Canoeing in Tropical America. 
* 
IV.—Ascending the Nechi River to the Mines at Santa 
Barbara—A Day in the Forest—Conclusion 
By FRANCIS C. NICHOLAS 
T HE next morning we were under way at an 
early hour, the men having no work in 
preparing breakfast, and Don Jaime being 
anxious to show us attention. To visit a Spanish 
house is generally pleasant, the host nearly al¬ 
ways doing everything he can for those who are 
with him, particularly if they are strangers, so we 
set out on our journey after a very comfortable 
breakfast of boiled chicken, eggs and plantain, 
and a bountiful supply of provisions for our noon¬ 
day almuerzo. As we wished to reach the city of 
Zaragoza before night, the men worked with a 
will, forcing the canoe steadily forward, hill 
succeeding hill, mouths of rivers were passed 
and streams which were said to be difficult of 
passage all were left behind. Then came a 
stretch of swampy land, and after that a place 
called the Angostura, the narrows. Here the 
mountains came down to the river, and a narrow 
gorge, had been cut among them. Forcing our 
way on past precipices and through rough water, 
we finally reached the open country, and then a 
little further on came to the city of Zaragoza. 
This ■ was where Don Pacho lived and had his 
principal trading station. People came down to 
the beach to meet us in crowds for so small a 
city, probably a place of from twelve to fifteen 
hundred inhabitants, and several hundred of 
them had come to welcome Don Pacho and ask 
for news from the outer world. 
This was the center of the gold country, and 
I was looked on with curious eyes, people asking 
why I had come, and immediately proposing to 
sell various properties to me, but these proposi¬ 
tions were turned over to Don Pacho, and pres¬ 
ently we went to his house and there began re¬ 
adjusting our plans to take up the work of ex¬ 
ploration in the highlands and along the river 
above Zaragoza. 
Don Pacho had quite an establishment. There 
was a store well stocked with various supplies 
such as people would want. The cargo he had 
brought was immediately delivered, and I found 
that I had to sleep in the storehouse, not a very 
comfortable place, and yet it was under cover, 
and that was an advantage. Bales of goods, 
tools and various supplies of the hacienda were 
not the most comfortable furnishings imaginable, 
but it would be only a few days, so I made my 
preparations and made myself as .comfortable as 
I could. Then going to the store again I found 
Don Pacho busily weighing out the gold dust 
which had been collected in his business during 
his absence, and to my surprise I found that he 
had several pounds of it, I think in all about 
nine pounds of gold, .yet gold is quite plentiful 
in that country, and he was the most popular 
trader in the town. 
After this ceremony was over .and the gold was 
carefully locked up, a reception was held and 
all the people came to call. There was drinking 
and feasting, and generally the kind of time 
which I do not like, still for the sake of business 
I had to put up with it, and after all this it was 
necessary that I should return all the calls with 
Don Pacho, and at each place I was offered 
something to drink. As I declined to drink, mak¬ 
ing it a rule never to take anything alcoholic in 
the tropics, I had to take coffee, and by the time 
I had taken twenty cups of coffee I was in an 
unpleasant frame of mind, and was well pleased 
when it was over, having a severe headache and 
a rebellious stomach. In spite of this I was 
asleep after a time, glad of the opportunity to 
rest, but the exploration work had hardly begun. 
My object in visiting Zaragoza was to examine 
mines, yet there was always time for observing 
the beauties of the tropical forests and for a 
little hunting and fishing. Without these diver¬ 
sions it would be a tedious experience to be iso¬ 
lated in tropical countries. In the cities there 
is not much to hold one’s attention. The lives 
of the people are extremely narrow, their diver¬ 
sions are only questionable dissipations, so it 
was with a sense of relief that I took a smaller 
canoe, and with two of my men, Vincente and 
Agusto, guided by an old miner called Mosito, 
started up the river to visit a mine called the 
Santa Barbara, where I intended to remain for 
a few days making explorations. 
The place to which we were going was only 
three miles up the river with smooth water be¬ 
fore us. The rivers in this part of the tropics, 
and generally in northern South America form 
a series of steps as it were. There will be a 
stretch of quiet water, then a series of rapids 
and then a stretch of quiet water again, and so 
on up to the base of the mountains, where all 
the rivers are rough and turbulent. Our canoe 
was forced along rapidly, Vincente and Mosito 
poling. The air was clear and delightful, odors 
of the deep woodlands came as the breezes 
floated out among the trees, a general current 
of air coming from the forests to follow the 
atmospheric currents along the open space w'here 
the river was flowing and the sun was hot. 
The men were pushing the dugout vigorously 
and we were making our way along the foot of 
a precipice which was covered with moss and 
flowers, when, with a sudden spring directly 
from our side, a quartinaja appeared, trying to 
escape up the precipice. With shouts of excite¬ 
ment, the men struck at it with their poles, yet 
it was active and difficult to hit. The place 
where .the animal had been hiding was well pro¬ 
tected from the attacks by animals of the forest, 
but the quartinaja was in a trap when attacked 
from the river with vigorous strokes from the 
poles. Don Agusto handled the paddle, keep¬ 
ing up with the animal which was fleeing along 
the edge of the precipice finding uncertain foot¬ 
hold and continually attacked by long poles in 
the hands of Vincente and Mosito. ‘‘Keep him 
going; don't let him get in the water,” Don 
Agusto was shouting, and the men certainly 
were doing their best. Evidently the animal 
feared to come nearer the canoe, and the jabbing 
and beating of the poles prevented escape by the 
difficult climb up the precipice. So the animal 
raced as best it could along the face of the 
rocks, dodging the blows which impeded its 
progress and struggling to get away. The con¬ 
test was not for long. A blow from Vincente’s 
pole and the wounded animal made a he'adlong 
dash for the water, falling and stumbling, but 
all to no avail. Another blow, and it had been 
killed, the men cheering their luck and congratu¬ 
lating their skill, for the quartinajas of the tropi¬ 
cal rivers are delicious food, highly prized by 
the people of the South. 
It was a scene repeating former conditions of 
savage lives, this killing of the quartinaja, as 
men must have hunted ages ago, with nothing 
but poles and clubs. It seemed brutal and un* 
merciful, just a killing by beating and striking. 
The little animal had no chance to escape, but 
the men wanted the meat. Perhaps I am a poor 
huntsman, but it did not seem like clean killing. 
However, the men were pleased, assuring me of 
a good dinner, and proposing that as quartinaja 
were plenty, we should make our way slowly so 
as to permit further hunting. 
Usually I let the men do about as they please 
on such expeditions. To cross them generally 
means arousing unpleasant tempers, resulting in 
greater delay and inconvenience than would be 
from letting them travel more or less as they want 
to. Then after all, a little hunting and diversion 
on the way makes traveling easier. We had not 
gone far before another quartinaja was started. 
This time, the men were not so fortunate. A 
jab or two at it with the poles, and the animal 
