Un capitaine de quinze ans. English Page 17

  CHAPTER XVI.

  THROUGH THE FOREST.

  Although there was no obvious cause for apprehension, it cannot bedenied that it was with a certain degree of foreboding that Dick Sandsfirst entered that dense forest, through which for the next ten daysthey were all to wend their toilsome way.

  Mrs. Weldon, on the contrary, was full of confidence and hope. A womanand a mother, she might have been expected to be conscious of anxietyat the peril to which she might be exposing herself and her child; anddoubtless she would have been sensible of alarm if her mind had notbeen fully satisfied upon two points; first, that the portion of thepampas they were about to traverse was little infested either bynatives or by dangerous beasts; and secondly, that she was under theprotection of a guide so trustworthy as she believed Harris to be.

  The entrance to the forest was hardly more than three hundred paces upthe river. An order of march had been arranged which was to be observedas closely as possible throughout the journey. At the head of the troopwere Harris and Dick Sands, one armed with his long gun, the other withhis Remington; next came Bat and Austin, each carrying a gun and acutlass, then Mrs. Weldon and Jack, on horseback, closely followed byTom and old Nan, while Actaeon with the fourth Remington, and Herculeswith a huge hatchet in his waist-belt, brought up the rear. Dingo hadno especial place in the procession, but wandered to and fro at hispleasure. Ever since he had been cast ashore Dick had noticed aremarkable change in the dog's behaviour; the animal was in a constantstate of agitation, always apparently on the search for some lostscent, and repeatedly giving vent to a low growl, which seemed toproceed from grief rather than from rage.

  As for Cousin Benedict, his movements were permitted to be nearly aserratic as Dingo's; nothing but a leading-string could possibly havekept him in the ranks. With his tin box under his arm, and hisbutterfly net in his hand, and his huge magnifying-glass suspended fromhis neck, he would be sometimes far ahead, sometimes a long way behind,and at the risk of being attacked by some venomous snake, would makefrantic dashes into the tall grass whenever he espied some attractiveorthoptera or other insect which he thought might be honoured by aplace in his collection.

  In one hour after starting Mrs. Weldon had called to him a dozen timeswithout the slightest effect. At last she told him seriously that if hewould not give up chasing the insects at a distance, she should beobliged to take possession of his tin box.

  "Take away my box!" he cried, with as much horror as if she hadthreatened to tear out his vitals.

  "Yes, your box and your net too!"

  "My box and my net! but surely not my spectacles!" almost shrieked theexcited entomologist.

  "Yes, and your spectacles as well!" added Mrs. Weldon mercilessly; "Iam glad you have reminded me of another means of reducing you toobedience!"

  The triple penalty of which he was thus warned had the effect ofkeeping him from wandering away for the best part of the next hour, buthe was soon once more missing from the ranks; he was manifestlyincorrigible; the deprivation of box, net, and spectacles would, it wasacknowledged, be utterly without avail to prevent him from rambling.Accordingly it was thought better to let him have his own way,especially as Hercules volunteered to keep his eye upon him, and toendeavour to guard the worthy naturalist as carefully as he wouldhimself protect some precious specimen of a lepidoptera. Furtheranxiety on his account was thus put to rest.

  The way across the forest could scarcely be called apath.]

  In spite of Harris's confident assertion that they were little likelyto be molested by any of the nomad Indians, the whole company rejoicedin feeling that they were well armed, and they resolved to keep in acompact body. The way across the forest could scarcely be called apath; it was, in fact, little more than the track of animals, andprogress along it was necessarily very slow; indeed it seemedimpossible, at the rate they started, to accomplish more than five orsix miles in the course of twelve hours.

  The weather was beautifully fine; the sun ascended nearly to thezenith, and its rays, descending almost perpendicularly, caused adegree of heat which, as Harris pointed out, would have beenunendurable upon the open plain, but was here pleasantly tempered bythe shelter of the foliage.

  Most of the trees were quite strange to them. To an experienced eyethey were such as were remarkable more for their character then fortheir size. Here, on one side, was the bauhinia, or mountain ebony;there, on the other, the molompi or pterocarpus, its trunk exudinglarge quantities of resin, and of which the strong light wood makesexcellent oars or paddles; further on were fustics heavily charged withcolouring matter, and guaiacums, twelve feet in diameter, surpassingthe ordinary kind in magnitude, yet far inferior in quality.

  Dick Sands kept perpetually asking Harris to tell him the names of allthese trees and plants.

  "Have you never been on the coast of South America before?" repliedHarris, without giving the explicit information that was sought.

  "Never," said Dick; "never before. Nor do I recollect ever having seenany one who has."

  "But surely you have explored the coasts of Columbia or Patagonia,"Harris continued.

  Dick avowed that he had never had the chance.

  "But has Mrs. Weldon never visited these parts? Our countrymen, I know,are great travellers."

  "No," answered Mrs. Weldon; "my husband's business called himoccasionally to New Zealand, but I have accompanied him nowhere else.With this part of Lower Bolivia we are totally unacquainted."

  "Then, madam, I can only assure you that you will see a most remarkablecountry, in every way a very striking contrast to the regions of Peru,Brazil, and the Argentine republic. Its animal and vegetable productswould fill a naturalist with unbounded wonder. May I not declare it alucky chance that has brought you here?"

  "Do not say chance, Mr. Harris, if you please."

  "Well, then, madam; providence, if you prefer it," said Harris, withthe air of a man incapable of recognizing the distinction.

  After finding that there was no one amongst them who was acquainted inany way with the country through which they were travelling, Harrisseemed to exhibit an evident pleasure in pointing out and describing byname the various wonders of the forest. Had Cousin Benedict'sattainments included a knowledge of botany he would have found himselfin a fine field for researches, and might perchance have discoverednovelties to which his own name could be appended in the catalogues ofscience. But he was no botanist; in fact, as a rule, he held allblossoms in aversion, on the ground that they entrapped insects intotheir corollae, and poisoned them sometimes with venomous juices. Newand rare insects, however, seemed hereabouts to be wanting.

  Occasionally the soil became marshy, and they all had to wend their wayover a perfect network of tiny rivulets that were affluents of theriver from which they had started. Sometimes these rivulets were sowide that they could not be passed without a long search for some spotwhere they could be forded; their banks were all very damp, and in manyplaces abounded with a kind of reed, which Harris called by its propername of papyrus.

  As soon as the marshy district had been passed, the forest resumed itsoriginal aspect, the footway becoming narrow as ever. Harris pointedout some very fine ebony-trees, larger than the common sort, andyielding a wood darker and more durable than what is ordinarily seen inthe market. There were also more mango-trees than might have beenexpected at this distance from the sea; a beautiful white lichenenveloped their trunks like a fur; but in spite of their luxuriantfoliage and delicious fruit, Harris said that there was not a nativewho would venture to propagate the species, as the superstition of thecountry is that "whoever plants a mango, dies!"

  Occasionally the soil became marshy.]

  At noon a halt was made for the purpose of rest and refreshment. Duringthe afternoon they arrived at some gently rising ground, not the firstslopes of hills, but an insulated plateau which appeared to unitemountains and plains. Notwithstanding that the trees were far lesscrowded and more inclined to grow in detached groups, the numbers ofherbaceous plant
s with which the soil was covered rendered progress noless difficult than it was before. The general aspect of the scene wasnot unlike an East Indian jungle. Less luxuriant indeed than in thelower valley of the river, the vegetation was far more abundant thanthat of the temperate zones either of the Old or New continents. Indigogrew in great profusion, and, according to Harris's representation, wasthe most encroaching plant in the whole country; no sooner, he said,was a field left untilled, than it was overrun by this parasite, whichsprang up with the rank growth of thistles or nettles.

  One tree which might have been expected to be common in this part ofthe continent seemed entirely wanting. This was the caoutchouc. Of thevarious trees from which India-rubber is procured, such as the Ficusprinoides, the Castilioa elastica, the Cecropia peltata, the Callophorautilis, the Cameraria latifolia, and especially the Siphonia elastica,all of which abound in the provinces of South America, not a singlespecimen was to be seen. Dick had promised to show Jack anIndia-rubber-tree, and the child, who had conjured up visions ofsqueaking dolls, balls, and other toys growing upon its branches, wasloud and constant in his expressions of disappointment.

  "Never mind, my little man," said Harris; "have patience, and you shallsee hundreds of India-rubber-trees when you get to the hacienda."

  "And will they be nice and elastic?" asked Jack, whose ideas upon thesubject were of the vaguest order.

  "Oh, yes, they will stretch as long as you like," Harris answered,laughing. "But here is something to amuse you," he added, and as hespoke, he gathered a fruit that looked as tempting as a peach.

  "You are quite sure that it is safe to give it him?" said Mrs. Weldonanxiously.

  "To satisfy you, madam, I will eat one first myself."

  The example he set was soon followed by all the rest. The fruit was amango; that which had been so opportunely discovered was of the sortthat ripens in March or April; there is a later kind which ripens inSeptember. With his mouth full of juice, Jack pronounced that it wasvery nice, but did not seem to be altogether diverted from his sense ofdisappointment at not coming to an India-rubber-tree. Evidently thelittle man thought himself rather injured.

  "And Dick promised me some humming-birds too!" he murmured.

  "Plenty of humming-birds for you, when you get to the farm; lots ofthem where my brother lives," said Harris.

  And to say the truth, there was nothing extravagant in the way thechild's anticipations had been raised, for in Bolivia humming-birds arefound in great abundance. The Indians, who weave their plumage into allkinds of artistic designs, have bestowed the most poetical epithetsupon these gems of the feathered race. They call them "rays of thesun," and "tresses of the day-star;" at one time they will describethem as "king of flowers," at another as "blossoms of heaven kissingblossoms of earth," or as "the jewel that reflects the sunbeam." Infact their imagination seems to have shaped a suitable distinction foralmost every one of the 150 known species of this dazzling littlebeauty.

  But however numerous humming-birds might be expected to be in theBolivian forest, they proved scarce enough at present, and Jack had tocontent himself with Harris's representations that they did not likesolitude, but would be found plentifully at San Felice, where theywould be heard all day long humming like a spinning-wheel. Already Jacksaid he longed to be there, a wish that was so unanimously echoed byall the rest, that they resolved that no stoppage should be allowedbeyond what was absolutely indispensable.

  After a time the forest began to alter its aspect. The trees were evenless crowded, opening now and then into wide glades. The soil, croppingup above its carpet of verdure, exhibited veins of rose granite andsyenite, like plates of lapis lazuli; on some of the higher ground, thefleshy tubers of the sarsaparilla plant, growing in a hopelessentanglement, made progress a matter of still greater difficulty thanin the narrow tracks of the dense forest.

  At sunset the travellers found that they had accomplished about eightmiles from their starting-point. They could not prognosticate whathardships might be in store for them on future days, but it was certainthat the experiences of the first day had been neither eventful norvery fatiguing. It was now unanimously agreed that they should make ahalt for the night, and as little was to be apprehended from theattacks either of man or beast, it was considered unnecessary to formanything like a regular encampment. One man on guard, to be relievedevery few hours, was presumed to be sufficient. Admirable shelter wasoffered by an enormous mango, the spreading foliage of which formed akind of natural verandah, sweeping the ground so thoroughly that anyone who chose could find sleeping-quarters in its very branches.

  Simultaneously with the halting of the party there was heard adeafening tumult in the upper boughs. The mango was the roosting placeof a colony of grey parrots, a noisy, quarrelsome, and rapacious race,of whose true characteristics the specimens seen in confinement inEurope give no true conception. Their screeching and chattering weresuch a nuisance that Dick Sands wanted to fire a shot into the middleof them, but Harris seriously dissuaded him, urging that the report offirearms would only serve to reveal their own presence, whilst theirgreatest safety lay in perfect silence.

  Supper was prepared. There was little need of cooking. The meal, asbefore, consisted of preserved meat and biscuit. Fresh water, whichthey flavoured with a few drops of rum, was obtained from an adjacentstream which trickled through the grass. By way of dessert they had anabundance of ripe mangoes, and the only drawback to their generalenjoyment was the discordant outcry which the parrots kept up, as itwere in protest against the invasion of what they held to be their ownrightful domain.

  It was nearly dark when supper was ended. The evening shade creptslowly upwards to the tops of the trees, which soon stood out in sharprelief against the lighter background of the sky, while the stars, oneby one, began to peep. The wind dropped, and ceased to murmur throughthe foliage; to the general relief, the parrots desisted from theirclatter; and as Nature hushed herself to rest, she seemed to beinviting all her children to follow her example.

  "Had we not better light a good large fire?" asked Dick.

  "By no means," said Harris; "the nights are not cold, and under thiswide-spreading mango the ground is not likely to be damp. Besides, as Ihave told you before, our best security consists in our taking care toattract no attention whatever from without."

  Mrs. Weldon interposed,--

  "It may be true enough that we have nothing to dread from the Indians,but is it certain that there are no dangerous quadrupeds against whichwe are bound to be upon our guard?"

  Harris answered,--

  "I can positively assure you, madam, that there are no animals here butsuch as would be infinitely more afraid of you than you would be ofthem."

  "Are there any woods without wild beasts?" asked Jack.

  "All woods are not alike, my boy," replied Harris; "this wood is agreat park. As the Indians say, 'Es como el Pariso;' it is likeParadise."

  Jack persisted,--

  "There must be snakes, and lions, and tigers."

  "Ask your mamma, my boy," said Harris, "whether she ever heard of lionsand tigers in America?"

  Mrs. Weldon was endeavouring to put her little boy at his ease on thispoint, when Cousin Benedict interposed, saying that although there wereno lions or tigers, there were plenty of jaguars and panthers in theNew World.

  "And won't they kill us?" demanded Jack eagerly, his apprehensions oncemore aroused.

  "Kill you?" laughed Harris; "why, your friend Hercules here couldstrangle them, two at a time, one in each hand!"

  "But, please, don't let the panthers come near me!" pleaded Jack,evidently alarmed.

  "No, no, Master Jack, they shall not come near you. I will give them agood grip first," and the giant displayed his two rows of huge whiteteeth.

  Dick Sands proposed that it should be the four younger negroes whoshould be assigned the task of keeping watch during the night, inattendance upon himself; but Actaeon insisted so strongly upon thenecessity of Dick's having his full share of res
t, that the others weresoon brought to the same conviction, and Dick was obliged to yield.

  Jack valiantly announced his intention of taking one watch, but hissleepy eyelids made it only too plain that he did not know the extentof his own fatigue.

  "I am sure there are wolves here," he said.

  "Only such wolves as Dingo would swallow at a mouthful," said Harris.

  "But I am sure there are wolves," he insisted, repeating the word"wolves" again and again, until he tumbled off to sleep against theside of old Nan. Mrs. Weldon gave her little son a silent kiss; it washer loving "good night."

  Cousin Benedict was missing. Some little time before, he had slippedaway in search of "cocuyos," or fire-flies, which he had heard werecommon in South America.

  Those singular insects emit a bright bluish light from two spots on theside of the thorax, and their colours are so brilliant that they areused as ornaments for ladies' headdresses. Hoping to secure somespecimens for his box, Benedict would have wandered to an unlimiteddistance; but Hercules, faithful to his undertaking, soon discoveredhim, and heedless of the naturalist's protestations and vociferations,promptly escorted him back to the general rendezvous.

  Hercules himself was the first to keep watch, but with this exception,the whole party, in another hour, were wrapped in peaceful slumber.

  Hercules himself was the first to keep watch.]