"Good-bye, Kookooburra!" cried Dot, as they left the cave; and the bird
gave her a nod of the head, followed by a wink, which was supposed to
mean hearty good-will at parting. He would have spoken, only he had
swallowed part of the Snake, and the rest hung out of the side of his
beak, like an old man's pipe; so he couldn't speak. It wouldn't have
been polite to do so with his beak full.
Dot was so rested by her sleep all night that she did not ride in the
Kangaroo's pouch; but they proceeded together, she walking, and her
friend making as small hops as she could, so as not to get too far
ahead. This was very difficult for the Kangaroo, because even the
smallest hops carried her far in front. After a time they arranged
that the friendly animal should hop a few yards, then wait for Dot to
catch her up, and then go on again. This she did, nibbling bits of
grass as she waited, or playing a little game of hide-and-seek behind
the bushes.
Sometimes, when she hid like this, little Dot would be afraid that she
had lost her Kangaroo, and would run here and there, hunting round
trees, and clusters of ferns, until she felt quite certain she had lost
the kind animal; when suddenly, clean over a big bush, the Kangaroo
would bound into view, landing right in front of her. Then Dot would
laugh, and rush forward, and throw her arms around her friend; and the
Kangaroo, with a quiet smile, would rub her little head against Dot's
curls, and they were both very happy. So, although it was really a
long and rough way to the little creek where the Platypus lived, it did
not seem at all far.
The stream ran at the bottom of a deep gully, that had high rocky
sides, with strangely shaped trees growing between the rocks. But, by
the stream, Dot thought they must be in fairyland; it was so beautiful.
In the dark hollows of the rocks were wonderful ferns; such delicate
ones that the little girl was afraid to touch them. They were so
tender and green that they could only grow far away from the sun, and
as she peeped into the hollows and caves where they grew, it seemed as
if she was being shown the secret store-house of Nature, where she kept
all the most lovely plants, out of sight of the world. A soft carpet
seemed to spring under Dot's feet, like a nice springy mattress, as she
trotted along. She asked the Kangaroo why the earth was so soft, and
was told that it was not earth, but the dead leaves of the tree-ferns
above them, that had been falling for such a long, long time, that no
Kangaroo could remember the beginning.
Then Dot looked up, and saw that there was no sky to be seen, or tops
of trees; for they were passing under a forest of tree-ferns, and their
lovely spreading fronds made a perfect green tent over their heads.
The sunlight that came through was green, as if you were in a house
made of green glass. All up the slender stems of these tall tree-ferns
were the most beautiful little plants, and many stems were twined, from
the earth to their feather-like fronds, with tender creeping ferns--the
fronds of which were so fine and close, that it seemed as if the
tree-fern were wrapped up in a lovely little fern coat. Even crumbling
dead trees, and decaying tree-ferns, did not look dead, because some
beautiful moss, or lichen, or little ferns had clung to them, and made
them more beautiful than when alive.
Dot kept crying out with pleasure at all she saw; especially when
little Parrakeets, with feathers as green as the ferns, and gorgeous
red breasts, came in flocks, and welcomed her to their favourite haunt;
and, as she had eaten the berries of understanding, and was the friend
of the Kangaroo, they were not frightened, but perched on her shoulders
and hands, and chatted their merry talk all together. The Kangaroo did
not share Dot's enthusiasm for the beauties of the gully. She said it
was pretty, certainly, but a bad place for Kangaroos, because there was
no grass. For her part, she didn't think any sight in nature so lovely
as a big plain, green with the little blades of new spring grass. The
gully was very showy, but not to her mind so beautiful as the other.
Then they came to a stream that gurgled melodiously as it rippled over
stones in its shallow course, or crept round big grey boulders that
were wrapped in thick mosses, in which were mingled flowers of the pink
and red wild fuchsia, or the creamy great blossoms of the rock lily.
Dot ran down the stream with bare feet, laughing as she paddled in and
out among the rocks and ferns, and the sun shone down on the gleaming
foam of the water, and made golden lights in Dot's wild curls. The
Kangaroo, too, was very merry, and bounded from rock to rock over the
stream, showing what wonderful things she could do in that way; and
sometimes they paused, side by side, and peeped down upon some still
pool that showed their two reflections as in a mirror; and that seemed
so funny to Dot, that her silvery laugh woke the silence in happy
peals, until more green-and-red Parrakeets flew out of the bush to join
in the fun.
When they had followed the stream some distance, the gully opened out
into bush scrub. The little Parrakeets then said "Good-bye," and flew
back to their favourite tree-ferns and bush growth; and the Kangaroo
said, that as they were nearing the home of the Platypus, they must not
play in the stream any more; to do so might warn the creature of their
approach and frighten it. "We shall have to be very careful," she
said, "so that the Platypus will neither hear nor smell you. We will
therefore walk on the opposite shore, as the wind will then blow away
from its home."
The stream no longer chattered over rocky beds, but slid between soft
banks of earth, under tufts of tall rushes, grasses, and ferns, and
soon it opened into a broad pool, which was smooth as glass. The
clouds in the sky, the tall surrounding trees, and the graceful ferns
and rushes of the banks, were all reflected in the water, so that it
looked to Dot like a strange upside-down picture. This, then, was the
home of that wonderful animal; and Dot felt quite frightened, because
she thought she was going to see something terrible.
At the Kangaroo's bidding, she hid a little way from the edge of the
pool, but she was able to see all that happened.
The Kangaroo evidently did not enjoy the prospect of conversing with
the Platypus. She kept on fidgeting about, putting off calling to the
Platypus by one excuse and another: she was decidedly ill at ease.
"Are you frightened of the Platypus?" asked Dot.
"Dear me, no!" replied the Kangaroo, "but I'd rather have a talk with
any other bush creature. First of all, the sight of it makes me so
uncomfortable, that I want to hop away the instant I set eyes upon it.
Then, too, it's so difficult to be polite to the Platypus, because one
never knows how to behave towards it. If you treat it as an animal,
you offend its bird nature, and if you treat it as a bird, the animal
in it is mighty indignant. One never knows where one is with a
creature that is two creatures," said the Kangaroo.
Dot was so sorry for the perplexity of her friend, that she suggested
that they should not consult the Platypus. But the Kangaroo said it
must be done, because no one in the bush was so learned. Being such a
strange creature, and living in such seclusion, and being so difficult
to approach was a proof that it was the right adviser to seek. So,
with a half desperate air, the Kangaroo left the little girl, and went
down to the water's edge.
Pausing a moment, she made a strange little noise that was something
between a grunt and a hiss: and she repeated this many times. At last
Dot saw what looked like a bit of black stick, just above the surface
of the pool, coming towards their side, and, as it moved forward,
leaving two little silvery ripples that widened out behind it on the
smooth waters. Presently the black stick, which was the bill of the
Platypus, reached the bank, and the strangest little creature climbed
into view. Dot had expected to see something big and hideous; but here
was quite a small object after all! It seemed quite ridiculous that
the great Kangaroo should be evidently discomposed by the sight.
Dot could not hear what the Kangaroo said, but she saw the Platypus
hurriedly prepare to regain the water. It began to stumble clumsily
down the bank. The Kangaroo then raised her voice in pleading accents.
"But," she said, "it's such a little Human! I have treated it like my
baby Kangaroo, and have carried it in my pouch."
This information seemed to arrest the movements of the Platypus; it had
reached the water's edge, but it paused, and turned.
"I tell you," it said in a high-pitched and irritable voice, "that all
Humans are alike! They all come here to interview me for the same
purpose, and I'm resolved it shall not happen again; I have been
insulted enough by their ignorance."
"I assure you," urged the Kangaroo, "that she will not annoy you in
that way. She wouldn't think of doing such a thing to any animal."
As the Kangaroo called the Platypus an animal, Dot saw at once that it
was offended, and in a great huff it turned towards the pool again. "I
beg your pardon," said the Kangaroo nervously. "I didn't mean an
altogether animal, or even a bird, but any a--a--a----." She seemed
puzzled how to speak of the Platypus, when the strange creature,
seeing the well-meaning embarrassment of the Kangaroo, said affably,
"any mammal or Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus."
"Exactly," said the Kangaroo, brightening up, although she hadn't the
least idea what a mammal was.
"Well, bring the little Human here," said the Platypus in a more
friendly tone, "and if I feel quite sure on that point I will permit an
interview."
Two bounds brought the Kangaroo to where Dot was hidden. She seemed
anxious that the child should make a good impression on the Platypus,
and tried with the long claws on her little black hands to comb through
Dot's long gleaming curls; but they were so tangled that the child
called out at this awkward method of hairdressing, and the Kangaroo
stopped. She then licked a black smudge off Dot's forehead, which was
all she could to tidy her. Then she started back with a hop, and eyed
the child with her head on one side. She was not quite satisfied.
"Ah!" she said, "if only you were a baby Kangaroo I could make you look
so nice! But I can't do anything to your sham coat, which gets worse
every day, and your fur is all wrong, for one can't get one's claws
through it. You Humans are no good in the bush!"
"Never mind, dear Kangaroo," said the little girl; "when I get home
mother will put me on a new frock, and will get the tangles out of my
hair. Let us go to the Platypus now."
The Kangaroo felt sad as Dot spoke of returning home, for she had
become really fond of the little Human. She began to feel that she
would be lonely when they parted. However, she did not speak of what
was in her mind, but bounded back to the Platypus to wait for Dot.
When the little girl reached the pool, she was still more surprised, on
a nearer view of the Platypus, that the Kangaroo should think so much
of it. At her feet she beheld a creature like a shapeless bit of wet
matted fur. She thought it looked like an empty fur bag that had been
fished out of the water. Projecting from the head, that seemed much
nearer to the ground than the back, was a broad duck's bill, of a dirty
grey colour; and peeping out underneath were two fore feet that were
like a duck's also. Altogether it was such a funny object that she was
inclined to laugh, only the Kangaroo looked so serious, that she tried
to look serious too, as if there was nothing strange in the appearance
of the Platypus.
"I am the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus!" said the Platypus pompously.
"I am Dot," said the little girl.
"Now we know one another's names," said the Platypus, with
satisfaction. "If the Kangaroo had introduced us, it would have
stumbled over my name, and mumbled yours, and we should have been none
the wiser. Now tell me, little Human, are you going to write a book
about me? Because, if you are, I'm off. I can't stand any more books
being written about me; I've been annoyed enough that way."
"I couldn't write a book," said Dot, with surprise inwardly wondering
what anyone could find to make a book of, out of such a small, ugly
creature.
"You're quite sure?" asked the Platypus, doubtfully, and evidently more
than half inclined to dive into the pool.
"Quite," said Dot.
"Then I'll try to believe you," said the Platypus, clumsily waddling
towards some grass, amongst which it settled itself comfortably. "But
it's very difficult to believe you Humans, for you tell such dreadful
fibs," it continued, as it squirted some dirty water out of the bag
that surrounded its bill, and swallowed some water beetles, small
snails and mud that it had stored there. "See, for instance, the way
you have all quarrelled and lied about me! First one great Human, the
biggest fool of all, said I wasn't a live creature at all, but a joke
another Human had played upon him. Then they squabbled together one
saying I was a Beaver; another, that I was a Duck; another, that I was
a Mole, or a Rat. Then they argued whether I was a bird, or an animal,
or if we laid eggs, or not; and everyone wrote a book, full of lies,
all out of his head.
"That's the way Humans amuse themselves. They write books about things
they don't understand, and keep the game going by each new book saying
the others are all wrong. It's a silly game, and very insulting to the
creatures they write about. Humans at the other end of the world, who,
never took the trouble to come here to see me, wrote books about me.
Those who did come were more impudent than those who stayed away.
Their idea of learning all about a creature was to dig up its home, and
frighten it out of its wits, and kill it; and after a few moons of that
sort of foolery they claimed to know all about us. Us! whose
ancestors knew the world millions of years before the ignorant Humans
came on the earth at all!" The Platypus spluttered out more dirty
water, in its indignation.
The Kangaroo became very timid, as it saw the rising anger of the
Platypus, and whispered to Dot to say something to calm the little
creature.
"A million years is a very long time," said Dot; unable at the moment
to think of anything better to say. But this remark angered the
Platypus more, for it seemed to suspect Dot of doubting what it said.
It clambered up into a more erect position, and its little brown eyes
became quite fiery.
"I didn't say a million; I said millions! I can prove by a bone in my
body that my ancestors were the Amphitherium, the Amphilestes, the
Phascolotherium, and the Stereognathus!" almost shrieked the little
creature.
Dot didn't understand what all these words meant, and looked at the
Kangaroo for an explanation; but she saw that the Kangaroo didn't
understand either, only she was trying to hide her ignorance by a calm
appearance, while she nibbled the end of a long grass she held in her
fore paw. But Dot noticed, by the slight trembling of the little black
paw, that the Kangaroo was very nervous. She thought she would try and
say something to please Platypus; so she asked, very kindly, if the
bone ever hurt it. But this strange creature did not seem to notice
the remark. Settling itself more comfortably amongst the grass, it
muttered in calmer tones, "I trace my ancestry back to the oolite age.
Where does man come in?"
"I don't know," said Dot.
"Of course you don't replied the Platypus, contemptuously, Humans are
so ignorant! That's because they are so new. When they have existed a
few more million years, they will be more like us of old families;
they will respect quiet, exclusive living, like that of the
Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus, and will not be so inquisitive, pushing, and
dangerous as now. The age will come when they will understand, and
will cease to write books, and there will be peace for everyone."
The Kangaroo now thought it a good opportunity to change the subject,
and gently introduced the topic of Dot's lost way, saying how she had
found the little girl, and had taken care of her ever since.
The Platypus did not seem interested, and yawned more than once whilst
the Kangaroo spoke.
"The question is," concluded the Kangaroo, "whom shall I ask to find
it? Someone must know where it is."
"Of course," said the Platypus, yawning again, without so much as
putting its web foot in front of its bill, which Dot thought very rude,
or else very ancient manners. "Little Human," it said, "tell me what
kind of bush creatures come about your burrow."
"We live in a cottage," she said, but seeing that the Platypus did not
like to be corrected, and that the Kangaroo looked quite shocked at her
doing so, she hurriedly described the creatures she had seen there.
She said there were Crickets, Grasshoppers, Mice, Lizards, Swallows,
Opossums, Flying Foxes, Kookooburras, Magpies, and Shepherd's
Companions----
"Stop!" interrupted the Platypus, with a wave of its web foot; "that is
the right one."
"Who?" asked the Kangaroo and Dot anxiously, together.
"The bird you call Shepherd's Companion. Some of you call it Rickety
Dick, or Willy Wagtail." Turning to the Kangaroo especially, it
continued, "If you can bring yourself to speak to anything so obtrusive
and gossiping, without any ancestry or manners whatever, you will be
able to learn all you need from that bird. Humans and Wagtails
fraternise together. They're both post-glacial."
"I knew you could advise me," said the Kangaroo gratefully.
"Oh! Platypus, how clever you are!" cried Dot, clapping her hands.
Directly Dot had spoken she saw that she had offended the queer little
creature before her. It raised itself with an air of offended dignity
that was unmistakable.
"The name Platypus is insulting," it remarked, looking at the child
severely, "it means BROAD-FOOTED, a vulgar pseudonym which could only
have emanated from the brutally coarse expressions of a Human. My name
is Ornithorhyncus Paradoxus. Besides, even if my front feet can
expand, they can also contract; see! as narrow and refined as a bird's
claw. Observe, too, that my hind feet are narrow, and like a seal's
fin, though it has been described as a mole's foot."
As the Platypus spoke, and thrust out its strangely different feet, the
Kangaroo edged a little closer to Dot and whispered in her ear. "It's
getting angry, and is beginning to use long words; do be careful what
you say or it will be terrible!"
"I beg your pardon," said Dot; "I did not wish to hurt your feelings,
Para--Pa--ra--dox--us."
"ORNITHORHYNCHUS Paradoxus, if you please," insisted the little
creature. "How would you like it if your name was Jones-Smith-Jones,
and I called you one Jones, or one Smith, and did not say both the
Joneses and the Smiths? You have no idea how sensitive our race is.
You Humans have no feelings at all compared with ours. Why, my fifth
pair of nerves are larger than a man's! Humans get on my nerves
dreadfully!" it ended in disgusted accents.
"She did not mean to hurt you," said the gentle Kangaroo, soothingly.
"Is there anything we can do to make you feel comfortable again?"
"There is nothing you can do," Sighed the Platypus, now mournful and
depressed. "I must sing. Only music can quiet my nerves. I will
sing a little threnody composed by myself, about the good old days of
this world before the Flood." And as it spoke, the Platypus moved into
an upright position amongst the tussock grass, and after a little cough
opened its bill to sing.
The Kangaroo kept very close to Dot, and warned her to be very
attentive to the song, and not to interrupt it on any account. Almost
before the Kangaroo had ceased to whisper in her ear, Dot heard this
strange song, sung to the most peculiar tune she had ever heard, and in
the funniest of little squeaky voices.
The fairest Iguanodon reposed upon the shore
Extended lay her beauteous form, a hundred feet and more.
The sun, with rays flammivomous, beat on the blue-black sand;
And sportive little Saurians disported on the strand
But oft the Iguanodon reproved them in their glee,
And said, "Alas! this Saurian Age is not what it should be!"
Then, forth from that archaic sea, the Ichthyosaurus
Uprose upon his finny wings, with neocomian fuss,
"Oh, Iguanodon!" he cried, as he approached the shore,
"Why art thou thus dysthynic, love? Come, rise with me, and soar,
Or leave these estuarian seas, and wander in the grove;
Behold! a bird-like reptile fish is dying for thy love!"
Then, through the dark coniferous grove they wandered side by side,
The tender Iguanodon and Ichthyosaurian bride
And through the enubilious air, the carboniferous breeze,
Awoke, with their amphibious sighs, the silence in the trees.
"To think," they cried, botaurus-toned, "when ages intervene,
Our osseous fossil forms will be in some museum seen!"
Bemoaning thus, by dumous path, they crushed the cycad's growth,
And many a crash, and thunder, marked the progress of them both.
And when they reached the estuary, the excandescent sun
Was setting o'er the hefted sea; their saurian day was done.
Then raised they paraseline eyes unto the flaming moon,
And wept--the Neocomian Age was passing all too soon!
Oh, Iguanodon! oh, earth! oh, Ichthyosaurus
Oh, Melanocephalous saurians! Oh! oh! oh!
(Here the Platypus was sobbing)
Oh, Troglyodites obscure--oh! oh!
At this point of the song, the poor Platypus, whose voice had trembled
with increasing emotion and sobbing in each verse, broke down, overcome
by the extreme sensitiveness of its fifth pair of nerves and the
sadness of its song, and wept in terrible grief.
The gentle Kangaroo was also deeply moved, seeing the Platypus in such
sorrow, and Dot mastered her aversion to touching cold, damp fur, and
stroked the little creature's head.
The Platypus seemed much soothed by their sympathy, but hurriedly bade
them farewell. It said it must try and restore its shattered fifth
pair of nerves by a few hydrophilus latipalpus beetles for lunch, and a
sleep.
It wearily dragged itself down to the edge of the pool, and looked
backwards to the Kangaroo and Dot, who called out "Good-bye" to it.
Its eyes were dim with tears, for it was still thinking of the
Iguanodon and ichthyosaurus, and of the good old days before the Flood.
"It breaks my heart to think that they are all fossils," it exclaimed,
mournfully shaking its head. "Fossils!" it repeated, as it plunged
into the pool and swam away. "Fossils!" it cried once more, in far,
faint accents; and a second later it dived out of sight.
For several moments after the Platypus had disappeared from view, the
Kangaroo and Dot remained just as it had left them. Then Dot broke the
silence.
"Dear Kangaroo," said she, "what was that song about?"
"I don't know," said the animal wistfully, "no one ever knows what the
Platypus sings about."
"It was very sad," said Dot.
"Dreadfully sad!" sighed the Kangaroo; "but the Platypus is a most
learned and interesting creature," she added hastily. "Its
conversation and songs are most edifying; everyone in the bush admits
it."
"Does anyone understand its conversation?" asked Dot. She was afraid
she must be very stupid, for she hadn't understood anything except that
Willy Wagtail could help them to find her way.
"That is the beauty of it all," said the Kangaroo, "the Platypus is so
learned and so instructive, that no one tries to understand it; it is
not expected that anyone should."