January i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



113 



every brook and river showed traces of " color," while traditions 

 of lost mines and their fabulous riches were everywhere rife. 

 As we were not after gold, but rubber, the lost mines, or the 

 sunken treasure ship at the mouth of the Marieto, troubled us 

 not at all. That is, not until the Miner came across the moun- 

 tains and rode into our camp with a 

 true Western yell. He was a raw 

 boned, good humored, shrewd, Irish- 

 Ametican, who had been in every min- 

 ing camp in North America and who 

 was now developing the Gallo (Golden 

 Cock) mine. He and the Prospector 

 got together at once and the air full of 

 " andesite," " quarlz'' and " porphory." 

 Then they got whispering and later 

 parted. It was at the llanos that it all 

 came to a head, for it was there that 

 the Prospector began furtively to study 

 a small diagram, and later stole away 

 accompanied by an Indian whom he 

 had hypnotized by the gift of a real. 

 They took a bee line for the shore, 

 forded the Marieto, and, on a little 



island that is half covered by the tide, hunted up a certain tree, 

 strode away so many paces by compass, and started to dig. 



It was exciting to see how eagerly they plied pick and shovel, 

 and how they started with joy when the pick struck a tree root. 

 And they dug and dug until they suddenly awoke to the fact 

 that they were cut off from the main land by the tide. Then 

 the Indian went all to pieces and wept and called upon the 

 saints, while the Prospector uttered words unfit for publication. 

 There was no danger unless an alligator or a jaguar got them, 

 and as there was no boat the best thing would have been to 

 wait for the ebb. Instead of that, they wtnt further into the 

 thicket and a few minutes later appeared each with a pole, and 

 stepping into the swiftly running water started to cross. Very 

 slowly, bracing themselves at every step, they waded, the water 

 up to their breasts, and finally emerged into the shallows and 

 were ashore. Neither of them went back, and thus ended our 

 only treasure hunt. 



One of the worst rains came on while we were at llanos, but 

 all were under cover — that is, all except the Prospector and 

 the Scout, who came in drenched and cross because the rest 

 were dry and feasting on mangosand bananas. While it rained 

 Donna Maria was approached with the proposal that she get 

 the Indian woman who lived near to 

 do some washing. She got the woman 

 to come over, but as it was a " fiesta " 

 (St. Peter's day) she had religious 

 scruples against working. Nor could 

 she work the next day, she explained, 

 as that was the fiesta of St. Paul. All 

 of which was solemnly repeated by 

 Elias Oho. I have not mentioned him 

 before, but he deserves it. He was a 

 boy about 14. hunchbacked, withered, 

 with enormous black eyes, and treated 

 by all the natives as a most distin- 

 guished guest, his condition being due 

 to the fact that when he was young 

 " a witch looked at him." Looking at 

 him in turn one wondered what result 

 that look had upon the witch. 



The " gusano del monte," or 

 grub fly, was quite in evidence 

 at the llanos. I got three, the 

 Scout seven, and the rest their 

 share — just how many I have 

 forgotten. But I have not for- 

 gotten the sharp twinge, like 

 a red hot needle, that tells of 

 the presence of the grub in 

 one's flesh, or the killing of it 

 with nicotine, the heating of 

 the spot by a firebrand, and 

 then the desperate squeeze 

 that shoots the inch long in- 

 truder out into the open. 



I also learned here why it 

 was that so many of the na- 

 tives have sore feet, about half 

 of our men being then laid 

 off. A disease which they 

 call the " massamora," something like chillblains, attacks 

 them, the cause being a minute insect that is found in stag- 

 nant water or decaying vegetation. Unless cared for, the feet 

 swell dreadfully and the skin cracks and festers, making most 

 troublesome sores. 



CATTLE RANCH AT THE LLANOS. 

 fl>on Rainion in the Foreground. 1 



What with heavy rains that made the trails bad and the 

 rivers impassable for a half day at a time, the laziness of the 

 natives, and their habit of disappearing to attend far away 

 fiestas, not to speak of the way the mules had of hiding in the 

 brush when they were most needed, we were not getting ahead 

 as fast as could be wished. So the Prospector and the Miner, 

 with Wancho, the best woodsman on the peninsula, took the 

 schooner to the Ouebro to arrange for trail cutters, or, better 

 still, canoes and men to take us up that unknown river. In 

 the meantime the rest of us went on with the work of explora- 

 tion. A few days later the Ouebro expedition returned and 

 reported no canoes, no men, and no chance of getting through 

 until the dry season, as the rains were far worse than where we 

 were. 



It was during the absence of the party named, however, that 

 the rest of us went far up in the mountain valleys where no 

 white man, even in the time of the Spaniards, had been, and 



preempting an old rubber cut- 

 ter's shack, established our- 

 selves in Camp Iguana. We 

 were able to make the journey 

 most of the way on mule back 

 as an ancient Indian trail 

 passed close to it. The ba- 

 rometer read looo feet eleva- 

 tion, but the Castilloa was 

 just as plentiful as on the 

 lower lands, and indeed, here 

 were the largest trees. I 

 found also a species of Ficus 

 that produced a very good 

 quality of rubber, but was not 

 plentiful enough to have com- 

 mercial value. 



Our party consisted of the 

 Pioneer, the Scout, the Com- 

 modore, the writer, three In- 



auu«n iviiLL NtAR Lis MINAo. 



[On Las Margheritas Plantaticn.^ 



dians, with one pack mule, besides those we rode. As there 

 was no feed the mules were sent back to Rio Negro as soon 

 as they were relieved of their burdens. The ride to Igu- 

 ana, although rough in places, was delightful. 

 [to be continued.! 



