Afloat in the Forest; Or, A Voyage among the Tree-Tops

by Mayne Reid

  The tired swimmers were only too ready to yield compliance to this bitof advice. The Mundurucu made one more endeavour to catch sight of thetree-tops, and, being still unsuccessful, resigned himself toinactivity, and along with the rest lay motionless upon the water.

  CHAPTER FIFTY.

  GUIDED BY A SHADOW.

  In this way about an hour was spent; though by no means in solemnsilence. Perfectly at ease, so far as physical comfort was concerned,upon their liquid couch the swimmers could converse, as if stretchedupon a carpet of meadow-grass; and they passed their time in discussingthe chances of their ultimate escape from that cruel situation, to whichan unlucky accident had consigned them. They were not altogetherrelieved from apprehension as to their present predicament. If the skyshould become again overcast, they would be worse off than ever, sincethere was the loss of time to be considered. All were constantlyturning their eyes upwards, and scanning the firmament, to see if therewere any signs of fresh clouds.

  Munday looked towards the zenith with a different design. He waswatching for the sun to decline. In due time his watchfulness wasrewarded; not so much by observation of the sun itself, as by acontrivance which declared the course of the luminary, long before itcould have been detected by the eye.

  Having cautioned the others to keep still, so that there should be nodisturbance in the water,--otherwise perfectly tranquil,--he held hisknife in such a way that the blade stood up straight above the surface.Taking care to keep it in the exact perpendicular, he watched withearnest eye, as a philosopher watches the effect of some chemicalcombination. In a short time he was gratified by observing a _shadow_.The blade, well balanced, cast an oblique reflection on the water; atfirst, slight, but gradually becoming more elongated, as the experimentproceeded.

  Becoming at length convinced that he knew west from east, the tapuyorestored his knife to its place, and, calling to his companions tofollow him, he struck off in the direction pointed out to him by theshadow of the steel. This would take the swimmers in an easterlydirection; but it mattered not what direction so long as it carried themout of the lagoon. As they proceeded onward, the guide occasionallyassured himself of keeping the same course, by repeating the experimentwith his knife; but after a time he no longer needed to consult hisqueer sun-dial, having discovered a surer guide in the spray of theforest, which at length loomed up along the line of the horizon.

  It was close upon sunset when they swam in among the drooping branches,and once more, with dripping skins, climbed up into the tops of thetrees. Had it not been that they were glad to get to any port, theymight have felt chagrin on discovering that chance had directed them tothe very same roost where they had perched on the preceding night.

  The drowned guariba which Munday had carried from the middle of thelagoon was roasted, and furnished their evening meal; and the epicurewho would turn up his nose at such a viand has never tasted food underthe shadow of an Amazonian forest.

  CHAPTER FIFTY ONE.

  AROUND THE EDGE.

  Discouraged by their failure, our adventurers remained upon their perchtill nearly noon of the next day, in listless lassitude. The exertionsof the preceding day had produced a weariness that required more than anight's rest, for not only their bodies, but their spirits were underthe influence of their long toil, until their state of mind borderedupon despondency. As the hours wore on, and their fatigue was graduallyrelieved by rest, their spirits rose in like proportion; and before thesun had reached its meridian, the instinctive desire of life sprang upwithin their bosoms, and once more they began to consider what stepsshould be taken to prolong it.

  Should they make another attempt to cross the lagoon by swimming? Whatchance would there be of steering in the right course, any more thanupon the day before? They were just as likely to go astray a secondtime, and perhaps with a less fortunate _finale_. If again lost amidstthe waste of waters, they might not be able to get sight of thetree-tops, but swim on in circles or crooked turnings, until death,arising from sheer exhaustion, or want of food, should complete theirmisery.

  Even the Mundurucu no longer urged the course in which he had formerlyexpressed such confidence; and for some time he declined giving anyadvice whatever,--his silence and his gloomy looks showing that he felthumiliated by the failure of his plan. No one thought of reproachinghim; for although their faith in his power was not quite so strong as ithad hitherto been, there was yet confidence in his superior skill. Hadthey been castaways from a ship, escaping in an open boat, or on someraft or spar, in the middle of the great ocean, their cook woulddoubtless have disputed his right to remain master. But in the midst ofthat strange inland sea, whose shores and islands consisted only oftree-tops, the Mozambique acknowledged himself to be no more than anovice.

  Trevannion himself took the lead in suggesting the next plan. It wasnot intended to give up the idea of crossing the lagoon. It was ageneral belief that on the other side there must be land; and thereforeto reach it became the paramount thought of the party. To go around it,by keeping upon the trees, was clearly out of the question. Even hadthese continued all the way with interlacing branches, still the journeywould have been one that apes alone could perform. It would haveoccupied days, weeks, perhaps a month; and what certainty was there offinding food for such a length of time? Still, if they could not travelupon the tree-tops, what was to hinder them from going _under_ them?Why should they not use the forest to steer by,--swimming along the edgeof the trees, and making use of them at intervals for rest, and for asleeping-place during the night?

  The idea was excellent, and, coming from Trevannion himself, was ofcourse approved without one opposing voice. Even the Indianacknowledged that it was a sagacious design, and superior to his own.Fortunately it required but slight preparation for trial, and as the sunshone down from the zenith they forsook their resting-place, and oncemore betook themselves to the water, with their swimming-belts carefullyadjusted again about them.

  CHAPTER FIFTY TWO.

  THE MASSARANDUBA.

  They advanced at the rate of about a mile an hour. Could they have kepton steadily, this would have given them ten or twelve miles a day, andtwo or three days might have brought them to the other side of thelagoon. It was necessary, however, that they should stop at intervalsto obtain rest; and their progress was further impeded by the piosocaplants,--the huge water-lilies already described,--whose broad, circularleaves, lying along the surface like gigantic frying-pans, came directlyin their course. Here and there they had to traverse a tract of theselilies several acres in extent, where the rims of the rounded leavesalmost touched each other; and the thick succulent stalks formed atangle underneath, through which it was very difficult for a swimmer tomake way. More than once they were compelled to go around these waterygardens for a distance of many hundreds of yards, but thus shorteningthe journey made in the right direction.

  On account of such impediments they had not gone more than three milesfrom their point of starting, when the Mundurucu recommended a halt forthe night, although it could not have been later than six o'clock, ascould be told by the sun, still high up in the heavens.

  "I am hungry, patron," said the Indian at last; "so are you all. Wemust have some supper, else how can we go on?"

  "Supper!" echoed Trevannion. "Yes, sure enough, we are hungry. I knewthat an hour ago. But upon what do you propose to sup? I see nothingbut trees with plenty of leaves, but no fruit. We cannot live uponleaves like the sloth. We must be starving before we take to that."

  "We shall sup upon milk, master, if you don't object to our making acamping-place close by."

  "Milk!" exclaimed Tom. "What div yez say, Misther Munday? Div yez manemilk? Och! don't be after temptin' wan's stomach with a dilicacy thatcan't be obtained in this land av wather! Shure now we're not only ahundred modes from the tail av a cow, but a thousand, may be, from thatsame."

  "You may be wrong there," interrupted the Paraense. "There are cows inthe Gapo, as well as upon l
and. You have seen them yourself as we camedown the river?"

  "Troth, yis,--if yez mane the fish-cow," (the Irishman alluded to the_Vaca marina_, or manatee,--the _peixe-boi_ or fish-cow of thePortuguese, several species of which inhabit the Amazon waters). "Butshure the great brute could not be milked, if we did cotch wan av them;an' if we did we should not take the throuble, when by sthrippin' theskin av her carcass we'd get somethin' far betther for our suppers, inthe shape av a fat steak."

  "Yonder is what the Mundurucu means!" said the guide. "Yonder standsthe cow that can supply us with milk for our supper,--ay, and with breadtoo to go along with it; don't you see the _Massaranduba_?"

  At first they could see nothing that particularly claimed attention.But by following the instructions of the guide, and raising their headsa little, they at length caught sight of a tree, standing at somedistance from the forest edge, and so far overtopping the others as toappear like a giant among pygmies. It was in reality a vegetablegiant,--the great massaranduba of the Amazon,--one of the mostremarkable trees to be found even in a forest where more strange speciesabound than in any other part of the world. To Tom and some others ofthe party the words of the Mundurucu were still a mystery. How was atree to supply them with a supper of bread and milk?

  Trevannion and Richard required no further explanation. The former hadheard of this singular tree; the latter had seen it,--nay, more, haddrank of its milk, and eaten of its fruit. It was with great joy theyoung Paraense now looked upon its soaring leafy top, as it not onlyreminded him of a spectacle he had often observed in the woods skirtingthe suburbs of his native city, but promised, as the tapuyo haddeclared, to relieve the pangs of hunger, that had become agonisinglykeen.

  CHAPTER FIFTY THREE.

  A VEGETABLE COW.

  The tree which had thus determined them to discontinue their journey,and which was to furnish them with lodgings for the night, was thefamous _palo de vaca_, or "cow-tree" of South America, known also as the_arbol de leche_, or "milk-tree." It has been described by Humboldtunder the name _Galactodendron_, but later botanical writers, notcontented with the very appropriate title given to it by the greatstudent of Nature, have styled it _Brosium_. It belongs to the naturalorder of the _Atrocarpads_, which, by what might appear a curiouscoincidence, includes also the celebrated breadfruit. What may seemstranger still, the equally famous upas-tree of Java is a scion of thesame stock, an _atrocarpad_! Therefore, just as in one family there aregood boys and bad boys, (it is to be hoped there are none of the latterin yours,) so in the family of the atrocarpads there are trees producingfood and drink both wholesome to the body and delicious to the palate,while there are others in whose sap, flowers, and fruit are concealedthe most virulent of poisons.

  The massaranduba is not the only species known as _palo de vaca_, orcow-tree. There are many others so called, whose sap is of a milkynature. Some yield a milk that is pleasant to the taste and highlynutritious, of which the "hya-hya" (_Tabernaemontana utibis_), anotherSouth American tree, is the most conspicuous. This last belongs to theorder of the _Apocyanae_, or dog-banes, while still another order, the_Sapotacae_, includes among its genera several species of cow-tree. Themassaranduba itself was formerly classed among the _Sapotads_.

  It is one of the largest trees of the Amazonian forest, frequently foundtwo hundred feet in height, towering above the other trees, with a topresembling an immense vegetable dome. Logs one hundred feet long,without a branch, have often been hewn out of its trunk, ready for thesaw-mill. Its timber is very hard and fine grained, and will stand theweather better than most other South American trees; but it cannot beprocured in any great quantity, because, like many other trees of theAmazon, it is of a solitary habit, only two or three, or at most half adozen, growing within the circuit of a mile.

  It is easily distinguished from trees of other genera by its reddish,ragged bark, which is deeply furrowed, and from a decoction of which theIndians prepare a dye of a dark red colour. The fruit, about the sizeof an apple, is full of a rich juicy pulp, exceedingly agreeable to thetaste, and much relished. This is the bread which the Mundurucu hopedto provide for the supper of his half-famished companions.

  But the most singular, as well as the most important, product of themassaranduba is its milky juice. This is obtained by making an incisionin the bark, when the white sap flows forth in a copious stream, soonfilling a calabash or other vessel held under it. On first escapingfrom the tree it is of the colour and about the consistency of richcream, and, but for a slightly balsamic odour might be mistaken for thegenuine produce of the dairy. After a short exposure to the air itcurdles, a thready substance forming upon the surface, resemblingcheese, and so called by the natives. When diluted with water, thecoagulation does not so rapidly take place; and it is usually treated inthis manner, besides being strained, before it is brought to the table.The natives use it by soaking their _farinha_ or maize-bread with thesap, and it is also used as cream in tea, chocolate, and coffee, manypeople preferring it on account of the balsamic flavour which it impartsto these beverages.

  The milk of the massaranduba is in great demand throughout all thedistrict where the tree is found, both in the Spanish and Portugueseterritories of tropical South America. In Venezuela it is extensivelyused by the negroes, and it has been remarked that these people growfatter during the season of the year when the _palo de vaca_ is plenty.Certain it is that no ill effects have been known to result from a freeuse of it; and the vegetable cow cannot be regarded otherwise than asone of the most singular and interesting productions of beneficentNature.

  CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.

  A MILK SUPPER.

  It was some time before they swam under the massaranduba'swide-spreading branches, as it did not stand on the edge of the forest,and for a short time after entering among the other trees it was out ofsight. The instincts of the Indian, however, directed him, and in duetime it again came before their eyes, its rough reddish trunk rising outof the water like a vast ragged column.

  As might have been expected, its huge limbs were laden with parasites,trailing down to the surface of the water. By these they found nodifficulty in making an ascent, and were soon safely installed; its hugecoreaceous leaves of oblong form and pointed at the tops, many of themnearly a foot in length, forming a shade against the fervent rays of thesun, still several degrees above the horizon.

  As the Indian had anticipated, the tree was in full bearing, and erelong a number of its apples were plucked, and refreshing the parchedpalates that would have pronounced them exquisite had they been evenless delicious than they were. Munday made no stay even to taste thefruit. He was determined on giving his companions the still rarer treathe had promised them, a supper of milk; and not until he had made somehalf-dozen notches with his knife, and placed under each asapucaya-shell detached from the swimming-belts, did he cease hisexertions.

  They had not long to wait. The vegetable cow proved a free milker, andin twenty minutes each of the party had a pericarp in hand full ofdelicious cream, which needed no sugar to make it palatable. They didnot stay to inquire how many quarts their new cow could give. Enoughfor them to know that there was sufficient to satisfy the appetites ofall for that night.

  When, after supper, the conversation naturally turned to thepeculiarities of this remarkable tree, many other facts were elicited inregard to its useful qualities. Richard told them that in Para it waswell-known, its fruit and milk being sold in the streets by the negromarket-women, and much relished by all classes of the inhabitants ofthat city; that its sap was used by the Paraense joiners in the place ofglue, to which it was equal, if not superior, guitars, violins, andbroken dishes being put together with it in the most effective manner,its tenacity holding against both heat and dampness. Another curiousfact was, that the sap continues to run long after the tree has beenfelled: that even the logs lying in the yard of a saw-mill have beenknown to yield for weeks, even months, the supply required by thesawyers for creaming their coffee!<
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  And now our adventurers, admonished by the setting of the sun, wereabout stretching themselves along the branches, with the intention ofgoing to sleep. But they were not to retire without an incident, thoughfortunately it was such as to add to the cheerfulness lately inspiringthe spirits of all, even to the macaw and little monkey, both of whomhad amply regaled themselves upon the succulent fruits of themassaranduba. The great ape, again left behind, had been altogetherforgotten. No one of the party was thinking of it; or, if any one was,it was only with a very subdued regret. All knew that the coaita couldtake care of itself, and under all circumstances it would be safeenough. For all this, they would have been very glad still to have keptit in their company, had that been possible; and all of them were gladwhen a loud chattering at no great distance was recognised as thesalutation of their old acquaintance, the coaita. Directly after, theanimal itself was seen springing from tree to tree, until by a last longleap it lodged itself on the branches of the massaranduba, and was soonafter seated upon the shoulders of Tipperary Tom.

  While the swimmers were proceeding by slow stages, the ape had kept themcompany among the tops of the adjacent trees; and, but for its beingdelayed by having to make the circuit around the various little bays, itmight have been astride the vegetable cow long before the swimmersthemselves. Coming late, it was not the less welcome, and before goingto sleep it was furnished with a fruit supper, and received a series ofcaresses from Tom, that in some measure consoled it for his doubledesertion.

  CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE.

  ONLY A DEAD-WOOD.