Adventures of a Young Naturalist Part 42

"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 gla.s.sful 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "There was a whole tribe of monkeys frolicking about."]

"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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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 pa.s.sage. 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."