families
of wandering Indians at the mouth of the Jurua. The Teffe is almost
deserted, and near the sources of the Japur there remained but the
fragments of the great nation of the Umauea. The Coari is forsaken. There
are but few Muras Indians on the banks of the Purus. Of the ancient
Manaos one can count but a wandering party or two. On the banks of the
Rio Negro there are only a few half-breeds, Portuguese and natives,
where a few years ago twenty-four different nations had their homes.

Such is the law of progress. The Indians will disappear. Before the
Anglo-Saxon race Australians and Tasmanians have vanished. Before the
conquerors of the Far West the North American Indians have been wiped
out. One day perhaps the Arabs will be annihilated by the colonization
of the French.

But we must return to 1852. The means of communication, so numerous now,
did not then exist, and the journey of Joam Garral would require not
less than four months, owing to the conditions under which it was made.

Hence this observation of Benito, while the two friends were watching
the river as it gently flowed at their feet:

"Manoel, my friend, if there is very little interval between our arrival
at Belem and the moment of our separation, the time will appear to you
to be very short."

"Yes, Benito," said Manoel, "and very long as well, for Minha cannot by
my wife until the end of the voyage."

CHAPTER VI. A FOREST ON THE GROUND

THE GARRAL family were in high glee. The magnificent journey on the
Amazon was to be undertaken under conditions as agreeable as possible.
Not only were the fazender and his family to start on a voyage for
several months, but, as we shall see, he was to be accompanied by a part
of the staff of the farm.

In beholding every one happy around him, Joam forgot the anxieties which
appeared to trouble his life. From the day his decision was taken he had
been another man, and when he busied himself about the preparations
for the expedition he regained his former activity. His people rejoiced
exceedingly at seeing him again at work. His moral self reacted against
his physical self, and Joam again became the active, energetic man of
his earlier years, and moved about once more as though he had spent
his life in the open air, under the invigorating influences of forests,
fields, and running waters.

Moreover, the few weeks that were to precede his departure had been well
employed.

At this period, as we ha