We followed his advice, and were joined by Jumbo, who followed his master under the shelter; and the huge bough effectually guarded us from the numerous other branches which came hurtling through the air.
As we could now hear each other’s voices, my uncle expressed his fears about the champan. I told him that I had seen her safe during one of the flashes of lightning, and that I hoped she was still secured to the bank.
Hour after hour, it seemed, went by; the wind howling, the thunder roaring, the lightning flashing through the air, darting amid the trees, and running in fiery lines along the ground with a brightness which so dazzled my eyes, that for the next moment I felt as if struck by blindness, leaving the forest dark as Erebus—though I could still see the trees waving backwards and forwards against the sky.
How thankful I felt when at length the thunder rolled away, the lightning ceased, and the wind almost immediately afterwards fell, till it became perfectly calm. In a short time the fire-flies darted out from their hiding-places, and filled the air with their soft light; but we were not inclined to contemplate their beauty just then, or to attend to anything else except endeavouring to make ourselves tolerably snug for the remainder of the night.
We had escaped a great danger, moreover, of which we at first had not thought. Our fire had gone out before the tempest broke on us, or the flames might have set the grass and dry shrubs around on fire; and though the forest itself was too green to burn, it might have rendered the spot untenable.
Groping about, we found the sail sticking in the bushes; and dragging it over the bough which protected us, we again secured it. In the meantime, Tim had been engaged in relighting the fire, for which the storm had supplied us with an abundance of fuel.
On hailing the champan, we were answered by the padrone; who, to our satisfaction, informed us that she had escaped injury, though some of the crew had received pretty severe blows from falling branches. As we could not trust to the crew, Tim undertook to keep watch while my uncle, the doctor, and I slept. The storm had done us one great service, too,—it had blown away the mosquitoes and other biting insects, besides having materially cooled the air.
The next morning we continued our voyage, the greater portion of which was performed by the men shoving on the champan with their long poles, sometimes among trunks of trees, at others amid rocks; but occasionally they had to go on shore and tow the boat along through the whirlpools and rapids which we met with. The scenery was often very beautiful, consisting of magnificent ranges of mountains, their bases rising abruptly out of the river, covered with umbrageous trees and flowering shrubs of various hues.
At length we reached the neighbourhood of Honda, where our voyage terminated; and from thence we were to travel over the mountains for upwards of two hundred miles. We here parted with our friend the doctor, who was bound for Santa Fé de Bogotà, where, he told us, he hoped to get employment. He wished us good-bye with real heartiness, and I believe was grateful to my uncle for having brought him thus far on his journey. I was much obliged to him for the interesting information he had given me, and I told him that should he ever come our way, I was sure that my father would be happy to see him at our house.
“Perhaps I may come, my young friend,” he answered; “it is possible that the inhabitants of Bogotà may not appreciate my talents.”