On the Banks of the Amazon

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

  VOYAGE DOWN THE AMAZON ON A TREE.

  All day and another night we drifted on. The flesh of the boa wasconsumed. Unless a strong breeze should get up which might drive us onshore, we must go on for many days without being able to obtain food. Iagain became anxious on that point, and was sorry we had not saved moreof the boa's flesh, unpalatable as I had found it. Again the sun roseand found us floating on in the middle of the stream. Duppo, althoughhis countenance did not show much animation, was keeping, I saw, alook-out on the water, to get hold of anything that might drift near us.Presently I observed the small trunk of a rough-looking tree comefloating down directly towards us. As it floated on the surface, beingapparently very light, it came at a more rapid rate than we were moving.At length it almost touched the trunk, and Duppo, signing to me to cometo his assistance, scrambled down towards it. He seized it eagerly, anddragged it up by means of a quantity of rough fibre which hung round it.He then asked me to help him in tearing off the fibre. This I did, andafter we had procured a quantity of it, he let the trunk go. When Iinquired what he was going to do with it, he made signs that he intendedto manufacture some fishing-lines.

  "But where are the hooks? and where the bait?" I asked, doubling up myfinger to show what I meant.

  "By-and-by make," he answered; and immediately on regaining our usualseat, he set to work splitting the fibre and twisting it with greatneatness.

  I watched him, feeling, however, that I could be of little assistance.He seemed to work so confidently that I hoped he would manage tomanufacture some hooks, though of what material I was puzzled to guess.The kind of tree which had so opportunely reached us I afterwards sawgrowing on shore. It reaches to about the height of thirty feet. Theleaves are large, pinnate, shining, and very smooth and irregular. Theygrow out of the trunk, the whole of which is covered with a coating offibres hanging down like coarse hair. It is called by the natives_piassaba_. This fibre is manufactured into cables and small ropes. Itis also used for brooms and brushes; while out of the finer portions aremanufactured artificial flowers, baskets, and a variety of delicatearticles.

  While Duppo was working away at the fishing-lines, I was watching thevarious masses of trees floating near us. One especially I had observedfor some time a little ahead of us, and we now appeared to be nearingit. As I watched it I saw something moving about, and at length Idiscovered that it was a monkey. He kept jumping about from branch tobranch, very much astonished at finding himself floating down the river.He was evidently longing to get back to his woods, but how to manage itwas beyond his conception. I pointed him out to Duppo. "He do," hesaid, nodding his head. It was a great question, however, whether weshould reach the floating island. Even when close to it the currentmight sweep us off in another direction. Still, as we had drawn sonear, I was in hopes that we should be drifted up to it. Had I not beenhungry, I should have been very unwilling to shoot the monkey but now, Iconfess, I longed to get to the island for that very object. Thecreature would supply us and True with food for a couple of days, at allevents. By that time Duppo might have finished his fishing-lines, andwe might be able to catch some fish. Had we been on a raft, we mighthave impelled it towards an island; but we had no control over the hugetree which supported us. All we could do therefore was to sit quiet andwatch its progress. Sometimes I doubted whether it was getting nearer,and my hopes of obtaining a dinner off the poor monkey grew less andless. Then it received a new impulse, and gradually we approached theisland. Again for an hour or more we went drifting on, and seemed notto have drawn a foot nearer all the time. Duppo every now and thenlooked up from his work and nodded his head, to signify that he wassatisfied with the progress we were making. He certainly had morepatience than I possessed. At length I lay down, True by my side,determined not to watch any longer. I fell asleep. Duppo shoutingawoke me, and looking up I found that our tree had drifted up to thefloating mass; that the branches were interlocked, and as far as wecould judge we were secured alongside. The monkey, who had been for abrief time monarch of the floating island, now found his dominionsinvaded by suspicious-looking strangers. For some time, however, I didnot like to venture across the boughs; but at length the trunk droveagainst a solid part of the mass, and Duppo leading the way, True and Ifollowed him on to the island. "Ocoki! ocoki!" he exclaimed, and ranalong the trunk of a tall, prostrate tree of well-nigh one hundred feetin length. On the boughs at the further end grew a quantity ofpear-shaped fruit, which he began to pick off eagerly. I did the same,though its appearance was not tempting, as it was covered with an outerskin of a woody texture. As he seemed eager to get it, I did not stopto make inquiries, but collected as much as I could carry in my walletand pockets. He meantime had filled his arms full, and running back,placed them in a secure place on the trunk of the tree we had left.

  The monkey had meantime climbed to a bough which rose higher than therest out of the tangled mass. Hunger made me eager to kill thecreature. I took good aim, hoping at once to put it out of pain. I hitit, but in falling it caught a bough with its tail, and hung on high upin the air. Duppo immediately scrambled away, and before long hadmounted the tree. Though the monkey was dead, its tail still circledthe bough, and he had to use some force to unwind it. He brought itdown with evident satisfaction, and now proposed that we should returnto our tree and light another fire. We first collected as much dry woodand as many leaves as we could find. Duppo quickly had the monkey'sskin off. True came in for a portion of his dinner before ours wascooked. I saw Duppo examining the smaller bones, which he extractedcarefully, as well as a number of sinews, which he put aside. He thenstuck some of the meat on to thin spits, and placed it to roast in theusual fashion over the fire. While this operation was going on, hepeeled some of the fruit we had collected. Inside the rind was aquantity of pulpy matter, surrounding a large black oval stone. I foundthe pulpy matter very sweet and luscious. I ate a couple, and whileengaged in eating a third I felt a burning sensation in my mouth andthroat, and, hungry as I was, I was afraid of going on. Duppo, however,consumed half-a-dozen with impunity. I may as well say here that thisfruit is of a peculiarly acrid character. When, however, the juice isboiled it loses this property, and we frequently employed it mixed withtapioca, when it is called _mingau_ by the natives. It takes, however,a large portion of the fruit to give even a small cup of the mingau. Itgrows on the top of one of the highest trees of the forest, and as soonas it is ripe it falls to the ground, when its hard woody coatingpreserves it from injury. The natives then go out in large parties tocollect it, as it is a great favourite among them.

  As may be supposed, we were too hungry to wait till the monkey was verymuch done. I found that I could eat a little ocoki fruit as a sweetsauce with the somewhat dry flesh.

  Although the island was of some size, yet, as we scrambled about it, wesaw that its portions were not firmly knit together, and I thought itvery likely, should a storm come on, and should it be exposed to theagitation of the water, it might separate. I therefore resolved toremain on our former tree, that, at all events, having proved itself tobe tolerably stable.

  We were engaged in eating our meal when my ears caught that peculiarsound once heard not easily forgotten--that of a rattlesnake. Duppoheard it too, and so did True, who started up and looked eagerly about.At length we distinguished a creature crawling along the boughs of atree about a dozen yards off. It had possibly been attracted by thesmell of the roasting monkey, so I thought. It seemed to be making itsway towards us. Perhaps it had long before espied the monkey, which ithad been unable when alive to get hold of. At all events, it was adangerous neighbour. I had no wish for it to crawl on to our tree,where it might conceal itself, and keep us constantly on the watch tillwe had killed it. Now I caught sight of it for a moment; now it washidden among the tangled mass of boughs. Still I could hear thatominous rattle as it shook its tail while moving along. Though its biteis generally fatal, it is easily
avoided on shore, and seldom or never,I have heard, springs on a human being, or bites unless trodden on, orsuddenly met with and attacked. In vain I looked for it. It keptmoving about under the boughs, as I could tell by the sound of itsrattle. Now it stopped, then went on again, now stopped again, and Idreaded every instant to see it spring out from its leafy covert towardus. I kept my gun ready to fire on it should I see it coming. I was soengaged in watching for the snake, that I did not observe that theisland was turning slowly round. Presently there was a rustling and aslightly crashing sound of the boughs, and I found that our tree wasonce more separated from the island, and just then I saw not only onebut several snakes moving about. One of the creatures came along thebough, and lifting its head, hissed as if it would like to spring at us,but by that time we were too far off. Again we went floating down withgreater speed than the floating island, and, judging from theinhabitants we had seen on it, we had reason to be thankful that we hadescaped so soon.

  Duppo, since he had finished eating, had been busy scraping away at someof the monkey bones, and he now produced several, with which heintimated he should soon be able to manufacture some hooks. Having putout our fire lest it should ignite the whole tree, we once morescrambled back to our former resting-place. Duppo, having got a coupleof lines ready, worked away most perseveringly with the monkey bones,till he had manufactured a couple of serviceable-looking hooks. Thesehe bound on with the sinews to the lines. He was going to fasten onsome of the knuckle-bones as weights, but I having some large shot in mypocket, they answered the purpose much better. The hooks, baited withthe monkey flesh, were now ready for use. Duppo, however, beforeputting them into the water, warned me that I must be very quick instriking, lest the fish should bite the lines through before we hauledthem up. As we were floating downwards we cast the lines up thecurrent, taking our seat on a stout bough projecting over the water.There we sat, eagerly waiting for a bite, True looking on with greatgravity, as if he understood all about the matter. I almost trembledwith eagerness, when before long I felt a tug at my line. I struck atonce, but up it came without a fish. Again, in a short time, I feltanother bite. It seemed a good strong pull, and I hoped that I hadcaught a fish which would give us a dinner. I hauled it up, but as itrose above the water I saw that it was not many inches in length.Still, it was better than nothing. It was of a beautiful grey hue. Ongetting it into my hand to take it off the hook, what was my surprise tosee it swell out till it became a perfect ball. "_Mamayacu_!" exclaimedDuppo. "No good eat." I thought he was right, for I certainly shouldnot have liked attempting to feed on so odd-looking a creature. Whengoing to unhook it I found that its small mouth was fixed in the meat.When left alone it gradually resumed its former proportions.

  I soon had another bite, and this time I hoped I should get somethingworth having. Again I hauled in, when up came a fish as long as theother was short and round, with a curious pointed snout. This, too, hadbeen caught by the tough monkey meat, and promised to be of little moreservice than my first prize. I caught two or three other curious butuseless fish, though, if very much pressed for food, we might havemanaged to scrape a little flesh off them. Duppo sat patiently fishingon. Though he had got no bites, he escaped being tantalised as I was bythe nibbling little creatures which attacked my bait. Perhaps he sankhis lower down. I could not exactly make it out, but so it was; and atlength I saw his line pulled violently. His eyes glistened witheagerness. He had evidently, he thought, got a large fish hooked. Hefirst allowed his line to run to its full length, then gradually hehauled it in, making a sign to me to come to his assistance. He thenhanded me the line. I felt from the tugging that a fish of aconsiderable size was hooked. He meantime got an arrow from his quiverand fitted it to his bow. Then he signed to me to haul in gently. Idid so, dreading every instant that our prize would escape, for I couldscarcely suppose that a bone hook could withstand so strong a pull.Kneeling down on the trunk, he waited till we could see the dark form ofthe fish below the surface. At that moment the arrow flew from his bow,and the next all resistance ceased; and now without difficulty I hauledthe fish to the surface. Stooping down, he got hold of it by the gills,and with my assistance hauled it up to the trunk. It was nearly threefeet long, with a flat spoon-shaped head, and beautifully spottedstriped skin. From each side of its head trailed thin feelers, half thelength of the fish itself. I felt very sure that with such tackle as wehad that I should never have been able to secure so fine a fish. We hadnow food to last us as long as the fish remained good. We had just timeto light a fire and cook a portion, as we had dressed the monkey flesh,before darkness came on.

  The night passed quietly away, and the morning light showed us the samescene as that on which the evening had closed, of the far-off forest,and the wide expanse of water, with single trees and tangled masses ofunderwood floating on it. After we had lighted a fire, and cooked somemore fish for breakfast, Duppo put out his lines to try and catch afurther supply. Not a bite, however, did he get. He hoped, he said, tobe more successful in the evening. We therefore hauled in the lines,and I employed the time in teaching him English. I was sure that Ellenwould be greatly pleased, should we ever return, to find that he hadimproved.

  Another day was passing by. The wind had been moderate and the riversmooth. Again it came on to blow, and our tree was so violentlyagitated that I was afraid it would be thrown over, and that we shouldbe washed off it. As we looked round we saw the other masses with whichwe had kept company tossed about in the same way, and frequently movingtheir positions. Now we drove on before the wind faster than we hadhitherto gone. There was one mass ahead which I had remarked from thefirst, though at a considerable distance. We were now drifting nearerto it. I had watched it for some hours, when I fancied I saw an objectmoving about on the upper part. "It must be another monkey," I said tomyself. I pointed it out to Duppo. He remarked that it moved tooslowly for a monkey; that it was more probably a sloth. Then again itstopped moving, and I could scarcely distinguish it among the branchesof the trees. I hoped that we might drift near enough to get it. Itwould probably afford us more substantial fare than our fish. After atime I saw Duppo eagerly watching the island. Suddenly he started up,and waved his hand. I looked as keenly as I could. Yes; it seemed tome that the figure on the island was again moving, and waving also. Itwas a human being; and if so, who else but Arthur? My heart bounded atthe thought. Yet, how could he have escaped? How had he not beforebeen seen by us? Again I waved, this time with a handkerchief in myhand. The figure held out a handkerchief also. There was now no doubtabout the matter. It was very doubtful, however, whether we shoulddrift much nearer the floating island. The wind increased; a drizzlingrain came down and almost concealed it from sight, so that we could nottell whether or not we were continuing to approach it. This increasedmy anxiety. Yet the hope of seeing my friend safe, once kindled, wasnot to be extinguished; even should we not drive close enough to theisland to join each other, we still might meet elsewhere. All we coulddo, therefore, was to sit quietly on the tree, and wait the course ofevents.

  One of the most difficult things to do, I have found, is to waitpatiently. Hour after hour passed by. The wind blew hard, and often sohigh did the waves rise that I was afraid we might be swept off. Whatwould become of us during the long, dreary night? I felt the cold, too,more than I had done since we began our voyage. How much more must poorDuppo have suffered, with less clothing! I should have liked to havelighted a fire; but with the rain falling, and the tree tossing about,that was impracticable. We all three--Duppo, True, and I--sat crouchingtogether in the most sheltered part of the tree. Thus the hours ofdarkness approached, and crept slowly on. Did I say my prayers? it maybe asked. Yes, I did; I may honestly say that I never forgot to do so.I was reminded, too, to ask for protection, from feeling how little ableI was, by my own unaided arm, to escape the dangers by which I wassurrounded. I tried to get Duppo to join me. I thought he understoodme; but y
et he could scarcely have had the slightest conception of thegreat Being to whom I was addressing my prayers. I hoped, however, whenhe knew more of our language, that I should be able to impart somewhatof the truth to his hitherto uncultivated mind.

  In spite of the rain, the darkness, and the movements of our tree, I atlength fell asleep, and so, I believe, did Duppo and True. I was awoke,after some time, by a crashing sound, similar to that which had occurredwhen we drove against the floating island. I started up. True uttereda sharp bark. It awoke Duppo. Presently I heard a voice at no greatdistance exclaiming, "What is that? Who is there?"

  "Who are you?" I shouted out.

  "I am Arthur! And oh, Harry! is it you?"

  "Yes," I answered. "How thankful I am that you have escaped!"

  "And so am I that you have been saved," answered Arthur. "But where areyou? I cannot find my way among the bough. Have you come off to me inthe canoe?" I told him in reply how we were situated. "Can you joinme?" he asked. "I have hurt my foot, and am afraid of falling."

  "Stay where you are," I answered; "we will try to reach you."

  I made Duppo understand that I wished to get to where Arthur was. Itwas necessary to move very cautiously, for fear of slipping off into thewater. We could not tell, indeed, whether the butt-end or the boughs ofour tree had caught in the floating island; all we could see was a darkmass near us, and a few branches rising up towards the sky. I wasafraid, however, that if we did not make haste we might be againseparated from it as we had been from the other island. We scrambledfirst some way along the boughs; but as we looked down we could see thedark water below us, and I was afraid should we get on to the outer endsthat they might break and let us fall into it. I thought also of True,for though we might possibly have swung ourselves across the boughs, hewould have been unable to follow us. I turned back, and once more mademy way towards the root-end, which, by the experience we had before had,I hoped might have driven in closer to the mass we wished to reach. Wehad to crawl carefully on our hands and knees, for the rain had made thetrunk slippery, and we might easily have fallen off. As I got towardsthe end, I began to hope that it was touching the island. I againcalled out to Arthur. His voice sounded clearer than before. When Igot to the end among the tangled mass of roots, I stopped once more toascertain what Duppo advised we should do.

  I sat some time trying to pierce the gloom. At length I thought I saw athick bough projecting over the extreme end of our tree. If I couldonce catch hold of it I might swing myself on to the island. There wasone fear, however, that it might give way with my weight. Still I sawno other mode of getting to Arthur. True, I hoped, might leap along theroots, which were sufficiently buoyant to bear his weight, at allevents. Having given my rifle to Duppo to hold, I cautiously went on.I got nearer and nearer the bough. With one strong effort I might catchhold of it. I sprang up, and seized it with both hands. It seemedfirmly fixed in a mass of floating wood. After clambering along for ashort distance I let myself down and found footing below me. I nowcalled to Duppo, and holding on to the bough above my head with onehand, stepped back till at last I was able to reach the rifle which heheld out towards me. True sprang forward, and was in an instant by myside. Duppo followed more carefully, and at length we were all threeupon the island.

  "We shall soon find our way to you," I cried out to Arthur.

  "Oh, thank you, thank you!" he answered.

  It was no easy matter, however, to make our way among the tangled massof trunks and roots and boughs without slipping down into the creviceswhich yawned at our feet. I could judge pretty well by his voice whereArthur was. Duppo pulled at my arm. He wished that I would let him gofirst. This I was glad to do, as I had great confidence in his judgmentand activity. Following close behind him, we at length got directlyunder where Arthur was perched.

  "Here we are," I cried out, "on a firm trunk. Could you not manage tocome down?"

  "I am afraid not," he answered.

  "Stay, then; I will climb up and assist you," I said.

  Putting my gun down, I made my way up the branch. Most thankful I wasagain to press his hand.

  "I am somewhat sick and hungry," he said; "but now you have come, Ishall soon be all right."

  "Well, let me help you down first," I replied. "We have brought somefood, and when you have eaten it we will talk more about what hashappened to us. I hope we shall manage somehow or other to reach theshore before this island is carried out to sea."

  "Oh yes, I hope so indeed," he said. "I have never thought thatlikely."

  I now set to work to help Arthur down. Duppo stood under the branch andassisted me in placing him at length in a more secure position.

  "Oh, I am so thankful you have come!" he kept repeating; "my onlyanxiety was about you. Still I hoped, as I had so wonderfully escaped,that you might also be safe. All I know is, that I was in the water,and then that I found myself clinging to a bough, and that I graduallypulled myself up out of the water. I believe I fainted, for I foundmyself lying among a mass of boughs; and when I managed at last to situp, I discovered that I was floating down the river. Not for some timedid I feel any sense of hunger. At length, when I did so, I found,greatly to my satisfaction, that I had my wallet over my shoulders, wellstored with provisions. They were, to be sure, wet through; but I ateenough to satisfy the cravings of hunger. In the morning I looked aboutme, hoping to see you on one of the masses of trees which were floatingdown the stream round me. You may fancy how sad I felt when I couldnowhere distinguish you. I knew, however, that it was wrong to give wayto despair, so when the sun came forth I dried the remainder of thefood, which has supported me hitherto."

  "But did you feel any pain from your wound?" I asked. "That has beenone great anxiety to me. I thought you were truck by a poisoned arrow."

  "No," he answered. "I pulled it out at once, and had forgotten it, tillI felt a pain in my shoulder. Then the dreadful thought that it waspoisoned came across me, and I expected, for some time, to feel itworking within my system. It was perhaps that which made me faint; butas I did not feel any other ill effects, I began to hope that, either inpassing through my jacket the poison had been scraped off, or that ithas, as I have heard, but slight noxious effects on salt-eatingEuropeans."

  I agreed with him that this must be the case; indeed, he complained ofonly a slight pain in the shoulder where the arrow had struck him. Inthe darkness which surrounded us, I could do no more than give him someof the food we had brought with us. The remainder of the night we saton the trunk of the tree, Duppo and I supporting Arthur in our arms,while True crouched down by my side. We could hear the water washinground us, and the wind howling among the branches over our heads. Therain at length ceased, but I felt chilled and cold; and Arthur and Duppowere, I feared, suffering still more. Thus we sat on, doing our best tocheer each other. So long a time had passed since Arthur had beenstruck by the arrow, that I no longer apprehended any dangerous effectsfrom it. Still, he was very weak from the long exposure and the want offood, and I became more anxious to get him safe on shore, where, at allevents, he might obtain shelter and sufficient nourishment. Wherever wemight be cast, we should, in all probability, be able to build a hut;and I hoped that with my gun, and Duppo's bow, we should obtain an amplesupply of game.

  "Now we have found each other, I am afraid of nothing," said Arthur.

  "Neither am I," I answered. "Still I fear that Ellen and John will bevery unhappy when they do not see us."

  We had been talking for some time, when we felt a violent shock. Thewater hissed and bubbled up below us, and the mass of trees on which wefloated seemed as if they were being torn asunder. Such, indeed, wasthe case. Duppo uttered a cry of alarm.

  "What shall we do?" exclaimed Arthur. "O Harry, do try and saveyourself. Never mind me. What can have happened?"

  "We have driven ashore," I answered. "I am nearly certain of it. Allwe can do till daylight is to cling on to this trunk; or, if
you willstay here with Duppo, I will try and make my way to the other side, toascertain where we are."

  "Oh, do not leave me, Harry," he said. "I am afraid something mayhappen to you."

  We sat on for a few minutes. Still the crashing and rending of theboughs and sipos continued. At length I was afraid that we might beswept away by the current, and be prevented from reaching the shore. Itherefore told Duppo what I wanted to do. He taking Arthur by one arm,I supported him by the other, and thus holding him up we tried to forceour way among the tangled mass. Now we had to hang on by our hands,finding no firm footing for our feet. In vain we tried to force our wayonwards. In the darkness I soon saw that it was impossible. A thickwall of sipos impeded our progress. It was not without the greatestdifficulty that at length we got back to the trunk we had left. Eventhat was violently tossed about, and I was even now afraid that we mightbe thrown off it. Once more we sat down on the only spot which affordedus any safety. Gradually objects became more clear, and then I saw,rising up against the sky, the tall upright stems of trees. They couldnot be growing on our floating island. I now became aware that the masson which we sat had swung round. It seemed once more to be moving on.There was no time to be lost. Duppo and I again lifted up Arthur, andmade our way towards the end of the trunk. Not till then did I discoverthat it was in actual contact with the shore. We hurried along. A fewfeet only intervened between us and the dry land. "Stay, I will gofirst," I exclaimed, and made a sign to Duppo to support Arthur. I letmyself down. How thankful I was to find my feet on the ground, thoughthe water was up to my middle. "Here, Arthur, get on my back," I criedout. Duppo helped him, and in another minute I was scrambling up thebank on the dry ground. Duppo let himself down as I had done, and Trueleaped after us. Scarcely were we on shore when the trunk we had leftfloated off, and we could see the mass, with several detached portions,gliding down the river. Where we were we could not tell, but daylightcoming on would soon reveal that to us. We sat ourselves down on thebank, thankful that we had escaped from the dangers to which we shouldhave been exposed had we remained longer on the floating island.