Generally, travelers or ramblers in the woods, who have slept in the forests under the lovely stars, are by howlings as fantastic as disagreeable. There is everything in this morning concert: clucking, , , , barking, and almost "speaking," if one may make use of this word, which completes the series of different noises.
There are the monkeys who thus the daybreak. There we meet the little "marikina," the marmoset with a speckled mask; the "mono gris," the skin of which the Indians use to recover the batteries of their guns; the "sagous," recognizable from their long bunches of hair, and many others, of this numerous family.
Of these various four-handed animals, the most are decidedly the "gueribas," with curling tails and a face like Beelzebub. When the sun rises, the oldest of the band, with an and mysterious voice, sings a . It is the baritone of the troop. The young repeat after him the morning symphony. The Indians say then that the "gueribas" recite their pater-nosters.
But, on this day, it seemed that the monkeys did not offer their prayer, for no one heard them; and, meanwhile, their voice is loud, for it is produced by the rapid of a kind of bony drum, formed by a of the hyoides bone in the neck.
In short, for one reason or for another, neither the "gueribas," nor the "sagous," nor any other four-handed animals of this immense forest, sang, on this morning, their usual concert.
This would not have satisfied the wandering Indians. Not that these natives appreciate this kind of strange choral music, but they willingly give chase to the monkeys, and if they do, it is because the flesh of this animal is excellent, above all, when it is smoke-dried.
Dick Sand, of course, could not be familiar with the habits of the "gueribas," neither were his companions, or this not hearing them would have been a subject of surprise. They awoke then, one after the other, much refreshed by these few hours of , which no alarm had come to disturb.
Little was not the last to stretch his arms. His first question was, to ask if Hercules had eaten a wolf during the night. No wolf had shown himself, and consequently Hercules had not yet breakfasted.
All, besides, were fasting like him, and after the morning prayer, Nan occupied herself preparing the repast.
The bill of fare was that of the supper of the night before, but with appetites sharpened by the morning air of the forest, no one dreamed of being difficult to please. It was necessary, above all, to gather strength for a good day's march, and they did it. For the first time, perhaps, Cousin Benedict comprehended that to eat was not an action indifferent or useless to life; only, he declared that he had not come to "visit" this country to walk with his hands in his pockets, and that, if Hercules prevented him from chasing the "cocuyos," and other flies, Hercules would have some trouble with him.
This threat did not seem to frighten the giant to any great extent. However, Mrs. Weldon took him aside and told him that, perhaps, he might allow his big baby to run to the right and left, but on condition that he did not lose sight of him. It would not do to completely Cousin Benedict from the pleasures so natural to his age.
At seven o'clock in the morning, the little troop took up their journey toward the east, preserving the order of march that had been adopted the previous day. It was always the forest. On this soil, where the heat and the moisture agreed to produce vegetation, it might well be thought that the of growth appeared in all its power. The parallel of this vast plateau was almost confounded with tropical , and, during certain months in summer, the sun, in passing to the zenith, its rays there. There was, therefore, an enormous quantity of heat in this earth, of which the subsoil preserved the damp. Also, nothing could be more magnificent than this succession of forests, or rather this interminable forest.
Meanwhile, Dick Sand had not failed to observe this—that, according to Harris, they were in the region of the pampas. Now, pampas is a word from the "quichna" language, which signifies a plain. Now, if his recollections did not deceive him, he believed that these plains presented the following characteristics: Lack of water, absence of trees, a failure of stones, an almost luxuriant abundance of thistles during the rainy season, thistles which became almost with the warm season, and then formed impenetrable ; then, also, trees, , the whole giving to these plains a rather and aspect.
Now, it had not been thus, since the little troop, guided by the American, had left the coast. The forest had not ceased to spread to the limits of the horizon. No, this was not the pampas, such as the young had imagined them. Had nature, as Harris had told him, been able to make a region apart from the plateau of Atacama, of which he knew nothing, if it did not form one of the most vast deserts of South America, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean?
On that day Dick Sand some questions on this subject, and expressed to the American the surprise he felt at this singular appearance of the pampas.
But he was quickly undeceived by Harris, who gave him the most exact details about this part of Bolivia, thus witnessing to his great knowledge of the country.
"You are right, my young friend," he said to the novice. "The true pampa is indeed such as the books of travels have it to you, that is, a plain rather arid, and the crossing of which is often difficult. It recalls our savannahs of North America—except that these are a little . Yes, such is indeed the pampa of the Rio Colorado, such are the "llanos" of the Orinoco and of Venezuela. But here, we are in a country, the appearance of which even astonishes me. It is true, it is the first time I have followed this route across the plateau, a route which has the advantage of shortening our journey. But, if I have not yet seen it, I know that it presents an extraordinary contrast to the veritable pampa. As to this one, you would find it again, not between the Cordilleras of the west and the high chain of the Andes, but beyond the mountains, over all that eastern part of the continent which extends as far as the Atlantic."
"Must we then clear the Andes range?" Dick Sand asked, quickly.
"No, my young friend, no," replied the American, smiling. "So I said: You would find it again, and not: You will find it again. Be , we shall not leave this plateau, the greatest of which do not exceed fifteen hundred feet. Ah! if it had been necessary to cross the Cordilleras with only the means of transport at our disposal, I should never have you into such an ."
"In fact," replied Dick Sand, "it would be better to or the coast."
"Oh! a hundred times!" replied Harris. "But the Farm of San Felice is on this side of the Cordilleras. So, then, our journey, neither in its first nor in its second part, will offer any real difficulty."
"And you do not fear going astray in these forests, which you cross for the first time?" asked Dick Sand.
"No, my young friend, no," replied Harris. "I know indeed that this forest is like an immense sea, or rather like the bottom of a sea, where a sailor himself could not take the nor recognize his position. But accustomed to traveling in the woods, I know how to find my route only by the of certain trees, by the direction of their leaves, by the movement or the composition of the soil, by a thousand details which escape you! Be sure of it, I will lead you, you and yours, where you ought to go!"
All these things were said very clearly by Harris. Dick Sand and he, at the head of the troop, often talked without any one in their conversation. If the novice felt some doubts that the American did not always succeed in , he preferred to keep them to himself.
The 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of April passed in this manner, without any incident to mark the journey. They did not make more than eight to nine miles in twelve hours. The times to eating or repose came at regular , and though a little was felt already, the condition was still very satisfactory.
Little Jack began to suffer a little from this life in the woods, to which he was not accustomed, and which was becoming very monotonous for him. And then all the promises which had been made him had not been kept. The caoutchouc jumping-jacks, the humming-birds, all those seemed constantly to . There had also been a question of showing him the most beautiful parrots in the world, and they ought not to be wanting in these rich forests. Where, then, were the popinjays with green plumage, almost all originally from these countries, the aras, with naked cheeks, with long tails, with glittering colors, whose paws never rest on the earth, and the "camindes," which are more to tropical countries, and the many-colored she-parrots, with feathered faces, and finally all those birds which, according to the Indians, still speak the language of extinct tribes?
Of parrots, little Jack only saw ash-gray jakos, with red tails, which under the trees. But these jakos were not new to him. They have transported them into all parts of the world. On the two continents they fill the houses with their insupportable , and, of all the family of the "psittacius," they are the ones which learn to speak most easily.
It must be said, besides, that if Jack was not , Cousin Benedict was no more so. He had been allowed to wander a little to the right or to the left during the march. However, he had not found any insect which was fit to enrich his collection. Even the "pyrophores" refused to show themselves to him, and attract him by the phosphorescences of their corselet. Nature seemed truly to mock the unhappy entomologist, whose temper was becoming cross.
For four days more the march toward the northeast was continued in the same way. On the 16th of April the distance traversed from the coast could not be estimated at less than one hundred miles. If Harris had not gone astray—and he affirmed it without hesitation—the Farm of San Felice was no more than twenty miles from the halting place of that day. Before forty-eight hours the little troop then would have a comfortable shelter where its members could at last repose from their .
Meanwhile, though the plateau had been almost crossed in its middle part, not a native, not a wanderer had been encountered under the immense forest.
More than once, without saying anything about it, Dick Sand regretted being unable to go on some other point of the coast. More to the south, or more to the north, villages, hamlets, or would not have been lacking, and long before this Mrs. Weldon and her companions would have found an .
But, if the country seemed to be abandoned by man, animals showed themselves more frequently during these last days. At times was heard a kind of long, cry, that Harris attributed to some of those large tardi-grades, of those vast wooded regions, named "ais."
On that day, also, during the midday halt, a passed through the air, which made Mrs. Weldon very uneasy, because it was so strange.
"What is that?"' she asked, rising hastily.
"A serpent!" cried Dick Sand, who gun, in hand, threw himself before
Mrs. Weldon.
They might fear, in fact, that some would among the plants to the halting place. It would be nothing astonishing if it were one of those enormous "sucurus," kinds of boas, which sometimes measure forty feet in length.
But Harris reminded Dick Sand that the blacks were already following, and he reassured Mrs. Weldon.
According to............