Peru, Purús, Brazil - The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha - page 162

wayuptributariesofthemainrivers,interruptinglocalcommercial monopolies,defying
Brazilian custom houses, and moving materiel (untaxed!) through the varadouros into
the Ucayali. Rio Branco had two wars on his hands in the Purús watershed: the battles
over Acre territory and guerrilla conflict on the upper tributaries with Peru. There were
no formal troops fighting for Brazil.
If Plácido de Castro was the hero of the Brazil-Bolivian battles, his counterpart in the
Peruvian clashes was José Ferreira de Araújo. Ferreira was a Cearense migrant who had
left for the Amazon in 1872 to meet up with a relative who had migrated there to escape
the Northeastern drought of 1845. His long history in the region gave him great legit-
imacy in the ensuing conflicts. Infuriated by Peruvian actions, the seringueiros , under
the leadership of Ferreira de Araújo, organized resistance, so on June 25 Barreto and his
soldiers woke up to find themselves surrounded by two hundred Brazilian tappers. After
a skirmish, the Brazilians captured the outpost on the Chandless; some fifteen Peruvians
(most of the local garrison) died, and Barreto and Scharff were imprisoned in Manaus.
Both were later released, probably to the regret of the locals. Scharff returned to Iquitos.
Colonel Pedro Portillo, the commander at Iquitos, and Scharff made plans together to
retakethecustomshouseatthemouthoftheChandless.Scharff,withasmallcontingent
of thirty military men, two lieutenants, and a militia of some three hundred caucheiros ,
traversed the varadouros , and arrived on the upper Purús at Curanjá. A delegate from
the Peruvian forces demanded that Ferreira leave the post. This emissary was promptly
taken prisoner. A rescue party was sent out, and it also fell into the clutches of Brazil.
Peruvians rallied to retake their post at the mouth of Chandless, and constant battles en-
sued as the Peruvian force moved down the Purús destroying barracões (trading posts),
wooding stations, and domiciles as they passed. Finally they set up their position at Sta.
Rosa,billetingsixtymenthereandfifty-eightacrosstheriveratanentrepôtcalledFunil,
which da Cunha would describe in detail. Ferreira de Araújo and some 270 tappers res-
isted this incursion. The battle was on, and depending on the nationality of one's source,
it was a triumph either for Brazil or for Peru. Fifty-eight Brazilians were killed, but the
Peruvians fled back to the Ucayali. When Ferreira's men overran Funil, the Brazilians
killed their earlier prisoners.
This incident became a source of festering bitterness between the Brazilians and Per-
uvians on the mixed reconnaissance commission, as da Cunha made amply clear in a
private communiqué to Rio Branco. The battle had ended on April 1, 1904, but news of
it reached Rio only at the end of the month. Guerrilla war raged in the upper Purús and
Juruá; Brazil closed the upper Amazon to trade, especially munitions destined for Peru,
and once again caused fury as it interfered with international commerce. The embargo
of Peru, the disruption of the flows of rubber, and the mounting military forces on both
sides made some kind averting action imperative for maintaining globalized trade.