THE DEAD MAN’S STORY
“Turn him over, Tom,” said I, softly, and the sailor clambered into the
canoe and obeyed—rather gingerly, though, for no one likes to touch a
dead man.
The bearded face and staring eyes that confronted us were those of one
of our own race, a white man who had been shot through the heart with an
arrow that still projected from the wound. His clothing was threadbare
and hung almost in rags, while his feet were protected by rude sandals
of bark laced with thongs of some vegetable fibre. He was neither a
Mexican nor a Spaniard, but I judged him a North American of German
descent, if his physiognomy could be trusted.
The man had not long been dead, that was quite evident, and the arrow
that had pierced his heart must have killed him instantly. I pulled out
the weapon and found it of skillful construction,—a head of hammered
bronze fastened to a shaft most delicately shaped and of a wood that
resembled yew. It differed materially from any Indian arrow I had ever
before seen.
The mystery of this man’s life and death seemed impenetrable, and I
ordered the canoe attached to our stern and towed it in our wake down to
the ship.
A sailor’s burial ground is the sea; so I decided to sew the corpse in
sacking, weight it heavily, and sink it in the deepest water of the
river.
Before doing this one of the men searched the pockets of the tattered
clothing and drew out a small book that looked like a diary, a
pocketknife, several bits of lead-pencil and a roll of thin bark tied
with wisps of the same material.
These things I took charge of, and then watched the obsequies. These
were quickly performed, Ned reading a short prayer from his Bible by way
of ceremony while all our company stood with bared heads. Then the men
rowed the body out to the deepest part of the river, and as I watched
them from the deck I noticed they were thrown into a state of sudden
excitement and heard cries of anger and alarm. Lifting my glass into
position I discovered the cause of this. The boat was surrounded by
sharks, their dark heads and white bellies alternating as they slowly
swam round and round, attracted by the scent of prey. I yelled to the
men to bring the body back, but they were too excited to hear me and the
next instant had dumped the weighted sack overboard and begun to row
back to the wreck at racing speed.
It was just as well, however. I am quite sure the poor fellow reached
bottom before a shark could seize him, and once on the bottom they would
be unable to either see him or grasp him in their jaws.
Seated on the deck with the others and shaded from the sun by a heavy
awning, I glanced at the diary and found that the murdered man had not
made a daily record, but had written upon the pages a sort of narrative,
which seemed likely to prove interesting. So I asked Duncan Moit to read
it aloud, which he did. I have it beside me now, and copy the following
word for word as it was first read to us that day in the tropics with
the wilderness all around us.
“My name is Maurice Kleppisch,” it began, “by profession an engineer and
mining expert residing at Denver, Colorado, at those times when I am at
home.
“Nine years ago I was sent to the Republic of Colombia to examine a
mine, and while there I joined myself to a party that was formed to
visit the San Blas Country, at the south of Panama, and trade with the
Indians who are the masters of a vast territory there. I am no trader,
but my object was to take advantage of this opportunity to investigate
the mining possibilities of the wild and unknown region of San Blas,
thinking that should I fall in with traces of gold my fortune would be
made.
“But, when we arrived at the border, the arrogant Indians would not
allow us to enter their country at all, commanding us, with imperious
scorn, to stand at a respectful distance and display our wares. The
traders obeyed without demur, but I was angry and vengeful, and for a
time considered my journey a failure. The Indians, however, exchanged
their cocoanuts and sheep-skins—with such other things as their land
produced—with great willingness and absolute honesty and fairness, and
the traders learned that their given word was held inviolate.
“Nursing my disappointment at being excluded from this mysterious
country, I stood sullenly watching the bartering when my attention was
aroused by an object that made my heart bound with excitement. It was an
immense rough diamond, set in the bronze shaft of a spear borne by
Nalig-Nad, the king of the San Blas and the most stalwart, dignified and
intelligent Indian I have ever seen.
“I will here explain that the strange race known as the San Blas Indians
of Southern Panama is none other than that historic remnant of the Aztec
nation which, when Mexico was conquered by the Spaniard, fled through
morass and mountains, across plains and rivers, until they came to this
then unknown wilderness. Here they located and established a new nation
which they call Techla. Their territory stretches south of the natural
depression of the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and contains
vast stretches of forests and coastal plains, which they have ever
jealously guarded from intrusion. No more did they build beautiful
cities and golden temples, for gold they had learned to abhor because
the lust for it had brought the white demons upon them in Mexico. The
white skinned races were cordially detested as the destroyers of their
former nation. By them the Techlas had been driven from the abode
bequeathed them by their ancestors.
“The creed of the new nation, therefore, contained two prime articles of
faith: Never to mine or trade or employ gold in any form for use or
ornament; to hate and oppose every white man that came near them.
“The San Blas people are not truly Indians, as we regard the West Indian
and Central American tribes, but are well formed, intelligent and
fierce. Their skin is of copper-colored hue and they have a
characteristic dress that is peculiar to their nation. They have an
established government centering in the king, humane and just laws for
the guidance of their tribes, and many racial characteristics. It is
said the weaker Aztecs remained in Mexico as slaves of the Spaniards,
while the nobles and the most stalwart and powerful individuals,
realizing their inability to oppose the usurpers but scorning to become
their vassals, fled southward in the manner I have described.
“However true this may be, I found the San Blas—a name given them by the
early Spaniards but never acknowledged by themselves—to be well worthy
of admiration in all ways except their persistent hatred of the whites.
They gave our party cocoanuts and cereals, tortoise-shells, skins of
wild beasts that were most skillfully dressed, and a soft quality of
lamb’s wool, in exchange for knives, glass beads, compasses, colored
crayons, mirrors and other inexpensive trinkets.
“When I got my eye upon the king’s mammoth diamond I was so amazed that
I trembled with eagerness. The gem must have weighed fully five hundred
carats, and being intent to obtain it for myself I offered my silver
watch, a fountain pen, my comb and brushes and a quantity of buttons in
exchange for the diamond.
“My very anxiety was the cause of my undoing. My reckless offers aroused
the king’s suspicions, and when my comrades also saw the diamond they
became as anxious as I was, and offered so much for a bit of stone which
the king had never considered of any value, that he questioned us
closely and learned that the white men esteem these gems even more than
they do gold.
“Then the king drew himself up proudly and spoke to his men in their own
native dialect, with which we are unfamiliar. Several of the Indians
brought to their ruler specimens of the same stones—rough diamonds
ranging from the size of a pea upward. These they had doubtless gathered
and kept because they were pretty, but Nalig-Nad took them all in his
hand and, having pried his own splendid stone from its setting in the
spearshaft, he advanced to the edge of the river and cast them all into
its depths.
“‘I have told my men,’ said he, ‘never to gather these pebbles again;
nor will we ever trade them to the white men. I class them with the
gold, for we are determined not to own anything which will arouse the
mad desires of your people.’
“A few of the San Blas, including their king, speak the English
language; more of them speak in the Spanish tongue; but their own
language, as I have said, is distinct from the dialects of the other
Indian tribes and the white men have no opportunity to learn it.
“We were greatly disappointed by the loss of the gems, and when we
returned to our camp we talked the matter over and concluded that there
must be many diamonds lying exposed upon the surface of the ground in
some part of the San Blas territory. Else the Indians would not have
been enabled to pick up such choice and extraordinarily large specimens
as we had seen.
“I did not like to go away without making an attempt to locate these
diamond fields, and seven of the party, adventurous as myself,
determined to join in braving the anger of the stern Nalig-Nad. So at
night we stole through the north forest and by morning had come to the
edge of the fertile plains whereon the San Blas mostly dwell.
“Their country may be divided into three sections: First, the North
Forest, bordering on the Panama marshes and the wilderness. Second, a
high and broad sweep of coastal plains, formed by eroded drift from the
mountains. This section is well watered by numerous streams and the soil
is extremely rich and fertile. To the east, by the Atlantic coast, are
the cocoanut groves, but most of this fruit is grown upon several
islands lying off the coast in the Atlantic. The third division lies
south of the plains and consists of a magnificent primeval forest which
covers thickly all the slope of the mountains. The climate, especially
that of the uplands, is temperate and delightful, and it has been stated
that these powerful Indians control the most desirable bit of land in
the Western Hemisphere.
“It was in the plain that we determined to search for the diamond
fields, and as the Indians had arbitrarily forbidden white men to enter
their domain, we stained our faces and arms and chests with walnut
juice, and dressed ourselves in imitation of the San Blas people as
nearly as we were able. And thus we prowled around for several days,
until in a rich valley covered with alluvial deposit I picked up one of
the coveted ‘pebbles,’ and to our great delight we knew that we had
stumbled upon the right place.
“An hour later we were surrounded by a band of the San Blas and made
prisoners. We relied upon our disguises to protect us, but when they had
examined us closely the Indians stripped off our clothing and discovered
our white skins. We knew, then, our fate was sealed.
“These people allow negroes to enter their country, and even employ some
of them to labor upon their farms. Other Indian tribes of the mountains,
who are all hostile to the whites, are permitted to pass through the San
Blas territory, and sometimes these mountaineers have with them white
slaves, who are treated cruelly and obliged to bear their burdens. But
these whites who are the slaves of Indians are the only ones ever
tolerated in the country, and a band like our own, entering by stealth
to secure treasure, might expect no mercy at the hands of the San Blas.
“Being taken before Nalig-Nad at his own village, he condemned us all to
death but one, who was to be sent back to Colombia to tell the fate of
those who dared defy the laws of the San Blas. We cast lots, and I drew
the fortunate number. My comrades, two of whom were young men of
position and wealth in Bogota, were ruthlessly murdered, and I was then
escorted to the border and set free.
“I reported the matter to the Colombian authorities, and a company of
soldiers was promptly sent by the President to punish the impudent
Indians and teach them not to molest the whites in the future. After a
long period of waiting a single soldier, who had his ears cut off and
was otherwise horribly mutilated, arrived at Bogota to tell of the total
extinction of all his fellows and to report that King Nalig-Nad had
promised to treat in the same manner any who dared to interfere with his
authority. The government decided to let these fierce Indians alone.
There were other troubles, nearer home, that needed attention.
“I returned to Denver, but could not get this rich diamond field out of
my head. I was a poor man, yet I knew where I might obtain countless
treasure—if I dared but make the attempt.
“Finally I decided that I might be able to accomplish alone what a band
of white men could never succeed in doing, and having formulated my
plans I sailed to Colon and prepared to enter once more the country of
the San Blas.
“My idea was admirably simple. The Indians feel so secure that they
seldom prowl by night, and in their climate the stars and moon are so
brilliant that they illuminate the country almost as well as does the
sun by day. By stealthily avoiding all habitations and villages, I had a
fair chance to escape observation, and the valley I sought was in an
uninhabited part of the plains.
“I took a canoe and a package of provisions, and began my journey by
entering the San Maladrino river at the Atlantic mouth. I followed this
until the river passed between two high hills, which may be seen in the
crude map I have drawn for the benefit of others, should I lose my life
in this desperate adventure.
[Illustration: ISTHMUS OF PANAMA MAP]
“A stream of which I do not know the name enters the San Maladrino just
beyond the hills mentioned, and leads to the southward. It passes
through the first forest and is broad and deep. Hiding in the forest the
first day, I cautiously paddled my canoe up this stream the next night
and passed a portion of the plain until I reached a smaller tributary
entering from the left. This tributary flows through the most fertile
and most thickly inhabited portion of the Indian lands. At the first
junction I turned to the right and paddled along until I could go no
further by boat. So, secreting my canoe in some bushes, I walked during
the following night to the valley which we had before visited, and which
lies in the uplands near to the edge of the great mountain forest. This
tangled woodland favored me, for in it I hid securely by day, while at
night I searched for diamonds in my valley.
“I found many stones, and some of extraordinary size and beauty, but was
greatly retarded in my discoveries by the dimness of the light. The
forest shaded the valley part of the time, and only for a brief two
hours each night was the light of the moon directly upon the slight
depression where I labored.
“And now I have been three weeks hidden in the heart of the San Blas
district, and no one has observed me as yet. I have secured almost three
quarts of superb diamonds—a fortune so enormous that I am considering a
speedy return to civilization. Meantime, I have employed some of my
leisure moments in writing this history in my book.”