and every nerve in a state of tension as I
wondered what would be the first gloriously feathered trophy that I
should secure.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

AMONGST NATURE'S TREASURES.

It was a land of marvels to me, as now for the first time I saw in all
their beauty the tall cocoa-nut trees and other palms, like vast ferns,
towering up on their column-like stems and spreading their enormous
feathery leaves so gracefully towards the earth. Then after a few steps
we came upon bananas, with their long ragged leaves and mighty clusters
of curiously-shaped fruit, with hundreds of other trees, such as I had
never even heard of before, and among which, every now and then, we
heard the sharp harsh cry of some bird of the parrot tribe.

These cries set us both on the _qui vive_, but though we walked for some
little distance we did not obtain a shot nor see a single bird, but we
found that there was plenty of forest land full of vast trees with here
and there patches of beautiful undergrowth, so that, as Uncle Dick said,
it was only a matter of time.

"I feel as excited over it, Nat, as you seem to be, my boy; for it is
intensely interesting always to me, this search for unknown birds.
What's that?"

We stopped to listen, but could not make out what the noise was that
kept falling upon our ears. It was a kind of soft pleasant croak,
ending in a kind of deep hum, sometimes coming from one direction,
sometimes from another.

"It can't be a bull-frog, Nat, for we are not near any marsh or water as
far as I can see."

"Are there tree bull-frogs, uncle?" I said, "because that noise comes
out of one of the tall trees. Oh! look, there's a big bird," I cried,
and raising my gun I took quick aim and fired, when far above us there
was a heavy flapping noise of wings amongst the trees, and then silence.

"A miss, or a hit too weak to bring him down, Nat," said my uncle
smiling. "Better luck next time. Load again, my boy."

I hastily reloaded, and we went on again, rising higher and higher over
very difficult ground; and then we entered another grove of high trees
and heard the same soft croaking noise as before.

"Pigeons, Nat, without doubt," said my uncle. "No other birds, I think,
would have made that curious flapping of the wings."

"But that bird I shot at was too big for a pigeon, uncle," I replied.

"You'll find pigeons out here, Nat, four times as big as you have seen
at home. Look, my boy, on the top branches of t