The Forest Exiles: The Perils of a Peruvian Family in the Wilds of the Amazon
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CHAPTER FIVE.
THE PUNA.
By early dawn Guapo was awake, but he did not immediately awake theothers. It was still too dark to follow the mountain road. His firstcare was to have his coca breakfast, and to this he applied himself atonce.
Day was fairly broke when he had ended the process of mastication, andhe bethought him of descending from the rock to arouse the sleepers. Heknew they still slept, as no voice had yet issued from the grove ofmolles. The mule and horse were heard cropping the grass, and thellamas were now feeding upon an open spot,--the first they had eatensince their halt, as these creatures do not browse in the night.
Guapo descended with fear in his heart. How it would have joyed him tohear the voice of his master, or of any of them! But, no. Not a soundproceeded from any one of the party. He stole nimbly along the ledge,making his way through the molle trees. At length he reached the spot.All asleep?--yes, all! "Are they dead?" thought Guapo, and his heartbeat with anxiety. Indeed, they seemed so. The fatigue of travel hadcast a sickly paleness over the faces of all, and one might easily havefancied they no longer lived. But they breathed. "Yes, they breathe!"ejaculated the old Indian, half aloud. "They live!" Guapo bent down,and seizing Don Pablo by the arm, shook him--at first gently, uttering,at the same time, some words to awake him. But neither the shaking northe voice had any effect. Guapo shook more violently, and shoutedlouder. Still Don Pablo slept. None of the others moved--none of themheard him. It was strange, for the Indian knew that Don Pablo himself,as well as the others, were easily awaked on ordinary occasions. Guapo,becoming alarmed, now raised his voice to its loudest pitch, at the sametime dragging Don Pablo's shoulder in a still more violent manner. Thishad the desired effect. The sleeper awoke, but so slowly, and evidentlywith such exertion, that there was something mysterious in it.
"What is it?" he inquired, with half-opened eyes. "Is it morningalready?"
"The sun is up. Rouse, my master! It is time we were on the road,"replied the Indian.
"I feel very drowsy--I am heavy--I can scarce keep my eyes open. Whatcan be the cause of this?"
"The poison-trees, master," answered Guapo.
The answer seemed to impress Don Pablo. He made a violent effort, androse to his feet. When up he could scarcely stand. He felt as thoughhe had swallowed a powerful opiate.
"It must be so, good Guapo. Perhaps there is some truth in what youhave said. O, heavens!" exclaimed he, suddenly recollectinghimself,--"the others--my wife and children!"
This thought had fully awakened Don Pablo; and Guapo and he proceeded atonce to arouse the others, which they effected after much shouting andshaking. All were still heavy with sleep, and felt as did Don Pablohimself.
"Surely there is some narcotic power in the aroma of these trees,"muttered Don Pablo. "Come, wife, let us be gone! We must remain underits influence no longer, else what Guapo has said may prove too true.Saddle up--we must eat our breakfasts farther on. To the road!--to theroad!"
Guapo soon had the horses ready, and all hurried from the spot, and wereonce more climbing up the mountain-path. Even the animals seemed tomove slowly and lazily, as though they, too, had been under theinfluence of some soporific. But the pure cold air of the mountain soonproduced its effect. All gradually recovered, and after cooking some_charqui_ and ocas in the ravine, and making their breakfast upon these,they again felt light and fresh, and pursued their journey with renewedvigour.
The road kept on up the ravine, and in some places the banks rose almostperpendicularly from the bed of the dry torrent, presenting on bothsides vast walls of black porphyry--for this is the principal rockcomposing the giant chain of the Andes. Above their heads screamedsmall parrots of rich plumage of the species _Conurus rupicola_, whichmake their nestling places, and dwell upon these rocky cliffs. This isa singular fact, as all other parrots known are dwellers among trees andare found in the forest at all times, except when on their passage fromplace to place. But even the squirrel, which is an animal peculiarlydelighting in tree-life, has its representative in several species ofground-squirrels, that never ascend a tree; and, among the monkeys,there exists the troglodyte or cave-dwelling chimpanzee. No doubtsquirrels or monkeys of any kind, transported to an open or treelesscountry, would soon habituate themselves to their new situation,--forNature affords many illustrations of this power of adaptation on thepart of her creatures.
It was near sunset when our travellers reached the highest point oftheir route, nearly 14,000 feet above the level of the sea! Here theyemerged upon an open plain which stretched far before them. Above thisplain towered mountains of all shapes to a height of many thousand feetfrom the level of the plain itself. Some of these mountains carriedtheir covering of eternal snow, which, as the evening sun glanced uponit, exhibited the most beautiful tints of rose, and purple, and gold.The plain looked bleak and barren, and the cold which our travellers nowfelt added to the desolateness of the scene. No trees were in sight.Dry yellow grass covered the ground, and the rocks stood out naked andshaggy. They had reached one of those elevated tables of the Andesknown as the _Puna_.
These singular tracts elevated above the level of cultivation are almostuninhabited. Their only inhabitants are a few poor Indians, who areemployed by the rich proprietors of the lower valleys as shepherds; forupon these cold uplands thrive sheep, and cattle, and llamas, and flocksof the wool-bearing alpaco. Through this wild region, however, you maytravel for days without encountering even a single one of the wretchedand isolated inhabitants who watch over these flocks and herds.
On reaching the Puna, our party had made their day's journey, and wouldhave halted. The llamas already showed signs of giving out by stoppingand uttering their strange booming note. But Guapo knew these parts--for, though a descendant of the Incas, he had originally come from thegreat forest beyond the eastern slope of the Andes, where many of thePeruvian Indians had retired after the cruel massacres of Pizarro. Henow remembered, that not far from where they were, was a shepherd's hut,and that the shepherd himself was an old friend of his. That would bethe place to stop for the night; and, by Guapo's advice, Don Pabloresolved to continue on to the hut. Guapo fell upon his knees beforethe llamas, and, after caressing and kissing them, and using a greatvariety of endearing expressions, he at last coaxed these animals toproceed. No other means would have availed, as beating would not makeeither llama budge an inch. The leader, who was a fine large animal anda great favourite with its master, at length stepped boldly out; and theother, encouraged by the sound of the small bells that tinkled aroundthe head of the leader, followed after, and so the travellers moved on.
"Come, papa!" cried Leon; "you are tired yourself--mount this horse--Ican walk a bit:" at the same instant the boy flung himself from the backof the horse, and led him up to where his father stood. Then handingthe bridle to the latter, he struck off along the plain, following Guapoand his llamas.
The road skirted round the rocks, where the mountain came down to meetthe plain. The walk was not a long one, for the hut of which Guapospoke became visible at less than a quarter of a mile's distance. Anodd-looking hut it was--more like an ill-built stack of bean-straw thana house. It had been built in the following manner:--
First, a round ring of large stones had been laid, then a row of turf,then another tier of stones, and so on, until the circular wall hadreached the height of about four or five feet, the diameter being notmore than eight or nine. On the top of the wall a number of poles hadbeen set, so as to meet above where they were tied together. Thesepoles were nothing else than the long flower-stalks of the _maguey_ orAmerican aloe (_Agave Americana_), as no other wood of sufficient lengthgrew in the vicinity. These poles served for rafters, and across themlaths had been laid, and made fast. Over all this was placed a thatchof the long coarse Puna grass, which was tied in its place by grassropes that were stretched from side to side over the top. This was thehut of Guapo's friend, and similar to all others that may
be encounteredin the wild region of the Puna. A door was left in the side, not overtwo feet high, so that it was necessary to crawl upon the hands andknees before any one could reach the interior.
As our travellers approached, they saw that the entrance was closed byan ox-hide which covered the whole of the opening.
Whether the shepherd was at home, was the next question; but as they gotnear to the house, Guapo suggested that Don Pablo should dismount andlet Leon get upon horseback. This suggestion was made on account of thePuna dogs--of which creatures Guapo had a previous knowledge. Thesedogs, known by the name of Inca dogs (_Canis Ingae_), are, perhaps, thefiercest animals of their species. They are small, with pointedmuzzles, tails curling upward, and long shaggy hair. They arehalf-wild, snappish, and surly, as it is possible for dogs to be. Theyattack strangers with fury, and it is as much as their masters can do torescue even a friend from their attack. Even when wounded, and unableany longer to keep their feet, they will crawl along the ground and bitethe legs of those who have wounded them. They are even more hostile towhite people than to Indians, and it is sometimes dangerous to approachan Indian hut where three or four of these fierce creatures are kept, asthey will jump up against the side of a horse, and bite the legs of therider. Their masters often use the stick before they can get obediencefrom them. In every Indian hut several of these animals may be found,as they are extremely useful to the shepherds in guarding their flocksand for hunting. They are much employed throughout the Puna to hunt the"yutu," a species of partridge which inhabits the rushy grass. Thisbird is traced by the dogs, seized before it can take to flight, andkilled by a single bite of its fierce pursuer. Considering the savagenature of the Inca dogs, Guapo showed great caution in approaching thehut of his friend. He first called loudly, but there was no reply. Hethen stole forward with his long knife, or "_machete_" in his hand; andhaving lifted the skin that covered the low doorway, peeped in. The hutwas empty.