Afloat in the Forest; Or, A Voyage among the Tree-Tops

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

  TAKING TO THE WATER.

  The Mundurucu merited congratulation, and his companions could notrestrain their admiration and wonder. They knew that the alligator wasonly assailable by ordinary weapons--as gun, spear, or harpoon--in threeplaces; in the throat, unprotected, except by a thin, soft integument;in the hollow in front of the shoulders, and immediately behind the bonysocket of the eyes; and in the eyes themselves,--the latter being themost vulnerable of all. Why had the Indian, armed with a knife, notchosen one of these three places to inflict a mortal cut or stab?

  "Patron," said the Indian, as soon as he had recovered his breath, "youwonder why the Mundurucu took all that trouble for a _macana_, while hemight have killed the jacare without it. True, the knife was weaponenough. _Pa terra_! Yes. But it would not cause instant death. Therascal could dive with both eyes scooped out of their sockets, and livefor hours afterwards. Ay, it could have carried me twenty miles throughthe Gapo, half the distance under water. Where would old Munday havebeen then? Drowned and dead, long before the jacare itself. Ah,patron, a good knock on the hollow of its head is the best way to settlescores with a jacare."

  And as if all scores had been now settled with this fellow, the hugesaurian, to all appearance dead, passed unheeded out of sight, thecurrent of the Gapo drifting it slowly away. They did not wait for itstotal disappearance, and while its hideous body, turned belly upward,with its human-like hands stiffly thrust above the surface, was yet insight, they resumed their preparations for vacating a tenement of whichall were heartily tired, with that hopeful expectancy which springs froma knowledge that the future cannot be worse than the present. Richardhad reported many curious trees, some bearing fruits that appeared to beeatable, strung with llianas, here and there forming a network that madeit easy to find comfort among their branches. If there had been nothingelse to cheer them, the prospect of escaping from their irksomeattitudes was of itself sufficient; and influenced by this, they eagerlyprepared for departure.

  As almost everything had been already arranged for ferrying the party,very little remained to be done. From the hermetically closedmonkey-cups the Mundurucu had manufactured five swimming-belts,--thisnumber being all that was necessary, for he and the young Paraense couldswim ten times the distance without any adventitious aid. The othershad their share of empty shells meted out according to their weight andneed of help. Rosa's transport required particular attention. Theothers could make way themselves, but Rosa was to be carried acrossunder the safe conduct of the Indian.

  So when every contingency had been provided for, one after anotherslipped down from the fork, and quietly departed from a tree that,however uncomfortable as a residence, had yet provided them with arefuge in the hour of danger.

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

  A HALF-CHOKED SWIMMER.

  Munday led off, towing little Rosa after him by a sipo, one end fastenedto his girdle, and the other around her waist. Trevannion followedclose behind, Ralph a little farther off, with Richard keeping abreastof his cousin and helping him along. Mozey swam next; Tipperary Tom,who was last to leave the tree, brought up the rear. The ouistiti hadfound a berth on the shoulders of young Ralph, who, buoyed up by a goodsupply of air-vessels, swam with his back above water. As for the macawand coaita, the desperate circumstances in which our adventurers wereplaced rendered it not only inconvenient, but out of the question, totrouble themselves with such pets; and it had been agreed that they mustbe abandoned. Both, therefore, were left upon the tree. With the macawit was a matter of choice whether it should stay there. By simplyspreading out its great hyacinthine wings it could keep pace with its_ci-devant_ protectors; and they had hardly left the tree, when thebird, giving a loud scream, sprang from its perch, hovered a moment inthe air, and then, flying down, alighted on Mozey's wool-coveredcranium, making him hide his astonished head quickly under water. Thearara, affrighted at having wetted its feet, instantly essayed to soarup again; but its curving talons, that had clutched too eagerly in thedescent, had become fixed, and all its attempts to detach them were invain. The more it struggled, the tighter became the tangle; while itsscreams, united with the cries of the negro, pealed over the water,awaking far echoes in the forest. It was sometime before Mozeysucceeded in untwisting the snarl that the arara had spun around itslegs, and not until he had sacrificed several of his curls was the birdfree to trust once more to its wings.

  We have said, that by some mystic influence the big monkey had becomeattached to Tipperary Tom, and the attachment was mutual. Tom had nottaken his departure from the tree without casting more than one look ofregret back among the branches, and under any other circumstances hewould not have left the coaita behind him. It was only in obedience tothe inexorable law of self-preservation that he had consented to thesacrifice. The monkey had shown equal reluctance at parting, in looks,cries, and gestures. It had followed its friend down to the fork, andafter he had slipped into the water it appeared as if it would followhim, regardless of both instinct and experience, for it could not swim.These, however, proved strong enough to restrain its imprudence, andafter its protector had gone it stood trembling and chattering inaccents that proclaimed the agony of that unexpected separation. Anyone listening attentively to its cries might have detected in thepiteous tones the slightest commingling of reproach. How could it beotherwise to be thus deserted? Left to perish, in fact; for althoughthe coaita was perfectly at home upon the sapucaya, and could live thereas long as the nuts lasted, there was not the slightest chance of itsgetting away from the tree. It must stay there till the _vasante_, tillthe flood fell, and that would not be for months. Long before that itmust undoubtedly perish, either by drowning or starvation.

  Whether or not these unpleasant forebodings passed through the monkey'swits, and whether they nerved it, may never be known. Certainlysomething seemed to stimulate the creature to determination; for insteadof standing any longer shivering in the fork of the tree, it turnedsuddenly, and, darting up the trunk, ran out upon one of the horizontalbranches. To go directly from the sapucaya to the forest, it wasnecessary to pass under this limb; and Tipperary Tom, following in thewake of the others, had taken this track. He was already far out fromthe stem of the tree, almost clear of the overhanging branches, and halfoblivions of the painful parting, when a heavy body, pouncing upon hisshoulders, caused both him and his empty shells to sink some feet underthe water; for just like old Munday on the alligator had the monkey comedown upon Tipperary Tom. The affrighted Irishman, on rising to thesurface, sputtered forth a series of cries, at the same timeendeavouring to rid himself of the unexpected rider on his back. It wasjust at this crisis, too, that the macaw had managed to make good itsfooting in the fleece of the negro. Mozey, however, was the first toget clear of his incubus; and then all eyes were directed towardsTipperary Tom and the clinging coaita, while peals of laughter resoundedfrom every lip.

  Mozey had enfranchised himself by sacrificing a few tufts of his woollyhair, but the task was not so easy for Tom. In fact, it provedaltogether impracticable; for the coaita had curled its prehensile tailaround his neck in a knot that would have made a hangman envious. Themore he tugged at it, the more it tightened; and had the Irishman beenleft to himself, it would have no doubt ended in his being strangledoutright, a fate he began to dread. At this crisis he heard theMundurucu shout to him across the water to leave the coaita alone, asthen it would relax its hold. Fortunately for himself, Tom had theprudence to obey this well-timed counsel; and although still halfsuffocated by the too cordial embrace of his pet, he permitted it tohave its own way, until, having approached the forest, the monkeyrelaxed its hold, and sprang up among the branches.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

  A SUPPER OF BROILED SQUAB.

  Guided by the Mundurucu, the swimmers entered the water arcade beforedescribed, and proceeded on to the tree that had furnished thecaoutchouc for their swimming-belts. The siphonia, so late the scene ofstrife a
nd querulous complainings, was now silent as the tomb; not aliving arara was in sight or within hearing. The few old birds that hadsurvived the club conflict had forsaken the spot, betaking themselves tosome distant part of the forest, perhaps out of the Gapo altogether, tomourn over nests laid desolate, over chicks seized and instantlydestroyed by ruthless hands. Only the young were there, suspended in abunch from the branches. The Mundurucu mounted first, taking his chargealong with him; and then all the others climbed up into the tree, wherethe macaw and the monkey--one upon wing, the other by a passage throughthe tree-tops in speed almost equalling the flight of a bird--hadalready arrived.

  Farther progress for that night was no part of their purpose. It wouldhave been as idle as imprudent. The sun was already level with theirgaze, and to have forsaken their perch at that hour would have been likeleaving a good inn for the doubtful chances of the road. The seringa,with its thickly trellised limbs, offered snug quarters. Upon itsnetwork of parasites it was possible to repose; there were hammockswoven by the hand of Nature, and, rude as they might be, they were apleasant improvement on their couches of the preceding night.

  The tree contained other proofs of its hospitality. The fat fledglingssuspended upon it promised a supper not to be despised; for none of theparty was a stranger to macaw flesh, and, as those were young andtender, eyes sparkled and mouths watered on beholding them. No oneexpected that they were to be eaten raw, though there was more than onein the party whose appetite had become sharp enough for this. TheMundurucu would have shown but slight squeamishness at swallowing one ofthe squabs as it was, while to Mozey it would have signified less. EvenTipperary Tom declared his readiness to set about supping withoutfurther preparation.

  The semi-cannibal appetites of his companions were controlled byTrevannion, who commenced talking of a fire. How was it to be made?How could the chicks be cooked? His questions did not remain longunanswered. The Indian, eager to meet the wishes of his employer,promised that they should be gratified.

  "Wait a bit, patron," said he. "In ten minutes' time you shall havewhat you want, a fire; in twenty, roast arara."

  "But how?" asked the patron. "We have no flint nor steel, any of us;and if we had, where find the tinder?"

  "Yonder!" rejoined the Mundurucu. "You see yonder tree on the otherside of the igarape?"

  "That standing out by itself, with smooth, shining bark, and hoary,handlike leaves? Yes, I see it. What of it?"

  "It is the _embauba_, patron; the tree that feeds the lazy sloth, the_Ai_."

  "O, then it is that known as the _Cecropia peltata_. True, its crown ofpeltate leaves declares the species. But we were talking of fire,Munday. Can you obtain it from the cecropia?"

  "In ten minutes, patron, the Mundurucu will draw sparks from that tree,and make a fire too, if he can only obtain from it a dry branch, onewithout sap, decayed, dead. You shall see."

  So saying, he swam out towards the cecropia. On reaching this, hescaled it like a squirrel, and was soon among its silvery fronds, thatspread palm-like over the water. Soon the snapping of a breaking branchwas heard, and shortly after the Indian came gliding down the tree, and,holding the piece of cecropia above his head, swam with one hand towardsthe caoutchouc, which he once more ascended. On rejoining hiscompanions, they saw that the stick he had secured was a bit of dry,dead wood, light, and of porous texture, just such as might be easilyignited. Not caring to make any secret of his design, he confirmed hiscompanions in their conjecture by informing them that the embauba wasthe wood always employed by his people, as well as the other tribes inAmazonia, when they wished to make a fire; and saying this, he proceededwithout further delay to make them acquainted with the proper way.Strange to say, it proved to be the friction process, often described aspractised in remote corners of the world, and by savage tribes who couldnever have held the slightest communication with one another. Whotaught them this curious mode of creating fire? Who inducted the Indianof the Amazon, and the aboriginal of Borneo, into the identical ideas ofthe _sumpitan_ and _gradatana_,--both blow-guns alike? Who firstinstructed mankind in the use of the bow? Was it instinct? Was itwisdom from on high?

  While Trevannion was reflecting on this strange theme, the Mundurucu hadshaped a long spindle from a slender branch which he had cut from somehard wood growing near; and, whirling it between the palms of his hands,in less than ten minutes, as he had promised, sparks appeared in thehollowed stick of the cecropia. Dry leaves, twigs, and bark had beenalready collected, and with these a flame was produced, ending in afire, that soon burned brightly in one of the forks of the seringa.Over this the young macaws, supported on spits, were soon done brown;and a supper of roast arara, with parched sapucaya nuts, proved anythingbut a despicable meal to the party who partook of it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

  ONCE MORE IN THE WATER.

  Our adventurers passed a tolerable night among the sipos of the seringa.They might have slept more soundly but for apprehensions about thefuture that intruded even into their dreams. Morning brought no relief,for then reality itself appeared ruder than the visions of fancy intheir slumbers. They had cold macaw for breakfast,--remains of thepreceding night's roast, which had been kept up as long as the fire wasalight, and carefully preserved, to serve for a future occasion. It wasjust sunrise, and as soon as the meal was over, they consulted seriouslyhow to extricate themselves from their unpleasant and perilousposition,--how to work a deliverance from the jaws of the Gapo.Whereabouts in this strange region were they? How far had they enteredit? They could not even frame a guess of the distance traversed by thegalatea before she had come to grief in the fork of the sapucaya. Itmight be twenty miles, it might be fifty; who could tell? They onlyknew that the ill-fated vessel had been drifting away from the Solimoes,and deep into the solitudes of the Gapo. They knew they must be manymiles from the banks of the Solimoes, and, from his hydrographicknowledge, already tested, the old tapuyo could tell its direction. Butit was no longer a question of getting back to the channel of the greatriver. On the contrary, the object now was to reach solid land. Itwould be worse than idle to seek the Solimoes without the means ofnavigating it; for, even should the stream be reached, it would be onechance in a thousand to get within hail of a passing vessel. Almost aswell might such be looked for in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Theywere now bent on discovering the shortest route to the mainland thatbordered this inundated region. This should be found in the directionopposite to that in which the river lay. It might not, but theprobabilities were in favour of that hypothesis. They had but littledifficulty in determining the way to take. The index already pointedout by the Indian was still to be depended upon.

  The _echente_ was still going on. The current was from the river, ifnot with absolute directness, yet with enough to point out the bearingof the Solimoes. The land might be many miles distant,--farther thanthe river itself,--but there was no alternative but to reach it or die.But how reach it? That was the question. They could hardly hope toswim the whole distance, for it must be great. A raft? This too wastalked of. But how was a raft to be constructed? Among the tops ofthose water-loving trees there could scarce be found a stick lightenough to have floated itself, let alone the carrying of a ponderouscargo. Out of such heavy timber there would be but little chance oftheir constructing a raft, and the idea was abandoned almost as soon asbroached. But Munday's proposal met the approbation of all. The waterarcade chanced to continue in the direction they should take. Why notonce more make use of the swimming-belts, that had already done suchgood service, and effect a further exploration of the flooded forest?The proposition was too reasonable to be rejected. It was unanimouslyaccepted; and, without more ado, our adventurers descended from thesiphonia, and began to traverse the strait. The macaw and monkey kepttheir company as before, but no longer needed to make themselves aburden to their protectors, since both could travel through thetree-tops as the swimmers passed below.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.<
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  THE IGARAPE.

  They needed no pilot to point out their course. There could be nodanger of straying from it. The strait they were following was of thatkind known as an igarape, which, in the language of the AmazonianIndian, means literally "the path of the canoe,"--_igarite_ being thename of the craft most used in the navigation of the Gapo. The straititself might have been likened to a canal, running through a thicket,which formed on both sides a colossal hedge, laced together by animpenetrable network of parasitical plants. Unlike a canal, however, itwas not of uniform breadth, here and there widening into little openingsthat resembled lakes, and again narrowing until the tree-tops stretchingfrom each side touched one another, forming underneath a cool, shadowyarcade.

  Up this singular waterway our adventurers advanced, under the guidanceof the bordering line of verdure. Their progress was necessarily slow,as the two who could swim well were compelled to assist the others; butall were aided by a circumstance that chanced to be in their favour,--the current of the Gapo, which was going in the same direction withthemselves. Herein they were greatly favoured, for the flow of theflood corresponded very nearly with the course of the igarape; and, asthey advanced, they might have fancied themselves drifting down thechannel of some gently flowing stream. The current, however, was justperceptible; and though it carried them along, it could not be countedon for any great speed. With it and their own exertions they wereenabled to make about a mile an hour; and although this rate might seemintolerably slow, they were not discontented, since they believedthemselves to be going in the right direction. Had they been castawaysin mid-ocean, the case would have been different. Such tardy travellingwould have been hopeless; but it was otherwise in the forest sea thatsurrounded them. On one side or the other they could not be more thanfifty miles from real dry land, and perhaps much less. By going right,they might reasonably hope to reach it, though detained upon the way.It was of the utmost importance, however, that the direction should beknown and followed. A route transverse to it might take them a thousandmiles, either way, through a flooded forest,--westward almost to thefoot of the Andes,--eastward to the mouth of the Amazon! Theexperienced tapuyo, knowing all this, was extremely cautious in choosingthe course they were now pursuing. He did not exactly keep in the lineindicated by the flow of the flood. Although the _echente_ was stillgoing on, he knew that its current could not be at right angles to thatof the river, but rather obliqued to it; and in swimming onward he madeallowance for this oblique, the igarape fortunately trending at asimilar inclination.