Evening star., 1924-02-10

fish Of good size. Anything less than
eight inches was thrown back as
useless.
In the evening We smoked fish for
the journey ahead Of us and ate as If
we would never have another meal
again for a week; thus thoroughly
gorged We turned in to sleep.
For once in a while I spent rest
less night not from the effects of eat
ing too much fish. but from listening
to the rain sweeping over the illimit-
able forest. with periodic peai5 Of
thunder adding to the din. | had
visions Of being detained at this place
for another day or two, which, with
MunoZ in an ugly mood. was not at all
to my liking. The direction in which
his thoughts were moving was evident,
and l realized that even a small delay
might prove fatal to our interests.
At daybreak l got up and prepared
another good meal Of fish and awaited
developments. To my great relief. the
rain stopped. and the Indians with
whom We had bargained put in an ap-
pearance along with host OF friends
They brought with them long strips
of bark which were quickly made UP
into slings, SO that each man could
carry his load easily on his back the
main weight being taken by broad
band around the forehead.
After considerable talking every
thing was in order. We were ferried
over the Ipicus. and with u few last
words We're soon lost TO view. So it
came about that after two days of the
most delightful weather possible We
bade farewell to the sunshine and open
spaces of the river and plunged into
the dismal depths of the great forest
on our way to Bellavista.
We shaped our course 10 the south
ward over an invisible trail, keeping
to the high ground as much as pos
sible. There were eight of US in all,
including two dusky bea auties. and we
trudged along in silence through the
somber shadows. e..
Barely an hour after our departure
a booming sound in the distance. like
the breaking of surf on some far-off
shore. proclaimed the advent of rain.
No violent wind heralded its approach,
as is usual in the mountains; here in
the sultry atmosphere of the woods it
bore down on us like an overwhelming
flood. until we were enveioped in d
drenchng downpour that had all the
appearance of lasting a lifetime. The
Indians. although nude. disliked get
ting wet as much as I did. and re-
manned under improvised palm shelters
for an hour till the worst had passed.
T last. after what seemed like an
interminable delay, we moved for
ward again. the savages displaying very
little energy even for the light loads
which they We're carrying We wound
our way amongst the dense forest
growth, circling fallen trees, pushing
our way through thickets, and stop
packs.
To me 1t seemed that our rate of
advancement was ridiculously slow
and exasperating in the extreme. No
accurate checks could be kept of our
direction, either. except by closely
following the contour of the ground;
for every minute we moved south, at
least ten minutes would be taken up
going east or west to avoid obstacles.
After crossing several little brooks
we once more encountered the Ipicus.
now swollen to a remarkable size as
the result of the rain: we waded
across, but only to plunge into 1t
again half mile farther on. On this
occasion it was not a case of fording
it in a decent manner, but we actu-
ally walked up 1t for over quarter
of a mile, with the water at times
reaching to our armpits. Upon clam
berine out we followed up series of
ridges till we gained the summit of
some hills running east and west.
1t was about when we reached the
crest of the divide and the Indians
at once prepared tambo for the
night.
L made no objection, as a good sleep
and some dry clothes would put me
in a better frame of mind to handle
Munoz: he had hardly spoken all day.
and when he did it was only about
the hardships he was enduring and
how little he was getting in return
for it. Before turning in he once
more held me up for a promise of
money when we TeaCneQ beiidViStes
and I was obliged to raise the figure
f10 in order to make him content.
I would have promised him any
amount for that matter, as 1 had
quite made up my mind to give him
a sound hiding when we finally set
foot at our destination.
The rain held OFF most of the night,
but started in the early morning and
prevented our moving for couple of
hours. We were about to get under
way when Munoz again put forward
his claim, only this time he was a
little more explicit and said he wanted
his reward at once for the reason
that we were eight days from our
destination and he was afraid that
when we got to Bellavista my prom
ises would be as the wind and I would
not pay him anything.
This being the truth. was naturally
annoyed, and told him for the last
time that he would get nothing until
he had fulfilled the terms Of his
agreement. and he had better make
ND his mind to that What did the
Mack son Of a mongrel do but turn
on me saying that as was not going