The constantly increasing perils of the voyage from the pertinacity of
our savage foes, recalled the warning words of an old priest of Santa
Anna who had engaged in one of the Jesuitical expeditions. He advised us
to keep at a safe distance from the shore, and never attempt to hold
friendly intercourse with the savages, or endeavor to conciliate them
with presents, as it would expose us to their deadly treachery. “You
must be constant in your guard or they will board you in the night, for
they are as familiar with darkness and water as the land. If they come
within reach of your guns kill and spare not, for fear, if you can
inspire it, will be your only source of safety.” Our daily experience
had thus far confirmed the prudence of his advice, and it was yet a
question of extreme hazard if we should attempt to land. Each day
afforded additional evidence that the tribes were banded together in a
defensive alliance against the whites, with a politic foresight that
made intertribal jealousies secondary to their exclusion. When partisan
ferocity, so deadly in manifestation with the aboriginal races of
America, could be made to coalesce for protection against the aggressive
tendencies of a race in customs and habits inimical to their own, it
seemed an act of desperation to attempt the farther prosecution of our
Quixotic enterprise. This feeling had perceptibly gained strength while
the ferocious characteristics of the old savage remained unsubdued,
under the impression that our vitality was held with a lease as
precarious as his own. The padre’s exhibition of fear had established
him in the belief that in stoical courage we were inferior to his own
race. This impression he had evidently found means to convey to his
tribe. But Mr. Welson had, by a seemingly chance train of humorous
experiment, dissipated his reliance upon the savage hypothesis of
instinctive sagacity. The fancied superiority of his exaltation realized
to the old chief the attributes of deity, while the padre became
reduced, in his estimation, to a kindred caste with his tribe. In train
the gyved circlet of his neck, as a talismanic badge of investment,
would be likely to afford material evidence in proof of Mr. Welson’s
deistical power. These impressions, which it would be natural for him to
impart, would prove ominous as a prestige of awe, similar in effect to
that afforded by Moses to the Israelites. The contrast between the old
chief and Waantha discovered a marked distinction in tribal caste,
dependent upon the miasmatic influence exerted by local impressions
derived from degrees of purity in the sources of exhalation that gave
birth to kindred habits and customs. The former devoted his attention to
engendered animosity, while the latter eagerly searched for some token
of kindly sympathy, and when it was bestowed his whole being became
instinct with grateful pleasure. Even the dogs evinced an inherent
perception of Waantha’s higher grade by fawning acknowledgment, while
with the old chief the defiant acrimony increased rather than
diminished. In habits the same characteristic features prevailed. In
eating the old savage used as little ceremony as the dogs, and far less
in the modest observance of the other requirements of nature; while the
younger seemed to derive intense pleasure from cleanly imitations. With
these instinctive demonstrations we will resume our descriptive course.
* * * * *
_June 17._—The three previous days passed without any active indications
on the part of our tracking foes, but during the twilight dawn of this
morning Waantha discovered parties crossing the river in advance from
the right to the left bank. With every safe opportunity fuel was renewed
to guard against unforeseen emergencies. At noon large bodies of Indians
were seen watching our progress from eminences inland, and the trees of
either shore. Their appearance caused M. Hollydorf to question his duty
in opposition to the prospect the adventure offered for the fulfillment
of his commission. All, with the exception of Mr. Dow, expressed
themselves in terms of discouragement. Dr. Baāhar depicted the horrors
of a death from putrefactive poison, which entailed in life the
lingering corruption of bodily decomposition, which even the vultures
would disdain to hasten. Mr. Dow was obliged to acknowledge that the
preoccupation of their thoughts, while engaged in field avocations,
would expose them to certain surprise, and inevitable extermination. But
he had set his heart upon the venture and pleaded the advantage that
would accrue from the river’s exploration, hoping for some chance
interposition for the furtherance of his enterprise. Captain Greenwood,
for the relief of Mr. Dow, proposed that the exploration of the river
should be continued as far as admissible for the safety of the steamer.
M. Hollydorf accepted this proviso, notwithstanding the loss of time it
would cause.
_June 19._—While the captain and M. Hollydorf were engaged with the
calculation of their meridian observations, just as the steamer was
closing a long reach, Waantha hobbled aft in great excitement, pointing
with energetic gesticulation to a headland we were approaching, and then
to our guns on the forecastle deck. Interpreting some new emprise on the
part of our savage foes, the boat was kept in the centre of the current,
until the view opened beyond the headland, when in melée encounter were
seen parties on horseback. On nearer approach women and children were
discovered huddled together within a barrier of mules and horses. Parry,
the engineer, always prompt with his weapon, sounded a parley, which
caused a momentary cessation of hostilities, allowing the boat to gain a
position commanding a full view of the parties engaged. A glance, aided
by the imploring gestures of the women, whose garments and other
indications bespoke an approach to civilized origin, at once enlisted
the inclination of our sympathy. The novelty of a scene so unexpected,
rendered us for a moment undecided how to act, but the sound of
Antonio’s Chinese weapon restored our presence of mind. The Indians
quickly recovering from the momentary panic, caused by the shriek of the
whistle and clangor of the gong, engaged in a renewed charge upon the
unfortunates, who were defending their families with the desperation of
despair, and in numbers seemed scarcely one to ten of their foes. The
charge of the Indians was accompanied with a derisive whoop, this was
almost simultaneously echoed back by the bray of the mules opposed in
forlorn hope, which revived Mr. Dow’s with a realizing perception of the
ways and means for the achievement of his ambitious project. His rifle
had reported the death of four Indians before a general volley put the
survivors to flight. The rescued, when they saw the Indians fall and
themselves spared, hastened down the bank that they might not interpose
their bodies as shields to the savages. The panic of the Indians who
were in flight over the pampa was increased by a shell, the report of
the gun startling from the western shore a party lying in wait for the
issue of the battle on the eastern, with the probable hopes of a chance
advantage to themselves. Acting upon the hint that there were among them
those who had witnessed the effect of shot and shell on a former
occasion, the opportunity was embraced for reviving the impression. When
satisfied that all able to molest had carried their bodies out of range,
preparations were made for landing to succor the rescued with food and
raiment, for they appeared to be in a deplorable condition.
Before landing for the personal expression of sympathy, the punt was
loaded with provisions and dispatched to allay the immediate cravings of
hunger. The steamer in the meantime was moored to a wood-rift, from
which the captain and members of the corps gained the shore. They were
received by a man past the middle age, whose face was exceedingly
attractive, although wan with fatigue and anxiety. Momentarily
embarrassed, as if with doubt of his capacity to make his emotions of
gratitude intelligible, he bowed himself down with the intention of
prostrating himself at the feet of the captain, but this act of
humiliation was arrested by the grasp and hearty shake of his hands. As
distress evokes compassionate emotions with the kind-hearted, the
captain’s eyes were not alone mindful in the reciprocation of the
stranger’s outburst of grateful tears. Quick in demonstration, when his
generous impulses were aroused, the captain exceeded the cautious
discretion that usually guarded his movements, from fear of imposition,
by bestowing a hearty embrace of sympathy upon the careworn guardian of
the rescued flock. This act caused, with one exception, a general
prostration accompanied with a grateful outburst of tears. The exception
to this indicative act of eastern humiliation, bestowed alike in
reverence to the tyrant and benefactor, was a maiden who had probably
numbered eighteen seasons. Tall and erect in stature, she stood
unmindful of the prostrate throng, but not unmoved by the scene enacted
between the representative leaders of the rescuers and rescued. The
clear transparency of her skin, with the healthy purity of its texture,
combined with a graceful form, exceeding in height those with whom she
was associated, declared her at once alien to them by birth. Seemingly
aware that grateful expressions confined to pantomimic enactment would
at the close of the introductory scene prove embarrassing, she advanced,
after securing with touch the companionship of two young maidens who had
prostrated themselves beside her. Approaching Captain Greenwood, she
addressed him in an unknown tongue, which M. Hollydorf with surprise
recognized as an idiom of the Latin language. His wonder was augmented
by her confident assumption that there were among us some who would be
able to converse with her, and through her interpretation would be
enabled to hold communication with her protectors, her companions
speaking a dialect in remote correspondence with her own. The captain,
although gratefully recompensed for his lack of language by the eyes of
the fair vision, felt himself unaccountably moved in his isolation,
notwithstanding she continued to bestow upon him from those members
sympathetic admiration exceeding the compass of speech. The maiden
announced herself as a native of Heraclea of the Falls, a walled city
but a few days’ travel remote.
“My name,” she continued, “is Correliana Adinope, daughter of the Prætor
Adinope, in body deceased, and step-daughter to Adestus the present
Prætor. The city has sustained a constant siege for centuries by the
savages in revenge for the wrongs committed against them by our
ancestors. Its inhabitants are at the present time in the extremity of
distress from pestilence engendered by famine. While endeavoring to
obtain remedial plants without the city walls I was made prisoner by a
band of our besiegers, and was rescued immediately by these fugitives,
whom in turn you have saved from destruction.”
Having satisfied in outline the curiosity of M. Hollydorf, she begged
that safe means of rest might be afforded her protectors, for they had
been constantly harassed for weeks without an hour’s undisturbed sleep.
But long before the preparations were completed for a comfortable
resting place, Correliana and the wounded were the only ones that
remained awake.
Waantha, assisted by the guacâcioes of the crew, collected from the hair
and mouths of the dead Indians antidotes, and from the growths of the
river bank counteractive remedies, which relieved the excruciating pain
of the wounded, and stayed the progress of gangrenous putrefaction. At
sunset all the rescued were in a deep lethargic sleep, and as the night
was pleasant, and the glade where they lay was open to the river, with a
day draught that freed it from miasm, but little fear was apprehended
from their exposure, notwithstanding the tattered condition of their
clothing. Fortunately, before the evening was far advanced, the captain
bethought himself of his trading stock, from which he soon obtained
fabrics well adapted for their protection. Mr. Dow, restored to the full
vigor of ambitious vitality, busied himself in organizing a guard for
the protection of the mules and horses, listening the while to Aabrawa’s
relation of their owner’s source, for he had recognized them as
belonging to a colony located far to the eastward of his place of
nativity, who were known to his people by the name of Bamboyles. Mr. Dow
viewing his night charge as the keys destined to unlock the gates of his
New Jerusalem, he picketed them in the most verdant portion of the
glade. When morning dawned his fears were startled to find them still
prone with scarcely a sign of vitality; and as his attempts to arouse
them failed to elicit more than a drowsy snort he feared that with all
his vigilance they had been poisoned, but was reassured by Dr. Baāhar,
who pronounced their immobile condition as lethargic, induced from
hunger and fatigue.
While the night dew was still on the foliage Waantha pointed to a long
line of animals approaching the river from the plain, which proved to be
llamas. Upon this hint the three marksmen took the steamer’s boat to
find their “toch,” or path to the river, and were successful in securing
a supply of game sufficient for several days’ consumption. Before his
guests awoke the captain had prepared a tent for the reception of the
women and children, and an abundance of food for all. In addition he was
able to furnish from his trading stock dresses, which, with a little
alteration, would supply the requirements of the women.
The mayorong, or chief of the Bamboyles, and Correliana were the first
to awake in the morning; the latter, with her two companions, were
conducted to the tent and there presented with the means of renewing
their garments. In communicating the kindly expressions bestowed, with
the gifts, her companions, in returning thanks, used the Spanish idiom,
which startled Mr. Welson with pleasurable surprise, as it opened to him
a direct avenue of speaking intercourse, for its varied provincialisms
were as familiar to him as his patrial mother tongue. After the
agreeable confusion, occasioned by Mr. Welson addressing them in
Spanish, had subsided, the eldest introduced herself as Cleorita and her
sister as Oviata Arcos, daughters of Don Santiago Arcos, a native of
Madrid, the chief city of Spain. On hearing this announcement he became
joyfully elated, bestowing upon both a fond recognition, as they were
the daughters of a personal friend of former years. After a long
conversation, in which they gave him an outline history of their people,
and the cause that forced them to become wandering exiles from their
loved country, with the distressful mishaps which had attended their
search for a new home, they separated reluctantly for the day. In answer
to Mr. Welson’s sympathetic desire to render burial assistance in the
regretful disposal of their dead relatives, the mayorong replied, that
unless their preservers especially wished to be present they would
prefer to indulge in their sorrows alone. Readily understanding the
motive, Mr. Welson and associates returned to the steamer while the
ceremonies were in progress.
As Waantha had discovered Indian scouts lurking above and below upon
either bank of the river, Mr. Dow exercised his engineering skill in
forming on the pampa a defensive redoubt for the night protection of the
horses and mules. Dr. Baāhar theoretically explained the Latin
nomenclature of the different departments of the Roman castrum, which
possessed from his natural and cultivated innocence from mechanical
attaint the supreme “virtue” of novelty. Mr. Dow submitted to his
classical dictations, but stoutly refused to adopt his method of
fortification, which the doctor styled _fossa cingere internus_, or
moating inside of the redoubt, notwithstanding the strongly urged
advantage of its strategic intention of concealment, that would lead the
savages, on gaining the summit of the embankment, to take a blind leap
into it. Fortunately the padre was present to divert the argument, which
enabled him to render practical assistance to his Bamboyle aids for the
completion of the inclosure in time for the night’s occupation. The
absence of the doctor and padre from the supper table caused the captain
to inquire where they were? Mr. Dow said that he had left them but a
short time previous seated on the sods of the embankment engaged in a
dogmatic discussion of the feasibility of the various methods adopted by
the ancients and moderns for citadel defense, the doctor quoting from
“Plutarch’s Lives” and the padre from Bunyan’s “Holy War” as the best
English authority. Aggravated by the heedless lack of sympathy shown in
the use of their tongues, the while withholding the useful aid of their
hands, the captain, on their appearance, reprimanded the doctor over the
padre’s shoulders with tart severity, which caused both to give heed to
the practical suggestions of Mr. Welson in train for the outfit of the
overland expedition. From the direction of Correliana, who seemed to
have an innate perception of her entertainers’ dispositions, the captain
concluded to continue the voyage up the river to a point she described
as more favorable for debarkation, as it was nearer the southern passes
of the mountains that opened a way to the city of Heraclea.
_June 21._—After the morning meal a majority of the women and children
were brought on board of the steamer, and of the males all that would be
likely to impede the progress of the land party having in charge the
horses and mules. When ready for the start, the doctor joined the shore
party equipped in naturalistic costume, which, in defiance of the recent
sad experiences of the Bamboyle women, excited a mirthful inclination;
even the more sedate demeanor of Correliana was moved in despite of her
efforts to suppress her risible emotions. With his nether bifurcations
disappearing, in extremity, within the capacious leg receptacles of
boots, a blouse surcoat, or smock frock, elaborately supplied with
Sanskrit labeled pockets, depended loosely from his shoulders, reaching
to his knees, his head being surmounted with a bell-crowned hat,
bestudded with impaling pins, technically called the kaleidoscope.
Protruding from the larger pockets were seen the mouths of a pistol
barrel, powder and drinking horns, with various articles for insect
preservation.
Aware of his uncouth presentment, he pleaded that its adoption combined
usefulness with policy, for he had noted in his travels that all tribes
and nations bowed down in reverential worship and awe to ugliness; and
he felt certain that he had often been indebted to the contributions of
his costume for the preservation of his life, while sojourning among the
natives of the Polynesian and Ladrone Islands. When fairly mounted upon
a mule, who seemed to be affected with emotions peculiar to his species,
but seemingly averse to awe and worshipful respect, Mr. Welson could not
refrain from commending the happy conjunction as talismanic for the
rider’s preservation from savage attacks.
It required much coaxing on the part of the mayorong to reconcile the
mule to the novel eccentricities of its rider, but in the course of the
forenoon he seemed to enter into the humor of his direction with unusual
zest. When fully reconciled to the swaying of the doctor’s net, with the
sharp turns and checks to which he was subjected in the chase of
insects, the Bamboyles left them to the full sway of their own moods.
Fortunately the saddle was well adapted to secure the safety of its
occupant. As they were crossing the opening of a glade, when the day was
well advanced, a splendid specimen of the pampa _Nyctaloide_ hovered
over the cavalada long enough to attract the doctor’s attention, then
floated away, leisurely, over the plain. In a moment the insect-hunter’s
net was in hand and, before he could be checked with warning caution,
was under full headway in pursuit, and, when fully engaged in following
the doublings of his quarry, he became deaf to the mayorong’s calls.
Feeling secure in being able to keep within hail of the boat, the
erratic movements of the doctor had been a source of amusement to the
Bamboyles, but as the distance was narrowing between the foot-hills and
the river, and withal hummocky, his danger increased. Still he was
armed, and little fear was entertained for his safety, for while within
call his mule could be brought back with a whistle. As he still kept
heedlessly on, the mayorong sent a party of young men to bring him back.
They had scarcely started, when a shrill shout from the mayorong urged
them on, he and Mr. Dow following at full speed. The cause of these
movements was a pursuing Indian close in the wake of the doctor.
Unheedful of the danger, the doctor and his mule—who seemed to enjoy the
novelty of the chase with his rider’s gusto—neared the foot-hills, where
a band of Indians were seen watching the strange scene. His frantic
gesticulations had undoubtedly impressed them with the belief that he
was bestraught with madness; a condition held in especial reverence by
aboriginals,—as they continued to regard the movements of the Indian in
pursuit with negligent indifference; indeed, from his frequent
hesitations, when within the cast of a spear, he seemed to be subject to
the restraining influence of the same fear. The mayorong, who had
allowed Mr. Dow to overtake him, had twice discharged his rifle in hopes
that the report would apprise the doctor of his danger, so that he might
use his pistol. But these offensive demonstrations only aggravated his
danger, for the band of Indians moved rapidly forward for the rescue of
their scout; he at the same time, warned by the rifle reports, cast a
calculating glance backward to determine the extent of his own danger.
At this juncture the butterfly rose and doubled just without the range
of the distracted enthusiast’s net, then coquetted backward and forward
with all the instinctive blandishments of its human type, showing as
little concern for threatened danger as its pursuer. This tack brought
the doctor face to face with his foe, who had sprung upright upon the
croup of his horse, holding his spear poised ready for the cast. The
cool indifference of the doctor to this offensive act, although within
reach of the spear’s thrust, caused the savage to pause, backing his
horse out of the way, as if still doubting the sanity of his meditated
victim’s self-possession. In this act a bullet with the mayorong’s
novice aim startled the savage from the close proximity of its whizz, as
he started suddenly aside. A quick glance turned toward us determined
the doctor’s fate just as he succeeded in capturing the tantalizing
object of his chase. While in the act of lowering the staff of his net
to remove his prize, he received the blow from the cast of the spear
aimed at the unprotected portion of his head; the point glancing upward
upon the skull divided the scalp on the forehead, reflecting it backward
over the crown. The blow forced him backward from the saddle to the
ground; at this stage Mr. Dow brought his rifle to bear, which caused
the savage to bite the dust, just as he was about to finish his victim
with a spear thrust. The blow and report brought back the doctor’s
scattered senses in time to anticipate with his pistol an attempt upon
his throat from the teeth of the Indian’s no less savage horse, for the
completion of his dead master’s unfinished work. This instinctive
impulse of self-preservation announced the presence of the doctor’s
mind, and that he still survived, but the horse, deprived of life, fell
forward over his prostrate body, as if to accomplish in death his
defunct master’s intention. When dragged from beneath the horse Dr.
Baāhar looked as if he had been resurrected from a slaughter-house, but
he was a naturalist still, for his first thoughts were directed to his
captured butterfly. A more striking contrast could scarcely be imagined
than that presented by the captor and captured, the former being clothed
in blood and the latter in beauty, for it had escaped injury in the
conflict. After the doctor had examined the condition of his hat with
its contents and garnish of insects, he submitted his head to the
mayorong’s treatment, with the proviso that his restored scalp should be
swathed without washing. When mounted on his mule his appearance was as
fruitful of humorous mirth as those attending the most ludicrous mishaps
of the valorous knight of La Mancha. The Indians, after the mayorong’s
party left, held a consultation over the dead body of their scout, which
seemed to result in a determination to avenge his death, for the main
body, which outnumbered ours in the ratio of three to one, followed,
standing on croup in a menacing attitude, occasionally making a dash
forward, and as suddenly retreating. These maneuvers were continued for
an hour or more, serving to retard the progress of the cavalada, until
Mr. Dow, our rear guard, getting out of patience with their annoyance,
proposed a long shot with his Spencer rifle which in effect astonished
the Indians by dismounting one of the most defiant. This caused evident
dismay, for they immediately retreated with all speed to the foot-hills,
leaving us unmolested for the rest of the day’s stage. Notwithstanding
the delays of the land party, they were obliged to wait at the first
open glade until night-fall for the arrival of the steamer. After the
doctor had submitted to a thorough ablution of body and head,
administered by the Bamboyle women, the cause of the steamer’s delay was
explained.
The steamer, after an hour’s progress from her night’s moorage, entered
a broad expanse of water of lake-like dimensions formed by a confluent
tributary from the west. The strong eddy caused by the making out of a
spit from the eastern bank forced the boat to the opposite shore covered
with the rank growths common to extensive alluvial deposits in semi-
tropical latitudes. While the engine was exerting its utmost power to
stem the current and cross the walled strength of the combined streams,
Waantha, who was at his post with his canine friends, called Mr.
Welson’s attention by signs to a broad spreading mangrove banian
peculiar to the tributary deltas of the large South American rivers,
which bear a strong resemblance to kindred growths in India. Among the
pendant hybrid limbs, which had taken root in the muddy deposit, there
appeared one that seemed to vibrate to and fro, coiling upon itself.
With the glass the captain discovered that it was a huge amphibious
anaconda hanging pendant from one of the horizontal branches by the
prehensile attachment of its tail. The waving excitement of its
corrugations and swaying reflection of its head from side to side,
within circumscribed limits, aroused the spectators’ curiosity to learn
the nature of its attraction. A nearer approach discovered, prone upon
the interwoven platform of mangrove branches, a huge alligator with his
head inward from the river. The reptile relation of the parties
foreboded an instinctive encounter of sagacity and strength, which
excited in Mr. Welson a strong repulsive desire to witness, as a
comparative study, the result of a duel between individual
representatives of species so nearly allied on the cold blooded verge of
vitality. The captain, in order to afford him the privilege of recording
the result for future reference, directed the bow of the boat cautiously
toward the scene of encounter.
When sufficiently near to witness the movements of the monsters, who
were engaged in preliminary tactics, one to prevent insinuating
surprise; for the alligator, from his shrinking contractions, was
evidently aware of the impending danger, if his foe was allowed to gain
his object, and the other to excite the advantage he wished to gain, the
headway of the boat was checked. As the distance intervening was
shortened, the scaly tail, back, and immense snout of the alligator,
were exposed to view in sidelong reflection within the umbrageous
shadow, proclaiming him the patriarchal champion of his species, and
well matched in strength to contend with his ophidian foe, should he,
from tantalizing banter, proceed to actual hostilities. Gradually the
serpent’s curves and retractions grew more energetic in gliding movement
as its head darted hither and thither, now disappearing on one side of
the saurian, then retracting over his back for an investigation of the
opposite side, with the evident object of seeking a passage beneath. The
alligator, although passive in his defensive movements, was observed to
crouch closer to the underlying branches whenever the head of his foe
touched a part beneath the scales of his armor, his apprehension being
made manifest by a nervous twitching of his tail, as if aware of the
fatal vantage sought.
The captain had requested the engineer to keep the steamer in position
until the victor in the duelistic contest was determined; but the
wariness of the alligator, who was not in a position to accept the wager
of battle, made the result of the siege doubtful, as it might be
prolonged until they had tested their respective powers of total
abstinence to the extent of endurance. With the thought of his own
culpability should the gratification of Mr. Welson’s curiosity prove
fatal to the hopes of Correliana, who had placed her reliance in his
direction for the relief of her kindred, he was about to request the
engineer, who acted as pilot, to proceed, when the pagan exclamation
proh Jupiter! from the object of his thoughts called attention to the
cause. The alligator had attempted to gain the advantage of his
preferred element by a backward movement, this act had opened to the
head of his foe the sought for advantage, which had already passed
underneath his body between his dwarfed legs before his hind quarters
reached the water. In a twinkling two coils had involved the saurian’s
body just behind his fore legs, the part most susceptible to wounds and
compression. Then came a fearful struggle that swayed the tree
attachments through the wide expanse of its reach, causing in the minds
of the beholders a loathsome interest devoid of sympathy, offering the
test of instinctive strength and endurance as a meagre source of
gratification. Still, to Mr. Welson, the contest was not altogether
devoid of useful application for parallel deduction when compared with
the animal traits of human instinct. The tightening of the prehensile
coil of the anaconda’s tail on the limb of its attachment, and upward
retractile corrugations of his body with corresponding attenuation,
disclosed the difficulty he encountered from the elasticity of his
leverage, which prevented the concentration of muscular strength
necessary for the strangulation of his victim. To the elasticity of the
limb the alligator owed his prolonged existence and chance of
advantageous retrieval. At this stage of doubtful emergency the
instinctive “wisdom” of the serpent became meditatively apparent in the
darting movements of his head and gleam of his watchful eyes, which were
engaged in alert study to advantage his position, while guarding his
straining body from the frantic strokes of the tail and distended jaws
of his antagonist. The anaconda’s intention was soon made manifest, for
we could plainly see his corkscrew tail traveling with insidious
progress toward one of the main trunks of the tree; this once gained the
moments of the saurian’s existence could be numbered, for it would
afford the required resistance for crushing his body in its armor of
proof. The “spectators” had watched the conflict with a superlative
degree of indifference, inasmuch as favor for either of the contestants
was concerned, hoping that both would be fatally disabled. But the
moment the alligator began to manifest symptoms of exhaustion in the
weakened strokes of its tail, and gasping throes, the human instinct of
a guacho fireman sided with the weaker party in the struggle. Yet the
object of his championship was scarcely a shade less repulsive than the
symbolic cause of man’s squirming meanness and disposition to involve in
his folds of treachery all that adventure within the reach of his
cupidity. The alligator’s champion, born and nursed in the saddle with
the lariat and bola for his rattle, asked the captain, in an undertone,
for the skiff, with permission to terminate the combat. This granted he
soon gained a footing upon the mangrove thicket and in a few seconds the
quick gleam of a machéte was seen, then with the accompaniment of a
prolonged hiss the serpent’s writhing body fell separated from its tail.
Relaxing the portion inclosing his nearly lifeless victim, he strove
with instinctive energy to release his folds, but his efforts were vain,
for the retractile power of his muscles had departed with his tail.
Helplessly retained by the dead weight of the alligator’s body, the
serpent seemed at a loss to account for the futile result of his
efforts, for he continued to retract his bereaved stump, while
investigating with darting head the progress effected by vermicular
contraction beneath. The reviving spasms of the alligator increased the
anxious rapidity of the anaconda’s movements, but as with the fabled
flight of Samson’s strength shorn of his locks, he was held for
sacrifice bound in the toils of his own instinctive intention. His
helpless condition was aggravated by the guacho, who, after cutting away
the intervening branches, was seen struggling with the writhing tail
until he had drawn it to an overreaching limb, from which he dropped it
within reach of the head of its late owner. Its detached appearance
seemed to impress upon the majority, of the relict anaconda, the
diminished extent of his misfortune, for it was seized with its late
mouth and bitten with impotent rage. While engaged in inflicting
punishment upon its supposed traitorous tail, instinctive caution was
made blind with rage, and its coils, released by the recovered
consciousness of the alligator, convolved athwart between his open jaws
which seized and severed the serpent’s body while its head was
endeavoring to execute ultimate vengeance by swallowing its recreant
tail. M. Hollydorf and Mr. Welson closed the scene and the alligator’s
repast with their rifles, the bullets taking effect in the soft parts
which were exposed in his endeavors to regain the water. With this
humane addenda to the reptile duel, the serpent’s head was left to
shuffle off from its mortal coil. Correliana Adinope and the Bamboyle
women had screened themselves from the revolting sight under the awning
aft, from which they could not be induced to look backward until the
scene of the duel was left far behind. The steamer, to make good the
time lost, was urged to her best speed. With the relation of these
retarding incidents of the day, Antonio announced his readiness to serve
the evening meal.