THE CANNIBAL FISH AND THE GYMNOTUS.
About this time an incident occurred that was very near having a fatal
termination for one of the party--Leon. The day was a very hot one, and
as the cool water looked inviting, Leon could not resist the temptation
of taking a bath. Having undressed himself, he plunged into the river
nearly in front of where the house stood, and began splashing about
quite delighted. The rest were not heeding him, as each was engaged with
some occupation within the house.
Leon at first kept wading about in a place that was not beyond his
depth, but, by little and little, he took short swims, as he wished to
practise, and become a good swimmer like Guapo. His father had not only
given him permission, but had even advised him to do so. And it may be
here remarked that all parents would do well to take the same course
with their children and allow them to acquire this healthful and useful
art. No one can deny that thousands of lives are annually sacrificed,
because so few have taken the trouble to learn swimming.
Well; Leon was determined to be a swimmer, and at each attempt he made a
wider stretch into the deep water, swam around, and then back again to
the bank.
In one of these excursions, just as he had got farthest out, all at once
he felt a sharp pain as if from the bite of some animal, and then
another, and another, upon different parts of the body, as if several
sets of teeth were attacking him at once!
Leon screamed--who wouldn't have done so?--and his scream brought the
whole household to the edge of the water in less than a score of
seconds. All of them believed that he was either drowning or attacked by
a crocodile. On arriving at the bank, however, they saw that he was
still above water, and swimming boldly for the shore--no signs of a
crocodile were to be seen!
What was the matter?
Of course that question was asked of him by them all in a breath. His
reply was that "he could not tell--_something was biting him all
over_!"
The quick eye of the mother now caught sight of blood--around the
swimmer the water was tinged with it--her piercing shriek rent the air.
"O God! my child--my child! Save him--save him!"
Both Don Pablo and Guapo dashed into the water and plunged forward to
meet him. In the next moment he was raised in their arms, but the blood
streamed down his body and limbs, apparently from a dozen wounds. As
they lifted him out of the water they saw what had caused these wounds.
A shoal of small fish, with ashy-green backs and bright orange bellies
and fins, was seen below. With large open mouths they had followed their
victim to the very surface, and now that he was lifted out of their
reach, they shot forward and attacked the legs of his rescuers, causing
Don Pablo and Guapo to dance up in the water, and make with all haste
for the bank. As soon as they had reached it, they turned round and
looked into the water. There were these blood-thirsty pursuers that had
followed them up to the very bank, and now swam about darting from point
to point, and ready for a fresh attack on any one that might enter the
water!
"They are the 'cannibal fish!'" said Guapo, in an angry tone, as he
turned to attend to Leon. "I shall punish them yet for it. Trust me,
young master, you shall be revenged!"
Leon was now carried up to the house, and it was found that in all he
had received nearly a dozen wounds! Some of them were on the calves of
his legs, where the piece of flesh was actually taken out! Had he been
farther out in the river, when first attacked, he might never have
reached the shore alive, as the fierce creatures were gathering in far
greater numbers when he was rescued, and would most undoubtedly have
torn him to pieces and eaten him up!
Such has been the fate of many persons who have fallen among the
"cannibal fish" in the midst of wide rivers where they had no chance of
escape. These ferocious little "caribes," or "caribitos," as they are
called (for the word _carib_ signifies cannibal), lie at the bottom of
rivers, and are not easily seen; but the moment an attack is made by one
of them, and a drop of blood stains the water, the whole shoal rises to
the surface, and woe to the creature that is assailed by their sharp
triangular teeth!
Of course the wounds of Leon, although painful, were not dangerous, but
the chief danger lay in the loss of blood which was pouring from so many
veins. But Guapo found ready to his hand the best thing in the world for
stopping it. On some mimosa-trees, not far from the house, he had
already observed--indeed, so had all of them--a very singular species of
ants' nests of a yellowish brown colour. The ants themselves were of a
beautiful emerald green. They were the _Formica spinicollis_. These
nests were composed of a soft cotton-down, which the ants had collected
from a species of _Melastoma_, a handsome shrub found growing in these
regions; and this down Guapo knew to be the best for blood-stopping.
Even Don Pablo had heard of its being used by the Indians for this
purpose, and knew it by the name of "_yesca de hormigas_," or
"touch-wood of ants." He had heard, moreover, that it was far superior
even to the ants' nests of Cayenne, which form an article of commerce
and are highly prized in the hospitals of Europe. Guapo, therefore, ran
off and robbed the green ants of their nests, and speedily returned
with the full of his hands of the soft "yesca." This was applied to the
wounds, and in a few minutes the bleeding was effectually stopped, and
Leon, although still suffering pain, had now only to be patient and get
well.
Strange to say, another incident occurred that very evening, which
taught our party a further lesson of the danger of taking to the water
without knowing more of its inhabitants. Just as they had finished
supper, and were seated in front of their new house, the mule, that had
been let loose, stepped into the river to drink and cool its flanks. It
was standing in the water, which came up to its belly, and, having
finished its drink, was quietly gazing around it. All at once, it was
observed to give a violent plunge, and make with hot haste for the bank.
It snorted and looked terrified, while its red nostrils were wide open,
and its eyes appeared as if they would start from their sockets. At
length it reached the bank, and, staggering forward, rolled over in the
sand, as if it was going to die!
What could all this mean? Had it, too, been attacked by the "caribes?"
No; that was not likely, as the bite of these creatures upon the hard
shanks of the mule could not have produced such an effect. They might
have frightened it, but they could not have thrown it into "fits"--for
it was evidently in some sort of a fit at that moment.
It might have been a puzzle to our party not easily solved, had Guapo
not been upon the spot. But Guapo had witnessed such an incident before.
Just before the mule gave the first plunge Guapo's eyes had been
wandering in that direction. He had noticed an odd-looking form glide
near the mule and pass under the animal's belly. This creature was of a
greenish-yellow colour, about five feet in length, and four or five
inches thick. It resembled some kind of water-snake more than a fish,
but Guapo knew it was not a snake, but an eel. It was the great
_electric eel_--the "temblador," or "gymnotus."
This explained the mystery. The gymnotus, having placed itself under the
belly of the unsuspecting mule, was able to bring its body in contact at
all points, and hence the powerful shock that had created such an
effect.
The mule, however, soon recovered, but from that time forward, no
coaxing, nor leading, nor driving, nor whipping, nor pushing, would
induce that same mule to go within twenty feet of the bank of that same
piece of water.
Guapo now bethought himself of the narrow escape he himself had had
while swimming across to the palm-woods; and the appearance of the
gymnotus only rendered him more determined to keep the promise he had
made to Leon,--that is, that he would revenge him of the caribes.
None of them could understand how Guapo was to get his revenge without
catching the fish, and that would be difficult to do. Guapo, however,
showed them how on the very next day.
During that evening he had made an excursion into the wood, and returned
home carrying with him a large bundle of roots.
They were the roots of two species of plants--one of the genus
_Piscidea_, the other a _Jacquinia_. Out of these, when properly pounded
together, Guapo intended to make the celebrated "barbasco," or
fish-poison, which is used by all the Indians of South America in
capturing fish. Guapo knew that a sufficient quantity of the barbasco
thrown into the water would kill either "temblador," caribe, or any fish
that ever swam with fins.
And so it proved. In the morning Guapo having prepared his barbasco,
proceeded to the upper end of the lake-like opening of the river, and
there flung his poison into the stream. The slow current through the
valley greatly favoured him, and from the large quantity of roots he had
used, the whole pool was soon infected with it. This was seen from the
whitish tinge which the water assumed. The barbasco had scarcely time to
sink to the bottom when small fish were seen coming to the surface, and
turning "wrong side uppermost." Then larger ones appeared, and in a few
minutes all the fish in that particular stretch of water, with several
gymnoti, were seen floating on the surface quite dead. To the great joy
of Guapo and Leon, who sat by the bank watching, hundreds of the little
caribes, with their bronze gills quite open, and their yellow bellies
turned up, were seen among the rest.
But Guapo had not made this great slaughter purely out of revenge. He
had another object. They were not too well off for meat, and a dish of
fish would be welcome. Guapo and Don Pablo had already provided
themselves with long-handled nets, and they soon scooped out several
basketfuls of fish. Among others they netted numerous "caribes," for
these little monsters, fierce as they are, are not surpassed for
delicacy of flavour by any fish in the South American rivers. The
gymnoti approached the bank, where Guapo fished them out, not to
eat--although they are often eaten. There was not a spark of electricity
in them now. The barbasco had cured them of that; any one might have
handled them with safety, as there was not a charge left in their whole
battery.
The lake was quite cleared of all its dangerous denizens, and Leon might
bathe with safety, as soon as he got well; and over the fish-dinner they
could now laugh at the adventures both of Leon and the electrified mule.