Over The Grassy
Plains We Made Good Progress, And By Evening Were Thirty Miles
Farther On Our Journey.
But when we had to cut the path before us
through the forest, ten or twelve miles was a good day's work.
When
the growth was very dense, the morning and evening camps were perhaps
only separated by a league. Anon we struggled through a swamp, or the
horses stuck fast in a bog, and the carapatas feasted on our blood.
"What are carapatas?" you ask. They are leeches, bugs, mosquitos,
gad-flies, etc., all compounded into one venomous insect! These
voracious green ticks, the size of a bug, are indeed a terrible
scourge. They fasten on the body in scores, and when pulled away,
either the piece of flesh comes with them or the head of the carapata
is torn off. It was easy to pick a hundred of these bugs off the
body at night, but it was not easy to sleep after the ordeal! The
poor horses, brushing through the branches on which the ticks wait
for their prey, were sometimes half covered with them!
As we continued our journey, a house was a rare sight, and soon we
came to "the end of Christianity," as Timoteo said, and all
civilization was left behind. The sandy road became a track, and then
we could no longer follow the path, for there was none to follow.
Timoteo had traversed those regions before in search of the mate
plant, however, and with my compass I kept the general direction.
After about ten days' travel, during which time we had many reminders
that the flesh-pots had been left behind, "Che cane o" (I am tired)
was frequently heard. Game was exceedingly scarce, and it was
possible to travel for days without sighting any animal or ostrich.
We passed no houses, and saw no human beings. For two days we
subsisted on hard Indian corn. Water was scarce, and for a week we
were unable to wash. Jiggers got into our feet when sleeping on the
ground, and these caused great pain and annoyance. Someone has
described a jigger as "a cross between Satan and a woodtick." The
little insects lay their eggs between the skin and flesh. When the
young hatch out, they begin feeding on the blood, and quickly grow
half an inch long and cause an intense itching. My feet were swollen
so much that I could not get on my riding-boots, and, consequently,
my lower limbs were more exposed than ever. If not soon cut out, the
flesh around them begins to rot, and mortification sometimes ensues.
On some of the savannas we were able to kill deer and ostrich, but
they generally were very scarce. Our fare was varied; sometimes we
feaisted on parrot pie or vultures eggs; again we lay down on the
hard, stony ground supperless. At such times I would be compelled to
rise from time to time and tighten up my belt, until I must have
resembled one of the ladies of fashion, so far as the waist was
concerned.
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