. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . rated in the previous chapter, I was frightened—yes, I was startled and made quite uneasy—by thatmysterious interrogator in the deep woods, who hootedin my ears and himself remained unseen. The moreI thought upon it the deeper became the mystery;but I could not allow him, whoever he was, to driveme from my purpose; and, at all events, he had notpursued me beyond the forest verge, and had madeno other hostile demonstration. So I determined toventure again, but to keep on the alert as soon as thedeep woods were gained. Descending the river bed between g
. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . rated in the previous chapter, I was frightened—yes, I was startled and made quite uneasy—by thatmysterious interrogator in the deep woods, who hootedin my ears and himself remained unseen. The moreI thought upon it the deeper became the mystery;but I could not allow him, whoever he was, to driveme from my purpose; and, at all events, he had notpursued me beyond the forest verge, and had madeno other hostile demonstration. So I determined toventure again, but to keep on the alert as soon as thedeep woods were gained. Descending the river bed between great rocks thatseemed to have been rent apart for the passage of atorrent in bygone ages, I entered a gloomy gorgewhere the sun was almost shut out. Here the streamran from basin to basin in the ledge, now with lowmurmur and again with noisy fall. It was overhungby a dense canopy of vines and trees, which intensi-fied the gloom beneath. A drift of sand lay at the base of a cliff, cleanand yellow, beneath which was a deep pool of quiet. 29 30 CRUSOES ISLAND. water—a delightful place for a bath, though the hugecrayfish crawling over its bottom looked the rainy season this little stream must rise to thedignity of a roaring torrent, as evidence of it could beseen in scattered trees and branches lodged amongthe rocks. A little kingfisher dashed by like a meteor, leavingbehind him a shrill rattling cry, which rang throughthe gorge like the shriek of a locomotive. Up underthe sheer wall of a precipice sat unconcerned agreen and golden jacamar; brilliant humming birdsdarted from flower to vine and from liane to lialine,halting now and then, suspended in mid-air before myface, as though questioning me as to the reason formy intrusion. That I was an intruder I could not but feel con-vinced, for this spot seemed sacred to the birds, whoretreated here for shelter in storm and shade at heatof noon. Above the sand-drift a roof was formed of thelianes, stretched like the c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcrusoesi, booksubjectbirds
