486 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan.  2,  1893. 
convey  the  extent  and  richness  of  this  vast  reserve 
and  the  absurdity  of  the  cry  that  the  world  is  getting 
overcowded.  Why,  we  have  only  as  yet  been  nibbling 
at  the  outside  borders,  and  now  trying  to  peep  over 
the  walls  of  the  great  garden  itself.  The  extent  of 
this  forest  is  probably  three  million  square  miles, 
equal  to  about  40  Great  Britains. 
“From  Plymouth  to  Peterhead,  ’ said  Mr.  Stanley, 
in  describing  the  extent  of  forest  he  came  across  in 
Africa — but  here  is  a forest  stretching  as  far  as 
from  Plymouth  to  Timbuctoo — with  a few  hundred 
miles  to  spare  1 In  estimating  this,  I adopt  the  figures 
of  that  very  reliable  authority,  Alfred  Russell 
Wallace,  who  travelled  in  the  lower  portions  of  this 
forest  for  some  three  years,  and  whose  definition 
of  the  upper  Peruvian  boundaries  I can  confirm. 
Behind  us  tower  the  snowcapped  Cordilleras  from 
which  the  ever  watchful  condor  swoops  down  in 
search  of  prey ; and  woe  to  the  unwary  traveller 
who  may  be  found  sleeping  or  exhausted  on 
these  distant  and  dismal  mountain  passes ; but  our 
immediate  surroundings  are  mild  and  peaceful 
to  a degree,  the  faint  buzzing  of  bees,  the  subdued 
chirping  of  finely  feathered  birds,  the  flutter 
of  brilliant  butterflies  being  the  only  commotion  in 
the  air,  itself  the  perfection  of  summer  temperature. 
What  a glorious  spot  in  which  to  form  a quiet, 
comfortable  home  1 Quiet,  it  certainly  would  be. 
Lonely  it  might  seem  to  those  accustomed  to  town 
life,  but  healthy  it  could  scarcely  fail  to  be  at  this 
altitude,  where  the  climate  seems  similar  to  that  of 
the  best  parts  of  Great  Britain,  say  Braemar,  in 
August.  Imagine  this  all  the  year  round,  every  month 
seed  time  and  every  month  harvest.  What  crops 
of  vegetables  and  fruit  might  not  be  produced  in  such 
a climate  and  in  such  a soil  1 Had  poor  old  Malthus 
only  been  permitted  to  look  upon  a country  like 
this,  so  rich,  and  yet  so  tenantless,  his  pessimistic 
fears  of  the  population  outgrowing  the  means  of 
sustenance  would  have  quickly  vanished. 
Right  below  we  could  see  the  River  Perene  wend- 
ing its  way  to  swell  the  mighty  Amazon,  and 
our  object  now  was  to  get  down  to  this  tributary. 
Unfortunately,  we  had  lingered  rather  too  long 
over  this  view  and  it  was  four  o’clock  ere  we  felt 
inclined  to  move.  Better  for  us  had  we  pitched 
our  camp  there  for  the  night,  but  we  were  induced 
once  more,  against  our  better  judgment,  to  believe 
the  padre,  who  declared  he  could  in  two  hours  take 
us  to  the  house  of  one  King  Chokery,  a Chuncho 
ohief.  “I  know  the  way,”  he  said,  as  he  mounted 
his  mule,  but  scarcely  had  he  gone  a hundred  yards 
when  the  so-called  way  became  impassable,  each  step 
being  something  like  from  a mantelpiece  to  the 
floor.  For  a time  we  dragged  the  poor  animals  after 
us,  but  ultimately  had  to  leave  them  behind,  plun- 
ging into  the  forest  again  just  as  it  was  getting  dusk. 
We  were  now  down  to  about  2,000  feet  above  sea 
level.  The  air  was  very  steamy  and  the  vegetation 
most  luxuriant,  but  we  were  past  the  stage  of  study- 
ing botany.  Tantalised  by  thorny  creepers  like  the 
“wait  a bit”  of  Ceylon,  tripped  up  by  gnarled  roots, 
rising  again  only  to  have  our  hats  knocked  of  by  an 
overhanging  branch;  elegant  fern  trees  and  beauti- 
ful palms  may  be  there,  but  we  are  in  no  mood  to 
admire.  We  now  come  to  a newly-burned  clearing 
intended  for  Yucca,  as  we  afterwards  learned.  It 
is  not  the  first  clearing  we  had  scrambled  through 
by  any  means,  but  this  had  been  so  bad>y  lopped  that 
the  fire  had  only  succeeded  in  burning  the  leaves  and 
blackening  the  branches.  To  scramble  through  such  a 
confused  mass  in  daylight  tries  the  best  of  tempers. 
You  can  imagine  what  it  was  for  tired  men  in  the 
dark.  We  plodded  on,  however,  ashamed  to  think 
how  we  had  again  been  befooled  by  the  dissembling 
priest,  shouting  till  we  were  all  hoarse  and  listening 
only  to  the  echo  from  the  opposite  ridge.  Still  we 
knew,  if  we  kept  on  descending,  we  must,  sooner 
or  later,  come  to  the  river.  But  our  strength  and 
patience  were  getting  sadly  exhausted  and  every  five 
minutes  we  had  to  sit  down  to  breathe,  the  perspira- 
tion pouring  from  us  in  little  streams. 
The  night  was  calm,  and  a death-like  silence 
reigned  all  around  ; not  even  a jaguar  growled  not, 
?!  monkey  chattered,  but  we  oould  now  Bear  the  dia- 
tant  murmur  of  the  water,  and  “ Oh  Caramba  1 " a 
human  voice  at  length  answered  our  call.  Nearer 
and  nearer  we  drew  to  the  spot;  and  at  length, 
through  an  opening  in  the  jungle,  saw  the  swinging 
of  a fire  stick.  A few  minutes  more,  and  half  our 
troubles  were  forgotten  in  shaking  hands  with  the 
owner  of  the  welcome  voice. 
This  gentleman  turned  out  to  be  the  king's  medical 
adviser.  I do  not  know  if  he  had  taken  his  M.D. , 
but  the  learned  doctor  had  at  least  one  European 
word,  which  he  used  to  good  effect,  “ Amigo  1 Amigo  | " 
he  said,  as  he  shook  hands  with  us.  It  turned  out 
the  king  was  prostrate  with  fever. 
The  palace  was  simply  a thatched  roof,  supported 
by  a few  jungle  trees,  and  on  a raised  bench  in  the 
centre  of  the  only  apartment,  lay  his  Majesty, 
groaning.  Our  chief  priest  cautiously  approached, 
unbuckled  his  flask,  a sort  of  bladder  he  always 
carried  well  primed  with  rum  (the  only  spiritual 
matter  he  dealt  in).  The  tube  attached  to  this,  he 
placed  in  the  royal  mouth,  into  which  he  injected 
a liberal  supply  of  the  spirit,  which,  for  the  moment, 
had  the  desired  effect.  The  king,  lifting  his  head, 
indicated  that  we  might  be  permitted  to  lie  down 
on  the  earthen  floor  at  his  feet,  and  there  we  lay. 
supperless  and  saturated  with  perspiration,  till  next 
morning,  I arose,  I need  scarcely  say,  but  little 
refreshed.  But  then,  the  surroundings  were  so  in- 
tensely interesting,  that  I soon  forgot  my  aching  limbs 
as  I gazed  upon  the  marvellously  beautiful  vegetation. 
We  were  within  a hundred  yards  of  the  river  Perene, 
and  after  a bath  in  its  clear  tepid  water,  I felt  fit 
to  tackle  the  Manioca  roots  upon  which  we  break- 
fasted. Our  surroundings  in  the  palace  were,  however, 
very  filthy,  and  the  curiosity  displayed  by  the  royal 
family  became  rather  inconvenient  as  they  grew  more 
familiar.  They  had  never,  for  instance,  seen  human 
beings  with  anything  in  the  shape  of  beards  before, 
and  seemed  greatly  amused  as  they  looked  and  came 
to  rather  closely  handle  us.  The  queen,  by  the  way, 
seriously  suggested  that  your  humble  servant  would 
be  much  improved  by  being  well  tattooed,  and  ac- 
tually proposed  carrying  the  operation  into  effect 
herself,  a decoration,  however,  which,  to  her  great  dis- 
appointment, I,  being  a modest  man,  protested  against. 
For  day  after  day  we  had  to  remain  the  involun- 
tary guests  of  this  curious  household.  Our  object  was 
to  get  down  the  river,  and  we  had  to  await  the  re- 
covery of  the  king  before  labour  could  be  commanded, 
and  balsas  (rafts)  made.  But  the  time  was  not 
altogether  wasted,  for  we  made  daily  excursions  in- 
to the  forest,  with  increasing  interest  and  admiration. 
Never  had  I seen  such  a variety  of  plants.  It  is  one 
of  the  characteristics  of  tropical  vegetation  that 
plants  of  the  same  family  are  less  sociable  as  it 
were,  than  in  the  cooler  regions  of  the  world;  in 
North  America  for  instance,  the  same  dark  green 
pine  covered  thosands  of  square  miles  and,  in 
Australia,  the  dingy  eucalypti  and  myrtle  mono- 
polise half  the  ground;  or,  nearer  home,  where  that 
most  sociable  of  all  plants,  our  heather,  still  covers 
a very  large  extent  of  ouroouniry.  There  is  nothing 
of  that  kind  in  the  purely  tropical  regions,  and  here, 
in  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Amazon,  the  variety 
is  almost  incredible.  Scarcely  two  plants  of  the  same 
family  can  be  seen  growing  side  by  side.  Diversity 
is  the  rule,  nature  delighting  both  in  variety  and 
contrasts,  one  tree  upright  as  an  Arecapalm,  another 
sloping  over  a chasm  ; one  with  bark,  smooth  as 
ivory,  the  next  prickly  as  “Acacia  horrida.”  Ex- 
ceptions there  are,  and  one  may  be  seen  by  the 
river  banks,  viz.,  the,  Balso  wood  (Ochroma piscatona), 
as  if  providentially  placed  there  for  the  natives, 
who  invariably  use  its  remarkably  light  wood  for 
their  rafts.  The  Ochroma  has  a cottonlike  fruit, 
which  might  be  used  for  stuffing  mattresses,  &c. 
The  graceful  ivory  palm  (Phytelephas),  may  also 
be  seen  in  small  groups,  indicating  the  very  richest 
spots  of  soil.  Near  to  this  may  be  found  a solitary 
cacao  ( Tkeobrama ) thirty  to  forty  inches  in  circum- 
ference, and  rising  to  the  mature  height  of  fifty  feet. 
Coffee,  of  course,  is  not  found  wild  here,  but  at 
intervals  we  came  upon  gigantic  specimens  of  the 
Cinchona,  both  Calisaya  and  Succirubra,  six  feet  in 
oircumfereuoe.  The  walnut  of  Peru  an  undescribecl 
.*•  1 
