Lost in the Forest: Wandering Will's Adventures in South America by Ballantyne (best large ebook reader txt) đ
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- Author: Ballantyne
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âHims wos a Injin,â resumed Bunco, âant me moder him wos a Spanish half-breed from dis yer countryâPeru. Me live for years in de forests anâ plains anâ mountains ob Callyforny huntinâ an fightinâ. Oh, dem were de happy days! After dat me find a wife what I lub berry moche, den me leave her for short time anâ go wid tradinâ party to de coast. Here meet wid a capân of ship, wot wos a big raskil. Him âtice me aboord anâ sail away. Short ob hands him wos, so him took me, anâ me never see me wife no more!â
There was something quite touching in the tone in which the poor fellow said this, insomuch that Larry became sympathetic and abused the captain who had kidnapped him in no measured terms. Had Larry known that acts similar to this wicked and heartless one were perpetrated by traders in the South Seas very frequently, he would have made his terms of abuse more general!
âHow long ago was that?â inquired Old Peter.
âTree year,â sighed Bunco. âSince dat day I hab bin in two tree ships, but nebber run away, cause why? wotâs de use ob run away on island? Only now me got on Sout âMeriky, which me know is not far from Nord âMeriky, anâ me bin here before wid me moder, so kin show you how to goâand speak Spanish tooâme moder speak dat, you sees; but mesilf larn English aboord two tree ships, anâ, so, speak him fust rate now.â
âSo ye do, boy,â said Larry, whose sympathetic heart was drawn towards the unfortunate and ill-used native; âanâ, faix, weâll go on travellinâ through this forest till we comes to Callyforny anâ finds your missusâso cheer up, Bunco, and let us see how weâre to go to roost, for it seems that we must slaip on a tree this night.â
During the course of the conversation which we have just detailed, the wild denizens of the forest had been increasing their dismal cries, and the seamen, unused to such sounds, had been kept in a state of nervous anxiety which each did his utmost to conceal. They were all brave men; but it requires a very peculiar kind of bravery to enable a man to sit and listen with cool indifference to sounds which he does not understand, issuing from gloomy recesses at his back, where there are acknowledged, though unknown, dangers close at hand. Bunco, therefore, grinning good-humouredly as usual, rose and selected a gigantic tree as their dormitory.
The trunk of this tree spread out, a few feet above its base, into several branches, any one of which would have been deemed a large tree in England, and these branches were again subdivided into smaller stems with a network of foliage, which rendered it quite possible for a man to move about upon them with facility, and to find a convenient couch. Here,âthe fire at the foot of the tree having been replenished,âeach man sought and found repose.
It was observed that Larry OâHale made a large soft couch below the tree on the ground.
âYouâre not going to sleep there, Larry?â said Will Osten, on observing what he was about. âWhy, the tigers will be picking your bones before morning if you do.â
âOch! Iâm not afraid of âem,â replied Larry; âhowsever, I do main to slaip up the tree if I can.â
That night, some time after all the party had been buried in profound repose, they were awakened by a crash and a tremendous howl just below them. Each started up, and, pushing aside the leaves, gazed anxiously down. A dark object was seen moving below, and Bunco was just going to point his gun at it, when a gruff voice was heard to sayâ
âArrah! didnât I know it? Itâs famous Iâve bin, since I was a mere boy, for rowlinâ about in me slaip, anâ, sure, the branch of a tree is only fit for a bird after all. But, good luck to yer wisdom anâ foresight, Larry OâHale, for yeâve come down soft, anyhow, anâ if thereâs anythingâll cure ye oâ this bad habitâslaipinâ on treesâll do it in the coorse oâ time, I make no doubt wotiver!â
Next morning the travellers rose with the sun and descended from the tree in which they had spent the nightâmuch refreshed and âready for anything.â
It was well that they were thus prepared for whatever might befall them, for there were several incidents in store for them that day which tried them somewhat, and would have perplexed them sadly had they been without a guide. Perhaps we are scarcely entitled to bestow that title on Bunco, for he was as thoroughly lost in the forest as were any of his companions, in the sense, at least, of being ignorant as to where he was, or how far from the nearest human habitation: but he was acquainted with forest-life, knew the signs and symptoms of the wilderness, and could track his way through pathless wastes in a manner that was utterly incomprehensible to his companions, and could not be explained by himself. Moreover, he was a shrewd fellow, as well as bold, and possessed a strong sense of humour, which he did not fail at times to gratify at the expense of his friends.
This tendency was exhibited by him in the first morningâs march, during which he proved his superiority in woodcraft, and firmly established himself in the confidence of the party. The incident occurred thus:â
After a hearty and hasty breakfastâfor, being lost, they were all anxious to get found as soon as possibleâthey set forth in single file; Bunco leading, Old Peter, Muggins, and Larry following, and Will Osten bringing up the rear. During the first hour they walked easily and pleasantly enough through level and rather open woodland, where they met few obstacles worth mentioning, so that Larry and Muggins, whose minds were filled with the idea of wild beasts, and who were much excited by the romance of their novel position, kept a sharp lookout on the bushes right and left, the one shouldering his gigantic cudgel, the other flourishing his shillelah in a humorous free-and-easy way, and both feeling convinced that with such weapons they were more than a match for any tiger alive! When several hours had elapsed, however, without producing any sign or sound of game, they began to feel disappointment, and to regard their guide as an exaggerator if not worse; and when, in course of time, the underwood became more dense and their passage through the forest more difficult, they began to make slighting remarks about their dark-skinned friend, and to question his fitness for the duties of guide. In particular, Mugginsâwho was becoming fatigued, owing partly to the weight of his club as well as to the weight of his body and the shortness of his legsâat last broke out on him and declared that he would follow no further.
âWhy,â said he gruffly, âitâs as plain as the nose on yer nutmeg face, that yeâre steerinâ a wrong coorse. Youâll never make the coast on this tack.â
âOh yis, wees will,â replied Bunco, with a quiet smile.
âNo, wees wonât, ye lump oâ mahogany,â retorted Muggins. âDonât the coast run norâ and by west here away?â
âTroo,â assented Bunco with a nod.
âWell, and ainât we goinâ due north just now, so that the coast lies away on our left, anâ for the last three hours youâve bin bearinâ away to the right, something like norâ and by east, if itâs not norâ east anâ by east, the coast being all the while on yer port beam, you grampusâthatâs so, ainât it?â
âYis, datâs so,â replied Bunco with a grin.
âThen, shiver my timbers, why donât ye shove yer helm hard a starboard anâ lay yer right coorse? Come, lads, Iâll go to the wheel now for a spell.â
Will Osten was about to object to this, but Bunco gave him a peculiar glance which induced him to agree to the proposal; so Muggins went ahead and the rest followed.
At the place where this dispute occurred there chanced to be a stretch of comparatively open ground leading away to the left. Into this glade the hardy seamen turned with an air of triumph.
His triumph, however, was short-lived, for at a turn in the glade he came to a place where the underwood was so dense and so interlaced with vines and creeping plants that further advance was absolutely impossible. After âyawing aboutâ for some minutes âin search of a channel,â as Larry expressed it, Muggins suddenly gave in and exclaimed,ââIâm a Dutchman, boys, if we haânât got embayed!â
âItâs let go the anchor anâ take soundinâs âll be the nixt order, I sâpose, Captain Muggins?â said Larry, touching his cap.
âOr let the tother pilot take the helm,â said Old Peter, ââheâs all my fancy painted him,â as Milton says in Paraphrases Lost.â
âRight, Peter,â cried Will Osten, âwe must dethrone Muggins and reinstate Bunco.â
âHa! youâs willinâ for to do second fiddil now?â said the native, turning with a grin to Muggins, as he was about to resume his place at the head of the party.
âNo, never, ye leather-jawed kangaroo, but Iâve no objections to do the drum on yer skull, with this for a drumstick!â He flourished his club as he spoke, and Bunco, bounding away with a laugh, led the party back on their track for a few paces, then, turning sharp to the right, he conducted them into a narrow opening in the thicket, and proceeded in a zig-zag manner that utterly confused poor Muggins, inducing him from that hour to resign himself with blind faith to the guidance of his conqueror. Well would it be for humanity in general, and for rulers in particular, if there were more of Mugginsâs spirit abroad inducing men to give in and resign cheerfully when beaten fairly!
If the sailors were disappointed at not meeting with any wild creatures during the first part of their walk, they were more than compensated by the experiences of the afternoon. While they were walking quietly along, several snakesâsome of considerable lengthâwriggled out of their path, and Larry trod on one which twirled round his foot, causing him to leap off the ground like a grasshopper and utter a yell, compared to which all his previous shoutings were like soft music. Bunco calmed his fears, however, and comforted the party by saying that these snakes were harmless. Nevertheless, they felt a strong sensation of aversion to the reptiles, which it was not easy to overcome, and Muggins began to think seriously that being lost in the forest was, after all, a pleasure mingled considerably with alloy! Not long after the incident of the snake, strange sounds were heard from time to time in the bushes, and all the party, except Bunco, began to glance uneasily from side to side, and grasped their weapons firmly. Suddenly a frightful-looking face was observed by Larry peeping through the bushes right over Mugginsâs unconscious head. The horrified Irishman, who thought it was no other than a visitant from the world of fiends, was going to utter a shout of warning, when a long hairy arm was stretched out from the bushes and Mugginsâs hat was snatched from his head.
âOch! ye spalpeen,â cried Larry, hurling his cudgel at the ugly creature.
The weapon was truly aimed; it hit the monkey on the back, causing it to drop the hat and vanish from the spotâshrieking.
âWell done, Larry!â cried Will Osten; âwhy didnât you warn us to expect visits from such brutes, Bunco?â
âWhy, cause me tink you know all âbout âim. Hab larn âim from Jo Gruffy.â
âFrom who?â
âFrom Jo Gruffy. Him as you was say, last night, do tell all âbout de countries ob de world, and wot sort of treeses anâ hanimals in âim. Der be plenty ob dem hanimalsâ(how you call âim, mongkees?) in Peroo, big an leetil.â
âWell!â
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