Our work done, my uncle decided that we should stay here for a couple of
days at least, even if we did not afterwards come round to this side of
the island, for our good fortune was not yet at an end. In taking a
look round, towards mid-day we heard a harsh cry, and by means of a
little stalking Uncle Dick got within shot and brought down a bird that
was almost as beautiful as those we shot before daylight.
This had shorter plumes of a rich red, but it had two long double curved
wires in its tail, and its upper plumage was more plush-like and richer
in its colours. The metallic green was more vivid, the golden yellow a
colour which was most bright upon its neck and shoulders.
Almost directly after I shot a big dull brown bird which gave me no
satisfaction at all; but Uncle Dick was delighted, saying that it was
the female bird of the kind we had shot, and we decided that it was the
red bird of paradise.
Even then we had not come to the end of our good fortune, for after
passing over hundreds of sun-birds, pittas, and trogons, such as we
should have been only too glad to meet a short time back, my uncle
suddenly raised his gun and fired at what seemed to be, from where I
stood, a couple of sturdy-looking starlings.
One fell, and Uncle Dick shouted to me as the second bird came in my
direction.
I made a quick shot at it just as it was darting among some bushes, and
brought it down, and on running to pick it up I found that I had shot
something entirely fresh to me.
"Well done, Nat!" cried my uncle. "Mine is only the hen bird. What a
lovely little creature, to be sure! It is a gem."
"What is it, uncle?" I said.
"Evidently a paradise bird, my boy."
It was a curious little short-tailed fellow, but wonderful in its
colours; while from the centre of the dumpy tail sprang two wires of
about six inches long, which formed two flat spiral curls at the end,
and of a most intense green. Instead of the long plumes of the birds we
shot before--birds three times the size of this--it had under each wing
a little tuft of grey, tipped with green, which the bird could set up
like tiny tans. The whole of the upper surface was of a rich red, and
the under part of a glistening floss-silky or glass-thready white, but
relieved here and there with bands and patches of metallic green. There
were shades of orange crimson here, and when I add that the bird's legs
were of a delicious blue, and its beak of orange yellow like a
blackbird's, you can realise how beautiful a creature I had shot.
"There, Nat," said my uncle, "we will do no more, only carefully
preserve the treasures we have got."
But hardly had he spoken before he fired again and brought down another
bird, which was again a wonder. It seemed about the size of the last,
but was entirely different, though sufficiently similar to mark it as a
paradise bird. It had nearly as short a tail, with the two central
wires crossed, but instead of forming the beautiful curves of the other
with the flat disc at the end, these wires ended in a point and curled
round so as to form a circle. The prevailing colours were orange, buff,
and yellow, but its great peculiarity was a couple of ruffs or capes of
feathers hanging from the back of its neck, the upper one of a pale
yellow, the lower of a reddish-brown.
Uncle Dick was in as great a state of delight as I, and our pleasure
seemed to be reflected upon Ebo, who showed his satisfaction at having
brought us to the place, by shouldering his spear and striding up and
down with one hand upon his hip, as if proud of his position as
companion of the white man.
The time glided by very fast during our stay at the island, where we
found plenty of fruit, as many fish as we liked to catch, and abundance
of large pigeons and other birds to help our larder. The climate was
hot, but the breezes that came from the sea always seemed to modify the
heat and make it bearable. Several storms occurred, during which the
trees bent before the fury of the blast, and the waves piled the sands
high with weeds and shells. The lightning was terrific and the thunder
deafening. At times it was awful, and a curious scared feeling used at
first to come over me. But I soon grew used to the storms, and as they
were soon over, took but little notice of them, except to enjoy the
delicious freshness of the air that seemed afterwards to make everything
ten times more beautiful than it was before.
It would become wearisome if I kept on writing of the beauty of the
different varieties of the birds of paradise we found, and the lovely
tinting and arrangement of their plumes; let it be sufficient when I
tell you that scarcely a day passed without Ebo finding some fresh
specimen for us to shoot, and then dancing round with the delight of a
boy as we skinned and preserved the new treasure. Sometimes we had a
beetle day, sometimes a butterfly day, collecting the loveliest
specimens; but birds formed our principal pursuit, and our cases began
to present a goodly aspect as we packed in carefully the well-dried
aromatic skins.
I had had one or two more slight touches of fever, and my uncle was
poorly once, but he so skilfully treated us both that the disease was
soon mastered, and the trouble passed over. Taken altogether, though,
we found the island, in spite of the heat, a most delightful place of
residence, and it was with feelings of real regret that I sat in our
swift boat one day with the big sail set, skimming over the smooth sea,
all our stores on board, and Uncle Dick at the helm steering due north,
for we had bidden the beautiful island farewell, and its shores were
beginning to grow distant to our eyes.