In the Wilds of South America

by Leo E. Miller

A colony of cultivator-ants had taken possession of a patch of young cecropia-trees near the house. They carried particles of earth to the branches and formed them into large balls in which the seeds of a succulent plant were sowed and cultivated. The earth was kept loose and moistened and the bunch of tender shoots resembled a clump of mistletoe. In this manner an abundant food-supply was assured.

Florencia was a small village of adobe and bamboo huts, built in anticipation of the opening of Colombian Amazonia, when the new trail across the Andes should be completed. The region is undoubtedly rich in natural resources, and there seemed to be a possibility that the dreams of these pioneer settlers might some day be fulfilled. However, five years later, while aboard the S. S. Vauban, bound for New York, I chanced to meet among the passengers a Colombian with whom I had become acquainted in Florencia. He stated that the climate there had proved so unhealthful that most of the people had died or gone away and the settlement was all but deserted. The elevation of the site, though thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, into which its rivers drain, is only six hundred and seventy-five feet.

During our stay in the vicinity we had occasion to witness a celebration of the feast of San Juan. On the eve of the festival a pig was slaughtered in each hut; those who had none went into the jungle and shot a wild one. The dressed carcass was placed in an oblong wooden bowl, surrounded with plantains, yuccas, and yams, and then baked four hours in a mud oven. The roasts were delicious and every one ate until not a morsel remained, which was far into the night. Next day the fiesta proper began with a bull-fight, local talent, shirtless and in tattered drawers, supplying the places of the gorgeous toreadores, banderilleros, and matadores. This was a fine chance for the youths to display their courage to the weaker sex, which had gathered en masse to witness the performance, and, if one enjoys such spectacles, he would doubtless say that the showing made was quite creditable. The men charged the bull, flourishing their bright-colored ponchos, and when the animal turned the tables and chased them they fled to shelter, as is the custom of the profession. We did not remain to see the finish, but later in the day the women were roasting chunks of beef over open fires. The merrymaking continued for several days, and the latter part of the period consisted in drinking aguardiente, with the resultant fighting that always marks the wind-up of such affairs. The alcalde was a leading spirit in the activities of the festive occasion; he had been a priest at one time, but was excommunicated for preaching sermons of too liberal a nature. Then he married and was rearing a family. He told us that he owned a ranch called La Morelia, two days’ distant from Florencia, and offered to send us there; so we accepted his courtesy with pleasure, as we were eager to see the country farther in the interior.

A faintly defined footpath led to La Morelia. The forest is comparatively open, that is, free from dense undergrowth. The trees are tall and there are a few tree-ferns and palms; many climbing lilies and other epiphytes grow on the trunks and branches. Moss is lacking; near the streams bamboo, wild cane, high grass, and briars, united by creepers, form dense jungles that are hard to penetrate. Streams and rivers are numerous and we were at once impressed with their size and depth. Crossings were effected in dugout canoes. While the current is swift, the waterways are so silent that one is not aware of their existence until reaching their very borders.

We saw little of the Huitoto Indians inhabiting this district. They seem to remain in seclusion in their forest homes and rarely venture into the path of the settlers. Those we encountered were of low stature, yellow in color, and had features so nearly resembling the Japanese that they might be easily mistaken for that race. They are of a shy and retiring disposition. Their ornaments were very elaborate, consisting of anklets, amulets, and necklaces of colored seeds and jaguar and monkey teeth, skilfully wrought into pleasing combinations.

The hut at La Morelia was of large dimensions, built entirely of bamboo, with palm-leaf roof. An unusual feature was that it contained two stories, the lower used to store grain and plantains, the upper serving as living quarters. A clearing about one hundred acres in extent surrounded it; most of it was grass-covered, providing pasturage for a few head of cattle, the remainder was under cultivation. The several acres that had been given to growing plantains produced so abundantly that hundreds of bunches were going to waste. If left to mature on the plant the fruit bursts and is destroyed by insects. The choicest clusters were cut green and then placed in a down-stairs room of the house to ripen. At night hundreds of small bats visited the enclosure to feed on the mountain of rapidly yellowing fruit. We desired some of the creatures for our collections, but found it difficult to catch or shoot them in sufficient numbers. Finally we evolved the plan of suspending a fish-net from the ceiling and tacking out the edges so that it formed a cone with a wide base. A choice bunch of the ripest plantains was placed in the centre for bait. Bats soon gathered about the trap in swarms. At first they were suspicious and circled around the net without attempting to alight; but as their hunger increased so their caution decreased in like proportion, and before long they were striking the conical arrangement from all sides and madly endeavoring to scramble through the small meshes. Some succeeded in forcing their way through the openings and immediately fell upon the bait with ravenous appetites; the vast majority, however, became helplessly entangled in the meshes. Newcomers arrived in a steady stream; they paid no attention to our presence nor to the lights we carried, but frantically hurled themselves into the midst of their struggling brethren, until the net was covered with screeching, scrambling masses.

The house was within a stone’s throw of the Rio Bodoquera—a stream two hundred yards wide. One night a jaguar attacked the cattle and chased them on to a sand-spit that projected out into the stream. We heard the mad bellowing of the frightened animals as they stampeded past the shack, hotly pursued by the snarling jaguar. A few shots sufficed to frighten the big spotted cat back into the jungle, but the cattle refused to leave the strategic position to which they had retreated. The river was rising rapidly, endangering the panic-stricken creatures. Every hand turned out; we took lanterns with us and, manning the canoes, paddled to the far side of the peninsula and attempted to drive them back to the mainland. All our efforts were in vain. The work was very exciting, as enraged members of the herd charged the lights repeatedly when we approached close to them. Finally the water became so deep that the animals had to swim, and then they made for the far side of the river and disappeared from view. It took several days to round them up, but a number were never seen again.

The high, flat-topped panorama of the Andes.

One day a Franciscan priest stopped at the rancho for a short rest. He was engaged in opening a trail to Mocoa. About twenty peons accompanied him, carrying his outfit. His robe was in tatters and his feet were bare; he had spent months in the jungles and showed the effects of hard usage. Each of his men carried an animal of some kind on top of his pack. There were monkeys, parrots, macaws, and a curious little creature belonging to the agouti family (Myoprocta) that they called tin-tin. We had seen numbers of the latter along the river-bank, where they lived in burrows. The flesh is white and of fine flavor. In spite of the hardships the priest and his party had endured they were in the best of humor, and after an hour’s halt shouldered their packs and resumed the march. No one will dispute the fact that men of this type have done a great deal toward exploring unknown parts of South America; usually they are the real trail-breakers and lead the way for the pioneer settlers who are to follow.