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

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

  A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO VERY SCALY CREATURES.

  When they awoke in the morning they found Guapo busy over the fire. Hehad already been at the turtles' nests, and had collected a largebasketful of the eggs, some of which he was cooking for breakfast. Inaddition to the eggs, moreover, half-a-dozen large turtles lay upontheir backs close by. The flesh of these Guapo intended to scoop outand fry down, so as to be carried away as a sort of stock of preservedmeat;--and a very excellent idea it was. He had caught them during hiswatch as they came out of the water.

  All the turtles had gone off, although this is not always the case; forfrequently numbers that have not finished covering their eggs during thenight may be seen hard at work in the morning, and so intent on it, thatthey do not heed the presence of their worst enemies. These the Indiansdenominate "mad tortoises."

  This morning, however, no "mad tortoises" were to be seen; but when ourtravellers cast their eyes along the beach they saw quite a number thatappeared to be turned upon their backs just like those that Guapo hadcapsized. They were at some distance from the camp, but curiosityprompted our travellers to walk along the beach and examine them. Sureenough there were nearly a dozen large tortoises regularly laid on theirbacks, and unable to stir; but, besides these, there were severaltortoise-shells out of which the flesh had been freshly scooped, andthese were as neatly cleaned out as if the work had been done by ananatomist. All this would have been a mystery but for the experience ofGuapo; but Guapo knew it was the jaguar that had turned the tortoises ontheir backs, and that had cleaned out and eaten the flesh from the emptyshells!

  Now, it is no easy thing for a man, provided with the necessaryimplements, to separate the flesh of a tortoise from its shell, and yetthe jaguar, with his paw, can in a few minutes perform this operationmost adroitly, as our travellers had full proof. All that they saw hadbeen done that same night; and it gave them no very pleasant feeling toknow that the jaguar had been at work so near them. This animal, asGuapo said, in attacking the turtles, first turns them over, so as toprevent their escape--for the "carapas" are of those tortoises that onceupon their backs on level ground cannot right themselves again. He thenproceeds to tear out the flesh, and eats it at his leisure. Oftentimeshe capsizes a far greater number than he can eat, and even returns tothe spot to have a second meal of them; but frequently the Indianswandering along the river, find the tortoises he has turned over, and ofcourse make an easy capture of them.

  Guapo, upon this occasion, took advantage of the jaguar's skill, andcarried to the camp all that the latter had left. It was Guapo's designto make a large quantity of "turtle sausage-meat," so that they mighthave a supply for many days, as by this time even Guapo himself wasgetting tired of the horse-flesh "charqui."

  They were about returning to camp, when their attention was drawn to twodark objects upon the sand-beach a little farther on. These objectswere in motion, and at first they believed they were a pair of "madtortoises" that had not yet returned to the water, although they wereclose to its edge.

  Led on by curiosity our party approached them, and saw that one only wasa tortoise, and one of the largest kind, being nearly three feet indiameter. The other animal was a small caiman or alligator.

  As our travellers drew near they saw that these two creatures wereengaged in a fierce and deadly combat. Now, it is a curious fact thatthe larger alligators and crocodiles are among the most destructiveenemies which the turtles have, eating thousands of the latter whilethey are still tiny little creatures and unable to defend themselves;and, on the other hand, that the turtles prey extensively on the youngof both alligators and crocodiles, eating them whenever they can catchthem! I say this is a curious fact in natural history, and it seems asort of retaliatory principle established between these two kinds ofreptiles, as if they ate one another's offspring _en revanche_. Thereis no feeling of revenge, however, in the matter. It is merely aninstinct of appetite by which both kinds will eat almost any small frythey come across. In fact, the alligators and crocodiles not only eatthe young of the turtles, but their own young as well. That is, the_old males_ do; and it has been stated, that the males of some speciesof tortoises have a similar unnatural appetite.

  The turtle of which we are speaking is one of the most carnivorous ofthe whole race, and one of the fiercest in its nature too; so much so,that it has earned the name of the "fierce tortoise" (_Testudo ferox_).It will eat fish and small Crustacea, and almost any living thing itfinds in the water, which is not too large for it. It is extremelyexpert in catching its prey. It lies concealed at the bottom among theroots of flags and nymphae; and when any small fish chances to pass it,by means of its long neck darts out its head and seizes upon itsunsuspecting victim. Once the bill of the "fierce turtle" has closedupon any object its hold is secure. You may cut its head off, butotherwise it cannot be forced to let go, until it has either capturedits prey or taken the piece with it. It will "nip" a stout walking-canebetween its mandibles, as if it was no more than a rush.

  A very good story is told of a thief and a tortoise. The thief wasprowling about the larder of an hotel in search of plunder, when he cameupon a large market-basket filled with provisions. He immediatelyinserted his hand to secure the contents, when he felt himself suddenlyseized by the fingers, and bitten so severely, that he was fain to drawback his hand in the most hasty manner possible. But along with thehand he drew out a "snapping" turtle. To get rid of the "ugly customer"was his next care; but, in spite of all his efforts, the turtle held on,determined to have the finger. The scuffle, and the shouts which paincompelled the thief to give utterance to, awoke the landlord and therest of the household; and before the thief could disengage himself andescape, he was secured and given into custody.

  Well, it was just a tortoise of this species, a "snapping turtle," andone of the largest size, that our travellers now saw doing battle withthe caiman. The caiman was not one of large size, else the turtle wouldhave fled from it, not that even the largest caimans are feared by thefull-grown _carapas_. No; the strong plate-armour of the latterprotects them both from the teeth and tail of this antagonist. Thejaguar, with his pliable paws and sharp subtle claws, is to them a moredreaded assailant than the crocodile or caiman.

  The one in question was some six or seven feet long, and altogether notmuch heavier than the turtle itself. It was not for the purpose ofeating each other they fought. No--their strife was evidently on othergrounds. No doubt the caiman had been attempting to plunder thenew-laid eggs of the tortoise, and the latter had detected him in theact. At all events, the struggle must have been going on for some time,for the sand was torn up, and scored, in many places, by the sharp clawsof both.

  The battle appeared to be still at its height when our party arrived onthe spot. Neither tortoise nor caiman paid any attention to theirpresence, but fought on pertinaciously. The aim of the caiman appearedto be to get the head of the tortoise in his mouth; but whenever heattempted this, the latter suddenly drew his head within the shell, andrepeatedly disappointed him. The tortoise, on its part, rose atintervals upon its hind-feet, and making a dash forward, would dartforth its long neck, and clutch at the softer parts of its antagonist'sbody just under the throat. Several times it had succeeded in thismanoeuvre, and each time it had brought the piece with it, so that thecaiman was already somewhat mangled. Another manoeuvre of the tortoisewas to seize the tail of its antagonist. Instinct seemed to teach itthat this was a vulnerable part, and for the purpose of reaching thetail, it constantly kept crawling and edging round towards it. Now,there is no movement so difficult for a reptile of the crocodile kind asto turn its body on dry land. The peculiar formation of the vertebrae,both of its neck and spine, renders this movement difficult; and in"changing front," the reptile is forced to describe a full circle withits unwieldy body--in fact to turn "all of a piece." The tortoise,therefore, had the advantage, and, after several efforts, he at lengthsucceeded in outflanking his anta
gonist, and getting right round to hisrear. He lost no time, but, raising himself to his full height andmaking a dart forward, seized the tail and held on. He had caught bythe very tip, and it was seen that his horny mandibles had taken aproper hold.

  Now commenced a somewhat ludicrous scene. The caiman, though but asmall one, with the immense muscular power which he possessed in histail, if not able to detach his antagonist, was able to give him a soundshaking, and the turtle was seen vibrating from side to side, draggedalong the sand. He held his broad yellow feet spread out on all sides,so as to preserve his equilibrium, for he well knew that to lose thatwould be to lose his life. Should he get turned on his back it would beall over with him; but he carefully guarded against such a fatalcatastrophe. Of course there were intervals when the caiman becametired, and remained still for a moment; and at each of these intervalsthe tortoise renewed his hold, and, in fact, as our party now perceived,was slowly, though surely, _eating the tail_!

  When this had continued a short while, the great saurian seemed todespair. The pain, no doubt, caused him to weep "crocodile's tears,"though none were seen, but his eyes glared with a lurid light, and hebegan to look around for some means of escape from his painful position.His eyes fell upon the water. That promised something, although heknew full well the turtle was as much at home there as he. At allevents, his situation could not be a worse one, and with this, or somesuch reflection, he made a "dash" for the water. He was but a few feetfrom it, but it cost him a good deal of pulling and dragging, andclawing the sand, before he could get into it. In fact, the tortoiseknew that its position could not be benefited by the change, and wouldhave preferred fighting it out on dry land, and to do this he set hisclaws as firmly as possible, and pulled the tail in the oppositedirection!

  The strength of the caiman at length prevailed. He got his body intothe water, and, with a few strokes of his webbed feet, jerked the turtleafter, and both were now fairly launched. Once in the river, the caimanseemed to gain fresh vigour. His tail vibrated violently and rapidly,throwing the tortoise from side to side until the foam floated aroundthem, and then both suddenly sank to the bottom.

  Whether they continued "attached," or became "separated" there, orwhether the turtle killed the lizard, or the lizard the turtle, or "eachdid kill the other," no one ever knew, as it is highly probable that nohuman eye ever saw either of them again.

  At all events, no one of our party saw any more of them; and, havingwatched the surface for some time, they turned in their steps and walkedback to the camp.