Rubber is the principal occasion for its being and growth, and its commerce is rapidly increasing. In all directions lie the rubber forests, or more accurately the forests which contain rubber trees. For these do not grow conveniently in groves, except here and there occasionally a few trees, but scattered singly in the damp forest, perhaps 100 or 150 trees in an estrada or section of about 100 acres, an area which a single man can take care of. The estrada is really the path leading from one tree to another. The man, called the seringuero, sets out early in the morning with hatchet and tin cups or basins; he makes on each tree several incisions, 4 to 6 inches apart around the tree. By the time the round of 3 or 4 miles is finished it is time for lunch; then the collection may begin, the tins containing the fluid called latex are emptied into a pail, eight or ten quarts in all, producing about as many pounds of rubber. This is finished by noon, after which the latex must be smoked over a wood fire; it is coagulated on a sort of ladle twirled over the smoke. Fresh coats are added when one is dry until a bolacha or biscuit is formed of from 5 to 100 lbs. The man who does this work may be a native Indian or a resident of Ceará or elsewhere. He works for a contractor who may employ several hundred. Many atrocities have been committed by these contractors, who have compelled the defenseless Indians to work for them without pay and have inflicted cruelties, torture, and murder upon them and their families, especially in the Putomayo district, where an English Company has been engaged. Through recent investigations the cruelties have been terminated for the moment; but such is the greed and inhumanity of some professedly civilized men that close watch must be kept by humane officials to prevent further abuses and the extermination of harmless savages.
The rubber is collected in this way from trees called jebe or hevea, but there are many varieties of trees which produce rubber of varying excellence. A kind of tree called the caucho which grows on higher land is cut down by the cauchero and the entire latex is extracted, averaging about 50 lbs. to a tree; this is a quality of less value. Brazil has a heavy export tax on rubber, Bolivia about half as much, while Peru exacts less than a quarter.
The terrors, perils, and the fascination (to some few) of the immense and awful forest are in many books described. Few are the explorers who, aided by many hands wielding machetes, have penetrated far into the jungle from the flowing river roads. For their adventures I have no space. Yet in these days of doughty deeds by valiant women, a far more wonderful exploit by one who doubtless had no wish to usurp man’s functions as an explorer may here be chronicled. Long, long ago, in 1769, when the forests were untrodden even by the casual rubber gatherer, Madame Godin, to join her husband in Guiana, left Riobamba in Ecuador with two brothers, a nephew, a physician, three women domestics, a negro servant, and thirty Indians. Having passed over the great mountain range they embarked on a stream, one of the many affluents of the Amazon, to meet with repeated disasters. Their boat was upset, their supplies and baggage were lost. The Indians deserted. A raft being made, this also foundered. Proceeding on foot, lost in the forest they wandered until, exhausted with starvation and effort, they lay down to die. This all the rest did, but after two days by her dead companions, Madame Godin arose. Shoeless, her clothing nearly gone, with no food save roots and herbs she struggled on amid the terrors of the jungle till after nine days she met two so-called savages. These treated her kindly, ministering to her needs till she was able to proceed, then conducted her to a white settlement farther down. As a white-haired woman she ultimately reached Pará and joined her husband, a notable illustration of the weaker sex.
The Madeira-Mamoré Railway. Only the unusually enterprising tourist, the explorer, or the business man will be likely to investigate this new railway, but all may like to know a little about it. The Madeira, the largest tributary of the Amazon, comes in from the south a little below Manaos, and is the outlet and means of access to a large portion of the state of Matto Grosso in Brazil and of the country of Bolivia as well. Continuous river navigation has, however, been impossible on account of a series of 19 falls and rapids on the Madeira and Mamoré rivers within a distance of 200 miles, thus preventing earlier development of a section rich not only in rubber, but in minerals, and in agricultural and stock-raising possibilities. About 570 miles up the Madeira River is the new city of Porto Velho, where the railway begins, now completed for a distance of 202 miles to Guajará Mirim on the Mamoré, about due south. Thus has been accomplished a work which in 1869 was planned by an American, Col. George Earl Church, under a concession from Brazil and Bolivia. In 1871 he turned the first sod of the railway, but financial and other difficulties soon caused the suspension of operations. In 1878 another effort was made, also to meet disaster. Today the better knowledge of the causes of tropical diseases and of methods of sanitation has caused the task to be triumphantly concluded. Construction work, begun in August, 1907, was carried on with such effect that in spite of many difficulties the final section of the road was opened for traffic July 15, 1912. As yet there is no fast express, two days being required for the journey. Porto Velho, the northern terminus of the road, on the right bank of the Madeira, is a town of 1500 people, with an ice plant making six tons a day, piped water supply of two kinds, one for internal use, and with wireless telegraphic communication with Manaos, hence close relations with the rest of the world. To this port ocean steamers may come during part of the year, November to June, and large river steamers at any time. The residence part of the city is on a hill a little back. Regular trains three times a week leave at 8 a.m. The greater part of the journey is through the jungle in a cut 100 feet wide, though in places the river is visible, at Santo Antonio a picturesque view including the first cascades. Near Caldeiro Station is one of the worst places on the river, called the Devil’s Caldron, invisible, however, from the track. South of Mutum are 25 miles of straight track passing through an immense rubber concession to the company. At Abuna, 218 kms., where the train is due at 5.30 p.m., halt is made for the night close to the river. Leaving Abuna at 7.30 the next morning the arrival at the terminus should be at 3.15 p.m. Villa Murtinho, 93 kms. south of Abuna, is just opposite the town of Villa Bella in Bolivia, and the junction of the Beni and Mamoré, the Bolivian city being between the two rivers; the Mamoré from here south forms the boundary between the two countries. At the terminal, Guajará Mirim, there is another town of the same name on the opposite shore in Bolivia, from which a railroad is now being constructed to Riberalta, an important town of Bolivia, near the edge of the Amazonian forest and the Bolivian cattle country. For the development of northern Bolivia which is drained by the Beni River, this railway will be a great motive power, as also for Matto Grosso of Brazil. An enormous region of rubber and of many other possibilities is hereby rendered accessible, as this great accomplishment is to be supplemented in Bolivia by other important connections. The formal inauguration of the road already long in use was postponed on account of the desire of the President of Brazil to assist in person at the ceremonies.
It is an item of interest that the head waters of the Guaporé River, a branch of the Madeira, are so close to those of the stream Aguapehy, tributary to the Jauru and Paraguay rivers, that they could be connected by a canal less than 1000 feet long. Years ago the trip across from the Amazon waters to the Paraguay-Paraná basin was made in a canoe by hardy Portuguese explorers following this route, which in the years to come may develop into a frequented waterway.
Any one wishing to make the journey from Manaos up the Madeira to the railway is obliged to pay a tax of 9 milreis, in addition to a deposit of 50$ for hospital or funeral expenses in case he should contract yellow fever or other serious ail, but the 50$ are refunded on his safe return.
On the Way Home. Few will sail away from the matchless harbor and city of Rio without keen regret and the determination to revisit them at the earliest possible moment, though with these once lost to view he may look eagerly forward to the conclusion of the homeward voyage. This at present by the Lamport and Holt steamers occupies 16 or 18 days, which are happily spent on their large and luxurious vessels, the several calls en route relieving any possible monotony. The weather is generally delightful, two weeks of summer, not too hot, followed by one never knows what, for the two or three days before reaching New York.
A few may prefer to take ship to a European port and spend some time on the other side before returning home, but there is no longer a necessity for going that way in order to have a comfortable voyage. Although the steamers of the English Line are a trifle faster, even with the best connection at Southampton or Liverpool the time to New York is longer.
Bahia. About 60 hours from Rio on the third morning of the return voyage, the ship is likely to be at anchor in the harbor of Bahia, once the capital of Brazil, and now with a population of 285,000 its third city. It is 720 miles from its ancient rival. Founded in 1549 by Thome de Souza this is the oldest of all the Brazilian cities and has ever been a place not only of commercial importance but of artistic and literary culture and of sumptuous religious sanctuaries. Until 1762 it was the seat of colonial power. The location of the city on the east side of a deep and well protected gulf is admirable; its beauty would excite enthusiasm if it were seen before Rio instead of afterwards. The name of this city is really São Salvador, while the bay is Bahia de Todos os Santos, Bay of All Saints, the name Bahia of the State having, as in the case of Pernambuco and Pará, by foreigners been transferred to that of its capital city. Its appearance is indeed striking, with its upper and lower town, the former crowning a high and almost perpendicular bluff, the latter, looking almost as if it had been pushed over the edge, occupying a narrow strip along the water front, both sections charmingly variegated by dense tropical foliage. Conspicuous from a distance are the great elevators connecting the upper and lower town and many large buildings, towers, and churches.
In a small boat one may be rowed a mile from the anchorage to the landing, then passing to Ribeira street, may follow this to an elevator at the right or by a steep and narrow street on the face of the bluff may climb to the top. By the elevator at the right 15 or 20 may be lifted in a wooden box to the edge of a pretty square above, the Praça da Constitucão. At the right is the site of the ancient Municipal Building, spoiled by the Dutch in 1636, later repaired, and recently rebuilt, with a new four-faced clock tower added; but in January, 1912, it was riddled by shots from Brazilian warships on account of an insurrection. A large attractive building at the rear of this square, which formerly was the residence of the Portuguese Governors and the Presidents of the Province, has been rebuilt from the foundations and is now used for the Governor’s offices, his residence being in Corredor da Victoria. The American Consulate is well located on a corner of this square. Narrow lanes of three centuries gone, lead from here in several directions; but some of them are traversed by electric cars which frequently leave the Plaza for diverse sections. A pleasant suburban ride is to the fishing village and suburb of Rio Vermelho, where a nice luncheon may be obtained; one passes on the way out, through some of the fine residence streets, by the side of beautiful parks, and by the lighthouse on Cape Barra at the entrance to the bay, on the site of an old fort. There is a fine view from the lighthouse top, well worth the climb, and one may walk on to Rio Vermelho a little farther.