ADVENTURE WITH SAVAGES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 300, 13 May 1911, Page 9

ADVENTURE WITH SAVAGES.

.)]i;sic rxiiKi: hot kike. .Major 1\ H. Fawcett, U.K., described before l!i« Ho.vul deographieal Society, London, recently some exciting incidents of the exploration of the .course of the river Heath, in Bolivia, carried out last year by :v party of which he was the head, consisting' of six Britishers and a Bolivian officer. The party had embarked in three canoes, and after covering onlv lifty miles of the river encountered savages.' The incident, says the Daily Telegraph, was described by Major Kawcett in the following narrative:— "Leigh, Costin, and myself were some distance ahead of the leading canoe, the others having fallen behind owing to the difficulties of threading the labyrinth of snags. On rounding a turn on the river we saw, about a quarter .of a mile ahead, a collection of newly-made palm huts on the point of a large sandbank, and at the same moment 'heard an uproar of barUiiiir dogs, shouting men. and screaming women and children, emphatic testimony to their appreciation of their civilised neighbors. We immediately endeavored to reach the huts before they had disappeared. '•Opposite the. sandbank, on the other side of the river, which narrows at this point to about thirty yards in the dry season, was a red-earth cliff., cut out by the river, and some 20ft. to 30ft. in height, extending the. whole length of the sandbank. Against this cliff and on the sandbank were tied up fifteen canoes and various rafts, known as balsas. With South American savages it is useless to show any hesitation, so, passing directly under the high bank, we landed opposite the huts. There was no sign of a savage—only barking dogs. As the second eanoe came up, however, an arrow struck it, passing completely through about an inch and a quarter of wood, succeeded immediately by more arrows and by fire from shot-guns, which latter had probably been stolen at different times from the rubber-pickers on the Madre de Dios and Tauibopata. How someone was not I hit it is difficult to understand. i "One of the party—it was not one of the three non-commissioned officers I have mentioned —embarra'ssed matters by

throwing himself in a panic into the water behind a canoe, and trying to bury his head, ostrich-like, in the sand, only emerging, as the canoe was pulled ashore to pray me to retreat. I Jiail previously given orders that under no circumstances was a shot to he fired, but it was not easy to restrain some nervous, members of the party, Reprisals were, of course, out of the question, except a.s a last resource, for any shooting would have been the death warrant of the lot, as I have no doubt it has been before. Trusting in the proverbial influence of music, I told Todd to strike up a tune on the accordion, which, although considered under some circumstances a somewhat deadly instrument, must have been a new experience (o savages. The rain of arrows, however, did not abate. As t remarked before, I did not know how the party escaped, but I assume that from under cover at sixty yards, and with the expectation of a bullet, the savage is not a deadly shot. "In order to show some intention not to molest the tribe, the canoes were drigged one by one, under short-range lire, from their position in front of the huts to a far corner of the sandbank. I The attack, however, persisted for about I an hour and a half, and was rather serious, as the escapes again and again were exceedingly narrow, and a party of tin; savages had gathered in our rear. Wherefore, with one eye on the lookout fur arrows and the other on a little voI cabulary of Cuarayo words secured in the Tambopapa, it became necessary for me to enter the river and at close range endeavor to conciliate the enemy. I did not recommend it as at all inviting to .search a book for suitable words in an unknown guttural tongue with the whiz of arrows about one's ears, and at a range of some twenty-five yards, from savages who are supposed to be experts at the game. However, Providence has been gracious to us on all these expeditions.

"Two -nviiges at last showed themselves, and, as my pronunciation of the language appeared to be at fault. 1 signed to tliem that 1. would come across. The river proved too deep to wade, and the savages signalled to me to take one of their canoes. I called up Gibbs, and between lis we launched a heavy dugout and shoved across the stream.' To cut the story short, they gave us a hand up some footholds in the face of the cliff, on the top of which we were received by some thirty savages, accompanied theiii into the forest, interviewed the chief with the aid of the book, and, very much to the relief of the rest of the party, returned in about half an hour to the bank with the chief's son wearing my hat, and all of us the best of friends. We were not molested by Guamyos again throughout the river, although there was evidence of an extensive population." Major Faweett urged upon public attention the great awakening which is taking place on the Pacific side of the continent, which, he said, would be accentuated on the completion of the canal, affording a unique opportunity for enterprise.