Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-17
Mountains Finds That One Narrow Pass Offers Test Re-
nrsEy Th
Party of Who dLmpr@aT Travellers


| Respectable Member, as I call my as
sistant. went along to raise a fleet.
Then the mule packer arrived with
the other half Of the expedition gear.
| The Director had been bewailing the
| loss of all but valuable material, when
there arrived suddenly the welcome
train of mules. footsore and weary,
] but with every package and bale in
, tact.
OF course It was in keeping with the
natural cussedness of things that they
should have arrived long after our
providentia1 deliverance by baisa. How
welcome they would have been if they
had come during those early days Of
our despair!
Well, anyway, there they were; and
there was the camp piled high with
| It's full complement of six tons OF
| baggage. Even the Director, who had
collected it all, was aghast at the con
temptation Of it, and realized, in view
Of what we had learned about balsa
capacity, the need of elimination. And
what wild confusion it was to take
in hand!
Our Respectable-andh eroic--Mem.
Der arrived. bringing a rescue fleet OF
six balsas. Each raft was capable OF
carrying a crew of three men, q pas.
senger. and Ave or six hundred pounds
Of baggage.
Lashing the goods being completed
| to their satisfaction. the leader--cap
itan, they called hin1-+gathered the
| Indians together on the bank, and
| they performed a startlingly ominous
| ceremony. They made the sign of the
cross and very soberly said a short
prayer.
Then each man stripped himself OF
| his clothing, put it into a rubber bag
| and dashed that fast. Two with long
| poles, as we'll as with paddles, took up
their position in the bow, the third
with a paddle only. In the rear; to me
they said, Hold on tight" Then they
pushed off, and Immediately the seen
cry became long blur.
THERE was a stretch of fast water
on the out curve of our arc Of
river that had marooned US for Sc
long. The balsa took 1t with unex
pected steadiness, riding light and dry
The men dipped their paddles only to
keep the bow headed down. In less
than a minute we were round the
curve and shooting straight for oui
| own hated cliff, where the river surget
| angrily against the sheer rock before
| being thrown off in spray.
We swooped down, bow on. to thai
| wall OF rock, till 1. who have used q
paddle, said to myself: FINISHED
We can't draw clear of that now"
AS said it and looked for deer
| water clear Of rocks on the off side
for my jump, the captain shouted
"A hoep!' just like q circus acrobat
about to perform his stunt. Both bow
men dropped their paddles, snatched
their long poles, and with uncanny
quickness Of eye lodged the points Oh
these in crevices in the slippery rock
Their big shoulder muscles punched
and cracked: their bare toes chung
monkeylike. to the balsa logs; the
poles bent into taut bows, poised a
moment thus in creaking suspense
and then slowly Strengthened out
again as the balsa nose responded to
the tremendous pressue and sheered
off from the impending smash.
The man behind padded furiously to
swing the stern into line, and in an.
other moment we were clear. still
tingling from the closeness of our con-
tact with disaster, and were off on our
new course. Another minute and we
were at the opposite extreme of ex-
element, comfortably aground among
the easy ripples of wide shallow.
The Indians jumped out and pulled,
showed and wrestled their craft over
the pebbles. Then. as the river zig
ragged down the gorge, the whole per-
Torrance was repeated.