Adventures of a Young Naturalist
"Here are grass and flowers! Forward! forward!" cried Sumichrast.
"Forward!" Lucien re-echoed.
The great trees, which were now farther apart, allowed the rays of the
sun to penetrate the foliage, and the creepers drooped down in flowery
festoons. The convolvuluses, the ferns, and the parasites, all entangled
together, compelled us to use our knives. A somewhat steep ascent,
anxiously scaled, led us up to a plateau. In front of us stretched a
prairie dotted over with thickets, and bordered with forests of
palm-trees, laurels, magnolias, and mahogany-trees, from which sounded
the songs of various birds, mingled with the harsh cry of parrots.
Panting, weary, and perfectly soaked with perspiration, I proposed to
bivouac on the plateau. Indeed, the sun was setting, and we had only
just time to collect the wood we required for the fire. This task
finished, I went and sat down with Lucien on the highest point we could
find. The mountains of the _Terre-Temperee_ showed against the horizon,
although we were already at least fifteen leagues from them. We long
looked down on the tree-tops of the forest we had just crossed, and the
uniformity of the dark-green foliage had a most gloomy aspect; and,
while close round us there were a number of birds fluttering about the
trees, none of the feathered tribe ventured into the solitudes we had so
lately traversed.
"I can not catch a sight of either rivulet or stream," said Lucien.
"Courage!" replied Sumichrast, who had seated himself by us. "The birds
which are flying round us can not live without drinking, and their large
number shows that there is plenty of water near."
"Hiou! hiou! Chanito."
"Ohe! ohe!" replied Lucien, darting to the place whence he heard the
familiar cry.
The two friends went down the hill together, l'Encuerado carrying his
enormous gourd.
"Can he have discovered water?" said I to my companion, and I approached
the fire where the game was roasting under the inspection of Gringalet.
Sumichrast remained to look after the cooking of the birds, and I
overtook Lucien and the Indian just at the moment when they were bending
over a plant with scarlet-red leaves, which grew encircling the stem of
a magnolia. About a glassful of limpid fluid flowed from it into the
calabash.
"Can we get water from this shrub by merely pressing it?" asked Lucien,
with surprise.
"All that is needed is to bend it," I replied. "It treasures up the
precious dew between its leaves, and l'Encuerado and I should have died
of thirst in one of our expeditions if it had not been for this plant."
"Why doesn't it grow in every forest?" asked Lucien.
"Certainly, if it grew everywhere, one of the greatest obstacles to
travelling in the wilderness would be removed."
"And what's the name of this plant?"
"The Creoles call it the 'Easter flower;' it is one of the
_bromelaceae_."
"Does it produce any fruit good to eat?"
"No, but in case of extreme necessity its large red leaves would appease
hunger."
We reascended the hill, when an uproar proceeding from the edge of the
forest reached our ears. L'Encuerado smiled, showing us the double range
of his white teeth.
"See down there," he said to Lucien, pointing to a corner of the wood,
away from which all the birds seemed to be flying.
There was a whole tribe of monkeys frolicking about among the creepers.
"Let us go and look at them more closely," said Lucien.
"It is too late now, Chanito; they have just been drinking, and will
soon go to sleep; but we shall eat some of them to-morrow--and now our
supper is waiting for us."
We finished our meal, and when the sun was setting we saw the paroquets
fly by in couples, and humming-birds flitting about among the bushes;
suddenly a formidable roaring made us all tremble.
"Oh! what is that dreadful noise?" cried Lucien.
"A tiger!" said l'Encuerado, whose eyes glittered with excitement.
"Not a tiger, but a jaguar (_Leopardus onca_)," said I; "the former
animal is found only in the Old World."
The king of the American forests again saluted the setting sun.
Gringalet, with his tail between his legs, came crouching down close to
us; a second fire was lighted, and we lay down to sleep with the
indifference which familiarity gives even in regard to the very greatest
dangers.
CHAPTER XXVII.
L'ENCUERADO AND THE PARROTS.--GRINGALET MEETS A FRIEND.--THE COUGAR, OR
AMERICAN LION.--A STREAM.--OUR "PALM-TREE VILLA."--TURTLES' EGGS.--THE
TANTALUS.--HERONS AND FLAMINGOES.
The parrots that we heard chattering were quite sufficient to wake us up
in the morning. The sun rose red and angry; a perfect concert soon
greeted its appearance. The hoccos set up their sonorous clucking, and
birds of every kind came fluttering round us. Lucien, now reconciled to
the virgin forests, was never tired of admiring the varieties of trees,
shrubs, or bushes, and the infinite number of the winged inhabitants
which enliven them. We slowly descended into the plain; even now the
heat was too much for us, and long marches would soon be impossible. A
flock of cardinals, with crested heads, flew around us and settled on a
magnolia, which then looked as if it was covered with purple flowers.
Farther on, some paroquets, no bigger than sparrows, greeted us with
their varied cries. L'Encuerado, after tossing his head several times,
and shrugging his shoulders, at last stopped, and could not refrain from
answering them.
"Come and carry it yourselves!" he cried; "come and carry it yourselves,
and prove that you are stronger than a man!"
"What are you asking the birds to do?" demanded Lucien.
"They are making fun of my load, Chanito; a set of lazy fellows, who all
of them together would not be able to move it!"
Sumichrast made his way into the forest, cutting away the creepers with
his _machete_ in order to clear a passage. In less than an hour we had
crossed five or six glades. Suddenly I noticed that Gringalet had
disappeared. I called him, and a distant barking answered me.
"Can he have met with a stream?" said Sumichrast.
I advanced in the direction in which I had heard the voice of our
four-footed companion, and suddenly came upon him baying furiously at a
young cougar, which Sumichrast ran towards, but the animal fled into the
wood.
"Where did you turn out this fellow, Gringalet?" asked l'Encuerado,
quite seriously. "Don't trust too much to his friendship, for it might
be the worse for you; lions seldom fondle any thing without hurting it."
"Was it a lion?" asked Lucien.
"Yes," I answered; "but an American lion, or cougar, known by _savants_
as the _Felis puma_."
"How I should like to have seen it! Had it a mane?"
"No; the puma is without one."
We were crossing another glade, when Gringalet suddenly rushed between
our legs. On looking back, I saw the puma slyly following us.
"Well, upon my word!" said Sumichrast; "does this fellow want to prove
that a cougar will attack a man?"
L'Encuerado, who had put down his load, was already aiming at the
animal.
"Don't shoot!" I cried, authoritatively.
The puma did not advance any farther, but glared at us with its yellow
eyes, its tail lashing its sides with a measured movement, while it
displayed a formidable row of tusks. Suddenly it stretched itself along
the ground, as if about to play. Lucien was now able to examine
leisurely the beautiful tawny color of its coat. It surveyed us with
such a quiet, gentle aspect, that it seemed as if it belonged to our
party, even pushing its confidence so far as to begin its toilet by
first licking its paws, and then rubbing them over its muzzle.
I gave the word for continuing our journey. L'Encuerado obeyed very
reluctantly. After this rencontre I placed Lucien, who congratulated
himself upon having had such a near view of the beautiful animal, in the
middle of the party.
"If we don't eat the lion, it will eat us," said the Indian. "If we had
only wounded it, it would have gone and told all its companions that it
was any thing but prudent to go too close to our fire."
"Well, if it comes near us again, I give you leave to shoot it."
"You do? it's a bargain!" cried L'Encuerado. "Stop a minute, Tata
Sumichrast; cock your gun, Chanito; you shall have the first shot."
We stood together in a group, and I looked in vain for the cougar.
"The rascal has got in front of us," added the Indian. "We'll astonish
him in a moment. Come this way, Chanito, but don't run or turn round. Do
you see that tree that stands in front of us? Not so far that way--that
one we were just going to pass under. Look at the wonderful fruit it has
on it!"
"It is the puma!" exclaimed the boy.
"That's pleasant!" muttered Sumichrast. "Then there are two pumas."
"No, no, Tata Sumichrast, it is the same one. Aim between its eyes,
Chanito; fire!"
There were two reports almost at the same moment, and the animal tumbled
down upon the ground without uttering a cry.
"Don't be too quick, Chanito," continued the Indian; "this is not a
water-dog; always reload your gun, whether the enemy be dead or not,
before you trust yourself within its reach."
Gringalet ventured to bark round the beast, and I kept in readiness to
shoot, while my companions cautiously advanced. The cougar had been
struck in the forehead, and no longer breathed. It was about three feet
in length, and its hair, which was slightly waved on some parts of its
body, showed it was a young one. The Indian raised the animal's enormous
head.
"Come," he said, "you deserve to die like a warrior. You are the first
of your race which ever ventured so close to my gun. Was it Chanito you
wanted to devour?"
"I think it much more probable that it wanted Gringalet; what a pity it
is that we can't tame these beautiful cats!"
"Cats!" repeated Lucien.
"Yes, to be sure; the great African lion itself is nothing but the
largest and strongest of all the cat tribe. Didn't you know that?"
"I thought the lion was a beast by itself; but, at all events, it is the
king of mammals?"
"It is rightly thought to be the strongest of all the carnivora: its
head, which it carries upright, and its beautiful mane, give it a
majestic appearance. With regard to its reputation for generosity, I
scarcely know what it is founded on; I fancy that the famous lion of
Androcles had just enjoyed a plentiful meal when it spared the life of
its benefactor."
It was no use to think of skinning our victim, for the flies were
already swarming on the dead body, although it was still warm.
L'Encuerado wished to attribute to Lucien the honor of killing the puma;
but the boy, although he had always longed to achieve such a feat, said
at once that he had missed his aim.
I stopped in front of a tree (_hymenaea_) belonging to the leguminous
family, the pods of which contain a sweet pulp, and from its trunk oozes
out a resin, which is much sought after by the Indians, who use it as a
cure for stomach-ache. A little farther on, a mango-tree tempted
l'Encuerado, who, like all his countrymen, was fond of its fruit. I
disliked the nauseous smell and taste of them, which reminds me of
turpentine, although in some countries, where care is taken in their
cultivation, they are said to be delicious.
Sumichrast, who was our guide, had to open a passage for us through a
perfect net-work of purple-flowered creepers. I helped him in his work,
and when we had overcome this obstacle, we found ourselves in a small
plain, in the middle of which rose a clump of palm-trees. Gringalet ran
off to the right, and soon returned with his muzzle all wet. Lucien, who