e
appeared to entertain a strong affection. Having supped and smoked, the
travellers slung their hammocks to the trees and went to sleep. In the
middle of the night, several times, they were awakened by the cries of
the denizens of the thickets. It was supposed that when any two of
these took to fighting the others were stirred up to roar in sympathy!
Be this as it may, the mingled cries, roars, and shrieks, of sapajous,
alouates, jaguars, cougars, pacaris, sloths, curassows, parraquas,
etcetera, broke forth from time to time with such fury, that sleep was
almost unattainable; then a thunderstorm came on which wet them to the
skin; after that a large vampire-bat bit Bunco on the nose, causing that
worthy to add his noise to the general concert; and, finally, a soft
hairy animal dropt from a branch into Larry O'Hale's hammock. The
Irishman received it with open arms and a yell of terror. He crushed it
to his chest, which drew forth a responsive yell of agony from the
animal, whose claws and teeth were instantly fixed in Larry's chin and
cheeks. He caught it by the tail--the teeth and claws were at once
transferred to his hands; then he seized it by the throat, from which
there issued a gasping shriek as he hurled it high into the air, whence
it descended into the embers of the expiring fire, and, bolting
violently from that too-warm spot, sent up a shower of sparks which
revealed the fact that the unfortunate man had all but annihilated Donna
Isabella's favourite cat!

Thus they proceeded down the Orinoco, and, finally, reached the
sea-coast, where they opportunely found a vessel ready to sail for Old
England. It was not long, therefore, before they were once more out
upon the wide sea, with the happy consciousness that they were actually
"homeward bound."

There are times in a man's career when realities appear to memory like
the dim shadows of a dream, just as there are periods when dreams rise
up with all the bold and startling vividness of reality. Our
adventurers felt something of this when they had been a few days at sea,
and began to think of and talk about their recent career in South
America. It seemed to them as though their romantic life in the woods,
their encounters with wild beasts, their adventures and misadventures in
Ecuador, their dangers and difficulties in crossing the Andes, and their
tranquil descent of the Orinoco, were a confused yet vivid vision; and
often, while pacing the deck togeth