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Cornugaya Directory 09
Page 01
The descent was steep, and most trying for us among the great boulders
over which we had to climb on our hands and feet. When we got to the
bottom of this elevated country, the forest we found had quite a
different aspect, which suggested to me the approach of the big river. We
found there plenty of wild fruit, particularly some small black
berries--called in Brazilian _pattaoa_--quite good to eat; also some
most palatable tiny red cherries. We wasted a good deal of time picking
up the fruit instead of marching, my men complaining all day long of an
empty stomach. They would not take my advice to march quickly, so that we
might then get plenty of food on the river. During the last few days, as
I knew we must have been near the camp where I had left my men in charge
of my baggage, we had constantly been firing sets of three shots--the
agreed signal--in order to locate the exact spot where they were. But we
had received no answer. Failing that, it was impossible to locate them
exactly in the virgin forest, unless we had plenty of time and strength
at our disposal.
On October 1st we had more trouble cutting our way through, as we again
found great ferns and palms, especially near streamlets of water, and
quantities of fallen trees, which made us continually deviate from our
direction. The forest was indeed dirty and much entangled in that
section, and thus made our march painful, liane catching my feet and head
all the time, tearing my ears and nose--especially when the man who
walked in front of me let them go suddenly and they swung right in my
face. Thorns dug big grooves into my legs, arms and hands. To make
matters worse, the high fever seemed to exhaust me terribly. Worse luck,
a huge boil, as big as an egg, developed under my left knee, while
another of equal size appeared on my right ankle, already much swollen
and aching. The huge shoes given me by the trader--of the cheapest
manufacture--had already fallen to pieces. I had turned the soles of them
into sandals, held up by numerous bits of string, which cut my toes and
ankles very badly every time I knocked my feet against a tree or stone.
My feet were full of thorns, so numerous that I had not the energy to
remove them. The left leg was absolutely stiff with the big boil, and I
could not bend it.
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