The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-05-28
ON THE AMAZON.


Lleutenants Of Pizarro-who stated that,
he had discovered on its banks a nation
of female warriors-iDduced the Span
iards to-GjEe 1t the name OF Amazon.
Five hundred miles above the conflu.
ence of the Napo and the.
great river is situated the
village of Coca. from which we were to
paddle to Pebas, thirty miles down the
Amazon, whence we could complete our
journey to Para, on the A Atlan tic border,
by steamboat. ."i.. -.t.i
The mode oftraveIiug on the Napo is
sufficiently curious 10 bear description.
Two canoes about thirty feet In length
are placed side by side, but dis tant from
each other about five or six feet; then a
deck or platform OF bamboo or some
other light material is placed aeress
them, in theyeenter Of which is erected a
small hut with a matched roof, but open
on all sides. ...' "
A bench, a box to hold provisions, and
wooden tray containing sand to be
used as a REPLACE, complete the turni-
Lure required; aud with four Indians as
crew you may paddle down stream at
at the rate of fifty miles day. Up
stream it is different, five or six miles,
being a hard days work. 81
One Of our crew had brought with him
his daughter, whom he was taking to
Pebas, where they had friends. Pan
chita was a pretty, sprightly girl Of
about sixteen. Her skin, like that Of the
Indians in general, was coffee-colored,
but in her case more delicate than usual.
She had often been at Pebas, and being
great pet OF the old priest at Coca, had
learned enough Spanish to carry on a
conversation; so that George and my
self found 1t a great reliet during the
weary hours Of inaction to have her to
| talk with; and by this means we man
aged to collect little vocabulary Of In
| aian words.
A few days Of travel together had us
quite intimate, and George, especially,
seemed to leok to our separation with
regret, and 1 thought more than once
satisfaction cleaned in mis- eye when l
went forward to the bow of the canoe
Tor change of place; thus giving him an
opportunity of saying something i'll Pan
chita's ear.
The low cry of "Maranon" from our
crew warned us that we were entering
that stream. The moon had risen, and
was shining over river navigable for
over two thousand miles for the largest
ocean steamers. The dark forests on
either side overhung the water, and the
most prominent i'll our minds. However,
munger and fatigue-too material TO be
Iromantic-indueed us to run our craft to
the nearest island, ON which TO pass the
night, for it was dangerous to tie the
canoe tU the shore on account of hostile
Indians, or the stlll more formidable
jaguar.
We were to sup together for the last
time, Pebas being but thirty miles lis
tant, and our Indians had been more ex-
traVdgant than usual in their prepar-
ations. Cakes made of maize and turtle
eggs, fish caught that day in the Napo,
and roast from u deer which Macui-
cOche, the iather Of Panchita, had killed
with his blow-pipe and tiny arrow,
dipped in the Hrari poison, which Water
ton, in his "Wanderings," says is a SOW
elgu cure for hydrophoUla, made upa re-
past which would have been accepted In
u hrst-olass hotel.
After smoking our cigars we retired to
our tents-lor George and l had pro-
vided ourselves with large piece OF
netting, which, placed over sticks,
serVeu to protect Us from the blIes oil
mosqultoes-and soon slept soundly.
something cold and damp crawling
very worst thing under the circum-
stances by starting into a sitting posi-
Jion; but fortunately my visitor was a
harmless snake, which, as frightened as
myself, made good his retreat into the
open air.
found my companion was not by my
side, and thinking he mad gone out TO
smoke cigar, l resolved to join him.
Raising corner Of the tent, l craWled
out, but could see nothing Of George,
and was on the point of lighting a cigar,
preparatory to walking down 20 the Ca
noes, hoping to find him there, when a
low growl, accompanied by a purring
noise similar TO that Vf o cat, attracted
my attention.
Holding my breath, and not daring to
| stir, watched, and soon perceived q
| low, crouchlng form emerge from the un.
| derbrush, creeping cautiously in the di-
rection Of the canoes. Paralyzed with
| terror, and for moment incapable OF
action, Irecognized the dreaded jaguar,
the terror OF The South American for
| ests.
Our first act on landing upon the little
island had been to explore 1t in every
direction, satisfying ourselves before
sitting down TO our supper that no wild
| D6dSlb NtIc u upou I've L INC jos u"AS eho 81
rarely taking to the water for choice
swims we'll when he wishes il; indeed
as the naturalist, Feliz GAzara, says
| be has been known to swim broad
stream, dragging with him the carcass
Of a bullock. l had never seen that, but
well knowing the jaguars power, was
satisfied the animal had SWAN from the
main land in search of prey.
The moon, momentarlly obscured by Q
cloud, now shone out afresh, and l coulC
distinctly see George and Panchits
walking On the beach close to where the
canoes were lying, and quite uncon
,cious of the terocious beast, which
could not have been more than hun.
dred yards distant from them.
Returning to the tent, took my re
yolver, which l fred as a signal tt
George. The jaguar rose to his leet
looked about him for a second, thel
bounded toward the canoes, while at tn,
same moment a fash and report iron
Georges pistol told me that he wal
armed and aware OF his danger. l raj
in the same direction, hoping to be il
time to save my friend and Panchita.
The ball from Georges pistol hat
struck the beast, though from too grea
a distance. to be etfectual, and onl,
served to enrage him. 1 saw him, witt
horror, spring upon his victim; but ap
parently calculating the distance il
Inc moonlight, his bound was too long