"Asleep, Nat?"
"Asleep? No; I've got quetzal on the brain, and the birds seem to be
pecking at my shoulder on both sides with red-hot beaks. How do you
feel?"
"In agony, my boy. I'm afraid we have been jumping at conclusions.
Perhaps the Indians do not understand, after all."
Sleep came at last, though, and the next day nothing else could be
thought of or talked of. The Indians were questioned in dumb show, with
the skin of the trogon for a text, and we got on more, Uncle Dick's
spirits rising as it grew more plainly that the Indian fully understood
about the birds we wanted. In fact, in dumb show he at last began to
teach us the bird's habits.
He showed us how it sat upon the branch of a tree, taking a parroquet as
an example, pointing out that the bird we meant had toes like it, two
before and two behind, setting it on a piece of wood, and then ruffling
its plumage all up till it looked like a ball of feathers.
"That's right, Nat," cried my uncle. "Exactly how trogons sit. The
fellow's a born observer. I am glad you shot him. Go on, Dusky."
The man understood, as he sat holding the piece of branch in one hand,
the bird in the other. He glanced at us to see if we were watching him,
and then smoothing the feathers quickly, he began to buzz and whirr like
a beetle, as cleverly as a ventriloquist. Next he made the dead bird he
held dart from its perch, and imitated the quick flight of one chasing a
large beetle through the air, catching it, and returning to its perch,
where with wonderful accuracy he went through the movements of it
swallowing its prey, and then ruffling itself up again into a ball of
feathers.
"Splendid!" cried my uncle. "Exact. He knows the right birds, Nat.
Now then, Cuvier, where is the happy spot? Over yonder?" and my uncle
pointed up the river; but the Indian shook his head, and pointed across
and away to the south, after which he laid his head upon his hand and
imitated going to sleep eight times.
"Eight days' journey to the south, Nat," said Uncle Dick. "A long way
to carry him. I understand," he said, turning to the Indian again,
shouldering his gun, bending down, and making believe to walk; but his
patient shook his head violently, took hold of his piece of wood, and
went through the motion of paddling.
"Hah!" I cried, imitating him. "He means we should have to go in a
canoe, uncle."
"That's it," he cried, and he pointed down at the river; but the man
shook his head again, and pointed right across into the distance.
"Nat," said my uncle, "we shall do it yet. It must be on that river we
passed before we turned up this. We shall have to get him down to the
boat."
I wish I could write--_No sooner said than done_; but it was not so; for
our future guide was not yet fit to start on such a journey. He was
getting better fast, but not fast enough, and in spite of my assertions,
I was not recovered from a very bad wound. In short, it seemed that the
only thing to do, as we appeared to have nothing more to fear from
Indians with two such guards in camp, was to send down to the boat for
more of the stores, that is, enough for another fortnight's stay, when
the difficulty was solved by Cross one morning.
"I've been turning it over in my mind, Master Nat, about carrying that
chap down to the boat, but the doctor says it would open his wound again
and throw him back, so that won't do."
"No; certainly not," I said.
"Then I got a notion that I could knock up a sort of chair he could sit
in, and me and Pete and Mrs Mapah could carry it strapped on our backs
in turn."
"Nonsense! That little woman could not carry her husband."
"What, sir!" cried Cross laughing. "Don't you make a mistake, sir;
she's as strong as a pony. But the doctor says it would shake him too
much, so what do you say to this? S'pose I build a raft, and we go back
the same as we come?"
"Through the dark cavern?"
"I don't know no laws again' our burning a good light, sir."
"But how are you going to get it down the falls?"
"In bits, sir," he said, laughing. "I should build it down yonder on
the side at the bottom of the falls. Then we could swing old Dusky down
with the rope, and all we should want would be a couple of bamboo poles,
and there we are."
The notion seemed wild at first, but Cross soon showed Uncle Dick and me
that it was quite possible; and in the course of the next fortnight he
proved it by means of his axe, making the raft out of the bamboos that
he cut and which we sent down to him over the falls, some to be broken
in the descent, but the most part to reach him safe and sound.
As the work went on Mapah helped, being wonderfully active and
sure-footed on the rocks; and through her our prisoner grasped the
meaning of what was going on, nodding and smiling when the time came for
our start, and to my great satisfaction showing not the slightest
shrinking from venturing into the cavern after being carefully lowered
down.
For at last all was ready, and with a good supply of resinous boughs cut
into lengths for torches, we lit up and embarked upon our return
journey, to find that what had looked so terrible through the darkness
of ignorance was a perfectly trivial affair. It was through resounding
cavern and winding tunnel, shrouded in gloom, but utterly wanting in
terrors and difficulties, being merely the gliding down a subterranean
stream out into broad daylight at the other end.
Here our raft served to carry us over the shallows right down to our
boat, at which our prisoner gazed in wonder--wonder which was increased
when we set sail and glided towards the mouth of the little river we had
passed on our way up.
It soon became evident that in his wanderings our Indian had been over
the ground before. This was proved by his manner towards his wife, to
whom he talked eagerly, pointing out different objects, rocky cliff,
forest and mountain, as if they were familiar objects.
But the great proof of all was his behaviour a couple of days later,
when we felt that the mouth of the southern river must be near, for he
was all excitement till it was in sight, when he began shouting to us
and pointing, indicating that we should steer the boat into the mouth of
the very river as I suggested weeks before, and take a fresh course.
"Hah!" exclaimed my uncle; "you were right, Nat, after all. I fancied
he meant this."
Fortunately for us, the narrowness and the way in which the side stream
was encumbered with overhanging growth, fallen log and tangle proved to
be only at the very beginning; for at the end of a mile or two of
difficulties which were very discouraging, while the stream narrowed so
that it promised to close in overhead, its course became clearer and its
waters deep and sluggish, so that we were able to camp at night some
miles from the mouth.
The next day our guide showed us by signs that our oars were not proper
implements for use in such a river, with the result that Cross set to
work roughing out a paddle which our companions seized upon to finish
off while another was made. Boards from the bottom and thwarts were cut
up for the purpose, and before many hours had passed we were furnished
with half-a-dozen fairly useful paddles, by whose aid, and all working
together, the boat could be directed through the narrowest channels of
verdure.
For the next six days we steadily advanced, through a wonderfully
beautiful region, a very paradise for a naturalist, and where we might
have collected gorgeously plumaged birds by the thousand and insects
galore.
But we had our one aim in view, and though we seemed as far off as ever,
and there were moments when Uncle Dick and I began to doubt, our guide
seemed so confident, pointing always onward, that we grew hopeful again,
and went on and on.
"Do you know what Bill Cross says, Master Nat?" said Pete, when we were
camping one evening.
"How should I?" I replied pettishly, for I was weary of the continuous
paddling.
"Then, I'll tell you, sir," said Pete solemnly, "He says he feels
cock-sure that them two brown 'uns is taking us to where their tribe
lives, so that they may grab the boat and guns and things, and then
light a fire and have a feast."
"Eat us?" I said.
"That's it, sir; the doctor says they must be Caribs, and Caribs is
cannibals, and we ought to go back."
"So we will, Pete," I said, "when we have found the quetzals."
It was the very next day that, after struggling a few more miles over
shallows, the roar of water fell upon our ears, and the current
gradually grew more swift, while that night with a good deal of
pantomime our guide indicated that the boat could go no farther.
"As if we didn't know that, Master Nat," said Cross.
The consequence was that our craft was securely moored, the tent once
more set up on shore, and after a good night's rest we started off to
explore the open wooded country around the beautiful falls close at
hand.
We left Cross in camp with the Indian, and his wife eagerly started with
us as guide, leading us through lovely patches of forest and open glade
till we were well above the falls, and where the little stream now
glided slowly along.
"It looks as if we're to find the quetzal at last," said my uncle
softly; "the woman seems so confident."
"I hope so," I said; "for if ever there was a beautiful home for a bird
it ought to be here."
We had hardly spoken before Mapah, who was some distance ahead, stopped,
held up her hand, and stole back, signing for us to take her place and
go forward.
We cocked our guns and stepped cautiously on, to find ourselves at the
edge of an opening where no less than five of the lovely birds we sought
were perched, each on a dead bough, with plumage absolutely glittering
in the sun-rays, which shot through, just as the flashing scale of the
humming-bird sends forth its gleams of broken light.
Every now and then one darted out into the full sunshine in chase of
butterfly or beetle, its loose tail-feathers spreading out comet-like
and waving in the clear air.
The scene was so striking that for some time we stood bending forward
watching the birds and their actions, every movement showing their
glorious plumage in a fresh light, and but one feeling was upon us--that
it was like sacrilege to destroy creatures so exquisitely perfect. At
last, though, the naturalist and collector prevailed. We had come
thousands of miles to secure specimens of these birds for English
museums, and have them we must.