Part 19

Although the whole thing happened within a few moments, there were quite enough elements of danger to spice the sport, for, if in making our retreat any of us had stumbled and fallen, the consequences must have been serious, if not fatal. I prefer the pig sticking on mule-back with our extemporized spears. We gave the _coup de grace_ to the wounded, but many got away only partially damaged. We found our bag amounted to ten pigs, all in excellent condition.

As Jose and his sons were anxious for another tussle, we proceeded up the valley, and soon saw here and there a solitary grunter outside the growth of palms and aquatic vegetation of the swamps; and frequent grunts, heard amidst the groves, indicated the presence of considerable numbers of our foes.

A little farther on, a spit of firm land, only covered with short grass, extended to near the groves, but no one cared to venture so far from the friendly sanctuary of the trees and possibly meet a huge anaconda coiled up in the swamp.

Jose Grosso and one of our host's sons now returned to remain with the animals, whilst we proceeded a little farther on in quest of a stray peccary. We walked about a mile, but found not what we hoped for; but on returning some peccaries were seen straying towards the hills in twos or threes, homeward-bound to their lairs in the dells and grottos of the sources of streams at the foot of the bluffs of the Chapadas. We worked our way amidst the trees, and eventually obtained a few long shots, and succeeded in bagging two more.

It became a question whether we should pursue our journey to enable me to take my notes, and camp out and have another probable night-attack of peccaries, or return to Mato Grande. I thought a night of peace and quietness preferable, although perhaps very unsportsmanlike, and so we wended our way homeward.

It is rather unusual that these peccaries make such a brave fight in daylight, but it was chiefly owing to their accidentally finding themselves in such considerable numbers on this occasion, as they are commonly scattered over their feeding-grounds in very small parties during the day, and return to a common haunt at night, whence they sally out in immense numbers upon any foe that trespasses upon their neighborhood, like when they tracked our dogs in the Sapao.

THE PERILS OF TRAVEL.

IDA PFEIFFER.

[Among travellers there have been few more ardent and enterprising than the woman from whose writings our present selection is made. Ida Pfeiffer was born in Vienna about 1795, married, brought up and educated her two sons, and in 1842, when nearly fifty years of age, set out on a series of travels which she had long contemplated, and in which she spent the succeeding ten years. After a series of travels in Asia Minor, Scandinavia, and Iceland, she set out in 1846 on a tour of the world, which was not accomplished without great hardships and dangers. In 1851 she entered on a second journey around the world, visiting various new countries. She died in 1858. From her "A Woman's Journey round the World" we select the following thrilling experience. She had set out from Rio Janeiro, in company with Count Berchthold, on an excursion to Petropolis, a German colony in the vicinity. Suddenly, in a lonely spot, a negro sprang out upon them, knife and lasso in hand, indicating by gestures that he intended to murder them and drag their bodies into the forest. She gives a vivid description of what followed.]

We had no arms, as we had been told that the road was perfectly safe, and the only weapons of defence which we possessed were our parasols, if I except a clasp-knife, which I instantly drew out of my pocket and opened, fully determined to sell my life as dearly as possible. We parried our adversary's blows as long as we could with our parasols, but these lasted but a short time; besides, he caught hold of mine, which, as we were struggling for it, broke short off, leaving only a piece of the handle in my hand. In the struggle, however, he dropped his knife, which rolled a few steps from him; I instantly made a dash, and thought I had got it, when he, more quick than I, thrust me away with his feet and hands, and once more obtained possession of it. He waved it furiously over my head, and dealt me two wounds, a thrust and a deep gash, both in the upper part of the left arm; I thought I was lost, and despair alone gave me the courage to use my own knife. I made a thrust at his breast; this he warded off, and I only succeeded in wounding him severely in the hand. The Count sprang forward and seized the fellow from behind, and thus afforded me an opportunity of raising myself from the ground. The whole affair had not taken more than a few seconds.

The negro's fury was now roused to its highest pitch by the wounds he had received. He gnashed his teeth at us like a wild beast, and flourished his knife with frightful rapidity. The Count, in his turn, had received a cut right across the hand, and we had been irrevocably lost, had not Providence sent us assistance. We heard the tramp of horses' hoofs upon the road, upon which the negro instantly left us and sprang into the wood. Immediately afterwards two horsemen turned a corner of the road, and we hurried towards them; our wounds, which were bleeding freely, and the way in which our parasols were hacked, soon made them understand the state of affairs. They asked us which direction the fugitive had taken, and, springing from their horses, hurried after him; their efforts, however, would have been fruitless, if two negroes, who were coming from the opposite side, had not helped them. As it was, the fellow was soon captured.

He was pinioned, and, as he would not walk, severely beaten, most of the blows being dealt upon the head, so that I feared the poor fellow's skull would be broken. In spite of this, he never moved a muscle, and lay, as if insensible to feeling, upon the ground. The two other negroes were obliged to seize hold of him, when he endeavored to bite every one within his reach like a wild beast, and carry him to the nearest house. Our preservers, as well as the Count and myself, accompanied them. We then had our wounds dressed, and afterwards continued our journey, not, it is true, entirely devoid of fear, especially when we met one or more negroes, but without any further mishap, and with a continually increasing admiration of the beautiful scenery.

[The negro was supposed to be either drunk or insane, but it proved that he had been punished by his master for some offence, and took that mode to obtain revenge. Madame Pfeiffer penetrated the Brazilian forests, and thus describes the aboriginal savages.]

On a small space, under lofty trees, five huts, or rather sheds, formed of leaves, were erected, eighteen feet long by twelve feet broad. The frames were formed of four poles stuck in the ground, with another reaching across, and the roof of palm-leaves, through which the rain could penetrate with the utmost facility. On three sides these bowers were entirely open. In the interior hung a hammock or two, and on the ground glimmered a little fire, under a heap of ashes, in which a few roots, Indian corn, and bananas were roasting. In one corner, under the roof, a small supply of provisions was hoarded up, and a few gourds were scattered around; these are used by the savages instead of plates, pots, water-jugs, etc. The long-bows and arrows, which constitute their only weapons, were leaning in the background against the wall.

I found the Indians still more ugly than the negroes. Their complexion is a light bronze, they are stunted in stature, well-knit, and about the middle size. They have broad and somewhat compressed features, and thick, coal-black hair, hanging straight down, which the women sometimes wear in plaits, fastened to the back of the head, and sometimes falling down loose about them. Their forehead is broad and low, the nose somewhat flattened, the eyes long and narrow, almost like those of the Chinese, and the mouth large, with rather thick lips. To give a still greater effect to all these various charms, a peculiar look of stupidity is spread over the whole face, and is more especially to be attributed to the way in which their mouths are always kept open. Most of them, both men and women, were tattooed with a reddish or blue color, though only round the mouth, in the form of a moustache. Both sexes are passionately fond of smoking, and prefer brandy to everything. Their dress was composed of a few rags, which they had fastened round their loins.

The good creatures offered me the best hut they possessed, and invited me to pass the night there. Being rather fatigued by the toilsome nature of my journey on foot, the heat, and the hunting-excursion, I very joyfully accepted their proposition; the day, too, was drawing to a close, and I should not have been able to reach the settlement of the whites before night. I therefore spread out my cloak upon the ground, arranged a log of wood so as to serve instead of a pillow, and for the present seated myself upon my splendid couch. In the mean while my hosts were preparing the monkey and the parrots, by sticking them on wooden spits and roasting them before the fire.

In order to render the meal a peculiarly dainty one, they also buried some Indian corn and roots in the cinders. They then gathered a few large fresh leaves off the trees, tore the roasted ape into several pieces with their hands, and, placing a large portion of it, as well as a parrot, Indian corn, and some roots, upon the leaves, put it before me. My appetite was tremendous, seeing that I had tasted nothing since the morning. I therefore immediately fell to upon the roasted monkey, which I found superlatively delicious; the flesh of the parrot was far from being so tender and palatable.

[As we have begun this selection with a perilous adventure of our lady traveller, some other perils encountered by her in other parts of the world may fitly close it. The following experience in a tiger-hunt took place in India, during an excursion to the rock temples of Ellora.]

I had scarcely left the gates of the town behind, when I perceived a number of Europeans seated upon elephants, coming from the bungalow. On meeting each other we pulled up and commenced a conversation. The gentlemen were on the road to search for a tiger-lair, of which they had received intimation, and invited me, if such a sport would not frighten me too much, to take part in it. I was greatly delighted to receive the invitation, and was soon seated on one of the elephants, in a howdah about two feet high, in which there were already two gentlemen and a native,--the latter had been brought to load the guns. They gave me a large knife to defend myself, in case the animal should spring too high and reach the side of the howdah. Thus prepared, we approached the chain of hills, and after a few hours we were already pretty near the lair of the tigers, when our servants cried out softly, "_Bach, Bach!_" and pointed with their fingers to some brushwood.

I had scarcely perceived the flaming eyes which glared out of one of the bushes before shots were fired. Several balls took effect upon the animal, who rushed, maddened, upon us. He made such tremendous springs, that I thought every moment he must reach the howdah, and select a victim from among us. The sight was terrible to see, and my apprehensions were increased by the appearance of another tiger; however, I kept myself so calm, that none of the gentlemen had any suspicion of what was going on in my mind. Shot followed shot; the elephants defended their trunks with great dexterity by throwing them up or drawing them in. After a sharp contest of half an hour, we were the victors, and the dead animals were triumphantly stripped of their beautiful skins. The gentlemen politely offered me one of them as a present; but I declined accepting it, as I could not postpone my journey sufficiently long for it to be dried.

[Madame Pfeiffer had a courage and presence of mind in dangerous and difficult situations which often served her in good stead. Certainly it needed no slight courage to undertake the adventure described in our next selection, a journey among the cannibal Battakers of Sumatra. In 1835 two American missionaries had been killed and eaten by them, and such a journey without a military escort seemed foolhardy. But she persisted, and reached a village on the borders of the Battaker territory July 19, 1852. Here she sent for the regents of the neighboring villages.]

In the evening we sat in solemn conclave surrounded by regents, and by a great crowd of the people, for it had been noised abroad far and wide that here was a white woman who was about to venture into the dreaded country of the wild Battakers. Regents and people all concurred in advising me to renounce so perilous a project; but I had tolerably made up my mind on this point, and I only wanted to be satisfied as to one thing,--namely, whether it was true, as many travellers asserted, that the Battakers did not put their victims out of their pain at once, but tied them living to stakes, and, cutting pieces off them, consumed them by degrees with tobacco and salt.

The idea of this slow torture did a little frighten me; but my bearers assured me, with one accord, that this was only done to those who were regarded as criminals of a deep dye, and who had been on that account condemned to death. Prisoners of war are tied to a tree and beheaded at once; but the blood is carefully preserved for drinking, and sometimes made into a kind of pudding with boiled rice. The body is then distributed; the ears, the nose, and the soles of the feet are the exclusive property of the rajah, who has besides a claim on other portions. The palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, the flesh of the head, and the heart and liver, are reckoned peculiar delicacies, and the flesh in general is roasted and eaten with salt. The regents assured me, with a certain air of relish, that it was very good food, and that they had not the least objection to eat it. The women are not allowed to take part in these grand public dinners. A kind of medicinal virtue is ascribed to trees to which prisoners have been tied when they have been put to death, and the stem is usually cut into sticks five or six feet long, carved into figures or arabesques, and decorated with human hair; and these sticks are taken in hand by people who go to visit the sick, or when any medicine is to be given.

[Despite this gruesome warning, the daring woman continued her journey, and prosecuted it until the 13th of August, when she found herself in the most imminent peril.]

More than eighty armed men stood in the pathway and barred our passage, and before we were aware of it, their spearmen had formed a circle around me and shut me in, looking the while indescribably terrible and savage. They were tall robust men, fully six feet high; their features showed the most violent agitation, and their huge mouths and projecting teeth had really more resemblance to the jaws of a wild beast than to anything human. They yelled and made a dreadful noise about me, and had I not been in some measure familiar with such scenes, I should have felt sure that my last hour was at hand.

I was really uneasy, however: the scene was too frightful; but I never lost my presence of mind. At first I sat down on a stone that lay near, endeavoring to look as composed and confident as I could; but some rajahs then came up to me with very threatening looks and gestures, and gave me clearly to understand that if I did not turn back they would kill and eat me. Their words, indeed, I did not comprehend, but their action left no manner of doubt, for they pointed with their knives to my throat, and gnashed their teeth at my arm, moving their jaws then as if they already had them full of my flesh.

Of course, when I thought of coming among the wild Battakers, I had anticipated something of this sort, and I had therefore studied a little speech in their language for such an occasion. I knew if I could say anything that would amuse them, and perhaps make them laugh, I would have a great advantage over them, for savages are quite like children, and the merest trifle will often make them friends. I got up, therefore, and patting one of the most violent, who stood next me, upon the shoulder in a friendly manner, said, with smiling face, in a jargon half Malay and half Battaker, "Why, you don't mean to say you would kill and eat a woman, especially such an old one as I am! I must be very hard and tough!" And I also gave them by signs and words to understand that I was not at all afraid of them, and was ready, if they liked, to send back my guide, if they would only take me as far as the _Eier-Tau_.

Fortunately for me, the doubtless very odd way in which I pronounced their language, and my pantomime, diverted them, and they began to laugh. Perhaps, also, the fearless confidence which I manifested made a good impression; they offered me their hands, the circle of spearmen opened, and, rejoicing not a little at having escaped this danger, I journeyed on, and reached in perfect safety a place called Tugala, where the rajah received me into his house.

BRAZILIAN ANTS AND MONKEYS.

HENRY W. BATES.

[The "Naturalist in the Amazons" of Henry Walter Bates is a work that has long held a deserved reputation for the closeness and accuracy of its observations and the interest of its narrative. The author, born at Leicester, England, in 1825, accompanied the noted biologist, Alfred Russel Wallace, to Brazil, the story of which journey is given in the work cited. From it we extract some passages concerning the animal life of that country, embracing the doings of the "leaf-cutting" ants and the monkeys. Our selections begin in the suburbs of Para.]

In the gardens numbers of fine showy butterflies were seen. There were two swallow-tailed species, similar in colors to the English _Papilio machaon_, a white Pieris (_P. monuste_), and two or three species of brimstone- and orange-colored butterflies, which do not belong, however, to the same genus as our English species. In weedy places a beautiful butterfly with eye-like spots on its wings was common, the _Junonia lavinia_, the only Amazonian species which is at all nearly related to our Vanessas, the Admiral and Peacock butterflies.

One day we made our first acquaintance with two of the most beautiful productions of nature in this department,--namely, the _Helicopis cupido_ and _endymion_. A little beyond our house one of the narrow green lanes which I have already mentioned diverged from the mongabu avenue, and led between enclosures overrun with a profusion of creeping plants and glorious flowers down to a moist hollow, where there was a public well and a picturesque nook, buried in a grove of mucaja palm-trees. On the tree-trunks, walls, and palings grew a great quantity of climbing Pothos plants, with large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves. These plants were the resort of these two exquisite species, and we captured a great number of specimens. They are of extremely delicate texture. The wings are cream-colored; the hind pair have several tail-like appendages, and are spangled beneath as if with silver. Their flight is very slow and feeble; they seek the protected under surface of the leaves, and in repose close their wings over the back, so as to expose the brilliantly spotted under surface.

I will pass over the many orders and families of insects, and proceed at once to the ants. These were in great numbers everywhere, but I will mention here only two kinds. We were amazed at seeing ants an inch and a quarter in length, and stout in proportion, marching in single file through the thickets. These belonged to the species called _Dinoponera grandis_. Its colonies consist of a small number of individuals, and are established about the roots of slender trees. It is a stinging species, but the sting is not so severe as in many of the smaller kinds. There was nothing peculiar or attractive in the habits of this giant among the ants. Another far more interesting species was the Sauba (_Oecodoma cephalotes_). This ant is seen everywhere about the suburbs, marching to and fro in broad columns. From its habit of despoiling the most valuable cultivated trees of their foliage, it is a great scourge to the Brazilians. In some districts it is so abundant that agriculture is almost impossible, and everywhere complaints are heard of the terrible pest....

In our first walks we were puzzled to account for large mounds of earth, of a different color from the surrounding soil, which were thrown up in the plantations and woods. Some of them were very extensive, being forty yards in circumference, but not more than two feet in height. We soon ascertained that these were the work of the Saubas, being the outworks or domes which overlie and protect the entrances to their vast subterranean galleries. On close examination I found the earth of which they are composed to consist of very minute granules, agglomerated with cement, and forming many rows of little ridges and turrets. The difference in color from the superficial soil of the vicinity is owing to their being formed of the under-soil, brought up from a considerable depth.

It is very rarely that the ants are seen at work on these mounds; the entrances seem to be generally closed; only now and then, when some particular work is going on, are the galleries opened. The entrances are small and numerous; in the larger hillocks it would require a great amount of excavation to get at the main galleries; but I succeeded in removing portions of the dome in smaller hillocks, and then I found that the minor entrances converged, at the depth of about two feet, to one broad, elaborately worked gallery or mine, which was four or five inches in diameter.

The habit in the Sauba ant of clipping and carrying away immense quantities of leaves has long been recorded in books on natural history. When employed on this work their processions look like a multitude of animated leaves on the march. In some places I found an accumulation of such leaves, all circular pieces, about the size of a sixpence, lying on the pathway, unattended by ants, and at some distance from the colony. Such heaps are always found to be removed when the place is revisited the next day. In course of time I had plenty of opportunities of seeing them at work. They mount the trees in multitudes, the individuals being all worker-miners. Each one places itself on the surface of a leaf, and cuts with its sharp, scissor-like jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches the piece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to the ground, where a little heap accumulates until carried away by another relay of workers; but generally each marches off with the piece it has operated upon, and, as all take the same road to their colony, the path they follow becomes in a short time smooth and bare, looking like the impression of a cart-wheel through the herbage.