Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER V.

  THE PUNA.

  By early dawn Guapo was awake, but he did not immediately awake theothers. It was still too dark to follow the mountain road. His firstcare was to have his coca breakfast, and to this he applied himself atonce.

  Day was fairly broke when he had ended the process of mastication, andhe bethought him of descending from the rock to arouse the sleepers. Heknew they still slept, as no voice had yet issued from the grove ofmolles. The mule and horse were heard cropping the grass, and the llamaswere now feeding upon an open spot,--the first they had eaten sincetheir halt, as these creatures do not browse in the night.

  Guapo descended with fear in his heart. How it would have joyed him tohear the voice of his master, or of any of them! But, no. Not a soundproceeded from any one of the party. He stole nimbly along the ledge,making his way through the molle trees. At length he reached the spot.All asleep?--yes, all! "Are they dead?" thought Guapo, and his heartbeat with anxiety. Indeed, they seemed so. The fatigue of travel hadcast a sickly paleness over the faces of all, and one might easily havefancied they no longer lived. But they breathed. "Yes, they breathe!"ejaculated the old Indian, half aloud. "They live!"

  Guapo bent down, and seizing Don Pablo by the arm, shook him--at firstgently, uttering, at the same time, some words to awake him. But neitherthe shaking nor the voice had any effect. Guapo shook more violently,and shouted louder. Still Don Pablo slept. None of the othersmoved--none of them heard him. It was strange, for the Indian knew thatDon Pablo himself, as well as the others, were easily awaked on ordinaryoccasions. Guapo, becoming alarmed, now raised his voice to its loudestpitch, at the same time dragging Don Pablo's shoulder in a still moreviolent manner. This had the desired effect. The sleeper awoke but soslowly, and evidently with such exertion, that there was somethingmysterious in it.

  "What is it?" he inquired, with half-opened eyes. "Is it morningalready?"

  "The sun is up. Rouse, my master! It is time we were on the road,"replied the Indian.

  "I feel very drowsy--I am heavy--I can scarce keep my eyes open. Whatcan be the cause of this?"

  "The poison-trees, master," answered Guapo.

  The answer seemed to impress Don Pablo. He made a violent effort, androse to his feet. When up he could scarcely stand. He felt as though hehad swallowed a powerful opiate.

  "It must be so, good Guapo. Perhaps there is some truth in what you havesaid. O, heavens!" exclaimed he, suddenly recollecting himself,--"theothers--my wife and children!"

  This thought had fully awakened Don Pablo; and Guapo and he proceeded atonce to arouse the others, which they effected after much shouting andshaking. All were still heavy with sleep, and felt as did Don Pablohimself.

  "Surely there is some narcotic power in the aroma of these trees,"muttered Don Pablo. "Come, wife, let us be gone! We must remain underits influence no longer, else what Guapo has said may prove too true.Saddle up--we must eat our breakfasts farther on. To the road!--to theroad!"

  Guapo soon had the horses ready, and all hurried from the spot, and wereonce more climbing up the mountain-path. Even the animals seemed to moveslowly and lazily, as though they, too, had been under the influence ofsome soporific. But the pure cold air of the mountain soon produced itseffect. All gradually recovered, and after cooking some _charqui_ andocas in the ravine, and making their breakfast upon these, they againfelt light and fresh, and pursued their journey with renewed vigour.

  The road kept on up the ravine, and in some places the banks rose almostperpendicularly from the bed of the dry torrent, presenting on bothsides vast walls of black porphyry--for this is the principal rockcomposing the giant chain of the Andes. Above their heads screamed smallparrots of rich plumage of the species _Conurus rupicola_, which maketheir nestling places, and dwell upon these rocky cliffs. This is asingular fact, as all other parrots known are dwellers among trees andare found in the forest at all times, except when on their passage fromplace to place.

  But even the squirrel, which is an animal peculiarly delighting intree-life, has its representative in several species ofground-squirrels, that never ascend a tree; and, among the monkeys,there exists the troglodyte or cave-dwelling chimpanzee. No doubtsquirrels or monkeys of any kind, transported to an open or treelesscountry, would soon habituate themselves to their new situation,--forNature affords many illustrations of this power of adaptation on thepart of her creatures.

  It was near sunset when our travellers reached the highest point oftheir route, nearly 14,000 feet above the level of the sea! Here theyemerged upon an open plain which stretched far before them. Above thisplain towered mountains of all shapes to a height of many thousand feetfrom the level of the plain itself. Some of these mountains carriedtheir covering of eternal snow, which, as the evening sun glanced uponit, exhibited the most beautiful tints of rose, and purple, and gold.The plain looked bleak and barren, and the cold which our travellers nowfelt added to the desolateness of the scene. No trees were in sight. Dryyellow grass covered the ground, and the rocks stood out naked andshaggy. They had reached one of those elevated tables of the Andes knownas the _Puna_.

  These singular tracts elevated above the level of cultivation are almostuninhabited. Their only inhabitants are a few poor Indians, who areemployed by the rich proprietors of the lower valleys as shepherds; forupon these cold uplands thrive sheep, and cattle, and llamas, and flocksof the wool-bearing alpaco. Through this wild region, however, you maytravel for days without encountering even a single one of the wretchedand isolated inhabitants who watch over these flocks and herds.

  On reaching the Puna, our party had made their day's journey, and wouldhave halted. The llamas already showed signs of giving out by stoppingand uttering their strange booming note. But Guapo knew theseparts--for, though a descendant of the Incas, he had originally comefrom the great forest beyond the eastern slope of the Andes, where manyof the Peruvian Indians had retired after the cruel massacres ofPizarro. He now remembered, that not far from where they were, was ashepherd's hut, and that the shepherd himself was an old friend of his.That would be the place to stop for the night; and, by Guapo's advice,Don Pablo resolved to continue on to the hut.

  Guapo fell upon his knees before the llamas, and, after caressing andkissing them, and using a great variety of endearing expressions, he atlast coaxed these animals to proceed. No other means would have availed,as beating would not make either llama budge an inch. The leader, whowas a fine large animal and a great favourite with its master, at lengthstepped boldly out; and the other, encouraged by the sound of the smallbells that tinkled around the head of the leader, followed after, and sothe travellers moved on.

  "Come, papa!" cried Leon; "you are tired yourself--mount this horse--Ican walk a bit:" at the same instant the boy flung himself from the backof the horse, and led him up to where his father stood. Then handing thebridle to the latter, he struck off along the plain, following Guapo andhis llamas.

  The road skirted round the rocks, where the mountain came down to meetthe plain. The walk was not a long one, for the hut of which Guapo spokebecame visible at less than a quarter of a mile's distance. Anodd-looking hut it was--more like an ill-built stack of bean-straw thana house. It had been built in the following manner:--

  First, a round ring of large stones had been laid, then a row of turf,then another tier of stones, and so on, until the circular wall hadreached the height of about four or five feet, the diameter being notmore than eight or nine. On the top of the wall a number of poles hadbeen set, so as to meet above where they were tied together. These poleswere nothing else than the long flower-stalks of the _maguey_ orAmerican aloe, as no other wood of sufficient length grew in thevicinity. These poles served for rafters, and across them laths had beenlaid, and made fast. Over all this was placed a thatch of the longcoarse Puna grass, which was tied in its place by grass ropes that werestretched from side to side over the top. This was the hut of Guapo'sfriend, and similar to all others that may be encountered in the wildregion
of the Puna. A door was left in the side, not over two feet high,so that it was necessary to crawl upon the hands and knees before anyone could reach the interior.

  As our travellers approached, they saw that the entrance was closed byan ox-hide which covered the whole of the opening.

  Whether the shepherd was at home, was the next question; but as they gotnear to the house, Guapo suggested that Don Pablo should dismount andlet Leon get upon horseback. This suggestion was made on account of thePuna dogs--of which creatures Guapo had a previous knowledge. Thesedogs, known by the name of Inca dogs, are, perhaps, the fiercest animalsof their species.

  They are small, with pointed muzzles, tails curling upward, and longshaggy hair. They are half-wild, snappish, and surly, as it is possiblefor dogs to be. They attack strangers with fury, and it is as much astheir masters can do to rescue even a friend from their attack. Evenwhen wounded, and unable any longer to keep their feet, they will crawlalong the ground and bite the legs of those who have wounded them. Theyare even more hostile to white people than to Indians, and it issometimes dangerous to approach an Indian hut where three or four ofthese fierce creatures are kept, as they will jump up against the sideof a horse, and bite the legs of the rider. Their masters often use thestick before they can get obedience from them. In every Indian hutseveral of these animals may be found, as they are extremely useful tothe shepherds in guarding their flocks and for hunting.

  They are much employed throughout the Puna to hunt the "yutu," a speciesof partridge which inhabits the rushy grass. This bird is traced by thedogs, seized before it can take to flight, and killed by a single biteof its fierce pursuer. Considering the savage nature of the Inca dogs,Guapo showed great caution in approaching the hut of his friend. Hefirst called loudly, but there was no reply. He then stole forward withhis long knife, or "_machete_," in his hand; and having lifted the skinthat covered the low doorway, peeped in. The hut was empty.