Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER XL.

  ADVENTURE WITH AN ANACONDA.

  For several days they voyaged down-stream, without any occurrence ofparticular interest. Once or twice they saw Indians upon the shore; butthese, instead of putting off in their canoes, seemed frightened at solarge a craft, and remained by their "maloccas," or greatvillage-houses, in each of which several families live together. Notcaring to have any dealings with them, our travellers were only too gladto get past without molestation; and, therefore, when they passed anyplace where they thought they observed the signs of Indians on the bank,they kept on for hours after, without stopping.

  A curious incident occurred one evening as they were bringing the balzato her moorings, which compelled them to drop a little fartherdown-stream, and, in fact, almost obliged them to float all night, whichwould have been a dangerous matter, as the current at the place happenedto be sharp and rapid.

  They had been on the look-out for some time for a good camping-place, asit was their usual hour to stop. No opening, however, appeared forseveral miles. The banks on both sides were thickly-wooded to theriver's edge, and the branches of the trees even drooped into the water.At length they came in sight of a natural raft that had been formed bydriftwood in a bend of the stream; and as the logs lay thickly together,and even piled upon each other, it appeared an excellent place to encampon. It was, at all events, better than to attempt to penetrate the thickjungles which met them everywhere else; and so the balza was directedtowards the raft, and soon floated alongside it.

  They had already got ashore on the raft, which was dry and firm, andwould have served their purpose well enough; when, all at once, Guapowas heard uttering one of those exclamations, which showed that all wasnot right. The rest looked towards him for an explanation. He wasstanding by the edge of the floating timber, just where the balzatouched it, with his arms stretched out in an attitude that betokenedtrouble. They all ran up. They saw what was the matter at a glance.Thousands of red ants were climbing from the raft to the balza!Thousands,--nay, it would be nearer the truth to say millions!

  At one glance Don Pablo saw that it would be a terrible calamity, shouldthese creatures gain a lodgment on the balza. Not only were they thedreaded stinging ants, but in a short time nothing on board would beleft. In a few hours they would have eaten all his stores,--his bark,his vanilla, and his roots. Already quite a number had got upon thecanoe, and were crossing it toward the body of the balza.

  Without saying another word, he ordered all to get on board as quicklyas possible, each taking some utensil that had already been carried onshore. He and Guapo flew to the poles; and, having hastily unfastenedand drawn in the cable, they pushed the balza out into the stream. Thenwhile Guapo managed the great oar, Don Pablo, assisted by Leon and byDona Isidora, went to work with scoops and pails, dashing water upon theants; until every one of them had disappeared, drowned in the canoe orwashed off into the river. Fortunate for them, they had observed thisstrange enemy in time. Had they not done so--in other words, had theygone to sleep, leaving the balza where it was during the night--theywould have awakened in the morning to find their stores completelydestroyed, their labour of a year brought to nothing in the space of asingle night. This is no uncommon occurrence to the merchant or thecolonist of tropical America.

  They had made a narrow escape, but a fortunate one. They were notwithout their troubles, however. No open ground could be found for milesbelow; and, as it was growing dark, they approached the thickly-woodedbank; and, after a good deal of scratching among the branches, at lengthsucceeded in making the cable fast to a tree. The balza then swunground, and floated at the end of the cable, half of it being buriedunder the long hanging branches.

  They spent their night on board, for it was no use attempting to geton shore through the underwood; and even if they had, they could nothave encamped very comfortably in a thicket. On the other hand, thebalza did not afford the best accommodation for sleeping. The little"toldo," or cabin, was not large enough to swing a hammock in. It wouldonly contain a few persons seated close together; and it had been builtmore for the purpose of keeping the sun off during the hot hours of theday than for sleeping in. The rest of the balza was occupied with thefreight; and this was so arranged with sloping sides, thatched with thebussu-leaves, that there was no level place where one could repose uponit. The night, therefore, was passed without very much sleep having beenobtained by any one of the party. Of course, the moment the firststreaks of day began to appear along the Eastern sky, they were allawake and ready to leave their disagreeable anchorage.

  As they were making preparations to untie the cable, they noticed thatjust below where the balza lay, a horizontal limb stretched far out overthe river. It was the lowermost limb of a large zamang-tree, that stoodon the bank close to the edge of the water. It was not near the surface,but a good many feet above. Still it was not certain that it was highenough for the roof of the toldo to clear it. That was an importantquestion; for although the current was not very rapid just there, it wassufficiently so to carry the balza under this branch before they couldpush it out into the stream. Once the cable was let go, they mustinevitably pass under the limb of the zamang; and if that caught thetoldo, it would sweep off the frail roof like so much spider's-web. Thiswould be a serious damage; and one to be avoided, if possible.

  Don Pablo and Guapo went to the end of the balza nearest the branch, andstood for some time surveying it. It was about eight or ten yardsdistant; but in the gray dawn they could not judge correctly of itsheight, and they waited till it grew a little clearer. At length theycame to the conclusion that the branch was high enough. The longpendulous leaves--characteristic of this great _mimosa_ and the droopingbranchlets hung down much below the main shaft; but these, even if theytouched the roof, would do no injury. It was, therefore, determined tolet go the cable.

  It was now clear day, for they had been delayed a good while; but atlength all was ready, and Guapo untied the cable, and drew the end onboard. The balza began to move; slowly at first, for the current underthe bushes was very slight.

  All at once the attention of the voyagers was called to the strangeconduct of the pet monkey. That little creature was running to and fro,first upon the roof of the toldo, then down again, all the whileuttering the most piercing shrieks as if something was biting off itstail! It was observed to look forward and upward toward the branch ofthe zamang, as if the object it dreaded was in that quarter. The eyes ofall were suddenly bent in the same direction. What was their horror onbeholding, stretched along the branch, the hideous body of an enormousserpent! Only part of it could be seen; the hinder half and the tailwere hidden among the bromelias and vines that in huge masses clusteredaround the trunk of the zamang, and the head was among the leaflets ofthe mimosa; but what they saw was enough to convince them that it was asnake of the largest size--the great "_water boa_"--the _anaconda_!

  ADVENTURE WITH AN ANACONDA.]

  That part of the body in sight was full as thick as a man's thigh, andcovered with black spots or blotches upon a ground of dingy yellow. Itwas seen to glisten as the animal moved, for the latter was in motion,crawling along the branch _outward_! The next moment its head appearedunder the pendulous leaves; and its long forking tongue, protrudingseveral inches from its mouth, seemed to feel the air in front of it.This tongue kept playing backwards and forwards, and its viscid coveringglittered under the sunbeam, adding to the hideous appearance of themonster.

  To escape from passing within its reach would be impossible. The balzawas gliding directly under it! It could launch itself aboard at will. Itcould seize upon any one of the party without coming from the branch. Itcould coil its body around them, and crush them with the constrictingpower of its muscles. It could do all this; for it had crushed beforenow the tapir, the roebuck, perhaps even the jaguar himself.

  All on board the boat knew its dangerous power too well; and, of course,terror was visible in every countenance.

  Don Pablo seized the axe, and Guapo la
id hold of his _machete_. DonaIsidora, Leon, and the little Leona, were standing--fortunately theywere--by the door of the toldo; and, in obedience to the cries andhurried gestures of Don Pablo and the Indian, they rushed in and flungthemselves down. They had scarcely disappeared inside, when the forwardpart of the balza upon which stood Don Pablo and Guapo, came close tothe branch, and the head of the serpent was on a level with their own.Both aimed their blows almost at the same instant; but their footing wasunsteady, the boa drew back at the moment, and both missed their aim.The next moment the current had carried them out of reach, and they hadno opportunity of striking a second blow.

  The moment they had passed the hideous head again dropped down, and hungdirectly over, as if waiting. It was a moment of intense anxiety to DonPablo. His wife and children! Would it select one as its victim, andleave the others? or----

  He had but little time for reflection. Already the head of the snake waswithin three feet of the toldo door. Its eyes were glaring--it was aboutto dart down.

  "Oh, God, have mercy!" exclaimed Don Pablo, falling upon his knees. "Oh,God!"

  At that moment a loud scream was heard. It came from the toldo; and, atthe same instant, the saimiri was seen leaping out from the door. Alongwith the rest, it had taken shelter within; but just as the head of thesnake came in sight, a fresh panic seemed to seize upon it; and, as ifunder the influence of fascination, it leaped screaming in the directionof the terrible object. It was met half way. The wide jaws closed uponit, its shrieks were stifled, and the next moment its silken body, alongwith the head of the anaconda, disappeared among the leaves of themimosa. Another moment passed, and the balza swept clear of the branch,and floated triumphantly into the open water.

  Don Pablo sprang to his feet, ran into the toldo, and, after embracinghis wife and children, knelt down and offered thanks to God for theiralmost miraculous deliverance.