Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
nelthroughisolatedriversrequiredtoarriveatthatremote
estancia
.Thevisitingexplorerisoblivious
andfeelsasifhewereatsomecommercial entrepôtonthecoast.Thedeceptionlacksfornothing:the
longcabinetblockingthemainroomwithitsshelvesgroaningwithmerchandise;thesolicitous,obed-
ient servants at the service of the extremely correct bookkeeper, whom one greeted on entering and
who returned quickly to his numbers, bending over his slanted desk; the glass of beer that is offered
instead of the more traditional
chicha
,
*1
the artistic paper marking each day; the newspapers from
Manaus and Lima—and what is most implausible, the pleasant and refined torture of a phonograph
obstinately gabbling the favorite aria of a famous tenor, here at the far end of the wilderness.
But all this surprising exterior cloaks a reality that the garrulous host did not choose to reveal. The
disillusion is sudden and impressive. This reflection of a superior life does not go beyond a niggardly
strip of land of less than a hectare, constrained between the threatening forest on the sides and behind
and the cliff hurtling down to the river in front.
Outsidethisfalsescenario,thereal,almostunimaginabledramaunfolds.Belowtheexaltedstateof
our opulent baron is, at a deplorable level, the mestizo from Loreto who goes to the jungles in search
of his fortune, or the gloomy Quechua brought in from the Andes . . . indeed, there is an unlimited
procession of the dispossessed. To discover them, you must travel into the obscure recesses of path-
less forest and seek them in their solitary hovels, completely alone, accompanied by their constant
companion,theirrifle,whichguaranteestheirsurvivalwiththehaphazardresourcesofhunting.There
they might live uncountably long years, but eventually they sicken, devoured by pests and afflictions,
and finally die in utter abandonment. Up to four hundred men, whom no one sees, are dispersed up
creeks and gullies, rarely appearing at that glorious thatched palace of the imperious baron who en-
slaved them. The conqueror doesn't police them; he knows they can't escape. A radius of six leagues
around is all his domain. The region, swarming with “infidels”—Indians—cannot be traversed. The
wilderness itself is always vigilant and guards his numerous slaves. Even the stately Campas, whom
he captured by wrangling a magisterial hoax on the ingenuous courage of the savage, will no longer
leave him, fearing their own wild brethren who will never forgive them their transitory submission.
Thisgenialadventurer,whotwoyearsearlierinLimaorArequipaexercisedonlythemostgracious
comportment, feels himself entirely free of the pressures and the infinite correctives of social life. At
the same time he acquires the consciousness of limitless command, and the feeling of impunity in-
fuses each caprice or crime; he embraces a most original savagery, one he has entered without having
had time to lose the superior attributes of the environment where he was born.
The
caucho
baron is really an original in history. He is antinomian and paradoxical. In the most
elaborated ethnographic framework there is no place for him. At first one situates him as yet another
vulgarcaseofthecivilizedpersonwho“goesnative”inasuddenculturalrejectionwherethesuperior
characteristics are extinguished in primitive forms of activity. But this is wrong. These contradict-
ory characteristics are not joined in a hybrid venture that is defined and stable. Rather, they coexist
without fusing. What we see is a case of a psychic mimicry of men who ape savagery to conquer
savages.The
caucheiro
isbothagentlemanandabrute,dependingoncircumstances.Thecuriousdu-
alism of one who tries to conserve the highest moral precepts next to a morality especially structured
for the wilderness reappears in all the actions of his tumultuous existence. The same man who with
enviablerectitudemakesalleffortstocoverhisdebts—whichsometimesexceedthousandsofpounds
with the exporters of Iquitos or Manaus—does not hesitate to cheat a miserable peon who works for
him of some kilos of ordinary
sernambi
; on occasion he shifts from the most refined gallantry to the
maximum brutality, stopping in the midst of a captivating smile and impeccable bow to leap with a
bellow, a shining dagger in his fist, onto the disobedient
cholo
who affronted him.
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