CHAPTER TWELVE.
A JOYFUL MEETING--THE NEW SETTLEMENT--A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE--KALLOLO MAKESA BLOWPIPE AND WOORALI POISON--PROGRESS OF OUR VESSEL--MEET WITH AJAGUAR--EFFECT OF TIM'S POLITENESS.
As we sailed along about a hundred yards off the mighty trees whosebranches overhung the lake, we looked out eagerly for the settlement ourtwo friends had, we hoped, formed on the shore. Water-lilies withenormous leaves floated on the surface, showing that the depth could notbe great. On the lower branches of the trees, and here and there wherepoints of land ran out into the lake, were numerous magnificent birds.Among them, the scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbill excelled all othersin gorgeousness of colouring. The ibises were of the brightest scarlet,except that the tips of their wings were black; the spoonbills wereequally beautiful, their general colour being a delicate rose-tint, witha rich lustrous carmine on their shoulders and breast-tufts; theformation of their bills was also very singular. We saw them fishingfor shrimps and other small creatures along the edges of the water. Thewood ibis is larger than either of the other two; its general plumage iswhite, the tips of the wings and the tail being of a purplish-black. Icannot, however, attempt to describe the various birds of which wecaught sight as we glided along. We were satisfied, however, that theforest and the water would supply us with an abundance of food.
"We shall have, however, no little difficulty in replacing ourclothing," I observed; "though, as fortunately Marian's box has beensaved, she will be better off than any of us."
"I don't despair of being able to manufacture clothing sufficient forour wants," said Uncle Paul,--"shoes, hats, and cloaks; but we must taketo kilts when our trousers give way. We shall have, to be sure,somewhat the appearance of savages; but I hope that our manners will notbecome less civilised in consequence."
"I can easily fancy how we can make dresses of leaves, or even ofmatting," said Arthur; "but how do you propose to manufacture shoes,unless we capture some wild beasts and tan their skins?"
"I propose to make shoes of a vegetable substance," answered Uncle Paul."I have already seen some trees which produce it, and I have no doubtthat we shall find others near our settlement. Every sailor knows howto make hats from grass or leaves; and the rest of our dresses must bemade, as you suppose, of matting. Depend on it we shall have plenty ofoccupation when once we get on shore, in order to supply ournecessities; and we may be thankful for it, as it will prevent us fromdwelling unduly on our past misfortunes, or on the dangers anddifficulties we may have yet to encounter."
"I wish we were on shore, then," I exclaimed; "for I cannot helpthinking of the past, and on the dangers which may yet be in store forus."
"Rouse up, Guy," exclaimed Uncle Paul. "Your wish will soon berealised; for see yonder hut on the shore, and the captain and Peterstanding ready to welcome us."
We urged on our raft, and our friends beckoned to us to come to a partof the bank where we could most easily land. We made for it, and soonreached the shore. The captain and his mate Peter were standing readyto secure the raft.
"Welcome, friends, welcome to our new province of _terra firma_,"exclaimed the former in a hearty tone, as he grasped Uncle Paul's hand.Then stooping down, he lifted Marian in his arms and placed her safelyon the beach, exclaiming--"And you, my pretty maid, I am rejoiced to seeyou safe after all the perils you have gone through."
"Indeed I am very thankful to have arrived here," answered Marian; "forI feared that we should never see you again." She had not before thissaid a word about the alarm she must have constantly felt during ourpassage up the igarape.
"You don't look so much fatigued as I should have expected," observedthe captain; "and a few days on shore, with the good cheer we can offeryou, will set you all to rights."
He then shook hands with Arthur and me, and giving a friendly nod toSambo, turned round to welcome my father, the larger raft having closelyfollowed us to the beach. All the party having landed, the two raftswere secured to the trunks of some trees growing at the water's edge.The worthy skipper now conducted us to two huts which he and Peter haderected. He exhibited them with no little satisfaction. One was small,but neatly built; the other was of considerable dimensions, and capableof containing several persons, somewhat thickly stowed.
"I thought of the little maid, and my first care was to build a housewhich she might have entirely to herself. In it she may rest as long inthe morning as she likes without being disturbed by us when we go to ourwork," he observed.
Marian thanked him warmly as he led her towards the little hut, in whichhe had formed a bed-place, and put up a table and a three-legged stool;which, though roughly made, showed his desire to attend to her comfort.The bed-place was covered thickly with dry grass. Poor Marian expressedher pleasure at the thought of being able to rest in quiet on it. Thelarger hut was destitute of furniture.
"We must be content, my friends, to sleep and take our meals on theground till we can make some hammocks and form a table and benches,"said the captain. "Peter and I could do no more; we have worked hard toaccomplish this much, I can assure you."
"That you have indeed, Captain van Dunk," observed Uncle Paul. "We aregrateful to you for having laboured so hard for our benefit."
"Peter and I knew that you would require a secure resting-place, whereyou might sleep in peace without the fear of being pounced upon by ajaguar or a puma," answered the skipper. "It will afford accommodationto you four gentlemen and Peter and me, and the other men will soon runup a hut for themselves. They must not spend much time on it, for allhands will have enough to do in building the vessel and procuring food.We can obtain an ample supply, but we must not sit down and expect it todrop into our mouths."
"You will find everyone ready to assist you in carrying out your plans,captain, for a more obedient set of men I have never met with," saidUncle Paul.
"Yes, yes, I am sure of that," said the captain. "Now, instead oflosing more time in talking, let us go to supper. We have some parrotsand macaws roasting, and a collection of ripe fruit for the littlemaid."
"And we have brought some fine fish," I said, "to add to the feast."
"Then we will put them on the spit at once," observed the captain; onwhich I ran down to the raft and returned with a big fish in each hand.Peter, who acted as cook, with Sambo's assistance soon had the fishcleaned and spitted, when the latter took his seat by the fire to keepthe various roasts turning.
Marian only partook of a little of the fish, and some cassava breadwhich the captain had prepared and baked for her beforehand. He thenbegged her to retire to her hut, and to take that rest she so muchneeded. Her trunk, which had come on in the raft, enabled her to obtaina change of clothing,--a luxury none of the rest of us could enjoy.
We all enjoyed the feast, however; for we were thoroughly tired, andexpected to obtain a comfortable night's rest after it. As soon as itwas over, we thankfully entered our hut, where we found that the captainand Peter had thoughtfully collected a large supply of dry grass andleaves for our use. I can truly say that I have never since slept moresoundly on feather-bed than I did during that first night in our newsettlement, as the skipper called it. I dreamed not of Indians, nor ofanacondas, nor of our long swim. Daylight was streaming in at the opendoor when I awoke. I found the rest of the party, with the exception ofmy father, on foot, and the captain giving directions to each one whatto do. My father was going to get up.
"No, no, my friend," said the skipper. "You are weary, and require along rest; we must excuse you from working until you have sufficientlyrecovered to undertake it."
"But _I_ am ready to work," I said, springing to my feet. "Tell me whatto do and I will willingly perform it. If I had an axe I would quicklybegin to cut down a tree."
"Our first business will be to form tools to work with," answered thecaptain. "We must search for big stones of a proper shape to serve ashammers; although they are not common down here, they may be found inthe interior. We must then form wedges to split the tr
ees, which Peter,who is our best axe-man, will cut down. You will then find ampleemployment in forming tree-nails with your knife. We must be content toproceed by slow degrees, and each man must take the task for which he isbest fitted."
I saw the wisdom of Captain van Dunk's remarks, and felt more confidentof success than I should have done had he undertaken to perform in ahurry the work he proposed. I begged that I might set out at once.
"I shall send out three parties for that object," he said. "You withone of the Indians, your cousin with another, and Tim with the third."
Having made a hurried meal of some of the provisions which remained fromour supper of the previous night, we set out. Polo was my companion,Arthur took Maco, and Tim was accompanied by Kallolo. The Indianscarried their bows and arrows, and we were each armed with long poles,which, being pointed at one end, would serve as spears as well as assistus in our progress. We had no fear of meeting with human foes, as thecaptain and Peter told us that they had seen no traces of inhabitants.After proceeding some way together we separated, Arthur and hisattendant going towards some high ground which appeared beyond theforest-region in front of us, while I made my way up to reach a range ofhills in front, Tim and Kallolo going in an opposite direction.
After proceeding some distance we found ourselves on the border of arapid and shallow stream, and I hoped that we should discover in its bedsome stones of the shape and size we required. We made our way alongit, and in a short time came upon one which seemed just adapted for thepurpose in view. This encouraged me to search for more. I was notdisappointed in my hopes, and before long found three others; one with ahole through the centre, the rest being somewhat long, with flat ends,and a narrow part conveniently shaped for attaching a handle. I gavetwo to Polo, and carried two myself. Feeling sure that the captainwould be well-pleased with our success, we commenced our return journey.Supposing that the stream would lead us in the proper direction, wefollowed down its banks. We continued till we found ourselves in athick part of the forest, but the underwood was not sufficiently densealtogether to stop our progress. Sometimes we were at a little distancefrom the stream, and then again we made our way close along the edge.The water was clear and bright, and the sun shone directly down upon thechannel, which had now assumed the character of an igarape, the trees byit adorned with numberless creepers and parasitical plants, covered withgaily-coloured flowers, which hung in fantastic wreaths from the boughs.I felt that a swim would be very enjoyable. Being somewhat warm,however, I rested on an overhanging bough before taking off my trousersto plunge in, while Polo stood near me.
"Well, I think I am cool enough now," I observed to him, and was aboutto stand up before taking a plunge into the tempting water, when I sawthe surface disturbed, and presently the huge head and formidable jawsof an enormous alligator rose above it, his wicked eyes turned towardsme as if he longed to have me in his maw! I shuddered as I gazed athim, for in another minute I might have been within that fearful mouth,and carried down beneath the surface, as has been the fate of manypeople in this part of the country. I was thankful that I had seen thecreature, for his appearance was a warning to us all not to venture intothe water. Polo, stooping down, assisted me to get off the branch, forfear I should by any chance slip, and become, after all, a victim to themonster. I had never before seen so hideous a creature. Though weshouted, he seemed in no way intimidated, and still floated on thesurface, as if meditating an attack. Polo earnestly advised that weshould retire from the bank, as he said that he had known instances whenalligators, hard pressed by hunger, had rushed on shore, and seizingpersons, had carried them off without a possibility of being rescued bytheir friends. I shuddered again as I listened to his account, andthought of the fearful risk I had run. We sat watching the monster forsome time at a safe distance, with our spears in our hands; but heshowed no inclination to follow us, and at length, turning round, hewent swimming down the stream till he was lost to sight.
We had some difficulty in making our way back through the forest, forthe stream, we found, took a turn away from the settlement, and it ledus further from it than we had supposed. The captain highly approved ofthe stones we had brought. Arthur and Tim had already arrived, each ofthem having found only one stone adapted to the purpose of hammers; butthey were large and heavy, and were just what was wanted. They had,however, brought several large pieces of hard stone of flinty nature andwedge or axe-like form, which the captain pronounced to be of thegreatest value.
"I thought so when I discovered them," observed Arthur. "It seemed tome that by chipping or grinding them, sharp edges might be formed so asto serve either for wedges or perhaps even for axes."
"They will form axes, though some labour will be required to sharpenthem," exclaimed the captain. "We could then easily fix them inhandles; and they will be of the greatest use, if not for cutting downthe trees, at all events for scoring the trunks for the wedges, and forsmoothing the planks when split. You must search for some more of thesame character; and if you find them, as I have no doubt you will, weshall all have tools, and be able to make rapid progress."
The three Indians at once undertook not only to put handles to thehammers, but to sharpen the stones intended for axeheads.
"It will take some time," observed Kallolo; "but in our country we donot think much of time, and patience overcomes all difficulties."
"We must not, however, forget the necessity of finding provisions forour settlement," observed Uncle Paul. "Kallolo has undertaken to supplyus, if he can find time to form a blowpipe; it will be wise, I think, toallow him to do so before he attempts to execute any other work."
The captain agreed to this, and begged that Kallolo would endeavour tofind the materials for the instrument he proposed to make.
The Indian's eye brightened. "Yes, yes, I will start to-morrowmorning," he said. "I will search also for the ingredients for thepoison, without which the blowpipe would be of little use. In themeantime I will labour at the hammers and axes, which Maco and Polo maycomplete while I am employed at the zabatana."
Marian, on seeing all the rest of the party busy, begged that she alsomight have something to do. "I will gladly act as cook for you, though,unfortunately, I am very little acquainted with the art; but with somehints from Sambo, I may in time become proficient."
"I think we may find pleasanter employment than that for you, my littlemaid," said the captain. "Some of us are in want of hats, and we shallrequire a large amount of matting to serve as bedding and clothing, andalso to form sails for our vessel. I have thought that if you and yourfather, assisted by your brother Guy, would turn your attention to thematter, you would render great service to our little community."
Marian said she should be delighted; and my father and I at onceexpressed our readiness to become plaiters and weavers, and to give ourthoughts to the subject;--though, of course, we could not expect toaccomplish much at first, as we had very little knowledge of the art weproposed to exercise. Kallolo, however, said that he would show us howmatting was manufactured in his country. It could be made sufficientlyfine for clothing, or thick and coarse for roofs of cabins on boardriver-boats, or very strong for sails.
Some feathery-leaved reeds grew on the shore of the lake not far off,and as we were eager to begin, Arthur and I cut a few, and bringing themback to Kallolo, begged him to show us how to plait. He at onceundertook to do so, observing, however, that the reeds were not fit forany other purpose than to make coarse hats; and that they must be firstdried, and then split, before they could be fit for use. "However, theywill do to learn with, and you can at once make hats with yourplaiting," he added. Being anxious to learn, we kept hard at work, andbefore Marian repaired to her hut for the night we had made severalyards of plaiting, and my father had designed a plan for manufacturingmatting.
I cannot attempt to describe the labour of each day, or the progress wemade in our work. Kallolo, who had started as he intended at daybreak,returned in the evening with the m
aterials for his blowpipe, and theingredients for manufacturing the woorali poison. He had broughtseveral stems of small palms, from which he selected two of differentsizes. Outside they appeared rough from the scars of the fallen leaves;but he said that the soft pith within them would soon rot if steeped inwater, and being easily extracted would leave a smooth polished bore.The smaller one was very delicate, being scarcely thicker than a finger;the other was an inch and a half in diameter. He explained that thesmaller one was to be pushed inside the larger--this was to be done thatany curve in the one might counteract that in the other. Having allowedhis stems to remain in water two or three days, he was able to removethe pith, which had thus become rotten. He then fastened a cup-shapedwooden mouthpiece to one end, and bound the whole spirally with the longflat strips of the black bark of the climbing palm-tree. Among othermaterials, he had brought a quantity of wax of a dark hue, with which hesmeared the whole of the outside. The tube he had thus formed taperedtowards the muzzle, the mouthpiece being fitted to the upper end. Bothends were tightly bound round with a cord of silk grass; the butt beingfurther secured by a nut cut horizontally through the middle, with ahole in the end forming a ring, which, should it strike the ground,would prevent it from splitting. About two feet from the mouth-end hefastened a couple of the teeth of the agouti to serve as sights.
Kallolo having finished his blowpipe hung it up carefully by one end, asshould it become in the slightest degree bent, it would be, heexplained, completely spoiled. He then commenced manufacturing arrows.They were made out of the leaf of a species of palm-tree, hard, brittle,and pointed as sharp as needles. Having burned the butt end, hefastened round it some wild cotton of just sufficient thickness to fitthe hole of the tube. As soon as he had formed an arrow he put it intothe blowpipe, and aimed at an unfortunate parrot perched on a tree fiftyyards off. The parrot, uttering a cry, flew away, and the arrow fell tothe ground; but as no poison had as yet been used, the bird was littlethe worse for its wound. The case would have been very different hadthe arrow been dipped in the poison: the bird would have died in thirtyor forty seconds, Kallolo told me. He was well-satisfied with hisperformance, and pronounced his blowpipe a certain killer.
He had now to manufacture the poison. He had already procured all theingredients, and three large bowls; but he confessed to the captain thatall his efforts would be in vain unless he could obtain a vessel inwhich to boil it, as the wooden bowls would certainly not answer thepurpose. His object was to obtain the loan of the saucepan!
"Why, we shall all be poisoned if you use it," said the captain,starting back with dismay; "you had better go without your blowpipe thanallow that to happen."
Kallolo assured him that the vessel would not in any way be injured; andthat should the white people even swallow a small portion of the poison,they would not suffer.
"Ah, my friend, but I would rather not risk it," observed the captain."However, if you can undertake to clean the pot thoroughly after youhave used it, I will not hinder you, as I am well aware that you couldprocure more food with your blowpipe than all of us together, with ourbows and arrows and fishing-lines."
Having obtained the loan of the pot, Kallolo immediately commencedoperations. He had, I should have said, formed a small hut at a littledistance from the camp, in which to concoct the mixture. He had placedthere the various ingredients he had collected. The first was composedof several bunches of the woorali vine; another was a root with a sharp,bitter taste. Besides these there were two bulbous plants, whichcontained a green and glutinous juice. He had also collected twospecies of ants: one large and black, with a sharp, venomous sting; theother a little red ant, which stings like the nettle. Having scrapedthe woorali vine and bitter root into thin shavings, he put them into asieve made of leaves, which he held over a bowl, and poured water onthem: a thick liquor came through, having the appearance of coffee. Hethen produced the bulbous plants, and squeezed a portion of the juiceinto the pot, adding the dried ants, as well as the pounded fangs of twovenomous snakes. Clearing everything away, he made a fire in the centreof the hut, and pouring the mixture into the saucepan, he boiled itslowly for some hours. The scum was then taken off, when the liquid hadbecome reduced to thick syrup of a deep brown colour. He now told methat it was fit for use; and his darts being ready, he dipped them intoit, as he did also several large arrows, and the points of some of ourspears. The remainder he poured off into some small gourds, which hecovered carefully over with leaves, and hung up in the hut.
"Now!" he said, "we are prepared for any enemies who may come near us;and we may be sure that we shall be able to procure as much game as wecan desire."
The last thing to be done was to cleanse the saucepan. He first boiledwater in it several times, throwing each quantity away; he then scrapedit with his knife all over, and rubbed it again and again with leaves,till, pronouncing it to be perfectly free from the slightest particle ofpoison, he took it to the skipper, who examined it with a suspiciouseye. I told him all that I had seen done, and at last he seemedsatisfied that no one would be the worse for food cooked in it.
By this time a number of hammers had been formed, and no less than fouraxes. Maco and Polo, working under water, had sharpened them by meansof some other hard stone which they found in the stream. For thispurpose each of them dug a hole on the shore of the lake, into whichthey let the water, and seated over it performed the whole operationunder the surface. I reminded them of the huge alligator I had seen.
"No fear, Massa Guy," answered Maco; "while we make noise like this, thecaymans take care not to come near us."
"I hope that you will not be mistaken," I answered, advising them toplace a number of small poles in the mud in front of them, which mightprevent even a hungry cayman from landing, as he would probably besuspicious.
A most important event now took place. It was laying the keel of ourproposed vessel, which had been prepared with infinite labour, chieflyby a single axe. When we considered that we had to cut out the ribswith such tools, and then to shape and nail on the planks, we might wellhave despaired of accomplishing the work.
"Have we not an auger, and a saw, and an axe? why then should wedespair?" exclaimed the skipper over and over again. "Though we have nonails, we can make wooden ones; and though we have no iron, we willcompel wood and fibre to take its place. We shall build a vessel, neverfear."
Having no paper for the plan, the captain had smoothed a piece ofground, on which he had drawn it out with great accuracy, so that theopposite timbers should be of the same shape, and agree with each other,expanding less and less towards the bow and stern, that when the plankswere laid on they should remain even and be firmly fixed. Uncle Paulapproved of Captain van Dunk's plan, and ably seconded him in every partof the work.
All day long hewing and chipping went on. Each crooked piece of timber,as it was cut off, was brought to the plan to ascertain for which of theribs it was most fitted. Tim proved himself one of the best workmen ofthe party. I suspect that had all possessed regular tools others mighthave excelled him, but his talent consisted in employing our veryimperfect instruments, and in devising new methods of getting throughthe work. He was especially an adept at splitting trees. No sooner wasone felled than he would set to work to scrape off the bark at the upperpart, and to run deep and straight lines down it; he then fixed thewedges in a long row, and went from one to another, driving them in asif playing on a musical instrument. When they were all firmly fixed, hewould call the rest of the party with their hammers, and at a signalmake them all strike at once, seldom failing to separate an even plank.
We had not hitherto been troubled by wild beasts, nor had even anyserpents shown their ugly heads. I had one morning accompanied Tim intothe forest, intending to look out for trees to fell, Tim carrying hisaxe to mark them. I had thoughtlessly left my bow and arrows behind,and had only a long pointed stick in my hand. We had reached a somewhatopen space, and having passed across it, had arrived at a narrowglad
e,--probably the result of a hurricane. Just at the edge of it Timhad discovered one of the trees of which he was in search. We weregoing up to it when, not twenty yards off, a huge jaguar stalked out ofthe forest, and stood looking at us, apparently meditating a spring inour direction!
"Do not run, as you value your life, Mr Guy," exclaimed Tim. "Standstill, and I will tackle the gentleman."
I did as he advised, merely holding my pointed stick before me; though Iknew that had the jaguar attacked us it would have been of little moreuse than a toothpick. Tim, however, ran boldly forward, and, to mysurprise, doffing his hat, exclaimed--
"The top of the morning to ye, Mr Jaguar. You will please to say whatyou want, or take yourself out of this; for it's your room rather thanyour company we would be after wishing for." The jaguar, astonished atthe coolness of the man, though he could not understand what was said,turned slowly round and went off, trailing his tail after him as if hefelt himself conquered. On seeing this, Tim set up a wild shout, whichsounded to my ears like "Wallop--ahoo--aboo--Erin-go-bragh!" in which Ivery heartily joined him, feeling no small satisfaction at the peaceabletermination of this our first interview with one of the very few wildbeasts we had to dread in the forests of the Orinoco.
The puma, or American lion, though not in reality quite so formidable asa jaguar, is not a creature which an unarmed man would wish to meet whenalone; though, except when very hard pressed by hunger, or when it canattack a person unprepared, it seldom destroys human beings. The savagejaguar, on the contrary, will follow with stealthy feet the trail of theIndian, and suddenly seizing him, deprive him of life. Though generallynot much larger than a wolf, it occasionally reaches the size of theIndian tiger, and is often called the tiger or panther of the New World.It greatly resembles the leopard, especially in its forest habits, asby means of its powerful claws it can with ease spring up the trunk of atree, and make its way along a branch, ready to pounce down upon a foe.It is truly the lord of the South American forests, as it often attacksthe thick-skinned tapir, and even the largest alligator. In spite ofthe enormous jaws of the latter, the jaguar will leap towards the tailof the creature, tear open its side, and devour it even before life isextinct. Only two animals do not fear the jaguar; one is the greatant-eater, which is defended from the monster's attacks by its thickshaggy coat; the other is the little peccary. The latter, however, whencaught singly is quickly despatched. When collected in a herd the caseis very different. They then so fearlessly assail the jaguar with theirsharp tusks, that though it may kill a few of them, it is usuallypierced to death, or compelled to take to flight. We had good reason,therefore, to be thankful that the jaguar had not found us busy at workwith our backs turned towards him; in which case he would probably havekilled one or both of us. He must already, as Tim observed, have hadhis dinner, else he would not so readily have taken his departure. Wefound, indeed, not far off, the remains of a deer on which he had beenfeeding, several armadillos and a king-vulture being engaged infinishing what he had left of the feast.
While Tim was at work, I kept watch in case another jaguar or any otherfoe should approach. I regretted not having brought my bow and arrows,and determined never to leave home again without them.
The tree was soon cut down, for we were obliged to choose those of smallsize, which could be easily chopped through and split. As soon as itwas down, Tim smoothed off the upper surface, and then drew lines alongit to mark the divisions of the planks, scoring them deeply with hisaxe, ready for the wedges. Sometimes a tree split from one end to theother, and we quickly had a number of boards formed; which, however,required seasoning before they could be used. This operation took placemore rapidly than in our northern climes; for by placing them in theshade, though exposed to the air, they quickly dried.
Having cut a tree into planks, we each of us carried home a couple ofthem. I gave a description of Tim's encounter with the jaguar. Ofcourse our friends congratulated us on our escape; and, taking warning,they determined to be on the lookout lest the creature should think fitto pay the settlement a visit.