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 capital of Matto Grosso. The friars had done wonderful work in many parts of the State of Matto Grosso. In fact, what little good in the way of civilization had been done in that State had been done almost entirely by those monks. They had established an excellent college in Cuyabá, where all kinds of trades and professions were taught. In the port of Corumbá a similar school was established, and then there were the several colonies among the Indians, such as the Sagrado Coração de Jesus on the Rio Barreiro, the Immaculada Conceição on the Rio das Garças, the Sangradouro Colony, and the Palmeiras.
As in this work I have limited myself to write on things which have come directly under my observation, I shall not have an opportunity of speaking of the work of the Salesians at Cuyabá or Corumbá--two cities I did not visit--but I feel it my duty to say a few words on the work of sacrifice, love and devotion performed by the friars in those remote regions.
In the colony at Tachos, situated on a height, there were several neat buildings for the friars and a village for the Indians. What interested me most was to see how much of the land around had been converted with success to agricultural purposes. I inspected the buildings where useful trades were taught to the Indians of both sexes. Weaving-looms and spinning-wheels had been imported at great expense and endless trouble, as well as blacksmiths' and carpenters' tools of all kinds. A delightfully neat garden with European flowers was indeed a great joy to one's eyes, now unaccustomed to so gay and tidy a sight. What pleased me most of all was to notice how devoted to the Salesians the Indians were, and how happy and well cared for they seemed to be. They had the most humble reverence for the Fathers.
Padre Antonio Colbacchini, the Father Superior, an Italian, was an extremely intelligent and practical man, one of the hardest workers I have ever met. With a great love for science he had established a small observatory on a high hill at a considerable distance from the mission buildings. The abnegation with which Father Clemente Dorozeski, in charge of the instruments, would get up in the middle of the night and in all weathers go and watch for the minimum temperature--their instruments were primitive, and they did not possess self-registering thermometers--was indeed more than praiseworthy.
My readers can easily imagine my surprise when one day Padre Colbacchini treated me, after dinner, to an orchestral concert of such operas as Il Trovatore, Aïda, and the Barbiere di Seviglia, played on brass and stringed instruments by Indian boys. The Bororos showed great fondness for music, and readily learned to play any tune without knowing a single note of music. Naturally great patience was required on the part of the teacher in order to obtain a collective melody which would not seriously impair the drum of one's ear. The result was truly marvellous. Brass instruments were preferred by the Indians. The trombone was the most loved of all. As the Indians all possessed powerful lungs, they were well suited for wind instruments.
The colony was situated in one of the most picturesque spots of Matto Grosso. When out for a walk I came upon a great natural wall of rock with immense spurs of lava, the surface of which was cut up into regular geometrical patterns, squares and lozenges. I think that in that particular case the peculiarity was due to the lava having flowed over curved surfaces. In coming in contact with the atmosphere it had cooled more rapidly on the upper face than the under, and in contracting quickly had split at regular intervals, thus forming the geometrical pattern.
It was undoubted that we were there in the former centre of inconceivable volcanic activity. In other parts of a great dome of rock I came upon strange holes in the rock--extremely common all over that region--which might at first glance be mistaken for depressions formed by glacial action, but which were not. They were merely moulds of highly ferruginous rock, granular on its surface and not smoothed, as one would expect in the walls of cavities made by the friction of revolving ice and rock. Nor did I ever find at the bottom of any of those pits, worn-down, smooth spherical or spheroid rocks, such as are usually found in pits of glacial formation. Those pits had been formed by lava and molten iron flowing around easily crumbled blocks of rock, or perhaps by large balls of erupted mud which had dropped on molten lava, that had then solidified round them, while the mud or soft rock had subsequently been dissolved by rain, leaving the mould intact. The latter theory would seem to me the more plausible, as many of those pits showed much indented, raised edges, as if splashing had taken place when the rock now forming the mould was in semi-liquid form. Only once or twice did I notice hollows with a suggestion of spiral grooves in their walls; but I think that those had been caused at a more recent date by water flowing in and describing a spiral as it travelled downward in the interior of the vessels.
On the hill where the observatory was situated two circular volcanic vents were to be seen. The hill, which had a slope on one side, had evidently been split, as on reaching the top I found that an almost vertical precipice was on the other side. Quantities of quartz and crystals were to be found on that hill. All over that region quaintly-shaped rocks were also to be found, some like small cubic or rectangular boxes, others not unlike inkstands, others in hollowed cylinders or spheres. Many--and those were the quaintest of all--were of a rectangular shape, which when split disclosed a rectangular hollow inside. These natural boxes were mostly of iron rock, laminated, which had evidently collected when in a liquid state round some soft matter, that had subsequently evaporated or disappeared with the intense heat, leaving empty spaces inside. The laminations were about one-eighth of an inch thick.
Padre Colbacchini told me that some distance off a curious pool of water existed which he called the "electric spring." When you placed your hand in it you received a slight electric shock, while a similar impression to that of an electric current continued to be felt as long as you kept your hand in the water.
The mission buildings at Tachos were at an elevation of 1,600 ft., the observatory, 100 ft. higher. The temperature on May 23rd was max. 81°, min. 68·4 Fahr. From the observatory hill an uncommon sight was before us. Seven large and small isolated conical and domed hills stood in perfect alignment from N.N.E. to S.S.W. in two different sets.
In that region the prevalent wind was from the E.S.E. during the months of May, June, July and August. In September the wind veered gradually to the north and north-east; whereas during the rainy season winds from the north, north-west and south-east were the most prevalent, especially the north-westerly wind. When the wind came from the north it was generally accompanied by heavy rain. The rainy season in that particular zone of the immense Matto Grosso state extended from October to the end of April.
The Rio Barreiros flowed in a northerly direction (elev. 1,500 ft.) over a bed of red lava, ashes, red earth, and sand. After leaving this river we quickly rose again to an altitude of 1,700 ft. upon a first hill, then to 1,800 ft. on a second, and 1,850 ft. on a third elevation over a great spur of red lava, extending in a graceful curve well into the valley below.
Exquisite was the view of the great plain below us, with its magnificent campos stretching as far as the eye could see, far away to the horizon line. In the far distance, scattered here and there, rose the peculiar flat-topped isolated mountains before described. Again all that day we marched over ashes, red sand, and volcanic débris. The highest point we reached was 1,950 ft. A snake dashed across our way among the hoofs of my mule, but no harm was done.
Near Camp Bugueirão (elev. 1,800 ft.), where we halted, there was a delightful, clear, tiny spring emerging from white volcanic crystallized rock. Then more campos over lovely undulations in the country. Close by was what the Brazilians call a furnas (from the Latin fornus)--a somewhat misapplied term by which they named any deep hollow or chasm, whether vertical like a precipice or horizontal such as a cave.
It was getting slightly less cold during the nights. On May 24th the Fahrenheit thermometer registered a minimum of 60° and a maximum temperature of 75°.
Owing to the usual trouble of recovering the mules in the morning we only left camp at 10.30 a.m., rising over great masses of ferruginous rock, which showed through the deposits of ashes and sand at an elevation of 1,950 ft. The immense view of the campos in great undulations was really exquisite to the west and south-west.
My mules were then travelling over a strange narrow strip of rock at a height of 2,050 ft.--in some places only a few yards across--on the top of vertical walls dividing two deep valleys, one to the south, very extensive, with great lava-flows; another to the north. In the latter valley an immense extinct crater was visible, in three well-defined internal terraces and a deep central depression.
Upon climbing on the summit of a high conical hill I further discovered that the crater had an elongated shape, the longest diameter being from north to south, the southern and lower part being overlapped by a voluminous flow of lava which also covered a great part of the mountain slope. Strange monoliths were numerous, among the many fantastically shaped rocks, and also boulders lying about at all angles. One like a huge table rested on the top of another, upon which it had fallen with great force, as could be seen by the vertical splitting of the rock underneath. The rock above appeared simply broiled--and so were the huge masses of débris, especially of ferruginous rock, which had evidently been ejected by that crater. The entire summit of the crater cone (2,100 ft. above the sea level) was of hard black baked rock.
Close by, to the north, was another peculiar oval depression, the highest part of which to the north-west was in four distinct terraces in the interior. The eastern part was more flattened, not unlike a huge soup plate. In the centre was another deep depression--possibly an extinct crater too. This second crater was to the north of the high-domed crater described above.
In the near west we had mere undulations over which we gradually travelled, but the country was getting much more disturbed than it had appeared since leaving the Araguaya River. Due west farther away stood before us a weird-looking plateau with a vertical high wall to the north. To the south it showed three terraces, the two lower ones supported on perpendicular cliffs, whereas a convex slope was between the second and third, or top terrace. To the south-west in the far distance another high plateau could be perceived, also with vertical cliffs to the north, but slanting at its southern end--a shape characteristic of nearly all the isolated mountains of that zone.
Looking south we perceived great tongues of lava extending from east to west--the eastern point being higher than the western, showing that the lava had flowed there from east to west. Then there was also a great sloping grassy slant, possibly over another extensive lava-flow, from the crater we had examined. Extending toward the south-west was another tongue of lava of great width when measured from north-west to south-east, the latter (south-east) being its lowest point. On its north-east side this great flow had a high vertical face. Between these enormous tongues of lava, east to west and south-east to north-west, was a depression or channel extending as far as a distant high dome in three terraces to the south-west. On our course we came upon more curious flattened eruptive rocks, which had split on falling with great force to earth after having been ejected from a volcano.
Other parallel ranges could be clearly perceived. To bearings magnetic 160° were again to be seen our old friends the two strange gabled-roof and tower mountains.
I climbed up on the Paredãozinho volcano (2,100 ft. above the sea level) to examine its extinct crater, subdivided into two distinct large craters and a subsidiary one.
One of these craters extended from east to west, and had in one section on its rim a giant dome split into quadrangular and lozenge-shaped sections, not unlike magnified mosaic work. Next to it was a great hill with a vertical natural wall overlooking the crater itself. The horizontal strata of this natural wall, each about a foot thick, looked exactly like a wonderful masonry work, so perfectly straight were the strata, and the square and rectangular rocks laid in lines with such extraordinary regularity. This wall stood upon solid masses of rock of immense size--hundreds of feet in height.
The lip of the crater on the south side was just like the well-laid pavement of a city, so regularly had the lava cracked in contracting, thus leaving four- and five-sided geometrical figures, all well fitting in with their neighbours. Again, in this case, the lava, flowing over a convex surface, had contracted on the surface and caused the wonderful network of grooves. In one section the crater had the appearance of an ancient Roman or Etruscan amphitheatre with seats in many tiers or steps, separated by vertical cracks--as if cut out into separate blocks of stone.
On the east side of the greatest portion of one crater--which would seem to have been the most active of all--I found again immense boulders with stratified rock above them resembling masonry work, just the same as and at the same elevation as the layers I had examined in the larger elongated horseshoe crater. In the centre of the smaller crater there flowed a rivulet of crystal-like water most delicious to drink. Undoubtedly those eastern rocks were the lip of the crater, for I discovered there two flows of lava in corrugations and network designs such as we had observed on the summit of the greater section. I had great difficulty in climbing up the steep internal walls of the crater, and on the steep slopes with dried grass, which was slippery to a degree. On the top of the crater were great masses of carbonated rock; also patches of lapilli, and red and white sand, plentiful everywhere in that zone.
The smaller crater--it seemed to me--must have been a mere safety valve for the larger one. Its elevation, it will be noticed, was the same as that of the latter. From the summit of the one on which I was standing I could perceive the other to the E.N.E., forming the eastern boundary of this immense volcanic hollow. The southern part of this great double crater was subdivided into several sections, all in great rocky terraces--quite vertical except in their lower portion, which was sloping and had evidently been filled to a great extent by an accumulation of ashes and erupted refuse. On the side on which I stood, however, the crater had not the diabolical, quite awe-inspiring, appearance of the larger section of the huge volcanic mouth--quite unscaleable by humans in its central section. In the deep cracks in the rock were several small grottoes. I experienced some difficulty and much fatigue in climbing to the top (elev. 1,750 ft.) of the extinct volcano, and especially in reaching the lip of the crater, owing to the thick and much entangled scrub with innumerable thorns.
Our camp was at 1,500 ft., in a delightful spot at the junction of two streams, one from the south descending from the volcano, the other from the north. The two rivers united flowed north--I think eventually into the Rio das Mortes.
When we moved out of camp on May 25th (temperature, minimum 62°, maximum 80° Fahr.) I noticed that, after passing the wall-like section of the crater in the northern aspect, there were strata with a dip south in the inner part of the crater. The northern face of this vertical wall showed thick strata cracked into squares and rectangles with a dip in two different directions at an angle. There a draining channel had formed. Two rows of circular holes--like port-holes--were to be seen, one directly under the summit, the other one-third down the cliff side. A giant rectangular tower of solid rock stood erect parallel to the great wall. Skirting this vertical wall we travelled north-west-by-west, rising gradually to 1,800 ft. on a deep layer of red volcanic sand and grey ashes.
Looking back to the east we had a complete view of the two-tiered plateaux with their vertical northern walls, showing a dip south in their stratification. A crowning mound could also be observed surpassing their height, when we rose still higher to 1,900 ft. on the summit of a ledge of cracked lava with a slant west-wards. On the eastern side, where it had crumbled owing to a subsidence, it showed a rounded moulding, whereas on the other side were great waves of lava. The lava had flowed from east to west.
After leaving this curious spot we went over undulating red and ochre-coloured sand and more grey ashes. We rose twice to an elevation of 2,000 ft. We crossed a streamlet of delicious water flowing north over a red lava bed. Then more and more ashes were found all along. A second stream--also flowing north--was then negotiated, also over a red lava bed (elev. 1,800 ft.), after which we climbed to 2,000 ft., descending soon after to 1,900 ft. on the banks of another river flowing north-east.
At this spot were two more enormous lava-flows--one on each side of the stream, and extending in a tortuous course from south-west to north-east. The lava had flowed north-east.
On rising slowly in deep red sand to an elevation of 2,100 ft. we saw two prominent elevations of brilliant red colouring to the south--they, too, with vertical cliffs to the north. To the west loomed two huge twin plateaux separated by an immense crack, also with vertical walls to the north and a slight dip south in the strata forming the various terraces.
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-baked rock--a solid mass of granite with a narrow band, slightly discoloured, all along its summit. There--above--we also perceived a slight grassy slope, and above it again a great natural wall in layers 6 ft. thick. From the bottom of the mountain this upper natural wall resembled the defences of a great castle built on the summit of the giant rock. In approaching this strange sight we had gone over extensive deposits of ashes and yellow lava pellets and balls.
The elevation at the foot of this immense block was 1,970 ft., the summit of the rock 660 ft. higher--so that the reader can easily imagine how impressive this quadrangular block of bright red rock was, several hundred yards in length on each side and 201 metres high.
As we reached camp rather early I went to examine the block from all sides. On the southern side Alcides and I climbed up to within 30 ft. of the summit, and from that high point obtained a stupendous panoramic view of the great expanse of undulating country to the south and south-east, while it was almost absolutely flat to the west as far as the horizon line.
To the south-west were distinguishable some extraordinary-looking cylindrical table-lands--like immense sections of columns--rising well above the horizon line. To the south in the distance a peculiar formation of mountains could be seen--first a separate prismatic mountain like a gabled roof with a well-defined vertical high wall standing all along its longitudinal apex line. Parallel to this and to one another were three sets of mountains, with such steep sides that they seemed like gigantic walls standing up on the flat country. Behind them was a flat-topped plateau with a small cone rising above it. The sides of the latter plateau formed a steep escarpment. To the south-east was a domed plateau, red in its lower section, green on the top. Between this plateau and the last wall-like mountain, several hundred feet in height, stood a conical peak with a natural tower of rock upon it.
Beyond, to the south-east, could just be perceived two pyramidal mountains, but they were very distant and scarcely visible. The valley itself was greatly furrowed in deep, long channels. Due south were dome-like mounds--each of these, mind you, standing out individually upon an almost flat plain.
In the north-western corners of the great quadrangular Paredão rock I saw a spot where it would have been quite easy to climb up to the summit, as portions of the rock had crumbled down and had left an incline. But I had no object in making the ascent on that side, especially as I had already obtained the view I required from the south side. Also because I was heavily laden, carrying cameras, aneroids, a large prismatic compass, and three heavy bags of money slung to the belt round my waist, and did not feel up to the extra and useless exertion. Great arches with a span of over 80 metres were to be seen in the lower part of the western wall. To the south there was a huge spur of lava with the geometrical pattern upon its surface we had already observed elsewhere. In this particular case, too, it appeared to me that the peculiar net of surface channels had been formed in coming in contact with the air, and not underground in the boiling cauldron of the volcano when the ebullition of the rock ceased. They were only found at a lower elevation because they had gone down with a great subsidence which had taken place, and in which neither the quadrangular Paredão Grande, nor the peculiar isolated mountains we had observed from its height, had been affected. They had remained standing when all the rest sank for some six hundred feet and, in places, more. That might perhaps account for the extraordinary shapes of all those mountains, which could not otherwise be explained.
At the foot of the vertical giant block on the west many domes of lava, channelled in a quadrangular network pattern, and ridges and cones, were found, all with a slope to the west. I had a great struggle in my research work that day, owing to the thick scrub with vicious thorns that tore one's clothes and skin mercilessly.
We came upon an immense deep crack in the earth surface--a regular cañon--which extended all along the centre of the great valley. On the opposite side of it were again big domes of lava in corrugated designs, also a gigantic circular crater. Many natural crucibles of iron rock, some cylindrical in shape, others oval, others formed not unlike Pompeian lamps--while others still were square or rectangular or lozenge-shaped--were to be seen in many spots on the moraine-like tails that extended southward, like the tentacles of an octopus, and in the heaps of much carbonized rock and solidified froth produced by what was once boiling rock. The mounds of froth were usually collected in depressions.
The west side of the Paredão was decidedly the most interesting of all. Its great arches showed that it must have once formed the sides of a great cauldron--the top of which had subsequently collapsed or been blown off. This seemed quite apparent from the discoloration in the rocky cliff some 50 ft. above the arches, which followed the exact line of what must have been the thickness of the vault. The rock in that discoloured section was perfectly smooth, whereas above that it became much cracked vertically in layers, and gave the appearance of a masonry wall.
Toward the south-western corner there was a prismatic tower. Where the peculiar isolated rocks near the tower formed a spur, a dip was noticeable in the flow of the once molten rock, following what must have been at that time the surface soil over the cauldron's roof.
A huge triangular crater could be seen, from which started an enormous crack of great length in the lava-flow of the valley to the west.
The southern face of that stupendous rocky quadrangle was not quite so vertical as the west and north sides, and was more in tiers or steps of lava--but very steep indeed. It had in its lower part a great spur extending southward.
As I have said, Alcides and I arrived within 30 ft. of the summit of the great Paredão, at an elevation of 2,550 ft., the summit being 2,580 ft.; but owing to the last 30 ft. being absolutely vertical and the top rock of a crumbling nature, and as my object in wishing to obtain a full view of the country to the south had been attained, I did not think it worth while to court an accident for nothing. It was well after sunset when we were up there, and it would take a long time to return to camp. So we hastened on our return journey.
The sunset that night--which we watched from that high point of vantage--was really too stupendous for words, and not unlike an aurora borealis--red, gold and violet lines radiating from the sun like a gorgeous fan and expanding as they approached the summit of the sky vault. The descent was more difficult than the ascent, owing to the slippery nature of the rock.
At night, while back in camp, we saw to the W.N.W., quite low on the horizon, a brilliant planet--possibly Venus. The stars and planets appeared always wonderfully bright and extraordinarily large on fine nights. Whether it was an optical illusion or not I do not know, but the phenomenon, which lasted some hours, was seen by all my men, and appeared also when the planet was seen through a powerful hand telescope. It seemed to discharge powerful intermittent flashes, red and greenish, only toward the earth. Those flashes were similar to and more luminous than the tail of a small comet, and of course much shorter--perhaps four to five times the diameter of the planet in their entire length.
Whether this phenomenon was due to an actual astral disturbance, or to light-signalling to the earth or other planet, it would be difficult--in fact, impossible--to ascertain with the means I had at my command. Perhaps it was only an optical illusion caused by refraction and deflected rays of vision, owing to the effect upon the atmosphere of the heated rocky mass by our side and under us--such as is the case in effects of mirage. I am not prepared to express an opinion, and only state what my men and I saw, merely suggesting what seem to me the most plausible explanations.
At moments the planet seemed perfectly spherical, with a marvellously definite outline, and then the flashes were shot out especially to the right as one looked at the planet, and downward slightly at an angle, not quite perpendicularly.
That night, May 25th-26th, was cold: min. 58° Fahr. But during the day at 9 a.m. the thermometer already registered 85° Fahr.
The sky, half covered by flimsy transparent mist to the east, and by globular thin clouds, large overhead and of smaller dimensions to the west, developed later in the day into a charming mackerel sky, with two great arches of mist to the south, and delicate horizontal layers of mist near the earth.
It was only when we were some distance off that we obtained a full and glorious view of the western side of the Paredão. The upper stratum showed a slight dip north, then there was a ledge on which grass seemed to flourish, and below it two parallel strata in a wavy line from north to south. Those two strata could be traced again--after a dip--in the range with two cones, separated as we have seen by a deep gap from the great wall-cliffs of the Paredão. The indication of what must have been once an enormous dome over a huge cavity or cauldron could be noticed in the western cliff, and also numerous chambers, large and small--at least, judging by the arches in great numbers noticeable in the wall. In other words, you had there the same effect as the one often seen in cities when houses are pulled down and the remains of the various rooms are visible on the remaining side walls.
Looking north as we left the disturbed region of the Paredão Grande, we came upon a great valley, with a depression in its centre. We were still travelling on volcanic ochre-coloured sand in deep layers, especially as we rose to an altitude of 2,350 ft., overlooking a huge basin. We had then a good general view of the southern aspect of the Paredão Grande. In its side a huge gap with vertical walls--a vent perhaps--could be noticed, reaching as far as the summit of the mountain. It was interesting to note that all the great cracks in the earth's crust found in that region almost invariably had a direction from north to south, so that the ranges which remained bordering them must have split in a lateral movement east and west.
Six kilometres from camp through the forest we came upon some singularly delicious green, smooth grassy slopes. In other places were perfectly circular or oval concave basins of volcanic ashes, in the centre of which stood charming groups of burity palms and trees with most luxuriant foliage. These bosquets existed in the hollow of all the basins where profuse infiltrations of moisture caused the luxuriant vegetation.
We were at an elevation of 2,350 ft. On going down to a stream (elev. 2,130 ft.) we encountered great flows of lava. It had flowed in a westerly direction. We were proceeding through enchanting vegetation when we came to a second and a third cuvette or basin adorned with plentiful healthy palms in its central point.
As I was admiring the curious sight of these clusters of high vegetation absolutely surrounded by a wide band of lawn--such as one would see in a well-kept English park--a heavy and sudden storm arrived, which in a few seconds drenched us to the marrow of our bones. I have seldom seen or felt drops of water of such weight and size as when the rain began, followed within a few seconds by a downpour in bucketfuls.
Animals, baggage, and men, dripping all over, went along, rising to 2,400 ft. above the sea level, by the side of a conical hill. A huge block of volcanic rock--shot and deposited there evidently from elsewhere--was to be seen near by.
Eighteen kilometres from our last camp we descended to a streamlet, dividing a grassy basin like the preceding ones. Again I noticed here that all divisions between ranges--caused by volcanic or other violent action, and not by erosion--were in a direction from north to south. We had this in the Paredão Grande, and in the triple division of the top-dyked mountains on the south, and also in the gabled and tower mountains we had observed for some days to the south-west.
Again during the night I saw to the west the phenomenon of the previous evening repeated--the strange flashes directly under and occasionally to the left of the brilliant planet--that is to say to the right of the person observing it.
This was from Camp Areal, where we suffered terribly during the day from our friends the pium, which filled our eyes and ears and stung us all over; and at sunset from the polvora or polvorinha (or powder), so called because of their infinitesimal size--most persistent mosquitoes, so greedy that they preferred to be squashed rather than escape when they were sucking our blood on our hands and faces. Fortunately, during the night--with the cold (min. Fahr. 56°)--we had a little respite, and these brutes disappeared, only to return to their attack at sunrise with the warmth of the sun. At 9 a.m. the thermometer already registered a temperature of 95° Fahr. in the sun--a jump of 39°, which, notwithstanding mosquitoes and pium, my men greatly enjoyed.
I have never seen men suffer more from the cold than my followers. They were simply paralyzed and frozen at that comparatively high temperature. They moaned and groaned and wept all night, although they slept in their clothes and were tightly wrapped up in heavy blankets. Moreover, they had spread a heavy waterproof double tent over the lot of them, as they lay closely packed to one another, covering heads and all, and had arranged a blazing fire enough to roast an ox quite close to them.
Personally, I was quite happy under a mere shelter tent--open for precaution on all sides, owing to preceding experiences, so that I could see what was going on all around without getting up from my camp bed. I only had a mere thin camel-hair blanket over me. I never slept in my clothes, preferring the comfort of ample silk pyjamas. In the morning I always indulged in my cold shower bath, two large buckets of water being poured by Alcides upon my head and back, amid the shivering yells of my trembling companions, who, at a distance, watched the operation, wrapped up to such an extent that merely their eyes were exposed.
"He is mad!" I often heard them murmur with chattering teeth.
Beneath heavy horizontal clouds low in the sky and ball-like cloudlets above, we started off once more from an elevation of 2,100 ft. at the camp to proceed over a plateau 2,300 ft. high and some 6 kil. broad from east to west. Then we descended into another charming cuvette (elev. 2,100 ft.), and farther on to a streamlet flowing north, the Rio Coriseo.
We were then travelling over reddish and ochre-coloured volcanic sand, going through stunted and fairly open matto (forest), higher up at 2,250 ft. in successive undulations crossing our route at right angles. In one of the depressions (elev. 2,150 ft.) was a river--the Rio Torresino--flowing north. Quantities of yellow globular lava pellets and lumpy blocks--evidently ejected by a volcano--were seen.
The stream Cabeça de Boi--forming after the Rio Macacos (or River of Monkeys) a tributary of the Rio das Mortes, into which flowed all the rivulets we had lately met--was next crossed (elev. 2,130 ft.). Over more and deep beds of ashes we journeyed at 2,270 ft. on the southern edge of a great grassy basin extending from east to west. Again a delightful group of palms and healthy trees was in the typical depression. Ant-hills were innumerable on all sides. One could not help admiring their architectural lines, which formed all kinds of miniature fortresses and castles. We were worried to death by the pium or lambe-olhos (eye-lickers), as the Brazilians call them, which followed us all day in swarms around our heads and hands, entering our mouths, noses, eyes and ears. Only for a few moments, when there blew a gust of wind, were we freed from this pest, but they soon returned to their attack with renewed vigour.
We rose again to an altitude of 2,380 ft. on another great dome of red lava, which had flowed northwards, as could be plainly seen as we ascended on its rounded back. Upon it were quantities of crystals and yellow lava pellets and pebbles and carbonated rock, resting on whitish and grey ashes. On the summit, where fully exposed, numerous perforations, cracks and striations were visible in the flow, we were able to observe plainly how the lava in a liquid state had flowed and quickly cooled while other strata of liquid lava flowed over it, one overlapping another like the scales of a fish, and forming so many oval or ovoid bosses with channels between.
From that high point we had a perfectly level sky-line all around us, except for the Paredão Grande and the Paredãozinho, then to the E.N.E. of us.
At an elevation of 2,520 ft. we perceived that day to the E.S.E. a double-towered massive rocky mountain of a brilliant red colour, reminding one of the shape of an Egyptian temple, and a lower hill range in undulations behind it to the south, projecting at its sides.
We were marching on the northern edge of deep and extensive depressions to the south and south-east of us. Domed undulations in progressive steps from north to south were noticeable in the southern portion of the landscape, and from south to north in the northern and much-wooded zone.
When we were at an elevation of 2,550 ft. we had still red and yellow sand and ashes with stunted and sparse vegetation. Upon descending we skirted the southern side of another peculiar oval basin--this time one which possessed a thin strip or row of tall vegetation in perfect alignment in the central line of depression. A deep deposit of grey ashes and sand encircled this cuvette. The general longitudinal direction of the oval was from the south, the highest point, to the north, the lowest of the rim.
Having travelled 28 kil. from Areal we made camp on a streamlet flowing north.
The company of my men was a great trial to me--a penance I had to bear in silence. What was more, I could not let it appear in the slightest degree that it was a penance to me, if I did not wish to make matters worse. Pusillanimity and fear are two qualities which I cannot quite understand nor admit in men. Hence, it is well to be imagined what I suffered in being with followers who, with the exception of Alcides and Filippe the negro, were afraid of everything.
One of the men had a toothache. His last tooth in the lower jaw was so badly decayed that merely the outside shell remained. No doubt it gave him great pain. I offered to remove it for him--without a guarantee of painless extraction. The fear of greater pain than he endured--even for a few minutes--was too much for him. He would not hear of parting with what remained of the tooth. Result: for twelve consecutive days and nights that fellow cried and moaned incessantly--holding his jaw with both hands while riding a quiet mule, and sobbing hai, hai, hai, hai! all day long at each step of the animal--with variations of hoi, hoi, hoi, hoi, when the mule went a little quicker, and significant loud shrieks of uppeppé, uppeppé, uppeppé when the animal began to trot, giving the rider an extra pang. That intense pain invariably stopped at meal-times, and it did not seem to have an appreciable effect on the man's ravenous appetite. My men never let a chance go by to let their companions share to the fullest extent in their sufferings. They had no consideration whatever for other people's feelings. In all the months they were with me they never once showed the slightest trace of thoughtfulness towards me, or indeed even towards any of their comrades.
Mean to an incredible degree in their nature--and I am certain no one could have been more generous than I was to them in every possible way--they believed that no matter what I did was due to wishing to save money. If I would not allow them to blaze away dozens of cartridges at a rock or a lizard--cartridges were a most expensive luxury in Central Brazil, and, what was more, could not be replaced--it was because I wished to economize. If one day I ate a smaller tin of sardines because I was not so hungry, remarks flew freely about that I was a miser; if I did not pitch a tent because I preferred, for many reasons, sleeping out in the open on fine nights, it was, according to them, because I wished to spare the tent to sell it again at a higher price when I returned home! They discussed these things in a high voice and in a most offensive way, making my hands itch on many occasions and my blood boil. But I had made up my mind that I would never lose my temper with them, nor my calm; and I never did, trying as it was to keep my promise.
With all this meanness of which they were accusing me, these poltroons were clothed in garments such as they had never before possessed in their lives; they were gorging themselves with food such as they had never dreamt of having in their homes, where they had lived like pariah dogs--and huge heaps were thrown daily to the dogs--and they were paid a salary five times higher than they could have possibly earned under Brazilian employers.
What annoyed me a great deal with these men was the really criminal way in which they--notwithstanding my instructions--always tried to smash my cameras and scientific instruments and to injure anything I possessed. Those men were vandals by nature. The more valuable an object was, the greater the pleasure they seemed to take in damaging it.
Thus another and unnecessary burden was placed upon me in order to save my instruments from destruction, not only from natural accidents but through the infamy of my followers. Those fellows seemed to take no pride in anything. Even the beautiful and expensive repeating rifles and automatic pistols I had given each man had been reduced to scrap-iron. Yet they were so scared of Indians that the first time we met some, they handed over to them anything that took their fancy--and which belonged to me, of course--for fear of incurring their ill-favour. During my absence from camp they even gave away to the Indians a handsome dog I had, which I never was able to trace again.
Like all people with a dastardly nature, they could on no account speak the truth--even when it would have been to their advantage. They could never look you straight in the face. Hence, full of distrust for everybody, all the responsibility of every kind of work in connection with the expedition fell upon me. I not only had to do my own scientific work, but had to supervise in its minutest detail all the work done by them, and all the time. It was indeed like travelling with a band of mischievous demented people. The mental strain was considerable for me.
On that day's march we had passed two crosses erected, the Salesians had told me, on the spot where two men had been murdered by passing Brazilians--not by Indians. Their usual way of procedure was to shoot people in the back--never in front--or else when you were asleep. Nearly all carried a razor on their person--not to shave with, but in order to cut people's throats as a vengeance, or even under less provocation. This was usually done in a quick way by severing the artery at the neck while the person to be killed was asleep.
The Brazilians of the interior were almost altogether the descendants of criminal Portuguese, who had been exiled to the country, and intermarried with the lowest possible class of African slaves. They seemed to feel strongly their inferiority when facing a European, and imagined--in which they were not far wrong--the contempt with which, although it was covered by the greatest politeness, one looked down upon them. That was perhaps the only excuse one could offer for their vile behaviour, which, according to their low mental qualities, they liked to display in order to prove their independence and superiority.
We made our camp in a heavenly spot--barring the devilish borrachudo (mosquitoes)--on the bank of a crystal-like streamlet flowing north (elev. 2,200 ft.). We were really fortunate to have excellent and plentiful water all the time. The thermometer went down during the night to a minimum of 54° Fahr. There were more shivers and moans from my men. Only Alcides and Filippe behaved in a manly way. The others were in terror of attacks from the onça pintada (felis onça) or spotted jaguar of Brazil, and of the terrivel tamanduas bandeira, a toothless pachyderm, with a long and hairy tail, long nails, and powerful arms, the embrace of which is said to be sufficient to kill a man, or even a jaguar, so foolish as to endeavour wrestling with it. It had a long protruding nose or proboscis, which it inserted into ant-heaps. A tongue of abnormal length was further pushed out, and then quickly withdrawn when crammed with attacking ants. Ants were its favourite food. Although my men talked all the time of the terrible bandeiras, we never had the good fortune to receive the fond embraces of one.
We had a beautiful sky--perfectly clear--on May 28th, except perhaps a faint curtain of mist near the horizon to the west. Two of my horses had unfortunately strayed; and as the men searched the matto with trembling knees in fear of meeting a bandeira instead of the missing horses, they were not recovered until late in the afternoon, so that we did not depart until 4 p.m.
We went up to the top of an undulation (elev. 2,400 ft.), on grey ashes as usual in the lower part of the hill, and red volcanic sand on the summit. That afternoon's journey was not unlike tobogganing up and down all the time--at elevations varying from 2,500 to 2,350 ft.--over domes of sand, ashes, and eruptive rock, and dykes with depressions, some 100 ft. deep or so, and all extending from north to south.
We saw some gorgeous red araras or macaws of giant size. They were a beautiful sight as they flew, with their hoarse shrieks, above our heads.
At sunset we were travelling along the north edge of a great grassy depression wooded in its central pit--the line of depression and of the central vegetation being from north to south.
We were treated to a glorious sunset. The entire sky had become of a deep violet colour and Indian red, relieved here and there by golden tints, with blue cloudlets of wonderful regularity in a line. Curiously enough, the most brilliant colouring was to the east and not to the west, as would have been expected. Eventually the entire sky became of a glorious yellow, like a golden cupola--blending into a lovely emerald green in its highest point overhead.
Again we found ourselves on another large dome of eruptive rock, in some places reduced into fine tobacco-coloured powder, getting somewhat darker in colour where the under stratum was of sand and soft conglomerate easily crumbled under pressure, and containing pellets of black ferruginous rock and grains of iron. Large blocks of iron rock were exposed to the air in many places.
We arrived at the third Salesian colony of St. José or Sangrador, near which was a small settlement of Brazilians--a bad lot indeed. One of my best horses was stolen here, and I was never able to recover it. I remained in that unpleasant place for three days, endeavouring to recover the animal, but it was of no avail.
The Salesians had a handsome property, the agricultural resources of which they were fast developing. Sugar-cane, mandioca, rice, beans, and Indian corn were raised with success. Father Antonio Malan, Inspector-General of the Salesians, arrived from the west, via Cuyabá. He was an extremely intelligent and enterprising man--who should be congratulated on selecting such excellent sites for the various colonies, as well as for the sensible, businesslike fashion in which the colonies were conducted. They were indeed the only few bright spots where the light of civilization shone in those sadly abandoned regions.
Here are the meagre entries in my diary for the two following days:--
May 29th. Remained at Sangrador in search of missing horse. Temperature: min. 54°; max. 83° Fahr. Perfectly clear sky.
May 30th. Obliged to remain one more day at Sangrador. Horse missing still. All men have gone searching the forest for it. Temperature: min. 56½° Fahr; max. 75° Fahr. Elevation 2,050 ft.
It was indeed a great treat to be able to converse with so intelligent a gentleman as Father Malan after the company I had been in since leaving Goyaz.
Father Malan was a man with a heart of gold and great courage. Under him the Salesians will some day continue their good work and spread happiness and culture among the few Indians who now remain in Matto Grosso. What had already been done by the Salesians was amazing. No doubt, with their great enterprise, they would certainly continue their good work of civilization and science combined.
Although the Salesians tried hard to induce men to accompany my expedition, their efforts were rewarded with no success; so that I had to be content with the handful of men I had with me. I foresaw disaster from that moment, for thirty was the least number of men I needed to carry out my work properly--and thirty good men at that. Instead, I only had six men, two of them extraordinarily plucky but quite uncontrollable; the others absolutely worthless.
Had I been a wise man I should have turned back. But I am not a wise man, and I never turn back; so that there only remained one thing to do--go on as best I could, come what might.
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 feet, yellow spattered lava, then again reddish soil, wonderfully rich and fertile, if only it could be cultivated. The country was here peculiar for its many undulations until we arrived on the rim of a large basin, extending from north-west to south-east, of great campos, with stunted vegetation at first, but later with a truly luxuriant growth of vigorous-looking Jtauba preta (Oreodaphne Hookeriana Meissn.), with thick deep green foliage.
We crossed two streamlets flowing north. On going uphill we travelled on masses of volcanic pellets (elev. 2,500 ft.). To the south we could see a number of hills, the sides of which showed the great effects of erosion by wind and water. Nearly all those hill ranges extended from east to west. A long depression could be observed cutting them from north to south.
That was a fine day for cloud effects, especially along the horizon, where they displayed horizontal lines, while they had great ball-like tops. Higher up, to the north-west, was feathery mist turning the sky to a delicate pale blue. A heavy, immense stratum of cloud in four perfectly parallel terraces extended on the arc from west to north.
We descended into a cuvette with the usual cluster of vegetation in the centre and campos around. To the south-west of that cuvette was an elongated but well-rounded mountain, extending from east to west, and beyond, to the S.S.W., in the far distance, an almost identical replica of it. We travelled on deep volcanic sand on the west slope of the cuvette and in deep ashes at the bottom until we arrived at the Sangradorzinho River, flowing north.
June 1st (thermometer min. 55½° Fahr.; max. 74°; elev. 2,150 ft.). Heavy mist and rain-clouds, heavy and sultry atmosphere. Sky almost entirely covered by clouds.
Owing to trouble among my followers and waiting for one of my men, who had remained behind in a last effort to find the missing horse, we were unable to leave camp until nearly noon. We rose to an elevation of 2,400 ft., leaving behind the great cuvette, and marching over parallel domes extending from north to south. Between those domes in the depressions were sandy cuvettes of verdant grass and the usual central bosquets.
Cinders and sand were still plentiful, with stunted, thin trees growing upon them. Several times that day we reached an elevation of 2,550 ft. After passing a streamlet flowing north, we kept at that elevation for a considerable distance, after which, having descended 100 ft. (2,450 ft.), we found ourselves in a most enchanting, oval-shaped cuvette of cinders well covered with fresh verdure, and in its centre from north to south a row of burity palms.
That was indeed a day of great surprises in the way of scenery. No sooner had we left that beautiful cuvette than we came to a magnificent flat open valley extending from E.S.E. to W.N.W. In its northern part, where a pool of stagnant water was to be found, were innumerable burity palms. It was evident that during the rainy season that plain (elev. 2,350 ft.) must be entirely under water. In many places it was swampy, even at the time of my visit. It was most refreshing to the eyes to see such expanses of lovely green healthy grass. The mules and horses enjoyed it more than we did, neighing to their hearts' content when we emerged into the great verdant meadow. They tore away with their teeth at the delicious grass as they cantered along gaily.
Some of the enjoyment of the delightful scenery was taken away from me--not only that day, but every day during almost an entire year--owing to the stupid obstinacy of my men. They carried their magazine rifles fully loaded--eight cartridges in each--and while marching insisted on keeping the rifles cocked; they would not hear of keeping them at safety--so that any extra jerk or a twig of a tree catching the trigger might cause the weapons to go off at any moment. This would have mattered little if they had slung their rifles in the usual way, pointing skyward or else towards the earth. But no-one could never induce a Brazilian to do things in a sensible way. No, indeed; they must carry their rifles horizontally upon the shoulder, the muzzles of the nearest weapons always pointing at me. It was no use remonstrating, as they might perhaps have misunderstood it as fear. So all I could do was to trust in Providence. I could not have done better, for Providence indeed watched over me and protected me on that expedition in a most merciful way--for which I am truly grateful. On several occasions--as was to be expected from the careless way in which the weapons were carried--now one rifle then another went off unexpectedly, and I came mighty near being shot. On other occasions the mules had narrow escapes. Once a bullet went right through the hat of one of my men, just missing his head.
In any case, I beg the reader to realize how pleasant it was to have the muzzle of a loaded rifle, ready to be fired, pointing at you in front for an average of eight to twelve hours a day for several months. I generally rode last in the caravan in order to prevent straggling, and also to see that any baggage which fell off the pack-saddles was recovered. This was unpleasant in more ways than one. First the clouds of dust raised by the animals as we marched over the sand and cinders, which filled my eyes, mouth and nose; then the constant attention to watch for lost baggage--besides the work of writing my notes as we rode along. The sound of the dangling bells of the mules was monotonous to a degree, and so was the aspect of the animals' tails swinging and slashing from one side to the other in order to drive away tormenting flies. Occasionally, when stung fiercely by a horse-fly, one or two animals would dash away wildly, tearing off in their career low branches of trees and even altogether knocking down good-sized trees, four or five inches in diameter.
This would seem impossible in any other country, but not in Brazil, where the majority of the trees were nearly entirely eaten up inside by ants. The roots, owing to the substratum of lava spread horizontally near the surface, offered little resistance to side pressure upon the tree itself, so that frequently even the weight of a man leaning against a tree was sufficient to knock it down. I never shall forget how impressed I was the first time I saw my men cut the way through the forest, slashing down right and left good-sized trees with one swing each of their falcon--heavy-bladed knives some 2 ft. long.
What terrific strength! I thought, until I happened to lean against a tree, and down went the tree and myself too. Upon examination I found that merely the bark remained, with a few filaments inside--the rest of the interior having been entirely devoured by ants. Yet some of the top branches seemed still alive, and had leaves. Again, even when quite sound, those trees were extremely anæmic and soft, quite watery inside, and could be cut almost as easily as celery.
This does not mean that all the trees of Brazil were worthless. No, indeed. These remarks apply merely to that particular portion of Brazil in which I was then travelling--where, barring the burity palms in the moist lands and marshes, the trees were mostly rickety and dwarfed, with mouldy barks, malformed limbs, and scanty leaves. That is why, when we came to the healthy mass of burity palms and the lovely young grass, one felt just the same as when, after having been through a hospital, one emerges into the fresh air among healthy people.
That night we encamped on the heavenly meadow. We felt we had reached Paradise. For the first time great flocks of parrots and gorgeously-coloured macaws played about and enlivened the air with their shrill whistles and shrieks, and flew over the palms, gently swung to and fro by the wind. Then innumerable colibris--the tiny humming-birds, of marvellous iridescent metallic tints--sucked now from one then from another flower while still flying. Indeed, that spot seemed the rendez-vous of all the animals of that region. There you found onças (jaguar), anta (a large pachyderm), the Tapirus Americanus, the tamandua bandeira, with its worm-like tongue, (or Myrmecophaga jubata), and plenty of veado (Cervus elaphus). The footmarks of all those animals were innumerable near the water.
The man I had left behind in order to make a further attempt at recovering the lost horse arrived that evening, his search having been unsuccessful. Undoubtedly the horse had been stolen.
Although the place where we had made camp was a regular paradise to look at--in the day-time--it might have been compared to warmer regions at night. Mosquitoes of all sizes and of all degrees of viciousness rose in swarms from the swamp at sunset, and made our life absolutely miserable. To counterbalance the torture we had a wonderful sunset to look at. First the sky, of a golden colour, was intersected by graceful curves dividing it into sections like a melon; then it gradually became overladen with horizontal black and crimson lines to the west, black to the east and overhead.
June the 2nd was my birthday. I am superstitious by nature, and I would have given anything to celebrate it with some lucky event, although I was at a loss to think of anything lucky that could have happened to me there. Indeed, I began my new year badly--much worse even than I expected. That was an ill-omen to me. First of all there was a terrible row among my men in camp. They had taken to their rifles. They wanted to shoot the cook. The man deserved punishment, perhaps, but not quite so severe a one. After a great deal of arguing I quieted them and got them to lay down their weapons. The cook's life was spared--worse luck for me. I was sorry for it when I had my breakfast, for cooking more diabolical than his could not be imagined. During breakfast the news came that another horse of my caravan had been lost. So there was the prospect of another day wasted to recover it. My men were unable to trace it, so I resigned myself to the monetary loss and also to the inconvenience its absence would cause us.
My men felt the cold intensely during the night, the thermometer being as low as 51° Fahr. (minimum). During the day the maximum temperature was 85° Fahr. and 96° in the sun.
My only consolation that day was watching the innumerable birds and gazing at the magnificent sunset. The latter consisted that evening of three lines forming arches--two black to the west and the third white--stretching across the sky from north to south. From the higher black line radiations spread, subdividing the sky into rectangular designs--of almost equal size. To the east were great globular masses of mist somewhat confused in shape.
The water at this camp was bad, the marsh being over a bed of decayed vegetable matter, which rendered the water of a brownish black colour, like strong tea. Its taste was foul. By digging a well a few yards from the lagoon I succeeded, however, in obtaining clean and good water, which filtered through the ashes and sand.
Our camp was at an elevation of 2,300 ft. During the night, June 2nd-3rd, the thermometer was higher than usual (min. 58° Fahr.), but my men felt the cold more than the previous night because of the heavy mist which set in after sunset, followed by a drizzling rain which damped everything. My men were all attacked by fever, which rendered them more irritable and ill-tempered than ever--if possible.
We did not leave camp until 11.30 a.m., rising again to the summit of the plateau some 50 ft. higher. There we had to describe a wide arc of a circle, as through the trees we perceived on our left an immense chasm, beyond which was a much disturbed landscape of striking ruggedness. We could see a huge circular crater with eroded lips, rising like the chipped edges of a gigantic cup, in the centre of the great volcanic basin. That depression with high vertical walls all round displayed a large gap to the W.N.W. and another to the south-west.
Twelve kilometres from our last camp--and still marching along the edge of the circle on the summit of the plateau--we came to a grassy cuvette, and then to another hollow with a few burity palms. The wall overlooking the great circular depression was perpendicular, of red igneous rock, with projecting spurs ending in conical, much-corrugated hills. The curious opening to the south-west was much broken up in two places with gaps. In the distance beyond were three ranges of hills, the colour of which appeared a pure cobalt blue.
The central crater was formed by rugged red walls with spurs on the east and south-east sides. In the bottom was water with trees all round its edge. There were four square holes from which boiling water gurgled like feeble geysers, and three more holes of a more irregular shape.
The hill range on which we stood projected well into the centre of the great circular basin. It had on the west side perfectly vertical walls of black igneous rock. Its summit was chiefly formed of ferruginous erupted rock thrown up while in a state of ebullition, which had cooled into a conglomerate of minute globular masses, in shape like the bubbles of boiling water. The great circle around us, as we stood on the outermost point of the projecting spur, was most impressive, with its brilliantly coloured red walls.
My men killed a coatí--a peculiar, long-nosed carnivorous animal, which had characteristics in common with dogs, monkeys, and pigs. There were two kinds of coatí or guatí, viz. the coatí de mundeo (Nasua solitaria), and the coatí de bando (Nasua socialis). Ours was a Nasua solitaria. It was a beautiful little animal, about the size of a small cat, with a wonderfully soft brown coat on its back, a yellowish red belly and bright yellow chest and throat. The chin was as white as snow. The long tail, 1½ ft. long--was in black and yellow rings. It possessed powerful fangs on both the upper and lower jaws, a long, black, gritty or granular tongue, short ears, powerful short fore-paws with long nails--quite dog-like; long thighs extremely strong, short hips and hind legs, with callosity up to the knee--evidently to allow that part of the leg to rest flat upon the ground. The coatí had velvety black eyes of great beauty, well set in its small well-shaped head. It was a wild little fellow, extremely agile, and could kill a dog much larger than itself with comparative ease.
We circled the eastern and northern part of the great cauldron, always remaining on the summit of the plateau at elevations varying from 2,250 to 2,300 ft. We came upon patches of violet-coloured and then tobacco-coloured sand, and also upon quantities of dark brown sand, generally consolidated into easily friable rock. There were the usual deposits of grey ashes over the underlying volcanic rock which peeped through here and there.
On June 4th we were at the Cabeçeira Koiteh (temperature, min. 53° Fahr.; max. 80° Fahr.; elev. 2,100 ft.). Close to this camp, from an outstretching spur, I obtained another magnificent view. To the E.S.E. stretched from north-east to south-west a flat plateau, and to the east a flat mountainous block with an eroded passage. Headlands branched off from the northern side of the ridges in a north-easterly direction. Between them were basins thickly wooded in their lower depressions. The north-eastern portion of the flat range was almost vertical, with many angular and sharply pointed spurs projecting from it.
In the centre of the greater basin, of which the others were details, a low convex ridge bulged out, with three conical peaks--two of them at the highest point of the curve. Between the first and second cone two twin sub-craters were visible--evidently the two twin circles had formed part of the same crater--in the mountain side of the distant range. A third crater was some distance off to the south-west.
To the south-west in the background was a lovely view of flat highlands with huge tower-like rocks standing upright upon them. Then to the S.S.W. a regular vertical dyke of rock stood on the top of an elongated conical base.
The elevation on the summit of the spur from which we obtained this lovely panorama was 2,200 ft.--or no more than 100 ft. higher than our camp.
We travelled again that same day on the northern edge of the great depression, and met three more cuvettes of grey ashes with an abundant central growth of buritys. These were at a general elevation of 2,300 ft., the bottom of the depression being 50 ft. lower. On descending from the table-land, through a gap we discerned far away to the south a long flat-topped plateau extending from south-west to north-east and having a precipitous wall-face.
We got down to the Caxoeirinha stream, where we found an abandoned hut in the eroded hollow of the stream. The water flowed there over a bed of red lava and extremely hard conglomerate rock made up of lava pebbles and solidified ashes. Above this at the sides of the stream was a stratum some 10 ft. thick of grey ashes, and above it a stratum 2 ft. thick of red volcanic dust and sand.
As we got higher again and I stood on a projecting promontory, another wonderful view spread itself before me. The sun, nearly setting, in glorious white radiations, cast deep blue and violet-coloured shadows upon the great abyss to my right (N.W.) which was a kilometre or more in diameter and more than 300 ft. deep--surely another great crater. It seemed as if a natural wall of rock must have once existed, joining the promontory on which I stood to the great mass of prismatic red volcanic rock to the west of us, and ending in a flat triangle with a wide base. The surface soil on the height of the peninsula was of spattered lava and black broiled rock and pellets.
The bottom of the abyss formed two sweeping undulations--the second from the centre much higher than the first--seemingly a great wave of lava vomited by the crater, by which probably the destruction of the wall joining the peninsula had been caused.
To the S.S.E. in the distance stood a high mountain range--or rather a great flat-topped plateau of delicious cobalt blue shades, almost losing itself in the sky. To the east, completing the circle, were two other great spurs of red-baked rock, with precipitous, almost vertical, sides and with much-striated buttresses that ended in conical mounds--eroded into that shape by the action of water and wind.
To the south, beyond, a sloping table-land with a pronounced dip eastward extended from east to west. It towered over everything, and was shaped like a trapezium. In front of this sloping table-land was another long flat-topped range, stretching from E.S.E. to W.N.W. Again in front of this, could be seen an interesting series of prismatic mounds--like parallel barriers. To the S.S.W. rose a large mountainous mass--another plateau. Then came a second range, cut into clear pyramids with rectangular bases, and, beyond, a great expanse of lovely green with some large mounds of a similar shape to those already described. Two more pyramids were also to be observed far, far in the distance, while others of a slightly less angular shape were noticeable upon the great flat stretch due west.
Right under us, at the bottom of the precipice, was thick forest covering, zigzag fashion, the two depressions, roughly in a general direction of south-east to north-west. Those two depressions drained that immense basin. It was there that the streamlet Caxoeirinha had its birth. The Caxoeirinha flowed north-west and fell into the Ponte de Pedra River, which flowed south. Those two streams, with a number of others, formed the head-waters of the great S. Lourenço River, a formidable tributary of the Rio Paraguay or Paraná.
An extraordinary effect of clouds could be seen that day, and a similar occurrence I saw on many other occasions upon the table-lands of Matto Grosso. The clouds reproduced--upside-down--the configuration of the country directly underneath them. That was due, no doubt, to the air currents diverted by the obstacles on the earth's surface, which caused the masses of mist above to assume similar forms--but of course, as I have said, upside-down.
We were still at an elevation of 2,150 ft. The temperature during the night went down to 52° Fahr. My men, as usual, suffered intensely from the cold--at least, judging by the noise they made, the moans and groans and chattering of teeth. They nearly all had violent toothache. Alcides, too, apparently went through agony, but he showed a little more manliness than the rest and did not make quite such a pitiful exhibition of himself.
It was curious how certain racial characteristics were difficult to suppress in individuals. Alcides had some German blood in him--rather far removed. He could not speak German, nor did he know anything about Germany. Yet German characteristics came out in him constantly. For instance, the uncontrollable desire to write his own name and that of his lady-love on trees and rocks all along our passage. Alcides was really very good at calligraphy, and some of his inscriptions and ornamentations were real works of art. Many half-hours did we have to waste at the different camps, waiting for Alcides to finish up the record of his passage in that country, and many blades of penknives--I had a good supply of them to give as presents to natives--did he render useless in incising the lettering on the trees and stones.
Filippe the negro--who was the best-natured of the lot--had become quite swelled-headed with the big salary he received. Arithmetic was not his forte. As he could hardly write, he was trying to work out, with a number of sticks--each representing one day's salary--how much money he had already earned, and how much more he was likely to earn. It evidently seemed to him a large fortune--indeed it was--and his plans of what he would do with all that money in the future were amusing. First of all, the idée fixe in his mind was the purchase of a mallettinha, a small trunk with a strong lock, in which to keep his money and his clothes. I took advantage of this to tell Filippe--they were all just like spoiled children--that the best place for mallettinhas was Manaos, our chief objective on the River Amazon, some 1,800 kil. away from that point as the crow flew, and about four times, at least, that distance by the way we should travel. Many times a day I had to repeat to Filippe glowing descriptions of the wonders of the mallettinhas, and I got him so enamoured of the mallettinhas to be got at Manaos that I made certain that Filippe at least would come along and not leave me. I was sure of one thing--that nowhere in the intervening country would he be able to procure himself a little trunk--nor, indeed, could one procure oneself anything else.
I supplied my men with ample tobacco. Filippe was all day and a great part of the night smoking a pipe. Owing to constant quarrels among my men, I had turned him into a cook. When in camp he had to sit hour after hour watching the boiling of the feijão. Enveloped in clouds of smoke, Filippe with his pipe sat in a reverie, dreaming about the mallettinha. He was quite a good fellow, and at any rate he did work when ordered.
All my men had been given small pocket mirrors--without which no Brazilian will travel anywhere. It was amusing to watch them, a hundred times a day, gazing at the reflection of their faces in the glasses. It was nevertheless somewhat trying to one's temper when one ordered a man to do something and then had to watch him for an endless time admiring his own features in the little mirror, and one had to repeat the order half a dozen times before the glass was duly cleaned with his elbow or upon his trousers and set at rest, and the order carelessly obeyed. Even Alcides--who was far superior to the others in education--could not be kept away from his mirror. While riding he would all the time be gazing at his features instead of looking at the beautiful scenery around us.
On leaving camp we again reached the summit of the plateau (elev. 2,300 ft.), with its patches of red volcanic earth, violet-coloured sand, and snuff-coloured dust--extremely fine in quality. After crossing a streamlet flowing south, we again continued our journey on the flat plateau, slightly higher at that point, or 2,400 ft.
We were in the great plain crossed by the Ponte de Pedra rivulet, flowing southward. Once more we obtained a gorgeous view looking south. Four parallel ranges stretching roughly from south-east to north-west stood in all their grandeur before us. They were of brilliant red volcanic rock. On the second range, from us, rose a curious square block of rock of gigantic size, resembling a castle with its door and all. In the distance, to the south-west, erosion seemed to have taken place on a great scale in the side of the table-land.
The highest point we had so far reached on the plateau on which we were travelling since leaving the Araguaya was 2,400 ft. There again we found another of the extensive grassy cuvettes--the flat bottom of which was only 30 ft. lower than the highest point of the plateau. A luxuriant growth of burity palms and birero trees adorned the centre, the latter very tall and handsome, with smooth white bark and only a dense tuft of dark green foliage at their tops. In the cuvettes I saw, the growth of the tall vegetation invariably ran the long way of the oval.
The sky that evening showed great streaks of transparent lines of mist from west to east, the central radiation of these being formed of lines so precisely parallel that they seemed to have been drawn with rule and dividers. Directly overhead those lines gradually blended into a more indefinite mass. The radiations did not begin from the vanishing sun on the horizon, nor at the point diametrically opposite on the east, but began to appear only one-tenth up the entire circle of the sky, both west and east.
Almost globular cloudlets, with the lower section cut off in a horizontal plane--quite typical, as we have seen, of the cloud formation on that Central Brazilian plateau--crowded the sky, quite low to the north, and also a great many small ball-like clouds which showed with some brilliancy against the blue sky.
The sunsets in Central Brazil were to me always a source of intense joy, interest, and admiration. With certain characteristics which repeated themselves frequently, they always displayed wonderful effects of light and a most peculiar formation of clouds.
Before reaching camp we passed another oval cuvette with a longitudinal row of trees--so green and tidy as to be just like a portion of a well-kept English park (elev. 2,350 ft.). Another bit of wonderful scenery, with immense prismatic rocky mountains--really more like dykes--appeared in the distance; and also a vertical walled mountain in the foreground.
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 after sunset two immense concentric arches of mist, with their centres on the horizon to the east, shone like silver rings, their upper edges being lighted by the bluish light of the moon. With the reflection of this in the still waters of the lagoon, the effect was enchanting and intensely picturesque.
My men suffered a great deal from the damp--they were always suffering from everything: from the heat of the sun, the rain, the cold, the long marches.
That night we had a minimum temperature of 51° Fahr., the elevation of our camp being 2,150 ft.
Naturally, over the expanse of water the sunrise was wonderful. The sky was well covered by feathery radiations from the north-east, which were intersected by striations shooting skyward from east to west and forming a charming design. The radiations from the north-east reached right across the sky as far as the horizon to the south-west. What astonished me most in Matto Grosso was the characteristic immobility of the clouds. In the day-time they remained sometimes for hours with hardly any changes or movement. As soon as the sun appeared, rendering the lower sky of a golden yellow and of vivid Indian red above, the northern part of the lagoon was enveloped in mist, which rose in angular blocks, vertical on the south side, slanting at a sharp angle on the north. These pointed peaks of mist remained immobile--as if they had been solid--until the sun was well up in the sky.
I went once more to gaze at the glorious panorama. In the morning light new and important details were revealed, such as a strange series of dykes of a prismatic shape, of which I could count as many as seven. Great transverse depressions or grooves--from S.S.E. to N.N.W., with a dip S.S.E.--could in that light be now plainly detected, and this time two great square castles of rock--instead of one--were disclosed upon the third range of undulations.
The high ridge to the south-west displayed a subsidence on a large scale in its central portion, where bare vertical red walls had been left standing on each side.
Then there were other curious concave depressions or gateways formed in the great table-land--which had for its marked characteristic concave curves on all its slopes.
On leaving camp--nearly at noon, after a serious quarrel and fight among my men, which left me worried to death by the petty nonsense and incessant grumbling of my followers--we journeyed at an elevation of 2,300 ft., finding shortly after an almost circular cuvette of deep grey cinders, 100 ft. deep (elevation at the bottom 2,200 ft.).
Twelve kilometres farther on we came upon another great depression extending from east to west, with an enormous belt of grassy land. There was the usual cluster of trees and palms in the centre, but larger than usual. To the south were campos--lovely prairies--with sparse and stunted trees--chiefly Goma arabica or acacias.
The elevation of the upper edge of the cuvette was 2,500 ft., that of the bottom 2,450 ft. We continued our journey on the top of the plateau, with slight undulations varying in height from 50 to 70 ft. Snuff-coloured soil and red sand were invariably noticeable on the higher points, and grey ashes in the lower points, where erosion had caused depressions.
Then, farther on, the plateau, with an elevation of 2,450 ft., was absolutely flat for several kilometres, and showed sparse vegetation and miserable-looking anæmic trees--the thin soil over solid rock affording them inadequate nourishment.
Eighteen kilometres from our last camp we came upon another oval basin (elev. 2,400 ft. above the sea level), extending longitudinally from N.N.E. to S.S.W. On its huge deposits of cinders grew deliciously green, fresh-looking, healthy grass, and a thick clump of burity palms, and birero trees of immense height and thick foliage. Those beautiful trees were called by the people of Goyaz "cutibá" and "pintahyba." They were marvellous in their wonderful alignment among the surrounding circle of gorgeous palms. The latter were in their turn screened in their lower part by a belt of low scrub--so that upon looking at that oasis one could hardly realize that it had not been geometrically laid out by the hands of a skilful gardener.
On the outer rim of the cuvette--away from the moisture--hundreds, in fact, thousands of cones, cylinders and domes, from 4 to 6 ft. high, the work of ants, could be seen, all constructed of bluish grey ashes.
We had here a wonderful example, quite sufficient to persuade the most sceptical, of the influence of agglomerations of trees in the formation of clouds. The sky was perfectly clear everywhere except directly above the extensive cluster of trees in the large cuvette. Quite low down--only a hundred feet or so above the top of the trees--there hung a heavy white cloud. It was a windless day. The cloud ended on all sides exactly where the trees ended, as sharply as if it had been cut with a knife. It looked exactly like a rectangular canopy over the luxuriant vegetation. This appearance was intensified by undulations in the lower part of the cloud, like festoons.
In proceeding across the immense circular cuvette I found that the central line of thick vegetation formed an angle. A streamlet of delicious crystal-like water emerged from among the trees. On its bank lay the skeletons of three mules, suggesting a tragedy.
On leaving the great cuvette we rose again to the top of the plateau, 2,550 ft. above sea level. On descending from a large dome to the west over red volcanic sand and red earth, half consolidated into rock easily friable under slight pressure, we were once more travelling across immense campos in a depression of fine cinders and earth, extending from north to south, at an elevation of 2,400 ft. We further traversed two other less important depressions, the deepest being at an elevation of 2,350 ft.
The jutting headlands of the plateau on which we had travelled were all most precipitous--nearly vertical--and of solid dark red volcanic rock.
A magnificent view next confronted us to the south. A huge black square block with a crater was before us, and there appeared what seemed to me to be the remaining sections of a huge volcanic vent and several smaller funnels. The lower lip of the crater formed a terrace. Then another wider crater could be perceived in a circular hollow of the spur of the plateau on which we had travelled, and which stretched out into the underlying plain. That spur extended from north-east to south-west, and in it two circular hollows of great size could be noticed, the sides of which were deeply fluted.
During the entire march that day we had seen quantities of violet-coloured deposits made up of tiny crystals, carbonized and pulverized rock and ferruginous dust.
On descending from the summit of the plateau, by a very steep slope, we saw many shrubs of sapatinho, a medicinal plant of the genus euphorbiaceæ (Euphorbia), growing in the interstices of red igneous rock, and among quantities of débris of marble, crystals, and eruptive pebbles.
During the night we had a magnificent lunar display. There was a good deal of moisture in the air, and mist. First of all a gorgeous lunar halo was observed, which later vanished to leave room for a most extraordinary geometrical design upon the partly moon-illuminated clouds and masses of mist. A most perfect luminous equilateral triangle appeared, with its apex downwards to the west and the half-moon in the central point of the base-line of the triangle above. On either side of the apex of the triangle faint concentric circles blended away into the sky near the horizon. Later in the night that curious effect disappeared and a multiple lunar rainbow of amazing beauty and perfection was to be admired.
In ecstasy at the beautiful sight, and in a moment of forgetfulness, I drew the attention of my men to the wonderful spectacle.
"That's the moon!" they answered, with a snarl. Talking among themselves, they contemptuously added: "He has never seen the moon before!" and they went on with the never-changing, blood-curdling tales of murders which filled them nightly with delight.
The streamlet flowing south, on the bank of which we camped, took its name of Sapatinho from the many sapatinho trees which were in the neighbourhood. It was a curious watercourse, which disappeared into a tunnel in the rock, to reappear only farther off out of a hole in a red lava-flow.
We had marched until late into the night, and it was not until we arrived and made camp that I noticed that Filippe the negro was missing. Several hours elapsed, and as he had not turned up I feared that something had happened to him. Had he been one of the other men I should have thought it a case of desertion; but Filippe was a good fellow, and I had from the beginning felt that he and Alcides would be the two faithful men on that expedition. I went back alone a mile or two in the moonlight to try and find him, but with no success.
At sunrise I ordered two men to go in search of him. The fellows--who had no mercy whatever even for one another--were loth to go back to look for their companion and his mount. When they eventually started they took a pick each to dig his grave in case they found him dead. Fortunately they had only been gone from camp a few minutes when I perceived Filippe riding down the steep incline.
The minimum temperature was only 55° Fahr. during the night, but it was so damp that my men felt the cold intensely, especially as there were gusts of a sharp breeze from the north-east. Moreover, in the deep hollow with thick grass in which we camped (elev. 2,200 ft. above the sea level) we suffered absolute torture from the swarms of carrapatos of all sizes, mosquitoes, and flies. The air and earth were thick with them. The water was dirty and almost undrinkable, as it passed through a lot of decomposing vegetation.
I was glad when Filippe reappeared and we were able to leave that terrible spot. Great undulations were now met with, 300 ft. and more in height.
Only 1½ kil. farther on we came to the Presidente stream, flowing south (elev. 2,100 ft.) over a bed of ashes, while its banks were formed of thick deposits of finely powdered yellow volcanic sand and dust.
We went over a huge dome covered with a stratum of brown sand, exposing on its western side a large wall of igneous rock with much-fissured strata dipping to the north-west. Immense isolated rocks showed vertical strata, demonstrating plainly that they had been considerably disturbed at some epoch or other.
We were on the bank of another stream (elev. 1,950 ft.) flowing south--the Capim Branco. We were then in another great and deep basin extending from north-west to south-east, in the north-western part of which could be seen on the summit of the rounded hill-tops and spurs an overlapping of rock, evidently produced when in a molten condition. In the south-western part of the slope encircling this great valley there stood another great barrier, formed also by a flow of molten rock curling over itself, as it were, and above this stood angular and pointed shoots of molten stuff of a subsequent origin. Large slabs of the latter could be separated easily from the underlying flow.
From the summit of that rocky prominence was obtained a lovely panorama of a great plateau, a portion of which had been eroded into a wall (E.N.E.) with three buttresses: another portion was gradually assuming a similar shape. The plateau had a great spur projecting westward. A crater had formed with a broken-up side to the west, leaving the conical-shaped remains of its fragmentary mouth. The plateau ended after describing a sweeping curve--almost a semicircle.
In the centre of the immense basin before us were successions of high undulations--like great waves--extending southward in parallel lines (east to west). From the point of vantage on which I stood I could count as many as eight of those huge lines of waves. Evidently at some remote period--it would be difficult to say how many thousands of years ago--that was a gigantic mass of molten stuff in commotion. In many places it was apparent that the great waves of molten rock had flowed over and partly overlapped the lower ones. In its higher north-easterly point the basin was wooded.
The great basin extended southward. In that direction all the lower ridges with their arched backs showed a depression or dip. On the S.S.W. two more great domes of wonderfully perfect curves were to be observed, and on the south-west stood an isolated gigantic quadrangular mountain of solid rock, with the usual buttresses in the lower portion typical of that region.
To the south-east a lovely square-shaped plateau of marvellously graceful lines stood prominent in the centre of the basin. In the same direction, only a few hundred yards off, was a most peculiar angular rock, which looked exactly like the magnified crest of an immense wave. That was just what it had been formerly--the wave, of course, of a gigantic molten mass of rock, set in violent motion by an immeasurable force. It was the terminal point of the great succession of rocky waves which we had skirted to the north in order to arrive at that point, and which extended from the great semicircle we had passed the previous day.
At the terminal point of those rocky waves--or wherever the rock was exposed--it was evident that all those undulations had received a similar movement and had formed the great backbone range of rock, fully exposed in the last undulation. I had observed the continuation of this great rock crest the previous day in the basin previous to reaching the Capim Branco valley. There it crossed the spur on which I was--"Observation Spur," I shall call it for purposes of identification--almost at right angles. It seemed as if two forces had been acting simultaneously but in different directions, and at various points had come into conflict and eventually had overrun each other.
The last great rocky crest at Capim Branco, when seen in profile, looked like a huge monolith with a slight inclination to the south-east. The formation of the rock itself showed a frothy appearance, such as is common with any liquefied matter while in a state of ebullition.
It is quite possible, too, that the great wave of molten matter travelling from north-east to south-west, upon encountering some obstacle, had its run interrupted and had cooled down, while the upper portion of it, from the impetus received, curled over the summit of the arrested solidified rock below.
In fact, there was plenty of evidence to show that while the lower stratum cooled down other sheets of lava flowed above it, forming many successive layers. In the eastern part, where they were at an angle of 40°, these had cracked considerably in cooling. The central part of the great wave was entirely made up of vertically fissured strata. The lower half of the mass of rock showed markedly that it was an anterior wave to the upper.
There was a wide gap formed by the volcanic crack between this and the continuation of the undulations to the south-west, which got lower and lower. Perhaps before the crack occurred that hill was like the others on the east and west of it, padded with red earth. It must have become barren by the great shock which caused the surface of the earth to divide, and which no doubt shook the surface deposits down. In examining its north-eastern neighbour it could be seen that it actually tumbled over when the subsidence occurred, leaving a gap a few hundred metres wide.
A short distance beyond, on the S.S.E., was an interesting table-land sloping to the north-east, on the north side of which could be observed yet one more beautiful semicircular extinct crater. The rim, or lip of lava of this crater, had fissured in such a peculiar way as to give the appearance of a row of rectangular windows. The sections of the crater which remained standing showed two conical buttresses above massive cylindrical bases. From the crater started a huge, deep crack, 30 to 50 ft. deep and 20 to 100 ft. wide, which farther down became the actual bed of the stream. On both sides of this crack was a deep deposit of red earth and sand, the stratum below this being a solid mass of lava. The crater on the north-east side of the mountain had an inclination to the north, but was quite vertical on the south side.
Beautiful crystals were to be found in abundance on this mound, as well as great quantities of marble chips and crystallized rock in various forms.
On the side of this strange mound of rock I found some curious shallow caves, formed by great fissures in the rock. The vertical outer walls of these caves were painted white with lime dissolved in water. There were some puzzling carvings, which interested me greatly. I could not quite make up my mind at first whether those carvings had been made by Indians or whether they were the work of escaped negro slaves who had found shelter in those distant caves. In character they appeared to me Indian. Negroes, as a rule, are not much given to rock-carving in order to record thoughts or events. Moreover, those primitive carvings showed strong characteristics of hunting people, such as the Indians were. There were conventional attempts at designing human figures--both male and female--by mere lines such as a child would draw: one round dot for the head and one line each for the body, arms, and legs. Curiously enough--and this persuaded me that the drawings had been done by Indians--none of the figures possessed more than three fingers or toes to any extremity. As we have seen, the Indians cannot count beyond three--unlike members of most African tribes, who can all count at least up to five. This, nevertheless, did not apply to representations of footmarks, both human and animal--which were reproduced with admirable fidelity, I think because the actual footprints on the rock itself had been used as a guide before the carving had been made. I saw the representation of a human footmark, the left, with five toes, and the shape of the foot correctly drawn. Evidently the artist or a friend had stood on his right foot while applying the left to the side of the rock. When they attempted to draw a human foot on a scale smaller than nature, they limited themselves to carving two lines at a wide angle, to form the heel, and five dots to represent the toes.
The most wonderful of those rock carvings were the footprints of the jaguar (onça), reproduced with such perfection that it seemed almost as if they had been left there by the animal itself. Not so happy were the representations of human heads--one evidently of an Indian chief, with an aureole of feathers, showing a painfully distorted vision on the part of the artist. The eyes were formed by two circles in poor alignment, the nose by a vertical line, and the mouth, not under but by the side of the nose, represented by two concentric curves.
A figure in a sitting posture was interesting enough--like a T upside down, with a globe for a head and a cross-bar for arms. The hands had three fingers each, but there were only two toes to each foot.
It was interesting to note how the sculptors of those images caught, in a rudimentary way, the character of the subjects represented. This was chiefly remarkable in the footprints of birds and other animals, such as deer. They seemed particularly fond of representing deer-horns--sometimes with double lines at an angle. That was possibly to commemorate hunting expeditions. A frequent subject of decoration was a crude representation of the female organ; and one a magnified resemblance, angularly drawn, of an Indian male organ garbed in its typical decoration.
The face of the rock was absolutely covered with drawings, many being mere reproductions of the same design. Some were so rudimentary that they were absolutely impossible to identify. One fact was certain, that those carvings had been made by men who were trackers by nature and who observed chiefly what they noticed on the ground, instead of around and above them. Thus, there were no representations whatever of foliage or trees, no attempts at reproducing birds, or the sun, the moon, the stars.
The most interesting of all, from an ethnological point of view, were the geometrical designs. They closely resembled the incised lines and punch-marks of the Australian aborigines, and the patterns common in Polynesia. Concentric circles--of more or less perfection--were common, some with a central cross of three and four parallel lines. Coils seemed beyond the drawing powers of Indian artists. Ovals, triangles, squares, the Egyptian cross (T-shaped), series of detached circles (these generally enclosed within a triangle, quadrangle or lozenge) were frequent. Even more frequent were the parallel incised lines, generally used as subsidiary filling or shading of other patterns, such as concentric circles, or sections of triangles or squares.
It may be noted that a certain intelligence was displayed by the artist in dividing circles fairly accurately into four and eight sections, the diameters intersecting pretty well in the centre of the circles. One pattern which seemed to take their fancy was that of an oval or a circle with a number of dots inside.
In examining the cave closely, inside and outside, I also found upon the wall, which was simply covered with those images, some curious marks resembling the letters H P, A P, and W [Symbol: pyramid sign; 2 concentric triangles], which seemed of a more recent date--perhaps left there by some missionary Father or native explorer, or by some escaped slave.
Just below the point where the stream Capim Branco entered the S. Lourenço River (elev. 1,800 ft. above the sea level), there was a most beautiful waterfall--the Salto Floriano Peixoto. Two minor falls, some 30 ft. high (Salto Benjamin) were also to be seen under arches of luxuriant vegetation, just above the point of junction of the two streams.
The roaring and foaming volume of water of the greater fall rolled over a vertical volcanic rock, about 60 ft. high and 60 ft. wide, with a small terrace half way up its face. The bed of the river--below the fall--was, like all the torrents of that region, of strangely shaped lava blocks. With the dense foliage, the innumerable caité, a medicinal plant with huge leaves, the festooned liane and creepers--all most verdant in the sombre green light filtering through the foliage and the moisture of the abundant spray from the fall--it was indeed a magnificent sight. In order to see it, however, one had to suffer a great deal, because in forcing one's way through the dense vegetation one got literally covered with carrapatos and carrapatinhos.
Above the falls, for some hundreds of yards, there were terrific rapids in the river, which flowed over a steep bed of yellow lava in terraces, over steps and over a fourth minor fall some distance off.
DISTANCES FROM THE ARAGUAYA TO CAPIM BRANCO
Kil. Metres. Araguaya to Ponte Alto 26 400 Ponte Alto to Fogaça 19 800 Fogaça to Prata 20 Prata to Ponte Queimada 23 700 Ponte Queimada to Bella Vista 19 800 Bella Vista to Agua Quente 26 500 Agua Quente to Barreiros 10 Barreiros to Agua Emeindada 16 500 Agua Emeindada to Tachos 29 700 Tachos to Bugueirão 20 Bugueirão to Paredãozinho 20 Paredãozinho to Paredão Grande 20 Paredão Grande to Cabeça de Boi 33 100 Cabeça de Boi to Sangrador 33 100 Sangrador to Sangradorzinho 20 Sangradorzinho to Varzen Grande 20 Varzen Grande to Lagõa Secca 23 Lagõa Secca to Caxoerinha 26 500 Caxoerinha to Ponte de Pedra 10 Ponte de Pedra to Lagõa Formosa 20 Lagõa Formosa to Xico Nunes 20 Xico Nunes to Sapaturo 16 500 Sapaturo to Presidente 17 Presidente to Capim Branco 14 850 ----------- Total 509 450 ===========
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 expected to find in that region the most interesting portion of my journey--from the geographical, anthropological, and geological points of view. I was greatly disappointed from the anthropological aspect, since I met no one at all; but from the geological and geographical I was certainly well repaid for my trouble, great as the trouble was. We had already ridden to a distance of 1,400 kil. from the nearest railway.
My men mutinied on hearing of my plan, which I had kept concealed from them. They acted in a most abject manner. They tried to compel me to return the way we had come instead of going forward. As I flatly refused, they claimed their pay and wished to leave me there and then. Without an instant's hesitation they were handed their pay up to date and told they could go. The men had not quite realized that they would have to walk back some 858 kil. to Goyaz, without food and without animals. Alcides and Filippe the negro had remained faithful, and on that occasion stood by my side. Unfortunately, Alcides, who had a most violent temper, quarrelled with Filippe over some paltry matter and drove him over to the inimical camp.
So that there I was--with only one man left. I am not much given to losing heart over anything. Alcides showed a strong heart on that occasion. He and I proceeded for three days to rearrange the baggage and mend the saddles, etc., in order that we two alone might take along the entire caravan of animals. I did not at all look forward to the extra work of packing all the animals twice a day, and twice a day unpacking them. The loads weighed about fifty pounds each, and there were some thirty of them. Then we should have to hunt for the animals in the morning--a job which meant that one had to ride sometimes for miles to track them and bring them all back to camp. This prospect, on top of the work I had already in hand of writing, taking astronomical and meteorological observations, photography, developing negatives, drawing, collecting and classifying botanical and geological specimens, which occupied all day and the greater part of the night, was a little too much for me. But such was my joy at having got rid of my unpleasant companions that I would have put up with any additional discomfort and inconvenience in order to get on. Alcides behaved splendidly on that occasion.
June 8th and 9th were absolutely wasted. The relief from the mental strain of constantly looking after--and being on my guard against--my companions was great. They were days of great happiness to me.
On June 10th Alcides and I were making ready to depart, with all the animals and baggage, when the four mutinous followers and Filippe the negro--most penitent--begged to be re-employed. Under ordinary circumstances I should certainly never have taken them back; but when one was hundreds of miles from everywhere, and had no possible way of finding a man, one had to be patient and make the best of what one could get. I gave them another chance--principally in order to save what I could of my baggage, most of which I was certain I should have had to abandon had I proceeded alone with Alcides.
The Capim Branco river was situated between two undulating ridges of lava.
I steered a course of 300° bearings magnetic (N.W.), beginning a steep climb at once through the thin forest of the plateau to the north. In many places the mules slid and rolled down the precipitous slope of igneous rock and marble débris, scattering the packs in every direction. It was a wonder they were not killed. We urged the animals on, we pushed and pulled them, we held them with all our might by the bridles when they began to slide. After many narrow escapes we reached the summit--an immense flat stretch of campos with stunted trees and delicious crisp air--quite delightful after the stifling atmosphere of the Capim Branco basin. The elevation above the sea level was 2,300 ft. On the summit of the plateau was a deep stratum of red soil. Having marched across the entire width of the plateau, we found, on descending on the opposite side, another series of dome-like mounds of crimson volcanic rock, with hardly any vegetation on them--joined together, and forming many headlands, as it were. Beyond an empty space--an opening in the landscape--a great barrier crossed the range of domes almost at right angles.
We descended through thick undergrowth, under big jatoba do matto (Hymencæa Courbaril L.) trees. The jatoba or jatahy wood has a high specific gravity, and is considered one of the woods with the highest resistance to disintegration in Brazil--as high as 1 kg. 315 gr. per square centimetre.
At 2,050 ft. we found a streamlet flowing southward. We were then in a grassy basin--another cuvette with two central tufts of thickly packed trees. We were lucky enough to see some coco babento palms, from which we shook down dates which were excellent, although somewhat troublesome to eat, owing to the innumerable filaments protecting the central large stone. These filaments stuck between one's teeth, and were most difficult to remove. The dates were the size and shape of an ordinary English walnut and extremely oily.
It was a real joy to see fine healthy trees again, after the miserable specimens we had seen of late. Even there, too, the powerful trees which emerged from the lower entangled scrub and dense foliage were greatly contorted, as if they had gone through a terrific effort in order to push their way through to reach the light and air. Liane innumerable and of all sizes hung straight or festooned from the highest trees or coiled in a deadly embrace round their branches like snakes. Nor were they the only enemies of trees. Large swellings could be noticed around most of the trees, caused by the terrible cupim (termes album) or white ants, carrying out their destructive work just under the bark. Many indeed were the trees absolutely killed by those industrious little devils.
As we marched through the matto, using the large knives freely to open our way, we had to make great deviations in our course--now because of a giant jatoba lying dead upon the ground, then to give a wide berth to a group of graceful akuri palms, with their huge spiky leaves. Those palms had great bunches of fruit. We were beginning now to find trees with fan-like extensions at the roots and base, such as I had frequently met with in the forests of Mindanao Island (Philippine Archipelago), where they were called caripapa and nonoko trees. The vines or liane were getting interesting, some being of great length and of colossal size, twisted round like a ship's cable.
We rose again to an elevation of 2,600 ft. On emerging from the cool dark forest and its refreshing green light, we found ourselves on another plateau with a slightly arched summit, of beautiful campos. From that height we looked over the immense undulating plain to the south. To the south-east we gazed upon a lower flat-topped plateau bounding the valley which, in great sweeping undulations from south-east to north-west, resembled an ocean with waves of colossal magnitude. We travelled across the slightly domed grassy plateau, and found on it a cuvette--only slightly depressed this time, but with the usual central line of tall trees with luxuriant foliage, burity palms and pintahyba trees. There, too, we had a surface stratum of red earth and fine brown dust, with an under stratum of grey ashes. Soon after we came to a second cuvette, and farther north a third could be perceived. In fact, the summit of that particular table-land was made up of subsidiary domes dividing cuvette from cuvette in succession.
In going down to 2,550 ft. we found a streamlet flowing northwest into the Rio das Mortes--or "River of Death." We were there on the great divide between the waters flowing south into the S. Lourenço and eventually into the Paraná, and those flowing north--after thousands of kilometres--into the Amazon. This little rivulet was therefore interesting to me, for it was the first one I had met flowing north since leaving the Araguaya--although not the first whose waters eventually flowed in a circuitous way into the Amazon.
That was a day of great domes--all of them with perfect curves. On them the grazing was magnificent. To the north a wonderful green dome, larger than the others (elev. 2,650 ft.), would have been splendid for cattle raising. Not a sign of life could be seen anywhere. Seldom have I seen nature so still and devoid of animal life. What immensity of rich land wasted! It made one's heart bleed to see it. There was everything there to make the fortunes of a hundred thousand farmers--yet there was not a soul! There was good grazing, plenty of water. There were no roads, no trails, it is true, but with a little enterprise it would be easy to make them. With a railway passing through, that now wasted land should become the richest on earth.
In a depression (elev. 2,450 ft.) we came to a streamlet also flowing north, which had made the soil extremely swampy. We had endless trouble in getting across, the animals sinking and sticking in the black mud up to their necks. One of the mules--more reckless than the others--actually disappeared, baggage and all, while madly struggling to extricate itself from the sucking slush and mud. It took all our efforts combined to save that animal. By the time we had all got across, men, animals, and baggage were a sight worth looking at--all filthy, absolutely smothered in black mud.
We rose upon yet another dome, and then descended to the Rio Manso or Rio das Mortes, the head-waters of which were not far from there, to the south-west, in the Serra da Chapada. The river was there only 15 metres wide, but too deep and rapid for the animals to ford, so we had to follow its bank in order to find a suitable spot. The River das Mortes flowed, roughly, first in an easterly then in a north-easterly direction, and soon, swollen by innumerable streams, became the most powerful tributary of the Araguaya River, which it met almost opposite the centre of the great island of Bananal. In fact, one might almost consider the head-waters of the Rio das Mortes as the secondary sources of the great Araguaya. The Rio das Mortes flowed, at the particular spot where we met it, due north, along the edge of the great dome. The elevation of the top edge was 2,470 ft.
We camped that night on the Riberão do Boi, a swift torrent tributary of the Rio das Mortes (elev. 2,250 ft.), having marched 30 kil. that day. The cold was relatively severe during the night--the thermometer registering a minimum of 48° Fahr.
We were travelling entirely by prismatic compass. My men--who had no faith whatever in what they called the agulha (compass)--swore that we were going to sure perdition.
"How can that agulha," said they, "possibly tell you where we can find beans (feijão), lard (toucinho), and sugar bricks (rapadura)?" "It is the invention of some madman!" said one. "It will bring us to our death," sadly reflected another. "If I had only known that we should be entrusting our lives all the time to that agulha," murmured a third, pointing contemptuously to the compass, "I should have never come. Oh, my poor mother and wife! And my dear little daughter six months old! Oh, shall I ever see them again ... shall I ever see them again?" Here followed a stream of bitter tears, wiped with the ragged sleeve of his shirt.
I thought that a cold bath would do them all good. I ordered them to take all the animals and baggage across the stream. It was a job of some difficulty, owing to the very swift current. A rough bridge had to be constructed over the most dangerous part. The water was freezingly cold.
On leaving the river we at once rose again over another great dome (elev. 2,350 ft.), from which we obtained a most glorious view of other grassy domes, smooth-looking and well-rounded, with a fringe of forest in the depressions between. Down below we could see the Rio das Mortes we had left behind. It came at that spot from the south-east, and after describing an angle turned to the north-east. From the north-west, at an elevation of 2,300 ft., descended the Taperinho, a small tributary which entered the Rio das Mortes.
We went over another domed mount, where I found a spring of most delicious water emerging in a gurgle from the very summit of the dome, at an elevation of 2,400 ft. On all sides we had beautiful domed prominences with wonderful grazing land.
Alcides--careless, like all the others, with his rifle--was nearly killed that day. His rifle went off accidentally, and the bullet went right through the brim of his hat, just grazing his forehead. But we were accustomed to this sort of thing--it had happened so often--and I began to wonder when bullets would really wound or kill somebody. Indeed, we had a guardian angel over us.
We had descended into the belt of forest in the depression (elev. 2,270 ft.), where a streamlet flowed to the north-east into the Rio das Mortes. We were travelling in a north-easterly direction, owing to the formation of the country; but finding that it would take me too much away from my intended course I again altered our direction to a course due north. At an elevation of 2,480 ft. we went over an extraordinary natural bridge of solidified ashes and earth--a regular tunnel--under which passed a streamlet of delicious water--the Puladó Stream. The river emerged some distance off from under the tunnel. Curiously enough, while the vegetation was quite dense both above and below the natural bridge, there was no vegetation at all along the hundred metres forming the width of the bridge. Perhaps that was due to the lack of evaporation in that section, which supplied the trees elsewhere with moisture.
We rode over many domes of an elevation of 2,550 ft., and then over some that were smaller in diameter but of greater height. In the depressions between we invariably found rows of burity palms amidst other vegetation, and the characteristic heavily foliaged trees.
We encamped near a delicious spring of water on the very summit of a dome. The water emerged from a circular hole and was warm--so much so that the next morning, when my Fahrenheit thermometer registered an atmospheric temperature of 50°, steam rose from the water of the spring. Around the spring a curious conical mound of white finely powdered matter resembling kaolin had formed. This appeared to me to have formerly been a small geyser. The cone was broken on one side and the water did not come out with great force. A few yards down the slope of the dome another similar white cone was to be seen, with a great mass of granular ash-pellets and tufa, such as are commonly found near geysers or thermal springs. We called that camp Cayambola.
On the night of June 12th the minimum temperature was 50° Fahr., the elevation 2,430 ft. The sky was somewhat clouded, the clouds occupying four-tenths of the heavens. At sunrise we observed radiations in the sky--this time, curiously enough, from north-east to south-west, instead of from east to west. The longest and highest semicircle above us was in double filaments, and resembled an immense fish-bone.
We were supposed to be then in a country infested by cannibal Indians--swarms of them. My men were quite amusing in their fears. Four of them were troublesome and insisted on the whole expedition turning back in order to see them safely out of danger. I remembered on those occasions an old Italian proverb which said that to "women, lunatics, and children" the wisest thing is always to say "Yes."
So when they threatened all kinds of things if we did not return I generally answered that we would continue a little farther, then we would see; and from day to day this went on, making forced marches forward all the time--generally of from 30 to 42 kil. daily. The dissatisfaction among my men grew, nevertheless, considerable, and a constant watch had to be kept over them. Alcides and Filippe the negro showed great courage, and, whatever other failings they may have had, they invariably displayed extraordinary bravery from beginning to end.
Alcides' principal faults were his great wastefulness and violent temper and pride, which made it most difficult to deal with him. He had been entrusted with the commissariat, as with all my other occupations I could not be bothered to sort out and weigh the food for each man at each meal. Alcides would not understand that it was unwise, in a country where absolutely nothing was procurable, to throw away daily little mountains of rice and beans and preserved meat, after the men and our dogs had gorged themselves; and that perhaps it would lead some day to our dying of starvation. In confidence I had told him that we might be several months--perhaps a year--before we should be able to get fresh supplies. A little economy would perhaps save us all from disaster. I wanted everybody to have ample food, but I did not see the use of throwing away daily a larger quantity than the men actually ate. It was true that we still had ample provisions of all kinds for some eight months, but we must be prepared for all emergencies.
Alcides, who was extremely obstinate, would not hear of this. My remarks only made things worse. The waste from that day doubled, and looking ahead into the future it really broke my heart, as I well saw that we should have hard times in front of us--all because of the lack of common-sense on the part of my followers.
On leaving camp we climbed to the summit of another gigantic dome of green pasture land (elev. 2,500 ft.). We filled our lungs with the delicious air, slightly stirred by a fresh northerly breeze. Geographically, we were at a most important site, for it was from that point that the division of waters took place between those flowing eastward into the Araguaya and those flowing westward into the Cuyabá River. So that within a distance of a few kilometres we had visited the region--the very heart of Brazil--from which the waters parted to flow toward three different points of the compass.
From that point we rose still higher to the summit of a great table-land, absolutely flat and waterless for over 30 kil. The soil was red in colour, with slippery dried grass upon it and sparse, stunted vegetation. The trees seldom reached a height of 5 ft. They were mostly gomarabia or goma arabica--a sickly-looking acacia; passanto with its huge leaves, piqui or pequia (Aspidosperma sessiliflorum and eburneum Fr. All.), the fibrous piteira or poteira (Fourcroya gigantea Vent.), and short tocun or tucum palms (Astrocaryum tucuma M.). Occasionally one saw a passanto tree slightly taller--perhaps some 10 to 12 ft. high--most anæmic-looking.
After having travelled some 24 kil. from our last camp we came to a great expanse of taquary, a kind of shrub 3 ft. high with spiky leaves of a wonderful green colour.
We gazed upon the superb view of an enormous plateau to the west with deep indentations in its vertical sides. Huge spurs or rams of rock stretched out across the deep depression, separating the plateau to the west from the one on which we were standing. Both plateaux were of equal height, and had evidently at one time formed one immense flat surface. On our side the plateau showed a huge slip of red volcanic earth, with a lower stratum parallel to it of baked brown rock. Under it were white lime and ashes, in sections or drifts. In the centre of the valley formed by the separation of the two sections there remained a formidable crater--extinct, of course--with an arc-shaped wall standing erect in its centre, and other lower walls forming an elongated quadrangular channel from south-east to north-west in the bottom of the crater. Two conspicuous monoliths stood up behind the huge lip of the crater to the south-west at the bottom of the valley, and also other remnants of the great convulsion of nature which had once taken place there.
Notwithstanding the constant annoyance of my followers, I really enjoyed my journey over the central plateau. The air was fresh and deliciously crisp and clear. One could see for miles and miles and distinguish the smallest detail in the far-away mountain sides, so pure was the atmosphere. This scene was unlike any in other countries. One could describe an entire circle around oneself, and nowhere did the eye meet a column of smoke rising above ground to indicate the presence of man. Not a bird was to be seen or heard, not a footprint upon the ground of any beast or creature of any kind. The silence of that land was most impressive. Our voices--as we spoke--sounded astonishingly and abnormally sonorous, in that region which for thousands of years had not been contaminated by sound. It seemed as if the sound-waves, undisturbed by the myriads of sounds which--as is well known--remain floating in the atmosphere in inhabited countries, were heard there in all their full and absolute purity. So much were we all impressed by this fact--my men unconsciously--that all the men began to sing, so pleased they seemed with the powerful vibration of their own voices.
To the north-west another lovely sight was before us--another huge plateau in dim greyish blue--barring the horizon. In front of it was one more table-land, more broken up, and sloping on the south side.
When we reached the north-east edge of the plateau we were travelling upon, we were treated to a fresh marvellous scene. Straight in front of us, on the opposite side of a deep depression--at 30° bearings magnetic--there stood one of the characteristic two-tiered table-lands stretching from east to west. Below us in the depression was an undulating line from north to south of great bosses or domes of exquisite grassy land, resting upon a kind of spur or peninsula jutting out from our plateau--but at a lower elevation--of which it formed part.
A formidable crack in the earth's surface extended from north to south on the east of the chain of domes, whereas to the east again of the giant crack was another row of domed hills, forming--when taken as a mass--an undulating terrace; then a vertical wall, above which rested the sloping side of the plateau on which we stood. It may be observed that the strata in the split vertical wall on our side was absolutely horizontal. On the summit of this rocky stratum lay a deposit, 30 ft. thick, composed of red earth and sand over yellow sandstone and ashes, and, lower, grey ashes compressed and consolidated. The lowest stratum visible on the face of the wall was of bright red-baked rock.
The great depression, taken in its entirety, extended from south-east to north-west. The huge crater was to the south-east. To the south-west there was an immense basin.
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 the course of the descent before us was not unlike trying to take our animals down the almost vertical wall of a fortress. With picks and spades we cut a narrow path for a short distance in order to start the reluctant beasts down. I recommended the greatest care to my men, but instead of following my instructions they drove the rebellious quadrupeds with their whips in a heap along the path--only a few inches wide--which we had cut. Result: Collisions among the animals and against the wall, and, next, five mules and baggage rolled down the mountain-side at a vertiginous speed until they had reached the bottom, some hundreds of feet below. Antonio, the strong man of the party, who tried to go to the rescue of one of the animals, was also dragged down, and came within an ace of losing his life. He was able to embrace a shrub with all his might just before rolling over the precipice, and we rescued him. We had to waste a great deal of time cutting an improvised way in the mountain side. Then we had to unload all the animals and convey the loads down on men's heads. Each animal was then with great difficulty and danger led by hand down to the stream.
Great quantities of beautiful marble and crystals were met with, and masses of lava pellets and ferruginous rock. In the Jangada valley we found two hot springs emerging from the side of the plateau from which we had descended. I discovered there two miserable tiny sheds belonging to a family of escaped negro slaves. They had lived seventeen years in that secluded spot. They grew enough Indian corn to support them. All the members of the family were pitifully deformed and demented. Seldom have I seen such miserable-looking specimens of humanity. One was demented to such an extent that it was impossible to get out of him more than a few disconnected groans. He spent most of his time crouched like an animal, and hardly seemed conscious of what took place round him. Another was a deaf and dumb crétin; a third possessed a monstrous hare-lip and a deformed jaw; while two women, dried up and skinny, and a child were badly affected by goïtre. For a single family that seemed a melancholy spectacle.
It was really pitiable--everywhere in the interior of Brazil--wherever you came across a family, to find that all its members were crétins, and deformed to such an extent as to make them absolutely repulsive. Frequently I had noticed among the common abnormalities supernumerary fingers and toes. One child at this place, in fact, had six toes to each foot, besides being an idiot, deaf and dumb, and affected by goïtre. The only one of the family who was able to realize what took place was terrified at our approach, and never got over his terror as long as we remained. He suffered from the illusion that everybody wished to murder him. For some reason or other he believed that I had come specially, all the way from my own country, in order to search for him and kill him. All the most considerate words on my part, the showering of presents, had no effect upon him. He sat some way off, watching me attentively all the time, and whenever I moved my hands in any direction he dashed away shrieking, thinking that I should attempt to strangle him--for his mania was death by strangulation. After a while he returned, and in his broken, almost unintelligible language--his tongue was nearly paralyzed and he had difficulty in articulating properly--begged to be spared.
Those people lived worse than animals--in an appallingly filthy condition, in two miserable, tumble-down sheds, open on all sides, and not more than 8 ft. high. They were reduced to that condition by intermarriage among themselves; brothers with sisters--a most frequent occurrence among the "civilized" of Central Brazil--and even fathers with daughters and sons with their mothers: a disgusting state of affairs which could not very well be helped in a race and in a climate where the animal qualities were extraordinarily developed while the mental were almost entirely deficient. Worse still, I had several cases under observation in which the animal passions had not been limited to closely related human beings, but extended also to animals, principally dogs. The degeneration of those people was indeed beyond all conception. It was caused, first of all, by the effects of the most terrible corruption of their blood, their subsequent impoverishment of blood through intermarriage, the miserable isolated existence which they led on scarce and bad food, the exposure to all kinds of weather, and the absolute lack of thought--almost paralyzing the brain power. It was heart-rending to think that human beings could possibly degenerate to so low a level, and--what was worse--that beings of that kind were extraordinarily prolific; so that, instead of being exterminated--which would be a mercy for the country--they were in a small way on the increase.
I camped near the sheds of that "happy family," having gone 42 kil. from the Rio das Mortes. I felt sad the whole night, watching them unperceived. It upset me so that I was ill for several days.
The Rio Jangada, at an altitude of 1,550 ft., was 1,000 ft. lower than the top of the plateau. The river flowed west into the Cuyabá River. We crossed the stream, a rapid and foaming torrent. We soon began to climb again on the opposite side over sweeping undulations. We waded through two more streamlets flowing west--the second at an elevation of 1,650 ft. We were travelling partly among campos on the summit of cones and domes, partly through brush or scrub in the depressions. We struggled on, urging the tired animals, rising gradually to 2,150 ft., then to 2,200 ft., over soil strewn with volcanic pebbles and scoriæ. During the night the minimum temperature had been 53° Fahr., but during the day the sun was extremely hot and powerful, and animals and men were sweating freely. We marched northward, then slightly to the north-west, leaving behind, to the south-west of us, two quadrangular table-lands, rising above the undulating line of a depression.
Shortly after, to the E.N.E., we perceived the section of an extinct crater--the easterly point of its summit being in itself a semicircular subsidiary crater. On one side of the greater crater was a conical depression, at the bottom of which (elev. 2,400 ft.) was an extensive bed of lava blocks of great size--hundreds of monolithic rocks standing up like pillars. In fact, they stood all along the side of the crater as well as inside it. Surrounding a pyramidal hill a group of those huge pillars looked--to a casual observer--just like the ruins of a tumble-down abbey.
Three hours' journey from our camp we reached the summit of a dome (elev. 2,500 ft.). Beyond it was a cuvette with its typical central line of burity palms.
To the west we perceived a marvellous view of three immense dykes of red rock--like walls--stretching from south-west to north-east; then two more great perpendicular dykes of granite were disclosed close by.
Going over domes 2,550 ft. and 2,450 ft. above the sea level, we obtained a vast and immense view of the serradão--wild country--before us, a regular ocean of deep green undulations rising quite high to the south; whereas to the north there extended a long plateau with a deep ravine on its southern aspect.
We descended through scrub (elev. 2,400 ft.)--what the Brazilians call serradão--and through a growth of stunted trees (elev. 2,450 ft.) to so low an altitude as 2,300 ft. Going along a rocky cliff, we passed a strange volcanic vent-hole with a pyramid of granite of large proportions on each side of its aperture.
We arrived at the Roncador, a picturesque torrent flowing over a bed of lava moulded in the strangest possible shapes, hollows, terraces and grottoes. Most peculiar were the great concave hollows, circular, oval, and of irregular form, which were innumerable and of all sizes along that extensive flow of lava.
We had travelled 30 kil. that day. That was such a picturesque spot that I made camp on the right bank of the torrent. We were all amazed to find an immense block of rock--resembling in size and form the Sphinx of Egypt--balanced to a nicety over the edge of a conical rocky hill. It was, of course, the work of nature. Why that rock remained there at all and did not tumble down, was more than we could understand. There was also a giant monolith and other strange-looking rocks of great size standing up at all angles close by. On climbing the hill where the Sphinx-like rock stood, I discovered a circular crater of great beauty, 300 metres in diameter. The western wall of the crater had been knocked down, but on the eastern inner side, in the central part 150 ft. high, there was a precipitous fall, then a huge smooth inclined plane of lava at an angle of 15° overlapping the top, where it had subsequently been subjected either to violent earthquake shocks or other disturbing influences, as it was badly seamed and fissured. Many segments had crumbled down, leaving the remaining portion of a most extraordinary shape. In the centre of the crater there stood a huge mass of rock 150 ft. high, which looked like an inclined table--a giant slab cleanly cut at its angles, which protruded at great length outside the base formed by broken-up blocks. On looking west from the summit of the extinct volcano one obtained a marvellous view of the vertical cliffs between which the Roncador River flowed.
Then there was a great table-land extending from north to south, composed of red volcanic rock and white limestone. A separate red quadrangular castle-like structure of immense proportions rose in the middle foreground in the north-west upon a conical green grassy base.
Add to this wonderful work of Nature a magnificent sky of gold and brilliant vermilion, as limpid as limpid could be, and you will perhaps imagine why I could not move from the rock on which I sat gazing at that magnificent, almost awe-inspiring, spectacle. Night came on swiftly, as it always does in those latitudes, and I scrambled down the hill, among the sharp, cutting, slippery, shiny rocks, arriving in camp minus a good many patches of skin upon my shins and knuckles.
At the point where I crossed the Roncador River there were three handsome waterfalls in succession, the central one in two terraces, some 90 ft. high. At the foot of the two-tiered waterfall was a great circular basin which had all the appearance of having been formerly a volcanic vent. The flowing water, which tumbled down with terrific force, had further washed its periphery smooth. The centre of the basin was of immense depth. Directly under the fall a spacious grotto was to be seen under a huge projecting rock.
The elevation of the stream above the falls was 2,150 ft., below the falls 2,060 ft. The temperature of the atmosphere was 72° Fahr., and the minimum temperature during the night 58° Fahr.
The Roncador flowed from north-east to south-west as far as the foot of the great plateau we had observed during our march. There, on meeting the great vertical wall, its course was diverted in a northerly direction and then again to the north-west, where the stream eventually fell into the Cuyabá River. The Rio Jangada, on which we had camped the previous day, was a tributary of the Roncador, and so was the streamlet called Pedra Grande, which entered the Roncador on its right side. The Pedra Grande took its name from an immense monolith, worn quite smooth, near its bank.
From the Roncador we continued on our northerly course. The western view of the "balanced Sphinx boulder" was indeed remarkable. It seemed to stand up on a small pivot despite all the laws of gravitation, the heaviest side of the upper rock projecting far out on one side with nothing to balance it on the other.
Cutting our way easily in the scrub, we rose to 2,300 ft. over a flow of red lava (it had flowed in an easterly direction) in several successive strata. The upper stratum was grooved into geometrical patterns, such as we had met before, wherever it showed through the thin layer of red volcanic sand which covered most of it. We were there in a zone of immense natural pillars of rock, some of such great height that they were visible miles off along the range--which extended from south to north, parallel, in fact, to the course we were following.
Still proceeding due north, we arrived on the summit of a great dome, 2,500 ft., from which point we had to alter our course to the north-west, owing to an isolated impassable barrier which we left on our right (north). It had steep slopes but well-rounded terminal points. It extended from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and had a height of some 150 ft. above the flat serradão, on which my skeleton-like mules wended their way among the stunted trees, the bells dangling from their necks monotonously tinkling--not the gay, brisk tinkling of animals full of life, as when we had left Goyaz, but the weak, mournful sound--ding ... ding ... ding--of tired, worn-out beasts, stumbling along anyhow. Occasionally one heard the crashing of broken branches or of trees collapsing at the collision with the packs, or the violent braying of the animals when stung in sensitive parts by an extra-violent fly; otherwise there was silence, the silence of death, all round us.
The poor brutes tore mouthfuls of grass, now on one side then on the other, as they went along; but the grazing was poor in the serradão, and the animals found only enough to subsist upon. Two of them were absolutely disabled, owing to accidents we had had; and, with the animals I had lost, this involved loading extra heavily those still able to carry. The constant collisions against the stunted trees in that trail-less region injured the animals considerably and caused nasty sores and swellings all over their bodies. I saw well that the poor beasts would not last much longer. It was impossible to halt a sufficient time to let them recover in that particular region, with food so scarce--it would have taken them months. In the meantime our provisions were being fast consumed--or rather wasted--and we had thousands of kilometres to go yet. My men never suspected this, or they would have never come on; but I knew only too well.
They still insisted on marching with their loaded rifles, fully cocked, resting horizontally upon their shoulders; and as we marched naturally in single file, and as we used cordite cartridges with bullets of high penetration, there was still a prospect of a bullet going through one or more of us. Once or twice again a rifle went off unexpectedly by accident. It would have been terrible for any one of a nervous temperament to be travelling with such companions. On previous expeditions I had generally trusted in myself, but on this particular one I was so disgusted that I had made up my mind to trust in Providence alone. I did well, for had I done otherwise I might have fared much worse than I did.
We went over a pass (elev. 2,400 ft.) between two small domes, quite barren but for a scanty growth of short dried grass. We were marching over masses of lava and conglomerate with innumerable marble pellets. We found ourselves within a regular circle of low hills enclosing a shallow depression. Subsequently we came to a second and then to a third similar depression.
Continuing in a north-westerly direction we again obtained a gorgeous view of the treble portal--by which word the Brazilians describe a monumental entrance of any kind. That is just what those three immense gaps in the plateau looked like: an immense wall of rock forming a high barrier, with three gigantic natural gateways.
After finding a stream of good water on the west side of the plateau we rose again higher, obtaining a splendid bird's-eye view of the picturesque depression we had just crossed. The effects of erosion following those of volcanic activity were evident enough upon the entire landscape. On the west side we had a horseshoe-shaped vertical wall--seemingly containing an extinct crater--and yet another on the north side of the western end of the elongated ellipse which was there formed.
With some difficulty we managed to get the animals up to the summit of the plateau (elev. 2,580 ft.). From there we obtained a sumptuous view beyond. An immense dyke of brilliant red rock, flat-topped, lay majestically to the west. At its foot the Rio Pedra Grande had its birth, and then flowed westward into the Rio Roncador. Four gigantic flat table-lands stood impressively in a line. Three more, equally impressive, loomed in the south-west. Other minor ones, quite wall-like--rectangular in vertical section--appeared in the blue distance, while the horizon was barred by a long flat plateau.
Looking north as we descended from the table-land, we found on our left another extinct crater--semicircular in shape, with several superimposed strata of lava, each about one foot thick, capping its lip, which was broken up into three sections. The valley below that crater formed a cuvette, the bottom of which (elev. 2,200 ft.) showed deep erosion by water in one or two places. Sand covered the lava-flow which had travelled northward. Quantities of heavy, spherical, bullet-like blocks of hard-baked rock were scattered all about--evidently shot out of the crater when active.
We had travelled 80 kil. from Cayambola in three days, and we had reached a spot of slight, well-rounded undulations where grazing was fair. I decided to halt early in the afternoon--more particularly as this spot appeared to me to have been at one time or other submerged--probably it had been a lake bottom. I had, since the beginning of my journey, been searching everywhere for fossils--but in vain. I had not seen the vestiges of a single one. Personally, I was persuaded that Central Brazil could well be geologically classified in the archaic group--the most ancient of the terrestrial crust, and consisting (in Brazil) chiefly of gneiss, mica schists and granite, solidified into their present form by intense eruptive phenomena and dissolved--not by immersion in ocean waters, as some suppose, but by deluges of such potentiality as the human mind can hardly conceive.
It was quite enough to visit the central plateau of Brazil to be persuaded that that continent had never been submerged under a sea; on the contrary, it must have been the oven of the world. The volcanic activity which must have taken place in that part of the world--it was not a separate continent in those days--was quite, as I have said, beyond human conception. This does not mean that at later periods there may not have been temporary lakes--as, for instance, in the spot where we encamped that night--or portions of country which had become flooded, upon the cooling of the earth, and subsequently became drained and dry again.
A wonderful surprise awaited me that day. To the north of my camp was a peculiar round mound. I climbed it, and what was my astonishment in the short ascent to find near the summit, among a lot of lava pellets, marble fragments, crystals, and great lumps of iron ore, a number of vertebræ from the tail and spine of a giant reptile! The vertebræ had been disjointed and scattered somewhat about by wind and water--but there they were; the smaller ones on the side of the hill, the larger on the summit--which led me to believe that the animal had crouched on the top of the hill when dying. Some of the fossil vertebræ were so large and heavy that I hardly had the strength to lift them up. The bones--petrified--were of a beautiful white. Many of them had, unfortunately, become so fractured as to make identification difficult. On following the line of the dorsal vertebræ--somewhat scattered about--I came upon some vertebræ which appeared to me to be cervical vertebræ; and then, behold my joy! in searching around the summit of the mound I perceived the skull. The skull was so big and heavy that I could not carry it away, but I took several photographs and careful drawings of it from all sides.
It was curiously shaped--quite unlike any other fossil skull I have seen. The cranial region proper was extremely short, with smallish round orbits rather low down on the side of the head. The skull had an elongated shape: 35 cm. was its total length; 10 cm. its maximum transverse breadth, and 5 cm. at the central and widest part of palate. The skull itself, with an elongated nasal bone, had a flattened point almost like a beak, or more probably like the base of a proboscis. The front part of the nose had unfortunately become fractured and ended with a flattened segment. A marked arch or hump stood prominent upon the nasal bone. The temporal arcades were quite developed, with prominent supra-orbital bosses. The orbital hollows were 5½ cm. in diameter, whereas the external nares were 9½ cm., the protrusion in front of the nostrils being 10 cm. long. The palate, of great length, had a peculiar complex shape, like a much-elongated U with another smaller U attached to it in the centre of its curve, [Symbol].
The skull had been worn down by age and weathering. Moreover, one side of the upper part of the cranium had been entirely destroyed--seemingly by having rested on red-hot lava. Many of the vertebræ were equally injured. By even a superficial examination it was easy to reconstruct the tragedy which had taken place on that hillock thousands upon thousands of years ago.
Searching about, I came upon another skull of a huge reptile, and a number of smaller vertebræ than those belonging to the animal above described. The second skull was much flattened, of an elongated shape, very broad, the orbital cavity being high up on the skull--in fact, not unlike the skull of a great serpent. It possessed a long occipital spur, extraordinarily prominent, and fairly well-defined zygomatic arches--but not quite so prominent as in the skull previously discovered. Seen from underneath, there seemed to be a circular cavity on the left front, as if it had contained a large fang. This skull, too, was also much damaged on one side, where it had rested on some burning matter--evidently lava or lapilli. The skull measured longitudinally 48 cm. and was 23 cm. broad. Seen from underneath it resembled a much elongated lozenge.
Although I searched a great deal I could not find the lower mandibles of these two skulls, nor loose teeth--but many indeed were the fossilized fragments of bones of other animals strewn all over the hill-top. I found up there quite a sufficient quantity to make the summit of that hill look of a whitish colour. That was why I had been attracted to it at first sight, and had climbed it in order to discover why it was so white. One immense bone--fractured--was the pelvis of the larger animal. Nearly all those fossils were in terrible preservation, much damaged by fire and water. Some were so eroded as to be quite unidentifiable.
Most interesting of all to me were two smaller skulls--one of a mammal not unlike a leopard or jaguar, the other of an ape or perhaps a primitive human being. The latter cranium, like all the others, had one side completely destroyed by hot lava, which in this instance had also filled up a considerable portion of the brain-case. The human skull was small and under-developed, no sutures showing; the forehead extremely low and slanting, almost flattened, with the superciliary region and glabella very prominent. One of the orbits (the right) was badly damaged. The left, in perfect preservation, was oval, very deep. The form of the palate was of a broad U-shape--abnormally broad for the size of the head. The upper jaw was fairly high and prominent, whereas the zygomatic arch on the left (the right was destroyed) was not unduly prominent--in fact, rather small and less projecting than the supra-orbital region. Of the nasal bone only just a fragment remained. The brain-case was small but well-rounded at the back, where it had comparatively a fairly good breadth behind the auditory meatus.
In my anxiety and enthusiasm, I used up, in photographing the first skull I found, the only two photographic plates which remained that day in the camera I had brought with me up there. In order to obtain a fuller view of the skull on the negatives I placed it on a rudimentary stand I constructed with broken branches of a tree. The sun had already set when I discovered the two smaller skulls, and in any case I should not have been able to photograph them that day. Well recognizing their immense value, I enveloped them in my coat, which I turned into a kind of sack by tying the sleeves together, and, with a number of vertebræ and a knee-joint I had collected, proceeded to carry the entire load, weighing some sixty pounds, back to camp, a mile away.
On my arrival there I met with a good deal of derision from my ignorant men. I was faced with a problem. Had I told the men the immense value of those fossils, I feared they might be tempted to steal them and sell them whenever we first reached a civilized spot--which, true enough, might not be for many months; a fact my men did not know and never for one moment realized. If I did not tell them, I should have to stand their silly derision as long as the journey should last--for they openly and loudly argued among themselves the view that I had gone mad, and what better proof could they have than my carrying a heavy load of "ugly stones" as my personal baggage?
Of the two I came to the conclusion that derision was better than being robbed. So I took no one into my confidence. I merely stored the fossils carefully away in a large leather case, meaning to take them out some day to photograph them as a precaution in case of loss. Unfortunately the opportunity never offered itself, for we made forced marches every day, from early morning until dark, and unpacking and repacking were very inconvenient--each package having loops of rope fastened round, in order to be readily attached to the saddles, which took much time and trouble to undo. Then the ridicule of my men each time the "ugly stones" were referred to also kept me at first from unduly attracting their attention to them. With the many things I had to occupy my time day and night I ended by forgetting to take the photographs--greatly owing to being almost certain that I should bring the skulls themselves safely back to Europe. But the unexpected always happens. We shall see later on how--after having carried those fossils safely for several months--they were, unknown to me, wilfully flung, together with a quantity of provisions, into a deep part of the Arinos River by my companions, and they were beyond recovery.
Greatly to my regret, we left that interesting spot the next morning. A drenching rain prevented my paying a second visit to the two hillocks where the fossil fragments were to be found, but I took the exact position of them, so that any further expedition could locate the spot with great ease.
It was interesting to note that a Brazilian expedition had discovered some fossil bones of a gigantic animal some 200 kil. south-west of that place, and other remains of a giant animal had been found by another Brazilian expedition on the banks of the Paranatinga River, some 400 or 500 kil. north-east of our position.
We were encamped on the bank of the Rio Pedra Grande--the stream of that name which we had passed that day being merely a tributary. During the night we had observed a double-ringed lunar halo. The moon was almost full. From the horizon directly under the moon were innumerable radiations, not converging toward the moon but, curiously enough, the first two at a tangent to the larger halo, the others at equal intervals on each side.
At sunrise, before the rain-storm began, we were treated to wonderful cloud and light effects. The lower portion of the sky, of brilliant yellow and vivid green, was surmounted by golden and red streaks of wonderful vividness. Later, over the great natural gateways, the sky formed itself into concentric arches of blazing yellow and red, rendered intensely luminous by contrast with the heavy black clouds which were fast collecting overhead. No sooner was the sun well above the horizon than we came in for a heavy downpour.
The temperature had been higher (minimum 60° Fahr.) than usual during the night, and heavy. The elevation of our camp was 2,030 ft. above the sea level.
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 foot of an animal of enormous proportions.
We soon crossed the little stream Lazinha, which flowed into the Pedra Grande. As we travelled over two ridges (altitude 2,100 ft. and 2,130 ft.) separating deep basins, and the weather cleared a little, the view before us of the entire line of natural gateways, with two additional pyramidal and prismatic peaks to the south, became more and more beautiful. There was a strong breeze blowing from the north-east. At an elevation of 2,150 ft. we found quantities of marble chips and blocks and great masses of ferruginous, froth-like rock.
As we went along we obtained an imposing view to the north of an immense plateau in three terraces, the lower one appearing like the sea--it was so blue--with the brilliant red upper portion rising out of it like a great island. The foreground of dark green, in great undulations, stood out in contrast to the light green of the slopes of the plateau on the top of which we were marching.
Central Brazil was certainly a country of flat sky-lines--so flat that often when the distance became of a pure cobalt blue one had the impression of overlooking an immense ocean, to which the green undulations in sweeping lines in the nearer foreground added the impression of great waves.
It was indeed difficult to realize the stupendous magnitude of the scenes we constantly had before us. That day, for instance, the plateau to the north of us stretched across towards the east for 70° of the compass from bearings magnetic 320° (N.N.W.) to 30° (N.N.E.). Above the plateau was a strange effect of clouds--a succession of arrow-shaped, nebulous masses.
We still came upon basins of grey ashes--cuvettes--but in that region these were deeper than those we had observed so far, had luxuriant grass, and in the moist centre the invariable line of burity palm and heavily foliaged trees.
Travelling on a northerly course, and then to the north-west, we descended, after having marched 20 kil., into a basin (elev. 1,950 ft.) where a thick and wide deposit of fine white sand and minute crystals covered the deeper part of the depression. Then, farther on, the sand was replaced by the usual deposits of grey ashes which filled the remainder of the basin. A streamlet which had its birth in the centre of the basin flowed north into the Rio Manso, along one of the many cracks which were to be seen in that region and in the depressions we had previously crossed. We came upon a mighty flow of red and black lava with a somewhat frothy surface. It was in superposed layers from one to six inches deep, with an inclination to the east of 15°. The flow itself had a direction from west to east.
As we were marching by compass, with no trail whatever, we found ourselves entangled in a swampy valley with tall reeds, from which we had some difficulty in extricating ourselves. We eventually had to retrace our steps for six kilometres in order to find an easier way for our animals. After an examination of the country with my telescope from a high spot, I decided to go westward across a flat swampy plain of ashes, sand and water--most troublesome for the mules and horses. They sank deep into the soft ground and frequently rolled over, damaging saddles and baggage. One or two of my men had involuntary baths when the animals' knees gave way under them.
As soon as we had emerged from that wearisome marsh the animals and men were so tired--although we had only gone 22 kil. from our last camp, without counting the deviation (28 kil. with deviation)--that I had to encamp on the bank of the streamlet Fasciná, coming from the west. There we had the laborious task of spreading to dry all the articles that had got wet--including my bedding, tent, and a quantity of my clothing, which was not packed like all the rest in air- and water-tight cases.
The stream Fasciná flowed into the Rio Furnas and eventually into the Rio Manso to the north--the latter a tributary of the Cuyabá River. That region had been rich in Mangabeira (the Hancornia speciosa M.)--a wild lactiferous plant of much value, producing a fruit called the mangaba.
June 16th. Minimum temperature 54° Fahr.; elevation 1,940 ft. On leaving camp, after a good deal of trouble in recovering our animals in the morning, as they had strayed in all directions, we found ourselves travelling along the edge of a large grassy basin (elev. 2,000 ft.) extending from south-east to north-west, with a wonderful growth of burity palms; then upon a second basin (elev. 2,100 ft.) with deep deposits of ashes. We climbed higher, to 2,150 ft., where we found a third oval cuvette with a surface layer of ashes--merely a continuation of the preceding cuvette. We here resumed our northerly course, going through what the Brazilians call chapada, or high land scantily wooded.
To the south-west we had a high plateau with round natural towers of red rock, resembling the walls of a fortress. Those red cylindrical towers stood all along the summit of the range--with immense square blocks of grey rock above them in horizontal strata. In the centre of that long range could be perceived a double-tiered crater and several grottoes. In its northern section the range was vertical, with red and yellow rocky walls over 300 ft. high. On the summit of that rocky stratum were other strata with a dip to the south. Half way up could be observed a red ledge about 10 ft. thick (also with a dip to the south) all along the entire length of the range. Colossal blocks and flows of lava were to be seen 300 yards east of this range. In one place was an immense natural arch--like the work of a skilful mason. At the northern end of the range stood a castle--the work of nature--with three square towers, and between them numerous monoliths or pillars standing on walls of columnar formation.
Evidently there was a crater in that northern part, the castle-like structure being merely formed by many superposed layers of yellow lava. Near the throat of the crater the lava was hard baked and of a bluish red colour. In the lower section the strata were each 6 ft. thick, under a smooth band, absolutely horizontal, 100 ft. in thickness. There were then two top layers, each 20 ft. thick, and four more layers each 4 ft. thick, and slightly wavy. The last ones were somewhat shattered, and displayed large blocks moved out of position--apparently by a volcanic explosion.
In going round the northern corner of the range more similar buttresses, like towers, were disclosed--I could count as many as eight--projecting out of the immense vertical block of rock. Those buttresses were of brown and bright yellow rock. The range had a general direction from south-east to north-west.
Great deposits of white sand and ashes were noticeable on the surface. In cuts and in the bed of a streamlet were strata of consolidated ashes in distinct layers one inch thick. The foot of the gigantic rocky mass was at an elevation of 1,700 ft. We were on a slanting plane forming a conical basin in continuation of the crater. To the north, where the basin opened, was a great stretch of cobalt blue in the distance, which looked just like a glimpse of the ocean. But it was not; it was the far-away plateau we had seen for some days.
We were now entering a region of the most impressive and weird scenery I had ever seen, except, indeed, in the Himalaya Mountains. Directly in front of us towered the Morro Plumão, a most striking giant block of rock several hundred feet high, standing quite alone, and resembling a church surmounting a mediæval castle--not unlike St. Michael's Mount, only with land around instead of water. Even quite close to it the illusion was perfect. This wonderful natural structure of dark red rock was in perfectly horizontal strata, each 10 ft. thick, separated and clearly defined by whitish lines, which aided to give the illusion of a wonderful work of masonry.
"Church-rock," as I called it--or "Spray-rock" (Plumão), as my men named it--stood majestically in solitary grandeur in the middle of a great subsidence of the soil. That great subsidence was in turn bordered by immense vertical cliffs of the same rock of which "Church-rock" was formed. Indeed, it was clear that the soil had given way, leaving only that great rock standing. Even my men--for the first time since they had been with me--were deeply impressed by that wonderful spectacle; so much so that they all took off their hats, as Brazilians always do in passing churches.
We traversed the great depression, which gave us irrefutable evidence of what had taken place in that zone. The great rocky, plateau-like mountain to our left had split and fallen over on the north side, describing an arc of a circle of 90°. In fact, as we went along, in places where the rock under foot was exposed, we were treading over laminated rock, the stratification of which was vertical, and corresponded exactly to that of the upstanding wall where the stratification was horizontal.
Behind "Church-rock" to the north-west was a massive plateau, beyond which stretched an immense undulating depression with two outstretching spurs from south-west to north-east upon it. "Church-rock" was 26 kil. from our last camp.
On the north side of "Church-rock," close to the conical hill upon which the giant quadrangle of rock rested, was a hump formed by huge blocks, the top one--a colossal one--just balanced, as if it might tumble over at any moment. Then on the side could be seen a lava-flow and huge masses of lava which had been shot up with great force and curled over, retaining the frothy appearance of its former state of ebullition.
Strangely enough, even when seen from the side and from behind (N.N.W. view), "Church-rock" retained all the semblance of a castle and church perched up on that high pinnacle. From the N.N.W., besides the castellated towers which surmounted all, there appeared a perfect representation of a gabled roof over the body of the church, as well as the flying buttresses of the walls. Behind was a great cylindrical annexe with a semi-spherical superstructure, such as is often to be seen behind Roman Catholic churches. The illusion was really wonderful.
Owing to the pools of water not far from "Church-rock" we called that spot Caponga de la Lagõa.
A few hundred yards beyond "Church-rock" we came upon another extraordinary sight: a quadrangular rocky castle--a perfect cube of rock--which stood at a considerable elevation upon a conical base, some distance off the wall-like sides of the plateau. Strangely enough, a thin wall of rock, only a few feet thick, quite vertical, of great height and of great length, joined this quadrangular castle to the plateau. That wall had evidently remained standing when the plateau had subsided. The larger plateau along the foot of which we travelled ended in two great domes, one at each angle of its eastern terminus wall. The eastern part of that plateau was flat-topped, whereas the central portion rose into a double pyramid and looked not unlike a giant tent with a porch attachment. It was of a bright yellow colour--apparently sandstone and ashes. The work of erosion had been greater on the eastern face--owing, I think, to the prevalent wind on that side.
On looking back upon the great range of rock which ended abruptly near "Church-rock" (which, as we have seen, once formed part of it), a great semicircular cavity was disclosed on its western face. The summit of the wall around the cavity rested on an inclined plane, which in its turn rested above a vertical concave wall. The latter wall of rock had conical buttresses at the terminal points.
West-north-west of the great wall was an immense depression. Only a conical hill rose above its last undulations. The upper edge of that depression was at an altitude of 1,550 ft. above the sea level, whereas the top of "Church-rock" was fully a thousand feet higher--viz. 2,550 ft.
At the terminus of the first section of the cliff range, interrupted by a great fissure from the second section, another structure in course of formation not unlike "Church-rock" could be observed. It had a quadrangular tower surmounting it. There was in the second section of the range a regular quadrangle of rock, with a high tower upon a conical hill, and another castle-like structure surmounting a conical base. The two were most impressive as they stood in their sombre red against the brilliantly blue sky.
Next to the second section of the range, to the north, was a high mountain of two twin-pointed peaks, shaped like a badly-pitched tent. Then came another plateau, much eroded on its south side. Beyond was an immense black plateau on three successive tiers--and this one, unlike the others of which it was merely a continuation, had sloping instead of vertical sides.
We had a nasty experience that day, which for the moment made us forget the beauty of that wonderful scenery. We were going through high scrub and stunted trees and tall grass, much dried by the intense heat--quite suffocating in the basin with the refraction from the huge rocks. A strong breeze sprang up, and we were delighted--when we saw, fast approaching, a dense black and white cloud rolling, as it were, along the ground. As it got nearer there were such loud crackling and explosions that it seemed like the volleys of musketry in a battle. My horses and mules pricked up their ears, lifting their heads high--sniffing, neighing, and braying. They became restless. Before we had time to realize what was the matter, we saw tongues of flames shoot out from the earth. Within a few seconds, with the wind which was blowing high, we found ourselves with a barrier of fire close upon us behind and fast gaining upon us. The trees seemed to flare up in a moment like matches or fireworks. A wave of terrific heat took our breath away. We were almost suffocated. There was only one way of escape--in front of us. For to the left we had the impassable barrier of rock; to the right the flames had already gained on us in a semicircle like a claw of fire. We stirred on our animals, lashing them. My men, with their heads wrapped to prevent suffocation from the stifling smoke, were in a great state of excitement. They were about to abandon the animals in order to save their own lives; but Alcides, Filippe, and I kept the rear, endeavouring to save men, baggage, and animals. The flames gained on us very quickly. They occasionally almost licked our animals. The mules and horses, now fully enveloped in dense, choking smoke, began to stampede, and soon all the animals were galloping away, sniffing, neighing and braying frantically. In their disorderly flight they crashed against trees and tore off branches; stumbled over rocks and rolled over themselves; struggling up on their feet only to resume their mad race for life.
For some little time it was all we could do to keep a few yards in front of the flames, the heat of which was roasting our backs and necks. At last, in a desperate effort, we managed to get slightly ahead, and when we descended--some of the animals rolled down--into a deep depression, we found ourselves clear of the smoke. The wind was unfortunately blowing the way we were travelling, but in that depression we were sheltered, and the fire would not travel so fast. Our eyes were smarting terribly and we were coughing violently, our parched throats and lungs, filled with the pungent smoke, giving us a feeling of nausea. When we had reached a point of comparative safety we had to readjust all the loads on the pack-saddles, which had almost come undone. It was a wonder to me that in the precipitous flight we had lost nothing.
We had unavoidably deviated several kilometres from our course, as the animals were beyond guiding under those circumstances. Eventually, after a considerable detour in order to avoid the flames, we went over several undulations--especially a peninsula-like spine of rock rising over a great depression, then between two twin mountains. We emerged on the bank of the Rio Manso, flowing northward on a pebbly bed. We crossed it where it was one hundred metres wide, but only 2 to 3 ft. deep. There was a thick growth of vegetation--a belt some hundred yards wide--on both banks of the river. The Rio Manso was there at an altitude above the sea level of 1,150 ft.
I took observations for longitude, and latitude by double altitudes at that place. (Lat. 13° 53' S; Long. 55° 13' W.) I had to halt there one day in order to give the animals a rest, after the long and reckless march of the previous day--a distance of 42 kil.
The source of the Rio Manso was to the E.S.E. some 120 kil. from the place where we crossed it. Where we encamped it received a small streamlet, flowing over a bed of laminated igneous rock and several successive strata of slate, which in some places were in a vertical position, in others at an angle of 40°. I noticed this vertical foliation and these laminated strata all over the great depression we had crossed in order to reach the Rio Manso.
The Rio Manso, which flowed into the Cuyaba River, was not to be confounded with the Rio Manso forming the head-waters of the Rio das Mortes, which eventually threw itself into the River Araguaya.
Owing to one of my animals having strayed away and the difficulty of finding it again in the tall grass and high vegetation, we were not able to leave camp until the afternoon of June 18th. Soon after starting on the march we went through a marvellous arch of thick foliage, creepers, bamboos, and akurí palms, previous to crossing a streamlet 9 metres wide and 1 ft. deep--flowing towards the west. We had no end of trouble near these streamlets, as they flowed between precipitous banks 50 to 70 ft. high. There was no trail. The animals frequently lost their footing over the slippery, steep slope, and rolled down, baggage and all, until they reached the bottom; or else they would sometimes stick half way down against trees and liane, and we had the greatest difficulty in extricating them again.
There was a low range extending from north to south along the left bank of the Rio Manso. From a hill 1,470 ft. high above the sea level on the right bank of the river we saw a plateau in four terraces--the third of the line of plateaux we had seen on our preceding march. Upon getting higher we perceived to the south, beyond the four-terraced plateau, another plateau with vertical walls, and to the south-west a high double-humped dome--resembling Mount Vesuvius in Italy. Evidently one more of the innumerable extinct volcanoes to be seen in that region. The mountainous mass extended in a more confused form farther to the south-west. On our side of the Rio Manso the country was gently undulating--in fact, it formed many parallel ridges of low, well-rounded hills with occasional deep hollows or basins between. One could not help being particularly struck by the wonderful regularity and strong similarity of the curves on the parallel hill ranges, as if all had been turned out of the same mould. The hill-range we were on was 1,500 ft. above the sea level. The others--excepting one or two--were lower.
There was an absolutely flat horizon line to the north, with no mountain range in sight. The country opening up before us was from that point almost entirely made up of campos, with chapada or growths of trees principally near streams in the valleys. We crossed a watercourse 30 metres wide and 1 ft. deep at an elevation of 1,350 ft. We called it the Palmeira, owing to the many palms upon its banks. Here grew many great caja or cajazeiro trees (of the genus Anacardiaceæ), the largest and tallest trees I had yet seen in Brazil, and Garappa or Garabu (of the genus Terebinthaceæ) trees--very interesting on account of their peculiar winged roots. They resembled the nonoko, which were characteristic of the Polynesian Islands and Philippine Archipelago, only the Brazilian ones never attained proportions so large.
With endless trouble we had gone 20 kil. We had come to streams, where again, owing to the precipitous descents on the slippery high banks, several mules fell over and rolled down into the stream. One mule, particularly, had become very nervous on approaching those places. Foreseeing the punishment which would be meted out, its knees invariably began to tremble and give way, and it let itself roll down purposely, every time we came to those difficult passages. Once down at the bottom, with baggage often immersed deep in water, we had the greatest difficulty in making the wretched animal get up again, and we frequently had to drag it bodily up the opposite slope by means of ropes. I have never seen an animal stand more beating than that brute did. Although I am most kind to animals, I must say for my men that this particular mule often drove us all to absolute despair. Dragging the dead weight of an animal up a steep slope, 40, 50, or even 70 ft. high--we were only seven men--was no joke at all. When you had to repeat the operation several times a day, it was somewhat trying. Once the brute had been dragged up to the top it would quickly get up on its legs, and marched well while on fairly good ground. But in moments of danger it was one of the most pusillanimous animals I have ever possessed.
I had given strict orders that in places of that kind the more timid animals were to be unloaded, and the loads conveyed across on men's backs. My orders were always disobeyed. The result generally was that not only did the men have to carry the loads eventually, but we had to carry the animals as well. Endless time and energy were thus wasted. That is what happens to people who try to save themselves trouble.
At sundown, after having witnessed a glorious view of the valley to the north, we descended rapidly amidst luxuriant vegetation of tall bamboos, akurí palms, and festooned liane, until we reached the Palmeira River, flowing from north to south. Having crossed it, we continued for 3½ kil. through dense vegetation, and then recrossed it at a spot where it passed within enormous fissures in colossal masses of highly polished yellow lava. After solidification these masses of lava had been subjected to violent commotion, as their stratification was nearly in a vertical position.
Wherever possible I took observations for latitude and longitude, in order to ascertain my exact position; an 8-in. sextant, mercurial artificial horizon and chronometers being used for the purpose. It is not easy to describe the torture I had to go through when taking those tedious astronomical observations. The glass roof of the artificial horizon had unfortunately got broken. I had to use a great deal of ingenuity in order to screen the mercury from the wind so as to obtain a well-defined reflection. No sooner was I getting a perfect contact of the sun's image and its reflection than some huge fly or other insect would begin to promenade on the mercury, disturbing its surface. Butterflies were even more troublesome, as they left upon the mercury--by the luminosity of which they were greatly attracted--sediments of multi-coloured powder and down from their wings and bodies. The mercury had to be carefully re-filtered before work could proceed. Then, what was worse, when both your hands were occupied--one holding the sextant, the other gently screwing the vernier--hundreds of mosquitoes, taking advantage of your helpless condition, buzzed round and settled on your nose, ears, neck, eyelids and forehead, stinging you for all they were worth. Swarms of bees--a dwarf kind, with body in yellow and black stripes; fortunately these did not sting--also placidly roamed upon every available patch of skin with a provoking tickling. A great number of them settled along the edges of the eyelids, attracted by the sheen of the retina of the eye, into which they gazed with great interest. Others, more inquisitive, would explore the inside of your ears; while millions--actually millions--of pium, the tiny gnats--more impertinent than all the others taken together--dashed with great force up your nose, into your eyes, into your mouth, and far into your ears, and were most troublesome to remove. Your ankles and knees and wherever the skin was soft were itching terribly with carrapatinhos, and before you got through with your work you were also swarming all over with ants of all sizes--careering all over your body and inflicting painful bites whenever you placed your hand upon your clothes to arrest their progress. When you had endured the torture long enough, and had managed to take a satisfactory solar observation, you generally had to remove all your clothes in order to get rid of the unpleasant parasites--and you then had a good hour's hard work cut out for you.
We continued our march northward, the temperature in the sun being 105° Fahr. The minimum temperature had been 60° Fahr. during the night of June 17th, and 64° on June 18th. We crossed the Piraputanga River, flowing into the Rio Manso, and then passed over a magnificent flow of yellow, red and black lava, the Cambayuvah River, a tributary of the Palmeira.
The Cambayuvah flowed through a great volcanic crack 75 ft. high, the sides of the crack showing much-fissured strata in a vertical position. A smaller streamlet entered the Cambayuvah where we crossed it. Wonderfully beautiful, indeed, were the rapids among brilliantly coloured red and yellow rocks, the water winding its way among high upstanding pillars and sharp blades of laminated rock.
A beautiful waterfall tumbled over with a great noise into a pool, scooped out of an immense block of such hardened rock that even the force of that violent stream seemed to have had but little erosive effect upon it. The edges of it were as sharp as possible, instead of being worn smooth and rounded by the constant rapid flow of water. The rock had been hard baked, and was of a shiny black colour, almost as shiny as crystal. At the bottom of those picturesque rapids was a circular volcanic vent, the periphery of which had been blackened by the action of fire. The Cambayuvah followed a general course of south-east to north-west.
We camped near that enchanting spot--most picturesque, but terrible for my animals, as the grazing was poor. My mules, when let free at the end of the march, stood helpless around the camp, looking reproachfully at us, and making no effort to go far afield in order to get something to eat. The poor things were quite exhausted. I saw well that they could not last much longer. My men were constantly worrying me, and saying that we were going to sure perdition. They had become painfully home-sick, and had they not been dead-tired too--more so, perhaps, than the mules and horses--I should have expected great trouble from them. As it was, to lead on those men with persuasion and kindness was an exhausting mental effort for me. Once or twice the suggestion was made that if I did not agree to go back the way we had come I might perhaps get killed and they would return alone. When I enquired whether any of them could find their way back alone, they said "no"; so I suggested that perhaps it would be to their advantage to let me live. I might eventually see them out of that difficulty.
In all my travels I have seldom come across men more helpless at finding their way about, or realizing in which direction they had travelled. Barring Alcides, none of them had any more idea whether we had travelled south, north, east, or west of Goyaz, than the man in the moon. Naturally I did not exert myself to enlighten them unduly, for there lay my great and only hold over them. I had fully realized that I was travelling with an itinerant lunatic asylum, and I treated my men accordingly. No matter what they did or said, I always managed to have things my own way. Never by violence, or by a persuasive flow of language--the means used by the average mortal. No, indeed; but by mere gentleness and kindness; very often by absolute silence. Few people realize the force of silence on momentous occasions; but of course few people know how to remain silently silent--if I may so express it--in moments when their life is seriously at stake. Silence is indeed the greatest force a man can use, if he knows how to use it. It is certainly invaluable in exploring, when naturally one is not always thrown into contact with the best of people.
The animals strayed away during the night, and it took all the best part of four hours to recover them in the morning. Instinct is a wonderful thing. They had all travelled to a place where, over undulating country, fairly open campos, slightly wooded with stunted trees, were to be found, and where they could obtain something to eat. When we crossed those campos after our departure from camp, foliated rock showed through the surface soil in many spots, in strata either displaced and left vertical--in many cases at an angle of 38°--or in its original horizontal plane. Elsewhere dips in all kinds of directions showed that there must have been a good deal of commotion in that region when that part of the country subsided and formed the basin we were then crossing. The typical feature of all those undulations was their arched backs.
We were at a low elevation--only 1,300 ft. above the sea level. We were travelling over immense quantities of marble pebbles and volcanic débris. We there made the acquaintance of the gramadin, a plant with curved spikes, which seldom attained a height of more than one inch above the ground. It was terribly poisonous if touched.
We went over three successive ridges (elev. 1,300 ft.). On the summit of each ridge we found a profusion of marble débris and even large blocks immaculately white or else yellow--probably rendered of the latter colour by contact with iron, plentiful in that region.
On the summit of the sixth ridge (elev. 1,330 ft.), that day, we came upon large sheets of foliated rock--again almost absolutely vertical in its stratification--and great masses of thin slate plates or foliations extending from east to west.
Farther on, from a high point, 1,450 ft. above the sea level, we could gaze once more upon a gorgeous panoramic view of the marvellous scenery we had left behind--the great plateaux of rock as red as fire, and "Church-rock" looming high against the sky. We kept on rising upon various undulations--that day's march was one of continuous ascents and descents. At 1,600 ft. we found more masses of vertically foliated slate, ashes consolidated into easily-friable sheets, and large quantities of beautiful marble.
To the north and north-east we had delightful scenery, the pao d'arco trees in full bloom, of a reddish-purple colour, adding greatly to the vivid colour-scheme of that view, with its cobalt blue of the distant mountains and the Veronese green of the campos in the foreground. Nearly all the ridges we had crossed which extended from north-east to south-west were well rounded--fairly well padded with sediments of earth, sand and ashes.
We descended to 1,300 ft. (above the sea level) through thin forest, in a valley where bamboo was abundant as well as gamelleira trees with their winged roots of great size. The gamelleira was somewhat larger than the garappa or garabu. We found in that valley a beautiful grove of akurí palms, the palms being 10 to 15 ft. high. In going through--cutting our way with falcons--long heavy-bladed knives specially made for cutting through forests--we were much worried by spiders' webs of great size, from which we had trouble in extricating our heads and hands as we went along. There were thousands of those webs at the entrance of the forest, and we dragged them all along on our passage. With their viscous properties they clung to us, and we could only shake them off with difficulty.
Most interesting of all was the cepa d'agua--a powerful liana, four inches in diameter, festooned from the highest branches of trees, and which when cut ejected most delicious cool water. Then there was a tree called by the Brazilians "mulher pobre," or "poor woman's tree"--do you know why?--because from its juice it was possible to make soap, which saved the expense of buying it. There was a roundabout way of reasoning for you.
Eighteen kilometres from our last camp we came to a rapid streamlet of the most limpid water, the Rio Mazagan (elev. 1,300 ft. above the sea level), four metres wide and four inches deep. When we drank it it nearly made us ill, so foul was its taste of sulphur and lead. The treacherous stream flowed into the Cuyabá River.
There were many tamburi trees of great proportions, handsome trees with clean, healthy white bark and minute leaves--at the summit of the tree only. In the forest, although the taller trees were generally far apart, none of them had branches or leaves lower than 30 to 40 ft. from the ground. The angico or angicu (Piptadenia rigida Benth.), which was quite plentiful, was also a good-looking tree of appreciable height and circumference.
Upon emerging from the beautiful forest, quite clear underneath with only a few ferns, we crossed great campos--"campina grande," as my Brazilians called them. Skirting the forest in a northerly direction, we went over a low hill range with delightful clear campos and patches of forest. We crossed another streamlet of foul-tasting water--with a strong flavour apparently of lead.
In the great undulating valley we left behind--as we now altered our course slightly to the north-west--was prominent a double-humped hill which rose higher than any other except in the north-west portion of the landscape. There a high chain of hills could be seen.
When we crossed over the second ridge (elev. 1,400 ft.), strewn with yellow lava pellets, at the end of extensive campos we obtained an imposing view to the north. An elevated flat-topped table-land of great magnitude rose in front of us--a perfectly straight line against the sky, but terminating abruptly with three gigantic steps, with a subsidiary one upon the second step, at its western end. This plateau stood out, a brilliant mass of cobalt blue with great projecting spurs, like a half-section of a cone surmounted by a semi-cylindrical tower along the southern wall of the plateau. Then a strange hill mass of four distinct composite domed heights with minor peaks stood between the plateau and us--and extended, like most of the other ranges, from south-east to north-west.