Aug. 6, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
209 
escaped to the water, disappearing immediately. 
Don Agusto attempted to follow its course so 
that the men might strike, as it tried to crawl 
out of the water or come to the surface to 
breathe, but the chase was futile. The animal 
had the best of us. Several times on the way 
up, quartinajas were started from their hiding- 
places, but so far as killing was concerned, the 
animals had much the best of the deal. They 
were too quick to be shot with a pistol, and to 
kill them with the poles seemed impossible. If 
one had a shotgun and was quick in using it, 
good sport might be had on the tropical rivers 
near the base of the mountains from the bow of 
a canoe pushed along the banks,' but it would 
have to be quick shooting, because there is a 
flashing of fur, a splash in the water and the 
frightened quartinaja has disappeared. They are 
so plentiful, however, that the men often kill 
them. Our efforts resulted in only one quar¬ 
tinaja. and presently we reached camp at Santa 
Barbara, hauled our canoe out and then the task 
of making examinations for mineral deposits was 
taken up. To me this was a delightful and in¬ 
teresting study, and I was busily occupied all 
through the day. That night we had quartinaja 
stewed with plantain. The meat was white and 
tender with a pleasant gamy flavor, a welcome 
addition to our rough fare. 
When I am out on a mineral examination it 
is sometimes desirable to get away from the 
guides and make investigations alone, especially 
in Spanish American countries, where the most 
trivial circumstances are frequently magnified to 
events of such importance that inconvenience 
follows. One day, after I had been for a time 
at Santa Barbara, I ordered the canoe, telling 
the men to take me three miles up the river to 
the upper part of the property and that I would 
then come down through the forests alone, and 
that they could return to camp. Just above Santa 
Barbara, the Nechi River becomes rather rough, 
and our way was made with some difficulty. The 
men were miners and general workers, not par¬ 
ticularly skilled on the river. Vincente and Don 
Agusto had gone back, their contract ending 
with my being delivered at the mines. My going 
with them had been somewhat like the transpor¬ 
tation of a bale of goods for which they were 
responsible. They had left me with evident re¬ 
grets, yet with satisfaction that their mission 
had been safely discharged. My new friends 
were good workmen in the mines, but not very 
skillful on the river, so our canoe trip was not 
the most comfortable, and we nearly upset in 
a rough place. Frequently we were forced 
against the rocks by overhanging bushes, and I 
was quite out of patience when we reached the 
upper'part of the property. Certainly it looked 
easy enough to pole a canoe along the bank of 
a river, but I saw now that it really was not so, 
and began to appreciate the skill of my former 
guides, who had brought me to Zaragoza during 
a long canoe voyage in which was scarcely any 
inconvenience. 
The men thought it was a queer proceeding 
that I should go alone to the woods, and so ex¬ 
pressed themselves, but in Spanish America 
they are fully persuaded that all the English 
Americans are crazy, so they took my strange 
acts as a matter of course, put me ashore at a 
brook called the Cambaro, and indifferently start¬ 
ed down the river, letting the canoe float lazily 
with the current. A bend in the river took the 
canoe from my sight and I was alone. I was 
satisfied that an old river channel was concealed 
on the Santa Barbara property, and I wanted to 
make a few tests without being observed, so I 
turned into the forest, pistol ready and machette 
in hand to be used in cutting my way through 
the tangled growth of plants and climbing vines. 
The only real danger was from snakes. Of 
course a panther or a jaguar might have been 
about in the woods, but unless directly inter¬ 
fered with they are not dangerous in the day 
time and even at night are not much to be 
dreaded. 
Through the tangled brush I made my way, 
following up the brook, and presently came to 
more open ground where the hills rose in regu¬ 
lar outline, indicating gravel beds which would 
doubtless prove valuable. These were not what 
I was searching for, so I crossed over the low 
hills and made my way down to another part 
of the property. All about me was the great 
forest, silent and mysterious. Enormous trees 
casting protecting shadows were all about, and 
under their spreading branches grew a seem¬ 
ingly endless variety of plants, bushes and even 
trees of smaller dimensions. In some respects 
it was like being in a cave, so quiet and mys¬ 
terious were the shadowy depths of the deep 
tropical forest through which scarcely a sun¬ 
beam could penetrate. * At distant intervals 
the golden light came streaming in, making 
sharp contrasts with the shadows. At times, 
as 1 went on, animals stirred, but in the thick 
growth of tropical vegetation, broad-leaved 
plants and luxurious ferns, I could not see what 
manner of living creatures might be about me, 
and it was an inconvenient place for hunting, yet 
I was not after game. It was gold I wanted, the 
delights of my surroundings being a pleasant in¬ 
cident which, but for the search after gold, I 
could never have experienced. 
There is really not much danger in the deep 
woods, not half the danger to be contended 
against in the crowded streets of a great city, 
and soon I became accustomed to my surround¬ 
ings. The stout boots I wore were ample pro¬ 
tection against snakes. There was nothing to 
fear,, so with confident steps I continued my ex¬ 
plorations, stopping at times to look at the beau¬ 
tiful flowers, the strange orchids, the graceful 
palm trees, or to rest under one of the tower¬ 
ing giants of the primeval tropical forests. Up 
in the trees numerous birds were flitting about. 
Parrots and macaws disturbed at my coming 
went flying away screaming discordantly at the 
intrusion. Once or twice a group of monkeys 
was encountered, but they were timid and not 
inquisitive, as they are at times, and went in all 
haste from my path, making their way by-jump¬ 
ing from tree to tree and running along the 
limbs more rapidly than a man could have fol¬ 
lowed along the grourid. 
Amid such surroundings I spent the day, and 
much to my own satisfaction found the develop¬ 
ments for which I was searching. There was 
little danger of getting lost. The river was on 
one side of the property, and a well worn trail 
across the hills on the other, which I could 
scarcely miss, so I was unconcerned, went about 
as I fancied, and later coming out on the trail 
continued around that way to camp, though I 
had intended to make a path out again to the 
river and follow along its bank to our group of 
huts in the woods. 
Arrived in camp there were needless questions, 
but very few answers were given. Information 
as to what I had found belonged to my principals 
at home. That night the moon waS full, promis¬ 
ing a beautiful sight on the river. While we 
were watching a canoe hailed us, and, the next 
moment came to the landing to say that Don 
Pacho sent his respects and asked me to come to 
Zaragoza without delay, a steamer having ar¬ 
rived and would be going down the river the 
next morning. This was an opportunity not to 
be lost, so hastily getting together my few ef¬ 
fects consisting of camping outfit and specimens, 
I bade good-bye to the miners at Santa Barbara, 
and with a canoeman whom I had never seen, 
went floating away into the night to join Don 
Pacho. 
It was a beautiful experience, but I could not 
help thinking of the chances taken by those who 
go on distant explorations. Here was I at night 
with a powerful half savage negro whom I had 
never seen before, and whose name I had not 
even heard. Nothing but the message he had 
brought gave any evidence of ■ credentials. Had 
robbing been his object, the opportunity could 
not have been better. An accidental overturning 
of the canoe or the casualty of my falling into 
the water could easily have explained the mis¬ 
fortune had it so happened that? his desires were 
to do me harm. A conviction cannot be had in 
Spanish America on circumstantial evidence. 
The man could have done as he pleased from 
behind my back, but fortunately such attacks are 
rare, and my trip down the river to Zaragoza 
in a strange canoe was in every way delightful. 
Cool air and rippling water wer£ about me. 
Tropical moonlight was over all the land, dark 
forests stood silent and mysterious; all was har¬ 
monious, nothing discordant. With a gliding 
motion the canoe floated on and on, impelled by 
vigorous but muffled strokes from the paddle of 
my unknown guide, who seemed with me to feel 
the influence of the tropical night, and under 
that influence to make his broad-bladed paddle 
touch the silent river with rhythmical regularity 
and gentle splashings. 
Presently the lights of the little city of Zara¬ 
goza came in sight and the moonlight trip was 
over. At the palaya, as the landing is called, I 
was met by Don Pacho, smiling, and if anythiitg 
a little fatter than when I had last seen him. He 
confided ,to me that his business had been very 
good, and that he had cleaned up $ 6,000 in the 
three days I had been away. Trading seemed a 
very, profitable business in the tropics, but I did 
not quite believe the story till I saw the bags 
of gold dust and a package of nuggets. No 
wonder Don Pacho was fat and happy. 
Next morning the whistle of the steamer 
called us. Canoeing was over for a time, at 
least. There was not much ceremony in leaving. 
The steamer was loosed from her moorings and 
the clumsy craft swung around to the current 
and then went down stream toward the entrance 
of the Angostura, as the narrow gorge was 
called, where the river cuts through the moun¬ 
tains below the town of Zaragoza. The steamer 
was a flat-bottomed, stern paddle wheel affair, 
and it seemed a mystery how the pilots could 
manage her in the rapid current or find a way 
among the treacherous snags, but they did, and 
in two days we were at the town of Magangue 
again, waiting for one of the big steamers which 
trade on the Magdalena. 
