On the Banks of the Amazon Part 11

We found John seated on the bank, taking off his boot and sock.

"Here, Senor John, drink this," he said, giving him the cup full of liquid. "Senor Arthur will hold the bottle for you, while Senor Harry and I are making a grave for your leg. We must bury it. Don't despair, my dear master. The remedy is a wonderful one."

We were digging away, while he spoke, with the paddles, and in a few moments John's leg was buried deep in the earth, which was pressed down over it.

"Why, this is brandy," exclaimed John, as he swallowed the contents of a second cup which Arthur gave him.

"Of course, my dear master," answered Domingos, who, folding his arms, stood by, watching the effect of his treatment. "Some people think one remedy the best, some another. It is wise to try both. The brandy drives, the earth draws the poison forth."

Oh, how anxiously we watched John's countenance! No change took place.

Arthur and I went back, lest Ellen might be alarmed at our absence, leaving Domingos, who stood unmoved, in the same att.i.tude as at first, watching his patient. At last Ellen put her head out from under the toldo, and asked when breakfast would be ready, as she and Maria were very hungry.

"What shall we tell her?" asked Arthur.

Just then I looked up, and saw Domingos coming towards us, waving the dead snake in his hand, and John following, walking as briskly as if nothing had been the matter with him.

"A wonderful cure has been wrought," he exclaimed, as he reached us.

"But don't tell Domingos yet. Finding myself much as usual, I bethought me, as I sat with my leg in the hole, of looking into the reptile's mouth; and though it has a set of sharp teeth, I could discover no poisonous fangs. I am only sorry that so much good brandy was expended on me, which may be wanted on another occasion."

We now summoned Ellen, and told her in English what had occurred.

Arthur and I having examined the head of the snake, to a.s.sure ourselves that John was right, cut it off and threw it into the river, while True breakfasted off the body, which we cooked for him. Domingos did not discover the truth till some time afterwards; and we heard him frequently boasting of the certain cure he knew for snake bites. I cannot, however, say that his remedy would not prove efficacious.

Having made a good breakfast on the agouti, we once more embarked, and glided down the stream.

I have not dwelt much on our anxiety, but, as may be supposed, we felt it greatly, and our conversation could not fail to be subdued and sad.

Ellen, however, after her first grief had subdued, did her utmost, dear, good little sister that she was, to cheer our spirits. Often she kept repeating, "I am sure they have escaped! We shall before long find them. Depend on it, papa would not allow himself to be surprised! I have been praying for them ever since we commenced our journey, and I know my prayers will be heard."

Although I had felt great despondency, I could not help being influenced by Ellen's hopeful spirit. Still it seemed to me that the probability of our discovering them along the wide-extended banks of the river was but small indeed. They, too, how anxious they must be feeling on our account; for if they had been in danger, as we supposed, they must know we should be subjected to the same. However, I will not dwell longer on this subject, but only again repeat that our parents and our aunt and f.a.n.n.y were never absent from our thoughts. A light breeze springing up, we hoisted our mat sail, and glided down the river. Nothing could be more delightful. The light air cooled us, and kept off the mosquitoes; and as the nights were bright, had we not been anxious to examine the sh.o.r.e, we agreed that we might have continued our voyage till it was necessary to land and procure food.

Suddenly, however, the wind again dropped. The sun, which had hitherto been casting his undimmed rays down on our heads, became obscured, as if a thick curtain had been drawn across it. The whole sky a.s.sumed a yellow tinge. Domingos looked anxiously round.

"I do not like the look of the weather," he observed. "It would be wise to lower the sail."

We had just got it down, when a low murmur was heard in the distant woods, increasing rapidly to a subdued roar. A white line appeared across the river. It came rapidly towards us. Now we could feel the wind blowing against our cheeks, and the whole surface of the water became suddenly rippled into wavelets, from which the white foam flew off in thick sheets. The sky had again changed to a greenish hue. The waves every moment increased in height.

"A hurricane is coming on," observed Domingos. "We cannot face it."

We put the canoe's head towards the sh.o.r.e.

"Paddle, my masters! paddle!" exclaimed Domingos. "We must reach the sh.o.r.e before the storm breaks with its full violence, or we may be lost!"

We had not paddled many strokes before we felt the canoe driven forward by the wind at a rapid rate. We exerted ourselves, running before the wind, and edging in at the same time towards the northern sh.o.r.e. Every instant the hurricane gained strength; and as we looked upward, the whole sky, we saw, had a.s.sumed a red and black appearance. A little ahead appeared a sand-bank, on which stood a number of tall-legged birds, cormorants, white cranes, and other waders, large and small. We might land on the island, and save our lives; but the wind setting directly on it, we might lose our canoe, or, at all events, the water would break into her and destroy our goods. Domingos steered the canoe admirably, while we made every effort to keep off the island. Presently down came the blast with greater fury than before. Some of the smaller birds were carried off their legs and borne away by the wind. Others, throwing themselves down, stuck their beaks into the sand, and clung on with their long claws, their feet extended. In spite of our danger, Arthur and I could not help laughing at the extraordinary appearance of the birds, as they thus lay in great numbers along the sand, looking as if they had been shot, and were lying dead till the sportsman could pick them up. On we drove, narrowly escaping being thrown upon the bank, on which the foaming seas broke with terrific force.

"Here it comes again!" cried Domingos. "Paddle bravely, and be not alarmed."

As he spoke, another blast, still more violent, struck us, and in an instant the covering of our canoe was torn away and lifted up. In vain we attempted to catch it. It was borne off by the wind towards the sh.o.r.e. So high were the waves which thus suddenly rose up, that we expected every moment to be overwhelmed; while we feared that unless we could manage to anchor we should be driven on the bank to leeward, where the canoe would be filled with water, and everything in her carried away. To resist the fury of the waves was impossible. In vain we strove to get under the lee of the island. Destruction yawned before us, when we saw, amid the thick forest trees which lined the bank, a narrow opening. It was the entrance, we hoped, to an igarape,--one of those curious water-ways, or canoe paths, which form a network of ca.n.a.ls many hundred miles in extent, on either bank of the Amazon. We exerted ourselves to the utmost to reach it, although the seas which struck the side of the canoe threatened every moment to upset her before we could do so. Ellen and Maria had got out their paddles, and laboured away with all their strength, Maria's stout arms indeed being a very efficient help. Domingos kept working away with his paddle, now on one side, now on another, now steering astern as he saw was requisite, twisting his features into a hundred different forms, and showing his white teeth as he shouted out in his eagerness. The tall trees were bending before the blast as if they were about to be torn from their roots and carried bodily inland. My fear was, on seeing them thus agitated, that should we get beneath them they might fall and crush us.

Still we had no choice. It seemed doubtful whether we should reach the mouth of the igarape.

We redoubled our efforts, and just grazing by a point which projected from the sh.o.r.e, on which, had we been thrown, we should have been upset, we darted into the ca.n.a.l. Even there the water hissed and roared as it was forced into the narrow channel. As an arrow flies through the zarabatana, so we sped up the igarape. For a few seconds Domingos had to exert himself to steer the canoe in mid-channel, to prevent her being dashed against the roots of the tall trees which projected into it. At first the roar of the wind among the trunks and branches was almost deafening. Gradually it decreased, and in a short time we could hear only the distant murmur of the tempest on the outside of the woody boundary. We were not, however, to escape altogether from it, for down came the rain in a pelting shower, to which, from the loss of our awning, we were completely exposed. We quickly, however, rigged another with our sail, which afforded shelter to Ellen and Maria. Having secured the canoe, we all crept under it, and consulted what we should next do. What with the mantle of clouds across the sky, and the thick arch of boughs over our heads, so great was the darkness that we could scarcely persuade ourselves that night was not coming on. We sat patiently, hoping that the rain, which pattered down with so loud a noise that it was necessary to raise our voices to make each other hear, would at length cease. In about half an hour, the shower-bath to which we had been exposed came to an end. But still drops fell thickly from the boughs, and the darkness proved to us that the clouds had not yet cleared away.

After our unsatisfactory meeting with the natives, we were anxious not to remain longer on that part of the sh.o.r.e than necessary. Accordingly we once more paddled down the igarape. We soon found, however, that the wind was blowing too hard to allow us to venture out on the main stream.

On pa.s.sing downwards we observed a somewhat open s.p.a.ce on the north side, and despairing of continuing our voyage that night, we determined to encamp there. Securing our canoe, in which Ellen and Maria sat under shelter, the rest of us, with axes in our hands, set to work to clear the ground and build a couple of huts. We had become such proficients in the art that this we soon accomplished. On account of the weather we built one of them, not only with a roof, but with back and sides, in which Ellen and her attendant could be sheltered. To our own also we built a side on the quarter from which the wind came. Our difficulty was to light a fire. But hunting about, we found some dried leaves in the hollow of a tree, and there was no lack of wood, which, after chopping off the wet outside, would burn readily.

Having made all preparations, we conducted Ellen and Maria to their hut, and carried up our goods, which we placed within it, under shelter. We felt somewhat anxious at our position; but we hoped that the rain would keep any natives who might be in the neighbourhood from wandering about, and by the following morning we should be able to proceed on our voyage.

Should we not meet with our father on our way down, we resolved to stop at the nearest Brazilian town on the banks, and there obtain a.s.sistance in inst.i.tuting a more rigid search than we could make by ourselves. Of one thing we were certain, that had he escaped, and got thus far, he would stay there till our arrival. Still we did not abandon all hopes of finding him before that.

We had taken everything out of the canoe, with the exception of the paddles, even to the sail, which served as a carpet for Ellen's hut. We next turned our attention to cooking further portions of the animals we had killed in the morning. In spite of the storm raging outside, and our anxiety, as we sat round the blazing fire, Ellen and Maria having joined us, the smoke keeping the mosquitoes somewhat at bay, we all felt more cheerful than might have been expected. Midnight had now come on; and having cut up a further supply of wood to keep the fire burning, we slung our hammocks and turned into them, trusting to True to keep watch for us.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

ADVENTURES IN THE FOREST--WE MEET WITH NATIVES.

The hours of the night pa.s.sed slowly by. I awoke several times. Few of the usual noises of the forest were heard. The tempest seemed to have silenced its wild inhabitants. Now and then the cry of a howling baboon reached our ears from the depths of the forest. I had a feeling that something dreadful was about to occur, yet I was sufficiently awake to know 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 struck by the unusual darkness. Not a ray of light appeared to come from the sky, which was still covered with a thick mantle of clouds. I succeeded at last in dropping off to sleep. How long my eyes had been closed I could not tell, when I heard True uttering a low bark. I could just see him 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 foot in a moment; but the darkness, was so great that we could see nothing beyond a few feet from where we stood. As we sprang up, True rushed forward. 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 at last he returned, but we were still unable to discover any cause for alarm. After a time we agreed that the wisest thing we could do would be to turn into our hammocks again. I scolded True for alarming us so needlessly, and he came back and lay down in his usual place. The night pa.s.sed away without any other disturbance.

When we arose in the morning the wind had ceased, the clouds had cleared away, and the weather was as fine as usual. Getting up, we prepared breakfast, and agreed to continue our voyage as soon as it was over. As we had sufficient provisions, there was no necessity to search for any.

We therefore remained at our camp till our meal was over. John was the first to take up a load and proceed with it down to the canoe. I followed. When still at a little distance, I heard him utter an exclamation of dismay. He turned back, and I saw by his countenance that 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. "I secured it well."

I returned with him to the bank. In vain we searched up and down the banks 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 the river, while John went towards it. Wherever I could, I got down to the edge of the water. Now I climbed along a trunk which overhang it; but though I thus got a view for a considerable distance, I could see no canoe. At length I returned, hoping that John might have been more successful. I met him on the spot where we had parted.

"I cannot see her," he said. "Harry, I am afraid she has been carried off!"

The same idea had occurred to me. We now carefully examined the spot where we had left her. I found the very trunk of the tree round which I had secured the painter. It was scarcely rubbed, which it would have been, 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 with loads, surprised at our not returning. We communicated to them the alarming intelligence. Domingos was afraid that we were right in our conjectures. We returned to the camp to break the unsatisfactory news to Ellen.

"If our canoe is lost, we must build another," she remarked, in her usual quiet way, concealing her anxiety; "but it is very trying to be thus 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 have broken away by herself, she must have driven before it. It was therefore settled that Arthur and I should go up still further in that direction, while John would try and make his way down to the main river, searching along the bank. Ellen and Maria, with Domingos and True to take care of them, were to remain at the camp. Arthur and I had our axes, for without them we could make no progress. I had my gun; Arthur a spear, with bow and arrows, which Naro had presented to him. Thus armed, we hoped to defend ourselves against any jaguar or boa we might meet. We had little to fear from any other wild animals. As we had seen no traces of natives, we did not expect to meet with any. We soon gained the point I had reached in the morning. After this, we had to hew a path for ourselves through the forest. Sometimes we got a few feet without impediment, and then had to cut away the sipos for several yards. Now and then we were able to crawl under them, and sometimes we were able to leap over the loops, or make our way along the wide-spreading roots of the tall trees. Thus we went on, every now and then getting down to the edge of the igarape, and climbing out on the trunk of one of the overhanging trees, whence we could obtain a view up and down for some distance.

We had just reached the bank, and were looking out along it, when I saw a troop of monkeys coming along through the forest. I kept True by my side, and whispered to Arthur not to speak. I could scarcely help laughing aloud at the odd manner in which they made their way among the branches, 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 the spider monkeys. Those tails of theirs were never quiet, but kept whisking about in all directions. They caught hold of the branches with them, and then hung by them with their heads downwards, an instant afterwards 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. A third descended and slung himself in a similar manner. A fourth and fifth followed, and so on; and there they hung, a regular monkey chain.

Immediately the lowest, who hung with his head downwards, gave a shove with his fore-paws, and set the chain swinging, slowly at first but increasing in rapidity, backwards and forwards over the water. I thought to myself, if an alligator were making his way up the ca.n.a.l, the lowest would have a poor chance of his life. The swinging increased in violence, till the lowest monkey got his paws round the slender trunk of a tree on the opposite side. Immediately he drew his companion after him; till the next above him was within reach of it. That one caught the tree in the same way, and they then dragged up their end of the chain till it hung almost horizontally across the water. A living bridge having thus been formed, the remainder of the troop, chiefly consisting of young monkeys who had been amusing themselves meantime frisking about in the branches, ran over. Two or three of the mischievous youngsters took the opportunity of giving a sly pinch to their elders, utterly unable just then to retaliate; though it was evident, from the comical glances which the latter cast at them, that the inflictors of the pinches were not unnoticed. One, who had been trying to catch some fish apparently during the interval, was nearly too late to cross. The first two who had got across now climbed still further up the trunk; and when they had got to some distance, the much-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 towards the bank. As soon as he and his companions reached it, they caught hold of the trunk either with their hands or tails. The whole troop thus got safely across.