Evening star., 1924-02-10

stopped. ana L was treated to one OF
those common but no less wonderful
sights Of local cloud formation which
never ceased to fascinate me. The last
drop of water had barely touched the
ground before the sun came out. and
from its home i'm the celestial blue set
the whole forest stearnng in it's molten
rays. From the tree-tops long attenu-
ated streaks OF gossamer mist rose
haaveh%ard. moving idly hither and
thither among TIC hills without rhyme
or reason. or collecting like veils of
tieecy whttensss in the soft green hol-
lows between.
Pulsatihg with life. they rose and fell
III undulating waves OF exquisite beauty,
till out of the bewilderrd landscape
distorted and blurred in the humid heat,
q fragment of snow white mist caught
in some gentle current of the upper air,
drifted apart from the rest. and. be-
hold a cloud was born thar fioated off
Into space, vision of intangible, in
describabe 'oveliness.
In the cool of the evening | strolied
of by myself along the margin of a
quiet backwater which lay behind our
camp | wanted to be entirely alone
eor change-away from Munoz and
his comp i,iuinss. away from the Ia
dams and their unteiligibe grunts
away from the Gurgling river. our
camp. and everything that reminded me
OF our past struggles. | wanted to see
the sun set gently into the west over
the brooding forest: To see the color OF
The flaming sky reflected in the tranquil
"a lfArG q q vi
shadows Of night crept out from behind
the hills. my spirit would be at rest
aud could contemplate the future in
peace.
Our last day passed OFF smoothly
enough: the Indians took things very
leisurtly, their eyes and attention be.
ing everywhere except in the boat.
Birds and animals which one would
hardly think worth noticing. afforded
these simple people ufpend ing enter
tainment. The river. as usual. swept
onward. giving forth sound OF es-
Gaping steam. caused by the loose
gravel carried along its bed by the
swift current. Many times it looked
as II We could not advance another
inch against the green waters
streaked with foam, bun in the end
we won through the worst passages
in safety. getting nearer and nearer
our goal every hour.
Al the confluence of a river called
the Imaza we followed narrow
channel on our right. and in 80 doing
cut a big corner that saved US an
immense amount of WORK. At an
other | followed a dried-up channel
on foot and found myself back on the
bank of the main river within ten
minutes. | waited nearly an hour
before the canoe had been hauled
round the bend TO the same spot.
Rain had been falling heavily most Of
the day. but the sun blazed forth at
the last moment. drying our clothes
out thoroughly before landing.
= g :; i:
TT was about O'Clock when We
shot round a promontory and up
into a backwater which proved to be
the mouth of a small stream coming
in on our left. There were evidences
of Indians. and pathway led up
the steep bank 20 an abandoned shell
ter. In this remote spot Munoz and
myself finally came to rest, and were
told that IL We wanted to go farther
we would have to walk. Before we
could gather any more details from
our companions they and their
patched-up cockleshell Of a canoe
were of downstream with the full
force Of the current behind them.
Thus ended my journey by canoe,
and was not sorry. Heavy and con-
tinual rains. with little to eat, did
not add to the pleasure of travelling.
but apart from that it was nerve
racking task to sit in leaky canoe
patched up with clay and carrying a
precious cargo that any minute might
be hurled into the hungry waters