172 A NATURALIST ON DESERT ISLANDS. 



up — and then — Prenez garde a vous, Monsieur Castro. 

 The country is seething with discontent ; the government 

 is getting " jumpy" ; plots are hatching everywhere 

 like turtles' eggs in the sand. So here was the little gun- 

 boat, sent over to see that we were not getting into 

 mischief. 



As we scanned through our glasses the ugly little 

 vessel, so cranky and so top heavy, we felt the weight 

 of the parrots in the bag, slung over our shoulders, and 

 laughed again to think they had been the indirect cause 

 of a warship steaming so many miles and burning such a 

 quantity of expensive coal. Probably no series of parrots 

 of one species has ever been the innocent cause of the 

 expenditure of so much money. 



But what a beautiful little plot it might have been ; 

 and how neatly we should have been caught ! It seemed 

 almost a pity it wasn't all true. 



Coming down the cactus-strewn slopes, we had just 

 reached the little path which goes mnding along the coast, 

 when we came upon a landing party from the gun-boat, 

 who apparently had lost no time in getting ashore. They 

 all carried rifles, cartridge belts and side arms ; and one of 

 their number, apparently a warrant officer, carried a sword. 

 The plot seemed to be thickening — what were we to do ? 

 A Venezuelan prison did not seem at all an inviting place 

 on this bright sunny day. Should we, as the Americans 

 say, " run for the tall timber, or fall for it ? " There 

 was no tall timber in sight ; and to fall here, among this 

 wilderness of cactus, was worse thaji going to prison ; 

 so we held on, confident that the parrots, if occasion 

 arose, would pull us through. 



But apparently, this somewhat alarming posse of men 

 have no orders to arrest us ; for after the exchange of the 

 mosfc pimctilious of salutations and much doffing of hats, 

 the following short and rather one-sided conversation 

 takes place : 



D. " Buenas dias, Senores — a fine morning — you are 

 taking an early walk." 



