“And without any fatigue,” added Manoel; “we might do hundreds of thousands of miles in this way.” “And,” said Minha, “you do not repent having taken passage with us? Does it not seem to you as if we were afloat on an island drifted quietly away from the bed of the river with its prairies and its trees? Only----” “Only?” repeated the padre. “Only we have made the island with our own hands; it belongs to us, and I prefer it to all the islands of the Amazon. I have a right to be proud of it.” “Yes, my daughter; and I absolve you from your pride. Besides, I am not allowed to scold you in the presence of Manoel!” “But, on the other hand,” replied she, gayly, “you should teach Manoel to scold me when I deserve it. He is a great deal too indulgent to my little self.” “Well, then, dear Minha,” said Manoel, “I shall profit by that permission to remind you----” “Of what?” “That you were very busy in the library at the fazenda, and that you promised to make me very learned about everything connected with the Upper Amazon. We know very little about it in Para, and here we have been passing several islands and you have not even told me their names!” “What is the good of that?” said she. “Yes; what is the good of it?” repeated Benito. “What can be the use of remembering the hundreds of names in the ‘Tupi’ dialect with which these islands are dressed out? It is enough to know them. The Americans are much more practical with their Mississippi islands; they number them----” “As they number the avenues and streets of their towns,” replied Manoel. “Frankly, I don’t care much for that numerical system; it conveys nothing to the imagination--Sixty-fourth Island or Sixty-fifth Island, any more than Sixth Street or Third Avenue. Don’t you agree with me, Minha?” “Yes, Manoel; though I am of somewhat the same way of thinking as my brother. But even if we do not know their names, the islands of our great river are truly splendid! See how they rest under the shadows of those gigantic palm-trees with their drooping leaves! And the girdle of reeds which encircles them through which a pirogue can with difficulty make its way! And the mangrove trees, whose fantastic roots buttress them to the bank like the claws of some gigantic crab! Yes, the islands are beautiful, but, beautiful as they are, they cannot equal the one we have made our own!” “My little Minha is enthusiastic to-day,” said the padre. “Ah, padre! I am so happy to see everybody happy around me!” At this moment the voice of Yaquita was heard calling Minha into the house. The young girl smilingly ran off. “You will have an amiable companion,” said the padre. “All the joy of the house goes away with you, my friend.” “Brave little sister!” said Benito, “we shall miss her greatly, and the padre is right. However, if you do not marry her, Manoel--there is still time--she will stay with us.” “She will stay with you, Benito,” replied Manoel. “Believe me, I have a presentiment that we shall all be reunited!” The first day passed capitally; breakfast, dinner, siesta, walks, all took place as if Joam Garral and his people were still in the comfortable fazenda of Iquitos. During these twenty-four hours the mouths of the rivers Bacali, Chochio, Pucalppa, on the left of the stream, and those of the rivers Itinicari, Maniti, Moyoc, Tucuya, and the islands of this name on the right, were passed without accident. The night, lighted by the moon, allowed them to save a halt, and the giant raft glided peacefully on along the surface of the Amazon. On the morrow, the 7th of June, the jangada breasted the banks of the village of Pucalppa, named also New Oran. Old Oran, situated fifteen leagues down stream on the same left bank of the river, is almost abandoned for the new settlement, whose population consists of Indians belonging to the Mayoruna and Orejone tribes. Nothing can be more picturesque than this village with its ruddy-colored banks, its unfinished church, its cottages, whose chimneys are hidden amid the palms, and its two or three ubas half-stranded on the shore. During the whole of the 7th of June the jangada continued to follow the left bank of the river, passing several unknown tributaries of no importance. For a moment there was a chance of her grounding on the easterly shore of the island of Sinicure; but the pilot, well served by the crew, warded off the danger and remained in the flow of the stream. In the evening they arrived alongside a narrow island, called Napo Island, from the name of the river which here comes in from the north-northwest, and mingles its waters with those of the Amazon through a mouth about eight hundred yards across, after having watered the territories of the Coto and Orejone Indians. It was on the morning of the 7th of June that the jangada was abreast the little island of Mango, which causes the Napo to split into two streams before falling into the Amazon. Several years later a French traveler, Paul Marcoy, went out to examine the color of the waters of this tributary, which has been graphically compared to the cloudy greenish opal of absinthe. At the same time he corrected some of the measurements of La Condamine. But then the mouth of the Napo was sensibly increased by the floods and it was with a good deal of rapidity that its current, coming from the eastern slopes of Cotopaxi, hurried fiercely to mingle itself with the tawny waters of the Amazon. A few Indians had wandered to the mouth of this river. They were robust in build, of tall stature, with shaggy hair, and had their noses pierced with a rod of palm, and the lobes of their ears lengthened to their shoulders by the weight of heavy rings of precious wood. Some women were with them. None of them showed any intention of coming on board. It is asserted that these natives are cannibals; but if that is true--and it is said of many of the riverine tribes--there must have been more evidence for the cannibalism than we get to-day. Some hours later the village of Bella Vista, situated on a somewhat lower bank, appeared, with its cluster of magnificent trees, towering above a few huts roofed with straw, over which there drooped the large leaves of some medium-sized banana-trees, like the waters overflowing from a tazza. Then the pilot, so as to follow a better current, which turned off from the bank, directed the raft toward the right side of the river, which he had not yet approached. The maneuver was not accomplished without certain difficulties, which were successfully overcome after a good many resorts to the demijohn. This allowed them to notice in passing some of those numerous lagoons with black waters, which are distributed along the course of the Amazon, and which often have no communication with the river. One of these, bearing the name of the Lagoon of Oran, is of fair size, and receives the water by a large strait. In the middle of the stream are scattered several islands and two or three islets curiously grouped; and on the opposite bank Benito recognized the site of the ancient Oran, of which they could only see a few uncertain traces. During two days the jangada traveled sometimes under the left bank, sometimes under the right, according to the condition of the current, without giving the least sign of grounding. The passengers had already become used to this new life. Joam Garral, leaving to his son everything that referred to the commercial side of the expedition, kept himself principally to his room, thinking and writing. What he was writing about he told to nobody, not even Yaquita, and it seemed to have already assumed the importance of a veritable essay. Benito, all observation, chatted with the pilot and acted as manager. Yaquita, her daughter, and Manoel, nearly always formed a group apart, discussing their future projects just as they had walked and done in the park of the fazenda. The life was, in fact, the same. Not quite, perhaps, to Benito, who had not yet found occasion to participate in the pleasures of the chase. If, however, the forests of Iquitos failed him with their wild beasts, agoutis, peccaries, and cabiais, the birds flew in flocks from the banks of the river and fearlessly perched on the jangada. When they were of such quality as to figure fairly on the table, Benito shot them; and, in the interest of all, his sister raised no objection; but if he came across any gray or yellow herons, or red or white ibises, which haunt the sides, he spared them through love for Minha. One single species of grebe, which is uneatable, found no grace in the eyes of the young merchant; this was the -“caiarara,”- as quick to dive as to swim or fly; a bird with a disagreeable cry, but whose down bears a high price in the different markets of the Amazonian basin. At length, after having passed the village of Omaguas and the mouth of the Ambiacu, the jangada arrived at Pevas on the evening of the 11th of June, and was moored to the bank. As it was to remain here for some hours before nightfall, Benito disembarked, taking with him the ever-ready Fragoso, and the two sportsmen started off to beat the thickets in the environs of the little place. An agouti and a cabiai, not to mention a dozen partridges, enriched the larder after this fortunate excursion. At Pevas, where there is a population of two hundred and sixty inhabitants, Benito would perhaps have done some trade with the lay brothers of the mission, who are at the same time wholesale merchants, but these had just sent away some bales of sarsaparilla and arrobas of caoutchouc toward the Lower Amazon, and their stores were empty. The jangada departed at daybreak, and passed the little archipelago of the Iatio and Cochiquinas islands, after having left the village of the latter name on the right. Several mouths of smaller unnamed affluents showed themselves on the right of the river through the spaces between the islands. Many natives, with shaved heads, tattooed cheeks and foreheads, carrying plates of metal in the lobes of their ears, noses, and lower lips, appeared for an instant on the shore. They were armed with arrows and blow tubes, but made no use of them, and did not even attempt to communicate with the jangada. CHAPTER XI. FROM PEVAS TO THE FRONTIER DURING THE FEW days which followed nothing occurred worthy of note. The nights were so fine that the long raft went on its way with the stream without even a halt. The two picturesque banks of the river seemed to change like the panoramas of the theaters which unroll from one wing to another. By a kind of optical illusion it appeared as though the raft was motionless between two moving pathways. Benito had no shooting on the banks, for no halt was made, but game was very advantageously replaced by the results of the fishing. A great variety of excellent fish were taken---“pacos,” “surubis,” “gamitanas,”- of exquisite flavor, and several of those large rays called -“duridaris,”- with rose-colored stomachs and black backs armed with highly poisonous darts. There were also collected by thousands those -“candirus,”- a kind of small silurus, of which many are microscopic, and which so frequently make a pincushion of the calves of the bather when he imprudently ventures into their haunts. The rich waters of the Amazon were also frequented by many other aquatic animals, which escorted the jangada through its waves for whole hours together. There were the gigantic -“pria-rucus,”- ten and twelve feet long, cuirassed with large scales with scarlet borders, whose flesh was not much appreciated by the natives. Neither did they care to capture many of the graceful dolphins which played about in hundreds, striking with their tails the planks of the raft, gamboling at the bow and stern, and making the water alive with colored reflections and spurts of spray, which the refracted light converted into so many rainbows. On the 16th of June the jangada, after fortunately clearing several shallows in approaching the banks, arrived near the large island of San Pablo, and the following evening she stopped at the village of Moromoros, which is situated on the left side of the Amazon. Twenty-four hours afterward, passing the mouths of the Atacoari or Cocha--or rather the -“furo,”- or canal, which communicates with the lake of Cabello-Cocha on the right bank--she put in at the rising ground of the mission of Cocha. This was the country of the Marahua Indians, whose long floating hair, and mouths opening in the middle of a kind of fan made of the spines of palm-trees, six inches long, give them a cat-like look--their endeavor being, according to Paul Marcoy, to resemble the tiger, whose boldness, strength, and cunning they admire above everything. Several women came with these Marahuas, smoking cigars, but holding the lighted ends in their teeth. All of them, like the king of the Amazonian forests, go about almost naked. The mission of Cocha was then in charge of a Franciscan monk, who was anxious to visit Padre Passanha. Joam Garral received him with a warm welcome, and offered him a seat at the dinner-table. On that day was given a dinner which did honor to the Indian cook. The traditional soup of fragrant herbs; cake, so often made to replace bread in Brazil, composed of the flour of the manioc thoroughly impregnated with the gravy of meat and tomato jelly; poultry with rice, swimming in a sharp sauce made of vinegar and -“malagueta;”- a dish of spiced herbs, and cold cake sprinkled with cinnamon, formed enough to tempt a poor monk reduced to the ordinary meager fare of his parish. They tried all they could to detain him, and Yaquita and her daughter did their utmost in persuasion. But the Franciscan had to visit on that evening an Indian who was lying ill at Cocha, and he heartily thanked the hospitable family and departed, not without taking a few presents, which would be well received by the neophytes of the mission. For two days Araujo was very busy. The bed of the river gradually enlarged, but the islands became more numerous, and the current, embarrassed by these obstacles, increased in strength. Great care was necessary in passing between the islands of Cabello-Cocha, Tarapote, and Cacao. Many stoppages had to be made, and occasionally they were obliged to pole off the jangada, which now and then threatened to run aground. Every one assisted in the work, and it was under these difficult circumstances that, on the evening of the 20th of June, they found themselves at Nuestra-Senora-di-Loreto. Loreto is the last Peruvian town situated on the left bank of the river before arriving at the Brazilian frontier. It is only a little village, composed of about twenty houses, grouped on a slightly undulating bank, formed of ocherous earth and clay. It was in 1770 that this mission was founded by the Jesuit missionaries. The Ticuma Indians, who inhabit the territories on the north of the river, are natives with ruddy skins, bushy hair, and striped designs on their faces, making them look like the lacquer on a Chinese table. Both men and women are simply clothed, with cotton bands bound round their thighs and stomachs. They are now not more than two hundred in number, and on the banks of the Atacoari are found the last traces of a nation which was formerly so powerful under its famous chiefs. At Loreto there also live a few Peruvian soldiers and two or three Portuguese merchants, trading in cotton stuffs, salt fish, and sarsaparilla. Benito went ashore, to buy, if possible, a few bales of this smilax, which is always so much in demand in the markets of the Amazon. Joam Garral, occupied all the time in the work which gave him not a moment’s rest, did not stir. Yaquita, her daughter, and Manoel also remained on board. The mosquitoes of Loreto have a deserved reputation for driving away such visitors as do not care to leave much of their blood with the redoubtable diptera. Manoel had a few appropriate words to say about these insects, and they were not of a nature to encourage an inclination to brave their stings. “They say that all the new species which infest the banks of the Amazon collect at the village of Loreto. I believe it, but do not wish to confirm it. There, Minha, you can take your choice between the gray mosquito, the hairy mosquito, the white-clawed mosquito, the dwarf mosquito, the trumpeter, the little fifer, the urtiquis, the harlequin, the big black, and the red of the woods; or rather they make take their choice of you for a little repast, and you will come back hardly recognizable! I fancy these bloodthirsty diptera guard the Brazilian frontier considerably better than the poverty-stricken soldiers we see on the bank.” “But if everything is of use in nature,” asked Minha, “what is the use of mosquitoes?” “They minister to the happiness of entomologists,” replied Manoel; “and I should be much embarrassed to find a better explanation.” What Manoel had said of the Loreto mosquitoes was only too true. When Benito had finished his business and returned on board, his face and hands were tattooed with thousands of red points, without counting some chigoes, which, in spite of the leather of his boots, had introduced themselves beneath his toes. “Let us set off this very instant,” said Benito, “or these wretched insects will invade us, and the jangada will become uninhabitable!” “And we shall take them into Para,” said Manoel, “where there are already quite enough for its own needs.” And so, in order not to pass even the night near the banks, the jangada pushed off into the stream. On leaving Loreto the Amazon turns slightly toward the southwest, between the islands of Arava, Cuyari, and Urucutea. The jangada then glided along the black waters of the Cajaru, as they mingled with the white stream of the Amazon. After having passed this tributary on the left, it peacefully arrived during the evening of the 23d of June alongside the large island of Jahuma. The setting of the sun on a clear horizon, free from all haze, announced one of those beautiful tropical nights which are unknown in the temperate zones. A light breeze freshened the air; the moon arose in the constellated depths of the sky, and for several hours took the place of the twilight which is absent from these latitudes. But even during this period the stars shone with unequaled purity. The immense plain seemed to stretch into the infinite like a sea, and at the extremity of the axis, which measures more than two hundred thousand millions of leagues, there appeared on the north the single diamond of the pole star, on the south the four brilliants of the Southern Cross. The trees on the left bank and on the island of Jahuma stood up in sharp black outline. There were recognizable in the undecided -silhouettes- the trunks, or rather columns, of -“copahus,”- which spread out in umbrellas, groups of -“sandis,”- from which is extracted the thick and sugared milk, intoxicating as wine itself, and -“vignaticos”- eighty feet high, whose summits shake at the passage of the lightest currents of air. “What a magnificent sermon are these forests of the Amazon!” has been justly said. Yes; and we might add, “What a magnificent hymn there is in the nights of the tropics!” The birds were giving forth their last evening notes---“bentivis,”- who hang their nests on the bank-side reeds; -“niambus,”- a kind of partridge, whose song is composed of four notes, in perfect accord; -“kamichis,”- with their plaintive melody; kingfishers, whose call responds like a signal to the last cry of their congeners; -“canindes,”- with their sonorous trumpets; and red macaws, who fold their wings in the foliage of the -“jaquetibas,”- when night comes on to dim their glowing colors. On the jangada every one was at his post, in the attitude of repose. The pilot alone, standing in the bow, showed his tall stature, scarcely defined in the earlier shadows. The watch, with his long pole on his shoulder, reminded one of an encampment of Tartar horsemen. The Brazilian flag hung from the top of the staff in the bow, and the breeze was scarcely strong enough to lift the bunting. At eight o’clock the three first tinklings of the Angelus escaped from the bell of the little chapel. The three tinklings of the second and third verses sounded in their turn, and the salutation was completed in the series of more rapid strokes of the little bell. However, the family after this July day remained sitting under the veranda to breathe the fresh air from the open. It had been so each evening, and while Joam Garral, always silent, was contented to listen, the young people gayly chatted away till bedtime. “Ah! our splendid river! our magnificent Amazon!” exclaimed the young girl, whose enthusiasm for the immense stream never failed. “Unequaled river, in very truth,” said Manoel; “and I do not understand all its sublime beauties. We are going down it, however, like Orellana and La Condamine did so many centuries ago, and I am not at all surprised at their marvelous descriptions.” “A little fabulous,” replied Benito. “Now, brother,” said Minha seriously, “say no evil of our Amazon.” “To remind you that it has its legends, my sister, is to say no ill of it.” “Yes, that is true; and it has some marvelous ones,” replied Minha. “What legends?” asked Manoel. “I dare avow that they have not yet found their way into Para--or rather that, for my part, I am not acquainted with them.” “What, then do you learn in the Belem colleges?” laughingly asked Minha. “I begin to perceive that they teach us nothing,” replied Manoel. “What, sir!” replied Minha, with a pleasant seriousness, “you do not know, among other fables, that an enormous reptile called the -‘minhocao,’- sometimes visits the Amazon, and that the waters of the river rise or fall according as this serpent plunges in or quits them, so gigantic is he?” “But have you ever seen this phenomenal minhocao?” “Alas, no!” replied Lina. “What a pity!” Fragoso thought it proper to add. “And the ‘Mae d’Aqua,’” continued the girl--“that proud and redoubtable woman whose look fascinates and drags beneath the waters of the river the imprudent ones who gaze a her.” “Oh, as for the ‘Mae d’Aqua,’ she exists!” cried the naïve Lina; “they say that she still walks on the banks, but disappears like a water sprite as soon as you approach her.” “Very well, Lina,” said Benito; “the first time you see her just let me know.” “So that she may seize you and take you to the bottom of the river? Never, Mr. Benito!” “She believes it!” shouted Minha. “There are people who believe in the trunk of Manaos,” said Fragoso, always ready to intervene on behalf of Lina. “The ‘trunk of Manaos’?” asked Manoel. “What about the trunk of Manaos?” “Mr. Manoel,” answered Fragoso, with comic gravity, “it appears that there is--or rather formerly was--a trunk of -‘turuma,’- which every year at the same time descended the Rio Negro, stopping several days at Manaos, and going on into Para, halting at every port, where the natives ornamented it with little flags. Arrived at Belem, it came to a halt, turned back on its road, remounted the Amazon to the Rio Negro, and returned to the forest from which it had mysteriously started. One day somebody tried to drag it ashore, but the river rose in anger, and the attempt had to be given up. And on another occasion the captain of a ship harpooned it and tried to tow it along. This time again the river, in anger, broke off the ropes, and the trunk mysteriously escaped.” “What became of it?” asked the mulatto. “It appears that on its last voyage, Miss Lina,” replied Fragoso, “it mistook the way, and instead of going up the Negro it continued in the Amazon, and it has never been seen again.” “Oh, if we could only meet it!” said Lina. “If we meet it,” answered Benito, “we will put you on it! It will take you back to the mysterious forest, and you will likewise pass into the state of a legendary mind!” “And why not?” asked the mulatto. “So much for your legends,” said Manoel; “and I think your river is worthy of them. But it has also its histories, which are worth something more. I know one, and if I were not afraid of grieving you--for it is a very sad one--I would relate it.” “Oh! tell it, by all means, Mr. Manoel,” exclaimed Lina; “I like stories which make you cry!” “What, do you cry, Lina?” said Benito. “Yes, Mr. Benito; but I cry when laughing.” “Oh, well! let us save it, Manoel!” “It is the history of a Frenchwoman whose sorrows rendered these banks memorable in the eighteenth century.” “We are listening,” said Minha. “Here goes, then,” said Manoel. “In 1741, at the time of the expedition of the two Frenchmen, Bouguer and La Condamine, who were sent to measure a terrestrial degree on the equator, they were accompanied by a very distinguished astronomer, Godin des Odonais. Godin des Odonais set out then, but he did not set out alone, for the New World; he took with him his young wife, his children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law. The travelers arrived at Quito in good health. There commenced a series of misfortunes for Madame Odonais; in a few months she lost some of her children. When Godin des Odonais had completed his work, toward the end of the year 1759, he left Quito and started for Cayenne. Once arrived in this town he wanted his family to come to him, but war had been declared, and he was obliged to ask the Portuguese government for permission for a free passage for Madame Odonais and her people. What do you think? Many years passed before the permission could be given. In 1765 Godin des Odonais, maddened by the delay, resolved to ascend the Amazon in search of his wife at Quito; but at the moment of his departure a sudden illness stopped him, and he could not carry out his intention. However, his application had not been useless, and Madame des Odonais learned at last that the king of Portugal had given the necessary permission, and prepared to embark and descend the river to her husband. At the same time an escort was ordered to be ready in the missions of the Upper Amazon. Madame des Odonais was a woman of great courage, as you will see presently; she never hesitated, and notwithstanding the dangers of such a voyage across the continent, she started.” “It was her duty to her husband, Manoel,” said Yaquita, “and I would have done the same.” “Madame des Odonais,” continued Manoel, “came to Rio Bamba, at the south of Quito, bringing her brother-in-law, her children, and a French doctor. Their endeavor was to reach the missions on the Brazilian frontier, where they hoped to find a ship and the escort. The voyage at first was favorable; it was made down the tributaries of the Amazon in a canoe. The difficulties, however, gradually increased with the dangers and fatigues of a country decimated by the smallpox. Of several guides who offered their services, the most part disappeared after a few days; one of them, the last who remained faithful to the travelers, was drowned in the Bobonasa, in endeavoring to help the French doctor. At length the canoe, damaged by rocks and floating trees, became useless. It was therefore necessary to get on shore, and there at the edge of the impenetrable forest they built a few huts of foliage. The doctor offered to go on in front with a negro who had never wished to leave Madame des Odonais. The two went off; they waited for them several days, but in vain. They never returned. “In the meantime the victuals were getting exhausted. The forsaken ones in vain endeavored to descend the Bobonasa on a raft. They had to again take to the forest, and make their way on foot through the almost impenetrable undergrowth. The fatigues were too much for the poor folks! They died off one by one in spite of the cares of the noble Frenchwoman. At the end of a few days children, relations, and servants, were all dead!” “What an unfortunate woman!” said Lina. “Madame des Odonais alone remained,” continued Manoel. “There she was, at a thousand leagues from the ocean which she was trying to reach! It was no longer a mother who continued her journey toward the river--the mother had lost her children; she had buried them with her own hands! It was a wife who wished to see her husband once again! She traveled night and day, and at length regained the Bobonasa. She was there received by some kind-hearted Indians, who took her to the missions, where the escort was waiting. But she arrived alone, and behind her the stages of the route were marked with graves! Madame des Odonais reached Loreto, where we were a few days back. From this Peruvian village she descended the Amazon, as we are doing at this moment, and at length she rejoined her husband after a separation of nineteen years.” “Poor lady!” said Minha. “Above all, poor mother!” answered Yaquita. At this moment Araujo, the pilot, came aft and said: “Joam Garral, we are off the Ronde Island. We are passing the frontier!” “The frontier!” replied Joam. And rising, he went to the side of the jangada, and looked long and earnestly at the Ronde Island, with the waves breaking up against it. Then his hand sought his forehead, as if to rid himself of some remembrance. “The frontier!” murmured he, bowing his head by an involuntary movement. But an instant after his head was raised, and his expression was that of a man resolved to do his duty to the last. CHAPTER XII. FRAGOSO AT WORK “BRAZA” (burning embers) is a word found in the Spanish language as far back as the twelfth century. It has been used to make the word “brazil,” as descriptive of certain woods which yield a reddish dye. From this has come the name “Brazil,” given to that vast district of South America which is crossed by the equator, and in which these products are so frequently met with. In very early days these woods were the object of considerable trade. Although correctly called -“ibirapitunga,”- from the place of production, the name of -“brazil”- stuck to them, and it has become that of the country, which seems like an immense heap of embers lighted by the rays of the tropical sun. Brazil was from the first occupied by the Portuguese. About the commencement of the sixteenth century, Alvarez Cabral, the pilot, took possession of it, and although France and Holland partially established themselves there, it has remained Portuguese, and possesses all the qualities which distinguish that gallant little nation. It is to-day the largest state of South America, and has at its head the intelligent artist-king Dom Pedro. “What is your privilege in the tribe?” asked Montaigne of an Indian whom he met at Havre. “The privilege of marching first to battle!” innocently answered the Indian. War, we know, was for a long time the surest and most rapid vehicle of civilization. The Brazilians did what this Indian did: they fought, they defended their conquests, they enlarged them, and we see them marching in the first rank of the civilizing advance. It was in 1824, sixteen years after the foundation of the Portugo-Brazilian Empire, that Brazil proclaimed its independence by the voice of Don Juan, whom the French armies had chased from Portugal. It remained only to define the frontier between the new empire and that of its neighbor, Peru. This was no easy matter. If Brazil wished to extend to the Rio Napo in the west, Peru attempted to reach eight degrees further, as far as the Lake of Ega. But in the meantime Brazil had to interfere to hinder the kidnaping of the Indians from the Amazon, a practice which was engaged in much to the profit of the Hispano-Brazilian missions. There was no better method of checking this trade than that of fortifying the Island of the Ronde, a little above Tabatinga, and there establishing a post. This afforded the solution, and from that time the frontier of the two countries passed through the middle of this island. Above, the river is Peruvian, and is called the Marañon, as has been said. Below, it is Brazilian, and takes the name of the Amazon. It was on the evening of the 25th of June that the jangada stopped before Tabatinga, the first Brazilian town situated on the left bank, at the entrance of the river of which it bears the name, and belonging to the parish of St. Paul, established on the right a little further down stream. Joam Garral had decided to pass thirty-six hours here, so as to give a little rest to the crew. They would not start, therefore, until the morning of the 27th. On this occasion Yaquita and her children, less likely, perhaps, than at Iquitos to be fed upon by the native mosquitoes, had announced their intention of going on ashore and visiting the town. The population of Tabatinga is estimated at four hundred, nearly all Indians, comprising, no doubt, many of those wandering families who are never settled at particular spots on the banks of the Amazon or its smaller tributaries. The post at the island of the Ronde has been abandoned for some years, and transferred to Tabatinga. It can thus be called a garrison town, but the garrison is only composed of nine soldiers, nearly all Indians, and a sergeant, who is the actual commandant of the place. A bank about thirty feet high, in which are cut the steps of a not very solid staircase, forms here the curtain of the esplanade which carries the pigmy fort. The house of the commandant consists of a couple of huts placed in a square, and the soldiers occupy an oblong building a hundred feet away, at the foot of a large tree. The collection of cabins exactly resembles all the villages and hamlets which are scattered along the banks of the river, although in them a flagstaff carrying the Brazilian colors does not rise above a sentry-box, forever destitute of its sentinel, nor are four small mortars present to cannonade on an emergency any vessel which does not come in when ordered. As for the village properly so called, it is situated below, at the base of the plateau. A road, which is but a ravine shaded by ficuses and miritis, leads to it in a few minutes. There, on a half-cracked hill of clay, stand a dozen houses, covered with the leaves of the -“boiassu”- palm placed round a central space. All this is not very curious, but the environs of Tabatinga are charming, particularly at the mouth of the Javary, which is of sufficient extent to contain the Archipelago of the Aramasa Islands. Hereabouts are grouped many fine trees, and among them a large number of the palms, whose supple fibers are used in the fabrication of hammocks and fishing-nets, and are the cause of some trade. To conclude, the place is one of the most picturesque on the Upper Amazon. Tabatinga is destined to become before long a station of some importance, and will no doubt rapidly develop, for there will stop the Brazilian steamers which ascend the river, and the Peruvian steamers which descend it. There they will tranship passengers and cargoes. It does not require much for an English or American village to become in a few years the center of considerable commerce. The river is very beautiful along this part of its course. The influence of ordinary tides is not perceptible at Tabatinga, which is more than six hundred leagues from the Atlantic. But it is not so with the -“pororoca,”- that species of eddy which for three days in the height of the syzygies raises the waters of the Amazon, and turns them back at the rate of seventeen kilometers per hour. They say that the effects of this bore are felt up to the Brazilian frontier. On the morrow, the 26th of June, the Garral family prepared to go off and visit the village. Though Joam, Benito, and Manoel had already set foot in a Brazilian town, it was otherwise with Yaquita and her daughter; for them it was, so to speak, a taking possession. It is conceivable, therefore, that Yaquita and Minha should attach some importance to the event. If, on his part, Fragoso, in his capacity of wandering barber, had already run through the different provinces of South America, Lina, like her young mistress, had never been on Brazilian soil. But before leaving the jangada Fragoso had sought Joam Garral, and had the following conversation with him. “Mr. Garral,” said he, “from the day when you received me at the fazenda of Iquitos, lodged, clothed, fed--in a word, took me in so hospitably--I have owed you----” “You owe me absolutely nothing, my friend,” answered Joam, “so do not insist----” “Oh, do not be alarmed!” exclaimed Fragoso, “I am not going to pay it off! Let me add, that you took me on board the jangada and gave me the means of descending the river. But here we are, on the soil of Brazil, which, according to all probability, I ought never to have seen again. Without that liana----” “It is to Lina, and to Lina alone, that you should tender your thanks,” said Joam. “I know,” said Fragoso, “and I will never forget what I owe here, any more than what I owe you.” “They tell me, Fragoso,” continued Joam, “that you are going to say good-by, and intend to remain at Tabatinga.” “By no means, Mr. Garral, since you have allowed me to accompany you to Belem, where I hope at the least to be able to resume my old trade.” “Well, if that is your intention--what were you going to ask me?” “I was going to ask if you saw any inconvenience in my working at my profession on our route. There is no necessity for my hand to rust; and, besides, a few handfuls of reis would not be so bad at the bottom of my pocket, more particularly if I had earned them. You know, Mr. Garral, that a barber who is also a hairdresser--and I hardly like to say a doctor, out of respect to Mr. Manoel--always finds customers in these Upper Amazon villages.” “Particularly among the Brazilians,” answered Joam. “As for the natives----” “I beg pardon,” replied Fragoso, “particularly among the natives. Ah! although there is no beard to trim--for nature has been very stingy toward them in that way--there are always some heads of hair to be dressed in the latest fashion. They are very fond of it, these savages, both the men and the women! I shall not be installed ten minutes in the square at Tabatinga, with my cup and ball in hand--the cup and ball I have brought on board, and which I can manage with pretty pleasantly--before a circle of braves and squaws will have formed around me. They will struggle for my favors. I could remain here for a month, and the whole tribe of the Ticunas would come to me to have their hair looked after! They won’t hesitate to make the acquaintance of ‘curling tongs’--that is what they will call me--if I revisit the walls of Tabatinga! I have already had two tries here, and my scissors and comb have done marvels! It does not do to return too often on the same track. The Indian ladies don’t have their hair curled every day, like the beauties of our Brazilian cities. No; when it is done, it is done for year, and during the twelvemonth they will take every care not to endanger the edifice which I have raised--with what talent I dare not say. Now it is nearly a year since I was at Tabatinga; I go to find my monuments in ruin! And if it is not objectionable to you, Mr. Garral, I would render myself again worthy of the reputation which I have acquired in these parts, the question of reis, and not that of conceit, being, you understand, the principal.” “Go on, then, friend,” replied Joam Garral laughingly; “but be quick! we can only remain a day at Tabatinga, and we shall start to-morrow at dawn.” “I will not lose a minute,” answered Fragoso--“just time to take the tools of my profession, and I am off.” “Off you go, Fragoso,” said Joam, “and may the reis rain into your pocket!” “Yes, and that is a proper sort of rain, and there can never be too much of it for your obedient servant.” And so saying Fragoso rapidly moved away. A moment afterward the family, with the exception of Joam, went ashore. The jangada was able to approach near enough to the bank for the landing to take place without much trouble. A staircase, in a miserable state, cut in the cliff, allowed the visitors to arrive on the crest of the plateau. Yaquita and her party were received by the commandant of the fort, a poor fellow who, however, knew the laws of hospitality, and offered them some breakfast in his cottage. Here and there passed and repassed several soldiers on guard, while on the threshold of the barrack appeared a few children, with their mothers of Ticuna blood, affording very poor specimens of the mixed race. In place of accepting the breakfast of the sergeant, Yaquita invited the commandant and his wife to come and have theirs on board the jangada. The commandant did not wait for a second invitation, and an appointment was made for eleven o’clock. In the meantime Yaquita, her daughter, and the young mulatto, accompanied by Manoel, went for a walk in the neighborhood, leaving Benito to settle with the commandant about the tolls--he being chief of the custom-house as well as of the military establishment. That done, Benito, as was his wont, strolled off with his gun into the adjoining woods. On this occasion Manoel had declined to accompany him. Fragoso had left the jangada, but instead of mounting to the fort he had made for the village, crossing the ravine which led off from the right on the level of the bank. He reckoned more on the native custom of Tabatinga than on that of the garrison. Doubtless the soldiers’ wives would not have wished better than to have been put under his hands, but the husbands scarcely cared to part with a few reis for the sake of gratifying the whims of their coquettish partners. Among the natives it was quite the reverse. Husbands and wives, the jolly barber knew them well, and he knew they would give him a better reception. Behold, then, Fragoso on the road, coming up the shady lane beneath the ficuses, and arriving in the central square of Tabatinga! As soon as he set foot in the place the famous barber was signaled, recognized, surrounded. Fragoso had no big box, nor drum, nor cornet to attract the attention of his clients--not even a carriage of shining copper, with resplendent lamps and ornamented glass panels, nor a huge parasol, no anything whatever to impress the public, as they generally have at fairs. No; but Fragoso had his cup and ball, and how that cup and ball were manipulated between his fingers! With what address did he receive the turtle’s head, which did for the ball, on the pointed end of the stick! With what grace did he make the ball describe some learned curve of which mathematicians have not yet calculated the value--even those who have determined the wondrous curve of “the dog who follows his master!” Every native was there--men, women, the old and the young, in their nearly primitive costume, looking on with all their eyes, listening with all their ears. The smiling entertainer, half in Portuguese, half in Ticunian, favored them with his customary oration in a tone of the most rollicking good humor. What he said was what is said by all the charlatans who place their services at the public disposal, whether they be Spanish Figaros or French perruqiers. At the bottom the same self-possession, the same knowledge of human weakness, the same description of threadbare witticisms, the same amusing dexterity, and, on the part of the natives, the same wide-mouth astonishment, the same curiosity, the same credulity as the simple folk of the civilized world. It followed, then, that ten minutes later the public were completely won, and crowded round Fragoso, who was installed in a -“loja”- of the place, a sort of serving-bar to the inn. The -loja- belonged to a Brazilian settled at Tabatinga. There, for a few vatems, which are the sols of the country, and worth about twenty reis, or half a dozen centimes each, the natives could get drinks of the crudest, and particularly assai, a liquor half-solid, half-liquid, made of the fruit of the palm-tree, and drunk from a -“coui”- or half-calabash in general use in this district of the Amazon. And then men and women, with equal eagerness, took their places on the barber’s stool. The scissors of Fragoso had little to do, for it was not a question of cutting these wealthy heads of hair, nearly all remarkable for their softness and their quality, but the use to which he could put his comb and the tongs, which were kept warming in the corner in a brasier. And then the encouragements of the artist to the crowd! “Look here! look here!” said he; “how will that do, my friends--if you don’t sleep on the top of it! There you are, for a twelvemonth! and these are the latest novelties from Belem and Rio de Janeiro! The queen’s maids of honor are not more cleverly decked out; and observe, I am not stingy with the pomade!” No, he was not stingy with it. True, it was only a little grease, with which he had mixed some of the juices of a few flowers, but he plastered it on like cement! And as to the names of the capillary edifices--for the monuments reared by the hands of Fragoso were of every order of architecture--buckles, rings, clubs, tresses, crimpings, rolls, corkscrews, curls, everything found there a place. Nothing false; no towers, no chignons, no shams! These head were not enfeebled by cuttings nor thinned by fallings-off, but were forests in all their native virginity! Fragoso, however, was not above adding a few natural flowers, two or three long fish-bones, and some fine bone or copper ornaments, which were brought him by the dandies of the district. Assuredly, the exquisites of the Directory would have envied the arrangement of these high-art coiffures, three and four stories high, and the great Leonard himself would have bowed before his transatlantic rival. And then the vatems, the handfuls of reis--the only coins for which the natives of the Amazon exchange their goods--which rained into the pocket of Fragoso, and which he collected with evident satisfaction. But assuredly night would come before he could satisfy the demands of the customers, who were so constantly renewed. It was not only the population of Tabatinga which crowded to the door of the loja. The news of the arrival of Fragoso was not slow to get abroad; natives came to him from all sides: Ticunas from the left bank of the river, Mayorunas from the right bank, as well as those who live on the Cajuru and those who come from the villages of the Javary. A long array of anxious ones formed itself in the square. The happy ones coming from the hands of Fragoso went proudly from one house to another, showed themselves off without daring to shake themselves, like the big children that they were. It thus happened that when noon came the much-occupied barber had not had time to return on board, but had had to content himself with a little assai, some manioc flour, and turtle eggs, which he rapidly devoured between two applications of the curling-tongs. But it was a great harvest for the innkeeper, as all the operations could not be conducted without a large absorption of liquors drawn from the cellars of the inn. In fact, it was an event for the town of Tabatinga, this visit of the celebrated Fragoso, barber in ordinary and extraordinary to the tribes of the Upper Amazon! CHAPTER XIII. TORRES AT FIVE O’CLOCK in the evening Fragoso was still there, and was asking himself if he would have to pass the night on the spot to satisfy the expectant crowd, when a stranger arrived in the square, and seeing all this native gathering, advanced toward the inn. For some minutes the stranger eyed Fragoso attentively with some circumspection. The examination was obviously satisfactory, for he entered the loja. He was a man about thirty-five years of age. He was dressed in a somewhat elegant traveling costume, which added much to his personal appearance. But his strong black beard, which the scissors had not touched for some time, and his hair, a trifle long, imperiously required the good offices of a barber. “Good-day, friend, good-day!” said he, lightly striking Fragoso on the shoulder. Fragoso turned round when he heard the words pronounced in pure Brazilian, and not in the mixed idiom of the natives. “A compatriot?” he asked, without stopping the twisting of the refractory mouth of a Mayouma head. “Yes,” answered the stranger. “A compatriot who has need of your services.” “To be sure! In a minute,” said Fragoso. “Wait till I have finished with this lady!” And this was done in a couple of strokes with the curling-tongs. Although he was the last comer, and had no right to the vacant place, he sat down on the stool without causing any expostulation on the part of the natives who lost a turn. Fragoso put down the irons for the scissors, and, after the manner of his brethren, said: “What can I do for you, sir?” “Cut my beard and my hair,” answered the stranger. “All right!” said Fragoso, inserting his comb into the mass of hair. And then the scissors to do their work. “And you come from far?” asked Fragoso, who could not work without a good deal to say. “I have come from the neighborhood of Iquitos.” “So have I!” exclaimed Fragoso. “I have come down the Amazon from Iquitos to Tabatinga. May I ask your name?” « , » ; « 1 . » 2 3 « , » , « ? 4 5 ? 6 - - - - » 7 8 « ? » . 9 10 « ; , 11 . 12 . » 13 14 « , ; . , 15 ! » 16 17 « , , » , , « 18 . 19 . » 20 21 « , , , » , « 22 - - - - » 23 24 « ? » 25 26 « , 27 28 . , 29 ! » 30 31 « ? » . 32 33 « ; ? » . « 34 35 ? . 36 ; 37 - - - - » 38 39 « , » . 40 « , ; 41 - - - - , 42 . , 43 ? » 44 45 « , ; 46 . , 47 ! 48 - ! 49 50 ! , 51 ! , 52 , , , 53 ! » 54 55 « - , » . 56 57 « , ! ! » 58 59 60 . 61 62 . 63 64 « , » . « 65 , . » 66 67 « ! » , « , 68 . , , - - 69 - - . » 70 71 « , , » . « , 72 ! » 73 74 ; , , , , 75 76 . 77 78 - , , 79 , , , 80 , , , , 81 . , , 82 , 83 . 84 85 , , 86 , . , 87 , 88 , 89 . 90 - , 91 , , 92 , - . 93 94 95 , 96 . 97 ; , 98 , . 99 100 , 101 , 102 - , 103 , 104 . 105 106 107 , 108 . 109 110 , , 111 , 112 . 113 . 114 115 , 116 , 117 . 118 119 . 120 , , , 121 , 122 . 123 . . 124 ; - - 125 - - 126 - . 127 128 , 129 , , , 130 , 131 - - , 132 . 133 134 , , 135 , , 136 . 137 , 138 . 139 140 141 , , 142 . , 143 , , 144 . 145 ; 146 , 147 . 148 149 , 150 , , 151 . 152 153 . , 154 155 , , 156 . , , 157 158 . 159 160 , , . 161 , , , , 162 163 . , , . , 164 , , 165 . , , 166 , , , , 167 168 . 169 , ; , , 170 ; , 171 , , 172 . , , 173 ; - « , » - 174 ; , 175 . 176 177 , 178 , 179 , . 180 181 , 182 , - , 183 184 . , , 185 . , 186 , 187 , 188 , 189 190 , . 191 192 , 193 , 194 . 195 196 . 197 198 , , , 199 , , , 200 . 201 , , 202 . 203 204 205 206 207 . 208 209 . 210 211 . 212 213 . 214 . 215 216 , , 217 . 218 219 - - - « , » « , » 220 « , » - , 221 - « , » - - 222 . 223 - « , » - , 224 , 225 . 226 227 228 , 229 . 230 231 - « - , » - , 232 , 233 . 234 , 235 , , 236 , 237 . 238 239 , 240 , 241 , 242 , . - 243 , - - 244 - « , » - , 245 - - - 246 . , 247 , 248 - , , - 249 - - , , 250 , , , 251 . , , 252 . , 253 , . 254 255 , 256 . 257 258 , 259 - . 260 261 . 262 ; , 263 , 264 ; , 265 - « ; » - , 266 , 267 . 268 , 269 . 270 , 271 , , 272 . 273 274 . 275 , , , 276 , . 277 - , , 278 . , 279 , . 280 , 281 , , 282 - - - . 283 284 285 . , 286 , , 287 . 288 289 . 290 , 291 , , , 292 , . 293 , 294 . , 295 296 . 297 298 299 , , , 300 . 301 302 , , , , 303 . 304 , 305 , . , , 306 . 307 308 . 309 310 , 311 . 312 313 « 314 . , 315 . , , 316 , , - , 317 , , , , , 318 , ; 319 , 320 ! 321 - 322 . » 323 324 « , » , « 325 ? » 326 327 « , » ; « 328 . » 329 330 . 331 , 332 , 333 , , , 334 . 335 336 « , » , « 337 , ! » 338 339 « , » , « 340 . » 341 342 , , 343 . 344 345 , 346 , , . 347 , 348 . 349 , 350 . 351 352 , , 353 354 . ; 355 , 356 . 357 . 358 , 359 , , 360 , 361 . 362 363 364 . - - 365 , , - « , » - 366 , - « , » - 367 , , - « » - 368 , 369 . « ! » 370 . ; , « 371 ! » 372 373 - - - « , » - 374 - ; - « , » - 375 , , ; 376 - « , » - ; , 377 ; - « , » - 378 ; , 379 - « , » - 380 . 381 382 , . 383 , , , 384 . , 385 , . 386 , 387 . 388 389 390 . 391 , 392 . 393 394 , 395 . 396 397 , , , 398 , . 399 400 « ! ! ! » 401 , . 402 403 « , , » ; « 404 . , , 405 , 406 . » 407 408 « , » . 409 410 « , , » , « . » 411 412 « , , 413 . » 414 415 « , ; , » . 416 417 « ? » . « 418 - - , , 419 . » 420 421 « , ? » . 422 423 « , » . 424 425 « , ! » , , « 426 , , 427 - , - , 428 , 429 ? » 430 431 « ? » 432 433 « , ! » . 434 435 « ! » . 436 437 « , » - - « 438 439 . » 440 441 « , , ! » ; « 442 , 443 . » 444 445 « , , » ; « 446 . » 447 448 « ? 449 , . ! » 450 451 « ! » . 452 453 « , » , 454 . 455 456 « ? » . « ? » 457 458 « . , » , , « 459 - - - - - , - 460 , 461 , , , 462 . , , 463 , , 464 . 465 , , 466 . 467 . , 468 , , . » 469 470 « ? » . 471 472 « , , » , « 473 , 474 , . » 475 476 « , ! » . 477 478 « , » , « ! 479 , 480 ! » 481 482 « ? » . 483 484 « , » ; « 485 . , 486 . , - - 487 - - . » 488 489 « ! , , . , » ; « 490 ! » 491 492 « , , ? » . 493 494 « , . ; . » 495 496 « , ! , ! » 497 498 « 499 . » 500 501 « , » . 502 503 « , , » . « , 504 , , 505 , 506 , . 507 , , ; 508 , , - - , - - . 509 . 510 ; 511 . , 512 , . 513 , 514 , 515 . 516 ? . 517 , , 518 ; 519 , 520 . , , 521 522 , 523 . 524 . 525 , ; , 526 , 527 . » 528 529 « , , » , « 530 . » 531 532 « , » , « , 533 , - - , , 534 . 535 , . 536 ; 537 . , , 538 . 539 , 540 ; , , 541 , . 542 , , . 543 , 544 . 545 546 . ; , 547 . . 548 549 « . 550 . 551 , 552 . ! 553 . 554 , , , 555 ! » 556 557 « ! » . 558 559 « , » . « , 560 ! 561 - - 562 ; ! 563 ! 564 , . 565 - , , 566 . , 567 ! , 568 . 569 , , 570 . » 571 572 « ! » . 573 574 « , ! » . 575 576 , , : 577 578 « , . ! » 579 580 « ! » . 581 582 , , 583 , 584 . , 585 . 586 587 « ! » , . 588 589 , 590 . 591 592 593 594 595 . 596 597 « » ( ) 598 . « , » 599 . 600 « , » 601 , 602 . 603 . - « , » - 604 , - « » - , 605 , 606 . 607 608 . 609 , , , 610 , 611 , , 612 . - 613 , 614 - . 615 616 « ? » 617 . 618 619 « ! » 620 . 621 622 , , 623 . : , 624 , , 625 . 626 627 , 628 - , 629 , . 630 631 632 , . . 633 634 , 635 , . 636 637 638 , 639 - . 640 , 641 , . 642 643 , 644 . 645 646 , , , 647 . , , . 648 649 650 , , 651 , 652 . , 653 . 654 655 - , 656 . , , 657 . 658 659 , , , 660 , 661 . 662 663 , 664 , , , 665 666 . 667 668 , 669 . , 670 , , 671 , . 672 673 , 674 , 675 . 676 , 677 , . 678 679 680 , 681 682 - , , 683 684 . 685 686 , , 687 . , 688 , . , - 689 , , - « » - 690 . 691 692 , 693 , , 694 . 695 , 696 , 697 - , . , 698 . 699 700 701 , , 702 , 703 . . 704 705 . 706 707 . 708 , 709 . 710 - « , » - 711 , 712 . 713 . 714 715 , , 716 . , , 717 , 718 ; , , . 719 , , 720 . 721 722 , , , , 723 , , 724 , . 725 726 , 727 . 728 729 « . , » , « 730 , , , - - , - - 731 - - - - » 732 733 « , , » , « 734 - - - - » 735 736 « , ! » , « 737 ! , 738 . , , 739 , , . 740 - - - - » 741 742 « , , , » 743 . 744 745 « , » , « , 746 . » 747 748 « , , » , « 749 - , . » 750 751 « , . , 752 , . » 753 754 « , - - ? » 755 756 « 757 . ; , 758 , 759 , . , . , 760 - - 761 , . - - 762 . » 763 764 « , » . « 765 - - - - » 766 767 « , » , « . ! 768 - - 769 - - 770 . , , 771 ! 772 , - - 773 , 774 - - 775 . . , 776 777 ! 778 - - - - 779 ! , 780 ! . 781 , 782 . ; , 783 , 784 - - 785 . ; 786 ! , . , 787 788 , , , , 789 , . » 790 791 « , , , » ; « ! 792 , - 793 . » 794 795 « , » - - « 796 , . » 797 798 « , , » , « 799 ! » 800 801 « , , 802 . » 803 804 . 805 806 , , . 807 808 . , , 809 , 810 . 811 812 , 813 , , , 814 . 815 , 816 , , 817 . 818 819 , 820 . 821 822 , 823 . , , 824 , , 825 , 826 - - - 827 . 828 829 , , , 830 . . 831 , 832 , 833 . 834 . 835 , 836 837 . 838 839 . , 840 , 841 . 842 843 , , , 844 , ! 845 846 , 847 , . , , 848 - - 849 , , 850 , , 851 . ; , 852 ! 853 , , 854 ! 855 - - 856 « 857 ! » 858 859 - - , , , 860 , , 861 . , , 862 , 863 . 864 , 865 . 866 - , , 867 , , , 868 , - , 869 , . 870 871 , , 872 , , - « » - 873 , - . 874 875 - - . , 876 , , 877 , , 878 , , - , - , 879 - , - « » - 880 - . 881 882 , , 883 . , 884 , 885 , 886 , 887 . 888 889 ! 890 891 « ! ! » ; « , - - 892 ! , ! 893 ! 894 ; , 895 ! » 896 897 , . , , 898 , 899 ! 900 901 - - 902 - - , 903 , , , , , , , 904 . ; , , ! 905 - , 906 ! , , 907 , - , 908 , 909 . , 910 - , 911 , 912 . 913 914 , - - 915 - - 916 , . 917 918 , . 919 . 920 ; 921 : , 922 , 923 . 924 925 . 926 , 927 , 928 . 929 930 - 931 , 932 , , , 933 - . 934 935 , 936 937 . , 938 , , 939 ! 940 941 942 943 944 . 945 946 , 947 948 , , 949 , . 950 951 952 . , 953 . 954 955 - . 956 , 957 . , 958 , , , 959 . 960 961 « - , , - ! » , 962 . 963 964 965 , . 966 967 « ? » , 968 . 969 970 « , » . « 971 . » 972 973 « ! , » . « 974 ! » 975 976 - . 977 978 , , 979 980 . 981 982 , , 983 , : 984 985 « , ? » 986 987 « , » . 988 989 « ! » , . 990 991 . 992 993 « ? » , 994 . 995 996 « . » 997 998 « ! » . « 999 . ? » 1000