Adventures of a Young Naturalist Part 47

Every thing was calm around us, and we remained silent, awed by the majesty of nature. The stream flowed on in one single sheet; creepers hanging from the tree-tops drooped down into the water; while kingfishers skimmed from one sh.o.r.e to the other, and humming-birds, with their varied and s.h.i.+ning plumage, fluttered about the flowers. Every now and then a low-hanging tree impeded our pa.s.sage, and we had to bend down on the raft to avoid being struck by such obstacles. A ma.s.s of under-wood often hid the interior of the woods from our view; but here and there a break in the foliage allowed us a glimpse into its depths.

Ebony-trees, cotton-wood, pepper-trees, and palms, were intermixed with tree-ferns, magnolias, white oaks, and willows. Here and there, too, a sunbeam marked out a vast circle of light upon the dark water, and myriads of aquatic insects, gnats, dragon-flies, and b.u.t.terflies sported in the air or swam over the glittering surface.

After a time, the state of inaction to which we were doomed, aggravated by the stings of mosquitoes and large green-eyed flies, became a perfect torture.

"Those are horse-flies," said Sumichrast to Lucien; "they are very fond of blood, and are a misery to all kinds of mammals from one end of America to the other."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "In front of us opened a glade, bordered by tall palm-trees."]

"Their bite is more painful than that of the mosquitoes," answered the boy, from whose hand a drop of blood was trickling.

"That is because their proboscis is armed with lancets which are sharp enough to pierce the hides of bulls and horses."

During this voyage, Lucien amused himself by teaching the two parrots to repeat the names of his brother and sister; but the birds, with one foot held up and their heads bent down, although they paid great attention to the words repeated by the boy, as yet did not profit much by the lesson.

In the course of our voyage we were constantly losing trace of the current in some vast lagoon, and had often a long search till we found it. In one of these searches, I caught sight of such a picturesque bay that I proposed a halt. In front of us opened a tolerably deep glade, bordered by tall palm-trees. L'Encuerado pushed the raft to land over the aquatic plants, and I jumped ash.o.r.e to moor our craft.

A fallen tree tempted us into the forest, and on the damp ground Lucien caught sight of a magnificent rattlesnake, seemingly torpid. Sumichrast discharged his gun at the reptile, which reared itself up, and then fell down dead. A noise immediately resounded in several directions, and two or three snakes of the same family appeared, one of them followed by three young ones. The snake killed by my friend measured more than a yard in length. Its skin was speckled with black, brown, and gray spots, and its flat, triangular head had a very repulsive look. Lucien, with a blow from his _machete_, cut off the rattles which give to the reptile its name. These h.o.r.n.y appendages, of which there were seven, were given to l'Encuerado, who, like all his fellow-countrymen, believed them to be endued with miraculous virtues--among others, that of tuning guitars and preventing the strings from breaking.

A shot fired by the Indian led us back to the bivouac; our companion had just killed an ocelot, called by the Indians _ocotchotli_.

"You see this animal, Chanito?" cried l'Encuerado, who was stroking its black and brown spotted fur; "well, its tongue is poisonous. When it kills a stag or peccary, it buries its prey under some leaves, then climbs the nearest tree, and howls until it attracts all the carnivorous animals near. When they have feasted, it comes down and devours what is left."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"But why does it call the animals?" I asked.

"Didn't I tell you its tongue is poisonous? If it ate first, the venom would be communicated to the food, and the animals that feasted on the remains would die."

This fable narrated by Hernandez, and still told by the Indians, must have originated in some as yet un.o.bserved habit of the _ocotchotli_.

After dinner, when Lucien was going towards his pets to give them some fruit, he saw an unfortunate tortoise between Master Job's paws. The monkey was turning it over, smelling at it, and then depositing it on the ground, persistently poking his fingers into its sh.e.l.l, a proceeding which by no means tended to enliven the melancholy animal. According to l'Encuerado's advice, Lucien stuck up some branches near the water, and put the tortoise into this miniature inclosure.

Night came on, and Lucien was still teaching the birds to say "Hortense"

and "Emile." To our great astonishment, Gringalet went and stretched himself close to Master Job, who, without hesitation, commenced freeing him from the vermin which were lodged among his hair; then the two friends went to sleep side by side. About nine o'clock, when I was making up the fire before going to rest myself, Janet opened one of her eyes and chattered a short sentence; but l'Encuerado was much too fast asleep to answer her.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

THE HUNTERS HUNTED.--ESCAPE FROM PECCARIES.--A JAGUAR-HUNT.--AN IBIS.--THE CAYMANS.--THE WILD BULLS.

After we had finished our breakfast next morning, we embarked our baggage and menagerie, and prepared to depart. I was just going on board the raft when a noise attracted our attention to the forest, and two peccaries rushed past us, pursuing one another. L'Encuerado, taken by surprise, shot at one of the animals without killing it, and we all gave chase. Hardly had we gone a hundred paces, when the Indian, who was in front of us, turned right about, shouting out, "To the raft! to the raft!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A band of peccaries was pursuing us."]

A noise like the gallop of a troop of horses seemed to shake the ground. A band of peccaries was pursuing us; and as my two companions halted to fire, I succeeded in gaining the raft, on which I placed Lucien. The peccaries, about a hundred in number, rushed on in a furious crowd. Sumichrast, who was closely pressed by them, leaped upon the frail bark, almost capsizing it, while l'Encuerado ran along the sh.o.r.e.

"Cut the mooring and push off!" he cried out to me as he disappeared in the jungle.

Some of the peccaries rushed after the Indian; the others, chasing and hustling one another, deafened us with their gruntings. I cut the mooring-line; and, seizing hold of the boat-hook, directed the raft towards the right bank, whence the uproar seemed to proceed.

"Hiou! hiou! Chanito!"

"Ohe! ohe!" I answered.

I was just going to spring off, when the Indian came in sight, followed by Gringalet, and plunged into the water, holding his gun above his head.

L'Encuerado, instead of coming to us on the raft, turned towards a peccary which in its eagerness had fallen into the water and was endeavoring to reach the bank. He seized it by an ear and dragged it towards the raft, a.s.sisted by Gringalet, who swam, barking, behind, and biting it when opportunity offered.

"Fire your gun at this poor wretch's head," called l'Encuerado to Sumichrast.

This was no sooner said than done, and l'Encuerado leaped on board, dragging his victim after him.

The peccaries collected on the sh.o.r.e continued to utter loud grunts of rage; but we were beyond their reach, for the raft was soon carried past them by the current.

"Are peccaries carnivorous?" asked Lucien.

"Yes, indeed, Chanito. If one of us had been knocked down by the band, there wouldn't be much left now but bones."

"Isn't the peccary a wild boar, M. Sumichrast?"

"It is a pachyderm--consequently, a relation of the pig," answered my friend. "The wild boar is solitary, while the peccaries always go in flocks; this makes them formidable enemies in spite of their small size."

"What, small! this one is larger than Gringalet!"

"The wild boar is twice as big. A characteristic of the peccary is, that its tail is rudimentary, and the bristles spotted with black and white; moreover, only its legs are eatable."

L'Encuerado went round the edge of the lake in order to trace the course of the stream. We lost more than an hour in false channels, and the raft ran aground in a shallow.

When the sun had set, and all the birds were flying over us to their retreats, we landed to bivouac for the night.

A deep-toned roaring sound awoke me up with a start; the first thing I saw was Lucien, with his gun in his hand, crouching down close to Sumichrast. On the sh.o.r.e, about sixty yards from us, I saw a long tawny form, and two s.h.i.+ning eyes. A second roar told me the name of our nocturnal visitor, whose voice I fancied I had heard in a dream.

"And where is l'Encuerado?" I asked my companion.

"He is crawling away to the other side."

A shot cut these words short; the animal gave another roar, and rushed into the jungle. We heard a noise like a scuffle, and then the jaguar again came in sight; it ran round and round, roaring with rage. A final bound brought it to within twenty paces of our camp fire, when it fell never to rise again.

"Hiou! hiou! Chanito."

This sound took a weight off my mind, for I could not but feel alarmed for the safety of l'Encuerado.

"Ohe! ohe!" was responded.