CHAPTER FORTY.
WE SECURE FRESH TREASURES.
Our injuries soon grew better, but though we kept on sailing for daysand days past the most tempting-looking spots, we never dared to land,for always as soon as we neared some gloriously-wooded track, all hill,dale, and mountain, and amidst whose trees the glasses showed us plentyof birds, the inhabitants began to cluster on the shore, and when onceor twice my uncle said that we would go in nearer and see, the samecustom was invariably observed: the people came shouting and dancingabout the beach holding out birds and bunches of feathers and shells,making signs for us to land.
There was no need for Ebo to grow excited and cry, "No--no! man-kill!man-kill!" for my uncle laughed and shook his head.
"They must try another way of baiting their traps, Nat," he would crylaughing. "My head is too sore with blows and memories to be caughtagain."
It was always the same. No sooner did the treacherous savages find thatwe would not land than they rushed to their canoes, and began to pursueus howling and yelling; but the swift-sailed boat was always ready toleave them far behind, and we were only too glad to find that thepleasant brisk breezes stood our friends.
"I would not loiter here, Nat," he said, "amidst such a treacherous,bloodthirsty set, but the great island is so tempting that I long for aramble amongst its forests. I know that there are plenty of wonderfulspecimens to be obtained here. New kinds of paradise birds,butterflies, and beetles, and other attractions that it would be a sinnot to obtain."
"Perhaps we shall find a place by and bye where there are noinhabitants, uncle," I said.
"That is what I have been hoping for days," he replied; and not longafter we sailed round a headland into a beautiful bay with the whitestof sand, trees clustering amidst the lovely yellow stone cliffs, and abright stream of water flowing through a gorge and tumbling over two orthree little barriers of rocks before losing itself in the calm watersof the bay.
Some six or seven miles back was a high ridge of mountains, which seemedto touch the sea to east and west, cutting off as it were a narrow stripfrom the mainland, and this strip, some fifteen miles long and six wideat its greatest, was fertile in the extreme.
"Why, Nat," cried my uncle, "this should be as grand a place as ourisland. If it is free of savages it is the beau ideal of a naturalist'sstation. Look! what's that?"
"A deer come out of the wood to drink in the stream," I said.
"Poor deer," laughed my uncle, "I'm afraid it will have to come into ourlarder, for a bit of venison is the very thing we want."
As he spoke he cautiously took up a rifle, rested it upon the edge ofthe boat, waited a few moments, and then fired at fully five hundredyards' distance, and I saw the deer make one great bound and fall dead.
"Good! Eatum," said Ebo approvingly; but instead of indulging in afrantic dance he shaded his eyes and gazed about in every direction,carefully sweeping the shore, and paying no heed to us as the boat wassailed close in.
As the keel was checked by the sand Ebo leaped out, and I thought he wasabout to rush at the deer to skin it for food, but he ran off rapidly inone direction right along the shore, coming back at the end of a quarterof an hour, during which, after dragging our prize on board, weremained, gun in hand, upon the watch.
Ebo started again and went in the other direction, being away longerthis time, but returning triumphant to indulge in a dance, and help dragthe boat into a place of safety before proceeding to light a fire.
Venison steaks followed, and after another exploration we found that wewere in so thoroughly uninhabited a part of the island that we built ahut and slept ashore perfectly undisturbed.
The next morning we had another exploration, to find that, as my unclehad supposed, the ridge of mountains cut us off from the rest of theisland, and finding nothing to fear we once more set to work.
Parrots were in profusion, and so were the great crowned pigeons; theselatter becoming our poultry for the table. There was an abundance,though, of birds of large size, whose skins we did not care to preserve,but which, being fruit-eaters, were delicious roasted. Then we hadanother deer or two; caught fish in the bay; and literally revelled inthe bounteous supply of fruit.
Meanwhile we were working industriously over our specimens, findingparoquets that were quite new to us, splendid cockatoos, and some thatwere as ugly as they were curious.
Sun-birds, pittas, lovely starlings, kingfishers, and beautifully-tintedpigeons were in abundance. Bright little manakins of a vivid green werethere, so feathered that they put me in mind of the rich orangecock-of-the-rocks that Uncle Dick had brought over from Central America.
Sometimes we were shooting beside the lovely trickling stream where itgathered itself into pools to form tiny waterfalls, places where somebirds seemed to love to come. At others, beneath some greatflower-draped tree, where the sun-birds hovered and darted. But thegreat objects of our search, the birds of paradise, haunted the nut andberry bearing trees. Some were always to be found by a kind of palmthat attracted the pigeons as well, these latter swallowing fruit thatlooked as big as their heads.
Here, to our intense delight, we shot the paradise oriole, a magnificentorange, yellow, and black bird, its head looking as if it was coveredwith a lovely orange plush.
One day we had made a longer excursion than usual, and had been sosuccessful that we were about to turn back, having a long afternoon'swork before us to preserve our specimens. We had penetrated right tothe mountainous ridge, and finding the ground rise very rapidly we cameto a standstill, when a peculiar cry up amongst the tree-shadowed rocksabove us made us forget our fatigue, especially as Ebo was making signs.
The cry was so different to any that we had before heard that we feltthat it must be some new bird, and full of eagerness set to work tostalk it.
All at once what seemed a flash of dark blue darted from a tree, andbefore gun could reach shoulder it was gone.
But Ebo had been on the watch, and away he crept amongst the rocks andtrees, following what we now took to be a prize, till we saw him aquarter of a mile away holding up his spear as a signal.
We followed cautiously, and with a look of intelligence in his eyes hesigned to my uncle to go one way towards a clump of tall palms, and tome to go in the other direction.
"Fire upwards," whispered my uncle, and we parted.
I knew from Ebo's ways that the bird must be in one of these trees, andwith my eyes sweeping the great leaves in all directions I tried to makeout the bird, but in vain, and I had advanced so near that I gave up allhope of seeing it, when suddenly from the other side there was a shot,then another, and feeling satisfied that my uncle had secured the prizeI was completely taken off my guard, and stared with astonishment as alarge bird, with tail quite a couple of feet long, swept by me towardsthe dense undergrowth of the lower ground, where it would have been invain to hunt for it.
Just, however, as the bird was darting between the trees I raised my gunand made a quick snapshot at quite sixty yards' distance, and thencalled myself a stupid for not being more ready and for wasting a chargeof powder and shot.
My uncle hailed me now.
"Any luck, Nat?" he cried, as he came up.
"No, uncle," I replied. "I made a flying shot, but it was too far-off."
"So were mine, Nat, but I fired on the chance of getting the bird. Itwas a bird of paradise different to any I have seen. We must comeagain. I never had a chance at it."
"But I did, uncle," I said dolefully, "and missed it."
"Where was it when you fired?"
"Down among those trees, uncle. I let it go too far."
"Why, you hit it, Nat! There's Ebo."
I looked, and to my intense delight there was our black companionholding up the bird in triumph. He had seen it fall when I shot, markedit down, and found it amongst the dense undergrowth, placing it beforeus with hardly a feather disarranged.
It was a splendid bird, the last we shot in New Guinea, and over threef
eet long, its tail being two and of a lovely bluish tint. If looked atfrom one side it was bronze, from the other green, just as the lightfell, while from its sides sprung magnificent plumes of rich blue andgreen. They were not long, filmy plumes like those of the great bird ofparadise, but short, each widening towards the end, and standing up likea couple of fans above the wings.
It was a feast to gaze upon so lovely an object of creation, and I feltmore proud of having secured that specimen than of any bird I had shotbefore.
"Well, Nat the Naturalist," cried my uncle, when he had carefully hungthe bird by its beak from a stick, "I think I did right in bringing youwith me."
"I am glad you think so, uncle," I said.
"I mean it, my boy, for you have been invaluable to me. It was worthall the risk of coming to this savage place to get such a bird as that."
"There must be plenty more wonderful birds here, uncle," I said, "if wecould stop in safety."
"I am sure there are, Nat, and there is nothing I should like betterthan to stay here. It is a regular naturalist's hunting-ground and fullof treasures, if we dared thoroughly explore it."
"Just now, uncle," I said, "I feel as if I want to do nothing else butsit down and rest by a good dinner. Oh! I am so fagged!"
"Come along, then," he said smiling, "and we will make straight forcamp, and I dare say we can manage a good repast for your lordship.Home, Ebo. Eat--drink--sleep."
"Eat--drink--sleep," said Ebo nodding, for he knew what those threewords meant, and carefully carrying the treasures we had shot, tied atregular distances along a stick, he trudged on in advance towards ourhut upon the shore.