July 39, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



73 



from the street and inclosed by a fence. Those wishing 

 to enter a house or a shop miost go to a gate at the end of 

 the street and walk up inside. The paling is put up to 

 keep out the cattle that frequent the plaza. In spite of 

 warnings as to poisonous Qsh, fever and other terrors, 

 we took a dip in the river. It seems there is some dan- 

 ger of pirafias,* a species of fish which bores through the 

 flesh to the bone. I have seen ugly scars from these 

 wounds. 



In the evening we delivered our letter to the Governor, 

 who promised to have a "balsa" constructed for us. The 

 native balsa consists of a number of logs of wood so 

 Kght that nails will not hold, bound together with a species 

 of vine. In the center a house is built of poles covered 

 with plaited leaves and floored with cane, large enough to 

 accommodate the party. In the 

 rear a table with a layer of earth 

 on top serves as a fire-place for 

 all culinary needs. 



The next morning we called 

 upon the Governor again, and 

 found that nothing had been 

 done. The procrastinating spirit 

 of these people can be best illus- 

 trated by a little incident. Early 

 in the day a woman called upon 

 us and explained that she was 

 suffering from a timior, that there 

 was no doctor in the place, and 

 that she had learned that there 

 was one in the party. Our phy- 

 sician examined the tumor and 

 found that a comparatively slight 

 operation would effect a cure. 

 This he explained to the woman, 

 who replied that she would call 

 round the next day. "But to- 

 morrow we shall have left," said 

 he. "That's too bad," answered 

 the woman; "I should like to 

 have it removed to-morrow." We 

 passed the day in idleness, smok- 

 ing cigarettes of Tarapota tobacco. 



On the following morning we 

 discovered that no steps had been 

 taken toward the construction of 

 the balsa. We called upon the 

 supine Governor, and showing 

 our order from the Prefect of 

 Loreto, supplemented by another 

 from the Minister of War in Lima, 

 we peremptorily demanded that 

 something be speedily done. The 

 orders worked liked a charm, 

 and the Governor, apparently 

 pretty weU aroused, went to work 

 at once. He got out the police 

 force and promptly seized four 



Indians belonging to a neighboring tribe living on the 

 river's bank and confined them in jail. Next he set his 

 policemen at work on the balsa, which was speedQy com- 

 pleted. Then the officers of the law escorted the four 

 Indians from the calaboose to the balsa, managing to lose 

 one. en route, who broke away and took to the woods. 

 The Governor assured us that when caught he would re- 

 ceive fifty blows and tmdergo imprisonment. 



Our crew was nearly nude, having their faces covered 

 with achote, a crimson paint, and wearing tightly bound 

 aroimd their waists strips of snake skin, while suspended 

 from their neck were alligator teeth pierced through the 

 center. The skin and teeth are worn as charms against 

 snake bites and drowning. Nothing but the quintessence 

 of laziness could have caused these gentry to be averse to 

 ma kin g a short trip where liberal pay and abimdant food 

 were assured them. But such is 

 the Peruvian Indian; and such, I 

 may say with equal truth, is the 

 Peruvian. 



About noon we took leave of 

 the Governor, and having prom- 

 ised not to report him, started on 

 our journey. Oh, what luxury 

 to have nothing to do! After our 

 long ride and the hardships of 

 the walk, how .delicious to recline 

 on the balsa in the moonlight and 

 blow clouds of smoke from our 

 cigarettes. 



The succeeding day we spent 

 gliding down the Huallaga, every 

 now and then shooting at, and 

 uniformly missing, large cranes a 

 long distance away on the river's 

 bank. In the afternoon two of 

 us got into a small dug-out, that 

 .the Indians had brought along 

 for their return, and paddled 

 along the shore. The men seemed 

 much astonished to see me pad- 

 dle from one side, as the custom 

 in this region is to change at each 

 stroke when paddling singly. My 

 friend shot a few strange birds 

 looking like very small vultures 

 which the Indians cooked and 

 greedily ate. Our Indians did 



very little paddling, but were ever ready to accept aguar- 

 diente and cigarettes. The next morning the sun rose 

 bright and clear upon the banks of the HuaUaga. I got 

 into our canoe with a companion and paddled along the 

 shore, which here and during the rest of our journey was 

 covered with trees, around and between which grew such 

 a dense mass of vegetation, such a solid tangle of vines 

 and parasitical plants that to effect an entrance would 

 have been impossible without hewing one's way step by 

 step. My companion shot two fine cranes, and a large 

 duck of a species imknown to us. 



In the afternoon we arrived at La Laguna. Our Indians 

 whose term of service ended here (having been paid in ad- 

 vance) took their canoes and promptly started home, per- 

 haps fearing another Governor with his poUce force. Wo 

 secured four Indians after about five hours' delay, myr- 

 iads of mosquitoes assailing us through the afternoon on 

 our trip down the river. During the night we entered the 

 Maranon, which we had seen as a tiny stream early in our 

 journey. 



*Al80 caUed.caneros. 



The following day my companion and I had an adven- 

 ture which might have terminated seriously. We pad- 

 dled away from the balsa in pursuit of a dtick which we 

 woimded and chased for some time. After securing our 

 game we looked for our raft. It was not in sight. We 

 paddled rapidly down stream and shortly came to a place 

 where the river divided into three branches. Still no 

 signs of the raft. We took the middle course, and after 

 a time were convinced by the diminished speed of the 

 current (about three miles an hour on the Maranon and 

 Amazon) that we had taken the wrong channel. To re- 

 turn against the current was not to be thought of, and 

 after two hours' hard paddling through slack water we 

 came to a small natural canal running through the woods. 

 This we followed for a time, and presently came out on 



DOWN THE CACHIYACO. 

 Drawn by A. Tholey. 



the open river. But where was the balsa, above or below 

 us? If above, we must wait. If below, every instant was 

 precious, as night was coming on and we were in a per- 

 fect wilderness. My companion was imskiUed in the use 

 of a paddle and I was worn out by long exertion, heat 

 and excitement. At length we pushed on, choosing a 

 point near the bank where the current was most swift, 

 but fiUed with the branches of trees and sharp-pointed 

 snags. One of the pointed stakes, through a miscalcula- 

 tion in steering, made an ugly rent in my nether gar- 

 ments, without, however, touching the skin. At length 

 far below we spied a speck on the surface of the water, 

 which might possibly be our balsa; and such it turned out 

 to be. We had been absent five hours and found the rest 

 of the party greatly relieved to see us. 

 The next day we'reached Parinari, from where our In- 



ON A BALSA. 

 Painted from description of author by A. Tlioley. 



dians, after receiving two dollars apiece for the joirrney, 

 were to return to La Laguna. It takes sis: or eight days 

 to paddle back against the current, and during this time 

 they live upon fish which they har^Doon. We foimd the 

 Governor away from home, but the chief citizen of the 

 place promised to procure us Indians and presented us 

 with two bunches of bananas, each banana being about 

 the size of one's finger and of the most delicious flavor. 

 The skin was so tender that it broke Hke the skin of a 

 peach. 



After a wait of a number of hours four Indian boys of 



not over fourteen years of age were shoved on board and 

 we started. The poor little fellows seemed frightened to 

 death, but their fears did not prevent them later on from 

 going soundly to sleep. Awakening them was of no 

 avail, and during the rest of the trip my companions and 

 myself kept regular watch at night. There was but one 

 danger to apprehend, that the raft drift among the snags 

 near shore, which pointing up stream at an acute angle, 

 could very readily inflict a serious wound. 

 From Parinari to Iquitos was a journey of three da^s 



and nights, characterized by the same superb weather, 

 interspersed here and there with tropical rains of an 

 hour's duration. During this time we passed the town of 

 Nauta, where the Yucayali flows into the Maranon. We 

 often varied our diet by eating the flesh of fat parrots 

 made into a delicious soup. These birds flew in large 

 flocks above the balsa and it seemed a shame to kill 

 creatures of such gorgeous plumage. 



Iquitos*, where to our great regret oxrr journey by 

 balsa ended, is the capital of the Department of the Bajo 

 Amazonas, which borders upon Brazil. It had 1,357 in- 

 habitants at the time of our visit, and was once quite an 

 important place, being the Peruvian Naval Station on the 

 Amazon. The only room we could secure had a puddle 

 of stagnant water in the middle and no window. This 

 was out of the question, and we 

 proceeded to deliver our letter to 

 Captain Smith, Sub-Prefect of 

 the Department, who took us all 

 in and gave us a room with look- 

 ing glass and table. Such mag- 

 nificence fairly turned our heads, 

 and to be in keeping we shaved 

 and donned our first linen shirts 

 in many weeks. Captain Smith 

 was of English descent, and was 

 married to a charming English 

 woman. During our nine days' 

 stay in Iquitos, they did for us 

 everything that lay in their 

 power, frankly teUing us that it 

 was impossible to procure such 

 food as they could wish, and that 

 we must content ourselves with 

 the dishes of the country; this of 

 course we were only too glad to 

 do The menu during our stay 

 consisted either of turtle steak, 

 tasting like veal, or the meat of 

 the manitee, or sea-cow; with 

 yucas, the native potato of very 

 delicate flavor, and turtle eggs, 

 in lieu of buttter. For dessert 

 we had plantains fried in sugar 

 and bananas with cheese, after 

 the BraziUan fashion. During 

 dinner a large parrot stood by 

 the captain's plate helping itself 

 to some dainty morsel from time 

 to time and thrusting its head 

 forward to be scratched. At des- 

 sert the first day, the bird paid 

 me a visit and rewarded my at- 

 tempts to be friendly by a sharp 

 bite on the finger. 



Captain Smith lived in a cool, 

 airy house which was at aU times 

 comfortable, as the thermometer 

 at Iquitos stands within 5 degrees of 80° all the year round. 

 Mrs. Smith had as a maid a young girl about 17, with 

 dark blue, or rather violet eyes, and a superb head of 

 flaxen hair; her complexion was dazzling and the effect 

 produced was all the stronger, inasmuch as for months 

 we had seen nothing in the shape of women beyond sallow 

 Peruvians and the more swarthy Indian maidens. She 

 belonged to that mysterious tribe, fast decreasing in num- 

 bers, remnants of which are still found in the interior of 

 Peru; as fair as the fairest Saxons, all trace of their origin 

 is lost. Are they the last of the Incas, the race that ruled 

 the Indians when Pizarro came? Who can tell? This 

 young girl spoke some English, and I made many oppor- 

 tunities to talk with her and quite won her heart by giving 

 her a number of pictures of assorted saints that had been 

 left over from our trade with the Indians. 



Everything in Iquitos was up- 

 side down. The town depended 

 wholly upon salaries from the 

 government, which for two years 

 had been paid in certiflcates of 

 indebtedness. There was not a 

 particle of specie in the place, 

 and all debts were allowed to 

 accrue rmtil they amoimted to a 

 good round snm, when they were 

 liquidated if at aU by the cer- 

 tificates (which usually were for 

 about one hundred soles each) 

 at fifty per cent, discoimt. The 

 town was in a ferment of discon- 

 tent. 



One day our party with our 

 host, accompanied by John 

 Parker, an Englishman, fourteen 

 years resident in Iquitos, started 

 for the cabin of the latter, some 

 eight or ten miles up the river. 

 A large canoe paddled by four 

 stout peons carried us there in a 

 couple of hours. We killed a 

 good sized alligator en route. 

 These animals were very num- 

 erous, and apparently had never 

 before heard the sound of fire- 

 arms, as they lay perfectly still 

 imtil struck, while shot after 

 shot was fired. Upon om- arrival 

 we were welcomed by IMrs. Parker, a full-blooded Indian, 

 who took a good look at us and remarked in Spanish, 

 "Why, they are quite like Christians," her ideas of North 

 America being very vague. 



It was here that I first drank masato, and I may add 

 that my first drink was the last. Neither Smith nor 

 Parker touched it, but I am ever ready to experiment. 

 After I had drained a glass (the taste resembled butter- 

 milk) they explained the process of manufacture. In the 

 evening women, as a rule old and ugly, since the 

 younger ones have usually something better to do, sit 

 around a tub and chew yucas. They expectorate into 

 the tub and the saliva, when fermented, constitutes 

 masato. What a powerful lever in the cause of tem- 

 perance were whisky manufactured in this way. None 

 slept that night, owing to the mosquitoes. 



At 4.30 A. M. we started for a point where we had 

 some fine parrot shooting. Next our four peons with 

 machetes cut a pathway through the solid tangle of 

 vines into a small pond, which we poisoned with bay- 



*490 miles from Yuramaguas. 



