Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-08
ZNopHAnN

at last she was far from the Huam-
biza country. On she went, plung-
ing through the forest, wadding
through marshes. swimming streams.
crawling and climbing to find her
food-turtles and birds eggs. frogs.
grubs, wild fruit. roots. anything
that river or forest might offer.
But Chulla- chaquicuna and Yacu-
Mamam were unkind. Day by day
she grew thinner and thinner. weak
er and weaker.
Breginia finished her story seated
on the poop of our canoe. her legs
dangling over the side. contentedly
munching a banana. She ended. AS
she had begun, with characteristic
simplicity.
And that is how we meet today"
she said.
AS we were making in the same
direction she willingly fell in with
the proposal which we made that she
should accompany us. We. too. were
glad to have her, for her wonderful
Woodcraft would be of inestimable
value, and as a third hand In the
canoe she would. when she had re-
covered her strength. be no neSligi
BILE quantity. From the first she had
HcNcE OIIOWu AChts btt
by now she was Enthusiastically
friendly
We set off once more.
~
RREGINIA proved to be a linguist
~ of no mean standing, for she
knew all the dialects of the country
through which we were to pass. be
sides Quichua in which she talked
with us. She acted as lookout man
and steersman with a care and con-
stancy which nothing could shake,
leaving Ed and myself free to paddle
and pole.
But the most pressing problem
which confronted us was that Of sup
plementing our dwindling supply of
foodstuffs with game. Here, too. Bre-
ginia was of very great value to us.
for she excelled in the arts Of track
ing and hunting.
Seated In the stern. wet and happy,
steering with a. paddle and bailing.
nothing escaped her keen eyes AMI
ears. When monkeys were sighted
she would turn in to the bank and |
would dash off after them into the
dense woods and shoot as many as
possible before they fed beyond rifle
range. Then I would sit down and
wait for Breginia TO find me and the
game which | had dropped.
Soon she would come along with
the monkeys slung over her shout
ders. following me up as easily as If
1 had marked my trail with a ma
chete. When she found me. Bregini;L
would tell me to follow my own trail
back to the canoe. But even my
wears of experience in the forest had
not taught me to follow an unmarked
single trail. and when | lost myself
beyond all hope Of recovery my guide
would rock with laughter at the
piteous spectacle.
Back again in the canoe she would
once more put on the shirt we had
given her and settle herself in the
stern until 1t was time to call a halt
Thus we worked our way steadily
up the Morona. creeping along it's
eternally winding course. But little
by little the nature Of the woods lin
ing the banks Of the Morona changed
and we passed out of the game zone
Breginia. however. kept the larder
supplied for some little time longer
with wild honey. shoots Of the wild
cane very similar In appearance to
asparagus, and copra. But at last
even the Indian girls efforts began to
be Of little avail.
Then. half starved, sick. and wea ry.
I lasted for only about a fortnight up
the Sicuanga. into which we had
turned. Morse did the only thing that
could be done. He left me. Had he
waited there for me to recover we
should probably all have died of
starvation.
Had he attempted to take me along
with him as lightweight cargo. he
would perhaps have been unable to
reach the nearest supply of food Of
which we knew. my old camp which
we estimated to be some eight or
ten days further upstream. With
Breginia to help him. he might pos
sibly reach food and bring 1t back TO
me in time.
Once more our companion saved
the day. For she not only helped to
pole the heavy dugout up the ST.
cuanga, but was able TO find some old
Zaparo chacras Of which she knew
before they had reached my planta-
ton.
So Morse and Breginia landed me.
built me rough shelter. and set of.
/ was left with only q cupful of farina
on which to live for the Is days or so
which 1t would take them to reach
my old camp and return. / was so
weak that could not stand. My rife
was lying by my side ready for the
game which never seemed to come.
Two or three days later. however.
heard movement Of the trees out
side, and crawled out to see what was
causing It. The monkeys which were
playing in the branches above my
shelter saved my life. for I was able
to shoot one of them. crawl back into
the shelter. light fire. and cook my
self some food. For the rest of the
time until Ed and the girl returned
I subeisted on that beast.
Then, the day they got back, bring.
Ing with them some yuca and plan
tains, I made a discovery. In the