THE ORCHID WORLD. 



89 



the last letters, I sent the boat back the next 

 day with instructions to the captain to call at 

 this place again about the middle of Decem- 

 ber with a still larger boat to take us back 

 again. During the next three days I occu- 

 pied myself in getting the stock of provisions 

 and goods ready into small loads of an equal 

 weight of about 70 lbs., to be carried on the 

 backs of the Indians. At the same time I 

 awaited patiently the arrival of more people, 

 who, as Seyler informed me, were formerly 

 living in great numbers along the Curubung. 

 My patience, however, was badly rewarded 

 as only a few more Indians turned up ready 

 to go, and from them I learnt that many of 

 their people had since died of measles, and 

 the rest had dispersed in all directions in fear 

 of the arrival of the dreaded gold-diggers. 



rocks, roots and wood of all sizes and shapes. 

 On one occasion only, on the third day, where 

 in the dense forest an accidental fire once 

 caused a tiny clearing, were we able for the 

 first time in three days to see the bright sun 

 and the clear open sky. One cannot imagine 

 any kind of marching more wearisome than 

 this long, slow progress, lasting for so many 

 days in a stifling heat, under a dense roof 

 of foliage which does not admit the slightest 

 bit of light. Besides, one's whole attention is 

 always occupied and strained, for there is a 

 dense network of tree roots, treacherously 

 covered with leaves, which make the unwary 

 traveller fall heavily to the ground ; there are 

 overhead numberless bush ropes — lianas — 

 hanging down, coiled, looped or tangled, 

 besides branches of trees which catch him 



An Indian Boat, 



Under these conditions I would not wait 

 any longer, and on the igth October I started 

 with eighteen men, all of the Acawoi tribe, 

 and all heavily loaded, not, however, without 

 leaving a dozen loads behind. We had to 

 cross the Curubung Mountain, and within the 

 first hour we came to the foot of an almost 

 perpendicular cliff, some 500 feet high, the 

 ascent of which to me was particularly trying, 

 inasmuch as from the last three weeks com- 

 fortable sitting in the boat my limbs became 

 rather stiffened through want of exercise. 

 For four days we had to tramp through the 

 densest virgin forest in a continual semi- 

 darkness, over a disagreeable profusion of 



or " Wooclik.in. ' 

 round the neck or knock his hat off and cause 

 him to stop, much to his great discomfort. 

 Moreover, one's sense of sight, sound and 

 touch become nearly annihilated, and more 

 than once I walked along with my eyes closed, 

 half asleep, till a treacherous root or a stone 

 wakened me out of my dream. It was there- 

 fore a pleasant feeling when, in the morning 

 of the fourth day, we could hear the sound of 

 rushing water at a distance, and about mid- 

 day we came to the banks of the Membaru 

 river, after having descended a similar cliff to 

 the one we climbed on the other side of the 

 mountain. 



Here another obstacle presented itself ; the 



