The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Alvaro Mutis

Author:Alvaro Mutis [Mutis, Alvaro]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Novels
ISBN: 9780940322912
Amazon: 0940322919
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Published: 2002-01-17T05:00:00+00:00

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The tugboat had left the swamps behind and was now in the last stretch of river before the port. This section had been dredged and maintained since colonial times in order to facilitate heavy traffic between several cities along the Caribbean coast. These were connected by a canal that began at a bend of the river and ended in Villa Colonial, with its heroic tradition of resistance to the incursions of buccaneers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The passage through the vast extensions of marsh is devastatingly monotonous. I must confess that this time I did not even notice. Captain Jon Iturri's story had all my attention, and since we spent the nights talking on deck, we slept almost the entire day in our air-conditioned cabins; the artificial coolness reminds me of a morgue, but in those regions it brings undeniable relief. The last portion of the river had stone and masonry walls along both banks, creating the impression that one had entered a canal like those in Belgium and Holland, which cross the countryside in all directions. We had two more days of sailing before we reached our destination. On the next to last evening, Iturri suggested we continue our custom of staying awake at night. His story was reaching its conclusion, which I had partially witnessed without realizing it. We went up on deck at nine. The Jamaican cooks brought us a large pitcher of vodka amb pera with pieces of ice floating in it to keep the drink cool. Jon began to speak in an impersonal, opaque voice that indicated a certain reserve, a certain difficulty, the reasons for which were overwhelmingly apparent as the story came to an end. "You're familiar with the mouths of the Orinoco. An infernal labyrinth in one of the most debilitating climates I know. To make matters worse, in those days the region was fairly desolate, and the lack of supplies was cause for alarm. I had never been there before, but the Algerian bos'n and the pilot did seem familiar with the place. The pilot was Aruban and had sailed upriver several times to Ciudad Bolívar, which is where we were heading with our cargo of machinery. He didn't seem particularly concerned about the difficulties detailed on the navigational chart. "The only thing you have to be afraid of," he claimed, "are sudden floods during the rainy season, when the current carries down huge mud deposits and roots and tree trunks that can block the channel in a couple of minutes. But the port radio in Ciudad Bolívar usually broadcasts weather advisories. We won't take any chances. Don't worry." That was when I did begin to worry. I know exactly what "Don't worry" means in these countries. It's really saying, "If something happens there's nothing we can do anyway, so there's no point in worrying about it." It was dark when we drew opposite San José de Amacuro, and I decided to anchor in the small bay and not try to enter the delta until it was light.

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