"I must talk the matter over with the King first."
"If he feels that you do not object, father, he is sure to say yes."
Mr. Kenyon was silent and thoughtful, looking so serious that Harry began to lose heart.
"What are you thinking, father?" he said at last.
"That it's a long time since I had a change."
"Yes, father?"
"That I have nothing particular to do."
"Father!"
"And that the doctor has been saying that he would like to make an expedition up the country."
"Then you think—"
"Yes, Hal, I do think that I should like for the doctor and me to join in your trip. It would only necessitate a larger boat."
"Oh," cried Harry excitedly, "that would be splendid."
"Better than you two alone?" said Mr. Kenyon quietly.
"A hundred times better, father. But think of that!"
"Think of what?" said Mr. Kenyon.
"Doctor Cameron putting us off day after day because he had not time to teach us cricket, when he can find time to go up the country."
Mr. Kenyon smiled.
"My dear boy," he said, "I do not wonder at his putting you off. Cricket is not a very attractive game at this time of year, in a country like this."
"Never mind the cricket," cried Harry. "Look here, father, will you go?"
"I am very much tempted to say yes."
"Say it then, father. I say, you'd take Mike, wouldn't you?"
"Certainly; he would be very useful."
"Here, I must go and tell Phra."
"There is no need; here he comes."
For the lad was crossing the garden, and as Harry met him with his face lit up with excitement, Phra's countenance was dark and dejected.
"It's all over, Hal," he said. "My father says it is out of the question for us to go alone."
"He said that?" cried Harry.
"Yes, and that if your father and Doctor Cameron were going too it would be different."
"They are going too, lad," cried Harry, slapping him on the shoulder.
"They—your father and Mr. Cameron?"
"Yes; isn't it splendid?"
"Here, I must go back at once," cried Phra, and, regardless of the heat, he set off at a trot.
Harry returned to the museum, where his father was seated.
"Where's Phra?" said the latter.
"Gone back to tell the King."
"To tell him what?"
"He said that it was out of the question for us two boys to go upon such an expedition alone."
"I expected as much."
"But if you and the doctor had been going, it would have been different."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, father. Poor old chap! he did look disappointed, till I told him that you two were going, and he has gone to tell the King."
"Tut—tut—tut!" muttered Mr. Kenyon. "What a rash, harem-scarem fellow you are! You shouldn't have taken all I said for granted, sir. Even if I fully make up my mind, we don't know that Doctor Cameron would be able to leave."
"But you said, father—"
"I said—you said—look here, sir, you are far too hasty. The doctor only said he thought he should go."
"That's enough, father," said Harry, laughing. "As soon as he hears that there is going to be such an expedition, do you think he will not manage to go with it?"
"Well, I must say I should be surprised if he did not come."
"So should I, father. I say, it will be capital. The King is sure to say yes now, and we can have the pick of his boats, and which men we like. I say, I wonder whether we can get a man who will find old Sree, because we ought to start to-morrow morning."
"Stuff! Rubbish!" cried Mr. Kenyon, laughing. "If we get off in a week, we shall do well. But I think I will go. I should be very glad of a change. So you may go and see the doctor and chat the matter over with him—not telling him that we are going, but that we are thinking of such a trip. You can then hear what he says about it."
"Go now, father?"
"If you like."
Harry did like, and was off at once, to find Mrs. Cameron under the tree, as he had seen her on that terrible day, but with the doctor seated back in another long cane-seated chair, fast asleep.
"Doctor not well?" said Harry, after the customary salute.
"Not at all well, Harry," said Mrs. Cameron, with a sigh. "He has been working too hard lately over his native patients, and he is quite done up. He must have a change."
"That's what I've come about," said Harry excitedly, and he told her what was proposed.
"I should not like losing him for a week, but I think it would do him a great deal of good."
"Quite set me up, dear," said the doctor, opening his eyes.
"Did you hear what I was saying, Doctor?" cried Harry wonderingly.
"Pretty well every word, my boy. It will be the very thing for me, for I am completely fagged. A long ride day after day up the river will be rest and refreshment. But I can't take you, my dear."
"I shall not mind, Duncan," said his wife. "Nothing could be better.
Yes, you must go."
He sat up, and then sank back again, closing his eyes.
"It is of no use to fight against it, Mary," he said sadly. "I am doctor enough to thoroughly grasp all my symptoms. I really am overdone, and there is nothing for it but to try change—such a change as this. I wish it did not look like going for a thorough holiday and leaving you behind. It does not seem right."
"You will make me unhappy if you talk like this," cried Mrs. Cameron. "How can you think I should be so selfish as to mind your doing what is for your health?"
"It will do him good, Mrs. Cameron," said Harry, who was not enjoying the scene.
"Of course," she cried. "You may go back and tell Mr. Kenyon that the doctor will be delighted to make one of the party, for he wants a change badly."
"Look here, Harry; I don't think I ought to go," said the doctor.
"He ought, Harry, and he shall," cried his wife. "You take that message."
"Harry, lad, this is a horrible piece of tyranny. I am not very well, and my oppressor treats me like this. But there, it is of no use to protest, so I give in. I'll come."
Full of excitement, the boy hurried back to the bungalow to announce the result of his visit, his father hearing him silently to the end, and then looking so serious that Harry asked anxiously what it meant.
"This is very disappointing, my boy," said Mr. Kenyon. "After you had gone I began to be in hopes that the doctor would not go, and now he says he will."
"Yes, that he will, father."
"Then I suppose we shall have to go. I don't know, though: there is another chance, the King may refuse to sanction the journey, and of course you would not care to go without Phra."
"Well, no," said Harry, in a hesitating way; "it would not seem fair to go without him. Ah, here he is.—Well, what does he say?"
"That he thinks it will be a very interesting trip, and that he wishes he could leave all the cares and worries of his affairs and come with us.—My father says, Mr. Kenyon, that you are to choose whichever boat will be best for the journey, and select as many men as you think necessary, and store the boat with everything you want."
"Then this means going," said Mr. Kenyon.
"Of course, father. Shall we start to-morrow?"
"Can we be ready?"
"Can we be ready?" cried Harry scornfully. "What do you say, Phra?"
"Oh yes, we can be ready, only what about Sree?"
"I forgot old Sree!" cried Harry. "We must have him, and he's somewhere up the jungle."
"Yes," said his father, "we must have him with us; so I take it that we may make all our preparations, but do not start till Sree returns."
CHAPTER XVI
THE HOUSE-BOAT
The disappointment caused by the absence of the old hunter was modified by the interest in the preparations. These filled the two lads with excitement, for a journey into unknown parts in such a land as Siam was full of the suggestions of wonders.
The first thing seen to was the choice of a boat, the requirements being that it should be light, strong, drawing very little water, and well provided for the accommodation of fourteen or sixteen people, with a fair amount of room, night and day. Then there would be boxes containing stores for a week, cooking apparatus, and cases for containing the specimens of all kinds that were to be saved.
But in a country like Siam, where house-boats are necessities of domestic daily life, there was little difficulty. One of the plainest of the King's light barges was found to answer all the requirements upon being provided with a few bamboo poles and an awning, so that the forward part of the boat could be sheltered at night and during storms, for the protection of the men. The central part was covered in, according to the regular custom, with a bamboo-supported roof, and matting curtains were so placed at the sides that the whole could be turned into a comfortable cabin at night, while the after-part had its matting cover that could be set up or removed at pleasure, this portion being intended for the after rowers and servants.
Boxes and chests were selected, filled, and placed on board. There were loops for the guns and spears to be taken, and lockers for the ammunition, and at last there seemed to be nothing more that could be done, for the crew were selected by Phra, who had his favourites among the King's servants, these including men who had never evinced any dislike to the English and were always eager to attend to the wishes of their young Prince.
The time had passed so rapidly that it was hard to believe two days had slipped away before everything could be declared to be in readiness. But on the second evening nothing more seemed needed, and it was felt that they might start at daylight the next morning.
For the crew was on board to protect the stores and other things; even the stone, barrel-shaped filter fitted in a basket cover—a clumsy, awkward thing which the doctor declared to be absolutely necessary—was on board.
Harry had exclaimed against its being taken, and the doctor heard him.
"Look here, young fellow," he said, "do you know what I am going up the river for?"
"A holiday, of course," replied Harry.
"Exactly. Then do you suppose I want my holiday spoiled by being called upon to attend people who are ill through drinking unwholesome water?"
"Of course not, sir; but would any one be ill?"
"Every one would," said the doctor angrily.
Harry thought this was a sweeping assertion, but he said nothing, and the filter was placed astern.
"I wish some one would knock it over," Harry whispered to Phra. "It would go to the bottom like a stone."
"Never mind the filter."
"I don't," said Harry; "but I do mind about old Sree. Oh, don't I wish
I could have three wishes!"
"What would they be? What's the first?"
"I should have had that," said Harry. "Wishing to have three wishes."
"Well, then, what would the second be?"
"That the third might for certain be had," said Harry, laughing.
"What would the third be?"
"That old Sree would come here to-night."
"You've got your wish, then," cried Phra excitedly, "for here he comes."
"No! Nonsense!" cried Harry, who felt staggered and ready to turn superstitious.
"He is here, I tell you. Look, talking to that sentry by the gate."
"I say," said Harry, "isn't it rather queer?"
"It's rather good fortune," replied Phra.
"But after what we said."
Phra laughed.
"Why, you're not going to believe in old fables, are you?"
"No, of course not; but it did seem startling for him to turn up just as I had been wishing for him."
"Nonsense. Why, I have been wishing for him to come every hour for the last two days. Let's go and meet him. He's coming this way."
In another minute they had leaped ashore, run up the stone steps of the landing-place in front of the palace, and encountered Sree.
"Here, I say, where have you been?" cried Harry.
"I have been through the jungle and up towards the head of the little river, Sahibs, so as to find out whether it is worth your going up too."
"Well, is it?" cried Harry.
"Oh yes, well worthy," replied Sree. "No one ever goes there to hunt or shoot, and the birds are very tame and beautiful, and the river full of fish."
"Fish!" cried Harry excitedly. "There, I knew we had forgotten something, Phra. Fishing tackle."
"Yes, we must take some."
"I was coming to advise you to get a boat and go up there for two or three days to shoot, fish, and collect."
"Then you are too late, old Sree," cried Harry.
"Too late, Sahib?" said the man, whose countenance looked gloomy from disappointment.
"Yes; we're going for a week in that big boat."
"I am sorry, Sahib," said the man sadly. "I worked hard, and it took long to get through the jungle, and I had to sleep in trees. The Sahib's servant was not neglectful of his master. He is grieved that he is too late."
"Don't tease him, Hal; he doesn't like it. It hurts him. Never mind,
Sree; we wanted you to help, but everything is ready now."
"I am glad, Sahib," said the man; "but I am sorry too, for I should have liked to go as hunter with the young Sahibs."
"Does that mean you can't go?" said Harry, laughing.
"Not unless the young Sahib will take his servant," said the man sadly.
"Why, of course we shall take you," cried Harry, "and we are as glad as glad that you have come. Here, let's go to the boat, Phra. I want Sree to see everything, so as to say whether we ought to take anything else."
The old hunter brightened up on the instant, and hurried with the boys to the boat, where for the next hour he was examining arrangements and suggesting fresh places for some of the articles, so that they might be stowed where they would be handier and yet more out of the way. He was able to suggest a few more things too, notably a stout net to hang by hooks from the roof of the cabin, ready to place specimens in to dry, or hold odds and ends for common use; more baskets, and a coil of rope, and a stout parang or two for cutting a way through creepers or cane-brakes.
At last, with a smile full of content, Sree announced himself as being satisfied, and having received permission from Phra, took possession of one corner at the back of the cabin, while Harry went to see the doctor respecting starting quite early the next morning, and then returned home.
CHAPTER XVII
JUNGLE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The heavy dew lay thick on leaf and strand, and the sky in the east was still grey, as the little party met at the landing-place, where the men were on the look-out and ready for the start; while when they pushed off and four oars sent the boat well up against the stream, past the house-boats clustered against the farther shore, nothing could have looked more peaceful and still.
The men eagerly worked at their oars in their peculiar Venetian, thrusting fashion, standing to their work; and it was a satisfaction to see that, in spite of its size and load, the boat was wonderfully light, and rode over the water like a duck.
The calmness and peace of everything was most striking as it grew lighter; and when the eastern sky began to glow, and the tips of the towers and spires of the different temples became gilded by the coming sun, both Mr. Kenyon and the doctor expressed their admiration, declaring the King's city to be after all, in spite of its lying in a flat plain, beautiful in the extreme.
Then the sun rose, shedding its glorious light around and giving everything a beauty it did not really possess. For sordid-looking boats, with nothing but a few mats hung from bamboo poles, looked as if they were made of refined gold; while the trees which fringed the water, and hung their pendent boughs from the banks, shed a wondrous lustre, as if flashing gems from every dewy leaf.
The river too, in spite of its muddy waters, seemed more beautiful than ever, and the boys were revelling in the new delight of their journey up stream, when sundry preparations being made by Mike in the extreme after part of the boat changed the bent of Harry's thoughts to quite a different direction from that of admiring the beauty of the scene through which they were passing.
It was just as his father exclaimed,—
"Are you noticing how beautiful all this is, Hal?"
"Oh yes, father, I've been looking at it ever so long. But when are we going to have breakfast?"
The doctor burst into a hearty fit of laughter, in which Phra joined, and the boy seemed puzzled.
"What is it?" he said, looking from one to the other. "Have I said something queer?"
"Very, Hal," said his father. "Getting hungry?"
"I was—terribly," replied Harry uneasily; "but I don't feel so now. I don't like to be laughed at."
"It will not hurt you, my boy. As to breakfast, you will have to wait an hour or so, till we turn out of the main stream. Then we must land at the first opening, and have a fire made ashore."
Harry nodded, and wondered how he should get over the time.
There proved to be so much to take his attention, however, that he was ready to wonder when the boat was run in between two magnificent clumps of trees soon after they had turned off into the lesser river and entered the jungle by one of its water highways.
The men sprang out, and one made the prow fast by a rope, while others scattered, parang in hand, to collect and cut up dead or resinous wood, of which a heap was soon made and set alight, the air being so still that the blue smoke rose up quite straight, to filter, as it were, through the boughs overhead, the men feeding the flames carefully till a good mass of glowing embers was produced.
Over this sylvan fireplace Mike, with a cloth tied about his waist, apron fashion, presided, and in a very short time had prepared the coffee and taken it aboard.
There had been no preparations—no hunting for provisions, to add to the toothsomeness of the breakfast; but eaten out there in the open boat, under the shade of the majestic trees, with the river gliding by, the strange cries from the jungle heard from time to time, and the attention of the lads constantly attracted to bird, insect, or reptile, they were ready to declare that they had never enjoyed such a breakfast before.
"How grand it would be to live always like this!" cried Harry.
"Beautiful," said the doctor; "especially in the rainy seasons, when you could keep nothing dry and find no wood that would burn."
"Yes," said Mr. Kenyon; "rain does damp one's enthusiasm."
"Oh, of course it would not be so pleasant then," said Harry; "but generally it would be glorious, wouldn't it, Phra?"
"I should get tired of it after a time, I think," was the reply.
"Pooh! I shouldn't. Look how the men are enjoying it."
Harry nodded towards their people, who had all landed to take their meal on shore, leaving the boat free to their superiors, and certainly the party looked very happy, squatted round the fire, in spite of the heat; while the smoke curled up in great wreaths in company with the suffocating carbonic acid gas evolved by the burning wood.
"Yes, they look happy enough, Hal," said the doctor. "They don't trouble themselves much about tablecloths or knives and forks."
In fact, the party formed quite a picture, one that it seemed a pity to disturb.
But it was disturbed, for at a word from Mike, Sree rose to dip some fresh, clear water to fill up the coffee-pot, and this done, Mike took a piece of half-burned bamboo, stirred the embers and parted them so as to make a steady place for the big coffee-pot, when there was a whirl of flame, sparks, and smoke rushing up among the boughs in a spiral, for the fire was now at its hottest.
There was no warning.
Sree had squatted down again, and Mike had seated himself, supporting himself upon one hand, leaving the other to snatch off the coffee-pot directly the brown froth began to rise with the boiling up, when bang—rush—scatter! Something fell suddenly from high up among the boughs overhead right into the fire, and as the men turned and rolled themselves away in every direction, they were bombarded as it were, by showers of red-hot embers and half-burned sticks, which were driven after them by the object which had fallen from the tree, and was now writhing, twining, and beating the burning wood and ashes till the fire was scattered over a surface some yards across.
The matter needed no explanation; it was all plain enough. After the manner of such reptiles, a good-sized boa had tied itself up in a bundle of curves, knots, and loops on a convenient bough, after a liberal meal probably of monkey, and had been fast asleep exactly over the spot where the fire was made. It had borne heat and smoke without moving until the last stir up of the embers delivered by Mike, but this had sent so stifling a flame that the sleeping serpent had been aroused, started into wakefulness, and in the heat and suffocation fallen into the flames, to writhe in agony, turning over and over in knotty convolutions, in one spot a yard or two square.
The doctor was the quickest to grasp the position. Rising from his seat, he took down one of the ready-charged guns, and waited for a few moments till from out of the writhing knot the reptile's tail rose quivering and thrashing the ashy ground. Directly after the head appeared, some feet above the folds, dimly seen through the smoke, as it was darted angrily in different directions, the jaws opening and the creature snapping at the horrible enemy which was causing it so much agony.
It was for this the doctor had been waiting, and as the head rose a little higher and was nearly motionless for a moment, both barrels flashed out their contents; and as the concussion made the leaves overhead quiver violently, the serpent writhed and struggled frantically over and over in a knot that seemed to be always tying and untying itself, was hidden amongst the thick, reedy growth close to the river, splashed and wallowed a little in the shallow from which the reeds sprung, and then with a loud splash went clear of the growth into the dark, deep water overhung by the boughs of the trees.
Then there was an eddying and quivering where the stream glided along, and a few bubbles ascended to the surface, but though attentive watch was kept, no more was seen, the swift current having undoubtedly swept the reptile away.
"I had a good sight of its head when I fired," said the doctor. "Would you like to have snake for breakfast every morning when you lived out in the open, Harry?"
"Ugh!" ejaculated the boys together.
"Well, I'm very glad we were having our breakfast on board," said Mr. Kenyon, laughing. "Here, Michael, you need not stand staring up into the tree; there are no more snakes up there."
"Wouldn't its mate be there, sir?" said the man.
"Oh no, it isn't likely. Where is the coffee-pot?"
"Don't know, sir; but I don't want any more breakfast, thank you."
"Nonsense, man," said his master; "find the coffee-pot, and the men will rake the fire together again. There is nothing to mind now."
Mike looked anything but satisfied, going about his task unwillingly; but the men came back from where they had scattered, laughing with one another now that the scare was at an end.
"He's making a poor beginning," said Harry, on seeing their man go peering about slowly in different directions amongst the tall grass and bushes.
"Mike doesn't like snakes," replied Phra, laughing.
"Well, who does?" cried Harry. "I hate them; and it was enough to scare anybody. I know I should have jumped away fast enough. I say, look there."
"What at?"
"There's the pot, in amongst those young bamboos. No, no; there, half in the water.—Found it?"
"No, sir. It's gone," replied the man.
"Nonsense; here it is. You didn't look in the right place."
Mike came towards them, looking very sour and disgusted, as he picked up the tin vessel.
"Reg'lar spoiled," he said, examining the pot and holding it out to show that there was a big dent on one side. "Won't hold water now."
"How do you know till you try? Dip it in and see."
The pot was dipped, filled, and proved to be quite sound in spite of the hollow in its side, a fact which disappointed Mike, who prepared to make some fresh coffee by getting into the boat again, while the men laughingly collected the scattered brands and restarted the fire.
"I say, Mike," said Harry, as the man came back, "you shouldn't make a fuss about a little thing like this; it's nothing to what you will have to put up with."
Mike looked at him aghast, his face screwed up into such an aspect of dismay that the boys burst out laughing.
"Ah, it's all very well to laugh, Master Harry," grumbled the man; "but if there's going to be any more of this sort of thing, I know—"
"Know what?"
"I'm going back home."
"How?" said Harry, laughing.
"Don't ask stupid questions," said Phra, with a perfectly serious face. "He's either going to swim back with the stream, among the crocodiles, or to walk through the jungle. There are not so very many tigers there now."
"What!" gasped Mike.
"Make haste, Michael, my lad," said Mr. Kenyon. "Get the fresh coffee made and the men's breakfast over; we want to go on."
"Yes, sir; of course, sir—oh dear, oh dear!—Ah, it's all very well to laugh, Master Harry."
"Laugh! Well, it's enough to make any one laugh to see you make such a fuss over a baby snake. Wait till we come to the hundred foot long ones."
Mike gave him another look, and then hurried back to the blazing fire.
"You've spoiled his breakfast," said Phra.
"Serve him right for being a great coward. I want him to get used to such things."
Phra laughed.
"Who's to get used to such things as that? I say, look; there's one of our old friends watching us."
He pointed up to where a little grey-whiskered monkey was holding back the leaves, so as to peer wonderingly down at the party.
"I believe one could soon coax these monkeys down to be fed."
"If you put a few bananas on the top of the cabin there, they wouldn't want any coaxing; they'd come and take them."
"Yes, when we were not looking; but I mean, coax them into being tame enough to feed from one's hand."
"Might perhaps, but they're treacherous. They like to spring on any one's shoulders to bite the back of the neck. Look, look! Parrots!"
A little flock of brightly coloured, long-tailed lories flew over the river, but before a gun could be seized they had disappeared.
"Not very good ones," said Harry. "Only green."
"And sour," said the doctor.
"Sour?" cried Harry wonderingly.
"Yes, sour grapes, Hal. Why, they were lovely specimens, my boy. Look at those butterflies flitting about the flowers growing there in wreaths. Now, if this were a hard road we might get a few of them."
"We could get one of those sun-birds," said Harry, pointing to some half-dozen fluttering about the cluster of flowers dependent from a bough overhanging the stream.
"Yes, but we must wait till we have got some dry sand to use instead of shot. Mind we scrape some up from the first shallow place we reach."
The fact of the boat being motionless there by the side of the river, and all on board sitting quietly watching the abundant beautiful objects around, made the various inhabitants of the jungle on either side come out of their hiding-places and take no further heed of their presence; consequently until the men had finished their breakfast there was ample opportunity for a quiet, observant natural history study, and Mr. Kenyon remarked,—
"It is, after all, better to be content with watching nature in a place like this than shooting specimens and preserving them in a miserable imitation of the natural shape. For how poor and pitiful they are at the best."
"That's true enough," said the doctor, smiling; "but you would not make a museum of our memories."
"Why not?" said Mr. Kenyon.
"Because memory is weak, and our description of what we have seen to other people who could never by any possibility see the beautiful creatures we have encountered, would come very far short. I think that the sight of the poorest skin that we have preserved would make ten times the impression on another's mind that a month's talking could."
"Yes," said Mr. Kenyon, "and nature is so abundant."
By this time the men had resumed their oars, and the boat was gliding rapidly up the river, the boys being ready to point out where they had shot the birds they had taken back, and seen the monkey which had watched them on their way.
So far they had met no crocodiles, but as they went higher it seemed as if, though they kept themselves out of sight, several were in the narrow river and were retiring before them, till the water growing more shallow they began to show from time to time.
The boys seized their guns upon catching sight of the two prominences which contained the reptile's eyes appearing above the surface some thirty yards ahead, but Mr. Kenyon checked them.
"Don't shoot," he said, "it is of no use to kill a few among so many."
"But suppose they attack us," said Harry.
"They will not unless driven to bay. Steer in closer to the side, Sree," continued Mr. Kenyon, "so as to give them room to retreat down the river."
The order was obeyed, the boat being kept to the left, so close in that the oars touched the tips of the hanging boughs, with the consequence that every now and then there was a loud splashing and wallowing in the water close beneath the bank, the part hidden by the pendent boughs.
"Why, they swarm under there," said the doctor.
"Yes," said Mr. Kenyon, "and this shows how little the shooting of one or two has to do with thinning them down. By the way, boys, where was it that you had your adventure with the big crocodile and the monkey?"
Phra rose and pointed forward.
"A little farther there, on the right," he said, "where those bigger trees are hanging over the water."
The whole scene came vividly back to the pair as the boat glided on, and after a glance upward at the trees, Harry's eyes fell to scanning the water, half expecting to see the ugly muzzle of one of the great crocodiles shoot out.
This he did not see, but first one and then another made a tremendous eddy in the stream, their lurking-places being churned up by the men's oars.
"The brutes are extremely thick up here," said the doctor: "a pretty good warning that we must not attempt any bathing."
"They seem to swarm," replied Mr. Kenyon. "It is a pity they are of no use; but perhaps some day one will be found for them,—possibly their skins may be utilised."
"Skins of young ones, perhaps. These big fellows would be too horny."
As he spoke, a huge reptile rushed from a mud bank into the river with a tremendous splash, sending a wave along the surface, which made the boat rise and fall.
This time guns were seized by the boys' elders, upon the strength of the possibility of an attack; but the huge creature must have sunk at once to the bottom, for no further sign appeared.
Meantime the great, green bank of trees on either side seemed to grow more beautiful from the brilliancy of the flowers with which some of the trees were covered; while, wherever a flock of parroquets flew out, it was pretty well always a sign of fruit.
Here, too, at intervals, where there were breaks in the banks of the great timber trees, huge tufts of bamboo shot up spear-like, and showed their delicate foliage, looking at a distance so light and feathery that often enough the straight stems, which rose in places as much as sixty feet, seemed as if surrounded by a delicate haze.
It was now decided that due attention should be given to collecting and providing for the meals of so large a party; and as nothing in the shape of deer or pig had been seen, and mid-day was long passed, it was suggested that, as soon as a suitable spot was reached, the boat should be moored to some overhanging bough and the boys should try their fortune at fishing.
As soon as Sree heard this he busied himself with the basket which contained the lines, and kept a look-out for a likely pitch.
Suddenly there was a rushing of wings, and a big bird appeared—a signal for two guns to be raised, but only to be laid down again.
"Ugh! vulture," said Harry in disgust.
"Pity not to have shot it," said Phra; "it would have done to cut up for bait."
Harry's lip curled up and his nostrils dilated.
"Do you know we mean to eat the fish we catch?"
"Oh, of course," said Phra hurriedly; "I hadn't thought of that. But would it make any difference, Doctor Cameron?" he added.
The doctor laughed.
"No," he said, "I don't think we should have found the fish any the worse for it. All the same, though, I should prefer my fish not to have been fed upon the flesh of an unclean bird."
"Exactly so," said Harry's father; "but perhaps it is just as well that we should not study the food of the fish we eat. They are not very particular as to their diet.—What about that quiet, still eddy yonder, Sree?"
"Where the great tree-trunk lies in the water?" said the doctor. "No, that won't do. There must be scores of half-rotten boughs among which the fish would run and tangle up the lines."
"It would be an excellent place, Sahib," said Sree humbly. "We could tie up the boat there, and fish below it, where the stream runs in."
"To be sure," said Mr. Kenyon; "I had not noticed that little rivulet.
You are wrong, Doctor; it will be a capital place."
"Perhaps," said the gentleman addressed, "but I don't like the look of it. I feel pretty sure that we shall find a great crocodile has his lurking-place under that large tree-trunk."
"Yes, Sahib; there is one there," said Sree; "but he will go as soon as he sees the boat."
He spoke to the man in the bows to be ready to make the line fast to one of the dead boughs, which stuck up dry and swept clear of bark, showing, like its fellows, how high the flood water had raised the level of the river, for above a certain height the bark was still clinging to the branches.
It proved to be just as the old hunter had said, for as the boat was forced up to the great trunk lying in the water, there was a sudden rush, the surface was turned into a series of eddies, and a wave rolled along towards the other side of the river, indicating the direction in which the reptile disturbed had gone.
All the same the boat was made fast, and floated down stream to the full length of the rope, the men's oars were laid in, and those astern joined their companions forward, to squat together talking in a low tone and chewing betel, while Mr. Kenyon and the doctor settled themselves comfortably in the open cabin.
"Won't you fish, father?" asked Harry.
"No, my boy," he replied; "you shall fish for me."
"But you will fish, Doctor Cameron?" said Phra politely.
"No, I would rather see you," replied the doctor, and he started and caught up his gun, but laid it down once more, for the birds which had caught his eye were only crows, some half-dozen of which came up stream as if they had followed the boat, and now they had found it, settled down in one of the highest trees apparently to have a quiet chat about its object in coming up there.
Sree had been busy the while, preparing bait for the lines, which were to be used ledger fashion without rods.
Sree's bait was some very stiff paste, which he was working up out of a couple of handfuls of flour; and he made haste to explain that if the fish did not take this well, he should soon change the lure.
"But we must catch one first."
The lines were strong and the hooks tied on gimp, such as would have been used for pike-fishing at home, for the fish of the Siamese rivers had not been tried for till they were as shy as ours at home, and before many minutes had elapsed the boys each had his baited hook thrown out from the opposite side of the boat six or eight yards away, the leads sinking some six feet in the fairly clear water, and with fingers just feeling the pierced lead, they waited.
It was not the first by many times that the boys had fished together in the river, and they pretty well knew what they were likely to catch; but they were not prepared to sit beneath the hot sunshine for so long without a sign of there being fish about.
"Come, be sharp," cried the doctor banteringly. "I thought we were going to have a good fry for dinner. How soon shall I send the men ashore to make a fire?"
"Fishermen always have patience," said Harry.
"But people who want their dinner do not," said Mr. Kenyon, laughing.
"I say, Sree," whispered Harry, "they will not bite at paste."
"Pull up your line, Sahib," said the hunter.
Harry did as he was told, and Sree smiled.
"Something has eaten the bait," he said. "Didn't you feel a pull?"
"No, not the slightest."
The hook was rebaited and sent down stream again, and Phra's hook proving to be in the same unattractive state, received the same treatment; but for fully half an hour nothing was done but rebaiting and throwing in.
"We had better make a move," said Mr. Kenyon. "It is very beautiful here, but the crocodiles seem to have scared the fish away. Let's go half a mile higher."
"No, no, not yet, father," said Harry. "It seems such a capital place, and—I've got him!"
For as he spoke he felt a slight twitch at the line he held, and then all was still for a few moments. Next there was a steady draw, and the line began to pass through his fingers, while upon checking it the drag became a heavy one, and he found that he was fast in a good fish.
It was evident that a shoal had come up towards the boat, for hardly had Harry begun to haul upon his line before Phra felt the premonitory twitch, and directly after the draw upon his line.
"Now, father, had we better go higher?" cried Harry. "Oh, my word! it is a big one; the line regularly cuts my hands."
There was nothing to see but the lines cutting the water in different directions, for it was evident that the baits had been seized by bottom-loving fish, which went on fighting to keep down as low as they could.
By this time Sree had taken up a short bamboo to which a large hook was firmly bound, and bidding Harry now draw hard, he stood ready, while the lad raised the heavy, struggling fish to the surface, and, in spite of its efforts, brought it close up to the side of the boat, when with one well-aimed stroke the old hunter thrust the hook beneath it and lifted it over the side.
The next moment, leaving the fish flapping and beating the bamboo bottom, Sree stepped beside Phra, where the same business was gone through, and the second fish dragged in.
They proved to be very similar in appearance to a fish but little known in England, though lingering still in some few sluggish rivers—the burbot—a fish that is best described as being something like a short, thick eel. These were together over twenty pounds in weight, and welcome from their delicate quality as food.
"Enough is as good as a feast," said Mr. Kenyon, smiling; and the order being given, the boat was once more sent gliding up stream, look-out being kept for a suitable place for landing and making a fire.
This was reached at last, and the fish, spitted on the ever-present, ever-useful bamboo, set down to roast, so that they might make a welcome addition to the next al fresco meal.
After another few miles a suitable mooring-place was found beneath an enormous tree, and a fire once more lit; this was to act as a scare to keep away noxious creatures, but, as Harry said, for some things they might have been better without.
For they soon found that the glare of the burning wood woke up and attracted the birds, which came circling round it in a strangely weird way, their dimly seen forms coming and going out of the darkness into the dome of light ribbed with the branches of the trees.
Moths and flies innumerable buzzed about through the glare, and, worst of all, the light and heat attracted the smaller reptiles, snakes and lizards creeping towards the flame for the sake of the warmth of what must have seemed to them like a new, strange sun, and many of them getting burned.
"It's very horrid, father," said Harry. "Mike says that he saw hundreds of wriggling snakes and lizards creeping up when he helped the men make up the fire as you advised, for they would have set the forest ablaze if it had been done their way."
"Hundreds, eh?" said Mr. Kenyon. "Then I suppose we may set it down as being about a dozen, Hal?"
"He is an awful fibster, father," said Harry, laughing.
"I don't think the man really means to lie wilfully," said Mr. Kenyon; "but his imagination and his tongue run wild."
"Perhaps it's his eyes," said the doctor, smiling; "a natural failing.
The lenses are too round, and they magnify."
"Let's be charitable, and set it down as that," said Mr. Kenyon; "but it does not matter to us. It is not as if we were going to sleep ashore, and this is a novel experience."
"Novel, indeed. What a collection of moths and beetles we might make now!"
"Awkward work," replied Mr. Kenyon. "I think we might be content with enjoying the strange scene."
Both being tired with the day's exertions, the boys thought so too, and for long enough they watched the illuminated trees of the jungle, which were always changing their aspect as the fire rose and fell, emitting flashes of light, and sending up myriads of sparks or wreaths of smoke to form clouds overhead, which reflected back the light and turned the water into gold, while strange, dark shadows seemed to dance and waltz among the great trunks.
It was all so wild and beautiful that even after the men had finally replenished the fire and settled themselves down for the night under their matting shelter, spread over the fore part of the boat, no one aft felt the slightest desire to lie down and sleep.
"I couldn't sleep, could you?" said Harry, in a low tone, to Phra, as they sat in the half-closed-in cabin, now watching the surroundings of the fire, now, attracted by some sound, turning to look up or down the river.
"Sleep? No," replied Phra; "it all seems so strange and different. We've heard all these noises of a night when we've been at home, but they were far off."
"And now one is right amongst them," said Harry. "I say, are you sure your gun's loaded?"
"Yes, quite; I looked at it just now."
"So did I at mine. I don't think I'm at all afraid; are you?"
"I don't think so; but after what we saw this morning I can't help fancying that there might be a great snake somewhere in the boughs overhead, coming down lower and lower till it thrust in its head here. I say, fancy it taking one of us out and up into the tree."
"Shan't," said Harry. "I don't believe there are any in the jungle big enough to do such a thing."
"Oh, there are some monsters," said Phra quietly.
"Yes, so people like our Mike say. He told me once that some of your father's men said they had seen a croc fifty feet long. Hark at that!"
The sound was startling, and it came from off the water lower down the river.
"It's your fifty feet crocodile slapping the water with his tail to stun the fish," said Phra grimly.
"I don't know about fifty, but it sounds as if the great wretch might be thirty feet long. Ugh! What's to prevent a monster coming up close to the boat and helping himself to one of us? I couldn't go to sleep for thinking such a thing possible."
"I don't think there's any fear of such a thing happening. You never heard of anything of the kind among the thousands of boats down the river and canals."
"No, but one can't help thinking of such creepy notions. We never thought of them before we came."
"Are you boys going to sleep?" said Mr. Kenyon.
"Yes, father, directly," said Harry; "I mean, going to try."
"Off with you, then, so as to be ready for a good day's work to-morrow. Did you see how beautiful the fire-flies are, right away up and down the river?"
"Yes, sir," said Phra. "I've been watching them; it looks sometimes as if the bushes and boughs were full of flying stars. Hear that?"
"Yes; a tiger," said Mr. Kenyon quietly. "Hear the king of stripes,
Doctor?"
The gentleman addressed grunted, and then breathed hard.
"The brute does not trouble him," said Mr. Kenyon; "and it need not trouble us."
"No fear of its swimming out to the boat?" said Phra.
"Not the slightest," replied Mr. Kenyon. "Let down that mat to screen you from the night air and mists, and go to sleep."
"Let the mat down?" said Harry, in a tone full of protest; "but if we do we can't see the fire-flies."
"Take another look, and then let it down and go to sleep."
"But we don't feel as if we could go, father."
"Of course not, if you sit up talking. There, let down the matting, for our sake as well as yours. Good-night, my boys."
"Good-night, sir."
"Good-night, father," said Harry, as he let fall the mat, and thus completely closed in the cabin-like place.—"But there's no sleep for us, Phra, I'm afraid."
"Let's try," said Phra.
"Oh, I'll try," replied Harry.
It needed no trying, for in five minutes there was no one awake in the boat, though there were wild cries far away in the jungle, strange splashings, coughings and barkings from the river, and every now and then loud cracklings and sputterings from the fire, whose rays gleamed in through the matting hung round.
But though every one slept, there was an advance about to be made upon the occupants of the boat, some forty or fifty fierce creatures making their way in through the matting to attack first one and then the other, the attack going on till the savage enemies were satiated with blood, their victims being all the while deeply plunged in sleep.
CHAPTER XVIII
ELEPHANTS AT HOME
"Eh? What? Nonsense!"
"That's what I said, Master Harry. It's 'most a thousand times darker than when we lay down. I mean, it would be if old Sree hadn't raked the fire together and put on some more wood. He said it was time to get up, and I had to get up; but I feel horrid bad. I hope we're all alive."
"Did Sree say it was to-morrow morning, Mike?"
"Yes, sir; but I don't believe it."
"Here, Phra, wake up. Do you hear? Mike says it's tomorrow morning."
"No, sir; no, sir," protested the man, who could be dimly seen leaning over the boys by the faint rays of the fire ashore still streaming in. "I wouldn't have said such a thing these next two hours."
"Very well," said Harry irritably; "Sree said so, and he's sure to know. Do you hear, Phra? Wake up."
Phra made use of a word he had learned of his companion.
"Bother!" And then, "Do be quiet!"
"Shan't. Wake up, or I'll scoop in some water over you."
"You do if you dare," growled Phra viciously.
"Oh, I dare," said Harry, whose sleepy irritability was going off and making way for the spirit of mischief in him; "but I don't want to make everything wet. Get up, you miserable old Siamese prince! You're not going to sleep if I'm not."
"Bother!" cried Phra sharply, in response to a shake.
"Wake up, then! Here, Phra, we're all alive oh! and nothing has touched us all through the night."
"Oh!"
"What's the matter, Mike?" said Harry, whose attention was turned from the young Prince to their man.
"I'm so bad, sir. I've caught the jungle fever with sleeping in this damp place."
"Nonsense!"
"Oh, I have, sir, and I feel dreadful bad. I never was so ill before in my life."
"I don't believe it, but I'll wake Doctor Cameron. I daresay he brought some quinine with him."
"What! that horrid, bitter stuff, sir? No, no; don't, please."
"Bah! Making a fuss about some physic. But you must have it. We're not going to have our trip spoiled by your turning ill. I say, Doctor!"
"No, no, Master Harry; don't say anything, please," whispered the man. "Not till after breakfast. I couldn't eat a mossle if I had to take that horrid, bitter quinny."
"Oh, you must be bad!" said Harry, with mock sympathy. "Here, I know a little. How do you feel?—pain in your back?"
"A little, sir, where it rested against a big bamboo in the night."
"That sounds bad," said Harry.
"Does it, sir? Oh dear!"
"What else? Headache?"
"No, sir; but I've got it, and I can feel my face all covered with spots."
"It's the mosquitoes," cried Phra, sitting up suddenly.
"Hullo! You awake?—That's it, Mikey."
"Oh no, sir," groaned the man; "it's worse than that."
"'Tisn't. His Royal Highness Prince Phra Mala Krom Praya says it's mosquitoes, and he's right. How many spots have you got on your face? A million?"
"Well, no, sir, I don't think there's as many as that; but my face is full, and they itch and sting horrid, and my eyes are swelled up and stiff. Just you feel."
"No, thankye, Mike; but I'll have a look as soon as it is light. I say, though, I wonder you haven't got a million bites.—There, don't be such a baby. Go and get the breakfast ready. I'll wake the others."
"He ain't a bit o' feeling in him," sighed Mike to himself; and he went out of the cabin.
"What does it look like, Phra?" said Harry, for his companion had passed his head out beside the matting.
"Come and see; it's lovely."
Harry thrust his head out on the other side of the mat, to gaze up and down the river, to see overhead the stars growing pale and feeble, while the river bed was filled up by a soft, dark-grey flood which rose about ten or fifteen feet up the black wall of trees opposite to them. On the other side and overhead there was a warm glow which lit up the thin mist, giving it a roseate hue, while the cloud of smoke was gathering more and more and blotting out the faint stars half across the river, its under side ruddy too with the fire-reflected light.
"I never saw the river look like this before," cried Harry. "Looks jolly, doesn't it?"
"Beautiful and calm, and just as if the earth was waking up," replied
Phra.
"Birds, you mean," said Harry. "Parrots are whistling, and—here, I say, hark at that coo—ah—coo—ah. Hear that?"
"Yes. Argus pheasant," said Phra eagerly.
"Let's take the guns and go and see if we can't get a shot at it."
"What! try and get through the jungle now it's all dripping with dew?"
"Never thought of that," said Harry. "Would be sloppy, wouldn't it?"
"Sloppy! Why, we should be drenched before we'd gone ten yards."
"And I don't suppose we could go ten yards. Let's go and ask old Sree if he can call the birds over, so that we can get a shot at them."
They stepped carefully out into the forward part of the boat, and then
Harry thrust back his head to carry out his promise.
"Father! Doctor!" he cried. "Morning."
"Yes; thank you," said Mr. Kenyon, and the doctor grunted.
Phra had by this time reached the mooring rope and begun drawing the boat's prow close up to the prostrate tree-trunk to which it was moored, for prostrate trees were plentiful along the banks, and in one place two falling nearly opposite from either bank of the stream had almost formed a barricade to stop the way.
"Be careful, Sahibs," said a voice out of the gloom, the old hunter having left the group of rowers gathered round the fire. "The tree-trunk is slippery with the dew."
"Oh, it's you, Sree," said Harry. "Isn't that the coo—ah calling?"
"Yes, Sahib; I have heard it many times."
"Could we get near and manage a shot at it?"
"No, Sahib; it would hear us before we were half way, and be silent. Then we should not know which way to go. Besides, you would find the grass and trees too wet."
"Would it come if you called to it?"
"No, Sahib, not unless we were in a deep, dark part of the jungle."
"Oh well, never mind," said Harry. "It wouldn't be pleasant before breakfast. Here, let's go ashore now we're so near, Phra. Anything burned in the fire last night?"
"Yes, Sahib; I've found four dead birds under the trees, and some lizards and snakes that had been too close. Some of them were only half dead. They had scorched themselves and then crawled away."
The boys went up to the blazing fire, to find Mike busy cooking the men's breakfast, the latter making way for the lads to come close up to the pleasant glow, which dissipated the chilly mist floating around.
As they went round the fire Sree pointed out the remains of several reptiles, one of which was still moving and writhing slightly.
This—part of a long, thin snake—Sree stooped to twitch into the hottest part of the glowing fire.
"Oh, I say, Sree, how horrid!" said Harry.
"No, sir; better dead than living in such pain. It could never get well. This one might," he added, dragging another from among the low growth close by, with the result that it came to and bit at a bamboo staff the man held.
"It's poisonous," cried Phra. "Mind!"
"Yes, Sahib; I'll take care," said Sree. "It is a good deal scorched, but it might live and do mischief. It is a very bad kind, almost as poisonous as the naga."
As he spoke he gave his bamboo staff a whirl round his head, which threw the writhing reptile into a knot at the end, and then giving a final jerk the dangerous creature was dashed into the middle of the fire, where a loud sputtering, crackling, and hissing bespoke its fate.
"Was that it hissing in agony?" said Harry, with a look of disgust.
"Oh no, Sahib," said the old hunter, smiling. "It is only the flesh. The heat in there killed the snake directly. Look! there is a dead bird; that will make the same noise. Throw it in."
"Why, it's one of those beautiful rosy pigeons," said Harry, "only half its feathers are burnt off. It's dead enough. I say, though, it's a pity to waste that. I'll make Mike cook it for breakfast. What's that bird?"
"A crow," said Phra, turning the object over with his foot; and then, before Harry could seize it, tossing it into the fire himself, for a precisely similar hissing to arise.
"I'm glad of that," said Harry; "it seems so horrible to burn anything alive. Here, Mike, how soon will our breakfast be ready?"
"As soon as I can go on board to get it, sir. The gentlemen are not up yet."
"Not up!" said Harry. "Why, you talk as if they slept in bedrooms—Look! there they are."
For as he spoke the matting was drawn aside, just as the light was coming fast, the faint rays of the sun striking horizontally through the soft, grey mist, and lighting it up like a cloud at sunset.
The effect was wonderful, for with the first rising of the sun there was a light breeze which lifted the mist, making it rise and float away in wreaths across the tops of the jungle trees, the coming of bright day once more bringing forth a wild chorus of shrieks, pipings, and strange cries from the hidden birds.
Mike quickly had a good meal spread, and as soon as the fire was no longer necessary, the men under Sree's direction threw a few jars of water over it, and then took to their oars, the breakfast in the open cabin being finished as the party glided up the beautiful stream.
They were now well beyond the parts ever reached by the most venturesome of the boating men of the town and villages around, and in consequence the various birds and quadrupeds displayed but little shyness, the former fluttering near the boat, or perching in little flocks to watch the visitors to this wild region, while the monkeys grew more and more venturesome, ceasing to depute the observations to the old greybeard of the troop, and crowding on the branches, to chatter and stare down, probably seeing human beings for the first time in their lives.
"They don't seem to think much of us, Phra," said Harry, who was lying back so that he could look up in comfort at the comical little creatures.
"Well, it's quite fair," said Phra; "we don't think much of them. I don't know, though; I envy their strength. Look how easily they make those jumps."
"Yes, it would puzzle us. But isn't it ridiculous that they should be so careless, jumping from tree to tree just over the water, where they ought to know that the crocodiles are waiting for them? I daresay we shall see one come down with a splash directly."
Harry was quite right: five minutes had not passed before, in the midst of a loud chattering, a low, heavily laden bough snapped, and about a dozen of the little fellows fell scrambling down; but all saved themselves by catching at branches before reaching the water, save one, who went in with a loud splash, but caught at some twigs and leaves which dipped in the surface, and cleverly dragged itself out, to begin scrambling up again amidst a chorus of loud cries, just as the long muzzle of a crocodile was thrust out and snatched back again as rapidly, after receiving full in the side of the head the contents of the doctor's gun.
"Brute!" he exclaimed. "What a beautiful place this would be if it were not infested with these savage wretches!—Killed, Sree?"
"No, Sahib; I think not. I can see him swimming yonder. The water is clear here."
They had another glimpse at the injured reptile, which shot up about fifty yards ahead, beat the water for a few moments, and then disappeared beneath the tangle.
No more shooting was done, the voyagers contenting themselves with observing, and finding abundance to take their attention, for at every few yards some curious-looking water-fowl or wader rose from the river side. Then it would be a lovely blue kingfisher or solemn-looking crimson-breasted trogon, while at times a glimpse was obtained of some animal coming down to drink, only to be startled away by the passing boat.
Once it was a strange-looking animal with trunk-like snout, which stared for a moment before wrenching itself round, giving just a momentary view of its piebald body, and then rushed through the undergrowth.
"We're favoured," cried the doctor. "That was a specimen one ought to have shot."
"What for?" said Mr. Kenyon. "It would have been too big and clumsy to preserve. If you shoot, let it be something for the table."