I was on a project in the Amazon basin for a pharmaceutical company looking for plants that had not been inventoried in the scientific catalogue so we could test them for any potential clinical value.
The five of us in the study left our supply boat when the unnamed river tributary became too shallow and we each hiked thirty minutes in paths radiating away from the landing point before setting up separate camps.
I chose the bank of a creek running with surprisingly clear water at a just as surprising pace.
We had all the latest camping, satellite communication, and field laboratory equipment plus assistance in setting up camp from the boat crew. After we were set up our helpers returned to the boat and would return for us in thirty days. We each had a five-kilometer radius to explore during that time.
My first two days were routine with no new discoveries, as I had pretty much expected. On most expeditions if just one of us discovered something new the trip would be considered a success. On many trips new discoveries were zero.
I had not come across anything of interest as the few plants I did not recognize the botanical key in my laptop did.
On the third day I decided to follow the creek by my camp upstream. The dry season had just taken hold and the going was so easy that I traveled well past the 5K's of my territory. The creek had become a small stream and the terrain had a shallow but definite slope.
I was wondering if I had crossed a national border when I heard a whimper. I followed the sound to a small waterfall from the bottom of which a small naked figure struggled to emerge.
I ran to it and assisted what turned out to be a small native woman clutching some leaves in her hand. She had a rough-hewn carry bag slung around her neck and shoulder. She refused to let go of the leaves, which made her escape from the current and whirlpool by the waterfall impossible.
She was bleeding from her forehead and appeared to be in shock.
I picked her up and carried her to the bank. She looked at me briefly; uncertainty in her eyes, then lost consciousness.
I could not leave her there so I took her precious leaves out of her hand and stuffed them in her pouch then lifted her in a fireman's carry and walked to my campsite. She weighed less than my usual backpack so we were back at my camp quickly.
I placed the woman on my cot and examined her head wound. It may have been enough of a blow to give her a mild concussion. I opened her eyes and saw no sign of one so I doctored the head wound with items from my first aid kit and let her rest.
She woke up briefly and sat up on the cot. I assured her that she would be OK. I covered her body with a towel and urged her to lie down.
My foam topped cot was probably the most comfortable thing she had ever been on in her life and she may not have ever been covered by anything other than a leaf. The comfort and her exhaustion soon put her back to sleep.
I studied her as she slept. This was my sixth such expedition and I always made the effort to meet and interact with the indigenous people. You never knew what secrets they could divulge.
She was not a member of any group I had ever seen. She was smaller and lighter; her hair was not quite black, more of a deep golden red. Her fingers and toes seemed longer than normal. Her skin was more golden than brown.
With natives it was difficult to tell age. They themselves seldom knew. She appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had full-grown woman features, bore the marks of childbirth and her small breasts had some sag. Her hair was long and lustrous. She was pretty.
I thought about going through her bag and checking out the leaves she thought of as precious but I considered that akin to going through a woman's purse. I would wait and request after she recovered.
It was dusk when she woke again.
I had caught what looked like a peacock bass and had grilled it over my fire pit. I loved to fish and loved to eat fish which is why I always set up camp next to water. I had a gas camp stove but a pile of mostly dry tree branches was too good to pass up. I also had fresh figs and vacuum-packed peas and carrots.
I was about ready to eat when she stirred so I prepared a second plate. She seemed less suspicious of me.
Her eyes lit up when I put her dinner plate in front of her. She immediately ate all the figs and after tasting it first, devoured the fish. Her fingers seemed to taste the food before she put it in her mouth.
The peas and carrots were a harder sell. She eventually ate the carrots but left her peas. I had more fish ready so I refilled her plate. She seemed shocked by the gesture. She ate it hesitantly, as if I would punish her for accepting.
I prepared some tea and poured two cups and emptied a packet of sugar in each drink. Her face lit up at her first sip. Her eyes told me she loved sweet tea.
When she was done it was obvious to me she wanted more. I decided to test her social conditioning and instead of filling her cup I just smiled at her.
After a long pause she held the cup out to me. She was cringing, expecting a blow. I took the cup out of her hand refilled it, added a packet of sugar and handed it back to her.
I kept my body language neutral, like it was normal to have seconds.
I left her to her thoughts and went to the stream bank to take a piss. The mosquitoes found me before I returned to the tent. I zipped it up after walking in and turned to the small one wondering if I needed to make more tea.
She was aghast; she stared at the now closed tent flap. I could see in her eyes she felt trapped.
I gave her a reassuring smile and signaled for her to come over. I showed her the zipper tab, and then slowly opened the tent flap. I walked through the opening and closed it from the outside. I swatted a couple of mosquitoes then quickly slipped back inside.
I gestured for her to pull the zipper down to close the entrance. She did this as an awed expression settled on her face. She opened it up, stepped out, then back in and closed it up. She was giddy.
Someone once said that any sufficiently advanced technology would seem to be magic to less developed people. I now understood what that meant.
The little one repeated the process two more times before she came inside for a while. She looked exhausted likely as a result of the ordeal she had gone through. I was tired too as the days adventure caught up with me.
I swatted a couple of mosquitoes that had made it into the tent and rubbed some alcohol on the bites I had received.
