It was evening when we were cast ashore in this new country, so that we
had not advanced far into the forest before night closed in and
compelled us to halt; for, had we continued our journey in the dark, we
should certainly have been drowned in one of the many deep morasses
which abounded there, and which we had found it difficult to steer clear
of, even in daylight.
As the moon arose and the stars began to glimmer in the sky, I observed,
to my dismay, that all kinds of noxious creatures and creeping things
began to move about, and strange hissing sounds and low dismal hootings
and wails were heard at times indistinctly, as if the place were the
abode of evil spirits, who were about to wake up to indulge in their
midnight orgies.
"Oh! Jack," said I, shuddering violently, as I stopped and seized my
companion by the arm. "I can't tell what it is that fills me with an
unaccountable sensation of dread. I--I feel as if we should never more
get out of this horrible swamp, or see again the blessed light of day.
See! see! what horrid creature is that?"
"Pooh! man," interrupted Jack, with a degree of levity in his tone which
surprised me much. "It's only a serpent. All these kind o' things are
regular cowards. Only let them alone and they're sure to let you alone.
I should like above all things to tickle up one o' these brutes, and
let him have a bite at my wooden toe! It would be rare fun, wouldn't
it, Bob, eh? Come, let us push on, and see that you keep me straight,
old fellow!"
I made no reply for some time. I was horrified at my comrade's levity
in such circumstances. Then, as I heard him continue to chuckle and
remark in an undertone on the surprise the serpent would get on
discovering the exceeding toughness of his toe, it for the first time
flashed across my mind that his sufferings had deranged my dear
companion's intellect.
The bare probability of such a dreadful calamity was sufficient to put
to flight all my previous terrors. I now cared nothing whatever for the
loathsome reptiles that wallowed in the swamps around me, and the quiet
glidings and swelterings of whose hideous forms were distinctly audible
in the stillness of approaching night. My whole anxiety was centred on
Jack. I thought that if I could prevail on him to rest he might
recover, and proposed that we should encamp; but he would not hear of
this. He kept plunging on, staggering through brake and swamp, reedy
pond and quaking morass, until I felt myself utterly unable to follow
him a step farther.