The Indians look on with some astonishment at our work; and as Richards was drawing in his sounding-line, with a two-pound lead upon it, "Padre" very knowingly informed him it was useless to attempt to catch fish in that way in the Chaparé. We were sorry to find the "Padre" was the ill-natured one, and frequently quarrelled with the men during the day. He spoke Spanish, and always addressed us in that language. The schoolmaster said, when an Indian became the leading man in religious pretension, he invariably was quarrelsome and overbearing in his manners towards others, who seem to treat him with contempt, except when called upon for ceremonial formalities.
We had seen cattle lassoed on the pampas of Buenos Ayres, and boys in Mexico practise the art upon chickens, but to-day "Nig," our bowman, gave us a treat.
A good sized alligator lay by the mud beach, with his head just on the surface of the water. The canoe was run into the canebrake some fifty yards below. One man cut a long cane, while "Nig," modestly smiling, with eyes shut and mouth open, drew a hide rope from under part of the baggage. Making a noose in one end, he hung it on the end of the pole, and wound the rope round to the other end, so that he could grasp both pole and rope in one hand. He pulled off his camisa, lowered himself into the river, where he could walk on the bottom with his chin just out of water. The noose was carried by the pole near the surface, and "Nig" slowly moved towards the alligator, who seemed to be somewhat doubtful of results. After watching "Nig's" eye for a while, he disappeared; by the motion of the water it was evident he was swimming away. The men laughed, but "Nig" stood perfectly still; the stream rolled on in silence. In a moment the alligator's head appeared again nearly in the same place, only he held it higher, as he attentively looked "Nig" full in the face. He moved slowly and steadily towards the monster of the river, and put the noose over the alligator's head; when he jumped, it looked as though he wanted to jump through the noose. "Nig" let go the pole, and in doing so lost the line also; and while the alligator swam off with one end of the rope, "Nig" swam after his end, to the great amusement of our party. "Nig" reached the line, and putting it over his shoulder walked up the beach. As the alligator was led to the edge of the water, "Nig" stood grinning at one end of the line on shore, while the alligator lay quietly awaiting a ball from my gun or a stroke from the hatchet in the hand of a man. But we were disappointed; "Nig" had no weight to sling to the under part of the noose to keep it under water, so when the alligator jumped he caught the noose in his mouth, and while "Nig" was grinning, his eyes closed with delight, the alligator cut the rope and swam away.
There are parts of the alligator near the back bone which the Indians eat. This is the only manner in which they take alligators here; their arrows will not enter the scales, which often turn a rifle ball. I have seen a boat's crew in Mexico fire a volley of musket balls into an alligator and not kill him. The alligators here are much smaller than those found on the rivers in Tobasco. The Indians make buttons, beads, fancy birds, and animals, of their teeth.
CHAPTER IX.
Pass the mouth of Chimoré river—White cranes—Rio Mamoré—Woodbridge's Atlas—Night watch—"Masi" guard-house—Pampas—Ant-houses—Cattle—Religion—Sugar-cane—Fishing party of Mojos Indians—River Ybaré—Pampas of Mojos—Pasture lands—City of Trinidad—Prefect—Housed in Mojos—Don Antonio de Barras Cordoza—Population of the Beni—Cotton manufactures—Productions—Trade—Don Antonio's Amazonian boats—Jesuits—Languages—Natural intelligence of the aborigines—Paintings—Cargoes of foreign goods in the plaza.
We ran down the river by the light of the moon; sounding in from three and a half fathoms to four; half the crew pulled at a time, until we passed the mouth of the Chimoré river, which empties into the Chaparé from the south. We were obliged to come to as the morning became cloudy and dark, which made it unsafe for us to pass through the drift wood flowing from the Chimoré.
Canoes ascend the Chimoré in the rainy season to the town. Near its mouth, the river resembles the Chaparé in width, color of water, and swiftness of current; but, from what I can learn, the Chaparé is the largest stream, and deeper at the head.
The rains have been to the southeast; therefore we find more drift-wood coming out of the Chimoré than we have in the Chaparé.
The country at their junction is all low, uninhabited, and unfinished. The current of the Chaparé continues the same below the junction. Unless we had seen the Chimoré enter, we should probably not have known that the quantity of water was nearly double, the width of the river and soundings being the same.