THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



Terms, Four Dollars b Tear. ) 

 Ten Cents a Copy. f 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1877. 



J Volume 9.— No. 7. 

 iNo. Ill JFalton St., N. T. 



OUR EVENING CAMP FIRE. 



Pile high the fagots ! See the bright flames play I 

 Come forward, doughty fishermen, 

 And while our damp fire gilds the glen, 



Relate the chief adventures of the day ; 



Discoursing thus of piscatorial fray. 

 We'll " fight our battles o'er again." 



Mark how the leafy branches in the air, 



Responsive to the rising heat, 



Form many a waving banner, meet 

 For regal bivouac, as though aware 

 That underneath their folds proud victors share 



The honors of King Trout's defeat ! 



Be modest, ye braves of mimic war, 



For though a fisher tells a tale 



Himself believes, his friend might fail, 

 In telling him to find belief therefor I 

 "Fish stories" all true fishermen abhor; 



Let naked truth alone prevail. 



The longest hours of winter eve were fleet 



If graced by narratives like these ; 



Yet tales thus told are but the lees 

 Of wine fresh drawn and drank in such retreat 

 As this, with Nature's beauties all replete, 



Beside our camp fire 'neath the trees. 



The Are burns low and we are prone to drowse. 



The songs all sung, the tales all told, 



The back-log to its place is rolled ; 

 Then, each to each renewing friendship's vows, 

 We seek our springy, fragrant beds of boughs, 



And sleep our childhood's sleep of old. 



M. A. KlNQSFOBD. 



loufh 



lmqr t ii[8n ^^t[inimtt[tm. 



TN 186— I joined the IT. S. S. Sloop, X awaiting orders 



■*- in Hampton Eoads, off Fortress Monroe, near the Rip 

 Eaps. We were delayed a week or more although ready for 

 sea, but the time was well employed in drilling and "break- 

 ing into the traces " a new crew. It was not long before every 

 one had found his proper place, for the navy is a great leveler 

 and the "equal rights of man" that Jack Easy sought, are 

 found, as in his case, on board a man of war— that is each one 

 has an equal right to do as he pleases, providing he pleases the 

 captain. 



Sailing orders received, the anchor was withdrawn from 

 the sands of the "Eoads," and we stood out to sea. The 

 crew were mustered, the customary speech by the command- 

 ing officer spoken, the flag saluted and ship cheered ; the 

 pilot left us with the mail bag, and we were fairly outside the 

 Capes of Chesapeake. For seven days the wind was strong 

 from the southward, next it shifted suddenly to NNE, making 

 a heavy, wallowing sea, and then hauling to the westward, 

 blew with such violence as to make the ship uncomfortable ; 

 she fairly staggered under the force of the gale, and her lee 

 guns swept the billows, forcing us to take in to' gallant sails, 

 and sails and courses. Our ship, however, sustained the high 

 opinions we had of her good qualities, behaving admirably, 

 and averaging eight and a half knots without steam. On the 

 third day this blow came to an end, the weather cleared, and 

 our hearts were gladdened with a gentle breeze to waft us on 

 *>ur way. 

 Much as I had heard and read of the Gulf Stream, I was never- 

 theless astonished at its magnitude ; its volume being a thou- 

 sand times greater than that of the Mississippi or Amazon, and 

 its banks of cold water more clearly defined than those of either 

 of these rivers at flood. So clear is the line of demarcation be- 

 tween the warm waters of this oceanic river and its cool, liquid 

 banks, that a ship sailing along may be half in the stream and 

 half out, and a bucket of water dipped from one side will be 

 twenty degrees cooler than one drawn from the other. 



The thirteenth day out from the capes of " Old Dominion " 

 our trade wind left us, and steam was employed for the first 

 time. Four days later and our anchor was dropped in the 

 harbor of St. Pierre, island of Martinique, where we remained 

 but forty-eight hours. Even this short stay enabled us to ram- 

 ble through some of the groves and gardens, among which the 

 ess Josephine passed her girlhood. By foe way the 

 :ied Madame de Maintenon— the concubine, or morgan- 

 atic wife of Louis XIV., who wielded a greater power than 



e'er a queen over the destinies of the French— was also for a 

 time a resident of this isle. A third resident of Martinique 



was Aiinee Le , who, with Josephine, forms one of the 



graceful traditions of the island, and one who none the less 

 graced a throne, though by becoming the mistress of the harem 

 of a Turkish Sultan. The story of the wierd, unearthly, aged 

 negress and her prophecies, to which the biographers of Jose- 

 phine give credence, and in which Aimee, her friend, was also 

 included, has a basis of probability; for not only do African 

 superstitions prevail, but Obi rites are still indulged in secretly, 

 and in them many Creoles as well as blacks have,implicit faith. 

 Leaving this beautiful isle— all the Windward isles are beau- 

 tiful, we pass within view of the Barbadoes with their wind- 

 mill crowned hills, and slowly force our way through the blue 

 water toward the great tropical river, the Amazon. We first 

 encounter the flood of the stupendous stream as a broad, yel- 

 low belt, cleaving the blue waters of the ocean for a hundred 

 or more miles from land. We enter the delta at a fortunate 

 juncture, witnessing the phenomena of a conflict between the 

 ascending tide and the descending flood of the river just 

 ahead. This is the pororocca which frequently causes a wave 

 fifteen feet in height where the stream is shallowest. At this 

 time, however, it did not exceed five feet, possibly less. This 

 gives character to the navigation of the Amazon for some hun- 

 dreds of miles, and such is the force of the ascending tide that 

 sailing craft can make no headway against it, but are forced to 

 anchor until the turn ; hence the navigation is measured by 

 tides. This perturbation of the waters is more violent on the 

 northern side of the island of Marajo, where the river is 

 wider and much more shallow. 



Belem, or Para, is the principal city of the Amazon, and 

 with the exception of Quito, the only town of considerable 

 size situated upon the equatorial, its latitude being 1 deg. 28 

 min. South. Its site occupies an elevated point of land on the 

 right bank of the Para, as this most important mouth of the 

 Amazon is called, eighty miles from the ocean. "The road- 

 stead is good, being formed by an abrupt curve of the stream, 

 and admitting vessels of the deepest draught. The opposite 

 bank is formed by the great island of Marajo, twenty miles 

 away, though entirely obscured by intervening and smaller isles. 

 One is struck with the first view of Para, not only with the 

 appearance of the town, but its inhabitants, Indian blood 

 seeming to predominate. The Brazilian aborigine may here 

 be seen, both in pure blood and every possible admixture with 

 white and black. The mixed breeds which now form proba- 

 bly the greater part of the population, have each a distinguish- 

 ing name. Mameluco denotes the offspring of white with In- 

 dian ; Mulatto, that of white with Negro ; Caf uzo, the mixture 

 of the Indian and Negro ; Curiboco, the cross between the Ca- 

 fuzo and the Indian; Xibaro, that between the Caf uzo and 

 Negro. These are seldom, however, well demarcated, and all 

 shades of color exist ; the names are generally applied only 

 approximatively. The term Creole is confined to negroes born 

 in the country, and not to all indigenous races as in the West 

 Indies. The civilized Indian is called Tapuyo or Caboclo. 

 Such occupy every station in society, being merchants, 

 sailors, priests and slaves. Probably no city in the world 

 possesses a greater number of foreign residents in propor- 

 tion to its population than Para. English, Norwegian, 

 Danes, Swedes, Gauls, Italians, Germans, Greeks, North 

 Americans, Spaniards, Hebrews, Chinese, Malays and Japan- 

 ese, all have representatives here. The foreign population, 

 however, is not a stable one, the majority of them being but 

 adventurers, who come merely for the purpose of makin°- for- 

 tunes, after which, if successful, they return, or seek the 

 more brilliant metropolis. Still the monte and roulette tables 

 or the " wheel of fortune " forces many to become fixtures, 

 though the gambling hells have nothing in the way of attrac- 

 tion other than the excitement of gaming. There are no lux- 

 uriously furnished, brilliantly lighted palaces, as in North 

 American cities ; on the contrary, they are usually the vilest 

 hovels, but nevertheless are well patronized. 



The buildings present an array of white walls and red tiled 

 roofs, those used as dwellings being particularly well adapted 

 to the climate. A wide veranda is an essential portion of 

 every habitation, often extending quite around the building, 

 while a similar construction prevails on at least three sides of 

 the spacious courtyard within. A part of the inner veranda, 

 or a room connected with it, serves as the dining room, and is 

 always airy and pleasant. Latticed windows are more com- 



mon than glass, but some residents possess both, the prefer- 

 ence always being given to the rooms that possess the former 

 during pleasant weather. Then, too, instead of the dark and 

 unventilated rooms or alcoves with sweltering beds for sleep- 

 ing, so common with us at the North, they have hooks for the 

 suspension of hammocks across the corners of the large rooms, 

 and transversely aloDg the entire sweep of the verandas, so 

 that each dwelling is capable of accommodating fifty or sixty 

 guests each night with the least possible inconvenience. 



The plan on which the city is laid out possesses both regu- 

 larity and taste. It has a number of public squares and gar- 

 dens, and the streets are all macadamized. There is a marked 

 proportion of commodious and substantial houses, which 

 are built in the Italian style of architecture, although many 

 of the dwellings upon the less important streets are di- 

 minutive in size and inferior in construction. The Custom 

 House was formerly a church of the Jesuits, and still retains 

 its ecclesiastical aspect in spite of its secular employment. 

 One of our officers remarked that, to be in keeping, all 

 documents emanating from the customs should be written 

 in Latin, to which a Brazilian gentleman replied : " Such 

 is very nearly the case, Portuguese being the half sister of that 

 language." The officials all speak English and French with 

 fluency, which put our bungling attempts at Portuguese to 

 shame ; furthermore they are universally polite, an accom- 

 plishment decidedly in bad odor among similar personages in 

 our own country. The rule seems to be in Brazil to appoint 

 only gentlemen to office, but with us, if it is not a rule, it 

 seems to be a fact that boors and knaves have the preference. 

 ^ The convent of San Antonio is another prominent ecclesias- 

 tical building put to secular uses, being occupied by the Ama- 

 zon Steam Navigation Co. The hospital was once the Con- 

 vent of San Jose, and the barracks of the standing army the 

 residence of the Carmelite order. Yet the city has numerous 

 churches as well as an elegant and substantial cathedral, with 

 high bell towers, constructed of stone which was brought 

 from Em-ope for the purpose. The educated Brazilian is emi- 

 nently more progressive than his Portuguese ancestor, and to- 

 tally devoid of the foolish and superstitious reverence the lat- 

 ter possesses for religious objects. It is said that the Pope ap- 

 pointed and sent a legate to the Imperial Court at one time, 

 with the expectation that his salary, fees, etc., would be paid 

 by the empire. The Senate decided that his Holiness should 

 pay his own servants, as Brazil had no use for them, and so 

 informed him. 



Trade at Para is brisk, a prominent feature being the snake 

 merchant, who perambulates the streets soliciting purchasers, 

 the box or barrel upon his head containing his merchandise! 

 These serpents are of the boa species, and much esteemed by 

 the Paranese as exterminators of vermin, and are held in much 

 the same estimation as a good mouser would be at home. 

 Every house is the possessor of at least one, many having 

 three or f our. It is unnecessary to say that they are harmless, 

 and they are admirable for the purposes for which they are 

 sold. EVery square also has its parrot and monkey merchant, 

 who undoubtedly drives a good trade among the sailors, Jack's 

 fondness for pets being proverbial the world over. There was 

 hardly a ship in the harbor that did not possess at least half a 

 dozen of each. Howling monkeys, monkeys with non-pre- 

 hensile tails, fox-tailed monkeys and squirrel monkeys, all were 

 to be had at prices within the reach of all, even a cabin boy. 

 Being seized with the Simian mania, I purchased a pair of 

 graceful and handsome little animals known as ouistitis or 

 marmosets. These are favorite pets with the Brazilian 

 ladies, and are rarely seen outside of the limits of the empire 

 even in the best zoological collections. They are not wanting 

 in beauty, and are exceedingly nimble and acute. In size 

 they are somewhat smaller than a gray squirrel, and possess 

 thrice the intelligence of the latter. The skin is like Chin- 

 chilla fur, and their wise little faces present none of the repul- 

 sive features of other monkeys. In action they are most 

 graceful and rapid, and it is a treat to see the little fellows pur- 

 sue and capture flies and insects, or see them devour a mouse. 

 When one of the latter was caught, its captor began at his 

 snout, carefully pushing back the skin, eating bones and all 

 until the tail was reached which was all that was left in- 

 side of the pelt. They would scamper up the rigging with 

 ten times the rapidity of the nimblest seaman, and if a bird 

 chanced to light, pursued it from rope to rope until it settled 

 upon a spar, when one would quickly pass along the under 



