CHAPTER EIGHT.
ADVENTURES IN THE FOREST--WE MEET WITH NATIVES.
The hours of the night passed slowly by. I awoke several times. Few ofthe usual noises of the forest were heard. The tempest seemed to havesilenced its wild inhabitants. Now and then the cry of a howling baboonreached our ears from the depths of the forest. I had a feeling thatsomething dreadful was about to occur, yet I was sufficiently awake toknow that this might be mere fancy, and I did my best to go to sleep.The fire was still burning brightly. I looked down from my hammock.There was True sleeping tranquilly below me, as my companions were,around. When I looked away from the fire into the forest, I was struckby the unusual darkness. Not a ray of light appeared to come from thesky, which was still covered with a thick mantle of clouds. I succeededat last in dropping off to sleep. How long my eyes had been closed Icould not tell, when I heard True uttering a low bark. I could just seehim running to the edge of the hut, and looking out towards the river.I sprang from my hammock, calling to my companions. They were on footin a moment; but the darkness, was so great that we could see nothingbeyond a few feet from where we stood. As we sprang up, True rushedforward. We heard him barking away in front of us. The fire was out,and with difficulty we found our way back. I called to True, and atlast he returned, but we were still unable to discover any cause foralarm. After a time we agreed that the wisest thing we could do wouldbe to turn into our hammocks again. I scolded True for alarming us soneedlessly, and he came back and lay down in his usual place. The nightpassed away without any other disturbance.
When we arose in the morning the wind had ceased, the clouds had clearedaway, and the weather was as fine as usual. Getting up, we preparedbreakfast, and agreed to continue our voyage as soon as it was over. Aswe had sufficient provisions, there was no necessity to search for any.We therefore remained at our camp till our meal was over. John was thefirst to take up a load and proceed with it down to the canoe. Ifollowed. When still at a little distance, I heard him utter anexclamation of dismay. He turned back, and I saw by his countenancethat there was something wrong. Now he looked up the igarape, now down.
"Harry," he exclaimed, "I cannot see the canoe!"
"You must have mistaken the spot where I left it," I answered. "Isecured it well."
I returned with him to the bank. In vain we searched up and down thebanks of the water-path. Not a trace of the canoe did we discover.
"She must have broken adrift, then, during the night," I observed."Perhaps she has driven up the igarape."
"I will go one way and you the other, then," said John.
I made my way as well as I could through the tangled wood from theriver, while John went towards it. Wherever I could, I got down to theedge of the water. Now I climbed along a trunk which overhang it; butthough I thus got a view for a considerable distance, I could see nocanoe. At length I returned, hoping that John might have been moresuccessful. I met him on the spot where we had parted.
"I cannot see her," he said. "Harry, I am afraid she has been carriedoff!"
The same idea had occurred to me. We now carefully examined the spotwhere we had left her. I found the very trunk of the tree round which Ihad secured the painter. It was scarcely rubbed, which it would havebeen, we agreed, had the canoe been torn away by the force of the wind.We were soon joined by Arthur and Domingos, who had come along withloads, surprised at our not returning. We communicated to them thealarming intelligence. Domingos was afraid that we were right in ourconjectures. We returned to the camp to break the unsatisfactory newsto Ellen.
"If our canoe is lost, we must build another," she remarked, in herusual quiet way, concealing her anxiety; "but it is very trying to bethus delayed."
Still it would not do to give up without a further search for the canoe.As the wind had set up the igarape, I knew that, should the canoe havebroken away by herself, she must have driven before it. It wastherefore settled that Arthur and I should go up still further in thatdirection, while John would try and make his way down to the main river,searching along the bank. Ellen and Maria, with Domingos and True totake care of them, were to remain at the camp. Arthur and I had ouraxes, for without them we could make no progress. I had my gun; Arthura spear, with bow and arrows, which Naro had presented to him. Thusarmed, we hoped to defend ourselves against any jaguar or boa we mightmeet. We had little to fear from any other wild animals. As we hadseen no traces of natives, we did not expect to meet with any. We soongained the point I had reached in the morning. After this, we had tohew a path for ourselves through the forest. Sometimes we got a fewfeet without impediment, and then had to cut away the sipos for severalyards. Now and then we were able to crawl under them, and sometimes wewere able to leap over the loops, or make our way along thewide-spreading roots of the tall trees. Thus we went on, every now andthen getting down to the edge of the igarape, and climbing out on thetrunk of one of the overhanging trees, whence we could obtain a view upand down for some distance.
We had just reached the bank, and were looking out along it, when I sawa troop of monkeys coming along through the forest. I kept True by myside, and whispered to Arthur not to speak. I could scarcely helplaughing aloud at the odd manner in which they made their way among thebranches, now swinging down by their tails, now catching another branch,and hanging on by their arms. They were extraordinarily thin creatures,with long arms and legs, and still longer tails--our old friends thespider monkeys. Those tails of theirs were never quiet, but keptwhisking about in all directions. They caught hold of the branches withthem, and then hung by them with their heads downwards, an instantafterwards to spring up again. Presently they came close to the water,when one of them caught hold of a branch with his fore-hands and tail,another jumped down and curled his tail round the body of the first. Athird descended and slung himself in a similar manner. A fourth andfifth followed, and so on; and there they hung, a regular monkey chain.Immediately the lowest, who hung with his head downwards, gave a shovewith his fore-paws, and set the chain swinging, slowly at first butincreasing in rapidity, backwards and forwards over the water. Ithought to myself, if an alligator were making his way up the canal, thelowest would have a poor chance of his life. The swinging increased inviolence, till the lowest monkey got his paws round the slender trunk ofa tree on the opposite side. Immediately he drew his companion afterhim; till the next above him was within reach of it. That one caughtthe tree in the same way, and they then dragged up their end of thechain till it hung almost horizontally across the water. A livingbridge having thus been formed, the remainder of the troop, chieflyconsisting of young monkeys who had been amusing themselves meantimefrisking about in the branches, ran over. Two or three of themischievous youngsters took the opportunity of giving a sly pinch totheir elders, utterly unable just then to retaliate; though it wasevident, from the comical glances which the latter cast at them, thatthe inflictors of the pinches were not unnoticed. One, who had beentrying to catch some fish apparently during the interval, was nearly toolate to cross. The first two who had got across now climbed stillfurther up the trunk; and when they had got to some distance, themuch-enduring monkey, who had been holding the weight of all the others,let go his hold, and now becoming the lowest in the chain, swung towardsthe bank. As soon as he and his companions reached it, they caught holdof the trunk either with their hands or tails. The whole troop thus gotsafely across.
The shouts of laughter, to which Arthur and I could no longer resistgiving way, startled the monkeys. They looked about with inquisitiveglances, wondering probably what sort of strange creatures we could bewho had come into their territory. At length, espying us, off they setat a great rate through the forest.
They had chosen the narrowest part of the igarape to cross. Going onfurther, it widened considerably. We still continued making our wayalong its margin; but the ground at length became so swampy, that wewere obliged to turn off to the left. After this we came to somewhatmore open groun
d, which had been cleared either by fire or by the handof man. It was, of course, overgrown with vegetation of all sorts; butnot sufficiently so to prevent us making our way through it. Ourintention was to go round the swamp or lake, and again reach the borderof the water-path. We proceeded on for some distance, when we sawthrough an opening a high clay bank; it could scarcely be called a hill.But few trees grew on it. We thought that, by getting to the top, wecould obtain a view of the country around. We accordingly made our waytowards it. It formed apparently the eastern edge of the high countrythrough which the Napo runs. We found, here and there, veins of thatcuriously-coloured clay which we had before seen. Looking eastward, avast extent of forest was spread out before us, extending far as the eyecould reach. No opening was visible except the long line of theSolimoens, at some distance from where we stood. We could look westwardtowards its source in the Andes; and eastward as it flowed on towardsthe far distant Atlantic, hundreds of miles away. The whole igarape wasentirely shut out from view. We thought, however, that by continuingtowards the north we might possibly again get sight of it, when wepurposed to continue our search for the canoe. We had faint hopes offinding it, we could not but confess.
We had gone on some way, when, passing round a clump of trees, we sawbefore us two natives seated on the top of a hill, looking out, itseemed, over the country beyond them. Their bodies were tattooed orpainted all over in curious devices, and their heads were decked withwar-plumes, while each of them had a musket resting on his arm, as ifready for immediate use. Our first impulse was to retreat, hoping thatwe had not been seen; but their quick eyes had caught sight of us. Theybeckoned to us to approach.
"They must have had intercourse with white men, or they would not havethose muskets," observed Arthur. "Perhaps they may prove to befriends."
To escape them, I saw, would be impossible. I therefore agreed withArthur that the best way was to go forward at once in a frank manner andtry to win their confidence. We climbed the hill, therefore, and as weget up to where they were waiting for us, put out our hands and shooktheirs. They were accustomed, apparently, to the European style ofgreeting. They addressed us, and seemed to be inquiring whence we hadcome. We explained as well as we could by signs--pointing in thedirection of the Andes, and then showing how we had glided down in thecanoe. While they were speaking, I thought I detected a few words whichsounded like Spanish; and listening more attentively, I found that theeldest of the two was speaking the _lingua geral_--a corrupt Portuguese,mixed with Indian words, generally used throughout the whole length ofthe Amazon. It was so like the language Naro and his Indians hademployed when speaking to us, that I could make out, with a littledifficulty, what was said. I understood the elder Indian to say that hewas a friend of the whites; and that, as Arthur had supposed, he hadobtained the muskets from them. Finding the natives so friendly, Iinvited them to our camp. They shook their heads, and pointed to thenorth-west, letting us understand that they were about to start away onan expedition against an enemy in that direction; but that, on theirreturn, they would without fail come to visit us. They signified thatif we would accompany them to their village, we should be hospitablyreceived. When speaking of the enemy, they uttered the word "Majeronas"two or three times.
"Those must be the people you think attacked your father," observedArthur. "If he and your family are prisoners, they may be the means ofreleasing them."
"I am afraid the Majeronas are too fierce and savage to make prisoners,"I answered. "We might accompany these Indians and avenge their death,if they have been killed."
"That is not according to the Christian law," observed Arthur mildly."I would run any risk, though, to obtain their release, should they havebeen made prisoners."
"I feel sure that they have not," I answered. "Had they not escaped intheir canoe we should certainly have found some remains of her on theshore, or some traces of them. Oh no; I feel sure they got off, and weshall overtake them before long."
As I ceased speaking, a band of Indians appeared coming through thewoods. They were--like the first two, who were evidently chiefs--deckedin feathers and paint, but otherwise unencumbered by clothing. Theywere armed with bows and spears, but not a musket did we see among them.They were certainly the lightest of light troops. The two chiefsseemed to look upon their weapons as of immense value, as a general doeshis heavy guns. I saw the chief eyeing my rifle; and he then addressedus, inviting us to accompany the expedition. In spite of what I hadjust said, I felt greatly inclined to go, Arthur, however, urged mestrongly not to do so.
"Think of your sister and brother. How anxious our absence would makethem!" he observed. "You do not know what dangers they may be exposedto; and suppose we were surprised and killed by the enemy, what wouldbecome of them?"
I agreed that he was right, and explained to the chief that we could notleave our friends. He then asked me to make over my gun to him; but, ofcourse, I could not deprive myself of our chief means of defence, andtherefore turned a deaf ear to his request. The troops had halted atthe foot of the hill; and we accompanied the two chiefs, who went downto meet them. The natives looked at us without much surprise, as ifwhite men were no strangers to them. Arthur now advised that we shouldreturn, as it would be a serious matter should we be benighted in theforest. Before parting from our friends, we endeavoured to ascertainwhether they had seen our canoe, but we could obtain no information fromthem. Still I could not help thinking that she had been carried off bysome of their tribe, who might have found her on their way up theigarape. When, therefore, the chief again pressed us to pay a visit tohis village, we accepted his invitation.
Several lads had accompanied the army. As they only carried blow-pipesin their hands, I suspected--as proved to be the case--that they werenot to proceed further. The chief called one of them up to him; andfrom the way he spoke, I had little doubt that he was his son. Thechief made signs to us that the lad, whom he called Duppo, would go backwith us to the village, and that we should there obtain any food wemight require. Duppo appeared to be about fourteen years of age, andmore intelligent and better looking than most of the Indians; indeed,the two chiefs we had first seen were superior to the rest inappearance, and Duppo was very like them. We came to the conclusionthat they were brothers; and that Duppo, as I have said, was the son ofthe eldest. This we found afterwards to be the case.
The chief, having wished us farewell, gave the signal to advance; andleading the way, the Indians set off in single file along the bottom ofthe hill. We, having watched them for some time, accompanied Duppo,followed by the three other lads who had come with him. We asked himhis father's name, and understood him to say it was Maono, that hismother's name was Mora, and that his uncle was called Paco. Had wejudged by Duppo's manner, we should not have supposed that his friendshad gone on a dangerous expedition; but yet, knowing the character ofthe Majeronas, we could not help feeling some anxiety for the result.We found that Duppo was leading us towards the further end of theigarape, in the direction we had ourselves before proposed going. Wehad, however, delayed so long, that I feared we should not have time toreturn. Arthur suggested that we might possibly find a canoe, in whichwe could go back by water, or, if not, we might build a balsa, such aswe had seen used on the Guayas.
"An excellent idea," I replied. "We will put it into execution shouldwe not find a canoe."
Our young guide led the way with unerring instinct through the forest.We had gone some distance, when we heard a deep, loud, andlong-sustained flute-like note. It was that of a bird. The youngIndian stopped, and pointing ahead, uttered the word _nira-mimbeu_,which I afterwards ascertained meant fife-bird, evidently from thepeculiar note we had just heard. The whole party stopped in theattitude of listening, and looking among the branches, we got a goodview of a bird a short distance beyond us, with glossy black plumage,perched on a bough. The bird itself was about the size of a commoncrow. It had a remarkable ornament on its head, consisting of a crestformed of long,
curved, hairy feathers at the end of bare quills whichwere now raised and spread out in the shape of a fringed sunshade.Round its neck was a tippet formed of glossy steel-blue feathers; and aswe watched it, while it was singing it spread these out, and waved themin a curious manner, extending at the same time its umbrella-formedcrest, while it bowed its head slightly forward and then raised itagain. I knew at once the curious creature to be the rare umbrella-bird(_Cephalopterus ornatus_). The bird was continuing its flute-likeperformance, when Duppo, advancing slowly and lifting his blow-pipe,sent forth with unerring aim a tiny dart, which pierced the bird's neck.Much to my sorrow, the note ceased; but yet the bird stood on its perchas if scarcely aware of the wound it had received. We all stoodwatching it. For nearly a minute it remained as before, till graduallyits head began to drop, and finally it fell to the ground. Duppo ranforward, and taking a pinch of white substance from a wallet which hecarried at his side, placed it in the bird's mouth, and then carefullypulling out the arrow, put some into the wound, just as our Napo Indianshad done when they shot our monkey, Nimble. We then went on, hecarrying the apparently lifeless bird carefully in his arms. In a fewminutes it began slowly to lift its head, and then to look about it as ahen does when carried in the same way. In a short time the bird seemedto be as well as if it had not received a wound, and began to peck atthe bare arms of our young guide. On this he took from his bag somesmall pieces of fibre. On piece he wound round its bill, and anotherround its legs, taking great care not to hurt or injure it in any way.
We went on for some distance, our young guide keeping his sharp eyesroving round in every direction in search of some other bird or animalon which he might exercise his skill. We were naturally surprised atthe wonderful way in which the bird he had shot had recovered. I couldscarcely believe that the arrow had been tipped with poison, and yet Icould not otherwise account for the manner in which the bird fell to theground. I inquired of Duppo, but could not understand his reply. Atlast he took out of his bag some of the white stuff we had seen himapply and put it on his tongue. "Why," exclaimed Arthur, to whom he hadgiven some to taste, "it is salt!"
Salt it undoubtedly was; and we now first learned that salt is anantidote to the wourali poison. People, indeed, who eat salt with theirfood are but little affected by it; while it quickly kills savages andanimals who do not eat salt.
We had seen as yet no signs of habitations, when Duppo stopped andpointed through an opening in the trees. We saw, in the shade of thewide-spreading boughs, a woman kneeling before a bath, in which a littlechild was seated, splashing the water about with evident delight. Thewoman was almost as primitive a costume as the warriors we had seen.Her only ornament was a necklace, and her sole clothing consisted of asomewhat scanty petticoat. She, however, seemed in no way abashed atour presence. Duppo ran forward and said a few words to her, when,rising from her knees, and lifting up her dripping child in her arms,she advanced a few paces towards us. She seemed to be listening withgreat interest to what Duppo was saying, and she then signed to us tofollow her. We did so, and soon came in sight of several bamboo huts.The walls, as also the roofs, were covered with a thatch of palm-leaves.On examining the thatch, I saw that it consisted of a number of leavesplaited together, and secured in a row to a long lath of bamboo. One ofthese laths, with a row of thatch attached to it, was hung up on pegs tothe lowest part of the wall intended to be covered; another was fastenedover it, the thatch covering the first lath; and so on, row after row,till the upper part was reached. The roof was formed in the samemanner, secured by rope formed of aloe fibres or some similar material.Round the village were numerous fruit-trees. The most conspicuous werebananas, with their long, broad, soft, green leaf-blades; and severalpupunhas, or peach-palms, with their delicious fruit, hanging down inenormous bunches from their lofty crowns, each a load for a strong man.The fruit gains its name from its colour. It is dry and mealy, of thetaste of chestnuts and cheese. There were also a number of cotton andcoffee trees on one side, extending down to the water, which showed thatour friends were not ignorant of agriculture. We also saw melonsgrowing in abundance, as well as mandioca and Indian corn.
The lady conducted us into her house with as much dignity as a duchesswould have done into her palace. The interior of the building, however,had no great pretensions to architectural grandeur. The roof wassupported by strong upright posts between which hammocks were slung,leaving space for a passage from one end to the other, as also for firesin the centre. At the further end was an elevated stage, which might belooked upon as a first floor, formed of split palm-stems. Along thewalls were arranged clay jars of various sizes, very neatly made. Some,indeed, were large enough to hold twenty or more gallons; others weremuch smaller; and some were evidently used as cooking-pots. They wereornamented on the outside with crossed diagonal lines of variouscolours. There were also blow-pipes hung up, and quivers and bags madeof the bromelia, very elaborately worked. In addition, there werebaskets formed of the same material of a coarser description, anddressed skins of animals, with mats, and spare hammocks.
Our hostess, whom we discovered to be Duppo's mother, invited us to sitdown on some mats which she spread in a clear space on the floor, alittle removed from the fire. Duppo went out, and in a short timereturned with a young girl, who looked timidly into the opening, andthen ran off. He scampered after her, and brought her back; but itrequired some persuasion to induce her to enter the hut. We rose as shedid so, struck by her interesting countenance and elegant form; for,although her garments were almost as scanty as those of the older woman,our impulse was to treat her with the respect we should have paid to oneof her more civilised sisters. Having got over her timidity, she set towork to assist her mother in cooking some food. We asked Duppo hissister's name. He gave us to understand that it was Oria--at least, itsounded like it; and, at all events, that was the name by which wealways called her. It was a pretty name, and well suited to such aninteresting young creature.
Several parrots of gorgeous plumage, which had been sitting on therafters, clambered down inquisitively to look at us; while two monkeys--tame little things--ran in and out of the hut. The most interestingcreature we saw was a charming little water-fowl--a species of grebe.It seemed to be a great pet of the young girl. It was swimming about ina tub full of water, similar to the one in which we had seen our hostessbathing her baby. The girl took it out to show it to us, and it layperfectly happy and contented in her hands. It was rather smaller thana pigeon, and had a pointed beak. The feet, unlike those ofwater-fowls, were furnished with several folds of skin in lieu of webs,and resembled much the feet of the gecko lizards. After exhibiting itto us, she put it back again into its tub, and it went swimming roundand round, very much like those magnetic ducks which are sold intoyshops. On examining the tub I have spoken of, we found that it wasformed from the spathe of the palm.
In a short time a repast was placed before us in several bowls. In onewas fish, in another was a stew of meat. Arthur, without ceremony, atesome of the latter, when he came to a bone which I saw him examiningcuriously.
"Why, I do believe," he said, in a low voice, "it is a bit of monkey!"
"I have very little doubt about it," I answered; for I had discoveredthis some time before. "Try this other dish; it seems very nice."
Having eaten some of it, we bethought ourselves of inquiring of Duppowhat it was; and he gave us to understand that it was a piece of snakeor lizard, for we could not exactly make out which.
"I think I would rather keep to the fish," said Arthur, in a subduedvoice. Indeed, with the fish and some mandioca porridge alone, we couldhave managed to make a very ample meal.
We had also several delicious fruits--guavas, bananas, and one, theinterior of which tasted like a rich custard. A jar of a somewhat thickand violet-coloured liquor was placed before us to drink. It was made,we found, from the fruit of the assai palm, which our hostess, Illora,showed us. It was perfectly round and about the size of
a cherry,consisting of a small portion of pulp lying between the skin and thehard kernel. The fruit pounded, with the addition of water, producesthe beverage I have described. It was very refreshing, but stained ourlips as do blackberries.
Having finished our meal, we thanked Dame Illora for it, and tried toexplain that we were in search of a canoe in which to return down theigarape. For some time we could not make her comprehend what we wanted.Suddenly Duppo started up, and leading us to the water, by signsexplained that all their canoes had been taken away. "Then, no doubt,the same people who took theirs, carried off ours," observed Arthur. Iagreed with him. Still, I hoped that a small canoe might be found. Wesearched about, but I could not find one. The channel ran through theforest till it was lost to sight, and as there was a slight current inthe water, we came to the conclusion that it was connected with someother river, up which the canoes had been carried.
"Then let us build a raft as we proposed," said Arthur. "If we do notreturn to-night, we shall alarm your sister and John. The current is inour favour, and we shall have no difficulty in descending to our camp."
At once we tried to explain to our friends what we proposed doing.Several other persons appeared, but they were mostly old men and women.The rest had evidently gone off to the war. We began by cutting downsome small trees which grew at the edge of the igarape. Then we cutsome sipos, and formed an oblong frame of sufficient size to supportthree or four people. After a little time Duppo comprehended ourpurpose, and we saw him explaining the matter to his people. Several ofthem on this set to work on a clump of bamboos which grew at a littledistance, and brought them to us. Looking about, we also discoveredsome long reeds growing on the margin of the swamp at no great distance.Arthur and I collected as many as we could carry, and the natives,following our example, soon supplied us with what we required. Havingfastened the bamboos lengthways on the frame, we secured the reeds bothunder and above them, till we had completely covered over the framework.The whole machine we strengthened by passing long sipos round it, andthus in a short time had a buoyant and sufficiently strong raft to carryus safely, we hoped, down the igarape. The natives had been watchingour proceedings with looks of surprise, as if they had never seen asimilar construction. We had cut a couple of long poles with which topush on the raft. "I think we should be the better for paddles,"observed Arthur. One of the trees, we found, very easily split intoboards. We soon made three paddles, agreeing that a third would beuseful, in case one should break. "But perhaps Duppo would be willingto accompany us," said Arthur. "He seems a very intelligent fellow.Shall we ask him?"
We soon made our young friend comprehend our wishes. He was evidentlywell pleased with the proposal, though his mother at first seemed tohesitate about letting him go. We pressed her, explaining that we wouldreward him well for his services. Our point gained, Duppo'spreparations were quickly made. He brought with him his zarabatana orblow-pipe, his bow, and a quiver full of arrows, as also a basket offarinha, apparently supposing that we might be unable to provide himwith food. Seeing the curious umbrella-bird secured to a perchprojecting from the wall, I asked him to bring it, as I wanted to showit to Ellen. He quickly understood me, and taking it down, againfastened up its beak, and brought it along perched on his shoulder. Thewhole remaining population of the village came down to the water to seeus embark. We took off our hats to Oria, who scarcely seemed tounderstand the compliment.
Our raft was soon launched with their aid, and, greatly to oursatisfaction, floated buoyantly. We got on board, and shoved off intothe middle of the channel. The water was fat too deep to allow ourpoles to be of any use. Duppo, however, showed that he well knew theuse of a paddle. Taking one in his hand, he sat down on one side of theraft, while Arthur sat on the other, and I stood astern to steer. Thecurrent was sluggish, and did not help us much. We therefore had toexert ourselves vigorously. The igarape soon widened out into a broadlake-like expanse. We could distinguish the channel, however, from itsbeing free of reeds, which appeared in all directions in the otherparts, forming thick broad clumps like islands. From amidst themnumerous water-fowl rose up as we passed. Now and then an alligatorpoked up his ugly snout. Numerous tortoises and other water-creatureswere seen swimming about. Others which rose near us, alarmed at ourappearance, made off to a distance, and allowed us to proceed unimpeded.
We were delighted with the progress we made, and went paddling on as ifwe had been long accustomed to the work. We kept up most of the time aconversation with Duppo, although it must be owned that we couldunderstand but little of what he said, while he had equal difficulty incomprehending us. We asked him several questions about his family. Itold him that he must bring Oria down to see my sister, as I was sureshe would be glad to make her acquaintance. I was, however, not verycertain whether he understood me. He was evidently a quick, sagaciousfellow; though his manners, like most of the Indians we had met, weresubdued and quiet.
As we were paddling on, we were almost startled by hearing a sound likea bell tolling in the midst of the forest. It ceased, and we paddledon, when again it struck our ears loud and clear. Again it came withinthe space of a minute, and we almost expected to see some church steeplepeeping forth through an opening in the primeval forest. We tried toascertain from our young companion what it could mean, but he onlynodded his head, as much as to say, "I know all about it," and then hegave a glance down at his bow and quiver which lay by his side. We wenton for some minutes more, the sound of the bell reaching our ears asbefore, and then Duppo began to look up eagerly into the trees.Suddenly he ceased paddling, and made signs to Arthur to do the same.Gliding on a few yards further, we saw, on the topmost bough of a treeoverhanging the water, a beautiful white bird, about the size of a jay.At the same time there came forth from where it stood a clear bellsound, and we saw from its head a black tube, rising up several inchesabove it. Duppo cautiously put his hand out and seized his bow. In aninstant he had fitted an arrow to the string. Away it flew, and downfell the bird fluttering in the water. We paddled on, and quickly hadit on board. I could not help feeling sorry that he had killed thebeautiful creature, whose note had so astonished us.
It was, I found, a specimen of that somewhat rare and very wonderfulbell-bird (_Casmarhynchos carunculata_), called _campanero_ by theSpaniards. From the upper part of the bill grows a fleshy tubercleabout the thickness of a quill, sparingly covered with minute feathers.It was now hanging down on one side, quite lax. It was evident,therefore, that the bird, when alive, elevated it when excited bysinging or some other cause; indeed afterwards, on examining it, wefound it connected with the interior of the throat, which furtherconvinced us of this fact. I was sorry that we could not have it takenalive to Ellen, and I tried to explain to Duppo that we wished to haveliving creatures if possible captured, like the umbrella-bird.
We had been paddling on for some time beneath the thick overhangingboughs, almost in darkness, when a bright glow attracted our attention."We must be near the camp," exclaimed Arthur, and we shouted out. Wewere replied to by True's well-known bark, and directly afterwards wecould distinguish through the gloom the figure of Domingos making hisway amid the wood, with True running before him, down to the bank.There they stood ready to receive us.