14 2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[AtJ-G, 2§j 1900. 
Canoeing in South America. 
\Concluded from page 123.] 
I had hardly recovered from the "steamer" fri^t 
when, as I was passing very close to a bluf¥ along the 
bank, standing perpendicularly about twenty feet* high, a 
rush and a grunt denoted that a drove of capybaras^ on 
the top of it had been surprised from their repose. The 
brutes, acting upon the impulse, scenting danger, 
plunged headling for the water, regardless oi the direc- 
tion of the object of their surprise. Imagiifc my horror 
when a dozen or more of those monsters darted from 
the precipice directly at me, as it it seemed. _ All but 
one struck the water short of me. That one jumped a 
few feet over the canoe. They were in weight from 60 
to 200 pounds each and raised quite a commotion about 
my craft. It was only good luck that saved me from 
being sunk by them, for if any one had landed in or 
on the edge of my loaded boat nothing could have pre- 
vented such a catastrophy. This animal is of the rodcn-fr 
family and abounds in great numbers in central South' 
America. It is killed for its flesh. Persecuted by the 
crocodile and hunted upon land by the tiger, it must 
often wonder if life is worth living. Whe^n in motion 
it has the appearance of a hog, but when seated on its 
haunches "it looks like nothing but itself" is th^ besi 
description one can give of it. 
Alternating from paddling to drifting, often dozing 
throughout the evening until midnight, I find myself 
hard aground on a sand shoal. Overcome by my con- 
stant work for three days and nights, I resoh^e to tie 
up and for a few hours have quiet rest. Before day- 
light I was aroused from my slumber by the sound 
of human voices. Throwing of¥ my muscetero I looked 
out upon the river and saw below me in the moon's 
rays a canoe being pushed against the current by two 
Indians,' the first human beings 1 had seen since leav- 
ing my starting point. As they came along thay passed 
close to me and cried out in poor Portuguese, "Sobier 
se amego meo, amana aque" (Arise, my friend, the 
morning is here). 
Before breakfast time I had reeled oft a good num- 
ber of miles to my credit toward Curumba. Shooting 
a fine wild turkey I landed, built a fire and roasted it, 
greatly enjoying the meal after the early morning run. 
Then resuming my paddle, I sped before the current, 
feeling in the best of health and spirits, passing bend 
after bend of the river, whirlpool after whirlpool safely 
at each point, and little thinking what awaited me be- 
fore the sun designated the hour of noon. At lO o'clock 
I had come to within two or three miles of the most 
northerly point of the Dorado Mountain,s, where the 
river divided, and I chose the riacho instead of the main 
river and was emerging from this to the main river, 
having no thought in the least of danger. The swift 
current rapidly carried me out in the cross rip, when to 
my horrer I saw dust and leaves rising in the air tlircugii 
a deep valley and from the moimtain sides. The whirl- 
wind struck the river, covering several acres of space, 
and rapidy moved in my direction, kicking up the 
water in spray as it advanced. Being a half mile from 
shore, I knew my situation to be a bad one. In less 
time than it takes to tell it the squall had struck the 
rip. The spray became so dense that I could hardly see 
beyond it. There was no time to retreat, for jn a 
minute it surrounded me, kicking up short waves that 
tumbled into my craft from head to stern, filling it in- 
stantly. My load being about all dead weight and 
.stowed well forward, the canoe dipped hoad first As I 
jumped to clear the suction the sinking canoe would 
cause I rpmember saying aloud, "Well, I'm in for it this 
time." Swimming ofif a few yards, I looked back to 
see if anything of the load had floated. I saw my 
bolsa, containing some clothing and some illustrated 
magazines; also my camera and a hand satchel con- 
taining my valuable papers and journal of eight months' 
writing, with about two hundred photos and pencil 
drawings. 
The satchel being of the most importance, I swam for 
it, and when within a few feet it turned over on the 
side, havmg filled with water, and sank out of sight. 
Turning my attention then to my camera in a water- 
proof case, I secured it, swam to the bolsa again, opened 
and deposited the camera in it and tied it up again, 
resting my left arm upon it for a life preser\'er. See- 
mg my paddle drifting, I secured that also. The bolsa. 
bemg water proof and air tight, gave me great confi- 
dence. 
The squall that had so suddenly come upon me passed 
as quickly and left the river again as cahn and tranquil 
as if nothing unusual had happened. The country on 
the west side was flat and immdated for miles away 
back from the river, and the east side for a consideraVk 
distance was also covered with water, although the 
mountains were plainly in view, and toward that shore 
I began to guide myself and baggage. Looking from 
the middle of the stream toward either bank one could 
see no sign of the inundation, for hanging from the 
tree tops and branches grew dense masses of lemis 
matting together to the edge of the water; but upon 
coming near to where the shore seemed to be I found 
the water very deep and the bank of vines so thick as 
to render it impossible to find a safe landing. When 
going up the river several weeks previously w-e had 
passed an Indian village of the Guato tribe, whick I 
Tecokned to be only a few miles distant. Being com- 
fortable in the _ warm water and drifting rapidly. I con- 
cluded to continue my downward course until I should 
arrive at their settlement, unless I became exhausted, 
rather than to seek for refuge among the branches of a 
tree, where one could possiblj^ wait for many days be- 
fore a passing steamer of a charta might come that 
way to offer assistance. In all these rivers, along the 
shores there exists a small, ravenous, golden colored 
fish called peranu. These now attacked my ankles and 
bare feet with their exceedingly sharp teeth and ren- 
dered it necessary for me to again work out to th& 
center of the stream, where they never go, as lar,get- 
fish are sure to prey upon them, and in deep water ithere 
■was less danger from alligators, so abundant. It was 
ffpirj my situation ^uitft interesting to sintice thp earmchm 
ox vultures, everywhere present, especially in cases of 
distress. From their distant soaring high up overhead, 
hardly discernible to the naked eye, often like black 
meteors they pierced the air in my direction. Coming 
to witbing a few feet of my h«ad they would dart up 
again with a whirring sound, mournful in the extreme 
to me, aad then circle back again to their lofty place 
of observatien. There were at times hundreds of car- 
rion crows with their sharp eyes upon me, ready to 
pounce down and pick out my eyes at the first evidence 
of weakness on my pa-rt. Days seemed to pass instead 
of the five hours ' from the time I entered the water 
until, upon burning a point, there appeared before me a 
long line of shoal above water, at the end of which was 
.staked a log cauoc, and its occupant, who appeared to 
be an Indian, fishing with a rod and line. His sharp 
eyes caught sight of me as soon as I saw him. Standing 
upright and shading his eyes with his hand, he quickly 
saw the nature of t'he object drifting toward him, and 
hastily pulling up the stake that held the canoe he pad- 
dled into midstream in my way. While yet several yards 
off he began to jabber in his Indian tongue to me, but 
not being aijle to understand him at all I kept silent 
myself. As I duifted in reach of him he reached out 
and cawght hold of my bolsa and dragged it into his 
canoe, then grabbed the paddle from me, leaving me 
IWpless in the water. I must confess that it looked 
much as if he intended to steal my life preserver and 
paddle and leave me for the fishes and alligators or 
vultures, and then made a motion as if to paddle away. 
Two or three violent strokes brought me in reach of 
the gunwale of his canoe, which I grabbed with both 
hands and wisrkcd hand over ha^nd toward the bow, and 
to save me from upsetting him the Indian could do 
nothing more tlixm to stay in the stern and balance it 
until I had pulled myself up astride the bow. There I 
sat for a minute looking at hrai and he at me. The 
Indian had an e.Npression of "Get out of here," while 
I would have liked to hs^'t said, "What are you going 
to do about it?" Plad he made a move toward me I 
would have t'urned the log over instantly; but after mak- 
ing a few grunts and gesticulations he picked up his 
short pasldle and headed down stream, where about two 
miles below was the Guato village, at which place wc 
landed, 
A large crowd of braves, squaws and their children 
at once surrounded me in evident curiosity. My res- 
cuer also seemed to receive a good share of attention. 
He was looked upon as a great hero. The naked chil- 
dren, at first shy and not a little frightened to find a 
white man in the midst of them, soon became confident, 
and as T opened the I'ittre bflggage saved with me they 
crowded Eroimd and expressed great curiosity as one 
after another of my effects were spread out to dry. 
While opening the bag to put my camera in it some 
water entered and ran down among the illustrated jour- 
nals at tlie bottom. As they were spread out on the 
beach to dry the Indians pounced upon them like a'uI- 
tures, being completely carried a\^ay with the illustrations 
they contained. A^ter a few minutes of consultation 
among themselves, they' laotioned me to follow a guide 
thciy seemed to have deputized for my 5^)6^31 benefit. 
He took rae to a small hut made of bamboo with a 
pahn leaf roof about 200 yards baCk from the river and 
ushered me into it with all the grace of a more civilized 
indivicfoal, with a few grunts, as they seemed to me then, 
and mach gesticulation conveyed the information that all 
the h;it and all the surroundings were at my disposal. 
Expressing my thankfulness as best I could, I proceeded 
to imake myself at home as he went back to his people. 
This Indian I soon learned was their chief cacique and 
medicine man. 
Shortly after donatfons in the shape of fo«^3 enough 
for a dozen men were brought to me from different 
directions iri calfeba.sh or mata shells, but neither knife, 
fork nor spoon to aid in feeding myself. The food con- 
.sisted of cooked meats, fish and beans all together in 
chowder form. All during my slay with that tribe of 
nearly a month the sfime cfturse of food was served. 
My first occupation in this new element was to manu- 
facture the, to me, most indispen.sable knife, fork and 
spoon of wood, which served me thereafter. Much of 
my spare time was put in by making such articles of 
hard wood for many of them as presents, seeing their 
apprecHatioB and desire for them. 
Much of my timfe was occupied while a guest of the 
tribe upon the bank of the river watching for a iJassing 
charta or possibly a laaneh by which I could make my 
departure to some more modernized habitation. Curum- 
ba wag still nearly 300 miles down the river and Cuyaba 
600 or 700 north. During my stay with these Indians I 
had an opportunity to see a little of their habits in life, 
upon which I might write at length, were it not best for 
me to hurry along with my adventures. They sutfeisted 
by means of hunting, fishing and raising cattle that 
roamed oyeF ^t. mountain sides and broad esteros be- 
yond. T.^y made grefat show of affection for their wives. 
husbaHds and children. It was quite an affecting scene 
to witness the departure and the arrival of a band of 
Irantens. Their departure was given to a great show of 
lamentatio-n and affection on the part of the squaws, par- 
ticwlarlr. and upon their return into the village again 
their coming seemed to have been heralded far in ad- 
vance, for the women and children would hurry out to 
meet them and toj relieve their husbands or lovers of their 
burdens and bring in tKe tuophies. 
When called u])on to mojurn the death of any of their 
people it wa,«( a custom aainong the scjuaws to sit upon 
the ground, put their head down between their knees 
and then roll around and around the corpse until ex- 
hausted, and again, aftep they have sufficiently rested, 
they fall in line with those already dancing in a circle 
around the body. 
One cannot describe the horrible torture they endure 
and inflict upon themselves during these orgies, tearing 
their hair and cutting their flesh from head to foot with 
a sharp stone or flint which they hold between thumb and 
finger and jab into their flesh at interv-als. When they 
kll bleeding and exhausted they are dragged out and 
their places in the circle taken up by others. During the 
day time fhe men take n© part in this ceremony, but at 
flight they indulge in hideous howling and contortions. 
They hold in each hand some vegetable shell resembling 
a long slim sc|uash shell. These they fill with stones 
and awing about with all the energy they possess until 
they x<tf> fall exhausted, to he fragged awa,v. "ITie 
Diety they despise and worship or propitiate the Evil 
Spirit only. 
Having been told that these people sometimes indulged 
in flesh of their own kind for food, as soon as' I could 
talk with them at all I asked one of the squaws who 
brought me the every day potchara why they did not 
make a feast of me. She answered by poking at my 
ribs and shaking her head doubtfully, as much as to say, 
"You are not fat enough." Happening to b<„ one of the 
1-ean kind was no doubt my salvation. My conversation 
among them was conducted principally by the means of 
my pencil through picture language. After I had been 
with them nearly a month I was surprised one morning 
to see them engaged in launching a large canoe, and 
then they loaded it with hides, tallow, beeswax and jerked 
befef. They were evidently preparing to go on a voyage 
to some trading station, and as Cumaba was the nearest 
I hoped they were going in that direction. My hopes 
were not vain, for after all was ready they sent one to 
inform me that I could go with them. 
The canoe was manned by six stalwart braves, who 
after taking a very affectionate farewell seated themselves 
three on each side as near the bow of the canoe as they 
could sit and began paddling down stream. They had 
taken on board several hunting dogs, and their bows, 
arrows and spears. Whenever the banks of the river 
along the course would admit of the dogs running they 
were let on shore, and when their barking denoted 
game at bay the Indians would land and in a short 
time return with the skin or bring the whole animal 
with them. Twice they had brought on board tiger skins, 
and as we were nearing Curumba, having a desire to see 
them kill a tiger, I made it known to them that when the 
dogs had stalled another I wished to go with them. We 
had not long to wait, for the barking of the dogs brought 
again the excited ejaculations from the Indians: "Tegre! 
Becho! Bechod" Following the savages, who went 
through the dense undergrowth of weeds, thorns and 
brambles like .so many snakes, we soon came upon 
the object of our pursuit. Looking up into the branches 
of a large tree that the dogs were guarding, there, crouch- 
ing on one of them, gazing down with an expression of 
confidence, sat the tiger. After taking a careful survey of 
the surroundings, five of the Indians took their stations 
with spears in hand, while the other came over to me with 
a bow and arrow and asked me to shoot the brute "with it. 
That was a new departure for me, but realizing their pur- 
pose, I took the bow, fixed the arrow to the string, took 
aim and let it go ; but as the bow was so stiff for me to 
pull back, not being accustomed to it, resulted in a very 
weak effort to drive the tiger from his perch, the arrow 
striking him and glancing off into the forest beyond. The 
savages were much amused at my poor shot, but called out 
to me to try it again. Fi.xing another arrow, I took de- 
liberate aim and hit the tiger on the head, but the force 
was so weak that the arrow fell back to the ground. The 
tiger evidently did not like to have his ears pierced with a 
sharp stick like that, and seeming to comprehend that I 
was his persecutor, turned toward me, lashing his tail and 
showing his teeth defiantly. Concluding to defer my 
tiger shooting until I could avail myself of another rifle, 
I handed the bow to an Indian and walked off to a safe 
distance to witness the combat. I had not long to wait 
to see the finish for one of them took the bow, lay doAvn 
upon the ground, fixed and sighted the arrow, holding 
the bow between the toes of both feet, .^.way went the 
arrow with a twang from the bowstring, striking the 
tiger in the shoulder and piering him to the arrow head. 
With a snarl of pain and rage he jumped from his perch 
about 10 feet high, and not being able to gain a new hold 
upon the branches fell back to the ground, to be caught 
in its descent on the points of two spears in the hands 
of the Indians that ran under him as he fell. It is need- 
less for me to say that after those two thrttsts and an 
arrow through its vitals no danger existed from con- 
tact with it. Hastily removing the skin (which is valued 
at about $10 in gold in that country'), we returned to the 
canoe and resumed our journey, reaching Curumba the 
next night. 
There I met a former acquaintance who AVas in charge 
of a small steamer running monthly trips from Asun- 
cion, Paraguay. He granted me a first-class passage to 
-Asuncion on his craft, where I was obliged to stay for 
three months before I could secure funds C-qi-- New 
York. J. G, Kma 
Sooner. 
A HAzy. still, Indian summer day, with scarcely a 
breath of air stirring; a grove of beech and maple, each 
tree aglow with gorgeous coloring of red and gold, set 
like a flaming jewel in the deep green of the surround- 
ing forest of pine and hemlock, spruce and cedar; in the 
grove a spot wliere two runways, faintly traced in the 
carpet of red and gold under foot, crossed each other, and 
at their intersection, the only blot upon the landscape, 
the only thing to mar the beauty and the perfect har- 
mony of this scene, where all else harmonised — a man 
with a gun, and that man myself. 
The picture immediately loses half its charm. I felt it 
then. I felt my presence to be a profanation of this fair 
temple of nature. I felt — but just at that moment m.v 
ears were greeted with a sound that sent laJl further 
thoughts and feelings scattering among the dead leaves 
at my feet; a sound that is music to the ears of all lovers 
of the rod and gun, the far-away baying of a hound hot 
on the trail of a deer. 
In a moment I was all eagerness. My sense of un- 
worthiness vanished and in its place came a desire, for 
slaughter, and I made ready to desecrate that lovely 
spot by murdering one of the most beautiful of God's 
creatures. The deep voice of the hound sounded nearer 
and nearer, coming from the trail on my right. This 
was strange, thought I, for the deer had gone in that 
direction on that runway not more than an hour before. 
I expected him to do as other deer had done before, 
circle around and come in on the runway on my left, 
which led to the lake. Evidently this one had doubled 
on his tracks or something was happening. The dog 
was very near, but where was the deer? 
Down the trail he came, giving tongue at every other 
jump — not the deer, not the antlered buck I had pic 
tured in my mind, btit only the hound — only Sooner 
all his glory. 
