Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
less chart calls the Curinãa. We continued on the same day. Between the settlements at Sta. Rosa and
Cataí the region is apparently deserted—only
caucheiros
work there, prisoners of the forest, and only
some abandoned farm and garden plots reveals old villages or trading posts. We passed through the
region in a bit more than four days, reuniting on the 22nd of June in Cataí, the seat of the Peruvian-
Brazilian customs administration. After this stop we arrived on the 25th at the hamlet of San Juan,
inhabitedbyPiroIndiansandPeruviansfromLoretowhoextract
caucho
.Inthisentireareatheshoals
and the emerging logs became inconsequential, no longer causing alarms or tribulations as they had
at first.
By the 25th, the Brazilian Commission was reduced to just nine people including the chief and
the auxiliary engineer, because five prisoners had to be sent back to Cataí, soldiers who had revealed
themselves little inclined to obey the orders given them. In spite of this diminished personnel, the
speed of our ascent did not decline appreciably, which continued on until we arrived at the Curanja
River, on the 28th in the afternoon. Curanja is the Curumãa of Chandless.
Figure 16.3.
The Peruvian Commission on a hard haul on the Cujar.
We delayed five days at this obligatory stop, where for the first time since the shipwreck we again
compared chronometers of the two parts of the commission. There we stayed until the 3rd of July,
principally to carry out the indispensable observations necessary for the calibration of our chrono-
meters, taking advantage of the site and its definite coordinates. There we confirmed with completely
trustworthy information the predictions made in Manaus about the unfortunate timing of our depar-
ture and the disquieting obstacles ahead of us. It was too late, however, to return, and united in the
same thought, we resolved to continue our upriver trek, which we had began on the 6th of July.
In contrast to what we expected, the natural difficulties did not particularly increase, becoming in
fact even less obviouseven after the lossofthe flowofthe largetributary ofthe Curanja tothe Purús.
Our journey continued on with its primitive momentum, as you can verify by a simple review of the
distance between the stopovers we made: 10 July, we passed Sta. Cruz, 11, Cocama, 13, Independen-
cia, 14, Shamboyaca, 15, Tingol Leales, 16, Kaki, 17, Ordem, and finally on the 18th, Forquilha do
Purús, where the hamlet of Alerta had been erected, the most prosperous post on the whole southern
part of the river. Then, even though suffering through a series of difficulties on the ascent (especially
serious for the Brazilians, whose supplies were meager in the extreme, having not yet encountered a
place to resupply), the commission resolved to complete the upriver travel, continuing the next day
up to the headwaters via the Cujar River.
Understand the difficulties we had to conquer in this advance on one of the last forks of the great
river, exactly at the moment of its lowest water, and in addition, due the geology of the landscape,
there was but one channel, with interminable and successive rapids that churned through it. You can
judge for yourselves the effort expended up to July 30th, when at night we once again joined the rest
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