Madame
Pfeiffer, however, was nothing if not adventurous. Whatever there was to
be dared, she immediately dared. At her request, the guide made the
usual essay at boat-building. He tore off some plantain branches, bound
them together with long tough grass, laid a few leaves upon them,
launched them in the water, and requested Madame Pfeiffer to embark. She
confesses to having felt a little hesitation, but without saying a word,
she stepped on board. Then her guide took to the water like a duck, and
pushed her forward. The passage across the lake, and back again, was in
this way accomplished without any accident.
Having satiated herself with admiring the lake and its surrounding
scenery, she retired to a little nook roofed over with leaves, where her
guide quickly kindled a good fire in the usual Indian fashion. He cut a
small piece of wood to a fine point, and then selecting a second piece,
grooved it with a narrow and not very deep furrow. In this he rubbed the
pointed stick until the fragments detached during the process began to
smoke. These he flung into a heap of dry leaves and grass previously
collected, and swung the whole several times round in the air, until it
broke out into flames. The entire process did not occupy above two
minutes. Gathering a few plantains, these were roasted for supper; after
which Madame Pfeiffer withdrew to her solitary couch of dry leaves, to
sleep as best she might.
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