Part 46 (1/2)
From the first the head of the crocodile had been turned to the water, from which he was not distant over ten feet He had, in fact, been carrying his prey towards it when he was interrupted by the attack of the jaguar; and now at every fresh opportunity he was pushi+ng on, bit by bit, in that direction He knew that in his own proper element he would be more than a ht have escaped fro his prey Had he been a slad to have done so; but trusting to his size and strength, and perhaps not a little to the justice of his cause, he was deter with hiuar, on the other hand, was just as deterhts The capivara would not have been killed so easily, had he not frightened it from behind; besides, the crocodile was out of his ele on the domain of the forest round--at each fresh pause in the struggle he was forging forward, pushi+ng the chiguire before hiround backwards
The jaguar at length felt his hind-feet in the water; and this seemed to act upon hio his hold of the capivara, ran a few feet forward, and then flattening his body along the ground, prepared hi Before a second had passed, he launched his body high into the air, and descended upon the back of the crocodile just over his fore-shoulders! He did not settle there, but ran nimbly down the back of the saurian towards its hinder part, and its claws could be heard rattling against its scaly skin
In athe crocodile's body, and with his teeth tearing fiercely at the root of its tail He knew that after the eyes this was the onist, and if he had been allowed but a few minutes' time, he would soon have disabled the crocodile; for to have seriously wounded the root of his tail, would have been to have destroyed his essential weapon of offence
The jaguar would have succeeded had the encounter occurred only a dozen yards farther froe, and perceiving the advantage against hi his adversary, he dropped the capivara, and crawling forward, plunged into the water When fairly launched, he shot out fro, and the next moment he had dived to the depth of the stream The water was lashed into foam by the blows of his feet and tail; but in the uar was seen rising to the surface, and after turning once or twice, as if searching for his hated enemy, the creature headed for the bank and cli back into the streary and disappointed He see the half-torn carcass of the capivara, he threw it lightly over his shoulder and trotted off into the thicket
Our travellers had not watched this scene either closely or continuously They had been too busy all the ti all in their power to get away froht either first overpower the crocodile and then attack theht take it into his head to revenge hi whatever he could With these apprehensions, therefore, they had hastily carried everything aboard, and drawing in their cable, pushed the balza froht caot fairly into the current, and just as the jaguar disappeared, the raft was gliding swiftly down the broad and rippling stream
CHAPTER XL
ADVENTURE WITH AN ANACONDA
For several days they voyaged down-stream, without any occurrence of particular interest Once or twice they saw Indians upon the shore; but these, instead of putting off in their canoes, seee a craft, and ree-houses, in each of which several fas with theet past without molestation; and, therefore, when they passed any place where they thought they observed the signs of Indians on the bank, they kept on for hours after, without stopping
A curious incident occurred one evening as they were bringing the balza to her s, which compelled them to drop a little farther down-streaht, which would have been a dangerous matter, as the current at the place happened to be sharp and rapid
They had been on the look-out for so-place, as it was their usual hour to stop No opening, however, appeared for several miles The banks on both sides were thickly-wooded to the river's edge, and the branches of the trees even drooped into the water
At length they caht of a natural raft that had been fors lay thickly together, and even piled upon each other, it appeared an excellent place to encamp on It was, at all events, better than to atteles which met them everywhere else; and so the balza was directed towards the raft, and soon floated alongside it
They had already got ashore on the raft, which was dry and firh; when, all at once, Guapo was heard uttering one of those exclaht The rest looked towards hie of the floating timber, just where the balza touched it, with his arms stretched out in an attitude that betokened trouble They all ran up They saas thefrom the raft to the balza!
Thousands,--nay, it would be nearer the truth to say lance Don Pablo saw that it would be a terrible cala ants, but in a short ti on board would be left In a few hours they would have eaten all his stores,--his bark, his vanilla, and his roots Already quite a nu it toward the body of the balza
Without saying another word, he ordered all to get on board as quickly as possible, each taking some utensil that had already been carried on shore He and Guapo flew to the poles; and, having hastily unfastened and drawn in the cable, they pushed the balza out into the streareat oar, Don Pablo, assisted by Leon and by Dona Isidora, went to ith scoops and pails, dashi+ng water upon the ants; until every one of them had disappeared, drowned in the canoe or washed off into the river Fortunate for thee eneone to sleep, leaving the balza where it was during the night--they would have awakened in theto find their stores co in the space of a single night This is no uncommon occurrence to the merchant or the colonist of tropical America
They had made a narrow escape, but a fortunate one They were not without their troubles, however No open ground could be found fordark, they approached the thickly-wooded bank; and, after a good deal of scratching a the cable fast to a tree The balza then swung round, and floated at the end of the cable, half of it being buried under the long hanging branches
They spent their night on board, for it was no use atteh the underwood; and even if they had, they could not have encamped very comfortably in a thicket On the other hand, the balza did not afford the best acco The little ”toldo,” or cabin, was not large enough to swing a haether; and it had been builtthe hot hours of the day than for sleeping in The rest of the balza was occupied with the freight; and this was so arranged with sloping sides, thatched with the bussu-leaves, that there was no level place where one could repose upon it The night, therefore, was passed without verybeen obtained by any one of the party Of course, thethe Eastern sky, they were all awake and ready to leave their disagreeable anchorage
As they werepreparations to untie the cable, they noticed that just belohere the balza lay, a horizontal limb stretched far out over the river It was the lower-tree, that stood on the bank close to the edge of the water It was not near the surface, but a good h enough for the roof of the toldo to clear it That was an ih the current was not very rapid just there, it was sufficiently so to carry the balza under this branch before they could push it out into the streao, they ; and if that caught the toldo, it would sweep off the frail roof like so e; and one to be avoided, if possible
Don Pablo and Guapo went to the end of the balza nearest the branch, and stood for soht or ten yards distant; but in the gray dawn they could not judge correctly of its height, and they waited till it grew a little clearer At length they ca pendulous leaves--characteristic of this great _ down much below the main shaft; but these, even if they touched the roof, would do no injury It was, therefore, detero the cable
It was now clear day, for they had been delayed a good while; but at length all was ready, and Guapo untied the cable, and drew the end on board The balza began to move; slowly at first, for the current under the bushes was very slight