Across Unknown South America - free ebook by Arnold Henry Savage Landor

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR

The Author. The Author....

15 minute read

Read Chapter

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR

The Author. The Author....

16 minute read

Read Chapter

PREFACE

South America is, to my mind, "the Coming Continent"—the Continent of the future. Everybody knows the wealth of the Argentine, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia; but the interior of Brazil, the largest and richest country of all, not unlike forbidden Tibet, was perhaps better known a century or two ago than now. Few people realize that Brazil is larger than the United States of North America, Germany, Portugal, and a few other countries taken together. The interior is practically a terra incognita —altho

12 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER I

The Heart of Brazil—Brazil, its Size and its Immense Wealth—Rio de Janeiro—Brazilian Men of Genius—São Paulo—The Bandeirantes —The Paulista Railway " More than three months to reach the spot?" asked the cinematograph man in amazement. "Then perhaps Monsieur is on a journey to Mars or the moon! There is no spot on earth that takes so long to reach." (Hearty laughter at his own wit.) That exclamation, and wise words that follow, came from the assistant of one of the largest firms of cinematograp

30 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER II

Coffee—The Dumont Railway My object in travelling by the Paulista Railway was to inspect the line on my way to the immense coffee plantations at Martinho Prado, owned by Conselheiro Antonio Prado. The estate is situated at an elevation above the sea level of 1,780 ft., upon fertile red soil. It is difficult, without seeing them, to realize the extent and beauty of those coffee groves—miles and miles of parallel lines of trees of a healthy, dark green, shining foliage. A full-grown coffee tree,

15 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER III

On the Mogyana Railway I arrived at Riberão Preto at 3.45 p.m. on March 29th. Riberão Preto—421 kil. N.N.W. of São Paulo and 500 kil. from Santos—is without doubt the most important commercial centre in the northern part of the State of São Paulo, and is a handsome active city, neat and clean-looking, with an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese population of some 25,000 souls. Its elevation above the sea level is 1,950 ft. The people of Riberão Preto subsist chiefly on the coffee industry. There a

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IV

The Terminus of the Railway—An Unpleasant Incident—The Purchase of Animals—On the March with the Caravan A great crowd had assembled at the station. The train had hardly stopped when my car was invaded by boisterous people, who embraced me and patted me on the back in the most approved Brazilian style. Before I could inquire who they were, one fellow, more boisterous than the others, informed me that he had purchased a great many mules for me, that he had engaged men for me, and also procured

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER V

Travelling across Country—A Musical Genius—Valuable Woods—Thermal Springs At the river were several picturesque two-wheeled carts waiting to be ferried across. Drawn by ten, twenty, and even as many as thirty oxen, these heavy hooded vehicles travelled across country in a most wonderful manner. Naturally they had to be of solid construction to stand the wear and tear demanded of them. Their wheels were heavy solid discs of hard wood encircled by powerful tyres of iron. A primitive system of br

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VI

Inquisitiveness—Snakes—A Wonderful Cure—Butterflies—A Striking Scene Pouso Alto was like all the other villas or settlements of Goyaz, only perhaps a little larger. The same whitewashed houses with doors and windows decorated with blue, the same abandoned, deserted look of the principal square and streets; in fact, another "city of the dead." Only two men—drinking in the local store—were visible in the whole village. The usual impertinent questions had to be answered. "Who are you? Why do you

19 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VII

In the City of Goyaz There was no such thing as an hotel in Goyaz capital. The nearest approach to it was a filthy rest-house for muleteers, which was, furthermore, already full. Against my usual custom—as I never, unless absolutely necessary, make use of the credentials I carry for my private needs—I had, therefore, to apply to the Presidente or Governor of the Province to find some sort of accommodation in the town for my animals, men, and myself. "Take off your spurs before you enter!" roug

18 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VIII

Fourteen Long and Weary Days—Disappointment—Criminals as Followers It was in the town of Goyaz that I had entertained hopes of finding suitable followers to accompany my expedition. The officials in Rio de Janeiro had given me glowing accounts of the bravery of the people of Goyaz. According to them those settlers of the interior were all daredevils, courageous beyond words, and I should have no difficulty whatever in finding plenty of men who, for a consideration, would join the expedition. "

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IX

The Departure—Devoured by Insects A few minutes later I had again joined my caravan, watched intently, at a respectful distance, by a few astonished natives of Goyaz. As soon as all my mules and horses had been packed—they were very heavily laden—I took my departure in a direction north-west by west. The six men mounted on mules came along. I had armed all my followers with the best repeating carbines that are made, as well as with excellent automatic pistols, and the long daggers locally used

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER X

Fishing—Termites—The Great Araguaya River An amusing incident happened. A cow chewed up the coat of one of my men, which was lying on the ground. In his fury the owner of the coat, on discovering the misdeed, seized his carbine and fired four shots at the cow and four at the farmhouse. None of us could tell where the bullets went. The cow, startled by the shots, gave a few jumps and kicks, then, absolutely uninjured, peacefully continued grazing. The house too remained untouched. Amazing shots

13 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XI

The Tucano —Fish of the Araguaya River—A Bad Shot—A Strange Sight I seemed to have no luck on that journey. Everything went wrong all the time. Everything seemed to stand in my way to prevent my progress. My men were demoralized, my mules and horses in a pitiable condition. I called a halt of two or three days in order that we might shoe the animals again and rearrange the pack-saddles. We had, of course, a good supply of new shoes, but the work of shoeing so many animals was hard, especially

24 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII

Geological Speculation—Beautiful Pasture-land The stars were of extraordinary brilliancy at night; so much so that one could see quite well enough by their light to get about. The atmosphere being extremely clear, they appeared of immense size, the planets shining with dazzling, changing colours which would have filled even the most profane with reverence for their splendour. I drew the attention of my men to the wonderful sight. "They are stars!" they replied contemptuously; "Have you never s

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIII

The River Barreiros—A Country of Tablelands The Rio Barreiros was about 100 metres wide. It was reached through a thick belt, 100 metres in width, of trees and bamboos of large diameter, which lined both its banks. The river flowed swiftly where we crossed it, over a bed of lava and baked rock, red and black, with huge treacherous pits and holes which rendered the job of crossing the stream dangerous for our animals. There were rapids lower down in the terraced mass of rock forming the river b

13 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIV

The Bororo Indians While I was reassuring my men an Indian appeared, bow and arrows in hand. He stood motionless, looking at us. My men, who had not noticed his coming, were terrified when they turned round and saw him. The Indian was a strikingly picturesque figure, with straight, sinewy arms and legs of wonderfully perfect anatomical modelling, well-shaped feet—but not small—and hands. He was not burdened with clothing; in fact, he wore nothing at all, barring a small belt round his waist an

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XV

Bororo Superstitions—The Bororo Language—Bororo Music Bororo Indians. Bororo Indians. The Bororos were superstitious to a degree. They believed in evil spirits. Some of these, they said, inhabited the earth; others were invisible and lived "all over the air," to use their expression. The aerial ones were not so bad as those on earth. It was to the latter that their invocations were made—not directly, but through a special individual called the barih , a kind of medicine man, who, shouting at t

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVI

Bororo Legends—The Religion of the Bororos—Funeral Rites The Bororos believed in spirits of the mountains and the forest, which haunted special places in order to do harm to living beings. Those spirits came out at night. They stole, ill-treated, and killed. In rocks, said the Bororos, dwelt their ancestors in the shape of parrots. The Bororos were greatly affected by dreams and nightmares, which they regarded as events that had actually happened and which generally brought bad luck. They were

29 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVII

The River Das Garças—Majestic Scenery I went to call on the Salesian Fathers. Between my camp and the river Das Garças, 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

19 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVIII

The Salesian Fathers—A Volcanic Zone We arrived at the chief colony of the Salesians, Sagrado Coração de Jesus (Tachos). There, thanks to the great kindness and hospitality of the Fathers, and also owing to the amount of interesting matter I found from a geological and anthropological point of view, I decided to halt for a day or two. The Salesians had come to that spot, not by the way I had gone, but by an easier way via Buenos Aires and the Paraguay River, navigable as far as Cuyabá, the cap

14 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIX

The Paredão Grande—A Cañon—A Weird Phenomenon—Troublesome Insects We had reached a spot of most amazing scenery—the Paredão Grande—a giant hill mass displaying a great crater in its north side. Two high cones stood above the immense red-baked wall at its eastern end, where it was in huge blocks stratified in thicknesses varying from 15 to 20 ft. each. In that eastern section the strata were perfectly horizontal. On the western side of the crater was a colossal quadrangular mountain of red-bake

24 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XX

Wild Animals—An Immense Chasm—Interesting Cloud Effects On May 31st (thermometer min. 56°, max. 74° Fahr.) I decided to abandon the missing horse and proceed on my journey. I suspected, with reason, that the animal had been stolen. It was no use wasting any more time searching for it. We thus bade good-bye for good to the Salesians, and left the great basin of the Sangrador River (elev. 2,050 ft.). We travelled over sparsely wooded country to 2,350 ft. Tobacco-coloured soil was still under our

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXI

A Beautiful Lagoon—Strange Lunar Display—Waves of Lava—Curious Grottoes—Rock Carvings—A Beautiful Waterfall We camped at the Lagoa Formosa—or "Beautiful Lagoon"—a large, verdant, oval-shaped lagoon, entirely covered with grass, only 140 ft. lower than the top of the plateau (elev. 2,290 ft.). Barring a slight undulation in the land to the north-east of the marsh, the country was there absolutely flat. At night I witnessed a marvellous lunar effect. The half-moon was high up in the sky. Soon af

19 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXII

In Search of the Highest Point of the Brazilian Plateau—Mutiny—Great Domes—Travelling by Compass—A Gigantic Fissure in the Earth's Crust I made up my mind that I would continue my journey westward no farther, and would now proceed due north in order to explore the most important part of the Central Plateau—the very heart of Brazil—precisely where the great Rivers Xingu and Tapajoz had their birth. I believed that we should there find the highest point of the Central Brazilian Plateau. I expect

18 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIII

The Jangada River—Demented Descendants of Slaves—Appalling Degeneration—Giant Monoliths—The River Roncador—Gigantic Natural Gateways—The Discovery of Fossils We had reached the end of the comparatively flat plateau, which varied in elevation on its summit from 2,530 ft. to 2,570 ft. above the sea level. We were next faced by a most precipitous descent in order to go down to the Jangada River—which eventually flowed into the distant Rio Cuyaba. There was, of course, no trail of any kind, and th

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIV

A Swampy Valley—Impressive Scenery—"Church Rock"—Escaping before a Forest Fire—The Rio Manso—Difficulties of marching across Virgin Country—Beautiful Rapids On leaving camp (June 15th) I noticed that the hills on which I had found the fossils formed a semicircle to the west. Rising quickly to an elevation of 2,070 ft., we were in sight of two great table-lands which stood to the west. In crossing the river I found a number of other fossils, among which was one that appeared to be the petrified

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXV

The Blue Mountains—The Cuyabá River—Inaccurate Maps—A Rebellion in Camp—Infamy of Author's Followers—The Lagõa dos Veados and the Seven Lakes—Falling back on Diamantino—Another Mutiny—Slavery—Descending from the Tableland We had gone 96 kil. in four days' marching since leaving the Rio Manso. We were only a few kilometres from the Serra Azul, or Blue Mountains—truly mountains of the most vivid and purest cobalt blue I had ever seen—quite a wonderful spectacle. We made our camp in a prairie wit

43 minute read

Read Chapter

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR

The Mouth of the Putamayo River. The Mouth of the Putamayo River....

18 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER I

The River Arinos—A Rickety Canoe—Mapping the River—The Siphonia Elastica —Rubber and its Collection—An Enormously Rich Country—A German in Slavery We struck the River Arinos at a point called Porto Velho. There were at that place the miserable sheds of three seringueiros (rubber-collectors). I had made for that particular spot because I had heard that a big canoe carved out of the trunk of a tree probably existed there. I was told that the canoe was large enough to carry many people. It had be

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER II

Hoisting the British Flag—An Escaped Slave—A Dilemma—Benedicto—The Lutra Brasiliensis —The Seringueiros—A Marvellous River—Rapids On July 6th we packed the canoe with our baggage and dogs. The British flag was hoisted at the stern of the canoe, and with tender embraces from the seringueiros, whose eyes were wet with tears—they imagined that we were going to certain death—we pulled out of Porto Velho at seven minutes to eleven o'clock a.m. "We will pray with all our hearts that you may reach th

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER III

Dangerous Navigation—Eddies—Whirlpools—An Extraordinary Creature—The Man X.—Pedro de Toledo Island—An Interesting Rodent We were rather proud of ourselves, as we had gone 69 kils. on July 7th, paddling away—barring the interval for lunch—from 7.15 in the morning until 7.30 at night. The night was fairly cold—minimum 57° Fahr.; the elevation 1,100 ft. Where I made camp at the elbow of the stream (on the left bank) there were innumerable rubber trees. A similar wealth of Siphonia elastica appear

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IV

Oleo Pardo Trees—Beautiful Palms—The River Bottom—Swarms of Butterflies—Millions of Bees—A Continuous Torture The night of July 10th was cool—minimum temperature 58° F. When we departed at 7.10 in the morning the river was extremely tortuous at first—in one place actually veering from north to due south. On the right side of us was a lake divided by a low bank, 3 to 5 ft. high, from the river by which it was fed. The entrance into the lake was narrow. We had hardly gone 1 kil. when we found ou

13 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER V

Great Islands—The Trinchão Fish—A Fisherman's Paradise—Alastor Island—Plentiful Rubber—The Civilized Man's Idea of the Tropical Forest—The War-Cries of the Indians—Swarms of Bees and Butterflies We had another cool night on July 12th—minimum temperature 47° F. It was very damp, and in the morning we had, as on the previous day, a thick mist which prevented our starting until it cleared up, at 7.40 a.m. The mist rose in columns and square blocks over the warmish water of the river. The right ba

17 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VI

The Tapirus Americanus —Striking Scenery—The Mate Tree—Photography in Camp—Brazilian Way of Reasoning—A New Christopher Columbus—The Selection of our Camps—Beautiful Fruit—A Large Tributary We were still at an elevation of 1,100 ft. The water was almost stagnant, and was evidently being held up by some obstacle. I feared that we should soon encounter nasty rapids. Watching the sky, I was generally able to foretell what was ahead of us in the river. In fact, a pretty mackerel sky, particularly

19 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VII

Ideal Islands—Immense Figueira Trees—The "Spider Monkey"—Great Variety of Fish in the Arinos—The Rocky Gateway into Diabolical Waters—Shooting Dangerous Rapids—Cutting a Way through the Forest—A Nasty Rapid—Plentiful Fish The night of July 16th was heavy, the thermometer registering a minimum temperature of 62°F. We had great fun fishing during the early hours of the night. In the morning we had hundreds of pounds of fish spread upon the bank of the river, with many excellent specimens of the

25 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VIII

Magnificent Basins—Innumerable Rapids—Narrow Escapes—The Destructive Sauba Ants—Disobedient Followers—A Range of Mountains—Inquisitive Monkeys—Luck in Fishing—Rocky Barriers—Venus We left at 8 a.m. on July 20th, the minimum temperature during the night having been 57° F. We had hardly gone 1½ kil. when we came to another island, 500 m. long—Mabel Island—quite as beautiful as the one on which we had camped. Small rapids were encountered where we just managed to avoid dangerous submerged rocks c

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IX

Dogs—Macaws—Crocodiles—A Serious Accident—Men flung into a Whirlpool—The Loss of Provisions and Valuable Baggage—More Dangerous Rapids—Wonderful Scenery—Dangerous Work—On the Edge of a Waterfall—A Risky Experience—Bravery of Author's Brazilian Followers—A High Wind from the North-East—A Big Lake The night was heavy and damp. All our things were soaked in the morning with the dew which had fallen. We were enveloped in a thick mist when we woke up. It became a dense fog when the sun rose, and di

28 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER X

The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers—Elfrida Landor Island—Terrible Days of Navigation—Immense Islands—An Old Indian Camp—A Fight between a Dog and an Ariranha —George Rex Island—A Huge Sucuriú Snake The spot where the two great rivers met was most impressive, especially from the island on which we stood, directly opposite the entrance of the two streams. The immense lake was spread before us, and beyond were the two great rivers meeting at an angle. Great walls of verdant fo

18 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XI

A Family of Ariranhas —Attacked by them—Three Nasty Rapids—Beautiful Sand Beaches—Exciting Experiences—Going down a Thundering Cataract—Alcides' Narrow Escape—A Night's Work in the Midst of a Foaming Rapid in order to rescue the half-submerged Canoe—Filippe's Courage—Visited by a Snake 20 ft. long We camped some hundred metres away from the spot where we had killed the sucuriú . It was getting late. My men did not sleep a wink the whole night, as they thought perhaps the mate of the snake migh

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII

A Tiny Globular Cloudlet warning us—Tossed in a Merciless Manner—Saved by Providence—Vicious Waters—A Diabolical Spot—A Highly Dangerous Crossing—A Terrible Channel—More Bad Rapids—On the Verge of a Fatal Drop down a Waterfall—Saved in Time—A Magnificent Sight—The August Falls—A Mutiny—The Canoe, weighing 2,000 lb., taken across the Forest over a Hill-range The thermometer that night, July 30th, showed a minimum of 63° F. We repaired the large hole (about 1 ft. in diameter) in the side of the

33 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIII

A Double Whirlpool—Incessant Rapids of Great Magnitude—A Dangerous Channel—Nothing to Eat—Another Disaster We had halted on a lovely island—Adelaide Island—with a rocky and sandy extension. The night of August 5th had been stifling, with a minimum temperature of 72° F. I found my work too much for me now. There was too much to observe on all sides. We were travelling quickly with the swift current. A hill range from east to west, 300 ft. high, ran along the left bank. Farther, where the river

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIV

In the Hands of Providence—A Mutiny—Another Mutiny—Foodless—Hard and Dangerous Work—A Near Approach to Hades—Making an Artificial Channel among Thousands of Boulders—An Awe-inspiring Scene—The Fall of S. Simão—A Revolt We all slept soundly that night, I taking good care to fasten the canoe well, so that we should not find her gone next morning. We had a minimum temperature of 63° F. on the night of August 8th. In the morning my men killed another big monkey, with the most human face I have eve

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XV

Mutiny and Threats—Wasted Efforts—Awful Waters—The Canoe escapes in a Violent Rapid—Another Mutiny—The Canoe recovered—An Appalling Vortex—The Fall of S. Simão—Cutting an Artificial Channel in the Rocks Brazilians of a low class are unfortunately easily led by words. Alcides, who could not get over his bad temper, once more incited the men to revolt. While I was busy taking altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus I kept my eye on them, as I saw plainly that I was coming in for t

17 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVI

At Death's Door—Mundurucu Indians—All Author's Followers poisoned by Wild Fruit—Anxious Moments—Seringueiros—A Dying Jewish Trader—The Mori Brothers—A New Hat—Where the Tres Barras meets the Arinos-Juruena—The Canoe abandoned We had a minimum temperature on the night of August 15th of 70° F. We descended the All Saints rapid and fall, 150 m. in length, with no great difficulty, although with a certain amount of hard work. A large basin was below it, in the eastern part of which was a charming

21 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVII

A Fiscal Agency—Former Atrocities—The Apiacar Indians—Plentiful Rubber—Unexploited Regions—Precious Fossils thrown away by Author's Followers—A Terrific Storm—Author's Canoe dashed to Pieces—The Mount S. Benedicto The State of Matto Grosso had recently established a fiscal agency at the junction of the two rivers in order to collect the tax on the rubber exported from that region. The Fiscal Agent, Mr. José Sotero Barretto, and his assistant, Mr. Julio Vieira Nery, were intelligent and polishe

15 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVIII

Starting across the Virgin Forest—Cutting the Way incessantly—A Rugged, Rocky Plateau—Author's Men throw away the Supplies of Food—Attacked by Fever—Marching by Compass—Poisoned—Author's Men break down—Author proceeds across Forest endeavouring to reach the Madeira River—A Dramatic Scene By three o'clock in the afternoon I had been able to induce the Indian Miguel, his friend the carrier, and three other Apiacar Indians to come along with us for a few days in order to carry the heavier package

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIX

Benedicto and Filippe show Courage—Confronted with a Mountainous Country—Steep Ravines—No Food—Painful Marches—Starving—Ammunition rendered useless by Moisture—The "pros" and "cons" of Smoking—A Faint Hope—A Forged Tin which should have contained Anchovies—Curious Effects of Starvation upon the Brain—Where Money is of no Avail—Why there was Nothing to eat in the Forest—The Sauba Ants—Sniffed by a Jaguar—Filippe tries to commit Suicide. The departure of those two men added much to our troubles.

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XX

Benedicto and the Honey—Constantly collapsing from Exhaustion—A Strange Accident—Finding a River—People's Mistaken Ideas—Sixteen Days of Starvation—An Abandoned Hut—Repairing a Broken-down Canoe—Canoe founders—A Raft constructed of Glass On September 11th we had another terrible march, the forest being very dense and much entangled along the stream. We had great trouble in getting through, as there were many palms and ferns, and we had no more strength to cut down our way. We came to a big tre

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXI

The Launching of the Glass Raft—Accidents—The Raft sinking—Saved—Our First Solid Meal—Its Consequences—The Canuma and Secundury Rivers—Marching Back across the Forest to the Relief of the Men left behind—A Strange Mishap—A Curious Case of Telepathy On September 21st my men had a great discussion. Their courage failed altogether, as they said they had never before seen a boat of that kind, made of glass bottles, and that, even allowing that she would float at all, if we struck a rock where shou

33 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXII

Baggage saved—The Journey down the Tapajoz River—Colonel Brazil—Wrecked—From Itaituba to the Amazon—Benedicto and the Man X are discharged October 6th and 7th I spent inside a hammock. I was in such a high fever and so absolutely exhausted that I believed I should never be able to pull through. Albuquerque and his wife were kindness itself to me, and looked after me most tenderly. While I had been away a trading boat had passed. That boat would be on its way down the river again in a few days.

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIII

Santarem to Belem (Pará)—The Amazon—From Belem to Manaos—The Madeira-Mamore Railway Santarem was an old settlement of no great interest. It had a few relatively fine ancient buildings and many ugly new ones. Early on November 6th the steamer proceeded on her way to Belem (Pará). On leaving Santarem we first emerged into the great Amazon River, a regular sea of fresh water, where we tossed about in a strong north-easterly gale. Unless one knew, one never could have imagined oneself on a river,

23 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIV

Attacked by Beri-beri—A Journey up the Madeira River to the Relief of Filippe the Negro and Recovery of Valuable Baggage left with him—Filippe paid off—A Journey up the River Solimeõs—Iquitos I arrived in Manaos in the evening of November 15th. I was very ill indeed, my right foot so swollen that I could hardly stand on it, and so painful that I could not put on a shoe or even a slipper, so that I had to hop about with only a sock over it. The doctor on board had told me that I was suffering f

18 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXV

From Iquitos to the Foot of the Andes up the Rivers Ucayalli, Pachitea and Pichis—The Cashibos or "Vampire Indians" The change in the characteristics of the people the moment you were in Peru was considerable, and striking was the neatness of the buildings. Iquitos was a pleasant little city, the streets of which needed paving badly, but were otherwise well aligned and tidy. There were numbers of foreigners there, including a small English colony made up of employés of the Booth Line and the r

25 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXVI

Across the Andes—The End of the Trans-continental Journey I was fortunate in obtaining some excellent Peruvian muleteers to accompany me on the expedition over the Andes. The trip might have been a rough one for the ordinary traveller, but for me it was a real holiday excursion, after the horrible time I had experienced in Brazil. This notwithstanding the disagreeable weather I encountered during the fourteen days' rough riding which I employed in reaching the Pacific Ocean. I started at once

23 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXVII

The Peruvian Corporation Railway—The Land of the Incas—Lake Titicaca—Bolivia—Chile—The Argentine—A Last Narrow Escape—Back in England Lima is a beautiful city, as everybody knows. Its wonderful churches, its clean streets, its commerce, the great charm of the people—indeed, the Peruvians are the most cultivated and polished people in South America, and the women the most beautiful—make it one of the most attractive cities I visited on that continent. I was, nevertheless, anxious to return quic

22 minute read

Read Chapter