Early Next Morning, While The Green Moon Was Still
Shining (The Color Of This Heavenly Orb Perplexed Us, It Was A Pure
Bottle Green), Each One Arose To His Work.
This was no pleasure
excursion, and duties, many and arduous, lay before the explorers.
The hunter sallied forth with his gun, and returned laden with
pheasant and mountain hen, and over his shoulder a fine duck, which,
unfortunately, however, had already begun to smell - the heat was so
intense.
In his wanderings he had come upon a huge tapir, half eaten
by a tiger, and saw footprints of that lord of the forest in all
directions.
Let me here say, that to our hunter we were indebted for many a good
dish, and when not after game he lured from the depths of the lake
many a fine perch or turbot. Fishing is an art in which I am not very
skilled, but one evening I borrowed his line. After a few moments'
waiting I had a "bite," and commenced to haul in my catch, which
struggled, kicked, and pulled until I shouted for help. My fish was
one of our Paraguayan sailors, who for sport had slipped down into
the water on the other side of the steamer, and, diving to my cord,
had grasped it with both hands. Not every fisher catches a man!
Lake Gaiba is a stretch of water ten miles long, with a narrow mouth
opening into the River Paraguay. The lake is surrounded by mountains,
clad in luxuriant verdure on the Bolivian side, and standing out in
bare, rugged lines on the Brazilian side. The boundary of the two
countries cuts the water into two unequal halves. The most prominent
of the mountains are now marked upon the exhaustive chart drawn out.
Their christening has been a tardy one, for who can tell what ages
have passed since they first came into being? Looking at Mount Ray,
the highest of these peaks, at sunset, the eye is startled by the
strange hues and rich tints there reflected. Frequently we asked
ourselves: "Is that the sun's radiance, or are those rocks the fabled
'Cliffs of Opal' men have searched for in vain?" We often sat in a
wonder of delight gazing at the scene, until the sun sank out of
sight, taking the "opal cliffs" with it, and leaving us only with the
dream.
On the shores of the lake the beach is covered with golden sand and
studded with innumerable little stones, clear as crystal, which
scintillate with all the colors of the rainbow. Among these pebbles I
found several arrowheads of jasper. In other parts the primeval
forest creeps down to the very margin, and the tree-roots bathe in
the warm waters. Looking across the quivering heat-haze, the eye
rests upon palms of many varieties, and giant trees covered with
orchids and parasites, the sight of which would completely intoxicate
the horticulturist. Butterflies, gorgeous in all the colors of the
rainbow, flit from flower to flower; and monkeys, with curiously
human faces, stare at the stranger from the tree-tops. White cotton
trees, tamarinds, and strangely shaped fruits grow everywhere, and
round about all are entwined festoons of trailing creepers, or the
loveliest of scarlet mistletoe, in which humming-birds build their
nests. Blue macaws, parrots, and a thousand other birds fly to and
fro, and the black fire-bird darts across the sky, making lightning
with every flutter of his wings, which, underneath, are painted a
bright, vivid red. Serpents of all colors and sizes creep silently in
the undergrowth, or hang from the branches of the trees, their
emerald eyes ever on the alert; and the broad-winged eagle soars
above all, conscious of his majesty.
Here and there the coast is broken by silent streams flowing into the
lake from the unexplored regions beyond. These riachos are covered
with lotus leaves and flowers, and also the Victoria Regia in all its
gorgeous beauty. Papyrusa, reeds and aquatic plants of all
descriptions grow on the banks of the streams, making a home for the
white stork or whiter garza. Looking into the clear warm waters you
see little golden and red fishes, and on the bed of the stream shells
of pearl.
On the south side of the Gaiba, at the foot of the mountains, the
beach slopes gently down, and is covered with golden sand, in which
crystals sparkle as though set in fine gold by some cunning workman.
A Workman, yes - but not of earth, for nature is here untouched,
unspoilt as yet by man, and the traveller can look right away from it
to its Creator.
During our stay in these regions the courses of several of the larger
streams were traced for some distance. On the Brazilian side there
was a river up which we steamed. Not being acquainted with the
channel, we had the misfortune to stick for two days on a tosca reef,
which extended a distance of sixty-five feet. [Footnote: The finding
of tosca at this point confirms the extent inland of the ancient
Pampean sea. - Colonel Church, in "Proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society," January, 1902.] During this time, a curious
phenomenon presented itself to our notice. In one day we clearly saw
the river flow for six hours to the north-west, and for another six
hours to the south-east. This, of course, proved to us that the
river's course depends on the wind.
On the bank, right in front of where we lay, was a gnarled old tree,
which seemed to be the home, or parliament house, of all the
paroquets in the neighborhood. Scores of them kept up an incessant
chatter the whole time. In the tree were two or three hanging nests,
looking like large sacks suspended from the boughs. Ten or twenty
birds lay in the same nest, and you might find in them, at the one
time, eggs just laid, birds recently hatched, and others ready to
fly.
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