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diff --git a/43051.txt b/43051.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 606438a..0000000 --- a/43051.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3406 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Up the Mazaruni for Diamonds, by William La -Varre - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: Up the Mazaruni for Diamonds - - -Author: William La Varre - - - -Release Date: June 28, 2013 [eBook #43051] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UP THE MAZARUNI FOR DIAMONDS*** - - -E-text prepared by sp1nd, srjfoo, Matthew Wheaton, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 43051-h.htm or 43051-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43051/43051-h/43051-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43051/43051-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/upmazarunifordia00lavarich - - - - - -UP THE MAZARUNI FOR DIAMONDS - -by - -WILLIAM J. LAVARRE - -Veteran Scout - - - - - - - -Boston -Marshall Jones Company -1919 - -Copyright . 1919 -By Marshall Jones Company - -The.Plimpton.Press -Norwood.Mass.U.S.A - - - - - _To My Mother and Father_ - - - - -_FOREWORD_ - - -LaVarre is adventuring in the right spirit. His diamond hunting is -instructive as well as interesting. He has brought back from the field -information which will help others who intend to traverse similar -trails. - -Though younger than most explorers he has carefully endeavored to -prepare himself for the field by study and travel. He believes in the -theory of hard work and preparedness, the essentials of the successful -explorer. - -In these days when there is so much endeavor which seems to be for the -acclaim of the crowds and the deification of self, it is refreshing to -meet one who seems to be in it for the love of the work and the good -which he may open up for others in the field of exploration. - -William J. LaVarre was born in Richmond, Va., August 4, 1898. His love -for the outdoors was demonstrated early, for he camped in the open at -the age of ten and as a boy scout a few years later won a contest for -leadership of the Honor Patrol of the New York City organization of -the Boy Scouts of America. He also won sixteen merit badges in the -same scout order. He was one of twenty-four scouts chosen from the -East to build a trail in Maine for the Forestry Department of the -United States in 1914. - -He has specialized in Geology and Mineralogy and shown considerable -skill in the use of the camera. He is now in the field as scientific -assistant and photographer of the Rice Amazon Expedition. His diamond -hunting trip was a success. - -We look forward to his return from the Amazon with an interesting -experience and a successful exploration. - - ANTHONY FIALA - AUGUST 11, 1919. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - CHAPTER I - "ARE YOU GAME TO TRY IT?" 1 - CHAPTER II - "IN THE LAND O' MAZARUNI" 7 - CHAPTER III - A FIRE BOAT AND A NATIVE WEDDING 14 - CHAPTER IV - JUNGLE DAYS BEGIN 18 - CHAPTER V - GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE NATIVES 22 - CHAPTER VI - LIFE ON THE RIVER 29 - CHAPTER VII - MUTINY AMONG THE CREW 34 - CHAPTER VIII - THE GLORIOUS FOURTH 39 - CHAPTER IX - BABOON FOR DINNER 43 - CHAPTER X - IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY 48 - CHAPTER XI - "UNCIVILIZED," BUT COURTEOUS, QUIET AND CLEAN 56 - CHAPTER XII - A VISIT TO A NATIVE HOME 62 - CHAPTER XIII - THE SNAKE THAT DISAPPEARED 68 - CHAPTER XIV - DIFFICULTIES OF JUNGLE TRAVEL 72 - CHAPTER XV - HOSPITALITY OF THE JUNGLE FOLK 82 - CHAPTER XVI - CASSAVA CAKES AND BLOW-PIPES 93 - CHAPTER XVII - ON THE MARCH AGAIN 101 - CHAPTER XVIII - ARRIVAL AT THE DIAMOND FIELDS 107 - CHAPTER XIX - HOW THE NATIVES HUNT AND FISH 113 - CHAPTER XX - PICKING UP JUNGLE LORE 121 - CHAPTER XXI - THE FIRST DIAMOND! 128 - CHAPTER XXII - HOW THE PRECIOUS STONES ARE FOUND 133 - CHAPTER XXIII - GOOD-BYE TO THE JUNGLE 137 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Sketch map _Frontispiece_ - "Jimmy" _facing page_ 4 - We Worked Steadily up the Dangerous River 20 - A Jungle "Hotel" 20 - Once in a While a Boat Shot Past Us 46 - At Times a Portage Must be Made 46 - The First Jungle Indians We Saw 52 - An Indian Fisherman 52 - "Bringing Home the Bacon" 60 - They Seemed Glad to Pose for Us 84 - Jungle Huntsmen 84 - At Fourteen an Indian Girl Must Be Able to Cook Cassava 94 - A Primitive Sugar Cane Press 94 - Two Quick Puffs, a Flutter, and the Bird Drops to Earth 98 - My Jungle Friends 104 - Usually Our Hunters Were Successful 116 - The Toucan Makes an Interesting Pet 118 - Abraham, Felling a Woodskin Tree 122 - Preparing Woodskin Bark for Canoe 124 - Finished Woodskin Canoe with Ends Open 124 - Our Jungle Home 128 - An Interior View of Our "Logie" 132 - A Long Tom Diamond Washer 134 - Jiggers Separating Diamonds from Gravel 134 - - - - -UP THE MAZARUNI FOR DIAMONDS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -"_ARE YOU GAME TO TRY IT?_" - - -"Here's a queer looking letter," I said to myself one day early in the -spring of 1917. I could hardly make out the postmark. It was something -of a surprise to receive a letter from British Guiana, as I finally -deciphered it, but the contents were even more surprising. - -The letter was from my friend Dudley P. Lewis. - -"I need a partner in a diamond mining venture," he wrote. "Are you -game to try it out with me? It will be a long trip full of adventures -and dangers, but there are diamonds here to be had for the digging." - -He wrote much more. I became enthusiastic on the moment and was -determined to go if possible. I had little trouble in arranging this -and wrote him that I would come. - -On the tenth of May I sailed from New York on the steamship _Saga_ to -Barbados, where Lewis met me. He was delighted and quite as -enthusiastic as I. He had been in Georgetown, British Guiana, for a -while on other business and had learned about the diamond fields away -up the famous, and treacherous, Mazaruni River. - -From Barbados we sailed away to South America on the steamer _Parima_. -I was surprised to find Georgetown such a large city, 60,000 -inhabitants, and, as the buildings were all one and two stories, one -can imagine how it spread out. - -"Can we start to-morrow?" I asked, after we had reached our hotel. -Lewis laughed. - -"Hardly," he said. "This isn't like a trip back home where you can -toss some clothes and clean collars in a bag, buy your ticket, catch -your train and be off." - -I had not given much thought to exactly how we were to travel. But I -soon learned that to journey up a great river for hundreds of miles -with a score of natives, taking all the food for a six months' stay, -was a matter that could not be arranged in a moment. - -The starting out place for the trip was twenty miles from Georgetown -at a town upriver called Bartica. But as Bartica has only twenty -inhabitants we bought everything in Georgetown. There we busied -ourselves with the preparations. It seemed as though there were a -million details to look after, and I got an idea of what an explorer -is up against, as we had to outfit ourselves about the same as an -exploring party would. - -"We must get lead guns, beads, mirrors and other trinkets," said -Lewis. - -"What's the big idea?" I asked. "Are we to open a five and ten cent -store for the native Indians up there?" - -"Not exactly," laughed Lewis, "but we must have something to trade -with. What use is a silver or gold coin to a native back hundreds of -miles in the jungle? He'd rather have a twenty-five cent kitchen knife -than a fifty dollar gold piece." - -The "lead guns" are not lead, as I learned, but the very cheapest sort -of cheap guns, manufactured in England solely for trading with -semi-civilized and uncivilized people. No live American boy would take -one as a gift, but I found that the natives treasured them above -everything else they possessed. - -We were fortunate in finding a Dutch captain, a man who has navigated -the turbulent waters of the Mazaruni for twenty years. And he picked -out a skilled "bowman," a native who stands at the bow of your boat, -with an immense paddle, and fends it off rocks, gives steering -directions and acts generally as a sort of life preserver for the -boat. - -Then there was "Jimmy." He was a negro, rather undersized and as black -as the inside of a lump of coal. He appointed himself our special -guardian, a sort of valet, overseer and servant. He looked after our -personal belongings, cooked our food, made our tea and devoted himself -exclusively to us. - -Twenty paddlemen were also engaged. Sixteen of them were quite as -black as our Jimmy, and four of them were in varying shades from -tobacco brown to light molasses candy tint. These latter were of mixed -Dutch and Negro blood. - -"They are 'Bovianders,'" said the captain. - -"Queer tribal name," I commented. - -The captain laughed. "Not exactly a tribal name," he explained. -"They live up the river quite a distance and so it is said that they -come from 'above yonder.' They have twisted that into 'Boviander,' so -that the word always means people who live up the river." - -[Illustration: "JIMMY"] - -While we were engaging our staff the captain was getting boats for us. -He selected a great fifty-foot boat seemingly as heavy as a -locomotive. It looked like a crude craft, made of great thick planks. -I soon learned the necessity of such a heavy boat. We also had a small -boat for emergency and for little side trips here and there. - -Next came the "eats." We had to take enough food for ourselves, our -twenty-two helpers and partly enough for the native Indians that we -were to employ later. When the big boat was finally loaded properly -under the skillful direction of the captain, we had five tons of food -aboard and this included no meat at all except salt fish. There was no -need to take meat, for game and fresh fish were so plentiful that we -were never without them. - -There was a queer, tent-shaped rig amidships of our big craft. -Beneath this was room enough for us to stay sheltered during the heat -of the day. White men can seldom stand the midday heat in British -Guiana. - -Packed all about us was the food. Jimmy climbed to the top of the -pile. The captain took his position aft. The sturdy Boviander bowman -took his place at the bow with his immense paddle, the twenty paddle -men took their places in four groups of five, one group on each side, -forward and aft of the cargo. - -Then they shoved off and began their peculiar, noisy paddling. - -The little town of Bartica fell away behind us as we slid out into the -broad expanse of the old Mazaruni. - -We were off at last, on our great diamond mining adventure! - - - - -CHAPTER II - -"_IN THE LAND O' MAZARUNI_" - - -Eagerly I scanned the waters and either shore, determined that nothing -should escape me, that I should see everything and enjoy all that -there was to be enjoyed. - -The captain sat, complacently smoking, at the stern of the boat, the -great steering paddle, tied to the stern with thongs, in his hands. He -looked as bored as if crossing the street to buy an evening paper. How -could he, when there was such glorious adventure, I wondered. But -afterwards I realized that twenty years of navigating the river had -somewhat dulled the novelty of it for him. With him it was work, and -nothing more. - -To a boy used to paddling our own style of light canoes, the paddling -methods of those black men seemed the most awkward in the world. Yet -they "got there," and I doubt if any crew of white men, without years -of practice, could have propelled the heavy craft as easily as they. -Their method was to bend forward, holding the paddle horizontally and -sliding it along the gunwale with a loud scraping noise, then suddenly -lean over sidewise and dig the paddle viciously into the water, giving -a sturdy backward tug with it, still scraping the paddle against the -gunwales. At the end of this stroke they returned the paddle to the -horizontal position with a loud thumping noise, sat up straight, then -leaned forward and repeated the stroke. - -They kept perfect time. No varsity crew boys ever worked in unison at -the oars any better, and they were forever singing. It didn't matter -whether they were paddling twenty feet across a narrow inlet or making -an all day pull upstream, they always had music with their paddling. - -They were crude songs, partly English that was scarcely -understandable, partly native dialect and partly something else that -may have been handed down to them from their ancestors who were -captured in Africa so many generations ago and brought over by the -early Dutch and English slave traders. - -If the water was smooth and open, with no current, our twenty paddle -men would sing as softly as the whispering of a summer breeze. But if -there was a current they would sing louder. And the more difficult the -paddling, the louder they would sing. In boiling rapids where it took -every ounce of their strength and they had to take quick, short -strokes to keep going, their voices arose to an almost howling -crescendo. - -Soon Bartica was lost to view around a point of land. For nearly six -months we were to see no more civilization than Indian villages here -and there, hidden far back from the river bank. As we swung up into -the broad river where the current became strong enough to cause the -paddlers to use a little extra "elbow grease" they broke into a queer -song which I heard so many times after that, that it still rings in my -ears. I cannot translate it. I do not know what it means, but imagine -that it is some sort of love song to some dusky "Lena." This is the -way it sounds: - - "_San, Lena, chile, I do love yo'; - Me know so, hear so, yes! - Le, le, le, le, le, le, - Blow, ma booly boy, blow! Califo 'ge 'ole! - Splenty o'gol's for A've been tol' - I' th' lan' o' Mazaruni!_" - -We came in sight of another boat. On the Mazaruni every boat one sees -that is going in the same direction is an "adversary" and every -paddler believes that it is his duty to pass it. Then you see some -fancy paddle strokes, so weird and unusual and grotesque that they are -difficult to describe. One would think that they were trying more to -awe each other with their paddle gesticulations than with speed. How -they race upstream, each determined to get and keep the lead! The -captain told me that many lives were lost at rapids because the racing -paddlers would give thought only to getting into the narrow passes -first and were frequently crashed upon the rocks and overturned. - -Not far from the little town is Kalacoon, the biological station where -at various times Professor Beebe and the other scientists take up -their intimate studies of tropical life. This station is on a high -hill where the Mazaruni and Essequibo Rivers join. It was at this -place that Colonel Roosevelt stopped when he visited the colony. - -From this point the vegetation on both sides of the river became so -dense that it seemed almost like greenish-black solid walls. No huts -or signs of human life were visible at first. But finally, with sharp -eyes, we got so we could detect a slight opening, a log landing at the -water's edge or a faint suggestion of a thatched hut in back of the -shore row of trees. - -It would have been fearfully monotonous but for the fact that Lewis -and I devised a new sort of game--to see which one could detect the -greater number of signs of human habitation. Our natives, with sharper -eyes, would verify our discoveries. All this was in the Boviander -section, where the natives come down from "'Bove yonder." Just before -nightfall we reached the foot of the first falls and landed to make -camp for the night. - -Before the big boat touched land Lewis and I had leaped ashore to -stretch our legs. The blacks jumped out into the shoal water and -swung the boat into place and made it fast. Jimmy began taking ashore -our shelters. Suddenly he began a frantic search and in despair cried: - -"No cookum!" - -"You bet you 'cookum,'" I shouted, "I'm starved." - -"No cookum! No cookum!" repeated the distracted boy, mournfully. - -Lewis investigated and came back with a long face. - -"We did a bright thing," he muttered. - -"What's wrong?" I asked. - -"Left all of our cooking outfit down at the village!" - -"There's two things to do, go without them or go back and get them," I -suggested. - -"Can't go without 'em," said Lewis. - -"Then there's one thing to do," I laughed. I was not to be filled with -gloom. The prospects of a great adventure were far too joyous. Our -landing was at the last settlement of the Bovianders. These half -Dutch, half Negro natives speak fairly understandable English. I -scouted around amongst them, found a good canoe, took three black men -and set out downriver. The two paddlers were sturdy boys and, going -down with the current, they fairly made that old canoe whizz. - -It was midnight when we got back to the village. Everyone was asleep -except the dogs. They greeted us with howls, and many of the men -turned out. Perhaps they thought they were to be attacked by some -savage tribe. But we soon explained, got our cooking outfit, lashed it -carefully to the canoe and started back. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -_A FIRE BOAT AND A NATIVE WEDDING_ - - -There was no speeding up against the current, although the light canoe -made better progress than our heavy boats. And then I heard a sound -that made me think I was back home. It was the "put--put--put" of a -gasoline motor. I was amazed. - -"Fire boat," grunted one of the black men. - -I hailed it. A Dutchman answered and came over to us. It was an -ordinary native boat to which he had attached one of those portable -motors which may be put on any boat. He was going upstream and gladly -took us in tow, much to my delight. Otherwise I would not have reached -camp until daylight, and the tropical nights (as I afterward learned) -are not the sort of nights for anyone, especially a white man, to be -out in, because of the terrible dampness and mists as well as insect -pests. - -As we chugged along upriver, my three blacks sitting back and grinning -at their luck because they would be paid just the same for the trip -although they escaped all of the hard work, there suddenly came across -the black water the most weird sounds imaginable. - -There were shrieks and falsetto laughter, squeaks and tinkles and -shrill pipings and heavy stamping. I couldn't imagine what it all -meant. - -"Wedding celebration," said the Dutchman. "Let's put in and see the -fun." - -I stared at the black bank of the river whence came the weird sounds, -but could see nothing. Finally, as my eyes became accustomed, I caught -faint glimmers of light that seemed far inland, miles and miles, I -thought. In reality the natives were no more than a quarter of a mile -inland, or perhaps less. We found a landing place and, guided by the -fearful din and the flickering lights, made our way through the jungle -to the higher, dry ground beyond. I had all sorts of visions of great -snakes dropping on me and wild jungle beasts grabbing at my heels, -but nothing worse than giant mosquitoes came near. - -We came to the opening and a group of huts. In front of one hut was an -improvised porch or platform. The boards were rough, uneven and -loosely laid across supports. At one end sat a wrinkled and grizzled -old man playing a squeaky fiddle. Beside him squatted two younger -natives playing flutes. Another pounded upon the platform with a -cocoanut shell, beating time. - -We were welcomed with nods and smiles, but the natives could not pause -in their festival to do more. They were dancing on that platform. -Overalls and frayed shirts and rough brogans made up the evening dress -of most of the Bovianders, but the women were decked out in gaudy -skirts and waists. Up and down and back and forth over the boards, -pouncing and scraping and stamping their feet, they danced and -laughed. - -Tallow candles, oil lanterns and here and there kerosene lamps were -affixed to hut poles or trees, and by this light the dancers cast -amazing shadows over everything, shadows that moved and swayed and -intertwined in a most awesome manner. - -And everyone was talking and laughing at the same time. Every fourth -word was understandable but there were many dialects and vernaculars. -There were cocoanuts to eat and a peculiar sort of cake or bread. We -watched the merrymaking for quite a while. The newly weds were cheered -by means of peculiar calls when they danced together. I suppose those -brown children of the jungle danced all night. We finally grew weary -of it all and set out for camp. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -_JUNGLE DAYS BEGIN_ - - -Such food as could be eaten without cooking had been served and -everyone was asleep except Jimmy, who awaited my coming, and tumbled -me into a hammock beneath a canvas shelter. I suppose I had slept many -hours but it seemed no more than five minutes before I was awakened -and crawled out for breakfast. The camp kitchen had been set up, the -blacks had already eaten and were getting the boats ready. Our -breakfast consisted of boiled rice, salt fish and biscuits. - -The second day up the river was uneventful. There were broad sweeps of -water, grand, wide curves and the seemingly endless mile after mile of -thick jungle vegetation growing down to the water's edge. That night I -had an opportunity to see how such an outfit was handled. We landed in -a rather likely spot, not far back from the shore, at five o'clock. -Some of the blacks brought the kitchen outfit ashore, others cut long -poles and put up the canvas shelters. It seems that we took our -"hotel" along with us, merely a great canvas cover, and spread it anew -at each night's camp. - -A great pole was placed in the crotch of two trees, about twelve feet -above ground, the canvas stretched across this and propped up with -shorter poles and ropes. Beneath this were stretched two hammocks, one -for Lewis and one for myself. Meanwhile Captain Peter and the bowman -swung their hammocks under the awning of the large boat. - -Our twenty paddlers put up three smaller shelters beneath which they -swung their own hammocks. - -The tropic sun was turning the great Mazaruni to a sheet of molten -gold, deep blue dusk was falling, this turning to gray, and then the -camp fires began to glimmer here and there. - -The captain and bowman needed no camp fire, sleeping on the boat, but -we had our own, and the natives had their own at each shelter. Jimmy -presided over our fire, made coffee for us and prepared our supper. -Captain Pete and the bowman had charge of the food for the natives. -The English laws outline clearly to the last ounce and gramme, just -how much food you must give the natives who work for you, to live on. - -It was interesting to watch Captain Peter, assisted by the bowman, -with their scales, measuring out the rations to our paddlers. The -Government standard of weekly rations for each man is: flour, 7 pints; -salt fish, 1 pound; sugar, 1 pound; rice, three and one-fourth pints; -salt pork, 1 pound; dried peas, one and three-quarters pints; -biscuits, 1 pound. Frequently the men prefer the extra portion of -sugar in place of the peas, as the sugar is a delicacy with them, -desired above all else. - -Captain Peter, through long years of experience, knew just how to -divide this weekly allowance into daily portions and the blacks -trusted him. In line they would march down to the boat, each with a -tin plate, and receive his portion, carefully weighed on the scales, -then he would march back to his camp fire and prepare his food as best -suited himself. - -[Illustration: A JUNGLE "HOTEL"] - -[Illustration: WE WORKED STEADILY UP THE DANGEROUS RIVER] - -At the same time each one was given extra tea, sugar and crackers for -the light morning meal, to save time in breaking camp. With their pint -of flour they baked a cake beside the fire, using the salt from their -fish for the seasoning. Sometimes boiled plantains were eaten with -their supper but these they brought with them as they are not required -by the Governmental regulations to be furnished them. These plantains -are much like bananas, but smaller and really considerably different -in taste. Then there was game and fish to supply additional meat so -that, with the foodstuffs we brought along, everyone fared quite well. - -As soon as they had eaten and had cleaned their tin plates they -crawled into their hammocks and filled their short black clay pipes -with tobacco. I must say that it was not a very attractive brand of -tobacco, to judge from the odor. That night we gave cigarettes to -those who did not have them and after that we sold them cigarette -tobacco and papers from our stock at cost. They are extremely fond of -them. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -_GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE NATIVES_ - - -It was at these times, as I soon learned, that there was much -amusement to be had with these blacks. I learned of their many -superstitions, their ambitions, likes and dislikes and much of the -customs of that wild country that could never be learned in any other -manner. This I learned both by means of questions and by listening -carefully as they talked to each other. Their English was about as -easy to understand as that of the Southern Georgia darkey, when they -cared to talk it. - -A "Dodo" they told me--and they believed it, too--is a sort of hairy -bird-beast twenty feet high which either eats men alive or carries -them off to its jungle nest and makes slaves of them. Then they would -name this or that acquaintance and say, "Ah spec' he shuah was et by -a Dodo, yes suh." - -Caven, one of our paddlers, solemnly assured me that he had seen a -Dodo. Caven looked much like a Dodo, or some sort of missing link, -himself. He said he was out hunting monkeys and saw one. - -"He gi' me scar' fo' true," said Caven, and he must have seen some -weird thing, or dreamed that he did, for his teeth chattered even at -the telling of it. These blacks could talk fairly understandable -English when it was necessary for them to make themselves clear to us. -Otherwise they could profess almost absolute ignorance of the -language, and among themselves they frequently talked a jargon that -would defy any linguist to interpret. - -Our men soon formed themselves into cliques and they stuck to these -groupings throughout the long trip. The Bovianders kept by themselves; -the Berbicans (negroes from Berbice) by themselves; and the -Demerarians (who believed themselves to be the salt of the earth) -likewise flocked together. We had one Barbadian negro. Now to a -British Guiana darkey, a darkey from Barbados--one of the Leeward -Islands--is the essence of laziness and good-for-nothingness. I think -the British Guiana darkey is right. I found that Caven and his brother -Berbicans were really the best of the lot. In every test of strength, -bravery, skill and endurance, they led the other blacks. - -I really did not get my initiation into the mysteries of hammock -sleeping in the tropics until the second night because on the first -night I tumbled in about three in the morning too tired to know -whether I was in a hammock or a feather bed. But on this second night -I found myself doubled up like a crescent moon. I twisted and squirmed -and wriggled about in my fantastic debut into the brotherhood of -hammock sleepers before I discovered that the trick was simple enough, -once you got on to it, that of sleeping diagonally across it from head -to foot. - -Having made this discovery I arose and got out the victrola we bought -in Georgetown. It was a small, cheap one, but the best investment I -ever made. I don't know what induced me to do this, but with a large -assortment of records that machine drove away gloom and dull care -through many and many a dreary evening. - -The blacks enjoyed it immensely, and it seemed strange to be mingling -the voices of our opera singers with the screech of monkeys and the -howls of red baboons and piping of strange night birds in the tropical -jungle. - -The camp fire died low, at last. Fresh lanterns were lighted and the -men prepared for sleep. This was no simple matter to them. To me it -was the most astonishing sight I had witnessed. They made ready for -bed by putting on all of the clothing they possessed. Then they -wrapped cloths around their hands, feet and necks. Some even pulled -bags down over their heads and tied them. The "wealthy" blacks had -bags for each foot. Our empty flour bags became grand prizes to be -used for this purpose, which we awarded to the best workers. - -By the faint camp fire light and flicker of lanterns those natives -certainly did look queer, like fantastic goblins, all muffled up. -There was little that seemed human about them as they clambered into -their hammocks and rolled themselves up, pulling over the flaps until -quite lost to view. - -"Does it get so cold at night that we have to wrap up like that?" I -asked Jimmy. - -"No suh, dey's feered o' vampire bats. That there is a _part_ -protection." - -I couldn't get the "part protection" meaning of it, and all Jimmy -would explain was that they had some sort of superstitious "voo-doo" -rigmarole performances to keep away the vampires. - -I was quite excited about it. From early boyhood I had read about the -deadly vampire bats that come upon you when you are sleeping and suck -your life blood away. Secretly I hoped that I would be bitten by one -so that I could boast of it when I got back home. - -The blacks were asleep. By virtue of being a sort of aide-de-camp -Jimmy was allowed to swing his hammock in a corner of our shelter. He -insisted that the lantern be kept burning all night. - -"No need of it," I told him. - -"Yes suh, they is, Mister Laver," (which was the best he could do in -the way of pronouncing my name). "Ef yo' don' bu'n a lantum all night -yo' will shuah be annoyed." - -"Annoyed?" I laughed. - -"Uh, huh, annoyed by vampires," he answered, very solemnly. - -But I couldn't sleep with the lantern light in my eyes and so blew out -the light. Several times in the night, poor scared Jimmy tried to -light it, but I yelled at him. - -Neither Lewis nor myself was ever bitten by a vampire. Sometimes one -would alight on my hammock, but fly away without trying to bite me. -Yet, despite their great care, our blacks were frequently bitten. They -would become restless in the night, kick off some of their wrappings -and then the vampires would get at them. - -I have heard that vampires are deadly. I never knew personally of a -fatal case. I do know that they always pick out a blood vessel for -their biting spot and that they never awaken the sleeper. The more -blood they draw, the sounder is the sleep of the victim and the bite -does not become painful until the next day. - -I should say that our crew of blacks must have lost, among them, a -couple of quarts of blood during the trip. Some of them were quite -lame and sore and a bit weakened as a result, but that was all. As -near as I can figure it out the vampires prefer the blood from -gentlemen of color rather than from pale-faced Americans. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -_LIFE ON THE RIVER_ - - -"Daylight! Daylight!" - -It was the stentorian shout of Captain Peter. He was a human alarm -clock. He never failed to awaken at the first gleam of daylight. In -the tropics it does not come on with a slow pink dawn as here, but -seems to burst through the gray morning sky in a flash. - -There was a scramble everywhere and all tumbled out of the hammocks. -Camp fires were lighted, tea was boiling and in a short time everyone -was getting into the boat. The natives had our shelters down while we -were drinking tea. They came down to the boat with their pots and pans -jangling at their sides, and at the captain's cry, "In boats all!" we -climbed in, the darkies took up their paddles and began their noisy -paddling, singing at the same time. The sun was flaming over the top -of the jungle from the distant shore of the river, three quarters of a -mile away, and we set out on our journey. - -Lewis and I took seats on top of the canvas where we could see -everything. We passed through a wide part of the river full of islands -and deep channels and treacherous currents and whirlpools. Only a -skillful man like Captain Peter could have guided our boat through the -right channels, as some of them contain whirlpools that look smooth -enough on the surface but would have dragged even as heavy a craft as -our own under without a struggle. - -Some of the islands were a mile in area, some no bigger than a -doormat. In and out amongst them we paddled and finally came to a -smoother, more open part of the river. - -"Eleven o'clock!" cried Captain Peter. - -I looked at my watch. It was just eleven o'clock. - -"Your watch is right, Captain," I called. - -"I have no watch, sir," he replied. "I use God's time." - -It was a fact, he told time by the sun, and seldom was a minute out of -the way. - -Eleven o'clock was always breakfast time. How those black men could -paddle up against a strong current towing our smaller boat, from five -o'clock to eleven with only a cup of tea was more than I could -understand. Yet they did it, and worked well and never seemed hungry. -At eleven we always went ashore and cooked breakfast, cakes, rice, -boiled plantains, salt fish and tea. Then we would pile back into the -boat again and keep on until just before sunset, trying to make a good -landing in time to pitch camp before dark. - -That long afternoon was tiresome to me. I scanned the deep foliage -everywhere in hopes to see many wild beasts and reptiles. I recalled -my school geography, with its woodcuts of jungles showing great -alligators on the shores, giant boa constrictors writhing in trees, -monkeys hopping from branch to branch and queer, bright-colored birds -flitting about. This was jungle, surely enough, with such thick -vegetation that only crawling things could penetrate it, yet for hours -I saw no signs of life there. There were wonderful orchids that would, -if they could be brought to New York, sell for fabulous sums. There -were queer looking trees, great fronded palms, hanging moss as thick -as large hawsers and other growing things that I knew nothing about. - -In Georgetown I had heard tales of giant forty-foot snakes. I never -saw one. I did catch a glimpse of a small snake which they told me was -deadly poison. He was hanging from a limb over the water. We were -paddling close inshore to avoid a current. One of the blacks saw it -and in a flash knocked it far away into the stream with a blow of his -paddle and kept on paddling, because to him this was a common -incident. His eyes were trained to see such things. - -That night we camped at Topeka Falls, or just below them, and the roar -lulled me to sleep. - -I discovered that the first part of our trip upriver was not as full -of adventures as I had hoped. But adventure came in good time. The -routine was the same, night after night, but there were many new -things of interest to see, many narrow escapes and considerable -trouble in one way and another. At this camping place I stripped and -was about to take a swim. - -"Hey, quit that," shouted Lewis. - -"I won't hurt your old river," I laughed. - -"You won't come out alive, sir," said the captain. - -"There isn't an alligator or crocodile or whatever you call 'em in -sight," I insisted and started to dive. Jimmy restrained me. - -"No go in. Fish eatum up," he said. - -I laughed at the idea of a fish eating me up. The captain tossed a -salt fish into the water. There was a swish and a big fish came and -grabbed it. I didn't get a very clear look at the fish but he looked -bigger than a whale and his teeth seemed altogether too prominent for -me to fool with. - -I discovered that the river was full of "perai," a decidedly savage -fish extremely fond of human beings. One of them will devour a man in -a short while. - -I gave up my plan of having a swim and Lewis and I satisfied ourselves -by sitting on the edge of the small boat and splashing water over each -other. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -_MUTINY AMONG THE CREW_ - - -Our fifth night was Saturday. We did not intend to travel or work on -Sunday. We selected a splendid camp site. Heretofore the blacks had -waited and given us the best camping place. But we had been treating -them so well that they thought our kindness to them was not kindness -at all, but fear of them. And so they started to make _their_ shelter -on the best spot. - -"You can't have that place," I said. - -"We got it," grinned one of the men. Most of the others stuck by him. -One or two slunk off. - -"Go down there," I commanded. - -"We stay here," he declared and stood his ground. - -I was in an uncomfortable position. If I let them have their way this -time there would be no living with them. If I got in a fight--they -were, after all, twenty-two blacks to three whites--they could -overpower us. - -Suddenly I had a vision of how they would abuse us if I gave in. I -could see them grinning at each other, believing that we were afraid -of them. That situation would be unbearable. I turned on the black man -and pointed with my left hand down the slope. - -"Get down there and stay down!" I commanded. - -"I won't--" - -He didn't say any more. My fist shot out and took him under the ear -and he went over like a stick of wood. Then I wheeled to face the -others. - -I really expected a fight, but the blacks stared at their fallen -companion who rolled down the slope, their eyes bulging, and before I -had time to bark out a short command for them to get out, they hastily -snatched up their belongings and ran down the hill. - -I stood there a moment, waiting to let my anger cool off a little to -make sure that I would not say things or do things unnecessarily -severe or that I would regret. Then I strode down to where they were -grouped and where the first black was dazedly rubbing his chin. When -they saw me approach they again dropped their things and started to -run away. - -"Don't run. You are all right there," I shouted. They paused and -looked at me suspiciously. - -"We are running this little outfit," I said to them, pointing to -Lewis, "and we are hiring you to work for us. You know your places. -Keep them and you will get good treatment, otherwise you will be the -sorriest niggers in British Guiana. For every wrong that you do, you -shall be punished. For every good thing that you do you shall be -rewarded. We are treating you kindly because it is the right thing to -do, not because we are afraid of you. Your punishment for attempting -to dispute our authority shall be to sleep to-night without your -shelter cloth!" - -Then I picked up their shelter cloth, turned my back on them and -walked away. To be quite truthful, I was not a little frightened when -I turned my back, fearing treachery, yet it was the only thing to do. -I knew that I had to make them believe that I was without fear of -them or of anything else, otherwise I would not win their respect or -co-operation. - -Meekly they arranged to hang their hammocks without the shelter cloth, -seeming to take it for granted that they had this penalty coming to -them for the way they had acted. - -"You acted like a veteran explorer," said old Captain Peter to me. -"You did just right, boy. If you had given in they would not have -worked, they would have stolen everything and they would have abused -you during all the trip." - -Most of the white men that these native darkies knew had been of a -rough sort, adventurous Dutchmen and others, who kicked them about and -treated them without the least regard until the poor black boys--we -call all blacks "boys"--thought that it was the white man's natural -way. When we showed kindness to them and full regard for their comfort -they mistook it for fear. And, thinking that we were afraid of them, -they decided to run things themselves. It did not take them long to -learn that American white men are not brutes and that when they worked -hard and acted on the square they would be treated with kindness. And -I am sure no group of native blacks, as a whole, ever worked more -faithfully than this bunch after they had learned their lesson. There -are always a few exceptions. One or two became lazy, one or two tried -to steal diamonds, later, but we had our own methods of handling them. - -For the first time in my life I learned by direct experience the value -of superiority of intelligence. We white men, being mentally far -superior to the blacks, could rule them. Had they known their own -strength they could have overpowered us at any time. And I recalled -that in all of my histories the same has held good. The mentally -superior people have ruled the less intelligent. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -_THE GLORIOUS FOURTH_ - - -This was our fifth night of camping on the banks of the Mazaruni. We -were to be two nights here, as we did not intend to travel or work on -Sunday. - -By the time we had our shelters erected and this little mix-up with -the blacks had been settled, Lewis suddenly looked up from his -notebook in which he was keeping a sort of journal, and said, "Say!" - -"Say it," I remarked, lazily, from my hammock where I was resting. - -"Whoop-ee!" shouted Lewis, leaping to his feet. - -"What's got you?" I demanded. "Is it a vampire down your neck or a -crocodile up your trousers leg?" - -"This, my beloved fellow American, happens to be the fourth day of -July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventeen, and the -one hundred and forty-first year of our country's independence!" was -his reply, whereupon I stared at him a moment and then I, too, leaped -up and emitted a war whoop. Fourth of July in a far-away jungle! - -In the British Guiana wilds we of course couldn't do just as we would -have done back in the United States, but we did the next best thing. -While he was getting out some firearms I dug up several flags we had -with us and soon the Stars and Stripes were much in evidence. We -rigged a pole in the center of our camp, raised our largest flag and, -with hats off, repeated the oath of allegiance. Then we ran the colors -up on our boats and stuck the smaller flags about in various places. - -Our next move was a bit of noise. - -"Bang-bang-bang-bang!" went our repeating rifles. Then we shot our -revolvers and finally we improvised a "cannon" out of a hollow log, -filled it with blasting powder from our stock for mining, attached a -fuse and kept up our firing of small arms until sunset, which was then -but a few minutes coming. - -Lewis lighted the fuse. I stood by at the flag and began to lower it. - -"WHANG!" - -It certainly was some explosion. Bits of the old log flew in every -direction. - -Quickly I lowered the flag, for that final explosion was our "sunset -gun." - -There were some scared blacks in our party. They thought we had surely -gone crazy. Those who had attempted to assert themselves when we -landed were certain that we intended to kill them. But Captain Peter -explained to them that it was our national holiday and that we were -celebrating, and this made them feel better. - -I ordered an especially good feast that night, some tinned fruits and -double portions of food for all. Then we got out the victrola and I -selected all of the old war songs and all of our patriotic music that -we had, and for two hours Lewis and I made a bluff at singing -everything from "Yankee Doodle" and "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean" to -"America" and "The Star Spangled Banner." - -It was the most unusual Fourth of July celebration I had ever -experienced and, now that we are having sane Fourths at home, I -believe we burned more gunpowder away up there in the jungles of -British Guiana on the banks of the Mazaruni than was burned in half -the cities at home. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -_BABOON FOR DINNER_ - - -Sunday we sat about camp, reading and chatting for a while. Then we -heard the peculiar roaring of the wild red baboons, and the blacks -wanted to go into the jungle and shoot some, as these men are -extremely fond of the meat. - -Off a party of us went, through the thick jungle and into the more -open forests on the uplands back from shore. Again I kept my eyes open -for the giant snakes I had been told about. But I saw none. Finally -some of the blacks, circling ahead, came upon some of the red baboons -and we heard their shots. Hurrying on to get into the fun I heard one -howl close to me. Finally I made him out, high in a tree. By good luck -I got him with the first shot and he came tumbling down at my feet, -quite dead and one of the most hideous looking beasts to be found. My -appetite was not whetted in the least at thought of eating him. The -blacks came back with two more which they had got after a dozen or -more shots. The fact that I dropped one the first shot increased their -respect for me because it indicated that I was a dead shot. I did not -deny it, although the truth was that I was by no means a crack -marksman. - -On the way back I suddenly let out a yell and tried to shake something -from the back of my hand. From the feeling I was sure it was a red hot -poker, jabbed quite through my hand. What I did see was a small red -ant. He had hooked his biting apparatus into the skin of my hand and I -had to pull him off. There must have been some sort of poison on him -for sharp pains, like needles of fire, darted through my hand and up -my arm. It was an hour or more before the pain went away. - -Jimmy hailed our arrival with the baboons with delight and proceeded -at once to dress and cook the one I had bagged. Both Lewis and myself -were rather skeptical about eating any. However, we had been without -our customary quantity of fresh meat and decided to try some. - -Jimmy boiled some of it with salt pork, seasoning it well. Very -gingerly Lewis and I tasted it. The meat was dark, very tender and, to -our surprise, tasted much like rabbit or gray squirrel meat. - -"I feel like a cannibal, eating baboon," laughed Lewis. - -"Darwin said we were related to monkeys, not baboons," I argued. - -"Well, a baboon belongs to the same family. I feel as though I were -dining on a distant relative." - -But we soon learned to overcome such feelings and the meat was really -excellent. How the darkies did feast on it! There wasn't an unpicked -bone or a shred of it left by the time they were finished. - -Monday, our seventh day on the river, found us in the midst of some -perilous rapids and facing some tough propositions in the way of -portages. In the shallow waters there was no danger from the Perai, or -man-eating fish, and the darkies could leap out, fasten a line at the -bow and two at the stern and haul the craft up over ledges to still -and deep water. But frequently it meant that we were to pile out and -lighten the boat by removing the five tons of supplies! - -Twice we had to carry those five tons of provisions and other supplies -two or three hundred yards around portages while the boys hauled the -heavy boat up the ledges. To make matters worse, there was a drizzling -rain. After we got further up the river we had less trouble with rains -because they came regularly, morning and night, without fail. We made -a camp in the rain and ate beneath our shelters. - -Early in the forenoon of the next day we came within sight of Caburi, -the largest falls on the Mazaruni River. At this point the Puruni -River joins the Mazaruni. It was a big job to unload and carry our -provisions and other equipment up over the high ledges by hand, for -while it was only a carry of about a hundred yards, it was difficult -clambering up over steep ledges of the falls with them. It took us -more than half the day just to get over the falls and load again. - -I had been taking a number of pictures, but I lost many of them -because I did not know that the warm water of the tropics would ruin -the negatives. The developing tank is excellent at home, but down -there in torrid British Guiana where the water is always from 75 to 80 -degrees above zero in temperature, not even the tanks would save them, -the heat of the water softening and ruining the emulsion on the -celluloid films. The only way I could do, as I afterwards learned, was -to take the pictures and then seal the exposed films in tin boxes and -wait until I got back to a cooler climate or to civilization where I -could get ice to put in the fluids. - -[Illustration: ONCE IN A WHILE A BOAT SHOT PAST US] - -[Illustration: AT TIMES A PORTAGE MUST BE MADE] - - - - -CHAPTER X - -_IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY_ - - -Over the Caburi Falls we found a broad expanse of still water, smooth -and, while the current was fairly swift, by no means like the -treacherous rapids below. - -"Better navigating now, until almost up to the Big Bend, sir," said -Captain Peter. - -The "Big Bend" was a name to conjure with for Lewis and me, for away -up the Mazaruni were the diamonds, where the river makes a sharp bend -and begins to almost double in its tracks. This is due to the hilly -formation and the lowlands between the hills. - -"This is the Indian territory," added the captain, whereupon I became -instantly alert, for I was anxious to see the real natives of this -wild country. - -Our blacks are called "Native Blacks," but in truth they are no more -native to British Guiana than are the negroes of the United States -native to North America. They all had the same ancestors, the blacks -of Africa who were brought over in slave ships to be sold. - -The reason the Indians live in the upper reaches of the river was -plain enough, for here the water was smooth and navigable for their -peculiar light dugouts and their eggshell-like woodskins, canoes made -of bark. - -We had no more than swept around the first great bend in the broad -expanse of still water above the falls than we saw a canoe loaded down -with an Indian family and their possessions. - -"Good!" exclaimed Captain. "We will get them to hunt for us and have -plenty of fresh meat and good fish. I will call them." - -Then he did a peculiar thing. Instead of shouting to them, and they -were surely nearly half a mile away, he called in a very low tone of -voice, softer by far than he would use in speaking to the bowman on -our own craft. - -"Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo," he said, over and over, a dozen times. - -"They'll never hear you. Let me show you how to shout to them," I -said. - -"No-no," warned the captain. "A great shout will frighten them. Their -ears are so well trained to every sound of the river and jungle that -they can hear almost every sound. A loud noise startles them." - -"Yoo-hoo," he repeated again, in a low tone. - -The Indians heard, turned their heads and studied us and then began to -paddle toward us. Gradually our boats came together and I studied them -eagerly. It was a strange sight to me, the first really uncivilized -people I had ever seen. Before they got to us one of the men stopped -paddling and called, in a low tone: - -"Me-a-ree! Me-a-ree!" - -"Me-a-ree!" repeated Captain Peter. - -"What does that mean?" I demanded. - -"It is a form of greeting, sir. It means a combination of 'How do you -do?' and 'We are friends.' Always use it when you meet the native -Indians." - -They talked in low mutterings but the captain seemed to be able to -understand them. Later they talked in a sort of pidgin English that I -could understand fairly well myself. - -At first I was a bit bashful about staring at them, thinking that they -would be embarrassed or consider me rude, and that it might affect -their modesty. I laugh now every time I think of that. In the first -place, they do not know the meaning of the word "modesty." Not that -they are immodest, but that they go about with scarcely any clothes, -which seems quite all right to them. And as for embarrassing them by -staring at them, they consider it an honor to be stared at, to have -someone take an interest in them. - -To me they were a great curiosity. The entire family was crowded in -their small canoe, the old grandfather with a gray tinge to his hair -although with bright eyes and strong muscles, as his paddling showed; -his son, son's wife, their son, who was quite a youth; two younger -boys and several babies. Then there were several tame parrots, a large -blue and yellow macaw that croaked incessantly and a worried little -flea-bitten dog much mauled by the babies. - -And packed in about them in their none too safe canoe I saw a dozen -chunks of smoked meat, lying about like so much firewood to be walked -over, a dozen or more very stiff and black smoked fish, several -baskets of queer vegetables, a bunch of small bananas, bows and -arrows, blowpipes and bundles of the dangerous poisoned blowpipe -arrows with tips wrapped, fish spears, game spears and a large iron -pan which was originally used for washing gold, but used by this -Indian family--who prized it above all their worldly goods--as a -kettle, stove, frying pan and griddle. - -In the center of the boat on a large piece of wet and noninflammable -bark, lay a heap of glowing coals, to be used for their cooking fire -wherever they might camp or upon their return to their home. From this -I figured it out that matches in the jungle were not to be had for the -asking. - -We gave each man cigarettes, which at once made us friends. The -captain began to dicker with the men about securing game for us, and -as they talked I made a study of them. One thing is certain, they are -not bothered by the high price of clothing. I looked at the big -boy, he was about sixteen I should judge--about the age when I got -into long trousers and had plenty of difficulties in keeping them -pressed, when I worried about the right style and fit of collars and -the proper tie to go with my shirt, when collar buttons and scarf pins -and cuff links were important to me and I craved silk socks and kept -my shoes polished and my clothes brushed. It was a serious matter in -those days, as every boy knows, getting up in the morning, getting -properly dressed and off to school in time. And I looked at this big -boy. He wore a red loin cloth which was about a foot long, suspended -from a "belt" made of some wild vine. That was all the clothing that -he possessed in the world, all that he needed and I'm sure every boy -will envy him his comfort, if nothing more. The men, too, wore loin -cloths, red, and about two feet long, tucked into vine belts. - -[Illustration: THE FIRST JUNGLE INDIANS WE SAW] - -[Illustration: AN INDIAN FISHERMAN] - -The women wore smaller loin cloths, called an apron or "queyu." These -were decorated with beads and held on by a string of beads instead of -vines. The smaller children wore nothing at all. Some of the women -wear necklaces made of shells, animal teeth or beads or all three. -Some have bright dried beans for beads and most of them wear strings -of beads around their legs just below the knees. - -The men seemed fairly well built. Their light, copper-colored skin was -smooth and remarkably clean. Their hair was jet black and as straight -as that of our own North American Indians, and their features slightly -resembled those of our Indians at home, although not so strong and -picturesque. Some of them, men and women, are tattooed and also -decorated with "beena," done by cutting into the arm and letting the -scars heel deeply in queer designs. This "beena," I learned, is -believed by them to be a charm against all sorts of evil and, on the -women's arms (women mostly use this "decoration"), they think that it -helps them to weave hammocks and to make their everlasting cassava -bread. - -The parrots and the dog seemed very friendly, the birds walking over -him and making queer, low, croaking sounds, the dog lazily watching -them walk over him and now and then wagging his tail. - -One peculiarity about their talk, the pidgin English, was something -like that of the Chinese coolies I had met in the West. They -substitute the letter "l" for the letter "r" and the letter "b" for -the letter "v." They say "belly good" instead of "very good." - -"So," finished the captain to the head man, the grandfather, "you go -hunt some game and shoot some fish for us." - -"Uh huh, me go hunt um. Shoot paccu, shoot maam, anything. Bring 'long -to you bime by." And the Indians then paddled off and were lost to -view around the curve of the river. - -"Will they do it? Will they come and find us?" I asked. - -"They certainly will, sir. They want the sugar and kerosene and other -things we shall trade with them for the game." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -_"UNCIVILIZED," BUT COURTEOUS, QUIET AND CLEAN_ - - -That night we pitched camp on the left bank of the river. While -preparing supper I was investigating the forest that circled the -little clearing and almost jumped out of my skin when I heard, in soft -voices, either side of me, the word "Me-a-ree." - -I am sure I jumped a couple of feet straight up. There, standing right -beside me, were two of our Indian friends. They grinned at my fright. -Such good woodsmen are they that they can come upon a person without -making a sound. Their naked bronze bodies seem to blend with the -forest shadows. - -One of them had two paccu, the large, flat, delicious fish that they -shoot with bow and arrow or sometimes spear. The other had a "maam" -which is a bush turkey, not as large as our wild turkeys. This he -shot with a blowpipe. - -"Me-a-ree," I exclaimed, as soon as I caught my breath. I shuddered to -think how easily they might have killed me had they been enemies. A -white man hasn't a ghost of a chance with such clever natives if they -want to get him, because he cannot travel in the jungle and forests -down there without being heard, so keen is their hearing, while they -can come right up to him, even when his eyes and ears are strained to -see and hear, before he knows their presence. - -"These are real uncivilized men," I thought, as I looked them over, -standing there in the dim, deep forest edge, with bow and arrow and -blowpipe, with the fish and bird, their naked bodies almost the color -of the trees and shadows. But when I came to know them better I -discovered that if uncivilized meant a rude, uncouth, ill-mannered, -treacherous, dirty and disagreeable people, then these natives were -civilized, for I found them to be real "nature's gentlemen," kind, -courteous, quiet and clean. It was father and son who brought the -game. They asked for powder and shot for their guns. The father was a -sort of chief of their own little tribe and he and his son each owned -one of those priceless "lead" guns, the cheap muzzle loaders made -expressly for such people. We had plenty of powder and shot and made -the exchange. - -You or I could never get any game with those "lead" guns because they -will not carry far, they will not shoot accurately and they frequently -miss fire entirely. But the skilled Indians are able to stalk the game -so quietly that they can almost poke the muzzle of the gun into the -ribs of the game before they fire point blank. We entertained them -with showing them our modern guns, and with showing them their faces -in good mirrors and with victrola music, at which they marveled -greatly and chattered excitedly about it. Then, as silently as they -came, they disappeared into the forest to go to their homes before the -night mists should enshroud them. - -I went down to the water's edge to watch the last gleam of light, fast -going, when suddenly there was the most terrific threshing about that -I had ever heard. - -Something gigantic, seemingly as big as a mountain, arose in front of -me. I thought it must be a combination of crocodile and man-eating -fish come out of the water to feast on me. Then I thought of something -else. - -"Good-night!" the thought flashed through my mind, "that nigger, -Cavan, told the truth when he described the 'Dodo' as a hair-covered -bird twenty feet high," and I had visions of being transformed into -either a Dodo's supper or a Dodo's slave. Instinctively I threw up my -arms to ward off the terrible creature, and fell backward. - -The "giant" arose and sailed out across the water. It was a -toucan--that funny bird with the immense bill that we have seen in our -picture books and stuffed and occasionally alive in parks. His loud -flapping, hoarse croaking, and the spread of his wings in the -deepening twilight made him seem fully as big as Cavan's mythological -"Dodo." - -I laughed at myself, yet the sudden rising of a ruffed grouse in the -deep forests at home will frequently startle a chap quite as badly as -this, and I am sure that the poor toucan was more scared than I, for I -nearly stepped on him when I approached the river bank. - -As usual we moved on up the river all the next day and camped at -night. And quite as silently as they had come before, the two Indians -appeared within our camp circle. This time each had a wild boar slung -over his back like a knapsack. The beasts' feet were tied together -with a small vine. Father and son had each killed one with a spear. -They were greeted warmly by us and given cigarettes. But they did not -seem to care about parting with the game. After a while, being -persuaded by the clever Captain Peter, they agreed to let us have -them, but first they must take them to their camp to clean them. I -learned the reason afterwards. - -Here was my opportunity to see the Indians in their homes, to see how -they lived. - -"Will it be all right to go home with them?" I asked the captain. He -said that it would and so I turned to the father. - -"Me walkee with you, savvy? Me go long-side your home." - -"No sabbe, no sabbe," said the Indian. - -"I want to walk along home with you," I said, in straight English this -time. The Indian understood that well enough. - -[Illustration: "BRINGING HOME THE BACON"] - -"All li'. You come," he said. - -Although he talked pidgin English, he couldn't understand it when we -talked it, but he could understand straight English, except when he -didn't want to answer, then he would say "No sabbe," and that settled -it, you couldn't get a word from him. They were all like that. - -I started out with them through the jungle forest. The silence of the -place, their footsteps being almost noiseless, was depressing. I tried -to talk. - -"How far?" I asked. - -"Me no sabbe," said the youth. - -"How long will it take to get there?" I insisted. - -"Little," answered his father. They have no idea of time as divided -into hours and minutes, they judge by nights, before "high sun" or -noon, and back to "no sun" or evening. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -_A VISIT TO A NATIVE HOME_ - - -Their home was not as far away as I had expected. But then, an -Indian's "home" is easily made, consisting of some upright poles, -roughly thatched with long marsh grass. Beneath this they place their -belongings and they sleep in hammocks at night. The forests are full -of little colonies or villages back from the river. They hide well -back, along small streams, to secrete their camp fires from river -travelers. Our friends had moved along by land as we moved by water -and this night they joined some other families. There were several of -the shelters and a fire burning in front of each around which members -of families squatted. This camp was on a wide stream entering the -Mazaruni, and screened by an island. As I entered their camp the -natives jumped up from the fires. Remembering the captain's -instructions I smiled at all of them and said, "Me-a-ree, Me-a-ree." - -They replied with the same greeting. I handed the men presents and at -once it was understood that I was a friend. Our two hunters dropped -the wild boars, squatted beside them and in an amazing short time had -them opened and skinned. No butcher at home with clean blocks and keen -knives and meat saws ever cut up meat as quickly or as skillfully and -neatly as did these men. - -The women gathered about and helped them in their work. The bladders -were given to two of the smaller boys, brothers of the youth. At once -they ran to the water and began to float the bladders and have fun -with them just as white children would do. - -The intestines were carefully hung on poles by a hot fire of green -twigs, to smoke. These, I was told, were to the Indians the "best part -of the boar." I took their word for it, politely refusing to taste of -some of the smoked intestines they already had on hand. This surprised -the people who, I am sure, must have thought that I was all kinds of a -fool to refuse such a wonderful treat as that. - -"Take what you want," said the old man, pointing to the dressed meat. -I selected the hams, shoulders and ribs, and they nodded and walked -down to the water to wash. Without a word it was understood that their -work was done. The women were to do the rest, even to toting the meat -to our camp. Quite a number of the Indians came back to our camp. The -meat was given around to our black men, saving some of it for our own -meals. Our blacks at once proceeded to build a fire of green twigs and -smoke their share of the meat. - -In our shelter the Indians squatted. One of the Indians who had heard -our victrola pointed at it and made a circular motion with his hand, -indicating that he wanted us to make the discs go around. Jimmy was -delighted to play host and proceeded to go through our selection of -records. The flea-bitten dog backed away and howled at certain places -during the concert, but one of the parrots, which had come over -perched on a child's shoulder, was deeply interested and flew to the -victrola, lighted on it, eyed the revolving record sharply, squawked -delight or anger at the music and finally hopped down on the -revolving record. - -He was probably the most surprised parrot in the world, for that -revolving record yanked his feet out from under him and he fell -squawking on his back. The way that old parrot flapped off of the -victrola and back to the child's shoulder was a caution, squawking and -snapping his beak as if he were swearing, in bird talk. - -The Indians laughed noisily and shrilly, like children, at this. - -We gave the women some little trinkets and all of them a little food. -One young woman looked at my hammock and made up a funny face, -jabbering to an older woman who nodded, and without a word to me she -took down my hammock and began to unravel it. I decided to say nothing -and watch her. When it was all unraveled and nothing but a pile of -cords she began deftly to weave it again and when she was finished it -was as even and smooth as any hammock ever made. She had seen an -uneven place in it, knew that it would not be comfortable, and fixed -it. I slept much better in it that night. I gave her a piece of -scented soap, which delighted her. With great pride she walked around -letting everyone have a smell of it. I saw her again and she had bored -a hole through the cake and strung it on her necklace. I have often -wondered how long it lasted. As the Indians never mind the rain but -are out in it just as they are in sunshine, that cake of soap -certainly dissolved in time. - -Jimmy served me a goodly portion of the boar meat. Both Lewis and -myself enjoyed it. The meat was a bit stringy, but it was delicious, -nevertheless. - -The night dampness and mists began to settle. Without a word the -Indians silently departed into the forests, to go back to their -shelters and sleep in their hammocks. I asked Jimmy about the vampires -and he assured me that the Indians were safe. - -"Vampire bats ain't got no use for Injun, suh. Reckin they don't -admire the taste of 'em." - -The Indians sleep without clothes, other than the mesh-like flaps of -the hammocks thrown over them, giving plenty of opportunity for the -vampires and also for the really dangerous mosquitoes, which proved -my undoing, as I will tell about later. The Indians seldom have jungle -fever or malaria and if the mosquitoes do bite them there are no bad -effects. - -[Illustration: TWO QUICK PUFFS, A FLUTTER, AND THE BIRD DROPS TO -EARTH] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -_THE SNAKE THAT DISAPPEARED_ - - -That night Cavan remarked that we were now getting into the big snake -district. - -"Big snake feller here plenty. Sho' he scar' yo'," said Cavan. - -"How long?" I asked. - -"Some like a tall tree, some not so much," said Cavan. And then -they discussed the snakes, how they encircle wild boars and other -big animals and "squeeze 'em inter a pulp an' eat 'em." It was -interesting, but I found myself looking out into the jungle and -imagining that every branch I could see was a giant snake. - -That night I was awakened and felt my hair standing up and quivering -and prickling at each root, for, hanging down from the tree in front -of me, to which was suspended the foot end of my hammock, was a great -snake. I couldn't stir at first. He lowered his head and swung it -about like a pendulum, finally resting it on the foot of my hammock. -Then, raising his head, he seemed to see me. In the dim light from a -pale moon and a ghastly glow from the coals of our fire I could see -the snake's bright eyes and his tongue darting in and out. - -I tried to shout. I tried to look about and see if Lewis was still -asleep, to see if he couldn't help me. I tried to call Jimmy, to see -if he was awake, but couldn't seem to turn my head. - -The snake slid further down the tree and glided across my stomach. He -was so long that much of him was still draped up the tree and over a -limb. He raised his head and opened his jaws, as if laughing at my -helplessness, and I thought of many things. - -I thought that it was a silly thing to have ventured off into these -wilds. I wondered why I had not been satisfied to stay in a white -man's country and not butt into the wild jungles of the Indians. I -thought of everyone at home and finally decided that no snake was -going to finish me that way without one good struggle. I looked -keenly at his neck to decide just where his throat was, located it -back of his jaws and, as he lunged at me, I let out a terrific yell -and clutched both hands in a life-and-death grip around the neck of -the great snake. - -He tried to yank away and his strength lifted me upright from the -hammock, his whole body quivered. Still I clung on. Then he began to -writhe horribly and to thrash about, swaying me this way and that. - -In the struggle I fell from the hammock to the ground, still with my -deadly grip about that snake's neck. With my fingers clutched in a -death grip about his throat, I felt that I would be better able to -defend myself. I must have had this thought during the process of -falling, for when I struck the ground with a terrific jolt I found my -fingers clutched in the holster of my revolver. - -Instantly I was on my feet, looking this way and that for the snake. -There was no snake in sight! Where had he gone? I looked about again -and discovered that there had been no snake at all! - -It was the result of my talk with Jimmy and Cavan the night before -about mammoth snakes. The perspiration was dripping from my face. I -looked about stealthily to see if any of my companions had witnessed -my dream struggles, but all seemed to be sleeping peacefully, so I -climbed back into my hammock, yet the dream so upset me that I was -unable to sleep any more. However, it was almost dawn. - -"How did you sleep last night?" asked Lewis, when he sat up in his -hammock. - -"Bully," I declared, giving him a sharp look to see if he was trying -to kid me about my foolish dream, but either he had not awakened or -else was a good actor, for he never let on that he knew about it. My -arm was sore for days where I bruised it in striking a rock as I -landed beneath my hammock. It was the only bad dream I had during my -months in the jungle, but it was quite enough. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -_DIFFICULTIES OF JUNGLE TRAVEL_ - - -The next two days our trip was disagreeable because of continued -rains, but on the third day we camped at four-thirty close to a "path" -that led to the largest Indian village. I was determined to visit it -and pictured quite a little town. We could see the tall column of -smoke from their fires. - -My companion and I were so eager to get to this village next morning -that we did not wait to eat, but, taking a handful of food, set out -with one Boviander to carry a knife and lantern. - -For the first time I learned something of the difficulties of jungle -travel. We had to slash through vines, wade through bogs of slime and -mud, clamber over gnarled roots and stumble around in the most tangled -growth of vegetation I ever saw. - -"If this is a 'path,'" I said to Lewis, "I'm glad I'm not in the -wilderness." - -"No go outside path," grinned the Boviander. - -We assured him that we would not, but we could find no trace of a path -at all. When we were not in muddy bogs, feeling our way to make sure -we would not step into some hole over our heads, or clambering around -fallen trees and brush, we were going up short but steep little hills -covered with tangled vines. After two hours of this, and being almost -exhausted, we came to a clearing. - -"Here it is," shouted Lewis. - -And as if to prove it we heard a rooster crow. Eagerly we stumbled out -into the clearing and saw the few huts, but the place was deserted. - -"More further," said the Boviander; "someone he die." - -By this he meant that some member of the village had died. The Indians -always desert their village when anyone dies in it, and move on to -establish another. They will never live in a village where anyone has -died. - -The lonely rooster crowed defiantly at us as we skirted the village -to find the "path." Having found it we moved on about a mile. - -"Ah, here we are," I declared as I came into an opening. - -Not a soul in sight! - -"Another die," commented our Boviander, shrugging his shoulders. - -"If the death rate is very high we'll never overtake that village," -grumbled Lewis. - -Up above were tiny patches of blue, bits of the sky that we could see -through the thick jungle growth. I saw some smoke and decided that at -last we were close to the village. But at the opening we saw but a -single "house" or shelter. The Indian came forward to see us. - -Lewis had prospected up through this section before sending for me, -and when he saw this Indian he exclaimed in a low voice, "That's -Simon." - -He didn't seem at all glad to find him there, but I had no opportunity -to ask him about it before Simon, the Indian, advanced and, smiling as -blandly as a Chinaman, exclaimed cordially: - -"Me-a-ree!" - -He told us that the village was quite a distance on, and offered to -lead us there. Lewis could not well refuse, as we had now gone far -away from our camp and the district was wild and unknown to any of us. -But I could see that he was not very well pleased with the prospect. - -Simon motioned to his boy, a handsome, copper-colored youth, to start -on with him, and proceeded to lead the way, taking a blowpipe and -quiver of the poisoned arrows with him. This, too, troubled Lewis. But -there seemed nothing else to do, so we followed. - -On the way Lewis told me what was worrying him. During his previous -prospecting trip when he went up the river to make sure that there -were diamond fields before sending for me, he had found an old Indian -very sick at one of the villages. This was Simon's father. Lewis did -what he could for the sick old Indian, giving him quinine pills, the -universal cure-all in the jungle, but the old man died. - -On this trip one of our men had heard that Simon believed Lewis had -purposely killed his father and that he did it with the "magic pills," -as he called the quinine. - -"They say Simon has acted queerly ever since," explained Lewis, "and -he may imagine that I really did kill his father and start a little -'ka-ni-a-mer' of his own between just him and me." - -"And what on earth is a 'ka-ni-a-mer'?" I demanded. - -"Just about the same as an old Kentucky feud where two families try -for years to kill each other off. So you see I'm not extremely -trustful of this bland Simon Injun," said Lewis. - -"And to top it all," he added, "I dreamed the other night that my -mother came and warned me to look out as I was to be in great danger." - -This made me decidedly uneasy and I was determined to keep my eye on -Simon every minute, staying between him and Lewis. - -The trip to the village seemed long. There was considerable uphill -going. Every once in a while Simon would turn and jabber at his boy, -who would instantly look around at us, then reply to his father, who -would hurry on faster than ever. They were setting a terrific pace. -Already wearied with our travels before we came to Simon's hut, this -was overdoing it just a little. But, worse than that, I got the idea -that Simon was trying to lose us, to rush on far ahead and then hide -and kill us--or kill Lewis anyway, with his blowpipe from ambush. I -knew that just a scratch from the poisoned tip of one of those slender -arrows would finish Lewis, or anyone else. - -"You take my gun," I said to Lewis, "and take it easy, while I keep up -with him and keep him right in plain sight." - -Lewis is a heavy-built man and it was more difficult for him to keep -up the hot pace uphill. I hurried on and got quite close to them. -Simon spoke to his boy, who turned around and gave a little jump of -astonishment to see me so close. He spoke sharply to his father, who -turned around. Just as he turned around I purposely pulled my revolver -from the holster with a great flourish. - -To these native Indians our revolvers are wonderful and fearful -things. They regard them with awe and also with fear. That so small a -thing held lightly in the hand could deal death is one of the most -amazing things they know about. When Simon saw this he at once -slackened his pace and gave me another bland smile. - -"Me-a-ree. Me-a-ree!" he said. - -"Me-a-ree," I replied, but kept my revolver in my hand. After that he -slowed up and made no attempt to lose us, but he kept looking back -frequently and earnestly to make sure that I was not pointing the -deadly "mystery gun" at him. - -We passed many small platforms lashed to tall trees. I thought they -were the "graves" of Indians, as I knew that many of our American -Indians had the custom of leaving their dead on high platforms. But -the Boviander explained that they were hunting stations. The Indians -climb up and kneel on these platforms motionless for hours, waiting -for game to pass so that they can kill it with blowpipes, spears, bows -and arrows or with their crude guns. - -It was getting late and I had just begun to wonder if we would have to -camp in that dismal swamp all night when I heard the sound of a horn. -It was some Indian call made by blowing on a shell. Simon nodded, -meaning that it was the village. - -Soon we came into a great clearing. I expected to see a thriving -village, since I had been assured that Assura was the largest of the -Indian villages. And it was the largest, yet it consisted of only -seven houses, with A-shaped roofs of reeds, and one larger or communal -house with a conical roof. - -Three of the mangiest, sorriest looking dogs I had ever beheld, howled -mournfully when we came into the clearing, then tucked their tails -between their legs and ran away to hide, having performed their duty -of warning the villagers of our approach. - -I was greatly interested, for the villagers did not know that we were -coming and I was sure to find them in their primitive life without -"putting on" for company. They flocked about us, more curious than we, -for we had seen Indians and knew something about their customs by this -time, but few of them had seen any white men except the Dutch and -half-breed Dutch "pork-knockers," or wandering diamond miners. - -As usual, they wore no clothes except the red loin cloth of the men -and the queyu, or tiny apron of the women. But every garment that we -wore was a curiosity to them. I am sure that had we marched in there, -wearing no more than a loin cloth, they would not have been greatly -interested. But hats, coats, vests, trousers, leggings, shoes--all of -those garments were wonderful curiosities to them all, as you may well -imagine. - -There was an all-around exchange of "Me-a-rees" and we passed around -some cigarettes, whereupon they knew that we were friends. - -How they crowded about us, children with no clothes at all, and tiny -babies that could not walk crawled along over the filthy ground, -through spots of black mud and shallow pools of stagnant water, -picking up the dirt and animal refuse from the ground and apparently -feasting on it. It made us shudder to see them, yet those tiny babies -seemed quite contented and quite healthy. At once I wondered what an -American mother who dresses her baby in costly flannels and -embroidered linens, places it in a hundred dollar baby carriage and -wraps it in another hundred dollar fur robe, would say if her pink -little darling were to be stripped and left to crawl about through -the muck of this jungle clearing to get chummy with chiggers and -stinging red ants, big ugly black beetles, mosquitoes and other -things! - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -_HOSPITALITY OF THE JUNGLE FOLK_ - - -In pidgin English we made the men understand that we wanted six of -them to go up the river with us, some to help us hunt, some to build a -"logie" for Lewis and myself. - -They agreed to go, but when we suggested that we start right away, -they declined. We must wait another day. They could not set out -without a supply of cassava, which is to them what our bread is to us, -the staff of life. And they declared it too late to venture into the -jungle, so we had to arrange to stay with them over night. - -This interested me, as the night trip was not to my liking and I -wanted to see Indian life at close range. Among the Indians was one -called "Abraham," who had been with Lewis on his previous trip. He was -an honest chap, faithful and a hard worker and fond of Lewis because -of his name. It seems that on his prospecting trip Lewis liked this -chap and asked him his name. Alas, he had none. Indians are given -names by their medicine men, called "Peiman," or by the chief of the -colony, at birth, providing their parents can pay enough in Indian -trade goods. When Abraham was born his parents had nothing to give, so -he went without a name. This is considered a calamity among the -Indians, as a nameless one is quite liable, so they believe, to meet -up with all of the misfortunes possible to befall a human being. Lewis -liked him so well that he at once assumed the role of a "Peiman" and -solemnly bestowed upon him the name of "Abraham." For this Abraham -would do anything for Lewis. - -There was another Indian who interested us. He had but one eye, but -was almost a giant in build. He always had a jolly grin and as we -liked him and found him to be nameless, I gravely assured him that I -could bestow names. He begged me to do so. - -"Gi' me call by," he said. - -"You shall henceforth be called by 'Lewis,'" I said, with a dramatic -gesture, winking at Lewis, who grinned at the joke. - -Soon I had taught him just how to speak the word "Lewis" and he was a -very proud Indian. - -Each "house" consisted of only a reed and palm-leaf roof supported on -poles, there being no sides to any of them. The supply of household -goods was pitifully small indeed. There were plenty of weapons, a few -cassava-making implements, a rare metal dish or tin can and hammocks -everywhere. The Indian women sit in these hammocks doing their weaving -or bead work by day and all sleep in them by night. There was a fire -at each hut, made of logs which were arranged like the spokes of a -wheel, the inner ends, or "hub" being the fire. As the ends would burn -away the logs would be pushed in toward the center and new ones added -as the old ones burned up. These fires supplied plenty of heat for -cooking and enough warmth for the night chill and they were never -allowed to go out. In some places a village is not moved for a year or -two, depending upon whether there is a death there, and a fire once -started burns steadily on that spot all of the time. - -[Illustration: THEY SEEMED GLAD TO POSE FOR US] - -[Illustration: JUNGLE HUNTSMEN] - -We were tired and wet. We needed food and rest and told Abraham this, -whereupon he promptly gave up his house to Lewis and myself and took -his wife and flock of children over to the communal house with the -conical roof. - -We livened up the fire and decided to remove our wet clothes and dry -them. We had just about as much privacy as a goldfish, and the -villagers flocked about us in great excitement as we proceeded to -strip off our outer garments. - -We stripped down to our flannel underwear and decided to sit about our -roaring fire and get dry while our clothes dried. But the natives -eagerly asked the privilege of taking our clothes and drying them for -us. There seemed no way out of it and I wondered if I was going to be -left to travel through the jungle in nothing but underwear. But I -should not have feared. They were honest enough. They merely wished to -borrow our clothes to strut about in for a while. One big chap had my -hat cocked on his head at the "tough guy" angle as if he had worn one -all his life. Two giggling young women divided my big boots, each -wearing one, and marched proudly about, the thong ties dragging. An -old man put on my coat. But the trousers were too wet, so they -escaped. Next morning they were returned, well dried and nothing -whatever missing from the pockets. - -I sat in a hammock, slung close to the fire, drying my wet socks and -the legs of my underclothes, watching the women prepare a meal of -eggs, venison, labbas and cassiri for us, and grinned at the picture -we must have made. - -"Not quite up to the etiquette of polite society at home," I said to -Lewis. - -"But we are overdressed, even now," he answered, "according to the -style down here." - -The houses are called "benabs." Abraham said he would bring the food -over to our benab. This he did. It was smoking hot, heaped up in one -big wooden dish, and with it a calabash, or gourd, of cassiri. This -was a bright pink liquid, most sickening in appearance. The Indians -all drank out of the same big gourd and seemed to enjoy it. - -Lewis took a taste. - -"Great," he said. - -I didn't like his expression when he said it, but was determined to -try anything once, so I tasted it. - -"U-r-r-r-gh!" - -Dud. Lewis had his back to me. I could see that he was shaking with -laughter. - -"For two cents I'd pour this pink slop down your neck!" I gasped. - -The Indians looked on and grinned. I did not wish to be impolite, so I -said, "Yaa! Cassiri too much humbug Yankee man's stomach!" and I -hugged my stomach as if in pain and smiled to assure them of good -feeling. They merely laughed. - -This drink tasted like sour milk, long overripe strawberries, vinegar, -pepper, sour yeast, cassava meal and whatever else they might have had -left over to dump into it. But the venison was delicious and the -labba, which is a sort of pig about the size of a rabbit, was as good -meat as I ever tasted. The cassava is not bad at all and so we managed -to make out a very good meal. But if I had taken a big swallow of that -pink cassiri I am sure my stomach would have burned up or exploded. - -It came time for us to get some sleep if ever we were to turn in. -While we were fairly dry, there was a dampness in the air and we had -only our underclothes. But the headman of the village brought out -three strips of cotton cloth he had been hoarding in an old canister, -another loaned a frayed old shirt he had got in some trade, another -contributed a pair of red cotton trousers. My shirt and tunic were dry -and with these, divided between Lewis and me, we turned in to our -hammocks. We tried a fire of glowing coals under our hammocks as did -some of the Indians, but the smoke was too much for us and we had to -move the fire. Besides, I didn't want to have any more snake dreams -and fall out in a bed of hot coals. - -I lay there listening to the jungle noises and trying to guess what -sort of beast, bird or reptile was making them, when it came time for -the Indians to turn in. Just as the village became quiet and the -babies stopped squalling and the kids stopped chattering, there came a -native song. - -"This is a great time to start singing!" I grumbled to Lewis. - -"Go to sleep and don't mind it," he advised. - -"I can't sleep until he stops that fool song," I insisted. - -"Ha-ha," laughed Lewis, "you've got some fine little wait coming." He -covered himself in his hammock and proceeded to sleep. I didn't -understand what he meant at the time, but I learned, for I waited and -waited for the singer to stop. But when he got tired, another singer -took it up and then another and another. - -They keep that song going _all night_ every night of their lives. - -There was nothing for me to do but to remain in my hammock and listen -to that terrible singing. The voices were not so bad, nor were they -harsh, but there didn't seem to be much melody in what they sang and -after you have heard the same gibberish sung over and over and over -for about a million times (so it seemed to me) you certainly get good -and tired of it. - -It was no effort on my part to learn the song. I got so that I knew -just what the next line would be and I found myself muttering it -along with whichever Indian happened to be taking his "spell" at -singing it. - -"What does it mean?" I asked many. But the best answer I could get was -that it was a "sort of song to keep danger away at night." - -It also kept sleep away from me for several hours, although I finally -did get to sleep in spite of it and did not awaken until daylight had -come and the singing had ceased. I always wished that I could get a -translation of the song, but I will repeat it as it sounded: - - "_Ip phoo ke na, pagee ko, ip phoo ke na; - Waku beku yean gee ma ta ne ke, ip phoo ke na pegge ko. - Ip phoo ke na, ip phoo ke na pagee ko, - Ip phoo ke na, ip phoo ke na pagge ko, - Ip phoo ke na, ip phoo ke na._" - -These Indians seemed the most restless people on earth. Before I fell -asleep I watched them in the big communal hut which was within twenty -feet of me. I learned afterwards that when going on a long trip they -sit up most of the night and stuff themselves with food. They seemed -to be eating all night here, and drinking that pink cassiri. They -would wander about inside their shelter, sit in a hammock eating, walk -over to the calabash and drink the cassiri and back to the hammock -again. - -"If that's the life of a British Guiana Indian, then I'm glad that I -am not one of them. None of this free and untrammeled child-of-nature -life for me," I told Lewis afterward. - -"Wonder what they would say if they saw so many of our people back -home sitting up until nearly daylight having banquets, dancing the -fox-trot and one-step and hesitation and opening wine and smoking and -having a regular night of it," was his quiet comment. - -It was good food for thought. The more I figured it out, the more I -wondered just where the line between "civilization" and "barbarity" -was drawn. I am sure that they did not injure their health as much -with their cassava cakes and fruits, eaten during the night, as so -many of our so-called "sports" do with their all night dancing and -drinking and smoking and eating of lobster a la king and other fancy -and expensive foods. - -Some of them were drinking a black liquid from a gourd. This was -"piwarree." - -"Don't drink it," warned Lewis. - -"Thanks for the tip, old man," I answered, "but there aren't enough -diamonds in South America to get me to touch it." - -It was the most vile looking liquid I ever saw, yet the Indians seemed -to enjoy it and it did not appear to intoxicate them, although there -was probably alcohol in it, as it was made by a fermenting process. I -had seen a number of women who wore a peculiar tattoo mark on their -foreheads. I had thought it merely some sort of barbaric adornment, -but it seems this was their "trade mark." It indicated that they were -piwarree makers. These women, to make this drink, sit in a circle -about a fire where cassava cakes are allowed to bake until they are -burned through quite crisp and black. Each woman chews this burned -bread until it is soft and pulpy with her saliva. This she strains -through her teeth into a vessel in the center. When the vessel is full -the contents are thrown into a large wooden trough and boiling water -poured over it. It is allowed to ferment. When quite sour and black it -is ready for drinking. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -_CASSAVA CAKES AND BLOW-PIPES_ - - -In the morning I expected to start out, but learned that the cassava -cakes must be made. The women had started the process the night -before. But after that I frequently saw it made and the process is -interesting. - -Cassava is a root, something like a large turnip, yet longer and more -in the shape of an immense sweet potato. The inside is quite white and -somewhat soft, a trifle "woody," like a turnip that we would throw -away. These roots grow wild. There is no cultivating necessary, -although in some localities they cut away the other vegetation and -allow the cassava plants to thrive a little better. - -A grater is made by driving sharp bits of flint into a board. This is -covered with a sort of wax which hardens and leaves only the sharp -tips of the flints sticking out. The women peel the cassava roots -with dull knives or sharp flints. The root is then grated over this -flint grater and the fine particles fall down into a woven frame. - -Next comes the "metapee." This is a most peculiar basket, made solely -for the manufacture of cassava flour. It may be pulled out long or -pushed in short. It works something like an old-fashioned "accordion" -hat rack. When pushed down short it is very large around but as it is -pulled out it grows smaller and smaller in circumference. It is a -great trick to weave these metapee baskets, for they must be -exceedingly strong. - -The grated cassava is put in the metapee when it is squat down short -and large around. One end of this basket is hung from a pole or limb. -In the bottom of the metapee is a loop through which a pole is run. -One end of the pole is lashed to the ground, at the foot of a tree. -The woman now sits on the other end of the pole. This makes a lever -and her weight stretches the metapee out into a long wicker cylinder. -This squeezes all of the moisture out of the ground cassava root. And -here is a most remarkable thing--that juice is a deadly poison! Yet -the pulp that remains makes a nourishing bread. - -[Illustration: AT FOURTEEN AN INDIAN GIRL MUST BE ABLE TO COOK -CASSAVA] - -[Illustration: A PRIMITIVE SUGAR CANE PRESS] - -The woman bounces up and down on her end of the pole until every bit -of the juice is out. This juice is saved, as the poison can be used by -the men. Or the juice may be allowed to evaporate and what remains of -that, instead of being poison, is good seasoning for food! - -The pulp is spread in the sun to dry. When dry it is sifted through a -basket sieve and becomes rather coarse flour. To this water is added, -the dough is kneaded with the fists much as our women knead wheat -flour and water into dough. This dough is flattened out into cakes -three feet in diameter and half an inch thick and baked on a flat -slab, a sheet of iron if it be possible to get it, or on anything -handy. The bread is now ready to eat. It is firm, fairly hard, rather -crisp and has but little flavor. To me it tasted like refined sawdust. -But it is extremely nourishing. - -It takes half an hour to cook these cassava cakes and, kept dry, they -will last a great while. That is why the women baked a number of them -to take with them upon the impending journey. It was comforting to -have this much certain about the uncertain journey which we were now -to take. - -While the Indian women busied themselves making cassava cakes for the -journey back to our camp I studied all of the weapons of the men in -the village, for they interested me. There were but two guns in the -village, owned by the chief and another very "wealthy" native. These -were the muzzle-loading "lead" guns. - -What interested me most of all was the blowpipe. It is really a -wonderful weapon. It is a wonder to me that we boys back home did not -make similar weapons. I am sure that with a little skill we could have -picked off rabbits, squirrels and game birds, although, of course, we -would have had to become good woodsmen. Of all the weapons to be -faced, I believe the blowpipe as made and used by these Indians is the -most deadly. I would rather face almost anything else. - -These pipes are from eight to twelve feet long. They are made of two -strong reeds, a hollow-stemmed variety that grows in the jungle. They -take the midribs of a great palm leaf, dry them, split them up, char -one end in the fire to make it hard, and with this force out the -little partitions that appear at the joints in all reeds, as in -bamboo. Then a smaller reed is found that will just slide inside the -larger one. They now have a double reed which makes an extremely long -yet strong tube. The hole is made through the inner reed in the same -manner, and these palm midribs and fine sand are worked inside the -inner tube until it is quite as smooth as a rifle bore. - -The arrows are made from the same palm midribs, split as fine as an -eighth of an inch in thickness. While at work mining I hired an Indian -boy to make a collection of bird skins for me. These boys can skin a -bird perfectly and prepare the skin so that it will be like soft, thin -kid, without misplacing a feather. I watched this boy make blowpipes -and arrows. He dried the palm midribs in the sun a few days and they -split readily into as fine arrows as he needed. - -Just how he made the deadly poison with which he tipped them I was not -certain. I will admit that we kept clear of that poison just as you -would keep clear of dynamite. I know that it was made from crushed -leaves and roots and put in a gourd. This poison is called "waurali." -As soon as the poison is dried on, in the sun, a string is woven in -and out around each end of each arrow until there is a long row of -them, and this is rolled around a stick so that there is a solid roll -of these arrows, which may be pulled out one by one. - -The quiver is made of woven grass, the bottom made of some wax that -hardens from trees. This roll of arrows is placed, poison tips up, in -the quiver and a skin top put over them to keep out moisture. Attached -to the quiver is a small basket containing loose cotton. - -When the boy was ready to shoot a bird he would remove one of the -arrows, pinch off a bit of cotton from the basket and wrap it loosely -around the blunt end. Thrusting the arrow into the tube this cotton -made it fit just enough to take the compression of air. Sighting the -bird, the boy placed the blowpipe to his lips, aimed at the bird and -gave a sudden sharp puff. - -The speed of that slender arrow was marvelous. Seldom did the boy -miss. If the bird was merely scratched, it would fly but a short -distance before the deadly poison would get in its work and then it -would come fluttering to the ground, quite dead by the time the boy, -running after it, would pick it up. Sometimes the great tapirs, as -large as a hog, would be killed by these slender arrows. - -Their bows and arrows interested me. Their bows are longer than most -of those used by the American Indians, being six feet or more. And -these men are generally smaller than the American Indians. They have -many kinds of arrows for the various game, and they also use a sort of -harpoon, a large barbed spearhead on the arrow with a long stout woven -cord fastened to it. This is for shooting fish. - -One day an Indian took the fruit of a star apple tree, wove a loose -covering for it, hung it in a pool of water at the shore of the river -from a limb overhead and waited. I saw a great fish dart for this bait -and at the same time "Zowie!" went this harpoon arrow. - -There was a great thrashing about in the water, but the Indian calmly -hauled in his harpoon and there was a big pacu on it, a very tasty -fish when properly cooked. They also use hand spears with a half dozen -barbed points branching out and get many fish in that manner. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -_ON THE MARCH AGAIN_ - - -By the time I had watched the cassava cake making process and examined -the weapons in the village and noted almost everything of how they -lived, the Indians were ready to go on with us. They had been eating -all night as I explained. Now they took a hasty farewell drink of that -pink stuff, cassiri, and took a large mouthful of cassava cake; their -baskets were already packed for travel, and so we started. - -But did they carry their baskets? - -No indeed! That would have been a disgrace, like a man washing dishes -or making a dress for baby. Carrying the luggage was woman's work. -What did each man have a wife for if not to do his work? The men set -off with only their weapons, and the women fastened the heavy baskets -to their backs by means of vine ropes around their foreheads. - -Each man carried various objects in his basket, some tools, hunks of -smoked meat, some extra loin cloths with perhaps a ragged old shirt -secured from some "pork knocker." On top of these belongings was -placed a stack of the cassava cakes and covered with palm leaves to -keep out the rain, for it showed signs of raining when we set out. - -The Indians went on ahead. The women followed. They had removed -whatever garments they owned--some of them had loose garments, merely -for style, made of strips of cotton--and traveled only with those -little beaded aprons or queyus. We came last, but after a while the -women stepped out of the path and let us go on ahead. I think they -wanted to watch us, just as we would like to stay behind and watch -something curious walking on ahead. - -We thought we had a hard trip getting to the village, but we were in -for the hardest traveling afoot that I ever knew. I called it "land -swimming." The mud was literally knee deep. We would put one foot -down, then the next one, stand still and pull one foot out with a -great effort, step ahead with that, pull the other out with a great -sucking sound, and so on. It was only with great endurance that we -made this trip through the rain, but even the worst journey must come -to an end and finally we reached our own camp. Nothing ever looked -more homelike than our shelters, our fires and the boats moored -alongside. - -Lewis and I made a dash for the boat to get some dry warm clothes. -Jimmy, glad to see us back, made some hot tea. Soon we had on lighter -shoes, dry woolen underclothes and dry suits and socks, lay back in -our hammocks and drank good hot tea and felt none the worse for our -journey into the primitive homes of the Indians. - -We gave the women plenty to eat and made them presents of sugar, rice, -salt and tea to take back with them. They were the happiest women you -ever saw and chattered among themselves like kids at a Christmas tree. -Then they turned and went back into the forests without a word of -leave taking to their husbands, as this toting of their husbands' -baskets was all in their day's work. - -Of all the sticky, funny messes I ever saw it was the packs of these -Indians. The rain had soaked through the palm leaves on top and -through the meshes of the baskets at the sides. The cassava cakes had -dissolved into a soft, semi-liquid dough. This had run down through -the contents of the baskets. Nearly every one contained bits of red -cloth--an Indian's choice possession. The colors had run and there -were pink dough and dough-covered arrows and pink smoked meat and -sticky, cassava dough enameled shirts. It was a great mess, but the -Indians scraped the dough together to dry out in the sun the next day -and worried not at all, for the cassava dough would all dry and be -rubbed off their belongings. - -While the Indians like the white men, they do not like the blacks. -They get along with them all right because they have nothing whatever -to do with the "Me-go-ro-man" as they call them. Our blacks, as usual, -had their three shelters a distance from ours. The Indians built a -hasty shelter alongside our canvas one, slung their hammocks, now -daubed with dough, and climbed in. Jimmy started the victrola, the -camp fires burned brightly despite the rain, and the Indians sat up -and stared open-eyed, at the "hoodoo" box from which came the, to -them, weird sounds. They believed that the spirits of the dead were -inside that victrola, but when they saw Jimmy putting on the records -and saw that no ghosts came out to kill them, they lost their fear of -it. - -[Illustration: MY JUNGLE FRIENDS] - -The plaintive Southern melodies seemed to please them most. Next in -their favor was a weird jazz number. From the wet jungle came the -peculiar roar of red baboons. We would have fresh baboon steak next -day, if we could spare an hour for hunting. - -And then from the black, dismal depths of that dripping jungle came -the most pitiful sobbing that I ever heard. Whether a child or a -woman, or a number of them, I could not make out. I leaped from my -hammock, wondering what was happening to them, if they were lost, and -trying to guess how far into the jungle we would have to travel to -rescue them. - -Never had I heard such distress as that weeping and wailing and -heartbreaking sobbing. - -I pictured some helpless women there, perhaps being attacked by wild -animals. Even if they were Indian women, still they were humans, I -thought-- - -"Black night monkey," said Jimmy. - -I looked at Lewis. He smiled and nodded. - -For a moment I could scarcely believe that such human crying could -come from animals. - -"They always cry all night," Lewis told me. "Very annoying at first. -You'll get used to it. Just remember that they are ugly black monkeys, -that they like to make that noise, that they are not really crying any -more than a dog is crying when he barks, and now go to sleep." - -No one else seemed to mind it. But I must admit that it kept me awake -a long while. I couldn't force myself to think that it was a natural -noise made by an animal. I couldn't believe anything could make such a -noise unless it was actual crying caused by grief or suffering. -Finally I fell asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -_ARRIVAL AT THE DIAMOND FIELDS_ - - -Next morning the sun was shining brightly. The Indians were coming in -from a hunting trip with game. - -Our blacks had finished their tea and crackers, the shelters were -coming down and soon we would be on the way up the river. - -"We ought to make the big bend by to-morrow," said Captain Peters. - -Those were thrilling words to me, for up just around the big bend in -the Mazaruni River, which I have already described, lay our diamond -fields, and while every inch of the seventeen days' boat trip up this -mad, wild river, among the primitive Indians, had been one of interest -and adventure for me, after all, I was out for diamonds and naturally -eager to get to the fields and try my luck at digging up the -sparklers. Of course I did not expect to pick them up off the ground. -"Dud" Lewis had told me of the process and I had read up on diamond -mining before starting, yet I had high hopes of finding wealth there -in the gravel of the old river bed. Mountains could be seen in the -distance rising like temples above the low land. - -Nothing startling occurred that day. I believe I saw more birds than -usual, and the banks became less marshy. The jungle seemed to be -slightly changing into a trifle higher and drier forest land. It was -still thick, almost impenetrable, yet a bit different. - -On the seventeenth day we came to a small portage. We could not paddle -over it, yet it was not necessary to remove all of our five tons of -supplies. Lightening our cargo about one half, the men jumped out, -fastened the ropes astern and the single rope to the bow for the last -time on our upriver trip and hauled away with a will. - -Soon we were over, goods repacked and the blacks paddling in still, -smooth water, but more vigorously than usual as they, too, were glad -to be at the end of their hard journey. Seventeen days of paddling a -fifty-foot boat made of great planks and laden with five tons of -goods, hauling it over portages, is not exactly a picnic, and the men -certainly earned their forty-eight cents a day. And so they thumped -and scraped their much-worn paddles along the gunwales of that old -boat, worn smooth with constant paddling, and they sang their -everlasting paddle song with more cheerfulness than they had done for -days. - -Finally Captain Peter spoke something to the bowman while he swung his -steering paddle over, and our craft put in shore. We nosed about and -found just the site we needed, and proceeded to unload everything, -this time to set up our mining camp. - -A temporary shelter went up to store the goods under, with low hanging -eaves to keep out the rain. We had now got into a country where there -were no more haphazard rains. We could almost set our watches by the -rains, which came regularly every morning about daybreak, for a half -hour or more, and again every night right after sunset, for a little -while. Although these twice-a-day rains were of short duration the -water certainly came down in bucketfuls while it was raining. - -A rack of poles kept our goods from the ground so that the rain could -run underneath. Our shelters went up for that night, and eagerly I -began to study the gravel formation, really not expecting to see any -diamonds, but anxious to study the soil and somehow all the time -wondering if, by chance, I might not see a diamond in the dirt. Every -sparkling bit of rock I picked up. Lewis laughed good-naturedly at -this, but he was quite as eager as I to get at the business for which -we had the long, tiresome and really costly trip. - -We had journeyed 300 miles up the river. At this point the Mazaruni -had once flowed over the dry land where our camp was located. Some -convulsion of nature, probably of volcanic origin, had changed the -course of the river, and it was in this dry and ancient river bed that -we hoped to find a fortune. - -For tools we had brought along only the simplest kind, good old picks -and shovels, and a hand pump. We had plenty of material with us for -making the mining apparatus, crude but necessary, but there was a -great deal to be done and we decided to get well settled and start in -right. - -First we had to have a permanent home, a "logie," which is much like -a bungalow, only more open and quite high and dry. Then we had to make -good shelters for our three groups of blacks, and also for what -Indians we would find it necessary to hire. - -We also had to set up our mine, arrange with Indians to hunt a steady -supply of food, make a permanent cooking place and get as comfortable -as possible so that we could go ahead with our diamond mining without -interruption. - -Two beautiful white egrets sailed up the river and, without fear of us -at all, proceeded to make a nesting place close to our camp site. I -considered this to be a good omen. The wonderful crest feathers on -their heads would have brought several hundred dollars in the days -before wise lawmakers at home forbade bringing such feathers into the -country. - -"How about tigers?" I asked of Captain Peter. - -There had been frequent talk of them. It is true that there is a -species of large and ferocious jaguar that haunts the wilds of British -Guiana and I hoped to bag at least one and take the skin home as a -trophy. Captain Peter smiled. - -"As scarce as hens' teeth," he said. - -I wondered where he got that expression. Perhaps they use it all over -the world. I know that we use it at home in all parts of the country, -yet it surprised me to hear this Dutchman, who for twenty years had -navigated the wild waters of the old Mazaruni, say it. - -It was a disappointment to hear him declare that tigers were scarce. I -had visions of stalking one and proudly bringing his carcass into -camp. - -I got a tiger skin all right before I left the country, but there is -no glamor of adventure about it. I cannot exhibit it at home and spin -yarns of stalking the ferocious jungle beast, for it was an old skin -and I bought it from an Indian for five dollars' worth of trade -articles. - -The Indians get a tiger now and then, but will not journey far afield -just to bag them as they are not fit to eat and are extremely -dangerous beasts to face, even for the skilled natives. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -_HOW THE NATIVES HUNT AND FISH_ - - -For four long, busy months, we were to delve into that pebbly soil, -and during that time I would also learn much of hunting and fishing -that was strange indeed. I was especially interested in the manner in -which the Indians get fish by poisoning them. Of course that seems -very unsportsmanlike to us at home, but remember that these natives do -not hunt and fish for the _sport_ of it, but to _live_. And then, bear -in mind that while we have telescope steel rods and artificial bait -and ball bearing automatic reels and oiled silk lines and transparent -gut leaders, floats, spoons, spinners, rubber minnows, hundreds of -artificial flies, nets for landing the fish, gaffs, and every sort of -fishing tackle, these Indians have not even common hooks and sinkers. -Spears and harpoon arrows are their only means of fishing, aside -from poison. Consequently one should not say that they were -unsportsmanlike, although I felt that way about it at first. Thinking -it over I decided differently. - -They have several means of catching fish by poison and I must say that -it is a far better way than that of some of the game hogs in this -country who dynamite lakes and rivers for fish, killing far more than -they can get, while with the poison the fish not taken soon recover -and are as lively as ever. - -Our Indians paddled into a small inlet of the river one day where -there is quite a deep pool that back-waters in. Hauling the canoe out -on land they proceeded to fill it with haiarry vines and water. With -heavy sticks they crushed these vines. As I looked on with interest, -one Indian pointed to the liquid and said, "Kill um," meaning that it -was poison. - -After the vines were well crushed they tipped the contents of the -canoe into the pool and within five minutes a great quantity of fish -arose and floated on the surface. They collected the largest and best -of these for food and as soon as the poison in the pool had thinned -out the other fish recovered and were as well as ever. I was afraid -that the poison would render the fish unfit for food but found that -it did not affect them at all in that manner. It certainly was an easy -way to catch fish and for a party as large as ours, the twenty blacks -and the group of Indian hunters, it took a lot of fish and game to -feed us. - -Probably the most interesting method of catching fish as practiced by -these clever Indians was by means of poisoned grasshoppers. They made -a paste of the leaves of the quanamia, a strong narcotic plant. -Catching large grasshoppers they filled the stomachs of these insects -with the paste and tossed them into the water. The fish would leap up -and swallow the grasshoppers, only soon after to turn, belly up, and -float on the surface where they were picked up. - -Here we found the game more abundant than ever, which was natural as -we were far out of the haunts of blacks and Dutch, except for the few -"pork knockers," or tramp diamond miners, and there were probably no -more than a score all up and down the fields. - -Several kinds of animals were shot, but the favorite food was deer and -labbas. The tapirs are like great hogs and their meat is rather tough -though nourishing. The labbas also belong to the hog family but are -about as big as jack rabbits. Small game birds were also plentiful. -The maams were the best game birds, about the size of a very small -turkey and much like them. The white people call them bush turkeys but -scientists say that they do not properly belong to the turkey family. -We didn't care what family they belonged to, we found the meat -delicious. - -I do not mean that the game was so plentiful that it came down to us -and begged to be shot. But our Indian hunters seldom went out without -bringing back some meat. It was a cheerful sight to see three or four -hunters come marching in, each with a part of a great tapir or deer -slung over his back. We were sure of "fresh pork," as we called it, -for days. - -One of our Indians had hunted steadily for three days without any -success and he was getting decidedly sore about it. He had not seen an -animal in any of his wanderings. When he returned empty handed on the -third day I tried to cheer him. - -"How come, buck man?" - -[Illustration: USUALLY OUR HUNTERS WERE SUCCESSFUL] - -"No thing," he grunted. - -"Too much sit down," I said. - -"No sit down!" he protested. "Wakwakwak (walk), all tam wak. Me no -see. How can shoot um me no see?" - -There was no argument there. If he saw nothing he certainly could bag -no game. But this Indian was superstitious, as all are. He got an idea -that there was black magic in my camera, and it bothered him. - -"Too much humbug," he said, pointing to my camera which I happened to -have with me. "You tak picture all tam, put um picture on paper and -sho all mans. Deer know this and be bexed (vexed) see um picture on -paper. Run away. How go for catch if no see?" - -This was a lengthy outburst for an Indian. He had reference to my -taking his picture as he came into camp with various kinds of game -over his shoulders. He believed that the dead game knew its picture -was taken and that its spirit warned the living game to keep away -because the picture taking was an insult. He did not reason that the -game would be warned to keep away from him to save its life, but only -to escape the insult of having its picture taken. Hence his argument -that the game was "bexed" and kept out of sight. - -"No get um. Must catch beena," he said, earnestly. A "beena" is some -sort of a rite or charm that the hunters go through in order to give -them good fortune or luck or whatever it is they most desire. There is -a different sort of beena for each thing. I gave him a half day -holiday to "catch beena." Being especially anxious to bag deer he was -going to "catch deer beena." The sly fellow had hidden away somewhere, -just for this emergency, the nose of a deer. - -Beena may bring good luck but I would not care for good luck earned in -that manner. This chap heated the nose of the deer on a shovel over -coals until it fairly sizzled. Then he cut slashes, not deep, but -enough to draw blood, on his chest, arms and legs and rubbed that hot, -greasy nose into the cuts. He believed that the fat thus entering his -body or blood would enable him to get all the deer he wished, as it -would give him power over them. - -That afternoon he went out, and, sure enough, he returned with a -big deer. I did not dare photograph it for fear the Indian would -become frightened or discouraged, and leave. No power on earth could -persuade him that it was due to any other reason than his beena that -he got the deer. - -[Illustration: THE TOUCAN MAKES AN INTERESTING PET] - -As I explained, I took many pictures but lost the greater part of them -through attempting to develop the films in the hot climate. Birds of -unusual variety, to me, were photographed in plenty. The toucans were -interesting birds. They would come quite close to us, and I managed to -get a snapshot of one not more than ten feet away, just as he was -apparently sharpening his gigantic beak on the shore gravel. - -I found the Indians to be not only interesting but very likable chaps. -I formed a strong friendship and they likewise became very friendly -with me. I learned much of their language, had them at our logie for -guests on a great many occasions and, after a manner, got so that I -could talk well with them and learn much of their lives, their -ambitions, their joys and sorrows. Their language is called -"Akowoia." - -The taste of the Indians in food I could never learn, such as their -terrible drinks, the smoked intestines and the eyes of animals which -they cook as a great delicacy. Nor am I at all fond of their pastry. -It is simply a dough made of flour, salt and soda mixed with river -water and fried in much grease in a frying pan. But their cooked fresh -fish, their boiled tapir and other game meats are always good, clean -and appetizing. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -_PICKING UP JUNGLE LORE_ - - -The upper part of the Mazaruni River is no place for a white man to -take up a permanent abode. Only once in a great while has a white man -been known to live more than a year in that climate. I have heard of -one or two who lived there for several years, but they finally died. -It is a strange thing the lure of fortune. Such men know full well -that no white man can escape death if he stays there for much more -than six months. Yet each individual seems to feel that he will manage -in some way to escape the dread and deadly jungle fever. He is having -good luck getting diamonds, he stays on and on for "just a few more, -just a few more," so that he may go back wealthy, and then comes the -fever and either death or a quick get-away. I could not then foresee -the danger that faced me and was to bring a sudden end to my own -adventures in the wilds. - -Most white men have to use quinine continually. Dud. Lewis took -quantities of it every day. He took so much that it made him -temporarily deaf. I was afraid to take too much of it as I didn't care -to become deaf nor did I want the headaches that it frequently caused. -Of course I took some from time to time, but in small quantities. - -One great trouble was our lack of fresh water. We had only the river -water and it was dangerous to drink that without purifying it. The -Indians and even the blacks seemed to get along well enough on it and -would drink right out of the river. - -We had "steel drops" with us, a highly concentrated form of iron. One -drop in a gallon of water was sufficient to remove the danger of -disease from drinking the water. We also used bits of rusty iron. By -keeping these in the water it was fairly safe, but it was always -muddy. And it was always warm. I learned to get used to it. We used to -keep it in jars and pails with a wet cloth over it in order to cool -it. - -[Illustration: ABRAHAM, FELLING A WOODSKIN TREE] - -While there were a few poisonous snakes about, they seemed no more -plentiful than are the rattlesnakes, copperheads and moccasins in -certain parts of the United States, and we had no trouble with them. I -never saw any of the big boa constrictors or other snakes, that I had -been told about, but presume there were plenty of them in the deep -marshlands if one cared to hunt the reptiles. - -Frequently I had seen Indians gliding about the river in the most -peculiar and frail looking craft I had ever beheld. - -"Make um woodskin," the Indians told me. - -I examined one and it was nothing more than the bark of a tree. Not at -all like the birch bark used by our Indians, nor like rough elm bark, -but more like the tough, smooth bark of the basswood or ironwood trees -at home. - -One time I was fortunate enough to see and photograph the whole -process of woodskin canoe making. I went with the Indians back -somewhat from the water to where they had located a giant woodskin -tree. These trees start at the base with mammoth trunks, which taper -up for fifteen feet or more before they continue as a straight and -rather symmetrical trunk. The bark of the tapering part is useless in -canoe making and so the Indians build a frail platform or foot rest of -poles that will enable them to reach the straight, even part of the -trunk with an axe. Standing there they soon have the tree felled. But -before it falls they build a supporting frame so that it will not lie -on the ground, because if this heavy tree were resting its weight on -the ground it would be impossible to remove the bark. - -When the tree is down and resting on the frames upon which it fell, -the Indians arrange poles that will enable them to stand and reach one -side. They cut the bark clear around the tree at the length which they -wish for the canoe, then they slit the bark in an even line between -the two cuts and gradually pry it off, putting in braces until it is -wedged open sufficiently to slip off the trunk. - -Two braces are then fitted into this, and it is left to dry; as the -drying takes place the ends are drawn up a little. That is all there -is to it. The canoe is ready for ordinary smooth water traveling, -once it is dry, for in the shrinking the braces are so wedged in that -they will never pull out. For smooth water paddling the canoe is left -with both ends open. But for rough water, in currents and rapids, it -is necessary to stop up each end with a sort of vegetable wax drawn -from trees much as we get pitch from pine. This wax hardens and thus -closes the ends. - -[Illustration: PREPARING WOODSKIN BARK FOR CANOE] - -[Illustration: FINISHED WOODSKIN CANOE WITH ENDS OPEN] - -There were many things to learn before we were quite comfortable. We -had learned how to keep our food, how to have the Indians hunt and cut -wood for us, which was all the work they did. For this they were paid -the equivalent of $10 a month each, and clothing and lodging. They -wouldn't mine--at least there are few Indians who will mine. They -would rather have an old red flannel shirt than a peck of diamonds. - -We learned about keeping iron in the drinking water and we put tin -grease cups on all of the supporting poles of our logie, and of all -buildings and shelters, to keep out the stinging ants and other -insects. - -These insects were decidedly troublesome and we had to keep constant -watch of ourselves to prevent serious trouble with them. There is an -especially large mosquito which not only stings fearfully but deposits -larvae beneath the skin. It is almost impossible to notice this at the -time but it soon becomes a live worm in there, and then a great sore -breaks out, caused by the bug so that he can crawl out and grow into a -mosquito and sting someone else, and start another bug, and so on. - -Worse than this were the "nail beetles." These chaps bore beneath the -finger nails and toe nails. They do this boring so cleverly that -frequently one does not feel it at all. They, too, deposit larvae, and -the result is extremely dangerous as great sores come up beneath the -nails and one is likely to lose not only the nail, but the finger or -toe from blood poisoning, if even worse effects from the poisoning do -not set in. - -We used a ten per cent solution of carbolic acid as a preventive. -Constant watchfulness was the price of freedom from becoming nesting -places for 'skeeters and bugs. - -If we had food in kettles we had to set the legs in cups of oil to -keep out the bugs. - -Not far from where our mine is located is the property of the late -Major John Purroy Mitchel, former mayor of New York City and later an -aviator, who was killed while in training at a Southern aviation -field. He knew this country well and had had many adventures down -through here where he had considerable success in mining diamonds. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -_THE FIRST DIAMOND!_ - - -Of course, once landed at the site of our diamond mine, we had to have -a comfortable, permanent home. A "logie" it is called here, doubtless -a corruption of the Italian "loggia" which has as its equivalent in -English the word "lodge." Strictly speaking, a logie is a building -that is partly open at the sides and consists of more veranda than -closed in room. Ours we had built so that it could be closed in, but -except in driving rains the sides were always open. We could screen -them to keep out mosquitoes and keep quite comfortable. - -We selected a site that was a little back from the river, out of the -dampness, on a high and dry sloping hillside. We made a little -clearing, but with the forest all about three sides to protect us from -high winds. Instead of driving foundation posts we cut the trees -and used the stumps where possible. This slope left a sort of -basement where we could store such things as rain might injure but -insects could not. - -[Illustration: OUR JUNGLE HOME] - -We did not trust to palms and reeds for roofing but brought tarred -roofing paper with us. This was much better, storm-proof, and helped -keep insects away as they are never fond of tar. Facing the river we -had a wide veranda. Inside we made good but crude tables and chairs, a -desk, and strong supports for our hammocks. The rear end was but a -step from the ground, but the front end was some fifteen feet up. It -made us a snug and comfortable home for the more than four months we -were digging into the gravel of the river banks for "shiners." - -Meanwhile we got busy with our mining. Jimmy acted as our cook and -personal servant. The captain was an expert in this river life, the -Indians were chopping wood and bringing in game and fish, the blacks -were busy now getting the mine started and later in digging, so that -we were a very busy and quite contented colony. - -Diamond mining on the Mazaruni is not unlike gold dust mining. The -diamonds, like the gold, being the heaviest substance in the gravel, -naturally settle down to the bottom when a sieve is twisted about so -as to make the water move around and around. The centrifugal force -sends the heavy material to the bottom. - -We started in with pick and shovel. Later we built a "Long Tom," which -is a wooden trough through which water runs, there being several -compartments and cleats. The gravel is put in at the upper end and -carried down by the rush of water. The gravel, being lighter, is -carried on down and off, the diamonds are mixed in with tin ore, -pulsite and ordinary quartz, all of these being heavy. - -Finally the residue, after the gravel is washed out, is put in a sieve -and either "jigged" by hand or by means of wire supports, over a box -of water. - -The soil was made up of loose gravel and also of conglomerate, not -quite solid, yet not loose like gravel, and much muscle with the picks -was needed to loosen the stuff. - -Once our sieves were ready we could scarcely wait to get busy. Gravel -was shoveled into the first sieve and one of the blacks, an expert -"jigger," took it up and started the peculiar circular motion. - -"Lucky baby," he said. The men who do this work are called "jiggers" -and they call the sieves "baby." - -We watched his every move. Around and around the sieve went. He -paused. We stretched our necks to see but he merely scooped off the -lighter top gravel that his circular motion had forced up, then -continued. - -Over and over he repeated this, for about an hour, continually washing -it, the water dripping through the fine mesh of the sieve. Then it was -ready. With a final "swish" of the sieve and another washing, with the -last handful of gravel brushed off, the contents, just a few handfuls -of material, were dumped on a crude table and spread out with a sweep -of the hand. - -"Here's one!" - -It looked bright enough, but Lewis, who had been prospecting there and -had seen them mine diamonds, had learned the difference between the -dull sparkle of ordinary quartz and the brilliant sheen of diamonds; -he took up the particle, pressed it between two knife blades and -crushed it. - -"Everything here except diamonds can be crushed by that sort of -pressure," he said. - -"Here's one!" I picked it out. It would not crush. - -"Yes. That's a diamond. About half a carat," said Lewis. - -I have that tiny glittering pebble now and hope to always keep it. The -first diamond from our mine! We found a few more in that lot, none -very large, but all of them of value. None are too small, in fact, to -be of some value. We find them in various colors, pure white, which is -the average sort; brilliant blue white, the most valuable and rare; -pink or rose, also quite valuable; and yellow, not so valuable. Also a -few green and black. Most of the stones we get down there are too -small for jewelry, and are used in commerce. Drills are made of them -and machinery for boring, and for probably a hundred different uses in -manufacture. - -[Illustration: AN INTERIOR VIEW OF OUR "LOGIE"] - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -_HOW THE PRECIOUS STONES ARE FOUND_ - - -Then we settled down to steady mining. We built a shed for our tools, -and we got the hand pump out, we prepared sieves for jigging and we -made "Long Toms" and swinging sieves, washing troughs and all the -necessary apparatus. - -If you had happened to come across our outfit it would have seemed -very crude to you. Rough washing boxes, rough troughs through which we -turned water, shapeless holes in the ground partly filled with water, -great heaps of worthless gravel, the dismal sucking sound of the old -hand pump, and a clutter of boards, pans, shovels, and picks. - -Yet we had one of the few good mines down there. The "pork knockers" -have no mines; they journey from place to place up and down the river -with pick and shovel and sieve, with a small quantity of food on their -backs, and make shelter wherever they happen to be. They generally -borrow money for the outfit, river traders bring up food and gin--I am -sorry to say that it is generally more gin than food--and these pork -knockers, niggers for the most part, exchange their few diamonds for -the strong drink and food and keep on. They generally come out at the -end of the dry season with enough, or about enough, to square their -debts and leave a little over to live on until next season when they -borrow again and once more set out. - -They have to give a certain percentage of their diamonds to the -British Government for the privilege of mining. We had to pay $25 for -every 250 carats, which was not excessive at all, when you figure that -250 carats of diamond are worth around $2,000 these days. - -We sunk a shaft sixty feet, which was remarkable in that locality as -the gravel is loose and washes in with rains. We propped it up with -planks but had to keep constant watch of it. Finally water seeped -through faster than our hand pump could get it out. - -[Illustration: A LONG TOM DIAMOND WASHER] - -[Illustration: JIGGERS SEPARATING DIAMONDS FROM GRAVEL] - -Some of the jiggers are so expert that, impossible as it seems, they -can jig a baby--to use their own expression--so that the diamonds, -heavy as they are, will actually come to the top. They then pick off -the biggest ones and then go on jigging as usual. But they do not get -away with many. A close watch is kept on the jiggers and if they are -caught stealing they are fined a month's pay or more. We had some -trouble but not much. These men are bound out to us by the British -Government and must work. If they run away they are outcasts and -cannot get more work to do. On the other hand we must feed them -according to the law and work them only so many hours. - -One day we were watching the results of a jigging from the "Long Tom" -and suddenly there sparkled before us a large, brilliant stone. - -It weighed more than seven carats! - -This was the largest stone we found. But all together we cleaned up, -in only a few months of actual mining, more than $20,000 worth of -diamonds! - -Rough diamonds are mostly of odd shapes. Seldom do you find them in -the almost perfect form that we find quartz crystals. Once in a while -I have picked out a small diamond that looked as though it had come -directly from a skilled lapidary, so perfect in form it seemed to be. - -The largest diamond known to have been found in these fields weighed -fourteen carats. A pork knocker named "London" found it. He was a -giant of a black man, noted for his lawlessness, and greatly feared. -He was working for another man at the time and, strange to say, he -turned it over. The reason was that he knew he could not sell so large -a gem without being caught. - -There is also much gold in that region, but we did not go after it. -Having come for diamonds, and finding them in paying quantities, we -stuck to it. - -Day after day Lewis took his eight or ten grains of quinine. Day after -day I seemed to get along without it and I feared to take too much. -The mosquitoes were there in plenty, the sort whose sting gives one -the jungle fever, so deadly to white men, just as, at home, they cause -malarial fevers. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -_GOOD-BYE TO THE JUNGLE_ - - -I was in excellent health. There seemed no danger at all and I -believed that I could stay there three or four months longer. It is a -great game, full of fascination. You get a few diamonds to-day. Next -day less, next day more, next day scarcely any, next day a big one, -and so on. Always it is "To-morrow we may get a ten carat stone," or -"To-morrow we may pull a fistful out of one 'baby,'" and so the -temptation is great to stay on and on. At the rate that we were -gathering in diamonds it seemed that we ought to pile up about $50,000 -in six months. But after we had been actually mining more than four -months I was returning from a hunting trip. I had a great burden of -deer meat on my back. I walked through bogs where it was almost -impossible to pull my feet out of the mud. I was hungry and extremely -tired. - -Now that is just when the white man succumbs to the bite of the -mosquito down there. One nailed me on the back of the hand but I -thought nothing of it. - -But next morning I hated to get up. I had no strength. I became worse -during the day and for several days lay in a sort of semi-stupor, weak -and listless. - -"Very bad," said Captain Peter; "get him back before he dies!" - -Poor Lewis broke camp in record time. They bundled me into the boat -and I was conscious only a small part of the time. - -Going downriver is far different from coming up. They made the trip to -Georgetown in a few days and when they got me to the hospital the -doctors looked me over and demanded a deposit of $85. - -"Why?" demanded Lewis, quite indignant. - -"To cover funeral expenses. He can't live," they said. - -But I fooled them and recovered rapidly. - -Lewis and I still own that mine. We came out with a good little pot of -money, clean profit. The war took all of the time of both of us--but -now that it's over we are planning to go back there some day. - -With our experience we feel sure that we can make much money, both in -gold and diamond mining. We shall take back better equipment, power -pumps, and everything this experience taught us we should have. - -My adventure was satisfactory in every way. I wish I could have stuck -it out six months longer. But I think the best plan would be for white -men to set up their mines and work them about five months, go back -home for seven months, work them another five months, and so on, thus -avoiding the great dangers. - -I am looking forward to the day when I can get back there, meet my -Indian friends, go tapir and labba hunting with them and, above all, -enjoy the wonderful thrill that comes when you spread out the residue -of a jigging and pick out, here and there, a sparkling diamond! - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UP THE MAZARUNI FOR DIAMONDS*** - - -******* This file should be named 43051.txt or 43051.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/3/0/5/43051 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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