286 THE ADVENTURES OF 



stream. At length, guided by the palm trees, our skiff glided| 

 between two banks bordered by trees, the high tops of which 

 sheltered us with their shade. 



Everything was calm around us, and we remained silent, awed 

 by the majesty of nature. The stream flowed on in one single 

 sheet, creepers hanging from the tree-tops drooped down into 

 the water, whilst kingfishers skimmed from one shore to the 

 other, and humming-birds, with their varied and shining plum- 

 age, fluttered about the flowers. Every now and then a low- 

 hanging tree impeded our passage, and we had to bend down 

 on the raft to avoid being struck by such obstacles. A mass of 

 underwood often hid the interior of the woods from our view ; 

 but here and there a break in the foliage allov/ed us a glimpse 

 into its depths. Ebony trees, cotton wood, pepper trees, and 

 palms, were intermixed with tree ferns, magnolias, white oaks, 

 and willows. Here and there, too, a sunbeam marked out a 

 vast circle of light upon the dark water, and myriads of aquatic 

 insects, gnats, dragonflies, and butterflies, sported in the air or 

 swam over the glittering surface. 



After a time, the state of inaction to which we were doomed, 

 aggravated by the stings of mosquitoes and large green-eyed 

 flies, became a perfect torture. 



" Those are horse-flies," said Sumichrast to Lucien ; " they 

 are very fond of blood, and are a misery to all kinds of mammals 

 from one end of America to the other." 



"Their bite is more painful than that of the mosquitoes," 

 answered the boy, from whose hand a drop of blood was 

 trickling. 



" That is because their proboscis is armed with lancets, which 

 are sharp enough to pierce the hides of bulls and horses." 



During this voyage, Lucien amused himself by teaching the 

 two parrots to repeat the names of his brother and sister ; but 

 the birds, who, with one foot held up and their heads bent down, 

 although they paid great attention to the words repeated by the 

 boy, as yet did not profit much by the lesson. 



In the course of our voyage, we were constantly losing trace 

 of the current in some vast lagoon, and had often a long search 



