Across Unknown South America

by Arnold Henry Savage Landor

I had given orders to them to keep watch all night, as a precaution against an attack from the Indians, but my orders were, as usual, disobeyed. Personally, I took the first watch every night, sitting up till 2 a.m., which time I occupied in writing up my notes, working out computations of astronomical observations, classifying the botanical and geological specimens collected during the day, and replenishing my cameras with new plates.

My men had eaten up all the supply of beans (feijao) I had purchased at Diamantino, and therefore even the cook could not be kept awake during the night. The first rubber collector I had picked up when coming down the Arinos was now our cook, and diabolical indeed was his cuisine. Several times already his life had been in danger from the angry attacks of his companions, the quantities of pepper he sprinkled on everything he cooked causing us all to cough sometimes for half-hours at a time. He was very fond of pepper himself, and could not understand why none of us liked it.

During the night we still had a mackerel sky, covering one-third of the sky vault, and a clear triangle of mist, the apex of which was to the west, extending towards the east, close upon the horizon line. When we left in the morning at 7.30, we had chapada and campos on the right bank and forest on the other side. We had gone some 8½ kil. from our camp when we came to a hill range, 75 ft. high, on the right bank, encircling the river with its thickly wooded slopes. There was a tributary 25 m. wide, a most beautiful stream, on the right bank. It came from 70° b.m. Its water was deliciously clear. Where it entered the Arinos it had deposited a bank of crystals and marble pebbles—yellow, red, and white—which in the dazzling sun shone with great brilliancy at the bottom of the river. Numberless rubber trees were to be seen at that spot on the banks of the Arinos, and also on those of this new important tributary.

Two kilometres farther, where the Arinos was 280 m. wide, it looked just like a big lake of stagnant water. The country was quite open on the left side, first chapada, then campos.

By 9.30 a.m. we had a most wonderful display of clouds and radiations of what looked like so many mares' tales from the W.S.W. The river at that point flowed for 1 kil. in a direction due south. We came to a basin 300 m. across with a spit of white sand on the north-west side. In this basin was an island—Nattalì Island—200 m. long, 20 m. wide, 10 ft. above water, with a fine beach of sand and gravel on the south side. Gravel mounds were innumerable in the centre of this stream.

After we had gone some 8 kil. farther down my men shot an ariranha. They had a belief that these ariranhas would easily kill a man in the water. As we have already seen, they certainly had a great craving for blood and were always brave in attacking. My men called them "water leopards." In fact, the head of the ariranha was not unlike the head of a cat or a leopard. Although shot through the body two or three times, the ariranha actually came thrice to the attack of the canoe—so that my men were able to seize it by the tail and pull it inside the canoe while it was in a dying condition.

Sixteen kilometres farther down we came to another beautiful tributary with delightfully clear water, 6 m. wide where it met the Arinos. One hundred metres lower down another little tributary, only 4 m. wide, also on the right bank, joined our stream. The first tributary seemed to come from the north-east. At the mouth of this tributary was a spot which would have made a lovely halting place, but as it was too early in the day we reluctantly went on in a north-westerly direction, first for 4 kil., then north-east for 5 kil., passing through a large basin 300 m. wide, containing two islets, then passing charming sand-beaches, and farther on another tributary, 8 m. wide, on the left of us, also with deliciously clear water. When we proceeded on our journey after lunch we found big rocks more frequent in the stream, and went over a field of great boulders just under the surface of the water that stretched half-way across the shallow river.

Eight kilometres from our halting-place we came to an extensive stony place with a strong rapid. One kilometre beyond, a small tributary flowed into the Arinos from the left side. On the left side we had a red and brilliant yellow bank 70 ft. high, part of a small range of hills which turned the river from N.N.W. to N.N.E. Another small tributary 2 m. wide was seen on the left side. Then, 4 kil. farther on, another tributary, also 2 m. wide, and also on the left side, came from the south-west. Three thousand six hundred metres beyond this, we entered a basin 320 m. wide with an island 150 m. long, including its gravel spit. Three more islands were seen a little way beyond—Meraud, Tanis, and Loel Islands, Meraud being the largest. Another island was on the left of the river, leaving a passage 50 m. wide on its west side. The group of islands was of alluvial formation with deposits of gravel below.

The river in that region was too beautiful for words. The foliage of the thick heavy forest on both sides was densely green, the banks most tidy, and running in an almost straight line for 10,000 m. During all that distance the stream was 300 m. wide, and its speckless water reflected with marvellous definition each leaf and branch against the background of deep green. Neat gravel banks occurred frequently in the shallow water.

Some 300 m. down this long straight stretch of river a tributary 8 m. wide, coming from 210° b.m., threw itself into the Arinos. Strong eddies were formed, as many rocks were strewn in the centre of the stream.