It was a weird hour that next which was passed with the fire sending up
volumes of smoke, followed by glittering sparks which rose rapidly and
looked like specks of gold-leaf floating away over the river, red now as
blood, now orange and gold, as the fire blazed higher and cast its
reflections on the rapid stream.
The bright light had a singular attraction for the birds, which came
skimming round and swooping through the dark smoke, small birds with
bright wings, and large-headed owls with soft silent pinions; these
latter every now and then adding their mournful cries to the harsh
screeching, whirring, drumming, throbbing, and piping of bird, insect,
and reptile which mingled with the fine, thin, humming _ping_ of the
mosquitoes and the mournful fluting of the frogs.
No one spoke for a time, the attention of three of the party being taken
up by the novelty of their position and the noises of the forest, for
though they had passed many nights on the river and listened to the
cries on the farther shore, this was their first experience of being
right in among these musicians of the night as they kept up their
incessant din.
"Can you tell what every sound is that we hear, Shaddy?" whispered Rob
at last.
"Nay, hardly; some on 'em of course," said their guide. "You know many
of them too already, though they get so mixed up it's hard to pick out
one from the other."
"But that?" whispered Rob, as if he dared not raise his voice, and he
started violently, for there was a splash close at hand.
"Didn't mean that fish, did you, sir? That won't hurt you here so long
as you don't walk overboard in your sleep."
"No, no, I didn't mean that; I meant that bellowing noise. You heard
it, didn't you, Mr Brazier?"
There was no reply.
"Sleep," said Shaddy gruffly.
"Joe, you heard that bellowing down the river there?" whispered Rob.
Again there was no reply.
"Sleep too," growled Shaddy. "Well, don't you know what that was?"
"No."
"'Gator. Don't suppose he thinks it's bellowing. Dessay he'd call it a
song. There it goes again. Comes along the river as if it was close to
us. But there, don't you think you've done enough for one day, and had
better do as the rest are doing? We're the only two awake."
"But what about keeping watch?" said Rob, rather excitedly.
"Oh, I don't know as there's any need to keep watch here, my lad," said
Shaddy coolly.
"What, not with all kinds of wild and savage beasts about us, and
monstrous reptiles and fishes in the very water where we float! Why, it
seems madness to go to sleep among such dangers."
"Nay, not it, my lad. Why, if you come to that, the world's full of
dangers wherever you are. No more danger here than on board a big ship
sailing or steaming over water miles deep."
"But the wild beasts--lions and tigers, as you call them?"
"Lions won't hurt you so long as you don't meddle with them, and the
tigers won't pass that fire."
"Then the Indians?"
"No Indians about here, my lad, or I should have that fire out pretty
soon and be on the watch. You leave all that to me, and don't you get
worrying yourself about danger because you hear a noise in the forest!
Noise is a noosance, but it don't hurt. There was five thousand times
as much danger in the fangs of that little sarpint I chopped to-day as
in all the noise you're listening to now."
Rob was silent.
"So just you take my advice, my lad: when night comes you say your bit
o' prayers and tuck your head under your wing till it's near daylight.
That's the way to get a good night's rest and be ready for the morning."
Rob started again, for a great, soft-winged thing swept silently by, so
near that he felt the wind of its pinion as it glided on, its outline
nearly invisible, but magnified by the darkness into a marvellous size.
"On'y a bat, my lad!" said Shaddy, yawning.
"Is that one of the blood-sucking ones?"
"Very likely."
"And you talk about there being no danger out here!"
"Nay, not I. There's plenty of dangers, my lad, but we're not going to
be afraid of a thing that you could knock down with one of your hands so
that it would never fly again. It ought to feel scared, not you."
"Is that a firefly?" said Rob, after a few minutes' silence, and he
pointed to a soft, golden glow coming up the river five or six feet
above the stream, and larger and more powerful than the twinkling lights
appearing and disappearing among the foliage at the river's edge.
"Yes, that's a firefly; come to light you to bed, if you like. There,
my lad, it's sleep-time. Get under shelter out of the night damp.
You'll soon be used to all the buzzing and howling and--"
"That was a tiger, wasn't it?" said Rob excitedly, as a shrill cry rang
out somewhere in the forest and sent a thrill through him.
"No. Once more, that's a lion, and he's after monkeys, not after you,
so good-night."
Shaddy drew the sail over him as he stretched himself in the bottom of
the roomy boat, and Rob crept in under the awning. The heavy breathing
enabled him to make out exactly where his companions lay asleep, and
settling himself down forward, he rested his head on his hand, convinced
that sleep would be impossible, and preparing to listen to the faint
rustling noise of the mooring rope on the gunwale of the boat, a sound
which often suggested something coming on board.
Then he made sure what it was, and watched the faint glow thrown by the
fire on the canvas till it seemed to grow dull--seemed, for the boatmen
had arranged the wood so that from time to time it fell in, and hence it
kept on burning up more brightly. But it looked dull to Rob and then
black, for in spite of yells and screams and bellowings, the piping and
fluting of frogs, the fiddling of crickets, and the drumming of some
great toad, which apparently had a big tom-tom all to itself, Rob's eyes
had closed, and fatigue made him sleep as soundly as if he had been at
home.
The sun was up when he awoke with a start to find Joe having his wash in
a freshly dipped bucket of clean water, and upon joining him and looking
ashore, it was to see Brazier bringing his botanic treasures on board to
hang up against the awning to dry; while Shaddy had taken the skin of
the jaguar, pegs and all, rolling it up and throwing it forward. The
boatmen kept the kettle boiling and some cake-bread baking in the hot
ashes. At the same time a pleasant odour of frizzling bacon told that
breakfast would not be long.
"You are going to stay here for a day or two?" said Rob to Mr Brazier
as he rubbed his face dry in the warm sunshine.
"No. Naylor says we shall do better farther on, and keep on collecting
as we go, beside getting a supply of ducks or other fowl for our wants.
The farther we are from the big river the easier it will be to keep our
wants supplied."
"Gun, sir!" said Shaddy just then; "big ducks coming up the river. Take
it coolly, sir, and don't shoot till you can get two or three."
Brazier waited and waited, but the birds, which were feeding, came no
farther.
"Hadn't Mr Rob better try too, sir?" whispered Shaddy; "he wants to
learn to shoot."
Rob glanced at Brazier, who did not take his eyes from the ducks he was
watching, and the boy hurriedly fetched his gun.
"What yer got in?" whispered Shaddy.
"Shot in one barrel, bullet in the other."
"Bah!" growled the guide. "You don't want bullet now. Yes, you do," he
continued. "Look straight across the water in between the trees, and
tell me if you see anything."
"No. Whereabouts?"
"Just opposite us. Now look again close to the water's edge, where
there's that bit of an opening. Come, lad, where's your eyes?"
"I don't see anything but flowers and drooping boughs."
"And a deer just come down for a drink of fresh-water, ready to be shot
and keep us in food for days."
"Yes, I can see it now," said Rob eagerly. "What a beautiful creature!"
"Yes, beautiful meat that we can cut up in strips and dry in the sun, so
as to have a little supply in hand."
"But it seems--" began Rob.
"It's necessary, lad, and it's a chance. Sit down, rest your piece on
the gunwale, and aim straight with your left barrel at the centre of its
head. If you miss that you're sure to send the bullet through its
shoulder and bring it down."
Feeling a great deal of compunction, Rob sank into the position advised,
cocked his piece, and took careful aim.
"Make sure of him, my lad," whispered Shaddy. "It's a fine bit o'
practice for you. Now then, hold the butt tight to your shoulder and
pull the trigger gently; squeeze it more than pull. Covered him?"
"Yes."
"Then fire."
_Bang! bang_! Two shots in rapid succession, and the deer was gone, but
a monkey unseen till then dropped head over heels into the water from
one of the trees over the trembling deer, scared from its hold by the
loud reports, and after a few moments' splashing succeeded in reaching a
branch which dipped in the stream. In another moment or two it was in
safety, chattering away fiercely as an ugly snout was protruded from the
water where it fell.
"Got them this time!" said Brazier in a tone of satisfaction, as five
ducks lay on the water waiting to be picked up. "You should have fired
too, Rob. We want fresh provisions."
"What I told him, sir, but he took such a long aim that the deer said,
`Good-morning; come and be shot another time.'"
"Deer? What deer?"
"One t'other side, sir," said Shaddy, who had got out to unmoor the
boat.
"I wish I had seen it; the meat would have been so valuable to-day."
"What I telled him, sir."
"And you didn't shoot!"
"I was just going to when you fired, and the deer darted away."
"Naturally," said Brazier, smiling; and by this time the boat was
gliding down the river in the wake of the ducks. These were secured,
all but one, which, being wounded, flapped and swam toward the shore,
where it was suddenly sucked down by a reptile or fish. Those they
secured dropped silvery little arrows, apparently, back into the water
in the shape of the tiny voracious fish that had forced their way
already between their feathers to reach the skin.
The birds secured, Rob sat gazing with delight at the fresh beauties of
the river where it wound off to the right. Birds innumerable were
flitting about, chirping and singing; noisy parrots were climbing and
hanging head downwards as they hunted out a berry-like fruit from a tall
tree; and toucans, with orange-and-scarlet breasts and huge bills,
hopped about, uttering their discordant cries. Everything looked so
beautiful and peaceful that for the moment he forgot the dangerous
occupants of the river, and his eyes grew dim with the strange sense of
joy that came over him that glorious morning. But the next moment he
became aware of the fact that to all this beauty and brightness there
was a terrible reverse side. For suddenly a great falcon dashed with
swift wing high up along the course of the river, and cries of fear,
warning, and alarm rang out from the small birds, the minute before
happy and contentedly seeking their food.
The change was magical. At the first cry, all dropped down
helter-skelter beneath the boughs and leaves, seeking shelter; and as
the falcon gave a harsh scream it was over groves that had suddenly
become deserted, not a tenant being visible, except some half-dozen
humming-birds, whose safety lay in their tiny size and wonderful powers
of flight. Three of these, instead of showing fear, became immediately
aggressive, and, darting like great flies at the falcon, flashed about
it in different directions, apparently acting in concert and pestering
the great bird, so that it winged its way over the great wall of trees
and was gone.
But almost at the same moment a vulture appeared, with its hideous naked
head and neck outstretched, making the humming-birds ruffle up again and
resume their attack till they literally drove the great intruder away.
"What daring little things they are!" said Rob, who was watching the
tiny bird gems with keen delight, while Brazier's admiration was as much
taken up by the clusters of blossoms hanging from a branch over the
water.
"I shall be obliged to have those, Rob," he said, pointing to the
orchids. "Do you think you could get out along that bough if the boat
were run in to the bank?"
"Yes," said the boy; "but suppose I drop into the river! What then?"
"We would keep the boat under you."
"Can't be done," growled Shaddy, who had been trying to force the boat
back to their little camp by paddling with one oar over the stern.
"'Bliged to ask you, gentlemen, to take an oar apiece. Stream runs
mighty fast here."
Rob seized an oar, and Brazier followed suit, at the same time glancing
toward their last night's halting-place to see if their men were within
reach to come and row and enable him to make an effort to obtain some of
the green, bulbous-looking stems and flowers of the lovely parasite
which had taken his attention. But they were as unobtainable as if they
were a hundred miles away, for it would have taken them days to cut a
way to opposite where the boat was now being held against the swift
stream, and even when they had reached the spot it would have been
impossible to force her in through the tangled growth to the shore.
"Now together, gentlemen!" growled Shaddy. "Keep stroke, please. Pull
hard."
They were already tugging so hard that the perspiration was starting out
upon Rob's brow, and in that short row, with Shaddy supplementing their
efforts by paddling with all his might, they had a fair sample of the
tremendous power of the stream.
"At last!" said Shaddy as they regained their old quarters, where Joe
and the four men had stood watching them. "It will give my chaps a
pretty good warming if we come back this way. Strikes me that we four
had better practise pulling together, so as to be able to give them a
rest now and then when the stream's very much against us."
"By all means," said Brazier.
"You see, men ain't steam-engines, sir, and we might be where there was
no place for landing. O' course we could always hitch on to the trees,
but that makes poor mooring, and we should be better able to make our
way. There's hardly a chance of getting into slack water in a river
like this: it all goes along with a rush."
"But I must get that plant, Naylor," said Brazier. "If you'll believe
me, sir," was the reply, "you needn't worry about that one. I'm going
to take you where you'll find thousands."
"Like that?"
"Ay, and other sorts too. Seems to me, sir, we want to catch a monkey
and teach him how to use a knife. He'd be the sort of chap to run up
the trees." Rob laughed at the idea, and said it was not possible.
"Well, sir," said Shaddy, "you may believe it or no, but an old friend
of mine 'sured me that the Malay chaps do teach a big monkey they've got
out there to slip up the cocoa-nut trees and twist the big nuts round
and round till they drop off. He said it was a fact, and I don't see
why not."
"We'll try and dispense with the monkey," said Brazier; and trusting to
finding more easily accessible specimens of the orchid, he gave that up,
and a couple of hours after they were gliding swiftly along the stream,
rapt in contemplation of the wonders on either hand, Shaddy being called
upon from time to time to seize hold of some overhanging bough and check
the progress of the boat, so that its occupants might watch the gambols
of the inquisitive monkeys which kept pace with them along the bank by
bounding and swinging from branch to branch.
The birds, too, appeared to be infinite in variety; and Rob was never
weary of watching the tiny humming-birds as they poised themselves
before the trumpet blossoms of some of the pendent vines to probe their
depths for honey, or capture tiny insects with their beaks.
Their journey was prolonged from their inability to find a suitable
place for a halt, and it was easy work for the boatmen, who smiled with
content as they found that only one was required to handle the oars, so
as to keep the boat's head straight.
It was nearly night, when a narrow place was found where by the fall of
a huge tree several others had been torn up by their roots, and lay with
their water-worn branches in the river.
The place offered just room to run the boat between two of the trees,
but it could be easily moored, and there was the clear sky overhead.
Moreover, they had an ample supply of dead wood to make a fire, and by
the time this was blazing merrily and lighting up the wall of trees and
the river night had fallen intensely dark.
The lads were for leaping out directly and climbing about amongst the
fallen trunks which nearly filled the opening, but Shaddy checked them.
"Wait a while, my lads, till the fire's been burning a bit. I don't
quite like our quarters."
"But that fire will scare away any wild beasts that may be near," said
Rob.
"Yes, but the place looks snaky, Mr Rob; and I daresay there's lots o'
them big spiders about."
"What big spiders?"
"Them as bites so bad that you remember it for months. Why, there's one
sort out in these parts as'll run after you and attack you--fierce."
"No, no, Shaddy, not spiders," said Rob, laughing.
"Look ye here, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy solemnly, "when I tell you a
story of the good old traveller sort--I mean a bouncer--you'll see the
corners of my lips screwed up. When I'm telling you what's true as
true, you'll see I look solid as mahogany; and that's how I'm looking
now."
"Yes, it's true, Rob," said Joe. "There are plenty of spiders out on
the pampas--great fellows that will come at you and bite horribly."
"I should like to see one," said Rob.
"Wait a bit, my lad, and you shall," said Shaddy.--"Humph! don't like
this place at all," he growled. "Look there!" he continued, pointing at
where three big trees lay close together, with their branches worn sharp
by the action of the water. "If there ain't 'gators under all them
sharp snags my name ain't Shadrach Naylor! Water's quite still, too,
there. I hope there ain't anything worse."
"Do you think we had better go on?" said Brazier.
"Nay, we'll risk it, sir. Let's wait till the fire burns up big and
strong. We'll have a roarer to-night, and that'll scare away most of
the trash. Worst of it is, I'm 'fraid it 'tracts the 'gators and fish."