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The whole track, indeed, consisted, we found, of igarapes, lakes, and gapo; here and there patches of high and dry land so mingled together that we could not have told whether we were on the main shore or on an island. At length we reached another lake with higher banks, where Pedro told us we would encamp and commence fishing.
But the whole country does not become one clear sheet of water, as is the case with floods in other parts of the world. On the contrary, high as is the flood, the tree-tops and their branches rise still higher, and we have in the "Gapo" the extraordinary spectacle of a flooded forest, thousands of square miles in extent! In this forest the trees do not perish, but retain life and verdure.
Once more, in fancy, he was sailing up the mighty Amazon, shooting alligators on its banks, spearing fish in its waters, paddling through its curious gapo, and swinging in his hammock under its luxuriant forests.
They subsist on turtle, cow-fish, and the other fish with which the river abounds, and live almost entirely in their canoes; while at night they frequently sling their hammocks between the branches of trees, and sleep suspended over the deep water. Some of the animals found in the Gapo are peculiar to it, being attracted by the fruit-trees which are found growing only there.
Some of the animals found in the Gapo are peculiar to it, being attracted by the fruit-trees which are found growing only there.
Often they form so dense and impenetrable a thicket from the ground upwards that a way must be cleared with an axe to proceed even a short distance from the banks towards the inner recesses of the forest. On the Gapo, or submerged lands, however, a considerable difference in the vegetation appears. The palms are here often more numerous than in other parts.
She sat with her face to the front or rear, just as her fancy or convenience dictated. After leaving the village they travelled for many days and nights through the Gapo.
Another species, called by the natives the curucua grande, has a soft, golden green plumage, a red breast, and an orange-coloured beak. In the Gapo territory a yellow-bellied trogon, with a back of a brilliant metallic green colour, and a breast of steel-blue, is found. The trogon melanurus is remarkable for the beauty of its plumage, having a glossy green back and rose-coloured breast.
But the whole country does not become one clear sheet of water, as is the case with floods in other parts of the world. On the contrary, high as is the flood, the tree-tops and their branches rise still higher, and we have in the "Gapo" the extraordinary spectacle of a flooded forest, thousands of square miles in extent! In this forest the trees do not perish, but retain life and verdure.
It has been further asserted that there are tribes of "Gapo" Indians, who live in the middle of the inundation, making their dwellings upon the trees, and who can pass from branch to branch and tree to tree almost as nimbly as monkeys. This may or may not be true.