ON THE LONESOME LLANOS.
The vast and lonesome uplands, called Llanos, on which our heroes now
found themselves, are the pampas of the far southern districts of
South America.
There is a weirdness about them, especially in the silence of the
night, that strikes one with awe. But sometimes, indeed, day is more
silent than night, for then the stillness is unbroken by howl of wild
beasts or scream of birds of prey. So quiet is it then on some
portions of the Llanos, that you can hear the sound of the human
voice in ordinary conversation full two hundred yards away, while if
you wander long here, so great is the strain on one's nerves that the
slightest sound will make one start--a tiny snake rustling among the
grass, a breaking reed, or lizard nibbling at a stalk of couch.
Humboldt, the great traveller, is not, I fear, much read nowadays,
but he speaks about these solitary regions as follows:--
"Here in the Llanos, all around us, the plains seemed to rise to
heaven; and this vast and silent desert appeared to our eyes like a
sea that is covered with sea-weed, or the algae of the deep ocean.
According to the inequality of the vapour floating on the atmosphere,
and the alternate temperature of the breezes contending against each
other, was the appearance of the horizon; in some places clearly and
sharply defined, in others wavy, crooked, and, as it were, striped.
"The earth there seemed to mingle with heaven. Through the dry mist
we sometimes perceived palm-trees in the distance. Stripped of their
leaves and green feathery summits, these stems, rising out of the
low-lying fog, resembled the masts of ships, which one descries on
the horizon at sea."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Miguel's little party was accompanied by donkeys; some of these had
panniers, on which the luggage or baggage was carried, as well as the
general commissariat. But while two of Miguel's sailors trotted on
foot, he himself with Creggan and his friends bestrode strong and
agile donkeys.
As guides, they had two hardy Llaneros or plainsmen. These fellows
are wilder far than your Mexican cow-boy,--who, by the way, is just
as often as not a braggart and a coward. But your true Llanero, with
his brown skin, his tattered clothes and cow-hide boots, and the
ever-ready lasso across his chest, a knife or pistol in his belt, is
as daring as a puma or panther itself. He knows no fear, and takes
no hurt wherever he sleeps, or however hard his toil and poor his
fare.
No need for a traveller to fear these men. Treat them fairly and
squarely, and they will do their duty, ay, and fight to grim death
for the man they have undertaken to watch and guide.
Our brave youngsters were marching southwards and west, and would so
march for days, until, after crossing many a creek and cañon, and
many a river that goes roaring, brown and awful, through gorges among
the hills and woods, they should strike the River Tigre itself.
One of the rivers they crossed is wildly beautiful--the Mapiriti.
They spent two nights and days near to its green banks, and in a
bonny wooded and bosky glen. But they had shooting and fishing also.
Night alone was dreary--and dangerous too. To protect the donkeys
from the attacks of wild beasts, they had to cut down branches and
throw up a kind of laager, for after supper was cooked and eaten, and
the fires burning low warned them that it was time to sleep, the
cries and roaring of beasts of prey began, and the brutes came all
too close to camp to be agreeable. But the sentries--two there
were--had orders to fire if they heard but a bush stirring. The
quick sharp ring of the rifles generally ensured peace for a time.
Miguel slept on some bundles of grass, with a pillow of the same
material. Nor wild beasts, snakes, nor mosquitoes ever seemed to
annoy him.
But the Ugly Duckling and Creggan had each a hammock, hung
gipsy-fashion from crossed sticks a few feet above the ground.
After Creggan had said his prayers and lain down, he used to promise
himself that he would lie awake for some time and think of his
far-off Highland home. But he never succeeded in doing so with any
degree of satisfaction. The fatigue of travel, the pure, fresh, and
bracing air, to say nothing of a good supper, all tended to induce
slumber, and soon indeed was he in the land of forgetfulness, seldom
opening his eyes till breakfast was steaming and simmering over the
fire.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I must draw in my horns, as the snail said to the blackbird; for it
was not my intention to give an elaborate account of this great land
of Llanos, of broad bright rivers studded with islands like emerald
gems, of cayman-haunted creeks, of green savannahs, of waving palms,
of deep dark forests surrounding many a lonesome gloomy leaden lake,
and of mountains towering to the moon. No; see Venezuela for
yourselves, boys. If you do, you can say afterwards that you have
lived, should you never visit any other foreign land save itself.
Suffice it to say that, laden with the spoils of the chase, the
_Queen_ one beautiful forenoon brought our heroes safely back to the
mouth of the great river Orinoco, and that their arrival was a scene
of rejoicing.
Poor Admiral Jacko was worn and thin, for sadly had he missed his
Ugly Duckling, and now sprang into his arms with a fond and plaintive
cry, and in his own strange language told him a weary, weary tale.
It was delightful to get home again to the ship after all, and that
night, after they had dined with the captain, Miguel being also a
guest, our wanderers slept more soundly than they had done for many
and many a day.