Raoul thought that their superstition might prevent the enemy from
pursuing us farther. They would consider the lightning as an
interference from above--a stroke of the _hrazos de Dios_. But we had
little confidence in this, and, notwithstanding our exhaustion, toiled
on through the chaparral. Wearied with over-exertion, half-famished--
for we had only commenced eating when roused from our repast in the
morning--wet to the skin, cut by the bushes, and bitten by the poisoned
teeth of the bloodhounds--blinded, and bruised, and bleeding, we were in
but poor travelling condition.
Even Lincoln, whose buoyancy had hitherto borne up, appeared cowed and
broken. For the first mile or two he seemed vexed at something and "out
of sorts", stopping every now and again, and examining his rifle in a
kind of bewilderment.
Feeling that he was once more "in the timber", he began to come to
himself.
"Thet sort o' an enemy's new ter me," he said, speaking to Raoul.
"Dog-gone the thing! it makes the airth look yeller!"
"You'll see better by and by," replied his comrade.
"I had need ter, Rowl, or I'll butt my brainpan agin one of these hyur
saplin's. Wagh! I cudn't sight a b'ar, if we were to scare him up jest
now."
About five miles farther on we reached a small stream. The storm had
abated, but the stream was swollen with the rain, and we could not cross
it. We were now a safe distance from our pursuers--at least, we thought
so--and we resolved to "pitch our camp" upon the bank.
This was a simple operation, and consisted in pitching ourselves to the
ground under the shade of a spreading tree.
Raoul, who was a tireless spirit, kindled a fire, and commenced knocking
down the nuts of the corozo palm, that hung in clusters over our heads.
We dried our wet garments, and Lincoln set about dressing our numerous
wounds. In this surgical process our shirts suffered severely; but the
skill of the hunter soothed our swelling limbs, and after a frugal
dinner upon palm-nuts and pitahayas we stretched ourselves along the
greensward, and were soon asleep.
I was in that dreamy state, half-sleeping half-waking, when I was
aroused by a strange noise that sounded like a multitude of voices--the
voices of children. Raising my head I perceived the hunter in an
attitude of listening.
"What is it, Bob?" I inquired.
"Dod rot me if I kin tell, Cap'n! Hyur, Rowl! what's all this hyur
channerin?"
"It's the _araguatoes_," muttered the Frenchman, half-asleep.
"Harry-gwaters! an what i' the name o' Nick's them? Talk plain lingo,
Rowl. What are they?"
"Monkeys, then," replied the latter, waking up, and laughing at his
companion.
"Thar's a good grist on 'em, then, I reckin," said Lincoln, throwing
himself back unconcernedly.
"They are coming towards the stream. They will most likely cross by the
rocks yonder," observed Raoul.
"How?--swim it?" I asked. "It is a torrent there."
"Oh, no!" answered the Frenchman; "monkeys would rather go into fire
than water. If they cannot leap the stream, they'll bridge it."
"Bridge it! and how?"
"Stop a moment, Captain; you shall see."
The half-human voices now sounded nearer, and we could perceive that the
animals were approaching the spot where we lay. Presently they appeared
upon the opposite bank, headed by an old grey-bearded chieftain, and
officered like a regiment of soldiers.
They were, as Raoul had stated, the _araguatoes_ (_Simia ursina_) of the
tribe of "_alouattes_," or "_howlers_." They were of that species known
as "_monos colorados_" (red monkeys). They were about the size of
foxhounds, though there was a difference in this respect between the
males and females. Many of the latter were mothers, and carried their
human-like infants upon their shoulders as they marched along, or,
squatted upon their hams, tenderly caressed them, fondling and pressing
them against their _mammas_. Both males and females were of a tawny-red
or lion-colour; both had long beards, and the hair upon their bodies was
coarse and shaggy. Their tails were, each of them, three feet in
length; and the absence of hair on the under side of these, with the
hard, _callous_ appearance of the cuticle, showed that these appendages
were extremely prehensile. In fact, this was apparent from the manner
in which the young "held on" to their mothers; for they appeared to
retain their difficult seats as much by the grasp of their tails as by
their arms and hands.
On reaching the bank of the "arroyo" the whole troop came to a sudden
halt. One--an _aide-de-camp_, or chief pioneer, perhaps--ran forward
upon a projecting rock; and, after looking across the stream, as if
calculating its width, and then carefully examining the trees overhead,
he scampered back to the troop, and appeared to communicate with the
leader. The latter uttered a cry--evidently a command--which was
answered by many individuals in the band, and these instantly made their
appearance in front, and running forward upon the bank of the stream,
collected around the trunk of a tall cotton-wood that grew over the
narrowest part of the arroyo. After uttering a chorus of discordant
cries, twenty or thirty of them were seen to scamper up the trunk of the
cotton-wood. On reaching a high point, the foremost--a strong fellow--
ran out upon a limb, and, taking several turns of his tail around it,
slipped off and hung head downwards. The next on the limb--also a stout
one--climbed down the body of the first, and, whipping his tail tightly
around the neck and fore-arm of the latter, dropped off in his turn, and
hung head down. The third repeated this manoeuvre upon the second, and
the fourth upon the third, and so on, until the last one upon the string
rested his fore-paws upon the ground.
The living chain now commenced swinging backwards and forwards, like the
pendulum of a clock. The motion was slight at first, but gradually
increased, the lowermost monkey striking his hands violently on the
earth as he passed the tangent of the oscillating curve. Several others
upon the limbs above aided the movement. The absence of branches upon
the lower part of the tree, which we have said was a cotton-wood
(_Populus angulata_), enabled them to execute this movement freely.
The oscillation continued to increase until the monkey at the end of the
chain was thrown among the branches of a tree on the opposite bank.
Here, after two or three vibrations, he clutched a limb and held fast.
This movement was executed adroitly, just at the culminating point of
the "swing", in order to save the intermediate links from the violence
of a too sudden jerk.
The chain was now fast at both ends, forming a complete
suspension-bridge, over which the whole troop, to the number of four or
five hundred, passed with the rapidity of thought.
It was one of the most comical sights I ever beheld, to witness the
quizzical expression of countenances along that living chain. To see
the mothers, too, making the passage, with their tiny infants clinging
to their backs, was a sight at once comical and curious.
The monkeys that formed the chain kept up an incessant talking, and, as
we fancied, _laughing_, and frequently they would bite at the legs of
the individuals passing over, as if to hurry them on!
The troop was soon on the other side; but how were the animals forming
the bridge to get themselves over? This was the question that suggested
itself. Manifestly, thought we, by number one letting go his tail. But
then the _point d'appui_ on the other side was much lower down, and
number one, with half a dozen of his neighbours, would be dashed against
the opposite bank, or soused into the water.
Here, then, was a problem, and we waited with some curiosity for its
solution.
It was soon solved. A monkey was now seen attaching his tail to the
lowest on the bridge; another girdled him in a similar manner, and
another, and so on until a dozen more were added to the string. These
last were all powerful fellows; and running up to a high limb, they
lifted the bridge into a position almost horizontal.
Then a scream from the last monkey of the new formation warned the _tail
end_ that all was ready; and the next moment the whole chain was swung
over, and landed safely on the opposite bank!
The lowermost links now dropped off to the ground, while the higher ones
leaped to the branches and came down by the trunk. The whole troop then
scampered off into the chaparral and disappeared.
"Aw, be the powers of Moll Kelly! iv thim little crayteurs hasn't more
sinse than the humans av these parts! It's a quare counthry, anyhow.
Be me sowl! it bates Banagher intirely!"
A general laugh followed the Irishman's remarks; and we all sprang to
our feet, refreshed by our sleep, and lighter in spirits.
The storm had disappeared, and the sun, now setting, gleamed in upon us
through the broad leaves of the palms. The birds were abroad once
more--brilliant creatures--uttering their sweet songs. Parrots and
trogons, and tanagers flashed around our heads; and the great-billed and
silly-looking toucans sat silent in the branches above.
The stream had become fordable, and leaving our "lair", we crossed over,
and struck into the woods on the opposite side.