Part 22 (1/2)
”Oh, look there, Harry!” she exclaimed. ”They will catch Nimble and Toby.”
I sprang to her side, and then saw, just beyond a thicket of ferns, two huge pumas, which were on the point of springing up a tree, among whose branches were clinging our two pets, Nimble and Toby, their teeth chattering with terror, while their alarm seemed almost to have paralysed them. In another instant they would have been in the clutches of the pumas. I was more concerned about my dear little sister's safety than for that of her monkeys. At first I thought of telling her to run back to the hut; but then it flashed across me that the pumas might see her and follow. So I exclaimed, ”Get behind me, Ellen; and we will shout together, and try and frighten the beasts. That will, at all events, bring John to our help.”
We shouted at the top of our voices. I certainly never shouted louder.
Meantime I raised my gun, to be ready to fire should the pumas threaten to attack us or persist in following our pets. Scarcely had our voices ceased, when I heard True's bark, as he came das.h.i.+ng through the wood.
The pumas had not till then discovered us, so eagerly had they been watching the monkeys. They turned their heads for a moment. Nimble took the opportunity of swinging himself out of their reach. Ellen shrieked, for she thought they were going to spring at us. I fired at the nearest, while True dashed boldly up towards the other. My bullet took effect, and the powerful brute rolled over, dead. The sound of the shot startled its companion; and, fortunately for gallant little True, it turned tail, and bounded away through the forest,--John, who had been hurrying up, getting a distant shot as it disappeared among the trees.
Arthur and the two Indians followed John, greatly alarmed at our shouts and the sound of the firearms.
Nimble and Toby, still chattering with fear, came down from their lofty retreat when we called them, and, looking very humble and penitent, followed Ellen to the hut; while we, calling Domingos to our a.s.sistance, set to work to skin the puma. The meat we cooked and found very like veal, and Domingos managed to dress the skin sufficiently to preserve it.
Duppo had clearly understood Ellen's wish to have some humming-birds caught alive. We were always up at daybreak, to enjoy the cool air of the morning. He had gone out when the first streaks of dawn appeared in the eastern sky, over the cold grey line of the river. When we could do so with safety, we never failed to take a bath. We had just come out of the water, and were dressing, when Duppo ran up, and signed to us to follow him. We called Ellen as we pa.s.sed the hut, and all together went towards the igarape, where, in a more open s.p.a.ce than usual, a number of graceful fuschia-looking flowers, as well as others of different forms, hung suspended from long tendrils, intertwined with the branches of the trees. Into this spot the rising sun poured its glorious beams with full brilliancy. We cautiously advanced, when the s.p.a.ce before us seemed suddenly filled with the most beautiful sparking gems of varied colours, floating here and there in the bright sunlight. I could scarcely believe that the creatures before us belonged to the feathered tribes, so brilliant were their hues, so rapid their movements.
Sometimes they vanished from sight, as they darted with inconceivable rapidity from branch to branch. Now one might be seen for an instant hovering over a flower, its wings looking like two grey filmy fans expanded at its sides. Then we could see another dip its long slender bill into the cup of an upright flower. Now one would come beneath a suspended blossom. Sometimes one of the little creatures would dart off into the air, to catch some insect invisible to the eye; and we could only judge of what it was about by its peculiar movements. As we watched, a tiny bird would perch on a slender twig, and rest there for a few seconds, thus giving us an opportunity of examining its beauties.
Ellen could scarcely restrain her delight and admiration at the spectacle; for though we had often seen humming-birds before, we had never beheld them to such advantage. The little creature we saw had a crest on the top of its head of a peculiarly rich chestnut, or ruddy tint. The upper surface of the body was of a bronzed green hue, and a broad band of white crossed the lower part, but the wings were purple-black. The chief part of the tail was chestnut. The forehead and throat were also of the same rich hue. On either side of the neck projected a snow-white plume, tipped with the most resplendent metallic green. The effect of these beautiful colours may be imagined as the birds flew rapidly to and fro, or perched on a spray, like the one I have described. Another little creature, very similar to it, was to be seen flying about above the heads of the others. It also had a crest, which was of the same colour as the others, but of a somewhat lighter tint; while at the base of each feather, as we afterwards observed, was a round spot of bronzed green, looking like a gem in a dark setting.
The crest, which was constantly spread out, appeared very like that of a peac.o.c.k's tail, though, as Ellen observed, it would be a very little peac.o.c.k to have such a tail. On searching in our book, we found that the first of these humming-birds we had remarked was a tufted coquette (_Lophornis ornatus_), while the other, which we seldom saw afterwards, was the spangled coquette. These birds, with several others of similar habits and formation, are cla.s.sed separately from the _Trochilidae_, and belong to the genus _Phaethornis_. They are remarkable for the long pointed feathers of their tails, the two central ones being far longer than the rest. We met with a greater number of them than of any other genus on the banks of the Amazon.
After we had enjoyed the spectacle for some time, Duppo begged us to come a little further, when he showed us a beautiful little nest, secured to the innermost point of a palm-leaf. On the top of the leaf a little spangled coquette was watching her eggs within. Unlike the nests of the _Trochilidae_, which are saucer-shaped, it was of a long, funnel-like form, broad at the top and tapering towards the lower part.
The outside, which was composed of small leaves and moss, had a somewhat rugged appearance; but the inside, as we had reason to know, was soft and delicate in the extreme, being thickly lined with silk-cotton from the fruit of the sumauma-tree. Below the first was perched a tufted coquette, looking as boldly at us as any town sparrow. The little creatures, indeed, kept hovering about; and one came within a few feet of our faces, as much as to ask how we dared to intrude on its domains.
More pugnacious or brave little beings do not exist among the feathered tribes.
I cannot hope to describe with any degree of accuracy the numbers of beautiful humming-birds we met with in different places; for though some are migratory, the larger proportion strictly inhabit certain localities, and are seldom met with, we were told, in any other. The humming-birds of the Andes, of which there are a great variety, never descend into the plains; nor do those of the plains attempt to intrude on the domains of their mountain relatives. Although they may live on the nectar of flowers, they have no objection to the tiny insects they find among their petals, or which fly through the air, while many devour as t.i.tbits the minute spiders which weave their gossamer webs among the tall gra.s.s or shrubs.
”I should not think that any human being could catch one of those little creatures,” said Ellen, as we returned homewards. ”The sharpest-eyed sportsman would find it difficult to hit one with his fowling-piece.”
”He would certainly blow it to pieces,” observed John, ”if he made the attempt. They are shot, however, with sand; and perhaps our young Indian friend himself will find the means of shooting one, if he cannot capture it in some other way.”
”Oh, I would not have one shot for the world!” exclaimed Ellen. ”Pray let him understand that he must do nothing of the sort for my sake.”
While we were at breakfast, Duppo, who had disappeared, came running up with one of the beautiful little creatures which we had seen in his hand. It seemed much less alarmed than birds usually are in the grasp of a boy. Perhaps that was owing to the careful way in which Duppo held it.
”Oh, you lovely little gem!” exclaimed Ellen; ”but I am sure I shall never be able to take proper care of it.”
Duppo, who seemed to understand her, signified that Oria would do so for her. Oria, who had been watching us taking sugar with our tea, and had by this time discovered its qualities, mixed a little in a spoon, which she at once put before the bill of the little humming-bird. At first it was far too much alarmed to taste the sweet mess. At length, growing accustomed to the gentle handling of the Indian girl, it poked out its beak and took a sip. ”Ho, ho!” it seemed to say, ”that is nice stuff!”
and then it took another sip, and very soon seemed perfectly satisfied that it was not going to be so badly off, in spite of its imprisonment.
Oria intimated that she would in time make the little stranger quite tame.
”But we must keep it out of the way of Master Nimble's paws, for otherwise he would be very likely to treat it with small ceremony,”
observed John. ”Why, Ellen, you will have a perfect menagerie before long.”
”Yes, I hope so,” she answered; ”I am not nearly contented yet. I should like to have one of those beautiful little ducks you were telling me of, and as many humming-birds as I can obtain.”
”Perhaps you would like to have a jaguar or puma,” said John. ”If caught young, I dare say they can be tamed as well as any other animal.”
”I am afraid they would quarrel with my more harmless pets,” answered Ellen. ”And yet a fine large puma would be a good defence against all enemies.”
”Not against an Indian with a poisoned arrow. He would be inconvenient, too, to transport in our canoe. I hope therefore you will confine yourself to small animals, which will not occupy much s.p.a.ce. You may have as many humming-birds as you like, and half-a-dozen monkeys, provided they and Nimble do not quarrel.”
”Except some pretty little monkeys, I do not wish for any others besides those I already have,” said Ellen.