LIFE IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Evening Star, Issue 11776, 5 January 1903, Page 8

LIFE IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Mr Paul Fountain is one of those rare winters on travel who can make their readers live in the scenes described. He is known to travellers and naturalists as the author of ‘ T{io Great Deserts and Forests of North America,’ and his latest book is a complement of the first. It describes some delightful journeys up tributaries of the Amazon, through forests in which a white man had not hitherto disturbed tho rich fauna, in Central Brazilian woods, among the Ecuador Andes, tho highlands of Canada, and the mountains and valleys of Chid and Peru. Mr Fountain travelled ostensibly for the study of bird life and the collection o' specimens, but really to gratify a desire natural in many who have no means of gratifying their whim—to visit remote spots on tho earth. A trip up the Trombetas gives the author an opportunity of describing the wonderful vegetable growth in those parts, A path through tho forest was impossible, so tho author and his servant made their progress bv stepping from one tree branch to another. “ Making a fair start proved the worst part of the work ; but when we had got up a certain height it was as easy to step from branch to branch as to walk upstairs. On wc went, gradually rising higher and higher by imperceptible degrees, unable to see the ground beneath us or the sky above. No ladder could have bsen so easy of ascent as the branches ot these trees, each step only elevating us some three or four inches, unless we chose to step higher. In this extraordinary way, literally walking on the forest, wc must have journeyed at least half a mile, until ! became apprehensive that if we went farther we should be unable to find our way back to the canoe. To all appearance wo might have travelled scores of miles in this novel way. A strong characteristic of these lonely forests was the number of trees growing one on the other, or parasitical to tho other. In frequent cases, there were at least three of these trees, of which the second was parasitical on the lowermost tree, or the only one drawing its sustenance from the ground, and the third on the second, thus sapping each other's life, the only flourishing tree of the group being the third, which towered far above the rest of the forest.” ■

Tragedies of the forest are thus described : —“ A party of monkeys came down to a tributary of the Purus, an affluen'. of the Amazon. They went down to drink, one or two at a time, till suddenly the ugly black snout of a cayman bobbed up from beneath and seized one of them. The poor little animal uttered a horrible shriek, but it was dragged under water in a moment. So quickly was the tragedy enacted that I scarcely saw what was taking place before it was all over. The commotion among the monkey colonies was tremendous ; they howled, danced, and flew from tree to tree like creatures suddenly gone mad. Other monkies, of different species, assembled at the sj>ot, and the hubbub was deafening, all, however, keeping high up out of harm’s way. They were still in commotion when L finished my breakfast and went on my way down the river. How the caymans sometimes get an abundant feed was exemplified this day. I was suddenly startled by an extraordinary rushing sound above, and scattered hailstones, as big.as pigeon’s eggs, fell into the water. There came down also, a monkey and several otl er small animals and birds which had bein killed in the storm, and no doubt afforded delicious morsels to the lurking reptiles below. . . I saw one (an eagle 1 ) kill a stork high up in the air in an extraordinary manner, such as I never witnessed but ou this one occasion. The eagle must have been at a tremendous height, since I am certain that the stork did not see it, as I did not myself until it suddenly dropped like a atone from an invisible height. The stork ducked, but the eagle struck it and killed it instantly, for it dropped just like a shot bird. The eagle permitted it to fall a good distance, but again dropped on it and secured it before it fell into the water.’’ Mr Fountain’s first meeting with the natives was most interesting. They seemed disinclined to come forward at first, but the traveller walke.d towards them waving a white handkerchief, a signal of peace generally recognised even among savages. ~ “ They permitted me to go close up to them, and others joined us, until there were nineteen men" standing around us. They jabbered away incest santly, and I in return talked to them, neither of us, of course, understanding the other; but 1 had brought a few articles in my pocket which I thought might be attractive to them, and these they eagerly took, especially two or three pocket knives, which I had to show them how to clasp and open. They soon learned the trick of these, but a pair of scissors puzzled them them greatly until I snipped off a lock of one fellow’s hair. Then, amid much amusement, they began to snip each other’s hair, a process some of them objected to, but good humoredly, and then there was much boisterous chasing of each other, with noisy laughter, and we were soon on excellent terms with each other without the interchange of a single intel igible word. One or two of the older men'had on a loin-cloth ; the others were absolutely naked.” So attached did they become to Mr Fountain that it was with difficulty he could get them to leave his boat, and not until the following evening did they leave for their own homes. The domestic affairs of the people of Central Brazil are in a shocking condition, Mr Fountain says. Of the men he writes : —“ They seemed to me to be a selfish and dishonorable set' of men, with gambling and the pursuit of each other’s wives as the chief object of their lives, and I am soiry to add that I saw bat little to admire in the ladies. They certainly pat no great value on their virtue ; but on the other band I doubt if they ever bad the chance of joining themselves legitimately to the men they loved. 1 mean that in the matter of marriage they were simply bought and sold, and they are generally married at a shockingly early age—girls of fourteen and even thirteen—and I have heard of children of twelve being dragged to the altar. It would be sacrilege to call such a crime marriage.” The priesthood in several of the South American countries traversed by the author is

damned with a heartiness that is born of perfect knowledge. The blowpipe of the natives of Malto Grosso, in Brazil, is' a wonderful instrument through which poisoned arrows are “ shot ” with great accuracy. “ There are two sights—fore and back—affixed to the blowpipe by means of wax. The fore sight is generally the sharp tooth of a fish; the back sight is formed by the curved incisor teeth of a rodent, placed parallel on the reed so that the eye can glance between them. The weight of the whole weapon never exceeds 21 b or 31b—it is often under 2lb weight; so that it can be handled easily as a walking-stick. In taking aim the pipe is held by both bands close to the mouth, and not with one arm stretched along tbe barrel os when aiming with a gun ; and the shooter regulates his aim by bending bia body forwards, backwards, left, or right as the case may be, and not by shifting the position of the pipe. The base of the pine is made bell-shaped that the breath may be collected, and with one powerful puff the Indian shooter will project the arrow a distance of 200 yards, so that he can shoot animals when they are far out of reach of a shot-gun.” Iho use of the knife as a weapon 01 offence in the Ecuador Andes is thus referred to:—“ All the men-carry two or three knives, which here take the place o) the \ ankee six-shooter. Their method of fighting is to throw tho knife. They d not care to close with an opponent if the' can avoid it. They often waylay persons and throw the knife after thev have passed with such force that it passes through th muscles of the back into the heart 1 throwing they do not hold the knife by the haft, but take the blade near the point be tweeen finger and thumb, and hurl it with such skill that they repeatedly bit a mark the size of a dollar piece. They are as expert in parrying as throwing the knife, so that unless they take their enemy unawares they seldom succeed in impaling him. If it comes to a fight with knives, after attitudinising and feints enough to furnish a whole stageful of dramatic villains, they close and inflict frightful cuts and stabs.”