What a pleasant sensation it was to sit calmly in the canoe, while the swift current bore us steadily onwards, and to watch the thick, tropical vegetation, which lined the banks of the stream, swiftly recede until hidden from view by a bend of the river! How different it was from the monotonous climbing and descending of the Andes that had caused us so much toil!
Several times we passed through places that seemed to me perilous in the extreme, for the whirling current would dash us with frightful rapidity directly towards some huge stump or half-submerged log, while other obstacles of a similar nature appeared on every hand. We seemed to be almost upon it, when a deft turn of the popero’s paddle would bring us to one side by a margin of three or four inches. Again, we would shoot some small rapid; the canoe would give a jump, and the next instant we would dash the water out of our half-blinded eyes, and, looking around, would see the rapid far behind us.
We saw plenty of wild turkeys, wild ducks, and monkeys on the trees near the bank, while occasionally a river seal, or nutria, would be seen curled up on a log or disporting itself near the shore. All these animals seemed quite tame, and would allow us to approach within a few metres, and then, just as we were taking aim, off they would go. Finally, after wasting a good many shots—for it is no easy matter to shoot from a rapidly moving canoe—I managed to kill a nice fat pava, or wild turkey, and one of Materón’s men shot a duck.
At noon we stopped on a gravel playa for lunch, which consisted chiefly of panela and aco, and took us only some fifteen minutes. Then we continued about two hours, when we entered the much-discussed Putumayo, much larger than when we saw it in the Andes, but still not a large river. It was low, and the high banks and the exposed islet were completely covered with the debris it had brought down in the wet season, such as huge logs, branches of trees, bamboo poles, &c.
During the afternoon we continued to observe large numbers of birds and monkeys, which made the whole forest resound with their ear-numbing howls. Great flocks of parrots and other gaily plumaged birds flew overhead, their rather harsh voices being heard continually. We shot at several, but whether they were too high for our guns, or, as was probably the case, our aim was inaccurate, we did not get a single specimen. We did, however, kill two or three more ducks.
These ducks are generally to be seen perched up in the trees along the banks or else on some stump in mid-stream, although occasionally one perceives them floating with the current or swimming on the surface of the water. They dive with lightning-like rapidity, and very often succeed in getting away, even when hit severely. Their vitality is amazing, and they are not slow to bite one if they are not quite dead on being picked up.
At about 4 p.m. we reached the tiny Cioni village of San Diego, a small group of about ten little bamboo shacks on the right bank of the river. The whole village came out to welcome us as we rather stiffly climbed out of our canoes, for it seemed that Materón was very popular with them. They brought out a few fruits and a small jar of the yuca-nazata, already described, which we respectfully refused. They are in all respects similar to those of Puerto Guineo, and each of the little huts contained two or three families. Materón informed us that they had but recently established themselves here, abandoning their old village on the other bank of the river on account of a severe epidemic that had broken out among them and killed nearly half their number.
We spent the rest of the afternoon trading with them, giving them some of our beads, harmonicas, mirrors, hats, handkerchiefs, &c., for a few of their manufactures, such as hammocks, yactas, strings of monkey and danta teeth, combs, and the like. They are no fools at bargaining, and have a pretty good idea of the value of the articles they are acquainted with; they are also rather clever at demonstrating what labour it has cost them and how much time they have spent in making any article that one fancies; so, on the whole, we did not get much the better of them.
At bedtime, which was about nine o’clock, the capitán and gobernador showed us the corner that we were to occupy in conjunction with a couple of Cioni families, and helped us fix up our hammocks. Following the example of our hosts, we did not trouble to undress very much, but soon fell asleep, and did not awake until time for desayuno.
Early next morning, after taking leave in a most affectionate manner of our hosts, who supplied us with several bunches of plantains and a quantity of yucas and an agreeable fruit known as the papaya, we set out on our easy and interesting journey. At about noon we passed the mouth of the Guamués, the outlet of Lake Cocha, which seemed almost as large as the Putumayo itself. During the morning we succeeded in shooting a couple of wild turkeys and several ducks; one of the former was almost lost on account of having fallen in a lot of thick bushes some distance from the shore.