New-York tribune., 1870-12-06

| ~ ,,r bright campfire on the sands under the
-, ,,tifnl stars, and listened TO the solemn chant.
pnion music 80 thoroughly unique that It is impos
NJ q. describe it, and IL takes long time 10 learn
% tho simple songs of the people. Even now. though
| yhoyo heard these same songs ON the Doa, and Mer
| - and Jequitinhonha cannot recall one Of them.
Az the Barracks in Nazareth the soldiers sing service
avery evening and so beautiful it that the young men
often 60 ont purpose to hear it, 1t not be sup
posed from the above that very dc
yout and religious fellows On the contrary, they were
q very set Of scamps. Their mttc not confined to
chants They sang songs OF all kinds, sometimes extern
porzng. and they contained often illusions TO ourselves
and our mission. But by-aud-by our fire went out. a
hOrrd swarm Of musketOes settled down upon u.s. ana
spent night Of torture. In vain covered my race
and my hands, the blOodsucking musicians stung uh
mcrcifuly. My gbanket got in tangle, ana morning
found me with head in the sand, and face ana hands
terribly swollen. But fortunately these Amazonan mus
ketoos far my experience goes do not leave any
lasting MARKS and In a few hours all irritation had
passed In the region Of sandbanks the maroim niue
black fy, was very common and toward evening some
times porsecuted without mercy, hut as soon "a the
sun had set they disappeared suddenly being renewed
by the muskctOcs, If there were any
had hoped TO be able to ascend to come distance
above the falls but already said found II impossible
20 pass the boat attempted to examine the country
on foot With guido climbed over the rocks for some
two miles, when atgued and with no prospect oil learn
ing much without making very long journey, TOT "Ioh
was not prepared turned back gave the rest OF the
day to the study the falls and the collection OF sec
MEMS and by night shooting down the rapids.
was very anxious determine the hight and geological
structure Of the high lands at Guaras, ana aScended
q hill near the rapids without seeing much except IN
connection with the botany OF the place The country III
the vicinity OF Os Paos and Guarbas Is moderately hgh
and the forest is full Braznut trccsC0StahcTaS ~
the Brazilians call them-ihe BerkOietid crceisa OF
botanists The tree resembles more nearly the OAK than
any other Northern tree familiar with, but rs hght
far exceeds that the oak and indeed that OF any other
tree ever saw. With trunk sometimes eight feet III
diameter al the base It bears atop magnificent dome OF
very dark green foliage that overshadows the other
forest trees below. seen in cuInps 1t resembles grove
OF oaks and the tree gives peculiarly dense and lax
uraut appearance TO the forests OF the rapids. The
fruit-thc thre-cOrnercd "nu" that everybody is 80
well acquainted with-s bound in round woody shell,
three four inches in diameter, that looks Ike small
cauDon-ban. This when pe. falls to the ground ana is
picked up by the people who during The repair
TO the casidihdes Bmzl-nu groves 10 collect them
An immense quantity of these nuts produced In the
Tocantins and a large part of those consumed In the
United states come from the very groves visited.
The BertdoLea not only produces he Brazilnut, but
its inner bark il used as oakum With characteristic i'm
providence the Brazilian uugatherers not only collect
the nuts, but they kill the tree by stripping of lis bark
While ascending the hill. studied with much care the
parasitic UianaS cip0s that clung TO and depended
from the trees. While taking notice Of magnificent
specimens that hung from the top OF giant Tauari my
guide suddenly cut out from Of these cip0s piece
fve feet in length. This hc held upright hiss
ing sound heard and presently water began To flow
from the lower end of the section. 1t bright and
clear and the supply sufficient 10 furnish satisfy
ing draught In this way The thirsty Traveller may ind
a spring of pure, cool water anywhere about in the
forest. have filed large rubber tumbler u two min
utes with the water furnished by section four fee. in
length Of this CItna
THE RETURN.
Our down trip lasted the length Of time rs orr
up trip for was very busy with my examination Of the
rocks At Arroy Os ascended the chapada, elevated
plain, and made very valuable geological obser'a-
tiOns which have neither time space 20 give here.
We visited Seringa grove OF rubber trees aud eN-
amined detail the method Of collecting the milk and of
preparing the rubber. The rubber (SyDhonin eiGs
dea is a large found growing only the low aln-
vial lands bordering the river. In its general appear
there is nothing especially Interesting. An iuciiou
made in its bark causes the dow OF Thick milky sap,
which cOacuates on exposure 10 the air. forming
Inda-rubber. In the morning, number OF small cnts
are made around the tree bY using little, narrow AK
beneath this little clay cup, large aapqrio shell,
is stuck with clay. and in thiS the milk very slowly
gathers This milk is collected toward midday from al
the trees, and is placed ina basin It's then poured on
the surface Of mold either Gay wood, usually IN
the shape Of large Hat bottle " square paddle, with
smoke Of certain palm fruits, when IL becomes har,
brownish in color, and very elastic. Layer
after layer is applied, until the desired tiich
ness is obtained when the mold Is broken II
Of clay. and the fragments extracted. or 'he rdbbe
is stripped vi single tree viii sometimes produce 20
OF more pounds The Seriny0 rubber tree
is not cultivated and taken preserve 4. The
manufacture as may be ,upp0s, H. Is very imperfect aud
the rubber that into the market varies very much
u quality There is in Para queer American from
Pennsy vana, who has invented new kind of cup 20
collect rubber milk and machine for smoking IT, have
examined the machine, which Is simple. but very
effective, making excellent quality Of rubber with
great saving OF time and labor. lie is trying 10 get aid
from the Government. The invention, # uscd in ih0
manufacture Of rubber will be- of very great value and
he deserves the aid and recognition hc asked but inVcn
tors arc not always rewarded.
In NY frequent excursions through tb" 'orEf met with
an immense number of trees and plants tlat might be
made useful. Beautiful cabinet woods here abound, but
no one cuts hcm and there many valuable gums and
resin and medicinal products, scarcely al ell known
TO commerce One plant Of much interest toLne, the
CqcaG. wild cdcdU, tree very common the
TOcantins and producing Jbundantiy fruit Gat, fr
has no application. But 10 viii 40 for begin 10
write Of these things else this letter viii have no end
At Alcobaca the site of deserted Tort, there are
ledges Of very compact and inegIaiued brown sand
stone much broken up and lying over large areas in de
tached blocks Here the Indians re.oed annually 20
sharpen their stone and other instruments and
village once existed the spot In examining the rocks
found strange herogyphic characters cut upon them,
and these characters copied OF much Interests for,
though similar rockmarldngs have been reported from
other parts Of Brazil, they very in South Amor
lea One stone found OF small size that, BY dn OF
little patient trimming reduced its dimension 10 such
as admitted Of my bringing 1t away. Some OF these
markings are figures Of animals, but the others can
make nothing Of curious scroll, Ike u snake OF
snashel with Che animal, is very common, and hnd
II also al Sacuteua several miles further down. where,
as at Acobaca also found the deeplywOrn places IN
the rock where stone implements had been ground.
II was late on Saturday evening when We reached