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

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER THIRTY.

  THE OCELOT.

  During the whole summer, Don Pablo, Guapo, and Leon, continuedbark-gathering. Every day they went out into the woods, exceptingSunday of course. That was kept as a day of rest; for, although farfrom civilised society, there was not the less necessity for their beingChristians. God dwells in the wilderness as well as in the walled city,and worship to Him is as pleasing under the shadow of the forest leaves,as with sounding organ beneath the vaulted dome of the grand cathedral.

  During week-days, while the others were abroad, Dona Isidora and thelittle Leona were not idle at home; yet their whole time was not takenup by the mere concerns of the _cuisine_. They had an industry of theirown, and, in fact, one that promised to be almost as profitable in itsresults as the bark-gathering. This was neither more nor less thanpreparing _vanilla_.

  Some days after arriving in the valley, while exploring a wood that layat the back of the cultivated ground, Don Pablo discovered that everytree carried a creeper or parasite of a peculiar kind. It was a smallcreeper not unlike ivy, and was covered with flowers of agreenish-yellow colour, mixed with white. Don Pablo at once recognisedin this parasitical plant one of the many species of llianas thatproduce the delicious and perfumed vanilla. It was, in fact, the finestof the kind--that which, among the French, is called _leq_ vanilla; and,from the fact that every tree had a number of these parasites, and noother climbing vines, Don Pablo came to the conclusion that they hadbeen planted by the missionaries. It is thus that vanilla is usuallycultivated, by being set in slips at the root of some tree which mayafterwards sustain it.

  In the course of the summer, these vanilla vines exhibited a differentappearance. Instead of flowers, long bean-like capsules made theirappearance. These capsules or pods were nearly a foot in length, thoughnot much thicker than a swan's quill. They were a little flattish,wrinkled, and of a yellow colour, and contained inside, instead ofbeans, a pulpy substance, surrounding a vast quantity of small seeds,like grains of sand. These seeds are the perfumed vanilla so muchprized, and which often yield the enormous price of fifty dollars apound! To preserve these, therefore, was the work of Dona Isidora andLeona; and they understood perfectly how to do it.

  First, they gathered the pods before they were quite ripe. These theystrung upon a thread, taking cane to pass the thread through that endnearest the foot-stalk. The whole were next plunged for an instant intoboiling water, which gave them a blanched appearance. The thread wasthen stretched from tree to tree, and the pods, hanging like a string ofcandles, were then exposed to the sun for several hours. Next day, theywere lightly smeared with an oiled feather, and then wrapped in oiledcotton of the _Bombax ceiba_, to prevent the valves from opening. Whenthey had remained in this state for a few days, the string was takenout, and passed through the other ends, so that they should hang in aninverted position. This was to permit the discharge of a viscid liquidfrom the foot-stalk end; and in order to assist this discharge, the podswere several times lightly pressed between the fingers. They now becamedry and wrinkled. They had also shrunk to less than half their originalsize, and changed their colour to a reddish-brown. Another delicatetouch of the oil-feather, and the vanilla was ready for the market.Nothing remained but to pack them in small cases, which had already beenprepared from the leaf of a species of palm-tree.

  In such a way did the lady Isidora and her daughter pass their time; andbefore the summer was out they had added largely to the stock of wealthof our exiles.

  Although these two always remained by the house, they were not without_their_ adventures as well, one of which I shall describe. It occurredwhile they were getting in their crop of vanilla. Leona was in theporch in front, busy among the vanilla-beans. She had a large needleand a thread of palm-leaf fibre, with which she was stringing the longpods, while her mother was inside the house packing some that had beenalready dried.

  Leona rested for a moment, and was looking over the water, when, all atonce, she exclaimed, "Maman--Maman! come out and see! oh! what abeautiful cat!"

  The exclamation caused Dona Isidora to start, and with a feeling ofuneasiness. The cause of her uneasiness was the word "cat." She fearedthat what the innocent child had taken for a "beautiful cat" might proveto be the dreaded jaguar. She ran at once out of the door, and lookedin the direction pointed out by Leona. There, sure enough, on the otherside of the water, was a spotted creature, looking in the distance, verymuch like a cat; but Dona Isidora saw at a glance that it was a farlarger animal. Was it the jaguar? It was like one, in its colour andmarkings. It was of a yellowish colour, and covered all over with blackspots, which gave it the semblance of the jaguar. Still Dona Isidorathought that it was not so large as these animals usually are; and this,to some extent, restored her confidence. When first seen, it was closedown to the water's edge, as if it had come there to drink; and DonaIsidora was in hopes that, after satisfying its thirst, it would go awayagain. What was her consternation to see it make a forward spring, and,plunging into the water, swim directly for the house!

  Terrified, she seized Leona by the hand, and retreated inside. She shutthe door, and bolted it. If it were a jaguar, what protection wouldthat be? Such a creature could dash itself through the frail bamboowall, or tear the door to pieces with his great claws in a moment. "Ifit be a jaguar," thought she, "we are lost!"

  Dona Isidora was a woman of courage. She was determined to defend thelives of herself and daughter to the last. She looked around the housefor a weapon. The pistols of Don Pablo were hanging against the wall.She knew they were loaded. She took them down, and looked to the flintsand priming, and then stationed herself at a place where she could seeout through the interstices of the bamboos. The little Leona kept byher side, though she knew, that in a struggle with a ferocious jaguar,she could give no help.

  By this time the animal had crossed the river, and she could see itspring out on the bank, and come on towards the house. In a few secondsit was close to the porch, where it halted to reconnoitre. Dona Isidorasaw it very plainly, and would now have had a very good chance to fireat it; but she did not wish to begin the combat. Perhaps it might goaway again, without attempting to enter the house. In order not to drawits attention, she stood perfectly quiet, having cautioned Leona to dothe same.

  It was not a large animal, though its aspect was fierce enough toterrify any one. Its tiger-like eyes, and white teeth, which it showedat intervals, were anything but pleasant to look upon. Its size,however, was not so formidable; and Dona Isidora had understood thejaguar to be a large animal; but there is also a smaller species ofjaguar. This might be the one.

  After halting a moment, the creature turned to one side, and thenproceeded at a skulking trot around the house. Now and then it stoppedand looked toward the building, as if searching for some aperture bywhich it might get in. Dona Isidora followed it round on the inside.The walls were so open that she could mark all its movements; and, witha pistol in each hand, she was ready for the attack, determined to firethe moment it might threaten to spring against the bamboos.

  On one side of the house, at a few paces distance, stood the mule. Thehorse had been taken to the woods, and the mule was left alone. Thisanimal was tied to a tree, which shaded her from the sun. As soon asthe fierce creature got well round the house, it came in full view ofthe mule, which now claimed its attention. The latter, on seeing it,had started, and sprung round upon her halter, as if badly terrified bythe apparition.

  Whether the beast of prey had ever before seen a mule was a question.Most likely it had not; for, half-innocently, and half as if with theintention of making an attack, it went skulking up until it was close tothe heels of the latter. It could not have placed itself in a betterposition to be well kicked; and well kicked it was, for, just at thatmoment, the mule let fling with both her heels, and struck it upon theribs. A loud "thump" was heard by those within the house, and DonaIsidora, still watching through the canes, had the satisfaction to
seethe spotted creature take to its heels, and gallop off as if a kettlehad been tied to its tail! It made no stop, not even to look back; buthaving reached the edge of the water, plunged in, and swam over to theopposite shore. They could see it climb out on the other side, andthen, with a cowed and conquered look, it trotted off, and disappearedamong the palm-trees.

  Dona Isidora knew that it was gone for good; and having now no furtherfear, went on with her work as before. She first, however, carried outa large measure of the _murumuru_ nuts, and gave them to the mule,patting the creature upon the nose, and thanking her for the importantservice she had rendered.

  When Don Pablo and the rest returned, the adventure was, of course,related; but from the description given of the animal, neither Don Pablonor Guapo believed it could have been the jaguar. It was too small forthat. Besides, a jaguar would not have been cowed and driven off by amule. He would more likely have killed the mule, and dragged its bodyoff with him across the river, or perhaps have broken into the house,and done worse.

  The animal was, no doubt, the "ocelot," which is also spotted, or rathermarked with the eye-like rosettes which distinguish the skin of thejaguar. Indeed, there are quite a number of animals of the cat genus inthe forests of the Montana; some spotted like the leopard, othersstriped as the tiger, and still others of uniform colour all over thebody. They are, of course, all preying animals, but none of them willattack man, except the jaguar and the puma. Some of the others, whenbrought to bay, will fight desperately, as would the common wild catunder like circumstances; but the largest of them will leave man alone,if unmolested themselves. Not so with the jaguar, who will attackeither man or beast, and put them to death, unless he be himselfoverpowered.

  The jaguar, or, as he is sometimes called, "ounce" (_Felis onca_), andby most Spanish-Americans "tiger," is the largest and most ferocious ofall the American _Felidae_. He stands third in rank as to thesequalities--the lion and tiger of the Eastern continent taking precedenceof him. Specimens of the jaguar have been seen equal in size to theAsiatic tiger; but the average size of the American animal is much less.He is strong enough, however, to drag a dead horse or ox to his den--often to a distance of a quarter of a mile--and this feat has beenrepeatedly observed.

  The jaguar is found throughout all the tropical countries of SpanishAmerica, and is oftener called tiger (_tigre_) than jaguar. This is amisapplied name; for although he bears a considerable likeness to thetiger, both in shape and habits, yet the markings of his skin are quitedifferent. The tiger is striated or striped, while the black on thejaguar is in beautiful eye-like rosettes. The leopard is more like thejaguar than any other creature; and the panther and cheetah of theEastern continent also resemble him. The markings of the jaguar, whenclosely examined, differ from all of these. The spots on the animals ofthe old world are simple spots or black rings, while those of theAmerican species are rings with a single spot in the middle, forming_ocellae_, or eyes. Each, in fact, resembles a rosette.

  Jaguars are not always of the same colour. Some have skins of an orangeyellow, and these are the most beautiful. Others are lighter-coloured;and individuals have been killed that were nearly white. But there is a"black jaguar," which is thought to be of a different species. It islarger and fiercer than the other, and is found in the very hottestparts of the Great Montana. Its skin is not quite jet-black, but of adeep maroon brown; and upon close inspection, the spots upon it can beseen of a pure black. This species is more dreaded by the inhabitantsof those countries than the other; and it is said always to attack manwherever it may encounter him.

  In the forests of South America, the jaguar reigns with undisputed sway.All the other beasts fear, and fly from him. His roar produces terrorand confusion among the animated creation, and causes them to fly inevery direction. It is never heard by the Indian without some feelingof fear,--and no wonder; for a year does not pass without a number ofthese people falling victims to the savage ferocity of this animal.

  There are those, however, among them who can deal single-handed with thejaguar,--regular "jaguar-hunters" by profession,--who do not fear toattack the fierce brute in his own haunts. They do not trust tofire-arms, but to a sharp spear. Upon this they receive his attack,transfixing the animal with unerring aim as he advances. Should theyfail in their first thrust, their situation is one of peril; yet allhope is not lost. On their left arm they carry a sort of sheepskinshield. This is held forward, and usually seized by the jaguar; andwhile he is busy with it, the hunter gains time for a second effort,which rarely fails to accomplish his purpose.

  The jaguars are killed for many reasons. Their beautiful skins sell forseveral dollars; besides, in many places a price is set upon theirheads, on account of their destructive habits. Thousands are destroyedevery year. For all this, they do not seem to diminish in numbers. Theintroduction of the large mammalia into America has provided them withincreased resources; and in many places, where there are herds ofhalf-wild cattle, the number of the jaguars is said to be greater thanformerly. It is difficult for one, living in a country where suchfierce animals are unknown, to believe that they may have an influenceover man to such an extent as to prevent his settling in a particularplace; yet such is the fact. In many parts of South America, not onlyplantations, but whole villages, have been abandoned solely from fear ofthe jaguars!