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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37732-8.txt b/37732-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92fcd47 --- /dev/null +++ b/37732-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4885 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Emigrant's Lost Son, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Emigrant's Lost Son + or, Life Alone in the Forest + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: George Henry Wall + +Illustrator: Corbould + +Release Date: October 12, 2011 [EBook #37732] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Frank Osborne's alarm on discovering a bow and quiver +suspended in the forest] + + + + + +[Illustration: Title page] + + + + + +THE + +EMIGRANT'S LOST SON: + +OR, + +LIFE ALONE IN THE FOREST. + + + +EDITED BY + +GEORGE HENRY WALL. + + + +_NEW EDITION._ + + + +_Illustrated by Corbould_ + + + +LONDON: + +ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE, + +FARRINGDON STREET. + +NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. + +1860. + +[_The Author of this Work reserves to himself the right of +Translating._] + + + + +LONDON; + +SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, + +COVENT GARDEN. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR + + +CHAPTER I. + +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND, AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST + + +CHAPTER II. + +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST--MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED + + +CHAPTER III. + +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT--THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY IN THE FOREST +DESCRIBED + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR--AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO--I AM ATTACKED WITH A +FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT + + +CHAPTER V. + +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION OF NATURE, IN WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL +ESCAPE--AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF +INDIANS + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS--I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM + + + + +INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR + +That no person in this state of existence may be tempted to assert his +own independence, the affairs of life are so ordered that much of the +happiness enjoyed by mankind depends upon their communion with each +other. Human affections, if they were permitted to act freely, as they +spontaneously arise in the breast of mankind, are designed to bind all +the human race in one bond of brotherhood. + +Our own parents and near relatives first call these affections into +active exercise. Their care and attention to our welfare, the interest +they take in preserving us in a state of safety and health, and in +teaching us also the duties we owe both to our Creator and +fellow-creatures, tend to give the first impetus to the germs of our +affections; and it is by the exercise of these very affections that we +derive a continual source of happiness, which becomes hereafter the +chief means by which the refinement of the senses may be effected. +Thus it is, that when death, or other causes, deprive us of our +immediate parental guidance, the affections as naturally seek for new +objects, on which to exert their influence, as the operations of any +other well recognised principles proceed in the works of nature. + +The author and hero of the following narrative, was called upon to +experience the sudden deprivation of not only his parents, but of all +his dearest friends; and that at an age when the heart first expands to +the relations of our existence, and is most sensitive to the emotions +of grief; when, unexpectedly and unprepared, it is cut off from all +sympathy or communication with human kind. At the age of thirteen he +was lost in an almost boundless Guiana forest, where he remained for +several years, dependent solely upon his own resources, mental and +physical--that is, on the one hand, to bear the mind up against the +shock it received in being thrown suddenly into solitude; and, on the +other, to provide for his daily wants. That man never was intended to +live in what is denominated "a state of nature," is manifest by his +long infancy and the tardy development of his mental powers. No animal +is so long after its birth before it can support the body on its legs +as man; in none is the period of complete adult stature so long +protracted. When born into the world he is entirely defenceless, his +great distinctions from other animals are reason and speech: these, +however, are germs which are not developed of themselves, but are +brought to maturity by extraneous assistance, cultivation, and +education; hence we must infer that man was intended for social union, +and that his imaginary state of nature, which some writers have spoken +of, never has existed. + +Man, however, in his nature, is limited in no respect; being fitted for +every kind of life, every climate, and every variety of food. The +Deity has given him the whole earth for his abode, and the produce +thereof for his nourishment. With the advantages, however, of an early +moral and religious education, together with an excellent constitution, +our juvenile exile from man was enabled, under the direction of a +watchful Providence, to preserve his life, protect his mind against +despondency, and procure a subsistence in the midst of dangers. + +The difficulties he encountered, the manner in which he overcame them, +and the scenes which were brought under his view in the extended field +of observation into which he was thrown, it is the object of the +following narrative to lay before the reader. To those whose knowledge +extends not beyond the world of man to the boundless fields of nature, +it may appear that such a life must have been one of monotonous +listlessness, from which few materials could be gathered to impart +knowledge or interest to the general reader. + +Our hero, however, found employment for the mind in every moment of his +waking hours, and was furnished with objects for study in the forest, +that might engage the longest period of life allotted to man to +catalogue or enumerate. + +Happily for the exile, his mind was formed to seek for knowledge in the +only sources open to man for the full development of the intellectual +powers; namely, observation and reflection. + +Denied the aid of books, in the far woods that "steeped in their +moonbeams lie," he called upon his Maker, and the echo of the floor of +the forest recognised his presence. Acquiring confidence from this +assurance, and relying on Providence for protection, he converted the +scenes around him into a school of study, and realized in the woods a +life of activity instead of one of solitude. He soon discovered, when +left to draw deductions from his own experience in the scenes of +Nature, that there is nothing but what is beautiful, nothing unworthy +of admiration. "The disregard," he says, "which by many is paid to her +productions, reflects no honour on those who evince it, and little +credit on a system of education that does not at once lead its pupils +to the grand fountain of all knowledge. While the majority," he adds, +"of my youthful contemporaries were engaged in committing to memory a +vocabulary of words, I was busily engaged in studying the things +themselves." While others were spending their time in acquiring a +knowledge of the customs and forms of artificial society, our exile had +the great book of nature widely spread open before him, Throughout that +period of life which is usually devoted, by the majority of +individuals, to study the purposes of social life, he was conversing +only with the trees; or with the birds, and insects, and other tribes, +of the animal kingdom, all the works of God, and to which his +attachment was ardent and sincere. Now that he is again in the society +of his fellow-men, the recollections of his sylvan probation are as +vividly depicted on his mind as at the moment when he first received +the impressions. Trees which supplied him with food, or shelter from +the heat of the sun or the rains of the climate, are still dear to his +recollection, and he often reverts to them with feelings of gratitude +and respect, from which he would not, if he could, estrange the +affections of his heart. + +There is no music so sweet to his ear as the breezes that animated the +lofty cloud-aspiring monarchs of the forest, with which he claims a +peculiar acquaintance, or the murmuring of the brook, where he was wont +to slake his thirst; no concert to his sense of sound so grateful as +the wild notes of the birds that chanted, morning and evening, their +Maker's praise, as he offered up his own prayers of gratitude for the +prolongation of his existence, or the hummings of the myriads of +insects, that every hour, in his woodland rovings, arrested his +attention. + +It was while listening to these voices of the Creator that his heart +was first touched with feelings of admiration and wonder at the +multifarious and exquisitely organized beings that everywhere, whether +in tranquil meditation or in active search of his food, met his sight. +He saw nature everywhere teeming with life, and proclaiming in language +intelligible to every one the presence of an All-directing Power. It +was in the forest, too, in the midst of the wonders of the creation, +that the lost youth first aspired to lift up his thoughts to heaven, +and mentally exclaim--"These are thy works, oh God!" It was also in +the lonely wilderness he first cherished the hope, in the language of +the Indian, that the Great Spirit had provided for him a higher state +of happiness; and then it was he offered up a prayer, that this hope +might, in his Maker's own time, be realized. It was also in the +wilderness, communing with his own thoughts, that he first received an +assurance that he possessed a soul to be saved, and became imbued with +a firm conviction that the wise Creator, in his infinite beneficence, +designed the happiness of his creatures, and that nothing can deprive +the human race of his blessings but a connexion with sin. + +With an undivided mind, intent only on examining and admiring the works +of creation, the youth, in his lonely wayfaring, everywhere found the +presence of his Maker. At the earliest moment of incipient vegetation, +he was busy watching the indications of bursting nature preparing to +re-robe the trees; and in a prospective vista he beheld the joyous +movements of the various tribes of birds and insects providing for the +wants of themselves and their progeny. Not less busily was his mind +engaged when these labours actually commenced, in noting the +construction of their habitations, and in admiring the wonderful +ingenuity each displayed in providing for its own peculiar wants and +safety. + +Thus engaged in almost continual observation, he was enabled to trace +the manner in which numbers of the feathered and insect tribes worked +out the purposes of their existence. As the multifarious branches of +the trees of the forest expanded themselves into fulness of leaf, he +saw nations after nations of living things on the move to claim his +attention, all pouring forth to seize on their share of the abundance +of nature. As each revolving season hastened the decay of or imparted +new vigour to the monarchs of the forest, the exile from man had an +opportunity, abstracted as he was from the busy affairs of human life, +to distinguish the various characteristics of the tribes of insects +that took possession of the trees, differing from those which, +apparently innoxiously, fed on their fulness of vegetable youthfulness, +and the insects that came to prey only on the trunk or branches of +those that age or disease had brought to decay. He saw the leaves of +the forest come into life, witnessed their gradual expansion into +verdant beauty; he was there, likewise, at their decline and +fall--recurring symbols of the succession of the races of mankind,--and +when, the biting north winds denuded of their leaves many of these +mighty monarchs of the forest, he collected them to form his woodland +bed. No season passed without adding to his store of information in +reference to the works of nature, which knowledge, as we have already +said, it is the design of this work to impart to others. It is the +natural history of the forest, or so much of it as has been seen by one +individual during a period of six years' sojourn in its solitude. + +From what has been stated, the reader will not expect to find any +classified arrangement of subjects in this work; things are spoken of +as they were seen, either in the stillness of the shade at one time, or +in the raging of the storm at another. Forest trees, in general, are +described; those which may afford food to man are more frequently +mentioned. Of quadrupeds, birds of the air, and insects, those that +most excited his attention are more especially noticed. Those whose +ferocity or whose shyness rendered it hazardous or difficult to +approach them, are less spoken of. The details of the author's +history, in reference to his probation in the wilds of nature, he has +endeavoured to relate in a most familiar manner, and in the simplest +language; and when describing scenes and events, faithfully to impart +the impressions made on his own mind as they occurred. + +Reasoning from the convictions arising from his experience,--that is, +the effects wrought upon his own mind--he thinks that the study of +natural objects, used as a means for the improvement of the religious +and moral character of mankind, has been much overlooked by the +philanthropist, and neglected by those who are sincere in their desire +to improve their own species. + +When the author was restored to society, nothing more excited his +surprise than the total absence of a system of education which should +at once direct the mind of youth to the fountain of all knowledge; and, +in consequence, to persons he met with who took any lively interest in +the study of natural objects, he remarked, "Your system of education +appears more designed to exercise the mere verbal memory, than to +excite observation or reflection;" adding, "that an acquaintance with +the works of the Deity, as they are seen remote from the haunts of men, +not only expands and elevates the thought, but spiritualises the soul." +The contemplation of nature's works, while it subdues the pride of man, +harmonizes the feelings of social life, and in a peculiar manner +prepares the mind for the reception of revealed truths. It is only +necessary to add that, the education of the "Emigrant's Son," +previously to his exclusion from the world of man, had not in any way +been of a peculiarly religious tendency; nor had he evinced any +predilection for discussing religious topics. Yet, when he was brought +to contemplate the works of the Deity on an extended scale, he +everywhere found the indications of the presence of a superior and +all-wise Creator in those scenes. It is therefore natural that he +should feel a desire that others should seek and find Him at the same +pure fountain of knowledge. "The voice of my beloved; behold he cometh +leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." (Solomon, ii. 9.) + +True it is, that the student who once enters the portals of natural +history, seldom thinks of returning. Strolling from object to object, +his appetite is never satiated. St. Pierre aptly remarked, that +"nature invites to the cultivation of herself." Should the perusal of +the following page direct the mind of the youthful reader to the study +of nature, the object of publishing this narrative will have been +attained. + +G. H. W. + +HARRINGTON COTTAGE, + BROMPTON + + + + +THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST. + + + "On the bosom, lone and still, + Of nature east, I early sought to stroll + Through wood and wild, o'er forest, rook, and hill, + Companionless; without a wish or goal, + Save to discover every shape and voice + Of living thing that there did fearlessly rejoice." + + +As it is my object to lay before my readers only that portion of my +life which was passed in the wilds of nature, it will be unnecessary +for me to detain them with a lengthened account of the genealogy of my +family. + +My father occupied a small farm in the west of England, situate near a +peaceful village, the curate of which superintended the education of +myself and some fourteen or fifteen of the neighbouring youths. I was +between ten and eleven years of age, when a stranger arrived at our +house, informing the family that, in consequence of the death of my +father's elder brother, he, together with two surviving brothers, had +jointly become the proprietors of a tract of land situate in the +south-western part of Guiana. + +It subsequently appeared that my deceased uncle had speculated in the +purchase of the land in question, intending to have invited his three +brothers to join him in the cultivation of it. Death frustrated these +intentions, the land became the joint property of the survivors, and +after using every effort to dispose of it in this country, being +unsuccessful in meeting with a purchaser, the three brothers came to +the resolution of going out, together with their families, and sharing +their newly-acquired property. + +[Sidenote: First leaving home] + +When the order was finally given to prepare for the voyage, it operated +on my mind almost as a penal sentence; expatriation presented itself to +my imagination as the climax of all evils. It now suddenly occurred to +me that I had a thousand local attachments, all of which were to be +broken asunder; my imagination passing in review a painful parting with +my schoolfellows and other intimates; when all the early and recent +scenes of my short career poured in on the memory, and seemed to bind +me to the immediate locality of my existence and its environs. I then +discovered that I had a real attachment for my teacher, the good pastor +of a small flock; indeed, every person known to me, I thought had, in +some way, been peculiarly kind, and a torrent of gratitude overflowed +the heart; while the idea of quitting the scenes of my childhood, and +all I then knew of the world, presented itself as the annihilation of +every object from which I had hitherto derived pleasure. + +The young heart is generally thought to bound with joyousness at the +prospect of a change of scene, but it was otherwise with me: the world, +in the map of my microcosm, excepting the circumscribed view I had +taken of it, was an entire desert, where there was no one to love or be +loved. In this state of mind the agitation of my feelings nearly +choked me, till I sought the favourite arm of a tree in the orchard, +where, unobserved, I found relief in a flood of tears. Still +oppressed, as the evening advanced I crept to bed without speaking to +any one,--not even to my sister, whose buoyant joyfulness at the time +excited my surprise. I spent the night in a state of half-dreamy +stupor, being neither asleep nor awake; whilst the imagination was +engaged in endeavouring to contrast the retrospection of the past with +the prospects of the future. Every act of kindness which had been +bestowed upon me, stood out in strong relief in my memory, as a vista +of other days, and into which I had not previously been permitted to +look; whilst the little village-world was presented to my view as a +bright speck in creation--an oasis in a desert, all around which was a +mass of confusion and darkness. + +The placid countenance of the curate, monarch of his locality, with all +the scholastic paraphernalia, were brought vividly under review; the +form on which I was wont to sit, with every cut I had made on the +well-marked desk with my knife--an instrument with which boys early +prove themselves tool-loving animals--were all objects of endearment to +me. My fancy then roamed into the little churchyard, where I took a +view of each mouldering heap, with the tombstones at the head and foot, +every epitaph on which I had committed to memory. I then stood under +the brave old Hercules, as we designated an oak tree where four of us +had met most days to proceed together to school. Here I distinctly +noted--such is the power of memory when the feelings are excited--each +abrupt rising of its rugged roots, and marked the boundary of its +shadows at different hours of the day, as described by its broad, +out-spreading limbs on the greensward. + +I wandered to the copse, entered by a well-defined gap at the angular +point; noted each spot where I had taken eggs or young ones from birds +that had been incautious enough to attract my attention; paused to take +a last look at the hazel from which I had gathered the largest cob-nut; +lingering at every step, and sighing as I passed each object of +remembrance. The following morning, sleepless and weary, I arose with +the sun, and collected all my little stock of property--bows and +arrows, fishing-tackle, bats, balls, and other juvenile valuables; +these I labelled as presents to my intimates. My heart then knew how +highly it was susceptible of friendship; it had yet to learn how +readily, after the lapse of a few years, such attachments are +forgotten. The desire in after life to meet with an old schoolfellow +is seldom prompted by a higher motive than a curiosity to learn his +success in the world. + +It is probable that my parents had associations and connexions from +which they were about to separate, and deeper feelings of regret to +struggle with, than myself, when parting from attached friends. It is +fresh in my memory that our calls were very numerous, and that many +reasons were adduced to dissuade my father from emigration. The Sunday +previously to our departure, the curate, from the pulpit, mentioned the +intention of the families to emigrate, and offered up a prayer for the +realization of their prospects of success. I shall ever remember the +day I left the kind preceptor of my youth and the companions of my +boyish days. My father had sent a chaise to fetch me and my valuable +stock of personal property a day before our final departure. I think I +see now the mild old curate shaking my hand and giving me his blessing +and friendly advice, while around the gate of the old house were +assembled my school companions, to take a last sight of me before I +took my leave of home and of them. + +[Sidenote: Voyage to Demerara] + +Our journey to the coast, and voyage to Demerara, a _ci-devant_ Dutch +settlement, was unattended by any circumstance of peculiar interest. I +therefore take up the narrative from the period of our landing. My +father was purely a business man, never permitting pleasure or +curiosity to divert him from his pursuits. Immediately, therefore, on +our arrival at Demerara, preparations were made for us to proceed on +towards our destination, regarding the situation and name of which I +had not up to that time taken any interest, I had, however, heard that +we had to travel some hundreds of miles over a country where there were +no roads, as in England. I also remember a long discussion between my +father and my two uncles, whether we should travel with a waggon or +purchase horses and mules to carry our luggage and relieve the females +when fatigued. As our course was through an extensive wooded country, +where carriages could not conveniently pass, the latter mode of +travelling was ultimately adopted. Our party consisted of nine +persons, namely, my father, mother, sister, and self; one uncle, with a +grown-up son (his father being a widower); the other uncle, his wife, +and son (a youth three years older than myself). + +My father provided himself with a horse and mule; the latter to carry +our personal necessaries, and the former to alternately relieve my +mother, and my sister, who was a healthy girl of sixteen years of age, +when either was fatigued with walking. One other horse was purchased +for the use of my aunt and the party in general. We were provided with +two painted cloths, to be used as a covering when we should halt for +rest, and no better accommodation could be obtained. I remember my +father making a pen-and-ink sketch of the route, marking down, with the +assistance of a traveller, the stages we were daily to accomplish. + +[Sidenote: Crossing the savanna] + +Thus prepared and equipped, as all of us were in excellent health and +spirits, we commenced our journey over the plantations of the settlers, +proceeding onwards till we reached the extended savannas--open plains. +Here the scene was altogether so new and striking, that it was with +difficulty I could be prevented from running after every living thing +that came under my view. At one moment I was lost in wonder at the +multitudes of creeping creatures which, at every step, crossed my path, +while the birds of the air in numbers, variety, and plumage, fixed me +with astonishment. My excitement was so great that I actually screamed +with delight; at another moment I ran from object to object with such +eagerness, that, my mother became alarmed for my intellect, affirming +that no one in their senses could sustain so much unnatural excitement. + +On the third day of our journey I began to be seriously fatigued, and +my father placed me across the back of our mule. This, however, was a +measure against which the animal at once entered his protest, by +refusing to move forward the moment I threw my legs across him; his +conduct seemed to imply that at starting a contract had been made with +him to carry the baggage, and he would not consent to its infringement; +and it would appear that the mere attempt to overburden him soured his +temper for the whole journey; for a more obstinate or perverse mule was +never crossed by man or boy. At length we entered into a compromise, +by removing a portion of his baggage to one of our horses; and he then +allowed me to ride in peace, as he proceeded sulkily along. He was, +however, faithful to his second bargain, never evincing any more +discontent. This third day of our journey was the longest we had yet +had, and we were all of us anxiously looking for some habitation +towards its close, where we might rest for the night. The sun soon +promised to hide his golden beams behind the hills which formed the +horizon, and we all showed signs of fatigue. We were much delighted +when my father informed us that we were approaching the house of a +settler, where he hoped to obtain shelter for the night. We proceeded +up a steep declivity to the house in question, forming rather a +picturesque party. My sister was first, mounted on a heavy dappled +grey horse, with my father and mother by her side. I followed on my +mule; while the remainder of the party were some fifty yards in the +rear. As we halted before the house, my father informed us that, in +all probability, this would be the last time we should find +accommodation, even in the outhouse of a settler; and that in future we +should have to resort to our painted cloths for shelter during the +night. + +We all retired to rest, therefore, with a determination to lay in a +good stock of sleep. Notwithstanding this determination, and the +fatigue I had endured in the excessive heat of the day, the novelty of +my new existence resisted every effort to close my eyes for rest; and I +arose in the morning but very little refreshed. + +[Sidenote: The blessing of rain] + +During the first five days of our journey the intense heat of the sun, +to which we were unseasoned, annoyed us all exceedingly; while the +scorching earth so much blistered my feet that, on the sixth morning, I +lingered behind, and divested myself of both stockings and shoes, +hanging them upon the mule's baggage. In the school of experience +nature is head master. The relief was almost instantaneous; and, +during that day, I surprised my fellow-travellers with my pedestrian +performances, which induced them all to follow my example. Early the +same afternoon, the rain began to fall in torrents, or rather in +sheets, previously to which, during our journey over the plains, the +extreme dryness of the weather had occasioned one of those vegetable +conflagrations so common in hot countries. Hitherto the scene had been +arid, the land being hard to the feet, and painfully dry to the eye. +The following morning, we had an opportunity of observing with what +surprising rapidity nature, in these climates, clothes the earth. Our +course was now on a wide-expanded green carpet, every where soft and +cooling to the feet, and deliciously refreshing to the sight. Birds of +every hue, gems of the air, glittered in our pathway; a vast number of +the cormorant species were busy in gobbling up frogs, toads, and +snakes; the eagle and the vulture, too, were soaring over our heads, +looking out for the prey these regions afford them in such abundance. +Every step we took frightened up flocks of the smaller feathered tribe, +and brought to view myriads of other living things, such as slugs, +snails, and insects of every variety. + +On the tenth day of our journey, we approached a country covered, as +far as the eye could reach, with dense foliage, variegated with every +known or imaginable hue, the groundwork of which was one wide-spreading +mass of every shade of green. There were browns of all tints, yellow, +orange, purple, and brilliant scarlets, so intermingled as to present +one uninterrupted view of nature in glorious beauty, spreading over an +undulating mass of waving forest-green, while, in appearance, reaching +from the high heavens to the earth, into which the lower sweeps seemed +to dip, conveying the idea of eternal spring, summer, and autumn, +harmoniously blended into one. As we skirted the forest, the charming +variety of the blossoms, and their shades of colour, presented a still +more enlivened appearance--the tops of the trees being covered with +bloom, some standing erect towards the light of the sun, others bending +down, with a profusion of fruit and seed. + +Yet, even here, in this enchanting scene, was man admonished, and +reminded of mortality: as we passed the margin of the wood, here and +there was seen some former giant of the forest, whose head had been +bared by time or the thunder blast, painfully, in the midst of nature's +prodigal luxuriance, intimating that all things have their period of +birth, maturity, and decay. + +[Sidenote: Meeting with natives] + +Penetrated with surprise and admiration at the scene, it was some time +before we discovered that we were approaching a party of natives, who, +it was evident, had been watching our movements. When they first +attracted our notice, the sound of what we took for a village bell fell +upon the ear; whereupon my father flattered himself that we were +approaching a civilized settlement; while both my uncles were of +opinion that a signal of alarm was given at our approach, and, in +consequence, prepared for defence. The bell, however, sounded only at +intervals of four or five minutes; and as there was no increase of +numbers in consequence, we at once went forth to meet the natives. +They consisted of a party of six, besides an old negro, who seemed to +be the patriarch of his race. To our surprise and delight, he spoke +English remarkably well, as did also a young man who appeared to be his +son. Probably, they were runaway slaves. They proved, however, to be +friendly disposed; and when we spoke of the bell, and the negro had +explained the nature of our enquiry, they all broke out into a most +immoderate fit of laughter. The negro, almost convulsed, said, "White +bird, ding dong--ding, dong! a great way off; for white man here, white +bird, ding, dong--ding, dong!" The bird that sends forth this peculiar +sound is named the campanero, and is snow white; it may be heard at +three miles' distance; and during my sojourn subsequently in the wilds +of nature, it was the only sound that daily recalled to my recollection +the tones of my native village church bell. + +As we were all attention to the negro, who was very lively and +garrulous, a flock of birds passed over our heads, emitting sounds that +might be mistaken for those of a trumpet; when the old man pointed up, +and laughingly said--"Red-coats, red-coats!" meaning to ask, +ironically, if we took the birds for soldiers? These birds are +properly called Waracaba, and are frequently rendered domestic, when +they exhibit the attachment of a dog to their master, following him in +the same spirit of fidelity; their spirit, also, appears to exceed that +of the game cock--although unarmed with spurs for defence, they will +fly at a dog; and, in a domestic state, seldom fail to browbeat and +lord it over the dunghill cocks living in the same yard. + +While my father was consulting with the negro regarding our bivouac for +the night, the latter suddenly seized his foot, exclaiming, "_Chegoe_ +in toe," then forcing him to the ground, and taking from his pocket a +knife, proceeded to extract one of those formidable insects, which had +become embedded in the skin of the foot. This insect, had it been +allowed to remain, would have, no doubt, produced inflammation, from +its bite, and, in all probability, caused my father lameness for some +weeks. The negroes treated us with the greatest possible kindness and +respect; and the old man, who appeared the orator of his party, +insisted upon our sharing their hospitality, by partaking of their +evening meal, which we readily accepted, producing, at the same time, +our own provisions; and such an interchange of delicacies took place, +that I am sure it would puzzle me now to recollect or enumerate them. +I know it was the cause of some considerable share of merriment among +us all. Their food, if I remember rightly, appeared to me to consist +more of vegetables and fruit than ours, and was of a simpler nature. I +fancy if some of our worthy civic authorities had been present as +partakers of this repast, they would have been more surprised at the +viands than delighted. + +But man is of a ductile nature--a creature of habit, and may almost +habituate himself to anything. In civilized cities, where thousands +are taxing their energies in the pursuit of wealth and position in +society, an artificial state of existence is the consequence; and the +primitive fare of our forefathers is superseded by something of a more +stimulating nature. I have seen, in my experience in forest life, how +little man can subsist upon, and how healthy and strong he may continue +in a simple state of existence. Civilization brings with it a host of +imaginary and fictitious wants. + +[Sidenote: The repast with the negroes] + +We accepted the offer of our newly-made friends to share with them +their small huts for the night, and they being plentifully provided +with various skins of animals, a more agreeable resting-place could +hardly be desired. The old negro, without being obtrusively +inquisitive, was anxious to know our object in crossing the country; +and my father informed him of our route, and produced the rough chart +he had made upon our first starting upon the expedition. A long +consultation was the result, and a doubtful shake of the head was given +by the old man as to the possibility of our accomplishing the task; at +the same time he gave an incredulous look at my mother and sister, who, +he seemed to consider, would hardly be able to endure the journey and +the hardships attending it. To say the truth, my mother looked but +very weak, and I remember being struck myself with her appearance. My +sister was of such a buoyant temperament, that her joyous spirit would +carry her through almost any temporary difficulties; but still we were +all considerably jaded. And I remember I thought the rude habitation +of our entertainers a most delightful place of refuge, compared to +being obliged to bivouac in the woods; and, indeed, I dreaded leaving +the following morning. I believe we were all of us impressed with the +same idea. When we at first met with them, I was overcome with +surprise, and was afraid that some calamity was about to befal us. By +degrees, however, the feeling wore off, and by that strong and +undefined species of discernment which most possess in discovering +those kindly disposed towards us, I became on most familiar terms with +our friends. The young man, whose name was Rangal, I discovered, was +the only son of the elder negro. He was very solicitous in his +attentions to me, and his peculiar manners considerably amused me +during our evening's sojourn. + +[Sidenote: More negroes] + +Upon our retiring to rest, the two negroes, father and son, took up +their station in the apartment we had at first entered; this they did +to keep watch that no one should harm us; not that there was any +absolute necessity for their so doing, but it was an attention meant to +impress us with confidence as to our safety. Early the following +morning, after a refreshing and undisturbed sleep, I accompanied Rangal +to take a survey of the surrounding country, calling at a neighbouring +habitation where the remaining portion of the negroes had located. +They conversed with my guide a great deal, two or three speaking at the +same time; but it was in a dialect entirely new to me, and beyond my +comprehension. They evidently, by their gestures, referred to us; but +in what way, I was at a loss to understand. There were also a female +and three children, the latter varying from seven to eleven years old. +They looked at me in perfect amazement, and the three children retired, +whispering, to a corner at the darkest part of the room; but I could +see by the whites of their eyes in the gloom, that their gaze was +rivetted upon me, in which a feeling of curiosity was mingled with +dread. For myself, I was only struck with their comical appearance, +and fairly laughed outright, in which I was joined by the negroes, one +of whom, I supposed their father, brought them forward and introduced +them in due form. + +Upon returning to our habitation of the previous night, we found our +party taking their morning's repast; and I learned that the old negro +had insisted upon accompanying us, with his son Rangal, on our journey +during the day. He had also arranged where we should halt for the +following night which was at the habitation of a friend of his, +situate many miles on our road. + +[Sidenote: The forest] + +All being got in readiness, we again commenced our pilgrimage. There +had been a heavy fall of rain in the night, and it was comparatively +cool and refreshing to what it had been, but still the heat was intense +to us. We, however, proceeded on our journey with tolerable spirits. +My father and uncle shot several birds in the early part of the day, +which afforded us an excellent repast. We shortly arrived at a thick +and apparently impenetrable forest. Through this we had to travel +before reaching our destination for the night. Once having fairly +entered its precincts, there appeared to my mind an impossibility of +ever again emancipating ourselves from it. The sun, which had been so +scorching to our aching sight, was now no longer visible, save here and +there, where a few rays would find a passage through the otherwise +impenetrably dense foliage, to remind us of the world beyond our sight. +The luxuriance of the foliage, the variety of tropical plants which in +the fecundity of nature spring up in a few hours--so rapid is their +growth in these climates,--the busy hum of myriads of insects, the +reptiles, and occasionally the howling of the fiercer animals of prey, +can hardly be appreciated by description. Ever and anon we paused, as +a rustling of the foliage would give notice of the passage of some +fierce animal, who was, as he stole along, unconscious of the presence +of man in his domains. We proceeded most watchfully on our way, my +father and uncle with guns across their shoulders, ready for immediate +service, if required; so, what with our number, and the caution used, +we felt ourselves tolerably secure; the more so, as it is a remarkable +fact that no species of animal, however fierce, is ever very willing to +attack man in open combat, without provocation. + +Waterton, the celebrated naturalist, who has travelled through the +woods in search of animals for scientific purposes, says, speaking on +this subject, "Time and experience has convinced me that there is not +much danger in roving amongst snakes and wild beasts, provided you have +self-command. You must never approach them abruptly; if so, you are +sure to pay for your rashness, because the idea of self-defence is +predominant in every animal; and thus the snake, to defend himself from +what he considers an attack upon him, makes the intruder feel the +deadly effect of his poisonous fangs. The jaguar flies at you, and +knocks you senseless with a stroke of his paw; whereas, if you had not +come upon him too suddenly, it is ten to one but that he had retired, +in lieu of disputing the path with you." Secure, however, as we might +feel ourselves, it was a matter of surprise to us how the two negroes +would fare upon their return, without our party. They would, however, +in spite of every persuasion to the contrary, persist in accompanying +us, and we were fain to let them have their own way. Presently an +incident occurred which made us see the necessity of caution. As I was +walking by the side of my uncle Henry, I discerned, glaring from a +neighbouring clump of foliage, two fierce-looking eyes. I impulsively +caught my uncle by the arm, and pointed in breathless terror to the +spot. He paused, and raising his gun, would have fired, had not my +father precipitately intervened, and motioned him to be passive. "Do +not venture to fire," he whispered, "till there is a greater +necessity." At the same time he raised his gun, and both kept guard +till the other members of our party passed the point where danger was +to be feared. The animal did not move, but appeared ready to spring +forth; which had it done, the pieces must then have been discharged. +When we had got some little distance from the object of our dread, my +father and uncle gradually retreated, with their faces and guns +directed towards the animal, until they had got sufficiently out of +danger; and we had the satisfaction of observing the animal bound off +in another direction. It appeared to be a tolerably large-sized puma, +as well as we could discern. This little incident made us doubly +cautious, and all were loud in praising the presence of mind evinced by +my father; for had my uncle fired so incautiously, it is very +improbable that he would have wounded the animal mortally, but it might +have incited him to a desperate attack upon us. + +[Sidenote: The negro's daughter] + +After one or two false alarms, we arrived again in the open country. +The darkness of the forest had led us to believe that the day was on +the decline; but on emerging into the plain we were greeted again with +the rays of the sun. We had still, however, some distance to journey +before we arrived at our proposed destination, and my mother, who +appeared wearied, was again seated on the back of one of the mules. +But even this mode of conveyance was fatiguing to one unaccustomed to +such long journeys, in a country so different to our own. The negroes +were the most fresh of the party; indeed, heat, and long hours of +fatigue or anxiety, seemed to have no effect upon them, for they +retained under these trials their good temper and loquacity. The elder +of the two seemed, as indeed he always had been, to be of a reflective +temperament; and as he was walking by the side of my father, somewhat +ahead of the rest, he turned round, and gazing at my sister, said, +"Make me think of de ole day--de ole day." "How so?" said my father. +"Had a little girl once myself. Long ago, now! long ago!" And he +again lapsed into silence, ruminating, in rather an abstracted +melancholy mood, for some minutes. "You lost her, then, did you?" said +my father. The old man shook his head sorrowfully, and placing his +hand upon my father's shoulder, confidentially, exclaimed, "De white +man!" He then promised to tell us the history of the affair before +leaving. Arriving shortly at the point he had originally proposed when +we commenced our journey in the morning, we discerned two or three +habitations, even more rude than those we had left, and our guides +expressed much surprise and chagrin at finding them uninhabited. We, +however, determined upon taking possession of them for the night, and +at once proceeded to make the necessary preparations for our stay. + +[Sidenote: The story of the negro] + +Agreeably to his promise, the old negro took an opportunity of relating +his history. Our first surmise proved to be correct; he was indeed a +runaway slave. Some years previously he and his family were sold to a +new owner, who proved to be a cruel and unfeeling taskmaster, the very +opposite in character to the former owner, who was a kind-hearted, mild +disposed man. His wife was so affected by the change and hard usage, +that she sunk into a desponding state, and eventually died, leaving him +with a son and daughter. The cruel treatment evinced by their overseer +towards the latter, a little girl then of ten years old, was a constant +source of trouble and misery to the father, and eventually led to an +open revolt. One day, when the brutality of this man was beyond all +endurance, the father of the girl, in a fit of rage and disgust, struck +his superior to the earth. Conscious of what he had done, and the +fearful penalty attached to it, he fled frantically from the spot, +whither he knew not. His feelings had been wound up to such a state of +excitement, that he was scarcely conscious of what he was about; but he +had soon left the scene of his suffering many miles distant. His son, +it appeared, who was at a remote part of the plantation, hearing of the +affair, fled after his father, and they eventually, after enduring +numberless hardships, both succeeded in escaping; and notwithstanding +the large rewards offered for their capture, they were never betrayed. +His daughter he had learned nothing of for many years. He had +endeavoured to rescue her soon after his escape from the hands of her +tormentor, but did not succeed. Afterwards he learnt that she had left +the plantation, and had been passed into the hands of a new master at +another remote part of the country. She was dangerously ill at that +time, and was not expected to recover. The poor old negro grew very +mournful as he concluded his narrative. He had not heard of his +daughter for so long a period that he seemed to think it improbable he +should ever behold her again. His story, I remember, called forth a +long discussion upon the horrors of slavery, the truth of which is now +happily made sufficiently manifest, and so universally acknowledged, +that it hardly needs repetition here. + +On the following morning we parted with our two negro guides of the +previous day, but it was with the greatest unwillingness that they +could be persuaded to return to their home; eventually, however, we +took leave of them after presenting them two or three remembrances for +their kindness. We now journeyed on much the same as before, without +any incident occurring worthy of notice, when, on the following day, we +met with two English gentlemen, both naturalists, on their way to the +forest, to collect specimens for the advancement of scientific +knowledge. Their party comprised six, namely, themselves, two English +attendants, and two negroes, whom they had purchased, with a promise of +emancipation if they conducted themselves to their masters' +satisfaction. These gentlemen were much delighted to meet with us, and +agreed to journey our road, for the sake of company. I was much +pleased with their society. I was soon made sensible of the advantages +of a system in studying the works of nature. My senses had before been +quite captivated and gratified with the general aspect of the scenes +through which we had passed; but now I was taught to examine objects +more closely and in detail; to compare, arrange, and, above all, to +study the uses and purposes of vegetable and animal constituents, with +their mechanical construction, tracing, in some measure, the designs of +the Creator in all his works. I was now awakened to an intellectual +gratification exceeding that of the mere senses. I learned how to +collect and store up knowledge in the memory, which elevated my notions +of the human species and considerably augmented my self-respect. The +more I found opportunities to bring the intellect into play, the more +apparent became the advantages which the civilized and cultivated man +possessed over the mere savage or uninformed; and, in consequence, my +delight in receiving instruction was unbounded. + +Unlike myself, however, the gentlemen whom we accompanied did not +appear to me to enjoy or appreciate my natural enthusiasm for varied +scenery. They carried on their researches with surprising ardour; and +when in pursuit of an abstract or particular object, their attention +was wholly absorbed; nor were they in any way sparing of the lives of +animals, birds, or insects, when selecting their specimens from the +abundance before them. Their recklessness, too, in destroying what +they considered obnoxious animals, somewhat surprised me, so much so as +to induce me to enquire what caused them to have antipathies, like unto +children and some females, especially against spiders, beetles, &c. +The only answer I received was, "We destroy only such things as are of +no use to us, and those which come in our way when in search of our +object." They soon, however, explained to me that the reason of their +shooting such a number of birds was that they were in want of all the +varieties, and could not always distinguish, until they had them in +hand, whether they had such a one amongst their collection. + +To watch the young of animals, whether those species born with sight or +closed eyes, and note their progress towards perfection, and the +celerity with which some of them, birds especially, will remove +themselves, even while unfledged, from danger to security, is to see +God watching over all his creatures. To be near when the cry of danger +is started in the wood, and hear the whole flock, though composed of +different kinds of birds, each in their own peculiar note, cry "Hush!" +to their young ones before they leave the nest,--to ascertain the +cause, and then to have the satisfaction of removing that cause of +danger,--is to be an agent of the Deity in the work of benevolence. + +"All are agents," said one of the gentlemen, "in carrying out the +benevolent purposes of the Deity. Direct your mind towards the various +provisions which nature has devised for the dispersion, of the seeds of +plants, and introducing them, into proper situations for germination. +Every class of beings," he continued, "is useful as a means to promote +the spread of seeds: man, beasts, birds, reptiles, and probably even +fish, by consuming, cause the propagation of the _algæ_ in the depths +of the ocean; and the multiplied contrivances of hooks, awns, wings, +&c., with the elastic and hygrometric power with which seeds are +furnished, manifest what infinite provision has been made for the +dispersion of seeds, and successive productions of nature." + +It was thus that they would tutor me, and relieve the tedium of the +day, by instilling into my youthful mind the first rudiments of a +knowledge respecting the works of the Deity, and the uses to which they +were applied; and I became aware of the wonders an all-bounteous +Providence has in store for an enquiring mind. + +[Sidenote: The rattlesnake] + +But I now approach a period which proved an epoch in my existence. It +was towards the evening of a very long and fatiguing day's journey, +perhaps the most wearisome we had yet had, that we halted to refresh +ourselves, and consult where we should bivouac for the night. We were +all jaded, and scarcely knew how to proceed any further. My sister was +reclining on a bank, and had, unobserved by us, fallen fast asleep, +fairly overcome with the fatigues of the day. Her head was resting on +a small package of tightly compressed woollen cloths. We had not +noticed her for some minutes, when one of the gentlemen who accompanied +us was the first to observe her dangerous situation. It was fortunate +he did so. Taking my father by the arm, and leading him quietly away +from the party, he directed his attention to my sister. My father +stood almost petrified with fear and horror, on observing a large +rattlesnake moving from side to side on my sister's chest. Upon the +impulse of the moment, he was incautiously about to rush to her rescue; +but was detained by his companion. + +"I do not think it means any mischief," he whispered. "Make no noise, +and I fancy it will merely cross your child's body, and go away." + +In this, however, he was mistaken, for on reaching my sister's left +shoulder the serpent deliberately coiled itself up; and although it +made no immediate attack, it did not appear at all likely to leave the +side of the sleeper. + +"Leave it to me," said my father's companion, "to rescue the poor girl +from her terrible position. I know best the habits of these creatures, +and how to treat them. Make no noise, on your life, or your child may +be lost; but follow me." + +My father obeyed; and our friend then determined that two of us should +advance in front, to divert the attention of the snake, while he should +noiselessly steal behind my sister, and, with a long stick, remove the +reptile from her body. The snake, on observing the approach of the two +intruders in front of him, instantly raised its head, and darted out +its forked tongue, at the same time shaking its rattles,--all +indications of anger. + +[Sidenote: Anxiety] + +Every one of our party was in a state of fearful suspense and agitation +for the fate of my poor sister; who lay like a beautiful statue, +sleeping the calm sleep of innocence, unconscious of her danger. Our +friend advanced stealthily behind, with a stick of seven feet long he +had procured for the purpose. In an instant, almost before we had time +to observe it, he succeeded in cautiously inserting one end of the +stick under one of the reptile's coils, and flung the creature some +yards from my sister's body. A wild scream of joy was the first +indication my sister received of her danger and providential escape. +In the meantime, her preserver pursued the snake, and killed it. It +was three feet seven inches long, and eleven years old; the age, our +friend said, was always to be ascertained by the number of rattles. He +also informed us that there is no danger attending the destruction of +the rattlesnake, provided a person has a long pliant stick, and does +not approach nearer than the reptile's length; for they cannot spring +beyond it, and seldom act but upon the defensive. We discovered, on +searching about, a nest of these snakes near to where my sister had +been lying; and, after this incident, were a little more cautious in +taking our way along. We could not shake off the alarm that it had +occasioned; and it was with anxious thoughts and heavy hearts that we +again proceeded to seek repose from the day's troubles and fatigue. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST--MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED. + + + "Existence may be borne, and the deep root + Of life and sufferance make its firm abode + In bare and desolate bosoms: mute + The camel labours with the heaviest load, + And the wolf dies in silence. Not bestow'd + In vain should such examples be; if they-- + Things of ignoble or of savage mood-- + Endure and shrink not, we of nobler clay + May temper it to bear; it is but for a day." + + +In arranging our watch for the night every precaution was taken to +guard against intrusion; then most of the party composed themselves for +sleep; indeed, the previous day had been one of peculiar fatigue and +disappointment--opiates much less injurious than those issued from a +druggist's shop. I alone, and for the first time, became restless +after the approach of night--usually having fallen asleep as soon as I +had eaten my supper,--and became insensible to the busy hum of night, +which in tropical countries is very noisy. I lay down with the +adventure of the snake on my mind, my reflections on which kept me +awake till the nocturnal insects of the wood were all in full chorus, +and the reptiles began to move. Up to this hour I had no idea--so +soundly had I hitherto slept--that the night was as rife with sounds +and animated nature as the day; differing not in their variety but only +in their peculiar kinds. + +[Sidenote: Fireflies] + +As I have in another place, under the head of a natural day in the +forest, spoken of this hour, it will be unnecessary for me to describe +it in this place; suffice it to say, that my ear being once engaged in +attending to the succession of sounds which addressed it, sleep, for +the night, became hopeless. About midnight I suddenly sprang to nay +feet with the surprise of being surrounded, as I thought, with flakes +of fire, or rather with similar lights to those emitted by a jet of gas +in the centre of glass drops. Finding myself uninjured in the midst of +myriads of these dancing lights, I moved forward, as they moved, to +examine the phenomenon. They were fireflies, whose light would have +enabled me to see the hour by a watch. They suddenly, however, left me +in darkness, and that as rapidly as if they had really been gas-lights +extinguished by the turning of the stop-cock. + +Pausing for some minutes, and censuring my own conduct for having moved +from the spot of our bivouac, my attention was again attracted by +sounds of something in pain, close to my feet; it was evidently a bird, +and I stooped with a view of taking it up, when the note proceeded from +my right, and then from the left, "Crek-crek-crek!" Whether I was +ambitious to capture the bird, or whether I was moved by feelings of +compassion I know not, I acted on the impulse, and continued to turn +from side to side till I had advanced some distance in the underwood in +a zig-zag direction. At length, being vexed at my disappointment, I +lost my temper, and rushed forward again with renewed determination to +take the wounded bird, which was always at my feet but never in my hand. + +He who does not command his temper can scarcely fail to do wrong; and +never was indiscretion perhaps more severely punished than in my case. + +[Sidenote: Bewildered in the wood] + +I had committed an unpardonable act of imprudence in suffering my +curiosity regarding the light emitted by the firefly to lead me one +yard from the bivouac; but afterwards to lose my presence of mind in +such a situation and at such an hour, in the mere attempt to possess a +wounded bird, was an act of puerility inexcusable in a boy many years +my junior. Need I inform the reader that I was the dupe of a watchful +parent, or perhaps there were two of them, who, with a view of +protecting their young ones, beguiled me from the spot where they were +being reared. The bird was a species of quail, which, like the plover +in England, will pretend to be lame, to draw stragglers from its +hiding-place. When the cry of the quail ceased, without doubt I had +been led a sufficient distance to place her progeny out of danger; I +was now enshrouded in all but utter darkness, and then bean to shout +out to my uncle John, who was on watch, as loudly and as frequently as +the power of my lungs enabled me; but there was no response. The +aphorism says, "Do not halloo till you are out of the wood;" and truly +I might have spared my lungs, for calling was of no avail. Errors and +blunders generally run in sequences; had I remained on the spot when I +found myself first lost, the probability is that I should, when the +morning dawned, have been near enough to my friends to have been +discovered. But no! having been guilty of one act of folly, I must +repair it by committing a second. My impatience impelled me to make an +effort to retrace my steps; while a moment's reflection might have +shown me, that as there was but one road back, so there were many which +might lead me farther into trouble. + +The remainder of this night was spent in exhausting my strength in vain +and useless efforts to retrace my steps; and ere the sun rose, I was so +fatigued and hoarse as to abandon every hope of making myself heard. +Exhausted nature alone brought conviction of the fruitlessness of such +efforts. I sat down on a blasted tree, and there relieved my harassed +and affrighted spirits by a flood of tears, the shedding of which did +indeed bring alleviation; for previously I felt as if my heart was +bursting. A heavy load of grief, however, still pressed with a leaden +weight on my mind; but as the heart lightened, the reflective powers +began to operate, and the full sense of my desolation was presented to +my view. I was horror-stricken and paralysed; but as these paroxysms +passed away, I gradually brought my mind to contemplate calmly my +isolated situation. + +[Sidenote: First sensation of solitude] + +I first reflected on the inestimable value of parental affection, the +blessings conferred on us by friends, the pleasures of social life, and +the advantages mankind derive by forming communities. At that moment +there was no sacrifice I would not have made to have been restored to +my family, and become again entitled to all these advantages. Out of +this comparative state of calmness, I was roused by murmuring sounds +which my excited imagination converted into human voices. Oh, how my +heart bounded, and with what intensity did the ear strain itself to +catch assurance that there was truth in its first impression. But the +organ had prejudged, and was not readily open to conviction. I +therefore proceeded, with what haste my weary limbs would permit, to +exercise the sense of sight. Alas! it was but the murmuring of waters, +a gentle confluence of which was precipitated over an elevated rock of +stone. + +It was impossible to conceive a more enchanting scene than that which +now met my anxious eye. Through several ravines the water, pouring +over moss-grown stones, fell in miniature cascades, with a musical +murmur, over rocks shaded by low trees, and grey with variegated mosses +and the elegant maiden's hair. Large trunks of trees, thrown down by +the hand of time, lay covered with fungi waved with various hues. The +scene was altogether such as might for a time engage the attention and +abstract the mind of one plunged into the abyss of grief. I was deeply +impressed with its beauty, and it powerfully excited sensations of +delight; but as I continued to contemplate it, a sense of loneliness +crept over me; there was no one near to hear me exclaim, "How +exquisitely enchanting! how sublime! yet how soft and harmonizing is it +to the feelings." + +Turning from this scene I found my grief considerably modified in its +intensity; and I began now to look on my case only as that of a lost +child in society, whom the parents would be certain of finding on +diligent search. + +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and in a thousand mysterious +ways prepares the minds of his creatures to meet the burdens they are +called upon to bear. Of this truth I was early convinced. Had the +night of my first day's loneliness closed on me in the full +consciousness of my desolation and self-dependence for preservation, it +is impossible to say what dreadful effects might have been wrought on +the mind of one so young, and so tenderly brought up. But it was +ordered otherwise. The want of sleep the previous night, together with +agonised moments of distress, and fears which returned with redoubled +force as the day progressed and no relief came, all contributed so much +to the exhaustion of my frame, that long ere the curtains of night were +drawn over the forest, I involuntarily fell into a profound sleep, +unconscious at what hour, or where I had lain myself. I was thus +spared those feelings of dread which, if night had overtaken my waking +moments, might have overshadowed my reason while I was watching the +final departure of daylight. + +When I awoke the next morning, it was broad day; and nothing, while +memory retains her seat, can obliterate or weaken the impressions I +received on opening my eyes. There was presented to my view the most +magnificent scene perhaps ever beheld in this world of nature's +productions. For a time I imagined myself dreaming of fairy-land. +Before me, as I reclined on a mossy bed of green herbage, as soft as +eider-down, there was an opening in the wood, shaped like an +amphitheatre, with the sun's rays throwing a flood of light into it. +Trees rich with foliage and blossoms waved like a galaxy of +parti-coloured flags or banners at a jubilee of nature; brilliant +colours, varied in endless hues, all beautifully harmonising, so that +each was seen without any being predominant. Here arose upright +flowers on stupendous branches, towering aloft as if aspiring to reach +the sun; there others hung pendulously, as if seeking to hide +themselves amidst the rich foliage that cradled their birth, and were +anxious in their modest delicacy, to avoid the god of day. Birds of +ever-varied plumage, sizes, and habits, were congregated in immense +numbers, forming an orchestra of thousands of vocalists, as if met to +celebrate the hour of creation. + +A small glassy lake in the centre of the glade, peopled with +water-fowl, served the songsters for a grace-cup, each quitting the +sprays to dip its beak into it, and again resume its perch to pour +forth a torrent of musical notes. I know not how long I might have +lain rapt with delight, had not some husks fallen on my face, and +roused me. I have reason to think that I was pelted by monkeys, whose +jealousy at the appearance of a stranger in their territories had +aroused their indignation. + +[Sidenote: The nut-hatch in the gum tree] + +Entranced as I had been by the scene, the grosser appetite admonished +me that food was necessary for the sustenance of the body; I had not +tasted it for upwards of twenty-four hours, and the demands of the +stomach now became imperative. Without allowing myself time to +reflect, the horror of starvation presented itself to my imagination, +and I was again relapsing into despondency, when I saw several small +birds running up and down the trunk of a large tree, in a spiral +course; their movement was so rapid, that I could not distinguish +whether their heads or tails were uppermost. Curious to obtain a +nearer view of them, I advanced, and observed that they frequently +tapped the bark with their beaks, and then inserted them into the +interstices; this led me to examine the tree more closely, when I +discovered large masses of gum protruding from the bark. This +description of bird is named the nuthatch. They were in search of +insects and their eggs, not of the gum. I however filled my pocket +with it, and putting piece after piece into my mouth, as it dissolved, +it allayed for the present the cravings of hunger. + +Frequently when distant dreaded danger is more nearly approached, our +fears vanish, and it often happens that a supposed coming evil turns +out to be a benefit. At all times, however, the mind is soon +familiarised to those dangers that partake of the inevitable. The very +worst had now passed away from me--the first night's sleep alone in the +forest. I was safe, unhurt, refreshed, and even cheerful: perhaps +because I was still full of the hope of being sought for and found by +my father and friends. + +It was the will of Divine Providence that I should for several weeks +cherish this hope; nor did I abandon the flattering solace till I had +become fully initiated into the ways of providing for myself. Indeed, +I may affirm that hope never left me--hope, if not of meeting directly +with my friends, of emancipating myself from the intricacies of the +forest. Hope, Memory, and Imagination, three lovely sisters, were my +companions, and even in the wilds of a forest, + + "Hope enchanted, smiled, and waved her golden hair." + + +Memory, a visionary slumber, with half-closed eyes, was frequently +dispelled by the hard necessity there was to be up and stirring for +immediate self-preservation. Imagination came with lamp-like eyes, a +bright and bold beauty, seating me at one bound or flight in the midst +of my family, enjoying all the comforts of civilized life, throwing me +into the arms of my mother, indulging in her warm embrace. Remorse +would then supervene--remorse for the pain and anguish I had occasioned +my fond and worthy parents, and for the misery my waywardness had +brought upon myself. + +[Sidenote: Efforts to escape] + +My first meal, as I have stated, when left to cater for myself, +consisted of gum, of which I had a store in my pocket. As soon, +therefore, as I had satisfied myself with the surrounding objects of +admiration, I thought of making another effort to regain the spot where +I had left my parents: it was a vain hope, but I pursued it throughout +the day, during which I must have travelled many miles. In the course +of my peregrinations, I found abundance of fruit and nuts, which lay +strewed in my way. Late in the day, I met with a mass of the +bush-rope, and, ignorant of its abundance, I at once jumped to the +conclusion that I had arrived at the identical spot which our party had +before passed. This barrier, as it is designated, to my view was +considerably extended; and then my heart, after being elevated with +hope, again sunk within me. Still, however, disinclined to relinquish +hope, my only solace, I soon persuaded myself that I might not, on the +former occasion, have accurately surveyed it; and I resolved, as night +was fast approaching, to remain on the spot till the following morning, +and from thence to make a fresh start, to find, if possible, the track +in which the party were travelling. + +In social life, provident thoughts rarely trouble a youth of thirteen +years of age; his parents, or others, think for him, and generally +every night provide a bed for his resting-place. Such had been +previously my case; the reader will, therefore, not be surprised that, +up to this moment, I had not bestowed a thought on how I was to pass +the ensuing night in security. I was, however, now fairly inducted +into the school of hard necessity; and as the day was fast waning, I +had no time to lose. Acting on impulse, I commenced climbing the +bush-rope, intending there to make my bed, but the dread of falling +came over me, and checked my resolution. I then thought of a hollow +tree, many of which I had seen in the course of my perambulations. +Following this suggestion of the mind, I immediately began a search for +one, and fortunately met with it on the spot. Night was, however, +setting in so rapidly, that I had no time to be nice in my choice. + +[Sidenote: The jaguar] + +The tree that seemed most to invite me to enter into its interior was +partly uprooted, leaning its head towards the earth, so that I could +rest in a sloping position; but thinking the opening of the decayed +part too wide for perfect security, I stripped off the bark on the +reverse side, of which to form a shutter, or loose door, which I might +pull towards the opening when fairly ensconced within the hollow. +Having thus prepared my bed, I instinctively cast a look round, as an +undefinable sense of danger crept over me; the first movement brought +my eyes in contact with those of a large jaguar, the tiger of that +country. He was standing upright, about eight yards distant, +apparently surveying me from head to foot. I was paralyzed with fear, +and remained fixed to the spot; the animal gave me a second and third +look, then took two or three bounds, and was out of sight in an +instant. It is to this moment my fixed opinion, one confirmed by +subsequent experience, that I owe my life to the passive manner in +which I stood, and which was occasioned by fright; the slightest +movement on my part would have occasioned alarm in the jaguar, and +proved fatal. + +With regard to the jaguar's prowess, he is little less formidable than +the Bengal tiger: cows and young bulls he destroys with ease and +avidity; but the horse is his favourite prey. All these large animals +he kills by leaping on their backs, placing one paw upon their head, +another on the muzzle, and thus contriving, in a moment, to break the +neck of his victim. The jaguar, although as ferocious as the tiger, +rarely attacks man unprovoked, or unless very hungry; but in general he +finds no scarcity of food in the regions in which I was located. + +I now debated with myself whether I should enter the tree, foolishly +imagining that the animal designed to take me asleep. At length the +gloominess of the night enshrouded me in darkness, and left me no +alternative but to spring into my cabin, and pull the pieces of bark +before the aperture. I will not attempt to describe the fearful +trepidation in which I was placed: the darkness of the night rendered +the hollow of the tree like a tomb, and I viewed it as a coffin; every +movement of a twig was, to my imagination, the jaguar removing my +barricade with an intention of clawing me out for prey. The scene was +rendered more horrible by the contrast with that of the morning, to +which the mind would revert, in spite of surrounding horrors--one was +the reality of the fabled Elysium, the other that of the Tartarean +fields. Just as I had thought I had now experienced the acme of +terrors, my fright was augmented by something fluttering round my head, +the noise from which seemed as if an animal was struggling to +disentangle itself from a snare. Shakspere, describing the effects of +fright, speaks of its causing + + "Each particular hair to stand on end, + Like quills upon the fretful porcupine." + + +I will not affirm that the hairs of my head rose to that height, but I +may safely aver that no mortal had ever more cause for exhibiting all +the known symptoms of extreme fright. In a second or two after I heard +the fluttering, I received repeated blows on the head and face, +indubitable proofs that I had a quarrelsome fellow lodger. Present and +immediate dangers chase all others. I kicked away my temporary +shutter; but before I could make my exit I felt, by the motion of the +air, that a living thing had passed me in rapid flight. + +[Sidenote: The terrors of night in the forest] + +When the sharer of my tenement had flown, I began to consider that it +must have been some night-bird; and as the jaguar was still uppermost +in my thoughts, I lost no time in repossessing myself of my lodging. +Worn out as I now again was with the fatigues of the day and the +terrors of the night, after a time I was dropping to sleep, when I was +once more roused by the growl of the jaguar, as if he had just seized +his prey, and half the beasts of the forest, from the noise there was, +had collected to contend and fight for the carnage. A short interval +elapsed, and then the growling changed gradually into death-groanings. +I was now in the midst of a scene of horror and darkness that may well +be said to elude the power of verbal description. Only a few hours +previously my mind had been harmonized by the soft and elegant forms of +nature's richest beauties, under a clear blue sky. How changed was now +the scene! how deformed and disfigured was the aspect! It was a +transition from Paradise to Erebus; environed by all the real and +conceivable monsters in nature. I had before been alarmed--I now +abandoned myself to the one sensation of unmitigated despair, the +extremity of which was so intense, that it is a miracle reason held her +place, or that I survived to write this narrative. + +Indeed, nothing but the turn my thoughts took at this crisis could have +preserved me. I had already undergone all the horrors of an agonizing +and protracted death, and was well nigh insensible to grief or pain, +when, providentially, in the last extremity, I was inwardly admonished +to appeal to my God. And now, with suppliant accents and upraised +hands, I prayed to Heaven for a blessing, for short I still thought was +the space between life and death. Praying with fervency of soul, I +gradually became inspired with confidence; my mind became more tranquil +and fitter for calm consideration. It occurred to me, notwithstanding +the horrible din of noises around, that I was still unhurt; that if the +jaguar had really selected me for his prey, he would have seized me +when within his reach, and not have restrained his appetite for the +mere gratification of tearing me from the hollow of a tree. Then, in +reference to the sharer of my apartment, I began to look on myself as +the real aggressor. Had I not ejected some native of the forest, whose +natural home it was, both by right and possession; had I not most +unwarrantably intruded on his privacy, and frightened an inoffensive +member of the sylvan community. + +Thus, through the medium of prayer, was I at once enabled and taught +how to face danger; and whilst looking it steadfastly in the +countenance, to ascertain correctly its magnitude, and banish +chimerical fears. That I was surrounded with danger, I was still +conscious; but now I offered up thanks to God for preserving me in the +midst of them; for having directed me to a place of security, and +provided me with a strong tower, where I might almost defy enemies. +Thus recovering my self-possession, I began really to enjoy the +interior of the tree as a very comfortable resting-place and a complete +snuggery. Very soon after this state of mind was brought about, I fell +asleep, and awoke refreshed and tranquil. Morning was announced to my +glad eyes by lines of light passing from the lofty trees, scintillating +through the holes of my worm-eaten shutter--lines of light which were +delicately drawn by the golden fingers of Phoebus, the most famed of +artists. A very considerable portion of the sufferings of mankind have +their source in ignorance: nearly all that I encountered, even from +this memorable night to the hour of my emancipation from the forest, +was the result of my want of experience. Had I known that the noises +which had disturbed my rest were but the imitations of the red monkey, +I might have slept in quietude. These animals assemble, and at times +amuse themselves throughout the night by making the most horrible +noises, more especially mimicking the growlings and roarings of the +more ferocious animals. I say amuse themselves; but at the same time I +may remark that all sounds given out by quadrupeds, birds, or reptiles, +are designed to effect some of nature's especial purposes. Some, for +their own protection; others, to caution weaker animals against +approaching danger. + +[Sidenote: Monkey tricks] + +The gift and propensity the red monkey has of imitating the beasts of +prey, may deter some enemy from attacking him in the dark; for it is +observed they cease their mocking habits when daylight appears. They +may also warn the timid animals when others of a formidable nature and +ferocious appetite are in their vicinity. + +The jaguar, as we have said, was in the immediate neighbourhood that +night. Among the general community of the monkey tribes, morning and +evening are periods they generally select to settle their public +affairs, for the noises they make at these times are absolutely +stunning, and to strangers very alarming. The forest is their citadel, +where, mounted on lofty trees waving in the breeze, they confabulate, +and, as naturalists have often described, arm themselves with sticks +and stones, and in conscious independence defy all intruders. + +The red monkey, however, is the most pugnacious of the whole species; +and it was some months before I was permitted to walk the woods in +peace, for these animals frequently assailed me with a stick or a +stone. Policy led me to take all their insults patiently; and in the +end, I imagine, they passed an act of naturalization, for I was +ultimately permitted to range the forest without molestation. + +I once witnessed a peculiar instance of their tenaciousness in regard +to their territory. An European boat was passing down a river on the +side of a wood, when, on a signal being given by one of these animals, +others crowded to the spot in such numbers as literally to cover the +trees, bending with their weight the branches to the water's edge. + +At first they appeared as if amused with the sight of the movement of +the rowers; then deeming them intruders, they commenced a general +pelting, discharging showers of stones and broken sticks. The people +in the boats fired; when the monkeys pelted more furiously than before, +and though numbers fell wounded, or dead, still they continued the +contest till the boats passed beyond their domain. + +I now entered on the third day of my sylvan probation, and upon the +whole, felt more self-possession than I had any right to expect, under +all the circumstances of my forlorn case. This day, like all others, +waned with a quick and silent foot, while I again rambled round the +immediate locality of my resting-place, fearing I might, if I strayed +far away, be constrained to face the perils of a night in the open air. + +[Sidenote: The blood-sucker] + +This night I took possession of my lodging in good time, and, as I +thought, carefully fenced myself with an impregnable barrier; and, as I +thought so, it was the same as if it had been a high stone-wall, for it +removed my perturbation, and occasioned me to sleep soundly. When I +awoke the following morning, I was surprised to find my stocking matted +with coagulated blood; I hastened to a rill of water, where I had the +day before previously allayed my thirst, to draw it off and cleanse the +foot. To my utter astonishment and dismay, I discovered that my shoe +was in every part stained with blood, and that the toes and the sole of +the right foot were stiff with coagulum. + +Divesting myself of the covering of my foot, I observed a small wound +on the instep, not unlike the mark made by a leech. Imagining that I +had been bitten by some formidable insect, such as I had seen in the +course of our journey, when I had washed myself and recovered my +fright, I hastened back to scrape out the interior of my chamber with a +stick. In performing this work I disturbed myriads of small insects +with which I had rested, but nothing that could account for the bite on +my foot. Pleased, however, at having discovered the necessity there +was for cleanliness in my apartment. I was resolved to give it a +thorough scouring; and for this purpose thrust the stick up a hollow +arm of the tree above my head, when out flew an extraordinary large +bat. It was some satisfaction to become acquainted with those who are +likely to become the sharers of your lodging, and I had no doubt the +bat was the animal that flew against my face when endeavouring to set +out the previous evening on his usual nocturnal rambles. + +Still I remained in a state of ignorance as to the cause of the wound +in my foot. It requires much study and considerable experience, even +to ascertain the causes of only a few effects in the phenomena of +nature's workshop. Unwilling to leave the uninformed reader in doubt, +not only in this particular instance, but in numerous others that will +be met with in the course of this narrative, I shall anticipate, as it +were, my own subsequent experience, and explain, when I can, the causes +of certain effects that occurred to me while living alone in the +forest. It was a species of bat, named by naturalists the vampire, +that I had ejected, and he it was who had bled me so freely in the foot. + +It is remarkable that this bloodsucker, when once he has fastened on an +animal, is allowed to satiate his appetite unmolested, as its victims +all remain quiet and unresisting during the time he makes his meal. It +is said that vampires flap their wings and produce a cooling sensation +that lulls their prey to sleep while they suck their fill. + +In the instance of myself, I had not awoke the whole night, and was +perfectly unconscious of the attack, until morning; but, as I have +already said, I was in nature's great school, and soon learnt that, as +in the moral world, so it is in the woods, there is more to dread from +insidious attacks, than from open and declared enemies. + +When I had satisfied my appetite, on leaving my resting-place, with +nuts and fruit, I sat down by the rill of water, to consider more +determinately than I had hitherto done, what were my prospects, and +what course of conduct I should pursue for my own protection. + +[Sidenote: The battle of the snakes] + +While thus engaged in thought, my attention was attracted to a snake, +only a few yards' distance from where I sat; it was near a patch of +brushwood, and was apparently trembling with fear. Almost as soon as I +had noticed its state of alarm, another snake, with astonishing +celerity, sprung upon it, and seized it by the neck, then encircled +itself about six folds round the body of its victim, like the worm of a +screw. The assailant then, leaning its head over the other, looked its +gasping foe in the face, to ascertain the effect of the coils round the +body; and seeing that its prey was still alive, it multiplied the coils +three or four times, and evidently tightened the screw, watching all +the time to see the effect of the extra coils. The attacking party was +an animal designated the black snake, and the victim was a rattlesnake, +about three and a half feet long, its enemy being about the same +length. The former, however, had perfect command over the latter; but +I was surprised at the length of time the executioner took to satisfy +himself that his work of death was performed. The black snake remained +three-quarters of an hour coiled round the other, and then very slowly +and cautiously slackened one coil at a time, narrowly watching if any +signs of life yet remained, ready to resume the screw again, if +necessary, to complete the destruction of the victim. + +Driving the live snake away, I obtained possession of the dead one: it +was four years old, which I scarce need mention was known by the number +of rattles in its tail, which make a rattling noise when these reptiles +are in motion. + +The rattlesnake is not among the most active of the species of snakes: +it never springs a greater distance than its own length, which rarely +exceeds four feet. It is owing to this that the black snake has the +advantage, being able to spring from a greater distance on its prey, +and, from its rapid motion and method of seizure to deprive it at once +of the power of injecting its venom. + +I have since seen the rattlesnake destroyed by bucks in the open plain, +and that without risk of suffering from the fatal effects of its bite. + +[Sidenote: The buck and the rattlesnake] + +A buck, when he discovers a rattlesnake, immediately prepares to attack +it as a dreaded enemy, while he will pass other snakes unnoticed. The +buck, depending on his sharp bifurcated hoofs, with which to sever the +body of his adversary, is very skilful in his manoeuvre. He approaches +the snake to within about ten feet, and then makes a bound, cutting the +snake down with his hoofs with such unerring celerity and fatality as +rarely leaves any chance of escape. + +The two incidents of the vampire and the snakes threw my mind into a +state of reflection on the system of nature which makes the existence +of one animal depend on another for its subsistence. Then my thoughts +reverted to the number of living things I had myself to dread, +separated as I was from society where men unite for mutual protection. +I had seen in the case of the chegoe, that a very small insect could +inflict a severe injury on the human frame, and I had narrowly escaped +being carried off by the jaguar. Snakes, serpents, and enormous +lizards, crossed my path at almost every step, and the monkeys pelted +me. + +Uneasy and restless, I rose on my feet, to wander I knew not whither; I +proceeded forward as if running from danger, yet dreading it at every +step as I advanced. Presently my progress was impeded by a broad piece +of expanded network, such as, from appearance, might have been +manufactured by the hand of man,--it was spread from tree to tree. In +the network was a small bird struggling to free itself from the toil +which had ensnared it. Thinking I had now crossed the path of fowlers, +my heart leaped with joy, and I flattered myself that deliverance was +at hand; yet, fearing to spoil their sport, I drew back, and took up a +position behind a tree. My mind was soon disabused of the error into +which I had fallen. Several spiders of enormous size approaching the +captive, I sprang forward to release the bird, and then perceived that +the netting was the work of insects. The captive proved to be a +humming bird, one of those beautiful little creatures that are fabled +to feed on the nectar of plants. They however feed on insects, those +which are attached to the nectarium of plants: these they seize for +food with their long bills. + +The spiders that weave these extraordinary webs from one tree to +another, are not, like those of Europe, of solitary habits, but live in +communities; they mutually share in the labour of forming the web, and +divide the prey they catch. It is worthy of notice that all animals +who unite their labour, possess infinitely more ingenuity in their +proceedings than those who work individually. The weak, however, are +generally provided with some compensating, self-protecting secret, that +enables them to rear their young in as much security as the strong. +Many insects that execute their buildings in trees, and there collect +provisions for their infant colony in fear of the depredations of +birds, cover the extremity of their store with substances of nauseous +taste. Having saved the elegant little bird from the voracious +spiders, I could not resist giving it freedom. + +The web which had impeded my progress brought to my recollection the +bush-rope, which I had previously proposed to examine by daylight, in +the hope of falling into the original track my family had taken through +the forest. After having spent the whole of the subsequent part of the +day in surveying the barrier and its approaches, I was reluctantly +constrained again to take up my position in the hollow of the tree, +under the firm conviction that I had no clue by which I could, for the +present, at least, emancipate myself from the mazes of the forest. I +retired to rest much depressed, and half disposed to abandon myself to +despair. I, however, got some sleep at intervals, notwithstanding the +renewal of the frightful noises heard the first night; and, upon the +whole, on the approach of morning, found myself somewhat resigned to my +fate. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for defence] + +Possessing an excellent pocket-knife, I now thought of cutting a good +staff, and, if occasion should render it necessary, of defending myself +with it against any assailant. How it happened that I had not thought +of this before surprised me; and I acquired new confidence from the +consideration that I possessed some means of defence. While trimming +my staff, the history of Crusoe occurred to my recollection; and I then +resolved to adopt his mode of registering time by making notches on the +stick; and this employment brought home to my recollection that I had +now been lost four days, and, while so engaged, that the present day +was a Sabbath. + +The last notch I cut longitudinally, that I might mark the Sundays, and +thus chronicle the return of the one day to be kept holy. Having +always been accustomed religiously to observe the Sabbath, the current +of my thoughts now took another turn. My first act was to offer up +prayers, and to petition God to infuse into my breast courage to face +the trials I must necessarily undergo in the wilderness, and ask for +his guiding finger in all my wanderings. + +Alter performing this duty, I sat down on a fallen tree to court +reflection, and presently heard a humming noise close to my ear. +Turning round, to see from whence it proceeded, I thought I recognised +the identical bird that I had, a short time before, liberated from the +spider's web. It appeared, at first, to be stationary in the air, and +I marvelled how it was supported; it then occurred to me that it was a +spiritual messenger, sent in the form of the little creature I had been +kind to, as an assurance of divine protection. Full ten minutes I +contemplated the bird in this light, when it flew away, leaving me in a +much happier state of mind than I had hitherto felt myself. + +[Sidenote: Utility of birds] + +The fixed position of the bird I afterwards found to be its habit when +hovering over certain flowers in search of insects. There are a great +variety of the humming-bird tribe; the one I had caught was very +beautiful, and moved its wings with such astonishing rapidity in flight +as to elude the eye; and when poising itself over a flower, waiting to +attack insects as they enter between the petals, the wings moved with +such celerity as to become almost invisible, like a mist. The habits +of these birds may be denominated fly-like:-- + + "When morning dawns, and the blest sun again + Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, + Then round our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, + The flower-fed humming-bird his round pursues,-- + Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms, + And chirps his gratitude as round he roams." + + +Birds, throughout my sojourn in the forest, were my chief and most +cheerful companions. They seem to be sent by Heaven as the peculiar +associates of man; they exhilarate him in his labour, and brighten his +hours of leisure by their melody. They also, in an especial manner, +serve man, by preventing the increase of those insects that would +consume the products of his industry. Whatever the uninformed farmer +or gardener may say on this head, I beg to assure them that the +depredations birds commit are more than compensated by their +insectivorous habits. + +There is not a vegetable production, cultivated or of spontaneous +growth, from the forest tree to the most tender garden-flower, that is +not liable to attacks from myriads of insects, though small in form and +weapons, yet insidious in their mode of attack, and fatal to the plant. +Birds are the natural enemies of insects, and were sent as a check upon +their increase. Man persecutes the bird for plundering his fruits, +seeds, and grain crops, but he does not enquire whether he would have +any of these productions if the bird did not free the ground and buds +from insects. The late Professor Bradley ascertained that a pair of +sparrows, during the time they had young ones, destroyed on an average +3360 caterpillars every week, besides butterflies. + +Man, when he clears and cultivates the land, destroys the winter food +of birds, cutting down the trees that nature intended should supply +them with berries during a season when their insectivorous habits are +suspended. It would be an advantage to those who are engaged in +cultivating the earth, if they studied the harmony of nature a little +more than they now generally do. The farmer will say that a hard and +long frost is good for the land, because it kills the insects; so +likewise do the birds die off in severe seasons of cold, thus reducing +the number of his auxiliary agriculturists to the proportion in which +they will be required, on the return of spring, to keep the land clear +from insects, and secure a crop to the cultivator. Birds in general +return tenfold to man, in the services they render him, for all they +take from his store; while they, + + ----"With melody untaught, + Turn all the air to music, within hearing, + Themselves unseen." + + +The humming-bird's visit, together with the peculiar associations of my +mind at the time, produced in me a calmness that partook of heaven. +The scene--a picture, too,--which was before me, was one of those +beautiful instances of nature's chaste compositions that combined all +around in harmony. Lovely were the sylvan flowers, fresh with +blossoms, rising amidst the soft and matted growth beneath; and how +exquisite the structure of the moss and lichen within my reach; how +calm, how clear and serene was the air--how deepened were the +shadows--how perfect was the quiet--how eloquent the silence! + +[Sidenote: Solitary reflections] + +My meditations were painfully broken in upon by the mind reverting to +the jaguar that I thought at times was lurking about to devour me; then +to the snakes, and the captive humming-bird. "Has God," I +involuntarily exclaimed, "made all his creatures that they may devour +each other? Yes, yes! he has." I continued, as I rose with disturbed +feelings; "I see the scheme of destruction at every step, and behold it +at every turn; both day and night, every hour, yea, every moment, +millions are struggling in the death-grasp of their foes." + +These reflections almost melted my heart, when, casting up my eyes to +heaven, as if to ask for some light to shine on my mind and explain the +subject, I saw a falcon, in the act of flying, seize a bird of the +pigeon kind, and fly off with it into the woods. Tears came to my +relief. Goldsmith says, "The mere uninformed spectator passes on in +gloomy silence; while the naturalist, in every plant, in every insect, +and in every pebble, finds something to entertain his curiosity and +excite his speculation. In the animal kingdom alone there exists +nearly one hundred thousand of known different subjects, and half that +number of different plants. The discovery of almost every vegetable +brings with it the knowledge of a new insect. In the mineral kingdom +the compositions and forms are almost endless." And Dr. Priestley +says, of scientific pursuits "The investigation of nature cannot fail +to be valuable. It engages all our intellectual faculties to the +greatest extent, and in its pursuit the general stock of useful +knowledge is increased. The field for inquiry is rational, extensive, +and profitable, beyond conception." + +"But what right have I, a poor, short-sighted mortal," I then +exclaimed, "to seek for the motives that actuate an all-wise Deity? It +is not only vain but wicked in man to scrutinize the ways of +Providence." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT--THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY IN THE FOREST +DESCRIBED. + + + "O may I with myself agree, + And never covet what I see; + Content me with a humble shade-- + My passions tamed, my wishes laid; + For while our wishes wildly roll, + We banish quiet from the soul." + + +[Sidenote: Projects of building] + +As the first Sabbath-day in the woods closed upon me, I felt more +resigned to my fate, and more composed, than I had been at any previous +period since the separation from my parents. I now looked on myself as +a denizen of the forest; and as I slowly repaired to the hollow tree, +the thought possessed me that I could construct some kind of +dwelling-place. During the night I formed and rejected fifty plans for +carrying this scheme out. At length, just as morning dawned, a simple +method suggested itself to me of effecting my purpose; and, with my +usual ardour, I commenced the work forthwith. Before the evening set +in I had collected, and trimmed with my pocket-knife, a considerable +number of stakes, about four feet long, at which work I continued for +four days, when it occurred to me that I had not yet given the +eligibility of site a thought, and had been much too hasty in my +proceedings. Ashamed of my own impetuosity and want of consideration, +I crept to rest, very weary and ill at ease with myself; and as I took +a retrospective view of the results of my impulsive mode of acting on +the thought, together with the ills I had brought on my own head, I did +not spare self-reproach. Considering my numerous wants, it was +clearly, where I had collected the stakes, a very inconvenient spot to +choose for a permanent place of residence. Weighing in my judgment the +kind of locality suited to the purpose, I decided on an open space or +glade in the forest, where I might have a clear view all around, and be +out of the way of uprooted or falling timber. But for this last +consideration I should at once have selected the spot where I awoke +after my first night's sleep in the forest. The recollection of that +beautiful scene reminded me of another thing I had not hitherto thought +of, namely, that my house must be built near to a supply of water, and +also of fruit. The next day, therefore, was spent in searching for a +site on which I might commence my building speculation. There was no +lack of space, or of glades; but in the resolution I had now made to +become thoughtful, and act with caution, I fear I became too nice and +fastidious. + +[Sidenote: The forest stream] + +One open plot of ground I traversed many times with the eye of a +government surveyor: it was the very thing itself; but there was no +water to be seen. Presently, I caught the sound of trickling water; +and my new friend, caution, forsook me. I was so heedless in running +to satisfy myself that there actually was a stream fit to drink, that I +was precipitated headlong into the gill, or chasm, which formed the +channel for its course. It was so covered with wood that the eye could +not see it. Fortunately I met with this rent in the earth near to the +commencement of the fissure, where it was comparatively narrow and +shallow. At any other part, its steepness and depth might have +endangered life. It was the birthplace of a native stream. I +subsequently learned to track it by the soothing harmony of this +invisible torrent, the notes from which sounded like innumerable broken +falls, and were softened by ascending through branches which hung over +it. These sounds were extremely harmonious. + +At the spot where I had fallen the water might with some difficulty be +obtained, and near to this, at length I determined to build my villa--a +sylvan mansion. This site, on one side, was flanked by a morass, or +bog, which even then, in the driest season, was only passable with care +on tufts of grass, which here and there sprung from the moisture of the +soil. Proceeding to lay out my ground-plan, which was a circle, and to +prepare for the morrow, I stayed at work till it was too late to find +my way back to my lodging; leaving me no alternative but either to +stretch myself on the ground, exposed to numberless dangers, or remain +awake, and protect myself as I might. In this extremity I thought of +the chasm, and groping my way to it, found its extreme end, where it +was a mere slit, into which I rolled, and laid till the return of day. + +[Sidenote: The hut commenced] + +The morning opened with its usual bustle of animals, birds, and insects +summoning me to my labour, and, having commenced, I was surprised to +hear a cry of, "Who are you? Who--who are you?" I had scarcely +recovered from the astonishment which these words occasioned, when they +were followed by, "Work away!--work away!--work away!" and a mournful +cry of "Willy come!--go, Willy! Willy--Willy--come! Go Willy!" +Looking up, and being now in an open space, I could plainly see the +birds fly over my head that uttered these notes. Not aware that these +calls are common to certain birds, and my Christian name being William, +the reader may imagine the effect and surprise with which they were +heard. I instantly discontinued my labour, conceiving that the birds +had been influenced by supernatural agency, and that they portended +omens which had a peculiar reference to myself. This impression filled +me with fears and fantasies of all kinds; it seemed as if some spell +was on me, and I sat down in melancholy moodiness for the rest of the +day. Irresolute, the following morning I rather dragged myself than +walked to the same spot; but as I went, another bird over my head +distinctly cried out, "Whip-poor-Will! Whip-poor-Will! +Whip-poor-Will!" Yes! I exclaimed (as my spirits threw off the burden +which had oppressed them) I am indeed ashamed of my folly in attending +to the omens of birds. They are winging their way to the business of +the day, and why should I neglect mine? I then returned, and took a +bundle of the prepared stakes on my back to my new settlement. Need I +apologise to the reader for mentioning the trifling incidents which +depressed me at times, and the manner in which the paroxysms were +dispelled. My motive in naming them is to illustrate the alternations +my feelings underwent during my early days of probation in the +wilderness. I know not whether I had taken a cold, but for some days +past I had now suffered from a pain in my limbs, which I at the time +attributed to the cramped position in which I rested at night. I +therefore became extremely anxious to possess a place in which I might +stretch myself at length. It, however, took seven days to construct +the internal shell of the hut; for, being determined to sleep in +security, I ultimately doubled the frame of the building. Having +driven stakes into the earth, about a foot apart, forming a circle of +about eight feet in diameter, I interlaced these with the limber +branches of trees, fastening them to the stakes with tough fibres, +stripped from the bark of lianes. These shrubs, of which there are a +great variety, all comprised under that term, sometimes grow to the +size of a man's leg round trees, making the trunks look like a mast of +a ship furnished with rigging. They support the trees against the +hurricanes, in the same manner as spurs are placed in the ground to +prop posts; cords are made of their bark stronger than those +manufactured of hemp. In woods where timber is felled, it is sometimes +the practice to cut several hundred trees near their roots, where they +remain till the lianes, which hold them, are also cut. When this is +done, one whole part of the wood seems to fall at once, making an +astounding crash. By the means of the lianes and stakes, I formed a +circular strong hurdle-kind of fence; on this I fastened a number of +other sticks, like wands, tapering at the top, which, when bound +together, met over the centre part of the floor of the hut, and formed +a conical roof. These I also interlaced in the same manner as the +upright stakes; covering the whole with leaves of the parrasalla tree, +which the wet does not injure; binding these also down with my most +excellent substitute for cordage--fibres of the bark of the lianes. In +the roof I left a hole for ingress and egress; so that, with two steps +up, and then a jump, I was in the centre of my habitation, where, with +dried grass, I made a most comfortable bed. This, after all, was a +frail affair. My next object was to erect another frame over it, at +about two feet distance from the interior shell, filling up the space +between the upright stakes with stones and dry earth. The aperture was +secured at night, leaving only a space for air, with a piece of bark +hung on with the before-named fibres. With the same material (bark) I +also formed a kind of stage before the opening into the hut, where I +could sit, and survey the surrounding scenery. Some time subsequently +I wove myself a grass hammock, which I found more cleanly than the +dried grass, and less liable to be infested with insects. Finding +myself lonely in this structure, I took the resolution of increasing my +family; and, with this view, I devoted a portion of the interior for +birds, that I might not be wholly companionless. These I took young, +and reared them up in an aviary which I constructed immediately under +my hammock, letting them out to hop about me when the aperture of the +hut was closed. Many of my associates repaid me for my care with +strong proofs of docility and affection. I also caught two land +tortoises, to occupy the floor of the dwelling, and make me conscious +of other living things besides myself breathing the same air. + +[Sidenote: The dwellers in the hut] + +In the foolishness of my heart I thought that when I possessed a hut, +in which I might repose in security, I should be happy. But alas! in +the city or in the forest, worldly acquisitions are not always attended +with contentment. Man everywhere sighs for something more than he +possesses. + +I had now a hut, one, too, that was impregnable against the attacks of +the jaguar, or any of the animals of the forest; and, as I thought, in +every way compactly built to be impervious to noxious insects; but +happiness or contentment did not abide in it. + +I now wanted a gun, that I ought, man-like, slay, and play the tyrant +over the living things around me. I grew tired of my vegetable diet, +and daily lamented the want of a fire to cook the eggs, which now began +to form a considerable portion of my food. These wants gradually, as +the mind dwelt upon them, became sources of anxiety, and disturbed my +rest. The animal propensities of my nature began to stir within me. I +longed to kill at my pleasure, and live on prey, as did the other +animals of the forest. At length I determined on making the best +substitute I could for a gun--namely, a bow and arrow; and, like Robin +Hood, practise till I could hit the shaft of an arrow placed upright in +the ground. + +It was many weeks subsequently to this resolution before I succeeded in +even procuring the materials I deemed suited for my purpose. My knife +having become blunted with frequent use, it took a length of time to +fashion the bow, and no less than four snapped in two as soon as I +attempted to use them; proving that, choice as I had been in the +selection of my wood, my judgment was defective in this particular. +When I had succeeded in forming one of these primitive warlike weapons, +I fastened large butterflies against the hut, and commenced the +practice of archery. + +I have informed the reader that the entrance of the new dwelling was +through the roof, where, as I have said, I erected a seat, or +standing-place; a sort of balcony, or rather, more like a dormer +window. On this, every morning, during the dry season, at daybreak, I +took my stand to discharge my arrows at any unwary bird that might come +within my reach. + +[Sidenote: Early morning in the forest] + +This early rising at length grew into a habit, and to watch the opening +of the day gave me unspeakable pleasure; and up to the last day of my +pilgrimage it was the most interesting hour to me. It was an hour when +the littleness of life did not present itself; the mind being refreshed +with rest, was prepared to be filled with enlarged ideas. + +The labourers of the night--for nature has her two sets of working +animals--were then all on their way to seek retirement and rest during +the day, from the fatigues of the night; while those that had rested +during that period were all preparing to hail the morn with innumerable +cries. + +As twilight glimmers in the east, the tiger-cats are stealing into +their holes. The owl and the goat-sucker cease their mournful lament, +and as streaks of light appear the "Ha! ha! ha! ha!" of the latter, +each note lower than the last, sounding like the voice of a murdered +victim, entirely ceases. The crickets, also, at this hour begin to +slacken the violence of their chirping, though sometimes in cloudy +weather they will continue their notes for four-and-twenty hours +together. + +The partridge is the first of the birds to give signal of the rising of +the sun, even before he appears on the horizon; while the mist of the +morning, that precedes the day, is dispelling, numerous tribes of +insects are creeping to their hiding-places, as others are issuing +forth to enjoy the day. Lizards of sparkling lustre, from two inches +to two feet and a-half long, cross the paths of the forest; and the +chameleon has begun to chase the insects round the trunks of trees. +Gaudy serpents steal from out of holes or decayed trees. + + "Each rapid movement gives a different dye; + Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show, + Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow." + + +The houton, a bird so called from the sound he gives out, distinctly +articulates "houton, houton," in a plaintive note, as he erects his +crown, and cuts and trims his tail, with his beak, in the most, +artistical manner, then flies off with a short jerk. + +At the same period the maam whistles; and when the sun is seen above +the horizon, the hanaquoi, pataca, maroucli, and all the parrots and +paroquets are prepared to announce his arrival. Every hour from this +moment, excepting noon, calls into action new races of animals; and he +who spends a day in the scene that environed my existence, when seated +at my door, would not know which most to admire,--the forms, hues, or +voices of the animals presented to his observation; as at intervals, +wonder, admiration, and awe of the power that created them, are forced +on the mind. + +[Sidenote: Forest animals] + +With the morning's dawn, the monkeys send forth their howl, the +grasshoppers and locusts chirp, the frogs and toads give out their +notes. The hanging pendant wasps' nests, most curious in form, send +forth their inhabitants; myriads of ants issue from their clay-built +tenements, in some places colonized so densely as to cover the foliage +all around. These, like the species of ants called the termites, that +cast up the earth in mounds, commence their day's journey on roads +constructed by themselves, some of which are covered, and others open. + +Myriads of the most beautiful beetles buzz in the air, and sparkle like +jewels on the fresh and green leaves, or on odorous flowers. Other +tribes, such as serpents and agile lizards, creep from the hollow of +trees, or from holes beneath the herbage; many of them exceeding in +splendour the hue of the flowers. The major part of these are on their +way to creep up the stems of trees or bushes, there to bask in the sun, +and lie in wait for birds and insects. + +The most brilliantly coloured butterflies, rivalling in hues the +rainbow, begin to flutter from flower to flower, or collect in parties +on the most sunny banks of cooling streams. There was the blue-white +idia, the large eurilochus with its ocellated wings, the hesperite, the +Laertes, the blue shining Nestor, and the Adonis; these, like birds, in +most places hovered between the bushes. The feronia, with rustling +wings, flew rapidly from tree to tree; while the owl, the largest of +the moth species, sat immovable, with out-spread wings, waiting the +approach of evening. + +As the day progresses, the life of the scene increases. Troops of +gregarious monkeys issue from the depths of the forest, their +inquisitive countenances turned towards the verge of their wooded +domain, making their way for the plantations; all leaping, whistling, +and chattering as they progress from tree to tree. + +Parrots, some blue, red, or green, others, parti-coloured, assemble in +large groups on the tops of the forest-trees; and then, flying off to +the plantations, fill the air with their screams. The toucan, perched +on an extreme branch, rattles his large, hollow bill; and in loud, +plaintive notes, calls for rain. The fly-catcher sits aloof, intent on +watching insects as they dart from branch to branch, seizing them as +they heedlessly buzz by him in their giddy and unsteady career. Other +birds, of singular form, variety, and superb plumage, flutter by, in +large or small parties, or in pairs, and some singly, peopling +everywhere the fragrant bushes. On the ground are gallinaceans, +jacuses, hocuses, and pigeons, that have left the perch to wander under +the trees, in the moisture, for food. + +In the tones of the nightingale the manikins are heard in all places, +amusing themselves by their sudden change of position, and in +misleading the sportsman; while the woodpecker makes the distant forest +resound as he strikes the trees. Super-noisy, above all, is the +uraponga, who, perched on the highest tree he can find, gives out +sounds resembling the strokes of a sledge-hammer on the anvil, deluding +the wanderer, as it once did me, into a belief that a blacksmith's shop +is near at hand. + +[Sidenote: The mocking-bird] + +Every living thing, by its action and voice, is seen greeting the +splendour of the day; while the delicate humming-bird, rivalling, in +beauty and lustre, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires, hovers with +invisible wings over the brightest flowers. The bird colibri repairs +to the tree called _bois immortel_, when the wild guava ripens its +fruit; and there, also, will be found the Pompadour, both the +purple-breasted and the purple-throated. At the same hour (day-break), +the crowing of the hanaquoi sounds like a village-clock, for all to set +to work in the great shop of nature. Then the cassique, or +mocking-bird, gives out his own short but sweet song, preparatory to +visiting the plantations, being fond of the haunts of man, where he +remains till evening, making all kinds of noises, from the crowing of a +cock, and the barking of dogs, to the grunting and squeaking of pigs. +These birds weave their nests near together, in a pendulous manner. +Their bodies are black, having the rump and half-tail yellow; other +species have the rump a bright scarlet. In form they are a model of +symmetry. + +As the feathered tribes, one after the other, adjust their plumage, and +tune their throats, squirrels, in rapid spiral speed, as quick as +thought, are seen descending trees, then darting upon others in +opposite directions, flinging themselves from tree to tree, with +amazing exactness; pursuing their mates or their rivals among the mazy +branches of the trees, with a velocity that eludes the sight. + +Everywhere is nature's secretary, with his pen dipped in intellect, +busy in writing down the invisible agency of Infinite Wisdom and +Almighty Power. + + "How dazzling is thy beauty! how divine! + How dim the lustre of the world to thine!" + + +The sublimity of the scene, when first beheld, produced unlimited +astonishment; viewed again and again, all was softened down into +harmonious shades of beauty, imparting a pleasure that cannot be +understood by mere dwellers amidst the works of man. + +[Sidenote: Noon in the forest] + +In the forest, every hour of the night and day is the Creator present +to the eye. Surrounded by the works of man, we sometimes lose sight of +our Maker, and do not always properly appreciate his attributes. I +have said that the morning gives life and activity to myriads of his +creatures, who declare his power; but not less expressive is the hour +of tranquillity--the hour of noon. At that hour, all is suddenly +hushed into solemn silence. Stillness, as if by general consent, +concert, or word of command, influences all the sylvan communities--a +stillness illumined and made more manifest by the dazzling and burning +beams of a meridian sun. + +Creation at that hour appears wearied, fatigued, and overcome with the +splendour of the day; it is as the face of God himself, before whose +glory all things are struck with awe, and pause to acknowledge His +majesty. Nothing moves--it is the hour of nature's siesta--yet the +stillness speaks. + + "Thy shades, thy silence, now be mine, + Thy charms my only theme; + My haunt the hollow cliff whose pine + Waves o'er the gloomy stream." + + +The quietness is that of a pause in the running stream of time; the air +is motionless, the leaves hang pendant, as waiting in the presence of a +deity for permission to resume the business of growth. The silence +that reigns at the hour of noon is peculiarly of a religious character; +there is nothing to which it can be compared but itself. From the +nobles of the forest to the minutest insect, all appear to be at their +devotions--the propensity to kill, for the time being, is forgotten or +suspended,-- + + "The passions to divine repose alone + Persuaded yield; and love and joy are waking." + +It is as if the naiads and fairies had deserted the sunbeams and fallen +asleep. Oh! there is a harmony in nature wonderfully attuned to the +intelligence of man, if he would but listen to it. The hour of noon, +in the woods, is an hour of intellectual transcendentalism; it lifts +the thoughts beyond the world, and peoples the grove with spirits of +another world. Yet is there nothing in motion but the beams of the sun +penetrating the foliage to the base of the trees-- + + "The chequered earth seems restless as a flood + Brushed by the winds, so sportive is the light + Shot through the boughs; it dances as they dance, + Shadow and sunshine intermingling quick, + And dark'ning and enlight'ning (as the beams + Play wanton) every part." + + +Everything speaks of the Deity, and the fall of a leaf passes as a +phantom of the dead. + + ----"not a tree, + A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains + A folio volume." + + +The fitful meanings of the wind, in the more boisterous moments of +Æolus, through the branches, speak not louder of God than the whisper +of his breath that plays with the foliage. The low and broken murmurs +of the water in the gill are as audibly eloquent as the lashing of the +waves of the ocean in a storm, or the wild roar of the cataract. The +voice of nature, come in what form it may, brings unutterable thoughts +of the majesty of the creation. Whether it is in the deep, delicious +tones of the happiness of the wood-dove, the melting, graceful notes of +the nightingale, the thrilling melody of other sylvan songsters, or the +twitterings of the swallow, all compel us to exclaim, "Oh! there is +harmony in nature." + + "Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh, + Yet heard in scenes where peace for ever reigns, + ... Please highly for their sake. + ... Kites that swim sublime + In still-repeated circles, screaming loud, + ... Have charms for me." + + +[Sidenote: Evening] + +But the hour of stillness, like all other hours, passes away. The +insects again give out their sounds; wasps and bees buzz in every +direction; the talk of birds is clamorously resumed; the king-vulture +and the kite soar high in the hair, like fugle-birds, as signals for +the resumption of the business of the day. The chattering manikins +again rustle among the fig-leaves; the armadillo, and other burrowing +animals, are seen cautiously peeping from their holes; the horned +screamer opens wide his throat, and one by one, the whole of the sylvan +feathered community join in concert. + +The porcupine moves in the trees; the long grass is observed to give +way as creeping things pursue their prey, or escape from foes; all +indications that the earth and air again are full of animated life. + +An hour or two elapses, and a gentle breeze rises to cool the air and +give motion to the trees, as troop after troop of birds and monkeys +wend their way back into the interior of the forest, indicating the +gradual decline of the day. General preparations are being made for +rest; only the slender deer, the peccari, the timid agouti, and the +tapir, will still graze. The opossum, and some sly animals of the +feline race skulk through the obscurity of the wood, stealthily +prowling for prey. Finally, the last troop of howling monkeys are +heard, as if performing the duty of drovers to those that have preceded +them; the sloth cries as if in much distress with pain; the croaking of +frogs, and monotonous chirps of large grasshoppers, bring on the close +of day. + +The tops of the forest now appear to be on fire, in the midst of which, +the toucan, on a blasted mora tree, is uttering his evening cry, as +darker shades are gradually cast into the forest, and the sun's disc +sinks into the horizon. + +The sky, which a moment since was bright as burnished gold, has already +changed to a dusky grey, with here and there streaks of purple hue. A +solitary bird, truant to its mate, or perhaps a mourner for its loss +during the day's excursion, is seen like a wayfarer, with tired flight, +wearily labouring to reach the wood ere nightfall. + +Twilight is still lingering in the west, bringing on the night with a +soft and sweet touch of delicacy, but still approaching, till +surrounding objects become more and more obscure and confused, though +undiminished in their beauty and effect. The cries of the macue, the +capaiera, the goat-sucker, and the bass tones of the bullfrog, are now +heard. Myriads of luminous beetles fly in the air, resembling the +ignes fatui, and announce the departure of the day; when the +night-moths and numerous other insects start on the wing, the bats flit +between the branches of trees, the owls and vampires, like phantoms, +silently pursue their course in search of prey, reserving their hollow +cries for the ominous hour of midnight. + +The stars, one after another, are lighted up as the moon rises on the +horizon, with a modest countenance, to intimate to man that there is +still a ruling power over the world. She tinges with silver streaks of +light the tops and edges of the forest, till + + "Lo! midnight, from her starry reign, + Looks awful down on earth and main, + The tuneful birds lie hush'd in sleep, + With all that crop the verdant food, + With all that skim the crystal flood, + Or haunt the caverns of the rocky steep." + + +At this hour the spectral owl quits the hollow tree, and with his +shriek makes the boldest birds shrink away in fear, though in the +sunshine hour they would hunt him. + + "So when the night falls, and dogs do howl, + Sing Ho! for the reign of the horned owl! + We know not alway + Who are kings by day; + But the king of the night is the bold brown owl!" + + "Mourn not for the owl, nor his gloomy plight! + The owl hath his share of good; + If a prisoner he be in the broad daylight, + He is lord in the dark greenwood. + Nor lonely the bird, nor his ghastly mate, + They are each unto each a pride; + Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange dark fate, + Hath rent them from all beside." + + +[Sidenote: The bow and arrows] + +I made but little progress in archery, which was a great source of +mortification to me, although I spent every leisure hour I could spare +after obtaining food, in practice. I was on the verge of despair of +ever being able to make anything like a shot, when an incident occurred +that enabled me to kill, in a few weeks, almost any bird on the wing, +if within the range of my bow. Returning home from a long and +fatiguing ramble (for I had extended my surveys of the forest as I +acquired confidence of finding my way home at night), I one day was +astonished to see a bow and a quiver of arrows suspended from the +branch of a tree. + +This was a sight which occasioned feelings that are indescribable. I +was both rejoiced and alarmed. At first I thought my deliverance was +certain; the next moment I crouched behind a bush to hide myself, as +from a most deadly foe. When I reflected on the loneliness of my +existence, I longed to join society; yet, whenever society appeared to +be available, I instinctively shrunk back, as if about to lose my +independence or be carried into slavery. Operated on by mingled +impulses, the dread of man seemed for a long time to prevail. Might +they not be savages, and take my life? Or might they not lead me into +captivity, and make a slave of me? They would at least have the +Christian's practice to urge as a plea, in extenuation of such a +measure. + +Confident that human beings were in the neighbourhood, I at length +resolved to secrete myself in a bush and wait their return. I fixed my +eyes on the bow and quiver, expecting their owner would return for +them; but the tones of the toucan were heard, by which I was as well +informed of the approach of evening, as the partridge's call announces +the coming day. Still unwilling to quit the spot, I remained +throughout the night; but no owner came to claim the weapons. All this +time I feared to touch them as if they were a trap laid to ensnare me. +About noon the next day, I thought of possessing myself of them, and +then made a circuit to reassure myself that no one was at hand. With +fear and trembling I then, like a thief, took the bow and quiver from +the tree, and hastened back to my hut to examine them. The whole +secret of my inability to shoot birds was now at once explained. I had +not feathered my arrows, nor was my bow long enough. + +Still anxious to know their owner, the following morning I repaired +again to the spot, and hung my own rudely formed weapons on the same +tree from which I had taken the others. My motives were, first, to +ascertain whether any person would yet come to remove them, and also to +inform those who might come for that purpose, that another human being +was in the neighbourhood. + +The bow and arrows hung there a month, when I gave up all hopes of +seeing any person in the woods; still the event caused me much +uneasiness, and ever afterwards occasioned me to tread the paths around +with extreme caution. + +[Sidenote: Flint and steel] + +Being now furnished with well-made arms, I soon brought down my birds, +and might have fared sumptuously, could I have procured a fire. All my +waking hours were, therefore, spent in bewailing this want, when one +morning, as I was digging with my stick to come at a land tortoise that +had crept into a hole, I raked out a piece of flint, and the tinder-box +occurring to my mind, I struck it on the back of my knife, and +instantly produced sparks, which actually made me leap for joy. My +delight, however, was but of short duration. How were the sparks to be +collected? I had no tinder--no matches. I then thought of my shirt, +which I had long cast off; but then I had no matches, and must have +fire before I could make tinder. + +My joy was soon turned into despondency. I threw down the flint, and +in the bitterness of my disappointment, apostrophised it, as the cock +in the fable did, when scratching on a dunghill he found a jewel +instead of a grain of corn. "Are all my days to be spent," I +ejaculated, "in hopes that delight me only to make me more miserable?" +Suddenly it occurred to my memory, that when at school, our small +pieces of artillery were fired with lighted decayed wood, what the boys +called touch-wood. Repossessing myself of the flint, I flew to my old +sleeping-place, and in my impatience, struck a light on my former +bed--the soft wood in the interior--it ignited, and smouldered. I was +in an ecstacy of delight, and clapped my hands with exultation. Still +I had no flame. I then collected some dried leaves, and holding them +loosely over the spot that was alight, I blew with my mouth; a severely +burnt hand soon informed me that I had succeeded. + +My first fire was indeed a bonfire: heaping more leaves and dried +sticks on to it, the tree was entirely consumed, and a number of others +so damaged as very soon to become touch-wood. + +[Sidenote: The thunder-storm] + +A terrible thunder-storm succeeded this exploit. So wholly absorbed +had I been with the fire, that when it expended itself, I found myself +in total darkness, the moon having been suddenly obscured. All the +inhabitants of the wood were restless and uneasy in their beds. I +could hear the stag startle, and again lay himself down. Flashes of +lightning showed the birds, lifting their heads at intervals, then +returning them hastily again under their wings. The storm had for some +time been gathering on the tops of the forest, and had now spread its +black mantle over the moon, while I, like a school-boy on the fifth of +November, had been exulting over a blaze. + +On the storm advanced, in the majesty of darkness, moving on the wings +of the blast, which my imagination pictured as uprooting the trees +around me. The thunder rolled over the crown of the forest in the rear +of the lightning. Rifted clouds continued to pass over my head. An +owl left its dirge unfinished, and fitted its ruffled feathers into a +cleft of a blasted tree over my head. The wild animals that prowl by +night, with famished stomachs, sought shelter in their dens. + +I alone stood bared to the fury of the storm, incapable of reaching my +hut in the darkness of that awful night. The thunder rolled as with +ten thousand voices, and the lightning at intervals set the whole +forest in a blaze of light. One of the flashes brought down a mora +tree near to where I stood, crushing the limbs of other trees as it +fell. The crash was terrific. Examining it the next morning by +daylight, there was a wild fig-tree growing out of its top, and on the +fig grew a wild species of vine. The fig-tree was as large as a common +apple-tree, yet owed its growth to an undigested seed, dropped by birds +that resort to the mora to feed on its ripe fruit. Such seeds the sap +of the mora raises into full bearing, when they, in their turn, are +called on to support and give out their sap to different species of +seeds, also dropped by birds. In this case the usurpation of the fig +on the mora, and the vine on the fig, brought all to an early end. A +dead sloth was lying near to the prostrate timber, probably brought +down, by the force of its fall, from the branch of another tree. + +It was a night of devastation in the wilds of nature. The storms of +destruction blew piercingly on every quarter. The destroying blast +clapped his wings over many a tree, and laid prostrate numerous +creatures that had life as the sun went down the previous evening. To +the things that can be shaken, belong all that is earthly. However +durable they may appear, however they may glitter, or stable they may +appear, age, or the storm, will bring them to oblivion. Mutability is +written on all the works of nature. It is an inscription that meets +every eye, whether turned on the foundations of a city, a nation, or +the works of the creation. Awe-struck with the dilapidations the +morning made visible, I hastened to my hut, anxious to see if all was +safe there, and prepare to cook myself a dinner. + +[Sidenote: The sloth] + +Man is essentially a cooking animal, and though omnivorous in his +appetite, is nine parts out of ten carnivorous. I had abundance of +vegetable food around me, of which I ate freely, and was in good +health; yet my desire to taste animal food was so strong that I would +at the time have made almost any sacrifice to obtain it. I had reached +more than half the distance towards my residence, thinking all the way +only on the means that I possessed of making a fire, before it occurred +to me that I had no flesh to cook. I then turned back, and with my +knife cut off the hind-quarter of the sloth, being resolved to try the +quality of the flesh. + +Having collected a small heap of the dried rotten wood, to use as +tinder, I succeeded in making a fire outside my hut, where I broiled +some pieces of the sloth's flesh, and from it made a tolerable meal, +though it was not so good as beef or mutton. + +Whenever I subsequently met with the sloth, he always excited my pity, +and I forbore from doing such a helpless creature any injury. The +natives say that by his piteous moans he will make the heart of a tiger +relent, and turn away from him. The sloth is a solitary animal; he has +no companion to cheer him, but lies on the branches of trees almost +stationary, having no means of defence or escape, if you intend him any +harm; his looks, his gestures, and his cries declare it; therefore do +not kill him. He subsists wholly on the leaves of trees, and does not +quit one branch till there is nothing left for him to eat, and he then +moves evidently with much pain to himself. He preys on no living +animal, and is deficient and deformed, when compared with other +animals, though in some other respects he is compensated in the +composition of his frame. His feet are without soles, nor can he move +his toes separately; he therefore cannot walk, but hooks himself along +by means of the claws which are at the extremity of the fore-feet. He +has no cutting teeth; he has four stomachs, and yet wants the long +intestinal canals of ruminating animals. His hair lies flat on his +body, like long grass withered by the frost. He has six more ribs than +the elephant, namely, forty-six, the latter having only forty; his legs +strike the eye as being too short, and as if joined to the body with +the loss of a joint. On the whole, as a quadruped, the sloth is of the +lowest degree. He never quits a tree until all the leaves are eaten. + +The day after I had made a meal from the sloth, I shot my arrow through +the head of a horned screamer, which brought him within my grasp; this +was a great feat for me to accomplish, the screamer being a majestic +bird, as large as a turkey-cock, having on the head a long slender +horn, each wing being armed with a sharp, strong spur, of an inch long. +I had seated myself behind a tree, where I had been, for several hours, +watching the movements of the ants that build their nests on those +trees, when the bird came within a few yards of me. This incident +practically exemplified to me that, like other animals that seek for +prey, I must use patience, and be wary in my movements. It taught me +to reflect and to know that it was not rambling over much space that +would ensure success, and that every spot in the world was available, +either for the study of the things of creation or for procuring food. + +It is a great error some fall into when they imagine that travelling +over much ground will give knowledge; those who observe and reflect may +gain more information when examining a puddle of water, than the +careless will in traversing the globe. + +[Sidenote: The ants] + +Of the insect tribe, the ants early attracted my attention, and I spent +much time in watching their movements; indeed, from the first hour I +turned my thoughts to the study of insects, I never afterwards spent a +dull one. The tree ants' nests are about five times as large as those +made by rooks, from which they have covered ways to the ground; these +ways I frequently broke down, but as often as I did so, they were +quickly under repair, a body of labouring ants being immediately +summoned for that purpose. Ants have the means of communicating with +each other in a very rapid manner. I am of opinion that the antennæ +are the medium through which they receive and convey orders to each +other. + +I have seen a troop of ants a mile long, each one carrying in its mouth +a round leaf about the size of a sixpence, which appeared to have been +trimmed round to the shape. Wasps do the same; and after twisting them +up in the shape of a horn, deposit their eggs in them. When on their +march, or engaged at work, nothing deters them from progressing; they +seem to have no fear either of injury or death. I have broken their +line at different points, and killed thousands of them; the others go +over the same ground, as if perfectly unconscious of danger, while a +body of them are instantly detached to remove the dead, and clear the +way. It matters not how often the experiment is repeated, or what +number are slain, others come on as if their forces were unlimited. It +would seem that they live under an absolute monarchy, and dare not +disobey orders. When accompanying them on a march, I have seen a +messenger arrive from the opposite direction to that they were going, +and the whole line, as I have said, of sometimes a mile long, +simultaneously brought to a halt. One of the ants belonging to the +body went forward, and applied its antennæ to those of the messenger, +after which, the latter returned the way he came, and the main body +immediately altered its course of march. + +At one time, I fell in with an unusually large body of these +persevering labourers, and being resolved, if possible, to stop them, I +formed a ditch in their way, and filled it with water; while the ditch +was being made, they continued their course up and down the ridges of +the loose earth, as if nothing had happened, although hundreds were +every instant buried. When, however, the water was turned into the +channel, there was a momentary halt; but as the ant must never be idle, +it was but for an instant, to receive orders to take the margin of the +earth, and travel round the head of the channel. How the nature of the +disaster they had met with was made known, so as to stop the whole body +simultaneously, may be difficult to ascertain; but at the moment of +making these experiments I have distinctly seen the antennæ of one ant +strike the tail of the one immediately before it, and the same movement +repeated by all the others in rapid succession as far as my observation +extended. + +[Sidenote: Wasps] + +All insects that live in communities are, I should imagine, in +possession of language. One day I saw a wasp fly into my hut, and +recollecting that I had a small collection of honey wrapped in some +plantain leaves, I went to close the shutter as it again flew out; but +observing the wasp immediately fly towards another of his species, and +then to a second and a third, and those instantly fly off in opposite +directions, I said to myself, the discovery of my depot of honey is +being advertised throughout the community of wasps. Thinking I would +disappoint the depredators, before I left home I was very careful in +fastening the entrance, and stuffing every crevice up with long grass. +About a hundred yards from my hut I met a swarm of wasps, which induced +me to return and ascertain whether my conjectures were confirmed; and +there I found an immense number seeking an entrance, evidently with a +view of plundering me of my honey. It was not long ere they found +admission through some of the apertures in the roof. Knowing that my +honey must go,--for a swarm of wasps is not to be molested with +impunity,--I turned away to pursue my walk with the reflection that +they only took what they could get, and suited their appetites, the +business of my own every-day life. + +Both in society and in the forest it is wise at all times to avoid +being an aggressor. The stings of mankind, and of insects, are most +frequently the result of our own imprudence. In the forest I have +daily been surrounded with myriads of wasps and large stinging bees, +and never received an injury but when I was committing depredations on +their store. + +But of all plunderers in nature, the ant exceeds the whole. I had +become acquainted with five species of bees in my immediate +neighbourhood, not one of which could secure their combs from the +voracious appetites of the ant. They came in such numbers, as +sometimes, in my view, to threaten the undermining of the forest; and +were to be seen of all sizes and colour. One sort is so large, that +the natives make a considerable article of food of them when fried. + +The termites, or white ants, are very destructive; neither fruit, +flowers of plants, or food of any kind, escapes them. When they appear +in the dwellings of man, they will undermine a house in a few hours, if +the wood of which it is built suits their taste. + +[Sidenote: Voracity of the ants] + +The whole of the ant tribes are, however, essentially carnivorous, and +are useful in repressing a too rapid increase amongst reptiles much +larger than themselves; and I have often thought, when watching their +movements, and observing that there is nothing, from the smallest +winged insect to the carcase of a bullock, that comes to the ground, +but they instantly assemble in millions to devour it, that they were +intended by nature to prevent the corruption of the air from the decay +and putrefaction of animal matter. If an enormous spider accidentally +falls to the ground, they give it no time to recover itself; thousands +are instantly on it; and although the spider, in its struggles to +escape, will kill and crush numbers, still others continue to crawl up +his legs and thighs, and there hang on in quietness, till their victim +is exhausted by fatigue, when a few seconds serve to remove all traces +of its heretofore existence. As I grew older, and acquired more +experience in hunting for my food, I frequently killed large animals, +of whose flesh I could only eat as much as served me for a meal, before +the remainder would be spoiled by the heat of the weather: this the +ants generally cleared away. + +At length I learned to go out by moonlight, to kill deer and the +peccari,--a time that they like to browse, and may be approached with +more ease. I generally dragged the remains of a carcase I did not want +in the way of the ants, and watched them at their feast. A few hours +served to leave the bones of the largest animal perfectly clean, and as +a skeleton for study, fit for an exhibition. + +When the termites, or white ant, is seen in the neighbourhood of man, +the antipathies of the species are rendered available. As soon as they +are observed, sugar is strewed in such a direction as to lead the brown +or black ants to the spot, who, it is known, will immediately attack +and put the white party to the rout, much to the amusement of the +negroes, who cheer on the blacks to kill the whites. I have often +awoke with my body covered with ants, when I generally ran to the +nearest water, and plunging into it, freed myself from them; though I +never could discover for what purpose they spread themselves over my +frame, unless it were in expectation of my becoming a corpse. When, +however, I did rouse myself, they seldom exhibited much alacrity in +acknowledging their error by making a speedy retreat. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR--AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO--I AM ATTACKED WITH A +FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT. + + + "Give me, indulgent gods--with mind serene, + And guiltless heart--to range the sylvan scene; + No splendid poverty, no smiling care, + No well-bred hate, or servile grandeur there." + + +I had now become a sportsman--a Nimrod--my chief delight being found in +the use of my bow and arrows. Thus armed, I ranged the forest, or laid +in covert, to destroy any game which might come in my way. My +propensity for killing, however, soon led me into a scrape, the escape +from which nearly cost me my life; yet the lesson was thrown away on +me, for it in no way abated my desire to shoot and eat the flesh of +birds. + +Early one morning I had taken my station behind a large tree, from +which I discharged an arrow at a mocking-bird. No sooner had the arrow +quitted the string, than I descried a bear, feeding on ants' nests, and +that in a direct line between myself and the bird shot at. The arrow +passed close by his ear; it might have struck him: be this as it may, +the bear instantly began to descend the tree, showing evident signs of +his intention to revenge the insult. + +Not being disposed to confront such an enemy in an angry mood, I +instantly took to my heels; but had not proceeded far, before the +shaggy monster was near overtaking me. In this extremity I ascended a +tree, confident of being as good a climber as Bruin was. I had, +however, scarcely reached the lowest extending branch, before the +enraged beast was close on me. Fortunately, I had in my flight +retained possession of my stick; and as the bear had no means of +supporting himself but by clinging to the trunk of the tree with his +claws, I applied my staff with so much vigour to his feet, that he was +constrained to drop to the ground, whereupon his rage was great. He +then took a turn or two round the base of the tree to cool himself, +gave a growl, and seated himself under it, fixing his eyes on me. In +this position the disappointed monster remained, on his hind-quarters, +seven hours, watching my movements; till at length, growing weary of +his presence, and having read somewhere of the effect of the human +voice, I cried out loudly, mentioning several names, as if calling for +assistance. When speaking of the storm, I said that the thunder rolled +with ten thousand voices. The cause, however, of its multiplied tones, +was reserved for this adventure to make known. As I called out, I was +utterly astonished to hear my own words repeated several times in +succession;--the bear started on his feet; and after looking round, as +if in fear of an attack, took himself off at his utmost speed. + +[Sidenote: An alarming echo] + +Assured that I had heard human voices, I became more agitated than when +in company with the bear. It may appear anomalous; it is nevertheless +true, that the prospect, or thought, of meeting with human beings in +these wilds, always elicited agitation, or, more properly, terror. + +The joy that hope brought of my emancipation was always mixed with an +alloy of indefinable dread of some coming evil. I remained in the tree +about an hour after the bear had departed, continuing to amuse myself +with the exercise of the voice, and listening to the repetitions of its +sounds. At length, when assured that the bear did not contemplate a +renewal of the attack, I descended from the tree, and again raised my +voice, and was again surprised to find that I had no response. This +struck me as very mysterious; and instead of seeking for natural causes +of the phenomena, I abandoned myself to superstitious fears, and +persuaded myself that I was on enchanted ground, while my mind indulged +in endless chimeras. Every effect is preceded by a cause, was a +sentence I had often heard my father repeat; and as it recurred to my +memory, I again ascended the tree, and repeated the experiments, +alternately, for some time, on the ground and in the tree. The result +was always the same, the voice being reverberated when in the tree, and +not so when on the ground. Again and again. I turned the matter over +in the mind, and could come to no other conclusion than that there were +persons somewhere in the neighbourhood, who could hear me from the +tree, but were too far off to hear my voice when surrounded with the +underwood on the ground. I now thought it my duty to find out the +persons from whom I supposed the sounds came, and was actually +preparing to start in search of them, when it suddenly flashed on my +mind that I had heard a similar phenomenon under a bridge near my own +native village, which the boys called an echo; yet as that gave only +one response, or echo, I was still perplexed to make out a cause for +hearing so many. This phenomenon, however, soon became a considerable +source of amusement to me, and by shifting my positions I found several +series of echoes: in some places the reverberations were six and +sevenfold, and in others they were so numerous as to run into +indistinctness. For a considerable time subsequently it was my wont, +on a Sunday, to ascend a tree after my devotions, and sing a line or +two, or a verse of a psalm which I knew, when the effect was something +like a number of voices in a place of worship, though the ear could not +compass the innumerable combination of reverberations. When the echo +was peculiarly distinct and near, and then taken up and repeated at a +distance, it conveyed to my imagination the idea of aerial spirits +answering each other. It was thus that the astonishing multiplied +reverberations of the thunder in this region were accounted +for--namely, the transmission of its sound from point to point. + +[Sidenote: The honey-bear] + +I saw no more of the ant-bear; but the honey-bear, which was more +common, and a fellow-depredator of the bees' nests with myself, often +crossed my path; and it required the exercise of much ingenuity and +caution to successfully compete with him. + +In all countries where the collection of honey is made a profit, +various devices have been resorted to for deterring or entrapping the +rugged depredators. To enumerate them all would be a digression from +my narrative. The following are, however, among other successful modes +of dealing with bears who have a taste for honey. + +The trees in which the bees are found the inhabitants lop close to the +trunk, up to the home of the bees, so that the bear has nothing but the +main trunk to assist him in climbing. These trees they sometimes stick +with spikes, and blades of knives, with the points upwards. These, +however, offer but small impediments to the bear in ascending the tree, +but as he cannot descend with his head foremost, he is compelled to +slide down, when the points are not so easily avoided, generally +lacerating him in such a manner as to deter him from making any future +attempt to rob hives situated in trees. + +The experienced bear will, however, sometimes, as he ascends the tree, +break off the points, and secure himself a safe retreat. Entrapping +them is, therefore, a more successful practice. + +In lopping the tree the peasants are careful to leave a branch that +extends out from the trunk above the hole where the bees have +constructed their hive. From such a branch they suspend, with four +ropes, a flat board, forming one scale of a pair, such as are commonly +used in open markets; when this is hung up it hangs pendant at a +distance from the trunk of the tree. When, however, it is prepared as +a trap, it is brought close to the body of the tree by means of a bark +rope, upon which it is fastened over the entrance of the hive. + +The bear having climbed the tree, with difficulty maintains himself +with his claws while he commits the depredation, and is, therefore, +glad to find a seat so conveniently placed for him to sit on; but +seeing the entrance of the hole nearly covered with the bark-rope, he +immediately commences tearing it away, and, in so doing, liberates +himself from the tree, and becomes suspended in the air. In this +situation he sits contemplating the alternatives of remaining to be +killed when discovered, or venturing a leap to the ground; both, +however, lead to the same end, as stakes are placed to receive him on +their points, should he hazard a leap. + +In cold countries, it is by no means uncommon for bears to attack human +beings; but in forests, within the tropics, where redundant nature +pours out her horn of plenty, and food is found in abundance throughout +the year, man, if he is not himself quarrelsomely disposed, may pass +without molestation. Both the ant and the honey-hear occasionally +visited my hut, having frequently detected them sniffing round my +barricade; but when I made my appearance, either on the roof, or in +returning from a ramble, they always walked away without manifesting +decided hostile intentions. + +[Sidenote: The rains of Guiana] + +I had now passed ten months in the forest, and had learned to dispense +with shoes, stockings, linen, and, indeed, with every kind of covering +for the body, excepting a wrapper for the loins, which I contrived to +make out of the remaining rags collected from the worn-out habiliments +I possessed when lost to my family. I had also combated with a wet +season, and this season was now again approaching, that is, January and +February, when the rains fall heavily; indeed, rain is no proper term +for a fall of water in a Guiana forest. Rain conveys the idea of water +falling in drops; there, the water comes bodily upon the earth in wide +sheets. And before they come, no notice is given; they send no _avant +courier_ of a few scattered drops to warn you of what is to follow; +they are their own messengers. In the intervals between every such +fall, the fervid sun resumes its influence, operating with such +intensity as to effectually envelope all things in hot steam. A +continuation of rain and excessive heat produces exuberant vegetation; +and these in turn, by the exhalations of its ripeness and corruption, +furnish back to the atmosphere an accumulating fund of distempering +miasma, or cause of malignant fever. + +When the destructive effects of these influences are considered, in a +locality amongst the rankest productions of nature, and where in a +thousand places the water is pent up and sluggish,--prolific producers +of reptiles and noisome vapours--nothing but a miracle, through the +interposition of Providence, could have preserved me in health so long. +But my day of sickness was not to be altogether remitted, it was only +postponed, and then inflicted in kindness, to teach me prudence, and +the necessity there was for adopting proper precautions against evil +results. + +My hut, notwithstanding the complacency with which I had selected the +site, was, after all, situated in the very worst place I could have +found in the entire forest. The former rainy season had inundated the +morass that lay in the rear of my dwelling, and had, indeed, threatened +me with submersion; yet I continued to remain there, as if nothing of +danger had occurred, and the air, impregnated with the fermentations of +collected vegetation for ages, was as healthful as that on hilly lands. +It is the province of experience to calculate or anticipate results; +how then could one so young as I was know that too frequently the +beauty which redundant nature presents to the eye, is but an indication +of its treachery to the constitution. + +I had not then reflected on the condition on which mortals receive +life, namely, that of being associated with an inseparable companion +called care; a companion which never quits their side till they resign +up their souls. + +In my isolated situation, it was natural I should seek to indulge the +sentiment of friendship with such companions as the locality afforded. +The interior of my hut was therefore a kind of aviary; and it was my +practice every morning to devote a couple of hours to teaching, and in +the amusement of feeding my companions; after which, I indulged, by +turns, the most docile with a walk into the interior of the wooded +parts of the forest. A land-tortoise had become so tame, that when, in +my rambles, I sat down to rest, I allowed him to seek his own food in +the immediate neighbourhood, and that without any fear of his wandering +far, even if unwatched. + +The rainy season had commenced about three weeks, when one morning I +arose with an intense headache, excessive thirst, and a burning skin. +I hastened to the stream, drank copiously of cold water, bathed for +upwards of an hour, and then returned with my usual supply of water, +conveyed in a clay vessel, which I had baked in the sun. This, as were +similar vessels, was chiefly for the use of my family of birds, &c. + +I remember perfectly well, the following morning, that, as was my +custom, I caressed the whole family; and, to avoid jealous bickerings, +to which some were prone, I bestowed on each an equal portion of +attention; and that subsequently I took up a tortoise and a +mocking-bird for my companions during a walk. I also remember, that as +I reached the aperture under the roof, the rays of the sun affected my +sight in a peculiar manner, and that a giddy sensation came over me; +but from that moment I lost all remembrance of what followed, being +unconscious of passing circumstances; until I found myself reduced in +flesh, and so weak and feeble, as to be incapable of rising from the +floor of the hut where I was lying. Under the opening, from whence I +must have fallen, lay a dead tortoise, the shell being crushed. The +sticks of which my aviary was composed were all torn asunder, and the +broken fragments strewed about the place. Several of my favourite +birds, with their necks wrung, were on the ground; the others were +absent. The vessel in which I had brought the water was broken into +pieces, and many parts of the hut exhibited proofs of an attempt having +been made to pull up the stakes of which it was formed. These were all +evidences that I had fallen down when attempting to leave the hut, +probably from giddiness or vertigo; that a violent fever had +supervened, and in that condition I had lost my reason, and the +consequent command of my actions--whence the devastation around me, and +the debilitated state in which I found the body when reason returned. +Soon after consciousness had made me sensible of my condition, I fell +asleep, in which I was carried into all kinds of illusory imaginations. +Among other fantasies, I dreamed that I was on the sea--walking--yet +bounded on either side with rows of myrtles in full blossom, intermixed +with jessamines; and that thousands of Cupids and Fauns preceded me, +strewing flowers in my way. These figures, carrying baskets, were +followed by Zephyrs, which supplied the flowers. I was in a state of +enchantment with the scene, yet every moment suffered from the dread of +sinking into the depths of the sea, until I thought the water would no +longer support me, when I awoke in the fright of being drowned. + +[Sidenote: The power of prayer] + +The fever had entirely left me, and I was in a measure refreshed by the +sleep I had had. I was now reflecting on the phenomena of dreams, and +the length of time the impressions they leave remain on the mind--for I +still heard the action of the water--when, after several efforts to +disengage myself from the illusion, as I thought, I was roused from +imaginings to a sense of the reality of what I heard. Plash, plash, +went the water against the exterior of my hut; and these sounds were +continuous and audible, so much so as to be unmistakable. Still I was +incapable of reaching the exterior to see what was the cause. My state +of alarm and agitation may therefore be better conceived than +described. Too feeble to use my limbs, I had no resource but in +prayer. Most sincerely did I offer the Supreme Being thanks for having +preserved me through my illness. I then prayed, that after such a +miraculous dispensation of Divine goodness, I might not be left to +perish in my helplessness. I believe that no one ever prayed from the +heart without acquiring some additional knowledge or strength of +purpose. May not this be because prayer is both an inquiry of the +intellect and of the affections; the one seeking for the truth, and the +other for what is good? Besides, pure devotion is thought, which +improves, at least, and helps the judgment. + +After some time spent in this manner, I felt the perturbation of my +mind much abated, and in a frame to contemplate steadily surrounding +circumstances, and consider how they might be best dealt with. A short +time since, and I had looked on death as inevitable, either by drowning +or starvation; now, I reflected, that if the water had been very high, +it must have, ere this, penetrated my frail creation; and, if very +powerful, it would have swept the whole away without giving me any +notice whatever. It also occurred to me that I ought to have some +dozen or two of cocoa-nuts and a store of honey within my reach, as I +lay on the floor. + +As I had not previously, on any occasion, made a store, I could not but +see the hand of Providence directing me to prepare for my present +extremity. These supplies were placed in a hole which I had made in +the ground for their reception, being covered with a piece of bark, and +a stone to keep it in its place. Fortunately, I had only to drag +myself a few yards, and take the nourishment I so much needed; although +it was not calves'-foot jelly and port wine, yet, in my then weak +state, it proved a very gratifying refreshment. + +It is not possible for me to make any rational estimate of the length +of time I was under the influence of the fever, or of the period +employed in sleeping during my recovery. It is probable that it had +but a short, though a violent career; but the present exigencies were +too pressing to admit of much time being expended over the past. +Plash, plash, continued the water against the hut, and the floor began +to exhibit signs of its entrance into the interior. My situation was +now one of real peril. I made an effort to raise myself up to the +opening through which I mast pass to escape, but as I had first to +mount a stool formed of pieces of bark, and then to raise my body +several feet with my arms, before my head could reach the aperture, I +found my strength insufficient for the task. My distress was +considerably augmented by the impossibility of my taking any more rest +in a reclining position, as the water was rapidly covering the floor, +and the probability there was of the structure giving way on a sudden, +and submerging me in an instant of time. I seated myself on the +before-mentioned stool, with my feet and legs stretched over a +bird-coop that had not been entirely broken up. + +Singular to relate, in this position I fell into a profound sleep, with +my back against the lining of the hut; the extreme of distress, +contemplated for a length of time, I believe has a tendency to produce +this effect. + +[Sidenote: Perils of water] + +I had fallen asleep as the moon went down, about an hour after +midnight; it was daylight when I awoke; the first object that caught my +attention being the staff, on which were the notches that formed my +calendar; this was floating on the water, now a foot or more in depth. +It is said drowning men catch at straws; the idea immediately came +across my mind that, with the support of the stick, I should be enabled +to effect my escape. I succeeded; and after wading about fifty yards +up to my knees in water, reached a dry spot of land, on which my first +act was to kneel, and offer up prayers of gratitude for my deliverance. +As a period of unconsciousness had occasioned a breach in my calendar, +and the true Sabbath was lost to me, I made the day of my deliverance a +Sunday, from which hereafter to reckon the days of the week. + +Attenuated in frame, with weak limbs, but possessing a healthy stomach, +I dragged myself to a half-natural cave, at a short distance, which I +had previously cleared out as a place where I might find shelter from +the heavy rains, and where I could lie in wait to kill a head of game +without the fatigue of hunting for it. In this retreat I lived for two +days, solely on cocoa-nuts and honey; the third, I caught an armadillo, +which I dressed for dinner, and then resumed the practice of taking a +dessert in the afternoon, having abundance of fruit at my command. + +It is one of the miseries inseparable from the condition of man, that +good and evil are presented under different forms; misery often +appearing to us under the mask of happiness, and prosperity under the +image of misfortune, teaching us to leave all in the hands of Him who +knows best what is good for his creatures. + +I had no reason to complain, having within my reach blossoms, green and +ripe fruit, all on the same trees, and those in abundance throughout +the year, new soil for their growth being constantly formed by the +exuviæ of the forest, which here keeps her sabbath in silence. But +even here, in the midst of plenty, man must not be idle. "The crab," +say the negroes, "that does not leave his hole, never gets fat." As my +strength returned, my wants increased; and as animal food appeared to +be needed for the renovation of the frame, I was constantly engaged in +the pursuit of it; while, what leisure time I possessed became irksome, +from the want of a domestic establishment such as I had formed in the +hut. + +[Sidenote: The first night in the cave] + +Although my specimen of sylvan architecture was at no time more than +half submerged in water, and that without being broken up, I abandoned +it as being unsafe as a residence. Finding myself not only more secure +from the heavy rains, but much more cool in the cave, I now began to +fortify its entrance, to guard against night intrusions. In effecting +this object, the only one I kept in view while at work, I fell into the +error of neglecting to provide for the admission of sufficient air to +sustain life. The first night I passed in the cave, after completing +my barricade of bark, which served the purpose of planks of deal, I +could get no rest, turning and rolling about with an uneasiness I could +in no way account for, till the morning came, when the admission of air +made me sensible of breathing with more freedom, and at once explained +the cause of my previous uneasiness. The next day was spent in cutting +holes through the bark fence, to remedy so serious an evil as the want +of air. + +Accustomed as I had been to the intimate society of birds and other +animals, their loss was too severely felt for me to remain long without +them; I therefore commenced the construction of a new aviary on the +outside of the cave, with a space beneath, to confine any of the small +kind of animals which might fall into my hands. One surviving tortoise +from the hut I had already brought into the cave. It was not long +before the entrance to my retreat somewhat resembled the display made +by a metropolitan dealer in animals, on the pavement before the steps +which lead to his lodgings in the cellar. Contentment is in no station +the lot of mankind. Although my new residence had many advantages, +nothing could compensate me for the loss of the security in which I had +every morning obtained a survey of the movements of the inhabitants of +the forest from the roof of the hut. I did not, however, indulge in +idle regrets, continuing to work on in constructing snares and traps, +to people my new dwelling-place; and when it happened that I wounded a +bird or animal, I derived a peculiar pleasure in attending to it till +its recovery was effected. When I had again collected a tolerable +number of friends, and formed some new attachments, a catastrophe +happened which occasioned me more regrets than any circumstance which +had previously befallen me in the woods. + +[Sidenote: Slaughter of the pet birds] + +Early in the day I had left my family all safe and well; they were of +course confined, but plenty of air and light was admitted through the +bars into their dwellings. I had the satisfaction of thinking they +were happy, even in their captivity; they were, however, all carried +off at one fell swoop, and I returned only to witness the desolation of +the scene. There is a small animal of the weasel species, having the +bump of destructiveness so strongly developed, that it seeks the +destruction of all other animals that cannot defend themselves from its +attacks; it is called the crabbodaga. One of these--or there may have +been an accomplice in the murderous business--crept between the bars of +the cage, and killed every bird and animal I possessed, excepting a +mocking-bird I happened to have out with me. + +None but those who have reared birds from the callow state and have +given them a place in their affections, can appreciate my distress at +this disaster. The birds had been my companions--had dined, some of +them, at the same table every day, and over the dessert had amused me +with their conversation, or delighted me with their music. Reflecting +on this domestic tragedy, I resolved to convert the entire of the +abandoned hut into one large aviary, that is, as soon as the dry season +had entirely freed the place from water. + +I had very little difficulty in trimming sticks, and binding them +together for fences, to confine the birds; but it was not so easy to +repair the loss of attached friends, who had reposed their confidence +in me, or to teach strangers an agreeable method of conversation upon a +given signal. I could now no longer give dinner-parties at home; I +therefore intruded on the entertainments given by others, for I did not +enjoy my meals alone. I did not often take a meal with gregarious +birds--those who moved in flocks,--yet many of these were excellent +companions in private; in a body they were generally too noisy and +fickle in flight to be depended on, except in the morning or evening. + +The birds usually called social, were my favourites; these are such as +live in pairs, but assemble in parties at certain hours of the day to +dine on the same tree, sing in concert for an hour, and then part as +they came, each attended by its mate. At many of these entertainments +I was permitted to remain, without causing any surprise or confusion; +but then I behaved with proper decorum, and above all, did not forget +the manners and habits of those I visited. + +Observing the monkeys to be very fond of the seeds that grew on a tree +called the _vanilla_, the Spanish name for scabbard, which the seeds of +the plant resemble, I one day presumed to join one of their parties at +meal time, and climbed a tree for that purpose, but was received so +very uncourteously, that I gave them up as incorrigible boors. That +they have no soul for music I have had frequent proofs while listening +to the song of the thrush in the breeding season; a period when these +birds select an elevated spot, generally the same every day, and pour +forth strains of peculiar melody. These songs the monkeys not only +disregard, but continually interrupt with their monotonous howls. + +[Sidenote: Habits of birds] + +The habits of birds are very peculiar, and distinctively marked; the +thrush sings to its mate, delighted with the prospect of rearing up a +new progeny; the nightingale, on the contrary, only ceases to sing when +his mate arrives to join him; being migrating birds, the male precedes +the female in making its passage from one country to another, and pours +forth his notes only while waiting for the arrival of the female. + +If this bird is caught and caged before he is joined by his mate, he +will continue to sing in confinement, if afterwards, he will be mute. +Nothing is more remarkable in birds, or has perhaps been less noticed, +than their affection for each other, and for callow birds in general. +The cries from any one nest of birds will set all the old ones within +hearing into a state of extreme agitation, all flying up and down +anxious to inquire what is the matter, and what assistance they can +offer. He who walks through the woods, and can imitate the cries of +young birds, may at all times be certain of collecting old ones around +him, that is, in the breeding season. + +The cry of young birds in the nest is in the forest what the cry of +fire or murder is in a city; it alarms all the neighbourhood; and the +knowledge of an enemy to their young being in the vicinity of their +homes, is to them much the same as going to bed next door to an +incendiary. + +I have seen a blue jay--a very noisy and chattering bird--discover an +owl sitting in his hiding-place, and immediately summon a flock of his +feathered fraternity to his assistance. These surrounded the winking +_solitaire_, and opened a fire of abuse on him that might at a distance +be mistaken for a general disturbance in Billingsgate Market. The owl +opened and then shut his eyes, as if at first unconscious of the +meaning of the attack, and asking, "Can it be me you mean?" He, +however, was soon made sensible that he would not be suffered to remain +within their jurisdiction; and off he went, followed by a mob of birds, +who hunted him out of the bounds of their district. Clamorous as the +jay is against the owl for eating young birds, he himself I have +detected in tearing the callow young out of the eggs belonging to other +birds; yet he never fails to unite with the other feathered inhabitants +of the wood at the cry of danger. + +The tender assiduities of birds in their attachments is no less +remarkable than their courage in defence of their mates and young ones. +The male, solicitous to please, uses the tenderest expressions, as +evinced by his manner; sits by his mate as closely as he can; caresses +her with a thousand endearing movements of the body and head: sings to +her his most enchanting warblings; and, as they are seated together, if +he espies an insect more agreeable to her taste than another, he takes +it up, flies to her with it, spreads his wings over her, and genteelly +puts it into her mouth. And if a rival or an enemy appear, his courage +in attack soon proves the ardour of his love. + +[Sidenote: The mocking-bird and snake] + +During incubation, the female is no less the object of his solicitude; +as birds have many enemies, the males feel that it is their duty to +watch over and protect their mates and young ones. I had every waking +hour opportunities of witnessing their courage, frequently seeing very +small birds attack the black snake, darting at its head, and pecking +the eyes till they either killed or drove away that enemy to their +brood. When these contests became doubtful, the females would leave +their nests, and hasten to the scene of action to render their mates +assistance. + +The mocking-bird seldom fails to kill the snake single-handed, +instantly afterwards mounting the bush, to pour forth a torrent of song +in token of victory. These birds mount and descend as their song +swells or dies away; at times darting up with the celerity of an arrow, +as if to recover or recall the last strain of expiring melody. While +the mocking-bird thus exerts himself, a bystander, destitute of sight, +would suppose that the whole of the feathered tribes had assembled to +vie with each other in singing and in deceiving the sportsman, by +imitating the birds of which he was in pursuit. Their talent at +imitation is so extraordinary, that they can call the mates of almost +every other bird around them at pleasure. + +The fascinating power ascribed to the black snake is an error. When a +snake is discovered in the vicinity of a nest, the male bird mounts a +spray, and in great agitation flutters his wings in a threatening +manner, till an opportunity offers of flying down to the attack. In +these encounters the snake sometimes succeeds in biting the bird, and +in injecting its venom, when the effect of the poison is so sudden, as +to paralyse the further efforts of the latter; hence has arisen the +supposed power of fascination, and the story of birds flying into the +snake's jaws. Instances of this nature I have witnessed, and if I had +not followed up my observations further, might have fallen into the +popular error of supposed fascination: but my experience informs me, +that when the bird is said to be spellbound, it is preparing to destroy +an enemy, in which encounter it generally comes off victorious. + +Birds, as a class, possess as much intelligence, and more courage than +any of God's creatures lower in the scale of animals than man. The +instincts, or the propensities and precautions of animals, as in birds +developed, are as multifarious and as striking, if not more so, as in +other animals, not excepting the elephant and dog. + +A thrush that I caught in a trap used to catch wasps, and after +plucking the wings off to prevent their escape, pressed the abdomen +with his bill, to force out the poison of the sting before he swallowed +it. I have frequently seen birds seize mice and reptiles, and after +examination reject them. In all such cases I have found that the prey +thus cast aside was sickly, or infested with lice. The birds seem to +reason thus: "If I take this sickly thing to my nest, I shall not only +carry my young ones unwholesome food, but shall carry a nuisance to +them, also." Another bird I had in my aviary, would carry food that +was too hard for his taste to his water, and there let it remain till +it was soaked to his palate. + +[Sidenote: Departure from the cave] + +Looking over my notched calendar, and transferring it in weeks and +months to another stick I was suddenly struck with the length of time I +had been shut out of society, and how wonderfully the Almighty had +preserved me. It then occurred to me that I had not exerted myself as +I ought to have done, to free myself from the intricate mazes of the +forest. Then, reflecting on the regular inundations of the morass, I +thought it was probable that the waters might come from a river, or the +sea; and as they had just then retired, I determined to start off +immediately, and pursue the margin to its source. Hitherto, security +at night had induced me to linger about favourite spots; I had now +surmounted childish fears; still I was sensible of the great risk I +should run of sleeping, night after night, in the open air; and this +reflection for a time deterred me from carrying out my plan. At length +I thought of the gipsies I had seen in the green lanes in England, and +then set to work to manufacture a substitute for the covers they use to +throw over the hooped sticks at night, with which they were wont to +form low booths. This I effected by platting and weaving long dried +grass, and when it was completed, I cut some poles of the lacaria; but +still doubting my own resolution to break up my establishment, I one +day, with a kind of spasmodic effort, liberated all my newly-collected +domestic friends and companions, some of which accepted of freedom +rather reluctantly. My attachments being thus dissolved, the following +morning I commenced my lonely journey, on the second day of which I +made a fire near to some shallow water, and was broiling a jay I had +killed for my supper, when the earth on which I sat began to move, and +instantly afterwards the embers were scattered about. Starting to my +feet with alarm, a crocodile about four feet long showed itself as it +plunged a few yards further off into a pool of mud and water. The +place on which I had lighted my fire, was a part of the swamp, crusted +over, probably, by the heat of that day's sun only. Every hour, +indeed, now brought me in contact with enemies, and exposed me to +privations I had avoided by making a home in one spot. But then I had +an object to attain, and I persevered for twenty days, at the end of +which I had the mortification to find that I had, like many others in +the world, progressed not a step, having travelled in a circle, which +brought me to the very threshold of my recent home. My chagrin was so +poignant, that I thought the very trees waved in derision at my folly; +and the same day I set out in another direction, which proved to be +directly south. + +Every step I took informed me that I was a trespasser; the scene that I +had quitted appeared to have been ceded to me by the inhabitants of the +forest, who were willing for me to occupy it without molesting me, or +exhibiting any signs of alarm; but, as I moved from place to place, all +seemed in arms against me. My insatiable curiosity, too, was +everywhere offensive; nothing escaped my prying propensity, and I even +regretted that I had suffered the crocodile to escape that I might have +intercepted, had I been cool, and have driven to the land for +examination; I often, indeed, pushed my inquiries beyond the line of +prudence. + +[Sidenote: An unpleasant nocturnal visitor] + +One moonlight night I was favoured with a splendid view of the jaguar +under the influence of a hungry stomach, and in that state I saw him +seize his prey. I had spread my matting at the lower end of a tree +that had been torn up by the roots, between which I could creep and +hide myself; at the other end the branches extended into a small glade +or open space; when about midnight I was awaked by a tremendous roar. +Alarmed for my own safety. I crept between the roots of the tree, +pulling the covering after me, and in this situation raised my head so +as to look along the shaft of the fallen timber, about ten yards from +the end of which I could distinctly discern the jaguar, pacing up and +down, in a space of not more than thirty yards. His step was quick and +hurried, but so light that he appeared not to touch the ground; his +swollen and stiffened tail swept the ground, as it moved from side to +side. I instantly became anxious to ascertain whether his eyes were +directed towards any particular object, and more especially in the +direction where I was hid. I had the satisfaction of seeing their +fierce glance furtively cast in every direction but towards me; indeed, +I must have been invisible to him through the broken branches and +roots, at the distance he was from the tree, and amid the shade that +surrounded me. + +The spot he had chosen for his nocturnal promenade was, I have no +doubt, a deer track, on which he had before in all probability snatched +many meals. His impatience evidently increased as his expectations +were delayed; he quickened, if possible, his step at every turn, till +at length he suddenly paused, and assumed a most exciting attitude. +His tail for a moment stood out perfectly horizontal, in a line with +his back; making gentle sweeps, as if of immediate expectation. +Suddenly he crouched on his belly, still moving his tail very gently; +at length the moment arrived: he gave one roar of horrid delight, and +the next, a deer was in his jaws, and growling, he seized and +dispatched it by twisting the head downwards with his paw. Finally he +gave the deer a shake, as if to assure himself that life was extinct, +and then, with a fling of the head threw the dead animal across his +back, and was lost in the thicket, depriving me of the satisfaction of +witnessing his manner of finishing the repast. + +Strong in my resolution to arrive if possible at the extremity of the +forest, I continued to proceed, as I thought, in the same direction; +but I could not travel every day, being compelled sometimes to watch +through the night, and being frequently unable, while moving forward, +to obtain a sufficiency of nutritious food. When, therefore, I met +with a convenient retreat, I stayed and refreshed myself till I +acquired strength to undertake new labours. + +Some scenes would irresistibly detain me, and if any one express +surprise that they should do so when journeying to seek the society of +my fellow-creatures, I reply that I did not at any time abandon the +hope of success; yet when the uncertainty of my course, without a +compass or guide, is considered, I never had a right to be very +sanguine in my expectations, use whatever efforts I might. In a +journey of such a doubtful nature, oftentimes worn down with fatigue of +body and despair of mind, it was natural to linger on and to rest in an +oasis longer than in a desert. + +In a hot climate, cool retreats have peculiar charms, such as are +unappreciable by those who live in cold countries. The mere +topographical traveller may measure a lake, or a river, give the height +and angle of a projecting rock, describe the rush of falling waters +into an estuary, and trace the course of rivers from their rise to +their mouth, but he is unable to give the living tints of nature, +together with all their form and colour. + +[Sidenote: Beauties of the forest] + +Neither the pen nor the pencil can describe the feelings of those who +sympathize with nature in her secret homes of grandeur. + +When I first entered the forest, the effect of the sublimity of the +scene was astonishment, in which the beauties were lost; but as +surprise wore off, these beauties, one by one, stood out to view; and +operating on the senses, produced pleasure in its highest state of +enjoyment. + +In scenes where bignonias, passifloras, and a thousand other flowers +presented an unceasing display throughout the year, surrounded with +birds and insects of surpassing beauty, who, possessed of sympathy of +soul, or an ear for the sweet sounds of nature, would not for a time +forget mortality and live in imaginary eternal bliss; for the charm of +such scenes is only dispelled by awakening to the wants and necessities +of the corporeal man. + +My existence was of such a nature,--one of alternate enjoyment in +communing with lonely and enchanting scenes, and of fears lest I should +fall a sacrifice to the dangers that environed my everyday movements. +Sometimes I sallied forth to face dangers, and again paused to breathe, +and, for a time, escape them. + +At length I reached a new scene, consisting of sand-hills, out of which +issued springs of water, uniting at a short distance, where they formed +a stream, which appeared to wind over an open country. In comparison +with my solitude in the woods, this was a cheering change; and +recollecting the geographical axiom in my school-books, that all +springs and rivers ultimately find their way into the sea, I rejoiced +at the chance I had of being extricated from the labyrinth in which I +had been so long bewildered. + +[Sidenote: Following the stream] + +It is the fate of mortals to see the birth of pleasure only to witness +her destruction. Her commencement is always very nearly connected with +her end. The instant that gives her birth is generally the same in +which she expires. I had not proceeded far before the waters spread +themselves over the land, and were lost to the sight. In one or two +places their course terminated as if they were cut off with a knife, +one edge being visible and the other in obscurity, exhibiting the +phenomenon of rivers which suddenly take a subterraneous course, to +rise again at another point, leaving the space between perfectly dry. +Being now in an open country, I ascertained that the course I had +travelled was directly southward, or towards that part of the horizon +which was cut by the sun's culminating, or meridian line; and this +course I continued to pursue. A day and a half again brought me to the +stream, for, as yet, it was not entitled to be called a river. It now, +however, took a direction leading into the wood, among the foliage of +which it was lost to the eye. The emancipation from the forest had +given me the greatest possible delight, I therefore could not but +hesitate before I again entered it; yet it was my only certain source +of subsistence in the open country. I suffered both from hunger and +thirst. I had, therefore, no alternative but to follow the stream; and +on I went, its course winding so much that I began to fear I was +traversing another circle. At length, after giving me much wearisome +toil, it was lost in an impenetrable thicket of wood. I was now +constrained to make a very considerable and extended _détour_, in the +hope of again reaching its banks at some merging point. Three days I +journeyed round an impervious mass of wood, so closely matted that I +could at no point obtain an entrance. At the end of that time, I +suddenly lighted upon the spot where I supposed the waters met in one +broad reservoir. Various tributary streams flowed into this spot, and +continued their meandering course for many miles. I hailed the sight +of it with considerable delight, as I had begun to be fearful that I +was about to lose sight of its course altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION IN NATURE, OF WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL +ESCAPE--AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF +INDIANS. + + + "Look round and see + How Providence bestows on all alike + Sunshine and rain, to bless the fruitful year + Of different nations, all different faiths; + And though by several names and titles worshipp'd, + Heav'n takes the various tribute of their praise. + Since all agree to own, at least to mean, + One best, one greatest, and one Lord of all." + + +[Sidenote: A useful hollow tree] + +When I arrived at the confluence, as I took it to be, of the streams, +it was Saturday night,--that is, according to my new calendar. As I +did not think it lawful to travel on the Sunday, I sought for an +eligible place of security, where I might rest, and start thoroughly +refreshed on the Monday, to solve the problem of the opposing currents. +With this view I ascended an isolated blasted tree, where I might seat +myself, and find protection from insidious enemies. I was delighted to +find that the trunk was hollow, the only entrance being from the top. +The tree leaned to the horizon at about an angle of 45 degrees. After +carefully examining it, I thought I had satisfied myself that it was +not pre-occupied by any obnoxious inhabitant; I then dropped into it, +as it were, down a chimney. Crouching, I was out of sight, but when I +stood erect I had a view of my own desolate situation. + +A species of frogs had just commenced to send forth their peculiar +noise, which resembles the sound from a stonemason's yard, when I was +annoyed by a number of green frogs, such as dwell in trees; and +endeavouring to brush these from my immediate locality, I discovered a +number of the _scolopendra_, or centipedes, from five to eight inches +in length. Perceiving a hole in the side of the tree, I proceeded to +expel these formidable insects with my stick, by which means I +disturbed, in the pulpy part of the decayed wood, a nest of +_scorpions_. Things in motion soon catch my eye, and in another second +I had regained the earth. Indisposed, however, to give up such a +comfortable apartment, I cleared out the whole of the interior, and +then regained the top of the tree, where I sat for a considerable time +in doubt whether I should retire to rest or keep watch through the +night. It was a beautiful evening, and the air was strongly +impregnated with the aromatic fragrance of the different species of the +_rubiaceæ_, the _andiocera_, and _ænothera_. Moonlight is a thoughtful +period in all climates. I had almost, while watching my own shadow, +forgotten the process of time, when suddenly Cynthia extinguished her +lamp. Wearied, both in a mental and physical sense, I again, reckless +of consequences, dropped into my cylindrical apartment. How long I +slept I cannot tell; I was, however, awaked to scenes as remarkable as +they were terrible and rapid in succession. A flood of light was +streaming into my skylight, and I became conscious of a rocking +sensation. For a moment I concluded that I was again seized with the +vertigo in my head. A violent sound of rushing waters soon roused me +to a sense of my real danger, and, standing erect, I beheld all the +firm earth, on which but a few hours previously I had stood, now +covered with water. An immense number of aquatic birds were floating +on its surface, while others were springing up to branches of the trees +above, to escape from the enormous serpents, and other monsters of the +deep, that infest temporary lakes caused by sudden inundations. + +[Sidenote: An inundation] + +As I surveyed the scene the waters were still rising, and the tree on +which I sat rose with them in an upright position. Presently it became +stationary, and the water began, gradually to cover its trunk. I have +said that it was an isolated spot: it was a small area in the midst of +the wood, which appeared to have been cleared by the blast of +lightning, the nearest tree being fifty yards, or more, distant. Among +other things struggling for life was a fawn, which swam beneath me, and +was seized by a cayman; while as another monster of the same species, +at least thirty feet long, paused to survey me, with my feet then +nearly touching the water, I impulsively raised my stick in +self-defence, and at this juncture the trunk of the tree suddenly swung +round, and by its action nearly threw me off into the jaws of the +cayman. The principal part of the roots were torn from the earth, but +most providentially the only remaining branch on the tree remained +uppermost, which presented me with the opportunity of climbing five or +six feet higher. Still, as I could not now turn round with facility, I +remained for a full hour, every moment expecting the monster would +seize me from behind; for the cayman continued to show himself at +intervals, as if certain, in the end, of his prey. At length the roots +of the decayed tree parted entirely from the earth, and it was carried +forward with the current. Fortunately the branch, which was my only +chance of escape, still remained elevated. The cayman did not abandon +his intended victim till my bark conveyed me among the standing trees, +when I seized the opportunity of climbing up one of considerable +height. Up to this period all other dangers had been merged in the +immediate dread of the monster of the deep, but I was now at liberty to +take a more extended view of the scene, from a fixed position, and I +found myself in the midst of congregated wild beasts and powerful +reptiles. + +In the next tree to the one I occupied was an ant-bear, and a little +farther off I could discern several others. Monkeys and apes were +swinging and chattering over my head in large numbers; serpents, from +five to thirty feet long, were crawling on the branches and round the +trunks of trees, to escape from the flood; tiger-cats, beautifully +striped, were springing from branch to branch of the green and +purple-heart trees, which here grew to the height of seventy feet; +lizards were seen in such numbers as in many places literally to cover +the branches of the trees. All the birds were sending forth sounds of +dissonance, as if stricken with terror; while the shrill voice of the +bird called the pi-pi-yo roused me to the consciousness that the hour +of noon had arrived. + +The lofty _panax_, _Bignonia_, _copaiva_, rising to a hundred feet in +height, were peopled with living things, all in apparent consternation +at the sudden changes of the scene. It was a grand, though an awful +sight for a human being to behold. Animals of various natures, habits, +and antipathies, were all crowded together in one common place of +refuge, shaken by the wind, and dreading contact with each other, as +the violent rushing of the waters bore on their surface numberless +proofs of the havoc made, and still threatening to sweep away and +swallow up every vestige of animal and vegetable creation. + +[Sidenote: Hope in desolation] + +But let the soul be set on the highest mount of distress, and view the +most spacious prospect of misery, if the eye be turned towards God +comfort may be found beyond the horizon, when human strength is vain. + +I lifted up my voice in the wilderness, and lo! God was there, and I +took courage, exclaiming, "The Almighty is the architect of all I see, +His power stretches over the whole earth and the empty space; He hangs +the earth and all the ethereal globes upon nothing; and is He not able +to save me?" "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my +righteousness," saith the Lord. "The hand which fixes the stars and +guides the planets in their courses is stretched out to preserve His +children." + +With these reflections did I trust in my position, and bid my soul to +take courage and rely on divine succour. Fortunately, I had the +remains of a cooked bird in my wallet, which always hung at my back; +and _murucuja_, fruit of one of the passion-flowers, was within my +reach, which I gathered and ate. The fish also forsook their ordinary +food, for I could plainly see them feeding on the fruit and berries of +shrubs through which they swam. + +At length night overtook me, and the moon, I thought, rose with a more +speaking yet angry countenance than usual, frowning blood-coloured rays +on the surface of the water and through the foliage of the wood, still +rendering my fellow-lodgers immediately around me visible, while the +vampire and other species of bats flitted wildly round, like spirits of +the air; and occasional splashings beneath indicated that the larger +tyrants of the flood were making prey of the weaker inhabitants, or the +latter were exerting themselves to escape from the jaws of the former. + +The terrestrial animals seemed, for the most part, in providing for +their own safety, to have suspended all operations of warfare, the +scene above the flood in the evening wearing much the same appearance +as throughout the day, excepting that the reptiles were not so +numerous, the serpents and lizards having found hiding-places in the +holes of the trees or under thick foliage. After a few hours the moon +went down and left me + + "In the populous solitude of bees and birds, + And fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things." + +It was now that, like Job, I had to "gird up my loins like a man;" for, +as darkness shrouded me, my thoughts naturally reverted to the bear in +the next tree; I could not but speculate on his movements, and the +probability of his descending and swimming to invade my territory. +Impressed with this fear, the master one of the hour, I took up a +position to command the trunk of the tree, where, armed with my stick, +I might oppose him to an advantage. + +[Sidenote: A night on the water] + +It would be futile were I to attempt to describe my sensations during +the night. Could words be found expressive enough for the purpose, +they should have been penned at the instant they were felt; feelings +under such extraordinary circumstances cannot be recalled, or +appreciated only at the time they were excited. Words, in description, +stand for general ideas in Nature's chart; ten thousand sensations and +forms enter of themselves into the sanctuary of the mind. I can only +say that I spent the night in prayer for the coming morn. It, however, +passed without involving me in any encounter. "Now, men see not the +bright light which is in the clouds; but the wind passeth and cleareth +them away." + +I thought it was an interminable night, and long before morning dawned, +as the first glimmer of light tinged the eastern horizon, I strained my +eyes to assure myself of its actual approach; yet what hope could it +bring me?--none, in prospect; notwithstanding which, latent hope was +not wholly extinct. A vague idea possessed me that I might find some +floating tree to carry me to the nearest shore. At length, indolently, +as I thought, the morning did appear, rendering surrounding objects +visible. The bear was still in the tree, coiled up like a cat, in a +forked branch, apparently asleep. His bearship had not even the +politeness to pass the compliment of the day by noticing me; and noon +again arrived, bringing with it utter despair. For some time I had +been watching a log of timber, in the hope that it would float within +my reach, when I distinctly heard the sound of human voices. My heart +leaped up with joy; and the coincidence of the appearance of a rainbow +at the same instant, operated like a reprieve to a malefactor in the +hands of the executioner. + +I was so much elated, that I actually should have neglected to have +called out for assistance, had not the same voices again addressed my +ear more distinctly, when I used my vocal powers with all my might; but +I had no response, and my heart was again, sinking within me, when I +observed a canoe approaching. It contained two Indians; one was using +the paddle, the other directing his attention to the spot from whence +my voice proceeded. A few seconds brought them under the tree, and an +invitation, by signs, for me to descend, and accept of my emancipation +from their hands. + +[Sidenote: The charms of solitude] + +Notwithstanding all the terrors and privations of my wild life, there +was a charm in it which is inexplicable; and I paused ere I parted with +it. Men whose whole life has been identified with civilization may not +understand this feeling; but long association with nature in her own +scenes of unlimited grandeur and profuse bounty, cannot be broken off +without a struggle. In return for all the blessings nature bestows on +her children of the woods, she requires no sacrifice of liberty; free +and unconstrained she permits them to roam throughout her domains; to +robe or unrobe, as their taste may dictate; to rest when fatigued, and +to rise when refreshed. Nature does not mask misery with the face of +happiness, nor dress misfortune in the guise of prosperity; free and +uncontrolled, her children are invited to help themselves at her +munificent board; while in the narrow paths of civilized life, even the +boasted reason of man is incapable of conferring happiness on society. +But with the green grass and soft moss for a carpet, umbrageous trees +for a shade, the murmuring stream for the ear, together with the sound +of the breeze amongst the leaves to woo reflection, the syrens of +vicious pleasure may be avoided, and the disquietudes of life be +forgotten. Like a true citizen of the world, I had become enamoured +with liberty, and with the instinct of a denizen of the forest, I +shrank from the presence of man. My situation was perilous, death +being inevitable if I remained in the tree; for in a short time sleep +must overcome me, and in that state, I must fall into the waters +beneath. Reluctantly, therefore, I dropped into the canoe, with the +feelings of a bird who darts into a cage to escape the talons of the +hawk--an incident, by the way, which once brought both the fugitive and +the hawk into my trap. No captured African slave could feel the loss +of liberty more than I did when the Indians assigned me a seat in the +canoe, which proceeded to join a company consisting of eleven persons. +They were a fishing party that had left their wonted haunts to avail +themselves of the flood, a period when their efforts were generally +rewarded with great success. One canoe was nearly filled with the +product of the first draught, and they were in the act of drawing +another as I appeared amongst them. + +They were all well-grown men, nearly naked, like myself, very placid in +their demeanour, and showed great anxiety to relieve my distress, +offering me food and drink. Indeed, their manners were so urbane and +pleasing, that in a very short time I recovered from my depression of +spirits, and congratulated myself on my good fortune in falling into +their company. They wore large grass-platted hats to defend the head +from the heat of the sun, and had each a hammock made of the same +materials, which as night approached, they slung from the branches of +trees, and calmly laid themselves down to survey the confusion of +nature which the sudden inundation had occasioned. + +With the party was a youth about my own age, who at once attached +himself to me; he manifested his disappointment and concern that he +could not make himself understood by words, and in a very short time +intimated his intention of undertaking my education by showing me the +implements in use and calling them by name, till I not only recollected +them, but acquired accuracy of pronunciation. + +[Sidenote: The Indian village] + +Two days subsequently to my rescue from the tree, I was taken to the +Indian village, about ten miles from the border of the forest. It +consisted of fifteen huts on an elevated spot, distant a half-mile from +a fine river, which ebbed and flowed with the tide. It was this +circumstance that had occasioned my embarrassment when following the +stream and suddenly meeting with a contrary current. + +On my arrival at the village I was struck with the absence of curiosity +or surprise which a stranger from another race generally excites, even +in civilized localities. Neither men, women, or children appeared to +bestow on me any peculiar notice, nor did they, as far as I could +learn, express any desire to know how I came amongst them, or from +whence I came. No overseer or other parish officer was called in to +provide me with food and then dispute my right to eat. I was at once +led to the hut of the father of my young friend, and received as one of +the family, in which there were two wives and two families--one mother +with three, and another with four children. Plurality of wives was the +custom of this Indian community, and yet they lived in perfect harmony; +there were no jealousies or bickerings; the progeny of each shared +alike the affection and care of both mothers, who laboured with equal +zeal in the culture of cassava or manioc, the roots of which they +grated and made into bread. + +There were numerous tribes of these Indians, but they all spoke the +same language. The tribe I was with were called Galibis; they were +remarkable alike for their humanity and intelligence. Indeed, they +possessed all the moral qualities of civilized society, without its +forms and most of its vices, especially the one of coveting their +neighbours' goods. + +[Sidenote: Habits of the Indians] + +During the time I was with them, a period of eighteen months, I never +heard of a charge of theft. Land was as plentiful as air and water; +there could not, therefore, be any motive to steal, if we except +idleness,--a vice which prevails more in cities than in the wilds of +nature. Numerous families sometimes live in one common large hut; yet +there are no quarrels to disturb their harmony; and such is their +hospitality that he who is fatigued with hunting may always depend on +repose in the nearest dwelling. + +Their language is peculiarly harmonious, rich with synonyms, and is +represented by those who have studied its grammatical construction, to +be complicated and ingenious in syntax. Intelligent as they are, they +have at all times rejected the arts and all instruction, from their +great love of independence. The countenances of all are stereotyped +with benevolence, and their conversation is fraught with maxims that +inculcate the practice of charity to all the human race. They are not +without a sense of pride, yet discourage it in practice. It requires +no broker to make a written catalogue of their household furniture: +their weapons are bows and arrows, and a short dart which they force +through a reed with the breath, bringing down birds on the wing with +surprising dexterity. A flat stone on which the women bake bread, and +a rough one on which to grate the root of cassava; a hammock, a +hatchet, a comb, and a broken piece of looking-glass in a rude frame, +comprise the whole of their furniture. What few vessels they had were +ill made,--not any improvement on those I formed from clay for the use +of my aviary when in the woods. + +They have no code of laws, nor have they a word in the language by +which to convey the idea of laws; yet they have the same word as in +Hebrew to express God, by which they understand supreme master. They +have a magistrate or elder, to whom any matter of disputation is +referred, and by him summarily and finally settled. Fire they obtain +by rubbing two pieces of wood together; and for cooking, this is made +on the ground, over which they suspend their vessels in the rudest +manner. Although these people wear no clothes, properly so called, +they are very fond of ornaments; as amulets and charms, those obtained +from the ivory-billed woodpecker were most in vogue. No people in the +world, perhaps, are more remarkable for acute observation. If you name +any kind of bird, or other animal, to them, that is to be found in this +part of the globe, instantly they imitate its action and tones of +voice. The notes of birds they give with surprising accuracy. They +are very expert swimmers, and some of the women and children spend the +chief of their time in the water. The men fish, and hunt, and when not +so employed, which happens three or four days in the week, they remain +in their hammocks, and amuse themselves with their implements, in the +repairs of which, and in conversation, all their leisure is spent. +They possess all the qualities to form good sportsmen, and to take the +command of others--having great presence of mind and promptitude of +action. I know not which most to admire, their skill in discovering +game, or their manner of taking it. They entertain the loftiest +sentiments of chivalrous honour, and their courage always rises with +increasing difficulty; it "smiles in danger stern and wild," and is +superior to circumstances. + +On the fourth day after my emancipation from the loneliness of the +forest I accompanied a fishing party to the same spot from whence I had +been taken. It was a favourite locality for hunting the ant-bear, and +when the waters were out, for taking crabs and oysters, which were +caught in large numbers among the trees and shrubs that were more or +less covered by the flood. + +[Sidenote: The Great Spirit of the Indians] + +Under the assiduous tuition of my young friend, whose name was _Pecoe_, +I rapidly progressed in a knowledge of his language, and could not +refrain from making many reflections on his method of teaching as +compared with my European schoolmaster's. Pecoe, I considered, had +adopted a natural mode of instruction, while the system of the other +was wholly artificial, and tedious in practice. My teacher was as +anxious to be taught himself as to teach me, and when we were able to +converse, asked ten thousand questions relative to my country and the +state of society in it. Whether my long residence in the woods had +disqualified me to be an advocate for the cause of civilization I know +not, but at all my descriptions of it, Pecoe shook his head, and was +evidently under an impression that my countrymen must be a very unhappy +race of people. On one occasion, when conversing on our difference of +colour, and on the human races generally, he said, "I will tell you how +it happened: you know that there are three great spirits, all good, +though each is greater than the other. The great spirit of all one day +said to the lowest spirit, 'make a man, and let me see him.' The +spirit took some clay and made a man; but when the Great Spirit saw +him, he shook his head, and said he was too white. He then ordered the +spirit next to himself in goodness to make a man, who tried his skill +with charcoal--burnt wood; but the Great Spirit again shook his head, +and said he was too black. The Great Spirit then determined to try +himself, and taking some red earth, made the Indians, which pleased him +very much." When I told him that the Great Spirit in his great +goodness had so ordered it that every one should think his own colour +the best, he replied, that it was not possible for either a black or a +white man to be so stupid as to be satisfied with the colour of his +skin, stigmatized as he, Pecoe, thought both races were, by +barbarities. When I explained to him the various grades of civilized +society, his quick apprehension broke out in the most indignant terms, +denouncing the system as one dictated by a demon. Rich and poor! +"What good," he asked, "could arise from allowing one to take all, and +giving nothing to the other?" + +[Sidenote: Pecoe's ideas of society] + +I replied, that the wisdom of the Great Spirit (God) was recognised in +his anticipation of the wisdom of man, by providing him with original +principles of his own, which were given to regulate, not excite +desires. Thus the sense of property is germinated in very early +childhood, which sense I maintained generated a moral feeling, and a +principle of justice and equity. My young friend, after a moment's +thoughtful pause, stoutly gave the negative to my premises,--that the +sense of property was developed in early life; he argued that the +desire exhibited by children to handle things, and which we erroneously +call a desire to possess them, is nothing more than a natural desire to +exercise the physical senses on objects of the external world, through +which only could they educate the powers of the body for healthful and +manly purposes of life. Those things which some call children's +playthings, he held to be _bonâ fide_ tools, without which, whether +they were wooden horses, paper boats, a doll's head, or a piece of +stick, they could no more rise out of a state of childhood than a man +could go to sea without a canoe. He therefore denied the inference, +that because children manifest a disposition to snatch or handle +everything they can reach, it is an indication of natural +acquisitiveness. The mind, he said, was wholly disengaged from these +matters at an early age; employment for the organs of the five senses, +together with an instinctive desire to promote their development, were +the true causes of children quarrelling for possessions. He instanced +their having no abiding attachment for any one particular toy, however +expensive or attractively constructed, always casting away one thing to +handle another, the various forms of which gave exercise to different +muscles, and imparted new sensations of pleasure. + +The object I have in presenting my readers with a few of Pecoe's +opinions is to illustrate the different ideas elicited in the minds of +men by diverse circumstances of life and education. I scarcely need +inform them that, in committing to paper my friend's notions, I have +dressed them up in my own language. + +On this occasion Pecoe closed the conversation by remarking that the +nature of society, such as I had depicted in England, appeared to +charge the Great Spirit with having at some early period thrown upon +the earth all His gifts in a heap, for a general scramble, on the +condition that the posterity of those who succeeded in first picking +them up should for ever live in idleness, and become the masters of the +posterity of those whose ancestors had been unsuccessful in snatching +from their fellow-men more than their own share. He continued: "It was +hard to believe such a state of society could exist, and thought the +Evil Spirit must have put it into my head;" meaning that I had drawn +upon my own imagination for the sketch. The incomprehensible part of +the system to Pecoe was, that some could be luxuriating in plenty and +others be starving at the same time in one country. + +Warfare was unknown to his race, because the practice of good-will and +the friendly offices of mutual assistance were universal among them, +and annihilated every motive to aggrandisement, and consequently the +disposition was never brought out. Bear in mind, reader, that I am +describing no Utopia. When, therefore, I spoke of our numerous wars, +and explained that it was those who had been unfortunate at the first +general scramble, as he designated it, who risked their lives in +battle, fighting for their wealthy masters, his incredulity rose so +high as to doubt my veracity, and for some time subsequently I thought +he seemed to shun my society, appearing very pensive and lonely in his +habits. + +[Sidenote: Pecoe as a nurse] + +About a fortnight after the above conversation I was suddenly taken +with violent symptoms of fever, when Pecoe was immediately by my side, +assiduously attending to all my wants with the tenderness of a nurse. +The physician, or pee-ay-man, was applied to, who offered up prayers to +the Bad Spirit for my recovery;--for it is a part of their creed that +the Good Spirit is too good to do any one harm, and therefore it is the +Malicious Spirit that must be conciliated. + +For this purpose a number of incantations were performed, after which +the physician continued to parade from hut to hut, howling and +performing another series of incantations throughout the night, at +intervals calling to see if any improvement had taken place in the +health of his patient. As it was the practice of every family to burn +a fire through the night, I could from my hammock see this juggler +stalking to and fro, looking more like a demon than a minister of +comfort in sickness. + +Pecoe proved the best physician. He never left me, continuing to +administer comfort to me in every possible way and manner. Among other +services he relieved me, at my request, from the mummeries of the +pee-ay-man, aptly urging that, as the spirits of my country were not +the same as theirs, he might by his interference make them angry +instead of conciliating them. But the women, who really felt an +interest in my fate, were not so easily satisfied, they placed implicit +reliance on the skill of the pee-ay-man, and were angry with Pecoe for +sending him away. "Never mind," said he, coolly, to some remarks that +censured his conduct, "I am as good a doctor as he is; and if I am hot, +don't the Great Spirit brush away the flies from the animal without a +tail?" + +My disease grew worse, and rapidly hastened to its crisis. Pecoe in +every stage sought for new sources of comfort: he collected silk-grass, +and daily made new pillows for my head, when they were wetted with the +cold water he applied to my temples. He constantly moistened my lips +with slices of pineapple, only occasionally leaving me, to go in search +of the jelly cocoa-nut, which in an unripe state has but a thin skin, +but contains more liquor. As the fever subsided, these grateful +draughts contributed much towards my recovery, and without doubt +hastened the period of final restoration to health, when I said to my +friend, "You may now set up as physician to the tribe, and supersede +the pee-ay-man." The remark brought a smile from his lips, as he +replied, "I have not such a mean spirit as to endure to be laughed at +by all the people. Do you, then, really believe that these pretenders +to superior knowledge are esteemed, or that any in the place have faith +in their arts?" + +"If not," said I, "why tolerate them, and why not apply to the Great +and Good Spirits themselves for help?" + +[Sidenote: Pecoe's prudence] + +"Why!" rejoined Pecoe, "because too many like deception more than +honesty, and prefer listening to falsehood rather than to truth. My +father and all his friends have secretly laughed at the impostor all +their days, yet in public give him countenance, and also frown on the +children who would doubt the efficacy of his tricks, or his ability to +solve dreams and foretell events. I myself," he continued, "sometimes +doubt my right to disregard the proffered services of these men. This +arises, perhaps, from the general countenance they have from all the +tribes, and the force of custom; for I seldom give myself the trouble +to investigate their claim to respect; I endure their arts, because the +majority patronise them, though I never open my lips in their defence. +It is an ungracious task to make yourself more wise than your +neighbours; even if you should be successful, you must inevitably make +enemies without gaining new friends, people do not like to be told that +they have been in error all their lives, or to believe that their +forefathers were foolishly credulous." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS--I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM. + + + "What fancied zone can circumscribe the soul, + Who, conscious of the source from whence she springs, + By Reason's light, or Resolution's wings, + Spite of her frail companion, dauntless goes + O'er Libya's deserts, and through Zembla's snows? + She bids each slumb'ring energy awake,-- + Another touch, another temper take; + Suspends th' inferior laws that rule o'er clay. + The stubborn elements confess her sway; + Man's little wants his low desires refine, + And raise the mortal to a height divine." + + +Notwithstanding the darkness in which my friend Pecoe had been brought +up, I was impressed with the notion that his soul was sufficiently +alive to receive the great truths of Christianity. I therefore +resolved again to introduce the subject, and make an effort to engross +his attention. I commenced by impressing on his mind that my +countrymen were a race acknowledged to be inferior to none other, and +that they worshipped only One Great Spirit, the Maker of the heavens +and the earth, together with all things visible and invisible. He +surprised me by admitting that these things had engaged much of his +attention, and that his mind was now made up on the question; his +conviction being that the heavens and the earth had existed from +eternity, and would continue the same to eternity. + +I explained to him that nothing endured for ever but the power of God; +that all things were constantly undergoing a process of change; that +the globe we inhabited had a beginning, and, consequently, like +inferior bodies, would have an end; that God permitted the dissolution +of one body, and the birth of another, at periods appointed, to the end +that the whole of his designs might arrive at perfection, and no +absolute loss be sustained. Pecoe heard me out with great patience, +then shook his head, and enquired how it came that my father should +know better than his? When, however, I spoke of the existence of the +soul in another and better world, and endeavoured to illustrate that +certainty by saying, in the dissolution of bodies nothing perished but +their forms, and that the soul when it abdicated its decaying vessel, +the body, was translated to another, and a purer state of existence, he +evidently looked on me as being insane. + +[Sidenote: Attempts at conversion] + +I was disappointed,--was vexed at my inability to awaken him to a sense +of what all mankind, more or less, in some form, have acknowledged, +namely, a future state of existence. I now urged that all human beings +were sensible of relations not subject to the senses, and therefore +possessed sensibilities distinct from the body. That they could +compare, and therefore had judgment; that they retained, and therefore +have memory; that they possessed freedom of choice, and therefore have +will. I then said, if to these we add instinct, there are five +faculties of the soul; adding, Reason compares those ideas immediately +transmitted to the memory; imagination is the same faculty exercised on +the same objects differently combined, having no similitude in nature. + +"These," replied Pecoe, "are all your own thoughts." + +Having from early infancy been accustomed, both morning and evening, to +offer up my prayers to God, and having, when in the wilds of nature, +found in this practice much solace, I did not fail while with the +Indians to continue the custom; yet none of the people had hitherto +taken any notice of my devotion. At length Pecoe inquired my motives, +asking what I expected to gain by the practice. + +I replied, that we had all daily wants, and that in the morning I +petitioned the Great Spirit--my God---to supply them, and that in the +evening I returned thanks for the protection and supplies I had +received. I further explained, that prayer was the voice of sin to Him +who alone can pardon it; that it was the petition of poverty, the +prostration of humility, the confidence of trust, the feeling of +helplessness, and the compunctions of the soul. All this I put in the +most simple form of language, and I have reason to think that he fully +understood the feeling I endeavoured to convey. + +Notwithstanding, he asked me whether I had not food enough to eat, and +what it was the Evil Spirit had made me do that troubled me so much? + +[Sidenote: Conversation on prayer] + +In vain did I labour to impress his mind with a sense of the necessity +there is for all to worship the Giver of life and all other blessings, +and that by intreating the One God to protect us, the value of his +gifts was enhanced, and that there was an inexpressible delight in +committing ourselves to the care and guidance of one who is infinitely +able to protect us in the right path. + +"The Spirit," said he, "is good, and will do nothing wrong--he will not +listen to what you tell him." + +I replied by saying that we could not tell God of anything that he did +not already know, and that prayer and thanksgiving were due from us all +to one so beneficent. I then explained to him that his condition of +darkness in religious matters was once the condition of all mankind, +and that it was only by reflection, and the intercommunication of +minds, that the little light our forefathers possessed was obtained, +until at length God sent his only Son to reveal the truth to us. I +then repeated the Lord's Prayer, and promised to teach it to him in his +own language if he would use it. + +He replied that he must have time to consider of it. A few days after +he requested that I would not talk in that way any more to him, adding, +that they were all my own sayings, meaning they were things of my own +invention. + +"You have consulted your father," said I. He acknowledged that he had, +laughing at the same time, as if I had been a subject of their +ridicule. Up to that moment I had flattered myself that I should have +been spiritually of service to him, and perhaps through him, to more of +his race. His father, however, was an enemy to civilized man, and +inimical to innovations of every kind. + +It appeared from a traditional story, which Pecoe subsequently related +me, that at some former period these people had been visited by a party +of missionaries, the particulars of which I an induced to give, as a +caution to gentlemen who labour in such arduous undertakings as those +of converting heathens to Christianity. + +"Some white men," said Pecoe, "came here a long time since, and brought +strange talk about the Great Spirit and his Son, (that is, about our +blessed Saviour), to which our people agreed to listen, upon condition, +that every time they attended they should receive a bottle of rum. +They did attend," continued Pecoe, "but in a short time the white men +wanted them to come and listen for nothing, and so broke their +contract." Scrupulously punctual to their own engagements, the +Indians, immediately on the withholding of the rum, took a prejudice +against the missionaries, which no subsequent conduct on the part of +the latter could remove, or perhaps will ever efface from the memory of +the former. Thus has a stumblingblock been placed in the way of all +future adventurers among them in the cause of Christianity. As soon as +I was made acquainted with these particulars, I resolved to undertake +the defence of the missionaries' conduct, and at least, lessen the +prejudice against them. With this view, I availed myself of the first +large assemblage of the natives, and opened the subject by inquiring +how long it was since the white men had visited them, which way they +came, and lastly, by what road they returned? suggesting, that perhaps +the same road might lead me to a European colony, where I might have a +chance of hearing from my friends. + +[Sidenote: Defence of the missionaries] + +An aged Indian replied to these inquiries, adding, that he had no great +opinion of the white men who came there; and on asking how they had +conducted themselves, he related the story in nearly the same words as +I had heard it from Pecoe. I then explained the good intentions of the +persons who subscribed money to spread the truths of the gospel, and +the great sacrifices made by those who consented to give up the charms +of civilized life for the good of the poor unenlightened heathen. I +then went on to say, that with respect to the presents of rum, it was +natural, after the missionaries had taken the trouble to study their +language, and to travel so far, to adopt any means to secure a hearing, +without which, no good could possibly accrue to the objects of their +mission. Although, I continued, they might at first hold out some +inducement to be heard, yet it was unreasonable to expect that persons +so far away from home and their resources could continue to find the +means of making repeated presents in order to tempt persons to their +own good. + +When I had finished, some of the Indians laughed, others shook their +heads, indicating disapprobation, and a hint that I had better be +silent. Upon the whole, though I pushed the matter somewhat strongly, +I failed in making any impression on the auditors. + +With regard to natural objects, I question if there be a more acute and +observing people in the whole world; yet they are wholly a people of +feelings, being evidently deficient in intellect. Their imagination +and understanding are both at a low ebb, as I could never extend their +ideas beyond their own path of life. At times I gave Pecoe credit for +possessing a more lively imagination than others of his tribe; but as I +knew more of him, this impression died away. In the highly cultivated +walks of society, manhood is the period when the feelings are +predominant. Imagination prevails in youth, and the understanding in +old age. These people are in the middle stage of progress; and as they +possess the purest moral notions of right and wrong, cannot be +incapable of receiving the truths of revealed religion. The highest +degree of moral elevation can only be attained by carefully cherishing +the more benevolent and kindlier feelings of nature; that is, by +cultivating the good passions, and throwing into disuse the bad ones. +The Indians with whom I lived, effected these objects in a very high +degree; for I never saw an instance of any violent exhibition of temper +among them, and it was always a matter of astonishment to me to see how +exceeding tractable their children were without severity on the part of +the parents. + +In the moral sense of the word, they were good; and if they had been +Christians, would have been deemed examples for more refined nations. + + "A good man, and an angel! these between, + How thin the barrier? What divides their fate? + Perhaps a moment, or perhaps a year; + Or, if an age, it is a moment still." + + +The following anecdote will not only illustrate the kind feelings of +the Indian's heart, but also exhibit his delicacy in bestowing a +favour. I had for some time been uneasy at not being able to +contribute, by my exertions, a fair share towards the provisions of the +common stock of those with whom I resided; and this uneasiness was +frequently expressed to Pecoe, the principal difficulty being the want +of a canoe--for these vessels were not constructed in general to carry +more than one person; I was thus precluded from sharing in the daily +excursions on the water. + +[Sidenote: Gift of a canoe] + +Pecoe, as I have said, knew that I felt this want, and one morning +surprised and delighted me, after a walk in the woods, where he pointed +out the silk cotton tree as the material out of which they made canoes. +"Why," exclaimed he, as he took a turn towards an inlet of the great +river, "here is a canoe already made for you; come, help me to launch +it, and let us see how it fits you when afloat." I had recently, for +several long intervals, missed him, and having, when inquiring the +cause of his absence, received equivocal replies, I thought it was +occasioned by some duty connected with his family, and had in +consequence forborne to notice it again. He had, however, been in the +wood, fashioning a canoe for my use, being the most valuable present he +could, at that juncture, have made me; and the manner in which he +conducted the matter, considerably enhanced its value. I was now as +rich in property as any of the natives, whose ambition seldom soars +beyond the possession of a canoe and a stock of hunting and fishing +implements, which my friend Pecoe did not forget to provide with the +canoe. + +My health being perfectly restored, I now joined in all the sports +followed by the natives, having previously, at Pecoe's earnest +solicitation, learned to swim. Time ran on smoothly, the morning +invited me to the woods (my natural home) to hunt for game. + + "On a sweet shining morning, thus drawn out, + It seem'd what man was made for, to look round + And trace the full brook, that, with clamorous route, + O'er fallen trees and roots, black curling, wound + Through glens, with wild brakes scatter'd all about." + + +The days did not linger in their progress, nor did night arrive too +soon, the changes being all attended with enjoyments. + + "Night bringeth sleep + To the forest deep, + The forest bird to its nest, + To care, bright hours, + And dreams of flowers, + And that balm to the weary--rest." + + +Discontent is man's great enemy. I believe that, constitutionally, I +was fitted to enjoy any station to which the Almighty, in his wisdom, +might call me; yet even contentment may be carried to an extreme, and +degenerate into apathy, or the want of a healthful spirit into +indolence. + +Soft leisure hath her charms, and the bliss of her votaries is to bask +in summer rays through the day under the greenwood tree; but however +soothing or pleasant this may be to the reflective mind, the common +duties of life should not be neglected. I had parents, relations, and +friends, all of whom had more or less been rendered unhappy by my loss +in the woods; and I now became impressed with a notion that I had not +been sufficiently active in using means for my restoration. + +I had indeed escaped the mazes of the forest by the inundation--an +event in which the hand of Providence was conspicuous; for had not the +flood-gates of the firmament been opened, I might still have remained +in my forest prison. I now asked myself why I did not stir and exert +all the energies the same Providence had bestowed on me, to reach the +nearest European colony and seek advice as to the proper mode of +proceeding to discover the home of my parents. All my moments of +leisure were now filled up with self-reproaches. The deep solitude of +the woods, I thought, had enchanted me, and now the wild charm of a +free and roving life was weaning me from duty. These were errors +which, I thought, demanded a rigid retribution; yet at intervals I was +in no want of excuses to extenuate my conduct. I reflected on the +extraordinary flexibility of our nature, which accommodates and adapts +itself to all circumstances; and, that the reality of our existence is +the present moment, the exigencies of which are inimical to prudent +resolutions. + +Of man's generic character there is much yet to be written; the change +of climate, food, scenery, society, together with a thousand contingent +circumstances that follow in their train, all produce effects +unappreciable by those whose lives have been bounded by one circle. Of +all animals, man best endures the changes of food and climate. It +therefore follows that his physical construction is more changeable; +but in proportion as the body undergoes a change, and adapts itself to +the circumstances of its situation, so will the feelings, temper, and +mind also undergo some change, and more or less affect the character of +the individual. + +[Sidenote: Forgetfulness of home] + +In reference to my own case, and the experience derived from it, this +is the best solution I can give of the passive submission with which I +accommodated myself to the manner of life into which my waywardness had +cast me. If we pass from man to the influence of climate on other +animals, the effect on dogs is very remarkable. In Kamtschatka, +instead of the dog being faithful and attached to his master, he is +full of deceit and treachery; he does not bark in the hot parts of +Africa, nor in the extreme cold countries of the north; in Greenland he +loses his fitness for hunting and his character for docility. If this +subject were pursued, it might be added that the African slaves, when +removed from their own country to the West Indies, undergo a marked +change of character. The American settlers too, have changed in +character since their first settlement in that country, as also have +the Anglo-New Hollanders. The temperate zones appear to be the most +favoured regions for the full development of the human powers, whether +physical or moral, especially of the principle of sympathy, that +vicegerent of the divine benevolence in our world, which is capable of +binding up all the wounds that sin and death have introduced into it. + +As we are all, however, too much swayed by the considerations of +pleasure and pain, it is probable, that had I been cast into regions +subject to a rigorous winter, I should have been more anxious to have +escaped from the forest. Perpetual summer, however, beguiled me from +my resolution, and being unprovided with a defence against ease and +indolence, years passed on while I was only dreaming of home and +friends. + +The hand of Providence, notwithstanding, continued over me, and in a +miraculous manner took me from savage life. + +The sun's departing red rays were shining on the surface of the river, +as Pecoe, myself, and three other youths were hastening in our canoes +to reach home before night should set in, when I heard the stroke of +oars, that indicated the approach of a boat's crew. I have before said +that an inexplicable feeling came over me whenever I thought that I was +in approximation with those who might be the means of conveying me +again into civilized life. On this occasion I was for the moment +paralysed. Pausing to assure myself of the reality of the sounds, I +heard Pecoe and his companions calling to me to pull towards the +opposite shore, from whence the sounds proceeded, and turning round to +ascertain the direction they were pursuing, I caught sight of a +long-boat, manned with ten sailors, just turning a point of land which +had hitherto screened them from my view. The Indians were still +calling to me, but it was too late. With the usual celerity of British +sailors, the boat in a few seconds was abreast of my canoe. The +officer who commanded the crew pulled my canoe aft, and after +scrutinizing my countenance, ejaculated, "The boatswain is right--an +European; but not, as he supposed, a runaway convict; it's the wrong +latitude for that kind of fish;" continuing, "Come, young man, step +into our boat: we are in want of some information with which you may +furnish us." + +[Sidenote: Impressed on board an English ship] + +I hesitated, then made some reply in English, when one of the sailors +exclaimed, "I told Tom that he was a Briton." + +"I am glad I have met with a countryman," resumed the officer, who held +the canoe fast as he offered his hand to assist me into his own boat; +but as I still hesitated, he affected to stumble, and in the action +drew me over the bow of the canoe, which constrained me either to jump +into the ship's boat or fall into the river. When seated beside the +lieutenant, I had in some measure recovered from my surprise; I +inquired whether the practice of pressing in the British navy was +revived. + +"It is not," replied the lieutenant, "but I shall feel myself justified +in detaining you until I have the particulars of your history, and +learn especially what brought you into this part of the world." + +All this time the boat was proceeding down the river, and had carried +me out of sight of my Indian friends. When I informed the officer that +I had been lost when a boy, he replied-- + +"Then you are now found; but have you a knowledge of this river?" + +"From hence upwards I have," said I. "having accompanied the Indians +in their farthest migrations." + +"Make your mind easy," rejoined the officer, "I shall introduce you to +the captain of our brig." + +It appeared that the boat had been sent out by a government brig which +was on a survey in the river Amazon, to ascertain the course of one of +its tributaries. Late in the evening of the following day we reached +the ship, and when my story had been heard by the captain, he at once +determined on taking me with him, saying that he should find means of +sending me to Berbice, the point, he judged, from which my father had +started, and to which place he thought it probable my father would in +the first instance transmit an account of my having been lost; and +where also it was likely some arrangement had been made for providing +me with the means of finding my way to his residence. + +The brig remained two months on the survey, and then sailed for +Halifax, crossing the Mexican bay, where I had an opportunity of +witnessing the extraordinary phenomena produced by a large body of fish +that at one time surrounded the vessel. The sea was like one field of +fireworks, all sparkling with serpents and silver spangles; the mind, +when contemplating such scenes, is lost in amazement at the prodigious +number of living things the regions of the sea contain. But whether +the naturalist turns to the woods and the water, or explores the +cloud-capt mountains, the sequestered cave, or the rocky cliffs, he +will at first be embarrassed at the sight of the variety of objects +that claim his attention; and it is only by learning how to distinguish +them in a methodical manner that the mind can be brought to contemplate +them in detail. + +On board the vessel I was supplied with a sailor's dress, but the force +of habit was so strong that for a considerable time I could not wear it +with any comfort to myself. The captain was faithful to his promise, +and from Halifax sent me in a merchant vessel to Demerara, with a +letter addressed to the British consul at that station. On my arrival +I presented myself before that authority, who the next day produced a +colonial newspaper in which I had seven years previously been +advertised, and a reward offered for my recovery, and in which also the +name of an agent was mentioned who would defray any costs incurred on +the occasion. + +[Sidenote: Return to society] + +Fortunately that gentleman was still in the colony, who, after +satisfying himself of my identity, promised to avail himself of the +earliest opportunity to restore me to my family. The location of my +father's property was on the remote banks of a branch of the Amazon +river, to which few vessels traded, there was therefore no possibility +of reaching it otherwise than overland, as the family had previously +done. For some time after my arrival in Demerara, I found myself an +object of interest, receiving invitations from most of the respectable +inhabitants; while my appearance in the streets excited a sensation. +Although I was much pleased with the opportunity of attending public +worship, where I might collect and concentrate the scattered ideas I +retained of my father's faith, yet the ceremonies and forms of society +appeared ridiculous to me, and were very irksome. + +[Sidenote: First sight of home] + +[Sidenote: The brother and sister] + +[Sidenote: Rengal] + +I received marked attention and kindness from the gentleman who had +been advertised as my father's agent, and an opportunity soon occurred +for him to place me under safe escort to my home. Two gentlemen were +about to journey near to where my father resided, and they kindly +undertook my safe conveyance. They were entrusted with a letter from +the agent to my father, which was to be delivered into no other hands +but his own. I can scarcely describe my delight when all was in +readiness for our departure and we set out on our journey. My feelings +of impatience grew more uncontrollable every day. The thoughts of home +and the prospect of again beholding all I held dear on earth made my +passage appear a lifetime;--tedious and protracted as it was I shall +pass it over now, as it had no incident that was at all attractive to +me--until we arrived at the Amazon River, whose clear surface I hailed +with indescribable delight, as I knew then we were not far from my +father's estate. Following its course for a day we arrived towards the +afternoon at a plantation of cotton, the proprietor of which informed +me that we were within two miles of my father's house. He had heard +the particulars of my absence, but declined to comply with my request +to go and inform the family of my arrival. The reason he assigned was +that he had lately been engaged in a dispute with my father, and +therefore could not undertake my mission--adding that the alteration in +my appearance, living as I had from the age of thirteen to twenty in +the wilderness, would be sufficient to prevent them from recognising me +at first. I then inquired for my uncles, and was informed that one had +sold his land and returned to England, and that the other (the widower) +was dead. This unchristian man also informed me that, in his opinion, +I had been given up as entirely lost by my family. As the day was +advancing, I waited no longer to hold converse with him, but abruptly +turned away, disgusted with his apathy and want of feeling. As we +proceeded towards my home, I consulted with the two gentlemen who were +my guides what course to adopt in breaking the intelligence of my +return, to my family, as I felt a dread of presenting myself too +precipitately after so long an absence, being naturally fearful that +the shock would be more than my mother could sustain. We deemed it +prudent, therefore, to send the letter by one of my guides, while I +waited the result close by. Our precautions, however, were not carried +into effect, as an incident occurred which rendered them unnecessary. +I had arrived in sight of my father's habitation, and paused on a +slight eminence to contemplate with mingled feelings of surprise, +delight, and fear, the spot made sacred by the affections which were +centred there, with all the ties which bound me to the world--that spot +which, from the meanest to the noblest in every land, is the only haven +of refuge from the troubles and travail in this life, and which finds a +ready response in every heart by the one magic word--home! I had not +felt its cheering influence for now more than six years. An outcast +and a wanderer for that period, how often in the loneliness of my +forest life had I yearned to be again restored to it, and to find, like +the dove of old, a place of refuge and rest--an ark, and a covenant. +But now, as the fruition of my hopes appeared to be realized, I paused, +spell-bound and overpowered by the many conflicting feelings which the +sight of it had conjured up. The memory of all the incidents of my +early life--the days of childhood--the school-boy troubles--the many +acts of parental kindness evinced in a thousand ways--were all pictured +to my sight in one rapid glance. And then the terrible foreboding +presented itself, that I might not find my family circle as I had left +them--alive and in health. In the history of the world six years is +but a speck of time; but with individuals the case is widely different. +I had lost one uncle, and the fear came across me that my loss might +not be ended thus. I almost dreaded to make the inquiry, as I felt +incapable of bearing such a calamity. It was a beautiful mansion which +lay before me. The large and well-built house, surrounded with thick +foliage--the carefully cultivated grounds surrounding it--the broad and +extensive landscape beyond of richly wooded hill and dale--the wide and +meandering river by whose banks I had been guided thither--gave to the +scene a lofty grandeur. While standing thus irresolute, a young man of +some five or six and twenty was advancing towards us; he had on his arm +a female, with whom he appeared to be chatting familiarly. I watched +them as they came near us, and from the young man's appearance judged +him to be one of the settlers here. As they approached, I heard their +voices more distinctly. That of the female fell upon my ear in well +remembered tones. There could be no mistaking them, I knew it to be +the voice of my sister. But ah! how changed she was. The laughing +merry girl had grown into a staid and matronly woman. I could hardly +believe it possible; but to assure myself, I inquired of her companion +if that was the residence of Mr. Howard. My sister started as I spoke, +turned pale, and looked at me intently. I suppose I was changed; +indeed, there was but little doubt of that--but changed as I was, she +could not be deceived. She trembled, and would have fallen, had I not +caught her in my arms in a fond embrace. The first surprise over, she +laughed and cried by turns, and overwhelmed me with caresses. Then the +numberless inquiries she had to make! One after the other in such +rapid succession, without waiting for replies. I know not what the +three spectators of the scene must have thought; but no doubt they +deemed her frantic, and, indeed, for the time, I believe she was. My +first inquiry was about my parents. They were both well. She had left +them a few minutes previously. Her companion she introduced to me as +her husband. She told me, also, that she had two children, a little +boy and girl. We arranged our plan, if it could be called arrangement, +where all was mad delight; she insisted that my two guides should go +home with her husband for that evening, as his house was close by, and +deliver the letter in the morning, while she and myself went home to +our parents. When we had arrived at the house, I detained her from +entering until I had peeped in at the window to take a glance at its +inmates. There was a light in the interior, and I could observe all +distinctly. I saw my father seated in a comfortable apartment, quite +unconscious of any one observing them. My father was reading aloud one +of the local papers. He wore spectacles; I remember to have been +struck with this, otherwise, my mother and he were not at all changed. +The same as I had left them--the old familiar faces, remembered from +earliest childhood--the old familiar faces, it made a child of me again +to gaze on them. Presently my sister entered, and from her hurried +manner and sudden return, they seemed surprised. She said something, I +did not know what, but my father rose, and hastily throwing down the +paper, gazed wonderingly on my sister. I waited no longer--another +moment--I was on my knees before my mother, buried in her embrace. She +wept over me, her truant boy, tears of joy. Who of us has not felt the +depth and purity of a mother's love? Who hath not found, be his errors +what they might, that there was one gentle spirit to turn to, ever +ready to pardon, protect, and solace? I felt the force of this doubly +then. And now, when past the meridian of my life, I look back through +the long vista of the past, the self-devotedness of a mother's love +shines forth as something "which lighted up my way of life," never to +be forgotten. My father could scarcely find utterance, from excess of +joy at my return. I recounted to him a brief summary of all I had gone +through since I had been lost, and half that night was passed in the +details of my story. My sister did not return to her own home till the +following morning, when I accompanied her. Another surprise awaited +me. I saw Rengal and his father working on our estate. They had +become devoted and trustworthy servants of the family, being employed +as free labourers. It seemed that my father had instituted a vigorous +search for me, and had engaged them many months for that purpose, +believing their acquaintance with the country would be of infinite +service in the undertaking. Their labours, however, proved fruitless, +as my reader already knows. Ultimately, pleased with their faithful +conduct, and evident anxiety to accomplish my restoration, he engaged +them as assistants on his farm, where they had remained ever since. +Their surprise and extravagant delight when I made myself known, +exceeded all bounds; and although, perhaps, I compromised my dignity, I +was obliged, in spite of myself, to burst out into a fit of immoderate +laughter. There was a degree of comicality about these people which +was perfectly irresistible, the more so, as they could not at all +comprehend it themselves. The old negro informed me that he had +discovered his daughter, and my sister's husband had purchased her +freedom, and engaged her as a domestic in his house. + + * * * * * + +Many years have rolled on since the incidents described in this +narrative occurred. Time has been busy with his ceaseless works and +wondrous changes. Our little settlement has now sprung up into a large +and thriving city, in whose streets are seen a throng of busy men. Our +river bears upon its bosom many argosies freighted with the merchandise +of every clime. Our meadows are ploughed into furrows by the hand of +the skilful husbandman, and returning autumn sees them laden with the +products of cultivated nature. The giant, steam, is made a slave to +man. and is seen at work on the mill--the mine--the forge--and rail; +and everywhere marks of the master spirit, industry, are visible in our +town. For myself, I am rich in the possession of all the blessings of +domestic life, with an amiable and loving partner and dutiful children. +I am respected as a thriving merchant, and I hope as a worthy friend. +My parents, I am happy to say, still cheer me with their presence and +advice; and if this, the narrative of my earlier years, should awaken +the youthful mind to a sense of self-reliance and dependence under all +trials and vicissitudes, and make manifest the bounteous providence of +a wise and beneficent Creator, my labours will not have been spent in +vain. + + + + +THE END. + + + + +[Transcriber's note: In this etext, the source book's variant page +headings have been converted to sidenotes and positioned where most +logical.] + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Emigrant's Lost Son, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + +***** This file should be named 37732-8.txt or 37732-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/3/37732/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Emigrant's Lost Son + or, Life Alone in the Forest + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: George Henry Wall + +Illustrator: Corbould + +Release Date: October 12, 2011 [EBook #37732] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Frank Osborne's alarm on discovering a bow and quiver suspended in the forest" BORDER=""> +<H4 CLASS="h4center"> +Frank Osborne's alarm on discovering a bow and quiver suspended in the forest +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-title"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-title.jpg" ALT="Title page" BORDER=""> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +THE +</P> + +<P CLASS="t1"> +EMIGRANT'S LOST SON: +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +OR, +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +LIFE ALONE IN THE FOREST. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +EDITED BY +<BR> +GEORGE HENRY WALL. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +<I>NEW EDITION.</I> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +<I>Illustrated by Corbould</I> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +LONDON: +<BR> +ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE, +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +FARRINGDON STREET. +<BR> +NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +1860. +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +[<I>The Author of this Work reserves to himself the right of +Translating.</I>] +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +LONDON; +<BR> +SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, +<BR> +COVENT GARDEN. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +CONTENTS. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +<A HREF="#chap00b">INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR</A> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CHAPTER I.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND, AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHAPTER II.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST—MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap03">CHAPTER III.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT—THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY IN THE FOREST +DESCRIBED +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHAPTER IV.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR—AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO—I AM ATTACKED WITH A +FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap05">CHAPTER V.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION OF NATURE, IN WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL +ESCAPE—AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF +INDIANS +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3b"> +<A HREF="#chap06">CHAPTER VI.</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%"> +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS—I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap00b"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR +</H3> + +<P> +That no person in this state of existence may be tempted to assert his +own independence, the affairs of life are so ordered that much of the +happiness enjoyed by mankind depends upon their communion with each +other. Human affections, if they were permitted to act freely, as they +spontaneously arise in the breast of mankind, are designed to bind all +the human race in one bond of brotherhood. +</P> + +<P> +Our own parents and near relatives first call these affections into +active exercise. Their care and attention to our welfare, the interest +they take in preserving us in a state of safety and health, and in +teaching us also the duties we owe both to our Creator and +fellow-creatures, tend to give the first impetus to the germs of our +affections; and it is by the exercise of these very affections that we +derive a continual source of happiness, which becomes hereafter the +chief means by which the refinement of the senses may be effected. +Thus it is, that when death, or other causes, deprive us of our +immediate parental guidance, the affections as naturally seek for new +objects, on which to exert their influence, as the operations of any +other well recognised principles proceed in the works of nature. +</P> + +<P> +The author and hero of the following narrative, was called upon to +experience the sudden deprivation of not only his parents, but of all +his dearest friends; and that at an age when the heart first expands to +the relations of our existence, and is most sensitive to the emotions +of grief; when, unexpectedly and unprepared, it is cut off from all +sympathy or communication with human kind. At the age of thirteen he +was lost in an almost boundless Guiana forest, where he remained for +several years, dependent solely upon his own resources, mental and +physical—that is, on the one hand, to bear the mind up against the +shock it received in being thrown suddenly into solitude; and, on the +other, to provide for his daily wants. That man never was intended to +live in what is denominated "a state of nature," is manifest by his +long infancy and the tardy development of his mental powers. No animal +is so long after its birth before it can support the body on its legs +as man; in none is the period of complete adult stature so long +protracted. When born into the world he is entirely defenceless, his +great distinctions from other animals are reason and speech: these, +however, are germs which are not developed of themselves, but are +brought to maturity by extraneous assistance, cultivation, and +education; hence we must infer that man was intended for social union, +and that his imaginary state of nature, which some writers have spoken +of, never has existed. +</P> + +<P> +Man, however, in his nature, is limited in no respect; being fitted for +every kind of life, every climate, and every variety of food. The +Deity has given him the whole earth for his abode, and the produce +thereof for his nourishment. With the advantages, however, of an early +moral and religious education, together with an excellent constitution, +our juvenile exile from man was enabled, under the direction of a +watchful Providence, to preserve his life, protect his mind against +despondency, and procure a subsistence in the midst of dangers. +</P> + +<P> +The difficulties he encountered, the manner in which he overcame them, +and the scenes which were brought under his view in the extended field +of observation into which he was thrown, it is the object of the +following narrative to lay before the reader. To those whose knowledge +extends not beyond the world of man to the boundless fields of nature, +it may appear that such a life must have been one of monotonous +listlessness, from which few materials could be gathered to impart +knowledge or interest to the general reader. +</P> + +<P> +Our hero, however, found employment for the mind in every moment of his +waking hours, and was furnished with objects for study in the forest, +that might engage the longest period of life allotted to man to +catalogue or enumerate. +</P> + +<P> +Happily for the exile, his mind was formed to seek for knowledge in the +only sources open to man for the full development of the intellectual +powers; namely, observation and reflection. +</P> + +<P> +Denied the aid of books, in the far woods that "steeped in their +moonbeams lie," he called upon his Maker, and the echo of the floor of +the forest recognised his presence. Acquiring confidence from this +assurance, and relying on Providence for protection, he converted the +scenes around him into a school of study, and realized in the woods a +life of activity instead of one of solitude. He soon discovered, when +left to draw deductions from his own experience in the scenes of +Nature, that there is nothing but what is beautiful, nothing unworthy +of admiration. "The disregard," he says, "which by many is paid to her +productions, reflects no honour on those who evince it, and little +credit on a system of education that does not at once lead its pupils +to the grand fountain of all knowledge. While the majority," he adds, +"of my youthful contemporaries were engaged in committing to memory a +vocabulary of words, I was busily engaged in studying the things +themselves." While others were spending their time in acquiring a +knowledge of the customs and forms of artificial society, our exile had +the great book of nature widely spread open before him, Throughout that +period of life which is usually devoted, by the majority of +individuals, to study the purposes of social life, he was conversing +only with the trees; or with the birds, and insects, and other tribes, +of the animal kingdom, all the works of God, and to which his +attachment was ardent and sincere. Now that he is again in the society +of his fellow-men, the recollections of his sylvan probation are as +vividly depicted on his mind as at the moment when he first received +the impressions. Trees which supplied him with food, or shelter from +the heat of the sun or the rains of the climate, are still dear to his +recollection, and he often reverts to them with feelings of gratitude +and respect, from which he would not, if he could, estrange the +affections of his heart. +</P> + +<P> +There is no music so sweet to his ear as the breezes that animated the +lofty cloud-aspiring monarchs of the forest, with which he claims a +peculiar acquaintance, or the murmuring of the brook, where he was wont +to slake his thirst; no concert to his sense of sound so grateful as +the wild notes of the birds that chanted, morning and evening, their +Maker's praise, as he offered up his own prayers of gratitude for the +prolongation of his existence, or the hummings of the myriads of +insects, that every hour, in his woodland rovings, arrested his +attention. +</P> + +<P> +It was while listening to these voices of the Creator that his heart +was first touched with feelings of admiration and wonder at the +multifarious and exquisitely organized beings that everywhere, whether +in tranquil meditation or in active search of his food, met his sight. +He saw nature everywhere teeming with life, and proclaiming in language +intelligible to every one the presence of an All-directing Power. It +was in the forest, too, in the midst of the wonders of the creation, +that the lost youth first aspired to lift up his thoughts to heaven, +and mentally exclaim—"These are thy works, oh God!" It was also in +the lonely wilderness he first cherished the hope, in the language of +the Indian, that the Great Spirit had provided for him a higher state +of happiness; and then it was he offered up a prayer, that this hope +might, in his Maker's own time, be realized. It was also in the +wilderness, communing with his own thoughts, that he first received an +assurance that he possessed a soul to be saved, and became imbued with +a firm conviction that the wise Creator, in his infinite beneficence, +designed the happiness of his creatures, and that nothing can deprive +the human race of his blessings but a connexion with sin. +</P> + +<P> +With an undivided mind, intent only on examining and admiring the works +of creation, the youth, in his lonely wayfaring, everywhere found the +presence of his Maker. At the earliest moment of incipient vegetation, +he was busy watching the indications of bursting nature preparing to +re-robe the trees; and in a prospective vista he beheld the joyous +movements of the various tribes of birds and insects providing for the +wants of themselves and their progeny. Not less busily was his mind +engaged when these labours actually commenced, in noting the +construction of their habitations, and in admiring the wonderful +ingenuity each displayed in providing for its own peculiar wants and +safety. +</P> + +<P> +Thus engaged in almost continual observation, he was enabled to trace +the manner in which numbers of the feathered and insect tribes worked +out the purposes of their existence. As the multifarious branches of +the trees of the forest expanded themselves into fulness of leaf, he +saw nations after nations of living things on the move to claim his +attention, all pouring forth to seize on their share of the abundance +of nature. As each revolving season hastened the decay of or imparted +new vigour to the monarchs of the forest, the exile from man had an +opportunity, abstracted as he was from the busy affairs of human life, +to distinguish the various characteristics of the tribes of insects +that took possession of the trees, differing from those which, +apparently innoxiously, fed on their fulness of vegetable youthfulness, +and the insects that came to prey only on the trunk or branches of +those that age or disease had brought to decay. He saw the leaves of +the forest come into life, witnessed their gradual expansion into +verdant beauty; he was there, likewise, at their decline and +fall—recurring symbols of the succession of the races of mankind,—and +when, the biting north winds denuded of their leaves many of these +mighty monarchs of the forest, he collected them to form his woodland +bed. No season passed without adding to his store of information in +reference to the works of nature, which knowledge, as we have already +said, it is the design of this work to impart to others. It is the +natural history of the forest, or so much of it as has been seen by one +individual during a period of six years' sojourn in its solitude. +</P> + +<P> +From what has been stated, the reader will not expect to find any +classified arrangement of subjects in this work; things are spoken of +as they were seen, either in the stillness of the shade at one time, or +in the raging of the storm at another. Forest trees, in general, are +described; those which may afford food to man are more frequently +mentioned. Of quadrupeds, birds of the air, and insects, those that +most excited his attention are more especially noticed. Those whose +ferocity or whose shyness rendered it hazardous or difficult to +approach them, are less spoken of. The details of the author's +history, in reference to his probation in the wilds of nature, he has +endeavoured to relate in a most familiar manner, and in the simplest +language; and when describing scenes and events, faithfully to impart +the impressions made on his own mind as they occurred. +</P> + +<P> +Reasoning from the convictions arising from his experience,—that is, +the effects wrought upon his own mind—he thinks that the study of +natural objects, used as a means for the improvement of the religious +and moral character of mankind, has been much overlooked by the +philanthropist, and neglected by those who are sincere in their desire +to improve their own species. +</P> + +<P> +When the author was restored to society, nothing more excited his +surprise than the total absence of a system of education which should +at once direct the mind of youth to the fountain of all knowledge; and, +in consequence, to persons he met with who took any lively interest in +the study of natural objects, he remarked, "Your system of education +appears more designed to exercise the mere verbal memory, than to +excite observation or reflection;" adding, "that an acquaintance with +the works of the Deity, as they are seen remote from the haunts of men, +not only expands and elevates the thought, but spiritualises the soul." +The contemplation of nature's works, while it subdues the pride of man, +harmonizes the feelings of social life, and in a peculiar manner +prepares the mind for the reception of revealed truths. It is only +necessary to add that, the education of the "Emigrant's Son," +previously to his exclusion from the world of man, had not in any way +been of a peculiarly religious tendency; nor had he evinced any +predilection for discussing religious topics. Yet, when he was brought +to contemplate the works of the Deity on an extended scale, he +everywhere found the indications of the presence of a superior and +all-wise Creator in those scenes. It is therefore natural that he +should feel a desire that others should seek and find Him at the same +pure fountain of knowledge. "The voice of my beloved; behold he cometh +leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." (Solomon, ii. 9.) +</P> + +<P> +True it is, that the student who once enters the portals of natural +history, seldom thinks of returning. Strolling from object to object, +his appetite is never satiated. St. Pierre aptly remarked, that +"nature invites to the cultivation of herself." Should the perusal of +the following page direct the mind of the youthful reader to the study +of nature, the object of publishing this narrative will have been +attained. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +G. H. W. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +HARRINGTON COTTAGE,<BR> + BROMPTON<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> + "On the bosom, lone and still,<BR> +Of nature east, I early sought to stroll<BR> + Through wood and wild, o'er forest, rook, and hill,<BR> +Companionless; without a wish or goal,<BR> + Save to discover every shape and voice<BR> +Of living thing that there did fearlessly rejoice."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +As it is my object to lay before my readers only that portion of my +life which was passed in the wilds of nature, it will be unnecessary +for me to detain them with a lengthened account of the genealogy of my +family. +</P> + +<P> +My father occupied a small farm in the west of England, situate near a +peaceful village, the curate of which superintended the education of +myself and some fourteen or fifteen of the neighbouring youths. I was +between ten and eleven years of age, when a stranger arrived at our +house, informing the family that, in consequence of the death of my +father's elder brother, he, together with two surviving brothers, had +jointly become the proprietors of a tract of land situate in the +south-western part of Guiana. +</P> + +<P> +It subsequently appeared that my deceased uncle had speculated in the +purchase of the land in question, intending to have invited his three +brothers to join him in the cultivation of it. Death frustrated these +intentions, the land became the joint property of the survivors, and +after using every effort to dispose of it in this country, being +unsuccessful in meeting with a purchaser, the three brothers came to +the resolution of going out, together with their families, and sharing +their newly-acquired property. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +First leaving home +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +When the order was finally given to prepare for the voyage, it operated +on my mind almost as a penal sentence; expatriation presented itself to +my imagination as the climax of all evils. It now suddenly occurred to +me that I had a thousand local attachments, all of which were to be +broken asunder; my imagination passing in review a painful parting with +my schoolfellows and other intimates; when all the early and recent +scenes of my short career poured in on the memory, and seemed to bind +me to the immediate locality of my existence and its environs. I then +discovered that I had a real attachment for my teacher, the good pastor +of a small flock; indeed, every person known to me, I thought had, in +some way, been peculiarly kind, and a torrent of gratitude overflowed +the heart; while the idea of quitting the scenes of my childhood, and +all I then knew of the world, presented itself as the annihilation of +every object from which I had hitherto derived pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +The young heart is generally thought to bound with joyousness at the +prospect of a change of scene, but it was otherwise with me: the world, +in the map of my microcosm, excepting the circumscribed view I had +taken of it, was an entire desert, where there was no one to love or be +loved. In this state of mind the agitation of my feelings nearly +choked me, till I sought the favourite arm of a tree in the orchard, +where, unobserved, I found relief in a flood of tears. Still +oppressed, as the evening advanced I crept to bed without speaking to +any one,—not even to my sister, whose buoyant joyfulness at the time +excited my surprise. I spent the night in a state of half-dreamy +stupor, being neither asleep nor awake; whilst the imagination was +engaged in endeavouring to contrast the retrospection of the past with +the prospects of the future. Every act of kindness which had been +bestowed upon me, stood out in strong relief in my memory, as a vista +of other days, and into which I had not previously been permitted to +look; whilst the little village-world was presented to my view as a +bright speck in creation—an oasis in a desert, all around which was a +mass of confusion and darkness. +</P> + +<P> +The placid countenance of the curate, monarch of his locality, with all +the scholastic paraphernalia, were brought vividly under review; the +form on which I was wont to sit, with every cut I had made on the +well-marked desk with my knife—an instrument with which boys early +prove themselves tool-loving animals—were all objects of endearment to +me. My fancy then roamed into the little churchyard, where I took a +view of each mouldering heap, with the tombstones at the head and foot, +every epitaph on which I had committed to memory. I then stood under +the brave old Hercules, as we designated an oak tree where four of us +had met most days to proceed together to school. Here I distinctly +noted—such is the power of memory when the feelings are excited—each +abrupt rising of its rugged roots, and marked the boundary of its +shadows at different hours of the day, as described by its broad, +out-spreading limbs on the greensward. +</P> + +<P> +I wandered to the copse, entered by a well-defined gap at the angular +point; noted each spot where I had taken eggs or young ones from birds +that had been incautious enough to attract my attention; paused to take +a last look at the hazel from which I had gathered the largest cob-nut; +lingering at every step, and sighing as I passed each object of +remembrance. The following morning, sleepless and weary, I arose with +the sun, and collected all my little stock of property—bows and +arrows, fishing-tackle, bats, balls, and other juvenile valuables; +these I labelled as presents to my intimates. My heart then knew how +highly it was susceptible of friendship; it had yet to learn how +readily, after the lapse of a few years, such attachments are +forgotten. The desire in after life to meet with an old schoolfellow +is seldom prompted by a higher motive than a curiosity to learn his +success in the world. +</P> + +<P> +It is probable that my parents had associations and connexions from +which they were about to separate, and deeper feelings of regret to +struggle with, than myself, when parting from attached friends. It is +fresh in my memory that our calls were very numerous, and that many +reasons were adduced to dissuade my father from emigration. The Sunday +previously to our departure, the curate, from the pulpit, mentioned the +intention of the families to emigrate, and offered up a prayer for the +realization of their prospects of success. I shall ever remember the +day I left the kind preceptor of my youth and the companions of my +boyish days. My father had sent a chaise to fetch me and my valuable +stock of personal property a day before our final departure. I think I +see now the mild old curate shaking my hand and giving me his blessing +and friendly advice, while around the gate of the old house were +assembled my school companions, to take a last sight of me before I +took my leave of home and of them. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Voyage to Demerara +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Our journey to the coast, and voyage to Demerara, a <I>ci-devant</I> Dutch +settlement, was unattended by any circumstance of peculiar interest. I +therefore take up the narrative from the period of our landing. My +father was purely a business man, never permitting pleasure or +curiosity to divert him from his pursuits. Immediately, therefore, on +our arrival at Demerara, preparations were made for us to proceed on +towards our destination, regarding the situation and name of which I +had not up to that time taken any interest, I had, however, heard that +we had to travel some hundreds of miles over a country where there were +no roads, as in England. I also remember a long discussion between my +father and my two uncles, whether we should travel with a waggon or +purchase horses and mules to carry our luggage and relieve the females +when fatigued. As our course was through an extensive wooded country, +where carriages could not conveniently pass, the latter mode of +travelling was ultimately adopted. Our party consisted of nine +persons, namely, my father, mother, sister, and self; one uncle, with a +grown-up son (his father being a widower); the other uncle, his wife, +and son (a youth three years older than myself). +</P> + +<P> +My father provided himself with a horse and mule; the latter to carry +our personal necessaries, and the former to alternately relieve my +mother, and my sister, who was a healthy girl of sixteen years of age, +when either was fatigued with walking. One other horse was purchased +for the use of my aunt and the party in general. We were provided with +two painted cloths, to be used as a covering when we should halt for +rest, and no better accommodation could be obtained. I remember my +father making a pen-and-ink sketch of the route, marking down, with the +assistance of a traveller, the stages we were daily to accomplish. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Crossing the savanna +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Thus prepared and equipped, as all of us were in excellent health and +spirits, we commenced our journey over the plantations of the settlers, +proceeding onwards till we reached the extended savannas—open plains. +Here the scene was altogether so new and striking, that it was with +difficulty I could be prevented from running after every living thing +that came under my view. At one moment I was lost in wonder at the +multitudes of creeping creatures which, at every step, crossed my path, +while the birds of the air in numbers, variety, and plumage, fixed me +with astonishment. My excitement was so great that I actually screamed +with delight; at another moment I ran from object to object with such +eagerness, that, my mother became alarmed for my intellect, affirming +that no one in their senses could sustain so much unnatural excitement. +</P> + +<P> +On the third day of our journey I began to be seriously fatigued, and +my father placed me across the back of our mule. This, however, was a +measure against which the animal at once entered his protest, by +refusing to move forward the moment I threw my legs across him; his +conduct seemed to imply that at starting a contract had been made with +him to carry the baggage, and he would not consent to its infringement; +and it would appear that the mere attempt to overburden him soured his +temper for the whole journey; for a more obstinate or perverse mule was +never crossed by man or boy. At length we entered into a compromise, +by removing a portion of his baggage to one of our horses; and he then +allowed me to ride in peace, as he proceeded sulkily along. He was, +however, faithful to his second bargain, never evincing any more +discontent. This third day of our journey was the longest we had yet +had, and we were all of us anxiously looking for some habitation +towards its close, where we might rest for the night. The sun soon +promised to hide his golden beams behind the hills which formed the +horizon, and we all showed signs of fatigue. We were much delighted +when my father informed us that we were approaching the house of a +settler, where he hoped to obtain shelter for the night. We proceeded +up a steep declivity to the house in question, forming rather a +picturesque party. My sister was first, mounted on a heavy dappled +grey horse, with my father and mother by her side. I followed on my +mule; while the remainder of the party were some fifty yards in the +rear. As we halted before the house, my father informed us that, in +all probability, this would be the last time we should find +accommodation, even in the outhouse of a settler; and that in future we +should have to resort to our painted cloths for shelter during the +night. +</P> + +<P> +We all retired to rest, therefore, with a determination to lay in a +good stock of sleep. Notwithstanding this determination, and the +fatigue I had endured in the excessive heat of the day, the novelty of +my new existence resisted every effort to close my eyes for rest; and I +arose in the morning but very little refreshed. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The blessing of rain +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +During the first five days of our journey the intense heat of the sun, +to which we were unseasoned, annoyed us all exceedingly; while the +scorching earth so much blistered my feet that, on the sixth morning, I +lingered behind, and divested myself of both stockings and shoes, +hanging them upon the mule's baggage. In the school of experience +nature is head master. The relief was almost instantaneous; and, +during that day, I surprised my fellow-travellers with my pedestrian +performances, which induced them all to follow my example. Early the +same afternoon, the rain began to fall in torrents, or rather in +sheets, previously to which, during our journey over the plains, the +extreme dryness of the weather had occasioned one of those vegetable +conflagrations so common in hot countries. Hitherto the scene had been +arid, the land being hard to the feet, and painfully dry to the eye. +The following morning, we had an opportunity of observing with what +surprising rapidity nature, in these climates, clothes the earth. Our +course was now on a wide-expanded green carpet, every where soft and +cooling to the feet, and deliciously refreshing to the sight. Birds of +every hue, gems of the air, glittered in our pathway; a vast number of +the cormorant species were busy in gobbling up frogs, toads, and +snakes; the eagle and the vulture, too, were soaring over our heads, +looking out for the prey these regions afford them in such abundance. +Every step we took frightened up flocks of the smaller feathered tribe, +and brought to view myriads of other living things, such as slugs, +snails, and insects of every variety. +</P> + +<P> +On the tenth day of our journey, we approached a country covered, as +far as the eye could reach, with dense foliage, variegated with every +known or imaginable hue, the groundwork of which was one wide-spreading +mass of every shade of green. There were browns of all tints, yellow, +orange, purple, and brilliant scarlets, so intermingled as to present +one uninterrupted view of nature in glorious beauty, spreading over an +undulating mass of waving forest-green, while, in appearance, reaching +from the high heavens to the earth, into which the lower sweeps seemed +to dip, conveying the idea of eternal spring, summer, and autumn, +harmoniously blended into one. As we skirted the forest, the charming +variety of the blossoms, and their shades of colour, presented a still +more enlivened appearance—the tops of the trees being covered with +bloom, some standing erect towards the light of the sun, others bending +down, with a profusion of fruit and seed. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, even here, in this enchanting scene, was man admonished, and +reminded of mortality: as we passed the margin of the wood, here and +there was seen some former giant of the forest, whose head had been +bared by time or the thunder blast, painfully, in the midst of nature's +prodigal luxuriance, intimating that all things have their period of +birth, maturity, and decay. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Meeting with natives +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Penetrated with surprise and admiration at the scene, it was some time +before we discovered that we were approaching a party of natives, who, +it was evident, had been watching our movements. When they first +attracted our notice, the sound of what we took for a village bell fell +upon the ear; whereupon my father flattered himself that we were +approaching a civilized settlement; while both my uncles were of +opinion that a signal of alarm was given at our approach, and, in +consequence, prepared for defence. The bell, however, sounded only at +intervals of four or five minutes; and as there was no increase of +numbers in consequence, we at once went forth to meet the natives. +They consisted of a party of six, besides an old negro, who seemed to +be the patriarch of his race. To our surprise and delight, he spoke +English remarkably well, as did also a young man who appeared to be his +son. Probably, they were runaway slaves. They proved, however, to be +friendly disposed; and when we spoke of the bell, and the negro had +explained the nature of our enquiry, they all broke out into a most +immoderate fit of laughter. The negro, almost convulsed, said, "White +bird, ding dong—ding, dong! a great way off; for white man here, white +bird, ding, dong—ding, dong!" The bird that sends forth this peculiar +sound is named the campanero, and is snow white; it may be heard at +three miles' distance; and during my sojourn subsequently in the wilds +of nature, it was the only sound that daily recalled to my recollection +the tones of my native village church bell. +</P> + +<P> +As we were all attention to the negro, who was very lively and +garrulous, a flock of birds passed over our heads, emitting sounds that +might be mistaken for those of a trumpet; when the old man pointed up, +and laughingly said—"Red-coats, red-coats!" meaning to ask, +ironically, if we took the birds for soldiers? These birds are +properly called Waracaba, and are frequently rendered domestic, when +they exhibit the attachment of a dog to their master, following him in +the same spirit of fidelity; their spirit, also, appears to exceed that +of the game cock—although unarmed with spurs for defence, they will +fly at a dog; and, in a domestic state, seldom fail to browbeat and +lord it over the dunghill cocks living in the same yard. +</P> + +<P> +While my father was consulting with the negro regarding our bivouac for +the night, the latter suddenly seized his foot, exclaiming, "<I>Chegoe</I> +in toe," then forcing him to the ground, and taking from his pocket a +knife, proceeded to extract one of those formidable insects, which had +become embedded in the skin of the foot. This insect, had it been +allowed to remain, would have, no doubt, produced inflammation, from +its bite, and, in all probability, caused my father lameness for some +weeks. The negroes treated us with the greatest possible kindness and +respect; and the old man, who appeared the orator of his party, +insisted upon our sharing their hospitality, by partaking of their +evening meal, which we readily accepted, producing, at the same time, +our own provisions; and such an interchange of delicacies took place, +that I am sure it would puzzle me now to recollect or enumerate them. +I know it was the cause of some considerable share of merriment among +us all. Their food, if I remember rightly, appeared to me to consist +more of vegetables and fruit than ours, and was of a simpler nature. I +fancy if some of our worthy civic authorities had been present as +partakers of this repast, they would have been more surprised at the +viands than delighted. +</P> + +<P> +But man is of a ductile nature—a creature of habit, and may almost +habituate himself to anything. In civilized cities, where thousands +are taxing their energies in the pursuit of wealth and position in +society, an artificial state of existence is the consequence; and the +primitive fare of our forefathers is superseded by something of a more +stimulating nature. I have seen, in my experience in forest life, how +little man can subsist upon, and how healthy and strong he may continue +in a simple state of existence. Civilization brings with it a host of +imaginary and fictitious wants. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The repast with the negroes +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +We accepted the offer of our newly-made friends to share with them +their small huts for the night, and they being plentifully provided +with various skins of animals, a more agreeable resting-place could +hardly be desired. The old negro, without being obtrusively +inquisitive, was anxious to know our object in crossing the country; +and my father informed him of our route, and produced the rough chart +he had made upon our first starting upon the expedition. A long +consultation was the result, and a doubtful shake of the head was given +by the old man as to the possibility of our accomplishing the task; at +the same time he gave an incredulous look at my mother and sister, who, +he seemed to consider, would hardly be able to endure the journey and +the hardships attending it. To say the truth, my mother looked but +very weak, and I remember being struck myself with her appearance. My +sister was of such a buoyant temperament, that her joyous spirit would +carry her through almost any temporary difficulties; but still we were +all considerably jaded. And I remember I thought the rude habitation +of our entertainers a most delightful place of refuge, compared to +being obliged to bivouac in the woods; and, indeed, I dreaded leaving +the following morning. I believe we were all of us impressed with the +same idea. When we at first met with them, I was overcome with +surprise, and was afraid that some calamity was about to befal us. By +degrees, however, the feeling wore off, and by that strong and +undefined species of discernment which most possess in discovering +those kindly disposed towards us, I became on most familiar terms with +our friends. The young man, whose name was Rangal, I discovered, was +the only son of the elder negro. He was very solicitous in his +attentions to me, and his peculiar manners considerably amused me +during our evening's sojourn. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +More negroes +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Upon our retiring to rest, the two negroes, father and son, took up +their station in the apartment we had at first entered; this they did +to keep watch that no one should harm us; not that there was any +absolute necessity for their so doing, but it was an attention meant to +impress us with confidence as to our safety. Early the following +morning, after a refreshing and undisturbed sleep, I accompanied Rangal +to take a survey of the surrounding country, calling at a neighbouring +habitation where the remaining portion of the negroes had located. +They conversed with my guide a great deal, two or three speaking at the +same time; but it was in a dialect entirely new to me, and beyond my +comprehension. They evidently, by their gestures, referred to us; but +in what way, I was at a loss to understand. There were also a female +and three children, the latter varying from seven to eleven years old. +They looked at me in perfect amazement, and the three children retired, +whispering, to a corner at the darkest part of the room; but I could +see by the whites of their eyes in the gloom, that their gaze was +rivetted upon me, in which a feeling of curiosity was mingled with +dread. For myself, I was only struck with their comical appearance, +and fairly laughed outright, in which I was joined by the negroes, one +of whom, I supposed their father, brought them forward and introduced +them in due form. +</P> + +<P> +Upon returning to our habitation of the previous night, we found our +party taking their morning's repast; and I learned that the old negro +had insisted upon accompanying us, with his son Rangal, on our journey +during the day. He had also arranged where we should halt for the +following night which was at the habitation of a friend of his, +situate many miles on our road. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The forest +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +All being got in readiness, we again commenced our pilgrimage. There +had been a heavy fall of rain in the night, and it was comparatively +cool and refreshing to what it had been, but still the heat was intense +to us. We, however, proceeded on our journey with tolerable spirits. +My father and uncle shot several birds in the early part of the day, +which afforded us an excellent repast. We shortly arrived at a thick +and apparently impenetrable forest. Through this we had to travel +before reaching our destination for the night. Once having fairly +entered its precincts, there appeared to my mind an impossibility of +ever again emancipating ourselves from it. The sun, which had been so +scorching to our aching sight, was now no longer visible, save here and +there, where a few rays would find a passage through the otherwise +impenetrably dense foliage, to remind us of the world beyond our sight. +The luxuriance of the foliage, the variety of tropical plants which in +the fecundity of nature spring up in a few hours—so rapid is their +growth in these climates,—the busy hum of myriads of insects, the +reptiles, and occasionally the howling of the fiercer animals of prey, +can hardly be appreciated by description. Ever and anon we paused, as +a rustling of the foliage would give notice of the passage of some +fierce animal, who was, as he stole along, unconscious of the presence +of man in his domains. We proceeded most watchfully on our way, my +father and uncle with guns across their shoulders, ready for immediate +service, if required; so, what with our number, and the caution used, +we felt ourselves tolerably secure; the more so, as it is a remarkable +fact that no species of animal, however fierce, is ever very willing to +attack man in open combat, without provocation. +</P> + +<P> +Waterton, the celebrated naturalist, who has travelled through the +woods in search of animals for scientific purposes, says, speaking on +this subject, "Time and experience has convinced me that there is not +much danger in roving amongst snakes and wild beasts, provided you have +self-command. You must never approach them abruptly; if so, you are +sure to pay for your rashness, because the idea of self-defence is +predominant in every animal; and thus the snake, to defend himself from +what he considers an attack upon him, makes the intruder feel the +deadly effect of his poisonous fangs. The jaguar flies at you, and +knocks you senseless with a stroke of his paw; whereas, if you had not +come upon him too suddenly, it is ten to one but that he had retired, +in lieu of disputing the path with you." Secure, however, as we might +feel ourselves, it was a matter of surprise to us how the two negroes +would fare upon their return, without our party. They would, however, +in spite of every persuasion to the contrary, persist in accompanying +us, and we were fain to let them have their own way. Presently an +incident occurred which made us see the necessity of caution. As I was +walking by the side of my uncle Henry, I discerned, glaring from a +neighbouring clump of foliage, two fierce-looking eyes. I impulsively +caught my uncle by the arm, and pointed in breathless terror to the +spot. He paused, and raising his gun, would have fired, had not my +father precipitately intervened, and motioned him to be passive. "Do +not venture to fire," he whispered, "till there is a greater +necessity." At the same time he raised his gun, and both kept guard +till the other members of our party passed the point where danger was +to be feared. The animal did not move, but appeared ready to spring +forth; which had it done, the pieces must then have been discharged. +When we had got some little distance from the object of our dread, my +father and uncle gradually retreated, with their faces and guns +directed towards the animal, until they had got sufficiently out of +danger; and we had the satisfaction of observing the animal bound off +in another direction. It appeared to be a tolerably large-sized puma, +as well as we could discern. This little incident made us doubly +cautious, and all were loud in praising the presence of mind evinced by +my father; for had my uncle fired so incautiously, it is very +improbable that he would have wounded the animal mortally, but it might +have incited him to a desperate attack upon us. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The negro's daughter +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +After one or two false alarms, we arrived again in the open country. +The darkness of the forest had led us to believe that the day was on +the decline; but on emerging into the plain we were greeted again with +the rays of the sun. We had still, however, some distance to journey +before we arrived at our proposed destination, and my mother, who +appeared wearied, was again seated on the back of one of the mules. +But even this mode of conveyance was fatiguing to one unaccustomed to +such long journeys, in a country so different to our own. The negroes +were the most fresh of the party; indeed, heat, and long hours of +fatigue or anxiety, seemed to have no effect upon them, for they +retained under these trials their good temper and loquacity. The elder +of the two seemed, as indeed he always had been, to be of a reflective +temperament; and as he was walking by the side of my father, somewhat +ahead of the rest, he turned round, and gazing at my sister, said, +"Make me think of de ole day—de ole day." "How so?" said my father. +"Had a little girl once myself. Long ago, now! long ago!" And he +again lapsed into silence, ruminating, in rather an abstracted +melancholy mood, for some minutes. "You lost her, then, did you?" said +my father. The old man shook his head sorrowfully, and placing his +hand upon my father's shoulder, confidentially, exclaimed, "De white +man!" He then promised to tell us the history of the affair before +leaving. Arriving shortly at the point he had originally proposed when +we commenced our journey in the morning, we discerned two or three +habitations, even more rude than those we had left, and our guides +expressed much surprise and chagrin at finding them uninhabited. We, +however, determined upon taking possession of them for the night, and +at once proceeded to make the necessary preparations for our stay. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The story of the negro +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Agreeably to his promise, the old negro took an opportunity of relating +his history. Our first surmise proved to be correct; he was indeed a +runaway slave. Some years previously he and his family were sold to a +new owner, who proved to be a cruel and unfeeling taskmaster, the very +opposite in character to the former owner, who was a kind-hearted, mild +disposed man. His wife was so affected by the change and hard usage, +that she sunk into a desponding state, and eventually died, leaving him +with a son and daughter. The cruel treatment evinced by their overseer +towards the latter, a little girl then of ten years old, was a constant +source of trouble and misery to the father, and eventually led to an +open revolt. One day, when the brutality of this man was beyond all +endurance, the father of the girl, in a fit of rage and disgust, struck +his superior to the earth. Conscious of what he had done, and the +fearful penalty attached to it, he fled frantically from the spot, +whither he knew not. His feelings had been wound up to such a state of +excitement, that he was scarcely conscious of what he was about; but he +had soon left the scene of his suffering many miles distant. His son, +it appeared, who was at a remote part of the plantation, hearing of the +affair, fled after his father, and they eventually, after enduring +numberless hardships, both succeeded in escaping; and notwithstanding +the large rewards offered for their capture, they were never betrayed. +His daughter he had learned nothing of for many years. He had +endeavoured to rescue her soon after his escape from the hands of her +tormentor, but did not succeed. Afterwards he learnt that she had left +the plantation, and had been passed into the hands of a new master at +another remote part of the country. She was dangerously ill at that +time, and was not expected to recover. The poor old negro grew very +mournful as he concluded his narrative. He had not heard of his +daughter for so long a period that he seemed to think it improbable he +should ever behold her again. His story, I remember, called forth a +long discussion upon the horrors of slavery, the truth of which is now +happily made sufficiently manifest, and so universally acknowledged, +that it hardly needs repetition here. +</P> + +<P> +On the following morning we parted with our two negro guides of the +previous day, but it was with the greatest unwillingness that they +could be persuaded to return to their home; eventually, however, we +took leave of them after presenting them two or three remembrances for +their kindness. We now journeyed on much the same as before, without +any incident occurring worthy of notice, when, on the following day, we +met with two English gentlemen, both naturalists, on their way to the +forest, to collect specimens for the advancement of scientific +knowledge. Their party comprised six, namely, themselves, two English +attendants, and two negroes, whom they had purchased, with a promise of +emancipation if they conducted themselves to their masters' +satisfaction. These gentlemen were much delighted to meet with us, and +agreed to journey our road, for the sake of company. I was much +pleased with their society. I was soon made sensible of the advantages +of a system in studying the works of nature. My senses had before been +quite captivated and gratified with the general aspect of the scenes +through which we had passed; but now I was taught to examine objects +more closely and in detail; to compare, arrange, and, above all, to +study the uses and purposes of vegetable and animal constituents, with +their mechanical construction, tracing, in some measure, the designs of +the Creator in all his works. I was now awakened to an intellectual +gratification exceeding that of the mere senses. I learned how to +collect and store up knowledge in the memory, which elevated my notions +of the human species and considerably augmented my self-respect. The +more I found opportunities to bring the intellect into play, the more +apparent became the advantages which the civilized and cultivated man +possessed over the mere savage or uninformed; and, in consequence, my +delight in receiving instruction was unbounded. +</P> + +<P> +Unlike myself, however, the gentlemen whom we accompanied did not +appear to me to enjoy or appreciate my natural enthusiasm for varied +scenery. They carried on their researches with surprising ardour; and +when in pursuit of an abstract or particular object, their attention +was wholly absorbed; nor were they in any way sparing of the lives of +animals, birds, or insects, when selecting their specimens from the +abundance before them. Their recklessness, too, in destroying what +they considered obnoxious animals, somewhat surprised me, so much so as +to induce me to enquire what caused them to have antipathies, like unto +children and some females, especially against spiders, beetles, &c. +The only answer I received was, "We destroy only such things as are of +no use to us, and those which come in our way when in search of our +object." They soon, however, explained to me that the reason of their +shooting such a number of birds was that they were in want of all the +varieties, and could not always distinguish, until they had them in +hand, whether they had such a one amongst their collection. +</P> + +<P> +To watch the young of animals, whether those species born with sight or +closed eyes, and note their progress towards perfection, and the +celerity with which some of them, birds especially, will remove +themselves, even while unfledged, from danger to security, is to see +God watching over all his creatures. To be near when the cry of danger +is started in the wood, and hear the whole flock, though composed of +different kinds of birds, each in their own peculiar note, cry "Hush!" +to their young ones before they leave the nest,—to ascertain the +cause, and then to have the satisfaction of removing that cause of +danger,—is to be an agent of the Deity in the work of benevolence. +</P> + +<P> +"All are agents," said one of the gentlemen, "in carrying out the +benevolent purposes of the Deity. Direct your mind towards the various +provisions which nature has devised for the dispersion, of the seeds of +plants, and introducing them, into proper situations for germination. +Every class of beings," he continued, "is useful as a means to promote +the spread of seeds: man, beasts, birds, reptiles, and probably even +fish, by consuming, cause the propagation of the <I>algæ</I> in the depths +of the ocean; and the multiplied contrivances of hooks, awns, wings, +&c., with the elastic and hygrometric power with which seeds are +furnished, manifest what infinite provision has been made for the +dispersion of seeds, and successive productions of nature." +</P> + +<P> +It was thus that they would tutor me, and relieve the tedium of the +day, by instilling into my youthful mind the first rudiments of a +knowledge respecting the works of the Deity, and the uses to which they +were applied; and I became aware of the wonders an all-bounteous +Providence has in store for an enquiring mind. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The rattlesnake +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +But I now approach a period which proved an epoch in my existence. It +was towards the evening of a very long and fatiguing day's journey, +perhaps the most wearisome we had yet had, that we halted to refresh +ourselves, and consult where we should bivouac for the night. We were +all jaded, and scarcely knew how to proceed any further. My sister was +reclining on a bank, and had, unobserved by us, fallen fast asleep, +fairly overcome with the fatigues of the day. Her head was resting on +a small package of tightly compressed woollen cloths. We had not +noticed her for some minutes, when one of the gentlemen who accompanied +us was the first to observe her dangerous situation. It was fortunate +he did so. Taking my father by the arm, and leading him quietly away +from the party, he directed his attention to my sister. My father +stood almost petrified with fear and horror, on observing a large +rattlesnake moving from side to side on my sister's chest. Upon the +impulse of the moment, he was incautiously about to rush to her rescue; +but was detained by his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think it means any mischief," he whispered. "Make no noise, +and I fancy it will merely cross your child's body, and go away." +</P> + +<P> +In this, however, he was mistaken, for on reaching my sister's left +shoulder the serpent deliberately coiled itself up; and although it +made no immediate attack, it did not appear at all likely to leave the +side of the sleeper. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave it to me," said my father's companion, "to rescue the poor girl +from her terrible position. I know best the habits of these creatures, +and how to treat them. Make no noise, on your life, or your child may +be lost; but follow me." +</P> + +<P> +My father obeyed; and our friend then determined that two of us should +advance in front, to divert the attention of the snake, while he should +noiselessly steal behind my sister, and, with a long stick, remove the +reptile from her body. The snake, on observing the approach of the two +intruders in front of him, instantly raised its head, and darted out +its forked tongue, at the same time shaking its rattles,—all +indications of anger. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Anxiety +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Every one of our party was in a state of fearful suspense and agitation +for the fate of my poor sister; who lay like a beautiful statue, +sleeping the calm sleep of innocence, unconscious of her danger. Our +friend advanced stealthily behind, with a stick of seven feet long he +had procured for the purpose. In an instant, almost before we had time +to observe it, he succeeded in cautiously inserting one end of the +stick under one of the reptile's coils, and flung the creature some +yards from my sister's body. A wild scream of joy was the first +indication my sister received of her danger and providential escape. +In the meantime, her preserver pursued the snake, and killed it. It +was three feet seven inches long, and eleven years old; the age, our +friend said, was always to be ascertained by the number of rattles. He +also informed us that there is no danger attending the destruction of +the rattlesnake, provided a person has a long pliant stick, and does +not approach nearer than the reptile's length; for they cannot spring +beyond it, and seldom act but upon the defensive. We discovered, on +searching about, a nest of these snakes near to where my sister had +been lying; and, after this incident, were a little more cautious in +taking our way along. We could not shake off the alarm that it had +occasioned; and it was with anxious thoughts and heavy hearts that we +again proceeded to seek repose from the day's troubles and fatigue. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST—MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"Existence may be borne, and the deep root<BR> +Of life and sufferance make its firm abode<BR> +In bare and desolate bosoms: mute<BR> +The camel labours with the heaviest load,<BR> +And the wolf dies in silence. Not bestow'd<BR> +In vain should such examples be; if they—<BR> +Things of ignoble or of savage mood—<BR> +Endure and shrink not, we of nobler clay<BR> +May temper it to bear; it is but for a day."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In arranging our watch for the night every precaution was taken to +guard against intrusion; then most of the party composed themselves for +sleep; indeed, the previous day had been one of peculiar fatigue and +disappointment—opiates much less injurious than those issued from a +druggist's shop. I alone, and for the first time, became restless +after the approach of night—usually having fallen asleep as soon as I +had eaten my supper,—and became insensible to the busy hum of night, +which in tropical countries is very noisy. I lay down with the +adventure of the snake on my mind, my reflections on which kept me +awake till the nocturnal insects of the wood were all in full chorus, +and the reptiles began to move. Up to this hour I had no idea—so +soundly had I hitherto slept—that the night was as rife with sounds +and animated nature as the day; differing not in their variety but only +in their peculiar kinds. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Fireflies +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +As I have in another place, under the head of a natural day in the +forest, spoken of this hour, it will be unnecessary for me to describe +it in this place; suffice it to say, that my ear being once engaged in +attending to the succession of sounds which addressed it, sleep, for +the night, became hopeless. About midnight I suddenly sprang to nay +feet with the surprise of being surrounded, as I thought, with flakes +of fire, or rather with similar lights to those emitted by a jet of gas +in the centre of glass drops. Finding myself uninjured in the midst of +myriads of these dancing lights, I moved forward, as they moved, to +examine the phenomenon. They were fireflies, whose light would have +enabled me to see the hour by a watch. They suddenly, however, left me +in darkness, and that as rapidly as if they had really been gas-lights +extinguished by the turning of the stop-cock. +</P> + +<P> +Pausing for some minutes, and censuring my own conduct for having moved +from the spot of our bivouac, my attention was again attracted by +sounds of something in pain, close to my feet; it was evidently a bird, +and I stooped with a view of taking it up, when the note proceeded from +my right, and then from the left, "Crek-crek-crek!" Whether I was +ambitious to capture the bird, or whether I was moved by feelings of +compassion I know not, I acted on the impulse, and continued to turn +from side to side till I had advanced some distance in the underwood in +a zig-zag direction. At length, being vexed at my disappointment, I +lost my temper, and rushed forward again with renewed determination to +take the wounded bird, which was always at my feet but never in my hand. +</P> + +<P> +He who does not command his temper can scarcely fail to do wrong; and +never was indiscretion perhaps more severely punished than in my case. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Bewildered in the wood +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I had committed an unpardonable act of imprudence in suffering my +curiosity regarding the light emitted by the firefly to lead me one +yard from the bivouac; but afterwards to lose my presence of mind in +such a situation and at such an hour, in the mere attempt to possess a +wounded bird, was an act of puerility inexcusable in a boy many years +my junior. Need I inform the reader that I was the dupe of a watchful +parent, or perhaps there were two of them, who, with a view of +protecting their young ones, beguiled me from the spot where they were +being reared. The bird was a species of quail, which, like the plover +in England, will pretend to be lame, to draw stragglers from its +hiding-place. When the cry of the quail ceased, without doubt I had +been led a sufficient distance to place her progeny out of danger; I +was now enshrouded in all but utter darkness, and then bean to shout +out to my uncle John, who was on watch, as loudly and as frequently as +the power of my lungs enabled me; but there was no response. The +aphorism says, "Do not halloo till you are out of the wood;" and truly +I might have spared my lungs, for calling was of no avail. Errors and +blunders generally run in sequences; had I remained on the spot when I +found myself first lost, the probability is that I should, when the +morning dawned, have been near enough to my friends to have been +discovered. But no! having been guilty of one act of folly, I must +repair it by committing a second. My impatience impelled me to make an +effort to retrace my steps; while a moment's reflection might have +shown me, that as there was but one road back, so there were many which +might lead me farther into trouble. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of this night was spent in exhausting my strength in vain +and useless efforts to retrace my steps; and ere the sun rose, I was so +fatigued and hoarse as to abandon every hope of making myself heard. +Exhausted nature alone brought conviction of the fruitlessness of such +efforts. I sat down on a blasted tree, and there relieved my harassed +and affrighted spirits by a flood of tears, the shedding of which did +indeed bring alleviation; for previously I felt as if my heart was +bursting. A heavy load of grief, however, still pressed with a leaden +weight on my mind; but as the heart lightened, the reflective powers +began to operate, and the full sense of my desolation was presented to +my view. I was horror-stricken and paralysed; but as these paroxysms +passed away, I gradually brought my mind to contemplate calmly my +isolated situation. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +First sensation of solitude +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I first reflected on the inestimable value of parental affection, the +blessings conferred on us by friends, the pleasures of social life, and +the advantages mankind derive by forming communities. At that moment +there was no sacrifice I would not have made to have been restored to +my family, and become again entitled to all these advantages. Out of +this comparative state of calmness, I was roused by murmuring sounds +which my excited imagination converted into human voices. Oh, how my +heart bounded, and with what intensity did the ear strain itself to +catch assurance that there was truth in its first impression. But the +organ had prejudged, and was not readily open to conviction. I +therefore proceeded, with what haste my weary limbs would permit, to +exercise the sense of sight. Alas! it was but the murmuring of waters, +a gentle confluence of which was precipitated over an elevated rock of +stone. +</P> + +<P> +It was impossible to conceive a more enchanting scene than that which +now met my anxious eye. Through several ravines the water, pouring +over moss-grown stones, fell in miniature cascades, with a musical +murmur, over rocks shaded by low trees, and grey with variegated mosses +and the elegant maiden's hair. Large trunks of trees, thrown down by +the hand of time, lay covered with fungi waved with various hues. The +scene was altogether such as might for a time engage the attention and +abstract the mind of one plunged into the abyss of grief. I was deeply +impressed with its beauty, and it powerfully excited sensations of +delight; but as I continued to contemplate it, a sense of loneliness +crept over me; there was no one near to hear me exclaim, "How +exquisitely enchanting! how sublime! yet how soft and harmonizing is it +to the feelings." +</P> + +<P> +Turning from this scene I found my grief considerably modified in its +intensity; and I began now to look on my case only as that of a lost +child in society, whom the parents would be certain of finding on +diligent search. +</P> + +<P> +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and in a thousand mysterious +ways prepares the minds of his creatures to meet the burdens they are +called upon to bear. Of this truth I was early convinced. Had the +night of my first day's loneliness closed on me in the full +consciousness of my desolation and self-dependence for preservation, it +is impossible to say what dreadful effects might have been wrought on +the mind of one so young, and so tenderly brought up. But it was +ordered otherwise. The want of sleep the previous night, together with +agonised moments of distress, and fears which returned with redoubled +force as the day progressed and no relief came, all contributed so much +to the exhaustion of my frame, that long ere the curtains of night were +drawn over the forest, I involuntarily fell into a profound sleep, +unconscious at what hour, or where I had lain myself. I was thus +spared those feelings of dread which, if night had overtaken my waking +moments, might have overshadowed my reason while I was watching the +final departure of daylight. +</P> + +<P> +When I awoke the next morning, it was broad day; and nothing, while +memory retains her seat, can obliterate or weaken the impressions I +received on opening my eyes. There was presented to my view the most +magnificent scene perhaps ever beheld in this world of nature's +productions. For a time I imagined myself dreaming of fairy-land. +Before me, as I reclined on a mossy bed of green herbage, as soft as +eider-down, there was an opening in the wood, shaped like an +amphitheatre, with the sun's rays throwing a flood of light into it. +Trees rich with foliage and blossoms waved like a galaxy of +parti-coloured flags or banners at a jubilee of nature; brilliant +colours, varied in endless hues, all beautifully harmonising, so that +each was seen without any being predominant. Here arose upright +flowers on stupendous branches, towering aloft as if aspiring to reach +the sun; there others hung pendulously, as if seeking to hide +themselves amidst the rich foliage that cradled their birth, and were +anxious in their modest delicacy, to avoid the god of day. Birds of +ever-varied plumage, sizes, and habits, were congregated in immense +numbers, forming an orchestra of thousands of vocalists, as if met to +celebrate the hour of creation. +</P> + +<P> +A small glassy lake in the centre of the glade, peopled with +water-fowl, served the songsters for a grace-cup, each quitting the +sprays to dip its beak into it, and again resume its perch to pour +forth a torrent of musical notes. I know not how long I might have +lain rapt with delight, had not some husks fallen on my face, and +roused me. I have reason to think that I was pelted by monkeys, whose +jealousy at the appearance of a stranger in their territories had +aroused their indignation. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The nut-hatch in the gum tree +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Entranced as I had been by the scene, the grosser appetite admonished +me that food was necessary for the sustenance of the body; I had not +tasted it for upwards of twenty-four hours, and the demands of the +stomach now became imperative. Without allowing myself time to +reflect, the horror of starvation presented itself to my imagination, +and I was again relapsing into despondency, when I saw several small +birds running up and down the trunk of a large tree, in a spiral +course; their movement was so rapid, that I could not distinguish +whether their heads or tails were uppermost. Curious to obtain a +nearer view of them, I advanced, and observed that they frequently +tapped the bark with their beaks, and then inserted them into the +interstices; this led me to examine the tree more closely, when I +discovered large masses of gum protruding from the bark. This +description of bird is named the nuthatch. They were in search of +insects and their eggs, not of the gum. I however filled my pocket +with it, and putting piece after piece into my mouth, as it dissolved, +it allayed for the present the cravings of hunger. +</P> + +<P> +Frequently when distant dreaded danger is more nearly approached, our +fears vanish, and it often happens that a supposed coming evil turns +out to be a benefit. At all times, however, the mind is soon +familiarised to those dangers that partake of the inevitable. The very +worst had now passed away from me—the first night's sleep alone in the +forest. I was safe, unhurt, refreshed, and even cheerful: perhaps +because I was still full of the hope of being sought for and found by +my father and friends. +</P> + +<P> +It was the will of Divine Providence that I should for several weeks +cherish this hope; nor did I abandon the flattering solace till I had +become fully initiated into the ways of providing for myself. Indeed, +I may affirm that hope never left me—hope, if not of meeting directly +with my friends, of emancipating myself from the intricacies of the +forest. Hope, Memory, and Imagination, three lovely sisters, were my +companions, and even in the wilds of a forest, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Hope enchanted, smiled, and waved her golden hair."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Memory, a visionary slumber, with half-closed eyes, was frequently +dispelled by the hard necessity there was to be up and stirring for +immediate self-preservation. Imagination came with lamp-like eyes, a +bright and bold beauty, seating me at one bound or flight in the midst +of my family, enjoying all the comforts of civilized life, throwing me +into the arms of my mother, indulging in her warm embrace. Remorse +would then supervene—remorse for the pain and anguish I had occasioned +my fond and worthy parents, and for the misery my waywardness had +brought upon myself. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Efforts to escape +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +My first meal, as I have stated, when left to cater for myself, +consisted of gum, of which I had a store in my pocket. As soon, +therefore, as I had satisfied myself with the surrounding objects of +admiration, I thought of making another effort to regain the spot where +I had left my parents: it was a vain hope, but I pursued it throughout +the day, during which I must have travelled many miles. In the course +of my peregrinations, I found abundance of fruit and nuts, which lay +strewed in my way. Late in the day, I met with a mass of the +bush-rope, and, ignorant of its abundance, I at once jumped to the +conclusion that I had arrived at the identical spot which our party had +before passed. This barrier, as it is designated, to my view was +considerably extended; and then my heart, after being elevated with +hope, again sunk within me. Still, however, disinclined to relinquish +hope, my only solace, I soon persuaded myself that I might not, on the +former occasion, have accurately surveyed it; and I resolved, as night +was fast approaching, to remain on the spot till the following morning, +and from thence to make a fresh start, to find, if possible, the track +in which the party were travelling. +</P> + +<P> +In social life, provident thoughts rarely trouble a youth of thirteen +years of age; his parents, or others, think for him, and generally +every night provide a bed for his resting-place. Such had been +previously my case; the reader will, therefore, not be surprised that, +up to this moment, I had not bestowed a thought on how I was to pass +the ensuing night in security. I was, however, now fairly inducted +into the school of hard necessity; and as the day was fast waning, I +had no time to lose. Acting on impulse, I commenced climbing the +bush-rope, intending there to make my bed, but the dread of falling +came over me, and checked my resolution. I then thought of a hollow +tree, many of which I had seen in the course of my perambulations. +Following this suggestion of the mind, I immediately began a search for +one, and fortunately met with it on the spot. Night was, however, +setting in so rapidly, that I had no time to be nice in my choice. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The jaguar +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The tree that seemed most to invite me to enter into its interior was +partly uprooted, leaning its head towards the earth, so that I could +rest in a sloping position; but thinking the opening of the decayed +part too wide for perfect security, I stripped off the bark on the +reverse side, of which to form a shutter, or loose door, which I might +pull towards the opening when fairly ensconced within the hollow. +Having thus prepared my bed, I instinctively cast a look round, as an +undefinable sense of danger crept over me; the first movement brought +my eyes in contact with those of a large jaguar, the tiger of that +country. He was standing upright, about eight yards distant, +apparently surveying me from head to foot. I was paralyzed with fear, +and remained fixed to the spot; the animal gave me a second and third +look, then took two or three bounds, and was out of sight in an +instant. It is to this moment my fixed opinion, one confirmed by +subsequent experience, that I owe my life to the passive manner in +which I stood, and which was occasioned by fright; the slightest +movement on my part would have occasioned alarm in the jaguar, and +proved fatal. +</P> + +<P> +With regard to the jaguar's prowess, he is little less formidable than +the Bengal tiger: cows and young bulls he destroys with ease and +avidity; but the horse is his favourite prey. All these large animals +he kills by leaping on their backs, placing one paw upon their head, +another on the muzzle, and thus contriving, in a moment, to break the +neck of his victim. The jaguar, although as ferocious as the tiger, +rarely attacks man unprovoked, or unless very hungry; but in general he +finds no scarcity of food in the regions in which I was located. +</P> + +<P> +I now debated with myself whether I should enter the tree, foolishly +imagining that the animal designed to take me asleep. At length the +gloominess of the night enshrouded me in darkness, and left me no +alternative but to spring into my cabin, and pull the pieces of bark +before the aperture. I will not attempt to describe the fearful +trepidation in which I was placed: the darkness of the night rendered +the hollow of the tree like a tomb, and I viewed it as a coffin; every +movement of a twig was, to my imagination, the jaguar removing my +barricade with an intention of clawing me out for prey. The scene was +rendered more horrible by the contrast with that of the morning, to +which the mind would revert, in spite of surrounding horrors—one was +the reality of the fabled Elysium, the other that of the Tartarean +fields. Just as I had thought I had now experienced the acme of +terrors, my fright was augmented by something fluttering round my head, +the noise from which seemed as if an animal was struggling to +disentangle itself from a snare. Shakspere, describing the effects of +fright, speaks of its causing +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Each particular hair to stand on end,<BR> +Like quills upon the fretful porcupine."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I will not affirm that the hairs of my head rose to that height, but I +may safely aver that no mortal had ever more cause for exhibiting all +the known symptoms of extreme fright. In a second or two after I heard +the fluttering, I received repeated blows on the head and face, +indubitable proofs that I had a quarrelsome fellow lodger. Present and +immediate dangers chase all others. I kicked away my temporary +shutter; but before I could make my exit I felt, by the motion of the +air, that a living thing had passed me in rapid flight. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The terrors of night in the forest +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +When the sharer of my tenement had flown, I began to consider that it +must have been some night-bird; and as the jaguar was still uppermost +in my thoughts, I lost no time in repossessing myself of my lodging. +Worn out as I now again was with the fatigues of the day and the +terrors of the night, after a time I was dropping to sleep, when I was +once more roused by the growl of the jaguar, as if he had just seized +his prey, and half the beasts of the forest, from the noise there was, +had collected to contend and fight for the carnage. A short interval +elapsed, and then the growling changed gradually into death-groanings. +I was now in the midst of a scene of horror and darkness that may well +be said to elude the power of verbal description. Only a few hours +previously my mind had been harmonized by the soft and elegant forms of +nature's richest beauties, under a clear blue sky. How changed was now +the scene! how deformed and disfigured was the aspect! It was a +transition from Paradise to Erebus; environed by all the real and +conceivable monsters in nature. I had before been alarmed—I now +abandoned myself to the one sensation of unmitigated despair, the +extremity of which was so intense, that it is a miracle reason held her +place, or that I survived to write this narrative. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, nothing but the turn my thoughts took at this crisis could have +preserved me. I had already undergone all the horrors of an agonizing +and protracted death, and was well nigh insensible to grief or pain, +when, providentially, in the last extremity, I was inwardly admonished +to appeal to my God. And now, with suppliant accents and upraised +hands, I prayed to Heaven for a blessing, for short I still thought was +the space between life and death. Praying with fervency of soul, I +gradually became inspired with confidence; my mind became more tranquil +and fitter for calm consideration. It occurred to me, notwithstanding +the horrible din of noises around, that I was still unhurt; that if the +jaguar had really selected me for his prey, he would have seized me +when within his reach, and not have restrained his appetite for the +mere gratification of tearing me from the hollow of a tree. Then, in +reference to the sharer of my apartment, I began to look on myself as +the real aggressor. Had I not ejected some native of the forest, whose +natural home it was, both by right and possession; had I not most +unwarrantably intruded on his privacy, and frightened an inoffensive +member of the sylvan community. +</P> + +<P> +Thus, through the medium of prayer, was I at once enabled and taught +how to face danger; and whilst looking it steadfastly in the +countenance, to ascertain correctly its magnitude, and banish +chimerical fears. That I was surrounded with danger, I was still +conscious; but now I offered up thanks to God for preserving me in the +midst of them; for having directed me to a place of security, and +provided me with a strong tower, where I might almost defy enemies. +Thus recovering my self-possession, I began really to enjoy the +interior of the tree as a very comfortable resting-place and a complete +snuggery. Very soon after this state of mind was brought about, I fell +asleep, and awoke refreshed and tranquil. Morning was announced to my +glad eyes by lines of light passing from the lofty trees, scintillating +through the holes of my worm-eaten shutter—lines of light which were +delicately drawn by the golden fingers of Phoebus, the most famed of +artists. A very considerable portion of the sufferings of mankind have +their source in ignorance: nearly all that I encountered, even from +this memorable night to the hour of my emancipation from the forest, +was the result of my want of experience. Had I known that the noises +which had disturbed my rest were but the imitations of the red monkey, +I might have slept in quietude. These animals assemble, and at times +amuse themselves throughout the night by making the most horrible +noises, more especially mimicking the growlings and roarings of the +more ferocious animals. I say amuse themselves; but at the same time I +may remark that all sounds given out by quadrupeds, birds, or reptiles, +are designed to effect some of nature's especial purposes. Some, for +their own protection; others, to caution weaker animals against +approaching danger. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Monkey tricks +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The gift and propensity the red monkey has of imitating the beasts of +prey, may deter some enemy from attacking him in the dark; for it is +observed they cease their mocking habits when daylight appears. They +may also warn the timid animals when others of a formidable nature and +ferocious appetite are in their vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +The jaguar, as we have said, was in the immediate neighbourhood that +night. Among the general community of the monkey tribes, morning and +evening are periods they generally select to settle their public +affairs, for the noises they make at these times are absolutely +stunning, and to strangers very alarming. The forest is their citadel, +where, mounted on lofty trees waving in the breeze, they confabulate, +and, as naturalists have often described, arm themselves with sticks +and stones, and in conscious independence defy all intruders. +</P> + +<P> +The red monkey, however, is the most pugnacious of the whole species; +and it was some months before I was permitted to walk the woods in +peace, for these animals frequently assailed me with a stick or a +stone. Policy led me to take all their insults patiently; and in the +end, I imagine, they passed an act of naturalization, for I was +ultimately permitted to range the forest without molestation. +</P> + +<P> +I once witnessed a peculiar instance of their tenaciousness in regard +to their territory. An European boat was passing down a river on the +side of a wood, when, on a signal being given by one of these animals, +others crowded to the spot in such numbers as literally to cover the +trees, bending with their weight the branches to the water's edge. +</P> + +<P> +At first they appeared as if amused with the sight of the movement of +the rowers; then deeming them intruders, they commenced a general +pelting, discharging showers of stones and broken sticks. The people +in the boats fired; when the monkeys pelted more furiously than before, +and though numbers fell wounded, or dead, still they continued the +contest till the boats passed beyond their domain. +</P> + +<P> +I now entered on the third day of my sylvan probation, and upon the +whole, felt more self-possession than I had any right to expect, under +all the circumstances of my forlorn case. This day, like all others, +waned with a quick and silent foot, while I again rambled round the +immediate locality of my resting-place, fearing I might, if I strayed +far away, be constrained to face the perils of a night in the open air. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The blood-sucker +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +This night I took possession of my lodging in good time, and, as I +thought, carefully fenced myself with an impregnable barrier; and, as I +thought so, it was the same as if it had been a high stone-wall, for it +removed my perturbation, and occasioned me to sleep soundly. When I +awoke the following morning, I was surprised to find my stocking matted +with coagulated blood; I hastened to a rill of water, where I had the +day before previously allayed my thirst, to draw it off and cleanse the +foot. To my utter astonishment and dismay, I discovered that my shoe +was in every part stained with blood, and that the toes and the sole of +the right foot were stiff with coagulum. +</P> + +<P> +Divesting myself of the covering of my foot, I observed a small wound +on the instep, not unlike the mark made by a leech. Imagining that I +had been bitten by some formidable insect, such as I had seen in the +course of our journey, when I had washed myself and recovered my +fright, I hastened back to scrape out the interior of my chamber with a +stick. In performing this work I disturbed myriads of small insects +with which I had rested, but nothing that could account for the bite on +my foot. Pleased, however, at having discovered the necessity there +was for cleanliness in my apartment. I was resolved to give it a +thorough scouring; and for this purpose thrust the stick up a hollow +arm of the tree above my head, when out flew an extraordinary large +bat. It was some satisfaction to become acquainted with those who are +likely to become the sharers of your lodging, and I had no doubt the +bat was the animal that flew against my face when endeavouring to set +out the previous evening on his usual nocturnal rambles. +</P> + +<P> +Still I remained in a state of ignorance as to the cause of the wound +in my foot. It requires much study and considerable experience, even +to ascertain the causes of only a few effects in the phenomena of +nature's workshop. Unwilling to leave the uninformed reader in doubt, +not only in this particular instance, but in numerous others that will +be met with in the course of this narrative, I shall anticipate, as it +were, my own subsequent experience, and explain, when I can, the causes +of certain effects that occurred to me while living alone in the +forest. It was a species of bat, named by naturalists the vampire, +that I had ejected, and he it was who had bled me so freely in the foot. +</P> + +<P> +It is remarkable that this bloodsucker, when once he has fastened on an +animal, is allowed to satiate his appetite unmolested, as its victims +all remain quiet and unresisting during the time he makes his meal. It +is said that vampires flap their wings and produce a cooling sensation +that lulls their prey to sleep while they suck their fill. +</P> + +<P> +In the instance of myself, I had not awoke the whole night, and was +perfectly unconscious of the attack, until morning; but, as I have +already said, I was in nature's great school, and soon learnt that, as +in the moral world, so it is in the woods, there is more to dread from +insidious attacks, than from open and declared enemies. +</P> + +<P> +When I had satisfied my appetite, on leaving my resting-place, with +nuts and fruit, I sat down by the rill of water, to consider more +determinately than I had hitherto done, what were my prospects, and +what course of conduct I should pursue for my own protection. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The battle of the snakes +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +While thus engaged in thought, my attention was attracted to a snake, +only a few yards' distance from where I sat; it was near a patch of +brushwood, and was apparently trembling with fear. Almost as soon as I +had noticed its state of alarm, another snake, with astonishing +celerity, sprung upon it, and seized it by the neck, then encircled +itself about six folds round the body of its victim, like the worm of a +screw. The assailant then, leaning its head over the other, looked its +gasping foe in the face, to ascertain the effect of the coils round the +body; and seeing that its prey was still alive, it multiplied the coils +three or four times, and evidently tightened the screw, watching all +the time to see the effect of the extra coils. The attacking party was +an animal designated the black snake, and the victim was a rattlesnake, +about three and a half feet long, its enemy being about the same +length. The former, however, had perfect command over the latter; but +I was surprised at the length of time the executioner took to satisfy +himself that his work of death was performed. The black snake remained +three-quarters of an hour coiled round the other, and then very slowly +and cautiously slackened one coil at a time, narrowly watching if any +signs of life yet remained, ready to resume the screw again, if +necessary, to complete the destruction of the victim. +</P> + +<P> +Driving the live snake away, I obtained possession of the dead one: it +was four years old, which I scarce need mention was known by the number +of rattles in its tail, which make a rattling noise when these reptiles +are in motion. +</P> + +<P> +The rattlesnake is not among the most active of the species of snakes: +it never springs a greater distance than its own length, which rarely +exceeds four feet. It is owing to this that the black snake has the +advantage, being able to spring from a greater distance on its prey, +and, from its rapid motion and method of seizure to deprive it at once +of the power of injecting its venom. +</P> + +<P> +I have since seen the rattlesnake destroyed by bucks in the open plain, +and that without risk of suffering from the fatal effects of its bite. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The buck and the rattlesnake +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +A buck, when he discovers a rattlesnake, immediately prepares to attack +it as a dreaded enemy, while he will pass other snakes unnoticed. The +buck, depending on his sharp bifurcated hoofs, with which to sever the +body of his adversary, is very skilful in his manoeuvre. He approaches +the snake to within about ten feet, and then makes a bound, cutting the +snake down with his hoofs with such unerring celerity and fatality as +rarely leaves any chance of escape. +</P> + +<P> +The two incidents of the vampire and the snakes threw my mind into a +state of reflection on the system of nature which makes the existence +of one animal depend on another for its subsistence. Then my thoughts +reverted to the number of living things I had myself to dread, +separated as I was from society where men unite for mutual protection. +I had seen in the case of the chegoe, that a very small insect could +inflict a severe injury on the human frame, and I had narrowly escaped +being carried off by the jaguar. Snakes, serpents, and enormous +lizards, crossed my path at almost every step, and the monkeys pelted +me. +</P> + +<P> +Uneasy and restless, I rose on my feet, to wander I knew not whither; I +proceeded forward as if running from danger, yet dreading it at every +step as I advanced. Presently my progress was impeded by a broad piece +of expanded network, such as, from appearance, might have been +manufactured by the hand of man,—it was spread from tree to tree. In +the network was a small bird struggling to free itself from the toil +which had ensnared it. Thinking I had now crossed the path of fowlers, +my heart leaped with joy, and I flattered myself that deliverance was +at hand; yet, fearing to spoil their sport, I drew back, and took up a +position behind a tree. My mind was soon disabused of the error into +which I had fallen. Several spiders of enormous size approaching the +captive, I sprang forward to release the bird, and then perceived that +the netting was the work of insects. The captive proved to be a +humming bird, one of those beautiful little creatures that are fabled +to feed on the nectar of plants. They however feed on insects, those +which are attached to the nectarium of plants: these they seize for +food with their long bills. +</P> + +<P> +The spiders that weave these extraordinary webs from one tree to +another, are not, like those of Europe, of solitary habits, but live in +communities; they mutually share in the labour of forming the web, and +divide the prey they catch. It is worthy of notice that all animals +who unite their labour, possess infinitely more ingenuity in their +proceedings than those who work individually. The weak, however, are +generally provided with some compensating, self-protecting secret, that +enables them to rear their young in as much security as the strong. +Many insects that execute their buildings in trees, and there collect +provisions for their infant colony in fear of the depredations of +birds, cover the extremity of their store with substances of nauseous +taste. Having saved the elegant little bird from the voracious +spiders, I could not resist giving it freedom. +</P> + +<P> +The web which had impeded my progress brought to my recollection the +bush-rope, which I had previously proposed to examine by daylight, in +the hope of falling into the original track my family had taken through +the forest. After having spent the whole of the subsequent part of the +day in surveying the barrier and its approaches, I was reluctantly +constrained again to take up my position in the hollow of the tree, +under the firm conviction that I had no clue by which I could, for the +present, at least, emancipate myself from the mazes of the forest. I +retired to rest much depressed, and half disposed to abandon myself to +despair. I, however, got some sleep at intervals, notwithstanding the +renewal of the frightful noises heard the first night; and, upon the +whole, on the approach of morning, found myself somewhat resigned to my +fate. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Preparations for defence +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Possessing an excellent pocket-knife, I now thought of cutting a good +staff, and, if occasion should render it necessary, of defending myself +with it against any assailant. How it happened that I had not thought +of this before surprised me; and I acquired new confidence from the +consideration that I possessed some means of defence. While trimming +my staff, the history of Crusoe occurred to my recollection; and I then +resolved to adopt his mode of registering time by making notches on the +stick; and this employment brought home to my recollection that I had +now been lost four days, and, while so engaged, that the present day +was a Sabbath. +</P> + +<P> +The last notch I cut longitudinally, that I might mark the Sundays, and +thus chronicle the return of the one day to be kept holy. Having +always been accustomed religiously to observe the Sabbath, the current +of my thoughts now took another turn. My first act was to offer up +prayers, and to petition God to infuse into my breast courage to face +the trials I must necessarily undergo in the wilderness, and ask for +his guiding finger in all my wanderings. +</P> + +<P> +Alter performing this duty, I sat down on a fallen tree to court +reflection, and presently heard a humming noise close to my ear. +Turning round, to see from whence it proceeded, I thought I recognised +the identical bird that I had, a short time before, liberated from the +spider's web. It appeared, at first, to be stationary in the air, and +I marvelled how it was supported; it then occurred to me that it was a +spiritual messenger, sent in the form of the little creature I had been +kind to, as an assurance of divine protection. Full ten minutes I +contemplated the bird in this light, when it flew away, leaving me in a +much happier state of mind than I had hitherto felt myself. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Utility of birds +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The fixed position of the bird I afterwards found to be its habit when +hovering over certain flowers in search of insects. There are a great +variety of the humming-bird tribe; the one I had caught was very +beautiful, and moved its wings with such astonishing rapidity in flight +as to elude the eye; and when poising itself over a flower, waiting to +attack insects as they enter between the petals, the wings moved with +such celerity as to become almost invisible, like a mist. The habits +of these birds may be denominated fly-like:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"When morning dawns, and the blest sun again<BR> +Lifts his red glories from the eastern main,<BR> +Then round our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,<BR> +The flower-fed humming-bird his round pursues,—<BR> +Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms,<BR> +And chirps his gratitude as round he roams."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Birds, throughout my sojourn in the forest, were my chief and most +cheerful companions. They seem to be sent by Heaven as the peculiar +associates of man; they exhilarate him in his labour, and brighten his +hours of leisure by their melody. They also, in an especial manner, +serve man, by preventing the increase of those insects that would +consume the products of his industry. Whatever the uninformed farmer +or gardener may say on this head, I beg to assure them that the +depredations birds commit are more than compensated by their +insectivorous habits. +</P> + +<P> +There is not a vegetable production, cultivated or of spontaneous +growth, from the forest tree to the most tender garden-flower, that is +not liable to attacks from myriads of insects, though small in form and +weapons, yet insidious in their mode of attack, and fatal to the plant. +Birds are the natural enemies of insects, and were sent as a check upon +their increase. Man persecutes the bird for plundering his fruits, +seeds, and grain crops, but he does not enquire whether he would have +any of these productions if the bird did not free the ground and buds +from insects. The late Professor Bradley ascertained that a pair of +sparrows, during the time they had young ones, destroyed on an average +3360 caterpillars every week, besides butterflies. +</P> + +<P> +Man, when he clears and cultivates the land, destroys the winter food +of birds, cutting down the trees that nature intended should supply +them with berries during a season when their insectivorous habits are +suspended. It would be an advantage to those who are engaged in +cultivating the earth, if they studied the harmony of nature a little +more than they now generally do. The farmer will say that a hard and +long frost is good for the land, because it kills the insects; so +likewise do the birds die off in severe seasons of cold, thus reducing +the number of his auxiliary agriculturists to the proportion in which +they will be required, on the return of spring, to keep the land clear +from insects, and secure a crop to the cultivator. Birds in general +return tenfold to man, in the services they render him, for all they +take from his store; while they, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + ——"With melody untaught,<BR> +Turn all the air to music, within hearing,<BR> +Themselves unseen."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The humming-bird's visit, together with the peculiar associations of my +mind at the time, produced in me a calmness that partook of heaven. +The scene—a picture, too,—which was before me, was one of those +beautiful instances of nature's chaste compositions that combined all +around in harmony. Lovely were the sylvan flowers, fresh with +blossoms, rising amidst the soft and matted growth beneath; and how +exquisite the structure of the moss and lichen within my reach; how +calm, how clear and serene was the air—how deepened were the +shadows—how perfect was the quiet—how eloquent the silence! +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Solitary reflections +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +My meditations were painfully broken in upon by the mind reverting to +the jaguar that I thought at times was lurking about to devour me; then +to the snakes, and the captive humming-bird. "Has God," I +involuntarily exclaimed, "made all his creatures that they may devour +each other? Yes, yes! he has." I continued, as I rose with disturbed +feelings; "I see the scheme of destruction at every step, and behold it +at every turn; both day and night, every hour, yea, every moment, +millions are struggling in the death-grasp of their foes." +</P> + +<P> +These reflections almost melted my heart, when, casting up my eyes to +heaven, as if to ask for some light to shine on my mind and explain the +subject, I saw a falcon, in the act of flying, seize a bird of the +pigeon kind, and fly off with it into the woods. Tears came to my +relief. Goldsmith says, "The mere uninformed spectator passes on in +gloomy silence; while the naturalist, in every plant, in every insect, +and in every pebble, finds something to entertain his curiosity and +excite his speculation. In the animal kingdom alone there exists +nearly one hundred thousand of known different subjects, and half that +number of different plants. The discovery of almost every vegetable +brings with it the knowledge of a new insect. In the mineral kingdom +the compositions and forms are almost endless." And Dr. Priestley +says, of scientific pursuits "The investigation of nature cannot fail +to be valuable. It engages all our intellectual faculties to the +greatest extent, and in its pursuit the general stock of useful +knowledge is increased. The field for inquiry is rational, extensive, +and profitable, beyond conception." +</P> + +<P> +"But what right have I, a poor, short-sighted mortal," I then +exclaimed, "to seek for the motives that actuate an all-wise Deity? It +is not only vain but wicked in man to scrutinize the ways of +Providence." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT—THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY<BR> +IN THE FOREST DESCRIBED. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"O may I with myself agree,<BR> +And never covet what I see;<BR> +Content me with a humble shade—<BR> +My passions tamed, my wishes laid;<BR> +For while our wishes wildly roll,<BR> +We banish quiet from the soul."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Projects of building +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +As the first Sabbath-day in the woods closed upon me, I felt more +resigned to my fate, and more composed, than I had been at any previous +period since the separation from my parents. I now looked on myself as +a denizen of the forest; and as I slowly repaired to the hollow tree, +the thought possessed me that I could construct some kind of +dwelling-place. During the night I formed and rejected fifty plans for +carrying this scheme out. At length, just as morning dawned, a simple +method suggested itself to me of effecting my purpose; and, with my +usual ardour, I commenced the work forthwith. Before the evening set +in I had collected, and trimmed with my pocket-knife, a considerable +number of stakes, about four feet long, at which work I continued for +four days, when it occurred to me that I had not yet given the +eligibility of site a thought, and had been much too hasty in my +proceedings. Ashamed of my own impetuosity and want of consideration, +I crept to rest, very weary and ill at ease with myself; and as I took +a retrospective view of the results of my impulsive mode of acting on +the thought, together with the ills I had brought on my own head, I did +not spare self-reproach. Considering my numerous wants, it was +clearly, where I had collected the stakes, a very inconvenient spot to +choose for a permanent place of residence. Weighing in my judgment the +kind of locality suited to the purpose, I decided on an open space or +glade in the forest, where I might have a clear view all around, and be +out of the way of uprooted or falling timber. But for this last +consideration I should at once have selected the spot where I awoke +after my first night's sleep in the forest. The recollection of that +beautiful scene reminded me of another thing I had not hitherto thought +of, namely, that my house must be built near to a supply of water, and +also of fruit. The next day, therefore, was spent in searching for a +site on which I might commence my building speculation. There was no +lack of space, or of glades; but in the resolution I had now made to +become thoughtful, and act with caution, I fear I became too nice and +fastidious. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The forest stream +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +One open plot of ground I traversed many times with the eye of a +government surveyor: it was the very thing itself; but there was no +water to be seen. Presently, I caught the sound of trickling water; +and my new friend, caution, forsook me. I was so heedless in running +to satisfy myself that there actually was a stream fit to drink, that I +was precipitated headlong into the gill, or chasm, which formed the +channel for its course. It was so covered with wood that the eye could +not see it. Fortunately I met with this rent in the earth near to the +commencement of the fissure, where it was comparatively narrow and +shallow. At any other part, its steepness and depth might have +endangered life. It was the birthplace of a native stream. I +subsequently learned to track it by the soothing harmony of this +invisible torrent, the notes from which sounded like innumerable broken +falls, and were softened by ascending through branches which hung over +it. These sounds were extremely harmonious. +</P> + +<P> +At the spot where I had fallen the water might with some difficulty be +obtained, and near to this, at length I determined to build my villa—a +sylvan mansion. This site, on one side, was flanked by a morass, or +bog, which even then, in the driest season, was only passable with care +on tufts of grass, which here and there sprung from the moisture of the +soil. Proceeding to lay out my ground-plan, which was a circle, and to +prepare for the morrow, I stayed at work till it was too late to find +my way back to my lodging; leaving me no alternative but either to +stretch myself on the ground, exposed to numberless dangers, or remain +awake, and protect myself as I might. In this extremity I thought of +the chasm, and groping my way to it, found its extreme end, where it +was a mere slit, into which I rolled, and laid till the return of day. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The hut commenced +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The morning opened with its usual bustle of animals, birds, and insects +summoning me to my labour, and, having commenced, I was surprised to +hear a cry of, "Who are you? Who—who are you?" I had scarcely +recovered from the astonishment which these words occasioned, when they +were followed by, "Work away!—work away!—work away!" and a mournful +cry of "Willy come!—go, Willy! Willy—Willy—come! Go Willy!" +Looking up, and being now in an open space, I could plainly see the +birds fly over my head that uttered these notes. Not aware that these +calls are common to certain birds, and my Christian name being William, +the reader may imagine the effect and surprise with which they were +heard. I instantly discontinued my labour, conceiving that the birds +had been influenced by supernatural agency, and that they portended +omens which had a peculiar reference to myself. This impression filled +me with fears and fantasies of all kinds; it seemed as if some spell +was on me, and I sat down in melancholy moodiness for the rest of the +day. Irresolute, the following morning I rather dragged myself than +walked to the same spot; but as I went, another bird over my head +distinctly cried out, "Whip-poor-Will! Whip-poor-Will! +Whip-poor-Will!" Yes! I exclaimed (as my spirits threw off the burden +which had oppressed them) I am indeed ashamed of my folly in attending +to the omens of birds. They are winging their way to the business of +the day, and why should I neglect mine? I then returned, and took a +bundle of the prepared stakes on my back to my new settlement. Need I +apologise to the reader for mentioning the trifling incidents which +depressed me at times, and the manner in which the paroxysms were +dispelled. My motive in naming them is to illustrate the alternations +my feelings underwent during my early days of probation in the +wilderness. I know not whether I had taken a cold, but for some days +past I had now suffered from a pain in my limbs, which I at the time +attributed to the cramped position in which I rested at night. I +therefore became extremely anxious to possess a place in which I might +stretch myself at length. It, however, took seven days to construct +the internal shell of the hut; for, being determined to sleep in +security, I ultimately doubled the frame of the building. Having +driven stakes into the earth, about a foot apart, forming a circle of +about eight feet in diameter, I interlaced these with the limber +branches of trees, fastening them to the stakes with tough fibres, +stripped from the bark of lianes. These shrubs, of which there are a +great variety, all comprised under that term, sometimes grow to the +size of a man's leg round trees, making the trunks look like a mast of +a ship furnished with rigging. They support the trees against the +hurricanes, in the same manner as spurs are placed in the ground to +prop posts; cords are made of their bark stronger than those +manufactured of hemp. In woods where timber is felled, it is sometimes +the practice to cut several hundred trees near their roots, where they +remain till the lianes, which hold them, are also cut. When this is +done, one whole part of the wood seems to fall at once, making an +astounding crash. By the means of the lianes and stakes, I formed a +circular strong hurdle-kind of fence; on this I fastened a number of +other sticks, like wands, tapering at the top, which, when bound +together, met over the centre part of the floor of the hut, and formed +a conical roof. These I also interlaced in the same manner as the +upright stakes; covering the whole with leaves of the parrasalla tree, +which the wet does not injure; binding these also down with my most +excellent substitute for cordage—fibres of the bark of the lianes. In +the roof I left a hole for ingress and egress; so that, with two steps +up, and then a jump, I was in the centre of my habitation, where, with +dried grass, I made a most comfortable bed. This, after all, was a +frail affair. My next object was to erect another frame over it, at +about two feet distance from the interior shell, filling up the space +between the upright stakes with stones and dry earth. The aperture was +secured at night, leaving only a space for air, with a piece of bark +hung on with the before-named fibres. With the same material (bark) I +also formed a kind of stage before the opening into the hut, where I +could sit, and survey the surrounding scenery. Some time subsequently +I wove myself a grass hammock, which I found more cleanly than the +dried grass, and less liable to be infested with insects. Finding +myself lonely in this structure, I took the resolution of increasing my +family; and, with this view, I devoted a portion of the interior for +birds, that I might not be wholly companionless. These I took young, +and reared them up in an aviary which I constructed immediately under +my hammock, letting them out to hop about me when the aperture of the +hut was closed. Many of my associates repaid me for my care with +strong proofs of docility and affection. I also caught two land +tortoises, to occupy the floor of the dwelling, and make me conscious +of other living things besides myself breathing the same air. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The dwellers in the hut +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +In the foolishness of my heart I thought that when I possessed a hut, +in which I might repose in security, I should be happy. But alas! in +the city or in the forest, worldly acquisitions are not always attended +with contentment. Man everywhere sighs for something more than he +possesses. +</P> + +<P> +I had now a hut, one, too, that was impregnable against the attacks of +the jaguar, or any of the animals of the forest; and, as I thought, in +every way compactly built to be impervious to noxious insects; but +happiness or contentment did not abide in it. +</P> + +<P> +I now wanted a gun, that I ought, man-like, slay, and play the tyrant +over the living things around me. I grew tired of my vegetable diet, +and daily lamented the want of a fire to cook the eggs, which now began +to form a considerable portion of my food. These wants gradually, as +the mind dwelt upon them, became sources of anxiety, and disturbed my +rest. The animal propensities of my nature began to stir within me. I +longed to kill at my pleasure, and live on prey, as did the other +animals of the forest. At length I determined on making the best +substitute I could for a gun—namely, a bow and arrow; and, like Robin +Hood, practise till I could hit the shaft of an arrow placed upright in +the ground. +</P> + +<P> +It was many weeks subsequently to this resolution before I succeeded in +even procuring the materials I deemed suited for my purpose. My knife +having become blunted with frequent use, it took a length of time to +fashion the bow, and no less than four snapped in two as soon as I +attempted to use them; proving that, choice as I had been in the +selection of my wood, my judgment was defective in this particular. +When I had succeeded in forming one of these primitive warlike weapons, +I fastened large butterflies against the hut, and commenced the +practice of archery. +</P> + +<P> +I have informed the reader that the entrance of the new dwelling was +through the roof, where, as I have said, I erected a seat, or +standing-place; a sort of balcony, or rather, more like a dormer +window. On this, every morning, during the dry season, at daybreak, I +took my stand to discharge my arrows at any unwary bird that might come +within my reach. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Early morning in the forest +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +This early rising at length grew into a habit, and to watch the opening +of the day gave me unspeakable pleasure; and up to the last day of my +pilgrimage it was the most interesting hour to me. It was an hour when +the littleness of life did not present itself; the mind being refreshed +with rest, was prepared to be filled with enlarged ideas. +</P> + +<P> +The labourers of the night—for nature has her two sets of working +animals—were then all on their way to seek retirement and rest during +the day, from the fatigues of the night; while those that had rested +during that period were all preparing to hail the morn with innumerable +cries. +</P> + +<P> +As twilight glimmers in the east, the tiger-cats are stealing into +their holes. The owl and the goat-sucker cease their mournful lament, +and as streaks of light appear the "Ha! ha! ha! ha!" of the latter, +each note lower than the last, sounding like the voice of a murdered +victim, entirely ceases. The crickets, also, at this hour begin to +slacken the violence of their chirping, though sometimes in cloudy +weather they will continue their notes for four-and-twenty hours +together. +</P> + +<P> +The partridge is the first of the birds to give signal of the rising of +the sun, even before he appears on the horizon; while the mist of the +morning, that precedes the day, is dispelling, numerous tribes of +insects are creeping to their hiding-places, as others are issuing +forth to enjoy the day. Lizards of sparkling lustre, from two inches +to two feet and a-half long, cross the paths of the forest; and the +chameleon has begun to chase the insects round the trunks of trees. +Gaudy serpents steal from out of holes or decayed trees. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Each rapid movement gives a different dye;<BR> +Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show,<BR> +Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The houton, a bird so called from the sound he gives out, distinctly +articulates "houton, houton," in a plaintive note, as he erects his +crown, and cuts and trims his tail, with his beak, in the most, +artistical manner, then flies off with a short jerk. +</P> + +<P> +At the same period the maam whistles; and when the sun is seen above +the horizon, the hanaquoi, pataca, maroucli, and all the parrots and +paroquets are prepared to announce his arrival. Every hour from this +moment, excepting noon, calls into action new races of animals; and he +who spends a day in the scene that environed my existence, when seated +at my door, would not know which most to admire,—the forms, hues, or +voices of the animals presented to his observation; as at intervals, +wonder, admiration, and awe of the power that created them, are forced +on the mind. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Forest animals +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +With the morning's dawn, the monkeys send forth their howl, the +grasshoppers and locusts chirp, the frogs and toads give out their +notes. The hanging pendant wasps' nests, most curious in form, send +forth their inhabitants; myriads of ants issue from their clay-built +tenements, in some places colonized so densely as to cover the foliage +all around. These, like the species of ants called the termites, that +cast up the earth in mounds, commence their day's journey on roads +constructed by themselves, some of which are covered, and others open. +</P> + +<P> +Myriads of the most beautiful beetles buzz in the air, and sparkle like +jewels on the fresh and green leaves, or on odorous flowers. Other +tribes, such as serpents and agile lizards, creep from the hollow of +trees, or from holes beneath the herbage; many of them exceeding in +splendour the hue of the flowers. The major part of these are on their +way to creep up the stems of trees or bushes, there to bask in the sun, +and lie in wait for birds and insects. +</P> + +<P> +The most brilliantly coloured butterflies, rivalling in hues the +rainbow, begin to flutter from flower to flower, or collect in parties +on the most sunny banks of cooling streams. There was the blue-white +idia, the large eurilochus with its ocellated wings, the hesperite, the +Laertes, the blue shining Nestor, and the Adonis; these, like birds, in +most places hovered between the bushes. The feronia, with rustling +wings, flew rapidly from tree to tree; while the owl, the largest of +the moth species, sat immovable, with out-spread wings, waiting the +approach of evening. +</P> + +<P> +As the day progresses, the life of the scene increases. Troops of +gregarious monkeys issue from the depths of the forest, their +inquisitive countenances turned towards the verge of their wooded +domain, making their way for the plantations; all leaping, whistling, +and chattering as they progress from tree to tree. +</P> + +<P> +Parrots, some blue, red, or green, others, parti-coloured, assemble in +large groups on the tops of the forest-trees; and then, flying off to +the plantations, fill the air with their screams. The toucan, perched +on an extreme branch, rattles his large, hollow bill; and in loud, +plaintive notes, calls for rain. The fly-catcher sits aloof, intent on +watching insects as they dart from branch to branch, seizing them as +they heedlessly buzz by him in their giddy and unsteady career. Other +birds, of singular form, variety, and superb plumage, flutter by, in +large or small parties, or in pairs, and some singly, peopling +everywhere the fragrant bushes. On the ground are gallinaceans, +jacuses, hocuses, and pigeons, that have left the perch to wander under +the trees, in the moisture, for food. +</P> + +<P> +In the tones of the nightingale the manikins are heard in all places, +amusing themselves by their sudden change of position, and in +misleading the sportsman; while the woodpecker makes the distant forest +resound as he strikes the trees. Super-noisy, above all, is the +uraponga, who, perched on the highest tree he can find, gives out +sounds resembling the strokes of a sledge-hammer on the anvil, deluding +the wanderer, as it once did me, into a belief that a blacksmith's shop +is near at hand. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The mocking-bird +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Every living thing, by its action and voice, is seen greeting the +splendour of the day; while the delicate humming-bird, rivalling, in +beauty and lustre, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires, hovers with +invisible wings over the brightest flowers. The bird colibri repairs +to the tree called <I>bois immortel</I>, when the wild guava ripens its +fruit; and there, also, will be found the Pompadour, both the +purple-breasted and the purple-throated. At the same hour (day-break), +the crowing of the hanaquoi sounds like a village-clock, for all to set +to work in the great shop of nature. Then the cassique, or +mocking-bird, gives out his own short but sweet song, preparatory to +visiting the plantations, being fond of the haunts of man, where he +remains till evening, making all kinds of noises, from the crowing of a +cock, and the barking of dogs, to the grunting and squeaking of pigs. +These birds weave their nests near together, in a pendulous manner. +Their bodies are black, having the rump and half-tail yellow; other +species have the rump a bright scarlet. In form they are a model of +symmetry. +</P> + +<P> +As the feathered tribes, one after the other, adjust their plumage, and +tune their throats, squirrels, in rapid spiral speed, as quick as +thought, are seen descending trees, then darting upon others in +opposite directions, flinging themselves from tree to tree, with +amazing exactness; pursuing their mates or their rivals among the mazy +branches of the trees, with a velocity that eludes the sight. +</P> + +<P> +Everywhere is nature's secretary, with his pen dipped in intellect, +busy in writing down the invisible agency of Infinite Wisdom and +Almighty Power. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"How dazzling is thy beauty! how divine!<BR> +How dim the lustre of the world to thine!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The sublimity of the scene, when first beheld, produced unlimited +astonishment; viewed again and again, all was softened down into +harmonious shades of beauty, imparting a pleasure that cannot be +understood by mere dwellers amidst the works of man. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Noon in the forest +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +In the forest, every hour of the night and day is the Creator present +to the eye. Surrounded by the works of man, we sometimes lose sight of +our Maker, and do not always properly appreciate his attributes. I +have said that the morning gives life and activity to myriads of his +creatures, who declare his power; but not less expressive is the hour +of tranquillity—the hour of noon. At that hour, all is suddenly +hushed into solemn silence. Stillness, as if by general consent, +concert, or word of command, influences all the sylvan communities—a +stillness illumined and made more manifest by the dazzling and burning +beams of a meridian sun. +</P> + +<P> +Creation at that hour appears wearied, fatigued, and overcome with the +splendour of the day; it is as the face of God himself, before whose +glory all things are struck with awe, and pause to acknowledge His +majesty. Nothing moves—it is the hour of nature's siesta—yet the +stillness speaks. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Thy shades, thy silence, now be mine,<BR> + Thy charms my only theme;<BR> +My haunt the hollow cliff whose pine<BR> + Waves o'er the gloomy stream."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The quietness is that of a pause in the running stream of time; the air +is motionless, the leaves hang pendant, as waiting in the presence of a +deity for permission to resume the business of growth. The silence +that reigns at the hour of noon is peculiarly of a religious character; +there is nothing to which it can be compared but itself. From the +nobles of the forest to the minutest insect, all appear to be at their +devotions—the propensity to kill, for the time being, is forgotten or +suspended,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The passions to divine repose alone<BR> +Persuaded yield; and love and joy are waking."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +It is as if the naiads and fairies had deserted the sunbeams and fallen +asleep. Oh! there is a harmony in nature wonderfully attuned to the +intelligence of man, if he would but listen to it. The hour of noon, +in the woods, is an hour of intellectual transcendentalism; it lifts +the thoughts beyond the world, and peoples the grove with spirits of +another world. Yet is there nothing in motion but the beams of the sun +penetrating the foliage to the base of the trees— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The chequered earth seems restless as a flood<BR> +Brushed by the winds, so sportive is the light<BR> +Shot through the boughs; it dances as they dance,<BR> +Shadow and sunshine intermingling quick,<BR> +And dark'ning and enlight'ning (as the beams<BR> +Play wanton) every part."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Everything speaks of the Deity, and the fall of a leaf passes as a +phantom of the dead. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + ——"not a tree,<BR> +A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains<BR> +A folio volume."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The fitful meanings of the wind, in the more boisterous moments of +Æolus, through the branches, speak not louder of God than the whisper +of his breath that plays with the foliage. The low and broken murmurs +of the water in the gill are as audibly eloquent as the lashing of the +waves of the ocean in a storm, or the wild roar of the cataract. The +voice of nature, come in what form it may, brings unutterable thoughts +of the majesty of the creation. Whether it is in the deep, delicious +tones of the happiness of the wood-dove, the melting, graceful notes of +the nightingale, the thrilling melody of other sylvan songsters, or the +twitterings of the swallow, all compel us to exclaim, "Oh! there is +harmony in nature." +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh,<BR> +Yet heard in scenes where peace for ever reigns,<BR> +... Please highly for their sake.<BR> +... Kites that swim sublime<BR> +In still-repeated circles, screaming loud,<BR> +... Have charms for me."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Evening +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +But the hour of stillness, like all other hours, passes away. The +insects again give out their sounds; wasps and bees buzz in every +direction; the talk of birds is clamorously resumed; the king-vulture +and the kite soar high in the hair, like fugle-birds, as signals for +the resumption of the business of the day. The chattering manikins +again rustle among the fig-leaves; the armadillo, and other burrowing +animals, are seen cautiously peeping from their holes; the horned +screamer opens wide his throat, and one by one, the whole of the sylvan +feathered community join in concert. +</P> + +<P> +The porcupine moves in the trees; the long grass is observed to give +way as creeping things pursue their prey, or escape from foes; all +indications that the earth and air again are full of animated life. +</P> + +<P> +An hour or two elapses, and a gentle breeze rises to cool the air and +give motion to the trees, as troop after troop of birds and monkeys +wend their way back into the interior of the forest, indicating the +gradual decline of the day. General preparations are being made for +rest; only the slender deer, the peccari, the timid agouti, and the +tapir, will still graze. The opossum, and some sly animals of the +feline race skulk through the obscurity of the wood, stealthily +prowling for prey. Finally, the last troop of howling monkeys are +heard, as if performing the duty of drovers to those that have preceded +them; the sloth cries as if in much distress with pain; the croaking of +frogs, and monotonous chirps of large grasshoppers, bring on the close +of day. +</P> + +<P> +The tops of the forest now appear to be on fire, in the midst of which, +the toucan, on a blasted mora tree, is uttering his evening cry, as +darker shades are gradually cast into the forest, and the sun's disc +sinks into the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +The sky, which a moment since was bright as burnished gold, has already +changed to a dusky grey, with here and there streaks of purple hue. A +solitary bird, truant to its mate, or perhaps a mourner for its loss +during the day's excursion, is seen like a wayfarer, with tired flight, +wearily labouring to reach the wood ere nightfall. +</P> + +<P> +Twilight is still lingering in the west, bringing on the night with a +soft and sweet touch of delicacy, but still approaching, till +surrounding objects become more and more obscure and confused, though +undiminished in their beauty and effect. The cries of the macue, the +capaiera, the goat-sucker, and the bass tones of the bullfrog, are now +heard. Myriads of luminous beetles fly in the air, resembling the +ignes fatui, and announce the departure of the day; when the +night-moths and numerous other insects start on the wing, the bats flit +between the branches of trees, the owls and vampires, like phantoms, +silently pursue their course in search of prey, reserving their hollow +cries for the ominous hour of midnight. +</P> + +<P> +The stars, one after another, are lighted up as the moon rises on the +horizon, with a modest countenance, to intimate to man that there is +still a ruling power over the world. She tinges with silver streaks of +light the tops and edges of the forest, till +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Lo! midnight, from her starry reign,<BR> +Looks awful down on earth and main,<BR> +The tuneful birds lie hush'd in sleep,<BR> +With all that crop the verdant food,<BR> +With all that skim the crystal flood,<BR> +Or haunt the caverns of the rocky steep."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At this hour the spectral owl quits the hollow tree, and with his +shriek makes the boldest birds shrink away in fear, though in the +sunshine hour they would hunt him. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"So when the night falls, and dogs do howl,<BR> +Sing Ho! for the reign of the horned owl!<BR> + We know not alway<BR> + Who are kings by day;<BR> +But the king of the night is the bold brown owl!"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Mourn not for the owl, nor his gloomy plight!<BR> + The owl hath his share of good;<BR> +If a prisoner he be in the broad daylight,<BR> + He is lord in the dark greenwood.<BR> +Nor lonely the bird, nor his ghastly mate,<BR> + They are each unto each a pride;<BR> +Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange dark fate,<BR> + Hath rent them from all beside."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The bow and arrows +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I made but little progress in archery, which was a great source of +mortification to me, although I spent every leisure hour I could spare +after obtaining food, in practice. I was on the verge of despair of +ever being able to make anything like a shot, when an incident occurred +that enabled me to kill, in a few weeks, almost any bird on the wing, +if within the range of my bow. Returning home from a long and +fatiguing ramble (for I had extended my surveys of the forest as I +acquired confidence of finding my way home at night), I one day was +astonished to see a bow and a quiver of arrows suspended from the +branch of a tree. +</P> + +<P> +This was a sight which occasioned feelings that are indescribable. I +was both rejoiced and alarmed. At first I thought my deliverance was +certain; the next moment I crouched behind a bush to hide myself, as +from a most deadly foe. When I reflected on the loneliness of my +existence, I longed to join society; yet, whenever society appeared to +be available, I instinctively shrunk back, as if about to lose my +independence or be carried into slavery. Operated on by mingled +impulses, the dread of man seemed for a long time to prevail. Might +they not be savages, and take my life? Or might they not lead me into +captivity, and make a slave of me? They would at least have the +Christian's practice to urge as a plea, in extenuation of such a +measure. +</P> + +<P> +Confident that human beings were in the neighbourhood, I at length +resolved to secrete myself in a bush and wait their return. I fixed my +eyes on the bow and quiver, expecting their owner would return for +them; but the tones of the toucan were heard, by which I was as well +informed of the approach of evening, as the partridge's call announces +the coming day. Still unwilling to quit the spot, I remained +throughout the night; but no owner came to claim the weapons. All this +time I feared to touch them as if they were a trap laid to ensnare me. +About noon the next day, I thought of possessing myself of them, and +then made a circuit to reassure myself that no one was at hand. With +fear and trembling I then, like a thief, took the bow and quiver from +the tree, and hastened back to my hut to examine them. The whole +secret of my inability to shoot birds was now at once explained. I had +not feathered my arrows, nor was my bow long enough. +</P> + +<P> +Still anxious to know their owner, the following morning I repaired +again to the spot, and hung my own rudely formed weapons on the same +tree from which I had taken the others. My motives were, first, to +ascertain whether any person would yet come to remove them, and also to +inform those who might come for that purpose, that another human being +was in the neighbourhood. +</P> + +<P> +The bow and arrows hung there a month, when I gave up all hopes of +seeing any person in the woods; still the event caused me much +uneasiness, and ever afterwards occasioned me to tread the paths around +with extreme caution. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Flint and steel +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Being now furnished with well-made arms, I soon brought down my birds, +and might have fared sumptuously, could I have procured a fire. All my +waking hours were, therefore, spent in bewailing this want, when one +morning, as I was digging with my stick to come at a land tortoise that +had crept into a hole, I raked out a piece of flint, and the tinder-box +occurring to my mind, I struck it on the back of my knife, and +instantly produced sparks, which actually made me leap for joy. My +delight, however, was but of short duration. How were the sparks to be +collected? I had no tinder—no matches. I then thought of my shirt, +which I had long cast off; but then I had no matches, and must have +fire before I could make tinder. +</P> + +<P> +My joy was soon turned into despondency. I threw down the flint, and +in the bitterness of my disappointment, apostrophised it, as the cock +in the fable did, when scratching on a dunghill he found a jewel +instead of a grain of corn. "Are all my days to be spent," I +ejaculated, "in hopes that delight me only to make me more miserable?" +Suddenly it occurred to my memory, that when at school, our small +pieces of artillery were fired with lighted decayed wood, what the boys +called touch-wood. Repossessing myself of the flint, I flew to my old +sleeping-place, and in my impatience, struck a light on my former +bed—the soft wood in the interior—it ignited, and smouldered. I was +in an ecstacy of delight, and clapped my hands with exultation. Still +I had no flame. I then collected some dried leaves, and holding them +loosely over the spot that was alight, I blew with my mouth; a severely +burnt hand soon informed me that I had succeeded. +</P> + +<P> +My first fire was indeed a bonfire: heaping more leaves and dried +sticks on to it, the tree was entirely consumed, and a number of others +so damaged as very soon to become touch-wood. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The thunder-storm +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +A terrible thunder-storm succeeded this exploit. So wholly absorbed +had I been with the fire, that when it expended itself, I found myself +in total darkness, the moon having been suddenly obscured. All the +inhabitants of the wood were restless and uneasy in their beds. I +could hear the stag startle, and again lay himself down. Flashes of +lightning showed the birds, lifting their heads at intervals, then +returning them hastily again under their wings. The storm had for some +time been gathering on the tops of the forest, and had now spread its +black mantle over the moon, while I, like a school-boy on the fifth of +November, had been exulting over a blaze. +</P> + +<P> +On the storm advanced, in the majesty of darkness, moving on the wings +of the blast, which my imagination pictured as uprooting the trees +around me. The thunder rolled over the crown of the forest in the rear +of the lightning. Rifted clouds continued to pass over my head. An +owl left its dirge unfinished, and fitted its ruffled feathers into a +cleft of a blasted tree over my head. The wild animals that prowl by +night, with famished stomachs, sought shelter in their dens. +</P> + +<P> +I alone stood bared to the fury of the storm, incapable of reaching my +hut in the darkness of that awful night. The thunder rolled as with +ten thousand voices, and the lightning at intervals set the whole +forest in a blaze of light. One of the flashes brought down a mora +tree near to where I stood, crushing the limbs of other trees as it +fell. The crash was terrific. Examining it the next morning by +daylight, there was a wild fig-tree growing out of its top, and on the +fig grew a wild species of vine. The fig-tree was as large as a common +apple-tree, yet owed its growth to an undigested seed, dropped by birds +that resort to the mora to feed on its ripe fruit. Such seeds the sap +of the mora raises into full bearing, when they, in their turn, are +called on to support and give out their sap to different species of +seeds, also dropped by birds. In this case the usurpation of the fig +on the mora, and the vine on the fig, brought all to an early end. A +dead sloth was lying near to the prostrate timber, probably brought +down, by the force of its fall, from the branch of another tree. +</P> + +<P> +It was a night of devastation in the wilds of nature. The storms of +destruction blew piercingly on every quarter. The destroying blast +clapped his wings over many a tree, and laid prostrate numerous +creatures that had life as the sun went down the previous evening. To +the things that can be shaken, belong all that is earthly. However +durable they may appear, however they may glitter, or stable they may +appear, age, or the storm, will bring them to oblivion. Mutability is +written on all the works of nature. It is an inscription that meets +every eye, whether turned on the foundations of a city, a nation, or +the works of the creation. Awe-struck with the dilapidations the +morning made visible, I hastened to my hut, anxious to see if all was +safe there, and prepare to cook myself a dinner. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The sloth +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Man is essentially a cooking animal, and though omnivorous in his +appetite, is nine parts out of ten carnivorous. I had abundance of +vegetable food around me, of which I ate freely, and was in good +health; yet my desire to taste animal food was so strong that I would +at the time have made almost any sacrifice to obtain it. I had reached +more than half the distance towards my residence, thinking all the way +only on the means that I possessed of making a fire, before it occurred +to me that I had no flesh to cook. I then turned back, and with my +knife cut off the hind-quarter of the sloth, being resolved to try the +quality of the flesh. +</P> + +<P> +Having collected a small heap of the dried rotten wood, to use as +tinder, I succeeded in making a fire outside my hut, where I broiled +some pieces of the sloth's flesh, and from it made a tolerable meal, +though it was not so good as beef or mutton. +</P> + +<P> +Whenever I subsequently met with the sloth, he always excited my pity, +and I forbore from doing such a helpless creature any injury. The +natives say that by his piteous moans he will make the heart of a tiger +relent, and turn away from him. The sloth is a solitary animal; he has +no companion to cheer him, but lies on the branches of trees almost +stationary, having no means of defence or escape, if you intend him any +harm; his looks, his gestures, and his cries declare it; therefore do +not kill him. He subsists wholly on the leaves of trees, and does not +quit one branch till there is nothing left for him to eat, and he then +moves evidently with much pain to himself. He preys on no living +animal, and is deficient and deformed, when compared with other +animals, though in some other respects he is compensated in the +composition of his frame. His feet are without soles, nor can he move +his toes separately; he therefore cannot walk, but hooks himself along +by means of the claws which are at the extremity of the fore-feet. He +has no cutting teeth; he has four stomachs, and yet wants the long +intestinal canals of ruminating animals. His hair lies flat on his +body, like long grass withered by the frost. He has six more ribs than +the elephant, namely, forty-six, the latter having only forty; his legs +strike the eye as being too short, and as if joined to the body with +the loss of a joint. On the whole, as a quadruped, the sloth is of the +lowest degree. He never quits a tree until all the leaves are eaten. +</P> + +<P> +The day after I had made a meal from the sloth, I shot my arrow through +the head of a horned screamer, which brought him within my grasp; this +was a great feat for me to accomplish, the screamer being a majestic +bird, as large as a turkey-cock, having on the head a long slender +horn, each wing being armed with a sharp, strong spur, of an inch long. +I had seated myself behind a tree, where I had been, for several hours, +watching the movements of the ants that build their nests on those +trees, when the bird came within a few yards of me. This incident +practically exemplified to me that, like other animals that seek for +prey, I must use patience, and be wary in my movements. It taught me +to reflect and to know that it was not rambling over much space that +would ensure success, and that every spot in the world was available, +either for the study of the things of creation or for procuring food. +</P> + +<P> +It is a great error some fall into when they imagine that travelling +over much ground will give knowledge; those who observe and reflect may +gain more information when examining a puddle of water, than the +careless will in traversing the globe. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The ants +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Of the insect tribe, the ants early attracted my attention, and I spent +much time in watching their movements; indeed, from the first hour I +turned my thoughts to the study of insects, I never afterwards spent a +dull one. The tree ants' nests are about five times as large as those +made by rooks, from which they have covered ways to the ground; these +ways I frequently broke down, but as often as I did so, they were +quickly under repair, a body of labouring ants being immediately +summoned for that purpose. Ants have the means of communicating with +each other in a very rapid manner. I am of opinion that the antennæ +are the medium through which they receive and convey orders to each +other. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen a troop of ants a mile long, each one carrying in its mouth +a round leaf about the size of a sixpence, which appeared to have been +trimmed round to the shape. Wasps do the same; and after twisting them +up in the shape of a horn, deposit their eggs in them. When on their +march, or engaged at work, nothing deters them from progressing; they +seem to have no fear either of injury or death. I have broken their +line at different points, and killed thousands of them; the others go +over the same ground, as if perfectly unconscious of danger, while a +body of them are instantly detached to remove the dead, and clear the +way. It matters not how often the experiment is repeated, or what +number are slain, others come on as if their forces were unlimited. It +would seem that they live under an absolute monarchy, and dare not +disobey orders. When accompanying them on a march, I have seen a +messenger arrive from the opposite direction to that they were going, +and the whole line, as I have said, of sometimes a mile long, +simultaneously brought to a halt. One of the ants belonging to the +body went forward, and applied its antennæ to those of the messenger, +after which, the latter returned the way he came, and the main body +immediately altered its course of march. +</P> + +<P> +At one time, I fell in with an unusually large body of these +persevering labourers, and being resolved, if possible, to stop them, I +formed a ditch in their way, and filled it with water; while the ditch +was being made, they continued their course up and down the ridges of +the loose earth, as if nothing had happened, although hundreds were +every instant buried. When, however, the water was turned into the +channel, there was a momentary halt; but as the ant must never be idle, +it was but for an instant, to receive orders to take the margin of the +earth, and travel round the head of the channel. How the nature of the +disaster they had met with was made known, so as to stop the whole body +simultaneously, may be difficult to ascertain; but at the moment of +making these experiments I have distinctly seen the antennæ of one ant +strike the tail of the one immediately before it, and the same movement +repeated by all the others in rapid succession as far as my observation +extended. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Wasps +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +All insects that live in communities are, I should imagine, in +possession of language. One day I saw a wasp fly into my hut, and +recollecting that I had a small collection of honey wrapped in some +plantain leaves, I went to close the shutter as it again flew out; but +observing the wasp immediately fly towards another of his species, and +then to a second and a third, and those instantly fly off in opposite +directions, I said to myself, the discovery of my depot of honey is +being advertised throughout the community of wasps. Thinking I would +disappoint the depredators, before I left home I was very careful in +fastening the entrance, and stuffing every crevice up with long grass. +About a hundred yards from my hut I met a swarm of wasps, which induced +me to return and ascertain whether my conjectures were confirmed; and +there I found an immense number seeking an entrance, evidently with a +view of plundering me of my honey. It was not long ere they found +admission through some of the apertures in the roof. Knowing that my +honey must go,—for a swarm of wasps is not to be molested with +impunity,—I turned away to pursue my walk with the reflection that +they only took what they could get, and suited their appetites, the +business of my own every-day life. +</P> + +<P> +Both in society and in the forest it is wise at all times to avoid +being an aggressor. The stings of mankind, and of insects, are most +frequently the result of our own imprudence. In the forest I have +daily been surrounded with myriads of wasps and large stinging bees, +and never received an injury but when I was committing depredations on +their store. +</P> + +<P> +But of all plunderers in nature, the ant exceeds the whole. I had +become acquainted with five species of bees in my immediate +neighbourhood, not one of which could secure their combs from the +voracious appetites of the ant. They came in such numbers, as +sometimes, in my view, to threaten the undermining of the forest; and +were to be seen of all sizes and colour. One sort is so large, that +the natives make a considerable article of food of them when fried. +</P> + +<P> +The termites, or white ants, are very destructive; neither fruit, +flowers of plants, or food of any kind, escapes them. When they appear +in the dwellings of man, they will undermine a house in a few hours, if +the wood of which it is built suits their taste. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Voracity of the ants +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The whole of the ant tribes are, however, essentially carnivorous, and +are useful in repressing a too rapid increase amongst reptiles much +larger than themselves; and I have often thought, when watching their +movements, and observing that there is nothing, from the smallest +winged insect to the carcase of a bullock, that comes to the ground, +but they instantly assemble in millions to devour it, that they were +intended by nature to prevent the corruption of the air from the decay +and putrefaction of animal matter. If an enormous spider accidentally +falls to the ground, they give it no time to recover itself; thousands +are instantly on it; and although the spider, in its struggles to +escape, will kill and crush numbers, still others continue to crawl up +his legs and thighs, and there hang on in quietness, till their victim +is exhausted by fatigue, when a few seconds serve to remove all traces +of its heretofore existence. As I grew older, and acquired more +experience in hunting for my food, I frequently killed large animals, +of whose flesh I could only eat as much as served me for a meal, before +the remainder would be spoiled by the heat of the weather: this the +ants generally cleared away. +</P> + +<P> +At length I learned to go out by moonlight, to kill deer and the +peccari,—a time that they like to browse, and may be approached with +more ease. I generally dragged the remains of a carcase I did not want +in the way of the ants, and watched them at their feast. A few hours +served to leave the bones of the largest animal perfectly clean, and as +a skeleton for study, fit for an exhibition. +</P> + +<P> +When the termites, or white ant, is seen in the neighbourhood of man, +the antipathies of the species are rendered available. As soon as they +are observed, sugar is strewed in such a direction as to lead the brown +or black ants to the spot, who, it is known, will immediately attack +and put the white party to the rout, much to the amusement of the +negroes, who cheer on the blacks to kill the whites. I have often +awoke with my body covered with ants, when I generally ran to the +nearest water, and plunging into it, freed myself from them; though I +never could discover for what purpose they spread themselves over my +frame, unless it were in expectation of my becoming a corpse. When, +however, I did rouse myself, they seldom exhibited much alacrity in +acknowledging their error by making a speedy retreat. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR—AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO—I <BR> +AM ATTACKED WITH A FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"Give me, indulgent gods—with mind serene,<BR> +And guiltless heart—to range the sylvan scene;<BR> +No splendid poverty, no smiling care,<BR> +No well-bred hate, or servile grandeur there."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I had now become a sportsman—a Nimrod—my chief delight being found in +the use of my bow and arrows. Thus armed, I ranged the forest, or laid +in covert, to destroy any game which might come in my way. My +propensity for killing, however, soon led me into a scrape, the escape +from which nearly cost me my life; yet the lesson was thrown away on +me, for it in no way abated my desire to shoot and eat the flesh of +birds. +</P> + +<P> +Early one morning I had taken my station behind a large tree, from +which I discharged an arrow at a mocking-bird. No sooner had the arrow +quitted the string, than I descried a bear, feeding on ants' nests, and +that in a direct line between myself and the bird shot at. The arrow +passed close by his ear; it might have struck him: be this as it may, +the bear instantly began to descend the tree, showing evident signs of +his intention to revenge the insult. +</P> + +<P> +Not being disposed to confront such an enemy in an angry mood, I +instantly took to my heels; but had not proceeded far, before the +shaggy monster was near overtaking me. In this extremity I ascended a +tree, confident of being as good a climber as Bruin was. I had, +however, scarcely reached the lowest extending branch, before the +enraged beast was close on me. Fortunately, I had in my flight +retained possession of my stick; and as the bear had no means of +supporting himself but by clinging to the trunk of the tree with his +claws, I applied my staff with so much vigour to his feet, that he was +constrained to drop to the ground, whereupon his rage was great. He +then took a turn or two round the base of the tree to cool himself, +gave a growl, and seated himself under it, fixing his eyes on me. In +this position the disappointed monster remained, on his hind-quarters, +seven hours, watching my movements; till at length, growing weary of +his presence, and having read somewhere of the effect of the human +voice, I cried out loudly, mentioning several names, as if calling for +assistance. When speaking of the storm, I said that the thunder rolled +with ten thousand voices. The cause, however, of its multiplied tones, +was reserved for this adventure to make known. As I called out, I was +utterly astonished to hear my own words repeated several times in +succession;—the bear started on his feet; and after looking round, as +if in fear of an attack, took himself off at his utmost speed. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +An alarming echo +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Assured that I had heard human voices, I became more agitated than when +in company with the bear. It may appear anomalous; it is nevertheless +true, that the prospect, or thought, of meeting with human beings in +these wilds, always elicited agitation, or, more properly, terror. +</P> + +<P> +The joy that hope brought of my emancipation was always mixed with an +alloy of indefinable dread of some coming evil. I remained in the tree +about an hour after the bear had departed, continuing to amuse myself +with the exercise of the voice, and listening to the repetitions of its +sounds. At length, when assured that the bear did not contemplate a +renewal of the attack, I descended from the tree, and again raised my +voice, and was again surprised to find that I had no response. This +struck me as very mysterious; and instead of seeking for natural causes +of the phenomena, I abandoned myself to superstitious fears, and +persuaded myself that I was on enchanted ground, while my mind indulged +in endless chimeras. Every effect is preceded by a cause, was a +sentence I had often heard my father repeat; and as it recurred to my +memory, I again ascended the tree, and repeated the experiments, +alternately, for some time, on the ground and in the tree. The result +was always the same, the voice being reverberated when in the tree, and +not so when on the ground. Again and again. I turned the matter over +in the mind, and could come to no other conclusion than that there were +persons somewhere in the neighbourhood, who could hear me from the +tree, but were too far off to hear my voice when surrounded with the +underwood on the ground. I now thought it my duty to find out the +persons from whom I supposed the sounds came, and was actually +preparing to start in search of them, when it suddenly flashed on my +mind that I had heard a similar phenomenon under a bridge near my own +native village, which the boys called an echo; yet as that gave only +one response, or echo, I was still perplexed to make out a cause for +hearing so many. This phenomenon, however, soon became a considerable +source of amusement to me, and by shifting my positions I found several +series of echoes: in some places the reverberations were six and +sevenfold, and in others they were so numerous as to run into +indistinctness. For a considerable time subsequently it was my wont, +on a Sunday, to ascend a tree after my devotions, and sing a line or +two, or a verse of a psalm which I knew, when the effect was something +like a number of voices in a place of worship, though the ear could not +compass the innumerable combination of reverberations. When the echo +was peculiarly distinct and near, and then taken up and repeated at a +distance, it conveyed to my imagination the idea of aerial spirits +answering each other. It was thus that the astonishing multiplied +reverberations of the thunder in this region were accounted +for—namely, the transmission of its sound from point to point. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The honey-bear +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I saw no more of the ant-bear; but the honey-bear, which was more +common, and a fellow-depredator of the bees' nests with myself, often +crossed my path; and it required the exercise of much ingenuity and +caution to successfully compete with him. +</P> + +<P> +In all countries where the collection of honey is made a profit, +various devices have been resorted to for deterring or entrapping the +rugged depredators. To enumerate them all would be a digression from +my narrative. The following are, however, among other successful modes +of dealing with bears who have a taste for honey. +</P> + +<P> +The trees in which the bees are found the inhabitants lop close to the +trunk, up to the home of the bees, so that the bear has nothing but the +main trunk to assist him in climbing. These trees they sometimes stick +with spikes, and blades of knives, with the points upwards. These, +however, offer but small impediments to the bear in ascending the tree, +but as he cannot descend with his head foremost, he is compelled to +slide down, when the points are not so easily avoided, generally +lacerating him in such a manner as to deter him from making any future +attempt to rob hives situated in trees. +</P> + +<P> +The experienced bear will, however, sometimes, as he ascends the tree, +break off the points, and secure himself a safe retreat. Entrapping +them is, therefore, a more successful practice. +</P> + +<P> +In lopping the tree the peasants are careful to leave a branch that +extends out from the trunk above the hole where the bees have +constructed their hive. From such a branch they suspend, with four +ropes, a flat board, forming one scale of a pair, such as are commonly +used in open markets; when this is hung up it hangs pendant at a +distance from the trunk of the tree. When, however, it is prepared as +a trap, it is brought close to the body of the tree by means of a bark +rope, upon which it is fastened over the entrance of the hive. +</P> + +<P> +The bear having climbed the tree, with difficulty maintains himself +with his claws while he commits the depredation, and is, therefore, +glad to find a seat so conveniently placed for him to sit on; but +seeing the entrance of the hole nearly covered with the bark-rope, he +immediately commences tearing it away, and, in so doing, liberates +himself from the tree, and becomes suspended in the air. In this +situation he sits contemplating the alternatives of remaining to be +killed when discovered, or venturing a leap to the ground; both, +however, lead to the same end, as stakes are placed to receive him on +their points, should he hazard a leap. +</P> + +<P> +In cold countries, it is by no means uncommon for bears to attack human +beings; but in forests, within the tropics, where redundant nature +pours out her horn of plenty, and food is found in abundance throughout +the year, man, if he is not himself quarrelsomely disposed, may pass +without molestation. Both the ant and the honey-hear occasionally +visited my hut, having frequently detected them sniffing round my +barricade; but when I made my appearance, either on the roof, or in +returning from a ramble, they always walked away without manifesting +decided hostile intentions. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The rains of Guiana +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I had now passed ten months in the forest, and had learned to dispense +with shoes, stockings, linen, and, indeed, with every kind of covering +for the body, excepting a wrapper for the loins, which I contrived to +make out of the remaining rags collected from the worn-out habiliments +I possessed when lost to my family. I had also combated with a wet +season, and this season was now again approaching, that is, January and +February, when the rains fall heavily; indeed, rain is no proper term +for a fall of water in a Guiana forest. Rain conveys the idea of water +falling in drops; there, the water comes bodily upon the earth in wide +sheets. And before they come, no notice is given; they send no <I>avant +courier</I> of a few scattered drops to warn you of what is to follow; +they are their own messengers. In the intervals between every such +fall, the fervid sun resumes its influence, operating with such +intensity as to effectually envelope all things in hot steam. A +continuation of rain and excessive heat produces exuberant vegetation; +and these in turn, by the exhalations of its ripeness and corruption, +furnish back to the atmosphere an accumulating fund of distempering +miasma, or cause of malignant fever. +</P> + +<P> +When the destructive effects of these influences are considered, in a +locality amongst the rankest productions of nature, and where in a +thousand places the water is pent up and sluggish,—prolific producers +of reptiles and noisome vapours—nothing but a miracle, through the +interposition of Providence, could have preserved me in health so long. +But my day of sickness was not to be altogether remitted, it was only +postponed, and then inflicted in kindness, to teach me prudence, and +the necessity there was for adopting proper precautions against evil +results. +</P> + +<P> +My hut, notwithstanding the complacency with which I had selected the +site, was, after all, situated in the very worst place I could have +found in the entire forest. The former rainy season had inundated the +morass that lay in the rear of my dwelling, and had, indeed, threatened +me with submersion; yet I continued to remain there, as if nothing of +danger had occurred, and the air, impregnated with the fermentations of +collected vegetation for ages, was as healthful as that on hilly lands. +It is the province of experience to calculate or anticipate results; +how then could one so young as I was know that too frequently the +beauty which redundant nature presents to the eye, is but an indication +of its treachery to the constitution. +</P> + +<P> +I had not then reflected on the condition on which mortals receive +life, namely, that of being associated with an inseparable companion +called care; a companion which never quits their side till they resign +up their souls. +</P> + +<P> +In my isolated situation, it was natural I should seek to indulge the +sentiment of friendship with such companions as the locality afforded. +The interior of my hut was therefore a kind of aviary; and it was my +practice every morning to devote a couple of hours to teaching, and in +the amusement of feeding my companions; after which, I indulged, by +turns, the most docile with a walk into the interior of the wooded +parts of the forest. A land-tortoise had become so tame, that when, in +my rambles, I sat down to rest, I allowed him to seek his own food in +the immediate neighbourhood, and that without any fear of his wandering +far, even if unwatched. +</P> + +<P> +The rainy season had commenced about three weeks, when one morning I +arose with an intense headache, excessive thirst, and a burning skin. +I hastened to the stream, drank copiously of cold water, bathed for +upwards of an hour, and then returned with my usual supply of water, +conveyed in a clay vessel, which I had baked in the sun. This, as were +similar vessels, was chiefly for the use of my family of birds, &c. +</P> + +<P> +I remember perfectly well, the following morning, that, as was my +custom, I caressed the whole family; and, to avoid jealous bickerings, +to which some were prone, I bestowed on each an equal portion of +attention; and that subsequently I took up a tortoise and a +mocking-bird for my companions during a walk. I also remember, that as +I reached the aperture under the roof, the rays of the sun affected my +sight in a peculiar manner, and that a giddy sensation came over me; +but from that moment I lost all remembrance of what followed, being +unconscious of passing circumstances; until I found myself reduced in +flesh, and so weak and feeble, as to be incapable of rising from the +floor of the hut where I was lying. Under the opening, from whence I +must have fallen, lay a dead tortoise, the shell being crushed. The +sticks of which my aviary was composed were all torn asunder, and the +broken fragments strewed about the place. Several of my favourite +birds, with their necks wrung, were on the ground; the others were +absent. The vessel in which I had brought the water was broken into +pieces, and many parts of the hut exhibited proofs of an attempt having +been made to pull up the stakes of which it was formed. These were all +evidences that I had fallen down when attempting to leave the hut, +probably from giddiness or vertigo; that a violent fever had +supervened, and in that condition I had lost my reason, and the +consequent command of my actions—whence the devastation around me, and +the debilitated state in which I found the body when reason returned. +Soon after consciousness had made me sensible of my condition, I fell +asleep, in which I was carried into all kinds of illusory imaginations. +Among other fantasies, I dreamed that I was on the sea—walking—yet +bounded on either side with rows of myrtles in full blossom, intermixed +with jessamines; and that thousands of Cupids and Fauns preceded me, +strewing flowers in my way. These figures, carrying baskets, were +followed by Zephyrs, which supplied the flowers. I was in a state of +enchantment with the scene, yet every moment suffered from the dread of +sinking into the depths of the sea, until I thought the water would no +longer support me, when I awoke in the fright of being drowned. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The power of prayer +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The fever had entirely left me, and I was in a measure refreshed by the +sleep I had had. I was now reflecting on the phenomena of dreams, and +the length of time the impressions they leave remain on the mind—for I +still heard the action of the water—when, after several efforts to +disengage myself from the illusion, as I thought, I was roused from +imaginings to a sense of the reality of what I heard. Plash, plash, +went the water against the exterior of my hut; and these sounds were +continuous and audible, so much so as to be unmistakable. Still I was +incapable of reaching the exterior to see what was the cause. My state +of alarm and agitation may therefore be better conceived than +described. Too feeble to use my limbs, I had no resource but in +prayer. Most sincerely did I offer the Supreme Being thanks for having +preserved me through my illness. I then prayed, that after such a +miraculous dispensation of Divine goodness, I might not be left to +perish in my helplessness. I believe that no one ever prayed from the +heart without acquiring some additional knowledge or strength of +purpose. May not this be because prayer is both an inquiry of the +intellect and of the affections; the one seeking for the truth, and the +other for what is good? Besides, pure devotion is thought, which +improves, at least, and helps the judgment. +</P> + +<P> +After some time spent in this manner, I felt the perturbation of my +mind much abated, and in a frame to contemplate steadily surrounding +circumstances, and consider how they might be best dealt with. A short +time since, and I had looked on death as inevitable, either by drowning +or starvation; now, I reflected, that if the water had been very high, +it must have, ere this, penetrated my frail creation; and, if very +powerful, it would have swept the whole away without giving me any +notice whatever. It also occurred to me that I ought to have some +dozen or two of cocoa-nuts and a store of honey within my reach, as I +lay on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +As I had not previously, on any occasion, made a store, I could not but +see the hand of Providence directing me to prepare for my present +extremity. These supplies were placed in a hole which I had made in +the ground for their reception, being covered with a piece of bark, and +a stone to keep it in its place. Fortunately, I had only to drag +myself a few yards, and take the nourishment I so much needed; although +it was not calves'-foot jelly and port wine, yet, in my then weak +state, it proved a very gratifying refreshment. +</P> + +<P> +It is not possible for me to make any rational estimate of the length +of time I was under the influence of the fever, or of the period +employed in sleeping during my recovery. It is probable that it had +but a short, though a violent career; but the present exigencies were +too pressing to admit of much time being expended over the past. +Plash, plash, continued the water against the hut, and the floor began +to exhibit signs of its entrance into the interior. My situation was +now one of real peril. I made an effort to raise myself up to the +opening through which I mast pass to escape, but as I had first to +mount a stool formed of pieces of bark, and then to raise my body +several feet with my arms, before my head could reach the aperture, I +found my strength insufficient for the task. My distress was +considerably augmented by the impossibility of my taking any more rest +in a reclining position, as the water was rapidly covering the floor, +and the probability there was of the structure giving way on a sudden, +and submerging me in an instant of time. I seated myself on the +before-mentioned stool, with my feet and legs stretched over a +bird-coop that had not been entirely broken up. +</P> + +<P> +Singular to relate, in this position I fell into a profound sleep, with +my back against the lining of the hut; the extreme of distress, +contemplated for a length of time, I believe has a tendency to produce +this effect. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Perils of water +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I had fallen asleep as the moon went down, about an hour after +midnight; it was daylight when I awoke; the first object that caught my +attention being the staff, on which were the notches that formed my +calendar; this was floating on the water, now a foot or more in depth. +It is said drowning men catch at straws; the idea immediately came +across my mind that, with the support of the stick, I should be enabled +to effect my escape. I succeeded; and after wading about fifty yards +up to my knees in water, reached a dry spot of land, on which my first +act was to kneel, and offer up prayers of gratitude for my deliverance. +As a period of unconsciousness had occasioned a breach in my calendar, +and the true Sabbath was lost to me, I made the day of my deliverance a +Sunday, from which hereafter to reckon the days of the week. +</P> + +<P> +Attenuated in frame, with weak limbs, but possessing a healthy stomach, +I dragged myself to a half-natural cave, at a short distance, which I +had previously cleared out as a place where I might find shelter from +the heavy rains, and where I could lie in wait to kill a head of game +without the fatigue of hunting for it. In this retreat I lived for two +days, solely on cocoa-nuts and honey; the third, I caught an armadillo, +which I dressed for dinner, and then resumed the practice of taking a +dessert in the afternoon, having abundance of fruit at my command. +</P> + +<P> +It is one of the miseries inseparable from the condition of man, that +good and evil are presented under different forms; misery often +appearing to us under the mask of happiness, and prosperity under the +image of misfortune, teaching us to leave all in the hands of Him who +knows best what is good for his creatures. +</P> + +<P> +I had no reason to complain, having within my reach blossoms, green and +ripe fruit, all on the same trees, and those in abundance throughout +the year, new soil for their growth being constantly formed by the +exuviæ of the forest, which here keeps her sabbath in silence. But +even here, in the midst of plenty, man must not be idle. "The crab," +say the negroes, "that does not leave his hole, never gets fat." As my +strength returned, my wants increased; and as animal food appeared to +be needed for the renovation of the frame, I was constantly engaged in +the pursuit of it; while, what leisure time I possessed became irksome, +from the want of a domestic establishment such as I had formed in the +hut. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The first night in the cave +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Although my specimen of sylvan architecture was at no time more than +half submerged in water, and that without being broken up, I abandoned +it as being unsafe as a residence. Finding myself not only more secure +from the heavy rains, but much more cool in the cave, I now began to +fortify its entrance, to guard against night intrusions. In effecting +this object, the only one I kept in view while at work, I fell into the +error of neglecting to provide for the admission of sufficient air to +sustain life. The first night I passed in the cave, after completing +my barricade of bark, which served the purpose of planks of deal, I +could get no rest, turning and rolling about with an uneasiness I could +in no way account for, till the morning came, when the admission of air +made me sensible of breathing with more freedom, and at once explained +the cause of my previous uneasiness. The next day was spent in cutting +holes through the bark fence, to remedy so serious an evil as the want +of air. +</P> + +<P> +Accustomed as I had been to the intimate society of birds and other +animals, their loss was too severely felt for me to remain long without +them; I therefore commenced the construction of a new aviary on the +outside of the cave, with a space beneath, to confine any of the small +kind of animals which might fall into my hands. One surviving tortoise +from the hut I had already brought into the cave. It was not long +before the entrance to my retreat somewhat resembled the display made +by a metropolitan dealer in animals, on the pavement before the steps +which lead to his lodgings in the cellar. Contentment is in no station +the lot of mankind. Although my new residence had many advantages, +nothing could compensate me for the loss of the security in which I had +every morning obtained a survey of the movements of the inhabitants of +the forest from the roof of the hut. I did not, however, indulge in +idle regrets, continuing to work on in constructing snares and traps, +to people my new dwelling-place; and when it happened that I wounded a +bird or animal, I derived a peculiar pleasure in attending to it till +its recovery was effected. When I had again collected a tolerable +number of friends, and formed some new attachments, a catastrophe +happened which occasioned me more regrets than any circumstance which +had previously befallen me in the woods. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Slaughter of the pet birds +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Early in the day I had left my family all safe and well; they were of +course confined, but plenty of air and light was admitted through the +bars into their dwellings. I had the satisfaction of thinking they +were happy, even in their captivity; they were, however, all carried +off at one fell swoop, and I returned only to witness the desolation of +the scene. There is a small animal of the weasel species, having the +bump of destructiveness so strongly developed, that it seeks the +destruction of all other animals that cannot defend themselves from its +attacks; it is called the crabbodaga. One of these—or there may have +been an accomplice in the murderous business—crept between the bars of +the cage, and killed every bird and animal I possessed, excepting a +mocking-bird I happened to have out with me. +</P> + +<P> +None but those who have reared birds from the callow state and have +given them a place in their affections, can appreciate my distress at +this disaster. The birds had been my companions—had dined, some of +them, at the same table every day, and over the dessert had amused me +with their conversation, or delighted me with their music. Reflecting +on this domestic tragedy, I resolved to convert the entire of the +abandoned hut into one large aviary, that is, as soon as the dry season +had entirely freed the place from water. +</P> + +<P> +I had very little difficulty in trimming sticks, and binding them +together for fences, to confine the birds; but it was not so easy to +repair the loss of attached friends, who had reposed their confidence +in me, or to teach strangers an agreeable method of conversation upon a +given signal. I could now no longer give dinner-parties at home; I +therefore intruded on the entertainments given by others, for I did not +enjoy my meals alone. I did not often take a meal with gregarious +birds—those who moved in flocks,—yet many of these were excellent +companions in private; in a body they were generally too noisy and +fickle in flight to be depended on, except in the morning or evening. +</P> + +<P> +The birds usually called social, were my favourites; these are such as +live in pairs, but assemble in parties at certain hours of the day to +dine on the same tree, sing in concert for an hour, and then part as +they came, each attended by its mate. At many of these entertainments +I was permitted to remain, without causing any surprise or confusion; +but then I behaved with proper decorum, and above all, did not forget +the manners and habits of those I visited. +</P> + +<P> +Observing the monkeys to be very fond of the seeds that grew on a tree +called the <I>vanilla</I>, the Spanish name for scabbard, which the seeds of +the plant resemble, I one day presumed to join one of their parties at +meal time, and climbed a tree for that purpose, but was received so +very uncourteously, that I gave them up as incorrigible boors. That +they have no soul for music I have had frequent proofs while listening +to the song of the thrush in the breeding season; a period when these +birds select an elevated spot, generally the same every day, and pour +forth strains of peculiar melody. These songs the monkeys not only +disregard, but continually interrupt with their monotonous howls. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Habits of birds +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +The habits of birds are very peculiar, and distinctively marked; the +thrush sings to its mate, delighted with the prospect of rearing up a +new progeny; the nightingale, on the contrary, only ceases to sing when +his mate arrives to join him; being migrating birds, the male precedes +the female in making its passage from one country to another, and pours +forth his notes only while waiting for the arrival of the female. +</P> + +<P> +If this bird is caught and caged before he is joined by his mate, he +will continue to sing in confinement, if afterwards, he will be mute. +Nothing is more remarkable in birds, or has perhaps been less noticed, +than their affection for each other, and for callow birds in general. +The cries from any one nest of birds will set all the old ones within +hearing into a state of extreme agitation, all flying up and down +anxious to inquire what is the matter, and what assistance they can +offer. He who walks through the woods, and can imitate the cries of +young birds, may at all times be certain of collecting old ones around +him, that is, in the breeding season. +</P> + +<P> +The cry of young birds in the nest is in the forest what the cry of +fire or murder is in a city; it alarms all the neighbourhood; and the +knowledge of an enemy to their young being in the vicinity of their +homes, is to them much the same as going to bed next door to an +incendiary. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen a blue jay—a very noisy and chattering bird—discover an +owl sitting in his hiding-place, and immediately summon a flock of his +feathered fraternity to his assistance. These surrounded the winking +<I>solitaire</I>, and opened a fire of abuse on him that might at a distance +be mistaken for a general disturbance in Billingsgate Market. The owl +opened and then shut his eyes, as if at first unconscious of the +meaning of the attack, and asking, "Can it be me you mean?" He, +however, was soon made sensible that he would not be suffered to remain +within their jurisdiction; and off he went, followed by a mob of birds, +who hunted him out of the bounds of their district. Clamorous as the +jay is against the owl for eating young birds, he himself I have +detected in tearing the callow young out of the eggs belonging to other +birds; yet he never fails to unite with the other feathered inhabitants +of the wood at the cry of danger. +</P> + +<P> +The tender assiduities of birds in their attachments is no less +remarkable than their courage in defence of their mates and young ones. +The male, solicitous to please, uses the tenderest expressions, as +evinced by his manner; sits by his mate as closely as he can; caresses +her with a thousand endearing movements of the body and head: sings to +her his most enchanting warblings; and, as they are seated together, if +he espies an insect more agreeable to her taste than another, he takes +it up, flies to her with it, spreads his wings over her, and genteelly +puts it into her mouth. And if a rival or an enemy appear, his courage +in attack soon proves the ardour of his love. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The mocking-bird and snake +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +During incubation, the female is no less the object of his solicitude; +as birds have many enemies, the males feel that it is their duty to +watch over and protect their mates and young ones. I had every waking +hour opportunities of witnessing their courage, frequently seeing very +small birds attack the black snake, darting at its head, and pecking +the eyes till they either killed or drove away that enemy to their +brood. When these contests became doubtful, the females would leave +their nests, and hasten to the scene of action to render their mates +assistance. +</P> + +<P> +The mocking-bird seldom fails to kill the snake single-handed, +instantly afterwards mounting the bush, to pour forth a torrent of song +in token of victory. These birds mount and descend as their song +swells or dies away; at times darting up with the celerity of an arrow, +as if to recover or recall the last strain of expiring melody. While +the mocking-bird thus exerts himself, a bystander, destitute of sight, +would suppose that the whole of the feathered tribes had assembled to +vie with each other in singing and in deceiving the sportsman, by +imitating the birds of which he was in pursuit. Their talent at +imitation is so extraordinary, that they can call the mates of almost +every other bird around them at pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +The fascinating power ascribed to the black snake is an error. When a +snake is discovered in the vicinity of a nest, the male bird mounts a +spray, and in great agitation flutters his wings in a threatening +manner, till an opportunity offers of flying down to the attack. In +these encounters the snake sometimes succeeds in biting the bird, and +in injecting its venom, when the effect of the poison is so sudden, as +to paralyse the further efforts of the latter; hence has arisen the +supposed power of fascination, and the story of birds flying into the +snake's jaws. Instances of this nature I have witnessed, and if I had +not followed up my observations further, might have fallen into the +popular error of supposed fascination: but my experience informs me, +that when the bird is said to be spellbound, it is preparing to destroy +an enemy, in which encounter it generally comes off victorious. +</P> + +<P> +Birds, as a class, possess as much intelligence, and more courage than +any of God's creatures lower in the scale of animals than man. The +instincts, or the propensities and precautions of animals, as in birds +developed, are as multifarious and as striking, if not more so, as in +other animals, not excepting the elephant and dog. +</P> + +<P> +A thrush that I caught in a trap used to catch wasps, and after +plucking the wings off to prevent their escape, pressed the abdomen +with his bill, to force out the poison of the sting before he swallowed +it. I have frequently seen birds seize mice and reptiles, and after +examination reject them. In all such cases I have found that the prey +thus cast aside was sickly, or infested with lice. The birds seem to +reason thus: "If I take this sickly thing to my nest, I shall not only +carry my young ones unwholesome food, but shall carry a nuisance to +them, also." Another bird I had in my aviary, would carry food that +was too hard for his taste to his water, and there let it remain till +it was soaked to his palate. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Departure from the cave +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Looking over my notched calendar, and transferring it in weeks and +months to another stick I was suddenly struck with the length of time I +had been shut out of society, and how wonderfully the Almighty had +preserved me. It then occurred to me that I had not exerted myself as +I ought to have done, to free myself from the intricate mazes of the +forest. Then, reflecting on the regular inundations of the morass, I +thought it was probable that the waters might come from a river, or the +sea; and as they had just then retired, I determined to start off +immediately, and pursue the margin to its source. Hitherto, security +at night had induced me to linger about favourite spots; I had now +surmounted childish fears; still I was sensible of the great risk I +should run of sleeping, night after night, in the open air; and this +reflection for a time deterred me from carrying out my plan. At length +I thought of the gipsies I had seen in the green lanes in England, and +then set to work to manufacture a substitute for the covers they use to +throw over the hooped sticks at night, with which they were wont to +form low booths. This I effected by platting and weaving long dried +grass, and when it was completed, I cut some poles of the lacaria; but +still doubting my own resolution to break up my establishment, I one +day, with a kind of spasmodic effort, liberated all my newly-collected +domestic friends and companions, some of which accepted of freedom +rather reluctantly. My attachments being thus dissolved, the following +morning I commenced my lonely journey, on the second day of which I +made a fire near to some shallow water, and was broiling a jay I had +killed for my supper, when the earth on which I sat began to move, and +instantly afterwards the embers were scattered about. Starting to my +feet with alarm, a crocodile about four feet long showed itself as it +plunged a few yards further off into a pool of mud and water. The +place on which I had lighted my fire, was a part of the swamp, crusted +over, probably, by the heat of that day's sun only. Every hour, +indeed, now brought me in contact with enemies, and exposed me to +privations I had avoided by making a home in one spot. But then I had +an object to attain, and I persevered for twenty days, at the end of +which I had the mortification to find that I had, like many others in +the world, progressed not a step, having travelled in a circle, which +brought me to the very threshold of my recent home. My chagrin was so +poignant, that I thought the very trees waved in derision at my folly; +and the same day I set out in another direction, which proved to be +directly south. +</P> + +<P> +Every step I took informed me that I was a trespasser; the scene that I +had quitted appeared to have been ceded to me by the inhabitants of the +forest, who were willing for me to occupy it without molesting me, or +exhibiting any signs of alarm; but, as I moved from place to place, all +seemed in arms against me. My insatiable curiosity, too, was +everywhere offensive; nothing escaped my prying propensity, and I even +regretted that I had suffered the crocodile to escape that I might have +intercepted, had I been cool, and have driven to the land for +examination; I often, indeed, pushed my inquiries beyond the line of +prudence. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +An unpleasant nocturnal visitor +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +One moonlight night I was favoured with a splendid view of the jaguar +under the influence of a hungry stomach, and in that state I saw him +seize his prey. I had spread my matting at the lower end of a tree +that had been torn up by the roots, between which I could creep and +hide myself; at the other end the branches extended into a small glade +or open space; when about midnight I was awaked by a tremendous roar. +Alarmed for my own safety. I crept between the roots of the tree, +pulling the covering after me, and in this situation raised my head so +as to look along the shaft of the fallen timber, about ten yards from +the end of which I could distinctly discern the jaguar, pacing up and +down, in a space of not more than thirty yards. His step was quick and +hurried, but so light that he appeared not to touch the ground; his +swollen and stiffened tail swept the ground, as it moved from side to +side. I instantly became anxious to ascertain whether his eyes were +directed towards any particular object, and more especially in the +direction where I was hid. I had the satisfaction of seeing their +fierce glance furtively cast in every direction but towards me; indeed, +I must have been invisible to him through the broken branches and +roots, at the distance he was from the tree, and amid the shade that +surrounded me. +</P> + +<P> +The spot he had chosen for his nocturnal promenade was, I have no +doubt, a deer track, on which he had before in all probability snatched +many meals. His impatience evidently increased as his expectations +were delayed; he quickened, if possible, his step at every turn, till +at length he suddenly paused, and assumed a most exciting attitude. +His tail for a moment stood out perfectly horizontal, in a line with +his back; making gentle sweeps, as if of immediate expectation. +Suddenly he crouched on his belly, still moving his tail very gently; +at length the moment arrived: he gave one roar of horrid delight, and +the next, a deer was in his jaws, and growling, he seized and +dispatched it by twisting the head downwards with his paw. Finally he +gave the deer a shake, as if to assure himself that life was extinct, +and then, with a fling of the head threw the dead animal across his +back, and was lost in the thicket, depriving me of the satisfaction of +witnessing his manner of finishing the repast. +</P> + +<P> +Strong in my resolution to arrive if possible at the extremity of the +forest, I continued to proceed, as I thought, in the same direction; +but I could not travel every day, being compelled sometimes to watch +through the night, and being frequently unable, while moving forward, +to obtain a sufficiency of nutritious food. When, therefore, I met +with a convenient retreat, I stayed and refreshed myself till I +acquired strength to undertake new labours. +</P> + +<P> +Some scenes would irresistibly detain me, and if any one express +surprise that they should do so when journeying to seek the society of +my fellow-creatures, I reply that I did not at any time abandon the +hope of success; yet when the uncertainty of my course, without a +compass or guide, is considered, I never had a right to be very +sanguine in my expectations, use whatever efforts I might. In a +journey of such a doubtful nature, oftentimes worn down with fatigue of +body and despair of mind, it was natural to linger on and to rest in an +oasis longer than in a desert. +</P> + +<P> +In a hot climate, cool retreats have peculiar charms, such as are +unappreciable by those who live in cold countries. The mere +topographical traveller may measure a lake, or a river, give the height +and angle of a projecting rock, describe the rush of falling waters +into an estuary, and trace the course of rivers from their rise to +their mouth, but he is unable to give the living tints of nature, +together with all their form and colour. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Beauties of the forest +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Neither the pen nor the pencil can describe the feelings of those who +sympathize with nature in her secret homes of grandeur. +</P> + +<P> +When I first entered the forest, the effect of the sublimity of the +scene was astonishment, in which the beauties were lost; but as +surprise wore off, these beauties, one by one, stood out to view; and +operating on the senses, produced pleasure in its highest state of +enjoyment. +</P> + +<P> +In scenes where bignonias, passifloras, and a thousand other flowers +presented an unceasing display throughout the year, surrounded with +birds and insects of surpassing beauty, who, possessed of sympathy of +soul, or an ear for the sweet sounds of nature, would not for a time +forget mortality and live in imaginary eternal bliss; for the charm of +such scenes is only dispelled by awakening to the wants and necessities +of the corporeal man. +</P> + +<P> +My existence was of such a nature,—one of alternate enjoyment in +communing with lonely and enchanting scenes, and of fears lest I should +fall a sacrifice to the dangers that environed my everyday movements. +Sometimes I sallied forth to face dangers, and again paused to breathe, +and, for a time, escape them. +</P> + +<P> +At length I reached a new scene, consisting of sand-hills, out of which +issued springs of water, uniting at a short distance, where they formed +a stream, which appeared to wind over an open country. In comparison +with my solitude in the woods, this was a cheering change; and +recollecting the geographical axiom in my school-books, that all +springs and rivers ultimately find their way into the sea, I rejoiced +at the chance I had of being extricated from the labyrinth in which I +had been so long bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Following the stream +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +It is the fate of mortals to see the birth of pleasure only to witness +her destruction. Her commencement is always very nearly connected with +her end. The instant that gives her birth is generally the same in +which she expires. I had not proceeded far before the waters spread +themselves over the land, and were lost to the sight. In one or two +places their course terminated as if they were cut off with a knife, +one edge being visible and the other in obscurity, exhibiting the +phenomenon of rivers which suddenly take a subterraneous course, to +rise again at another point, leaving the space between perfectly dry. +Being now in an open country, I ascertained that the course I had +travelled was directly southward, or towards that part of the horizon +which was cut by the sun's culminating, or meridian line; and this +course I continued to pursue. A day and a half again brought me to the +stream, for, as yet, it was not entitled to be called a river. It now, +however, took a direction leading into the wood, among the foliage of +which it was lost to the eye. The emancipation from the forest had +given me the greatest possible delight, I therefore could not but +hesitate before I again entered it; yet it was my only certain source +of subsistence in the open country. I suffered both from hunger and +thirst. I had, therefore, no alternative but to follow the stream; and +on I went, its course winding so much that I began to fear I was +traversing another circle. At length, after giving me much wearisome +toil, it was lost in an impenetrable thicket of wood. I was now +constrained to make a very considerable and extended <I>détour</I>, in the +hope of again reaching its banks at some merging point. Three days I +journeyed round an impervious mass of wood, so closely matted that I +could at no point obtain an entrance. At the end of that time, I +suddenly lighted upon the spot where I supposed the waters met in one +broad reservoir. Various tributary streams flowed into this spot, and +continued their meandering course for many miles. I hailed the sight +of it with considerable delight, as I had begun to be fearful that I +was about to lose sight of its course altogether. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION IN NATURE, OF WHICH I <BR> +HAVE A WONDERFUL ESCAPE—AM RESCUED IN THE LAST <BR> +EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF INDIANS. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> + "Look round and see<BR> +How Providence bestows on all alike<BR> +Sunshine and rain, to bless the fruitful year<BR> +Of different nations, all different faiths;<BR> +And though by several names and titles worshipp'd,<BR> +Heav'n takes the various tribute of their praise.<BR> +Since all agree to own, at least to mean,<BR> +One best, one greatest, and one Lord of all."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +A useful hollow tree +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +When I arrived at the confluence, as I took it to be, of the streams, +it was Saturday night,—that is, according to my new calendar. As I +did not think it lawful to travel on the Sunday, I sought for an +eligible place of security, where I might rest, and start thoroughly +refreshed on the Monday, to solve the problem of the opposing currents. +With this view I ascended an isolated blasted tree, where I might seat +myself, and find protection from insidious enemies. I was delighted to +find that the trunk was hollow, the only entrance being from the top. +The tree leaned to the horizon at about an angle of 45 degrees. After +carefully examining it, I thought I had satisfied myself that it was +not pre-occupied by any obnoxious inhabitant; I then dropped into it, +as it were, down a chimney. Crouching, I was out of sight, but when I +stood erect I had a view of my own desolate situation. +</P> + +<P> +A species of frogs had just commenced to send forth their peculiar +noise, which resembles the sound from a stonemason's yard, when I was +annoyed by a number of green frogs, such as dwell in trees; and +endeavouring to brush these from my immediate locality, I discovered a +number of the <I>scolopendra</I>, or centipedes, from five to eight inches +in length. Perceiving a hole in the side of the tree, I proceeded to +expel these formidable insects with my stick, by which means I +disturbed, in the pulpy part of the decayed wood, a nest of +<I>scorpions</I>. Things in motion soon catch my eye, and in another second +I had regained the earth. Indisposed, however, to give up such a +comfortable apartment, I cleared out the whole of the interior, and +then regained the top of the tree, where I sat for a considerable time +in doubt whether I should retire to rest or keep watch through the +night. It was a beautiful evening, and the air was strongly +impregnated with the aromatic fragrance of the different species of the +<I>rubiaceæ</I>, the <I>andiocera</I>, and <I>ænothera</I>. Moonlight is a thoughtful +period in all climates. I had almost, while watching my own shadow, +forgotten the process of time, when suddenly Cynthia extinguished her +lamp. Wearied, both in a mental and physical sense, I again, reckless +of consequences, dropped into my cylindrical apartment. How long I +slept I cannot tell; I was, however, awaked to scenes as remarkable as +they were terrible and rapid in succession. A flood of light was +streaming into my skylight, and I became conscious of a rocking +sensation. For a moment I concluded that I was again seized with the +vertigo in my head. A violent sound of rushing waters soon roused me +to a sense of my real danger, and, standing erect, I beheld all the +firm earth, on which but a few hours previously I had stood, now +covered with water. An immense number of aquatic birds were floating +on its surface, while others were springing up to branches of the trees +above, to escape from the enormous serpents, and other monsters of the +deep, that infest temporary lakes caused by sudden inundations. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +An inundation +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +As I surveyed the scene the waters were still rising, and the tree on +which I sat rose with them in an upright position. Presently it became +stationary, and the water began, gradually to cover its trunk. I have +said that it was an isolated spot: it was a small area in the midst of +the wood, which appeared to have been cleared by the blast of +lightning, the nearest tree being fifty yards, or more, distant. Among +other things struggling for life was a fawn, which swam beneath me, and +was seized by a cayman; while as another monster of the same species, +at least thirty feet long, paused to survey me, with my feet then +nearly touching the water, I impulsively raised my stick in +self-defence, and at this juncture the trunk of the tree suddenly swung +round, and by its action nearly threw me off into the jaws of the +cayman. The principal part of the roots were torn from the earth, but +most providentially the only remaining branch on the tree remained +uppermost, which presented me with the opportunity of climbing five or +six feet higher. Still, as I could not now turn round with facility, I +remained for a full hour, every moment expecting the monster would +seize me from behind; for the cayman continued to show himself at +intervals, as if certain, in the end, of his prey. At length the roots +of the decayed tree parted entirely from the earth, and it was carried +forward with the current. Fortunately the branch, which was my only +chance of escape, still remained elevated. The cayman did not abandon +his intended victim till my bark conveyed me among the standing trees, +when I seized the opportunity of climbing up one of considerable +height. Up to this period all other dangers had been merged in the +immediate dread of the monster of the deep, but I was now at liberty to +take a more extended view of the scene, from a fixed position, and I +found myself in the midst of congregated wild beasts and powerful +reptiles. +</P> + +<P> +In the next tree to the one I occupied was an ant-bear, and a little +farther off I could discern several others. Monkeys and apes were +swinging and chattering over my head in large numbers; serpents, from +five to thirty feet long, were crawling on the branches and round the +trunks of trees, to escape from the flood; tiger-cats, beautifully +striped, were springing from branch to branch of the green and +purple-heart trees, which here grew to the height of seventy feet; +lizards were seen in such numbers as in many places literally to cover +the branches of the trees. All the birds were sending forth sounds of +dissonance, as if stricken with terror; while the shrill voice of the +bird called the pi-pi-yo roused me to the consciousness that the hour +of noon had arrived. +</P> + +<P> +The lofty <I>panax</I>, <I>Bignonia</I>, <I>copaiva</I>, rising to a hundred feet in +height, were peopled with living things, all in apparent consternation +at the sudden changes of the scene. It was a grand, though an awful +sight for a human being to behold. Animals of various natures, habits, +and antipathies, were all crowded together in one common place of +refuge, shaken by the wind, and dreading contact with each other, as +the violent rushing of the waters bore on their surface numberless +proofs of the havoc made, and still threatening to sweep away and +swallow up every vestige of animal and vegetable creation. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Hope in desolation +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +But let the soul be set on the highest mount of distress, and view the +most spacious prospect of misery, if the eye be turned towards God +comfort may be found beyond the horizon, when human strength is vain. +</P> + +<P> +I lifted up my voice in the wilderness, and lo! God was there, and I +took courage, exclaiming, "The Almighty is the architect of all I see, +His power stretches over the whole earth and the empty space; He hangs +the earth and all the ethereal globes upon nothing; and is He not able +to save me?" "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my +righteousness," saith the Lord. "The hand which fixes the stars and +guides the planets in their courses is stretched out to preserve His +children." +</P> + +<P> +With these reflections did I trust in my position, and bid my soul to +take courage and rely on divine succour. Fortunately, I had the +remains of a cooked bird in my wallet, which always hung at my back; +and <I>murucuja</I>, fruit of one of the passion-flowers, was within my +reach, which I gathered and ate. The fish also forsook their ordinary +food, for I could plainly see them feeding on the fruit and berries of +shrubs through which they swam. +</P> + +<P> +At length night overtook me, and the moon, I thought, rose with a more +speaking yet angry countenance than usual, frowning blood-coloured rays +on the surface of the water and through the foliage of the wood, still +rendering my fellow-lodgers immediately around me visible, while the +vampire and other species of bats flitted wildly round, like spirits of +the air; and occasional splashings beneath indicated that the larger +tyrants of the flood were making prey of the weaker inhabitants, or the +latter were exerting themselves to escape from the jaws of the former. +</P> + +<P> +The terrestrial animals seemed, for the most part, in providing for +their own safety, to have suspended all operations of warfare, the +scene above the flood in the evening wearing much the same appearance +as throughout the day, excepting that the reptiles were not so +numerous, the serpents and lizards having found hiding-places in the +holes of the trees or under thick foliage. After a few hours the moon +went down and left me +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"In the populous solitude of bees and birds,<BR> +And fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +It was now that, like Job, I had to "gird up my loins like a man;" for, +as darkness shrouded me, my thoughts naturally reverted to the bear in +the next tree; I could not but speculate on his movements, and the +probability of his descending and swimming to invade my territory. +Impressed with this fear, the master one of the hour, I took up a +position to command the trunk of the tree, where, armed with my stick, +I might oppose him to an advantage. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +A night on the water +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +It would be futile were I to attempt to describe my sensations during +the night. Could words be found expressive enough for the purpose, +they should have been penned at the instant they were felt; feelings +under such extraordinary circumstances cannot be recalled, or +appreciated only at the time they were excited. Words, in description, +stand for general ideas in Nature's chart; ten thousand sensations and +forms enter of themselves into the sanctuary of the mind. I can only +say that I spent the night in prayer for the coming morn. It, however, +passed without involving me in any encounter. "Now, men see not the +bright light which is in the clouds; but the wind passeth and cleareth +them away." +</P> + +<P> +I thought it was an interminable night, and long before morning dawned, +as the first glimmer of light tinged the eastern horizon, I strained my +eyes to assure myself of its actual approach; yet what hope could it +bring me?—none, in prospect; notwithstanding which, latent hope was +not wholly extinct. A vague idea possessed me that I might find some +floating tree to carry me to the nearest shore. At length, indolently, +as I thought, the morning did appear, rendering surrounding objects +visible. The bear was still in the tree, coiled up like a cat, in a +forked branch, apparently asleep. His bearship had not even the +politeness to pass the compliment of the day by noticing me; and noon +again arrived, bringing with it utter despair. For some time I had +been watching a log of timber, in the hope that it would float within +my reach, when I distinctly heard the sound of human voices. My heart +leaped up with joy; and the coincidence of the appearance of a rainbow +at the same instant, operated like a reprieve to a malefactor in the +hands of the executioner. +</P> + +<P> +I was so much elated, that I actually should have neglected to have +called out for assistance, had not the same voices again addressed my +ear more distinctly, when I used my vocal powers with all my might; but +I had no response, and my heart was again, sinking within me, when I +observed a canoe approaching. It contained two Indians; one was using +the paddle, the other directing his attention to the spot from whence +my voice proceeded. A few seconds brought them under the tree, and an +invitation, by signs, for me to descend, and accept of my emancipation +from their hands. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The charms of solitude +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding all the terrors and privations of my wild life, there +was a charm in it which is inexplicable; and I paused ere I parted with +it. Men whose whole life has been identified with civilization may not +understand this feeling; but long association with nature in her own +scenes of unlimited grandeur and profuse bounty, cannot be broken off +without a struggle. In return for all the blessings nature bestows on +her children of the woods, she requires no sacrifice of liberty; free +and unconstrained she permits them to roam throughout her domains; to +robe or unrobe, as their taste may dictate; to rest when fatigued, and +to rise when refreshed. Nature does not mask misery with the face of +happiness, nor dress misfortune in the guise of prosperity; free and +uncontrolled, her children are invited to help themselves at her +munificent board; while in the narrow paths of civilized life, even the +boasted reason of man is incapable of conferring happiness on society. +But with the green grass and soft moss for a carpet, umbrageous trees +for a shade, the murmuring stream for the ear, together with the sound +of the breeze amongst the leaves to woo reflection, the syrens of +vicious pleasure may be avoided, and the disquietudes of life be +forgotten. Like a true citizen of the world, I had become enamoured +with liberty, and with the instinct of a denizen of the forest, I +shrank from the presence of man. My situation was perilous, death +being inevitable if I remained in the tree; for in a short time sleep +must overcome me, and in that state, I must fall into the waters +beneath. Reluctantly, therefore, I dropped into the canoe, with the +feelings of a bird who darts into a cage to escape the talons of the +hawk—an incident, by the way, which once brought both the fugitive and +the hawk into my trap. No captured African slave could feel the loss +of liberty more than I did when the Indians assigned me a seat in the +canoe, which proceeded to join a company consisting of eleven persons. +They were a fishing party that had left their wonted haunts to avail +themselves of the flood, a period when their efforts were generally +rewarded with great success. One canoe was nearly filled with the +product of the first draught, and they were in the act of drawing +another as I appeared amongst them. +</P> + +<P> +They were all well-grown men, nearly naked, like myself, very placid in +their demeanour, and showed great anxiety to relieve my distress, +offering me food and drink. Indeed, their manners were so urbane and +pleasing, that in a very short time I recovered from my depression of +spirits, and congratulated myself on my good fortune in falling into +their company. They wore large grass-platted hats to defend the head +from the heat of the sun, and had each a hammock made of the same +materials, which as night approached, they slung from the branches of +trees, and calmly laid themselves down to survey the confusion of +nature which the sudden inundation had occasioned. +</P> + +<P> +With the party was a youth about my own age, who at once attached +himself to me; he manifested his disappointment and concern that he +could not make himself understood by words, and in a very short time +intimated his intention of undertaking my education by showing me the +implements in use and calling them by name, till I not only recollected +them, but acquired accuracy of pronunciation. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The Indian village +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Two days subsequently to my rescue from the tree, I was taken to the +Indian village, about ten miles from the border of the forest. It +consisted of fifteen huts on an elevated spot, distant a half-mile from +a fine river, which ebbed and flowed with the tide. It was this +circumstance that had occasioned my embarrassment when following the +stream and suddenly meeting with a contrary current. +</P> + +<P> +On my arrival at the village I was struck with the absence of curiosity +or surprise which a stranger from another race generally excites, even +in civilized localities. Neither men, women, or children appeared to +bestow on me any peculiar notice, nor did they, as far as I could +learn, express any desire to know how I came amongst them, or from +whence I came. No overseer or other parish officer was called in to +provide me with food and then dispute my right to eat. I was at once +led to the hut of the father of my young friend, and received as one of +the family, in which there were two wives and two families—one mother +with three, and another with four children. Plurality of wives was the +custom of this Indian community, and yet they lived in perfect harmony; +there were no jealousies or bickerings; the progeny of each shared +alike the affection and care of both mothers, who laboured with equal +zeal in the culture of cassava or manioc, the roots of which they +grated and made into bread. +</P> + +<P> +There were numerous tribes of these Indians, but they all spoke the +same language. The tribe I was with were called Galibis; they were +remarkable alike for their humanity and intelligence. Indeed, they +possessed all the moral qualities of civilized society, without its +forms and most of its vices, especially the one of coveting their +neighbours' goods. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Habits of the Indians +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +During the time I was with them, a period of eighteen months, I never +heard of a charge of theft. Land was as plentiful as air and water; +there could not, therefore, be any motive to steal, if we except +idleness,—a vice which prevails more in cities than in the wilds of +nature. Numerous families sometimes live in one common large hut; yet +there are no quarrels to disturb their harmony; and such is their +hospitality that he who is fatigued with hunting may always depend on +repose in the nearest dwelling. +</P> + +<P> +Their language is peculiarly harmonious, rich with synonyms, and is +represented by those who have studied its grammatical construction, to +be complicated and ingenious in syntax. Intelligent as they are, they +have at all times rejected the arts and all instruction, from their +great love of independence. The countenances of all are stereotyped +with benevolence, and their conversation is fraught with maxims that +inculcate the practice of charity to all the human race. They are not +without a sense of pride, yet discourage it in practice. It requires +no broker to make a written catalogue of their household furniture: +their weapons are bows and arrows, and a short dart which they force +through a reed with the breath, bringing down birds on the wing with +surprising dexterity. A flat stone on which the women bake bread, and +a rough one on which to grate the root of cassava; a hammock, a +hatchet, a comb, and a broken piece of looking-glass in a rude frame, +comprise the whole of their furniture. What few vessels they had were +ill made,—not any improvement on those I formed from clay for the use +of my aviary when in the woods. +</P> + +<P> +They have no code of laws, nor have they a word in the language by +which to convey the idea of laws; yet they have the same word as in +Hebrew to express God, by which they understand supreme master. They +have a magistrate or elder, to whom any matter of disputation is +referred, and by him summarily and finally settled. Fire they obtain +by rubbing two pieces of wood together; and for cooking, this is made +on the ground, over which they suspend their vessels in the rudest +manner. Although these people wear no clothes, properly so called, +they are very fond of ornaments; as amulets and charms, those obtained +from the ivory-billed woodpecker were most in vogue. No people in the +world, perhaps, are more remarkable for acute observation. If you name +any kind of bird, or other animal, to them, that is to be found in this +part of the globe, instantly they imitate its action and tones of +voice. The notes of birds they give with surprising accuracy. They +are very expert swimmers, and some of the women and children spend the +chief of their time in the water. The men fish, and hunt, and when not +so employed, which happens three or four days in the week, they remain +in their hammocks, and amuse themselves with their implements, in the +repairs of which, and in conversation, all their leisure is spent. +They possess all the qualities to form good sportsmen, and to take the +command of others—having great presence of mind and promptitude of +action. I know not which most to admire, their skill in discovering +game, or their manner of taking it. They entertain the loftiest +sentiments of chivalrous honour, and their courage always rises with +increasing difficulty; it "smiles in danger stern and wild," and is +superior to circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +On the fourth day after my emancipation from the loneliness of the +forest I accompanied a fishing party to the same spot from whence I had +been taken. It was a favourite locality for hunting the ant-bear, and +when the waters were out, for taking crabs and oysters, which were +caught in large numbers among the trees and shrubs that were more or +less covered by the flood. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The Great Spirit of the Indians +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Under the assiduous tuition of my young friend, whose name was <I>Pecoe</I>, +I rapidly progressed in a knowledge of his language, and could not +refrain from making many reflections on his method of teaching as +compared with my European schoolmaster's. Pecoe, I considered, had +adopted a natural mode of instruction, while the system of the other +was wholly artificial, and tedious in practice. My teacher was as +anxious to be taught himself as to teach me, and when we were able to +converse, asked ten thousand questions relative to my country and the +state of society in it. Whether my long residence in the woods had +disqualified me to be an advocate for the cause of civilization I know +not, but at all my descriptions of it, Pecoe shook his head, and was +evidently under an impression that my countrymen must be a very unhappy +race of people. On one occasion, when conversing on our difference of +colour, and on the human races generally, he said, "I will tell you how +it happened: you know that there are three great spirits, all good, +though each is greater than the other. The great spirit of all one day +said to the lowest spirit, 'make a man, and let me see him.' The +spirit took some clay and made a man; but when the Great Spirit saw +him, he shook his head, and said he was too white. He then ordered the +spirit next to himself in goodness to make a man, who tried his skill +with charcoal—burnt wood; but the Great Spirit again shook his head, +and said he was too black. The Great Spirit then determined to try +himself, and taking some red earth, made the Indians, which pleased him +very much." When I told him that the Great Spirit in his great +goodness had so ordered it that every one should think his own colour +the best, he replied, that it was not possible for either a black or a +white man to be so stupid as to be satisfied with the colour of his +skin, stigmatized as he, Pecoe, thought both races were, by +barbarities. When I explained to him the various grades of civilized +society, his quick apprehension broke out in the most indignant terms, +denouncing the system as one dictated by a demon. Rich and poor! +"What good," he asked, "could arise from allowing one to take all, and +giving nothing to the other?" +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Pecoe's ideas of society +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I replied, that the wisdom of the Great Spirit (God) was recognised in +his anticipation of the wisdom of man, by providing him with original +principles of his own, which were given to regulate, not excite +desires. Thus the sense of property is germinated in very early +childhood, which sense I maintained generated a moral feeling, and a +principle of justice and equity. My young friend, after a moment's +thoughtful pause, stoutly gave the negative to my premises,—that the +sense of property was developed in early life; he argued that the +desire exhibited by children to handle things, and which we erroneously +call a desire to possess them, is nothing more than a natural desire to +exercise the physical senses on objects of the external world, through +which only could they educate the powers of the body for healthful and +manly purposes of life. Those things which some call children's +playthings, he held to be <I>bonâ fide</I> tools, without which, whether +they were wooden horses, paper boats, a doll's head, or a piece of +stick, they could no more rise out of a state of childhood than a man +could go to sea without a canoe. He therefore denied the inference, +that because children manifest a disposition to snatch or handle +everything they can reach, it is an indication of natural +acquisitiveness. The mind, he said, was wholly disengaged from these +matters at an early age; employment for the organs of the five senses, +together with an instinctive desire to promote their development, were +the true causes of children quarrelling for possessions. He instanced +their having no abiding attachment for any one particular toy, however +expensive or attractively constructed, always casting away one thing to +handle another, the various forms of which gave exercise to different +muscles, and imparted new sensations of pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +The object I have in presenting my readers with a few of Pecoe's +opinions is to illustrate the different ideas elicited in the minds of +men by diverse circumstances of life and education. I scarcely need +inform them that, in committing to paper my friend's notions, I have +dressed them up in my own language. +</P> + +<P> +On this occasion Pecoe closed the conversation by remarking that the +nature of society, such as I had depicted in England, appeared to +charge the Great Spirit with having at some early period thrown upon +the earth all His gifts in a heap, for a general scramble, on the +condition that the posterity of those who succeeded in first picking +them up should for ever live in idleness, and become the masters of the +posterity of those whose ancestors had been unsuccessful in snatching +from their fellow-men more than their own share. He continued: "It was +hard to believe such a state of society could exist, and thought the +Evil Spirit must have put it into my head;" meaning that I had drawn +upon my own imagination for the sketch. The incomprehensible part of +the system to Pecoe was, that some could be luxuriating in plenty and +others be starving at the same time in one country. +</P> + +<P> +Warfare was unknown to his race, because the practice of good-will and +the friendly offices of mutual assistance were universal among them, +and annihilated every motive to aggrandisement, and consequently the +disposition was never brought out. Bear in mind, reader, that I am +describing no Utopia. When, therefore, I spoke of our numerous wars, +and explained that it was those who had been unfortunate at the first +general scramble, as he designated it, who risked their lives in +battle, fighting for their wealthy masters, his incredulity rose so +high as to doubt my veracity, and for some time subsequently I thought +he seemed to shun my society, appearing very pensive and lonely in his +habits. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Pecoe as a nurse +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +About a fortnight after the above conversation I was suddenly taken +with violent symptoms of fever, when Pecoe was immediately by my side, +assiduously attending to all my wants with the tenderness of a nurse. +The physician, or pee-ay-man, was applied to, who offered up prayers to +the Bad Spirit for my recovery;—for it is a part of their creed that +the Good Spirit is too good to do any one harm, and therefore it is the +Malicious Spirit that must be conciliated. +</P> + +<P> +For this purpose a number of incantations were performed, after which +the physician continued to parade from hut to hut, howling and +performing another series of incantations throughout the night, at +intervals calling to see if any improvement had taken place in the +health of his patient. As it was the practice of every family to burn +a fire through the night, I could from my hammock see this juggler +stalking to and fro, looking more like a demon than a minister of +comfort in sickness. +</P> + +<P> +Pecoe proved the best physician. He never left me, continuing to +administer comfort to me in every possible way and manner. Among other +services he relieved me, at my request, from the mummeries of the +pee-ay-man, aptly urging that, as the spirits of my country were not +the same as theirs, he might by his interference make them angry +instead of conciliating them. But the women, who really felt an +interest in my fate, were not so easily satisfied, they placed implicit +reliance on the skill of the pee-ay-man, and were angry with Pecoe for +sending him away. "Never mind," said he, coolly, to some remarks that +censured his conduct, "I am as good a doctor as he is; and if I am hot, +don't the Great Spirit brush away the flies from the animal without a +tail?" +</P> + +<P> +My disease grew worse, and rapidly hastened to its crisis. Pecoe in +every stage sought for new sources of comfort: he collected silk-grass, +and daily made new pillows for my head, when they were wetted with the +cold water he applied to my temples. He constantly moistened my lips +with slices of pineapple, only occasionally leaving me, to go in search +of the jelly cocoa-nut, which in an unripe state has but a thin skin, +but contains more liquor. As the fever subsided, these grateful +draughts contributed much towards my recovery, and without doubt +hastened the period of final restoration to health, when I said to my +friend, "You may now set up as physician to the tribe, and supersede +the pee-ay-man." The remark brought a smile from his lips, as he +replied, "I have not such a mean spirit as to endure to be laughed at +by all the people. Do you, then, really believe that these pretenders +to superior knowledge are esteemed, or that any in the place have faith +in their arts?" +</P> + +<P> +"If not," said I, "why tolerate them, and why not apply to the Great +and Good Spirits themselves for help?" +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Pecoe's prudence +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +"Why!" rejoined Pecoe, "because too many like deception more than +honesty, and prefer listening to falsehood rather than to truth. My +father and all his friends have secretly laughed at the impostor all +their days, yet in public give him countenance, and also frown on the +children who would doubt the efficacy of his tricks, or his ability to +solve dreams and foretell events. I myself," he continued, "sometimes +doubt my right to disregard the proffered services of these men. This +arises, perhaps, from the general countenance they have from all the +tribes, and the force of custom; for I seldom give myself the trouble +to investigate their claim to respect; I endure their arts, because the +majority patronise them, though I never open my lips in their defence. +It is an ungracious task to make yourself more wise than your +neighbours; even if you should be successful, you must inevitably make +enemies without gaining new friends, people do not like to be told that +they have been in error all their lives, or to believe that their +forefathers were foolishly credulous." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS—I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"What fancied zone can circumscribe the soul,<BR> +Who, conscious of the source from whence she springs,<BR> +By Reason's light, or Resolution's wings,<BR> +Spite of her frail companion, dauntless goes<BR> +O'er Libya's deserts, and through Zembla's snows?<BR> +She bids each slumb'ring energy awake,—<BR> +Another touch, another temper take;<BR> +Suspends th' inferior laws that rule o'er clay.<BR> +The stubborn elements confess her sway;<BR> +Man's little wants his low desires refine,<BR> +And raise the mortal to a height divine."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the darkness in which my friend Pecoe had been brought +up, I was impressed with the notion that his soul was sufficiently +alive to receive the great truths of Christianity. I therefore +resolved again to introduce the subject, and make an effort to engross +his attention. I commenced by impressing on his mind that my +countrymen were a race acknowledged to be inferior to none other, and +that they worshipped only One Great Spirit, the Maker of the heavens +and the earth, together with all things visible and invisible. He +surprised me by admitting that these things had engaged much of his +attention, and that his mind was now made up on the question; his +conviction being that the heavens and the earth had existed from +eternity, and would continue the same to eternity. +</P> + +<P> +I explained to him that nothing endured for ever but the power of God; +that all things were constantly undergoing a process of change; that +the globe we inhabited had a beginning, and, consequently, like +inferior bodies, would have an end; that God permitted the dissolution +of one body, and the birth of another, at periods appointed, to the end +that the whole of his designs might arrive at perfection, and no +absolute loss be sustained. Pecoe heard me out with great patience, +then shook his head, and enquired how it came that my father should +know better than his? When, however, I spoke of the existence of the +soul in another and better world, and endeavoured to illustrate that +certainty by saying, in the dissolution of bodies nothing perished but +their forms, and that the soul when it abdicated its decaying vessel, +the body, was translated to another, and a purer state of existence, he +evidently looked on me as being insane. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Attempts at conversion +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I was disappointed,—was vexed at my inability to awaken him to a sense +of what all mankind, more or less, in some form, have acknowledged, +namely, a future state of existence. I now urged that all human beings +were sensible of relations not subject to the senses, and therefore +possessed sensibilities distinct from the body. That they could +compare, and therefore had judgment; that they retained, and therefore +have memory; that they possessed freedom of choice, and therefore have +will. I then said, if to these we add instinct, there are five +faculties of the soul; adding, Reason compares those ideas immediately +transmitted to the memory; imagination is the same faculty exercised on +the same objects differently combined, having no similitude in nature. +</P> + +<P> +"These," replied Pecoe, "are all your own thoughts." +</P> + +<P> +Having from early infancy been accustomed, both morning and evening, to +offer up my prayers to God, and having, when in the wilds of nature, +found in this practice much solace, I did not fail while with the +Indians to continue the custom; yet none of the people had hitherto +taken any notice of my devotion. At length Pecoe inquired my motives, +asking what I expected to gain by the practice. +</P> + +<P> +I replied, that we had all daily wants, and that in the morning I +petitioned the Great Spirit—my God—-to supply them, and that in the +evening I returned thanks for the protection and supplies I had +received. I further explained, that prayer was the voice of sin to Him +who alone can pardon it; that it was the petition of poverty, the +prostration of humility, the confidence of trust, the feeling of +helplessness, and the compunctions of the soul. All this I put in the +most simple form of language, and I have reason to think that he fully +understood the feeling I endeavoured to convey. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding, he asked me whether I had not food enough to eat, and +what it was the Evil Spirit had made me do that troubled me so much? +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Conversation on prayer +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +In vain did I labour to impress his mind with a sense of the necessity +there is for all to worship the Giver of life and all other blessings, +and that by intreating the One God to protect us, the value of his +gifts was enhanced, and that there was an inexpressible delight in +committing ourselves to the care and guidance of one who is infinitely +able to protect us in the right path. +</P> + +<P> +"The Spirit," said he, "is good, and will do nothing wrong—he will not +listen to what you tell him." +</P> + +<P> +I replied by saying that we could not tell God of anything that he did +not already know, and that prayer and thanksgiving were due from us all +to one so beneficent. I then explained to him that his condition of +darkness in religious matters was once the condition of all mankind, +and that it was only by reflection, and the intercommunication of +minds, that the little light our forefathers possessed was obtained, +until at length God sent his only Son to reveal the truth to us. I +then repeated the Lord's Prayer, and promised to teach it to him in his +own language if he would use it. +</P> + +<P> +He replied that he must have time to consider of it. A few days after +he requested that I would not talk in that way any more to him, adding, +that they were all my own sayings, meaning they were things of my own +invention. +</P> + +<P> +"You have consulted your father," said I. He acknowledged that he had, +laughing at the same time, as if I had been a subject of their +ridicule. Up to that moment I had flattered myself that I should have +been spiritually of service to him, and perhaps through him, to more of +his race. His father, however, was an enemy to civilized man, and +inimical to innovations of every kind. +</P> + +<P> +It appeared from a traditional story, which Pecoe subsequently related +me, that at some former period these people had been visited by a party +of missionaries, the particulars of which I an induced to give, as a +caution to gentlemen who labour in such arduous undertakings as those +of converting heathens to Christianity. +</P> + +<P> +"Some white men," said Pecoe, "came here a long time since, and brought +strange talk about the Great Spirit and his Son, (that is, about our +blessed Saviour), to which our people agreed to listen, upon condition, +that every time they attended they should receive a bottle of rum. +They did attend," continued Pecoe, "but in a short time the white men +wanted them to come and listen for nothing, and so broke their +contract." Scrupulously punctual to their own engagements, the +Indians, immediately on the withholding of the rum, took a prejudice +against the missionaries, which no subsequent conduct on the part of +the latter could remove, or perhaps will ever efface from the memory of +the former. Thus has a stumblingblock been placed in the way of all +future adventurers among them in the cause of Christianity. As soon as +I was made acquainted with these particulars, I resolved to undertake +the defence of the missionaries' conduct, and at least, lessen the +prejudice against them. With this view, I availed myself of the first +large assemblage of the natives, and opened the subject by inquiring +how long it was since the white men had visited them, which way they +came, and lastly, by what road they returned? suggesting, that perhaps +the same road might lead me to a European colony, where I might have a +chance of hearing from my friends. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Defence of the missionaries +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +An aged Indian replied to these inquiries, adding, that he had no great +opinion of the white men who came there; and on asking how they had +conducted themselves, he related the story in nearly the same words as +I had heard it from Pecoe. I then explained the good intentions of the +persons who subscribed money to spread the truths of the gospel, and +the great sacrifices made by those who consented to give up the charms +of civilized life for the good of the poor unenlightened heathen. I +then went on to say, that with respect to the presents of rum, it was +natural, after the missionaries had taken the trouble to study their +language, and to travel so far, to adopt any means to secure a hearing, +without which, no good could possibly accrue to the objects of their +mission. Although, I continued, they might at first hold out some +inducement to be heard, yet it was unreasonable to expect that persons +so far away from home and their resources could continue to find the +means of making repeated presents in order to tempt persons to their +own good. +</P> + +<P> +When I had finished, some of the Indians laughed, others shook their +heads, indicating disapprobation, and a hint that I had better be +silent. Upon the whole, though I pushed the matter somewhat strongly, +I failed in making any impression on the auditors. +</P> + +<P> +With regard to natural objects, I question if there be a more acute and +observing people in the whole world; yet they are wholly a people of +feelings, being evidently deficient in intellect. Their imagination +and understanding are both at a low ebb, as I could never extend their +ideas beyond their own path of life. At times I gave Pecoe credit for +possessing a more lively imagination than others of his tribe; but as I +knew more of him, this impression died away. In the highly cultivated +walks of society, manhood is the period when the feelings are +predominant. Imagination prevails in youth, and the understanding in +old age. These people are in the middle stage of progress; and as they +possess the purest moral notions of right and wrong, cannot be +incapable of receiving the truths of revealed religion. The highest +degree of moral elevation can only be attained by carefully cherishing +the more benevolent and kindlier feelings of nature; that is, by +cultivating the good passions, and throwing into disuse the bad ones. +The Indians with whom I lived, effected these objects in a very high +degree; for I never saw an instance of any violent exhibition of temper +among them, and it was always a matter of astonishment to me to see how +exceeding tractable their children were without severity on the part of +the parents. +</P> + +<P> +In the moral sense of the word, they were good; and if they had been +Christians, would have been deemed examples for more refined nations. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"A good man, and an angel! these between,<BR> +How thin the barrier? What divides their fate?<BR> +Perhaps a moment, or perhaps a year;<BR> +Or, if an age, it is a moment still."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The following anecdote will not only illustrate the kind feelings of +the Indian's heart, but also exhibit his delicacy in bestowing a +favour. I had for some time been uneasy at not being able to +contribute, by my exertions, a fair share towards the provisions of the +common stock of those with whom I resided; and this uneasiness was +frequently expressed to Pecoe, the principal difficulty being the want +of a canoe—for these vessels were not constructed in general to carry +more than one person; I was thus precluded from sharing in the daily +excursions on the water. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Gift of a canoe +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Pecoe, as I have said, knew that I felt this want, and one morning +surprised and delighted me, after a walk in the woods, where he pointed +out the silk cotton tree as the material out of which they made canoes. +"Why," exclaimed he, as he took a turn towards an inlet of the great +river, "here is a canoe already made for you; come, help me to launch +it, and let us see how it fits you when afloat." I had recently, for +several long intervals, missed him, and having, when inquiring the +cause of his absence, received equivocal replies, I thought it was +occasioned by some duty connected with his family, and had in +consequence forborne to notice it again. He had, however, been in the +wood, fashioning a canoe for my use, being the most valuable present he +could, at that juncture, have made me; and the manner in which he +conducted the matter, considerably enhanced its value. I was now as +rich in property as any of the natives, whose ambition seldom soars +beyond the possession of a canoe and a stock of hunting and fishing +implements, which my friend Pecoe did not forget to provide with the +canoe. +</P> + +<P> +My health being perfectly restored, I now joined in all the sports +followed by the natives, having previously, at Pecoe's earnest +solicitation, learned to swim. Time ran on smoothly, the morning +invited me to the woods (my natural home) to hunt for game. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"On a sweet shining morning, thus drawn out,<BR> + It seem'd what man was made for, to look round<BR> +And trace the full brook, that, with clamorous route,<BR> + O'er fallen trees and roots, black curling, wound<BR> +Through glens, with wild brakes scatter'd all about."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The days did not linger in their progress, nor did night arrive too +soon, the changes being all attended with enjoyments. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Night bringeth sleep<BR> + To the forest deep,<BR> +The forest bird to its nest,<BR> + To care, bright hours,<BR> + And dreams of flowers,<BR> +And that balm to the weary—rest."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Discontent is man's great enemy. I believe that, constitutionally, I +was fitted to enjoy any station to which the Almighty, in his wisdom, +might call me; yet even contentment may be carried to an extreme, and +degenerate into apathy, or the want of a healthful spirit into +indolence. +</P> + +<P> +Soft leisure hath her charms, and the bliss of her votaries is to bask +in summer rays through the day under the greenwood tree; but however +soothing or pleasant this may be to the reflective mind, the common +duties of life should not be neglected. I had parents, relations, and +friends, all of whom had more or less been rendered unhappy by my loss +in the woods; and I now became impressed with a notion that I had not +been sufficiently active in using means for my restoration. +</P> + +<P> +I had indeed escaped the mazes of the forest by the inundation—an +event in which the hand of Providence was conspicuous; for had not the +flood-gates of the firmament been opened, I might still have remained +in my forest prison. I now asked myself why I did not stir and exert +all the energies the same Providence had bestowed on me, to reach the +nearest European colony and seek advice as to the proper mode of +proceeding to discover the home of my parents. All my moments of +leisure were now filled up with self-reproaches. The deep solitude of +the woods, I thought, had enchanted me, and now the wild charm of a +free and roving life was weaning me from duty. These were errors +which, I thought, demanded a rigid retribution; yet at intervals I was +in no want of excuses to extenuate my conduct. I reflected on the +extraordinary flexibility of our nature, which accommodates and adapts +itself to all circumstances; and, that the reality of our existence is +the present moment, the exigencies of which are inimical to prudent +resolutions. +</P> + +<P> +Of man's generic character there is much yet to be written; the change +of climate, food, scenery, society, together with a thousand contingent +circumstances that follow in their train, all produce effects +unappreciable by those whose lives have been bounded by one circle. Of +all animals, man best endures the changes of food and climate. It +therefore follows that his physical construction is more changeable; +but in proportion as the body undergoes a change, and adapts itself to +the circumstances of its situation, so will the feelings, temper, and +mind also undergo some change, and more or less affect the character of +the individual. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Forgetfulness of home +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +In reference to my own case, and the experience derived from it, this +is the best solution I can give of the passive submission with which I +accommodated myself to the manner of life into which my waywardness had +cast me. If we pass from man to the influence of climate on other +animals, the effect on dogs is very remarkable. In Kamtschatka, +instead of the dog being faithful and attached to his master, he is +full of deceit and treachery; he does not bark in the hot parts of +Africa, nor in the extreme cold countries of the north; in Greenland he +loses his fitness for hunting and his character for docility. If this +subject were pursued, it might be added that the African slaves, when +removed from their own country to the West Indies, undergo a marked +change of character. The American settlers too, have changed in +character since their first settlement in that country, as also have +the Anglo-New Hollanders. The temperate zones appear to be the most +favoured regions for the full development of the human powers, whether +physical or moral, especially of the principle of sympathy, that +vicegerent of the divine benevolence in our world, which is capable of +binding up all the wounds that sin and death have introduced into it. +</P> + +<P> +As we are all, however, too much swayed by the considerations of +pleasure and pain, it is probable, that had I been cast into regions +subject to a rigorous winter, I should have been more anxious to have +escaped from the forest. Perpetual summer, however, beguiled me from +my resolution, and being unprovided with a defence against ease and +indolence, years passed on while I was only dreaming of home and +friends. +</P> + +<P> +The hand of Providence, notwithstanding, continued over me, and in a +miraculous manner took me from savage life. +</P> + +<P> +The sun's departing red rays were shining on the surface of the river, +as Pecoe, myself, and three other youths were hastening in our canoes +to reach home before night should set in, when I heard the stroke of +oars, that indicated the approach of a boat's crew. I have before said +that an inexplicable feeling came over me whenever I thought that I was +in approximation with those who might be the means of conveying me +again into civilized life. On this occasion I was for the moment +paralysed. Pausing to assure myself of the reality of the sounds, I +heard Pecoe and his companions calling to me to pull towards the +opposite shore, from whence the sounds proceeded, and turning round to +ascertain the direction they were pursuing, I caught sight of a +long-boat, manned with ten sailors, just turning a point of land which +had hitherto screened them from my view. The Indians were still +calling to me, but it was too late. With the usual celerity of British +sailors, the boat in a few seconds was abreast of my canoe. The +officer who commanded the crew pulled my canoe aft, and after +scrutinizing my countenance, ejaculated, "The boatswain is right—an +European; but not, as he supposed, a runaway convict; it's the wrong +latitude for that kind of fish;" continuing, "Come, young man, step +into our boat: we are in want of some information with which you may +furnish us." +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Impressed on board an English ship +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I hesitated, then made some reply in English, when one of the sailors +exclaimed, "I told Tom that he was a Briton." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad I have met with a countryman," resumed the officer, who held +the canoe fast as he offered his hand to assist me into his own boat; +but as I still hesitated, he affected to stumble, and in the action +drew me over the bow of the canoe, which constrained me either to jump +into the ship's boat or fall into the river. When seated beside the +lieutenant, I had in some measure recovered from my surprise; I +inquired whether the practice of pressing in the British navy was +revived. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not," replied the lieutenant, "but I shall feel myself justified +in detaining you until I have the particulars of your history, and +learn especially what brought you into this part of the world." +</P> + +<P> +All this time the boat was proceeding down the river, and had carried +me out of sight of my Indian friends. When I informed the officer that +I had been lost when a boy, he replied— +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are now found; but have you a knowledge of this river?" +</P> + +<P> +"From hence upwards I have," said I. "having accompanied the Indians +in their farthest migrations." +</P> + +<P> +"Make your mind easy," rejoined the officer, "I shall introduce you to +the captain of our brig." +</P> + +<P> +It appeared that the boat had been sent out by a government brig which +was on a survey in the river Amazon, to ascertain the course of one of +its tributaries. Late in the evening of the following day we reached +the ship, and when my story had been heard by the captain, he at once +determined on taking me with him, saying that he should find means of +sending me to Berbice, the point, he judged, from which my father had +started, and to which place he thought it probable my father would in +the first instance transmit an account of my having been lost; and +where also it was likely some arrangement had been made for providing +me with the means of finding my way to his residence. +</P> + +<P> +The brig remained two months on the survey, and then sailed for +Halifax, crossing the Mexican bay, where I had an opportunity of +witnessing the extraordinary phenomena produced by a large body of fish +that at one time surrounded the vessel. The sea was like one field of +fireworks, all sparkling with serpents and silver spangles; the mind, +when contemplating such scenes, is lost in amazement at the prodigious +number of living things the regions of the sea contain. But whether +the naturalist turns to the woods and the water, or explores the +cloud-capt mountains, the sequestered cave, or the rocky cliffs, he +will at first be embarrassed at the sight of the variety of objects +that claim his attention; and it is only by learning how to distinguish +them in a methodical manner that the mind can be brought to contemplate +them in detail. +</P> + +<P> +On board the vessel I was supplied with a sailor's dress, but the force +of habit was so strong that for a considerable time I could not wear it +with any comfort to myself. The captain was faithful to his promise, +and from Halifax sent me in a merchant vessel to Demerara, with a +letter addressed to the British consul at that station. On my arrival +I presented myself before that authority, who the next day produced a +colonial newspaper in which I had seven years previously been +advertised, and a reward offered for my recovery, and in which also the +name of an agent was mentioned who would defray any costs incurred on +the occasion. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Return to society +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately that gentleman was still in the colony, who, after +satisfying himself of my identity, promised to avail himself of the +earliest opportunity to restore me to my family. The location of my +father's property was on the remote banks of a branch of the Amazon +river, to which few vessels traded, there was therefore no possibility +of reaching it otherwise than overland, as the family had previously +done. For some time after my arrival in Demerara, I found myself an +object of interest, receiving invitations from most of the respectable +inhabitants; while my appearance in the streets excited a sensation. +Although I was much pleased with the opportunity of attending public +worship, where I might collect and concentrate the scattered ideas I +retained of my father's faith, yet the ceremonies and forms of society +appeared ridiculous to me, and were very irksome. +</P> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +First sight of home +</SPAN> +</P> + +<P> +I received marked attention and kindness from the gentleman who had +been advertised as my father's agent, and an opportunity soon occurred +for him to place me under safe escort to my home. Two gentlemen were +about to journey near to where my father resided, and they kindly +undertook my safe conveyance. They were entrusted with a letter from +the agent to my father, which was to be delivered into no other hands +but his own. I can scarcely describe my delight when all was in +readiness for our departure and we set out on our journey. My feelings +of impatience grew more uncontrollable every day. The thoughts of home +and the prospect of again beholding all I held dear on earth made my +passage appear a lifetime;—tedious and protracted as it was I shall +pass it over now, as it had no incident that was at all attractive to +me—until we arrived at the Amazon River, whose clear surface I hailed +with indescribable delight, as I knew then we were not far from my +father's estate. Following its course for a day we arrived towards the +afternoon at a plantation of cotton, the proprietor of which informed +me that we were within two miles of my father's house. He had heard +the particulars of my absence, but declined to comply with my request +to go and inform the family of my arrival. The reason he assigned was +that he had lately been engaged in a dispute with my father, and +therefore could not undertake my mission—adding that the alteration in +my appearance, living as I had from the age of thirteen to twenty in +the wilderness, would be sufficient to prevent them from recognising me +at first. I then inquired for my uncles, and was informed that one had +sold his land and returned to England, and that the other (the widower) +was dead. This unchristian man also informed me that, in his opinion, +I had been given up as entirely lost by my family. As the day was +advancing, I waited no longer to hold converse with him, but abruptly +turned away, disgusted with his apathy and want of feeling. As we +proceeded towards my home, I consulted with the two gentlemen who were +my guides what course to adopt in breaking the intelligence of my +return, to my family, as I felt a dread of presenting myself too +precipitately after so long an absence, being naturally fearful that +the shock would be more than my mother could sustain. We deemed it +prudent, therefore, to send the letter by one of my guides, while I +waited the result close by. Our precautions, however, were not carried +into effect, as an incident occurred which rendered them unnecessary. +I had arrived in sight of my father's habitation, and paused on a +slight eminence to contemplate with mingled feelings of surprise, +delight, and fear, the spot made sacred by the affections which were +centred there, with all the ties which bound me to the world—that spot +which, from the meanest to the noblest in every land, is the only haven +of refuge from the troubles and travail in this life, and which finds a +ready response in every heart by the one magic word—home! I had not +felt its cheering influence for now more than six years. An outcast +and a wanderer for that period, how often in the loneliness of my +forest life had I yearned to be again restored to it, and to find, like +the dove of old, a place of refuge and rest—an ark, and a covenant. +But now, as the fruition of my hopes appeared to be realized, I paused, +spell-bound and overpowered by the many conflicting feelings which the +sight of it had conjured up. The memory of all the incidents of my +early life—the days of childhood—the school-boy troubles—the many +acts of parental kindness evinced in a thousand ways—were all pictured +to my sight in one rapid glance. And then the terrible foreboding +presented itself, that I might not find my family circle as I had left +them—alive and in health. In the history of the world six years is +but a speck of time; but with individuals the case is widely different. +I had lost one uncle, and the fear came across me that my loss might +not be ended thus. I almost dreaded to make the inquiry, as I felt +incapable of bearing such a calamity. It was a beautiful mansion which +lay before me. The large and well-built house, surrounded with thick +foliage—the carefully cultivated grounds surrounding it—the broad and +extensive landscape beyond of richly wooded hill and dale—the wide and +meandering river by whose banks I had been guided thither—gave to the +scene a lofty grandeur. While standing thus irresolute, a young man of +some five or six and twenty was advancing towards us; he had on his arm +a female, with whom he appeared to be chatting familiarly. I watched +them as they came near us, and from the young man's appearance judged +him to be one of the settlers here. As they approached, I heard their +voices more distinctly. That of the female fell upon my ear in well +remembered tones. +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +The brother and sister +</SPAN> +There could be no mistaking them, I knew it to be +the voice of my sister. But ah! how changed she was. The laughing +merry girl had grown into a staid and matronly woman. I could hardly +believe it possible; but to assure myself, I inquired of her companion +if that was the residence of Mr. Howard. My sister started as I spoke, +turned pale, and looked at me intently. I suppose I was changed; +indeed, there was but little doubt of that—but changed as I was, she +could not be deceived. She trembled, and would have fallen, had I not +caught her in my arms in a fond embrace. The first surprise over, she +laughed and cried by turns, and overwhelmed me with caresses. Then the +numberless inquiries she had to make! One after the other in such +rapid succession, without waiting for replies. I know not what the +three spectators of the scene must have thought; but no doubt they +deemed her frantic, and, indeed, for the time, I believe she was. My +first inquiry was about my parents. They were both well. She had left +them a few minutes previously. Her companion she introduced to me as +her husband. She told me, also, that she had two children, a little +boy and girl. We arranged our plan, if it could be called arrangement, +where all was mad delight; she insisted that my two guides should go +home with her husband for that evening, as his house was close by, and +deliver the letter in the morning, while she and myself went home to +our parents. When we had arrived at the house, I detained her from +entering until I had peeped in at the window to take a glance at its +inmates. There was a light in the interior, and I could observe all +distinctly. I saw my father seated in a comfortable apartment, quite +unconscious of any one observing them. My father was reading aloud one +of the local papers. He wore spectacles; I remember to have been +struck with this, otherwise, my mother and he were not at all changed. +The same as I had left them—the old familiar faces, remembered from +earliest childhood—the old familiar faces, it made a child of me again +to gaze on them. Presently my sister entered, and from her hurried +manner and sudden return, they seemed surprised. She said something, I +did not know what, but my father rose, and hastily throwing down the +paper, gazed wonderingly on my sister. I waited no longer—another +moment—I was on my knees before my mother, buried in her embrace. She +wept over me, her truant boy, tears of joy. Who of us has not felt the +depth and purity of a mother's love? Who hath not found, be his errors +what they might, that there was one gentle spirit to turn to, ever +ready to pardon, protect, and solace? I felt the force of this doubly +then. And now, when past the meridian of my life, I look back through +the long vista of the past, the self-devotedness of a mother's love +shines forth as something "which lighted up my way of life," never to +be forgotten. My father could scarcely find utterance, from excess of +joy at my return. I recounted to him a brief summary of all I had gone +through since I had been lost, and half that night was passed in the +details of my story. My sister did not return to her own home till the +following morning, when I accompanied her. Another surprise awaited +me. +<SPAN CLASS="sidenote"> +Rengal +</SPAN> +I saw Rengal and his father working on our estate. They had +become devoted and trustworthy servants of the family, being employed +as free labourers. It seemed that my father had instituted a vigorous +search for me, and had engaged them many months for that purpose, +believing their acquaintance with the country would be of infinite +service in the undertaking. Their labours, however, proved fruitless, +as my reader already knows. Ultimately, pleased with their faithful +conduct, and evident anxiety to accomplish my restoration, he engaged +them as assistants on his farm, where they had remained ever since. +Their surprise and extravagant delight when I made myself known, +exceeded all bounds; and although, perhaps, I compromised my dignity, I +was obliged, in spite of myself, to burst out into a fit of immoderate +laughter. There was a degree of comicality about these people which +was perfectly irresistible, the more so, as they could not at all +comprehend it themselves. The old negro informed me that he had +discovered his daughter, and my sister's husband had purchased her +freedom, and engaged her as a domestic in his house. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<SPAN STYLE="letter-spacing: 4em">*****</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P> +Many years have rolled on since the incidents described in this +narrative occurred. Time has been busy with his ceaseless works and +wondrous changes. Our little settlement has now sprung up into a large +and thriving city, in whose streets are seen a throng of busy men. Our +river bears upon its bosom many argosies freighted with the merchandise +of every clime. Our meadows are ploughed into furrows by the hand of +the skilful husbandman, and returning autumn sees them laden with the +products of cultivated nature. The giant, steam, is made a slave to +man. and is seen at work on the mill—the mine—the forge—and rail; +and everywhere marks of the master spirit, industry, are visible in our +town. For myself, I am rich in the possession of all the blessings of +domestic life, with an amiable and loving partner and dutiful children. +I am respected as a thriving merchant, and I hope as a worthy friend. +My parents, I am happy to say, still cheer me with their presence and +advice; and if this, the narrative of my earlier years, should awaken +the youthful mind to a sense of self-reliance and dependence under all +trials and vicissitudes, and make manifest the bounteous providence of +a wise and beneficent Creator, my labours will not have been spent in +vain. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="transnote"> +[Transcriber's note: In this etext, the source book's variant page +headings have been converted to sidenotes and positioned where most +logical.] +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Emigrant's Lost Son, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + +***** This file should be named 37732-h.htm or 37732-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/3/37732/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Emigrant's Lost Son + or, Life Alone in the Forest + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: George Henry Wall + +Illustrator: Corbould + +Release Date: October 12, 2011 [EBook #37732] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Frank Osborne's alarm on discovering a bow and quiver +suspended in the forest] + + + + + +[Illustration: Title page] + + + + + +THE + +EMIGRANT'S LOST SON: + +OR, + +LIFE ALONE IN THE FOREST. + + + +EDITED BY + +GEORGE HENRY WALL. + + + +_NEW EDITION._ + + + +_Illustrated by Corbould_ + + + +LONDON: + +ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE, + +FARRINGDON STREET. + +NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. + +1860. + +[_The Author of this Work reserves to himself the right of +Translating._] + + + + +LONDON; + +SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, + +COVENT GARDEN. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR + + +CHAPTER I. + +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND, AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST + + +CHAPTER II. + +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST--MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED + + +CHAPTER III. + +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT--THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY IN THE FOREST +DESCRIBED + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR--AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO--I AM ATTACKED WITH A +FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT + + +CHAPTER V. + +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION OF NATURE, IN WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL +ESCAPE--AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF +INDIANS + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS--I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM + + + + +INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR + +That no person in this state of existence may be tempted to assert his +own independence, the affairs of life are so ordered that much of the +happiness enjoyed by mankind depends upon their communion with each +other. Human affections, if they were permitted to act freely, as they +spontaneously arise in the breast of mankind, are designed to bind all +the human race in one bond of brotherhood. + +Our own parents and near relatives first call these affections into +active exercise. Their care and attention to our welfare, the interest +they take in preserving us in a state of safety and health, and in +teaching us also the duties we owe both to our Creator and +fellow-creatures, tend to give the first impetus to the germs of our +affections; and it is by the exercise of these very affections that we +derive a continual source of happiness, which becomes hereafter the +chief means by which the refinement of the senses may be effected. +Thus it is, that when death, or other causes, deprive us of our +immediate parental guidance, the affections as naturally seek for new +objects, on which to exert their influence, as the operations of any +other well recognised principles proceed in the works of nature. + +The author and hero of the following narrative, was called upon to +experience the sudden deprivation of not only his parents, but of all +his dearest friends; and that at an age when the heart first expands to +the relations of our existence, and is most sensitive to the emotions +of grief; when, unexpectedly and unprepared, it is cut off from all +sympathy or communication with human kind. At the age of thirteen he +was lost in an almost boundless Guiana forest, where he remained for +several years, dependent solely upon his own resources, mental and +physical--that is, on the one hand, to bear the mind up against the +shock it received in being thrown suddenly into solitude; and, on the +other, to provide for his daily wants. That man never was intended to +live in what is denominated "a state of nature," is manifest by his +long infancy and the tardy development of his mental powers. No animal +is so long after its birth before it can support the body on its legs +as man; in none is the period of complete adult stature so long +protracted. When born into the world he is entirely defenceless, his +great distinctions from other animals are reason and speech: these, +however, are germs which are not developed of themselves, but are +brought to maturity by extraneous assistance, cultivation, and +education; hence we must infer that man was intended for social union, +and that his imaginary state of nature, which some writers have spoken +of, never has existed. + +Man, however, in his nature, is limited in no respect; being fitted for +every kind of life, every climate, and every variety of food. The +Deity has given him the whole earth for his abode, and the produce +thereof for his nourishment. With the advantages, however, of an early +moral and religious education, together with an excellent constitution, +our juvenile exile from man was enabled, under the direction of a +watchful Providence, to preserve his life, protect his mind against +despondency, and procure a subsistence in the midst of dangers. + +The difficulties he encountered, the manner in which he overcame them, +and the scenes which were brought under his view in the extended field +of observation into which he was thrown, it is the object of the +following narrative to lay before the reader. To those whose knowledge +extends not beyond the world of man to the boundless fields of nature, +it may appear that such a life must have been one of monotonous +listlessness, from which few materials could be gathered to impart +knowledge or interest to the general reader. + +Our hero, however, found employment for the mind in every moment of his +waking hours, and was furnished with objects for study in the forest, +that might engage the longest period of life allotted to man to +catalogue or enumerate. + +Happily for the exile, his mind was formed to seek for knowledge in the +only sources open to man for the full development of the intellectual +powers; namely, observation and reflection. + +Denied the aid of books, in the far woods that "steeped in their +moonbeams lie," he called upon his Maker, and the echo of the floor of +the forest recognised his presence. Acquiring confidence from this +assurance, and relying on Providence for protection, he converted the +scenes around him into a school of study, and realized in the woods a +life of activity instead of one of solitude. He soon discovered, when +left to draw deductions from his own experience in the scenes of +Nature, that there is nothing but what is beautiful, nothing unworthy +of admiration. "The disregard," he says, "which by many is paid to her +productions, reflects no honour on those who evince it, and little +credit on a system of education that does not at once lead its pupils +to the grand fountain of all knowledge. While the majority," he adds, +"of my youthful contemporaries were engaged in committing to memory a +vocabulary of words, I was busily engaged in studying the things +themselves." While others were spending their time in acquiring a +knowledge of the customs and forms of artificial society, our exile had +the great book of nature widely spread open before him, Throughout that +period of life which is usually devoted, by the majority of +individuals, to study the purposes of social life, he was conversing +only with the trees; or with the birds, and insects, and other tribes, +of the animal kingdom, all the works of God, and to which his +attachment was ardent and sincere. Now that he is again in the society +of his fellow-men, the recollections of his sylvan probation are as +vividly depicted on his mind as at the moment when he first received +the impressions. Trees which supplied him with food, or shelter from +the heat of the sun or the rains of the climate, are still dear to his +recollection, and he often reverts to them with feelings of gratitude +and respect, from which he would not, if he could, estrange the +affections of his heart. + +There is no music so sweet to his ear as the breezes that animated the +lofty cloud-aspiring monarchs of the forest, with which he claims a +peculiar acquaintance, or the murmuring of the brook, where he was wont +to slake his thirst; no concert to his sense of sound so grateful as +the wild notes of the birds that chanted, morning and evening, their +Maker's praise, as he offered up his own prayers of gratitude for the +prolongation of his existence, or the hummings of the myriads of +insects, that every hour, in his woodland rovings, arrested his +attention. + +It was while listening to these voices of the Creator that his heart +was first touched with feelings of admiration and wonder at the +multifarious and exquisitely organized beings that everywhere, whether +in tranquil meditation or in active search of his food, met his sight. +He saw nature everywhere teeming with life, and proclaiming in language +intelligible to every one the presence of an All-directing Power. It +was in the forest, too, in the midst of the wonders of the creation, +that the lost youth first aspired to lift up his thoughts to heaven, +and mentally exclaim--"These are thy works, oh God!" It was also in +the lonely wilderness he first cherished the hope, in the language of +the Indian, that the Great Spirit had provided for him a higher state +of happiness; and then it was he offered up a prayer, that this hope +might, in his Maker's own time, be realized. It was also in the +wilderness, communing with his own thoughts, that he first received an +assurance that he possessed a soul to be saved, and became imbued with +a firm conviction that the wise Creator, in his infinite beneficence, +designed the happiness of his creatures, and that nothing can deprive +the human race of his blessings but a connexion with sin. + +With an undivided mind, intent only on examining and admiring the works +of creation, the youth, in his lonely wayfaring, everywhere found the +presence of his Maker. At the earliest moment of incipient vegetation, +he was busy watching the indications of bursting nature preparing to +re-robe the trees; and in a prospective vista he beheld the joyous +movements of the various tribes of birds and insects providing for the +wants of themselves and their progeny. Not less busily was his mind +engaged when these labours actually commenced, in noting the +construction of their habitations, and in admiring the wonderful +ingenuity each displayed in providing for its own peculiar wants and +safety. + +Thus engaged in almost continual observation, he was enabled to trace +the manner in which numbers of the feathered and insect tribes worked +out the purposes of their existence. As the multifarious branches of +the trees of the forest expanded themselves into fulness of leaf, he +saw nations after nations of living things on the move to claim his +attention, all pouring forth to seize on their share of the abundance +of nature. As each revolving season hastened the decay of or imparted +new vigour to the monarchs of the forest, the exile from man had an +opportunity, abstracted as he was from the busy affairs of human life, +to distinguish the various characteristics of the tribes of insects +that took possession of the trees, differing from those which, +apparently innoxiously, fed on their fulness of vegetable youthfulness, +and the insects that came to prey only on the trunk or branches of +those that age or disease had brought to decay. He saw the leaves of +the forest come into life, witnessed their gradual expansion into +verdant beauty; he was there, likewise, at their decline and +fall--recurring symbols of the succession of the races of mankind,--and +when, the biting north winds denuded of their leaves many of these +mighty monarchs of the forest, he collected them to form his woodland +bed. No season passed without adding to his store of information in +reference to the works of nature, which knowledge, as we have already +said, it is the design of this work to impart to others. It is the +natural history of the forest, or so much of it as has been seen by one +individual during a period of six years' sojourn in its solitude. + +From what has been stated, the reader will not expect to find any +classified arrangement of subjects in this work; things are spoken of +as they were seen, either in the stillness of the shade at one time, or +in the raging of the storm at another. Forest trees, in general, are +described; those which may afford food to man are more frequently +mentioned. Of quadrupeds, birds of the air, and insects, those that +most excited his attention are more especially noticed. Those whose +ferocity or whose shyness rendered it hazardous or difficult to +approach them, are less spoken of. The details of the author's +history, in reference to his probation in the wilds of nature, he has +endeavoured to relate in a most familiar manner, and in the simplest +language; and when describing scenes and events, faithfully to impart +the impressions made on his own mind as they occurred. + +Reasoning from the convictions arising from his experience,--that is, +the effects wrought upon his own mind--he thinks that the study of +natural objects, used as a means for the improvement of the religious +and moral character of mankind, has been much overlooked by the +philanthropist, and neglected by those who are sincere in their desire +to improve their own species. + +When the author was restored to society, nothing more excited his +surprise than the total absence of a system of education which should +at once direct the mind of youth to the fountain of all knowledge; and, +in consequence, to persons he met with who took any lively interest in +the study of natural objects, he remarked, "Your system of education +appears more designed to exercise the mere verbal memory, than to +excite observation or reflection;" adding, "that an acquaintance with +the works of the Deity, as they are seen remote from the haunts of men, +not only expands and elevates the thought, but spiritualises the soul." +The contemplation of nature's works, while it subdues the pride of man, +harmonizes the feelings of social life, and in a peculiar manner +prepares the mind for the reception of revealed truths. It is only +necessary to add that, the education of the "Emigrant's Son," +previously to his exclusion from the world of man, had not in any way +been of a peculiarly religious tendency; nor had he evinced any +predilection for discussing religious topics. Yet, when he was brought +to contemplate the works of the Deity on an extended scale, he +everywhere found the indications of the presence of a superior and +all-wise Creator in those scenes. It is therefore natural that he +should feel a desire that others should seek and find Him at the same +pure fountain of knowledge. "The voice of my beloved; behold he cometh +leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." (Solomon, ii. 9.) + +True it is, that the student who once enters the portals of natural +history, seldom thinks of returning. Strolling from object to object, +his appetite is never satiated. St. Pierre aptly remarked, that +"nature invites to the cultivation of herself." Should the perusal of +the following page direct the mind of the youthful reader to the study +of nature, the object of publishing this narrative will have been +attained. + +G. H. W. + +HARRINGTON COTTAGE, + BROMPTON + + + + +THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CAUSE OF LEAVING ENGLAND AND ARRIVAL AT THE FOREST. + + + "On the bosom, lone and still, + Of nature east, I early sought to stroll + Through wood and wild, o'er forest, rook, and hill, + Companionless; without a wish or goal, + Save to discover every shape and voice + Of living thing that there did fearlessly rejoice." + + +As it is my object to lay before my readers only that portion of my +life which was passed in the wilds of nature, it will be unnecessary +for me to detain them with a lengthened account of the genealogy of my +family. + +My father occupied a small farm in the west of England, situate near a +peaceful village, the curate of which superintended the education of +myself and some fourteen or fifteen of the neighbouring youths. I was +between ten and eleven years of age, when a stranger arrived at our +house, informing the family that, in consequence of the death of my +father's elder brother, he, together with two surviving brothers, had +jointly become the proprietors of a tract of land situate in the +south-western part of Guiana. + +It subsequently appeared that my deceased uncle had speculated in the +purchase of the land in question, intending to have invited his three +brothers to join him in the cultivation of it. Death frustrated these +intentions, the land became the joint property of the survivors, and +after using every effort to dispose of it in this country, being +unsuccessful in meeting with a purchaser, the three brothers came to +the resolution of going out, together with their families, and sharing +their newly-acquired property. + +[Sidenote: First leaving home] + +When the order was finally given to prepare for the voyage, it operated +on my mind almost as a penal sentence; expatriation presented itself to +my imagination as the climax of all evils. It now suddenly occurred to +me that I had a thousand local attachments, all of which were to be +broken asunder; my imagination passing in review a painful parting with +my schoolfellows and other intimates; when all the early and recent +scenes of my short career poured in on the memory, and seemed to bind +me to the immediate locality of my existence and its environs. I then +discovered that I had a real attachment for my teacher, the good pastor +of a small flock; indeed, every person known to me, I thought had, in +some way, been peculiarly kind, and a torrent of gratitude overflowed +the heart; while the idea of quitting the scenes of my childhood, and +all I then knew of the world, presented itself as the annihilation of +every object from which I had hitherto derived pleasure. + +The young heart is generally thought to bound with joyousness at the +prospect of a change of scene, but it was otherwise with me: the world, +in the map of my microcosm, excepting the circumscribed view I had +taken of it, was an entire desert, where there was no one to love or be +loved. In this state of mind the agitation of my feelings nearly +choked me, till I sought the favourite arm of a tree in the orchard, +where, unobserved, I found relief in a flood of tears. Still +oppressed, as the evening advanced I crept to bed without speaking to +any one,--not even to my sister, whose buoyant joyfulness at the time +excited my surprise. I spent the night in a state of half-dreamy +stupor, being neither asleep nor awake; whilst the imagination was +engaged in endeavouring to contrast the retrospection of the past with +the prospects of the future. Every act of kindness which had been +bestowed upon me, stood out in strong relief in my memory, as a vista +of other days, and into which I had not previously been permitted to +look; whilst the little village-world was presented to my view as a +bright speck in creation--an oasis in a desert, all around which was a +mass of confusion and darkness. + +The placid countenance of the curate, monarch of his locality, with all +the scholastic paraphernalia, were brought vividly under review; the +form on which I was wont to sit, with every cut I had made on the +well-marked desk with my knife--an instrument with which boys early +prove themselves tool-loving animals--were all objects of endearment to +me. My fancy then roamed into the little churchyard, where I took a +view of each mouldering heap, with the tombstones at the head and foot, +every epitaph on which I had committed to memory. I then stood under +the brave old Hercules, as we designated an oak tree where four of us +had met most days to proceed together to school. Here I distinctly +noted--such is the power of memory when the feelings are excited--each +abrupt rising of its rugged roots, and marked the boundary of its +shadows at different hours of the day, as described by its broad, +out-spreading limbs on the greensward. + +I wandered to the copse, entered by a well-defined gap at the angular +point; noted each spot where I had taken eggs or young ones from birds +that had been incautious enough to attract my attention; paused to take +a last look at the hazel from which I had gathered the largest cob-nut; +lingering at every step, and sighing as I passed each object of +remembrance. The following morning, sleepless and weary, I arose with +the sun, and collected all my little stock of property--bows and +arrows, fishing-tackle, bats, balls, and other juvenile valuables; +these I labelled as presents to my intimates. My heart then knew how +highly it was susceptible of friendship; it had yet to learn how +readily, after the lapse of a few years, such attachments are +forgotten. The desire in after life to meet with an old schoolfellow +is seldom prompted by a higher motive than a curiosity to learn his +success in the world. + +It is probable that my parents had associations and connexions from +which they were about to separate, and deeper feelings of regret to +struggle with, than myself, when parting from attached friends. It is +fresh in my memory that our calls were very numerous, and that many +reasons were adduced to dissuade my father from emigration. The Sunday +previously to our departure, the curate, from the pulpit, mentioned the +intention of the families to emigrate, and offered up a prayer for the +realization of their prospects of success. I shall ever remember the +day I left the kind preceptor of my youth and the companions of my +boyish days. My father had sent a chaise to fetch me and my valuable +stock of personal property a day before our final departure. I think I +see now the mild old curate shaking my hand and giving me his blessing +and friendly advice, while around the gate of the old house were +assembled my school companions, to take a last sight of me before I +took my leave of home and of them. + +[Sidenote: Voyage to Demerara] + +Our journey to the coast, and voyage to Demerara, a _ci-devant_ Dutch +settlement, was unattended by any circumstance of peculiar interest. I +therefore take up the narrative from the period of our landing. My +father was purely a business man, never permitting pleasure or +curiosity to divert him from his pursuits. Immediately, therefore, on +our arrival at Demerara, preparations were made for us to proceed on +towards our destination, regarding the situation and name of which I +had not up to that time taken any interest, I had, however, heard that +we had to travel some hundreds of miles over a country where there were +no roads, as in England. I also remember a long discussion between my +father and my two uncles, whether we should travel with a waggon or +purchase horses and mules to carry our luggage and relieve the females +when fatigued. As our course was through an extensive wooded country, +where carriages could not conveniently pass, the latter mode of +travelling was ultimately adopted. Our party consisted of nine +persons, namely, my father, mother, sister, and self; one uncle, with a +grown-up son (his father being a widower); the other uncle, his wife, +and son (a youth three years older than myself). + +My father provided himself with a horse and mule; the latter to carry +our personal necessaries, and the former to alternately relieve my +mother, and my sister, who was a healthy girl of sixteen years of age, +when either was fatigued with walking. One other horse was purchased +for the use of my aunt and the party in general. We were provided with +two painted cloths, to be used as a covering when we should halt for +rest, and no better accommodation could be obtained. I remember my +father making a pen-and-ink sketch of the route, marking down, with the +assistance of a traveller, the stages we were daily to accomplish. + +[Sidenote: Crossing the savanna] + +Thus prepared and equipped, as all of us were in excellent health and +spirits, we commenced our journey over the plantations of the settlers, +proceeding onwards till we reached the extended savannas--open plains. +Here the scene was altogether so new and striking, that it was with +difficulty I could be prevented from running after every living thing +that came under my view. At one moment I was lost in wonder at the +multitudes of creeping creatures which, at every step, crossed my path, +while the birds of the air in numbers, variety, and plumage, fixed me +with astonishment. My excitement was so great that I actually screamed +with delight; at another moment I ran from object to object with such +eagerness, that, my mother became alarmed for my intellect, affirming +that no one in their senses could sustain so much unnatural excitement. + +On the third day of our journey I began to be seriously fatigued, and +my father placed me across the back of our mule. This, however, was a +measure against which the animal at once entered his protest, by +refusing to move forward the moment I threw my legs across him; his +conduct seemed to imply that at starting a contract had been made with +him to carry the baggage, and he would not consent to its infringement; +and it would appear that the mere attempt to overburden him soured his +temper for the whole journey; for a more obstinate or perverse mule was +never crossed by man or boy. At length we entered into a compromise, +by removing a portion of his baggage to one of our horses; and he then +allowed me to ride in peace, as he proceeded sulkily along. He was, +however, faithful to his second bargain, never evincing any more +discontent. This third day of our journey was the longest we had yet +had, and we were all of us anxiously looking for some habitation +towards its close, where we might rest for the night. The sun soon +promised to hide his golden beams behind the hills which formed the +horizon, and we all showed signs of fatigue. We were much delighted +when my father informed us that we were approaching the house of a +settler, where he hoped to obtain shelter for the night. We proceeded +up a steep declivity to the house in question, forming rather a +picturesque party. My sister was first, mounted on a heavy dappled +grey horse, with my father and mother by her side. I followed on my +mule; while the remainder of the party were some fifty yards in the +rear. As we halted before the house, my father informed us that, in +all probability, this would be the last time we should find +accommodation, even in the outhouse of a settler; and that in future we +should have to resort to our painted cloths for shelter during the +night. + +We all retired to rest, therefore, with a determination to lay in a +good stock of sleep. Notwithstanding this determination, and the +fatigue I had endured in the excessive heat of the day, the novelty of +my new existence resisted every effort to close my eyes for rest; and I +arose in the morning but very little refreshed. + +[Sidenote: The blessing of rain] + +During the first five days of our journey the intense heat of the sun, +to which we were unseasoned, annoyed us all exceedingly; while the +scorching earth so much blistered my feet that, on the sixth morning, I +lingered behind, and divested myself of both stockings and shoes, +hanging them upon the mule's baggage. In the school of experience +nature is head master. The relief was almost instantaneous; and, +during that day, I surprised my fellow-travellers with my pedestrian +performances, which induced them all to follow my example. Early the +same afternoon, the rain began to fall in torrents, or rather in +sheets, previously to which, during our journey over the plains, the +extreme dryness of the weather had occasioned one of those vegetable +conflagrations so common in hot countries. Hitherto the scene had been +arid, the land being hard to the feet, and painfully dry to the eye. +The following morning, we had an opportunity of observing with what +surprising rapidity nature, in these climates, clothes the earth. Our +course was now on a wide-expanded green carpet, every where soft and +cooling to the feet, and deliciously refreshing to the sight. Birds of +every hue, gems of the air, glittered in our pathway; a vast number of +the cormorant species were busy in gobbling up frogs, toads, and +snakes; the eagle and the vulture, too, were soaring over our heads, +looking out for the prey these regions afford them in such abundance. +Every step we took frightened up flocks of the smaller feathered tribe, +and brought to view myriads of other living things, such as slugs, +snails, and insects of every variety. + +On the tenth day of our journey, we approached a country covered, as +far as the eye could reach, with dense foliage, variegated with every +known or imaginable hue, the groundwork of which was one wide-spreading +mass of every shade of green. There were browns of all tints, yellow, +orange, purple, and brilliant scarlets, so intermingled as to present +one uninterrupted view of nature in glorious beauty, spreading over an +undulating mass of waving forest-green, while, in appearance, reaching +from the high heavens to the earth, into which the lower sweeps seemed +to dip, conveying the idea of eternal spring, summer, and autumn, +harmoniously blended into one. As we skirted the forest, the charming +variety of the blossoms, and their shades of colour, presented a still +more enlivened appearance--the tops of the trees being covered with +bloom, some standing erect towards the light of the sun, others bending +down, with a profusion of fruit and seed. + +Yet, even here, in this enchanting scene, was man admonished, and +reminded of mortality: as we passed the margin of the wood, here and +there was seen some former giant of the forest, whose head had been +bared by time or the thunder blast, painfully, in the midst of nature's +prodigal luxuriance, intimating that all things have their period of +birth, maturity, and decay. + +[Sidenote: Meeting with natives] + +Penetrated with surprise and admiration at the scene, it was some time +before we discovered that we were approaching a party of natives, who, +it was evident, had been watching our movements. When they first +attracted our notice, the sound of what we took for a village bell fell +upon the ear; whereupon my father flattered himself that we were +approaching a civilized settlement; while both my uncles were of +opinion that a signal of alarm was given at our approach, and, in +consequence, prepared for defence. The bell, however, sounded only at +intervals of four or five minutes; and as there was no increase of +numbers in consequence, we at once went forth to meet the natives. +They consisted of a party of six, besides an old negro, who seemed to +be the patriarch of his race. To our surprise and delight, he spoke +English remarkably well, as did also a young man who appeared to be his +son. Probably, they were runaway slaves. They proved, however, to be +friendly disposed; and when we spoke of the bell, and the negro had +explained the nature of our enquiry, they all broke out into a most +immoderate fit of laughter. The negro, almost convulsed, said, "White +bird, ding dong--ding, dong! a great way off; for white man here, white +bird, ding, dong--ding, dong!" The bird that sends forth this peculiar +sound is named the campanero, and is snow white; it may be heard at +three miles' distance; and during my sojourn subsequently in the wilds +of nature, it was the only sound that daily recalled to my recollection +the tones of my native village church bell. + +As we were all attention to the negro, who was very lively and +garrulous, a flock of birds passed over our heads, emitting sounds that +might be mistaken for those of a trumpet; when the old man pointed up, +and laughingly said--"Red-coats, red-coats!" meaning to ask, +ironically, if we took the birds for soldiers? These birds are +properly called Waracaba, and are frequently rendered domestic, when +they exhibit the attachment of a dog to their master, following him in +the same spirit of fidelity; their spirit, also, appears to exceed that +of the game cock--although unarmed with spurs for defence, they will +fly at a dog; and, in a domestic state, seldom fail to browbeat and +lord it over the dunghill cocks living in the same yard. + +While my father was consulting with the negro regarding our bivouac for +the night, the latter suddenly seized his foot, exclaiming, "_Chegoe_ +in toe," then forcing him to the ground, and taking from his pocket a +knife, proceeded to extract one of those formidable insects, which had +become embedded in the skin of the foot. This insect, had it been +allowed to remain, would have, no doubt, produced inflammation, from +its bite, and, in all probability, caused my father lameness for some +weeks. The negroes treated us with the greatest possible kindness and +respect; and the old man, who appeared the orator of his party, +insisted upon our sharing their hospitality, by partaking of their +evening meal, which we readily accepted, producing, at the same time, +our own provisions; and such an interchange of delicacies took place, +that I am sure it would puzzle me now to recollect or enumerate them. +I know it was the cause of some considerable share of merriment among +us all. Their food, if I remember rightly, appeared to me to consist +more of vegetables and fruit than ours, and was of a simpler nature. I +fancy if some of our worthy civic authorities had been present as +partakers of this repast, they would have been more surprised at the +viands than delighted. + +But man is of a ductile nature--a creature of habit, and may almost +habituate himself to anything. In civilized cities, where thousands +are taxing their energies in the pursuit of wealth and position in +society, an artificial state of existence is the consequence; and the +primitive fare of our forefathers is superseded by something of a more +stimulating nature. I have seen, in my experience in forest life, how +little man can subsist upon, and how healthy and strong he may continue +in a simple state of existence. Civilization brings with it a host of +imaginary and fictitious wants. + +[Sidenote: The repast with the negroes] + +We accepted the offer of our newly-made friends to share with them +their small huts for the night, and they being plentifully provided +with various skins of animals, a more agreeable resting-place could +hardly be desired. The old negro, without being obtrusively +inquisitive, was anxious to know our object in crossing the country; +and my father informed him of our route, and produced the rough chart +he had made upon our first starting upon the expedition. A long +consultation was the result, and a doubtful shake of the head was given +by the old man as to the possibility of our accomplishing the task; at +the same time he gave an incredulous look at my mother and sister, who, +he seemed to consider, would hardly be able to endure the journey and +the hardships attending it. To say the truth, my mother looked but +very weak, and I remember being struck myself with her appearance. My +sister was of such a buoyant temperament, that her joyous spirit would +carry her through almost any temporary difficulties; but still we were +all considerably jaded. And I remember I thought the rude habitation +of our entertainers a most delightful place of refuge, compared to +being obliged to bivouac in the woods; and, indeed, I dreaded leaving +the following morning. I believe we were all of us impressed with the +same idea. When we at first met with them, I was overcome with +surprise, and was afraid that some calamity was about to befal us. By +degrees, however, the feeling wore off, and by that strong and +undefined species of discernment which most possess in discovering +those kindly disposed towards us, I became on most familiar terms with +our friends. The young man, whose name was Rangal, I discovered, was +the only son of the elder negro. He was very solicitous in his +attentions to me, and his peculiar manners considerably amused me +during our evening's sojourn. + +[Sidenote: More negroes] + +Upon our retiring to rest, the two negroes, father and son, took up +their station in the apartment we had at first entered; this they did +to keep watch that no one should harm us; not that there was any +absolute necessity for their so doing, but it was an attention meant to +impress us with confidence as to our safety. Early the following +morning, after a refreshing and undisturbed sleep, I accompanied Rangal +to take a survey of the surrounding country, calling at a neighbouring +habitation where the remaining portion of the negroes had located. +They conversed with my guide a great deal, two or three speaking at the +same time; but it was in a dialect entirely new to me, and beyond my +comprehension. They evidently, by their gestures, referred to us; but +in what way, I was at a loss to understand. There were also a female +and three children, the latter varying from seven to eleven years old. +They looked at me in perfect amazement, and the three children retired, +whispering, to a corner at the darkest part of the room; but I could +see by the whites of their eyes in the gloom, that their gaze was +rivetted upon me, in which a feeling of curiosity was mingled with +dread. For myself, I was only struck with their comical appearance, +and fairly laughed outright, in which I was joined by the negroes, one +of whom, I supposed their father, brought them forward and introduced +them in due form. + +Upon returning to our habitation of the previous night, we found our +party taking their morning's repast; and I learned that the old negro +had insisted upon accompanying us, with his son Rangal, on our journey +during the day. He had also arranged where we should halt for the +following night which was at the habitation of a friend of his, +situate many miles on our road. + +[Sidenote: The forest] + +All being got in readiness, we again commenced our pilgrimage. There +had been a heavy fall of rain in the night, and it was comparatively +cool and refreshing to what it had been, but still the heat was intense +to us. We, however, proceeded on our journey with tolerable spirits. +My father and uncle shot several birds in the early part of the day, +which afforded us an excellent repast. We shortly arrived at a thick +and apparently impenetrable forest. Through this we had to travel +before reaching our destination for the night. Once having fairly +entered its precincts, there appeared to my mind an impossibility of +ever again emancipating ourselves from it. The sun, which had been so +scorching to our aching sight, was now no longer visible, save here and +there, where a few rays would find a passage through the otherwise +impenetrably dense foliage, to remind us of the world beyond our sight. +The luxuriance of the foliage, the variety of tropical plants which in +the fecundity of nature spring up in a few hours--so rapid is their +growth in these climates,--the busy hum of myriads of insects, the +reptiles, and occasionally the howling of the fiercer animals of prey, +can hardly be appreciated by description. Ever and anon we paused, as +a rustling of the foliage would give notice of the passage of some +fierce animal, who was, as he stole along, unconscious of the presence +of man in his domains. We proceeded most watchfully on our way, my +father and uncle with guns across their shoulders, ready for immediate +service, if required; so, what with our number, and the caution used, +we felt ourselves tolerably secure; the more so, as it is a remarkable +fact that no species of animal, however fierce, is ever very willing to +attack man in open combat, without provocation. + +Waterton, the celebrated naturalist, who has travelled through the +woods in search of animals for scientific purposes, says, speaking on +this subject, "Time and experience has convinced me that there is not +much danger in roving amongst snakes and wild beasts, provided you have +self-command. You must never approach them abruptly; if so, you are +sure to pay for your rashness, because the idea of self-defence is +predominant in every animal; and thus the snake, to defend himself from +what he considers an attack upon him, makes the intruder feel the +deadly effect of his poisonous fangs. The jaguar flies at you, and +knocks you senseless with a stroke of his paw; whereas, if you had not +come upon him too suddenly, it is ten to one but that he had retired, +in lieu of disputing the path with you." Secure, however, as we might +feel ourselves, it was a matter of surprise to us how the two negroes +would fare upon their return, without our party. They would, however, +in spite of every persuasion to the contrary, persist in accompanying +us, and we were fain to let them have their own way. Presently an +incident occurred which made us see the necessity of caution. As I was +walking by the side of my uncle Henry, I discerned, glaring from a +neighbouring clump of foliage, two fierce-looking eyes. I impulsively +caught my uncle by the arm, and pointed in breathless terror to the +spot. He paused, and raising his gun, would have fired, had not my +father precipitately intervened, and motioned him to be passive. "Do +not venture to fire," he whispered, "till there is a greater +necessity." At the same time he raised his gun, and both kept guard +till the other members of our party passed the point where danger was +to be feared. The animal did not move, but appeared ready to spring +forth; which had it done, the pieces must then have been discharged. +When we had got some little distance from the object of our dread, my +father and uncle gradually retreated, with their faces and guns +directed towards the animal, until they had got sufficiently out of +danger; and we had the satisfaction of observing the animal bound off +in another direction. It appeared to be a tolerably large-sized puma, +as well as we could discern. This little incident made us doubly +cautious, and all were loud in praising the presence of mind evinced by +my father; for had my uncle fired so incautiously, it is very +improbable that he would have wounded the animal mortally, but it might +have incited him to a desperate attack upon us. + +[Sidenote: The negro's daughter] + +After one or two false alarms, we arrived again in the open country. +The darkness of the forest had led us to believe that the day was on +the decline; but on emerging into the plain we were greeted again with +the rays of the sun. We had still, however, some distance to journey +before we arrived at our proposed destination, and my mother, who +appeared wearied, was again seated on the back of one of the mules. +But even this mode of conveyance was fatiguing to one unaccustomed to +such long journeys, in a country so different to our own. The negroes +were the most fresh of the party; indeed, heat, and long hours of +fatigue or anxiety, seemed to have no effect upon them, for they +retained under these trials their good temper and loquacity. The elder +of the two seemed, as indeed he always had been, to be of a reflective +temperament; and as he was walking by the side of my father, somewhat +ahead of the rest, he turned round, and gazing at my sister, said, +"Make me think of de ole day--de ole day." "How so?" said my father. +"Had a little girl once myself. Long ago, now! long ago!" And he +again lapsed into silence, ruminating, in rather an abstracted +melancholy mood, for some minutes. "You lost her, then, did you?" said +my father. The old man shook his head sorrowfully, and placing his +hand upon my father's shoulder, confidentially, exclaimed, "De white +man!" He then promised to tell us the history of the affair before +leaving. Arriving shortly at the point he had originally proposed when +we commenced our journey in the morning, we discerned two or three +habitations, even more rude than those we had left, and our guides +expressed much surprise and chagrin at finding them uninhabited. We, +however, determined upon taking possession of them for the night, and +at once proceeded to make the necessary preparations for our stay. + +[Sidenote: The story of the negro] + +Agreeably to his promise, the old negro took an opportunity of relating +his history. Our first surmise proved to be correct; he was indeed a +runaway slave. Some years previously he and his family were sold to a +new owner, who proved to be a cruel and unfeeling taskmaster, the very +opposite in character to the former owner, who was a kind-hearted, mild +disposed man. His wife was so affected by the change and hard usage, +that she sunk into a desponding state, and eventually died, leaving him +with a son and daughter. The cruel treatment evinced by their overseer +towards the latter, a little girl then of ten years old, was a constant +source of trouble and misery to the father, and eventually led to an +open revolt. One day, when the brutality of this man was beyond all +endurance, the father of the girl, in a fit of rage and disgust, struck +his superior to the earth. Conscious of what he had done, and the +fearful penalty attached to it, he fled frantically from the spot, +whither he knew not. His feelings had been wound up to such a state of +excitement, that he was scarcely conscious of what he was about; but he +had soon left the scene of his suffering many miles distant. His son, +it appeared, who was at a remote part of the plantation, hearing of the +affair, fled after his father, and they eventually, after enduring +numberless hardships, both succeeded in escaping; and notwithstanding +the large rewards offered for their capture, they were never betrayed. +His daughter he had learned nothing of for many years. He had +endeavoured to rescue her soon after his escape from the hands of her +tormentor, but did not succeed. Afterwards he learnt that she had left +the plantation, and had been passed into the hands of a new master at +another remote part of the country. She was dangerously ill at that +time, and was not expected to recover. The poor old negro grew very +mournful as he concluded his narrative. He had not heard of his +daughter for so long a period that he seemed to think it improbable he +should ever behold her again. His story, I remember, called forth a +long discussion upon the horrors of slavery, the truth of which is now +happily made sufficiently manifest, and so universally acknowledged, +that it hardly needs repetition here. + +On the following morning we parted with our two negro guides of the +previous day, but it was with the greatest unwillingness that they +could be persuaded to return to their home; eventually, however, we +took leave of them after presenting them two or three remembrances for +their kindness. We now journeyed on much the same as before, without +any incident occurring worthy of notice, when, on the following day, we +met with two English gentlemen, both naturalists, on their way to the +forest, to collect specimens for the advancement of scientific +knowledge. Their party comprised six, namely, themselves, two English +attendants, and two negroes, whom they had purchased, with a promise of +emancipation if they conducted themselves to their masters' +satisfaction. These gentlemen were much delighted to meet with us, and +agreed to journey our road, for the sake of company. I was much +pleased with their society. I was soon made sensible of the advantages +of a system in studying the works of nature. My senses had before been +quite captivated and gratified with the general aspect of the scenes +through which we had passed; but now I was taught to examine objects +more closely and in detail; to compare, arrange, and, above all, to +study the uses and purposes of vegetable and animal constituents, with +their mechanical construction, tracing, in some measure, the designs of +the Creator in all his works. I was now awakened to an intellectual +gratification exceeding that of the mere senses. I learned how to +collect and store up knowledge in the memory, which elevated my notions +of the human species and considerably augmented my self-respect. The +more I found opportunities to bring the intellect into play, the more +apparent became the advantages which the civilized and cultivated man +possessed over the mere savage or uninformed; and, in consequence, my +delight in receiving instruction was unbounded. + +Unlike myself, however, the gentlemen whom we accompanied did not +appear to me to enjoy or appreciate my natural enthusiasm for varied +scenery. They carried on their researches with surprising ardour; and +when in pursuit of an abstract or particular object, their attention +was wholly absorbed; nor were they in any way sparing of the lives of +animals, birds, or insects, when selecting their specimens from the +abundance before them. Their recklessness, too, in destroying what +they considered obnoxious animals, somewhat surprised me, so much so as +to induce me to enquire what caused them to have antipathies, like unto +children and some females, especially against spiders, beetles, &c. +The only answer I received was, "We destroy only such things as are of +no use to us, and those which come in our way when in search of our +object." They soon, however, explained to me that the reason of their +shooting such a number of birds was that they were in want of all the +varieties, and could not always distinguish, until they had them in +hand, whether they had such a one amongst their collection. + +To watch the young of animals, whether those species born with sight or +closed eyes, and note their progress towards perfection, and the +celerity with which some of them, birds especially, will remove +themselves, even while unfledged, from danger to security, is to see +God watching over all his creatures. To be near when the cry of danger +is started in the wood, and hear the whole flock, though composed of +different kinds of birds, each in their own peculiar note, cry "Hush!" +to their young ones before they leave the nest,--to ascertain the +cause, and then to have the satisfaction of removing that cause of +danger,--is to be an agent of the Deity in the work of benevolence. + +"All are agents," said one of the gentlemen, "in carrying out the +benevolent purposes of the Deity. Direct your mind towards the various +provisions which nature has devised for the dispersion, of the seeds of +plants, and introducing them, into proper situations for germination. +Every class of beings," he continued, "is useful as a means to promote +the spread of seeds: man, beasts, birds, reptiles, and probably even +fish, by consuming, cause the propagation of the _algae_ in the depths +of the ocean; and the multiplied contrivances of hooks, awns, wings, +&c., with the elastic and hygrometric power with which seeds are +furnished, manifest what infinite provision has been made for the +dispersion of seeds, and successive productions of nature." + +It was thus that they would tutor me, and relieve the tedium of the +day, by instilling into my youthful mind the first rudiments of a +knowledge respecting the works of the Deity, and the uses to which they +were applied; and I became aware of the wonders an all-bounteous +Providence has in store for an enquiring mind. + +[Sidenote: The rattlesnake] + +But I now approach a period which proved an epoch in my existence. It +was towards the evening of a very long and fatiguing day's journey, +perhaps the most wearisome we had yet had, that we halted to refresh +ourselves, and consult where we should bivouac for the night. We were +all jaded, and scarcely knew how to proceed any further. My sister was +reclining on a bank, and had, unobserved by us, fallen fast asleep, +fairly overcome with the fatigues of the day. Her head was resting on +a small package of tightly compressed woollen cloths. We had not +noticed her for some minutes, when one of the gentlemen who accompanied +us was the first to observe her dangerous situation. It was fortunate +he did so. Taking my father by the arm, and leading him quietly away +from the party, he directed his attention to my sister. My father +stood almost petrified with fear and horror, on observing a large +rattlesnake moving from side to side on my sister's chest. Upon the +impulse of the moment, he was incautiously about to rush to her rescue; +but was detained by his companion. + +"I do not think it means any mischief," he whispered. "Make no noise, +and I fancy it will merely cross your child's body, and go away." + +In this, however, he was mistaken, for on reaching my sister's left +shoulder the serpent deliberately coiled itself up; and although it +made no immediate attack, it did not appear at all likely to leave the +side of the sleeper. + +"Leave it to me," said my father's companion, "to rescue the poor girl +from her terrible position. I know best the habits of these creatures, +and how to treat them. Make no noise, on your life, or your child may +be lost; but follow me." + +My father obeyed; and our friend then determined that two of us should +advance in front, to divert the attention of the snake, while he should +noiselessly steal behind my sister, and, with a long stick, remove the +reptile from her body. The snake, on observing the approach of the two +intruders in front of him, instantly raised its head, and darted out +its forked tongue, at the same time shaking its rattles,--all +indications of anger. + +[Sidenote: Anxiety] + +Every one of our party was in a state of fearful suspense and agitation +for the fate of my poor sister; who lay like a beautiful statue, +sleeping the calm sleep of innocence, unconscious of her danger. Our +friend advanced stealthily behind, with a stick of seven feet long he +had procured for the purpose. In an instant, almost before we had time +to observe it, he succeeded in cautiously inserting one end of the +stick under one of the reptile's coils, and flung the creature some +yards from my sister's body. A wild scream of joy was the first +indication my sister received of her danger and providential escape. +In the meantime, her preserver pursued the snake, and killed it. It +was three feet seven inches long, and eleven years old; the age, our +friend said, was always to be ascertained by the number of rattles. He +also informed us that there is no danger attending the destruction of +the rattlesnake, provided a person has a long pliant stick, and does +not approach nearer than the reptile's length; for they cannot spring +beyond it, and seldom act but upon the defensive. We discovered, on +searching about, a nest of these snakes near to where my sister had +been lying; and, after this incident, were a little more cautious in +taking our way along. We could not shake off the alarm that it had +occasioned; and it was with anxious thoughts and heavy hearts that we +again proceeded to seek repose from the day's troubles and fatigue. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I AM LOST IN THE FOREST--MY SITUATION AND FEELINGS DESCRIBED. + + + "Existence may be borne, and the deep root + Of life and sufferance make its firm abode + In bare and desolate bosoms: mute + The camel labours with the heaviest load, + And the wolf dies in silence. Not bestow'd + In vain should such examples be; if they-- + Things of ignoble or of savage mood-- + Endure and shrink not, we of nobler clay + May temper it to bear; it is but for a day." + + +In arranging our watch for the night every precaution was taken to +guard against intrusion; then most of the party composed themselves for +sleep; indeed, the previous day had been one of peculiar fatigue and +disappointment--opiates much less injurious than those issued from a +druggist's shop. I alone, and for the first time, became restless +after the approach of night--usually having fallen asleep as soon as I +had eaten my supper,--and became insensible to the busy hum of night, +which in tropical countries is very noisy. I lay down with the +adventure of the snake on my mind, my reflections on which kept me +awake till the nocturnal insects of the wood were all in full chorus, +and the reptiles began to move. Up to this hour I had no idea--so +soundly had I hitherto slept--that the night was as rife with sounds +and animated nature as the day; differing not in their variety but only +in their peculiar kinds. + +[Sidenote: Fireflies] + +As I have in another place, under the head of a natural day in the +forest, spoken of this hour, it will be unnecessary for me to describe +it in this place; suffice it to say, that my ear being once engaged in +attending to the succession of sounds which addressed it, sleep, for +the night, became hopeless. About midnight I suddenly sprang to nay +feet with the surprise of being surrounded, as I thought, with flakes +of fire, or rather with similar lights to those emitted by a jet of gas +in the centre of glass drops. Finding myself uninjured in the midst of +myriads of these dancing lights, I moved forward, as they moved, to +examine the phenomenon. They were fireflies, whose light would have +enabled me to see the hour by a watch. They suddenly, however, left me +in darkness, and that as rapidly as if they had really been gas-lights +extinguished by the turning of the stop-cock. + +Pausing for some minutes, and censuring my own conduct for having moved +from the spot of our bivouac, my attention was again attracted by +sounds of something in pain, close to my feet; it was evidently a bird, +and I stooped with a view of taking it up, when the note proceeded from +my right, and then from the left, "Crek-crek-crek!" Whether I was +ambitious to capture the bird, or whether I was moved by feelings of +compassion I know not, I acted on the impulse, and continued to turn +from side to side till I had advanced some distance in the underwood in +a zig-zag direction. At length, being vexed at my disappointment, I +lost my temper, and rushed forward again with renewed determination to +take the wounded bird, which was always at my feet but never in my hand. + +He who does not command his temper can scarcely fail to do wrong; and +never was indiscretion perhaps more severely punished than in my case. + +[Sidenote: Bewildered in the wood] + +I had committed an unpardonable act of imprudence in suffering my +curiosity regarding the light emitted by the firefly to lead me one +yard from the bivouac; but afterwards to lose my presence of mind in +such a situation and at such an hour, in the mere attempt to possess a +wounded bird, was an act of puerility inexcusable in a boy many years +my junior. Need I inform the reader that I was the dupe of a watchful +parent, or perhaps there were two of them, who, with a view of +protecting their young ones, beguiled me from the spot where they were +being reared. The bird was a species of quail, which, like the plover +in England, will pretend to be lame, to draw stragglers from its +hiding-place. When the cry of the quail ceased, without doubt I had +been led a sufficient distance to place her progeny out of danger; I +was now enshrouded in all but utter darkness, and then bean to shout +out to my uncle John, who was on watch, as loudly and as frequently as +the power of my lungs enabled me; but there was no response. The +aphorism says, "Do not halloo till you are out of the wood;" and truly +I might have spared my lungs, for calling was of no avail. Errors and +blunders generally run in sequences; had I remained on the spot when I +found myself first lost, the probability is that I should, when the +morning dawned, have been near enough to my friends to have been +discovered. But no! having been guilty of one act of folly, I must +repair it by committing a second. My impatience impelled me to make an +effort to retrace my steps; while a moment's reflection might have +shown me, that as there was but one road back, so there were many which +might lead me farther into trouble. + +The remainder of this night was spent in exhausting my strength in vain +and useless efforts to retrace my steps; and ere the sun rose, I was so +fatigued and hoarse as to abandon every hope of making myself heard. +Exhausted nature alone brought conviction of the fruitlessness of such +efforts. I sat down on a blasted tree, and there relieved my harassed +and affrighted spirits by a flood of tears, the shedding of which did +indeed bring alleviation; for previously I felt as if my heart was +bursting. A heavy load of grief, however, still pressed with a leaden +weight on my mind; but as the heart lightened, the reflective powers +began to operate, and the full sense of my desolation was presented to +my view. I was horror-stricken and paralysed; but as these paroxysms +passed away, I gradually brought my mind to contemplate calmly my +isolated situation. + +[Sidenote: First sensation of solitude] + +I first reflected on the inestimable value of parental affection, the +blessings conferred on us by friends, the pleasures of social life, and +the advantages mankind derive by forming communities. At that moment +there was no sacrifice I would not have made to have been restored to +my family, and become again entitled to all these advantages. Out of +this comparative state of calmness, I was roused by murmuring sounds +which my excited imagination converted into human voices. Oh, how my +heart bounded, and with what intensity did the ear strain itself to +catch assurance that there was truth in its first impression. But the +organ had prejudged, and was not readily open to conviction. I +therefore proceeded, with what haste my weary limbs would permit, to +exercise the sense of sight. Alas! it was but the murmuring of waters, +a gentle confluence of which was precipitated over an elevated rock of +stone. + +It was impossible to conceive a more enchanting scene than that which +now met my anxious eye. Through several ravines the water, pouring +over moss-grown stones, fell in miniature cascades, with a musical +murmur, over rocks shaded by low trees, and grey with variegated mosses +and the elegant maiden's hair. Large trunks of trees, thrown down by +the hand of time, lay covered with fungi waved with various hues. The +scene was altogether such as might for a time engage the attention and +abstract the mind of one plunged into the abyss of grief. I was deeply +impressed with its beauty, and it powerfully excited sensations of +delight; but as I continued to contemplate it, a sense of loneliness +crept over me; there was no one near to hear me exclaim, "How +exquisitely enchanting! how sublime! yet how soft and harmonizing is it +to the feelings." + +Turning from this scene I found my grief considerably modified in its +intensity; and I began now to look on my case only as that of a lost +child in society, whom the parents would be certain of finding on +diligent search. + +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and in a thousand mysterious +ways prepares the minds of his creatures to meet the burdens they are +called upon to bear. Of this truth I was early convinced. Had the +night of my first day's loneliness closed on me in the full +consciousness of my desolation and self-dependence for preservation, it +is impossible to say what dreadful effects might have been wrought on +the mind of one so young, and so tenderly brought up. But it was +ordered otherwise. The want of sleep the previous night, together with +agonised moments of distress, and fears which returned with redoubled +force as the day progressed and no relief came, all contributed so much +to the exhaustion of my frame, that long ere the curtains of night were +drawn over the forest, I involuntarily fell into a profound sleep, +unconscious at what hour, or where I had lain myself. I was thus +spared those feelings of dread which, if night had overtaken my waking +moments, might have overshadowed my reason while I was watching the +final departure of daylight. + +When I awoke the next morning, it was broad day; and nothing, while +memory retains her seat, can obliterate or weaken the impressions I +received on opening my eyes. There was presented to my view the most +magnificent scene perhaps ever beheld in this world of nature's +productions. For a time I imagined myself dreaming of fairy-land. +Before me, as I reclined on a mossy bed of green herbage, as soft as +eider-down, there was an opening in the wood, shaped like an +amphitheatre, with the sun's rays throwing a flood of light into it. +Trees rich with foliage and blossoms waved like a galaxy of +parti-coloured flags or banners at a jubilee of nature; brilliant +colours, varied in endless hues, all beautifully harmonising, so that +each was seen without any being predominant. Here arose upright +flowers on stupendous branches, towering aloft as if aspiring to reach +the sun; there others hung pendulously, as if seeking to hide +themselves amidst the rich foliage that cradled their birth, and were +anxious in their modest delicacy, to avoid the god of day. Birds of +ever-varied plumage, sizes, and habits, were congregated in immense +numbers, forming an orchestra of thousands of vocalists, as if met to +celebrate the hour of creation. + +A small glassy lake in the centre of the glade, peopled with +water-fowl, served the songsters for a grace-cup, each quitting the +sprays to dip its beak into it, and again resume its perch to pour +forth a torrent of musical notes. I know not how long I might have +lain rapt with delight, had not some husks fallen on my face, and +roused me. I have reason to think that I was pelted by monkeys, whose +jealousy at the appearance of a stranger in their territories had +aroused their indignation. + +[Sidenote: The nut-hatch in the gum tree] + +Entranced as I had been by the scene, the grosser appetite admonished +me that food was necessary for the sustenance of the body; I had not +tasted it for upwards of twenty-four hours, and the demands of the +stomach now became imperative. Without allowing myself time to +reflect, the horror of starvation presented itself to my imagination, +and I was again relapsing into despondency, when I saw several small +birds running up and down the trunk of a large tree, in a spiral +course; their movement was so rapid, that I could not distinguish +whether their heads or tails were uppermost. Curious to obtain a +nearer view of them, I advanced, and observed that they frequently +tapped the bark with their beaks, and then inserted them into the +interstices; this led me to examine the tree more closely, when I +discovered large masses of gum protruding from the bark. This +description of bird is named the nuthatch. They were in search of +insects and their eggs, not of the gum. I however filled my pocket +with it, and putting piece after piece into my mouth, as it dissolved, +it allayed for the present the cravings of hunger. + +Frequently when distant dreaded danger is more nearly approached, our +fears vanish, and it often happens that a supposed coming evil turns +out to be a benefit. At all times, however, the mind is soon +familiarised to those dangers that partake of the inevitable. The very +worst had now passed away from me--the first night's sleep alone in the +forest. I was safe, unhurt, refreshed, and even cheerful: perhaps +because I was still full of the hope of being sought for and found by +my father and friends. + +It was the will of Divine Providence that I should for several weeks +cherish this hope; nor did I abandon the flattering solace till I had +become fully initiated into the ways of providing for myself. Indeed, +I may affirm that hope never left me--hope, if not of meeting directly +with my friends, of emancipating myself from the intricacies of the +forest. Hope, Memory, and Imagination, three lovely sisters, were my +companions, and even in the wilds of a forest, + + "Hope enchanted, smiled, and waved her golden hair." + + +Memory, a visionary slumber, with half-closed eyes, was frequently +dispelled by the hard necessity there was to be up and stirring for +immediate self-preservation. Imagination came with lamp-like eyes, a +bright and bold beauty, seating me at one bound or flight in the midst +of my family, enjoying all the comforts of civilized life, throwing me +into the arms of my mother, indulging in her warm embrace. Remorse +would then supervene--remorse for the pain and anguish I had occasioned +my fond and worthy parents, and for the misery my waywardness had +brought upon myself. + +[Sidenote: Efforts to escape] + +My first meal, as I have stated, when left to cater for myself, +consisted of gum, of which I had a store in my pocket. As soon, +therefore, as I had satisfied myself with the surrounding objects of +admiration, I thought of making another effort to regain the spot where +I had left my parents: it was a vain hope, but I pursued it throughout +the day, during which I must have travelled many miles. In the course +of my peregrinations, I found abundance of fruit and nuts, which lay +strewed in my way. Late in the day, I met with a mass of the +bush-rope, and, ignorant of its abundance, I at once jumped to the +conclusion that I had arrived at the identical spot which our party had +before passed. This barrier, as it is designated, to my view was +considerably extended; and then my heart, after being elevated with +hope, again sunk within me. Still, however, disinclined to relinquish +hope, my only solace, I soon persuaded myself that I might not, on the +former occasion, have accurately surveyed it; and I resolved, as night +was fast approaching, to remain on the spot till the following morning, +and from thence to make a fresh start, to find, if possible, the track +in which the party were travelling. + +In social life, provident thoughts rarely trouble a youth of thirteen +years of age; his parents, or others, think for him, and generally +every night provide a bed for his resting-place. Such had been +previously my case; the reader will, therefore, not be surprised that, +up to this moment, I had not bestowed a thought on how I was to pass +the ensuing night in security. I was, however, now fairly inducted +into the school of hard necessity; and as the day was fast waning, I +had no time to lose. Acting on impulse, I commenced climbing the +bush-rope, intending there to make my bed, but the dread of falling +came over me, and checked my resolution. I then thought of a hollow +tree, many of which I had seen in the course of my perambulations. +Following this suggestion of the mind, I immediately began a search for +one, and fortunately met with it on the spot. Night was, however, +setting in so rapidly, that I had no time to be nice in my choice. + +[Sidenote: The jaguar] + +The tree that seemed most to invite me to enter into its interior was +partly uprooted, leaning its head towards the earth, so that I could +rest in a sloping position; but thinking the opening of the decayed +part too wide for perfect security, I stripped off the bark on the +reverse side, of which to form a shutter, or loose door, which I might +pull towards the opening when fairly ensconced within the hollow. +Having thus prepared my bed, I instinctively cast a look round, as an +undefinable sense of danger crept over me; the first movement brought +my eyes in contact with those of a large jaguar, the tiger of that +country. He was standing upright, about eight yards distant, +apparently surveying me from head to foot. I was paralyzed with fear, +and remained fixed to the spot; the animal gave me a second and third +look, then took two or three bounds, and was out of sight in an +instant. It is to this moment my fixed opinion, one confirmed by +subsequent experience, that I owe my life to the passive manner in +which I stood, and which was occasioned by fright; the slightest +movement on my part would have occasioned alarm in the jaguar, and +proved fatal. + +With regard to the jaguar's prowess, he is little less formidable than +the Bengal tiger: cows and young bulls he destroys with ease and +avidity; but the horse is his favourite prey. All these large animals +he kills by leaping on their backs, placing one paw upon their head, +another on the muzzle, and thus contriving, in a moment, to break the +neck of his victim. The jaguar, although as ferocious as the tiger, +rarely attacks man unprovoked, or unless very hungry; but in general he +finds no scarcity of food in the regions in which I was located. + +I now debated with myself whether I should enter the tree, foolishly +imagining that the animal designed to take me asleep. At length the +gloominess of the night enshrouded me in darkness, and left me no +alternative but to spring into my cabin, and pull the pieces of bark +before the aperture. I will not attempt to describe the fearful +trepidation in which I was placed: the darkness of the night rendered +the hollow of the tree like a tomb, and I viewed it as a coffin; every +movement of a twig was, to my imagination, the jaguar removing my +barricade with an intention of clawing me out for prey. The scene was +rendered more horrible by the contrast with that of the morning, to +which the mind would revert, in spite of surrounding horrors--one was +the reality of the fabled Elysium, the other that of the Tartarean +fields. Just as I had thought I had now experienced the acme of +terrors, my fright was augmented by something fluttering round my head, +the noise from which seemed as if an animal was struggling to +disentangle itself from a snare. Shakspere, describing the effects of +fright, speaks of its causing + + "Each particular hair to stand on end, + Like quills upon the fretful porcupine." + + +I will not affirm that the hairs of my head rose to that height, but I +may safely aver that no mortal had ever more cause for exhibiting all +the known symptoms of extreme fright. In a second or two after I heard +the fluttering, I received repeated blows on the head and face, +indubitable proofs that I had a quarrelsome fellow lodger. Present and +immediate dangers chase all others. I kicked away my temporary +shutter; but before I could make my exit I felt, by the motion of the +air, that a living thing had passed me in rapid flight. + +[Sidenote: The terrors of night in the forest] + +When the sharer of my tenement had flown, I began to consider that it +must have been some night-bird; and as the jaguar was still uppermost +in my thoughts, I lost no time in repossessing myself of my lodging. +Worn out as I now again was with the fatigues of the day and the +terrors of the night, after a time I was dropping to sleep, when I was +once more roused by the growl of the jaguar, as if he had just seized +his prey, and half the beasts of the forest, from the noise there was, +had collected to contend and fight for the carnage. A short interval +elapsed, and then the growling changed gradually into death-groanings. +I was now in the midst of a scene of horror and darkness that may well +be said to elude the power of verbal description. Only a few hours +previously my mind had been harmonized by the soft and elegant forms of +nature's richest beauties, under a clear blue sky. How changed was now +the scene! how deformed and disfigured was the aspect! It was a +transition from Paradise to Erebus; environed by all the real and +conceivable monsters in nature. I had before been alarmed--I now +abandoned myself to the one sensation of unmitigated despair, the +extremity of which was so intense, that it is a miracle reason held her +place, or that I survived to write this narrative. + +Indeed, nothing but the turn my thoughts took at this crisis could have +preserved me. I had already undergone all the horrors of an agonizing +and protracted death, and was well nigh insensible to grief or pain, +when, providentially, in the last extremity, I was inwardly admonished +to appeal to my God. And now, with suppliant accents and upraised +hands, I prayed to Heaven for a blessing, for short I still thought was +the space between life and death. Praying with fervency of soul, I +gradually became inspired with confidence; my mind became more tranquil +and fitter for calm consideration. It occurred to me, notwithstanding +the horrible din of noises around, that I was still unhurt; that if the +jaguar had really selected me for his prey, he would have seized me +when within his reach, and not have restrained his appetite for the +mere gratification of tearing me from the hollow of a tree. Then, in +reference to the sharer of my apartment, I began to look on myself as +the real aggressor. Had I not ejected some native of the forest, whose +natural home it was, both by right and possession; had I not most +unwarrantably intruded on his privacy, and frightened an inoffensive +member of the sylvan community. + +Thus, through the medium of prayer, was I at once enabled and taught +how to face danger; and whilst looking it steadfastly in the +countenance, to ascertain correctly its magnitude, and banish +chimerical fears. That I was surrounded with danger, I was still +conscious; but now I offered up thanks to God for preserving me in the +midst of them; for having directed me to a place of security, and +provided me with a strong tower, where I might almost defy enemies. +Thus recovering my self-possession, I began really to enjoy the +interior of the tree as a very comfortable resting-place and a complete +snuggery. Very soon after this state of mind was brought about, I fell +asleep, and awoke refreshed and tranquil. Morning was announced to my +glad eyes by lines of light passing from the lofty trees, scintillating +through the holes of my worm-eaten shutter--lines of light which were +delicately drawn by the golden fingers of Phoebus, the most famed of +artists. A very considerable portion of the sufferings of mankind have +their source in ignorance: nearly all that I encountered, even from +this memorable night to the hour of my emancipation from the forest, +was the result of my want of experience. Had I known that the noises +which had disturbed my rest were but the imitations of the red monkey, +I might have slept in quietude. These animals assemble, and at times +amuse themselves throughout the night by making the most horrible +noises, more especially mimicking the growlings and roarings of the +more ferocious animals. I say amuse themselves; but at the same time I +may remark that all sounds given out by quadrupeds, birds, or reptiles, +are designed to effect some of nature's especial purposes. Some, for +their own protection; others, to caution weaker animals against +approaching danger. + +[Sidenote: Monkey tricks] + +The gift and propensity the red monkey has of imitating the beasts of +prey, may deter some enemy from attacking him in the dark; for it is +observed they cease their mocking habits when daylight appears. They +may also warn the timid animals when others of a formidable nature and +ferocious appetite are in their vicinity. + +The jaguar, as we have said, was in the immediate neighbourhood that +night. Among the general community of the monkey tribes, morning and +evening are periods they generally select to settle their public +affairs, for the noises they make at these times are absolutely +stunning, and to strangers very alarming. The forest is their citadel, +where, mounted on lofty trees waving in the breeze, they confabulate, +and, as naturalists have often described, arm themselves with sticks +and stones, and in conscious independence defy all intruders. + +The red monkey, however, is the most pugnacious of the whole species; +and it was some months before I was permitted to walk the woods in +peace, for these animals frequently assailed me with a stick or a +stone. Policy led me to take all their insults patiently; and in the +end, I imagine, they passed an act of naturalization, for I was +ultimately permitted to range the forest without molestation. + +I once witnessed a peculiar instance of their tenaciousness in regard +to their territory. An European boat was passing down a river on the +side of a wood, when, on a signal being given by one of these animals, +others crowded to the spot in such numbers as literally to cover the +trees, bending with their weight the branches to the water's edge. + +At first they appeared as if amused with the sight of the movement of +the rowers; then deeming them intruders, they commenced a general +pelting, discharging showers of stones and broken sticks. The people +in the boats fired; when the monkeys pelted more furiously than before, +and though numbers fell wounded, or dead, still they continued the +contest till the boats passed beyond their domain. + +I now entered on the third day of my sylvan probation, and upon the +whole, felt more self-possession than I had any right to expect, under +all the circumstances of my forlorn case. This day, like all others, +waned with a quick and silent foot, while I again rambled round the +immediate locality of my resting-place, fearing I might, if I strayed +far away, be constrained to face the perils of a night in the open air. + +[Sidenote: The blood-sucker] + +This night I took possession of my lodging in good time, and, as I +thought, carefully fenced myself with an impregnable barrier; and, as I +thought so, it was the same as if it had been a high stone-wall, for it +removed my perturbation, and occasioned me to sleep soundly. When I +awoke the following morning, I was surprised to find my stocking matted +with coagulated blood; I hastened to a rill of water, where I had the +day before previously allayed my thirst, to draw it off and cleanse the +foot. To my utter astonishment and dismay, I discovered that my shoe +was in every part stained with blood, and that the toes and the sole of +the right foot were stiff with coagulum. + +Divesting myself of the covering of my foot, I observed a small wound +on the instep, not unlike the mark made by a leech. Imagining that I +had been bitten by some formidable insect, such as I had seen in the +course of our journey, when I had washed myself and recovered my +fright, I hastened back to scrape out the interior of my chamber with a +stick. In performing this work I disturbed myriads of small insects +with which I had rested, but nothing that could account for the bite on +my foot. Pleased, however, at having discovered the necessity there +was for cleanliness in my apartment. I was resolved to give it a +thorough scouring; and for this purpose thrust the stick up a hollow +arm of the tree above my head, when out flew an extraordinary large +bat. It was some satisfaction to become acquainted with those who are +likely to become the sharers of your lodging, and I had no doubt the +bat was the animal that flew against my face when endeavouring to set +out the previous evening on his usual nocturnal rambles. + +Still I remained in a state of ignorance as to the cause of the wound +in my foot. It requires much study and considerable experience, even +to ascertain the causes of only a few effects in the phenomena of +nature's workshop. Unwilling to leave the uninformed reader in doubt, +not only in this particular instance, but in numerous others that will +be met with in the course of this narrative, I shall anticipate, as it +were, my own subsequent experience, and explain, when I can, the causes +of certain effects that occurred to me while living alone in the +forest. It was a species of bat, named by naturalists the vampire, +that I had ejected, and he it was who had bled me so freely in the foot. + +It is remarkable that this bloodsucker, when once he has fastened on an +animal, is allowed to satiate his appetite unmolested, as its victims +all remain quiet and unresisting during the time he makes his meal. It +is said that vampires flap their wings and produce a cooling sensation +that lulls their prey to sleep while they suck their fill. + +In the instance of myself, I had not awoke the whole night, and was +perfectly unconscious of the attack, until morning; but, as I have +already said, I was in nature's great school, and soon learnt that, as +in the moral world, so it is in the woods, there is more to dread from +insidious attacks, than from open and declared enemies. + +When I had satisfied my appetite, on leaving my resting-place, with +nuts and fruit, I sat down by the rill of water, to consider more +determinately than I had hitherto done, what were my prospects, and +what course of conduct I should pursue for my own protection. + +[Sidenote: The battle of the snakes] + +While thus engaged in thought, my attention was attracted to a snake, +only a few yards' distance from where I sat; it was near a patch of +brushwood, and was apparently trembling with fear. Almost as soon as I +had noticed its state of alarm, another snake, with astonishing +celerity, sprung upon it, and seized it by the neck, then encircled +itself about six folds round the body of its victim, like the worm of a +screw. The assailant then, leaning its head over the other, looked its +gasping foe in the face, to ascertain the effect of the coils round the +body; and seeing that its prey was still alive, it multiplied the coils +three or four times, and evidently tightened the screw, watching all +the time to see the effect of the extra coils. The attacking party was +an animal designated the black snake, and the victim was a rattlesnake, +about three and a half feet long, its enemy being about the same +length. The former, however, had perfect command over the latter; but +I was surprised at the length of time the executioner took to satisfy +himself that his work of death was performed. The black snake remained +three-quarters of an hour coiled round the other, and then very slowly +and cautiously slackened one coil at a time, narrowly watching if any +signs of life yet remained, ready to resume the screw again, if +necessary, to complete the destruction of the victim. + +Driving the live snake away, I obtained possession of the dead one: it +was four years old, which I scarce need mention was known by the number +of rattles in its tail, which make a rattling noise when these reptiles +are in motion. + +The rattlesnake is not among the most active of the species of snakes: +it never springs a greater distance than its own length, which rarely +exceeds four feet. It is owing to this that the black snake has the +advantage, being able to spring from a greater distance on its prey, +and, from its rapid motion and method of seizure to deprive it at once +of the power of injecting its venom. + +I have since seen the rattlesnake destroyed by bucks in the open plain, +and that without risk of suffering from the fatal effects of its bite. + +[Sidenote: The buck and the rattlesnake] + +A buck, when he discovers a rattlesnake, immediately prepares to attack +it as a dreaded enemy, while he will pass other snakes unnoticed. The +buck, depending on his sharp bifurcated hoofs, with which to sever the +body of his adversary, is very skilful in his manoeuvre. He approaches +the snake to within about ten feet, and then makes a bound, cutting the +snake down with his hoofs with such unerring celerity and fatality as +rarely leaves any chance of escape. + +The two incidents of the vampire and the snakes threw my mind into a +state of reflection on the system of nature which makes the existence +of one animal depend on another for its subsistence. Then my thoughts +reverted to the number of living things I had myself to dread, +separated as I was from society where men unite for mutual protection. +I had seen in the case of the chegoe, that a very small insect could +inflict a severe injury on the human frame, and I had narrowly escaped +being carried off by the jaguar. Snakes, serpents, and enormous +lizards, crossed my path at almost every step, and the monkeys pelted +me. + +Uneasy and restless, I rose on my feet, to wander I knew not whither; I +proceeded forward as if running from danger, yet dreading it at every +step as I advanced. Presently my progress was impeded by a broad piece +of expanded network, such as, from appearance, might have been +manufactured by the hand of man,--it was spread from tree to tree. In +the network was a small bird struggling to free itself from the toil +which had ensnared it. Thinking I had now crossed the path of fowlers, +my heart leaped with joy, and I flattered myself that deliverance was +at hand; yet, fearing to spoil their sport, I drew back, and took up a +position behind a tree. My mind was soon disabused of the error into +which I had fallen. Several spiders of enormous size approaching the +captive, I sprang forward to release the bird, and then perceived that +the netting was the work of insects. The captive proved to be a +humming bird, one of those beautiful little creatures that are fabled +to feed on the nectar of plants. They however feed on insects, those +which are attached to the nectarium of plants: these they seize for +food with their long bills. + +The spiders that weave these extraordinary webs from one tree to +another, are not, like those of Europe, of solitary habits, but live in +communities; they mutually share in the labour of forming the web, and +divide the prey they catch. It is worthy of notice that all animals +who unite their labour, possess infinitely more ingenuity in their +proceedings than those who work individually. The weak, however, are +generally provided with some compensating, self-protecting secret, that +enables them to rear their young in as much security as the strong. +Many insects that execute their buildings in trees, and there collect +provisions for their infant colony in fear of the depredations of +birds, cover the extremity of their store with substances of nauseous +taste. Having saved the elegant little bird from the voracious +spiders, I could not resist giving it freedom. + +The web which had impeded my progress brought to my recollection the +bush-rope, which I had previously proposed to examine by daylight, in +the hope of falling into the original track my family had taken through +the forest. After having spent the whole of the subsequent part of the +day in surveying the barrier and its approaches, I was reluctantly +constrained again to take up my position in the hollow of the tree, +under the firm conviction that I had no clue by which I could, for the +present, at least, emancipate myself from the mazes of the forest. I +retired to rest much depressed, and half disposed to abandon myself to +despair. I, however, got some sleep at intervals, notwithstanding the +renewal of the frightful noises heard the first night; and, upon the +whole, on the approach of morning, found myself somewhat resigned to my +fate. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for defence] + +Possessing an excellent pocket-knife, I now thought of cutting a good +staff, and, if occasion should render it necessary, of defending myself +with it against any assailant. How it happened that I had not thought +of this before surprised me; and I acquired new confidence from the +consideration that I possessed some means of defence. While trimming +my staff, the history of Crusoe occurred to my recollection; and I then +resolved to adopt his mode of registering time by making notches on the +stick; and this employment brought home to my recollection that I had +now been lost four days, and, while so engaged, that the present day +was a Sabbath. + +The last notch I cut longitudinally, that I might mark the Sundays, and +thus chronicle the return of the one day to be kept holy. Having +always been accustomed religiously to observe the Sabbath, the current +of my thoughts now took another turn. My first act was to offer up +prayers, and to petition God to infuse into my breast courage to face +the trials I must necessarily undergo in the wilderness, and ask for +his guiding finger in all my wanderings. + +Alter performing this duty, I sat down on a fallen tree to court +reflection, and presently heard a humming noise close to my ear. +Turning round, to see from whence it proceeded, I thought I recognised +the identical bird that I had, a short time before, liberated from the +spider's web. It appeared, at first, to be stationary in the air, and +I marvelled how it was supported; it then occurred to me that it was a +spiritual messenger, sent in the form of the little creature I had been +kind to, as an assurance of divine protection. Full ten minutes I +contemplated the bird in this light, when it flew away, leaving me in a +much happier state of mind than I had hitherto felt myself. + +[Sidenote: Utility of birds] + +The fixed position of the bird I afterwards found to be its habit when +hovering over certain flowers in search of insects. There are a great +variety of the humming-bird tribe; the one I had caught was very +beautiful, and moved its wings with such astonishing rapidity in flight +as to elude the eye; and when poising itself over a flower, waiting to +attack insects as they enter between the petals, the wings moved with +such celerity as to become almost invisible, like a mist. The habits +of these birds may be denominated fly-like:-- + + "When morning dawns, and the blest sun again + Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, + Then round our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, + The flower-fed humming-bird his round pursues,-- + Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms, + And chirps his gratitude as round he roams." + + +Birds, throughout my sojourn in the forest, were my chief and most +cheerful companions. They seem to be sent by Heaven as the peculiar +associates of man; they exhilarate him in his labour, and brighten his +hours of leisure by their melody. They also, in an especial manner, +serve man, by preventing the increase of those insects that would +consume the products of his industry. Whatever the uninformed farmer +or gardener may say on this head, I beg to assure them that the +depredations birds commit are more than compensated by their +insectivorous habits. + +There is not a vegetable production, cultivated or of spontaneous +growth, from the forest tree to the most tender garden-flower, that is +not liable to attacks from myriads of insects, though small in form and +weapons, yet insidious in their mode of attack, and fatal to the plant. +Birds are the natural enemies of insects, and were sent as a check upon +their increase. Man persecutes the bird for plundering his fruits, +seeds, and grain crops, but he does not enquire whether he would have +any of these productions if the bird did not free the ground and buds +from insects. The late Professor Bradley ascertained that a pair of +sparrows, during the time they had young ones, destroyed on an average +3360 caterpillars every week, besides butterflies. + +Man, when he clears and cultivates the land, destroys the winter food +of birds, cutting down the trees that nature intended should supply +them with berries during a season when their insectivorous habits are +suspended. It would be an advantage to those who are engaged in +cultivating the earth, if they studied the harmony of nature a little +more than they now generally do. The farmer will say that a hard and +long frost is good for the land, because it kills the insects; so +likewise do the birds die off in severe seasons of cold, thus reducing +the number of his auxiliary agriculturists to the proportion in which +they will be required, on the return of spring, to keep the land clear +from insects, and secure a crop to the cultivator. Birds in general +return tenfold to man, in the services they render him, for all they +take from his store; while they, + + ----"With melody untaught, + Turn all the air to music, within hearing, + Themselves unseen." + + +The humming-bird's visit, together with the peculiar associations of my +mind at the time, produced in me a calmness that partook of heaven. +The scene--a picture, too,--which was before me, was one of those +beautiful instances of nature's chaste compositions that combined all +around in harmony. Lovely were the sylvan flowers, fresh with +blossoms, rising amidst the soft and matted growth beneath; and how +exquisite the structure of the moss and lichen within my reach; how +calm, how clear and serene was the air--how deepened were the +shadows--how perfect was the quiet--how eloquent the silence! + +[Sidenote: Solitary reflections] + +My meditations were painfully broken in upon by the mind reverting to +the jaguar that I thought at times was lurking about to devour me; then +to the snakes, and the captive humming-bird. "Has God," I +involuntarily exclaimed, "made all his creatures that they may devour +each other? Yes, yes! he has." I continued, as I rose with disturbed +feelings; "I see the scheme of destruction at every step, and behold it +at every turn; both day and night, every hour, yea, every moment, +millions are struggling in the death-grasp of their foes." + +These reflections almost melted my heart, when, casting up my eyes to +heaven, as if to ask for some light to shine on my mind and explain the +subject, I saw a falcon, in the act of flying, seize a bird of the +pigeon kind, and fly off with it into the woods. Tears came to my +relief. Goldsmith says, "The mere uninformed spectator passes on in +gloomy silence; while the naturalist, in every plant, in every insect, +and in every pebble, finds something to entertain his curiosity and +excite his speculation. In the animal kingdom alone there exists +nearly one hundred thousand of known different subjects, and half that +number of different plants. The discovery of almost every vegetable +brings with it the knowledge of a new insect. In the mineral kingdom +the compositions and forms are almost endless." And Dr. Priestley +says, of scientific pursuits "The investigation of nature cannot fail +to be valuable. It engages all our intellectual faculties to the +greatest extent, and in its pursuit the general stock of useful +knowledge is increased. The field for inquiry is rational, extensive, +and profitable, beyond conception." + +"But what right have I, a poor, short-sighted mortal," I then +exclaimed, "to seek for the motives that actuate an all-wise Deity? It +is not only vain but wicked in man to scrutinize the ways of +Providence." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I BUILD MYSELF A HUT--THE SCENERY THROUGHOUT A DAY IN THE FOREST +DESCRIBED. + + + "O may I with myself agree, + And never covet what I see; + Content me with a humble shade-- + My passions tamed, my wishes laid; + For while our wishes wildly roll, + We banish quiet from the soul." + + +[Sidenote: Projects of building] + +As the first Sabbath-day in the woods closed upon me, I felt more +resigned to my fate, and more composed, than I had been at any previous +period since the separation from my parents. I now looked on myself as +a denizen of the forest; and as I slowly repaired to the hollow tree, +the thought possessed me that I could construct some kind of +dwelling-place. During the night I formed and rejected fifty plans for +carrying this scheme out. At length, just as morning dawned, a simple +method suggested itself to me of effecting my purpose; and, with my +usual ardour, I commenced the work forthwith. Before the evening set +in I had collected, and trimmed with my pocket-knife, a considerable +number of stakes, about four feet long, at which work I continued for +four days, when it occurred to me that I had not yet given the +eligibility of site a thought, and had been much too hasty in my +proceedings. Ashamed of my own impetuosity and want of consideration, +I crept to rest, very weary and ill at ease with myself; and as I took +a retrospective view of the results of my impulsive mode of acting on +the thought, together with the ills I had brought on my own head, I did +not spare self-reproach. Considering my numerous wants, it was +clearly, where I had collected the stakes, a very inconvenient spot to +choose for a permanent place of residence. Weighing in my judgment the +kind of locality suited to the purpose, I decided on an open space or +glade in the forest, where I might have a clear view all around, and be +out of the way of uprooted or falling timber. But for this last +consideration I should at once have selected the spot where I awoke +after my first night's sleep in the forest. The recollection of that +beautiful scene reminded me of another thing I had not hitherto thought +of, namely, that my house must be built near to a supply of water, and +also of fruit. The next day, therefore, was spent in searching for a +site on which I might commence my building speculation. There was no +lack of space, or of glades; but in the resolution I had now made to +become thoughtful, and act with caution, I fear I became too nice and +fastidious. + +[Sidenote: The forest stream] + +One open plot of ground I traversed many times with the eye of a +government surveyor: it was the very thing itself; but there was no +water to be seen. Presently, I caught the sound of trickling water; +and my new friend, caution, forsook me. I was so heedless in running +to satisfy myself that there actually was a stream fit to drink, that I +was precipitated headlong into the gill, or chasm, which formed the +channel for its course. It was so covered with wood that the eye could +not see it. Fortunately I met with this rent in the earth near to the +commencement of the fissure, where it was comparatively narrow and +shallow. At any other part, its steepness and depth might have +endangered life. It was the birthplace of a native stream. I +subsequently learned to track it by the soothing harmony of this +invisible torrent, the notes from which sounded like innumerable broken +falls, and were softened by ascending through branches which hung over +it. These sounds were extremely harmonious. + +At the spot where I had fallen the water might with some difficulty be +obtained, and near to this, at length I determined to build my villa--a +sylvan mansion. This site, on one side, was flanked by a morass, or +bog, which even then, in the driest season, was only passable with care +on tufts of grass, which here and there sprung from the moisture of the +soil. Proceeding to lay out my ground-plan, which was a circle, and to +prepare for the morrow, I stayed at work till it was too late to find +my way back to my lodging; leaving me no alternative but either to +stretch myself on the ground, exposed to numberless dangers, or remain +awake, and protect myself as I might. In this extremity I thought of +the chasm, and groping my way to it, found its extreme end, where it +was a mere slit, into which I rolled, and laid till the return of day. + +[Sidenote: The hut commenced] + +The morning opened with its usual bustle of animals, birds, and insects +summoning me to my labour, and, having commenced, I was surprised to +hear a cry of, "Who are you? Who--who are you?" I had scarcely +recovered from the astonishment which these words occasioned, when they +were followed by, "Work away!--work away!--work away!" and a mournful +cry of "Willy come!--go, Willy! Willy--Willy--come! Go Willy!" +Looking up, and being now in an open space, I could plainly see the +birds fly over my head that uttered these notes. Not aware that these +calls are common to certain birds, and my Christian name being William, +the reader may imagine the effect and surprise with which they were +heard. I instantly discontinued my labour, conceiving that the birds +had been influenced by supernatural agency, and that they portended +omens which had a peculiar reference to myself. This impression filled +me with fears and fantasies of all kinds; it seemed as if some spell +was on me, and I sat down in melancholy moodiness for the rest of the +day. Irresolute, the following morning I rather dragged myself than +walked to the same spot; but as I went, another bird over my head +distinctly cried out, "Whip-poor-Will! Whip-poor-Will! +Whip-poor-Will!" Yes! I exclaimed (as my spirits threw off the burden +which had oppressed them) I am indeed ashamed of my folly in attending +to the omens of birds. They are winging their way to the business of +the day, and why should I neglect mine? I then returned, and took a +bundle of the prepared stakes on my back to my new settlement. Need I +apologise to the reader for mentioning the trifling incidents which +depressed me at times, and the manner in which the paroxysms were +dispelled. My motive in naming them is to illustrate the alternations +my feelings underwent during my early days of probation in the +wilderness. I know not whether I had taken a cold, but for some days +past I had now suffered from a pain in my limbs, which I at the time +attributed to the cramped position in which I rested at night. I +therefore became extremely anxious to possess a place in which I might +stretch myself at length. It, however, took seven days to construct +the internal shell of the hut; for, being determined to sleep in +security, I ultimately doubled the frame of the building. Having +driven stakes into the earth, about a foot apart, forming a circle of +about eight feet in diameter, I interlaced these with the limber +branches of trees, fastening them to the stakes with tough fibres, +stripped from the bark of lianes. These shrubs, of which there are a +great variety, all comprised under that term, sometimes grow to the +size of a man's leg round trees, making the trunks look like a mast of +a ship furnished with rigging. They support the trees against the +hurricanes, in the same manner as spurs are placed in the ground to +prop posts; cords are made of their bark stronger than those +manufactured of hemp. In woods where timber is felled, it is sometimes +the practice to cut several hundred trees near their roots, where they +remain till the lianes, which hold them, are also cut. When this is +done, one whole part of the wood seems to fall at once, making an +astounding crash. By the means of the lianes and stakes, I formed a +circular strong hurdle-kind of fence; on this I fastened a number of +other sticks, like wands, tapering at the top, which, when bound +together, met over the centre part of the floor of the hut, and formed +a conical roof. These I also interlaced in the same manner as the +upright stakes; covering the whole with leaves of the parrasalla tree, +which the wet does not injure; binding these also down with my most +excellent substitute for cordage--fibres of the bark of the lianes. In +the roof I left a hole for ingress and egress; so that, with two steps +up, and then a jump, I was in the centre of my habitation, where, with +dried grass, I made a most comfortable bed. This, after all, was a +frail affair. My next object was to erect another frame over it, at +about two feet distance from the interior shell, filling up the space +between the upright stakes with stones and dry earth. The aperture was +secured at night, leaving only a space for air, with a piece of bark +hung on with the before-named fibres. With the same material (bark) I +also formed a kind of stage before the opening into the hut, where I +could sit, and survey the surrounding scenery. Some time subsequently +I wove myself a grass hammock, which I found more cleanly than the +dried grass, and less liable to be infested with insects. Finding +myself lonely in this structure, I took the resolution of increasing my +family; and, with this view, I devoted a portion of the interior for +birds, that I might not be wholly companionless. These I took young, +and reared them up in an aviary which I constructed immediately under +my hammock, letting them out to hop about me when the aperture of the +hut was closed. Many of my associates repaid me for my care with +strong proofs of docility and affection. I also caught two land +tortoises, to occupy the floor of the dwelling, and make me conscious +of other living things besides myself breathing the same air. + +[Sidenote: The dwellers in the hut] + +In the foolishness of my heart I thought that when I possessed a hut, +in which I might repose in security, I should be happy. But alas! in +the city or in the forest, worldly acquisitions are not always attended +with contentment. Man everywhere sighs for something more than he +possesses. + +I had now a hut, one, too, that was impregnable against the attacks of +the jaguar, or any of the animals of the forest; and, as I thought, in +every way compactly built to be impervious to noxious insects; but +happiness or contentment did not abide in it. + +I now wanted a gun, that I ought, man-like, slay, and play the tyrant +over the living things around me. I grew tired of my vegetable diet, +and daily lamented the want of a fire to cook the eggs, which now began +to form a considerable portion of my food. These wants gradually, as +the mind dwelt upon them, became sources of anxiety, and disturbed my +rest. The animal propensities of my nature began to stir within me. I +longed to kill at my pleasure, and live on prey, as did the other +animals of the forest. At length I determined on making the best +substitute I could for a gun--namely, a bow and arrow; and, like Robin +Hood, practise till I could hit the shaft of an arrow placed upright in +the ground. + +It was many weeks subsequently to this resolution before I succeeded in +even procuring the materials I deemed suited for my purpose. My knife +having become blunted with frequent use, it took a length of time to +fashion the bow, and no less than four snapped in two as soon as I +attempted to use them; proving that, choice as I had been in the +selection of my wood, my judgment was defective in this particular. +When I had succeeded in forming one of these primitive warlike weapons, +I fastened large butterflies against the hut, and commenced the +practice of archery. + +I have informed the reader that the entrance of the new dwelling was +through the roof, where, as I have said, I erected a seat, or +standing-place; a sort of balcony, or rather, more like a dormer +window. On this, every morning, during the dry season, at daybreak, I +took my stand to discharge my arrows at any unwary bird that might come +within my reach. + +[Sidenote: Early morning in the forest] + +This early rising at length grew into a habit, and to watch the opening +of the day gave me unspeakable pleasure; and up to the last day of my +pilgrimage it was the most interesting hour to me. It was an hour when +the littleness of life did not present itself; the mind being refreshed +with rest, was prepared to be filled with enlarged ideas. + +The labourers of the night--for nature has her two sets of working +animals--were then all on their way to seek retirement and rest during +the day, from the fatigues of the night; while those that had rested +during that period were all preparing to hail the morn with innumerable +cries. + +As twilight glimmers in the east, the tiger-cats are stealing into +their holes. The owl and the goat-sucker cease their mournful lament, +and as streaks of light appear the "Ha! ha! ha! ha!" of the latter, +each note lower than the last, sounding like the voice of a murdered +victim, entirely ceases. The crickets, also, at this hour begin to +slacken the violence of their chirping, though sometimes in cloudy +weather they will continue their notes for four-and-twenty hours +together. + +The partridge is the first of the birds to give signal of the rising of +the sun, even before he appears on the horizon; while the mist of the +morning, that precedes the day, is dispelling, numerous tribes of +insects are creeping to their hiding-places, as others are issuing +forth to enjoy the day. Lizards of sparkling lustre, from two inches +to two feet and a-half long, cross the paths of the forest; and the +chameleon has begun to chase the insects round the trunks of trees. +Gaudy serpents steal from out of holes or decayed trees. + + "Each rapid movement gives a different dye; + Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show, + Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow." + + +The houton, a bird so called from the sound he gives out, distinctly +articulates "houton, houton," in a plaintive note, as he erects his +crown, and cuts and trims his tail, with his beak, in the most, +artistical manner, then flies off with a short jerk. + +At the same period the maam whistles; and when the sun is seen above +the horizon, the hanaquoi, pataca, maroucli, and all the parrots and +paroquets are prepared to announce his arrival. Every hour from this +moment, excepting noon, calls into action new races of animals; and he +who spends a day in the scene that environed my existence, when seated +at my door, would not know which most to admire,--the forms, hues, or +voices of the animals presented to his observation; as at intervals, +wonder, admiration, and awe of the power that created them, are forced +on the mind. + +[Sidenote: Forest animals] + +With the morning's dawn, the monkeys send forth their howl, the +grasshoppers and locusts chirp, the frogs and toads give out their +notes. The hanging pendant wasps' nests, most curious in form, send +forth their inhabitants; myriads of ants issue from their clay-built +tenements, in some places colonized so densely as to cover the foliage +all around. These, like the species of ants called the termites, that +cast up the earth in mounds, commence their day's journey on roads +constructed by themselves, some of which are covered, and others open. + +Myriads of the most beautiful beetles buzz in the air, and sparkle like +jewels on the fresh and green leaves, or on odorous flowers. Other +tribes, such as serpents and agile lizards, creep from the hollow of +trees, or from holes beneath the herbage; many of them exceeding in +splendour the hue of the flowers. The major part of these are on their +way to creep up the stems of trees or bushes, there to bask in the sun, +and lie in wait for birds and insects. + +The most brilliantly coloured butterflies, rivalling in hues the +rainbow, begin to flutter from flower to flower, or collect in parties +on the most sunny banks of cooling streams. There was the blue-white +idia, the large eurilochus with its ocellated wings, the hesperite, the +Laertes, the blue shining Nestor, and the Adonis; these, like birds, in +most places hovered between the bushes. The feronia, with rustling +wings, flew rapidly from tree to tree; while the owl, the largest of +the moth species, sat immovable, with out-spread wings, waiting the +approach of evening. + +As the day progresses, the life of the scene increases. Troops of +gregarious monkeys issue from the depths of the forest, their +inquisitive countenances turned towards the verge of their wooded +domain, making their way for the plantations; all leaping, whistling, +and chattering as they progress from tree to tree. + +Parrots, some blue, red, or green, others, parti-coloured, assemble in +large groups on the tops of the forest-trees; and then, flying off to +the plantations, fill the air with their screams. The toucan, perched +on an extreme branch, rattles his large, hollow bill; and in loud, +plaintive notes, calls for rain. The fly-catcher sits aloof, intent on +watching insects as they dart from branch to branch, seizing them as +they heedlessly buzz by him in their giddy and unsteady career. Other +birds, of singular form, variety, and superb plumage, flutter by, in +large or small parties, or in pairs, and some singly, peopling +everywhere the fragrant bushes. On the ground are gallinaceans, +jacuses, hocuses, and pigeons, that have left the perch to wander under +the trees, in the moisture, for food. + +In the tones of the nightingale the manikins are heard in all places, +amusing themselves by their sudden change of position, and in +misleading the sportsman; while the woodpecker makes the distant forest +resound as he strikes the trees. Super-noisy, above all, is the +uraponga, who, perched on the highest tree he can find, gives out +sounds resembling the strokes of a sledge-hammer on the anvil, deluding +the wanderer, as it once did me, into a belief that a blacksmith's shop +is near at hand. + +[Sidenote: The mocking-bird] + +Every living thing, by its action and voice, is seen greeting the +splendour of the day; while the delicate humming-bird, rivalling, in +beauty and lustre, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires, hovers with +invisible wings over the brightest flowers. The bird colibri repairs +to the tree called _bois immortel_, when the wild guava ripens its +fruit; and there, also, will be found the Pompadour, both the +purple-breasted and the purple-throated. At the same hour (day-break), +the crowing of the hanaquoi sounds like a village-clock, for all to set +to work in the great shop of nature. Then the cassique, or +mocking-bird, gives out his own short but sweet song, preparatory to +visiting the plantations, being fond of the haunts of man, where he +remains till evening, making all kinds of noises, from the crowing of a +cock, and the barking of dogs, to the grunting and squeaking of pigs. +These birds weave their nests near together, in a pendulous manner. +Their bodies are black, having the rump and half-tail yellow; other +species have the rump a bright scarlet. In form they are a model of +symmetry. + +As the feathered tribes, one after the other, adjust their plumage, and +tune their throats, squirrels, in rapid spiral speed, as quick as +thought, are seen descending trees, then darting upon others in +opposite directions, flinging themselves from tree to tree, with +amazing exactness; pursuing their mates or their rivals among the mazy +branches of the trees, with a velocity that eludes the sight. + +Everywhere is nature's secretary, with his pen dipped in intellect, +busy in writing down the invisible agency of Infinite Wisdom and +Almighty Power. + + "How dazzling is thy beauty! how divine! + How dim the lustre of the world to thine!" + + +The sublimity of the scene, when first beheld, produced unlimited +astonishment; viewed again and again, all was softened down into +harmonious shades of beauty, imparting a pleasure that cannot be +understood by mere dwellers amidst the works of man. + +[Sidenote: Noon in the forest] + +In the forest, every hour of the night and day is the Creator present +to the eye. Surrounded by the works of man, we sometimes lose sight of +our Maker, and do not always properly appreciate his attributes. I +have said that the morning gives life and activity to myriads of his +creatures, who declare his power; but not less expressive is the hour +of tranquillity--the hour of noon. At that hour, all is suddenly +hushed into solemn silence. Stillness, as if by general consent, +concert, or word of command, influences all the sylvan communities--a +stillness illumined and made more manifest by the dazzling and burning +beams of a meridian sun. + +Creation at that hour appears wearied, fatigued, and overcome with the +splendour of the day; it is as the face of God himself, before whose +glory all things are struck with awe, and pause to acknowledge His +majesty. Nothing moves--it is the hour of nature's siesta--yet the +stillness speaks. + + "Thy shades, thy silence, now be mine, + Thy charms my only theme; + My haunt the hollow cliff whose pine + Waves o'er the gloomy stream." + + +The quietness is that of a pause in the running stream of time; the air +is motionless, the leaves hang pendant, as waiting in the presence of a +deity for permission to resume the business of growth. The silence +that reigns at the hour of noon is peculiarly of a religious character; +there is nothing to which it can be compared but itself. From the +nobles of the forest to the minutest insect, all appear to be at their +devotions--the propensity to kill, for the time being, is forgotten or +suspended,-- + + "The passions to divine repose alone + Persuaded yield; and love and joy are waking." + +It is as if the naiads and fairies had deserted the sunbeams and fallen +asleep. Oh! there is a harmony in nature wonderfully attuned to the +intelligence of man, if he would but listen to it. The hour of noon, +in the woods, is an hour of intellectual transcendentalism; it lifts +the thoughts beyond the world, and peoples the grove with spirits of +another world. Yet is there nothing in motion but the beams of the sun +penetrating the foliage to the base of the trees-- + + "The chequered earth seems restless as a flood + Brushed by the winds, so sportive is the light + Shot through the boughs; it dances as they dance, + Shadow and sunshine intermingling quick, + And dark'ning and enlight'ning (as the beams + Play wanton) every part." + + +Everything speaks of the Deity, and the fall of a leaf passes as a +phantom of the dead. + + ----"not a tree, + A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains + A folio volume." + + +The fitful meanings of the wind, in the more boisterous moments of +AEolus, through the branches, speak not louder of God than the whisper +of his breath that plays with the foliage. The low and broken murmurs +of the water in the gill are as audibly eloquent as the lashing of the +waves of the ocean in a storm, or the wild roar of the cataract. The +voice of nature, come in what form it may, brings unutterable thoughts +of the majesty of the creation. Whether it is in the deep, delicious +tones of the happiness of the wood-dove, the melting, graceful notes of +the nightingale, the thrilling melody of other sylvan songsters, or the +twitterings of the swallow, all compel us to exclaim, "Oh! there is +harmony in nature." + + "Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh, + Yet heard in scenes where peace for ever reigns, + ... Please highly for their sake. + ... Kites that swim sublime + In still-repeated circles, screaming loud, + ... Have charms for me." + + +[Sidenote: Evening] + +But the hour of stillness, like all other hours, passes away. The +insects again give out their sounds; wasps and bees buzz in every +direction; the talk of birds is clamorously resumed; the king-vulture +and the kite soar high in the hair, like fugle-birds, as signals for +the resumption of the business of the day. The chattering manikins +again rustle among the fig-leaves; the armadillo, and other burrowing +animals, are seen cautiously peeping from their holes; the horned +screamer opens wide his throat, and one by one, the whole of the sylvan +feathered community join in concert. + +The porcupine moves in the trees; the long grass is observed to give +way as creeping things pursue their prey, or escape from foes; all +indications that the earth and air again are full of animated life. + +An hour or two elapses, and a gentle breeze rises to cool the air and +give motion to the trees, as troop after troop of birds and monkeys +wend their way back into the interior of the forest, indicating the +gradual decline of the day. General preparations are being made for +rest; only the slender deer, the peccari, the timid agouti, and the +tapir, will still graze. The opossum, and some sly animals of the +feline race skulk through the obscurity of the wood, stealthily +prowling for prey. Finally, the last troop of howling monkeys are +heard, as if performing the duty of drovers to those that have preceded +them; the sloth cries as if in much distress with pain; the croaking of +frogs, and monotonous chirps of large grasshoppers, bring on the close +of day. + +The tops of the forest now appear to be on fire, in the midst of which, +the toucan, on a blasted mora tree, is uttering his evening cry, as +darker shades are gradually cast into the forest, and the sun's disc +sinks into the horizon. + +The sky, which a moment since was bright as burnished gold, has already +changed to a dusky grey, with here and there streaks of purple hue. A +solitary bird, truant to its mate, or perhaps a mourner for its loss +during the day's excursion, is seen like a wayfarer, with tired flight, +wearily labouring to reach the wood ere nightfall. + +Twilight is still lingering in the west, bringing on the night with a +soft and sweet touch of delicacy, but still approaching, till +surrounding objects become more and more obscure and confused, though +undiminished in their beauty and effect. The cries of the macue, the +capaiera, the goat-sucker, and the bass tones of the bullfrog, are now +heard. Myriads of luminous beetles fly in the air, resembling the +ignes fatui, and announce the departure of the day; when the +night-moths and numerous other insects start on the wing, the bats flit +between the branches of trees, the owls and vampires, like phantoms, +silently pursue their course in search of prey, reserving their hollow +cries for the ominous hour of midnight. + +The stars, one after another, are lighted up as the moon rises on the +horizon, with a modest countenance, to intimate to man that there is +still a ruling power over the world. She tinges with silver streaks of +light the tops and edges of the forest, till + + "Lo! midnight, from her starry reign, + Looks awful down on earth and main, + The tuneful birds lie hush'd in sleep, + With all that crop the verdant food, + With all that skim the crystal flood, + Or haunt the caverns of the rocky steep." + + +At this hour the spectral owl quits the hollow tree, and with his +shriek makes the boldest birds shrink away in fear, though in the +sunshine hour they would hunt him. + + "So when the night falls, and dogs do howl, + Sing Ho! for the reign of the horned owl! + We know not alway + Who are kings by day; + But the king of the night is the bold brown owl!" + + "Mourn not for the owl, nor his gloomy plight! + The owl hath his share of good; + If a prisoner he be in the broad daylight, + He is lord in the dark greenwood. + Nor lonely the bird, nor his ghastly mate, + They are each unto each a pride; + Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange dark fate, + Hath rent them from all beside." + + +[Sidenote: The bow and arrows] + +I made but little progress in archery, which was a great source of +mortification to me, although I spent every leisure hour I could spare +after obtaining food, in practice. I was on the verge of despair of +ever being able to make anything like a shot, when an incident occurred +that enabled me to kill, in a few weeks, almost any bird on the wing, +if within the range of my bow. Returning home from a long and +fatiguing ramble (for I had extended my surveys of the forest as I +acquired confidence of finding my way home at night), I one day was +astonished to see a bow and a quiver of arrows suspended from the +branch of a tree. + +This was a sight which occasioned feelings that are indescribable. I +was both rejoiced and alarmed. At first I thought my deliverance was +certain; the next moment I crouched behind a bush to hide myself, as +from a most deadly foe. When I reflected on the loneliness of my +existence, I longed to join society; yet, whenever society appeared to +be available, I instinctively shrunk back, as if about to lose my +independence or be carried into slavery. Operated on by mingled +impulses, the dread of man seemed for a long time to prevail. Might +they not be savages, and take my life? Or might they not lead me into +captivity, and make a slave of me? They would at least have the +Christian's practice to urge as a plea, in extenuation of such a +measure. + +Confident that human beings were in the neighbourhood, I at length +resolved to secrete myself in a bush and wait their return. I fixed my +eyes on the bow and quiver, expecting their owner would return for +them; but the tones of the toucan were heard, by which I was as well +informed of the approach of evening, as the partridge's call announces +the coming day. Still unwilling to quit the spot, I remained +throughout the night; but no owner came to claim the weapons. All this +time I feared to touch them as if they were a trap laid to ensnare me. +About noon the next day, I thought of possessing myself of them, and +then made a circuit to reassure myself that no one was at hand. With +fear and trembling I then, like a thief, took the bow and quiver from +the tree, and hastened back to my hut to examine them. The whole +secret of my inability to shoot birds was now at once explained. I had +not feathered my arrows, nor was my bow long enough. + +Still anxious to know their owner, the following morning I repaired +again to the spot, and hung my own rudely formed weapons on the same +tree from which I had taken the others. My motives were, first, to +ascertain whether any person would yet come to remove them, and also to +inform those who might come for that purpose, that another human being +was in the neighbourhood. + +The bow and arrows hung there a month, when I gave up all hopes of +seeing any person in the woods; still the event caused me much +uneasiness, and ever afterwards occasioned me to tread the paths around +with extreme caution. + +[Sidenote: Flint and steel] + +Being now furnished with well-made arms, I soon brought down my birds, +and might have fared sumptuously, could I have procured a fire. All my +waking hours were, therefore, spent in bewailing this want, when one +morning, as I was digging with my stick to come at a land tortoise that +had crept into a hole, I raked out a piece of flint, and the tinder-box +occurring to my mind, I struck it on the back of my knife, and +instantly produced sparks, which actually made me leap for joy. My +delight, however, was but of short duration. How were the sparks to be +collected? I had no tinder--no matches. I then thought of my shirt, +which I had long cast off; but then I had no matches, and must have +fire before I could make tinder. + +My joy was soon turned into despondency. I threw down the flint, and +in the bitterness of my disappointment, apostrophised it, as the cock +in the fable did, when scratching on a dunghill he found a jewel +instead of a grain of corn. "Are all my days to be spent," I +ejaculated, "in hopes that delight me only to make me more miserable?" +Suddenly it occurred to my memory, that when at school, our small +pieces of artillery were fired with lighted decayed wood, what the boys +called touch-wood. Repossessing myself of the flint, I flew to my old +sleeping-place, and in my impatience, struck a light on my former +bed--the soft wood in the interior--it ignited, and smouldered. I was +in an ecstacy of delight, and clapped my hands with exultation. Still +I had no flame. I then collected some dried leaves, and holding them +loosely over the spot that was alight, I blew with my mouth; a severely +burnt hand soon informed me that I had succeeded. + +My first fire was indeed a bonfire: heaping more leaves and dried +sticks on to it, the tree was entirely consumed, and a number of others +so damaged as very soon to become touch-wood. + +[Sidenote: The thunder-storm] + +A terrible thunder-storm succeeded this exploit. So wholly absorbed +had I been with the fire, that when it expended itself, I found myself +in total darkness, the moon having been suddenly obscured. All the +inhabitants of the wood were restless and uneasy in their beds. I +could hear the stag startle, and again lay himself down. Flashes of +lightning showed the birds, lifting their heads at intervals, then +returning them hastily again under their wings. The storm had for some +time been gathering on the tops of the forest, and had now spread its +black mantle over the moon, while I, like a school-boy on the fifth of +November, had been exulting over a blaze. + +On the storm advanced, in the majesty of darkness, moving on the wings +of the blast, which my imagination pictured as uprooting the trees +around me. The thunder rolled over the crown of the forest in the rear +of the lightning. Rifted clouds continued to pass over my head. An +owl left its dirge unfinished, and fitted its ruffled feathers into a +cleft of a blasted tree over my head. The wild animals that prowl by +night, with famished stomachs, sought shelter in their dens. + +I alone stood bared to the fury of the storm, incapable of reaching my +hut in the darkness of that awful night. The thunder rolled as with +ten thousand voices, and the lightning at intervals set the whole +forest in a blaze of light. One of the flashes brought down a mora +tree near to where I stood, crushing the limbs of other trees as it +fell. The crash was terrific. Examining it the next morning by +daylight, there was a wild fig-tree growing out of its top, and on the +fig grew a wild species of vine. The fig-tree was as large as a common +apple-tree, yet owed its growth to an undigested seed, dropped by birds +that resort to the mora to feed on its ripe fruit. Such seeds the sap +of the mora raises into full bearing, when they, in their turn, are +called on to support and give out their sap to different species of +seeds, also dropped by birds. In this case the usurpation of the fig +on the mora, and the vine on the fig, brought all to an early end. A +dead sloth was lying near to the prostrate timber, probably brought +down, by the force of its fall, from the branch of another tree. + +It was a night of devastation in the wilds of nature. The storms of +destruction blew piercingly on every quarter. The destroying blast +clapped his wings over many a tree, and laid prostrate numerous +creatures that had life as the sun went down the previous evening. To +the things that can be shaken, belong all that is earthly. However +durable they may appear, however they may glitter, or stable they may +appear, age, or the storm, will bring them to oblivion. Mutability is +written on all the works of nature. It is an inscription that meets +every eye, whether turned on the foundations of a city, a nation, or +the works of the creation. Awe-struck with the dilapidations the +morning made visible, I hastened to my hut, anxious to see if all was +safe there, and prepare to cook myself a dinner. + +[Sidenote: The sloth] + +Man is essentially a cooking animal, and though omnivorous in his +appetite, is nine parts out of ten carnivorous. I had abundance of +vegetable food around me, of which I ate freely, and was in good +health; yet my desire to taste animal food was so strong that I would +at the time have made almost any sacrifice to obtain it. I had reached +more than half the distance towards my residence, thinking all the way +only on the means that I possessed of making a fire, before it occurred +to me that I had no flesh to cook. I then turned back, and with my +knife cut off the hind-quarter of the sloth, being resolved to try the +quality of the flesh. + +Having collected a small heap of the dried rotten wood, to use as +tinder, I succeeded in making a fire outside my hut, where I broiled +some pieces of the sloth's flesh, and from it made a tolerable meal, +though it was not so good as beef or mutton. + +Whenever I subsequently met with the sloth, he always excited my pity, +and I forbore from doing such a helpless creature any injury. The +natives say that by his piteous moans he will make the heart of a tiger +relent, and turn away from him. The sloth is a solitary animal; he has +no companion to cheer him, but lies on the branches of trees almost +stationary, having no means of defence or escape, if you intend him any +harm; his looks, his gestures, and his cries declare it; therefore do +not kill him. He subsists wholly on the leaves of trees, and does not +quit one branch till there is nothing left for him to eat, and he then +moves evidently with much pain to himself. He preys on no living +animal, and is deficient and deformed, when compared with other +animals, though in some other respects he is compensated in the +composition of his frame. His feet are without soles, nor can he move +his toes separately; he therefore cannot walk, but hooks himself along +by means of the claws which are at the extremity of the fore-feet. He +has no cutting teeth; he has four stomachs, and yet wants the long +intestinal canals of ruminating animals. His hair lies flat on his +body, like long grass withered by the frost. He has six more ribs than +the elephant, namely, forty-six, the latter having only forty; his legs +strike the eye as being too short, and as if joined to the body with +the loss of a joint. On the whole, as a quadruped, the sloth is of the +lowest degree. He never quits a tree until all the leaves are eaten. + +The day after I had made a meal from the sloth, I shot my arrow through +the head of a horned screamer, which brought him within my grasp; this +was a great feat for me to accomplish, the screamer being a majestic +bird, as large as a turkey-cock, having on the head a long slender +horn, each wing being armed with a sharp, strong spur, of an inch long. +I had seated myself behind a tree, where I had been, for several hours, +watching the movements of the ants that build their nests on those +trees, when the bird came within a few yards of me. This incident +practically exemplified to me that, like other animals that seek for +prey, I must use patience, and be wary in my movements. It taught me +to reflect and to know that it was not rambling over much space that +would ensure success, and that every spot in the world was available, +either for the study of the things of creation or for procuring food. + +It is a great error some fall into when they imagine that travelling +over much ground will give knowledge; those who observe and reflect may +gain more information when examining a puddle of water, than the +careless will in traversing the globe. + +[Sidenote: The ants] + +Of the insect tribe, the ants early attracted my attention, and I spent +much time in watching their movements; indeed, from the first hour I +turned my thoughts to the study of insects, I never afterwards spent a +dull one. The tree ants' nests are about five times as large as those +made by rooks, from which they have covered ways to the ground; these +ways I frequently broke down, but as often as I did so, they were +quickly under repair, a body of labouring ants being immediately +summoned for that purpose. Ants have the means of communicating with +each other in a very rapid manner. I am of opinion that the antennae +are the medium through which they receive and convey orders to each +other. + +I have seen a troop of ants a mile long, each one carrying in its mouth +a round leaf about the size of a sixpence, which appeared to have been +trimmed round to the shape. Wasps do the same; and after twisting them +up in the shape of a horn, deposit their eggs in them. When on their +march, or engaged at work, nothing deters them from progressing; they +seem to have no fear either of injury or death. I have broken their +line at different points, and killed thousands of them; the others go +over the same ground, as if perfectly unconscious of danger, while a +body of them are instantly detached to remove the dead, and clear the +way. It matters not how often the experiment is repeated, or what +number are slain, others come on as if their forces were unlimited. It +would seem that they live under an absolute monarchy, and dare not +disobey orders. When accompanying them on a march, I have seen a +messenger arrive from the opposite direction to that they were going, +and the whole line, as I have said, of sometimes a mile long, +simultaneously brought to a halt. One of the ants belonging to the +body went forward, and applied its antennae to those of the messenger, +after which, the latter returned the way he came, and the main body +immediately altered its course of march. + +At one time, I fell in with an unusually large body of these +persevering labourers, and being resolved, if possible, to stop them, I +formed a ditch in their way, and filled it with water; while the ditch +was being made, they continued their course up and down the ridges of +the loose earth, as if nothing had happened, although hundreds were +every instant buried. When, however, the water was turned into the +channel, there was a momentary halt; but as the ant must never be idle, +it was but for an instant, to receive orders to take the margin of the +earth, and travel round the head of the channel. How the nature of the +disaster they had met with was made known, so as to stop the whole body +simultaneously, may be difficult to ascertain; but at the moment of +making these experiments I have distinctly seen the antennae of one ant +strike the tail of the one immediately before it, and the same movement +repeated by all the others in rapid succession as far as my observation +extended. + +[Sidenote: Wasps] + +All insects that live in communities are, I should imagine, in +possession of language. One day I saw a wasp fly into my hut, and +recollecting that I had a small collection of honey wrapped in some +plantain leaves, I went to close the shutter as it again flew out; but +observing the wasp immediately fly towards another of his species, and +then to a second and a third, and those instantly fly off in opposite +directions, I said to myself, the discovery of my depot of honey is +being advertised throughout the community of wasps. Thinking I would +disappoint the depredators, before I left home I was very careful in +fastening the entrance, and stuffing every crevice up with long grass. +About a hundred yards from my hut I met a swarm of wasps, which induced +me to return and ascertain whether my conjectures were confirmed; and +there I found an immense number seeking an entrance, evidently with a +view of plundering me of my honey. It was not long ere they found +admission through some of the apertures in the roof. Knowing that my +honey must go,--for a swarm of wasps is not to be molested with +impunity,--I turned away to pursue my walk with the reflection that +they only took what they could get, and suited their appetites, the +business of my own every-day life. + +Both in society and in the forest it is wise at all times to avoid +being an aggressor. The stings of mankind, and of insects, are most +frequently the result of our own imprudence. In the forest I have +daily been surrounded with myriads of wasps and large stinging bees, +and never received an injury but when I was committing depredations on +their store. + +But of all plunderers in nature, the ant exceeds the whole. I had +become acquainted with five species of bees in my immediate +neighbourhood, not one of which could secure their combs from the +voracious appetites of the ant. They came in such numbers, as +sometimes, in my view, to threaten the undermining of the forest; and +were to be seen of all sizes and colour. One sort is so large, that +the natives make a considerable article of food of them when fried. + +The termites, or white ants, are very destructive; neither fruit, +flowers of plants, or food of any kind, escapes them. When they appear +in the dwellings of man, they will undermine a house in a few hours, if +the wood of which it is built suits their taste. + +[Sidenote: Voracity of the ants] + +The whole of the ant tribes are, however, essentially carnivorous, and +are useful in repressing a too rapid increase amongst reptiles much +larger than themselves; and I have often thought, when watching their +movements, and observing that there is nothing, from the smallest +winged insect to the carcase of a bullock, that comes to the ground, +but they instantly assemble in millions to devour it, that they were +intended by nature to prevent the corruption of the air from the decay +and putrefaction of animal matter. If an enormous spider accidentally +falls to the ground, they give it no time to recover itself; thousands +are instantly on it; and although the spider, in its struggles to +escape, will kill and crush numbers, still others continue to crawl up +his legs and thighs, and there hang on in quietness, till their victim +is exhausted by fatigue, when a few seconds serve to remove all traces +of its heretofore existence. As I grew older, and acquired more +experience in hunting for my food, I frequently killed large animals, +of whose flesh I could only eat as much as served me for a meal, before +the remainder would be spoiled by the heat of the weather: this the +ants generally cleared away. + +At length I learned to go out by moonlight, to kill deer and the +peccari,--a time that they like to browse, and may be approached with +more ease. I generally dragged the remains of a carcase I did not want +in the way of the ants, and watched them at their feast. A few hours +served to leave the bones of the largest animal perfectly clean, and as +a skeleton for study, fit for an exhibition. + +When the termites, or white ant, is seen in the neighbourhood of man, +the antipathies of the species are rendered available. As soon as they +are observed, sugar is strewed in such a direction as to lead the brown +or black ants to the spot, who, it is known, will immediately attack +and put the white party to the rout, much to the amusement of the +negroes, who cheer on the blacks to kill the whites. I have often +awoke with my body covered with ants, when I generally ran to the +nearest water, and plunging into it, freed myself from them; though I +never could discover for what purpose they spread themselves over my +frame, unless it were in expectation of my becoming a corpse. When, +however, I did rouse myself, they seldom exhibited much alacrity in +acknowledging their error by making a speedy retreat. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR--AN EXTRAORDINARY ECHO--I AM ATTACKED WITH A +FEVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY DRIVEN FROM MY HUT. + + + "Give me, indulgent gods--with mind serene, + And guiltless heart--to range the sylvan scene; + No splendid poverty, no smiling care, + No well-bred hate, or servile grandeur there." + + +I had now become a sportsman--a Nimrod--my chief delight being found in +the use of my bow and arrows. Thus armed, I ranged the forest, or laid +in covert, to destroy any game which might come in my way. My +propensity for killing, however, soon led me into a scrape, the escape +from which nearly cost me my life; yet the lesson was thrown away on +me, for it in no way abated my desire to shoot and eat the flesh of +birds. + +Early one morning I had taken my station behind a large tree, from +which I discharged an arrow at a mocking-bird. No sooner had the arrow +quitted the string, than I descried a bear, feeding on ants' nests, and +that in a direct line between myself and the bird shot at. The arrow +passed close by his ear; it might have struck him: be this as it may, +the bear instantly began to descend the tree, showing evident signs of +his intention to revenge the insult. + +Not being disposed to confront such an enemy in an angry mood, I +instantly took to my heels; but had not proceeded far, before the +shaggy monster was near overtaking me. In this extremity I ascended a +tree, confident of being as good a climber as Bruin was. I had, +however, scarcely reached the lowest extending branch, before the +enraged beast was close on me. Fortunately, I had in my flight +retained possession of my stick; and as the bear had no means of +supporting himself but by clinging to the trunk of the tree with his +claws, I applied my staff with so much vigour to his feet, that he was +constrained to drop to the ground, whereupon his rage was great. He +then took a turn or two round the base of the tree to cool himself, +gave a growl, and seated himself under it, fixing his eyes on me. In +this position the disappointed monster remained, on his hind-quarters, +seven hours, watching my movements; till at length, growing weary of +his presence, and having read somewhere of the effect of the human +voice, I cried out loudly, mentioning several names, as if calling for +assistance. When speaking of the storm, I said that the thunder rolled +with ten thousand voices. The cause, however, of its multiplied tones, +was reserved for this adventure to make known. As I called out, I was +utterly astonished to hear my own words repeated several times in +succession;--the bear started on his feet; and after looking round, as +if in fear of an attack, took himself off at his utmost speed. + +[Sidenote: An alarming echo] + +Assured that I had heard human voices, I became more agitated than when +in company with the bear. It may appear anomalous; it is nevertheless +true, that the prospect, or thought, of meeting with human beings in +these wilds, always elicited agitation, or, more properly, terror. + +The joy that hope brought of my emancipation was always mixed with an +alloy of indefinable dread of some coming evil. I remained in the tree +about an hour after the bear had departed, continuing to amuse myself +with the exercise of the voice, and listening to the repetitions of its +sounds. At length, when assured that the bear did not contemplate a +renewal of the attack, I descended from the tree, and again raised my +voice, and was again surprised to find that I had no response. This +struck me as very mysterious; and instead of seeking for natural causes +of the phenomena, I abandoned myself to superstitious fears, and +persuaded myself that I was on enchanted ground, while my mind indulged +in endless chimeras. Every effect is preceded by a cause, was a +sentence I had often heard my father repeat; and as it recurred to my +memory, I again ascended the tree, and repeated the experiments, +alternately, for some time, on the ground and in the tree. The result +was always the same, the voice being reverberated when in the tree, and +not so when on the ground. Again and again. I turned the matter over +in the mind, and could come to no other conclusion than that there were +persons somewhere in the neighbourhood, who could hear me from the +tree, but were too far off to hear my voice when surrounded with the +underwood on the ground. I now thought it my duty to find out the +persons from whom I supposed the sounds came, and was actually +preparing to start in search of them, when it suddenly flashed on my +mind that I had heard a similar phenomenon under a bridge near my own +native village, which the boys called an echo; yet as that gave only +one response, or echo, I was still perplexed to make out a cause for +hearing so many. This phenomenon, however, soon became a considerable +source of amusement to me, and by shifting my positions I found several +series of echoes: in some places the reverberations were six and +sevenfold, and in others they were so numerous as to run into +indistinctness. For a considerable time subsequently it was my wont, +on a Sunday, to ascend a tree after my devotions, and sing a line or +two, or a verse of a psalm which I knew, when the effect was something +like a number of voices in a place of worship, though the ear could not +compass the innumerable combination of reverberations. When the echo +was peculiarly distinct and near, and then taken up and repeated at a +distance, it conveyed to my imagination the idea of aerial spirits +answering each other. It was thus that the astonishing multiplied +reverberations of the thunder in this region were accounted +for--namely, the transmission of its sound from point to point. + +[Sidenote: The honey-bear] + +I saw no more of the ant-bear; but the honey-bear, which was more +common, and a fellow-depredator of the bees' nests with myself, often +crossed my path; and it required the exercise of much ingenuity and +caution to successfully compete with him. + +In all countries where the collection of honey is made a profit, +various devices have been resorted to for deterring or entrapping the +rugged depredators. To enumerate them all would be a digression from +my narrative. The following are, however, among other successful modes +of dealing with bears who have a taste for honey. + +The trees in which the bees are found the inhabitants lop close to the +trunk, up to the home of the bees, so that the bear has nothing but the +main trunk to assist him in climbing. These trees they sometimes stick +with spikes, and blades of knives, with the points upwards. These, +however, offer but small impediments to the bear in ascending the tree, +but as he cannot descend with his head foremost, he is compelled to +slide down, when the points are not so easily avoided, generally +lacerating him in such a manner as to deter him from making any future +attempt to rob hives situated in trees. + +The experienced bear will, however, sometimes, as he ascends the tree, +break off the points, and secure himself a safe retreat. Entrapping +them is, therefore, a more successful practice. + +In lopping the tree the peasants are careful to leave a branch that +extends out from the trunk above the hole where the bees have +constructed their hive. From such a branch they suspend, with four +ropes, a flat board, forming one scale of a pair, such as are commonly +used in open markets; when this is hung up it hangs pendant at a +distance from the trunk of the tree. When, however, it is prepared as +a trap, it is brought close to the body of the tree by means of a bark +rope, upon which it is fastened over the entrance of the hive. + +The bear having climbed the tree, with difficulty maintains himself +with his claws while he commits the depredation, and is, therefore, +glad to find a seat so conveniently placed for him to sit on; but +seeing the entrance of the hole nearly covered with the bark-rope, he +immediately commences tearing it away, and, in so doing, liberates +himself from the tree, and becomes suspended in the air. In this +situation he sits contemplating the alternatives of remaining to be +killed when discovered, or venturing a leap to the ground; both, +however, lead to the same end, as stakes are placed to receive him on +their points, should he hazard a leap. + +In cold countries, it is by no means uncommon for bears to attack human +beings; but in forests, within the tropics, where redundant nature +pours out her horn of plenty, and food is found in abundance throughout +the year, man, if he is not himself quarrelsomely disposed, may pass +without molestation. Both the ant and the honey-hear occasionally +visited my hut, having frequently detected them sniffing round my +barricade; but when I made my appearance, either on the roof, or in +returning from a ramble, they always walked away without manifesting +decided hostile intentions. + +[Sidenote: The rains of Guiana] + +I had now passed ten months in the forest, and had learned to dispense +with shoes, stockings, linen, and, indeed, with every kind of covering +for the body, excepting a wrapper for the loins, which I contrived to +make out of the remaining rags collected from the worn-out habiliments +I possessed when lost to my family. I had also combated with a wet +season, and this season was now again approaching, that is, January and +February, when the rains fall heavily; indeed, rain is no proper term +for a fall of water in a Guiana forest. Rain conveys the idea of water +falling in drops; there, the water comes bodily upon the earth in wide +sheets. And before they come, no notice is given; they send no _avant +courier_ of a few scattered drops to warn you of what is to follow; +they are their own messengers. In the intervals between every such +fall, the fervid sun resumes its influence, operating with such +intensity as to effectually envelope all things in hot steam. A +continuation of rain and excessive heat produces exuberant vegetation; +and these in turn, by the exhalations of its ripeness and corruption, +furnish back to the atmosphere an accumulating fund of distempering +miasma, or cause of malignant fever. + +When the destructive effects of these influences are considered, in a +locality amongst the rankest productions of nature, and where in a +thousand places the water is pent up and sluggish,--prolific producers +of reptiles and noisome vapours--nothing but a miracle, through the +interposition of Providence, could have preserved me in health so long. +But my day of sickness was not to be altogether remitted, it was only +postponed, and then inflicted in kindness, to teach me prudence, and +the necessity there was for adopting proper precautions against evil +results. + +My hut, notwithstanding the complacency with which I had selected the +site, was, after all, situated in the very worst place I could have +found in the entire forest. The former rainy season had inundated the +morass that lay in the rear of my dwelling, and had, indeed, threatened +me with submersion; yet I continued to remain there, as if nothing of +danger had occurred, and the air, impregnated with the fermentations of +collected vegetation for ages, was as healthful as that on hilly lands. +It is the province of experience to calculate or anticipate results; +how then could one so young as I was know that too frequently the +beauty which redundant nature presents to the eye, is but an indication +of its treachery to the constitution. + +I had not then reflected on the condition on which mortals receive +life, namely, that of being associated with an inseparable companion +called care; a companion which never quits their side till they resign +up their souls. + +In my isolated situation, it was natural I should seek to indulge the +sentiment of friendship with such companions as the locality afforded. +The interior of my hut was therefore a kind of aviary; and it was my +practice every morning to devote a couple of hours to teaching, and in +the amusement of feeding my companions; after which, I indulged, by +turns, the most docile with a walk into the interior of the wooded +parts of the forest. A land-tortoise had become so tame, that when, in +my rambles, I sat down to rest, I allowed him to seek his own food in +the immediate neighbourhood, and that without any fear of his wandering +far, even if unwatched. + +The rainy season had commenced about three weeks, when one morning I +arose with an intense headache, excessive thirst, and a burning skin. +I hastened to the stream, drank copiously of cold water, bathed for +upwards of an hour, and then returned with my usual supply of water, +conveyed in a clay vessel, which I had baked in the sun. This, as were +similar vessels, was chiefly for the use of my family of birds, &c. + +I remember perfectly well, the following morning, that, as was my +custom, I caressed the whole family; and, to avoid jealous bickerings, +to which some were prone, I bestowed on each an equal portion of +attention; and that subsequently I took up a tortoise and a +mocking-bird for my companions during a walk. I also remember, that as +I reached the aperture under the roof, the rays of the sun affected my +sight in a peculiar manner, and that a giddy sensation came over me; +but from that moment I lost all remembrance of what followed, being +unconscious of passing circumstances; until I found myself reduced in +flesh, and so weak and feeble, as to be incapable of rising from the +floor of the hut where I was lying. Under the opening, from whence I +must have fallen, lay a dead tortoise, the shell being crushed. The +sticks of which my aviary was composed were all torn asunder, and the +broken fragments strewed about the place. Several of my favourite +birds, with their necks wrung, were on the ground; the others were +absent. The vessel in which I had brought the water was broken into +pieces, and many parts of the hut exhibited proofs of an attempt having +been made to pull up the stakes of which it was formed. These were all +evidences that I had fallen down when attempting to leave the hut, +probably from giddiness or vertigo; that a violent fever had +supervened, and in that condition I had lost my reason, and the +consequent command of my actions--whence the devastation around me, and +the debilitated state in which I found the body when reason returned. +Soon after consciousness had made me sensible of my condition, I fell +asleep, in which I was carried into all kinds of illusory imaginations. +Among other fantasies, I dreamed that I was on the sea--walking--yet +bounded on either side with rows of myrtles in full blossom, intermixed +with jessamines; and that thousands of Cupids and Fauns preceded me, +strewing flowers in my way. These figures, carrying baskets, were +followed by Zephyrs, which supplied the flowers. I was in a state of +enchantment with the scene, yet every moment suffered from the dread of +sinking into the depths of the sea, until I thought the water would no +longer support me, when I awoke in the fright of being drowned. + +[Sidenote: The power of prayer] + +The fever had entirely left me, and I was in a measure refreshed by the +sleep I had had. I was now reflecting on the phenomena of dreams, and +the length of time the impressions they leave remain on the mind--for I +still heard the action of the water--when, after several efforts to +disengage myself from the illusion, as I thought, I was roused from +imaginings to a sense of the reality of what I heard. Plash, plash, +went the water against the exterior of my hut; and these sounds were +continuous and audible, so much so as to be unmistakable. Still I was +incapable of reaching the exterior to see what was the cause. My state +of alarm and agitation may therefore be better conceived than +described. Too feeble to use my limbs, I had no resource but in +prayer. Most sincerely did I offer the Supreme Being thanks for having +preserved me through my illness. I then prayed, that after such a +miraculous dispensation of Divine goodness, I might not be left to +perish in my helplessness. I believe that no one ever prayed from the +heart without acquiring some additional knowledge or strength of +purpose. May not this be because prayer is both an inquiry of the +intellect and of the affections; the one seeking for the truth, and the +other for what is good? Besides, pure devotion is thought, which +improves, at least, and helps the judgment. + +After some time spent in this manner, I felt the perturbation of my +mind much abated, and in a frame to contemplate steadily surrounding +circumstances, and consider how they might be best dealt with. A short +time since, and I had looked on death as inevitable, either by drowning +or starvation; now, I reflected, that if the water had been very high, +it must have, ere this, penetrated my frail creation; and, if very +powerful, it would have swept the whole away without giving me any +notice whatever. It also occurred to me that I ought to have some +dozen or two of cocoa-nuts and a store of honey within my reach, as I +lay on the floor. + +As I had not previously, on any occasion, made a store, I could not but +see the hand of Providence directing me to prepare for my present +extremity. These supplies were placed in a hole which I had made in +the ground for their reception, being covered with a piece of bark, and +a stone to keep it in its place. Fortunately, I had only to drag +myself a few yards, and take the nourishment I so much needed; although +it was not calves'-foot jelly and port wine, yet, in my then weak +state, it proved a very gratifying refreshment. + +It is not possible for me to make any rational estimate of the length +of time I was under the influence of the fever, or of the period +employed in sleeping during my recovery. It is probable that it had +but a short, though a violent career; but the present exigencies were +too pressing to admit of much time being expended over the past. +Plash, plash, continued the water against the hut, and the floor began +to exhibit signs of its entrance into the interior. My situation was +now one of real peril. I made an effort to raise myself up to the +opening through which I mast pass to escape, but as I had first to +mount a stool formed of pieces of bark, and then to raise my body +several feet with my arms, before my head could reach the aperture, I +found my strength insufficient for the task. My distress was +considerably augmented by the impossibility of my taking any more rest +in a reclining position, as the water was rapidly covering the floor, +and the probability there was of the structure giving way on a sudden, +and submerging me in an instant of time. I seated myself on the +before-mentioned stool, with my feet and legs stretched over a +bird-coop that had not been entirely broken up. + +Singular to relate, in this position I fell into a profound sleep, with +my back against the lining of the hut; the extreme of distress, +contemplated for a length of time, I believe has a tendency to produce +this effect. + +[Sidenote: Perils of water] + +I had fallen asleep as the moon went down, about an hour after +midnight; it was daylight when I awoke; the first object that caught my +attention being the staff, on which were the notches that formed my +calendar; this was floating on the water, now a foot or more in depth. +It is said drowning men catch at straws; the idea immediately came +across my mind that, with the support of the stick, I should be enabled +to effect my escape. I succeeded; and after wading about fifty yards +up to my knees in water, reached a dry spot of land, on which my first +act was to kneel, and offer up prayers of gratitude for my deliverance. +As a period of unconsciousness had occasioned a breach in my calendar, +and the true Sabbath was lost to me, I made the day of my deliverance a +Sunday, from which hereafter to reckon the days of the week. + +Attenuated in frame, with weak limbs, but possessing a healthy stomach, +I dragged myself to a half-natural cave, at a short distance, which I +had previously cleared out as a place where I might find shelter from +the heavy rains, and where I could lie in wait to kill a head of game +without the fatigue of hunting for it. In this retreat I lived for two +days, solely on cocoa-nuts and honey; the third, I caught an armadillo, +which I dressed for dinner, and then resumed the practice of taking a +dessert in the afternoon, having abundance of fruit at my command. + +It is one of the miseries inseparable from the condition of man, that +good and evil are presented under different forms; misery often +appearing to us under the mask of happiness, and prosperity under the +image of misfortune, teaching us to leave all in the hands of Him who +knows best what is good for his creatures. + +I had no reason to complain, having within my reach blossoms, green and +ripe fruit, all on the same trees, and those in abundance throughout +the year, new soil for their growth being constantly formed by the +exuviae of the forest, which here keeps her sabbath in silence. But +even here, in the midst of plenty, man must not be idle. "The crab," +say the negroes, "that does not leave his hole, never gets fat." As my +strength returned, my wants increased; and as animal food appeared to +be needed for the renovation of the frame, I was constantly engaged in +the pursuit of it; while, what leisure time I possessed became irksome, +from the want of a domestic establishment such as I had formed in the +hut. + +[Sidenote: The first night in the cave] + +Although my specimen of sylvan architecture was at no time more than +half submerged in water, and that without being broken up, I abandoned +it as being unsafe as a residence. Finding myself not only more secure +from the heavy rains, but much more cool in the cave, I now began to +fortify its entrance, to guard against night intrusions. In effecting +this object, the only one I kept in view while at work, I fell into the +error of neglecting to provide for the admission of sufficient air to +sustain life. The first night I passed in the cave, after completing +my barricade of bark, which served the purpose of planks of deal, I +could get no rest, turning and rolling about with an uneasiness I could +in no way account for, till the morning came, when the admission of air +made me sensible of breathing with more freedom, and at once explained +the cause of my previous uneasiness. The next day was spent in cutting +holes through the bark fence, to remedy so serious an evil as the want +of air. + +Accustomed as I had been to the intimate society of birds and other +animals, their loss was too severely felt for me to remain long without +them; I therefore commenced the construction of a new aviary on the +outside of the cave, with a space beneath, to confine any of the small +kind of animals which might fall into my hands. One surviving tortoise +from the hut I had already brought into the cave. It was not long +before the entrance to my retreat somewhat resembled the display made +by a metropolitan dealer in animals, on the pavement before the steps +which lead to his lodgings in the cellar. Contentment is in no station +the lot of mankind. Although my new residence had many advantages, +nothing could compensate me for the loss of the security in which I had +every morning obtained a survey of the movements of the inhabitants of +the forest from the roof of the hut. I did not, however, indulge in +idle regrets, continuing to work on in constructing snares and traps, +to people my new dwelling-place; and when it happened that I wounded a +bird or animal, I derived a peculiar pleasure in attending to it till +its recovery was effected. When I had again collected a tolerable +number of friends, and formed some new attachments, a catastrophe +happened which occasioned me more regrets than any circumstance which +had previously befallen me in the woods. + +[Sidenote: Slaughter of the pet birds] + +Early in the day I had left my family all safe and well; they were of +course confined, but plenty of air and light was admitted through the +bars into their dwellings. I had the satisfaction of thinking they +were happy, even in their captivity; they were, however, all carried +off at one fell swoop, and I returned only to witness the desolation of +the scene. There is a small animal of the weasel species, having the +bump of destructiveness so strongly developed, that it seeks the +destruction of all other animals that cannot defend themselves from its +attacks; it is called the crabbodaga. One of these--or there may have +been an accomplice in the murderous business--crept between the bars of +the cage, and killed every bird and animal I possessed, excepting a +mocking-bird I happened to have out with me. + +None but those who have reared birds from the callow state and have +given them a place in their affections, can appreciate my distress at +this disaster. The birds had been my companions--had dined, some of +them, at the same table every day, and over the dessert had amused me +with their conversation, or delighted me with their music. Reflecting +on this domestic tragedy, I resolved to convert the entire of the +abandoned hut into one large aviary, that is, as soon as the dry season +had entirely freed the place from water. + +I had very little difficulty in trimming sticks, and binding them +together for fences, to confine the birds; but it was not so easy to +repair the loss of attached friends, who had reposed their confidence +in me, or to teach strangers an agreeable method of conversation upon a +given signal. I could now no longer give dinner-parties at home; I +therefore intruded on the entertainments given by others, for I did not +enjoy my meals alone. I did not often take a meal with gregarious +birds--those who moved in flocks,--yet many of these were excellent +companions in private; in a body they were generally too noisy and +fickle in flight to be depended on, except in the morning or evening. + +The birds usually called social, were my favourites; these are such as +live in pairs, but assemble in parties at certain hours of the day to +dine on the same tree, sing in concert for an hour, and then part as +they came, each attended by its mate. At many of these entertainments +I was permitted to remain, without causing any surprise or confusion; +but then I behaved with proper decorum, and above all, did not forget +the manners and habits of those I visited. + +Observing the monkeys to be very fond of the seeds that grew on a tree +called the _vanilla_, the Spanish name for scabbard, which the seeds of +the plant resemble, I one day presumed to join one of their parties at +meal time, and climbed a tree for that purpose, but was received so +very uncourteously, that I gave them up as incorrigible boors. That +they have no soul for music I have had frequent proofs while listening +to the song of the thrush in the breeding season; a period when these +birds select an elevated spot, generally the same every day, and pour +forth strains of peculiar melody. These songs the monkeys not only +disregard, but continually interrupt with their monotonous howls. + +[Sidenote: Habits of birds] + +The habits of birds are very peculiar, and distinctively marked; the +thrush sings to its mate, delighted with the prospect of rearing up a +new progeny; the nightingale, on the contrary, only ceases to sing when +his mate arrives to join him; being migrating birds, the male precedes +the female in making its passage from one country to another, and pours +forth his notes only while waiting for the arrival of the female. + +If this bird is caught and caged before he is joined by his mate, he +will continue to sing in confinement, if afterwards, he will be mute. +Nothing is more remarkable in birds, or has perhaps been less noticed, +than their affection for each other, and for callow birds in general. +The cries from any one nest of birds will set all the old ones within +hearing into a state of extreme agitation, all flying up and down +anxious to inquire what is the matter, and what assistance they can +offer. He who walks through the woods, and can imitate the cries of +young birds, may at all times be certain of collecting old ones around +him, that is, in the breeding season. + +The cry of young birds in the nest is in the forest what the cry of +fire or murder is in a city; it alarms all the neighbourhood; and the +knowledge of an enemy to their young being in the vicinity of their +homes, is to them much the same as going to bed next door to an +incendiary. + +I have seen a blue jay--a very noisy and chattering bird--discover an +owl sitting in his hiding-place, and immediately summon a flock of his +feathered fraternity to his assistance. These surrounded the winking +_solitaire_, and opened a fire of abuse on him that might at a distance +be mistaken for a general disturbance in Billingsgate Market. The owl +opened and then shut his eyes, as if at first unconscious of the +meaning of the attack, and asking, "Can it be me you mean?" He, +however, was soon made sensible that he would not be suffered to remain +within their jurisdiction; and off he went, followed by a mob of birds, +who hunted him out of the bounds of their district. Clamorous as the +jay is against the owl for eating young birds, he himself I have +detected in tearing the callow young out of the eggs belonging to other +birds; yet he never fails to unite with the other feathered inhabitants +of the wood at the cry of danger. + +The tender assiduities of birds in their attachments is no less +remarkable than their courage in defence of their mates and young ones. +The male, solicitous to please, uses the tenderest expressions, as +evinced by his manner; sits by his mate as closely as he can; caresses +her with a thousand endearing movements of the body and head: sings to +her his most enchanting warblings; and, as they are seated together, if +he espies an insect more agreeable to her taste than another, he takes +it up, flies to her with it, spreads his wings over her, and genteelly +puts it into her mouth. And if a rival or an enemy appear, his courage +in attack soon proves the ardour of his love. + +[Sidenote: The mocking-bird and snake] + +During incubation, the female is no less the object of his solicitude; +as birds have many enemies, the males feel that it is their duty to +watch over and protect their mates and young ones. I had every waking +hour opportunities of witnessing their courage, frequently seeing very +small birds attack the black snake, darting at its head, and pecking +the eyes till they either killed or drove away that enemy to their +brood. When these contests became doubtful, the females would leave +their nests, and hasten to the scene of action to render their mates +assistance. + +The mocking-bird seldom fails to kill the snake single-handed, +instantly afterwards mounting the bush, to pour forth a torrent of song +in token of victory. These birds mount and descend as their song +swells or dies away; at times darting up with the celerity of an arrow, +as if to recover or recall the last strain of expiring melody. While +the mocking-bird thus exerts himself, a bystander, destitute of sight, +would suppose that the whole of the feathered tribes had assembled to +vie with each other in singing and in deceiving the sportsman, by +imitating the birds of which he was in pursuit. Their talent at +imitation is so extraordinary, that they can call the mates of almost +every other bird around them at pleasure. + +The fascinating power ascribed to the black snake is an error. When a +snake is discovered in the vicinity of a nest, the male bird mounts a +spray, and in great agitation flutters his wings in a threatening +manner, till an opportunity offers of flying down to the attack. In +these encounters the snake sometimes succeeds in biting the bird, and +in injecting its venom, when the effect of the poison is so sudden, as +to paralyse the further efforts of the latter; hence has arisen the +supposed power of fascination, and the story of birds flying into the +snake's jaws. Instances of this nature I have witnessed, and if I had +not followed up my observations further, might have fallen into the +popular error of supposed fascination: but my experience informs me, +that when the bird is said to be spellbound, it is preparing to destroy +an enemy, in which encounter it generally comes off victorious. + +Birds, as a class, possess as much intelligence, and more courage than +any of God's creatures lower in the scale of animals than man. The +instincts, or the propensities and precautions of animals, as in birds +developed, are as multifarious and as striking, if not more so, as in +other animals, not excepting the elephant and dog. + +A thrush that I caught in a trap used to catch wasps, and after +plucking the wings off to prevent their escape, pressed the abdomen +with his bill, to force out the poison of the sting before he swallowed +it. I have frequently seen birds seize mice and reptiles, and after +examination reject them. In all such cases I have found that the prey +thus cast aside was sickly, or infested with lice. The birds seem to +reason thus: "If I take this sickly thing to my nest, I shall not only +carry my young ones unwholesome food, but shall carry a nuisance to +them, also." Another bird I had in my aviary, would carry food that +was too hard for his taste to his water, and there let it remain till +it was soaked to his palate. + +[Sidenote: Departure from the cave] + +Looking over my notched calendar, and transferring it in weeks and +months to another stick I was suddenly struck with the length of time I +had been shut out of society, and how wonderfully the Almighty had +preserved me. It then occurred to me that I had not exerted myself as +I ought to have done, to free myself from the intricate mazes of the +forest. Then, reflecting on the regular inundations of the morass, I +thought it was probable that the waters might come from a river, or the +sea; and as they had just then retired, I determined to start off +immediately, and pursue the margin to its source. Hitherto, security +at night had induced me to linger about favourite spots; I had now +surmounted childish fears; still I was sensible of the great risk I +should run of sleeping, night after night, in the open air; and this +reflection for a time deterred me from carrying out my plan. At length +I thought of the gipsies I had seen in the green lanes in England, and +then set to work to manufacture a substitute for the covers they use to +throw over the hooped sticks at night, with which they were wont to +form low booths. This I effected by platting and weaving long dried +grass, and when it was completed, I cut some poles of the lacaria; but +still doubting my own resolution to break up my establishment, I one +day, with a kind of spasmodic effort, liberated all my newly-collected +domestic friends and companions, some of which accepted of freedom +rather reluctantly. My attachments being thus dissolved, the following +morning I commenced my lonely journey, on the second day of which I +made a fire near to some shallow water, and was broiling a jay I had +killed for my supper, when the earth on which I sat began to move, and +instantly afterwards the embers were scattered about. Starting to my +feet with alarm, a crocodile about four feet long showed itself as it +plunged a few yards further off into a pool of mud and water. The +place on which I had lighted my fire, was a part of the swamp, crusted +over, probably, by the heat of that day's sun only. Every hour, +indeed, now brought me in contact with enemies, and exposed me to +privations I had avoided by making a home in one spot. But then I had +an object to attain, and I persevered for twenty days, at the end of +which I had the mortification to find that I had, like many others in +the world, progressed not a step, having travelled in a circle, which +brought me to the very threshold of my recent home. My chagrin was so +poignant, that I thought the very trees waved in derision at my folly; +and the same day I set out in another direction, which proved to be +directly south. + +Every step I took informed me that I was a trespasser; the scene that I +had quitted appeared to have been ceded to me by the inhabitants of the +forest, who were willing for me to occupy it without molesting me, or +exhibiting any signs of alarm; but, as I moved from place to place, all +seemed in arms against me. My insatiable curiosity, too, was +everywhere offensive; nothing escaped my prying propensity, and I even +regretted that I had suffered the crocodile to escape that I might have +intercepted, had I been cool, and have driven to the land for +examination; I often, indeed, pushed my inquiries beyond the line of +prudence. + +[Sidenote: An unpleasant nocturnal visitor] + +One moonlight night I was favoured with a splendid view of the jaguar +under the influence of a hungry stomach, and in that state I saw him +seize his prey. I had spread my matting at the lower end of a tree +that had been torn up by the roots, between which I could creep and +hide myself; at the other end the branches extended into a small glade +or open space; when about midnight I was awaked by a tremendous roar. +Alarmed for my own safety. I crept between the roots of the tree, +pulling the covering after me, and in this situation raised my head so +as to look along the shaft of the fallen timber, about ten yards from +the end of which I could distinctly discern the jaguar, pacing up and +down, in a space of not more than thirty yards. His step was quick and +hurried, but so light that he appeared not to touch the ground; his +swollen and stiffened tail swept the ground, as it moved from side to +side. I instantly became anxious to ascertain whether his eyes were +directed towards any particular object, and more especially in the +direction where I was hid. I had the satisfaction of seeing their +fierce glance furtively cast in every direction but towards me; indeed, +I must have been invisible to him through the broken branches and +roots, at the distance he was from the tree, and amid the shade that +surrounded me. + +The spot he had chosen for his nocturnal promenade was, I have no +doubt, a deer track, on which he had before in all probability snatched +many meals. His impatience evidently increased as his expectations +were delayed; he quickened, if possible, his step at every turn, till +at length he suddenly paused, and assumed a most exciting attitude. +His tail for a moment stood out perfectly horizontal, in a line with +his back; making gentle sweeps, as if of immediate expectation. +Suddenly he crouched on his belly, still moving his tail very gently; +at length the moment arrived: he gave one roar of horrid delight, and +the next, a deer was in his jaws, and growling, he seized and +dispatched it by twisting the head downwards with his paw. Finally he +gave the deer a shake, as if to assure himself that life was extinct, +and then, with a fling of the head threw the dead animal across his +back, and was lost in the thicket, depriving me of the satisfaction of +witnessing his manner of finishing the repast. + +Strong in my resolution to arrive if possible at the extremity of the +forest, I continued to proceed, as I thought, in the same direction; +but I could not travel every day, being compelled sometimes to watch +through the night, and being frequently unable, while moving forward, +to obtain a sufficiency of nutritious food. When, therefore, I met +with a convenient retreat, I stayed and refreshed myself till I +acquired strength to undertake new labours. + +Some scenes would irresistibly detain me, and if any one express +surprise that they should do so when journeying to seek the society of +my fellow-creatures, I reply that I did not at any time abandon the +hope of success; yet when the uncertainty of my course, without a +compass or guide, is considered, I never had a right to be very +sanguine in my expectations, use whatever efforts I might. In a +journey of such a doubtful nature, oftentimes worn down with fatigue of +body and despair of mind, it was natural to linger on and to rest in an +oasis longer than in a desert. + +In a hot climate, cool retreats have peculiar charms, such as are +unappreciable by those who live in cold countries. The mere +topographical traveller may measure a lake, or a river, give the height +and angle of a projecting rock, describe the rush of falling waters +into an estuary, and trace the course of rivers from their rise to +their mouth, but he is unable to give the living tints of nature, +together with all their form and colour. + +[Sidenote: Beauties of the forest] + +Neither the pen nor the pencil can describe the feelings of those who +sympathize with nature in her secret homes of grandeur. + +When I first entered the forest, the effect of the sublimity of the +scene was astonishment, in which the beauties were lost; but as +surprise wore off, these beauties, one by one, stood out to view; and +operating on the senses, produced pleasure in its highest state of +enjoyment. + +In scenes where bignonias, passifloras, and a thousand other flowers +presented an unceasing display throughout the year, surrounded with +birds and insects of surpassing beauty, who, possessed of sympathy of +soul, or an ear for the sweet sounds of nature, would not for a time +forget mortality and live in imaginary eternal bliss; for the charm of +such scenes is only dispelled by awakening to the wants and necessities +of the corporeal man. + +My existence was of such a nature,--one of alternate enjoyment in +communing with lonely and enchanting scenes, and of fears lest I should +fall a sacrifice to the dangers that environed my everyday movements. +Sometimes I sallied forth to face dangers, and again paused to breathe, +and, for a time, escape them. + +At length I reached a new scene, consisting of sand-hills, out of which +issued springs of water, uniting at a short distance, where they formed +a stream, which appeared to wind over an open country. In comparison +with my solitude in the woods, this was a cheering change; and +recollecting the geographical axiom in my school-books, that all +springs and rivers ultimately find their way into the sea, I rejoiced +at the chance I had of being extricated from the labyrinth in which I +had been so long bewildered. + +[Sidenote: Following the stream] + +It is the fate of mortals to see the birth of pleasure only to witness +her destruction. Her commencement is always very nearly connected with +her end. The instant that gives her birth is generally the same in +which she expires. I had not proceeded far before the waters spread +themselves over the land, and were lost to the sight. In one or two +places their course terminated as if they were cut off with a knife, +one edge being visible and the other in obscurity, exhibiting the +phenomenon of rivers which suddenly take a subterraneous course, to +rise again at another point, leaving the space between perfectly dry. +Being now in an open country, I ascertained that the course I had +travelled was directly southward, or towards that part of the horizon +which was cut by the sun's culminating, or meridian line; and this +course I continued to pursue. A day and a half again brought me to the +stream, for, as yet, it was not entitled to be called a river. It now, +however, took a direction leading into the wood, among the foliage of +which it was lost to the eye. The emancipation from the forest had +given me the greatest possible delight, I therefore could not but +hesitate before I again entered it; yet it was my only certain source +of subsistence in the open country. I suffered both from hunger and +thirst. I had, therefore, no alternative but to follow the stream; and +on I went, its course winding so much that I began to fear I was +traversing another circle. At length, after giving me much wearisome +toil, it was lost in an impenetrable thicket of wood. I was now +constrained to make a very considerable and extended _detour_, in the +hope of again reaching its banks at some merging point. Three days I +journeyed round an impervious mass of wood, so closely matted that I +could at no point obtain an entrance. At the end of that time, I +suddenly lighted upon the spot where I supposed the waters met in one +broad reservoir. Various tributary streams flowed into this spot, and +continued their meandering course for many miles. I hailed the sight +of it with considerable delight, as I had begun to be fearful that I +was about to lose sight of its course altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I WITNESS A GRAND CONVULSION IN NATURE, OF WHICH I HAVE A WONDERFUL +ESCAPE--AM RESCUED IN THE LAST EXTREMITY, AND ADMITTED INTO A TRIBE OF +INDIANS. + + + "Look round and see + How Providence bestows on all alike + Sunshine and rain, to bless the fruitful year + Of different nations, all different faiths; + And though by several names and titles worshipp'd, + Heav'n takes the various tribute of their praise. + Since all agree to own, at least to mean, + One best, one greatest, and one Lord of all." + + +[Sidenote: A useful hollow tree] + +When I arrived at the confluence, as I took it to be, of the streams, +it was Saturday night,--that is, according to my new calendar. As I +did not think it lawful to travel on the Sunday, I sought for an +eligible place of security, where I might rest, and start thoroughly +refreshed on the Monday, to solve the problem of the opposing currents. +With this view I ascended an isolated blasted tree, where I might seat +myself, and find protection from insidious enemies. I was delighted to +find that the trunk was hollow, the only entrance being from the top. +The tree leaned to the horizon at about an angle of 45 degrees. After +carefully examining it, I thought I had satisfied myself that it was +not pre-occupied by any obnoxious inhabitant; I then dropped into it, +as it were, down a chimney. Crouching, I was out of sight, but when I +stood erect I had a view of my own desolate situation. + +A species of frogs had just commenced to send forth their peculiar +noise, which resembles the sound from a stonemason's yard, when I was +annoyed by a number of green frogs, such as dwell in trees; and +endeavouring to brush these from my immediate locality, I discovered a +number of the _scolopendra_, or centipedes, from five to eight inches +in length. Perceiving a hole in the side of the tree, I proceeded to +expel these formidable insects with my stick, by which means I +disturbed, in the pulpy part of the decayed wood, a nest of +_scorpions_. Things in motion soon catch my eye, and in another second +I had regained the earth. Indisposed, however, to give up such a +comfortable apartment, I cleared out the whole of the interior, and +then regained the top of the tree, where I sat for a considerable time +in doubt whether I should retire to rest or keep watch through the +night. It was a beautiful evening, and the air was strongly +impregnated with the aromatic fragrance of the different species of the +_rubiaceae_, the _andiocera_, and _aenothera_. Moonlight is a thoughtful +period in all climates. I had almost, while watching my own shadow, +forgotten the process of time, when suddenly Cynthia extinguished her +lamp. Wearied, both in a mental and physical sense, I again, reckless +of consequences, dropped into my cylindrical apartment. How long I +slept I cannot tell; I was, however, awaked to scenes as remarkable as +they were terrible and rapid in succession. A flood of light was +streaming into my skylight, and I became conscious of a rocking +sensation. For a moment I concluded that I was again seized with the +vertigo in my head. A violent sound of rushing waters soon roused me +to a sense of my real danger, and, standing erect, I beheld all the +firm earth, on which but a few hours previously I had stood, now +covered with water. An immense number of aquatic birds were floating +on its surface, while others were springing up to branches of the trees +above, to escape from the enormous serpents, and other monsters of the +deep, that infest temporary lakes caused by sudden inundations. + +[Sidenote: An inundation] + +As I surveyed the scene the waters were still rising, and the tree on +which I sat rose with them in an upright position. Presently it became +stationary, and the water began, gradually to cover its trunk. I have +said that it was an isolated spot: it was a small area in the midst of +the wood, which appeared to have been cleared by the blast of +lightning, the nearest tree being fifty yards, or more, distant. Among +other things struggling for life was a fawn, which swam beneath me, and +was seized by a cayman; while as another monster of the same species, +at least thirty feet long, paused to survey me, with my feet then +nearly touching the water, I impulsively raised my stick in +self-defence, and at this juncture the trunk of the tree suddenly swung +round, and by its action nearly threw me off into the jaws of the +cayman. The principal part of the roots were torn from the earth, but +most providentially the only remaining branch on the tree remained +uppermost, which presented me with the opportunity of climbing five or +six feet higher. Still, as I could not now turn round with facility, I +remained for a full hour, every moment expecting the monster would +seize me from behind; for the cayman continued to show himself at +intervals, as if certain, in the end, of his prey. At length the roots +of the decayed tree parted entirely from the earth, and it was carried +forward with the current. Fortunately the branch, which was my only +chance of escape, still remained elevated. The cayman did not abandon +his intended victim till my bark conveyed me among the standing trees, +when I seized the opportunity of climbing up one of considerable +height. Up to this period all other dangers had been merged in the +immediate dread of the monster of the deep, but I was now at liberty to +take a more extended view of the scene, from a fixed position, and I +found myself in the midst of congregated wild beasts and powerful +reptiles. + +In the next tree to the one I occupied was an ant-bear, and a little +farther off I could discern several others. Monkeys and apes were +swinging and chattering over my head in large numbers; serpents, from +five to thirty feet long, were crawling on the branches and round the +trunks of trees, to escape from the flood; tiger-cats, beautifully +striped, were springing from branch to branch of the green and +purple-heart trees, which here grew to the height of seventy feet; +lizards were seen in such numbers as in many places literally to cover +the branches of the trees. All the birds were sending forth sounds of +dissonance, as if stricken with terror; while the shrill voice of the +bird called the pi-pi-yo roused me to the consciousness that the hour +of noon had arrived. + +The lofty _panax_, _Bignonia_, _copaiva_, rising to a hundred feet in +height, were peopled with living things, all in apparent consternation +at the sudden changes of the scene. It was a grand, though an awful +sight for a human being to behold. Animals of various natures, habits, +and antipathies, were all crowded together in one common place of +refuge, shaken by the wind, and dreading contact with each other, as +the violent rushing of the waters bore on their surface numberless +proofs of the havoc made, and still threatening to sweep away and +swallow up every vestige of animal and vegetable creation. + +[Sidenote: Hope in desolation] + +But let the soul be set on the highest mount of distress, and view the +most spacious prospect of misery, if the eye be turned towards God +comfort may be found beyond the horizon, when human strength is vain. + +I lifted up my voice in the wilderness, and lo! God was there, and I +took courage, exclaiming, "The Almighty is the architect of all I see, +His power stretches over the whole earth and the empty space; He hangs +the earth and all the ethereal globes upon nothing; and is He not able +to save me?" "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my +righteousness," saith the Lord. "The hand which fixes the stars and +guides the planets in their courses is stretched out to preserve His +children." + +With these reflections did I trust in my position, and bid my soul to +take courage and rely on divine succour. Fortunately, I had the +remains of a cooked bird in my wallet, which always hung at my back; +and _murucuja_, fruit of one of the passion-flowers, was within my +reach, which I gathered and ate. The fish also forsook their ordinary +food, for I could plainly see them feeding on the fruit and berries of +shrubs through which they swam. + +At length night overtook me, and the moon, I thought, rose with a more +speaking yet angry countenance than usual, frowning blood-coloured rays +on the surface of the water and through the foliage of the wood, still +rendering my fellow-lodgers immediately around me visible, while the +vampire and other species of bats flitted wildly round, like spirits of +the air; and occasional splashings beneath indicated that the larger +tyrants of the flood were making prey of the weaker inhabitants, or the +latter were exerting themselves to escape from the jaws of the former. + +The terrestrial animals seemed, for the most part, in providing for +their own safety, to have suspended all operations of warfare, the +scene above the flood in the evening wearing much the same appearance +as throughout the day, excepting that the reptiles were not so +numerous, the serpents and lizards having found hiding-places in the +holes of the trees or under thick foliage. After a few hours the moon +went down and left me + + "In the populous solitude of bees and birds, + And fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things." + +It was now that, like Job, I had to "gird up my loins like a man;" for, +as darkness shrouded me, my thoughts naturally reverted to the bear in +the next tree; I could not but speculate on his movements, and the +probability of his descending and swimming to invade my territory. +Impressed with this fear, the master one of the hour, I took up a +position to command the trunk of the tree, where, armed with my stick, +I might oppose him to an advantage. + +[Sidenote: A night on the water] + +It would be futile were I to attempt to describe my sensations during +the night. Could words be found expressive enough for the purpose, +they should have been penned at the instant they were felt; feelings +under such extraordinary circumstances cannot be recalled, or +appreciated only at the time they were excited. Words, in description, +stand for general ideas in Nature's chart; ten thousand sensations and +forms enter of themselves into the sanctuary of the mind. I can only +say that I spent the night in prayer for the coming morn. It, however, +passed without involving me in any encounter. "Now, men see not the +bright light which is in the clouds; but the wind passeth and cleareth +them away." + +I thought it was an interminable night, and long before morning dawned, +as the first glimmer of light tinged the eastern horizon, I strained my +eyes to assure myself of its actual approach; yet what hope could it +bring me?--none, in prospect; notwithstanding which, latent hope was +not wholly extinct. A vague idea possessed me that I might find some +floating tree to carry me to the nearest shore. At length, indolently, +as I thought, the morning did appear, rendering surrounding objects +visible. The bear was still in the tree, coiled up like a cat, in a +forked branch, apparently asleep. His bearship had not even the +politeness to pass the compliment of the day by noticing me; and noon +again arrived, bringing with it utter despair. For some time I had +been watching a log of timber, in the hope that it would float within +my reach, when I distinctly heard the sound of human voices. My heart +leaped up with joy; and the coincidence of the appearance of a rainbow +at the same instant, operated like a reprieve to a malefactor in the +hands of the executioner. + +I was so much elated, that I actually should have neglected to have +called out for assistance, had not the same voices again addressed my +ear more distinctly, when I used my vocal powers with all my might; but +I had no response, and my heart was again, sinking within me, when I +observed a canoe approaching. It contained two Indians; one was using +the paddle, the other directing his attention to the spot from whence +my voice proceeded. A few seconds brought them under the tree, and an +invitation, by signs, for me to descend, and accept of my emancipation +from their hands. + +[Sidenote: The charms of solitude] + +Notwithstanding all the terrors and privations of my wild life, there +was a charm in it which is inexplicable; and I paused ere I parted with +it. Men whose whole life has been identified with civilization may not +understand this feeling; but long association with nature in her own +scenes of unlimited grandeur and profuse bounty, cannot be broken off +without a struggle. In return for all the blessings nature bestows on +her children of the woods, she requires no sacrifice of liberty; free +and unconstrained she permits them to roam throughout her domains; to +robe or unrobe, as their taste may dictate; to rest when fatigued, and +to rise when refreshed. Nature does not mask misery with the face of +happiness, nor dress misfortune in the guise of prosperity; free and +uncontrolled, her children are invited to help themselves at her +munificent board; while in the narrow paths of civilized life, even the +boasted reason of man is incapable of conferring happiness on society. +But with the green grass and soft moss for a carpet, umbrageous trees +for a shade, the murmuring stream for the ear, together with the sound +of the breeze amongst the leaves to woo reflection, the syrens of +vicious pleasure may be avoided, and the disquietudes of life be +forgotten. Like a true citizen of the world, I had become enamoured +with liberty, and with the instinct of a denizen of the forest, I +shrank from the presence of man. My situation was perilous, death +being inevitable if I remained in the tree; for in a short time sleep +must overcome me, and in that state, I must fall into the waters +beneath. Reluctantly, therefore, I dropped into the canoe, with the +feelings of a bird who darts into a cage to escape the talons of the +hawk--an incident, by the way, which once brought both the fugitive and +the hawk into my trap. No captured African slave could feel the loss +of liberty more than I did when the Indians assigned me a seat in the +canoe, which proceeded to join a company consisting of eleven persons. +They were a fishing party that had left their wonted haunts to avail +themselves of the flood, a period when their efforts were generally +rewarded with great success. One canoe was nearly filled with the +product of the first draught, and they were in the act of drawing +another as I appeared amongst them. + +They were all well-grown men, nearly naked, like myself, very placid in +their demeanour, and showed great anxiety to relieve my distress, +offering me food and drink. Indeed, their manners were so urbane and +pleasing, that in a very short time I recovered from my depression of +spirits, and congratulated myself on my good fortune in falling into +their company. They wore large grass-platted hats to defend the head +from the heat of the sun, and had each a hammock made of the same +materials, which as night approached, they slung from the branches of +trees, and calmly laid themselves down to survey the confusion of +nature which the sudden inundation had occasioned. + +With the party was a youth about my own age, who at once attached +himself to me; he manifested his disappointment and concern that he +could not make himself understood by words, and in a very short time +intimated his intention of undertaking my education by showing me the +implements in use and calling them by name, till I not only recollected +them, but acquired accuracy of pronunciation. + +[Sidenote: The Indian village] + +Two days subsequently to my rescue from the tree, I was taken to the +Indian village, about ten miles from the border of the forest. It +consisted of fifteen huts on an elevated spot, distant a half-mile from +a fine river, which ebbed and flowed with the tide. It was this +circumstance that had occasioned my embarrassment when following the +stream and suddenly meeting with a contrary current. + +On my arrival at the village I was struck with the absence of curiosity +or surprise which a stranger from another race generally excites, even +in civilized localities. Neither men, women, or children appeared to +bestow on me any peculiar notice, nor did they, as far as I could +learn, express any desire to know how I came amongst them, or from +whence I came. No overseer or other parish officer was called in to +provide me with food and then dispute my right to eat. I was at once +led to the hut of the father of my young friend, and received as one of +the family, in which there were two wives and two families--one mother +with three, and another with four children. Plurality of wives was the +custom of this Indian community, and yet they lived in perfect harmony; +there were no jealousies or bickerings; the progeny of each shared +alike the affection and care of both mothers, who laboured with equal +zeal in the culture of cassava or manioc, the roots of which they +grated and made into bread. + +There were numerous tribes of these Indians, but they all spoke the +same language. The tribe I was with were called Galibis; they were +remarkable alike for their humanity and intelligence. Indeed, they +possessed all the moral qualities of civilized society, without its +forms and most of its vices, especially the one of coveting their +neighbours' goods. + +[Sidenote: Habits of the Indians] + +During the time I was with them, a period of eighteen months, I never +heard of a charge of theft. Land was as plentiful as air and water; +there could not, therefore, be any motive to steal, if we except +idleness,--a vice which prevails more in cities than in the wilds of +nature. Numerous families sometimes live in one common large hut; yet +there are no quarrels to disturb their harmony; and such is their +hospitality that he who is fatigued with hunting may always depend on +repose in the nearest dwelling. + +Their language is peculiarly harmonious, rich with synonyms, and is +represented by those who have studied its grammatical construction, to +be complicated and ingenious in syntax. Intelligent as they are, they +have at all times rejected the arts and all instruction, from their +great love of independence. The countenances of all are stereotyped +with benevolence, and their conversation is fraught with maxims that +inculcate the practice of charity to all the human race. They are not +without a sense of pride, yet discourage it in practice. It requires +no broker to make a written catalogue of their household furniture: +their weapons are bows and arrows, and a short dart which they force +through a reed with the breath, bringing down birds on the wing with +surprising dexterity. A flat stone on which the women bake bread, and +a rough one on which to grate the root of cassava; a hammock, a +hatchet, a comb, and a broken piece of looking-glass in a rude frame, +comprise the whole of their furniture. What few vessels they had were +ill made,--not any improvement on those I formed from clay for the use +of my aviary when in the woods. + +They have no code of laws, nor have they a word in the language by +which to convey the idea of laws; yet they have the same word as in +Hebrew to express God, by which they understand supreme master. They +have a magistrate or elder, to whom any matter of disputation is +referred, and by him summarily and finally settled. Fire they obtain +by rubbing two pieces of wood together; and for cooking, this is made +on the ground, over which they suspend their vessels in the rudest +manner. Although these people wear no clothes, properly so called, +they are very fond of ornaments; as amulets and charms, those obtained +from the ivory-billed woodpecker were most in vogue. No people in the +world, perhaps, are more remarkable for acute observation. If you name +any kind of bird, or other animal, to them, that is to be found in this +part of the globe, instantly they imitate its action and tones of +voice. The notes of birds they give with surprising accuracy. They +are very expert swimmers, and some of the women and children spend the +chief of their time in the water. The men fish, and hunt, and when not +so employed, which happens three or four days in the week, they remain +in their hammocks, and amuse themselves with their implements, in the +repairs of which, and in conversation, all their leisure is spent. +They possess all the qualities to form good sportsmen, and to take the +command of others--having great presence of mind and promptitude of +action. I know not which most to admire, their skill in discovering +game, or their manner of taking it. They entertain the loftiest +sentiments of chivalrous honour, and their courage always rises with +increasing difficulty; it "smiles in danger stern and wild," and is +superior to circumstances. + +On the fourth day after my emancipation from the loneliness of the +forest I accompanied a fishing party to the same spot from whence I had +been taken. It was a favourite locality for hunting the ant-bear, and +when the waters were out, for taking crabs and oysters, which were +caught in large numbers among the trees and shrubs that were more or +less covered by the flood. + +[Sidenote: The Great Spirit of the Indians] + +Under the assiduous tuition of my young friend, whose name was _Pecoe_, +I rapidly progressed in a knowledge of his language, and could not +refrain from making many reflections on his method of teaching as +compared with my European schoolmaster's. Pecoe, I considered, had +adopted a natural mode of instruction, while the system of the other +was wholly artificial, and tedious in practice. My teacher was as +anxious to be taught himself as to teach me, and when we were able to +converse, asked ten thousand questions relative to my country and the +state of society in it. Whether my long residence in the woods had +disqualified me to be an advocate for the cause of civilization I know +not, but at all my descriptions of it, Pecoe shook his head, and was +evidently under an impression that my countrymen must be a very unhappy +race of people. On one occasion, when conversing on our difference of +colour, and on the human races generally, he said, "I will tell you how +it happened: you know that there are three great spirits, all good, +though each is greater than the other. The great spirit of all one day +said to the lowest spirit, 'make a man, and let me see him.' The +spirit took some clay and made a man; but when the Great Spirit saw +him, he shook his head, and said he was too white. He then ordered the +spirit next to himself in goodness to make a man, who tried his skill +with charcoal--burnt wood; but the Great Spirit again shook his head, +and said he was too black. The Great Spirit then determined to try +himself, and taking some red earth, made the Indians, which pleased him +very much." When I told him that the Great Spirit in his great +goodness had so ordered it that every one should think his own colour +the best, he replied, that it was not possible for either a black or a +white man to be so stupid as to be satisfied with the colour of his +skin, stigmatized as he, Pecoe, thought both races were, by +barbarities. When I explained to him the various grades of civilized +society, his quick apprehension broke out in the most indignant terms, +denouncing the system as one dictated by a demon. Rich and poor! +"What good," he asked, "could arise from allowing one to take all, and +giving nothing to the other?" + +[Sidenote: Pecoe's ideas of society] + +I replied, that the wisdom of the Great Spirit (God) was recognised in +his anticipation of the wisdom of man, by providing him with original +principles of his own, which were given to regulate, not excite +desires. Thus the sense of property is germinated in very early +childhood, which sense I maintained generated a moral feeling, and a +principle of justice and equity. My young friend, after a moment's +thoughtful pause, stoutly gave the negative to my premises,--that the +sense of property was developed in early life; he argued that the +desire exhibited by children to handle things, and which we erroneously +call a desire to possess them, is nothing more than a natural desire to +exercise the physical senses on objects of the external world, through +which only could they educate the powers of the body for healthful and +manly purposes of life. Those things which some call children's +playthings, he held to be _bona fide_ tools, without which, whether +they were wooden horses, paper boats, a doll's head, or a piece of +stick, they could no more rise out of a state of childhood than a man +could go to sea without a canoe. He therefore denied the inference, +that because children manifest a disposition to snatch or handle +everything they can reach, it is an indication of natural +acquisitiveness. The mind, he said, was wholly disengaged from these +matters at an early age; employment for the organs of the five senses, +together with an instinctive desire to promote their development, were +the true causes of children quarrelling for possessions. He instanced +their having no abiding attachment for any one particular toy, however +expensive or attractively constructed, always casting away one thing to +handle another, the various forms of which gave exercise to different +muscles, and imparted new sensations of pleasure. + +The object I have in presenting my readers with a few of Pecoe's +opinions is to illustrate the different ideas elicited in the minds of +men by diverse circumstances of life and education. I scarcely need +inform them that, in committing to paper my friend's notions, I have +dressed them up in my own language. + +On this occasion Pecoe closed the conversation by remarking that the +nature of society, such as I had depicted in England, appeared to +charge the Great Spirit with having at some early period thrown upon +the earth all His gifts in a heap, for a general scramble, on the +condition that the posterity of those who succeeded in first picking +them up should for ever live in idleness, and become the masters of the +posterity of those whose ancestors had been unsuccessful in snatching +from their fellow-men more than their own share. He continued: "It was +hard to believe such a state of society could exist, and thought the +Evil Spirit must have put it into my head;" meaning that I had drawn +upon my own imagination for the sketch. The incomprehensible part of +the system to Pecoe was, that some could be luxuriating in plenty and +others be starving at the same time in one country. + +Warfare was unknown to his race, because the practice of good-will and +the friendly offices of mutual assistance were universal among them, +and annihilated every motive to aggrandisement, and consequently the +disposition was never brought out. Bear in mind, reader, that I am +describing no Utopia. When, therefore, I spoke of our numerous wars, +and explained that it was those who had been unfortunate at the first +general scramble, as he designated it, who risked their lives in +battle, fighting for their wealthy masters, his incredulity rose so +high as to doubt my veracity, and for some time subsequently I thought +he seemed to shun my society, appearing very pensive and lonely in his +habits. + +[Sidenote: Pecoe as a nurse] + +About a fortnight after the above conversation I was suddenly taken +with violent symptoms of fever, when Pecoe was immediately by my side, +assiduously attending to all my wants with the tenderness of a nurse. +The physician, or pee-ay-man, was applied to, who offered up prayers to +the Bad Spirit for my recovery;--for it is a part of their creed that +the Good Spirit is too good to do any one harm, and therefore it is the +Malicious Spirit that must be conciliated. + +For this purpose a number of incantations were performed, after which +the physician continued to parade from hut to hut, howling and +performing another series of incantations throughout the night, at +intervals calling to see if any improvement had taken place in the +health of his patient. As it was the practice of every family to burn +a fire through the night, I could from my hammock see this juggler +stalking to and fro, looking more like a demon than a minister of +comfort in sickness. + +Pecoe proved the best physician. He never left me, continuing to +administer comfort to me in every possible way and manner. Among other +services he relieved me, at my request, from the mummeries of the +pee-ay-man, aptly urging that, as the spirits of my country were not +the same as theirs, he might by his interference make them angry +instead of conciliating them. But the women, who really felt an +interest in my fate, were not so easily satisfied, they placed implicit +reliance on the skill of the pee-ay-man, and were angry with Pecoe for +sending him away. "Never mind," said he, coolly, to some remarks that +censured his conduct, "I am as good a doctor as he is; and if I am hot, +don't the Great Spirit brush away the flies from the animal without a +tail?" + +My disease grew worse, and rapidly hastened to its crisis. Pecoe in +every stage sought for new sources of comfort: he collected silk-grass, +and daily made new pillows for my head, when they were wetted with the +cold water he applied to my temples. He constantly moistened my lips +with slices of pineapple, only occasionally leaving me, to go in search +of the jelly cocoa-nut, which in an unripe state has but a thin skin, +but contains more liquor. As the fever subsided, these grateful +draughts contributed much towards my recovery, and without doubt +hastened the period of final restoration to health, when I said to my +friend, "You may now set up as physician to the tribe, and supersede +the pee-ay-man." The remark brought a smile from his lips, as he +replied, "I have not such a mean spirit as to endure to be laughed at +by all the people. Do you, then, really believe that these pretenders +to superior knowledge are esteemed, or that any in the place have faith +in their arts?" + +"If not," said I, "why tolerate them, and why not apply to the Great +and Good Spirits themselves for help?" + +[Sidenote: Pecoe's prudence] + +"Why!" rejoined Pecoe, "because too many like deception more than +honesty, and prefer listening to falsehood rather than to truth. My +father and all his friends have secretly laughed at the impostor all +their days, yet in public give him countenance, and also frown on the +children who would doubt the efficacy of his tricks, or his ability to +solve dreams and foretell events. I myself," he continued, "sometimes +doubt my right to disregard the proffered services of these men. This +arises, perhaps, from the general countenance they have from all the +tribes, and the force of custom; for I seldom give myself the trouble +to investigate their claim to respect; I endure their arts, because the +majority patronise them, though I never open my lips in their defence. +It is an ungracious task to make yourself more wise than your +neighbours; even if you should be successful, you must inevitably make +enemies without gaining new friends, people do not like to be told that +they have been in error all their lives, or to believe that their +forefathers were foolishly credulous." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS--I ARRIVE AT MY FATHER'S FARM. + + + "What fancied zone can circumscribe the soul, + Who, conscious of the source from whence she springs, + By Reason's light, or Resolution's wings, + Spite of her frail companion, dauntless goes + O'er Libya's deserts, and through Zembla's snows? + She bids each slumb'ring energy awake,-- + Another touch, another temper take; + Suspends th' inferior laws that rule o'er clay. + The stubborn elements confess her sway; + Man's little wants his low desires refine, + And raise the mortal to a height divine." + + +Notwithstanding the darkness in which my friend Pecoe had been brought +up, I was impressed with the notion that his soul was sufficiently +alive to receive the great truths of Christianity. I therefore +resolved again to introduce the subject, and make an effort to engross +his attention. I commenced by impressing on his mind that my +countrymen were a race acknowledged to be inferior to none other, and +that they worshipped only One Great Spirit, the Maker of the heavens +and the earth, together with all things visible and invisible. He +surprised me by admitting that these things had engaged much of his +attention, and that his mind was now made up on the question; his +conviction being that the heavens and the earth had existed from +eternity, and would continue the same to eternity. + +I explained to him that nothing endured for ever but the power of God; +that all things were constantly undergoing a process of change; that +the globe we inhabited had a beginning, and, consequently, like +inferior bodies, would have an end; that God permitted the dissolution +of one body, and the birth of another, at periods appointed, to the end +that the whole of his designs might arrive at perfection, and no +absolute loss be sustained. Pecoe heard me out with great patience, +then shook his head, and enquired how it came that my father should +know better than his? When, however, I spoke of the existence of the +soul in another and better world, and endeavoured to illustrate that +certainty by saying, in the dissolution of bodies nothing perished but +their forms, and that the soul when it abdicated its decaying vessel, +the body, was translated to another, and a purer state of existence, he +evidently looked on me as being insane. + +[Sidenote: Attempts at conversion] + +I was disappointed,--was vexed at my inability to awaken him to a sense +of what all mankind, more or less, in some form, have acknowledged, +namely, a future state of existence. I now urged that all human beings +were sensible of relations not subject to the senses, and therefore +possessed sensibilities distinct from the body. That they could +compare, and therefore had judgment; that they retained, and therefore +have memory; that they possessed freedom of choice, and therefore have +will. I then said, if to these we add instinct, there are five +faculties of the soul; adding, Reason compares those ideas immediately +transmitted to the memory; imagination is the same faculty exercised on +the same objects differently combined, having no similitude in nature. + +"These," replied Pecoe, "are all your own thoughts." + +Having from early infancy been accustomed, both morning and evening, to +offer up my prayers to God, and having, when in the wilds of nature, +found in this practice much solace, I did not fail while with the +Indians to continue the custom; yet none of the people had hitherto +taken any notice of my devotion. At length Pecoe inquired my motives, +asking what I expected to gain by the practice. + +I replied, that we had all daily wants, and that in the morning I +petitioned the Great Spirit--my God---to supply them, and that in the +evening I returned thanks for the protection and supplies I had +received. I further explained, that prayer was the voice of sin to Him +who alone can pardon it; that it was the petition of poverty, the +prostration of humility, the confidence of trust, the feeling of +helplessness, and the compunctions of the soul. All this I put in the +most simple form of language, and I have reason to think that he fully +understood the feeling I endeavoured to convey. + +Notwithstanding, he asked me whether I had not food enough to eat, and +what it was the Evil Spirit had made me do that troubled me so much? + +[Sidenote: Conversation on prayer] + +In vain did I labour to impress his mind with a sense of the necessity +there is for all to worship the Giver of life and all other blessings, +and that by intreating the One God to protect us, the value of his +gifts was enhanced, and that there was an inexpressible delight in +committing ourselves to the care and guidance of one who is infinitely +able to protect us in the right path. + +"The Spirit," said he, "is good, and will do nothing wrong--he will not +listen to what you tell him." + +I replied by saying that we could not tell God of anything that he did +not already know, and that prayer and thanksgiving were due from us all +to one so beneficent. I then explained to him that his condition of +darkness in religious matters was once the condition of all mankind, +and that it was only by reflection, and the intercommunication of +minds, that the little light our forefathers possessed was obtained, +until at length God sent his only Son to reveal the truth to us. I +then repeated the Lord's Prayer, and promised to teach it to him in his +own language if he would use it. + +He replied that he must have time to consider of it. A few days after +he requested that I would not talk in that way any more to him, adding, +that they were all my own sayings, meaning they were things of my own +invention. + +"You have consulted your father," said I. He acknowledged that he had, +laughing at the same time, as if I had been a subject of their +ridicule. Up to that moment I had flattered myself that I should have +been spiritually of service to him, and perhaps through him, to more of +his race. His father, however, was an enemy to civilized man, and +inimical to innovations of every kind. + +It appeared from a traditional story, which Pecoe subsequently related +me, that at some former period these people had been visited by a party +of missionaries, the particulars of which I an induced to give, as a +caution to gentlemen who labour in such arduous undertakings as those +of converting heathens to Christianity. + +"Some white men," said Pecoe, "came here a long time since, and brought +strange talk about the Great Spirit and his Son, (that is, about our +blessed Saviour), to which our people agreed to listen, upon condition, +that every time they attended they should receive a bottle of rum. +They did attend," continued Pecoe, "but in a short time the white men +wanted them to come and listen for nothing, and so broke their +contract." Scrupulously punctual to their own engagements, the +Indians, immediately on the withholding of the rum, took a prejudice +against the missionaries, which no subsequent conduct on the part of +the latter could remove, or perhaps will ever efface from the memory of +the former. Thus has a stumblingblock been placed in the way of all +future adventurers among them in the cause of Christianity. As soon as +I was made acquainted with these particulars, I resolved to undertake +the defence of the missionaries' conduct, and at least, lessen the +prejudice against them. With this view, I availed myself of the first +large assemblage of the natives, and opened the subject by inquiring +how long it was since the white men had visited them, which way they +came, and lastly, by what road they returned? suggesting, that perhaps +the same road might lead me to a European colony, where I might have a +chance of hearing from my friends. + +[Sidenote: Defence of the missionaries] + +An aged Indian replied to these inquiries, adding, that he had no great +opinion of the white men who came there; and on asking how they had +conducted themselves, he related the story in nearly the same words as +I had heard it from Pecoe. I then explained the good intentions of the +persons who subscribed money to spread the truths of the gospel, and +the great sacrifices made by those who consented to give up the charms +of civilized life for the good of the poor unenlightened heathen. I +then went on to say, that with respect to the presents of rum, it was +natural, after the missionaries had taken the trouble to study their +language, and to travel so far, to adopt any means to secure a hearing, +without which, no good could possibly accrue to the objects of their +mission. Although, I continued, they might at first hold out some +inducement to be heard, yet it was unreasonable to expect that persons +so far away from home and their resources could continue to find the +means of making repeated presents in order to tempt persons to their +own good. + +When I had finished, some of the Indians laughed, others shook their +heads, indicating disapprobation, and a hint that I had better be +silent. Upon the whole, though I pushed the matter somewhat strongly, +I failed in making any impression on the auditors. + +With regard to natural objects, I question if there be a more acute and +observing people in the whole world; yet they are wholly a people of +feelings, being evidently deficient in intellect. Their imagination +and understanding are both at a low ebb, as I could never extend their +ideas beyond their own path of life. At times I gave Pecoe credit for +possessing a more lively imagination than others of his tribe; but as I +knew more of him, this impression died away. In the highly cultivated +walks of society, manhood is the period when the feelings are +predominant. Imagination prevails in youth, and the understanding in +old age. These people are in the middle stage of progress; and as they +possess the purest moral notions of right and wrong, cannot be +incapable of receiving the truths of revealed religion. The highest +degree of moral elevation can only be attained by carefully cherishing +the more benevolent and kindlier feelings of nature; that is, by +cultivating the good passions, and throwing into disuse the bad ones. +The Indians with whom I lived, effected these objects in a very high +degree; for I never saw an instance of any violent exhibition of temper +among them, and it was always a matter of astonishment to me to see how +exceeding tractable their children were without severity on the part of +the parents. + +In the moral sense of the word, they were good; and if they had been +Christians, would have been deemed examples for more refined nations. + + "A good man, and an angel! these between, + How thin the barrier? What divides their fate? + Perhaps a moment, or perhaps a year; + Or, if an age, it is a moment still." + + +The following anecdote will not only illustrate the kind feelings of +the Indian's heart, but also exhibit his delicacy in bestowing a +favour. I had for some time been uneasy at not being able to +contribute, by my exertions, a fair share towards the provisions of the +common stock of those with whom I resided; and this uneasiness was +frequently expressed to Pecoe, the principal difficulty being the want +of a canoe--for these vessels were not constructed in general to carry +more than one person; I was thus precluded from sharing in the daily +excursions on the water. + +[Sidenote: Gift of a canoe] + +Pecoe, as I have said, knew that I felt this want, and one morning +surprised and delighted me, after a walk in the woods, where he pointed +out the silk cotton tree as the material out of which they made canoes. +"Why," exclaimed he, as he took a turn towards an inlet of the great +river, "here is a canoe already made for you; come, help me to launch +it, and let us see how it fits you when afloat." I had recently, for +several long intervals, missed him, and having, when inquiring the +cause of his absence, received equivocal replies, I thought it was +occasioned by some duty connected with his family, and had in +consequence forborne to notice it again. He had, however, been in the +wood, fashioning a canoe for my use, being the most valuable present he +could, at that juncture, have made me; and the manner in which he +conducted the matter, considerably enhanced its value. I was now as +rich in property as any of the natives, whose ambition seldom soars +beyond the possession of a canoe and a stock of hunting and fishing +implements, which my friend Pecoe did not forget to provide with the +canoe. + +My health being perfectly restored, I now joined in all the sports +followed by the natives, having previously, at Pecoe's earnest +solicitation, learned to swim. Time ran on smoothly, the morning +invited me to the woods (my natural home) to hunt for game. + + "On a sweet shining morning, thus drawn out, + It seem'd what man was made for, to look round + And trace the full brook, that, with clamorous route, + O'er fallen trees and roots, black curling, wound + Through glens, with wild brakes scatter'd all about." + + +The days did not linger in their progress, nor did night arrive too +soon, the changes being all attended with enjoyments. + + "Night bringeth sleep + To the forest deep, + The forest bird to its nest, + To care, bright hours, + And dreams of flowers, + And that balm to the weary--rest." + + +Discontent is man's great enemy. I believe that, constitutionally, I +was fitted to enjoy any station to which the Almighty, in his wisdom, +might call me; yet even contentment may be carried to an extreme, and +degenerate into apathy, or the want of a healthful spirit into +indolence. + +Soft leisure hath her charms, and the bliss of her votaries is to bask +in summer rays through the day under the greenwood tree; but however +soothing or pleasant this may be to the reflective mind, the common +duties of life should not be neglected. I had parents, relations, and +friends, all of whom had more or less been rendered unhappy by my loss +in the woods; and I now became impressed with a notion that I had not +been sufficiently active in using means for my restoration. + +I had indeed escaped the mazes of the forest by the inundation--an +event in which the hand of Providence was conspicuous; for had not the +flood-gates of the firmament been opened, I might still have remained +in my forest prison. I now asked myself why I did not stir and exert +all the energies the same Providence had bestowed on me, to reach the +nearest European colony and seek advice as to the proper mode of +proceeding to discover the home of my parents. All my moments of +leisure were now filled up with self-reproaches. The deep solitude of +the woods, I thought, had enchanted me, and now the wild charm of a +free and roving life was weaning me from duty. These were errors +which, I thought, demanded a rigid retribution; yet at intervals I was +in no want of excuses to extenuate my conduct. I reflected on the +extraordinary flexibility of our nature, which accommodates and adapts +itself to all circumstances; and, that the reality of our existence is +the present moment, the exigencies of which are inimical to prudent +resolutions. + +Of man's generic character there is much yet to be written; the change +of climate, food, scenery, society, together with a thousand contingent +circumstances that follow in their train, all produce effects +unappreciable by those whose lives have been bounded by one circle. Of +all animals, man best endures the changes of food and climate. It +therefore follows that his physical construction is more changeable; +but in proportion as the body undergoes a change, and adapts itself to +the circumstances of its situation, so will the feelings, temper, and +mind also undergo some change, and more or less affect the character of +the individual. + +[Sidenote: Forgetfulness of home] + +In reference to my own case, and the experience derived from it, this +is the best solution I can give of the passive submission with which I +accommodated myself to the manner of life into which my waywardness had +cast me. If we pass from man to the influence of climate on other +animals, the effect on dogs is very remarkable. In Kamtschatka, +instead of the dog being faithful and attached to his master, he is +full of deceit and treachery; he does not bark in the hot parts of +Africa, nor in the extreme cold countries of the north; in Greenland he +loses his fitness for hunting and his character for docility. If this +subject were pursued, it might be added that the African slaves, when +removed from their own country to the West Indies, undergo a marked +change of character. The American settlers too, have changed in +character since their first settlement in that country, as also have +the Anglo-New Hollanders. The temperate zones appear to be the most +favoured regions for the full development of the human powers, whether +physical or moral, especially of the principle of sympathy, that +vicegerent of the divine benevolence in our world, which is capable of +binding up all the wounds that sin and death have introduced into it. + +As we are all, however, too much swayed by the considerations of +pleasure and pain, it is probable, that had I been cast into regions +subject to a rigorous winter, I should have been more anxious to have +escaped from the forest. Perpetual summer, however, beguiled me from +my resolution, and being unprovided with a defence against ease and +indolence, years passed on while I was only dreaming of home and +friends. + +The hand of Providence, notwithstanding, continued over me, and in a +miraculous manner took me from savage life. + +The sun's departing red rays were shining on the surface of the river, +as Pecoe, myself, and three other youths were hastening in our canoes +to reach home before night should set in, when I heard the stroke of +oars, that indicated the approach of a boat's crew. I have before said +that an inexplicable feeling came over me whenever I thought that I was +in approximation with those who might be the means of conveying me +again into civilized life. On this occasion I was for the moment +paralysed. Pausing to assure myself of the reality of the sounds, I +heard Pecoe and his companions calling to me to pull towards the +opposite shore, from whence the sounds proceeded, and turning round to +ascertain the direction they were pursuing, I caught sight of a +long-boat, manned with ten sailors, just turning a point of land which +had hitherto screened them from my view. The Indians were still +calling to me, but it was too late. With the usual celerity of British +sailors, the boat in a few seconds was abreast of my canoe. The +officer who commanded the crew pulled my canoe aft, and after +scrutinizing my countenance, ejaculated, "The boatswain is right--an +European; but not, as he supposed, a runaway convict; it's the wrong +latitude for that kind of fish;" continuing, "Come, young man, step +into our boat: we are in want of some information with which you may +furnish us." + +[Sidenote: Impressed on board an English ship] + +I hesitated, then made some reply in English, when one of the sailors +exclaimed, "I told Tom that he was a Briton." + +"I am glad I have met with a countryman," resumed the officer, who held +the canoe fast as he offered his hand to assist me into his own boat; +but as I still hesitated, he affected to stumble, and in the action +drew me over the bow of the canoe, which constrained me either to jump +into the ship's boat or fall into the river. When seated beside the +lieutenant, I had in some measure recovered from my surprise; I +inquired whether the practice of pressing in the British navy was +revived. + +"It is not," replied the lieutenant, "but I shall feel myself justified +in detaining you until I have the particulars of your history, and +learn especially what brought you into this part of the world." + +All this time the boat was proceeding down the river, and had carried +me out of sight of my Indian friends. When I informed the officer that +I had been lost when a boy, he replied-- + +"Then you are now found; but have you a knowledge of this river?" + +"From hence upwards I have," said I. "having accompanied the Indians +in their farthest migrations." + +"Make your mind easy," rejoined the officer, "I shall introduce you to +the captain of our brig." + +It appeared that the boat had been sent out by a government brig which +was on a survey in the river Amazon, to ascertain the course of one of +its tributaries. Late in the evening of the following day we reached +the ship, and when my story had been heard by the captain, he at once +determined on taking me with him, saying that he should find means of +sending me to Berbice, the point, he judged, from which my father had +started, and to which place he thought it probable my father would in +the first instance transmit an account of my having been lost; and +where also it was likely some arrangement had been made for providing +me with the means of finding my way to his residence. + +The brig remained two months on the survey, and then sailed for +Halifax, crossing the Mexican bay, where I had an opportunity of +witnessing the extraordinary phenomena produced by a large body of fish +that at one time surrounded the vessel. The sea was like one field of +fireworks, all sparkling with serpents and silver spangles; the mind, +when contemplating such scenes, is lost in amazement at the prodigious +number of living things the regions of the sea contain. But whether +the naturalist turns to the woods and the water, or explores the +cloud-capt mountains, the sequestered cave, or the rocky cliffs, he +will at first be embarrassed at the sight of the variety of objects +that claim his attention; and it is only by learning how to distinguish +them in a methodical manner that the mind can be brought to contemplate +them in detail. + +On board the vessel I was supplied with a sailor's dress, but the force +of habit was so strong that for a considerable time I could not wear it +with any comfort to myself. The captain was faithful to his promise, +and from Halifax sent me in a merchant vessel to Demerara, with a +letter addressed to the British consul at that station. On my arrival +I presented myself before that authority, who the next day produced a +colonial newspaper in which I had seven years previously been +advertised, and a reward offered for my recovery, and in which also the +name of an agent was mentioned who would defray any costs incurred on +the occasion. + +[Sidenote: Return to society] + +Fortunately that gentleman was still in the colony, who, after +satisfying himself of my identity, promised to avail himself of the +earliest opportunity to restore me to my family. The location of my +father's property was on the remote banks of a branch of the Amazon +river, to which few vessels traded, there was therefore no possibility +of reaching it otherwise than overland, as the family had previously +done. For some time after my arrival in Demerara, I found myself an +object of interest, receiving invitations from most of the respectable +inhabitants; while my appearance in the streets excited a sensation. +Although I was much pleased with the opportunity of attending public +worship, where I might collect and concentrate the scattered ideas I +retained of my father's faith, yet the ceremonies and forms of society +appeared ridiculous to me, and were very irksome. + +[Sidenote: First sight of home] + +[Sidenote: The brother and sister] + +[Sidenote: Rengal] + +I received marked attention and kindness from the gentleman who had +been advertised as my father's agent, and an opportunity soon occurred +for him to place me under safe escort to my home. Two gentlemen were +about to journey near to where my father resided, and they kindly +undertook my safe conveyance. They were entrusted with a letter from +the agent to my father, which was to be delivered into no other hands +but his own. I can scarcely describe my delight when all was in +readiness for our departure and we set out on our journey. My feelings +of impatience grew more uncontrollable every day. The thoughts of home +and the prospect of again beholding all I held dear on earth made my +passage appear a lifetime;--tedious and protracted as it was I shall +pass it over now, as it had no incident that was at all attractive to +me--until we arrived at the Amazon River, whose clear surface I hailed +with indescribable delight, as I knew then we were not far from my +father's estate. Following its course for a day we arrived towards the +afternoon at a plantation of cotton, the proprietor of which informed +me that we were within two miles of my father's house. He had heard +the particulars of my absence, but declined to comply with my request +to go and inform the family of my arrival. The reason he assigned was +that he had lately been engaged in a dispute with my father, and +therefore could not undertake my mission--adding that the alteration in +my appearance, living as I had from the age of thirteen to twenty in +the wilderness, would be sufficient to prevent them from recognising me +at first. I then inquired for my uncles, and was informed that one had +sold his land and returned to England, and that the other (the widower) +was dead. This unchristian man also informed me that, in his opinion, +I had been given up as entirely lost by my family. As the day was +advancing, I waited no longer to hold converse with him, but abruptly +turned away, disgusted with his apathy and want of feeling. As we +proceeded towards my home, I consulted with the two gentlemen who were +my guides what course to adopt in breaking the intelligence of my +return, to my family, as I felt a dread of presenting myself too +precipitately after so long an absence, being naturally fearful that +the shock would be more than my mother could sustain. We deemed it +prudent, therefore, to send the letter by one of my guides, while I +waited the result close by. Our precautions, however, were not carried +into effect, as an incident occurred which rendered them unnecessary. +I had arrived in sight of my father's habitation, and paused on a +slight eminence to contemplate with mingled feelings of surprise, +delight, and fear, the spot made sacred by the affections which were +centred there, with all the ties which bound me to the world--that spot +which, from the meanest to the noblest in every land, is the only haven +of refuge from the troubles and travail in this life, and which finds a +ready response in every heart by the one magic word--home! I had not +felt its cheering influence for now more than six years. An outcast +and a wanderer for that period, how often in the loneliness of my +forest life had I yearned to be again restored to it, and to find, like +the dove of old, a place of refuge and rest--an ark, and a covenant. +But now, as the fruition of my hopes appeared to be realized, I paused, +spell-bound and overpowered by the many conflicting feelings which the +sight of it had conjured up. The memory of all the incidents of my +early life--the days of childhood--the school-boy troubles--the many +acts of parental kindness evinced in a thousand ways--were all pictured +to my sight in one rapid glance. And then the terrible foreboding +presented itself, that I might not find my family circle as I had left +them--alive and in health. In the history of the world six years is +but a speck of time; but with individuals the case is widely different. +I had lost one uncle, and the fear came across me that my loss might +not be ended thus. I almost dreaded to make the inquiry, as I felt +incapable of bearing such a calamity. It was a beautiful mansion which +lay before me. The large and well-built house, surrounded with thick +foliage--the carefully cultivated grounds surrounding it--the broad and +extensive landscape beyond of richly wooded hill and dale--the wide and +meandering river by whose banks I had been guided thither--gave to the +scene a lofty grandeur. While standing thus irresolute, a young man of +some five or six and twenty was advancing towards us; he had on his arm +a female, with whom he appeared to be chatting familiarly. I watched +them as they came near us, and from the young man's appearance judged +him to be one of the settlers here. As they approached, I heard their +voices more distinctly. That of the female fell upon my ear in well +remembered tones. There could be no mistaking them, I knew it to be +the voice of my sister. But ah! how changed she was. The laughing +merry girl had grown into a staid and matronly woman. I could hardly +believe it possible; but to assure myself, I inquired of her companion +if that was the residence of Mr. Howard. My sister started as I spoke, +turned pale, and looked at me intently. I suppose I was changed; +indeed, there was but little doubt of that--but changed as I was, she +could not be deceived. She trembled, and would have fallen, had I not +caught her in my arms in a fond embrace. The first surprise over, she +laughed and cried by turns, and overwhelmed me with caresses. Then the +numberless inquiries she had to make! One after the other in such +rapid succession, without waiting for replies. I know not what the +three spectators of the scene must have thought; but no doubt they +deemed her frantic, and, indeed, for the time, I believe she was. My +first inquiry was about my parents. They were both well. She had left +them a few minutes previously. Her companion she introduced to me as +her husband. She told me, also, that she had two children, a little +boy and girl. We arranged our plan, if it could be called arrangement, +where all was mad delight; she insisted that my two guides should go +home with her husband for that evening, as his house was close by, and +deliver the letter in the morning, while she and myself went home to +our parents. When we had arrived at the house, I detained her from +entering until I had peeped in at the window to take a glance at its +inmates. There was a light in the interior, and I could observe all +distinctly. I saw my father seated in a comfortable apartment, quite +unconscious of any one observing them. My father was reading aloud one +of the local papers. He wore spectacles; I remember to have been +struck with this, otherwise, my mother and he were not at all changed. +The same as I had left them--the old familiar faces, remembered from +earliest childhood--the old familiar faces, it made a child of me again +to gaze on them. Presently my sister entered, and from her hurried +manner and sudden return, they seemed surprised. She said something, I +did not know what, but my father rose, and hastily throwing down the +paper, gazed wonderingly on my sister. I waited no longer--another +moment--I was on my knees before my mother, buried in her embrace. She +wept over me, her truant boy, tears of joy. Who of us has not felt the +depth and purity of a mother's love? Who hath not found, be his errors +what they might, that there was one gentle spirit to turn to, ever +ready to pardon, protect, and solace? I felt the force of this doubly +then. And now, when past the meridian of my life, I look back through +the long vista of the past, the self-devotedness of a mother's love +shines forth as something "which lighted up my way of life," never to +be forgotten. My father could scarcely find utterance, from excess of +joy at my return. I recounted to him a brief summary of all I had gone +through since I had been lost, and half that night was passed in the +details of my story. My sister did not return to her own home till the +following morning, when I accompanied her. Another surprise awaited +me. I saw Rengal and his father working on our estate. They had +become devoted and trustworthy servants of the family, being employed +as free labourers. It seemed that my father had instituted a vigorous +search for me, and had engaged them many months for that purpose, +believing their acquaintance with the country would be of infinite +service in the undertaking. Their labours, however, proved fruitless, +as my reader already knows. Ultimately, pleased with their faithful +conduct, and evident anxiety to accomplish my restoration, he engaged +them as assistants on his farm, where they had remained ever since. +Their surprise and extravagant delight when I made myself known, +exceeded all bounds; and although, perhaps, I compromised my dignity, I +was obliged, in spite of myself, to burst out into a fit of immoderate +laughter. There was a degree of comicality about these people which +was perfectly irresistible, the more so, as they could not at all +comprehend it themselves. The old negro informed me that he had +discovered his daughter, and my sister's husband had purchased her +freedom, and engaged her as a domestic in his house. + + * * * * * + +Many years have rolled on since the incidents described in this +narrative occurred. Time has been busy with his ceaseless works and +wondrous changes. Our little settlement has now sprung up into a large +and thriving city, in whose streets are seen a throng of busy men. Our +river bears upon its bosom many argosies freighted with the merchandise +of every clime. Our meadows are ploughed into furrows by the hand of +the skilful husbandman, and returning autumn sees them laden with the +products of cultivated nature. The giant, steam, is made a slave to +man. and is seen at work on the mill--the mine--the forge--and rail; +and everywhere marks of the master spirit, industry, are visible in our +town. For myself, I am rich in the possession of all the blessings of +domestic life, with an amiable and loving partner and dutiful children. +I am respected as a thriving merchant, and I hope as a worthy friend. +My parents, I am happy to say, still cheer me with their presence and +advice; and if this, the narrative of my earlier years, should awaken +the youthful mind to a sense of self-reliance and dependence under all +trials and vicissitudes, and make manifest the bounteous providence of +a wise and beneficent Creator, my labours will not have been spent in +vain. + + + + +THE END. + + + + +[Transcriber's note: In this etext, the source book's variant page +headings have been converted to sidenotes and positioned where most +logical.] + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Emigrant's Lost Son, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMIGRANT'S LOST SON *** + +***** This file should be named 37732.txt or 37732.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/3/37732/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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