294 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 19K. 



It was unsafe to rc-embark, so we hastily hung our hammocks 

 while we could still see a little. Our company of canoe men 

 stretched themselves side by side on the ground, forming a hu- 

 man carpet, over which we were suspended, like judgment. The 

 dripping of the rain from the leaves of the trees, the moaning 

 and sighing of the wind through the forest and the incessant 

 rumble and boom of the thunder made sleeping difficult. Soon 

 the stratum of humanity on the ground was snoring loudly, un- 

 disturbed even by the bats that bled them on the toes. Some 

 time after midnight, because of the stillness, we gradually be- 

 came conscious of the fact that the storm had ceased, and the 

 snoring also had ceased, but was succeeded by a continual slap- 

 ping, for the mosquitoes had come in clouds, now that the rain 

 and wind had stopped. "Let us go to the water front!" ex- 

 claimed the head canoe man to his companions, and the spot was 

 promptly vacated by all but ourselves. They believed they would 

 be free from the little pests in the open air, for, under the trees 

 or in a house or tent they are a great torment all night long, 

 whereas in the open air they are much less active. This time, 

 however, there were myriads of mosquitoes in the ueighborhocd 



L.\NDING Pl..\CE OF DjOEK.K VlLL.\CE, M.\ROXI RlVER. 



of our camping ground. Sleep was impossible ; and tho the 

 darkness was still so dense that we had to feel our way down 

 to the river, we struck camp, tumbled everything into the canoes, 

 then, casting ourselves into the arms of the great, silent flood, 

 began poling rapidly away. 



We saw- the track of the tapir everywhere, but did not have 

 the good fortune to capture one while on the Maroni. They 

 always made for the water at full speed when alarmed, remain- 

 ing below the surface a surprising length of time. When the 

 jaguar springs upon the back of the tapir and tries to break its 

 neck he sometimes fails, for its neck is short, very thick and 

 strong. It rushes madly toward the river at such times, dashing 

 among the trees and through the dense underbrush, bolting under 

 fallen trunks and bumping against some in a manner most un- 

 pleasant for its ferocious rider, so that he is usually glad to seize 

 the first opportunity to dismount. The jaguar is known to have 

 been killed in one of these wild stampedes, its neck being broken 

 in collision with a tree. We have heard of such a horse and 



rider tearing through an cncampnuiu an<l among hammocks oc- 

 cupied by sleeping men. 



We were often entertained at dawn by monkeys roaring tlieir 

 morning anthem. The great volume of sound seemed to indi- 

 cate that there were a dozen of these vocalists, when in truth 

 they were but two, and only a quarter or half a mile distant. 

 There are 30 or 40 varieties of monkeys in the hinterlands of 

 Surinam, most of which will never be seen in zoological gardens, 

 for they cannot live in captivity, not even in their native land. 

 We frequently saw colonics of one kind or another climliing 

 about among the tree-tops or sitting on their haunches observ- 

 ing us. 



One day we sighted far up the river in advance of us what 

 appeared to be two lines of soldiers drawn up at the water's 

 edge. Studying the objects with a field glass we found them to 

 be a line of giant storks standing at the margin of the river 

 waiting to seize their breakfast of fish. They are as tall as a 

 man, and standing in line their uniform black heads, white 

 breasts and long black legs gave them a decidedly military ap- 

 pearance. The reflection in the water gave the illusion of a 

 double line. I believe this is the largest bird that flies. It must 

 have a long, clear space, or it cannot rise. From standing 

 humped up, like a goose on a cold day, it takes a few hesitating 

 steps, then several determined strides, then breaks into a run, fol- 

 lowed by a long series of big jumps and flapping of its huge 

 wings, until, finally, it gets clear of the ground. 



As we travelled along late one evening we noticed a light 

 some distance ahead and heard shouts coming from a sand isl- 

 and. Fearing that the shouting originated from unfriendly na- 

 tives, and because of the darkness, our first thought was to pass 

 on and not land. But a moment later we discovered that they 

 were a friendly fishing party, so we went ashore. As we drew 

 near to land our head man sang one of their familiar tribal songs. 

 It was a joyful strain, tho extremely peculiar, suggesting. 

 somewhat, the running and bleating of a deer. It is usually 

 sung for the purpose of announcing to those on shore that visi- 

 tors are arriving, that they are friendly and that they are happy 

 to meet their friends on land. Our trumpets were also sounded 

 and we played an English air on the flute. Our arrival appeared 

 to give the fishing party much pleasure. The first thing they 

 asked for was rice and fish hooks. They were all in nature's 

 dress, except the captain of the band, who wore loin clothes. 

 Continuing our voyage at dawn we encountered before noon 

 another cluster of natives in a hut on a sand island. Before we 

 could get ashore they ran out into the water to meet us, and 

 surrounding our canoes eagerly offered us cassava bread and 

 bananas in trade for what they supposed we had. 



We passed the next night at another group of huts on the 

 mainland. The "Djoekas," who were very cordial, were ex- 

 pecting us, for the news of our approach had preceeded us ; so 

 they gave us a royal welcome. The chief of the village — if I 

 may call it one — appeared arrayed in a complete suit of civilian's 

 clothes, consisting of white linen trousers and vest, black coat 

 and hat. These he wore merely as decorations, not as a covering, 

 for these people consider themselves fully and properly dressed 

 without any such apparel. It was a remarkable sight indeed 

 to us to descry in the gloaming, as we approached the land, what 

 appeared to be a well dressed representative of advanced civiliza- 

 tion entirely alone in a remote herding wilderness, surrounded 

 by nude and painted savages. He had obtained these garments 

 somewhere from a trading boat. We were escorted in state to a 

 large hut where were assembled all the human inhabitants of 

 the place ; and after the reception we witnessed the wrestling 

 .game of which the Djoekas are very fond. 



These people hovered about us in their canoes most of the time 

 as we travelled. When possible we avoided eating our meals 

 at their encampments, as we would have to share our food with 

 them, and our supply of rice and potatoes was only sufficient 

 for our own requirements. 



