“The village is about 200 kilometers from here,” Señor Castro replied. “It’s strange but they seem to have some kind of a sixth sense by which they can tell the moment strangers arrive--some kind of a wireless telegraph system, I guess,” and he laughed. Then he went on: “I don’t doubt but that they have been stalking us because you fellows are new to the place. It’s seldom that any of them ever come across this road because I’ve put bullets into a couple of them and they won’t get away with any more of my rubber men on this side of the line.” I asked him if they had captured many of his men. “Every time my men tread the jungle outside of the _fezenda_ they are taken unless they have an Indian guide with them.” “Oh, I see, they are Union savages,” said Bert and he added, “I know I’m going to like this place, Señor Castro.” In the days that followed we got right down to business for we wanted that million _reis_ as soon as we could get it. We unpacked the materials for the aerial first and every move we made was watched with great interest by the villagers. The _phosphor-bronze_ wire for the aerial seemed to have an especial attraction for them, for they would pick it up, look critically at it and examine it as carefully as though they were looking for flaws in it. There were two palm trees at least 100 feet high and about 250 feet apart, and Bert and I decided to use these for the masts. When we had the aerial assembled with the leading-in wire soldered to it I asked if any one there could climb the palm tree and every man, woman and child said that they could. I gave one of the half-breeds a coil of quarter-inch hemp rope to hoist the aerial with and showed him how I wanted the end of the aerial made fast to the tree top and then told him to go aloft. I wish you could have seen that fellow climb the tree! I used to think our old time sailors were about as clever as they made ’em when it comes to climbing but there’s no use talking they’re too civilized--too far removed from the monkey family to know how to climb anything but a rope ladder. The half-breed grasped the back of the tree with the open palms of his hands and placing the bare soles of his feet in front like a jack-knife he just naturally _walked_ up it. These same fellows can travel for miles through the jungle by swinging themselves from vine to vine and going as fast as you or I can walk. So you see there are some things an ignorant Amazonian can do that an educated New Yorker can’t do. And thus does Nature’s law of compensation work out.