Part 9 (1/2)
All knew that the Indian panther often attacks s that they hailed his appearance The boys grasped their guns ive the panther the volley, should he approach within range
The latter, however, had no design ofthe travellers He was unaware of their presence His whole attention was occupied with the axis; upon whose ribs, or, perhaps, those of the fawn, he intended to ait and silent tread he approached his intended victile In a few seconds, he was near enough to spring, and, as yet, the poor doe browsed unconsciously He was just setting his paws for the leap, and, in all probability, would have pounced next moment upon the back of the deer, but, just in the nick of tinedly, or with, any intention of warning the deer; for all three of the hunters were so absorbed in watching the ht of such a thing Perhaps the powerful odour of the nolia blossoms had been the cause; but, whether or no, Caspar sneezed
That sneeze was a good thing It saved the tender s of the ferocious panther She heard it, and, raising her head on the instant, glanced round The crouching cat ca a second of ti up to the fawn, seized the astonished little creature in her lade, was soon out of sight, having disappeared into the jungle on the opposite side!
The panther, who had either not heard or not regarded the sneeze, sprang out, as he had intended, but missed his aim He ran a few stretches, rose into the air, and, a second ti that the latter had sped beyond his reach, according to the usual habit of all the _felidae_, he desisted fro back whence he had coet within shooting distance of him, and was never more seen by any of the three
As they returned to ca sneezed so opportunely; though Caspar acknowledged that it was quite accidental, and that, for his part, he would rather he had not sneezed at all, and that he had either got a shot at the panther, or had a bit of the fawn for his supper
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE PESTS OF THE TROPICS
Much has been said and written in praise of the bright sun and the blue skies of tropical countries; and travellers have dilated largely upon the e of tropical forests One who has never visited these southern clie in very fanciful dreams of enjoyment there Life would seem to be luxurious; every scene appears to be _couleur de rose_
But Nature has not designed that any portion of her territory should be favoured beyond the rest to such an extreree; and, perhaps, if a just comparison were instituted, it would be found that the Esqui in his hut of snow, enjoys as s in his hammock under the shade of a banyan or a palm-tree
The clietation, is also prolific of insect and reptile life; and, from this very circureater amount of personal discomfort than the dweller in the Arctic zone Even the scarcity of vegetable food, and the bitter, biting frost, are far easier to endure than the plague of tipulary insects and reptiles, which swarm between Cancer and Capricorn
It is a well-known fact, that there are large districts in tropical America where hunats, ants, and other insects
Thus writes the great Prussian geognosist:--
”Persons who have not navigated the rivers of equinoctial America can scarcely conceive how, at every instant, without inter in the air, and how the ions almost uninhabitable
Whatever fortitude be exercised to endure pain without complaint, whatever interest may be felt in the objects of scientific research, it is impossible not to be constantly disturbed by the mosquitos, zancudos, jejens, and tempraneros, that cover the face and hands, pierce the clothes with their long, needle-for into the , whenever any attempt is made to speak in the open air
”In the es on the banks of the river, surrounded by iue of the mosquitos, affords an inexhaustible subject of conversation When two persons , the first questions they address to each other are: 'How did you find the zancudos during the night?' 'How are we to-day for the mosquitos?'
”An atmosphere filled with venomous insects always appears to be more heated than it is in reality We were horribly tormented in the day by ht by the zancudos, a large species of gnat, dreaded even by the natives
”At different hours of the day you are stung by different species
Every ties, and, to use the siuard,' you have a few minutes-- often a quarter of an hour, of repose The insects that disappear have not their places instantly supplied by their successors Fro till live in the afternoon the air is filled with nats--called tempraneros, because they appear also at sunrise--take the place of the mosquitos Their presence scarcely lasts an hour and a half They disappear between six and seven in the evening After a fewby zancudos, another species of gnat, with very long legs The zancudo, the proboscis of which contains a sharp-pointed sucker, causes thethat remains several weeks
”The ues are very extraordinary At Maypures the Indians quit the village at night to go and sleep on the little islets in the midst of the cataracts
There they enjoy so to shun air loaded with vapours
”Between the little harbour of Higuerote and the mouth of the Rio Unare the wretched inhabitants are accustoht buried in the sand three or four inches deep, leaving out the head only, which they cover with a handkerchief
”At Mandanaca we found an old missionary, who told us with an air of sadness that he had had his 'twenty years of s, that we ht be able to tell one day beyond sea 'what the poor monks suffer in the forests of Cassiquiare'
Every sting leaving a ss were so speckled that it was difficult to recognise the whiteness of his skin, through the spots of coagulated blood!”
Just such torreat Prussian traveller suffered from insects in the forests of South Ah the huht and by day the air seee and sed ants, s” They experienced the bite of ants or the stings of e ticks, a species of which infests the bamboo, and which is one of the most hateful of insects These the traveller cannot avoid coh the forest They get inside his dress, often in great numbers, and insert their proboscis deeply, but without pain Buried head and shoulders, and retained by its barbed lancet, this tick can only be extracted with great force, and the operation is exceedingly painful