by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER NINE.
THE INDIAN MOTHER AND CAIMAN.
"There is, perhaps, no part of America where the alligators grow to agreater size, and are more fierce in their nature, than upon theMagdalena, and other great rivers that run into it. These rivers flowthrough a low country within the tropics; their climate is of thehottest kind, and consequently most suitable to the development of thegreat reptiles. The indolent character of the natives, too--half-Indian, half-Spanish--prevents them from attacking and destroyingthese creatures with that energy that is exhibited by the inhabitants ofour own country. The consequence is, that the animals in their turn areless afraid of man, and often make him their prey. The alligators ofthe Magdalena--or `caimans,' as they are there called--frequentlydestroy natives, who by any unlucky accident may have fallen into thewaters frequented by them. Not unfrequently the boatmen (_bogadores_)who navigate the river Magdalena in their _bogas_, or flat boats, dropoverboard, and become the prey of the caimans, as sailors on the oceando of sharks. These boatmen sometimes carry rifles, for the purpose ofshooting the caimans; yet there are but few destroyed in this way, asthe bogadores are too much occupied in navigating their crafts; and,moreover, it is a very difficult thing to kill an alligator by a shot.You can only do it by sending the bullet into his eye, as the rest ofhis body is impervious even to a musket-ball. Of course, to hit one inthe eye requires a sure aim, and a good opportunity when the animal islying still upon the bank or on the water. When out of the water acaiman may be shot in the soft elastic skin behind the fore-shoulder;but this is a very uncertain method of killing one; and several shotsfired into his body at this part will often fail to prove fatal.Sometimes the natives of the Magdalena catch the caimans with lassos;and after dragging them upon the bank, despatch them with axes andspears. Notwithstanding this, the caimans swarm upon these rivers, andare seldom molested by the inhabitants, except at intervals when somehorrid tragedy happens--when some unfortunate victim has been snatchedoff by them, torn in pieces, and devoured. When this occurs, thepeople, sympathising with the distress of their neighbour, awake fromtheir habitual apathy, collect together, and destroy great numbers ofthese hideous reptiles. The story I have promised you illustrates anaffair of this kind.
"A _vaquero_ (cattle-herd) lived upon the Magdalena, some miles abovethe city of New Carthagena. His palm-thatched _rancho_, or cottage,stood at a little distance from the bank of the river, at a point whereit was much infested by caimans--as the country around was wild andthinly settled. The vaquero had a wife and one child, a daughter--whowas about six or seven years old; and being a pretty little girl, andthe only one, she was of course very dear to both the parents.
"The vaquero was often absent from home--his business with his cattlecarrying him to a great distance into the woods. But his wife thoughtnothing of being thus left alone. She was an Indian woman, and used todangers, such as would terrify the females that live in great cities.
"One day when her husband was absent as usual, looking after his cattle,this woman took some clothes to the river bank for the purpose ofwashing them. The river was the only water near the rancho; and by thuscarrying the clothes to it, she saved herself the trouble of fetchingthe water a good way; besides, there was a broad, smooth stone by thebank, where she was accustomed to beat out her linen. Her littledaughter accompanied her, carrying one of the bundles.
"On reaching the spot, the woman filled her vessels with water, andcommenced her work; while the child, having nothing else to occupy her,began to gather some ripe guavas, plucking them from a tree that grewout from the bank, and hung somewhat over the river. While the Indianmother was thus engaged, she was startled by a wild scream and a plunge,that were heard almost together; and, on looking round, she saw herchild just sinking in the water. At the same time, she beheld a hideousobject--a huge caiman--making for the spot! Filled with horror, thewoman dropped her linen, and rushed out upon the bank. She did nothesitate a moment, but plunged into the river, which buried her to theneck. At that moment the child rose again to the surface. The motherseized her by the arms; and was about raising her out of the water, whenthe caiman swept forward open-mouthed, caught the limbs of the littlegirl, and with one crunch of his powerful jaws severed them from thebody! The little girl screamed again; but it was her last scream. Whenthe mother struggled to the shore, and laid the mutilated body upon thebank, the child had ceased to breathe.
"For some moments sat the wretched mother, gazing upon the stillquivering remains. At intervals, she stooped down and kissed the pale,withering lips. She did not weep. I have said she was an Indian. Theydo not act as whites do; but, anyhow, her anguish was too keen to allowher tears to flow. She did not scream or call for help. It could be ofno use now. It was too late. She knew there was no one near--no onewithin miles of her. When she raised her eyes from the mangled corpse,it was only to rest them upon the black water, and there, under theshadow of the guava bushes, swam the hideous reptile, to and fro. Hehad swallowed the morsel, and was eagerly watching for more.
"The countenance of the woman betrayed a mingled expression of agony andvengeance. All at once a thought seemed to strike her--a suddenresolve. She rose; and, casting a look first at the dead body, and thenupon the caiman, hurried off to the house. In a few minutes she cameback, bringing with her a long spear. It was the hunting-spear of herhusband--often used by him in his encounters with the Brazilian tiger,and other fierce creatures of the forest. She brought also severalother articles--a lasso, some cords of the _pita_, and a couple ofknives.
"On arriving at the bank, she looked anxiously over. The caiman wasstill there; and she turned, and stood for a moment as if consideringwhat to do. Her mind was soon made up; and, bending forward, she thrustthe spear lengthwise through what remained of her child's body! It wasa fearful act, but the feeling of revenge was strong within her. Shenext caught the blade of the spear--now red with blood--and placing theknives lengthwise--so that they might serve as barbs--tied them firmlyupon it with the _pita_ cord. Close up to these she pushed the mangledbody, and then looped the lasso tightly to the shaft of the spear. Theother end she made fast to the trunk of a guava tree--for she well knewthat her own strength would avail but little against such a monster asthe caiman.
"When all was ready she poised the shaft, and flung spear, body, andall, into the water. Then taking the rope in her hand, she crouchedbehind the bushes to await the result.
"She had not long to wait. The reptile, thirsting for more blood, sawthe tempting morsel; and, darting forward, seized it in his huge jaws,crushing it in the act. The woman remained motionless, biding her time.
"The caimans do not masticate their food. Their teeth are not formedfor that. They are only made for seizing; and the tongue--which theycannot extend forward--only serves to assist them in swallowing. In afew moments the body had disappeared down the capacious throat of themonster. Seeing this, the woman suddenly sprang to her feet, anddragged violently upon the rope, and the next moment a wild screamannounced that she had succeeded in her intentions. The barbed bladeshad taken hold, and the caiman was secured!
"Finding himself thus caught, the huge reptile dived to the bottom, thenrose again, bellowing loudly, and lashing the water into foam, the bloodall the while running from his jaws and nostrils. At intervals, hewould rush from point to point--until suddenly checked by the strongraw-hide lasso--making the tree shake with his great strength; and thishe did for a long while. His struggles at length grew fainter, and morefeeble, and he lay motionless in the water. Throughout all this scenethe mother sat upon the bank of the river, at times in deep silence anddejected, while at intervals her face would light up with a vengefulexpression as she cast her eyes upon the monster that had robbed her ofher child.
"At length the gallop of a horse roused her from her reverie. Shelooked around. It was her husband!
"The melancholy tale was soon told; and shortly after was carried tothose that dwelt nearest them
. The grief was general; and the sympathythat followed caused a general rising throughout the neighbourhood; andfor several days afterwards a war of extermination was waged against thecaimans.
"This, brothers," said Lucien, "is a true narrative; and, in fact, it isonly a year or two since the painful incident occurred."
"And a painful incident it was," cried Basil, with some excitement."Thunder! it makes one hate those monsters so I feel like having a shotat one this very moment; besides I want a tooth for a powder-charger;"and as he said this, he took up his rifle, and stepped out to thewater's edge. None of the alligators appeared to be within range at themoment, though dozens of them were seen moving about on the bayou.
"Hold, brother!" shouted Francois. "Have patience a little, and I'llbring them near enough. Place yourself in ambush, while I call them."
Now one of Francois' accomplishments was an unusual talent for mimicry.He could imitate everything, from the crowing of a cock to the bellowingof a bull, and so naturally as to deceive even the animals themselves.Running down towards the bank, he crouched behind some yucca-bushes, andcommenced whining and barking like a young puppy. Basil also concealedhimself among the bushes.
In a few seconds, several alligators were seen swimming over the bayou,coming from all sides at once. They were not long in reaching the bankwhere Francois lay concealed, and foremost of all a large male, throwingup his snout, crawled out of the water. He was calculating, no doubt,on making a meal of something; but was doomed to disappointment, andworse than that, for the sharp crack of Basil's rifle rang upon the air,and the hideous reptile rolled over in the mud; and, after sprawlingabout for a while, lay motionless. He was quite dead, as the well-aimedrifle had sent a bullet right into his eye.
Basil and Francois now showed themselves--as they did not care to wastetheir ammunition by shooting any more--and the rest of the alligators,seeing them, swam off faster than they had come. By the aid of Lucien'shatchet, the largest teeth were knocked out of the jaws of the one thathad been killed; and the horrid carcass was left where it lay, to feedthe wolves and vultures, or anything else that chose to make a meal ofit.
After cooking a pot of coffee and a venison-steak for supper, ouradventurers spread their buffalo-robes within the tent, and went to restfor the night.
Next morning they were astir by daybreak; and after breakfastingheartily, they saddled their horses, and resumed their journey.
