The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-03
FOR THE VICTORIA REGIA.
A Trip Up the Great Amazon River in
Search of This Monster Lily.
The Wildness and Beauty of an Amazonian
LaIdScape-.Scenes and Sounds in the
Deep Brazilian Forest.


A glorious morning in the tropics. and near
the end of the rainy season, with bright sky,
balmy air. the forest redolent with the fragrance
of countless flowers and resonant with the music
of birds. 1t is not the latitude of the United
States but little village under the equator. on
the banks of one of the thousand channels which
form part of the mighty river Amazon, /, 100
miles away from the sea- and nesting in lit
tie clearing scarce perceptible against the back
ground of the mighty forest, which, UNEMPLOYED,
and unknown and uninhabited, save by rowing
Indians, stretches south for miles upon
miles. The time is ''madrugada." be-
tween midnight and dawn, but al
ready the morning star is bright in the
horizon, and faint rays of light stream like silver
lances up the eastern sky. In Brazil an early
start is necessary for a canoe voyage, and as we
leave the little palm house where we have passed
the night,in spite of the approach of day we
have almost to feel our way along the narrow
path which leads to the river and seem to hear
whispers of some of the habitants of night in
the tall palms which throw their heavy plumes
across the path far above our heads We grope
our way until presently the path trends down
ward to the river; few steps now, and we reach
our canoe, called in Brazil, '.montaria." 1t was
about twenty feet long and four feet wide. The
stern was covered by a "tolda," or cover
ing of palm thatch, supported on arch
poles; under this was rude platform of poles
upon which we placed our luggage, where we
spread our blankets for the night, the tolda
serving as shelter from sun and rain We found
our crew waiting, the baggage and provisions
their paddles and we shot swiftly up the river.
While Mrs. NJ made herself comfortable
under the toda or cabin my companion and I.
lighting long bark cigarettes, smoked in silence,
enjoying the calm quiet of the growing dawn
and listening to the strange noises from the for
ests and the plash of the water before the prov
and its ripple against the sides as
the canoe forced its way against the
swift current. There is an oppression in the
early morning; weight seems to press upon
the spirits and we felt it in all it's force sense
of the magnitude Of nature and our own little
ness forced us to silence until the sun sprang in
glory for there is little twilight a the tropics)
above alfe horizon, and bathed the whole scene
in effulgent splendor and the world awoize to
life and light. A sunrise on the Amazon! How
often have l beheld it; how incompetent to de-
scribe it. Seldom can we find words to express
the feelings when they are strongly excited,
especially by the grand and beautiful in nature.
Two of us impulsively exclaimed: "How glori-
ous," while Jose (my guide) echoed in
his native tongue, ''Magnfco bellssimo."
In good truth we had cause for our
EXPLANATIONS. The broad bosom of
this mighty river sheet of rolling silver,
the sky blue arching overhead and without
cloud. The tall woods the nearer bank
seemed to glitter in silvery green, and OH the
far distant shore the tall palms seemed set
against the horizon like mighty masses of col
umns with spreading architraves. Tho soft
breeze blew from off the shore. The fragrant
air of these tropical forests is constant source
of enjoyment; the odor at one moment will re-
mind one of wild azalea, in another OF the spicy
Missouri currant, in another Of clethra, and
again the breeze will seem to have blown over
fields of white clover. How often has this ia
miliar odor caused me to pause, close the eyes,
and it seemed as if was again wandering by our
own quiet woods and fields.
But digreSS AS the higher the
winds blew harder and now directly up the river
made white caps and rendered the crossing some
what dangerous; more than once the canoe half
filed with water, and constant bailing was nee
essary Rounding the point of an island we
made for the bank which was vargia, or land
subject to overflow. Our progress WAS slow dur
ing this day. the river rising and the current very
swift Toward evening the rain came down in tor
rents and we glad to stop at small Indian
hut. We were kindly received, eating our supper
from off a mat spread on the earthern floor, and
surrounded by starved dogs and half-starved
children. Tired out with our days journey, we
retired early to our hammocks, but not to sleep,
for the mosquitoes descended upon us in myr-
lads. l thought had seen mosquitoes in Peru;
but what words can describe a mosquito of the
Amazon "vargia.' He is not very large nor is
he especially given to singing; all his Tor, rather
her, for we are told that the biting mosquitoes
are females, and that the male is very inof-
fensive character) energy is concentrated in the
bite. The bill is long, very sharp and can
pierce through almost anything except iron
plate. What the mosquitoes had left of us was
early astir. l sent our canoe ahead in charge of
jog intending to oyertake them later
on in our hosts smaller canoe, for l
was DESTROYS of showing Mrs. NJ the cacao nu-
merous orchards being in the vicinity. The
cacao (theobroma cacaol is largely grown on the
Amazon. 1t is a small tree, or, rather, large
bush, seldom exceeding fifteen feet in height.
e has large, oblong taper pointed leaves, which,
when young, are rosy and very beautiful. The
flowers are small, fragrant yellowish, and are
borne in clusters on the trunk and larger
branches. The fruit is about ten inches long,
varying, however, greatly in size, and about
FIVE broad. 1t is obloeg, blunt, and is marked
with ten elevated ribs running lengthwise, and
is, when ripe, bright orange.yellow The she'll
10 very udEu. <AituouS4 dutloribicS staLo budb
the fruit contains from fifty to one
hundred seeds, we have never been able
to find one containing fifty, the average
is from thirty to forty-fve The seeds are EN-.
bedded in a white semi acid pulp; it is from the
seeds that the cocoa of commerce is prepared.
The fruit when ripe is gathered by hand and is
broken transversely by large knife; the mass
of pulp and seed is taken out and is either left
for day to slightly ferment or is at once put
into "tpci," Ia bark press) and pressed al
most dry: it is then dried from one to three days
in the sun and is then ready for market The
ju ice running from the press is called 'vinho-
da cacoe, or wine of cocoa, and is most re-
freshing and delicious drink; it is slightly acid,
aromatic and possesses flavor peculiarly its
own. Unfortunately, it soon ferments and
can only be preserved in its fresh
ness single day; by boiling, however,
aroma Of the wine ia lost II is almaat worth a