The Forest Exiles: The Perils of a Peruvian Family in the Wilds of the Amazon

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

  THE GUACO AND THE CORAL SNAKE.

  It was Guapo himself that killed the llamas, and, having skinned them,he cut the flesh into thin strips, and hung it upon the branches to dryin the sun. This, of course, was necessary, as they had no salt to cureit with; but meat well dried under a hot sun will keep good for a longtime. It is curious, that in all Spanish-American countries theypreserve most of their meat in this way, whereas in North America, amongthe people of our own race, "jerked beef" (for that is the name we giveit) is very rare. Now, in Spanish America there are vast depositoriesof salt--both in mines and on plains, with salt lakes--called _salinas_;yet, for want of a proper commercial activity existing among thesepeople, in many places the valuable article, salt, is both scarce anddear. In Mexico dried or "jerked" beef is called "tasajo." In Peru, aswe have stated, it is "charqui;" but mutton cured in this way isdistinguished by the name "chalona." Now as the llamas are a species ofsheep, it was "chalona" that Guapo was making out of their mutton.

  The others were not idle; Don Pablo, assisted by Leon, was clearing aplace on which they intended to build the house, while the Dona Isidora,with her soft slender fingers (for the first time in her life, perhaps),was acting as laundress, and the little Leona assisted her as much asshe was able. Where did they get their soap, for they had not broughtso much as a single cake along with them? But Don Pablo was too good abotanist not to know the nature of the trees that grew around, and theuses to which they could be applied. Near by grew a curious tree, whichis known among the Indians as the _parapara_. It was the soap-berry ofbotanists (_Sapindus saponaria_), and Don Pablo knew that the bark ofthe berries, when rubbed, produces a lather that will wash linen equalto the best "Castile." Dona Isidora was not long in making a trial ofit, and found this to be true. The little round stones of the berries,when cleared of the pulp, are very pretty, and are much used by themissionaries in making rosaries. Leon found, dropping one of them on astone, that it was as elastic as a ball of India rubber, for itrebounded several times to the height of a man's head! In the eveningthey all rested from their various occupations, and seated themselvesupon the new-cleared ground, upon the trunk of a tree that had beenfelled. They were one and all quite cheerful. They felt no moreapprehension of pursuit. It would have been a very revengeful enemy,indeed, who would have followed them so far into the wilderness. Theyhad no fear of that. Dona Isidora had just cooked a kettle of coffee--they had both pots and kettles, for these were some of the utensils withwhich Guapo, even in the hurry of flight, had taken the precaution toload his llamas. This coffee turned out to be of the finest quality.It was of a peculiar species, which has long been cultivated by themissionaries of Peru, and which yields a very high price. It used to besent by the viceroys as a valued present to the kings of Spain. Tosweeten the coffee some joints of sugar-cane had been crushed, andboiled in a rough manner; and for bread they had roasted plantains.During the repast they were all quite merry, and pleasant jokes werepassed for the first time in many days.

  While thus engaged a singular sound fell upon their ears. It was like avoice repeating the word "Guaco!" They all listened. "Guaco--Guaco!"again came the voice.

  "Hola!" cried Leon, "Guapo--Guapo! there's some one calling you, Guapo.There again!--no--it's `Guaco'--listen! `Guaco--Guaco!' What is it, Iwonder?"

  "That's the snake-bird," quietly answered Guapo, who, it must beremembered, was a native of the Montana, and knew a great deal bothabout the birds and beasts of these regions.

  "The snake-bird?" exclaimed Leon, evidently interested in the name.

  "Yes, young master!" replied Guapo; "look! yonder it goes!"

  The eyes of all were instantly turned in the direction pointed out byGuapo. There sure enough was a bird, not much larger than a commonpigeon, but which had all the appearance of a sparrow-hawk. It was"swallow-tailed," however, and this, with its peculiar form and themanner of its flight, showed that it was one of the kite-hawks. Whenfirst noticed, it was perched upon the top of a high tree, but it soonflew to another not so high, uttering as it went, the "Guaco--Guaco!"It then pitched itself to a still lower branch, and was evidently aftersomething which none of the party could see. That something, however,soon became apparent. The ground had been cleared in a broad track downto the water's edge, and near the middle of the open space an object wasobserved in motion, making towards the weeds. That object was a snake.It was not a large one--not more than three feet in length--and itsbeautiful body, variegated with bands of black, red, and bright yellow,glistened as it moved. Its predominating colour was a fleshy red, orcoral, from whence it has its name, for both Don Pablo and Guapo, assoon as they saw it, pronounced it the "coral snake." Beautiful as itappeared, all knew that it was one of the most poisonous of serpents--one of the most dreaded of South American reptiles.

  The first thought of Guapo and Leon was to spring up, seize upon someweapon, and kill the creature. Don Pablo, however, restrained them.

  "Stay where you are," said he; "be patient; we shall have a scene. Lookat the hawk,--see!"

  As Don Pablo spoke, the guaco, which had hopped down to the lowestbranches of a neighbouring tree, swooped suddenly at the snake,evidently aiming to clutch it around the neck. The latter, however, hadbeen too quick, and coiling itself, like a flash of lightning darted itshead out towards the bird in a threatening manner. Its eyes sparkledwith rage, and their fiery glitter could be seen even at many yardsdistance.

  The bird diverged from its course, and after passing the snake, turnedand swooped again from the opposite direction. But the reptile hadshifted its body so as to meet the attack, and its threatening head oncemore was reared high above its coiled body. The guaco was foiled asecond time.

  This second failure seemed to enrage the bird, as it turned at shorterintervals, and apparently losing all fear, fluttered over the reptile,striking both with beak and claws. The latter still kept in its coil,but its head moved hastily from side to side, so as always to "showfront" to its active antagonist.

  After this play had continued for some time, the snake was seen to drawin its head farther than usual, and the hawk, evidently somewhat off hisguard, deeming this a fair opportunity, pounced forward to seize it.But he was met half way. The head of the serpent shot forward like arapier, and reached his breast. The hawk felt that he was wounded; anduttering a wild scream, he flew suddenly away.

  All eyes watched him as he flew off, expecting that he would fall--forthe bite of the coral snake will kill even a man in a few minutes, and abird or small animal in much less time. It is not correct to say thatall of them expected to see him fall. Guapo, from experience, knewbetter, and even Don Pablo, as a naturalist, had heard a strange accountof this singular bird, and was curious to witness the result. The hawk,therefore, was narrowly watched.

  It flew directly for a tree, up against the trunk of which, and clingingto its branches, grew a parasite or creeping plant. The latter was ofthe thickness of a willow rod, with long slender leaves, of a dark greencolour. The bird did not alight upon the top of the tree, but on abranch where it could reach the leaves of the creeper, which it beganimmediately to pluck and devour. In a short while it had eaten as manyas a dozen of these long leaves, when it again took to wing, and flewback in the direction of the snake.

  All had, for the moment, forgotten the snake, in their eagerness towatch the movements of the bird. To their astonishment the reptile wasstill in the same place, and coiled up as when last seen. This waseasily explained, however, as snakes who defend themselves in thatattitude usually remain coiled, until they are certain that their enemyhas gone away and will not return to the attack.

  The contest was now renewed with redoubled fury. The bird fought withfresh courage, knowing that he had taken precautions against a fatalresult, while the snake defended itself with the energy of despair.This time the battle was a short one. The guaco, using its wings,succeeded in striking its antagonist upon the upraised head, an
d quicklyfollowing up the blow, planted his talons so as to encircle the throatof his victim. The effect of his gripe was instantly apparent. Thereptile unfolded itself, and the slender coral body was seen writhingand twisting along the ground. But it did not remain long upon theground, for in a few moments the guaco rose into the air, and carriedthe struggling victim into the woods to devour it at his leisure.

  Now Guapo was exceedingly pleased at what had occurred. Why? It wasnot because such a scene was at all new to him. No; he had oftenwitnessed such, and was no longer curious upon that head. It wassomething more than mere curiosity that moved Guapo. When the affairwas over, he rose from his seat, and stalking off to the place where thebird had been seen to eat the leaves, he gathered a quantity of them,and then returned to the fire. Don Pablo recognised them as the leavesof a plant of the genus _Mikania_, and known popularly as the "vejuco deguaco." Guapo knew nothing of the scientific designation of the plant,but he had long ago been taught the valuable properties of its leaves asan antidote against the bite of the most poisonous snakes. He had knownthem to cure the bite of the cascabel (_rattle-snake_), and even of thesmall spotted viper (_Echidna ocellata_), the most poisonous of all theAmerican snakes.

  What, then, did Guapo with the leaves of the vejuco? First, he choppedthem up as fine as he could, and then, tying them tightly in a piece ofcotton cloth, he expressed from them a quantity of juice--enough for hispurpose. That done, with the point of a knife he made small incisionsbetween his toes, and also upon his breast and fingers. Into each ofthese incisions, even while the blood was flowing from them, he droppedthe juice of the Mikania, and rubbed it in with fresh leaves of theplant itself; and then, with some tufts of the soft floss of thesilk-cotton tree (_Bombax ceiba_), he covered the incisions, so as tostop the bleeding. He wound up this strange performance, by chewingsome of the leaves, and swallowing about a spoonful of the juice. Thismade the "inoculation" complete, and Guapo, as he himself declared, wasnow invulnerable to the bite of the most venomous serpent!

  He offered to "inoculate" the others in the same way. They at firstrefused--Don Pablo among the rest--but after a day or two, when each ofthe party had met with several narrow escapes from vipers, coral snakes,and the much-dreaded "jararaca" (_craspedo-cephalus_), Don Pablo thoughtit prudent that all should submit to the operation, and accordinglyGuapo "doctored" the party without more ado.