United States or Seychelles ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !


A little before the sun disappeared, Araujo, finding it useless to continue his operations in the gloom, gave the signal for the boats to join company and return together to the confluence of the Rio Negro and regain the jangada. The work so carefully and intelligently conducted was not, however, at an end. Manoel and Fragoso, as they came back, dared not mention their ill success before Benito.

Duplicates of grandeur, terminated above and below by a vast parasol of green, they seemed to form two hemispheres, inside which the jangada appeared to follow one of the great circles. It had been necessary to bring the raft under these boughs, against which flowed the gentle current of the stream. It was impossible to go back.

Hence the task of navigating with extreme care, so as to avoid the collisions on either side. In this all Araujo's ability was shown, and he was admirably seconded by his crew. The trees of the forest furnished the resting-places for the long poles which kept the jangada in its course.

On the 2d of July, in the morning, the jangada arrived at the foot of San Pablo d'Olivenca, after having floated through the midst of numerous islands which in all seasons are clad with verdure and shaded with magnificent trees, and the chief of which bear the names of Jurupari, Rita, Maracanatena, and Cururu Sapo.

Hundreds of craft of all sorts conveyed them to the fazender, and soon the jangada was invaded by all those who wished to welcome the return of their compatriot after his long exile. Thousands of sight-seers or more correctly speaking, thousands of friends crowded on to the floating village as soon as it came to its moorings, and it was vast and solid enough to support the entire population.

Joam Garral then called in an Indian who was the principal manager of the fazenda. "In a month," he said to him, "the jangada must be built and ready to launch." "We'll set to work this very day, sir." It was a heavy task. There were about a hundred Indians and blacks, and during the first fortnight in May they did wonders.

The course of the river was but slightly obstructed with islands, and besides, from one bank to another its width is about two leagues. The current, too, took along the jangada more steadily, and on the 18th of August it stopped at the village of Pasquero to pass the night.

These boats were either "ubas," canoes made from the trunk of a tree, hollowed out by fire, and finished with the ax, pointed and light in front, and heavy and broad in the stern, able to carry from one to a dozen paddlers, and of three or four tons burden: "egariteas," constructed on a larger scale, of broader design, and leaving on each side a gangway for the rowers: or "jangada," rafts of no particular shape, propelled by a triangular sail, and surmounted by a cabin of mud and straw, which served the Indian and his family for a floating home.

The jangada floated at last, and the current took it toward the middle of the river, but, in obedience to the cables, it quietly took up its position near the bank at the moment that Padre Passanha gave it his blessing, as if it were a vessel launched into the sea whose destinies are in the hands of the Most High!

In all probability the raft would arrive before the town in seven weeks, or a little later, say about the 20th or the 25th of August. The guests of the fazender took leave of the Garral family toward the evening, and the following morning, that of the 3d of July, the jangada recommenced its descent of the river. At noon they passed on the left the mouth of the Yacurupa.