The Mighty Orinoco

hapter VI Terrible Fears

262 chapter VI Terrible Fears As long as the Barés remain the Barés, the appearance of those enormous will-o’-the-wisps at the summit of the Cerro Duida will continue to be considered in the region as a funereal portent, a forewarning of imminent catastrophes. In contrast, as long as the Mariquitares remain Mariquitares, this phenomenon will be interpreted as the harbinger of good fortune to come. Those two Indian tribes have therefore very opposite ways of envisaging the forecasts of their prophetic mountain. But whichever one is right, it is certain that being located in the neighborhood of the Duida has not brought happiness to the village of La Esmeralda. One would scarcely find a more agreeable location than the plains bordering the Orinoco: pastures good for the raising of cattle and a fine climate which is not subject to the excesses of the tropical temperature . And yet, La Esmeralda was in a sad state of abandon and disrepair . All that remained of that former village founded by the Spanish colonists were the ruins of a small church and five or six straw huts, which were not occupied except briefly during hunting or fishing seasons.1 When the Gallinetta and the Moriche arrived, they did not meet one single boat moored in the port. And who chased the Indians away? Legions of mosquitoes, which render the place uninhabitable—myriads of these aggressive insects, which all the flames of the Duida would be powerless to destroy.2 And the falcas were assailed by them. Mosquito nets were not sufficient , and passengers and boatmen alike received so many bites— even the nephew of Sergeant Martial, for his uncle was unable to protect him this time—that Parchal and Valdez cast o¬ before dawn with the help of their poles and awaited the morning breeze. The wind did not begin to blow until nearly six o’clock, and two hours later the boats passed by the mouth of the Iguapo, one of the tributaries flowing into the Orinoco on the left bank. The lights of the Cerro Duida 264 Jacques Helloch thought no more of exploring the Iguapo than he did of exploring the Cunucunuma or the Cassiquiare, and Germain Paterne did not say a word to him about it, even in the form of friendly joking. There was, moreover, a new subject of anxiety for Sergeant Martial, no less than for Jacques Helloch. As strong, resilient, and energetic as she was, there was strong cause to fear that Jeanne de Kermor, who had until then resisted so much deprivation and fatigue, might now be paying her debts to the climate of this country. Throughout these swampy lands, endemic fevers are di~cult to avoid. Thanks to their robust constitutions, Jacques Helloch, Germain Paterne, and Sergeant Martial had not yet experienced any attacks. And, thanks to their being used to such conditions , the crews had remained una¬ected. But the girl had been feeling, for several days, a general discomfort whose seriousness could not be ignored. Germain Paterne recognized that Jeanne de Kermor was coming down with malarial fever. Her strength was diminishing, her appetite failing, and an insurmountable fatigue forced her to lie down in her quarters for hours at a time. She tried hard to fight it, saddened especially at the thought of this extra concern for her travel companions. There remained, however, the hope that this sickness would only be temporary. Perhaps the diagnosis of Germain Paterne was in error ? And besides, given Jeanne’s strong moral and physical character, would not nature be her best medicine? And did she not have on her side the best remedy of all, her youth? However, as Jacques Helloch and his companions returned to their navigation on the river, they were growing very anxious. The falcas took an overnight halt at the mouth of the Gabirima on the left bank. They met none of the Baré Indians mentioned by M. Cha¬anjon there. But this was not too regrettable since the two huts of the Gabirima, at the time when the French traveler visited them, sheltered a family of assassins and pillagers, one of whom was the former captain of La Esmeralda. Since that time, had they remained rogues or had they eventually become honest people? This was a question which had not been answered. In any case, they had now apparently transported their roguery, or their...