Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The guide stood there, scratching his head and apologising, for he knew that his forgetting
to fasten the rope to the girth had caused this disaster.
Que suerte
(what luck), he said, 'that
the crocodile was not near when you fell back into the water!'
Then began the search for the lost coins. The spilt powder and the trodden-down plants
helped us considerably to see the way the horse had bolted, and soon we began to recover
some of my lost treasure. Somehow I suddenly remembered the days of my childhood and the
game of searching for Easter eggs, and, to the amazement of the man, I burst out laughing.
When evening came we were still groping about among the plants and the grass, and when
we began to feel hungry I washed the spilt medicine off some beans, and then cooked them
together with some onions. When we started out in the morning I was still some sixty pesos
short, but then the little melodrama of the day before was worth this price.
Weslowlyforgedourwaythroughdensejungleandsoftswamps,passingwithinsightofa
high ridge on which stands a big, solitary, cone-shaped rock, a singular landmark. The natives
say that it is
encantado
(bewitched), and that if anybody eats of the cocoa that grows near it,
or takes away the seeds, that person is sure to die a sudden death.
For the next few days we suffered terribly. It rained in torrents and we had to guess our
way through dense jungles and treacherous swamps. There were quite a number of streams
and rivers which we had to cross by swimming, the swampy nature of the banks often mak-
ing landings very difficult. Formerly a trail had existed which led along the foot of the near
mountain range, but owing to the coming of the railway, and to the revolutions, this fell into
disuse and is now impassable, being completely overgrown with vegetation. Flocks of parrots
and red and blue cockatoos flew over us, and big monkeys looked down from the trees.
Some of the world's finest hardwood, rubber and chicle trees grow in abundance, but, ow-
ing to the political unrest, these must remain there like hidden treasures until, some day, con-
ditions change. Formerly some of this wealth had been exploited, and we came across two or
three
haciendas
, the ruins of which bore testimony to what revolutions can do.
For long stretches at a time the ride changed into a struggle through mud and water, and
often we were obliged to go afoot, almost dragging the animals behind us. We had to swim
one pool and river after another, and the only satisfaction we had was to give vent to our feel-
ings by swearing almost without interval. The perspiration was running down me in streams,
and the rubbing of the clothes against my skin had chafed it, producing an irritation that made
me feel as if I were covered with red ants. Along these coastal regions there are many tigers,
crocodiles and other game, but none of them ever troubled us. Once a train surprised us as we
were following the line which, in that particular place, had been built by filling in and raising
the track in a stretch of swamp. We were bottled in like rats, and the only thing for us to do
was to rush the horses into the water and there wait until the train had passed. One of the an-
imals refused to follow, and as the train approached he tore away and began to race ahead of
theengine.Luckilyhedidnotstumbleonthesleepersand,atthelastmoment,whenIthought
