THE GREAT FOREST.--CROWS.--THE FIRST BIVOUAC.--THE SQUIRREL-HUNT.--OUR
YOUNG GUIDE.--THE CHANT IN THE DESERT.
We were now more than 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and the
coldness of the breeze quite surprised my son, who, being accustomed to
the climate of the _Terre-Temperee_, had never before felt any thing
like the atmosphere we were now in. As if by instinct, he held his
fingers in his mouth, to prevent their getting numbed. But when the sun
had reached a certain height, there was no longer any need to complain
of the cold.
As we advanced, the trees grew closer and closer together. Lucien, who
now for the first time saw these enormous trees, to whom centuries were
no more than years are to us, seemed strongly impressed at the sight of
their gigantic proportions. He almost doubted the reality of the scene
which met his eyes. Having previously seen the pigmy world of Lilliput
from the top of a mountain, he was now ready to inquire if this was not
another illusion, exhibiting to him the empire of one of those giants
whose marvellous histories his mamma had related to him. An oak-tree
which had fallen across our path gave him a good opportunity of
measuring its size, the limbs of which seemed to touch the sky. The
ancient trunk was black, wrinkled, and partly buried in the earth by the
weight of its fall; even as it lay prostrate, it was several feet higher
than ourselves, while the large branches, scattered and broken, were
equal in diameter to the biggest chestnut-trees. A flapping of wings
suddenly attracted our attention, and we saw two couples of enormous
crows take flight, saluting us as they went with a prolonged croaking.
"Be off with you, children of the evil one!" cried l'Encuerado; "you've
no chance of frightening us, we are too good Christians for that!"
"Whom are you calling to?" asked Lucien, who looked round him with
surprise.
"To the crows, of course."
"Do you believe that they can understand you?"
"Not the least doubt about it, Chanito. These scoundrels are harder in
their flesh than they are in their hearing; and just because they are
dressed up in a beautiful black coat, like that your papa wears on
festival days, they think to have every thing their own way. But if one
of them dares to come to-night and prowl round our fire, I'll kill and
roast him, as sure as my name is l'Encuerado!"
The boy opened his eyes very wide at this, for he was always astonished
at the whims of the Indian, who never failed to interpret the cries and
gestures of animals according to his own fancy, and to give a sharp
rejoinder to the imaginary provocations which, as he considered, were
offered to him. Sometimes, even, he laid the blame on inanimate things,
and then his conversations with them were most amusing. The old hunter
had no doubt contracted this habit at a time when, living alone in the
woods and feeling the need of talking, he conversed with himself, having
no one else to address. However this might be, he kept up conversation
with either a leaf or a bird in perfectly artless sincerity.
For four hours we proceeded through the forest, feeling almost overcome
with the heat. Pines and oaks appeared, one after another, in almost
monotonous regularity. Gradually the ground began to slope, and the
altered pace we had to adopt both rested us and also increased the speed
of our march. At length we emerged into a valley. The vegetation was now
of an altered character, the ceibas, lignum-vitae trees, and creepers
were here and there to be seen.
"Halt!" I cried out.
I soon got rid of my travelling gear, an example my companions were not
slow in following. L'Encuerado and Lucien immediately set to work to
find some dry branches, while Sumichrast and I began to cut down the
grass over a space of several square yards.
"Have we finished our day's journey, then?" asked Lucien.
"Yes," I replied; "don't you feel tired?"
"Not very; I could easily go farther. Have we walked very far?"
"About four leagues."
"And are we really going to rest after a trifle like that? I always
thought travellers went on walking until night."
"Nonsense!" said I, taking hold of his ear. "What an undaunted young
pedestrian! Four leagues a day are no such trifle when you have to begin
again next morning. 'Slow and steady wins the race,' says an old
proverb, which I intend to carry out to the letter; for forced marches
would soon injure our health, and then good-bye to the success of our
expedition. As to walking until night, it is perfectly impossible,
except when one is certain to meet with an inn. Under these large trees,
no one will ever think of getting ready a meal for us; and, I suppose,
you haven't much wish to die of hunger. We may very likely have to tramp
one or two leagues more before we are able to kill the game which will
form the mainstay of our dinner."
"I never thought of all that," said Lucien, shaking his head, and
looking convinced; "but what shall we have to eat this evening?"
"At present, I haven't the least idea; perhaps a hare or a bird, or even
a rat."
"A rat! I certainly will never touch one."
"Ah! my boy, wait till you are really hungry--you don't know as yet what
it is to be so--and then you'll see how greedily you will make a dinner
off whatever Providence provides."
"Do you think we shall often have to go a whole day without eating?"
"I hope not," I answered, smiling at Lucien's anxious and somewhat
pensive tone.
During this conversation, l'Encuerado, as active as a monkey, had
clambered up a pine, and his _machete_ was strewing the ground with
slender boughs. We also set to work at shaping the stakes, which I drove
into the ground by means of a stone, which served as a hammer. Some
branches, interwoven and tied together by creepers, formed a kind of
hurdle, which, fixed on the top of the posts, did for a roof. The
Indian, assisted by his little companion, who was much interested in all
the preparations, filled the hut with leaves, and covered the branches
with a layer of dry grass. Under this shelter, we could set the rain at
defiance, if not the cold.
It is impossible to describe Lucien's enchantment. This _house_ (for
this was the name he chose to give to the shapeless hut, in which our
party could scarcely stand upright) appeared to him a perfect
masterpiece of architecture, and he was astonished at the rapidity with
which it had been built. He helped l'Encuerado to make up the fire, so
that all that was requisite on our return was to set a light to it.
Then, armed with our guns, we set off to seek for our dinners.
Seeing that we left behind us all our baggage, Lucien exclaimed,
"Suppose any one came and stole our provisions?"
"Upon my word," cried Sumichrast, "you're the boy to think of every
thing. But there's no need to fear this misfortune; most likely, we are
the only persons in the forest; or if any one else should be here, it
would be an almost miraculous chance if they discovered our bivouac."
"Then we are not on any road?"
"You may call it a road if you like, but we are the only people who have
trod it; no one could discover our encampment unless they had followed
us step by step."
The child shook his head with a rather doubtful air; the idea of the
desert is not readily nor suddenly comprehended. I well recollect that,
during my first excursions in the wilderness, I was constantly expecting
to catch sight of some human face, either just when I was emerging from
a wood or in following the paths made in the savannah by wild cattle. At
night, especially when I was troubled by sleeplessness, I was always
fancying that I recognized, in the distant sounds, either the crow of
a cock, the barking of a dog, or the burden of some familiar song.
[Illustration: "We now entered one of those glades."]
"But if no one can discover our bivouac," remarked Lucien, casting a
glance behind him, "how shall we manage to find it again?"
"In a way that is simple, but rather laborious; we shall walk one after
the other, and the last man's duty will be to notch the trees and
shrubs."
"Shall I walk first?" asked Lucien.
"No; that place belongs by right to the best shot; for if we put up any
game, we mustn't let it escape. In the mean time, until you know how to
use your gun, you shall form the rear-guard."
This duty did not seem to displease Lucien, who immediately seized his
sword and followed us, at a little distance, inflicting on the trunks of
the trees the gashes which were to guide us on our return. He performed
his work with so much ardor that his strength was soon exhausted.
L'Encuerado afterwards taught him how to handle his weapon in a more
skillful manner, and to notch the trees without stopping in his walk. A
path marked in this manner is called, in Canada and the United States, a
blaze road.
We now entered one of those glades which are so often met with in the
midst of a virgin forest, although it is impossible to explain the cause
why the trees do not grow just in these spots. As there was no living
creature to be seen, I agreed with Sumichrast to leave Lucien and
l'Encuerado on the watch, and that we should walk round, each on our own
side, so as to meet again at the other extremity of the open space.
Gringalet, seeing us separate, could not at first make up his mind which
party he should go with; but bounded from one to the other, and caressed
each of us, raising plaintive whines. At last he seemed determined to
follow me, but scarcely had I progressed a hundred yards before he
stopped, as if to reflect. He probably thought he had left something
behind, for he quickly disappeared.
I walked for half an hour through the brake, with eye and ear both on
the watch, and my finger on the trigger, without discovering the least
evidence of game. My companion did not appear more fortunate than I was,
when suddenly a gun went off. At the same time, I saw Sumichrast
pointing to a number of squirrels crossing the glade.
"Have you killed one?" I asked.
"Yes; but it is sticking fast between two branches, sixty feet above the
ground; it is a shot thrown away."
We watched anxiously the rapid bounds of the graceful little animals
which we had just disturbed, as they were fast making their way into the
wood.
"Is l'Encuerado asleep?" I cried, with vexation.
My question was answered by two shot-reports in succession, and almost
immediately Gringalet, l'Encuerado, and Lucien emerged from the forest.
After searching about for a few minutes, the boy raised up his arm and
showed us two squirrels he was holding. We now hastened our steps; the
Indian had taken possession of the game, and was moving on towards our
bivouac, while Lucien ran to meet us.
"Papa, papa!" he cried, all out of breath, "my gun killed one of the
squirrels. Oh! M. Sumichrast, you shall see it; it is gray, with a tail
like a plume."
"But was it really you that shot?" I asked.
"Oh yes! I shot, but l'Encuerado held my gun; we aimed into the middle
of them, for there were a great many. If you could only have seen how
they jumped! The one I hit climbed up on the tree close by; but it soon
fell as dead as a stone. L'Encuerado says that it hadn't time to suffer
much pain."
The poor child was making his _debut_ as a sportsman, and his heart
seemed rather full, although he was very proud of this first proof of
his skill. Sumichrast was the first to congratulate him. As for me,
although I was well aware of the Indian's prudence, I made up my mind,
if only for the sake of economizing our powder, both to blame him and
also to caution him against his desire of letting the boy shoot.
"Come," said I to Lucien, who was hugging his gun against his chest,
"you must be our leader in finding our way back to our encampment. You
marked out the road, so mind you don't mislead us."
Our young guide led us back to our starting-point with far more
self-possession than I expected.
"A child's attention is always being drawn away," observed Sumichrast to
me. "How do you explain Lucien's having followed the trail so readily?"
"Perhaps because it was partly his own work," I replied.
"It is, too, because I am so short," replied the child, with an arch
smile; "I am much closer to the ground than you are, almost as close as
Gringalet, who is so very clever in finding a trail. You see, papa, that
it's some benefit in being little, and that I have some chance of being
useful."
I need hardly say how much we were diverted at this novel argument
against a lofty stature.
"At this rate," I replied, "I ought to have brought your brother Emile;
for he is so short that he would have followed a trail even better than
you."
"Of course you ought. Don't you recollect that when we were walking over
the mountain of Borrego, he often spied out insects that you had missed
seeing?"
I was evidently regularly beaten.
We sat down in front of the fire, before which the two squirrels were
roasting. L'Encuerado caught in a dish the fat which trickled down from
the animals, and every now and then basted the meat with it.
The flesh of the squirrel, both in flavor and color, much resembles that
of the hare; so our little mess-mate ate it with evident enjoyment.
Dried maize-cakes, called _totopo_, took the place of bread, and each
one had his allowance of it.
We couldn't help feeling uneasy about Gringalet: we had given him about
half a squirrel, but instead of eating it, he thought fit to roll
himself upon it frantically. The poor beast had consequently only some
scraps of _totopo_. It was, however, highly necessary to accustom him to
feed on game, as our maize-cakes were far too valuable to be doled out
thus. Each of us poured a little water from his gourd into a calabash,
which served for a drinking-vessel. The poor dog, thus allowanced, must
have been sorry that he ever joined us.
The sun was perceptibly sinking.
"Well, Lucien," asked Sumichrast, "what do you think now of rat's
flesh?"
"I'll tell you when I have eaten some of it."
"What! don't you know that the squirrel and the rat are very near
relations, and that they both belong to the Rodent family?"
"They certainly are a little alike," said the child, making a comical
face.
"Especially the species which we had for our dinner; which, by-the-by,
is not yet classed by naturalists. Look! its coat is black on the back,
gray on the flanks, and white under the belly. The ears, too, are bare,
instead of having those long points of hair which give such a knowing
look to the European squirrels."
"Do squirrels feed on flesh?"
"No; acorns, buds, nuts, grain, and sometimes grasses, constitute their
principal food."
"Then," replied Lucien, triumphantly, "the flesh of the squirrel can
not resemble that of the rat, for I know that the rat will eat flesh."
The assured and self-satisfied tone of the little _savant_ made us
smile; but I almost immediately desired him to be silent, for a noise of
branches rustling, which had excited our attention, became every moment
more distinct. Gringalet was about to bark, but l'Encuerado caught him
by the muzzle, and covered him with his _sarape_. A whole troop of
squirrels, no doubt those we had hunted two hours before, made their
appearance, uttering sharp cries. They sprang from branch to branch with
the most extraordinary disregard to distance. We noticed them running
after one another, sometimes along the top, and sometimes along the
bottom of the most flexible boughs. They moved forward as if in jerks,
sometimes stopping suddenly and climbing a tree, only to descend it
again. When on the ground, they sat up on their hind legs, using their
front paws like hands, and rubbed their noses with such a comical air
that Lucien could not help speaking loud to express his admiration of
them.
Hearing so strange a sound as the human voice, the graceful animals took
flight, but not quick enough to prevent Sumichrast's gun from wounding
one of them. The squirrel remained at first clinging to the tree on
which it was when the shot struck it; but, after a pause, it relaxed its
hold and rolled over and fell to the ground. Nevertheless, it had
strength enough left to turn round and bite the sportsman, who
carelessly laid hold of him. L'Encuerado skinned it immediately, keeping
the meat for our breakfast next morning.
The sun went down; the cries of the birds resounded, and night at last
shut us in, bringing with it the solemn silence of the wilderness.
L'Encuerado struck up a prolonged chant, and Lucien's fresh young voice
blended with that of the hunter. The tune was simple and monotonous in
its character; but there was something touching in hearing the Indian
and the child, both equally artless in mind, uniting together to sing
the praises of God. The chant was ended by a prayer, which Sumichrast
and I listened to, standing up, with our heads bared; and it was with
earnestness that my friend repeated l'Encuerado's solemn "Amen,"
expressed in the words, "God is great."
[Illustration]
Having fed the fire with sufficient wood to keep it up all night, we lay
down, side by side, under the hut. The wind moaned softly through the
foliage, and, under the influence of the gentle breeze, the pine-trees
produced that melancholy sound which so exactly calls to mind the noise
of the surf breaking on the shore. By means of thinking of it, I felt it
even in my sleep, for I dreamt that I was at sea, and that the vessel
that bore me was sailing over silvery waters.
[Illustration]