Arthur O. Friel

“ Since that time, señores, I have passed all the way up and down the Ventuari by canoe, in flood time and in the season of low water. By that I do not mean that I have gone over those falls; nothing goes over them and lives. But I have traveled the river between fall and fall, from source to end. And it is even worse than the Macos told me. He who rides on the waters of the Ventuari rides with Death. ”

“ This canoe I loaned to my surprized mestizos—who had not suspected what I meant to do—and, after giving them an order on a San Fernando trader for their pay, I sent them away in it. When they were gone the Macos looked relieved, and I felt more relieved than they looked.
Now that they had decided to go, my Indians proved willing enough. They were not good polers, but with the paddle they seemed tireless. We crawled on up the river for several days more, passing through small raudales at times, but finding none which gave us much trouble. Then we met one which stopped us dead. ”

“ I had heard something of the Macos; that they were a small tribe, living on a few caños of this river, who hardly ever came out to the Orinoco; that they were lazy and peaceable, and would much rather run than fight; but that they were one of the two poison-making tribes of Amazonas, the other being the Piaroas, who live in the rough country between the Ventuari and the Orinoco.
They were not very good men for my use, but if I could persuade them to work for me until I could come among the Maquiritares higher up the river, I should at least be free from my loose-mouthed mestizos. ”