[Illustration]
Along the coast, from the Prinza-pulka river northward, as I have
said, stretches a net-work of rivers and lagoons, for a distance of
at least one hundred and fifty miles, terminating near Cape Gracias.
These lagoons are broad and shallow, and bordered by extensive marshes.
Wherever the dry ground does appear, strange to say, it is generally as
a sandy savannah, undulating, and supporting few trees except the red,
or long-leaved pine. These savannahs are only adapted for grazing, since
the soil is too light and poor for cultivation, and fails to support any
of the staple products, or any of the many esculent vegetables of the
tropics, except the cassava. And although the few scattered inhabitants
of the Mosquito Shore, above the Prinza-pulka, live upon the borders
of the lagoons, selecting generally the savannahs for their villages,
it is because they are essentially fishers, and derive their principal
support from the sea. The islands of the coast abound with turtle, and
the rivers, creeks, and lagoons teem with fish of nearly every variety
known under the tropics. The few vegetables which they require are
obtained from the banks of the rivers in the back country, where the
streams flow through their proper valleys, and before they are lost in
the low grounds of the coast. The plantations on these rivers belong to
the Indians proper, whose numbers increase toward the interior, and who
supply the Sambos, or coast-men, not only with vegetables, but also with
the various kinds of boats which are used by them, receiving in exchange
a few cottons, axes, trinkets, and other articles which are brought
by the foreign traders. The character and habits of these Indians are
widely different from those of the coast-men. The latter are drunken,
idle, and vicious, while the former are mild, industrious, and temperate.
The differences which I have indicated between the Indian settlement on
the Rio Grande and the Sambo village of Wasswatla, hold equally true
throughout, except that the farther the traveler proceeds northward from
Bluefields, the more debased and brutal the Sambos become.
[Illustration: LIFE AMONG THE LAGOONS.]
In attempting to thread my way through the maze of waters before us, I
kept the facts which I have recounted constantly in view, and sought
rather to penetrate inland, than diverge toward the coast. So, whenever
two or more channels presented themselves, I universally took the inside
one. This frequently led us into the rivers flowing from the interior,
but their current speedily enabled us to correct these mistakes.
No incident relieved the monotony of our first night, after leaving
“Tapir Camp.” Toward morning we paddled into the first opening in
the mangroves that held out promise of concealment. We had the usual
difficulties to encounter—fallen trees, and overhanging limbs; but
when the morning broke we had worked our way to a spot where the creek
expanded into a kind of subordinate lagoon, very shallow, and full of
sandy islets, partly covered with grass and water-plants. At one spot
on the shore the ground was elevated a few feet, supporting a number
of large and ancient trees, heavily draped with vines, under which we
encamped.
After a very frugal meal, my hammock was suspended between the trees, and
I went to sleep. About noon I awoke, and spent the rest of the day in
watching the various forms of animal life which found support in these
secluded wilds. It seemed to me as if all the aquatic birds of the world
were congregated there, in harmonious conclave. Long-shanked herons, with
their necks drawn in, and their yellow bills resting on their breasts,
stood meditatively on a single leg; troops of the white and scarlet ibis
trotted actively along the open sands; and round-tailed darters, with
their snaky necks and quick eyes, alighted in the trees around us—the
only birds of all that assemblage which seemed to notice our intrusion!
Then there were cranes, and gaudy, awkward spoonbills (clownish
millionaires!) and occasionally a little squadron of blue-winged teal
paddled gracefully by.
Overhead, a few noisy macaws sheltered themselves from the noonday heats.
Among these, I saw, for the first time, the green variety, a more modest,
and, to my taste, a far more beautiful bird, than his gaudier cousin. The
large trees to which I have alluded, were of the variety known as the
ceiba, or silk-cotton tree. They were now in their bloom, and crowned
with a profusion of flowers of rich and variegated colors, but chiefly a
bright carnation. It was a novel spectacle to see a gigantic tree, five
or six feet in diameter, and eighty or ninety feet high, sending out
long and massive limbs, yet bearing flowers like a rose-bush—a sort of
man-milliner! Viewed from beneath, the flowers were scarcely visible, but
their fragrance was overpowering, and the ground was carpeted with their
gay leaves and delicate petals. But seen from a little distance, the
ceiba-tree in bloom is one of the most splendid productions of Nature—a
gigantic bouquet, which requires a whole forest to supply the contrasting
green! The flowers are rapidly succeeded by a multitude of pods, which
grow to the size and shape of a goose-egg. When ripe, they burst open,
revealing the interior filled with a very soft, light cotton or silky
fibre, attached as floats to diminutive seeds, which are thus wafted far
and wide by the winds. This process is repeated three times a year. I am
not aware that the cotton has ever been manufactured, or applied to any
more useful purpose than that of stuffing pillows and mattresses.
The trunk of the ceiba, however, is invaluable to the natives. The wood
is easily worked, and is, moreover, light and buoyant, and not liable to
split by exposure to the sun. For these reasons, it is principally used
for _dories_, _pitpans_, and the different varieties of boats required
on the coast, although, for the smaller canoes, the cedar and mahogany
are sometimes substituted. The mahogany boats, however, are rather heavy,
while the cedar is liable to split in what is called “beaching.” I have
seen _dories_ hollowed from a single trunk of the ceiba, in which a tall
man might comfortably lie at length across the bottom, and which were
capable of carrying fifty persons.
But the _ceibas_ of our encampment supported, besides their own verdure,
a mass of _lianes_ or climbers, of many varieties, as also, numerous
parasitic plants, and among them the wild-pine or rain-plant, which
served us a most useful purpose. Several of these grew in the principal
forks of the trees, to the height of from four to six feet. Their leaves
are broad, and wrap round on themselves, like a roll, forming reservoirs,
in which the rain and dew is collected and retained, safe from sun and
wind. Each leaf will hold about a quart of water, which looks clear
and tempting in its green, translucent goblet. Had it not been for the
rain-plant, we would have suffered very often from thirst, among those
brackish lagoons, where fresh water is obtained with difficulty.
With the night, we resumed our stealthy course to the northward, guided
by the familiar north star, which here, however, circles so low in the
horizon, as hardly to be visible above the trees. The long and narrow
lagoon contracted more and more, until it presented a single channel,
perhaps a hundred yards wide, closely lined with mangroves, which, rising
like a wall on both sides, prevented us from making out the character
of the back country. In passing through some of the numerous bends,
I nevertheless caught star-light glimpses of distant hills, and high
grounds in the direction of the interior. The channel soon began to
trend to the north-east, and there was a considerable current in that
direction. I was concerned lest, notwithstanding all my caution, I had
lost the clew to the lagoons, and taken some one of the outlets into the
sea. We nevertheless kept on, steadily and rapidly, discovering no signs
of habitations on the banks, until near morning, when my suspicions were
confirmed by a monotonous sound, which I had no difficulty in recognizing
as the beating of the sea. I was therefore greatly relieved when the
narrow channel, which we were traversing, expanded suddenly into a
beautiful lagoon, which I subsequently ascertained was called “Tongla
Lagoon.” It is triangular in shape, extending off to the north-west.
I was weary of dodging the Sambos, and determined, as the wind was
blowing fresh, to put up our sail, and standing boldly through the
lagoon, take the risk of recognition and pursuit. There never was a
brighter day on earth, and our little boat seemed emulous to outstrip the
wind. Gathering confidence from our speed, I got out my fishing line,
and, attaching a bit of cotton cloth to the hook, trailed it after the
boat. It had hardly touched the water before it was caught by a kind of
rock-fish, called _snapper_ by the English residents, and _cowatucker_ by
the Mosquitos. It is only from ten to twelve inches in length, but broad
and heavy. Antonio recognized it as one of the best of the small fishes,
and I continued the sport of catching them, until it would have been
wanton waste to have taken more. I found them to be of two varieties, the
red and black, of which the latter proved to be the most delicate. I also
caught two fish of a larger kind, called _baracouta_, each about twenty
inches in length, resembling our blue-fish. It is equally ravenous, and
has a like firm and palatable flesh. I am not sure that it is not the
true blue-fish, although I afterward caught some in the Bay of Honduras
which were between three and four feet in length.
In order to get the full benefit of the land-breeze, we kept well over
to the seaward or eastern side of the lagoon. As the lagoon narrowed,
our course gradually brought us close in shore. I had observed some
palm-trees on the same side of the lagoon, but the ground seemed so low,
and tangled with verdure, that I doubted if the trees indicated, as they
usually do, a village at their feet. I nevertheless maintained a sharp
look-out, and kept the boat as near to the wind as possible, so as to
slip by without observation. It was not until we were abreast of the
palms, that I saw signs of human habitations. But then I made out a large
number of canoes drawn up in a little bay, and, through a narrow vista in
the trees, saw distinctly a considerable collection of huts. There were
also several of the inhabitants moving about among the canoes.
I observed also that our boat had attracted attention, and that a number
of men were hurrying down to the shore. I was in hopes that they would be
content with regarding us from a distance, and was not a little annoyed
when I saw two large boats push from the landing. We did not stop to
speculate upon their purposes, but shook out every thread of our little
sail, and each taking a paddle, we fell to work with a determination of
giving our pursuers as pretty a chase as ever came off on the Mosquito
Shore. It was now three o’clock in the afternoon, and I felt confident
that we could not be overtaken, if at all, before night, and then it
would be comparatively easy to elude them.
[Illustration: THE CHASE ON TONGLA LAGOON.]
Our pursuers had no sails, but their boats were larger, and numerously
manned by men more used to the paddle than either Antonio or myself.
While the wind lasted, we rather increased our distance, but as the sun
went down the breeze declined, and our sail became useless. So we were
obliged to take it in, and trust to our paddles, alone. This gave our
pursuers new courage, and I could hear their shouts echoed back from
the shores. When night fell they had shortened their distance to less
than half what it had been at the outset, and were so near that we could
almost make out their words; for, during quiet nights, on these lagoons,
voices can be distinguished at the distance of a mile. The lagoon
narrowed more and more, and was evidently getting to be as contracted as
the channel by which we had entered. This was against us; for, although
we had almost lost sight of our pursuers in the gathering darkness, our
safety depended entirely upon our slipping, unobserved, into some narrow
creek. But we strained our eyes in vain, to discover such a retreat. The
mangroves presented one dark, unbroken front.
The conviction was now forced upon me that, in spite of all our efforts
to avoid it, we were to be involved in a second fight. I laid aside
my paddle, and got out my gun. And now I experienced again the same
ague-like sensations which I have described as preceding our struggle
on the Prinza-pulka. It required the utmost effort to keep my teeth
from chattering audibly. I had a singular and painful sensation of
fullness about the heart. So decided were all these phenomena, that,
notwithstanding our danger, I felt glad it was so dark that my companions
could not see my weakness. But soon the veins in my temples began to
swell with blood, pulsating with tense sharpness, like the vibration of
a bow-string; and then the muscles became rigid, and firm as iron. I was
ready for blood! Twice only have I experienced these terrible sensations,
and God grant that they may never agonize my nerves again!
Our enemies were now so near that I was on the point of venturing
a random long shot at them, when, with a suppressed exclamation of
joy, Antonio suddenly turned our canoe into a narrow creek, where the
mangroves separated, like walls, on either side. Where we entered, it
was scarcely twenty feet wide, and soon contracted to ten or twelve. We
glided in rapidly for perhaps two hundred yards, when Antonio stopped to
listen. I heard nothing, and gave the word to proceed. But the crafty
Indian said “No;” and, carefully leaning over the edge of the boat,
plunged his head in the water. He held it there a few seconds, then
started up, exclaiming, “They are coming!” Again we bent to the paddles,
and drove the boat up the narrow creek with incredible velocity.
I was so eager to get a shot at our pursuers that I scarcely comprehended
what he meant, when, stopping suddenly, Antonio pressed his paddle in my
hands, and, exchanging a few hurried words with the Poyer boy, each took
a machete in his mouth, and leaped overboard. I felt a sudden suspicion
that they had deserted me, and remained for the time motionless. A moment
after, they called to me from the shore, “Paddle! paddle!” and, at the
same instant, I heard the blows of their machetes ringing on the trunks
of the mangroves. I at once comprehended that they were felling trees
across the narrow creek, to obstruct the pursuit; and I threw aside the
paddle, and took my gun again, determined to protect my devoted friends,
at any hazard. I never forgave myself for my momentary but ungenerous
distrust!
Our pursuers heard the sound of the blows, and, no doubt comprehending
what was going on, raised loud shouts, and redoubled their speed. _Kling!
kling!_ rang the machetes on the hard wood! Oh, how I longed to hear the
crash of the falling trees! Soon one of them began to crackle—another
blow, and down it fell, the trunk splashing gloriously in the water!
Another crackle, a rapid rustling of branches, and another splash in the
water! It was our turn to shout now!
I gave Antonio and the Poyer boy each a hearty embrace, as, dripping with
water, they clambered back into our little boat. We now pushed a few
yards up the stream, stopped close to the slimy bank, and awaited our
pursuers. “Come on, now,” I shouted, “and not one of you shall pass that
rude barrier alive!”
The first boat ran boldly up to the fallen trees, but the discharge of
a single barrel of my gun sent it back, precipitately, out of reach. We
could distinguish a hurried conversation between the occupants of the
first boat and of the second, when the latter came up. It did not last
long, and when it stopped, Antonio, in a manner evincing more alarm
than he had ever before exhibited, caught me by the arm, and explained
hurriedly that the second boat was going back, and that the narrow creek,
in which we were, no doubt communicated with the principal channel by a
second mouth. While one boat was thus blockading us in front, the second
was hastening to assail us in the rear! I comprehended the movement at
once. Our deliberation was short, for our lives might depend upon an
improvement of the minutes. Stealthily, scarce daring to breathe, yet
with the utmost rapidity possible, we pushed up the creek. As Antonio
had conjectured, it soon began to curve back toward the estuary. We had
pursued our course perhaps ten or fifteen minutes—they seemed hours!—when
we overheard the approach of the second boat. We at once drew ours close
to the bank, in the gloomiest covert we could find. On came the boat, the
paddlers, secure of the success of their device, straining themselves
to the utmost. There was a moment of keen suspense, and, to our
inexpressible relief, the boat passed by us. We now resumed our paddles,
and hastened on our course. But before we entered the principal channel,
my companions clambered into the overhanging mangroves, and in an
incredibly short space of time had fallen other trees across the creek,
so as completely to shut in the boat which had attempted to surprise us.
The device was successful; we soon emerged from the creek, and the
sea-breeze having now set in, favorably to our course, we were able to
put up our sail, and defy pursuit. We saw nothing afterward of our eager
friends of Tongla Lagoon!
Some time past midnight we came to another and larger lagoon, called
“Wava Lagoon,” and, weary and exhausted from nearly two days of
wakefulness, hard labor, and excitement, we ran our boat ashore on a
little island, which presented itself, and dragged it up into the bushes.
We kindled a fire, cooked our fish, and then I lay down in the canoe,
and went to sleep. I had entire confidence that we would not be pursued
further, as we were now a long way from the coast, and in the country of
the unmixed Indians, who, so far from recognizing the assumptions of the
Sambos, hold an attitude so decidedly hostile toward them that the latter
seldom venture into their territory.
I awoke near noon, but unrefreshed, with a dull pain in my head, a
sensation of chilliness, great lassitude, and an entire absence of
appetite. Had our encampment been more favorable, I should not have
attempted to move; but the island was small, without water, and,
moreover, too near the channel leading to Tongla Lagoon to be a desirable
resting-place. So we embarked about midday, and stood across the lagoon
for its western shore, where the ground appeared to rise rapidly, and
high blue mountains appeared in the distance. The sun shone out clearly,
and the day was sultry, but my chilliness increased momentarily, and, in
less than an hour after leaving the island, I found myself lying in the
bottom of the canoe, wrapped in my blanket, and for the first time in my
life, suffering from the ague. The attack lasted for full two hours, and
was followed by a bursting pain in my head, and a high fever. I had also
dull pains in my back and limbs, which were more difficult to be borne
than others more acute.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, Antonio put the boat in shore—for I was
too ill to give directions—where a bluff point ran out into the lagoon,
forming a small bay, with a smooth, sandy beach. A little savannah,
similar to that which I have described at Tapir Camp, extended back
from the bluff, near the centre of which, at its highest point, which
commanded a beautiful view of the lagoon, rose a single clump of pines.
Here my companions carried me in my hammock, and here they hastily
arranged our camp.
When the sun went down, my fever subsided, but was followed by a profuse
and most debilitating sweat. Meantime Antonio had collected a few nuts
of a kind which, I afterward ascertained, is called by the English of
the West Indies _physic-nut_ (_jatropha_), which grows on a low bush,
on all parts of the coast. These he rapidly prepared, and administered
them to me. They operated powerfully, both as an emetic and cathartic.
When their effects had ceased, I fell asleep, and slept until morning,
when I awoke weak, but free from pain, or any other symptom of illness.
I congratulated myself and Antonio, but he dampened my spirits sensibly
by explaining that, however well I might feel for that day, I would be
pretty sure to have a recurrence of fever on the next. And to mitigate
the severity of this, if not entirely to prevent it, he presented to me a
calabash of reddish-looking liquid, which he called _cinchona_, and told
me to drink deeply. Heavens! I shall never forget the bitter draught,
which he commended to my unwilling lips every two hours during that black
day in my calendar! I know what it is now, for my Mosquito experiences
have entailed upon me a sneaking fever and ague, which avails itself
of every pretext to remind me that we are inseparable. Looking to my
extensive consumption of quinine, I have marveled, since my return, that
the price of the drug has not been doubled! Others may look at the stock
quotations, but my principal interest in the commercial department of
the morning paper, is the “ruling rate” of _quinine_! Not having, as yet,
discovered any considerable advance, I begin to doubt the dogma of the
economists, that “the price is regulated by the demand.”
Antonio was right. The next day came, and at precisely twelve o’clock
came also the chill, the fever, the dull pains, and the perspiration,
but all in a more subdued form. I escaped the physic-nuts, but the third
day brought a new supply of the bitter liquid, which Antonio told me was
decocted from bark taken from the roots of a species of mangrove-tree.
I have never seen it mentioned that the cinchona is found in Central
America, but, nevertheless, it _is_ there, or something so nearly like
it, in taste and effects, as to be undistinguishable. Thin slips of the
bark, put into a bottle of rum, made a sort of cordial or bitters, of
which I took about a wine-glassful every morning and evening, during the
remainder of my stay on the coast, with beneficial results.
I had three recurrences of the fever, but the sun passed the meridian
on the sixth day without bringing with it an attack—thanks to the rude
but effective “healing art” of my Indian companions. Experience had
taught them about all, I think, that has ever been learned in the way
of treatment of indigenous complaints. It is only exotic diseases, or
sweeping epidemics, that carry death and desolation among the aborigines,
whose ignorance of their nature and remedies invests them with a terror
which enhances the mortality. Not only was the treatment to which I
was subjected thoroughly correct, but the dieting was perfect. The only
food that was given to me consisted of the seeds of the okra (which is
indigenous on the coast), flavored by being boiled with the legs and
wings of quails, and small bits of dried manitee flesh. I only outraged
the notions of my rude physicians in one respect, _viz._, in insisting on
being allowed to wash myself. The Indians seem to think that the effect
of water on the body, or any part of it, during the period of a fever, is
little less than mortal—a singular notion, which may have some foundation
in experience, if not in reason. The Spaniards, wisely or foolishly,
entertain the same prejudice; and, furthermore, shut themselves up
closely in dark rooms, when attacked by fever. At such times they
scarcely commend themselves pleasantly to any of the senses.
From the open, airy elevation where our camp was established, as I have
already said, we had an extensive and beautiful view of the lagoon.
We saw canoes, at various times, skirting the western shore, and,
from the smoke which rose at intervals, we were satisfied that there
were there several Indian villages. As soon, therefore, as I thought
myself recovered from my fever, which was precisely at one o’clock past
meridian, on the sixth day (the fever due at noon not having “come to
time”), I was ready to proceed to the Indian towns. But our departure was
delayed for two days more by an unfortunate occurrence, which came near
depriving the Poyer boy of his life, and me of a valuable assistant;
for, while Antonio was supreme on land, the Poyer boy was the leader on
the water. I always called him—Mosquito fashion—“admiral.”
It seems that, while engaged in gathering dry wood, he took hold of
a fallen branch, under which was coiled a venomous snake, known as
the _tamagasa_ (called by the English _tommy-goff_, and the Mosquitos
_piuta-sura_, or the poison snake). He had scarcely put down his hand
when it struck him in the arm. He killed it, grasped it by the tail, and
hurried to our camp. I was much alarmed, for his agitation was extreme,
and his face and whole body of an ashy color. Antonio was not at hand,
and I was at an utter loss what to do, beyond tying a ligature tightly
around the arm. The Poyer, however, retained his presence of mind,
and, unrolling a mysterious little bundle, which contained his scanty
wardrobe, took out a nut of about the size and much the appearance of
a horse-chestnut, which he hastily crushed, and, mixing it with water,
drank it down. By this time Antonio had returned, and, learning the state
of the case, seized his machete, and hastened away to the low grounds on
the edge of the savannah, whence he came back, in the course of half an
hour, with a quantity of some kind of root, of which I have forgotten the
Indian name. It had a strong smell of musk, impossible to distinguish
from that of the genuine civet. This he crushed, and formed into a kind
of poultice, bound it on the wounded arm, and gave the boy to drink a
strong infusion of the same. This done, he led him down to the beach, dug
a hole in the moist sand, in which he buried his arm to the shoulder,
pressing the sand closely around it. I thought this an emphatic kind of
treatment, which might be good for Indians, but which would be pretty
sure to kill white men. The boy remained with his arm buried during the
entire night, but, next morning, barring being a little pale and weak
from the effects of these powerful remedies, he was as well as ever, and
resumed his usual occupations. A light blue scratch alone indicated the
place where he had been bitten.
The _tamagasa_ (a specimen of which I subsequently obtained, and which
now occupies a distinguished place among the reptiles in the Philadelphia
Academy), is about two feet long. It is of the thickness of a man’s
thumb, with a large, flat head, and a lump in the neck something like
that of the cobra, and is marked with alternate black and dusky white
rings. It is reputed one of the most venomous serpents under the tropics,
ranking next to the beautiful, but deadly _corral_.