the party were stirring as soon as it was daylight; for in the tropics the early hours are the pleasantest, and they had fallen into the habit of early rising in india. the trees were alive with monkeys of several kinds, though the proboscis tribe seemed to be in the majority. felix came out of the cabin with his gun in his hand, and began to regard the denizens of the tree-tops with interest.
"what are you going to do, flix?" asked louis, who was sitting on the rail, busily cutting out a notch in the end of a long piece of board.
"don't you see there is plenty of game here, my darling?" demanded felix, pointing up into the trees.
"game!" exclaimed louis contemptuously. "monkeys!"
"didn't you shoot a couple of them yesterday afternoon, louis?"
"i did; but i wanted them in order to study the creature. now every fellow knows what a proboscis monkey is, as he did not before except by name. i got my books out, and read him up with the animal before me. i am glad i did; for the picture of him[40] i had seen was nothing like him in his nasal appendage, which gives him his name."
"what is the reason of that?"
"the portrait was taken from a young one, before his nose had attained its full growth. but i don't believe in shooting monkeys for the fun of it. our party are not inclined to eat them."
"i'd as soon eat a cat as a monkey," added felix.
"then, don't shoot those long-nosed fellows, for we have all the specimens of them we need," said louis.
"what are you going to do with them, my darling? you can't keep them much longer, and you will have to throw them overboard, for they won't smell sweet by to-morrow."
"achang learned something about taxidermy from the naturalist he travelled with, and he has promised to skin and mount one of them for me."
"but what's that you are making, louis?" asked felix, who had been trying to take the measure of the implement the young crœsus was fashioning.
its use was not at all evident. a triangular piece had been sawed out of the end of a strip of board four inches wide, and the rest of it had been cut down and rounded off, and the thing looked more like a pitchfork than anything else.
"is it to pitch hay with?" persisted felix.
"what have you got there, mr. belgrave?" page 41. "what have you got there, mr. belgrave?"
page 41.
"no, it is not; when you see me use it, you will know what it is for. you must wait till that time before you know," replied louis, who appeared to[41] have finished the implement just as the other brought his gun to his shoulder.
"that's the handsomest schnake i iver saw since me modther, long life to her, left ould ireland before i was bahrn."
"don't shoot him, flix!" protested louis vigorously. "where is he?"
"jist forninst the bow of the boat. sure, oi'm the schnake-killer of the party, and he's moi game."
"i don't want him killed yet," replied louis, as he moved forward from the waist with the forked stick in his hand. "he is handsome, as you say, flix."
creeping very cautiously till he could see over the bow, he discovered the serpent, which was nearly six feet long, working slowly down a dead log towards the water. springing to his feet on the bow, he struck down with his weapon, directing the fork at the neck of the reptile. the outside of the log was nothing but punk, or the operation would have been a failure. as it was, the two points of the implement sunk into the wood, and the snake was pinned in the opening at the end of the stick.
"what have you got there, mr. belgrave?" asked achang, hurrying to the side of the operator.
"a snake; do you know him?" demanded louis, as the reptile struggled to escape.
"i saw one like it years ago;" and he gave a long dyak name to it which the others did not understand. "wait a minute or two, and i will bring him on board for you."[42]
"i don't know that we want him on board," added louis.
"he is not poison, and he won't hurt you," said the bornean, as he made a slip-noose at the end of a piece of cord.
hanging over the bow, he passed the noose over the head of the snake, and hauled it taut, and then made the end he held fast to the boat. louis lifted his implement from the neck of the snake, and he squirmed and wriggled as though he "meant business." achang leaped to the shore, and seizing the serpent by the tail, tossed him into the boat. he struck on one of the cushions, and the cord prevented him from going any farther.
scott and morris had just reached the fore cabin at this moment, and they started back as though they had been bitten by the snake. his head, tail, and belly were bright red, with white stripes upon a dark ground along his back and sides. no one but achang had ever seen such a serpent, even in a museum. his snakeship was disposed to make himself comfortable on the cushion, and the bornean loosed the cord around his neck.
"i saw a small snake, not more than two feet long, swimming near the shore of lake cobbosseecontee, in maine, that had nearly all the colors of the rainbow in his skin," said morris. "i tried to knock him over with my fishing-rod, and catch him; but i failed. i told the people where we boarded about him, but no one had ever seen a snake like him."[43]
"there are plenty of such snakes in south america, some that are not poisonous, which the native women tame and wear as necklaces," added louis.
"well, what are you going to do with him?" asked captain scott. "i think you had better kill him, and throw him into the river, pretty as he is. he isn't a very desirable fellow to have as a companion on board."
"what is the use of killing him? he would only be food for the crocodiles," protested louis.
"do what you like with him, louis," added the captain.
"i certainly will not have him killed. if achang never saw but one of the kind, there cannot be a great many of them in this part of the island. put him ashore, achang," said the humane young gentleman.
the bornean complied with this request; and the handsome snake skurried off in the woods, none the worse for his adventure. but the others were not quite satisfied with the policy of the young millionaire. they wanted to shoot whatever they could see in the nature of game, including monkeys, and he was opposed to this destructive action. of course they could kill whatever they pleased, but the moral influence of the real leader prevailed over them.
"steam enough!" shouted felipe from the engine.
"take the wheel, clingman, back her out and go ahead," said the captain; and in a few moments they were steaming down the river.[44]
"i suppose you haven't any tenderness for crocodiles, have you, louis?" inquired scott, with a smile.
"you seem to believe that i am as chicken-hearted as a girl; but i believe in killing all harmful animals, including poisonous snakes; but i do not like to see these innocent monkeys shot down for the fun of it," replied louis. "you can kill them if you choose, but i will not."
"the rest of us will not, if you are opposed to it," added scott.
"crocodile on the port hand!" exclaimed clingman. "he is swimming across the river, about three boats' lengths from us."
"stop her!" said the captain.
"i shot the last one, and i will not fire at this one," added louis, who was not disposed to monopolize the fun.
"all right; then i will be number two, morris three, flix four, and achang five; and if you are all satisfied, we will fire in this order hereafter," continued scott, as he took aim at the saurian.
he missed the eye of the reptile, and the bullet from the rifle glanced off and dropped into the water.
"how many shots is a fellow to have before he loses his chance?" asked the captain, as he aimed again.
"i suggest three," said louis. "those in favor of three say ay."
they all voted "ay," and scott fired twice more.[45] "your turn, morris;" and he appeared to be very much chagrined at his ill luck. "i could hardly see the eye of the varmint."
morris fired his three shots with no better success. felix took a different position from the others, placing himself on the stem. he fired, and the saurian still kept on his course. he did better the second time; and the reptile floundered for a moment, and then turned over dead. the boat was run up alongside, and achang was required to bring out his parong latok, with which he decapitated the game at a single blow this time; but the creature was only nine feet long.
pitts called the cabin party to breakfast at this time. the blanchita went ahead again, and the repeating rifles were left on the cushions. at louis's suggestion the captain gave the four men off duty permission to use the arms on crocodiles, but not on monkeys.
ham and eggs, with hot biscuit and coffee, was the bill of fare; and the young men had sharpened their appetites in the sports of the morning. before they were half done they heard the crack of a rifle. they listened for the second shot, but none followed it.
"who fired that shot, pitts?" asked the captain, as the steward brought in another plate of biscuit.
"clinch, sir," replied the man. "he knocked the crocodile over at the first shot, sir."
"then he is a better shot than i am," said scott, laughing.[46]
"or any of the rest of us who had their turns," added felix. "louis is the only fellow that brings 'em down the first time trying."
"the rest of you would have done better if the sun had not reflected on the water, and shaken your aim," said louis.
before the meal was finished, another shot was heard, followed by two more. when the party went forward they found that the little steamer had gone around a bend so that the forest shaded the surface of the water. wales had fired the last three times at a crocodile still in sight; but he declared that he could not hit the side of a barn twenty feet from him, and did not care to fire again. the men went to breakfast, and the cabin party picked up the rifles. it was achang's turn; and he missed twice, but killed the game at the third shot.
"i can see four more of them. we seem to have come to a nest of them, and the family are out for a morning airing," said louis, as he picked up his rifle, while felix was filling the other chambers with cartridges. "they have all started to go across the river."
"that must be the father of the family at the head of the procession," added the captain. "it is your turn now, louis."
"go ahead a little, pitts," said the next one in turn; for the cook had taken the wheel while clingman went to his morning meal. "i can't see his eye yet."[47]
"that will do; stop her. i can see his eye now, and there is no reflection on the water."
as soon as the boat lost her headway, louis fired. the saurian leaped nearly out of the water, and came down wrong side up. there were three dead reptiles lying on the water. it was the captain's next shot, and when he placed the yacht in a position to suit him he fired. the crocodile lifted his head out of the water, and did not move again.
"bravo, captain!" cried louis. "you did not have a fair chance last time, and you have redeemed yourself."
"i thought i could shoot better than before, and now i feel better. but there are two more, and your turn, morris."
he killed the game with the third shot, and felix finished the last in sight with the second. achang had brought out his formidable weapon, and the six dead reptiles were decapitated. the last three killed were each nine feet long, while the one louis had shot was fourteen. the heads were all put in the sampan, and they made a full load for it. the blanchita arrived at kuching early in the afternoon, and the chief of police measured the heads, and took the figures from felix. he made one hundred and eight feet of crocodile, which the official approved as correct, and paid not quite forty dollars for the bounty.
