gained the branchof the tree on a level with the nest--filled with skeletons and bones ofother birds and animals which the eagle had brought to feed its young.The parent bird, with its sharp eyes, though far beyond our sight, musthave observed the intruder approaching its home. In an instant, down itswooped with discordant shrieks, and Jup with great difficulty managedto spring behind a branch to avoid its onslaught. Every instant itthreatened to drive its sharp claws into his woolly head, or to peck outhis eyes.
I was the first to see his danger, and rushing forward with my rifle,attempted to obtain a shot. I was afraid, however, that while trying toshoot the bird, I might wound the black. Jup shouted at the top of hisvoice, hoping to keep the eagle at bay.
"Come down, Jup! come down!" I cried.
"Bery well to say dat, massa, but not so easy to do dat," answered Jup,who preserved his presence of mind.
I united my voice to his, and we were soon joined by Tim, who shouted aslustily as the black. This prevented the eagle from striking down atJup, who now began to descend; and as there was sufficient distancebetween his head and the eagle's beak, I fired. At the same moment Iheard a crash, and thought the eagle had fallen; but when the smokecleared away, what was my horror to discover Jup lying on the ground,while the eagle was clinging on to a branch just above its nest.Regardless of the bird, Tim and I ran to pick up the fallen black.Great was our satisfaction to find, on seeing him quickly get up, thatno bones had been broken.
"Me go 'gain an' get de eggs," he said; "nebber fear."
"We must dispose of the eagle first," I answered; and Tim and I bothfiring, the huge bird, fluttering wildly, fell to the ground.
As we approached, it endeavoured fiercely to defend itself with itstalons and beak; but Tim, clubbing his rifle, dealt it a blow on thehead which put an end to its struggles. Its mate not making itsappearance, Jup again ascended, and returned with a couple of eggs,greatly to Lejoillie's satisfaction.
Eager as we were to get on, we had to lie by during the heat of the day,selecting the thickest shade we could find. After the sun had begun tosink in the west, we marched forward until nearly dark. We found it,however, generally necessary to allow ourselves time for an hour'shunting, to secure a sufficient amount of game for our support.
We had, as may be supposed, kept a sharp look-out for Indians; but wehad seen none, nor had we discovered any recent trails, though weoccasionally came upon their abandoned camps, as well as the paths theyhad formed through the forest or across the prairie. We were somewhatsurprised at this; but Carlos said he suspected that those who hadinhabited that part of the country had moved northward, or had retreatedto the Everglades in the south, where the Palefaces could not followthem. Circumstances afterwards occurred to show that he was right inboth surmises--that the old men, women, and children had been sent intothe impenetrable fastnesses in the south, while the warriors had gonenorth to join the forces at that time assembled under Powell, or Oceola,as the Indians called him.
We were now approaching Lake Kissimmee, which we intended crossing onour way to the Saint John. Reaching a pine-island--as those sandyelevations are called, rising out of the plain--where we intended tocamp, we saw the lake before us. It was a question now whether weshould march round its northern shore, or save ourselves a journey oftwenty or thirty miles by crossing in a canoe, or on a raft which weproposed to construct. We held a consultation on the subject. Should astorm arise, we should be exposed to no small danger; while alligators,from the experience we had had before, might, we thought it possible,strike the bottom of the canoe or raft and upset it.
For the sake of obtaining a variety of food, Tim and I set off with ourfishing-tackle--of course, carrying our guns--towards a large stream,which we discovered running into the lake. We saw plenty of birds onour way; among them the white ibis, the white heron, the snake-bird, andvulture. We found a bluff, with deep water below it, into which we hadscarcely thrown our lines when we each hooked a large black bass; afterwhich we caught several bream, cat-fish, and perch, until we had as muchas we could carry.
I had gone down to the water to clean our fish; and I was so employedwhen, stooping down, I saw the snout of an alligator raised above thesurface. Without moving, I imitated the grunt of a pig. The monstersaurian, expecting to have a porker for supper, swam on, with jaws open,its wicked eye turned towards me. I had taken up my rifle, and when itwas about eight paces off, suddenly rising, I fired directly down itsthroat. What was my horror to see it rushing forward at an acceleratedspeed. As may be supposed, I sprang up the bluff, not stopping tocollect my fish; when the monster ran its nose right against the bank,and, in a vain attempt to land, rolled back again, fiercely lashing thewater with its tail. Having made its way to the opposite side, afterseveral convulsive struggles, it turned over and died. Had my footslipped on the grassy bank, my adventures would probably have beenended. I was quickly joined by Tim; and while finishing the cleaning ofour fish, we kept a sharp look-out.
Near the spot where we were encamped was a hummock, on which grewmulberry-trees, boxwood, and gigantic cypresses, six feet in diameter,their trunks and branches being completely enclosed in the india-rubbervine, which in this part of the country grows in great profusion.
On our return to camp, Tim and I were passing near a thicket when wewere saluted with strange cries, resembling the mewings of a number ofdeserted kittens. As we approached to ascertain what creatures wereuttering these strange sounds, they grew louder and louder. We caughtsight, however, only of several birds, about the size of a thrush,flitting in and out among the branches, and stopping every now and thento look at us. As we passed on they followed, until we got close to thecamp. We then called Lejoillie to come and see them.
He at once pronounced them to be cat-birds. Their plumage was brown,with black caps on their heads, their rumps being of a red orange tint.They seemed to have no fear of us; for, gathering on the boughs of thetrees near the camp, evidently seeking our society, they began a mostextraordinary concert, if such it could be called, for certainly it wasnot singing. Sometimes one of them would speak in a hollow voice, thenanother would bark, imitating Caesar; now one fellow would yelp like afox, and make a rattling sound like that of a rattlesnake. Otherscroaked like frogs, and imitated the sneeze of a human being. Had weheard them without seeing the birds, we should have thought some strangecreatures inhabited the wood; but, in reality, the birds were onlytrying, by producing sounds familiar to our ears, to tell us that wewere welcome to their native forest.
It is very difficult to keep a cat-bird in captivity, as it soon pinesand dies; or it would certainly be preferred to a parrot, on account ofits far superior talent of imitation. Lejoillie refrained from killingany of our amusing friends, who remained watching us all the time wewere in camp.
We required a day's rest before proceeding farther on our journey; forwe could not tell what difficulties we might have to encounter, and itwould be necessary to be in full strength to overcome them. Havingexamined the ground thoroughly, to ascertain that it was not inhabitedby spiders, like our last camping-place, we built three cabbage-palmhuts, and collected fuel sufficient to keep up the fire during thenight. Before turning in, we had another talk about our futureproceedings. I undertook, the first thing in the morning, to climb tothe top of the highest tree, from which I could get a look-out over thecountry to the eastward and north-east, round the northern end of thelake. Should it appear practicable, we resolved to proceed by land; butif not, we determined to spend the next day in building a raft to crossthe lake. We expected to find it sufficiently shallow to enable us topole most of the way over. We agreed to make some paddles, and, in casethe wind should be favourable, to use our blankets as sails. Jup wasthe most experienced sailor among us, though we all knew enough aboutboating to undertake such a voyage without fear. We kept a watch duringthe night, so that, should any hostile Indians approach, we might fightfor our lives, and not be murdered in our sleep, as might be the caseshould we be ca
ught napping. For the sake of health, and to avoidmosquitoes, it was always necessary to camp on the highest ground wecould find. We were more exposed to view from a distance than we shouldhave been had we been able to light our fires in the hollows, where,during the night, we should have had the advantage of concealment. Atthe same time, from the high ground we could the better see an enemyapproaching. Still, we had gone thus far and had not met any Indians,so that we might hope to perform the rest of the journey withoutencountering them.
The night passed away without our being disturbed. Occasionally a fewcreatures would pass by, their shadowy forms scarcely distinguishablethrough the gloom. We knew that they were either deer or wild cattle.Now and then a wolf would approach, or a puma, or ocelot; but a shoutwould send them to the rightabout.
As soon as daylight appeared, with the aid of Jup, who accompanied me, Isucceeded in getting to the top of a tall pine. On looking
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