cannot carry any gift that he might wish to give."
"Good thinking," Javier said; then he tried to communicate that idea in Spanish.
"He doesn't understand. He doesn't speak Spanish. The Matses have their own language, but they all speak some Spanish. That's not all that's weird. Normally, the women wear the nose whiskers unless it's a special deal, and the men are dressing for dinner, so to speak."
Reaching under his shirt, Sam removed his braided rawhide necklace with the gold locket. He opened the locket, walked forward three paces, and in the beam of a flashlight showed Cat-man a picture of his grandfather Stalking Bear. Cat-man studied the picture for a moment, then ran his fingers over it before turning his attention back to Sam.
Sam slowly squatted and cleared away leaves and vines on the forest floor until he came to dark soil. He waited a minute and then began patting the ground in a ritualistic fashion and smoothing it. When he had smoothed a three-foot-square area, he stopped. The native stepped out from behind the bush that had partially hidden him, squatted down, cleared the leaves and vines over a similar size square, patted the ground smooth, then stood next to the patch and stomped his feet. Then he stepped back.
Sam took a stick and drew a winding line in the ground, then drew a number of intersecting smaller lines. He was intending to depict the Yavari River and its tributaries, as well as the Blanca, Tapiche and Ucayali. If he were local Matses, the man would know the geography. Sam stood and stomped on the ground, then pointed with the stick at the crude lines, attempting to indicate their current location between the Galvez and the Tapiche and their direction of travel toward the Galvez. Then he pointed at the sky low on the horizon and circumscribed an arc to the opposite horizon. He pointed to a spot on the Tapiche and made two full arcs, indicating two days' journey.
"For him it wouldn't take two days," Javier said.
Cat-man took the stick, went to his own square, and drew a river system similar to the Yavari, then drew what looked like a mound and made two arcs with his arm for two days. Then he put a round mark on the map and stomped his feet.
"That explains it," Javier said. "It would take us at least three days to get where he is indicating. Maybe more. It looks like he's saying he's from the Brazilian refuge. Probably Rio Lobo. Totally unusual because they don't cross over the border just to hunt or wander around."
"Why is he alone?" Sam asked. "I would think they would hunt in groups."
"They would not come over here just to hunt."
"Fala Portuguese? " Javier asked.
"A minha lingua e Portuguese."
"There is your answer. He speaks Portuguese. I don't speak much."
"Interesting challenge," Sam said.
"Tu nao deves de estar aqui."
"What's he say?"
"Something like ... that we are trespassing here. I will say that I know the people of San Jose."
"Ask for his help in following the white men."
"Too complicated," Javier said.
"Eu consiou uma mulher dos Matses neste lado do Yavari e ela e muito boa e ela vai ser a mulher," Cat-man said.
"What's he say?"
"Something about a woman. Maybe he's over here courting a wife."
Sam opened the locket and once again showed him Grandfather's picture.
'Tell him this man was my grandfather."
"I know the word for father."
"That won't work."
"Why?"
"Because I need the force of the truth. I want to take him back to the sandbar."
"Vamos ao rio," Javier said.
Pointing, Sam indicated that Cat-man should lead the way back in the direction Sam had come. The group went a couple of hundred feet through the jungle and Cat-man stopped. Without waiting, Sam kept going and broke through the jungle onto the sandbank of a Yavari river tributary. On the river bar there were the footprints of the six booted men.
"Do you know the words for my
"Good thinking," Javier said; then he tried to communicate that idea in Spanish.
"He doesn't understand. He doesn't speak Spanish. The Matses have their own language, but they all speak some Spanish. That's not all that's weird. Normally, the women wear the nose whiskers unless it's a special deal, and the men are dressing for dinner, so to speak."
Reaching under his shirt, Sam removed his braided rawhide necklace with the gold locket. He opened the locket, walked forward three paces, and in the beam of a flashlight showed Cat-man a picture of his grandfather Stalking Bear. Cat-man studied the picture for a moment, then ran his fingers over it before turning his attention back to Sam.
Sam slowly squatted and cleared away leaves and vines on the forest floor until he came to dark soil. He waited a minute and then began patting the ground in a ritualistic fashion and smoothing it. When he had smoothed a three-foot-square area, he stopped. The native stepped out from behind the bush that had partially hidden him, squatted down, cleared the leaves and vines over a similar size square, patted the ground smooth, then stood next to the patch and stomped his feet. Then he stepped back.
Sam took a stick and drew a winding line in the ground, then drew a number of intersecting smaller lines. He was intending to depict the Yavari River and its tributaries, as well as the Blanca, Tapiche and Ucayali. If he were local Matses, the man would know the geography. Sam stood and stomped on the ground, then pointed with the stick at the crude lines, attempting to indicate their current location between the Galvez and the Tapiche and their direction of travel toward the Galvez. Then he pointed at the sky low on the horizon and circumscribed an arc to the opposite horizon. He pointed to a spot on the Tapiche and made two full arcs, indicating two days' journey.
"For him it wouldn't take two days," Javier said.
Cat-man took the stick, went to his own square, and drew a river system similar to the Yavari, then drew what looked like a mound and made two arcs with his arm for two days. Then he put a round mark on the map and stomped his feet.
"That explains it," Javier said. "It would take us at least three days to get where he is indicating. Maybe more. It looks like he's saying he's from the Brazilian refuge. Probably Rio Lobo. Totally unusual because they don't cross over the border just to hunt or wander around."
"Why is he alone?" Sam asked. "I would think they would hunt in groups."
"They would not come over here just to hunt."
"Fala Portuguese? " Javier asked.
"A minha lingua e Portuguese."
"There is your answer. He speaks Portuguese. I don't speak much."
"Interesting challenge," Sam said.
"Tu nao deves de estar aqui."
"What's he say?"
"Something like ... that we are trespassing here. I will say that I know the people of San Jose."
"Ask for his help in following the white men."
"Too complicated," Javier said.
"Eu consiou uma mulher dos Matses neste lado do Yavari e ela e muito boa e ela vai ser a mulher," Cat-man said.
"What's he say?"
"Something about a woman. Maybe he's over here courting a wife."
Sam opened the locket and once again showed him Grandfather's picture.
'Tell him this man was my grandfather."
"I know the word for father."
"That won't work."
"Why?"
"Because I need the force of the truth. I want to take him back to the sandbar."
"Vamos ao rio," Javier said.
Pointing, Sam indicated that Cat-man should lead the way back in the direction Sam had come. The group went a couple of hundred feet through the jungle and Cat-man stopped. Without waiting, Sam kept going and broke through the jungle onto the sandbank of a Yavari river tributary. On the river bar there were the footprints of the six booted men.
"Do you know the words for my
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