THE SALTO BELLO 181 



like the, ordinary Brazilian caboclos, as the poor back- 

 woods peasants, usually with little white blood in them, 

 are colloquially and half- derisively styled — caboclo being 

 originally a Guarany word meaning "naked savage." 

 Thfese two Indians were in the employ of the Tele- 

 graphic Commission, and had been patrolling the 

 telegraph-line. The bullock carried their personal 

 belongings and the tools with which they could repair 

 a break. The commission pays the ordinary Indian 

 worker 66 cents a day ; a very good worker gets $1, and 

 the chief $1.66. No man gets anything unless he works. 

 Colonel Rondon, by just, kindly, and understanding 

 treatment of these Indians, who previously had often 

 been exploited and maltreated by rubber-gatherers, has 

 made them the loyal friends of the government. He 

 has gathered them at the telegraph stations, where they 

 cultivate fields of mandioc, beans, potatoes, maize, and 

 other vegetables, and where he is introducing them to 

 stock-raising ; and the entire work of guarding and 

 patrolling the line is theirs. 



After six hours' march we came to the crossing of the 

 Rio Sacre at the beautiful waterfall appropriately called 

 the Salto Bello. This is the end of the automobile road. 

 Here there is a small Parecfs village. The men of the 

 village work the ferry by which everything is taken 

 across the deep and rapid river. The ferry-boat is made 

 of planking placed on three dugout canoes, and runs on 

 a trolley. Before crossing we enjoyed a good swim in 

 the swift, clear, cool water. The Indian village, where 

 we camped, is placed on a jutting tongue of land round 

 which the river sweeps just before it leaps from the 

 overhanging precipice. The falls themselves are very 

 lovely. .Fust above them is a wooded island, but the 

 river joins again before it races forward for the final 



