CHAPTER XX
THE LOWER AMAZON
LITTLE REMAINS to tell of the second part of the voyage down the
mighty river. It was but a series of days of joy. Joam Dacosta
returned to a new life, which shed its happiness on all who belonged
to him.
The giant raft glided along with greater rapidity on the waters now
swollen by the floods. On the left they passed the small village of
Don Jose de Maturi, and on the right the mouth of that Madeira which
owes its name to the floating masses of vegetable remains and trunks
denuded of their foliage which it bears from the depths of Bolivia.
They passed the archipelago of Caniny, whose islets are veritable
boxes of palms, and before the village of Serpa, which, successively
transported from one back to the other, has definitely settled on the
left of the river, with its little houses, whose thresholds stand on
the yellow carpet of the beach.
The village of Silves, built on the left of the Amazon, and the town
of Villa Bella, which is the principal guarana market in the whole
province, were soon left behind by the giant raft. And so was the
village of Faro and its celebrated river of the Nhamundas, on which,
in 1539, Orellana asserted he was attacked by female warriors, who
have never been seen again since, and thus gave us the legend which
justifies the immortal name of the river of the Amazons.
Here it is that the province of Rio Negro terminates. The
jurisdiction of Para then commences; and on the 22d of September the
family, marveling much at a valley which has no equal in the world,
entered that portion of the Brazilian empire which has no boundary to
the east except the Atlantic.
"How magnificent!" remarked Minha, over and over again.
"How long!" murmured Manoel.
"How beautiful!" repeated Lina.
"When shall we get there?" murmured Fragoso.
And this was what might have been expected of these folks from the
different points of view, though time passed pleasantly enough with
them all the same. Benito, who was neither patient nor impatient, had
recovered all his former good humor.
Soon the jangada glided between interminable plantations of
cocoa-trees with their somber green flanked by the yellow thatch or
ruddy tiles of the roofs of the huts of the settlers on both banks
from Obidos up to the town of Monto Alegre.
Then there opened out the mouth of the Rio Trombetas, bathing with
its black waters the houses of Obidos, situated at about one hundred
and eighty miles from Belem, quite a small town, and even a
_"citade"_ with large streets bordered with handsome habitations, and
a great center for cocoa produce. Then they saw another tributary,
the Tapajos, with its greenish-gray waters descending from the
south-west; and then Santarem, a wealthy town of not less than five
thousand inhabitants, Indians for the most part, whose nearest houses
were built on the vast beach of white sand.
After its departure from Manaos the jangada did not stop anywhere as
it passed down the much less encumbered course of the Amazon. Day and
night it moved along under the vigilant care of its trusty pilot; no
more stoppages either for the gratification of the passengers or for
business purposes. Unceasingly it progressed, and the end rapidly
grew nearer.
On leaving Alemquer, situated on the left bank, a new horizon
appeared in view. In place of the curtain of forests which had shut
them in up to then, our friends beheld a foreground of hills, whose
undulations could be easily descried, and beyond them the faint
summits of veritable mountains vandyked across the distant depth of
sky. Neither Yaquita, nor her daughter, nor Lina, nor old Cybele, had
ever seen anything like this.
But in this jurisdiction of Para, Manoel was at home, and he could
tell them the names of the double chain which gradually narrowed the
valley of the huge river.
"To the right," said he, "that is the Sierra de Paracuarta, which
curves in a half-circle to the south! To the left, that is the Sierra
de Curuva, of which we have already passed the first outposts."
"Then they close in?" asked Fragoso.
"They close in!" replied Manoel.
And the two young men seemed to understand each other, for the same
slight but significant nodding of the head accompanied the question
and reply.
At last, notwithstanding the tide, which since leaving Obidos had
begun to be felt, and which somewhat checked the progress of the
raft, the town of Monto Alegre was passed, then that of Pravnha de
Onteiro, then the mouth of the Xingu, frequented by Yurumas Indians,
whose principal industry consists in preparing their enemies' heads
for natural history cabinets.
To what a superb size the Amazon had now developed as already this
monarch of rivers gave signs of opening out like a sea! Plants from
eight to ten feet high clustered along the beach, and bordered it
with a forest of reeds. Porto de Mos, Boa Vista, and Gurupa, whose
prosperity is on the decline, were soon among the places left in the
rear.
Then the river divided into two important branches, which flowed off
toward the Atlantic, one going away northeastward, the other
eastward, and between them appeared the beginning of the large island
of Marajo. This island is quite a province in itself. It measures no
less than a hundred and eighty leagues in circumference. Cut up by
marshes and rivers, all savannah to the east, all forest to the west,
it offers most excellent advantages for the raising of cattle, which
can here be seen in their thousands. This immense barricade of Marajo
is the natural obstacle which has compelled the Amazon to divide
before precipitating its torrents of water into the sea. Following
the upper branch, the jangada, after passing the islands of Caviana
and Mexiana, would have found an _embouchure_ of some fifty leagues
across, but it would also have bet with the bar of the prororoca,
that terrible eddy which, for the three days preceding the new or
full moon, takes but two minutes instead of six hours to raise the
river from twelve to fifteen feet above ordinary high-water mark.
This is by far the most formidable of tide-races. Most fortunately
the lower branch, known as the Canal of Breves, which is the natural
area of the Para, is not subject to the visitations of this terrible
phenomenon, and its tides are of a more regular description. Araujo,
the pilot, was quite aware of this. He steered, therefore, into the
midst of magnificent forests, here and there gliding past island
covered with muritis palms; and the weather was so favorable that
they did not experience any of the storms which so frequently rage
along this Breves Canal.
A few days afterward the jangada passed the village of the same name,
which, although built on the ground flooded for many months in the
year, has become, since 1845, an important town of a hundred houses.
Throughout these districts, which are frequented by Tapuyas, the
Indians of the Lower Amazon become more and more commingled with the
white population, and promise to be completely absorbed by them.
And still the jangada continued its journey down the river. Here, at
the risk of entanglement, it grazed the branches of the mangliers,
whose roots stretched down into the waters like the claws of gigantic
crustaceans; then the smooth trunks of the paletuviers, with their
pale-green foliage, served as the resting-places for the long poles
of the crew as they kept the raft in the strength of the current.
Then came the Tocantins, whose waters, due to the different rivers of
the province of Goyaz, mingle with those of the Amazon by an
_embouchure_ of great size, then the Moju, then the town of Santa
Ana.
Majestically the panorama of both banks moved along without a pause,
as though some ingenious mechanism necessitated its unrolling in the
opposite direction to that of the stream.
Already numerous vessels descending the river, ubas, egariteas,
vigilandas, pirogues of all builds, and small coasters from the lower
districts of the Amazon and the Atlantic seaboard, formed a
procession with the giant raft, and seemed lke sloops beside some
might man-of-war.
At length here appeared on the left Santa Maria de Belem do Para--the
"town" as they call it in that country--with its picturesque lines of
white houses at many different levels, its convents nestled among the
palm-trees, the steeples of its cathedral and of Nostra Senora de
Merced, and the flotilla of its brigantines, brigs, and barks, which
form its commercial communications with the old world.
The hearts of the passengers of the giant raft beat high. At length
they were coming to the end of the voyage which they had thought they
would never reach. While the arrest of Joam detained them at Manaos,
halfway on their journey, could they ever have hoped to see the
capital of the province of Para?
It was in the course of this day, the 15th of October--four months
and a half after leaving the fazenda of Iquitos--that, as they
rounded a sharp bend in the river, Belem came into sight.
The arrival of the jangada had been signaled for some days. The whole
town knew the story of Joam Dacosta. They came forth to welcome him,
and to him and his people accorded a most sympathetic reception.
Hundreds of craft of all sorts conveyed them to the fazender, and
soon the jangada was invaded by all those who wished to welcome the
return of their compatriot after his long exile. Thousands of
sight-seers--or more correctly speaking, thousands of friends crowded
on to the floating village as soon as it came to its moorings, and it
was vast and solid enough to support the entire population. Among
those who hurried on board one of the first pirogues had brought
Madame Valdez. Manoel's mother was at last able to clasp to her arms
the daughter whom her son had chosen. If the good lady had not been
able to come to Iquitos, was it not as though a portion of the
fazenda, with her new family, had come down the Amazon to her?
Before evening the pilot Araujo had securely moored the raft at the
entrance of a creek behind the arsenal. That was to be its last
resting-place, its last halt, after its voyage of eight hundred
leagues on the great Brazilian artery. There the huts of the Indians,
the cottage of the negroes, the store-rooms which held the valuable
cargo, would be gradually demolished; there the principal dwelling,
nestled beneath its verdant tapestry of flowers and foliage, and the
little chapel whose humble bell was then replying to the sounding
clangor from the steeples of Belem, would each in its turn disappear.
But, ere this was done, a ceremony had to take place on the
jangada--the marriage of Manoel and Minha, the marriage of Lina and
Fragoso. To Father Passanha fell the duty of celebrating the double
union which promised so happily. In that little chapel the two
couples were to receive the nuptial benediction from his hands.
If it happened to be so small as to be only capable of holding the
members of Dacosta's family, was not the giant raft large enough to
receive all those who wished to assist at the ceremony? and if not,
and the crowd became swo great, did not the ledges of the river banks
afford sifficient room for as many others of the sympathizing crowd
as were desirous of welcoming him whom so signal a reparation had
made the hero of the day?
It was on the morrow, the 16th of October, that with great pomp the
marriages were celebrated.
It was a magnificent day, and from about ten o'clock in the morning
the raft began to receive its crowd of guests. On the bank could be
seen almost the entire population of Belem in holiday costume. On the
river, vessels of all sorts crammed with visitors gathered round the
enormous mass of timber, and the waters of the Amazon literally
disappeared even up to the left bank beneath the vast flotilla.
When the chapel bell rang out its opening note it seemed like a
signal of joy to ear and eye. In an instant the churches of Belem
replied to the bell of the jangada. The vessels in the port decked
themselves with flags up to their mastheads, and the Brazilian colors
were saluted by the many other national flags. Discharges of musketry
reverberated on all sides, and it was only with difficulty that their
joyous detonations could cope with the loud hurrahs from the
assembled thousands.
The Dacosta family came forth from their house and moved through the
crowd toward the little chapel. Joam was received with absolutely
frantic applause. He gave his arm to Madame Valdez; Yaquita was
escorted by the governor of Belem, who, accompanied by the friends of
the young army surgeon, had expressed a wish to honor the ceremony
with his presence. Manoel walked by the side of Minha, who looked
most fascinating in her bride's costume, and then came Fragoso,
holding the hand of Lina, who seemed quite radiant with joy. Then
followed Benito, then old Cybele and the servants of the worthy
family between the double ranks of the crew of the jangada.
Padre Passanha awaited the two couples at the entrance of the chapel.
The ceremony was very simple, and the same bands which had formerly
blessed Joam and Yaquita were again stretched forth to give the
nuptial benediction to their child.
So much happiness was not likely to be interrupted by the sorrow of
long separation. In fact, Manoel Valdez almost immediately sent in
his resignation, so as to join the family at Iquitos, where he is
still following the profession of a country doctor.
Naturally the Fragosos did not hesitate to go back with those who
were to them friends rather than masters.
Madame Valdez had no desire to separate so happy a group, but she
insisted on one thing, and that was that they should often come and
see her at Belem. Nothing could be easier. Was not the mighty river a
bond of communication between Belem and Iquitos? In a few days the
first mail steamer was to begin a regular and rapid service, and it
would then only take a week to ascend the Amazon, on which it had
taken the giant raft so many months to drift. The important
commercial negotiations, ably managed by Benito, were carried through
under the best of conditions, and soon of what had formed this
jangada--that is to say, the huge raft of timber constructed from an
entire forest at Iquitos--there remained not a trace.
A month afterward the fazender, his wife, his son, Manoel and Minha
Valdez, Lina and Fragoso, departed by one of the Amazon steamers for
the immense establishment at Iquitos of which Benito was to take the
management.
Joam Dacosta re-entered his home with his head erect, and it was
indeed a family of happy hearts which he brought back with him from
beyond the Brazilian frontier. As for Fragoso, twenty times a day was
he heard to repeat, "What! without the liana?" and he wound up by
bestowing the name on the young mulatto who, by her affection for the
gallant fellow, fully justified its appropriateness. "If it were not
for the one letter," he said, "would not Lina and Liana be the same?"
