se topmost twigs were full two hundred
and fifty feet from the ground. And yet it was easy for the sailors to
ascend; so many natural ropes had kind Nature lowered for their use, in
the smooth lianes which hung to the very earth, often without a knot or
leaf. Once in the tree, you were within a new world, suspended between
heaven and earth, and as Cary said, no wonder if, like Jack when he
climbed the magic bean-stalk, you had found a castle, a giant, and a few
acres of well-stocked park, packed away somewhere amid that labyrinth of
timber. Flower-gardens at least were there in plenty; for every limb was
covered with pendent cactuses, gorgeous orchises, and wild pines; and
while one-half the tree was clothed in rich foliage, the other half,
utterly leafless, bore on every twig brilliant yellow flowers, around
which humming-birds whirred all day long. Parrots peeped in and out of
every cranny, while, within the airy woodland, brilliant lizards basked
like living gems upon the bark, gaudy finches flitted and chirruped,
butterflies of every size and color hovered over the topmost twigs,
innumerable insects hummed from morn till eve; and when the sun went
down, tree-toads came out to snore and croak till dawn. There was more
life round that one tree than in a whole square mile of English soil.

And Amyas, as he lounged among the branches, felt at moments as if he
would be content to stay there forever, and feed his eyes and ears
with all its wonders--and then started sighing from his dream, as he
recollected that a few days must bring the foe upon them, and force
him to decide upon some scheme at which the bravest heart might falter
without shame. So there he sat (for he often took the scout's place
himself), looking out over the fantastic tropic forest at his feet,
and the flat mangrove-swamps below, and the white sheet of foam-flecked
blue; and yet no sail appeared; and the men, as their fear of fever
subsided, began to ask when they would go down and refit the ship, and
Amyas put them off as best he could, till one noon he saw slipping
along the shore from the westward, a large ship under easy sail, and
recognized in her, or thought he did so, the ship which they had passed
upon their way.

If it was she, she must have run past them to La Guayra in the night,
and have now returned, perhaps, to search for them along the coast.

She crept along slowly. He was in hopes that she might pass the river's
mouth: but no. She la