The Wanderers; Or, Adventures in the Wilds of Trinidad and Orinoco

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER ELEVEN.

  WHERE ARE QUACKO AND ARA?--THE SWIM CONTINUED--ESCAPE FROM ANALLIGATOR--MARIAN AND MY FATHER--REACH A LAKE--A CURIOUS SAIL--FISHING.

  We had been resting for some time, and now felt able to keep on swimmingfor many miles without stopping. We were in tolerable spirits, havingevery reason to believe that we should see no more of the savages. Wehoped, too, that the next would be our last stage, and that at the endof it we should find Marian, with my father and Arthur, safe on theraft. Uncle Paul then proposed to construct an additional raft to carrythe whole party.

  We had finished our meal, when Kallolo exclaimed, with an expression ofgrief on his countenance, "Oh! where is Quacko? Cruel, indeed, have Ibeen to leave him behind; but my thoughts were so engaged with thedangers which threatened us, that for the moment I forgot all about him.I must go back and find the affectionate ape. Even though he mayobtain subsistence in the forest, he will pine and die when he findshimself deserted by his friends."

  "Stay, stay, my friend," said Uncle Paul. "Much as I esteem your regardfor the poor ape, and his extraordinary attachment to you, I would nothave you risk your safety by attempting to recover him. The lives ofall the party are of far more importance than that of the ape; and foryour own sake as well as ours I must prohibit your going."

  Kallolo looked very unhappy on hearing this. "I shall run little or norisk, Senor Paul," he answered; "and, besides, Maco and Polo are as ableto guide you as I am. I cannot bear the thought of losing my friendthrough my own negligence."

  Of course, it will be understood that I am merely translating what theIndian said, or rather giving the meaning of his words.

  Still, Uncle Paul was firm. "I cannot reconcile it to my conscience toallow you to go; and I should be unable to forgive myself should anyaccident happen to you," he answered.

  I also felt very sorry that Quacko was lost; but the anxiety about ourown safety accounted fully for our having forgotten him.

  "Sure, now, I have been after forgetting Ara!" exclaimed Tim. "I leftthe poor bird on a branch fast asleep when those bastes of Indians sentus off into the water in such a hurry, and never a bit did I think ofher till now. I am just as bad as you are, Kallolo; for, sure, hadn't Icharge of the bird, till she flew out of my thoughts altogether?"

  "At all events, here she comes back to us again!" I exclaimed.

  At that moment Ara was seen approaching with rapid flight; and in aninstant afterwards she perched on Tim's shoulder, and looking into hisface, seemed, by the peculiar sounds she made, to be chiding him for hisdesertion. When he offered her some fruit, she declined to take it;evidently, however, not from anger, but because she had had an amplebreakfast on something more to her taste which she had found on the way.

  Only a few minutes had passed, when I saw Maco and Kallolo lookinganxiously through the trees to the eastward, and talking together,having caught sight of some object moving through the forest. From thefew words I overheard, they were expressing their fears that the savageshad again found us out. Suddenly their countenances brightened; andimmediately afterwards we observed Quacko swinging himself amid thependent vines, and running along the branches, making his way rapidlytowards us! He sprang into Kallolo's arms, and began to chattereagerly, as if he had had a great deal to communicate. Whether he wastelling the native about the savages, or complaining that he had beendeserted, and begging that it might not happen again, I could notascertain, nor did Kallolo think fit to enlighten us; but he lookedtruly delighted at having got back his friend.

  Uncle Paul now gave the signal to start. Maco and Sambo led the way, asthey had only lately passed down the channel, and were better acquaintedwith it than Kallolo, who brought up the rear. As before, my sensationswere those of a person swimming in a dream. I felt myself floatingthrough the smooth, dark waters, and striking out with my arms and legs,and moving onwards. I saw my uncle ahead; and the green trees, withtheir vast stems and intricate tracery of sepos and vines, withnumberless parasites hanging from them of every variety of fantasticform, on either side of me; and the bright blue sky overhead; and birdsof gorgeous plumage, uttering strange notes, flying backwards andforwards. Here and there, tall trunks had fallen prostrate, or wereinclining at various angles, and suspended by a network of sepos to theboughs of their neighbours,--some actually crossing the stream andforming bridges from side to side. Occasionally, troops of monkeys camegambolling along among the branches, peering down upon us with curiouseyes, skipping and frolicking about, and chattering and screeching as ifangrily demanding what business we had to intrude on their retreats.Now we passed among cylindrical trunks, rising like columns out of thedeep water. Then there came a splash of fruit falling around us,announcing that birds were feeding overhead; and looking up, wediscovered flocks of parakeets, or bright blue chatterers, or pompadourshaving delicate white wings and claret-coloured plumage. Again, with awhir a trogon on the wing would seize some fruit, or a clumsy toucanwould make the branches shake as he alighted above our heads. We sawseveral species of trogons, and frequently caught sight of that curiousblack umbrella-bird which I have before described. Clumps of the lightand exquisitely graceful assai palm shot up everywhere. Here and therethe drooping bamboos dipped their feathery branches into the water,frequently covered to their very tops with purple convolvuli; yellowbignonias carried their golden clusters to the very summit of the morelofty trees; while white flowering myrtles and orange-coloured mallowsbordered the channel. Crabs of every variety of colour and size sat ondecaying logs watching for their prey. No sooner, however, did weattempt to seize them than they made off with nimble feet.

  I saw all these sights and many more, and yet, as I have said, I gazedon them as in a dream, while with my companions I floated on and onthrough the silent water. When the sun's rays struck down on thesurface of the river, it appeared bright and clear, and our eyes couldfrequently penetrate to the very bottom even where it was too deep toallow us to wade; but in other places, where overhung by the thickfoliage, or after the sun had sunk behind the tall trees, it was asblack as ink; and I could not help feeling a sensation of dread lestsome ravenous monster was lurking beneath, ready to seize us as wepassed by. I refrained from expressing my fears, as they did not appearto be entertained by the rest of the party. Perhaps they too felt as Idid, but thought it better to say nothing about the matter, as thejourney had to be performed, and there was no other way of accomplishingit.

  We began to feel anxious at not having come up with our friends ahead,and were eagerly looking out for them. Sambo assured us that we werenot far from the spot where he had left the raft. As he and Tim swamfaster than any of us--except Kallolo, who, carrying the monkey, wassomewhat impeded in his progress--Uncle Paul directed them to push onahead to tell our friends that we were coming. Maco and Polo wouldprobably have been employed for the service; but the former, on accountof his wounds, could only just manage to keep up with us; and the latterwas required to remain, that he might render him assistance should itbecome necessary.

  Evening was approaching, and I began to feel that I should be unablemuch longer to continue this sort of work, and wished more earnestlythan ever that I were once more safe on the raft. I suspect that UnclePaul felt much as I did, though with that courage which distinguishedhim he made no complaint, but continued striking out as if it were hisusual mode of progression. Not unfrequently thoughts as to what mighthave been the fate of those I loved more than any others on earth wouldoccur to me, especially when I felt exhausted by my exertions; but Iendeavoured to banish them from my mind, and answered Uncle Paul'sinquiries with as hearty an "All right" as I could utter.

  The day wore on. In some of the bends of the river dark shadows hadalready begun to fall on the water and to mount up the trunks of thetrees. The channel, or igarape, as such passages are called in someparts of the country, became narrower than ever. No current wasperceptible: the lilies and other beautiful water-plants, littlebladderworts, and bright blue flowers
with curious leaves and swollenstalks, floated unmoved on the surface, with occasionally large circularleaves and flowers of a gigantic size, which were new to all of us whenwe first entered this region.

  Tim and Sambo had long ago got out of sight, and we hoped that ere thisthey had reached our friends. As we entered another bend of thechannel, I caught sight of some figures in the far distance standing onone of those gigantic trunks I have so often mentioned. My first ideawas that they were Indians, perhaps waiting to cut us off: and I askedUncle Paul if he could see them.

  "Yes, yes; I am thankful to say I do," he answered. "They are yourfather and Arthur and dear Marian; but why they are not on the raft Icannot tell."

  The sight encouraged us, and, our strength restored, we struck out withrenewed vigour. It was now literally a race among us all who should getthere first. Uncle Paul beat me; and when I was still some distanceoff: I saw him scrambling up and shaking hands with all the party. EvenMaco and Polo passed me, and I saw them make their way up the trunk of atree which had fallen across the one on which the rest of the party wereseated. As they reached the upper part, they eagerly looked up thechannel. Anxious as I was to go ahead, I felt as if my arms and legswere so heavily weighted that I could only move them with a sensation Ihad sometimes experienced in my dreams when trying to overtake a personwith whom I desired to communicate, or when pursued by some wild beastfrom which I was endeavouring to escape.

  My father and Marian were standing up; Arthur was lying on the trunk ofthe tree; and Uncle Paul was sitting down with his feet just above thewater. Suddenly he started up, and cried out, "Quick, quick, Guy;strike out for your life!" I did my best, for I knew he had good reasonfor bidding me haste. Just as I reached the bank, looking back for aninstant, I saw a dark object rise to the surface, and presently a longpair of jaws, with formidable rows of teeth, opened slowly! I sprangup, knowing at once that it was an alligator, and though one of moderatesize, large enough to have given an ugly bite, even if it could not snapoff a limb or carry its victim down to the bottom. Uncle Paul stretchedout his arms; and Arthur, who had not till then seen my danger, stoopeddown to assist me. I had scarcely time to receive my father's andMarian's embraces before I sank almost fainting by the side of Arthur onthe trunk of the tree.

  I saw, however, that they were still looking anxiously down the channeltowards Kallolo, who had been some way behind me with Quacko on hisback. They shouted to him, and pointed out the creature, whose wickedeye was turned towards the monkey; and he would very speedily havecrunched him up in his jaws if he had not held tight hold of the Indian.Kallolo, nothing daunted, cast a glance at the amphibious animal, andinstead of continuing his course, struck across the stream, drawing, ashe did so, his long knife from his belt, ready to defend himself and hisfavourite should he be attacked. The shouts of my friends frightenedthe creature; which, instead of darting at Kallolo, as they expected itwould, dived beneath the surface, probably to seek for shelter under thebank or to escape to a distance. Kallolo quickly gained a fallen stem,and made his way up to us.

  "What has become of Tim and Sambo?" I asked faintly; for though tooweak to stand, I had not lost consciousness.

  "They have gone on ahead to the raft, which is only a little distanceoff," answered Arthur; "and we are now looking out for their return. Sofatigued were your father and I, that, when we reached this convenientresting-place, we determined to remain here till your arrival. We have,indeed, cause to be thankful that we did not attempt to go further, nowthat we have seen the creatures which inhabit this part of the channel.Had we known it before, the fact would have tended to unnerve us."

  "I am indeed thankful that I did not know it," said Marian; "for Ishould have been miserable with the thought that at any moment my fatheror Arthur might have been attacked by one of the monsters."

  Kallolo took the matter very coolly. "If the cayman had come near me,he would have had to repent of his boldness," he observed. "My knifewas ready for him, and I should have stuck it into his throat before hecould have touched me. I should not fear to encounter a much largerone, provided I knew that he was approaching. These creatures aredangerous only when people are unprepared to meet them."

  "But as I had no knife ready, and should not have known where or how tostrike him, I am very thankful that I got out of the water in time toavoid his sharp teeth," I observed.

  Marian shuddered. "Yes, indeed, it was dreadful even for the fewmoments in which I thought there was danger," she observed. "Oh, I amso thankful that when my father and Arthur were swimming by the side ofmy raft, they were not attacked by the monster."

  "We indeed ran a great risk," observed my father. "Probably thecreature was frightened by the splashing we made in the water, and bythe appearance of the raft; or possibly it may not have been in theneighbourhood at the time."

  "I suspect that it was not far off," observed Uncle Paul. "Thesecreatures do not move much about; they frequent particular pools andparts of the river. However, its appearance must make us cautious howwe venture into the water in future. We may be well-satisfied that ourlong swim is over.--Do you see anything of Sambo and Tim with the raft?"he shouted to the Indians, who were still looking out.

  "Yes, yes; they have this moment come in sight, and are standing on theraft poling it along,--so it seems to me," answered Maco, pointing alongthe igarape, down which a stream of light came from the setting sun,tingeing here and there the boughs on either side, and gilding thesummits of the lofty trees. No scene of the same character could havesurpassed it in beauty.

  "It is indeed lovely," exclaimed Marian. "Till we came here, perhapsthe eyes of those capable of appreciating its beauties have never gazedon it. It seems strange that so many lovely spots, such as exist inthese wilds, should be concealed from the eyes of civilised people."

  "Many things exist for which we cannot account," observed Uncle Paul."Birds of the most gorgeous plumage are found in parts of the globeinhabited only by the lowest savages. Nothing can surpass themagnificence of the icebergs clustered at the arctic and the antarcticpoles, where the feet of human beings never tread. What curiouscoloured fish swim far down beneath the surface, where the eye of mancannot penetrate! Indeed, we may believe that civilised men are not theonly beings capable of enjoying the beauties of creation; which all,however, tend, when brought to light, to exhibit the power andbeneficence of the Creator."

  Arthur listened attentively to what Uncle Paul was saying. "Yes,indeed, I agree with you," he observed. "There are numberless thingswhich we see around us in nature, but cannot comprehend the reason oftheir existence, though we must acknowledge the wisdom of Him who madethem all, and bow humbly to his will."

  Our attention was now turned towards the approaching raft. While it wascoming, Uncle Paul inquired what provisions we had among us; and wefound, on examination, that the stock was very limited, and that thefruit had come to an end. While there was still light, therefore, hesent the Indians to search for some more. We saw, not far off, severalpalms and other fruit-bearing trees with birds perched on them, showingthat the fruit was ripe. Both Arthur and I were desirous to accompanythem, but we felt much too weary to move.

  "You must take care not to get into the midst of the macaws' nests, elseyou may find yourselves attacked as we were," observed Arthur. "I see anumber of those birds congregated about a tree in the distance, andpossibly they have their homes thereabout; at all events, they may notlike to be disturbed in their feast, and will do battle with theintruders."

  "Never fear," answered Uncle Paul; "the Indians know pretty well whatthey are about."

  We had not long to wait for Sambo and Tim, who managed to bring the raftclose up to us. It was, however, so late in the day that Uncle Paulconsidered it best for us to remain where we were till the followingmorning, when he proposed that we should build another raft capable ofcarrying all the party who could not find room on the first. As we hadno tools excepting our knives, the operation of cutting down the trees
would not be an easy one; therefore Tim offered to commence at once, sothat we might have some progress made before morning. Uncle Paulthanked him for his forethought. Sambo, aided by Kallolo, immediatelyset to work to break off by main force as many young palm-trees as theycould meet with. Neither Arthur nor I felt that we had strength toassist them. Indeed, we could do nothing but lie stretched on the trunkof the tree; and had the Indians come in pursuit of us, I really believethat we should have been unable to make any efforts to escape. Myfather, also, was greatly exhausted; but Uncle Paul, though fatigued,was still able to exert himself, and to give any directions which werenecessary.

  At length the two Indians returned with an ample supply of fruit. Weenjoyed our supper. It was the first we had taken together for severaldays. When it was over it was high time to secure sleeping-placesbefore the shades of night should come down upon us. By arranging somesepos which hung down from the boughs above, we formed a secure placefor Marian; and then we looked out for similar places for ourselves,where we might rest without the danger of falling off into the water:and I could not help reflecting that if we should meet with such anaccident, the creature we had seen would take the opportunity of bitingoff a foot or an arm, or of dragging us off to his den to devour us athis leisure. I had read of people sleeping over volcanoes: our fatewould have been quite as unpleasant, had we fallen into the water, asthat of persons found napping at the moment a volcano commenced sendingforth its streams of lava or showers of ashes.

  Though we believed that we were already at a safe distance from thesavages, Uncle Paul considered it prudent to set a watch, that we mighthave due notice of the approach of danger. Arthur and I begged that wemight take our share of duty, with one of the men to assist us. UnclePaul himself intended to keep the first watch, to give me time to obtainsome rest. I did not sleep very soundly. Frequently I opened my eyesand saw the tall figure of Uncle Paul pacing up and down on the trunk ofthe tree, with a pole in his hand to balance himself, making only threeor four paces between each turn, stopping every now and then to look upand down the channel, or to peer into the forest. While he was on thewatch, I was sure that we should have timely warning of danger. Atlength his figure seemed to extend into gigantic proportions, and thengrew more and more indistinct, till my eyes closed.

  Arthur at last awoke me. He had had his watch, and it was now time forme to take mine; but he warned me to be careful not to slip off thetrunk, as he had nearly done, he said. I got up and took the pole hegave me. At one end was a sharp point, which would serve to give aneffectual thrust to any wild beast, or to a human savage who mightattack us. There was not much probability of our being assailed eitherby a jaguar or a puma, as these creatures were not likely to make theirway across the water intervening between us and the dry land; but wewere not safe from the stealthy approach of an anaconda, though we hadseen no signs of such a creature since we had left the broad river. Icould not, however, get out of my head the recollection of the monsterwhich had attacked us; and very often, as I looked up and down thechannel, I fancied that I saw one of the creatures swimming towards us,with its head above the surface. Greatly to my relief, on each occasionthe object I had caught sight of resolved itself into the partlysubmerged root or branch of a tree.

  Very thankful I felt when at last the streaks of early dawn appeared inthe eastern sky, and the noises of animated nature again burst on myear. Parrots and macaws, and numberless other birds, began to uttertheir varied notes, and the sounds I have before described echoedthrough the forest. I called up my companions, and, without a moment'sdelay, all hands set to work to put together the raft for which we hadcollected part of the materials the previous evening. More wererequired; and while the Indians and Tim went into the forest to cut orbreak down the palms, Uncle Paul, assisted by Sambo, bound themtogether. Arthur and I employed ourselves in dragging the logs up tothem, and in cutting the lianas or sepos, which my father and Marianunwound and prepared for use as cordage. The task was a far moredifficult one than it would have been had we possessed axes. Our knivesserved only to cut off the smaller boughs, and slightly to trim the logsor cut the lianas.

  We worked away with so much energy, that by eight o'clock, as far as wecould judge from the sun, we had put a raft together capable of carryingsix persons. Pretty well tired by our exertions, and with goodappetites, we sat down on the huge trunk to breakfast. The heat of thesun was already great; but, shaded by the overhanging branches, the spotwe occupied felt delightfully cool, while the bunches of fruit theIndians had procured were most refreshing. At this meal we finished thelast of the dried fish and meat we had brought with us, and we hadhenceforward to depend on the birds or animals we might trap or shoot inthe forest, or the fish we might obtain from the water. We had,however, no fear of starving. Kallolo assured us that we should findturtle in abundance; and that, with the blowpipe he had undertaken toform, he should be able to kill as many birds and monkeys as we mightrequire; while the produce of many varieties of palm-trees and thedifferent fruits we were sure to discover would afford us an abundantsupply of vegetable diet.

  Our final task was to cut some long poles, and to split up into thinboards, by means of wedges, a portion of a branch which had been tornoff by a storm. These boards were secured to the ends of short poles,and thus formed as many rough paddles as we could use.

  All was now ready, and Uncle Paul gave the order to prepare fordeparture. The smaller raft was first drawn under the bough: Marian wasplaced on it as a passenger, Uncle Paul went as captain, Sambo as pilot,and Arthur and I as the crew. Our father consented to go on thenewly-constructed raft, which was navigated by the three Indians andTim. On board neither of them was there much room to spare; andconsiderable caution was necessary, when standing up, to avoid fallingoff into the water or upsetting it.

  All of us having taken our places, Uncle Paul exclaimed, "Now, myfriends, we must commence our voyage; and I pray that we may beprotected from all the dangers we may have to encounter."

  The channel, however, was narrow, and we had considerable difficulty inmaking our way along it. Our raft, being the smallest, glided veryeasily between the overhanging branches and roots; but the people of theother, with the exception of my father, had several times to jumpoverboard to work it through the narrow places. Our progress was thusbut slow. The scenery was very similar to that which we had alreadypassed; indeed, sometimes I scarcely knew whereabouts we were, so muchdid one part resemble another.

  We had been going on for some time under thick, overhanging boughs, whensuddenly the bright shining waters of a lake opened out before us; and,greatly to our satisfaction, shortly afterwards we found ourselves freeof the narrow igarape, or channel, through which we had been so longpassing. The bright sunlight and the free air of the lake raised ourspirits, and made us feel as if all our difficulties were over. Happilywe did not then think of the many we had still to encounter. A slightbreeze was blowing from the northward, and I suggested that we shouldtry to rig a sail, with one of the poles as a mast and another as ayard. We had but scanty materials for forming it; but we allcontributed our handkerchiefs, and Sambo offered his shirt! With someof the line we had prepared for fishing we stitched the whole together,and then secured it to the yard. A strong breeze would quickly haveblown our sail into its original constituents of shirt andhandkerchiefs; but the gentle air which favoured us served to send onthe raft as fast as we could paddle it. The people on the other raftfollowed our example, and we saw two shirts stretched out, with a largehandkerchief to form a topsail. Under this strange sail we glidedsmoothly over the calm surface of the lake.

  We had carefully preserved our fishing-lines and hooks, and Uncle Paulnow distributed them between the two rafts. We got out ours as we wentalong, the rate at which we were moving not preventing us from havinghopes that we might catch some fish. We were not disappointed. Beforelong I got a bite. The fish pulled lustily, but as the tackle wasstrong, it could not break away; and after it had b
een pretty welldrowned by being towed, Sambo assisted me to haul it in. When we hadgot the fish up to the raft, the black stooped down, and, at no littlerisk of toppling off into the water, lifted it on board. It must haveweighed at least several pounds, and it resembled in shape the blackfish of our northern regions. Kallolo afterwards told me that this fishis called the tambaki, and is one of the best in this part of the world.The only pity was that we could not cook it till we reached dry land.As, however, we hoped to do so before long, we again threw out ourlines. In a few minutes we caught another fish of the same species, notquite so large. The Indians on the other raft had, in the meantime,caught three fish of similar size, but of a different species; and notbeing so particular as we were, they cut one of them up, and, afterhaving hung the pieces in the sun for a short time, ate it for dinner.We, however, contented ourselves with the fruits and nuts which had beencollected in the morning. After having rested for some time, we againtook to our paddles, and, the breeze remaining fair, the rafts made goodprogress. We earnestly hoped that the wind would continue in the samequarter, as we might thus before nightfall reach the spot where Captainvan Dunk and Peter had been left.

  We now entered the igarape Sambo had described. As it was tolerablybroad, and the wind still favoured us, we quickly got through it, andentered another lake somewhat similar to the one we had left. With muchsatisfaction we heard Sambo announce that in another half hour we shouldreach the end of our voyage. We paddled on even more eagerly thanbefore, hoping soon to be shaking the honest skipper and his mate by thehand, and thinking how pleasant it would be to sleep comfortably in ahut, and to sup well-cooked provisions.