Evening star., 1925-03-22
Two Oil Prospecors Square Accounts With Rival Party II

mented our scant stock of provisions
by stoning iguanas to death,
..--.----- x = * ::
A S we advanced, the fresh marks Of
the prospector's pick, frequently
seen on the banks of the, river, cold
campfires. empty tins of food scraps,
all indicated that we We're on a hot
trail, the end of which could not be
far distant. Particularly should this
be since we noticed that they had
Travelled slowly, dragging their boat
over the rapids instead of navigating
them as we did. This circumstance,
notwithstanding the several days
start which they had on us, made US
hope at any moment to come into
contact with them.
During the early afternoon of the
fourth day of our journey, Felipe be-
lieved he heard distant gum shot.
This made us proceed with greater
alertnesS. Not long afterward an
other shot was heard, quite distinctly.
We were now assured that the mo-
ment for which we had striven so
hard was about to arrive. With hopes
raised high and with extreme caution,
we were polling through a long, still
tumbled us into the river.
A very weak swimmer at best, I
struggled to one Of the logs and 'clung
to it for temporary safety. l directed
Felipe, who was full of concern for
me. to rescue our outfit. which. by its
lashings. hung loosely between two
logs.
Our joint efforts to swim and push
the entire mass before us TO one of
banks proved hazardous to our outfit
at every motion of the loose logs
1t appeared to work itself more free
and to be in imminent danger of
dropping to the bottom. This COM
PEELED us to adopt the system of un-
tying the outfit. by pieces. which
Felipe, strong swimmer. carried to
the shore by successive trips, while
1 continued to cling to the wreck
and did my best TO hold secure the re-
mainder of our equipment
Thus the outfit was all saved, and
continued to cling to one of the logs
while Felipe on the river bank was
recovering his breath before coming
to assist me to the shore, when, at
about 10 feet from where I was. rose
the wicked snout of an alligator
To my Shrek of terror. Feline
Strengthened up, and appraising the
situation, grasped my prospector's
pick from the ground and dived into
the river. The struggle of an instant
followed, and then he drove the pick
crashing into the beasts head. But
Felipe's danger was not over, as the
alligator in its death agony dashed
its powerful tail about in every direc-
tion' ehurning the bloody water into
red froth and menacing Felipe's
life with each one of its blows.
Felipe, knowing his peril, dived
deep and to safety. When quiet
reigned, he assisted me to shore. We
made camp in order to dry and clean
our equipment.
ON the following morning, in the
- belief that our quest was nearly
ended, we decided, for greater safety,
to continue our journey on foot
. through the bush. For half a day
we marched, our packs on our backs,
at times having to cut our way
through thick underbrush. Suddenly,
across the river, we saw a large camp.
1t was made up of eight tents and
two long-thatched sheds Quite evil
IDENTIFY, we had to do with a numerous
foe. This recommended that We pro-
ceed with the greatest caution.
Continuing down the stream for a
mile from the camp, we swan across
and then marched toward the jungle,
away from the river. Our progress
was very slow because, not wishing to
leave behind too visible a trail, we
did not use our machetes for cutting
through the tangle. Bodily we
wormed our way, opening the bush
before US with our hands and arms.
For the better part of an hour we
wrestled thus with the Jungle and
then, bleeding from many scratches,
with our clothes in shreds, and hav-
ing advanced but 200 or 800 yards,
we came to a wide trail. 1t was
fresh cut, and, running parallel to
the river, undoubtedly led to the
camp. Hastily backing away, we
retreated about $50 yards into the
jungle.
Finding convenient tree, we
hoisted our outfit and ourselves to
it's branches. Here we made our
camp. Thus, our bedding slung ham
mock-like between branches, and in
closed in mosquito netting, and with
the rest of our outfit lashed to adja-
cent branches, We rested and planned
our campaign.
Shortly before sunset We descended
from our nest, and, making our way
to the trail, cautiously followed 1t
toward the camp on a accommodating
trip. We reached the outskirts of
the camp at mess" hour, SO that
its inmates, busily engaged, left us
quite free to carry out our plans.
A clearing Of some five or six
acres had been made, and through
this We snaked our way close to the
tents. We were protected by the
dusky twilight and numerous tree
trunks and stumps. Thus secure,
and from short distance, we made
our observations.
One of the long matched sheds was
being used as a mess hall" ThSre
we saw assembled between 20 and 80
white men who, with all good humor.
ni1 M tErn1fcrh hni Inn In