September 20th.—On Monday evening we arrived at Tabatinga, remaining there till Wednesday morning to discharge the cargo,—a lengthy process, with the Brazilian method of working. Tabatinga is the frontier town between Brazil and Peru, and is dignified by the name of a military station, though when one looks at the two or three small mounted guns on the bank, the mud house behind them constituting barracks, with half a dozen soldiers lounging in front of it, one cannot but think that the fortification is not a very formidable one.[[66]] The town itself standing on a mud bluff, deeply ravined and cracked in many directions, consists of some dozen ruinous houses built around an open square. Of the inhabitants I saw but little, for it was toward evening when I went on shore, and they were already driven under shelter by the mosquitoes. One or two looked out from their doors and gave me a friendly warning not to proceed unless I was prepared to be devoured, and indeed the buzzing swarm about me soon drove me back to the steamer. The mosquitoes by night and the Piums by day are said to render life almost intolerable here. Under these circumstances we could form little idea of the character of the vegetation in our short stay. But we made the acquaintance of one curious palm, the Tucum, a species of Astrocaryum, the fibre of which makes an excellent material for weaving hammocks, fishing-nets, and the like. It is gradually becoming an important article of commerce. The approach to Tabatinga, with two or three islands in the neighborhood, numerous igarapés opening out of the river, and the Hyavary emptying into it, is, however, one of the prettiest parts of the Solimoens. We found here four members of a Spanish scientific commission, who have been travelling several years in South and Central America, and whose track we have crossed several times without meeting them. They welcomed the arrival of the steamer with delight, having awaited their release at Tabatinga for two or three weeks. The party consisted of Drs. Almagro, Spada, Martinez, and Isern. They had just accomplished an adventurous journey, having descended the Napo on a raft, which their large collection of live animals had turned into a sort of Noah’s ark. After various risks and exposures they had arrived at Tabatinga, having lost almost all their clothing, except what they wore, by shipwreck. Fortunately, their papers and collections were saved.[[67]] We are now on our way down the river again, having left Mr. Bourget at Tabatinga to pass a month in making collections in that region, and dropped Mr. James and Mr. Talisman last evening at San Paolo, where they are to get a canoe and Indians for their further journey to the Iça. This morning, while stopping to wood at Fonte Bôa, Mr. Agassiz went on shore and collected a very interesting series of fossil plants in the lower mud deposit; he was also very successful in making a small collection of fishes, containing several new species, during the few hours we passed at this place.
September 25th.—Teffé. On Friday, the day after my last date, we were within two or three hours of Teffé; we had just finished packing our various effects, and were closing our letters to be mailed from Manaos, when the steamer came to a sudden pause with that dead, sullen, instantaneous stop which means mischief. The order to reverse the engines was given instantly, but we had driven with all our force into the bed of the river, and there we remained, motionless. This is sometimes rather a serious accident at the season when the waters are falling, steamers having been occasionally stranded for a number of weeks. It is not easily guarded against, the river bottom changing so constantly and so suddenly that even the most experienced pilots cannot always avoid disaster. They may pass with perfect safety in their upward voyage over a place where, on their return, they find a formidable bank of mud. During three hours the crew worked ineffectually, trying to back the steamer off, or sinking the anchor at a distance to drag her back upon it. At five o’clock in the afternoon the sky began to look black and lowering, and presently a violent squall, with thunder and rain, broke upon us. The wind did, in an instant, what man and steam together had failed to do in hours. As the squall struck the steamer on her side, she vibrated, veered and floated free. There was a general stir of delight at this sudden and unexpected liberation, for the delay was serious to all. One or two of the passengers were merchants, to whom it was important to meet the steamer of the 25th at Manaos, which connects with other steamers all along the coast; and the members of the Spanish scientific commission, if they could not at once transfer their effects to the other steamer, would not only miss the next European steamer, but must be at the expense and care of storing their various luggage and maintaining their live stock at Manaos for a fortnight. And lastly, to Mr. Agassiz himself it was a serious disappointment to lose two or three days out of the precious month for investigations at Teffé. Therefore, every face beamed when the kindly shock of the wind set us afloat again; but the work, so vainly spent to release us, was but too efficient in keeping us prisoners. The anchor, which had been sunk in the mud at some distance, was so deeply buried that it was difficult to raise it, and in the effort to do so we grounded again. Indeed, environed as we were by mud and sand, it was no easy matter to find a channel out of them. We now remained motionless all night, though the Captain was unremitting in his efforts and kept the men at work till morning, when, at about seven o’clock, the boat worked herself free at last, and we thought our troubles fairly over. But the old proverb “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip” never was truer; on starting once more we found that, in the strain and shock to which the ship had been submitted, the rudder was broken. In view of this new disaster, the passengers for Pará gave up all hope of meeting the steamer at Manaos, and the rest resigned themselves to waiting with such philosophy as they could muster. The whole of that day and the following night were spent in rigging up a new rudder, and it was not until eight o’clock on Sunday morning that we were once more on our way, arriving at Teffé at eleven o’clock.
CHAPTER VII.
LIFE IN TEFFÉ.
Aspect of Teffé.—Situation.—Description of Houses.—Fishing Excursion.—Astonishing Variety of Fishes.—Acara.—Scarcity of Laborers.—Our indoors Man.—Bruno.—Alexandrina.—Pleasant Walks.—Mandioca-shed in the Forest.—Indian Encampment on the Beach.—Excursion to Fishing Lodge on the Solimoens.—Amazonian Beaches.—Breeding-Places of Turtles, Fishes, etc.—Adroitness of Indians in finding them.—Description of a “Sitio.”—Indian Clay-Eaters.—Cuieira-Tree.—Fish Hunt.—Forest Lake.—Water Birds.—Success in collecting.—Evening Scene in Sitio.—Alexandrina as “aide scientifique.”—Fish Anecdote.—Relations between Fishes as shown by their Embryology.—Note Upon the Marine Character of the Amazonian Faunæ.—Acara.—News from the Parties in the Interior.—Return of Party from the Iça.—Preparations for Departure.—Note on General Result of Scientific Work in Teffé.—Waiting for the Steamer.—Sketch of Alexandrina.—Mocuim.—Thunder-Storm.—Repiquete.—Geological Observations.
September 27th.—Of all the little settlements we have seen on the Amazons, Teffé looks the most smiling and pleasant. Just now the town, or, as it should rather be called, the village, stands, as I have said, above a broad sand-beach; in the rainy season, however, we are told that the river covers this beach completely, and even encroaches on the fields beyond, coming almost to the threshold of some of the dwellings. The houses are generally built of mud, plastered over and roofed with tiles, or thatched with palm. Almost all have a little ground about them, enclosed in a picket fence, and planted with orange-trees and different kinds of palms,—Cocoa-nut, Assais, and Pupunhas or peach-palms. The latter bears, in handsome clusters, a fruit not unlike the peach in size and coloring; it has a mealy character when cooked, and is very palatable, eaten with sugar. The green hill behind the town, on which cows and sheep are grazing,[[68]] slopes up to the forest, and makes a pretty background to the picture. In approaching the village, many little inlets of the lake and river give promise of pleasant canoe excursions. Through our friend Major Coutinho we had already bespoken lodgings, and to-day finds us as comfortably established as it is possible for such wayfarers to be. Our house stands on an open green field, running down to the water, and is enclosed only on two sides by buildings. In front, it commands a pretty view of the beach and of the opposite shore across the water. Behind, it has a little open ground planted with two or three orange-trees, surrounding a turtle-tank, which will be very convenient for keeping live specimens. A well-stocked turtle-tank is to be found in almost every yard, as the people depend largely upon turtles for their food. The interior of the house is very commodious. On the right of the flagged entry is a large room already transformed into a laboratory. Here are numerous kegs, cans, and barrels for specimens, a swinging-shelf to keep birds and insects out of the way of the ants, a table for drawing, and an immense empty packing-case, one side of which serves as a table for cleaning and preparing birds, while the open space beneath makes a convenient cupboard for keeping the instruments and materials of one sort and another, used in the process. After a little practice in travelling one learns to improvise the conveniences for work almost without the accessories which seem indispensable at home. Opposite to the laboratory on the other side of the entry is a room of the same size, where the gentlemen have slung their hammocks; back of this is my room, from the window of which, looking into the court behind, I get a glimpse of some lovely Assai palms and one or two orange-trees in full flower; adjoining that is the dining-room, with a large closet leading out of it, used as a storage-place for alcohol, and serving at this moment as a prison-house for two live alligators who are awaiting execution there. The news of our arrival has already gone abroad, and the fishermen and boys of the village are bringing in specimens of all sorts,—alligators, turtles, fish, insects, birds. Enough is already gathered to show what a rich harvest may be expected in this neighborhood.
Veranda and Dining-room at Teffé.
September 28th.—Yesterday afternoon, between sunset and moonlight, our neighbor Dr. Romualdo invited us to go with him and his friend Senhor Joaō da Cunha on a fishing excursion into one of the pretty bayous that open out to the lake. As our canoe entered it, lazy alligators were lying about in the still glassy water, with their heads just resting above the surface; a tall, gray heron stood on the shore, as if watching his reflection, almost as distinct as himself, and a variety of water-birds sailed over our heads as we intruded upon their haunts. When we had reached a certain point, the Indians sprang up to their necks in the water, (which was, by the way, unpleasantly warm,) and stretched the net. After a few minutes, they dragged it into shore with a load of fish, which seemed almost as wonderful as Peter’s miraculous draught. As the net was landed the fish broke from it in hundreds, springing through the meshes and over the edges, and literally covering the beach. The Indians are very skilful in drawing the net, going before it and lashing the water with long rods to frighten the fish and drive them in. Senhor da Cunha, who is a very ardent lover of the sport, worked as hard as any of the boatmen, plunging into the water to lend a hand at the net or drive in the fish, and, when the draught was landed on the beach, rushing about in the mud to catch the little fishes which jumped in myriads through the meshes, with an enthusiasm equal to that of Mr. Agassiz himself. The operation was repeated several times, always with the same success, and we returned by moonlight with a boat-load of fish, which Mr. Agassiz is examining this morning, while Mr. Burkhardt makes colored drawings of the rarer specimens. Here, as elsewhere in the Amazonian waters, the variety of species is bewildering. The collections already number more than four hundred, including those from Pará, and, while every day brings in new species, new genera are by no means infrequent. The following letter to Professor Milne Edwards, of the Jardin des Plantes, gives some account of the work in this department.
Teffé, le 22 Septembre, 1865.
Mon cher Ami et très honoré Confrère:—Me voici depuis deux mois dans le bassin de l’Amazone et c’est ici que j’ai eu la douleur de recevoir la nouvelle de la mort de mon vieil ami Valenciennes. J’en suis d’autant plus affecté que personne plus que lui n’aurait apprécié les résultats de mon voyage, dont je me réjouissais déjà de lui faire part prochainement. Vous concevrez naturellement que c’est à la classe des poissons que je consacre la meilleure partie de mon temps et ma récolte excède toutes mes prévisions. Vous en jugerez par quelques données. En atteignant Manaos, à la jonction du Rio Negro et de l’Amazonas, j’avais déjà recueilli plus de trois cents espèces de poissons, dont la moitié au moins ont été peintes sur le vivant c. à. d. d’après le poisson nageant dans un grand vase en verre devant mon dessinateur. Je suis souvent peiné de voir avec quelle légèreté on a publié des planches coloriées de ces animaux. Ce n’est pas seulement tripler le nombre des espèces connues, je compte les genres nouveaux par douzaines et j’ai cinq ou six familles nouvelles pour l’Amazone et une voisine des Gobioides entièrement nouvelle pour l’Ichthyologie. C’est surtout parmi les petites espèces que je trouve le plus de nouveautés. J’ai des Characins de cinq à six centimètres et au-dessous, ornés des teintes les plus élégantes, des Cyprinodontes, se rapprochant un peu de ceux de Cuba et des Etats-Unis, des Scomberésoces voisins du Bélone de la Méditerranée, un nombre considérable de Carapoides, des Raies de genres differents de ceux de l’océan, et qui par conséquent ne sont pas des espèces qui remontent le fleuve. Une foule de Goniodontes et de Chromides de genres et d’espèces inédits. Mais ce que j’apprécie surtout c’est la facilité que j’ai d’étudier les changements que tous ces poissons subissent avec l’âge et les différences de sexe qui existent entr’eux et qui sont souvent très considérables. C’est ainsi que j’ai observé une espèce de Geophagus dont le mâle porte sur le front une bosse très-saillante qui manque entièrement à la femelle et aux jeunes. Ce même poisson a un mode de reproduction des plus extraordinaires. Les œufs passent, je ne sais trop comment, dans la bouche dont ils tapissent le fond, entre les appendices intérieurs des arcs branchiaux et surtout dans une poche formée par les pharyngiens supérieurs qu’ils remplissent complètement. Là ils éclosent et les petits, libérés de leur coque, se développent jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient en état de fournir à leur existence. Je ne sais pas encore combien de temps cela va durer; mais j’ai déjà rencontré des exemplaires dont les jeunes n’avaient plus de sac vitellaire, qui hébergeaient encore leur progéniture. Comme je passerai environ un mois à Teffé, j’espère pouvoir compléter cette observation. L’examen de la structure d’un grand nombre de Chromides m’a fait entrevoir des affinités entre ces poissons et diverses autres familles dont on ne s’est jamais avisé de les rapprocher. Et d’abord je me suis convaincu que les Chromides, répartis autrefois parmi les Labroides et les Sciènoides, constituent bien réellement un groupe naturel, reconnu à peu près en même temps et d’une manière indépendante par Heckel et J. Müller. Mais il y a plus; les genres Enoplosus, Pomotis, Centrarchus et quelques autres genres voisins, rangés parmi les Percoides par tous les Ichthyologistes, me paraissent, d’ici et sans moyen de comparaison directe, tellement voisins des Chromides que je ne vois pas comment on pourra les en séparer, surtout maintenant que je sais que les pharyngiens inférieurs ne sont pas toujours soudés chez les Chromides. Et puis l’embryologie et les métamorphoses des Chromides que je viens d’étudier m’ont convaincu que les “Poissons à branchies labyrinthiques” séparés de tous les autres poissons par Cuvier comme une famille entièrement isolée, à raison de la structure étrange de ses organes respiratoires, se rattachent de très-près aux Chromides. Ce groupe devient ainsi par ses affinités variées, l’un des plus intéressants de la classe des poissons, et le bassin de l’Amazone paraît être la vraie patrie de cette famille. Je ne veux pas vous fatiguer de mes recherches ichthyologiques; permettez moi seulement d’ajouter que les poissons ne sont point uniformément répandus dans ce grand bassin. Déjà j’ai acquis la certitude qu’il faut y distinguer plusieurs faunes ichthyologiques, très-nettement caractérisées; c’est ainsi que les espèces qui habitent la rivière du Pará, des bords de la mer jusque vers l’embouchure du Tocantins, diffèrent de celles que l’on rencontre dans le réseau d’anastomoses qui unissent la rivière de Pará à l’Amazone propre. Les espèces de l’Amazone, au-dessous du Xingu, diffèrent de celles que j’ai rencontrées plus haut; celles du cours inférieur du Xingu, diffèrent de celles du cours inférieur du Tapajos. Celles des nombreux igarapés et lacs de Manaos diffèrent également de celles du cours principal du grand fleuve et de ses principaux affluents. Il reste maintenant à étudier les changements qui peuvent survenir dans cette distribution, dans le cours de l’année, suivant la hauteur des eaux et peut-être aussi suivant l’époque à laquelle les différentes espèces pondent leurs œufs. Jusqu’à présent je n’ai rencontré qu’un petit nombre d’espèces qui aient une aire de distribution très étendue. C’est ainsi que le Sudis gigas se trouve à-peu-près partout. C’est le poisson le plus important du fleuve; celui qui comme aliment remplace le bétail pour les populations riveraines. Un autre problème à résoudre c’est de savoir jusqu’à quel point les grands affluents de l’Amazone répètent ce phénomène de la distribution locale des poissons. Je vais chercher à le résoudre en remontant le Rio Negro et le Rio Madeira et comme je reviendrai à Manaos, je pourrai comparer mes premières observations dans cette localité, avec celles d’une autre saison de l’année. Adieu, mon cher ami. Veuillez faire mes amitiés à M. Elie de Beaumont et me rappeler aux bons souvenirs de ceux de mes collègues de l’Académie qui veulent bien s’intéresser à mes travaux actuels. Faites aussi, je vous prie, mes amitiés à M. votre fils.