Evening star., 1924-02-10

through the carelessness Of a few
naked savages, to whom l intrusted
my life for the price OF some colored
beads, a needle and a rusty fishhhook
Roughly $50 miles in a straight
line east OF Paita. on the Pacific
coast. a small river. called Ipicus by
the Indians. empties itself into the
| Maranon on the south bank. 1t is
unknown to the outside world, not
marked on any map and so inconspic-
! uous as TO be Of no consequence
whatsoever.
insignificant as this little stream
! may be in comparison with the agi-
! tated and turbulent waters Of the
Maranon that go sweeping by its
mouth on their long journey to the
Atlantic. every detail of IL remains
, clearly impressed on my memory;
| the placid waters which fiow leisurely
over a somewhat MILDLY bottom: the
| dark forest which meets overhead.
, forming a veritable tunnel OF tropical |
| vegetation: the few banana trees
which grow on either bank where 1t
joins the main river. and the small
shelter which stands in a clearing on
it's western shore.
1t was here that MunoZ and myself
spent a couple of days endeavoring
! to procure Indians to carry our packs
| and show us a way through the un-
inhabited forest OF Bellavista- 1t was
| here that the river and myself parted
company for good. after an incessant
hand-to hand struggle lasting nearly
| four weeks-no wonder that the
/ Ipicus stands out in large letters on
my map as stream of some impor-
/ tance.
There was yet one more stage 10
my Journey across this vast expanse
! of little-known country which
; stretches between the Pongo de Man
: seriche and the Chinchipe river.
Raimondi designates all OF this area
as unexplored and even in these days
| of enlightenment it cannot be said to
be- much else. AS at the Great Bar
, rier l had lost contact with the out
, side world coming in from the Allan
| tic coast Of South America, so in Bel
! lavista hoped to re-establish it
again and cover the remainder Of the
distance TO the Pacific In comparative
ease
F., Since passing the pongo OF Uta two
days ago we had not seen a living
soul. but many eyes had seen US. and
! news of our arrival at the Ipicus was
i. quickly spread abroad among the
dwellers Of the forest through the
| medium Of the tundai. or signal drum.
This ingenious instrument Is SIM
! ply a hollow trunk, which. when hit.
gives forth a peculiar resonant sound
that has great carrying powers. By
J means Of a recognized code the In
| dians are able to transmit messages
! to each other from house to house, or
even over considerable distances, il
atmospheric conditions are favorable.
| While l was preparing for the night
| weird drummings on the tundai could
| be distinctly heard from many direc-
| tions. which told US that, although
no habitations were visible, the for
est was we'll populated and We might
expect early callers.
| X X X y
WE were not disappointed: by seven
W there was a fair-sized regiment
. of them about our shelter, some
drawn by curiousity, others wanting
/ to trade: a few had bananas. and one
man a paujil, sort OF wild turkey
| that I exchanged for tin can and a
| cartridge case.
| Knowing that there would be delay
! in finding any one willing to show US
a way to the Chinchipe river. I lost
no time In starting negotiations. To
the first group Of Aguarunas that had
! collected I said, in an inquiring tone.
/ "Chinchipe?" and pointed west. but
| they shook their heads and waved
| their arms to the southwark. which
evidently meant that our course lay
! in a different direction from what i
thought.