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 tras, 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. amzers, 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 
