At one time no fewer than four of these ugly reptiles were prowling around our little sanctuary.
Meantime, our host had fallen into the profoundest of slumbers, the audible proofs of which had in them some obscure consolation, for I could not but reason that a man who could sleep under such circumstances, and sleep so soundly, could not but be assured that there was no real ground for alarm.
So the event proved. Confused thoughts of rattlesnakes, alligators, wolves, steamboats that devoured, and rattlesnakes that coughed and paddled, clouded my brain until I fell off into an uneasy slumber, gradually deepening into utter unconsciousness.[{53}]
When we awoke our host was standing in the open doorway, drying himself with a strip of canvas, after his matutinal wash in the river.
He had put a can of water over the fire, and, bruising some coffee berries between two stones, he made us a not unacceptable beverage. Biscuits, coffee—without either sugar or milk—and the considerate relics in the iron pot from his last night’s supper, made our breakfast.
We were soon on board the canoe, and were rapidly drifting downstream. The distance was quickly accomplished, and connection with civilization rapidly made; but I shall never forget that night spent among the alligators.
A NEW MOSQUITO TRAP.
He had the appearance of having traveled a good deal and was very talkative.
I incidentally touched upon the subject of mosquitoes.
“Mosquitoes!” he said; “why, my dear sir, up the Kongo I’ve seen them as big as bumblebees. One night, I remember particularly, they were out on the warpath, seeking whom they might devour, and were so outrageously lost to all sense of respect for me, that I was compelled to take refuge under the mosquito bar or curtain, although it was only just after dinner time and I wasn’t a bit sleepy. There were two candles burning on the table, so that I could see pretty clearly through the thin muslin bar, and by and by I noticed one of the indefatigable gray cusses, in prospecting around, had discovered a hole about the size of a shilling in the bar. He hummed joyously and then sailed away and triumphantly broke the news to all his friends and relatives, and in five minutes the whole community had clustered round the hole. They marched in silently and formed up in battalions, awaiting the signal to fall to. I had been imitating the sailor’s parrot by thinking a good deal, and superior intellect prevailed; for, as the last of the procession entered, I slipped out from underneath, took a cork from the brandy bottle, stopped up the hole, and slept outside. The way those penned-up insects raved and swore when they saw themselves circumvented was simply bloodcurdling. Fact, sir. What! going so soon? Well, I hope to meet you again some day. Good-by.”