After going about a mile further, as their guide had forewarned them,
they came within sight of a level valley, or rather a plain, covered
with a singular vegetation. It looked as if it had been a forest of
palms--the trunks of which had sunk down into the earth, and left only
the heads, with their great radiating fronds above the ground! Some of
them stood a foot or two above the surface; but most appeared as if
their stems had been completely buried! They were growing all the same,
however; and, at the bottom of each great bunch of pinnate leaves, could
be seen a number of large, roundish objects--which were evidently the
fruits of the plant.
There was no mystery about the stems being buried underground. There
were no stems, and never had been any--except those that were seen
rising a yard or so above the surface. Neither was there any longer a
mystery about the "negro's head;" for the rounded fruit, with its
wrinkled coriaceous pericarp--suggesting a resemblance to the little
curly knots of wool on the head of an African--was evidently the object
to which the tigrero had applied the ambiguous appellation.
What our hunters saw was neither more nor less than a grove of _Tagua_
trees--better known as the "vegetable ivory."
This singular tree was for a long time regarded as a plant of the
_Oycas_ family; and by some botanists it has been classed among the
_Pandanaceae_, or screw-pines. Growing, as its leaves do, almost out of
the earth, or with only a short trunk, it bears a very marked
resemblance to the cycads; but for all this, it is a true palm. Its not
having a tall trunk is no reason why it should not be a palm, since many
other species of _palmaceae_ are equally destitute of a visible stem.
It is now, however, acknowledged by the most expert botanists, that the
"Tagua"--or "Cabeza del Negro," as the Peruvians style it--is a palm;
and it has been honoured as the representative of a genus
(_Phytelephas_), of which there are but two species known--the great
fruited and little fruited (_macrocarpa_ and _microcarpa_). Both are
natives of the hot valleys of the Andes, and differ very little from
each other; but it is the species with the larger fruit that is
distinguished by the figurative title of "negro's head."
The Peruvian Indians use the pinnate fronds of both species for
thatching their huts; but it is the nuts of the larger one that have
given its great celebrity to the tree. These are of an oblong
triangular shape; and a great number of them are enclosed in the
pericarp, already described. When young, they are filled with a watery
liquid that has no particular taste; though regarded by the Indians as a
most refreshing beverage. A little older, this crystal-like fluid turns
of a milky colour and consistence; and still later it becomes a white
paste. When fully ripe, it congeals to the whiteness and hardness of
ivory itself; and, if kept out of water, is even more beautiful in
texture than, the tusks of the elephant. It has been employed by the
Indians from time immemorial in the construction of buttons, heads for
their pipes, and many other purposes. Of late years it has found its
way into the hands of civilised artisans; and, since it can be procured
at a cheaper rate, and is quite equal to the real ivory for many useful
and ornamental articles, it has become an important item of commerce.
But however much the vegetable ivory may be esteemed by the Indians, or
by bipeds of any kind, there is one quadruped who thinks quite as much
of it as they, and that is the black bear of the Andes (_ursus
frugilegus_). It is not, however, when it has reached the condition of
ivory that Bruin cares for it. Then the nut would be too hard, even for
his powerful jaws to crack. It is when it is in the milky state--or
rather after it has become coagulated to a paste--that he relishes it;
and with so much avidity does he devour the sweet pulp, that at this
season he is easily discovered in the midst of his depredations, and
will scarce move away from his meal even upon the appearance of the
hunter! While engaged in devouring his favourite negro-head, he appears
indifferent to any danger that may threaten him.
Of this our hunters had proof, and very shortly after entering among the
tagua trees. As the tigrero had predicted, they soon came upon the
"sign" of a bear, and almost in the same instant discovered Bruin
himself browsing upon the fruit.
The young hunters, and Pouchskin too, were about getting ready to fire
upon him; when, to their surprise, they saw the tigrero, who was mounted
on a prancing little horse, spur out in front of them, and gallop
towards the bear. They knew that the killing of the animal should have
been left to them; but, as they had given their guide no notice of this,
they said nothing, but looked on--leaving the tigrero to manage matters
after his own way.
It was evident that he intended to attack the bear, and in a peculiar
fashion. They knew this by seeing that he carried a coil of raw-hide
rope over his arm, on one end of which there was a ring and loop. They
knew, moreover, that this was a celebrated weapon of the South
Americans--the _lazo_, in short; but never having witnessed an
exhibition of its use, they were curious to do so; and this also
influenced them to keep their places.
In a few minutes the horseman had galloped within some twenty paces of
the bear. The latter took the alarm, and commenced trotting off; but
with a sullen reluctance, which showed that he had no great disposition
to shun the encounter.
The ground was tolerably clear, the taguas standing far apart, and many
of them not rising higher than the bear's back. This gave the
spectators an opportunity of witnessing the chase.
It was not a long one. The bear perceiving that the horseman was
gaining upon him, turned suddenly in his tracks, and, with an angry
growl, rose erect upon his hind legs, and stood facing his pursuer in an
attitude of defiance. As the horseman drew near, however, he appeared
to become cowed, and once more turning tail, shambled off through the
bushes. This time he only ran a few lengths: for the shouts of the
hunter provoking him to a fresh fit of fury, caused him to halt again,
and raise himself erect as before.
This was just the opportunity of which the hunter was in expectation;
and before the bear could lower himself on all-fours--to charge forward
upon the horse, the long rope went spinning through the air, and its
noose was seen settling over the shoulders of the bear. The huge
quadruped, puzzled by this mode of attack, endeavoured to seize hold of
the rope; but so thin was the raw-hide thong, that he could not clutch
it with his great unwieldy paws; and by his efforts he only drew the
noose tighter around his neck.
Meanwhile, the hunter, on projecting the lazo, had wheeled, with the
quickness of thought; and, driving his sharp spurs into the ribs of his
horse, caused the latter to gallop in the opposite direction. One might
have supposed that he had taken fright at the bear, and was endeavouring
to get out of the way. Not so. His object was very different. The
lazo still formed a link of connection between the hunter and his game.
One end of it was fast to a staple firmly imbedded in the wood of the
saddle-tree, while the other, as we have seen, was noosed around the
bear. As the horse stretched off, the rope was seen to tighten with a
sudden jerk; and Bruin was not only floored from his erect attitude, but
plucked clear off his feet, and laid sprawling along the earth. In that
position he was not permitted to remain: for the horse continuing his
gallop, he was dragged along the ground at the end of the lazo--his huge
body now bounding several feet from the earth, and now breaking through
the bushes with a crackling, crashing noise, such as he had himself
never made in his most impetuous charges.
In this way went horse and bear for half a mile over the plain; the
spectators following after to witness the ending of the affair. About
that there was nothing particular: for when the tigrero at length
halted, and the party got up to the ground, they saw only an immobile
mass of shaggy hair--so coated with dust as to resemble a heap of earth.
It was the bear without a particle of breath in his body; but, lest he
might recover it again, the tigrero leaped from his horse, stepped up to
the prostrate bear, and buried his _machete_ between the ribs of the
unconscious animal.
That, he said, was the way they captured bears in his part of the
country. They did not employ the same plan with the jaguars: because
these animals, crouching, as they do, offered no opportunity for casting
the noose over them; and, besides, the jaguars haunt only among thick
woods, where the lazo could not be used to advantage.
Of course, the skin of this particular bear was not suitable for the
purpose for which one was required; and the tigrero kept it for his own
profit. But that did not signify: another bear was soon discovered
among the tagua trees; and this being despatched by a shot from the
rifle of Alexis,--supplemented, perhaps, by a bullet from the fusil of
the ex-guardsman,--supplied them with a skin according to contract; and
so far as the _ursus frugilegus_ was concerned, their bear-hunting in
that neighbourhood was at an end. To find his cousin with the "goggle
eyes," they would have to journey onward and upward; and adopting for
their motto the spirit-stirring symbol "Excelsior!" they proceeded to
climb the stupendous Cordilleras of the Andes.
In one of the higher valleys, known among Peruvians as the "Sierra,"
they obtained a specimen of the "Hucumari." They chanced upon this
creature while he was engaged in plundering a field of Indian corn--
quite close to a "tambo," or traveller's shed, where they had put up for
the night. It was very early in the morning when the corn-stealer was
discovered; but being caught in the act, and his whole attention taken
up with the sweet milky ears of maize, his "spectacled" eyes did not
avail him. Our hunters, approaching with due caution, were able to get
so near, that the first shot tumbled him over among the stalks.
Having secured his skin, they mounted their mules, and by the great
Cordillera road proceeded onward to the ancient capital of northern
Peru.