When the time came for him to depart, the Ingas made him a handsome present of a canoe, stored with dried flesh (which they call buccan), cassavy bread, etc., besides one of the Portugal's swords and a good knife; and Lady Biddy gave him a little chain she wore about her neck as a token; but I had nothing to give him, save a paltry brass tobacco-box, which I had managed to keep through all my accidents; but I do think he was as well pleased to have this as if it had been a purse of a thousand crowns.
When he pushed off from the shore into the midst of the current he waved his hat and cried to us "Farewell" very cheerily, yet I knew by my own feeling that his heart was sore. And we cried to him "Farewell" as happily as we could, but I could not see him presently for the tears that came into my eyes. "As like as not," says I to myself, "we shall never meet again."
Then Lady Biddy, seeing my dejection, slips her hand through my arm in silence, to remind me that I had yet a friend; whereupon my heart leapt from despondency to joy, and I thought, "What matters it if all the world be lost so that this dear soul is left to me?" Yet I felt the more that night for poor Matthew, because he had no such comfort in the cheerless, lonely wilds.
CHAPTER LV.
WE GO DOWN THE META, MY DEAR LADY AND I—THE PLEASANTEST JAUNT HEART OF MAN COULD DESIRE.
We set out from the River Cauca with the whole tribe of those Ingas, the effects, and the captive women and spoil taken from the Portugals; for they were still minded to raise their people to carry war into the strong-holds of their enemies, and counted to bring other tribes to their intent by a display of their force, and the trophies of their victory. And so in a long line, with the ablest men to the fore spying the way, we traveled painfully through the desert wilds, crossing the River Magdalena by a tolerable ford, besides many mountains and valleys of prodigious proportions; for there is no country in the world where the mountains are so high and steep, and the valleys so deep and bushy, I do think; and how we made our way, yet keeping a fairly true course, is a mystery to me, for one half the time we never saw the sky for the umbrage of trees and the other half never a blade of grass for the stony barrenness of the rocks.
At the end of six weeks and three days we came to the great River Meta, which was as long again as the Ingas do usually take for that journey, by reason that in many places a way had to be hewn for the passage of the mules, where the Indians might readily have slipped through in their nakedness. However, though by this delay we lost in one respect we made profit by it in another; for not only did my Lady Biddy and I pick up enough of their words to make ourselves understood, which later on served us in good stead, but also we learnt great store of things, for want of which we might have been sorely pestered when we had no hands to help us but our own. Thus we learnt to make excellent bread from the root of the cassavy—which, made properly, is as good as any loaf of wheat flour, and yet for want of proper attention may poison you so that you die of it in an hour. Also they showed me how to make a canoe with the bark of a tree, sewn up at each end, and smeared over with the gum of caoutchoucona, a most admirable natural juice, which hardens quickly, and is as water-tight as any Sweden pitch. Likewise, to our great comfort, we were shown a sweet-smelling herb called caccanowa, from which issues a thin oil that no flies or insects can abide; so that by rubbing the skin therewith one may sleep all night and never once be bitten by any scorpion, moskitaw, or ant. And besides this we learnt their mode of kindling fire, which is ten times better than our fashion of striking flint and steel together; and this they do by making an engine of two pieces of cane like a child's popgun, only that the ends of these canes are open at one end and closed at the other. In the bottom of the bigger cane they put a store of powdered touchwood; then slipping in the smaller cane, which serves as a rammer, they give it a smart blow with the hand, and this sets fire to the tinder, though as how it passes my comprehension. In short, we picked up more knowledge of herbs, fruits, flowers, birds, beasts, and fishes, with the divers manners of rearing them, with properties of others things, their uses, etc., in those six weeks than I could describe fairly in six months, and so will I go back to my history.
Being come to the Meta, as I say, we made our way to the village of those Ingas who were friendly with ours, and there we were very well received. With them we stayed two days, during which time I showed them the use of the muskets taken from the Portugals, which I had not done before because of wasting the munitions, and in return they gave us as much information as they possessed with regard to descending the river, bidding us beware of certain falls which would certainly be our ruin unless we escaped them by drawing our boat through the woods from the upper river to the lower, and also counseling us to find a suitable shelter as soon as the rains threatened to fall; for they reckoned we could by no means hope to get down even to the Baraquan before the rainy season began.
Then they chose the largest and fittest canoe they had, and gave it us with a free heart; and in this, when we were ready to depart, they set (imprimis) an ample store of buccan and cassavy cakes; (2) vessels for cooking and drinking; (3) a Portugal sword and knife like those they gave to Matthew; (4) three good bows with strings to spare, a hundred arrows, and a small gourd of poison to envenom the points, which poison they do esteem and prize most highly; (5) a gourd of their tinder and two popguns, as I will call them for kindling it; (6) two wands, very curiously wrought with carving of figures, to serve as tokens to other tribes that we were their friends and enemies to all Portugals; (7) two sleeping-nets; (8) a packet of various things, such as medicines against fevers, bites of serpents, etc.; and (9) a couple of soft woven mats which these people do use for blankets. And now, when these good, kind folk had nothing more to give us for our use, they came, every man, woman, and child, and laid their hands on us as a sign of love, so that our hearts ached as we got into the canoe bidding them farewell, and the tears coursed down Lady Biddy's cheeks as she waved her hand to her little friend Wangapona, who, kneeling on the bank by the water-side, covered her face with her hands, as if she could no longer bear to watch one so dearly loved sliding down that river, away, away, never to return.