birth of rivers. In the shallow valleys formed by 

 the folds, one could first see swampy ground, then 

 tall grass, then bushes, then short trees, and 

 finally the tall trees forming a "galeria" forest 

 which bordered a river winding its way northward 

 to form one of the headwaters of the Amazon 

 system. 



At 4 o'clock we arrived at the Sacre River where 

 the trucks had to be ferried across on a raft. 

 As this operation took until dark we camped for 

 the night in some vacant buildings left by rubber 

 workers. Before leaving next morning we visited 

 the waterfall (Salto Bello) about 200 yards below 

 the ferry where the Sacre River tumbles over a 

 sheer drop of about 180 feet. Early in the after- 

 noon we reached the Papagaio River and after 

 ferrying the trucks across we were in Utiarity. 

 Both the Sacre and the Papagaio are deep clear 

 streams about 100 yards in width at the ferry 

 crossings. These headwater streams are evidently 

 fed by underground water, for their level does not 

 vary appreciably during the year. 



Utiarity, which was to be our base camp for the 

 remainder of June and for July, is built on an 



