What a long long voyage was before those mariners! Twenty thousand miles and over. Can you conceive of such a distance, reader?
Yet, on the whole, they were lucky, and had favouring breezes.
They visited many little fairy isles, but only when the natives were friendly, and brought fruit and fish to barter for beads and gaily-coloured cotton cloth.
As this cloth can be bought in England for about twopence a yard, it is an excellent thing to barter with; and glass beads are certainly cheap enough.
Some of the islands on which they landed—I really forget their names—were large and mountainous, and inhabited by peace-loving natives, who made them heartily welcome—islands of romance; islands of dell and dingle, adown which rivulets, with water clear as crystal, ran singing to the sea.
The hills or mountains on these islands were often wooded to the very top, but from betwixt the tall tree stems, our two young heroes, with Teenie and Johnnie Smart, could catch glimpses of the distant sea, than which no ocean in all the world can look brighter or bluer—islands of woods, but islands of wild flowers as well, that carpeted all the earth, and covered and clung to the trees, embracing and beautifying everything.
Islands too of bright-winged birds, and of splendidly Nature-painted butterflies, that, as they floated in the sunshine, looked like animated fans.
Four-winged dragon-flies often went whirring past. These were of very large dimensions, and shining in crimson, blue, or gold.
In little pools or tiny backwaters by the river, it was a treat for the boys, and for Teenie most of all, to see one or two great butterflies, with wings as broad as an envelope, alight and wade gingerly into the water to bathe their bodies and legs, and even their eyes and heads. But they folded their wings during the bath—it would not suit their purpose to wet these.
And here, too, were kingfishers of such lovely colours that it would be worth a naturalist’s while to come and study there, although he should have to live in the islands for months.