The Tajapuru River
in Amazonia, northern Brazil. Jesse, aged 14, and Lisette, 11,
are trying to grab hold of the boat. This is not a game, it's work. They're not the only ones
working the river traffic. Other kids catch a ride
to the passenger ferries. Take care, careful,
watch it, come on, get on. Get up. Get on in front. Just below them, the ferry's propeller. Push there, this way, come on. Put the rope this side, the swell's too strong,
the canoe will tip. I'm not going to let it go under. Risking death just to make a few pennies
selling jams and sweets. -How much for the palm sweets?
-Two reais. Are they any good?
Did you buy them or make them yourself? I brought them up upriver. They're not rotten, are they? No, they're good,
they've got preservatives. This sort of commerce is unique
to this stretch of the river. Here the Tajapuru is at its narrowest
and the boats pass close to the shore. It's the best place
for the little canoes to do business. About a dozen canoes have fastened
onto the Bom Jesus. The ship's captain maintains speed,
he has a schedule to keep to. -Palm sweets.
-I'll take one. That's two reais. Well, ships this size,
it's a dangerous business going alongside. They're huge and they move very quickly, but it's how we earn our daily bread,
make our living. [Portuguese spoken audio] Jesse and his friends
know all the large boats they make their livings from,
and their crews. Give me something to eat. On board the Bom Jesus, there's always some food
put aside for the river kids. [Portuguese spoken audio] Sometimes there are accidents, we try and help them out. Keep an eye out for them,
make sure they're okay. Some of the kids who climbed
on board are very young indeed. Something that worries Captain Santos. [Portuguese spoken audio] I keep a list of all the children's names. There seems to be more
and more of them lately. There are so many now, especially little ones
less than six years old on their own. I let the authorities know about them
because it's very dangerous what they do. Especially at night, I tell them not to do it at night,
by day, it's okay, it's fine. Under Brazilian law,
the river captain is responsible in case of accidents. Hey, be careful,
take the rope from the middle. [Portuguese spoken audio] Tie it up, that's it,
come on, okay, let's go now. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's very dangerous,
especially at the stern. It's treacherous. It's scary, I'm usually in a cold sweat. I'm big enough to work on my own now. [Portuguese spoken audio] I lost one pot of palm sweets,
but I sold three. He can neither read nor write,
but Jesse knows how to count his profits. Seven reais, about $3,5, a small contribution
to his family's income. Jesse's the youngest of 12 children. His mother, Benedicta, who's almost 60,
wakes him each morning. Jesse lived in this house
on stilts all his life. It's a life that revolves entirely
around the river. [Portuguese spoken audio] My husband's too old to work now. Sometimes we get up in the morning and there's nothing
to eat for the whole day. We hope there'll be something
for the next day. It's just the way it is out here,
sometimes we eat, sometimes we don't. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's a large family,
12 adults and 16 children. The kids could swim
before they could walk. [Portuguese spoken audio] Jesse's grandfather
settled here from Portugal at the turn of the last century during the rubber boom and later during the expansion
of the logging and timber industry. In the Amazonian basin,
the rivers are the main arteries for virtually everything. This ship from New Zealand has come to pick up
a consignment of tree trunks. The waterways are a constant ebb
and flow of people and trade. These barges
are the public transport system, bus, train and tram all rolled into one. The hardest ships to get onto though,
are the passenger ferries. Fifteen hundred tons of iron and steel,
traveling at 30 kilometers an hour. Jesse knows the safest place
to board is in the bow, far from the dangerous eddies
at the stern. At the back, the last canoe is in trouble,
it's slowly filling up. The father paddles furiously as his son desperately tries
to scoop out the water. In the end, they dive out
to prevent the canoe from sinking. The most important thing
is to save their merchandise. It's my son's fault. He wasn't listening to me
and didn't scoop the water out as quickly as he should have. [Portuguese spoken audio] I've only been doing this
for about two months. Before, I was in the timber business
in the jungle. [Portuguese spoken audio] I could make about $10 or $15 a day
or nothing at all, it depended. Do you make more now with your canoe? Yes, I earn something every day. At least not like before
but today it's a big loss. I've lost all the money I had, about $10. -Have you eaten today?
-No, nothing at all. The money I had for shopping
is at the bottom of the river. [Portuguese spoken audio] Manuel Fernandez, his son,
and the rest of his family hope the next day will be better
and that there will be something to eat. On his boat, however,
Jesse's still doing deals. -Give me a dozen.
-That's a dollar. [Portuguese spoken audio] I've got bananas, icupi's,
passion fruit and palm hearts. Some passengers, despite being fully aware
of the risks kids like Jesse take still try and haggle over the price. -Hey, there's only six bananas.
-No, they're all here, eight. Eight bananas. Give me a few more. No, that's it now. You wouldn't catch me doing that,
it's too dangerous. If they fall, they'd die. They'll be sucked
under the boat's propellers. It's their work,
they climb onto the boats. They go up and down the river to Belem. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's part of the river trade. The river trade Jesse's been doing
every day of the week since he was ten. In all, he's only ever
attended school for a month. It's an hour away by canoe. [Portuguese spoken audio] There aren't enough canoes around here, that's what the grown-ups say. That's why the kids don't come to school. Other kids have to work the boats in order to make enough
to feed themselves or buy clothes so they don't have time to go to school. [Portuguese spoken audio] You should go to school every day. If you only go once or twice a week,
it's not worth it. May as well not go at all. Listen, studying is important,
it opens the door to so many things. [Portuguese spoken audio] You're already good at getting onto boats, so if you knew how to read and write,
you'd be a king. I'm ashamed that at my age
I can't read or write. I don't even know how
to write my own name. [Portuguese spoken audio] Instead, Jesse's school
is the river and the jungle. His teacher, his elder brother, Toninho,
who's 26 years old. My dad taught me how to make cartridges,
now, I'm teaching Jesse. I never wanted to live in town, we go when we need to but I'm happy here. I've had some work offers in town,
but I've turned them down. [Portuguese spoken audio] Here, you're free
to do what you like when you like. Life's fairly calm here,
you just need to know how to get by. I think it's important I learn
to do many things like my brother. How to build a boat,
make things out of wood, clear the jungle and work like that. Jesse's family has always preferred life
along the river, living off the river trade and hunting. He got him right in the head,
right where he was aiming. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's a poisonous snake. It's the kind of snake
that'll bite you straight away, and if you're bitten, you'll die. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's over there somewhere, look,
I'm going to go up and get it. [Portuguese spoken audio] Sloths fetch up to $15,
they're considered a delicacy. This one, however, is too young
so he'll live to see another day. I've seen lots
of kids my age in town, even younger, smoking drugs or sniffing glue. They hang around
looking for things to steal. Sometimes the police arrest them,
never happens to me. I've got a mom and dad. God keeps me on the right path. On the ferry, Jesse watches sail
by his house every day how many who have come
to seek their fortune in the heart of the Amazon forests. This elderly man is Ulysses, and he's happy to tell anyone
who cares to listen about a treasure hidden
in the depths of the jungle. I've heard that along the river Juma,
there used to be an old gold mine. A real El Dorado
right in the heart of the jungle. I heard so much about it,
I decided to go and look for myself. The story spread rapidly
and was soon front page news, all of which led to the biggest gold rush
in Brazil for more than 20 years. To get there, thousands of miners
hitched a ride on the boats that head deep into the jungle. It's a dangerous journey. I got real sick down there,
stomach pains and fevers. I think it was malaria. In the end, I had to give up,
I went back home. To find this Eldorado,
it's a matter of leaving the Tajapuru and heading upriver along the Amazon
into the heart of Brazil. Twenty thousand people live in Apiai, a town built up around a few paved roads
in the middle of nowhere. Three months ago,
no one had ever heard of it, but then gold was found in the jungle
about 80 kilometers away. Since then, at least 10,000 prospectors
have passed through Apiai on their way to Eldorado. Two of the latest newcomers
are Amerigo and Big Juze, field laborers. They've left behind wives and children to travel the 2,000 kilometers
it's taken them to get here. Our hope is to strike gold,
find gold and get rich. [Portuguese spoken audio] We've left our families back home
to come and look for the gold in order to feed our children. [Portuguese spoken audio] To finance their gold fever,
Amerigo and Juze have sold up
all their belongings back home. All they've left their families
is a TV set and a sack of rice. Ten days into their journey
and they're already short of money, which may make renting a 4-wheel drive for the final leg
of the journey a problem. If we strike it lucky quickly,
then we're heading back home ASAP. If it takes longer, it takes longer. We've put what money
we had towards this trip and we've left our families with nothing. I've no experience
of being a miner or a prospector. I just trust in my courage,
that's all I've got. Looking for gold is a real adventure,
we have no idea how it might turn out. We're risking everything,
including our lives. At the end of the track,
a row of tents on the riverbank, but the journey still isn't over. This elbow of water juts into the jungle. It's the river Juma
that leads to Eldorado. To go any further, you need to pay. The ticket to a dream
is about $20 for a two-hour boat ride. We're nervous
because gold mines are dangerous places. Our families must be worried about us because we have no means
of letting them know how we're doing. They know nothing
that might go wrong in the gold mine. For that matter, neither do we. After about 20 kilometers,
some splashes of colour begin to show through the dense jungle. Here finally is the Eldorado
of so many dreams. To the adventurers,
the place looks like a slum. Makeshift huts, plastic bags as roofs. About 3,000 or 4,000 people live here. It's a small town that sprung up, complete with bistros,
businesses, a hairdresser and even a dentist. Generators provide power and it's even possible
to catch the latest football matches. The bingo is about to start,
win a 50cc motorbike. Buy your cards right now, friends. The minimum wager
is one gram of gold per card. Here the currency is literally gold dust. No effort is spared
to ensure the miner's gold doesn't remain
with its rightful owner for long. Amerigo and Juze are a little lost,
this is not what they expected to find. There's even a large food store
where almost anything can be bought for about double its normal price. The owner, Mercedes,
took the gamble of coming here and she's making the most out of it. Jams, thermos flasks, drinks,
I sell a lot of those. Sweets sell well, too. Coffee, soups, noodles
and even radios get sold. I've been in the business for a long time. It's in my blood, I love selling stuff. Here it's in gold
where the real money lies. Which is how Mercedes
makes her biggest profits by buying up the miners gold for cash almost $20 a gram, which she later sells
on at a ten percent profit. Amerigo and Juze stick it out. Eldorado seems to hold its promise,
there's gold for everyone, including for the new arrivals, and there's no time to lose. They head for the main scene, some three kilometers
along this jungle path. The whole forest seems
to have been turned into a building site with huts and holes scattered everywhere. Just three months ago, this gentle river
flowed through virgin jungle. Today, it's a battleground
between man and nature as the prospectors sift
through the earth 12 hours a day. Colleagues pan the dirt
through the water in the hope
of finding a few specks of gold. Blinded to danger
in their frantic search for gold, some risk being swallowed
by the very earth they're exploiting. I've been digging for six days,
six days of hard work. So far we haven't found much gold, but we're hopeful it's there somewhere
because we've already seen some flecks. [Portuguese spoken audio] The scenes around them shake Juze
and Amerigo's dream of riches. My first impression is that
there's a lot of suffering out here. An impression that's soon confirmed, as they're repeatedly told
there's nothing left for them. I'm sorry to have come all this way,
there's hardly anything here. We managed to find some work, but it's just two grams
of gold a day in pay. That's barely enough to get by on. I'm still hopeful, I've got my faith. If God grants us our health,
we'll make it. To survive in this jungle,
you need to be well off. Food is twice
as expensive here as in town. At almost $4, this meal might be
the last they can afford. In the restaurant,
a video repeats the news reports that sparked the gold rush across Brazil. [Portuguese spoken audio] Amerigo and Juze were
among those hypnotized by the pictures of bucketfuls of gold
and the false promise of a new Eldorado. [Portuguese spoken audio] It's a crime what they did,
it's dishonest. These reports are misleading. One guy out here told me
he'd sold his house and left his family because he was sure
he'd find plenty of gold. Hey, you've just arrived,
what do you think? We've just got here. We really need to find work
because we have nothing left. Not even to buy food. I've been out here for two weeks now,
and I still haven't found any work. I've asked around everywhere,
there's nothing, no one's offering work. [Portuguese spoken audio] We haven't even got enough money
to go back. We're going to have
to scrape a living just to leave. Scraping together enough just to leave
is something Maria knows all about. She survives
by selling alcohol to the gold hunters. Kashasha, buy my Kashasha, help me out, brother. Don't you have any money to buy anything? It took Maria just a couple of days
to realize the gold mine story was a fake. I pawned my wedding ring for about $35
to pay for the journey out here by boat. Thirty five dollars, and now I'm killing
myself trying to earn that much to get my ring back and buy a ticket home. Maria was one of the thousands
of people who'd been duped into believing they'd get rich quick
because of the TV reports. Now she says, it's only the TV
that can shatter the illusion it created that of a river gushing gold. Everyone in Brazil
thinks there's gold here, but, in fact, there's hardly any. I haven't seen a single gram
ever since I got here, not one. Yet there are some who more
than manage to make ends meet. Most are at the far top end
of the known gold deposits. It's an area the prospectors
have dubbed La Grotte Rica, the rich scene. It's where the most gold has been found. Twelve people share the production rates. They've created a cooperative
whose authority no one dares challenge. Luciana is one of the 12 owners. A nanny back home
in town looks after her three children. She's become a respected businesswoman. We dug up this part of the mountain
and we put all the earth over there. In there that's where the gold was. Here's the next step. You have to turn the earth,
mixing it really well to make a kind of liquidy paste, which is important before washing
and dissolving the earth in the river. That happens in this machine. The gold remains here in the sieve
and also at the bottom down there because it's heavier
than the earth that washes away. [Portuguese spoken audio] This method means Luciana's workers
never see even the tiniest speck of gold that remains hidden
from view in the sieve. The only way to recover
the tiny pellets of gold is to stop the machine
and dismantle part of the equipment, a privilege shared only by the owners. Luciana is unwilling
to say exactly how much money she makes. I can't give you exact figures
of what I earn, it depends. You never know how much gold you'll find. Sometimes it's ten grams,
other times 20, 30, 40 grams. Luciana has been indiscreet,
another owner brings her back in line. Hi, neighbor. They'd like to know all about it, but you have to be careful
what you tell them. This is what you should say. There's hardly any gold here
and we make just enough to be able to eat but we're hoping
for better times in the future. How many grams did you get today? I don't know yet,
I haven't done the maths. Well, tell them
you only find one gram a day. That's what you make. [Portuguese spoken audio] Luciana has admitted to finding
between 10 and 40 grams a day. Her neighbor
owns the identical size in land, but when asked,
admits to only very small amounts of gold. On average about half a gram, I'd say. -Half a gram?
-Yes, just 0.5 of a gram a day. We get buckets full of gold here. Don't say that. Well, in some places we do. Listen, the truth is
we're all pretty poor. We try to earn enough
to feed our families. We've got families, kids and wives. That's about as much
as the owners will say. It's obvious some make a decent living while the vast majority
can only dream of riches. For those who do find the odd gram, the night gives rise
to some terrible temptations. In the camp's bars, a good day's work
can disappear in just an hour. Improvised casinos are set up
and one roll of the dice will decide whether you keep your pay or not. As always, it's the bank
that stands to win the most. For those who can afford them,
there are even a few girls available. In this ambience,
one name is repeated more than most. Zé capeta, literally, Joe the devil. It's a name to be respected, if not feared because Joe the devil
is the local godfather. He lays claim to being the sole owner
of the entire gold mining operation. He may look harmless, but make no mistake,
the man means business. Each prospector
has to pay him eight percent, an unwritten rule he knows how to enforce. Those who know the rules
around here know the boss' cut is not up for discussion. Unfortunately,
in the early days of the gold rush, there were a few
who caused me some problems. Nowadays, there are no more problems and everyone pays their cut without fuss and Joe, the devil,
talks freely about business. I've made about four kilos of gold so far, but if you believe what some say,
it should be a lot more. What I read in the press
makes me very upset sometimes. They claim I get such
and such amount of gold, it's rubbish. I have to admit, I'm doing well. I could buy a small house for my family, something which
wouldn't have been possible before. [Portuguese spoken audio] The four kilos
of gold Joe, the devil, admits to making is nevertheless worth nearly $80,000. For Juze and Amerigo, that amount
of money is virtually inconceivable. Their last banknotes spent,
they found no one willing to hire them and made their way back to the riverbank
at the lower end of the shanty town. If we had the money, we'd have left by now but we don't,
so there's not much we can do. It's a nightmare. Everything we dreamed about,
hoped for it's just in tatters. We were hard up before,
now it's even worse. Amerigo and Juze aren't even close
to going back home. Like many before them, it'll probably take them weeks
to earn enough to escape the jungle. Back on the Tajapuru River
and the young canoeists, a short distance from Jessie's house,
a group of beggars has shown up. Most of them are kids,
many are less than five years old. They're too small to get
on board the passing ships. To attract their attention, they shout. That's for the kids down there,
look how small they are in the canoe. It's for the little canoes over there,
it's clothes. You're throwing them some food? No, just clothes but sometimes
we give them food or clothes. I prepare the snacks
for the kids beforehand. Further down, the young river traders
are as numerous as ever. Okay, give me some shrimps. About a dozen canoes
have fastened themselves to the ferry but oddly, Jessie is absent. It's unlike him to miss the opportunity
to make a few reais. Something's changed on the river. The ferry still allow
the kids to climb aboard, but the crewman on the merchant ships
and barges have become less accommodating. These kids will soon find out
for themselves. On the barge, they're not welcome. No chance of selling anything here. For some of the crew,
the kids don't cast off quickly enough. One man even threatens
to cut the ropes that tether the canoes. Are you chicken? Do you see how he cut the rope? He was scared of us that guy up there. It happens a lot. They don't want us
to tie up alongside, it's dangerous, but we do it anyway. We're not scared of them. They might insult us,
but we answer them right back. I feel like smashing them with my paddle. They're scared of thieves. They think we're going
to loot their barge. Sometimes they even pull guns on us
just to scare us. We tell them, all right, go ahead, shoot. Then we wave our machetes at them
and they back off. They're scared. The crews, however,
have good reason to be cautious. Over recent months, incidents
of piracy have increased on the river. Bandits who hold up the merchant boats
at gunpoint during the night use the same type of canoes
as the kids on the barges. Everyone is on edge. No one's allowed on board
at night time, no one. Night time on this river is dangerous. There have been a lot of hold ups. We can't be sure who's
in the small canoes these days. I've had friends who've been robbed
on their boats right here on this stretch of the river. Some people have even been killed. God is our only protection. We're scared but we've got to work. On the banks of the Tajapuru,
Jesse's family is in mourning. The youngster was shot
and killed a few weeks earlier by the captain of a river barge. For Jesse had turned to crime
and become a pirate himself, he was killed
trying to hold up a barge at gunpoint. JeClaudio, one of Jesse's older brothers,
also took part in the robbery attempt, but could do nothing to save his brother. He was fastening his canoe
to the side of the barge and then he climbed on board
and someone shot him. At first, I thought
he was joking about being shot and I told him to shut up, but he insisted that he'd been shot. The bullet hit him in the throat, but I couldn't see the wound
because he had his hands over it. He ran and then jumped into the water. When he surfaced, the guy on the boat
shot him again in the back. His family knew
that Jesse had become a criminal. Benedicta, his mother,
always felt that things would end badly. God had warned us
this would happen to our family. It was a prophecy, and I trust in the word of our Lord so I am resigned to it. Thanks to God I have the strength. Sometimes I stand in the doorway
and look at the barges that go by. Then I pray to Jesus
to protect the little children that tie up alongside the boats. May God prevent what happened to my boy
from happening to the other children. Everyone on the river
is marked by Jesse's death. The youngsters have made a habit
of visiting Jesse's grave in the riverside cemetery. Mizael, 13, was Jesse's favorite nephew. He's taken over now,
along with his brother Simiel and his cousin Claudio, both aged 12. He was always good to us. He used to give us a few coins
whenever he could. He taught me how to tie up
alongside the boats. I went in the canoe with him, he taught me how
to attach the ropes on the tires along the hulls of the ships, and I slowly learnt how to do it. He taught me as well. He used to buy stuff for me,
clothes, that sort of thing. He was my favourite uncle. Despite the incident,
life and trade on the river must go on. For the children of the Rio,
there's no alternative. The best selling item
is the ingas, a jungle fruit that's only found
around this stretch of the river and which is much in demand
with the passengers on the ferries. Mizael, Claudio and Simiel
know where to find them, but it's a dangerous harvest. The fruit is found only
at the top of some trees, often more than 30 meters above ground. Four ingas sell for one real,
barely 25 cents. It sells really well
because the people on the boats love them. They cost us nothing,
we just have to climb up and pick them. It's one of the gifts from God. They're for us to pick and sell
and for the animals like monkeys to eat. The Manaus ferry is on time. The kids have to rush
because the boat is fast. With each passing minute,
they're swept further from home. Wow, you're strong. Now, this is better
than what's in the shops. These are the real things. In half an hour,
the kids have made barely $4. Only seven reais, not eight. My brothers made some money too. The kids have followed the ferry
for 15 kilometers down river. To avoid paddling all the way back, Mizael and the others hitch a ride
alongside a barge heading up river. The crew knows the kids and they're free to ride along
on the impromptu water taxi, which saves them four hours of paddling. We've caught an armadillo. The armadillo is a welcome surprise. Mizael hadn't spotted one
for more than a year. It must weigh about ten kilograms. When it's boiled, all this dark part
and the shell will come off. It'll go in the pot
and when it's ready we'll eat it. It's a rare treat for the kids because meat of any sort
is luxury in these parts. They enjoyed the hunt. They managed to kill an armadillo
without a gun. [Portuguese spoken audio] There's more than enough
for the whole family, even though there's 11 of us. There's a lot of meat
on an animal like that. We'll give some to our cousins,
there'll still be enough left over. The next day,
there'll be plenty to go round. Overexcited by the hunt, the kids have no intention
of going to sleep yet. [Portuguese spoken audio] What I hope for, for my kids,
that one day they'll have a better life and no longer have to work the boats. They spend all the day on the river
and I'm worried sick about them. I really want them
to have a better life than this. [Portuguese spoken audio] I don't want to rob the barges
and become a pirate. There's no point. When I grow up
I want to work in the timber industry. There, there's decent pay every month, and it's honest work. [Portuguese spoken audio] Me, when I've got my own family,
I want to be a footballer just like Zidane, and score lots of goals. I'll be the best
and be able to help my family out. Me too, I want to work when I'm big,
work on a boat. I'll be captain, and I'll get married.
