Wild Life in the Land of the Giants Part 40

Peter smiled now, and pa.s.sed his plate to Jill again.

"Last time, and the only time in fact," continued our cacique, "that I visited Kaiso, he condemned me to death. But this was at night, and Kaiso had some rum. He told me he would himself do me the honour to cut my head off with one of his very best swords. I thanked him, of course, and appeared quite pleased about it. But lo! in the morning he had forgotten all about it. We were half-way through breakfast when he said, 'Oh, by de way, I was goin' to lop your head off dis mornin'. But I too tire. I much too tire. Some oder day p'r'aps.' I a.s.sured him not to trouble about the matter; that I could afford to wait, and would wait to oblige him."

"And there was no more about it?"

"Never a word. He had finished all the rum, you see. But Kaiso lives in a strange land. His home is in the country of the Gualichu."

"Gualichu! That's the evil spirit, isn't it?"

"Yes, Jill. But the only evil spirit I ever saw there had been imported from Jamaica."

"Rum?"

"Rum, yes, that's the real Gualichu. Well, Jack, you have good influence with Jeeka; go and tell him where we mean going. He will demur; I had the greatest difficulty in getting him to go last time, and he said he never would return."

So as soon as breakfast was finished I paid a visit to Jeeka's toldo.

He was waiting while his people, harnessed up and were ready for the road.

"Jeeka," I said, coming to the point at once, "we are going to visit King Kaiso!"

Jeeka's face a.s.sumed an aspect of almost terror.

"What!" he said. "Go to Kaiso. Kaiso bad man. Kaiso all same's Gualichu. He live in Gualichu land. Hum-m-m. I will not go. Kaiso kill us all. Hum-m. He have snake to hiss and bite. He have puma to roar and tear. He keep Gualichu man and Gualichu karken. He have fire all round de forest. But the forest itself not burn!"

I sat with Jeeka and Nadi a whole hour, and it needed all my powers of persuasion to make them consent to lead the way to the Gualichu land.

They did so at last, however, and long before the sun was high in the north we were well on our road.

It would take the greater part of a goodly volume, to give anything like a correct description and history of our journey to the land of the Gualichu. We had hills to climb, mountain torrents to wade, long dreary plains to cross that seemed never-ending, and deep jungle-like forests to penetrate through. Sometimes these last were as dark as gloaming even under the midday sun. In their gloomy thickets we could hear the voices of angry pumas, and we saw and shot some of these of immense size.

We saw one immense snake of the boa description, and we also saw some _deer_.

Castizo marvelled much at this.

"I did not know," he said, "there were deer so far south."

"Strayed out of some gentleman's park," said Peter, quizzingly.

"And as for boas, if that _was_ a boa, how on earth did it come there!"

continued Castizo.

"Oh, I know," said Peter.

"Do you?" said Ritchie; "tell us."

"Why it has escaped from Wombell's Menagerie, of course."

The idea of gentleman's parks or Wombell's Menagerie being in this wilderness was ridiculous enough; but Peter was in one of his funny moods.

We did not stop anywhere for sport, only when any wild creature crossed our hawse, as Ritchie phrased it, we brought it down for sake of its flesh or skin.

Hawks and vultures we found very numerous in these regions, and many strange animals we had never seen before, some of the ant-eating fraternity, others like ermines, but brilliantly coloured, and others again that seemed partly rat and partly nondescript. There were otters in the mountain streams, and fish in such marvellous abundance that, in one hour, Jill and I caught nearly one hundred and fifty.

(This would, indeed, be a land of pleasure for the sportsman. And yet only a month ago, I heard a member of a West-End club a.s.sure a friend that sport was played out. He had been everywhere, he said, and shot everything, and there really wasn't anything left worth pointing a gun at.)

One dark night, while encamped near the borders of a deep, dark wood, we were all awakened by a strange feeling of qualmishness.

"I dreamt," said Jill, "I was at sea for the first time again."

"Something we've all eaten," said Peter, "that hasn't agreed with us, though I had nothing for supper except about a pound of that puma steak, and a few handfuls of ba-ba roots."

"Hark! Listen."

"Hark! Listen," from Jill and me.

There was a noise in the distance as of heavy waggons rolling over a metal road, then the earth trembled and shook with a strange heaving motion as if water were rus.h.i.+ng beneath the surface. The same feeling of qualmishness shot over us, and we all pressed our hands to our heads.

It was an earthquake.

The vibration had no sooner ceased than we heard Castizo's voice calling to us.

"_Come_ out, boys, and you'll see something."

We hurried on our clothes. I felt more nervous and frightened than ever I had done in my life before. So were Jill and Peter.

"I hope," said the latter, "the earth won't open and swallow us up.

Fancy being buried alive!"

"It would soon be all over, Peter," said Jill.

Castizo, Lawlor and Ritchie were already out in the open and gazing westward. A fitful, changeful light was on their faces, such as I had never seen before. Sometimes it was a rosy glimmer, then it would change to pale yellow or blue.

The light came from the western horizon, and the appearance there was simply appalling. A great cone-shaped hill was vomiting forth columns of smoke alternating with fierce and terrible flames. In the midst of the fire we saw innumerable dark bodies which were undoubtedly rocks.

The night was very dark, so that the eruption was more fearful than it would otherwise have been.

All the Indians were out; most of them lying on their faces, and, I thought, praying.

I went to Jeeka, who sat beside his wife on the gra.s.s. Nadi was weeping and moaning.

"Jeeka," I said, "do not pray to the Gualichu. Pray to Him who made everything, and who loves us--the Great Good Spirit."

"Did He make that fiery hill?"

"He made and governs everything."

"Does He govern the Gualichu?"