Gums, Resins, 



390 



[November, 1910, 



Another secured for ine the cabin de 

 luxe on a fine Hamburg-American boat 

 and outlined a river journey princely in 

 its comfort and very speedy. This I 

 refused, although with real regret. I 

 had my eye on one ot the smaller Booth 

 boats that had accommodation for only 

 two, myself and companion. It was a 

 freight boat, going upriver almost empty 

 which would mean hugging the shores 

 to avoid the current. It was a rubber 

 boat and its captain had been making 

 the river journey for thirty years. There 

 would be no shuffieboard, no pleasantly 

 wasted hours in the smoking room, no 

 fascinating acquaintances. All of which 

 would give me added time and opportu- 

 nity for observation and work. 



We boarded the boat in the early 

 afternoon and the Captain promptly 

 gave us the run of the ship. There was 

 no social hall and the chart house deck, 

 above which was the bridge, was roomy, 

 high above the water, screened from sun 

 and rain, and, although the captain's 

 private domain, he made it ours for the 

 river voyage. If I had outfitted a swell 

 ocean going yacht the equipment would 

 not have been as practical as that 

 afforded by this steady, roomy, mat- 

 ronly freighter. 



The anchor came up about 5 in the 

 afternoon and, facing a pleasant breeze, 

 with half of the propeller out of water, 

 " grinding air " we started out through 

 the tangle of low, heavily wooded 

 islands that cluster about the mouths of 

 the Para and Tocantins rivers, heading 

 for the " Narrows " in the care of two 

 Indian pilots who knew the many 

 channels day or night by instinct. Un- 

 less it came on to rain very heavily we 

 would run all night. It was soon too 

 dark to see much, so I turned in. 



Scenery on the Amazon. 



Every one asserts that there is no 

 need of mosquito bars going up or down 

 the Amazon, but I had mine adjusted in 

 spite of the pitying smile on the face of 

 my companion, who didn't unpack his. 

 I had an extremely self satisfied feeling 

 when I awoke about midnight and 

 heard him at work hastily getting his 

 protector into position. Not that the 

 mosquitoes were bad or numerous, but 

 they were aboard. 



1 was up at light, and, after a bath in 

 the alluvial soup the river furnishes, 

 went on deck. The boat was plowing 

 through a lake-like expanse of water, 

 with islands in all directions. It is diffi- 

 cult for one who has not studied this 

 subject particularly to appreciate how 

 many thousands of islands big and little 

 are crowded into the lower Amazon, 



The subject is usually dismissed with 

 the time worn statement that Marajo 

 is "twice the size of Massachusetts." 

 Why not say that if all the islands, 

 with Marajo for a base, were piled 

 one upon the other, they would form 

 a pyramid so high that a cannon ball, 

 dropped from the top at half past 

 seven in the morning, and falling at the 

 rate of 5,280 feet a second, would not 

 reach the base until late in December ? 



As the river was rising we passed 

 through and by acres of floating grasses, 

 weeds and logs, the larger masses being 

 easily avoided. About 10 o'clock we 

 entered the Narrows, our channel being 

 perhaps 300 yards wide. On either side 

 the low-lying alluvial shores were thick 

 with palms of various kinds; together 

 with Spanish cedars, rubber trees, aca- 

 cias, and a great variety of hard woods, 

 over which ran a riot of vines big and 

 little, every inch of land far out into the 

 water being crowded with luxuriant 

 vegetation. 



Many of the vines and trees were 

 masses of beautiful flowers, and while 

 the epiphytes and orchids that clung to 

 and clustered on trunks and branches 

 did not show many blooms, they added 

 to the decorative effect wonderfully. 

 We looked here for the manatee, or sea 

 cow, which lives in these waters, suckles 

 its young, and lives out its quiet un- 

 eventful life, shyly avoiding everything 

 animate but its own kin. But we had 

 no luck. 



Every now and then we passed a 

 seringueiro's hat, or barraco close to the 

 water's edge, built cn posts above the 

 rise of the river, while in front of it 

 w r ere tethered one or more canoes, the 

 only means of transport, and indeed of 

 refuge, when the water is very high. 

 These huts were simple in construction, 

 made of poles lashed together with 

 bush rope, the sloping roofs covered 

 with broad palm leaves. The floors 

 were of rough hewn logs, with a pile of 

 clay or earth for a fire place and no 

 chimney, Often times the whole front 

 of a hut was open. 



So close did we run to the shore that 

 we could see the owners idling in their 

 hammocks and many times surprised 

 coveys of naked children, who promptly 

 fled to cover, only to venture out when 

 we got by. Some of the older ones, to 

 be sure, would jump into canoes and 

 paddle toward us, coming close to the 

 stern as we passed so that the wash of 

 the steamer tossed their frail craft up 

 and down most perilously, which adven- 

 ture they hailed with shrill squeals of 

 delight. 



