“It’s warm enough, all right,” agreed the skipper, “but if you’d ever had black water fever, you’d know better than to sleep without protection alongside a tropical river.”
“Yes,” agreed Mr. Chadwick, “there is nothing more unhealthy than sleeping out of doors in the tropics,—that is, without any protection. We would better keep up the fire all night, too,” he added.
By the time the tent was up and their scant supply of bedding spread, the boys were quite ready to turn in. But Captain Sprowl had divided the night off into watches, each watch to be taken by one boy and one adult. The first watch from nine to twelve was to be taken by Dick and Mr. Chadwick. The second fell to the lot of Tom and the professor, and lasted from midnight till three a. m. The third watch from that hour until six was to be that of Jack and Captain Sprowl. These matters being adjusted, some green wood was piled on the fire for back logs and in half an hour, with the exception of those on watch, the occupants of the camp were sound asleep.
[CHAPTER XVII.]
THE GIANT SLOTH.
The night passed without incident. It was true that Tom, and the others, too, when their turns came to go on watch, did receive a slight start as an occasional loud scream or cry rang through the forest. But they knew that the outcry was that of some small animal seized by a night-prowling beast, and did not worry about their personal safety so long as nothing approached the camp fire, which was kept brightly blazing.
In the morning, as soon as it began to grow light, Captain Sprowl and Jack, who were on sentry duty, went down to the sandy beach where they expected to find the turtles’ eggs. The captain’s previous experiences in the tropics had instructed him how to look for these delicacies. Nothing about the smooth sand showed where the eggs had been buried; that is, at first glance, but after a close scrutiny the captain found various places where the beach appeared to have been freshly disturbed. Digging into these areas with sharpened sticks, he and Jack soon uncovered numerous deposits of eggs; for the turtles of Brazil lay their eggs in big holes,—each one common to several of them,—filling them to within a short space of the top. The sand is carefully pushed back and the eggs left to hatch by the heat of the beach.
Returning to camp, they awakened the others. The boys would have liked to indulge in a swim in the river, but the captain warned them against doing any such thing as most of the Brazilian streams swarm with alligators and a kind of leech, that when once affixed to the skin is very difficult to remove. So they all contented themselves with a good wash in the not over-clear water. The turtles’ eggs did not prove quite such a treat as the boys had been looking forward to. From reading books of adventure they had the idea that the eggs were great delicacies; but after trying them, they came to the conclusion that the authors who wrote of them with such enthusiasm could never have tasted them. They were strong, fishy-tasting and oily, although, no doubt, in a pinch they would have tasted well enough. Captain Sprowl told them that the natives did not eat them but utilized them in another way.
At certain times a whole tribe would repair to an island known to be used by the turtles for egg-depositing. The caches of eggs were then robbed and the entire mess dumped into a canoe. The mass was then trampled upon, and after a while an oil arose to the surface, which was skimmed off and placed in jars and used for cooking and other purposes.
After the morning meal they naturally fell to discussing plans. Judkins declared himself better; but it was still painful for him to move about. Captain Sprowl could not take an observation till noon, but by a rough calculation he reckoned that they were cast away on the Brazilian coast some five hundred miles to the south of civilization.