CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
OUR EXPLORING EXPEDITION--FEARFUL DANGER.
A week had passed away. We had crossed the stream several times toexamine the southern bank of the river, and every inch of the northernbank had been explored. Sometimes we met Maono and his wife to comparenotes, and then we again separated to continue our explorations. Wewere now once more proceeding up the Napo, with high clay bankssurmounted by lofty forest trees above our heads. "I see some peoplemoving on the shore there. O Harry! can it be them?" exclaimed Arthur.Several persons appeared coming through an opening in the forest, at aspot where the ground sloped down to the water. We could, however, seeno habitation.
"It is possible," I answered. We passed this part of the river in thedark, and might thus have missed them.
Having been exploring the western bank, we were crossing the river atthat moment. As we paddled on, my heart beat with excitement. If itshould be them after all! The people stopped, and seemed to beobserving us. We paddled on with all our might, and they came downcloser to the water. Suddenly Duppo lifted up his paddle and exclaimed,"Majeronas!" We looked and looked again, still hoping that Duppo mighthave been mistaken; but his eyes were keener than ours. Approaching alittle nearer, we were convinced that he was right. To go closer to theshore, therefore, would be useless and dangerous. We accordinglypaddled back to the side we had just left, where we once more continuedour upward course.
We had parted two days before this from Maono and Illora, who were toexplore part of the bank we had left unvisited, and to meet us again atthe island where we had been so nearly wrecked at the mouth of theigarape. We had almost reached the spot where we had expected to findmy father and the rest of our family. The shores of the river wereoccasionally visited, as we had learned by experience, by the Majeronas,though not usually inhabited by them. It was therefore necessary to usegreat caution when going on shore. We landed, however, whenever we sawa spot where we thought it possible our friends might have touched ontheir voyage, in the hope that they might there have left some signal ornote for us. The banks were here very different from those lower down.In many places they were composed of sand or clay cliffs of considerableheight, often completely overhanging the river, as if the water hadwashed away their bases--indeed, such was undoubtedly the case.Frequently the trees grew to the very edge of these cliffs, theirbranches forming a thick shade over the stream. To avoid the hot sun wewere tempted to keep our canoe close under them, as it was very pleasantto be able to paddle on in the comparatively cool air. Thus weproceeded, till we arrived at the spot where we had been so bitterlydisappointed at not finding my family. No one was to be seen, but welanded, that we might again examine it more carefully. The ground onwhich the hut had stood still remained undisturbed, though vegetationhad almost obliterated all the traces of fire. After hunting about invain for some time, we took our way back to the canoe. We had nearlyreached the water's edge, when Arthur exclaimed that he saw somethingwhite hanging to the lower branch of a tree, amid the thick undergrowthwhich grew around. We had some difficulty in cutting our way up to it.We then saw a handkerchief tied up in the shape of a ball.
"Why, it is only full of dried leaves!" exclaimed Arthur, as we openedit.
"Stay a moment," I answered. "I think there is something within themthough."
Unrolling the leaves, I found a small piece of paper, torn apparentlyfrom a pocket-book. On it were written a few lines. They were: "DearBrothers,--I trust you will see this. Enemies are approaching, and ourfather has resolved to quit this spot and proceed down the river. Wehope to send a messenger up to warn you not to land here, but I leavethis in case you should miss him, and do so. Where we shall stop, Icannot say; but our father wishes, for our mother's sake and mine, andAunt Martha's, not again to settle till we reach a part of the riverinhabited by friendly natives. That will, I fear, not be till we getsome way down the Amazon. I am warned to finish and do this up. Thenatives are seen in the distance coming towards us."
This note, the first assurance we had received that our family hadescaped, greatly raised our spirits. We had now only to make the bestof our way back to John and Ellen with the satisfactory intelligence.We accordingly hurried back to the canoe, and began our downward voyage.We had gone some distance when we saw a small opening in the river,where, on the shore, two or three canoes were hauled up. They mightbelong to friendly natives, from whom we might obtain some fish or otherfresh provisions, of which we were somewhat in want. We were about topaddle in, when we caught sight of several fierce-looking men with bowsin their hands, rushing down towards the bank. Their appearance andgestures were so hostile that we immediately turned the head of ourcanoe down the stream again, and paddled away as fast as we could. Wehad not, however, got far, when, looking back, we saw that they hadentered one of the larger canoes, and were shoring off, apparently topursue us. We did our best to make way, in the hope of keeping ahead ofthem. I should have said the weather at this time had been somewhatchangeable. Clouds had been gathering in the sky, and there was everysign of a storm. As I have already described two we encountered, I neednot enter into the particulars of the one which now broke over us.Under other circumstances we should have been glad to land to escape itsfury, but as it was, we were compelled to paddle on as fast as we couldgo. On looking back, we saw that the Indians were actually pursuing us."Never fear," cried Arthur. "We shall be able to keep ahead of them!"The lightning flashed vividly, the rain came down in torrents, butthrough the thick wall of water we could still see our enemies comingrapidly after us. Although the current, had we stood out into themiddle of the stream, might have carried us faster, the shortest routewas by keeping near the bank. The Indians followed the same course.True rushed to the stern, and stood up barking defiance at them, as hesaw them drawing nearer. I dreaded lest they should begin to shoot withtheir poisoned arrows. Should they get near enough for those fearfulweapons to reach us, our fate would be sealed. Only for an instantcould we afford time to glance over our shoulders at our foes. Nearerand nearer they drew. Duppo courageously kept his post, steering thecanoe, and paddling with all his might. Every moment I expected to seethem start up and let fly a shower of arrows at us. I might, of course,have fired at them; but this would have delayed us, and probably nothave stopped them. Our only hope of escape therefore depended upon ourbeing able to distance them. Yet they were evidently coming up with us.We strained every nerve; but, try as we might, we could not drive ourlittle canoe faster than we were going.
My heart sank within me when, looking back once more, I saw how nearthey were. In a few minutes more we might expect to have a shower ofarrows whizzing by us, and then we knew too well that, though we mightreceive comparatively slight wounds, the deadly poison in them wouldsoon have effect. This did not make us slacken our exertions, thoughscarcely any hope of escape remained. Still we knew that somethingunforeseen might intervene for our preservation. I do hold, and alwayshave held, that it is the duty of a man to struggle to the last. "Neversay die!" is a capital motto in a good cause.
The rain poured down in torrents, the lightning flashed, the thunderroared, and gusts of wind swept down the river. We were, however,greatly protected by the bank above us. The storm blew more furiously.We could see overhead branches torn from the trees and carried into thestream. Still the Indians, with unaccountable pertinacity, followed us.We scarcely now dared look behind us, as all our energies were requiredto keep ahead; yet once more I turned round. Several of our pursuerswere standing up and drawing their bows. The arrows flew by us. "Oh, Iam hit!" cried Arthur. "But I wish I had not said that. Paddle on!paddle on! I may still have strength to go on for some time." Now,indeed, I felt ready to give way to despair; still, encouraged byArthur, I persevered. For a moment only he ceased paddling. It was topull the arrow from the wound in his shoulder; then again he worked awayas if nothing had occurred. The next flight of arrows, I knew, might befatal to all of us. I could not resist
glancing round. Once more theIndians were drawing their bows; but at that instant a fearful rumblingnoise was heard, followed by a terrific crashing sound. The trees aboveour heads bent forward. "Paddle out into the middle of the stream!"cried Arthur. Duppo seemed to have understood him, and turned thecanoe's head away from the shore. The whole cliff above us was givingway. Down it came, crash succeeding crash, the water lashed into foam.The spot where the canoe of our savage pursuers had last been seen wasnow one mass of falling cliff and tangled forest. Trees were ahead ofus, trees on every side. The next instant I found myself clinging tothe branch of a tree. True had leaped up to my ride. Duppo was closeto me grasping the tree with one hand, while he held my gun above hishead in the other. I took it from him and placed it in a cleft of thetrunk. Without my aid he quickly climbed up out of the water. Thecanoe had disappeared, and where was Arthur? The masses of foam, thethick, down-pouring rain, the leaves and dust whirled by the wind roundus, concealed everything from our sight.
"Arthur!--Arthur!--where are you?" I cried out. There was no answer.Again I shouted at the top of my voice, "Arthur!--Arthur!" The tree,detached from the bank, now floated down the stream. I could only hopethat it would not turn over in the eddying waters. Still the loudcrashing sounds of the falling cliff continued, as each huge mass camesliding down into the river. The current, increased in rapidity by therain, which had probably been falling much heavier higher up the stream,bore us onward. Oh, what would I have given to know that my friend hadescaped! I could scarcely feel as thankful as I ought to have done formy own preservation, when I thought that he had been lost.
The whole river seemed filled with uprooted trees; in some places boundtogether by the sipos, they formed vast masses--complete islands. Onseveral we could see creatures moving about. Here and there severalterrified monkeys, which had taken shelter from the storm in a hollowtrunk, were now running about, looking out in vain for some means ofreaching the shore. Ahead of us we distinguished some large animal on afloating mass, but whether jaguar, puma, or tapir, at that distance Icould not make out. No trace of the Indians or their canoe could wediscover. It was evident that they had been entirely overwhelmed;indeed, as far as we could judge, the landslip had commenced close tothe spot where we had last seen them, and they could not have had thewarning which we received before the cliff was upon them. Not for amoment, however, notwithstanding all the terrifying circumstancessurrounding me, were my thoughts taken off Arthur. Wounded as he hadbeen by the poisoned dart, I feared that, even had he not been struck bythe bough of a falling tree, he would have sunk through weaknessproduced by the poison. It made me very sad. Duppo was trying tocomfort me, but what he said I could not understand. Our own positionwas indeed dangerous in the extreme. Any moment the tree might rollover, as we saw others doing round us: we might be unable to regain aposition on the upper part. Should we escape that danger, and be drivenon the bank inhabited by the hostile Majeronas, they would very probablyput us to death. I had, however, providentially my ammunition-beltround my waist, and my gun had been preserved; I might, therefore, fightfor life, and if we escaped, kill some animals for our support. Shouldwe not reach the land, and once enter the main river, we might becarried down for hundreds of miles, day after day, and, unable toprocure any food, be starved to death. Ellen and John would be veryanxious at our non-appearance. These and many similar thoughts crossedmy mind. I fancied that had Arthur been with me I should have felt verydifferently, but his loss made my spirits sink, and I could hardly keepup the courage which I had always wished to maintain under difficulties.Duppo's calmness put me to shame. True looked up in my face, andendeavoured to comfort me by licking my hand, and showing other marks ofaffection. Poor fellow! if we were likely to starve, so was he; butthen he did not know that, and was better able to endure hunger thaneither Duppo or me.
The rain continued pouring down, hiding all objects, except in theimmediate vicinity, from our view. I judged, however, that the fallingcliff had sent us some distance from the shore into the more rapid partof the current. Providentially it was so, for we could still see theindistinct forms of the trees come sliding down, while the constant loudcrashes told us that the destruction of the banks had not yet ceased.Thus we floated on till darkness came down upon us, adding to the horrorof our position. The rain had by that time stopped. The thunder nolonger roared, and the lightning ceased flashing. The storm was over,but I feared, from the time of the year, that we might soon be visitedby another. We had climbed up into a broad part of the trunk, where,among the projecting branches, we could sit or lie down securely withoutdanger of falling off. My chief fear arose from what I have alreadymentioned,--the possibility of the tree turning over. This made meunwilling either to secure myself to the branches, or indeed even toventure to go to sleep.
Hour after hour slowly passed by. Had Arthur been saved, I could havekept up my spirits; but every now and then, when the recollection of hisloss came across me, I could not help bursting into tears. Poor, dearfellow! I had scarcely thought how much I had cared for him. Duppospoke but little; indeed, finding himself tolerably secure, he probablythought little of the future. He expected, I dare say, to get on shoresomewhere or other, and it mattered little to him where that was. Truecoiled himself up by my side, continuing his efforts to comfort me. Inspite of my unwillingness to go to sleep, I found myself frequentlydropping off; and at last, in spite of my dread of what might occur, myeyes remained closed, and my senses wandered away into the land ofdreams. Duppo also went to sleep, and, I suspect, so did True.
I was awoke by the rays of the sun striking my eyes; when, opening them,I looked about me, wondering where I was. Very soon I recollected allthat had occurred. Then came the sad recollection that Arthur had beenlost. Our tree appeared to be in the position in which it had been whenwe went to sleep. Numerous other trees and masses of wood, some ofconsiderable size, floated around us on either hand. The banks werefurther off than I had expected to find them. True, pressing his headagainst me, looked up affectionately in my face, as much as to ask,"What are we to do next, master?" It was a question I was puzzled toanswer. I had to call loudly to Duppo to arouse him. After lookingabout for some time, I was convinced that the tree had been drifted intothe main stream. On and on it floated. I began to feel very hungry; asdid my companions. We were better off than we should have been at seaon a raft, because we could, by scrambling down the branches, quench ourthirst. I brought some water up in my cap for True, as I was afraid ofletting him go down, lest he should be washed off. I was holding it forhim to drink, when Duppo pointed, with an expression of terror in hiscountenance, to the upper end of the tree, and there I saw, working itsway towards us along the branches, a huge serpent, which had probablyremained concealed in some hollow, or among the forked boughs, duringthe night. A second glance convinced me that it was a boa. To escapefrom it was impossible. If we should attempt to swim to the other treesit might follow us, or we might be snapped up by alligators on our way.I might kill it, but if I missed, it would certainly seize one of us.It stopped, and seemed to be watching us. Its eye was fixed on True,who showed none of his usual bravery. Instinct probably told him thepower of his antagonist. Instead of rushing forward as he wouldprobably have done even had a jaguar appeared, he kept crouching down bymy side. Unacquainted with the habits of the boa, I could not tellwhether it might not spring upon us. I knelt down on the tree andlifted my rifle; I did not, however, wish to fire till it was nearenough to receive the full charge in its body. Again it advanced alongthe boughs. It was within five yards of us. I fired, aiming at itshead. As the smoke cleared away, I saw the huge body twisting andturning violently, the tail circling the branch on which it wascrawling. Duppo uttered a shout of triumph, and, rushing forward with apaddle which he had saved from the canoe, dealt the already mangled headnumberless blows with all his might. The creature's struggles were atlength over.
Pointing to the boa, Duppo now ma
de signs that we should not be in wantof food; but I felt that I must be more hungry than I then was, before Icould be tempted to eat a piece of the hideous monster. When I told himso, he smiled, enough to say, "Wait a little till you have seen itroasted." I had my axe in my belt. He asked me for it, and taking itin his hand cut away a number of chips from the drier part of the tree,and also some of the smaller branches. Having piled them up on a broadpart of the trunk near the water, he came back to ask me for a light. Itold him that if I had tinder I could get it with the help of the pan ofmy gun. Away he went, scrambling along the branches, and in a shorttime returned with a bird's nest, which he held up in triumph. It wasperfectly dry, and I saw would burn easily. In another minute he had afire blazing away. I was afraid that the tree itself might ignite.Duppo pointed to the water to show that we might easily put it out if itburned too rapidly. He next cut off some slices from the body of theboa, and stuck them on skewers in the Indian fashion over the fire.Though I had before fancied that I could not touch it, no sooner had Ismelt the roasting flesh than my appetite returned. When it was done,Duppo ate a piece, and made signs that it was very good. I, at length,could resist no longer; and though it was rather coarse and tough, I wasglad enough to get something to stop the pangs of hunger. True ate upthe portion we gave him without hesitation. Duppo then cut severalslices, which, instead of roasting, he hung up on sticks over the fireto dry, throwing the remainder into the water.
He tried his best to amuse me by an account of a combat his father oncewitnessed in the depths of the forest between two huge boas, probably ofdifferent species. One lay coiled on the ground, the other had takenpost on the branch of a tree. It ended by the former seizing the headof its opponent with its wide open jaws, sucking in a part of its hugebody, gradually unwinding it from the tree. It had attempted, however,a dangerous operation. Suddenly down came the tail, throwing its coilsround the victor, and the two monsters lay twisting and writhing in themost terrific manner, till both were dead. I have given the account aswell as I could make it out, but of course I could not understand itvery clearly.
The clouds had cleared away completely, and the sun's rays struck downwith even more than their usual heat. Still, from the storms we had hadof late, I suspected that the rainy season was about to begin. I couldonly hope, therefore, that we might reach the shore before the watersdescended with their full force. Slowly we floated down with thecurrent. On either side of us were several masses of trees, and singletrees, such as I have before described. The rate at which we moveddiffered considerably from many of them. Now we drifted towards one;now we seemed to be carried away again from it. This, I concluded, wasowing partly to the different sizes of the floating masses, and to thedepth they were sunk in the water; and partly to the irregularity of thecurrent. The wind also affected them, those highest out of the water ofcourse feeling it most.
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