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

by Mayne Reid

  The cry and the plunge woke everybody upon the tree; and while severalinquired the cause of the disturbance, a second shout, and a secondplunge, instead of affording a clue to the cause of alarm, only renderedthe matter more mysterious. There was a second volley ofinterrogatories, but among the inquiring voices two were missing,--thoseof Mozey and the Irishman. Both, however, could now be heard below; notvery articulate, but as if their owners were choking. At the same timethere was a plashing and a plunging under the tree, as if the two wereengaged in a struggle for life.

  "What is it? Is it you, Tom? Is it you, Mozey?" were the questionsthat came thick and fast from those still upon the tree.

  "Och! ach!--I'm chokin'!--I'm--ach--drown--ach--drownin'!--Help! help!"cried a voice, distinguishable as the Irishman's, while Mozey's wasexerted in a similar declaration.

  All knew that Tom could not swim a stroke. With the Mozambique it wasdifferent. He might sustain himself above water long enough to renderhis rescue certain. With Tom no time was to be lost, if he was to besaved from a watery grave; and, almost with his cry for help, RichardTrevannion and the Mundurucu plunged in after him.

  For a time, Trevannion himself and his two children could hear,underneath them, only a confused medley of sounds,--the splashing ofwater mingled with human voices, some speaking, or rather shouting, inaccents of terror, others in encouragement. The night was dark; but hadit been ever so clear, even had the full moon been shining above, herbeams could not have penetrated through the spreading branches of theBrazil-nut, melted and lined as they were with thorns and leafy llianas.

  It would seem an easy task for two such swimmers as the Indian andParaense to rescue Tipperary Tom from his peril. But it was not quiteso easy. They had got hold of him, one on each side, as soon as thedarkness allowed them to discern him. But this was not till they hadgroped for some time; and then he was found in such a state ofexhaustion that it required all the strength of both to keep his chinabove the surface.

  Mozey was fast becoming as helpless as Tom, being more than halfparalysed by the fright he had got from being precipitated into thewater while still sound asleep. Such a singular awaking was sufficientto have confused a cranium of higher intellectual development than thatof the Mozambique.

  After having discovered their half-drowned companions, neither Richardnor the Mundurucu knew exactly what to do with them. Their firstthought was to drag them towards the trunk of the tree, under which theyhad been immersed. This they succeeded in doing; but once alongside thestem, they found themselves in no better position for getting out of thewater. There was not a branch within reach by which to raisethemselves, and the bark was as smooth as glass, and slippery withslime.

  When first ascending into the great tree, they had made use of somehanging parasite, which now in the darkness they were unable to find.Even the two swimmers began to despond. If not their own lives, thoseof their comrades might be lost in that gloomy aisle, whose pavement wasthe subtle, deceitful flood. At this crisis an idea occurred to theyoung Paraense that promised to rescue them from their perilousposition, and he called out, "The swimming-belts! fling down theswimming-belts!" His uncle and cousin, by this time having a clearercomprehension of what had occurred, at once obeyed the command. Richardand the Indian were not slow to avail themselves of this timelyassistance; and in a trice the two half-drowned men were buoyed upbeyond further danger.

  On getting back into the Bertholletia, there was a general explanation.Tipperary Tom was the cause of the awkward incident. Having gone tosleep without taking proper precautions, his limbs, relaxed by slumber,had lost their prehensile power, and, sliding through the llianas, hehad fallen plump into the water below, a distance of more than a dozenfeet. His cries, and the consequent plunge, had startled the negro soabruptly that he too had lost his equilibrium, and had soused down theinstant after.

  The Mundurucu was by no means satisfied with the occurrence. It had notonly interrupted his repose, but given him a wet shirt in which tocontinue it. He was determined, however, that a similar incident shouldnot, for that night, occur,--at least not with the same individuals,--and before returning to his roost he bound both of them to theirs with_sipos_ strong enough to resist any start that might be caused by themost terrible of dreams.

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

  OPEN WATER.

  The next day was spent in explorations. These did not extend more thanfour hundred yards from their sleeping-place; but, short as was thedistance, it cost more trouble to traverse it than if it had been twentymiles on land, across an open country.

  It was a thicket through which the explorers had to pass, but such athicket as one acquainted only with the ordinary woods of Northerncountries can have no conception of. It was a matted tangle of treesand parasitical plants, many of the latter--such as the climbingjacitara palms, the huge cane-briers, and bromelias--thickly set withsharp spines, that rendered it dangerous to come in contact with them.Even had there been firm footing, it would have been no easy task tomake way through such a network; but, considering that it was necessaryto traverse the wood by passing from tree to tree, all the time keepingin their tops, it will not be wondered at that a few hundred yards ofsuch progress was accounted a day's journey.

  You must not suppose that all the party of our adventurers went eventhus far. In fact, all of them remained in the Brazil-nut, except thetwo who had acted as explorers on the former occasion,--Richard and theMundurucu. It would have been worse than idle for any other to haveaccompanied them.

  It was near sunset when they returned with their report, which toTrevannion and his party seemed anything but encouraging. The explorershad penetrated through the forest, finding it flooded in everydirection. Not an inch of dry land had they discovered; and the Indianknew, from certain signs well understood by him, that none was near.The rapid drift of the current, which he had observed several timesduring the day, was one of these indications. It could not, hedeclared, be running in that way, if dry land were in the vicinity. Sofar, therefore, as reaching the shore was concerned, they might make uptheir minds for a long journey; and how this was to be performed was thequestion of the hour.

  One point the explorers had definitely determined. The igarapeterminated at their sleeping-place. There was no sign of it beyond.Instead, however, they had come upon an opening of a very differentcharacter. A vast expanse of water, without any trees, had been found,its nearest edge being the limit of their day's excursion. This openwater did not extend quite to the horizon. Around it, on all sides,trees could be seen, or rather the tops of trees; for it was evidentthat the thicket-like bordering was but the "lop and top" of a submergedforest. On returning to the "roost," Munday urged their going towardsthe open water.

  "For what purpose?" inquired the patron, who failed to perceive any goodreason for it. "We can't cross it, there being no sort of craft tocarry us. We cannot make a raft out of these green branches, full ofsap as they are. What's the use of our going that way? You say there'sopen water almost as far as you can see,--so much the worse, I shouldthink."

  "No, patron," replied the Indian, still addressing Trevannion asrespectfully as when acting as his hired _tapuyo_. "So much the better,if you give me leave to differ with you. Our only hope is to find openwater."

  "Why, we have been all along coming from it. Isn't there plenty of itbehind us?"

  "True, patron; but it's not running in the right direction. If welaunched upon it, the current would be against us. Remember, master,'tis the _echente_. We couldn't go that way. If we could, it wouldonly bring us back to the river-channel, where, without some sort of avessel, we should soon go to the bottom. Now the open Gapo we've seento-day is landward, though the land may be a good way off. Still, bycrossing it, we shall be getting nearer to firm ground, and that'ssomething."

  "By crossing it? But how?"

  "We must swim across it."

  "Why, you've just said that it stretches almost to the edge of thehorizon. I
t must be ten miles or more. Do you mean to say we can swimso far?"

  "What's to hinder us, master? You have, the monkey-pots; they will keepyou above water. If not enough for all, we can get more. Plenty of thesapucaya-trees here."

  "But what would be the object of our crossing this expanse of water?You say there is no dry land on the other side; in that case, we'll beno better off than here."

  "There is land on the other side, though I think not near. But we mustkeep on towards it, else we shall never escape from the Gapo. If westay here, we must starve, or suffer greatly. We might search theforest for months, and not find another nesting-place of the araras, orgood food of any kind. Take my advice, patron. Soon as comes the lightof to-morrow, let us cross to the open water. Then you can see foryourself what is best for us to do."

  As the perilous circumstances in which they were placed had altogetherchanged the relationship between Trevannion and his _tapuyo_, the latterbeing now the real "patron," of course the ex-miner willingly gave wayto him in everything; and on the morning of the next day the party ofadventurers forsook the Brazil-nut, and proceeded towards the open Gapo.

  CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.

  THE JACANAS.

  It will be asked how they proceeded. To swim to the open water wouldhave been next to impossible, even with the assistance of the floats.Not only would the thick tree-trunks and drooping llianas have hinderedthem from making way in any direction; but there would have been nothingto guide them through the shadowy water, and they must soon losethemselves in a labyrinth of gloom. No sign of the sky could haveavailed them in the deep darkness below; and there were no landmarks towhich to trust. The answer is, that they made their way along much asdid the monkeys which had passed them the day before, only that theirpace was a hundred times slower, and their exertions a thousand timesmore laborious. In fact, they travelled among the tree-tops, andfollowed the same track which their explorers had already taken, andwhich Munday, on his return, had taken the precaution to "blaze" bybreaking a number of twigs and branches.

  Their progress was of the slowest kind,--slower than the crawl of acripple; but by dint of perseverance, and the performance of many featsin climbing and clinging and balancing, and general gymnastics, theysucceeded at length in reaching the edge of the forest, and gaining aview of the wide watery expanse. It was a relief to their eyes, so longstrained to no purpose amidst the shadowy foliage that had envelopedthem.

  "Now, Munday," asked Trevannion, as soon as he had recovered breath,after such laborious exertion, "we are here on the edge of the openwater. You talk of our being able to swim across it. Tell us how."

  "Just as we swam the igarape."

  "Impossible, as you've admitted it can't be less than ten miles to theother side. The tree-tops yonder are scarce discernible."

  "We came nearly as far along the canoe-path."

  "True; but then we had a chance to rest every few minutes, and that gaveus strength to go on. It will be different if we attempt to cross thisgreat sea, where there is no resting-place of any kind. We should be awhole day on the water, perhaps more."

  "Perhaps so, patron. But remember, if we do not try to get out of theGapo, we may be three, four, five, or six months among these tree-tops.We may get no food but a few nuts and fruits,--scarcely enough to keepus alive. We may lose strength, and be no longer able to stay among thebranches; we may grow faint and fall, one by one, into the water, to godown to the bottom of the Gapo or drop into the jaws of the jacares."

  The alternative thus brought in terrible detail vividly before themproduced a strong impression; and Trevannion offered no objection to anyplan which the Mundurucu should propose. He only requested a fulleraccount of the feasibility of that now suggested,--in other words, anexplanation as to how they were to swim a stretch of ten miles withoutstopping to rest.

  Munday made no mystery of the matter. He had no other plan than thatalready tried with success,--the swimming-belts; only that twoadditional sets would now be needed,--one for himself, the other for theyoung Paraense. On the short passage from the sapucaya to the forest,and along the canoe-path, these bold swimmers had disdained the use ofthat apparatus; but in a pull of ten miles, even they must have recourseto such aid.

  No further progress was to be made on that day, as the fatigue of theirarboreal journey required a long rest; and shortly after their arrivalupon the edge of the forest, they set about arranging for the night,having chosen the best tree that could be found. Unfortunately, theirlarder was lower than it had ever been, since the going down of thegalatea. Of the squab macaws there were no longer any left; and somesapucaya nuts gathered by the way, and brought along by Munday, formedthe substance of their scanty supper.

  As soon as it was eaten, the Mundurucu, assisted by Richard, busiedhimself in manufacturing the required swimming-belts; and long beforethe sun disappeared behind the forest spray, everything was ready fortheir embarkation, which was to take place at the earliest moment of itsreappearance.

  As usual, there was conversation,--partly to kill time, and partly tokeep off the shadows that surrounded, and ever threatened to reduce themto despair. Trevannion took pains to keep it up, and make it ascheerful as the circumstances would permit, his object being less tosatisfy himself than to provide gratification for his children. Attimes he even attempted to jest; but generally the conversation turnedupon topics suggested by the scene, when the Indian, otherwise taciturn,was expected to do the talking. The open water became the subject onthis particular occasion.

  "It appears like a lake," remarked the ex-miner. "I can see a line oftrees or tree-tops all around it, with no signs of a break or channel."

  "It is one," rejoined the _tapuyo_. "A real _lagoa_. Water in it atall seasons,--both _echente_ and _vasante_,--only 'tis fallen now fromthe flood. There are no _campos_ in this part of the country; and if itwasn't a lagoa, there would be trees standing out of it. But I see asurer sign,--the _piosocas_."

  The speaker pointed to two dark objects at some distance off, that hadnot hitherto been observed by any of the party. On more carefulscrutiny, they proved to be birds,--large, but of slender shape, andbearing some resemblance to a brace of cranes or curlews. They were ofdark colour, rufous on the wings, with a green iridescence thatglistened brightly under the beams of the setting sun.

  They were near enough to enable the spectators to distinguish severalpeculiarities in their structure; among others a singular leatheryappendage at the base of the beak, stout, spinous processes or "spurs"on the wing shoulders, very long, slender legs, and _tarsi_ of immenselength, radiating outward from their shank, like four pointed stare,spread horizontally on the surface of the water.

  What struck the spectators, not only with surprise, but appearedunaccountable, was the fact that these birds seen upon the water werenot seated as if swimming or afloat; but standing erect upon their longtarsi and toes, which apparently spread upon the surface, as if uponice!

  Stranger still, while they were being watched, both were seen to forsaketheir statue-like attitude, and move first toward each other, and thenapart again, running to and fro as if upon a solid fooling! What couldit all mean? Munday was asked for the explanation. Were they walkingupon the water?

  No. There was a water plant under their feet--a big lily, with a leafseveral feet in diameter, that floated on the surface--sufficient tocarry the weight of the biggest bird. That was what was supporting thepiosocas.

  On scanning the surface more carefully, they could distinguish the biglily, and its leaf with a turned-up edge resembling the rim of a Chinesegong, or a huge frying-pan. They became acquainted for the first timewith that gigantic lily, which has been entitled "the Royal Victoria,"and the discoverer of which was knighted for his flattery.

  "'Tis the _furno de piosoca_," said Munday, continuing his explanation."It is called so, because, as you see, it's like the oven on which webake our Cassava; and because it is the favourite roost of the piosoca."

  By "p
iosoca" the Indian meant the singular _jacana_ of the family_Palamedeidae_, of which there are species both in Africa and America.

  The birds had fortunately made their appearance at a crisis when thespectators required something to abstract their thoughts from the caresthat encompassed them, and so much were they engrossed by the curiousspectacle, that they did not perceive the _tapuyo_, as he let himselfgently down into the water, and swam off under the drooping branches ofthe trees, pausing at a point opposite to where the piosocas were atplay.

  From this point they could not have perceived him, as he had dived underwater, and did not come up again until the slender shanks of a jacana,enveloped in the lily's soft leaf, were clutched by his sinewy fingers,and the bird with a shrill scream was seen fluttering on the water,while its terrified mate soared shrieking into the air.

  The party in the tree-tops were at first amazed. They saw a dark, roundobject close to the struggling jacana, that resembled the head of ahuman being, whose body was under water! It was not till it had comenearer, the bird still keeping it close company, that they identifiedthe head, with its copper-coloured face, now turned towards them, asbelonging to their guide and companion,--Munday. A fire was soonblazing in the branches, and instead of going to sleep upon a supper ofraw sapucayas, our adventurers sought repose after a hearty meal madeupon roast jacana!

  CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

  A COMPANION LEFT BEHIND.

  By daybreak they were once more in the water, each provided with acomplete set of swimming-shells. As the voyage was more extensive, andaltogether more perilous, the greatest pains was taken to have theswimming apparatus as perfect as possible. Any flaw, such as a weakplace in the waist-belts or shoulder-straps, or the smallest crevicethat would admit water into one of the shells, might be followed byserious consequences, perhaps even drowning. Besides making the newbelts, therefore, Munday had mended the old ones, giving all the shellsan additional coating of caoutchouc, and strengthening the sipos thatattached them to one another.