by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE "VAQUERO."
Who was this deliverer? No other than the vaquero--the friend ofGuapo,--who now welcomed Guapo and his companions, telling them in thepolite phraseology of all Spanish-Americans that his _house_ (?) was attheir service. They were welcome to all it contained.
The macas, and maize, and a fresh steak from the wild bull, enabled themto make a most excellent supper. In return for this hospitality, DonPablo made the vaquero a handsome present out of his purse; but whatgratified him still more was a supply of coca which his friend Guapo wasenabled to bestow upon him, for his own stock had been exhausted forsome days. Guapo, on leaving Cuzco, had spent his last _peseta_ inbuying this luxury, and therefore was well provided for weeks to come.
After they had had supper, he and his friend seated themselves on oneside, and quietly chewed for a good half-hour, when at length Guapo, whoknew he could trust the vaquero--because the latter, like himself, wasone of the "patriotas"--communicated to him the object of their journeythrough that desolate region. The vaquero not only promised secrecy,but bound himself to put any party of pursuers completely off the trail.The vaquero, even in his remote mountain-home, had heard of Don Pablo,knew that he was a good patriot and friend of the Indians, and he wouldtherefore have risked his life to serve such a man--for no people haveproved more devoted to the friends of their race than these simple andfaithful Indians of the Andes. How many instances of nobleself-sacrifice--even of life itself--occurred during the painful historyof their conquest by the cruel and sanguinary followers of Pizarro!
The vaquero, therefore, did all in his power to make his guestscomfortable for the night. His dogs--there were four of them--were notso hospitably inclined, for they did not seem to know friends fromenemies. They had come up shortly after their master himself arrived,and had made a desperate attack upon everybody. The vaquero, however,assisted by Guapo--who, being an Indian, was less troubled with them--gave them a very rough handling with a large whip which he carried; andthen, securing the whole of them, tied them together in a bunch, andleft them at the back of the hut to snap and growl at each other, whichthey did throughout the live-long night. Supper over, all thetravellers would have retired to rest; but the vaquero, having announcedthat he was going out to set snares for the chinchillas and viscachas,Leon could not rest, but asked permission to accompany him. This wasgranted both by Don Pablo and the vaquero himself.
The chinchilla, and its near relative the viscacha, are two littleanimals of the rodent, or grass-eating kind, that inhabit the veryhighest mountains of Peru and Chili. They are nearly of the same size,and each about as big as a rabbit, which in habits they very muchresemble. They have long tails, however, which the rabbit has not,though the latter beats them in the length of his ears. The colour ofthe chinchilla is known to everybody, since its soft, velvety fur ishighly prized by ladies as an article of dress, and may be seen in everyLondon fur-shop. The animal is of a beautiful marbled grey, white andblack, with pure white feet. The fur of the viscacha is not so pretty,being of a brownish and white mixture. Its cheeks are black, with long,bristly moustaches, like those of a cat while its head resembles that ofthe hare or rabbit. Both these innocent little creatures live upon thehigh declivities of the Andes, in holes and crevices among the rocks,where they remain concealed during the day, but steal out to feed twicein the twenty-four hours,--that is, during the evening twilight and inthe early morning. The mode of capturing them is by snares made ofhorse-hair, which are set in front of their caves--just as we snarerabbits in a warren, except that for the rabbits we make use of lightelastic wire, instead of the horse-hair.
Leon was delighted with the excursion, as the vaquero showed him how toset the snares, and told him a great many curious stories of Puna lifeand habits. Some of these stories were about the great condor vulture--which the narrator, of course, described as a much bigger bird than itreally is, for the condor, after all, is not so much bigger than thegriffon vulture, or even the vulture of California. But you, youngreader, have already had a full account of the vultures of America--thecondor among the rest--therefore we shall not repeat what was said bythe vaquero about this interesting bird.
On the way to the place where the snares were to be set, they passed alagoon, or marshy lake, in which were many kinds of birds peculiar tothese high regions. Out on the open water they saw a wild goose of avery beautiful species. It is called the "Huachua" goose. Its plumageis of a snowy whiteness, all except the wings, which are bright greenand violet, while the beak, legs, and feet, are scarlet. They also sawtwo species of ibis wading about in the marsh, and a gigantic water-hen(_Fulica gigantea_) almost as big as a turkey. This last is of a darkgrey colour, with a red beak, at the base of which is a large yellowknob of the shape of a bean. On this account it is called by theIndians "bean nose." Upon the plain, near the border of the marsh, theynoticed a beautiful plover (_Charadrius_), having plumage marked verymuch like that of the "huachua" goose, with green wings shining in thesun like polished metal. Another curious bird also sat upon the plain,or flew around their heads. This was a bird of prey of the species ofjerfalcons (_Polyborus_). The vaquero called it the "Huarahua." Hetold Leon it preyed only on carrion, and never killed its own food; thatit was very harmless and tame--which was evidently true, as, shortlyafter, one of them seated upon a stone allowed the Indian to approachand knock it over with a stick! Such a silly bird Leon had never seen.
The vaquero was quite a naturalist in his way--that is, he knew all theanimals of the Puna, and their habits, just as you will sometimes find agamekeeper in our own country, or often a shepherd or farm-servant. Hepointed out a rock-woodpecker, which he called a "pito" (_Colaptesrupicola_), that was fluttering about and flying from rock to rock.Like the cliff-parrots we have already mentioned, this rock-woodpeckerwas a curious phenomenon, for, as their very name implies, thewoodpeckers are all tree-dwelling birds, yet here was one of the genusliving among rocks where not a tree was to be seen, and scarcely aplant, except the thorny cactuses and magueys, with which succulentvegetables the woodpecker has nothing to do. The "pito" is a small,brown, speckled bird, with yellow belly, and there were great numbers ofthem flying about.
But the bird which most fixed the attention of Leon was a little birdabout the size of a starling. Its plumage was rather pretty. It wasbrown, with black stripes on the back, and white-breasted. But it wasnot the plumage of the bird that interested Leon. It was what hiscompanion told him of a singular habit which it had--that of repeating,at the end of every hour during the night, its melancholy and monotonousnote. The Indians call this bird the "cock of the Inca," and theymoreover regard it with a sort of superstitious reverence.
Having placed his snares, the vaquero set out to return with hisyouthful companion. As they walked back along the mountain-foot, a foxstole out from the rocks and skulked towards the marshy lake, no doubtin search of prey. This fox was the _Canis Azara_, a most troublesomespecies, found all through South America. He is the great pest of thePuna shepherds, as he is a fierce hunter, and kills many of the younglambs and alpacos. The vaquero was sorry he had not his dogs with him,as, from the route the fox had taken, he would have been certain to havecaptured him, and that would have been worth something, for the greatsheep-owners give their shepherds a sheep for every old fox that theycan kill, and for every young one a lamb. But the dogs, on thisoccasion, had been left behind, lest they should have bitten Leon, andthe vaquero was compelled to let "Renard" go his way. It was night whenthey returned to the hut, and then, after Leon had related the detailsof their excursion, all retired to rest.