CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
The Search for "Palm Beach"
Although plans for meeting the Aucas on the ground occupied more and more time, the regular weekly visits to "Terminal City," the name the men had given to the Auca village, were continued without a break. On December 3 Nate recorded the ninth visit:
"We left Arajuno at about 8:45 with good weather. Before taking off, Ed and I shot some pictures that we hope will be suitable for enlargement up to almost life-size so that the 'neighbors' will recognize us when they first see us on the ground. We took close-ups of our faces, together with the combs and headdress they had given us.
"When we got over the first house, No. 4, we noted that a couple of pretty big trees were chopped down where we had tossed the gifts into the trees for that purpose. There are not many trees left now between the two clearings. If we can get them to cut down the rest, we will be able to make low passes.
"Once this morning we swooped down so low that the two men who were up on the platform 'directing traffic' ducked down. When we swooped down again the two were content to view the proceedings from the ground. The platform appeared to be perhaps eight feet off the ground. Both the platform-men had on shirts, period: shirts we had given them, of course. In these runs we dropped an axhead, a plastic cup, and a cheap knife. We tried again to put these in the trees that still separate the two clearings. There were perhaps a half dozen other people around No. 4.
"From there we went to No. 3. As we made a low pass we nearly fell out of the airplane, for there on the grass roof of the house was a model plane! We wondered if they made it after observing the model plane at Ed's place. In any case it indicates good will, and a craftsmanship hitherto unsuspected among such primitives.
"We noticed another platform, larger and higher than the other and made of chonta. I'd guess it is fifteen feet off the ground. On top was a man complete with his uniform (shirt). He waved responsively as we waved to him. We made a couple of passes and tossed out a machete so that it fell just beyond the `director.' We noted that the east wall of leaves was off the house, so that we could see inside ... fire sites, et cetera. It was a very friendly-looking deal, but it's possible that they are going to put in a chonta wall to replace the leaves. Yes, I just checked the photo of No. 3 taken a while back, and it shows leafwall all the way around except at the river end which was open. It is easy to see how the availability of even so simple a tool as the machete can profoundly alter a culture.
"Next we decided to have a close look at a fresh clearing that has been made on the ridge-crest just above No. 3. No one was there. We discussed briefly the possible benefits of trying to lure them up and decided to try. First time around we tossed out an aluminum kettle. It was a poor shot and fell into the forest, fortunately on the slope facing the No. 3 house. It was then that we noticed that the undergrowth on the slope was in the process of being cleared out. That means that they will be tipping over the trees on that edge of the clearing which will enable us to fly within twenty feet of them in perfect safety. As a further lure Ed decided we should toss out a cheap, plastic-handled knife. (All these gifts are generously trailed by ribbon and bandage material.) In view of the miss with the kettle I said to Ed as we approached, 'Let's put this one right on top of the house,' referring to the sketchy shelter that must serve as a sun-shade while they work on the new clearing project. And that's exactly where it landed ... right on the roof.
"'Let's go see how the old man liked his new pants,' I suggested. 'Okay' ... so we went. He is about two minutes away from No. 3. He was waiting for us in pants and tee-shirt. His two women were out, too. One 'wore' a baby and the other nothing. The area around their house was nicely cleaned up, grass cut down to roots, et cetera. The old man evidenced the usual reserve and lack of enthusiasm. We dropped him a machete. One of the women had to go get it. His gestures are willing but slow. We flew by within 200 feet of them about three times, and headed back up river to No. 3.
"Back at No. 3 area we checked the hilltop clearing again. From a quarter-mile away I could see that someone was there. We were thrilled by this quick result since we had thought it might take weeks to coax them up. The figures proved to be two women, young; I would say about sixteen and twenty, maybe. They had got the knife and we passed within fifty feet of them taking pictures. We made about four passes and for the first time looked full into an Auca face. She was good looking with hair cropped to bangs in front. The 'controller' of No. 3 was still on the platform. We waved good-by to him and headed on toward No. 4.
"Back at No. 4 the boys were all waiting for the last act, the 'bucket drop.' We climbed up to 3,000 feet and slowed down to fortyfive miles per hour with power off. In this slow, power-off glide the kettle gets clear of the plane very nicely. It took only about three times around to set the kettle in the middle of the big clearing behind the house. They ran back and forth in a group, curiously to us. I was afraid that I was piling loose cord in after the kettle ... however it seemed to have too much tension on it for that. Finally, after a minute and a half, they turned it loose and up it came with a gift ... bright red and good-sized.
"We flew back to Arajuno at fifty-five to sixty miles per hour so as not to lose the gift if we could help it. We had no trouble setting the gift down on the runway and then we dropped the cord. On the ground we ran to the spot. We found another feathered crown-a new one, freshly made, and attached to it a little hank of hand-spun cotton string. It was all attached to our drop-line with a square knot."
That night Ed noted in his diary: "It is time we were getting closer to them on the ground." To Jim he wrote: "I've been giving the trip some thought, and I feel this way: we should set a definite limit on the number of days we will wait on the Curaray for them, and if they don't show, we should be ready to go in to them. For myself, I am definitely ready to go in and feel that it would be reasonably safe ... if we can ever use that term in our initial ground contact with these people! We should go in (1) wearing the headdresses, (2) carrying small airplanes such as I have hanging here, (3) carrying gifts wrapped as we have been wrapping them, (4) shouting 'biti miti punimupa' (I like you) or other phrases that we are making familiar from the plane. God being with us-and up to this point we have every confidence that He is-I think this would put us in. The whole project is moving faster than we had originally dared to hope, and while I'm not for getting ahead of God, I feel that we shouldn't lag."
On December 10, Nate's journal continues with an account of the next visit:
"In spite of our evasive maneuver Ed's Indians tell him that they were down the Curaray last week and saw us go by. They say (what a sense of humor!) that they stripped off their clothes when they heard us coming and got sticks like lances so that we would think they were 'neighbors.' They probably thought that we would drop them gifts.
"During the week, in talks with the members of the team it was decided that January 2 would be the tentative date for the entry attempt. We were thinking in terms of going down with Indians, setting up a house and then having the Indians retire while the team would wait for a contact. Then with the plane we would try to get the 'neighbors' to come over and pay a visit. We know how to say 'come to my house' and also `Curaray' in their tongue. And I feel confident that by repeated circling right over the ridge from them we can use curiosity to bring them over to the big river.
"Roughly, the strategy calls for the carrying of arms only by missionary personnel, and that out of sight. We presume that the first shot fired signals the failure of the entire project and the scuttling of any hope in the near future. Therefore utmost care will be taken and the guns will be used only to frighten the savages in case of need of self-defense.
"There were two views or two possibilities under consideration: (1) Set up a little house at Palm Beach [the name agreed upon to designate the river beach chosen for landing the plane] and then retire until the 'neighbors' would have had time to visit the site, and go back later; or, (2) Set up and attempt to make contact on that first trip. Since the events of this morning further affect this decision, I'll leave further discussion of it till later.
"This morning we took off from 'Centerville' [Arajuno] at about 9:15, armed with gift-wrapped machetes, axes and small knives, and plastic items.
"We also had three pairs of one-pound paper packages of paint pigment powder in three bright colors. These were for measuring playa sites that might serve for Palm Beach. Yesterday we ran tests here at Shell and found that when flying at sixty-five miles per hour we could drop little bags of flour at seven-second intervals and pretty consistently mark off from 190 to 210 yards. This measure was taken in view of the impossibility of satisfactorily estimating the length of sandbars where there is nothing that would serve as a basis of comparison.
"We took a route down the Nushino, inasmuch as some of the Indians from Ed's station were down on the Curaray River fishing again this week. We gradually eased over to the south and picked up the Curaray in the area where we hoped to find a good site for Palm Beach. It wasn't long before we located a possibility. Most of the larger playas are on bends and therefore of no value without having approaches cut first. The river is so serpentine that there are few pos sibilities of a sandbar along a straight stretch. We dragged [flew low over] the first. It seemed reasonable. The only drawback was that this beach would require take-offs with the prevailing wind ... a serious difficulty. Nevertheless, after dragging it a time or two we 'bombed' it with pigment and found that it had about 200 yards usable. Another difficulty was a big dead tree lying on the sand which forced the landing area very close to the river-bank foilage.
"The next one we found was about a mile or less downstream. It looked better-better approaches, especially into the prevailing wind. The approach would be steep but possible. The playa is low to the water so that a flood would easily cover it, but it is pebbly and firm-looking. We 'bombed' it and found a conservative 200 yards usable. I should not be surprised if a measure would show it to be more like 230 yards usable. Also it is such that an overshot landing would only put us into shallow water. We dragged it once, keeping good airspeed until more familiar with the pull-out area. In the pull-out the trees along the banks overhang enough that it is a little squeaky, but by tipping over two trees after we land, we can take care of that problem.
"It began to look as if this would be our 'Palm Beach.' We decided to shoot a simulated landing on it. Down close to it I could see the surface well and I put the wheels down lightly twice as we accelerated again for the pull-up. The surface was smooth as a gravel runway and seemed hard. It is really ideal, except for vulnerability to flooding.
"This finding brings into focus the possibility of landing the team right there with a prefabricated tree house and aluminum for a roof. It would mean that no Indians need to be in on the deal at all, and barring flood it would mean that I'd be able to fly them all out following a contact or whenever they should be ready to come.
"The picture would be something like this: (1) On a Friday morning, Lord willing, free-fall supplies and equipment onto the Palm Beach site from very low (just off the runway) so as to be sure they would not be in the landing area. (2) We land with Jim and Roger, keeping the plane very light. (3) We land with Ed and aluminum. (4) We land with Pete and more supplies (if Pete should feel led to go).
"On arrival, Jim and Roj would go to work tipping over the two or three medium-to-small trees in the approach. Then they would pick out a suitable tree for mounting the prefab tree house and start clearing around it. When the others are with them, all would go downstream to the first bend and tip over at least one of the two trees on opposite banks which make the pass rather narrow. (This is not an absolute must, but would be highly desirable.) During this part of the operation someone should always have a hand on a weapon inside a bag so that it could be fired on a moment's notice and thus upset the equilibrium of any possible lancer.
"Next, back to the sandbar, with two men widening the clearing at the foot of the tree while two work on getting the tree house up in place and the aluminum roof on. Once the house is all set, the men would rotate on the clearing, perhaps with one fellow still concentrating on getting food supplies, stove, water, et cetera, up onto the platform. One man, resting from the clearing crew, could sit on the platform and cover the men on the ground, always keeping arms strictly out of sight. By evening, there ought to be a fair-sized clearing at the base of the tree, connected by clearing to the playa. The plane returns to Arajuno after checking radio set-up in the tree house, et cetera.
"Next day the plane begins the invitation of the 'neighbors' to the Palm Beach site, both by calling phrases as well as by coaxing, circling in that direction from where they are and then landing at Palm Beach and repeating every hour or so until we're sure they've caught on. Another detail will be the installation of a good-sized model plane on the site.
"Maybe five days would be committed to the effort. If unsuccessful we would withdraw, either by air or by sending a crew of Indians down river in canoes. Supplies in the tree house should be sufficient for two weeks to cover possible loss of the playa by flood or siege, the two rougher possibilities to be faced.
"The practicability of a raft composed of air mattresses and bamboo should be reckoned with as a downstream exit to an Army base on the Curaray in case the Indians should refuse to go to the rescue.
"Back to the narrative: We checked course and distance from the Palm Beach possibility to Terminal City-135 degrees and three minutes at ninety miles per hour. That makes about four and one-half miles from the beach on the Curaray to the Auca village.
"While letting down we headed east to the old man's house. The old boy wasn't there but a young man was waving something like bark cloth and clearly offering it for trade. In the course of four passes we dropped (I think) a small knife, plastic cup, and possibly some article of clothing ... not sure of the latter.
"Next we moved up to the clearing on the hill above the airplane house, or No. 3. There were two women there. We dropped a small knife. The head man was down by the house on his platform directing traffic. He had on a red and black checkered shirt we dropped last week. We signaled and shouted to him, indicating that we wanted him to come up to the hilltop. While we circled some more he disappeared from the platform and two younger boys took up his post. Next we made a low pass to drop an axhead beyond the platform. We must have scared the younger fellows because one of them had a lance in his hand as we circled back. That was an unkind gesture and we swooped down low again to see if they would show any hostility. Someone must have given them the word because the lance had disappeared and all seemed well. Now we spotted the boss-man in the checkered shirt up on the hill. We couldn't afford to slight him so we made two passes and on the second dropped him a pair of pants which he caught in mid-air. (These fellows will be dressed like dudes before we get to see them on the ground.)
"Next, up to No. 4 and the main act. The big shots, four of them, were clad in white tee-shirts. Youngsters and women were in the older uniform. The trees that we had tried to get them to cut down by tossing stuff into them, were now cut down. Also the walls (chonta) were off the house. (I failed to mention that they were also off No. 3.) And beside the house they had built a new and higher platform like No. 3's.
"We made a couple of low passes, calling to them, 'I like you, I like you,' et cetera. On the last low pass we tossed them a machete. While passing low we saw one of the four Big Wheels holding up a package, roundish and brown. We figured this was our trade item. We pulled up and climbed slowly. Ed was feeling pretty rough. It has been an unusually strenuous workout and Ed had had to attend to a sick baby across the river from his place earlier in the morning. He hadn't been feeling too sharp then. I was also feeling as though I'd been dragged through a keyhole but it was worth it. At 3,000 feet I throttled all the way back, pulled flaps, and settled into the quiet of a forty-five-mile-per-hour glide while Ed got the gift overboard on the line. This week we gave them a couple of little bundles of string, a few smaller items, and four six-by-nine-inch portraits of the team members, tinted and bearing the insignia of the operation, a drawing of the little yellow airplane. These were glue-mounted on Masonite board.
"When this stuff got down over by the trees, they got it and quickly took it out to the center of the clearing. They went into a 100 percent huddle over the contents of the white cloth mail sack that carried the mentioned items, except for the fellow who was busy fastening on their gift to us. I saw the gift leave him, drifting lazily. I rolled out of the turn and added power. Within three or four seconds the package was swished skyward from them and the last man joined the huddle over the pictures. What wouldn't we have given to see those boys studying out our pictures and see their reactions!
"We headed home at sixty-five miles per hour with the prize dangling at the end of the line. At Arajuno we set it down at the edge of the strip, cut the line and landed. On the ground, I bashed my way through the brush at the edge of the strip while Ed lost his breakfast. This is the first time I've beat him to the prize. (His legs are at least a foot longer than mine.) When I got to the bark-cloth bag, it was moving. Since we had given them a chicken last week I figured it would be a bird, but as I started to peek in a hole the thought of a snake crossed my mind. However, it was a nice parrot in a basket covered with bark. It was well tied and was complete with a partially-nibbled banana inside for the trip!
"I had lunch with Ed and Marilou and talked of the possibilities opened to us by the finding of a beach we could land on. We praise God for this-another indication of His leading and care. We believe that in a short time we shall have the privilege of meeting these fellows with the story of the Grace of God."