488 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan.  a,  1893 
in  hue  as  they  are  grotesque  in  form,  grow  upright  from 
the  damp  decaying  bark  ; the  original  tree  itself  being 
so  hidden  that  it  is  hardly  recognizable,  but  from  its 
curious  buttresses  we  suppose  it  to  be  a ficus.  Right  be- 
hind. on  the  steep  bank  stands  a lovely  scarlet  Eryth- 
rina,  40  to  50  feet  in  height  in  full  flower,  while  100 
yards  to  the  right  a still  taller  tree  with  bright  yellow 
blossoms  stood  out  conspicuously — evidently  a very 
near  relative  of  our  own  laburnum.  To  the  left  a group 
of  palms,  near  to  which  we  can  see  a grand  speci- 
men of  the  cinchona  tree,  and  another  of  the  cacao. 
One  of  the  noblest  trees  in  this  forest  is  the  walnut, 
a variety  I never  saw,  certainly  not  the  Juglans  nigra 
of  North  America.  The  whole  scene  is  one  of  sur- 
passing beauty,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
from  the  river  we  see  it  1 o the  greatest  advantage ; 
the  leaf  boughs  naturally  bend  to  the  light  and  lean 
lovingly  over  the  water,  while  flowers  can  only  bloom 
in  the  bright  sunshine.  Nothing  could  be  more  dis- 
mal than  to  scramble  beneath  the  dark  forest,  and 
the  further  one  penetrates  the  more  monotonous  it 
gets ; scarcely  a flower  or  a bird  is  to  be  seen  there, 
is  all  such  life  at  the  top.  Not  even  the  snakes  will 
cross  your  path,  for  they,  too,  are  children  of  the 
sun.  It  is  like  living  in  a dark  cellar  and  longing 
to  get  out  into  the  cheerful  light  again.  Merrily  our 
rafts  glide  down  the  river ; here  and  there  we  have 
a few  yards  of  rocky  rapids  requiring  careful  navi- 
gation, but  beyond  an  occasional  ducking,  nothing 
of  importance  happens  to  us.  Natives  armed  with 
bow  and  arrows  creep  from  below  the  trees  and  look  at 
us  with  evident  wonder  and  some  suspicion,  but  offer 
no  active  hostility.  Or  suddenly  we  come  upon  them 
as  they  are  shooting  their  arrows  into  a passing  fish. 
Our  padre  here  astonished  the  natives  by  throwing  in 
a charge  of  dynamite,  the  result  of  which  was  five  or 
six  dozen  fine  fish  on  the  surface  within  a minute. 
This  diabolical  and  unsportsman-like  mode  of  fishing 
is,  I am  sorry  to  say,  daily  practised  by  these  con- 
vent fathers.  There  was  a tremendous  scrimmage  in 
the  water  after  the  dead  fish,  and  by  the  time  it 
was  over  the  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  trees. 
Moreover,  heavy  rain  set  in,  causing  us  to  seek  such 
shelter  as  was  obtainable.  We  followed  the  Chunchos 
into  the  jungle  by  tortuous  paths  for  about  a mile 
ere  we  came  to  a hut,  but  before  being  permitted 
to  enter  it,  we  were  first  led  to  witness  their  prowess 
as  marksmen,  the  target  being  a banana  tree  at 
about  40  yards  distant,  which  was  soon  bristling  with 
arrows.  Sufficiently  impressed  with  this,  we  were 
allowed  to  enter  a hut  about  10  by  20  feet,  into 
which  we  all  (about  30  in  number)  were  huddled 
for  the  night,  and  after  drinking  a little_  Liebig's 
extract  tried  to  sleep,  vnthout  success.  We  lay  on 
the  flook  like  sardines  in  a box,  our  hosts  crowding 
on  to  a rule  bench  in  front  watching  our  every  move- 
ment. The  house  was  so  narrow  that  my  head  lay 
right  below  the  eaves  which  continued  to  drip  all 
night.  Sleep  was  an  impossibility.  The  Chunchos 
drank  their  abominable  masato  and  soon  became  up- 
roarious, and  evidently  cracked  their  favourite  jokes, 
judging  from  the  screaming  laughter.  This  was 
varied  by  an  idiotic  war  dance,  and  in  other  respects 
their  deportment  was  even  more  objectionable.  We 
are  apt  to  imagine  that  man  in  a perfectly  natural 
Btate  must  be  a very  delightful  and  interesting  creature. 
On  the  contrary,  my  experience  is,  that  no  other 
animal  is  less  lovable  or  more  repulsive  in  its  habits 
than  a thoroughly  untamed  man  or  woman.  These 
Chunchos  or  “ Campas  ” are  evidently  the  remnant 
of  a very  barbarous  and  low  caste  race  of  untamable 
savages,  recognising  no  laws,  and  killing  each  other 
with  as  little  compunction  as  we  kill  our  rodents.  On 
the  night  before  we  passed  down  the  river,  a 
woman  and  two  children  were  tumbled  off  a raft 
and  drowned.  It  seemed  the  standing  joke  of  the 
day,  and  no  one  more  enjoyed  it  than  the  woman's 
husband,  who  danced  with  fiendish  glee  the  whole 
night  through,  encouraged  by  the  screaming  laughter 
of  the  native  ladies.  If  loud  laughter,  by  the  way, 
be  a healthy  and  happy  sign,  the  Chunchos  are  to 
be  envied  ; my  experience  of  mankind  however,  is 
that  he  who  laughs  loudest  and  is  most  easily  moved 
to  tears  is  not  the  man  to  be  most  trusted. 
I was  not  sorry  to  see  the  sun  rise  next  morning,  1 
and  did  not  linger  long  over  our  early  breakfast, 
which  consisted  of  tea  and  Yucca,  the  latter  like 
badly  boiled  potatoes. 
Once  more  on  the  river  we  were  all  alive  with  excite- 
ment. Several  tributaries  fall  in ; one,  the  “ Ipuki,” 
equal  to  the  Don  in  volume,  adds  palpably  to  the  depth 
and  force  of  the  Perene,  upon  which  we  are  now  carried 
at  the  rate  of  about  five  miles  an  hour.  Denser  and 
denser  became  the  forest,  now  no  longer  relieved  by 
patches  of  grassy  land.  Such  perfect  lands  for  coflee 
and  cocoa  cheered  the  heart  of  old  planters,  while  such 
unheard-of  varieties  of  orchids,  ferns,  gloxiniaas,  be* 
gonias  and  caladiums,  were  enough  to  drive  a botanist 
frantic. 
The  question  here  naturally  arises,  why  has  this 
rich  country  been  allowed  to  remain  from  the  creation 
to  the  present  day,  in  a wild  and  desolate  condition  ? 
A country  capable  of  supp'ying  many  millions  of 
inhabitants  with  not  only  the  necessities  of  life,  but 
all  the  luxuries  the  most  fastidious  appetites  could 
desire.  When  we  see  so  many  less  favoured  countries 
crowded  and  cultivated  to  the  utmost,  it  does  seem 
strange  to  see  this  magnificent  land  left  to  a few 
Chunchos,  who  are  really  little  better  than  the  monkeys 
that  grin  on  the  branches  above  us.  Practically  it 
is  no  man’s  land,  for  it  has  never  besn  taken  possession 
of,  the  present  scattered  tribes  recognising  no  laws, 
no  government,  no  God. 
In  every  other  country  we  know,  men  have  succeeded 
in  subjecting  the  productive  powers  of  nature  to  his  sway 
and  is  there  no  hope  that  such  will  yet  be  the  case  with 
the  valleys  of  the  Amazon  ? Are  men  always  to  despair 
of  utilising  this  marvellous  vegetation,  and  be  for  ever 
overwhelmed  by  the  excessive  bounties  of  nature  ? 
Surely  the  time  has  come,  or  will  soon  come,  when  this, 
the  richest  portion  of  the  globe,  will  no  longer  be  entirely 
left  to  nature  and  the  few  wandering  tribes  who  are 
so  utterly  incapable  of  making  any  proper  use  of  it. 
We  had  landed  for  luncheon,  under  a far-spreading 
rubber  tree,  and  so  refreshing  was  the  shade  and 
inviting  the  scene,  that  we  fain  would  have  pitched 
our  camp  there  for  the  night,  in  order  to  thoroughly 
explore  the  locality ; but  our  guides,  who  were  fast 
becoming  an  insufferable  nuisance,  urged  us  onwards, 
stating  that  the  cascades  were  still  a long  day’s 
journey  off  and  that  we  ought  to  push  on  for  a few 
hours  more,  so  as  to  reach  them  next  night.  So 
again  we  started,  but  had  scarcely  moved  three 
hundred  yards  when  I,  still  in  the  prow  of  the  first 
balsa,  began  to  feel  we  were  gliding  along  rather 
faster  than  pleasant,  and  distinctly  heard  a not  very 
distant  roar  like  muffled  thunder.  All  at  once,  it 
dawned  upon  us  that  we  had  reached  uncomfortably 
near  the  rapids,  and  the  greatest  possible  exertion 
was  required  to  beach  our  rafts.  I never  jumped 
on  the  banks  of  a river  with  greater  feeling  of  relief. 
We  had  now  time  to  take  a leisurely  view  of  the 
rapids,  though  not  more  'than  four  or  five  feet  of 
a fall  in  any  one  place.  A succession  of  these  were 
sufficient  to  obstruct  further  navigation,  though  this 
only  for  a few  miles,  probably  under  ten.  Our  ane- 
roids told  us  we  were  now  1,050  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  as  the  water  has  nearly  3,000  miles  yet  to  run 
before  reaching  the  Atlantic,  the  average  fall  is  not 
great.  We  would  now  have  naturally  wished  to  work 
our  way  down  to  the  Atlantic — by  far  the  easiest 
and  most  natural  outlet — but  we  were  under  orders 
to  visit  other  tributaries  of  the  Amazon  200  miles 
to  the  north,  so  had  reluctantly  to  wend  our  way  back. 
We  slept  that  night  rather  comfortably  under  a tree, 
but  before  going  to  rest  I shota  large  snake  which 
hung  from  a branch  above  us,  and  the  only  one 
we  saw  during  our  sojourn.  Next  morning  we  arose 
more  refreshed  than  usual,  explored  the  country  a 
little,  finding  the  vegetation  now  gradually  asuming 
a low,  country  type,  took  some  photos  of  the  rapids, 
and  then  prepared  to  start  on  our  return  voyage. 
We  found,  however,  that  something  like  a mutiny  was 
brewing  in  the  camp.  The  priests  declared  that  the 
rum  was  done,  and  that  it  was  ridiculous  to  think  that 
men  could  live  in  this  country  without  drink.  The 
king  grumbled  because  the  jam  was  finished,  while  the 
Chunchos  struck  work  for  no  earthly  reason  at  all. 
(To  be  continued.) 
