Jules Verne (22 page)

"Mrs. Weldon," replied the American, "you do too much honor to the deer
of this country. Indeed, they fear man more than he fears them."

"We are in a wood," said Jack, "and there is always beasts in the
woods."

"There are woods and woods, my good little man, as there are beasts and
beasts," replied Harris, laughing. "Imagine that you are in the middle
of a large park. Truly, it is not without reason that the Indians say
of this country, 'Es como el pariso!' It is like an earthly paradise!"

"Then there are serpents?" said Jack.

"No, my Jack," replied Mrs. Weldon, "there are no serpents, and you may
sleep tranquilly."

"And lions?" asked Jack.

"Not the ghost of a lion, my good little man," replied Harris.

"Tigers, then?"

"Ask your mama if she has ever heard tell of tigers on this continent."

"Never," replied Mrs. Weldon.

"Good!" said Cousin Benedict, who, by chance, was listening to the
conversation: "if there are neither lions nor tigers in the New World,
which is perfectly true, we at least encounter cougars and jaguars."

"Are they bad?" asked little Jack.

"Phew!" replied Harris; "a native has little fear of attacking those
animals, and we are strong. Stay! Hercules would be strong enough to
crush two jaguars at once, one in each hand!"

"You will watch well, Hercules," then said little Jack, "and if a beast
comes to bite us—"

"It is I who will bite it, Mr. Jack!" replied Hercules, showing his
mouth, armed with superb teeth.

"Yes, you will watch, Hercules," said the novice, "but your companions
and I will relieve you, turn about."

"No, Mr. Dick," replied Acteon, "Hercules, Bat, Austin, and I, we four
will be enough for this labor. You must rest the whole night."

"Thank you, Acteon," replied Dick Sand, "but I ought to—"

"No! let those brave men do it, my dear Dick!" then said Mrs. Weldon.

"I, also; I shall watch!" added little Jack, whose eyelids were already
closing.

"Yes, my Jack, yes, you will watch!" replied his mother, who did not
wish to contradict him.

"But," the little boy said again, "if there are no lions, if there are
no tigers in the forest, there are wolves!"

"Oh! wolves in jest!" replied the American. "They are not even wolves,
but kinds of foxes, or rather of those dogs of the woods which they
call 'guaras.'"

"And those
guaras
, they bite?" asked little Jack.

"Bah! Dingo would make only one mouthful of those beasts!"

"Never mind," replied Jack, with a last yawn; "guaras are wolves,
because they are called wolves!"

And with that Jack fell asleep peaceably in Nan's arms, beside the
trunk of the mango. Mrs. Weldon, lying near her, gave a last kiss to
her little boy, and her tired eyes quickly closed for the night.

A few moments later Hercules brought back to the camp Cousin Benedict,
who had just gone off to commence a chase for pyrophores. They are
"cocuyos," or luminous flies, which the stylish put in their hair, like
so many living gems. These insects which throw a bright and bluish
light from two spots situated at the base of their corselet, are very
numerous in South America. Cousin Benedict then counted on making a
large collection, but Hercules did not leave him time, and, in spite of
his recriminations, the negro brought him to the halting-place. That
was because, when Hercules had orders, he executed them with military
preciseness, which, no doubt, prevented the incarceration of a notable
quantity of luminous flies in the entomologist's tin box.

A few moments after, with the exception of the giant, who was watching,
all were reposing in a profound sleep.

Generally, travelers or ramblers in the woods, who have slept in the
forests under the lovely stars, are awakened by howlings as fantastic
as disagreeable. There is everything in this morning concert: clucking,
grunting, croaking, sneering, barking, and almost "speaking," if one
may make use of this word, which completes the series of different
noises.

There are the monkeys who thus salute the daybreak. There we meet the
little "marikina," the marmoset with a speckled mask; the "mono gris,"
the skin of which the Indians use to recover the batteries of their
guns; the "sagous," recognizable from their long bunches of hair, and
many others, specimens of this numerous family.

Of these various four-handed animals, the most remarkable are decidedly
the "gueribas," with curling tails and a face like Beelzebub. When the
sun rises, the oldest of the band, with an imposing and mysterious
voice, sings a monotonous psalm. It is the baritone of the troop. The
young tenors repeat after him the morning symphony. The Indians say
then that the "gueribas" recite their
pater-nosters
.

But, on this day, it seemed that the monkeys did not offer their
prayer, for no one heard them; and, meanwhile, their voice is loud, for
it is produced by the rapid vibration of a kind of bony drum, formed by
a swelling of the hyoides bone in the neck.

In short, for one reason or for another, neither the "gueribas," nor
the "sagous," nor any other four-handed animals of this immense forest,
sang, on this morning, their usual concert.

This would not have satisfied the wandering Indians. Not that these
natives appreciate this kind of strange choral music, but they
willingly give chase to the monkeys, and if they do, it is because the
flesh of this animal is excellent, above all, when it is smoke-dried.

Dick Sand, of course, could not be familiar with the habits of the
"gueribas," neither were his companions, or this not hearing them would
have undoubtedly been a subject of surprise. They awoke then, one after
the other, much refreshed by these few hours of repose, which no alarm
had come to disturb.

Little Jack was not the last to stretch his arms. His first question
was, to ask if Hercules had eaten a wolf during the night. No wolf had
shown himself, and consequently Hercules had not yet breakfasted.

All, besides, were fasting like him, and after the morning prayer, Nan
occupied herself preparing the repast.

The bill of fare was that of the supper of the night before, but with
appetites sharpened by the morning air of the forest, no one dreamed of
being difficult to please. It was necessary, above all, to gather
strength for a good day's march, and they did it. For the first time,
perhaps, Cousin Benedict comprehended that to eat was not an action
indifferent or useless to life; only, he declared that he had not come
to "visit" this country to walk with his hands in his pockets, and
that, if Hercules prevented him from chasing the "cocuyos," and other
luminous flies, Hercules would have some trouble with him.

This threat did not seem to frighten the giant to any great extent.
However, Mrs. Weldon took him aside and told him that, perhaps, he
might allow his big baby to run to the right and left, but on condition
that he did not lose sight of him. It would not do to completely sever
Cousin Benedict from the pleasures so natural to his age.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the little troop took up their journey
toward the east, preserving the order of march that had been adopted
the previous day. It was always the forest. On this virgin soil, where
the heat and the moisture agreed to produce vegetation, it might well
be thought that the reign of growth appeared in all its power. The
parallel of this vast plateau was almost confounded with tropical
latitudes, and, during certain months in summer, the sun, in passing to
the zenith, darted its perpendicular rays there. There was, therefore,
an enormous quantity of imprisoned heat in this earth, of which the
subsoil preserved the damp. Also, nothing could be more magnificent
than this succession of forests, or rather this interminable forest.

Meanwhile, Dick Sand had not failed to observe this—that, according to
Harris, they were in the region of the pampas. Now, pampas is a word
from the "quichna" language, which signifies a plain. Now, if his
recollections did not deceive him, he believed that these plains
presented the following characteristics: Lack of water, absence of
trees, a failure of stones, an almost luxuriant abundance of thistles
during the rainy season, thistles which became almost shrubby with the
warm season, and then formed impenetrable thickets; then, also, dwarf
trees, thorny shrubs, the whole giving to these plains a rather arid
and desolate aspect.

Now, it had not been thus, since the little troop, guided by the
American, had left the coast. The forest had not ceased to spread to
the limits of the horizon. No, this was not the pampas, such as the
young novice had imagined them. Had nature, as Harris had told him,
been able to make a region apart from the plateau of Atacama, of which
he knew nothing, if it did not form one of the most vast deserts of
South America, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean?

On that day Dick Sand propounded some questions on this subject, and
expressed to the American the surprise he felt at this singular
appearance of the pampas.

But he was quickly undeceived by Harris, who gave him the most exact
details about this part of Bolivia, thus witnessing to his great
knowledge of the country.

"You are right, my young friend," he said to the novice. "The true
pampa is indeed such as the books of travels have depicted it to you,
that is, a plain rather arid, and the crossing of which is often
difficult. It recalls our savannahs of North America—except that these
are a little marshy. Yes, such is indeed the pampa of the Rio Colorado,
such are the "llanos" of the Orinoco and of Venezuela. But here, we are
in a country, the appearance of which even astonishes me. It is true,
it is the first time I have followed this route across the plateau, a
route which has the advantage of shortening our journey. But, if I have
not yet seen it, I know that it presents an extraordinary contrast to
the veritable pampa. As to this one, you would find it again, not
between the Cordilleras of the west and the high chain of the Andes,
but beyond the mountains, over all that eastern part of the continent
which extends as far as the Atlantic."

"Must we then clear the Andes range?" Dick Sand asked, quickly.

"No, my young friend, no," replied the American, smiling. "So I said:
You
would
find it again, and not: You
will
find it again. Be
reassured, we shall not leave this plateau, the greatest elevations of
which do not exceed fifteen hundred feet. Ah! if it had been necessary
to cross the Cordilleras with only the means of transport at our
disposal, I should never have drawn you into such an undertaking."

"In fact," replied Dick Sand, "it would be better to ascend or descend
the coast."

"Oh! a hundred times!" replied Harris. "But the Farm of San Felice is
situated on this side of the Cordilleras. So, then, our journey,
neither in its first nor in its second part, will offer any real
difficulty."

"And you do not fear going astray in these forests, which you cross for
the first time?" asked Dick Sand.

"No, my young friend, no," replied Harris. "I know indeed that this
forest is like an immense sea, or rather like the bottom of a sea,
where a sailor himself could not take the latitude nor recognize his
position. But accustomed to traveling in the woods, I know how to find
my route only by the inclination of certain trees, by the direction of
their leaves, by the movement or the composition of the soil, by a
thousand details which escape you! Be sure of it, I will lead you, you
and yours, where you ought to go!"

All these things were said very clearly by Harris. Dick Sand and he, at
the head of the troop, often talked without any one mingling in their
conversation. If the novice felt some doubts that the American did not
always succeed in scattering, he preferred to keep them to himself.

The 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of April passed in this manner,
without any incident to mark the journey. They did not make more than
eight to nine miles in twelve hours. The times consecrated to eating or
repose came at regular intervals, and though a little fatigue was felt
already, the sanitary condition was still very satisfactory.

Little Jack began to suffer a little from this life in the woods, to
which he was not accustomed, and which was becoming very monotonous for
him. And then all the promises which had been made him had not been
kept. The caoutchouc jumping-jacks, the humming-birds, all those seemed
constantly to recede. There had also been a question of showing him the
most beautiful parrots in the world, and they ought not to be wanting
in these rich forests. Where, then, were the popinjays with green
plumage, almost all originally from these countries, the
aras
, with
naked cheeks, with long pointed tails, with glittering colors, whose
paws never rest on the earth, and the "camindes," which are more
peculiar to tropical countries, and the many-colored she-parrots, with
feathered faces, and finally all those prattling birds which, according
to the Indians, still speak the language of extinct tribes?

Of parrots, little Jack only saw ash-gray jakos, with red tails, which
abounded under the trees. But these jakos were not new to him. They
have transported them into all parts of the world. On the two
continents they fill the houses with their insupportable chattering,
and, of all the family of the "psittacius," they are the ones which
learn to speak most easily.

It must be said, besides, that if Jack was not contented, Cousin
Benedict was no more so. He had been allowed to wander a little to the
right or to the left during the march. However, he had not found any
insect which was fit to enrich his collection. Even the "pyrophores"
obstinately refused to show themselves to him, and attract him by the
phosphorescences of their corselet. Nature seemed truly to mock the
unhappy entomologist, whose temper was becoming cross.