THE LONE CROSS IN THE FOREST.
After two more days of fatiguing travel, the road parted from the bank
of the river, and ran along the ridge of a high mountain spur in a
direction at right angles to that of the Andes themselves. This spur
continued for several miles, and then ended abruptly. At the point where
it ended, the path, which for the whole of the day had been scarcely
traceable, also came to an end. They were now of course in a
forest-covered country--in the _Ceja de la Montaña_--that is, the forest
that covers the foot-hills of the mountains. The forest of the plains,
which were yet lower down, is known as the "Montaña" proper.
During that day they had found the road in several places choked up with
underwood, and Guapo had to clear it with his _macheté_--a sort of
half-sword, half-knife, used throughout all Spanish America, partly to
cut brushwood and partly as a weapon of defence. Where the ridge ended,
however, what had once been a road was now entirely overgrown--vines and
llianas of large size crossed the path. Evidently no one had passed for
years. A road existed no longer; the luxuriant vegetation had effaced
it.
This is no unusual thing on the borders of the Montaña. Many a
settlement had existed there in former times, and had been abandoned. No
doubt the road they had been following once led to some such settlement
that had long since fallen into ruin.
It is a melancholy fact that the Spanish-Americans--including the
Mexican nation--have been retrograding for the last hundred years.
Settlements which they have made, and even large cities built by them,
are now deserted and in ruins; and extensive tracts of country, once
occupied by them, have become uninhabited, and have gone back to a state
of nature. Whole provinces, conquered and peopled by the followers of
Cortez and Pizarro, have within the last fifty years been retaken from
them _by the Indians_: and it would be very easy to prove, that had the
descendants of the Spanish conquerors, been left to themselves, another
half century would have seen them driven from that very continent which
their forefathers so easily conquered and so cruelly kept. This
re-conquest on the part of the Indian races was going on in a wholesale
way in the northern provinces of Mexico. But it is now interrupted by
the approach of another and stronger race from the East--the
Anglo-American.
To return to our travellers. Don Pablo was not surprised that the road
had run out. He had been expecting this for miles back. What was to be
done? Of course they must halt for that night at least. Indeed it was
already near camping-time. The sun was low in the sky, and the animals
were all much jaded. The llamas could not have gone much farther. They
looked as if they should never go farther. The heat of the climate--it
had been getting warmer every hour--was too much for them. These
animals, whose native home is among the high cool mountain valleys, as
already observed, cannot live in the low tropical plains. Even as they
descended the Sierras they had shown symptoms of suffering from the heat
during all that day. Their strength was now fairly exhausted.
The party halted. A little open space was chosen for the camp. The
animals were relieved of their burdens and tied to the trees, lest they
might stray off and be lost in the thick woods. A fire was kindled, and
part of the vicuña meat cooked for supper.
It was not yet night when they had finished eating, and all were seated
on the ground. The countenance of the father was clouded with a
melancholy expression. Doña Isidora sat by his side and tried to cheer
him, endeavouring to force a smile into her large black eyes. The little
Leona, with her head resting on her mother's lap, overcome with the heat
and fatigue, had fallen asleep. Leon, seeing the dejected look of his
father, was silent and thoughtful. Guapo was busy with his llamas.
"Come, dear husband!" said the lady, trying to assume a cheerful tone,
"do not be so sad. We are now safe. Surely they will never pursue us
here."
"They may not," mechanically replied Don Pablo; "but what then? We have
escaped death, for what purpose? Either to live like savages in these
wild woods--perhaps to be killed by savages--perhaps to die of hunger!"
"Do not say so, Don Pablo. I have never heard that the Indians of these
parts were cruel. They will not injure poor harmless people such as we
are. And as for starving, are not these luxuriant woods filled with
roots and fruits that will sustain life a long while? You, too, know so
well what they are! Dear husband, do not despond; God will not forsake
us. He has enabled us to escape from our enemies, from fearful dangers
on our journey. Fear not! He will not leave us to perish now."
The cheering words of his beautiful wife had their effect upon Don
Pablo. He embraced and kissed her in a transport of love and gratitude.
He felt inspired with new hope. The vigour of mind and body, that for
days had deserted him, now suddenly returned; and he sprang to his feet
evidently with some newly-formed resolution.
The country both before and behind them was shut out from their view by
the thick foliage and underwood. A tall tree grew by the spot, with
branches down to the level of a man's head. Don Pablo approached this
tree, and seizing the branches drew himself up, and then climbed on
towards its top. When he had reached a sufficient height, to overlook
the surrounding woods, he stopped; and, resting himself upon one of the
branches, looked abroad towards the east. All the rest stood watching
him from below.
He had been gazing but a few seconds when his face brightened up, and a
smile of satisfaction was seen to play upon his countenance. He
evidently saw something that pleased him. Isidora, impatient, called out
to him from below; but Don Pablo waved his hand to her, as if
admonishing her to be silent.
"Have patience, love," he cried down. "I shall descend presently and
tell you all. I have good news, but be patient."
It required a good share of patience, for Don Pablo after this remained
a full half-hour upon the tree. He was not all the time looking abroad,
however. Part of it he sat upon his perch--his head leaning forward, and
his eyes not appearing to be particularly engaged with anything. He was
busy with his thoughts, and evidently meditating on some great project.
Perhaps the going down of the sun admonished him, as much as the desire
of satisfying his wife's curiosity, but just as the bright orb was
sinking among the far tree-tops he descended.
"Now, Don Pablo," said the fair Isidora, pretending to frown and look
angry, "you have tried our patience, have you not? Come, then, no more
mystery, but tell us all. What have you seen?"
"Forgive me, wife; you shall know all."
Both sat down upon the trunk of a dead tree that Guapo had felled, and
was cutting up for firewood: not that it was at all cold, but they had
now arrived in the country of the terrible _jaguar_, and it would be
necessary to keep up a blazing fire throughout the night.
"Your words were true, love," began Don Pablo. "God has not forsaken us.
I have seen three things that have inspired me with fresh life and hope.
"First, I looked out upon the Montaña, which I expected to see
stretching away to the horizon, like a green ocean. I saw this in fact;
but, to my surprise, I saw more. I beheld a broad river winding like an
immense serpent through the distant forest. It ran in a direction
north-east, as far as the eye could reach. Even upon the horizon I could
distinguish spots of its bright water glancing like silver under the
rays of the setting sun. My heart leaped with joy, for I recognised a
river whose existence has been doubted. It can be no other, thought I,
than the _Madre de Dios_. I have often heard that there existed such a
river in these parts, that runs on to the Amazon. A missionary is said
to have visited it, but with the destruction of the missions the record
has been lost. I have no doubt the river I have seen is the _Madre de
Dios_ of that missionary."
The thought of being so near the banks of this river suggested other
thoughts. At once a design entered into my mind. "We can build a raft,"
thought I, "launch it upon this noble river, and float down to the
Amazon, and thence to the mouth of the great stream itself. There is a
Portuguese settlement there--the town of Grand Para. There we shall be
safe from our foes."
Such were my first thoughts on beholding the new river. I reflected
further. "Our fortune is gone," I reflected; "we have nothing in the
wide world--what should we do at Para, even if we arrived there in
safety? How could we attempt such a journey without provisions. It would
be impossible."
My hopes fell as quickly as they had sprung up.
"I noticed your countenance change as you sat upon the tree."
"True, you might easily have done so: the prospect of reaching Para,
penniless, and becoming a beggar in the streets--the nearer prospect of
starving in the wilderness of the Amazon--were before my mind."
My eyes for awhile were bent mechanically upon the green ocean of
tree-tops. All at once an object arrested them. It was a patch of bright
rose-coloured foliage, easily distinguishable amid the green leaves that
surrounded it. It was not down in the Montaña--for that is a thousand
feet below us. It was upon the side of the Sierra. My eyes glanced
quickly around. I beheld other patches of similar foliage, some of them
nearly an acre in breadth. My heart again leaped with joy. I knew well
what these red spots of the forest were. They were clumps of _cinchona_
trees--those trees that yield the celebrated febrifuge--the Peruvian
bark!
New ideas passed rapidly through my mind. "Our fortune is gone," thought
I. "Here is a fortune in these valuable trees. Here is a mine that only
requires to be worked. I shall turn _cascarillero_--I shall be a
_bark-hunter_."
"At first I thought that we might gather the bark, and send Guapo to
sell it in the towns of the Sierra. Then the idea came into my mind that
it might be possible to collect an immense quantity, store it up, build
a great raft, float it down the rivers, and dispose of it in Para. I
knew that in this way it would more than quadruple its price--for the
traders of the Sierra purchase it from the poor cascarilleros, and have
enormous profits upon it from the larger merchants.
"But how to live while making this store? Yes, how to live even on the
morrow? Could we support ourselves by hunting, or find sustenance from
fruits and roots, as you have suggested? This was the most important
question of all, for our present necessities far outweighed our future
prospects.
"The very thought of our necessity caused me once more to glance over
the forest, and I continued to scan it on all sides. My eye was again
arrested, and fixed upon a point where I saw there existed a different
vegetation from any that could be seen elsewhere. There is a small
valley about five hundred feet below us. It is a sort of table valley,
and the stream along which we have been travelling runs through it,
afterwards dashing over a fall to join the river below. In this valley I
saw huge broad leaves of a brilliant yellowish green. I knew them at
once to be the leaves of the great _musaceæ_, either plantains or
bananas. I thought, too, I could distinguish the form of the _yucca_
plant. These are the certain signs of some settlement, or where one has
existed. I fancy the latter is the correct idea, as I could distinguish
neither house nor smoke. It may be some deserted Indian 'chacra,' or it
may be the grounds of an old mission. In either case, we shall be likely
to find those useful plants from which we may obtain food."
"Oh, papa! mamma!" cried Leon, running up and interrupting the
conversation. "See what is here among the trees! I declare it is a great
cross!"
Don Pablo and Isidora walked towards the spot. There, sure enough, was a
large wooden cross planted in the ground, and leaning to one side. The
wood was much decayed, but the inscription that had been deeply cut in
the transverse beam was still legible. It was simply the Spanish
phrase:--
"BRAZOS DE DIOS" (The arm of God).
Isidora took Don Pablo by the hand, and looking steadfastly in his face,
pointed to the inscription.
"It _is_ true," said she, "God protects us!"