YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PIONEEHINO IN SOUTH BRAZIL. PIONEEEING IN SOUTH BEAZIL. THREE TEAES OE EOEEST AND PEAIEIE LIFE IN TKE PROVINCE OP PAEANA. By THOMAS P. BiaO-WITHER, ASSOC. INST. CE. ; F.B.G.S. IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. I. WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1878. lAll llirjlits reserved.'^ LOKDON : ERADBURYj AGNEW, & CO., PRINTEHS, WHITEFRIAr.S, gtbitattb, tg prmissimr, TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE VISCONDE DE MAUA, TO WHOM THE AUTHOR IS CHIEFLY INDEBTED FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES OF TllAYEL AND OBSERVATION IN A LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRY, THE RESULTS OF WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR'S BEST ABILITY, HAVE BEEN RECORDED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES. INTEODUCTION. The general character of this book is that of a NaiTative of Travel and Adventure in hitherto unex plored regions ; nearly one-half of the time over which its pages extend having been spent by the author in the great forests of the remote interior of Brazil, in the midst of wild scenes of savage nature, where no civilised man had before penetrated, and where, for weeks and months together, the normal condition of existence was an unceasing struggle with every natural surrounding. On the other hand, nine months were passed in travelKng about amongst the various colonies and settlements formed on the border-lands of the still untamed forests, and some pains were taken to collect therefrom such information as might be of more especial interest to the emigrant or colonist, or indeed to aU who have the welfare of our large surplus popula tion at heart. It is hoped therefore that the pages now offered to the public wUl have the effect of throwing a little viii Introduction. more light upon a country which of late years has gained, somewhat unreasonably, an unenviable reputa tion amongst this same emigration class in England, than that which has hitherto been reflected from the writings of aggrieved or indignant correspondents in our journals. A few words with reference to the illustrations which accompany this work. The majority of these are from original sketches made on the spot, and as such, therefore, may fairly lay claim to being more than usually accurate representations of the scenes and subjects they profess to portray. The best thanks of the author are due to his friends Mr. G. Selwyn Edwards and Mr. John H. Morant for the prompt kindness with which they placed the contents of their IDortfolios at his disposal for this pmpose. The Map at the end of this volume is in great part original, and is wholly compiled from recent surveys of competent and responsible engineers, namely, the brothers Keller, Herr Swartz, and the various members of the Paran^ and Matto Grosso Smwey Expedition. It is inserted here by permission of the Council of the Royal Geographical Societj'-, to whom the di'aft was originally presented by the author. Eexgatb, October, 1877. CONTENTS. PAET L CHAPTER I. PAOE On board the "Lusitania." — Tiie Members ofthe Expedition. — Passing Visions. — Magnificent Spectacle. — Introduction to the Xew "World. — Rio de Janeiro iu the past . . . 1 CHAPTER IL jFii'st Impressions. — Strange Silence. — Deathlike appearance of People. — Hotel Cintra. — The Custom-house. — "Nigger" versus White Man. — On some peculiarities of Appearances and Customs of Eio de Janeiro. — The Aqueduct. — The Corcovado 15 CHAPTER III. Senhor Chico. — Tramways. — The Botanical Gardens. — A BrazOian Post Oflace.— The British Consulate. — "Madame." — The Eio Shopkeeper. — Yellow Fever. — The true rationale of the Unhealthiness of the City. — Filthiness of the Inhabitants. — Curious facts of Disease. — Preparations for a Start. — A Battle Eoval 2D Contents. 4& CHAPTER IV. PAGE Delights of quitting Eio.— Paranagua Bay.— The "Bonifacio" and her Captain.— Paranagua.— A triumphant Landing.— Au Antonina Hotel.— A parting Entertainment.— The Town.— Its iDhabitants.— Means and cost of Baggage transit.— A Discovery .....•••¦¦ CHAPTER V. Sr. Pascoal's BiU.— The Gracioso Eoad.— A bit of Corduroy.— A " venda " par excellence.— A new World.— Bird Life in the Pine Forest.— A delicious Toilette.— Sr. Eebousas.— A fearful Mule Eide.— Sweet Eepose . ... -62 CHAPTER VI. The Capital of Parana.— Observations thereon.— A Morning's Sport on the Prairie. — Cattle Breeding. — ^Why Sheep Fanning is pronounced a, failure. — Life at Curitiba. — Preparing for an advance. — The Inhabitants of Curitiba . . .77 CHAPTER VII. Brazilian " tropeiros. "—Difficulties of the Start.— " Danger. "— The Pack Mule "par exceUence." — A Prairie Camping-ground. —Our iirst Camp.— Sport "en route."— Our Europeans.— A Prairie-hen.- The first Shot at a Deer.— The SeiTinha.— Scene and View from the Summit. — The great Prairie . . . 9j CHAPTER VIII. The Prairie on Fire. — The Scene at Night. — Camp arrangements. — Thunder-storm. — Its effects in our Tent. — Primitive Cook ing. — A Day in Camp. — Ant Hillocks and their Denizens. — A Farming operation. — A Bullock Shot. — Our Mule Troop. — An Oasis in the Desert. — A long Day's Sport. — The Bag. — Lost on the Prairie. — The Caracara — Hawks and Quails. — The Camp at last Hi Contents. xi CHAPTER IX. PAGE A Character. — A strange Musician. — A long Prairie Eide. — Ponta Grossa in the distance. — The Burrowing Owl. — Curiosities of Life in Ponta Grossa. — Origin and History of the Town. — A Visit to a Compatriota — Prairie Farming. — " 0 Cavallo Inglez." — General Observations. — Journey resumed. — Be- ./' nighted on the Prairie. — Friends in need.— Camp by the Tibagy. — A deadly Snake. — Night Jars. — Pig Hnntiug by Canoe. — A Day Conflagration. — Eemarkable Instinct of Hawks. — Native Ignorance. — The "Balsa". . . 113 CHAPTER X. The " Neutral Zone " of Forest aud Prairie. — Camp at Ipiranga. — Forged Trade-marks. — The Pea-rifle. — Amusing habits of a Brazilian Jay. — ^The " Monj61o."— A Brazilian Race-course. — y The surroundings of Ipiranga. — "Patiencia." — Two Forests. — Monkey Shooting. — A Brazilian Bridge.— Hospitality of the People.— On the formation of Prairies.— The "Oitenta Oito" Butterflies.— The Pea-rifle again.— A Forest "Eoad." "AMulaCangou!" 179 CHAPTER XI. A "Fazendeiro's" House.— Education of the Women. —Slaughter ing an Ox.— Cruel Spectacle.— Danger and the Pig.— A Cattle- breednio- Estate.— A Brazilian Breakfast. — Hospitality . 207 CHAPTER XII. From the "Campinas" to Colonia Thereza. —Grand View of the Ivahy VaUey.— The descent.— Arrival . . • .220 xii Contents. PART II. CHAPTER I. PAGE Second "Act" commences. — Colonia Thereza, its present appear ance and past history. — The Casa Grande. — The Indian Village. — Description of the Inhabitants. — A Fish-trap. — The "Director" and his Abode. — An Exploration and its results. — ' ' L'homme propose et Dieu dispose " . . . 227 CHAPTER II. Want of enterprise of the Colonists — I become a Doctor. — A "Fandango." — The beginning of the Summer. — First Camp in the Forest. — The "Polvora." — Early Morning in the Forest.— Clothing.— The "Fouce."— The faU of a Monarch. — "Vamoscome r" 249 CHAPTER III. Difficulties commence. — First encounter with a Snake. — Joao Miguel's Story. — MarveUous Anecdote. — "Cobra preta." — Insect Life iu the Forest. — The "Mirim" Bee. — Itswonderful instinct. — Absence of Honey-eaters. — The "Carapatto." — Green Beetles, and how to capture them. — A brilliant display. —The great Fire-Beetle. —New plan of Work. — Forest Camps 269 CHAPTER IV. A suggestion. — The dancing Birds. — PecuUarities of Forest growth. — The Jacutinga. — The Snruqua. — " Eoughing it. " — IUness. — Jacutinga Blood. — Kindness of a Colonist. — The dangers of some Brazilian Climates. — Life in Camp. — The " Cigarra." — Fishing in the Ivahy. —The stinging Caterpillar . . .287 CHAPTER V. In the Forest again.— Animal and Insect Life.— The "Whip" Butterfly.— A Plague of Sores.— The "Aipa" Cure.— First adventui-e with a Tapir.— Curling's Messenger starved out.— EeUcf Expedition. — A happy Meeting. — Another Tapir Hi^nt . . 304 Contents. xiii CHAPTER VI. PAGE Eetum to the Eiver. — Anarchy in the big Camp. — The "Mer chants" of Colonia Thereza. — The Cachoeira. — A perilous Mishap. — Habits of certain Parrots. — Habits of the Toucan. — The four-in-hand Parrot. — Anew Plague. — The " heme." — ¦ A WUd-pig Hunt. — Dagan and the Tree Bridges.— Indian Eunners. — After work in the Forest 323 CHAPTER VII. An Indian Panic. — A Night Alarm. — Jealousy between Indian and Brazilian. — News from the first Staff. — Their Life and Ours. — Morant's adventure with a Snake. — The Coral Snake. — Other Snake encounters 314 CHAPTER VIII. A Sunday in the Wilds.— Dirt Eating Animals. —The tame Toucan. — Its habits. — A Snake Guard. — "Cobra ! Cobra ! " — A Plague of Fleas. — Jly solitaiy "Eancho." — An alarming Adventure. — Tapir and Jaguar 361 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. — « — AN AI)VA^'CED CAMP IN THE FORESTS OF THE IVAHYZINHO Frontispiece PAGE THE BRAZILIAN PINE (AEAUCARIA BEAZILIENSIS) . . . . 192 A PAi^IC UPON A BRIDGE 195 THE OITENTA OITO BUTTERFLY 199 WAITING FOR A SHOT 241 THE BRjVZILIAN FOUCE (billhook) 262 RIBBON CIPOS OE LIANAS 264 THE PHOSPHORESCENT STINGING CATEEPILLAE . . . 303 PEATING MANTIS AND MOSQUITO 308 PIOiNEERINd IE SOUTH BRAZIL. PAET I. CHAPTER I. On board the ' ' Lusitania. "—The members of the Expedition.— Passing visions. — Magnificent spectacle. —Introduction to the New World. — Eio de Janeiro in the past. On the 29th of May, 1872, the good ship "Lusi tania," bound for Brazil and the Eiver Plate, was Ijdng at anchor in the broad Mersey, with steam up and passengers and cargo on board, ready to start down the river with the next turn of the tide. Amongst the multitude of nondescript passengers (many of whom had, to judge from the darkness of their complexion, and a certain suspicious curl in their hail', something more than a mere sprinlding of the tar-brush in their composition) might have been noticed several little groups of fair-sldnned Saxons, who were talking and laughing together, and to all appearance in the highest possible spirits, as though bound on some holiday excursion, instead of to the other side of the globe, to face years of toil and hardships such as are only to be encountered in new Pioneerirtg in SoiUh Brazil. and distant lands. These were some of the little band of explorers who had been collected together from diiferent parts of England and Sweden, to be the pioneers of civilization in the wild interior of Brazil, and who were now on their way to that far-off country, to commence the great work there prepared for them. Amongst the man}^ remarkable men on board — for I may here parenthetically observe that on this particu lar voj'age the "Lusitania" numbered amongst her passengers no less noteworthy individuals than the four men who a few months later appeared before the world as the joint authors of the great "Bank of England swindle " — a something more than a nine days' wonder — there was one especially who could not long escape notice. Not so much was he remarkable in mere figure or feature, as in the wonderful expres sion of his countenance. The character of the man could be read in it at one glance. Unbounded self- reliance, strong wiU, and an earnestness which seemed to want but a worthy subject to develop at once- iuto enthusiasm, united to an unmistakable vigom- of intellect, were there strikingly indicated to the most casual observer. This was Captain Palm, an ofiicer in the Swedish army, and a man especially favoured by the friend ship of the present King of Sweden, who had early recognized and encouraged the rising genius. This was the man who was to be the chief of the little band of explorers above referred to. It was to Captain Palm that the idea of opening up CH. I. Captain Palm. a road right through the centre of the South American Continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, had first appeared capable of realization, and of becoming, in the course of a few years, an accomplished fact. Not only was he the fii-st who had seriously entertained this idea, but he had also proved his convictions of its practicability, by throwing his whole life into the task of actuall}"- carrying it out. Single-handed he had overcome all the preliminary difficulties and obstacles, and had succeeded in gaining over the Brazilian Government to his views, and also in enlisting the substantial sympathies of the Baron Maua (a man to whom Brazil was already indebted for many benefits) in the furtherance of his great scheme. The battle was half won. The plan of operations for canying out the explorations and survey through more than one-third of the breadth of the continent had ah-eady been drawn up and approved b,y the government, and the necessary capital obtained. Captain Palm was now starting with a staff of sixteen English and Swedish engineers, furnished with ample stores for a prolonged residence in the wild interior of the continent, to commence the long- planned work. Nine months later the success for which he had so long and so energetically striven — a success which then seemed no longer doubtful — was suddenly and abruptly denied him. The yellow fever, often so fatal in Eio de Janeiro, had claimed another victim, and it is not too much to say that the untim^ely death of Captain B 2 Pioneering in Sotith Brazil. Palm was deplored throughout the capital as a public calamity. Minutes wore on, and the big screw of the " Lusi tania " had been for some quarter-of-an-hour or more revolving spasmodically, with no other apparent result than the churning up of a sea of froth and foam under the stern of the vessel. Suddenly "crack!" went some thing forward, followed by the rattle of chains, and then — an ominous silence. The donkey-engine had broken down, and there was no getting off this tide ; so, here we should have to lie till two o'clock in the morning, suspended between the past and the future, within sight of both, but enjoying neither. The feeling was not pleasant. I retired to the cabin in disgust, and turned in and slept. Some hours later I was aroused from my di-eams by the noise of shouting, of tramping of feet, and clanking of chains overhead. Soon after, the dull methodical beat of the huge engines, and the trembling vibration of the screw, told that we were at last under way, and bidding a long farewell to the old country Nearly three weeks have passed away. Visions of many things have come and gone. Fu'st, a weary rocking in a close cramped cabin, when all the world seemed to the sore-tried spmt to be centred m a basin ; then a long dream of never-ending sea and sky, broken by a fleetuig vision of a gTeat city on a noble river,— a soft stiU bay, backed by rugged snow- CH. I. A Medley of Impressions. clad mountains, — then a great storm, with darkened sky and wildly rolling billows, and tossing vessel. Once more a calm, — a deep calm, unbroken even by the monotonous drone of the engines. For two hours the iron heart stopped beating. The spell was broken, and Ave awoke to find our ship float ing like a log, motionless in the midst of the wide Atlantic. The sensation was novel and strange, but it did not last long. Once more the great ship was ploughing her way steadily on imder the clear star-ht southern sky, leaving a broad phosphorescent track behmd her. Thousands of miles now separate us from our former homes, and years seem to have elapsed since the day of om- departm-e from old England. As I write this and strive to recall how each day had been passed since then, I cannot. A medley of impress.ions — the one half obhterating the other — alone answer to my call. Eating and drinking by day, music and dancing by night — these seem to be the only tangible recollections that remain. I remember, however, that this is the 18th day of June, and, looking at my watch (which by the way has unaccountably gained about three hours on the voyage !), I calculate that in ten minutes more all lights will be extinguished, and . I shall be left in utter darkness in the great saloon. I close this, my first and last attempt at diary keeping on board ship, in despair, regretting only the hour wasted in the futile effort; and, setting my face a point or so to the south of due west, bear straight down upon 6 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. my cabin, which hails about two minutes off in that direction. Soon sleep, heavenly sleep, brings another weary day to a happy close " Land ! land ! Glorious sight ! Tumble up quick, and come on deck," shouted Edwards (one of thfe younger members of the expedition), as he came boun cing into our cabin early in the morning of the 19th of June, all fresh and sparkling from his daily " tub " at the mouth of the big deck hose. " Come up quick, or you will lose half the sight ! " No second summons was necessary. -Almost before the last words were out of his mouth, slumbers had been cast aside, and I was half-way up the gangway in Pyjamah costume. "What sight can be more welcome to prisoners on board ship, who have been shut up for weeks, behold ing nothing but an everlasting expanse of sea and skj"-, than land, in any shape ! Still more excitingly welcome is it, when it comes as the "land of promise" — the unknown country which the imagination, for days and weeks perhaps, has been dihgently working upon, and clothing with all the wonders, real and unreal, of fact and fiction gleaned from a host of authors — the new home and the beginning of a new hfe. I confess to being predisposed to go into raptures over anything that would relieve the monotony of the last few weeks, and, consequently, to invest with ch. I. A Magnificent Spectacle. charms more than their own the scenes now gradually breaking out into view before us through the grey morning mists. Nevertheless, I think that what we beheld in the next few hours would bear comparison with any of the bits of scenery generally considered to be " chefs-d'oeuvre " of Nature. On reaching the deck and looking forward, the first thing that struck my eye was a dark mountain mass looming through the drifting mist and vapour, right ahead ofthe bows ofthe "Lusitania." At its base the darkness of night still reigned, unreUeved by even the tiny ghmmer of a star. We seemed to be pointing at the portal of Hades. As the eye travelled upwards from these gloomy nether regions through layer after laj'er of continually brightening mist and cloud, it came at last ujpon a scene of the most enchanting lovehness. A long array of many lofty peaks and mountain caps stood out glittering-bright against the warm sky above, akeady tipped with the glow of early dawn. Above them fairy clouds of fleecy pink were floating. Below, and resting against the broad flank of the yet darkened mountain, a belt of sombre grey clouds slumbered, cold and motionless, untouched as yet by the hfe-giving morn. While we still looked and wondered, changes were ever going on above. Each moment the tints were growing brighter and brighter, as " rosy -fingered morn " touched peak after peak, then mass after mass Suddenly, as it were by magic wand, 8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. the whole assumed the form of a recumbent giant, with clouds his couch, and sky his covering. Then, as the first golden rays of the sun itself struck the long hne of summits, giving hght and shade to the whole, the marvellous likeness could no longer be mistaken. There was the full length model of the " Iron Duke " as we are all famihar with him in our pictures and statues, cast in giant mould by the hand of Nature herself, an imperishable monument to all At tliis moment the chief officer came up. "You fellows had better go below and make a more respect able toilette, unless you want to frighten the ladies- Some of them will be up on deck du'ectly." This recalled us to the sober present, and we recollected that "Pyjamahs" and bare feet were something be yond a mere "neghge" style of dress, and accordingly at once dived below, to render ourselves a httle more presentable. When I again came on deck, all was changed. Day had fuUy broken, and we were ghding through a narrow strait, with lofty mountains towering up on both sides, and obstructing the view. One of these mountains was especially remarkable, rismg up cone shaped from the deep water, and attaining to a very great height. This was the famous "Sugar-loaf" mountain — the " Matterhorn " of Brazil — which tra dition says, was first climbed by a daring youno- Enghsh "middy," who, by way of a frohc, planted the " Union Jack " on its summit, and descending. CH. I. First View. left it waving royally in full sight of every house and building in the city, and of every ship in the harbour. The disgust of the natives may be imagined ; they did not see the joke at aU, and not one of them dared chmb the mountain to remove the ofi"ending rag ! They appealed therefore to the captain of the ship to wliich the young "middy" belonged, and the captain, as a punishment, ordered the offender himself to go up again and take the flag down. Not a second time, however, were those giddy heights to be scaled with impunity. Tradition goes on to relate that the bold "middy" paid for his mad freak with his life. Let us hope that tradition hes, and that in after years he reaped the reward ever ready to be bestowed on the brave by the hands of the fair. Surprises were not yet at an end. Another treat was in store for us early risers. The strait, through which we had been slowly steaming for the last quarter of an hour terminated suddenly in a vast lake-like bay, enth'ely surrounded, except at this one narrow entrance, by the most magnificent mountain scenery that the world can produce. The surface of this vast bay, which covers an area of more than a hundred square miles, was stiU and glassy, and undisturbed by wave or ripple. The mountains and scenery around were reflected in it as from a surface of pohshed steel. Here and there green islands were scattered about, throwing long deep shadows across the water. Not a breath of air was stirring. No mast nor sail was seen. All IO Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i; seemed still, calm, and deserted, as when the first happy vessel, three long centmies and more ago, broke the thraldom of savage nature in this spot. On one side rose the green wooded slopes of the far famed Corcovado,* with here and there tiny clouds of fleecy white, chasing each other up the rifts and watercourses. On the other side, long undulating hills and mountains clothed in the deepest gi-een, with the morning mists still slumbering in their sheltered hollows, white, like fields of the purest snow. In the distance, at the far extremity of the bay, enveloped in a dreamy haze of purple and gold, appeared the great range of the Organ Mountains, theh' lofty peaks towering up towards heaven, like the gilded domes and spires of some great citj'. Such was our pre liminary introduction to the " New World." A little farther, and, on passing a shght promontory on the left, the beautiful city of Eio de Janeu'o itself came into view, lying low down on a level plain at the foot of the mountains, looking at this distance hke some lovely village, buried in a mass of palm-trees, orange-groves, and other luxuriant tropical vegetation. A forest of masts crowded the bay close in front of the city, dispelling the more than half formed illusion of the whole being some enchanting faii'y- scene instead of one of the every-day busy haunts of men. . Half an hour later, the "Lusitania" * "Corcovado," "Hunchbacked," so called from the peculiai- crook that appears in tlie shape of the mountain wheu observed from certain points. CH. I. Bay of Rio de Janeiro. 1 1 dropped anchor opposite the city, and was immediately surrounded, though at a respectful distance, by a hungry swarm of row-boats, which seemed to have risen up from the deep, like tadpoles round a dead carcase cast into a stagnant pool ; so suddenly had they made their appearance. Nearly all these boats had awnings rigged up over the stern, to protect their occupants from the heat of the sun. It was amusing to see how many of the names on the stern-boards had been borrowed from om' own seaside watering-places. Such famihar ap peUations as the " Mary Ann" and the " Sarah Jane " looked somewhat out of place beside a shiny black nigger, or a yeUow-skinned Portuguese. Neither was the strange jabbering of an unknown tongue altogether calculated to make one fancy that these were English waters. WhUe we are awaiting the arrival of the pohce boat, whose non-appearance is still keeping the crowd of smaU boats at bay, it will be a good oppor tunity to take a sUght retrospective glance at the history of the city before us, with which we are soon to form a nearer and more intimate acquaintance. It is probable that the bay of Eio de Janeu'o was discovered within a year or two of the date of the first discovery of BrazU, in 1500. It was not, however, till the year 1567, that the foundations of the city of "St. Sebastian"* or Eio de Janeiro were laid. * So called in honour of the saint on whose day (20th January) the French had been finally expelled the place : also as a delicate piece of flattery to the young king Sebastian of Portugal. 1 2 Pioneeri7ig in South Brazil. ch. i. Under the mistaken idea that the bay was the mouth of a great river, the early explorers named it " Eio de Janeiro" or "Januarj' Eiver." There proved how ever to be no river flowmg into it, but only a few small streams from the mountains, which scarcely sufficed to make any perceptible difference in the saltness of the water in the baj^, as compared with that outside. For the ten j^ears immediately preceding the founda tion of the city, the bay had been more or less in the possession of the French, who, having aUied them selves with one of the fiercest of the Indian tribes of those days, namely, the " Tamoyos," resisted for that space of time all the attempts of the Portuguese and of their Indian allies to expel them. On theu' ultimate expulsion, however, the first stone of the city was laid. For the next hundred years or more it made but little progress. In 1711, it was in imminent danger of coming to utter ruin, as in that year it was taken by French privateers, who, however, were content to release it, on the payment of a heavy ransom. After this narrow escape its real progress commenced. In 1750 its population numbered 25,000 which at the present day has mcreased to upwards of a quarter of a miUion ; and, notwithstanding the annual scourge of yeUow fever, which for the last twenty years has carried off its hundreds, and often its thousands every summer, this number still goes on being augmented. The reason of this persistent growth is not difficult Passing the Customs. to understand. A glance at the map of the World, wUl at once show what an enormous natural advantage Eio possesses in its position, with reference both to its own empire, and also to other countries. No capital town of any other nation occupies so central a position for commerce with both old and new worlds. Add to this the possession of a harbour which for size and security combined is unequaUed, and we have a sum total of natural advantages which are sufficient to account for any rate of increase of poprdation, however great, nothwithstanding the drawback of the chmate. Such, very briefly described, is the history of Eio de Janeiro, the capital of the great empire of BrazU. WhUe we have been considering it, the police boat has come and gone; the hungry swarm of boats is no longer kept at bay by dread of the strong hand of the " chef de police." Many have already seized their victims, and have taken them away bag and baggage to the Custom-house. S. (another of our party) and myself have taken upon ourselves the by no means light task of passing the private baggage of every member of the expedition through that most disagreeable of ordeals, and a big barge is akeady alongside, pUed up with boxes, trunks, and portmanteaux. We station ourselves upon the top of the pUe, and two brawny niggers seize upon an enormous " sweep " each, and under the direction of a rough looking Portuguese who stands at the stern, and whom the niggers address as "patrao," we slowly leave the side of the ship. During the morning 14 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. i. Edwards joins us in the custom-house, and bj' our united efforts everything under our charge is passed through, bjr about four o'clock in the afternoon ; and we hail a boat, and row back to the ship, to take a final leave of the captain and officers, and of the passengers that remain. Some hours later we are standing all together upon one of the many landing places of the city. We have said " fareweU " to the good ship " Lusitania " and the last hnk between us and the Old World is snapped. CHAPTER IL First impressions. — Strange silence. — Deathlike appearance of people. — Hotel Cintra. — The Custom-house. — "Nigger" versus white man. — On some peculiarities of appearances and customs of Eio de Janeiro. — The Aqueduct. — The Corcovado. As we walked up from the wharf into the town, the glare of the streets, the babel of unknown tongues, the strange appearance and costumes of the negroes (for every second person we met was a negro), with the many other unfamihar sights and sounds (and I may add, " sotto voce," smeUs,) which crowded upon the senses, made the whole scene appear hke a dream. Our long imprisonment on board ship no doubt made us more than usuaUy susceptible to new impressions. If anything at aU seemed real, it was that we were indeed strangers in a strange land. The very pave ment we were walking upon seemed strange, and there was an unfamUiarity in the very air we were breathing. After a time, it struck me that these mysterious sensa tions were in a great measure caused by the total absence of carriage traffic, in the streets. I had never before been in a great town-thoroughfare that was so entirely given up to pedestrians, and from which even the sound of wheel traflic was excluded, iloreover, there 1 6 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. was not a woman to be seen. No wonder that there was an air of unreality about the place ; we were walking in the main street of the city, — the " Rua Direita" — the hour was barely eight p.m., and yet there was not a woman nor a carriage to be seen, but only a hurrjdng crowd of strange men, whose faces (excepting those of the negroes) seemed to me to be wan and sickly, as of persons who had just been cUscharged from a lazar- house. This was my first impression of Eio de Janeiro, gained in the short waUi from the landing wharf up the broad Eua Dkeita. First impressions are seldom accm'ate, but still they have their value, and sometimes give a better general idea of new scenes than a descrip tion grounded on the most careful examination and study. We had now arrived within the region of hotels, and the whole body of us turned up out of the Eua Du-eita, into the " Eiia do Ouvidor," which, as I afterwards discovered, was the "Bond Street" of Eio, and swarmed with taUors, hatters, and jeweUers, whose scale of charges would not have shamed even their hundred per cent, brethren in trade at home. We first visited the hotel " Cmtra," which, as its name implied, was kept by a Portuguese. SaUow, lean, dhty, and servile was this specimen from the "Old World." His hotel was better outside than in, but did not strike me as being altogether worthy of the capital of a great empire like BrazU. However, in comparison with a cabin on board the " Lusitania," the apartments CH. II. Hotel Cintra. 17 were palatial. There were five rooms avaUable for om' accommodation, and a sixth adjoining, which latter was apparently set apart for the use of chickens and pigeons, but was only separated from the room next to it by an open lattice-work partition. Five of us decided to take up our abode here ; and I vvas careful to secure a room as far as possible from the poultry department. The remainder of our party went to try their luck farther on up the Eua do Ouvidor. AU our rooms were on the first floor, and were divided off, not by waUs, but by cloth and paper partitions. These partitions were about seven feet high, and above was the open unceiled roof common to aU. This arrangement seemed highly satisfactory, as far as ventUation was concerned, but was perhaps scarcely private enough to suit the tastes of most people. In our case, however, there wag nothing to object to on this score, as conversation from one room to another was thereby much facihtated. The floor in every apartment was uncarpeted, and in the one I occupied the boards were very shaky indeed, being fuU of ruts and hollows, and in some parts worm-eaten and rotten. This was not pleasant, as I knew, from the height we were above the street, that the room below was very lofty, and that therefore, in case the floor gave way, we should have no shght distance to drop. After we were aU in bed, and candles extinguished, I noticed that the stars were shining brUIiantly VOI. I. 0 1 8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. through several holes in the roof. The proprietor of hotel was evidently determined not to run any risk whatever of his guests being suffocated ; nevertheless, I inwardly resolved, while tying watching the stars twinkle through the various ventilators above, that I would seek less aUy and more secm'e quarters with as httle loss of time as possible. Very early on the following morning, at what exact hour none ever knew, a cock in the chicken apartment started off crowing. His voice, which seemed preter- naturally loud and shrill, in those small hours, rang out amongst the rafters overhead, rude and over powering. He would not stop. Muttered groans were coming thick and fast from the two next rooms to mine, till at last the storm burst. " D that cock," shouted one, whose name shall be mentionless. "Wring his neck," exclaimed another. " By Jove ! I ivill'\i\\B crows once more," emphatically answered the first. The cock crew again. A sudden jump was heai'd in the next room, followed by the striking of a match — a groping along the passage — an ominous pause— a sudden stifled shriek or scream — a fluttering of -Rings — and then a satisfied " He's all right now," from a weU- known voice, told that the/o«Z deed was done ! and I turned over and feU asleep once more, and did not awake untU it was broad dayhght. On going down to breakfast, " Senhor Francisco "— this, as we discovered being the name of our httle Portuguese host— appeared with a very sulky face and a very poor repast. We could not understand what he CH. II. The Custom-house. 19 said, though he kept talking and gesticulating for a long time. Guessmg, however, that his disturbed aspect was connected with the last night's iniquity, we got out a dictionary, and discovered that " cock" was gallo in Portuguese. Someone therefore said " gallo 1 " interrogatively. Senhor Francisco's face grew atten tive. The doer of the midnight deed, after another reference to the dictionarj^, then ventured upon the word " diiiheiro" (money). A broad glow of satisfac tion lit up the small j^ellow face ; a volume of sounds which, though understood by none, were yet felt by all to be highly gratUj'ing, poured from the wizened mouth, and, amidst a profusion of smiles and gestures of delight, the Uttle man bowed himself out of the room, aud this Uttle business was thus amicabl}- settled. For some hoiu's in the eaiiy part of this our first day in Eio, I was engaged in passing stores through the custom-house, and seldom have I had to go through so unsatisfactory a labour. To those who are accustomed only to the methodical arrangements for conducting this, at all times, disagreeable business, as adopted in many European countries, an experience of the custom-house at Eio de Janeiro would be "unique." Certainty, no exalted idea of the business capacities of its authorities and officials would be carried awaj'. On this occasion, order and method seemed conspicuous by their absence. Instead of the officials themselves ordering the arrangements for the common benefit, each man who, like myself, had C 2 20 Pioneering in South Brazil. goods to pass, conducted his own business, with the two-fold objection of continuaUy clashing with his fellow sufferers, and being himself utterly powerless to obtain the attendance of an official at the right moment. If this day's experience was a fair average specimen of what goes on aU the year round in this custom house, it is somewhat more than siu'prising. A stranger knowing that about one thu'd of the total revenue of the Empire is obtained thi'ough this one custom-house alone,* would naturaUj' expect to find it a model of business order and method. That it is not so, many personal experiences of my own sufficiently prove. For example, certain im portant stores of mine were lost there from August, 1872, to December, 1873. Absolute proof of their having been dehvered into the custom-house was again and again produced, but here aU trace of them vanished for a period of sixteen months, when at length, after I had given up all hopes of ever seeing them, they were delivered up to me in a dilapidated con-- dition. I was able to obtain no satisfaction whatever. It is perhaps impossible to insure perfect honesty in every individual official hi a large pubhc office, but there must be some very radical defect m the admmis tration, when such grave instances of neglect, and even of appropriation, as report and my own ex perience tell of, are possible. * In 1871-2 the total revenue of the Empire was £10,095,490, of which the Eio custom-house yielded £3,480,198. CH. II. " Nigger " versus White Man. 2 1 In the afternoon, glad enough to get out of so irritating an atmosphere, I employed an hour or two in stroUing about, and exploring the city. One of the first sights that strikes the eye of a stranger walking through the streets of Eio, is the inimense number of " niggers " to be seen squatting on the door steps, all engaged in the same occupation of plaiting straw. Every spare moment seems to be devoted by them to this work. I afterwards learnt that by this means many slaves are enabled, in the course of years, to save up sufficient money to purchase their own freedom. The contrast between the powerful, healthy physique and the happy, careless manner of these negro slaves, and the stunted growth and worn-out look of their lords and masters, is so general as to strUce even the most casual observer. What is the reason of this ? Is it that the climate is more suitable to the African race than to the Portuguese, or even to the so-caUed BraziUans them selves? or is it that the latter wear themselves out prematurely in the pursuit of Mammon ? Whatever be the cause, the fact remains, and is most striking to the stranger, StiU more remarkable is the general appearance of the negresses. I never saw in anj^ European race such perfect development and wonderful symmetry of form as these women almost universaUy exhibited. TaU and erect, with bare bosoms and arms which UteraUy ghstened as they moved hke some glossy and beautifuUy woven silken texture, there was an am of perfect natm'al grace and 2 2 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. dignity in their every motion, which is absolutely in describable, but which many a highborn lady in our own country might well have envied. Their typical ugliness of feature was forgotten in the rare perfection of form. When one reflects for a moment, and remembers that these are a race of slaves, the thought leaves a certain unpleasant flavour behind it. More than ever apphcable in them case, seems to be Swift's Satire on his own kmd as conveyed in the story of GulUver's Travels to the Houliyhnms. Master and slave, in Eio de Janeiro, might weU change places with each other, as far as physical superiority is concerned. Another generation wiU see aU this changed. Slaves are now no longer boru tn BrazU. SUently but sm-ely the law of 1871* is working to root out slavei'y from the country. No violent distm'bance of the long-estabhshed laws of society either has or wUl take place, but yet, yeai' by year, the race of slavesis dying out, and a new popula tion of free people is growmg up in its stead. After a long and, to me, amusing ramble through the countless narrow, straight streets and byways of the city, I found myself once more in the Eua do Ouvidor. This is a very fan- tjqje of the generahty of streets in the city proper. Straight and narrow, and bounded on each side by lofty houses fm-nished with balconies and deep overhangmg eaves, it differs much from the style that we are accustomed to see at home. * See Appendix, note A, "Abolition of Slavery in BrazU." CH. II. The Streets of Rio. 2 3 The idea was to obtain the minimum amount of sun upon the street during the day that was consistent with a barely sufficient width for ordinary traffic ; but it is an open question whether the stagnation of am produced bj^ the narrowing of the streets to this mini mum is not a worse evil than would be an additional hour of du'ect sun heat. Apparently the question is decided against the old theory, as in all the newly buUt suburbs wide streets are the rule, and narrow ones the excejption. In the Eua do Ouvidor, and many others, the curb of the foot-pavement is flush with the pitching of the carriage way, the gutter running down the centre of the street. This arrangement is no doubt conve nient, indeed I may say absolutely necessary, for the carriage traffic in these narrow streets, because it aUows vehicles to run on to either pavement when passmg each other; but it is certainly less pleasant and convenient for humble pedestrians. In fact it is more than unpleasant. To a man with metropolitan ideas, who has been accustomed all his life to consider the foot-pavement his castle, and therefore inviolable, it is intensely irritating to be suddenly startled by a loud " hiss," followed immediately by the wheel of a " Tilbury " cleaning itself against the sleeve of his pet coat. Fortunately the carriage traffic in Eio de Janeu'o is very Ught, or the nuisance to the foot- passengers in some streets would be quite intolerable. The custom of attracting attention by hissing seemed to be more highly developed here than in 24 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. any European town with whicli I am acquainted, and certainly there can be no possible doubt but that it is most effective and economical in its action. Amidst the noise of traffic or of a multitude of voices a shout wiU very frequently pass unheeded, but one short, sharp "hist" or "pist" wUl have as much effect as the report of a pistol. It requires also much less effort than shouting, which must always be a con sideration within the TroxDics. The negroes especiaUy seemed to be adepts at this practice. My second night in Eio was passed undisturbed by crowing of cock, or by any sound whatever; and when, early in the morning, I went out on to the balcony overlooking the street, and from thence inhaled the deUcious morning air, I almost repented of my reso lution to seek other quarters. A very interesting operation was being performed in the Eua do Ouvidor at this earty hour. The street was entmely empty of carriages and even of pedes trians, and from the balcony where I stood, I could see from one end of it to the other without interruption. Its sole occupants were five black and wMte cows, each attended by a calf and a man. Each calf was attached by a rope to its mother, in such a manner as just to prevent it from gratifying its natural cravhigs. This seemed very hard upon the poor creatures, but the benefits thus secured for the populace of Eio far out weighed any considerations for them. Doors were rapidly bemg opened on both sides of the street, and jugs and mugs were being handed out, CH. II. An Interesting Operation. 25 and returned again brimming over with fresh foaming mUk, pure and free from any taint or suspicion of the iron cow. As each three or four houses were supplied, the obedient quadruped, at a word from her master, moved on a few yards farther, happy in the delusion that she was aU the time satisfying the wants of her own offspring, and altogether innocent of the hoax that was being i^layed on her meek and trusting nature. This I found was an every morning operation, to be seen going on in aU the streets in the city. Most assiu'edly the inhabitants of Eio are wiser in some respects than ourselves. They object to being served with adulterated mUk as much as we do, and therefore they employ the only effectual preventive, which we do not do. The institution of balconies is a great luxury. Both morning and evening, it is delicious to sit outside in the cool air; and, to the stranger especiaUy, the various phases of Ufe to be seen in the street below, afford a fund of amusement. One of the most comical sights to witness was the oft recurring one, of the meeting between two slaves who happen to be ac quainted with each other. A black man is at aU times a more or less ludicrous object to the uneducated eye of an EngUshman, but when the black man puts on the finished airs of the white man — the town dandy, and salutes his feUow slave with a ceremonious doffing of his tattered straw hat and a "Bom dia, Senhor," foUowed, as this generaUy is by a perfect imitation of 26 Pio7ieerino- in South Brazil. i> the Cockney's weU-bred shake of the hand, and by many courteous enquiries as to how " Vossa Merce passed the night, and sincere hopes that " Your Grace" is enjoying good health, no unaccustomed observer can possibly refrain from laughing. Of course, at this time, I understood very little of what the words of these salutations were, but the visible mode in which they were conducted was amusement enough. And v/hat Cockney would not have envied in his heart of hearts the absolute perfection of the bow on both sides with which the casual meeting would terminate ? In the evenings the balconies aU along the street were always crowded, chiefly with the women of the house holds, who never seemed to appear in pubhc, except at this one hour. After we had been in Eio some few days, fom- of us made an excursion to the " Corcovado," which is one of the highest peaks in the immediate neighbourhood of Eio, and which we had especially noticed on the day of our arrival, when steaming slowly up the bay. We started early, and got into the carriage road which follows the course of the Great Aqueduct up to as far as the source of its supply. This aqueduct, which is nearly six miles long, is one of the wonders of Eio, both in beauty and in utUity. It was constructed more than a century ago, for the purpose of supplymg the city with puro water, and it has ever since remained in good working order. It is built of stone, which, in the course of time, has become covered externally with lichens, mosses, and magnificent maiden-hair ferns. The Aqueduct. 27 Some of these latter are superb, bearing fronds eighteen inches in length, of perfect shape and colour. The road, for the first part of the way, foUows the west slope of a spur of the " Corcovado " itself. For the last two mUes it winds along the eastern slope of the same spur, foUowing, bend for bend, the course of the aqueduct up to its som'ce. This part of it is most lovely. The deep shade of the thick fohaged trees, the variety and beauty of the numberless pahns and myrtles, flowers and ferns everywhere growing hi tropical luxuriance ; the perfumed air, and the cool rippling sound of the water in the aqueduct, all lend their charms to enraptiu'e the senses. Leaving behind us this enchanting bit of road, we passed the reservoir, and struck into a narrow path to the right, which wound zig-zag up through the dense wood with a rapid ascent. After two hours' rather hard pull up this path we reached the summit, and there our labours were repaid tenfold. It would be useless to attempt to describe the view from this mountain top. AU, and far more than all, that had entranced us, on first entering Eio bay, was here to greet us again. Every beauty of colour, of contrast, of varied distance, and of delicate lights and shades which an artist loves, was now before us. We threw ourselves down uj)on the ground to rest and drink our fiU of the magnificent panorama. On the seaward side of the mountain there is a pre cipitous drop of more than a thousand feet, and tra dition teUs the usual tale of faithless mistress and 28 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. despairing lover who madly cast himself down firom this giddy height on to the forest-clad slope below. We remained on the summit several hours, tiU, in fact, we began to fear that night would be upon us before we could again reach Eio. Then we aU raced down to the head of the aqueduct, feeling as we descended, a very sensible change taking place in the temperature. A strong sea breeze had been blowing upon the top of the mountain, and the air had been very cold ; but here, not a breath was stuTing, and the atmosphere felt ten degrees warmer than it had been above. We arrived at the hotel "Eavot" a httle after sunset, very well satisfied with our day's excursion. No visitor to Eio should miss doing this " hon." It is labour well repaid; but it must be remembered that the ascent cannot be accomphshed fi'om the town in much- less tlian four hours, and it is therefore advisable to take a supply of provisions with which to restore exhausted nature when the summit is reached. CHAPTER III. Senhor Chico. — Tramways. — The Botanical Gardens. — A Brazilian Post Office.— The British Consulate.— " Madame."— The Eio shopkeeper.— Yellow fever. — The true rationale of the unhealthi ness of the city. — Filthiness ofthe inhabitants. — Curious facts of disease. — Preparations for a start. — A battle royal. All this time we have been entirely forgetting Senhor Francisco and the hotel " Cintra." I am afraid that both house and man were very much unaccustomed to eccentricities of guests such as we were. "Five baths every morning! the Senhor es were sm'elyjokmg! he did not think he had even such a thing as a bath in his house." — " Very weU, then, we must try somewhere else." Next morning appeared a " nigger " in each room carrying on his head the half of a wine-cask, evidentty as an apology for a bath, and containing about three pints of water. For tliis luxury ' the sum of 2^000, or more than 4s. per day, afterwards appeared in the bill. Senhor "Chico" was determined that such unreasonable demands on our part should be met by a like scale of charges on his side. Then came the food. " Bife '' steaks, hard and tough as leather, were served up for every meal in Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. the day. We objected. Mine host was astonished. — " Were not the Senhores English, and did they not like ' Bife ? ' " In short, nothing fit to eat could be got in the hotel. " Chico " was not an enterpriziug man, and consequently on the thu'd day he lost four out of his five guests. The soUtary individual who remained (a Swede, by name Lundholm) Uved ever after like a prince ; there are therefore some hopes that on that day the policy of the hotel " Cintra " underwent a radical change, and that future sojom-ners under its roof have reaped the benefit of the lessons first taught by us. I joined the other members of the expedition, Edwards, Faber, and Morant, who were established at the hotel " Eavot " in the same street and who had reported somewhat more favourabty of theh quarters. The one great institution of Eio de Janeiro, patronized alike by all classes of peoj^le, is the tram way. It was not long before most of us discovered the far greater comfort and convenience of this means of locomotion, as compared with aU others. The cars are light and airy, and are drawn, not by the lumber ing animal which we see at home, but by wiry, active little mules, running in pams, and full of energy and " go." It is a pleasure to see the manner in which they bound into the collar at the given signal, and go off at once into a gallop, as though they thoroughly enjoyed their work. Their rapid pace causes a cool ing current of air to circulate through the car, which, in contrast to the otherwise stiU and stifling atmo- ch. III. The Botanical Gardens. 3 r ¦sphere, is inexpressibly delicious. All other traffic in those streets through which a tramway runs is sub ordinate to this. At the sound of the warning bell attached to the tram-mules, carts, cabs, and even private carriages, open up right and left and allow the car to dash past with unslackened speed. Powerful breaks are fitted to each pair of wheels, and the car can thus be brought up short at any moment. The ordinary fare is 200 reis, or about fivepence for any distance within a certain radius. For twice that amount a person can travel to the farthest limits of any of the Unes yet open ; that is to saj', to a distance of four miles or more from the city. AVe took advantage of this mode of conveyance one day, to i)ay a visit to the famous Botanical Gardens, which are situated at the foot of the Corcovado, some five miles out of Eio. Thej'' are certainly one of the sights of Eio, and well deserve a visit. Here I first saw a humming bird flying about in the open air ; the way in which it darted and poised, visiting each flower in turn, like a bee in search of honey, was most interestuig to watch. Gorgeous butterflies too were everywhere disporting themselves in the hot sun, rivalUng the many- coloured flowers in the briUiance of their array. The numerous fountams and waterfalls, scattered about in various parts, gave a sense of coolness to the atmosphere, which was most refreshing. The number of peojple in the gardens was very small. It appears that the great majority of the people out here are quite as incapable of appreciatmg 32 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. quiet enjoyment of this kind, as we are in England, where the Crystal Palace would be preferred to the lovely Kew Gardens by ninety-nine out of every hundred holiday-makers. I wonder whence the BrazUians obtained their ideas of post-office management ! Professedly, the system under which this important pubhc department is con ducted, is borrowed from the most advanced European nations. If indeed so, European nations have no reason to be proud of their pupU. A day or two after the aiTival of the mail from England, I caUed at the British Consulate, to enqmre for letters which I knew would be directed there. On receiving from one of the clerks in the office the not very civU reply, that they had enough to do without taking in letters addressed to their charge, and that they always returned letters so addressed to the post-office, I went to the " Correio Geral "* to find out what had become of mine. On giving my name and particulars to one of the officials, he absented himself for a minute, and then retmiied, sayhig, " No letters." I explained that I had been given to understand that some had been returned from the British Consul's. A large packet of letters was then produced, and put into my hands to examine. They were not there. After some delay, another packet was given me, which I examhied with like result. The clerk then said there were no more EngUsh letters at aU, and that therefore there could be none there for me. * Correio Gcral, General Post-office. CH. m. The British Consulate. 33 However, feeUng confident that he merely said so, to save himself the trouble of looking them out, I stUl persisted, tUl yet a thmd packet was handed to me, and there I found not only my own letters, but also several for other members of the expedition, of all of which I took possession, without remark or formahty of any kind. This httle episode speaks volumes as to the detail management of this important office. It is no longer surprising that so many complaints of letters being lost are made against it, when one considers the lax manner in which their distribution is managed. Like the custom-house, this department would be none the worse for a little closer attention to detail. However, the fact that it does not yet pay its own expenses may be taken as some slight excuse for its present rather slip-shod mode of workmg. I found that my letters had all been sent to the British Consulate according to the manner in which they were addressed, but that they had been returned with the words : " Not known at the British Consu late " written upon their covers. It is difficult to see what excuse our Consul could possibly make sufficient to justify such scant courtesy towards his fellow countrymen. We Enghsh naturally look to our own Consul for small acts of civiUty, which cost nothing, but which are most valuable to those who, like our selves, have come out as utter strangers to a foreign land. The plea of "too much to do," advanced by the clerk, is, or was, simply ludicrous — as the office did not open beforell.30 a.m. and there was no admit- 34 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch, m. tance after 3 p.m. ! ! It is to be hoped that the physical powers of the officials have increased a little, since the year 1872, and that they do not continue to find that three hours and a haK's work in the day is too much for them. In the contrary case, I would recommend a little change of air to England as a very good remedy for theh' dilapidated constitutions, and a correspondhig importation of new blood, to take then- place. At the " Eavot," to which hotel I had moved after leavmg the " Cintra," the accommodation was a good deal better ; and it had the gi'eat recommendation of having a series of bath-rooms attached to it — a hixury almost indispensable to Englishmen. The proprietor was a jovial sort of feUow, very dif ferent to Sr. Chico. He did not seem to trouble himself much about the management of the hotel, leaving everything to "Madame," his spouse, who was a veritable shrew. One very dirty Uttle waiter, who spoke French as weU as Portuguese, assisted by several black slaves, performed all the work of the estabhshment between them, whUe "Madame" sat m a taU box in the " sala de comer " aU day and made out the bills. After we had been here about a fortnight we thought it might be as weU to ask for our accounts ; and it was fortunate we did so, as, when they appeared, we found that " Madame " had not sat up in her taU box aU day for nothing. It seemed that she had been unable to learn om' individual names, consequently, in order that CH. III. Rio Shopkeepers. 35 equal justice might be meted out to all, whatever one man had ordered, she had reUgiously put down to all ; and this was doubtless done on the principle of equality, and not, of course, with any intention of defrauding. The consequence was, however, that the bUls one and all presented most wonderful totals. Some Uttle diffi culty was experienced in convincing " Madame " of her mistake ; but, in the end, a judiciously worded inti mation to the effect that another part of the city might perhaps suit us better, made everj^thing come right. And it was a noteworthy fact that from this day forth the food was better and the waiter more intensely civil than ever. As in the hotels, so in the shops, a newly-arrived EngUshman is considered fair game for plunder, and unless he happens to possess more money than he knows what to do with, he soon finds himself forced to adopt the universal custom of " haggUng " over every purchase that he wishes to make. Indeed, the shop keepers expect you to do so, and always aUow an ample margin in which to be beaten down. The pro cess is both tedious and disagreeable to most English men, but not more so than the feeling that you have been deliberately swindled. Prices for aU European manufactures are naturally high, on account both of the distance of transport and of the heavy import duties. As a general rule, the cost of everything in Eio de Janeko is from 100 to 200 per cent, higher than it is in England. Take the practical value of the milreis as a shilling, and then D 2 36 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. for all European goods add 100 per cent, for cost of transport and import duty, and a very fak calculation can be made as to what it costs to hve in this cit3^ It is not surprising therefore that the Portuguese (who form the great bulk of the shopkeeper community in Eio) usually succeed in making thek fortunes in five years, if only they can escape the yellow fever for so long a time. A few words here about this dreadful scourge may not be uninteresting. There is no doubt but that yeUow fever, now that it has once got a hold of this citj'', wUl never be entkely eradicated. Year after year it has reappeared ever since its first visitation some twenty-five years ago, scarcely dying out even in the winter ; and it is absurd to affirm, as the government does, that it is imported each year from other parts. The germs of the disease, wherever they may have originally come from, are now firmly rooted in the s^Dot, and are caUed into activity each summer as it comes round by the increase of temperature ; the severity of the scourge at the same time varying inversely as the rauifaU during that season. The season of 1872 and 1873 was an excep- tionaUy dry one, and the fever assumed in 'consequence the form of an epidemic. A fortnight's hot sun with out ram in the summer months wUl, in any yeai', cause the death-rate from this source to rise frightfuUy. And then if rain does not quickly come, an epidemic is certain to foUow. Why is Eio de Janeko an unhealthy city ? That it is so, nobody who has Uved in it for any time can Unhealthiness of the City. possibly doubt, though books pubhshed under the inspkation of the government persistently deny this truth. The rationale of its unhealthiness Ues partly in natural and partly in artificial causes. In the first place, the city is built on a perfect flat, on ground which was once a swamp, elevated only a few feet above high water, consequently there is no sufficient faU for the drainage ; and, as a matter of fact, the drainage system is very far from perfect, though great improvements have been carried out of late years. UntU, however, the inhabitants themselves become more aUve to the essential benefits of cleanliness, and practise this vktue with the same zeal which they devote to money getting, the government wUl continue to have enormous difficulties to overcome, in putting the general sanitary arrangements of the city mto anything lUie a respectable condition. The state in which the hotels — to speak only of what I have myself seen — are kept m certain essential points of cleanUness, is beyond all description dis graceful to the city. Of those with which I am famUiar, namely, the "Cintra," the "Eavot," the "Franca," the "Em'opa," and the "Freres Proven- 9aux," any single one would of itself be sufficient to breed a fever even in a temperate climate. And yet, though year by year yeUow fever, smaU-pox, and other loathsome diseases carry off their thousands, and permanently injure the health of thousands more, these hotbeds of fever are aUowed to remain, tainting 38 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m the atmosphere, and spreading death around. What the state of things in this respect is in private houses, I am unable to say ; but probably there is not much difference, and, if so, no words can be too strong to condemn the whole race of people inhabiting this city as unfit to be called civilized.* Though, as I have shown, sufficient causes for disease are to be found in the sloth and neglect of the ]Deople theinselves, j'et there are natural causes besides, which, when once the city has become un- healthj'-, tend to keep it in that condition. Stagnation of air caused by the bay (on whose immediate shores Eio is built) being landlocked on every side by lofty mountains ; stagnation of water in the bay, which cannot get changed except by very slow degrees, owing to the narrowness of the communication which. connects it with the outside ocean ; these are the two gTeat natural conservators of disease in this case, and therefore it is that when any disease such as yeUow fever has once laid hold of the city, its exter mination cannot but be a matter of extreme difficulty, if not of absolute impossibility. It is a strange thing that negroes, and the Bra zUians themselves, are almost entkely exempt from the attacks of yeUow fever, though there have been years when its ravages have been so terrible (especiaUy in the more northern seaport towns) that the popula- * There is now a newly-opened English hotel in the Botofogo suburb, kept by a Mr. Carson, which is a model of cleanliness and comfort. ch. III. A Timely Warning. 39 tion has been decimated twice over without distinction of colour or race. The great mortaUty is always amongst the lowest class of the people, chieflj^ Portuguese and Itahans, who are proverbiaUy the most dirty in thek habits. The English and Germans, of all the foreign popula tion, seem to suffer least ; but this is probably due to thek being generaUy of a better class m Ufe than the first-mentioned people, and therefore not subject to the same inducing causes of sickness. It may be useful here to give some account of the principal symptoms which give warning of the approach of an attack of this dreaded enemy. Fkst comes a violent headache, with intense throbbing pains in the back of the head ; then follows a feeling of sickness, often accompanied with aching in the limbs. Now, if not done before, is the time to take instant remedies. Swallow a strong dose of castor oU and go straight to bed, piling on blankets, rugs, coats, anything that comes to hand, so as to produce free perspkation. If at once obtainable, a very hot bath should be taken before getting into bed, as very often perspiration wUl not commence without it. If these simple remedies have been recm'red to in time (and all depends upon this), in a very few hours the threatened attack will have passed off, and nothing but great weakness remain. It is always best, of course, to send at once for a doctor; but by no means wait for his arrival before taking the above measures. Delay is often absolutely fatal. The great thing is, to at once take 40 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. m. some efficient pm-gative, and also to get the pores of the skin thoroughly opened. A doctor could do no more than this, and an hom''s delay makes aU the difference. A very good system is adoj)ted in the Eio papers, by which the daily course of an epidemic may be watched by those most interested in it. Instead of the ordinary death column, Uke that which we have hi our daUy papers at home, each death is put under its own denommation, and each day's obituary is kept distinct, so that all the world can at once see whether anjr particular disease is becoming stronger or weaker. In ordinary seasons, such as that of 1874-5, the death rate from yeUow fever is from 10 to 20 a day, and the number of attacks is from 30 to 50. In exceptional seasons the death rate has been known to be as high as 200 a day, but a faU of rain at once reduces this to a much lower figm*e. Besides yellow fever, smaU-pox and consumption carry off a large number of victims every year. Small pox confines its ravages principaUy to the negroes, and consumption is chiefly fatal in those years when yellow fever is least developed; the sort of inverse connection that exists between these two latter diseases bemg very remarkable. It is strange to think that one of the most lovely spots that nature ever created, should also be one of the most fatal. But so it is. Even at the present season, which was comparatively cool, Eio could not be caUed a healthy place. EngUsh CH. III. Preparations for a Stai't. 4 1 blood grows thin and poor m it, and even the few weeks that had elapsed since we had landed there, Eio had taken the colour and freshness out of not a few cheeks, and put a yeUow tinge in many a formerly bright eye ! Most of us longed, even after the first fort night, to be outof the place. There was somethmg peculiarly depressing to the spirits in the stUl motion less ak, and in the Uvmg in a temperature which never varied, from one week's end to another. When, however, the order to " pack up traps " and march did at last come, it did not leave us much time for preparation. On the 24th of July, the news arrived that the difficulties with the government, which had been hitherto delaying the expedition, were settled, and that we were to start the foUowing day for Paranagua, the port of the province of the Paran^. Never were we so rejoiced. We had been pent up now five weeks in Eio, and were pining for the more active life to come. These were the plans-:— The force of sixteen engineers and assistants were to be split up into four staffs, each composed of three engineers and a map- maker, or draughtsman. Staffs I. and II. were to sail with their stores to Paranagua, and thence travel together to Antonina and on to Cm'itiba, the capital of the province. From this point Staff I. was to commence operations, taking for its section the country between Cm'itiba and Colonia Thereza. Staff IL was to go on to the last-named point, and to take up that part of the Ivahy YaUey which lay between Colonia 42 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. nr. Thereza and the Corredeira de Ferrd (a point on the same river, presumably about three hundred mUes below Colonia Thereza). Staffs III. and IY. were to take between them the exploration of the country between Miranda and the Corredeka de Ferro, and were to start their work from the jMiranda end. AU four staffs were to go together in the government steamer " Bonifacio," which had been partially put at our disposal for the purpose, as far as Paranagua, where the first separation would take place ; Staffs I. and II. disembarking, and Staffs III. and IY. continuing the voyage round by Monte Yideo and the river Plate, up the Paraguay river and its tributary, the Mondego, to Miranda. As it was found, however, that the " Bonifacio " (being alreadj' loaded with a large amount of govern ment stores) could not take more than half those belonging to the expedition, it was settled that Edwards and myself should take the stores of oiu- two Staffs (Nos. 1 and 2) by the mail steamer " Camoens," which was to start some hours before the " Bonifacio." We worked all night at loading the vessel, and managed to get the last packing case stowed away in her capacious hold a little before sun rise. We then returned to shore to visit our hotel, and get our personal baggage packed up and taken on board, as we were to start at ten o'clock precisely. But before this could be accomplished, we were destined to fight a battle royal. Once again had "Madame" followed out her convenient ideas of H. III. A Battle Royal. 43 equity, in the drawing up of oim accounts, and the sums total were this time more astounding than before. On occasions lUve these one does not mind being swindled in moderation; but when the attempt is made in such a barefaced way, that to pay would be for ever to stamp one's self a fool m one's own estimation and also in that of others, wrath gets the upper hand and rebels against the imposition. So, I confess, it was with me. I refused to be swindled at all. Edwards did the same, and war was declared. "Madame" began to storm and rave, and vowed that no baggage of ours should leave the hotel until her demands were satisfied. The " niggers " whom we called to take our belongings, shrank from her shrill voice and violent gesticulations, and were afraid to touch them. Time was getthig short, and we could not afford to vmt tiU om' shrew of a hostess should have calmed down ; so, whUe I kept guard in the hotel, Edwards went out into the street to procure further assistance. He soon returned, bringing three strapping big niggers in with him. These we loaded up and started on their way along the passages which led down to the street door. Before, however, they had reached the head of the stairs, " Madame," on her side, had assembled her niggers to bar the way. The affak was now becoming exciting. Edwards led the van, whUe I brought up the rear, and " quick march" was the order of the day. But it soon became evident that the hotel niggers were not at all keen in the affak, and were cUsinclined to offer resistance. 44 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. " Madame," seeing that they gave way before us, let loose the reins to her fury, and, herself now coming into action, sprang like a tigress upon the unfortunate "nigger" just in front of me. He was carrying a heavy portmanteau on his head, all unsuspecting so sudden an attack from the rear. The shock of " Madame's '" frantic onslaught sent the startled son of Ham flying to the waU, and the huge portmanteau came tumbling down from aloft, making " confusion worse confounded." Down the staks bolted the poor nigger like a shot out of a gun, scared out of his senses, and was out of the street-door before his fellows knew what had happened. The scene was so ludicrous that Edwards and myself roared with laughter, notwithstanding ' that the dis- comfitm'e had been on our side. Just at this moment Morant (another of our partj^) appeared upon the scene, and a truce was caUed. The very sight of his face had a magic effect upon "Madame ; " she cahned down suddenly and completely, and the remainder of our baggage was got out with no hindrance whatever on her part. Morant's persuasive look and tongue not only effected this service, but eventuaUy succeeded in bringing her to acknowledge her Uttle miscalcula tions, and in making her perfectly satisfied with an offer of 40 per cent, as payment in fuU of our two accounts. This last proof of rare financial abUity on the part of our Irish friend was not exhibited tiU long after our departure, we having left the matter in his hands to settle for us. The landlord wished us a Leave Rio. 45 cordial fareweU as we were leaving, and by no means seemed to consider us such heinous offenders as did " Madame " his spouse ; but on the contrary made some apology for her frantic outburst. Two " TUburys " were awaitmg us outside, and we jumped m, and, turnmg a corner, soon left the hotel "Eabot" out of sight, and out of mind. Three years after this day, I walked mto the same hotel and found "Madame" stUl sittmg in her tall box making out the bills ; the Senhor, at his old place at the head of the staks, smoking the same long pipe, fat and jovial- looking as ever, and the little scrubby waiter unchanged in the smaUest particular. I alone felt myself a different man; so various and so strange had been the events of my Ufe in those three years. We soon arrived at the wharf, and putting our luggage into a " big-boat-sir," were presentty being puUed by two stm'dy black " niggers " out into mid- harbour, where lay the "Camoens," with steam up and the " Blue Peter " danghng at her mast-head. HaK an hom' later we were once more gliding beneath the taU " Sugar Loaf," and Eio had been left behind without a regret. CHAPTEPv IV. Delights of quitting Eio. — Paranagua bay. — The "Bonifacio" and her Captain. — Paranagua. — A triumphant landing. — An An tonina hotel. — A parting entertainment. — The town. — Its in habitants.— Means and cost of baggage transit. — A discovery. Those whose hard fate it has ever been to be imprisoned in smoke begrimed London, through the sweltering months of July and August, and who have then been suddenly released and tiu'ued loose on the fresh stubbles of the southern counties, or better stUl, on the breezy moors of Yorkshke, can form some idea of how intense was our deUght, after having been pent up for five weeks in a tropical city like Eio, where the air is still and stifling, and where aU nature hes for months together in a state of motionless, almost deadly, torpidity, to find ourselves once more tossing about on the foam-crested waves, and feeling again the cool refresliing sea breeze stirring up the blood in our veins, and bringing back the colom- to om- saUow cheeks. Each bounding motion of the " Camoens," as she sped along at a rate of twelve knots an hoiu', sent a tbrUl of pleasure through our hearts such as natm-e alone knows how to impart. ch. IV. The "Camoens.'' 47 Evening came, and found us full sixty iniles out at sea, with the coast line of lofty mountains, resplendent in sunset array of purple and gold, grandly looming upon our distant right. Almost equal in magic beauty to the sunrise that had greeted our first approach to the New World, was the scene that Edwards and I sat watching for the next twenty minutes from the deck of the "Camoens." Not until the last tints had died away in the fast faUing mists of night, did we begin to feel that we had neither of us been to bed or slept for the last thkty-six hours. Now that the excitement of the day was over, the fact was remembered, and we retked below. Our cabin was a most spacious one, far bigger than any on the " Lusitania." Messrs. Lamport and Holt (the owners of the vessel) received many blessings from us, as we turned into the com fortable berths, in a state of perfect content, both of body and mind. Had we known what miseries and discomforts our less fortunate companions on board the " Bonifacio " were at that very time undergoing, cm' self-congratulations would have been even more fervent and heartfelt than they actually were. Diu'ing the night the wind and sea rose, and the " Camoens," which, in addition to having a deck saloon, was not laden to within some feet of her load Une, rolled very greatly. In the morning, after dress ing, we found that it would be more prudent to rema-in on our backs, than to attempt going on deck. The following night the roUing and pitching continued with unabated force tiU within an hour of sunrise, 48 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. when it suddenly ceased. Y^e turned out at once, and found ourselves in comparatively smooth water, slip ping quietly along past a lighthouse, and steering straight for a black mass ahead, which loomed through the darkness like some h'uge mountain, but AvlUch on the nearer approach of day, proved to be a group of islands, round which we presentty gUded, following the course of a whiding channel, which a Uttle farther on brought us to v/ithin a stone's throw of a promontory of the main land. Tins promontory rose up almost verticaUy on our left, protecting, with its tall palm- covered slopes, from southern wind and sea, the entrance to Paranagua bay. A few minutes more and we dro|)ped anchor in front of the town itself. The bay was pretty, though not to be compared with that of Eio. A long reach of water stretchmg away to the westward, marked the dkection of Antonina, which lay at the farther extremity of the bay, about twelve miles distant from Paranagu^. Yessels of a thousand tons and more occasionaUy go right up to Antonina, but they run no slight risk of getting aground, as the channels in places are less than two hundred yards wide. At Paranagua, on the contrary, it appears that any vessel capable of passing the bar at the entrance of the bay can find a safe and commodious anchorage ; as, at a little distance from the town, there is a basin of some miles in extent, which has depth of water sufficient to float any sized vessel, and which also possesses a good anchorage bottom. There is, how- ch. IV. Paranagua Bay. 49 ever, one objection to it as a harbour, which is, that it is not fully sheltered seawards. For instance, a stiff east breeze makes this part of the bay decidedly rough, so that on such occasions lighters cannot with safety approach a vessel at anchor there. These facts I ascertained in the course of a short residence at Paranagua in the year 1874, when, through the kindness of M. Scherer, the promoter of certain improvements in the place, I had an opportunity of consulting a very complete chart of the bay, and also of gaining a variety of information upon other interest ing points with reference to this harbour. jM. Scherer, who, at the time I saw him, was in a bad state of health, has since died ; but endeavours have been made to get up a company in England, with the inten tion of carrj'ing out the schemes first commenced by him. These mclude not only local improvements, but also the construction of a railroad between Paranagua and Curitiba — an undertaking by no means difficult m these days, notwithstanding the 3000 feet or so of cUfference of level that exists between these two places. To return, however, from this digression. Our first thought, on dropping anchor, was to get our stores on board hghters, which could take them up to Antonina ; from which place there was supposed to be a good waggon-road up the Serra do Mar to Curitiba. Communication with Curitiba also exists direct from Paranagua via Morretes ; but it is by means of a mule-track only, and therefore was not to be thought of for us, with our forty tons, more or less, of bulky stores. 50 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. Just as we had completed the operation of loading the lighters, the "Bonifacio" came in, and anchored about a quarter of a mile from us. Edwards haUed a nigger's canoe which was paddhng about, and got into it, and went on board. I stoj)ped behind to get om' personal baggage together, and then bidding fareweU to the captain of the " Camoens," who had been very civil to us, in giving information and rendering other valuable assistance in getting our big cargo safely shipped to the lighters, I hailed another canoe, and was soon likewise on board the " Bonifacio." On stepping on deck I was struck with the dkt and disorder everywhere apparent ; and when I caught sight of some of our party I was stUl more astonished to observe their altered appearance. They looked as though they had not been in bed for a week. Captain Palm alone seenied not to have suffered. The story they told of all they had undergone since leaving Eio was simply piteous ; though, so selfish is man, instead of condoUng with them, we two fortunate ones gave a glowing account of the comforts of our own voyage, and by so doing made them more miser able stiU by the contrast. It came out that the " Bonifacio " was filthy beyond description — that her captain, officers, and crew were each one more dirty and uncivil than the last — that nothing decent could be got to eat— that there was no water for washing — and that the berths were unin habitable. Consequently, for two days and nights aU had suffered not only the pains of sea-sickness, but ch. IV. The "Bonifacio's" Captain. 51 also aggravated discomfort and wretchedness in every form. Long after we learnt the explanation of all this. It seemed that the captain, whose name I have forgotten (but which ought to be handed down to eternal obloquy), was in the habit of domg a little trading on his own account during these voj'ages between Eio and the Paraguay. The unexpected influx into his ship at the last moment of our large expedition, with its bulky stores, had considerably interfered with his calcula tions, and his own private stock-in-trade had to be reduced or turned out. Neither could he take in any more at any of the ports he touched at, without turning out some of the expedition stores. This he actuaUy did when going up the Paraguay river ; putting these latter into open barges and towing them behind, while his own private stock of merchandise was made room for in the vessel. But it is a satisfaction to be able to record that he met with his just reward. Haire, the chief of the third staff, on his arrival at Mkanda, represented the case to head-quarters ; and, the evidence being overwhelming, on his return to Eio the captain was summarily dismissed. The steam-tug arrived at about three o'clock. She proved to be a tiny paddle-boat of perhaps twenty tons, and it was very evident that short as was the distance from Paranagua to Antonina, we could not expect to do it under four hours at least, seeing that we should have five heavily laden Ughters in tow. We stopped at Paranagua for about a quarter of an E 2 <2 Pioneer infr in South Brazil. en. iv. hour. I should say from further acquaintance with this town that it cannot be very healthy, as it is surrounded \>j swamps ; and not only that, but at low water large areas of mud banks in front of the tovra. are exposed for several hours ever}' daj' to a powerful sun. The inhabitants, however, do not com plain of its being unhealthy ; but neither do the in habitants of Eio de Janeiro complain of the'ir cit}'. The truth is, nobody Ukes to talk about such un pleasant things. So long as each individual can make his money, and escape "Yellow Jack," he is only too glad to persuade himself (and others too, if he can) that he lives in a very paradise of health. Y''hen, however, his own turn comes, he finds out his mistake, and then no doubt, when it is too late, regrets the selfish apathy which refused to see a danger that he had fondty hoped was not for him. Paranagua as yet is a small town ; but were it ever to attain to the dmiensions of Eio, it would doubtless become another similar hotbed of disease. The whole country round, stretching away inland for many miles, up to the base of the Serra do JIar, appeared to be one immense swamp, with here and there a low mound rising up in the midst. AU this part, was, of course, entirely uncultivated, and almost gave one the shivers to look at. On the opposite side of the bay, the ground was hiUy, and cultivation was carried on there to a small extent. These obser vations were made as we steamed laboriously up the long reach towards Antonina, with the lighters in tow. ch. IV. A Triumphant Landing. 53 at the rate of about three iniles per hour. All the sixteen members of the expedition, with the chief. Captain Palm, were on board; for the "Bonifacio" was not to start again till daybreak the next morning, and the third and fourth staffs were only too glad of even a day's respite from such a vessel. Never, I should think, has even "the oldest in habitant" of Antonina witnessed such a big arrival of " Ccqntoes" and " Dontores" (we discovered hereafter that it was necessary to take one or other of these titles to one's self, hi virtue of being " Engenheiros ") as was ours. In order to give our landing in the province of our future labours a suitable eclat, we had opened one of our boxes of signal fireworks, and had arranged a programme for letting them off just before reaching the town. It was long past sunset when we got within a mUe of the place, and the night was dark and favourable for the display. At a given signal the Uttle steamer biu'st out into a blaze of rockets, roman- candles, blue lights, and catherine-wheels, and at the same moment a voUey of British cheers was let off from a score of stentorian lungs. Whilst the display was stiU at its height, we suddenly cast off our tow- rope, and the Uttle tug, relieved of her long, wearying train of heavily laden barges, came steaming up to the wharf in grand style, with rockets blazing above and all around her. Thus triumphantly we landed once more on the shores of BrazU. The pyrotechnic display had brought a smaU crowd 54 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. down to the landing-place, for nothing does a Brazilian love more than letting off a cracker, squib, or rocket, or seeing them let off by somebody else. Indeed, what would their Saints' days be, if it were not for the happjr invention of fireworks ? Amongst the multitude was a Sr. Hargreaves, who introduced himself to us in perfect English, and offered his services in obtaining without delay the necessary accommodation for our large party. He spoke both English and Portuguese with equal fluencj', and being well acquainted with Brazil in general, and with Antonina in particular, was of very great assistance to us during our short stay in this town. In less than an hour from the time of landing, we were, through liis kind aid, safelj^ installed, with bag and baggage, hi the only hotel in the place, which it is my firm opinion merely took upon itself that name temporarily for our better contentment, dropping it again when we left the town. The proprietor, Sr. Pascoal, received us with en thusiasm, professing himself and his house capable of accommodating us all with perfect ease ; which as surance I for my part looked upon rather as a mathe matical problem requiring demonstration, than as an article of faith to be unhesitatingly accepted, for on in spection the " hotel " proved to consist of four rooms, with six beds altogether, and our number was 17 ! Our first order was " dinner " or rather " supper for twenty as soon as possible," as we were aU famished. Mine host took the order with inimitable assurance CH. IV. An Antonina Hotel. 55 and sang-froid, as if he had been accustomed to receiving such orders any day for the last twenty years, though it appeared that he had to send out all round the town, to buy or beg pots and pans, plates and dishes, and all the other requisites for a large dinner. He wisely refrained, however, from disturbing oim peace of mind by letting us know of the short comings of his house, but on the contrary bestirred himself with a wUl to satisfy our wants ; and showed that he looked upon us in the right Ught, namely, as guests to be entertained and not as strangers to be robbed. One has a respect for a man who can thus run superior to his every-day groove when occasion requkes. In somewhat less than two hours from the time the order was given, a big table laid for twenty was groaning under the weight of pUes of stewed beef, boUed chicken and rice, and black beans ; while a row of bottles — some with the well-known label of "Bass and Co." conspicuous upon them — adorned the centre, and Sr. Pascoal himself appeared at the head, ready to do the honours of his house in the good old- fashioned style. We aU sat down, and each man helped himself or his neighbour from the nearest dish, without regard to its contents. To judge from the buzz of conversation commenced and continued on all sides, — the uproarious jokes and laughter, and the rapid disappearance of both viands and Uquors, never had a more jovial or contented party met together at a dinner-table ; and 56 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. notwithstanding the diverse nationality of the company, all amalgamated perfectly, like brothers. Just before the conclusion of the repast, the host rose to his feet and delivered a long complimentary speech (translated by Mr. Hargreaves), in v,'hich he congratulated, first the " Expedition " upon its safe arrival thus far on its long jom-ney, and next himself, as having had the pleasure of first welcoming it to the province, which indeed he did most heartUy, in the name of aU Antonina — wishing it every success in the gTeat work it had undertaken. Captain Palm made a suitable reply, then other speeches foUowed, tUl in fact midnight arrived and found us stiU seated round the festive board. But this was only natural, seeing that the occasion com bined a compliment to the expedition as a whole, paid by Antonina, in the persons of Sr. Pascoal and his two supporters, and also a fareweU feast to the members of the third and fourth staffs, who were to start again at 3 a.m. by lighter for Paranagua. Soon after midnight we broke up, to snatch, if l^ossible, an hour or two's sleep before the start ; and dead stillness soon reigned in the haU of previous festivity. I think that none of us wUl soon forget this, the first and last occasion of aU meeting together as one body engaged in one common work ; and if ever these pages meet the eye of any of those who were then gathered together, but who are now scattered abroad in the four quarters of the globe, they wUl, I trust, CH. IV. The Tozun. 57 recall no unpleasant memories of former days and former companions. It feU to my lot to sleep on the festive board itself ; and accordingly, wrapped up in my rug, with a log of wood for my piUow, I there turned in. My slumbers seemed to have lasted but a minute, when once more all was bustle and movement. The hour for the departure of the third and fourth staffs had arrived. Y^e went down in a body to the jetty or pier at which we had landed in the evening, and found a lighter all ready to start back with the tide. Our late companions were soon on board, and we gave them three farewell cheers as they slowly drifted away into the dark cold mist, and disappeared from our sight, and then we ran shivering back to our hotel. I discovered a vacant bed, and, without making any troublesome enqukies' as to who might have been its owner, tumbled into it, and was soon wandering in the happy land of dreams. Y"e had now arrived at another stage of our travels, and sea voyages were over for many a long day. Our next point was to be Curitiba, the capital of the province of the Parana, distant about fifty mUes from Antonina. We knew that there was a waggon-road nearly if not quite completed, for the whole distance ; and we were not long in ascertaining what were the resources of the place we were now in, with respect to conveyances. The town itself was soon explored, and proved to be what we in England should rather call a village. Pioneerinz iri South Brazil. It boasted of one main street with a few smaUer streets or alleys, running off it at right angles. The houses were mostly only one story high, and were built chiefly of granite rubbish (which was brought as baUast from Eio) laid dry and then plastered with mud and whitewashed over. But a very smaU pro portion of the windows were glazed, and, as in Eio de Janeko, not a chimney appeared above the low-tUed roofs. In the better class of houses an kon pipe might perhaps be seen, just protruding its nose out through the back wall, beneath the overhanging eaves ; but more generally the smoke of the kitchen-fire was allowed to find its own way out through the interstices of the tiles. On the south side of the town, perched on the summit of a little liUl, stood the church, keejjing watch over her little flock below. It was evident from the axopearance of this, the chief buUding of the place, that architectime' had not yet progressed much beyond its most primitive form, namely, four walls and a roof. Yet, notwithstanding the simphcity of its individual echfices, Antonina as a whole would certainly be caUed a pretty and even a picturesque little place, situated as it is between land and water, at the foot ofthe gigantic range of mountains, the " Serra do Mar," and on the shores of the beautiful bay of Paranagu^. There is no doubt that were the anchorage ground at Antonina less Umited in extent, the town would have a great future before it; but it appears that Its Inhabitants. 59 there are only two comparatively narrow channels in which vessels of any size can anchor. At present Antonina has the advantage over the rival town of Paranagua, of possessing a waggon-road communica tion with Curitiba. Should, however, the proposed scheme of a railroad from Paranagua to Morretes, and thence to Cm'itiba be carried out in preference to the opposing plan which takes Antonina as its starting point, there can be no question but that the balance of advantages would then be transferred to the former town. When last I visited these two little towns a fierce paper war was being carried on between them on this very question of the raUroad. At this time Antonma might have numbered perhaps 1200 inhabitants, of whom no inconsiderable proportion were Germans, and we soon discovered that the whole waggon traffic between this place and Curitiba was in their hands. AVe accordingly turned to them and engaged as many of thek waggons as we could the first day, loading them up with stores, and starting them off to Curitiba as soon as they could be got ready. These waggons were small, though very strongly buUt. Thek owners we found to be a stiff- necked race, with an obstinate objection to having their conveyances loaded beyond a certain amount. In fact, they would not take more than half a ton as a load. We looked again at the vehicles — they were stout and weU made ; we looked at the horses — they indeed were smaU and puny, but still there were no less than^ue to each waggon, and the more we looked, 6o Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. the more we wondered at the apparently absurdly smaU load they would take. We remonstrated, but to no purpose ; the invariable rej)ly being, " If you put up more than we say is a load, we wUl take our waggons home again," which threat one or two did actually carry out. ^Ve were therefore forced to submit to their terms at such a rate, that the transit of a ton of stores over but fifty miles of road cost about ten pounds ! What would be the price of coals in London at that rate of carriage ? Had our stores been packed in such a manner that they could have been carried by pack mules, as they undoubtedly should have been before they ever left England, we should certainly have been able to beat down the waggoners to a more reasonable price ; but as it was, we were very greatly at thek mercy. By the end of the third day more than half our stores had been successfully got off, and two hundred horses were already toiling with them up the steep slopes of the " Serra do Mar." The remainder we decided to leave at Antonina tUl a futm-e day. It was a rehef to have heard the last of the deep gutturals of these German waggoners, and to feel that yet another onward step had been taken. During these tlmee days of our stay at Antonina we found time occasionally to take out our guns, but it was not until the evening of the second day that we made the discovery that certain swampy meadows just outside the town were literally teeming with snipe. Faber (chief of the first staff) and myself A Discovery. 6i happened to be strolling home on that particular evening from a short expedition in the woods, when we saw several of these birds flitting about. ^Ve did not at once recognize them (never dreaming of meet ing in the "new world" so homely a bird), but on shooting one, out of curiosity, we were astonished to find what it really was. Y"e at once set to Avork to make up for lost time, and managed to bag several couple in the short half-hour of daylight that j'et remained. A select part}' of us discussed them that same evening over a bowl of egg flip by way of an appetizer before supper. It was very unlucky for us that we had not made this discovery sooner. Had we had the least idea of the mine of wealth that was all this time lying at our door, we should doubtless have made deep inroads into it ; for though mine host's provender was good, yet it was a trifle monotonous, breakfast, dinner, and supper being aU served up exactly aUke. The third and last day of our stay in Antonina was altogether too busy a one to aUow us to profit by the discovery made the previous evening, but Sr. Pascoal did his best to comfort us by the assurance that there were any numbers of the " long biUs," as he called them, on the Curitiba plateau, and that we might shoot them there from the very doors of the houses of the town ! That night I loaded fifty cartridges with No. 8 shot, wondering greatly what kind of place Curitiba (a capital town, be it remembered) could be, where snipe could be shot with such marvellous facility. CHAPTEE V. Sr. Pascoal's bill. — The Gracioso road. — A bit of corduroy.— A "venda "par excellence. — A new world. — Bird life in the Pine Forest. — A delicious toilette. — Sr. Eebou9as. — A fearful mule ride. — Sweet repose. Having thus seen the last of the long train of store waggons started on its Avay to Curitiba, we returned to our quarters to prepare for om' own departm'e on the foUowing morning. Sr. Pascoal was requested to get his bill ready, and for several hours after he was to be seen sitting at the head of the long dining-table (the same on which I had passed part of my first night in Antonina) buried in the deepest calculations, and entkely surrounded by inkpots, pens, and long strips of paper. Evidently, the preparation of so big a biU as ours was an event ia the life of mine host. When at length the document Avas produced, we no longer Avondered at the time its concoction had taken. According to mine host's calculation, we and our guests had consumed three hundred bottles of beer in three days! Suppose we put down forty bottles as having been given from time to time to the men employed in loading and unloading stores— that would CH. V. S/^. Pascoal's Bill 63 stiU leave our consumption at the rate of nine bottles per man per day ! Unfortunately, no account had been kept by our- seh'es of the amount used ; and mine host assured us, with many deprecating gestures of injured in nocence, that he had kept an exact account of every bottle, which no doubt he had, and then multiplied their sum by three, according to the practice of " Madame " at the hotel " Eavot," Eio de Janeiro. In other respects the bill Avas reasonable enough, as the food supplied had been both abundant and good — far better, in fact, than AAhat Ave had been accustomed to for the previous five Aveeks. We therefore submitted to being conA'inced that Sr. Pas coal's figures were correct, and paid his account in fiUl. Next morning early our two waggons, each drawn by five of the small horses of the country, appeared at the door. Three riding mules accompanied them ; one for the " tropeko " Avho was to act as guide, interpreter, and groom all together, and the other two for Captain Palm and CurUng (chief of second staff), Avho preferred riding, as making them more independent than they could otherwise be. Our few remaining " trajjs " were soon stoAved into the waggons, and we turned to take leave of mine host. The parting was most affectionate ; whether it was our own good quahties, or the meek manner in Avliich we had paid his lengthy bill, that had won his heart, I do not venture to decide. But certain it Avas, that 64 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. he embraced us one and all again and again, a,nd with tears in his eyes wished us all good luck and a safe return from the perils before us, earnestly begging us to think of him now and then. I, for my part, can safely say that I did not soon forget him. The sight of a bottle of beer Avas generally sufficient to recall him vividly to my mind for months after. For the first ten miles after leaving Antonina, the road Avound along" nearly on a leA'el, hugging, for the most part, close into a big spur of the " Sen'a do Mar," which came doAvn far into the plain towards the town. The plain itself was nothing but a series of big swamps, separated by occasional small liiUs and ridges, upon which cattle Avere browsing. Of cultivation of any sort Avhatever there appeared to be little or none. In about three hours from the time we left Antonma, we came to the Uttle village of St. Joao, which is situated close to the foot of the " Serra do Mar" itself; the ascent of which we were now about to commence. Most of us preferred walking to being jolted along in the springless waggons, though (except for one length of about five miles, where the metaUing had not yet been put doAvn) the road was first rate, and did great credit to the engineers who had planned and constructed it up this difficult Serra. It is a pity that so fine, and costly a piece of work, the good condition of which is so important to the interests of the province, should have been aUowed to fall into the ruinous state in which I found a large portion of it two years after. CH. V. A Bit of Corduroy. 65 The misappropriation of the sums arising from its tAVO toll-gates would not be permitted in many other countries besides Brazil. These five miles of unfinished road gave us a fore taste of what we were hereafter to become more intimately acquainted Avith : namely, the "corduroy" road of BrazU. The reahty was certainly as bad as, or worse than, any of the descriptions of these roads that I have ever read. It was as though big trees had been feUed across a rough lane at short intervals, and the spaces between fiUed in with thick pea-soup mud. Over this most atrocious caviinho the horses floundered and the waggons groaned for nearly three hours. How these latter held together under the tremendous strain and jerks to which they were submitted during those hours, is now, and ever will remain, a mystery to me. The few lazy ones of the party who had, up to this time, been taking life easy in the waggons, after the first one or two jolts, did not wait to feel any more, but speedUy tumbled out, preferring the alternative of getting their legs snjothered knee-deep in mud by walking. We now saw the use of having so many as five horses to each little waggon, which had hitherto been so puzzling to our notions of just proportion. We were even incUned to wonder now how anything less than a team of elephants could pull the waggons along at aU. At last we got safely over this bone-breaking quag mire, myself, and one or two others of the first staff, 66 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a'. i> with some of our European men, having remained behind with the Avaggons for the whole time, fearing lest some accident might happen, and damage be done to any of the valuable instruments which we had brought out with such care fr'om England. As it was, the horses were very much done up, and without occasional assistance from us, I doubt if they would have got over the difficulty in less than double the time that it actually took them. We now passed on to overtake the others, leaving the waggons to follow more leisurely. Since com mencing the ascent, the road had been keej)ing an almost uniform gradient of 1 : 16, so that we were already a considerable height above the sea, and most splendid A-iews were growing behind us, as we mounted still higher and higher. From one pomt, at an altitude of about of 2800 feet, the vicAv was especially magnificent. Below us, Avas lying stretched the broad flat plain along the edge of which we had skirted in the morning. There was our road, looking lUie a fine thread winding through it. There, too, was the little village of St. Joao nestling close in under our feet ; and in the distance, the AA'hite houses of Antonina itself, shining out clear and distinct ; and stUl further off to the right, the windows of the houses of Paranagua glittering like diamonds, in the rays of the setting sun. And the bay, dotted here and there with islands and httle bright specks of saUs, was looking its very lovehest by contrast with the massive sombre looking mountains in the background. A "Venda." 67 This was the last peep of salt Avater that many of us were to have for two long and eventful }'ears. The next time that I myself looked on the sea, was from this same spot twenty-seven months later, though not in company with any of my present comrades. Death and other causes had thinned our ranks before that time ; and of the remamder, some were yet bravely strugghng on in the far depths of the forest wilds, against difficulties and dangers, Avhich they who have not gone through such, are apt to underrate. It was beginning to get dark before we succeeded in overtaking the others. When, however, we did come up Avith them, we found there was yet another half hour's pull before us, to reach what our German "tropeko" caUed "the hotel!" at the top of the pass. We walked on almost in silence, for we were both tked and hungry, and Avhen at last a faint glimmer of lights appeared through the darkness ahead, we con- gratiUated om'selves upon the near prospect of a weU- eamed supper and bed. Upon entering the little wooden chalet, at which we had now arrived, we found ourselves m a httle shop, with the AvaUs fitted up Avith shelves all round, upon which were arranged a most curious variety of articles : such as wooden shoes, spurs, with rowels four inches in diameter ; knives of dimensions unknoAvn in civilised countries ; an assortment of dusty chemical bottles, which seemed to contain nothing but red, yelloAv, and white powders ; some cracked and dirty lookmg F 2 68 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. crockery ; a bundle of rusty bill hooks ; and a small pUe of sardine tins : these, with a roll of coloured cotton print, with very dirty edges, stowed away in a corner, and a string of tin cups and cans hanging from the ceilmg, completed the visible stock in trade of the "hotel," which was reaUy nothing more nor less than a third-rate venda used by the tropeiros and waggon drivers as a convenient half-way house between Antonina and Curitiba. The owner of this estabhshment, a rough-looking German, was questioned as to what accommodation he could give us. It then appeared that he could produce nothing in the way of supper but the above- mentioned sardines and a piece of a loaf of brown bread. Our hearts sank within us at the j)rospect. The proprietor must have seen our dejection and pitied us, for he presently disappeared, and shortly after re-entered, dragging in with him a huge leg of an ox, raw and dirty. This he offered to let us have if Ave liked to cook it ourselves, teUing us, at the same time, that there was a rancho, or hut, outside, where we might light a fire for the purpose. ^Ye gladly accepted the ox-leg, thinking more of our men (who were most of them stiU a long Avay behind with the waggons, and who would probably arrive hungi-y enough) than with any intention of ourselves par taking of it. We Avere too tired to wait for om' dinner while the meat was being cooked, so, after a mouthful of the bread and a few sardines each, we sought what accommodation there Avas, and were soon asleep, — some ch. v. a Change of Temperature. 69 on the table, some between ox-hides on the floor (or rather ground), and a few lucky ones on bedsteads of stretched coAv-hides, cut in strips, upon which reed- matting was laid, in lieu of a mattress. Faber and I were fortunate enough to get one of these beds be- tAveen us, and we laid oimselves doAvn upon it without undressing, and, covering ourselves as weU as we could with a stiff buUock-lnde, which refused to be " tucked in," slept peacefully tiU morning, I never before or since passed a better night than I did this night on the summit of the " Gracioso " Pass. Next morning on going outside we found the grass by the sides of the road white with hoar-frost. I think most of us had supposed that we had left " Jack Frost " behind us for the next few years — I confess to having tiU now been under that delusion myself. We were only just outside the tropics, and but the day before had been in the land of orange and palm trees, bananas, and coffee, now we were surrounded by gigantic pines, such as one imagines would grow only in the latitude of the Baltic. We had mounted since yesterday into an altogether different zone of Ufe, and were now more than 3,000 feet above the level of Antonina, and the whole chmate was completely changed. Not seeing much prospect of getting a brealifast where we were, Cm'Ung, Faber, and myself started away at daylight to walk to the next stage, which we had ascertained was about three leagues farther 70 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. on. The delightful freshness of the air reminded me strongly of one of those bright October mornings which we occasionaUy get in England. Y"e seemed to be breathing in the very essence of Ufe as we Avalked along. Everything around seemed to partici pate in this enjoyment of living. The pine forests were swarming with different kinds of bkds — chiefly wood-peckers and birds of the jay tribe. The most common of the former genus was a yeUow bkd, spotted with black, about the size of a missel-thrush, which, though evidently a true wood-pecker, as the weU-worn tail abundantly testified, was more often found in httle flocks in the grass-groAvn clearings by the sides of the road than on trees themselves. These bkds looked invitingly plump, so we shot several, intending to cook them for breakfast if the next halting-place should prove as barren as the last. Another kind of wood pecker, slightly bigger, with a broAvn body, and most magnificent scarlet crest, gave us several tantahzing chases before we could get a specimen. This bird was of sohtary and retiring habits, and seemed to spend its Ufe runnmg up the trunks of the pine trees, or flying from one to another. It was very shy and wary, and when startled by any shght noise, or when in any way suspicious of danger, would stand out from the tree perfectly stiff and motionless, with crest erect and head held AveU back from the trunk, evidently listenhig intently ; the shghtest renewal of the noise would then send it off, and in a fcAv seconds its quick "tap, tap" Avould be heard again, far away in the A Pine Forest. 71 forest. I never saw one of these birds on any other tree but the pine, and I have no doubt but that they are only to be found in the pine forests. Occasionally, when the road passed through some bigger clearing than ordinary, we were able to get a view of the country. It appeared to be a vast undulating plain, almost entirely covered by the dark green pine tops, and intersected in all directions by little valleys and hollows, each, probably, Avith its running streamlet of pure fresh water. One of the characteristics of the country, as we afterwards found, was this abundant supply of water, capable of being utUized to any extent as a motive power for machinery. Those days, hoAvever, are yet to come, and are not likely to precede the construction of a railway. There were but few other trees that grew to any size besides the pine itself. Many of these latter were of gigantic dimensions, measuring 20 and 22 feet in circumference at the base, and, by rough cal culation, from 120 to 140 feet in height, rising perfectly straight and branchless to within a few feet of thek summits, when they spread out into a broad flat head, about 35 or 40 feet in diameter. Seen from a distance the general effect was very curious, the trees looking like a forest of enormous toad stools. They were the lords of the soU in this part, and were used exclusively in every kind of construction ; the timber being con sidered superior to " Baltic." After about four hom's from the time we had started, 72 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a-. we arrived at the promised habitation, which soon proved itself better proA'ided with the necessaries of hfe than we had dared to expect, after our late experi ence. A big dish of chicken and rice was soon before us, and as soon cUsappeared. No more being forth coming, we told mine host that he had better kUl at least ten more of his chickens, as there was a bigger and hungrier party coming behind. The remainder of our appetites Ave appeased with bowls of milk, and farinha,* and all agreed that it was the most dehcious repast we had sat down to since leaving Old England. Certainly, we had scarcely tasted food for twenty-four hours, and hunger is always the very best sauce. We had finished our meal before any signs of the rest of our party appeared ; so Faber and myself went down to a little stream close by and enjoyed a most luxm'ious toilette, standing on a big flat rock in the midst of the cool rushing water, with ferns and lovely water plants aU romrd, and a canopy of young slender bamboos overhead. A bath under these ckcumstances could not faU to be most refreshing, and so we found it. We were beginning to form quite a different opinion of BrazU fr'om that which we had held in Eio de Janeiro. What could be more glorious than the hfe we were now beginning to lead. I think the founda tion of all the love aaid appreciation of this country, which I came to acquire in the course of my next two years' wanderings therein, was laid this day. Certainly, * Flaky flour, prepared from Indian corn, and the common substi tute for bread iu the backwoods of South Brazil. Sr. Reboufas, life had seldom felt more pleasant than on this our first day in the Highlands of Parana. Shortly after our toUette was completed, the main body of the party arrived ; some riding, some on foot, and some in the Avaggons. The ten chickens we had ordered for them soon vanished, not to speak of the mUk, and eggs without number, that also disappeared. After a short rest, tbe march was continued for another iwo hours, when we arrived at some saw mills belong ing to Sr. Antonio Eebou5as.* Sr. Eeboucas himself received us with great cordiality, and insisted upon openmg bottle after bottle of " Bass " in om' honour. We Avere no less dehghted with the friendly and hospitable reception which he gave us, than we were at finding ourselves not yet quite out of the land of beer. Healths were mutually ckunk, and good wishes interchanged, Sr. Eeboucas evincing the most Uvely mterest in each and aU of our individual experiences of his country. It was with great regret that we heard of this gentleman's untimely death some tAvo years later. There was not much time to inspect the saw-miUs, but I confess to being surprised to find that the motive power was steam, and not water. The difficulty and consequent cost of getting the various pieces of the engine up the Serra, before the road was completed, * Sr. Antonio Eeboujas was a gentleman of colour, and a man of great enterprise and general capacity. He was held in high estimation by the Emperor. He was also one of the Concessionaires of the Parani and Matto Grosso Eailway Surveys. 74 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. had been enormous ; and I cannot but think that water- poAver could have been appUed as efficiently, and with much greater economy. But in any case all praise is clue to Sr. Eebou9as, as being the first who had endeavoured to utilise systematicaUy the splendid timber of these parts.* Captain Palm and Curling accepted the invitation to remain with Sr. Eeboucas tUl the next day, and Faber and I took thek mules, with the intention of pushing on before the others to Curitiba, to give warning of thek approach, so that accommodation might be ready for them the moment they arrived, a very necessary precaution to take when traveUing so large a party in this country. Curling's mule fell to my lot, Faber mounting Captain Palm's, and now was to commence oiu' experiences of those oft-described animals. The first mile or two of our ride was over a "corduroy" road, similar to that akeady spoken of. On emerging from this slough of despond, I made the awkward discovery that the mule that I bestrode did not apparently understand any other pace but the walk. Neither of us was equipped with spurs, and blows even from an extra stout liuntmg stock fell aU un heeded on the mulish flanks. Faber was more lucky ; his mule was a very superior animal, and required but * These saw mills have now passed into the hands of a company (Comp'" Florestal). The prices of sawn pine of dimensions 17 ft. x 10 in. X 3 in. in 1874 were 18$000 a-dozen on the spot ; 36$000 a-dozen at Antonina ; and.60$000 a-dozen at Eio de Jaueu-o. The company is not a very successful one. CH. A'. A Fearful Mule Ride. 75 httle urging. I therefore transferred my hunting whip, which was furnished with a long heavy lash, into Faber's hands, and placing my mule in front, he managed to Avhip it up into a tolerable trot ; but when the lash ceased the trot ceased, and Faber presently got tked of his share of the work, so it became neces sary to try some other expedient. I accordingly dismounted, and haA'ing tied a long picket rope to the reins, the other end of which I stUl kept in hand, by dint of a vigorous use of the whip, got tbe animal well under way. I then jumped on its back wliUe stiU at this speed, and found that the crack of the whip alone was sufficient to keep the beast at a canter for several minutes after, until he had discovered that the lash was no longer being applied to himself. This pro gramme was repeated again and again, and thus we managed to progress at a fak average rate for the next two hours. I Avas getting very tired from the severe exertion, and we were stUl a long way from Curitiba ; so, as a last resource, we tied my mule by the same useful picket rope to the tail of Faber's animal, which was stiU fresh enough, and for another long hour the latter had the double work of pulling itself and its brother mule along at a trot. This could not go on for ever, and presently Faber's mule began to show evident signs of having had nearly enough of it, and to add to our discomfort it was now beginning to get dark. We had left the pme forests behind us, and Avere now going through open prakie land, flat and swampy. To our constant inqukies of " Quantos legoas d'aqui a Pioneering; in South Brazil. Cur'itiha 1 " the everlasting reply had been, " A league, more or less." We never seemed to be getting over this last league, and our mules were almost done up. Both of my stirrups had broken, and the saddle itself seemed to be in the last stage of dissolution ; my discomfort was consequently complete, and many and deep were the vows I made never again to ride a mule as long as I remained in the country. But aU things have an end, and about two hom's after dark we reached Curitiba, and rode through the dimly Ughted street to the sohtary hotel of the place, too dead-tked to notice anything on the way. We found Edwards, who had preceded us some days from Antonina, there to greet us, and seldom had we been more delighted to get rid of a mount than we were noAV. Dinner presently put some life into us again; Herr Louis, the jolly German proprietor, showing himself aU that a host should be, in providing for the comforts of his guests. About two horn's later the rest of the party arrived. Faber and I arranged to sleep in the same room, and notwithstanding the little mishap of the bottom of my bed coming out dm'ing the night, and depositing itself and its burden on the floor, I slept the sleep of the just, tiU long after dayUght next morning. CHAPTER VI. The Capital of Parana. — Observations thereon. — A morning's sport on the Prairie. — Cattle breeding. — "Why sheep farming is pro nounced a failure. — Life at Cui-itiba. — Preparing for an advance. — The inhabitants of Curitiba. We had now arrived at one of the starting points of the exploration. For the present, at all events, the travels of Staff No. 1 were over. Soon we shaU leave them to take care of themselves, while we, the more fortunate members of Staff No. 2, journey on another 200 miles into the vast interior, and then pause for a brief space before taking the final plunge into the wUd unknown depths beyond. Fkst, how ever, we have to describe a little what Curitiba is like, and ascertain whether it is a worthy capital of so great a province as that of Parana. In the year of which we are speaking (1872) the town of Curitiba might have numbered 9500 in habitants, of whom 1500 were immigrants, chiefly Germans and French. It was therefore by no means a large place. The streets were laid out in the strictly regular manner peculiar to foreign towns. In the centre of the town was a large square of, perhaps, 200 yards in the side, in one corner of which stood the 78 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. vi church. Even in this town (the capital of a province, whose extent is greater than that of the Avhole of England) the architecture of this edifice was very weak. Only in point of size was it superior to the common buildings around. The president of the province also resided here. His house, which was by courtesy called a palace, was a three-storied buUding, commodious, but very plain in appearance. It was situated in the main street of the town, and was surrounded by shops. These shops were apparently ruled by great minds : they did not confine themselves to one, or even to two, lands of goods, but did business in a thoroughly cosmopoUtan style, and were equally ready to serve a customer to a roll of tobacco or a yard of cahco. All the bigger shops seemed to be owned by BrazUians or Portuguese, Avhile the great majority of the smaUer ones were held by Germans. These fcAv observations were made in the com'se of a first morning's walk round the toAAm. After breakfast, which meal was not served up tiU past ten o'clock, four of us — Cm'Ung, Faber, Edwards, and myself — shouldered our guns and cartridge bags, and started for the open prairie around, to see if we could not get some of the snipe that Sr. Pascoal had told us so much about. Dkectly we got outside the shelter of the town we felt the fuU force of the fresh invigorating sea breeze, Avhicli came sAveepmg up through the passes of the " Serra do Mar," whose blue peaks Avere seen some ten miles off to the east. CH. VI. Sport on the Praiine. jc) Mine host of Antonina Avas not far Avrong when he said that the " long bills " could be shot from the doors of the houses. Y"e had not got a hundred yards from the termmation of the main street before one snipe had been bagged. We, however, did not Unger so near the town, but made aAvay for a large, flat tract of country which lay about a mile distant, and which looked likely ground. And so it proved. No sooner had we reached its outskirts than the snipe began to get up; at first sloAvly, in ones and twos, and then in "wisps" of twenty and thirty at a time. At last it appeared as if every bird, far and near, had been flushed, for the sky was noAV literally black with them, wheeling round and roimd high up over om' heads, loath to desert their favourite ground, and yet evidently afraid to return. Presently, as we stood quiet for a little time, they began to descend in flights of ten or a dozen at a time, dropping down into the very centre of the swamp round which we had been beating. Edwards and I volunteered to go in after them-, trusting to our big thigh boots to save us from getting uncomfortably wet. Edwards managed to get across his line of country Avithout much difficulty, and drove clouds of the bkds out once more. I was less fortunate, and got into a regular quagmire, where I sank in over my high boots, and only got on to " terra firma " again after a most exhausting struggle of nearly an hour, with my boots left behind, my gun choked fuU up to the muzzle with mud, and myself smothered from 8o Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vi. head to foot Avith mire. I had the additional satisfac tion too of hearing the others banging away all around, and having rare sport all the time that I was in this unpleasant predicament. Fortunately a young lad, hearing the fii-ing, had come out from the town to see the sport, and he, being of light weight, for the bribe of a milreis, went in after my boots and recovered them. After having a good rub down all over with bunches of grass, and the barrels of my gun Avashed in a Uttle stream close by, I was once more able to join in the sport myself. From this ground we next went across the main road, which laid on our left, to some big lakes sur rounded by brushAvood. Here we found wUd geese, duck, and other water birds in great abundance, but they were very shy and wary, and it was impossible to get near them by ordinary means. We therefore re sorted to driving, and by this means managed to bag two couple of ducks. All this sport was obtained within sight of Curitiba : in fact, our guns must have been heard from the town the whole time. The lakes spoken of appeared to be the sources of the river Iguassii, near to whose head waters Curitiba is situated. We had good opportunities on this httle shooting expedition of observing the general aspects of the country round. It was thus seen that the town itself was situated quite on the open plain, though at a little distance from it on the north side, pine forests, with occasional open bits of pasture land amongst them, commenced. Cattle Breedifig. 8 1 To the south all Avas open prakie as far as the eye could reach, and both east and west showed long ranges of prairie land, dotted however, at frequent intervals, with clumps and patches of Avood. The absence of any tall spires or high buUdings, or even of the homely chimney pot, gave to Curitiba, when seen from a little distance, an appearance very unUke any English town. One almost imagined it to be an array of tents and huts, forming the camp of an army liable to be marched on to some other locaUty at a day's notice ; the almost universal custom of painting, or colouring the buildings white, strengthening this resemblance. On the long undulating slopes of the plain around, cattle in some numbers Avere browsmg ; whUst sheep, on the contrary, were conspicuous by their absence, notwithstanding the evident suitability of both climate and pasture. I afterwards leamt that attempts on a smaU scale had been, and were stUl being made to introduce sheep into the country ; but hitherto they had not been found to pay. One reason given for the failure was, that the dogs got at the sheep and worried them night after night, so that no fair chance was given them. This may no doubt be the truth as far as it goes, but it certainly should not be made an excuse for giving up the attempt of thek introduction. A small annual expense could easily find an efficient remedy for so simple an evil. This brings us to the real point The average BraziUan does not care to invest his 82 Pioneering in South Brazil. money in anything that will not at once bring him in an enormous percentage. His whole education unfits him for laying out a pound in order to get but twenty- one shillings, especially when any care has to be exercised meamvhUe. There are so many simpler and more directly profitable ways in Avhicli a man of capital may invest his money, that there is no mduce- ment for him to go out of the beaten track to obtain a merely moderate percentage. Cattle-breedmg requires very little brains, and but moderate capital, to yield, at all events, fifty per cent, per annum. Shopkeeping, when once the shopkeeper (or merchant as he is here caUed) has succeeded in aUying himself with some Eio house that wUl give him credit, is an even simpler mode of maldng money. He has nothing to do but to buy a £100 worth of suitable goods from his Eio agent, and sell them piecemeal to his deluded feUow countrymen for £300. This is why a small bottle of "Bass" often costs four shiUings in Curitiba, and a yard of common calico half-a-croAvn. There is another reason (Avhicli, however, may at first sight appear paradoxical) why sheep-breeding in this province has not succeeded ; and this is, that the government has shoAvn a disposition to take it up, and has in fact made several experiments on a small scale, which, unfortunately, in every mstance, have resulted in a dead loss, and have therefore served in nothing but to discourage priA'ate enterprise. The foUowing is a sketch of the modus operandi, as related to me by an impartial but " 'cute " looker on. CH. VI. Sheep Farming a Failure. 83 A certain gentleman (BrazUian, of course) patrioti cally offers his land to the government, free of charge, for the pm'pose of the experiment. The government gets a cargo of sheep from the south, and pays aU ex penses of transport, and lands them, without cost, on the patriotic gentleman's estate. After a time this gentle man, who is very sohcitous about the well-being of his dehcate charges, discovers, or fancies that he has dis covered, that one of them is Ul. He at once orders it to be kUled, in order to prevent any chance of the disease (whatever it may be) spreading. After a time his anxious eye again discovers the insidious approach of disease in another member of the flock. Promjjt stamping-out measures are again taken, and his table is once more furliished with the delicate joint. The fame of his good dinners is spread abroad amongst his friends and acquaintances; and what more natural than that they should express a desire to be remembered on the next occasion of necessary slaughter. This goes on for some months, and the flock diminishes in number, day after day, tUl ffiiaUy, m despair of bemg able to keep the few remaining animals through the summer mouths, which, as he plainly foresees, they cannot possibly get through ahve, the fiat goes forth, and the butcher's knife puts all the ill-fated animals out of thek misery at one fell onslaught, and thus the cm'tain faUs upon the last Act of the experiment ( ! ). The government has lost a few "contos" of reis, and the " patriotic gentleman " and his friends have become famihar with the taste of mutton, and sheep- G 2 84 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vi, breeding in the province of the Parana is pronounced a faUure. As an article of food I do not think it would pay to farm sheep in this province, because cattle-breeding can be carried on at a far cheaper rate. But for wool- farming there seems to be no reason why this province should not compete favourably with the Buenos Ayres market ; on the contrary, the European markets being so much the nearer, the profit, cceteris paribus, should be so much the greater. The only question to be decided is, whether the chmate is suitable ? As far as can be gleaned, from the few genuine experiments as yet made, the answer on this point is altogether favour able. With the introduction of sheep on an extended scale one great economic problem of the province would be solved ; which is, how to utUise efficiently the vast extent of prakie that now, year after year, grows a large proportion of its pasture to Avaste ? The in direct advantages to the province would be beyond calculation. Men now out in the coimtry, who have had exj)eri- ence in sheep-farming in AustraUa, have expressed themselves confidently as to the suitability of thesfr prairies for the same purpose. It remains, therefore, for a capitahst and a man of business to make the experiment on a large scale. Every ordinary facility would be given by government, which is only toO' anxious that such an experiment should succeed; and doubtless also special priA'ileges and exemptions would be granted to the promoters of an enterprise CH. VI. Life at Curitiba. 85 Ukely to be so important to the welfare of the province. I am, however, forestalUng considerably the order of events ; as, it may weU be imagined, I had not at this time become much acquainted with this much vexed question of sheep-farming in Paran£. I may have other opportunities later on of agaui referring to the subject. We got back to the hotel tolerably eai-ty in the after noon, Avith our pockets laden with snipe, which, together with the ducks, were made over to Herr Louis to be cooked for dinner. Captam Palm and Curling arrived soon after, bringing with them Sr. Eebou9as, the owner of the saw-miUs. Our dinner on this evening was luxurious. The long table groaned from end to end under the weight of the pUes of comestibles Avith which it was laden. Certainly the greater part, by weight as well as by bulk, consisted of rice, without which vegetable our experience up to the present had led us to believe no dish in BrazU could be considered complete. There were soup and rice, chicken and rice, beef and rice, snipe and rice, duck and rice, beans and rice, and rice pwr et simple. In the drinking Une there was bottled beer and bottled porter, vinho de Lisboa, a dark Avine, and vinho branco, a wine the colour of sherrj-^, but with, alas ! by no means a like flavour. Appetites were found to be keen at this elevation, more than 3,000 feet above the sea, and before very long the load on the table was sensibly diminished. Mine host here did not sit at the board Avith us, as did Sr. Pascoal at Antonina, but waited upon us instead. 86 Pio7ieering in South Brazil. ch. ti. This was sufficiently accounted for, however, by the difference of nationaUty of the two men. On the following morning there was frost upon the ground, and the air felt almost keen enough for a bright Christmas Day in England. We had now to prepare for the separation of the two staffs, — No. 1 consisting of Faber, Edwards, Morant, and a SAvede, Yon Sydow by name, who were now landed on the scene of thek labom's ; and No. 2, to which belonged Curling and myself, and two others, namely, S and the Swede Lundholm. Our desti nation was Colonia Thereza, a backwood settlement 200 mUes further westward into the interior. The first difficulty, as usual, was to obtain sufficient means of transport. Eoads, properly so-caUed, beyond Curitiba there are none. Everything would have to be carried on the backs of mules for the next 200 mUes. This was an eventuahty which had by some strange mistake been overlooked when packing the stores in England. Consequently, in nearly every case, the packages Avere unsuited either in size, shape, or weight, to the new mode of transport ; and no inconsiderable amount of drudgery had to be gone through in order to reduce them to the proper dimensions. Om' OAvn tools brought out from England here came in useful, and many of us turned up our sleeves and worked away with a wiU at this practical branch of om- pro fession, carpentry, in order that we might be able the sooner to resume our jom-ney. Our staff had brought up from Antonina about ten CH. VI. A Scheme of Colonization. 87 tons of its stores. A mule load is from 200 to 240 lbs. Consequently we requked about 100 mules to take on even this reduced supply, our fuU complement having been tAventy tons. Finding, however, that it was im possible to get more than thirty mules for the present, we again had to decide to leave a large amount behinci, and to take on only the more necessary stores for immediate use. Every evening, after the day's work with the stores was over, Ave met together in a noAv German hotel that was buUding at the bottom of the toAvn, which pos sessed the modest attraction of a brewery of its own attached to it. These evenings were usually devoted to talking over the plans and arrangements for carry ing out the Avork of the exploration before us, and to discussing the country generally. Occasionally men would drop in avIio had themselves traveUed in the interior, and lived wild lives in the forest. Herr Leitner (the landlord) would bring out his best beer, and would, when called upon, add to the amusement of the evening by playing on his zither, on Avhich he was a most profi cient performer. On one of these occasions we met two gentlemen who were on their return to Eio from an exploring exciu'sion in the proA'ince. They were full of a scheme for estabhshing an English agricultural colony some where on the banks of the Iguassu, at some distance from Curitiba. This scheme is now before the pubhc, under the ear-gi'ating title of " The Colonization of Kittolands," and I shall, on a future occasion, have 88 Pioneerins; in South Brazil. ch. vi. to say something more about it, not, I fear, altogether favourable. Its chief promoter is a certain Mr. Kitto — (Do, Mr. Kitto, find some more euphonious way of handing your name down to posterity, than by sj)oihng the romance of such names as Parana and Iguassii by associatmg with them such a terribly modern word as "Kittolands"). We did not manage to extractmuch infomiation about the country from these gentlemen. They seemed to have picked up very Uttle during their travels. There was, however, a German engineer, by name Swartz, who had accompanied an exploring expedition of Sr. Eebou9as some years before through the great " Sertoes," or forests of the Ivahy YaUey. He could spin yarns by the hour of their wild Ufe dm'ing that time, and through him chiefly we got some idea of what our own life in those regions would probably be. In some details Herr Swartz's stories were not en ticing, and he did not hesitate to prophecy that we should none of us retm-n ahve from the Ivahy; for that, if the Indians did not kUl us, the insects would. On looking back, now that all is over, to the horrible stories of this insect-plague in the forests, which Herr Swartz dehghted in relating, I cannot say that they were much exaggerated, though, at the time, they appeared to be enormously overdi'awn and coloured. It was now the month of August, and the sun dimng the day was very powerful ; yet each morning, when we turned out, the ground Avas white with hoar frost. It is a very rare thing for snow to fall at Curitiba, the Preparing for an Advance. 89 reason bemg, not that it is not cold enough, but that the cold season is also the dry season, and therefore there is but little moisture to be condensed, either in ihe form of rain or snow. On the 8th of August, after we had been at Curitiba about a week, news came that the promised mule troop would be at our service on the foUowing day : and our stores were stUl strevraig the floors of tAvo houses in different parts of the town, not yet repacked ! Their new cases were, however, nearly all completed, and by working all that day and far on into the night, we managed to finish off the whole repacking of the ten tons of stores, belonging to us ; so that there would now be no difficulty in having those which could not accompany us on the morrow, sent on by other mules as fast as these latter could be procured. One difficulty had been the tent-poles belonging to the marquee tent ; they were seven feet long, and we knew that no mule would take them. We therefore cut off the kon fittings, and packed them up to take with ns, intending to fit them on to neAv poles when we reached the end of our mule journeys. In the mean- iime, of course, that comfortable little tent would be useless ; however, we possessed our big beU tents, which had been brought out for the use of the work men of the staff, so that we should not Avant for shelter during the march. Before concluding this chapter, a few more words ought to be said on the subject of the foreign popula tion of Curitiba, and more especially the German por- 90 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. tl tion of it. As has been before explained, the Germans had already obtamed a good footing in the place. The only two hotels in the town were owned by them. Many of the shops likeAvise were in their hands, and ihey had actually succeeded in gaining and keeping the entire monopoly of the waggon traffic over the great road doAvn to the sea. If we tm-n to the subm'bs of the town, we see gardens weU cultivated and kept, with most of the famUiar European vegetables growing in them; and a Brazihan passing by, wiU say: "That is a German's habitation." If you ask how he can teU, he wiU at once reply: "The garden teUs." Again you see a man working on the road Avith shovel or pick, and, you need not to look upon his face, you at once address him in German. AU work that we in England call navvy work, is done in this province exclusively by foreigners, of whom nine-tenths are Germans. The BrazUians despise these men who work with the pick and spade, and call them disdainfuUy, the traballiadores do Brazil. But if they wish to hold their OAvn in certain towns of thek own comitry, it is time that they dropped this sort of pride, or the despised trahalhadoves are not unlikely to beat them out of the field altogether. The construction of the Gracioso road up the Serra do Mar was the begmniug of German prosper ity in this part. The frugal habits of Ufe of these people — their steady, honest labour, soon enabled a great number of them to save money on this Avork. This they, for the most part, invested prudently ; some The Inhabitants of Curitiba. 91 in the Brazilian fashion of openmg a shop, whence by thek more moderate prices they soon drew increased profits ; and others, in the purchase of horses and waggons for making use of the very road they had themselves helped to construct. The chmate and the country both seem to have suited them admirably, and thek progress has been proportionately rapid. Not so with the French. There is one part of the suburbs known as the French quarter ; and there a number of famUies of that nationality Uve and have lived for years, making no shoAV and no progress, and not amalgamat ing at all with the spirit and life of thek adopted country. They appear to be perfectly stationary, doing neither good nor harm, nor influencing, in any way, the progress of the toAvn. It would be weU if the same negative praise could be given to the English of Curitiba. It is true that our countrjinen form but a floating population in this town, on thek way to and from the colony of Assimgui ; but this floating population is both dreaded and detested by the BrazUians. Thek coming and going are always marked by some more or less disgraceful disturbance. " These Enghsh are aU drunkards " is the common and only too true saying of them in Curitiba. I Avill not, however, here say any more about them, as I shall have another opportunity when relating my visit to the colony of Assungui, of entering more fully into the whole question of the English in this province.* * See Vol. ii. Part III. Chap. 3, also Appendix, note F. 92 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. at. A batch of Enghsh emigrants arrived at Curitiba whUe we were there, and as there seemed some doubt as to Avhether we should be able to obtain a sufficient number of men for our requirements at Colonia Thereza, we engaged three^of them, thereby increasing our European rank and file to nine men in aU. Whether it was good pohcy to thus cmnber the march with so many untried men, remained to be proved. Certainly we could not congratulate ourselves upon the appearance that some of them j)resented.| CHAPTER YU. Brazilian troixiros. — DifBculties of the start. — " Danger."— The pack mule "par excellence." — A prairie camping-ground. — Our first camp. — Sport "en route." — Our Europeans. — A prairie-hen. — The first shot at a deer. — The Serrinha. — Scene and view from the summit. — The great Prairie. Notwithstanding all our efforts of the previous day to get the stores ready for an early start, Ave did not succeed in moving away till long past noon. Fkst it was, that a mule had strayed, and could nowhere be found ; then, that the baggage was not all together, but must absolutely be aU brought up to one store, because the mules must be all loaded at the same time, and the troop could not be divided; then, that this package Avas too heav}^, or that one too long, and a wearisome discussion in every instance had to be gone through before the tropeiros could be got to take the articles in dispute. But no amount of per suasion could induce them to load up a certain package of instrument legs. Hard and soft words fell equally powerless. In this case they proved themselves more stubborn than the stubbomest of their own mules ; consequently, at the last moment, the case had to be 94 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. opened, and the legs distributed amongst the Euro peans, to be carried by them. We had thought the German waggoners at Antonina troublesome enough to deal with ; but a glass of beer, coupled perhaps with a word or two of chaff, was ever a coiiAdncing argument with them (up to a certain point!). We had evidently not yet 'discovered the way to win the hearts of these stubborn, hard-featm'ed Brazilian tropeiros. What would we not have given to have had once more at our disposal those despised waggons ! But, alas ! even could we have bought up every one in the place, it would not have been possible to have made use of them, as Curitiba was at this time the absolute terminus of all such advanced luxuries as roads, tienceforth every store, other than the common productions of the country, that might be necessary to the prolonged existence of our staff in the great Sertao Avould have to be transported laboriously for about 200 miles on the backs of mules. All difficulties Avere at length surmounted, and the troop of twenty-three mules, led by their foster-mother, an old gray mare,* across whose sharp bony back a big bare-legged "nigger " strode, ffied slowly through the '•' Every mule troop is obliged to be furnished with an individual of the nobler quadruped, either a horse or a mare ; otherwise the mules . Avill not travel or remain together, but will scatter and go each its own way. The affection that the mule has for the foster-parent thus sup plied is a most remarkable phenomenon in mule nature, especially as the affection ia by no means reciprocated by the nobler animal, which, on the contrary, invariably salutes its devoted followers with hearty kicks whenever they presume to approach within range of its heels. 'Danger." 95 main street of Curitiba on the commencement of its long journey across the wide prairie. I was mounted on a shaggy little chestnut horse, or rather pony, which, mindful of past experiences, 1 had taken care to secure for myself at the time of engaging the troop. Cm'Ung too had managed to get hold of a very fak looking horse ; but our other two companions had not been so fortunate, and were accordingly forced to put up with mules. Tavo spare riding mules, and three spare pack mules were taken with us, to aUow for contingencies. Oiir European camarados marched on foot. Yarious dogs, some be longing to CurUng and others to the tropeiros, en- Uvened the start by their fierce contests. One of CurUng's dogs was a small but very powerful and "plucky" buU-terrier, rightly called "Danger." He had commenced operations betimes in the morning by pinning and almost kUling a big mongrel three times his own size, the property of one of the tropeiros. For this he had been duly whipped and tied up, but was now again loosed, and clearly considered it his duty to fight and, if possible, kUl each and aU of the strange dogs. Yery soon, however, these latter learnt to respect "Danger," and henceforth kept at a proper distance from him. The first Staff were already engaged on their work, which lay at some distance from the town, and we had taken leave of them aU that morning after breakfast. Captain Palm, however, accompanied us for the first hom:; and Edwards had previously promised to ride 96 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a'h. over to our camp in the evening, and be our guest for the night, to speed us forward on the following morning. For the first league, after getting outside the town, our road lay through an open and almost level plain, similar to that immediately on the other side of Curi tiba. The " road " consisted of a network of narrow, deeply-sunken paths, worn by countless hoofs, and scoured by many a torrent of tropical rain. A few timber houses and huts appeared at intervals by the way-side, inhabited by herdsmen and tropeiros; but even these poor habitations gradually disappeared as we advanced on our Avay. We were not destined to go very far before com mencing our experiences of the especial quahties of the pack mule par excellence. Without any apparent cause, one of these beasts, which was carrying two big packing-cases of general stores, suddenly shot off at a tangent to the curved Une of march, galloping franti cally. The tAVO heavy cases, each weighing about 120 lbs., bounded up and down upon the pack-saddle like feather-weights. The noise on its back seemed still further to terrify the already frantic animal, and it began to plunge and kick Avith such energy that strap after strap gave way, till, with a final effort of vicious madness, both cases were sent spinning up into the air, to come doAvn with a crash on to the ground, scattering thek contents in Avide confusion upon the prakie. The moment the animal had thus disencum bered itself of its load, it began to broAvse peacefuUy The Pack-Mule. 97 amongst the wreck AA'hich it had made, ns though it was quite accustomed to the performance of this sort of feat. Y^e looked on at the whole proceeding in utter amazement ; the two tropeiros, on the contrary, like the animal itself, seemed to take it quite as a matter of coiu'se, and almost before any of us had sufficiently recovered from our astonishment to say a word, the offender had been caught, the scattered contents of the cases (which fortunately consisted of nothing more fragile than tins of potatoes and split peas) coUected and roughly repacked, and the whole once more seemed upon the back of the now meek-looldng quadruped. "A mula ainda nao e bem mansa, logo mais ha de fear boa," * was aU the explanation the head tropeiro deigned to bestow upon us. EAadently, we had much to learn yet. This and other similar instances of free and easy behaviour on the x^art of the mules, beguiled the time tiU nearly sunset, Avhen Ave arrived at the camping ground, which was situated close to a small chacara, or farm-house. We had already passed two or three camping grounds, which were easily recognised as such by thek fresh green sward, instead of the usual long coarse tufts which formed the general covering of the prairie, and by the dozen or so of tall poles Avhicli were invariably to be seen stuck up in thek centre. We now learnt the use of these long poles. They were the * "The mule is not yet quite broken in ; he will be aU right by- and-by." A'OL. I. H 98 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. posts to which each pack mule is attached by its halter of raw hide, during the process of loading and unloading. This precaution is very necessary with most mules, otherAvise they are apt on these occasions to abruptly swing thek bodies romid, and leave the marks of their heels in the stomachs of the meu who are loading them. It was dark before the tents were pitched, and the camp in pro]per order, for our Eiu'opeans were as yet very " green " at thek various new duties, and the mule-men had enough to do to look after thek troop. The prospect of getting any supper before midnight, from our own resources, looked doubtful under the ckcumstances, so we caUed upon the fazendeiro, and soon came to terms with him on that point. Just as aU the necessar}- arrangements for the night were completed, Edwards, with his guide, came riding in, in good time to partake of the supper of boUed chicken and rice prepared for us at the chacara. A huge fire was blazing on the floor of the room as we entered, and we sat doAA'n to the table, prepared to thoroughly enjoy everything. After supper, the fa- zcnde'iro, who was a very cIa'U individual, puUed up sundry logs to the fire, to serve as seats, and offered us the "pipe of peace," in the shape of cigarettes made of native tobacco roUed up, not m paper, but in the dried leaf of the maize or Indian corn. We each smoked one of these for courtesy's sake, and then betook ourselves to our oAvn more substantial pipes. ch. vii. a Prairie Camping-ground. 99 On going back to the camp, Ave found that another tent had been pitched during our absence by the tropeiros. They had besides lit a big fire close to its open end, and three paks of large black feet were appearing out from under a mass of blue and red cloth, or baize, which Avere evidently luxuriating themselves in the pleasant warmth of the fire. In the centre of the camp appeared the dark mass of luggage, which was aU pUed up in a heap, and covered AA'ith hides. We saw no sign of the troop itself, but the tinkling of a beU not far oft' told us where it was. It was a glorious moonhght night, still and frosty, and our Uttle camp, with its two taU bell-tents, and the little ridge-tent of the tropeiros, gleaming white against the sombre background of pine-trees, formed a very pretty picture. The effect, however, was some what marred by the " groggy " appearance of the two bell-tents, which the unaccustomed hands of our men had pitched at too wide angles from the vertical; neither did the broad Warwickshire dialect, which was heard proceeding from one of the tents, seem altogether to harmonize with the surrounding scene. We soon found out the difference between passing the night in a house and under canvas. The cold was intense. Nobody could sleep. Our camp-beds, made of canvas stretched on wooden frames, seemed to chill our very bones, and it was necessary to put at least three folds of thick blanket beneath to Ue upon, thus diminishing grievously the supply avaUable for top covering. Thus we passed our first night in camp, lOO Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vu. now and then snatching a Uttle sleep, only to wake up after each nap, colder and more miserable than before. Early in the morning EdAvards rode away back to Curitiba, carrying with him three good British cheers, and also, I fear, a not very pleasant unpression of the delights of camping-out. It was as weU he was not with us some two or three nights later, or his ideas of camp life would have been still more unfavourably influenced. By nine o'clock all tents were struck and roUed up ready for the " pack," and we ourselves and our men had finished breakfast, and Avere ready to start by the same time. But no mules had as yet tm'ued up, though the tropeiros had been on the quest since daybreak. An hour later they returned, and then it appeared that the troop had strayed some mUes back on the Curitiba road, led by the lean grey mare. Why the tropeiros did not hobble this animal on turn ing the troop out the evening before, did not appear. Eiding Avith the troop, which of course could never go beyond a walking pace, was sIoav Avork, and I, for one, soon began to cast about for some way of enliven ing the march. The country through which we Avere travelUng was about equally divided betAveen Avood and prakie. The latter Avas generally very swampy, though the swamps did not appear such as would impede Avalkiug. One of the men Avas carrying my gun (a very heaA'ily made double-barrelled breech-loader) and Avas groaning under its weight. I put this man on my horse, Avith instruc- ch. vii. sport ''en route." loi tions to keep within sight of me, Avhile I took the gun, with the intention of waUdng the ground at some distance from the mule-track, for snipe. Curling's dog "Danger," Avho had akeady at Curitiba in'oved himself to be as keen after sport as he was for a fight, accompanied me, and together Ave marched through the SAvamps. In an hour or two I had filled my pockets with long-bills, "Danger" thoroughly entering into the sport, acting as spaniel and retriever alternately, and iieA'er leaA'ing off Avorldng the Avhole time. Eeturning on to the track again, I rode after the troop, Avhicli, hoAvever, had not got far ahead, as I had occasionally been able to take short cuts across SAvamps, Avliich the mule track, of course, was obUged to skirt. On joining it I found that several of the men Avere missing, neither had I seen anything of them behmd. Luckily we were just approaching a camping-ground, so the order to halt for the day Avas given ; Avhile I, having the best mount, rode back to find out Avhat had become of them. Half a league back another mule road branched off from ours, and some Avay along this road I cUscovered the missing men, all tired and dispirited, and, after the manner of their kind, ready to put the blame on everyone and everything, rather than on their OAvn want of " pluck " in not keeping up AA'ith the march, and so losing thek way. However, in these cases, a little judicious humouring does more good than hard words. I put the weakest of them, a Warwickshire lad named Miles, (who, it so haxjpened, had come out to Brazil as an 102 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vu. emigrant, in our own vessel, the " Lusitania") on my horse, gave a sip of brandy and water out of my flask all round, and cheered them on with the news that the troop had already camped. We took a short cut, in the direction in which I calculated the camp to be, and before long, rising up against the dark border of a little Avood, half a mile off, appeared the Avelcome sight of the thin blue smoke of the camp-fire, gladdening aU our hearts. There was not much work to be got out of the men this evening ; they Avere done up by the march, short as it had been (three and a half leagues), neither were any of them accustomed to the various detaUs of camping arrangements, two of us, therefore, each taking an axe, Avent into the wood behind to get fuel, and soon collected a sufficient supply for the evening's requirements. Presently a good fire was burning in front of our tent, Avith a pot boUing on the toxD of it. The snipe were soon singed and spitted, and supper began to look hopeful. The men, who were some of them not bad fellows, grew ashamed when they saw us putting our OAvn shoulders to the wheel, and soon began to bestk themselves in lUve maimer. It is curious what httle sense of the pleasures of AvUd life there is in the average British lower class individual, and hoAV little capable he is of roughing it out of his OAvn particular groove. A man who, in Eng land, will work ten hours a day Avith pick and shovel for 2s. Q)d. or 3s., and will be content with his hunch of bread and cheese, or bread and bacon, and a pint of Our Europeans. beer at his regular hours, wiU, on going out to a ncAv country, grumble at the hardship of having to light his own fire, or cook his oAvn food, or of having to waUi for five hours, instead of working with a pick for double that time ; even though he may be earning (as some of our men were) at the rate of £5 a month, clear of aU expenses. The truth is, no doubt, that the Eiu'opean working man lacks the xjower, in a very marked degxee, of accommodating himself to circum stances. This is because his i)revious Ufe has been, to a great extent, that of a machine. A x:>loughman has usuaUy no ideas beyond his xjlough, a bricldayer few besides his bricks and mortar. Thoughts, ideas, and habits, have aU worn themselves into a groove more or less narroAv and deexD, according to the circumstances of his training. I was beginnmg already to think, that we had made a mistake in bringing these Euro peans Avith us, and that they Avould prove more trouble than they were worth. Warned by the exxierience of the prcAdous night, we unpacked our fuU supply of blankets, in anticix)ation of the thermometer again faUing to freezing point, notwithstanding that it must have stood during the day considerably above 65° in the shade. And sure enough, in the morning, there was hoar frost on the ground outside our tents. These great changes of temperature during the twenty-four hours are most remarkable. They are clue, of course, to the rapid radiation of heat produced by a clear sky, and con tinued for the many hours during which the sun is I04 Pio7ieering in South Brazil. ch. vu. below the horizon. Only in countries where the days and nights are so nearly equal, can this wide range of diurnal temperature be so commonly experienced. This day Ave made an earlier start, haA'uig arranged with the tropeiros, for the sake of our Euroxieans foUoAving, to take a short midday rest, instead of continuing the usual x^ractice of starting late in the clay, and traveUing right away without a halt to the next camx). In order to shame the grumbling spkits amongst our men, at least, into sUence, if not into absolute cheerfulness, I gave up my horse to one of them for the day, and mysek marched along ou foot. This had, to a considerable extent, the desked effect. On the x^revious day we had passed a few straggling houses, such as chacaras and ranchos of the x>oorer class, and fourth-rate vendas, Avhich sold nothing but that vUest of all sx^irits cachaca (made from the sugar cane). This day, however, we x^assed no habita tion at aU for the first three leagues. The country at first continued to x^resent the same general character as that through Avhich we had x^assed the day before. Yv^ood and campos alternated in about equal x5rox3or- tions, and Avater Avas abundant everywhere ; the swamx^s, hoAvever, were becoming less frequent. I kept a httle way behmd the troop, off the track, in the hope of getting another bag. The prakie grass was in parts very thick and high, being often above the knees, and consequently the Avalking was laborious enough ; but the excitement of expectation was quite ch. vii. a Prairie-hen. 105 sufficient to prevent any feeling of fatigue at the time, as I could not tell at any moment what might get up. As I was wading through one of these ox)en bits of campos, knee-deex3 m the long brown grass, a big bird got ux) with a loud whirr from close under my feet. It was so startUngiy different from the almost noiseless rise of the snipe, to Avhich I was most ac customed, that I missed with the first barrel, though the bird offered a splendid mark, as, after rising a certain height, almost vertically, like a x'heasant tox^x^ing a coxix^ice, it poised a moment in the air. The second barrel, however, caught it under the Avmg just as it had got well under Avay, causing it to turn several rax)id somersaiUts in the air, and come doAvn to its mother earth with a bang, at about forty yards from me. On reaching the spot AA'here it feU, I found a bird which at first sight I took for a hen x^heasant. On closer insx^ection, however, many marked xioints of difference were evident. In size it was slightly smaller than a hen pheasant; its legs Avere shorter and thicker, and its beak or bUl much longer and far less strong than that of oim familiar bird. Our tropeiros called it a perdix (partridge). It Avas m reality a tinamon, or South American prairie-hen, and Avas destitute of anything worthy of being caUed a tail. I had not long finished examining my spoU when I heard a double shot about a quarter of a mUe ahead, and a Uttle to the right of the troop I saAV a horseman gaUoping at full speed, m the direction of a small patch of wood, about 100 yards to my right, and close io6 Pioneerins' in South Brazil. in front of him two other objects apx3earing and disap- X^earing above and beneath the taU grass, as they came bounding along towards the wood. I soon made out the hindermost of the two to be the dog " Danger," the other Avas a deer. I rapidly slipped a couple of ball cartridges into my gun, determined to hazard a snap shot at the animal before it should reach the wood. At a little over 100 yards I let drive, first one barrel, then the other, at the lithe, bounding form, but, to my disgust, without any ax^X'arent effect ; as before the smoke had cleared aAva}', it had disax:ipeared into the Avood. Curling, who came ridmg ux) breathlessly behind, said the deer had got iix^ out of the grass within twenty yards of the leading mules, but that no guns Avere ready except his OAvn, which had only been loaded Avith No. 5 shot, which took no effect at the distance he had fired from. This was a great disap pointment, as a deer Avould have been worth bagging, and the tropeiros said they seldom came across one so close to the mule road as this had been, and that we should not be likely to get such another chance during the march. We had now reached the western Umit of the lower or Curitiba "x^lateau." Before us at no great distance rose the lofty cliff of the " Serrinha " or " httle Serra," a name Avitli which we were already famUiar, from the constant references made to it by the mule-men, who, hoAvever, usually sx^oke of it as the " Serra Serrinha," thus erroneously making the latter word into a prox)er name. The Serrinha. 107 The average elevation of this second range, which formed the eastern boundary of another and stiU more elevated plateau, was from 800 to 1000 feet above that on which we now were. Its distance from the Serra do jMar, in a straight line, Avas about forty miles. Our road wound up a wide gorge thickly timbered Avith the gigantic pine, Avith an undergroAvth of bamboo and smaller trees. Except in this one place, ihe " Serrinha " presented an almost vertical face to wards the east, with a sharx)ly defined, though broken, and deeply indented sky-line along the whole visible front, giving the apx^earance of a gigantic cliff that had once formed the boundary of the ocean, though now raised from 3000 to 4000 feet above it. Indeed, to compare great thmgs with small, the resemblance m its general x)hysical features, that the giant country in Avhich we were traveUing, bore to the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, could not but strike anyone who was at aU famUiar with the latter. There Avere the same two cUffs one above the other, and differing only in thek proportions — the sUent Avitness of the past and present ages ; also the same raised plateau separatmg ihe two, differing only in magnitude ; and lastly, the same deep gorges or chines, more marked in both examples, in the lower chff than in the upper. Surely this general similarity can be no chance coincidence of nature, but must be the result of simUar natural causes. At what remote epoch in the history of the world, the sea deserted this upper plateau, a careful study of the geology of the district would no doubt io8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. determine. I leave the discussion of this x^ouit to those more comx^etent to undertake its solution. One important fact may, hoAvever, be mentioned Avhicli may aid in this inquiry. It happened, two years later, that early one morning I was riding over the " Serrinha," and lost my way in a dense fog, which suddenly came on after sunrise. When the fog cleared off I found that I was near the edge of the cliff, at a x^oint some two or three mUes from the road which led doAvn to the x)lain below, which latter I AAished to reach. In order to enjoy the grand view over the plateau beneath, I continued riding close to the edge of the cliff, and then observed that it appeared to have one continuous granite cox3ing or covering. I use the Avord coxnng, because it did not ax^x^ear that the whole face of the cliff was granite, but merely the summit or crown. How far the covering of granite might have extended westward, I know not. Other observations, however, led to the conclusion that this was only one of a very extensive series of granite eruptions Avliich extended beyond the Tibagy valley, west and south. In any case, it was now suffi ciently evident that the peculiar formation of the "Serrinha" itself, if not the very existence of the lolateau behind it, has been due to the protecting in fluence of this granite shield or covering. Except in the immediate neighbourhood of Cm'itiba, where garden cultivation has received a great impetus from the large German population of the town, on the whole Une of our march across the lower xjlateau, no CH. vii. Brazilian Crozvs. 109 signs of agriculture appeared. The Avoods are looked upon merely as common storehouses for timber and fuel ; and the x^atches of open x^rairie, though nomi nally (together with the woods) private x'l'operty, were in reahty more used by the x^assing tropeiros as pasture grounds for their troops, than by their real owners. To breed cattle x^rofitabty (and these patches Avere CA'idently not suitable for agricultural xHirposes) a larger extent of x^rairie land is required than could be obtained on this loAver plateau, where woods and SAvamxJS may be said to occuxDy about two-thirds of the groimd. Our old friend the scarlet-headed woodpecker re- axDpeared amongst the x>iiie trees of the Serrinha. I again succeeded in obtaining a A'ery finely x)lumaged specimen. Parrots and x^a-roquets of various colours were flying about in noisy flocks, and here too we saAV, for the first time, scA^eral of the birds known as "Bra zilian crows." Thek colour is one uniform and rather duU blue ; they are a little bigger than our Enghsh jay, and certainly in all the principal charac teristics that determine genera and species, they are more nearly alhed to the jay family than to that of the crow. The climb up this serra was most enjoyable. The huge flat tops of the x^hie trees spread out over oiu' heads formed a cool, shady avenue, which both man and beast found a most refreshing change from the hot scorching sun of the plain below. But it was not imtU we had reached the extreme summit that we 1 1 0 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vu. knew how great Avas the reward in store for us. The latter part of the ascent had been very steex^, and both men and animals were x^retty well x^tmix^ed out of wind by the x^nU ux). I was some short way behmd the main body, having stopped several times to go after some one or other of the numerous strange birds Avith Avhich the wood swarmed. A few yards below the summit both pine trees and undergrowth terminated abrux^tly, and a gentle slox^e of smooth laAvn-like turf led up for the rest of the way to the top. Upon the summit, Avhich here took the form of a raised knoU or mound, the troop was resting. The tired luggage-mules, almost exhausted by the long stiff xouU up the gorge, were lying about on the green SAvard, like a flock of sheej) on a summer's day at home, Avith muzzles x^rone to the gromid, panting beneath the load stUl heavy on thek backs. The men, all of whom, wonderful to relate, had succeeded to-day in keeping up A\ith the troop, were lUiewise resting their weary limbs m various attitudes, and taking wise advantage of the temporary halt to refresh the inner man. On the extreme summit of the mound, standing out in bold relief against the clear sky, stood Curhng's black steed, by the side of his master, who was lying on his back, with knees and elbows well up in the ak, and head supported on hands, exhaling a cloud of fragxant fumes derived from a short pipe, and looking the perfect pictm-e of ease and contentment. en. vu. View from the Summit. i ii " Vcnha ca, meu vclho," said this last, in his ncAvly acquked Portuguese-, as I came toUing up the slope, laden with gun and trophies of birds ; " here is some thmg for you to see." I reached the toxi of the mound, and then my tired muscles relaxed and limbs gave way, and I dropped down on the groimd exhausted. Y^ithout any fear of being convicted of exaggeration, I AvUl attemx)t to describe a httle of Avhat I saw when I recovered sufficiently to be able to look around. We were resting, it appeared, on one of the highest pomts of the great cliff, which in the morning we had gazed at from the xjlain a thousand feet beloAV, when such an immensity of x^rospect as now lay before us had not then been guessed at. To the south and south-west a vast sea of golden-coloured prairie extended to the extreme bounds of Adsion, rolling away in giant bUlows, down to the deex^ valley of the Iguassu, far beloAv and beyond ; then rising again on the other side, con tinued its onward roU in gradually diminishing waves, till land and sky were lost together, in Avhat appeared to be mfinite distance. Details there Avere none to grasp ; the eye seemed lost in the immensity of unre Ueved x>rosx3ect. A few stunted trees greAV upon the tops of the nearest Avaves, and here and there the famUiar pine-tree showed its dark green croAvn fi'om the depths of some intervening water-course. This was all. Besides this, the great x^lain, alraost bound less in extent, was without a landmark on which the eye could rest. 112 Pioneering in South Brazil. There Avas still another x^icture. To the east and south, lying beneath our feet like another world, ex tended the lovely wooded plam of the lower plateau, bounded in the hazy distance by the blue peaks of the " Serra do Mar." The little patches of ox^en country, which we had hitherto dignified by the name of "XJrairie," sunk into utter insignificance in com- XJarison Avith the boundless exxjanse of prairie x'roper, of which I have just spoken. A Uttle viUage, caUed " Campo Largo," Avliich we had x^assed on our left, early in tlie morning, was seen nesthng between two broad belts of forest about eight or ten mUes distant, giving to the scene an air of life, Avithout vdiich it Avould still have been incomplete. This nether world, so to speak, afforded a complete contrast to the great desert of x^i'airie, on whose borders Ave had now arrived. It might have been a bird's-eye vicAv of a x>art of Kent or Sussex, as beheld from the top of one of the chalk downs. In general appearance it Avas not unlike portions of one or both of those counties. Not so the prairie above. Neither in England, nor even perhaps in all Europe, can any thing apxDi'oaching it be seen. What seemed to imxn'ess one most Avas its immensity — its seeming boundless exx3ansioii. One felt physically something less than nothing when gazing upon it, whilst on the other hand the moral part of one's being seemed to expand indefinitely. Such, at least, were some of the sensa tions I experienced (poorly enough described) on this our first introduction to the great Prairie. CH. A'li. The Great Prairie. 113 A glorious breeze was blowmg from the south-east, coming up from the Atlantic through the lofty x)asses of the Serra do Mar, and thence across the nether plateau to the Serrinha, on whose summit we now stood, at a height of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. Once more we had risen suddenly into a new world, altogether different from that which we had left only a few hours before. Just as, in ascending the Serra do Mar, we had left behind us the luxuriant vegetation and humid heat of the tropics, to find our selves in the cooler region of pines aud other varieties of trees belonging to more temperate zones ; so now these again had disappeared, and their x^lace was left bare of aU vegetation but countless acres of stubborn and hardy prakie grass, whUst the air, sharp and invigorating, seemed to tell more of the top of some Alx^ine pass, than of a latitude but three degrees removed from the tropics. Thus far at least on our journey from the sea-coast towards the interior we had had no reason to comx)lam of monotony of scenery, though, from the accounts of our tropeiros, we were Ukely to have enough of this last of the three dinouements of nature before Ave got to the end of it. After about an hour's halt on this delightful summit, the jom'ney was resumed and continued for another league, when we camped for the night in a httle hoUow close to a running stream. VOL. I. CHAPTEE VIII. The Praii-ie on fire. — The scene at night. — Camp arrangements. — Thunder-storm. — Its effects in our tent. — Primitive cooking. — A day in camp. — Ant hillocks and their denizens. — A farming operation. — Shooting a bullock. — Our mule troop. — ^An oasis in the desert. — A long day's sport. — The bag. — Lost on the prairie. — The Caracara. — HaAvks and quails. — The camp at last. While lovers of sx)ort in the old country were dreaming m their comfortable beds of startled grouse and breezy moors, and all the attendant pleasures of the ffi'st day of the season, I was standing out on the boundless Western Prakie, a silent and sohtary spec tator of one of the grandest and most magmficent sights that even these regions of universal gi'andeiu' can xjresent. It was half-x3ast eight on the evening of the 11th of August, and therefore about midnight in England. The long-suffering mules, who had borne during the day the long, cruel march ux) the steep face of the " Serrinha," were emancipated, for a time at all events, from thek heavy burdens, and were browsing peace fuUy round our little camp. Om" European canalha* were, gragas d Deos, quiet at last, and resting alike * "Ca)!ct?7ia,'' Angl. Babble. CH. VIII. The Prairie on Fire. 115 their disorderly tongues and weary limbs in sleep S and Lundholm were doing ditto, whilst Curling and I were squatting round the camp-fire Avith the tAvo tropeiros, smoking and learning Portuguese. Notwith standing the early hour, the air had akeady become chUly, and the tropeiros Avere both wrapped up in their long blue and red capes or ponchos, whUst Curling and I had also found it advisable to throw a thick mg over our shoulders. We had both observed for some httle time that the sky, Avhich had but an hour previously been x'erfectly clear and starlit, Avas grow ing thick and obscured, and also that a x)eculiar lurid appearance was spreading upwards from the south. I drew the attention of one of the tropeiros to this, and he at once said, "E 0 campo qu' estd queimando" ("the prakie is on fire ! "). Y''Ud thoughts of prakie fires a, la Mayne Eeid, with all their accompanying excitements .of flying Indians, buffaloes, horses, deer, travellers, and hunters caught and burnt ahve, or escaping in the bowels of their horses, came upon me. I jumped ux), cast my blanket to the winds, and, waiting for nothing and nobody, rushed off to get on to the top of the nearest prakie wave, whence a view of the fire might be obtained. It was very dark, but I could just make out the black outline of the ridge which we had crossed imme diately before camping. I made straight for this, regardless of armadUlo holes or of ant hillocks, Avith which the side of the hiU swarmed, and soon arrived at the summit. 1 2 II 6 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. The fire itself was not yet visible, being probably concealed behind an intervening wave of ground. The whole southern sky was, however, ht up with a ruddy glow, which deepened overhead into a lurid unearthly darkness. Every now and then a duU muttered sound, like the distant growUng of a thunderstorm, swelled for a moment and again died aAvay. The wind, which Avas still bloAving steadily from the south-east, brought with it the smeU of the bimning grass, and occasionaUy smaU fragments of charred capim alighted upon my face and hands. I could not yet tell at what distance the fire was, but I guessed about six or eight mUes. The wave of ground upon which I was standing had no long grass upon it, and therefore I knew the fire would not touch it; and, moreover, in the hoUoAv betAveen this wave and the one next in front there was an additional barrier to its approach in the sliax^e of a broad belt of pine-trees and other green woods. On the other side of this belt the long dry grass covered all the prairie. It was to this Une therefore that the fire would come, and here also it would stop. All this time the horizon was growing brighter and brighter, and here and there tall pointed flames were beginning to shoAV themselves, leaping ux^ and dis appearing into the lurid clouds above them. Suddenly the Avliole horizon bm'st out into a vivid, serrated array of shooting tongues of fire, appearing and dis appearing above the dark outline of a distant wave. A fcAv more seconds and these skirmishers were ch. VIII. Scene at Night. 117 foUowed by a great wall of liA'ing, moving fire, which lit up the hill on which I was standing, so that the few stunted trees upon it cast Aveird shadows behind them. The fire Avas yet many miles away, but was rushing forward with winged speed. The roar was now becoming more plainly audible, and at intervals muffied explosions, caused by the bursting of trees and stumps, came booming across the intervening prairie like the noise of cannon. Frag ments of burnt grass were beginning to fall thick and fast, and I fancied that I could already feel the heat of the flames. Nearer and nearer the conflagration roUed, and I could see the tall flames bending forward here and there as each gust of Avind took them, and licking up acres of the long dry grass at one fiery lap. Sparks, consisting of Uve fragments of capim, were shooting ux3wards in a continuous shower, lighting up the dark mass of smoke and cloud, which hovered like a x^aU above. The sharp crackling of the binning grass and ihe bm'sting of the stunted prairie trees aroused the bkds from their sleeping-places, and many partridges, prairie-hens, and other birds came whirring past me, fleeing from the heat and glare and infernal uproar behind them. Once I fancied I heard a shriek rise above the roaring of the ffi'e : x^erhaps of some un happy animal caught by the swift pursuer before it had time to make good its escape ; but whatever it might have been, it was not heard again, and the merciless flames stUl rolled on. 1 1 8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. At length the belt of wood was reached. At the first contact the flames towered up high above the tree tops, and appeared as though they would SAvaUow up everything at that one scorching touch. Suddenly they feU, and seemed to retreat for a momeint, as if to gather fresh strength, then once more leax^t for ward against the tall buhvark of trees, only to be a second time roUed back upon themselves. Again and again the fiery torrent hurled itself against the staunch old pines, shooting its x^ointed tongues up towards heaven, in the vain attempt to overleax) the barrier. Exx)losion followed explosion in quick succession, as the great trunks burst under the intense heat, rend ing the air with the noise of their artUlery. This was the most magnificent part of the whole sx)ectacle. Before, it had been but one vast scene of unopposed devastation ; noAV, a tremendous contest was bemg fought. Fire raging madly and fm'iously against forest, standing calm and immovable. AU the powers of Pandemonium on the one side. " Thus far and no farther " on the other. But the battle was soon over, and Pandemonium, with all its fiery forces, was utterly vanquished. To the mighty roar, that for the last half hour had been going on unmitigatedly, succeeded the silence of the grave. The glare of the flames which for the time had turned night into day, now gave place to intense darkness, the air being full of smoke and faUing ashes. Here and there only a tall trunk stood out, still red and gloAAing, in the midst of CH. VIII. Camp Arrangements. 119 the surrounding darkness, a vivid witness of the aAvful conflagration which had so lately swept over it. Oiu' Uttle fire was shining bright in the hollow behind, and, guided by its Ught, I steered my way down through the profound darkness and stUl falling ashes, and reached the camp in safety, with a sensa tion as of having just retm'ned from a visit to the infernal regions. CurUng had already turned in, and the drowsy tropeiros were nodding over their last cigarettes, preparatory io retking to their couches of ox-hides, and, with thoughts stUl fuU of the tremendous spectacle of which I had been the sohtary witness, I too retked into our tent to sleep. Our first night on the prairie was not to be aUowed to pass without yet another grand disturbance. Before, however, gomg on farther, I must endeavour to give some idea of our principal camp arrange ments, in order that what foUoAvs may be better understood. The visible and outward camx3 consisted of two beU- tents, one smaU ridge tent, and a pUe of baggage heaped up on a httle raised mound, and covered over, as usual, with couros de boi, or ox-hides. The ridge-tent belonged to the tropeiros, and there they slexat. One of the beU-tents was occupied by our European foUowers, and the other by ourselves, namely, Cm-hng, S , Lundholm and myself. Our four camp-beds took up most of the room in it, and what space remained was strewn with miscellaneous articles of equipment, such as big boots, cartridge-pouches, and revolver belts. 1 20 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. besides sundry remnants of supi)er, consisting of un washed x)lates, knives and forks, and empty sausage and biscuit tins. Our various fire-arms were all pUed up in the centre, round the tent-pole, making a by no means insignificant show of warlike weapons, whercAvith to repel attacks, whether of man or beast ; for we were not quite sure that Ave might not be attacked by some fierce bison or yeUing troup of painted Indians, so difficult is it entirely to get rid of sensational ideas instilled into the mmd in one's youth. Such were the interior arrangements of om' tent, which, in our innocence, we had pitched on the very loAvest bit of gi'ound in the encampment, for the sake of its even piece of turf. I had been asleep, I suppose, about two hom's, when I Avas aroused by a noise that even ecUpsed the powerful snoring of S , who, as usual, was keep mg awake the echoes of the night, on the other side of the tent. Thunder was roUing in the ak, and big droxDS of rain were already pattering upon the canvas overhead. I drew my blankets more tightly around me, and congratulated mj'self on being so warm and snug within the tent, sheltered from the elements without. The drops came faster and faster, and the thunder grew louder and louder, and I heard my companions beginning to move in their beds, themselves also aroused by the noise. Suddenly, with a crash which rent the ak, the fuU fury of the storm descended upon us, in thunder, lightmng, and torrents of rain. CH. VIII. Thunder-storm. 121 Fortunately, very Uttle wind accompanied this out burst, or the tent would then and there have been blown down about our ears, and we should have been utterly swamped under its heavy, wet folds. Every one was now wide awake, and even old " Danger," who tiU now had been lying quietly on the floor of the tent, was becoming very restless, making several attempts to get ux3 into one or other of our beds, and then, on faihng to establish his x>osition upon any of them, whining and otherwise showing great discontent. CurUng struck a light, to find out what was the matter, and now, exclamations of dismay burst from everyone. There was the Avhole floor of the tent covered with water, and all our boots, clothes, and other paraphernaha were tying soaking m it. We had forgotten or omitted to dig a trench round the tent, before turning in. A general scramble ensued, in the midst of which " Danger " (whose restlessness Avas now fully explained) jumx3ed quietly up into Lundholm's hastUy evacuated bed, which happened to be nearest to hkn at the moment, and coiled himself comfortably ux? in between the warm rugs, Avhere he remained unnoticed for some five minutes, tUl a voUey of Swedish exclama tions, which we may safely assume (ignorant though we were of that language) to have been some strong form of abuse, suddenly made us aware of the old dog's impudence. A roar of laughter at Lundholm's ludicrous discom fiture, in which he himself Avas fain to join, was the result — though, truth to say, our own beds were not 12 2 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. in much better condition, as the sluice-like rain was coming right through the tent, thoroughly damping everything Avithin it. Another danger too was now threatening us. The rain had caused the ropes to tighten ux> to such an extent that the tent-pegs were being drawn out, one after the other, and the whole fabric Avas in imminent risk of coming to a total col lapse. Shouts of "Adams " and " MUes," which were the names of the tAvo Europeans esx)eciaUy told off as our camx? attendants, brought these two individuals running in from their quarters hard by. " Here you are — pegs ! mallet ! shai'X)'s the word." One ran to one side, and one to the other, and our tottering roof was just saved in tune, though not a moment too soon. AU this time the rain continued descending in spouts, and the thunder crashed and boomed overhead in a manner not at all famihar to me. Under aU the circumstances, therefore, no one was sorry when, after about two hours of this cannonading, the storm XDassed aAvay, leaving us, hov. ever, in no very enviable condition, either of body or mind. In the first x)lace, the floor of the tent stUl remained under water, and in the second place, our beds and thek coverings were soaked through. The remainder of the night was therefore passed, uncomfortably enough, in cold and shivering dampness. Certainly the Great Prairies of the West, notwithstandmg thek boundless horizons and grand spectacles, are not altogether and at aU times couleur de rose. -OH. VIII. Primitive Cooking. 123 When mornmg came no fire could be lighted, as there was not a dry stick to be found anywhere, and we were feeling, and no doubt looking, very wretched and miserable, as we sat shivering on our respective beds, with everything aroimd, beneath, and upon us, reeking with moisture. This state of affairs, however, was not aUowed to last long. Inventive faculties were soon brought into play, resulting in the construction of two little stoves, whose powers proved sufficient to satisfy our more urgent requirements in a very few minutes. Two small pits, about six inches deep and three inches wide, were scraped out in the floor of the tent (the water in Avhich had now been drained off), into each of Avhich a bit of hghted candle was so placed and arranged that the point of the flame should juSt come above the surface of the ground. Across these pits, pieces torn from a Huntley and Palmer's biscuit tin were laid, and upon the miniature gridkons thus formed, we managed to fry some shoes of bacon, and even, by the assistance of a small tin drinking cup, which one of the men had bought the day before at a venda, to turn out a good cux) of hot coffee aU round. By these primitive methods we succeeded in restoring once more a healthy glow to both body and sphit. As may be imagined, the baggage and mule equip ments had not escaped the universal deluge, and it was found necessary to remain another day in our present quarters in order to cky the x^ack-saddles, straps, and ox-hides. 124 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. A storm, such as the one just described, was of comxDaratively rare occurrence in the month of August, so said the tropeiros. I believe that the great fire which preceded it may have been the inducing cause in this instance. In the afternoon, while strolUng about round the camp Avith my gun, I came across a vein of first-rate potter's clay or kaolin, cropping up to the surface in a XJlace where a small stream or torrent had cut a deep channel through the superficial soU. It was almost per fectly white, and when moistened and rubbed between the fingers not a sign of grit was perceptible, showing that the clay was very pure. This was by no means the only locality in which I observed this clay: for several leagues further on, veins of it continued to appear wherever a watercourse had laid bare the underlying strata for any considerable distance. Not withstanding this abundant material for " ware," it is nevertheless a fact that aU domestic crockery and pottery in use throughout the province is imported from abroad, chiefly from England, The general character of the super-soU covering the prairie seemed poor. For the most part it was a red sandy loam, on which the gTass grew in detached tufts. Here and there blocks of hard, lichen-covered sand stone cropped up picturesquely from the otherwise smoothly rounded waves of groimd. This prakie country could never profitably be tm'ned into arable land, even the hardy grass ux^on it seeming to suffer from the want of due nourishment. Ant Hillocks. 125 I did not find a single head of game of any kind, though I beat the groimd for a radius of tAvo miles round the camx). This Avas probably on account of there being here no sufficient cover to serve as a protection agamst the numerous hawks of various kinds that were everywhere hovering overhead. I shot one or two of ihese bkds, but they Avere generaUy very shy and wary, after the manner of their kind in most parts of the world. A great number of ant liUlocks dotted the prairie in all dkections. These hiUocks were of a conical shape, about two feet high and two feet six inches wide at ihe base. Thek sm-face was as hard as brick, and none of those I saw seemed to be inhabited by thek original constructors, but at the foot of each was a big hole, which seemed to have been made, less for the pm'pose of getting at the ants, than as a hiding place for some animal, as it was burrowed for a considerable distance under ground, where the ants would never originally have gone. I in vain tried to find a hUlock which had not one of these holes beneath it, but everyone was furnished in the same way. Breaking one of them down, though not with out great difficulty, I found the substance of the cone honey-combed, and a few small red ants running about in the narrow ceUs. These ants were evidently strangers that had taken possession of the cone pro tem., as there was none of the hurry or excitement in thek movements, when the hiUock was disturbed, ihat they would have exhibited had it been their 126 Pioneering in South Brazil. home proper. What kind of ant was the original architect and inhabitant of these hiUocks ? What was ihe reason of their being abandoned ? What was the animal that made the big burroAvs beneath them, and for what x^urpose ? — were all at this time x^uzzles to me. Whether it was the constant fires that had driven away the original inhabitants, or whether a living enemy had devoured them, or whether some of the hillocks might not still be occupied by the original OAvners, I could not now decide.* Becoming at length wearied of conjectm'e and of the fruitless search for game, I paid a visit to the spot from which I had witnessed the grand conflagration of the previous night. There lay the plain over which the fire had swept so ruthlessly, all blackened and desolate. A few buzzards were hovering above it, brought there by their unsavoury instinct, in the greedy expectation, no doubt, of feasting on the remains of the x^oor victims that had been overtaken by the flames, some stray horse or mule perhaxDS, or some uiiAvary deer which had delayed its flight till it was too late to escape. There, beneath, stood the belt of pines, thek lofty heads now sadly scathed and scorched by the fiery ordeal through which they had passed, but still standing bravely erect, as though in silent protest * I found afterwards that tho constructors and rightful occupiers of these hiUocks were a kind of ivhite ant or termite, with bodies soft and thick, almost like that of a maggot. I never myself saw any of these ants. CH. viir. A Farmi7ig Operation. 127 against tlie enemy that had so cruelly battered agamst them. Much, however, as there may ax^pear of romantic sentiment in these vast prairie conflagrations to him who beholds one for the first time, more esxjeciaUy if the spectacle is seen at night, it is yet the boimden duty of the truthful traveller, when describing them, to record also thek cause. They are not set alight by any chance hunter, whose purpose it may suit to burn a hundred square miles of country to enable him to get a shot at a buffalo ; — nor, in these days, does a scalp-hunting Indian take this mode of adding io the adornments of his Avigwam. Not even does chance often x^lay a part in their kindhng. This stupendous natural spectacle is a mere farming opera tion, generally carried out in the month of August once in every two or sometimes three years, for the purpose of burning off the old grass, which has grown too coarse and become too dry to be any longer fit for pasture. The ground being thus cleared, a fresh crop of young grass springs up, which forms a most delicate and nutritious pasture for cattle, which fatten rapidly upon it, especially if thek digestion is aided by the judicious administration of salt at reasonable intervals. Not even is there the element of danger or of any great destruction of animals to cause excitement. A notice of the intended burning is given to those whom it may concern, and all stock is driven off the tract which is to be fired. Care is also taken that 128 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. traveUer s are neither injured nor annoyed in any way. Thus, only a stray mule or bullock may possi bly get caught in the fire, — a few armadUloes and ant-eaters may be turned to "roast meat," and there the excitement ends. There is no doubt, how ever, that even a simple farming operation in this country may yet be, as Ave have seen, a very impressiA^e sight. When I returned to camp, I found that a young bullock had been bought from a man whose hut lay near the track, to serve as food for om' large party for the next day or two, in order to save as much as possible our x^reserved stores, which would be invaluable to us hereafter in the far interior. The animal was more than half wild, and had been brought UX) to the camp secured by the horns to a long lasso, the other end of which was tied to the saddle of the fazendeiro himself. Curling being anxious to try the effect of some explosive bullets upon a big animal, undertook the slaughter of the beast. His first buUet, delivered at long range, seemed to have very little effect ; but the second, fired at a distance of about sixty paces, struck the skull of the animal and exxjloded inside, causing instantaneous death. Curling told me that he had been accustomed to use simUar buUets in tiger- hunting in India; and that those royal beasts had so strong a digestion that they occasionally went away with as many as half a score of them in thek insides. But to judge from the destructive effect of one sheU ch. VIII. Cooking a Bullock. 129 alone upon the hard boA'ine cranium, I should be inclined to doubt even the nine-lived tiger's x^ower of digesting many of them without experiencing some thing more than mere discomfort. The simplest manner of cooking the slaughtered bullock was adopted. A big fire was made, and above it, at about two feet from the ground, an open shelf or gridiron was constructed of gTeen steins ; iixjon this the various joints were laid, and nothing more Avas needed than the occasional rexUenishing of the fire and the periodical turning of the joints. In this manner we cooked enough meat to \eep the whole party supplied for as long a time as it would keex? good. This buUock cost us 38 $ 000, or nearly £4, without the sldn, Avhich Avas worth at least another 5 % 000. We did not as yet know that a fair price for a full-sized fat ox Avas only from 30^000 to 355000, including the hide; the X^rice x>aid therefore, though really an exorbitant one, seemed reasonable enough to our English ideas. After passing a more comfortable night than thje last, we continued our journey on the foUoAving day, the mules looking all the better for their thirty-six hours' rest. The usual number of contretemps occurred on the march. Akeady, however, the rough treatment to Avhich the baggage was subjected on these occasions Avas losing its novelty, and we no longer stood aghast at the sight of a couple of heavy packing-cases going through gymnastic performances on the back of a mule, and occasionally ending up by bounding off on to the ground, bursting like ripe seed-pods, and scattering 1 30 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm, thek contents far and wide over the x^raiiie. Taken altogether our troop was a very orderly one, three- fourths of the mules gave no trouble at all, and we had taken esx^ecial care to have all the more impor tant baggage loaded on picked mules, animals that would go on hour after hour in one steady walk, indifferent alike to the weight on their backs and to the mad freaks of their comxianions. Bem mansa e bem forte, is the tropeiro's beau ideal of what a x^ack- mule should be. A swift mule is no desideratum Avith them. The X3ace should never exceed a walk, otherwise the straps get loose, and the load is continually losing its equilibrium, necessitating frequent stoppages for the pui'XJose of re-adjustment. When once the x^ace is increased to a trot, the wear and tear to both beast and burden increase out of aU x^rox^ortion to the benefit ; the baggage gets shaken to x^ieces, and the x^oor animals' backs are ruined in less than one day. As on the previous days, I walked the whole distance, with the double object of having some sxoort by the Avay, and of encouraging the men by force of examxDle, to bear the fatigue without comx)laint. It is certainly no slight exertion to keep uxd aU day Avith a troop of mules. Where the road is tolerably good, as is generally the case on the open prairie, thek waUdng- pace is very fast, and cannot be less than at the rate of three and a half mUes an hour. Prairie hens and quails, as usual, made wp the greater part of my bag ; of snipe I did not see one all day. No doubt there Avere some in the patches of An Oasis in the Desert. swamps Avhich occasionally appeared, but the best snipe country had evidently been left behind on the lower plateau. The spot chosen for our camp this afternoon was quite an oasis in the desert. In the months of July and August, prairie scenes in detail are least beautiful, ou account of the uniA'crsal dried-up appearance of the vegetation. It is only in A'ast panoramas, like that Avhich Ave had first beheld from the top of the Serrinha, that monotony develops into grandeur; but in the infinite number of less extensive views which we were constantly meeting with, some relief Avas generally felt to be wanting to the pei'xsetual sameness of form and colourmg. The camping ground we had just reached, was a complete contrast to the country suri'ounding it. In the distance it had looked like a clumx) of trees, in no wise differing from those that Ave had already passed, enclosing the heads of springs and watercourses ; but, on a nearer approach, we discovered that what had appeared to be a thick clump of trees, was, in reality, a sheU with one broad entrance, flanked by taU pines, and openmg out into a wide park-like enclosure. Here, sxsreading pines and cedars were scattered about singly and in pairs, and the grass was still brilliantly green and fresh as though watered daily by some kind fairy ; AvhUe, without the magic ring, all was parched and dried up by long days and weeks of dry breezes and scorching suns. The clear sx^ace within the zone of wood, was, pei'hax)S, twenty-five K 2 132 Pioneej^ing in South Bi-azil. ch. vm. acres in extent, and so thoroughly English was the general ax^x^earance of this little oasis, that one almost expected to see a good old country mansion rise up in it to greet us. At the loAver side a small streamlet was ripxDling along, under the cool shade of many temperate and sub-tropical trees, shrubs, and ferns. On its brink, here and there, apxjeared numerous tracks of deer, some still sliarx? and fresh from the hoof of the animal. What a delightful sx)ot this Avould be for a shooting box ! Let me recommened it strongly to those Avhose genio tends to lead them to forsake the beaten track of the sxDortsman or tourist, and look around for fresh country in Avhich to expand both mind and muscle. It would form a very x)leasant ten days' haltmg x^lace, whether as a half-way house to the greater hunting country — the backwoods of the Ivahy — or, as a comx^lete substitute in itself, to the fortnight's grouse shooting in Scotland. Ample timber to build a comfortable and commodious chacara, abundant water and x^asture for the necessary stud, the main track betAveen two of the XJi'iwcixoal towns of the x>rovince running p&si the very door. No rents, rates, or taxes, and no exorbitant hotel bUl to pay. Sport ad libitum ; freedom ad libitum. ; air, than AA'hich none purer or more invigorating can be found in the whole Avorld, old or ncAv; and above all, and more than all, entire change and freshness in everything, which, indeed, is the mainspring of all real hoUday relaxation. Our tents were pitched nearly in the centre of this A Cold Collation. little fairy domain, Avliere the ground was flat and the turf smooth. A big stump of a pine-tree, Avhich had been cut down by some neat-handed axe-man, offered its level iop as an amx)le table, and iix)on it, accordingly. Miles laid out the repast, consisting of cold ribs of prairie beef, fried preserved potatoes, Curitiba brown bread, and Bass's Pale Ale. Hunger is never absent from a man at the proper time in these regions, and ere long the ribs and aU besides had vanished ; many scavengers, in the shape of dogs, being close at hand to assist in the operation. I had x)reviously had some thoughts of trying to " X30t " a deer by moonlight at some one or other of their well- used watering-places in the Avood ; but after dinner I felt disinchned to exert myself, for I had done fifteen miles of walking during the day. I therefore gave ux? the idea, and spent the evening in elaborating a plan with Curling (the only one of our staff besides myself who cared for, and thoroughly enjoyed sport) for a long day's shootmg on the morroAV, which Avas to include a hunt with the dogs before breakfast, of the belt of wood round the camp. Both of us had dressed (i.e., had taken a bath in the stream and put on a dry shirt) for dinner, and the preparations for bed, therefore, consisted merely in unlacing our boots. In other resx)ects, Ave had been accustomed, since leaving Curitiba, to turn in " aU standing." This saves a great deal of trouble, and is altogether the most sensible thing to do under ckcum stances such as ours. 1 34 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. vm. At daybreak we Avere up, and after ducking our heads in a bucket of ice-cold Avater, fresh from the stream beloAv, and swallowing each a e\yp of hot coffee, were ready to commence oxDerations. The tents Avere stiff Avitli frost, and a thick mist was roUing about, evidently intent uxion interfering Avith our sx^ort. The dogs, too, seemed frozen, and would not answer to the call; only the CA'er-ready "Danger," therefore, accomx^anied us at first starting. CurUng took the outside of the wood, I the inside, and "Danger" did the beating. A deer was soon started, but it did not break cover within sight of either gun, the fog concealing it ; another broke cover outside, and Curling had a snap shot at him before he likewise disappeared in the mist, but did not touch him. We wanted more guns, as we could not see beyond sixty yards, but there was nobody else to come. The place Avas eAudently full of deer, for the dogs, which aU came trooping down at the first shot, were continually bursting out in a chorus of tongues. We returned discomfited and bagless to breakfast at 8'30, and just then the fog began to Ikt, thus com pleting our chagrin. NotAvithstanding the comparatively early hour, the mules were akeady tied up to the stakes preparatory to being laden, the head tropeiro haA'ing given out that there would be a longer march than usual on this day, to reach the next good camping- ground, and that therefore an earher start was advisable. Curling and I hurried through our breakfast, as we CH. VIII. A Long Day's Sport. 135 intended to go on ahead of the troop, and to find our way to the new camp independently, shooting as we went. By the time we had breakfasted, the fog had all disappeared, and the thermometer had already risen about 10° (F.). Adams was to accompany us on Curhng's horse, to cai'ry the luncheon and game, and the charge of the march was given ux> to S and Lundhohn, neither of whom being of sporting ten dencies had any ambition to undertake a long day's tramx) on foot. At nme o'clock Ave got away, the head tropeiro accompanying us out of the circle of wood in which our camp stood, as far as the nearest high ground, from whence he gave us the direction of the new camp, calhng the distance about four and half leagues. With this information for our guidance, Ave ignored the mule track altogether, trusting to compass and field-glasses to bring us home in the evening. We shot on tUl past midday, foUowing as nearly as possible the dkection given us. Now wading waist- deep m the long campos grass, rich in xirakie hens and quails — ^now skirting a swamp, and adding to our bag snipe and sundry long-legged, long-necked cranes, whose food seemed to be exclusively frogs and tad poles — noAV enjoying a few minutes' relief from the powerful sun overhead, in crossing a belt of pines, Avhich sAvarmed with the yeUoAv-spotted Avoodpecker, with which we had first become acquainted on the tox) of the " Serra do Mar," and with hawks, both large and smaU, which evidently used these covers as centres 136 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. thi. of offensive operations, multitudes of them going out and coming in continually, to and from the great huntuig field around. There was, therefore, nothing monotonous in our travelling to-day, and the hours sped on aU too rapidly. At one P.M. we halted on ths summit of a prairie wave, under the shelter of an enormous sandstone rock, from beneath which trickled a tiny stream of delicious Avater. Here we ate our dainty lunch of cold roast quaU and prairie hen, and washed it down Avith the cool s]Di'hig water, after which we indulged in the delight of counting the spoU, and surveying from our elevated x>osition the wide surrounding country. The bag Avas weighty and varied enough to satisfy anyone. It consisted of five prakie hens, nine and a half brace of quails, scA'cral parrots and woodpeckers, two big gray hawks, a brace of slate-colomed cranes, and three couple of snipe. Besides these, there were one or two smaU birds Avhich I had shot as specimens. We noAV swex)t the country round with the field- glasses to see whether any signs of the troop Avere visible ; Ave could not, however, discover it. A number of semi-wUd cattle came up to look at us, and, dotted about the country, we could distinguish other herds feeding upon the slopes. About two miles from us stood a chacara, or farmhouse, sohtary upon the vast prairie, perched on a summit overlooking its wide domam, and surrounded by a thick grove of what Ave took to be orange trees. This Avas the only house of any kmd that we saAV the Avhole day. ch. viii. Buzzards and Vultures. 137 A certain big brown bird, the Brazilian buzzard, or Caracara, numbers of which Ave had noticed at Curi tiba, accompanied the herds of cattle, sometimes Avalk- ing about on the groimd between the animals, and at other times riding upon thek backs. The cattle took no notice of them Avhaiever, though we saw the birds cooUy pecking at their legs Avhen on the ground. In appearance they are noble-looking, like the eagle ; their tails are barred Uke haAvks', and are tipped Avith black. On thek heads they wear a black cax^, from under which their eyes gleam, with the true falcon expression. Altogether they are fine-looking birds, and seem to deserve a less ignoble occupation than that of cattle- foUowers. At Curitiba they are x^rotected by law, as is also the black vulture, a loathsome bird of about the same size as the' Caracara. Both are scaA'engers together, and the outlying x^arts of Curitiba were always SAvarming Avith them. Live specimens of the Caracara can now be seen at the Zoological Gardens. After an hom''s rest we resumed oxjerations. Y'alk- ing straight ahead and turning neither to the right nor left, except on the rare occasions Avhen a x^rakie- hen Avas missed, and marked doAvn. YUiat we much wanted, to render our sport perfect, Avas a coux)le of big pointers that would be seen above the taU prakie grass, at least in those parts Avhere it was not more than knee high. " Danger," though of the right colom* (Avhite), was generally invisible in this grass, and it was with difficulty that the eye could follow his movements, which were indeed only to be discerned by 138 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. the Avaving of the long grass above him as he moved. For the kind of shooting that we were having, the value of a couple of big, wide ranging pointers would have been inestimable. Not the least x)art of the sport, however, Avas afforded by other causes quite independent of om' guns. While we Avere intent on filling our bag an army of robbers was floating in mid-air, ready and eager to deprive us of our hard-earned sxioils. HaAvks and harriers were hovering above and aroimd us on aU sides. Each time a qiiaU Avas put up and not bagged, doAvn came one, and often two of them, like a flash of lightning, on its track, and the x^oor victim only escaped from the gun to faU a j)rey to a still more cruel enemy. It was exciting to witness the shai'X) I)lay that Avas shown on these occa sions, both by x^ursued and x^tirsuer. The moment that the quail discovered that he Avas pm'sued, he would double up his wings and tumble down into the grass as though shot ; but so rax^id Avas the dash of these hawks that they frequently caught their quarry before it had time to reach the ground, and would then bear it off in triumxih to a neighbouring ant-hillock, there to tear in x)ieces and raxjidly devour its still quivering flesh. It Avas no doubt due to the xaresence of these hawks in such numbers that Ave found both quails and IDrairie-hens to lie A'^ery close. They never would get up tUl the dog or one's foot Avas right uxDon them, and then they always rose singly. In fact, they give one the idea that life must be a burden to them fi'om the x^resence of these relentless foes, ever hovering -ch. VIII. Lost on the Prairie. 139 over them, and ready to pounce upon them if they should show even a feather. These quails are a dis tinct species from our Enghsh visitors. They are shghtly bigger, and are plumaged very like a " squeaker " partridge. Thek flavour we had already proved to be most deUcious. The prairie-hen (AAdiich is here caUed partridge) is rather more insipid in flavour than the so-caUed quail. Our tropeiros would never touch either, declaring that their dried bullock's flesh, called xarqui, which at this time I thought the most revolting stuff I had ever tasted, was a far better article of food. The time Avas coining when I too was brought to prefer xarqui to birds' flesh, on the same princix)le that a starving man would x^refer a piece of bread to a handful of sugar-plums. Another hour or more elapsed, and the sun was dechning raxjidly, and stUl we could make out nothing of the troop. Our bag was getting heavier, and the long grass seemed to cling to our legs more than it had done in the earher hom's. Time went on, and ideas of mere sport began to give way before the momentous question of, whether Ave might not have to sleep out on the open prairie without rug or blanket, fire or food ! Even the little strix3S of Avood and occa sional clumps of trees, wMch had given so much variety to the morning march, had now altogether disappeared, and in every direction apxieared the un broken monotony of prakie. It was decided that one of us should mount the horse and describe a wide semi-circle of tAvo or three 'rolonged x^rocess of hard staring, the honour conferred may be fairly said to be imaginary. I confess to a feehng of kritation developing itself hi me, at our meal being thus intruded upon, and I longed for the freedom of camp-life once more. > Sr. Oliveka himself had no x>ity on our fatigues, but the moment he saAv that our apxDctites were flag ging, he unmasked his hitherto sUent batteries, and opened upon us a mercUess fire of questions — as to our object in coming to the country, how many of us CH. IX. Origin of Ponta Grossa. 155 were there, Avhether we were going to construct the railway at once, how long it Avould take to make, and whether we Avere going to bring it through their town. This last question was evidently the climax. Our reply to it, deUvered through Eobertson, was received with open scexoticism and disaxjproval. " Not the remotest chance of its passing Avithin a coux^le of leagues of your toAvn." When they heard that the reason of this was on account of the nature of the country not x'ermitting it, one gentleman stood forth from the crowd and de clared that Ave must be mistaken, that he knew the whole country perfectly, that there Avas a short cut from Curitiba to Ponta Grossa which Avould save six leagues in distance upon the road Ave had come by, that this route offered a x^erfect x'lam (jplanicie) between the tAvo extremes, and that there would be absolutely no difficulties to contend Avith in construct ing a raUroad by this route. It is almost unnecessary to explain that this gentle man had never seen a raikoad, and x'robably not even a carriage road in his life, and Avas therefore, perhaps, scarcely competent to form an independent opinion on the matter. At length, after a protracted exposure to a multitude of very silly questions and observations, Ave were enabled to escape to our own house. Here we found rest and x^eace for the night. Ponta Grossa, UteraUy translated, means " Big Peak" or "Point," and conveys accurately enough 156 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. the appearance of the height on which the town is built, especially Avhen seen from the Curitiba side. It is neither an old nor a large town. Its origin can be traced back through A'ery few generations, to the time Avlien it Avas merely a collection of chacaras or farmhouses and buUdings belonging to one man, who likcAvise owned the whole country round, which Avas his cattle-breeding estate. The lofty situation of the present town is thus easily explained. AU the houses of the great cattle-breeding estates were then, and still continue to be, built on the best situations for obtaining a view of the whole of the wide territory which belonged to them. It must be remembered that estates in this country are counted, not by thek number of acres, but by the number of square leagues; and in earher days an estate of fifty square leagues in extent was by no means uncommon. When the owner of the Ponta Grossa, fazenda died, he left his property undivided to all his chUdren alike. The result was that Ponta Grossa rapidly grew into a smaU colony ; and, although self-suxiporting at first, soon commenced a little trade of its own, buying from Curitiba and seUing to the various fazendeiros, and small povoaqoes, in the yet more remote regions behind it. Thus, in course of time, it quite lost its orighial character, and became, what it now is, the half-way trading toAAm betAveen Curitiba and the scattered populations that exist further to the west ward. CH. IX. Visit to a Compatriot. 157 Its x^resent x50x)ulation may be put down at about 4000, and it has akeady become the mother of a colony on the banks ofthe Tibagy, called "Conchas," which I visited a year or two later. So much for the origin and present " status " of Ponta Grossa. Its buildings and streets offered nothing remarkable. There was, of course, the usual big square Avitli a AvhiteAvashed church at one end of it, and its houses Avere mostly innocent of the comx)lications of an upx3er storey. Our troox) did not arrive till full twenty-four hours after ourselves, thus condemning utterly the tropeiros' estimate of the distance, as given to us. Instead of its being but six and a half leagues from the i)oint where we had separated, it Avas more hke nine. Having heard that there was a countryman of ours, by name Edenborough, settled on a farm a little way out of the town, Ave took an early opportunity of going to see him. On the second day, therefore, after our arrival, we took our guns and a borrowed pointer, and set off with the intention of making his acquaintance, as well as of getting a little sport by the Avay. Our dog did not prove of much use, as he had never been trained to " range," and therefore contented hunself with going in a straight line away from us, sometimes to a distance of a fuU mUe ; and there we would frequently have the satisfaction of seeing him make a dead point, giving us a long walk to get, x)ei'liaps, only a wretched quail, when there Avere x^robably scores of bkds close round us, which might have been obtained with a tenth part of the trouble. We did not make 158 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. much of a bag, as the grass was short, not affording a sufficiently safe cover for the game Avhen so many birds of p^ey were always on the watch for them. However, this did not lessen our enjoyment; one breathes j)leasure in the very air of these campos. On arriving nearer to the abode of our compatriota, Ave saw the first attempt at x^rairie cultivation which had yet greeted our eyes in this country. An area of about two acres, situated in front of the house, and enclosed by a ditch, stood out green and bright, a most refreshing contrast to the duU brown colour of the surrounding x^rairie. It x^roA^ed to be young rye, and the ground on Avhich it was groAving had evidently been xUoughed and x^rejiared in home fashion. We soon reached the house, first passing a grove of orange trees, aU laden with their rixie golden fruit. Mr. Edenborough, a stout young fellow, evidently made of tough material, welcomed us in good old EngUsh style, and we soon got acquainted with each other. He told us he had been out in the country about seven years; that he had been home once in that time, and had brought out, on this second occasion, a large amoimt of agricultural imx3lements, besides grass and other seeds, and had then set himself to work, to see what could be made of the prairie. As yet he had not been long enough at it to be able to express a decided opinion as to what success his enterprise might meet with. He however gave us to understand that he regretted having been in such haste to invest his money in this particular piece of land, when he might CH. IX. Prairie Farming. 159 liaA^e chosen other land on the borders of the forest, Avhich Avould have yielded ten times more bountifully. His own piece of land, he said, was decidedly x>oor ; and the whole country about Ponta Grossa Avas also subject, occasionally, to long droughts of several months' duration ; and, at this elevated spot, the heaA'y fogs, which on the lower leA'els preserved vegetation throughout the dry season, were much lighter. Mr. Edenborough also informed us that he had sunk too much capital on the x^i'operty, in house-building, ditching, and grubbing, to be able to give it ux^ now. Eeferring to his field of rye, he told us that the labour of tm'ning prakie land into arable land was almost as great as tm'iiing woodlands, at home, into ploughed fields. No plough could touch it, until each tuft of grass, with its deex)ly-sunk, massive clump of roots, had been sexDarately grubbed ux^ by hand. Another considerable item of x^rime outlay, he told us, was the making of the boundary ditches. So heavy, in proportion, was this item, that the exx^ense of enclos ing a square tract of land of 150 acres by a ditch of the necessary width and depth to \eep out cattle, would come to as much as the original cost of the land itself ; and, supposing it was necessary, as it Avould be, to subdivide the ground into smaller tracts, the cost of the work might exceed the original value of the land to almost any amount, so that, to enclose one acre by a ditch of the ordinary size, would cost about eight times the original value of that particular acre. Of course these proportions would vary in different 1 60 Pioncerinp- in South Brazil. ch. ix. locahties, depending ux)on the x^rice of land and cost of labour ; but in any country like the prakies of the Paran^, where land is cheap, and where timber- fencing is inadmissible on account of the annual ffi'es, an intending settler should not allow himself to be mis led in his calculations by the ax3parent cheapness of the land, but should bear in mind that unenclosed ground is practically valueless to its OAvner, for agri cultural purposes, and that the cost of enclosing it wiU in most cases exceed the entire sum that he may have given for it in the first instance. The cost of ditching may be estimated at Is. per yard run. So much as to the real cost of prakie land to the in tending agriculturist. Noav comes the question of what it will produce. On this point also, Mi'. Eden borough gave us some information. The BrazUians themselves say that the prairie is good for nothing but x^asturage. But their opinion is merely comparative, because thek idea of agricultm'e is limited to the x^roduction of three articles, namely, black beans, millio or Indian corn, and- rice. Now it is true that x^rairie land, generaUy, avUI not produce any of these necessaries ; or, to speak more ac curately, it does not pay to cultivate them on the prairie (except perhaps for home use, under certain conditions), Avheii the tenfold richer woodland is, as in this province, always avaUable Avithin reasonable dis tance. The case, however, may be different with such grains as wheat, rye, oats, and barley ; all of which Mr. Edenborough informed us would grow tolerably CH. IX. "O Cavallo Inglez." i6i well on average campo land, such as his OAvn. English grasses did not thrive so well as might be exxsected ; but as our informant's exxieriments in this direction had been prejudiced by an exceptionally dry season, continuing beyond its usual time, it is x^ossible that it may yet be proved that home grasses may be natural ized, on a large scale, on the campo. In such a case, the land might become far more valuable than it now is, as stock breeding, not agriculture, must ever remain the distinguishing feature of these vast prakies, ihe far richer forest-land being obviously the more fitted for gram and other such-like productions. I have before referred to the puny horses of this coimtry. Mr. Edenborough, being struck Avith the vast room for improvement that there was in the breed, on his coming out the second time, brought with him a thoroughbred English racehorse ; and he assured us that he had had no reason to regret his large outlay upon this head. Three times he had raised his stud-fee, so great was the demand for the animal. The Brazilians, who are intensely fond of horse - racing, had gone mad over the cavallo Inglez, against Avhich not one of their best horses could any thing like hold its own. Whether in flat races, or in steeple-chases, the big English horse had proA'ed him self unapproachable. Handicapping was no safeguard. The natives could never bring a horse on to the ground to beat him. So, after a long series of defeats and money losses, the English horse was tabooed from thek race-courses, and retired upon his racing laurels, VOL. I. M 1 62 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. ix. to bring his owner in a round annual income as a stud horse, free from the risks which are inseparable from the turf. Before taking our leave, we paid a visit to the orchard, to try the flavour of the oranges. We found most of the different kinds x'erfectly delicious, and were surprised to hear that they were merely cultivated as food for the p\gs. Mr. Edenborough told us that these animals are very fond of oranges, and in the orange season (that is, in July and August) they fatten merely on this fruit, without any other food to speak of. We dex3i'ived the said x)igs of some dozen or so of these delicious oranges, pocketing them to eat during the remainder of our shooting excursion; and then, bidding our entertainer farewell, we set out once more for the town, arriving there in time for supper. For the next few days Ave amused ourselves as best we could, Avhile awaiting the good x>leasure of another mule troop which was to take us on to our final destination, Colonia Thereza. Sr. OUveira continued to be our good friend and go-betAveen in all matters which brought us into business contact Avitli the natives, and always came to visit us once a day. On the south-west side of the toAvn there is a large wood, in Avhich rises a " feeder " of the Tibagy river. This wood, and the springs in it, supply the whole of the inhabitants of Ponta Grossa Avith fuel and water. On the west side of this capao is a swamx) covered with low brushwood which teems with animals very like small guinea-pigs. One day we shot several of CH. IX. four ney Resumed. 163 these and had them cooked for us at the baker's. The meat was quite eatable, and was not unlike rabbit in flavour. Dming our stay in this place, I kept a record of the lughest and lowest points of temperature that occurred in the twenty-four hours ; and I found that dm'ing the eight days, from the 17th to the 24tli August, the average daUy range of temperature was from 44° to 72° F.* This AviU give a very fak idea of the average temperature of most of the prairie lands of the province of Parand at this time of the year, which corresponds to our early sx^ring at home. Occasionally the thermometer may fall to freezing point, even on the last foAv days of August, as I was soon to learn ; but such temperatures are, lUie our frosts in June, few and far between. We were informed that now and then snow had fallen m the month of July, enough to entirely cover the ground. As at Curitiba, so here again we experienced con siderable delay in obtaining the tropa that Avas to take us on. At last, hoAvever, it turned up ; and on the 25th August, ten days after our arrival at Ponta Grossa, once more our impedimenta were on the backs of mules, and the order to march was given. One or tAvo of the more awkward packing-cases had again been rejected, at the last moment, by the tropeiros m charge ; and this time no x^ersuasion could induce them to take them on. As they hap- See Appendix, Note E. "Tables of temperatures, from observa tions by Mr. W. Braund and by the Author." 51 2 1 64 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. ix. pened to contain very important articles, we could not possibly leave them in Ponta Grossa for an indefinite period ; it was therefore arranged that S should stay behind with them, and either hire, or, if necessary, buy animals to bring them on after us as soon as possible. Just as we had started, we learnt that Captain Palm had that moment arrived in the town. CurUng and I therefore galloped back to Sr. OUveka's store, and found four Aveary-looking beasts standing outside, and Captain Palm with his factotum Danberg, looking fagged and travel-worn, in the inner room. After due greetings and exchange of news, I left them to go on with the troop, whUe Curling hastily decided to remain another night in Ponta Grossa and foUow on in the morning. This delay had, however, given the troop nearly two hours' start, and it was impossible to say what our European rabble, which accomxianied it, might not take it into their heads to do in the absence of those whom they were accustomed to obey. I put spm's to my horse, and galloped along in the hope of over taking them before dark. To my disgust, however, I had scarcely proceeded a mUe from the town, when I came upon two of the party staggering along in a state of intoxication ; and, a httle farther on, yet another, sitting down on the ground in the same condition. With some difficulty I made all three of them turn right about face, and retrace their steps to the town ; otherwise they would have been overtaken by night CH. IX. Benighted on the Prairie. 165 out on the open x)rakie, and have probably suffered severely m consequence. No less than six of the men I thus tinned back, all more or less ckunk. Probably they had stopped at some venda just outside the town, when we had turned back to meet Captain Pahu, and had there yielded to the fatal cachaga. Two more loiterers I overtook, namely, Adams and MUes. As they, however, were more or less sober, and the town being now about a league distant, I aUoAved them to come on AAith me, and we pushed forwards as fast as possible. The sun set before any signs of the troop had been discovered, and for more than an hour we continued marching on in darkness, my horse stumbling and nearly coming down at every fcAV stex3S that it took. Every moment I expected to make out the camp fire, and at length we saw a red light doAvn beneath us on our left, axoparently about half-a-mile off. We shouted, and a dog answered back ; we shouted again, and stiU no other reply. They must be asleep, we thought, so I fired a shot from my big double -barrel, which effectuaUy roused the echoes of the mght far and wide, — stiU no answer but the barking ofthe dog. For my part, I had had quite enough of traveUing for this day. Since early morning I had been work ing vigorously to get the troop started off, and had altogether forgotten to eat ; and, from being exposed to the sun for so many hom's, I was now feehng sick and faint. With an inward misgiving that the camp was not ours. 1 66 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. but yet being strongly disincUned to proceed further, we made for the spot, guided by the red light. After stumbUng over various ant-hiUocks, and being turned back once by a SAvamp, we approached near enough to hold a parley Avith the uidividual whose voice could now be heard keex)ing back the dog. "Boa noite, Senhor, we have lost our troop," said I, in the best Portuguese I could muster. " The Senhores can ax^proach," was the magisterial reply, dehvered in a not uninviting tone, foUowed by a severe "Down, Gachorro do cliabo," as the dog showed signs of an intention to attack. We came up to the fire, and found that we had fallen upon a tropeiro's camp, consisting of one little tent, tAvo men and a dog. The tent was pUed up Avith bags of farinha and pack-saddles, the men evidently intending to sleep outside by the fire. I asked for some food, and after a time a greasy concoc tion of beans and farinha was presented to us. I had not, at this time, learnt to appreciate this homely Brazihan dish ; and so, after tasting a few mouthfuls, could eat no more, and only longed now for something in the shape of a bed. The night was fearfuUy cold, m great contrast to the scorching heat of the sun during the day, and I had nothing besides the clothes on my back, which, from having been soaked through with perspiration, now felt icy cold, and chiUed my very bones. The tropeiros brought out three dried ox-hides, stiff and hard, each folded once down the middle, the hak being outside, and signified that those were our beds. I drew one of ch. IX. A Miserable Lodging. 167 them up close to the fire and got between the hard folds, taking care that the open side faced the fire ; and in this position, Avith my saddle for a pillow, en deavoured to forget all discomforts in sleej). The cold, however, effectually x)revented the realisation of such hopes, and I passed a wretched night with head throbbing, teeth chattering, and bones aching. I envied our hosts more than I can say, thek big warm ponchos, in which they Avrapped themselves up and snored all through the night ; and I made a voav never again to travel without some covering either in the shape of a rug or a poncho attached to my saddle. Many experiences, besides that of this night, have taught me that travelUng in this country Avithout rug or blanket, is the most fatal thing next to kUlmg him self outright that a man can do, and the hardy natives themselves are fully aware of the great discomfort and even clanger that it entails. At break of day I deserted my miserable lodging in the folds of the bullock hide, thankful that the Aveary night was over, but feehng wretchedly sick and weak. Determined, however, to shake off these un comfortable sensations, Avhich I guessed were more than half caused by the cold and the sleepless night, I shouldered my gun, and determinedly set to work to beat the ground between ihe camp and the road for quads, whUe breakfast was being prepared. After a time the exercise took effect, and I began to feel somewhat less miserable. The sun, just now rising above the high groimd, helped also to warm the chiUed blood in 1 68 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. my veins. Finally, the cure was made complete by a refreshing bath in the little streamlet that ran past the camxo. Miles and Adams were akeady pitching into the beans 2ca.^ farinha when I got back, and the tropeiros had both gone off to look for my horse, which I had turned loose the night before, without caring then what became of it. The men presently returned, having found it on the road some way back towards Ponta Grossa, which place it was no doubt making for. The study of horse and mule nature is a very essential part of a traveller's education in these countries. Some men seem instinctively to know where to find a missing animal, while others vdU spend the whole day vainly searching for it. In this case, however, it Avas but natural that the horse should have made back toAvards Ponta Grossa — its own home. Just before starting I made our hosts a present of some tobacco and a two-milreis note that I happened to have in my pocket. This was all I had to offer them, but they seemed quite satisfied, and, doubtless, would have done aU they did for nothing. In this country hospitality is the unwritten law, which binds all classes alike, since none can tell when he may not himself be in need of it. After nearly an hour's march we came up with our own troox?, which had just started from its camping- ground ; and at 3 p.m. avc halted on the banks of the CH. IX. Camp by the Tibagy. 169 Tibagy river, which Avas here about fifty yards wide. Tents Avere x^itched, and all was made comfortable for CurUng and the rest of the party Avhen they should arrive. I meauAvhile enjoyed a long sAvim in the river, after which I took my gun and in little more than half an hour had bagged enough snipe and quail to feed us all, the ground hteraUy swarming with them. It was not till the next day that I discovered the reason of this more than ordinary abundance. The prairie grass, it appeared, had, but a day or two before, been burnt off' for an area of several scores of square miles m the immediate neighbom-hood ; consequently the birds had been driven thence to take refuge in the nearest untouched cover, Avhich haxipened to be in this locaUty. The sun was already low in the horizon when Curling and his party arrived. The men Avere tired enough with the long walk from Ponta Grossa, and were agreeably surprised to find the camx> pitched and supper nearly ready. One of them had kiUed an enojmous snake on the road, and he had taken the trouble to bring it on to me, knowing my partiality for animal specimens. It Avas a Jararaca — one of the commonest and at the same time one of the most venomous of all the snakes of Brazil. This particular one was about three feet six inches in length, with a very thick body. The head was intensely ugl}'-look- ing, broad and flat; its fangs were nearly three- quarters of an inch long. The colour of the skin was various shades of brown, and had a very artistic pattern 1 70 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. upon it, boldly marked in the darker shades. The pattern consisted of a double row of hearts ranged symmetricaUy down the whole length of the body, each heart being set off by a narrow border of the lightest possible shade of brown. Thus the body may be said to have been in perfect keeping with the head, which itself was very hke a heart in shape. In skinning this uninviting reptile, I first cut off the head and crushed it in the dust, not caring to feel that a slix3 of the hand might at any moment expose me to the risk of having one of those cruel-looking fangs in my flesh. I found in its stomach two frogs. Thus it seems that these poor animals have other enemies on the x^rairies, besides the cranes, against which to guard themseh'es. In addition to the game that I had bagged before the arrival of the second party, which aU went into the common pot, there were several fat capons and a score of eggs, which had been secured from various small huts that we had passed on the road. These, with several loaves of brown bread and a hberal stock of "Bass" and " Tennant," bought at Ponta Grossa, at the comparatively cheap rate of a mikeis-and-haU a bottle, combined to make a regal repast for the tired traveUer s. We extemporized a table of boxes, outside the tent- door, and spread the feast thereon ; and Curling, Lund holm and myself sat down Avith clear consciences and Avith the perfect enjoyment that only comes to those who are Uving a wild free life, away from the sorrowful Night-jars. 171 influence of the money-market and the tax-collector. We needed no sherry-and-bitters to force a jaded appetite, neither Avere we dependent for the exuber ance of om spkits upon the effervescent merits of champagne. Even Lundholm, avIio, x^oor feUow, from havmg bad health, was generaUy of a morose and morbid cUsposition, could not resist the charms of the surroundings, and for once in his life apx3eared per fectly happy. Just at dusk, AvhUe we were stUl at dinner, a large number of night-jars appeared upon the scene, flitting about in a sUent ghostly maimer around our heads. I shot one as a specimen, but found the greatest diffi culty in getting the skin off in anything like a good condition, on account of its extreme tenuity and delicacy. This dehcacy of the skin seems to be a cha racteristic of bkds of the Jar tribe. The Suruqud, a sort of day-jar, which we were afterAvards to fre quently meet AAith in the great Sertao, had the same peculiarity. It was very strange that I only remember seeing these night-jars, which were so numerous on this spot on this particular night, on one other occasion, namely, at one of oiu' camps on the Ivahy, where they again appeared in great numbers. Pro bably they live chiefly on one kind of insect or beetle, which is only to be found in particular localities, few and far between. S not having arrived with the remainder of the baggage, it was decided to wait for him one day in our present camxD. 172 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. Within a hundred yards of om* tent, stood the little shanty of the ferryman, an old and decrepit- looking felloAv, who lived there with his wife and daughter; the latter, a rosy-cheeked fair-haired damsel of about sixteen, being in her appearance very unlike the general run of BraziUans. Hearing that there were wild pig sometimes to be got, in a patch of wood close by. Curling and I engaged the old ferryman to take us there in his canoe, and started after break fast, taking " Danger " Avitli us. A smaU river caUed the "Bitumirim" ran through the wood, by foUoAving up which, Ave hox3ed to xsenetrate deeply into the hiddeti recesses of the " Capao." On turning up this stream out of the main river, we found ourselves all at once in another world. Dark gloomy forest surrounded us on all sides ; a tangled canopy of tree and branch of various kinds, inextri cably laced together by lianas and other climbers and creepers, shut out the sky above. Perfect stillness reigned, and the silence was unbroken, save by the harsh shriek of a large king-fisher, which, disturbed in its solitude by our unwelcome approach, shot angrUy away before us, up the dark avenue of the stream. We sat down at the bottom of the canoe near the boAV, and the old ferryman stood ux) in the stem, and with a long pole x^unted us up the little river, steering through the labyrinth of timber obstructions noise lessly, and Avith the most consummate skiU. On rounding one little bend, three wild ducks got up out of the water, Avith a startled quacking. "Hist! don't ch. IX. Pig-hunting by Canoe. i ^-x^ fire ! don't fire ! " exclaimed the old man, as he saw guns go up to shoulders. " Bor cos ! porcos ! " We looked for the pigs, but saw nothing. What did the old fellow mean ? He kept repeating Avords AA'hich neither of us could understand. Presently, however, his meaning become more apx^arent, when he drew our attention to soirie fr'esh tracks of x^igs in the soft mud on the bank. A short distance farther and another low "hist" again warned us to look out. At the same moment, Curhng, who was sitting in front of me, caught sight of the pigs themselves on a little mud bank, about forty yards ahead. He ffi'ed both barrels, and when the smoke cleared, we found that one pig had been killed and was lying on the bank, while the others had disappeared into the jungle. This was the first big game that had as yet been IdUed by any of us, and we were proportionately elated at our success. The animal proved to be an individual of a small species of peccary. It was covered with short bristles, nearly black. The tusks, of which there were two in each jaw, were formidable-looking weapons, sharp and triangular'. Those on the lower jaw x^rojected con siderably out of the line of the other teeth, and im parted a very sinister look to the creature. The old man explained by graphic signs, that these were the weapons with which, when attacked, they ripped up men and dogs, Avith a sharp quick upward jerk of the snout. Later on, we were to have proofs enough of ihe terrible power of these tusks, and of the frightful wounds which they can inflict. 1 74 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ix. We noAv found that we could get no farther up the " Bitumkim," as the channel beyond was completely blocked by numberless trees, which had from time to time fallen across it. Having therefore Ufted the pig into the canoe, we started to return by the way Ave had come, well satisfied with our success. The most characteristic feature of animal life which this wild and gloomy little river exhibited, was in its king-fishers, of which I remarked no less than three different species. One little blue and red feUow, smaUer than our home bird, was the least shy of all. He would sit on some dead branch over the water, motionless, with the exception of his head, Avhich would move restlessly from side to side Avhile the canoe was apx^roaching, and only when the x^i'ow was almost touching him would he fly off, with the usual scream of his kind. Not so the other two species, which were both bigger than the English bird, and plainer in their colouring, appearing, from a distance, to be clothed in x^lain black aud white, and blue and white. I could not get a shot at any individuals of these two species, for they invariably fled at the first sight or sound of our approach. While in the act of flight, they kept up a continuous harsh scream, which howcA'er ceased the moment they again perched. Though two birds Avere never seen sitting together, yet I fancy the male and female were always Avithin hearing and generaUy within sight of each other, because the scream of the one in flight, invariably brought another indiAudual of CH. IX. A Day Conflagration. 175 the same species on to the scene. What a solitai'}^ Ufe they must lead — sitting the whole day long on some dead branch in the dark recesses of these silent forest streams ! Parrots, which are generally numerous in these prakie Avoods, Avere in this instance entirely absent. We had for some time noticed a x'eculiar haze coming over the atmosx3here, and upon getting out once more on to the main river, we found that the air was full of smoke ; and two hours later Ave were Avitnessing a x^rakie fire by dayhght. The conflagration was on the opposite side of the river to that on which our camp stood, and was below the wood just spoken of; so that it could not ax3proach within half a mile of our tents. After having deposited our pig in camp, we walked doAvn to look at the fire from closer quarters. It was apxDroaching the river, though at a slow rate, as the wind was very slight. The scene was not at all imx^ressive as compared Avith the tremendous night conflagration I had witnessed from the top of the " Serrinha," nevertheless it was an interesting sight. A dark roU of smoke was ascending from the flames, forming a wall behind them and a cloud above. In the midst of this dark cloud, high up in the air a multitude of birds of prey hovered, liaAvks and buz zards, of every variety. As the fire advanced, quad after quail, turned out of its cover, came skimming along over the prairie, towards the river ; and every inoment some keen eye 1 76 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. ix. above spotted the prey, and down, Uke a flash of lightning, swooped a big haAvk or falcon, in pursuit. Frequently, the quail Avould be crossing the river before it was seen by the enemy, and the rush ing sound through the air, as the big bkd swooped down from a height of perhax3S 300 or 400 feet, would then be plainly audible to us, above the crackling of the flames. One could not help pity ing the unfortunate quails, thus persecuted on aU sides — but the wonderful exhibition of the marveUous isowers of flight of these birds of prey, was most intensely interesting, and for the time was all-absorb ing. The eye could scarcely follow the rapidity of their swoop, and their recovery when they happened to miss the mark Avas almost equaUy rapid — one powerful stroke of the long-pointed wing, and they had bounded up again to their former height, and were ready for the next unhappy bkd which the flames might drive out. The instinct of these hawks in thus foUowing the fire is extraordinai'}', indeed it seems almost to deserve a higher name than this. We were rather hoping that the fire, when it reached the wood, would drive some big game out of it ; as, though the flames could not penetrate bej^ond its out skirts, yet the treniendous noise of the bursting of trees on these occasions, and the roar of the flames, would be quite sufficient to alarm game into taking to the Avater. None, however, appeared, though we watched, rifle and gun m hand, untU the fire had ch. IX. Crossing the Tibagy. 177 bm-nt itself out against the edge of the Avood and the bank of the river. Y^e did not, however, return to camp empty-handed. WhUst sitting on the top of the bank watching the wood opposite, several large fish came up to the surface in the river beneath, and Cm'ling sent a buUet from his little pea-rifle through the back-bone of one, cutting it almost in half, and, of course, kUUng it instantly. On this evening, therefore, we Avere able to have three courses at our dinner, namely, fish, entries (such as duck and quad), and a p'Cece de resistance in the shape of ribs of wild pig. Thus we continued living on the fat of the land, simply by the expenditure of a Uttle powder and shot, whUe our tropeiros and the natives generaUy were content to live on a concoction of greasy beans and farinha from year's end to year's end. We marveUed greatly at the indifference they one and aU exhibited to the minor riches around them, which were so free to all alike. On the foUowmg day we decided to continue the march, although S had not yet apx3eared. Crossing the river Tibagy was the first thing to be accomphshed. A stout rope, made of the bark of a certain kind of cipo or liana, was always kex3t stretched across the river, the ends being secured to tAVO strong posts embedded in the ox3posite banks. To this rope was attached, by means of a loose noose, a raft made of three canoes fastened together lengthways up and down stream, and boarded over on the toxi. Ux3on this raft aU our animals were taken across, three at a VOL. I. N 178 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. ix. time, with their packsaddles upon thek backs, but without their loads. The mode of inducing locomotion in this raft was simx3le enough. Two men went on board each time, and by merely puUing on the stretched hne, and without exercising more force than was necessary to slacken the connecting noose, the requked motion was given to the raft : the force of the current against the sides of the canoes — whose bows were given a slight tAvist across current by the men pulUng — being itself the principal motive-poAver. At first sight, it appears as though the canoes forming the raft ought to point across stream in the direction they have to travel, instead of having to cross broadside on. This, however, is of course a faUacy, as a more careful examination of the raft , at once shows. In fact, the balsa, which is the name by which this contrivance is known, is, Avithout being itself aAvare of it, a very scientific affak, giving a x^erfect X^ractical iUustration of a great statical law. Indeed, its action recalled forcibly to my mind the " ParaUelo gram of Forces," a physical theorem Avhich had been the wonder and admiration of my youthful days. By means of this balsa aU our troox), with baggage and stores, was safely transported to the other side of the Tibagy with great facility, and our last day's march on the great prairie commenced. In two hours more Ave should reach its western boundary, and another stage of our journey would have been then completed. CHAPTEE X. The "Neutral zone" of forest and prairie. — Camp at Ipiranga. — Forged trade-marks. — The pea-rifle. — Amusing habits of a Brazilian Jay. — The " Monjolo." — A Brazilian race-course. — The surroundings of Ipiranga. — " Patiencia." — Two forests. — Monkey shooting.— A Brazilian bridge. — Hospitality of the people. — Om the formation of prairies. — The "Oitenta Oito" butterfly. — The pea-rifle again. — A forest "road." — "A Mula cangou ! " By refening to the map at the end of the book, it wiU be observed that the demarcation hne between forest and prairie is placed at some distance on the seaward side of Cm'itiba ; whereas, in the text, I have spoken of the " Serrinha " as being the commencement or border of the prairies. As this apparent disagreement may X3erchance per plex the reader, I should no longer delay its explana tion. It is simply this. There is in this province no hard, Avell-defined division sexsaratmg the forest from the prairie. They are not divided by any single narrow line. On the contrary, I have always found that there exists a zone or belt, varying in width from about ten to thkty miles, of neutral ground, so to speak; that is to say, of country that is neither all forest nor all prairie, N 2 1 80 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. but which is divided between them both — the former more generally being in excess of the latter. Thus then, on the map, the division is shoAvn any where within the limits of this neutral belt, and in the particular instance referred to, the line shown happens to coincide more nearly with the forest than Avith the prakie border; the whole of the Curitiba plateau being included in the neutral belt. Any apparent disagree ment between the text and map is thus accounted for. It will be found as we proceed, that this neutral territory pla}rs a very important part in the prosperity of the x^rovince. It has, in fact, been the bkthplace of all real progress which has been made since very early days. In every case where attempts have been made to establish agricultural settlements beyond or with out its limits the result has proved more or less a failure ; whereas those settlements which ha\'e been founded within its borders have invariably x)rosx3ei'ed to a greater or less degree. It wiU be shown that the rationale of the compara tive prosperity of this zone hes partly in its own superior natural resources, and x^artly in its necessary position between the two great economic divisions into which the province is divided : namely, the prairie and the forest, the pastoral and the agricultural lands. There is, however, one settlement which is not situated within the limits of this neutral zone, but which, nevertheless, has hitherto exhibited a consider able amount of x^rogressive prosperity. This is the town of Ponta Grossa, which we had just left behind us. ch. X. The '¦'' Neutral Zofie.'' i8i This is quite an isolated case, however, and can be ac counted for by the chance fact of the town bemg placed in the very centre of the circle of agricultural settle ments which have sprung up in the " neutral zone," so that a great proportion of the local trade naturaUy passes through it. Ponta Grossa lives and thrives entkely by this local trade, and itself produces nothing. Anxious as Ponta Grossa shoAved herself to be for the construction of the railway — it is pretty certain that the whistle of the locomotive will be the signal of her coUapse. Her prosperity is entkely arbitrary, and wiU vanish Uke smoke when railway communica tion is once established between the valley of the Tibagy and the sea coast. To return, however, from this digression. We were noAv once more to traverse this neutral territory — this time on the western side of the great x^rairie. Our first glimpse of the new order of things to which we were approaching, was obtained from some high ground which the mule track crossed about six mUes beyond the Tibagy river. From this spot we once more be held huge forests of pines clothing the sides of hiUs and mountains before us, and covering an area of hundreds of squai'e mUes. A bird's-eye view, could we have obtained it, would have shown that large patches of open campo or prairie were interspersed amongst these seemingly compact forests, and that in other places there existed many leagues of park-like country, with trees dotted here and there about it, singly and in clumps more or less widely separated. 1 82 Pioneering in South Brazil. From our view-point, hoAvever, all ahead of us appeared to be one vast forest, extending right up to the summit of the watershed between the two rivers, the Tibagy and the Ivahy, a distance from us of perhaps twenty miles or more in a straight line. Since the day when we had mounted to the top of the " Serrinha " and first beheld the vast expanse of golden campo stretching away southward and westward to the Umits of vision itself, we had traversed nearly eighty miles of continuous open country, Avithout a break appearing in it. NotAvithstanding its monotony, I had, during those long daily marches, conceived quite an affection for the grand rolling plains and boundless horizons, and almost grieved to think that this part of our long journey was now come to an end. At two o'clock the x^ine trees began to apx3ear in stragghng array on our right and on our left. Half- an-hour later we were winding our sIoav march beneath the cool shade of thek lofty outstretched crowns, and the prairie was left belimd and forgotten. AU the old bird-life which had been so familiar in the forests of the Serra do Mar reax)peared once more, and I especially recognised the woodpecker with the scarlet top-knot, who moreover seemed to be as shy and solitary in its habits as ever. At three o'clock Ave passed a rancho or chalet, where the manufacture oi " herva-mate" was being carried on. " Herva-mate" trees abounded, especially in the more open spots. CH. X. Camp at Ipiranga. 183 In appearance they are not unhke our English hoUy. They groAV Avithout cultivation, and, notwith standing the value of the manufactured product, are looked upon altogether as a "no man's" property. Dearth of labour is, however, quite sufficient to account for this neglect. After travelUng for about tAvo hours altogether, now through forest, and now through open grass patches, over a road which had deteriorated not a httle since leaving the campos, we arrived at our camping place for the night, — the httle povoagao of Ipkanga. Tents were pitched by the side of a smaU streamlet — a tributary of the Bitumkim — which bounded one side of a large open square — the playground of the settle ment. On the upper side of this big clearing were several small houses, one of which proved to be a venda of superior quahty, kept by a one-eyed Portu guese, by name Terxeira, and his spouse ; the latter a lady Avhom few people would faU in love with at fkst sight. At this house we were enabled to replenish om* stock of beer, at the marvellously cheap rate, con sidering the remoteness of the village, of three shiUings a bottle. This cheapness was, however, to be accounted for by the fact that Sr. Terxeira obtained his beer from Curitiba, where it was manufactured and put into Enghsh bottles Avith Enghsh labels upon them, and transmitted to the interior to be palmed off as genuine Cerveja Ingleza. Among the many bottles of false Bass and Tennant, we discovered 1 84 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. one or two of the real article, which, for the benefit of future travellers, I may remark can best be dis tinguished from the false by their tinfoil capsules, which, in the case of the latter, are formed of very thin material tAvisted on by hand, whereas a genuine Enghsh-imported bottle always possesses a stiff capsule artisticaUy put on. We missed our usual dinner of quaU and prairie hen, but Terxeira was equal to supplying aU wants, and said he would have his pigs brought in from the other end of the clearing where they were busUy engaged eating grass, and have one kiUed for us. Curling begged him not to trouble himself about it, but if he would x^oint out which we might have, we Avoiild manage the rest ourselves. On leaving the X3rairie Curling had discarded his gun and now carried his light x)ea-i'ifle. Terxeka pointed out a fat porker feeding by himself about 120 yards off. Curling rested his rifle on the gate by which we were standing, and taking careful aim, ffi'ed, and the pig, much to the astonishment of Sr. Terxeira, drox3ped down mortaUy wounded. From this moment the fame of Cm'Ung's pea-rifle, a fame which was to last uninterruptedly for nearly two years, commenced. Terxeira spread the report of its wonderful doings, with a bullet not much bigger than a single large shot; and many of the inhabitants from the sm'rounding huts and chalets came hi the course of the next twenty-four hours to inspect the tiny though powerful weapon.* * The pea-rifle above mentioned Avas one of Lang's, '380 bore, and The Brazilian yay. S did not yet make his appearance, so we decided to wait for him here another day. I took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to add to my coUec tion of bkds. I shot three or four kinds of wood pecker and a beautiful bird of the jay tribe that I had not before seen. Like aU its race, this last-mentioned bkd was very hvely and restless, and first attracted my attention by its pecuhar cry, which consisted of a double note, startUngiy loud, but not harsh Uke that of its Enghsh cousin. Several of them were wander ing about amongst the pine trees, and occasionally pursuing each other with loud cries. After I had shot one, others came round to look on, and I succeeded in getting a second and a more cleanly-kiUed specimen. The head was surmounted Avith a covering of short stiff black feathers, which stood up on end like the bristles of a scrubbing-brush. A x)ert knoAving expres sion was given to the eye by a fringe of Ught-blue feathers, which entkely surrounded it, continuing backwards down both sides of the neck. The breast and tip of the taU were of a Ught straw colour ; the back was very dark blue, almost black, and the Avings with the upper part of the tail were of a deexJ bluish purple. Altogether, it was a very remarkable bird in its outward appearance. About a year later, I had the opportunity of observ- sighted up to 150 yai-ds. It Avas, perhaps, on the Avhole, the most generally useful weapon of any on the Statf, though theii- name was legion. 1 86 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. ing some of the habits of this same bird, in a tame, or rather in a captive state, a specimen having been caught alive and presented to Mr. Lloyd.* This individual Avas kept in a cage hanging up in the dining- room of our house at Colonia Thereza, where it proved a constant source of amusement to aU. It was fed chiefly on the hard grains of Indian corn, and the way it would eat them was this : — Picking up a grain from the bottom of the cage, it would fly up and carefuUy place it on the perch between its two claws, and keep it in this position by grasping it and the perch together with one toe of each foot, leaving a small space in the middle of the grain exposed, on which to operate. Having satisfactorily accompUshed this x^rehminary feat, it Avould then draw itself up perfectly erect, and pause for a moment to look round at the company, as though to say, " Gentlemen ! now I am going to begin." Then throwing its head far back and making its whole body and neck perfectly rigid, it would start off on a succession of rapid and vigorous blows, dealt with its stout-x3ointed beak, on to the imprisoned gram. So raxiidly did the blows descend, that the eye could scarcely follow the motion of the bkd's body. The space left for its beak to oxierate upon was scarcely more than an eighth of an inch; but, nevertheless, every blow fell accurately on the mark, otherwise, the * One of the Concessionaires of the Parana and Matto Grosso EaU- way Survey, aud for some time (from October, 1873 to October, 1874) Directing Engineer of the same. CH. X. Amusing Habits of a fay. 187 powerful hammer-hke beak Avould soon have broken the slender toes all to pieces. Generally, half a dozen of these rapid strokes Avould suffice to split the grain, and one portion of it would faU to the bottom of the cage. This always seemed to puzzle the bird, and it would pause and whimsically turn its head aside, as though considering what was to be done in conse quence. Presently its mind would seem to be made up, and it would take the remaining half of the grain, which was stiU too big to be swaUowed comfortably, and carefuUy place it out of the way on the end of the perch. This accomplished, it would fly dovm and pick up the faUen piece, and recommence upon this the hammer-and-anvil performance. Generally, this would disturb the first piece from its nicely balanced equUibrium on the end of the perch, and it Avould fall. Now we enter upon the ludicrous stage of the pro ceedings. The bird's pei'xilexity and distress would be manifested by its frequent pauses for consideration, and vain and oft-repeated attempts to keep both pieces on the perch at the same time ; though, sure ¦enough, at the first blow it gave to the one, off would tumble the other half, which the operator's quick eye perceiving, doAvn he would jump to pick it up again. The roars of laughter which greeted each fresh dis comfiture, were often taken to heart by the x^oor puzzled bird; and it would look angrUy round at us for a moment, as though to say, " What are you laughing at, pray ? Can't you mind your own business ? " which action would of course produce fresh bursts of laughter ; Pioneering in South Brazil. and then once more it would retm'n to its hopeless task. It was always a satisfaction at last to see it leave one X3iece to its fate, — though evidently doing so with a heavy heart, — and operate upon the other tiU aU was devoured. Within twenty yards of our tents, was one of the most curious and primitive labour-saving machines that can ever have been invented. It was worked by water-xDower fr'om the Uttle stream before mentioned, and I should imagine that the genius of him who first invented this machine could only have been more remarkable than that of the persons who stUl continue to make use of it. It was called a Monjolo, and its sole use was to bruise Indian corn xjreparatory to the corn being made 'vaio farinha. Notwithstanding that the machine has probably been described by not a fcAv traveUers in BrazU, I AviU giA'e a short description of it here for the benefit of those who may not happen to have read about it. This particular specimen of the Monjulo was formed out of a log of Avood, perhaps ten feet long and fifteen inches in diameter, roughly hewn out at one end into a trough, while the other extremity was thinned off to about half the thickness. A piece of hard wood about eighteen inches in length and tapering to a blunt point was let into this end of the log with its point doAviiAvards. This formed the hammer or " bruiser." The Avhole was suspended on two trun- CH. X. The ^'¦Monjolo." 189 nions left for the purpose in the substance of the beam. YTien the trough was empty, the hammer of the machine rested in another trough or basin scooped out of a trunk of a tree, in which the corn also was placed. This was its normal position when at rest, the beam then bemg nearly horizontal. Noav to set it to work, and, more important stUl, to keep it at Avork. It was in the successful accomplishment of this latter object, ihat the true genius of ihe inventor had been so brilhantly displayed. A dam having been made in a convenient stream, the water from it was conducted by means of one or more hoUowed-out trunks of trees to the machine ; where, falling in the trough before men tioned, it filled it and caused the hammer-end of the beam to rise and at the same time the trough to descend, and thereby tip out the Avater again, which in its turn would immediately cause the hammer once more to drop down into its former resting-x)lace. Thus, as long as the water flowed into it, the maclime would rise and fall at regular intervals. This parti cular machme made one blow about every half minute, and I calculated would bruise about half a bushel of com in a week. I examined it m the evening and again in the morning after it had been working all night, and there was no x)erceptible difference to be ob served in the smaU handful of corn that it had been operating upon during those tweh'e hom's. There is certainly something very comical in these machines to the unaccustomed eye. I think the element of absurdity must Ue in the enormous exx)en- 1 90 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. diture of x'ower required for the performance of a microscopic amount of Avork. Beside a Moujolo and a venda, Ipkanga boasted of a race-course, on which, if Sr. Terxeira's word was good, heavy stakes Avere occasionaUy lost and won. The race-course consisted of two paraUel paths or tracks, each being about 300 yards in length, deeply worn into the ground by many a galloping hoof. In the afternoon we amused om'selves by racing the various animals belonging to the troop, not, of course, including the pack-mules.* The BrazUians themselves, when racing, ride without a saddle, which is not sm'- prising to any one who knows what a cumbrous awkward affair a native saddle is ; we, however, pre ferred racing na moda Ingleza, as the natives caUed it, that is to say, booted and spurred, and with horse fully equipped. The population of Ipkanga is by no means confined io the inhabitants of the fcAV houses which are situated in the central clearing. Many paths (mule roads) led from this large square in different dkections, showing that there were other habitations around. And the fact is that the whole of that portion of the "neutral zone " lying betAveen Ipiranga and the town of Tibagy is more or less inhabited and cultivated ; much of the richest pastoral as AveU as agricultm'al land of the * I once got on the back of a pack-mule, but never repeated the experiment. The brute flrst began to bite and kick savagely, and then, finding I did not tumble ofl' quickly enough to please it, it dropped quickly doAvn on its stomach, with the fiendish intention of rolling. I barely escaped a broken leg or something worse. ch. X. Surroundings of Ipiranga. 1 9 1 province being mcluded in this strix) of territory. As I could never discover what formed the exact, or even the approximate, Umits of Ipiranga, I cannot give its population. Mr. Lloyd, in his Eex30i't to the Brazilian Government puts it doAvn as 400. This, however, is probably too Ioav an estimate. One thing, how ever, is certain, which is, that nowhere can one ride for more than an hom along any of the numerous mule- ti'acks, which form a network stretching right away to the town of Tibagy, a distance of thirty miles in a straight line, without coming across a habitation of some kind — generaUy a chalet inhabited by a Caboclo * (a farmer on a smaU scale), or not unfrequently a chacara with large stock-yards and numerous out houses attached, belonging to some richer fazen deiro. It was from this strip of coimtry also that, at one period in the history of the expedition, the greater part of the supplies of both the first and the second Staffs were drawn. But to return. Just as our racing had come to an end, and Curling's horse — an animal that he had pur chased at Ponta Grossa for the rather high figure of 12L — had carried off all the prizes, the tinkling of a troop-beU A\'as heard, and S appeared with the long- expected mules and cargoes. He said that he had been able to do nothing on the first two days after Ave had left, on account of the exorbitant price asked by the ^ Cahodo has been defined to mean the progeny of the Indian with the Negro. In these pages I have used the Avord, with a much wider and more varied signification, as do the Brazilians themselves. 192 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. mule-owners, amounting to the full value of the animals themselves ; and this simply for the hire of them for a six-days' march. At last, when almost in despair of being able to obtain more reasonable terms, and being on the point of giving in, a man came for Avar d with an offer to undertake the journey for 3L 10s. per mule. This offer, though at more than double the rate that vie were paying for the rest of the troop, and equal to almost two-thkds of the actual value of the mules themselves, he was obUged to accept. The old story, that the roads were so bad, and that the animals Avould be utterly ruined in travel ling over them, Avas agam given as ' an excuse for this exorbitant demand. We had, hoAvever, akeady accom plished tAVO out of the six-days' march fr'om Ponta Grossa, and nothing to come up to the unfinished bit of the Curitiba road had yet been encountered. Had it not been for the constant reiteration by om* tropeiros of the stock phrase, " Patiencia, senhores, logo mais r'm'c^s hdo de ver," which may be freely rendered, " Don't excite yourselves, gentlemen, you wUl open your eyes presently," we should now have put down as a humbugging myth this well-worn excuse. There being no longer any need of stopping the march, on the following morning we once more started all together, crossing the Bitumirim itself, immediately after leaving the clearmg, by a newly-built timber bridge, and at once entering upon some of the grandest forest scenery that we had yet encountered. Pine- trees were still the great monarchs of aU, and were THE BRAZCLIAN PINE (Ar.iocabia braziliensis). Camp of l.st Staff on Border,^ of Pine Forest, [Vol. I., p. 181, Tloo Forests. 19^ here of larger dimensions even than those on the Serra do ilar, and must have been about 160 feet in height in many cases, with a girth in proportion. Beneath this forest of pines grew another forest, entirely distinct from the former in character. This second or loAver forest was comxDosed of trees of more trox3ical growth, together Avith many kinds of shrubs of the myrtle tribe, taU slender X3alnis, gigantic ferns, tAventy and thkty feet high, and brakes of bamboo or taquara. Eunning riot in all directions amongst the tall trunks and long branches were lianas, great and small. Some, lUie huge snakes, were hanging doAvn from aloft, life-Uke as the anaconda. Others, of a different kind, taldng the form of gigantic cables, and stretching themselves, taut as an anchor line, from one tree to another. Others agam, of less imposmg dimensions, were idly swaying about in mid- ak, either singly, or coUed in thick rox3es about each other. The greater part of the forest seemed given UX3 to them, to sport and pursue their vagaries whither fancy led. Not a tree but what was embraced by at least a score of them, of various sorts and sizes. Such a wealth of fantastic combination I had never before beheld. For nearly two leagues we luxuriated in this our beau ideal of a BraziUan subtropical forest. I was riding behind, bringing up the rear of the party, when I heard the report of a gun some distance in advance, foUowed by another and another. I put spurs to my horse to trj' and get to the front, but I found that some of the leading mules had been 1 94 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. frightened by the fusilade that Avas stUl going on in front, and had turned taU and thrown the rest of the troop into confusion. The nervous animals were all huddled together in a compact mass across the track, effectually barring x^rogress from the rear. I dismounted, and, giving my horse in charge of one of the men, managed to get past the block on foot, and reached the scene of firing. There I found Cm'hng, Eobertson the storekeeper, and another man who was cari'}ing CurUng's sxsare gun, all m a state of tre mendous excitement. They had faUen in with a large troop of monkeys, which chanced to be crossing above the road at the moment of thek x'assing. Two had already been kUled, and I arrived just in time to see the pea-rifle bring down another from the very top of an immense pvne. Two feU at the shot ; one was killed, and the other dropx)ed some fifty feet, on to a tree below, but recovering himself immediately, cantered off from branch to branch on the traU of his companions. One of the monkeys slain was an old and hoary patriarch, having a long grey beard, Avhich gave him an intensely human apx3eai'ance ; the other two were young ones, destitute of such ornament. After this little episode, which afforded some excite ment, I continued marching on foot in advance of the troop, and Avas soon glad enough that I had done so, as, in the first place, the track now began to go into "¦ corduroy," the soil being a stiff' clay, Avhich, under these deep shades, can never dry, and, in the mm ill ill i' ' \ h ' h Mm ch. X. A Brazilian Bridge. 195 second place, by being in front, I was able to get shots at many birds and monkeys, which I might othei'Avise not have obtained. We crossed the Bitu mkim once more by the most rickety bridge that could be imagined. It was built on some very weak- looking x^Ues which were suspiciously inclining doAvn stream. The footAvay, which was barely six feet wide, Avas composed of sleepers loosely laid doAvn, and not secured at aU, except by Ught baulks of timber laid across their ends, and loosely tied at intervals with lianas or cipos. Parapet or raihng there was none, and large gaps yawned in the footway where sleepers had fallen through into the river beneath. The height of this bridge above the present level of the water was about sixteen feet. How the heavily-laden mules got over, Avithout accident, I could not conceive. The tropeiros dis mounted and led their OAvn beasts across, Avisely avoiding the risk of a tumble through. I once saw & mule-troop take fright when crossing one of these rickety bridges. The result Avas alarming, and many animals were thrown over into the river beneath by their frantic companions rushing against them. Soon after passing this bridge the ground began to rise, and the forest once more to return to its old temperate character ; the soil, too, again changed from clay to gravel and loam, intermixed Avith boulders of trap-rock, such as had characterised it when first the change from prakie to forest had commenced. We now passed a collection of small chalets, situated 1 96 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. in a park-like piece of ground, that seemed to extend for many miles in different directions. Cattle were browsing about this open xUace, and not a few horses and mules were taking life easy under the shade of the scattered clumps of X3mes. We stopped at one of these chalets to get some milk. A robust English-looking matron served us, two spirited-looking boys, of about ten and twelve years respectively, flanking her, one on each side, forming a body-guard. Our troop did not stop, so we dechned the offer to enter and sit down to descansar um pouco. As usual, the x^i'offered X5a}'ment was refused. It was becoming eAudent, that the farther we receded from civilization, the greater was the hospi tahty that Ave were to meet with. We camx3ed about a league farther on, under the lee of a very large chacara or farm-house, whose owner would not allow us to eat in our own tents, but insisted upon entertaining us under his own roof. It was with some difficulty that we persuaded him to allow us to sleep in our tents, and it was not until he had seen with his OAvn eyes how comfortable we made ourselves in them, that he at last gave way. We did not breakfast in the house, but mUk and eggs were freely supplied us for nothing, and fat capons at the rate of half a milreis each. In return for this hospitality, Ave presented the fazendeiro with three bottles of beer, for Avhich he loaded us with thanks, given Avith all sincerity, beer bemg everyAvhere in these out-of-the-way parts regarded as the gi'eatest possible CH. X. Formation of Prairies. 197 luxury, and a present of a few bottles of it as a proof of the highest esteem. Our entertainer gave us some interesting informa tion with reference to the formation of these park-like XJrairies such as his estate chiefly consisted of, from which it apx3eared that they Avere continually under going augmentation. As most people know, it is a disputed point, as to how the South American prairies were originally formed. Some say that they in many cases Avere onco covered Avith a timber growth. Others, that they have remained in their present state, bare and bleak, since the day when they first rose up above the waters of the " Denudation." Without attempting here to give an opinion on the great general question, I may nevertheless record the interesting fact, already perhaps tolerably well known, that the operation of turning forest-land (of a certain kind) mto x^rairie-land, is continually going on by the simple agency of fire ; and moreover, — and this is a X3oint perhaps less knoAA'u, — such land, when once changed into x'rairie, has no tendency to return to its former condition. This is a strong x3oint in favour of the opinion of those avIio hold that the prairies were once covered Avith forest. I have said, though, thatthe forest must be of a certain kind. One of the charac teristics ofthe forest proper is, that when any portion of it is cleared, either by axe or by fire, or by both, it wUl always tend to return to forest, and will, in fact, so return, if neglected for a sufficient number of years, Such is the forest-land of the Ivahy vaUey, Avhere towns 198 Pionee7'ing in South Brazil. ch. x. and villages founded by the Sxianiards and Jesuits in the sixteenth centm'y, and abandoned after fifty years or more of habitation, have their sites once more overgrown by forest. The "neutral" zone, however, , of mixed forest and prairie is not generally of tins character. For the most x^art its forests consisted of pine trees, with an undergrowth of bamboo or taquara. Now it may be laid down as a fairly accm'ate rule, that, wliere- ever a x^articular species of taquara, such as that most generally found in the higher lands of tliis province, occurs in any abundance m conjunction Avith a pine-forest, the ground on which it thus flourishes, may, in the course of a few years, be converted into eampo or x^raiiie-land, simx^ly by the agency of fire, applied tAvice or at most three times in that period ; and, moreover, that the ground thus once cleared wUl have no tendency to relapse again into forest. The following day's march was contmued through a country, over which forest chiefly predominated, and which became more and more broken and mountamous every league we advanced. The track we were foUowing Avas much encumbered with fallen trees, so that the x^rogress of the heavily laden troox> was but sIoav. Curling and I, vrith one of our BrazUian camaradas, named Pedro, Avent on in advance of the baggage-train, in order the better to enjoy the many new and interestuig objects of both animate and inanimate nature, which noAv cropped up at every turn of the forest path. Oitento Oito Butterfly. 199 We were mounting upwards from the valley of the Tibagy towards the watershed diAdding this river from the Ivahy. Every quarter-of-an-hour Ave crossed some Uttle valley, each with its tiny stream of running water hurrying on to SAvell the volume of the " Eiver of Many Waters."* Each of these Uttle streams Avas the resort of swarms of butterflies ; of which countless numbers of every variety of size and colour literally UPPER SIDE. CNDER SIDE. THE OITENTA OITO BUTTEEFLl' (MALE), covered the groimd, and at our ax3X3roach darkened the ak with their fhght. Many varieties Avere swaUow- taUed, others again Avere tufted-tailed, like bkds-of- paradise. There was also one pretty little butterfly, Avliich we afterwards christened the oitenta oito, the " eighty-eight," on account of its having that num ber very distinctly marked m figures on the under side of both the lower Avings. The upper sides of the wings were altogether different from the lower, being of that peculiar, burnished blue and purple, * Tuin - "Tibagj-." 200 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. which changes its tints, like the plumage of many of the humming- bkds, with every movement of the hght upon them ; whereas the under sides were marked with the three x^lain colours of red, brown, and satin Avliite. I describe this pai'ticular butterfly, not because of its rarity, but, on the contrary, because of its being the most universaUy distributed of all the butterflies be- longmg to the province of the Parana. I found it in three out of four of the chief vaUeys of the province, namely, those of the Ivahy, Tibagy and Eibeka. No doubt it is also to be met with in the wooded portion of the Iguassii valley. A great many species seem to be strictly locaUsed; the boundaries of thek several tribes bemg marked out sometimes by the character of the gi'OAvth of the forest ; such for instance was the case with a very lai'ge bright blue butterfly, which we also noticed on this day, flitting along the path before us amongst the bamboos, amongst which only it is to be found. At other times, however, their hmits, though often strictly enough defined, are yet to all outward appearance arbitrary, depending on nothing that is visible to the ordinary observer. After a long march — considermg the nature of the country — of fifteen mUes, Pedro announced that Ave had arrived at the spot where the troop was to halt. A small rancho occux3ied one corner of the gxound, Avhich Avas a park -like clearing, similar to many we had already passed. A niunber of semi-wild cattle were feeding about it, or standing at gaze, paAving the ground CH. X. The Pea-rifle again. 201 in indignant wonderment at our intrusion ux3on their domain. They were not long left in doubt as to our character, for we had decided, the inoment Ave first saw them, that one of their number should be slain, and we wasted no time in putting this design into execution. Curling, Avith the pea-rifle, took ux3 his station in a convenient spot, whUe Pedro and I rode round to drive the animals past where he stood. With yeUs and shouts we rode at them, and soon put the whole herd m motion ; bulls and coavs, heifers and calves, aU thundering along together, shaking the earth Avith thek enormous combined weight. Suddenly a tiny puff of smoke Avas seen to proceed from Avhere CurUng" had taken ux3 his station, and at the same moment a young heifer bounded out from the line of madly rushing animals, almost at right angles, and, after running a fewx)aces, staggered and fell down dead. We drew rein at once and allowed the remainder of the herd to gallop on unxjursued, for our dinner was now x^rovided ; the pea-rifle had again done its work with effect. It must not be supposed, from this description, that every traveller in these regions is at hberty to obtain his dinner in a like unceremonious mamier. These cattle that one meets AAith on the march are all private Xoroperty, notwithstanding their semi-Avild state of living. In this case the OAvner was a friend of om man Pedro, who assured us that he Avould not be offended at our thus making free Avith his stock, and Avould be 202 Pioneering in South Brazil. satisfied with a 20^000 note transmitted to him at the first opportunity. When the troop came ux3, an hoiu' or so later, the heifer was akeady skinned and cut up, ready for the cooks. In Brazil, as weU as m other countries, the Avay to \eep your men in a good temx3er is to look after their stomachs. Our Europeans, at the best of times, had proved themselves a sad lot of grumblers since the march up-country had been commenced; hberal feeding Avas, therefore, the more essential in order to x^reserve even tolerable content among thek ranks. On resuming the march on the following morning I took my turn in remahiing Avith the trooxJ. The men who had by turns, for the last few days, ridden my horse, had managed to give it a sore back, conse quently I was obliged on this day to x^ut np with a spare mule, which had not yet been used on the march. This mule had a stern objection to leading the way, but went faultlessly when permitted to foUow behind the pack-mules. For a few miles v^e jogged along comfortably enough, occasionaUy ploughing through a bit of " cordm'oy," and on the other hand noAV and then getting into open ground and conse quently on to a more decent road. Shortly after leaving the last camj), which had been situated on the banks of a small river called the Capivari, a tributary of the Tibagy, the ground had begmi to rise, and by the aneroid Avliich I carried, I found that Ave Avere neai'ly 500 feet above that river, when the road entered A Forest Road. a bit of the densest forest that had yet been en countered. The track through this was very narrow, and, as usual in aU these forest bits, Avas much encumbered with fallen trees and drooping bamboo-stems. Dense .gloom, almost the gloom of night, shrouded the road, which wound beneath a canox3y'of thick, matted foliage, that was impervious to the direct light of day. The soU once more had returned to a stiff red clay, and once more the poor Avretched mules had to flounder, laboriously and toilsomely, through a slough of des pond, in comparison Avith which even the memorable example on the Curitiba road sank into utter in significance, and might have been termed a very fair highway. For the first part of the time my Avhole attention was taken up with my own mule, and Aritli guardhig myself, either from being dragged out of the saddle by an overhanging bamboo, or from being spiked by some one or other of the various stumps Avhich the knives of the mule-drivers who had preceded us, had left sticking out in all directions. My animal steadily laboured along, utterly ignoring the bit and refusing to stop for a second, even Avhen its rider Avas in immi nent perU of being dragged doAvn to the mire by a bamboo, as was again and again the case. Never once did he attempt to tread on the sUx3pery ridges, which rose almost up to the belly girths, but wisely kept to the holes, though each step into them threw up a shower of pea-soup mud, smothering both mule 204 Pioneering in South Brazil. and rider. After a time, however, even his mulish patience began to get exhausted at the tremendous and unceasing labour, and, now and then, notwith standing vigorous opposition on my part, he would dash up on to the slippery bank, utterly regardless of the fact that one leg and one side of my body were being crushed and torn by the jungle the whUe, and to it he would cling with aU his pointed hoofs, hke a cat, to the last gasp, that is to say, untU a last despairing tug at the bridle on my part, to save myself from being utterly crushed against some trunk, or decapi tated by some overhanging branch, brought him down Avitli a jarring bumx3 once again into the quagmke beneath. After enduring this x^ainful ride for perhaps an hour, and being, by that time, blinded with mud, and having both face and hands torn and bleeding, I dismounted, and AvaUied on foot, leaving the animal to flounder his way along alone. I was now able to observe the effect of this fearful road upon the baggage -mules, many of which were carrying loads of nearly 250 x^ounds each. It was cruel work to see them struggling along under this great load, and frequently Imocking themseh'es off their legs by running the big, square packing-cases against some tree or branch. I saAv one poor animal stop exhausted in the middle of the troop, its heaving flanks pouring doAvn sweat in streams. Its legs werC' tottering and Avere embedded knee-deep in the mud,, through Avhich it had so long been labom-ing. Its long, limp ears Avitli all the stiffness gone out of them. " A Mula cancou." 205 its big, distressed eye, nearly starting out of its head, and the wide, distended nostril — all told the tale of how feai-fiU the struggle had been. In these cases no further Avork can be got out of the poor animal for the day. The only thing to be done is to unload it then and there, and transfer its burden to a spare mule, or, if there is not a spare mule, to one of the riding mules. The tropeiros saw the state of the case at once, and, ¦with the simple observation of " a mula cangou," x3ro- ceeded to unload it. The one word " cangou" speaks volumes. Though literally meaning nothing more than "has become tired," it has come to signify, on these occasions, utter exhaustion. A mule is never sup posed to be " tired " till it has arrived at this stage of comxslete exhaustion, in which it cannot be got to move another step either by whip or spur. Before we got out of this terrible road another of the mules gave out, and this time one of the tropeiros had to resign his own quadruxied to the pack. We came to the end at last, emerging out upon a large oxsen tract of country, known as the " CamxDinas Bellas." The name of the mountain or ridge Avhose atrocities I have just described was " Serra do Macaco," or " Monkey Mountain." Where the mule-track crosses it, it rises to about 4,000 feet above the sea-level, or about 1,600 feet above the river Tibagy at the point at which we had crossed. The " Monkey Mountain " is, in fact, a portion of the dividing ridge separating the 2o6 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. x. two rivers, the Ivahy, and the Tibagy. It is entirely un necessary that the mule-track should cross this ridge at so great an elevation. By making a short detour, several hundred feet in height might be saved, and the poor mules relieved from a vast amount of cruel labour and suffering. At 4 P.M. Ave camped just outside the stock-yard of Sr. Andrade, the owner of a great portion of the Campinas BeUas, and also, if I am not mistaken, of at least a part ofthe "Monkey Mountain." The house appeared, outside, to be httle better than a timber hut, such as Ave had before seen used for storing Indian corn. In the next chapter we shaU, however, make the acquaintance of its interior, and also of its inmates, who wiU serve as a t}'pe in many points of the fazendeiro class of this province. Both AriU be found to afford not immteresting subjects for study, especially to those whose tastes Ue in the direction of backwoods simphcity. CHAPTER XI. A "fazendeiro's" house. — Education of the women. — Slaughtering an ox. — Cruel spectacle. —"Danger " and the pig.— A cattle-breeding estate. — A Brazilian breakfast. — Hospitality. Hospitality to aU comers is the great creed of men who, like the Brazilian settler in these outskh'ts of civUization, are themselves dependent upon the same vktue in others, whenever they have to x^erform a journey from one locality to another. Sr. Andrade had no sooner made out that we were a party of strangers, than he came down to insist that the chiefs of the party would establish themselves in his house for the night. As before, however, we declmed to inconvenience the household to so grave an extent, but allowed him to carry us off to supx^ty us with some refreshments after the long toUsome march. Pedro, who was evidently an old acquaintance of the fazendeiro, came in with us as interpreter, not that he understood English, but that he was now so accus tomed to our broken Portuguese that he could readily apprehend our meaning in anything, and transmit it to others for whom it might be intended. We foUowed Sr. Andrade into the house, and found 2o8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. xi. ourselves in a little timber- buUt room, of about 14 feet by 12 feet, Avitli doors in each of the waUs, opening into other apartments, Avhose mysteries AviU presently be explained. Benches were ranged all round the walls, with the exception of the spaces left for the door ways. The floor was the bare earth, beaten hard, and on it stood, in the middle of the room, one sohtary table. There were no windows, and Avhen the door was shut, the light could only come in through the chinks in the Avails and roof, which, however, seemed large enough to render further x^rovision for light and air unnecessary. Bound these waUs, which were all built of timbers similar in shape to an ordinary raU way sleex3er, the convex side being outwards, were hung all the parax3hernalia which x'ertained to the everj'-day occiiX3ations of the inmates. Lasso, whix3S, sx3urs, saddles and bridles, weak-looking guns and tawdry x^istols, took ux) most of the available space, and indicated accurately enough what was the life led by our host and the male x)ortion of Ms famUy. The door, opposite the entrance by which we had come in, was open, disclosing a lean-to shed, in which an atrociously ugly negress was engaged in crushmg coffee with a wooden x^estle and mortar. The door on the right opened into a second lean-to shed, in which, through the interstices of the wall, ax3peared a fire on the ground, with A'arious x^ots and x^ans around it, over which a young and good-looking girl was pre siding. This information Ave obtained inadvertently, and evidentty not altogether with the consent of Sr. A Fazendeiro's House. 209 Andrade, by our hapx3eniiig to advance farther into the room than Avas intended, and thus obtaining a full vieAV of this domestic apartment and of its occupant through the ox3en door. The thkd door was of better make than the ones akeady referred to, and Avas furnished Avitli a lock and key. Om' host's first act, after offering us seats, one on either side of the entrance, was to xiresent a cigarette, made of tobacco rolled up in an Indian corn leaf, to each, to light Avhich a young, half-naked slave-boy ax3peared on the scene, and handed round a brand out of the fire. The Senhora, a cheerful, motherly- looldng old lady, now came into the room, and added her Avelcomes to those already given by her husband. Pedro, who seemed to be more or less a xniAileged Xierson in the house, had a short conversation Avith her, and she went out and xiresently returned, accom- Xoanied by the negress, bearing a large Avooden boAvl full of delicious-looking new milk, a beverage Avhich Pedro had no doubt told her Avould be an acceptable offering to us. After the milk, coffee iu tiny cups was brought in, and handed round to us by the Senhora herself. When we had in this manner taken off the edge of our fatigues, conversation began, Pedro acting as intei'xireter. The first piece of neAvs we heard Avas that Captaui Palm had already preceded us some days, and Avas noAV therefore at Colonia Thereza. From him our hosts had learnt enough of the objects of the exx^e- dition to make them anxious to hear more. A'OL. I. 1> 2 1 o Pioneei'lnsr in South Brazil. ch. xi. They spoke in enthusiastic terms of Captam Palm, of lioAV he had slept in thek house, and eaten and drunk with them like one of themselves. In fact, it was evident that our x^opular chief had quite Avon the hearts of these good people in the few boms that he had spent with them, and that our oavu hearty recep tion Avas due in a great measure to him. Andrade himself was an old man of about sixty years, and allowed his Avife to do most of the talking for hun when she Avas in the room. One of her first questions Avas to knoAV Avhether we Avere married ; and on hearing that we were still, grac^as a Deos, in the fuU enjoyment of our freedom, she x^roceeded to enlarge upon the delights of a married life, informing us at the same time that she had five unmarried daughters. After this pretty broad hint of AA'hat was expected of us, we of course expressed a Avisli to then and there make the acquaintance of these fair members of the famUy. Her face became suddenly gi'ave Avlien this request Avas translated to her by Pedro, and for a moment her floAV of words was stox^ped, and I feared that a " faux pas " had been inadA'ertently made. She looked hesitatingly at her husband, who had remakied silently xiuffing at his cigarette during this conversa tion, and he said something Avhicli Ave did not under stand, but which had the effect of at once disx)elling her momentary gravit}'. The old man got up, and, going to the locked door and turning the key, ox3ened it and disappeared mto a dark chamber Avithin. Almost immediately, hoAvever, he returned, saying. Education of the Women. 211 "Ellas nao qucrcm ,-" and then, turning to us, added by Avay of apology, " The men'tnas are not accustomed to see strangers, and are afraid." MeaiiAvhUe the Senhora, Avho Avas now eAadently determined that her daughters should shoAV themselves, had in her turn disax3peared into the secret chamber, from Avhich various sounds of Avhisx3ering and suppressed giggling were noAv xJi'oceeding. Presently the Senhora re appeared, leading out one very modest-looking damsel of about eighteen or nineteen years of age, and closely foUowed by three others, apparently somcAAdiat younger. All apx3eared to be ovei-Avhelmed with intense shyness, and an almost hysterical desire to laugh. After a formal and separate introduction of each one — be it noted that the lady was here introduced to the gentleman — they all retked back again into the secret chamber, and their papa once more turned the key upon them. At this time we were ignorant of the custom, which I afterwards found to be so general in these out-of-the-way parts, of keex3ing the Avomen, or rather the daughters, of the family locked up like Avild beasts ; consequently we did not hesitate to exxsress our Avonder, and to ask why it was done in this case. Sr. Andrade, in reply, said it Avas the custom of the country, and that he had never thought of bringing his daughters ux) in any other way. I asked, "Did they never go out ?" "No, never," he replied : they had all learnt riding Avhen they were creancas, and since then they had, according to custom, been shut up in the house, Avhere they Avould remain until husbands had been obtained for them. None p 2 212 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. xi. cared to press a conversation on a custom Avliich Avas so plainly a matter of creed on the part of om' hosts, and the subject Avas alloAved to drop. Later on I had many opxsortunities of coinx3aring this jealous system of bringing up the "mothers of the nation " Avith the more liberal policy now beginning to be adox3ted by the more enhghtened /a^eKcieM'Os. Soon after this little ex3isode one of the sons came in fi'om huntmg. He said he had been trymg to find a jaguar, which he knew was in the neighbomliood, from haA'ing constantly come across its tracks on his rides about the xUace : besides which, one of lus dogs had most mysteriously disappeared, only the day before. The Senhora mtroduced the new-comer, Avith CA'ident pride, as her son Jaca ; and he afterwards be came one of my most faithful camaradas, sei'A'ing me in the various cax3acities of backwoodsman, canoemaii, and tropeiro, with equal good-wUl and fideUty. Three big tiger-dogs accompamed him, and x'ro- ceeded to take up their quarters on the floor of the room in Avhich Ave Avere sitting. "Danger," avIio uxa to the present time had been quietly tying doAvn beneath his master's seat, gave signs of x)rex3aring for action, and so, to prevent a row, one of the men Avas called in to take him aAvay to the tents. Sr. Andrade misunder stood the movement and said, " Let the little dog remain, the others AviU not hurt him." When Pedro explained to him that our fear was for his dogs aud not for ours, he was sufficiently amazed, evidently not being familiar with the fighting qualities of an English "bull." Cit. XI. Slaughtering an Ox. 213 Jaca informed us that he was about to kill a bullock, and iuA'ited us to come and see the operation. The animal was already secured by the horns with a strong lasso to a big post, which stood up in the middle of the stock-yard, and, to judge from his tre mendous struggles and belloAvings, Avas more than half wild. Jaca apx)eared with shirt-sleeves tucked up and with a long x^ointed knife in his hand, and gradually ax)pi'oached the animal, Avhicli seemed to diA'ine his intent and struggled with increased fury to get free, and to charge the enemy. With both hand and foot ready to act together at a moment's notice, Jaca drew still nearer; the distended nostrU and loAvering eye of the savage beast, Avhich had now for a moment ceased struggling, plainly warning him to keep on his guard. Just as he had reached almost Avitlun striking distance, the animal charged furiously, and the stout lasso, of raAv, plaited hide, creaked ominously. It, however, successfuUy Avithstood the strain, and, after a few seconds of futile rage, the beast once more subsided into watchful quietude. Seizing his oxsportunity, Jaca dashed forward for a second and back again quick as thought, but in that second his long knife had penetrated up to the haft into the animal's chest. With a mad beUoAv of rage, terror, and pain, the poor victim recommenced his tremendous struggles, with the blood pouring in a stream from his front. These however but hastened his end; graduaUy they grew more feeble and presently ceased altogether, and he stood there for some five 214 Pioneering' in South Brazil. (;u. xi. minutes, with body SAvaying to and fro and Avith the life-blood ebbing aAvay, a ghastly and sickening sight. Jaca had meantime calmly lit a cigarette, and noAV quietly stood Avaiting for the end. At last, with a dull thud, the victim fell, and still for another long five minutes his flanks could be seen sx^asmodicallyheavmg as he slowly sobbed out the x^oor remains of life. This Avas the first occasion on Avhich I had seen an ox slaughtered in this coimti'}'. It seems a ver}' cruel mode of killing ; but it is no doubt necessary, in order to get rid of the blood from the meat, Avliich in hot chmates is ahvays more or less imx3erative for health's sake. Some of us promising to breakfast with the Andrades ihe foUoAving morning, we retired to our tents for the night, wondermg much that a man, avIio x^rided him self upon being the owner of an estate of more than thirty square miles in extent, and Avho also x^ossessed some hundreds of head of cattle, mules, aud horses, could be content to pass his life in so Avretched a habitation as Avas his, liAing in a style not better than the poorest "caboclo." Our slumbers Avere disturbed at a ven- early hour by the crowmg of cocks, the loAAing of cattle, and the grunting of pigs, and for the moment I had to puzzle ray brain to make out Avliere I Avas, so unusual Avere the noises around. Suddenly a tremendous ux^roar arose almost within the tent. " Danger " had spotted a pig's snout inquisitively pokmg itself under the Avails of the tent, Avhich he had at once seized — the pig only CH, XI. Campinas Bellas. 215 escaping by leaAing a portion of his nose behind him. On going out of our tent, Ave found Andrade already standing outside his door, Avaiting for our apx)earance to summon us in to x^artake of coffee, and smoke a cigarette, in Avhicli maimer a Brazihan fazendeiro invariably begins his day, breakfast being usually deferred tUl ten or eleven o'clock. It had been agreed that Ciirlmg and S., Avitli Pedro as a guide, should start off early for Coloma Thereza, so as to accomplish the distance (five leagues) in one day, whUe I remained behind Avith the trooxs, which, heavily laden as it was, Avould not be able to do the journey under two days. At seven o'clock they accordingly started, Andrade embracing them, and even the imprisoned damsels being permitted — as the greatest mark of honour — to come out for a moment and sxjeed them on their way, by a shyly given Que Deos t'accompagna.* To pass the time for the next three hours, I accepted the invitation of Sr. Andrade to take a ride with him round part of his estate. Camx3inas BeUas well deserves its name. Situated high up ux)on the watershed betAveen the two rivers Tibagy and Ivahy, and having a soil fertilised by the volcanic x^roducts of a former age, it is at once the most dehghtful, and one of the richest of all the cattle breeding estates hi the country round. * Lit. God go wilJi thee, a very common form of parting salutation in Brazil. 2 1 6 Pioneeriup' in South Brazil. ch. xi. A countless number of rich pasture grounds, varying in size from an acre to half a square mile, are natmaUy divided off from each other by belts of magnificent pines and bamboo imdergrowths. Eunning streams intersect the pastures and pine groves in numerous directions ; no less than four main tributaries of the two rivers, Ivahy and Tibagy, having their sources grouped together on this one estate. Year by year the area of x^asture land Avas being augmented, as the annual fires encroached more and more upon the sur rounding x>ine forest; and thus, year by year, the money value of the Camxsinas increases. The sleekness of the cattle and mules, Avliich we came across during our ride, struck my attention. Andrade told me that they Avere fed upon nothing but X^asture and a monthly dole of salt. The various naturally formed x^addocks were biunt off in rotation, so that a constant supphy of young fresh grass was always obtained. On account of the x^osition of the Campinas, almost upon the summit of a great Avater- slied, having lofty mountain x^eaks close around it, it receives more rain in the dry season than the great majority of other cattle-breeding estates in the x^roA'ince; hence the stock kex3t themselves in good condition all the year round. Six several times, in the course of the next three years, I xiaid a visit to this estate, till, in fact, I knew a great portion of it by heart. Each time it grieved and vexed my spiiit more than the last, to see how absolutely Avasted Avere the greater part of its advan- CH. XI. A Cattle-breeding Estate. 217 tages. This vast estate only x^roduced a net income of rather less than two contos (say i;200) a year, Avlien, by smaU judicious outlays, the veriest tyro in fiirming knowledge and business capacity could have increased this income fivefold. For example, horses and mules are allowed to eat thek heads off" on the estate for eleven months of the year waituig for some chance xmrchaser, when, all that time, they might have been x>i'ofitably employed in carrying produce to market, Avhich x^roduce is never grown, because of the insignificant outlay which Avould be required in the x^lanting and gathering it in. Cattle are driven to market year by year over the same atrocious roads, such as that over the " Serra do Macaco," Avhile the fazendeiro and his family sit down in idleness half the year, Avaiting for their beasts to fatten, Avliich fat is again Avasted on the road, and aU for want of a fcAv weeks' Aigorous Avork Avith the axe. Even in their OAvn esx3ecial trade of stock-breed ing, the ax3athy shoAvn is remarkable. Breeding, both in the cases of horses and cattle, goes on x^romis- cuously on the estate. No care is taken to improve the strain of either, by judicious selection of skes and breeders. No fresh blood is ever introduced into the troox) or herd, consequently deterioration must and does take place, more especiaUy in the horses, the troops of which are usually very small, and therefore more liable to suffer from the effects of constant inter breeding. As in the case of the education of thek women. 2 1 8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. xi. so in the management of their extensive fazenda, the Andrades — and Avitli them many other fazendeiros settled in the more remote districts of Parana — are a fuU generation behind the iiUiabitants of the more civilised parts of their own x^rovince. Without Avishing to disparage the hosxiitahty of om' well-intentioned hosts, I yet cannot refram from recording my opinion that they have stiU also some thing to learn in the Avay of x^i'oviding a repast suitable to the x^alate and digestive arrangements of an ordinary, civilised being, not endowed with the stomach of an ostrich. On returning from our ride at about ten o'clock, I Avent in to breakfast with the Andrades, according to x^i'o^ise. The first dish offered consisted of cubes of hard meat, out of which all flavour and goodness had been extracted by a X)rocess of cooking unknown to me, and Avithal so tough that no teeth could meet through them, the Avhole floating about in some thin greasy-looking fluid whicli our hosts called caldo, but Avhich seemed to be nothing more than greasy hot water. A second dish consisted of black beans, hkewise SAvimming in gxeasy caldo. Cabbage, cut up into fine shreds, formed a third dish; Vfhile farinha was handed round to be x^t into each individual's x^late, to absorb the greasy liquor, and thus facilitate the conveyance of it to the mouth. NotAvithstanding a sharx) ax)petite, engendered by a three-hours' ride in the fresh mountain air, my stomach revolted from the nauseous mess in my plate. ch. xr. A Brazilian Breakfast. 2 1 9 and vaui Avere my attemx3ts to get any of it down. After this came a dish of curded milk, Avhich, Avhen eaten A\ith sugar and farinJia, is really not objection able. Water and cachaca Avere then handed round to drmk, and thus the meal came to an end. Before rising from the table, hoAvever, Andrade a.nd Jaca each filled his mouth with Avater, which, after going through various suggestive contortions of cheeks and Uxis for about half a minute, they X3resently squirted out, broad cast, over the hard-beaten mud floor. Immediatety after this, coffee and cigarettes Avere handed round by the Senhora herself, she haA'ing all through the meal remamed standing, in attendance upon us and upon her husband and son. The meal above described may be taken to a great extent as tyxoical of the entertainment offered to the traveller at the houses of all the ruder fazcnde'iros of the remoter districts of the x^rovince. What they are accustomed to eat themselves, that they give }-ou, — nothing more and nothing less. They might live like X3rinces Avith such a Avealth of nature aroimd them, but, hi the gxeat majority of instances, they certainly seem to x^refer to live like — X'igs. Their hospitahty, however, must be taken to cover a multitude of sins. When once a traveller can get accustomed to the food of the country, there is no trait that he more ax)X>re- ciates in the character of the x)eox3le than their open and ungrudging hcsxjitahty to all comers. CHAPTER XII. From the "Campinas" to Colonia Thereza. — Grand A'iew of the Ivahy Valley. — The descent. — Arrival. The general elevation of the Campmas BeUas is about 3,300 feet aboA'e sea-level, Avhereas Coloma Thereza is but a little over 1,600 feet. The mule- track, after leaving Andrade's house, still ascends for some distance, to gain the summit of a ridge or moun tain-spur, which runs out from the watershed, near the Campinas, doAvn to the valley of the Ivahy. From the x>oint where the mule-track strikes the ridge of this mountain- sx)ur, doAvn to Colonia Thereza, on the Ivahy, the difference of level is about 2,000 feet, and the distance about fifteen miles. For the entire distance, from the summit of the ridge to Colonia Thereza, dense forest covers the ground, becoming more and more troxsical in character as it descends. The figures denoting the difference of level of the highest and lowest points on this road but feebly represent the amount of Avork to be overcome in reaching from one to the other. After a five-hours' march, from eleven a.m. to An Old Road. 221 four p.m., our troop, tired out by the tremendous labour of locomotion over a corduroyed mountain- track, came to a halt for the day, having accomplished a distance of but nine iniles. We had left behmd us, for good and all, the " neutral zone" of mixed forest and x^raiiie, with its rich xjasture- lands and rude, though liosx3ita,ble, inhabitants, and had entered the domain of the Avild x^rimfeval forests, out of Avhich I, at least, Avas not to emerge agam for one long year and more. Shortly before camping we had passed the reinains of an old road, Avhose banks and cuttings Avere dis tinctly visible, and Avhich is said to be a monument of bygone, pre-lnstoric civilisation, that existed before the Eurox3ean discovery of South America, in 1500. Trees are said to have been felled uxjon this road whose ages exceeded 400 years, thus proving that the road had not only been in existence, but had even been deserted at least a quarter of a century before om' discovery of the continent. Many buried and forest-groAA'ii towns and settle ments are knoAvn to exist in the valleys of the Ivahy and Paranax3auana ; but these, tAvo of Avhicli I have myself seen, are of comparatively modern date, having been buUt by the Sx3aniards and Jesuits about the commencement of the 17tli century; they therefore can have no connection Avith the road in question. Shortly after entermg the forest Ave x'assed tAvo tiny huts, made simx3l}' of tAvo or three bent sticks, stuck into the ground, with a cross-x)iece, on to Avhich Avere 2 22 Pioneering in South Brazil. hung by the stalks long palm-leaves, now withered and dried. Near both these ranchinhos Avere heaps of sx3lit-up fragments of worm-eaten trunks of xialm-trees. When Ave arrived at the camping ground, I asked the tropeiros about these ranchos, and I then learnt that they were the work of the semi-wild Coroados Indians, Avho inhabited different x>ai'ts of the Ivahy valley — a small colony of them, in a comparatively civilised state, being actuaUy settled close to Colonia Thereza. AVhen on the march these Indians usuaUy carry nothing but their boAvs and arroAvs and an axe. The forest to them is a granary of food, and one of their favourite dishes is secured from rotten timber, in the sliax3e of a large Avhite maggot, with a body about one- and-a-half inches long, and thick in prox3ortion, which they eat alive. At last, then, we were in the domams of the Indians, long talked of among ourselves. On this night I confess to taking a more careful survey of my revolver than usual, before closing my eyes in sleep under the bell tent. The stillness of the night was, however, undisturbed by any sound but the tinkhng of the bell round the neck of the igua — the x'atient leader of om' much-enduring troop. The last day of our long march — for it Avas now nearly a month since Ave had left Curitiba — had come, and in a fcAV more hours Ave should arrive at our long- looked-for destination — the Ivahy river. ch. xii. The Ivahy Valley. 223 Om' start Avas made earlier than usual — at nine a.m. — the tropeiros seeming no less excited at the near X)i'ospect of reaching the journey's end than Ave Avere ourselves. NotAnthstanding that we had akeady accomplished nearly half the distance betAveen the Campinas and Colonia Thereza, we had, as yet, scarcely begun to descend, but were still travelling along at a height of 1600 feet or more above the level of the Ivahy. Up to the present time, also, OAAing to the dense nature of the forest through which Ave were x>assing, we had been able to see nothing Avhatever of the country aroimd. A gi'eat suiprise, hoAvever, Avas even now at hand. I was AvaUiing quietly along, Avith my gun over my shoulder, about a quarter of a mile in advance of the trooj), m the vain lioxie of seeing some moving life in these silent forests, Avhen one of the tropeiros overtook me, and, draAving me a httle aside from the main track, along a narroAV x^ath that Avas evidently kept ox3en for the x^m'pose, suddenly placed before my eyes a magnificent x^anorama of virgin forest, covering an extent of country of not less than 1500 square miles ; comxnising, in fact, the Avliole of the Ivahy valley from Colonia Thereza ux) to the great enclosing amphitheatre of wooded mountains AA'hich bound the sources of that river. It then apxjeared that our mule track Avas Avinding along the edge of a great precipice, which fell sheer for some 200 feet, and then sloped steeply clown for another 1000 feet or so to the forest-clad plain of the Ivahy valley. 224 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. xh. It was a marvellous sight, chiefly because it came so utterly unexpectedly. I stood for a time lost in amazed admiration ; the scene Avas so entirely different from any we had yet seen or had expected to see. Tins was the country in Avhich, for the next two years, probably, our labours were to lie. In all the vast extent of forest maxox^ed out beneath us, there Avas but one tiny village, A\'ith but some 400 in habitants, all told ; the remainder Avas still in a state of nature, as it had been for thousands of years, inhabited only by AA'ild beasts and wild Indians. The course of the Ivahy itself was not visible, except Avhere here and there lines of white mist seemed to mark the presence of Avater beneath. A fcAV feathery Avhite clouds were dotted about the great X3laiii, dreamily floating upon a motionless air. A certain quivering in the atmosphere aboA'e the xdain seemed to tell of a temperature there existing, very different from that to which we had so long been accustomed. The mule troop x>assed as Ave Avere stiU gazmg at the lovely pictme, and I Avas forced, unwiUingly, to tear myself aAvay from it. I have seen it many times smce from the same xioint, and always with fresh x^lea- sure. Soon afterwards, the track Ave Avere foUowing began to descend. The trees began to change in character — old, fannliar friends disaxjpearing, Avhile new and more luxurious kinds usurped their x>lace. The air began to groAv denser and hotter, and to lose that Colonia Thereza in Sight. 225 invigorating effect Avhich, on the upper plateau, had enabled us to sustain without fatigue long marches under a burning sun. Persxskation began to pom' from both raan and beast, and the poor laden x^ack-mules literally Avatered the ground, as the}' passed, with thek sweat. Not a breath of air could reach us through the dense sub tropical fohage Avliich shut us in above and all around. Every quarter of an hour or so the trooxo Avas made to halt for a minute or two to take rest, again to resume its weary ploughing through the vile, corduroyed road. Sometimes the track was so encumbered with fallen trees that new paths had to be cut, before the mules could get by. At lengih we came to a clearing made in the forest by the side of the mule-track, shoAving that Ave were again ax3X5roachmg the haunts of ciA'ilized man. From this x>oint onwards we x)assed many clearings, or roc.as, disclosing here and there x^eexis of the vaUe}^, still some hundreds of feet beloAv. "Alii a Colonial" all at once said the leading tropeiro, close in front of whose mule I Avas Avalking. Looking in the direction in which he pointed, I saw, about 200 feet below, three or four red-tiled huts, nestling amid a wealth of dark green foliage of orange - trees, bananas, and capoeira, or second-growth forest. This, mdeed, was Colonia Thereza, destined to be for the next tAvo years the head-quarters of our ex pedition. Presently we crossed a smaU river — the Ivahyzinho VOL. I. u 226 Pioneerino- in South Brazil. — Avhose acquaintance we had first made on the Cam- Xsinas above, whence it has its source. Two of the poor tked mules no sooner felt the cool Avater about their legs than they laid themselves down in it, packs and all, and refused to stk till the tropeiros came ux) and thrashed them on to their legs again. Travel-stained and sorely fatigued, we filed up the ox3X30site bank, and almost immediately found our selves in the heart of the Uttle colony, Avith the noble river, the Ivahy itself, flowing beneath our feet. Curling and S. saAV our arrival, and at once came out to meet us. An hour later, ourselves and baggage Avere safely stoAved away in the biggest house that the colony could boast of, and the weary mules were XJeace- fully browsing in the grassy clearing around, with the dark Serra they had so laboriously descended frowning harmlessly in the background. PAET II. CHAPTER I. Second "act'' commences. — Colonia Thereza, its present appearance and past historj'. — The Casa Grande. — The Indian village. — De scription of the inhabitants. — A fish-trap. — The " Director" and his abode. — An exploration and its results. — " L'homme propose et Dieu dispose." Oue destination Avas reached, and the long daily jouriieyings over the great x^rairies, and through the grand, silent forests, were already things of the i)ast, and a new act was noAV soon to commence. Meanwhile, however, we were able to enjoy a short breathing space after the many varied and rapidly succeeding changes, which, for the last few Aveeks, had crowded upon us to such a degree as almost to be wilder the yet unaccustomed raind, AvhUe at the same time deUghting, beyond all x>0Aver of description, the outAvard senses. We had, as it were, leaxjt from one scene to another with a series of gigantic bounds, passing from each to other before the mind had had time fully to take in and digest that just left behind. Cities and ships, seas and plains, forests and prairies, rivers and Q 2 2 28 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. l mountains, wintry frosts and tropical heat, were aU jumbled ux3 together there in a confused medley; and I confess that I, for my part, was glad to be once more at rest, if only for the x)ui'X)ose of clearing the cobwebs from my almost addled brain, and x)utting the chaos of impressions there coUected, into something hke proper order. Colonia Thereza seemed at first glance to be the very spot in Avhich to indulge undisturbed in one's own ruminations. StUl and silent as the grave itself it appeared to me on the first morning after our arrival, during the earlier hours. I had been turned out of my sleex3ing-x3lace before sunrise by the vicious attacks of certain pulgas or fleas, and had gone out to take a quiet survey of the colony. I soon espied a chapel, in rather a dilaxsidated con dition, perched on the top of a hill about 100 feet high, near the centre of the vUlage. To this x^oint I wended my way, x)assing one or two mud-buUt houses, whose inmates were, I supposed, stiU in the arms of sleep, no signs of life appearing from any of them. Beach ing the summit of this little hiU just as the sun rose, I faced round in the direction from which I had come, and there was the colony beneath me, bounded on the opposite side by the high red banks of the Ivahy, beyond Avhich, enveloped in a golden and x^urple mist, rose UX) the distant Serra d'Esx3eran9a, the great mountain and forest-covered range which diAudes the head Avaters of the Ivahy from the valley of the Iguassii. On the left flowed the httle river Ivahyzinho OH, I. Colonia Thereza. 229 debouching into the main river at a point just above the village. The various descriptions which had been given us, at different times, of the poverty and wretchedness of Colonia Thereza had apparently not been overdrawn. From where I stood, a fcAv mud and timber-built houses, not exceeding a dozen in number, could be seen, drox3X3ed seemingly at random here and there about the large, irregularly shaxsed clearing, Avhich occupied the angle included betAveen the two rivers, the Ivahy and the Ivahyzmho. An unpleasant-look ing swamp stood between the river and the viUage. A few lean and gaunt pigs were Avandering aimlessly about, two or three of which had foUoAved me iqs to my present station, regardless of stones and clods of earth hurled against their bony sides. Presently a flock of ducks came Avaddling out from behind one of the houses, and, taking up their stations round and about the doorstexs of the same house, began to quack vigorously. A quarter of an hour later and the inhabitants began to come forth, not, however, to go to their daily toU, but to loU and chat upon their doorsteps, noble imitators of the ducks. I was interested in watching the gradual emerging from slumber of this little village, notwithstanding the slow ness of the x>rocess. When I returned to our abode, after about an hour's sUent musing and observation under the wing of the tumble-doAvn chapel, the inhabitants had not yet got beyond thek doorsteps, where, in fact, they seemed fixed for the day. 2 30 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. The history of Colonia Thereza had been a melan choly one, and is tyx3ical of that of many other back Avood settlements in this part of Brazil. Founded in the year 1847 by a French enthusiast, a certain Dr. Jean Maurice FaiA're, under royal auspices, it was named Thereza in honom' of the Empress of BrazU. It was originally designed by the founder to be a colony peox3led exclusively by his fellow countrymen. After importing many French famUies, and expending large sums of both x^ublic and x^rivate money upon its establishment. Dr. Faivre died, it is said, of a broken heart, from the failure of his efforts to render his colony successful, and was buried on the scene of his ruined hox3es. Thus ended the brief career of this colony as a French settlement. The exodus of its original inhabitants, which had already begun during the founder's own lifetime, now culminated in the desertion of the AAdiole of the remainder, with the exception of tAvo or three individuals, avIio had married BrazUian Avomen, and had taken altogether to BrazUian Ufe. The deserted colony was taken x^ossession of by BrazUians, who from that time to tlie x^resent have just kept the place alive — aided by occasional efforts ofthe G-ovemment. Small, however, as the colony appeared to be, I was surprised to learn that it numbered nearly 400 in habitants, besides about 40 tame Indians, Avho lived in thek own village on the opposite bank of the river. The apparent insufficiency of accommodation in the CH. 1. The Casa Grande. 231 vUlage itself for so many souls Avas accounted for by the fact that mail}' families live aU the A'ear round on their " sitios '' or farms, at some distance, both ux3 and doAvn the river, from the colony itself. There they hve almost the lives of wild Indians, in Avretched palm-buUt houses, cultivating just enough beans and Indian corn to sux3ply their OAvn wants year by year. Om first day was sx3ent chiefly in getting our stores and baggage x5rox3ei'ly stoAved away, and in unpacking and examining our many valuable instruments, which were iioav to be brought into daily use. The cUrector of the colony, Sr. Joscelyn M. Borba, came to pay us a visit, and to invite us to dine Avith him that evening, an invitation which Ave gladly ac cepted, as affording a convenient ox3X3ortimity of gaining knowledge on many x)oints of importance to us. Besides the director we had a visitation of Indians, AA'ho, having heard of our arrival, came across the river in a body to look at us. They coolly walked straight into our house, and quietly sat themselves down upon the various boxes and packing-cases strcAvn about the rooms, Avithout salutation of any kind. At fu'st we were amused, as AA'e had never seen this species of man before, but Ave soon found them a nuisance, and therefore tiu'iied them out, promising to come and visit them in thek own viUage in the afternoon. Our abode, the "Casa Grande" or "big house," so called m a comparative sense, had been built by Dr. Faivre, and had been successively inhabited by him and each director ofthe colony after him. 232 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. Compared to the other houses of the colony it Avas a perfect mansion, boasting of an upper floor and glazed windows. NotAvithstanding the recent date of its con struction it was already falling into ruin, the woodwork in many places being rotten, and dayUght showing through numerous large gaps in the tUed roof. In one of the ux3per rooms were collected, or rather, streAA'n about in disorder, a great variety of objects, chiefly of a scientific nature, Avhich one least expected to meet Avith in this wild x^lace. They shoAved what had been the occupations and asx)kations of the former inhabitants. The most prominent object was a x^ictme of the founder himself, Avitli an outstretched max? before him, pointing AAutli his finger clown the Ivahy vaUey to the Parana, telling x^lainly enough the tale of what had once been his hox3es and his exxsectations. Other X3rints and engravings from French engineering in struction x^apers, harmonized Avell AA'ith a coUection of models of steam engines and j)arts of maclunery. There were besides, a large microscoxoe, a distilling apparatus, various retorts, glasses, bottles containing chemical ingi'edients of many kinds, a large magnetic compass, x^ieces of a leveUing instrument, and a smaU and apparently x^erfect theodolite, all covered over with the accumulated dust of many years. This room, Avith its long neglected contents, formed only too faithful a type of the condition of the colony itself, in Avhich houses Avere falling to decay before completion, and old buildings Avere deserted before their time. We reUgiously left the room untouched, and it remained An Indian Village. 233 in exactly the same state till twelve months later, when, on the arrival of the new chief of the expedition, the house was put into order from top to bottom. At about 3 P.M. S. and I crossed the riA'er in a little dug-out canoe, to pay the Indians a visit. On arriving at their village we were at once surrounded by the natives, men, women, and children, Avho croAvded ux) to look at and touch us, repeating the AA'ord Inglez several times. Though many of them Avere the same indiA'iduals who had come over in the morning to the casa grande, and had been rather unceremoniously told to clear out, Ave did not at first recognise them, as then they had been clothed in coloured x'rint dresses and red baize wrapx3ers, Avhereas noAv, in their OAvn vUlage, all garments were discarded, Avith the excex)tion of a short apron, worn by both men and women alike. The children Avere entirely naked. I noAv observed them carefuUy. The men Avere of middle height, and very thick-set; the Avomen Avere short and stumpy, and universally fat. Both sexes Avore the hair cut short all round the head, and the men m addition Avere tonsured. Their hair was straight and black, and, Avlien cut short in the manner described, hung round the head like a thatch. The tonsm'e was most remarkable. Could it have been the custom of the tribe from time immemorial thus to shave the head, or was it a remnant of the old Jesuit regime of 250 years ago ? The features at first sight appeared remarkably ugly. The eyes were set somewhat obliquely, as in the 2 34 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. Chinese type. The forehead Avas low and retreating, being also scored horizontally Avith very deex3 lines or furroAvs. The nose Avas broad and flat, and the mouth large and imsliax3ety. The expression of the face in the adults Avas vacant, and seemed to betoken very feeble intelligence. The colour of their skm was a sort of chocolate broAA'u ; thek hands and feet Avere re markably small and Avell shaped, more esx3ecially those ofthe Avomeii. The chUdren, unlike their parents, were bright and inteUigent looking", and Avere evidently cax3able of being made something of. They resxJonded with glee to any x^layful advances frora us, and we afforded great amusement to old and young by making the latter scramble for vintens, which Ave threAV amongst them. A metal whistle AA'hich I had with me, and soimded for their benefit, amused them greatly, and Avlien I ended by presentmg it to the Avoman Avhom I judged to be the wife of the chief, their haxipiness was at its height. Under the guidance of the chief himself, Ave Aisited all the huts ill turn, of Avliich there Avere four. These huts Avere rectangular in x^lan, and though of different lengths, were all of one uniform width and height, the width being about fifteen feet. Their mode of con struction was x)eculiar, and not easy to describe. The framcAvork consisted of young sapUngs, each being from sixteen to eighteen feet in length, Avhicli Avere stuck into the ground about Iavo feet ax3art, in tAVO parallel lines, distant from each other the AAudth of the hut, namely, about fifteen feet. These sax)lings, in CH. I. Indian Ranchos. 235 the finished ranchos, Avere bent over toAvards each other tUl their upper ends crossed. In this position they Avere secured by being lashed to a ridge pole, which Avas placed on the top, and ran the whole length of the rancho. Other cross x^oles Avere lashed at intervals horizontally across the bent saplings, and the whole Avas then covered with palm-leaves, Avliich Avere continued from the ridge down to the ground. The two ends of the rancho were stoxix^ed Avith a similar construction, consisting of a slight framcAvork of bamboo stems, covered as before with x)alm-leaves ; the difference being that, Avliile the sides Avere curved and formed the roof as well as the main structure of the rancho, the ends Avere merely straight Avails, not at all necessary for the supx^ort of the remainder of the erection. There Avas a narroAV opening for entrance and exit left at each end, Avhicli Avas loosely covered Avith pahn-leaves that had to be pushed aside in passing in or out. This is the common rancho of all the Indians of the Coroado tribe, Avhether Avild or tarae. We found ranchos of exactly similar construction inhabited by the Avild Coroados liAdng at the Corr^ de Ferro ; and AA'hen, two years later, I visited some other Indian settlements on the Tibagy river, I found that the ranchos were in no Avise different from these at Colonia Thereza. The Botocudos Indians, of Avhom I shaU have a good deal to say before long, build ranchos altogether different, as also do the Caioa Indians. But to return to the ranchos of the Coroados. 236 Pioneering in South Bj'azil. ch. i. Their interior arrangement was very simple. DoAvn both sides Avere laid out rows of dried palm leaves. These formed the couches of the Indians, who lie ten or twelA^e together in one rancho, with their heads towards the sides, and their feet towards the middle of the hut. Down the centre was left a x^assage, about two feet six inches Avide, and, along this passage, one, tAVO, or more fires were burning. We found in each hut a woman squatting, whose busmess it seenied to be to keex3 up these little fires durmg the daytime. Ears of Indian corn Avere roasting at many of them, and this was all the cooking that was going on while Ave Avere there. Each hut had several tame parrots and x^arroquets Avalking about the floor, and helpmg themselves to whatever took their fancy. I observed a great number and variety of boAvs and arrows — some of the latter being A'ery artistically ornamented with coloured x'igments — tucked away in the palm-leaf thatch, besides one or two more ciA'Uized weax3ons, such as axes and fouces (Brazilian billhooks), showing that the Indians, though they had certainly learnt to cut roqas, and sow corn and beans every year, had not yet wholly giA'en ux3 the ways and weapons of their forefathers. Indeed, there is an obAuous distmction betAveen the Avords tame and civilised, and these Indians had evidently not made much progress toAvards the latter, more advanced state. We subsequently eraployed several of these Indians on our staff oipicada cutters, and I shall have to refer to them again, Avith reference to their value as work- ch. 1. Simplicity of the Indians. 237 men. Though they understand something of the value of money as a medium of exchange, their intelligence is not sufficient to teU them that one note of a hundred milreis, is worth a himdred times as much as one note of one m'dre'is. Consequently, Avhen they go to sell their produce of corn and beans, or their fish or game, in the colony, they count only the number of notes given to them in exchange, and not their value. After receiving the money they go to the " merchant," who, by the way, generally gets wind of these transactions and Avaylays these simxile beings in order to entice them mto his sliox). There they are shown a lot of worthless rubbish, such as odd bits of gaudy red cloth, or gay-coloured calico ; gunxioAvder well doctored Avith sand, or other refuse stores. For things such as these they are easUy induced to x'art AAith their hard-earned mih'eis, and the sole limit to the degree in which they are cheated, lies m the conscience of the "merchant," who helps himself out of the bundle of milreis notes, which the i)oor simx3le Indian proffers Avith open hand for payment. The Indians feel that they are cheated by the BrazUians, but are x)revented by their ignorance from finding a remedy. One of our own men, a tame Indian engaged from this colony, Avas in this manner cheated out of four months' wages, amountmg to 180$000, or say £18, coming out of the merchant's shop with nothing to show for his four months' labour but a straw hat, a brass x^istol, and a piece of red baize. He 238 Pioneering in South Brazil. hoAvever seenied Avell enough contented, though the same man a month before, had been ready to mutiny because his Avages Avere not raised from £4 10s. to ±'5 a month. To return hoAvever to the x'Tesent. After stoppmg some time in the little Indian A'iUage, Ave went down to the river, to look at a certain fish-trap belonging to the Indians, of Avliich Ave had already heard. They had selected for the XJOsition of their trax3, a x:)lace on the river Avhere there Avas a smaU rapid, Avhich, in the present Ioav state of the water, took the form of a suc cession of tiny cascades, having a total fall of about tAVO feet six inches. Across the tox3 of this rapid they had constructed a dam of loose boulders and stones, leaving however two or three ox3enings at suitable X3oints for the flow of the water, and the x)assage of the fish. In the channels thus left free were X3laced the small ends of fan-sliax3ed sieves, made of sx)ht bamboo, and extending Avith a slight divp downwards to such a distance from the channel, that while their sraall end Avas several mches below the surface of the water, thek broad end was left high and dry, two or three mches above the Avater. The fish, seeking a passage down stream, being stopped by the dara, Avould have to x^ass through these channels. The rush of Avater through these latter being, on account of the dam, of course very strong, the fish, descending by them, Avould be carried forward Avith such force as to be left high and dry at the other end of the sieve, out of reach of the strong current that A Fish Trap. 239 had brought them down, and therefore x'OAverless to regain their native element, Avliich, however, they would have the satisfaction of seeing running pleasantly along close beneath them. The trax? is thus seen to be very simx3le and effica cious, though it requires, of course, x^retty constant readjustment, to suit the altering levels of the Avater in the river. JMoreover, it can only be used in the drj" season. When the floods come, the dam is usually carried bodUy away, and thus has to be patiently and laboiiousl}' reneAved each year. We saAV several fish caught Avlnle we were examining this x>rimitive trax), They were chiefly of the kind known by the name of cascudo, from the fact of their being encased in a hard shell, instead of being clothed with the more comraon scales. Their fins Avere each furnished with a long, sharx3, bony spike, Avhich doubt less is intended to serve as a x^rotection against their foes. This spike is more formidable than it looks, and the fish has an awkward habit of x^retending to be dead, and then, when it is taken UX3, suddenly giA'ing a jump backwards, by Avhich manoeiivre it frequently suc ceeds in inflictmg severe punishment upon the iiiiAvary hand. Otters, which are the great enemies of this fish, have a way of seizing it by the belly, and so avoiding the touch of these unpleasant weapons. To judge from the number of empty shells which we used to see on the rocks in the river, the otters must be especially fond of the cascudo. During our stay at the colony, the Indians sux3X3hed 240 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. us Uberally with this fish ; and when baked in ashes it Avas very good eatmg. Another kind of fish, of very opxjosite character, called the surubim, occasionaUy apx3eared on our break fast-table. This fish has neither sheU nor scales, nor Aveax3on of any kind to defend it ; it trusts entkely for its safety to its habits, which are nocturnal, and to its darlc mottled colour, which is scarcely distin guishable from the mud of the holes in which it loves to dream away its Ufe. Those which the Indians generally caught weighed from tAvo to three x^ounds each ; but lower doAvn the river Ave used to catch them, chiefly by means of night-lines and nets, up to twelve and fifteen x^ounds Aveight. After visiting the fish-trap, Ave made one of the Inchans give us a specimen of his skiU in the use of the boAv. He took us Avith hun into the forest behind the village where a small clearing had been made. Here a number of x>arrots were wheehng about and scream ing high up in the ak, cUsturbed by our appearance from thek home amongst the tree-tox3s. Motioning to us to remain perfectly stiU and quiet, the Indian went forward alone, and knelt down in the middle of the little clearing, Avitli boAv in hand and arroAV already in the string, in full view of the shriek ing and excited x^arrots. For the space of three or four full minutes the Coroado knelt thus, like a statue, waiting for the parrots to settle again upon the trees. Presently the screaming greAV less, and in its stead the peculiar, chattering noise, that parrots make Avhen Parrot Shooting. 241 feeding together in large flocks was heard. Very gradually the Indian iioav raised the end of his boAv a few inches from the ground, and, without perceptibly AVAITING FOE A SHOT. moving from his kneeling, statuesque x)osition, suddenly let fly his an'OAV up into the tree-tox)s. A tremendous uproar greeted the shot : the parrots rose in a body with the wUdest of discordant shrieks. We rushed forward in time to see the bird, Avhich the vol. I. 242 Pioneering in South Brazil. Indian had hit, fall, stunned by the bloAv of the blunt- pointed arrow, through the branches to the groimd. It appeared that this Avas one of the modes Avhich these Indians had of capturing x^arrots alive. Being very hardy bkds they soon recover from the stunning blow dealt by the arrow, and aAvake to Ufe once more — as prisoners. Taking leave of our redskin friends, we re-crossed the river, and found that Captain Palm had just arrived back in the colony from a three days' excursion by canoe doAvn the Ivahy. The report he brought back of the nature of the country beloAV was siifiiciently enticing to om* sporting instincts. He had shot wild turkeys, seen many tracks of deer and tapir, and caught fish enough to feed him self and his three men every day of their absence. The river had many rax^ids, and the forest on each bank Avas so dense that not a step could a man move in it excexit by cutting his Avay. Moreover, the surface of the groimd itself Avas broken ux3 into a network of steex3 hills and deex) raAunes. These Avere the principal x^hysical obstacles that we should have to contend against and overcome, by our OAVii unaided efforts; the Avliole 300 miles of country before us, through Avhich we had to conduct a careful, scientific survey, being utterly Avild and uninhabited. To Curling and myself the x^rospect of the Avild forest life thus placed before us Avas altogether one of pleasure ; to the remaining tAvo, not being " country born and bred," the same prospect had no such charms. CH. L The "Director" and his Abode. 24' On this evening Ave all went to dine at the house of the director of the colon}', according to previous in vitation. Our host, notAvithstanding that he Avas the chief man of the place, did not live in a very grand mansion. His abode Avas a mud-and-lath-built hut, havmg but three rooms and a lean-to kitchen. When Ave fii'st entered, the only occupants of the recep tion room, Avliich Avas also the dining-room, Avere Sr. Joscelyn Borba himself and a big pig, Avhich was trymg to upset the table, on which the dinner was already laid. To do our host justice though, he seemed much too good for his house; and Avhen he exxilained to us, in course of conversation, that he had turned out of the Casa Grande especially for our benefit, it being the largest and best house in the colony, Ave felt the folly of judging from mere ax^pearances. The Senhora, contrary to backwoods custom in this country, sat doAA'ii to the table Avitli us on the light hand of her husband, and Ave Avere Avaited upon by an intensely ugly negress, avIio divided her time between us and the x'igi which latter, tliough kicked by the director and beaten by the slave, refused to retke fi'oni the ax3artment. While Ave were at dinner, the same curious custom, with Avhich Ave were first made acquainted at Ponta Grossa, of the peox3le of the place x^aying us comxilimen- tary visits, Avas observed ; at one time during the meal there being as many as twenty indiAuduals standing or squatting round the waUs of the room, starmg silently 244 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. i. Avith might and main. They neither offered to say a word, nor, as far as one could tell from their manner, did they expect to be addressed themselves. I really began to feel quite uncomfortable under their x^ro- longed and silent stare. At length, however, some- Avliat to my relief (I don't know Avhat the others felt), they began to depart one by one, till by the time dinner Avas concluded they had all disax3peai'ed. We talked to the cUi'ector about them afterwards, and he told us that they were all " Caboclos " of the xdace, and that they merely wished to comx3liraent us. Sr. Borba Avas not struck AAith the ludicrousness of the visit as Ave were ; being, no doubt, long accustomed to the Avays of the backwoods, notAvithstanding that the chief part of his early youth had been spent in the civilised atraosx)liere of Curitiba. We obtained a large araount of useful information from our host on this evening. He had lived in the Xiroviuce all his life, aud. for some time had been director of an Indian " Aldeamento," on the Parana- XJenema, Avhicli river I visited myself eighteen raonths later. Judging from what he told us of his x^resent and past life, he seeraed to have outlived raost of the energy and enterprise of his younger days, though he did not axipear to have long passed forty years of age. On the foUoAving morning, after breakfast, Captain Palm, Curling and I started to make a thorough exploration of the colony, for the x)urx30se of ascertain ing Avhat were its capabilities in the Avay of men. CH. I. Exploration of the Colony. 245 food, and canoes, the three chief requisites for the comx^lete organization of our staff. We fomid that the colony Avas a little larger than Avhat I had judged it to be on the first morning after our arrival. Many small houses to the right of the colony Xiroper had then escax3ed my notice, having been con cealed by trees and rising ground. We A'isited every house in turn, and x'icked ux) information here and there, thus returning the Ausits that had been paid us the evening before, in a manner most x^rofitable to om'sekes. The x^eoxile were pleased at our coraing to see them, and treated us with every mark of good avUI. The amount of coffee, mate, and cachaca that Ave drank — for at each house we entered, one or the other of these refreshments Avas x^ressed ux)on us — and the number of cigarettes we smoked I avUI not attemx)t to calculate. The inhabitants proved to be far more lively and talkative m their oavu homes than thek first ludicrous visit to us Avould have led one to suppose. Many of the men had already been right doAA'n the Ivahy to the Parana itself, and could give us many items of useful information. This house-to-house visitation was, hoAvever, tedious Avork, the conversa tion having to be carried on through interx3reters ; and moreover, its main results Avere of a nature not altogether satisfactory. It was very evident that the colony alone could not supxoly all our requirements, either in the Avay of men or of x^rovisions. As re gards the former it seemed probable that a sufficient number could be obtained to satisfy our Avaiits for 246 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. the first tAVO or three months — that is, Avhile Ave were yet AA'ithin reasonable distance of our base. After wards, hoAvever, Avhen a larger staff of men would be required to keep up our communications, it would be necessary to make further extensive arrangements for draAving men from time to time, from other towns and settlements in the x^rovince. Next, as regarded x^rovisions : the Brazilians would not Avork Avith us Avithout being amx3ly sux)X)lied with their customary food, AA'hich consisted of beans, farinha, and pork fat. Meat also they Avould require occasionally ; but this latter item all reports agreed in saying could be made up by hunting; as tax3ir, deer, and Avild pig Avould be found in abundance lower doAvn the river. The director had already told us that the three first mentioned articles Avould be abso lutely essential, as no Brazilian Avould work for a day Avithout them. Now the colonists were in the habit of only grow ing enough of these things to suxoply their oaa'u Avants year by year, Avithout leaAung any surplus. If, there fore, we took away the greater part of the able-bodied men from their Eocas or x^lantatioiis to Avork with us, it was evident that, x')ractically, Ave should have to feed, not onl}' ourselves, but the whole colony besides, from external sources. Whence then Avere these supplies to come ? Ponta Grossa and the Villa de Tibagy {v'lde raap) were the nearest toAvns on the one side, and on the other side Avas only the small toAA'ii of Guarax3uava ; none of the Food Supplies. 247 three being nearer than two or three days' journe}' from Colonia Thereza. Moreover, AA'e learnt that the mule-roads leading out of Colonia Thereza were often so bad during the summer rains as to be almost impass able for months together. It Avas ultimately decided to begin at once to form a big dexiot of stores at the colony, and to ax3point an agent at Ponta Grossa, whose duty it would be to send ux) to Colonia Thereza a certain regular suxiply of " mantimentos " or xn'ovi- sions eA'ery Aveek, Avliile the " roads " remained still passable. By this means Ave hoped to secure ourselves against any shortness of food siix)plies, at all events for the next three months, till Captain Palm again re turned, when, if then found to be necessary, he might axipoint additional agents for us at Tibagy and Guaraxiuava. Lastly, came the question of canoes ; for, as it was intended that the exx3loration should be carried more or less along the banks of the river, this latter would of coiu'se be used as our road. The colony Avas not rich in canoes ; it ax3peared that there Avere only two Avretched little " dug-outs " obtainable, besides the one Captain Palm had already pm'chased for us. There Avere, hoAVCA'cr, tAvo pro fessional canoe-builders in the colony, and to these an immediate order was given for five large-sized dug-outs to be commenced at once. The consideration and final determination of these plans occupied us up to the 7th, and on the 8th Captain Palm started back again for Antonina, on his way to 248 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. i. Miranda, to pay a visit to the 3rd and 4tli Staffs at their end of the work, promising to come again to us in about three months' time, but — I'homme propose et Dieu cl'ispose — this Avas the last time we ever saAv Captain Palm. CHAPTER II. AVant of enterprise of the colonists — 1 become a doctor. — A "Fan dango." — The beginning of the summer. — First camp in the forest. — The "Polvora." — Early morning iu the forest. — Clothing. — The "Fouce." — The fall of a monarch. — " A'amos come — r.'' Before taking the reader Avitli us into the great l)rim£eval forests in winch Ave Avere now to find our home, I must say yet a word more about the x^eople of this little baclvAvoods colony of Thereza, Avhich forms, as it were, one of the vanguards of civilization westAvard, towards the still untamed interior of South Brazil. Facile princeps, in respect both of age and AA'orth, must come the Mai da Colonia — the IMother of the Colony — atitle giA'en by omselA'Cs to an old lady of more than four score years, familiarly known in the village as "Maruca Velha," from the double fact of her actually being related or connected by marriage to every family in the colony, and ofthe boundless liosx3itality AAdiich she never failed to exhibit, not only towards her OAvn x^eoxAle, but to every one of om'selves and of our European staff, to A\homsoever she thought it Avoiild be acceptable. This old lady possessed natural noblesse of character 250 Pioneering in South Brazil. in a high degree, and she Avas resxAected and beloA'ed by all. In her tirae she had contributed greatly to the X3opulation of the colony, as alraost every other child in the X3lace was the grandchild of " Old ilaruca," and those that Avere not grandchildren Avere great grand children. She had five stabvart unmarried sons still living AA'ith her. Of these, two Avere engaged by us for a short time, but they Avere such lazy felloAvs, and, withal, possessed of such an intensity of Brazilian pride of the raost objectionable sort, namely, that Avliich looks 11X3011 all real Avork as derogatory to free birth, that Ave were glad enough to get rid of them. As labourers Avith us they Avere no good at all, but as hosts in their mother's house, they were altogether delightful. Laziness and Avant of eiitei'X3rise seeraed indeed to be the great fault of the X3eox3le of the colony, and was exemxilified on every side. Though the soil Avas very fertile, and the climate such as Avould suit the groAvth of both trox)ical and temxAerate fruits and vegetables, yet scarcely any atteinx3t Avas made to cultivate anything but the bare necessaries of life, such as beans, rice, and corn. Though the XJeox^le had absolutely nothing to occux3y them for nine months out of the tAvelve, yet such a thing as a " kitchen garden " Avas not to be seen m the X3lace, and as for exxAending even half an hour's thought or labour upon a xdeasure or floAver garden, such a thing the wildest imagination never dreamt of. It is CII. n. Laziness of the Colonists. 251 il fact Avortli recording, that I never, to my knoAvledge, heard the word jardim (garden) used by anyone in this settlement. I think no one Avould have under stood what it meant if the Avord had been used to them. Though milk Avas abundant, butter was unknoAvn in the colony. I noticed the tobacco xilant growing AA'ild at the edge of the forest ; yet all the tobacco smoked in the colony came from a distance of 100 miles' or more ! Cacha(;a, or native rum distilled from the sugar cane, Avas the only real industry carried on, and this was in the hands of a Gerraan, and not of a Brazilian. Speaking broadly, Colonia Thereza might be said to be but very little more advanced in civilization than was the Indian settlement on the oxAx^osite side of the liver, which I described in the last chapter. Its inhabitants existed, but did not live. If they had all been wiped off the face of the earth by a sudden earth quake or flood, it may safely be asserted that their destruction would have been a matter of absolute in difference to the community of the x^rovince at large — ourselves alone excexited. To the state, the colony had been worse than x^rofitless, as, since its first establish ment, it had cost altogether large sums of money, the only return for which had been the x^roduction of half a dozen men, avIio had served their country, more or le.ss against their Avill, in the Paraguayan War. The blame, however, does not aU rest with the peox)le themselves. No fair chance is given to a young colony unless decent communication Avitli the outer 252 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. n. Avorld is x^rovided for it ; and the atrocious mule roads which, in this case, have to serve as the sole means of communication Avith other markets, are useless for the X3ui'X30ses of commerce, as any gain that might other Avise be made by trading is sunk in the difficulties of transport ; nevertheless, one or two men AA'ith a little caxjital and more enterxiiise might stiU, I flunk, do something to render Colonia Thereza a x^rofitable member of the state. Morning and evening, before going out to the day's AVork, and after our return, I Avas besieged by number less XAatients of all ages and both sexes, for medical adAice and remedies of the raost diverse kind. My knoAvledge of the noble science of medicine had been, on our first arrival at the colony, of the slightest jAOSsible descrixitioii, but for some reason or other, Avhicli I never could clearly make out, I was from the very first exalted by the colonists to the rank and dignity of doctor of medicine, in addition to that of doctor of engineering — and from this time forth for the next tAvo years, I retained the dignity thus forced 11X3011 me Avithout question from any one. The staff Avas well supx3lied Avith medicines and surgical instru ments, of Avliich I had from the beginning taken charge, and therewith endeavoured on all x>ossible occasions to uphold my reputation. The number of toothache cases which came before me was astonishing. There seemed to be scarcely a man or Avoman above the age of sixteen years that could boast of a sound set of teeth, and scarcely CA'er a CH. II. TootJi-draiving. 253 day passed Avithout my being called upon to use the forceps upon some one or other. At the time I Avas puzzled to account for this universal evil, but afterwards I came to the conclusion that it Avas chiefly caused by the x^eople constantly eating rapadnra,* and sucking boiling hot mate. It is not unlikely, too, that the evil was x^artly the result of a AAidely spread taint of a certain disease frora AA'hich this haxiless little colony greatly suffered. The usual doctors were the old women, who xiractised solely AAith the time-honoured remedies of root and herb, of AA'hich the forest afforded them an abimdant choice. One CA'cning Ave were invited to a kind of ball, called s, fandango, given by a caboclo of the village. Ciirlmg and I went to it together, in response to an elaborately worded, written iuA'itation. On entering the house at Avhicli the entertainment was to be held, Ave irainediately found ourselves in a large mud-floor room, ranged round the Avails of which were all the youth and beauty of the viUage, smartly dressed in clean cotton prints, all, eAadently, carefuUy " got up " for the occasion. In the centre of this room, Avhich was bare of furni ture, the young men of the village, to the number of about two dozen, were grouped together, chatting and smoking cigarettes with their hats on their heads, to all appearance utterly oblivious of the x^resence of the ladies. * A mixture of sugar, treacle, and verdigris, cast into the form of a solid brick — much indulged in by the average caboclo. 254 Pioneering in South Brazil. Our entry seenied to be the signal for the com mencement of the entertainment. Tavo banjos (violas) struck up, and iioav, for the first time, the men began to turn their attention to the demure but conscious-look ing maidens, Avho had up to the present moment been sUently aAvaiting their pleasure. One by one each man chose a x^artner, till ten couples Avere made up. These ten couples now formed a ckcle in the middle of the room, and the dance commenced. With slow and rhythmic beat the men first began to keex3 time to the violas, alternately advancing towards and retiring from the centre of the ring, the women also stamping with their feet, but not ad vancing. At the end of each dozen bars or so of the music, all with one accord, both raen and women, gave three loud claps of the hands, AA'hich was the signal for ihe moment of a greater display of energy in the movements of the body, and a more vigorous stainx3ing of feet 11X3011 the hard mud floor. AU at once one of the men dancers, in a rich full voice, struck up an " impromxitu " stanza, in beautiful time and harmony Avitli the music, the last words of Avliich Avere taken up and repeated in clionis by all. Once more vocal silence, Avliile the monotonous tum, tum, tum, of the " violas," and the noise of the stamxiing of feet went on as before. Then again, a second, AA'ild, "im- promxitu" stanza burst forth from another of the dancers, again to be taken up in chorus by all. We obserA'cd on each of these occasions that the dancers all turned their eyes upon us, as though Ave ca. II. A "Fandango." 255 Avere the persons they Avere addressing. We x>resentty found this to be the case, one of our interpreters, avIio was present, coming ux) and informing us that Ave Avere being invited to "join the dance." Nothing loth, Ave each chose a Avilling damsel from the still unexhausted roAv of Avall-floAvers, and joined the mitiring ring in tlie middle of the room. During what seemed interminable nUnutes, Ave too had now to beat our feet uxion the hard floor, SAAing our arms and bodies, and clax) oUr hands. As the dance Avent on the excitement Avaxed stronger, the "im- X3romptu " shouts becarae yells, and the once graceful swajing of the bodies of the x^erformers Avas changed into violent contortions, and all the characteristics of a North American Indian Avar-dance came into play. Cm'ling and I iioav quietly slipped out of the ranks of the dancers, and retired unnoticed to the background. The atmosphere of the room Avas full of the smoke of cigarettes, through which the dim bees-Avax taxiers, here and there stuck upon the face of the Avails around, cast a lurid glare. Suddenly the music ceased ; the tired fingers of the minstrels had given Avay at last, and the dance abrux)tly came to a conclusion. The Xsartnershix) between each coux3le Avas immediately dissolved, Avithout ceremony of any kind. The man turned on his heel without look, Avord, or salutation ; and the forlorn damsel, her service or x)resence being no longer necessary, once more retired to her x^lace against the Avail, there to bloom unheeded till another dance should be commenced. 256 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. h. Eefreshments of cachaca, Avater and cigarettes were now handed round by the host to us and to the men generally, Avho had again grouped theraselves in threes and fours about the midcUe of the room. During the dance no conversation had been carried on betAveen the partners, and noAV no sign of courtesy or deference was bestoAved upon the poor forsaken damsels by their late partners. It apxieared to me, that this neglect xn'oceeded not so much from any indifference or Avant of gallantry on the x^ai't of the men, as from an enforced custom, which seemed to forbid even the slightest ax3X3earance of intimacy between the sexes. A longer acquaintance Avitli this little baclvAvoods colony, Avas not convincing of the x^erfect efficacy of these strict rules of its society. Nevertheless, in default of a higher standard of education being given to the women, tliey are no doubt necessar}'. On the 13tli of Sexitember, the dry Aveather AA'hich had lasted at the colony for many months broke iix3. For two entire days, a tremendous cannonade dinned over our heads and amongst the Avooded hUls around, accoraxjanied by torrents of rain. The river began to rise rapidly, and the swamp in front of the viUage brought into active life a vast chorus of frogs, Avhich night after night serenaded the village Avith their plaintive and melancholy cries. It seems to be usual in most x^arts of the province of Parang, for rains to fall from about the middle of September tUl about the end of October ; such rains being like our AxAril showers on. II. First Camp in the Forest. 257 at home, mai'king the opening of the summer season. The young grass now begins to grow on the burnt prairies, and the BraziUan agriculturist to "plant" his rocas with corn, beans and rice. On the 16th, the rains ceased for a time, and more settled Aveather returned. The climate, however, seemed to have become in these few days more dis- tmctly tropical than before. The heat was felt much more by us, though the thermometer readings did not show any great increase of average temperature. The atmosphere in the forest became " steaming," and now began our first real taste of tropical insect life ; which, from this time for the next six months, was to be a never ceasing torment, the greatest, because the most persistent, of aU our troubles. On the 24th of September, we left the colony for our first camp onwards towards the Parana, a con venient spot having been x)reviously selected for it, about six miles down the river. None of the canoes, which were being made for us, being yet comxileted, we hu'ed every canoe that could be got, not only from the colony but also from the " sitios," to take us and our baggage and stores down to the camp. The spot selected Avas on the bank of the main river, close to the mouth of a httle tributary caUed the "Barra do Doutor,"* by which little river Ave hoped to obtain the advantage of Avater communication between the camx> and the line of exploration, which * " Barra," lit. mouth of a river. Familiarly used as equivalent to river itself. 258 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ii. Avas calculated to cut across the Barra at a point about a mile from its mouth. Another advantage of this spot was that it happened to be a sitio ; our tents, in fact, being pitched close beside a small timber-built rancho inhabited by one of old Maruca's sons, who, by the way, had married his own niece, and who, with his Avife and children, lived here for three parts of the year. The usual farm stock, consisting of pigs, chickens, and eggs, Avere thus to be had at our very door. Our forest life* had now regularly commenced. At the first dawn of day, each morning, the whole camx3 was astk. There was no lazy nax3X3ing m bed or hammock after the sun had risen. At the x^eep of davv'ii sleep Avas ruthlessly banished frora every couch. A tiny fly, which the camaradas caUed polvora (dust — ^powder), either frora its being as sniaU as dust, or frora the fact of its x^ossessing immense x^ower of annoyance m proportion to its size, then commenced its operations. No mosquito net Avas of the slightest use against its attacks ; it could xienetrate the finest meshes. The moment the first streak of red Ught apxjeared in the east, myriads of these little pests rose from their roostmg X3lace on the bare ground, in a black cloud, and, penetrating into the hair and into the beard, as AveU as to all other exposed parts of the human body, inserted their microscopic, but most venomous probosces into ¦* Vide Appendix, Note B, " Mode of work in the forest." CH. II. Early Morning in the Forest. 259 the skin, producing fiery irritation, such as no mortal man could sleexi through, for even one minute. Thus the camp Avas effectually aroused, em muito boas horas, and oiu' day commenced. We oiu'selves and most of the Em'ox3eans would go dkect fi'om the tents down to the canoes, Avhich were moored just inside the Barra, Avliere the Avater was deep and still, there to indulge in a most delectable morning "tub." With our Brazilian camaradas, a squat round the camp fire, Avith a cigarette to smoke and a bomba of boiUng-hot mate to suck, stood in stead cf the more godly wash. Breakfast would be ready at about six o'clock, and by half-past the various pai'ties A, B, &c. (vide Axipendix, Note B,) Avould be crowding into the canoes, with cries of s'embora, s'embora, (away, aAvay,) shouted out at the toxi of their voices by our serai-Avild camaradas, aAvakening the echoes amongst the forest-clad hills around, and putting hfe and spirit into the start. By seven o'clock, or sometimes a little later, the forest would be resounding Aviththe strokes of the axes, and soon would commence the daily cannonade of falling trees, as yard by yard the broad picacla Avas cut through the dense-groAvn timber and underwood. There was something very delightful in these early mornings in the forest ; the exhilarating freshness of the ak, and the wild beauty of the luxuriant vegetation of trees and flowers, and ferns sparkling Avith crystal dewdrops, giving a charm to the surroundings such as must be seen and felt to be fully understood. 26o Pioneering in South Brazil. The temperature, Avbich, after 11 o'clock, it being now the month of September, rose above 80° Falir., at this early hour seldom reached higher than 60°, The insect life Avas, for the most part, still torpid, for it Avas not tUl tAVO or three hours later in the day that it got to be really troublesome. One thing only Avas needed to render one's enjoyment at these times complete and Xierfect, namely, a proper and suitable costume. The Brazilians Avear nothing but cotton and linen, and thus it is that they are constant sufferers from an ailment which goes by the name of constipacao , Avliich ailment is merely the result of too rax3id a coohng of the body after exertion. At this time I had not yet myself learnt Avhat was the best kind of costmne for every-day wear in these forests. In England we had been told that nothing less strong than the coarsest sail-cloth would stand the wear and tear of a Brazilian forest, and that therefore some garments of this kind Avould be very necessary. As a matter of fact, nearly every engineer of the expedition was thus induced to furnish his Avardrobe Avitli a suit of clothing AA'hich, to the strength and weight of the stoutest sail-cloth, added the obstinate rigidity and absolute uselessness for the purposes of Avarmth of the stiffest oxhide that ever tropeiro slept in, on the icy x^raiiies of the far South. Such was the material with Avhich, at this time, in my early days of inexperience, I habitually clothed my body from top to toe. Certainly I was iioav thorn-XAroof, snake-proof, and Xierhaps almost jaguar-proof; but all fi-eedom of loco- Clothing. motion Avas gone, and each step taken over the rough broken groimd of the p'lcada was x^roductive of x^rofuse perspiration, Avhicli, Avhen the heat of the clay Avas passed, turned into a chiU, icy bath, in which every joint and eA'ery limb x^ained and stiffened. For a few Aveeks I endured the self-inflicted torture, and then, after a sudden attack of inflammation, Avhich brought me, in but a foAV hours, nearer to death's door than I have been, either before or since, I discarded this coating of raail, once for all, in favour of a light flannel costume, Avhicli I ever after Avore in preference to any other kind of clothing. The legs, from the knee doAAii- wards, are the x)arts of the body most Uable to wounds and scratches in these forests. To counteract this habihty, I used to wear a pair of hand-knitted, knicker- bocker stockings over a x'air of white flannel troAvsers, and when m course of time my supplies of these Avere exhausted, I substituted short gaiters of fawn skin, which had been tanned and dressed by ourselves. A pak of short shooting-boots, a flannel shirt AAuth a pocket or two in it, and a thick felt and cork hat com pleted my forest costume, and I can recommend it as being at once the most generaUy useful, and by far the most comfortable, and, I may say, safe, " get up " that Can be devised for the services requked. The undergrowth of this part of the forest through which Ave were now cutting our way was of the most impenetrable character. The summits and slopes of the short chopping hills, which Avere here the charac teristic formation of the country, were densely covered 26: Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. Avith bamboo (taquara), the ravines and bottoms being even more densely overgroAvn Avitli tangled cane-brakes and thorn thickets, so that the work of cutting the Xiicada was necessarily slow and laborious. We had brought out with us a store of English biU- hooks. These Avere found to be altogether unfit for the AVork required of them, and accordingly the native Brazilian bilUiook, called a fouce,-via.s employed for this picada Avork. The fouce is universally used by the natives in cut ting their ro9as, and it is an instrument which, I think. the bPlAzilian fouce (billhook). is scarcely capable of being improved upon, for the especial work for Avhich it is designed. It Avill be observed by the accomxianying sketch that it is something like a common long-handled bilUiook, Avith the exception that the extremity of the hook is not pointed, but flat and blunt ; also that the instru ment itself is not x)ut on in a straight line with the axis of the handle, as in an ordinary English bUUiook, but is connected with it by a short shoulder. The advantage of the blunt edge, instead of the point, is sufficiently obvious to anyone Avho has ever seen the ordinary usage The Fouce. 263 to AA'hich the fouce is subjected. The shoulder is also a very important part of its design. It relieves the handle from the full effect of the sudden jar com municated to the implement when a blow is given upon the iron-Uke Avoods upon Avhich it has so fre quently to oxserate, acting, as it Avere, the x'art of a spring or buffer, and thus ' conducing considerably to the longevity both of the handle and of the instrument itself. Weary Avork it Avas to see the men hacking the path Avith their fouces through the dense, matted undergTowth of cane and creeper, and it Avas a relief to aU parties Avlien the axemen were caUed to take their xAlace. A Brazilian backwoodsman is perhaps the most skilful axeman in the Avorld, certainly he is sur passed by none. " Machadeiros ! Machadeiros ! " and at the AveU- knoAvn cry, the two braAvny axemen, who always form part of the gang of picada cutters, rise up from their seat upon the ground, Avhere they have been resting after a former labour, and come forward to take their places once more, one on each side of the condemned tree. At one glance they have decided in which direction it is to faU, and now commences a display of strength, endurance, and skiU, such as is rarely Avit- nessed in a BraziUan, except on these occasions. With rhythmic strokes the bloAvs fall upon the devoted trunk, at first slowly and steadUy, each blow falling with exact precision, so that not one grain of power is wasted. Soon two clean, wedge-shaped cuts appear from under the keen axes which noAV begin to whirl round more 264 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch.'ii. rapidly, and to rain down their blows in quicker suc cession. The wedge-hke cuts sink deeper and deexier into the trunk, as a quarter of an hour, perhaps twenty minutes pass. The sweat is pouring down the bare backs of the men in Uttle streams, and stiU the shower of iron blows descends with undiminished vigour. Suddenly a shai'X) crack is heard, and those who are MBBON CIPOS. standing in the x^roper position, see the trunk give a perceptible jerk foi'Avard, and the leaves shiver as though with the knowledge of thek impending fate. Encouraged by the sound, each man now A'ies with the other in the force and rapidity of his blows, and " quick " time is increased to the " double." The tree is still slowly moving, so sloAvly that the motion can only be observed by the gi-adual tightening and CH. II. The Fall of a Monarch. 265 strakiing of the tAvisted and ribboned c'lpos on the one side, AvhUst on the other side they droop and slacken. Like the sliai-p rexAort of a pistol comes the second and final, warning crack. The axemen flee for their hves, for the fall of one tree brings the fall of many. Thek work is done. Simultaneously Avitli this second report, the tree gives another and a heavier lurch forward, and, amidst a dire disturbance of mul titudes of vines and c'lpos and lesser growths of every kind, Avhich form the normal upper canopy of a Brazihan forest, sloAvly bows its lofty head, and, gathering increased motion every instant, bids a final farewell to the skies above, and, dragging down in its ruin an acre of parasites, the accumulated growth of a hundi'ed years, and crushing beneath its ponderous bulk a score of youthful asxiirants, disappears with a mighty crash and roar into the hidden depths of the ravine below. Long after the tree has thus disap peared from mortal ken, the sound of snapping and cracking of overstrained branches and parasites comes up from beneath; but, besides this, the bare stunix) and a AAude rent in the green canoxiy above, is all that remains to show that one of the monarchs of the forest has been laid low. The x^icada is ahvays run ning along the side of some steexA sloxie, Avith a moun tain perhaxis on the one side, and a deep guUy or ravine on the other. Thus, Avhen once a tree is cut down, it clears itself comx3letely away and troubles us no more. The tired axemen Avipe the sweat off their brows, chests and arms, and once more don thek shirts 266 Pioneering in South Brazil. and recline at rest on the ground, AAdiile the fouce- men resume their wearisome task of cutting through the meaner undergrowth. Thus the Avork of the picada goes on hour by hour tiU the sun reaches the meridian, Avlien the signal is given to the nearest man to stox3 Avoi'k. His shout of " Vamos comer, comer, come — r I " is taken up by the other men, and echoes from one end of the picada to the other, causing all to throw doAvn axes and fouces, and asserable round the luncheon bag now laid open on the ground in the middle of the picada. In virtue of my rank as patrao, I am sux3X)lied with a xilate, which consists of a x^iece of the inner bark cut off the tox) of the edible pahu or pahn'ito, and a sxioon made out of a piece of sx3lit bamboo stem. The contents of the bag is the usual BrazUian nuxture of black beans and farinha, well-seasoned with toucinho, or x^ork fat and salt. A sufficient iiortion of this mixture, Avhich does not sound enticing, but which really is not at all bad stuff Avlien one gets accustomed to it, is scooped out of the bag and x^ut mto my x^late, after Avliich the camaradas dive their own sxjoons mto the bag and commence to eat from it all together, two sx'oons generally serving for the whole party. There is ahvays one man of a Aveaker mind than the rest who is put uxaoii to go back to the last stream crossed by the picada for water. Cups or mugs there are none. In a Brazilian forest these thmgs, like plates and spoons, groAV ready made to hand. Pre sently the messenger returns, laden with a dozen or CH. II. Cleanliness. 267 more short steins of bamboo tied together in a bundle with a piece of cix)6, each one holding about half a pint of water. By this time the solid part of the meal is akeady desx)atched, and the Brazilian, true to his ti'aining, first rinses out his mouth Avitli some of the water and then proceeds to satisfy his thkst by drinking the remainder. This habit of rinsing out the mouth after every meal is highly to be com mended, although it does not seem to bring its OAvn reward in giving the natives sound sets of teeth. I got so much into this habit ofthe Brazilian camaradas that it was with some difficulty that I broke myself iato the simxile use of the pcdito AA'hen I Avas again domicUed in Eio de Janeiro. It is strange how, in this one x^articular point of cleanliness, progress goes in an inverse dkection to the onward march of civilization. The Eed Indian and the Brazilian backAvoodsman both Avash the mouth out with Avater after eating. The people of Eio de Janeiro, as well as those of most continental toAvns, make a free use of the p)alito, Avhich is one step backwards from the Indian mode, and we in England, the most ciA'ilized nation of aU, entkely ignore both these godly methods of x^reserving health, satisfying ourselves Avitli the oxieration performed at the morning toilette. After this simple, but wholesome and sustaining repast, follows one of the most delightful few minutes of the whole day. Pipes and cigarettes are produced, and, lazily reclining at full stretch and lulled to a state 268 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. n. of dreamy repose by the corabmed influence of the heat, the hum of countless msects, Avhich now dare not approach, and the fragrance of the strong Bra zilian tobacco, one thinks for these few moments that there is nothing like a life in the Wilds. Such is a sketch of the princixial features of an ordinarily uneventful day on the p'lcada. The after noon is but a comiterpart of the mornmg, and thus day by day we x^lod on through the month of Sep tember. After this, events began to thicken upon us, and life became infinitely more varied and infinitely more trymg. CHAPTER III. Difficulties commence. — First encounter with a snake. — Joao MigTiol'.? stoi-y. — Marvellous anecdote. — "Cobra preta." — Insect life in the forest.- — The "Mirim" bee. — Its wonderful in,stinct. — Absence of honey -eaters. — The " Carapatto." — Green beetles, and how to capture them. — A brilliant display. — The gi-eat fire- heetle. — New plan of work. — Forest camps. On the 8th of October, exactly one month after the commencement of the exxiloration, Staff No. II. suffered the loss of one of its members. S., who had long shown signs that neither the climate nor the mode of hfe that we were leading suited him, iioav found himself forced to resign on account of the deplorable state into which his health had fallen. Sores, the combined effect of climate and insect bites, had broken out all over his body, and his strength and energies had utterl}' coUapsed. Seeing no prospect in the future of an easier life, which might afford him some small chance of recover}' (for Ave Avere now scarcely entering upon what Avas expected to be the most trying season of aU — the summer), he des paired of CA'er becoming sufficiently restored to health to again be of any real use. It was very remarkable 2 70 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. m. that on the same day that S. left us, Lundholm also found himself forced to give up work. His symptoms and sufferings were of an exactly shnilar kind to those of S. For nearly eight weeks Lundholm remained incapacitated for Avork, and thus on one and the same day we entkely lost the serAuces of one half of om staff; and the Avork that now devolved upon CurUng and myself Avas doubled. A few days after this, I made my first near acquamt ance with a snake out in the forest. We were all sitting on the ground in the picada, at the conclusion of one of our mid-day lunches, smoking and talking, Avlien one of the meu Avho was sitting facing me, sud denly shouted out, " Dotttor .' doutor! cobra! cobra!" at the same moment jumping uxi and unsheathing his long /agao, or knife. The Avord cobra had an electric effect upon the Avhole party. Each man was on his feet in an instant. Not at once realising Avhat the danger Avas, I did not stir. A second later, and my eye fell upon a Jararaca, which, AA'ith head erect, aud tongue darting before it, and eye flashing and seintillating, was gliding softly and noiselessly by, within a foot of my side. I was so struck with the beauty of the reptile and with the ease and grace of its motions, that I forgot to be afraid, and it Avas not tUl the long fafao of the man avIio had first seen it had descended upon it, cutting the long, supple body in twain, that I realised how unxjleasantly close the animal had been to me. The man's name who thus X3ut an end to the venomous brute's existence was Joao ch. III. Maii'cllous Anecdote. 271 Miguel ; he was one of the axemen, and I knoAv that he had once himself been bitten by a Jararaca. The vehemence of his ejaculations as, not satisfied with having once decapitated his eneray, he slashed the Avi'igglmg body again and again, Inssing out between his teeth the Avords, " Oli, b'lcho do inferno I take that, and that, and that! " as each fresh blow descended, sufficiently testified to the intensit}' of his hatred. His story is a very common one in this x>art of the country. He was out one day cutting his roga, AA'hen he trod on a smaU Jararaca, which imraediately turned upon him, and made its fangs meet through his instexi. Waithig only to slay the reptUe by a bloAv from his fouce, he ran as fast as the pain of the woiuid would aUow him to the nearest rancho, which happened to be only a fcAv hundred yards distant. Arriving there, he at once, regardless of the x'ain, slit the wound oxien Avith hisfaqao and xioured cachac^a into it, AA'hile, at the same time, he swallowed large draughts of the same spu'it. Continuing this treatment for sorae time, the pam at length began to subside, and other symxAtoms, which he described as intense drowsiness and sensa tions of sickness and suffocation, also graduaUy de creased. In a few lioiu'S all the dangerous syraptoms had vanished, and he knew that his life Avas saved. The cachaga had cured him. The strange x^art of the story, howeA'er, is stUl to come. He declares that at the corresponding season of every year he goes through all the same sensations, just as he experienced them in the very hour the event happened, and that -at 272 Pioneering in South Brazil. such times he is practically a cripple, unable to walk or even move for two or three days. I believe this is not an uncommon phenomenon in the case of snake bites, though I have never yet heard it satisfactorily accounted for. The BrazUians have great faith in the efficacy of cachaga as a remedy for snake bites. There is, however, another remedy of a very differ ent character, in Avhich a large section of the people implicitly beheve, namely, the corrosive sublimate of mercury, which the caboclos know by the name of sub- limao. I first heard of this remedy from one of our camaradas, who had corae frora the viUage of Jatahy, on the river Tibagy. I afterwards paid a long Ausit to this very viUage, and found that the people there were very firm believers in the value of this remedy for snake bites. The story of the discovery of this valu able quality of sublimao was thus related to me by tAvo independent people, one of whom was Sr. Telemaco Borba, the brother of the director of Coloma Thereza. A certain man m the j)rovince of Matto Grossa had been bitten by a snake, and feeling that he was dying" he sent for a X3riest to shrive him. The packe came, and apxjroaching close to the dying man, began the perform ance of the offices for which he had been summoned. On concluding he inquired how the sufferer felt in his body. The man i'ex3lied that since the x^adre had been with him he had lost aU x^aiii, and Avas now feeling quite comfortable. The x^adre then departed. No sooner, hoAvever, had he gone out of the house than the pain returned Avorse than before, and the poor CH. IU. "Cobra Preta!' 273 man shrieked aloud that the x^adre should again be sent for, to come and comfort him. The padre re turned, and the moment that he touched the x:)atient the pain ceased. The padre Avas an honest man, and instead of claiming the credit for his oavu holy person, candidly owned that he Avas altogether mystified. He went away again, and once more the x^ain came back to the poor man. The x^adre returned, and the pain ceased. Eacking his brains to find out the cause of this seeming rairacle, the x^adre suddenly recoUected that he had got with him a smaU xiacket of corrosive subhmate. Having taken it from his x^ocket, he placed it on the wounded part of his patient, and again went out of the house. On returning, he found that this time the man had suffered from no relapse, but was evidently recovering. In short, the cure becaine cora plete ; simxAly from the touch (or, as it seenis, merely from the proximity) of this jAacket of sublimao. This story savours someAvhat of the fabulous, but Avhether there is any truth in it or not, certain it is that the corrosive sublimate of mercury is held high in esteem by a great number of the people of this province, as an antidote for snake bites. On the afternoon of the same day on which I first saw a live Jararaca, I very nearly increased my know ledge of snakes, by treading on a Cobra preta. I had had occasion to walk back a short way over the picada, to correct an error made by the chainman. The sun was beating powerfuUy down through the gaps Avliich had been made in the forest above by the cutting VOL. I. T 2 74 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. doAvn of some great trees. Across one of these open spots I Avas toiling wearily, for the work on this day had been more than usually fatiguing, when I caught sight of a bright eye, fixed and motionless on the ground, a little in advance of my uxilifted foot. In a moment, I saAV that it Avas a snake, coiled ux3 in readiness to strike. I gave such a start backwards, as to almost come into collision with the man Avho Avas following immediately behind me. He was carry ing a fouce, and as I x^ointed the reptile out to him, he went forward a stex) and brought the cold steel down on the centre of the coiled-up snake, cutting the animal into several xiieces at one bloAV. For the next few days I was nervously inchned to see a sQake in every stick on the picada, but, though it was seldom that a day iioav passed AA'ithout one or more being kUled either in the forest or in the camxAS, I did not myself come into contact Avith another for some time. As the days went on, and summer came nearer and nearer, the heat in the forest mcreased in x)roportion, and, pari passu, the insect life grew and multixiUed. There was a certain blue and X5urx3le bee, that made itself most especially objectionable, by always selecting the eye x^ieces and object glasses of the instruments for its chief attentions. I Avas once or tAvice stung m the face by this inquisitive insect, when endeavouruig to take an observation. I noticed, however, that this bee objected to the colour red, and never settled upon the red baetas or baizes worn by some of the men. I took a hint from this, and ever afterwards, the moment The "Mirim" Bee. 275 an observation Avas comxileted, covered the instrument I Avas using AA'ith a Ught, red silk handkerchief, leav ing it thus protected tiU the next observation came to be taken. jMost of the insect tribe objected raore or less to the colour red ; a raost iioteAvorthy exception to this rule, however, being a small, black, stingless bee called the Mirim. This Uttle creature is at once the greatest nuisance and the greatest boon to the dweller in the forest. It is about the size of a house fly, though more clumsily raade. Like all the bee tribe, it is not an early riser, and seldom becomes troublesome before ten o'clock in the morning. From that hour, however, till nearly four o'clock in the afternoon its activity is unceasing. It settles in countless numbers upon the back of the neck and back of the hands, occuxiying in those x'arts every available space. It accompanies every stexA you take in a smaU cloud round your head. Individual mem bers explore each feature in your face AA'ith the most painstaking mmuteness. It is impossible to eat one's luncheon Avithout devourmg half a dozen or more. If you open your mouth wider than usual, to give a shout, a bee seizes the occasion to exxAlore the cavity within, and your shout terminates in an ignommious splutter. Besides being the most bold and fearless of all the Avinged insect world— for one may touch them, and take them ux3 to look at them, and they wdl exhibit no fear — they are also the most Avidely spread. I have found them almost equally abundant in all the sub-tropical forests of the province of the 2 76 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. Parana. It is no exaggeration to say that a x^erson niight kill fifty a rainute on the back of his hand, for five consecutive hours during the day. The very moment one batch is swept off the hand or back of the neck (these being tAvo favourite points), another batch is ready to take their x'lace. They neither sting nor bite, but there are some people who cannot stand the peculiar tickling sensation AAliich they cause ; and Avoiild go raving mad frora them, if their neck were not covered up. I became accustomed to them after a time, and Avent about all day with perhaps five hundred congre gated on the back of my neck, Avithout troubling myself about their presence. In fact, in time I came to look upon them as a useful shield against mosquitoes; for on their favoured localities they Avere crowded so thickly together, that no mosquito had a chance to insert his Xiroboscis. It was not, hoAvever, merely as a shield against other and more bloodthksty insects, that the Mirim bee is so serviceable to the forest dweUer, but it is on account of the vast stores of honey which it lays by in every tree, which honey, in fact, is one of the most useful natural products of these great forests. Numerous as the nests of this bee are, it is yet very rarely indeed that they can be discovered by any but the most xiractised eye. The reasons of this are, first, the very minute size of the insect itself, which renders its flight to and from its nest almost invisible in the gloomy shades of its forest home ; and, secondly, the careful instinct Avliich causes it generally to select a spot on the smooth trunk of an ax3parently solid tree CH. III. Instinct of the Mirim Bee. 277 for the door of its abode. By some Avonderful instinct the Mirim discovers a hollo av in the heart of an apparently solid tree, Avhere the most exx3erienced forester Avould not dream of exxAecting the existence of a cavitj'. Through the outer covering the little animal then bores a tiny gallery, Avhicli runs x>ei'haps for six or eight inches through solid Avood before reachmg the hoUoAV within. In order stiU further to diminish the chance of the entrance of any enemy, from the mouth of this gaUery it constructs a tiny tube or chamber of wax, which, when comxileted, protrudes out at right angles from the trunk of the tree, to a distance of from half an inch to an inch. Were it not for this httle external construction, Avhicli is doubtless made to conceal the axierture from a certain sxiecies of red ant, which is very fond of running up and down the trunks and trees searching for grubs and larvfe, it would be almost impossible for human eye to discover the nest. I could never myself succeed in finding a Mh'im's nest, and there Avere but very fcAV of our Brazihan camaradas themselves avIio were reaUy adepts hi the art. We had one or tAvo men, however, who x)ossessed the faculty (I might almost say instinct), which enabled them to find as many bees' nests in an hour, as would supply our AA'hole cdmp with honey for a week. The honey itself is not contained m a comb, like that of our common hive-bee, but in bags, each of which may hold from a teaspoon- to a tablespoonful of the pure Uquid. The flavour is most delicious, and is usuaUy slightly acid. The honey always tastes cool 278 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. and fresh even in the most sultry weather, Avlien the thermometer is x^erhaxis standing at 98° Fahr. in the shade. The chief enemy of the Mirim bee, besides man, axipears to be the red ant akeady mentioned. This ant we not unfrequently discovered inside their nests — iiotAAithstanding the x'recaution taken by the Mirim against its intrusion — AA'here it x'layed havoc Avith the young grubs. I do not know Avhether this ant eats the honey also, but the Brazilians have told me that they occasionally cut out nests which are full of another sx)ecies of small black ant, Avhich eats both honey and grubs : this I never myself saw. It seems strange that tliere should be, as far as is known, no honey-eating bird or animal of any kind, Avith the exception of the ant, in these forests, to take advantage of the bounteous stores supplied by this little insect alone, to say nothing of the many other A'arieties of honey which exist. I cannot, however, lielxi thinking that it Avill some day be discovered that the so-called antbear (Tamandoa bandeira) is a honey eater, for which its AA'hole construction seenis admirably adapted. If this were proved to be the case, the object of the large bushy tail, which has for so long puzzled natiu'aUsts, would be fully explained. Its use Avould evidently be as a shield against the attacks of the enraged bees flying around, AvhUst the animal Avas making havoc of their nest. Besides bees, of mosqmtoes proxier there were many kinds. Their attacks began at a comparatively early hour, when the ak Avas damp and steamy and the TJie Carapatto. 279 temperature not below 68° to 70°. As the sun rose higher, and the atmosxihere became drier, they dis appeared from the conix3aratively ox3en picada and con cealed themselves in the loAV-lying deexAly shaded ravines, Avhere we occasionally came upon them at these hours in enormous multitudes. Wasps, hornets, bumble bees, and Botucas Avere also numerous and troublesome during certain hours of the day; but as I shall have occasion to refer to these hichos, incUA'idually, later on, I will here do no more than record the fact of their existence. The most disgusting by far of aU our forest foes was the loathsome Carapatto, or tick. During luncheon was the time to be most carefully on one's guard against their insidious attacks. The/owce-men Avhen at Avork had natmaUy, in the course of the day, dislodged many hundreds of these vermin from their customary stations on the leaves and twigs of the sraaU mider- growth, and consequently the picacla itself, in the rear of the cutters, was generaUy alive with them. To obriate as much as x^ossible the nuisance of their presence, we usuaUy, before sitting doAAUi, felled a palm-tree, and, having stripped off the long feathery leaves, laid them on the ground as a cai'xaet to recline upon. Many ticks Avould, however, find their way up through the palm leaves, and, eagerly fastening on any part of one's clothing that came within their reach, at once begin to swarm up, tUl they succeeded in discovering some vulnerable part of the body, to which thev would then attach themselves so firmly 2 8o Pioneering' in South Brazil. that, if not detected and x^uUed off immediately, it became a matter of great difficulty to remove them at all, without leaving most of the head stUl buried in the flesh. To most people the bite of the Carapatto is more poisonous than that of any kind of mosquito or fly. I myself, I believe, am a rare exception to this rule, for I never suffered the slightest pain or irritation from it. It may be imagined that with all these draAvbacks to comfort and enjoyment of nature in the forest, it was generally a relief Avlien evening arrived, to find ourselves once more in the oxAen clearing on which our camps stood. Here, there were neither mosquitoes nor carapattos to vex us, and even the little polvora ahvays retired to rest with the sun. Eound the first camx) Avas a considerable extent of capoeira, or second-groAvth forest, which Avas at this tirae less than a year old, and consequently not more than six feet high. One's x^rogress through this under growth early in the morning was cominonly attended by a noise like haU, caused by the falling off from the leaves on to the ground of multitudes of little blue and green beetles. These pretty little insects Avere at this early hour temxAorarily dex3ri""ed of the use of their wings, though thek senses and mstincts of self-xire- servation evidently remained keenly aAvake. Every leaf had several indiAuduals upon it, which, if you but looked at them, at once relaxed thek hold, and, roUing down the leaf, tumbled straightway to the ground and were lost in the rubbish beneath. By CH. III. Fire-flies. 281 attaching a cux3 to a long stick and cautiously in troducing it underneath the leaves, and then Avitli the other hand pointing another stick at the 'cute little insects, they immediately tumbled off and were caught, as it Avere, ur thek own trap. When once the sun's rays touched them, they recovered their temporarily suspended x^owers of flight ; thus it Avas that they could only be caught in this manner very early in the morning. I never came across these curious beetles again after leaving this camp. WhUe on the subject of insects, I must not forget to mention one of the most beautiful of all the sights afforded by these msect-teeming tropical forests, namely, the nightly disxilay of fire-ilies, which was now just commencing. The first occasion of my Aritnessing one of these brilliant sx3ectacles was in this wise. One day I had been out in the forest till a rather later hour than usual, and, on arriving on the river bank at the spot where I had appointed canoes to meet me as usual, to take myself and the men with me down to camx3, I found that by some mistake the canoes Avere not there. It Avas rapicUy becoming dusk, and there was, therefore, no time to send a man through the forest to the camp, winch Avas more than a mile beloAV us. We, according, remained where we were, firing minute guns to let those in camx) know our whereabouts. This succeeded, and in about half- an-hour up came two canoes to take us down. It Avas then quite dark and raining gently. When Ave got out into the middle of the river, lo ! Ave found ourselves 282 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. floating down between two brilliant Avails of fire. Myriads of fire-flies had all at once come out of the forest, and were shoAving thek enjoyment of the rain by flashing their million lights aU along both banks of the river. The loAver x^ortion of these fire-walls was the most brilliantly lighted — the fire-flies congregating in the greatest numbers about a yard above the water- level. Now and then a brighter light, like a big planet, Avould shoot out from the dark forest, and thread its XAatli in a bold, weU defined orbit amongst the crowd of lesser stars, and then sail majestically away above the tree-tops towards the interior of the forest. This was the great fire-beetle, which, in addition to the usual phosphorescent light in its tail, carried two shining fixed lamps, one on each shoulder. So brUUant are their lamps that I have seen them light iix3 both sides of one of our broad picadas as distinctly as a x^ak of carriage-lamps AAill illuminate a country lane on a dark night. Noav and then on our course down, one of these great beetles Avould take its flight across the river, Avhich Avas here more than a hundred yards A\ide, the deexi bass note with Avhich its fhght was accorapanied sounding not unhke the distant roar of a cataract. On this x>articular night the display of fire flies and fire-beetles was x^robably more than usuaUy brilliant, on account of the very favourable conditions ofthe atmosphere. Like mosquitoes, fire-flies are most lively Avhen the air is saturated Avith moistme, and Avlien, at the same time, the temperature is not beloAV 70° Fahr. A'cw Plan of Work. 28- On the 14th of October Ave bid farcAvell to our first camp, the line of the exploration liaAing now advanced to sorae distance beyond it, though, unfortunately, not following the bank of the river, but being forced by the nature of the country to x^enetrate nearly a mile inland, Avith the unpleasant x'rosx3ect of having to be carried still farther away inland, before it would be Xiossible to bring it back once more to the river bank. This, in conjunction Avitli the loss of the services of two members of the staff, necessitated the introduction of an entirely new feature into the conduct and work ing of the exx3lor ation. The main canix3s Avoiild still have to be situated on the banks of the river, wluch Avould still x^erforce con tinue to be the main road for the transxiort of all heavy stores. These caraxAS, hoAvever, could no longer be used as such for the working parties of exxilorers. Too much time would be taken uj) hi walking to and from them each day, to aUow, in such a case, of the survey work proceeding Avith due rapidity and economy. Practi caUy it was found that for every mile that had to be walked through the forest, even though a hand picada had already been made for the x>ui'X30se, one hour Avas lost. So cUfficult was the nature of the ground itself — so impossible was it to cut and clear a decent walking picada through the dense imdergroAvth that covered it, without an enormous expenditure of tune and labour, that one mile of such Avalking Avas more exhausting to 284 Pio7ieering in South Brazil. ch. m. the physical x'owers than ten miles Avoiild have been on an ordinary, country road. These considerations forced us into the adoption of a system of small tvorking camps, constructed upon the very line of the exploration itself. On the 19th of October this iioav system was, for the first time, begun to be x^nt into oxieration, and on that day I, with a smaU party of nhie men, started for the forest laden with hammocks, instruments, and Xirovisions calculated to last us a week. Only the bare necessities of Ufe Avere taken Avith us ; for the labour of forest transport was too great to aUow of indulgence in any luxm'ies. We had no tents because they could not be carried. One large kon pot and a smaU tin cup was to satisfy aU the requirements of our cookuig. Beans, farinha, toucinho (pork fat), coffee and salt Avere our sole comestibles. Thus laden, we took foui" hours to accompUsh a distance of little more than two mUes. At the end of the march the legs of most of the men with me, from the knee downwards, were caked with blood — drawn fi'om them by many a cruel thorn and sharxJ stump on the way. Our fkst business was to buUd a rancho or hut for shelter at night or from ram. As the building of huts is always an important part of the education of a backAvoodsman, I wiU describe the type most commonly built by us for our Avorking camps ; the same type, though built AA'ith a good deal more solidity, being afterwards employed in our big camxis and depots. Forest Camps. 285 The sole materials used are palm trees, bamboo stems, and cipos. Though there are many kinds of this latter parasitic plant, there Avas one especial species which we iuA'ariably employed. This species was perhaps the most common of all, and it could be readily obtained in any part of the forest in lengths of from tAventy to thirty feet, and of the thickness of a little finger. It was enormously strong, the strength lying altogether in its bark. By slightly tAvisting it preAious to use, it could be tied into knots like string or cord without fear of breaking — and even without being twisted it Avas so x^Uable that it might be wound round an axe handle without breaking. Three pairs of uprights are cut from the long slender stems of palm trees (or if the rancho is to be very smaU, from young saxilings). These ux3iights are pointed at the bottom and notched at the toxi. One pair, the longest of the three, is driven into the ground, at the distance apart corresxAonding to the x^roxiosed length of the rancho. This x^air suxix^orts the ridge pole (also x)ai't of the stem of a palm), which is lashed to its place with pieces of cipo. The other tAvo x^airs, AA'hich are shorter, are iioav fixed in the ground at equal distances on each side of the centre x^air, to correspond AA'ith the x^roxiosed width of the rancho. To these latter, eaves-poles are similarly lashed with cipos. A horizontal ci'ossx3iece at each end bind ing the three uxirights together, comxiletes the more substantial part of the frame of the rancho. The rafters are of bamboo, bound on Avitli cipos to the 286 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. m. ridge and eaves-poles. One or tAvo other bamboos are lashed horizontaUy across the rafters to act as laths, and upon these, x^alm-leaves are suspended by their bent stalks. As each of these leaves may be from tAvelve to fourteen feet long, one row on each side of the ridge is sufficient covering, if the rancho is not very large, or is only to be occupied for a few days. When the leaves are fresh they form a perfect x^rotec- tion from sun and rain. When they are a few days old, hoAvever, they require to be renewed, as they shrivel up in drying. There are other Idiids of x^alm-leaves — namely, those of the smaU edible palm, which are best laid on the rafters horizontally, instead of susxAended vertically from the ridge like those of the bigger x^alm tree. A rancho, constructed in the manner described, of dimensions fourteen feet by ten feet, could be run up by four raen in about half an hour. In the event of heavy and long-continued ram it was soraetmies necessary to build a second rancho, in order to accom modate comfortably the whole working party. It was in one of these little ranchos, then, buUt in the midst of the forest, half a day's journey from the big camp, that I SAVung ray hammock, on the evening of the 19th of October. There was a subtle charm in the feeling that Ave were iioav cut off from all the world, and Avere dexiendent on the Avork of our oaa'ii hands for the very roof that covered us. CHAPTER IV. A Suggestion. — The dancing birds. — Peculiarities of forest gi-owth.— The Jacutinga. — The SuriupiS,. — "Eoughing it."— Illness. — Jacutinga blood. — Kindness of a colonist. — The dangers of some Brazilian climates. — Life in camp. — The "Cigarro." — Fishing in the Ivahy. — The stinging caterpillar. Let a man in search of a iioav sensation of Ufe, for once in a way sleex) outside the accustomed shelter of a roof and four walls. Let him choose for the season of his exxAeriment some still, calm summer's night ; and for a spot some quiet secluded Avood or grove, even in prosaic, highly-civilised England. I venture to say that that man, in those few short hours, avUI have tasted a pleasure more real than any his past life can recaU since the days of his boyhood. Instead of the homely Avoods, substitute the magni ficent growth of a Brazihan sub-tropical forest ; and for the *knoAvledge of havmg civihsation all aroimd you, the certainty of a boundless expanse of imknown wilderness with strange and unknoAvn inhabitants, and I leave it to the imagination of the reader to say to Avhat extent his pleasurable sensations Avould not be added to and enhanced. 288 Pioneering in South Brazil. oh. iv. Thus surrounded, I x^assed my first night in the dexiths of a Brazilian forest — uneventfully, but yet supremely enjoyably, in spite of the busy attacks of many hungry mosquitoes during the earlier hours. The next day Avas Sunday ; I accordingly gaA'e the XAarty a rest, rayself only with two men making a short exxiedition to fix a convenient site for our next smaU camp. Of these two men one was Pedro Antunes, who had attached himself to rae Avitli great faithfulness since the commencement of the expedition, and the other Avas his uncle, by name Messeno Lopez — both being very superior to the general run of our BraziUan camaradas. Besides these two there was another man Avith my little x>arty, who was a very faithful but at the same time an incorrigibly idle fellow. This was Jaca, a scion of the noble house of Andrade, whose acquaint ance, as the reader may remember, we made on the inarch up from Ponta Grossa to Colonia Thereza. These three formed, so to sxieak, the elite of our Brazilian staff, and I felt that they Avere men I could more or less dexiend upon under all circumstances. It is a very rare thing in a BrazUian forest to hear birds singing. Nature seems to have concentrated aU her art energies in the x^roduction of beauty which shall delight the eye. The melodious songsters of more temperate climates are very generaUy Avanting, iheir place being supplied by harsli-slnieking parrots and toucans : dry chatterers, such as the Japu and black and yelloAv hangnest ; and melancholy Availers, Dancing Birds. 289 like the doves and goat-suckers, with all of Avhich, and many more besides, during the next year Ave Avere to become fiimiliar enough. Very soon after Pedro, Messeno and I had started from our little cainxA, our attention Avas atti-acted by the unwonted sound of a bird singing. My comxianions, immediately they caught the sound, told me to foUow them toAvards it, and I should x^robably AA'itness a very curious sight. We accordingly made our Avay cautiously through the forest, which haxiXJened to be in this x^articular sxAot rather more open than it usually Avas, and, after going about twenty yards, found ourselves m a tiny glade, in Avhicli tree-ferns, palmitos, and myrtle-shrubs formed the only undergrowth, Avhile toAveriiig high above, tAvo great cedars spread out their boughs and thick foliage in a broad x>rotecting canopy. A small waterfaU at one end of the glade had Avorn a little basin at its foot. Eound this basin, some on the ground and some on the low myrtle -shrubs, a grouxA of httle birds, about the size of tomtits, with lovely blue plumage, red topknots, and black " points," Avere assembled together, apxiarently Avitli one common object. One of them Avas x^erched, quite still, on a tAng, whistling a merry tune, AvhUe the remainder were keexiing time Avith the feet and Avings, and twitter ing a chorus accomxianiment. At first I could not imagine what they were doing, and thought they were making a demonstration against some enemy, possibly a snake. After watching them for a minute or two I found that this was not the case ; they were evidentty 290 Pioneering in So'uth Brazil. not being excited b}' anger or fear, but merely by the song of their companion. They were, in fact, having a ball and concert, and, to all apxAcarance, thoroughly enjoying themselves. At last something — probably ourselves — startled them, and the perforraance was abruxitly termhiated, each bird separatmg and going its oAvn Avay. My comxAanions noAv told me that these X3retty little creatures Avere actually known as the dancing birds. Messeno also said that he had fre quently seen them x^erforming in the manner just described. He affirmed that the minstrel was the cock bird, and the dancers were his AA'ives. I had no oxAX'ortunity of testing the accuracy of his statement, but am inclined to doubt it. More likely individuals of both sexes were assembled, as is the custom with many birds, preparatory to xiakhig. We fixed the site of the next working cwup on a beautiful spot where three streams met, and Avliere, by the i)ereniiial overflow of their Avaters, the surface soU of the ground had been almost altogether Avashed aAvay, leaving only the rocky substratum untouched. Here, in consequence, the jungle was very open, the greater x^art being given over to tree-ferns and x^al- mitos, Avhicli both axix^ear to delight in rocky groimd of this nature. Open patches or glades of this kind form a very characteristic feature of these forests. They usually occur in situations Avhere the ground is Uable to frequent scourings from the overfloAV of streams, and therefore there is ahvays a streamlet running through TJie facutinga. 291 them. They are the favourite resorts of all kinds of animal Ufe, from the largest mammals, such as the tapir and the deer, to all the niultitudinous varieties of sun-loving insects, such as butterflies, bees, wasps, and the larger lands of flies. On the other hand, the scourings from tliese glades are carried doAvii to some lower point, AA'here the A'alley is wider and less steexi, and are there re-deposited, giving rise to a luxuriant and matted undergrowth of cane and thorn brakes, which, as I have already remarked, are the favourite haunts of the various sxiecies of mosquitoes, and other shade and swamxi-loving insects and vermin. I here shot a bird which Ave were afterAvards to meet in enormous numbers in the middle portion of the Ivahy Valley. This was the Jacutinga, a sxiecies of Penelope, in size and appearance something betAveen a turkey and a x^heasant. This bird, fifteen months later, Avas destined to save the existence of the 2nGl Staff, AA'hen, for a period of some weeks, Ave were, through certain untoward circumstances, entirely cut off from OIU' usual supplies. The same bird was also very soon to serve me, individually, a good turn, which I shall not be lUiely to forget Avhile the x^ower of memory remains. I also shot two sxiecimens of a bkcl of very different character, called the Suruqud. This bird, which is about the size of a thrush, is, if we except perhaps some of the humming-birds, by far the most lovely of all the feathered denizens of these forests. The plumage of the male is a most resplen dent purple and gold on the head, throat, and back, the 17 2 292 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. ia'. breast being of a lovely, bullfinch red. The Aviiigs are dark slate, delicately barred Avith Avhite. The biU is very small, but the mouth is as Avide as a goat-sucker's. The feet and legs seem disproportionately weak and delicate for the size of the bkd. The female is much more soberly attired than the male, a simple drab and brown taking the place of the gorgeous red, purple and golden array of the latter. The wings of both male and female are precisely alike. The habits of these bkds are x>eciiliar. Their XAi'incipal food consists of butterflies, and other soft- bodied flying insects, and the only time when the}' exhibit any activity is AAdien in pursuit of thek x^i'ey- At all other times they sit motionless on some bough or branch of a tree, generally about thkty feet above the ground. The report of a gun wiU not cause them to do more than turn thek head, and I have on raore than one occasion shot the one bird, while its mate has remained sitting on the same tree not half a dozen yards off, quietly looking on. The sound of our axes seemed to have an especial attraction for the Suruqud. Frequently wliUe some tree has been trembling on its throne under the XAOAverful bloAvs of the axe, one of these birds has come flymg hurriedly up, and settled itself comfortably on one of the branches of the tottering monarch, as though it had been fleeing from some pursuer, and had now reached a haven of safety. I think possibly the vibration of the leaves under the bloAvs of the axe upon the trunk, deceives it into imagining that butter- The Suruqud. 293 flies are flitting about round the tree, hence its haste to come and inspect it. Certamly the bird seems silly and stupid enough for anythmg. My companions told me that the Suruqud was always to be found in the localities resorted to by Jacutingas, and that it Avas, in fact, the great enemy ot this latter bkd, and that the object for which it sat, so patiently watching, hour after hour, was that it might pounce upon any passing Jacutinga, and, having secured a position under the Aving of its prey, cling there and tear its vitals out at leisure. This, many BrazUians who believe in the trutli of the story say, is the use to Avliich the Suruqud puts its shai'xi beak and abnormally big mouth. My own experience of the bkd is that it is utterly imfitted by nature for so bold a profession. So dehcate is it that one shot in the body suffices to bring it to the ground dead. In skinning sxiecimens of it, I ahvays had to use the utmost care and skUl, the shghtest aAvkwardness in handhng causing the feathers to come out in handfuls, the skm itself being almost as fine and delicate as gold-beater's. We cooked the Jacut'inga for lunch, and finished the meal Arith a luscious drink of Mirim honey. We then built the rancho for our next camx3, after the mode already described, and returned to camp for the night. I pass over the details of our forest life during the next few days. It was a time of incessant toil, accompanied, as was but natural under the circum stances, with no inconsiderable amount of "roughing 2 94 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. iv. it." AVe lived xirincipally on beans and farinha, varied occasionally Avith birds that Ave shot, and other natural Xiroducts of the forest, such as honey and the toxis of the edible x^ahn. My toilette and sleeping kit con sisted only of a hammock, a couxaIo of sx3are flannel shirts, and a light blanket. At this time I had not }'et discarded the suit of rigid sail-cloth, already referred to, both Avorking in it by day, and sleeping m it by night. No kind of clothing could be less suited to the Avork and the climate than this, and I was but Avaiting tiU I could get other garments from the big dexAot camxA to discard it for ever. On the 25tli of October, after I had been out in the forest for nearly a week, liA'ing in the manner described, an event occurred AA'hich nearly deprived the staff of yet another of its members. About three o'clock that morning I aAvoke feeUng very cold. I got out of my hammock, and went to the fire, Avhen I imraediately began shivering violently. Some of the raen, seeing there Avas soniething the matter, got iqi and lent their oAvn ponchos to xmt over me. After a short sxaoU of x^ainful vomitmg, I en deavoured for a niomeut to stand on my feet, and found I had lost all strength. I began to think I was suffering from poison, and I gave directions that ¦the moment it Avas dayUght, men should be sent to the main carap for assistance. For a long time after this I Avas insensible, aud Avlien I again recovered consciousness I found that I Avas being carried by our old friend Jaca, on his back, through the forest. It Illness. 295 must have been tAvo hours or more after this that I again came to myself after a second lapse into uncon sciousness, and found that I was lying on the ground by the banks ofthe " Barra do Doutor." I felt I Avas smldngfrom sheer exhaustion ; and, though I knew I Avas asldiig for Avhat could not be obtained, I prayed the men round me to give me some souxa. Lying on my back, I happened to notice several Jacutingas or AA'Ud turkeys in the trees above, and I told Jaca, avIio was bathing my face Avith Avater, to shoot one and give me its blood to drink. Tavo Avere shot, and their blood brought to me Avarm, which I eagerly SAvalloAved. This blood, I fuUy beUeve, saved my life, for it gave me strength enough to last through the next two hours, vi'hich time it took for me to be taken down by canoe to the sitio of Maruca's son at the mouth of the Doutor. One of those strange chances Avhich, even to the most sceptical, must appear providential, had before this made me aAvare that I Avas suffering, not from any poison, but from an acute attack of inflammation of the Iddneys,* the remedies for Avhich I well knoAv to be "' The " chance" referred to in the text was this. AVhile lying on the ground by the Barra, waiting the arriA'al of the canoe that had been sent for, such a deadly pain came on that I felt I was really dying. 1 said to Tyiison, one of our Em-opeans who Avas with me, " Tyuson, lift me np, I think I am dying." He did so, and supported me in a sitting position Avith his knees resting in the hollow of my hack. In a few minutes an indescribable sense of relief came upon me — and then it was that it flashed across my mind that the relief was due to the wannth of the man's knees communicated to my back. I at once guessed tlic true state of the ease, and gave directions for treatment accordingly. 296 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. iv. a hot bath and cupping. Thanks to this timely dis covery of Avliat I Avas suffering from, I Avas able to give directions to my men what to have done for me Avhen Ave should arrive at the sitio. Before Ave reached it I Avas again insensible, and remember no more tiU I found .myself in bed Avith hot water running clown my back. For tAvo days I remained AA'ith the hosxiitable X3eox3le of the sitio, by the end of which tirae I Avas sufficiently recovered to go down the river to our own big camp. I have described this attack somewhat fully, because it affords the best iUustration that I can xiossibly give of the greatest — x'srhaps the only — danger of the climate of this x^art of Brazil. This danger Ues in the sudden changes of temxAcra- ture AA'hich occur in very short spaces of time. On the night on which I Avas taken iU as described, the thermometer feU 38° Fahr. betAveen six o'clock m the CA'cning and three o'clock in the morning ! In the Ax3X)eiidix (Note E) I have given a table of temxieratures, Avhich avUI, no doubt, be interesting to many readers of this book. There it will be seen that even more sudden and starthng variations of tempera ture than the one quoted are not uncommon to this climate. The adA'ice of the tropeiro on the xn'airies, "never travel Avithout your poncho," is applicable to all parts of the highlands of Brazil, Avhether forest or campo. After this attack I allowed rayself four days' rest in the big camp, Avliere I built myself a rancho after the The " Cigarro." 297 fashion of those already described, with the addition, however, of four Avails and a door. In this hut, Avliich, as compared AAuth the tents, Avas deliciously fresh and cool, I used to draAv and Avrite during the day, AAdioUy xirotected from the insect Avorld by a large mosquito net, which, AA'hen suspended from the rafters, hung down to the ground, affording ample room for a camxi stool and a table AAithin its protectmg folds. Bees, wasxis, hornets, flies of various kinds, and mosquitoes buzzed aroimd it all day long, but none could find an entrance. Had there been any polvora Ul this camp, my self-satisfaction Avould, doubtless, have been rauch lessened, for they Avoiild have come through the meshes of the gauze, Uke water through a sieve. AU day long big Cicadas, or, as the camaradas caU them, cigarras, Avere circling round and round the oxien space of the camx), uttering sliriU cries like the Avhistle of a locomotive. The Cicada is something like an enor mous fly, measuring from three to four inches across fi'om wing to wing. Its colour is generaUy light green. It has great xAOAA'er of AA'ing, and flies Avith almost electric rapidity ; not, however, traveUing far, but contenting itself with SAveeping round and round any smaU open space or clearing in the forest, frequently sitting on a bough or twig to rest. I do not know whether it is that the Cicada is very local in its habitats, or whether its duration of life is limited to only a fcAv Aveeks in the year, lyjt certain it is, I do not recollect seeing it in 298 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. ia-. any other camp but this, nor do I remember ever having heard its shrill whistle except during the three months of September, October, and November. What the swaUoAv and the SAvift are to the great ox3en spaces of the big river, the Cicada would seem to be to the smaller glades and clearings of the inner forest, dominatuig over all its lesser kind.* It is one of the myriad sxiecies of insect hfe that is caUed into existence by the apx>roacli of summer, and which, having fulfilled its predestined mission of laying the seeds of a future generation, dies a natural death, either, I suppose, Avlien the rains commence in the month of December, or a few months later when the colder Aveather sets in, and once more wipes off the scroU of creation nine-tenths of the forest insect world. At about five o'clock every afternoon the air would usually become very sensibly cooler, and I used then to go out on to the river to fish. One of our Eurox3ean camaradas, a Swede named Oberg, Avho, iioav that Lundholm Avas on the sick Ust, was constantly in camxA attending on him, was a most enthusiastic fisherman, and it Avas ahvays his delight to be my companion on these occasions. The current imraediately opposite the camxi Avas very strong, it being, in fact, the tail end of a small rapid that played and sparkled a hundred yards above. '* Since Avriting the above, my attention has been drawn to a very beautiful account of this insect given by Louis Figuier, in his popular work, "The Insect "World," wliere he says that its sole food is the "sap of large vegetables. ' CH. IA'. Fishing in the Ivahy. 299 This AA'as our favourite fishing ground, and here Ave would anchor the canoe in mid-stream, by means of a large stone attached to the boAv roxie and heaved over board, and throAV our lines into the SAvift current. Sometimes Ave used to attemxit fishing AA'ith a fl}', but tliis AA'as noA'er very successful on account of the number of small broAvn SAvallows Avhich Avere ahvays skimming along just above the surface of the Avater. These swaUows Avere constantly darting at the fly, and so getting themselves caught on the hook. With ground bait Ave were usually very successful, and fre quently eight or ten pounds' Aveight of fish of various kinds would be caught before dark. About this time, too, we began to make regular use of a large net belonging to Curling. This net Avas sixty feet long and seven feet deexA, with tAvo-and-a-half- iiich meshes, the Avliole being x3rox3ei'ly fitted Avith leads and cork floats. Until noAv no one had any idea of what value it Avould x^rove to us. At Colonia Thereza we had experimented with it on one, and only one occasion, Avhich exxierhnent had been so very unsuc cessful that the net had never been used since. On that occasion Ave had attemxAted, by a combined action of dragging the net and beating the Avater towards it, to make a, haul of fish : but the bottora of the river proved to be so much encumbered with Avaifs and strays of trees, rocks, and such like obstructions, that no better result was obtained than the tearing of several large holes in the net. By a haxipy inspiration, it now occurred to us to anchor the net across the 300 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. river, or rather as far across it as its length would XDermit — for the Ivahy Avas here full ninety yards wide — and see whether the fish would not be obUging enough to entangle themselves in the meshes of thek OAvn accord. One eA'eniiig, therefore, CurUng liaA'hig just returned from a tAvo days' exploration in the forest, we Xiroceeded together to put the idea into execution. One extremity of the net we anchored by means of big stones close to the bank, wliUe the other extremity Avas taken out toAvards the middle of the riA'er, and there secured in a similar manner — the net therefore standing across current. The next morning, almost before daylight, anxious to see the result of the exxAcriment, Curling and I got into our canoe, and paddled to the sx3ot. It Avas soon evident that the experiment had succeeded beyond our greatest exx3ectations. Even before commencing to haul in the net, we could see through the clear depths of the water various white and black patches attached to it. The hauling in afforded great excitement, as fish after fish Avas brought to the surface, each one seeming to be bigger than the last. When Ave came to count the spoil, we found four teen fish of three different kinds, varying in weight fi'om two to twelve x^oimds. The biggest was a fine Suru bim, which could not have Aveighed less than twelve Xiounds. Besides this there Avere two more Surubims, fom" Dourados (Brazilian salmon), and no less than seven of our old friends, the Cascudos. Nearly aU the fish Avere already dead, though why they should have been so I did not understand. I suppose, however, The Stinging Caterpillar. that their struggles to escape from the meshes of the net must have caused them to die from sheer ex haustion. From this date tUl the end of the expedition we continued to use nets, that Ave ourselves made from time to tune, Avith great success — ahvays x^utting them down in the evening and taking them uxi in the morn ing. In the day-time the fish see the meshes and avoid the snare. In time of floods, that is, throughout the rainy season generally, the nets could not be used, on account of the drift timber, which at those times was carried doAvn the river in large quantities. It is, unfortunately, at this very season of the year, Avhen most other siix3X)Ues Avere Uable to run short, that the serrices of these nets Avoiild have been most useful, could they only have been employed Avith anything like safety to themselves. Before concluding this chapter, I should mention another class of msect, which Avas iioav beginning to force itself upon our notice, first, by its wondrous beauty, and, secondly, by the terrible punishment that it has the power of inflicting upon Avhomsoever it touches. This is ihe tribe of the hairy catei'XAiUars. Every evenkig after sunset the borders of the camp clearing Avere lit up Avith many scores of these lumi nous caterpUlars, most of which emitted light from every ring or band of thek bodies. The phosxAhorescence Avas not confined to the under ¦part of the animal, as in our common gloAV-Avorm, but ¦shone out also from the back and sides. The optical 302 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. iv. effect Avas that produced by a railway train when run ning at night Avith all its carriages lit up. The varieties of these caterpillars Avere legion. Their bodies were protected by trixile coats of mail ; that is to say, they Avere covered with a hairy substance Avhich, in some sxAecies, took the form of moss, and in others of groiqis of stag- antlers. To attempt to touch these creatures Avitli the naked hand Avas a scarcely less hazardous undertaking than x^h^ging one's hand into a live hornets' nest. Each hair, or x)oint, has the x^ower of inflicting" a sting" as xiainful as that of a certain veno mous species of red ant very common in xiarts of the forest, so that if by chance, as not unfrequently befell us Avlieii Avoi'king on the picada, one of these cater pillars happens to drop off' a tree on to the hand, or, Avorse still, on to the nape of the neck, the pain is almost unbearable, the spot on which the creatm'e falls immediately becoming inflamed, and afterwards swell ing up to a great size. The best cure for these most Xiainful stings is the immediate application of some strong spirit, either cachacfl, brandy, or ammoma. Birds Avill not touch these caterpiUars, their chief enemies axipearing to be certain sx3ecies of black ants, Avhich I shall have occasion to refer to later on, and also the large kinds of Avasps and hornets. Frequently, at night, as many as four or five indiA'i duals together Avould mount up the palm-tree Avails of ray hut, forming a most beautiful illumination. Not Avithstanding that the phosphorescence in these cater- XAillars extends over almost the AA'hole of their bodies, ch. IA". The Stinging Caterpillar. 303 the light they give is not brUhant, like, for instance, that of the great fire-beetles, but is of a most soft and subdued character. They are esxAecially numerous about the months of October and November. As a class, they are, I think. phosphorescent STINGING catehpillar. without exception, the most beautiful of all the lower animal organisation of these forests — whether seen by day in thek wonderful raoss-lUve garments and brilliant colours, or by night when shining in all the splendour of phosphorescent light. CHAPTEE V. In the forest again. — Animal and insect life. — The "whip" butterfly. — A plague of sores. — The "Aipa'' cure. — Fii'st adventure with a tapir. — Curling's messenger — Starved out. — EeUef expedition. — A happy meeting. — Another tapir hiuit. On the 1st of November I returned once more to the little Avorking canixi in the forest, AA'hence a week before I had been carried on men's backs. I Avas quite recovered, excexAt that I felt the labour of the forest march somewhat more fatiguing than it should have been. The caiiix) Avas the second that we had built m the forest, and has been partiaUy described as the meeting Xilace of three streams, and a favourite resort of manj' kinds of animal and insect Ufe. It iioav becarae more than ever famous for the number and variety of its anuiial XAroductions. Of quadrupeds Ave killed two pacas (a kind of guinea-pig), and a small short-horned deer Avliich one of our dogs hunted across the oxien glade m AA'hich our camxA stood. Of bkds, Jacutingas or Jacus, Suruquus and humming-birds of several species Avere esxiecially numerous. At different times we killed fourteen snakes, en. A-. Animal and Insect Life. 305 either inside or close to the rancho, one of which, a small and beautifully marked coral snake, had taken up its abode in one of my boots, out of Avliich it dropped AA'hen I took the boot up to put it on. After this little incident I never failed to shake my boots out every time before venturing to put my foot mto them ; and, though I never again found a snake therein, I frequently turned out small fry, such as lizards, frogs, stinging caterxiillars, and large poisonous spiders. The vast number of Mirim bees Avliich visited and remained in the camp during the hotter hours of the day Avas inconceivable. The xarqui and the toucinho of the men Avere usuaUy covered more than half an inch deex) Avith these insects. I believe it is the salt contained in these two articles of food that is their especial attraction. Unlike our common luA'e- bee, the Mirim does not make its honey frora flowers. In the first place the floAvers of the forest are few and far between, and would be altogether insufficient for the sustenance of the vast arraies of these bees; and, in the second x^lace, I never observed a Mirim bee to settle upon any floAA'er. Tlieir natural food seems to consist chiefly of decaying animal matter, and out of these refuse stores of Nature they form the delicious honey with which the forest abounds. Amongst the many varieties of butterflies wldch thronged the glade in Avhich our rancho stood, and whioh also fulfiUed the part of Natme's scaA'engery, one especially deserves mention, as having peculiar habits, different from those common to most other 3o6 Pioneering in South Brazil. kinds. This Avas a butterfly of medium size, measming about tAVO and a quarter inches across the wings, when open. Its colour Avas white, barred and spotted with broAvii. It was remarkable, first, from its habit of snax3X)ing or cracking its Aviiigs when annoyed or dis turbed, whence Ave christened it the " whip " butterfly; and, secondly, from the x'eculiarity of settUng, not upon the small undergrowth like the generahty of its kind, but upon the main trunks or Umbs of trees, Avhere it xilaces itself Avitli the head downwards and the wings outspread, closely embracing the smooth bark. In this x^osition, which is more common to moths than to butterflies, it remains undetected by the casual observer, as it resembles merely a j)atcli of lichen. If approached, hoAA'cver, it will give warning of its dis- ax3probation by sharply shutting and opening its wings once or tAvice (more generally tAvice) in quick succes sion, x^roducing by this sudden contact the whip-like siiaxi from which we gave it its name. Frequently, too, it makes the same sound when on the wing. The suruqud is very X3artial to this butterfly, and is at once attracted by the whip-like crack, forsaking its branch, on which perhaps it has been x^erching for half an hour without having given the smallest sign of life, and darting after the "Avhixi-cracker" with great eagerness. LUie the great majority of the butterfly world, it is a scavenger, and Avas not unfrequently to be seen, sur rounded by Avasps, bees, and hornets, sucking the juice ofthe xarqui. At night I frequently caught large brown and purple CH. A'. The " Praying Mantis." 307 moths, measuring eight, nine, and even ten inches across the wings, which like the butterflies and other day insects seemed to consider our xarqui their common x^roxierty. Of aU the myriad representatives of insect life that thronged aroimd and about us at this little camxi, by far the most curious and most interesting to the ordinary observer, was the creature rexiresented on the next page, usually caUed by the BraziUans the " Devil's riding-horse." So exactly does this insect resemble in its appearance a common leaf, that, were it not for its remarkable abundance in certain localities, it Avould be almost impossible ever to discover one of them. When, however, by careful search, one has been detected, nothing is more interesting than to watch it for awhile. Its normal attitude, Avlien no other insect is near, is one of x^erfectly motionless devotion. This attitude is so marked, that it has obtained for it the common name of " Praying Mantis " — a name, how ever, not at aU indicative of its real xJursuits. It is, in fact, the most bloodthksty of insects, preying upon mosquitos, flies, and small bees with inexhaustible appetite. When for examxAle, a mosquito — usually the most wary of insects — deceived by the resemblance of the mantis to a leaf, haxix^ens to alight to rest upon some leaf or twig Avithin a short distance of it, the latter is seen to turn its head sharply in the dkection of the new-comer, and then begin with a very sIoav and almost impercexAtible motion, to creep toAvards it. X 2 Pioneering;' in South Brazil. At the same time, its forearms which had before been tightly folded back upon themseh'es, begin to open, disclosing to vieAv a x>air of formidable-looking, serrated Xiincers or jaAvs. The mosquito meauAA'hile, calmly XAursues its innocent occuxAation of washing its hands and face, x^reparatory x^erhaxis to another onslaught uxAon its human victims, and all ignorant of the doom so close upon it. The mantis still continues its Pr.ATING AIANTI.S AXD JIOSQT7IT0. almost imxierceptible axiproach, its great green eyes staring upon its x^i''6."5'- Now it has arrived within striking distance. With the rapidity of lightning, both its arms are shot out at once, the unhappy mosquito is caught betAveen the sharp serrated edges, crushed as in a vice, and, in but little more than a minute, the Avliole body is torn to pieces and devoured. Again the mantis resumes its raotionless x'rayerful attitude, and is once more ready for a victim. Thus amidst the countless hosts of foes to man. A Plague of Soi'cs. 305 which yearly are brought to life by the heat and moisture of these gxeat forcing-houses — the tropical forests, there is at least one that is sUentl}' but unremittingty fighting on his side, slajing its thousands and tens of thousands of his most troublesome insect enemies. Thus it Avas that I, at all events, always looked upon the mantis with a friendly eye, notwithstanding the unkindly suggestiveness of its BraziUan narae. About this time, namely the begiimuig of November, Curhng and I Avere both attacked by the x'lague of chmate sores, simUar to those under AA'hich S. and Lundholm had succumbed a month earlier. These sores attacked chiefly the back of the hands, the forearms, and the feet and legs beloAV the knee. They invariably commenced on mosquito bites Avliich had xAerhaxis been shghtly scratched or rubbed. At first the sores thus caused would be merely superficial. After a foAv days, however, they Avoiild begin to eat into the flesh, be coming excessively painful, and causing SAvelling of the thigh glands. When this latter stage Avas arrived at it was necessary to keep quiet for a day to allow the swelhngs to go cIoaa'u. We had to discard boots and trousers, and go about on the rough jpicac?;(.s in slixDpers a,ni pyjamahs. I never found that these sores affected my general health, though forest locomotion during the time they lasted Avas terribly x^ainful. All the Euro peans of the Staff, without exception, were now attacked in a similar manner, and many began to leave us in consequence. Those Avith weak or unhealthy constitu tions Avere mvariably the raen AA'ho suffered most. 310 Pioneering in South Brazil. Their lives became a burden to them, and thek presence more or less a burden to us. It seemed to be a fatal thing to " give in " altogether under this affliction. Those Avho did so doubtless hoped to cm'e themselves all the sooner, but the contrary result was obtained. Lundholm remained iU and unable to work for nearly eight weeks from this cause, and the tor raents that he underAveiit from the x^lague of insects in camp the whole day were truly pitiable. Those Europeans whose special duties obUged them to remain generally in the camps became discontented, iU and miserable. The least evil was clearly x^roA'cd to be to endure the x^ain and discorafort as best we might and not give in, except perhaps for a day at a time, when rest had becorae absolutely imperative. About five Aveeks after these distressing sores first attacked us so generally, a newly arrived BraziUan camarada informed us that he knew of a x^lant which he called Aipa, that was a sure remedy. After some diffi culty he succeeded in finding this plant, which x^roved to be a kind of wild celery. With it he made a strong decoction lUie tea, by boiling the leaves and stalks in Avater. With this decoction the sores AA'ere bathed morning and evening, the bruised leaves themselves being applied as a x>oultice at night. After three days of this treatment, Curling and I entirely got rid of om' troubles in this respect. Lundholm was cured m less than a week, and the five Euroxieans, who were at that time stiU with us, were all cured in equally short periods. This Aip)a remedy, I found afterwards, is The " Aipa " Cure. knoAvn to, and practised by the AAild Coroados Indians, Avho inhabit the lower portion of the Ivahy valley, they also occasionally suffermg from similar sores. For three Aveeks I remained out in the forest with my httle x>arty of Avorkers, Curling, Avith another party, keeping always from one to three iniles in advance of me, communication between us, and also Avitli the main camx?, being constantly kex)t ux3 by messengers sent from one to the other. Once I paid him a visit in his advanced camp, though the journey Avas pain and grief to me on account of the climate sores just mentioned. I found him, hoAvever, in a far more wretched state than myself, his legs es peciaUy presenting a shocking sight. Nevertheless he still managed to crawl about, exploring. Fortunately he had with him a very good foreman, an American named Nettles, Avho, from having been in the country many years, did not suffer from this affliction so greatly as did the rest of us. This man, Avho was almost the only trustworthy and caxiable non-Brazilian that Ave possessed, was of immense help in relieving CurUng of much of the most trying part of his Avork, Avhicli, in his present condition, he could not possibly have performed himself. On one occasion he had been sent by CurUng with two other picked men, on what x^roved to be a fom* days' expedition, for the purpose of exxiloring the com'se of a little river called the Barra Baptista, down to its junction Avith the Ivahy. On this expedition, during which they suffered great hardships from not 312 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. taking sufficient xirovisions, they met with an adventure which seemed almost x'rovidential, resulting in the killing of an animal which hereafter was destined to become, like the Jacut'inga, one of the mainstays of the Staff. This was the South American taxiir, knoAvn amongst ourselves by its Brazilian name, Anta. The adventure came about in the following manner. The small party of three men, including Nettles, had been working their way througli the forest, along the banks of the Baptista for a day and a half, and had not yet emerged out on to the big river, as had been exxiected. Their x)rovisions Avere already consumed, and they had nothing to eat but honey and palmito tops. On the second night they camped, tired, and almost sujAperless, on a sx30t about twenty yards from the bank of the Barra. The moon, Avliich was nearly fuU, had risen about an hour, Avhen one of the X'arty Avent to the Barra to get Avater, and suddenly found himself face to face Avitli a tapir. For one second the tAA'O stood looking at each other, and then the latter turned sharply round and xdunged into the water, just as the man discharged the contents of his x>istol about his ears. Hearing" the rex)ort. Nettles and the other man Avitli him came rushing up. Taking in the state of affairs at a glance, the BrazUian xilunged into the river, Avhicli Avas here only ten or tAvelve }'ards Avide, and keeping his x^istol and poAvder-belt high and dry with one hand, with the other SAvaui across, and in a feAv seconds landed on the opposite side. Nettles rushed a short distance down stream, in order to reach a Uttle Adventure zvith a Tapii'. 3 1 3 rapid where the water Avas shalloAv, so as to cut off tlie tapir's escaxAe on that side, while up stream a natural barrier was formed right across the river by a salto or waterfall, five feet m height. The taxsir Avas now im prisoned within a pool of about tAventy yards by twelve. After remahiing beneath the Avater about one rainute after his first dive, the men easily foUoAving all his motions by the iix3X3les on the surface, the animal came up again to breathe and look about him. Two charges of buck-shot saluted his appearance, and immediately he plunged down again beneath the Avater. After a short interval he again rose, but receiving a similar salute, dived as before. Whichever Avay he turned he found someone ready to receive him ; till at length, bhnded by the repeated charges of shot, and exhausted by his repeated dives, he fell a victim' to a thrust from a long facdo AA'hich x^isi'ced his neck. The hunt lasted twenty minuses, and must have been especiaUy exciting to the three men engaged in it, as they were literally hunting for their lives. The flesh of this taxiir supx3orted thera for the next two days tUl they had once raore safely arrived back in camxi. I do not think either Curling or I Avill ever forget the Aveeks that Ave sx3ent in this manner out in the forest. I should but weary the reader Avere I to recomit a tenth part of the miseries and hardshixis Ave suffered, chiefly caused by the painful sores which were eating into our limbs, and the never-ceasing msect plague. Day after day Ave Avere devoured alive 314 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a'. by insects, and pestered by vermin of all kinds, and even at night there was very Uttle rest from thek attacks. Were it not that the climate of these forests, notwithstanding that they are veritable forcmg-houses of heat and moisture, is essentially healthy, no Euroxiean could have Avithstood these sufferings for the many Aveeks during Avliich Ave ourselves were obliged to undergo them. I originally went out on this xirotracted exxiedition Avitli two Europeans amongst my x^arty, neither of Avhom remained with me after the first week. The Brazilians, on the contrary, came out nobly through the ordeal ; for even to them it Avas an un usual trial, accustomed as they were to their large open sitios and roc^as. For my xiart I greAV to have quite an affection for each indiA'idual of my smaU band of cama radas; and they on their side seldom complained when by chance x^rovisions ran short, or some especiaUy difficult sei'A'ice Avas requked of them. On the IBtli of November this severe sxiell of forest life terminated for the time. We emerged on to the open river bank, bleached quite white or Avhitish- yellow; and this, notAvithstanding that a powerful tropical sun was blazing above us for twelve hours a day.' This heat, however, only reached us in the deep shades of the Brazilian forest in the form of a highly magnified Turkish bath. Hence the bleaching Xihenomenon. Curhng still remained in the forest, AvliUe I went down the Ivahy some four or five miles, to the point CH. A-. Curling's Sufferings i 315 of tlie junction of the Barra Baptista, to buUd a store camp and coUect supplies at that spot. It was down the course of this little river that Curling was slowly leadmg the van of the exxiloration, sorely hindered by Ms bodily sufferings and by the double work which had devolved upon lum since the departure of S. and coUapse of Lundholm. He was at this time, by calculation, about four miles distant, in a sti'aight line from the mouth of the Baptista, and about the same distance from the big depot camp on the Ivahy. His party was a large one, consisting of about twelve or thirteen men, and to supply these with pro visions a constant commmiication had to be kept ux) between his little camps and the big river depot. The distance was continuaUy increasing as he ad vanced, and the strain upon the transport arrange ments augmented in proxiortion. By making a depot at the mouth of the Baptista we hoped, as soon as ever the summer rains should have set in, to open up a water communication with him by that Uttle river. On the day after I left my forest camp on this service these rains actually commenced. In three days I had buUt the iieAV depot, and coUected a large supply of provisions on the spot. On the morning of the fourth day, the rains iioav having caused the waters of the Barra to SAvell, I mtended to make the attempt to open up the new Une of communication. 3 1 6 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a-. An event, hoAvever, occurred in the afternoon of the third clay, Avliich induced me to hasten forward this oxieration Avitli all speed.' A report of a gun Avas heard at some distance aA\'ay in the forest. There was great surprise and wonder amongst us as to Avho it could be coming. We ansAA'ered Avitli pistol shots, and nothmg more was heard for nearly half an hom'. At tlie end of that time we heard a noise of hacking, as of a man cutting his way through the forest, and presently there emerged into the camxi clearing, a human being covered Avith blood from head to foot. At first no one recognised this miserable-looldng object, so disfigured was he with blood and torn garments. It proved to be one of the men of Curhng's party, a man named Miguel Lopez, perhaps Avithout exception the most splendid feUow on the expedition, in AA'hatever capacit}' he was tried. I kiieAV him to be Curling's favourite man on this account. At first he could scarcely speak, but after we had given him some cachaca he revived, and Avas able to give his noAvs. He had brought a note from Curling to me, in Avhicli he said that he had for the last tAA'o or three days sent messenger after messenger to the big depot camp up the river for provisions, and none had returned ; that he and his party Avere reduced to Uvmg on honey and birds, and that by the time IMiguel, the bearer of this note, reached me, he should, with the rest of his party, have started to cut his way doAvn to Relief Expedition. 3 1 7 meet me at the iioav store camp, praying me at once to start by canoe and endeavour to meet him. Something had evidently gone Avrong on the old Une of communication, though what it might be I could not guess. Mignel told me that he had been cutting his way doAvn for twenty-four hours Avithout stopping, and that he had been cut and torn by the thorns and stumps which at night he could not avoid. Occa sionally he had taken to the water, half wading and half swimming for long distances, but that his feet had been cut to xdeces by the rocks, and in the forest by the thorns. He said that CurUng's l)ai't}-, laden as they were with camp equipage, would take at least three clays to accompUsh this laborious march. I at once ordered the tAVO light canoes which I had in readiness, to be loaded Avitli x^rovisions ; and, within an hour after Miguel's arrival, I had started, accompanied by six of the best and most x^OAverful men, on a mission of succour. Miguel would not be left behind, but insisted upon coming, and, notwith standing his late severe fatigues — which were scarcely yet an hour old — he set his corapanions such an example of how to Avork, that before night came we had accorax)lislied Avhat I calculated to be fully half the distance to Curling's forest camp. Our work thus far had been very laborious, as, notwithstanding the rains, the little Baptista was in parts very shaUoAv, and rapids, cataracts, and saltos were numerous. Ths many faUen trees also greatly impeded our course. 3i8 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. v. When night came Ave did not trouble ourselves about making any elaborate camxi, but merely cut a little clearing a few feet in diameter for the fire, and swung our hammocks in the trees around. We had brought a dog with us, which, the moment we had landed, set off full cry into the forest, and continued hunting for two hours after dark. Miguel said that, if there were any jaguars about, he would be snaxixied up to a certamty. We shouted to him to leave off tlie chase, winch, by its manner of running, the camaradas recognised as being a deer, but to no pm'pose. Once the animal xiassed close to our Uttle camp, but it Avas pitch dark, and nothing could be seen. At length the dog grew tired of its fruitless hunt and returned to us, and the remainder of the tropical night x^assed undisturbed, but by the melan choly wail of some kind of goat-sucker in the cUstant forest, by sliriU night insects aromid, and the never ceasing buzz of mosquitoes in our ears. The moment dayhght appeared we had started again, our first piece of work being to drag the canoes bodily UX) a salto of nearly six feet vertical drop. This was x^robably the scene of Nettles' tapk hunt already described. The little river was wonderfully rich in bkds. Solitary king-fishers reigned over each Uttle reach of water. Sturdy bitterns and long-necked cranes of various species kept guard over each rapid and waterfall. I shot one or two as specimens, but there was little time for delay of this kind. After five hom's of incessant toil — during Avhich Miguel had A Happy Meeting. 319 enlivened us by pointing out many of his late tracks or rastos, Avhere he had, from time to time, taken to the water, and, after the manner of his race, tacking on a tale to each — shortly before midday we heard shouts from the right bank, and the AveU-known sound of hacking a p'lcada through the mato. We shouted in return, and presently several men appeared out on the bank, amongst whom I recognised CurUng by the pecuhar cut of his garments, which consisted of an enormous sun-hat (which, by the way, is very rarely requked m the forest itself), a short duck-jacket and knickerbockers. The deUght AA'ith which they hailed our axixiearance did our hearts good, and amply rex3aid the toil Ave had undergone before meetmg them. They x^resented a very forlorn appearance indeed, having already done a good amount of forced marching on starvation aUowance. Curling himself Avas but in a poor condition for marchmg, as, lUie myself, he was stiU covered with climate sores on his legs, hands, and arms. The Brazilians shoAved their dehght at the succour that had arrived in their usual manner, by shouting and firing off pistols. There Avas to be no more marching that day. The next tAVO hours Avere sxient in cooking and eating. A clearing was made, and a large palm and bamboo rancho buUt in a very short space of time. Some tracks of tapirs had been observed by us on our way up the river, and it was proposed, as a fitting conclusion to the happy meeting, that a hunt should be Pioneering' in South Brazil. organized. Curling had got one dog, and I had brought UX3 another, and both Avere said to be good tapir himters. The river was too shallow to aUow us to use the canoes Avith any advantage, though the game Avas sure to ultimately take to the water. Two men started off AA'ading up the river; occasionally, AA"heii the Avater became deep, getting out on the bank and cutting a Avay through the jungle. They took the dogs with them in a leash, ready to sliji thera AA'hen a good track had been found. Cuiling and I went with thera, as long as they kept near the river, but not finding a suitable track at once, they soon steered aAvay for the forest, advising us, hoAvever, to reraain in or near the river. We sexiarated, Curling going down stream, and I going up. We had not long lost sight of each other, Avlien a tremendous uproar of dogs and men, and crashing of undei'Avood, burst forth from the direction in Avhich the hunters had gone. My heart leapt ux> to my mouth Avitli excitement, for I knew that such an uxiroar could be caused by nothing less than a taxiir suddenly roused from its lair. At this moment I haxAXiened to be AAaist-deep in the Avater, with no Avelcome shalloAvs anywhere near, on Avhicli I could move freely. The noise and crashing of uiider- Avood seemed, lioAveA'er, to be comhig directly toAvards me. I cocked both barrels of my gun, Avliich was loaded with heavy ball cartridge, and stood as motion less in the AA'ater as the excitement of the occasion Another Tapir Hunt. 321 would allow. I coiUd now distinctly hear the gallop ing- of the great beast as he came nearer and nearer. My eyes grew misty with the intensity of my excite ment, as I momentarily expected to see the aniraal come bursting out of the jungle, and x)lunge into the river. My gun was at my shoulder, and my finger on the trigger, Avlien the tapir suddenly turned at right- angles to its former course, and without coming into view, went crashing its way through the jungle in a dkection parallel to the river, foUowed by the dogs in mad cry. In tAA'o minutes more all sounds were lost in the distance, except the faint voices of the dogs still in full cry. In my eagerness, I attempted for a few seconds, to foUow by swimming, booted and armed as I was, but this was a hopeless task. Half-an-hom later I heard a double shot in the distance. This proved to have been the death-knell of the tapir, which, after a rapid hunt, the dogs had brought to bay higher up the river, where the hunters had come up with it and despatched it Arith thek pistols at close quarters. This night we had tapir steak for dinner for the first time. To me it tasted very like beef ; but the BraziUans said that they would have preferred xarqui, or dried beef, to tapir meat, because the latter was Uable to cause dor do estomago. Curling and I, however, enjoyed this unusual luxury of fresh meat greatly, voting it better than any xarqui that ever grew beneath an ox hide. The rancho which Ave had here buUt was named 32 2 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. a'. '' rancho da Anta," or " tapir hut," in memory of this our first tapir hunt. It Avas no sooner built than its ¦services were put in requisition. Thunder, which had ceased for the last tAveiity-four hours, once more began io mutter aroimd, and the big rain-droxis to x'atter 11X3011 the leaves of the forest. The rancho, however, had been made large enough to contain us all, as well as the two canoe-loads of XJiovisions that I had brought with me. Amidst the thunder, and hghtning, and heavy troxiical rains, Ave all x^assed a comfortable night, shel tered from the elements beneath the Avork of our own hands, and with meat and drink in abundance. This is Avliat constitutes happiness in the baclcAVOods of BrazU. CHAPTER VL "Eetum to the river. — Anarchy in the big camp. — The "merchants" of Colonia Thereza. — The Cachoeira. — A perilous mishap. — Habits of certain parrots. — Habits of the toucan. — The four-in- hand parrot. — A new plague. — The " berne." — A wild-pig hunt. — Dagan and the tree bridges. — Indian runners. — After work in the forest. The bold and shrewd spirit of enterprise Avliich in the Eastern hemisxihere causes men to foUoAv even armies into the field in the hope of maldng legiti mate profit out of their necessities, in sxiite of the manifold risk to life and property, does not seem to have xsenetrated into the Western hemisphere, or at least mto that x^art of it situated Avitlim the boun daries of South Brazil. Let us say that in the x>rovince of Parana alone, our expedition, m the course of its two years' or so existence, expended the respectable sum of s£30,000 to £40,000, more than one half of which having been spent over the heads of the "merchants" of Colonia Thereza, to their loss, no less than to our inconvenience. Would it be believed that, with such a sum of Y 2 324 Pioneering in South Brazil. money as this x^assing by them in a constant stream, as x^ayment for stores and proAdsions, which their knowledge of the country could have brought to Colonia Thereza at a saving of at least one-third of the x^rice actually x^aid by us, the highest flight of commercial entei'xirise caUed forth in them by the Xiresence of our exxiedition in their coimtry, was to send surreptitiously doAA-n to om camps five-shUhng barrels of cachaga to be sold retail to our men on "tick!" Imagine my disgust when, tAvo days after the events described in the last chapter, I returned to our big camxi up the river, and found that it had been trans forraed in oui' absence mto a low renda for selling and drinking cachaga. It appeared that the chief "merchant" of the colony — a man of some cax3ital and considerable connection in the large toAvns of the province, had been doing exactly what I haA'e just described, and sending one of his friends down to seU cachaga to om' men on credit, for which hereafter he had the cool effrontery to send in the bUls to us, begging us to act as his coUectors and stop the money owmg to hkn out of the men's wages ! No wonder poor Curling had never heard more of his messengers whom he sent for supplies. As fast as they an'ived at the camp they joined the orgie there going on, whUe the spirits lasted, and uoav, having been drunk for three days, Avere but just aAvaking to a sense of their neglected duty. ch. VI. The Cachoeira. I made a clean SAveep of aU the Avorst offenders, who, before an hour had elapsed from the time of my arrival, were on their way up to the colony, -dismissed.* Eemakiing but three boms in this camp, to put things straight once more and despatch a "special" to the colony, I first sent on a big canoe, loaded Arith men and stores, to the Baptista Carap ; and half-an- hom* later started thither myself, in a tiny cedar canoe, Arith only Messeno to work it. The old camxi was now therefore to be deserted, and only Lundholm (Avho at length was beginning to move about a little), vdth four men, was to be left behind in it, as being a more convenient point for him to recommence his forest work fi'om. A Uttle more than a mUe below the camp there was a cachoeira, or cataract, which I had already passed ¦once before when the river had been quite low. On that occasion we had had to get out of the canoe into the water and lead her doAvn some narrow channels to the bottom, the faU being about five feet in eighty . yards ; ugly- looking ledges of rocks stancUng aU across it. Now, however, that the river was in flood, I asked Messeno what he was gomg to do when we came to it. He rephed that the men m camxi had told hira that the cachoeira was Usa — in fact, that it was now temporarUy obliterated by the flood, and that we * "What we most suffered from at this time, when the work was ¦ scattered, was not only the want of more engineers, but of a few -thoroughly good, trustworthy /o?'cmcn. 326 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. vi. sliould " slip " over it without knowing it Avas there beneath us. I rechned at fiUl length at the bottom of the canoe enjoying to the full the rapid motion as Ave were swept along on the flooded river. Parrots of many colours SAvooped out from the edge of the forest as we xiassed by, saluting us with the harshest and raost discordant of screams, and then again swiftly retm'ning to their cool coverts in the thick-foliaged trees and relapsing into sUence. Biguds, or big divers, moved uneasily on their tocos, or tree-stumps, as we axi- proached, finally spreading their Avings and skimming off up or doAvn stream, and never faUing to cUxi then- tails into the river at the commenceraent of thek flight. . All at once the duU roar of falling water disturbed my dreamy cogitations, and at the same moment we rounded a shai'X) bend in the river and came in full sight of the cataract, Avliich, so far from being anything like Usa, was raging and foaming like sea-breakers on, a rock-bound shore. We Avere in mid-stream, and had akeady entered, beyond the x^ower of staying our course, into the fuU current leading to the cataract.. It was difficult to see the fuU extent of the danger to which we were being hurried, for the setting sun was straight before us, dazzling our eyes. " Que diabo ! 'stamos perdidos!" "The devil! we are lost!" were the only words Messeno could utter when he first caught a glimpse of the great waves stretching across , the Avliole width of the river. There Avas no time, in fact, for more words. Messeno, who had till noAv been ch. VI. A Perilous Mishap. 327 stancUng in the stern of the canoe, sat down— stUl, however, continiung to steer Avith his paddle. With a rush we raced down the first piece of slippery water, that marked the beginmng of the cataract, dashing om- bows into the raised wall of foam at the bottom. A huge volume of Avater came on board, over the Ioav straight sides of our tiny craft, but in a second we had passed tlnough the waA'e, and still floated. I coiUd now make out another and another wall of water ahead, each one marking a line or ledge of sunken rocks. It Avas erident that with the canoe already haU-fuU of water, the next wave must swamxi her utterly. With one hand I clutched my valuable gun, and with the other my still more imxiortant bag of sm'vey-books, and in a moment we had dashed into the second wave. The Avater came right over us, and I immediately felt the canoe shiking from under me, and heard the angry hiss of the breakers in my ears, as Ave were swept over the sunken rocks beneath. Almost immediately the canoe reappeared close by my side, floating bottom uxiwards. I threw one of my arms round her, but she turned over at once, causing me to disapxiear under the Avater. Twice again I tried to support myself by her, with a similar result each time. I Avas bhnded and choked by the water, and akeady almost exhausted by my efforts to keep my head above the surface. I expected momentarily to be dashed against some hidden rock, Avhen the question of "to be or not to be " would have been definitively settled in the neifative. The mighty roarhig ofthe waters all around 328 PioneetHng in South Brazil. ch. vi. us, and the still more horrid hiss which told of a rock barely covered, over which we were passing at the rate of twelve iniles an hour, would have shaken my nerves had I had time to think. But in less time than it has taken to read this descrixition aU was over. The cataract was thundering imxiotently in our rear, and we were drifting swiftly along in smooth Avater. I say tve, for, on looldng behind, I Avas reheved to'_ behold Messeno sitting astride upon the stern of the- upturned canoe, on which, having both hands disengaged, he had easily succeeded in seatuig hiraself the moment we had emerged into smooth water. He also had the advantage of me in being clad only in a xiair of drawers, whilst I was fully accoutred in my forest costume. I now got one arm securely round the canoe's keel, and in this manner we drifted some distance, too utterly exhausted by the beating about in the cataract, to make any efforts to right the canoe, or steer her toAvards the bank. At last Messeno gave a shout and said, "Alii vem a canoa grande " — " Here comes the big canoe," — and at the sarae moment, I also caught sight of a canoe strug gling up stream, under the bank. It was the same Avhich I had sent on half-an-hour before I started. I could see the men in her aU standing up, and working their paddles like madmen. All they could do, how ever, was to hold their own against the stream tUl we had drifted doAvn abreast of them, Avhen they imme diately tm'iied their canoe's head a few degrees off the bank, and putting their backs into thek paddles more vigorously than ever, cut us off m mid-stream. •c"-"^'!- A Timely Rescue. and in another minute we Avere safely on board. We had drifted fully a mile before Ave were rescued, and had not our rescue come when it did, I should have had to have dropped my gun and books, and even then have had a hard enough struggle to reach the shore, encumbered as I Avas Avitli boots and ¦clothing, and exhausted by the cataract. From this day forth, I entertamed a AA'holesome respect for the poAver of water in motion. I had XJracticaUy proved hoAv utterly helpless a man must be, under such conditions as those Messeno and I had just encoimtered. The knowledge of SAvimming in such ckcumstances is chiefly useful as giving nerve to a man ; but to attempt Avith his x^uiiy strength to combat the waters of a cataract, or even in the shghtest degree to guide his course down it, is a sheer impossibUity. i considered that my experience in tins respect had been cheaply bought, at the price of a good duckkig ¦and the loss of various small articles of private property. Mter a refreshing time of four or flve days, sxient either uxion or close to the big river, during which I buUt yet another main camp, foiu' miles below the Barra Baptista, and made one or two short but interesting exploring expecUtions into the forest, duty compeUed me once again to give up my body to be tortm'ed and devoured day and night by bees and mosquitoes, carapattos, and stinging caterpillars. Between the animal Ufe of the inner forest and of tlie river banks, there is a wide and marked difference Pioneering in South Brazil. — more esxiecially Avitli resxiect to bird life. One note worthy instance of this is in the case of the parrot tribe. These birds were extremely rarely seen by us at any distance aAvay from the river banks. The solemn stillness of the depths of the forest was seldom disturbed by their harsh cries, Avhereas on the river banks they formed the chief, and certainly the most prominent feature of animal life. Here thek shrieks Avere often deafening, and their flights frequently quite darkened the air. I have already incidentally mentioned thek habit of shrieking when on the wing, and relapsing into silence Avlien they have again returned to their coA'ert. This seems to be a very general instinct with all the smaller and weaker A'arieties of x^arrots, if not also of the larger kinds. This latter is the instinct of self- preservation, induced by the vague knowledge of enemies existing" within hearing of thek cries, and Avhose axiproach they can neither see because of the dense forest surrounding them, nor hear, without themselves x>resei'ving silence. Besides this instinct of silence under certain circumstances, x)arrots have another great protection against their enemies given them in the colours of their plumage. Although green of various shades is the characteristic hue, Uke that of the forests they inhabit, many species are gaudily marked Avitli yellow, x'urple, and red, one particular bird Avhich I have often seen having a head the exact colour of a certain bright yeUoAv and pmk fruit called the guariroba, upon which it ex- Habits of the Toucan. clusively feeds during the months of November and December. In this case its gaudy toxiknot is a real protection against its enemies, the hawks and kites. It will generally be observed, hoAvever, that all the more strildng coloiu's and markings are altogether- absent from the most exposed parts of the bkd, and are confined chiefly to the breast, neck, and the Avings- aiid taU, Avhen these latter are sxiread ox3en for flight. The brilUant blue and scarlet macaws, Avith which Ave were to meet in great numbers in other parts of the forests, are an exception to this rule; but, on the other hand, these birds are poAverful enough to coxie Avith any hawk or eagle of the country on equal terms, and therefore have less need of concealment. It is remarkable that Avitli the toucan tribe — another harsh-screaming bird — the rule observed in the case of the parrots is reversed in one noteworthy particular. This bird screams AA'hen it is sittmg, and performs its short and clumsy fUght in perfect silence. It screams only m the early mornmgs and evenings, when seated on the extreme toxis of the highest trees, enjoying the first or last rays of the smi, and while it has a full and unimpeded view above and all around it. When a bird of prey appears, attracted perhaps by the screammg, the toucan sees it at once from afar, and quietly droxis down into the thick covert beneath, till the coast is. again clear. Parrots therefore scream only AA'hen in flight, because at that time no enemy dares to attack them, in face of their compact numbers and rapid 332 Pioneering in South Brazil. powers of wing ; Avhile the toucan, Avhich is a bird of feeble flight, and of a less gregarious nature, care fully avoids attracting attention by screaming, except on the occasions noticed. A knoAvledge of peculiarities such as these, in the habits of birds, is sometimes very useful to the human inhabitant of the forest, who has to read such signs to lead him to his dinner, or perhaxis even to save him from some danger. There is a certain sxjecies of large parrot, a sxiecimen -of Avhich I never succeeded in obtaining, which may be seen at all hours of the day, high above the river and forest, flying either in xiairs, trios, or quartettes, steering always one straight, unswerving course, ignoring alUte friend or foe, excexit the x'artner by its side. I never observed less than two or more than four of them together. Very frequently they fly in threes, two in front and one close behind. When four are together, they keexi rehgiously in x)aks, one behind the other, like a four-in-hand harnessed to an invisible car. They exhibit none of the exuberance of spirits so characteristic of the smaller x^arrots of the river banks. Even their cries are cut and dried by rule, and are heard x^roceeding from them only at perfectly regular iiitei'A'"als. The midday sky is seldom without two or three such paks or quartettes m view, ^eacli foUowuig its oavu distinct, separate course. In the deep shades of the silent forest, the only ¦isounds that used to reach us from the outer world A New Plague. 333. Avere the screams of these great parrots flying over head. Whence they came and whither they went on thek long, steady flights Avas one of the many insoluble problems of this Avild land. Nobody could ansAver the- question, not even the Brazilians themselves. The tune which had now come was to be the last occasion on which we were to be called uxion to endure the torments of a xirolonged spell in the forest ; for the line of exploration AA'as never again forced ta foUow a course so far removed from the banks of the main river, the Ivahy. On arriving at the Uttle camx> fi'oni which my work Avas to start again, after the usual laborious march from the river, Avliich on this occasion took seven hours to accomplish, the men being laden Avith provisions, hammocks, &c., we found that another plague, which had, however, akeady ap peared on the Ivahy, was awaiting us. Hitherto our troubles, though painful enough, had been little more tlian skin-deep. This new x>lague was, however, of a more penetrating character — -it was to make its abode deeply seated in the flesh itself The origin of this new x^est was a big, spotted fly, not unlike our common horse-fly at home, though larger and more stoutly buUt. I first made the acquaintance of the fly itself as I was one day paddling in the bow of my canoe ; the IDrick it gave almost causing me to jumxi overboard. The BraziUans call the fly botuca, a name Avhich they also give to a large broAvn fly having an enor- Pioneering; in South Brazil. mously long and sharp xiroboscis, Avhich we met Avith ;a month later. The fly in question is a silent fly, that is, it makes no buzzhig with its wings when flying, lUce the broAvn hotuca. It is thus enabled to make its attacks without warning. Neither does it insert its x>roboscis into the human body for a bloodthirsty purpose like the latter insect, but merely in order to deposit its egg therein. It is a curious example of the minute care which Nature bestoAvs even in the smallest x^oints relating "to the economy of life hi her esxiecial proteges, the insects, that this fly, which is, as far as I know, the only winged insect of these forests which deposits its eggs in the Uvmg bodies of the larger animals, is also the only one Avhose bite or rather prick is absolutely free from venom, and which therefore leaves not the slightest irritation behind it. When we know that the egg is a very delicate molecule, and that any rubbing or scratching uxion the ¦sxiot in AA'hich it is dexiosited would suffice to destroy the germ of hfe within it, Avliile it is yet m its first stage, Ave begin to see the reason for this exceptional ¦exemxition from irritation foUowing the touch of this qiarticular fly. The x^i'ick is shai'xi and sudden, but the moraent the xiroboscis is Avithdrawn (the egg having been deposited at the very moment of the prick) the xiain ceases, and no inclination is felt to scratch or Tub the wound. The egg, thus left to itself, speedily germinates and becomes a maggot, Avliich gradually, and, at first, painlessly, Avorks itself deeper into ihe The "Berne." 335 flesh. In about a week's time, Avheii the maggot has grown to a length of perhaps half-an-inch, it begins to fill out laterally, and at the same time to make known its presence to the unfortunate individual, be he man or beast, in Avhose body it is Avorking. At regular intei'A'als duruig the tAvent}'-four hours, the animal changes its position by revolving slightly on its own axis, the sensation to the hapless sufferer being as though a shai'xi spiked AvheJel Avas being scrcAved round in his flesh. At first the pain is felt about once in every six hours, lasting xAerliax>s for three seconds each time it occurs. Every day, however, shortens the interval of rexiose ; and, by the end of another Aveek, the pain recurs every hour. By this time the pain has become so great as to attract especial attention to itself above all the more common daily annoyances of mosquitoes, flies, wasxis, and stinging caterpillars. It was when the animal Avas in tins advanced stage that, on the first occasion of my suffering the indignity of having one of them in my oavu body, I discovered what it was. I complained of the con stantly recm'ring pain to a Brazilian, and he at once suggested that it was a "berne" that Avas causing it — "berne" being the name of this interesting bicho which I have just been describing. Having ascertamed that he was in fact correct in his surmise, I gave myself uxi to be operated upon, and, after a good deal of pinch ing and application of tobacco juice, the beast was extracted. The fuU-grown "berne" is abo-at an inch and a b^ Pioneering; in South Brazil. quarter in length, and haU-an-inch in diameter, being cigar-shaped — that is, pointed at both ends. Its general colour is white, but round its body are five dark rings, which, if closely exarained, are seen to be coraposed of numerous tiny black sxiikes or bristles. These are the feeders of the animal, Avith AA'hich also it cuts and tears the flesh in Avliich it is buried, by its periodical revolutions. Such was the new plague AAuth which we now began to be inflicted. Fortunately for us, the fly Avhich x>J-'oig, and then, drawing my knife, rushed to the spot. The x^ig was there, hard hit in the back, but was dragging himself aAvay on his fore legs, the Innd legs trailing. When I came up he snapped his jaws viciously, and rolling his bloodshot eyes made a great effort to charge, but faihng in so doing, fell down on his side, and before he could rise I had driven my knife through his neck again and agam in the excitement of the moment. I had bagged my first pig, and an ugly brute he was, with his two slanting tusks sticking out, white and sharp, from each side of his lower jaw, giving lum a savage look even in death. His chest was very deexi and strong, but his flanks and hinder part were lean and wiry, like those of a greyhound. He was covered ch. VI. Dagan and the Tree Bridges. 00, AA'ith long bristles of the colour of porcupine quills, and his scent was of the strongest possible descrixition.'* I now shouted to Jaca, but just then I heard the rexiort of his pistol at some distance aAvay in the forest, shoAving that he too had come up to the game. Presently he retm'ned. He had, however, missed his pig, probably from having nothmg better than a Brazilian pistol as a weapon. Cutting along cipo, Ave secured my porco on Jaca's shoiUders and retraced our steps to the picada, where Ave dropped oin game, coA'ering it OA'er with fresh pahn leaves, to keep the fUes from touching it. This was the first drove of pigs that had yet been met with. It was a sign that the forest Avas becoming less densely jungled, and also that Ave Avere noAV enter mg the land of Jaguars and Pumas, for these beasts were always to be found where porcos do mato existed, these latter forming thek principal food. After this day's work was over, we returned by the same picada, the pig being given to a man named Dagan to carry. Tins man was a German, and was chiefly famed among us for his enorraous appetite. This pecuharity, added to certain eccentricities of manner and behaviour, had made him the general butt of the BraziUan camaradas. On this occasion the picada happened to cross the river Baptista twice — m both instances, a "tree-bridge" having been felled across it for the convenience of crossing. These tree- bridges, of wluch there were many on different parts of * See Appendix, Note C, " Brazilian wild pig." z 2 340 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vi. the xiicada, Avere the plague of Dagan's life, as he Avas afraid of losing his balance or slipping upon them, and tumbling perhaps twenty feet or more into the water beneath. UsuaUy he preferred the safer, though more laborious method of descending one steep bank, wading or swimming the river and ascending the opposite bank. To-day, however, the BraziUans had chaffed him into a determination to exhibit unusual Xiluck, and he swore a mighty oath that he would, with the pig on his back, cross the next tree-bridge with the best of them. We x^resently arrived at the river, and on seeing his old dread, the narroAV and shxixiery tree-bridge, Dagan's heart began to fail hkn, and for a raoraent he hesitated. The Brazihans began to chaff again unmercifully. Dagan's back got up, and boldly stepping upon the tree, he commenced walking across it, with the x^ig stUl strapped to his shoulders. The river Avas about twenty yards Avide from bank to bank. When he got half-Avay across, we saw that his coinage was giving Avay. He hesitated and almost stopped ; then, suddenly seeming to summon up all his remain ing courage, fixed his eyes on the opposite bank, and began to run. At the first step his body inchned ominously to one side, at the next step his centre of graAity hung still more away from the tree ; and at the thkd, man, pig" and all had topxiled over into the river beneath, making a terrific splash, with the impetus gained by a drop of nearly twenty feet. The Brazilians, who had till iioav delighted in chaffing the poor fellow, at once showed thek good nature by Indian Runners. 341 rushing doAvn the thorny bank and plunging in to his rescue. Fortunately, he had fallen into a good depth of water, and was therefore not at aU hurt, but when he was XJulled out his face Avore a scared look, which told plainly enough Avhat a shock his nerves had sustained. Shortly after tins occm'rence Dagan re quested permission to leave the expedition, wluch Avas granted. I fear the daily torture of the tree-bridges, added to the insect x^lague, had been altogether too much for him. To us, it was inconvenient losing all om' Europeans, as, however unfitted they were for the Ufe we were leadmg, yet they Avere valuable because they could all Avrite and understand figures, which scarcely one of the BrazUians was capable of doing Arith even the most ordinary facUity. As chammen and storekeepers, therefore, they were akvays of some value to us. On the da}' foUoAving this incident, Ave Avere met on the picada by iwo naked Coroados Indians, whom' I recognised as belonging to the Indian village at Colonia Thereza. Each was carrying a Ught bamboo basket on his back, suxiported by a band of bark passing over the head. Without greeting of any kind, nor taking the shghtest notice of the questions of the BraziUans, they walked straight uxi to me, and one of them x^roduced a note carefully wrapped up, first, in a bit of cloth, and next, in a roU of leaves, and gave it to me with the words " Capitao — Doutor." The note was from Curling, announcing, amongst other things, his OAvn 342 Pioneering in SoutJi Brazil. ch. a-i. successful emergence from the forest on to the river bank. The baskets which the Indians carried contained, besides a suxix>ly of beans and farinha for our common consumption, a budget of letters from .England, with dates three months back, three bottles of beer from the Curitiba brewery, and some fresh fish caught that morning by the net in the Ivahy. The introduction of Indians into our staff was a bold idea, now for the fkst time attemxited to be xmt into execution by us. Our object was to obtain a set of men accustomed to forest life, who would be mde- Xiendent of Brazilian pride and prejudice, and would do the work that a BrazUian would not do. Language Xiroved the sturabUng-block in the way, and our Indian camaradas were never more than a partial success.* How I enjoyed this x>articular night, when after the day's toil on the picadas was over, we retm'ned to our little forest camxi — which haxixiened to be the very one that had been the scene of Curlmg's rescue, and om' first exciting tax3k hunt in honour thereof — and, after a delicious bathe in the cool waters of the Baxitista, and the uiiAvonted luxury of a dinner of fresh fish, wUd x^ig meat and beer, 1 swiuig in my hammock smoking a soothing pixie, and reading the news of the old country from my budget of travel-worn letters. I remember on this night, the great fire-beetles were constantly mistaldng my humble light of a bees-wax * See Appendix, Note G, " The reclaiming of the Indian." vu. A-I. After IVork in the Forest. 343 dip, stuck in a vara beside me, for one of themselves, and coming bhmdering up agamst it, extinguishing it again and again ; and how tked Jaca Avas of my oft- rexieated shout, "Jaca, qiiero luz," necessitating his tumbling out of his hammock each time to relight the iU-used dip. On looking" back on these times as I write, thi'ough a long "rista of months and years, crowded with raany other scenes and adventures, I forget aU the manifold discomforts and petty troubles Avith which they had, indeed, bristled at aU points, and remember only the pleasures of my then wild Ufe. CHAPTER VII. Ad. Indian panic. — A night alarm. — Jealousy between Indian and Brazilian. —News from the first staff. — Their life and ours. — Morant's adventure with [a snake. — The coral-snake. — Other snake encounters. It was the last night of the Old Year. We were camped on the river bank, a full day's jom'ney by canoe from Colonia Thereza. For the last tAvo nights a panic had reigned in the camp. The tame Indians whom we had been emxiloying for the last few weeks had aU at once cUsappeared, and none knew whither they had gone. The Brazilians, whose consciences in everything relating to Indians make cowards of them, knowing as they do Avhat just cause the Indians have for hating them, declared that the men who had dis appeared had been acting the xiart of spies during the time they had been Avith us, and had now, having learnt all our habits and Avays, gone into the forest to collect their felloAvs for the x^iiTose of maldng an attack upon the carap, and miirderhig us all. Pre cautions had been taken to x^revent, at all events, the chance of a surprise ; and now, for the first time, night Avatches had been established. A Night Alarm. 345 The first excitement had somewhat calmed doAvn, and it had begun to be thought possible that the Indians in question had merely returned to the colony, haA'ing got tired of their work Avith us. The precautions Avere, hoAVOA'er, stiU kept up, and I never retired to ray hut for the night, without laying ray revolver and Snider rifle close to my hand. On this particular night (NeAV Year's Eve), the hour being about nine, I was lying in ray hararaock in my rancho, dreamily watching the dark outlines of the men keexiing roncla, Avhose forms stood out against the deep red glow of the watch fires like sombre giants. The low sound of their voices as they talked together just reached me where I was tying, in an indistinct murmur. Every now and then one would lean forward and take a brand out of the glowing heap, knock a shower of bright sxiarks off the end, hghting uxi the swarthy faces of those opposite and the dark mass of forest in the background, vividly for a second, only to leave everything in deexiest gloom the moment after ; then, carrying the now dull brand to his cigarette, would puff sUently for a minute ; then the Ioav murmur of thek voices would begin again. I do not know how long I had been lying in this state of wakeful dreaminess, perhaps one hour, perhaps more. My thoughts had been wandering on Aride travels into the far-away past, and uncertain future, Avhen a sUght noise recaUed them abruptly to the present. I did not move, but held my breath, and hstened. Again the same shght sound, quite distmct 34^ Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. from the Ioav hum Avhicli I had been hearing for the last hour, seemingly quite close, on the other side of the rancho to where I Avas tying. The fire on the floor Avas nearly out ; a faint almost imperceptible glow was thrown by the exxiiring embers on to the white sxilit X3alm-trees which formed the waUs of the hut, showing out the dark spaces between, AA'ith greater distinctness. Slowly and sUently I tm-ned my head round towards the sound, at tlie same time noiselessly Xiutting" out my left arm to feel for the rifle which I knew Avas lying beside me. My fkst thought was — Indians, and I concentrated my Avhole mental energy into the task of rapidly Xilaiining exactly Avhat to do, when the moraent for action should arrive. At the same time, whUe thinking thus intently, I kexit both ears and eyes strained to catch each sound or movement. Before long I became convinced it could not be Indians — the noise was too continuous for that to be possible. Indians make no sign nor sound by which thek Xiresence can be discoA'ered, before the simultaneous yell with Avhich they are accustomed to spring upon their unwary victims. The noise still continued, and now I could see a distinct movement of two of the white palras. They Avere sexiarating, and the black sxiace between was groAving wider and wider ; my eyes rapidly scanned it from toxi to bottom, but as yet nothing could be seen. All at once a shadoAv seeraed to pass in front of the Avhite upright, at its lower end — something was commg ch. VII. A y acut erica Shot. 347 iu, though what it Avas, the dim reflection frora the smaU remnant of fire effectually concealed. The shadow grew bigger aud bigger, and advanced farther and farther into the hut. StiU I could not make out what it could be. I longed for the fire to hght up, just for one moment, to shoAv whether it was man, beast, or reptUe. All this time ray rifle Avas ready cocked, and pointing towards the place. It was too dark to see the sights, so I foUoAved with my eye the bright line of reflection made by the red ashes on the pohshed barrel, and covered the dark moving object, determined to fire the moment it came sufficiently near to enable me to make out enough of the outline to distinguish the head from the tail. It now advanced as though to cross the rancho, and as it passed between me and the glowing embers, for one moment its outline was clearly defined. This was enough. Quick as thought my finger pressed the trigger. The recoil of the big Smder almost knocked rae out of my hammock, and the report broke the deep silence like a thimder-claxi, and Avent rolling away far into the dexiths of the night, startling, no doubt, many a wandering beast. I sxirang down on to the ground and rushed to the sxiot, regardless of the uxi- roar of dogs and men Avliich the rexiort of the rifle had aroused in the camp ; only eager to see whether the buUet had taken effect, and what the animal was, that had so stealthily crept into my rancho. There, on the ground, lay the form of a big animal perfectly still. I seized a leg and held it up, and lo ! it was an enormous Jacuterica or Ocelot, almost as large as one 548 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. of our hunting dogs. I rushed out into the middle of the camp, in triumxih, bearing my troxihy. "Nao c nada rapaziada," I called out to the startled men, aa'Iio, xiistols in hand, had come rushing out of thek ranchos, think ing, no doubt, that Ave Avere in for a midnight attack. " Nothing at aU, my lads, only a Jacuterica," and I held the animal up to view by the camp fke. On examina tion, we found that the bullet had xiassed into his neck and out at the shoulder, making a hole big enough to have let the breath out of an Anta itself. This Avas only the second animal of this kind that had yet been kiUed on the expedition, and I was alraost as much pleased at having kUled it as if it had been a Jaguar. No more thoughts of sleexi just at present. I took the animal back to my rancho, and, having first carefully susx3ended him by his fore-legs to one of the cross timbers, xiroceeded to skin him by the light of one of our xiatent oU lanqis, held by Miles. The oxieration was not a very xileasant one, as may be imagined. All the Avild cat tribe have a very strong scent, and this individual was no exception to his kind. From the tixi of the nose to the point of the tail, he measured three feet nine inches ; the fore-legs exhi bited great thickness of muscle, and the paws were armed Avith a formidable array of talons ; but, by far the most terrible weaxioiis to look at were the teeth, Avhicli were big enough to render hira no mean customer for an}' animal to have to deal Avitli, except the royal Jaguar himself. Even in death, the broad flat head, with its big, fierce -looking eyes, and shining CH. VII. Boldness of the facuterica. 349 Avhite fangs, looked ugly enough ; and none of the dogs dared to touch it, AA-hen laid upon the ground, but stood at a respectful distance and barked. No doubt many of them had already had too much acquamtance Avitli other incUAuduals of his kind, to care about re newing the same. The boldness of the Jacuterica AA'hich I had just kUled was only surpassed by that of another Avhich I shot, under somewhat similar circumstances, a few months later. I could not help thinking that if the Jaguars, which rexiort said we should meet Avith in great numbers another hundred mUes loAver down the river, only xiroved half as bold as their smaller brethren the Jacutericas, Ave should enjoy sorae more than ordinarily exciting scenes, before we Avere again safely domiciled in ciA'ilized lands. In this case the attraction had evidently been a xiiece of roast taxiir hump, x^art of an aniraal that Curling had kiUed a day or two before, loAver doAvn the river, and sent uxi to the camp, ^iro bono publico. This huraxi I had carefully kexit hung up in my OAvn rancho, because, being considered a tit-bit by the Brazilians, I should otherwise never have seen it again. It was a long time before I could get to sleep this night, and even Avhen 1 did, dreams of Jacutericas and Indians disturbed my rest at frequent intervals. The next canoe that came down from the colony brought us the news that the much maligned Indians had reappeared there, the very day after we had missed them. They had merely taken it into their heads to 350 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vh. go away, and had done so, not thhiking it necessary to take any formal leave of us. It afterAvards apxieared, that, as we had not actually paid them at the end of thek month, they had taken it for granted that we did not mean to pay them at all, but that we intended to deceive them after the mode to which they were so well accustomed at the hands of the Brazilians. When they afterwards discovered their mistake, they were so delighted that half their viUage went directly to our agent, the director, and offered their services for as long as we might Avant thera. We engaged several, but, as akeady said, the diffi culty of language — for we could obtain no trustworthy interpreter of the Coroado tongue — combined with the Xiride and jealousy of the BrazUians shown towards the Indians, made the experiment unsuccessful. It is worthy of note that in the case of Coroados Indians, or, indeed, any other Indians sxieaking the Brazilian language fluently, no prejudice Avhatever is shoAvii against them by the dominant race. They work together freely, and such Indians even marry Bra zilian wives, and are admitted freely into the society of Brazihans as one of themsekes.* Since the four staffs forramg the expedition had first separated at Antonina, we had received no news of Nos. 3 and 4, and had but rarely heard of No. 1, notAvithstanding that this latter was Avorking within 200 miles of us. About this time, however, we received a budget of * See note on page 3i2. News from the First Staff. 351 letters from our friends on No. 1. They Avrote in high spirits, haA'ing akeady, after but five months' Avork, comxileted more than a third of their allotted section. Up to the date of their letters (January the 7th), their life had been of a very prosaic character, and they had enjoyed the mestimable advantage of having supplies of every kind aU around them. Fat oxen Avere brought to their camp door and there slaughtered whenever their necessities required it. Bread, that greatest of aU luxuries, of which we on the 2nd staff bad almost forgotten the taste, had never }'et failed them. Beans and farinha, our staff of life, to thera had sei'A'ed merely as condunents to their other food of fresh beef, pork, chickens, milk and eggs. Of climate sores they had had none, probably because of the higher mode of living that had been possible to them. Of the insect plague as Ave knew it, they had had no experience. They, moreoA'er, tantalised us by talking of riding to and from their daily Avork, and counting their daUy progress oftentimes by miles, whereas we could only count ours b}' yards, each one of which had been watered by the sweat of a score of human beings — axemen, foucemen, and carriers, Avho had laboured raany tiraes over the same ground, laden hke beasts of burden with the food that was to keep the working parties alive, and, lastly, of the engineers themselves, who had UteraUy left their flesh and blood behind on every stump and every thorn they passed, during those terrible weeks in the forest, when we were eaten up by painful sores and by insects. It 35^ Pioneering in South Brazil. en. vu. Avas scarcely possible to believe, when reading their descriptions of thek life and coimtry, that it was in the very same land, in the very same x'rovince, in Avliich we ourselves were working ; and, in fact, that all they described Avas not 200 miles distant from our selves. Nothing, I think, could more strikingly and XiracticaUy illustrate the difference that exists between the forests and the x^rairies of Brazil, than this com parison of two bodies of men, each engaged in work that had one common object, but whose several modes of life were so totally dissimilar. Many people in speaking and Aviiting of BrazU as a country, speak and write of it as though it had but one climate, and offered but one kind of life to the emigrant or settler. In the x)rovince of Parana alone there are three well- defined divisions of climate and life. First there is the hot and unhealthy lowland bordering the sea, on which, for examxile, the towns of Paranagu^ and Antonina are situated, both being subject to occasional visitations of yellow fever. Secondly, there is the elevated prairie region, situated on the average 3000 feet above the sea level, and including an area of about 20,000 square mUes, AA'hich x>ossesses a temperate and raost salubrious climate, weU adapted to the constitu tions of the races of northern and central Europe. Thirdly, there is the great forest-clad country of the tAVO river basins — the valleys of the Ivahy and the Tibagy, Avith an extent of fully 40,000 square miles, or more than two-thirds of the AA'hole area of England. This forest land possesses a climate entirely distmct Climate of Parana. 353 from that of either of the other tAvo divisions. Nine- tenths of it is distinctly tropical, though not more than one-fourth of the total extent is actually situated within the tropics. Though very salubrious it cannot be said to be equaUy suitable to the European con stitution Avith the more temperate prairie region Avhich adjoins it, and through which the 1st staff Avas now so successfully working its way. For the intending colonist in Brazil, it is very important to realise the fact that, even in one province of Brazil, as many different cUmates and different x^hysical characters of country may be found, as might exist in Iavo kingdoms put together ofthe old Avorld. He may UteraUy "pay his money and take his choice " of an abode in any one of the three natural divisions Avhich are found in the province of Parana, since there is a European colony founded in each one of them. Notwithstanding the more suitable climate and the comparative luxury in Avhich our friends of the 1st staff were liring, there Avere many disadvantages to their mode of life, as comxiared AA'ith ours ; the great est being no doubt its wearying monotony, Avhich was enhvened by no excitement greater than might have been readily obtained on the tame moors of York shire. If such an arrangement had been possible, I think the maximum of enjoyment of our hfe in Brazil would have been obtained by a periodical and jucUcious exchange of the members of the one staff with those of the other. We should certainly have appreciated to the fuU an occasional breath of the VOL. r. ^'^ 354 Pioneering in South Brazil. cu. vn. cool x^rairie breezes, good hA'ing, ^nd freedom from the insect plague ; and, without doubt, the charm and variety of a month or so of forest life, such as Ave had been leading, would haA'e been an agTeeable change to more than one of the members of the 1st staff. When next Ave received news from them, about a month later, Morant had in the meantime become the hero of a snake adventure which doubtless went some way toAvards relieving the monotonous tone of his life for the time being. It appeared that one night, after he and Ins tent comxianion Von Sydov,' had retked to bed, the latter was aroused by feeling, as he thought, some animal sucking his finger. He drcAv his hand away and then struck a light to find out Avhat it might be that had taken such a fancy to him, but could see nothing. MeaiiAvhile Morant Avas lying asleep on his low camp- bed at the other end of the tent, about ten feet distant. The night being very warm and there being no mos quitoes to guard against, he was tyuig with one arm and shoulder nude above the blaiUcet. The constant movements of Von Sydow, Avho Avas doctoring his sucked finger, at length caused him to arouse himself slightly, but just sufficiently to make lum conscious that there Avas something AA'rong about him. " I felt," he said, " something heaA'y on my chest, and cold round my arm ; I oxiened my eyes, and by the Ught that SydoAV was using, to my intense horror and dismay beheld a long head and neck Avaving back- Avards and forAvards, a feAv inches above my face. It CH. A-ii. Adventure zoith a Snake. 355 was a snake. I dared not stir, for I felt that its body was twined round my arm, and that the slightest motion on my part might cause the reptile to drive its fangs into me. I caUed out gently to SydoAV, and said, ' Sydow, there is a snake on ray arm, what is to be done ? ' SydoAv answered, ' Yes ! yes ! ya ! ya ! very good,' as though he thought it an exceUent joke, and I knew that he did not understand me, but probably imagined that I was talking about his finger. (Von SydoAv was a Swede, and only knoAv a few Avords of Enghsh.) I sxioke to him agam and said, ' Sydow, snake, snake,' but he did not understand me and oiUy laughed and ansAvered, ' Ya ! ya ! ' I did not dare to shout out loud for fear of exciting the snake, which was still gently waving its head before my face. Something had to be clone, and that very soon, for no mortal could long bear this agony of susxiense. " The moment came when I could restrain myself no longer. I jumxied up in bed, and simultaneously, Avith aU the force of long-restrained fear and horror, threw out my arm, with the cold deadly folds of the snake stUl tAvined round it, — hurling the reptile violently on to the ground by the suddenness and energy of the movement, before it had time to strike. " While I was looking for a weapon of some sort with which to kill it, it had glided out beneath the waU ofthe tent and disappeared." This was Morant's fkst close acquaintance with a snake, as described by himself. Whether it Avas a venomous snake or not could not be proved, but the A A 2 356 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vn- horror of his situation, Avhen he first discovered the reptile twined round him, Avas in any case the same. In all probability it was either a Jararaca or a CascaveX (rattle-snake), both these venomous species bemg very common on the prairies and in the little capoes, or Xiatches of wood, uxion them. Von Sydow to this hour believes that Morant's snake Avas the very animal that sucked his finger. It is just xiossible that this was so, and that, finding" the finger not so dainty a morsel as it had expected, the reptile had glided off to try its luck uxion a younger and more delicate piece of humanity. The number of snakes found on the prairies, when compared Avitli the multitudes which exist in the forests, during the summer months especiaUy, was disxiroportionately small. Scarcely a day passed with' out Avhat may be termed a snake adventure happening io some one of our camaradas, and we ourselves fre quently had unxileasant reminders of Iioav near danger lurked at all hoiu's, Avhen we were least thinking of it. On one occasion Lundholm, on going to turn into his hammock, Avhich was susxiended in one of the " working " ranchos, found a big black and yeUow boa, about eight feet long, coiled up m it. It is needless to say that the intruder was quickly dispatched. It became a recognised x'art of the day's work to turn boots upside doAAm before x'utting them on in the morning, and turn hammocks or camxi-beds inside out before venturing to recline in them at night. I possessed at this time a tame toucan, about which ¦CH. A'li. The Coral-Snake. 357 I must say a feAV words presently. One day this bird, which spent a great deal of its time paying friendly visits to different parts of the camp, came hopping in at the doorway of my rancho, and all at once stopped short and became "riolently agitated, flutterhig its ¦mngs and screaming loudly. I got up from the Uttle camxi table at which I was Avriting, and made a step towards the bird to take it up and see AA'hat was the matter with it. At the inoment of putting my foot down, I felt a bloAV like the stroke of a Avliixi round the calf of my leg. I jumped almost out of my boots with fright, for I saw that I had stepped upon a snake, which had at once whipxied its head and half its body roimd my leg. My vigorous leaxi had speedily shaken it off, but I Avas nevertheless relieved to see that it was an indiridual of the non- poisonous, black and yeUoAv boa tribe, of the same species as the one that had before been found in Lund holm's hammock. I confess, however, to the Aveak- ness of objecting strongly to all the snake race, whether venomous or not, and on the spur of the moment I snatched up my gun and shot this one dead on the spot. In its stomach, which was somewhat distended, I found two large frogs, which Avere sufficient e"ridence of the humble nature of its pm'suits. Next to the poisonous and much dreaded Jararaca, the most common snake of these forests is a certain beautiful and non-venomous coral-snake, which is banded and spotted with black, yeUoAv, and red coloms. 58 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vir. The Brazilians have an intense fear and hatred of this lovely snake, Avhich they declare to be more deadly than the Jararaca, affirming that it can both bite and sting. There are, I beUeve, some varieties of coral-snakes that are poisonous, and therefore it is ahvays prudent not to put one's self in the way of being bitten by them; but I can safely, assert that the variety of which I am sxieakmg, and of which the Brazilians have such a dread, neither has a sting in its tail nor any poisonous fangs in its jaws, for I have sldnned many of them, and exarained both the head and tail most carefully Avithout discovering an}'thing' to justify the fear of the Brazilians. The food of this coral-snake consists of worms, centixiedes, and such-Uke ground vermin, its slim delicate body being admirably adaxited for their pm'- siiit. The natives say that it has the power of burroAviug into the ground lUie a worm, but this I altogether doubt. Most lUiely they are led to^ believe this, by the, certainly, very remarkable and sudden manner in Avliich the snake in question can disappear from view. In the forest there is always a certain amount of rotten vegetation and loose debris on the ground, even in the most oxien spots. The coral-snake Avhen sui'xirised by an enemy, at once burrows under this loose rubbish, and not content Avith thus hiding itself, ghdes away Avith all speed from the sxiot, carefully keex3iiig its body concealed all the time. Thus Avhen one looks for it beneath the surface, at the spot Avliere it disapxieared, it is not CH. VII. Other Snake Encounters. 359 to be found ; hence the natiA'es have come erroneously to believe that it burroAvs into the ground itself. NotAvithstanding the bright colouring of this snake, it is by no means a striking object to the eye, Avhen lying upon the debris of the forest ; and, in fact, I have on more than one occasion almost stexiped upon them Avithout seeing them, notAvithstanding that, m waUdng along a ioxe%t picada, one rarely takes one's eyes from off the ground, or puts one's foot doAvii without looking where it is to tread. This habit, which comes of necessity, of looking at each stexi one takes in a forest p'lcada, is no doubt the chief reason why accidents from snake bites are always so rare. StiU even the practised eye of a BrazUian sometimes fails to detect the presence of a snake till after he has stepxied uxion it. An instance of this occurred one day Avlien I Avas Avalking out to the Avork along our broad picada. There Avere eight men with me, all barefooted as usual. We Avere AvaUdng Indian fashion, one close behind the other, and each treading exactly in the other's footstexis to avoid thorns and stumxis, six raen being close in front of me, and the other tAvo foUoAving about three x^aces behind. All at once we Avere startled by a cry from one of the tAvo men following, and, on looldng round, I saw him in the act of striking a vigorous bloAV with his fouce at some object on the ground before him. " E Jararaca," and he pulled out on the end of his Aveapon a big snake of this venomous species, which he had that moment kiUed. The man said that he 360 Pioneering in South Brazil. saAV its head moving exactly in one of our footstexis, just as he was about to x^ut his own foot down hi the same spot. We seven in front must all have trodden uxion it Avithout seeing it, the brute not havmg had time, between our close foUoAving footsteps, to wriggle itself free from the debris Avhich was x^artially con- ceaUng it and keeping it doAvn, till the eighth man, who was farther behind, came uxi, saAv it moAdiig, and IdUed it. I must defer to the next chapter some account of other snake adventures Avliich Avere met AA'ith by us during the remaining few weeks of the summer season. CHAPTER VIII. A Sunday in the wilds.— Dirt-eating animals. — The tame toucan.— Its habits.— A snake guard.— "Cobra ! cobra !"— A plague of fleas. —My solitary "rancho."— An alarming adventure.- Tapir and jaguar. Very early in the morning of the 16th of February, Curling and I, who were once more together in the latest built of our big Depot Camps, situated fifty mUes below Colonia Thereza, Avere up and ready to start to hunt the Brazilian tapir. The day was Sunday, our day of relaxation. The great rains which had continued all through January and the first ten days of the present month, had given way to an interval of sunshine, destined to last for about a fortnight. Up to the x^i'esent time I had not even seen a taxiir alive, though Curhng had shot many. There Avere two canoes ready for us, and fom of the best canoe- men to work them, namely Miguel Loxiez, of Baxitista renown, Hypohto his brother, a hunter of the first water, and two other x>OAverful fellows. Five dogs were to accompany us, and ox3eratioiis Avere to be commenced at a famous Saltlick or Barreiro, Avhich 362 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. existed on the bank of the river, about a mile and a half beloAv camxi. I took my double-barrelled smooth bore and a Snider rifle. Curling also took a gun and a rifle, and at 6.30 a.m., before the sun had yet axipeared above the wooded hills that surrounded the camp, Ave started, Curling AA'ith tAvo raen going in one canoe, and I Avitli tAvo men in the other, the dogs being divided between us. The morning was fresh and lovely, the thermometer standing" only at 70° Fahr., with a gentle cool breeze wafting the scent of flowers and fresh green foliage up the broad river. Imme diately beloAV the camxi there Avas a rapid, which after wards became famous to me on account of the number of times I Avas upset or swaraxied in it, but wluch on this occasion we ran down in grand style, just shixiping enough water to stir up the cm'rents of our blood. This was the last of a long series of rapids which extended for a distance of about ten miles up the river from our camp. Simultaneously Avith passing this rapid, the moimtaiiis, Avhich had hitherto xiressed against the river banks on both sides, receded, and to right and left the valley opened, shoAving a AA'ide exxianse of comxiaratively flat forest, bounded a few miles distant by mountains ranged in the form of gigantic crescents or amxilutheatres, one on each side of the river. The crescent on the right enclosed our proposed hunting ground, Avliich covered an area of perhaps eight or nine square miles. One horn of the crescent rested on the rapid that Ave had just A Tapi7^'s "Run." 36 0^0 descended, whUe the other touched the river about three mUes lower doAvn its course, the SaltUck or Barreiro lymg midway betAveen the two. Suddenly we turned out of the main river, at a point halfway down a tiny rapid or ligeiro, into a smaU barra or side stream, whose entrance was almost concealed by tbe mass of luxuriant growth that hung down from the trees on either side almost to the Avater's edge. SUently Ave gUded up the dark and gloomy avenue through which the little stream flowed, for about a himdred yards, and then disembarked on a soft mud-bank, redolent of aUigators and other loath some reptUes, and, crossing this, came at once to a narrow, deeply sunken x^atli ascending steexily uxi to the true bank of the barra. This I recognised as being a tapir's "run" or xiatli, by Avhich that animal is nightly accustomed to come doAvn from the forest into the river. We foUoAved this "run" 11x1 to the top of the bank, AA'here Ave emerged straightAvay into a large open sxiace free from growth of any kind, but siu'rounded on every side by little beaten x^atlis leading into it as one common centre. Every inch of the ground covermg this space, which was about twenty yards square, Avas worked up lUie a farm yard by the huge feet of taxiirs and other AAild animals ! I had never beheld anything like it before. The tapks must have been there by scores. Many of the tracks were quite fresh, and the Avater in them StiU muddy, — a sm'e sign that they Avere not more 364 Pioneering in South Brazil ch. vm. than an hour old. Miguel pointed out to us besides tracks of deer and Avild pig, especially draAring our attention to a solitary, broad, round pad, Avlnch here and there showed uxi amongst the chaos of other tracks. " JS rasto de Tigref said he, rolling out the word " Tigre " in a tone of awe. " If the dogs cross that track on the trail of their game, they avUI give uxi at once and come back to us." We heard and began to entertain feehngs of resxiect for the Jaguar, that could raake even the man Miguel speak of him in such a tone of dread. The Jaguar track which Miguel had pointed out to us was, hoAvever, at least a day old, and the scent therefore was entirely gone from it. The dogs all this time were yelping with excitement, and straining at the leash that held them back. At a signal from Miguel, they were noAV sUxiped, and with a short, eager yelp of delight, they dashed off mto the forest on the taxiir's tracks. We sUently withdrew by the way Ave had come, and x^addled out into the big river to wait and Avatcli. Curling in his canoe crossed over to the oxiposite bank, and took iixi a x^osition about 300 yards from the mouth of the Barra, wliUe ray canoe stationed itself about twenty }'ards above the same Barra, with the boAV resting on a big rock in the river. BetAveen us, Ave Avere thus able to command a full view of a long stretch of river, both uxi and down stream; and the game, which Avould be certain ulti mately to take to the Avater, Avould, iu the oxiinion of ch. viii. a Sunday in the Wilds. 365 the hunters, most probably take to it somewhere in the reaches which we were thus commanding. After the first eager " yap " of the dogs at starting, they had subsided into silence, which Avas ahvays their habit AvhUe Avorking up to their game on a compara tively stale morning scent. If the day-lak of the tapir, whose track they Avere hunting, should not be very far inland from the Barreiro, Ave should know by the sudden breaking out of the dogs into full cry, the exact moment of its being aroused. The minutes wore on and on, and no sound came to us but the gentle rippling of the Ligeiro flowing past us, and now and then the harsh shrieking of parrots, as whole flocks would suddenly dart out from the bank, Avheel noisUy round our heads, and again sud denly retreat. I was beginning to get impatient, Avhen at last Miguel, who was in ray canoe, held up his hand and said, "Hist! os cachorros ! " "Hark! the clogs!" then after a moment, " Elles vem correndo," " They are running this way." True enough, I could now hear the distant sounds of the dogs in full cry far aAvay in the forest, but, though I listened intently, I could hear them come no nearer ; on the contrary, they gi'aduaUy seemed to get farther and farther off", till at last they again became inaudible. The tapir had evidently changed its course away from the river. For another half hom' we sat, and then Miguel gave vent to the cUs- appointing words, "Anta foi s'embora," " The tapk has gone right away," and pomting to the mountain range which formed the loAver horn of the crescent already 366 Pioneering in South Brazil. mentioned, he said that the tapir had crossed the range, and, hi all x^robability, droxiped into the river on the other side. We signaUed across to Curling's canoe, to say that Ave were going down the river to see if anything could be seen, and, Avithout Avaiting for him to move, x^ut our boAvs doAvn stream, and started away for the next bend. Suddenly the men again xiricked up thek ears. "Estdo correndo," " They are running." We had just reached the bend of the river, Avhen Ave again heard the sound of a dog or dogs running. They Avere below us still, and seeing that my two men began to paddle with might and main, I also took uxi a spare x>addle, and the canoe now literally raced through the water. As we rounded the bend, and came mto fuU view of another long reach of river, Miguel x^aused for a moment, to scan with raxiid eye the smface of the water ; "La estd! la longe!" " There he is, right away; " and once more Ave began to spin along. Miguel's jiractised eye had discerned a head in the water more than half a mile distant. Presently, I also discovered a little black sxieck uxion the Avater, moving leisurely across stream. We now passed tAvo ofthe dogs which were squatting uxion the bank howling, and a little farther on two more, also howling ; these dogs had forsaken the chase, and Avere hoAvhng to be taken into the canoes. One dog alone was therefore now runnmg, and to my surprise I found that it had crossed the liver, and Avas on the other side. In the meantune, we had axiproached near enough to the SAvimming A Lucky Shot. 367 animal, to make out, much to my disappomtment, that it was a deer and not a taxur. It paid no attention to us whatever, till Ave Avere Avitlim sixty yards of it, when an exciting chase began, the deer heading towards the bank and sAvimming for its life. I laid down my paddle and took up the gun, and when Arithin thirty yards let drive Avith one barrel at the smaU head. My hands were unsteady after the severe -exertion of paddhng, and I missed the mark, the bullet strUdng short and ricochetting off into the bank. The deer was now but ten yards from the baiUv, and, once landed, good-bye to venison chops for cUnner ! Steadying myself as Avell as I could in the rocking canoe,* I let drive with the other barrel. The big buUet crashed through the animal's head, killing it in stantly, and it at once disaxix>eared beneath the surface. Before we could reach the spot, it had sunk right to the bottom. The current was very strong, and unless we could recover it instantly, it Avouhl be SAvept away along the bottom, and we should see it no more. In the excitement of the moment I plunged in, clothes and all, after it, and was lucky enough to come right upon it at the bottom of the river, which Avas not more than betAveen six and seven feet deep at this spot. Clutch ing the flrst part I could lay hold of, I rose to the * "WTien once one has overcome the first difficulty of standing up in a canoe whilst it is in motion, it is far less difficult to take accurate aim in that position than when sitting down. The greater the "rock ing" of the canoe, the more advantageous is it to shoot standing up than sitting down. 368 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. surface in triumph, with the deer in tow, and Ave were both hauled into the canoe together. The dog, which alone had hunted this deer, now appeared upon the scene, having swum across the river to us. This dog was named Cachorronha, which was a pet modification of the word signifying "puxi."' During the year or so of her life sxient in our service, she gained the weU-earned rexiutation of never failing' to bring us game, when once she started on a track. In this case she, in common Avith the other four dogs, had doubtless brought a tapir down to the water, she alone baring crossed the river in xnu'suit, but not find ing the tapir, which no doubt had gone a long way down stream before again landing, she had set herself to find something else, with the result akeady knoAvn. Poor animal ! she was destined hereafter to meet with a sad and violent death in our serAuce. Curling joined us after the hunt was over, and together we returned to the camp ; arriving at about 10.30 A.M., having had, notArithstanding the disap pointment of the tapk, a most deUghtful four hours. On our return Ave landed again at the great barreiro, and shot a brace of Jacus, which, in company with many parrots, doves and other bkds, were there feeding. It is surprishig what a liking so many birds and animals have for dirt-eating : for ihose that I have mentioned as frequenting the barreiro, do not merely lick the soil, but actuaUy bite it off and eat it in large quantities. A Jacu's crop is often found full of it ; and the marks of the front teeth of Dirt-eating Animals. 369 tapks, pigs and deer, cover the side banks of a barreiro. It does not appear that beasts of prey or even bkds that feed on worms or insects, have any taste for dkt eating. As far as my observations go, it is only vegetarian animals that do so. The popular idea is that a barreiro contains common salt. I dare say this is correct, but on the one occasion Avhen I had the cmiosity to UxiAriate a small quantity of barreiro soU, I could only discern a sweetish taste in the water of Uxiviation. Barreiros are very numerous aU along the banks of the Ivahy river, and I ahvays intended to experiment more fuUy upon the earth they contained, before I departed ; but this was one of many good intentions which, from being too long deferred, was never fulfiUed. I think Humboldt some where gives an account of men who eat dirt ; it Avould be curious to know if these men were, lUie the dirt- eating animals of the Ivahy, vegetarians in their ordinary diet. At the barreiro which we visited on this day, Ave found the remains of three old pitfaUs, x^robably the work of IncUans who had now deserted this i)art of the forest. On the 17th, Curhng went on down the river, AA'hile I was detained for ten days m camp, doing some necessary drudgery of drawing and writing. The toucan, which I have akeady mentioned, now became a gi'eat pet of mine, and I found in it a very amusing and inteUigent companion. It came to knoAv exacth' the hours of my meals, and Avould come into my hut 3 7o Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. as regularly as clockwork to them, taking uxi its place on a box on the corner of the rancho, and occasionaUy screaming to attract attention. It became an exxiert catcher, never missing the food throAvn to it, if it came within reach of even the tixi of its great bUl. Its Xiowers of digestion were abnormally rapid, and it was consequently always hungry. Though it quicldy be came friendly and even intimate with any person that took notice of it, and Avas Idnd to it, yet it was very easUy offended, and the offence used to rankle in its little bosom for many hours after its committal. Once I tlircAV a bit of charred wood at it at breakfast- time, which it caught as usual, but when it tasted the gritty flavom' of the charcoal it screamed angrUy, hopped quickly out of the rancho, and did not reaxipear till roosting-time, when it went suUdly up to its xierch on one of the cross timbers of the hut, without uttering its customary salutations. The manner in which it prepared itself to go to sleep was worth observing. Havuig first aiTanged itself comfortably on its perch, with feathers Avell Xiuffed out, its next oxieration was to throw up its taU Avitli a sudden jerk into a perxiendicular x^osition. This feat being accompUshed, it Avould pause for a foAv moments to take a last look round the rancho, and then, if all was quiet, with a dexterous turn and dive, both beak and head would disappear entirely under the Aving and puffed-out feathers of the back, the bird now presenting the appearance of a perfectly round ball of feathers. In this position he would pass the CH. VIII. A Snake Guard. 2>7'^ night, sleepy but not generaUy asleep ; for if I caUed him by his name, he Avould always ansAver by a Uttle noise Uke a g"runt. If I touched him in the night Avithout first calling to him, he would start up broad awake. If, howoA'er, I spoke to hira first, and then touched him, he would not move, but only give vent to a kind of purrhig grunt, which probably meant " Can't you leave a fellow alone ? " Toucans are far more inteUigent and amusuig birds than x^arrots, as far as my experience goes. I do not, however, suppose that they would stand the cold climate of England, as they are more deUcate in themselves, and less stoutly plumaged than the latter. As an additional example of this bkd's usefulness as a snake-guard, I may relate the following Uttle incident, which took place in this camp, two or three days after Cm'hng had left it. One evening a camarada came to me to have a tooth extracted ; but, as it was then dusk, I told him that he must wait tiU the foUowing day, when, if he would come to me dkectly it was Ught, I would do what he wanted. I was kept awake most of the night by being pestered by fleas, Arith which the camp had at this time begun to swarm. When morning came, being then almost worn out by many nights of sleeplessness from the same cause, I was in a state of torpor, and had not aroused myself as usual immediately it became light. The man with the toothache carae three tunes, at intervals of about ten minutes, and found me asleep each time. A minute after coming the third time, he E B 2 372 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. heard the toucan screaming in my rancho, and, thuik- ing I Avas the cause, and that he should now find me aAvake and up, at once retm'ned, only too anxious to have his toothache cmed without more delay. I was not awake when he returned, but his vigorous shout of " Doutor, doutor, cobra ! " twice repeated, roused me to a certain state of consciousness — when, on open ing my eyes, the first thing I saw were two young frogs jumping in a great hurry along the floor of the rancho, closely followed by a cobra preta. The spectacle, for the two seconds during Avhich it lasted, Avas superb. The snake was evidently absorbed in the chase, oblivious to the sudden shout of the mah, or the screaming of the toucan. Its eye was flashing like a diamond, and its long forked tongue was shooting in and out with lightning raxiidity, as, with head erect and held i)erfectly steady, it glided with a swift rock ing motion of its supple body in pm'suit, seeming as though moved by some invisible, magic force. For these two seconds the picture Avas absolutely perfect. I had never beheld so fascinating an object, when lo ! just as I expected to see it strike one of the frogs, a big, rude paddle descended upon its back, and only a hideous writhing object remained, biting the dust in agony. I was quite angry with the man for the inoment for so summarily sxioUing the chase ; but when I knew that the reptile, to whose existence he had thus put an end, was only less deadly than the cascavel, and, withal, far more active in its movements, I lost my momentary sympathy for it. In this case, if CH. VIII. The Cobra Casada. 373 it had not been for the toucan in the first instance, the snake might have remained lurking about my rancho beneath the boxes with wluch it Avas fiUed for days, untU, perhaxis, its presence had been made known after the disagi'eeable manner of Morant's snake. The Brazihans say that there is a certain snake which they caU the cobra casada, or married snake, which it is dangerous to kiU near any habitation, or, having killed it, to traU it along the ground to any house, because its mate is certain to foUow it by scent, and, on finding it dead, AriU savagely attack any person it can find in the neighbourhood. I do not Imow what foundation there is for this story. I should think that I have seen and myself kUled at least a hundred snakes of various kinds in Brazil, but I never ImeAv one that showed any disposition to wUfully attack. The utmost any have done has been to remain stUl, in readiness to strike when touched or threatened. In the majority of instances they have tried to flee. Soon after this I had a very disagreeable rencontre with a Jararaca, which dropped into my canoe from an overhanging branch as I was paddhng gently up stream under the bank. As the snake dropped in, I tumbled out into the river. Fortunately it happened close to the camp, and, in answer to my shouts, somebody came doAvn to the lancUng-place and captured the canoe as it was drifting past, and kiUed the snake. My reminiscences of this camp, were they con fined to such incidents as those I have related, would by no means have been disagreeable; but unfortu- 374 Pioneering in South Brazil. en. vm. nately there was, beneath aU, an undercurrent of great misery, which, to be fully apxireciated, must have been felt. Fleas in countless myriads swarmed throughout the camp. The dogs, AA'hich no doubt had originaUy brought upon their bodies the progenitors of this vast colony, became, as was but just, the chief sufferers from them. All day and aU night these latter wandered about like unquiet spkits through the camp, vainly endeavouring to escape from their torments by creeping into comers, rolhng in the scarcely cold ashes of the fires, and barking, whining, and biting thek sides with rage and xiain. All means were tried to lessen the x^lague. We washed the dogs AAith carbolic acid, kiUing thousands of their tormentors. We scrubbed them, and combed them in the river, and got rid of thousands more. Using the dogs as collectors for the vermin, Ave repeated these operations raany times, but stiU the Xilague seemed to increase uxion us. Night after night I sat up working, unable to sleep by reason of this terrible plague. When utterly tired out I Avould many times go clown to the river and lie in the water for an hour or raore at a time, dozmg, tiU, my blood getting chiUed, I was forced once more to return to the scenes of torment. The curious thing was that, though aU in camp complained more or less of the annoyance, none but myself really suffered from it. Our servant Miles, who slept in a rancho close to mine, would snore away comfortably in his hammock all night long. CH. VIII. Jlfy Solitary Rancho. 375 Frequently I used to Avake him up and make him change hammocks Avith me, and in this manner, my body having been previously well rubbed over with cachac^a, I would sometimes manage to get half an hour's rest before the pulgas found out the imposition that had been practised upon them, and, recommencing thek operations, drove me forth once more to wander about the camp, hke the wretched dogs themselves, in hopeless misery. At length Nature could endure it no longer. My brain began to get so weak from long-continued want of sleexi, that I could no longer work. I fled the camj) and had a solitary rancho built for me about 800 yards up the river, on the opxiosite side ofthe water; and thither, after it Avas built, I retreated every evening to sleep, allowing no man or dog ever to go near it either night or day. The first night on which I made use of this rancho I slept for fourteen hom's right off, and should probably have slexit stUl longer had not the camaradas in the big camp, think ing from my non-apxiearance that I had been devoured by a wUd beast or slain by Indians, come uxi to look for me. Dm'ing the daytime I stiU remained in the big camp, never entering my little domicUe up the river except in the evening to sleep, on which occasions I would " padcUe my own canoe " up to the spot, and before landing strip off aU my camp attire, leaving it in the canoe, and then wash off any remaining pulgas by a plunge into the river, walking up nude from the 3 76 Pioneering in South Brazil, ch. vm. Avater to the hut, where, having xmt on fresh garments, I was free from trouble for the night. Several tracks of jaguars had been seen about, and therefore, as I had no particular ambition to be caught naxiping by one of them and devom-ed, the rancho, though small, had been buUt Arith unusual strength, Avith stout x^alm-tree walls and narrow doorway, which latter I carefully and securely closed each night with pieces of palm-trees cut for the x>rirpose. With a loaded double-barrelled gun and a Daw's six-shooter in the rancho Arith me, I did not trouble my head about any danger. One night, hoAvever, a rather startling incident occurred to distiu'b my repose. I had been asleep, I suppose, about thi'ee hours, when I Avas suddenly startled into fuU wakefulness by a Avild, unearthly scream, proceedhig from the interior of the forest. It was pitch dark, with the exception of the feeble light of one or two fire-flies that were flitting about outside. A second or two longer elapsed before I could recoUect where I was, when the roaring of a corredeira, about two hundred yards above, recaUed me to my surroundings. I got up, and, feeUng for my gun, took it UXI and waited to see what Avas coming. In a shorter time than it has taken to read this, a noise of breaking of trees and crashing of underwood foUoAved the scream. Some big animal was crashing its Avay through the forest, down to the river, in a tremendous hurry. I knew it must be a tapir, and I guessed what had been the cause of the sudden uproar. The beast came CH. VIII. An Alarming Adventiti'e. 377 thundering along straight for the rancho, Avhich I now recoUected was buUt almost, if not actually upon a "run." I did not know which side it would pass, so I kept in the middle of the hut, intenduig to fire through the walls as it passed, on the chance of the buUets going clear of the uprights and hittuig the mark. The event, however, turned out rather differently from my anticipations, for the animal, in its blind hurry, and doubtless also from its ignorance of the existence of the newly-erected obstacle, turned neither to the right nor to the left, but struck Arith great force against the stout corner-post of the rancho, and, not pausing in its career, in another half-second had reached the water's edge and plunged in with a loud sxilash, being gone before I quite knew whether the hut had been knocked down about my ears or not. In the morning I examined the corner-post Avhich had been thus so rudely shaken, and found a large patch of coarse yeUow hak sticking to it, which had eridently been torn off some animal, though not off' the tapir itself, for the hair of that animal is brown or grey, but off the hide of the beast that was attackhig it, which could have been none other than a jaguar. On going down to the river bank I found the huge tracks of the tapir deeply scored mto the soft mud, as though the animal had slid down into the water on aU foiu's. The canoe was half fuU of water, and the clothes that I had taken off, the evening before, were floating about in it. Some time after this occurrence, when I had left 378 Pioneering in South Brazil. ch. vm. this carax) and gone down the river, I heard that a tapk had been kUled by the camaradas, having its hide cut m several x^laces, which the BraziUans said had been done by the sharp claws of a jaguar. I have no doubt that this tapk was the very individual that had so rudely cUsturbed my night's rexiose on the occasion which has just been related. Thus we see, that, from the highest mammal down to the lowUest insect, war — ^I'uthless, incessant war — is the normal condition of Nature in these great primfeval forests. Let morahsts draAv thek lesson therefrom. END OP VOL. I. BEADBUEY, AGKEW, & CO., PEISTEES, WEIICTEIAKS. 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