Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-07-13
BY HASSAR POST.


temerity on desire 10 penetrate it. The
stream wound away, now in deep chan
nels now gliding over trcachcrous quick
, sands or leaping sunken rocks; hemmed
in by the forest and luxuriant vegeta-
tion that fell over the edges and hung
pendant in the stream, licking up the
drift until veritnble floating islands were
formed. afforllng rest for turtles and
other small animals. At rare intervals
there was q beach where the sand had
been thrown up in an eddy, presenting
GparEling and brilliant contrast 10 the
green.
On such Il beach lived Manuel Saliva
dea, famous as hunter and fisherman.
Il was he who killed jaguar single
handed with his knife. IL was Salvadea
who .wung across the roaring Matos
upon o vine and saved seven or eight Of
his people from the food, and it was he
who. when held up as hero, scorned
the term and asked, "Is il not mans
duty 20 do right SO il viii be seen
that this Indian was unique IN his way,
and bis comrades or the people Of his
tribe looked upon him with something
akin 20 reverence.
To secure Salyadea's services was
guarantee Of game or fish; yet for fish
erMgu he entertained some peculiar
ideas lie objected TO taking fish for
plea urc. and had been known to lift a
com Pee and hurl him into the water for
killir fish known as the hassar. He
seemed 90 be the self constituted cham
piou 1l the funy tribe. Why! Let him
tell his own story:
81 protect tho fishes, senior, because
they cared for me when | was helpless.
III I'D animal does you "a service, you can
but return il. | did not always think
80; it was this way: Two years ago /
lived on the upper branch Of tho Querto,
the l'tlc stream which we believe rises
far away iu the up country, where ths
white peaks reach toward the heavens.
In tie season the river was low, and
then -o caught turtle, iguana, and the
game upon which we live. knew Of q
certain place where game was plenty,
and oue day, without saying a word,
left thc camp and padded down tho
river rud leaving the canoe tied to
liauo cut my way across country 10 the
spot. Iou know, senior, that the water
is always washing away the banks and
undermining the trees. Well, so il was
on tho little river When l reached IL
found IL lower than ever; 80 low that
tho sand was bare in places, and pools
were left everywhere alive with fish.
"As | uuloaded my basket and net I
heard % loud crash, and turning to SEQ
thc carao, saw large mona tree falling
up1n :uc. II was too late 10 escape, so
throw myself upon the sands. The next
hours were a deep sleep. knew moth
ing, and when awole it was dark. /
was lying partly in the water and over
my leg was u branch Of the tree. was
poWJrlcss and could not move, and ]
knew q rain would produce q freshet
that would cover me ten feet deep in as
many minutes. All this, senior, came
over mc--n sudden dream. II was use
less 20 shout as ! was miles away and
Lad taken good care 10 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 | could not reach the sand at
my feet 90 dig it away; was bound as
fast u3 they say our kinsmen in the north
country bound their victims for sacri-
fec At the end of the day was very
veal; and ate the leaves.
"Thc noxt day | ate tho mud and
water and some worms which | found.
The stream was growing lower, the
Watcr about mo cvaporating in the hot
sun, and tie iuaCcts bade fair to destroy
me. Az night the jaguar's cry fell upon
my ear, aud every rustic Of the leaves,
the signing Of the wind, aroused me.
Did you ever lvar the leaves talk, senior?
They 90, though it is only ut certain
times that we can interpret them; our
nerves lnuet be turned TO n higher ten
sion, as Father Moreno says; then we can
respond TO them. | seemed to hear
sounds lncycr heard before. The leaves
mado 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 / waited
for death. As tho sun rose, and I was
thinking how hard it was TO give up life,
/ felt something touch my hand. At
FIRST / thought it imagination, then 10y
au effort | turned my head-Santa
Maria,-to soc u 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. ! thought ] must be dreaming,
bat | cliuched the fish, which slipped
away, hut ] caught it again and ate it.
10 came 20 me sacrifice, gave itself to
save me- and when | looked around
again 20 listen 10 a new rustling sound,
and saw that the ground was covered
with fishes, al moving slowly down the
dry bed q the stream, standing erect
uUyn their fins in search of water They
cHmo hy hundreds. climbed over me.
falling upon my face, and ! caught
| thcm, ate them and piled them up about
mo
Hope was raised again; yet could
not move, and my only chance was that
samc one wgald find Inc. DAYS passed,
lli ! fingered on. had dug hole
with my free hand, and enough water
oozod through 20 sustain me, while the
isl.a7 That sill crawled by me provided
me with food. How long il was know
ra'i but one day saw above the trees
,., aul 1 knew that NV pcoplc were