attention than it would in some other country. The rubber industry is extensive and thousands of the wild rubber trees are located and tapped. The trees usually are found near streams and the search for them leads the rubber-hunter farther and farther into the unbroken wilderness. Expeditions from time to time are sent out by rich owners of rubber "estates" to explore for fresh trees, and after his sojourn at Remate de Males and Floresta, so full of interest, Mr. Lange accompanied one of these parties into the unknown, with the extraordinary results described so simply yet dramatically in the following pages, which I commend most cordially, both to the experienced explorer and to the stay-by-the-fire, as an unusual and exciting story of adventure.

FREDERICK S. DELLENBAUGH.

NEW YORK, November 24, 1911.

PREFACE

It is difficult, if not impossible, to find a more hospitable and generous nation than the Brazilian. The recollection of my trip through the wilds of Amazonas lingers in all its details, and although my experiences were not always of a pleasant character, yet the good treatment and warm reception accorded me make me feel the deepest sense of gratitude to the Brazilians, whose generosity will always abide in my memory.

There is in the Brazilian language a word that better than any other describes the feeling with which one remembers a sojourn in Brazil. This word, saudades, is charged with an abundance of sentiment, and, though a literal translation of it is difficult to arrive at, its meaning approaches "sweet memories of bygone days."

Although a limitation of space forbids my expressing in full my obligation to all those who treated me kindly, I must not omit to state my special indebtedness to three persons, without whose invaluable assistance and co-operation I would not have been able to complete this book.

First of all, my thanks are due to the worthy Colonel Rosendo da Silva, owner of the rubber estate Floresta on the Itecoahy River. Through his generosity and his interest, I was enabled to study the work and the life conditions of the rubber workers, the employees on his estate.

The equally generous but slightly less civilised Benjamin, high potentate of the tribe of Mangeroma cannibals, is the second to whom I wish to express my extreme gratitude, although my obligations to him are of a slightly different character: in the first place, because he did not order me to be killed and served up, well or medium done, to suit his fancy (which he had a perfect right to do); and, in the second place, because he took a great deal of interest in my personal welfare and bestowed all the strange favours upon me that are recorded in this book. He opened my eyes to things which, at the time and under the circumstances, did not impress me much, but which, nevertheless, convinced me that, even at this late period of the world's history, our earth has not been reduced to a dead level of drab and commonplace existence, and that somewhere in the remote parts of the world are still to be found people who have never seen or heard of white men.

Last, but not least, I wish to express my deep obligation to my valued friend, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who, through his helpful suggestions, made prior to my departure, contributed essentially to the final success of this enterprise, and whose friendly assistance has been called into requisition and unstintingly given in the course of the preparation of this volume.

A.L.

NEW YORK, January, 1912.

CONTENTS

Chapter

    I Remate de Males, or "Culmination of Evils"
    II The Social and Political Life of Remate de Males
    III Other Incidents During My Stay in Remate de Males
    IV The Journey up the Itecoahy River
    V Floresta: Life Among the Rubber-Workers
    VI The Fatal March Through the Forest
    VII The Fatal "Tambo No. 9"
    VIII What Happened in the Forest
    IX Among the Cannibal Mangeromas
    X The Fight Between the Mangeromas and the Peruvians
            Index

ILLUSTRATIONS

    A Little Village Built on Poles
    The Javary River
    The Mouth of the Itecoahy River
    Nazareth
    Trader's Store
    Remate de Males or "Culmination of Evils"
    The Street in Remate de Males
    General View of Remate de Males
    Sunset on the Itecoahy River
    An Ant Nest in a Tree
    The Launch "Carolina"
    The Banks of the Itecoahy
    The Mouth of the Ituhy River
    The Toucan
    The Banks of the Itecoahy River
    Clearing the Jungle
    Urubus
    "Nova Aurora"
    "Defumador" or Smoking Hut
    Matamata Tree
    The Urucu Plant
    The Author in the Jungle
    The Mouth of the Branco
    Branding Rubber on the Sand-Bar
    The Landing at Floresta
    The Banks at Floresta
    A General View of Floresta
    Morning
    Coronel Rosendo da Silva
    Chief Marques
    Interior of A Rubber-Worker's Hut
    João
    The Murumuru Palm
    A "Seringueiro" Tapping a Rubber Tree
    Smoking the Rubber-Milk
    Forest Interior
    A Fig-Tree Completely Overgrown with Orchids
    Chico, The Monkey
    Turtle Eggs on the Sand-Bank
    The Pirarucu
    The Last Resting-Place of the Rubber-Workers
    "Seringueiros"
    João
    Floresta Creek
    Lake Innocence
    Alligator from Lake Innocence
    Another Alligator from Lake Innocence
    Rubber-Workers' Home near Lake Innocence
    Harpooning a Large Sting-Ray
    Shooting Fish on Lake Innocence
    The Pirarucu
    Amazonian Game-Fish
    The Track of the Anaconda—The Sucuruju
    The Paca
    Rubber-Worker Perreira and Wife in their Sunday Clothes
    A "New Home" Sewing-Machine in an Indian Hut
    The Remarkable Pachiuba Palm-Tree
    Kitchen Interior
    The Beginning of the Fatal Expedition
    A Halt in the Forest
    Jungle Scenery
    Forest Creek
    Top of Hill
    Page Marsh-Deer and Mutum-Bird
    Jungle Darkness
    Creek in the Unknown
    Eating our Broiled Monkey at Tambo No. 5
    Hunting
    The Fatal Tambo No. 9
    A Photograph of the Author
    The Front View of Tambo No. 9
    Caoutchouc Process No. 1
    Caoutchouc Process No. 2
    Caoutchouc Process No. 3
    Creek Near Tambo No. 9
    The Author's Working Table at Tambo No. 9
    Forest Scenery Near Tambo No. 9
    Our Parting Breakfast
    Mangeroma Vase 399

CHAPTER I

REMATE DE MALES, OR "CULMINATION OF EVILS"

My eyes rested long upon the graceful white-painted hull of the R.M.S. Manco as she disappeared behind a bend of the Amazon River, more than 2200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. After 47 days of continuous travel aboard of her, I was at last standing on the Brazilian frontier, watching the