The Devil-Tree of El Dorado: A Novel Page 7

  CHAPTER III.

  THE JOURNEY FROM THE COAST.

  The greater part of the interior of British Guiana consists of denseforests which are mostly unexplored. No roads traverse them, and butlittle would be known of the savannas, or open grassy plains, and themountains that lie beyond--and they would indeed be inaccessible--wereit not for the many wide rivers by which the forests are intersected.These form the only means of communication between the coast and theinterior at the present day; and so vast is the extent of territorycovered with forest growth that it is probable many years will elapsebefore any road communication is opened up between the sea and the opencountry lying beyond the woods.

  Of these vast forests little--or rather practically nothing--is knownsave what can be seen of them from the rivers by those voyaging to andfro in canoes. There are a limited number of spots at which the Indiansof the savannas come to the banks of the rivers to launch their canoeswhen journeying to the coast; and to reach these places they havewhat are known as 'Indian paths' through the intervening woods. Theseso-called paths are, for the most part, of such a character, however,that only Indians accustomed to them can find their way by them. Anywhite man who should venture to trust himself alone in them wouldinevitably get quickly and hopelessly lost. Hence--save for a fewmiles near the line of coast--there are, as yet, absolutely no roads inthe country.

  Naturally, under such conditions, the forest scenery is of the wildestimaginable character, and its flora and fauna flourish unchecked in theutmost luxuriance of tropical savage life; for the country lies but afew degrees from the equator, and is far more sparsely populated thaneven the surrounding tropical regions of Brazil and Venezuela.

  Fortunately, however, for those who for any reason have occasion totraverse this wild region, there is no lack of water-ways. Severalgrand rivers of great breadth lead from the coast in differentdirections, most of them being navigable (for canoes and small boats)for great distances, leaving only comparatively short stretches offorest land to be crossed by travellers desiring to reach the openplains and hills.

  Of these rivers, the Essequibo is one of the finest, and it was bythis route that the two friends, Elwood and Templemore, set out, underMatava's guidance, to reach their destination. From this river theybranched off into one of its affluents, the Potaro, noted for itswonderful waterfall, the Kaieteur, which they visited _en route_. Heretheir canoes were left and exchanged for lighter ones, hired from theAckawoi Indians, who live at a little distance above the fall; theirstores and camp equipage being carried round. So far the journey hadbeen uneventful, save for a little excitement in passing the variouscataracts and rapids; but the two young men knew their way fairly wellthus far, having visited the Kaieteur with Matava some years before.

  When, however, the journey was resumed above the Kaieteur, the routewas new to them; and, among the first things they noticed, were thealligators with which the river abounded. In the Essequibo they hadseen none, and not many below the fall; but from this point, as far asthey ascended the river, they saw them continually. Once they had anarrow escape. They were making arrangements for camping on the bank,and were nearing the shore in the last of the canoes, when a tremendousblow and a great splash overturned the boat, and they found themselvesstruggling in the stream. An alligator had struck the canoe a blow withits tail and upset it. Fortunately, however, it was in shallow water;and the Indians, seeing how matters were, made a great splashing, andthus frightened away the reptile. The contents of the canoe were partlyrecovered, not without difficulty; but some were damaged by the water.

  As they proceeded up the river, the rapids and cataracts became morefrequent, and the negotiation of them more difficult, till they reacheda spot where further navigation was impossible, and they had to take tothe forest, their stores and baggage being henceforward carried by theIndians.

  This marked the commencement of the really arduous part of the journey.So long as the stores were carried in the boats, the Indians had beencheerful and docile, and easy to manage. But now their work was harder,and food was scarcer--for game is difficult to shoot in the forest.Then, after two or three days, the gloom of the woods began to have anevident effect upon their spirits; they first became depressed, andthen began to grumble. This would not have been of so much consequence,perhaps, but that Matava became apprehensive that they might desert.They were not people of his tribe, it seemed; they had come with Dr.Lorien from a different district; and when they began to understandthat the eventual destination was Roraima, they became still moredepressed.

  All the Indian tribes who have heard of Roraima, in any way, have thesame superstitious dread of it; and those now with the two young menwere evidently not exceptional in this respect. Templemore and Elwoodbegan to feel anxious and, to make matters worse, food ran shortfor the Indians. The latter live chiefly on the native food, a kindof bread called cassava, and, of this, a good deal of what they hadbrought with them had been lost or spoiled by the upsetting of thecanoe.

  In consequence, Matava advised that they should interrupt their directjourney to turn aside to an Indian settlement that he knew of, abouta day's journey off the route they were pursuing; there they wouldbe able to replenish their stores, he thought; and to this course areluctant assent was given by the two friends.

  It turned out to be more than a day's journey, however; but theyreached the place on the second day. It was called Karalang; there werenot more than a dozen huts, and the people at first said that theyhad no food to spare; but eventually promised to procure some if thetravellers would wait a few days; and this they were perforce compelledto do.

  This village was situated on a hill in a piece of open country in themidst of the great forest; and, during their enforced rest, the twofriends were enabled to engage in a little hunting, and to see more ofthe wild life of the woods than they had seen before.

  The first thing they did on arrival was to procure a couple of fowlsfor cooking, of which there were plenty in the village. But these wereof no use as food for the Indians, who never eat them. Throughout thecountry this is everywhere the case; the Indians keep fowls, yet nevereat them; and it is said that, were it not for the vampire bats andtiger-cats, these would increase beyond all reason. Though, however,they object to fowls as a diet, they have no dislike to fish, and theywere not long in discovering that there were some in a stream that rannear the village; and a supply was caught by their method of poisoningthe fish in such a way that they float on top of the water as if dead,but are nevertheless palatable and wholesome as food. The poison isprepared from a root.

  Amongst the miscellaneous stores the two had brought they had a liberalsupply of firearms--five Winchester rifles, half-a-dozen revolversand two guns, each with double barrels, one for shot and the otherfor ball. The extra weapons were in case of loss or accident, andTemplemore had a good stock of tobacco, for he never felt happy forlong together without his pipe.

  On their way up they had had very little shooting. Jack had indeedkilled an alligator, by way of relieving his feelings after theupsetting of the canoe; but there had been very little time to sparefor sport. Every morning they had started as soon as the morning mealhad been eaten, and had gone into camp at night only in time to cook ameal before it became dark. For in this part of the world night closesin at about half-past six on the shortest days of the year, and alittle before seven on the longest. Practically, therefore, the varyingseasons bring little difference in the length of the days. One cannotthere get up at three or four o'clock and "have a good long day," withan evening keeping light till eight and nine o'clock, as in summer-timein Europe. Hence the days seem short for travel and sport, and thenights very long.

  "I think we've stuck to it pretty well," Jack observed in the evening,as he sat smoking by the camp fire, outside their tent--for though theday had been hot the evening was chilly--"and we deserve a rest. So itis just as well. We will have two or three days' shooting, and a lookround, before we go on to tackle 'the old man.'"

  'The ol
d man' was the one they were on their way to see--the one Dr.Lorien had met and described so enthusiastically. Jack was a littlesceptical as to whether the good-natured doctor had not sacrificedstrict accuracy to his friendly feeling for the stranger. Leonard, too,felt full of curiosity upon the same point.

  "I can scarcely believe, you know," Jack continued, "that our friendwill turn out all that the doctor pictured him."

  "I shall be glad if he does, at any rate," Leonard made reply. "Hewould be almost worth coming to see for himself alone."

  Jack laughed.

  "That's rather stretching a point, I think. However, I am keeping anopen mind on the subject. The gentleman shall have 'a fair field andno favour,' so far as my judgment of him goes. I won't let myself beprejudiced in advance, either one way or the other."

  During the following days they enriched their stores by the skinof a fine jaguar, shot by Templemore, a great boa-constrictor--or'camoodi'--twenty-four feet long, shot by Leonard, and many trophies oflesser account. Then, a fresh lot of cassava having been procured forthe Indians, the journey was resumed.

  In about three weeks from the time of their start, the party emergedfrom the forest into a more open country, where rolling savannasalternated with patches of woodland. Here the air was fresher and morebracing, so that the depressing effect of the gloomy forest was soonthrown off. They could shoot a little game, too, as they went along;there were splendid views to be had from the tops of the ridges and lowhills they crossed. The ground steadily rose and became first hilly andthen mountainous, till, having crossed a broad, undulating plateau,they once more entered a forest region, but this time of differentcharacter. The trees were farther apart; there were hills, and rockyravines, and mountain torrents, steep mountains, and deep valleys. Theway became toilsome and difficult; game was scarce, or at least noteasy to obtain, owing to the nature of the ground; the cassava ranshort, and, once more, grumbling arose and trouble threatened.

  At last, one evening, Matava, with perplexity in his face, led the twoyoung men aside to hold a consultation.

  "These people," he said in his own language, "say they will not go anyfarther!"

  "How far do you reckon we are now from your own village?" asked Jack.

  "About four days. If we could but persuade them to keep on for two daysmore, we could fix a camp, and I could go on alone and bring back someof my own people to take all the things on."

  "Ah! a good idea, Matava. Well, let us see what persuasion will effect.Any way, we had better get them to go as far as we can, and then encampat the first likely camping-ground."

  In the end the Indians were prevailed upon, by promise of extra pay, togo the additional two days' journey. Beyond that they would not budge.

  "They think that mountain over there in the distance is Roraima,"Matava explained; "and I cannot get them to believe it isn't. And theyare frightened, and won't go any nearer to it."

  There was, therefore, nothing to be done but to adopt Matava'ssuggestion. It was agreed that the two friends would stay in camp andkeep guard over their belongings, while he started next day for hisvillage, to bring help.

  The spot was a convenient one in which to camp for a few days, with astream of water near. That evening, therefore, the Indians were paid,this being done in silver, which they knew how to make use of. The nextmorning, when Elwood and Templemore got out of their hammocks, theyfound they were alone with Matava. All the others had disappeared.

  "Ungrateful beggars!" said Jack. "They might, at least, have gone in arespectable manner, and not like thieves slinking away. Let's hope theyare not thieves."

  But they were not. An examination showed that nothing had been stolen.

  "The poor fellows were only frightened," Leonard observed. "They arehonest enough."

  Matava, meantime, was making ready to set off alone for carriers fromhis own village. When he was ready, Templemore expressed a desire towalk a little way on the road with him 'to take a peep over that littleridge yonder'; which is a wish common to travellers in a country thatis new to them. But when they reached the ridge, there was only tobe seen another short expanse of undulating savanna, whereupon Jackdecided to return, leaving Matava to continue on his way.

  Leonard, left to himself, finished the occupation he had in hand--thecleaning of his double-barrel--and, having loaded it, strolled out ofthe camp in another direction, to take a look round. He left the campto itself, not intending to go far, and expecting that his friend wouldbe back in a quarter of an hour or so. Not far away a 'bell-bird' wasringing out its strange cry, that has been compared by travellers tothe sound of a convent bell. He had heard these birds often in theforest since leaving the boats, but, in consequence of the density ofthe woods, had never been able to get near one. Here, where the treeswere more open, there seemed to be a better chance, and he followed, ashe thought, the sound. But soon he came to the conclusion that he hadbeen in error; or the bird had flown across unseen; for the directionof the sound seemed to have changed. He, therefore, turned off towardswhere he fancied the bird now was; and this happened several times,till at last he became confused and found he had fairly lost his way.It is a peculiarity of the 'bell-bird,' as it is of many other birdsof the forest, that their notes are often misleading; it is one ofthose cases of what has been termed by naturalists 'Ventriloquism inNature,' many examples of which the traveller in these wild regionscomes across. Leonard had arrived at the head of a small glen, andfound himself on a grassy bank beside a little stream, sheltered fromthe glare of the sun by over-hanging branches. He laid down his gunand went to take a drink of the inviting limpid water, and then satawhile on the bank looking down the picturesque ravine. It was veryquiet and peaceful all around, and he fell into one of his day-dreams.At such times the minutes pass on unheeded; and he sat for a long whileoblivious of all that went on about him. But presently, behind him, asilent, cunning enemy crept up unseen and unheard till near enough fora spring; then there was a loud roar, and the next moment Leonard waslying on the ground in the grasp of an enormous jaguar.

  For a minute or two the beast stood over him growling, but not touchinghim after the first blow that had knocked him down; while Leonard laydazed and helpless, with just enough consciousness to have a vague ideathat the best thing he could do, for the moment, was to lie perfectlystill. Then, with another roar, the animal seized him by the shoulderand began to drag him down the slope towards some bushes. At thatmoment Leonard, whose face was turned away from the brute, saw, likeone in a dream, the undergrowth through which he himself had come,part asunder and three figures appear. Two of them were Templemore andMatava, who stood rooted to the spot with horror-stricken faces; thethird was a tall stranger who towered above the other two, and who alsostood still for a second or two eyeing the scene, while the jaguargrowled threateningly.

  Then the tall stranger advanced, and the animal released its hold andwas itself seized and pulled from over Leonard. In another momenthe felt himself lifted in two giant arms, and, looking up, saw thestranger bending upon him a gaze in which there seemed a world oftender anxiety and compassion. Everything appeared to swim around him,and he knew that consciousness was leaving him; yet, for a space, thefascination of that look seemed to hold him chained.

  "You--must--be--Monella!" he said, softly. Then he fainted.