Across Unknown South America Part 22

When twins were born one was killed or else left to die in the sun, as they believed that the other could not live if both were left alive.

Murder for them, in that instance, was a question of humanity.

The Bororos had a perfect horror of natural death. They were terrified at the sight of a person dying. Therefore when one of their people was about to expire they covered him up and placed him out of sight. If he or she under those circ.u.mstances delayed in departing this life, the departure was hastened by suffocation or strangulation. The Bororos were too restless, and could not wait too long for anything.

They were easily suggestionized. Many of them would make excellent subjects for hypnotic experiments. The women particularly were extraordinarily sensitive to animal magnetism. They were much given to hysterical displays. One of the reasons which was given me for hastening the death of moribund Bororos was a curious superst.i.tion that the sight of a dying person would cause the death of women, particularly if the dying person happened to look in the direction of one woman present. The women believed this so firmly that occasionally--the Bororos a.s.serted--women actually became ill and died when they saw a dead person.

This, no doubt, may have occurred merely by suggestion. Women were never allowed, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, to see dead people.

When dancing the Bororos sprang on one foot and then on the other, always hopping about in a circle.

Abnormalities and deformities were frequently noticeable among them, such as hare-lip, supernumerary toes and fingers, and hypertrophy of the limbs. Abnormalities of the genitals were general owing to tribal customs.

One of the evil spirits most feared by the Bororos was called _aroi koddo_--or "soul that falls." It was a spirit that came to earth solely for the purpose of punis.h.i.+ng the Bororos. They said that this spirit was an extremely noisy one and its approach was announced by terrifying sounds.

The Bororos were frightened of comets and had about them superst.i.tions similar to those of Europeans--that is to say, that their appearance caused illness, misfortune and death. Solar and lunar eclipses, the Bororos stated, were merely the result of anger on the part of evil spirits. "The sun or moon were making faces because they were angry," was their highly astronomical explanation of the phenomenon.

The Bororos had a firm belief that some of their ancestors lived in the sun, others in the moon; and they said the ancestors caused the sun to make faces when angry. In the sun also lived the head of all the _barihs_, or medicine-men, the intermediary between humans and spirits; whereas in the moon dwelt only those who could invoke the souls of the ancestors. The _barih_ was only capable of communicating with a _barih's_ ancestors.

CHAPTER XVII

The River Das Garcas--Majestic Scenery

I WENT to call on the Salesian Fathers. Between my camp and the river Das Garcas, on the right bank of which the colony stood, there was a great dome of red volcanic rock with many loose boulders such as we had seen for the last three days of our journey. The river was swift and deep. The colony was on the opposite side of the water. We shouted until an Indian appeared and took us across in a rickety canoe belonging to the friars, which he paddled with the stalk of a palm-leaf.

The Salesians were remarkable people, and should be an example to many other missionaries. Wherever they went they did not trouble much about making converts. They taught the natives instead how to work the soil and how to make all kinds of articles which might or might not be useful to them as they became more civilized. The chief effort of the monks was to teach the natives agriculture, from which--charity always begins at home--the friars themselves were naturally the first to reap the benefit.

At the same time the natives learned, and earned, and were made happy.

They improved their mode of living and were, with great softness and patience, not only drawn nearer to Catholicism but towards white people altogether. The Salesians had established on the Rio das Garcas--an enchanting spot--a beautiful farm on which they grew quant.i.ties of Indian corn, sugar-cane, wheat, and all kinds of vegetables.

Although I am not a Roman Catholic, the Salesians received me very politely and took the greatest delight in showing me all over the Mission. It was interesting to note that everybody was working hard. The Father Superior himself was busy shaping a big table from a huge plank of hard wood, and nothing could induce him to leave his sweating work--not even to go and have his meals. Father Colli Agostino was detailed to go round and explain everything to me.

The Salesians had no trouble with the Indians, whom they found quite gentle and docile. But they could never be relied upon. One day the entire tribe would come and help to work the soil with great vigour; the next day they would all disappear from the neighbourhood and no one knew where they had gone--sometimes for weeks. They invariably came back, sooner or later, and, what was more, they were always welcomed back.

Converting them to Christianity was a different matter. The Salesians had made little headway in that direction.

"We are patient people," said Father Colli; "it will come in time.

Already the Bororos are beginning to join us in the church, where many enjoy singing with us. They are intelligent and soon learn to sing."

I purchased, at almost prohibitive prices, many things from the Salesians, princ.i.p.ally food for my animals and men. Of course, in buying one had to realize where we were, which made all the difference in the price. I was glad to pay them the money and obtain the commodities.

The Salesians told me that while digging to make the foundations for one of their buildings they had found--only 3 ft. under ground--in the sandy soil several earthen pots of great antiquity, in excellent preservation, as well as a fireplace with ashes and charcoal. The sand had evidently acc.u.mulated in the valley below there owing to wind and not to water. The frail pottery, imperfectly baked, would have crumbled away quickly in moisture.

On May 20th (min. 58 Fahr., max. 85) we were again off toward the west, travelling over great domes of red lava, the higher portions of which were covered by layers of ashes and red sand. We were at an elevation of 1,480 ft. in the deep basin of the Rio Barreiros and Rio das Garcas, but we soon went over three consecutive ridges, 1,550 ft. above the sea level, with delicious campos and a _bosquet_ of trees here and there. In the arc of a circle extending from north-west to south-west we had in front of us a beautiful view. Previous to reaching the third ridge, that day, we also had behind us a wonderful panorama of the great plateau described in a previous chapter.

On travelling over a fourth elevation we found ourselves upon another immense dome of red volcanic rock, blackened on the surface, as if by fire, and with the peculiar striations we had noticed once or twice before. In this case there were cross striations as well, the direction of one set of parallel marks being from north-west to south-east, of the other set north-east to south-west, thus forming lozenges, each about 60 cm. across. All those lozenges were so regularly cut that the _ensemble_ gave the appearance of a well-made pavement. Then I noticed some peculiar great cavities in the rock, like those formed by glacial action. In fact, on a superficial examination, it seemed almost as if that region had first gone through a period of great revolution while in a state of semi-liquefaction owing to intense heat from fire, after which a sudden and intense cooling had taken place and covered the country perhaps even with ice. Whether the immense deposits of ashes and sand had been formed before or after the glacial period--if any such period ever existed in that particular region--could be merely a matter of speculation. In many places the sand, ashes, and red earth had almost consolidated into easily friable rock.

Where the actual rock was not exposed we had campos, campos, campos, stretching as far as the eye could see. Far from being monotonous, one had--or at least I had--a delightful sensation in riding across those interminable prairies of beautiful green. One could breathe the pure air with fully expanded lungs, and in that silent, reposeful solitude one felt almost as if the whole world belonged to one. We were not much worried by insects on those great open places; it was only on getting near patches of vegetation and near streams that we suffered from the attacks of those pests.

We saw few trees--all stunted and weak--as the padding of earth over the rocky under-strata did not permit their roots to go deep down, and therefore they grew up with difficulty and anaemic.

Twelve kilometres from the Rio Barreiros we came to a stream (elev. 1,400 ft.). On our left, rising above the inclined campos, was a triple undulation much higher than its neighbours. To the west stood two twin, well-rounded mounds, that my men named at once "the woman's b.r.e.a.s.t.s,"

which they much resembled.

We were still marching on deep deposits of ashes, and, higher, upon semi-hardened sandstone. On the northern side the twin hills had a different shape. They ended in a sharply pointed spur.

After going over an ochre-coloured sandy region (elev. 1,530 ft. above the sea level) we were again on magnificent undulating campos, dotted here and there with dark green shrubs and _bosquets_ to the north, north-west, and north-east.

Beyond, to the north-east, loomed again in the far distance our mysterious plateau, of a pure cobalt blue where in shadow. As one ran one's eye along its sky-line it was almost flat for more than half its length, then came a slight dip, followed by a terraced dome. Then again a straight line followed by a slightly higher and more undulating sky-line with three steps in it, and a conical end at its eastern terminus. The most easterly point of all--the highest--resembled a castle with vertical sides. But of this we have already spoken, at the terminal point of the great divided range we had pa.s.sed some days previously. The vertical cliffs of the plateau, where lighted by the sun, were of a brilliant red colour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Isolated Conical Hills with Tower-like Rocky Formation on Summit.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Endless Campos of Matto Grosso.]

As we approached the twin hills they appeared to be the remains of an ancient crater. They formed, in fact, a crescent with a broken rocky lower section--completing the circle of the crater. I had no time to go and examine carefully, as it would have meant a deviation from my route, but that is how it appeared to me. There were, in fact, extra deep deposits of volcanic ashes at the foot of the descent before we arrived at the river Agua Emeindada, where we made our camp that night, 15 kil.

from the Rio Barreiros.

My men went after game that night. Alcides killed a _veado_ (deer), and we all enjoyed the fresh meat for dinner.

The clouds (cirro-stratus) were, during the entire day, in horizontal lines and slight globular acc.u.mulations, the latter in a row and, taken _en ma.s.se_, giving also the impression of lines just above the horizon to the west. At sunset we once more saw the glorious effect of the radiation from the west, only instead of being straight lines there were, that time, feathery filaments which rose in graceful curves overhead, like so many immense ostrich feathers. They joined again in a common centre to the east.

My men were complaining all the time of the intense cold at night, and made me feel almost as if I had been responsible for it. They grumbled perpetually. During the early hours of the morning their moans were incessant. They never ceased crying, as hysterical young girls might do, but as one would not expect of men. Some of them had toothache--and no wonder, when one looked at their terrible teeth and the way they ate.

They devoured pounds of sugar every day--our supply, which should have lasted a year or more, having already almost been exhausted. It was impossible for me alone, with all the astronomical, geological, botanical, geographical, meteorological, photographic, anthropometric, and artistic work--not to mention the writing-up of my copious daily notes--also to keep a constant watch on the supplies. I had handed over that responsibility to Alcides. Unfortunately, he was the greediest of the lot. Every time I warned him not to be so wasteful, as we should find ourselves dying of starvation, he and the others made me feel that I was meanness itself, and that I was only doing it to save money.

I never objected to their eating as much as they could--as I have always made it a point on all my expeditions to feed my men on the best food procurable, and give them as much as they could possibly devour. But it pained me to see quant.i.ties of good food thrown away daily, as I knew what it would mean to us later on.

"We are Brazilians," said they, "and like plenty to eat. When there is no more we will go without food. You do not know Brazilians, but Brazilians can go thirty or forty days without anything to eat!"

"All right," said I--"we shall see."

Forty minutes--and perhaps not so long--had been, so far, the longest time I had seen them cease munching something or other. Not satisfied with the lavish food they were supplied with--heaps of it were always thrown to the dogs, after they had positively gorged themselves--yet they would pick up anything on the way: a wild fruit, a scented leaf of a tree, a nut of some kind or other, a _palmito_, a chunk of tobacco--all was inserted in the mouth. It was fortunate that we took enough exercise, or surely they would have all perished of indigestion. In my entire experience I have never seen men eat larger quant.i.ties of food and more recklessly than my Brazilian followers did. In the morning they were almost paralyzed with rheumatism and internal pains all over the body.

Frequently those pains inside were accentuated by the experiments they made in eating all kinds of fruit, some of which was poisonous. Many a time on our march did we have to halt because one man or another was suddenly taken violently ill. My remedy on those occasions was to shove down their throats the end of a leather strap, which caused immediate vomiting; then when we were in camp I gave them a powerful dose of castor oil. After a few hours they recovered enough to go on.

On May 21st the minimum temperature of the atmosphere was 55 Fahr., the maximum 79, the elevation 1,250 ft. at the stream Agua Emeindata. My men declared again they were half-frozen during the night and would not go on with me, as it was getting colder all the time and they would certainly die. When I told them that it was not cold at all--on the contrary, I considered that temperature quite high--they would not believe me.

With the temperature in the sun during the day at 98, most of the aches of the men disappeared, and I had little trouble with them until after sunset, when there was generally a considerable drop in the temperature.

We went on. We had a volcanic mountain to the left of us--half the crater of a volcano formed of red lava and friable red-baked rock. In the northern and central part of the mountain were ma.s.ses of lava which had been shot out of the mouth of the volcano and had solidified into all kinds of fantastic forms, some sharply pointed, some red, others black.

On the east side of the crater was a dome covered with earth with an underlying flow of lava. Then could be observed a circular group of huge rocks, pear-shaped, with sharp points upward. While the volcano was active these rocks had evidently stood on the rim of the then cylindrical crater. The mountain behind those rocks was formed by high acc.u.mulations of red volcanic sand, which in time had gradually, by the action of rain and sun, consolidated into soft rock.

The plateau extending northward, which was disclosed in all its entirety before me from the elevation of 1,600 ft. which we had reached, also seemed to possess an extinct crater shaped like a crescent with steep slopes and two rounded promontories on its side.

The sky that day was partly covered by transparent feathery clouds and by dense mist near the horizon line to the east, but was quite clear to the west. As usual, that evening we were again treated to fairly handsome radiating white lines from the sun reaching half way up the sky vault, but this time they were flimsy and not to be compared to the magnificent displays we had observed before.

Our animals still sank in ochre-coloured sand, or stumbled on conglomerate rocks of spattered lava pellets embedded in sandstone.

Capping the higher undulations we again found deposits of ashes.