The Delta independent., 1916-06-23

1t Was Really the First Direct Corrob-
oration, Slight as II Was.
peuween the great cottonwoods. that is
my private gate into the unknown.
Push through and you will under
stand"
1t was indeed a wonderful place.
Having reached the spot marked by a
line Of light green rushes. we poled
out two canoes through them for some
hundreds of yards and eventually
emerged into placid and shallow
stream. running clear and transparent
over a sandy bottom. 1t may have
been twenty yards across and was
banked In on each side by most luxu-
RANT vegetation. No one who had not
observed that for short distance
reeds had taken the place OF shrubs
could possibly have guessed the exist
ence OF such n stream or dreamed OF
the fairyland beyond.
For a fairylnnd 1t was. the most
wonderful that the Imagination OF man
could conceive. The thick vegetation
met overhead. interlacing into nat
ural pergola, and through this tunnel
of verdure in golden twilight flowed
the green. pellucid river. beautiful In
itself. but marvellous from the strange
dnts thrown by the vivid light from
above. filtered and tempered in its fall
Clear as crystal, ruotionless as a sheet
Of glass, green as the edge of an Ice
berg, It stretched In front of US under
ffo Loaf 20, or,t utrrt,A ~ attp
paddles sending thousand ripples
across Its shining surface. 1t was a
fitting avenue to land of wonders.
All signs of the Indians had passed
away. but animal life was more fire.
Quent. and the tameness OF the cren-
lures showed that they knew nothing
Of the hunter. Fuzzy little black vel
ve- monkeys with snow white teeth
ana cleaning. mocking eyes chattered
at us as we passed. With a dull.
heavy splash an occasional caymaD
plunged In from the bank. Once a
dark. clumsy tapir stared at us from
a gap in the bushes and then lumber
ed away through the forest. Once. too.
the yellow, sinuous form OF great
puma whisked amid the brushwood
aiih ITO 6tt'h. YES Eidltu
tired at us over Its tawny shoulder.
Bird life was abundant. especially the
wading birds. stork. heron and ibis
gathering In little groups. blue. scar
let and white, upon every log which
jutted from the bank. while beneath
us the crystal water was alive with
fish OF every shape and color.
For three days we made our way
up this tunnel Of hnzy green sunshine
On the longer stretches one could hard
ly tell as one looked ahead where the
distant green water ended and the
distant green archway begnn. The
deep peace of this strange waterway
was unbroken by any sign Of man.
"No Indian here. Too much afraid
Curupuri." said Gomez.
"Curupuri IL the spirit of the woods"
Lord John explained. ITS name
for any kind of devil The poor beg
gars thinks that there Is something
fearsomc In this direction. and there.
fore they avoid it,
On the third day 1t became evident
that our journey in the canoes could
not last much longer. for the stream
was rapidly growing more shallow
Twice in as many hours we stuck upon
the bottom. Finally we pulled the
boats up among the brushwood and
spent the night on the bank OF the
river. In the morning Lord John and
made our way for couple OF miles
through the forest, keeping parallel
with the stream but ns It grew ever
shallower we returned and reported,
whnt Professor Challenger had already
suspected, that We had reached the
highest point to which the canoes could
be brought We drew them up. there
fore, and concealed them among the
bushes. blazing tree with our axes
SO that We should find them again.
Then we distributed the various bur
dens among us-guns. ammunition.
food, tent, blankets and the rest
and, shouldering our packages, we set
forth upon the more laborious stage OF
our journey.
Advancing In single file along the bank
Of the stream, we soon found that 1t
narrowed down to mere brook. and
finally that II lost itself In great
green morass OF spongeIike mosscs.
into which we sank up to our knees.
The place was horribly haunted by
clouds of mosquitoes and every form
Of flying pest. no we were glad 10 find
solid ground again and 20 make a cir
cult among the trees. which enahls'