Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-07-31
HnE BURNING ISLAND.
B, CAMILLE DEBAss.
CHAPTER III.

several rVtNrDiis ought to nave q specih
de~cription--in the first place. that some
Idea may be formed Of the suiferines o.
this man when we know the obstacles
he hal TO surmount. and also bccaus'
the~c immense forests. which strctcl
from the Anie- to the Atlantic. q spac
of I. 900 leagues have hardly bccn Dc
scribcd except by some poctical dream
erS. who have drawn upon their imagi
nation for the greater part II their facts
Tho real virgin forest seen from th
Amazon produces on the traveller th
exact effect Of . green wall To pcne
traic 10 would seem 20 b. ~ easy NJ q
bury oneself In the perpendicular sid
Of a granite mountain The Al. In spit
Of what has been said o. the contrary
IL practically powerlcs- 10 clear . patti
through, the greenwood There is plai
inded Ivy which = road may be made
and that Z. by firc. but this Is very da,
eerous plan. even when practicable.
II. under the guidance IL an Indian
you can penetrate ono ~ the fore~
paths. the sigh, presented To your ey'
IL In the highest dcerce sublime Yo,
look upon enormous tires. tropical hind
weed closely interviewer. unknown flow
ers. SWEET smelling shrubs. grAss eiah
fcet high. thickct- u bramhlc and i'm
mcnse cActuscs
In the midst of all this you percci,'
that there exists q world O. strAng'
cra'ur-, Tar every plant whose stalk q
moving. every climber that Is being tcn
down. every leaf that stir. every crac
king sound that makes itself heard-ir
. word. ever, movement IL produced b,
some living bring. charming 90 hidcous
inofYcnsive or deadly. whether u t- rep
tile. saurian. overgrown toad. bird
quadruped or all the intermediate sIc
cies. the merc sight of which IL Otter
enough On mako one shuddcr but 'hi'
spectacle. grand and seductive As II i,
can only h. found on the borders of 'h,
virgin forest after walking fr an houl
At mot along the more chiefly frequent
81 paths. for II nccc~-ity u chanc'
leads you farther On all this IL changed
The branches become 50 thick that you
cannot pas. them without having hotl
face and hands terribly torn by ih'
bramble~, which grow 20 an incredible
sire II Is true you arr still In n path,
but 1, IL one along which only tigcI
could crawl The trunks ~ trce. ar,
continually piled up across the track tC
q considerable height, and between each
trunk grows q god sif-d bush.
I,y degrees the thickness 81 the wool
assumes q terrible aspect. The ''impsn
etrabilis hGrur" of Virgil bscoms- ~
absolute truth. II IL no longer the In
,crlacing of climbing plants and Il
shrubs clinging or thorny. IL has h"'
come q web ~ incredible density. oi
which giant tr,s~ form the wonf
Life In the interior u Oh. forest ha'
Income . sort IL low and incessanI
growl To the night. to the left. i.fcr
you. under your fc-t, above your head.
everything IL moving. lcaping. singing,
kissing. roaring Myriads ~ birds u!
every .il. and every hue perch on th,
branches ard cry out o. each 9th.
Therc ar, cardinal birds. screaming par
ro,- and thousand others. while 4
whole army 70 sres has taken Possession
of nv. or six cccoanut trrc~-th,t u.
all except one whom \ Jagusr has y
stretched dead with stroke ~ his paw.
All along the tr,,-. like living para
sitical plants. glide In silence reptiles
of every possible siyc. and ray II the
sun has found its way through the a..
liago 10 the ground. which glitter
strangely beneath H. In fact. 10 l. no,
the ground which il 80 brilliant II 3,
water. running water. for beneath thi.
scafiolding uf tres, living. upright.
twisted. dead. one can sse that asiroam
IL ever flowing and all the more plain
ly perhaps because u the enormous jaws
of crocodile which has Just come a.
the surface.
II is needless o. say that Alfonso. ne
soon ~ hc was thmOughly awake. took
In all the horrors of the situation liz
hal at least 10 leagues a. make under
thcsc conditions, and he could not count
ON doing them under four days nj least.
for la order o. advance safely through
this wall he was obliged to examine
carefully every object on which he wa
going O. place his foot. and b. could
No, pass u tr,c without having flr.t as.
surcd himself that thcrc was no enemy
lurking behind him. a. say nothing of
the Indians, who had not yet lo-t their
ia.tc for human fiesh. Aud he must eat.
tco-whsti Fruits, They were not cas-
ily met with. and he might possibly
make q mistake aud eat some poisonous
ones. Fortunately for him. he found
some birds nests and ate the eggs In
them. On his hammock of bindwced he
found dozen parrots nests He made
quite q feast and washed it down with
two OF three mouthfuls Of brandy. for
ho had brought his gourd with him.
Still he was not altogether re>ted from
his fatigue. and understanding that II
he wished rally 90 effect his escape
he must have more strength than he
possessed at present he determined TO
PAS the night upon his bed of howerA
lie hal u good resting place there. plen.
ty of eggs. and he was far enough from
Salem to have no cause for fear His
notion, then, was one that even phi.
lo~opher could find no fault with. He
employed the rest Of the day In exam.
lining his surroundings, and he found
that In case he should be suddenly oblig.
al 20 take flight there was n passage by
which. with some extra climbing. he
could make aquarter Of league In half
an hour.
The next morning Alfonso was awak.
ened by the discharge of . gun He
jumped mp scarcely knowing what he
was about. but reflection comes very
quickly to man whose life IL In peril.
With infinite care. and without causing
the slightest oscillation In his bindweed
he endeavored 20 turn round
40 ~ 10 sce whence the sound came
A savage could not have made this
bstter. Itwas done In min.
ute Then. keeping himself well out Of
sight. slowly. gently. with . thousand
Precautions. he separated two or three
II the stems and saw. some 20 feet b.
low him. the half caste looking round
atientively On all sides and lending his
ear to tho slighsest sound, while the
smoke of his yum mounted laaily up In
the air.
Alfonso did not nova Then the Ar.
gcntine carefully examined the ground
Of tho track and seemed 10 reflect foe .
moment He looked on the side where
the bindweel waA. but guesaed nothing.
It was NOT dimcult 70 understand