Alfred Russel Wallace

“ The wild and strange appearance of these handsome, naked, painted Indians, with their curious ornaments and weapons, the stamp and song and rattle which accompanies the dance, the hum of conversation in a strange language, the music of fifes and flutes and other instruments of reed, bone, and turtles’ shells, the large calabashes of caxirí constantly carried about, and the great smoke-blackened gloomy house, produced an effect to which no description can do justice, and of which the sight of half-a-dozen Indians going through their dances for show, gives but a very faint idea. ”

“ In every garden, road, and dry sandy situation they are scampering out of the way as we walk along. Now they crawl round the trunk of a tree, watching us as we pass, and keeping carefully out of sight, just as a squirrel will do under similar circumstances; now they walk up a smooth wall or paling as composedly and securely as if they had the plain earth beneath them. Some are of a dark coppery colour, some with backs of the most brilliant silky green and blue, and others marked with delicate shades and lines of yellow and brown. ”

“ In many parts of my Journal, I have expressed an opinion that travellers have exaggerated the beauty and brilliancy of tropical vegetation, and on a calm review of all I have seen in the districts I have visited, I must repeat it.
There is grandeur and solemnity in the tropical forest, but little of beauty or brilliancy of colour. The huge buttress trees, the fissured trunks, the extraordinary air roots, the twisted and wrinkled climbers, and the elegant palms, are what strike the attention and fill the mind with admiration and surprise and awe. ”

“ During rain it turns its long bushy tail up over its back and stands still; the Indians, when they meet with one, rustle the leaves, and it thinks rain is falling, and turning up its tail, they take the opportunity of killing it by a blow on the head with a stick. It feeds on the large termites, or white ants, tearing up with its powerful claws the earth and rotten wood in which their nests are made. The Indians positively assert that it sometimes kills the jaguar, embracing it and forcing in its enormous claws, till they mutually destroy each other. ”

“ The Andes of Quito, and southward to the Amazon, is like a huge rocky rampart, bounding the great plain which extends in one unbroken imperceptible slope from the Atlantic Ocean to its base. It is one of the grandest physical features of the earth,—this vast unbroken plain,—that mighty and precipitous mountain-range.
The granitic rocks of the Rio Negro in general contain very little mica; in some places however that mineral is abundant, and exists in large plates. Veins of pure quartz are common, some of very great size; and numerous veins or dykes of granite, of a different colour or texture. ”

“ There is a fine beach extending for some miles above and below the town, where all the washing of the place is done, the linen being beautifully bleached on the hot sand. At all hours of the day are plenty of bathers, and the Negro and Indian children are quite amphibious animals. At the back of the town are extensive sandy campos, scattered over with myrtles, cashews, and many other trees and bushes, and beyond are low hills, some bare, and others covered with thick forest. ”

“ A little later, and another noise is heard: the flies, which had weighed down every blade of grass, now wake up, and, with a sounding hum, commence their attack upon the fish: every piece that has lain a few hours upon the ground has deposited around it masses of their eggs as large as walnuts. In fact, the abundance of every kind of animal life crowded into a small space was here very striking, compared with the sparing manner in which it is scattered in the virgin forests. ”

“ The weather was not so hot, the people were not so peculiar, the vegetation was not so striking, as the glowing picture I had conjured up in my imagination, and had been brooding over during the tedium of a sea-voyage. And this is almost always the case with everything but a single view or some one definite object. A piece of fine scenery, as beheld from a given point, can scarcely be overdrawn; and there are many such, which will not disappoint even the most expectant beholder. ”

“ Very singularly for a Portuguese, he entirely devoted himself to agriculture. He built himself a country house at Manaquery, on a lake near the main river, brought Indians from a distance to settle with him, cleared the forest, planted orange, tamarind, mango, and many other fruit-bearing trees, made pleasant avenues, gardens, and pastures, stocked them well with cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, and set himself down to the full enjoyment of a country life. ”

“ This, with a little salt-fish, chili peppers, bananas, oranges, and assai (a preparation from a palm fruit) , forms almost the entire subsistence of a great part of the population of the city. Our own bill of fare comprised coffee, tea, bread, butter, beef, rice, farinha, pumpkins, bananas, and oranges. Isidora was a good cook, and made all sorts of roasts and stews out of our daily lump of tough beef; and the bananas and oranges were such a luxury to us, that, with the good appetite which our walks in the forest always gave us, we had nothing to complain of. ”

“ Among them were eight species of the handsome genus Papilio, and three Morphos, those splendid large metallic-blue butterflies which are always first noticed by travellers in South America, in which country alone they are found, and where, flying lazily along the paths in the forest, alternately in deep shade and bright sunshine, they present one of the most striking sights the insect world can produce. Among the smaller species the exquisite colouring and variety of marking is wonderful. ”

“ By the promise of good payment for every “Gallo” they killed for me, I persuaded almost the whole male population of the village to accompany me. As our path was through a dense forest for ten miles, we could not load ourselves with much baggage: every man had to carry his gravatána, bow and arrows, rede, and some farinha; which, with salt, was all the provisions we took, trusting to the forest for our meat; and I even gave up my daily and only luxury of coffee. ”

“ Passing this, we got into the forest. At first the path was tolerable; soon however it was a mere track a few inches wide, winding among thorny creepers, and over deep beds of decaying leaves. Gigantic buttress trees, tall fluted stems, strange palms, and elegant tree-ferns were abundant on every side, and many persons may suppose that our walk must necessarily have been a delightful one; but there were many disagreeables. Hard roots rose up in ridges along our path, swamp and mud alternated with quartz pebbles and rotten leaves ”

“ A man who, if he had to pay ready money, would never think of drinking wine, when he can have it on credit takes twenty or thirty gallons with him in his canoe, which, as it has cost him nothing, is little valued, and he perhaps arrives at the end of his voyage without a drop. In the towns in the interior every shop sells spirits, and numbers of persons are all day drinking, taking a glass at every place they go to, and, by this constant dramming, ruining their health perhaps more than by complete intoxication at more distant intervals. ”

“ He has no intellectual pleasures, and, could he have education and taste them, they would assuredly embitter his life; for what hope of increased knowledge, what chance of any further acquaintance with the wonders of nature or the triumphs of art, than the mere hearing of them, can exist for one who is the property of another, and can never hope for the liberty of working for his own living in the manner that may be most agreeable to him? ”

“ In the country between the Tapajóz and the Madeira, among the labyrinth of lakes and channels of the great island of the Tupinambarános, reside the Mundrucús, the most warlike Indians of the Amazon. These are, I believe, the only perfectly tattooed nation in South America: the markings are extended all over the body; they are produced by pricking with the spines of the pupunha palm, and rubbing in the soot from burning pitch to produce the indelible bluish tinge.
They make their houses with mud walls, in regular villages. ”

“ There was a continual rustle and flapping of wings as these long-legged, clumsy birds flew about, startled at our approach; and when I shot one of the large wood-ibises, the confusion was at its height. Numerous kingfishers were continually passing up and down, or darting from some dead stick into the water to seize their prey.
After about two hours of very hard and disagreeable work, we reached the landing-place, where there was an old deserted cottage, and the overseer and several Negroes with horses were waiting to convey the provisions we had brought, to the Lake. ”

“ The species are very numerous: some are shrubs, others delicate climbers, and one is the most extraordinary among the extraordinary climbers of the forest, its broad flattened woody stems being twisted in and out in a most singular manner, mounting to the summits of the very loftiest forest-trees, and hanging from their branches in gigantic festoons, many hundred feet in length. ”

“ It is on the roadside and on the rivers’ banks, that we see all the beauty of the tropical vegetation. There we find a mass of bushes and shrubs and trees of every height, rising over one another, all exposed to the bright light and the fresh air; and putting forth,441 within reach, their flowers and fruit, which, in the forest, only grow far up on the topmost branches. ”

“ All depends upon the pilot, who, well acquainted with every sunken rock and dangerous whirlpool, steers clear of all perils,—now directing the crew to pull hard, now to slacken, as circumstances require, and skilfully preparing the canoe to receive the impetus of the cross currents that he sees abroad. I imagine that the neighbourhood of the arches of Old London Bridge, at certain states of the tide, must have presented on a small scale somewhat similar dangers. ”

“ This may well excite some wonder, when we remember that the white inhabitants of this country are the Portuguese and their descendants,—the nation which a few centuries ago took the lead in all great discoveries and commercial enterprises,—which spread its colonies over the whole world, and exhibited the most chivalric spirit of enterprise in overcoming the dangers of navigation in unknown seas, and of opening a commercial intercourse with barbarous or uncivilized nations. ”

“ It is in the lovely butterflies that the Amazonian forests are unrivalled, whether we consider the endless variety of the species, their large size, or their gorgeous colours. South America is the richest part of the world in this group of insects, and the Amazon seems the richest part of South America. ”

“ The jaguar, say the Indians, is the most cunning animal in the forest: he can imitate the voice of almost every bird and animal so exactly, as to draw them towards him: he fishes in the rivers, lashing the water with his tail to imitate falling fruit, and when the fish approach, hooks them up with his claws. ”

“ Near the village was a range of high rocks, of a fine red and yellow colour, which we afterwards found to be merely indurated clay, in some places very hard, in others soft and friable: they were clothed with wood to their summits, and had a very picturesque appearance.
The village of Montealegre is situated on a hill about a quarter of a mile from the water’s edge. The ascent to it is up a shallow ravine, and the path is entirely covered with deep, loose sand, which makes the walk a very laborious one. ”

“ When told that the climate was too cold for mandiocca or seringa to grow if planted, he was quite astonished, and wondered how people could live in a country where such necessaries of life could not be grown; and he no doubt felt a kind of superiority over us, on account of our coming to his country to buy India-rubber and cocoa, just as the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire think that we must be very poor miserable barbarians indeed, to be obliged to come so far to buy their tea. ”

“ The next day we crossed the little sea formed opposite the mouth of the Tocantíns, and sailed up a fine stream till we entered again among islands, and soon got into the narrow channel which forms the communication between the Pará and Amazon rivers. We passed the little village of Breves, the trade of which consists principally of India-rubber, and painted basins and earthenware, very brilliantly coloured. Some of our Indians went on shore while we staid for the tide, and returned rather tipsy, and with several little clay teapot-looking doves, much valued higher up the country. ”

“ When I consider the excessively small amount of labour required in this country, to convert the virgin forest into green meadows and fertile plantations, I almost long to come over with half-a-dozen friends, disposed to work, and enjoy the country; and show the inhabitants how soon an earthly paradise might be created, which they have never even conceived capable of existing.
It is a vulgar error, copied and repeated from one book to another, that in the tropics the luxuriance of the vegetation overpowers the efforts of man. ”

“ But a little ahead of us is an extensive mass of rocks. There is no passage for the canoe, and we must cross to yonder islet far in the middle of the stream, where, by the height of the water, Senhor L. and the pilot judge we shall find a passage. Every stone, even those under water, form eddies or returning currents, where a canoe can rest in its passage. Off we go, to try to reach one of them. In a moment we are in a stream running like a mill-race: “Pull away, boys!” ”

“ Though such a heavy animal, the tapir steps as lightly as a cat, and can only be heard approaching by the gentle rustling of the bushes; the slightest sound or smell will alarm it, and the Indian lies still as death for hours, till the animal approaches sufficiently near to be shot, or until scenting its enemy it makes off in another direction. I have accompanied the Indians on these expeditions, but always without success. ”

“ PREFACE. An earnest desire to visit a tropical country, to behold the luxuriance of animal and vegetable life said to exist there, and to see with my own eyes all those wonders which I had so much delighted to read of in the narratives of travellers, were the motives that induced me to break through the trammels of business and the ties of home, and start for
“Some far land where endless summer reigns.” ”

“ On the other hand, the valley of the Amazon and its countless tributary streams, offers a country where the rivers are open all the year, and are for hundreds and even thousands of miles unobstructed by rapids, and where violent storms at any season seldom occur. The banks of all these streams are clothed with virgin forests, containing timber-trees in inexhaustible quantities, and of such countless varieties that there seems no purpose for which wood is required, but one of a fitting quality may be found. ”