A bitter enmity seemed to exist between the female members of the priest's family, and those of the captain's-- the only white women in the settlement.It was amusing to notice how they flaunted past each other, when going to church on Sundays, in their starched muslin dresses.I found an intelligent young man living here, a native of the province of Goyaz, who was exploring the neighbourhood for gold and diamonds.He had made one journey up a branch river, and declared to me that he had found one diamond, but was unable to continue his researches, because the Indians who accompanied him refused to remain any longer; he was now waiting for Captain Antonio to assist him with fresh men, having offered him in return a share in the results of the enterprise.There appeared to be no doubt that gold is occasionally found within two or three days' journey of Aveyros;but all lengthened search is made impossible by the scarcity of food and the impatience of the Indians, who see no value in the precious metal, and abhor the tediousness of the gold-searcher's occupation.It is impossible to do without them, as they are required to paddle the canoes.
The weather, during the month of July, was uninterruptedly fine;not a drop of rain fell, and the river sank rapidly.The mornings, for two hours after sunrise, were very cold; we were glad to wrap ourselves in blankets on turning out of our hammocks, and walk about at a quick pace in the early sunshine.
But in the afternoons, the heat was sickening, for the glowing sun then shone full on the front of the row of whitewashed houses, and there was seldom any wind to moderate its effects.Ibegan now to understand why the branch rivers of the Amazons were so unhealthy, while the main stream was pretty nearly free from diseases arising from malaria.The cause lies, without doubt, in the slack currents of the tributaries in the dry season, and the absence of the cooling Amazonian trade wind, which purifies the air along the banks of the main river.The trade wind does not deviate from its nearly straight westerly course, so that the branch streams, which run generally at right angles to the Amazons, and, have a slack current for a long distance from their mouths, are left to the horrors of nearly stagnant air and water.
Aveyros may be called the headquarters of the fire-ant, which might be fittingly termed the scourge of this fine river.The Tapajos is nearly free from the insect pests of other parts, mosquitoes, sand-flies, Motucas and piums; but the formiga de fogo is perhaps a greater plague than all the others put together.It is found only on sandy soils in open places, and seems to thrive most in the neighbourhood of houses and weedy villages, such as Aveyros; it does not occur at all in the shades of the forest.I noticed it in most places on the banks of the Amazons but the species is not very common on the main river, and its presence is there scarcely noticed, because it does not attack man, and the sting is not so virulent as it is in the same species on the banks of the Tapajos.Aveyros was deserted a few years before my visit on account of this little tormentor, and the inhabitants had only recently returned to their houses, thinking its numbers had decreased.It is a small species, of a shining reddish colour not greatly differing from the common red stinging ant of our own country (Myrmica rubra), except that the pain and irritation caused by its sting are much greater.The soil of the whole village is undermined by it; the ground is perforated with the entrances to their subterranean galleries, and a little sandy dome occurs here and there, where the insects bring their young to receive warmth near the surface.The houses are overrun with them; they dispute every fragment of food with the inhabitants, and destroy clothing for the sake of the starch.
All eatables are obliged to be suspended in baskets from the rafters, and the cords well soaked with copauba balsam, which is the only means known of preventing them from climbing.They seem to attack persons out of sheer malice; if we stood for a few moments in the street, even at a distance from their nests, we were sure to be overrun and severely punished, for the moment an ant touched the flesh, he secured himself with his jaws, doubled in his tail, and stung with all his might.When we were seated on chairs in the evenings in front of the house to enjoy a chat with our neighbours, we had stools to support our feet, the legs of which, as well as those of the chairs, were well anointed with the balsam.The cords of hammocks are obliged to be smeared in the same way to prevent the ants from paying sleepers a visit.
The inhabitants declare that the fire-ant was unknown on the Tapajos before the disorders of 1835-6, and believe that the hosts sprang up from the blood of the slaughtered Cabanas or rebels.They have doubtless increased since that time, but the cause lies in the depopulation of the villages and the rank growth of weeds in the previously cleared, well-kept spaces.Ihave already described the line of sediment formed on the sandy shores lower down the river by the dead bodies of the winged individuals of this species.The exodus from their nests of the males and females takes place at the end of the rainy season (June), when the swarms are blown into the river by squalls of wind, and subsequently cast ashore by the waves; I was told that this wholesale destruction of ant-life takes place annually, and that the same compact heap of dead bodies which I saw only in part, extends along the banks of the river for twelve or fifteen miles.
