In the Amazon Jungle - Adventures in Remote Parts of the Upper Amazon River, Including a - Sojourn Among Cannibal Indians by Algot Lange
page 141 of 154 (91%)
page 141 of 154 (91%)
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I had recovered from my sickness and was not entirely devoid of a desire for excitement--the best tonic of the explorer. The two young hunters with bows and arrows halted before the Chief. They were gesticulating wildly; and although I could not understand what they were talking about, I judged from the frown of the Chief that something serious was the matter. He arose with unusual agility for a man of his size, and shouted something toward the opening of the _maloca_, whence the men were soon seen coming with leaps and bounds. Anticipating trouble, I also ran over to the Chief, and, in my defective Mangeroma lingo, inquired the cause of the excitement. He did not answer me, but, in a greater state of agitation than I had previously observed in him, he gave orders to his men. He called the "wireless" operator and commanded him to bring out his precious apparatus. This was soon fastened to the gunwales of the canoe where I had seen it used before, on my trip to the neighbouring tribe, and soon the same powerful, xylophonic sounds vibrated through the forest. It was his intention to summon the hunters that were still roaming around the vicinity, by this "C.Q.D." message. The message I could not interpret nor repeat, although it was not nearly as complex as the one I had learned before. After a while, the men came streaming into the _maloca_ from all directions, with anxiety darkening their faces. I had now my first inkling of what was the cause of the commotion, and it did not take me long to understand that we were in danger from some Peruvian _caboclos_. The two young men who had brought the news to the Chief had spied a detachment of Peruvian half-breeds as they were camping in our old _tambo_ No. 6, the one we had built on our sixth day out from Floresta. There were about a score of them, all ugly _caboclos_, |
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