At the next stream we came to, which was a more tranquil one than the
former, we had an adventure. As we were crossing it, we observed a
large snake swimming towards us. On it came, with its head and part of
its body raised out of the water. On nearing us it stopped, apparently
watching our motions. I then knew, by the black cross which I observed
on its neck, that it was of the species called aquis, one of the boldest
and most venomous of the serpents of that region. Mr Laffan, not
liking the creature's appearance, and naturally thinking it intended to
attack us, drew his pistol.
"You had better not, senor," cried Domingo; "you are very likely to
miss, and the brute will come after us. Let me take it in hand. Please
hold my horse."
Domingo dismounting, ran a short distance, to a place where we saw a
number of bamboos growing. He cut one with his sword, and then advanced
to fulfil his promise. The aquis had all the time remained perfectly
quiet, with its eyes fixed on us. As Domingo approached, the creature
put out its forked tongue, and raised itself higher in the water, as if
preparing to make a dart at its enemy. On this, Domingo retired to a
distance; but he and the snake continued to watch each other for some
minutes. Suddenly the aquis turned round, and began to swim to the
other side of the river. The moment Domingo observed its head turned
from him he rushed to the bank, and before it got beyond his reach gave
it three or four tremendous blows with the bamboo, which made it turn on
its back. Then following up the attack, he succeeded in killing the
creature. On measuring it, we found that it was upwards of six feet in
length.
"It never does to run from these creatures," observed Domingo, as he
remounted; "they will follow even a horse for a league or more, and move
as rapidly, provided the ground is not too dry."
In the meadows we observed large numbers of fine cattle.
"Ah, senor, you might have seen twice as many before the Spaniards
passed by," said Domingo; "but they slaughtered all they could get,
sometimes merely for the sake of their tongues. It is a pity that the
people should have rebelled against their lawful sovereign; and this is
the consequence."
Mr Laffan made no reply. It was as well, for our purpose, that Domingo
should appear so loyal.
In the woods, and often flying across the valley, we saw various kinds
of birds, macaws and parrots; some of the latter had yellow plumage on
the breast, wings, and tail, and red feathers on the head. We also met
with wild turkeys, grouse, and partridges in large numbers; and we
frequently caught sight of deer scampering over the hills. But
sometimes, during a whole day, we did not pass a single house of any
size, while the cottages of the peasantry were scattered at long
distances from each other.
As we proceeded down the valley, however, we saw a number of neat
country-houses and cottages; while the soil appeared to be fruitful in
the extreme, and nothing could surpass the beauty of the scenery. The
numbers of the cattle also increased. They were under the charge of
black slaves, who were riding about looking after them. We saw neither
Creoles nor Indians: the latter had made their escape to the forests and
mountains, and the former had been carried off to serve in either the
one army or the other. The appearance of the blacks on horseback was
singular. On their heads they wore large straw hats, while their bodies
were covered by a cloak made of rushes, which served to keep out both
the heat and the rain. Their legs were bare, but their feet were
protected by sandals, to which were fastened spurs of huge dimensions.
Each man carried by his left side a long manchette, or sword-knife,
secured to his girdle. They were all galloping as hard as they could
go, wheeling their horses round and then halting in a moment.
"Those fellows would make useful cavalry, if they could be got to face
the enemy; and I should like to find myself at the head of a thousand of
them," observed Mr Laffan. "We should give a good account of any of
the Spanish lancers we might fall in with."
Soon after this, on the shores of a small lake, we came upon a curious
tree, which Mr Laffan pronounced to be the wax-palm, or the _Ceroxilon
andicola_. From its appearance I should have supposed that it could
only grow in the very warmest regions; but it is of so happy a
constitution that it flourishes equally well in temperate and in cold
climates. We afterwards found some on the mountains of Quindio. They
are the most hardy of the Palm tribe: where others would perish, or
assume a dwarfed or stunted form, the wax-palm raises its stem, in the
form of an elegantly-wrought column, a hundred and fifty feet high, with
a splendid leafy plume. From the leaves and trunk exudes a grey and
acrid matter, which on drying assumes the nature of wax as pure as that
of bees, but rather more brittle. I have seen tallow-candles surrounded
by a thin coating of this wax, which, not melting as rapidly as the
tallow, prevents the candle from guttering.
The valley of the Cauca abounds with bamboo-cane, which serves a variety
of purposes. With the bamboo the inhabitants build their houses, and
erect a pretty kind of fence around their farms. The peasantry make
with it sweet-sounding flutes; it furnishes them also with
drinking-cups, water-buckets, and bird-cages, chairs and baskets,
blow-pipes and arrows. With the canes also large rafts are built for
carrying cocoa and other produce down the rivers even as far as the
ports of embarkation, where the rafts themselves are disposed of to
advantage. As cattle abound, ox-hides are made use of for all sorts of
domestic purposes. Tables are covered with them, and also sofas,
chairs, bedsteads, doors, and trunks. Cut into strips, they form
lassoes, greatly in use among the cattle-keepers of the plains. They
are formed into bottles, too, for wine and chica; and with them also,
stretched on poles, hand-barrows are constructed for carrying earth and
rubbish.
We met in this region a number of horses and mules without ears, and
others with their ears lying flat on their necks. On inquiring the
reason, we found that this was occasioned by an insect like a wood-louse
getting inside them, and which is as prolific as the chigua in the toes
of human beings. These insects gradually devour the nerves of the ear,
which then falls off. To prevent this, the muleteers rub the inside of
the animal's ears with hog's lard, to which the insect has a decided
aversion.
Even this paradise was not perfect. We caught sight of several
tiger-cats, jaguars, and pumas, which come down and commit depredations
on the flocks and herds; and occasionally a huge black bear will descend
from his mountain lair and pay a visit to the hog-pen, though he runs a
risk of being shot by the watchful owner.
Having all my life lived in the high regions of New Granada, I was not
prepared for the perfectly tropical scenery I now for the first time
beheld. I remember one spot by the side of the Cauca, just before we
reached Cartago. The sepos, or rope-like vines, hung from the lofty
branches of the trees, and beautifully-coloured parasitical plants were
suspended in the air. Gaily-tinted macaws flew across the blue sky, and
other birds of the gayest plumage flitted here and there. There were
several plants of the cacti species on the borders of the stream, on the
shores of which were seen the bamboo-dwellings of the inhabitants, with
palms and other graceful trees rising above them; while long-tailed
monkeys swung to and fro on the creepers, which seemed arranged
specially for their amusement.
Soon after this we reached the town of Cartago, from which we were to
strike upwards over the Quindio mountains. The town was of considerable
size, and at one time, I have no doubt, was as flourishing as others in
the province. The curse of war had fallen upon it. Many of the houses
were empty,--their owners having been killed on their own thresholds, or
carried off to be shot, or sent to work at the fortifications of
Cartagena or other places on the coast. I saw here a larger number of
slaves--negroes and negresses--than at any other place we had passed
through. The latter were dressed in blue petticoats, without any other
garments. They came in numbers from the river-side, carrying huge
pitchers or leathern bottles of water on their heads, and walking
gracefully and perfectly upright. I remember a group we passed in the
outskirts of the town, who appeared to take life very easily: the women,
in the most scanty raiment, with huge necklaces, were seated on the
ground chatting and laughing; the men, their only garment a shirt, were
lazily smoking their cigars. Forgetting that I was to be ignorant of
Spanish, I spoke to them, when, turning round, I saw a person passing in
the uniform of an officer. He looked at me for a moment, but making no
remark, passed on, and I thought no more about the matter.
Only a very small remnant, I should say, of the ancient inhabitants now
remain, though the traces of their former existence are everywhere to be
seen, showing that at one time they must have been very numerous. They
have been destroyed in vast numbers by the severity of their relentless
and avaricious taskmasters. Thousands and tens of thousands of poor
Indians have perished from famine, the sword, and the pestilence, or
have died with hearts broken by the loss of liberty, or from being
compelled to labour in the gold-mines with constitutions unequal to the
performance of their hard task-work.
We were, of course, anxious not to stay an hour longer at Cartago than
was necessary; and yet it might seem strange to the inhabitants that an
Englishman, travelling for the sake of amusement, should not wish to
remain a sufficient time in the town even to form a correct opinion of
it. The posada was a wretched one, but there were few people in it.
The old woman who kept it declared that the Spaniards had carried off
all her property; indeed, except a few red earthenware plates, I could
see nothing on which our supper could be served. I sat down in a corner
of the room, and pretended to be reading an English book; while Mr
Laffan went out to arrange for guides, silleros, and peons, to enable us
to travel over the Quindio mountains. From what our old landlady said,
I guessed that she was a Liberal; but, of course, I thought it best not
to trust her. The silleros are chairmen, the peons carry the baggage.
It was not necessary, we found, to leave our horses behind, though it
might be dangerous to ride them. At the same time, if it had not been
important to keep up our character as travellers, I should not have
hesitated to push over the mountains with a single guide to show the
way.
While I was waiting for Mr Laffan's return, a Spanish officer entered
the posada, and in a dictatorial tone ordered supper, although it was an
early hour for that meal. He then eyed me narrowly, and inquired of the
old woman who I was. It struck me that he was the person I had seen
while I was talking to the natives.
"An English milord going over the Quindio mountains to Bogota," was the
answer--being the information Domingo had given her.
Turning towards me, he inquired if such were the case. I was very
nearly replying, when I remembered that I did not speak Spanish, and I
made signs to let him know that my companion would soon return and
inform him all about the matter. Finding that he could make nothing of
me, he paced up and down the room, his sword clanking on the hard mud
floor. Whenever he came near me, Lion gave a low growl, and appeared as
if about to spring on him. There was something in the tone of his
voice, or the appearance of the man, which evidently the sagacious
animal did not like. Soon after an orderly appeared, conducting a
sillero and two peons--the sillero was a fine strong-built man in a
loose dress.
The captain told them that he meant to start next morning at daybreak to
go across the mountains, and that they must reach Ibaque in five days.
"Impossible," was the answer. "Six is the least in which the journey
can be performed. Except with the greatest exertion, it requires
seven."
"I must start at daybreak to-morrow morning, and my orders must be
obeyed. Go! the sergeant will look after you."
The soldier retired with the men, who, I found, were his prisoners; and
in a short time Mr Laffan appeared, and said that he had arranged with
two silleros and five peons, three of whom were to lead the horses, and
the other two to carry our baggage.
"Domingo will have to walk, and so must we, if we wish to push on fast,"
he observed. "They can go on ahead, and we can overtake them at the
foot of the mountains," he added.
This was satisfactory intelligence. I then told him what I had heard
the Spanish officer saying; that he seemed an ill-tempered fellow; and
that we must be on our guard towards him.
The captain, after having discussed his supper, put the same questions
to Mr Laffan that he had put to me.
My tutor told him the story agreed on. "Oh!" he said, "you will follow
me, for I must carry intelligence of the proceedings of the rascally
rebels to Bogota."
"A pleasant journey to you then, colonel," said Mr Laffan, giving him a
higher title than was his due. "We Englishmen, unaccustomed to your
wild mountains, cannot travel so fast."