THE JOURNEY FROM THE COAST.
The greater part of the interior of British Guiana consists of dense
forests which are mostly unexplored. No roads traverse them, and but
little would be known of the savannas, or open grassy plains, and the
mountains that lie beyond--and they would indeed be inaccessible--were
it not for the many wide rivers by which the forests are intersected.
These form the only means of communication between the coast and the
interior at the present day; and so vast is the extent of territory
covered with forest growth that it is probable many years will elapse
before any road communication is opened up between the sea and the open
country lying beyond the woods.
Of these vast forests little--or rather practically nothing--is known
save what can be seen of them from the rivers by those voyaging to and
fro in canoes. There are a limited number of spots at which the Indians
of the savannas come to the banks of the rivers to launch their canoes
when journeying to the coast; and to reach these places they have
what are known as 'Indian paths' through the intervening woods. These
so-called paths are, for the most part, of such a character, however,
that only Indians accustomed to them can find their way by them. Any
white man who should venture to trust himself alone in them would
inevitably get quickly and hopelessly lost. Hence--save for a few
miles near the line of coast--there are, as yet, absolutely no roads in
the country.
Naturally, under such conditions, the forest scenery is of the wildest
imaginable character, and its flora and fauna flourish unchecked in the
utmost luxuriance of tropical savage life; for the country lies but a
few degrees from the equator, and is far more sparsely populated than
even the surrounding tropical regions of Brazil and Venezuela.
Fortunately, however, for those who for any reason have occasion to
traverse this wild region, there is no lack of water-ways. Several
grand rivers of great breadth lead from the coast in different
directions, most of them being navigable (for canoes and small boats)
for great distances, leaving only comparatively short stretches of
forest land to be crossed by travellers desiring to reach the open
plains and hills.
Of these rivers, the Essequibo is one of the finest, and it was by
this route that the two friends, Elwood and Templemore, set out, under
Matava's guidance, to reach their destination. From this river they
branched off into one of its affluents, the Potaro, noted for its
wonderful waterfall, the Kaieteur, which they visited _en route_. Here
their canoes were left and exchanged for lighter ones, hired from the
Ackawoi Indians, who live at a little distance above the fall; their
stores and camp equipage being carried round. So far the journey had
been uneventful, save for a little excitement in passing the various
cataracts and rapids; but the two young men knew their way fairly well
thus far, having visited the Kaieteur with Matava some years before.
When, however, the journey was resumed above the Kaieteur, the route
was new to them; and, among the first things they noticed, were the
alligators with which the river abounded. In the Essequibo they had
seen none, and not many below the fall; but from this point, as far as
they ascended the river, they saw them continually. Once they had a
narrow escape. They were making arrangements for camping on the bank,
and were nearing the shore in the last of the canoes, when a tremendous
blow and a great splash overturned the boat, and they found themselves
struggling in the stream. An alligator had struck the canoe a blow with
its tail and upset it. Fortunately, however, it was in shallow water;
and the Indians, seeing how matters were, made a great splashing, and
thus frightened away the reptile. The contents of the canoe were partly
recovered, not without difficulty; but some were damaged by the water.
As they proceeded up the river, the rapids and cataracts became more
frequent, and the negotiation of them more difficult, till they reached
a spot where further navigation was impossible, and they had to take to
the forest, their stores and baggage being henceforward carried by the
Indians.
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 been
cheerful 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 an
evident effect upon their spirits; they first became depressed, and
then 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 understand
that the eventual destination was Roraima, they became still more
depressed.
All the Indian tribes who have heard of Roraima, in any way, have the
same superstitious dread of it; and those now with the two young men
were evidently not exceptional in this respect. Templemore and Elwood
began to feel anxious and, to make matters worse, food ran short
for the Indians. The latter live chiefly on the native food, a kind
of bread called cassava, and, of this, a good deal of what they had
brought with them had been lost or spoiled by the upsetting of the
canoe.
In consequence, Matava advised that they should interrupt their direct
journey to turn aside to an Indian settlement that he knew of, about
a day's journey off the route they were pursuing; there they would
be able to replenish their stores, he thought; and to this course a
reluctant assent was given by the two friends.
It turned out to be more than a day's journey, however; but they
reached the place on the second day. It was called Karalang; there were
not more than a dozen huts, and the people at first said that they
had no food to spare; but eventually promised to procure some if the
travellers would wait a few days; and this they were perforce compelled
to do.
This village was situated on a hill in a piece of open country in the
midst of the great forest; and, during their enforced rest, the two
friends were enabled to engage in a little hunting, and to see more of
the wild life of the woods than they had seen before.
The first thing they did on arrival was to procure a couple of fowls
for cooking, of which there were plenty in the village. But these were
of no use as food for the Indians, who never eat them. Throughout the
country this is everywhere the case; the Indians keep fowls, yet never
eat them; and it is said that, were it not for the vampire bats and
tiger-cats, these would increase beyond all reason. Though, however,
they object to fowls as a diet, they have no dislike to fish, and they
were not long in discovering that there were some in a stream that ran
near the village; and a supply was caught by their method of poisoning
the 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 is
prepared from a root.
Amongst the miscellaneous stores the two had brought they had a liberal
supply of firearms--five Winchester rifles, half-a-dozen revolvers
and two guns, each with double barrels, one for shot and the other
for ball. The extra weapons were in case of loss or accident, and
Templemore had a good stock of tobacco, for he never felt happy for
long together without his pipe.
On their way up they had had very little shooting. Jack had indeed
killed an alligator, by way of relieving his feelings after the
upsetting of the canoe; but there had been very little time to spare
for sport. Every morning they had started as soon as the morning meal
had been eaten, and had gone into camp at night only in time to cook a
meal before it became dark. For in this part of the world night closes
in at about half-past six on the shortest days of the year, and a
little before seven on the longest. Practically, therefore, the varying
seasons bring little difference in the length of the days. One cannot
there get up at three or four o'clock and "have a good long day," with
an evening keeping light till eight and nine o'clock, as in summer-time
in Europe. Hence the days seem short for travel and sport, and the
nights 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 the
day had been hot the evening was chilly--"and we deserve a rest. So it
is just as well. We will have two or three days' shooting, and a look
round, before we go on to tackle 'the old man.'"
'The old man' was the one they were on their way to see--the one Dr.
Lorien had met and described so enthusiastically. Jack was a little
sceptical as to whether the good-natured doctor had not sacrificed
strict 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 friend
will turn out all that the doctor pictured him."
"I shall be glad if he does, at any rate," Leonard made reply. "He
would be almost worth coming to see for himself alone."
Jack laughed.
"That's rather stretching a point, I think. However, I am keeping an
open mind on the subject. The gentleman shall have 'a fair field and
no favour,' so far as my judgment of him goes. I won't let myself be
prejudiced in advance, either one way or the other."
During the following days they enriched their stores by the skin
of a fine jaguar, shot by Templemore, a great boa-constrictor--or
'camoodi'--twenty-four feet long, shot by Leonard, and many trophies of
lesser account. Then, a fresh lot of cassava having been procured for
the Indians, the journey was resumed.
In about three weeks from the time of their start, the party emerged
from the forest into a more open country, where rolling savannas
alternated with patches of woodland. Here the air was fresher and more
bracing, so that the depressing effect of the gloomy forest was soon
thrown 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 low
hills they crossed. The ground steadily rose and became first hilly and
then mountainous, till, having crossed a broad, undulating plateau,
they once more entered a forest region, but this time of different
character. The trees were farther apart; there were hills, and rocky
ravines, and mountain torrents, steep mountains, and deep valleys. The
way became toilsome and difficult; game was scarce, or at least not
easy to obtain, owing to the nature of the ground; the cassava ran
short, and, once more, grumbling arose and trouble threatened.
At last, one evening, Matava, with perplexity in his face, led the two
young men aside to hold a consultation.
"These people," he said in his own language, "say they will not go any
farther!"
"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 days
more, we could fix a camp, and I could go on alone and bring back some
of 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 encamp
at the first likely camping-ground."
In the end the Indians were prevailed upon, by promise of extra pay, to
go 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 they
are frightened, and won't go any nearer to it."
There was, therefore, nothing to be done but to adopt Matava's
suggestion. It was agreed that the two friends would stay in camp and
keep guard over their belongings, while he started next day for his
village, to bring help.
The spot was a convenient one in which to camp for a few days, with a
stream of water near. That evening, therefore, the Indians were paid,
this being done in silver, which they knew how to make use of. The next
morning, when Elwood and Templemore got out of their hammocks, they
found they were alone with Matava. All the others had disappeared.
"Ungrateful beggars!" said Jack. "They might, at least, have gone in a
respectable manner, and not like thieves slinking away. Let's hope they
are not thieves."
But they were not. An examination showed that nothing had been stolen.
"The poor fellows were only frightened," Leonard observed. "They are
honest enough."
Matava, meantime, was making ready to set off alone for carriers from
his own village. When he was ready, Templemore expressed a desire to
walk a little way on the road with him 'to take a peep over that little
ridge yonder'; which is a wish common to travellers in a country that
is new to them. But when they reached the ridge, there was only to
be seen another short expanse of undulating savanna, whereupon Jack
decided to return, leaving Matava to continue on his way.
Leonard, left to himself, finished the occupation he had in hand--the
cleaning of his double-barrel--and, having loaded it, strolled out of
the camp in another direction, to take a look round. He left the camp
to itself, not intending to go far, and expecting that his friend would
be back in a quarter of an hour or so. Not far away a 'bell-bird' was
ringing out its strange cry, that has been compared by travellers to
the sound of a convent bell. He had heard these birds often in the
forest since leaving the boats, but, in consequence of the density of
the woods, had never been able to get near one. Here, where the trees
were more open, there seemed to be a better chance, and he followed, as
he thought, the sound. But soon he came to the conclusion that he had
been in error; or the bird had flown across unseen; for the direction
of the sound seemed to have changed. He, therefore, turned off towards
where 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 birds
of the forest, that their notes are often misleading; it is one of
those cases of what has been termed by naturalists 'Ventriloquism in
Nature,' many examples of which the traveller in these wild regions
comes across. Leonard had arrived at the head of a small glen, and
found himself on a grassy bank beside a little stream, sheltered from
the glare of the sun by over-hanging branches. He laid down his gun
and went to take a drink of the inviting limpid water, and then sat
awhile on the bank looking down the picturesque ravine. It was very
quiet 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 while
oblivious of all that went on about him. But presently, behind him, a
silent, cunning enemy crept up unseen and unheard till near enough for
a spring; then there was a loud roar, and the next moment Leonard was
lying on the ground in the grasp of an enormous jaguar.
For a minute or two the beast stood over him growling, but not touching
him after the first blow that had knocked him down; while Leonard lay
dazed and helpless, with just enough consciousness to have a vague idea
that the best thing he could do, for the moment, was to lie perfectly
still. Then, with another roar, the animal seized him by the shoulder
and began to drag him down the slope towards some bushes. At that
moment Leonard, whose face was turned away from the brute, saw, like
one in a dream, the undergrowth through which he himself had come,
part asunder and three figures appear. Two of them were Templemore and
Matava, who stood rooted to the spot with horror-stricken faces; the
third was a tall stranger who towered above the other two, and who also
stood still for a second or two eyeing the scene, while the jaguar
growled threateningly.
Then the tall stranger advanced, and the animal released its hold and
was itself seized and pulled from over Leonard. In another moment
he felt himself lifted in two giant arms, and, looking up, saw the
stranger bending upon him a gaze in which there seemed a world of
tender anxiety and compassion. Everything appeared to swim around him,
and he knew that consciousness was leaving him; yet, for a space, the
fascination of that look seemed to hold him chained.
"You--must--be--Monella!" he said, softly. Then he fainted.