38 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



cluster, which I cut off and hung on a tree, against 

 my return. 



Plantains there were, and enough of them, big for 

 cooking, and as these are boiled, and never ripened 

 before being eaten, I left them there for another day. 

 It was comforting to have this assurance of plentiful 

 supply for the larder at my very door, for my stock 

 of provisions was running low. I must now look out 

 supplies of meat and farinaceous food, and draw upon 

 the resources of nature. 



So many birds claimed my attention here that I 

 knew not which way to turn : doves in the thickets, 

 water wagtails among the rocks in the water, hum- 

 ming birds darting through the air in every direction, 

 pigeons dropping seeds from the trees overhead, and 

 parrots flying through the treetops, screaming in 

 noisy chorus. As I climbed the brook bed the tree 

 ferns met overhead, the banks approached so near to- 

 gether, steep and slippery. 



The light filtered through the fern leaves in a 

 golden shower, the water fell from rock to rock with 

 metallic melody, to which responded the birds above 

 in strains antiphonal. One might wander here, fancy- 

 ing Orpheus himself had returned from the Plutonian 

 shades; and as if to confirm the illusion, the trees 

 and shrubs began to nod their heads and toss their 

 branches, in response to the salutation of the morning 

 breeze. 



Perched upon a dry stick projecting from the 

 bank, a bird in garb of golden bronze, with inor- 

 dinately large bill and weak little feet, sat regarding 



