Lardner Gibbon, Lieutenant, U.S.N.

“ As the thunder roars and lightning flashes, we leave the troubled waters of mid-channel and seek a safe little inlet in the bank, and secure the boat till the raging storm passes. On the west bank was a small town of the Muras Indians, built of palmetto wood, and thatched with the wild palm leaf; it appeared to be deserted. The banks were forty feet high, of red clay, and perpendicular. On the east side of the river there were patches of maize. The forest trees are of less height as we descend; long islands stretch from three to five miles, dividing the river in twain. ”

“ The lofty forest trees shade the little huts; a path leads farther inland, where they cultivate patches of yucca and corn, though they have little to eat from the land at present, and take to the river for food. The children of these Indians strife us as being remarkably intelligent, compared with those on the tops of the Andes. ”

“ The foam that is produced by the water dashing over the rocks floats aloft in the shape of mist; and in the calm, clear, starlight nights, the gentle northeast breezes cast a thin gauze-like veil around us and affects the glasses of our instruments. All observations of the stars seem to be forbidden. ”

“ We would decline an offer of a boat’s crew of free negroes on another such expedition. We have felt that had these men not been aware we were well on our guard since they shot our dog, they would have murdered us without the least hesitation. They disputed our authority and wanted to let us know it.
In the afternoon, as a black cloud comes from the northeast, the wind turns up the sand on the beach and islands above the deep green foliage. ”

“ The moment we landed at Principe, there appeared before us a number of active, gray-headed old negro women and men, grinning and bowing, with as much life in their expression of face and activity of manner as the youngest. ”

“ The Tortaruga Grande is the best for eating and for oil; they are also in greater abundance than the others.
Huts are built in the sand for the protection of the hunters against the great heats of the sun in the day, and the rains. The men, who are of Amazon Indian blood, have their wives with them. There are few negroes at this business. Brazilians, of Portuguese descent, gather a band of adventurers, or fishermen, who are willing to leave their homes for this wild country, and seek their fortunes among the sands, where no diamonds have yet been found. The life is a hard one ”

“ When man forces the animal intended by God for a cold climate into a hot one, a new nature comes to the poor, panting creature’s relief, and puts upon it a coat of cool hair, instead of the hot woollen one.
The Spaniards have forced the hog so high up on the Andes that he suffers every time he raises his bristles, and dies out of place; while the Portuguese find it impossible to produce good mutton or wool on the hot plains of the Amazon. Indians, in a warm climate, grease or oil their naked skins as a protection from the sun, or that the rains may slide off the more easy ”

“ Large square blocks of stone stand one upon another in unusual confusion. The boat was paddled through for a quarter of a mile, and by passing half the baggage out over the rocks, she was sledded and floated through narrow channels close along the eastern bank. The whole bed of the river, as we stand at the foot of the fall and look up, is a mixture of rough rocks laying in all positions on the solid foundation of granite, surrounded by foaming streams of muddy water. While we loaded our boat again at the foot of the falls, Titto discovered some Indians approaching us from the woods. ”

“ The northeast trade-winds blow fresh, and we find a difficulty in making head-way; the current of the river has slackened to half a mile per hour. The winds blow directly in opposition to it, which baffles us considerably. In the evening, the wind falls away, and we push off from the bank where the boat is fastened, to hold what we have gained.
At some small huts we find Muras Indians sleeping, who seem very indifferent about selling a few thick-skinned, insipid oranges
Among the heavy night dews are intermingled an equal portion of hungry musquitoes. ”

“ They came upon us suddenly, from behind a mass of rocks, with bows and arrows in their hands. Don Antonio had warned me before I left him to be on my guard when the savages came up in this way. He said when they send women and children to the boat in advance, then there is little chance, of a difficulty with the men; but when the women and children are kept in the rear, and the men come with bows and arrows in hand, the signs are warlike. ”

“ Neither sex walk out except to church, when they dress in deep black cloth and silks, with gold ornaments and diamonds in profusion brought from the head-waters of the Tapajos — or to the river to bathe, when they leave almost all wearing apparel at home. ”

“ Their greatest curiosity seemed to be to explore the channel down which so much of the results of their labor had passed. When they saw their dirty, half-worn teeth, the holes in their ears, noses, and under-lips, one of them poked her finger into her mouth through the lower hole, and brutally laughed. They wore long hair behind, and clipt it off square over the forehead, which gave them a wild appearance. The women were very small; their figures, feet, and hands resembled those of young girls. Their faces proved them to be rather old women. ”

“ We are about to pass out of the Madeira Plate, having arrived at the northeast corner of the territory of Bolivia. The lands about the mouths of the Beni and Mamoré are now inhabited by wild Indians; some parts of them are free from inundation. Cacao grows wild in the forests. The head of the Madeira contains a number of islands. Here we find the outlet of streams flowing from the Andes and from the Brazils collected together in one large river. ”

“ On the Andes the llama, grazing near the snow line, had its back thickly clothed with wool, while the ground was strewed with its last year’s crop. When the sun stands vertically over the llama, it sheds its wool; when the sun passes far off on its northern tour, the leaves fall from the forests at the base of those great mountains. During the season of the year when the sap is in upward motion, the “rubber” man taps the trees and gathers the milk, converting it into shoes by smearing it over a last, and poking it into the smoke of a small fire near by him. ”

“ A rapid current carries us through a chain of hills on each side, tending east and west. The foliage is unusually green and thick; forest trees have been broken by the action of violent winds. We scarcely are fairly launched out of the Madeira Plate into the Amazon basin, before we meet, at midday, a storm of wind and rain from the northeast, accompanied with thunder. We find the sea-way in mid-channel much too high for our little boat, and bring to.
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While the storm passes, the wind carries a cloud of dry sand before it. ”

“ Long after the savage has become hammock-ridden wdth age, the negro, born before him, is found actively employed. The physical strength of the negro is not equalled by the red man here. The Indian enjoys the shade of the forest trees, while our negroes rejoice in the heat of the sun.
India rubber is found in these woods, with quantities of Brazil nuts and cacao trees. The whole forest is as constantly green as the snows on the peaks of the Andes are everlastingly white, although the leaves fall and the snow melts away. ”

“ The oil man ascends the river, with a fleet of canoes in company, manned with workmen, loaded with provisions, copper boilers, spades, &c. They know the time the turtle has laid its last egg, and while the eggs are fresh, they dig them from the sand, beginning on one side of the island, and turning up the soil to the proper depth. They throw out the eggs like potatoes, while others gather them up in baskets. A canoe is washed out, and the eggs thrown in and thoroughly broken by means of forked sticks. ”

“ The country is thickly wooded with Brazil nuts and cacao trees interspersed. Four miles further down we came to “Periquitos” rapids, which takes its name from numbers of parrots inhabiting the woods. These parrots are green, scarlet, and yellow, with long tails; they fly slowly overhead in pairs, crying an alarm as we are seen approaching. We paddled through these few rocks without the least difficulty. Banks of the river thirty feet high; soundings fifty-four feet. At midday a thunder gust with rain came from the north. As we are passing out of the Madeira Plate, we find the climate changing ”

“ The Caripuna Indians we have just left told us they came down the Madeira for fish. They find little game and no fish, even in these mighty waters, above the boisterous region. The two Yuracares Indians we met on the side of the Andes said they would catch us fish when we got further down the rapid Paracti. Fish are just as particular in their choice of waters and climate as those animals which inhabit the dry land. ”

“ We have been twelve days descending the falls, which is considered by Brazilian navigators fast travelling. The wild woods that cover the lands are unknown to the white man. Topographically considered, the lands on the east side of the Madeira are the most valuable.
Our experience with a black crew gives reason to believe the climate is more congenial to them than the white or red races. Among the half-civilized and savage aborigines, we notice very few men live to an old age; they generally pass away early; tribes are composed usually of men under forty years. ”

“ A man fully comprehends the blessing of ice by gliding down this river. The current is fast one hour and slow the next few minutes. The men pull when they feel like it, and rest when they wish. We are moving along, more or less, all the time during the day. The river is not very winding.
September 30. — About twenty-five miles on a northeasterly course brought us to “Doz Morrinhos” rapids. The difference of level here is slight, though the passes are difficult. A part of the baggage was banded over the rocks, which proved a prudent plan, as the boat was nearly swamped. ”

“ At the foot of these falls, which could not be passed by a steamboat, we discovered a bark canoe, manned with savages, paddling with all their might away from us; they seemed to be very much alarmed, and were soon out of sight. As we came to a place rather too rapid for safety among rocks, the men got out and towed us along the north bank; while doing so, three savage men, three women, three children, and five most miserably thin skeleton dogs, came to see us. The men laid their bows and arrows behind the rocks, and approached. us without fear, but the slim dogs were disposed to show fight. ”

“ The men are all in better health this morning. They carried the baggage through the woods on the east side of the river, and with the greatest difficulty got the canoe through the rocks. The river has been turned to the eastward by hills on the north side. The fall cannot be estimated with any degree of certainty; the descent is more precipitous, and the roaring of the foaming waters much greater than any we before met. ”

“ The workmen soon get tired and want to return. The employer takes out a passport for them all at the last military post as he ascends.; they are forbidden to travel about the country without one. The workman is held to his promise to remain during the season, good treatment or bad, by retaining his passport. Our crew became intoxicated among their countrymen, and danced part of the night with Amazonian girls, to the tune of violins, in the huts, while heavy rain poured down in large drops, accompanied with thunder and sharp lightning. ”

“ The men came near upsetting the boat in a dangerous pass. They seem to be giving out through pure exhaustion. They have very little to eat; farinha adds not much to their strength, and jerked beef spoils. No fish are to be found, nor birds; a monkey would be a treat. Night overtook us half way down the falls, and we came to, on a barren rock, where there were two small sticks of wood, of which we made a fire, boiled water, and gave the men coffee. ”

“ Santa Ana, the wife of the man to whom we brought letters, doctored us with chicken tea, declaring “people died with the fever in this country who would not eat.”
The soil is well adapted to the growth of the sugar-cane. We are told the country far west is a prairie for a long distance, covered with fine pasture. The Indians are called “Muras;” they are fond of trading, and less warlike than some others, of whom little is known. ”

“ Through the whole in the nose a quill is pushed, the cavity being filled up with different colored feathers, gives them a moustach appearance. These people are nearly all of the same height and figure, but differ very much in the features of the face. Some have thick lips, flat noses, and round faces; others are just the reverse. The former very ugly, and a few of the latter tolerably good looking. The women are larger than those we saw near the mouth of the Beni. ”

“ The beat of the sun hatches the young; they dig holes four feet deep, by throwing the sand on each side with the hind-flippers. The motion is quick and sudden, casting the sand a distance of six and eight feet from them. After reaching the depth required, the female drops eggs in the bole and covers up the top with sand drawn in by her fore-flippers. There is an equal distribution of labor; the hind legs dig the hole, and the fore ones fill it up. ”

“ We were from daylight until dark at the work. I should not complain, however, because men never had a more harassing time than these have had. If alone, they would not have come half the distance in the same length of time. ”