The Young Llanero Part 16

He had fortunately brought a rifle and a good supply of ammunition, which was especially welcome.

As soon as the doctor had resolved to join us, we lost no time in moving forward, lest some other traveller might come that way and discover us.

After a time we found that we were gradually ascending, though we had mounted to a considerable distance before we perceived any change in the size of the trees or alteration in their character; for palms and other tropical plants still flourished, and the heat was as great as in the plains below. At length, however, we reached the bare side of the mountain; the vast precipitous rocks towering up above us, while the vegetation was that of more temperate climes.

Looking back at the forest from which we had emerged, I was struck by its magnificent appearance, illumined as it was by the almost perpendicular rays of the sun, which caused the broad leaves of the trees to shine with dazzling brilliancy. We could hear, when we stopped, the roaring of the cascade, though concealed by rocks, and groves of the Indian fig-tree.

Up and up we went, sometimes along narrow paths on the summit of precipices, with barely sufficient room for a single animal to advance without risk of slipping over. The mules were so sure-footed, that we had but little anxiety about them; but the danger my mother and sister ran on horseback was very great. No one could render them any help, and they had to depend upon their nerve and the steadiness of their horses.

Frequently, I held my breath as I saw the places they had to pa.s.s.

At length, from the height over which we were crossing, we looked down upon a broad valley.

"I told you that I would bring you to a region where there is an abundance of game," observed Kanimapo; and he pointed to a herd of deer directly below us, grazing quietly, unconscious of our vicinity.

"But see! there are already hunters before us," I remarked, as at that instant I observed two large pumas stealing along the top of an overhanging rock. So eager were they in pursuit of their object, they did not discover us. Scarcely had I spoken when the first threw itself off, and pounced directly down on the back of an unsuspecting deer; its companion the next instant following its example. So sure was their spring, both secured their victims, and began tearing off the still quivering flesh with mouth and claws; while the rest of the herd, seeing the fate of their companions, fled like the wind along the valley.

"They cannot go far," observed Kanimapo; "and we shall always find some in this neighbourhood when we want them."

"We must not let these savage brutes enjoy their meal at leisure," said the doctor, dismounting, and getting his rifle ready to fire. "You take the one on the right, Barry, and I will shoot the other. We must have their skins; and the venison will not be much the worse for the way it has been killed."

We both fired, and the pumas rolled over, struggling in the agonies of death.

"We must now secure the venison," cried the doctor, leading the way down the precipitous side of the valley. Tim and I followed him, Candela soon afterwards joining us; and we were quickly engaged in the not over-pleasant operation of cutting up the deer and skinning the pumas.

As soon as we had secured the skins of the wild beasts, and the best joints from the deer, we loaded the doctor's mule with them,--as he volunteered to give it up for the purpose, and to proceed with us on foot.

Though game was abundant, our guide did not consider it safe for us to remain in the valley. We had still some hours of daylight; and before we could hope to rest in safety, we had, he told us, many mountain-heights and deep valleys to traverse.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

PARAMOS DESCRIBED--SUFFER FROM WANT OF WATER--REACH A STREAM--ENCAMP-- INDIAN LEGENDS--A CAPYBARA--ENEMIES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD--ASCEND A STEEP MOUNTAIN--DESCEND AND REACH A BEAUTIFUL VALLEY--TAKE UP OUR ABODE IN A MAGNIFICENT CAVERN--EXPLORE THE CAVERN--STRANGE BIRDS--KANIMAPO SHOWS US ANOTHER CAVERN--CONSTRUCTS A ROPE-BRIDGE--HAZARDOUS Pa.s.sAGE--KILL A JAGUAR AND CAPTURE TWO DEER--TIM AND CHUMBO APPEAR--CHUMBO'S ADVENTURE WITH KING-VULTURES--NORAH AND KATHLEEN IN DANGER FROM A JAGUAR--SAVED BY KANIMAPO--GOOD NEWS--PREPARATIONS FOR OUR DEPARTURE.

The fresh air of that elevated region--a contrast to the heavy, damp atmosphere of the plain below--so revived our spirits and strengthened our muscles, that all were eager to push on.

We were, it must be remembered, travelling over a series of mountain-heights forming a chain considerably to the eastward of the true Cordilleras, which are of much greater elevation; but even here the cold on the more lofty mountains is excessive, as it is in some of the valleys between them. These valleys are uninhabitable deserts known as paramos, in which no human being can exist without keeping in unceasing and violent motion. No artificial means appears sufficient to sustain life while a person is exposed to their chilling atmosphere; the strongest spirits have no effect--and, indeed, increase the direful consequences. They are usually long deep valleys, so shut in by neighbouring heights that scarcely a single ray of the sun sheds its genial influence through them. If a person attempts to remain in them unsheltered at night, death will certainly overtake him. Some of them, however, are so extensive that it requires two or three days to cross them. To enable this to be done, small houses have been erected at certain distances, in which cooking utensils, wood for firing, and other articles of convenience, are kept for the accommodation of travellers; as well as stabling for their mules. But to remain in a paramo during the night, even though thus protected, is often a painful ordeal. Only for two or three months of the year--November, December, and January-- are they inhabitable by human beings; and it is during those months alone that the huts can be erected or the fuel stored for the remainder of the year.

The doctor described to me the way in which people suffer:--The highly rarified air at first occasions great difficulty in breathing, with a sharp piercing pain at each inspiration; in a short time the person becomes benumbed in the extremities, owing to his incapacity for continuing in motion. He is next seized with violent delirium, and in his horrible paroxysms froths at the mouth, tears the flesh from his hands and arms, pulls his hair, and beats himself violently against the ground, meanwhile uttering the most piercing cries, till, completely exhausted, he remains without motion or feeling, and death ensues. The only effectual remedy, when a person is thus seized, is to beat him violently, and to make him drink cold water from the springs found in all parts of the paramo; but this remedy must be employed immediately after the first symptoms appear.

Numberless persons have perished in this way. A short time before our journey, of a large body of troops attempting to pa.s.s through a paramo more than half died; as did some thousand horses and mules intended for the use of Bolivar's army.

After the account I had heard from the doctor, I begged of Kanimapo that he would not conduct us through a paramo.

"There is no fear of my doing that," he answered; "to-day we shall not ascend higher than our present position, and we shall remain at night in a well-watered valley."

We had been for some time traversing a narrow plateau, along the whole length of which we had to proceed, and where, though the air was pleasant, not a drop of water could be found. Most of us, therefore, were beginning to suffer greatly from thirst--the padre and the doctor had not drunk anything since the previous evening--and would have given a good deal for a cup of fresh water. The sides of the plateau were so steep that we could not descend in any part, though occasionally we heard through the trees the sound of rushing water rising from the depths below, or coming down from the mountain on the opposite side.

The horses and mules, too, were beginning to exhibit every sign of thirst,--the mules sometimes showing an inclination to bolt off either on one side or the other, as though they thought they could make their way down to the spots from whence the tantalising sound arose.

Our guide cheered us on. "We shall reach a valley before sunset; and I have no fear but we shall there find water enough to quench the thirst of us all," he observed.

All this time my mother and Norah exhibited wonderful powers of endurance, and never complained of the steepness or dangerous nature of the road; nor did they now of the thirst from which they, in common with us all, were suffering. I was surprised that our guide had not warned us; but, accustomed as he was to go for hours together without eating or drinking, it had not occurred to him that we should suffer any inconvenience.

At length we came to the end of the ridge. As we began to descend by one of the most rugged of paths, the sound of a waterfall reached our ears; and in the course of a few minutes, on going to the edge of a rock, we caught sight of a magnificent cascade issuing from the mountain-side, and dashing down into a large basin in the valley below.

"Hoch! hurrah! there's the water; and I hope before long to have a gallon down my throat," cried the doctor; and, unable longer to restrain himself, he set off to run down the steep descent. The padre, excited by the same feeling, rushed after him; while I followed in a somewhat more cautious way, not without considerable fear that my friends, in their eagerness, might tumble over the precipice before they reached the bottom. My father and the rest of the men held back the horses and mules, to prevent them following the doctor's example, and maybe sending their riders over their heads. Happily, no harm occurred, and we all reached the side of a sparkling stream of considerable volume, which went bounding and foaming away amid the hills, ultimately taking an easterly course and falling into the plain we had left. A hollow in the side of the hill, only a little above the water, afforded us ample camping-ground; and from the numerous luxuriant shrubs which grew around we were able to build some comfortable huts, as well as to cut a sufficient supply of firewood.

"You may remain here without much fear of interruption, my friends,"

observed Kanimapo. "But, at the same time, the spot could easily be reached by those in search of you, so I wish to conduct you to a place in which no enemy can find you."

My father at once agreed to this; indeed, the valley, though it had its attractions, was not the place we should have wished to live in for any length of time. Unless actually tracked, we were not likely to be discovered, as the opposite heights were inaccessible, and we were completely hidden, owing to the form of the rocks and the overhanging trees, from any one pa.s.sing on the hills above us. We thus considered that we need not apprehend danger during the few hours it was necessary to remain encamped on the spot. There was an abundance of gra.s.s, too, for our horses and mules; and the venison we had brought with us was provision sufficient for a couple of days at least.

I have so often described our night-encampments that I need not mention the arrangements we made on the present occasion. I was much struck by the romantic beauty of the scene: the cascade in the distance; the rapid stream rushing and foaming below us; the lofty mountains rising in front, and the rich vegetation which clothed the cliffs behind; the huts nestling under the trees; the blazing fire, surrounded by our party; the animals grazing on the green turf which carpeted the ground. There was sufficient danger to create some excitement, and yet not enough to prevent us from enjoying our supper and entering into an animated conversation. The padre and the doctor chiefly engaged in it, and afforded us much amus.e.m.e.nt; Kanimapo also occasionally took a part. We were speaking of the monkeys of the country, some of which possess wonderful intelligence; and the padre described one which had learned to sit at table and use a knife and fork, and would drink wine out of a cup, and bow to the company.

"Have you ever heard of the salvaje, or wild man of the woods,--who builds a house for himself, and sometimes carries off people to dwell with him when he wants companionship, and occasionally eats them if he is hungry?" said the padre.

"Has anybody seen him?" asked the doctor; "for until I see him I shall refuse to believe in his existence."

"I cannot say that I ever saw him," answered the padre; "but I have known people who have found the traces of his feet, the toes of which are turned backwards; and others have caught sight of him peeping from among the boughs of a tree."

"Who can doubt about him?" exclaimed the Indian, who had hitherto remained silent. "My people, and those who dwell on the upper waters of the Orinoco to the ocean on the north, know very well all about him.

Some call him the achi, others the vasatri, or great devil; and he is exactly like a big man, only covered with dark hair."

The doctor burst into a fit of laughter. "If you caught him you would find your man of the woods turn out to be a huge bear, whose feet somewhat resemble those of a man. I have never heard of a large monkey in this country--though, of course, such may exist in regions unexplored."

"I am afraid, doctor, you are very sceptical," observed the padre.

"Not at all, my friend," he replied; "I am simply, as a philosopher, bound not to believe unless I have sufficient evidence of a fact: and in this case it appears to me that such evidence is not forthcoming. For instance, as to the fact of a great flood which once covered the earth, independent of the statement made by Scripture--"

"Ignorant as our people are, we know that such an event took place,"

broke in the Indian. "Once upon a time the sea flowed over the whole of the plain, and all the people perished with the exception of a man and woman, who floated about in a boat, and at last arrived safely on a high mountain called Tamanaca. On landing they cast behind them over their heads the fruits of the mauritia palm-tree, when the seeds contained in those fruits produced men and women, who repeopled the earth. Some of you may have seen, on the lofty cliffs which rise above the Orinoco and other rivers, curious figures sculptured on their faces, at a height which no human being could now reach. How could they have been carved, unless the waters had risen up to them and thus enabled our fathers to reach them in boats?"

"The belief you entertain, my friend, exists in all parts of the world,"

observed the doctor; "and I doubt not that it has its origin in truth."

The Indian looked satisfied; and then went on to tell us of the wars which his people waged in former days--when they lived near the ocean-- with the white men who first came over to their country. The most ferocious and daring of these--indeed, he appears to have been almost a madman--was Lopez de Aguirri. Descending the Amazon from Peru, he made his way along the coast across the mouth of the Orinoco and through the Gulf of Paria, till he entered the Caribbean Sea, and ultimately reached the island of Margarita. From thence he returned to the continent, and established himself in the city of Valencia, where he proclaimed the independence of the country and the deposition of Philip the Second.

The native inhabitants made their escape across the lake of Tacarigua, taking with them all their boats, so that Aguirri could only exercise his cruelties on his own people. He at once began to put to death those who opposed him; and in a letter to the king he boasts of the number of officers whom he had killed. Among them was Fernando de Guzman, who had been chosen king; but De Aguirri not liking his rule, killed him and the captain of his guard, his lieutenant-general, his chaplain, a woman, a knight of the Order of Rhodes, two ensigns, and five or six of his domestics. Afterwards, having got himself named king, he appointed captains and sergeants; but these wishing to put him out of the way, they were all afterwards hanged by his orders. He especially points out to Philip the corruption of morals among the monks, whom he intends to chastise severely; he remarks that there is not an ecclesiastic who does not think himself higher than the governor of a province; that they are given up to luxury, acquiring possessions, selling sacraments,--being at once ambitious, violent, and gluttonous. Aguirri--or, as he is still called by the common people, "the tyrant"--was at length abandoned by his own men and put to death. When surrounded by foes, and conscious that his fate was inevitable, he plunged a dagger into the bosom of his only daughter, that she might not have to blush before the Spaniards at the term, "the daughter of a traitor." The natives still believe that the soul of the tyrant wanders in the savannahs like a flame, which flies on the approach of men.

I wish that I could recollect more of the stories narrated on that evening.

We were interrupted by a rushing sound, as if some animal were breaking through the bushes. The doctor started up, exclaiming,--"An anaconda!-- a boa! Be prepared, my friends," and boldly advanced in the direction of the sound. My father, Gerald, and I, seizing our rifles, followed his example. The padre did not exhibit the same eagerness, but kept his seat, and begged my mother and Norah not to be alarmed, as he very much doubted that any large serpent could have made its way so far up the mountains; and even if it should prove to be a puma or jaguar, we were likely, he said, to give a good account of it. Having quieted their fears, he got up, and taking Tim's rifle, joined us. Jumbo had been in a state of excitement when he saw what we were about; and losing patience, boldly dashed into the wood. Presently, out there came what at the first glance I took to be a wild boar; but as it pa.s.sed before us towards the water, I saw that it was an animal of a very different species. The doctor fired, and brought it to the ground; when Jumbo, rushing forward, seized it by the throat. The creature made little or no resistance; and having dragged it up to the fire, we saw that it was a capybara, or water-hog. The doctor remarked that it was the largest of all living rodents, being upwards of three feet in length, and enormously fat. It had a blunt muzzle, with the eyes set high in the head; was dest.i.tute of a tail; and its toes were so united as to enable it to swim with ease. It was of a blackish grey hue, with rather long hairs, of a yellow tinge, falling thickly over the body. The doctor exhibited its head, which contained enormous incisor teeth, and curiously-formed molars. He remarked that its webbed feet enable it to swim rapidly, and that when pursued it dives, and can remain nearly eight minutes under water; so that, if not taken unawares, it is able to escape most of its numerous foes. Among the most deadly of these is the jaguar, which preys largely on the poor tailless animal; but man is also its enemy, for its flesh is excellent, and is considered like that of the hog.

As it was important to secure a good supply of food, the capybara was forthwith cut up, and some of its flesh roasted.

"I trust that it will not cost us dear," observed Kanimapo, as we returned to our seats. "I should have warned you not to fire, unless in a case of great necessity; for should any one be wandering near at hand, it might lead them to our retreat."

Soon after this he left us, without saying a word. My mother and sister and the children then retired to their bowers, but the rest of the party still sat talking by the fire.

Some time had elapsed when Kanimapo rejoined us. "We must be very cautious," he observed. "There are strangers in the neighbourhood,-- though whether friends or foes I cannot say; but we must take care not to create a bright blaze, lest the reflection on the opposite cliff should betray us. They are not likely to remain where they are, and will probably move on to a more sheltered spot for the night. What has brought them here I cannot tell; but I suspect that they are fugitives from one party or the other. At all events, it will not be safe for us to proceed till they have left the neighbourhood."

This information made us feel rather anxious; especially when the padre suggested that the strangers might find their way down to our encampment.