Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1854-07-14
NEW SERIES, VOL. 5, NO. %.

IL
then taxing the ball in hi, right hand retreat
ed some 20 paens ftOm the tree, measuring
with his eve the distance from the ground o
The loves, limb, Posing himself, the bal
few iron his hand, and fell over the limb
round which. by dexierOus jerk a, the sam'
instant, the rope was eOiied four or h'e times
lie had hit the distance 50 nicely. that ih'
end Of the rope now dapsled down to Within
a couple uf feet or 80 of tho ground. Tho
string was therefore not needed, and was un'
tied, the Objcc, in aGiSing 1t being to have
means Of readily recovering the rope from
the underwood II, as was sometimes the case
II oyershol the mark OF became cntangled ir
the branches Resting my riho against ih'
trunk. prepared 10 ascend, ,sk'ag with me
the string aud NV game bag, with the ammu'
niiion contained IN II. Blrra now laid hold
Of the kno,leI rope, and kept It as steadily
to the ground as possible, while climbed II
hsOd over hand, and vas soon on the limb
To which It had been fastened. by mean, Of
the string | now drew uP my gun, aud pro-
cceJcd along the limb to the fork Of the main
trunk. To a minute or Two Barra had joincd
me. with the provision bag still round him,
he said. lor him to think Of risklng II nbslOw.
We now, as quietly as Possible-and that
was very quietly indeed, lor We were both
almost in 4 state Of nature-crepi towards
the top, and soon had the pleasure Of seeing
the light through the lopmos, bOughs, and
our coyey Of toueaus slill quietly Preebing
their feathers, their bulliaAt breasts glitter
inc in the sun.
Barra now took oil bis waisiclo,h, and
went immediately beneath the birds, some
fifteen isat below them, aud made ready to
spread the cloth so ss to catch the game with
the least possible damage, the momen, had
tired. All being ready, ! gradually, inch by
inch. advanced the muIzle 10 within perhaps
twenty ieet Of the 'ouchans, and let fly With
both barrels. The sho, was one Of nv best.
Eve 6rs, rate birds fell into Baua's cloth,
three only getting away.
As the provision bag was so handy, We
thought VIC could not now DO better Ihan
lunch m our lcaly retreat, aud 50 spent per-
haps half an hour. So luNuriou, bower
can scarcely be imagined IN any bu, tTOPi-
cal country.
The surprising richness OF the torres; seen.
cry was seen to great advantage from our
lony perch and had there been but a few
soussiers to relieve the silence, nothing would
have been wanting. These, however, wero
in The ihickesl shade for an hour or two, to
say nothing Of my gun having driven them
beyond Us.
Descending, ,~L,eh required '''a's ,sr- 'hs"
the ascenl-no, not only bSeausc It is always
easier to climb thar TO return, bot because l
was burdencd with my ,oOesns. aud had to
guard them from injury-we came IN sight
Of the limb to which our rope was. Well
nigh, We star, dismayed. 4 grave-looking
aragua,o one Of the bowling monkeys tMy-
e,f,s ursiuus,) was coolly seated on the limb
with the ball IN his hand he having unwound
the rope IN order more leisurely tn inspect It.
The weight, as afterwards remembered
seemed rIeady to asionish him, as he passed
II from one hand to the other, balancing II as
he did from one hand 10 the other, balancing
II as he did 50. On the impulse Of the
moment, 4 shout burst from the at the uu-
precedsnted sighi-more shame ior me as
a hunter should have had more presence OF
mind but perhaps, altoI all, nothing could
have averted what followed the monkey
dropping the ball, leaped IN an inslar: TO a
ueighboriug tree, and disappeared. Never
did any ssdnd 80 smlis upon NV ear, as the
sogad Of that ball bounding on the ground.
Even Barra's uneoncer IN ordinary iores,
dangers was overcome, and he stood behind
me grave and almost trembling We were,
IN iaet-l did no, joke ihen-a pair Of tree'd
'coous.
|, va, SON. minutes before We fully real
ned our positiOn-on the loves, limb Of the
Tree. some fly feet from the grovnd, and
without any means Of reaching 1t but by the
string which had drawn up my gun, and
which was almost as great weight a. II
would bear.
twas therefore quite useless as far as We
were concerned. On taking counsel together
no way Of escape suggested itself, for our
scan,y clothing, cut into such shrsds aswould
bear us, could no, reach, when tied round the
limb. above ten fee, down. Our bags added
would scarcely have diminished the certainty
Of 4 broken neck, and as the trunk was al
mos, too smooth for Jlguar, we were fairly
al our wits end.
We now took a narrower survey oi the
tree itself There did not seem to be any
thing to fesr-no cougar or Jaguar MARKS
wer. visible, nor was there much probability
Of snake, being found in il, as none but the
very largest could compass such trunk and
thew generally prefer tree overlooking
stream or pool, their Prey being 'hO' attract
ed wi thin an easy distance for the fatal spring
Should anything approach US, however, W.
had both arms and ammunition.
A,,o food, w&erc well enough of ever
soms days, Darra having brought the oal
with hin, to say nO,hiRg Of my delrly-ooosh'
ioueans: bu, water We had none, nor wal
there the smalles, probability Of drop fall