Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/henryk-sienkiewicz/page,40,8017-w_pustyni_i_w_puszczy__english.html
it, and began to search for something.
He had hidden there in a small glass bottle the last of the quininepowders and had guarded it like an "eye in the head" for "the blackhour," that is, for the emergency when Nell should be fever-stricken.But now he was almost certain that after such a night the first attackwould come, so he determined to prevent it. He did this with a heavyheart, thinking of what would happen later, and were it not that it didnot become a man and the leader of a caravan to weep, he would haveburst into tears over this last powder.
So, desiring to conceal his emotion, he assumed a very stern mien and,addressing the little girl, said:
"Nell, before you eat, take the rest of the quinine."
She, on the other hand, asked:
"But if you catch the fever?"
"Then I will shiver. Take it, I tell you."
She took it without further resistance, for from the time he killed theSudanese she feared him a little, notwithstanding all his efforts forher comfort and the kindness he evinced towards her. Afterwards theysat down to breakfast, and after the fatigue of the night, the hotbroth of guinea-fowl tasted delicious. Nell fell asleep immediatelyafter the refreshment and slept for several hours. Stas, Kali, and Meaduring that time put the caravan in order. They brought from the ravinethe top of the tent, saddled the horses, and put the packages on thedonkey and buried under the roots of the tree those things which theycould not take with them. Drowsiness terribly assailed them at thework, and Stas, from fear that they should fall asleep, permittedhimself and them to take short naps in turn.
It was perhaps two o'clock when they started on their further journey.Stas held Nell before him; Kali rode with Mea on the other horse. Theydid not ride at once down the ravine, but proceeded between its brinkand the forest. The young jungle had grown considerably during therainy night; the soil under it, however, was black and bore traces offire. It was easy to surmise that Smain had passed that way with hisdivision, or that the fire driven from far by a strong gale had sweptover the dry jungle and, finally encountering a damp forest, had passedon by a not very wide track between it and the ravine. Stas wanted toascertain whether traces of Smain's camp or imprints of hoofs could notbe found on this track; and with pleasure he became convinced thatnothing resembling them could be seen. Kali, who was well versed insuch matters, claimed positively that the fire must have been borne bythe wind and that since that time at least a fortnight must haveelapsed.
"This proves," observed Stas, "that Smain, with his Mahdists, isalready the Lord knows where, and in no case shall we fall into hishands."
Afterwards he and Nell began to gaze curiously at the vegetation, asthus far they had not ridden so close to a tropical forest. They rodenow along its very edge in order to have the shade over their heads.The soil here was moist and soft, overgrown with dark-green grass,moss, and ferns. Here and there lay decomposed trunks, covered asthough with a carpet of most beautiful orchids, with flowers brightlycolored like butterflies and brightly colored cups in the center of thecrown. Wherever the sun reached, the ground was gilded by other oddorchids, small and yellow, in which two petals protruding on the sidesof a third petal created a resemblance to the head of a little animalwith big ears ending abruptly. In some places the forest was lined withbushes of wild jasmine draped in garlands with thin, climbing plants,blooming rose-colored. The shallow hollows and depressions wereovergrown with ferns, compressed into one impenetrable thicket, herelow and expansive, there high, entwined with climbing plants, as thoughdistaffs, reaching up to the first boughs of the trees and spreadingunder them in delicate green lace. In the depths there was a greatvariety of trees; date, raffia, fan-palm, sycamore, bread-fruit,euphorbia, immense varieties of senna, acacia; trees with foliage darkand glittering and light or red as blood grew side by side, trunk bytrunk, with entangled branches from which shot yellow and purpleflowers resembling candlesticks. In some groups the tree-tops could notbe seen as the climbing plants covered them from top to bottom, andleaping from trunk to trunk formed the letters W and M and hung in formof festoons, portieres, and whole curtains. Caoutchouc lianas juststrangled the trees with thousands of serpentine tendrils andtransformed them into pyramids, buried with white flowers like snow.About the greater lianas the smaller entwined and the medley became sothick that it formed a wall through which neither man nor animal couldpenetrate. Only in places where the elephants, whose strength nothingcan resist, forced their way, were there beaten down in the thicketdeep and winding passageways, as it were.
The song of birds which so pleasantly enlivens the European forestcould not be heard at all; instead, on the tree-tops resounded thestrangest calls, similar to the sound of a saw, to the beating of adrum, to the clatter of a stork, to the squeaking of old doors, to theclapping of hands, to caterwauling, or even to the loud, excited talkof men. From time to time soared above the trees flocks of parrots,gray, green, white, or a small bevy of gaudily plumaged toucans in aquiet, wavy flight. On the snowy background of the rubber climbingplants glimmered like sylvan sprites, little monkey-mourners, entirelyblack with the exception of white tails, a white girdle on the sides,and white whiskers enveloping faces of the hue of coal.
The children gazed with admiration at this virgin forest which the eyesof a white man perhaps had never beheld. Saba every little whileplunged into the thicket from which came his happy barks. The quinine,breakfast, and sleep had revived little Nell. Her face was animated andassumed bright colors, her eyes sparkled. Every moment she asked Stasthe names of various trees and birds and he answered as well as hecould. Finally she announced that she wanted to dismount from the horseand pluck a bunch of flowers.
But the boy smiled and said:
"The siafu would eat you at once."
"What is a siafu? Is it worse than a lion?"
"Worse and not worse. They are ants which bite terribly. There are agreat many of them on the branches from which they fall on people'sbacks like a rain of fire. But they also walk on the ground. Dismountfrom the horse and try merely to walk a little in the forest and atonce you will begin to jump and whine like a monkey. It is easier todefend one's self against a lion. At times they move in immense ranksand then everything gives way to them."
"And would you be able to cope with them?"
"I? Of course. With the help of fire or boiling water."
"You always know how to take care of yourself," she said with deepconviction.
These words flattered Stas greatly; so he replied conceitedly and atthe same time merrily:
"If you were only well, then as to the rest depend upon me."
"My head does not even ache now."
"Thank God! Thank God!"
Speaking thus they passed the forest, but one flank of which reachedthe hollow way. The sun was still high in the heaven and broiledintensely, as the weather cleared and in the sky not a cloud could beseen. The horses were covered with sweat and Nell began to complain ofthe heat. For this reason Stas, having selected a suitable place,turned to the ravine in which the western wall cast a deep shadow. Itwas cool there, and the water remaining in the depressions after thedownpour was also comparatively cool. Over the little travelers' headscontinually flew from one brink of the ravine to the other toucans withpurple heads, blue breasts and yellow wings; so the boy began to tellNell what he knew from books about their habits.
"Do you know," he said, "there are certain toucans which during thebreeding season seek hollows in trees; there the female lays eggs andsits upon them, while the male pastes the opening with clay so thatonly her head is visible, and not until the young are hatched does themale begin to peck with his long beak and free the mother."
"And what does she eat during that time?"
"The male feeds her. He continually flies about and brings her all kindof berries."
"And does he permit her to sleep?" she asked in a sleepy voice. Stassmiled.
"If Mrs. Toucan has the same desire that you have at this moment, thenhe permits her."
In fact, in the col
d ravine an unconquerable drowsiness oppressed thelittle girl, as from morning until early in the afternoon she hadrested but little. Stas had a sincere desire to follow her example, butcould not as he had to hold her, fearing that she might fall; besides,it was immensely uncomfortable for him to sit man-fashion on the flatand wide saddle which Hatim and Seki Tamala had provided for the littleone in Fashoda. He did not dare to move and rode the horse as slowly aspossible in order not to awaken her.
She, in the meantime, leaning backwards, supported her little head uponhis shoulder and slept soundly.
But she breathed so regularly and calmly that Stas ceased to regret thelast quinine powder. He felt that danger of fever was removed andcommenced to reason thus:
"The ravine continually leads upwards and even now is quite steep. Weare higher and the country is drier and drier. It is