raft, as they agreed to term her--cast off from alongside the _Mohawk_,
and under its influence the craft, with one leeboard down, slid across
the Javari at a speed that was as surprising as it was gratifying. And
when at length she slid in between the low, forest-clad banks of the
Tecuachy, the breeze was still fair for her, although the closer
proximity of the shores to each other caused it to come at times in
baffling flaws. Dick, as the sailor of the party, was naturally in
command, and when at length the sunlight vanished from the tree-tops on
the eastern shore of the stream, giving warning of the near approach of
night, he ran the raft into a convenient bight on the lee shore--that
the mosquitoes might not come off to them against the wind during the
night--and came to an anchor in the midst of what seemed to be an
unpeopled wilderness.
But if the country round about them was empty of human inhabitants--and
even of this they could not be certain--it seemed to be full to
overflowing of life of another sort, for no sooner had the swift tropic
night descended upon the adventurers, than the hot, humid air became
vibrant with sound, the dominant note of which was the _chur_ and hum of
myriads of insects haunting the dense forest on either hand, and the
still more dense undergrowth which cumbered the soil between the trunks
of the trees. This great volume of indescribable sound--amazing because
of its intensity, coupled with the knowledge that it was created, for
the most part, by creatures of almost microscopic dimensions--was
continuous, merely rising and falling at irregular intervals, like the
sough of the wind through the tree-tops; but it was constantly broken in
upon by other sounds, the most prominent of which was perhaps the
croaking of innumerable frogs, sounding like the rapid whirr of wooden
rattles and lasting continuously for a period of several minutes, and
then ceasing abruptly, as though at a signal, to recommence as abruptly
a few minutes later. These sounds were commonplace enough, and after an
hour or two to allow the ear to become accustomed to them, would of
themselves have been soothing and conducive to somnolence rather than
the reverse, but they were constantly being broken into by others so
strange, and in some cases so weird, that the night threatened to be a
sleepless one for at least the two white men of the party. For
instance, at pretty frequent intervals there came from the depths of the
forest, now here, now there, what sounded like the notes of a bell,
followed perhaps by a weird unearthly scream, which would be taken up
and repeated on all hands until it needed but a small effort of the
imagination to convince the listener that some ghastly tragedy was being
enacted in his immediate vicinity. And the effect was further
heightened by strange moanings and groanings, as of people in mortal
agony, queer sobbing sounds, cries as of children in distress, and,
intermingled with these, savage grunts and snarlings, barking, as of
angry dogs, loud whistling, coughing, roaring, sudden and violent
rustlings among the underbush, an occasional loud crash proclaiming the
fall of some forest giant, and, nearer at hand, sudden rushes and
swirling sounds in the water about the raft.
Immediately after coming to an anchor for the night Earle had drawn
forth from among the many bales and packages that were stowed on the
deck of the raft a long bundle, which, upon being cast loose, resolved
itself into the constituents of a double-skinned tent, the inner skin
being made of loosely woven cotton canvas, while the outer skin--with
six inches of air space between it and the inner--was made of light but
thoroughly waterproof material, warranted by its maker to withstand even
the assault of a tropical deluge. This tent the two white men quickly
set up on the deck of the raft, between the two masts, when it was seen
to be roomy enough to accommodate two camp beds with a table of
convenient size between them, high enough for even Dick to stand upright
in it, and with sufficient space between the table and the entrance to
accommodate two deck chairs. When the beds were made up on the folding
pallets, a lighted hurricane lamp suspended from the ridge pole of the
tent, and the table laid for dinner, the interior presented an eminently
cosy and comfortable appearance, and its two occupants sat down to the
meal provided for them by the inestimable Peter with excellent
appetites.
But they did not linger long over the pleasures of the table, for there
was still work to be done before they could conscientiously seek the
beds that wooed them, that work consisting in the unpacking of their
weapons and ammunition, and making the former ready for instant service.
This task they undertook immediately after dinner, sitting side by side
just within the entrance of the tent.
Earle had been, according to Dick's notion, lavishly extravagant in the
provision of firearms for the expedition, the total armoury amounting to
no less than twenty-one weapons; namely, three Westley-Richards
five-shot .318 repeating rifles; three Remington U.M.C. five-shot 35
repeating rifles, firing soft-nosed bullets; two 12A Standard U.M.C.
fifteen-shot .22 repeating rifles--the last five being especially
intended for big game and fighting; three Westley-Richards double-barrel
12-gauge smooth-bores; two Smith hammerless 10-gauged ditto; two
Remington U.M.C. 12-gauge six-shot repeating smooth-bores; and six Colt
Government model seven-shot .45 calibre automatic pistols. But, as
Earle explained, "when you go exploring and hunting, you need a variety
of weapons for different purposes; and there is also the contingency of
possible loss to be considered; moreover, in a fight, with tremendously
heavy odds against you, a strong battery of weapons rapidly used, will
often put the enemy to flight before he has time to get to close
quarters."
The two friends were busily engaged in unpacking, setting up and loading
their weapons, chatting animatedly together meanwhile, and pausing from
time to time to gaze contemplatively into the velvet darkness which
represented the forest-clad nearer bank of the river before them, when
suddenly Dick caught sight of what looked like two small greenish-yellow
lamps close together that had suddenly revealed themselves in the
blackness. They were quite motionless, and the lad scarcely knew what
to make of them.
"Look, Earle," he murmured. "Do you see those two small lights over
there? What can they be, I wonder?"
Earle, who was intent upon his work, looked up.
"Lights!" he exclaimed. "Where? Oh, yes, I see. They are not lights,
my unsophisticated youth, they are the eyes of an animal--a carnivorous
animal, I judge, by the look of them--which has come down to the river
to drink, and is doubtless wondering who and what the dickens we are."
He glanced eagerly about him for a moment, then pointed to one of the
weapons which Dick had already put together and loaded.
"Just hand me that Remington U.M.C. rifle, old chap--it is loaded, isn't
it? Good! This will be a capital chance to try it."
The eyes were still plainly visible, apparently staring steadily at the
lamp-lit entrance of the tent and the two figures seated therein.
Without rising from his seat, Earle slowly lifted the rifle to his
shoulder, and the next instant the whip-like report of it rang out, to
be instantly succeeded by a tremendous outburst of every imaginable
sound from the forest, amid which the cries of countless startled birds
and the sudden rush of their wings predominated. But Dick had kept his
gaze steadily riveted upon those two faintly shining orbs across there
in the blackness, and when the flash of the rifle lit up that blackness
for the fraction of a second he caught an instantaneous glimpse of a
foreshortened tawny-hided black-spotted form, with a rounded head and
short ears, standing at the very edge of the water, staring steadfastly
toward the raft. Then, as the vision vanished, a snarling sound, half
roar, half shriek, met his ears, followed by a few convulsive splashes--
then stillness.
"By Jove! I believe you've hit him," he exclaimed, excitedly starting
to his feet. "It was a leopard; I saw him by the flash of the rifle."
"No; not a leopard, my son," answered Earle. "So far as I know, there
are no leopards in America--except in menageries. But it may have been
a panther or jaguar. Let's get into the canoe and investigate. We'll
take the lantern with us, and the rifle, to guard against possible
accidents."
Part of the equipment of the expedition consisted of a very handsome
little fifteen-foot cedar-built canoe, intended to be towed astern of
the raft, and there it now floated, attached to the raft by a slender
painter. Unhooking the hurricane lamp, Dick led the way aft, followed
by Earle with the rifle in his hands, and presently they had both taken
their seats in the cockleshell of a craft. She was fitted with rowlocks
for use, with a short pair of sculls for the especial benefit of Dick,
who knew nothing as yet of how to handle a paddle. They were half way
to the shore when Earle, holding up the lantern on the end of a
boathook, caught sight of the motionless body of his victim lying half
in and half out of the water.
"There he is, and stone dead, if I'm any judge!" he exclaimed. And even
as he spoke a great black head appeared close to the body, the sound of
snapping jaws was heard, and with a sudden swirl of water both head and
body disappeared in the black depths, to be seen no more.
"Con-found it!" exclaimed Earle, savagely. "Now, if that isn't too bad!
My first jaguar, too, and a fine one at that; and a beastly 'gator has
stolen him from almost under my nose. Let up, Dick--or, rather, turn
back. It's no good. That darned 'gator has got my jaguar safe down
there in the mud, and we shall never see him again. Well, never mind, I
daresay we shall get plenty of other chances. But I'll watch out and
not be caught napping next time."
What Earle said was true; the jaguar was gone beyond hope of recovery,
and the only thing to be done was to turn back. Back they accordingly
went, to resume their work of putting their battery in order; nor did
they cease their labours until every weapon had been unpacked, put
together, thoroughly cleaned, and loaded in readiness for any emergency.
Then they retired to their respective couches, and after Peter had
carefully closed the mosquito curtains round them and extinguished the
hurricane lamp, proceeded to "woo the drowsy god."
But the novelty of their surroundings, the enervating heat, and the
multitudinous sounds that filled the night kept sleep at bay for several
hours, and it was not until the cool air that usually heralds morning in
the tropics blew in upon them through the open flap of the tent that
they actually sank into a sound slumber, from which they were awakened
only too soon by Peter with their matutinal cup of chocolate.
"I suppose," mused Dick, as he stepped out of the tent, pyjama-clad, and
gazed down into the turbid waters of the river, "it would be hardly wise
to indulge in a swim, though I feel that it is just the one thing I need
above all others to freshen me up."
"Swim!" retorted Earle, who stood beside him. "My dear chap, I don't
know the precise depth of water just here, but I would be prepared to
bet a substantial sum that if a man were foolish enough to take a header
off here, he would never come up again; for if he didn't stick in the
mud of the bottom, that alligator who stole my jaguar last night, or
some of his relations, would have him before he could come to the
surface again. No, no; no swimming for us at present, my boy; we shall
have to make out as best we can with our collapsible `tubs,' which I see
Peter has already filled for us, aft there. There! what did I tell you?
See that? What sort of a chance do you think you would have with a
chap like that?" And as he spoke he pointed to a spot not half a dozen
yards away, where the head of an alligator had suddenly broken water,
lazily swimming up against the current. The ripples which marked the
slight movements of the brute's tail showed that he must have measured
quite fifteen feet from end to end.
They bathed and breakfasted at leisure; and then, as there was no wind,
and Earle did not wish to impose upon his crew the labour of sweeping
the raft up-stream against the current if it could be avoided, the two
white men took the canoe, a repeating rifle and a smooth-bore, and went
ashore, effecting a landing at the spot where the jaguar had been shot
on the previous night, and which they now saw had been formed into a
tiny bit of beach through the breaking down of the bank by the animals
which evidently came to that particular spot to drink. They had no
difficulty in finding the spoor of the lost jaguar, indeed it was the
first thing to attract their attention upon stepping ashore, and as
Earle gazed down upon the deep indentations in the plastic mud he
execrated the thieving alligator afresh, for the prints were as big as
the palm of his hand, indicating that the beast must have been a
particularly fine specimen.
At first they experienced very little difficulty in making their way
through the dense undergrowth, their plan being simply to follow the
path beaten down by the animals; but after travelling about a hundred
yards this path became merged into a number of others, evidently not
quite so much used, and in these the going was much more difficult, the
scrub not being so completely beaten down. So difficult of passage did
they at length find it that they were seriously discussing the
advisability of giving up the attempt and turning back, when Earle, who
was leading the way, suddenly declared that he saw light ahead, and
pushing resolutely on, the explorers presently burst their way into a
wide open space of some ten or twelve acres extent, in which, for some
unknown reason, no trees were growing, save a few scattered saplings,
the tallest of which was not more than nine or ten feet high.
As they emerged into the open the pair involuntarily came to a halt,
entranced by the extraordinary beauty of the scene that met their gaze.
The open space, roughly circular in shape, was completely hemmed in on
every side by trees, some of which were of enormous size, while the
tints of their foliage varied through every shade of green, from that of
the young bud to a depth of tone that was nearly black. Nor was green
by any means the only tint displayed; for some of the trees appeared to
be clothed with flowers of vivid flaming scarlet, instead of leaves,
while the leaves of others, instead of being green, were of a deep, rich
crimson hue, or a fine ruddy bronze, like that of the copper beech.
And, as though this were not in itself enough of beauty, many of the
more sombre foliaged trees were draped and festooned in riotous
profusion with parasitic creepers, the blooms upon which would have
driven a painter to distraction, so rich and varied were their tints,
while the shapes of some of them were fantastic enough to suggest that
Dame Nature must have been under the influence of a nightmare when she
formed them. A few of them were merely giant creepers, but Earle, who
possessed more than a smattering knowledge of botany, declared that most
of them were orchids, several of which were new to him. The air of the
place was heavy with mingled odours--one might almost have called them
perfumes, were it not for a certain smack of rankness and pungency in
them--and alive with birds, varying in size from that of a bumble bee up
to that of a carrion crow, a few specimens of which could be seen
perched here and there on the topmost branches of the tallest trees.
Several of the birds were of the humming bird or sunbird species, and
these, of course, gleamed and flashed in the sunlight like winged
jewels, while nearly all boasted plumage of pronouncedly vivid
colouring.
The two friends were still standing together on the spot where they had
come to a halt when first entering the clearing, and Earle was
expatiating upon the beauty and rarity of some of the orchids in their
immediate neighbourhood, when they suddenly became aware of the presence
of a large deer on the opposite side of the clearing. So silently had
the creature come that neither of those who now stood watching him had
been aware of the moment of his coming, nor could they discern the spot
from which he had emerged. The animal was standing as motionless as a
statue, with head erect, and he seemed to be sniffing the air, searching
it for hostile odours, so to speak. He appeared to be quite unaware of
their presence, a fact not very difficult to account for, since the sun
was shining strongly in his eyes, while the two friends were not only
standing in deep shadow, but also chanced to have come to a halt
immediately behind a thick bush, which effectually hid all but their
heads from the deer.
Instinctively, Earle began slowly to lift his rifle, but only to lower
it again, as he murmured to Dick:
"Too far off--a good three-hundred yards if an inch. We'll wait a bit.
I believe he has not yet seen us, and if so, he may come a bit nearer.
I guess this is where he comes every day to graze. Ah! I thought so"--
as the animal lowered his head and began to crop the rich grass.
"Crouch down and keep silent; with luck and patience we'll get him
before long."
It was weary work, to Dick at least, crouching behind that bush, for the
grass was long, and full of ticks, ants and other minute pests, which
lost no time in insinuating themselves between his clothes and his skin,
until the torment of his itching became almost unendurable. But Earle
was, or seemed to be, inured to such trifling discomforts, and
continued, motionless as a graven image, to kneel on one knee behind the
bush, intently watching through its interstices the movements of the
unsuspecting deer. And those movements were exasperatingly deliberate,
for the grass was rich, luscious and abundant, enabling the animal to
secure several mouthfuls before it became necessary for it to move by so
much as a step, while, further to tax the patience of the watchers, the
movements were vexatiously erratic, now here, now there, and as often as
not away from rather than toward the spot where the two men crouched
behind the screen of shrub.
At length Earle's patience began to show signs of giving out. He very
cautiously altered his position, changing from one knee to the other; a
little later he knelt upon both knees, and a little later he sat down.
Finally, finding this attitude unfavourable for shooting, he again got
upon one knee. By this time, however, the insect invaders of his person
were making their presence so distinctly felt that even his iron
self-control was beginning to succumb to their persistence, and at
length he murmured to Dick:
"Guess I'll have to risk a long shot, after all. At this rate it may be
hours before the beast will draw appreciably nearer, and meanwhile, at
any moment something may happen to scare him away." And very slowly and
carefully he proceeded to raise the rifle to his shoulder.
It was while he was doing this that the deer suddenly stopped feeding,
and, with his head still close to the ground, seemed gradually to
stiffen until his whole body became rigid.
"What's the matter now?" grumbled Earle, becoming rigid in his turn.
"Wonder whether he has scented us. But I guess not--at this distance.
There is no wind, and--Gee! that explains it." And he excitedly sprang
to his feet, his example being instantly followed by Dick.
What had happened was this. The deer had stood perfectly rigid for
perhaps half a minute, during which Earle had also suspended all
movement, under the impression that the quarry had caught a momentary
glimpse of something suspicious behind the screening bush. Then, while
the watchers waited tensely for the next development to occur,
something--for the moment it was impossible to say precisely what it
was--had flashed into view from out of the long grass, within a yard or
so of where the deer stood, and the next second the unfortunate creature
was enveloped in the coils of a huge python. As the watchers of the
unexpected tragedy sprang to their feet they distinctly heard the bones
of the deer crack as the serpent constricted its coils about its victim;
and then Earle, with an ejaculation of anger, sprang out from behind the
bush, and, with Dick at his elbow, started at a run towards the spot as
the deer sank with a groan into the long grass.
A few seconds sufficed the pair to reach their goal, or at least near
enough to it for them to see that the unfortunate deer was not yet quite
dead, for its hind legs, which were not involved in the coils of the
python, were kicking out feebly, while its eyes gazed up at them
pitifully with an expression that might easily have been interpreted
into a prayer for deliverance from its sufferings. As for the python,
it was already relaxing its awful grip upon the body of its victim, and
had thrown off one coil as the two friends came into view. Earle, who
seemed to know something of the nature of the creature, warned Dick to
stand back, as the reptile was loosening itself in readiness to make a
spring. But he himself evidently had no fear of the snake, for as it
reared its great head and gave vent to an angry hiss, he threw up his
rifle, and, standing his ground, fired a shot that went crashing through
its right eye and out at the back of the skull.
The next instant Dick received a blow across the chest that not only
knocked the breath out of him, but sent him to the ground with a crash,
while the threshing of the creature's body upon the earth, as it writhed
and twisted convulsively in its death agony, might have been heard from
one end of the glade to the other. Earle dashed forward and quickly
dragged Dick out of the way before assisting the lad to regain his feet,
and it was well that he did so, for the next moment the monster was
writhing and pounding upon the very spot from which Dick had been
dragged. And it was quite upon the cards that, but for Earle's prompt
action, the young Englishman might have been enveloped by those writhing
coils, and every bone in his body broken. As it was, no great harm was
done; and as soon as Earle saw that his friend was safe, and that in its
struggles the python was moving steadily away from the spot, he sprang
in, and whipping out his big hunting knife, quickly drew it across the
dying deer's throat, thus terminating its sufferings.
"Poor brute!" he murmured, regarding the mangled body of the dead deer;
"if I had but made up my mind and pressed the trigger a few seconds
earlier, you would have been spared a good deal of terror and suffering.
As it is--well, let us get back to the raft, Dick, and send a couple of
men to bring in the deer. Its tongue and hind-quarters are untouched,
and will afford all hands a meal of fresh meat, if we can secure it
before the vultures come along. But we shall have to hurry, for unless
I am mistaken, there is the vanguard of their army already." And he
pointed upwards towards a few small dark dots in the sky that had
suddenly and mysteriously appeared.
They hastened back to the raft and hurriedly explained to Inaguy, the
Indian headman, what had happened, and what Earle wanted done; and a few
minutes later two of the blacks sprang into the canoe and paddled away
to the shore, to return an hour later, with the head, hind-quarters, and
skin of the deer, but with the declaration that they had been wholly
unable to find the body of the python.
By this time a little breeze had sprung up from a quarter which would
just enable the raft to lay her course up the reach of the river in
which it then was, and the sails were accordingly set and the craft got
under way. But the wind was so scant that the raft was able to do
little more than hold her own against the current; and when they
anchored that night, they estimated that they had covered little more
than eight miles of ground.