7^ 



FOREST ANiD STREAM: 



THROUGH THE HEART OF PERU. 



In Two Parts.— Part 11. 



AS'TER a six days' wait in Moyabamba we discovered that 

 absolutely no efforts were being made to secui-e us peons, 

 and that this arose, not from the pleasure of oul- society, 

 but from the fact that one of our party was a physician, 

 and as the profession of medicine was unrepresented in 

 the place, it was thought well to allow him plenty of time 

 to remove numerous wens and other kinds of tumors, 

 which seemed to be prevalent in the town. By dint of 

 united effort we finally persuaded the Prefect to let us 

 have three soldiers, who, with an old Indian and his wife 

 and a resident of the town who volunteered to carry a 

 third of our load*, we hoped would enable us to transport 

 our luggage. The old lady was warranted to carry a stout 

 load herself, and certainly her garments could not impede 

 her movements, for all she wore was a single skirt reach- 

 ing from the waist to the knee. Just before starting we 

 were fortunate enough to secure the services of two more 

 peons, stout young fellows, one accompanied by his wife, 

 a plump girl of eighteen, with piquant face and retrousse 

 nose. Her costume was the same as the old lady's, but as 

 we had previously passed through a number of villages 

 where all the women were attired in this ^^ay, with the 

 addition of a quantity of blue paint on the face, we were 

 not as forcibly impressed by the lack of apparel as we 

 might otherwise have been. 



On the afternoon of the seventh day of our stay we set 

 out, having first presented our pleasant host with a re- 

 volver. He gave us letters to the Governors of Yurima- 

 guas and Balsa Puerto, to the naval commander of Iquitos 

 and to Seflor Sisli^y, a prominent citizen of Yurimaguas, 

 also an official order on every Governor in the whole De- 

 partment of Lo'-eto, commanding them to forward us on 

 our journey with all due dispatch. The term "Governor" 

 in Peru is equivalent to our Mayor,, the official presiding 

 over a town simply. 



A two hours' walk brought us to Guninge. The peons 

 and soldiers came straggling in later, the latter drunk 

 and having neglected to bring any food. They wanted 

 six reals (sixty cents) for plantains. We gave them. Next 

 they demanded a chicken. Our answer was negative, 

 couched in very forcUde language. Next morning we 

 made an early start after paying the Governor of the town 

 his very moderate charge of tliree pesos, $2.40, for our 

 room and food, consisting of chicken, coffee, yucas, 

 chocolate and eggs. 



Our poor old Quichua f woman could hardly walk 

 owing to tertianas, a kind of chills and fever. A liberal 

 dose of quinine, however, enabled her to keep along. The 

 path was very muddy, but otherwise not bad. One of 

 the soldiers gave out. We lightened his load by degrees 

 until he carried nothing, but still he declined to pruceed. 

 Finally, with the aid of some native rum and threats of 

 violence, we got him to keep on his feet until our arrival 

 in the evening at the hacienda of Sefior Gomez, Jesus del 

 Monte, the last house on our journey before reaching 

 Salina. There we spent the nis^ht and replenished our 

 stock of provisions. We were also fortunate enough to 

 secure one more peon. 



We made an early start next morning and found the 

 path extremely bad. Up and down hill, in mud and water 

 to the knees, over slippery logs and moss-covered rocks 

 we made our way, pulling ourselves up perpendicular 

 ascents by means of vines and projecting roots, fording 

 one stream nineteen times, now and then getting pretty 

 severe falls, and drenched to the skin by torrents of trop- 

 ical rain. 



We were now in the heart of the virgin forest. On 

 every side were enormous trees overrun with trailing 

 vines and with orchids here and there growing on the 

 moss-covered limbs. In many places so thick was the 

 gi-owth above, that for long stretches we passed over 

 sodden ground where the rays of the sun never fell. 

 There was an absolute dearth of animal life; we saw no 

 snakes, a piece of good foi-tune probably, since parts of 

 this route are supposed to be infested by them, and a 

 peon shortly before, we were told, had died from the 

 bite of one. In fact between Jesus del Monte and Balsa 

 Puerto we saw no animal living or dead with the excep- 

 tion of a puma, which an Indian had just shot, using 

 a cheap Belgian grm looking like a toy, into which he 

 had put a round bullet. We pushed on and in the 

 evening reached a smalt hut called Tambo Pinquillo. The 

 tambo consisted of some upright sticks with boughs for 

 a roof. No fire would bum, and we spent a wretched 

 night with the rain dripping through the covering of the 

 tambo. 



Next morning we learned that one of the soldiers had 

 not come in the night before. Among the things which 

 comprised his load were 300 silver soles, my letter of 

 credit and all of my tobacco. We sent back two peons 

 in search of him and spent our time lying in the tambo 

 in the dripping rain. In the afternoon, greatly to our 

 relief, the j)eons and the soldier with the luggage turned 

 up, but the rain was too heavy for us to proceed. The 

 old Indian with his wife sat at a distance from the 

 others and employed his time in making a wooden 

 comb. He never exchanged words with any one, and 

 he and his wife cooked plantains, their only article of 

 diet, entirely apart from the rest. It is worthy of re- 

 mark that all peons in this district, though carrying 

 heavy loads through long days' journeys, subsist on the 

 plantain alone, which they roast in the embers. Their 

 burdens are supported upon their shoulders and kept in 

 place by strips of bark or cloth which broadpn into a 

 band worn across the forehead, where comes the prin- 

 cipal strain. In walking they lean heavily upon a stout 

 stick,, and I have seen a number of places in ascents 

 and descents where holes from 3 to Gin. deep have been 

 cut into the soft and porous rock by the constant plac- 

 ing of these sticks on the same spot by great numbers 

 of peons through long periods of time. 



The following day was clear. We walked four leagues 

 over a somewhat better traU, though we were obliged to 

 ford four streams in their various twists and turns a score 

 of times. We reached Tambo Chuclluyaco in the middle 

 of the afternoon and found the little tampo already occu- 

 pi' d by some Indians, who very graciously yielded it to 



*A £ ill load sometimes exceeds lOOlbs, 

 t Native Indian. 



US, and with their machetes or long, heavy knives, which 

 all Indians in the interior use in place of axes, they speed- 

 ily made another for themselv&s. 



It is seldom that ovel- one or two Indians in the party 

 are wealthy enough to possess a machete. These precede 

 the others on the march, lopping off small branches, 

 hanging vines; etc. The Indians \s?ill accept only Ameri- 

 can steel for the blades, aid I have been told that savages 

 up the Marafion who cannot even count, know how to 

 detect an Alnerican trade mark. 



We made an early start the next morning and ascended 

 an interminable hiU for four hours. Twice we mounted 

 rocks 40ft. long almost at an angle of 45°, down which ran 

 small streams of water; next we came to a waterfall loOi t. 

 high and 50ft. in breadth. The river was too deep to ford 

 and too rapid to swim, and could be crossed at but one 

 place only 3ft. above the edge of the fall, where the water 

 became shallower, reaching half way between the knees 

 and the waist, and where a ledge of rock running across 

 the stream served as a brace for one foot and the walking 

 stick, while with the other foot the traveler would have 



A TROPHY OF WAR. 



One of these tribes, by an unknown pj-ocess and without any appar- 

 ent incision after decapitation, removes all traces of bone from the 

 heads of the slain and allows the flesh to dry. Of these heads, one 

 ■seen by us was no larger than an apple, and yet the features were 

 perfectly preserved, and with the long hair bad rather a ludicrous 

 appearance.— Pari I, page 61. 



to work his way over. The position was a very trying: 

 one. A number of peons had been drowned at this 

 place. 



Prior to crossing, an incident occurred which might have 

 brought my journey to an abrupt conclusion. The stream 

 ran between high banks, and at the fall between a mass 

 of rock on either side. This rock sloped toward the stream 

 but at a still greater angle toward the fall, an angle so 

 acute that a body must roll or slide into the falling water 

 unless in some way enabled to check its progress by out- 

 side means. I reached the rock first and proceeded to de- 

 scend the wet and slippery side, when suddenly my foot 

 shot from under me and down I rolled over and over to- 

 ward the middle of the cataract. At this stage, when 

 death seemed certain, I managed to seize a projecting 

 root of a small bush which grew in a cleft about 20ft. 

 down, the only green thing on the rock, and by this good 



ROUTE OF THB EXPEDITION. 



fortune I succeeded in checking my progress. The 

 descent was too steep to permit me to rise to ray feet, yet 

 not steep enough to throw very much of my weight on 

 the bush as I lay extended. My companions, thunder- 

 struck for an instant, quickly let down a long piece of 

 tough vine and pulled me up. 



With nerves somewhat shaken we made the dangerous 

 crossing and pushed on to Salina, a descent of six miles, 

 so steep in pla'^es that we could scarcely keep our feet. 

 We arrived before dark, having ten times forded the 

 Cachiyaco.* At Salina that night I slept on a bed for the 



♦ Yaco is the Quichua for "water," and nearly all the names of 

 rivers to this section terminated in it; as Pumayaco, the tiger water.etc, 



first time in man^ days. It boasted no mattre.ss, having 

 only slats, and my body the Dext morning somewhat re- 

 sembled the American flag, but still it was a bed, and 

 very much better than sleeping in a puddle of water. 



The following day we reached Balsa Puerto early in th& 

 afternoon, two of us getting there somewhat ahead of the 

 rest and far in advance of the peons, one of whom had 

 my pantaloons which I had given him to carry on ac- 

 count of the numerous sti-eam.s to be forded. Attired in 

 my undergarments only, I walked into the presence of 

 the Governor and delivered our letter of introduction. 

 He seemed slightly suspicious of us, but became more 

 affable later on. He billeted us upon one family for Si 

 room and upon another for food. Shortly after our 

 arrival we were joined by a Frenchman, who had drifted 

 to the place and taken up his abode there. He was per- 

 fectly delighted to find that two of us spoke his language, 

 one very fluently. Taking us to his house he insisted 

 upon our joining him in drinking a couple of bottles of 

 wme. This wine was a kind of new port from Portugal, 

 via the Amazon, and from here on we found it where it 

 was possible to get anything. Upon the arrival of the 

 peons I resumed my trousers, which I think rather in- 

 creased the Governor's confidence in us. One peon did 

 not come in with the rest and we sent two men after him. 

 His continued absence with part of our luggage, and the 

 swollen streams, kept us three days at Balsa Puerto. At 

 the end of this time the peons who had been sent back 

 retm-ned with our baggage. They had found their com- 

 panion ill in the woods and had left him there, promising 

 to pick him up on their return. We never heard what 

 became of the poor fellow. 



During om- stay at Balsa Puerto our friend, the French- 

 man, gave a fandango in our honor which we all attended, 

 although 1 had never danced a step in my life. The ball 

 was held in a log house with a floor of earth, and lighted 

 by tallow candles, stuck here and there on the walls. 

 Upon a table were numerous bottles of the rather lieady 

 port previously mentioned, and of ag-uardiente, the native 

 spirits. 



Besides our party there were about fifteen Indian girls, 

 young and graceful, and as many men. The music con- 

 sisted of the beat of a drum and the voice of the drummer. 

 The dancing begins by two girls apj)roaching the men 

 with whom they wish to dance and slowly waving their 

 handkerchiefs; the men rise instantly, also handkerchief 

 in hand, which, dixring the dance, all wave in unison, 

 with graceful movements of the body, somewhat resemb- 

 Mng the motions of the East Indian Nautch girls. When, 

 the dance is completed the men select partners in a 

 manner similar to the girls and tlie figure begins again. 

 During all this time the girls who are not taking part in 

 the dance are filling tumblers of port, from which they 

 take perhaps a mouthful and then send them to the men 

 whom their choice dictates, the recipient being expected 

 to drink considerably mure than the lair one to whom he 

 is indebted for the wine. At first the young and supple 

 Indian girls let us severely alone, but at length the wine 

 began to have its effect and finally as many as three 

 glasses reached me at once, while six soft, dark eyes 

 looked at me ready to return my salute when the wine 

 touched my lips (I shall confine myself to my personal ex- 

 perience at the ball). I was having a most enjoyable 

 time drinking my port and watching the dancers when, 

 to my intense horror, a young girl advanced and waved 

 her handkerchief before me. I looked appealingly at the 

 Frenchman. "You must do it," he whispered, ''to refuse 

 would be a deadly insult, and would be pi-omptly re- 

 sented by her male friends." Oh horrors ! 1 have as 

 much ear for time and tune as a cow and can dance about 

 as gracefully, and the idea of making a spectacle of my- 

 self was simply appalling. I drained a glass of port and 

 arose to my feet and the dance began. It was justly 

 watched with intense interest by the -entire room and 

 lasted a veritable eternity. Finally it ended, and with a 

 long, deep sigh of relief. I returned to my seat beside the 

 Frenchman. The music stopped and tliere was an ex- 

 pectant pause. "Now, you must select a lady," said my 

 friend. Good gracious I was the agony to be endured 

 again ? "I'll take the same one," I said, "perhaps she has 

 learned my style." "Oh, no," repUed he, "that would 

 be too marked an attention; it wouldn't do." Nerved by 

 another glass of port I walked over to a beautiful girl of 

 about fifteen, who in the most embarrassed manner de- 

 clined. It was immediately explained, however, that no 

 insult was intended, and that timidity alone prevented 

 her from joining in the dance; my next attempt was 

 more successful, and at length I was free. I returned to 

 my bench and was watching the dancers, when suddenly 

 the larger part of those present ran pell mell out of the 

 room, and at the same time some one, as I thought, 

 lifted up the end of my bench and very nearly threw me 

 to the floor. I looked around to see who had taken this 

 liberty. I was alone. In a minute or two the guests 

 came straggling back, and to my inquiry as to what had 

 occurred, my French friend answered, "An earthquake." 

 This broke up the ball. 



On the afternoon of the fourth day at Balsa Puerto we 

 made a start down the Cachiyaco. Two dugouts; one 

 35ft. long for ourselves, propelled by four Indians, and 

 one lOft. shorter, with thiee to handle the paddles, for 

 the luggage, fm*nislied our means of conveyance. We 

 reached Esperanza after dark and slept on the floor of a 

 little hut, our rest being somewhat troubled by swarms 

 of rats. In the morning we bought 2.51bs. of salt fish for 

 the men and an abundance of native rum; for whUe in 

 America "money makes the mare go," here in the heart 

 of Peru aguardiente is far more efficacious. The banks 

 of the rapid Cachiyaco are tropical in the extreme. 

 Bananas, towering pahus iind trees of hard wood, inter- 

 laced by a matted mass of vines, form an impenetrable 

 barrier of foliage. Flocks of screeching parrots and 

 gorgeously-plumed macaws, with here and there curious 

 looking birds of the heron family, hovered over us, all 

 contributing to make a scene never to be forgotten. 



About mid-day we turned into the less swift Parana- 

 puras. Before dusk the scene fairly beggared description 

 as we lay in our canoe on piles of blankets, lazily gliding 

 down the stream in the blue and pink sunset. The half- 

 clad Indian paddhng at the bow, the steersman seated in 

 the stern, the air filled with flights of parrots, noisily 

 seeking their roosting place among the lofty palms. Long 

 after dark we reached Muniche, a town of six houses. 



Making an early start next morning at about IP. M, , 

 we turned into the Huallaga and an hour later reached 

 Yurimaguas. The principal houses of this town are 

 built in a square, the pavement being raised about a foot 



