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

by Mayne Reid

  "_Guaribas_!" quietly remarked the Mundurucu, as the distant noise wasfirst heard.

  "Howling monkeys you mean?" interrogatively rejoined Trevannion.

  "Yes, patron, and the loudest howlers of the whole tribe. You'll hearthem presently. They are coming this way."

  "They're not far off now, I should say, if one may judge by the loudnessof their cries."

  "All of a mile yet, patron. It proves that the forest stretches morethan a mile in that direction, else the guaribas could not be there. Ifthere be open water between us and them, they won't come this way. Ifnot, we'll have them here in ten minutes' time. I wish we could onlytravel among the tree-tops as they can. We shouldn't stay long in theGapo."

  "Just as the Mundurucu expected," continued the tapuyo, after a pause."The guaribas are coming towards us. I can hear the swishing of theleaves as they pass among them. We'll soon see them."

  The howling of the guaribas had for some time ceased, but the rustlingof leaves, with the occasional snapping of a twig, to which the Indianhad directed the attention of his companions, told that the troop wastravelling through the tree-tops, otherwise observing a profoundsilence.

  Soon they appeared in sight, suddenly presenting themselves upon a talltree that stood by the side of the igarape, about a cable's length fromthat occupied by our adventurers. For some minutes the branches of thetree were seen oscillating up and down, as each black guariba spranginto it: and this continued until not less than a hundred had foundlodgement upon the limbs. As the leader of the band, who was evidentlychief of the tribe, caught sight of the igarape, he was seen to pause inan abrupt and ambiguous manner, at the same moment giving utterance to acry, easily intelligible as a word of command. It had the effect ofcausing those immediately behind him to come to a halt, as also theothers, as they sprang successively into the tree. There could be noquestion as to what had caused the halt. It was the igarape crossingthe track which the guaribas were going. With them the only questionwas, how they were to get over it.

  At the point where the howlers had clustered together, the strait wasnarrower than elsewhere within sight. Between the branches, extendinghorizontally from the opposite sides of the igarape, there was a clearspace of about twenty feet; and to the spectators it appeared improbablethat any animal without wings could leap from tree to tree. Themonkeys, however, did not seem to be of this opinion, but were plainlycontemplating the leap; and it was evident that some of them were onlyrestrained from taking it by an authoritative command from their chief,which held them in check. For several minutes there was a profoundsilence among them, undisturbed until the stragglers had all arrived inthe tree, and squatted on the branches.

  It was now observed that among these last were several mothers, eachcarrying a child upon her back, or embraced between her bare arms; theyoungster with face upturned, clinging, not with teeth and toe-nail, butwith hands and tail, to the neck of its maternal parent. To these theattention of the whole tribe appeared to be directed; and it was evidentthat they were the sole cause of the difficulty,--the _impedimenta_ thathad interrupted the onward march of the troop.

  There had been confusion, accompanied by some chattering, after firstcoming up; but a sign from the leader had put an end to all noise, andthen succeeded the silence already mentioned. During its continuancethe guariba chief slowly ascended the tree, until he had attained aposition elevated above all his followers. Then squatting down, withhis hams firmly planted upon a branch, his long tail carefully coiledaround another, he commenced his harangue with as much ceremony as if hehad been chairman of a Guild-Hall dinner. Perhaps there was quite asmuch sense and eloquence in his speech; at all events, there was morenoise: for during the ten minutes taken up by it--it had the advantageof brevity--no other sound could have been heard over the Gapo withinthe circuit of a mile.

  His address being ended, the chief, by a series of detached speeches,seemed to invite a reply from his followers, coaxing their assent, ordaring them to contradiction. There appeared to be no dissent, not onevoice. The chattering that responded to the speech was delivered in atone that spoke unanimous compliance with the proposal--whatever itwas--which their chief had offered to their consideration.

  Then ensued another interval of silence, much shorter than before, andagain interrupted by the leader of the troop. This time, however, hiswords were few and to the purpose. They were pronounced in a tone ofcommand, that called for prompt obedience, which was yieldedinstantaneously and without protest.

  One of the strongest of the guaribas ran out upon the limb overhangingthe igarape, and, stopping at its extremity, braced himself for theleap. In another instant it was made, and the monkey was seen rushingup into the tree on the other side of the igarape. A comrade followed,placing his four hands in the same spot, his body in a similar attitude,and making the leap so exactly like the guariba that had preceded him,that it seemed the same monkey repeating the performance. Then wentanother, and another, so close following, that the creatures appearedmore like the links of some colossal but quick-moving chain, pulled bysupernatural power across the igarape, than a series of individual andanimated beings.

  CHAPTER FORTY ONE.

  THE MONKEY MOTHER.

  Our adventurers sat in silent wonder watching the movements of themonkeys. It was certainly a spectacle of the most interesting characterto see these creatures making the passage of the igarape. Perhaps themost singular thing was the similarity of their leaps,--all plantingtheir feet upon the same spot of the branch from which the leadersprang, springing exactly in the same way, and alighting on the oppositeside in apparently the same spot and attitude, proving that each and allmust have been actuated by the same thought or instinct at the precisemoment of passing from one tree to the other. Another singular pointwas, that during its continuance the intervals between each two werealmost as regular as the ticking of a clock. As soon as one launcheditself out from the branch, another sprang into its place, and was readyto follow so quickly that the air was never for a moment without amonkey; and any one looking straight down the opening between the trees,without glancing to either side, might almost have fancied that it was asingle guariba suspended in mid-air!

  All the males of the tribe had succeeded in making the leap in safety;and all the females, too,--those carrying their "piccaninnies" alongwith the rest,--except one. This was a mother with a very young childon her back,--in fact a mere infant,--perhaps not nine days old.Notwithstanding its extreme youth, it appeared to comprehend thesituation, as well as those of more mature age, clinging with itsinfantile fingers to the shaggy hide of its mother, while its tiny tailwas twisted around the root of hers, in a loop that appeared tight as asailor's knot.

  But the mother, enfeebled by some sickness,--for monkeys are subject tosickness as well as men,--appeared doubtful of her ability to accomplishthe leap; and, after all the others had crossed, she stood upon thebranch evidently only half determined about following them. At thiscrisis occurred a curious incident,--the first of a series. One ofthose that had crossed, a man-monkey, was seen to separate from thecrowd, that had by this time ascended to the top of the tree. Returningalong the limb to which they had just leaped, he placed himself oppositeto the hesitating female and began to chatter, intending to encourageher, as his gestures showed. The mother of the infant made reply; butalthough the sounds were unintelligible to the human spectators, theymight be translated as saying, "It's not a bit of use, my trying; Ishall only get a ducking for my pains, and the infant too. It may bedrowned."

  Her reply was delivered in a tone of appeal; and, as if affected by it,the male monkey--evidently the father of the child--made no moreremonstrance, but bounded back across the open water. It was but thework of six seconds for him to transfer the juvenile to his ownshoulders; and in as many more both he and it were on the right side ofthe igarape. Relieved of her charge and encouraged by the cries ofthose already across, the mother sprang out from the branch. The effortwas too great for
her strength. With her forefinger she caught thetwigs on the opposite side and succeeded in clutching them; but beforeshe could lap the branch with her tail,--a more trustworthy means ofprehension,--she had sunk below its level, and, the twigs giving way,she plunged into the water.

  A universal scream came from the top of the tree, and a score or more ofguaribas leaped down upon the limb from which the unfortunate hadfallen. There was a scene of confusion,--just as there would have beenhad the catastrophe happened among human beings,--as when a boat upsetsor some one breaks through the ice, and spectators stand speechless, orhurry to and fro, no one knowing exactly what to do,--what order togive, or whom to obey.

  Very like was the scene of surprise, terror, and lamentation among themonkeys,--except that it did not last quite so long. In this respectanimal instinct, as it is called, has the advantage of bewilderedreason; and, while a crowd upon the sea-beach or the river-bank wouldhave spent ten minutes before taking action to rescue the drowningindividual, scarcely so many seconds were allowed to elapse before theguaribas had picked up and safely deposited her trembling person on thefork of a tree.

  The mode in which this had been accomplished was something to astonishthe spectators, and yet it was performed in a very efficient manner. Assoon as the screaming would permit, the voice of the guariba chieftainwas heard, in a chattering so loud and serious in tone as to indicatecommand; and some half-score of the number, in obedience, glided out onthe limb of the tree under which the female was in imminent danger ofbeing drowned. A bucket could not have descended into a well, or apulley-tackle come down from warehouse or mill, more promptly andspeedily than did that string of monkeys, hooked neck and tail to oneanother, like the links of a long chain,--the lowest upon the swingingseries being the husband of the half-drowned mother, who had hastilydeposited his baby in one of the forkings of the tree. Neither couldthe water-bucket have been filled, nor the wheat-sack hooked on, withhalf the speed and agility with which she was picked up and restored.

  Once more shouldering her "chickabiddy," she took her place in thetroop, which, without further delay, moved on amid the tree-tops,keeping in a direct line of march, as if bent upon a journey that was toterminate at some spot already known to them. For a long time theirtrack could be traced by their continuous howling, which then was heardonly at intervals, and at length receded to such a distance as to becomeinaudible.

  CHAPTER FORTY TWO.

  THE MUNDURUCU DISCOURSES OF MONKEYS.

  The sun was just setting as the guaribas disappeared; and from thiscircumstance it was conjectured that they were on their return to somefavourite resting-place. Trevannion supposed that they might be ontheir way to dry land; and, if so, the route they had taken might servehimself and party for a direction. He mentioned this to the Mundurucu,who shook his head, not doubtfully, but as a simple negative.

  "You think it would be of no use our taking the direction in which theyhave gone?" said the miner interrogatively.

  "No, patron; not a bit of good in that. They are as like to be goingfrom _terra firma_ as towards it. It's all the same to them whetherthey sleep over land, or water, so long as they have the trees to clingto. They are now trooping to some roost they have a fancy for,--perhapssome very big tree,--which they use at all times for theirnight-rendezvous, and where others of the same tribe will be likely tomeet them. These have been off to some favourite feeding-ground, wherethe fruit may be more plenty than in the neighbourhood of their regulardwelling-place; or they may have been upon some ramble for amusement."

  "What! do monkeys make such excursions?" inquired young Ralph.

  "O yes," replied the Mundurucu. "I've often met them trooping aboutamong the trees, where nuts and fruits were in plenty; and have watchedthem, for hours at a time, without seeing them pluck a single one;--onlychattering and screeching and laughing and playing tricks upon eachother, as if they had nothing else to do. Neither have they whencertain sorts of fruit are ripe, especially soft fruits, such as berriesand the pulpy nuts of several kinds of palms, as the _pupunha_ and_assai_. It is a little different at other seasons, when they have tolive on the Brazil-nuts and sapucayas; then they have something to do toget at the kernels inside the thick shells, and at this they employ agood deal of their time."

  "Do they sleep perched on the trees, or have they nests among thebranches in which they can lie down at their ease?"

  "They have nests, but not for that. The females only use them whenabout to bring forth their young. As to sleeping at their ease, theycan do that on the very slenderest of branches. It's no hardship tothem, as it is to us. Not a bit."

  "But do they not sometimes fall off in their sleep?"

  "How could they do that, young master, when they have their tails tohold on by? Before going to sleep they take a turn or two of their longtail round a branch, not always the one their body is on, but morecommonly a branch a little above it. For that matter they don't needany branch to rest upon. They can go to sleep, and often do, hanging bythe tail,--for that is the position in which they are most at ease; justas you would be reclining in a hammock. I've seen them scores of timesasleep that way. To prove that they feel most at home when hanging bythe tail, they take to it whenever any alarm comes suddenly upon them;and they want to be in readiness for retreat, in case of its proving tobe an enemy."

  "What singular creatures!" said Ralph, half in soliloquy.

  "You speak truth, young master. They have many an odd way, that wouldlead one to believe that they had as much sense as some kinds of men.You have seen how they picked up the old one that fell into the water;but I've seen them do a still stranger thing than that. It is but thecommonest of their contrivances, put in practice every time they want topluck a nut, or some fruit that grows near the end of a branch tooslender to carry their weight. If there's a stronger limb above, theygo out upon it; and then, clinging together as you saw them do, they letthemselves down till the last in the string can lay hold of the fruit.Sometimes there is no branch right over the spot; but that don't hinderthem from getting what they have coveted, if they can find a stout limbanyways near. Then they make their string all the same; and, by settingit in motion, they swing back and forward, until the lowest of the partyis tossed out within reach of the fruit. I've seen them try this, andfind that their string was just a few inches too short, when anothermonkey would glide down upon the others, and add his length to completeit. Then I've seen them make a bridge, young master."

  "Make a bridge! Are you in earnest? How could they?"

  "Well, just in the same way as they get within reach of the nuts."

  "But for what purpose?"

  "To get across some bit of water, as a fast-running stream, where theywould be drowned if they fell in."

  "But how do they accomplish it? To make a bridge requires a skilledengineer among men; are there such among monkeys?"

  "Well, young master, I won't call it such skill; but it's very like it.When on their grand journeyings they come to a stream, or even anigarape like this, and find they can't leap from the trees on one sideto those growing on the other, it is then necessary for them to make thebridge. They go up or down the bank till they find two tall treesopposite each other. They climb to a high branch on the one, and then,linking together, as you've seen them, they set their string in motion,and swing backward and forward, till one at the end can clutch a branchof the tree, on the opposite side. This done the bridge is made, andall the troop, the old ones that are too stiff to take a great leap, andthe young ones that are too weak, run across upon the bodies of theirstouter comrades. When all have passed over, the monkey at the otherend of the string lets go his hold upon the branch; and if he should beflung into water it don't endanger him, as he instantly climbs up thebodies of those above him, the next doing the same, and the next also,until all have got safe into the trees."

  "Be japers," exclaimed Tipperary Tom, "it's wonderful how the craytherscan do it! But, Misther Munday, have yez iver seen them fall
from atree-top?"

  "No, never, but I've known one to leap from the top of a tree full ahundred feet in height."

  "Shure it was kilt dead then?"

  "If it was it acted very oddly for a dead animal, as it had scarcetouched the ground when it sprang back up another tree of equal height,and scampered to the top branches nearly as quick as it came down."

  "Ah!" sighed Trevannion, "if we had only the activity of thesecreatures, how soon we might escape from this unfortunate dilemma. Whoknows what is before us? Let us pray before going to rest for thenight. Let us hope that He, in whose hands we are, may listen to oursupplications, and sooner or later relieve us from our misery." And sosaying, the ex-miner repeated a well-remembered prayer, in the responseto which not only the young people, but the Indian, the African, and theIrishman fervently joined.

  CHAPTER FORTY THREE.

  TWO SLUMBERERS DUCKED.

  It was somewhere among the mid-hours of the night, and all appeared tobe as sound asleep as if reclining upon couches of eider-down. Not avoice was heard among the branches of the Brazil-nut,--not a sound ofany kind, if we except the snore that proceeded from the spread nostrilsof the negro, and that of a somewhat sharper tone from the nasal organof the Irishman. Sometimes they snored together, and for severalsuccessive trumpetings this simultaneity would be kept up. Gradually,however, one would get a little ahead, and then the two snorers would beheard separately, as if the two sleepers were responding to each otherin a kind of dialogue carried on by their noses. All at once this nasalduet was interrupted by a rustling among the boughs upon which restedTipperary Tom. The rustling was succeeded by a cry, quickly followed bya plunge.