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THE OVER-SEAS LIBRARY

GUIANA

WILDS

JAMES RODWAV

Wberi are
which are the

"THE OVE

r of the Empire"? and
? At "the Ends" of one
come,
iking
edily
r the

nm,

X^.w. ^•cU.^ViAt ov^^c. Cover
ma\es it thing to the rest of the world. And the
artist is generally absent ! In the case of the English
in India , ten years ago, while the literature of
information was plentiful, the artist was absent;
Mr* Kjpling arrived and discovered modern India to

the English imagination. And to-day, in the midst of
a general movement for Em fire expansion, with talk
of Federation, Jingoism, and with the doing of real
work, the artists in literature are generally absent,
the artists who should repeal the tendencies, the
hidden strength and weakness, the capacities of the
new communities.

The aim of " The Ol>er-Seas Library " is purely
experimental. It proposes to print literature from
any quarter that deals with the attual life of the
English outside England, whether of Colonial life or
the life of English emigrants, travellers, traders,
officers, over-seas, among foreign and native races,
black or white. Pictures of life in the American
States will not necessarily be excluded.

" The O^er-Seas Library" makes no pretence at
Imperial drum-beating, or putting English before
Colonial opinion. It aims, instead, at getting the
atmosphere and outlook of the new peoples recorded,
if such is possible. It aims at being an Interchange
between all parts of the Empire without favour, an
Interchange of records of the life of the English-
speaking peoples, and of the Englishmen beyond seas,
however imperfect, fragmentary and modest such
records or accounts may be.

The Editor will be glad to receive any MSS.
addressed to him, c/o the Publisher.

E. G.

1 1 , Paternoster 'Buildings,
London.

1899.

The . .
Overseas
Library .

IN GUIANA WILDS

Xist of tbe Series.

I. THE I PANE.

th subtle grace and

" Every page is instinct with s

beauty." — Saturday Rcinciv.
" Mad excellence ... not to be measured in

cash."— Daily Chronicle.
" Astonishingly clever." — Echo.

II. THE CAPTAIN OF THE LOCUSTS.
III. IN GUIANA WILDS.

(Others in preparation.)

JAMES RODWAY^

IN GUIANA WILDS

A STUDY OF TWO WOMEN

LONDON

T. FISHER UNWIN

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

M DCCC XCIX

OVERSEAS LIBRARY

PRESERVATION
COPY ADDED
ORIGINAL TO BE
RETAINED

SEP 2 5 1992

[A/I rights reserved.}

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. ON THE ETAROONIE . . . .II

II. IN THE FOREST . . . . 26

III. BENIGHTED . . . . 38

IV. THE WEDDING .... 48
V. " WHEN A MAN'S MARRIED " . -63

VI. TROUBLE BEGINS .... 78

VII. FROM ANGEL TO DEVIL . . -93

VIII. UP THE ESSEQUEBO . . . 106

IX. THE INITIATION . . . -125

X. THE MACUSI CHIEF . . . 138

XI. A PROPHET . . . . -ISO

XII. THE WHITE VALLEY . . . 164

XIII. VENGEANCE . . . . . 177

XIV. THE CAMOUDI-KENAIMA . . . lyo

Contents

Cll.U'. I'AGK

XV. IN PERIL ... . 205

XVI. THE DEATH STRUGGLE . . 219

XVII. THE FLIGHT FROM RORAIMA 231

XVIII. ARRIVED AT ARANAMA . . 246

XIX. AT THE MISSION HOUSE . . • 259

IN GUIANA WILDS

CHAPTER I

ON THE ETAROONIE

TAKE the dug-out if you like, but don't
blame me if she gives you a soaking.
She is cranky, and the tide will soon be falling.
Besides, you can't swim."

"Now, don't make a row, Bunting. If you
won't lend me the canoe, say so and be done."

Well, then, do as you like, Gordon, but I've
warned you. Much better wait till Chloe
comes back from the shop, and have the bateau ;
she won't be long."

The two speakers were standing in front of
a troolie hut, surrounded by fruit trees and
backed by the interminable forest. Before
them lay the dark brown waters of the
Etaroonie creek, on the margin of which,
moored to a breadfruit-tree, floated the tiny
dug-out in question. The tide was at its fullest,

1 1

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and as it flowed up the river Demerara the
waters of the Etaroonie were dammed back, as
it were, and driven lazily towards the bend
which cut off from view everything but a great
pile of trees and creepers.

But Gordon knew that this was the way to
the primeval forest, and he was eager to begin
exploring at once. True, he had never handled
a paddle until yesterday, when he came up
from Georgetown with Theophilus Bunting ;
but what of that? It was easy enough, and
besides, when would his host's daughter be
back? In Demerara " not long" meant any-
thing from half an hour to a whole morning.

All Bunting's protests were unavailing.
Gordon got into the boat with difficulty, and
pushed out into the stream, the dug-out rocking
from side to side, but just keeping from sinking
under water. The young dry-goods clerk found
its management rather difficult, but with the
boviander looking smilingly at his efforts he
bit his lips and applied himself to the work of
steering.

The backward current took him round the
first bend, and at once he was entranced with

In Guiana Wilds

the wild beauty of the scene. Overhead the
trees of the forest met, and below there were
grouped palms, tree-ferns, and marantas every-
where festooned with vines and epiphytes. He
let his eyes feast upon one picture after another
as the sluggish backwater carried him farther
and farther without exertion on his part, and he
began to feel glad that he had not waited for
Chloe. It was good to be here, away from all
the worries of the store, the abuse from negro
women, the humbugging of coolies, and the
difficulties of pleasing the white ladies of
Georgetown. If his holiday was going to be
as pleasant for the whole week, how splendid it
would be ! Why, he could remain here for
ever, idly floating, and drinking in this pleasant
reek of the forest.

An hour passed during which the canoe had
floated about half a mile, now and again push-
ing her head into the thorny palms or bushes
on either side, but otherwise giving no trouble.
Presently, however, as the tide turned at the
mouth of the creek, she began to retrace her
course, with the result that Gordon had much
ado to keep from drifting backwards. Now he

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understood Bunting's warning, for all his
exertions failed to keep her straight. Now the
dug-out turned quite round, and now his back
was pierced by the needles of the bactris, and
his head grazed by the formidable hooks which
hung from the horrid desmoncus.

The current ran more and more swiftly, but
Gordon would not give up. To be carried
down past the hut, and to hear the boviander
call out, "I told you so!" No. If Chloe
could manage it, why not he ? His self-conceit,
however, was now beginning to ooze from him,
as the perspiration flowed down his face. For
the canoe rocked most alarmingly, letting a little
water flow over the edge, and bumping against
a log which lay in mid-stream. He tugged with
the paddle, but the craft seemed to know that
she was in the hands of a novice. His strokes
made her turn half round, but the current was
too strong, and in a few moments her head was
pointing anywhere but up-stream. He pushed
her off from among the thorns on one bank only
to find them scratching the back of his neck on
the other.

Down the stream the canoe floated, broadside

In Guiana Wilds

on, her occupant at last giving up the struggle,
for the thorns and creepers gave him as much
work as he could do by ducking or leaning to
either side to avoid them. Suddenly the canoe
was checked by the branch of a submerged tree
—it leaned — water poured over one side, and it
settled down.

The banks were quite cl'ose, but Gordon saw
in a flash there was no possibility of landing in
such a thicket even if he could have crossed the
few yards of rushing water. Above his head
hung a trailing vine — a bignonia with magnifi-
cent golden blossoms. As the canoe slipped
from beneath him, he grasped the vine, and
immediately found himself in the water up to
the armpits.

By this time the creek was running with the
force of a rapid, and he felt as if something
were pulling at his legs. Instinctively he cried
out " Help ! " and then remembering the bush
cry which he had heard, almost screamed
" Hoo-hoo-hoo ! "

But who was there to help him ? Bunting's
hut was half a mile away, and even if he heard
his cries, there was no boat until Miss Chloe

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came from the shop. Had she come yet ?
This was the point, for if he let himself float
down-stream, they could not get at him without
a craft.

His arms ached, ants bit his fingers, his legs
were sucked along by the current like one of
those submerged weeds which grow in running
streams. He remembered the stories of water-
mammas, and how they drew swimmers down
into their haunts beneath the waters. Then
there were the perai, the fish which in some
rivers snatch pieces of flesh from people who
come within their reach. Now he shouted
afresh as the tugging became stronger, and
broke out again suddenly when a floating leaf
tickled his legs.

Soon his body and limbs felt dull and heavy,
but his mind became all the more active. A
perfect panorama from his early life passed
quickly before him ; the views almost seemed
to be present. There was the house in Glasgow
which he knew so well, and the little garden
behind where he had so often played. His
mother, elder brother, and sisters seemed to be
again discussing his engagement in Demerara

In Guiana Wilds

as they sat- round the fire. It was all so
ridiculously lifelike in his mind. He remem-
bered his mother saying—

" Allan, my son, do not forget your kirk ; I
hear they have a good minister at St. Andrew's,
Georgetown."

Then his elder brother Watty spoke—

" Now, Allan, don't follow the example of
the young men out there ; I hear they are very
immoral."

Then came his sister's voices telling him to
take care of his health and not to go into the
bush among the snakes and wild beasts.

Now his mind wandered to his position and
the probability of Miss Chloe having yet arrived.
Again he shouted, but his voice had become
weaker.

Presently the vine began to loosen its hold
on the tree, and he sunk farther down into the
dark water, which began to lave his face.
Then a great bush came floating down-stream.
It caught him in its tangle, his hands relaxed
their hold, and in a moment his head was under
water ; he lost his senses ; he was floating down
towards the Demerara river.

c B 17

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He woke to find himself lying on the bed in
the troolie hut, with Miss Chloe Bunting leaning
over him, trying to restore warmth to his chilled
fingers. He shivered, notwithstanding that it
was midday and in the tropics. His limbs were
racked with pain for a few minutes, but pre-
sently a sweet languor came over him. Through
the dim haze which clouded his eyes he seemed
to see a handsome girl (or an angel) moving
about the room for a little while, and then
came a dreamless, refreshing sleep.

While Gordon is sleeping let us take a look
at this primitive home and its inhabitants. A
century before the spot was in front of a sugar
plantation, and a few old fruit trees still indi-
cated that some care had been taken of the place.
How it came into the hands of Theophilus
Bunting was a question which he himself could
hardly answer. No doubt he was descended
from the former owner, but to trace this descent
through his Dutch, English, Indian, and negro
ancestors would be virtually impossible. His
wife was a pure Arawak, a quiet little woman,
whose presence in the hut was scarcely felt.

Like most bovianders, Bunting was a shift-

In Guiana Wilds

less kind of individual, who managed to live
without doing much work. Now and again he
did a little wood-cutting, the proceeds of which
gave him a drunken spree when he went to
Georgetown, but almost the whole burden of
housekeeping fell upon his Indian wife. She,
with the casual help of her daughter Chloe,
cultivated a field of cassava and some other
vegetables, to flavour which now and again her
husband brought the results of a clay's hunting
or fishing.

Chloe Bunting — or, as she had been chris-
tened, Chloe Christina Adelaide Louisa — was
undoubtedly handsome, notwithstanding the
trace of negro blood she inherited from her
father. Of a warm brownish complexion, she
contrasted favourably with the white women
of Demerara, who generally look sickly pale.
Let alone by fashion her body was well
developed; she could paddle, swim, fish, shoot,
and use the hoe and cutlass in the provision
ground. Not yet seventeen, she was robustly
made, as Allan had noticed when he arrived
at the hut the previous afternoon.

Allan Gordon was a new arrival at Hickson's

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dry-goods store in Georgetown. His cheeks
had lost their first freshness and were begin-
ning to pale, but he was handsome and young.

A certain course of science lectures and
many readings of Waterton's " Wanderings "
had set firm in his mind a plan to visit the
tropics. Chancing on a Glasgow advertise-
ment for a clerk to go out to Demerara, he
applied at once, and thought himself very
fortunate when Hickson's agent wrote that his
application had been accepted. Now, he
thought, his dreams were going to come true ;
he would see something of the tropical world,
negroes in the cane-field, and Indians in the
forest. His mother was frightened when she
heard he was going to Demerara, the land
of yellow fever, caymans, and great serpents.
A West Indian minister on his furlough, how-
ever, dispelled her fears of disease and danger
in some respect, but he hinted that a young
man was exposed to many temptations in the
city of Georgetown.

However, Allan would not listen to any of
these objections, booked his passage, and
arrived, and took his place as one of Hickson's

In Guiana Wilds

clerks. But instead of opportunities of visiting
the forest he had to settle down to the
drudgery of attending to the store, beset by
women the like of whom he had hitherto
never seen. The East Indians were interesting,
as were also the Chinese, but the dressy negro
woman was awful. Two young fellows who
came out in the same steamer with him were
so shocked at the rudeness and insults they
got all day long that, at the risk of a breach
of contract prosecution, they fled the store in
a few weeks. Allan, however, hoped soon
to get opportunities for a trip to the bush,
and therefore kept on. Now and then he saw
a party of Indians, or " Bucks," as they were
called, and sometimes met a boviander with
whom he could chat about hunting and fishing
on the rivers.

One of these bovianders was Theophilus
Bunting, who, in town, used to come shopping
for his daughter Chloe. Many a little chat the
two had in the store, with the ending that on
his first holiday the young Scotchman found
himself among the people living " 'bov yander "
on the Etaroonie.

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He had arrived too late in the afternoon to
clo more than look round the troolie hut, but
even here he was struck with the wild rank-
ness of the vegetation. The fruit trees were
covered with scrambling creepers and often
infested with vegetable parasites. The inevit-
able calabash-tree was there, and on it grew
two or three orchids which had been placed
there by Miss Chloe ; there were also half
a dozen boxes containing such ornamental
plants as crotons and dracaenas ; all the rest
was jungle.

The home of the boviander was wanting in
many comforts, yet everything really needed
for a tropical climate was there. Protection
from sun and rain, and uprights for attaching
the hammock-ropes were given by the troolie
thatch and the posts of the shed ; what more
did they want? However, for the sake of
privacy, a partition of troolie thatch screened
off about one-third of the dwelling, and here
Miss Chloe had a real bedstead, a packing^
case for a dressing-table, and even a small
looking-glass.

Jn this little apartment Allan found himself

In Guiana Wilds

when he woke very early in the morning after
his misadventure. At first he hardly knew
where he was, but suddenly came the remem-
brance of the swirling water which had closed
over his head. He heard some one moving
about behind the partition, and presently Miss
Chloe came in with a cup of steaming coffee
and a cake of cassava bread.

She smiled as his questioning eyes met hers,
but would not stay to tell him how he had
been rescued. Simply pointing to his dry
clothes she left him to dress as soon as he
had drunk his coffee.

Feeling fit and quite himself again, Allan
came out and faced the family and all the
congratulations on his narrow escape — all but
the mother's, for the Indian woman said nothing.
But Bunting was to the fore, smiling, shaking
his finger, and saying—

"Ha! ha! You young Buckras think we
bovianders foolish for true when we come to
town, but in the bush where are you ? Next
time you won't go out without one of us.

J O

Chloe picked you up at the mouth of the creek
or you would have been feeding the sharks by
this time." 23

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Allan looked gratefully at Miss Chloe.

"Then I have to thank Miss Bunting," he
said, " for saving my life ; however did she do
it?"

u Don't say anything about that," - Miss
Chloe beamed at him — " I only dragged you
into my bateau."

Allan looked at the little craft which lay
moored within a few yards, and thought of
his difficulties with the canoe. True, the
bateau was not quite so cranky as the dug-
out, but how a young girl could have dragged
his senseless body from the water without up-
setting it was a problem. As he thought of the
canoe he also remembered that through his
foolishness it had sunk, and, as he supposed,
had been lost.

" Oh, Miss Bunting ! " he said, in a confused,
apologetic way, " your dug-out is lost through
my idiocy."

Miss Chloe laughed and pointed to the bread-
fruit tree, where, sure enough, the impudent
little dug-out floated uninjured.

" Father got it up at low water ; let me show
you what I can do with it."

In Guiann Wilds

So saying, the girl took up her own paddle,
and in a few moments was moving up and
down the creek and on the river as if she and
the canoe were one.

When she came back, glowing from her little
bit of exertion, she asked Allan if he still
wished to take "a walk" up the creek.

He smiled at the idea of walking on the
water, but as the expression was a common
one on the Demerara river he said nothing but
that he was ready to go anywhere as long as he
had some one with him that knew how to
manage the craft.

With this he looked at Chloe in a way that
said, "If you come," and she, seeming to under-
stand, replied, "If father cannot go, I will take
you."

CHAPTER II

IN THE FOREST

A FLOCK of parrots were screaming over-
JL~\. head, and several toucans barked from
the tops of the high moras, as, after morning
coffee, Allan and Chloe embarked for their
" walk " on the creek. The tide was running
up and driving back the dark waters, so that
paddling was not difficult. Mr. Bunting had
promised to take Allan into the forest, but
from a sudden difficulty with one of his wood-
cutters he was obliged to let his daughter take
his place. There was no question of propriety ;
Chloe was quite able to take care of herself
and the visitor as well.

The morning was delightfully cool. A heavy
dew had fallen, and the marantas and other
large-leaved plants were covered with films of
water, ready to drench the unwary if they
brushed against them in passing. As the

In Guiana Wilds

foliage rose to greet the sun great drops slid
off, to fall into the bateau. Everything was
fresh and sweet, and the reek of the forest was
toned down for a few hours.

Allan took up a paddle and began to imitate
his companion, but the little craft rocked so
much that Chloe asked him to give up. This
was her own bateau, she said, and she could
easily manage it alone. If he tried to paddle
they would be carried among the " Comawarrie
pimplers."

Allan gazed in the direction to which she
pointed and shuddered at the sight of a triply-
armed clump of palms, the needles of which
were five or six inches long. Chloe gave them
a wide berth, and kept well in the middle of
the stream, by which she also avoided the
hooks of the desmoncus which were hung out
as if to catch the unwary.

As the bateau moved round one bend after
another the most lovely groups of palms, tree-
ferns, and festooned trees met their gaze.
Allan could do nothing but feast his eyes ; it
was a revelation — a fairyland. Save for the
distant note of some bird, or the weird howl-

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ing of the " baboon/' not a sound could be
heard. Now and again a beautiful blue
morpho butterfly rose and fell as it crossed
the creek, or a few frightened bats fluttered
from a hollow tree, but otherwise there was
not a sign of life.

Everything was new ; everything beautiful
and grand. The size of the trees, the con-
trasts of the foliage, and the magnificence of
the flowers struck Allan with amazement. The
branches met so far above his head that he
could hardly distinguish those of one tree from
those of its neighbour — all were interlocked
to form one immense arcade. Now and again

a trunk leaned over the creek, and they had
to crouch down ; everywhere were long cords
dangling from the rosettes of philodendrums,
which had to be waved aside. A fallen tree
could only be passed by their getting on the
trunk and dragging the little craft over ; here
Allan could see the advantage of a light
bateau.

On and on they went, taking no heed of
time. Chloe would not admit that she was
tired ; in fact she had often gone quite to the

In Guiana Wilds

head of the creek, where some of her Indian
relatives lived, without feeling fatigued. She
paddled in that easy manner so common among
the bovianders, not so silently as the Indian,
but without the noisy bumping of the boatmen
who live nearer the mouth of the river. At
first Allan had asked one question after another
about the trees and flowers, but as they seemed
endless in their variety, at last he gave himself
up to the influence of his surroundings. No
wonder, he thought, that the Indian is so
quiet ; the glamour of the forest is over him.

Soon the series of moving pictures became
almost too much for his eyes ; they were tired,
and refused to be strained any longer. Allan
then gave himself up to the blissful feeling of
resting them ; yet at the same time he almost
wished that he might float on like this for
ever. To experience such pleasure was worth
all the troubles and difficulties of life ; it was
good to be there.

Chloe began to sing " Pull for the shore,
sailor," with a voice that re-echoed from the
depths of the forest and the canopy above.
Allan started from his reverie and looked

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over his shoulder. Chloe's face glowed with
the exercise of paddling, her bosom throbbed,
and the muscles of her bare arms stood forth
like those of an athlete. He admired the
graceful way in which she kept time to her
song. Here was no stiff wooden figure made
up of corset and wrappings, but a woman of
flesh and blood, and not afraid of it. He
would like to have taken his seat beside her,
but the tiny bateau could only carry one behind
the other. He dared not move, for when he
did so it rocked from side to side as if about
to turn over.

Chloe sat as if she and the craft were one ;
she knew what it could do, and it seemed
almost as if it in turn knew her as a mistress.
Allan, on the contrary, began to feel cramped
from remaining so long in one position ; he
wanted to stretch his legs. Although charmed
with the scenery of the creek, he yet wanted to
go into the forest.

Chloe said they might land at the first
opening ; here the bank of vegetation was too
dense. To clear a pathway through this tangle
would have been heavy work for a strong man,

In Guiana Wilds

and would require a long time. A little farther
on was a woodcutter's path ; there they would
have no trouble.

Arrived at the opening, Chloe ran the bateau
ashore, fastened it to a tree, and helped Allan
to land. He wanted to play the cavalier by
handing her out, but she was too quick for
him. Then they wandered through the almost
obliterated track, the girl at every step making
Allan feel that this was her home and not his.

Near the creek the ground was boggy, and
they could only save themselves from flounder-
ing in the oozy pegass by skipping from one
rotten stick to another. Once it had been a
corduroy road for hauling timber ; now only
one or two of the harder logs remained.
Here the girl had to help the man, who
hardly knew how to move over such slippery
places.

However, they got away from the low
ground in a few minutes, and came to the
foot of a sandhill, from whence trickled many
little streams, which went to form the morass
over which they had just passed. Here they
came upon one of the prettiest of forest scenes

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—a natural fernery. Clumps of graceful tree-
ferns rose to a height of twenty feet ; below
and around them a hundred smaller species
clothed the ever-moist sandbank. The
membranous kinds varied in size from tiny
heart-shaped films half an inch in diameter
to large feathery species two feet high. They
formed cushions and rosettes at the bases of
the tree-ferns, or crept up their stems, putting
forth delicate fronds as if to embellish them.
Here also Allan found his first orchid, a
Brassia, a sprig of which he gathered and
handed to Chloe, who pinned it in her
bosom.

Even Chloe was pleased with the beauty.
She made a cup of a maranta leaf, and dipped
it full of eool water from one of the springs.
Allan thought he had never tasted anything so
delicious. He suddenly found himself very
thirsty, and would have kissed the hand that
gave him the nectar had he dared. If only
there had been a place where they could sit
down he would like to stay to watch the
forest. Nothing he had seen in conser-
vatories at home could be compared with

In Guiana Wilds

this, but here hardly a human being ever
came — certainly none that could appreciate
its loveliness.

The great drawback was the reeking
moisture ; this prevented them from lingering.
Chloe went forward up the hill, her cutlass in
hand to clear away some of the young saplings
and creepers, which appeared to be trying their
level best to close up the path. Here again
Allan felt his utter uselessness as compared
with the girl. She could cut her way through
the forest, and he was forced to admire the
manner in which she did it. Once he asked
her to let him try his hand with the sharp
instrument, but he was soon obliged to give
up. Chloe gave one cut and the obstruction
fell ; Allan chopped and chopped again at a
bush rope, but it only bent for a moment.
He handed back the cutlass with an apolo-
getic smile and a confession of ignorance.
How could he be expected to become an accom-
plished bushman all at once? His companion
certainly did not want his help ; for she had so
often wandered about in the forest that the
cutlass was quite familiar — she took it up as

c c 33

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a fine lady does her fan, but for use rather
than ornament.

The trees on the slope were not very large,
but they grew so close together that the
thicket was particularly dense. The dim
twilight was perpetual ; not a single ray of
the burning sun could reach the ground ;
therefore no plants grew either in the rich
brown humus or on the tree-trunks. How
steamy it was ! Sweat oozed from every pore
of Allan's body.

On and on they went for about a mile, when
a glow of sunlight appeared at the end of the
bush path, like that which comes at the exit of
a tunnel. Almost relieved, they greeted it as
a friend, and presently enjoyed the contrast as
they entered a little clearing. Here was an old
palm-thatched shed, which had been used a
year or two before by the woodcutters, but
which was now fast going to ruin. However,
it afforded a shelter from the burning sun,
which very soon drove them under its broken
and decaying roof.

Chloe told her companion that long ago this
clearing had been the home of her grandfather,

In Guiana Wilds

the Arawak chief. He had been one of the
last of the commissioned Indian captains on
the Demerara River, and had been treated
with respect by most of the bovianders. The
benab had long fallen to pieces before the
woodcutters built this little shed ; but the
clearing still remained to show that the red
man had once lived here. Round about were
clumps of caladiums and belladonna lilies,
monster thickets of silk grass, and a bed of
wild canes. That glowing crimson caladium
was a beena, used to insure success in hunting ;
yonder pretty bed of lilies, which might, Allan
thought, have graced any flower-garden, was
grown for the same purpose. The silk grass
provided strings for the bow, and the wild canes
.made beautiful arrow-shafts.

The chief had died here, and had been
buried in the sand ; and then the settlement
was deserted. Somewhere under the lilies
and caladiums lay a few bones of the man
who once rubbed the acrid roots of these
beenas into cuts on his breast or arm before
going out to encounter the jaguar. His family
had all departed, but the plants remained, and

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would indicate his former presence until the
clearing was again overgrown by the forest.

Round the margin several fine cocorite palms
were growing, and under them, in advance of
the forest, great beds of pineapples. Chloe
looked for fruit, and was fortunate enough to
find one or two that were ripe. It was a find !
Here was no water, and they had not encum-
bered themselves with a supply of provisions ;
the pineapples were meat and drink at the
same time.

In the shed was an old barbecue, a sort of
gridiron made of sticks, used for smoking meat
and also as a bedstead on occasion. It was
uncomfortable and uneven, but Allan and
Chloe thoroughly enjoyed their feast and the
rest after their hot walk.

But Allan wished to see the Mourie, of which
Chloe had told him, and soon they again took
to the path through the forest. After walking
a little way the trees became thinner and more
stunted, and suddenly they came out into the
open. A glittering white expanse of sand lay-
before them, quite dazzling to the eye. If it
was steamy hot in the forest, here it was

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furnace-like. Allan felt the burning sand
through the soles of his boots, and he could
see the air vibrating as it does above molten
metal. No one could bear such intense heat
and live ; Chloe said they must come early in
the morning if they wished to explore the
place. Allan could only see that the clumps
of low bushes here and there bore yellow
flowers, which glowed like fire amidst their
hard leaves, and then was glad to again enter
the forest.

They hurried back to the shed, and in a
few minutes were refreshing themselves with
another pineapple.

CHAPTER III

BENIGHTED

IN the tropics every animal rests during the
hottest part of the day, and man follows
their example by enjoying a siesta. Chloe
generally took a nap in her hammock for an
hour or two ; but owing to her forest excursion
she intended to do without it for one day. The
time had already passed, but she had not felt
tired until the intense heat of the Mourie had
affected her ; now that she was seated on the
barbecue a languid feeling came over her, and
she nodded. There was no particular necessity
for returning at once ; and when her head
drooped and she fell asleep resting against one
of the posts, Allan did not care to disturb her.
In some things she was like a child ; she could
sleep under almost any circumstances.

Allan felt a similar languor stealing over

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him ; and although the bare sticks were not
a soft couch, something like what he had felt
in church on a hot summer's day made him
nod. At first his thoughts wandered to the
journey up the creek and the walk through the
forest. Then came memories of what he had
read as a boy : the ideal Indian and the forest
of Cooper and Mayne Reid. He had now
seen an Indian woman, and a very pleasant
one — the mother of the girl so quietly sleeping
beside him. They called her a " buckeen " ;
how much prettier than the word squaw, which
the Indian romancer was so fond of using.
And Chloe must be a half-blood. How absurd !
However entertaining the old stories might be,
the reality was quite different — delightfully
different. One thought followed another until
he also lost consciousness.

Four o'clock came, and five also passed, to
find the pair still sleeping. Now the birds
began to wake up and search for their evening-
food, but Allan and Chloe were lost to the
approach of night. Both had sunk down on
the platform of sticks until their shoulders
rested against each other. Now and again

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they moved a little as the uneven seat became
uncomfortable, but did not wake.

Six o'clock came, and the clearing was no
longer light. The sun went down behind the
trees, the birds retired, one by one the stars
came out, and night fell. The forest was black
as pitch, but under the shed Allan and the
boviander girl knew nothing of the change.
Presently the bats came forth from their lurk-
ing-places, the hum of insect-life began, and
the goat-sucker went past uttering its weird
cry, " Who are you?" "Who — who are
you-u ? "

Allan woke with a start ; he wondered for a
moment where he was. Feeling the soft, yield-
ing body of Chloe leaning against him, he
realised their position, and cried out—

" Wake up ! wake up ! It's night ! How can
we find our way home ? "

Chloe was also alarmed. The path through
the forest was not easy by day ; in the darkness
it would be impossible to find it. If they could
get to the morass, how could they find the
logs ? Between them the ooze was deep and
treacherous ; they might be smothered.

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" Have you any matches, Mr. Gordon ? "

Allan was not a smoker ; he wished he had
been. Without fire, food, or covering from
the damp, they were indeed helpless. With
matches they might at least have had a camp-
fire to cheer them up, and possibly Chloe could
have found some hiawa bushes to make torches.
In their absence she could do nothing. The
pair hardly dared to move beyond the shed for
fear of not finding it again. The stars shone
brightly, but there was no moon ; it would have
been pleasanter if her serene light had silvered
the clearing, but she would not have helped
them to find their way. Better to remain here
in this absurd position than to be lost in the
forest, where perhaps even daylight would not
help them. If it did not rain they would be
fairly comfortable.

" Whatever will father say ? How very
stupid of me to go on sleeping ! Oh ! Mr.
Gordon, to think that I should be such a
bother to you ! "

Allan soothed her as well as he could by
taking the affair lightly. After the first shock
he did not think much of it ; it was an adven-

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ture — something to tell the Georgetown men
when he got back. This long sleep had set
him up, and a night in the forest seemed to be
a part of the strange day.

Chloe continued to blame herself. Her
father would be alarmed. Then there was this
man, who had never spent a night in the
forest ; he was a fresh hand, and might be
taken ill. But there were her friends. True,
" Mrs. Grundy " is not very important in
boviander society, but even here a certain
attention was given to propriety. People would
talk ! People would make sly remarks when
they heard of her spending a whole night in the
forest with a white man. Not that such a
thing would injure her in any way in their
eyes ; many of them would have been pleased
to be in her place.

But nothing could be done ; here they were,
and here they must stay until sunrise. Hand
in hand they groped about to find another pine-
apple, which they were lucky enough to get hold
of, but not without several scratches from its
serrated leaves. Chloe pared off the thick rind
with her cutlass as well as she could in the

In Guiana Wilds

darkness, and Allan again felt how utterly
useless he was. Then they sat down together
on the barbecue to spend the long night as best
they could.

Never before did a night appear so long.
But they were not unhappy now they were
facing the inevitable. They were virtually
imprisoned, yet it was holy ground. For here
Allan's love blossomed, and Chloe had a
woman's instinct : she knew more than he did.
They were so close that coquetry on her part
would aid Allan ! But a boviander's coquetry
is soft, warm as the tropics. They nestled
against each other, and presently Chloe was
chattering as if nothing were the matter. For,
after all, it was simply comic ; the only danger
was from ants and jiggers.

At first they talked of her father's anxiety
when he discovered their absence, and Allan
wanted to take all the responsibility. But the
girl insisted it was her fault ; it was her business
as a guide to save the stranger from this sort
of thing. H er father would not be hard on them.

They did not think of sleeping. They had
slept in the day, and they must watch out the

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night. They could not even tell the time, for
Allan had thought it better not to bring his
watch into the damp forest.

Presently Allan's arm stole round the waist
of his companion ; and as she did not resent it,
he kept it there. Then a certain question
came to his lips, although he hardly dared as
yet to utter it. To pass the time they sang
and told stories, she relating some of the
exploits of Anansy, the great spider, who takes
the place of " Brer Rabbit" in the negro folk-
lore of Guiana.

Tired of this, they settled down to a con-
fidential chat. Allan spoke of his old home,
and she of the relations she had up and down
the river, especially of those who were nearest
to white. They seemed to have known each
other for months instead of only for a few
hours. Chloe was neither bashful nor affected ;
from her Indian ancestry she had inherited a
transparency of mind, which was hardly covered
by the light veneer of civilisation. She could
not lie in word or deed ; what came into her
mind was as quickly upon her tongue. The
conventional, which makes women hypocrites,

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was unknown to her Indian mother, by whom
she had been brought up.

Allan was young and inexperienced. He
could not endure the society of the so-called
ladies of Georgetown, who accused the men of
odious things and gave them their favours not-
withstanding. Here was a child of nature,
really truthful ; if he asked her the question,
which again pushed itself to the tip of his
tongue, she would not be afraid to answer.
Nevertheless, it would be taking an advantage,
and in honour he felt some hesitation. He
must sound her a little, and to do this would
have to conform to the trammels of custom.

"And whom are you going to marry, Miss
Bunting ? " he said lightly.

" I haven't thought of it at all ; you know I
am only sixteen," she said. " The boviander
young men are very rough," she added, in a
low voice.

Allan's heart began to flutter as she nestled
even closer to him. He trembled with joy.
Suddenly his courage came ; he clasped her, his
face touched hers, and their lips met in a long
kiss.

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She was not offended ; her love awoke in
response to his. The dark forest outside and
the darkness in the hut became delicious. What
cared they if they remained here for ever ?

As the small hours of the morning arrived
the air became damp and chilly. Allan wanted
to stretch his limbs a little, but the heavy dew
was soaking if he ventured outside, and the
girl's light dress would be drenched. This is
the time when the glow and heat of a camp-fire
is comforting — the only period that makes the
tropical man feel inclined to shiver. Allan
wanted to take off his coat and cover his com-
panion, but she forbade it. He certainly
required it most, as he was new to the forest.
At last they lay down together on the barbecue ;
they were certainly warmer together. Allan's
principles thawed, broke, vanished in the dark-
ness. The night did not recall Watty's moral
advice.

Hour after hour passed with the lovers still
locked in each other's arms ; at last they fell
into a doze, from which they were aroused at
dawn by voices and a noise in the doorway.
They sat up and rubbed their eyes. Allan felt

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confusedly it was very light. He saw a man
entering the hut ; it was Mr. Bunting.

He had spent half" the night in search of
them by torchlight, and was not altogether
pleased when he found them asleep under the
shed. However, when Chloe had told her
tale he softened ; and when Allan, taking him
aside, talked incoherently of marriage his face
brightened visibly. He threw off his per-
turbation : he beamed ; he shook the hand
of the young Scotchman, hinting that the
wedding should take place very soon.

This hint woke Allan from his pleasant
dream, and at every step of the track home-
ward he grew more serious. Honour demanded
that he should marry at once, but the difficulties
in the way of setting up a home were enormous.
He felt he was walking in a dream. However,
everybody was very pleasant, and before he left
the Etaroonie Creek the time of the wedding
was fixed for the next holiday. He left the
Creek, finally prepared to do what he thought
right whatever might be the result.

CHAPTER IV

THE WEDDING

DURING the three months before the
time arranged for the wedding had
arrived, Allan was alternately elevated and
depressed. The difficulty of providing a
cottage and furniture, and the necessity for
his keeping the matter secret, made him feel
uncomfortable, but then the thought of having
a home instead of a room in the mess-house
gave him many a happy moment.

At last the time arrived, and Allan proceeded
up the river, arriving at the Etaroonie Creek
in the afternoon before the day fixed for the
wedding.

Every preparation had been made, and
Chloe welcomed her lover at the landing.
She had been looking out for the boat, and
not until it appeared would she retire to have
her dress tried on.

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The house was full of visitors. All Chloe's
female cousins and aunts had come, some
from ten miles up or down the river, and even
the old Indian granny came to see her child.
Everybody was pleased, and when she came to
show herself in bridal dress and veil they lifted
up their heads in admiration. One old negress
skipped about as if she were dancing a jig.
What a parrot-like chattering went on !

" Eh, eh! She fine fo' true," said one, as
she almost went down on her knees to kiss the
end of the veil.

The bride looked pleased at this open
admiration, and even Allan was carried away
by the many compliments she received. There
was nothing conventional to-day, but he under-
stood that, on the morrow, things were to be
done in style. Mr. Bunting had bought in
Georgetown a little book entitled, " Etiquette
for Weddings," and Chloe had been reading it.
This sort of thing Allan thought might well
be dispensed with ; he liked people better
when they were natural. But the boviander
must be somewhat different on such a grand
occasion ; he gloried in the opportunity of

c D 49

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showing that he knew a thing or two of society
manners. A wedding did not take place every
day, and all concerned felt that it must be
celebrated in a proper manner. Allan would
have protested, but he did not like to give
offence ; after all, the fuss would be only for
one day.

Next morning they were up betimes, for
the little Mission chapel was three miles away
and the wedding party could not dress at home.
No, they must take everything with them in
their bateaux and put on their finery at the
house of the catechist and schoolmaster.
Every few minutes a canoe or bateau arrived
at the landing, crowded with women and piled
up with bundles of all shapes.

The weather was fine and they must start
before the sun got too high. At last every-
thing was packed, and a procession of ten craft
of all sizes went swiftly up the river, the
paddlers emulating each other in shouts and
songs. Allan and Chloe sat together, unable
to avoid listening to the personal remarks con-
tinually being made by others of the party.
For the boviander cannot whisper, he must

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speak at the top of his voice. When they
passed a strange canoe the occupants asked
what they were doing and where they were
going. On hearing that something so un-
common as a wedding was about to take place
some of them changed their course and
followed; their business was of little impor-
tance, it could wait. Such a ceremony was
too rare to be missed, even if the children
were waiting at home for the food which these
loiterers had come many miles to fetch. They
would not miss it for the world. As for them-
selves, few were married ; they could not afford
it. . Now and again a couple went through the
ceremony, after living together for a dozen
years or more, and when perhaps the eldest
daughter could act as a bridesmaid. Few, how-
ever, could save the fifty to a hundred dollars
necessary for fine dresses and an elaborate
feast. The mere ceremony was nothing
without these.

They arrived in good time, crowded into
the little cottage of Sampson Peeters, and
overflowed into his schoolroom. What a din
they kept up, to be sure, as they took off their

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soiled dresses and arrayed themselves in all
their finery! And what a trouble they had
with their boots, most of which had been
specially bought for the occasion. Their feet
were hard enough to walk among thorns and
prickles ; how could they be brought under
fashionable subjection ? The poor women
tugged and strained, panted and groaned, and
when they at last came forth could hardly walk.
Yet with all that they looked down at their feet
with satisfaction and endured the pain like
martyrs.

Corsets were another difficulty. Rarely had
they worn such things; they were too great a
hindrance to paddling and the work of the field.
However, they emulated each other in straining
these grand deformers as tightly as possible,
and in one or two cases burst the strings. As
they came forth one by one it could be seen
that their waists, like their feet, were giving
them excruciating pain. But they smiled
through it all and came up to be admired by
the men, who perhaps had never seen them in
such gay clothes before. Their dark skins
glowed red with the exertion and pain, and

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something like a blush could be here and there
seen below the natural colour.

What a time they took ! As for the bride
and her maids, who had a room to themselves,
it seemed as if they would never have finished.
The hour arrived, but still their door was closed,
and it was not until several impatient calls had
been made that the party came forth, each one
looking over her shoulder to see that her dress
fitted. As for Chloe, Allan hardly knew her,
she was so smothered with dress and veil, and
so obviously hot and uncomfortable. How-
ever, they were all ready now, and could
proceed to the little chapel, where the black
minister awaited them.

The ceremony over, another hour was spent
in undressing, but at last the bride and bride-
groom were again sitting in the bateau and on
their way home.

Arrived at Mr. Bunting's house a feast
awaited them. The forest and river had been
ransacked and fished to provide such a spread
as had never before been seen or even heard of at
the Etaroonie Creek. Chloe's Indian relations
had made up a special hunting expedition, and

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had brought deer, labba, acourie, parrots, and
other bush-fowl, as well as a splendid collection
of fish. There were fou-fou soup, pepper-pot,
barbecued meat, and piles of oranges, star-
apples, sapodillas, mangoes, and pineapples.
Then, to crown all, a great wedding-cake had
been brought from town, and this was looked
upon with admiration by all the women of the
company. As for the men, their eyes wandered
to a demijohn of rum which stood in one
corner and which tickled their nostrils with its
inviting odour.

Sampson Peeters was here in all his glory.
As the " Master of Ceremonies " he was con-
tinually reminding his host of what was "propa."
He bowed most effusively to the couple as they
came in.

" Mrs. Gordon, I have much pleasure in
welcoming you back," he said, and in a stage
whisper told her to go and dress for the
wedding breakfast. He then informed Allan
that he must sit at the head of the table with
his bride, and that he, Peeters, would propose
the necessary toasts.

At last everything was ready. Those who

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could find room and had on their wedding
garments sat at the table ; the crowd did the
best they could, either crouching on the floor,
or lying down outside under the trees. Plates
and knives were scarce, but they were not
absolutely needed as long as plantain-leaves
and fingers were available.

How they did eat ! With most of them it
was indeed a breakfast in the proper sense of
the word, for they had eaten nothing as yet for
the day. The piles of eatables disappeared so
quickly that Allan almost wondered where they
had gone. Chloe and her bridesmaids, how-
ever, in their uncomfortable finery, did little
more than gaze at themselves and each other ;
their pleasure was something different from
that of their friends.

Dinner over, and the glasses, cups, cala-
bashes, and other vessels charged with wine,
brandy, and rum, Peeters got up to propose
the toast of " The Bride."

" This is a most auspicious occasion," he
said, "the celebration of the nuptials wedding
of our handsome cousin, the pride of Etaroonie,
and my noble mind cannot but make a few

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magnifying affirmations. It is with a fearful
enchanting temerity that I enunciate before this
august assemblage, and I sanguinely expect
that our friend Mr. Gordon will exculpate me
if my language is not surprisingly elegant. I
stand on shaky foundations — not shaken alto-
gether by my faults but by contingencies. The
curse which lingered for centuries over the
sons of Ham has been removed, but it has left
behind a silent-like vestige of truth, that on
them did rest that curse — some dull sort of
quaint stupor or cowardice, producing con-
fusion and fears, and throwing broadcast
doubtful conclusions and reflections on the
almost already improved, yet limited plat-
forms of their actions. Ladies and gentle-
men, a doubtful, trembling temerity is not
honourable ! To fear is not to honour, nor is
honour fear ! The days we live in are days of
wonderful spiritual light. We are all children
of Adam, brought forth beneath the bright
lucid reflections of God's shadowed image of
happiness, holiness, and immortality."

Here Peeters looked round on the assem-
blage, who responded with loud cheers and

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shouts, those who could not come in crowding
round outside. Fixing his eyes upon the bride
he continued : " Words do something act as
swords, arrows, ointment, medicine, cordials,
castor-oil and senna — balm to our wounded
spirits. To our ears and spiritual under-
standings, the folios of the prayer-book read
at the marriage nuptials to-day seem hard to
understand. But we can learn this much — that
truth in its heavenly purity will reign through
heaven and earth, and everlasting unalterable
friendship, hallowed in love, never be broken
or troubled by mistake or jealousy. The
revolution of years and antedating centuries
past, with their solemn records borne down upon
us as a race and as a people, and pointing our
thoughts to past scenes and actions, and lives
and deaths of thousands — buried beneath the
long- slumbering ashes of their mother earth."

Again a loud burst of applause checked his
speech, and the orator beamed on the crowd
as he heard some one remark that Peeters was
(< making a fine speech ; as good as a lawyer's."
Allan hardly knew whether he ought to cheer
or laugh, but not wishing to be singular he

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cried, " Hear, hear! " while Chloe clapped her
little hands together in undisguised admiration.
But the speech was not yet concluded, and
Peeters went on —

" The planet earth has her changes — her
beauties and her fadings — her times of trouble
and of comfort — her blessings — her times of
war and her times of peace. One of her
happiest seasons is when the nuptials of her
sons and daughters are celebrated. She sends
forth into our midst (sometimes but seldomly)
her partly supernatural sons ; though perhaps
from this fact those particularly choice ones
are often looked upon with a somewhat natural
sort of interrupting-like jealousy. But we know
very well that there are good spirits and bad
spirits too — good and bad ministers too — good
and bad teachers too — there are a few good
white men — and Mr. Gordon is one of them."

By this time the whole assemblage was stand-
ing round with their mouths wide open and
their hands uplifted. As Gordon's name was
mentioned their shouts were deafening. " He
ought to be in the Court of Policy," said one ;
"wouldn't he floor the Governor? " " Let us

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make him a minister ; he is too good for a
schoolmaster," was heard in another direction.
Peeters grinned with satisfaction and went
on —

" When you cheered, ladies and gentlemen,
I was speaking of Mr. Gordon. When his
presence enlightens this part of the river we
feel sorry that he has not had the advantages
of a boviander. But we know he loves the
bush — his skin is white, but his blood is red
like ours ; and I am sure none of you here
to-day will despise him because he is not equal
to yourselves. As for Miss Chloe "

Another deafening cheer, mixed with cries
of " May she be happy ! " " Go on, Peeters ! "
again checked the orator. He waved his hand
and cried, " Long live Mrs. Gordon ! " and the
answering shout could be heard on the other
side of the river. For two or three minutes
the succession of cheers prevented his con
tinuing, but lifting his hand to again command
silence he took up the thread of his speech—

" As for Miss Chloe, or I should say Mrs.
Gordon, you all know her. Female beauty
has its charms, female manliness a noble

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thought to invest the minds of philosophers,
warriors, and statesmen, with the conclusion
which past majorities, and some present ones,
through wrong but advantageous-like calcula-
tions, or prophecy often arrived at, and only
unknowingly for to hinder the wonder-working
of the universal providence. Let me now lead
your thoughts to the experiences of certain
ones along with our intercourses with friends,
as well as foes or strangers, and generally
discoverable through the troublesome acts of
prejudices of those who know and feel them-
selves to have originated or sprung up from
a comparatively lower social standard than
ourselves. It is only on account of this dull-
born prejudice that these people will not see
that the European is almost as good as the
Demerarian. It is perfectly certain that he
cannot shoot, fish, or manage a bateau as well
as one of our boys. But then, you know, we
cannot all have these advantages, and we must
not blame people for what they can't help.

" Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I think you
will concatenate with me in wishing Mrs. and
Mr. Gordon long life and happiness ; that they

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may have a multitude of children like the
patriarch Jacob, and live together like Isaac
and Rebecca."

The cheers and bawling were, if possible,
louder than before as the orator waved his
glass on high, drew his head back, and poured
a draught of strong rum down his throat.
Fully ten minutes passed before Allan's short
reply could be uttered. His words were few
and to the point ; but even Chloe felt that her
husband was nowhere in comparison with the
champion orator. Peeters had prepared his
speech some weeks before, written it down,
and committed it to memory.

We must draw a veil over the orgie that
followed. Fortunately for Allan he wanted to
go off by the falling tide, and consequently the
pair left before the drinking had gone too far.
One little difficulty occurred, however, which
made him all the more eager to leave, and
nearly led to a quarrel.

As " Master of Ceremonies," Peeters dictated
what the bride and bridegroom should do ; he
had the book of etiquette by heart.

After the table had been removed the

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wedded pair were assigned to a couch at one
end of the room, on which they were supposed
to be sitting in state. They must not move on
any account ; if anything were wanted Peeters
would bring it. This was all very well for a
short time, but presently Chloe wished for a
glass of water, and simply got up to fetch it.
Peeters, who had been drinking freely, was
annoyed at this breach of good manners, and
when the bride laughed at him, said he would
no longer favour them with his presence.
Allan told him to do as he liked, but Mr.
Bunting tried to mollify him, and it looked
as if there was about to be a quarrel. How-
ever, Chloe went to change her dress, and this
caused a slight diversion, Peeters meanwhile
leaving in his bateau and showering abuse on
the whole crowd.

No one else took up the quarrel, and when
an hour later the pair left for town most of the
party were in the happy stage, Allan and
Chloe getting away before the fights com-
menced.

CHAPTER V

" WHEN A MAN'S MARRIED "

ALLAN had hired a little cottage to which
he brought his bride late in the even-
ing. He chose the time of their arrival to
avoid observation, and to prevent, if possible,
the news of his wedding reaching the heads of
the firm. His holiday extended to the day
following, which gave him an opportunity of
showing his darling round their future home.

What a happy day it was ! They talked of
their night in the forest, and Chloe hid her
face on his shoulder as he reminded her of how
it had been spent. The cottage was small, but
it was embowered in flowering shrubs, and the
little gallery was screened from the road by
luxuriant festoons of corallita. Chloe was
pleased with the little comforts and conveniences
which her husband had provided, some of
which were quite unknown up the river. A

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little maid-servant looked after the cooking,
but they cared little at this time for what was
laid upon the table.

Nevertheless, the little dinner was cosy, and
the quiet evening, after the servant had gone
home, delicious. Allan had brought a few ot
his books, and he opened them and read one
or two favourite things to Chloe — a piece from
Longfellow and one from Tennyson. But she
went to sleep in the midst of the story of
Enoch Arden, and presently he thought they
had better go to bed. However, he made
plenty of excuses for her inattention ; she was
weary from the excitement of the last two
days, and he could not expect to create a love
for poetry and good literature all at once.

Next morning he tore himself away to again
perform his duties at the store. He would
naturally have preferred a few more days of
leisure ; but now that he had a home the sordid
demands of business were not so irksome as
before. The thought of meeting his wife again
in the evening enabled him to bear with the
rudeness of the black " ladies," and we are
afraid made him a little less attentive than

In Guiana Wilds

usual. It would be only for a few hours, and
then Chloe would again be clasped in his
arms.

When his fellow-clerks inquired how he had
enjoyed his trip to the bush, he said nothing
of the wedding. This must be kept secret for
some time to come, as it might injure his
prospects of advancement. Ostensibly he
must still live at the mess-house, dine there,
and even sleep in his room occasionally. Some
of the clerks dined out, and spent their evenings
and even nights away pretty often without any
remarks being made, but such a stay-at-home
as Allan Gordon would have to be a little
more circumspect. Nevertheless, there were
always the evenings after dinner, and some-
times, on the plea of dining out, the whole
time after closing, which took place at five
o'clock.

What a delightful home it was ! Chloe would
come to the door as she heard his footsteps,
and greet him with a kiss ; then they would
talk over the little troubles and difficulties of
the day. For the boviander girl found it hard
to understand the customs of city life, and felt

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a little uncomfortable in the absence of her
bateau, and with the utter impossibility of
spending her time in the open air. No doubt
she was happy enough when her husband
arrived, but there was all the rest of the weary
day with nothing to do but brood. She
wanted friends and acquaintances, and as yet
she had found none. Allan tried to develop
in her a taste for reading, and to this end
brought her novels, but she went to sleep over
them ; if he read to her the same thing
generally happened, or else she spoiled the
effect of some choice passage by asking trivial
questions on matters entirely apart from the
book.

Hardly a fortnight had passed before she
complained of feeling dull. Up the river she
could go about everywhere ; in town she had
only the servant to speak to. Here was a
dilemma. Allan could not take her about and
introduce her as his wife, and he certainly
would not say she was his mistress. It was
very hard for her, and if she had known what
the neighbours were saying it would have been
harder still. They put their own construction

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on the matter. It was a common thing for a
young clerk to have his girl living in this way ;
and although Allan hardly meant their connec-
tion to be considered in an immoral light, his
whole behaviour perforce tended to such a
result.

At last Chloe said she must have her cousin
Euphemia Peeters to live with her ; she could
not sleep in the house alone when Allan felt
it necessary to occupy his room at the mess-
house, and then she wanted company during
the day.

Now the trouble began. Chloe was certainly
more lively ; but no longer could the pair spend
a pleasant evening together. Miss Euphemia
was a skeleton at their feast, the third party
who is always unwelcome to one of the others.
And then this cousin had friends in George-
town, people of the shabby genteel type, whose
antecedents would not bear investigation.
There was Mrs. Coudray, a widow who had
only been a wife for a few days, after living
for many years with different men, the last of
whom had married her on his deathbed to
salve his conscience. She had three daughters

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bearing their father's names, all of which were
different. A visitor, on being introduced to
Mrs. Coudray and her daughters, was sur-
prised to hear that one was Miss Vanderkamp,
the second Miss McGurdy, and the third
Miss Renner. From the fact that Mr. Coudray
had married her, the mother became entitled
to a small pension, on which the whole family
lived after a fashion ; but the amount was so
small that the girls were eager to be off
on almost any terms. Of course they wanted
to get husbands if they could ; otherwise
they would have to put up with something
different.

Chloe and Euphemia called on this family
one afternoon, and the bride was, of course,
introduced as Mrs. Gordon. At once there
was a little stir ; who was this Mrs. Gordon ?
They had heard that one of Hickson's clerks
had a girl in Lacy Town, but they did not
believe he was married to her. The mother
took Euphemia aside and asked her about the
matter ; she could hardly believe it until her
friend said she had attended the wedding.

" And why does he not go out with her,

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then ? " she exclaimed, loud enough for Chloe
to hear.

"It is a secret," replied Miss Euphemia,
''and I must ask you not to tell any one in
town. He doesn't want the Hicksons to know."

"Oh! That's it, is it? Of course I will
be as silent as the grave." And she chuckled
inwardly as she thought of the interest which
this secret would give to her visits for the next
week or two.

A few days later most of the gossips in
Georgetown knew that Allan Gordon was
married to the girl in the little cottage, but
every one to whom it was told was pledged
to secrecy.

Now that Chloe went out visiting she saw
how other women dressed, and, as a matter of
course, wished to be in the fashion. Allan
must get her this, that, and the other thing ;
for of course he, being in a dry-goods store,
could get them for almost nothing, according
to Miss Euphemia.

" If I had a husband in a position like yours I
would dress in the height of fashion," she said.

Chloe was led away by this, and began to

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pester Allan to bring her dresses and hats
that were quite beyond their means. Un-
fortunately for him these things could be
obtained very easily by any of the clerks ;
they simply charged the articles to themselves,
when, of course, they were debited against
their salaries. If Chloe had a dress, Miss
Euphemia must get one too ; they could not
have the young woman in their house without
doing something for her. Thus the incubus of
debt began to grow.

All that had been saved had gone to furnish
the little home, leaving only a few dollars to
carry the pair on until the end of the month.
Chloe was not extravagant in her housekeep-
ing, but she was certainly ignorant of the value
of things. With the arrival of her cousin the
natural instincts of hospitality began to have
free play ; she could not be mean or stingy
in presence of the visitor. Allan gave her
a certain sum to last the week from on.e
Saturday to another ; by Wednesday it was
generally gone, and she wanted more. She
and Euphemia could not starve, and Allan
commenced to draw upon his salary.

In Guiana Wilds

This drawing system was at that time very
common in all the Georgetown stores. Salaries
were paid monthly or quarterly, but often when
the end of the term arrived the whole amount
had been drawn already, and besides, possibly
the clerk might be largely indebted for goods.
In some places the advances were so great,
one way or another, that there was never any-
thing to the young man's credit. Allan, who
had hitherto been always entitled to his full
salary at the end of the month, now began to
follow the custom of the improvident.

This set his fellow-clerks talking. Gordon
the immaculate, the young man who was too
virtuous for Demerara, was spending a lot of
money and having silk dresses charged to him.
He had a handsome girl at a cottage in Regent
Street, with whom he often spent his evenings ;
she was called Mrs. Gordon, but they all knew
the value of such a title. Other fellows had
girls who let themselves be called Mistress
(with the capital). What did they care about
the girls' names ? Of course Mrs. Gordon
was one of the same class.

Now that Chloe went visiting she began to

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realise her position. Euphemia told her what
people said, and that some even doubted her
word when in confidence she told them of the
marriage. On one occasion Chloe herself had
been bound to appeal to her cousin to confirm
her assertion, and after all that her female
acquaintance shook her head. She knew that
Hickson's clerks were virtually prohibited from
marrying until their engagements of three
years had expired, and could hardly believe
that one of them would risk his prospects by
doing such a thing.

The young wife saw that her word was
doubted and went home angry. In the even-
ing she told Allan she wished she had been
dead before she ever saw him.

" What did you bring me to town for, when
you knew you could neither acknowledge me
as a wife nor even support me properly ? I
was happy in my father's house ; I had plenty
of friends ; I wanted for nothing ! Here every-
body looks down upon me as if I were not
respectable."

" My dear Chloe," said Allan quietly, "you
knew my circumstances, and also knew that I

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explained everything to your father when I
first spoke to him of marriage. Perhaps some-
thing will turn up shortly ; let us live quietly
for a little while."

" No, no ! " she cried ; " this sort of life
can't go on, and it shan't go on ! People must
know that I am your lawful wife. You must
take me to church next Sunday, and let every-
body see that you are not ashamed of me. I
am not ugly ; all I want is a mauve silk dress
and a nice hat, to be equal to the best of your
fine ladies. Of course you will get them."

Allan tried to soothe her, but all his efforts
were useless. If he did not take the course
she insisted upon she would come to the store
and inform Mr. Hickson. He had not yet
got to that stage when he could deny her any-
thing reasonable, and he felt that she was right
from her point of view. It was certainly
inexpedient under the circumstances, and
might bring him into difficulties, but the
present state of things was intolerable. He
was by no means ashamed of his choice, but
would not his employers look upon the marriage
as an open defiance ? However, the crisis had

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come ; his wife demanded the recognition to
which she was entitled, and he must bear the
consequences of his rashness. He even went
so far as to increase his debt to the store by
giving her the coveted dress and hat ; if they
were to be conspicuous, which they certainly
would be, then his wife must make an im-
pression.

Truly no handsomer couple were in church
that Sunday morning. As they passed up the
aisle every one stared, the men with admiration
and the women with envy. Chloe held herself
up proudly ; she knew she was handsome, and
could see that a sensation had been produced.

" Who is that with young Gordon?" was
asked in a dozen pews as they passed, and
the only reply was a shake of the head, with
perhaps a hint from a woman that she could
not be much good. One or two, who had
heard of the so-called Mrs. Gordon, thought
that they would go to some other church if
such people came here.

After service Allan's fellow-clerks crowded
round and were eager for introductions, which,
of course, they easily got. The luncheon-table

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at the mess-house was kept in quite a hum of
conversation as the news was given to those
who had spent the morning in their hammocks.
On every side the question was asked, " What
will Old Hickson say ?" and it was answered
by such expressions of opinion as " Gordon has
put his foot in it," and " The Governor will give
him beans." One hinted that he could not
keep a wife like that on his salary, and the
cashier said he must look up his account. They
could not sufficiently praise Gordon's taste, but
at the same time were compelled to condemn
his imprudence.

Allan spent the day at their little cottage,
and Chloe was particularly kind and loving.
Euphemia kept in the background ; if she had
been away altogether Allan felt that he would
be more comfortable. He tried to forget what
might be expected on the morrow, but now and
again he could not help feeling anxious. Not-
withstanding the caresses of his wife his rest
was disturbed by dreams.

In one of them he thought they were sitting
together in the gallery behind the screen of
corallita, and that he felt supremely happy.

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Through the tangled creeper the perfumes of
the limonia and the fidele-wood tree were
wafted, for it was evening. The flowers were
prepared for their nuptials, and he could fully
sympathise with them in their efforts to attract
the winged creatures that they might render
the necessary assistance. He was united to
his lovely boviander — his Eve — and they were
in Paradise. The light from the sitting-room
was reflected upon the leaves and flowers on
the trellis, and as he sat with his arm round
his wife he instinctively, as it were, saw a scaly
head peep out from among the vines. It might
be the pretty green lizard, which was so fond
of sunning itself there in the day. But no,
presently the head was extended too far for it
to be that of the harmless reptile. It was a
snake, and as its colour could be distinguished,
he perceived that it must be the deadly labarria.
He watched it, but could neither move nor
cry out. Chloe went on chatting those soft
nothings which only lovers care to hear, but
did not appear to notice the reptile. It began
to crawl out of the tangle ; it was on the floor
and making towards him. He tried to move,

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but was fixed to his seat. Even when the
horrid creature coiled round one of his legs he
could not stir. Presently its eyes glared into
his ; with a sudden dart it plunged its poisonous
fangs into his cheek. He sunk down — down
—down, as if into some bottomless pit, and as
everything round him became pitch dark, a
horrid sardonic laugh pierced his ears. And
he knew that this came from his wife. He
tried to cry out — he seemed to be straining
for hours, but his tongue refused to utter a
sound. Suddenly, as if the ties were broken,
he called " Help ! " and woke to find his wife
leaning over him and asking what was the
matter.

CHAPTER VI

TROUBLE BEGINS

AS Allan appeared at the store next morn-
ing he was met by questions from every
side.

" Where did you pick up that fine girl ?
Is she really your wife? Does Old Hickson
know ? "

Allan gave evasive answers ; he was not
prepared to discuss his wife with a lot of
fellows who had little respect for women in
general, much less for " coloured girls."

Presently Mr. Hickson arrived, and after
looking over his letters called him into his
office.

" Well, Gordon," he said, " I hear you have
been getting married ? "

Allan bowed his head in assent and said
nothing.

" How do you expect to keep a wife on the

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salary you are getting? And a coloured girl,
too. Why, you'll be up to your eyes in debt
just now."

" I am hoping that you will give me a board
allowance, and let me live out of the mess-
house ; we could manage then."

"If you hope that then you are very un-
reasonable. You have your agreement, which
you signed before coming out, and you well
know the amount of your salary, besides board
and lodging. You also know our rules, and
must see that we cannot make an exception in
your case. Your account will be looked into ;
no overdraft be allowed in future ; and re-
member that I have my eyes on you. You
have chosen to defy us, and we shall therefore
strictly adhere to the letter of our agreement."

Allan went back to his counter looking rather
crestfallen. H is account was already overdrawn,
and this decision of Mr. Hickson would pre-
vent his receiving any advances until the debt
was wiped off. Over a week of the month
was left, and during that time no money could
be obtained ; he was not even sure whether
then he would be allowed to draw on the next.

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Whatever would Chloe do ? She had already
shown that economy was, in her opinion, mean-
ness ; her wants must be supplied regardless
of consequences.

He met with little sympathy from his
fellow-clerks ; to them he had never appeared
" chummy"; he had put on airs. Sometimes
he had even gone so far as to remonstrate with
one or two when they drank, gambled, and
spent their nights at "dignity" balls. This
assumption of superiority prevented his having
a single real friend ; he could not descend to
their level, and they, on their parts, felt no
interest in his pursuits. He was so unsociable
that he kept his door closed in the evening,
and studied as well as he could in such a noisy
place, where the thin partitions conducted the
sound of drunken orgies to his ears night
after night. Latterly he would not subscribe
to a raffle or attend a funeral ; he was a
mean cad.

One or two of the later arrivals, however,
who had not yet abandoned their old principles
altogether, offered to assist him with loans
when they heard that his account had been

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stopped. The nearest to a friend was Johnny
Burgin, a hearty young fellow, who suited his
behaviour to his company. With the rollicking
set he could be as jolly as the best ; he could
play at every sort of game, sing, strum on the
piano and the banjo, and altogether make him-
self agreeable everywhere. He even read a
little when he could get an opportunity, which
was not very often, and would on occasion
enter Gordon's room and have a pleasant chat.
Allan liked him very much ; he felt, however,
that such a character must soon be ruined in
Demerara. Johnny never said no to anything,
good, bad, or indifferent ; his future depended
upon the company he kept ; he was and would
be the creature of circumstances. His sur-
roundings in Demerara would almost certainly
ruin him for life ; better that his health should
fail and that he be sent back to England.

Burgin, as may be supposed, had little money
to his credit, but what he had to spare was as
freely offered to Gordon as it would have been
subscribed to a drunken spree.

When Allan went home that evening he told
Chloe they would have to reduce their house

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expenses to the lowest possible sum, or she
would be left to starve.

She was much annoyed, and felt that in the
presence of Cousin Euphemia she must assert
herself.

" Oh yes, I must starve for all you care !
It won't matter to you, for your meals can
always be got at the mess-house ! Why did
you bring me to town if you could not keep
me ? I shall go back to father to-morrow. I
am half starved and naked already ; how can I
live on less ? I want a lot of things, and there
is my cousin ; I can't be mean, and I won't !
I am not a red-headed Scotchwoman ! "

" My dear," Allan said, in a whisper, "you
must let Miss Euphemia go back to her
friends ; when we get straight she can come
again."

"What? You want to drive away my only
friend ! Euphemia ! Come and hear this.
See what it is to have a husband ! First, he
spoils my character by letting people think I
am not honestly married, and now he wants to
starve me ! "

Cousin Euphemia looked daggers at the

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man who proposed to drive her away. She
had made herself at home, and intended to
stop. She had heard Chloe's threat to go
back to her father, but this did not suit her ;
however, she would have plenty of time to
talk to the wife when they were alone together.

"It is no use to talk, Allan," continued
Chloe, " I am your wife, and have my rights.
Because you thought me a fool you imposed
upon me, but you won't do it any more. I
have friends now who will see me righted ; I
am not your mistress, although you said I was.

" What ! you never said I was your mistress ?
Did I not force you to own me as your wife ?
Did not the clerks at Hickson's put me on a
level with the girls some of them were keep-
ing? I want some money and must have it,
and I want some clothes. If you don't get
what I want I shall credit the things in your
name, and you'll have to pay all the same."

What could Allan say ? He was not pre-
pared to speak roughly ; he still loved her
dearly. Yet the change in her behaviour since
her cousin's arrival and since she had gone into
low society was most distressing to him. The

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docile child, as he thought her, had become a
wilful woman. He almost wondered how this
could be. The Indian female was so quiet and
submissive that surely Chloe's temper did not
come from that side. Her obstinacy might be
traced to the red man, but not her defiant
attitude ; this evidently came from the negro.
She had threatened to go back to her father ;
let her do so, for although he would miss her
greatly, it would be a way out of his difficul-
ties.

Finding that he could say nothing but what
gave offence, he left before his usual time and
went back to the mess-house. Possibly it
would be as well to leave her alone for a few
days ; she might come round a little.

The two women went to bed and talked
things over. Euphemia persuaded Chloe that
if she left her husband he might refuse to
support her ; " I will see that you are not
imposed upon," she said. Had the wife been
alone no doubt she would have given way, but
in presence of her cousin, who continually
egged her on to demand her rights, she could
only be put down by very strong measures,

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which Allan could not possibly adopt.
Euphemia was shrewd, and could see where
the weak point lay, and then, again, what did
it matter to her if the happiness of the young
couple was ruined, or even if Allan lost his
situation ? She could always go back to the
Etaroonie Creek, and so could Chloe for that
matter. It was only the mean, stingy Scotch-
man who would suffer ; why, a boviander was
worth a dozen like him. Up the river a man
would give away everything he had, no matter
if he starved next day ; here in town some
people wanted to put up things to-morrow even
when they wanted them to-day. They would
remain and fight it out ; he had brought his
wife to town, and had seconded her invitation
to Cousin Euphemia ; here they would stop
for the present at any rate.

During the rest of the week Allan purposely
refrained from going to his home. As evening
came, however, he had hard work to prevent
himself from straying in that direction. On
Thursday evening he actually passed the
cottage, and was surprised to see it lit up as
if for a party. A fiddle was playing, and from

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the loud stamping, which shook the little
building, he understood that a dance was in
progress.

He would not enter, for he felt that he would
be looked upon as an intruder. He did not
know the people, and was sorry that his wife
had taken up with them without his knowledge.
Evidently the opportunity of his absence had
been taken to spend a rowdy evening. He was
almost ready to weep as he passed on. Parties
could not be given without money, and now
that none was to be had the whole thing
was not only defiant but heartless. He had
borrowed the week's house-keeping money
from Johnny Burgin, and this was how Chloe
spent it.

Next morning, as he stood behind the
counter, Chloe and Euphemia entered the
store. Allan saw that his wife's lips were
firmly set, and although he welcomed her it
was with a sensation of impending trouble.

" I want some money ; I have nothing to
buy dinner with to-day," she said firmly but
quietly.

" I haven't a cent to-day, Chloe," he answered,

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"and I don't know where to get anything.
What I gave you was intended to last until
to-morrow, but even then I can hardly say how
a few dollars can be obtained."

" What do you mean by saying you have no
money?" she almost screamed. " Do you
think I came to town to be starved ? Where
is Mr. Hickson ? Let me go to him ! "

Hearing the noise the chief clerk came up
and said, " Look here, Gordon! This sort of
thing won't do. Get rid of her before the boss
comes, or you'll get into a row."

Several of the clerks and one or two cus-
tomers were looking on. Chloe's mouth was
working and her forehead was puckered into
folds. She was still handsome, but at the
same time appeared devilish. Some one said,
''What a vixen!" and a clerk told a porter
to look for a policeman.

Allan was really ashamed. He hung his
head as the chief clerk gave his warning, but
he was so confused that he knew not what to
do. He looked at Burgin, who was always
ready with his sympathy for everybody, and
without a word Johnny put a five-dollar note

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into his hand. With a gasp of relief Allan
handed the money to his wife, who sailed out
with her head in the air, her brow still wrinkled
and her full lips protruding.

After she had gone Allan was so miserable
that he could hardly attend to his duties.
Whatever would be the result of all this ?
He could not go on borrowing from Johnny,
for he could ill spare what he. had just lent.
And then, how was the amount to be repaid ?
If his wife launched out into parties and
dancing she might be coming to the store
twice a week. Should he run away from the
colony? Where could he get the passage
money? He would try once more to bring
her to reason, and if she still persisted in her
course, then

He called that evening and found her in a
better humour. She even came up and kissed
him. She would forgive him this time, but
he must not bring his mean, stingy ways to
her ; she would not put up with them. People
said that Scotchmen were that way, but she
thought him different. As long as he gave
her what she wanted things would go on all

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right ; let him try to starve her again and he
would smell brimstone.

" Send for the police, indeed ! " she cried.
" I suppose you did not think I heard that
long-legged, red-headed fellow tell the porter
to fetch a policeman. He should have done
it, and I would have dragged some of his
carrots from him ! "

Allan did his best to soothe her. He could
not hate her yet, for he was still in hopes that
she might again become the same Chloe of
Etaroonie, whose disposition was so gentle.
He had an excuse for her : she was about to
become a mother, and Cousin Euphemia said
that women were always cross at such times.
He would arrange that she might get credit at
several places for her household supplies, and
trust that some time or other he would be able
to pay.

To go into the details of Chloe's fits of
temper would be tiresome. Sometimes she
was really mad. Once she tore a piece of
cloth into strips because her husband could
not give her money for expensive trimmings.
She threw a tumbler at him as they sat at

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table and smashed the soup tureen in front
of his face.

Cousin Euphemia still remained. To the
husband she was deferential and quiet, keeping
herself in the background ; during his absence
she talked over everything he had said and
done, and gradually roused Chloe until all good
feeling was lost. The negro element came to
the front for a time, to give place later to the
obstinacy of the Indian.

Allan thought that possibly a little change
up the river would do her good. He would
not suggest it to her, for that would be quite
sufficient to set her against it, but he wrote to
her father. Mr. Bunting invited his daughter
to come up and spend a few weeks, but, on the
suggestion of Euphemia, Chloe postponed the
visit until after her child was born.

As their debts accumulated credit became
more difficult to obtain. Allan went from place
to place, making promises that he had no
reasonable prospect of fulfilling, until he was
quite shocked to think what a liar he had
become. The fact was he had become afraid
of Chloe, and Cousin Euphemia tried to im-

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press upon him the necessity of preventing her
getting annoyed while in her present condition.
Chloe had threatened several times to again
visit the store when her husband told her he
could not get what she wanted. She would
make a big row next time ; the police would
have to carry both of them to the lock-up.
Did he think she was going to be trod upon by
any white man, just because she was coloured ?
If he had brought out a Scotchwoman, he
would have had to give her a horse and
carriage, and take her to Government House.
Better she had married one of her own colour.
What did he want her to do ? Go on the
street? She could do that fast enough. If
he could not support her, other men would.
Let her lift a finger, and half a dozen would
be round any day. But she was not going to
do this if he treated her properly ; she would
not vex the minister who had married them.

" Oh, Chloe ! How can you say such
things ? You surely do not mean to do
anything so wicked."

" Not mean it ! Of course I mean it, and
that you will soon see if you bother me too

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much. You don't know me ! I can be a
blackguard if I like ! Wasn't my great grand-
mother black ? And don't you know that
black women fight with their men ? But you
poor cowardly whites can't lift a finger to a
woman. We can beat you, and we do it too.
Poor, miserable, stingy wretches you are.
Look at your sickly white faces ! My face
always looks the same ; when you get fever
we can't bear to look at you. Don't think I
am going to nurse you ; I would scorn to go
near you."

CHAPTER VII

FROM ANGEL TO DEVIL

IN due time the baby was born. It was a
girl, and, the gossips said, bid fair to be as
handsome as the mother. Now, thought the
proud father, Chloe will be different ; her
maternal duties will keep her at home, and
now that the great trouble is over her violent
temper will no doubt be soothed. The midwife
told him that he must not cross her in any way,
or her milk would become sour, and this would
be bad for the infant ; he must let her have
anything she wanted as quickly as possible.

Poor Allan ! Here was another trouble.
His credit was entirely gone, and he knew
not where to get necessaries, much less those
extras which are wanted at such a time. The
baby must have this, that, and the other thing,
and Chloe a new gown to go to church with
after her confinement.

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Then came the christening. A special robe
had to be provided, a carriage, and a feast to
the gossips. It was maddening to the young
fellow, yet in some way he managed to get
everything. Such an event did not happen
every day, and Euphemia was always at hand
to urge that such things must be done. In-
stead of a blessing the little infant was another
drawback, as a nurse must be hired, the mother
caring little for it save as something to exhibit
to her female friends.

Allan was worried and pestered in the store
by duns, to whom he had to tell more lies than
he had ever told in his life before. They became
at last so pertinacious that his work was seriously
hampered. The other clerks became disgusted,
as hardly a day passed without one of Allan's
creditors coming in to threaten him with a suit
if he did not pay at once. Some went to Mr.
Hickson and asked him to stop his salary, and
when they were informed that he had overdrawn
his account, they cursed and abused him until
threatened with the police.

Now he was summoned to appear at the
police-court, and as he could make no defence,

In Guiana Wilds

judgment was given against him. An execution
followed, and Chloe was driven nearly mad when
the bailiffs came and carried off the furniture,
leaving the cottage almost bare.

The day on which this took place was an
unfortunate one for Allan. Mr. Hickson called
him into his office, and, after looking sternly at
him, said —

" Well, Gordon, you have made a mess of it,
as I said you would. We can't have such
goings-on in our store. You must quit. I
don't want to be hard upon you ; here is the
balance of your salary up to the end of next
month, and I want you to go away at once,
before any more of your creditors come in to
make a disturbance."

Allan could say nothing ; he knew as well as
his employer that such things could not be
allowed in a well-conducted dry-goods store.
He took the few dollars, gathered up his two
or three belongings at the mess-house, got a
coolie to carry them, and, haggard and de-
pressed, walked to his home.

He had not yet heard of the execution on his
furniture, but he was not surprised as he entered

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to find the rooms bare, for he knew it was bound
to come. Chloe was crying upon the floor, with
Euphemia doing her best to comfort her accord-
ing to her usual manner.

" See what marriage has brought you to !
You would have a white man, you know ; one
of our bovianders was not good enough for
you. We have no bailiffs up the river."

Euphemia did not say that they had no
furniture to take away at Etaroonie ; she also
omitted to mention that the credit of a
boviander was worthless. Of course Chloe
was not to blame ; as for Miss Euphemia
herself, it never entered her mind that she
was almost entirely answerable for the ruin
of this once pretty home.

Allan's appearance gave Chloe the oppor-
tunity of unloading her mind. She did this
in a way that astonished her husband, not-
withstanding that he was accustomed by this
time to hear some rather strong language
from her lips ; those lips which were once put
to such a different use. A torrent of vile
epithets poured forth, and he could not help
wondering where she could have learnt them.

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The baby woke at the noise, and Allan,
clapping his hands over his ears, ran out on
the street, his wife following him to the gate
and relating her grievances to the neighbours,
who had already begun to congregate.

From the little mob of negro women ex-
pressions of sympathy for the distressed wife
could be heard. One said this was the worst
of marrying a white man ; they got poor
women into trouble and left them to bear it
by themselves. " Look at him going up the
street ; he does not think of his poor wife
and baby without a bed to sleep on. He
ought to be pelted." One boy took up a
stone and threw it at Allan, but as he was
walking quickly it fell short.

The poor husband walked on towards the
Race Course, his only desire at present being
to get away from the city altogether. What
to do or where to go he knew not, nor did
he much care.- He was tired of life ; all his
prospects were blighted ; he was a liar and a
thief, all for a pretty face and figure. Her
vile language still rung in his ears ; he could
not get over the shock. Was it possible that

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this could be Chloe ? She must be stark mad
or possessed by the Evil One.

Presently he became more calm and could
think a little. Should he throw himself into the
river, or try to get away in one of the vessels
in harbour? He knew several ship captains,
but none of them was leaving for a week or
two ; he must leave Georgetown to-night or
early in the morning.

As it became dusk he climbed into the Long
Stand on the Race Course and sat down to
think. Thousands of fireflies were gleaming
over the greensward and frogs were whistling
their evening notes, but he did not hear them.
The crisis of his life had come. He could
never see Chloe again. He still loved her in
a fashion, but it was impossible to go on any
longer. If he met her again he would either
be horrified by her curses or else be again led
into dishonesty. For he knew too well that
his giving way to her in the first place was
wrong ; his sense of right had been blunted,
now it again became sharpened and cut him
to the heart.

What could he do? He must get away.

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But where? His only chance was to get far
away, right up the Essequebo, and live among
the Indians. They would welcome him, he
had no doubt, for only the other day the head
of a party had asked him to go with them ;
he would get away from the shame which now
oppressed him. He still had the few dollars
which Mr. Hickson gave him ; Chloe would
have got these had she not met him with
such a torrent of abuse. Yes, he would go
by the morning steamer to Aranama, and
see if these Macusis had yet started.

Sitting on the bare boards of the " Stand,"
his mind wandered to that night up the creek.
How could he account for the change which
had taken place in the handsome boviander?
A little over a year had passed, and the ap-
parently soft and gentle girl had become a
virago. He tried to find out where the blame
lay ; certainly nothing in his conduct had
brought on the change. Cousin Euphemia
and the low acquaintances she had made in
Georgetown had something to do with it,
but there must be hereditary taint. The
African savage had come to the front, and
dominated the other sides in her. 99

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The night passed slowly, but dawn appeared
at length to find Allan cramped but quite
prepared to carry out his decision. He timed
his arrival at the wharf for a few minutes before
the steamer left, to avoid observation, and
on his embarking felt a sense of relief. The
burden which had almost broken him down
during the last twelvemonth felt lighter already,
and as the vessel steamed out to sea, before
passing along the coast, he almost sung for joy.

Now and again, however, the thought of
his child came up. How would the poor
little thing be treated ? Possibly Chloe would
vent her spite upon it, for he had heard of
such cases. Since his unhappy experience of
wedded life he had inquired of some of the
coloured clerks how they managed to keep
house on such small salaries as they received.
Some could hardly tell, but one of them gave
him a few scraps of information in confidence.
His wife was also a virago, and they had three
children. He, like Allan, had tried to keep out
of debt, but he could only do so by the greatest
firmness. And then, the poor little ones ; how
they were growing up he was ashamed to say.

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With their mother always trying to foment a
quarrel, and using language quite unfit for the
ears of adult persons much less children, their
home was a veritable hell. Allan had heard
of some men taking to drink, of others running
away, of many who had been ruined for life ;
he would endeavour to wipe out the past and
turn over a new leaf.

Still the thought of his little girl haunted
him. Perhaps some day he might be able to
remove her from the evil associations ; at
present he could do nothing. He was begin-
ning life again, as it were, and must think a
great deal before doing anything more than
retire from the neighbourhood where he had
suffered so much.

As the little steamer continued her voyage
and the sea-breeze blew upon his haggard
cheeks his mind became more calm. He was
going to Aranama, but he did not know what
he should do when he got there. The few
shillings he had, after paying for his passage
and a breakfast, would not go very far. But
he knew that if he came across the party of
Indians who had lately been in town, and who

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had offered to give him a trip to the Macusi
country, he would be all right. Perhaps they
had started already.

In the afternoon he arrived at his destination,
which was then little more than an Indian
Mission station. Gold-digging was unknown
as yet, and the little village was a rendezvous
for the parties of red men who came down at
long intervals.

On landing Allan hardly knew what to do.
He had nothing but the clothes he stood up
in, and the few shillings in his pocket. He
wandered along the irregular street fronting
the river, eagerly looking for some sign of the
friendly Macusis, but at first could see nothing
of them. Several people stared out from the
doors of their little huts, wondering what a
white man could be doing there. One little
negro child ran away screaming at the sight of
him ; possibly his haggard face frightened it.

What should he do ? Night was coming on,
and he was tired. Down near the river was a
logic, or shed ; perhaps he might find a place
where he could sit down.

As he entered a confused assemblage of

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hammocks met his eyes, and almost imme-
diately his Indian acquaintance welcomed him
with the few words of English he could muster,
calling him " Mattee," and asking him partly
by signs whether he wanted to go with them
up the Essequebo. He nodded assent, and
was at once made welcome.

In this logic, which had been provided for
the accommodation of Indian visitors, a dozen
of both sexes were lounging in their hammocks.'
The majority were men, but there were two
women, who out of respect to the Mission wore
long nightgown-like dresses. They talked
with each other in the soft, gentle manner
so characteristic of the aborigines of Guiana
when they are sober, and Allan stood up for
a few minutes looking on.

Seeing that he had no hammock, one of his
friends got up and offered his, intimating that
he would join one of the others. Allan hardly
liked to deprive him of his lounge, but as he
knew that he would be quite welcome, and
would have offended them if he had refused to
take it, he slipped in. One of the women then
brought him some cassava bread and a calabash

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with pepper-pot, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Having finished his evening meal he tried to
converse with them by signs and a few words
he had picked up, by which he learnt that they
were starting up the river next morning.

Presently his friends settled down to sleep,
but although Allan was very tired the strange-
ness of his surroundings kept him thinking.
Fortunately none of the few white men at
Aranama had seen him come here, and he
hoped by leaving early in the morning to
escape observation. He did not suppose that
Chloe would follow him, but there was no
knowing what a woman of that sort would do.
He believed that she would venture up the
rapids if by doing so she could vent her spite
upon him, and he was anxious to be off before
any one should recognise him and set her on
his track. He would not be free from this
anxiety until they were actually on the way ;
then he would be happy.

How often do others feel the same way !
The young Scotchman once thought it would
be the culminating point of his felicity when he
was married to the handsome boviander ; now

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he looked forward with hope to entire freedom
from her clutches.

At last nature could bear no more ; his
thoughts became confused, and he fell asleep.

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CHAPTER VIII

UP THE ESSEQUEBO

FOR three long weeks the party struggled
against the strong current of the Essequebo
river. Ascending dangerous rapids one after
another from the second day of their journey,
for the first week they made little progress ;
afterwards they had only to contend with the
rushing stream. In the afternoon they en-
camped, and one or two of the men went
hunting for a supper, which they sometimes
obtained by shooting an acourie, labba, or
peccary. Quite as often they had nothing to
eat, and Allan, who had always been accus-
tomed to regular meals, felt these privations
very much. Then he was exposed to drench-
ing rains, which often fell in such torrents as to
necessitate baling to prevent their canoe being
swamped.

Allan envied the Indians. The men had

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been wearing shirts at Aranama and the
women loose frocks ; now they stripped and
placed these articles carefully away in their
pegalls, or wicker trunks, leaving themselves
naked save for the lap of the men and queyu,
or bead apron, of the women. The rain poured
on their backs and then off again ; the sun
tried his best to frizzle them, but they felt
quite comfortable. If they got a meal they ate
voraciously, if nothing they never complained.

If the young Scotchman was to live amongst
them he must learn to endure privation in
the same way. How could he ever hope to
succeed? Certainly not by cuddling himself.
His clothes and boots would wear out ; how
could he get more ? As yet he had always
enjoyed good health, and thought he could do
the same as his companions. His clothes were
dripping with moisture and his boots sodden
after the first great shower. He had no
others and must take them off. The afternoon
sun shone warm upon the river, and on the
sandy spit where the party were encamped ;
now was the time to dry them.

In the presence of the women he was

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ashamed to strip, but going behind a tree he
denuded himself to his shirt, and laid out the
other garments upon the sand. Feeling still
chilly and uncomfortable, he wandered off to
a little distance, stripped himself quite naked,
laid out his shirt to dry, and took a plunge into
the water. Not to remain long, however, for
suddenly he was surrounded with a shoal of
small fish, which he recognised from reports
as the dreaded perai. He kicked and splashed
as he hurried to the shore, but, notwithstanding
the shallowness of the water, he received several
bites, each of which carried off a tiny piece of
one of his toes.

Tearing off a piece from his shirt he bound
up his feet and sat down on the warm sand to
await the drying of his clothes. Only his
head was covered by his limp felt hat and his
back was turned towards the afternoon sun,
which had not yet gone down behind the bank
of foliage on the western shore of the great
river. Presently he felt a pricking sensation
over the shoulders, attended by a great heat,
and knew at once that the rays of the sun were
burning him. Fortunately his shirt was dry

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enough to put on, and he was saved for the
present from a severe blistering.

What could he do ? His feet were too
tender to allow of his walking barefooted, and
his skin would be a mass of sores if he went
naked. The food supply was very uncertain,
and his stomach revolted against such a thing
as barbecued monkey. However, he must
make the best of it ; whatever happened he
could never go back.

His companions were comfortable enough.
Even if Allan could have told them how he
suffered, they would not have understood.
Their naked feet were inured to the rough
walking of the forest and the burning rocks
in the midst of the river, among which they
hauled the canoe when the rapids came down
like mill-streams. Their broad backs were
quite unaffected by burning sun or pouring
rain, and their limbs uncramped by sitting on
the bottom of the canoe or on the sticks which
served as thwarts.

Oh ! this awful journey ! How Allan wished
he had never come out to Demerara ! Better
be dead than to endure the chill of wet clothing

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and the beating down of the sun day after day.
Would it never end ? During the last few days
he became apathetic ; the joints of his lower
limbs were so cramped that he could hardly
feel them, and when the party landed for the
night he could barely walk. His knee-joints
were alternately stiff and limp, and his head
felt heavy. He could only lie in the hammock
and try to cool his throbbing temples with
some green leaves which one of the women
had kindly brought him.

At night he could not sleep. He tossed
about in his yielding couch as far as it would
permit, and vainly tried everything possible to
induce unconsciousness. But no, he had been
too severely taxed for more than a fortnight ;
the shock to the mind had been followed by an
enormous strain upon the body. If he dozed
for a few minutes, it was to dream of his wife.
At one time she was following him with an
Indian club ; she had stripped herself, and had
become the dreaded Kenaima, the avenger of
blood. Her lovely body was painted with spots
like those of the jaguar, and her eyes were balls
of fire. He ran from her into the forests, but

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she followed him everywhere. He waded out
into the river and clambered upon a great
boulder, beneath which rushed a turbulent
stream, with rapids and whirlpools. She
followed and he jumped in, to be carried
down among the tangle of lacis and into the
haunts of the great pacou.

He woke to find himself struggling with
one of the Indians, who held him back from
plunging into the river. The red man helped
him into his hammock, and laid his hand on
the burning forehead, but said nothing. They
all knew he was sick, but what could they
do?

One of the women boiled some greenheart
seeds to make him a drink, which relieved him
somewhat, and enabled him to go on next day.
But the rain and the sun were alternately
having their effect, and as night fell the
throbbing of the temples began, until he
raved so wildly that the kind woman slung her
hammock close enough to watch and prevent
his wandering into the forest or jumping into
the river.

As the small hours of the morning came he

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began to shake with ague. His teeth chattered,
and every limb jerked spasmodically. His nurse
made a fire immediately beside his hammock,
and almost choked him by throwing upon it a
bundle of green leaves. In this apology for a
vapour-bath he lay until relieved by a perspira-
tion, and perhaps fell asleep for an hour.

When the sun rose he felt a little better.
The head of the party offered to take him back
to Aranama, but Allan refused to give so much
trouble. If he was to die let death come in the
midst of these wilds. Like most Scotchmen,
he was a fatalist ; if death was preordained, the
time was fixed ; it would not matter where he
was when the hour arrived, the inevitable must
happen. Better to suffer in the company of
these quiet people than to go back to George-
town, and be worried. In two days more they
would arrive at the Rupununi, on a bank of
which the Macusi village was situated ; perhaps
he would be better then.

Allan's friends made him as comfortable in
the day as the narrow limits of a canoe will
allow. They put up a little screen of palm
leaves to partially shield him from the sun and

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rain. Sometimes he was free from the pain in
the head ; then the feeling of relief was so
great that he was almost comfortable. The
monotonous thump and swish of the paddles,
as the Indians pulled on and on, hour after
hour, tended to soothe him until he could
almost sleep. Yet he knew that he was on the
river, and that at either side were great banks
of foliage rising upwards to that sun which had
shone so pitilessly upon him in the earlier part
of his journey.

At such times his dreams were pleasant. His
childhood days came back. He saw himself
wandering upon the hills, at school, or in the
little shop where he had served his apprentice-
ship. Even Chloe would sometimes appear,
not as the virago of Georgetown, but as the
handsome boviander of Etaroonie. How he
loved her ! Deep down in his heart there was
an intense feeling, which, however it might be
hidden by the horror and dread she had so
lately inspired, still glowed and was ready to
burst into flame. It was like the fire which the
Indian woman had covered with green leaves ;
unable to escape from its smothering burden, it

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made its presence known by a dense, hot
smoke.

Would it ever be possible for him to be
happy again ? Sometimes he felt as if all
women were hateful. And yet these poor
Indian women, who were little better than
beasts of burden for their husbands, seemed
kind enough. Surely all women were not like
his wife ! Perhaps he might yet find one who
would console him for his loss.

Now he was sick he wanted sympathy, and
this did not appear to exist among his Indian
friends. They were kind in their way, but,
from his wanting the means of communicating
with them properly, he felt very lonely. He
thought of his mother, and how she would
grieve if she knew him to be all alone in the
wilds of Guiana, sick and in trouble.

But enough of this ; he would be strong yet,
and perhaps do something to make his name
known in the world. He must learn the
Macusi language and try to study their
manners and customs. He would also in-
vestigate the plants and animals of the great
savannah.

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At last the party arrived at the mouth of the
Rupununi, and in a day or two a change in the
aspect of the country was perceptible to Allan.
Hitherto the banks had been covered with
great trees ; these became gradually lower,
until passing glimpses of open grassy savan-
nah could be seen through gaps in the wall of
vegetation on either hand.

Allan could see that the Indians were pleased
as they got nearer home, and even he began to
hope that his fever would abate when once he
was free from the hardships of the voyage.
What he did not like, however, were the swarms
of sandflies which gathered round them at the
camps. Hitherto, neither mosquitoes nor any
other troublesome pests had interfered with
him ; now he had these bloodsuckers to
contend with at night, as he lay burning or
shivering in his hammock. In the morning his
face and hands were covered with tiny spots,
which soon became the centres of swellings
that almost closed his eyes. How they
itched ! He was almost mad with the feel-
ing of puffiness, and the desire to rub his
skin into sores.

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However, the party arrived at the village
one afternoon, to be met by a pack of hungry
curs, who crowded round the stranger as he
was helped out of the canoe.

Home at last ! Even the Indians were glad
to meet their friends after a two months'
absence. The villagers came out to see
what had been brought from Georgetown.
There was a package of beads for the women,
knives and axes, blue salempores, and, above
everything else, a supply of powder and shot.
There was no embracing, and but few words
were spoken, yet they were pleased in their
quiet sort of way, and glad to inspect the
different articles.

The village consisted of about thirty huts,
and was placed on the summit of a little
mound, which raised it above the level of
the plain. Unlike the sheds of the forest
Indians, the dwellings of the Macusis were
circular, and thatched down to the ground.
This made them very dark and hot, and as
Allan was led to one of the best, he thought it
a very undesirable place for a sick man.

The walls were hung with gourds of various

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sizes and shapes, some of them filled with water,
and on the ground were two great pig-troughs,
as Allan thought, but which he afterwards
discovered were receptacles for piwarrie, the
Indian's beer. Hanging overhead were blow-
pipes, bows and arrows, various kinds of
baskets, one or two clubs, balls of cotton
yarn, and two of those showy feather crowns
which are worn on festive occasions. At the
side farthest from the doorway was the
hearth, consisting of an iron slab for baking
the cassava bread, and near it came the
matapee for pressing out the poisonous juice.

Slung across were several hammocks, into
one of which Allan was placed, for he could
hardly climb to it without assistance. He
sunk down and surveyed the furnishings of his
chamber as far as the dim light would allow.
It looked very dirty from the smoke, but was
not so unwholesome as might be thought. It
was certainly a shelter from the rain and sun,
but so hot as almost immediately to cause
profuse perspiration.

Allan took off his coat, which, with so many
wettings, was discoloured and had a mouldy

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smell, and tried to sleep, in which he at last
succeeded.

Next morning he felt better, and went out-
side. There was, however, little to be seen,
save a few cotton-bushes and a curatella, the
sandpaper -like leaves of which are used for
polishing bows and wooden arrow-points. The
only food-plants were a few peppers (capsi-
cums), and at first he wondered where the
cassava came from. Here were a dozen women
at work washing the roots, peeling, and grating
them into pulp, but no sign of a provision
ground. However, he knew that it must be
somewhere not very far off, and was glad to
see that the food supply was apparently
abundant. The men were out hunting, and
the whole place had almost an air of desertion,
from the quiet way the women went about their
tasks. They hardly looked at the stranger,
but one young girl brought him a calabash of
pepper-pot and a cake of cassava bread, on
which he tried to make a breakfast, but
without much success. The stinging taste of
the capsicums stirred his palate a little, other-
wise he could not have swallowed anything.

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He thanked the girl in the best way he could,
and again retired to his hammock.

In the afternoon he was roused from a doze
by the sound of a peculiar rattling, and presently
the doorway of the hut was obstructed by a
grotesque figure, painted, and fully dressed with
two or three necklaces and a feather crown.
He held a large rattle in his hand, formed of
a calabash pierced through with a stick, and
trimmed with feathers, with which he made
the noise that had roused his 'patient.

Yes, this was the physician of the tribe, the
Peaiman, who had been brought to cure Allan
of his fever. In the opinion of his friends
some enemy was at work, and the Peaiman
would drive him away. He looked at Allan,
and after giving orders to one of the women,
retired for a short time, to return with a cala-
bash of some hot nauseous drink, which he
almost forced the sick man to take. At the
same time, the women had been busy making
a fire in the hut, on which some green leaves
were heaped until the place was obscured with
a dense smoke.

From the effects of the hot drink and this

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primitive vapour-bath Allan began to perspire
at every pore. Then the Peaiman shook his
rattle, and commenced an altercation with the
devil, which lasted for fully an hour. Of course
the patient could not understand a word that
was said, but he afterwards had a dreamy
recollection of something like a dispute going
on, in which the orders of the Peaiman were
answered by defiance on the part of the enemy.
It was as if the one commanded the other to
leave his friend alone, which order for a long
time he refused to obey.

Allan lay in the hammock, his head aching
with the din, only the Peaiman apparently
being present. Yet, from amidst the smoke a
second voice certainly came, attended by a
swishing and whirl, like the fluttering of
some monstrous bat. Challenges, shouts,
cries, refusals of obedience, and demands
came from the contending parties, the voice
of the enemy being loudest in the beginning,
but gradually sinking as he became worsted in
the conflict.

When and how it all ended, Allan never
knew ; he became unconscious, and sunk into

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a dreamless state, from which nothing could
wake him for a long time.

When he came to himself the sun was high
and shining on the little patch of ground
beyond the open doorway. His headache was
gone, and he felt much better ; but, when he
tried to get out of the hammock his legs gave
way, and he lay upon the ground unable to
rise. The vapour-bath and the warm drink
had taken away the little strength remaining
after the fever, and now he was indeed an
invalid. He instinctively called for help as he
fell, and immediately a young girl came in.
She lifted him up without any difficulty and
placed him in the hammock, at the same time
putting her soft hand on his forehead to feel
if it was hot.

This semblance to a caress was the first sign
of feeling Allan had experienced since he had
joined the Indians, and he could not refrain
from pressing her hand gratefully. She looked
confused as if she did not understand ; her
seeming caress was nothing more than a kind
of examination to see if the work of her father
the Peaiman had been successful. When Allan

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held her wrist she did not snatch it away, but
humoured the patient's whim, as no doubt she
considered it.

Allan's mind was now clear, and he could
not help gazing at his nurse, as she might
be called, Naked, save for a pretty fringed
bead apron, her beautiful figure was dis-
played before him. Unlike most of the
Indian women he had before seen, she was
not short and stunted, but, on the contrary,
of a fair height. Her ruddy brown skin was
beautifully clear and her breasts were worthy
the attention of a sculptor. Her bearing
was truly modest as she withdrew herself from
his feeble grasp, and he felt as if he had lost a
friend as she disappeared.

However, she quickly returned with a cala-
bash of thin pepper-pot and a cake of cassava
bread, and appeared gratified when he managed
to eat a few bits of the latter, after soaking
them in the sauce. Being so weak, he was
glad to let her hold the calabash for him, and
she was thus detained for a longer time.

After a light meal he again fell asleep, and
did not wake until next morning. These two

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long spells of sleep had worked wonders ; he
was another man. With the fever had gone
that hopeless feeling which made him content
to die ; now he would strive to get about as
soon as possible. His mind was clear, and his
appetite had returned.

The girl brought him some barbecued veni-
son, which he ate almost voraciously, at sight
of which she looked pleased. Then she helped
him out of his hammock and set him upon his
legs, her arms causing a thrill to the convales-
cent as he felt them holding him up. Possibly
he let himself appear weaker than he really
was, for the purpose of retaining her near him,
but when she saw that he could stand and walk
to the doorway she left him alone.

On the shady side of the hut was a low
stool, and on this Allan sat to have a view of
the settlement. The women were busy as
usual, and a few boys were playing. Around
the huts were many different species of half-
tame animals, including domestic fowls, parrots,
macaws, toucans, and monkeys, and the young-
sters were shooting at them with blunt arrows,
not caring whether they injured them or not.

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But the animals were wary, and not being
confined in any way, they got among the low
bushes or made off into the savannah, to slyly
come back when their tormentors became
weary of their sport.

Allan made a sign to one of them, and he
came up and handed him his bow. The white
man tried to shoot at one of the papaw trees,
but could hardly draw the bow. How insigni-
ficant he felt ! This little boy was stronger
than he and more fitted for the work of a
huntsman. He could almost cry with vexation
at his failures. And then, to be despised by a
little boy of ten! He well knew that weakness
was despicable in the eyes of every Indian,
and that the women would look upon him with
contempt.

This would never do. He thought of the
handsome girl who had been so kind to him ;
he must do something to show his manhood.
Sitting down upon a bench when the other
men were out hunting was something disgrace-
ful. He was weak now, but when he became
strong again how could he gain her respect?
He must learn to hunt, fish, and shoot, and he
determined to commence as soon as possible.

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CHAPTER IX

THE INITIATION

THE Macusi village stood near the edge
of the great Pirara savannah, the site of
the fabled Lake Parima of Ralegh and the old
geographers. To the west of this great inland
sea was located the city of Manoa, capital of
the empire of " El Dorado," the gilded king.
Modern travellers have reduced the great sea
from the size of the Caspian to a reedy pool
called Lake Amucu, which, with other bits of
swamp, is all that is left of the fabulous lake
of golden sands. At times, however, the
semblance of a great body of water is still
produced ; floods rise and cover all the lower
grounds, leaving only the hillocks, like that on
which the village was placed, to appear above
the surface.

Allan could do little but think as he lay in
his hammock. His mind wandered to the
stories he had read ; the gilded king, the

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cannibals, and men with eyes in their breasts.
How he longed for a book, or some one to talk
with ! The feeling of loneliness was intensified
from the fact that he was not only sick, but
without even an acquaintance. He could not
speak the language, and no one in the village
knew English, or if such a person lived there
he did not come near.

The Peaiman came in now and then to look
at his patient. He looked pleased at the
obvious improvement, which, in his opinion,
was, of course, due to the conjurations. He
had gained another victory over the Hori, or
devil, and could shake his rattle and raise his
head an inch or two higher. His daughter
brought Allan food morning and night, and he
was always glad to see her. .Like a ray of
sunshine in the dark, smoke-begrimed hut, she
appeared for a few minutes and then left him
to feel all the more lonely. He tried on
several occasions to keep her with him for a
few minutes longer than her errand required,
but she was shy, and, as he got better and
could walk about, absented herself altogether.

His acquaintance who had brought him from

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Bartica was generally engaged in hunting and
fishing, and even when he paid a visit in the
evening, he knew too little of English to be
able to carry on a conversation. For a sick
man to endeavour to make himself understood
by signs is a hard task, and this Allan dis-
covered very quickly. He was too feeble,
and had to give it up. He must learn the
language ; but how ? As he became strong
enough to crawl to the door he saw that the
boys of the village were practising with their
bows, and he beckoned to one of them. The
boy hesitated a little ; he was somewhat afraid
of the pale face which met his gaze. How-
ever, like all Indian boys, he had to hide
his feelings, for it would never do to let the
other youngsters see anything like fear upon
his face.

The boy came, and Allan, pointing to the
bow and arrows, asked by signs what were
their names. The boy could not understand
at first what the sick man wanted, but in a few
minutes he grasped the situation and soon he
was giving the stranger his first lesson in the
Macusi language.

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Day after day, as he got better, Allan came
out among the boys, not only learning their
language in this way, but also practising
archery and watching their games, which
always represented something connected with
the daily life of a hunter or fisherman.

At last he felt strong enough to take his
place as a man among the others. He now
accompanied them on their hunting excursions ;
practised shooting at deer on the savannah and
at birds on the edge of the forest, until he
became proficient. At night they went duck
shooting on the reedy pools or laying spring
hooks along the banks of the river. He was
naturally clumsy at first, and got left alone in
the forest on several occasions when his com-
panions wanted to quietly approach their game.
By degrees, however, he attained to some
degree of excellence in the only profession
possible to an Indian, that of the hunter, and
was correspondingly respected by his fellows.
But he could never acquire that stealthy tread
which is so necessary, and to which the red
man is born as it were.

At first he wore boots as a matter of course,

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but when they fell to pieces, he was bound to
go barefoot. To walk on the rough savannah,
where in one place the bare ground would
be burning hot, and in another the irregular
tufts of sharp sedges would cut his feet, was
at first very painful. He came home sore
from every walk ; nevertheless, by strong efforts
of will, he went on until the soles were
hardened. His one suit of clothes also turned
to rags, and he had to discard everything but
a shirt. This he was always obliged to wear,
for his tender white skin became blistered
whenever he attempted to leave it off. For-
tunately for him, the men who had gone down
to town had brought back those they had worn
when in contact with civilisation, and as they
did not require a covering on the savannah
Allan had no difficulty in protecting his back
and shoulders.

This initiation into the life of the natural
man was certainly painful, but before he could
become perfect he must undergo another form
of torture — inoculation with the several beenas,
or charms, which would make him quite pro-
ficient as a huntsman. He had already seen

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the operation performed, and by no means
liked the process, but if he was ever to gain
the respect of the community in which he had
decided to cast his lot, he must undergo it.
Unless it were done he would never become
a man, much less a huntsman ; he therefore
agreed to the proposition of the Peaiman, who
he found was also the chief of their community,
that the ceremony of initiation should take
place on a certain clay.

The time having come, a cord like the thong
of a whip was passed up his nose and drawn
out at the back of the mouth ; after which his
breast and arms were scarified, and the acrid
juices of certain caladiums rubbed into the
wounds. Both operations were exceedingly
painful, but they must be endured without
wincing. Allan bit his lips to prevent an
instinctive cry as the acrid juice ran into the
cuts and made them feel like lines of fire, and
thus succeeded in giving satisfaction to the
assembly.

Now he must show off his newly acquired
manhood by taking part in the grand piwarrie
feast given in his honour. For several days

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previous the women and girls had been making
large quantities of cassava bread ; then they
sat round long troughs and canoes, chewing the
cakes and spitting the pulp into these recep-
tacles. When enough had been prepared,
water was poured on, the mixture stirred, and
left to ferment for two or three days.

This thick, repulsive-looking mixture was
now ready, and the orgie began. The men
lounged in their hammocks, while their wives
and daughters brought calabash after calabash
of the liquor, which they drank until each had
taken several gallons. Their object was to
get drunk, and as piwaree is but a weak
intoxicant, this naturally took some time, and
a great quantity had to be taken before the
desired result was attained.

Allan looked on with disgust, and when, as
the great personage of the day, he was pre-
sented with one calabash after another, he
simply put them to his mouth and handed
them back almost untasted. This displeased
the women, who soon began to remark upon
his want of manliness, while the men became
almost angry at the slight. Presently, how-

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ever, an old woman suggested that the bearers
of the liquor did not meet his approval ;
perhaps they were too old. Let some young
girl attend upon him, and as he was of such
importance, the daughter of the Chief might
be assigned to the office.

The Chief or Peaiman had three wives to
attend upon him, and could therefore easily
dispense with his daughter, who, though
somewhat shy, took up a handsomely carved
calabash of the liquor and offered it to the
honoured initiate. Allan looked on her with
admiration, for she was somewhat flushed with
the draughts she had taken, and could no
longer refuse. He overcame his repugnance
and swallowed the draught, with the result that
his spirits rose and he began to enjoy the orgie.
It was not long before the drink took effect.
The girl looked on admiringly and soon all her
shyness was overcome. She drank with him,
sat down in the same hammock and allowed
him to stroke her soft skin, while the crowd
looked on with pleasure.

Allan was not yet well versed in the Macusi
customs, and therefore did not know that the

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presentation of drink by an unmarried girl to
a bachelor was equivalent to a declaration of
love. But the Chiefs daughter well under-
stood what she was doing, and was quite
content with the result. The white man had
refused the offerings of others but had enjoyed
hers ; they were therefore an engaged couple,
and she need be no longer bashful. Allan
entered into the spirit of the entertainment and
became quite amorous as the drink took posses-
sion of him, until at last he hardly knew what
he was doing. He fell into a dreamy, muddled
condition, in which everything swam round him,
only now and again something out of the way
attracting his attention.

In this dreamy state he saw a crowd of
drunken men come round his hammock, in the
midst of whom stood the Chief with his Peai-
man's rattle, which he shook, and which roused
Allan somewhat from his lethargy. He looked
round for the young girl, and saw that she was
gathering sticks, to make a little fire imme-
diately in front of his hammock. She fetched
a brand from outside, lit the sticks, and then
giving Allan two or three pieces, guided his

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shaking hand so that he could drop them on
the fire. What it meant he neither knew nor
cared at that time ; a ceremony was being per-
formed in which he and the girl were taking
part together with her father. The Peaiman
went over a form of words, which, with Allan's
imperfect knowledge of the language and in
his then condition, he could not understand,
and then came unconsciousness.

Next morning he woke with a headache, and
a sore feeling all over his scarified body.
Turning over in his restlessness, he found that
another hammock was slung close to his and
that in it lay the girl who had been so kind to
him. He could hardly understand what had
taken place, for his head was still confused, but
when the girl got up and presently appeared
with his breakfast he learnt that they were now
man and wife.

At first he was somewhat startled; his innate
ideas of morality revolted. Soon, however,
a feeling of pleasure stole over him ; he had
now one friend at least in the community, he
would no longer be so entirely isolated. It was
very nice to lie down and watch her graceful

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motions as she attended to her household
duties. She was certainly handsome ; the
only blemish in his opinion being a wavy blue
tattooed line stretching across the face above her
upper lip. Her colour was a warm brown,
without spot or freckle, and her naked body
seemed to harmonise with her surroundings.
How he wished that his skin was not so pale
and tender ; he was a delicate exotic, she
a sturdy native of this sunny land.

Now he began to feel at home ; he was not
only a member of the community but one of
the family of the Chief. Hitherto he had
been alone and friendless ; he had been here
on sufferance ; it was not the duty of any one
to look after him. He was provided with a
wife like the rest, and in her he had some one
to live for, some one to welcome him on his
return from hunting, and to nurse him if he
again became sick. Yes, he had become
a man in the opinion of his fellows, for
hitherto, without wife or relations, he had been
in the position of an outcast.

As for Chloe, he must dismiss her from his
thoughts altogether ; she was unworthy. Prob-

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ably he would never see her again, for at
present, civilised life was abhorrent to him.
The women in cities were unfit to marry ;
instead of helping a man they were hindrances.
They were very exacting in their demands and
never thought they had responsibilities as well
as privileges. The only way in which man
and wife could live happily was that natural
condition he saw around him. Here the duties
of husband and wife were well defined ; each
did his or her share, but in case of a dispute
the woman was understood to be the inferior.
This was as it should be, for in every house, as
in every community, there must be an acknow-
ledged head.

Allan had seen enough of Indian life to per-
ceive that, although there was little sympathy
between man and wife, there was at the same
time no friction. The man hunted, fished,
built the house, and chopped down a small
portion of the forest for a provision ground ;
the woman planted, made the bread, and cooked
the meat. Neither could interfere with the
duties of the other ; each knew what should be
done, and was in honour bound to do it. True,

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custom ruled here as elsewhere, but it was
fixed as the blue mountains which rose on the
edge of the savannah. Nobody wanted to
change ; every one was generally contented
and happy.

Whether Allan could be contented with such
a life for many years did not occur to him
at that moment. He was really enjoying a
change ; going the way of the world in seeking
out strange things. This was something so
utterly different from all he had hitherto seen
and heard that the novelty alone was charming.
Here he was on his feet again with no one to
bother him ; he had no employer or customers
to please, and nothing but a series of pleasant
hunting and fishing excursions in prospective.
Why, the whole thing was as good as a picnic !
Of course, as in picnics, he would have to put
up with a few inconveniences, but, after all, they
meant but little. He would soon get over his
feeling of nakedness, and then nothing would
stand in the way of happiness.

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CHAPTER X

THE MACUSI CHIEF

^AMARANG, Allan's new father-in-law,
was a very important personage on the
savannah. Both his father and grandfather,
like himself, had been Macusi chiefs, and had
received from the governors of British Guiana
commissions as captains, as well as insignia of
office in the shape of hats and long staves.
Hitherto Allan had only seen him in his
character of Peaiman ; when he went to
Georgetown he put on his tall beaver hat
trimmed with silver lace, and carried his drum-
major's staff as if he were indeed a somebody.

Now that Allan had been admitted into his
family, the young Scotchman began to find out
a great many things of which he had hitherto
known nothing. Some twenty years before
Samarang had accompanied a celebrated
traveller to London, where he had been part
of that gentleman's exhibition of Guiana curios

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at a place in Regent Street. With two other
Indians of different tribes he had also been
presented to the Queen, who had the oppor-
tunity of admiring his skill with a bow and
blow-pipe. He had learnt a little English,
which, however, was now almost forgotten, and
had been the pet of a certain clergyman, who
thought him a very promising convert.

Samarang returned to Guiana clothed, and
in the opinion of the missionary of Aranama,
with a right mind, but, like the jackdaw of the
fable, he found that his borrowed plumage was
not acceptable to his own people. Hardly a
week passed after his arrival on the savannah
before his clothes were thrown off, and with
them the thin veneer of civilisation which had
rendered him such a hopeful convert.

He was looked upon with awe by his
subjects, for not only had he crossed the great
water and spoken to the grand lady who was
higher than the Governor, but he was chief by
commission as well as right, and a medicine-
man into the bargain. Across his forehead
was painted a design of the Greek maze
pattern and through a hole in his lower lip

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projected the points of quite a bundle of pins.
Other men might have from one to three ;
Samarang must have a dozen at least, one
of them being an old-fashioned shawl-pin three
to four inches long. Like the English swell
or dandy of that time, who was very fond
of stroking his " imperial," the Indian Chief
often played with his bunch of pins, now
pushing them against his teeth and then letting
them fall back again.

Allan smiled to himself as he thought of the
difficulty of a man kissing his wife with such a
chevaux de frise on his mouth, but he knew by
this time that what was said of the Indians of
Surinam two centuries before was as true then,
for they were still "so unfortunately ignorant,
not to enrich their amorous caresses with that
innocent and warm delight of kissing." Even
Allan's wife could not understand why he liked
to touch her lips.

Up to the present the name of his wife, like
those of other women and men of the tribe,
had been concealed from him. They never
addressed each other by name, but always used
words meaning friend, brother, man, or wife.

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The chiefs daughter told her husband to call
her Won, meaning wife, while in addressing
him she always used the word Hunyo, my man
or husband. For some weeks she refused to
tell him her proper name, but after much
pressing she whispered in his ear the one
word "Yariko."

Yes, she was Yariko, a flower ; Allan's
precious blossom of the savannah. How
pretty, and how well it suited her ! She had
indeed come into Allan's life to brighten it and
raise him from the depths of despair. She was
handsome enough to serve as a model for
Venus. Yes, and she was far more beautiful
than any marble statue, for instead of that cold
white which gives us the idea of shivering, her
colour prevented every feeling but that of
warmth and life from intruding. A white
woman, with only the queyu, or apron, about
twelve inches by eight, would not only look
indecent, but produce a feeling of incongruity ;
a spectator would want to cover her bare
shoulders from wind, rain, and sun. Yariko's
nakedness had no such effect on Allan ; he
certainly admired her untrammelled body, and

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had not the slightest wish to see her wearing
the ugly dress then in fashion. Her black hair
hung down over her shoulders, her nose, of
a moderate size, was hardly flattened, and her
lips were thinner than is usual among her
people. But what struck Allan most was the
sparkle of her black eyes, which seemed to glow
like diamonds in the dulness of their gloomy hut.

Chloe had driven him away. Yariko would
never behave like Chloe, even if he did carry
her away from her native savannah.

Now that Allan had been formally admitted
into the community, he took his place in every-
thing that went on. By practice he became an
expert bowman, and having few of those indo-
lent fits so common among the Indians, his
wife's pepper-pot was always full, and her
barbecue loaded with meat. Nothing could
make him more respected than this. His wife
was pleased and Samarang began to be a little
more open with him. Allan did not care to
depend altogether upon his father-in-law, how-
ever, but thought it best to erect a hut of his
own, where he and his wife could be more
retired than in a large house with other people.

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This having been finished, they saw less of the
chief, for he was very busy making certain
arrangements, of which we shall have more to
say presently.

Yariko was by no means tender or affec-
tionate ; but she was absolutely submissive.
Allan would have liked to feel that she loved
him, but of this he could never be sure. Like
all Indian women, who have inherited the
instinct of subjection from their female ances-
tors, she bore caresses but never gave them in
return. Passion in every form was absent ;
she could never turn out such a virago as
Chloe, nor could she respond to anything like
the strong love of a white man. This Allan
did not altogether like, but his former experi-
ence had been so distressing that he was quite
content with his flower of the savannah.

She rarely complained of anything, or even
suggested that he should or should not do any
particular thing. As a rule, although she might
dislike his effusive manner when they were
alone, the utmost she would do was to keep
beyond his reach. She certainly showed a
dislike to the hair on his face. Save here and

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there an old man, none of her people had a
beard, and even the grandfathers only had
a few bristles on the chin which might be
counted. Young men got their wives to pluck
out each hair as it appeared, but Allan's beard
was entirely beyond such a process of extir-
pation.

At first he would embrace her as he came
home from hunting or fishing, but as she
showed such a dislike to anything of the sort,
he became more circumspect, and waited until
they were alone. Once, however, when he had
been absent a week, he caught her up in his
arms and almost smothered her with kisses, in
the presence of several young men, who laughed
boisterously at the performance. She seemed
really annoyed, although she said nothing ;
such a thing was so contrary to all their
customs. Probably she did not like her
husband to do anything ridiculous, and Allan
himself thought it better to avoid it in the
future.

Now that he enjoyed good health, he became
inured to an outdoor life and almost naked-
ness. The days passed very happily. Now

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and then game and fish were scarce, and there
was some privation ; but generally a little meat
could be obtained to savour the sawdust-like
cassava bread. His life was like a calm after
the storm of the previous twelve months, when
he had been almost worried to death. He
cleared a piece of ground in the adjoining
forest, some three miles away, which Yariko
planted with cassava and a few other things.
As Allan started for his day's hunting Yariko
would place the band of her suriana across her
forehead and start for the field, to plant, weed,
or dig, all of which operations were done with
the machete or cutlass. Sometimes, as he re-
turned home, Allan would see his wife bent
almost double by the load on her back, and he
often wished that he might help her. The
band of fibre across her forehead seemed to be
cutting into the skin, and as she came in on
one occasion he asked her not to carry such
heavy loads, at the same time stroking her
forehead where the band had discoloured the
skin.

She looked at him as if she did not under-
stand, and when he repeated his warning and

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said that she might get her back bent like
some of the older women about the settlement,
she evidently resented his interference. This
was her work, she said ; he must look after fish
and game, she would attend to the bread. If
he interfered the men would despise him ; she
would not like her man to be laughed at. Why,
only the other day her moyeh (little brother)
said that the white man was more like a woman
than anything else, and she was obliged to
excuse him by a plea of ignorance. How
could he make her people respect him if he
was not manly?

For Yariko to say as much as this there
must have been indeed good reason, for she
had never rebuked him before. Even now her
manner was that of a woman doing something-
she disliked ; she deprecated giving offence,
but at the same time probably knew that only
ignorance of their customs made him offer to
do things which no woman who respected her
husband could allow.

Allan was compelled to admit the reasonable-
ness of her protest, although he knew that hard
labour in the field and the carrying of heavy

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burdens would tend to spoil her graceful figure.
But he must take things as they were ; if he
set up as a reformer of the manners and
customs of the Macusis he would certainly get
into difficulties. He was in the minority of
one, and had professed his willingness to abide
with them and become one of the tribe ; he
could not, therefore, pose as a teacher. He
was sorry he had offended Yariko, and told
her so plainly, for she was the only real friend
he had.

Yes, friendship and love were unknown
quantities among these people ; even companion-
ship was almost wanting. No one cared for the
others, whether blood relations, wives, or hus-
bands ; there was an utter absence of sympathy
as of its opposite. Parents did not chastise
their children, nor husbands beat their wives ;
life flowed evenly along like the sluggish
rivers of the savannah in the dry season.
Allan saw that this mode of living had its
advantages ; he had been so tossed about
among rocks and whirlpools during the pre-
vious year that he was bound to appreciate
them.

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Yariko undoubtedly liked him as an Indian
wife should like her husband ; possibly all the
love she was capable of feeling had been given.
Now that he came to compare her with Chloe,
he saw that there were great resemblances as
well as differences between the two women.
Rarely, indeed, did the boviander respond to
his passionate caresses ; when in a good
humour she was submissive, otherwise can-
tankerous and resentful. Were all women like
these two, or were there other classes ? Prob-
ably the submissive part of Chloe's nature
came from her Indian ancestry ; the opposite
from her negro blood. How, then, about the
pure white woman ? Was she similar to Chloe,
and only kept from being a virago by the
influence of her surroundings ? He hardly
knew, for up to a year ago he had seen but
little of women. True, he had a mother and
two sisters in Scotland, but he could hardly
say what they were like, as he had spent so
little time in their company since his childhood
days. Were they such women as he had read
of in novels — women who would do any-
thing in the madness of passion ? Chloe was

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certainly passionate, but in how different a
manner! Here was Yariko, his beautiful wife,
almost as cold as a statue. Was she not the
natural woman, subject to man? How, then,
should he class the others ?

But he would not study such an intricate
subject ; he was now an Indian and must take
things as they came. He had a good wife,
whom he passionately loved, and yet he must
practise a stoical indifference ; pain or pleasure
must be borne in the same manner. Above
everything he must avoid anything like a dis-
play of tenderness before his neighbours. He
smiled to himself as he thought of a scene he
had witnessed on board the mail steamer in
coming out, and the effect it would have had
upon the Macusis. Two full-bearded Germans
embraced and kissed each other, while a party
of sailors looking on broke into a loud guffaw.
Almost the same thing happened when Allan
kissed Yariko in the presence of the hunting
party. How the little Indian boys laughed!
Oh ! these boys ! They are a terror to all
lovers ; and the men of the Pirara savannah
were only grown-up boys.

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CHAPTER XI

A PROPHET

WHETHER Samarang had any inten-
tion of asking the assistance of Allan
Gordon in his projects or not is doubtful. The
chief was by no means a fool, but rather a
cunning rogue. The experience he had gained
with the white traveller, and the information
he had picked up in his voyages, were to a
certain extent engrafted upon the Indian
character, until this latter became somewhat
modified.

Samarang was ambitious. Not satisfied with
his position as chief and Peaiman of the
Macusis, he wished to become ruler over all
the tribes in Guiana. To this end he held
religious services in a large shed in the village,
to which all the Indians of the savannah were
invited. Now and again a few Arecunas and
\Ycipisianos attended, but up to the present

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the chief had made little impression. The
Indians must be roused in some way, and this
could only be done by appealing to their
traditions, which centred round the sacred
mountain of Roraima.

Ages ago, their ancestors had told them,
there was a time when the Macusis had
no cultivated vegetables ; there were neither
cassava nor yams, Indian corn or bananas.
Mora seeds and the bitter nuts of the green-
heart were all they had with which to make
bread, and when game and fish were scarce
many died of starvation. Even at the best
they were poor and miserable, for without cas-
sava no piwarrie could be made to cheer them.

Makunaima, the Great Spirit, seeing their
condition, sent two messengers, who appeared
one day in their midst. No one had seen
how they came, and could only suppose that
they floated down from heaven. They were
brothers, white men with shining faces, glorious
to behold, the elder named Inchkeran, who
seems to have been the principal, while the
other was of so little importance that his name
was not preserved.

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Inchkeran, seeing the condition of the
Macusis, promised to help them, and calling
upon a body of young men to follow, the two
brothers set off in a westerly direction. Pre-
sently they came to a great forest, in which
they began to search for a particular tree, that
for a long time could not be found. At last,
however, Inchkeran came to a place where
only one great tree stood up, its crown spread-
ing over a large stretch of country, to the
exclusion of everything else. It was covered
with fruit of all kinds, including bananas,
papaws, cashews, capsicums, cobs of Indian
corn, and even roots of cassava and yams.
The trunk was so large that it took the party
a week to chop it down, notwithstanding the
skill of the two brothers with the stone axe.
At length, however, it fell, and in falling scattered
its fruit far and wide over forest and savannah.
Soon the seeds germinated, and the roots grew
to produce all the plants now in cultivation
among the Indians.

Having performed this great task, the two
brothers went farther west to a place on the
Ireng river, where they set to work and dug

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a great hole in the ground. This being finished,
the younger brother transformed himself into
a monstrous labba, and retired within it to
become the parent of all the game of that
species. Inchkeran now brought together a
bed of stones, on which he lay until they were
transformed into men, whom he commanded
to search for his brother, and then went on.
"These men, in accordance with his directions,
went on searching for the great labba, but
down to the present day no one has found it,
although they often come upon small specimens
of its progeny.

Inchkeran continued his journey until he
disappeared at Roraima, whence he is ex-
pected to come again at some future time
in all his glory, laden with a thousand good
things for his people.

Samarang knew of this legend and used it
for his purpose. It had been revealed to him
that Inchkeran would soon be coming back;
it was necessary, therefore, that his people
should assemble to greet him. In the shed
which served as a church was hung a portrait
of King William the Fourth in his coro-

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nation robes ; this, Samarang said, was
Inchkeran.

Allan attended his services, and noticed
that the prophet read from a book, which on
examining he found to be a copy of St.
Matthew's Gospel in the Arawak language,
which, of course, Samarang could not under-
stand. That he was also unable to read was
proved by his holding the book topsy-turvy on
some occasions. Allan could understand but
a few words of his service, for it was intoned
in a peculiar manner, obviously copied from
the conventional style of the Church of England
curate, with some modifications. He told them
on the authority of Makunaima that the end
of the world was approaching, that all save
a favoured few would be destroyed, that the
white men were so wicked that none would
survive, and that, instead, the favoured Indians
would be transformed into glorified whites,
and possess guns, axes, and everything they
thought desirable.

To show his authority, Makunaima had
given the prophet certain vouchers, which he
distributed among his followers. These, Allan

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noticed, were pieces of printed paper taken
from a bundle which Samarang had in his hut,
among which were odd numbers of the Times
and other newspapers once used by the
traveller for drying his plants. What was
to be the effect of carrying such vouchers the
prophet did not say ; but he implied that the
bearers of them would be specially blessed by
Makunaima.

Allan looked upon all this as buffoonery
rather than anything else, and when Samarang
hinted at the great results he expected from it,
he smiled to himself, but said nothing. Then
the chief went on to speak of his intention
to make himself ruler over all the Indian
tribes, and asked his son-in-law whether he
was willing to assist in the project. They
would both become rich and great, have as
many wives as they wished, and get tribute
in the shape of game and other things de-
sirable. He knew it would be useless to dwell
upon the prophetic part of the business ; Allan
knew this to be imposture, and his father-in-law
saw that he knew it.

Allan shook his head at the proposition.

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What did the Indians want with a king? They
were very comfortable in their present con-
dition. Kings were supposed to exist for the
benefit of the people they governed ; but
Samarang evidently looked upon the matter
in another light. He had no idea whatever
of posing as a benefactor ; his wishes were all
connected with plenty of women, plenty of
meat, and a long succession of piwarrie feasts.
No ; Allan would have nothing to do with the
matter, for he felt sure that he would land
Samarang in difficulties.

This refusal prevented anything like cor-
diality between them, but the would-be king
went on with his work. Presently he com-
menced the unheard-of practice of putting a
screen before the entrance of his hut. Privacy
is almost unknown among these people, and,
therefore, such a thing was quite remarkable.

From the time when his doorway was thus
closed Samarang appeared but rarely ; he was
too sacred a personage to show himself to any
but a favoured few. Presents of game and
other things were brought to him, and every
word he spoke from behind the curtain of

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salempores was listened to with the utmost
attention. On hearing him, the people flocked
round to catch his oracular sentences. Some-
times there was apparently a conversation
going on between the prophet and some other
person ; this other was said to be Makunaima
speaking. Allan remembered the ventriloquial
contest which took place when he was sick,
and put down the performance to a similar trick.
The burden of his prophecies was to the
effect that the world was coming to an end
in October following, towards the end of the
dry season. Makunaima would destroy every-
thing with fire ; all save the chosen few would
be swept away like the dry grass of the
savannah. Great waves of fire would roll across
the ground, burn up the forests, lick the rivers
dry, and destroy their villages and themselves
if they did not follow him. But, if they
accepted his mediation with Makunaima, they
would be saved and brought out of the trouble ;
each would become not only white in skin,
but have all the riches of a white man. The
Indians were the peculiar care of the Great
Spirit, and when the earth was restored they

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would be the only people left. But they must
not remain here ; when the time came he
would lead them to a pleasant valley abounding
with game, where they would be quite safe
amidst the universal destruction. They must
hasten, for it was now July, near the end of
the rainy season ; a heavy drought would
follow, and their friends must soon be gathered
together from all parts of the country.

Makunaima had spoken, and during the
following week messages were sent out to the
different tribes. Some went to the rivers
Berbice and Corentyne ; others to the upper
reaches of the Pomeroon, Waini, and Barima ;
and a third party to the Cuyuni and Masaruni.
Each messenger carried a piece of paper as a
proof of his authority, and he was told to call
the tribes together at the base of Mount
Roraima. They must bring plenty of cassava
bread and barbecued meat, and it was hinted
also that the prophet might be propitiated by a
few handsome young girls or other presents.
From " Roraima, the red-rocked, wrapped in
clouds, the never-failing source of streams,
where with daybreak night still prevails," the

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Great Spirit would appear and tell them what
to do. Makunaima had already spoken
through his prophet, and had sent these
tokens as a sign of his good intentions.

The usual quiet of the Indian village was
upset by these departures. Samarang never
came forth now, but kept himself quite ex-
cluded, carrying on his supposed conversations
with Makunaima before wondering audiences,
who began to arrive from all parts of the
savannah. Not Macusis alone, but Wapisianos
and Arecunas came to hear the wonderful
news, each party bringing its little present,
until Samarang's hut was full of those things
valued by the Indians, some of which could
have been procured only in Georgetown. The
handsomest girls were offered and accepted,
regardless of the claims of the young men to
whom some of them were betrothed, and
ultimately a second hut had to be built to
accommodate them all. These women were
too valuable to be sent into the field ; but as
the prophet could get presents of whatever
he wanted in the way of food, their labour
became unnecessary.

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Allan watched this curious mania and won-
dered how it would end. For himself he
determined to keep aloof, but he could do
nothing to undeceive the people. It was not
for him to say that his father-in-law was fooling
them ; it would simply lead to his destruction.
Even Yariko believed the story and stood in
awe of the prophet.

Now he could see that preparations were
being made for a long journey. All the
women, save those shut up in Samarang's
huts, were busy preparing large quantities of
cassava bread, and Yariko was as active as
the rest. She assumed as a matter of course
that they would go with the others ; as a part
of her father's household they were bound to
follow him. Allan would have liked to remain
behind for some reasons, but then, again, he
was curious to know the result.

At last the day of departure arrived. The
whole village turned out, every woman carrying
a heavy suriana to the river-side, where an
unusual number of canoes were waiting. The
first part of the journey would be performed by
water, and the frail craft were loaded until

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hardly room could be found for the people.
All were eager to escape the great fire ; even
the dogs crowded in and perched themselves
on the top of the baggage, together with
parrots, monkeys, and feathered stock. If
their huts and everything else were to be
destroyed, they "must save whatever they could.

Having no canoe of his own, Allan and his
wife occupied one of several belonging to
Samarang, who came forth cloaked from head
to foot in blue salempores. His harem and
food supply occupied four canoes, and the
whole party made quite a procession as they
paddled slowly westward up the stream. At
night they encamped and slung their hammocks
under the trees, which in the fine weather
they were then having was by no means
disagreeable. Here and there, however, the
sandflies were troublesome, but the great pest
was the kaburi, which raised a blister in every
spot where its venomous proboscis was in-
serted. Allan wished for some other covering
than a shirt when these flies invaded the camp,
and almost choked himself by slinging his
hammock to leeward of the smoky fire. Save

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for these pests, the journey by water was
pleasant enough.

Now they could go no further by water,
but must prepare themselves for a toilsome
journey across the savannah. The women
took up their heavy loads, which, although
somewhat reduced on the voyage, were still
weighty enough to bend them almost double,
and commenced the march. Beyond their
weapons the men carried nothing, yet even
without encumbrance Allan often felt ready
to drop with fatigue as he trudged along day
after day in the scorching sun. But if he
felt weary and footsore, how could his poor
Yariko endure such a journey ? There she
was in the long line of women, her burden
piled up above her head, and the cruel band
apparently cutting into her brow at every
step. He would have willingly relieved her
of a part, but such a thing could not be.
How pitiful ! They had left their comfortable
home, where everything had gone on so
pleasantly, to follow a madman across this
desert. Again he asked himself, How would
all this end?

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When they camped at night Allan could
see a dark weal across his wife's forehead,
and probably it hurt him more than it did
her. To Yariko it was a matter of course ;
to her husband, with his ingrained ideas of
women's delicacy and tenderness, intolerable.
He went so far as to offer to relieve her of
part of her burden, but this she would not
permit. He must be always ready to go
hunting with the men, or to shoot a deer if
they saw one. She would look after her
duties ; let him perform his.

CHAPTER XII

THE WHITE V ALLEY

AT last, footsore and almost exhausted, the
party arrived at their destination. It was
certainly a beautiful place — a valley through
which ran a clear stream bordered by trees.
From the open grassy spot chosen for the
camp the towering cliffs of Roraima could be
seen in all their majesty. Like a gigantic
castle it stood above a green slope, which
looked blue in the distance when not obscured
by mists. First came one great mount rising
above another, until that which bore the great
rock stood above the rest to a height of over
five thousand feet ; then the great precipice
rose apparently without a break fifteen hundred
feet into the heavens. As the fleecy clouds
passed over its summit the walls looked black,
but when they had gone and the sun shone full
upon the cliffs, they glittered and made Allan

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think of the " crystal mountain " of which
rumours had been heard by the old travellers
in Guiana. From one part a veil-like waterfall
shone in the light ; a shining band near the top
and a tapering cone of mist above the dense
tangle of vegetation below. No wonder the
Indians looked upon it as sacred ; it was so
grand, so inaccessible, and so mysterious.

In the valley a large number of people were
already assembled to meet the prophet. The
Arecunas, who lived in the neighbourhood,
welcomed the party with their Bakong baimong
(Good-day), at the same time pointing to
Roraima and calling out pleasantly, Matti,
Roraima tau, Roraima taul (Look at our
Roraima). All the conversation seemed to
refer to the wonderful rock. If a Macusi
spoke of the savannah with its deer, or of
the river Rupununi with its shoals of fish,
they would reply that it could not be as
beautiful as their country, for there was no
Roraima.

In hunting over the surrounding country,
Allan could not but be charmed by its beauty.
The grandeur of the cliffs, the clearness of the

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streams, and the wonderful variety of flowers,
ferns, and mosses, awoke his latent instinct for
the study of Nature. He thought such scenes
worth all the pains and difficulties of the long
journey. How different was this from the
mummery then going on in the beautiful
valley ; he could not endure the crowd. No,
he would spend his days in this natural
paradise. It was bad enough to go home at
night and witness the assembly round
Samarang's hut and the drinking of piwarrie.
But the slopes of the great mountain were
very cold, and he often wished for a suit of
warm clothing. When the sun shone it was
pleasant, but even now, in the middle of the
dry season, clouds often stood above the great
rock, cutting winds blew, and rain fell almost
every day. The streams were exceedingly
cold, and under the cliffs the bushes were
always dripping with moisture. Barefooted,
he found it hard to walk over rocks and
slippery boulders, and with no covering but a
ragged shirt he was quite unprepared for such
a climate. But, for the sake of being alone,
he nevertheless often wandered in the direction

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of the slope, which, on account of the sacred
character of the rock, was carefully avoided by
the others.

Day after day fresh arrivals from all parts of
the country swelled the multitude which had
assembled in Beckeranta, the White Valley, as
Samarang called his place of rendezvous. A
large number of huts had been erected, until
it became almost like a fair, with one great
" show " in the centre, the house of the
prophet. This was closed, as the hut in the
Macusi village had been, and near it, both
morning and evening, the crowd gathered to
hear Makunaima and the prophet conversing.
Everything that was said was listened to with
the greatest awe, and the slightest suggestion
of a command carried out at once. Every
new party brought a gift of some kind, and
ultimately the harem of Samarang contained
over a dozen wives.

When the assembly was complete, orders
were given to hold a great piwarrie feast.
Great logs were hollowed out to form troughs,
and presently every woman was busy baking
bread and chewing it. The drink being ready,

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an orgie began, compared with which that at
Allan's initiation was nothing. Night after
night drinking, dancing, and singing went on
from sunset, and by morning men and women
were lying about like hogs in a sty. Now and
again, also, there were quarrels and fights, and
the sun often rose upon scenes too horrible for
description.

Allan tried to induce Yariko to remain away
from these orgies, but only partially succeeded.
Like women in civilised nations, she was
wedded to the customs and fashions of her
people, and although she drank but little
herself, she willingly helped in the distribu-
tion. At the risk of appearing singular, Allan
remained in his hut, and when he found it
hard to sleep for the noise, he took down his
hammock and slung it among the trees at a
distance. How pitiful it all was! Could he
not do something? He thought over this
question night after night, but could find no
answer. Who was he to think of trying to
circumvent such a cunning impostor ? The
least antagonism on his part would be fatal to
himself, for he stood alone among a thousand

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fanatics, who would tear him to pieces if he
said a word against Samarang. He could
only watch the course of events and take care
of himself and his wife.

If we were telling a story of the usual
romantic type, we should make our hero
perform impossibilities. Single-handed, he
would be able to overcome the impostor,
rescue the girls from his clutches, and turn
the current of feeling into other channels.
But in real life such things do not happen.
A man is the creature of circumstances, and
should he attempt anything quixotic, he will
almost certainly fail and perish without doing
good to any one.

Allan was not heroic ; he was simply an
average young man of a type which can be
found represented in any part of the world.
He held the common-sense view that for him
to incur the risk of martyrdom for an idea
would be little better than madness. If by
dying he could save Yariko from some imme-
diate danger, he would have been content to
risk everything, but to interfere with the false
prophet at the present stage would help no

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one. All he could do was to think and watch.
He was sure that trouble would come in some
way, but how he could hardly conjecture at
present. These poor ignorant people had dug
up all their cassava, and certainly, in view of
the impending destruction, had made no pro-
vision for the future, and here they were
wasting it day after day in preparing this vile
drink. What would happen when it was all
gone, and when want made itself felt ? Little
game was to be had in the neighbourhood, for
the animals had been disturbed by the crowd ;
at the best of times the district gave little to
the huntsman.

Keeping his eyes open, Allan saw that
among the blind followers of the prophet there
were a few who did not believe in him. The
leader of the opposition, as it might be called,
was a young Arecuna, whose prospective wife
had been given to Samarang, and who naturally
felt a little sore about the matter. In walking
round the huts one morning and gazing upon
the pitiful scene, Allan came upon the little
party of conspirators talking quietly, and con-
spicuous from the fact that they were not

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drunk and sprawling about like the others. As
they saw him approaching they became silent,
and although he tried to enter into a conversa-
tion, they professed not to know the Macusi
language. It was quite evident that they
looked upon the son-in-law of Samarang with
suspicion. Allan could not, of course, in view
of their distrust, say anything ; nevertheless he
took notice of their faces and watched them
carefully. On several other occasions he saw
them together, and from one or two words they
let drop, he suspected that a conspiracy was
forming.

Samarang had accomplished the first part
of his scheme, by assembling the people and
raising himself to the position of an autocrat,
but how was he going to keep them together ?
When they found that his predictions were
false, everything would be at an end, and he
must have been well aware of that. Some-
thing must be done, or they would tire of
waiting for the sign. Makunaima had not
appeared, although the day fixed for his
descent from Roraima had passed. The young
men were already discontented ; he must find
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The grand drinking bout had been going on
for three weeks when Samarang hit upon a
scheme which could only have come from the
brain of a madman. Suddenly, at midnight,
when nearly all of the men were drunk, he
appeared for the first time in their midst, and
called them together to hear the latest com-
munication from the Great Spirit.

Makunaima had spoken. He did not wish
his children to be destroyed in the great fire.
He loved them, and would raise them to
higher positions than the whites, who would
all be exterminated. But they all knew that
the white man possessed many things which
the Indian loved. He had guns, powder and
shot, axes and knives, and, above all, rum.
Every one who wished to obtain these things
must obey the commands of the Great Spirit
given through the mouth of his prophet. If
they did so they would become not only white
but glorified beings, and rule over the cowards
who were wanting in faith. These would be
born again, but first they must be killed.
Then, at the coming full moon the bodies of
the slain would rise, and as glorified kings come

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down from the summit of Roraima to rule over
the earth.

Long ago, the prophet said, Makunaima had
sent a great flood upon the earth, which
destroyed all save a few of his chosen people ;
now he would send a great fire to burn up the
world. Those who had assembled in the White
Valley had been chosen to escape destruction,
but it was not with poor Indians that Maku-
naima intended to replenish the earth, but with
the faithful ones who were willing to die.

The assembly listened eagerly to his words,
but no one quite understood what he meant.
When he suggested that they should kill each
other a thrill of horror rushed through their
muddled brains.

As they hesitated, he began to taunt them
with their fear of death ; if Makunaima could
not raise them up again, would he not be a
poor mortal like any one of them ? Let them
hasten to obey the command ; let each take up
his war club and hasten the glorious work.

So saying, he snatched a club that was
hanging from one of the rafters and brandished
it over their heads. Before him was a great

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piwarrie trough, over which crouched a dozen
men, who had been drinking so freely that
some of their heads hung over the liquor.
Suddenly rushing towards them with his club
uplifted, he brought the weapon down upon
the head of the first, following this up quickly
until a row of dead men with bleeding skulls
hung over the trough. Then taking up a
calabash he dipped it into the mixture, calling
upon them to come and taste.

A large number responded, and soon the
whole shed was in confusion. Macusis,
Arecunas, Wapisianos, Acawoios and Arawaks
were soon fighting with each other. All their
suppressed enmities came to the front, and,
like tigers who had tasted blood, they revelled
in the fight. But not only did the tribes slay
each other ; fathers killed their sons, and
brothers fought until in many cases all the men
of a family lay dead. Every one was mad for
the time. Without discrimination, friends and
foes struck right and left at each other.
Women and children fell before they could
escape, and soon the large shed was filled with
dead and dying.

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A few of those who had not been drinking
so heavily escaped, but nearly all the younger
men, to the number of four hundred, lost their
lives in this horrible massacre. As for Samarang
he took care to save himself; his faith in the
glorious resurrection was not strong enough to
let him run the risk of remaining to see the
end. Quietly returning to his own house, he
shut himself up as usual, to await further
developments. His scheme was working well,
for the stronger men were dead ; he could now
easily manage the women and children.

But there was still a body of Arecunas who
had not taken part in the fight, and as Allan
was gazing upon the horrible scene in the
morning he heard them uttering threats of
vengeance upon Samarang. Some of their
friends had been killed ; if they came to life
again, well and good, if not, they were bound
by all their customs to obtain satisfaction. But
not only would they kill the prophet ; all his
family must also suffer for his crimes. They
would wait until the full moon ; after that
nothing but blood would satisfy them.

Allan was thunderstruck as he pieced these

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mutterings together. The bolt had indeed
fallen, and he, as well as poor Yariko, would
have to look out for their safety. He spoke to
his wife, but she would not hear anything
against her father ; what he had prophesied
would come true, and then everybody would
be happy and comfortable again. Allan told
her it was impossible, but she almost rebuked
him for his want of faith. Did he not believe
in the Great Spirit ? Was not Makunaima all-
powerful ? Had he not heard the voice ? How
could the promise fail ?

What could Allan say to all this ? Could he
proclaim her father to be an impostor? He
must certainly be prepared for a catastrophe at
the time of the full moon, and meanwhile be
on the alert to save himself and Yariko.

CHAPTER XIII

VENGEANCE

A FORTNIGHT would pass before the
full moon and the promised resurrection.
The dead were buried and the wounded lay in
their hammocks, hardly knowing whether they
ought to curse the prophet, or wish themselves
among those who were to return with glorified
bodies. Day after day passed to see a
sullen gloom creep over the assemblage. The
nights were quiet ; the piwarrie drinking and
dancing had come to an end. The men who
survived collected in groups and discussed the
situation, the few malcontents now making a
great impression. Something would have to
be done, but all agreed to wait for the full
moon.

Allan wanted Yariko to go away with him,
but this she refused to do. She was an
obedient wife, but when the choice lay between

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her husband and father, the latter must have
the preference. Allan would not leave her, so
he also must remain, although he knew only
too well that this meant almost certain death.
Like some of the others, Yariko was expecting
the miracle to take place ; she would not leave
before the night of the full moon.

To retain his influence over the assembly,
which he saw had been somewhat weakened,
Samarang felt it necessary to do something.
The great conflagration which he had foretold
must take place ; he therefore stole forth in
the night and set fire to the savannah beyond
the valley. The flames crept quickly among
the dried sedges, and almost before he could
steal back into his hut the heavens were ruddy
with the reflection. The people ran to the
pass which connected the White Valley with
the burning plain, and carefully removed every-
thing likely to lead the flames in their direction,
which, however, was very little, because the
mountain-stream occupied the greater part of
the avenue between the bare rocks. The
people watched what many believed to be the
fulfilment of Samarang's prediction, for the

In Guiana Wilds

whole country to the east was blazing, and
heaven itself appeared to be on fire. Only
Roraima and their own valley remained un-
touched by the fire, and this almost restored
their former confidence.

Allan climbed a hill where he could see
that the fire was extending to the east as
far as the eye could reach, but he also re-
cognised the fact that it had commenced just
outside the pass. Here was another difficulty
added to the others, for the people were already
on the verge of starvation. Every animal
would be burnt or driven away, and game be
entirely wanting over the whole savannah to
the eastward.

Next morning the country outside the pass
was blackened, and, as the wind blew in the
direction where the fire still blazed, it carried
up great clouds of flakes which whirled round
and round in eddies or rose to meet the clouds
which extended over the whole country. The
Indians went forth in search of dead animals,
of which they found a good number, some
cooked ready for eating, others charred to a
cinder. This pleased them for the time, and

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on every hand favourable opinions of the
prophet were expressed.

But this feeling did not last long. Next
morning food was again wanting ; all their
cassava had been eaten or wasted in making
piwarrie, and only the large supply which had
been given to Samarang remained. Not a
wild animal could be found, save on the slopes
of the sacred mountain, where they dared not
go. Allan, however, being quite free from this
superstitious feeling, succeeded in obtaining
enough meat for himself and his wife, although
it might only be the rat-like cavy, the taste of
which was sickening at other times.

Some of the people now congregated round
Samarang's hut and clamoured for food, of
which they knew he had plenty. The prophet
told them to thank the Great Spirit for saving
them from the fire. Did they not see the
ruddy glare on the bounds of the horizon, which
showed that their villages were doomed to
destruction? If he had not led them to a
place of refuge, where would they be now ?
They must have faith in him and all would
be well.

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Words however could not feed the hungry,
and the people went away murmuring. Not a
cake of cassava would he give to any one of
them save Yariko, who divided her father's
small allowance among the famished little ones.
Samarang cared nothing if half of them died of
starvation ; probably in his madness he thought
the others would be all the more cringing. He
had just enough food to last his family for a
few weeks longer ; if he gave away any he
also might suffer. A few who lived in the
neighbourhood left for their homes, where these
were to the west of Roraima, but those from
the savannah had no places of refuge. How
could they travel across the blackened plain
without a supply of food, and what could they
do at the end of their journey ? All their
villages were destroyed, the game driven off or
killed, and if what the prophet said were true,
the rivers were dried up.

Over five hundred people waited for the
night of the full moon. If their friends came
to life again, well and good, if not, destruction
would come upon the false prophet and all his
family. No attempts were now made to hide

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the feelings of the conspirators, who by this
time formed a very strong" party.

They were naturally suspicious of Allan,
who, feeling that a crisis was approaching, tried
to find out their plans. He often came upon
parties who were evidently discussing the
matter, but as he appeared they became silent.
The night preceding that of the full moon,
however, a large body assembled in the hut
of an Arecuna chief, and by putting his ear
against the wall of thatch Allan caught suffi-
cient to understand their intentions. Some
were quite sceptical as to the resurrection of
their friends, but a few half believed that it
might still take place. They would watch for
three nights, and then, if nothing happened,
a selected party would fall upon Samarang,
while others would go to his hut, take away
the provisions, and kill all his wives and
children. As for the white man and his wife,
two men were specially selected to kill them ;
and warned to be careful not to let the stranger
escape, for he must be concerned in the trickery
of Samarang, however he might appear to have
remained neutral.

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Allan crept away and got home quietly, to
again do his best to make Yariko understand
their danger. But she still believed that
everything would come right, and that the
prophet would be vindicated by Makunaima.
Was she not her father's daughter ? Could she
desert him ? No, she would warn him of his
danger, but more than this she would not do.
If her husband escaped now, she could not
go with him, for as long as her father lived
he had the first claim on her obedience.

The evening of the promised resurrection
came at last, and every one assembled on a
pile of boulders, from which the mighty cliffs
could be observed. As the sun threw its
parting rays over the top and sank behind,
the glorious moon rose and flooded the eastern
wall with her pale beams. The night was
still, and only a fleecy cloud hung like a veil
over the summit. From this they looked to
see their friends come forth, but hour after
hour passed, and save for the voices of one
or two owls, or goat-suckers, not a sound
broke the stillness. One mist passed to leave
the great rock shining in the bright moonlight

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like a silver castle ; then a cloth was spread
as it were over this immense table, and the
walls underneath became dark and gloomy.
Every change was anxiously watched, in the
hope that it had a meaning. But hour after
hour passed ; the clouds took on a thousand
shapes, but none of them could be identified
as human. Then the moon and stars paled,
and almost suddenly the gold and ruddy tints
of dawn flickered upon the walls.

The crowd rose and hurried to the prophet,
exclaiming, "Why did you tell us lies? Where
are our fathers and brothers ? "

Samarang was alarmed, but not yet prepared
to do more than temporise. " Makunaima is
trying you," he said, " he wishes to see whether
you are worthy of his blessings. Perhaps he
will restore your friends to-night, but certainly
they will come to-morrow if you are good. I
hear that you have been listening to some
among you who are my enemies ; Makunaima
says that you must destroy them."

This caused a division in the camp, but the
malcontents were the stronger party. Most
of the young believers had been killed, leaving

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only a few old men and boys, besides those
who were wounded and not yet fully recovered.
The enemies of Samarang stood at bay, and
a truce was agreed to until after the third
night.

The second night passed like the first, but
on the third Samarang came forth and took
his place on the top of a great boulder in the
midst of the crowd. He said nothing, but
remained, like the others, watching the mists
and clouds, and apparently expecting every
moment that his prophecy would be fulfilled.
After midnight a low murmur could be heard
through the assemblage, but nothing happened ;
their passions were slowly rising. Allan, who
had taken his place on the edge of the crowd
with Yariko, armed with his bow, and carrying
the household cutlass in his hand, now grasped
Yariko by the arm, and forced her to come
with him into the thicket which lined the
stream, from whence she continued to watch
the mountain while he kept his eye upon the
crowd.

As the morning glow appeared in the east,
the conspirators, who had kept together, began

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to move, and crowd round the prophet.
Mutterings could now be heard, immediately
followed by loud cries, and then by one
tremendous howl of rage.

Samarang rose from his seat and uttered
the word " Makunaima," but before he could
say anything more of his attempted excuse, a
powerful Arecuna had dashed out his brains.

For a moment a hush fell upon the assem-
blage. Some looked as if they expected some
punishment to fall upon the murderer, but as
nothing happened, a great wailing cry went
up ; a cry of despair. All hopes of seeing
their friends and relations again were gone ;
the world was desolate ; their prophet had
proved false, and Makunaima had deserted
them. Whatever could they do ?

Every one had been wronged, and all cried
out for vengeance, " Kill the family of the
deceiver; let not one escape."

Already the conspirators were among the
women, whom they struck down one after the
other if connected in any way with Samarang.
Allan had been on the alert, and as he saw
his father-in-law fall dead he dragged Yariko

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away into the bushes. She seemed paralysed
with terror, and he had almost to carry her.

Where to go he hardly knew. The only
cover was along the stream, which, as we have
said, flowed out of the valley through a narrow
pass. They could not escape in that direction,
but must try the other. The avengers were
already searching the bushes where they had
entered ; they must hurry along or there would
be no possibility of escape.

Dragging the now submissive Yariko, Allan
plunged into the shallow stream at a place
where the bushes formed a close tunnel. From
thence began an arduous climb over rocks and
boulders, and up steep places, where in the wet
season great cataracts leaped, but which now
were hung with festoons of green slime.
Stumbling, falling, now in a pool up to their
middles, and later in shallows of but a few
inches, they hurried along. Above their heads
the bushes interlaced in such a manner as to
be impenetrable, and from them hung ragged
strips of moss, which dragged across their
shoulders as if trying to hamper them in their
progress. Everywhere the water was intensely

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cold, but Allan was too excited to feel this ;
it was a race for life over obstacles which
on other occasions would have been considered
impassable.

Allan had instinctively clung to his weapons,
which was fortunate, for how could they have
got along without the cutlass. In some places
the network of branches was so close that they
could not even crawl through without first
cutting a passage, and in others the rocks were
so steep that steps had to 'be cut in the soft
sandstone.

At first the cries of the multitude could be
heard, but as they passed mile after mile in their
toilsome journey, all was silence, save for the
trickling of the rill as it fell over a succession
of small precipices. Would they succeed in
escaping ? Allan had not time to think ; they
must hurry on. No matter that their feet were
cut with the stones, and their knees abraded
by climbing, they must continue their flight.
The avengers would probably track them as
they did the wild animals ; perhaps they were
already following in their footsteps. Now and
Allan glanced over his shoulder, and at

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the same time looked at his bow and arrows.
These were, however, poor weapons with which
to defend his life ; only one had an iron point
for deer-shooting, the others were but sticks
hardened in the fire. At close quarters the
cutlass might be used, but he could only hope
to defend himself against one man. Flight
alone could bring safety, and however tired
they might feel, rest was too dangerous to be
thought of.

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CHAPTER XIV

THE CAMOUDI-KENAIMA

HOUR after hour passed, and mile after
mile of climbing was performed.
Morning was followed by noon, and that
again passed to find them still struggling along
without seeing a place where they could rest.
At last, however, they came upon an opening,
where a border of dry sand on the bank of the
stream allowed them to lie down for a few
minutes.

Feeling a little more confidence, Allan now
embraced his wife, and said he hoped they
had escaped their enemies. Yariko shook her
head ; her people would hunt all over the
country, even if it took them a year. They
might as well be killed first as last. Although
tired nature made her lie down, her eyes wan-
dered to the passage by which they had come,
and up the walls that lined the little opening,

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in expectation of seeing the enemy at any
moment.

Now they began to feel cramped and chilly,
for the sun was going down, and the little
warmth he had poured into the sand during
his course overhead gave way to the chilly
damp which rises from such localities at night.
They must move on to a place where perhaps
a shelter might be obtained in some hollow
rock, for if rain did not fall, the dew in the
open would be very heavy.

Presently they went on again, and almost
immediately came to a place where the walls
were uneven, and where a few gnarled bushes
would permit of climbing. Allan cautiously
made his way to the top, and looking down
into the valley far away, he saw that the huts
were blazing, and that the people were going
off. As he gazed the end of the file passed
from his sight, and the White Valley was
deserted. From his elevated position he also
saw that the cliffs of Roraima were very near,
and he hurried down with the intention of
going further up the stream to see where it
ended before finally settling down for the night.

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Under the wall they might perhaps find a
shelter, if it were only to leeward of a great
boulder.

This reconnaisance had taken up but a
minute or two, and he hurried down to find
Yariko shivering with the cold. He took her
hand, and together they went on again until,
just as the light grew dim, they came to an
archway from which the stream flowed.

Before them rose the great wall of Roraima,
and on either hand frowning precipices.
Through the tunnel lay their only hope of
shelter, and they entered to find that it opened
out into a cave, which, though but dimly
lighted, was not altogether dark, for there
was a crack in the wall above, which showed
against the now black interior as a pale line.

Night fell almost immediately, and tired,
hungry, and cold, the pair sank down upon the
dry sand, embracing each other to, as far as
possible, warm their chilled bodies.

For a time they were too cold to sleep, and
Allan's mind wandered from the events of the
day to their present position. He had cer-
tainly observed that the Indians were leaving,

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but had they all left ? Yariko said that one
or two would search until the pair were found.
Were they hunting them still ? Had they
found their way through the channel ? and
would they search the cave ? He could not
tell ; whatever happened in the morning they
must sleep if possible.

Presently, as they lay in each other's arms,
a little warmth began to spread over their
chilled limbs. Yariko did not repel his em-
brace, but rather held him tightly as she felt
a glow stealing over her body. Now Allan
knew why the inhabitants of cold climates
were more affectionate than those of the
tropics ; in the one case warmth was grateful,
in the other disagreeable. With a cold wind
blowing outside, families huddled together
round the fire, and felt it pleasant to be near
each other ; in Guiana they sat apart in the
open gallery, and allowed the cool breeze to
circulate between them.

How Allan wished for a fire ! With naked
skins, under a temperature of about sixty
degrees, it was hard indeed to keep their limbs
from becoming cramped. Fortunately, the

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floor was dry, and they were free from the
cutting wind which blew round and over the
great rock.

At last they fell asleep, to awake as a ray
of light from the rising sun came through the
slit and slightly warmed their chilled limbs.
They tried to rise but could not stand, for their
legs were dead to all feeling. Even their arms
were stiff and painful, until little by little they
had restored the circulation by rubbing each
other.

However, Yariko soon recovered, and helped
Allan to his feet. Being more accustomed to
go without clothing than the white man, the
cold affected her in a less degree ; she there-
fore led him to the mouth of the cave, where
the morning sun warmed him a little and made
walking possible.

They had eaten nothing for over twenty-
four hours, and something must be done to
obtain food. Allan, therefore, took up his
bow and arrows, and Yariko the cutlass, with
which they wearily went down the gully until
they came to the place where the rocks could
be scaled,

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Arrived at the top, they looked down upon
the valley, where nothing but a few blackened
heaps showed the site of the populous camp of
yesterday. Not the trace of a human being
was visible, but both knew well that their
enemies might still be lurking in the bushes
or behind the great boulders. At the same
time, they were equally certain that few would
have the temerity to come so near to the
sacred rock, and Allan hoped that this would
tend to their safety.

Food must be obtained if it were only a
stinking cavy, and Yariko began poking about
the bushes in hopes of finding one of their
hiding places, while Allan was equally on the
alert for birds. But for a long time nothing
eatable could be found, and even then they
had to appease their hunger with the central
spire of a palm. It was certainly refreshing ;
as refreshing and about as satisfying as a raw
turnip to a hungry plough-boy. But they
could not live on " palm cabbage " ; something
else must be obtained.

To scramble over and between the rocks
was very hard work, and their stiff limbs soon

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began to give way. Suddenly, however, Allan
uttered a cry ; he saw a plant scrambling over
the bushes which he recognised at once. Yes,
there were the divided leaves and prickly
stems of the bramble, and borne upon it were
clusters of the fruit he had loved so well when
a boy. How had it come there? No matter,
here it was, and calling Yariko he picked some
of the blackberries and handed them to her, at
the same time letting a few dissolve on his
parched tongue. They were delicious, for
nothing is so refreshing to the weary as a
juicy fruit, slightly acid.

Revived by this unexpected dessert before
dinner, they continued their hunt for meat, the
appetite for which was by no means allayed.
Several hours passed, and they had wandered
down the slope, until, almost worn out, they
sat down on a fallen tree. It was hollow, and
Yariko had peeped into both ends in the faint
hope of finding an acourie, but her poking with
the cutlass led to no result. As they sat
quietly down, however, her quick ears caught
the sound of scratching. She bent down to
the log, and her eyes brightened as she

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whispered to Allan that there was an acourie
beneath them. At once they took their places
at the two ends of the log and Allan poked
one of his arrows into his end, on which
Yariko saw the head of the animal at the
other. But the creature saw its danger and
retreated, on which both apertures were
plugged with stones. With the cutlass Allan
cut holes at intervals, through which he drove
sticks, finally shutting up the acourie in a small
space, where it could be speared with an arrow.
To kindle a fire did not take very long, for
Yariko was accustomed to the drill-like sticks,
and soon the pleasant odour of roast meat
made them feel all the more hungry. Never,
Allan thought, had he enjoyed such a meal
before ; it put new life into him. No longer
did he think of the Indians who might be on
the watch ; they would surely escape once food
could be obtained. What ought they to do ?
The savannah was now a blackened desert, to
pass which without provisions was impossible.
And then, how would they fare if they reached
an Indian village? No doubt the Macusis
would be as ready to kill them as the Arecunas.

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In the other direction there were forests and
rivers, with game and fish, but their enemies
stood in the way. From the Masaruni had
come several parties of the deluded followers
of the prophet, and those who had not seen
him would certainly hear of the escape of the
white man. His beard and the colour of his
hair would betray him at once. They must
remain for the present on the slope of Roraima ;
perhaps when the search had been given up,
they might get away into some deserted part
of the country, where they could live alone.

Having finished their meal they looked
about for a place where a shelter might be
erected, for the cave, although apparently the
safest place, was difficult of access and uncom-
fortable. They were now at some distance
from Roraima and hoped to find a warm valley,
where something like a home might be estab-
lished. A little after midday they found such
a spot, and in a sheltered nook between two
rocks soon cleared a space and covered it in
with a thatch of palm leaves.

On a bed of leaves, with a fire beside them,
they lay down for the night, and in the

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morning woke much refreshed. After making
a breakfast off the remains of the acourie,
Allan went forth to hunt, leaving Yariko to
search for materials to make two rough
hammocks, of which they felt much in need.
Towards afternoon he shot a young deer,
which he brought home with much difficulty,
to find his wife peeling some palm leaves
beside the fire and looking almost as if she
were comfortably settled.

A smile appeared upon her face as she saw
the load he bore on his shoulders ; now they
would be provided with meat for three or four
days, and he need not risk going out again
during that time. For they both knew it was
a risk ; some of the avengers might be still
watching the neighbourhood, and if they came
upon his trail death was almost certain. Here
between these two rocks they might hope to
escape observation, for their fire was hidden
under the shed and its smoke well dispersed
before it got above the level of their hiding-
place.

At last they had something like a home, and
here they hoped to remain for a month or two.

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Allan sat down and watched Yariko netting
the hammocks, which would add so much to
their comfort, and he began to feel quite
relieved after the strain of the last few months.
He also was busy, for he wanted more arrows,
and as the proper kind of reed was wanting,
he had to fashion them as best he could with
split palm stems.

A fortnight passed happily, Allan going out
as occasion required, but never seeing the
least sign of an enemy. But one day this
feeling of security was suddenly banished, and
again they had to fly for their lives.

Yariko had accompanied him on a hunting
excursion, and they went a little nearer to the
White Valley than usual. Suddenly Allan
was startled by a cry from his wife, and
running towards her he saw that she was
pointing into the bushes, where the under-
growth was beaten down as if by the body of
some large crawling monster. Allan thought
it was probably the trail of boa, but Yariko
whispered in his ear the significant word
" Camoudi-Kenaima"

Yariko seemed to be thunderstruck. As she

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uttered the name of the most horrible avenger
among the Indian tribes Allan shuddered, and
a cold thrill went down his back. He took the
cutlass from his wife's hand and prepared to
defend himself, but no enemy appeared. Yet
he must be in the neighbourhood, for the
marks of his presence were quite recent.
Allan saw that they had not the wavy outline
of those made by the passage of a real
camoudi or boa-constrictor. And he could
only be here for one purpose — to kill the last
remaining members of the false prophet's
family. The burden of vengeance had almost
certainly been laid upon one man, and he could
not be far away.

All the stories of kenaimas he had ever
heard rushed through Allan's mind. There
were two kinds, both of which took upon them
the characters of the beasts they personated ;
the tiger (jaguar) killed his victim with a club
in imitation of the stroke of the paw of that
animal, while the camoudi (boa) performed the
same deadly work by strangling. Sometimes
the kenaima followed his victim for hundreds
of miles and awaited his opportunity for months

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or years. A man who had wronged another
up the Demerara river fled to Georgetown,
but finding that his enemy had become a
kenaima and was following him, he went up
the Essequebo and far away into Brazil. But
the avenger was on his track and bided his
time. His victim was found dead on the
bank of the Rio Negro, with his bowels drawn
forth and knotted, and his tongue poisoned so
that it swelled and hung from the mouth.
But the kenaima did not escape. The friends
of the murdered man found the body and
poisoned the entrails. When, therefore, in
accordance with the custom, the kenaima came
a few nights later to taste the carrion, he could
only make his way for a short distance into the
bush, to die also. They would endure every
privation while on the track of their victims ;
go without food for days rather than lose an
opportunity. Gaunt, haggard, and starved, the
kenaima crawled through the bushes until
perhaps the man went out hunting alone.
Not a leaf stirred, not a twig cracked, as he
stealthily crept behind. Then, a blow on the
head with the club, or a pair of sinewy arms

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round the neck, did the work, and justice was
executed.

Yes, this was Indian justice, and, after all, it
had its good side. In the absence of all legal
authority, something else was necessary to
punish crime and protect the community. By
rendering it incumbent upon every member of
a family to avenge its wrongs, a murderer could
hardly ever escape. The manner of carrying
out these executions was certainly odious, and
the extending of it to cover innocent members
of the family was as certainly wrong, but more
civilised nations than the Indians of South
America have punished children for the sins
of their fathers.

Allan felt it to be very hard that he should
have to suffer for the wrong committed by his
father-in-law, when he had tried his utmost
to discountenance his falsehoods from the
beginning. But it was useless to think of
that now ; they must fly at once. Perhaps
the man was even now watching them from
behind some rock ; so many lay about in every
direction. If they were followed their home
would be unsafe ; the only hiding-place was

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the cave, and that was far away. Dare they
go home for their hammocks ? Better not ;
perhaps on the morrow he would go alone if
nothing happened.

But they must not remain, for here was
Yariko trembling and almost unable to move.
To her the kenaima was something more than
human — a mysterious being with supernatural
powers, from which they could hardly hope to
escape. She had never heard of any one out-
witting him ; they were fated to die ; why there-
fore strive against destiny ? She stood as if
fascinated by the reptile whose character had
been assumed.

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CHAPTER XV

IN PERIL

ALLAN took Yariko by the arm and
dragged her away. She went submis-
sively but without effort. When he spoke, her
answers were vague and meaningless ; for the
time she was almost paralysed in mind and
body. Which way should they go ? Any one
of these clumps of bushes might hide the
human reptile. If they wandered about in the
open he might see them, and if under cover
they might stumble upon him. Instinctively
Allan moved in the direction of the cave,
his eyes wandering and trying to pierce
the numerous coverts which lay everywhere
around. Nothing could be done until he had
put his wife in safety ; afterwards he would
have time to think.

The way was very difficult and long, for
Yariko could only walk when drawn along

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almost by force. Not that she resisted ; her
almost cataleptic state prevented her from
opposing his efforts or assisting them. At
last, however, they arrived at the edge of the
gully, where they had climbed from it on the
former occasion. Taking a final look round
the stretch of country to the east, where not
the least sign of human presence was visible,
Allan began to descend, holding Yariko care-
fully, to prevent her slipping down the steep
and slimy rock.

At last they were once more in the cave,
which appeared almost cheerful as the sunlight
poured through the slit in the rocks. Yariko
sunk on the dry sand where he placed her, and
crouching down in the usual sitting position of
her people, with her head hanging forward and
her eyes fixed, she looked as if dead and
even prepared for burial. Here was a com-
plication ; Allan could hardly leave her while
she remained like this, nor could she do any-
thing to protect herself. If he went forth
alone to hunt, how could he be otherwise than
anxious ? The kenaima might easily kill her
during his absence. If he took her with him

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how could he search for game ? Even here
he felt that they were in great danger. At the
place where they had descended to the stream
the green slime had been scraped away in
several places, and twigs bent down so that
they showed the under surfaces of their leaves.
No Indian would miss such plain evidences of
the direction they had gone, and if they had
been followed the kenaima might even now be
close by.

Taking the cutlass in his hand he peeped
through the tunnel, and, seeing nothing, passed
out as far as the mouth, where he looked up at
the two rocks which formed the walls of the
gully. But not a sign of life was there, and
though he strained his ears for the sound of
scrambling or splashing in the shallow water,
nothing but the ripple of the stream and the
distant roar of the numerous waterfalls could
be heard.

Now that he was up here he thought of the
cold ; it was brought forcibly to his notice by a
somewhat bleak wind which blew along the
side of the great rock. They might at least
try to be more comfortable than on that first

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occasion, when their limbs were so much
cramped. He thereupon gathered as many
dry sticks as he could find in the neighbour-
hood and threw them down upon the border
of the stream. Then it struck him that a torch
would be useful, as he saw a hyawa bush
growing near. He cut a few sticks and finally,
giving an anxious glance in every direction, he
descended.

They had eaten nothing that day, but when
Yariko mechanically kindled a fire and they
were crouched near it, Allan felt almost com-
fortable. But he knew that they could not
hide here altogether ; he must go hunting or
starve. They were like rats in a hole ; to
remain safely meant certain death from hunger,
to wander in search of food was a terrible risk.
Could he leave his wife, to perhaps find her
strangled on his return ? Was there not
perhaps a more secure hiding-place beyond
that other tunnel through which the stream
entered their cave? He would see.

Taking up one of the hiawa torch-sticks
which had been partially dried near the fire,
he lit it and proceeded to enter the second

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tunnel. It was very low, and he had to bend
almost double for a few yards, but beyond that
the roof became higher, and then a second
cavern opened out, of which only a small
portion was illumined by the dim, smoky light.
He dared not go very far in case the torch
went out, and on account of his anxiety for the
safety of his wife, he hurried back just as the
green wood smouldered and went out.

Here was at least another hiding-place, to
which they might retreat in case of extreme
need, and then perhaps Yariko might be safe
while he went hunting.

He found her cowering over the fire and
looking a little more composed. Night had
fallen, and the dull glow of the few twigs but
partially lit up the cavern, leaving the entrance
in total darkness. Even in her mazed con-
dition Yariko had taken care to place the fire
away from the centre, so that it could not be
seen from outside.

But the passage was nevertheless open, and
before sitting down Allan went forth, looked
up at the dark sky and intently listened. A
strong wind was blowing, and it drove a cold

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drizzle in his face. He could see nothing, and
even if the kenaima had been approaching the
wind would have prevented his light footsteps
from being heard. Allan shivered, and again
crawled back to warm his chilled body over
the fire.

Nevertheless, he did not feel safe. Their
enemy might come upon them while they slept.
If Yariko had been like her usual self he could
have arranged with her to watch, but under
the circumstances he was worse than alone.
Could he alone watch the whole night ? Tired
nature said no. He was already worn out
by anxiety, and dared not trust himself,
although at that moment he felt as if sleep
were impossible. In the bed of the stream were
many rounded pebbles ; these he would pile
up at the entrance to form a light barricade,
which would fall down with a clatter if any one
attempted to pass. After almost closing the
passage in this way he felt more confidence
and could lie down beside the flickering embers
with less anxiety.

Soon they would be in total darkness, for
the quantity of wood he could gather was too

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small to last the night. But the chill had been
taken off from the cavern, and perhaps they
would be safer in the dark. At the same time,
Allan almost feared to sleep here ; would not
the inner cave be more safe ? But even there
the kenaima might follow them, and he would
not hear the rattling of the pebbles. However,
he could barricade the second tunnel, and thus
be doubly secure. Yes, he would do that
when the fire went out.

Allan sat up listening. His ears were
strained - until he fancied the pebbles were
rattling. One slipped and rolled down off the
pile. He grasped his cutlass in his right hand
prepared for the horrible snake-man, whose
shadow he expected every moment to see at
the entrance. He could not remain here as
long as there was a more secure retreat.

Now the fire sank down to a few blackened
ashes, through which only small ruddy spots
could be seen, and he lighted a torch. Taking
Yariko by the hand, he led her to their inner
chamber, and while she held the light he
erected a second barricade.

By the aid of the torch he now saw that this

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cave was much larger than the other ; so large
that he could see only a small portion. The
stream flowed through the centre, and the floor
on either side was quite dry. For safety he
would have liked to retire to the farthest part,
but when he thought of the absolute darkness
that would prevail when his torch went out, he
passed to the left of the entrance close to the
wall, looking for the softest and most comfort-
able resting-place. Presently he came to a
pile of stones, which appeared as if built up as
a covering for something. The shape was
that of an irregular oblong, and on the top was
one of those flakes of sandstone which, under
the influence of sun and rain, peel off from
Roraima. With the aid of his cutlass he prised
this up until it slipped over the side, and then
brought the torch as near as possible, to see if
anything was within.

At first there appeared to be nothing but a
heap of rubbish that might have once been a
pegall or basket, but as he pulled this covering
aside he felt that there were some solid masses,
which, as he moved them, gave out a metallic
ring. But before he could examine further the

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torch ceased to flare, and notwithstanding all
his efforts, turned from a ruddy point to utter
blackness.

Nothing was left but to lie down here ; they
dared not move for fear of getting lost in the
unknown recesses. Presently Allan was lying-
down, with his left arm clasping his wife, and
the cutlass close to his right. Both were
thoroughly worn out, and in a few minutes fell
asleep.

When they woke Allan hardly knew where
he was until the soft tones of Yariko assured
him that she was safe, and brought to mind the
events of the previous day. They must go
forth and see if it was yet morning, but he must
be very careful, for possibly the cave might
extend for miles. If they missed their bearings
they would be lost. Where was the wall ? He
could not find it, and taking Yariko by the left
hand he held the right straight before him and
moved very slowly. But the Indian woman
knew more than he ; for as she instinctively
felt that they were wandering into the unknown
parts of the cavern, she drew him back and
took the lead, with the result that they almost

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immediately touched the wall. By keeping
this to the right they soon arrived at the break,
where a current of cold air indicated the
entrance.

It did not take long to remove the barricade
and get into the tunnel, from the mouth of
which they could see that the sun had risen.
Allan looked carefully round, but saw no signs
of the enemy ; the first pile of stones was also
intact.

Food must be obtained whatever might be
the danger, and he asked Yariko to remain
while he went hunting, to which she agreed,
promising to retire to the inner cave at the least
sign of danger.

Taking, his bow and arrows in one hand and
the cutlass in the other, he cautiously went
forth, with eyes and ears open and on the alert.
There was no sign of the enemy, and although
he looked into every bush and covert for the
double purpose of finding game or marks of the
human reptile, nothing rewarded his search
for a long time. Passing down towards what
had been their home until yesterday, he at last
came in sight of the shed, or rather of the place

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In Guiana Wilds

where it had been, for it existed no longer.
Peeping from behind a boulder he saw that the
place was vacant, and one or two blackened
sticks indicated that it had been burnt.

They must have escaped just at the right
moment, for the kenaima would certainly have
killed them if they had gone home. Where
was he now ? Perhaps behind this bush or that
rock, watching for the return of his victims.
Allan dared not go nearer ; he stealthily crept
from boulder to boulder, and would not even
look for game until at a good distance.

At last he succeeded in shooting a deer, and
by afternoon was back in the cavern with the
meat. His wife met him at the mouth, and
appeared much relieved as he came up the
gully. She had already ventured to collect
some fuel, and in a few minutes a leg of venison
was roasting on the fire.

After enjoying a hearty meal, and placing
the remainder of the meat on a rough barbecue
to smoke, Allan could think better of the diffi-
culties of their position. He would not disturb
Yariko by telling her of the destruction of their
late shelter ; anything that might startle or

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alarm her must be concealed as long as pos-
sible, for she had not yet wholly recovered
from her fright. If she gained a little more
confidence in their ability to escape there would
be less danger ; in any case, they must remain
in hiding for the present.

To make their hiding-place more comfortable
they collected some dry grass for a bed, and a
good supply of fuel and torch-sticks ; they also
made a kind of lattice-like door by fastening
sticks across each other and tying them up
with bush ropes. By fixing this gate tightly
behind the heap of stones the tunnel was, he
thought, so well secured that they might
venture to remain in the outer cave without
much risk.

Yariko became more cheerful as their pre-
parations for the night were completed, and it
was easily arranged that they should watch by
turns during the night, Allan deciding to take
the first half, when possibly there might be
the greater danger.

Yariko lay down on the bed of grass and
Allan sat beside the fire thinking. His mind
wandered to the inner cave and the contents of

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the little cairn. What he had felt was certainly
metal; he must explore the place on the
morrow.

How about the kenaima ? The thought of
him would intrude itself upon his mind, and
make him listen for a footstep or the rattle of a
stone. He had heard of men being stalked by
lions and tigers, but what was their danger
compared with this? A wild beast might follow
a man for a few hours ; the camoudi-kenaima
never gave up, and if he should be killed
another would take his place. Indians from all
parts of the interior of Guiana had been injured
by Samarang, and therefore no member of the
family could be safe in the country. They must
try to get down to the coast ; but what could
they do without friends? He could not leave
Yariko behind to be murdered, yet a " shirt-
tailed " white man with a naked Indian woman
in Georgetown would attract attention at once.
Chloe would find them out, and no doubt make
trouble. How could they get away as long
as the avenger was on the alert ? They were
imprisoned, and could only hope to escape by
one of the rivers which flowed into the

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Masaruni. A canoe could only be hollowed out
at the waterside, and during its construction
the avenger would certainly come upon them.
Even a wood-skin would take several days to
get ready, and how could they shoot the rapids
with such a craft ? The problem was too diffi-
cult, and his mind became confused as he tried
to solve it. Yet he would not despair ;
perhaps some way out of the difficulty might
be shown later. He lightly touched Yariko
on her shoulder, and sank down on the bed,
leaving her on the watch until morning.

218

CHAPTER XVI

THE DEATH STRUGGLE

A LLAN woke to find his breakfast ready.
JT\ With the sun pouring through the crack
above him, and the genial fire to prevent that
chilliness which was so distressing the day
before, his spirits rose, and he became quite
hopeful. His gate and pile of stones had
apparently been untouched ; and as he need not
go hunting for two or three days, the risk from
the enemy was staved off for a time.

Now was the opportunity for examining the
inner cave. His bundle of torch-sticks was
dry, and lighting one, with Yariko following
and carrying the others, he again passed
through the second tunnel, until, arriving at the
cairn, he began his search.

Taking out the layer of rubbish, which
appeared to consist of rotten basket-work that
at some time or other had been a pegall, he

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brought forth one of the heavy lumps of metal
and held it to the light. It was covered with
a film of decayed fibres, which, however, was
easily rubbed off, to disclose a grotesque human
figure in a squatting position, the colour of
which was a dead yellow under the torchlight.
Placing this on one side, he took up another of
the images, on which a small article fell on the
stone, giving forth a ring which he seemed to
recognise. Picking it up, he saw that it was a
pendant in the shape of a half-moon, made of
the same yellow metal as the images. Alto-
gether there were about a hundred of these
idols, as he supposed they might have been
called, and as many of the gold moons. Then
came what appeared to be a model dug-out
canoe, the wood of which was soft and could
be pinched out with the fingers, below which
nothing but sand could be felt.

Taking up the last article and two or three
samples of the others, he went to the outer
cave to examine them in a better light. The
idols were certainly gold, as was also the
"moons." "Gold moons," he whispered to
himself; where had he heard the name before?

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In Guiana Wilds

Suddenly, a flood of memories poured into his
brain, and he was far away in the past, accom-
panying Sir Walter Ralegh on his arduous
voyage up the Orinoco in search of El% Dorado
and the city of Manoa, from whence the gold
moons had been obtained. Then he also
remembered that the unfortunate knight carried
about with him a " Guiana gold idol," which
was found in his pocket after the unjust execu-
tion on Tower Hill.

Yes, here were specimens of the caricuri
which had led to so much trouble in the past
that, as he remembered, the Indians of the
whole country had combined together, not only
to hide the sources from whence the precious
metal was obtained, but to denude themselves
of their ornaments, lest the covetous Spaniards
should destroy them altogether.

But what was in the little canoe ? The
cover had once been fastened with bush ropes,
but these fell away at his touch. First came a
piece of cloth, folded over something, which he
opened carefully and spread out on the floor.
Although dark brown with age, and so rotten
that his fingers went through it as he carefully

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opened out the folds, an almost black cross
could still be traced. And these black discs
which rolled out, what were they? He took
up the end of his ragged shirt and rubbed one
of them until a few streaks of white appeared,
and the well-known head and bust of Queen
Elizabeth could be discerned.

Again the story of Ralegh and his follower
Keymis, forced itself upon the mind of Allan.
The portraits of the ''Great Princess of the
North," given to the chiefs in the shape of
silver shillings, were before him, and here was
an English flag which no doubt had been left
by one of these voyagers. The chiefs must
have hidden them with the gold when Ralegh
failed to return, and possibly ordered that the
place of their concealment should never be
divulged, and that the great rock must hence-
forth be kept sacred.

Although Allan saw no way of utilising this
treasure, yet he could not help congratulating
himself on the find. If he could get it to
Georgetown many of his difficulties would be
at an end, but at present all possibility of
escape was barred. To carry two hundred

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pounds of gold, for his rough estimate made
it fully as much as that, would only be possible
with a good canoe and the assistance of others ;
he and Yariko, in peril of their lives, must
think of something else.

Folding up the coins and placing them again
in the casket, he lit another torch, and almost
lovingly took the whole back to their cairn.
Having plenty of time on his hands, he now
explored the cave a little farther, but found no
more evidences of its having been used by
man. It had evidently been excavated by
water, which trickled down at many places in
the farther end, from cracks in the sandstone,
to form the little stream which flowed through
both caverns. Here and there stood forth
great boulders, some looming up in the
shadows like human figures, others similar to
the " cheese- wrings " found in some parts of
England. It was undoubtedly an excellent
place of refuge, but if the kenaima guarded
the entrance they could only die of starvation.

When their supply of meat was finished,
Allan was again compelled to go forth, how-
ever great the risk. As before, he was

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particularly cautious, in some places crawling
on his hands and knees across open spaces,
and everywhere keeping under cover as much
as possible. But when nothing occurred to
arouse his suspicions, he gained more confi-
dence and commenced his search for game.

As usual, this took up a great deal of time,
for even birds were scarce in the district. As
he got down into the valley, however, he caught
sight of a bush - fowl, perched upon a low,
gnarled tree. Sticking his cutlass into the
ground to draw his bow, he prepared to fix an
arrow, when, looking over his shoulder, a slight
motion in the tall sedges behind made him
pause. Dropping the bow and arrows, he
snatched up the cutlass, but before he could
turn round a heavy form bore him to earth,
and a strong pair of arms were clasped round
his neck. He struck wildly at one of the arms,
however, before it closed, and a jet of blood
spurted into his face. This was all he re-
membered, for his brain became confused,
sparks came into his eyes, his breath stopped,
and an almost pleasant oblivion ensued.

He awoke to consciousness with a feeling of

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suffocation. A heavy weight was upon him,
and his limbs and body were so cramped and
dead that he could not throw it off. His throat
was so constricted that he could hardly breathe,
his tongue dry and hanging from his mouth.
He seemed to be in a bath of blood, the smell
of which was overpowering. He tried to cry
out for water, but could utter no sound.

It seemed as if hours passed before he could
turn over a little, and even then the constric-
tion of his neck continued. With a supreme
effort he untwined the pair of sinewy arms from
his throat, and lay panting and exhausted
beside the corpse of his enemy. For the
kenaima was quite dead and stiff ; the cutlass
had accidentally struck one of the few places
where an artery could be severed, and the
strangler bled to death before he could fully
accomplish his purpose.

Night had fallen, and a chilly wind blew
over the open place, yet Allan burned with
fever. Feeling that the grasses were wet with
dew, he clutched those which rose near to him
and drew them across his parched lips, at the
same time recoiling in horror as he got a

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taste of what seemed to pollute the air around
him.

Again he became half-conscious ; a horrible
nightmare oppressed him. Monstrous pythons
were strangling him, but their heads were
human. He struggled to free himself, but
the coils tightened more and more. He gasped
for breath and tried to raise his hands to pull
them from his throat, but his arms were power-
less. Then the scene changed ; he was in the
midst of a great fire which hemmed him on
every side. His limbs were scorched, and hot
air like that of a furnace burnt his mouth and
set fire to his lungs. He struggled to get
away, but could not move for a long time.
Hours seemed to have passed before his
cramped legs would perform their office, but
at last, with a mighty effort he cried out
"Help! Water!" and woke to find himself
tottering on his feet.

Instinctively he dragged his limbs in the
direction from which the rippling of a stream
could be heard. It was very near, yet he
stumbled and fell several times before he could
reach it. Vainly did he try to cool his parched

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lips with the dewy grasses ; he must have a
long drink, for he was on fire.

At last he reached the bank and rolled him-
self into the shallow stream, lapping the water
like a dog. But he almost fainted with pain as
the cold liquid entered his throat. He could
not swallow on account of the constriction, and
again his mind wandered. This time he was
up to his neck in water, like Tantalus, and
vainly tried to obtain a sip. In his agony he
rolled over in the shallow stream, and would
probably have been suffocated had not his
" ministering angel " appeared.

Yariko had been alarmed at his non-appear-
ance before nightfall, and had come forth to
seek him. In the darkness of the night, with-
out the slightest indication as to the direction
of his wanderings, she had found him. Lead-
ing him to the bank, she stroked his limbs,
felt his throat, and with her delicate touch
discovered that it was swollen, but that other-
wise he was unhurt.

Dawn now appeared, and she gathered some
leaves, which she chewed to make a poultice,
with the result he could soon swallow a little

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water. Then the burning heat was followed
by chills, and Yariko half led, half dragged him
to a sheltered place under a rock, and made
him a bed. Finally, she lit a fire and fixed up
a kind of lean-to with palm branches.

As the pain in his throat decreased and he
could swallow as much water as he required,
a dreamy feeling of relief from intense agony
made him almost happy. The kenaima was
dead, and that alone was a blessing. As Yariko
tied a cool leaf over his brow and renewed the
dressing for his neck, all the love within him
glowed, and he lifted up his hands to her. For
the first time she kissed his lips, and then drew
back as if it were something so strange as to
be almost wrong. Then he fell into a dream-
less sleep, from which he did not wake until the
afternoon.

Since the morning of the previous day he
had eaten nothing, and now that his fever had
gone he craved for food. He was very hungry,
and the smell of cooked meat which appeared
to be floating round him brought this forcibly
to his mind. He turned over towards the fire,
and was much pleased to see Yariko busy cook-

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ing a bird she had shot. It was ready as he
awoke, and although difficult to swallow at
first, Allan managed to eat a little, and felt
correspondingly refreshed. Beside her lay his
bow and arrows, as well as the cutlass, so she
must have found them near the corpse and
gone shooting while he lay asleep. She smiled
upon him as he asked her about the matter, but
said nothing of the dead kenaima ; Allan did
not remind her, but he could see that she was
relieved. No longer was that hunted look
upon her face ; no longer did she look furtively
over her shoulders as she walked about. Their
enemy was dead, and there the corpse must lie
for the ants to clean, until nothing but a bare
skeleton remained.

Now he must make an effort to get home,
for rain might fall at night, and their shelter
was but a poor one. He got upon his feet, but
could not stand without assistance. However,
with Yariko's help he moved onward, every
step tending to make his joints more supple,
yet, at the same time, causing him great pain.

How he got over that two miles he hardly
knew. Boulders, loose stones, tangled thickets,

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and long grass obstructed their progress ; now
they were slipping down into a valley, and
anon climbing a steep mound. In the better
part of the journey Allan had only an indistinct
remembrance of being hoisted upon his wife's
back with his arms clasped over her forehead.

At last they arrived at the descent into the
ravine, and here Yariko let him carefully down
with a bush rope, but he was quite unconscious,
and only learnt what she had done when he
recovered. Finally, she half led, half carried
him into the cave and placed him on the bed.

230

CHAPTER XVII

THE FLIGHT FROM RORAIMA

ALLAN woke to find the light of morning
illuminating their retreat, a fire blazing,
and his wife lying beside him with her arms
over his shoulders. A pleasant warmth per-
vaded his frame, and he found on trying to
move that only a little stiffness remained. To
remove this, Yariko tried friction, and that
kneading of the muscles so well known among
savage natives in different parts of the world.
With this, and a little exercise within the cave,
he felt much better, but still too weak to go
hunting. This troubled him, but his wife said
nothing ; she examined the dark line round his
neck, dressed it, and, taking up the bow and
arrows, left him alone. She knew what was
wanted, and for the present must play the
man.

What must they do ? thought Allan, as he

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sat down waiting for his wife's return. Now
that the kenaima was dead, they might venture
to move towards the river, and there in the
inner cave were the means of living in comfort
when they got to Georgetown. Whatever
happened, he could not part with Yariko ; she
had nursed him in his fever, had saved his life
the day before, and now, contrary to all her
ideas of woman's duties, had gone hunting.
He hoped she would be successful, for, like
most convalescents, he had an eager longing
for food, and then, without something to eat,
he would never be strong enough to hunt or
travel.

As soon as he recovered they must get away,
for if the Arecunas found that the first kenaima
was dead they would send out another ; in fact,
all the relations of the man he had killed would
be bound to avenge his death. Perhaps it
would be better to hide the body under a heap
of stones ; he must see to that before leaving.
How much of the treasure could they carry?
But very little, for he could not burden his wife
with a heavy load, and it was quite certain that
she would not allow him to carry anything. He

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must be free to hunt, and whatever was taken
would necessarily have to go upon her back.
He thought of the painful travelling across the
savannah, and the dark line across her forehead
where the band had pressed so cruelly. No,
he could not put fifty or sixty pounds of metal
in a suriana, although he knew she would
willingly carry such an amount ; he must be
satisfied with about half, say twenty - five
pounds. This, if it turned out to be pure
metal, without much silver, would realise at
least a thousand pounds sterling. But he had
read of such images being found in Central
America where the gold was much alloyed
with copper ; this would reduce the value. On
the other hand, collectors and museums might
pay more. Whatever was the result, there
would be enough to pay their passage to
Scotland and put him in the way of opening
a business. He must get away as soon as
possible, for the Indians might follow him to
Georgetown. Then there was Chloe.

Ah Chloe ! What a painful train of questions
that name evoked ! What had become of her ?
Where was their child ? He had now two

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wives, one bound to him by law, the other by
love and duty. Which had the stronger claim
upon him hardly admitted of a question. And
what could he do with Yariko ? Could he take
her to his mother's home and introduce her as
Mrs. Gordon? He had already informed his
people in Scotland of his marriage with the
boviander, and what would they say to this
second connection? He would certainly
marry Yariko when Chloe died, meanwhile
the straight - laced would hold up their hands
in horror. Did he then wish for the death of
his legal wife ? Certainly ; for as long as she
lived she stood in the way of his happiness.

His train of thought was broken by the
re - appearance of Yariko, who brought a
labba she had killed. Coming in so imme-
diately after his thoughts had been directed to
her, his feelings overcame him. He drew her
to his weak arms, hugged her to his bosom,
and showered kisses upon her until she became
frightened. He called her by all the en-
dearing names he could mention, and finished
by praising her skill in hunting. She must,
however, take great care of herself, he said, for

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the very thought of anything happening to her
was painful.

She disengaged herself from his embrace
and commenced her cooking, Allan watching
her every movement. Notwithstanding her
painful experiences and labours during the
previous week, her beauty was unimpaired.
Were it not for that unfortunate tattooed line
above the mouth, she would pass anywhere
as a Spanish lady, for he had seen females
of that nationality quite as dark in colour. It
was a small matter, yet it would, he felt sure,
be a great drawback in any civilised country.

As she came in she had slyly handed him
a little parcel formed of leaves and tied round
with a bush rope. He opened it and found
about a pint of blackberries. She had seen
how pleased he was at finding the fruit, and
had therefore brought some home. Nothing
could have been more gratifying than this
piece of thoughtfulness, and he thanked her
with another kiss. If there had been any one
thing he would have wished more than another,
it was some acid fruit that would melt in the
mouth and soothe that uneasy feeling he still

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had in the throat. The craving for fruit was
upon him — that craving which cold water alone
could not satisfy, and which in the tropics is
felt at some time or other by every one, even
those who at ordinary times prefer something
more substantial.

As he finished eating the blackberries the
meat was ready, and he enjoyed it all the more
from his throat having been lubricated as it
were beforehand. His wife proposed another
dressing for his neck, and he went over to a
little pool to see how it looked. The water
reflected a very haggard face, with unkempt
hair and beard, and round the neck a black
line. His woollen shirt was dirty and ragged,
and the exposed portions of his skin almost as
brown as that of his wife, but certainly not so
pleasant to look upon.

Who could recognise this figure as that of
Allan Gordon? He left Georgetown a year
ago as handsome a young man as could be
seen in Water Street ; now he had become
a savage. How was it that he looked upon
himself as ugly when the Indians never struck
him in the same light ? He supposed it must

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be a want of congruity ; the Indians were as
they should be ; he was out of his element.

But he would dismiss every anxious thought
for the present, and be happy while he could.
The mental and bodily strain was over for a
time at least ; the incubus of terror gone, as he
hoped, for ever. " Sufficient for the day was
the evil thereof." All their immediate wants
were supplied — a good shelter from the wind
and rain, a fire, and a bed. They could now
be comfortable without troubling themselves
about the entrance. They sat quietly down
on their couch of leaves during the day, and
when night came lay in peace and slept till
morning.

After breakfast Allan, feeling almost well,
now began to discuss their position with his
wife ; but there was only one talker, for
Yariko, as usual, agreed with everything he
said, as became a dutiful Indian wife. It
would not do for them to remain long in the
neighbourhood, for there was no possibility of
settling down anywhere in the interior ; they
would have to reach the coast. He must
take about twenty-five pounds weight of the

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treasure, with the proceeds of which they
would be able to obtain the means of crossing
the great water.

At once she saw what was wanted, and
almost immediately took the cutlass and went
in search of flexible bush ropes for a suriana.
Of course she would make the basket and
carry the load ; her man would have enough
to do in procuring food. In her opinion she
had been quite lazy since there had been no
cassava to plant and no bread to make. She
would even make another pair of hammocks
in place of those left in their former home
down in the valley ; they could not rest on the
wet and often flooded ground on the bank of
the river.

In about an hour she came back with quite
a load upon her back, steadied as usual by the
band across the forehead. The afternoon was
spent by Allan in watching her deft fingers
weaving the open basket, the material of which
he split to suit her purpose. Before night fell
she had finished.

Next morning the more tedious work of
netting hammocks was commenced. Without

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proper material these were necessarily but
makeshifts ; yet Allan felt that they could not
commence their journey without them. As he
felt so much better, he took his bow and
arrows and went forth in the hope of getting
a few birds, as the labba had almost been con-
sumed, and in this he succeeded without tiring
himself too much.

Several days passed before the hammocks
were ready, and on one of these Allan visited
the place where he had encountered the
kenaima. Several carrion crows flapped their
wings as he approached, hopped away for a
few yards, but did not fly. He could not go
very near, but standing a few yards off he
picked up one flat stone after another and
threw it upon the remains until they were com-
pletely hidden.

The netting having at last been completed,
nothing remained but to pack the treasure.
Each image and gold moon was carefully tied
up in leaves and fastened with slender bush
ropes, after which they were placed in the
suriana, together with the rotten flag and
Elizabethan coins. When Yariko saw how

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little space they took she wanted him to allow
her to carry more, but this he would not
permit. The remainder of the suriana was
filled with their hammocks and a few pieces
of barbecued meat ; even this was a heavier
load than he liked her to carry, but he knew
she would refuse to let him reduce the burden.

Looking round upon the cavern almost
with regret — for he knew that they could
hardly be so comfortable and safe for weeks
and perhaps months to come — he took up his
weapons and left, followed by Yariko with her
load.

It was morning, and the sun shone brightly
upon the wall of Roraima as they turned their
backs and went in a north-easterly direction, to
strike one of the numerous streams which take
their rise in the neighbourhood. Before them
lay a long journey of over three hundred miles,
through one of the most dangerous rivers of
the country ; but as there was no other course
left, he would do his best and hope to be
successful.

Towards evening they slung their hammocks
in one of the pleasant valleys, and in the morn-

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ing again started. A week passed before they
arrived at the stream ; for although it took its
rise on the slope from which they had come,
and perhaps received the waters which issued
from the cave, it could not be navigated in
any way higher up. Even here it was ob-
structed by rocks and broken by falls, and they
had to proceed for several miles along its
banks before they arrived at comparatively
still water.

Here they would have to remain for several
days, while Allan searched for a purple-heart
tree, from which the bark might be peeled to
make a wood-skin canoe. A shelter was there-
fore put up between two rocks, and under it
they were fairly comfortable while the arduous
work was carried on.

For it was by no means easy for one man to
peel a slice of bark fourteen feet by six and
bring it into the proper shape. Allan was a
novice at such work, and had to get the
assistance of his wife from the very commence-
ment. When an Indian makes such a canoe
he does it leisurely, often taking several
weeks ; they must hurry as fast as possible.

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After a long search Allan found a suitable
tree not too far from the bank of the river,
close to which he erected a staging, twenty
feet high, on which to work ; for on account
of buttresses the bark near the ground was
unsuitable. Then came the cutting of the
lines, which took up a whole day, and finally
the peeling, which was done by means of levers
of hard wood. At intervals he had to go hunt-
ing, but Yariko helped in procuring food by
fishing ; yet their provision supply was very
poor, and they often went to their hammocks
without dinner.

However, the canoe was finished at last and
dragged to the bank. Would it float ? Allan
had his doubts, which were confirmed when
they shoved it into the water. It was lop-
sided, and the water poured gently over the
lowest part until it sank. Drawing it to shore
again by the tough bush rope which served
as a " painter," he commenced the difficult
work of shaping it above a smoky fire.

This took up several days, but at last it was
finished, and on a further trial the canoe
floated. With a little care in balancing they

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found it would carry them very well in smooth
water ; when they came to the rapids it would
have to be drawn overland.

A clay's hunting and fishing gave them
provisions for a short time, and finally, taking
their places and the paddles which had been
got ready, Allan loosened the bush rope and
let his frail craft float downward.

Not the least sign of an Indian having been
perceived during their long delay, Allan
ventured to hope that the death of the
kenaima was as yet unknown, and that there-
fore they would not be pursued.

Starting early in the morning, they made
good progress for a short time. The stream
ran so swiftly that no paddling was required ;
but on account of the rocks which stood up
here and there the utmost care in steering
became necessary. Now and again a little
water splashed over the side of the canoe,
but Yariko steered so carefully that Allan
became confident in its stability.

Early in the afternoon the distant roaring of
a fall was heard. The river flowed more and
more swiftly, and they crept alongside the

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bushes for fear of being carried too near.
Presently a gorge appeared in front ; they
must get out before being sucked between
perpendicular rocks. Tying up the wood-skin
very carefully, they got out and proceeded in
the direction of the fall, the roar of which was
now so deafening that they could hardly hear
each other speak. Over rocks and boulders,
where there was scarcely a patch of even
ground, they wearily toiled for nearly a mile.
As they walked on the edge of the cliff the
rushing torrent below could be seen rushing
along, until it fell over in a magnificent cascade
a hundred feet high. Below, the water was
churned into froth, and for a hundred yards
beyond the pool the turmoil was so great that
the strongest boat would have been broken to
pieces.

Here was a great check, but they must over-
come it. It was too late in the day for them
to begin the arduous work of dragging their
craft over the rocks, but they took care to put
it in safety by hauling it out of the water.
Then, secreting the treasure until the voyage
could be resumed, they slung their hammocks

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among the trees and tried to sleep. At first
the roar made rest impossible, but as hour
after hour passed it became monotonous and
had the opposite effect.

Three days more passed before the canoe
was again launched. The labour of dragging
it was enormous, and would have been im-
possible to accomplish had they not made a
wide circuit to avoid the rocks. However,
they were safely over at last, and again float-
ing downward. All went well for a few hours,
but then came a rapid, above which they took
out their precious suriana, and then let the
wood-skin down as slowly as possible, by hold-
ing it with a long bush rope. As the rough
cord was played out they scrambled from rock
to rock, but even then their hands were
blistered, and Yariko could hardly hold her
paddle as they again went on.

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CHAPTER XVIII

ARRIVED AT ARANAMA

DAY after day and week after week passed,
to see them still risking their lives in
the midst of the long chain of rapids which
follow each other through the whole course of
the Masaruni. With such a craft, which is
only fitted for still waters, it would have been
considered madness, even by Indians, to
attempt such a journey. Although they kept
close to the banks, there were many causes for
anxiety, and a continual loading and unloading
of that valuable basket, which was so important
to their future welfare. Several times the
canoe broke away as they let it down empty,
and could only be recovered by swimming.
Once it was dashed against a rock and sunk,
to be found again with a long crack, which had
to be caulked with a piece of Allan's shirt.

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Time was lost in the search for food, and
many a day passed without their having any-
thing to eat. The rainy season came on, and
then they often had to run their craft ashore
for fear it should be swamped by the deluge
from above. Days were spent in hunting on
the banks or standing about the rapids looking
for fish. One day they would be engaged in
descending a rapid, the next perhaps paddling
through some side channel in the bush to avoid
another. Game and fish were scarce, as they
usually are during the floods ; it followed there-
fore that half their time was spent in avoiding
death from hunger, while the remainder passed
in peril of drowning.

Few Indians were to be seen on the river,
and at the sight of a canoe Yariko ran their
wood- skin into the bushes. One party which
they could not avoid inquired who the white
man was, but they took no notice and passed
on. Allan feared the Indians might follow,
but as they were busily engaged pulling against
the strong current of the river, and possibly
knew little or nothing of the Samarang busi-
ness, they took no further notice.

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Three months after leaving the slopes of
Roraima, a haggard-looking white man, whose
race could only be distinguished by his long
beard and brown hair, and a naked Macusi
woman arrived one afternoon at Aranama.
For the first time in many months Allan looked
at his ragged shirt and began to feel ashamed ;
he also noticed that Yariko's pretty bead apron
was torn. They paddled slowly along, for he
did not wish to arrive before nightfall, and the
wood-skin was kept close to the bushes to
escape observation. Fortunately they were
not starving, and he therefore had no reason
to go begging for a meal.

Here at last they were at the outskirts of
civilisation, but he did not know whether to be
glad or sorry. They had escaped innumerable
dangers, and had arrived at the goal of their
wishes, to find a thousand minor difficulties
awaiting them. As long as they were in the
forest and on the river, a ragged shirt and a
frayed queyu were not worth thinking about ; at
this Mission village a naked white man would
attract attention. True, the people were accus-
tomed to see naked Indians every day, but

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even the bovianders were never in such a dis-
reputable condition as he.

As night fell they drew up at the old benab
where over a year previous he had met the
party of Macusis, and he was pleased to find
it vacant. Placing the precious suriana in the
centre, Yariko went to the place where some
blackened logs showed that the fire was usually
lit and prepared the evening meal of a piece of
water-haas that had been barbecued the day
before. Then they slung their hammocks to
the rafters, hoping to have a good night's rest
in such a comfortable shed.

But Allan could not sleep. Truly, he had
much to be thankful for ; why, then, be so full
of anxiety for the future? He had recovered
from a deadly fever, escaped from the cruel
embrace of the kenaima, had often obtained
food when on the verge of starvation, and had
performed the unheard-of feat of descending
the Masaruni in a wood-skin. Why, then, be
anxious ? He had a good wife, and, save for
the effects of the arduous journey, was strong
and in good health ; above all, he was in pos-
session of sufficient gold to make his future
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What should he do next ; how obtain some-
thing to cover his nakedness ? And then there
was his wife. Would he like to see her walk-
ing through the streets of Georgetown in a
queyu ? As long as they were in the bush it
did not matter, but they must not remain here,
for even at the Mission there would be no
safety. He remembered hearing of a former
missionary at this very place having been
poisoned by an Indian whom he had offended.
Until they got away they would still be in
danger ; perhaps on the morrow a party might
arrive to again put them in the position of
hunted animals. How could he dispose of
enough gold to supply his immediate wants ?
The missionary would ask questions if he
showed him even one of the idols. He was
rich, but so much the worse off, for he could
not realise the value of his riches. His path
was as dark as the night ; perhaps the rising
sun would show him the way.

When he awoke it was morning, and Variko
was already cooking the last of their meat. As
he had no clothes to put on he jumped up, gave
a look round as he had been in the habit of

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doing for so long, and went down to the river.
Here he washed himself and endeavoured to
comb out his long hair and beard -with his
ragged finger-nails, smoothing them as best
he could. Having thus paid as much attention
as possible to his toilet, he went in to breakfast.

While they were quietly eating with their
fingers, which Allan now began to think some-
what disgusting, a stranger appeared at one
end of the benab, and stood watching them
unperceived for a few minutes. Allan, hearing
a slight cough behind him, turned round to see
a black-coated personage, who could only be
the Reverend John Gatward, of whom he had
heard when in Georgetown.

The parson was making his usual round
and had looked in to see if there were any new
arrivals. The benab was the property of the
Mission, and had been put up for the accom-
modation of visitors, to whom the reverend
gentleman always endeavoured to speak "a
word in season."

Allan turned his face away as he saw a
respectably dressed gentleman looking at him
as if shocked. For the parson was indeed

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shocked at seeing the pair ; a man apparently
white, naked save for a ragged shirt, which
appeared almost black with dirt and age, and
a tattooed Macusi woman in nothing but a
queyu. He held up his hands in amazement.
The impertinence of the wretch ! Such a thing-
was a disgrace to the Mission.

" How dare you bring a scandal upon my
people by carrying on your intrigue in this
place ? You, a white man, ought to be
ashamed of yourself ! Yes ; you may well
hide your head and draw your naked legs
into your hammock. This benab is reserved
for respectable Indians, not disreputable
characters."

" But," replied Allan in a low voice, "this
Indian woman is my wife. We have been
married almost a year. She has been exceed-
ingly kind and faithful ; she nursed me in fever
and saved my life on several occasions. I
would not part with her for the world."

" Then, of course, you want to be legally
married ? " said the parson, as his face cleared
and a benevolent smile took the place of the
indignant rebuke. " Very well ; you may stay,

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and I shall be very glad to put up the banns at

once."

Allan was disconcerted at this unlooked-for
reply. He knew not how to answer without
giving offence, and that he could not afford to
do. For, after all, marrying would have been
the very thing if his position had been other-
wise. But he had no reason to suppose that
he was free to marry, and he certainly would
not commit bigamy. What could he say ?
He must temporise for the present ; perhaps
something would occur to extricate him from
the difficulty. The parson was smiling and
patiently awaiting his answer.

" I am quite willing to marry her," said
Allan, "if I may do so, but at present we are
quite destitute ; how can we live here for two
or three weeks ? "

"Well, look here! As long as you are
going to do the right thing, I will see after
that. Put your intended under my wife's
care until the marriage takes place ; she will
be made a little decent and I will look and
see if I can't find something to cover your own
nakedness. Why, my poor man, even the

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Mission Indians would be ashamed to have
you among them in that state."

Allan looked down upon his ragged shirt,
and the kind parson saw that he was touched.

"That's right," he continued, "I am glad
you see that it is shameful. Of course it would
be different with a party of Indians in nothing
but their laps, but, although your skin is brown
enough, no one would take you for a red man.
That long beard and your brown hair proclaim
your race at once. If I mistake not, you are
Scotch ; what would your friends think of you
if they saw your condition ? "

Poor Allan felt the force of every word
spoken by the reverend gentleman ; they
reflected his own thoughts. But what could
he do? He wanted to be respectable, and
would take the first opportunity of getting a
suit of decent clothing. But here was no
place where he could dispose of one of his
images, and he thought it best to say nothing
of what lay on the ground close to his feet.

During this discussion Yariko sat on the
edge of her hammock, listening, but unable to
understand a word. The parson now advanced

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and took her hand, telling her in a kindly
tone and in her own language to come
with him.

She was frightened, and snatching away her
hand took refuge behind her husband.

" Let me speak to her alone for a few
moments," Said Allan; "she is afraid you
want to part us altogether."

The parson retired outside the benab, and
Allan explained to Yariko what was intended,
enjoining her at the same time not to say any-
thing of the contents of the suriana. The lady
would be very kind to her, and he would always
be near at hand. Perhaps, however, it might
be necessary for him to go away for a short
time ; if so, he would explain the whole matter
when his plans were settled. She must obey
the clergyman's wife as she would him, and
they would soon be again united.

She hesitated for a few minutes, but finally,
with a downcast look, untied her hammock and
followed the parson.

For the first time since their marriage the
pair were separated, and Allan felt as if he was
indeed alone. No longer would he be able to

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watch her preparing his meals ; no more would
they be able to work together as formerly.
His ''helpmeet" had gone ; this was the first
result of contact with civilisation ; what would
be the next ? The good intentions of Parson
Gatward had placed him in a dilemma from
which he could only extricate himself with very
great difficulty. True, his position was altered
from that of the previous night, and his shame
would soon be covered. He could not marry
while the old connection existed ; perhaps,
however, Chloe might be dead. Many things
could have happened within a year. But he
knew very well that his wish was parent to the
thought ; he had passed through great dangers
and still survived, why should she have been
less fortunate ? Nevertheless, he must get to
Georgetown in some way or other, and it would
be better if he went alone. With Yariko safe
and in good hands half the difficulty was
removed.

His reverie was broken by the appearance
of a decently-clad Indian woman, who handed
him a bundle, at the same time giving him a
verbal message that Parson Gatward would

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like to see him at the Mission house when he
had dressed.

In the parcel was a faded black suit, a white
shirt, a comb, looking-glass, and a pair of scissors.
Allan eyed these articles with mixed feelings ;
he had become so accustomed to the freedom
of the natural man that he hesitated. How-
ever, he must now bid farewell to the old
savage life, with its pleasures and pains, and
once more follow the customs of his own
people. He took a bath in the river, trimmed
his hair and beard in the best way he could, and
hung the clothes upon him, for he could hardly
wear them.

Parson Gatward was a portly gentleman,
and his cast-off suit was far from becoming to
a man who was lank and wiry from the effects
of starvation, pain, and worry. As Allan sur-
veyed himself in the little mirror he smiled.
If he had wanted a disguise this certainly was
one ; why, Yariko would hardly know him.
Yet, at the same time he could not but be
thankful for the parson's kindness to a stranger.
He had once been rather particular about his
dress ; what did it matter now ?

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Before leaving the benab he looked at the
suriana in some doubt as to its being safe to
leave it, but as any attempt to hide it would
look suspicious he let it lie under the hammock
and proceeded to the Mission house.

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CHAPTER XIX

AT THE MISSION HOUSE

PARSON' GATWARD'S cottage was a
very comfortable home, but Allan did not
feel at ease within it. Unaccustomed to clothes
and to sitting on a chair for such a long time, it
could not be expected that he would imme-
diately feel comfortable, but he certainly might
have felt better in a proper fit.

The missionary complimented him, however,
on his improved appearance as he came up the
steps, and pleasantly remarked that there were
now two wearers of the cloth at Aranama. He
asked Allan a multitude of questions, but as
they came out so quickly one after another our
hero was enabled to evade the greater number
and vaguely answer the others. It went against
his conscience to tell the kind gentleman so
many white lies, but what could he do ? Even
his name might recall the story of a clerk who
had run away from his wife and his creditors a

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year before, for a tit-bit of scandal travels very
far in British Guiana.

His name was, therefore, John Guthrie, and
he had gone to Roraima in search of natural
history specimens, all of which had been lost,
when his boat was upset at one of the rapids.
His paddlers had deserted him and his wife,
and the pair had therefore to come down as
best they could. In Georgetown he had one
or two acquaintances from whom he might get
assistance on personal application, but unless
he risked his life by travelling close to the
banks of the river, and along the west coast in
the wood-skin, he knew not how to get there,
for he could not go by steamer without money.
He certainly wished to be legally united to the
woman who had been so kind to him, but
nevertheless, as was only natural, he did not
like to trespass upon the kindness of Mr.
Gatward. If he could only go to town and
come back for the wedding, it would be more
comfortable for all parties.

The reverend gentleman smiled and looked
roguishly at him as he heard the last sentence.

" Oh, oh ! I see ! It is the old story. You

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want an opportunity for deserting the poor girl,
do you ? Of course, that is always the way.
You took advantage of her ignorance ; she
saved your life, as you admit ; but you cannot
show a Macusi wife to your friends. No doubt
you are right from a worldly point of view, but
we must look upon our obligations in a different
light from that. I am sorry for you, but, as a
priest of the English Church, must discounte-
nance anything of the sort."

Allan protested that he had not the slightest
intention of deserting Yariko ; on the contrary,
even this partial separation for a few days was
painful. Rather than be misjudged in that
way, he would strip himself and go down the
river with her in the wood-skin. The waves of
the Essequebo could not be more dangerous
than the rapids of the Masaruni ; possibly some
one in the lower settlements might help them.

The parson shook his head, and pointed to
the broad estuary before them. Its surface was
broken by the soft wind which was so pleasantly
cool as they sat in the gallery, but even these
tiny waves would lap over the sides of a wood-
skin and swamp it.

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"No, no ! To cross over, except perhaps at
night, would be madness. How you escaped
the dangers of the Masaruni in such a craft is
wonderful. You must thank God that your
body is not now lying among the rocks to feed
the perai. No, my poor fellow, I don't intend
to have your murder upon my conscience. I
suppose I can trust you not to wrong the poor
woman, who, my wife says, looks miserable and
wants to throw off her frock to return to the
benab. The steamer will be here on her monthly
trip the day after to-morrow ; I will lend you
the amount of your passage. But I am afraid
your late companion will be running after you
if you wait a whole month, and then the
wedding will be delayed."

Allan thanked him for his kindness, and said
that a few words from him would reconcile
Yariko to his absence, after which Mr. Gatward
introduced him to the mistress of the house,
and they went to lunch.

After so long a deprivation from tables and
chairs, knives and forks, and in fact every
comfort of a civilised home, Allan felt some-
what embarrassed. For months he had hardly

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In Guiana Wilds

been sure of a meal at any time, and the change
was very grateful. On the table was a piece
of corned beef ; his mouth wa'tered at the sight,
for one of his greatest deprivations had been
the want of salt. Sometimes he had powdered
the tasteless fish and game with wood ashes ;
only hunger could make it palatable. The
meal was delicious. For a whole year he had
tasted no wheaten bread, and the orange and
slice of pineapple were peculiarly grateful.
After all, the long picnic, which he had once
thought would be so delightful, was but a poor
substitute for home comforts.

But he did not see Yariko. His eyes
wandered about in the hope of catching sight
of her through one of the open doorways.
Without her, his feeling of gratification was
marred, but he could say nothing. Even the
kind parson could not sit down at table with an
Indian ; here was another result of contact with
civilisation. Why should she be excluded from
his presence ? Yet he knew it could not be
otherwise.

Lunch over, he left the house, although he
was told to make himself at home. He would

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not trespass on the kindness of these good
people more than he could help, for he felt
himself to be an impostor and a cheat Then,
n, he must see that his treasure was safe,
for though Indians would not be likely
interfere with the suriana, some of the
bovianders from the neighbourhood would not
be so scrupulous. However, the benab was
still vacant and everything remained as he had
left it.

In virtue of his assumed character he thought
it well to fill the suriana with orchids, of which
several species grew on the banks of the river.
Going along the shore through a narrow path,
he made a careful exploration of the neigh-
bourhood, as it might be necessary ^ : to
the Mission without being seen. He had
naturally been thinking of a way out of the
difficult)- of the wedding, and in this connection
he must find out some secluded landing-place.

Having seen that the path terminated in an
opening on the river Essequebo, he gathered
an armful of Diacrixm btftrnxhtm and re-
turned. Then, taking out two of the gold
moons to present to Mr. Gatward. he packed

In Guiana Wilds

the orchids tightly above the remainder of the
gold, feeling sure that no one would now inter-
fere with the basket of weeds.

It was dinner-time when he got back to the
benab, and he went again to the Mission house,
where he found his kind host more genial if
possible than before. Over their coffee they
had a chat, in the course of which the parson
told Allan of his difficulties in converting the
Indians. Very few would settle down at the
Mission, because the neighbourhood gave them
such a poor hunting ground, and even the
fishing was poor as compared with the upper
rivers. They could not live on cassava bread
alone, and although they often kept domestic
fowls, no Indian would eat those he had bred
and cared for himself. fltafcBoft libwy

Then there were other difficulties. Many
wanted to be baptized who had not the slightest
intention of changing their manners and customs.
There was a Peaiman named Samarang, a very
influential chief, who at one time appeared to
be most promising. He knew a little English,
and could have brought quite a large body of
followers. But he had three wives, and Mr.

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Gatward had told him that the Church would
not admit polygamy. " What then," said
Samarang, " shall I do?" The parson replied
that the one he had married first was his only
wife in the eyes of Makunaima. But — and the
parson sighed as he thought of the great loss
to the Mission — Samarang would part with
neither of the three, for he said they were
necessary to his comfort and position. If he
had only one wife he would be looked upon
with contempt as a common man ; everybody
would despise him. With a provision ground
no bigger than those of his people, and with no
larger supply of cassava bread, how could he
ever entertain his followers ; where find bread
to make piwarrie ?

" And how did you settle the matter after
all ? " inquired Allan, thinking of his own
experiences.

The parson sighed and shook his head.

" It never was settled. The Church would
not permit me to baptize a trigamist, and the
chief would not part with either of his wives.
It was a sad loss, for Samarang would have
been exceedingly useful, because he could

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In Guiana Wilds

easily have learnt to read. But what other
course could I take ? You know, I suppose,
that the Church is very strict in such cases ?
I suppose you are a Presbyterian, Mr.
Guthrie ? "

Allan hardly knew how to answer the last
question. He had certainly been brought up
to the Kirk, but his religious notions had been
quite upset since his arrival in Demerara.
Here he had certainly found a parade of
church-going among all classes, but the curious
thing about it all was that morality seemed to
be at a discount. Even Chloe had been highly
religious in her way ; but he had noticed in her
case, as well as in others with which he had
become acquainted, that their attendance at
church very largely rested upon new dresses
and hats. If the parson only knew what a
ne'er-do-well he was talking to, he would
probably turn him out at once.

The conversation having become personal,
Allan turned it off into other channels. He
had been out of the world, as it were, for over
a twelvemonth, and knew nothing of what had
happened during the interval. England, the

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parson said, was through another of her little
difficulties, but there were rumours of an im-
pending war, in which it was expected that
several of the Great Powers would be implicated.
The Demerara planters had been, as usual,
crying out about the low price of sugar and
the scarcity of labour, but nevertheless, although
on the brink of ruin, they were still pretty com-
fortable. As for Mr. Gatward, he did not
trouble himself much about such things ; all
his interest lay in the work of his Mission, but
even in this he was hampered by the want of
means.

The parson seemed glad to have a white
man as visitor, for no doubt the Indians were
but poor company. He rambled on from one
subject to another, but always came back to his
work and its difficulties. Allan made a very
good listener, but all the time he was thinking
of Yariko and of how he could ask after her
without giving offence. At last he plucked up
enough courage to say he would like to see his
wife before going back to the benab.

The parson shook his finger at him, but he
was too good-natured to refuse. In his opinion,

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In Guiana Wilds

the pair had been leading sinful lives, and
should be kept apart until the marriage.
She ought to remain strictly alone until her
lover came back from Georgetown and was
ready to have their illicit connection hallowed
by the Church. However, he told his servant
to call her.

Allan hardly recognised his wife in the long
gown in which she appeared, and she seemed
frightened as her eyes fell upon the baggy
clothes he wore. Both were uncomfortable
and ill-at-ease in the presence of Mr. Gatward,
and he, seeing this, made an excuse to retire
for a few moments.

Yariko now drew up the skirts of her long
robe and came forward, every step being taken
as if she feared to stumble and fall. They
mutually surveyed each other ; she astonished
and confused, he embarrassed by the difficulty
of explaining what he wanted to do. For he
knew not what might happen to him in
Georgetown, and hardly dared to tell her that
he was going there alone.

At last she spoke, asking him when they
would be going away ; Mrs. Gatward was

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very kind, but she wanted to be free from
this long dress, in which she could neither
walk properly nor help in the work of the
kitchen. The lady was very kind, but what
did they want with such people ; why should
they not go somewhere in the forest, where
their enemies could not find them ?

Allan soothed her as best he could, but
she trembled when he said he must go away
and leave her alone. What could she do ?
If he deserted her she would die. Besides,
the Macusis visited Aranama sometimes, and
if they came she must hide in the bush.

He said she must not run away, for then
he would not find her on his return. He
would come back as soon as he could ; she
must listen every evening for the call of the
goat-sucker, and then come out to meet him.
At last she became quiet and submissive as
usual, promising to remain until she heard the
" Who are you ? " which she hoped would not
be long.

As he lay in his hammock he thought over
the change in his prospects since the previous
evening. Then he could see no way of getting

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In Guiana Wilds

to Georgetown without the risk of discovery
and the almost certainty of attracting attention ;
now he would be in a manner quite respectable.
Certainly no one would recognise Allan Gordon
in the clerical suit of Parson Gatward, although,
for the sake of comfort, he wished it had been
less hampering to his movements. However,
he must make the best of it and be thankful.
Hitherto he had escaped from trouble, as it
appeared, and no doubt he and Yariko would
be quite happy when he had realised the value
of one of the images and be no longer in the
position of a beggar.

(How Allan sold his treasure, and met Chloe,
of his fortunate escape from her, and of his
further wanderings with Yariko, will be told
by the azithor in a sequel.}

l-XWIX BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, \VOKINU AXD LONDON.

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