第33章

We stayed here two days, sleeping ashore in the apartment devoted to strangers.As usual in Brazilian houses of the middle class, we were not introduced to the female members of the family, and, indeed, saw nothing of them except at a distance.In the forest and thickets about the place we were tolerably successful in collecting, finding a number of birds and insects which do not occur at Para.I saw here, for the first time, the sky-blue Chatterer (Ampelis cotinga).It was on the topmost bough of a very lofty tree, and completely out of the reach of an ordinary fowling-piece.The beautiful light-blue colour of its plumage was plainly discernible at that distance.It is a dull, quiet bird.Amuch commoner species was the Cigana or Gipsy (Opisthocomus cristatus), a bird belonging to the same order (Gallinacea) as our domestic fowl.It is about the size of a pheasant; the plumage is dark brown, varied with reddish, and the head is adorned with a crest of long feathers.It is a remarkable bird in many respects.The hind toe is not placed high above the level of the other toes, as it is in the fowl order generally, but lies on the same plane with them; the shape of the foot becomes thus suited to the purely arboreal habits of the bird, enabling it to grasp firmly the branches of trees.This is a distinguishing character of all the birds in equinoctial America which represents the fowl and pheasant tribes of the old world, and affords another proof of the adaptation of the fauna to a forest region.The Cigana lives in considerable flocks on the lower trees and bushes bordering the streams and lagoons, and feeds on various wild fruits, especially the sour Goyava (Psidium sp).The natives say it devours the fruit of arborescent Arums (Caladium arborescens), which grow in crowded masses around the swampy banks of lagoons.Its voice is a harsh, grating hiss; it makes the noise when alarmed or when disturbed by passing canoes, all the individuals sibilating as they fly heavily away from tree to tree.It is polygamous, like other members of the same order.It is never, however, by any chance, seen on the ground, and is nowhere domesticated.The flesh has an unpleasant odour of musk combined with wet hides--a smell called by the Brazilians catinga; it is, therefore, uneatable.If it be as unpalatable to carnivorous animals as it is to man, the immunity from persecution which it would thereby enjoy would account for its existing in such great numbers throughout the country.

We lost another of our crew here; and thus, at the commencement of our voyage, had before us the prospect of being forced to return, from sheer want of hands, to manage the canoe.Senor Gomez, to whom we had brought letters of introduction from Senor Joao Augusto Correia, a Brazilian gentlemen of high standing at Para, tried what he could do to induce the canoe-men of his neighbourhood to engage with us, but it was a vain endeavour.The people of these parts seemed to be above working for wages.They are naturally indolent, and besides, have all some little business or plantation of their own, which gives them a livelihood with independence.It is difficult to obtain hands under any circumstances, but it was particularly so in our case, from being foreigners, and suspected, as was natural amongst ignorant people, of being strange in our habits.At length, our host lent us two of his slaves to help us on another stage, namely, to the village of Baiao, where we had great hopes of having this, our urgent want, supplied by the military commandant of the district.

September 2nd--The distance from Vista Alegre to Baiao is about twenty-five miles.We had but little wind, and our men were therefore obliged to row the greater part of the way.The oars used in such canoes as ours are made by tying a stout paddle to the end of a long pole by means of woody lianas.The men take their stand on a raised deck, formed by a few rough planks placed over the arched covering in the fore part of the vessel, and pull with their backs to the stern.We started at six a.m., and about sunset reached a point where the west channel of the river, along which we had been travelling since we left Cameta, joined a broader middle one, and formed with it a great expanse of water.

The islands here seem to form two pretty regular lines, dividing the great river into three channels.As we progressed slowly, we took the montaria, and went ashore, from time to time, to the houses, which were numerous on the river banks as well as on the larger islands.In low situations they had a very unfinished appearance, being mere frameworks raised high on wooden piles, and thatched with the leaves of the Ubussu palm.In their construction another palm tree is made much use of, viz., the Assai (Euterpe oleracea).The outer part of the stem of this species is hard and tough as horn-- it is split into narrow planks, and these form a great portion of the walls and flooring.

The residents told us that the western channel becomes nearly dry in the middle of the fine season, but that at high water, in April and May, the river rises to the level of the house floors.

The river bottom is everywhere sandy, and the country perfectly healthy.The people seemed to all be contented and happy, but idleness and poverty were exhibited by many unmistakeable signs.

As to the flooding of their island abodes, they did not seem to care about that at all.They seem to be almost amphibious, or as much at home on the water as on land.It was really quite alarming to see men and women and children, in little leaky canoes laden to the water-level with bag and baggage, crossing broad reaches of river.