Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-03

his canoe was much too small to be
Of any use. His name was Shamika,
and he told US of a large Indain set
Element not many days up river
where we could get another canoe
and all the men we wanted. On the
strength Of this. and by dint OF much
personal persuasion, was able to
instill a little life into my men and
get them to agree not to turn back,
| X X X
tTEIRTY-EIGlIT hours after our ar
rival at the Pongo. Sr. Vela had
slowed away on board all the lime
stone his launch could carry, and was
on his way back to Iquitos. The
small handful Of US that remained
behind watched him go: it might have
I beer yesterday. so we'll do I remem-
Der the scene. The low hills shroud-
ed In the flimsy mist OF early morn
Ing. shouts of "felicidadez" from a
doysa throats,t the waving OF hats,
tho launch carried swiftly down
stream. the last boot OF it's whistle
as the hull vanished behind the trees
and then-the final thread which tied
us to the outside world snapped.
With Sr. Vela's departure. there
was nothing for US to do but wait
patiently for the river to subside.
I I kept a constant record Of its va
rlations During the time We were
Iencamped on it's banks It rose and
fell within the limit Of ten feet and
this was the dry season! Shamika's
Judgment seemed infallible. Several
| times when the water was low and
! III AZ NJ n
to it, thinking that we might make
an attempt to pass the barrier. but
he would only shake his black head.
| and sure enuogh another rise would
| set in before a couple Of hours had
| elapsed. -.
Although not exactly suspicious, I
I, wondered what was at the back OF
this fellows mind in going up river
| with US. It evidently suited his pur-
J pose admirably or he would not have
been so keen. Furthermore, he was
very emphatic about not passing be-
yond the Indian settlement which he
spoke about, for the reason that he
had stolen a woman from g. house
near there last year and was at war
with the family as a result.
1t looked to me very much as IL
| this habit of stealing wives was be-
coming a hobby with him. for he had
| three already, and on this journey
he was after a fourth. Whatever his
| propensities were 1t made little diff
! ference so long as he did not use us
as a cloak for carrying on another
raid among his neighbors and so en-
broil our party in a feud. Although
this looked highly probable. he was
too good a man to lose and we had
to take the chance. When 1t came
| to handling a canoe he was. a mar
vel and l was convinced that if he
| could not land US safely through the
Pongo no one could.
The psychological moment now
| came 1t was the fifth day after our
| arrival, and / woke to the sound OF
| heavy rain. Curiously enough. the
river was falling rapidly. and by
IL the air had cleared and the To-
| cal wind was blowing up fresh in
| our faces. At noon precisely we set
| out, Shamika, in the bow. taking
| charge Of operations. Munoz in the
| stern, the other two bogas and
myself amidships with the cargo.
Our progress was naturally slow.
Striking the back eddy of whirl-
pool, the canoe was propelled I'M
| stream near the bank at a lively
! rate till a promontory was reached.
Here everybody would Chamber out
onto the exposed rocks. remove the
cargo, and tow our fragile craft
around the point against the rushing
current, one man remaining in the
bow with a pole to keep it clear Of
the shore. while the rest Of US hauled
Justify.
One point was too difficult to pass
round, so we had to cross over to the
south bank, and in SO doing my men
displayed great skill. If we started
away from the shore too late we
would get drawn into the next whirl-
pool ahead Of us; If too early. we
would be carried down stream too
far and get wrecked on the rocks of
the opposite shore. In other words,
there was but one place where we
could get clear from the north bank.
and one spot on the south bank where
we could strike a back current OF
the whirlpool that would draw US in
shore, and not to the center OF tho
vortex.
In midstream we had also to be
careful that the canoe did not get
beam on to the current. or 1t would
have been swamped; on the other
hand, If it lay parallel to the current,
we would have been carried down.
stream too far in spite Of our efforts.
We actually lost some two hundred
yards in the operation. and worked
like demons the whole time. Deep
water. churned UP into foam rushing
and kissing by. could not be treated
lightly with a heavily-laden canoe,
and was glad when we were over
in safety. Within five hours from
starting We were through the worst
part OF the gorge, by S opposite the
Canusa Yacu, or Santiago river. and
half an hour later snugly camped on
a large sandbar for the night. Thanks
to Shamika, and the untiring energy
of the bogas, a miracle had hap
pened-the Great Barrier was behind
our backs.