By mid-day the men had shot about a score of nearly full-grown turtles.Cardozo then gave orders to spread the net.The spongy, swampy nature of the banks made it impossible to work the net so as to draw the booty ashore; another method was therefore adopted.The net was taken by two Indians and extended in a curve at one extremity of the oval-shaped pool, holding it when they had done so by the perpendicular rods fixed at each end; its breadth was about equal to the depth of the water, its shotted side therefore rested on the bottom, while the floats buoyed it up on the surface, so that the whole, when the ends were brought together, would form a complete trap.The rest of the party then spread themselves around the swamp at the opposite end of the pool and began to beat, with stout poles, the thick tufts of Matupa, in order to drive the turtles towards the middle.This was continued for an hour or more, the beaters gradually drawing nearer to each other, and driving the host of animals before them; the number of little snouts constantly popping above the surface of the water showing that all was going on well.When they neared the net the men moved more quickly, shouting and beating with great vigour.The ends of the net were then seized by several strong hands and dragged suddenly forwards, bringing them at the same time together, so as to enclose all the booty in a circle.Every man now leapt into the enclosure, the boats were brought up, and the turtles easily captured by the hand and tossed into them.I jumped in along with the rest, although I had just before made the discovery that the pool abounded in ugly, red, four-angled leeches, having seen several of these delectable animals, which sometimes fasten on the legs of fishermen, although they, did not, on this day, trouble us, working their way through cracks in the bottom of our montaria.Cardozo, who remained with the boats, could not turn the animals on their backs fast enough, so that a great many clambered out and got free again.However, three boat-loads, or about eighty, were secured in about twenty minutes.They were then taken ashore, and each one secured by the men tying the legs with thongs of bast.
When the canoes had been twice filled, we desisted, after a very hard day's work.Nearly all the animals were young ones, chiefly, according to the statement of Pedro, from three to ten years of age; they varied from six to eighteen inches in length, and were very fat.Cardozo and I lived almost exclusively on them for several months afterwards.Roasted in the shell they form a most appetising dish.These younger turtles never migrate with their elders on the sinking of the waters, but remain in the tepid pools, fattening on fallen fruits, and, according to the natives, on the fine nutritious mud.We captured a few full-grown motherturtles, which were known at once by the horny skin of their breast-plates being worn, telling of their having crawled on the sands to lay eggs the previous year.They had evidently made a mistake in not leaving the pool at the proper time, for they were full of eggs, which, we were told, they would, before the season was over, scatter in despair over the swamp.We also found several male turtles, or Capitaris, as they are called by the natives.These are immensely less numerous than the females, and are distinguishable by their much smaller size, more circular shape, and the greater length and thickness of their tails.Their flesh is considered unwholesome, especially to sick people having external signs of inflammation.All diseases in these parts, as well as their remedies and all articles of food, are classed by the inhabitants as "hot" and "cold," and the meat of the Capitari is settled by unanimous consent as belonging to the "hot" list.
We dined on the banks of the river a little before sunset.The mosquitoes then began to be troublesome, and finding it would be impossible to sleep here, we all embarked and crossed the river to a sand-bank, about three miles distant, where we passed the night.Cardozo and I slept in our hammocks slung between upright poles, the rest stretching themselves on the sand round a large fire.We lay awake conversing until past midnight.It was a real pleasure to listen to the stories told by one of the older men, they were given with so much spirit.The tales always related to struggles with some intractable animal-jaguar, manatee, or alligator.Many interjections and expressive gestures were used, and at the end came a sudden "Pa! terra!" when the animal was vanquished by a shot or a blow.Many mysterious tales were recounted about the Bouto, as the large Dolphin of the Amazons is called.One of them was to the effect that a Bouto once had the habit of assuming the shape of a beautiful woman, with hair hanging loose to her heels, and walking ashore at night in the streets of Ega, to entice the young men down to the water.If any one was so much smitten as to follow her to the waterside, she grasped her victim round the waist and plunged beneath the waves with a triumphant cry.No animal in the Amazons region is the subject of so many fables as the Bouto; but it is probable these did not originate with the Indians, but with the Portuguese colonists.It was several years before I could induce a fisherman to harpoon Dolphins for me as specimens, for no one ever kills these animals voluntarily, although their fat is known to yield an excellent oil for lamps.The superstitious people believe that blindness would result from the use of this oil in lamps.Isucceeded at length with Carepira, by offering him a high reward when his finances were at a very low point, but he repented of his deed ever afterwards, declaring that his luck had forsaken him from that day.
