In Far Bolivia: A Story of a Strange Wild Land

CHAPTER XXII-EVENINGS BY THE CAMP FIRE

The moorings were speedily slipped, and by thelight of the blazing forest the peons bent sturdilyto their paddles, and the canoe went dancing downstream.

They had already taken on board the Indians whohad assisted Charlie, and before long his own boathove in sight, and was soon taken in tow by thelargest canoe.

That burning forest formed a scene which nevercould be forgotten. From the south side, where theboats were speedily rushing down the stream on theirway to the Madeira, and from which came the lightwind that was now blowing, the flames leaned over asit were, instead of ascending high in air, and the smokeand sparks took the same direction.

The sparks were as thick as snow-flakes in a snow-storm, and the lurid tongues of fire darted high as thezenith, playing with the clouds of smoke or lickingthem up.

The noise was indescribable, yet above the roaringand the crackling could be heard the shouts of themaddened savages, as they sought exit from the hellaround them.

There was no escape except by the Madeira's bank, and to get even at this they had to dash through theburning bushes.

Alas! Charlie and his assistants had done theirwork all too well, and I fear that one-half of thecannibals were smothered, dragged down by alligators,or found a watery grave.

As the canoes shot past, the heat was terrible, andnext morning at daybreak, when they were far up theriver, towards the falls, Roland and his friend weresurprised to notice that the palm-leaves which coveredthe cabin were brown and scorched.

On the whole the experience they had gained of theferocity and fighting abilities of these Paynee cannibalswas such as they were not likely to forget.

—

During all this period of excitement the suspectPeter had remained perfectly quiescent. Indeed heseemed now quite apathetic, taking very little noticeof anything around him, and eating the food placedbefore him in a way that was almost mechanical.Neither Roland nor Dick had taken much heed ofhim till now. When, however, they observed hisstrange demeanour they took council together anddetermined that the watch over him should be madeextra strict, lest he should spring overboard and bedrowned.

Roland may seem to have been harsh with Mr. Peter.But he only took proper precautions, and more thanonce he assured Dick that if the man's innocence wereproved he would recompense him a hundred-fold.

"But," added Dick meaningly, "if he is really guiltyof the terrible crime we impute to him, he cannot bepunished too severely."

The expedition had that afternoon to land theirstores once more to avoid rapids, and a little beforesunset they encamped near to the edge of a beautifulwood well back from the banks of the Madeira.

The night passed without adventure of any kind, and everyone awoke as fresh and full of life and go asthe larks that climb the sky to meet the morning sun.

Another hard day's paddling and towing and portage, and they found themselves high above the MadeiraFalls in smooth water, and at the entrance to a kindof bay which formed the mouth or confluence of thetwo rivers, called Beni and Madro de Dios. This lastis called the Maya-tata by the Bolivians.

It is a beautiful stream, overhung by hill and forest, and rises fully two hundred miles southward andwest from a thousand little rivulets that drain themarvellous mountains of Karavaya.

The Beni joins this river about ten or twelve milesabove the banks of the Madeira. It lies farther to thesouth and the east, and may be said to rise in theLa Paz district itself, where it is called the Rio dela Paz.

To the north-west of both these big rivers lies thegreat unexplored region, the land of the Bolivian andPeruvian cannibals.

Small need have we to continue to hunt and shootin Africa, wildly interesting though the country is, when such a marvellous tract of tens of thousands ofsquare miles is hidden here, all unvisited as yet by asingle British explorer.

And what splendid possibilities for travel andadventure are here! A land larger than Great Britain,France, and Ireland thrown together, which no oneknows anything about; a land rich in forest and prairie;a land the mineral wealth of which is virtuallyinexhaustible; a land of beauty; a land of lake andstream, of hills and rocks and verdant prairie, and averitable land of flowers!

A land, it is true, where wild beasts lurk and prowl, and where unknown tribes of savages wander hitherand thither and hunt and fight, but all as free as thewind that wantons through their forest trees.

—

The boats were paddled several miles up-streamto a place where the scenery was more open.

At every bend and reach of the river Rolandexpected to find Benee waiting for them. Perhaps hehad built a hut and was living by fishing-rod and gun.

But no Benee was visible and no hut.

Together the two friends, Roland and Dick, accompaniedby Charlie and Brawn, took their way across theplain and through the scrub, towards a lofty, cone-shaped hill that seemed to dominate all the scenery inits immediate neighbourhood.

To the very top of this mountain they climbed, agreed between themselves not to look back until theyhad reached the summit, in order that the wild beautyof this lone lorn land should burst upon them in all itsglory, and at once.

They kept to their resolution, and were amply rewarded.

As far as eye could reach in any direction was avast panorama of mountain, forest, and stream, withmany a beautiful lake glittering silvery in the sunshine.

But no smoke, no indication of inhabitants anywhere.

"It seems to be quite an untenanted country wehave struck," said Dick.

"All the better for us, perhaps, Dick," said Roland,"for farther we cannot proceed until poor Benee comes.He ought to have been here before now. But whatadventures and dangers he may have had to passthrough Heaven and himself only know."

"Charlie," he continued, "in the event of Benee notturning up within the next week or two, rememberthe task of guiding us to the very palace gates of thecannibal king devolves upon you."

"You speakee me too muchee fly-high Englese,"said Charlie. "But Charlie he thinkee he understand.You wantee me takee you to de king's gate. I can do."

"That is enough, Charlie, and we can trust you. Youhave hitherto been very faithful, and what we shoulddo without you I know not."

"Now, Dick, I guess we'll get down a little morespeedily than we came up."

"We'll try, Roland, old man."

All preparations were now made to camp near tothe river, where the canoes were moored.

They did not expect any attack by armed Indians, nevertheless it was deemed well to be on the safe side.

Spades and shovels were accordingly brought intouse, and even before sunset a deep trench andembankment were thrown up around the tents, and atnightfall sentries were posted at each corner.

For a few days the weather was so cold and stormythat there was little comfort in either shooting orfishing. It cleared up after this, however, and at noonthe sun was almost too hot.

They found caves in the rocks by the river-side inwhich were springs bursting and bubbling up throughlimestone rocks, and quartz as white as the drivensnow. The water was exquisitely cool and refreshing.

The days were spent in exploring the country allaround and in shooting, principally for the purpose ofkeeping the larder well supplied.

Luckily the Indians were very easy to please in thematter of food, though their captains liked a littlemore luxury.

But this land was full of game of every sort, andthe river was alive with fish, and so unsophisticatedwere these that they sprang at a hook if it were baitedonly with a morsel of glittering mica picked off a rock.

What with fish and fowl and flesh of small deer, little wild pigs and the young of the tapir, there wouldbe very little fear of starvation should they remainhere for a hundred years.

Far up the Maya-tata canoe excursions were made, and at every bend of this strange river the sceneryseemed more delightfully wild, silent, and beautiful.

"Heigh-ho!" said Dick one day. "I think I shouldnot mind living here for years and years, did I butknow that poor Peggy was safe and well."

"Ah! yes, that is the ever-abiding anxiety, but weare not to lose heart, are we?"

"No," said Dick emphatically. "If the worstshould come to the worst, let us try to look fatefearlessly in the face, as men should."

"Bravo, Dick!"

The evenings closed in at an unconscionablyearly hour, as they always do in these regions, andat times the long forenights were somewhat irksome.

I have not said much about the captains of the greatcanoes. With one exception, these were half-castes, and spoke but little.

The exception was Don Rodrigo, who in his timehad been a great traveller.

He was a man of about fifty, strongly built, but aswiry withal as an Arab of the desert.

Genial was he too, and while yarning or playingcards-the cigarette for ever in his mouth, sometimeseven two-there was always a pleasant smile playingaround his mouth and eyes.

He liked our young heroes, and they trusted him.Indeed, Brawn had taken to the man, and often as hesquatted in the large tent of an evening, playing cardsor dominoes with the boys, big Brawn would lay hishonest head down on Rodrigo's knee with a sigh ofsatisfaction and go off to sleep.

Rodrigo could sing a good Spanish song, and had asweet melodious voice that would have goneexcellently well with a guitar accompaniment; but guitarthere was none.

Versatile and clever, nevertheless, was Rodrigo, andhe had manufactured a kind of musical instrumentcomposed of pieces of glass and hard wood hung ontape bands across a board. While he sang, Rodrigoused to beat a charming accompaniment with littlepith hammers.

Some of his songs were very merry indeed and verydroll, and all hands used to join in the chorus, eventhe white men and Indians outside.

So the boys' days were for the time being somewhatof the nature of a long picnic or holiday.

The story-telling of an evening helped greatly towile the time away.

Neither Dick nor Roland had any yarns to spin, butCharlie had stories of his wild and adventurous life inthe bush, which were listened to with much pleasure.On the other hand, Rodrigo had been everywhereapparently, and done everything, so that he was thechief story-teller.

The man's English was fairly good, with just a littleof the Peruvian labial accent, which really added toits attractiveness, while at times he affected theMexican drawl.

Around the camp-fire I have seldom or never knownwhat may be called systematic yarn-spinning.Everything comes spontaneously, one simple yarn or wildadventure leading up to the other. If now and thena song intervenes, all the better, and all the morelikely is one to spend a pleasant evening either incamp or in galley on board ship.

Don Rodrigo did at times let our heroes havesome tales that made their scalps creep, but theyliked him best when he was giving them simplenarratives of travel, and for this reason: they wanted tolearn all they could about the country in which theynow were.

And Rodrigo knew it well, even from Arauco on thewestern shore to the great marsh-lands of theParaguay or the mountain fastnesses of Albuquerque onthe east.

But the range of Rodrigo's travels was not boundedby Brazil, or the great Pacific Ocean itself. He hadbeen a cow-boy in Mexico; he had bolo'd guanacos onthe Pampas; he had wandered among the Patagonians,or on fleet horses scoured their wondrous plains; he haddwelt in the cities, or call them "towns", if so minded, that border the northern shores of the Straits ofMagellan; he had even visited Tierra del Fuego-theland of fire-and from the black boats of savages hadhelped to spear the silken-coated otters of those wildand stormy seas; and he had sailed for years amongthe glorious sunlit islands of the Southern Pacific.

"As to far Bolivia," he said one evening, while hiseyes followed the rings of pale-blue smoke he emittedas they rose to the tent-roof. "As to far Bolivia, dearboys, well, you've seen a good slice of the wilderregions of it, but it is to La Paz you must someday go, and to the splendid fresh-water ocean calledthe Titicaca.

"Lads, I never measured it, but, roughly guessing,I should say that it is over one hundred miles in length, and in some places fifty wide."

"Wait one moment," said Burly Bill, "this is gettinginteresting, but my meerschaum wants to be loaded."

"Now," he added, a few minutes after, "just fireaway, my friend."

CHAPTER XXIII-A MARVELLOUS LAKE IN A MARVELLOUS LAND-LA PAZ

"Mebbe," said Rodrigo, "if you knew thedown-south Bolivians as well as I do, you would notrespect them a great deal. Fact is, boys, there is littleto respect them for.

"Brave? Well, if you can call slaves brave, thenthey're about as bully's they make 'em.

"I have mentioned the inland sea called LakeTiticaca. Ah, boys, you must see this fresh-waterocean for yourselves! and if ever you get married, why, take my advice and go and spend your honeymoon there.

"Me married, did you say, Mr. Bill? It strikes me, sir, I know a trick worth several of that. Been inlove as often as I've got toes and fingers, and mebbeteeth, but no tying up for life, I'm too old a starlingto be tamed.

"But think, amigo mio, of a lake situated in agrand mountain-land, the level of its waters justthirteen thousand feet above the blue Pacific.

"Surrounded by the wildest scenery you canimagine. The wildest, ay, boys, and the mostromantic.

"You have one beautiful lake or loch in yourBritain-and I have travelled all over that land of thefree, – I mean Loch Ness, and the surroundingmountains and glens are magnificent; but, bless my buttons, boys, you wouldn't have room in Britain for such alake as the mighty Titicaca. It would occupy allyour English Midlands, and you'd have to give thefarmers a free passage to Australia."

"How do you travel on this lake?" said Dick Temple.

"Ah!" continued Rodrigo, "I can answer that; andhere lies another marvel. For at this enormous heightabove the ocean-level, steamboats, ply up and down.No, not built there, but in sections sent from America, and I believe even from England. The labour ofdragging these sections over the mountain-chains mayeasily be guessed.

"The steamers are neither so large nor so fine asyour Clyde boats, but there is a lot of honest comfortin them after all.

"And terrible storms sometimes sweep down fromthe lofty Cordilleras, and then the lake is all a chaosof broken water and waves even houses high. Ifcaught in such storms, ordinary boats are speedilysunk, and lucky are even the steamers if shelter is handy.

"Well, what would this world be, I wonder, if itwere always all sunshine. We should soon get welltired of it, I guess, and want to go somewhereelse-to murky England, for example."

Rodrigo blew volumes of smoke before he continuedhis desultory yarn.

"Do you know, boys, what I saw when in yourBritain, south of the Tweed? I saw men callingthemselves sportsmen chasing poor little hares withharriers, and following unfortunate stags withbuck-hounds. I saw them hunt the fox too, men andwomen in a drove, and I called them in my own mindcowards all. Brutality and cowardice in every face, and there wasn't a farmer in the flock of stag-huntingJockies and Jennies who could muster courage enoughto face a puma or even an old baboon with a supplestick in its hand. Pah!

"But among the hills and forests around this LakeTiticaca is the paradise of the hunter who has a bit ofsand and grit in his substance, and is not afraid towalk a whole mile away from a cow's tail.

"No, there are no dangerous Indians that ever Icame across among the mountains and glens; but asyou never know what may happen, you've got to keepyour cartridges free from damp.

"What kind of game? Well, I was going to saypretty much of all sorts. We haven't got giraffesnor elephants, it is true, nor do we miss them much.

"But there are fish in the lake and beasts on theshore, and rod and gun will get but little holiday, Iassure you, lads, if you elect to travel in thatstrange land.

"I hardly know very much about the fish. Theysay that the lake is bottomless, and that not only is itswarming with fish, wherever there is a bank, butthat terrible animals or beasts have been seen on itsdeep-blue surface; creatures so fearful in aspect thateven their sudden appearance has turned gray thehairs of those who beheld them.

"But I calculate that this is all Indian gammon orsuperstition.

"As for me, I've been always more at home in thewoods and forests, and on the mountain's brow.

"I'm not going to boast, boys, but I've climbed thehighest hills of the Cordilleras, where I have hadno companion save the condor.

"You Europeans call the eagle the bird of Jove.If that is so, I want to ask them where the condorcomes in.

"Why, your golden eagle of Scottish wilds isn'ta circumstance to the condor of the Andes. He is nomore to be compared to this great forest vulture thana spring chicken is to a Christmas turkey.

"But the condor is only one of a thousand wildbirds of prey, or of song, found in the Andean regionsor giant Cordilleras.

"And at lower altitude we find the llamas, theguanacos, and herds of wild vicuñas.

"You may come across the puma and the jaguaralso, and be sorry you've met.

"Then there are goats, foxes, and wild dogs, aswell as the viscacha and the chinchilla, to say nothingof deer.

"But on the great lake itself, apart from all thoughtof fish, you need never go without a jolly good dinnerif the rarest of water-fowl will please you. Ducksand geese galore, and other species too many to name."

"That is a land, and that is a lake," said Dickmusingly, "that I should dearly like to visit. Yes, and to dwell in or on for a time.

"I suppose labour is cheap?" he added enquiringly.

"I guess," returned Rodrigo, "that if you wantedto erect a wooden hut on some high and healthypromontory overlooking the lake-and this would beyour best holt-you would have to learn the use ofaxe and adze and saw, and learn also how to drivea nail or two without doubling it over your thumband hitting the wrong nail on the head."

"Well, anyhow," said Dick, "I shall dream to-nightof your great inland ocean, of your Lake Titicaca, and in my dreams I shall imagine I am already there.I suppose the woods are alive with beautiful birds?"

"Yes," said Rodrigo, "and with splendid moths andbutterflies also; so let these have a place in yourdreams as well. Throw in chattering monkeys too, and beautiful parrots that love to mock every soundthey hear around them. Let there be evergreen treesdraped in garments of climbing flowers, roaringtorrents, wild foaming rivers, that during storms rolldown before them, from the flooded mountains, massive tree trunks, and boulders houses high."

"You are quite poetic!"

"But I am not done yet. People your paradisewith strangely beautiful lizards that creep and crawleverywhere, looking like living flowers, and arrayedin colours that rival the tints of the rainbow.Lizards-ay, and snakes; but bless you, boys, these are veryinnocent, objecting to nothing except to having theirtails trodden on."

"Well, no creature cares for treatment like that,"said Roland. "If you and I go to this land of beauty,Dick, we must make a point of not treading on snakes'tails."

"But, boys, there are fortunes in this land of oursalso. Fortunes to be had for the digging."

"Copper?"

"Yes, and gold as well!"

Rodrigo paused to roll and light another cigarette.I have never seen anyone do so more deftly. Heseemed to take an acute delight in the process. Heheld the snow-white tissue-paper lovingly in hisgrasp, while with his forefinger and thumb he apportionedto it just the right quantity of yellow fragrantVirginia leaf, then twisting it tenderly, gently, heconveyed it to his lips.

Said Dick now, "I have often heard of the wondrouscity of La Paz, and to me it has always seemed a sortof semi-mythical town-a South American Timbuctoo."

"Ah, lad, it is far from being mythical! On thecontrary, it is very real, and so are everything andeverybody in it.

"I could not, however, call it, speaking conscientiously,a gem of a place, though it might be madeso. But you see, boys, there is a deal of Spanish orPortuguese blood in the veins of the real whiteshere-though, mind you, three-fourths of the populationare Indians of almost every Bolivian race. Well, themotto of the dark-eyed whites seems to be Mañana(pronounce Mah-nyah-nah), which signifies'to-morrow', you know. Consequently, with the verybest intentions in the world, they hardly ever finishanything they begin. Some of the streets are decentlypaved, but every now and then you come to a sloughof despond. Many of the houses are almost palatial, but they stand side by side with, and are jostled by, the vile mud-huts of the native population. Theyhave a cathedral and a bazaar, but neither is finished yet.

"Well, La Paz stands at a great altitude abovethe ocean. It is well worthy of a visit. If you gothere, however, there are two things you must notforget to take with you, namely, a bottle ofsmelling-salts and plenty of eau-de-Cologne."

"The place smells-slightly, then, I suppose," ventured Dick.

"Ha! ha! ha!" Rodrigo had a hearty laugh of hisown. "Yes, it smells slightly. So do the people, Imay add.

"The natives of La Paz, although some of themboast of a direct descent from the ancient Incas, areto all intents and purposes slaves.

"Well, boys, when I say 'slaves' I calculate Iknow pretty well what I am talking about. Theold feudal system holds sway in what we call thecivilized portions of Bolivia. Civilization, indeed!Only in the wilds is there true freedom andindependence. The servants on ranches and farms arebought or sold with the land on which they live. So,Mr. Bill, if you purchase a farm in Bolivia, it won'tbe only the cows and cocks and hens you'll have totake, but the servants as well, ay, and the childrenof these.

"Bolivian Indians, who are troubled with familiesthat they consider a trifle too large for their income, have a simple and easy method of meeting the difficulty.They just take what you might call the surpluschildren to some white-man farmer and sell them asthey do their cows."

"Then these children are just brought up as slaves?"

"Yes, their masters treat them fairly well, but theygenerally make good use of the whip. 'Spare therod and spoil the child' is a motto they play up tomost emphatically, and certainly I have never knownthe rod to be spared, nor the child to be spoiledeither.

"Oh! by the way, as long as my hand is in I maytell you about the servants that the gentry-folks ofLa Paz keep. I don't think any European wouldbe plagued with such a dirty squad, for in a householdof, say, ten, there must be ten slaves at the very least,to say nothing of the pongo man.

"This pongo man is in reality the charwoman ofLa Paz. It is he who does all the dirty work, anda disagreeable-looking and painfully dirty blackguardhe is himself. It is not his custom to stay more thana week with any one family. He likes to be alwayson the move.

"He assists the cook; he collects dried llama manurefor firewood, as Paddy might say; he fetches waterfrom the fountain; he brings home the marketing, inthe shape of meat and vegetables; he cleans and scrubseverywhere, receiving few pence for his trouble, butan indefinite number of kicks and cuffs, while his bedat night is on the cold stones behind the hall door.Yet with all his ill-usage, he seems just about ashappy as a New Hollander, and you always find himtrotting around trilling a song.

"Ah, there is nothing like contentment in thisworld, boys!"

"Yes, Mr. Bill, I have seen one or two really prettygirls among the Bolivians, but never lost my heart toany of them, for between you and me, they don'teither brush or comb their hair, and when walkingwith them it is best to keep the weather-gauge. Andthat's a hint worth having, I can assure you."

—

On the very next evening after Don Rodrigo spokehis piece, as he phrased it, about the strange customsand habits of the Bolivians, all were assembled asusual in the biggest tent.

Burly Bill and his meerschaum were getting onremarkably well together, the Don was rolling acigarette, when suddenly Brawn started up as if froma dream, and stood with his ears pricked and his heada little to one side, gazing out into the darkness.

He uttered no warning growl, and made no soundof any sort, but his tail was gently agitated, as ifsomething pleased him.

Then with one impatient "Yap!" he sprang away, and was seen no more for a few minutes.

"What can ail the dog?" said Roland.

"What, indeed?" said Dick.

And now footsteps soft and slow were heardapproaching the tent, and next minute poor Beneehimself staggered in and almost fell at Roland's feet.

The honest hound seemed almost beside himselfwith joy, but he had sense enough to know that hisold favourite, Benee, was exhausted and ill, and, looking up into his young master's face, appeared toplead for his assistance.

Benee's cheeks were hollow, his feet were cut andbleeding, and yet as he lay there he smiled feebly.

"I am happy now," he murmured, and forthwithfell asleep.

Both Roland and Dick trembled. They thoughtthat sleep might be the sleep of death, but Don Rodrigo, after feeling Benee's pulse, assured them that itwas all right, and that the poor fellow only neededrest and food.

In about half an hour the faithful fellow-ah! whocould doubt his fidelity now? – sat painfully up.

Dick went hurrying off and soon returned withsoup and with wine, and having swallowed a little,Benee made signs that he would rest and sleep.

"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow I speak plenty.To-night no can do."

And so they did all they could to make himcomfortable, and great Brawn lay down by his side towatch him.