On the Banks of the Amazon Part 28

The next morning at daylight Duppo was busily employed hunting about in the neighbourhood, and at length shouted to us to bring a basket. We found he had just discovered the nest of an iguana, filled with eggs.

He a.s.sured us that they were excellent. On boiling some for breakfast, we agreed with him. Like those of the turtle, they did not harden by boiling, but only became somewhat thicker, and were filled almost entirely with yellow, having very little alb.u.men. We all set to work to hunt for more, and were fortunate in finding another nest, the eggs being a welcome addition to our scanty supply of food. The Indians meantime, while we were finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, set off into the forest, and just as we were ready to start came back with another iguana.

We were constantly employed in trying to teach Duppo English. Arthur was explaining to him the animals of our country, and was mentioning the cow, and describing its milk. He seemed much interested, and then gave us to understand that they also had cows in their land, which, instead of walking about on four legs, grew in the ground, and were of great size. After this he was constantly looking out along the banks, and at length he shouted out to the men, "Ma.s.saranduba!" and they at once paddled in for the bank. One of them accompanied us with an axe. As we pa.s.sed along we found on the ground a number of woody vessels, which had evidently contained seeds. Duppo picked up one of them, and found another piece close by which fitted on to it, and then told us that they were called monkeys' drinking-cups; the Portuguese call them _cuyas de macaco_. These sh.e.l.ls had contained nuts. When falling off the tree-- the sapucaya--the tops split off, and the nuts are scattered on the ground. Duppo made us understand that these cups would serve well to collect the milk from the cow he promised to show us.

I may observe that the trees which bear the monkey drinking-cups are closely allied to the Brazil-nut tree, the fruit of which we had often seen sold in England under that name. Its seeds are also enclosed in large woody vessels, but they, having no lid, fall entire to the ground, and are thus easily collected by the natives.

Supplied with these vessels, we went on a few yards further, when we stopped under an enormous tree, one of the giants of the forest. Its trunk was covered with deeply scored reddish and rugged bark. Duppo patted it, saying, "This my cow." Another tree of the same species, but much smaller, grew near. He ran to it, and saying, "Small cow give better milk," began to attack it with his axe. After making a few strokes, out flowed a perfectly white liquid, which John, kneeling down, caught in the monkey-cup. As soon as it was filled I handed him another, the milk continuing to flow in great abundance, so that we soon had four cups filled full of the tempting liquid. On tasting it we found it sweet, and of a not unpleasant flavour, and wonderfully like milk.

We returned to the boat with our prize. Domingos had meantime been boiling some coffee; as we had now no sugar, the fresh milk proved a most valuable acquisition. The Indians, however, recommended us not to take much of it. We kept it, intending to use it again in the evening, but on taking off the lid of one of the monkey-cups, we found that our milk had thickened into a stiff and excessively tenacious glue. "My cow good?" asked Duppo, as he saw us tasting the liquid. When we showed him the gluey substance in the evening, he inquired sagaciously whether the milk of our cow would keep so long, and we confessed that, in that climate, it would be very likely to turn sour. After this, on several occasions we obtained fresh milk from the cow-tree for our breakfasts and suppers.

We encamped at night on a bank, and found two sorts of tiger-beetles, with very large heads, running about on the sand. It was extraordinary how rapidly they moved. Arthur and I tried to catch them, but each time they baffled us. One was very similar in hue to the sand over which it runs, the other was of a brilliant copper colour. Arthur, who was very acute in his remarks, observed that the white species ran far more swiftly than the copper-coloured one. As they only appear in the gloom or night, the white is far more easily seen than the darker one; and this has by the Creator greater means afforded it of escaping from its enemies. The dark-coloured one, however, he discovered, is not left without means of defence; for when at last Duppo caught one for him, he found that on touching it it emitted a strong, peculiar, and offensive putrid odour, which is not the case with the whiter one.

"How delightful it is!" he exclaimed, "to examine the habits of G.o.d's creatures, and see how admirably adapted they are to the life they are destined to lead."

I must not, however, attempt to describe the numberless insects and creatures of all sorts we met with on our voyage. Duppo brought us a large wood-cricket, called the _Tanana_, the wonderfully loud and not unmusical notes of which we had often heard. These sounds, we found, were produced by the overlapping edges of the wing-cases, which they rub together. In each wing-case the inner edge, near the lower part, has a h.o.r.n.y expansion. On one wing this h.o.r.n.y expansion is furnished with a sharp raised margin; on the other, the strong nervure which traverses it on the other side is crossed by a number of short, sharp furrows, like those of a file. When, therefore, the insect rapidly moves its wings, the file of one expansion sc.r.a.pes sharply across the h.o.r.n.y margin of the other, thus producing the curious sounds. The wing-cases, which are of a parchment-like nature, and the hollow drum-formed s.p.a.ce which they enclose, a.s.sists to give resonance to the tones. The music they make is employed undoubtedly to serenade their mates, for the same object which induces the feathered tribe to utter their varied notes in the forest.

We had once more entered the main stream, which, after the confined navigation of the last few days, appeared to our eyes almost like the wide ocean. We landed rather earlier than usual, as a favourable spot appeared, and we could not tell how far off another might be found. We had formed huts as usual, our camp-fire was lighted, and Domingos and Maria were engaged in cooking our evening meal, making the most of the scanty fare we had remaining. A point was near from which we believed we could get an uninterrupted view for a great distance down the river.

As we found we could make our way to it without much difficulty, we begged Ellen and Oria to accompany us.

On reaching the point we sat down on a bank. A small object appeared in the distance on the water. Arthur was the first to espy it. I thought it was but a log of wood. We pointed it out to Oria. She at once declared that it was a canoe. It was certainly approaching, and at length we made out a small canoe gliding over the smooth water; and as it came near we saw a white man in the stern steering, and ten natives urging her on with rapid strokes. "What if those people should be able to give us news of our father!" exclaimed Ellen. "Do call them, lest they should pa.s.s by." John hailed the canoe. Presently we saw the white man stand up and look towards us. Instantly the head of the canoe was turned in our direction. We hastened down to the point where they would land, and the white man stepped on sh.o.r.e. He gazed first at one, then at the other, with an inquiring glance.

"Can you tell me, my friend," asked John, "if an English family are stopping anywhere on the banks down the river?"

"Indeed I can, senor," answered the white man; "for I have been sent up by the master to look out for some part of his family who ought long since to have arrived. He has already sent two messengers to inquire for them; and his heart, and those of the senora and senorita, are well-nigh worn out with anxiety on their account. At last I begged that he would let me go; and I promised not to return without gaining tidings of them."

"Why, then you must be Antonio, and we are those you are looking for!"

said John.

"Heaven be praised!" exclaimed Antonio, our father's old servant, who, rus.h.i.+ng forward, seized John in his arms, and gave him a warm embrace.

He then turned to me, and gave me the same affectionate yet respectful greeting. "And this is the senorita!" he exclaimed, turning to Ellen.

"Oh, it does my old heart good to see you. How little did I think that before the sun set I should behold those I so longed to find. And Domingos and Maria; surely they have come with you!"

"Oh yes," said John; "they are at the camp. Send your montaria round the point, and come with us. We shall soon be there."

As may be supposed, we had numberless questions to ask about our father and family; how far off they were from us, and all that had happened.

"Oh, senor, I should like to have a dozen tongues in my head to reply to you," answered Antonio. "They are well and safe now, though the times are perilous. And, Heaven be praised, they have pa.s.sed numberless dangers unharmed. It has taken me two weary weeks to come thus far, but I hope that we may descend the river to them in far less time. How could I have expected to meet with you when others, we had cause to fear, had failed. First, a Brazilian trader, who was proceeding up in his montaria, undertook the task, promising without fail to find you, and speedily to send down notice; but after waiting and waiting some weary weeks, no news came, and my master, your father, was resolved to go himself, though unwilling to leave the senoras without his protection, when, just then, two young Englishmen arrived from Para, and made themselves known to your father as friends of yours; and hearing that you were missing, agreed to go up in search of you."

"Why, those must be our two school-fellows, Houlston and Tony Nya.s.s!" I exclaimed.

From the description which Antonio had given of them, we had no doubt that this was the case. But what had become of them? A few minutes before I had thought all our anxieties were over, but now they were again aroused on account of our friends. What if they had fallen into the hands of the Majeronas, or been exposed to some of the storms we had so narrowly escaped! "You forget how easily they may have pa.s.sed us,"

observed Arthur. "We might have been not a quarter of a mile apart, and yet have pa.s.sed without seeing or hearing each other."

Dear Ellen was so agitated with the thoughts of meeting those we loved so soon, that she could scarcely speak. She overheard, however, the remarks between Arthur and myself. "And why do you doubt that all will come right in the end?" she exclaimed. "Think of the many dangers we have gone through, and how we have been preserved from them all. Let us hope the same for our friends."

Domingos was standing over the fire with his frying-pan when we came round the point with Antonio. At that moment he happened to look up, when, forgetting what he was about, he let the frying-pan and its contents fall into the middle of the fire, thereby spoiling a delicious frica.s.see of iguana, and sprang forward to welcome his fellow-servant, and to make inquiries for their master. The two rushed into each other's arms, and the tears fell from the black man's eyes when he heard that our father was well.

We spent the evening at our encampment, hearing from Antonio all that had occurred: how our father had received information of the intended attack of the Majeronas, and had embarked just in time to escape them.

He would have waited for us higher up the river had he not been compelled, for the sake of obtaining a.s.sistance for our mother, to proceed downwards. They had all been hospitably received at the farm of a Brazilian family, where she having recovered, he determined to wait for our arrival. The first messengers he had despatched not having been heard of, on the arrival of Houlston and Tony Nya.s.s, they had insisted on proceeding upward. As they also had not returned, Antonio, with the party we had met, had been sent to search for us.

It was the happiest evening we had spent since the commencement of our journey. Anxiety about our friends did not damp our spirits, as we hoped that they would hear of us at some of the places at which we had called; and that we should soon all meet, and continue our adventures in company. "Fancy Tony and I, and old Houlston, after all, sailing together on the Amazon, just as we used to talk about at school!" I acclaimed. "It will be jolly, will it not, Arthur?"

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

A HAPPY MEETING.

A week had pa.s.sed away. The two canoes keeping in company, we no longer felt the solitude which had oppressed us as we navigated that vast stream, or the intricate labyrinth of channels, often far away from the main sh.o.r.e. Several times we had inquired of Antonio whether we were approaching the farm of Senhor Pimento, where our family were living.

"Paciencia; logo, logo," was his answer--"Patience; soon, soon we shall be there." We turned off from the main stream, and ascended an igarape thickly shrouded by palms and other trees, completely shutting out the sky above us. At the end of the vista the bright sunlight shone on an open s.p.a.ce, where appeared a small lake, on the opposite side of which we could distinguish several buildings raised on piles--a large one in the centre with a deep verandah, the palm-thatched roof of which extended beyond the walls; the whole surrounded by plantations of mandioca, cacao, peach-palms, and other trees.

"Is that where we are going?" asked Ellen eagerly of Antonio. "We shall see--we shall see, senorita!" he answered. Rounding a point, we observed a hut beneath a grove of inaja palms; their leaves springing almost from the ground, and spreading slightly out from the slender stem, so as to form an open vase of the most graceful shape. Few objects of the vegetable kingdom are more beautiful. "Oh, what lovely trees!" exclaimed Ellen. "And see! there is some one coming out from among them."

As she spoke, a person emerged from the wood, engaged apparently in reading. As his back was towards us, he did not observe the approach of the canoes. "Oh, it is papa!" exclaimed Ellen; "I am sure of it." And in another instant we were on sh.o.r.e, and Ellen flying over the ground.

It was indeed a happiness to see her in our father's arms. "And my boys too, safe after all your dangers!" he exclaimed, as he embraced us.

"And your young friend too!"

Maria and Domingos came running up to kiss his hand, pleasure beaming in their dark countenances. We hurried forward to the house, and in a few minutes had the happiness of seeing our mother and f.a.n.n.y. Even Aunt Martha, I thought, looked far more kindly than she used to do, and was as gentle and affectionate to Ellen as she could be. It was indeed a happy meeting.

We, of course, had to recount all our adventures; and thus most of the talking was on our side, as Antonio had already told us all that had happened to them. Our Brazilian friend, Senhor Pimento, was a fine burly old gentleman, habited in light nankeen jacket and trousers, with a broad-brimmed hat. He was of a somewhat dark hue, and his wife, who was a slight, active old lady, was considerably darker. Their family consisted of a son, who was away hunting at the time, and two daughters.

I cannot call them fair, but they were attractive, lively girls, who had lived in that remote district all their lives, and knew nothing of the world beyond, believing Para, next to Rio, to be its largest city.

f.a.n.n.y and her Portuguese friends were much pleased with Oria and Duppo, and delighted when they found that they could speak a little English, a language the two latter were trying to learn. The house was of considerable size, built of palm-trees, thatched with palm-leaves; and even the doors and windows were composed of palm-leaves, not opening on hinges, but being hooked up or taken down like mats. There were open galleries round on either side, and several of the rooms were open also; and in these the hammocks of the men of the party were hung up. The floors were also of split palm-trees, and were raised about ten feet above the ground, so as to be at a sufficient elevation during the higher floods which occasionally inundate the larger portion of that region. None of the inmates of the house were idle. Senhor Pimento was constantly out, superintending his labourers; while Donna Josefa, his wife, was engaged in household matters. The young ladies, it must be owned, were the least industrious of the family.

Arthur had said nothing of the packet he had received from the recluse, yet I was sure that he would not lose a moment in opening it after the time had arrived when he had permission to do so. Ellen came running to me the following morning, I having gone out before breakfast to look round the farm. I saw by her beaming countenance that she was full of some matter of importance.

"It is as I told you, Harry!" she exclaimed. "The recluse is Arthur's father--I knew it--I was sure of it. Arthur read to me last night some of the letter he gave him. Poor fellow, he is in a great state of agitation, and blames himself for having come away and left him. The recluse--that is to say, Mr Mallet--speaks somewhat vaguely of a fearful event which compelled him to leave England; and he says that, though yearning to have his son by his side, he will not take him out of the path which Providence has placed him in, and from the protection of kind friends--that he himself, long an outcast from his fellow-men, cannot help him, and that by starting alone in life he will have a far better prospect of success than should it be known whose son he is.

These remarks, though Arthur is thankful to have found his father, have made him very unhappy. He will talk to you by-and-by, when he has thought the matter over; and do you know, the recluse--I mean, Mr Mallet--says that papa is an old friend of his, and that Arthur may tell him so, as he is sure that though papa may not desire to meet him, he will not in consequence withdraw his protection from his son."

"That I am sure papa will not," I exclaimed. "Poor Arthur! I do not know whether to be sorry or glad at what you have told me. Had he spoken to me I might have been better able to advise him."

Ellen looked into my face. Perhaps she thought that I felt a little jealous that Arthur had not first consulted me. We agreed not to say anything about the matter, but to let Arthur speak to our father himself, being a.s.sured that he would do what was kind and generous, and act as he judged for the best.

Arthur during the day was, I observed, more silent than usual. He was waiting, I suspected, to become more acquainted with our father before venturing to speak to him. I was not present when he did so.

The day after our arrival Duppo came to me with a countenance of alarm.

"We get among witches!" he exclaimed, looking round cautiously. I asked him what he could mean; and he then told me that he had seen the two young ladies in a wood close to the house, amusing themselves by playing with venomous snakes, which he was sure they could not do if they were like other human beings. "Come, you see them," he said, wis.h.i.+ng to prove his a.s.sertion correct; and he led me round the house, through the grove of palms, where, sure enough, seated on a bench, from whence there was a lovely view of the lake, were the two daughters of our host. I confess I was almost startled on seeing them with a number of brilliant looking snakes. One was round each of their necks, while others they had twisted like bracelets, encircling their arms; and one of the girls was holding another in her hand, allowing its forked tongue to dart out towards her face. They were of a bright gra.s.s-green colour, with remarkably thin bodies; and it was curious to see the graceful way in which the lithe, active creatures crawled about, or lay coiled up perfectly at home in their laps. Unwilling to be an eavesdropper, I was retiring, when I met f.a.n.n.y and Ellen, and told them what I had seen, and Duppo's suspicions. f.a.n.n.y laughed, saying they were perfectly harmless, and had been tamed by their friends, and returned with me to where the girls were seated. Duppo, however, beat a retreat, evidently unwilling to be in such a dangerous neighbourhood. They were highly amused at hearing of Duppo's alarm, and showed me that the snakes were perfectly harmless. I took one in my hand, when the creature coiled itself round my arm, and I could admire at leisure its colour, and the beautiful topaz yellow of its eyes. The snakes were between two and three feet long. They were so thoroughly tamed, that though placed on the ground they did not attempt to escape, but came back immediately they were called by their young mistresses. So slender were their bodies, that when coiled completely up I could place one on the palm of my hand.

Though I told Duppo afterwards that I had actually handled the snakes, he was not convinced of their harmless character, and insisted that it was another proof that they had been charmed by the white witches, which he still evidently considered our Brazilian friends. Oria, however, was far braver; for when she saw f.a.n.n.y and Ellen play with the creatures, she without hesitation took one of them up, and allowed it to coil itself round her neck, where it made a pretty ornament on her dark skin.

Pedro, the son of our host, returned the next day with a boat-load of turtle and fish which he had caught; as well as a number of birds, some of them of exquisite plumage. John, Arthur, and I begged to accompany him the next time he set out on a similar expedition; and we found that he proposed starting again the following day. Meantime Senhora Josefa, with the a.s.sistance of her slaves, was employed in salting and drying the fish and fowl she had just received.

We started in the morning with two canoes, equipped with nets, spears, and lines, bows and arrows, and blow-pipes as well as guns.

The lower portion of the banks of the Amazon were at this time covered with water on either side, varying in height from one to ten feet, and in some places reaching twenty. This district, known as the Gapo, extends from the Napo upwards of seventeen hundred miles, to the very borders of Peru. It thus becomes a region of countless islands, separated by expanses of water--but not open water, as forest trees appear growing out of it in all directions; while in other parts there are numbers of lakes of all sizes--some many miles in extent, others mere pools, dry in summer, but all abounding in fish of various sorts, in turtles and alligators. We could often, in consequence of the flooded state of the country, make short cuts in our canoe directly through the forest, in some places with a depth of five to ten feet below our keels.

As we were paddling on through a scene such as I have described, we pa.s.sed near a raft secured to the trunks of four trees, on which was an Indian family, with a small fire burning on it. The mother was cooking fish, while the father lay in his hammock suspended between the trees.

A small, crazy looking canoe was moored to it. The family appeared perfectly contented and unconcerned, and accustomed to the curious mode of life. Pedro told us they were Muras Indians. During the dry season they live on the sand-banks, employed in catching turtle in the large river; and when the rainy season sets in they retire to these solitudes, whence they sally forth in their canoes to catch manatees and turtle, and fish of many sorts. We were proceeding away from the main stream by a broad water-path, with numberless narrower paths leading off in all directions. During the first part of our voyage we could see for a considerable distance through the irregular colonnade of trees; but as we progressed the path became narrower, and the trees grew closer together, their boughs frequently stretching forth over our heads. From many of them beautiful bright yellow flowers hung down, the stems several feet in length, while ferns and numerous air-plants thickly covered the trunks of the palms or drooped over from their summits. Now and then we pa.s.sed through a thicket of bamboos, their slender foliage and gracefully-curving stems having arranged themselves in the most elegant feathery bowers. Crossing through the forest, we pa.s.sed a grove of small palms, their summits being but a few feet above us. They bore bunches of fruit, which our Indians cut off with their knives. We found it of an agreeable flavour. The birds feeding overhead now and then sent down showers of fruit, which splashed into the water round us.