I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION IN NATURE, OF WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL
ESCAPE--AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF
INDIANS.
"Look round and see
How Providence bestows on all alike
Sunshine and rain, to bless the fruitful year
Of different nations, all different faiths;
And though by several names and titles worshipp'd,
Heav'n takes the various tribute of their praise.
Since all agree to own, at least to mean,
One best, one greatest, and one Lord of all."
[Sidenote: A useful hollow tree]
When I arrived at the confluence, as I took it to be, of the streams,
it was Saturday night,--that is, according to my new calendar. As I
did not think it lawful to travel on the Sunday, I sought for an
eligible place of security, where I might rest, and start thoroughly
refreshed on the Monday, to solve the problem of the opposing currents.
With this view I ascended an isolated blasted tree, where I might seat
myself, and find protection from insidious enemies. I was delighted to
find that the trunk was hollow, the only entrance being from the top.
The tree leaned to the horizon at about an angle of 45 degrees. After
carefully examining it, I thought I had satisfied myself that it was
not pre-occupied by any obnoxious inhabitant; I then dropped into it,
as it were, down a chimney. Crouching, I was out of sight, but when I
stood erect I had a view of my own desolate situation.
A species of frogs had just commenced to send forth their peculiar
noise, which resembles the sound from a stonemason's yard, when I was
annoyed by a number of green frogs, such as dwell in trees; and
endeavouring to brush these from my immediate locality, I discovered a
number of the _scolopendra_, or centipedes, from five to eight inches
in length. Perceiving a hole in the side of the tree, I proceeded to
expel these formidable insects with my stick, by which means I
disturbed, in the pulpy part of the decayed wood, a nest of
_scorpions_. Things in motion soon catch my eye, and in another second
I had regained the earth. Indisposed, however, to give up such a
comfortable apartment, I cleared out the whole of the interior, and
then regained the top of the tree, where I sat for a considerable time
in doubt whether I should retire to rest or keep watch through the
night. It was a beautiful evening, and the air was strongly
impregnated with the aromatic fragrance of the different species of the
_rubiaceae_, the _andiocera_, and _aenothera_. Moonlight is a thoughtful
period in all climates. I had almost, while watching my own shadow,
forgotten the process of time, when suddenly Cynthia extinguished her
lamp. Wearied, both in a mental and physical sense, I again, reckless
of consequences, dropped into my cylindrical apartment. How long I
slept I cannot tell; I was, however, awaked to scenes as remarkable as
they were terrible and rapid in succession. A flood of light was
streaming into my skylight, and I became conscious of a rocking
sensation. For a moment I concluded that I was again seized with the
vertigo in my head. A violent sound of rushing waters soon roused me
to a sense of my real danger, and, standing erect, I beheld all the
firm earth, on which but a few hours previously I had stood, now
covered with water. An immense number of aquatic birds were floating
on its surface, while others were springing up to branches of the trees
above, to escape from the enormous serpents, and other monsters of the
deep, that infest temporary lakes caused by sudden inundations.
[Sidenote: An inundation]
As I surveyed the scene the waters were still rising, and the tree on
which I sat rose with them in an upright position. Presently it became
stationary, and the water began, gradually to cover its trunk. I have
said that it was an isolated spot: it was a small area in the midst of
the wood, which appeared to have been cleared by the blast of
lightning, the nearest tree being fifty yards, or more, distant. Among
other things struggling for life was a fawn, which swam beneath me, and
was seized by a cayman; while as another monster of the same species,
at least thirty feet long, paused to survey me, with my feet then
nearly touching the water, I impulsively raised my stick in
self-defence, and at this juncture the trunk of the tree suddenly swung
round, and by its action nearly threw me off into the jaws of the
cayman. The principal part of the roots were torn from the earth, but
most providentially the only remaining branch on the tree remained
uppermost, which presented me with the opportunity of climbing five or
six feet higher. Still, as I could not now turn round with facility, I
remained for a full hour, every moment expecting the monster would
seize me from behind; for the cayman continued to show himself at
intervals, as if certain, in the end, of his prey. At length the roots
of the decayed tree parted entirely from the earth, and it was carried
forward with the current. Fortunately the branch, which was my only
chance of escape, still remained elevated. The cayman did not abandon
his intended victim till my bark conveyed me among the standing trees,
when I seized the opportunity of climbing up one of considerable
height. Up to this period all other dangers had been merged in the
immediate dread of the monster of the deep, but I was now at liberty to
take a more extended view of the scene, from a fixed position, and I
found myself in the midst of congregated wild beasts and powerful
reptiles.
In the next tree to the one I occupied was an ant-bear, and a little
farther off I could discern several others. Monkeys and apes were
swinging and chattering over my head in large numbers; serpents, from
five to thirty feet long, were crawling on the branches and round the
trunks of trees, to escape from the flood; tiger-cats, beautifully
striped, were springing from branch to branch of the green and
purple-heart trees, which here grew to the height of seventy feet;
lizards were seen in such numbers as in many places literally to cover
the branches of the trees. All the birds were sending forth sounds of
dissonance, as if stricken with terror; while the shrill voice of the
bird called the pi-pi-yo roused me to the consciousness that the hour
of noon had arrived.
The lofty _panax_, _Bignonia_, _copaiva_, rising to a hundred feet in
height, were peopled with living things, all in apparent consternation
at the sudden changes of the scene. It was a grand, though an awful
sight for a human being to behold. Animals of various natures, habits,
and antipathies, were all crowded together in one common place of
refuge, shaken by the wind, and dreading contact with each other, as
the violent rushing of the waters bore on their surface numberless
proofs of the havoc made, and still threatening to sweep away and
swallow up every vestige of animal and vegetable creation.
[Sidenote: Hope in desolation]
But let the soul be set on the highest mount of distress, and view the
most spacious prospect of misery, if the eye be turned towards God
comfort may be found beyond the horizon, when human strength is vain.
I lifted up my voice in the wilderness, and lo! God was there, and I
took courage, exclaiming, "The Almighty is the architect of all I see,
His power stretches over the whole earth and the empty space; He hangs
the earth and all the ethereal globes upon nothing; and is He not able
to save me?" "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness," saith the Lord. "The hand which fixes the stars and
guides the planets in their courses is stretched out to preserve His
children."
With these reflections did I trust in my position, and bid my soul to
take courage and rely on divine succour. Fortunately, I had the
remains of a cooked bird in my wallet, which always hung at my back;
and _murucuja_, fruit of one of the passion-flowers, was within my
reach, which I gathered and ate. The fish also forsook their ordinary
food, for I could plainly see them feeding on the fruit and berries of
shrubs through which they swam.
At length night overtook me, and the moon, I thought, rose with a more
speaking yet angry countenance than usual, frowning blood-coloured rays
on the surface of the water and through the foliage of the wood, still
rendering my fellow-lodgers immediately around me visible, while the
vampire and other species of bats flitted wildly round, like spirits of
the air; and occasional splashings beneath indicated that the larger
tyrants of the flood were making prey of the weaker inhabitants, or the
latter were exerting themselves to escape from the jaws of the former.
The terrestrial animals seemed, for the most part, in providing for
their own safety, to have suspended all operations of warfare, the
scene above the flood in the evening wearing much the same appearance
as throughout the day, excepting that the reptiles were not so
numerous, the serpents and lizards having found hiding-places in the
holes of the trees or under thick foliage. After a few hours the moon
went down and left me
"In the populous solitude of bees and birds,
And fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things."
It was now that, like Job, I had to "gird up my loins like a man;" for,
as darkness shrouded me, my thoughts naturally reverted to the bear in
the next tree; I could not but speculate on his movements, and the
probability of his descending and swimming to invade my territory.
Impressed with this fear, the master one of the hour, I took up a
position to command the trunk of the tree, where, armed with my stick,
I might oppose him to an advantage.
[Sidenote: A night on the water]
It would be futile were I to attempt to describe my sensations during
the night. Could words be found expressive enough for the purpose,
they should have been penned at the instant they were felt; feelings
under such extraordinary circumstances cannot be recalled, or
appreciated only at the time they were excited. Words, in description,
stand for general ideas in Nature's chart; ten thousand sensations and
forms enter of themselves into the sanctuary of the mind. I can only
say that I spent the night in prayer for the coming morn. It, however,
passed without involving me in any encounter. "Now, men see not the
bright light which is in the clouds; but the wind passeth and cleareth
them away."
I thought it was an interminable night, and long before morning dawned,
as the first glimmer of light tinged the eastern horizon, I strained my
eyes to assure myself of its actual approach; yet what hope could it
bring me?--none, in prospect; notwithstanding which, latent hope was
not wholly extinct. A vague idea possessed me that I might find some
floating tree to carry me to the nearest shore. At length, indolently,
as I thought, the morning did appear, rendering surrounding objects
visible. The bear was still in the tree, coiled up like a cat, in a
forked branch, apparently asleep. His bearship had not even the
politeness to pass the compliment of the day by noticing me; and noon
again arrived, bringing with it utter despair. For some time I had
been watching a log of timber, in the hope that it would float within
my reach, when I distinctly heard the sound of human voices. My heart
leaped up with joy; and the coincidence of the appearance of a rainbow
at the same instant, operated like a reprieve to a malefactor in the
hands of the executioner.
I was so much elated, that I actually should have neglected to have
called out for assistance, had not the same voices again addressed my
ear more distinctly, when I used my vocal powers with all my might; but
I had no response, and my heart was again, sinking within me, when I
observed a canoe approaching. It contained two Indians; one was using
the paddle, the other directing his attention to the spot from whence
my voice proceeded. A few seconds brought them under the tree, and an
invitation, by signs, for me to descend, and accept of my emancipation
from their hands.
[Sidenote: The charms of solitude]
Notwithstanding all the terrors and privations of my wild life, there
was a charm in it which is inexplicable; and I paused ere I parted with
it. Men whose whole life has been identified with civilization may not
understand this feeling; but long association with nature in her own
scenes of unlimited grandeur and profuse bounty, cannot be broken off
without a struggle. In return for all the blessings nature bestows on
her children of the woods, she requires no sacrifice of liberty; free
and unconstrained she permits them to roam throughout her domains; to
robe or unrobe, as their taste may dictate; to rest when fatigued, and
to rise when refreshed. Nature does not mask misery with the face of
happiness, nor dress misfortune in the guise of prosperity; free and
uncontrolled, her children are invited to help themselves at her
munificent board; while in the narrow paths of civilized life, even the
boasted reason of man is incapable of conferring happiness on society.
But with the green grass and soft moss for a carpet, umbrageous trees
for a shade, the murmuring stream for the ear, together with the sound
of the breeze amongst the leaves to woo reflection, the syrens of
vicious pleasure may be avoided, and the disquietudes of life be
forgotten. Like a true citizen of the world, I had become enamoured
with liberty, and with the instinct of a denizen of the forest, I
shrank from the presence of man. My situation was perilous, death
being inevitable if I remained in the tree; for in a short time sleep
must overcome me, and in that state, I must fall into the waters
beneath. Reluctantly, therefore, I dropped into the canoe, with the
feelings of a bird who darts into a cage to escape the talons of the
hawk--an incident, by the way, which once brought both the fugitive and
the hawk into my trap. No captured African slave could feel the loss
of liberty more than I did when the Indians assigned me a seat in the
canoe, which proceeded to join a company consisting of eleven persons.
They were a fishing party that had left their wonted haunts to avail
themselves of the flood, a period when their efforts were generally
rewarded with great success. One canoe was nearly filled with the
product of the first draught, and they were in the act of drawing
another as I appeared amongst them.
They were all well-grown men, nearly naked, like myself, very placid in
their demeanour, and showed great anxiety to relieve my distress,
offering me food and drink. Indeed, their manners were so urbane and
pleasing, that in a very short time I recovered from my depression of
spirits, and congratulated myself on my good fortune in falling into
their company. They wore large grass-platted hats to defend the head
from the heat of the sun, and had each a hammock made of the same
materials, which as night approached, they slung from the branches of
trees, and calmly laid themselves down to survey the confusion of
nature which the sudden inundation had occasioned.
With the party was a youth about my own age, who at once attached
himself to me; he manifested his disappointment and concern that he
could not make himself understood by words, and in a very short time
intimated his intention of undertaking my education by showing me the
implements in use and calling them by name, till I not only recollected
them, but acquired accuracy of pronunciation.
[Sidenote: The Indian village]
Two days subsequently to my rescue from the tree, I was taken to the
Indian village, about ten miles from the border of the forest. It
consisted of fifteen huts on an elevated spot, distant a half-mile from
a fine river, which ebbed and flowed with the tide. It was this
circumstance that had occasioned my embarrassment when following the
stream and suddenly meeting with a contrary current.
On my arrival at the village I was struck with the absence of curiosity
or surprise which a stranger from another race generally excites, even
in civilized localities. Neither men, women, or children appeared to
bestow on me any peculiar notice, nor did they, as far as I could
learn, express any desire to know how I came amongst them, or from
whence I came. No overseer or other parish officer was called in to
provide me with food and then dispute my right to eat. I was at once
led to the hut of the father of my young friend, and received as one of
the family, in which there were two wives and two families--one mother
with three, and another with four children. Plurality of wives was the
custom of this Indian community, and yet they lived in perfect harmony;
there were no jealousies or bickerings; the progeny of each shared
alike the affection and care of both mothers, who laboured with equal
zeal in the culture of cassava or manioc, the roots of which they
grated and made into bread.
There were numerous tribes of these Indians, but they all spoke the
same language. The tribe I was with were called Galibis; they were
remarkable alike for their humanity and intelligence. Indeed, they
possessed all the moral qualities of civilized society, without its
forms and most of its vices, especially the one of coveting their
neighbours' goods.
[Sidenote: Habits of the Indians]
During the time I was with them, a period of eighteen months, I never
heard of a charge of theft. Land was as plentiful as air and water;
there could not, therefore, be any motive to steal, if we except
idleness,--a vice which prevails more in cities than in the wilds of
nature. Numerous families sometimes live in one common large hut; yet
there are no quarrels to disturb their harmony; and such is their
hospitality that he who is fatigued with hunting may always depend on
repose in the nearest dwelling.
Their language is peculiarly harmonious, rich with synonyms, and is
represented by those who have studied its grammatical construction, to
be complicated and ingenious in syntax. Intelligent as they are, they
have at all times rejected the arts and all instruction, from their
great love of independence. The countenances of all are stereotyped
with benevolence, and their conversation is fraught with maxims that
inculcate the practice of charity to all the human race. They are not
without a sense of pride, yet discourage it in practice. It requires
no broker to make a written catalogue of their household furniture:
their weapons are bows and arrows, and a short dart which they force
through a reed with the breath, bringing down birds on the wing with
surprising dexterity. A flat stone on which the women bake bread, and
a rough one on which to grate the root of cassava; a hammock, a
hatchet, a comb, and a broken piece of looking-glass in a rude frame,
comprise the whole of their furniture. What few vessels they had were
ill made,--not any improvement on those I formed from clay for the use
of my aviary when in the woods.
They have no code of laws, nor have they a word in the language by
which to convey the idea of laws; yet they have the same word as in
Hebrew to express God, by which they understand supreme master. They
have a magistrate or elder, to whom any matter of disputation is
referred, and by him summarily and finally settled. Fire they obtain
by rubbing two pieces of wood together; and for cooking, this is made
on the ground, over which they suspend their vessels in the rudest
manner. Although these people wear no clothes, properly so called,
they are very fond of ornaments; as amulets and charms, those obtained
from the ivory-billed woodpecker were most in vogue. No people in the
world, perhaps, are more remarkable for acute observation. If you name
any kind of bird, or other animal, to them, that is to be found in this
part of the globe, instantly they imitate its action and tones of
voice. The notes of birds they give with surprising accuracy. They
are very expert swimmers, and some of the women and children spend the
chief of their time in the water. The men fish, and hunt, and when not
so employed, which happens three or four days in the week, they remain
in their hammocks, and amuse themselves with their implements, in the
repairs of which, and in conversation, all their leisure is spent.
They possess all the qualities to form good sportsmen, and to take the
command of others--having great presence of mind and promptitude of
action. I know not which most to admire, their skill in discovering
game, or their manner of taking it. They entertain the loftiest
sentiments of chivalrous honour, and their courage always rises with
increasing difficulty; it "smiles in danger stern and wild," and is
superior to circumstances.
On the fourth day after my emancipation from the loneliness of the
forest I accompanied a fishing party to the same spot from whence I had
been taken. It was a favourite locality for hunting the ant-bear, and
when the waters were out, for taking crabs and oysters, which were
caught in large numbers among the trees and shrubs that were more or
less covered by the flood.
[Sidenote: The Great Spirit of the Indians]
Under the assiduous tuition of my young friend, whose name was _Pecoe_,
I rapidly progressed in a knowledge of his language, and could not
refrain from making many reflections on his method of teaching as
compared with my European schoolmaster's. Pecoe, I considered, had
adopted a natural mode of instruction, while the system of the other
was wholly artificial, and tedious in practice. My teacher was as
anxious to be taught himself as to teach me, and when we were able to
converse, asked ten thousand questions relative to my country and the
state of society in it. Whether my long residence in the woods had
disqualified me to be an advocate for the cause of civilization I know
not, but at all my descriptions of it, Pecoe shook his head, and was
evidently under an impression that my countrymen must be a very unhappy
race of people. On one occasion, when conversing on our difference of
colour, and on the human races generally, he said, "I will tell you how
it happened: you know that there are three great spirits, all good,
though each is greater than the other. The great spirit of all one day
said to the lowest spirit, 'make a man, and let me see him.' The
spirit took some clay and made a man; but when the Great Spirit saw
him, he shook his head, and said he was too white. He then ordered the
spirit next to himself in goodness to make a man, who tried his skill
with charcoal--burnt wood; but the Great Spirit again shook his head,
and said he was too black. The Great Spirit then determined to try
himself, and taking some red earth, made the Indians, which pleased him
very much." When I told him that the Great Spirit in his great
goodness had so ordered it that every one should think his own colour
the best, he replied, that it was not possible for either a black or a
white man to be so stupid as to be satisfied with the colour of his
skin, stigmatized as he, Pecoe, thought both races were, by
barbarities. When I explained to him the various grades of civilized
society, his quick apprehension broke out in the most indignant terms,
denouncing the system as one dictated by a demon. Rich and poor!
"What good," he asked, "could arise from allowing one to take all, and
giving nothing to the other?"
[Sidenote: Pecoe's ideas of society]
I replied, that the wisdom of the Great Spirit (God) was recognised in
his anticipation of the wisdom of man, by providing him with original
principles of his own, which were given to regulate, not excite
desires. Thus the sense of property is germinated in very early
childhood, which sense I maintained generated a moral feeling, and a
principle of justice and equity. My young friend, after a moment's
thoughtful pause, stoutly gave the negative to my premises,--that the
sense of property was developed in early life; he argued that the
desire exhibited by children to handle things, and which we erroneously
call a desire to possess them, is nothing more than a natural desire to
exercise the physical senses on objects of the external world, through
which only could they educate the powers of the body for healthful and
manly purposes of life. Those things which some call children's
playthings, he held to be _bona fide_ tools, without which, whether
they were wooden horses, paper boats, a doll's head, or a piece of
stick, they could no more rise out of a state of childhood than a man
could go to sea without a canoe. He therefore denied the inference,
that because children manifest a disposition to snatch or handle
everything they can reach, it is an indication of natural
acquisitiveness. The mind, he said, was wholly disengaged from these
matters at an early age; employment for the organs of the five senses,
together with an instinctive desire to promote their development, were
the true causes of children quarrelling for possessions. He instanced
their having no abiding attachment for any one particular toy, however
expensive or attractively constructed, always casting away one thing to
handle another, the various forms of which gave exercise to different
muscles, and imparted new sensations of pleasure.
The object I have in presenting my readers with a few of Pecoe's
opinions is to illustrate the different ideas elicited in the minds of
men by diverse circumstances of life and education. I scarcely need
inform them that, in committing to paper my friend's notions, I have
dressed them up in my own language.
On this occasion Pecoe closed the conversation by remarking that the
nature of society, such as I had depicted in England, appeared to
charge the Great Spirit with having at some early period thrown upon
the earth all His gifts in a heap, for a general scramble, on the
condition that the posterity of those who succeeded in first picking
them up should for ever live in idleness, and become the masters of the
posterity of those whose ancestors had been unsuccessful in snatching
from their fellow-men more than their own share. He continued: "It was
hard to believe such a state of society could exist, and thought the
Evil Spirit must have put it into my head;" meaning that I had drawn
upon my own imagination for the sketch. The incomprehensible part of
the system to Pecoe was, that some could be luxuriating in plenty and
others be starving at the same time in one country.
Warfare was unknown to his race, because the practice of good-will and
the friendly offices of mutual assistance were universal among them,
and annihilated every motive to aggrandisement, and consequently the
disposition was never brought out. Bear in mind, reader, that I am
describing no Utopia. When, therefore, I spoke of our numerous wars,
and explained that it was those who had been unfortunate at the first
general scramble, as he designated it, who risked their lives in
battle, fighting for their wealthy masters, his incredulity rose so
high as to doubt my veracity, and for some time subsequently I thought
he seemed to shun my society, appearing very pensive and lonely in his
habits.
[Sidenote: Pecoe as a nurse]
About a fortnight after the above conversation I was suddenly taken
with violent symptoms of fever, when Pecoe was immediately by my side,
assiduously attending to all my wants with the tenderness of a nurse.
The physician, or pee-ay-man, was applied to, who offered up prayers to
the Bad Spirit for my recovery;--for it is a part of their creed that
the Good Spirit is too good to do any one harm, and therefore it is the
Malicious Spirit that must be conciliated.
For this purpose a number of incantations were performed, after which
the physician continued to parade from hut to hut, howling and
performing another series of incantations throughout the night, at
intervals calling to see if any improvement had taken place in the
health of his patient. As it was the practice of every family to burn
a fire through the night, I could from my hammock see this juggler
stalking to and fro, looking more like a demon than a minister of
comfort in sickness.
Pecoe proved the best physician. He never left me, continuing to
administer comfort to me in every possible way and manner. Among other
services he relieved me, at my request, from the mummeries of the
pee-ay-man, aptly urging that, as the spirits of my country were not
the same as theirs, he might by his interference make them angry
instead of conciliating them. But the women, who really felt an
interest in my fate, were not so easily satisfied, they placed implicit
reliance on the skill of the pee-ay-man, and were angry with Pecoe for
sending him away. "Never mind," said he, coolly, to some remarks that
censured his conduct, "I am as good a doctor as he is; and if I am hot,
don't the Great Spirit brush away the flies from the animal without a
tail?"
My disease grew worse, and rapidly hastened to its crisis. Pecoe in
every stage sought for new sources of comfort: he collected silk-grass,
and daily made new pillows for my head, when they were wetted with the
cold water he applied to my temples. He constantly moistened my lips
with slices of pineapple, only occasionally leaving me, to go in search
of the jelly cocoa-nut, which in an unripe state has but a thin skin,
but contains more liquor. As the fever subsided, these grateful
draughts contributed much towards my recovery, and without doubt
hastened the period of final restoration to health, when I said to my
friend, "You may now set up as physician to the tribe, and supersede
the pee-ay-man." The remark brought a smile from his lips, as he
replied, "I have not such a mean spirit as to endure to be laughed at
by all the people. Do you, then, really believe that these pretenders
to superior knowledge are esteemed, or that any in the place have faith
in their arts?"
"If not," said I, "why tolerate them, and why not apply to the Great
and Good Spirits themselves for help?"
[Sidenote: Pecoe's prudence]
"Why!" rejoined Pecoe, "because too many like deception more than
honesty, and prefer listening to falsehood rather than to truth. My
father and all his friends have secretly laughed at the impostor all
their days, yet in public give him countenance, and also frown on the
children who would doubt the efficacy of his tricks, or his ability to
solve dreams and foretell events. I myself," he continued, "sometimes
doubt my right to disregard the proffered services of these men. This
arises, perhaps, from the general countenance they have from all the
tribes, and the force of custom; for I seldom give myself the trouble
to investigate their claim to respect; I endure their arts, because the
majority patronise them, though I never open my lips in their defence.
It is an ungracious task to make yourself more wise than your
neighbours; even if you should be successful, you must inevitably make
enemies without gaining new friends, people do not like to be told that
they have been in error all their lives, or to believe that their
forefathers were foolishly credulous."