“What’s up there?” whispered Rob to Joe as he looked. “Think it’s a great snake?”
“No,” was the reply. “Look!” and the captain’s son pointed up to where, half hidden by the leaves, a curious little black face peered wonderingly down at them; and directly after Rob made out one after another, till quite a dozen were visible, the last hanging from a bough like some curious animal fruit by its long stalk, which proved to be the little creature’s prehensile tail, by which it swung with us arms and legs drawn up close.
“Monkeys!” cried Rob eagerly, for it was his first meeting with the odd little objects in their native wilds.
“Yes; they swarm in the forests,” said Joe, who was amused at his companion’s wondering looks.
Just then Shaddy leaped ashore with a rope, after carefully seeing to the fastening of the other end.
“May as well give you gents a hint,” he said: “never to trust nobody about your painter. It’s just as well to use two, for if so be as the boat does break loose, away she goes down-stream, and you’re done, for there’s no getting away from here. You can’t tramp far through the forest.”
He moored the boat to one of the trees, gave a few orders, and the Indian boatmen rapidly collected dead wood and started a fire, Shaddy filling the tin kettle and swinging it gipsy fashion.
“I’d start fair at once, gentlemen,” he said. “One never knows what’s going to happen, and I take it that you ought to carry your gun always just as you would an umbrella at home, and have it well loaded at your side, ready for any action. Plenty of smoke!” he continued, as the clouds began to roll up through the dense branches of the tree overhead.
The result was a tremendous chattering and screaming amongst the monkeys, which bounded excitedly from branch to branch, shaking the twigs and breaking off dead pieces to throw down.
“Hi! stop that, little ’uns!” roared Shaddy. “Two can play at that game. It ain’t your tree; be off to another, or we’ll make rabbit-pie o’ some on you.”