Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Entire Forest on the Ground

Joam Gallal's family was overjoyed.This trip will be fascinating.In addition to the family of the manor owner, there are also some servants of the manor who will also accompany the owner to complete this several-month trip. Seeing the joy of the whole family, Joam Gallard no doubt forgot for a moment all the worries that beset him.From the day he made up his mind, he seemed to be a different person.As he threw himself into the preparations for the trip, he seemed as full of energy as ever.Seeing him like this made everyone in the family happy for him.Mental strength conquers all.Joam Galar was again living and working in the open air, in forests and fields, as he had been in his youth, and in this cheerful environment he was strong, solid, and full of energy again.

In addition, there will be a lot of work waiting for him to complete in the weeks before departure. As we have said before, at that time, although the major shipping companies had already planned to open routes on the Amazon River and its tributaries, however, due to the small number of steamships at that time, the shipping at that time was all to satisfy their own needs. developed for the needs.And these small boats usually serve coastal institutions. These small boats, called ubahs, were actually canoes made from a hollow tree trunk that had been burned and hammered.The front of the hull is pointed and light, while the rear of the hull is round and heavy.The whole boat can accommodate up to 12 oarsmen and can also carry three to four tons of cargo.There is also a boat with a larger hull called "Egarita".There is also a large irregular-shaped raft called "Ranggarda", which sails with a triangular sail.There are thatched huts on the boat, which are used as temporary residences for Indian families.

The above three ships!Constitutes a small fleet of ships on the Amazon River.However, they can only carry a small amount of passengers and cargo. Of course, there are bigger ships too.For example, the "Viri Linda" ship can carry eight to ten tons, three masts and red sails.When the weather is calm, you can paddle with four long oars.Another example is the "High Berta" ship, with a load capacity of up to 20 tons. This sailboat has a cockpit, a shed belt at the rear of the hull, and two square sails of different sizes on board.Sails don't work well when there's little or too much wind.At this time, the Indians sitting on the forecastle rowed ten long oars to adjust the course.

However, Joam Galar was not happy with all these ships.From the moment he made up his mind to travel down the Amazon, he decided to use the trip to transport a large cargo to Pala.In this way, the departure date will certainly not be too early.Except for Manoel, everyone would definitely agree with Joam's decision.Of course, Manoel hopes to get to the destination as soon as possible by speedboat, and the reason is self-evident. Although the means of transportation designed by Joam Galar is so primitive and simple, it can carry a large number of people after all, and can guarantee safety and comfort during the voyage.

Since this trip included not only the owner of the manor, but also some of the servants of the manor, in addition to building the owner's residence on board, various huts for the servants were also built.It was as if part of the estate were to leave the river bank and sail the Amazon. The entire estate of the Iquitos estate includes several productive forests.In the heartland of South America, these forests can be said to be inexhaustible and inexhaustible. Joam Galar was very good at managing the forest.Here are the most precious and abundant species of trees, well suited for the manufacture of fine woodwork, masts, and houses.Joam can get a considerable income from this forest every year.

Compared with train transportation, isn't it safer and more reliable to transport the products of the forest of the Amazon River by water?Therefore, every year, Joam Galar cut down hundreds of big trees in his manor, processed them into thick planks, small beams, or roughly processed the trunks into square materials, and then weaved them into a huge water slab. The raft, led by navigators who knew the depth of the water and their course, reached Pala. As in previous years, Joam Gallard will also cut down hundreds of trees this year, but this time, after the raft is arranged, he intends to hand over all the lucrative business to Benito.The time was short, for the best time to set sail was in June, when the swell of the upper reaches raised the water level to float the raft;

Since a gigantic raft was to be built this time, the first works had to be started without delay.This time, at the confluence of the Nanai River and the Amazon River, that is, an entire corner along the estate, it was necessary to cut down a half-mile square of forest to build a large raft the size of an island. The great raft on which Joam Galal intended to travel with his family, servants, and goods was safer and more secure than any ship in the country.More than a hundred "Egarita" boats or "Virilinda" boats are connected together, and they are not as large as this big raft.

When Mina learned of her father's plan to build the great raft, she clapped her hands and cried: "What a great idea!" "Yes!" agreed Yaquita. "Now we can reach Belem safe and sound, and without fatigue." "Also, during the breaks, we can go hunting in the forest on the banks of the river," added Benito. However, Manoel said with a little regret: "Isn't the time a bit too long? Can't we choose a faster means of transportation?" Indeed, it will be a long time.However, no one responded to the young doctor's "selfish" proposal.

Joam Gallal called for an Indian who was the master steward of the estate. "I hope in a month's time the big raft will be finished and ready to sail." "Mr. Gallard, we can start working today," replied the head steward. It's a tough job.In the first two weeks of May, more than a hundred Indians and blacks worked hard, creating miracles.In two or three hours, centuries-old trees fell to the ground under the saws of the loggers, and those who rarely saw a lot of logging may be sad to see this scene.However, there were so many such old trees on the upper banks, on the many islands downstream, and on both banks as far as the eye could see, that the felling of half a mile of forest did not cause much surprise.

After receiving the order from Joam Galal, the chief steward and his workers first began to remove the vines, grasses, shrubs and trees that got in the way on the ground.Before using their saws and axes, they each cleared the way with a machete—a must for anyone wishing to venture deeper into the Amazon.This machete, about two or three feet long, is slightly curved and has a broad, flat blade that sits firmly in the handle.Native Indians can use this machete flexibly.In just a few hours, with the help of machetes, workers cleared the ground.They cut down the low bushes, and further opened the road leading to the depths of the forest.

Hiremen remove vines, cacti, ferns, moss, and monocots that cling to old trees.Next, it's time to peel off the bark. Then the gang of hired hands climbed up the big tree (the monkeys on the tree that were not as agile as them ran away), sawed off the branches, removed the leaves, and burned them on the spot.After a while, there was only a bare tree trunk left in this forest.Great expanses of sunlight fell upon the wet earth which it had never caressed before. Every tree in the forest is useful, be it to build a house or create rough carpentry.In this forest there were several wax palms, a palm tree one hundred and twenty feet high, four feet wide at the root, with imperishable wood and trunks as smooth as brown ivory.There is also the hard-wooded chestnut tree with triangular-shaped fruit, the "Muliki" tree that is good for building timber, and the tall "Pumba" tree with its white smooth and straight trunk.There are also some "Bariguedo" trees in the forest, with many protrusions on the body a few feet above the ground, about four meters wide, the bark of this tree is bright reddish brown, and the wells are covered with gray scabs The canopy is like a sun umbrella.In addition to these precious tree species unique to the Amazon Basin, there are also some "Guatibo" trees in this forest, which are much taller than other tree species. The fruit is as big as a small vase with rows of chestnuts inside. The trunk of the tree is lavender and is dedicated to shipbuilding.There is also the iron tree, and the "Iberirata" tree, whose black trunk is covered with small grains, and which the Indians used to make their war axes.There are also "Jacaronda" trees, which are more precious than mahogany, and "Gaosalpine" trees, which only exist in the depths of this dense forest, because the loggers at that time had not yet cut down. this forest.Also, there is the "Sapcassia" tree, one hundred and fifty feet high, supported by some natural tree arches.These tree arches protrude from three meters above the ground and meet at a height of nine meters, wrapping around the trunk so that the tree appears as a spiral column.Parasitic yellow, red and white plants decorate the canopy like a bouquet of fireworks. The forest that stands at the confluence of the Nanai and Amazon rivers was cleared in just three weeks after work began.In this regard, Joam Galar did not need to worry at all, because after twenty or thirty years, another forest would grow again.This is a total deforestation.There is not a young forest left, nor an old tree left to be felled later, nor a corner to mark the limit of this felling.The stumps left on the ground after felling are quietly waiting for the arrival of spring next year. At that time, there will be a scene of twigs and lush greenery here again. A square mile of trees along the Amazon and its tributaries is destined to be felled.In the coming year, after reclamation and cultivation, cassava, coffee trees, yams, sugar cane, arrowroot, corn, groundnuts and other crops will grow on this land. Before the last week of May, all the tree trunks were neatly stacked along the Amazon River according to their texture and buoyancy.It was here that Joam was to build a great wooden raft, and on the raft there would be various houses for the master and servants to live in, as if it were a real floating village.When the river swells, you can float the big raft and take it to float for more than 400 kilometers, all the way to the Atlantic coast. Joam Gallal puts her heart and soul into the whole work.He personally supervised the project, first commanded the felling in the forest, and then went to the beach next to the manor to command the construction of rafts. Yaquita and Siebel were in charge of all preparations before departure.However, the old nigger didn't understand why everyone left such a good place to travel. "You can see things you've never seen before," Yaquita kept explaining to her. "Are those things better than what we saw here?" Siebel was always dubious. As for Mina and her servant Lina, what they considered were matters related to their immediate interests.It was not an ordinary trip for them and they will not be returning.They have to consider the details of settling in another country.The young biracial girl will remain with Mina, and a strong bond has been developed between them.Mina is very sad, but Lina, who is naturally happy, doesn't care much about leaving the Iquitos manor.She would still be as happy with Madame Mina Valdes as she had been with Mademoiselle Mina Gallard.She would not be happy unless she was separated from Mina, which never happened. Throughout the project, Benito has been actively involved in helping his father.From it, he learned a lot of knowledge needed to be a manor owner.Someday he would be a planter himself.In addition, on this trip, he also learned how to be a businessman. As for Manoel, he does his best to help both at home and on the construction site.Of course, in comparison, he is more willing to help Yaquita and Mina at home, the reason is self-evident.Therefore, the efforts he put in at home and on the construction site are also very different and incomparable.