Making my way to the principal house, a large structure of split-palms, similar to those already described, I entered the yard, ascended the steps to the porch, and asked for Señor Ordoñez. A young man, who introduced himself as Don Fabio Duarte, the assistant manager, then informed me that Ordoñez was out in the forest with his Indians, but that he was expected back on the following day; meanwhile he invited me to stop with him until Ordoñez came. A seat near the fire soon dried my wet clothes, and a good hot lunch braced me up considerably.
In addition to this principal house there were two or three smaller structures, standing at some distance from each other and from the large one. All the forest for some distance round the establishment was cut down, and upon the fresh, green grass that took its place numerous sleek cattle and horses grazed in peaceful quiet. Some parts of this cleared area were, however, fenced in, and here large plantations of yuca, plantains, maize, &c., were under cultivation, for which purpose the fifteen or twenty racionales that I observed about the house were employed. Under the principal house I observed about a thousand arrobas of rubber stored away, awaiting shipment.
Duarte, who was a very affable and communicative youth, informed me that all this rubber was collected by the Indians in the Company’s service, who came in periodically with what they had collected and exchanged it for merchandise, &c., sold to them at rather exorbitant prices. These aborigines, who belonged to the tribe known as the Huitotos, numbered about two hundred, and lived in villages of their own in the heart of the forest. Other Huitotos were employed by David Serrano, another Colombian settler, living some distance down the Caraparaná, while the greatest portion of them were in the service of the Peruvian Amazon Company,[92] which, Duarte informed me, treated them very harshly, obliging them to work night and day without the slightest remuneration.
I spent the rest of the day in getting data about the Huitotos and in collecting from the racionales—many of whom spoke the language perfectly—a short vocabulary of the most common Huitoto words. Among other interesting facts, I learned that this whole region had first been settled by Colombians, who had been afterwards squeezed out by the Peruvians, until now in the whole district of the Caraparaná and Igaraparaná there remained but three Colombian establishments—La Unión, La Reserva (Serrano’s), and El Dorado, belonging to a negro called Ildefonso Gonzalez.
Señor Duarte informed me, in response to my inquiries regarding the designs of the Peruvian Amazon Company against the Colombians, that the latter had long been aware of them, the said Company having frequently offered to buy them out; these proposals having been refused, the autocratic Company had commenced persecuting them in many ways, such as refusing to sell them supplies, buying their rubber only at a great discount, kidnapping their Indian employees, &c.
In regard to the possibility of an attempt by the Peruvians to dispossess the Colombians by force, Duarte did not consider it probable, for, although the Prefect at Iquitos had sent a number of soldiers up, it had only been done on the representation of the company that a large Colombian force was descending the Putumayo; the Peruvian detachment, seeing for themselves that this report was false, would not countenance any raid on the three Colombian establishments, much less take part in it, and would soon, without doubt, order the release of the unfortunate Corregidor, Martínez. If, on the other hand, they did attempt any such iniquitous proceeding, he continued, the Colombians would oppose them until the last extremity.
The next morning I was disappointed to hear from Duarte that he had just received a message from Ordoñez to the effect that he would not be able to return for several days. This was disheartening, and I did not know what to do until Duarte suggested that I should go down and see Serrano, who, he thought, would do business with us. As this advice seemed rational and as it was only a three-hours walk through the forest I determined to follow it. Accordingly, taking my leave of the hospitable Duarte, who thoughtfully provided me with a Huitoto guide, I set out on my new journey.
The guide seemed to be a fairly intelligent fellow, and gave me a quantity of information about the system of rubber-collection employed in this region. He also went on to inform me that the Peruvians treated his countrymen “very badly”; and when I asked him what he meant by this he gave me to understand that in case the Indians did not bring in a sufficient amount of rubber to satisfy the Peruvians they were flogged, shot, or mutilated at the will of the man in charge. When I asked if the Colombians also indulged in these practices he replied that they did not, for they always treated them well. It is unnecessary to state that I took all this information with a grain of salt, for it seemed to me very improbable.
After getting soaked by another heavy downpour, similar to that of the preceding day, we emerged from the forest and entered a large cleared area, most of which was planted with maize, yuca, plantains, &c., the rest being a sort of pasture-land. Passing through this for some time, we presently came to Serrano’s house, a fair-sized bungalow of the usual type, half concealed by a small orchard of fruit-trees.
Climbing the porch, I found myself in the presence of three men, one of them being a short, middle-aged, coffee-coloured gentleman, while the other two were white and had the appearance of travellers. Introducing myself, I was cordially welcomed by the dark man, who proved to be Serrano, as I had supposed. He, in turn, made me acquainted with the other two, who turned out to be two of the exiles brought down by Becerra, General Miguel Antonio Acosta and Don Alfonso Sánchez. The other exiles, it appeared, had gone down to the Peruvian establishment of El Encanto to catch one of the launches which was about to sail for Iquitos. These two, however, had decided to stop with Serrano a few days on account of the illness of Sánchez, who was prostrated by a fierce attack of malarial fever.