Angel of the Amazon

Part 4

February 22nd 1875

Zaphod(that's what I've decided to call him until further notice) ended up falling asleep in that corner with my socks yesterday evening. I contemplated waking him up and having him move back to the research tent, but I ended up letting him stay. The next morning though, he was gone! Philip, Joseph, Ralph, and I ran around the campsite looking for him. We found him with one of the hired handymen, John, who was cooking breakfast. Zaphod watched the process with interest as John fried fish over the portable, wood burning stove. Thankfully, he never ended up touching the stove, because John was diligent enough to slap his hand away whenever he tried.

Watching him take his first bite of the cooked food was certainly something! The fish had been battered in a flower mix before being fried, and I'm pretty sure he didn't know what to do with it when he saw it. As he saw others taking bites, he went ahead and took one as well. Once he had, his eyes had widened and he just sat there for a second staring at the half eaten piece of fish in his hand. Then he scarfed it down and went to get more! He had at least five pieces of the hand sized fish. Despite how much he liked it, I don't think the breading was good for him. He looked very sick for the next two hours afterwards. That might just have just been because he had eaten so much, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The last thing I'd want is for him to die because of fried dough!

This does bring up something important though: his kind doesn't have a concept of cooking. Before this morning I had only ever seen him eat raw fish and fruits. Living where they do it would make sense. If they managed to find dry wood to make a fire with, there would be a high chance they could set their homes on fire.

Despite this, they do seem to know how to weave! Yesterday I saw him plucking long grass stems. At the time I had no idea what he was doing, but it turns out he had dried the those stems and weaved them into a small bowl. I saw him finishing it up today. I had convinced him to trade it in exchange for the pair of burgundy socks I can't wear anymore. He seems pretty happy about said trade. I really don't know why he likes those socks so much, but he does. The basket is no masterpiece, but it was certainly watertight. His kind probably use baskets like this for collecting water, but it also seems like one would be strong enough to carry food if it were a bit bigger. This is so very exciting! Some other animals have been found to use tools like otters and such, but never on such a level! What other tools is he capable of making? Do his kind have weapons like the other natives that live around here? I can't wait to find out! In fact, I plan on taking another trip into the forest soon to see if I can find any others.

I think Zaphod intends to stay in my tent. Honestly I prefer that he wouldn't but I guess I can't change his mind. I really don't get why he likes it in here. While my tent is large, the research tent is much bigger. Maybe he just doesn't like being alone? He is a social creature. Though that doesn't excuse the fact that he decided to build himself a nest by stealing everyone's pillows! I get that he is very bird-like but this is a bit ridiculous. I guess it's my fault though. I had given him a pillow and blanket to make himself a place to sleep. He really liked the pillow and he soon found out there were more of them. It sort of escalated from there. I'll have to get them back from him soon, or at least let everyone know where their pillows went. Whether he likes it or not, he's going to have to give them back and I am not letting him go back to sleeping in a pile of my socks.

February 23rd 1875

We attempted to head back into the forest today to look for more of Zaphod's kind. We found nothing. The only thing we came back with was mosquito bites. I really hope I haven't gotten malaria or some other disease from them...

We started early in the morning and and had to head back around noon due to the heat. How anyone can survive in this is beyond me. Thankfully, the thick canopy means very few sunburns. We returned to camp to find that John had left the silverware out from breakfast, and Zaphod had spent the morning trying to find out what they were for. he managed to dig a small trench for water using a spoon, carve a few interesting designs into the firewood with the knives (Wish I knew what they were meant), and decided to tie the napkins to forks and use them as what appear to be flags for some unknown purpose. They're scattered all around the campsite and I'm slightly afraid to remove them for fear it might make Zaphod angry. He did give back the other utensils after wiping them off (and eventually the pillows) so he might just give them back in his own time. Until then, however, we have a total of five forks and zero napkins...great.

The rest of that day I spent inside the research tent and I made an excellent discovery! We finally put that hair cutting under the microscope and it turns out it's not hair at all! We compared it to several slides of different kinds of fur and hair, but none fit. Then we compared it to slides of a feather and we found a match! That's right. His hair is actually feathers! Well, to be specific, we found a match in comparing it to the soft afterfeather and the downy barbs of a feather. I didn't believe it at first, but after he most graciously allowed me to groom though his hair I was able to get a close look at his scalp. For once I will say it; thank God for social grooming! Anyways, in doing so I was able to confirm that they were feathers but without a rachis, or central shaft running all the way through. They looked more like the tufts of dandelion seeds if you cut most of the stem off.

This means his kind is not related to humans, but it also means that they might not be mammals at all! Though this does bring up some questions. Do they lay eggs? How do they take care of their young? Are there still some mammal like properties to them? Which would they be? I don't think all of those questions can be answered just by having Zaphod around. If I want to find out any of those answers, I need to find more of them and study them in their natural habitat.