CHAPTER XXVII.
L'ENCUERADO AND THE PARROTS.—GRINGALET MEETS A FRIEND.—THE COUGAR, OR AMERICAN LION.—A STREAM.—OUR "PALM-TREE VILLA."—TURTLES' EGGS.—THE TANTALUS.—HERONS AND FLAMINGOES.
The parrots that we heard chattering were quite sufficient to wake us up in the morning. The sun rose red and angry; a perfect concert soon greeted its appearance. The hoccos set up their sonorous clucking, and birds of every kind came fluttering round us. Lucien, now reconciled to the virgin forests, was never tired of admiring the varieties of trees, shrubs, or bushes, and the infinite number of the winged inhabitants which enliven them. We slowly descended into the plain; even now the heat was too much for us, and long marches would soon be impossible. A flock of cardinals, with crested heads, flew around us and settled on a magnolia, which then looked as if it was covered with purple flowers. Farther on, some paroquets, no bigger than sparrows, greeted us with their varied cries. L'Encuerado, after tossing his head several times, and shrugging his shoulders, at last stopped, and could not refrain from answering them.
"Come and carry it yourselves!" he cried; "come and carry it yourselves, and prove that you are stronger than a man!"
"What are you asking the birds to do?" demanded Lucien.
"They are making fun of my load, Chanito; a set of lazy fellows, who all of them together would not be able to move it!"
Sumichrast made his way into the forest, cutting away the creepers with his machete in order to clear a passage. In less than an hour we had crossed five or six glades. Suddenly I noticed that Gringalet had disappeared. I called him, and a distant barking answered me.
"Can he have met with a stream?" said Sumichrast.
I advanced in the direction in which I had heard the voice of our four-footed companion, and suddenly came upon him baying furiously at a young cougar, which Sumichrast ran towards, but the animal fled into the wood.