Thomas Wallace Knox

“ A white sea of clouds covers the peaceful Pacific, and the lower parts of the coast. But the vapory ocean, curling into the ravines, beautifully represents little coves and bays, leaving islands and promontories like a true ocean on a broken shore. We seem raised above the earth, which lies like an opened map below us; we can look down on the upper surface of the clouds, and, were it night, down too upon the lightnings.'"
After an hour had been passed in contemplation of the awful crater, and the grand view from the summit of the mountain, the Doctor suggested that it was time to descend. ”

“ From the hospital they drove to the Paseo Publico, a pretty garden within the city limits, and much resorted to as a promenade. There are gravelled walks shaded by tall palms and other tropical trees, and on the water front is a marble pavement, which is crowded on pleasant evenings by groups of well-dressed people, listening to the music, and indulging in conversation, which is never boisterous. ”

“ The islands are covered with fruit trees, from which the markets of Buenos Ayres and Montevideo are supplied, and they overhang the water so that in some places a boat may be loaded without its occupant stepping on shore. The forests are gay with flowers in bloom, the air is filled with fragrance, little pools and nooks in the islands are covered with aquatic plants, and the luxuriance of vegetation is so great that we were continually reminded of the lower Amazon. ”

“ Truth compels me to add that I saw little of the country between Santa Rosa and Santiago, as I intrusted my ticket to Manuel and slept nearly all the way. I have an indistinct recollection of glimpses of fig and orange orchards, farm-houses and villages, vineyards and wheat-fields, level plains interspersed with rolling or hilly country, and above all the towering peaks of the Andes, and the lower summits of the Cordillera. ”

“ We can toss a stone into Chili with one hand and into the Argentine Republic with the other. We are more than two miles in the air, and as we look away to the westward we can see the dark mass of the Pacific Ocean forming the curving rim of the horizon.
"We are at the crest of the Andes, and the South American continent is at our feet." ”

“ The whites are the aristocracy or ruling race, and, owing to the numerous revolutions which have reduced the male population, women outnumber the men. For a white man to work would be degrading, and many a gentleman will not hesitate to beg for a dinner or a cup of coffee, though he would scorn to earn the money to pay for it. The poverty-stricken hidalgo of Spain is no more proud of his lineage than is the Spanish-descended resident of Quito, who wraps his tattered cloak around him, and comforts himself with reflections upon the past glories of his family. ”

“ The atmosphere of the Napo is like a steam bath, and keeps everything wet, and the Indians have a fondness for helping themselves when they have a chance. You can't get along without the Indians, as they are your only porters. From here to the foot of the mountains you can go on horseback, but the rest of the way to the Napo you must travel on foot, and the Indians carry your baggage. ”

“ GAME FOR THE JAGUAR.
"The jaguar will dig in the sand for turtle's eggs," said Manuel, "and he will also kill and devour turtles of good size; he can scoop out their shells as easily as though he had all the implements of a skilful cook, and he will stand in the water, where he seizes fish with his paws and tosses them on shore. If captured when very young he can be made as docile as a kitten, but when he gets his growth and strength he is a dangerous pet. ”

“ High altitudes may possibly render him more docile, and he may have the good sense to understand the folly of expending his energy against the air. The mules on these mountain paths follow their leaders with great fidelity; the foremost of the train wears a bell, and its tinkling is the magic sound which draws them on. If the bell is silenced the drivers have far more difficulty in managing their charges than when it is audible. ”

“ The outside of the theatre has deep alcoves on three sides supported by massive pillars, affording shelter from the rain and furnishing a delightful promenade. When performances are given the square in front of the theatre is crowded with people and carriages, and the lights flashing from the interior illumine the scene with a brilliant glow. ”

“ The hooked bill of the parrot is as inconvenient in nest-making as the great beak of the toucan; the philosophical bird accepts the situation, and rears its young in a hollow tree, like its huge-billed friend. Parrots are more numerous than toucans and also more noisy; probably for these reasons they are seen quite frequently, while the discovery of a toucan is not easily made. The Doctor said a traveller might make the descent of the Amazon without seeing one of the latter birds, while he would encounter the parrot very often. ”

“ Quito was a more magnificent city under the Incas of Peru than it has ever been since the Spanish conquest. The extent of its population is not known, but it was certainly larger than to-day. The palace of Atahualpa was one of the finest in South America, and its roof is said to have been covered with gold. All the gold of the city was seized by the Spaniards, and the palace was destroyed. A convent now occupies its site, and we will look at its gloomy walls to-morrow. The magnificent Temple of the Sun is reduced to a few stones which mark the spot where it stood. ”

“ You can hear him a long distance, and he howls night and day without seeming to get tired of the amusement."
"There are three kinds of howling monkeys in South America," said the Doctor, "but the difference is more observable in their appearance than in their voices. The braying of a mule is like the note of a violin, compared to the noise of a howling monkey in good health and condition, accompanied by his friends. The howlers, like most others of the Simian family, are gregarious, and if we happen to have our camp near a village of them we shall not sleep much." ”

“ The captain of the port came, and then the passengers were at liberty to land. The landing-place is at the side of a mole which protects the harbor on its northern side from the swell of the Pacific. Frank and Fred were surprised to see large piles of grain in the open air, together with other merchandise, but their wonder ceased when they were told that it never rains at Callao, the only moisture being from the mists and fogs already mentioned. The absence of rain renders the place unhealthy, as the drainage is not good, and the heat is great. ”

“ A coffee plantation requires nothing but the machinery for tilling the land and preparing the coffee for market, the furniture, and some provisions for the house of the owner, and possibly a few bales of cloth for the garments of the slaves. The food of the negroes is grown on the place, their houses are built of bamboos, also grown there, and they raise enough mandioca and corn for their food. Those who have looked carefully into this matter say that long lines of railway in Brazil could not pay their running expenses if they were built for nothing. ”

“ Here are tomatoes, green corn, cucumbers, radishes, parsnips, and other growths of New England or New York, side by side with oranges, peaches, chirimoyas, grapes, mangoes, and other tropical things whose names are not familiar to you. Flowers are in great abundance, and roses are everywhere grown in the gardens. You see them in great variety and profusion, and it is claimed for Lima that she can show more kinds of roses than any other city in the world. ”

“ Forests and pampas, pampas and forests, succeeded each other as the raft followed the course of this affluent of the mighty Amazon. Parrots and toucans and other birds flew among the trees, monkeys stared in astonishment, jumped from limb to limb, swung by feet and tail, and kept up a continual chattering as the raft floated by their haunts. Frank made note of the difference between the South American monkey and his Asiatic brother ”

“ Rio was evidently built with a view to permanence. At least Frank and Fred thought so, as they landed at the piers of solid granite, with steps leading down to the water and facilitating debarkation at every [Pg 364] stage of the tide. Near the landing-place was a market, where they found groups of negroes waiting for work, or possibly waiting to avoid having work to do. There were heaps of fruit and vegetables, similar to what they had seen in Para and Pernambuco, and the same chatter and commotion prevailed among the venders and their patrons. ”

“ Frank was impressed with the long rows of poplars, which shaded the streets and grew close to the walls of the numerous gardens. The poplars are so abundant that as one approaches Mendoza he rarely sees anything of it until within its limits; the poplars conceal the city in every direction, and their shade is welcome to everybody in the hot hours of the day. There are many fruit gardens in and near Mendoza. The place is surrounded by canals, and there is one canal which passes through the city and supplies an abundance of water. ”

“ The rearing of cattle and horses is the principal industry, and occasionally, as Frank looked from the windows of the railway train, he saw the guachos pursuing their herds, which generally manifested an unwillingness to remain in the neighborhood of the snorting, puffing locomotive. Sometimes the engine-drivers added to the fright of the half-wild animals by sounding the whistle, which rarely failed to create a stampede. ”

“ Mosquitoes are the pests of the upper part of the entire valley of the Amazon. They are found wherever the rains fall, from the foot of the Andes, eastward, until within a few hundred miles of the Atlantic coast, from which they are kept in great measure, though not entirely, by the force of the trade winds. The middle Amazon swarms with them, and the Maranon, Madeira, and other tributaries are almost uninhabitable at certain seasons of the year, in consequence of these nuisances. They are always on duty, and no manner of objecting to their presence will induce them to leave. ”

“ In the evening our friends arranged to visit the summit of Pichincha, the volcano which towers above Quito, and is easily reached. Mules can be ridden to the very edge of the crater, but there are not a dozen gentlemen of Quito who have ever made the journey to it; they are intending to do so at some future time, and this future never comes. Apart from the guides, it is probable that the mountain has been ascended more frequently by strangers than by native-born residents of the city. ”

“ The Amazon is rather a vast system of rivers than a river by itself. More than three hundred and fifty branches and tributaries unite to form the Amazon; all the rivers flowing from the eastern slope of the Andes from three degrees north latitude to nineteen degrees south latitude, a distance of two thousand miles, as we follow the windings of the mountain chain, pour into the Amazon and contribute to its immense [Pg 323] volume. ”

“ For much of the way the drive was through, or close upon, the tropical forest, and the youths were more than once reminded of their excursion in Singapore, and the ride in Ceylon from Point de Galle to Colombo. On one side of the island there was a view of the ocean, while on the other the scene included the dense swamp and series of islands lying between them and the mainland, with an occasional glimpse of the mountains that form the dividing ridge between the Atlantic and Pacific. ”

“ The Aymaraes hold their market at Puno in the plaza in front of the cathedral, as already described, but the Quichua market is held in another square. A Quichua woman can be distinguished from an Aymara one at a glance, as she is without the remarkable head-covering, but the dress of the men has only some slight points of difference, that cannot be observed by a stranger. The Aymaraes are thought to represent an older race than the Quichuas; the men are larger and more powerful, but the women are less inclined to good looks. ”

“ Fred copied into his note-book the following, from Professor Orton's narrative:
"No spot on the globe contains so much vegetable matter as the valley of the Amazon. In it we may draw a circle a thousand miles in diameter, which will include an evergreen forest broken only by the rivers and a few grassy campos. There is a most bewildering diversity of grand and beautiful trees—a wild, unconquered race of vegetable giants—draped, festooned, corded, matted, and ribboned with creeping and climbing plants, woody and succulent, in endless variety. ”

“ There are wild turkeys and grouse among the hills; the latter are shy and not easily taken, and the hunter is always at a disadvantage on account of the thickness of the shrubbery; the tapir abounds in the low ground and marshes near the rivers, and his flesh is not unlike pork in taste and appearance. You have already seen monkeys, and if you could go into the forest a dozen miles from the settlements you might see hundreds of them in a single day. They go in large parties oftentimes, and whenever they make a raid on a banana plantation they destroy in a few hours the labor of a whole season. ”

“ All this time the tropical sun poured its heat over the land, and you can easily imagine how it could change the rich forest into a desert of withered and blasted trunks, and the open country to a desert.
"The people left the plantations and flocked to the villages, many of them dying of hunger on the way. Thousands perished at their homes; they remained there hoping for rain until too weak and famished to move. As long as the cattle lasted there was no hunger; the herdsmen killed the animals for their hides, and meat was abundant for all who would come and take it. ”

“ The daughter of the landlord was mourning the loss of a pet which she declared was "the very image" of Gypsy. Frank was touched by her grief, and with the permission of the proprietor of the establishment the ownership of Gypsy was transferred to the child.
Frank rejoiced that his pet had found a good home; the girl was delighted with the possession of the duplicate of the animal she mourned; the father was pleased at the daughter's joy; and it is to be presumed that the monkey was contented to give up travelling, and settle down amid the pure air and charming scenery of Tijuca. ”