“Why, that’s easy!” cried Frank as the Indian left. “I’ll bet I can talk that now. You no sabby Tom, me tellum you all same Joseph. How you likeum talky-talky like so?”
“Splendid!” cried Mr. Thorne, and all three roared with laughter at Frank’s first attempt at talking the Indian jargon.
The banks of the stream had now changed from the low mangrove swamps to bluffs and hills of sand; the dense tangle of weeds, mucka-mucka and vines had given place to lofty trees. There were heavy forests stretching away into the distance; tiny clearings and cultivated land showed here and there and the boys caught glimpses of numerous, open-sided, thatched huts among the trees. From time to time flocks of parrots flew swiftly overhead, screeching loudly as they winged their way across the river; herons, blue, gray and white, flapped up at the steamer’s approach. In backwaters covered with gigantic lily leaves the boys saw tiny brown and yellow birds running about, apparently treading on the water, and these Mr. Thorne told them were jacanas, whose long toes enabled them to walk upon the leaves of water plants without sinking.
Then the current of the river became swifter, the steamer chugged and struggled and panted and Mr. Thorne explained that the tide had turned.
“You don’t mean to say that they have a tide clear up here!” exclaimed Tom in surprise.
“For nearly one hundred miles up the rivers,” the explorer assured him. “Of course, the salt water doesn’t come up here, but the tide backs up the rivers so there is a rise and fall of nearly six feet up to the first rapids or cataracts as they are called.”
“Jimminy, are there rapids?” asked Frank.
“Rapids!” ejaculated Mr. Thorne. “Why, my boy, there are nothing but rapids. It’s just one rapid and fall after another.”
“Hurrah, that will be great!” declared Frank. “I’ve always wanted to run rapids.”
“You’ll run enough to last you for life,” Mr. Thorne assured him. “And you’ll have enough of them and to spare. It’s all right running them when you’re coming downstream, but it’s slow, heartbreaking work going up. Why, it often takes days to haul up a rapid that we shoot in less than an hour coming down.”