The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-06-25


akin to reverence.
To secure S;llvadea's services was
guarantee of game or fish; yet for fish
erman he entertained some peculiar
ideas. He objected to taking fish for
pleasure, and had been known to lift
comrade and hurl him into the water for
killing fish known as the hassar. He
seemed to be the self constituted cham
pion OF the finny tribe. Whyl Let him
tell his own story:
II protect the fishes, senior, because
lthey cared for me when ! was helpless.
If an animal does You service, you can
hut return it. L did not always think
co; it was this way: Two years ago l
lived on the upper branch of the Querto,
the little stream which we believe rises
far away in the up country, where tbs
white peaks reach toward the heavens.
In the season the river was low, and
then we caught turtle, iguana, and the
lgame upon which we live. knew of
certain place where game was plenty,
and one day, without saying a word,
left tho camp and padded down the
lriver, and leaving the canoe tied to
lane cut my way across country to the
Ispot. You know, senior, that the water
is always washing away the banks and
undermining the trees. Well, so it was
on the little river. When reached it /
found it lower than ever; so low that
the sand was bare in places, and pools
were left everywhere alive with fish.
GAS l unloaded my basket and net
heard loud crash, and turning to see
the cause, saw large mona tree falling
upon me. 1t was too late to escape, so
threw myself upon the sands. The next
hours were deep sleep. knew moth
ling, and when awoke It was dark.
was lying partly in the water and over
my leg was branch of the tree. was
lpowerless and could not move, and
knew rain would produce a freshet
that would cover me ten feet deep in as
many minutes. All this, senior, came
over me-a sudden dream. 1t was use
less to shout, as l was miles away and
lad taken good care to tell no one where
had gone. Morning came, and then
saw my condition fully. was held by
my legs and right arm; my left arm was
! free, but l could not reach the sand at
my feet to dig it away; was bound as
fast as they say our kinsmen in the north
country bound their victims for sacri-
fee. At the end of the day l was very
weak and ate the leaves.
1.-THE next day / ate the mud and
water and some worms which 1 found.
Tho stream was growing lower, the
water about me evaporating in the hot
sun, and the insects babe fair to destroy
me. At night the iaguar's cry fell upon
my ear, and every rustic of the leaves,
the signing of the wind, aroused me-
Did you ever hear the leaves talk, senior?
They do, though it is only at certain
times that we can interpret them; our
nerves must be turned to higher ten
| sion, as Father Moreno says; then we can
, respond to them. seemed to hear
sounds never heard before. The leaves
made music, the wind sighed among the
lanes, and soft notes rose everywhere,
and imagined they were talking to me-
. Five days had passed, the water was
gone and was SO weak that l waited
! for death. As the sun rose, and l was
!, thinking how hard it was TO give up life,
l felt something touch my hand. AT
first thought it imagination, then by
: all ellOIt buIhGI MY uthu-OdtllH
Maria!-to see q miracle. On my out
stretched hand was fish we call the
hassar. 1t had crawled into it, and
: lay painting, opening and shutting its
gills and looking at me with its dark
Eyes. l thought i must be dreaming,
but / clinched the fish, which slipped
away, but caught it again and ate it.
1t came to me sacrifice, gave itself to
, save me, and when | looked around
/ again to LISTEN to new rustling sound,
and / saw that the ground was covered
with fishes, all moving slowly down the
dry bed of the stream, standing erect
upon their fms in search of water. They
came by hundreds, climbed over me,
falling upon my face, and l caught
them, ate them and piled them up about
, me.
"Hope was raised again; yet could
not move, and my only chance was that
some one would find me. Days passed,
and l fingered on. l had dug hole
with my free hand, and enough water
.oozed through to sustain me, while the
fishes that still crnwled by me provided
. me with food. How long 1t was know
: not; but one day saw above the trees
: smoke, and knew that my people were
near. was too weak to cry aloud, SO |
, lay and watched. The fishes still went
, on and passed the hours by counting
: them and watching their curious ways.
! They used the two fins like arms or legs,
5 sometimes topping over upon their
! sides; now entering the little pools to
) refresh themselves, but soon leaving the
: water to crawl along again.
r while | watched them it came to
me that they were going to the mouth
of the river to avoid the drought, and
could not send message TO my peo-
-ple? 1t was an easy matter to tear my
shirt, and with my teeth | shaped bits
of white cloth until had hundred
: or more. Then | began to catch the
!. fish. Every one that passed me left
, with bit Of white cloth pushed upon
5, the spine Of It's upper fin. The next day
|. did the same, and for three days sent
3, these messengers to my people. The
fish were black, senior, and the white
cloth could DO seen quite distance.
, "The days went by, how many know
not, when one night dreamed that
saw my friends. awoke to see great
light and In the center the one loved
best; then must have died of joy. But
Z lived, senor,n and here tho tall Indian
threw his arm about Young girl whose