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Cornugaya Directory 07
Page 07
At Piriatingalini and Puchalini we found light cable suspension bridges,
very shaky, which swung to and fro as you rode over them. Most of them
were not more than four feet wide and had no parapet at all. I cannot say
that I felt particularly happy when my mule--sure-footed, I grant--took
me across, the bridge swinging, quivering, and squeaking with our weight
on it, especially when we were in the middle. The rivers were extremely
picturesque, with high mountains on either side, among which they wound
their way in a snake-like fashion over a rocky bed, forming a series of
cascades. We went that day 25 kil., and arrived at the _tambo_ of
Azupizu, which was in charge of a deserter from the French navy. He was
an extraordinary character. He had forgotten French, and had neither
learnt Spanish nor the local language of the Campas Indians.
The cook on the launch was a lunatic, who was under the impression that
he was the Saviour. It was too pathetic, and occasionally quite alarming,
to see the poor man leaving the cooking stove whenever we passed any
Indians on the banks, when he raised his arms up in the air and,
stretching them forward, gave his benediction to the people he saw,
instead of looking after the boiling rice. His benedictions cost him
frequent kicks and shakings by the neck on the part of the captain of the
launch. He was absorbed in fervent praying during the night. He seldom
condescended to speak to any of us on board, as he said that he was not
living on this earth, but would come back some day to bring peace and
happiness to the whole world. Words of that kind were uttered whilst he
was holding a saucepan in one hand and a ladle in the other. It was
pathetic.
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