THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. II5 



not enter, and we laughed at him. The trail we were 

 following was one thread of a net-work of secret paths 

 known only to the Indians, that had extent all over 

 the island, traversing the forests only, from shore to 

 shore. Our path was crossed by other trails, but my 

 boys infallibly selected the right one, and we marched 

 on swiftly. 



We were skirting the innermost of the Indian gar- 

 dens, but soon left them and plunged into the woods, 

 where the trail followed mainly the crest of a tortuous 

 ridge. Ramiers, or wood-pigeons, were cooing all 

 around us, and Coryet and I went for one. He saw 

 it first, and tumbled it from its high perch among the 

 leaves to the ground. After an hour on the ridge we 

 began to descend. The hill was very steep, and I 

 had to cling to roots and rocks in going down. Soon 

 we passed through a garden owned by Indian Jim, 

 whose wife we saw "toted" in a hammock, the week 

 before, dying, to the village to receive extreme unction 

 from the priest on his visit. Poor woman ! her last 

 task is finished on this earth, and never again will 

 she look upon this solitary spot so often the scene 

 of her daily toil. It was a dell most secluded and 

 wild, and ground, rocks, and trees were covered with 

 ferns. 



As we waded along knee-deep in ferns, a couple of 

 perdrix, or mountain doves, got up ; one alighted 

 in the loop of a swinging liane some forty yards away, 

 and I dropped him into the ferns, stone-dead. Me- 

 yong saw an agouti, but too quickly he penetrated the 

 forest of ferns for us to catch him. Suddenly I heard 

 the music of falling water the most liquid melody 

 in the world and opportunely, too, for we were 



