Angel of the Amazon part 1

January 16th, 1875
Since this my first entry in this journal, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Professor Edward Cadmon. I have recently completed my studies in Biology and more specifically Zoology at Oxford. By the time someone else is reading my entries I will have hopefully obtained my doctorate. That is what this expedition is for after all.

I am to be spending a year in the Amazon rainforest, more than seventy five miles from civilization, to study the strange and wild life forms that inhabit the area, and hopefully discover a new species of animal altogether. This journal is supposed to be solely for research purposes, but I do not think that will happen. I have a terrible habit of going off on tangents with my thoughts, and this journal might end up as much of a collection of personal thoughts as scientific discovery.

I digress. To continue with my location, I arrived in Brazil a week ago and since then, my campsite has been set up. We have had to set up mosquito nets over all the tents, and several lanterns and posts around the area as well as net traps, so that no dangerous animal attempts to enter without us knowing. I have about eight other men with me, only three of them are my assistants (Ralph, Phillip, and Joseph) while the rest are guides and hired help. I do not plan on keeping this as a daily journal, but only updating it when making a discovery.

February 10th 1875
Sadly, I have had very little to report for the past several weeks. The precautions taken to make sure no dangerous animal enters the camp, have been working a little too well. We have not been able to stray far from the area of our camp, for fear of getting lost in the dense brush. Our main guide has been sick for the past fortnight, and he's the only one of the two guides that speaks both English and Portuguese. The other guide only speaks Portuguese, except for maybe a few bits and pieces of English here and there. So far, all I have been able to study is plant life and a few insects...that is, until very recently.

My assistants and I have discovered a large foot print roughly the size and shape of a man's. The strange thing is, the footprint has three large toes with talon marks, like some kind of bird or reptile. What could we be dealing with? Might it be the missing link between mammals and birds, or mammals and reptiles? Just imagining all the possibilities! I will try to get deeper in the forest and see if I can catch a glimpse of that creature, whatever it may be.

February 20th 1875
Today...I have experienced something truly remarkable...truly...miraculous, one might say! I don't know even how to explain it! I guess I should start from the beginning.

It has been nearly a month since I started my expedition. Not long after discovering the strange footprint previously mentioned, our main guide managed to get better, and began to take us deeper into the forest again. Sadly, we had no luck in finding anymore evidence for the next few days.  Today though was different. Very different.  While continuing to search, I had gotten separated from the group in the thick underbrush. I ran around in circles for what felt like hours trying to get back, and call out to the others, but I only managed to get myself more lost.

I began to fear for my life. What if I never got out? What if some savage animal decided to make me its dinner?  Every new sound made me jump and panic more. I finally snapped when what I now assume to have been a tree branch brushed against my spine. I ran as fast I could, not paying attention to where I was going, and before I knew it, I was face first in a pile of mud. It wasn't just any mud though. It was the kind you sunk into! I tried to heave myself out, but I couldn't. My body felt like it weighed a ton, and every time I moved I sunk deeper. I cried out for help, but no one answered. I began pleading with God for assistance, begging for him to spare my life...and he did.

Through my blurry vision from the mud, what appeared to be an angel quite literally came down from above to pull me out of the mud! I couldn't believe what was happening. It first landed on a fallen tree branch next to me, just staring at me. My eyes were half closed through the mud, so I couldn't see it very well. I cried out to it, begging for help, and thank God it decided to comply. After a few attempts at lifting me, it managed to drag me from the mud.

"Thank you!" I repeated over and over again, hugging tightly what I believed to be a messenger of God sent to protect me, tears streamed from my eyes, cleaning my eyes enough to clear them when I wiped them I could see clearly again.

When I moved away, I saw a young, male teen that looked to be a native. Not just a local, but a tribal native. He wasn't wearing anything except a loin cloth. He was roughly thirty or so centimeters shorter than me as well. He had dark, caramel skin with a slightly red tint. He had black, unkempt hair; and striking amber eyes, like that of a predatory bird but still had visible whites of the eyes.

Those were his defining fairly normal features at least. He had an impressive span of eagle like wings! They were sadly grey/brown with white stripes at the tips, rather than a more colorful hue that is common among the indigenous birds of the area. Still, they were absolutely magnificent! Each wing must have been as long as his body. I couldn't tell, as they were folded up. Not only that, but I could see and I had felt more feathers on his back, presumably of the same color, as well as a fan of tail feathers coming from his lower back. And his feet...that was probably the most disturbing part. His feet and a little below his knees were where his normal human skin melted into scaly yellow flesh and half bird half human feet. With three toes and talons! Just like the footprints that had been left! I had found it! I had found the mystery creature. I was so ecstatic, I was whooping and hollering in delight.

When I turned back to him, he was looking at me in horror. Earlier he simply had a confused expression on his face. Now he looked at me sickly with wide eyes. before I could ask him what was wrong, he had turned me around and began running his hand down the expanse of my mud coated back. He seemed to almost desperately feel my shoulders as he made a sorrowful whimpering noise. Now it was my turn to look confused.

It took me a moment to understand what was going on, but once I had I felt terrible for the poor creature. He must of thought I was one of his kind and I had lost my wings. I turned and tried to explain to him that it was ok, but he was not able to understand me. I guess I should have known that he wouldn't be able to speak English.

Before long, several loud whistles could be heard from above, along with several squawks that seemed to be in some kind of pattern.
The non-angel looked up and responded with several clicks and more squawks. Can you believe it? Not only have I been able to witness such a strange creature first hand, but I saw it communicating with others of its kind! I wish I could have seen the others, but one must never look a gift horse in the mouth.

He was about to take off when he looked back at me. He hesitated for a few moments and then he got a really bad idea. I'm sure he meant well, but nonetheless it was a bad idea. He attempted to carry me off with him, probably to take me to wherever the others were headed. Now I say attempted because he didn't get very far in trying. His wings, though strong they may be, were definitely not strong enough to carry someone possibly twice his weight (not only was he very skinny, but his bones were most likely hollow like all flight capable aves). Not only did he manage to tire himself out trying, but he kept dropping me by accident or falling out of the air on top of me. He attempted nearly nine times before giving up.

After he composed himself a bit and before he could think of some other way to take me wherever he was intent on taking me, we heard approaching shouts. It was the guide and the rest of my men calling my name. I called back and they came to my rescue, but not before the winged creature had run off. I tried to tell my men what had happened, but they don't seem to believe me very much. They believe I had overheated and it had simply been a regular native that had come to my rescue.

I will not be discouraged. I WILL find that magnificent creature again and prove to the others he exists....after another wash. I still have mud caked in my hair. I may not know much about this creature yet, but there are three things I do know. 1).This is not some supernatural being. He has realistic capabilities(seeing how he couldn't carry me) and is obviously not all knowing (if he were, he would have both understood my words and that I was not of his kind). 2).This is not a simple animal either. This creature has the ability to empathize and seems to have some kind of language. He might even be capable of learning other languages. Oh the stories he could tell us if he could! 3). There are more of these creatures. Possibly a whole tribe of them. Why is this so important? Because this could mean there is another kind of animal on this planet that could achieve the same or nearly the same level of intellect as humans. We are not, and possibly never have been, alone.

February 21st 1875
Well, it appears I will not have to go looking for the creature. He came to US! I'm not kidding. I was sure he had gone off with the rest of his tribe or flock, but instead he decided to track me down. Must have been easy with my muddy footprints. Either that, or he might have been naturally attracted to the lanterns the glowed around the parameter of our camp.

Either way, we discovered him at about four in the morning in one of the large net traps. He was hanging from a tree limb in one of the nets, trying to chew his way through the ropes. Honestly, he looked quite amusing. He was curled up in fetal position with his legs crossed and and wings bent at an odd (but not unnatural...probably uncomfortable) angles with the feathers sticking out of the holes in the net.

He stopped chewing on the rope to look at us. His eyes were wide as they looked from person to person. They were full of surprise, a little bit of fear, and curiosity. The men stared at him in shock.

I smirked and said, "I told you so!" The creature then turned to face me. He didn't seem to recognize me but he quickly became transfixed on my hair. Mine is the only color other than brown or black out of the men on this expedition. The bright shade of orange must have been very striking for him.

Before anything else could be verbally said, Ralph, Philip, and I had silently agreed we had to get him down to study him without him throwing a fit. Philip had a tranquilizer dart ready, and slowly snuck behind him to shoot it into his back. He let out a yelp and gave a look of panic, but he quickly was lulled to sleep.

We cut him down and brought him to and examining table (or rather mat because the table was too small) and with Joseph, began to take notes on whatever we could. His shins seemed to be slightly smaller proportionally to the average human body, being 10/12 what it should have been. His hair, upon close inspection, seemed unnaturally soft for being so dirty and tangled. We took a small sample to view under a microscope later. The rest of his body had very thin hair if at all. His teeth were also very interest. His canines were larger, and his molars were also slightly bigger than a human's. They were very yellow, which I guess is to be expected when one lives without any hygiene products. All his front teeth looked quite sharp as well, like they were made for cutting through flesh. However, we also found bits of seeds stuck between his teeth, leading us to believe his kind is omnivorous.

He eventually started to awake, and like most anything finding itself in a strange environment, began to panic. I had to run to pin him down while Joseph went to get the tranquilizer darts. Surprisingly, we didn't need them! Once I had grabbed him, he looked at me with slight recognition, and calmed down significantly. A little while after he had, he began to groom through my hair. I had originally protested to him doing so, but caved when I realized it would mean he would sit still. I guess this means we can add social grooming to the list of this creatures' behaviors. Unlike primates though,  he (thankfully) didn't eat anything he found. His kind also apparently groom each others back feathers. I found this out after he had finished grooming my hair. He turned around so that his back was facing me and he looked over his shoulder at me expectantly until I started.

Things got stranger as the day progress. The biggest oddity, was that he didn't try to leave. Even when he got outside the research tent, he didn't try to fly off! It didn't make any sense. His wings weren't broken. His tail feathers were straight. He didn't even look slightly injured! Had he gotten lost trying to get back to his tribe and decided to stay here? Was he just plain curious about us? Did he think we had adopted him? I really wish he could understand English.

He got into trouble quite a bit today by getting into things he wasn't supposed to. Curious does not even begin to describe him. He will stop at almost nothing to find out what something is and what it does. So far he has manage to dismantle several of my scientific instruments, break two glasses, and attempted to try on any piece of clothing he could get his hands on(that didn't mean he would wear them as they were intended to be worn).He finds clothing very interesting. About an hour ago I found him with all my once carefully folded and matched socks in one great big mixed-up pile, and was trying to figure out what appendage they were supposed to go on and how many he could fit on said appendage. My burgundy pair are now stretched too much to wear anymore.

I had gotten very angry at him and threw him out of my tent. He then disappeared for twenty minutes and came back, presenting me with a dead piranha in what I assume to be an act of apology. He certainly looked sorry, but I'm not entirely sure. I ended up accepting it, and I plan to dissect it later.

Despite his antics, I am growing very fond of him. He's currently in the room with me watching me write. He seems almost mesmerized by it. I stand by my belief that this being is very intelligent, and that his rampant curiosity is proof of it. He's obviously self aware enough to notice when he had done something wrong and try to seek forgiveness. He still seems to be a child of some kind. Maybe his kind mellows out when the__________

Please forgive the ink line suddenly cutting through the page. He took my fountain pen and then drew scribbles on several of my papers, and what looks like a bird on the side of my dresser...Its actually a pretty good drawing. Still, I'm having him stay in corner he filled with my socks where I can see him and make sure he's not going to get into trouble until I'm finished. I think he's sulking.
On a final note, I have to ask myself a big question. What do I call him? I don't just mean as what should I call him and his kind's species, but what name should I give him particularly?

I can't just keep calling him "the creature". He's obviously smart enough to learn and understand when he's being spoken to, so I should come up with a name for him. Maybe something unique...I was thinking something Biblical for a while as a joke, but maybe not. How about...Zaphod? Maybe. I'll make a final decision tomorrow.