Adventures of a Young Naturalist
The stream had hitherto flowed almost on a level with its banks, now the
latter became gradually higher, and we floated along under an arch of
foliage. L'Encuerado happened to raise himself to point out to Lucien a
tree covered with parrots, between whom and the Indian there immediately
commenced a lively chatter. Diverted by this amusing conversation,
none of us perceived an enormous branch, which just grazed our heads but
upset our entertainer. When he emerged from the water, instead of
swimming towards us, l'Encuerado made his way to the bank, and began,
with cutlass in hand, to hew and hack at the tree which had been the
cause of his accident.
"If you're going to cut down that colossus," cried my friend, "we had
better encamp here, for it's eight days work at least."
"Only wait ten minutes more, at most, Tatita Sumichrast. It shall never
be said that this great booby broke my head and then laughed at me, to
the heart's delight of the parrots, who no doubt were the instigators of
such conduct."
L'Encuerado, by the notches he had cut in the tree, could easily climb
up to the lowest branch; but in his haste he slipped and fell a second
time into the water.
In a twinkling the Indian was up astride again on his branch, jabbering
like an ape, and slashing his knife into it, when of a sudden it gave a
loud crack, and he and it descended with a splash into the river. At
this noise the parrots sent up a wild scream and flew off, while the
branch floated past us to the ocean. Our companion climbed up again on
the raft, and laughed so heartily at his defeat of the tree and the
fright he had caused to the parrots, that Lucien soon joined in his
gayety. He was, however, thoroughly exhausted, so lay down, when he
slept the peaceful sleep of a child which has tired itself out with a
fit of passion.
For two hours I managed the raft, and then l'Encuerado, awaking, resumed
his post in silence. Suddenly there was a heavy tramping on the ground,
the boughs moved, and the head of a wild bull appeared among the
creepers. The animal surveyed us for a moment with its fierce eyes, and
then made off, bellowing hoarsely.
The sight of this new denizen of the forest confirmed the omens as we
had already read them, and soon, accordingly, there burst upon our view
an immense savannah. We were just about to pass the last shrub on the
bank of the river, when l'Encuerado suddenly brought the boat to a
stand-still. I stood up and saw a herd of wild cattle moving rapidly
down to that portion of the stream which we were about to pass.
"Look out!" cried Sumichrast; "this is better worth seeing than the
crocodiles."
L'Encuerado landed, and, crossing the prairie, called us. I found him
close to an enormous willow-tree. Without loss of time, Lucien,
Sumichrast, and I climbed up among the branches, taking Gringalet with
us; but the Indian preferred posting himself in a more isolated
position.
"We shall have roast fillet of beef to-night," cried he, executing among
the branches such a series of gambols that I feared he would finish by
falling.
The cattle approached. The ground trembled under their feet, and we were
deafened by their bellowing. One of them, a magnificent bull, with a
black coat sprinkled with white spots, took the lead. The drove, which
first trotted on, and then stopped to browse, followed its
imperious-looking chief; the caymans, as if awakened by the uproar,
assembled at the opening of the savannah, and numerous watchful eyes
were to be seen on the surface of the water.
The wild drove halted at about fifty paces from the stream; the black
and white bull advanced alone and, first leisurely taking a drink,
plunged into the water; he reached the opposite bank, where he halted
and turned right about. Then the entire drove, above which was hovering
a cloud of horse-flies, dashed at full gallop into the stream to join
their guide. Although the drove must have consisted of hundreds, in
less than a quarter of an hour there were not left more than five or six
on our side, and these seemed afraid to cross. Suddenly a gun was fired,
and one of the animals came rushing past our tree with a jet of blood
flowing from his chest. Suddenly he stopped, groaned, and sank down upon
the ground. I cast a glance at l'Encuerado, who descended to the lowest
branch, continuing his gymnastic exercises. The young bulls on our side,
frightened by the report of the gun, at last made up their minds to
cross; one of them, however, stopping to drink, was seized by a
crocodile, and gradually drawn under the water. A second disappeared in
the middle of the stream; and a third, after a fearful struggle, reached
the bank. The whole drove, goaded on by the horse-flies, then resumed
their furious course, and were soon lost in the distance.
These cattle range the prairies in droves of sometimes forty thousand,
and were originally imported by the Spaniards.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE KING OF THE VULTURES.--THE TICKS.--L'ENCUERADO
FRIGHTENED BY A DEMON.--THE TAPIRS.--GOOD-BYE TO
THE STREAM.--THE PUMA'S PREY.--A MISERABLE
NIGHT.--OUR DEPARTURE.--THE SAVANNAH.--LUCIEN
CARRIED IN A LITTER.--HUNGER AND THIRST.--WE
ABANDON OUR BAGGAGE AND PETS IN DESPAIR.
The next morning l'Encuerado started alone on the raft; for we had
resolved to cross the savannah on foot, and thus escape, for an hour or
two, the insects which took advantage of our forced immobility in order
to bleed us at their leisure.
Flocks of black vultures hovered high up in the sky, bending their
course towards a spot not very far from the river bed. Our curiosity led
us in that direction, and in a large hole, with perpendicular sides,
about twelve yards wide, we saw several hundreds of these bare-necked
gentry fighting over the carcass of a buffalo. We were retiring in
disgust, when the vultures, who had not seemed the least alarmed at our
presence, suddenly manifested fear, and, abandoning their prey, stood
around in evident concern. A new guest had made its appearance in the
sky, and soared round and round above us. It settled down heavily, and
folded its black and white wings; the new-comer was the _Sarcoramphus
papa_ of the _savants_--a bird akin to the condor.
This king of the vultures, as the Indians call it, had a black tail, and
white plumage on its back. Its neck was adorned with a ruff of
pearl-gray feathers, and the top of its head was streaked in symmetrical
lines with a dark down; on its yellow beak there was a fleshy
protuberance, the utility of which ornithologists seek in vain to
explain. The magnificent bird darted round it a domineering look, and,
advancing towards the prey, began to feed. New guests were incessantly
arriving, but they all kept their distance.
At last the _sarcoramphus_ flew away, and immediately the vultures
rushed _en masse_ on the carcass, which soon disappeared under the crowd
of beaks.
We now made for the raft, but the distance was greater than we had
calculated; and, before going on board, it was highly necessary to free
ourselves of the hundreds of _ticks_ which we had collected in the
savannah. These insects are black, and as small as fleas, and gather in
masses at the extremities of plants, ready to attach themselves to any
animal that brushes against them. They then bury their claws in the
flesh, and greedily suck the blood. It is a tedious job to pick off one
by one these troublesome parasites, which cause an almost unbearable
itching.
About five o'clock in the evening, the raft came to shore in a bay
shaded by palm-trees. L'Encuerado hastened to stretch out his tigers'
skins, and, as night was at hand, we contented ourselves with the
remains of a tortoise. The Indian, who had walked but little, cocked his
gun and strolled along the edge of the river. In about a quarter of an
hour he returned, looking pale and excited.
"Have you been bitten by a serpent?" I cried.
"No, Tatita," he replied, quite out of breath; "something worse than
that! I have seen _it_!"
"What?" I exclaimed.
"A ghost!" said the Indian in a low tone, crossing himself.
"Pluck up your spirits," said I to the Indian; "if you have, we'll kill
it to-morrow."
"You can't kill it, Tatita."
"With ordinary bullets, no; but those which Sumichrast knows how to
prepare will soon settle him."
My curiosity was raised; for this ghost was an animal called a tapir,
which the Indians believe possessed of supernatural powers; and, as I
had never met with one, I was anxious that we should come across it.
"And didn't you aim at it?" cried my friend.
"No; I ran away," replied the fearless tiger-hunter.
Thus l'Encuerado, whom the evening before we had seen braving tigers,
crocodiles, and wild cattle, now trembled at the mere idea of facing an
inoffensive animal, which was only a relation of the peccaries, with a
snout terminated by a non-prehensile proboscis, yet to which his
imagination attributed certain demoniac qualities. He that night utterly
refused to go to rest; at the least rustling of the leaves he expected
to see the ghost appear. Instead of directly opposing his error--which I
knew would be of no use--I endeavored to convince him that my power far
surpassed that of the object of his dread.
"If it wasn't for that," I urged on him, "do you think I would permit
Lucien to sleep in so dangerous a neighborhood?"
Sumichrast gave the Indian two bullets, and solemnly told him that with
these projectiles he would surely kill the object of his dread if he
aimed straight. L'Encuerado gradually recovered his self-possession; the
idea of slaying in one of its most formidable shapes the cause of his
superstition excited his self-esteem, and he went to sleep, and no doubt
dreamt of his next day's exploit.
At day-break we walked down to the confluence of the two rivers; in
front of us stretched a broad prairie covered with thick grass. If the
tapir had not quenched its thirst in the night, it would be sure to
reappear; therefore Lucien and Sumichrast turned to the left close by
the stream, while I and my servant crouched down behind the trunk of a
tree at the entrance of the forest.
We remained in this position for more than an hour, when suddenly the
reeds were pushed, aside, and two of the looked-for pachyderms came out
together on the green-sward.
L'Encuerado kept on crossing himself without intermission.
"Fire," said I, in a low voice, "and aim straight at the forehead."
The gun went off, and the tapirs decamped; but one of them fell on the
ground before it could enter the water; it was dead ere we reached it.
"You have killed the object of your dread," said Lucien, who ran up to
examine the curious animal.
"Yes, Chanito, thanks to the enchanted bullets."
L'Encuerado having positively refused to touch the tapir, Sumichrast
undertook to cut it up, as we much wished to taste its flesh. All our
efforts to induce the Indian to do likewise were fruitless, and his
ingenious mind found a retort to all our arguments. The flesh of the
animal reminded us a little of that of the peccary, although it was less
highly flavored.
About midday the tigers' skins were taken up, and the raft was soon
floating over the combined streams. We had at first thought of
proceeding in this way as far as the Gulf of Mexico; but the season was
now too far advanced to admit of such an excursion. We at length made up
our minds that the next day we should abandon our raft, and return by
the shortest route to our starting-point.
At dawn of day our bivouac was enlivened by hundreds of birds.