"I have received directions to proceed up the Orinoco to Angostura," he
answered. "As that city is in the hands of your friends, I conclude
that you would wish to go there. If not, I will keep you on board and
land you at Jamaica, or any other English island where you may desire to
remain."
"By all means let me go on shore at Angostura," I said, "for I am as
anxious as ever to help to drive the Spaniards out of the country."
The doctor and the padre were greatly pleased when they found that the
schooner was about to proceed up the Orinoco.
"I shall thus be able to recover my chests," observed the former; "it
would have broken my heart to leave them. I shall also, I hope, be able
to remain till I see the patriotic cause triumphant, and you, Barry,
settled happily at home. You make a very good soldier; but you are cut
out for something better than shooting your fellow-creatures, and
running the risk of being shot in return."
"And I shall be able to get back to my people; and, I hope, have liberty
to preach the gospel to them in quiet," observed the padre.
We were soon out of the Caribbean Sea, when, the wind shifting to the
north-east, we ran along the eastern shore of the beautiful island of
Trinidad. The yellow water amid which we afterwards sailed showed us
that we were off the mouth of the mighty Orinoco. The shores on both
sides of the river were so low that we could see only the mangrove
bushes rising out of the water, with tall trees farther off. Having
taken a pilot on board, and the wind being from the eastward, we sailed
rapidly up the stream, notwithstanding the strong current running
against us. The river being in the hands of the patriots, who commanded
it with strong flotillas of flecheras or gun-boats, we sailed on without
molestation from the Spaniards, and at last, after a voyage of ten days
or more, reached Angostura.
Hearing that General Bolivar had already left the place with his forces,
and was marching towards the plains of Apure, my friends and I
determined to follow him. Finding that we could perform two or three
hundred miles or so of the distance by water, we engaged a canoe to take
us up.
When bidding farewell to my friend Captain Longswill, he put a purse
into my hand; observing,--"You are in want of funds, and you or your
uncle can repay me some day if you have the opportunity. If not, you
are welcome to the money; I have made a successful voyage, and can spare
it."
I thanked him much for his generosity, for I was unwilling to be
indebted either to the doctor or the padre,--who would, however, I am
sure, have been ready to help me. I was thus able to purchase a rifle
and other weapons. The doctor had preserved his; and the padre supplied
himself with arms at the same time.
We set off towards the middle of the day, and had thus made some
progress before sunset. Our life was very similar to that which we led
when coming up the Magdalena. We landed at night on the shore, where we
built some huts for shelter, lighted a fire, cooked our provisions, and
then lay down to rest.
I was on foot before my companions the next morning; and rambling, gun
in hand, along the bank of a small stream which ran into the main river,
was much struck with the calm beauty of the scene, so different from
anything I had witnessed for many months. The vegetation was rich in
the extreme,--creepers with gay colours hanging from all the branches,
with graceful reed-like plants springing up at the water's edge, while
on the surface floated large green leaves,--on which I saw a long-footed
jacana standing while engaged in fishing for her breakfast. The idea
came across my mind, How much happier it would be to live amid scenes
like this, instead of having to go back to the wild turmoil of the camp
or engage in the heady fight; but while my country remained enslaved, it
was my duty to risk life and limb, and to sacrifice everything else, to
set her free,--so I quickly banished the thought, and hastened back to
my friends.
Having breakfasted, we proceeded on our voyage. Our canoe was a curious
craft: she was formed of a single vast trunk (hollowed out by fire and
the axe), forty feet in length, and scarcely more than three in beam,
with upper works added to her; and on the after part was a platform
projecting over the sides, on which was erected a small low cabin or
toldo. The deck, if I may so term it, was covered with jaguar-skins, on
which we could stretch ourselves when we wished to escape from the heat
of the sun. A dozen Indian rowers sat, two and two, in the fore part,
with paddles three feet long in the form of spoons; and they kept very
regular stroke by singing songs, which were of a somewhat sad and
monotonous character.
Our craft was so crank that one of us could not venture to lean over on
one side unless we gave notice to balance the boat by inclining on the
other. Still we made very good progress, considering the current that
was against us.
During the excessive heat of the day, we landed to allow the crew to
take some rest. The doctor on these occasions bade me remark the
silence which reigned over nature. The beasts of the forest had retired
to the thickets; the birds had hidden themselves beneath the foliage of
the trees. Yet when we ceased speaking our ears caught a dull
vibration, a continual murmur,--the hum of insects filling all the lower
strata of the air, while a confused noise issued from every bush, from
the decayed trunks of the trees, from the clefts of the rocks, and from
the ground undermined by lizards, crickets, millipedes, and other
creatures. Myriads of insects were creeping upon the soil and
fluttering round the plants parched by the heat of the sun,--showing us
by their countless voices that all nature was breathing, and that under
a thousand different forms life was diffused throughout the cracked and
dusty soil, as well as in the bosom of the waters and in the air
circulating round us.
We landed one night on a sand-bank, when, finding no tree, we stuck some
long poles in the ground, to which we fastened our hammocks, with
blazing fires around. It was a beautiful moonlight night, calm and
serene. We observed numerous alligators with their heads above the
surface; others were stretched along the opposite shore, with their eyes
turned towards the fire, which seemed to attract them as it does fish
and other inhabitants of the water.
The first part of the evening passed away quietly enough, but an hour
before midnight so terrific a noise arose in the neighbouring forest
that we in vain tried to sleep. It appeared as if all the wild beasts
of the continent had collected together in an endeavour to out-howl each
other. We could not distinguish one from the other; but the Indians, by
listening attentively, caught the voices of those which sounded for an
instant at intervals while the rest ceased. Among the strange cries
were those of the sapajous, the moans of the alouati monkeys, the
howlings of jaguars and pumas, the shrieks and grunts of peccaries, the
calls of the curassow, the paraka, and other fowls. Jumbo added his
voice to the turmoil, barking furiously; but suddenly he ceased; then
again began to howl, and tried to jump into his master's hammock.
"He knows that a jaguar is approaching," observed the doctor. "I only
hope that the brute will show his ugly nose here."
"Take care that he does not leap into your hammock," I remarked.
"Not while I keep my weather-eye open," observed the doctor.
As a precautionary measure, however, the doctor got out of his hammock
and piled wood on all the fires. These, I suppose, kept the jaguars
from actually attacking us; but the next morning we found the traces of
several which had come down to the river to drink.
Continuing our voyage, the men, after having paddled against a strong
current, begged for a noonday rest, which we were compelled to allow
them. The forest appeared tolerably open, so the doctor proposed that
we should take our guns and shoot any animals we might come across. The
padre, he, and I accordingly landed; and observing that the ground rose
to some height inland, we pushed forward in that direction. In addition
to my gun, I had armed myself with a long spear,--a useful weapon under
most circumstances in that region, although it could not be employed to
much effect in a thick forest.
We shot a paca and several birds, and had got some way up the hill,
which was densely covered with trees to the summit, when the doctor
suggested that it was time to return.
"Gladly, my friends," answered the padre; "hill-climbing does not quite
suit me, unless on the back of a stout mule; and I am, besides, very
hungry. I hope our people will have prepared dinner for us. Hark! what
is that noise?"
We listened, and could distinguish a confused sound of grunting and
squeaking coming from a distance amid the trees.
"Pigs, I suspect," observed the padre. "We may shoot one or two, and
they will prove a welcome addition to our larder."
"Pigs they certainly are; but of a species which I have no wish to
encounter unless I am safe out of their reach," exclaimed the doctor.
"My friends, it is no joke; if they once get up to us, we are as good as
dead men. They are peccaries,--terrible little brutes, with tusks as
sharp as lancets, savage as jaguars, and too stupid to know fear. Were
we to shoot down half-a-dozen of them, the rest would come on as
fiercely as at first. Here, senor padre, let me hoist you up into the
fork of this tree. Don't hesitate, as you value your life."
Saying this, the doctor seized the padre round the legs, and together we
lifted him up till his hands could reach a branch, when by further
efforts we enabled him to seat himself safely in the tree.
We were going to follow, when the doctor remarked that it would be as
well to divide our foes; and observing another tree at a little
distance, he ran towards it, when, giving such a spring as I scarcely
believed him capable of, he caught hold of a branch and hoisted himself
up.
"Quick, quick, Barry!" he cried out, stooping down and giving me his
hand.
Turning one glance over my shoulder, there I saw a herd of apparently
harmless little pigs tearing through the forest, as if possessed by some
uncontrollable impulse. I had barely time to get my feet off the
ground, with the doctor's help, when a dozen or more, aiming at my legs,
dashed their snouts against the trunk of the tree; and others, turning
round, began leaping up at me, uttering all the time the most fearful
grunts and squeaks, indicative of savage rage. As they did so they
opened their jaws, exhibiting the sharp, terrible little tusks of which
the doctor had spoken. The herd now divided; some, having espied or
smelled out the padre, surrounded the tree in which he had taken refuge,
while others endeavoured to reach us. Having my lance, which had
assisted me in getting on to the branch, I darted it down and transfixed
one of the fierce little monsters; but this produced not the slightest
effect on the rest, even though the doctor fired and killed another.
The padre, meantime, was blazing away, at each shot bringing down one of
the peccaries besieging him; but the rest continued as furious as before
the fall of their companions. There were a hundred or more, but as they
kept rushing about it was difficult to count them. It was also clear
that, unless we could manage to kill every one of them, it would be
unsafe for us to descend from our perches. The question was, whether
our powder and shot would last out the siege. That I might husband
mine, I made good use of my lance, and was thankful that I had brought
it.
"How are you getting on, senor padre?" shouted the doctor.
"I have killed a dozen; and I should be glad if I could get a few slices
off one of them roasted, and handed up to me, for the exercise and
excitement have increased my hunger wonderfully," answered the padre;
and he again fired, and sent a peccary rolling over on its back.
It appeared, after all, that though he had killed so many, the furious
herd was as numerous as ever. The matter was growing serious; our
boatmen would not know what had become of us, and might possibly take it
into their heads that we had been attacked and killed by Indians,
jaguars, or snakes, and might return to Angostura and leave us to our
fate. We had no great confidence in them, though they behaved well
enough when we were present to keep them in order. The doctor's and the
padre's ammunition was already running short, too; though I, having used
my lance, had a larger supply. I calculated that I had what would kill
twenty peccaries; but still there would remain several dozens to be
disposed of. At last the doctor told me he had only a couple of charges
left; and shouting to the padre, we ascertained that he had the same
number. It would not do to expend these, as on our way back we might
have to defend ourselves against other wild beasts.
The doctor now took my lance, which he used with pretty good effect,
piercing five or six more of our enemies. He had pinned another to the
ground through the side, but in its struggles it snapped off the head of
the lance, and we had now only the charges which I had reserved for the
destruction of some of the remainder. Each time I fired I killed a
peccary; but we calculated that when I had fired the last shot I could
venture on, there would still remain upwards of forty of our fierce
little assailants--a number sufficient to kill every one of us, should
we descend to the ground.
We sat still for some minutes, considering what was best to be done.
Hunger, independent of the wish to continue our voyage, made us anxious
to get down; but the doctor warned the padre and me on no account to
make the attempt.
"I would sooner face a couple of jaguars than those little brutes," he
observed.
We were seated on our perches, disconsolate enough, it may be supposed,
when we heard a sound of cracking boughs, as if some creature was making
its way through the underwood, and presently we caught sight of a large
tapir with a jaguar on its back, dashing at headlong speed through the
forest. It attracted the attention of the peccaries, and they, for the
moment forgetting us, darted off in pursuit, possibly with the hope of
making both animals their prey.
"Now's our time," cried the doctor; "come, senor padre, descend from
your tree--quick!--quick!--and we'll make our way to the canoe."
The padre eagerly obeyed the summons; and came rolling, rather than
leaping, down to the ground, nearly dislocating his ankle. We each of
us took hold of his hands, and together, in spite of the pain he was
suffering, ran through the forest. As we did so, I looked back pretty
often to ascertain whether the terrible little monsters were following
us.
The padre begged us at last to stop, that he might recover breath and
rub his ankle. As we rested, he fancied that he again heard the grunts
and squeaks, and urged us to go on. We willingly obeyed him, and
continued our night till we saw the broad river close in front of us.
We shouted to our crew, but neither they nor the canoe were to be seen.
"The fellows can't have put off already," exclaimed the doctor; "they
deserve hanging or shooting if they have."
"Perhaps they are hidden by the bank," observed the padre; "come on. I
still hear those horrible grunts in the distance; I shall never get the
sound out of my ears as long as I live."
Presently we saw a hat rising above the bank; it was that of our
captain. Another and another appeared. The fellows had been fast
asleep, and had not discovered now quickly the time had gone by. When
they heard of our encounter, they congratulated us, assuring us that
they had known of numbers of people being killed by herds of peccaries;
and they asserted that the creatures will attack and destroy a jaguar,
though many of the herd may first lose their lives in the battle. Our
men, on hearing of the peccaries we had killed, were eager to obtain
some of the flesh, and coolly asked us to go with them, that we might
defend them. This we declined doing, for even a dozen men would have
been no match for the remainder of the herd, should we encounter them.
Our fellows looked very sulky at our refusal, though they were afraid to
go alone; so we ordered them to shove off, and proceeded on our voyage,
leaving the slain peccaries to become the food of jaguars and pumas, or
armadilloes and vultures,--which, before the nest day's sun arose, would
devour the whole of them.
Some days after this we reached a long, low sand-bank, which the falling
waters had left dry. We were about to pass close to it, when a voice
from the shore hailed us to "keep off in the middle of the stream;" and
on looking in the direction from whence it came, we perceived a large
encampment of Indians, and in the midst of them recognised a Franciscan
monk.
To recompense our crew for the loss of the peccaries, we agreed to land,
in the hope of obtaining some fresh provisions. Padre Pacheco told us
not to mention who he was; and certainly no one could have discovered
him by his dress.
On landing we were welcomed by the friar, who introduced himself as
Padre Bobo. He had come with his people, from some place in the
interior, to the harvest of eggs. The turtles, he said, had already
begun laying them; and his people proposed digging them up the following
morning, when they would supply us with as many as we required. We
accordingly agreed to remain till then.
The padre seemed a jovial old gentleman, though he complained of his
solitary life. He had got his Indians under tolerable subjection, but
he appeared to me to have advanced them very slightly in the scale of
civilisation; while their religion consisted chiefly in crossing
themselves, and bowing to the crucifix which he held up when he
performed mass. However, as Padre Pacheco observed, they had given up
some of their worst customs, and that was something.
Padre Bobo gave us much information about the habits of these turtles.
They invariably lay their eggs during the night. In the evening they
may be seen with their heads above water, eager for the moment of the
sun's setting; then, directly it is dark, they land and commence
operations. The animal first digs a hole, three feet in diameter and
four in depth, with its hind feet, which are very long, and furnished
with crooked claws. So anxious is it to lay its eggs that it often
descends into a hole that has been dug by another, still uncovered with
sand, where it deposits a new layer of eggs on that which has been
recently laid. Numbers of eggs are thus broken. All night long they
continue working on the beach, and daylight often surprises many of them
before the laying of their eggs is terminated. They now labour with
double eagerness, having not only to deposit their eggs, but to close
the holes they have dug, that they may not be perceived by the jaguars
which are sure to be waiting in the neighbourhood; and many on these
occasions are captured.
The padre gave us an ample supper, consisting of turtle dressed in a
variety of ways, and several wild fruits, washed down with some of the
doctor's aguadiente, which had been brought up from the canoe. He then
produced a bundle of tobacco, with some long pipes, for those who
smoked; after which he brought out an exceedingly greasy pack of cards,
and invited us to join him in a game, observing that he was rarely
visited by white gentlemen with whom he could enjoy that pleasure. As I
nearly fell asleep during the game, I have not the slightest
recollection of what it was; indeed, having a dislike to cards, I was
utterly ignorant how the game was played.
We then turned into our hammocks, slung between the trees, and slept
soundly without fear of interruption; for the Indians kept unusually
quiet lest they should alarm the turtles, while they were also on the
watch to guard against a surprise from jaguars.
At daybreak the next morning we went out with Padre Bobo and his chief
man, who carried a long pole with which to search for the eggs. Digging
it into the sand as he went along, he discovered each nest by finding no
opposition to the pole as he struck it downwards, generally to about the
depth of three or four feet. The Indians then followed, and, removing
the sand with their hands, placed the eggs they collected in small
baskets, in which they carried them to their encampment, and threw them
into long wooden troughs filled with water. In these troughs the eggs,
broken and stirred with shovels, remained exposed to the sun till the
oily part rose to the surface. As fast as this oil collected, it was
skimmed off and boiled over a quick fire.
The Indians called it turtle butter; and the padre told us that it keeps
better than olive or any other oil. When well prepared, it is limpid,
inodorous, and almost white; and can then be used not only for burning
in lamps, but also for cooking.
Notwithstanding the vast quantity of eggs laid, in consequence of the
persecution to which the poor turtles are exposed, their numbers have
decreased of late years. The jaguars are their most inveterate enemies,
next to man; they pounce upon them, and turn one after the other on
their backs, so that they may afterwards devour them at their ease.
From the suppleness of the jaguar's paw, it is able to remove the double
armour of the creature, and to scrape out the flesh with the greatest
neatness. It will even pursue the turtle into the water when not very
deep. It also digs up its eggs; and, together with the alligator, the
heron, and the gallinazo vulture, captures large numbers of the little
turtles recently hatched.
Our crew half-filled the boat with small live turtles, and eggs dried in
the sun.
The alligators, which are among the principal persecutors of the
turtles, find their own young attacked by vultures. Unlike the turtle,
however, the savage little creatures attempt to defend themselves, and
as soon as they perceive their enemy they raise themselves on their fore
paws, bend their backs, and lift up their heads; opening their wide
jaws, they turn continually, though slowly, towards their assailant, to
show him their teeth, which, even when the animal has but recently
issued from the egg, are very long and sharp. Often, while the
attention of a small alligator is engaged by one of the vultures,
another pounces down, grasps it by the neck, and bears it off to his
eyrie.
We at length reached the mouth of the Apure, and having happily escaped
an overturn of our crank craft, we landed at a large village. Here
obtaining horses, we pushed forward towards the camp of the Republicans,
where I hoped to rejoin my brave commander, General Bermudez.