Across Unknown South America Part 74

I left Iquitos on December 29th, on the launch _Rimac_, belonging to the Swiss firm of Messikommer. I was told that she would be ready to start at 9 a.m. sharp on December 28th, and at that time I got on board. The actual time of our departure was at 6.30 in the afternoon of December 29th. That was, of course, Iquitos punctuality.

The Prefect of the Province of Loreto had shown me much civility, and had telegraphed, by the wireless installation which had been established between Iquitos and Lima, making every possible arrangement for me to travel quickly. Thus, although in a terrible condition of health, I was able to make a record journey between Iquitos and Lima, the capital of Peru.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oroya.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oroya, the Highest Railway Station in the World.]

Once started in the launch _Rimac_, we went through interesting channels, outlets of the main stream being often noticeable on either bank, cutting wide pa.s.sages through the forest and forming one or more shallow lakelets, with innumerable aquatic plants on the surface of the water.

As we went farther it became easy to understand how islands were constantly forming in the river. Quant.i.ties of large and small logs of wood were continually floating down the stream; the banks were gradually being eaten away by the current. Whole trees fell down with their immense branches and polypi-like roots, and formed a barrier arresting the progress of the floating wood. Particles of earth deposited by wind and by water saturated with impurities settled there. Soon gra.s.s would begin to grow on those deposits, which quickly collected more deposits of flying and floating particles. The soft bottom of the river, disturbed by the deviated current, piled up mud against the submerged branches resting on the river-bed. Quickly an island was then formed; more wood acc.u.mulated, more gra.s.s, more mud; the base of the islands would increase rapidly, and in the s.p.a.ce of a few years islands several kilometres in length rose above the water.

We had reached a point where the two great rivers Maranon and Ucayalli--both descending from the Andes--joined and formed the river Solimes, which we had so far navigated. We followed the Ucayalli.

On December 31st we entered a small arm on the left side of the river and we reached no less a place than New York--very dissimilar, I can a.s.sure you, from its namesake of the United States of North America. Far from seeing skysc.r.a.pers, brilliantly illuminated streets, and ferry-boats and steamers galore, there were only half a dozen thatched huts with _bona_-palm walls and floors. In the water floated two or three small canoes; that was all. The place was chiefly remarkable for the number and the fierceness of its mosquitoes--regular clouds of them. Only one thing New York of Ucayalli seemed to have in common with New York of the United States--the people seemed to be able to stand a lot of drink. They purchased from the _Rimac_ a number of boxes of beer.

We proceeded. In a way it was amusing to travel on a trading boat. Every time we approached a hut the steamer blew her whistle; the people got up, at any time of the night, to come on board and see what there was for sale. I slept on deck, and from my bed could see what was going on all the time.

St. Helena came next, with its depot and farmhouse. A few cows could be seen grazing on the poorest kind of gra.s.s. We could often get good fruit at those farmhouses, princ.i.p.ally bananas, pineapples, and _mamo_. Then we stopped at Requena, on the left bank of the river, where a wireless telegraphic station of the Telefunken system was established. It was quite a nice little place, with a few houses, built of unbaked clay and roofed with zinc.

[Ill.u.s.tration: In the Andes at 16,000 Feet above the Sea Level.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: the Galera Tunnel.]

It was entertaining to watch the pride of the local gentlemen when they showed me their houses--mere sheds of the humblest description, but in their eyes far superior to any palace of Europe. An imported chair or an antiquated desk would supply them with conversation to last hours. The wives of those settlers were generally eccentric persons who looked suspiciously at us. One of them at Requena made me feel most uncomfortable by the annoying way in which she looked at my only shoe--as I was unable to put a shoe on the other much swollen foot. She never took her eyes off that shoe, and stooped down many times to examine it closer.

A short distance from Requena, still on the left side of the river, was the mouth of the Tapiche River, a tributary of the Ucayalli. On the right bank of this river was California, and then Avispa--a pretty spot. Two new red-roofed houses with large verandas stood prominent on a green gra.s.sy hill about 120 ft. high, while on the ridge in continuation of the hill itself could be seen a number of small houses, some with zinc roofs, others with _bona_ roofs and walls.

The Ucayalli was a rich stream. It was interesting to notice how many trading launches were to be seen on that river, and the amazing part of it was that they could all exist. Hardly a day went by that we did not meet two or three launches. We were also constantly meeting canoes, generally hollowed out of tree-trunks, and larger boats of a more solid construction.

The population was entirely composed of a mixture of Spanish and Indian types and of pure Indians. Some of the latter had Mongolian characteristics; others were more of the Malay and Papuan types.

After the first day or two the voyage on the launch was tedious. One got tired of the endless conversation and of listening to the bargaining. The perpetual drinking which had to be witnessed was of little interest to a teetotaller. One seldom saw money change hands, all being done by barter, the merchandise we had on board being exchanged chiefly for rubber. Even so far up the river civilization had well set in, and great caution was needed in buying b.a.l.l.s of rubber. It was advisable to split them in two before purchase, as they generally contained all kinds of rubbish instead of pure coagulated latex.

After Brazil, however, the villages and houses of Peru looked clean and neat.

The prices of food were somewhat high, chickens fetching 4_s._ each, whereas in Iquitos they fetched from 8_s._ to 10_s._; eggs sold for 6_d._ each, and were generally bad, the good ones being eaten by the people themselves.

We went up the Tapiche River, a tributary on the right bank, and visited the estate newly bought by an American company. In fact, we were there at midnight of December 31st, and drank in the New Year with Mr. Anzelius, the director, and his Polish and Italian a.s.sistants.

On January 2nd, 1912, we saw a great many Indians along the banks of the river, who ran away when they saw the camera pointed at them.

The people on that river were fond of giving high-sounding names to their houses. We pa.s.sed a place called Philadelphia, where a large farm with lean cattle, ducks and fowls, could be seen, looking as miserable as possible; also plenty of banana palms and sugar-cane.

Some way off, after pa.s.sing the large saw-mills of c.u.maseba and Tamanco, where an interesting collection of animals and Indian weapons had been made by the proprietor, we came in the evening to the farm of Buenos Aires.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Oroya Railway.

(A great spring emerging from the mountain-side.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Beautiful Scenery on the Peruvian Corporation Railway to Cuzco, Peru.]

Early on January 3rd we pa.s.sed San Roque, and then Condorcanqui, a fine plantation of bananas along the river bank, and also a plantation of _yuta_ (jute) and some bread trees. Clouds of aigrette storks could be seen in the evening circling about, thousands and thousands of them. They produced a most curious effect in the distance against the heavy black clouds of the sky.

We entered the Yanna Yakka stream, the water of which was almost absolutely stagnant and as black as ink, full of snakes, fish, and crocodiles. Yanna Yakka in the local Indian language means "black water."

We steamed for two hours up that river as far as Porto Central, the river being quite narrow--only 150 m. wide. We eventually arrived at the prettiest spot I had so far seen on the river, called Porto Princ.i.p.al. On an elongated island not more than 80 m. wide were to be seen four large buildings of _bona_ palm, with s.p.a.cious verandas and corrugated iron roofs. The buildings were connected by high bridges. All those structures were built on piles 12 ft. high. Many _chapaha_ palms of great height were to be seen there.

I heard at that place an extraordinary account of how a dirigible balloon, with n.o.body on board, had some few years before pa.s.sed over the house. The balloon--which my informant, in his ignorant language, called a "huge square globe"--flew, according to him, a flag, the stars and stripes, and had an anchor dangling down. The balloon was travelling in a westerly direction. It flew a little higher than the trees, and caused a great scare among the natives. My informant told me that there was no one in the car at all, but they waved their hands at him (_sic_) when they pa.s.sed over his house! He then told me that the air-s.h.i.+p had pa.s.sed in the daytime and had quickly disappeared, but that it was beautifully lighted with coloured lights at night. So that it would be difficult from that truthful account to place much reliance on what the man said or on what he had seen at all. It is quite possible--after discarding all the indisputable embroidery from the story--that a balloon actually went over that place, and it may probably have been Wellman's abandoned balloon with which he had tried to go across the Atlantic.

On January 3rd and 4th we had no great excitement. We stopped at numberless places. Nearly all the houses in that district were made in three sections, the two end rooms enclosed in _bona_-palm walls, while the central and larger room had two open sides. All the houses were perched up on piles, owing to the frequent inundations. Sewing-machines and gramophones were to be found in nearly every house. All the women wore, rather becomingly over such ugly countenances, the valuable hats which generally go under the name of "Panamas." The river was getting beautiful as we went farther up, immense gra.s.sy stretches being visible where the country was not inundated, and low shrubs emerging from the water in the many channels that were formed everywhere.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. B. Leguia, the President of the Peruvian Republic.]

On January 5th we arrived at Terra Blanca, where a lakelet had been formed by an outlet of the river on the left bank. A place called Pernambuco was situated at the entrance of this lake. The water of the lake was beautifully clear and of a wonderful greenish colour.

Beautiful white and yellow sand deposits were to be found around it. Five hundred people lived at Pernambuco. The _Rimac_ did a brisk trade, over a hundred pounds sterling worth of goods being sold in an hour at that place.

On January 6th I saw the first hills of importance we had seen since leaving the lower Amazon. Those were the hills of Petronilla, where a ma.s.s of volcanic rocks and some interesting hot springs were to be found.

A ridge ran from south-east to north-west in symmetrical undulations up to 1,000 ft. from Petronilla to Cancha Huayo. It rose quite abruptly from the flat alluvial land. Where a land-slide had occurred it showed an upper stratum of grey alluvial deposit 10 ft. thick, with soft yellow volcanic rock underneath, in a stratum of 30 ft. thick. It seemed as if that hill had been lifted up by volcanic pressure from underneath, as a lot of white and yellow sand had been brought to the surface, which evidently formed a substratum in the Ucayalli region.

We found strong whirlpools where the channel of the river formed an elbow at the foot of the mountain. The steam launch made poor progress against the strong current.

On January 7th we arrived at the large settlement of Condamano, a sub-Prefecture in the big province of Loreto. There were two parallel streets, clean and well kept, with others intersecting at right angles.

On the main street along the water front were many large commercial houses, handsome buildings of _cana_ walls and zinc roofs. The place had been built on a flat high land about 30 ft. above the river, and had some 1,500 to 2,000 inhabitants. One of the peculiarities of Condamano was that during the rubber-collecting season the population consisted almost entirely of women, as the men were in the forest collecting the latex.

We arrived there on a feast day--they have more feast days than working days in the week in that country--and the streets were alive with monks and soldiers, the only men who do not go collecting rubber. Women and girls, in flesh-coloured stockings and lace mantillas, flocked out of the church, each carrying a small carpet which they used to prevent spoiling their finery when kneeling down.

On leaving Condamano we came to the north-westerly end of the range we had seen the day before. It ended abruptly in almost vertical walls of yellow sandstone of various shades. The range was thickly wooded on its summit. The opposite bank of the river was absolutely flat.

That evening we came in for a heavy storm, which compelled us to halt from 6 o'clock until 2.10 a.m. Black clouds had acc.u.mulated overhead to the west. A boisterous gust of wind suddenly caught us, which swept off our chicken-coop, buckets, and other loose things which were on the roof of the launch. We were tossed about in a most alarming way, and were just able to tie up under shelter and make fast to some trees. The wind increased in fury, and the launch tore up her moorings, bringing down a big tree on the top of us with a tremendous crash.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The American Observatory, Arequipa, and Mount Misti, Peru.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: On the Peruvian Corporation Railway on the way to Cuzco.]

There was a stampede on board, as everybody thought we had been struck by lightning. Some of the people were just able to jump on sh.o.r.e, while other Peruvians, men and women, scared to death by the diabolic clas.h.i.+ng of thunder and the vivid lightning, knelt on the decks and prayed fervently that we might escape unhurt.

I had a narrow escape, a lighted petroleum lamp which swung above getting off its hook and falling on my head, upsetting all the petroleum over me.

Fortunately it went out as it fell on me. In the middle of the night we had a great deal of trouble to make the boat fast once more, the waves in the river being of great height. The rattle of all the merchandise and broken crockery on board, the moans of the scared Peruvians, with the howling of the wind, made a regular pandemonium.

When we proceeded up the river next morning we came upon more interesting islands in course of formation. We saw quant.i.ties of _cana baraba_, wild cane, with its fan-disposed, elongated leaves. The natives used the reeds for walling their houses. Being absolutely straight, they are well adapted for that purpose.

On January 9th we pa.s.sed several villages. Along the banks we saw many Indians, all dressed up in bright costumes, princ.i.p.ally red shawls. We entered a tiny channel on the right bank and went as far as a place called San Jeronimo, a fairly large settlement. This small channel was, as late as 1895, the main stream, which has since been diverted by the formation of a low island. At sunset we perceived to the west what appeared at first a ma.s.s of low clouds revolving in a circle at a great speed. On closer inspection we found it to be millions of _garcas_ or aigrette storks flying in a circle.

I arrived in the evening of January 10th at Masisea, where another wireless telegraph station had been established by the Peruvian Government. At this place I left the launch _Rimac_, and found the Government launch _Esploradora_, which had been detained there by the Prefect of Loreto for two days, awaiting my arrival. Having trans.h.i.+pped at once, I was able to proceed on January 11th on the latter. She was to take me as far as possible toward the foot of the Andes.

As we proceeded up the river we saw extensive farms surrounded by clearings of good land, with lots of cattle and horses, especially on the left bank of the river. We purchased an ox, so as to have fresh meat on board.

The small launch was, unfortunately, packed with a great many Peruvian travellers. There were no cabins, and one had to sleep on the roof of the launch. Everybody was most civil, and with the new camp-bed I had purchased in Manaos I was able to make myself as comfortable as was possible under the circ.u.mstances.

Beautiful specimens of _cataua_ trees of great height were constantly to be seen in the forest along the banks. The resin from these trees is extremely poisonous, and is much used by the local Indians for killing fish. We halted for five hours that day in order to take on board sufficient wood for the engines to last us the entire journey. At 6.30 that afternoon we left the Ucayalli river and entered the tributary Pachitea, on the left side, the Ucayalli describing a big curve where the Pachitea enters it. Just before reaching the mouth of the Pachitea, the Ucayalli had first a big arm deviating from the main stream on the left bank, then soon after another great arm also on the left side. The navigation of those rivers was now getting difficult, and we had to halt at night.