And first, a griping in my vitals did put me in mind that we could not live on guava apples and water alone, but must have more solid victuals to strengthen us against the hardships of traveling in the desert that lay before us.
How was I to get meat? Never was man since the days of Orson so naked for the chase. Not a bodkin had I; nay, not even a stick with which to strike down a snake. Birds we had seen galore in the fruitful thicket, and thinking of the savory dish I might make of a young macaw for my Lady Biddy put me in mind of my old weapon—a sling. Then casting about for material to make this simple engine, I bethought me of my shoe that was furnished with a tongue, very proper for my purpose. Whereupon I whipped off the said shoe, and getting a sharp-edged stone I made a shift to cut it out.
"Now," thinks I, "if I had but a thorn for an awl, and a strip of silk grass for a thong, the business would be done in a trice."
Thorns there were (and to spare) in the thicket above, and I doubted not I might also find grass or the fibre of a palmetto to serve my turn. And seeing that I could get to the thicket and yet keep my eye on Lady Biddy for her safety, I cast a glance at my companion, whose bosom still heaved very gently and regularly; and satisfied she would not awake for some while, I rose and scaled the steep side of the gorge.
Being come to the top I looked down; my lady had not stirred, and so I set about cheerfully to get me the things I needed. After a little search I found a sort of grass nearly an ell long and reasonably tough, and stripping this down so as to get the mid-rib, I tested it, and found it would serve well enough for a few casts. As for a thorn, I found that without seeking—a stickle as long as a cock's spur and as sharp as any needle piercing through my breeches as I stooped to pluck a blade of the aforesaid grass.
Having all that I needed (and more, by the smarting wound in my thigh), I went back to the edge of the gorge whence I could see Lady Biddy, and set about making my sling. This being done to my satisfaction—not so stout as I could wish, but good enough as a makeshift—I hunted about for round stones, and got me half a dozen suitable enough. And now being armed, I itched to put my weapon to its use.
There was not a sound but the breaking of the water, and all around looked so still and peaceful that I deemed I might safely venture to ramble a little way in quest of game. Yet still I hesitated, but just then I heard the whir of wings hard by, and casting my eye that way, spied a bird which later I heard the Indians call a macucagua, about the size of an English pheasant and not unlike it, making for a plantain tree that stood in a coppice not far distant. I saw him alight on the tree and attack its fruit, on which this bird is a greedy feeder, and after him I started as stealthily as I might, that he should not take wing again before I got within range. From bush to bush I crept, till, getting pretty close, I slipped a stone into the sole of my sling, and stepping into the open gave my sling a twirl and let fly. By good chance my shot hit the bird in the neck, and so much to his damage that flying up he beat his wings vainly against the boughs and then fell fluttering to the ground. Yet was he only stupefied by the blow, and, being come to the ground, flew up again away for a furlong, and thence up once more and off for half a furlong more, so that by the time I finally overtook him and put an end to the business by wringing his neck I was pretty well three parts of a mile from the coppice where I started. However, I took not much heed of this or of the time it had taken me to steal to the coppice from the gorge, being mightily pleased with myself for my address.
Handling my bird I was as pleased as any fool to observe how fat he was, to find that he weighed four pounds if an ounce, etc.: nay, I was so fond as to pluck one of his tail feathers and stick it in my coat for a trophy. Then I fell to considering how I should dress him, and remembering how I had got fire by rubbing two dry sticks together that time I was in the Oronoque, I wasted another ten minutes in seeking wood that would serve my turn now. In short, by the time I had brought this silly business to an end and started off to rejoin Lady Biddy, more than half an hour was gone from the moment I began it.
When I got back to the edge of the gorge and looked down, I came to a stand like one suddenly bereft of his senses. Lady Biddy was gone!
I could not fetch my breath; the bird that was paid for so dearly slipped from my powerless fingers, nor did I ever see anything more of him save the feather I had stuck in my coat, and my limbs quaked under me. Then I would not believe but that I had mistaken the place, until the turfs I had pulled up for a pillow met my eye and convinced me that it was there and nowhere else that I had left her.