orful dress of the Indians. The chief wore a beautiful crown of colored beads, surmounted with white plumes, and his neck, wrists and ankles were also decorated with beads. In addition, he wore a beautiful square of woven beads and silver ornaments which hung around his neck and down over his chest. His wife was also decorate^ with beads and silver, with silver ornaments stuck through her lower lip. Both of them were dressed in beautifully-embroidered garments and their faces were painted in intricate Indian designs. We went with the chief as he went out hunting, saw him kill a monkey that was up a tree with a well-directed arrow from his bow, and then bring the monkey back for his wife to cook over the open fire. Then they had a monkey feast. Dr. Talbot enjoyed eating the monkey, in fact, by the time I got through taking the pictures there was none left for me! We also watched many other interesting Indian customs and occupations includ ing shooting of fish with bows and ar rows. We went down the river in a dug- out canoe and saw how the fast current of the river was cutting away the bank there. We witnessed great jungle giant trees come crashing down and being sucked under the current of the river, and we realized how necessary it was to keep our canoe away from that side of the river. We had to say good-bye all too soon to this interesting group of Indians and soon were flying back over the jungle to the base for another eve ning of fellowship and Bible study. Tuesday, May 1, 1951 : We had planned to visit another Indian tribe today, but heavy rain all night made the road to Pucallpa impas sable, so it was necessary for the Aeron ca to fly into town with some guests who were to leave by today’s plane for Lima. As it was dark and cloudy, with
the load within the limit of the plane, and how some things had to be left behind. There were hard decisions to make, but every time it was things for personal comfort that wfere left behind, and things needed for the work that were taken. After the group gathered down at the ramp for prayer, the girls and their pilot got into the plane, taxied over the water, soared up into the air and were away over jungle and river for an hour’s trip to their tribe that would have taken weeks by dugout canoe before. This departure was of special interest to us as the Aeronca that took them out was given for this work by the Student Missionary Union of Biola this year, and the plane was named, “ SMU 51.” In the evening the group who came down to Peru in the new Catalina told of their experiences. We heard testimonies from Larry Mont gomery and Omer Bondurin, the two pilots, from Bob Schneider and from Bill and Marjory Nyman, Jr., and to gether we all praised the Lord for His goodness in providing this fine new Right after breakfast we got away in the Aeronca, “SMU 51,” for a trip to the Indian village of Roaboya to visit the Shipibo Indians there. On our arrival, about forty-five minutes later we found that an epidemic of measles had swept over the village, causing quite a few deaths, and that many of the Indians had gone out into the jungle to live until it was over. The chief and his wife were there, and a goodly group of others still remained, or had returned after their sickness was over. A short interval after our arrival, the chief and his wife came out to greet us and to welcome us to the village. They were dressed in all of the traditionally col plane for the work here. Monday, April 80, 1951:
of the most unusual we called “ Double- ugly” as it was the queerest, ugliest specimen of turtle that we have ever seen. It was very fierce, snapping vio lently at anything that came near it, but at least it was co-operative enough to pose for a few pictures! We were also very interested in the different types of ants to be found in the jungle, rang ing all thé way from tiny creatures up to vicious ones a good inch in length which could-really bite. Our very inter esting and instructive trip through the jungle finally ended at the Jungle Base in time for another evening of fine fellowship around the Word. Saturday, April 28, 1951 : This was a big day for the Wycliffe group, as their new Catalina plane ar rived at the Pucallpa airstrip. It was a wonderful story of God’s leading that had provided this fine big plane for the work of exploring and surveying the unreached Indians of the jungle, and we rejoiced with them that at last this new evidence of God’s goodness was arriving among them. Everyone who could get into the truck and the jeep, went into Pucallpa. Some of us even flew in, using the little Aeronca on floats that made the trip in five minutes of comfort instead of forty-five minutes of bouncing! Pictures had already been taken of the ceremonies of dedication of the plane in Mexico City and Lima, Peru, in which the Presidents of the countries, cabinet members, ambassa dors and other high-ranking officials had taken part. We were glad to be able to complete the picture by photo graphing the final arrival in the jungle and the ceremony there as local officials welcomed it. After returning to the base for dinner and another time of Bible study, we took a little night excursion out into the edge of the jungle near the base. We used all of the extension cord we could find and rigged up lights to see and photograph the ants that work' at night, stripping whole trees of leaves in a single night, and carrying the leaves in long lines back to their nests. Each ant had a piece of leaf held straight up along its back, just like a sail. It was most interesting to watch the great columns of them as they wore paths through the deep jungle grass, where every blade of grass was worn away, leaving a smooth path about a foot wide. While we watched the ants, the mosquitoes and chiggers had a won derful time chewing us! They kept us scratching for days to come! Sunday, April 29, 1951 : This was a busy day of service and worship, as we joined with the group in two Sunday schools, one in English and one in Spanish, and then a church serv ice in the morning at which Dr. Talbot spoke. In the afternoon we saw Mary Sargent (’49) and Olive Shell leave by the Aeronca plane for their work among the Cashibo Indians on the Shamboyacu River. It was interesting to see how everything had to be weighed to keep 1 9 5 1 J UL Y ,
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