126 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



again, the deep silence broken only by the call of the 

 wood-pigeon. 



Turning my attention more closely to the vines that 

 enclosed me, to be satisfied that there were no poison- 

 ous centipedes or scorpions lurking there, I unex- 

 pectedly beheld a vision of loveliness seldom vouch- 

 safed to dwellers of the icy North. Close at hand, 

 within two feet of me, sat a tiny humming-bird on a 

 downy nest, which was fastened upon a twig no larger 

 than a pencil. During all my stay it had sat there, 

 gazing upon the first object of human kind, probably, 

 it had ever beheld. Fearlessly it glanced at me with 

 its bright, black eyes, and curiously it followed my 

 every motion with its shapely little head. Involun- 

 tarily I stretched forth my hand to touch it, but at 

 once drew back for fear it might take alarm and fly 

 away. A buzzing of wings attracted my attention, 

 and I beheld the mate of the one on the nest, who 

 darted at me with unmistakable fury, his glittering 

 crest erected and anger shooting from his eyes. 

 Verily ! had this pigmy's body been in proportion to 

 his heart, I should have been destroyed. Satisfied 

 that he could not drive me away by darting at my 

 eyes, he rested himself a moment upon a twig near 

 the nest, where he was at once joined by the female, 

 who seemed to endeavor by caresses to soothe his 

 ruffled temper and to assure him that my intentions 

 toward them were not evil. Touched to the heart by 

 this exhibition of trust and love, I would not have 

 harmed these little innocents for a fortune. Exposed 

 for a moment, as the female left the nest, were two 

 eggs, white as snow, diminutive as seed-pearls. 



For several hours I watched without even a sound 



