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

by Mayne Reid

  The same conclusion was drawn from the behaviour of a brace of largefish-cows, at some distance outside, directly in front of the arcade.When first noticed, they were engaged in some sort of rude gambol, atwhich they continued for a full half-hour. After that, one of them swamoff, while the other, laying itself along the water, appeared to go tosleep.

  It was a tantalising sight to the eyes of the old tapuyo; and it wasjust as much as he could do to restrain himself from swimming out andattacking the sleeper, either with his knife or the pashuba spear. Thedanger, however, would have been too great, not from a conflict with thecow, but of being seen by the sharp-eyed savages.

  In view of this, the Mundurucu resisted the temptation, and consented,though not without reluctance, to let the peixe-boi continue itsslumbers uninterrupted.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY THREE.

  FOLLOWING THE FLOAT.

  Unfortunately for our adventurers, as well as for the cow-fish itself,other eyes than those of the tapuyo had been watching the gambols of thetwo cetaceans, and had paid particular attention to the one now takingits siesta on the surface. Neither Munday nor his companions had anysuspicion of this; for, excepting the peixe-boi itself, no livingcreature was in sight. Having observed it for a considerable length oftime, still reclining in its attitude of repose, they had almost ceasedto think of it; when all at once it was seen to spring clear out of thewater, and, after making two or three grotesque plunges, sink suddenlybelow the surface!

  The action was too violent and unnatural to be voluntary. The peixe-boihad evidently been assailed in its sleep by some enemy, from which itwas but too eager to retreat.

  But what could this enemy be? The tapuyo knew of nothing _under_ thewater that was likely to have made the attack. There are no sharks norswordfish in the Gapo, and an alligator would scarcely dare to meddlewith a creature of such enormous dimensions. Much less could an enemyhave come from the air. There is no bird in South America, not even thegreat condor itself, that would think of swooping down upon a peixe-boi.

  Some of the party said that they had seen something glancing towards thecow-fish at the moment it made the leap,--something that looked like aflash of lightning! What could that be? There was no cloud in the sky,no thunder. It could not have been lightning.

  "_Pa terra_!" exclaimed the tapuyo, in evident alarm. "I know what itwas. Keep quiet or we are lost!"

  "What was it?"

  "A harpoon,--look yonder, patron! Don't you see the water in motionwhere the juaroua went down?"

  "Certainly I do. That's very natural. The waves are caused by theplunging of the animal."

  "The waves! not that; look again. You see a thin ripple. There's acord making it. Yonder's the float! and close behind that you will seesomething more. There, there he is!"

  Sure enough, there was a rippling line caused by a cord drawn rapidlyalong the surface; at the end of this a small buoy of wood draggedrapidly after, and close behind a canoe, with an Indian in it, theIndian in a bent attitude, plying his paddle, and evidently in pursuitof the wounded cow-fish. The log was a "float," the line drawing italong was at its other end attached to a harpoon, and that harpoon hadits barbs buried in the body of the peixe-boi!

  Such a specimen of a human being, even for a savage, none of thespectators--the tapuyo perhaps excepted--had ever beheld. He was asnaked as if he had never been outside the Garden of Eden; and this verynakedness displayed a form that, but for the absence of a hairycovering, more resembled that of a monkey than a man. A body extremelyattenuated, yet pot-bellied, too; a pair of long, thin arms, with legsto match, the latter knotted at the knees, the former balled at theelbows; a huge head, seemingly larger from its mop of matted hair; aface with high cheeks and sunken eyes,--gave him an appearance moredemoniac than human. No wonder that little Rosa screamed as he came insight, and that dismay exhibited itself on the features of severalothers of the party.

  "Hush!" whispered Munday. "Silence all! Not a word, or we shall beseen, and then not he, but perhaps a hundred of his tribe--Hush!"

  Fortunately the scream of Rosita had been only slight; and the savage,in eager pursuit of the peixe-boi, had not heard it, for he continuedthe chase without pause.

  He had no difficulty in discovering the whereabouts of his game. Thefloat guided him; for, no matter where the cow went, the tether wasstill attached to her, and the movement of the log along the surfacebetrayed to the eye of her pursuer every change of direction.

  Two or three times, the savage, dropping his paddle, was enabled to layhold of the line and commence hauling in; but the great strength of thejuaroua, as yet unexhausted, proved too much for him, and he wascompelled to let go or be pulled out of his craft.

  The latter was but a frail concern, of the smallest and rudest kind,--consisting of a shell of bark, gathered up at both ends and tied bysipos, so as to give it somewhat the shape of an ordinary canoe. Evenwhen paddling with all his strength, its owner could make no greatspeed; but great speed was not required in the chase of a peixe-boi witha barbed spear sticking through its skin and rankling between its ribs.It only required patience, until the huge creature should becomeexhausted with its struggles and enfeebled by the loss of blood. Thenmight the conquest be completed without either difficulty or danger.

  For twenty minutes or more the chase continued; the float being draggedhither and thither, until it had crossed the water in almost everydirection. Sometimes both log and canoe were in sight, sometimes onlyone of them, and sometimes neither,--at such times the cow-fish havingpassed far beyond the limits of clear water visible to the spectators.

  On the last of these occasions, several minutes had elapsed before thechase came again in sight. Our adventurers were in hopes they would seeno more of either fish, float, or follower. The interest they mightotherwise have taken in such a curious spectacle was destroyed by thethought of the danger that would result in their being discovered.

  Just as they had begun to congratulate themselves that they were to bespared this misfortune, the float once more came before their eyes,still being dragged along the surface, but with much less rapidity thanwhen last seen. The manatee was coming into the arcade, the canoefollowing close after, with the hideous savage eagerly plying hispaddle, while, with outstretched neck and wild, scintillating orbs, hepeered inquiringly into the darkness before him!

  There was no chance to escape discovery.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR.

  A CANNIBAL CAPTURED.

  The fears of those standing upon the ceiba could not have been greaterthan that of the savage himself, as his canoe came bumping against thedead-wood, and he saw standing above him a crowd of human forms. A wildcry escaping from his lips expressed his terror and astonishment. Thena second, in louder tone, was intended to give the alarm to his kindred,who might possibly hear it.

  With an Indian, as with the wild animals, presence of mind is rather aninstinct than an act of reason. Instead of being disconcerted by whathe saw, and losing time to recover himself, the Mura at once plunged hispaddle into the water, and commenced beating backward, assisted by therecoil of the canoe, which, on striking the dead-wood, had reboundedfrom it by the violence of the collision.

  In a moment he had sculled himself almost clear of the arcade; he wasalready within a few feet of its mouth, and would soon be back upon theopen lagoa, when he would undoubtedly make for the malocca, and bringthe whole tribe of cannibals upon them. None of the party thought ofpursuing him. There was an attempt made to seize the canoe at themoment of its closing upon the log, but the craft had recoiled sosuddenly after the collision, and been paddled so rapidly out of reach,that it all ended in Tipperary Tom getting soused in the water, andnearly drowned before he could be dragged out again. The attempt atseizure might have had a different result had Munday been among thosewho made it. But he was not.

  He was nowhere to be seen upon the log, nor anywhere else! What hadbecome of him? None of them could say. Little Rosa was the only onewho could
give any explanation of his absence. She thought she had seenhim slip off at the back of the log, while the canoe was coming on infront. She was not sure, it was so dark upon that side; and she hadbeen too much engaged in regarding the approach of the savage.

  Had he made off to conceal himself among the tree-tops? Had he gone tosecure his own safety, and abandoned his friends to their fate? Theycould not think this. Such a cowardly act would have been contrary toall they knew of the brave Mundurucu, whose faithfulness had so manytimes been put to the severest test. No one could account for it.

  Just at that critical moment when the canoe had reached the mouth of thearcade, a dark round thing, like a human head, rose up in the water somesix feet before it, and then another dark thing, wonderfully like ahuman hand, shot up beside the head, followed by a long and sinewy arm.The hand was seen to strike upward and clutch the canoe close by thestem; and then the craft went down, one end under water, while the otherflew up into the air; then there was a capsize,--the savage, with ashriek and a loud plash, falling out; and then there was a struggle,--now under water, now above the surface,--accompanied by strange chokingnoises, as if two enormous alligators were engaged in a conflict of lifeand death.

  As the astonished spectators continued to gaze upon the scene,--stillbut imperfectly comprehended by them,--they saw that the combatants werecoming nearer, as if the struggle was being carried on towards the endof the arcade, and was likely to terminate where they stood.

  And there it did end, immediately after, by the missing tapuyo makinghis appearance alongside the log, and dragging beside him the man whohad made that involuntary "header" from the canoe.

  The latter no longer resisted. The knife-blade glittering betweenMunday's teeth--a taste of whose quality the savage had alreadyexperienced--hindered him from offering any further resistance; and asthey came up to the log, the two were swimming side by side peaceably,only that the action of one was evidently involuntary, while the otherwas directing it.

  It was more like the companionship of a policeman and a thief, than thatof two swimmers who chanced to be going the same way. One arm of theMura was clutched by the Mundurucu, as if the captive was partlysupported while being dragged along.

  "Reach out there, patron, and pull him up!" cried Munday, as heconducted his captive alongside the log. "I don't want to kill theanimal, though that might be the safest way in the end."

  "No, no, don't do that!" returned Trevannion, who now, along with allthe others, had arrived at a full comprehension of the affair. "We cankeep him secure enough; and, if his shouts have not been heard, we neednot fear having him along with us." As the patron spoke, he reacheddown, and, laying hold of the captive, drew him close to the side of thedead-wood. Then, assisted by Munday in the water and Mozey upon thelog, the Mura was hoisted aboard.

  Once upon the dead-wood, a more abject wretch than the captive Muracould not have been found. He trembled from head to foot,--evidentlybelieving that he was about to be killed, and perhaps eaten. He hadonly consented to be taken in the knowledge--which Munday had in someway conveyed to him--that resistance could but end in instant death; andthere are few, even amongst the most reckless of savages, who will notyield to this.

  As he stood dripping upon the dead-wood, a red stream, trickling downhis wet skin from a knife-wound in the shoulder, explained how thetapuyo had made known to him the idleness of resistance. It was a firststab, and not dangerous; but it had given a foretaste of what was tofollow, had the struggle been kept up. After receiving this hint, theMura had surrendered; and the after commotion was caused by his beingtowed through the water by a captor who was required to use all hisstrength and energy in supporting him.

  While the canoe-man was advancing up the arcade, the Mundurucu, insteadof waiting till he came near, had dropped quietly into the water, andswum in an outward direction, as if intending to meet themanatee-hunter, face to face. This he actually did,--met and passedhim, but without being seen. The darkness favoured him, as did also thecommotion already caused by the wounded cow-fish, which in its passageup the creek had left large waves upon the water. These, strikingagainst the trunks of the trees, created a still further disturbance,amidst which the swimmer's dark face and long swarthy locks could nothave been easily distinguished.

  Supporting himself by a branch, he awaited the return of the savage,--knowing that as soon as the latter set eyes upon the others he wouldinstantly beat a retreat. All turned out just as the tapuyo hadanticipated; and just as he had designed did he deal with the canoe-man.

  In all this, the only thing that appeared singular was the tapuyo'staking so much pains to go out near the entrance, instead of boldlylaying hold of the canoe as it passed him on its way inwards, or indeedof waiting for it upon the log,--where any one of the others, had hebeen a strong swimmer and armed with a knife, might have effected thecapture.

  Munday, however, had good reasons for acting as he had done. While thecanoe was approaching, who could tell that it would come close up? Ithad done so, even to striking the dead-wood with its bow; but Mundaycould not rely upon such a chance as that. Had the savage discoveredtheir presence a little sooner, he would have turned and sculled off,before any swimmer could have come up with him.

  A similar reason was given for gliding stealthily past, and getting onthe other side. Had the Mundurucu acted otherwise, he might have beenperceived before he could seize the canoe, and so give time for themanatee-hunter to make off. As this last would have been a terriblecontingency, rendering their discovery almost a certainty, the cunningold man knew how important it was that no mismanagement should occur inthe carrying out of his design.

  "If that rascal's shout has been heard," said Trevannion, "there will bebut little chance of our escaping capture. From what you saw, I supposethere are hundreds of these hideous creatures. And we, without weapons,without the means either of attack or defence, what could we do? Therewould be nothing for it but to surrender ourselves as prisoners."

  The Mundurucu was not able to offer a word of encouragement. To haveattempted defence against a whole tribe of savages, armed, no doubt,with spears and poisoned arrows, would have been to rush madly on death.

  "It is fortunate," continued the ex-miner, "that you have not killedhim."

  "Why, patron?" demanded the tapuyo, apparently in some surprise.

  "It would have made them revengeful; and if we have the ill-luck to betaken, they would have been the more certain to destroy us."

  "No, no," answered the Indian,--"not a bit more certain to do that. If,as you say, we have the bad luck to become their captives, we shall bekilled all the same. Their old revenge will be strong enough for that;and if not their revenge, they have an appetite that will insure ourdestruction. You understand, patron?"

  This conversation was carried on in a low tone, and only betweenTrevannion and the tapuyo.

  "O Heaven!" groaned the ex-miner, turning his eyes upon his children."It would be a fearful fate for--for all of us."

  "The more reason for doing all we can to avoid falling into theirhands."

  "But what can we do? Nothing! If they discover our hiding-place beforenightfall, then we shall surely be taken."

  "Admit that, master; but if they do not--"

  "If they do not, you think there would be some hope of our getting awayfrom them?"

  "A good hope,--a good hope."

  "On the raft?"

  "Better than that, patron."

  "You have some plan?"

  "I've been thinking of one; but it's no use to speak of it, so long aswe are in doubt this way. If we are left unmolested until night, then,patron, it will be time to declare it. Could you but promise me thatthis screecher hasn't been heard, I think I could promise you that bymidnight we should not only be beyond the reach of his bloodthirstyfellows, but in a fair way of getting out of our troubles altogether.Ha! yonder's something must be looked to; I forgot that."

  "What?"

  "The _igarite_. How
near it was to betraying us! Its course must bestopped this instant." And he once more slipped down into the water andswam away.

  The canoe, out of which the Mura had been so unceremoniously spilled,and which was now bottom upwards, was drifting outward. It was alreadywithin a few feet of the entrance, and in another minute would have beencaught by the breeze stirring beyond the branches of the trees. Onceoutside, it would soon have made way into the open lagoa, and would haveformed a conspicuous mark for the eyes of the malocca.

  Munday swam silently, but with all his strength, towards it. It must bereached before it could drift outside; and for some time there wasapprehension in the minds of the spectators that this might not be done.The only one of them that would have been gratified by a failure wasthe captive Mura. But the wretch showed no sign of his desire, knowingthat there would be danger in his doing so. He was held fast in thestrong arms of the negro; while Tipperary Tom stood near, ready to runhim through with the spear in case of his making any attempt to escape.

  Their apprehensions soon came to an end. The tapuyo overtook it beforeit had cleared the screening of tree-tops; and, laying hold of a pieceof cord which was attached to its stem, took it in tow. In less thanfive minutes after, it might have been seen right side up, lying like atender alongside the grand monguba.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY FIVE.

  A DAY SPENT IN SHADOW.

  All day long did our adventurers abide in silence, keeping close intheir shadowy retreat. Now and then only the Mundurucu swam to theentrance of the arcade; and, screened by the trees, took a survey of theopen water outside. He saw only a canoe, larger than that he hadcaptured, with three men in it, out upon the lagoa, about two hundredyards from the edge, and opposite the malocca, which could not itself beseen, as it was some distance back among the trees; but, from thebearings he had taken on the night previous, the tapuyo knew where itlay.