Chapter 10 Chapter Ten From Iquitos to Povas

The next day, June 6, the Joam Garal family waved goodbye to the stewards and Indian and black slaves who stayed in the manor. At six o'clock in the morning, all the passengers—more precisely, the entire raft Residents all live in their own rooms. The time to depart has finally come.The navigator Aloruo walked to the front of the raft and took a seat, and the oarsmen were also waiting at their posts holding long wormwood. Joam Galar, assisted by Benito and Manoel, oversaw the departure of the raft. The navigator commanded the oarsmen to untie the cables; and propped the sage on the slope so that the big raft could leave the shore.The current quickly pushed the raft into the river, and the large raft sailed along the left bank of the Amazon, leaving the islands of Iquitos and Parianta to the right.

The journey begins, where will the journey end?If nothing else, the destination of this trip is the city of Belém in the province of Pará - it is more than 3,000 kilometers away from this small village in Peru!How will our trip end? — it will be a secret. The weather is amazing!Thanks to a light wind called Pamporo, the sun seemed less scorching.This is a wind that blows from the Andes mountains hundreds of kilometers away in June and July.It came here after blowing across the vast Sacramento plains.If a large raft is equipped with a mast and sails, it will feel the force of the wind and increase its speed; however, since the river is winding and has many sharp turns, the large raft can only move at different speeds .Therefore, people can only give up using the power of sails.

To be honest, the Amazon River Basin is as flat as an endless plain.In this watershed, the inclination of the river bed is very small.Someone calculated that from the headwaters of the Amazon to Tabatinga on the Brazilian border, the slope of the river bed does not exceed one decimeter per nautical mile.No river in the world is so flat. Therefore, the flow rate of the Amazon River generally does not exceed eight kilometers per day and night, and in the dry season, it may be even smaller.However, during the flood season, the water flow speed can reach 30 to 40 kilometers per day and night. Fortunately, it is the flood season.However, due to the large size of the raft, it cannot travel as fast as the current.In addition, the big raft also needs to slow down at the turn of the river. It also needs to bypass countless islands and avoid some shoals, and when night falls and cannot guarantee safe driving, the big raft must also stop moving forward.In view of the above reasons, it is estimated that the speed of the big raft will not exceed twenty-five kilometers per day and night.

In addition, the Amazon River is not unimpeded.Due to the scouring effect of the river water, some green trees, haystacks and other plants on both sides of the river are often washed to the surface of the river. They form a small green fleet, preventing the big raft from moving fast. At the mouth of the Nanai River, a tropical scene unfolds: a patch of grasses on the ground, suntanned reddish-brown, juxtaposed with the green jungle on the horizon beyond.Soon the mouth of the Nanai was left behind by the great raft, and disappeared behind the headland on the left bank of the great river. Before long, the rafts began to pass among the countless scenic islands.There are about a dozen such islands, from Iquitos to Pucallpa.

In this archipelago, Aroruo can operate freely.In order to make his eyes look better and his mind clearer, he never forgets to drink a few sips.Under his command, fifty sticks of wormwood rose and fell neatly on both sides of the raft, which was quite spectacular. At this time, with the help of Lina and Siebel, Yaquita had arranged everything in an orderly manner, and the Indian cook began to prepare lunch. As for the two young lads and Mina, they were walking with Father Passana.Mina stops now and then to water the plants that grow next to the house. "Father, have you ever traveled so pleasantly before?" asked Benito.

"No, my dear boy," replied the priest, "this time it will be like traveling with the family!" "Also, we can travel hundreds of miles without getting tired!" adds Manoel. "So, you won't regret traveling with us, right?" Mina took up the topic, "Don't you think we are on an island off the river bed, drifting quietly with its own grassland and green trees? ?only……" "Just what?" asked Father Passana. "I love it more than all the islands in the Amazon just because it's an island we built with our own hands and it belongs to us! I have every right to be proud of it!"

"Yes, my dear child," said Father Passana, "I forgive your pride! Besides, I will not allow myself to criticize you in front of Manoel!" "Oh no! On the contrary!" replied the girl cheerfully. "You should have taught Manoel to criticize me when I make mistakes. I have so many faults, and yet he is too lenient with me!" "Then, my dear Mina," said Manoel hastily, "I was just taking this opportunity to remind you..." "Remind me of what?" "Reminding you that you used to study so hard in the study at the manor, and promised to tell me all about your going up the Amazon, since we knew so little about it in Pala. But now the raft has passed several There are islands, but you haven't told me their names yet!"

"Ah! Who can tell you?" Mina exclaimed. "Yes! Who can?" repeated Benito's sister's words, "who can remember the names of a hundred strange islands called 'Tupi' in the vernacular! It must confuse people! The Americans are more practical, they numbered all the islands in the Mississippi River..." "Like they number the streets and alleys of their own city?" Manoel replied. "To be honest, I don't like this method very much! It doesn't make the slightest association! Island 64, Island 65, Not to mention Third Avenue and Sixth Street! My dear Mina, don't you agree with me?"

"Yes, Manoel, no matter what my brother may think, I agree with you!" Mina continued, "Although we don't know the names of these islands in the river, they are really very beautiful. Beautiful! Look at the islands hidden under the tall palm trees with curved leaves! And look at the ring of reeds surrounding the island! Only narrow canoes can pass through it! And these mangroves on the river bank , their huge roots are like the stings of giant crabs! Yes, these islands are beautiful, but no matter how beautiful they are, they cannot move like our small island!" "My Minna is a little excited today!" Father Passana pointed out.

"Oh! Father! How happy I am when I feel that everyone around me is so happy!" As he was talking, he suddenly heard Yaquita call Mina in the house. The young girl laughed and ran away. "Manoel, what a lovely companion you will have in Pala! You are taking away a source of joy for the family!" said Father Passana to the young man. "My sweet little sister!" said Benito, "we will miss her, the priest is right! Oh, if you don't marry her! . . . She will stay with us before there is time!" "Benito, she will stay with you. Believe me, I have this hunch that we will be reunited in the future!" Manoel said.

It's been a good first day.Lunches, dinners, naps, walks, the Joams seem to still be living in their cozy estate in Iquitos. In the last twenty-four hours the raft has safely crossed the mouths of Bagali, Giocchio, and Pugalpa on the left bank of the river, and Itinikali, Maniti, Mayoc, Tuyuga on the right bank. Estuaries and islands of the same name.At night, the big raft did not stop, and it continued to sail smoothly on the Amazon River by moonlight. The next day, June 7, the big raft sailed along the shore to the village of Pugalpa (aka New Orang).There is also a village of Old Orang, which is also located on the left bank of the river, but it is sixty kilometers downstream from here. Because of the new Holang, Old Orang was abandoned.The main inhabitants of New Orang Village are the Indians of the Majoruna and Orgena tribes.There is nothing more beautiful than the scenery here.The whole village and the river beach seem to be drawn with a red pen.There was a chapel not yet finished, and some thatched huts whose roofs were shaded by a few palm trees, and two or three "Uba" boats stranded by the river. All day on June 7, the big raft continued to sail along the left bank of the river.Passed a few insignificant and not well-known tributaries on the way.Once, the big raft almost hit the headland of West Nicholas Island. With the cooperation of the oarsmen, the navigator finally saved the big raft from danger and continued to drive on the channel. At night the great raft sailed along a larger island called Naples.Here, the Napo River flows north. After irrigating the land of the Coto Indians of the Orgena tribe, it passes through an estuary about 800 meters wide and joins the Amazon River here. It was not until the morning of June 7 that the great raft passed a small island called Mungo.Because of this small island, the Napo River had to split into two tributaries before it emptied into the Amazon. A few years later, Paul Marquard, a French traveler, determined the color of this tributary here, aptly comparing it to the characteristic absinthe color of green opal.At the same time, he also corrected several data measured by Lagondamina.Now, however, due to flooding, the mouth of the Napo River has widened significantly, and the river flows down the eastern slopes of Cotopaxi, rushing quickly into the yellowed Amazon River. A few Indians were wandering at the mouth of the Napoleonic River.They were tall and strong, with loose hair and little rings of palm branches on their noses.Their earlobes reached to their shoulders from heavy hoops of precious wood.Several women were with them.None of them expressed a desire to come aboard. They were said to be cannibals, and even though many Indian tribes along the river were said to be cannibals, we have not yet been able to prove their cannibalism, even if it were true. A few hours later, the village of Bella-Vista on the lower beach came into view.The village shows people its beautiful groves, and the straw huts hidden under the groves.A few banana trees of medium height hung their broad leaves over the roof, as if their pots were overflowing with water. After this, in order to avoid the shallows and choose a better channel, the navigator steered the big raft to the right bank of the river.Before that, the big rafts had always traveled along the left bank of the river.During the driving process, there will naturally be some difficulties, but when the navigator takes a few sips of wine, the difficulties will be solved. Along the way, several black lagoons dot the Amazon River, which do not communicate with the big river.Among them is a lagoon named Orang, which is not very large, and the river flows into the lake through a wide choke.There are several islands of different sizes in the center of the lake, which are strangely combined.Benito told everyone that on the other side of the river is the ruins of Old Orang. For two days, according to the conditions of the current, the big raft sailed sometimes on the right bank and sometimes on the left bank.Did not encounter any local indigenous attacks at all. The "passengers" on the big raft have adapted to this new life.Joam Galal handed over all business matters during the trip to his son, while he often shut himself up in his room to meditate and write.As for what he was writing, he kept silent, not even telling Jaquita.But it's certainly a work as important as a memoir. Benito took on the mantle of leadership.While talking with the navigator, he still kept his eyes on six directions and his ears on all directions.Yaquita, Mina, and Manoel are often together, either discussing ideas about the future, or taking walks like in the garden of the manor.Their life is no different from that in the manor.But with Benito, the situation is a little different, because he has not yet found the opportunity to enjoy hunting!Although there are no wild animals in the Iquitos forest, such as agouti, western badger, capybara, etc., there are often groups of birds flying over the river bank, and they even dare to perch on the big raft. !In order to make these birds a delicacy on the table, Benito shot them.This time, Mina didn't stop him, because it was for everyone's benefit after all.But if there were some yellow or other herons, or some white or rosy cuckoos, Benito spared their death as a gesture of friendship to Mina.Except for one type of bird.The ugly-sounding "Galala" bird can dive, swim, and fly.Although the birds are not edible at all, Benito will not let them go, because their down can fetch a good price in the market in the Amazon Basin. Finally, after sailing through the village of "Omaga" and the mouth of the ancient river of Ambia, the raft arrived in Powas on the evening of June 11 and anchored on the shore. As it was still a few hours before dark, Benito went ashore with Fragoso, who was always at his service.Two hunters were going to hunt some game in the woods around the town.On their return they added an agouti, a capybara, and a dozen quail to the raft's storeroom. In this small town of Povas with only 260 inhabitants, Benito could have done some business with the monks of the local mission (who are also wholesalers), but now their warehouses are empty because they Just shipped a few bales of sarsaparilla and dozens of kilograms of rubber to the lower Amazon. At dawn the next day, the big raft set sail again.After passing the villages of Latio and Goshikina on the right bank, it enters an archipelago of islets of the same name.Several nameless small tributaries join the right bank of the river through the current between the islands. At this time, several Indians appeared on the shore.Their heads were shaved, their cheeks and foreheads were patterned, and their noses and lower lips were decorated with metal rings.They all carried arrows and blowpipes for projectiles, but they made no use of these weapons, and did not even intend to approach the raft at all.