by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
A PAIR OF SLOW GOERS.
At length, all things being ready, Don Pablo and party set out for aday's work among the cinchonas. As it was the first day ofbark-gathering all went along to enjoy the novelty of the thing. A"mancha" of the cinchona-trees was not far off, so their journey wouldbe a short one. For this reason, the horse and mule remained in thestable eating the fruits of the "murumuru" palm, (another species of_Astrocaryum_), of which all cattle are exceedingly fond. Even the hardundigested stones or nuts, after passing through the bodies of horsesand cattle, are eagerly devoured by wild or tame hogs, and the zamuros,or black vultures (_Cathartes aura_ and _atratus_), when hungered, taketo the pulpy fruit of this thorny palm-tree.
It was a very early hour when they set out, for Don Pablo and his peoplewere no sluggards. Indeed, in that climate, the early morning hours arethe pleasantest, and they had made it a rule to be always up bydaybreak. They could thus afford to take a _siesta_ in their hammocksduring the hot noontide,--a custom very common, and almost necessary, intropical countries. Their road to the cinchonas led up the stream, onthe same side with the house. After going a few hundred yards, theyentered a grove of trees that had white trunks and leaves of a lightsilvery colour. The straight, slender stems of these trees, and thedisposition of their branches,--leaning over at the tops,--gave themsomewhat the appearance of palms. They were not palms, however, but"ambaiba" trees (_Cecropia peltata_). So said Don Pablo, as they passedunder their shade.
"I shouldn't wonder," added he, "if we should see that strange animalthe ai. The leaves of these trees are its favourite food, and it livesaltogether among their branches."
"You mean the `nimble Peter,' do you not, papa?"
This inquiry was put by Leon, who had read about the animal under thisname, and had read many false stories of it, even in the works of thegreat Buffon.
"Yes," replied Don Pablo; "it goes by that name sometimes, on account ofits sluggish habits and slow motions. For the same reason the Englishcall it `sloth,' and it is known among naturalists as _bradypus_. Thereare two or three species, but all with very similar habits, though, asusual, the French classifiers have separated them into distinct genera."
"Why, Buffon says," rejoined Leon, "that it is the most miserablecreature in the world; that it can scarcely get from tree to tree; thatsome remain in the same tree all their lives, or, that when one haseaten all the leaves off a tree, it drops to the ground, to save itselfthe trouble of getting down by the trunk, and, that when on the groundit cannot move a yard in an hour! Is all this true?"
"Totally untrue. It is true the ai does not move rapidly over theground, but the ground is not its proper place, no more than it is thatof the orang-outang, or other tree-monkeys. Its conformation shows thatnature intended it for an inhabitant of the trees, where it can moveabout with sufficient ease to procure its food. On the branches it isquite at home, or, rather, I should say, _under_ the branches, for,unlike the squirrels and monkeys, it travels along the under sides ofthe horizontal limbs, with its back downward. This it can do with ease,by means of its great curving claws, which are large enough to span thethickest boughs. In this position, with a long neck of _ninevertebrae_,--the only animal which has that number,--it can reach theleaves on all sides of it; and, when not feeding, this is its naturalposition of repose. Its remaining during its whole life in one tree, orsuffering itself to fall from the branches, are romances of the earlySpanish voyagers, to which Monsieur Buffon gave too much credit. The aidoes not descend to the ground at all when it can help it, but passesfrom one tree to another by means of the outspreading branches.Sometimes, when these do not meet, it has cunning enough to wait for awindy day, and then, taking advantage of some branch blown nearer by thewind, it grasps it and passes to the next tree. As it requires nodrink, and can live without any other food than the leaves of thececropia, of course it remains on a single tree so long as it has plentyof leaves. See!" exclaimed Don Pablo, pointing up; "here are severaltrees stripped of their leaves! I'll warrant that was done by the ai."
"_A-ee_!" echoed a voice in the most lugubrious tones.
"I thought so," cried Don Pablo, laughing at the surprise which thevoice had created among the rest of the party. "That's the very fellowhimself,--this way,--here he is!"
All of them ran under the tree to which Don Pablo pointed, and lookedup. There, sure enough, was an animal about the size of a cat, of adark hay colour, with a patch of dirty orange and black upon the back.This could be easily seen, for the creature was hanging along ahorizontal branch with its back downward, and its huge curving claws,all in a bunch, were hooked over the branch. Its hair was thick andrough, and no tail was visible, but its small round head and flat facewas almost as like the human face as is that of any monkey. Indeed, theothers would have taken it for a monkey,--Guapo excepted,--had they notbeen already talking about it.
"Oh, yonder's another!" cried Leon, pointing higher up in the tree; and,sure enough, there was, for the ai is usually found in company with itsmate. The other was a copy of the one already observed, with someslight difference in size--no doubt it was the female one. Both hadobserved the approach of the party, and now uttered their melancholy"Ayee--a-ee!" that sounded anything but agreeable. In fact, so verydisagreeable is the voice of this creature, that it has been consideredits best weapon of defence. Beside the utterance of their cry, neitherof them made any effort to escape or defend themselves.
Don Pablo and the rest were about to pass on and leave the ais to theirleaf diet, but Guapo had other notions on that subject. Ugly as thesecreatures were, Guapo intended to have one of them for his dinner. He,therefore, begged Don Pablo to stop a moment until he should get themdown. How was this to be done? Would he climb up and drag them fromthe tree? That is not so easily accomplished, for the ais, with theircrescent claws, can hold on with terrible force. Besides, they were outupon the slender branches, where it would have been difficult to get atthem. But Guapo did not intend to climb. The tree was a slender one--he had his axe with him--and the next moment its keen blade was crashingthrough the bark of the ambaia wood. A few minutes served to bring thetree down, and down it came, the ais screaming as it fell. Guapo nowapproached to seize them, but about this he used some caution. Bothfinding themselves without hope of escape, prepared for defence. Buffonasserts that they make none. That is not true, as was seen by all theparty. Throwing themselves on their backs, they struck out with theirfore-arms in a sort of mechanical manner. These with the long hornyclaws they kept playing in front of their bodies, striking alternatelywith them, and rapidly, as a dog will do when suddenly plunged intowater. Guapo did not put his hands near them. He knew they would notbite, but he also knew that he might get a scratch with the sharp claws,and that he did not wish for. But Guapo had a way to take them, andthat he now put in practice. Lopping a couple of branches from thetree, he held one out to each of the ais, and touched them with it onthe breast. Each, as soon as it felt the branch, clutched it tightlybetween its powerful fore-arms and held on as if for life and death. Itwould have taken a stronger man than Guapo to have pulled either of thebranches away again. The thing was now done. Giving his axe to Leon tocarry for him, Guapo lifted an ai, still clinging to the branch, in eachhand, and carried them off as if they had been a pair of water-pots. Hedid not wish to kill them until he got them home, alleging that theywere better for eating when freshly butchered.
The bark-hunters now continued their route, and shortly after entered alittle glade or opening in the forest, about an acre in size. When theyhad reached the middle of this, Guapo threw his ais upon the ground andmarched on.
"Why do you leave them?" inquired the others.
"No fear for them," replied Guapo; "they'll be there when we come back.If I carried them into the woods, they might steal off while we were atwork, but it would take them six hours to get to the nearest tree."
All laughed at this, and went on, leav
ing the ais to themselves. Beforepassing out from the glade, they stopped a moment to look at the great,conical nests of the termites, or white ants, several of which, likesoldiers' tents, stood near the edge of the glade. It was yet early,the air was chilly, and the ants were not abroad; so that, after gazingfor a while on these singular habitations, the bark-gatherers pursuedtheir way, and were soon under the shadow of the cinchona-trees.