Citation
The Crusoes of Guiana

Material Information

Title:
The Crusoes of Guiana or, The white tiger
Added title page title:
The white tiger
Creator:
Boussenard, Louis, 1847-1910
Place of Publication:
New York
Publisher:
Armstrong
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
246 p. : ;

Subjects

Genre:
fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

General Note:
First published in English, 1883.
General Note:
On spine: Romances and adventures.
Statement of Responsibility:
by Louis Boussenard.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
025307476 ( ALEPH )
24802623 ( OCLC )
ADK1784 ( NOTIS )

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Full Text


31).

Robin marched steadily forward (p



THE

CRUSOES OF GUIANA

OR

LHE WHITE TIGER

4
By LOUIS BOUSSENARD
¢/-3 13 oo



EDGEWOOD PUBLISHING COMPANY.








CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
MISSING «© e e -« . .-
CHAPTER II.
A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE «ee

CHAPTER III.
AN INDIAN’S GRATITUDE ° . °

CHAPTER IV.

UPON HIS TRACK 2 +6 + «+ @
CHAPTER V.
A FRIEND IN NEED 7 6 ©

CHAPTER VI.
A NARROW SQUEAK. +» +© «+ @

CHAPTER VII.

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING . . .

CHAPTER VIII.
A MYSTERIOUS FRIEND »- + + «6

PAGE

17

31

46

55

6§

82

97



vi CONTENTS.

eS LY

CHAPTER IX.
A HIDDEN ENEMY eae he xe

CHAPTER X,
PREPARING FOR A START . .

CHAPTER XI.

A DESPERATE CHASE . ° . .

CHAPTER XII.

FIRST EXPERIENCES . ° . .

CHAPTER XIII.

FISHING EXTRAORDINARY . « >
CHAPTER XIV.

SCARING A TIGER e . . .

CHAPTER XV.

OVER A REEF . ° . . °

CHAPTER XVI.
A HAVEN OF REFUGE ~ . «©

CHAPTER XVII.
THE STOCKADE »« +6 «© «+ =

CHAPTER XVIII.

A FIGHT UNTO THE DEATH e .

CHAPTER XIX,

LIFE IN THE CLEARING e e °

109

120

126

139

152

162

172

185

201

237

228





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Robin marched steadily forward . .« «© « Frontispiece

He drew out from the bottom of the holea chopper.

There was a long silence, which was broken only by the

voice of Fagot . ns . . .
Close to the creek lay eleven skeletons - «© 6
He saw them hanging themselves by their tails . .
They carried back Benoit to the prison + 28
Come, my friend, and sleep here . . 7 .

He applied its tail behind the ear of the sick man .

e

Mad with terror, he bounded back, making a sweep with his

sword at the terrible snake . . -

He remained as if petrified, as a man with a chopper in his

hand rose suddenly ° . . . ° .
Her eyes turned to a portrait © © e « -«
Makingacanoe . . . - e e ee

The fire had consumed everything eS, ener

12

27
32
50
53
67
68

77

88
98
109
116



viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.



PAGE

“Itishe! It ishe whom they arekilling!” .« « « 136
Their store of provisions was carried on board . « . 140
In three minutes an arbour was constructed for the mother

and children . . . . 7 ee e eo e I5!
“Oh! it is milk, real milk!” \ © © © « oo 352
The Bonishook withlaughter . +. © .« e «+ 168
Angosso climbed with a vigour and address which would

have made the fortune ofa gymnast . . + « 180
Cassimir went in front, striking the vegetation to right and

left . . . . . . . ee oe oe « I9%
These trees were united by four beams 7 e ee e 192
“ Now some wood, and we will bake it hard” . e e 204
He talked the matter over with Cassimir . .« . « 212
For some moments Robin had regarded with curiosity a

large brown body . rr . 8 228
He carried on his head a great basket like a chicken-coop . 230
One fine morning Nicholas, to his delight, received a pavket

ofcigars. . og oe el 2354
“What is that?” cried Robin, seizing hisgun . e« .« 24!

Cassimir at last succeeded in catching a monkey. e¢ e 245







THE WHITE TIGER.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA.



CHAPTER I.

; MISSING,

gale. The thunder growled furiously, and the claps,



alternately loud and stifled, short and prolonged,
sharp and crackling, sometimes curious, always
terrible, seemed to run into one endless detonation. From north
to south, from east to west, stretched above the tree-tops, as far
as eye could reach, an immense black cloud bordered by an
angry copper band.

The blinding flashes of all forms and all colours blended in
one vast illumination, as if they were escaping from a crater
turned upside down. From these masses of clouds, which the
mighty sun had pumped up from the marshes and unexplored
solitude, poured down in perfect torrents what we cali in Europe

VOL. L B



2 THE WHITE TIGER.



drops of rain, but which resembled large masses of metal in a
state of fusion, across which the lightning was strangely reflected.
The leaves fell cut as if by a storm of hail, or rather as if by
millions of jets of steam-pumps.

From time to time an enormous mahogany-tree, the pride of
the verdant forest, fell with a crash. A cedar, over 100 years
old, which four men could not encircle in their arms, crushed
down like a splinter of pine. A grim ebony, whose trunk raised
itself more than 130 feet, and was as hard as iron, bent like a
straw, while other giants, whose heads rose nearly to the clouds,
fell shivered by the lightning. These, fastened together by masses
of lianas, and whose branches were hidden by orchids and other
parasitic plants in full flower, swayed and fell in a heap. Millions
of red petals strewed the grass : one might have taken them for
drops of blood poured from the sides of a stricken Colossus. The
frightened animals were silent, the grand voice of the tempest
alone bellowed.

This terrible concert of nature, which might have been called
the symphony of the genius of the storm executed bya cbeir of
Titans, filled the immense valley of the Maroni, the grand river
of French Guiana.

The night fell suddenly, with a rapidity peculiar to the equa-
torial zones, where the sun rises without a dawn, and disappears
without a twilight.

Any one who had not been familiarized for a long time with
these terrible convulsions would have been astonished at the

sight of 100 men of all ages and of different nationalities, who



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 3



were ranged, silent, impassible, hat in hand, in four lines, under a
vast barn.

The roof of boughs of the waie seemed as if every instant it
would fly away ; the beams trembled, and the four lanterns hung
at the corners seemed on the point of being extinguished. The
faces of these men, Arabs, Indians, blacks, and Europeans,
preserved the same expression of dull impassibility. All were
bare-footed, clad in trousers and blouses of grey cotton, on the
back of which were two large black letters, “ C. P.”

Along these four lines a man of middle height walked quietly.
His shoulders were disproportionately large; his face was brutal,
and divided by a great brown moustache, with long cosmetted
points ; his eyes were grey-blue, with an expression of craft and
duplicity.

This man was clad in a coat of blue cloth with a collar sur-
rounded by a band of silver, and on each side of his trousers
were two stripes, also of silver. A long sabre hung by his side,
and in his belt was a pistol. He carried in his hand a strong
whip, with which, from time to time, he executed with a satisfied
air a flourish, with a correctness which indicated a profound
knowledge of the art of single-stick. He examined from head to
foot, peering out beneath the peak of his cafée, which was of the
same stuff as his coat, each of the men as they replied to the call
of their names.

This call wis vande hy a man clad in the same uniform, who
stood before the front rank, and whose physiognomy formed
a striking contrast with that of his companion. He was tall,

B2



4 THE WHITE TIGER.



thin, and well-built, and his face was by no means disagreeable.
He did not carry a stick, but had in his hand a small note-
book upon which were inscribed the names. He called out in a
loud voice, stopping often, so bewildering was the noise of the
tempest.

“ Abdullah.”

“ Here!”

“ Mingrassamy.”

“ Here!” replied the hoarse voice of a Hindoo, who was shiver-
ing in spite of the suffocating temperature.

“ Another who has St. Vitus’s dance,” grumbled the man with
the waxed moustachios. “ He pretends that he has got the fever.
Wait a little, my man, I'll make you dance presently with my
stick.”

“ Simonin.”

“Here,” feebly said a European, whose face was livid, his
cheeks fallen, and who could scarcely stand upright.

“‘ Reply louder, animal!”

And the heavy blow of the stick fell upon the shoulder of the
poor creature, who twisted and gave a cry of pain.

“There! I knew very well that his voice would come back to
him. See, now he is able to sing like a red ape.”

“ Romulus.”

“Here!” cried, with a voice like a stentor, a negro of colossal
size, showing a double range of teeth of which a crocodile might
have been jealous.

“ Robin.”



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 5



No answer.

“ Robin,” repeated he who was reading the roll-call.

“ Answer now, scum of the earth!” cried the man who carried
the stick.

“Silence.”

A vague murmur circulated through the four ranks.

“ Silence, you dogs! The first who leaves his place, or says a
word, I will blow out his brains ;” and he cocked his pistol.

There were a few seconds of calm during which the thunder was
quiet.

“To arms ! to arms!” cried some people a few yards off. Then
there was the shot of a musket.

“A hundred thousand thunders! We are now ina nice mess.
For a certainty Robin has escaped, and he is a_ political
prisoner.”

The prisoner Robin was marked as missing, and the roll-call
was brought to a close without further incident. We say prisoner
and not convict. The first of these names being reserved for men
accused of political crime; the second for ordinary prisoners.
It is, in fact, the one nominal difference established by those who
are sent to these horrible places, and their guards. The work is
identical, the food, clothing, and rules. Prisoners and convicts
mix together, receive in equal superabundance the blows of the
stick of warder Benoit.

The scene was, as we have said, in French Guiana, on the right
bank of the Maroni, a river which separates the French possessions
from the Dutch.



6 THE WHITE TIGER.





The convict establishment where was passing in February, 185-,

the prologue of the drama which we are about to tell, was called
jt. Laurent. It was but recently founded, and was an offshoot

of that in the Island of Cayenne. The convicts were not yet up
to their full number, and did not exceed 500. The place was
unhealthy. Marsh fevers were frequent, and the work of clearing
the ground crushing.

The overlooker Benoit accompanied his brigade to the barrack.
He had the hang-dog look of a fox caught inatrap. His stick
was no longer twirled in his hand ; the points of his moustachios
hung sadly, and the visor of his cap had no longer the jaunty
cock of before.

This was because the escaped man was a political prisoner,
a man of high intelligence, energy, and action. His flight then
would be disastrous for the warder to whom the solicitude of
government had confided him. Ah! if he had been but a vulgar
assassin or even a simple forger, Benoit would have thought
nothing of it.

The convicts, delighted at this incident which had put their
chief out of temper, with difficulty hid the joy that their eyes
reflected. It was, indeed, their sole protestation against the acts
of brutality of the warder. They took their places in their ham-
mocks stretched between two beams, and soon slept the sleep
which, even if a tranquil conscience is absent, severe labour will
procure.

Benoit, more out of countenance than ever, betook himself,

without paying any attention to the tremendous rain and the



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 7





crashing thunder, to render an account of the roll to the superior
officer of the convict station.

Already informed of the situation by the sound of the shot, and
the call to arms of the sentinel, the governor had taken the
measures which he thought necessary to carry out the pursuit;
not, indeed, that he had any hope of overtaking the fugitive, but
it was the rule. He reckoned rather upon hunger, that implacable
enemy of every man lost in the interminable forest. In fact,
although the evasions were numerous, famine invariably brought
back all those whom the wild hope of liberty had carried away.
Only too happy, when tortured by hunger, were they to avoid the
teeth of the reptiles, the attack of the wild beasts, and the bite,
often mortal, of the insects.

When, however, he learnt the name of the man who had
escaped, the commandant, who knew the energy, and could
appreciate the force of character of their prisoner, felt his con-
fidence diminished.

“ He will not return,” he murmured. “ He is a lost man.”

“Commandant,” said Benoit, hoping by a display of zeal to
turn from his head the punishment he had deserved, “1 will bring
him back dead or alive. I charge myself with the business. It
is my duty.”

“Dead! That is too much. You understand me?” drily re-
plied the commandant, a man at once-just and firm, and who
knew how to perform his terrible functions with humanity. “I
have often tried to check your brutality. 1 have formally fore

bidden you to act as you do. You know to what I refer. Mind,



8 THE WHITE TIGER.



you are for the last time warned. Make every effort to bring
back the fugitive, if you want to avoid the council of discipline,
and the eight days in prison, which I shall give you to date from
the moment of your return. Go!”

The overlooker saluted briskly, and left, grumbling between his
teeth a series of terrihle oaths.

“Yes; Pll bring him back—the scoundrel—dead or alive. Yes,
indeed ; it’s alive that I want him. A ball through the ribs!
Bah, it would be too little for such a vermin! I will hold him
yet beneath my stick; and I hope that he will die under it. Now
to the search.”

The overlooker regained the house that his colleagues in-
habited in common, put together some provisions into a haver-
sack, provided himself with a compass and a sabre, cast a
fowling-piece and a cartridge-belt over his shoulder, and prepared
to depart.

It was yet scarcely seven o’clock, and three-quarters of an hour
had passed since the flight of Robin was signalled. Benoit, who
was the chief warder, commanded the post. He ordered three
others to accompany him, and they equipped themselves without
a word.

“ Well, Benoit,” said one of those who remained on guard, the
same indeed who had made the roll-call with him, “ you will not
think of setting out in such a tempest, and at such an hour.
Await, at least, the end of the tempest. Robin cannot be very
far, and to-morrow—”

“J do what pleases me,” replied he gruffly. “I command



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 9





here, and I don’t ask your advice. And, besides, my man will
try to cross the Maroni, so as to take refuge among the Arouagnes
or the Galibis. He will follow the stream. I shall catch him
before he will be able to construct a raft. Ah! ha! I understand
‘his plan. It is a stupid one; all the more that I saw wandering
about here yesterday some of those filthy redskins near the
northern boundary. Wait a little, my friends. You shall soon
have news of him. Isn’t it so, Fagot, that we are about to talk
to them in the country ?”

At the name of Fagot, a shaggy dog with a morose face,
bristling hair, thick-set jaws, and an intelligent eye, came out
from-below the rough table. “ Fagot” signifies “convict” in the
slang of the prisons, and Benoit had thought it amusing to give
this name to his dog, who shared in all the hatred which the
convicts felt towards his master.

It is a curious fact, and yet easily explicable, that the dogs of
convicts hate free men, and the dogs belonging to them. Such
is also the intelligence of these animals of the Indian race, with
their pricked-up ears, their pointed nose, their quick eye and
marvellous scent, that the passage of a white man or of a freed
black is always announced by them.

Upon the other hand, the dogs of the warders will scent the
convict at an incredible distance, and signalize to their masters
his presence by savage barkings.

Even more, when these dogs of the same race meet, they re-
cognize each other at once. Without any of the preliminaries

usual to the representatives of the canine race, they throw them-



%.

10 THE WHITE TIGER.



selves one upon the other, or rather the free dog attacks the other
with fury. The last, who advances with his tail drooping, turns,
and a terrible fight takes place, in which it is not always the
assailant that has the best of it.

Benoit, whom a long stay in Guiana had familiarized with the
country, had become an excellent trail-hunter. Aided by his
four-footed companion, he could rival the most skilful trail-hunter
of La Plata.

He took Fagot to the barracks, unhooked the hammock of the
fugitive, and gave it him to smell several times, urging him on
as hunters do,—

“Find him, Fagot! Find him, my dog !”

The animal smelt the hammock, and took a strong breath of
air, wagged his tail, and gave a little bark, as much as to say,
“T understand,” and then dashed out of doors.

“A horrible time ; just the time for an escape,” said one of the
three warders, soaked to the bone by the rain, before he had made
ten paces. “It’s the deuce if we shall ever find our man.”

“Yes,” put in another; “one only wants now to put one’s foot
on a snake, or to fall into a bottomless quagmire.”

“I doubt,” said a third, “if his dog can smell the fugitive
There’s plenty of time for the rain to have washed aside all trace,
and to have carried away the scent ; Robin could not have chosen
a better moment.”

“Now then, you men, forward! You understand, this isn’t a
question of amusement. In a quarter of an hour at most the
storm will be at an end, the moon will be shining, and we shall



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. i
FO ee re
have it as light as day. Let us follow the bank of the Marony
and good luck to us.”
- The four men, preceded by the dog, advanced without noise
in Indian file, by a little path scarcely marked out in the midst
of the brushwood, and which would bring them to a point higher
up on the river.

The man-hunt had begun.

At the moment when the convicts were ranging themselves in
their lines for the roll-call, the sentinel on guard near the building
had distinctly seen, by a flash of lightning, a man quitting the
ranks, and flying at full speed. There was no mistake possible.
The fugitive wore the livery of the prison. The soldier did not
hesitate. His orders were short. He at once cocked his gun and
fired, without even having cried, “ Who goes there £2

In spite of the flashes whose flickering enabled him to see
distinctly, he missed the man as easily as possible.

When the fugitive heard the ball whistle, he put on his best
speed, and dashed into the brushwood. He disappeared at the
moment the soldiers at the post ran to arms.

Without taking any notice of the rain, the wind, or the storm,
he advanced into the heart of the wood with the assurance of a
man to whom the slightest changes of the ground were familiar.
He journeyed by the light of the flashes, bent to the left, turned
his back upon the prison, and consequently left the river on Lis
right. He followed a scarce perceptible path through the thick
wall of verdure.

After half an hour’s run, he arrived at a vast clearing covered



12 THE WHITE TIGER.



with trees cast down by the hand of man, and whose trunks were
already partly sawed up. It was one of the clearings carried out
by the convicts.

A few feet only inside the cleared zone stood an enormous
trunk, cut off at the height of three feet from the ground,
according to the custom of the Cayenne pioneers. The fugitive
stopped by the trunk, and felt it, for the flashes were becoming
more rare. But his eyes could not distinguish any sign by which
he could recognize it.

“It was certainly here,” he said, in a low voice, putting is
hand on a piece of wood cut like a pointed stake, and left there
as if by accident. He seized the stake, and turned up rapidly
the ground at the foot of the tree. The point of the stake, almost
as hard as iron, soon met a resisting body, which gave a metallic
sound. ;

The fugitive stooped and pulled up one or those tin boxes in
which sea-biscuit is carried, and which is about fifteen inches
upon each of its faces. A long and flexible creeper was twisted
several times round it, and on one of its sides made two large

“bows, which could do duty as the straps of a haversack. He
adjusted it to his shoulders, drew out from the bottom of the hole
a chopper with a wooden handle, bound round with the fibres of
a creeper to a short blade, and slightly bent ; seized his stake in
his left hand, and remained for some minutes leaning against the
trunk. ;

Then he straightened himself proudly. At last he said,—

“J am free! free as the wild beasts with whom I am going to





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THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 15
SI lS oe eae
dwell! For me in future, as for them, there are the great wouds
and the terrible solitudes. Better by far the snake who crushes
one, the sun which maddens one, the tiger who tears one, the
fever which racks, hunger which kills—better death under all
these aspects, than life in the convict prison. Of the two hells,
that in which I can die free is surely preferable.” ;

The superintendent had not been deceived in his previsions
relative to the tempest. The convulsions of nature at the equator
are formidable, but brief.

Half an hour had not passed when the cloud had flown far
away, the moon gently rose above the thick curtain of foliage
bordering the. river. Its disk shone with a brilliancy unknown in
European latitudes, and made the still agitated waves glisten a
well as the leaves bedewed with the last drops of rain. Now and
then a blue ray found its way through the thick vault of foliag
and gliding through the immense trunks shone upon the inex.
tricable masses of leaves and flowers like the endless columns of
a cathedral.

The fugitive was not insensible to these beauties of nature ; but
he had no time to spare. It was necessary for him, in order to
complete his work of freedom, to fly at his best speed, and to
place between him and his enemies an impassable barrier. He
wrenched himself abruptly from the mute contemplation which
had for some minutes succeeded his monologue, took a fresh

point of departure, and set out on his march. .





CHAPTER II,

A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE,



tried them had either been recaptured by the
warders, given up by the Dutch authorities, or had died of hunger.
Some, preferring prison life to this terrible end of their attempt
at escape, had returned at the last gasp to give themselves up as
prisoners. They knew that the council of the prison would
impose upon them for a certainty from two to five years’ punish-
ment of the double chain. What did it matter? They came
back all the same, so profound in man is the love of life, how-
ever miserable that life may be.

To our hero, who had already held his existence cheap, who had
without hesitation consecrated it to the triumph of an idea, death
mattered but little. He would avoid, at all hazards, a meeting
with the Dutch. It would be easy enough to do so. He had
only to remain on the right side of the stream. Hunger? He
was man enough to brave it. His great vigour and his uncone

querable energy would permit him to hold out for-a long time.





THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 37



If he should succumb—well, he would not be the first whose
skeleton they would find cleaned by the ants like an anatomical
specimen. But, moreover, he was determined not to die

He was a husband and a father. The terrible labour of the
. Convict prison had not been able to.crush him, nor misery con-
quer him. He wanted to live for his dear ones, and when a man
of this kind says, “I want,” he will.

There remained the hypothesis of a well-directed pursuit, and in-
which the most skilful hunters of the prison would not fail to give
all their faculties. ‘Well, let it be so. Since he was the game, it
was for him to throw the hunters off his traces. It was necessary
for him, as far as possible, to throw their searches upon a false
track.

“They are already on my traces,” said he to himself. “The
thought that I shall try to gain the Dutch establishments will
naturally occur to them. I will leave them the illusion, or rather,
I will help them on in it. In the first place I must construct a
raft.”

He at once turned and directed his course towards the river,
whose deep murmur he could hear on his right. ,

“ Good,” he said ; “it is the blue rocks upon which the waves
are striking. Ina mile hence I shall find my materials.”

_ Without making more noise than a redskin following the war-
; path or pursuing his game, he advanced straight to the river,
from which he was separated at most by three-quarters of an
hour’s march. The realization of his plan necessitated a skill

and a bravery of the highest kind. Robin knew that he was
VOL. I. c



18 THE WHITE TIGER.



pursued. He was not ignorant that those who were searching
for him would certainly follow the Maroni either up or dowr
the river from St. Laurent.

There were two slips, either of which might happen ; either the
hunters for his trail had already passed the point where he
intended to make his raft, or they had not yet reached it. In
the first place he need feel no disquietude. In the second he
could hide himself among aquatic plants, and avoid the eyes of
his enemies, however piercing they might be. As to a stay more
or less long in the water in company with those sharks of the
fresh water, the “ piraies,” electric eels, or prickly rays—he did
not even give the matter a thought These were to him but
simple incidents. -

He could not tell which of these two suppositions was the
correct one, but as he neither saw nor heard anything suspicious
at the moment when he reached the bank, he set to without
hesitation to carry his project into execution.

To choose two long switches of bamboo, white, and strong as
bars of iron, and to cut them down with two blows, was the work
of a moment. Then he resolutely entered the water, and pene-
trated as far as the arm-pits into an immense clump of aquatic
plant there called the moucou-moucou, and which grew in
profusion in the bed of the river. These plants are extremely
light, and cut as easily ag the pith of the elder, at the same time
possessing a skin which gives them consistency. He chose
some thirty of the long stalks of over two yards in length, cut
-them without noise, and avoiding all contact with the corrosive



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 19
I ee
juice which flowed from them, twisted them with two turns
round the bamboo so as to form a sort of palisade analogous
to those which serve as a boundary to gardens.

He had, therefore, a sort of platform of about two yards wide,
admirably buoyant, insufficient indeed to support the weight of
a man, but perfectly capable of carrying out the end which he
proposed.

This done, he stripped off his blouse, stuffed it with leaves in
such a fashion as roughly to resemble a man lying down, placed
in the arm of his lay figure a bough to represent a paddle, and
pushed his skiff beyond the clump of plants.

The tide, which -is felt at more than fifty kilometres from the —
mouth of the enormous stream of water, was rising. The raft was
taken by the current, which gently carried it away, giving to it a
slight movement, and taking it little by little towards the Dutch
bank.

“Tt is perfect,” said the fugitive. “I shall be surprised if ina
quarter of an hour at most my pursuers don’t start in pursuit
of this semblance of a boat.”

The fugitive, considering that the best plan of hiding himself,
as well in the woods as in the town, was to follow the frequented
paths, took a little road which those in pursuit of him would
undoubtedly traverse. As to penetrating into the thick forest, it
was not to be thought of. The forest might be a place of refuge,
but it was impossible at such a time to think of forcing a passage
through it.

Advancing all the time with infinite precaution, and making

C2 z



29 THE WHITE TIGER.



efforts not to break the silence of the night, Robin halted from
time to time and tried to perceive a strange noise among the
manifold murmurs which rose from this ocean of verdure.

Nothing but the patter of the drops upon the leaves, the myste-
rious gliding of reptiles among the grass, the silent march of the
insects on the leaves, and the imperceptible rustle of the wings
of a bird drying himself.

He arrived presently at a large creek, some fifty yards wide,
which bore the name of Balété. He knew that he should meet
this stream, which was a tributary of the Maroni, and which it
was necessary to place as quickly as possible between him and
his enemies.

Before starting to swim across, he paused and took breath,
and inspected the bank with more attention than before. It was
well that he did so, for he heard the sound of voices, and such is
the sonority of the air in the still nights on the equator, that he
could easily catch the words,—

“Yes; I tell you it is a raft.”

* T see nothing.”

‘* Look there, opposite—a hundred yards down the river. I can
see it well—that black spot. There’s a man on it. I can see him
distinctly.”

“You are right ; a raft with a man upon it.”

“Yes ; but he’s rowing up the stream.”

“Yes; the tide is running in.”

“He must have been caught by an eddy, and taken over to the
Dutch side.”





THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 21

“ Shall I shout to him to come over here? ”

“Stupid! Ah! if he were an ordinary convict, I should say yes.
The fear of a bullet would bring him over again quickly enough,
but a political prisoner, never.”

“Yes, that’s true; especially Robin. A fine fellow all the
same.” .

“Yes ; but a fine fellow whom one must catch.”

“Ah! if Benoit only were here!”

“Yes; but Benoit has gone on. He traversed the creek in the
boat, and at present is far in advance.”

Well, then, we must fire at the raft.”

“Itis a pity. I have always liked Robin. He was one of the
best and gentlest of men.”

“Yes, it is always like that, poor devil. However, we must kill
him, and the alligators will eat him.” .

_ “Fire, then!”

Three flashes of light were seen simultaneously, and three
cracks of the rifles came to the ears of the fugitive.

“How stupid we are! We are wasting our cartridges for
nothing, when there is an easy means of getting at the raft.”

“ How is that?”

“It is simple enough. The canoe that served Benoit for
crossing the stream is fastened on the other side. I will get into
the water, seize the liana which unites the two banks of the river
and serves for the passage of the boat, cross it, and come back to
take you over in the boat, then we will take up the chase.”

This was done, and the three men at once paddled down the



22 THE WHITE TIGER.



creek, and pushed out on the Maroni. Robin, remaining per-
fectly quiet, had heard all, Fortune was certainly with him.
Scarcely had the canoe disappeared than he seized the liana, cut
it with a blow of his sword, and floated out, holding it in one
hand. The liana, carried down by the stream, described a quarter
of a circle, of which the centre was the other end, by which it was
attached on the opposite bank. Thus, without noise, and without
even moving the surface of the water, Robin found himself on the
other side,

“ Now,” he said to himself, “it is Benoit who pursues me, and
he has advanced. All right, so far I have followed the hunters,
now they are behind me.”

As he walked, he drew from his tin box a biscuit, which he
munched, drinking with it a drop of tafia, and then pushed on at
a renewed pace.

Hours succeeded hours, the moon sank, the sun was about to
rise, and the whole forest seemed to wake up. Among the cries
and calls of the birds was suddenly perceived the sharp bark of a
dog on the hunt.

“Jt is an Indian who is on my track, or else the stperinten-
dent,” thought Robin. “It is unfortunate; the Redskin wants to
gain a prize. However, I shall manage.”

Rapidly the light increased, and abruptly the day broke. The
barkings approached, The fugitive grasped his stake in his hand,
and waited.

A minute later a pretty animal, of the size of a goat, and of a

light brownish colour, passed him like a flash of lightning ; it was



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 23



a kariakow, the goat of Cayenne. At the same moment, and less
than twenty yards from the point where Robin was standing, there
was a sudden movement, and an enormous jaguar leapt from the
branch of a tree ; but he was a second too late, and the kariakow
disappeared.

Robin gave no cry, nor showed any signs of emotion. At the

sight of him the beast tried to draw back; but as he had leapt
with all his force, ke could not arrest his impetus. Surprised at
the aspect of Robin, and intimidated, perhaps, by his resolute
attitude, he gave a second bound, passed three yards above his
head, and, clinging with his claws to the bark of the tree, lay flat
upon the branch, his eye flashing, his whiskers bristling, and
growling deeply.
; His eyes fixed on this terrible cat, Robin waited the attack,
spear in hand, and with every muscle stretched. The sound of
branches being moved made him for a moment turn his head.
He saw, at five paces, the muzzle of a gun pointed at him, and a
fierce voice at the same time shouted,—

“‘ Surrender, or you are a dead man!”

A disdainful smile passed over his face, as he recognized Benoit.
The challenge seemed an absurd one, with this jaguar on the point
of springing. He again turned his eyes upon those of the jaguar,
and steadily regarded him, as if he would conquer him by his gaze.
The animal seemed to feel this magnetic influence.

“Well, scoundrel, do you not answer me?” shouted the sur»
veillant.

At this moment a formidable roar broke out close to him.



4 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Ah!” he said, more surprised than astonished. “Two te
one !”

Benoit, who was brave, well armed, and accustomed to the use
of the rifle, needed not to hesitate a moment in such circum-
stances. He aimed calmly at the jaguar, and fired. The charge,
composed of buckshot, grazed the cheek of the jaguar, broke his
shoulder, and then, glancing down the side, laid open the skin,
and marked the hide with its red lines—a dangerous wound,
mortal perhaps, but insufficient to check him on the spot, as the
superintendent learned to his cost.

Scarcely had the report sounded than the animal leaped forward,
in spite of the horrible wound, upon the unfortunate hunter, and
hurled him down with the shock. Benoit felt his skin rend under
his claws. He saw before his face an enormous gaping mouth,
with its formidable fangs. Mechanically he pushed forward his
gun. The animal’s jaws closed upon it, and in an instant the
rifle was broken at the lock. Benoit felt himself lost, but did not
call for succour. What good would it have been, indeed? He
closed his eyes, expecting the mortal blow.

In an instant, Robin, in whose generous heart the feeling of
hate had no place, bounded to his rescue. He seized the tail of
the tiger and struck hima tremendous blow with his stake.
The jaguar, more furious than before, tried to abandon his first
victim, in order to throw himself upon the being rash enough to —
brave him in this way.

The convict had dropped his spear, and his right hand bran-
dished his chopper. The blade, wielded by an arm of iron, fell





There was a long silence which was broken only by the voice of Fagot.






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 27



true on the neck of the beast—a neck as large as that of a young
bull, and strengthened with enormous muscles—completely sever-
ing the head from the body. Two jets of blood spurted out with
quick pulsations.

The superintendent lay upon the ground, his thigh laid open to
the bone, and his broken musket as useless as a broom. The
dead body of the wild beast, still twitching in convulsive move-
ments, alone separated him from the convict. The latter quietly
wiped the wet blade upon the grass. There was a long silence,
which was broken only by the voice of Fagot, who was barking
furiously at a respectful distance.

“ Well, goon. It’s my turn,” said the superintendent. “ Finish
your work at once.”

Robin, his arms crossed and immovable as a statue, did not
reply, and seemed not to hear.

“There, go on, not so much ceremony. Kill me, and there
will be an end of it. In your place I should have done it long
ago,”

Still not a word.

“ Ah! you enjoy your triumph. The other has done half of your
work. The spotted tiger has been the auxiliary of the White
Tiger. Parbleu! he has done for me well. My heart is ceasing
to beat. It’s all over.”

The blood was flowing indeed in a full stream, and the wounded
man sank into a state of unconsciousness, and would have
speedily succumbed to the hemorrhage.

Robin, who in slaying the tiger had obeyed a spontaneous im-



28 THE WHITE TIGER.



pulse, forgot the insults and the blows. He thought no longer of
this terrible prison which Benoit personified. He saw nothing
but a man wounded and about to die. His experience had taught
him what should be done.

He darted away, seized some herbs, and rapidly searched in the
deep, light soil, composed of vegetable matter. In a few minutes
he found underlying it a rough and greasy clay. Rapidly digging
up a mass as big as his head, he carried it to the wounded man,
cut off one of the sleeves of his shirt, tore it up into small pieces,
and with it prepared a sort of rough lint, which he soaked in tafia,
and placed it on the edges of the wound, which he had first
brought together. Then he took some of the earth, which he
worked up, and then applied a thick layer on the linen. This
done, he wrapped round the whole together solidly by aid of
creepers. The horrible wound, which extended from the hip to the
knee, was now in a condition of healing, and unless fever set in,
the wounded man could be cured as well as if it had been dressed
by the cleverest surgeon.

This operation, accomplished with great dexterity, lasted about
a quarter of an hour, and the blood commenced to return to the
cheeks of Benoit. He moved, took a long breath, and murmured
in a low voice, “ Water.”

Robin took a large leaf of the waie, twisted it into a cone, and
ran to fill it at the hole from which he had dug up the clay, and
which by this time commenced to fill with water. He raised the
head of the wounded man, who drank partly, and opened his

eyes.



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 29



It would be impossible to describe the expression of astonish.
ment on his countenance when he recognized the convict. Then
the animal awoke in him, and he strove to rise so as to be able to
defend himself, perhaps even to attack. A horrible pain stopped
him. The view of the carcase of the jaguar completed the work of
awakening him to memory.

What ! was it indeed Robin, this man whom he had pursued
with a blind hate, and who, having rescued him from the talons of
the jaguar, had now dressed his wounds and satisfied his. thirst ?
Any other would have bent his head before such an act of
humanity. He would have spoken of the exigencies of duty, and
would have held out his hand to the man and said, “ Thank
you !” Benoit only cursed.

“ Ah, well; you know you are one of those whom we can call
a queer card. I, had I heen in your place, should have given
you a knock and left .cr, and there would have been no more
Benoit. It is a good muds indeca to repay my blows with
interest.” .

“No,” the exile said coldly, “Auman life is a sacred thing;
and besides, is there nothing better than vengeance?”

“ And what is that, if you please ?”

“ Mercy.”

“T know nothing about it. In any case, if I have a chance, I
hope to catch you one day or other.”

“Just as you please. I have fulfilled a simple duty of humanity.
If later the chances of life place us face to face, I shall defend my
liberty.”



30 THE WHITE TIGER.
a A sa a ee cca ae

“I should advise you not to wait.”

“One word more. I do not ask gratitude of you; only ree
member that though there are in prison men justly stricken by the
law, there are others who are innocent. Never abuse your powers
with regard to one or the other. Farewell! I pardon you all the
ill which you have done me.”

“Au revoir! You are wrong, Robin, not to have killed me.”

The fugitive did not even turn his head, He had disappeared
in the thick forest.





CHAPTER III,

AN INDIAN’S GRATITUDE.




“
4 9 en
Fal ? gaolers. Strange as it may seem, he had so far
been able to keep as nearly as possible in the line
which he wished to follow. Three days had already passed from
the time of his escape. The distance which he had traversed
must have been considerable. It could not be less than thirty
miles. Ten leagues in an equatorial forest—it is an immensity.
The fugitive had not for a time anything to fear from civilized
man, but he remained not the less exposed to a terrible series of
dangers of which one alone constituted a perpetual menace of
death. This was hunger—hunger which the explorers, and
functionaries called away from the central depdts, and colonists
themselves, could escape only by a great supply of provisions
patiently laid up—hunger, to whose pangs even the blacks and
redskins succumbed, when they had not been able to lay by for
the rainy season the quantity of provisions necessary for their
subsistence.
Here were none of those admirable trees in which nature seemed



32 THE WHITE TIGER.





to have exerted all her creative forces in order to supply man
with the food which he needs. No; this superb forest produced
neither food nor berry ; neither orange nor cocoa-nut, banana nor
manioc, nor even the bread-fruit, that last resort of the traveller,
were to be found in a wild state in these internal forests. They
may indeed be found throughout Guiana, but only in the villages
where they are imported and planted by man.

The author of these lines has traversed the forests of the New
World, and, lost in the inextricable pall mall of branches, trunks,
and creepers, separated from his carriers, he made one of those
strange discoveries the recollection of which, after months passcd
in the midst of our European civilization, still causes a shudder.

Close to the creek of fresh and limpid water lay eleven skeletons,
dry and white. Some were lying on the back with their arms
crossed, others were twisted and convulscd; others, again, with
their head half sunk in the mud, had stil] between their teeth the
earth which they had tried to eat; while others, leaning on their
knees (Arabs without doubt) had stoically awaited death.

Six months before eleven convicts had escaped from the peni-
tentiary of St. Laurent. They had never returned. These men
had died of hunger, and the ants had passed over them, and there
remained nothing but their bones.

Hard was the condition to which the love of liberty had brought
the fugitive. He had started from the prison with a dozen bis-
cuits laid by from his meagre rations, a few heads of maize, and a
few berries of cocoa and coffee. Such was the provision with

which this intrepid man reckoned to make the formidable stage





keletcns.

5

ay eleven

k 1

1,

Close to the cree






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 35



which separated him from a country of independence. He had
already greatly decreased the contents of his tin box, but the
smallness of the meals had in no way checked his hunger. He
crunched a few coffee beans, drank a little water from the creek,
and sat down upon a fallen tree.

He rested a long time in this position, his eye resting on the
rivulet, regarding without hearing, conscious of nothing but the
beating of his enfeebled heart, and dizzy head. He wished to rise
and continue his way, but he could not succeed in doing so.
His swollen feet, torn by the thorns and spikes of the forest, would
no longer bear him. He took off his shoes, which the thorns,
long and hard as steel needles, had pierced, in spite of their
thickness.

* What,” said he to himself, “is my energy failing me? Am
I no longer the same? What? Shall my heart so soon after
starting thus easily become enfeebled? Courage! A man, even
though worn with fatigue, can remain forty-eight hours without
eating.”

He could not, however, continue his march with his feet
in such a state. He understood this, and, sitting comfort-
ably upon a root, let his legs hang in the water as far as the
calves.

Robin was a man of thirty-five years, tall, well-built, strongly
put together, with small hands attached to the arms of an athlete.
His face was surrounded by a long brown beard. His nose was
aquiline; his eyes black and penetrating. His expression was
habitually grave, sad, almost severe. His mouth, alas! had fora

D2



36 : THE WHITE TIGER.

gino ee SS SS
long time forgotten to smile. Such was, nevertheless, the great
vitality of the man that his’ broad forehead, a little thinned on the
temples, the veritable forehead of a thinker and savant, had not
yet a wrinkle. But his features, emaciated by the labour of the
prison, and his face blanched for want of blood, bore, in spite of
the energy which it showed, the signs of enormous sufferings,
sufferings both moral and physical. .

Strange as it may appear, he had unknown to himselt obtained
a singular ascendancy over his companions. This stern face
which never reflected the slightest smile, impressed them no less
than the enormous strength of which he was possessed. Besides,
he was a political prisoner, and all, even to the highest of those
in this purgatory which they called the prison, and who had won
their titles at the point of the knife, felt out of place in the com-
pany to which his presence gave some sort of propriety. A cha-
racteristic sign of this singular deference was that no one ever
spoke familiarly to him.

Moreover, he was kind, as are most strong natures. Sometimes
it was a convict whom he carried half a league to a hospital,
sometimes an unfortunate whose wounds he bound. He rescued
one day from the Maroni a soldier who was drowning, and at
another time a convict. He stunned with a blow of his fist one of
those tyrants of the prison who brutally treated a poor devil who
was dying of fever. He was at once feared and respected. These
men felt that he was not of their world. He had, moreover, the
honour to be particularly hated by the superintendent, from whom

he endured the worst treatment without making a complaint.



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 37
——_——
None were astonished at his flight, and all gave their good wishes
for his success.

A prolonged bath in the cold water of the creek procured for
the fugitive an immediate relief. He patiently picked out the
thorns, whose presence had caused him to suffer greatly, rubbed
his feet with the last drop of tafia, which he had guarded with the
parsimony of a miser, drank a little water, and set himself to
search for his dinner, when a cry of joy escaped him at the sight
of a simarouba.

“TI shall not die of hunger to-day,” he said, at the sight of this
useful tree.

The Quassia Simarouba of Linnzus is employed in medicine
for the tonic properties of its bark and roots, but it bears neither
fruit nor edible berries. Nothing seemed, in fact, to give reason
for the cry of the fugitive, and of his hope of appeasing his
hunger.

He advanced, nevertheless, as fast as his wounds permitted
him, and, arriving at the trunk, he scratched away the dry
leaves which formed a thick bed at its base. He soon came upon
a hard body.

“ Ah!” he said, “my comrades were not wrong. If, during my
captivity, I have heard strange and horrible things, there are
some at least which have their usefulness. I remember well the
last recommendation addressed by his neighbour to one of those
who thought of making an effort for liberty. ‘If you meet in
the forest with a simarouba which has just dropped its flowers,
search at the foot of the tree; there you will certainly find tors



38 THE WHITE TIGER.



toises. They are very fond of the fruit when it begins to develop
itself”

The hard body which he had felt was indeed the shell of one of
these tortoises, which are met with in incredible numbers. He
seized it, turned it on its back, and continued his investigations,
and found two others which he equally captured, and prepared to
be his dinner.

Everywhere on the soil were scattered immense trunks, which
were so rotten that the slightest touch made them tumble into
powder. He brought together two great branches torn off by
hurricanes, and thoroughly dry, and a quantity of leaves. He
prepared avast heap, and succeeded with infinite pains in lighting
it, by the help of a little tinder and a flint which he struck upon
his chopper. The flame rose and spread, chasing from the soil a
host of insects.

The preparations were neither long nor difficult. The tortoise
was placed in his shell on a bed of ashes, and covered with hot
cinders, according to the Indian method. Robin, while his dinner
was cooking, did not remain inactive. He remembered that he
had seen just before some trees of the palm family fifteen or
twenty feet in height. He was not deceived. Scarce fifty feet
away arose one of those vegetables of which the green foliage
agreeably breaks the monotony of the long lines formed by the
trunks of the great trees. This sterile palm bears neither flower
nor fruit. Robin nevertheless set to work to cut it down; and
succeeded after half an hour of immense effort. Although the
trunk was no thicker than his thigh, the bark and clumps of fibre



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 39



were so tough as to test the vigour of his arm, and the temper of
his instrument.

After cutting off the top of the tree, which was indeed the
cabbage palm, he set to work to strip ofi with considerable trouble
_ all the leaves embracing the head. The outside rings were of
a pale green colour, and as they fell one after another, there
appeared within a cylindrical substance of thirty inches long, the
thickness of one’s arm, and of the pale whiteness of ivory. The
fugitive, who was tortured by hunger, broke off a morsel of this
substance, and ate it like a great almond; to which, indeed, it
offers in its texture certain points of resemblance.

When he returned to his fire, the tortoise was well cooked, an
agreeable odour of frying rising from the fire. Robin withdrew it,
opened it without difficulty, and then, with the aid of his chopper,
and using instead of bread the white heart of the palm, he com-
menced his repast.

Wrapped up in his meal, he devoured it greedily, sitting on the
soil opposite the tree, and forgetting both his flight and its
dangers.

A sharp hiss caused him to bound to his feet. Something long
and rigid passed before his eyes, and planted itself quivering in
the bark of the simarouba. It was an arrow of more than six
feet long, tipped with red feathers. Robin seized his pike, and
stood on his defence ; his eye fixed on the point whence came this
terrible messenger of death.

He saw nothing at first, and then the lianas were drawn quietly
aside, and a Redskin appeared, his great bow bent, his arm con-





40 THE WHITE TIGER.

ns
tracted to send another arrow. Robin was at the mercy of the
new-comer as he stood still as a statue of red porphyry. The
point of the arrow moved from the head to the feet, and then rose
to the level of the chest of the white man.

The Indian was completely naked, except for a small piece of.
blue calico bound round his waist. This was called a calambé..
All his body, smeated with a vegetable juice, seemed as if covered
with blood. Strange lines traced with a needle, by the aid of the.
quice of the genipar across his chest and his face, gave him an
aspect at once grotesque and terrible. His long hair of blue
black, cut on a level with his eyebrows, fell behind as low as his
shoulders. He carried a collar composed of the teeth of the
jaguar, and a bracelet of the claws of the tamanoir or ant-eater.
His bow was of iron-wood, and nearly seven feet high, and, while
it touched the ground, rose above his head more than a foot.
Lastly, he held in his left hand three spear-like arrows.

Robin could not understand this attack. The inhabitants of the
lower Maroni, the Galibis, are generally inoffensive. They have,
indeed, many relations with the Europeans, and procure from
them tafia in exchange for cotton clothes, objects of the first
necessity. .

Had the redskin simply tried to frighten him by dis-
charging his arrow? It was probable; for such is the dexterity
of their management of the bow, that they can with certainty
bring down the red ape, or even the parraqua (a sort of pheasant)
from the top of the highest trees. Most of them can without
difficulty pierce an orange fixed at the distance of thirty paces on







THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 41



the point of an arrow. Robin could not then suppose that the
Indian could have missed him at so short a distance.

Determined to show a bold front, he threw from him his pike,
crossed his arms, regarded his enemy face to face, and advanced
slowly. As he approached him, the arm of the savage —that which
held the string—loosened little by little, and the evil look in his
eyes (oblong, like those of the Chinese) died out. The breast of
the white man nearly touched the point of the arrow, when this
quietly was lowered.

“ White Tiger not have fear,” at last the Galibi said, employing
the Creole patois familiar to those of his race who inhabit the
banks of the Maroni.

“No; I have not fear. But I am not a white tiger.”

This is, it may be said, the name under which the fuzitive con-
victs are known by the savages in Guiana.

“If you not White Tiger, what do you do here among poor
Indians ?”

“Tama free man like you. I have done no harm to any one.
I want to live here, to cultivate, to make my clearing, to build my
but.”

“No; you not speak true. If you not White Tiger how you do
without gun?”

“I swear to you by all that is dear tome. You understand,
Kalina” (Kalina is the name which these Indians give themselves),
“TI swear to you that I have never committed a crime; I have
never killed ; I have never robbed.”

“Ah! you swear this? That is good. I will believe you.

*





42 THE WHITE TIGER.





‘Why are you not near your wife or children? Why you come
near Indian to take his land and his shelters? Atoucka will not
have it. Go away to the whites !”

At this remembrance of his wife and children, so suddenly
called up by the redskin, who reproached him for not being with
them, Robin felt himself choked by a rush of tears. He struggled
against this emotion, which he did not wish the Indian to divine,
and replied,—

“My wife and my children are poor. It is to nourish and
shelter them that I am here.”

“ Atoucka will not have it,” the Indian replied, passionately.
“He does not go among the whites to build huts or to plant
manioc. Let the white man rest among his people, and the
Indian among his.”

“ But look, Atoucka, we are all men. The land here is as free
to me as that in my country is to you.”

“No! by the great serpent you lie! Dig the ground with your
sword, and you will find the bones of my father, and those of
Indians, my ancestors. Ifyou find the bone of a single white, I
will give you all the land, and become your dog.”

“ But, Atoucka, I have never said that | wish to establish my-
self here. I calculate upon going among the negroes. I am only
passing here. I don’t even wish to stay any time.”

At this news the Indian, in spite of his messe and self-
command, allowed a movement of disappointment to escape him.
His visage quickly cleared again, but Robin saw the transitory

change.







THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 43





“If you are not White Tiger, go with me to Buonaparte. You
will find there white men, a house, meat, tafia, fish.”

At this name of Buonaparte, which he did not expect to hear in
such a place or from such a mouth, Robin shrugged his shoulders,
then remembered that the prison of St. Laurent had so been
called a few years only, after the name of Admiral Boudin, Governor
of Cayenne. The site had been previously occupied for more than
thirty years by an old Indian named Buonaparte. From him the
name of Buonaparte Point had been given to this strip of land,
which bears on the Maroni, and where at present the Commune
of St. Laurent is situated.

“We shal! see,” said Robin evasively.

The stiffness of the Indian seemed to disappear at once. He
placed his bow on his shoulder with his arrows, as a soldier
grounds his arms, and held out his hand to the fugitive.

“ Atoucka is a friend of White Tiger.”

“ Well, if you still hold to that name, so be it. It is just as
good as any other. White Tiger is comrade to Atoucka. Come,
then, and eat with me what remains of my tortoise.”

The Indian required no further invitation. He sat down with-
out ceremony, and worked so well with his hands and his teeth,
without troubling himself about his friend, that there soon re-
mained nothing more than the shells, as clean as if stripped by a
tribe of ants. The dinner, it is true, had contracted a strong
odour of smoke, but the Indian did not trouble himself about
this.

“ Ah,” he said, as if in thanks, “ you can cook well.”



“4 THE WHITE TIGER.



“It is about time for you to discover that, but I have two more
tortoises, and we will see to-night what you can do.”
_ « Ah, you have two more tortoises?”

“Yes ; there they are,”

“ Good.”

Then seeing that his new comrade, having taken a long drink at
the creek, was about to lie down and sleep, he demanded, witb an
accent of greedy covetousness,—

“You have no given Atoucka some tafa.”

“T have no more tafia.”

“Let Atoucka see what there is in the case.”

The contents did not take long to examine. A shirt of rough
cloth, an empty flask which had contained the tafia, and which the
savage smelt with avidity, some fragments of burnt linen brought
for tinder, and that was all. .

Atoucka hardly concealed his disappointment.

Robin, exhausted by fatigue, felt sleep overcoming him. The
redskin squatted by and set to and sang a long and plaintive
recitative. He celebrated his exploits, recounted that his plots of
ground were full of potatoes and bananas, and of millet. His hut
was the grandest, his wife the most beautiful, his canoe the fastest.
None like him could bring down the koumcurou, none could so
well follow the trace of his prey, or pierce as he could with his
infallible arrow.

The fugitive slept profoundly. For a long time his soul wan-
dered in dreamland. The sun had accomplished two-thirds of

his course when he awoke. The sentiment of reality came sud-









THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 45



denly upon him, and abruptly broke his dreams of his wife and
family. And the Indian? At this thought Robin rose abruptly,
looked round, but saw nothing. He called, but there was no
reply. :

Atoucka had disappeared, carrying eff not only the two tortoises,
all the resources of the unfortunate, but also his shoes and his
haversack, which contained all that he had to make a fire with.
There remained nothing to Robin but his chopper, upon which he
had by accident siept, and which the robber had not been able to
steal.









CHAPTER IV.

UPON HIS ‘TRACK.

gives a reward to whoever brings back or gives means



of finding an escaped convict. This reward—ten
francs—represents ten litres of tafia; that is to say, ten days of
complete drunkenness.

This was indeed the design with which the redskin had left.
Seeing that he himself could not take the convict back to
St. Laurent, he had gone to search for reinforcements. Robin,
he was sure, could not go far, and the Indian, knowing his own
skill as a trail-hunter, would be able to conduct the representa-
tives of authority with certainty.

Robin saw that he must instantly continue his vagabond wan-
derings, must go straight before him like the hunted beast, must
place fresh obstacles and longer distances between himself and
his pursuers, and march until he fell. He started munching some
green fruits of the arnara, which has a sharp taste, and is strongly
stringent. On he went, no longer thinking of his feet, which were

bleeding with the cuts given by the sharp grass. He rushed









THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 47



through the woods, pushing aside the boughs, climbing over fallen
trunks and stooping under thick foliage. Forward! What to
him mattered the neighbourhood of the wild beasts, the aaa
serpent in the grass, the millions of insects with poisoned darts,
the stream with its cascades and its sharp rocks, the sevanna
with its bottomless morasses ; what indeed mattered death in any
form and under any aspect? Far more than all these were to be
feared the warders of St. Laurent.

Delirium began to seize the fugitive, but the fever gave him
wings. He dashed onward like a runaway horse, feeling but
vaguely, and understanding without caring for it, that he must fall
sooner or later, dnd that he would never rise again.

Night came on, the moon rose, lighting up the forest with its
soft beams, and soon the noises of the wild creatures which it
contained began. Robin seemed to hear nothing. He marched
without even thinking of picking his route, without even per-
ceiving that he left portions of his flesh on the thorns. Life
seemed to him to be concentrated in one sole function—press
forward. Where was he? Where was he going? He knew not.
He had but one idea—he was flying. This strange course lasted
the entire night. The sun in the morning had already chased
the shadows from the forest, and the fugitive, bathed in perspira-
tion, panting, his eyes starting from his head, his lips fringed with
a bloody foam, was still running, but his powers failing fast. It
seemed to him that his head supported all the vault of foliage.
Giddiness seized him; he staggered, swayed, and at last fell
heavily on the ground. .



48 _ THE WHITE TIGER.



Meanwhile the superintendent Benoit endured frightful tortures.
.His leg, laid open by the claw of the jaguar, swelled rapidly under
the dressing placed on it by the hand of the convict. The bleeding
was arrested, but he was a dead man unless he could be speedily
placed under the care of a skilful surgeon. Fever seized him;
that terrible fever of Guiana—a very Proteus which takes all forms,
which any cause, however trifling, is able to bring on, and which
so quickly kills. The sting of a wasp, the bite of an ant, some
minutes’ exposure in the sun, a bath too cold, or much too long, a
change of diet, a blister produced by a shoe too tight—anything,
in fact, suffices to bring on the fever. The head then becomes the
seat of an atrocious pain, the limbs are racked, and. delirium comes
on, with its train of spectres, then coma, and often a speedy death.

Benoit knew all this. He was frightened. Isolated in the forest,
grievously wounded, without other companion than his dog, lying
opposite to the headless jaguar, one can understand that the
situation was enough to move a man of the most vigorous type.
A burning thirst devoured him, and although he could hear at a
few paces the murmur of the creek, he could not at present drag
himself to its edge.

“ Ah! the wretch, the vermin! All this is his fault ; and then
he came the Grand Signor with me. He pardoned me, scoundrel !
If ever I catch him, Ill pardon him. Silence there, Fagot. Beast
of ill-omen,” growled he to his dog. who was loudly barking, at
‘five paces from the dead jaguar. “Ah!howthirsty lam. Water!
water! Those three brutes I have left behind me - perhaps they

will at least have the instinct to follow my traces.”





THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 49



The superintendent, tortured by thirst, found in his anger the
strength to make some movement. Grasping in his hands the
grass and the roots, crawling on his side and his unwounded knee,
he was able to accomplish the journey of some yards to the
riverside.

“Ah!” he said, drinking greedily, “how good it is! I have a
volcano in my body. Ah! I feel myself getting stronger. I shall
be cured. I don’t wish to die! I must live—live, for my ven-
geance. I have at least my pistol. It is here; that’s well. How
I suffer! It is as if half-a-dozen dogs were biting away at my hip.
I trust that all these beasfs of the forest will not take a fancy to
my skin. Benoit, my boy, you have a nasty night to face. It is
certain that if my men are not here to-morrow—Where is Fagot,
the brute? He has quitted me. These dogs are as ungrateful as
men. That’s another with whom I shall have to settle. There,
the sun is going down. The night will be as dark as pitch. No,
there’s the moon.”

If the nights are interminable for those who face them in their
ease, how frightful are they for one who suffers and who is in >
fear !

The moon had made half her course when a tremendous noise
began over the head of the wounded man. It resembled the noise
made by-a train going at full speed, mingled with the screams of a
dozen pigs whose throats are being cut. This bewildering noise
began suddenly. Deep and sharp at the same time, like a duet by
two strange monsters, changing in tone, ascending, descending,
stopping abruptly, only to recommence.

VOL. I. : =





50 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Ah! good!” uttered Benoit. “So we are going to have music.
The accursed red apes.”

The superintendent was not deceived. A tribe of the howling
ape had taken its place on the top of the tree under which he was
lying. He could see them in the moonlight arranged in a circle
around one of the party, their chief, who uttered these abominable
showlings, and who alone produced these sounds, which could be
heard at a distance of more than three miles. When he had
howled for some time he paused, and all his hearers, charmed
without doubt, uttered some deep “ hou-hou ” of contentment.

The howling ape of Guiana, the Stentor Seniculups, also called
the red ape, is four and a half feet from his muzzle to the tip
of his tail. When he sings, his throat swells out and takes the
proportions of a great goitre. The air which passes through this
immense cavity increases, to a wonderful extent, the intensity of
the voice, and produces the deep sound, so that the red ape is the
sole creature which possesses the faculty of singing a duet. It is
always the chief who sings, to the exclusion of his humble subjects.
If one of these, carried away by his ardour, tries to add his note
‘to the symphony, the leader at once cuffs him severely and reduces
him to silence. The auditors have only the right to applaud.
Benoit, insensible to this ape melody, became enraged. Presently
he saw them hanging themselves by their tails, and uttering, heads
down, their brief “‘ hous-hous,” while the chief, equally topsy-turvy,
sang loudly enough to break the tympanum of the inhabitants of
the forest.

“What a fool Iam!” Benoit said to himself. “I have some-








































He saw them hanging themselves by their tails.



ae



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 53

thing which will make them silent,” and cocking his pistol, he fired
in the direction of the band, which scattered in the twinkling of an
eye.

Scarcely had he fired than a feeble report was heard in the
distance. Hope suddenly returned to the wounded man.

“They are looking for me. Fire away, then.”

He loaded his pistol and fired again. A fresh shot in the distance
was heard, this time sensibly near.

“Ah! itis allright. Ina quarter of an hour my men will be here.
In a little while I will be on foot again, and then, beware, Robin !”

The hopes of the superintendent were soon realized. His
colleagues, when they had perceived, too late, that they had deserted
their prey for a dummy, arrived, furnished with torches fabricated
from a resinous wood, and preceded by the dog Fagot, who set to-
barking joyously at the sight of his master. They quickly impro-
vised a stretcher, and carried back with immense labour their com-
rade, now wildly delirious.

Four days had not passed when the Indian Atoucka arrived at
the prison, and reported that he had met the White Tiger, and
that he would undertake for recompense to put an armed force
upon his traces. Benoit heard of it. He had the Indian brought
to his bed-side, and promised him whatever he asked, and, giving
him two picked men, sent them off at once, well provided with arms
and with provisions on their hunt. By ac:i.g in this fashion with-
out the knowledge of his chief, the superintendent hoped to obtain
credit for the discovery of the fugitive, and so turn from his head

’ the tempest which would burst upon him after his cure. The men-



54 THE WHITE TIGER.



hunters, guided by the Indian,to whom the forest offered no mystery,
rarcly found the traces. These this redskin followed like a
spaniel, for he found a broken twig, a bit of trampled grass, a twisted
liana, where the White Tiger had passed by.

Four days after their departure from the prison, they found among
the fallen leaves a large mark, made by the fall of a body, anda
spot of blood which embrowned a point of quartz. ‘he convict had
fallen there. Hada forest beast devoured him? Atoucka shook
his head. He made a large circle, and after being nearly an hour
absent, he returned, putting his finger on his lips.

“Come this way,” he said in a low voice.

His companions followed him without speaking. At 500 yards’
distance they found a clearing, and perceived in its midst a little
cabin, made of the boughs of the macoupi, of ancient construction,
but well built. From its roof escaped a thin line of smoke.

“There’s the White Tiger,” said the Indian joyously.

“Katina, my boy,” said one of the men, “it is well. Benoit will
not stick at a trifle, and you have got your prize, for we shall catch

our man.”











CHAPTER V.

A FRIEND IN NEED.

crushed by fatigue, overwhelmed by the heat, had



fallen as if struck by lightning. The body disap-
peared in the deep grass which enveloped him
in a shroud of verdure. Under such circumstances, death would
arrive ina short time. The unfortunate man would expire without
even recovering consciousness. The thick carpet of foliage had
softened the shock, and the body, looking like a corpse, remained
for many hours stretched there. No jaguar, on the hunt, passed ;
and the ants did not show themselves. It was a miraculous chance.
The fugitive woke slowly after a time, of which it was impossible
for him to appreciate the length. He was a prey toa prostration
of which he could not explain the cause, although his ideas came
back to him with a singular rapidity. It was an incredible phe-
nomenon that he felt no longer any weight in his head. The
band which seemed to surround his temples seemed loosened ; his
ears no longer sang. He heard distinctly the sharp cry of the
mocking-bird, his eyes opened, his pulse beat regularly, his breast

rose with a steady breathing; the fever had for a moment dis-



56 THE WHITE TIGER.

sO



appeared, But such was his feebleness that he could noi all at
once raise himself. He seemed to himself to be of lead. He felt
besides that he was inundated by a warm liquid exhaling a faint
smell. Looking at his shirt, he saw that it was a scarlet red.

“J am in a bath of blood,” he marmured. “ Where am I?
What has happened ?”

At last he succeeded in raising himself tu his knees.

“Tam not wounded—and yet this blood. Oh, I am fecble!”

He found himseif in a large valley surrounded by wooded hills,
whose height did not exceed 500 feet, and which gave rise to a
little stream of clear water of delicious freshness. These creeks,
abundant in Cayenne, are indeed the sole compensation offered by
nature to the torments which men have to endure there.

Robin dragged himself to it, drank greedily, stripped himself of
his torn garments, and, plunging into the water, washed off the
thick mud which covered him.

These ablutions terminated, he got out of the little stream, when
the same sensation of the flowing of a warm liquid again upset
and disquieted him. He carried his hand to his forehead, and
drew it back reddened. It was in vain that he again felt himself.
No wound tore the flesh. He failed to explain the cause of the
effusion of blood.

“In five minutes 2 negro or a redskin would have already had
a looking-glass. Let me do like them.”

In spite of the feebleness which was constantly increasing, hefound
some large leaves of a green-brown belonging to avariety of nenuphar,

very common in Cayenne. Cutting one of these leaves, he placed





THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 57



it horizontally in the water, and kept it slightly below the surface.
His likeness, reflected as by a glass on a sheet of tin, appeared
to him as distinctly as it could in the best looking-glass.

“ Ah,” he said, after a moment of attentive examination, perceiv-
ing above the left eye-brow, near the temple, a little cicatrice, “I
have been visited by a vampire.”

Then recalling his encounter with the Indian, his wild flight,
his delirium, and his final fall—

“What a strange destiny is mine! Pursued by wild beasts;
tracked by man; it needed the voracious gluttony of a hideous
beast to save my life.”

Robin was not mistaken. He would have been lost without the
strange intervention of the vampire, who had literally drained him
of blood.

One knows that the bat-vampire makes his food almost exclue
sively of the blood of animals, whom he surprises asleep, and
whom he sucks with avidity. He is provided with a sucker, or
rather his mouth terminates in a little horn armed with tiny
lancets, by whose aid he perforates softly and without pain the

‘epidermis of beasts (especially the great mammals), and of man
himself.

He approaches his victim softly, waving his long wings, whose
continual movement gives a feeling of exquisite freshness. Then
he places his mouth to the point which seems handy to him, his
wings beating always ; and the skin is soon pierced, and the hor-
rible ghoul fills himself, little by little, like a living bellows, then
flies away, leaving the wound open.



58 THE WHITE TIGER.
ee

If the evil caused by the vampire stopped there, it would be
only of slight consequence. The small quantity taken for his
repast would not be absolutely prejudicial to his subject ; but as
the waking seldom follows this bleeding, and as the blood continues
to flow the entire night through this little opening, the victim,
pale, livid, and bloodless, has lost all his strength, and his life
is in peril, unless an exceptional régéme repairs as quickly as
possible the ravages occasioned by the loss.

Many travellers, surprised in their hammock without having
taken the precaution to cover their feet, their throat, or their
head, awake in the morning in a bath of blood, and have paid for
it with their lives, or at least with a cruel illness; for few indeed
possess in the midst of the woods the resources sufficient to restore
their weakened organism, They become thus an easy prey to the
terrible equatorial fevers which cannot be resisted except by a man
in a perfect state of health.

But to every evil there is good, and our hero had experienced it.
This enormous bleeding had saved him for the moment. He
dressed quietly. Such was his feebleness that he could with diffi-
culty cut a stick upon which to lean. It mattered not. No more
to-day than yesterday did his energy abandon him, since he must
march well forward. Such constancy must at last have its recome
pense.

“What!” he cried, presently, “do I dream? No, it’s impos-
sible! What, a banana-tree? Then this is a clearing ; it is an
enclosure. This herb which covers the ground with its trian-
gular leaves—it is the potato. There are the cocoa-trees, the



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 59



ananas, the manioc. Oh, how I want to eat! I die of famine!
Is this a village of Indians? Whoever may be the proprietors,
I must find them.”

He cut off a bunch of ananas, pulled off the scaly pulp of
the fruit, and bit it, and ate it by mouthfuls. Then, refreshed
and a little restored, he seized the cluster of green which sur-
mounted the fruit, dug a hole in the soil, planted it, pressed down
the earth, and directed his steps to a little hut which he perceived
at I00 paces distant.

This custom is one which the hunters never neglect observing.
When they have eaten the fruit they always plant the shoot.
Six months afterwards it has taken root, its growth is complete,
so active is vegetation; and then the fruit perhaps may save the
life of another traveller.

This solitary habitation was a comfortable hut covered with the
leaves of ware—a palm almost indestructible—forming a roof
which can last for fifteen years. The wall, formed by enlaced
wattles, was impervious to rain. The door was hermetically
closed.

“It is the house of a black,” he said to himself, recognizing the
particular form of the habitation of the race. “The proprietor
cannot be faraway. Who knows? perhaps he is a fugitive like
myself.”

He knocked at the door, and obtained no reply. He knocked
again.

“ What you want ?” said a voice within.

“1 am wounded, and am hungry.”



60 THE WHITE TIGER.



“ Poor man ; you cannot enter my house.”

“ I beg you open to me. I am dying,” said the fugitive painfully,
for extreme feebleness was now suddenly seizing him.

“ Not come, not come ; not touch nuffin in my house, or you go
die.”

“Help! help!” groaned the unfortunate.

The voice—that of an old man, without doubt—continued,—

“ Ah, poor white man; me not let you diethere. No.”

The door was at last opened, for Robin, incapable of making a
movement perceived, as in a nightmare, the most ghastly-looking
being, of whom the sight had ever haunted the brain of a fevered
man.

Over his forehead, seamed with open sores, was a coat of white
hair, tufted in some places like brushwood, and in others bare as
afield. Here the sores had made livid scars with red lines of
hideous aspect. The sight of one eye was gone. The left cheek
was one sore; the mouth had no longer any teeth ; and his hands
were without nails. Lastly, one of his two legs was enormously
swollen.

The old negro, in spite of the leprosy which was devouring him,
had a sad and kind aspect.

“Oh, massa, massa!” he cried, “me not touch you. Me one
poor leper. Come,” he said anxiously, “white man, under the
shadow of dis tree.”

Robin regained his senses. The view of this unfortunate man
brought upon him a sensation of immense pity ; but, it need not
be said, not altogether without disgust.



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 61

re

“Thanks, my good fellow,” he said, in a weak voice.

“Thanks for all your goodness, I feel better. I will continue
my way.”

“Oh, massa, not go yet. Me give you a little water, cassava,
and fish. Old Cassimir has all that in his hut.”

“Thanks, thanks,” murmured Robin, touched by the kindness of
the poor creature.

The black could not conceal his joy. He hurried about at his
best speed, taking infinite precautions to avoid giving to his guest
the touch which he believed was contagious. He entered the hut,
and soon came out with half a new calabash, which he held at the
end of a piece of bent wood. He took this vessel to the creek,
filled it with water, and brought it to the sick man, who drank
greedily.

During this time a smell of grilled fish came through the wattles
of the house. Cassimir had placed on the fire a piece of koumourou,
and the flesh of this magnificent fish on the grill filled the place with
a pleasant odour ; for he believed in the axiom that fire purifies
everything, and that Robin could eat it without fear of contracting
the leprosy.

The black was delighted with the manner in which the new
comer did honour to his hospitality. Loquacious, like all of his
colour, he made up for the silence imposed by his solitude. It was not
long before he perceived the social position of his new-comer. It
made little difference to him, however. The good fellow saw an
unfortunate, that was enough for him. The stranger had knocked

at his door, and had become still more dear to him. Besides he



the

62 THE WHITE TIGER.



loved the whites with all his heart. The whites had been good
to him. ;

He was old—so old as not to know his age. He was born a
slave on the plantation of the Gabriel, belonging to a Monsieur
Favart, and situated on the banks of the Roura.

“ Ah, massa,” he said, not without pride, “me domestic negro;
me know how to cook, to manage house, and to take care of plan-
tation.”

Monsieur Favart was a good master. At the plantation of the
Gabriel they scarcely knew what a whip was. The blacks were
treated as the children of the house, and were regarded as men.
Cassimir lived there long years; and grew old there. A little
before 1840 he felt the first attacks of leprosy—this terrible evil
which desolated Europe in the Middle Ages, and which is still so
frequent in Cayenne that the administration has been obliged to
found che leper hospital of Acarouany. The sick man was isolated.
They built him a hut not far from the plantation, and looked after
his wants.

Then came the memorable hour when that grand act of repara-
tion, which they call the abolition of the slaves, was accomplished.
All the blacks were freed. All men were made equal. There was
no longer any other superiority beyond that of merit and intelli-
gence.

The colonial industry received a severe blow. Its prosperity,
unjustly based upon unpaid labour, upon the gratuitous use of
human force, was irremediably injured. The planters, ac-

customed to lavish expenditure, found themselves for the most



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 63





part without capital, and lived, from day to day, from hand to
mouth, The greater part, therefore, could not keep on with paid
labour. :

From whatever cause, or in default of a knowledge of how to
organize, the colonists saw their habitations going to ruin. The
blacks left, took up plots of land, planted them, and each worked
for himself and lived free. They were to-day citizens. But in the
beginning a great number remained attached to the fortunes of
their masters and worked as in the past, giving their labours
gratuitously and with a good heart.

Such were those of the Gabriel ; but a day came when their
master left them. The band of common affection was broken:
the blacks scattered. Cassimir remained alone. Without re-
sources, incapable of living in the villages, racked by leprosy,
become to all an object of horror, he left, journeyed fora long time,
and finished by arriving at the point where he now was. The place
was admirably fertile. He installed himself there, worked like four
men, and awaited, without complaint, the moment when his
soul should quit its wretched habitation. His labour rendered him
happy.

Robin listened without interruption to the recital of the negro.
For the first time since his departure from France he felt a
moment of happiness. The broken voice of the old man sounded
affectionate in its intonations. No more gaol; no more Dlas-
phemy.

“Ah! IfI could but press in my arms the human being whom

a misfortune more cruel than mine has attacked, how good it



64 THE WHITE TIGER.



————

would be to be here,” he said. “But am I far enough away?
Never mind. I will remain. I will dwell with this old man. I
will aid in his labours. I willlove him. Friend,” said he to the
leper, “your disease devours you. You suffer. You are alone.
Soon your arm will no longer have strength to lift the pick and
to dig the earth. You will be hungry. If death comes, none will
watch you, none close your eyes. I also am disinherited. I
have no longer a country. I have no longer a family. Are
you willing that I should live with you? Are you willing that I
should join you, body and heart, in your joys and pains as in your
work?”

The old man, delighted, and scarcely knowing whether he dreamed,
laughed and sobbed at the same time.

“ Ah, massa! massa!”

Then the feeling of his hideousness suddenly seized him, and he
hid his face in his fingers, and fell on his knees, his breast agitated
and convulsed with sobs.

Robin slept under a banana-tree, but his sleep was haunted by
nightmare. On awaking, the fever seized him again with convul-
sions: delirium followed. Cassimir did not lose his head. He
knew that it was necessary above all things to have a shelter for his
new friend. The house was, he thought, contaminated. It was
necessary, then, to make it suitable in the quickest way possible ff
its new destination, and to render it habitable for the sick man,
He seized a pick, dug up the soil, carried it to a distance, scattered
on the bed-place burning charcoal, and then cutting a number of

fresh boughs of the macoupi, he piled them upon it, When the





ep here.”

>

“*Come, my friend, and sl






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 67

a NT 6



place was purified he made the sick man rise, ana s-id to him
gently,—

“Come, my friend, and sleep here.”

Robin obeyed like an infant, entered the house, threw himself on
the green bed, and slept like lead,







CHAPTER VI.

A NARROW SQUEAK.

HE attack of fever was rapid and overwhelming,

but the black knew perfectly how to treat it, and



all the remedies applied by the wise women of
the country.

The plantation contained not only the plants and trees useful for
food, but also the kervs of which the Creole doctor makes such
frequent and valuable use.

But in the case of Robin it was necessary to use a more effectual
and energetic treatment. In spite of the copious bleeding to which
the vampire had submitted hiin, the access of fever took a conges-
tive form, and it was necessary to apply a blister. Taking his
gourd, the black went to the borders of the creek and examined
it minutely. Stooping over it, he picked up something and put
it in his gourd, and did the same eight or ten times. Then he
returned.

His absence had lasted ten minutes. Standing near the sick
man, with a grave and careful air he seized with infinite pre-
cautions an insect about half an inch long, black as ebony and

shining. Holding the creature by the head, he applied its tail







He applied its tail behind the ear of the sick man.






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 71



behind the ear of the sick man. A short and stiff sting darted out
and buried itself deeply in the skin.

“Ah!” said the black, ‘dat berry good.”

He threw away the insect, took another, and performed the same
manceuvre behind the other ear. Then a third, half an inch lower ;
then a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth, The sick man shouted, so much
did the little sting hurt him.

“Ah!” said the black, “this bad little beast good for massa.”

Excellent, in fact. A quarter of an hour had not passed when
two immense swellings grew on the skin, producing a blister
analogous to that which results at the end of twelve hours
from the application of the best plaster. The sick man seemed
to renew his life. His breathing became softer; his fevéred cheeks
paler.

“These ants berry good,” Cassimir said ; who then pricked the
blister, and wanted to dress it with cotton dipped in oil extracted
from the fruit of the bache, but he dared not for fear of communi-
cating his leprosy.

Robin recovered consciousness, or rather a soft sleep succeeded
rapidly to his comatic state. He could scarcely murmur “ Thanks,”
and then fell asleep. The negro had worked almost a miracle.
The elements of this marvellous cure, of which the result was so
immediate, were very simple. It was a common remedy of the
wise women of the country. The sting of these ants is atrociously
painful. Such is in fact the particular property of their venom,
that it instantly raises a blister. Such is the result produced by the
“boiling-water ant” of Equatorial Africa, Thé skin rises instantly,



72 THE WHITE TIGER.



as under a poultice of boiling water; the phenomena absolutely
identical with those which result from the application of cantharides.
Upon awaking, a strong infusion of the leaves of the batata com-
pleted this tropical cure, and twenty-four hours afterwards the sick
man, although terribly feeble, was out of danger.

Four days had scarcely passed when Cassimir, after an absence
of some hours, returned alarmed, crying,—

“Massa, massa, bad white men coming !”

“Ah,” said Robin, whose eye at once flashed, “white men
enemies. Is there not an Indian with them?”

“Yes; Indian there.”

“Good. Iam still feeble; but I will defend myself, and they
shall have nothing but my dead body. You understand ?”

“Dis nigger understand ; but bad men shall not kill you. You
not move. You lay dere, under the leaves of the macoupi. Old
Cassimir do good trick to wicked whites.”

The fugitive armed himself with his sword, which, however, was
too heavy for his weakened arm. Then, knowing the resources
which his old companion held in reserve, hid himself under the
leaves and waited.

Rapid steps were soon heard ; then a rough voice, accompanied
by the well-known click of the lock of a gun. The formula em-
ployed by the new arrivals, serious in a civilized country, was
grotesque in such a place.

“In the name of the law, open !”

The black, without awaiting a second summons, opened softly
the door and showed his hideous face,



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 73

ee

His appearance produced on the whites the effect of the head
of a spectre.

As to the Indian, who did not expect such a meeting, he re-
mained for a moment absolutely petrified. There was a moment
of silence.

“Enter,” said Cassimir, giving to his face an expression of the
most cordial welcome—a vain attempt, which produced only a
most atrocious grimace.

“It is a leper,” said one of the new-comers, who wore the cos-
tume of the military warders. “ Nothing shall induce me to enter
his cabin to catch the disease.”

“ What ! will you not come in?” asked the black.

“Never. Everything is contagious in there. Even a convict
would not take refuge there.”

“Who knows?” said the second warder. “We are not come
here to return empty-handed. By taking some precautions we
are safe. Come, we are not children.”

“Do as you like. I shall beat a retreat before I have my limbs
seamed with the leprosy. The air alone of this pest-house is enough
to poison one.” e

“Me go,” said the Indian, thinking of the prize, and of the in-
numerable glasses of tafia which would result from it.

“TI too,” said the warder. “One cannot be killed by it,
after all.”

“ Dat so,” said the black cheerfully.

The warder, sword in hand, penetrated first into the humble
ckbin, scarcely lighted by a few rays which passed through the



74 THE WHITE TIGER.



foliage. The redskin followed close behind. A hammock stretched
across the room was the only furniture of the hut. On the ground
were some utensils, and a bed of the boughs of the macoupi.
In a corner were some bunches of maize-heads, and some cassava
cakes. That was all.

“ Ah, below there,” murmured the warder, pointing with his
sword to the bed of boughs, “is there nothing?”

“ Me not know,” the black said.

* Ah, you don’t know. Well, I will go and look.”

The redskin raised his arm as if to push the point of his sabre
among the branches. A sharp, hissing sounded, and the warder,
terrified, remained with his arm uplifted, and his point lowered,
in the position of a fencing-master. He was petrified. The
Indian was already outside. He was frightened—even he, - this
wild redskin—and seemed to have absolutely forgotten his recent
boastings.

“ Aye-aye !” he stammered ; “ Aye-aye!” and his accent indi-
cated the wildest terror.

The warder was half a minute before he could recover him-
self. The leper, also immovable, regarded him with an evil
expression.

“Why not search?” he said.

The sound of the human voice recalled the warder to him
self.

“ An aye-aye,” he murmured, in a hoarse voice. “Yes, it is an
aye-aye,” and his look did not quit the two points which shone
in the midst of a little black mass. He said to himself, “A








Mad with terror, he bounded back, making a sweep with his sword
at the terrible snake.



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 77



sudden movement, and I am dead. Well, I must retreat, and
softly.”

Very softly, with infinite precautions, he drew back his right
leg, then his left, and moved backwards, trying to gain the
door.

A second hissing was heard above his head at the moment when
he was giving a sigh of relief. His hair stood up. It seemed to
him that the root of each hair was asting. Then a long, thin body,
of the thickness of the neck of a bottle, glided quietly for the brain
with a rattle of his quivering scales. He raised his head and
nearly fell backwards, seeing a few inches from his face a snake
with open mouth, who, hanging by his tail, was about to launch his
poisoned fangs at his face. Mad with terror, he bounded back,
making a sweep with his sword at the terrible snake. Happily for
him, his sword was well aimed, and cut off the head of the animal,
who fell upon the soil.

“ A grage !” he shouted, “a grage !”

The door was open behind him. He pushed through it
with the quickness of a clown jumping through a paper hoop,
but not without running against a third snake, which was
elevating himself, and agitating the rattles of his tail.

The scene had not lasted a minute. The second warder, alarined
by the cries of the Indian, stood astounded at the shout of his
companion, who, bathed in perspiration, his face contracted with
terror, seemed about to faint.

“ Well,” he said briefly, “what is it? Speak.”

“It’s full of snakes in there,” he said feebly.



78 THE WHITE TIGER.



The black at the same time came out of his house with as much
rapidity as his disabled leg permitted him to make. He appeared
equally terrified.

“ Ah, massas—snakes too many. My house full.”

“ But don’t you live there in the hut?”

“Yes, massa, me live there.”

“ How is it, then, that it is full of snakes? Ordinarily they only
go in abandoned huts.”

“Me not know.”

“You don’t know? You don’t know? It seems to me there are
a great many things which you know, and which you pretend not
to.”

“Me not put the snakes dere.”

“Ah, I can believe that. Well, so that no misfortune shall
happen to you to-night, I will just put fire to your hut. Its garrison
is too dangerous.”

The old negro trembled. If his cabin were burnt, so would
his guest be ; ‘50, with a real accent of terror, he implored the
pity of the two warders. He was a poor man, very old and
very weak. He had never done harm to any one, and his
house was his only property. How could he find a shelter?
His weakened limbs would not permit him to make another
hut.

“After all, he is right,” said the one who had entered the
house, and who, delighted to have escaped, asked nothing
better than to go. “It were safe to bet that our man is not

asleep with such bedfellows. The Indian is mocking us. One



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 79
es Pe YA ne 2 a A a ee a Ee
of two things: either Robin is far off at present, or he is
dead.”

“That's right enough, and we have done all we can. If you are
of my opinion, we shan’t wait here.”

“T think so too. Let us leave this old fellow to do as he can
with his lodgers, and let us be off.”

“JT am with you. As for the Indian, he has let us in for it
regularly, and has taken himself off.’ If ever he falls into my
hand, he may be quite sure that I will give him something for him-
self.”

The warders, accepting philosophically their defeat, took the path
back, and disappeared. Cassimir looked after them with a mocking
laugh.

“Halha! ha! De aye-aye—de grage—de rattlesnake. Good
little beasts of Cassimir’s.”

Then he re-entered the hut, whistling gently. Some im-
perceptible movements disturbed the litter for a few minutes,
and then all was quiet. There was nothing to indicate the
presence of reptiles but the strong characteristic odour of
musk.

“ Ah, massa,” he said joyously, “how you feel?”

The pale face of the fugitive emerged from his cover, and then
the whole body drew itself painfully from the trench at the bottom
of which Robin had, for a quarter of an hour, endured mortal
agony.

“ Are they gone?”

“Yes, massa, dey gone, Dey catch quite fright.”



8a THE WHITE TIGER.





“ Ah, but kow did you put them to flight? I heard them shouting
with terror. And what is this odour of musk ?”

The leper then recounted to his guest that he was a snake.
charmer. He knew how to call and make them come, and not
only could he touch them with impunity, but he had nothing to
fear from their bite in case the savage visitors might give hima
scratch. Not only the rattlesnake, but the formidable grage, and
the terrible aye-aye (so named because the person bitten has not
time to cry between the moment of the bite and the time of his
death).

As to the immunity of Cassimir, he explained that he had
been charmed against a snake by Monsieur Oleta, a white, well
known in Cayenne, who, by means of drinks and inoculations,
could render any one absolutely impervious to the bite of all
reptiles.!

“ But suppose one ha bitten me?”

“No danger dat, massa. Me put Ly your side herbs which the
snakes no like. Dey no. come dat side. Massa not go out.
Redskin gone other side great wood. He not content—not got his
money—not got tafia. He keep eye on us.”

The negro was not mistaken. Six hours after the scare given
to the warders, and their precipitate retreat, the redskin was
impudently hanging about the house.

4 It isan historical fact, officially certified, that a Monsieur Oleta had
discovered means by which he could render persons absolutely invulnerable

to the bite of snakes, or cure them if they were bitten, if brought to him

alive. Monsieur Oleta died some ten-years ago, leaving the receipt to his
son.



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 81

ae
o



“You bad man,” he said, “ prevent me taking white tiger.”

“Go, bad Indian, or old leper cast charm on you.”

At the word “charm” the Indian, superstitious, like all of his
race, fled in terror, Jike a stag pursued by a tiger.







CHAPTER. VII

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING



GA
“Ua

we) a OBIN, in the course of his adventures, had not very
y =~ S much deviated from the direction which he had pre-
XY viously traced out for himself. He did not wish
to go far from the Maroni, which forms the boun-

dary of the two Cayennes, and had pretty well succeeded in keeping
to the north-west, wuich is the direction in which the river runs
from its mouth as far as the fifth degree of north latitude. With-
out any scientific instrument it was impossible for him to calculate
accurately the distance which he had gone, or the point where he
now was. His companion was incapable of telling him anything.
It mattered little to the poor negro whether he was in one place or
another. The only thing he needed was means of existence. He
knew vaguely that the river was three or four days’ march distant ;
that was all. He was even ignorant of the name of the stream of
which the waters fertilized the valley. Robin conjectured that it
might be the Sparwine. If this were so, his abode with the leper
would offer him no safety. The administration of the convict estab-
lishment was about to place at the mouth of this river a barrack of

wood-cutters. A party of convicts had already taken up their abode



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. §3



there. Who could say if from one moment to another one of his
ancient comrades, or even a warder, might not suddenly debouch
into the clearing? His strength had come back, and with it an irre-
sistible desire to preserve at all cost the liberty acquired after such
terrible sufferings.

A month had already passed since the day when his enemies had
been so rapidly put to flight by the corps of reptiles of which
Cassimir was commander-in-chief. He had accustomed himselfcom-
pletely to this tranquil life, the profound repose of which rested alike
his soul and body after the horrors of the convict settlement. But
the thought of his family incessantly occupied his mind ; every day,
every hour was full of the sweet and sad thought of the absent ones:
Every night his sleep was haunted by them in his dreams. Hov
could he let them know that the hour of his deliverance had sounded?
How could he see them again? How give them a simple sign of
his existence without exposing himself to the greatest danger? The
wildest ideas, the most impossible plans, presented themselves to
his mind. Sometimes he thought he could gain the Dutch bank of
the river, traverse the whole width of their possessions, and arrive
at Demerara, the capital of English Cayenne. There he would find
work sufficient to keep him, and could then takea passage on board
a ship for Europe, upon which he would embark as a sailor. But
his reason showed him the impossibility of this project. He would
- certainly be arrested by the Dutch, and even if he were not, he had
no chance of gaining the English colony with which France had
no treaty of extradition.

“Tf, on the other hand,” he said to himself, “I go up the Maroni,

G2



ey THE WHITE TIGER.

Iam sure, according to the maps of Leblonde, that its principal
branch the Aona has a connexion with the basin of the Amazon.
Can I not descend the Yarry or some other affluent as far as
Brazil?”

“ Wait a little,” replied the negro ; “ wait a little.”

“Yes, my good Cassimir, I will wait as long as possible. We
will make provision—a canoe—and will both of us leave.”

“Dat will be the berry thing,” Cassimir said.

It was only after long discussion that Robin consented to associate
the old man with the risks of his enterprise. It was not that he
feared that any contact or contagion could result fromit. Far from
it; but Cassimir was old. Had he a right to use the profound affec-
tion which this old man had shown him from the first day of meet-
ing, to take him away from the Eden embellished by his mutilated
hands? Certainly Robin was no egotist. He returned with all his
heart the affection which the old man had bestowed upon him, and
tried in every way to render his existence pleasant to him; but
Cassimir had so much and so strongly insisted that Robin could not
refuse him. The leper wept with joy, and thanked, with briskness,
his good white comrade.

By a thoughtless movement at one of these gestures, the offspring
of the full heart of the old man, the exile, taking him by the hand,
raised him to his feet.

“ Ah,” said the old man sorrowfully, “ you have touched Cassimir.
You come to be leper too.”

“No, Cassimir ; have no fear. I am not afraid of touching your

hand. Believe me, my friend, your disease is less contagious than



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 85



is génerally thought. I havestudied muchin France. The doctors
and wisest savants go so far as to affirm that it is not communicated
by touch. Some, indeed, who have practised in the countries where
leprosy is most severe, assert that they can stop its progress by
removing the patient from the place where it has been contracted.
Therefore there is a double reason why I should take you to some
place where I am going.”

Cassimir understood one thing : that was, that the white man would
not leave him—still more, that he had shaken his hand. For more
than fifteen years such a thing had not happened to him ; needless
to say, then, that his emotion was great. From that moment their
resolution was taken. They would construct a light canoe of a
slight draught of water, and in which they would stow as many pro-
visions as possible. These provisions would be principally com-
posed of chouac, which is the flower of the manioc, and of dry
tinder. When the boat was ready they would descend the creek,
travelling only by night. During the day the canoe should be
hidden among lianas and other plants which covered the banks, and
the two men would sleep under the trees. They would traverse the
Maroni, ascending its course to the point where there was a con-
siderable affluent cutting the narrow part of Dutch Cayenne, and
communicating with the basin of the Essequibo, the great river of
the English colony. There they would besafe, for Georgetown
and Demerara are near the mouth of this river. Such was the
plan of their great project, except for such modifications as might
result from further events. As to the almost insurmountable diffi-

culties, the two men enumerated them as a matter of form, and



86 THE WHITE TIGER.

ee a ee
made no further question of them. Provisions were in abundance.
It sufficed to get the vegetable products and store them from time
to time. But there remained the question of a boat. A bark canoe
would not be sufficient to accomplish such ajourney. Its impene-
trability is far from being perfect, and the provisions would be
damaged. Moreover, it would not be able to always resist the
shocks and blows resulting from navigation across the rapids
which abound in the rivers and the creeks of Cayenne. It was
resolved, then, that the canoe should be constructed on the model
of those of the Bosh and the Bonis, of one piece from the hard
and impervious wood of the bemba. Fined down and strengthened
at its two extremities, it may be navigated either way. The two
sharp points being left solid for the first two feet, could with impunity
dash against the rocks. It would be sixteen feet long, and would
carry (in addition to the two canoe-men) about a thousand pounds
weight of provisions,

The first thing was to find a tree uniting all the requisite pro-
perties; that is to say, which should neither be too large nor too
small, of middle age, without knots or cracks, and, above all, in the
neighbourhood of the creek and the clearing. It took two days of
painful search among the giant trees of Cayenne, which do not grow
in groups, but are scattered here and there. One wasat last found,
and declared very good by Cassimir, engineer-in-chief in the naval
construction. They then set at once to work.

The labour advanced but slowly. The old negro had but one
hatchet of small dimensions, of which the edge struck vainly on the

tenacious fibres of the bemba, making but small gashes. Fore



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 87



tunately, Cassimir was an adept in all the resources of the inha-
bitants of the forest. Since iron was insufficient, he brought fire to
his assistance. A bonfire was lit at the base of the tree, which
burnt slowly for forty-eight hours, and then fell during the night

with a terrible crash. Cassimir awoke with a start, and shaking
his companion’s hammock, cried joyously,—

“¥Fren’ Robin, you hear de bemba go crack?”

Robin was too joyous to go to sleep again.

“It is well indeed. This is the commencement of deliverance.
We want instruments for digging out the canoe.”

“Oh,” interrupted the negro, “ Bosh negro, Boni negro not have
instruments. Dey make canoe with fire.”

“Yes, I know that they hollow out their canoes with fire, and
polish them with their knives or even with sharp stones, but I
have discovered sorething better than that.”

" «What you found, fren’ Robin?”

“You have a pick, have you not? a good pick. Well, I shall fit
it up properly, give ita heavy handle, and that will make me a
capital adze. With such an instrument, Cassimir, I shall be able
to make a good canoe.”

“ Dat is so, dat is so,” said the negro, delighted.

This was settled, and the two men, having altered the pick to
its new purpose, went to theirlabour. They carried with them
the provision for the day, and advanced jaunting gaily.

“Do you see, Cassimir?” said Robin, already a changed man
since his life had an object and this object was drawing near,

“before a month we shall be started. Soon we shall be far away



88 THE WHITE TIGER.

—_—





in a free country. I shall no longer be a wild beast whom they
pursue, a convict whom they track. I shall no longer be the game
of the Indians, and of the warders. I shall no longer be a white
tiger.”

“Dat so, massa,” said the leper, happy at the joy of his
friend.

They arrived at this moment at the clearing formed by the fall
of the bemba, which had in falling brought down several other
trees. A broad ray of the sun came through the open space. The
base of the tree stil] smoked.

* Now to make my—”

Robin did not finish the phrase. He remained as if petrified, as
a man with a chopper in his hand, and dressed in the horrible
livery of the prison, rose suddenly and pronounced these
words :—

“What! is it you, Robin? I never expected to find you
here.”

Robin, thunderstruck with the suddenness of this encounter, did
not reply. The view of his ancient companion of the gaol called up
suddenly a nightmare of lugubrious remembrances. The convict
could not be alone. Perhaps at two paces’ distance in the cover
were a party of these scoundrels with their escorts, the warders.
What! had all these sufferings been endured vainly? Was it
necessary to say adieu to this liberty scarcely regained? A strange
fever seized the engineer. A passing thought of murder crossed
his brain, in fact. What mattered the life of this man in compari-

son with his freedom? He was ashamed immediately of this



se suddenly.

in his hand ro:

a chopper

aS
~~
Be
es
S
Fs
8
w
3

,

d as if petrified

ine

He rema









THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. gr



thought, and recovered his composure. The other did not seem to
notice his trouble, or to be astonished at his silence.

“Ah! I understand. You never were a talker. It is all the
same. I am glad to see you again.”

“Tt is you?” said the convict, with an effort. ‘“ Gondel?”

“ Gondel himself, in flesh and bone—specially in bone. You see
our food has not improved since your departure, and what with the
heat and the work which we have to do, there is no means of getting
ourselves into condition.”

“ But what are you doing here?”

“To any one else but you I should reply with ‘What business is
that of yours?’ and that it does not matter. But you have a right
to know everything ; I am simply a hunter of wood.”

“ A hunter of wood.”

“Yes. You know well that each wood-cutting establishment
sends out a man well acquainted with the forest and the descrip-
tions of wood. He starts on his adventure, finds out the finest
subjects, marks them, and some time afterwards the pioneers (the
pioneers of the state) cut them down for the benefit of their em-
ployer. Before being imprisoned, I was a cabinet-maker. I was
therefore made searcher, with forty centimes of pay per day, and
that’s how I have suddenly tumbled upon you. But do you know
that you are looking well? One can see that you are living on
your means.”

“ And the others, where are they ?”

“ Oh, they are three days’ journey from here. You need not for

the present be alarmed.”



g2 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Then you are not a fugitive?”

“ Not such a fool. I have only six more months to do. In six
months I shall be at provisional liberty to reside at St. Laurent on
a ticket-of-leave.”

*°Oh, you are not a fugitive?”

“No; I told you so. One would think that you would pre-
fer to make perfectly sure that I was not returning. Don’t be
afraid. Weare a bad lot—but one convict never denounces an-
other.”

Robin made a sudden movement.

“Ah!” said the other, “when I say ‘convict, don’t get angry.
I know well that you were not in for crime. Well, if you would
know the truth of it, all the world was delighted that you made your
escape.”

“And Benoit?”

“ Benoit, whom the warders brought back altogether smashed up
—didn’t he bleed? Well, you area strong man. You are not of
us, but we esteem you all the same.”

“ And are they thinking of pursuing me?” demanded Robin.

“ Nobody but Benoit. Youare his Jé¢e-nozy. He swears morning
and night, to such an extent, that the poor sisters of the hospital
are almost out of their minds. He will be after you, of course. I
am sure that when he is once upon his feet he will try to get you in
his clutches.”

The convict, loquacious like his class when they have an occa-
sion to chat with others of their companions, still kept on.

® Do you know that you have had good luck in meeting with this



_ THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 93



old negro whois with you? He is ugly enough to frighten old Nick.
But he must have been useful to you indeed! Well, I never thought
of finding you when I discovered this bemba on the ground. It
will make a fine canoe. Shall I help you?”

““ No, thank you,” Robin said, unable to overcome the repulsion
with which the convict’s dress inspired him.

“T understand you,” the man said quietly, “and it is natural after
what you went through among us. Still, I am not all bad. I was
once a decent fellow. I received a certain amount of education;
my father was one of the first cabinet-makers of Lyons. Unfortu-
nately, I lost him when I was seventeen years old, when I made bad
acquaintances. Pleasure attracted me. I can recall now my poor
mother saying to me, ‘My boy, I heard yesterday that the young
folk of the village made a disturbance, and that they passed the
night at the lock-up. If such a thing were to happen to you, I
should die of grief. Two years afterwards I committed forgery,
and they condemned me to five years’ hard labour. My mother
remained for two months between life and death. She was out of
her mind for two years. Her hair became white. She was not
forty-five years old, and she appeared sixty after my departure. I
have never robbed since 1 was at the prison. I am neither worse
nor better than the others; but I am a condemned man. See, I
can’t even weep in talking of it. You—sis—the prison has ennobled
you ; me it has destroyed.”

Robin, moved in spite of himself, approached the man,

“It is not for me to judge you,” he said; “I thank you for the
offer you made me, but I feel that it would bring me bad luck if I



Full Text


31).

Robin marched steadily forward (p
THE

CRUSOES OF GUIANA

OR

LHE WHITE TIGER

4
By LOUIS BOUSSENARD
¢/-3 13 oo



EDGEWOOD PUBLISHING COMPANY.


CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
MISSING «© e e -« . .-
CHAPTER II.
A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE «ee

CHAPTER III.
AN INDIAN’S GRATITUDE ° . °

CHAPTER IV.

UPON HIS TRACK 2 +6 + «+ @
CHAPTER V.
A FRIEND IN NEED 7 6 ©

CHAPTER VI.
A NARROW SQUEAK. +» +© «+ @

CHAPTER VII.

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING . . .

CHAPTER VIII.
A MYSTERIOUS FRIEND »- + + «6

PAGE

17

31

46

55

6§

82

97
vi CONTENTS.

eS LY

CHAPTER IX.
A HIDDEN ENEMY eae he xe

CHAPTER X,
PREPARING FOR A START . .

CHAPTER XI.

A DESPERATE CHASE . ° . .

CHAPTER XII.

FIRST EXPERIENCES . ° . .

CHAPTER XIII.

FISHING EXTRAORDINARY . « >
CHAPTER XIV.

SCARING A TIGER e . . .

CHAPTER XV.

OVER A REEF . ° . . °

CHAPTER XVI.
A HAVEN OF REFUGE ~ . «©

CHAPTER XVII.
THE STOCKADE »« +6 «© «+ =

CHAPTER XVIII.

A FIGHT UNTO THE DEATH e .

CHAPTER XIX,

LIFE IN THE CLEARING e e °

109

120

126

139

152

162

172

185

201

237

228


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Robin marched steadily forward . .« «© « Frontispiece

He drew out from the bottom of the holea chopper.

There was a long silence, which was broken only by the

voice of Fagot . ns . . .
Close to the creek lay eleven skeletons - «© 6
He saw them hanging themselves by their tails . .
They carried back Benoit to the prison + 28
Come, my friend, and sleep here . . 7 .

He applied its tail behind the ear of the sick man .

e

Mad with terror, he bounded back, making a sweep with his

sword at the terrible snake . . -

He remained as if petrified, as a man with a chopper in his

hand rose suddenly ° . . . ° .
Her eyes turned to a portrait © © e « -«
Makingacanoe . . . - e e ee

The fire had consumed everything eS, ener

12

27
32
50
53
67
68

77

88
98
109
116
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.



PAGE

“Itishe! It ishe whom they arekilling!” .« « « 136
Their store of provisions was carried on board . « . 140
In three minutes an arbour was constructed for the mother

and children . . . . 7 ee e eo e I5!
“Oh! it is milk, real milk!” \ © © © « oo 352
The Bonishook withlaughter . +. © .« e «+ 168
Angosso climbed with a vigour and address which would

have made the fortune ofa gymnast . . + « 180
Cassimir went in front, striking the vegetation to right and

left . . . . . . . ee oe oe « I9%
These trees were united by four beams 7 e ee e 192
“ Now some wood, and we will bake it hard” . e e 204
He talked the matter over with Cassimir . .« . « 212
For some moments Robin had regarded with curiosity a

large brown body . rr . 8 228
He carried on his head a great basket like a chicken-coop . 230
One fine morning Nicholas, to his delight, received a pavket

ofcigars. . og oe el 2354
“What is that?” cried Robin, seizing hisgun . e« .« 24!

Cassimir at last succeeded in catching a monkey. e¢ e 245




THE WHITE TIGER.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA.



CHAPTER I.

; MISSING,

gale. The thunder growled furiously, and the claps,



alternately loud and stifled, short and prolonged,
sharp and crackling, sometimes curious, always
terrible, seemed to run into one endless detonation. From north
to south, from east to west, stretched above the tree-tops, as far
as eye could reach, an immense black cloud bordered by an
angry copper band.

The blinding flashes of all forms and all colours blended in
one vast illumination, as if they were escaping from a crater
turned upside down. From these masses of clouds, which the
mighty sun had pumped up from the marshes and unexplored
solitude, poured down in perfect torrents what we cali in Europe

VOL. L B
2 THE WHITE TIGER.



drops of rain, but which resembled large masses of metal in a
state of fusion, across which the lightning was strangely reflected.
The leaves fell cut as if by a storm of hail, or rather as if by
millions of jets of steam-pumps.

From time to time an enormous mahogany-tree, the pride of
the verdant forest, fell with a crash. A cedar, over 100 years
old, which four men could not encircle in their arms, crushed
down like a splinter of pine. A grim ebony, whose trunk raised
itself more than 130 feet, and was as hard as iron, bent like a
straw, while other giants, whose heads rose nearly to the clouds,
fell shivered by the lightning. These, fastened together by masses
of lianas, and whose branches were hidden by orchids and other
parasitic plants in full flower, swayed and fell in a heap. Millions
of red petals strewed the grass : one might have taken them for
drops of blood poured from the sides of a stricken Colossus. The
frightened animals were silent, the grand voice of the tempest
alone bellowed.

This terrible concert of nature, which might have been called
the symphony of the genius of the storm executed bya cbeir of
Titans, filled the immense valley of the Maroni, the grand river
of French Guiana.

The night fell suddenly, with a rapidity peculiar to the equa-
torial zones, where the sun rises without a dawn, and disappears
without a twilight.

Any one who had not been familiarized for a long time with
these terrible convulsions would have been astonished at the

sight of 100 men of all ages and of different nationalities, who
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 3



were ranged, silent, impassible, hat in hand, in four lines, under a
vast barn.

The roof of boughs of the waie seemed as if every instant it
would fly away ; the beams trembled, and the four lanterns hung
at the corners seemed on the point of being extinguished. The
faces of these men, Arabs, Indians, blacks, and Europeans,
preserved the same expression of dull impassibility. All were
bare-footed, clad in trousers and blouses of grey cotton, on the
back of which were two large black letters, “ C. P.”

Along these four lines a man of middle height walked quietly.
His shoulders were disproportionately large; his face was brutal,
and divided by a great brown moustache, with long cosmetted
points ; his eyes were grey-blue, with an expression of craft and
duplicity.

This man was clad in a coat of blue cloth with a collar sur-
rounded by a band of silver, and on each side of his trousers
were two stripes, also of silver. A long sabre hung by his side,
and in his belt was a pistol. He carried in his hand a strong
whip, with which, from time to time, he executed with a satisfied
air a flourish, with a correctness which indicated a profound
knowledge of the art of single-stick. He examined from head to
foot, peering out beneath the peak of his cafée, which was of the
same stuff as his coat, each of the men as they replied to the call
of their names.

This call wis vande hy a man clad in the same uniform, who
stood before the front rank, and whose physiognomy formed
a striking contrast with that of his companion. He was tall,

B2
4 THE WHITE TIGER.



thin, and well-built, and his face was by no means disagreeable.
He did not carry a stick, but had in his hand a small note-
book upon which were inscribed the names. He called out in a
loud voice, stopping often, so bewildering was the noise of the
tempest.

“ Abdullah.”

“ Here!”

“ Mingrassamy.”

“ Here!” replied the hoarse voice of a Hindoo, who was shiver-
ing in spite of the suffocating temperature.

“ Another who has St. Vitus’s dance,” grumbled the man with
the waxed moustachios. “ He pretends that he has got the fever.
Wait a little, my man, I'll make you dance presently with my
stick.”

“ Simonin.”

“Here,” feebly said a European, whose face was livid, his
cheeks fallen, and who could scarcely stand upright.

“‘ Reply louder, animal!”

And the heavy blow of the stick fell upon the shoulder of the
poor creature, who twisted and gave a cry of pain.

“There! I knew very well that his voice would come back to
him. See, now he is able to sing like a red ape.”

“ Romulus.”

“Here!” cried, with a voice like a stentor, a negro of colossal
size, showing a double range of teeth of which a crocodile might
have been jealous.

“ Robin.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 5



No answer.

“ Robin,” repeated he who was reading the roll-call.

“ Answer now, scum of the earth!” cried the man who carried
the stick.

“Silence.”

A vague murmur circulated through the four ranks.

“ Silence, you dogs! The first who leaves his place, or says a
word, I will blow out his brains ;” and he cocked his pistol.

There were a few seconds of calm during which the thunder was
quiet.

“To arms ! to arms!” cried some people a few yards off. Then
there was the shot of a musket.

“A hundred thousand thunders! We are now ina nice mess.
For a certainty Robin has escaped, and he is a_ political
prisoner.”

The prisoner Robin was marked as missing, and the roll-call
was brought to a close without further incident. We say prisoner
and not convict. The first of these names being reserved for men
accused of political crime; the second for ordinary prisoners.
It is, in fact, the one nominal difference established by those who
are sent to these horrible places, and their guards. The work is
identical, the food, clothing, and rules. Prisoners and convicts
mix together, receive in equal superabundance the blows of the
stick of warder Benoit.

The scene was, as we have said, in French Guiana, on the right
bank of the Maroni, a river which separates the French possessions
from the Dutch.
6 THE WHITE TIGER.





The convict establishment where was passing in February, 185-,

the prologue of the drama which we are about to tell, was called
jt. Laurent. It was but recently founded, and was an offshoot

of that in the Island of Cayenne. The convicts were not yet up
to their full number, and did not exceed 500. The place was
unhealthy. Marsh fevers were frequent, and the work of clearing
the ground crushing.

The overlooker Benoit accompanied his brigade to the barrack.
He had the hang-dog look of a fox caught inatrap. His stick
was no longer twirled in his hand ; the points of his moustachios
hung sadly, and the visor of his cap had no longer the jaunty
cock of before.

This was because the escaped man was a political prisoner,
a man of high intelligence, energy, and action. His flight then
would be disastrous for the warder to whom the solicitude of
government had confided him. Ah! if he had been but a vulgar
assassin or even a simple forger, Benoit would have thought
nothing of it.

The convicts, delighted at this incident which had put their
chief out of temper, with difficulty hid the joy that their eyes
reflected. It was, indeed, their sole protestation against the acts
of brutality of the warder. They took their places in their ham-
mocks stretched between two beams, and soon slept the sleep
which, even if a tranquil conscience is absent, severe labour will
procure.

Benoit, more out of countenance than ever, betook himself,

without paying any attention to the tremendous rain and the
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 7





crashing thunder, to render an account of the roll to the superior
officer of the convict station.

Already informed of the situation by the sound of the shot, and
the call to arms of the sentinel, the governor had taken the
measures which he thought necessary to carry out the pursuit;
not, indeed, that he had any hope of overtaking the fugitive, but
it was the rule. He reckoned rather upon hunger, that implacable
enemy of every man lost in the interminable forest. In fact,
although the evasions were numerous, famine invariably brought
back all those whom the wild hope of liberty had carried away.
Only too happy, when tortured by hunger, were they to avoid the
teeth of the reptiles, the attack of the wild beasts, and the bite,
often mortal, of the insects.

When, however, he learnt the name of the man who had
escaped, the commandant, who knew the energy, and could
appreciate the force of character of their prisoner, felt his con-
fidence diminished.

“ He will not return,” he murmured. “ He is a lost man.”

“Commandant,” said Benoit, hoping by a display of zeal to
turn from his head the punishment he had deserved, “1 will bring
him back dead or alive. I charge myself with the business. It
is my duty.”

“Dead! That is too much. You understand me?” drily re-
plied the commandant, a man at once-just and firm, and who
knew how to perform his terrible functions with humanity. “I
have often tried to check your brutality. 1 have formally fore

bidden you to act as you do. You know to what I refer. Mind,
8 THE WHITE TIGER.



you are for the last time warned. Make every effort to bring
back the fugitive, if you want to avoid the council of discipline,
and the eight days in prison, which I shall give you to date from
the moment of your return. Go!”

The overlooker saluted briskly, and left, grumbling between his
teeth a series of terrihle oaths.

“Yes; Pll bring him back—the scoundrel—dead or alive. Yes,
indeed ; it’s alive that I want him. A ball through the ribs!
Bah, it would be too little for such a vermin! I will hold him
yet beneath my stick; and I hope that he will die under it. Now
to the search.”

The overlooker regained the house that his colleagues in-
habited in common, put together some provisions into a haver-
sack, provided himself with a compass and a sabre, cast a
fowling-piece and a cartridge-belt over his shoulder, and prepared
to depart.

It was yet scarcely seven o’clock, and three-quarters of an hour
had passed since the flight of Robin was signalled. Benoit, who
was the chief warder, commanded the post. He ordered three
others to accompany him, and they equipped themselves without
a word.

“ Well, Benoit,” said one of those who remained on guard, the
same indeed who had made the roll-call with him, “ you will not
think of setting out in such a tempest, and at such an hour.
Await, at least, the end of the tempest. Robin cannot be very
far, and to-morrow—”

“J do what pleases me,” replied he gruffly. “I command
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 9





here, and I don’t ask your advice. And, besides, my man will
try to cross the Maroni, so as to take refuge among the Arouagnes
or the Galibis. He will follow the stream. I shall catch him
before he will be able to construct a raft. Ah! ha! I understand
‘his plan. It is a stupid one; all the more that I saw wandering
about here yesterday some of those filthy redskins near the
northern boundary. Wait a little, my friends. You shall soon
have news of him. Isn’t it so, Fagot, that we are about to talk
to them in the country ?”

At the name of Fagot, a shaggy dog with a morose face,
bristling hair, thick-set jaws, and an intelligent eye, came out
from-below the rough table. “ Fagot” signifies “convict” in the
slang of the prisons, and Benoit had thought it amusing to give
this name to his dog, who shared in all the hatred which the
convicts felt towards his master.

It is a curious fact, and yet easily explicable, that the dogs of
convicts hate free men, and the dogs belonging to them. Such
is also the intelligence of these animals of the Indian race, with
their pricked-up ears, their pointed nose, their quick eye and
marvellous scent, that the passage of a white man or of a freed
black is always announced by them.

Upon the other hand, the dogs of the warders will scent the
convict at an incredible distance, and signalize to their masters
his presence by savage barkings.

Even more, when these dogs of the same race meet, they re-
cognize each other at once. Without any of the preliminaries

usual to the representatives of the canine race, they throw them-
%.

10 THE WHITE TIGER.



selves one upon the other, or rather the free dog attacks the other
with fury. The last, who advances with his tail drooping, turns,
and a terrible fight takes place, in which it is not always the
assailant that has the best of it.

Benoit, whom a long stay in Guiana had familiarized with the
country, had become an excellent trail-hunter. Aided by his
four-footed companion, he could rival the most skilful trail-hunter
of La Plata.

He took Fagot to the barracks, unhooked the hammock of the
fugitive, and gave it him to smell several times, urging him on
as hunters do,—

“Find him, Fagot! Find him, my dog !”

The animal smelt the hammock, and took a strong breath of
air, wagged his tail, and gave a little bark, as much as to say,
“T understand,” and then dashed out of doors.

“A horrible time ; just the time for an escape,” said one of the
three warders, soaked to the bone by the rain, before he had made
ten paces. “It’s the deuce if we shall ever find our man.”

“Yes,” put in another; “one only wants now to put one’s foot
on a snake, or to fall into a bottomless quagmire.”

“I doubt,” said a third, “if his dog can smell the fugitive
There’s plenty of time for the rain to have washed aside all trace,
and to have carried away the scent ; Robin could not have chosen
a better moment.”

“Now then, you men, forward! You understand, this isn’t a
question of amusement. In a quarter of an hour at most the
storm will be at an end, the moon will be shining, and we shall
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. i
FO ee re
have it as light as day. Let us follow the bank of the Marony
and good luck to us.”
- The four men, preceded by the dog, advanced without noise
in Indian file, by a little path scarcely marked out in the midst
of the brushwood, and which would bring them to a point higher
up on the river.

The man-hunt had begun.

At the moment when the convicts were ranging themselves in
their lines for the roll-call, the sentinel on guard near the building
had distinctly seen, by a flash of lightning, a man quitting the
ranks, and flying at full speed. There was no mistake possible.
The fugitive wore the livery of the prison. The soldier did not
hesitate. His orders were short. He at once cocked his gun and
fired, without even having cried, “ Who goes there £2

In spite of the flashes whose flickering enabled him to see
distinctly, he missed the man as easily as possible.

When the fugitive heard the ball whistle, he put on his best
speed, and dashed into the brushwood. He disappeared at the
moment the soldiers at the post ran to arms.

Without taking any notice of the rain, the wind, or the storm,
he advanced into the heart of the wood with the assurance of a
man to whom the slightest changes of the ground were familiar.
He journeyed by the light of the flashes, bent to the left, turned
his back upon the prison, and consequently left the river on Lis
right. He followed a scarce perceptible path through the thick
wall of verdure.

After half an hour’s run, he arrived at a vast clearing covered
12 THE WHITE TIGER.



with trees cast down by the hand of man, and whose trunks were
already partly sawed up. It was one of the clearings carried out
by the convicts.

A few feet only inside the cleared zone stood an enormous
trunk, cut off at the height of three feet from the ground,
according to the custom of the Cayenne pioneers. The fugitive
stopped by the trunk, and felt it, for the flashes were becoming
more rare. But his eyes could not distinguish any sign by which
he could recognize it.

“It was certainly here,” he said, in a low voice, putting is
hand on a piece of wood cut like a pointed stake, and left there
as if by accident. He seized the stake, and turned up rapidly
the ground at the foot of the tree. The point of the stake, almost
as hard as iron, soon met a resisting body, which gave a metallic
sound. ;

The fugitive stooped and pulled up one or those tin boxes in
which sea-biscuit is carried, and which is about fifteen inches
upon each of its faces. A long and flexible creeper was twisted
several times round it, and on one of its sides made two large

“bows, which could do duty as the straps of a haversack. He
adjusted it to his shoulders, drew out from the bottom of the hole
a chopper with a wooden handle, bound round with the fibres of
a creeper to a short blade, and slightly bent ; seized his stake in
his left hand, and remained for some minutes leaning against the
trunk. ;

Then he straightened himself proudly. At last he said,—

“J am free! free as the wild beasts with whom I am going to


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THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 15
SI lS oe eae
dwell! For me in future, as for them, there are the great wouds
and the terrible solitudes. Better by far the snake who crushes
one, the sun which maddens one, the tiger who tears one, the
fever which racks, hunger which kills—better death under all
these aspects, than life in the convict prison. Of the two hells,
that in which I can die free is surely preferable.” ;

The superintendent had not been deceived in his previsions
relative to the tempest. The convulsions of nature at the equator
are formidable, but brief.

Half an hour had not passed when the cloud had flown far
away, the moon gently rose above the thick curtain of foliage
bordering the. river. Its disk shone with a brilliancy unknown in
European latitudes, and made the still agitated waves glisten a
well as the leaves bedewed with the last drops of rain. Now and
then a blue ray found its way through the thick vault of foliag
and gliding through the immense trunks shone upon the inex.
tricable masses of leaves and flowers like the endless columns of
a cathedral.

The fugitive was not insensible to these beauties of nature ; but
he had no time to spare. It was necessary for him, in order to
complete his work of freedom, to fly at his best speed, and to
place between him and his enemies an impassable barrier. He
wrenched himself abruptly from the mute contemplation which
had for some minutes succeeded his monologue, took a fresh

point of departure, and set out on his march. .


CHAPTER II,

A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE,



tried them had either been recaptured by the
warders, given up by the Dutch authorities, or had died of hunger.
Some, preferring prison life to this terrible end of their attempt
at escape, had returned at the last gasp to give themselves up as
prisoners. They knew that the council of the prison would
impose upon them for a certainty from two to five years’ punish-
ment of the double chain. What did it matter? They came
back all the same, so profound in man is the love of life, how-
ever miserable that life may be.

To our hero, who had already held his existence cheap, who had
without hesitation consecrated it to the triumph of an idea, death
mattered but little. He would avoid, at all hazards, a meeting
with the Dutch. It would be easy enough to do so. He had
only to remain on the right side of the stream. Hunger? He
was man enough to brave it. His great vigour and his uncone

querable energy would permit him to hold out for-a long time.


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 37



If he should succumb—well, he would not be the first whose
skeleton they would find cleaned by the ants like an anatomical
specimen. But, moreover, he was determined not to die

He was a husband and a father. The terrible labour of the
. Convict prison had not been able to.crush him, nor misery con-
quer him. He wanted to live for his dear ones, and when a man
of this kind says, “I want,” he will.

There remained the hypothesis of a well-directed pursuit, and in-
which the most skilful hunters of the prison would not fail to give
all their faculties. ‘Well, let it be so. Since he was the game, it
was for him to throw the hunters off his traces. It was necessary
for him, as far as possible, to throw their searches upon a false
track.

“They are already on my traces,” said he to himself. “The
thought that I shall try to gain the Dutch establishments will
naturally occur to them. I will leave them the illusion, or rather,
I will help them on in it. In the first place I must construct a
raft.”

He at once turned and directed his course towards the river,
whose deep murmur he could hear on his right. ,

“ Good,” he said ; “it is the blue rocks upon which the waves
are striking. Ina mile hence I shall find my materials.”

_ Without making more noise than a redskin following the war-
; path or pursuing his game, he advanced straight to the river,
from which he was separated at most by three-quarters of an
hour’s march. The realization of his plan necessitated a skill

and a bravery of the highest kind. Robin knew that he was
VOL. I. c
18 THE WHITE TIGER.



pursued. He was not ignorant that those who were searching
for him would certainly follow the Maroni either up or dowr
the river from St. Laurent.

There were two slips, either of which might happen ; either the
hunters for his trail had already passed the point where he
intended to make his raft, or they had not yet reached it. In
the first place he need feel no disquietude. In the second he
could hide himself among aquatic plants, and avoid the eyes of
his enemies, however piercing they might be. As to a stay more
or less long in the water in company with those sharks of the
fresh water, the “ piraies,” electric eels, or prickly rays—he did
not even give the matter a thought These were to him but
simple incidents. -

He could not tell which of these two suppositions was the
correct one, but as he neither saw nor heard anything suspicious
at the moment when he reached the bank, he set to without
hesitation to carry his project into execution.

To choose two long switches of bamboo, white, and strong as
bars of iron, and to cut them down with two blows, was the work
of a moment. Then he resolutely entered the water, and pene-
trated as far as the arm-pits into an immense clump of aquatic
plant there called the moucou-moucou, and which grew in
profusion in the bed of the river. These plants are extremely
light, and cut as easily ag the pith of the elder, at the same time
possessing a skin which gives them consistency. He chose
some thirty of the long stalks of over two yards in length, cut
-them without noise, and avoiding all contact with the corrosive
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 19
I ee
juice which flowed from them, twisted them with two turns
round the bamboo so as to form a sort of palisade analogous
to those which serve as a boundary to gardens.

He had, therefore, a sort of platform of about two yards wide,
admirably buoyant, insufficient indeed to support the weight of
a man, but perfectly capable of carrying out the end which he
proposed.

This done, he stripped off his blouse, stuffed it with leaves in
such a fashion as roughly to resemble a man lying down, placed
in the arm of his lay figure a bough to represent a paddle, and
pushed his skiff beyond the clump of plants.

The tide, which -is felt at more than fifty kilometres from the —
mouth of the enormous stream of water, was rising. The raft was
taken by the current, which gently carried it away, giving to it a
slight movement, and taking it little by little towards the Dutch
bank.

“Tt is perfect,” said the fugitive. “I shall be surprised if ina
quarter of an hour at most my pursuers don’t start in pursuit
of this semblance of a boat.”

The fugitive, considering that the best plan of hiding himself,
as well in the woods as in the town, was to follow the frequented
paths, took a little road which those in pursuit of him would
undoubtedly traverse. As to penetrating into the thick forest, it
was not to be thought of. The forest might be a place of refuge,
but it was impossible at such a time to think of forcing a passage
through it.

Advancing all the time with infinite precaution, and making

C2 z
29 THE WHITE TIGER.



efforts not to break the silence of the night, Robin halted from
time to time and tried to perceive a strange noise among the
manifold murmurs which rose from this ocean of verdure.

Nothing but the patter of the drops upon the leaves, the myste-
rious gliding of reptiles among the grass, the silent march of the
insects on the leaves, and the imperceptible rustle of the wings
of a bird drying himself.

He arrived presently at a large creek, some fifty yards wide,
which bore the name of Balété. He knew that he should meet
this stream, which was a tributary of the Maroni, and which it
was necessary to place as quickly as possible between him and
his enemies.

Before starting to swim across, he paused and took breath,
and inspected the bank with more attention than before. It was
well that he did so, for he heard the sound of voices, and such is
the sonority of the air in the still nights on the equator, that he
could easily catch the words,—

“Yes; I tell you it is a raft.”

* T see nothing.”

‘* Look there, opposite—a hundred yards down the river. I can
see it well—that black spot. There’s a man on it. I can see him
distinctly.”

“You are right ; a raft with a man upon it.”

“Yes ; but he’s rowing up the stream.”

“Yes; the tide is running in.”

“He must have been caught by an eddy, and taken over to the
Dutch side.”


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 21

“ Shall I shout to him to come over here? ”

“Stupid! Ah! if he were an ordinary convict, I should say yes.
The fear of a bullet would bring him over again quickly enough,
but a political prisoner, never.”

“Yes, that’s true; especially Robin. A fine fellow all the
same.” .

“Yes ; but a fine fellow whom one must catch.”

“Ah! if Benoit only were here!”

“Yes; but Benoit has gone on. He traversed the creek in the
boat, and at present is far in advance.”

Well, then, we must fire at the raft.”

“Itis a pity. I have always liked Robin. He was one of the
best and gentlest of men.”

“Yes, it is always like that, poor devil. However, we must kill
him, and the alligators will eat him.” .

_ “Fire, then!”

Three flashes of light were seen simultaneously, and three
cracks of the rifles came to the ears of the fugitive.

“How stupid we are! We are wasting our cartridges for
nothing, when there is an easy means of getting at the raft.”

“ How is that?”

“It is simple enough. The canoe that served Benoit for
crossing the stream is fastened on the other side. I will get into
the water, seize the liana which unites the two banks of the river
and serves for the passage of the boat, cross it, and come back to
take you over in the boat, then we will take up the chase.”

This was done, and the three men at once paddled down the
22 THE WHITE TIGER.



creek, and pushed out on the Maroni. Robin, remaining per-
fectly quiet, had heard all, Fortune was certainly with him.
Scarcely had the canoe disappeared than he seized the liana, cut
it with a blow of his sword, and floated out, holding it in one
hand. The liana, carried down by the stream, described a quarter
of a circle, of which the centre was the other end, by which it was
attached on the opposite bank. Thus, without noise, and without
even moving the surface of the water, Robin found himself on the
other side,

“ Now,” he said to himself, “it is Benoit who pursues me, and
he has advanced. All right, so far I have followed the hunters,
now they are behind me.”

As he walked, he drew from his tin box a biscuit, which he
munched, drinking with it a drop of tafia, and then pushed on at
a renewed pace.

Hours succeeded hours, the moon sank, the sun was about to
rise, and the whole forest seemed to wake up. Among the cries
and calls of the birds was suddenly perceived the sharp bark of a
dog on the hunt.

“Jt is an Indian who is on my track, or else the stperinten-
dent,” thought Robin. “It is unfortunate; the Redskin wants to
gain a prize. However, I shall manage.”

Rapidly the light increased, and abruptly the day broke. The
barkings approached, The fugitive grasped his stake in his hand,
and waited.

A minute later a pretty animal, of the size of a goat, and of a

light brownish colour, passed him like a flash of lightning ; it was
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 23



a kariakow, the goat of Cayenne. At the same moment, and less
than twenty yards from the point where Robin was standing, there
was a sudden movement, and an enormous jaguar leapt from the
branch of a tree ; but he was a second too late, and the kariakow
disappeared.

Robin gave no cry, nor showed any signs of emotion. At the

sight of him the beast tried to draw back; but as he had leapt
with all his force, ke could not arrest his impetus. Surprised at
the aspect of Robin, and intimidated, perhaps, by his resolute
attitude, he gave a second bound, passed three yards above his
head, and, clinging with his claws to the bark of the tree, lay flat
upon the branch, his eye flashing, his whiskers bristling, and
growling deeply.
; His eyes fixed on this terrible cat, Robin waited the attack,
spear in hand, and with every muscle stretched. The sound of
branches being moved made him for a moment turn his head.
He saw, at five paces, the muzzle of a gun pointed at him, and a
fierce voice at the same time shouted,—

“‘ Surrender, or you are a dead man!”

A disdainful smile passed over his face, as he recognized Benoit.
The challenge seemed an absurd one, with this jaguar on the point
of springing. He again turned his eyes upon those of the jaguar,
and steadily regarded him, as if he would conquer him by his gaze.
The animal seemed to feel this magnetic influence.

“Well, scoundrel, do you not answer me?” shouted the sur»
veillant.

At this moment a formidable roar broke out close to him.
4 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Ah!” he said, more surprised than astonished. “Two te
one !”

Benoit, who was brave, well armed, and accustomed to the use
of the rifle, needed not to hesitate a moment in such circum-
stances. He aimed calmly at the jaguar, and fired. The charge,
composed of buckshot, grazed the cheek of the jaguar, broke his
shoulder, and then, glancing down the side, laid open the skin,
and marked the hide with its red lines—a dangerous wound,
mortal perhaps, but insufficient to check him on the spot, as the
superintendent learned to his cost.

Scarcely had the report sounded than the animal leaped forward,
in spite of the horrible wound, upon the unfortunate hunter, and
hurled him down with the shock. Benoit felt his skin rend under
his claws. He saw before his face an enormous gaping mouth,
with its formidable fangs. Mechanically he pushed forward his
gun. The animal’s jaws closed upon it, and in an instant the
rifle was broken at the lock. Benoit felt himself lost, but did not
call for succour. What good would it have been, indeed? He
closed his eyes, expecting the mortal blow.

In an instant, Robin, in whose generous heart the feeling of
hate had no place, bounded to his rescue. He seized the tail of
the tiger and struck hima tremendous blow with his stake.
The jaguar, more furious than before, tried to abandon his first
victim, in order to throw himself upon the being rash enough to —
brave him in this way.

The convict had dropped his spear, and his right hand bran-
dished his chopper. The blade, wielded by an arm of iron, fell


There was a long silence which was broken only by the voice of Fagot.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 27



true on the neck of the beast—a neck as large as that of a young
bull, and strengthened with enormous muscles—completely sever-
ing the head from the body. Two jets of blood spurted out with
quick pulsations.

The superintendent lay upon the ground, his thigh laid open to
the bone, and his broken musket as useless as a broom. The
dead body of the wild beast, still twitching in convulsive move-
ments, alone separated him from the convict. The latter quietly
wiped the wet blade upon the grass. There was a long silence,
which was broken only by the voice of Fagot, who was barking
furiously at a respectful distance.

“ Well, goon. It’s my turn,” said the superintendent. “ Finish
your work at once.”

Robin, his arms crossed and immovable as a statue, did not
reply, and seemed not to hear.

“There, go on, not so much ceremony. Kill me, and there
will be an end of it. In your place I should have done it long
ago,”

Still not a word.

“ Ah! you enjoy your triumph. The other has done half of your
work. The spotted tiger has been the auxiliary of the White
Tiger. Parbleu! he has done for me well. My heart is ceasing
to beat. It’s all over.”

The blood was flowing indeed in a full stream, and the wounded
man sank into a state of unconsciousness, and would have
speedily succumbed to the hemorrhage.

Robin, who in slaying the tiger had obeyed a spontaneous im-
28 THE WHITE TIGER.



pulse, forgot the insults and the blows. He thought no longer of
this terrible prison which Benoit personified. He saw nothing
but a man wounded and about to die. His experience had taught
him what should be done.

He darted away, seized some herbs, and rapidly searched in the
deep, light soil, composed of vegetable matter. In a few minutes
he found underlying it a rough and greasy clay. Rapidly digging
up a mass as big as his head, he carried it to the wounded man,
cut off one of the sleeves of his shirt, tore it up into small pieces,
and with it prepared a sort of rough lint, which he soaked in tafia,
and placed it on the edges of the wound, which he had first
brought together. Then he took some of the earth, which he
worked up, and then applied a thick layer on the linen. This
done, he wrapped round the whole together solidly by aid of
creepers. The horrible wound, which extended from the hip to the
knee, was now in a condition of healing, and unless fever set in,
the wounded man could be cured as well as if it had been dressed
by the cleverest surgeon.

This operation, accomplished with great dexterity, lasted about
a quarter of an hour, and the blood commenced to return to the
cheeks of Benoit. He moved, took a long breath, and murmured
in a low voice, “ Water.”

Robin took a large leaf of the waie, twisted it into a cone, and
ran to fill it at the hole from which he had dug up the clay, and
which by this time commenced to fill with water. He raised the
head of the wounded man, who drank partly, and opened his

eyes.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 29



It would be impossible to describe the expression of astonish.
ment on his countenance when he recognized the convict. Then
the animal awoke in him, and he strove to rise so as to be able to
defend himself, perhaps even to attack. A horrible pain stopped
him. The view of the carcase of the jaguar completed the work of
awakening him to memory.

What ! was it indeed Robin, this man whom he had pursued
with a blind hate, and who, having rescued him from the talons of
the jaguar, had now dressed his wounds and satisfied his. thirst ?
Any other would have bent his head before such an act of
humanity. He would have spoken of the exigencies of duty, and
would have held out his hand to the man and said, “ Thank
you !” Benoit only cursed.

“ Ah, well; you know you are one of those whom we can call
a queer card. I, had I heen in your place, should have given
you a knock and left .cr, and there would have been no more
Benoit. It is a good muds indeca to repay my blows with
interest.” .

“No,” the exile said coldly, “Auman life is a sacred thing;
and besides, is there nothing better than vengeance?”

“ And what is that, if you please ?”

“ Mercy.”

“T know nothing about it. In any case, if I have a chance, I
hope to catch you one day or other.”

“Just as you please. I have fulfilled a simple duty of humanity.
If later the chances of life place us face to face, I shall defend my
liberty.”
30 THE WHITE TIGER.
a A sa a ee cca ae

“I should advise you not to wait.”

“One word more. I do not ask gratitude of you; only ree
member that though there are in prison men justly stricken by the
law, there are others who are innocent. Never abuse your powers
with regard to one or the other. Farewell! I pardon you all the
ill which you have done me.”

“Au revoir! You are wrong, Robin, not to have killed me.”

The fugitive did not even turn his head, He had disappeared
in the thick forest.


CHAPTER III,

AN INDIAN’S GRATITUDE.




“
4 9 en
Fal ? gaolers. Strange as it may seem, he had so far
been able to keep as nearly as possible in the line
which he wished to follow. Three days had already passed from
the time of his escape. The distance which he had traversed
must have been considerable. It could not be less than thirty
miles. Ten leagues in an equatorial forest—it is an immensity.
The fugitive had not for a time anything to fear from civilized
man, but he remained not the less exposed to a terrible series of
dangers of which one alone constituted a perpetual menace of
death. This was hunger—hunger which the explorers, and
functionaries called away from the central depdts, and colonists
themselves, could escape only by a great supply of provisions
patiently laid up—hunger, to whose pangs even the blacks and
redskins succumbed, when they had not been able to lay by for
the rainy season the quantity of provisions necessary for their
subsistence.
Here were none of those admirable trees in which nature seemed
32 THE WHITE TIGER.





to have exerted all her creative forces in order to supply man
with the food which he needs. No; this superb forest produced
neither food nor berry ; neither orange nor cocoa-nut, banana nor
manioc, nor even the bread-fruit, that last resort of the traveller,
were to be found in a wild state in these internal forests. They
may indeed be found throughout Guiana, but only in the villages
where they are imported and planted by man.

The author of these lines has traversed the forests of the New
World, and, lost in the inextricable pall mall of branches, trunks,
and creepers, separated from his carriers, he made one of those
strange discoveries the recollection of which, after months passcd
in the midst of our European civilization, still causes a shudder.

Close to the creek of fresh and limpid water lay eleven skeletons,
dry and white. Some were lying on the back with their arms
crossed, others were twisted and convulscd; others, again, with
their head half sunk in the mud, had stil] between their teeth the
earth which they had tried to eat; while others, leaning on their
knees (Arabs without doubt) had stoically awaited death.

Six months before eleven convicts had escaped from the peni-
tentiary of St. Laurent. They had never returned. These men
had died of hunger, and the ants had passed over them, and there
remained nothing but their bones.

Hard was the condition to which the love of liberty had brought
the fugitive. He had started from the prison with a dozen bis-
cuits laid by from his meagre rations, a few heads of maize, and a
few berries of cocoa and coffee. Such was the provision with

which this intrepid man reckoned to make the formidable stage


keletcns.

5

ay eleven

k 1

1,

Close to the cree
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 35



which separated him from a country of independence. He had
already greatly decreased the contents of his tin box, but the
smallness of the meals had in no way checked his hunger. He
crunched a few coffee beans, drank a little water from the creek,
and sat down upon a fallen tree.

He rested a long time in this position, his eye resting on the
rivulet, regarding without hearing, conscious of nothing but the
beating of his enfeebled heart, and dizzy head. He wished to rise
and continue his way, but he could not succeed in doing so.
His swollen feet, torn by the thorns and spikes of the forest, would
no longer bear him. He took off his shoes, which the thorns,
long and hard as steel needles, had pierced, in spite of their
thickness.

* What,” said he to himself, “is my energy failing me? Am
I no longer the same? What? Shall my heart so soon after
starting thus easily become enfeebled? Courage! A man, even
though worn with fatigue, can remain forty-eight hours without
eating.”

He could not, however, continue his march with his feet
in such a state. He understood this, and, sitting comfort-
ably upon a root, let his legs hang in the water as far as the
calves.

Robin was a man of thirty-five years, tall, well-built, strongly
put together, with small hands attached to the arms of an athlete.
His face was surrounded by a long brown beard. His nose was
aquiline; his eyes black and penetrating. His expression was
habitually grave, sad, almost severe. His mouth, alas! had fora

D2
36 : THE WHITE TIGER.

gino ee SS SS
long time forgotten to smile. Such was, nevertheless, the great
vitality of the man that his’ broad forehead, a little thinned on the
temples, the veritable forehead of a thinker and savant, had not
yet a wrinkle. But his features, emaciated by the labour of the
prison, and his face blanched for want of blood, bore, in spite of
the energy which it showed, the signs of enormous sufferings,
sufferings both moral and physical. .

Strange as it may appear, he had unknown to himselt obtained
a singular ascendancy over his companions. This stern face
which never reflected the slightest smile, impressed them no less
than the enormous strength of which he was possessed. Besides,
he was a political prisoner, and all, even to the highest of those
in this purgatory which they called the prison, and who had won
their titles at the point of the knife, felt out of place in the com-
pany to which his presence gave some sort of propriety. A cha-
racteristic sign of this singular deference was that no one ever
spoke familiarly to him.

Moreover, he was kind, as are most strong natures. Sometimes
it was a convict whom he carried half a league to a hospital,
sometimes an unfortunate whose wounds he bound. He rescued
one day from the Maroni a soldier who was drowning, and at
another time a convict. He stunned with a blow of his fist one of
those tyrants of the prison who brutally treated a poor devil who
was dying of fever. He was at once feared and respected. These
men felt that he was not of their world. He had, moreover, the
honour to be particularly hated by the superintendent, from whom

he endured the worst treatment without making a complaint.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 37
——_——
None were astonished at his flight, and all gave their good wishes
for his success.

A prolonged bath in the cold water of the creek procured for
the fugitive an immediate relief. He patiently picked out the
thorns, whose presence had caused him to suffer greatly, rubbed
his feet with the last drop of tafia, which he had guarded with the
parsimony of a miser, drank a little water, and set himself to
search for his dinner, when a cry of joy escaped him at the sight
of a simarouba.

“TI shall not die of hunger to-day,” he said, at the sight of this
useful tree.

The Quassia Simarouba of Linnzus is employed in medicine
for the tonic properties of its bark and roots, but it bears neither
fruit nor edible berries. Nothing seemed, in fact, to give reason
for the cry of the fugitive, and of his hope of appeasing his
hunger.

He advanced, nevertheless, as fast as his wounds permitted
him, and, arriving at the trunk, he scratched away the dry
leaves which formed a thick bed at its base. He soon came upon
a hard body.

“ Ah!” he said, “my comrades were not wrong. If, during my
captivity, I have heard strange and horrible things, there are
some at least which have their usefulness. I remember well the
last recommendation addressed by his neighbour to one of those
who thought of making an effort for liberty. ‘If you meet in
the forest with a simarouba which has just dropped its flowers,
search at the foot of the tree; there you will certainly find tors
38 THE WHITE TIGER.



toises. They are very fond of the fruit when it begins to develop
itself”

The hard body which he had felt was indeed the shell of one of
these tortoises, which are met with in incredible numbers. He
seized it, turned it on its back, and continued his investigations,
and found two others which he equally captured, and prepared to
be his dinner.

Everywhere on the soil were scattered immense trunks, which
were so rotten that the slightest touch made them tumble into
powder. He brought together two great branches torn off by
hurricanes, and thoroughly dry, and a quantity of leaves. He
prepared avast heap, and succeeded with infinite pains in lighting
it, by the help of a little tinder and a flint which he struck upon
his chopper. The flame rose and spread, chasing from the soil a
host of insects.

The preparations were neither long nor difficult. The tortoise
was placed in his shell on a bed of ashes, and covered with hot
cinders, according to the Indian method. Robin, while his dinner
was cooking, did not remain inactive. He remembered that he
had seen just before some trees of the palm family fifteen or
twenty feet in height. He was not deceived. Scarce fifty feet
away arose one of those vegetables of which the green foliage
agreeably breaks the monotony of the long lines formed by the
trunks of the great trees. This sterile palm bears neither flower
nor fruit. Robin nevertheless set to work to cut it down; and
succeeded after half an hour of immense effort. Although the
trunk was no thicker than his thigh, the bark and clumps of fibre
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 39



were so tough as to test the vigour of his arm, and the temper of
his instrument.

After cutting off the top of the tree, which was indeed the
cabbage palm, he set to work to strip ofi with considerable trouble
_ all the leaves embracing the head. The outside rings were of
a pale green colour, and as they fell one after another, there
appeared within a cylindrical substance of thirty inches long, the
thickness of one’s arm, and of the pale whiteness of ivory. The
fugitive, who was tortured by hunger, broke off a morsel of this
substance, and ate it like a great almond; to which, indeed, it
offers in its texture certain points of resemblance.

When he returned to his fire, the tortoise was well cooked, an
agreeable odour of frying rising from the fire. Robin withdrew it,
opened it without difficulty, and then, with the aid of his chopper,
and using instead of bread the white heart of the palm, he com-
menced his repast.

Wrapped up in his meal, he devoured it greedily, sitting on the
soil opposite the tree, and forgetting both his flight and its
dangers.

A sharp hiss caused him to bound to his feet. Something long
and rigid passed before his eyes, and planted itself quivering in
the bark of the simarouba. It was an arrow of more than six
feet long, tipped with red feathers. Robin seized his pike, and
stood on his defence ; his eye fixed on the point whence came this
terrible messenger of death.

He saw nothing at first, and then the lianas were drawn quietly
aside, and a Redskin appeared, his great bow bent, his arm con-


40 THE WHITE TIGER.

ns
tracted to send another arrow. Robin was at the mercy of the
new-comer as he stood still as a statue of red porphyry. The
point of the arrow moved from the head to the feet, and then rose
to the level of the chest of the white man.

The Indian was completely naked, except for a small piece of.
blue calico bound round his waist. This was called a calambé..
All his body, smeated with a vegetable juice, seemed as if covered
with blood. Strange lines traced with a needle, by the aid of the.
quice of the genipar across his chest and his face, gave him an
aspect at once grotesque and terrible. His long hair of blue
black, cut on a level with his eyebrows, fell behind as low as his
shoulders. He carried a collar composed of the teeth of the
jaguar, and a bracelet of the claws of the tamanoir or ant-eater.
His bow was of iron-wood, and nearly seven feet high, and, while
it touched the ground, rose above his head more than a foot.
Lastly, he held in his left hand three spear-like arrows.

Robin could not understand this attack. The inhabitants of the
lower Maroni, the Galibis, are generally inoffensive. They have,
indeed, many relations with the Europeans, and procure from
them tafia in exchange for cotton clothes, objects of the first
necessity. .

Had the redskin simply tried to frighten him by dis-
charging his arrow? It was probable; for such is the dexterity
of their management of the bow, that they can with certainty
bring down the red ape, or even the parraqua (a sort of pheasant)
from the top of the highest trees. Most of them can without
difficulty pierce an orange fixed at the distance of thirty paces on




THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 41



the point of an arrow. Robin could not then suppose that the
Indian could have missed him at so short a distance.

Determined to show a bold front, he threw from him his pike,
crossed his arms, regarded his enemy face to face, and advanced
slowly. As he approached him, the arm of the savage —that which
held the string—loosened little by little, and the evil look in his
eyes (oblong, like those of the Chinese) died out. The breast of
the white man nearly touched the point of the arrow, when this
quietly was lowered.

“ White Tiger not have fear,” at last the Galibi said, employing
the Creole patois familiar to those of his race who inhabit the
banks of the Maroni.

“No; I have not fear. But I am not a white tiger.”

This is, it may be said, the name under which the fuzitive con-
victs are known by the savages in Guiana.

“If you not White Tiger, what do you do here among poor
Indians ?”

“Tama free man like you. I have done no harm to any one.
I want to live here, to cultivate, to make my clearing, to build my
but.”

“No; you not speak true. If you not White Tiger how you do
without gun?”

“I swear to you by all that is dear tome. You understand,
Kalina” (Kalina is the name which these Indians give themselves),
“TI swear to you that I have never committed a crime; I have
never killed ; I have never robbed.”

“Ah! you swear this? That is good. I will believe you.

*


42 THE WHITE TIGER.





‘Why are you not near your wife or children? Why you come
near Indian to take his land and his shelters? Atoucka will not
have it. Go away to the whites !”

At this remembrance of his wife and children, so suddenly
called up by the redskin, who reproached him for not being with
them, Robin felt himself choked by a rush of tears. He struggled
against this emotion, which he did not wish the Indian to divine,
and replied,—

“My wife and my children are poor. It is to nourish and
shelter them that I am here.”

“ Atoucka will not have it,” the Indian replied, passionately.
“He does not go among the whites to build huts or to plant
manioc. Let the white man rest among his people, and the
Indian among his.”

“ But look, Atoucka, we are all men. The land here is as free
to me as that in my country is to you.”

“No! by the great serpent you lie! Dig the ground with your
sword, and you will find the bones of my father, and those of
Indians, my ancestors. Ifyou find the bone of a single white, I
will give you all the land, and become your dog.”

“ But, Atoucka, I have never said that | wish to establish my-
self here. I calculate upon going among the negroes. I am only
passing here. I don’t even wish to stay any time.”

At this news the Indian, in spite of his messe and self-
command, allowed a movement of disappointment to escape him.
His visage quickly cleared again, but Robin saw the transitory

change.




THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 43





“If you are not White Tiger, go with me to Buonaparte. You
will find there white men, a house, meat, tafia, fish.”

At this name of Buonaparte, which he did not expect to hear in
such a place or from such a mouth, Robin shrugged his shoulders,
then remembered that the prison of St. Laurent had so been
called a few years only, after the name of Admiral Boudin, Governor
of Cayenne. The site had been previously occupied for more than
thirty years by an old Indian named Buonaparte. From him the
name of Buonaparte Point had been given to this strip of land,
which bears on the Maroni, and where at present the Commune
of St. Laurent is situated.

“We shal! see,” said Robin evasively.

The stiffness of the Indian seemed to disappear at once. He
placed his bow on his shoulder with his arrows, as a soldier
grounds his arms, and held out his hand to the fugitive.

“ Atoucka is a friend of White Tiger.”

“ Well, if you still hold to that name, so be it. It is just as
good as any other. White Tiger is comrade to Atoucka. Come,
then, and eat with me what remains of my tortoise.”

The Indian required no further invitation. He sat down with-
out ceremony, and worked so well with his hands and his teeth,
without troubling himself about his friend, that there soon re-
mained nothing more than the shells, as clean as if stripped by a
tribe of ants. The dinner, it is true, had contracted a strong
odour of smoke, but the Indian did not trouble himself about
this.

“ Ah,” he said, as if in thanks, “ you can cook well.”
“4 THE WHITE TIGER.



“It is about time for you to discover that, but I have two more
tortoises, and we will see to-night what you can do.”
_ « Ah, you have two more tortoises?”

“Yes ; there they are,”

“ Good.”

Then seeing that his new comrade, having taken a long drink at
the creek, was about to lie down and sleep, he demanded, witb an
accent of greedy covetousness,—

“You have no given Atoucka some tafa.”

“T have no more tafia.”

“Let Atoucka see what there is in the case.”

The contents did not take long to examine. A shirt of rough
cloth, an empty flask which had contained the tafia, and which the
savage smelt with avidity, some fragments of burnt linen brought
for tinder, and that was all. .

Atoucka hardly concealed his disappointment.

Robin, exhausted by fatigue, felt sleep overcoming him. The
redskin squatted by and set to and sang a long and plaintive
recitative. He celebrated his exploits, recounted that his plots of
ground were full of potatoes and bananas, and of millet. His hut
was the grandest, his wife the most beautiful, his canoe the fastest.
None like him could bring down the koumcurou, none could so
well follow the trace of his prey, or pierce as he could with his
infallible arrow.

The fugitive slept profoundly. For a long time his soul wan-
dered in dreamland. The sun had accomplished two-thirds of

his course when he awoke. The sentiment of reality came sud-






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 45



denly upon him, and abruptly broke his dreams of his wife and
family. And the Indian? At this thought Robin rose abruptly,
looked round, but saw nothing. He called, but there was no
reply. :

Atoucka had disappeared, carrying eff not only the two tortoises,
all the resources of the unfortunate, but also his shoes and his
haversack, which contained all that he had to make a fire with.
There remained nothing to Robin but his chopper, upon which he
had by accident siept, and which the robber had not been able to
steal.






CHAPTER IV.

UPON HIS ‘TRACK.

gives a reward to whoever brings back or gives means



of finding an escaped convict. This reward—ten
francs—represents ten litres of tafia; that is to say, ten days of
complete drunkenness.

This was indeed the design with which the redskin had left.
Seeing that he himself could not take the convict back to
St. Laurent, he had gone to search for reinforcements. Robin,
he was sure, could not go far, and the Indian, knowing his own
skill as a trail-hunter, would be able to conduct the representa-
tives of authority with certainty.

Robin saw that he must instantly continue his vagabond wan-
derings, must go straight before him like the hunted beast, must
place fresh obstacles and longer distances between himself and
his pursuers, and march until he fell. He started munching some
green fruits of the arnara, which has a sharp taste, and is strongly
stringent. On he went, no longer thinking of his feet, which were

bleeding with the cuts given by the sharp grass. He rushed






THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 47



through the woods, pushing aside the boughs, climbing over fallen
trunks and stooping under thick foliage. Forward! What to
him mattered the neighbourhood of the wild beasts, the aaa
serpent in the grass, the millions of insects with poisoned darts,
the stream with its cascades and its sharp rocks, the sevanna
with its bottomless morasses ; what indeed mattered death in any
form and under any aspect? Far more than all these were to be
feared the warders of St. Laurent.

Delirium began to seize the fugitive, but the fever gave him
wings. He dashed onward like a runaway horse, feeling but
vaguely, and understanding without caring for it, that he must fall
sooner or later, dnd that he would never rise again.

Night came on, the moon rose, lighting up the forest with its
soft beams, and soon the noises of the wild creatures which it
contained began. Robin seemed to hear nothing. He marched
without even thinking of picking his route, without even per-
ceiving that he left portions of his flesh on the thorns. Life
seemed to him to be concentrated in one sole function—press
forward. Where was he? Where was he going? He knew not.
He had but one idea—he was flying. This strange course lasted
the entire night. The sun in the morning had already chased
the shadows from the forest, and the fugitive, bathed in perspira-
tion, panting, his eyes starting from his head, his lips fringed with
a bloody foam, was still running, but his powers failing fast. It
seemed to him that his head supported all the vault of foliage.
Giddiness seized him; he staggered, swayed, and at last fell
heavily on the ground. .
48 _ THE WHITE TIGER.



Meanwhile the superintendent Benoit endured frightful tortures.
.His leg, laid open by the claw of the jaguar, swelled rapidly under
the dressing placed on it by the hand of the convict. The bleeding
was arrested, but he was a dead man unless he could be speedily
placed under the care of a skilful surgeon. Fever seized him;
that terrible fever of Guiana—a very Proteus which takes all forms,
which any cause, however trifling, is able to bring on, and which
so quickly kills. The sting of a wasp, the bite of an ant, some
minutes’ exposure in the sun, a bath too cold, or much too long, a
change of diet, a blister produced by a shoe too tight—anything,
in fact, suffices to bring on the fever. The head then becomes the
seat of an atrocious pain, the limbs are racked, and. delirium comes
on, with its train of spectres, then coma, and often a speedy death.

Benoit knew all this. He was frightened. Isolated in the forest,
grievously wounded, without other companion than his dog, lying
opposite to the headless jaguar, one can understand that the
situation was enough to move a man of the most vigorous type.
A burning thirst devoured him, and although he could hear at a
few paces the murmur of the creek, he could not at present drag
himself to its edge.

“ Ah! the wretch, the vermin! All this is his fault ; and then
he came the Grand Signor with me. He pardoned me, scoundrel !
If ever I catch him, Ill pardon him. Silence there, Fagot. Beast
of ill-omen,” growled he to his dog. who was loudly barking, at
‘five paces from the dead jaguar. “Ah!howthirsty lam. Water!
water! Those three brutes I have left behind me - perhaps they

will at least have the instinct to follow my traces.”


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 49



The superintendent, tortured by thirst, found in his anger the
strength to make some movement. Grasping in his hands the
grass and the roots, crawling on his side and his unwounded knee,
he was able to accomplish the journey of some yards to the
riverside.

“Ah!” he said, drinking greedily, “how good it is! I have a
volcano in my body. Ah! I feel myself getting stronger. I shall
be cured. I don’t wish to die! I must live—live, for my ven-
geance. I have at least my pistol. It is here; that’s well. How
I suffer! It is as if half-a-dozen dogs were biting away at my hip.
I trust that all these beasfs of the forest will not take a fancy to
my skin. Benoit, my boy, you have a nasty night to face. It is
certain that if my men are not here to-morrow—Where is Fagot,
the brute? He has quitted me. These dogs are as ungrateful as
men. That’s another with whom I shall have to settle. There,
the sun is going down. The night will be as dark as pitch. No,
there’s the moon.”

If the nights are interminable for those who face them in their
ease, how frightful are they for one who suffers and who is in >
fear !

The moon had made half her course when a tremendous noise
began over the head of the wounded man. It resembled the noise
made by-a train going at full speed, mingled with the screams of a
dozen pigs whose throats are being cut. This bewildering noise
began suddenly. Deep and sharp at the same time, like a duet by
two strange monsters, changing in tone, ascending, descending,
stopping abruptly, only to recommence.

VOL. I. : =


50 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Ah! good!” uttered Benoit. “So we are going to have music.
The accursed red apes.”

The superintendent was not deceived. A tribe of the howling
ape had taken its place on the top of the tree under which he was
lying. He could see them in the moonlight arranged in a circle
around one of the party, their chief, who uttered these abominable
showlings, and who alone produced these sounds, which could be
heard at a distance of more than three miles. When he had
howled for some time he paused, and all his hearers, charmed
without doubt, uttered some deep “ hou-hou ” of contentment.

The howling ape of Guiana, the Stentor Seniculups, also called
the red ape, is four and a half feet from his muzzle to the tip
of his tail. When he sings, his throat swells out and takes the
proportions of a great goitre. The air which passes through this
immense cavity increases, to a wonderful extent, the intensity of
the voice, and produces the deep sound, so that the red ape is the
sole creature which possesses the faculty of singing a duet. It is
always the chief who sings, to the exclusion of his humble subjects.
If one of these, carried away by his ardour, tries to add his note
‘to the symphony, the leader at once cuffs him severely and reduces
him to silence. The auditors have only the right to applaud.
Benoit, insensible to this ape melody, became enraged. Presently
he saw them hanging themselves by their tails, and uttering, heads
down, their brief “‘ hous-hous,” while the chief, equally topsy-turvy,
sang loudly enough to break the tympanum of the inhabitants of
the forest.

“What a fool Iam!” Benoit said to himself. “I have some-


































He saw them hanging themselves by their tails.
ae



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 53

thing which will make them silent,” and cocking his pistol, he fired
in the direction of the band, which scattered in the twinkling of an
eye.

Scarcely had he fired than a feeble report was heard in the
distance. Hope suddenly returned to the wounded man.

“They are looking for me. Fire away, then.”

He loaded his pistol and fired again. A fresh shot in the distance
was heard, this time sensibly near.

“Ah! itis allright. Ina quarter of an hour my men will be here.
In a little while I will be on foot again, and then, beware, Robin !”

The hopes of the superintendent were soon realized. His
colleagues, when they had perceived, too late, that they had deserted
their prey for a dummy, arrived, furnished with torches fabricated
from a resinous wood, and preceded by the dog Fagot, who set to-
barking joyously at the sight of his master. They quickly impro-
vised a stretcher, and carried back with immense labour their com-
rade, now wildly delirious.

Four days had not passed when the Indian Atoucka arrived at
the prison, and reported that he had met the White Tiger, and
that he would undertake for recompense to put an armed force
upon his traces. Benoit heard of it. He had the Indian brought
to his bed-side, and promised him whatever he asked, and, giving
him two picked men, sent them off at once, well provided with arms
and with provisions on their hunt. By ac:i.g in this fashion with-
out the knowledge of his chief, the superintendent hoped to obtain
credit for the discovery of the fugitive, and so turn from his head

’ the tempest which would burst upon him after his cure. The men-
54 THE WHITE TIGER.



hunters, guided by the Indian,to whom the forest offered no mystery,
rarcly found the traces. These this redskin followed like a
spaniel, for he found a broken twig, a bit of trampled grass, a twisted
liana, where the White Tiger had passed by.

Four days after their departure from the prison, they found among
the fallen leaves a large mark, made by the fall of a body, anda
spot of blood which embrowned a point of quartz. ‘he convict had
fallen there. Hada forest beast devoured him? Atoucka shook
his head. He made a large circle, and after being nearly an hour
absent, he returned, putting his finger on his lips.

“Come this way,” he said in a low voice.

His companions followed him without speaking. At 500 yards’
distance they found a clearing, and perceived in its midst a little
cabin, made of the boughs of the macoupi, of ancient construction,
but well built. From its roof escaped a thin line of smoke.

“There’s the White Tiger,” said the Indian joyously.

“Katina, my boy,” said one of the men, “it is well. Benoit will
not stick at a trifle, and you have got your prize, for we shall catch

our man.”








CHAPTER V.

A FRIEND IN NEED.

crushed by fatigue, overwhelmed by the heat, had



fallen as if struck by lightning. The body disap-
peared in the deep grass which enveloped him
in a shroud of verdure. Under such circumstances, death would
arrive ina short time. The unfortunate man would expire without
even recovering consciousness. The thick carpet of foliage had
softened the shock, and the body, looking like a corpse, remained
for many hours stretched there. No jaguar, on the hunt, passed ;
and the ants did not show themselves. It was a miraculous chance.
The fugitive woke slowly after a time, of which it was impossible
for him to appreciate the length. He was a prey toa prostration
of which he could not explain the cause, although his ideas came
back to him with a singular rapidity. It was an incredible phe-
nomenon that he felt no longer any weight in his head. The
band which seemed to surround his temples seemed loosened ; his
ears no longer sang. He heard distinctly the sharp cry of the
mocking-bird, his eyes opened, his pulse beat regularly, his breast

rose with a steady breathing; the fever had for a moment dis-
56 THE WHITE TIGER.

sO



appeared, But such was his feebleness that he could noi all at
once raise himself. He seemed to himself to be of lead. He felt
besides that he was inundated by a warm liquid exhaling a faint
smell. Looking at his shirt, he saw that it was a scarlet red.

“J am in a bath of blood,” he marmured. “ Where am I?
What has happened ?”

At last he succeeded in raising himself tu his knees.

“Tam not wounded—and yet this blood. Oh, I am fecble!”

He found himseif in a large valley surrounded by wooded hills,
whose height did not exceed 500 feet, and which gave rise to a
little stream of clear water of delicious freshness. These creeks,
abundant in Cayenne, are indeed the sole compensation offered by
nature to the torments which men have to endure there.

Robin dragged himself to it, drank greedily, stripped himself of
his torn garments, and, plunging into the water, washed off the
thick mud which covered him.

These ablutions terminated, he got out of the little stream, when
the same sensation of the flowing of a warm liquid again upset
and disquieted him. He carried his hand to his forehead, and
drew it back reddened. It was in vain that he again felt himself.
No wound tore the flesh. He failed to explain the cause of the
effusion of blood.

“In five minutes 2 negro or a redskin would have already had
a looking-glass. Let me do like them.”

In spite of the feebleness which was constantly increasing, hefound
some large leaves of a green-brown belonging to avariety of nenuphar,

very common in Cayenne. Cutting one of these leaves, he placed


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 57



it horizontally in the water, and kept it slightly below the surface.
His likeness, reflected as by a glass on a sheet of tin, appeared
to him as distinctly as it could in the best looking-glass.

“ Ah,” he said, after a moment of attentive examination, perceiv-
ing above the left eye-brow, near the temple, a little cicatrice, “I
have been visited by a vampire.”

Then recalling his encounter with the Indian, his wild flight,
his delirium, and his final fall—

“What a strange destiny is mine! Pursued by wild beasts;
tracked by man; it needed the voracious gluttony of a hideous
beast to save my life.”

Robin was not mistaken. He would have been lost without the
strange intervention of the vampire, who had literally drained him
of blood.

One knows that the bat-vampire makes his food almost exclue
sively of the blood of animals, whom he surprises asleep, and
whom he sucks with avidity. He is provided with a sucker, or
rather his mouth terminates in a little horn armed with tiny
lancets, by whose aid he perforates softly and without pain the

‘epidermis of beasts (especially the great mammals), and of man
himself.

He approaches his victim softly, waving his long wings, whose
continual movement gives a feeling of exquisite freshness. Then
he places his mouth to the point which seems handy to him, his
wings beating always ; and the skin is soon pierced, and the hor-
rible ghoul fills himself, little by little, like a living bellows, then
flies away, leaving the wound open.
58 THE WHITE TIGER.
ee

If the evil caused by the vampire stopped there, it would be
only of slight consequence. The small quantity taken for his
repast would not be absolutely prejudicial to his subject ; but as
the waking seldom follows this bleeding, and as the blood continues
to flow the entire night through this little opening, the victim,
pale, livid, and bloodless, has lost all his strength, and his life
is in peril, unless an exceptional régéme repairs as quickly as
possible the ravages occasioned by the loss.

Many travellers, surprised in their hammock without having
taken the precaution to cover their feet, their throat, or their
head, awake in the morning in a bath of blood, and have paid for
it with their lives, or at least with a cruel illness; for few indeed
possess in the midst of the woods the resources sufficient to restore
their weakened organism, They become thus an easy prey to the
terrible equatorial fevers which cannot be resisted except by a man
in a perfect state of health.

But to every evil there is good, and our hero had experienced it.
This enormous bleeding had saved him for the moment. He
dressed quietly. Such was his feebleness that he could with diffi-
culty cut a stick upon which to lean. It mattered not. No more
to-day than yesterday did his energy abandon him, since he must
march well forward. Such constancy must at last have its recome
pense.

“What!” he cried, presently, “do I dream? No, it’s impos-
sible! What, a banana-tree? Then this is a clearing ; it is an
enclosure. This herb which covers the ground with its trian-
gular leaves—it is the potato. There are the cocoa-trees, the
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 59



ananas, the manioc. Oh, how I want to eat! I die of famine!
Is this a village of Indians? Whoever may be the proprietors,
I must find them.”

He cut off a bunch of ananas, pulled off the scaly pulp of
the fruit, and bit it, and ate it by mouthfuls. Then, refreshed
and a little restored, he seized the cluster of green which sur-
mounted the fruit, dug a hole in the soil, planted it, pressed down
the earth, and directed his steps to a little hut which he perceived
at I00 paces distant.

This custom is one which the hunters never neglect observing.
When they have eaten the fruit they always plant the shoot.
Six months afterwards it has taken root, its growth is complete,
so active is vegetation; and then the fruit perhaps may save the
life of another traveller.

This solitary habitation was a comfortable hut covered with the
leaves of ware—a palm almost indestructible—forming a roof
which can last for fifteen years. The wall, formed by enlaced
wattles, was impervious to rain. The door was hermetically
closed.

“It is the house of a black,” he said to himself, recognizing the
particular form of the habitation of the race. “The proprietor
cannot be faraway. Who knows? perhaps he is a fugitive like
myself.”

He knocked at the door, and obtained no reply. He knocked
again.

“ What you want ?” said a voice within.

“1 am wounded, and am hungry.”
60 THE WHITE TIGER.



“ Poor man ; you cannot enter my house.”

“ I beg you open to me. I am dying,” said the fugitive painfully,
for extreme feebleness was now suddenly seizing him.

“ Not come, not come ; not touch nuffin in my house, or you go
die.”

“Help! help!” groaned the unfortunate.

The voice—that of an old man, without doubt—continued,—

“ Ah, poor white man; me not let you diethere. No.”

The door was at last opened, for Robin, incapable of making a
movement perceived, as in a nightmare, the most ghastly-looking
being, of whom the sight had ever haunted the brain of a fevered
man.

Over his forehead, seamed with open sores, was a coat of white
hair, tufted in some places like brushwood, and in others bare as
afield. Here the sores had made livid scars with red lines of
hideous aspect. The sight of one eye was gone. The left cheek
was one sore; the mouth had no longer any teeth ; and his hands
were without nails. Lastly, one of his two legs was enormously
swollen.

The old negro, in spite of the leprosy which was devouring him,
had a sad and kind aspect.

“Oh, massa, massa!” he cried, “me not touch you. Me one
poor leper. Come,” he said anxiously, “white man, under the
shadow of dis tree.”

Robin regained his senses. The view of this unfortunate man
brought upon him a sensation of immense pity ; but, it need not
be said, not altogether without disgust.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 61

re

“Thanks, my good fellow,” he said, in a weak voice.

“Thanks for all your goodness, I feel better. I will continue
my way.”

“Oh, massa, not go yet. Me give you a little water, cassava,
and fish. Old Cassimir has all that in his hut.”

“Thanks, thanks,” murmured Robin, touched by the kindness of
the poor creature.

The black could not conceal his joy. He hurried about at his
best speed, taking infinite precautions to avoid giving to his guest
the touch which he believed was contagious. He entered the hut,
and soon came out with half a new calabash, which he held at the
end of a piece of bent wood. He took this vessel to the creek,
filled it with water, and brought it to the sick man, who drank
greedily.

During this time a smell of grilled fish came through the wattles
of the house. Cassimir had placed on the fire a piece of koumourou,
and the flesh of this magnificent fish on the grill filled the place with
a pleasant odour ; for he believed in the axiom that fire purifies
everything, and that Robin could eat it without fear of contracting
the leprosy.

The black was delighted with the manner in which the new
comer did honour to his hospitality. Loquacious, like all of his
colour, he made up for the silence imposed by his solitude. It was not
long before he perceived the social position of his new-comer. It
made little difference to him, however. The good fellow saw an
unfortunate, that was enough for him. The stranger had knocked

at his door, and had become still more dear to him. Besides he
the

62 THE WHITE TIGER.



loved the whites with all his heart. The whites had been good
to him. ;

He was old—so old as not to know his age. He was born a
slave on the plantation of the Gabriel, belonging to a Monsieur
Favart, and situated on the banks of the Roura.

“ Ah, massa,” he said, not without pride, “me domestic negro;
me know how to cook, to manage house, and to take care of plan-
tation.”

Monsieur Favart was a good master. At the plantation of the
Gabriel they scarcely knew what a whip was. The blacks were
treated as the children of the house, and were regarded as men.
Cassimir lived there long years; and grew old there. A little
before 1840 he felt the first attacks of leprosy—this terrible evil
which desolated Europe in the Middle Ages, and which is still so
frequent in Cayenne that the administration has been obliged to
found che leper hospital of Acarouany. The sick man was isolated.
They built him a hut not far from the plantation, and looked after
his wants.

Then came the memorable hour when that grand act of repara-
tion, which they call the abolition of the slaves, was accomplished.
All the blacks were freed. All men were made equal. There was
no longer any other superiority beyond that of merit and intelli-
gence.

The colonial industry received a severe blow. Its prosperity,
unjustly based upon unpaid labour, upon the gratuitous use of
human force, was irremediably injured. The planters, ac-

customed to lavish expenditure, found themselves for the most
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 63





part without capital, and lived, from day to day, from hand to
mouth, The greater part, therefore, could not keep on with paid
labour. :

From whatever cause, or in default of a knowledge of how to
organize, the colonists saw their habitations going to ruin. The
blacks left, took up plots of land, planted them, and each worked
for himself and lived free. They were to-day citizens. But in the
beginning a great number remained attached to the fortunes of
their masters and worked as in the past, giving their labours
gratuitously and with a good heart.

Such were those of the Gabriel ; but a day came when their
master left them. The band of common affection was broken:
the blacks scattered. Cassimir remained alone. Without re-
sources, incapable of living in the villages, racked by leprosy,
become to all an object of horror, he left, journeyed fora long time,
and finished by arriving at the point where he now was. The place
was admirably fertile. He installed himself there, worked like four
men, and awaited, without complaint, the moment when his
soul should quit its wretched habitation. His labour rendered him
happy.

Robin listened without interruption to the recital of the negro.
For the first time since his departure from France he felt a
moment of happiness. The broken voice of the old man sounded
affectionate in its intonations. No more gaol; no more Dlas-
phemy.

“Ah! IfI could but press in my arms the human being whom

a misfortune more cruel than mine has attacked, how good it
64 THE WHITE TIGER.



————

would be to be here,” he said. “But am I far enough away?
Never mind. I will remain. I will dwell with this old man. I
will aid in his labours. I willlove him. Friend,” said he to the
leper, “your disease devours you. You suffer. You are alone.
Soon your arm will no longer have strength to lift the pick and
to dig the earth. You will be hungry. If death comes, none will
watch you, none close your eyes. I also am disinherited. I
have no longer a country. I have no longer a family. Are
you willing that I should live with you? Are you willing that I
should join you, body and heart, in your joys and pains as in your
work?”

The old man, delighted, and scarcely knowing whether he dreamed,
laughed and sobbed at the same time.

“ Ah, massa! massa!”

Then the feeling of his hideousness suddenly seized him, and he
hid his face in his fingers, and fell on his knees, his breast agitated
and convulsed with sobs.

Robin slept under a banana-tree, but his sleep was haunted by
nightmare. On awaking, the fever seized him again with convul-
sions: delirium followed. Cassimir did not lose his head. He
knew that it was necessary above all things to have a shelter for his
new friend. The house was, he thought, contaminated. It was
necessary, then, to make it suitable in the quickest way possible ff
its new destination, and to render it habitable for the sick man,
He seized a pick, dug up the soil, carried it to a distance, scattered
on the bed-place burning charcoal, and then cutting a number of

fresh boughs of the macoupi, he piled them upon it, When the


ep here.”

>

“*Come, my friend, and sl
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 67

a NT 6



place was purified he made the sick man rise, ana s-id to him
gently,—

“Come, my friend, and sleep here.”

Robin obeyed like an infant, entered the house, threw himself on
the green bed, and slept like lead,




CHAPTER VI.

A NARROW SQUEAK.

HE attack of fever was rapid and overwhelming,

but the black knew perfectly how to treat it, and



all the remedies applied by the wise women of
the country.

The plantation contained not only the plants and trees useful for
food, but also the kervs of which the Creole doctor makes such
frequent and valuable use.

But in the case of Robin it was necessary to use a more effectual
and energetic treatment. In spite of the copious bleeding to which
the vampire had submitted hiin, the access of fever took a conges-
tive form, and it was necessary to apply a blister. Taking his
gourd, the black went to the borders of the creek and examined
it minutely. Stooping over it, he picked up something and put
it in his gourd, and did the same eight or ten times. Then he
returned.

His absence had lasted ten minutes. Standing near the sick
man, with a grave and careful air he seized with infinite pre-
cautions an insect about half an inch long, black as ebony and

shining. Holding the creature by the head, he applied its tail




He applied its tail behind the ear of the sick man.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 71



behind the ear of the sick man. A short and stiff sting darted out
and buried itself deeply in the skin.

“Ah!” said the black, ‘dat berry good.”

He threw away the insect, took another, and performed the same
manceuvre behind the other ear. Then a third, half an inch lower ;
then a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth, The sick man shouted, so much
did the little sting hurt him.

“Ah!” said the black, “this bad little beast good for massa.”

Excellent, in fact. A quarter of an hour had not passed when
two immense swellings grew on the skin, producing a blister
analogous to that which results at the end of twelve hours
from the application of the best plaster. The sick man seemed
to renew his life. His breathing became softer; his fevéred cheeks
paler.

“These ants berry good,” Cassimir said ; who then pricked the
blister, and wanted to dress it with cotton dipped in oil extracted
from the fruit of the bache, but he dared not for fear of communi-
cating his leprosy.

Robin recovered consciousness, or rather a soft sleep succeeded
rapidly to his comatic state. He could scarcely murmur “ Thanks,”
and then fell asleep. The negro had worked almost a miracle.
The elements of this marvellous cure, of which the result was so
immediate, were very simple. It was a common remedy of the
wise women of the country. The sting of these ants is atrociously
painful. Such is in fact the particular property of their venom,
that it instantly raises a blister. Such is the result produced by the
“boiling-water ant” of Equatorial Africa, Thé skin rises instantly,
72 THE WHITE TIGER.



as under a poultice of boiling water; the phenomena absolutely
identical with those which result from the application of cantharides.
Upon awaking, a strong infusion of the leaves of the batata com-
pleted this tropical cure, and twenty-four hours afterwards the sick
man, although terribly feeble, was out of danger.

Four days had scarcely passed when Cassimir, after an absence
of some hours, returned alarmed, crying,—

“Massa, massa, bad white men coming !”

“Ah,” said Robin, whose eye at once flashed, “white men
enemies. Is there not an Indian with them?”

“Yes; Indian there.”

“Good. Iam still feeble; but I will defend myself, and they
shall have nothing but my dead body. You understand ?”

“Dis nigger understand ; but bad men shall not kill you. You
not move. You lay dere, under the leaves of the macoupi. Old
Cassimir do good trick to wicked whites.”

The fugitive armed himself with his sword, which, however, was
too heavy for his weakened arm. Then, knowing the resources
which his old companion held in reserve, hid himself under the
leaves and waited.

Rapid steps were soon heard ; then a rough voice, accompanied
by the well-known click of the lock of a gun. The formula em-
ployed by the new arrivals, serious in a civilized country, was
grotesque in such a place.

“In the name of the law, open !”

The black, without awaiting a second summons, opened softly
the door and showed his hideous face,
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 73

ee

His appearance produced on the whites the effect of the head
of a spectre.

As to the Indian, who did not expect such a meeting, he re-
mained for a moment absolutely petrified. There was a moment
of silence.

“Enter,” said Cassimir, giving to his face an expression of the
most cordial welcome—a vain attempt, which produced only a
most atrocious grimace.

“It is a leper,” said one of the new-comers, who wore the cos-
tume of the military warders. “ Nothing shall induce me to enter
his cabin to catch the disease.”

“ What ! will you not come in?” asked the black.

“Never. Everything is contagious in there. Even a convict
would not take refuge there.”

“Who knows?” said the second warder. “We are not come
here to return empty-handed. By taking some precautions we
are safe. Come, we are not children.”

“Do as you like. I shall beat a retreat before I have my limbs
seamed with the leprosy. The air alone of this pest-house is enough
to poison one.” e

“Me go,” said the Indian, thinking of the prize, and of the in-
numerable glasses of tafia which would result from it.

“TI too,” said the warder. “One cannot be killed by it,
after all.”

“ Dat so,” said the black cheerfully.

The warder, sword in hand, penetrated first into the humble
ckbin, scarcely lighted by a few rays which passed through the
74 THE WHITE TIGER.



foliage. The redskin followed close behind. A hammock stretched
across the room was the only furniture of the hut. On the ground
were some utensils, and a bed of the boughs of the macoupi.
In a corner were some bunches of maize-heads, and some cassava
cakes. That was all.

“ Ah, below there,” murmured the warder, pointing with his
sword to the bed of boughs, “is there nothing?”

“ Me not know,” the black said.

* Ah, you don’t know. Well, I will go and look.”

The redskin raised his arm as if to push the point of his sabre
among the branches. A sharp, hissing sounded, and the warder,
terrified, remained with his arm uplifted, and his point lowered,
in the position of a fencing-master. He was petrified. The
Indian was already outside. He was frightened—even he, - this
wild redskin—and seemed to have absolutely forgotten his recent
boastings.

“ Aye-aye !” he stammered ; “ Aye-aye!” and his accent indi-
cated the wildest terror.

The warder was half a minute before he could recover him-
self. The leper, also immovable, regarded him with an evil
expression.

“Why not search?” he said.

The sound of the human voice recalled the warder to him
self.

“ An aye-aye,” he murmured, in a hoarse voice. “Yes, it is an
aye-aye,” and his look did not quit the two points which shone
in the midst of a little black mass. He said to himself, “A


Mad with terror, he bounded back, making a sweep with his sword
at the terrible snake.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 77



sudden movement, and I am dead. Well, I must retreat, and
softly.”

Very softly, with infinite precautions, he drew back his right
leg, then his left, and moved backwards, trying to gain the
door.

A second hissing was heard above his head at the moment when
he was giving a sigh of relief. His hair stood up. It seemed to
him that the root of each hair was asting. Then a long, thin body,
of the thickness of the neck of a bottle, glided quietly for the brain
with a rattle of his quivering scales. He raised his head and
nearly fell backwards, seeing a few inches from his face a snake
with open mouth, who, hanging by his tail, was about to launch his
poisoned fangs at his face. Mad with terror, he bounded back,
making a sweep with his sword at the terrible snake. Happily for
him, his sword was well aimed, and cut off the head of the animal,
who fell upon the soil.

“ A grage !” he shouted, “a grage !”

The door was open behind him. He pushed through it
with the quickness of a clown jumping through a paper hoop,
but not without running against a third snake, which was
elevating himself, and agitating the rattles of his tail.

The scene had not lasted a minute. The second warder, alarined
by the cries of the Indian, stood astounded at the shout of his
companion, who, bathed in perspiration, his face contracted with
terror, seemed about to faint.

“ Well,” he said briefly, “what is it? Speak.”

“It’s full of snakes in there,” he said feebly.
78 THE WHITE TIGER.



The black at the same time came out of his house with as much
rapidity as his disabled leg permitted him to make. He appeared
equally terrified.

“ Ah, massas—snakes too many. My house full.”

“ But don’t you live there in the hut?”

“Yes, massa, me live there.”

“ How is it, then, that it is full of snakes? Ordinarily they only
go in abandoned huts.”

“Me not know.”

“You don’t know? You don’t know? It seems to me there are
a great many things which you know, and which you pretend not
to.”

“Me not put the snakes dere.”

“Ah, I can believe that. Well, so that no misfortune shall
happen to you to-night, I will just put fire to your hut. Its garrison
is too dangerous.”

The old negro trembled. If his cabin were burnt, so would
his guest be ; ‘50, with a real accent of terror, he implored the
pity of the two warders. He was a poor man, very old and
very weak. He had never done harm to any one, and his
house was his only property. How could he find a shelter?
His weakened limbs would not permit him to make another
hut.

“After all, he is right,” said the one who had entered the
house, and who, delighted to have escaped, asked nothing
better than to go. “It were safe to bet that our man is not

asleep with such bedfellows. The Indian is mocking us. One
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 79
es Pe YA ne 2 a A a ee a Ee
of two things: either Robin is far off at present, or he is
dead.”

“That's right enough, and we have done all we can. If you are
of my opinion, we shan’t wait here.”

“T think so too. Let us leave this old fellow to do as he can
with his lodgers, and let us be off.”

“JT am with you. As for the Indian, he has let us in for it
regularly, and has taken himself off.’ If ever he falls into my
hand, he may be quite sure that I will give him something for him-
self.”

The warders, accepting philosophically their defeat, took the path
back, and disappeared. Cassimir looked after them with a mocking
laugh.

“Halha! ha! De aye-aye—de grage—de rattlesnake. Good
little beasts of Cassimir’s.”

Then he re-entered the hut, whistling gently. Some im-
perceptible movements disturbed the litter for a few minutes,
and then all was quiet. There was nothing to indicate the
presence of reptiles but the strong characteristic odour of
musk.

“ Ah, massa,” he said joyously, “how you feel?”

The pale face of the fugitive emerged from his cover, and then
the whole body drew itself painfully from the trench at the bottom
of which Robin had, for a quarter of an hour, endured mortal
agony.

“ Are they gone?”

“Yes, massa, dey gone, Dey catch quite fright.”
8a THE WHITE TIGER.





“ Ah, but kow did you put them to flight? I heard them shouting
with terror. And what is this odour of musk ?”

The leper then recounted to his guest that he was a snake.
charmer. He knew how to call and make them come, and not
only could he touch them with impunity, but he had nothing to
fear from their bite in case the savage visitors might give hima
scratch. Not only the rattlesnake, but the formidable grage, and
the terrible aye-aye (so named because the person bitten has not
time to cry between the moment of the bite and the time of his
death).

As to the immunity of Cassimir, he explained that he had
been charmed against a snake by Monsieur Oleta, a white, well
known in Cayenne, who, by means of drinks and inoculations,
could render any one absolutely impervious to the bite of all
reptiles.!

“ But suppose one ha bitten me?”

“No danger dat, massa. Me put Ly your side herbs which the
snakes no like. Dey no. come dat side. Massa not go out.
Redskin gone other side great wood. He not content—not got his
money—not got tafia. He keep eye on us.”

The negro was not mistaken. Six hours after the scare given
to the warders, and their precipitate retreat, the redskin was
impudently hanging about the house.

4 It isan historical fact, officially certified, that a Monsieur Oleta had
discovered means by which he could render persons absolutely invulnerable

to the bite of snakes, or cure them if they were bitten, if brought to him

alive. Monsieur Oleta died some ten-years ago, leaving the receipt to his
son.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 81

ae
o



“You bad man,” he said, “ prevent me taking white tiger.”

“Go, bad Indian, or old leper cast charm on you.”

At the word “charm” the Indian, superstitious, like all of his
race, fled in terror, Jike a stag pursued by a tiger.




CHAPTER. VII

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING



GA
“Ua

we) a OBIN, in the course of his adventures, had not very
y =~ S much deviated from the direction which he had pre-
XY viously traced out for himself. He did not wish
to go far from the Maroni, which forms the boun-

dary of the two Cayennes, and had pretty well succeeded in keeping
to the north-west, wuich is the direction in which the river runs
from its mouth as far as the fifth degree of north latitude. With-
out any scientific instrument it was impossible for him to calculate
accurately the distance which he had gone, or the point where he
now was. His companion was incapable of telling him anything.
It mattered little to the poor negro whether he was in one place or
another. The only thing he needed was means of existence. He
knew vaguely that the river was three or four days’ march distant ;
that was all. He was even ignorant of the name of the stream of
which the waters fertilized the valley. Robin conjectured that it
might be the Sparwine. If this were so, his abode with the leper
would offer him no safety. The administration of the convict estab-
lishment was about to place at the mouth of this river a barrack of

wood-cutters. A party of convicts had already taken up their abode
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. §3



there. Who could say if from one moment to another one of his
ancient comrades, or even a warder, might not suddenly debouch
into the clearing? His strength had come back, and with it an irre-
sistible desire to preserve at all cost the liberty acquired after such
terrible sufferings.

A month had already passed since the day when his enemies had
been so rapidly put to flight by the corps of reptiles of which
Cassimir was commander-in-chief. He had accustomed himselfcom-
pletely to this tranquil life, the profound repose of which rested alike
his soul and body after the horrors of the convict settlement. But
the thought of his family incessantly occupied his mind ; every day,
every hour was full of the sweet and sad thought of the absent ones:
Every night his sleep was haunted by them in his dreams. Hov
could he let them know that the hour of his deliverance had sounded?
How could he see them again? How give them a simple sign of
his existence without exposing himself to the greatest danger? The
wildest ideas, the most impossible plans, presented themselves to
his mind. Sometimes he thought he could gain the Dutch bank of
the river, traverse the whole width of their possessions, and arrive
at Demerara, the capital of English Cayenne. There he would find
work sufficient to keep him, and could then takea passage on board
a ship for Europe, upon which he would embark as a sailor. But
his reason showed him the impossibility of this project. He would
- certainly be arrested by the Dutch, and even if he were not, he had
no chance of gaining the English colony with which France had
no treaty of extradition.

“Tf, on the other hand,” he said to himself, “I go up the Maroni,

G2
ey THE WHITE TIGER.

Iam sure, according to the maps of Leblonde, that its principal
branch the Aona has a connexion with the basin of the Amazon.
Can I not descend the Yarry or some other affluent as far as
Brazil?”

“ Wait a little,” replied the negro ; “ wait a little.”

“Yes, my good Cassimir, I will wait as long as possible. We
will make provision—a canoe—and will both of us leave.”

“Dat will be the berry thing,” Cassimir said.

It was only after long discussion that Robin consented to associate
the old man with the risks of his enterprise. It was not that he
feared that any contact or contagion could result fromit. Far from
it; but Cassimir was old. Had he a right to use the profound affec-
tion which this old man had shown him from the first day of meet-
ing, to take him away from the Eden embellished by his mutilated
hands? Certainly Robin was no egotist. He returned with all his
heart the affection which the old man had bestowed upon him, and
tried in every way to render his existence pleasant to him; but
Cassimir had so much and so strongly insisted that Robin could not
refuse him. The leper wept with joy, and thanked, with briskness,
his good white comrade.

By a thoughtless movement at one of these gestures, the offspring
of the full heart of the old man, the exile, taking him by the hand,
raised him to his feet.

“ Ah,” said the old man sorrowfully, “ you have touched Cassimir.
You come to be leper too.”

“No, Cassimir ; have no fear. I am not afraid of touching your

hand. Believe me, my friend, your disease is less contagious than
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 85



is génerally thought. I havestudied muchin France. The doctors
and wisest savants go so far as to affirm that it is not communicated
by touch. Some, indeed, who have practised in the countries where
leprosy is most severe, assert that they can stop its progress by
removing the patient from the place where it has been contracted.
Therefore there is a double reason why I should take you to some
place where I am going.”

Cassimir understood one thing : that was, that the white man would
not leave him—still more, that he had shaken his hand. For more
than fifteen years such a thing had not happened to him ; needless
to say, then, that his emotion was great. From that moment their
resolution was taken. They would construct a light canoe of a
slight draught of water, and in which they would stow as many pro-
visions as possible. These provisions would be principally com-
posed of chouac, which is the flower of the manioc, and of dry
tinder. When the boat was ready they would descend the creek,
travelling only by night. During the day the canoe should be
hidden among lianas and other plants which covered the banks, and
the two men would sleep under the trees. They would traverse the
Maroni, ascending its course to the point where there was a con-
siderable affluent cutting the narrow part of Dutch Cayenne, and
communicating with the basin of the Essequibo, the great river of
the English colony. There they would besafe, for Georgetown
and Demerara are near the mouth of this river. Such was the
plan of their great project, except for such modifications as might
result from further events. As to the almost insurmountable diffi-

culties, the two men enumerated them as a matter of form, and
86 THE WHITE TIGER.

ee a ee
made no further question of them. Provisions were in abundance.
It sufficed to get the vegetable products and store them from time
to time. But there remained the question of a boat. A bark canoe
would not be sufficient to accomplish such ajourney. Its impene-
trability is far from being perfect, and the provisions would be
damaged. Moreover, it would not be able to always resist the
shocks and blows resulting from navigation across the rapids
which abound in the rivers and the creeks of Cayenne. It was
resolved, then, that the canoe should be constructed on the model
of those of the Bosh and the Bonis, of one piece from the hard
and impervious wood of the bemba. Fined down and strengthened
at its two extremities, it may be navigated either way. The two
sharp points being left solid for the first two feet, could with impunity
dash against the rocks. It would be sixteen feet long, and would
carry (in addition to the two canoe-men) about a thousand pounds
weight of provisions,

The first thing was to find a tree uniting all the requisite pro-
perties; that is to say, which should neither be too large nor too
small, of middle age, without knots or cracks, and, above all, in the
neighbourhood of the creek and the clearing. It took two days of
painful search among the giant trees of Cayenne, which do not grow
in groups, but are scattered here and there. One wasat last found,
and declared very good by Cassimir, engineer-in-chief in the naval
construction. They then set at once to work.

The labour advanced but slowly. The old negro had but one
hatchet of small dimensions, of which the edge struck vainly on the

tenacious fibres of the bemba, making but small gashes. Fore
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 87



tunately, Cassimir was an adept in all the resources of the inha-
bitants of the forest. Since iron was insufficient, he brought fire to
his assistance. A bonfire was lit at the base of the tree, which
burnt slowly for forty-eight hours, and then fell during the night

with a terrible crash. Cassimir awoke with a start, and shaking
his companion’s hammock, cried joyously,—

“¥Fren’ Robin, you hear de bemba go crack?”

Robin was too joyous to go to sleep again.

“It is well indeed. This is the commencement of deliverance.
We want instruments for digging out the canoe.”

“Oh,” interrupted the negro, “ Bosh negro, Boni negro not have
instruments. Dey make canoe with fire.”

“Yes, I know that they hollow out their canoes with fire, and
polish them with their knives or even with sharp stones, but I
have discovered sorething better than that.”

" «What you found, fren’ Robin?”

“You have a pick, have you not? a good pick. Well, I shall fit
it up properly, give ita heavy handle, and that will make me a
capital adze. With such an instrument, Cassimir, I shall be able
to make a good canoe.”

“ Dat is so, dat is so,” said the negro, delighted.

This was settled, and the two men, having altered the pick to
its new purpose, went to theirlabour. They carried with them
the provision for the day, and advanced jaunting gaily.

“Do you see, Cassimir?” said Robin, already a changed man
since his life had an object and this object was drawing near,

“before a month we shall be started. Soon we shall be far away
88 THE WHITE TIGER.

—_—





in a free country. I shall no longer be a wild beast whom they
pursue, a convict whom they track. I shall no longer be the game
of the Indians, and of the warders. I shall no longer be a white
tiger.”

“Dat so, massa,” said the leper, happy at the joy of his
friend.

They arrived at this moment at the clearing formed by the fall
of the bemba, which had in falling brought down several other
trees. A broad ray of the sun came through the open space. The
base of the tree stil] smoked.

* Now to make my—”

Robin did not finish the phrase. He remained as if petrified, as
a man with a chopper in his hand, and dressed in the horrible
livery of the prison, rose suddenly and pronounced these
words :—

“What! is it you, Robin? I never expected to find you
here.”

Robin, thunderstruck with the suddenness of this encounter, did
not reply. The view of his ancient companion of the gaol called up
suddenly a nightmare of lugubrious remembrances. The convict
could not be alone. Perhaps at two paces’ distance in the cover
were a party of these scoundrels with their escorts, the warders.
What! had all these sufferings been endured vainly? Was it
necessary to say adieu to this liberty scarcely regained? A strange
fever seized the engineer. A passing thought of murder crossed
his brain, in fact. What mattered the life of this man in compari-

son with his freedom? He was ashamed immediately of this
se suddenly.

in his hand ro:

a chopper

aS
~~
Be
es
S
Fs
8
w
3

,

d as if petrified

ine

He rema



THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. gr



thought, and recovered his composure. The other did not seem to
notice his trouble, or to be astonished at his silence.

“Ah! I understand. You never were a talker. It is all the
same. I am glad to see you again.”

“Tt is you?” said the convict, with an effort. ‘“ Gondel?”

“ Gondel himself, in flesh and bone—specially in bone. You see
our food has not improved since your departure, and what with the
heat and the work which we have to do, there is no means of getting
ourselves into condition.”

“ But what are you doing here?”

“To any one else but you I should reply with ‘What business is
that of yours?’ and that it does not matter. But you have a right
to know everything ; I am simply a hunter of wood.”

“ A hunter of wood.”

“Yes. You know well that each wood-cutting establishment
sends out a man well acquainted with the forest and the descrip-
tions of wood. He starts on his adventure, finds out the finest
subjects, marks them, and some time afterwards the pioneers (the
pioneers of the state) cut them down for the benefit of their em-
ployer. Before being imprisoned, I was a cabinet-maker. I was
therefore made searcher, with forty centimes of pay per day, and
that’s how I have suddenly tumbled upon you. But do you know
that you are looking well? One can see that you are living on
your means.”

“ And the others, where are they ?”

“ Oh, they are three days’ journey from here. You need not for

the present be alarmed.”
g2 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Then you are not a fugitive?”

“ Not such a fool. I have only six more months to do. In six
months I shall be at provisional liberty to reside at St. Laurent on
a ticket-of-leave.”

*°Oh, you are not a fugitive?”

“No; I told you so. One would think that you would pre-
fer to make perfectly sure that I was not returning. Don’t be
afraid. Weare a bad lot—but one convict never denounces an-
other.”

Robin made a sudden movement.

“Ah!” said the other, “when I say ‘convict, don’t get angry.
I know well that you were not in for crime. Well, if you would
know the truth of it, all the world was delighted that you made your
escape.”

“And Benoit?”

“ Benoit, whom the warders brought back altogether smashed up
—didn’t he bleed? Well, you area strong man. You are not of
us, but we esteem you all the same.”

“ And are they thinking of pursuing me?” demanded Robin.

“ Nobody but Benoit. Youare his Jé¢e-nozy. He swears morning
and night, to such an extent, that the poor sisters of the hospital
are almost out of their minds. He will be after you, of course. I
am sure that when he is once upon his feet he will try to get you in
his clutches.”

The convict, loquacious like his class when they have an occa-
sion to chat with others of their companions, still kept on.

® Do you know that you have had good luck in meeting with this
_ THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 93



old negro whois with you? He is ugly enough to frighten old Nick.
But he must have been useful to you indeed! Well, I never thought
of finding you when I discovered this bemba on the ground. It
will make a fine canoe. Shall I help you?”

““ No, thank you,” Robin said, unable to overcome the repulsion
with which the convict’s dress inspired him.

“T understand you,” the man said quietly, “and it is natural after
what you went through among us. Still, I am not all bad. I was
once a decent fellow. I received a certain amount of education;
my father was one of the first cabinet-makers of Lyons. Unfortu-
nately, I lost him when I was seventeen years old, when I made bad
acquaintances. Pleasure attracted me. I can recall now my poor
mother saying to me, ‘My boy, I heard yesterday that the young
folk of the village made a disturbance, and that they passed the
night at the lock-up. If such a thing were to happen to you, I
should die of grief. Two years afterwards I committed forgery,
and they condemned me to five years’ hard labour. My mother
remained for two months between life and death. She was out of
her mind for two years. Her hair became white. She was not
forty-five years old, and she appeared sixty after my departure. I
have never robbed since 1 was at the prison. I am neither worse
nor better than the others; but I am a condemned man. See, I
can’t even weep in talking of it. You—sis—the prison has ennobled
you ; me it has destroyed.”

Robin, moved in spite of himself, approached the man,

“It is not for me to judge you,” he said; “I thank you for the
offer you made me, but I feel that it would bring me bad luck if I
94 THE WHITE TIGER.



were to be helped by any one connected with the prison. Come
now, will you share our dinner?”

“TI ought also to refuse you,” the man said, “but I bear no
malice. Besides, I owe you a debt already.”

“ How is that ?” demanded Robin, surprised.

“Oh, it’s simple enough. You dragged me out of the Maroni
one day when, carried away by the current, I was on the point of
being drowned. You didn’t hesitate to risk your life to preserve
the miserable existence of a convict. Look now. I can only give
you my good wishes for the result of your enterprise; but I do it
with a good heart. But, good heavens ! I must not forget the most
important point—the letter.”

“What letter?”

“Look here. Less than fifteen days after your flight, a letter
arrived for you from France. Naturally the administration knew
of it. The chiefs talked of it between them. Their discussion was
reported to us by the waiter who served them—a convict. They
say that you have at home friends who are making efforts to obtain
your pardon, that the affair does not go on very fast, but that if you
would yourself sign a demand for pardon, you could obtain it.”

“ Never!” exclaimed Robin, whose cheeks flushed.

“That’s-what the chief said. It’s too late; the more so that if
you were to obtain your pardon, it was a question of giving you a
ticket-of-leave with the right to bring your family there.”

“What do you say? A ticket-of-leave? My wife, my children
here in this hell?”

“Well, that would be as you like. Besides, you know that all
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 95



these are mere reports. It’s the contents of the letter which you
must find out.”

“ Ah, that letter!” Robin groaned. ‘What madness to escape
when I did!”

** Look here,” the convict said, after a moment’s thought; “I
have a good idea. I am almost free here. They have no distrust
of me, as it is on the eve of my liberation; and they are right. I
will go back to the establishment. I will catch a fever. ‘Ihat’s
easy enough; that’s an old trick. They will send me down from
Sparwine to St. Laurent. I go into the hospital, and I will set to work
to discover about your affair. When I know all about it I will be
cured as by anenchantment. I will return to the establishment,
hurry here, and tell you the result. Will that suit you? You see
I owe you a service, and shall be glad to repay it.”

“Thanks indeed,” Robin exclaimed eagerly ; “you wilk more
than cancel your debt. Whatever you may have been, I feel that
I can trust you.”

“Thank you,” the convict said simply, “thank you. That does
me good. One word more. I have here a little pocket-book upon
which I have marked the route taken. It has still some blank
pages. If you will write a short note, I will try and get it sent to
France. A Dutch ship laden with wood is at present opposite the
establishment of Monsieur Kepler. It is on the point of sailing for
Europe. I will undertake to get your letter on board. There’s
sure to be somebody with a kind heart, who will not refuse to send
it to your family, especially when they know you are a political

prisoner.”
06 THE WHITE TIGER.

_——— .«



Robia at once tore two leaves out of the pocket-book, wrote his
letter in the smallest possible writing, and handed them to the
conyict.

‘I shall ever be grateful to you,” he said.

“ Now,” said the latter, “I’m off. To-night I shall have the fever.
One word more, keep yourself well hidden till I see you again,
Good-bye.”

The convict disappeared at once behind the thick creepers.




CHAPTER VIII,

A MYSTERIOUS FRIEND.

scene, which we can describe but briefly, was



passing at Paris, in the Rue St. Jacques.

It was the 1st of January, and one of those
bitter days with a cutting north wind which seems to pierce to
the very bone. A woman in mourning, pale, her eyes reddened
by the cold, and perhaps by tears, gently ascended the dirty stair-
case of one of the enormous mansions which are still to be found
in certain parts of old Paris. She had the air of a lady, although
very poorly dressed in widow’s weeds. Arrived at the sixth floor,
she paused for a moment, breathless, drew a key from her pocket,
and softly opened the door. At the sound there arose a concert
of infant voices.

“Itismamma! It is mamma!”

The door opened and four children—four boys—of whom the
eldest was ten years, and the youngest scarcely three, sprang to-
wards the new comer and covered her with kisses.” She embraced
them with eager and passionate tenderness.

“ Well, my dears, have you been very good ?”

VOL. I.
98 THE WHITE TIGER.

i ow ww =



“TI should think so, indeed,” said the eldest, already serious
like a little man; “and Charles has gained the cross of good con+
duct.”

“Yes, I have the cross, mamma,” said the youngest, advancing
with all the gravity of trree years—a beautiful child—pointing with
his finger to the cross, hanging by a red ribbon from his neck.

“That’s right, my dears,” said she, kissing them again.

At this moment she saw at the end of the room a young fellow,
of from twenty to twenty-two years of age, clad in a blouse of black
stuff, and twisting a little cap in his big hands, with an embarrassed
air.

“Oh! it is you, Nicholas; good evening, my friend,” she said
affectionately.

“Yes, madame, I have got out of the workshop in good time,
so as to come and wish you, and the children, and the master—
Monsieur Robin—a happy new year.”

She trembled. Her fine face, pinched by her suffering, paled ;
her eyes turned to a portrait, whose gold frame contrasted singu-
larly with the bare walls and scanty furniture of the wretched
room.

A little bunch of heart’s-ease—a rarity at such a season—bloomed
in a glassful of water before this picture, representing a man in
the prime of life, with fine brown moustachios, and features full of
energy. At the sight of this touching offering, made by the young
workman to whom he had been a benefactor, and of this evidence
of delicate thoughtfulness in the heart of a humble artisan, her

eyes filled with tears, and she could scarcely keep down a sob,
2













Her eyes turned to a portrait.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. Tor



The children, standing before the picture of their father, wept
silently on seeing their mother’s tears.

The grief of children is ordinarily noisy, and the silent tears of
these four little ones was painful to witness. One could see that
they were as accustomed to grief as most of those at their age are
accustomed to happiness.

It was the first day of the year. Crowds of purchasers filled the
shops for the rich as well as the smaller toy-shops for the poor.
. Paris was en féte. Shouts of laughter rose both from palace and
hovel, while the children of the exile cried quietly. They asked
not for toys; they had been long deprived of this p!easure from
infancy, and could do without them ; and, besides, could such things
be pleasures to them while their father was away and in misery?

The mother dried her tears, held out her hand to the workman,
and said,— 5

“ Thank you, thank you, for him and for me.”

“ Well, madame, is there any news?”

“Nothing yet, and our resources are vanishing. My work is
insufficient. The young Englishman to whom I have given lessons
in French, is ill, and is going to the south, when we shall have
nothing except my embroidery, and my eyes are getting weaker
and weaker.”

“Oh! madame, you forget my work. I hope to get some over-
time; besides, the winter does not last for ever.”

“No, my dear Nicholas, I forget nothing—neither your kindness
nor your self-denial, nor the love which you show to my dear

children. But I want to accept nothing.”
102 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Ob ! but it will be nothing to speak of. Was it not the master
who brought me up when my father was killed by the explosion of
an engine, who gave bread to my sick mother, and enabled her to
die tranquilly ? Do I not owe the deepest gratitude to you both?
You see, madame, that I am one of the family.”

“Yes, indeed, you are; but for the present, at any rate, I must
Still say no to your offer. Later on I will see if our necessity be-
comes too great, or if sickness falls upon the children, or if hunger
—oh ! it would be frightful !—no, don’t let us come to that. Be-
lieve me that I am as much touched by your offer as if I had
accepted it.”

“So they will not let him come back from there, and yet there
are a number who have returned from Belle Isle to Sambasso?”

“They have demanded their pardon. My husband will never
stoop to do so.”

The workman bent his head and did not reply.

“ Now,” continued Madame Robin, in a low voice, “I am about
to write to him, or we are about to write to him, his third New
Year's letter. Is it not so, my children?”

“Oh! yes, mamma,” said the eldest ; while the little Charles,
squatting gravely in a corner, scribbled on a scrap of paper which
he held out with a satisfied air, saying, ‘‘ Here is my letter to papa.”

The wife of the proscript, knowing through whose hands the
letter would pass before arriving at her husband, knowing also
what erasures those which were specially destined for the political
exiles must suffer, wrote briefly, and in such a tone as would

tranquillize Robin as to the state of his family, while strictly
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 103

—





avoiding any remark of a nature to heighten the hardship of his
fate.

“My DEAR CHARLES,” she wrote, “ to-day is the first day of the
year ; the year which is vanishing has been sad indeed for us, and
terrible for you. May that which is beginning bring with it an
alleviation of your sufferings, and consolation for our pains! We
hope always, and this hope gives us strength. I am strong, and
so are our children—dear little men! Henry is getting quite a
big fellow ; he works hard ; he is serious ‘n his ways; he is alto-
gether like you. Edmond and Eugene are growing fast ! they are
more full of fun, and are fond of laughing, as I used to be before
our misfortune. As to our Charles, he is a love of a child, a smart
rosy baby, bright and intelligent. Just now, when he heard me
speaking of writing to you, he gave me a little piece of paper
scratched over, which he had carefully folded, saying, ‘ Here’s my
letter to papa.’ I work, and always succeed in earning enough for
our wants. Be comforted by this, dear Charles, and believe that,
if our life is troubled without you, our material wants are pretty
well supplied. Your friends are making continual efforts on your
behalf. Will they succeed? It is laid down as an essential
condition that you sign a petition for pardon. Will you obtain
your liberty at this price? If not, they say you can become a
ticket-of-leave man in Guiana. I don’t know what this is. All
that I know is, that I can come and rejoin you with the children.
Nothing will frighten me; and poverty there, with you, would be
happiness. Write as soon as you can, and tell me what ] must do.

Each minute that passes while Iam away from you, dear husband,
104 THE WHITE TIGER.





is a month of anguish, and surely we may yet be happy in that
country of the sun. Courage! my beloved. We send you our
most ardent good wishes, and all cur love.”

The eldest boy signed his name beneath that of the mother, in a
firm handwriting. Then came the signatures of Edmond and
Eugene, a little shaky ; and lastly, a great smudge was added by
little Charles, who begged his mother to guide his hand, but the
effort was not a successful one.

This letter left three days later by a sailing-vessel from Nantes,
which was going directly to Guiana. Communications, although
less regular than they are to-day (thanks to the Transatlantic
lines), were not less frequent ; and Madame Robin had received,
every five or six weeks, a few lines from her husband. January and
February passed entirely without news ; March began, and still no
word. The disquietude of the poor woman increased her suffer-
ings, when she one day received a letter posted in Paris, in which
she was requested to call upon the head of a firm, whose name was
completely unknown to her, upon important business.

She went to the place indicated, and, on giving her name, was
shown into the inner office, where the gentleman who had written
to her was sitting.

“You have, madame, received the letter which I had the honour
to send you yesterday ?”

“T have, sir.”

“ Good ! I received yesterday from my correspondent in Paras
maribo, news of your husband.”

The poor woman felt her heart almost stop, with pain.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 105
| Sos eres ne ee Se

“Paramaribo! My husband! I do not understand you.”

“ Paramaribo, or Surinam, the capital of Dutch Guiana.”

“But, my husband—oh! sir, tell me quickly what you KNOW
about him !”

“Your husband, madame,” said the gentleman, as quietly as
if it were the most ordinary piece of news he was giving, “has
escaped from the prison of St. Laurent.”

Had lightning fallen at her feet, madame could not have been
more stupefied than with this unexpected news.

“ Escaped !” she stammered.

“Yes, he has escaped; and I am sincerely rejoiced at it. I
have also the pleasure to hand a communication from him which
was enclosed in the letter of my correspondent. Here it is.”

‘Thunderstruck at the unexpected news, Madame Robin felt as
if there was a mist before her eyes, but her brave nature reasserted
itself, and she was able to read the letter, written in pencil by
the fugitive, upon the leaves torn out of his pocket-book, on the
Sparwine Creek. It was indeed the writing of her husband, his
signature, everything ; even to the few lines in cypher of which
she alone had the key.

“ Ah! then he’s free ! I can see him again?”

“Yes, madame. I bold at your disposal funds sent by a bill
from my correspondeu! ; but you will understand that it is necese
sary that he should remain hidden. He has not quitted Guiana,
where he is more in safety than he would be elsewhere. I think
that it would be preferable that you should rejoin him, You will

leave Amsterdam in a Dutch ship, so as to avoid the formalities
106 THE WHITE TIGER.



of a passport. You will land at Surinam, and my correspondent
will put you in the way to rejoin your husband without awakening
the suspicions of the French police.”

“ But, monsieur, tell me—this money ; this correspondent ?”

“Indeed, madame, I know nothing more. I know but this :
your husband is free ; his desire is to see you again. There are
funds sent to me for your use, and a request for me to look after
your safety until you are on board the Dutch ship.”

“Good! Sobeit. I am ready to start with my children.”

“When?”

“The quicker the better.”

The mysterious man of business at once undertook all prepara-
tions, and so arranged matters that twenty-four hours afterwards
Madame Robin quitted Paris with her children and Nicholas,
who would not leave his benefactress. All disembarked safely at

Surinam, after a pleasant journey of thirty-five days.


Making a canoe.




CHAPTER IX,

A HIDDEN ENEMY.

ef
JO

CD,
K



difficult. Two little seats were made of jenipa
wood. Both were pierced by a hole, and could at need support a
little bamboo mast. Although the dwellers on the banks of the
Maroni, negroes and redskins, are accustomed to use the paddle
almost exclusively, yet when they make long journeys on broader
rivers, they often stick up a mat of straw to serve as a sail when
the wind is aft. That is their only fashion of profiting by the wind,
for they are absolutely ignorant of the management of sails; and
when they have no mat, and the wind is favourable, they land,
cut a few branches of a tree, and stick them up, a cheap and easy
mode of making a sail, requiring but slight elementary knowledge
of navigation. The cases in which the wind is useful in assist-
ing the paddle are limited to the great rivers. These are not
much frequented, for the Indians and blacks inhabit by preference
situations watered by small creeks and surrounded by walls of
verdure which intercept every breath of air.
Robin intended to use Cassimir’s large hammock, which was

woven by the Bonis of excellent cotton cloth, as a sail.
{10 THE WHITE TIGER.



There remained the question of paddles, a grave one. It is not
every one who can turn out a first-rate paddie. In Central America
these are of three kinds. The Red Indians use two ; both are in-
ferior to the great paddle of the Bonis and the Bosh, who are
splendid canoemen, and are accustomed to make journeys of thirty
and forty days long. These are from six to seven and a half feet
long, of a lance shape; the handle, which is about a yard long,
slightly flattened at the end, swells out towards the middle to the
thickness of the mouth of a wine-glass, and then again is flattened,
and widens gradually in a graceful curve to the blade, which is not
more than four inches wide by a quarter of an inch thick, and ends
in a point like a leaf of thelily. It is wonderful how so elegant and
yet so strong an instrument can be made with a simple hatchet.

It was to this form that Cassimir gave the preference, manifest-
ing his profound contempt for the Indian paddles, which are
heavié¥, less manageable, and less graceful. He soon found a
zamri, of whose wood the best paddles are always made. It
worked with extreme facility when it was cut down, and acquired,
aftera few days’ drying, an extreme hardness at the same time pre-
serving its great elasticity.

The shrivelled fingers of the old man, although not capable of
any hard work, were yet able to manage the light hatchet with
surprising ability. He proceeded, by little chops, to cut off tiny
chips, and kept on steadily tapping away all day, in the end giving
his plank the graceful form of the Boni paddle. It took him four
days to make four of these, as they wished to have at least two in

reserve in case of accident.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. I





These preparations finished, to the great joy of the two hermits,
Robin would have provisioned the boat at once; but he awaited
with impatience the return of the convict. Gondet was indeed a
long time absent. More than three weeks had passed since his
departure, and Robin, who had no longer hard work all day
to occupy him, found the hours of interminable length. It was
in vain that Cassimir tried in every way to amuse him, that he
told him long stories, that he took him out on the hunt, and taught
him the management of the bow, and initiated him into the subtle-
ties of savage life. Nothing could arouse him from his melancholy.
Who could tell what might have happened to the convict in the
midst of this inland forest, peopled by beasts, full of obstacles, and
surrounded by sickness ?

“Let us go,” he would say, sighing deeply. “It’s all up. Let us
start to morrow.”

“No, Massa Robin, no,” invariably replied the black. “We
must just wait. Only just time for dat fellow to go and come back
again. Maybe kept, all sorts of tings might happen. No, no,
massa, we waits here.”

They had tried the canoe. Its stability, in spite of its slight
draught of water, was perfect. It manceuvred admirably under the
impulsion of Robin, who rapidly acquired the knack necessary to
work the canoe. Cassimir was behind. He steered and paddled.
This post demands the least amount of strength, but great ability,
for these Indian canoes, with their round bottoms, steer with
extreme facility, and obey the slightest movement. It is true

that the paddle is less rapid than the oar, but the use of the
112 THE WHITE TIGER.







latter is impossible in the creeks on account of their narrow:
ness,

Cassimir, to give Robin something to do, taught him minutely
the whole management of a canoe. The learner presently surpassed
his master, and his immense personal strength and vigour enabled
him to exert himself fora long time. Five weeks had now elapsed
since the departure of Gondet. Robin, completely despairing, was
about to leave the hut of the leper, the next morning having
irrevocably been fixed for the departure, when the convict, pale,
thin, with difficulty supporting himself, appeared in the clearing.
Two exclamations of joy welcomed his arrival.

“At last! Oh, my poor fellow, what has happened to you?”
exclaimed Robin.

“Don’t blame me for having been so long,” he said in a weak
voice ; “but I thought I should die. I was not recognized as ill by
the doctor, and Benoit, who can hardly get about, flogged me for
shirking. Then they put me in hospital, and all went right; but
Benoit shall pay me.”

“ And the letter?” asked Robin anxiously.

“Good ; I have done better than I had hoped.”

“ Tell me quickly what you know?” Robin asked eagerly.

The convict sank down, rather than sat down, upon a fallen tree
and drew from his pocket his note-book, and from it drew a
paper, which he held out to Robin. It was the letter written by his
wife on the Ist of January, or rather it was a copy of that letter.
Robin read it greedily witha glance, and then recommenced it. A

convulsive trembling agitated his hands, then his eyes became dim,
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 133

—,,



a sob rose from his throat, and this man of iron wept like a child.
Tears of happiness—the sole manifestation of joy among those
who have suffered so much, The negro, anxious, did not dare te
ask a question. Robin no longer saw, no longer heard. He read
it in a loud voice, repeating over and over again the beloved names
of his children, and living for the time in the midst of the absent
dear ones. Cassimir listened, his hands clasped, also weeping.
At last Robin, turning to the convict, said to him softly,—

“You have indeed done a good action, Gondet. I thank you
with all my heart. My poor fellow, this deed you have done for
me may well wipe out the faults which you committed in your
youth.”

Gondet, racked by fever, stammered,—

“Oh, it’s nothing. You saved my life—you. Besides, you have
spoken to me as to a man, to me who has fallen so low. You
have shown me how one may support heroically unmerited
misfortune. What an example fora criminal. I have learnt to
repent.”

“Good! Keep on at that, and you will recover your position,
and, still more, your self-respect. But this letter—how did you
succeed in procuring it?”

“It was simple enough. These policemen are mere fools. They
had stupidly put it with your other papers. The convict who
swept the office had only to borrow it for a moment and bring it
tome. I copied it; then he returned it to its place; that was all.
I would have kept the original, but you might not perhaps have
wished for a stolen thing, even though it belonged to you; and

VOL. L I
114 THE WHITE TIGER.

ee

besides, the abstraction of these papers would have drawn notice
towards you—for, to tell you the truth, your escape has turned the
prison topsy-turvy. They have talked of dismissing Benoit. There
has been court of inquiry after court of inquiry. Fortunately they
begin to think that you are dead, except indeed Benoit, who will
never believe that you have escaped his vengeance. So hide your-
self carefully.”

“Hide myself? I have more than that to do now. Nothing
any longer binds me to this soil. I wish to fly far from hence—to
say adieu to it for ever. To-morrow we leave. You understand,
Cassimir ?”

“All right,” said the black.

“But,” exclaimed the convict, “just at present you must not
travel in your canoe. The mouth of the creek is full of workers,
and the superintendents are always on the watch. Wait at least
till I can find other places for them to work at.”

“ We will start all the same, I tell you.”

“Tt is impossible. Listen tome. Wait for a week.”

“Do you not see that I am dying here, hour by hour. I want at
all risks to be free.

“ But you are without arms, without money to pay your way ina
civilized country.”

The negro begged the convict to come in and take some food,
but the latter refused, and Robin, seeing that he was unable to
surmount the disgust caused him by the horrible appearance of the
leper, himself prepared an infusion of herbs suitable for the fever

which racked him. Then, after receiving many thanks for the great
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 115

service which he had rendered the fugitive, the convict bade adieu
to the two comrades, with many good wishes on both sides, and
departed for his post.

It took indeed another week to prepare the provision for the
journey. It was necessary above all things to make the couac or
flour of the manioc which would be the essential article of tneir
provisions. It would also be necessary to catch fish and dry it.
The maniocis prepared by taking the root of the plant, and grating
it upon a large grater. A quantity of this substance is then placed
in a bag, and put under a lever formed by a long pole with a weight
attheend. This forces out the juice, which contains many poisonous
properties. When this is completely expelled the contents of the
bag are put out to dry, and will now keep for a considerable time,
and when baked upon a large flat iron plate, furnishes a sort of
cake. A large store of these cakes was baked, and there remained
now only the task of laying in a store of dried fish.

The day after the preparation of the manioc was terminated,
Robin went to look after the canoe, which had been cleverly hidden
in a little brook covered by creepers’ boughs. This place was
distant three hours’ walk. He took with him some provisions, and
his sword, and a heavy stick, and started with Cassimir—delighted
as a schoolboy at a holiday. They advanced, chatting gaily, talk-
ing of their plans, and reached the spot where they had hidden the
canoe. Cassimir proposed a little row upon the creek, and Robin
did not like to deprive the old man of this satisfaction. They
reached the thick enlacement of creepers and plants in the middle
of which the canoe was kept by a strong liana. The proscript put

12
116 THE WHITE TIGER.



his hand upon the end which was fastened to a root, and hauled in,
He felt no resistance. A cold sweat rose on the instant from his
forehead on seeing the end was severed by the cut of a knife.
Apprehending the terrible loss, he threw himself into the midst of
’ the plants, and cut furiously with his sword. A long opening was
soon cut; there was nothing. What had happened? The rains.
might have filled the boat, and it would be sunk, and be at the
bottom of the creek. Robin plunged in, and searched and sounded
‘everywhere, Nothing was to be seen. Some alligators fled
alarmed.

.The negro filled the air with cries of despair. He wandered up
and down upon the bank and searched at the bases of the trees,
but found no trace. There was no longer a doubt, and Robin was
sorely stricken at realizing the certainty that the canoe had been
stolen.

“ Courage, my friend,” said he to the old man. “Courage We
will make another. It will be three weeks of delay. Fortunately
our provisions are ready and in safety.”

Their return was sad, and it was rapidly made. Without
knowing why, the two men experienced an imperious desire to be
at home. In a few minutes they would be there—but what new
terrible surprise awaited them?

A light smoke hung over the clearing. Robin, at a bound, dashed
on towards the house. It no longer existed. A pile of cinders,
still smoking, marked alone where it stood. The instruments, and
provisions so-patiently stored—all had disappeared. The fire had

consumed everything. Robin hada few minutes before said, when


The fire had consumed everything.

THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 119



the loss of the canoe was discovered, “ Fortunately oa: provisions
are ready, and in safety.” Now all was lost and gone. A single
spark from a fire too hastily extinguished had no doubt in a
moment sufficed to destroy the fruit of so much labour, Not
only could they no longer think of quitting the colony, but the
first result of this catastrophe was to bring before them the

spectre of famine,




CHAPTER X,

PREPARING FOR A START,

2 HE poor negro had fallen at the blow into a state

of profound prostration. His grief was overwhelm-



ing. He regarded, stupefied, this heap of ashes,
the sole remains of what had been the shelter
of his sad old age—these blackened stumps which had been the
beams, elevated by his mutilated hands, those remains of blackened
pottery which had enssed ta_ provisivns, the instruments—the
faithful friends of his work and his solitude. He gazed vacantly
at the scene, but no complaint came from kis lips, no tear from his
eyes. Very different was the attitude of the white man. His strong
nature was prepared for any sort of struggle. He trembled fora
moment at the sight of the disaster. His colour faded slightly, and
that was all. The destruction of the cabin did not produce on him
so much impression as the loss of the canoe. This was because the
destruction by fire might—and probably was—only the result of an
unfortunate accident, whilst the loss of the canoe could only be attri-
buted to the hand of anenemy. Robin asked himself over and over
again who could have committed this robbery, and with what object.

Thinking over his enemies, he came at once to the conclusion that
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 121



the redskin was the author of this double outrage, and that his
plan was a simple plan. He wished to prevent the fugitive from
leaving the valley, and then to starve him, so that when the white
tiger, with his strong arm, would be enfeebled by his privations,
when the hut of the old negro—this fortress defended by serpents—
would be in cinders, the good red slave would goto St. Laurent,
the white tiger be captured, and Atoucka would reccive his money
and his tafia.

It was necessary to act. Regrets were superfluous, and com-
plaints useless. Robin was a man of energy and of action, as
may already have been seen. His reflections—taking long to write,
passed through his brain as a flash of lightning.

“ Cassimir,” he said quietly to the leper; “ Cassimir.”

The sound of the human voice awoke the old man from his
torpor. He groaned like a child that suffers.

“Oh, Tamill! Oh, I shall die!”

“ Courage again, my friend.”

“Cassimir no can, dear white man. Cassimir die where his
house was.”

“Never mind. I will mend our tools. The handles are burnt,
but I will put new ones to them. I will build you another hut—far
away. You shall be in shelter before the rain begins to fall. I
will give you something to eat. Come, my poor old child.”

“Cassimir can’t go,” replied he plaintively. “Cassimir dead
already.”

“Let us go,” said Robin with softness but with firmness, “1 know
122 THE WHITE TIGER.





that it is a terrible blow to you, but we cannot remain here. There
is a real danger.”

“Where we go, den? De poor old leper can’t travel.”

“TI will carry you if it’s necessary, but, once for all, we must
go.”

“Yes. I will go with you,” the black said, standing up and
trying to walk.

“Poor fellow. It’s truly a cruelty on my part to push you so.
Come, Cassimir, I will work for you. I have good courage, and I
am strong. Nothing is lost yet.”

“No; nothing is lost,” said a voice behind them, “ but it must
be granted that there are some awful blackguards in the world.”

Robin turned briskly, and saw Gondet.

“T saw the misfortune which has occurred to you. Your canoe
has disappeared. I saw it wandering along the creek—your planta-
tion ruined, your house burnt, and it is the more unfortunate as the
way is now open.”

“What? Have you succeeded ?”

“ As I scarcely dared to hope. I found a perfect forest of rose-
wood.”

“ What a misfortune !”

“ Be tranquil. They will be there for more than three months,
and in three months you will be far away.”

_ “T hope you will be right.”
“T am sure of it.”
“ And more than that, I have an idea that all these calamities will

do more good than harm,’
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 123
eS

“What do you mean by that?”

“The rainy season will be over in some six weeks or two months,
and the season will commence when the Bosh and the Bonis will
descend the river. You will then find canoemen, and for the canoe
vou have lost you will find ten.”

“ But what confidence can I have in these men, when I see the
Indian, Atoucka, my guest for an hour, who wants to sell me for a
bottle of tafia?”

“The Bonis and the Bosh are black men. They are not
traitors like these vermin of redskins. Moreover, they are not
drunkards like them. They seldom touch the spirit of the
whites, and, what is more, when you are on board one of their
canoes you will be in safety. Ah, they are brave fellows, very
faithful, and never betray any one to whom they have given
hospitality.”

“Dat so,” said Cassimir. “ He speak true.”

“Then it is your opinion that we should wait here still some
weeks.”

“No, not here, but a few hundred or a thousand yards off. You
have only to construct a hut in the middle of the wood, and to
leave no traces of your passage—not the least mark of an axe
above all things. These Indians are as mischievous as apes. I
will guarantee that they will not find you.”

“ But are you sure of our passage in the Boni canoe?”

“You have still on the ground and on the trees enough to feed
twenty persons fora month. After the rainy season the negroes of

the Maroni have used all their provisions, They are as thin as
124 THE WHITE TIGER.
a ee
nails. You will obtain all you want by giving them provi-
sions.” .

“Thanks again, Gondet. Your advice is good, and I will follow
it. If I can escape, it will be to you that I shall owe my safety.”

“Tf I can be of any use to you in any way, make useof me. You
know I am in every way your helper.”

“Yes, I know indeed, Gondet, and I trust most entircly to
you.”

“You do well. You see our sort—we are either all good or all
bad. Once our path made out, we go on to the end. Thanks to
you I have taken the right one now—but better late than never.
By the way, there is not far from the place where you hid your
canoe on the right bank of the creek an immense thicket. It is so
close that a needle could not pass, and it is impossible to make a
way through it. It is surrounded by thousands of aouaras whose
thorns stick out like millions of chevaux de frize. One can only
arrive there by following a little affluent of the creek, a yard
wide, and as much deep. This rivulet loses itself in a trembling
swamp behind the savannah where the place of which I speak
to you is.”

“ But this savannah—how can one get across it ?”

“Oh, I have discovered under the grass and mud a little solid
line. It must bea rocky ledge. It is not much wider than the
blade of a knife. But with a little effort and a good stick one can
keep to it. Once there—that is to say, in the midst of this mass of
herbs, lianas, and trees—the deuce himself could not discover

you.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 125



“That’s capital—the more so as our track in the bed of the
rivulet will leave no traces.”

“That is understood. We will leave to-morrow.”

“Yes, to-morrow,” Cassimir repeated like a dull echo.

“I will conduct you: I can stay here till then,” the convict said,




CHAPTER XI,

A DESPERATE CHASE,

i x. HIS is a rum country—no doubt about that. It is



built of venetian blinds—little beasts that bite and
sting you morning and night—a san without shadow—the tem-
perature of an oven—fruits which you might say had been pre-
served in the essence of turpentine. My ears are bleeding, and the
skin of my nose is leaving me—a rum country.”

A woman in deep mourning, pale, with features bearing signs of
fatigue, listened, smiling sadly, to this string, poured out in one
breath by a lad of some twenty years old in an accent betraying the
true Parisian.

“ And besides that,” continued the young man, “there are mon-
keys and parrots in every house, and the food—dried fish, like the
soles of one’s boots, with a sort of soup at which one shudders on
seeing. But after all, that isa mere nothing in comparison with
the happiness which the voyage procured for us. What a quantity
of water! Good gracious, what a quantity of water! I, who had

never gone beyond the park of St. Maur, and who knew nothing
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 127



but the Seine! They say that travelling forms youth ; I hope it will
form mine. But I am chattering like the great parrot with whom
I wanted to play this morning, and who nearly took off the top
of my finger. But I shall wake the children, who have the ap-
pearance of sleeping as if for ever in these queer machines which
they call hammocks.”

“But Iam not asleep, Nicholas,” said a child’s voice from a
hammock, enveloped in a mosquito net.

“You are not asleep, Harry?” said Nicholas,

“Nor me, either,” said another voice.

“You must go to sleep, Edmund. You know very well that you
must remain in bed during the day-time, for without that you will
get a sunstroke.”

“But I want to go and see papa. I am tired of all this lying
down.”

“Be good, my children,’ said the mother. “We start to-
morrow.”

“Oh, really, mamma? Then I am content. Shall we be going
on the water again ?”

“ Alas ! yes, my dear child.”

“Well, then, I shall be sick again, but afterwards I shall see
papa.”

“ Well, that’s settled, Madame Robin. We're going to leave to-
morrow this country of the negroes, which we call Surinam be-
cause the people of the country call it Paramaribo. Well, we don’t
take much pleasure in the voyage. They don’t give us much time

on the road. We left Holland a little more than a month ago,
128 THE WHITE TIGER.

We are here only four days when—crack !—‘ off we go, says the
master. I shall be glad to quit this country. Where we are going
may be better, and at least we shall be at home. And, madame,
you still know nothing ?”

“Nothing. Really, it seems to me that I am in a dream, with
this rapid succession of unexpected events. But you see that these
mysterious friends have fulfilled all their promises. We were ex-
pected here as at Amsterdam. Now we should be lost in this
country, of whose language we are ignorant, without their assist-
ance. The correspondent who received us on the arrival of the
Dutch ship, has seen to all our wants, and to-morrow we go on.
I know no more. These strangers are polite without being cordial
—stiffas men of business, and as punctual to their word. One
would say that they were obeying orders. So far we have nothing
to complain of them. We have travelled as ambassadors, The
end will bring rest.”

“It’s all the same. We will again get into a vessel, recommence
var balancing work without being able to stop, suffer a horrible
illness, and be as cheerful as possible.”

“Well, courage,” said Madame Robin, smiling in spite of her-
self. “In three days we shall be there.”

“ Oh, it’s only my way of talking. The more so as you and the
' children stand fairly all this dashing about, and that’s the essen-
tial point.”

The next day the six passengers embarked on board the “ Tropic
Bird,” a pretty coaster of eighty tons, which twice a month made a

trip along the Dutch coast communicating with the inhabitants
Pages
129 - 130
Missing
From
Original
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 131



on the river of Surinam, and revictualled the men stationed
on the lightship serving as the lighthouse at the entrance to that
river, The merchant, who was one of the richest Jews in the

’ country, presided at their embarkation. The children, dressed in
light flannel, had on their heads straw hats and puggaris to preserve
their heads from the fierce ardour of the equatorial sun. Nicholas
himself had adopted this exotic coiffure.

The captain received his passengers. The merchant exchanged
with him a few words in Dutch, then he respectfully bowed to
Madame Robin, and descended into the boat. The anchor was
weighed, and in a few moments the “Tropic Bird” started on her
journey.

The voyage was a pleasant one. The breeze was light, and
the motion so slight, that neither the mother nor the children
suffered. Nicholas, however, who was a very bad sailor, endured
the same tortures as he had undergone for a greater portion of
the previous voyage.

“You bring good luck to the vessel, madame,” said the captain
in French, “ for never have we had a more fortunate journey.”

“You are French?” said Madame Robin, surprised at the correct-
ness of his accent.

“J am the captain of a Dutch ship,” said the officer, avoiding a
direct answer to the question. “In our business one must know
several languages. Besides, it’s no merit to me to speak the tongue
of your country. My parents are French.”

“Oh, sir, since I find in you a compatriot, since I have jour-
neyed for long days blindly along the route so mysteriously traced

K2
132 THE WHITE TIGER.





out for me—tell me something. Tell me when I am to find
again him for whom I weep, and who are those whom I owe
this happiness. What remains to be done? Where are you taking
me?”

“ Madame, I am in ignorance whence come the orders which I
am happy to obey. I may have my opinion, but the secret is not
mine. All that I can tell you, madame—brave wife of an exile—is,
that it is not without an object that I am in command here, and
that your husband is not the first political prisoner who has escaped.
Unfortunately, the Dutch Government, who formerly closed their
eyes to these escapes, affects, no doubt from fear of diplomatic
complications, to mix up with criminals the political exiles, and to
hand them over to the French administration. Weare obliged in
consequence to exercise the most excessive reserve and extreme
precautions. Your husband, madame, should long since have been
at Paramaribo, and it will be necessary for you to ascend the stream
of the Maroni far beyond civilized establishments, to wait patiently
for his arrival, and that under painful conditions.”

“Oh, the conditions matter but little; I am strong. My children
have nolonger a country. They will live where their father is.
Far better this country of the disinherited than France, which drives
us out, and which, nevertheless, I quitted with tears in my eyes.”

“ Among other indispensable precautions,” added the captain, ©
“T must pray you, madame, to use a subterfuge to deceive yout
countrymen, in case we should be obliged to land on the French
coast.”

“ Tell me what it is necessary todo. Iam ready.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 133



“They would be astonished, and reasonably, to see you in such
a place with your children. It will be necessary in such a case
that I should pass for a time as their father. Do you: speak
English ?”

“ As my mother-tongue.”

“That is good. You need not speak a word of French. Ifthey
speak to you—if by chance they ask you a question, reply
always in English. As to your children—does your eldest son also
speak English ?”

“Yes.” :

“We will take great care that they shall not see the others. My
ship will stop at Albina before a factory founded by a Dutch
merchant. Under pretext of taking my family on a pleasure
trip, I will trust you to two men of my crew, two blacks, of whom
I am absolutely sure. They will disembark you on an island
three-quarters of an hour from the rapids, and will see to your
needs. I shall not quit my post here till after their return, and
after receiving an affirmation that you have found your huse
band.”

“Good sir, I understand and agree with all my heart. Whatever
may come I shall not be feeble. I have long since said adieu
to civilized life. Ithas taken away my happiness. May the savage
life which we are about to lead bring back an alleviation of our
evils, and a solution of all our pains. In any case, believe, sir—
you who are the personification of our unknown benefactors—that
my gratitude is profound. Whoever you are, whatever be the fate

which the future may reserve for you, those who suffer and who
134 THE WHITE TIGER.



wait bless you ; and these poor little exiles will always unite witk
me in a grateful thought towards you.”

The fugitives had, as the mysterious captain said, brought good
luck to the “Tropic Bird.”

Never, perhaps, in the memory of the sailor had a voyage been
made so rapidly. They passed the coast so quickly, that thirty-six
hours after quitting the river of Surinam they signalled the island
of Cleoteilde, situated at the extremity of the Galibi Point, which
forms one side of the Maroni. Such is the width of this river that
the French side could scarcely be seen. The vessel, with its flag
flying, entered the mouth, crossed the bar, and cruising along the
Dutch bank, cast anchor opposite Albina, without having ap-
proached the French convict settlement. This annoyance evaded,
the captain at once set himself to search after a native boat.
Having found one, he had the centre covered with a sort of awning
of palm leaves to protect the passengers, and placed in it a large
stock of provisions. Fortunately the Boni negro to whom it
belonged was about to return to his village, situated fifteen days’
canoe voyage up the river. He agreed, in return for a few
small imported articles, to assist the two sailors, and to take
Madame Robin and her family to the island in question. This
addition of a man accustomed to the navigation of the stream was
an unlooked-for good fortune. Instead of twenty hours, it took
them but twelve to arrive at the island at the foot of the Heirmina.
For the greater safety the voyage was made at night, and it was
made with not less good fortune than the preceding.

Madame Robin and her children, almost bewildered by this
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 135



strange succession of events, had now for some hours been the
inhabitants of a little island of almost circular form, and about 100
yards across. It was a veritable leafy clump, having its little beach
of fine sand and granite rock. The little Crusoes, delighted, filled
the air with cries of joy, and Nicholas, at last free of sea-sickness,
again found that life was a good thing. The camp was soon
raised. The Boni had caught a splendid fish, which was grilling
over the fire, and they were about to take their first repast, when,
far out on the French side, two kilometres distant, arose a little
puff of smoke, followed after a long interval by the report of a gun.
A black speck, which could only be a canoe, detached itself from
the bank, and made rapidly for the midst of the stream. Another
report of a gun was heard, and another boat launched itself in pur-
suit of the first, from.which it was separated by from 300 to 400
yards. Insuch a place the slightest incident bears a signification.
This was an excitement indeed. In the one boat were fugitives
whom it was important to overtake at all price, since the pursuers
did not hesitate touse their guns. The first canoe grew larger and
larger ; it gained upon the other, but very little. It was crossing
the stream towards the Dutch bank. One could see that it was
propelled by two men, who paddied furiously. The second boat
contained four passengers, of w"i9m two were armed with guns.
The fugitives were endeavouring to interpose the island between
them and their enemies. It was the only plan possible. Madame
Robin felt her heart beating. What drama was she witnessing,
as it were, on this evil island, where she had only arrived a few hours

before? The children were frightened; Nicholas played with
136 THE WHITE TIGER.



the locks of a double-barrelled gun, a present from the Dutch
officer. The pursuers, divining the plan of the fugitives, endea-
voured to cut off their route. They kept on firing ; their aim was
accurate, and the frightened spectators on the sand saw the water
several times splash up close to thecanoe. The first boat was now
within 100 yards of the island. A well-directed ball broke in half
one of the paddles. The owner seized another, and set to work as
hard as ever. Rapid though his movement was, one could see
that he was white.

Madame Robin staggered forward, and cried,—

“TItishe! It is he whom they’re killing!”

And she fell senseless on the sand.




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































"Tt ishe! It is he whom they are killing.”


CHAPTER XII.
FIRST EXPERIENCES,

ih ITERALLY buried in the thick foliage, the fugitive

{
s<§ and the old negro awaited the moment of their



S Ly} Geliverance. Here they remained for nearly a

month, breathing with difficulty in the thick,
noxious air which alone could penetrate the vault of foliage. At
the end of each two days Robin went out to fetch provisions,
and brought from the clearing ignamas, potatoes, maize, and
bananas, and every vegetable. Thetwo hermits had awaited vainly
from hour to hour the signal for their leaving, when one fine morn-
ing, Robin, who for the fifteenth time followed the course of the
rivulet, started as if at the sight of a reptile. A light canoe,
provided with four paddles, floated before him, fastened to a large
root. There must be no longer any doubt. It was indeed the
canoe constructed by him and Cassimir, which he had named the
“ Hope,” and which so singularly disappeared. By what mysterious
concourse of-circumstances was it at every point ready to start?
A large heap of bananas just ripe filled it in the centre; some
ignamas and potatoes cooked on the cinders, and, most surprising

of all, a dozen biscuits, with a flask of hollands, completed the
140 THE WHITE TIGER.





provisionment. The boat must have been submerged from the
day of its disappearance, for damp patches still covered it in
places. Feeling sure that this was the work of Gondet, and
that it was a hint that he should leave at once, the fugitive
hurried back to the damp refuge.

“ Cassimir, we are off !”

“ Are we, massa? Are we?”

“The canoe is found. It is there already. Without doubt the
creek is free, and we can quit this harbour and embark down
the Maroni.”

The preparations were speedily made. Their store of provisions
was Carried on board, and the two, taking their places in the canoe,
pushed off from the shore, and descended the rivulet to the Great
Creek. Nothing suspicious occurred during their silent movements.
With eyes well bent, muscles at stretch, and the ear on watch,
they advanced paddling gently, taking pains to avoid making a
noise by the stroke of their paddles. They passed close to a
woodcutter’s hut, which the workers seemed for a time to have
deserted. The canoe passed great logs of wood floating down the
stream towards the Maroni. All was well, and ina few minutes
the danger was past. The Sparwine enlarged itself, and the river
could be seen. The fugitives, without stopping a moment, looked
round on all sides, and inspected every object within view. Nothing
suspicious could be seen.

“ Now, forward at full speed,” said Robin in a low voice.

The boat darted like a flash into the waters of the Maroni, of
which the other bank could be seen at a distance of about two


a

sions was carried oa boas

Their store of provi
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 143



miles. The companions began to think themselves at last in
safety. About 400 yards separated them already from the hated
shore, when cries of rage, mingled with curses, sounded behind
them. After the sound ofa shot, a ball, badly directed, cut up
the water at a distance of twenty yards,

“Forward, Cassimir, forward !” said Robin, bending himself to
his paddle.

The cries, carried over the liquid surface, came distinctly to the
ears of the canoers,

“Quick, to arms! to arms !”

A second shot, and then a third followed the injunction. The
proscript turned his head, and saw a canoe with four oars detach
itself from the bank, and take up the chase.

“Courage, my friend, courage; we are gaining on them, the
scoundrels! They have not got us yet, and they shall not get us
living.”

“ Dat’s so ; bad men not take us.”

“Steer for the island, there, opposite to us,—as if we wanted to
land.”

“Yes, massa.”

“When we reach it, we will keep on straight across, but under
its shelter. We shall at least for the time be out of fire.”

The distance between the “Hope” and the island diminished
rapidly. The sound of shots followed each other, but without any
success, until the moment when the paddle of Robin was broken
by aball. He uttered a cry of rage, seized the spare paddle, and
raised his head.
144 THE WHITE TIGER





On his exclamation a cry of despair arose from his wife, when
she sawhim. He sawa black form fall upon the sand, children
running about frightened, negroes gesticulating, and a man clad
as a European running forward. The canoe was not more than
eighty yards distant. The fugitive, rigid as a bar of steel, made
one of those immense efforts of which the human organism is
capable ina great emergency. The canoe flew across the water,
its bows running up the sand. With a bound Robin leapt on
the soil, raised the senseless woman, gazed on the mute and terri-
fied children, and at the same glance caught sight of Nicholas,
leaning on his gun.

“ Monsieur Robin !” exclaimed the Parisian.

“Nicholas, quickly to the canoe. Stay here, you others,” cried
he to the two negroes from the Dutch ship. Then lifting in his
left arm his senseless wife, he seized the youngest child by its
clothes, and leapt into the other canoe. He laid them down there,
while Nicholas came with the other three, followed by old Cassimir.

“ Leap in,” he said shortly. ,

The Boni also-obeyed, without saying a word.

“ The paddles.”

The sailors handed them in. Cassimir seized one, and took his
place in the bow of the boat. Robin installed himself in the
second seat, the Boni behind.

“Row.” .

The canoe leapt away, while the two negroes of Surinam, stupe-
fied with the strange scenes, remained on the island with the
“ Hope.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 145 .

————



The Boni understood the manceuvre, and he steered round the
island. So rapidly did they paddle, that when they came out at .
the other end, they were as far in advance as before.

The flight recommenced with every chance of success. The
canoe, it is true, was more heavily charged than before, but the
presence of the Boni negro was a great assistance. Unfortunately
they were not yet beyond the range of the guns, and Robin, whom -
the previous shot had not moved in the slightest degree, trembled
at the thought of the danger that his dear ones, whom he had. so
miraculously recovered, were about to run.

Bending over his paddle, he concentrated all his faculties on the
work which would ensure their common safety. The mother
gradually recovered her senses, thanks to the affusions of cold
water, which Nicholas, with more zeal than ability, applied without
cessation.

“ He’s safe!” she murmured at length.

“Father,” cried the eldest of the sons, “they’re about to fire
again.”

The boy had hardly spoken when a ball grazed the canoe, and
splashed up the water.

Robin, who had not yet embraced in his arms the brave wife
who had borne so much for him, nor the children for whom he had
so long yearned, felt his heart pant with a terrible rage towards
his pursuers. He had pardoned Benoit; he had saved him. His
own life alone had then been in question, but to-day they were
menacing his family. The ball might strike them before his eyes,
At the risk of hindering the flight, he seized the long musket of ~

VOL. IL. L
146 THE WHITE TIGER.



the Boni. The weapon was loaded. The black, divining his
thought, drew from his mouth two bullets which he had been
chewing, and dropped them into the barrels.

“ Heartless scoundrels |” he cried, “stop, or I’ll slay you.”

The warders, dominated by his attitude, lowered their arms.
They found themselves, moreover, obliged to give up the chase,
for the tossing of the water proved that they were reaching the
foot of the rapid. The canoe was in sight of the Hermina.

The Boni negro, whose name was Angosso, was fortunately well
skilled in the peculiar navigation of the rapids of the Maroni. With
two strokes of the paddle he sent the canoe well into-the foot
of the rapids, and began the ascent. The Hermina rapids, of
all those on the Maroni, are the least difficult to pass; in fact,
the bar of rock which forms a sort of natural dam, is from 800 to
goo yards long, and the difference of level is only five feet. The
fall, therefore, is slight, but nevertheless it demands great skill
and a special canoe to perform the feat.

The Boni, familiar from childhood with this difficult navigation,
steered his canoe with extreme skill, Robin and Cassimir paddling
in front.

From time to time the stream dashed with force against the
little canoe and threatened to hurl it on a rock, but each time, with
a swift turn of his paddle, the Boni swept the head away, and the
canoe continued its difficult course. The Boni, who could talk a
little Creole, explained to Robin that above them were rapids far
more difficult; the Singatatey, among others, whose descent is

especially terrible. The waters, bounded in between rocks, hurled
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 147



themselves bellowing down narrow channels, dashed into foam, leap-
ing in boiling cascades, and engulfing themselves in other defiles,
from which they issue in foaming whirlpools with terrible noise.
The descent of the Singatatey, whose name in Boni signifies “ the
man is dead,” is, therefore, particularly perilous. The canoemen
abandon their paddles and only steer, one in front and one behind.
Fach has a long pole, one end of which he places against his
breast. The canoe, carried down like an arrow, flies on the crest
of a wave. Clouds of diamond dust, the products of the water
which dashes itself to pieces on the rocks, blind the passengers,
crouched in the bottom of the canoe, and holding both sides with
their hands. The frail boat, hurled towards the point of a rock by
the current, seems about to be broken into fragments. The man
in front places the end of his pole against the rock and receives
without budging the shock on his breast. The peril is fora moment
past, but the manceuvre begins again, executed by either one or
the other of the two companions, and generally with equal success.

At last, after five or six minutes of terrible fear, the traveller,
stunned and prostrated by excitement and tumult, finds himself
floating in the calm water at the foot of the falls.

But the moment had not come for the Boni to utilize his talents
as a gymnastic canoeman ; the paddles sufficed for him.

“Alas ! white man, little white boys are hungry, and Angosso
can’t shoot the koumarou.”

And indeed it was with a feeling of regret that the Boni saw
the great fish lying far below in the clear water, while his bow re
mained idle at the bottom of the canoe.

L323
148 THE WHITE TIGER.







The heat was crushing; the cooking-pot had been upset on the
sudden appearance of Robin at the isle, and such was the haste
with which each had embarked, that they had not on board a grain
of any edible substance. The loquacity of .Nicholas was at an
end ; he was terribly hungry. The children, lying at the bottom
of the canoe, half suffocated by heat, gave way to stifled sobs,
They had had nothing to eat for a long time; nothing
of any kind except some of the tepid water of the river, which
excited rather than allayed their thirst. Their sufferings were
terrible. It was necessary to land, the more so as the rapid was
now far behind, and the warders, unable to mount them, had
given up the pursuit. They had no more to fear from men ; but,
on the other hand, they were already exposed to the horrors of
famine.

At last, being unable any longer to hold out, exhausted by
fatigue, panting in this furnace, they began to cry, and the youngest
exclaimed

“Father, father, I am hungry!”

This cry from the most feeble of the party made Robin trem-
ble. The mother, herself weakened by mental shocks and by
hunger, regarded her husband with an anxious air.

“Cassimir,” said the fugitive abruptly, “we must land. We
can gono farther. These children want food. Tell me what is
to be done.”

“We will land,” said the old man after a few rapid words with
the Boni.

The pirogue was directed across the river, and at the end of
ry

17)



In three minutes an arbour was constructed for the mother and children,

THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 151
Sent eee eee ee
half an hour entered a little bay, hidden among the great trees,
and into which a small channel, scarcely a yard wide, ran. “Oh!
massa, me content; me go get the children milk and the yolk
of eggs.” Robin regarded his companion with anxiety; he thought
he was going out of his mind. Nicholas, who understood nothing
of the Creole pazozs, caught the words “ milk” and “ yolk of eggs.”

“The poor old man is going cracked. I don’t see either birds
or goats or cows, and unless these trees are either chickens or
cows, I don’t see how we are to get out of this affair.”

With a few blows of his sword, the Boni brought down on the
ground amass of the leaves of the maripa and the maie. He
stuck upright in the soil two poles, and joined them by ong laid
across them, and he laid against these the longest and thickest
branches. In three minutes an arbour was constructed for the

mother and children, who were stretched on a soft couch of fresh
leaves,




CHAPTER XIII.

FISHING EXTRAORDINARY.

®

OBIN quivered with impatience in spite of the
rapidity of the movements of the black. The latter



two magnificent trees more than ninety feet high,
he cut a gash in the bark at some inches above the ground.
Nicholas was astounded by sceing the gashes covered instantly
with large drops of a thick white fluid which united and fell in
two little streams into the vessels.

“Oh! it is milk, real milk! Well, who would have believed
such a thing?” said he, seizing one of the gourds. “ Here, my
little Charles, drink milk, fresh drawn.”

The child carried the cup greedily to his mouth, and drank a
long draught of the liquor.

“Its good, is it not, my boy?”

“Oh, yes,” said the child. “Give some ts mamma, and Eugene,
and Edmond, and Harry.”

The distribution continued, and the thirst of all was soon
quenched. Nicholas, in his turn, drank with an expression so
comically happy, that all, including Robin, burst into a hearty

laugh; it was the first time for so long.


eal milk!”

qT

Ik,

! Itis mi

“ce Oh

THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 155



“Do you know, master, that I have never tasted anything equal
to it. Milkfroma tree! They have no idea of that in Paris, where
they make milk from brains, chalk, and from water, not always
very clean either. I can assure you that I begin to think that we
shall find the eggs. Ah! well, here’s a tree which I shall know
again. I should like to know its name. They didn’t teach me
much botany at school.”

“ Dat de balata,” said Cassimir.

“Oh!” said Robin, “the balata, the milk-tree. I have often
passed it without knowing it. You see, Nicholas, it is not suf-
ficient to study only books.” ;

“Yes, that is true ; practice is wanted. Practice to use—”

He interrupted himself. Suddenly a large round ball, the size
of a large plum, was detached from the tree under which he was
standing, and fell just at his feet. He raised his head, and saw
Angossa, who, perched upon one of the principal branches, was
laughing.

“The yolk of egg!” he cried joyously, taking up the object in
question, which was round as a ball, firm, of the form and colour
of an orange,

“ You can eat it,” said Cassimir; “it is good.”

“We shall not refuse it, I can tell you, especially if there are
enough for us all. One can be sure at least that it is fresh.” And
the lad ate a large mouthful.

“Oh!” said he, with a grimace; “there is a chicken in
it.”

“What! A chicken?”
156 THE WHITE TIGER.





“Soto speak. In the middle of this egg is a nut, and it is hard,
I can tell you. I thought I had broken my teeth. Oh! it is curious ;
this nut is not alike on both sides. One of its sides is shining like
ivory, whilst the other is full of little and very curious roughnesses.
One would have thought that it had been worked by hand. Is it
eatable anyhow ?”

“It is not worse than the other one. It is a little dry, but it is
nice.”

“ My stars! if it isn’t a real yolk of egg, it will do, at least, very
well.”

He ran away to avoid the shower which the Boni was dropping
down.

The yolk of egg is the name by which this fruit is known in
Guiana, and it was declared excellent by all the members of the
little colony. In a short time the children were all in a sound
sleep.

Robin, a little restored by this curious repast, thought over the
future with inquietude. He knew that this food, good as it was for
the present hunger, would soon be insufficient. The children and
their mother had need of nourishing food, especially in this latitude
where all suffer from weakness. Angossa drew him from his pre-
Occupation,

“ Angosso going to make creek drunk,” said he.

“What do you say?” asked Robin, who thought he had no
understood him.

“ Angosso go make creek drunk to catch fish ; make him drunk
with nikou. Nikou splendid fruit.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 15)

0S ee aa SA a ee en ee

“Dat so,” said Cassimir. “ Fish love nikou ; drink him and get
drunker than Indian.”

“ And then ?”

“ And then we catch him, massa, and dry him, and eat him.”

“Can I be of any use?”

“No; stop with madame and children. Boni go catch
nikou.”

The absence of the black lasted at least an hour, and Robin
began to find the time long, when Angosso appeared, laden like a
smuggler’s mule. On his head he carried an enormous pile of
lianas, freshly cut. He had there at least eighty pounds’ weight
of branches, with a brown bark divided into sections of eighteen
inches long. He carried in his hand a little bouquet of leaves and
yellow flowers, which Robin, a good botanist, at once recog-
nized.

“This drunk-wood,” said the Boni, letting fall his weight, and
breathing with a sigh of relief.

“ Nikou,” echoed Cassimir joyously.

The eldest of the children awoke at this moment and peeped
curiously out. His father called him.

“Look, Harry. This is a favourable occasion for studying
botany. We shall no doubt pass many days here, perhaps long
years, asking our food of nature alone. It is necessary for us there-
fore to learn all about the vegetation of the forests, for our lives may
depend upon it. Do you understand me, my boy?”

“Yes, father,” replied he.

“ By the aid of this plant, of which I know the species and the
158 THE WHITE TIGER.

Be Ni ae ee eS eee
family, but of which I was ignorant up to now of its properties, our
companions say that they will procure for us a great quantity cf
fish: This is a precious resource of which we may need to avail
ourselves in the future. Will you know these flowers and leaves
again ?” yl

The boy took the flowers from the hand of Angosso, and regarded
them attentively as if to fix their shape and colour in his memory.

“It’s a plant of which the acacia is one of the types. By a
curious chance this plant, which is about to be of such assistance to
us, bears our name. It is the Robinia Nikou, so called by my
namesake Robin, gardener to Henry IV., who gave his name to
the family of the Robinias. The native name of nikous has been
added to distinguish this variety. You understand, and will ree
member ?”

“ Yes, father ; I shall always know the Robinia Nikou when I
see it again.”

“ Massa, come and see,” interrupted Angosso, who, during this
talk, had blocked the current with a little dam formed of leafy
branches.

The Boni had placed in his canoe two bundles of lianas. He
caused the father and mother of the four children to embark with
Cassimir and Nicholas. He seized the paddle, and rapidly
traversed the little bay formed by the embouchure of the creek
which this traverses as the Rhone passes through the lake of
Geneva. Then he mounted on,the other side of the creek which
went into the forest. A fresh leafy arbour was constructed ina

few moments. Then, this indispensable preliminary of every halt
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA, 159
———
in the forest being terminated, he set to work to make the creek
drunk. Some red-coloured rocks, as-full of holes as sponges,
projected from one of the banks. He sat down on one of these,
seized a piece of nikou, dipped it in the water, placed it on another
rock, and with his right hand beat it with a short, heavy stick.
The juice flooded it on all sides, and tinged the waters of an opal
colour,

“Ts that all?” said Robin.

“Yes, massa,” replied the man, continuing his work rapidly.

“Well, then, I can help you if it’s no more difficult than that.”

And, joining deed to word, Robin set to work to imitate his savage
teacher.

All the wood wag soon crushed, ané the wzterr a“ the creck,
becoming milk-coioured, soon mingled witb those of the little 1ake,
these becoming tinged in their turn

“Oh, that is good. Wait a little now.”

The Boni, with the sagacity natural to the men of his race, had
admirably chosen the position. Such was the configuration of this
fishing-quarter that he would catch in the lake not only the fish of
the running stream living in the creek, but those of the Maroni,
of which some species inhabit the sea, and which come up with the

ides to a distance of more than 25 leagues. So that he would thus
nclude almost all the varieties of Guiana. There was not long to
wait. Angosso soon perceived some objects floating in the centre
of the lake, and keeping up a slight movement.

“ Dere dey are, massa. Come to the side of the stream.”

Robin would have gone alone, but all insisted on seeing
160 THE WHITE TIGER.



what was goingon. As the forest was impracticable they
got into the canoe. A singular spectacle offered itself to theia
sight. On all sides the lake seemed boiling. In front, on
the right, and on the left of the canoe, fishes of all colours, of all
shades, and of all sizes, came up to the surface, and then
turned on their backs and floated as if dead. They were,
in fact, stupefied, intoxicated by the nikou—incapable of flying,
of hiding, or of defending themselves. They were there by
thousands, opening their mouths, beating the water with their
tails, with stupid gestures as it drunk. Some were but a few
inches long, some as much as five feet. The boat directed itself
to the dam, where they all arrived, carried by the current. Angosso,
so as not to lose time, killed on the passage by a stroke of his sabre
a good many large fish. The nearer they approached the dam the
greater became the crowd of fish. The children, delighted, clapped
their hands. Cries of joy resounded. The canoe with difficulty
passed ; its bow now touched bushes which Angosso opened with
strokes of his paddle. It was really a miraculous fishery. They
were there at last. With a formal recommendation Robin told the
children not to touch any fish (for a great number are dangerous,
and the prick of some of them mortal). There were before the
dam more than a thousand pounds’ weight of fish, stupidly
drunk. How were they to be got out? This was the question
addressed to the Boni by Robin.
“It would not do to get them into the creek, and run the risk of ,
. setting your foot upon a spiny ray.”

Angosso smiled, and, without saying a word, unrolled his great
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 161



hammock, woven in cotton by the Indians, with large meshes
through which were passed long cords also made of cotton. He
weighted it with a stone, sank it to the bottom of the creek, held
one of the cords with his hand, and gave the other to Robin. The
two united their forces, drew to the bank the hammock transe
formed into a net, and full to burstin® of the specimens of the
aquatic fauna of Guiana. The largest were killed with blows of
the chopper the moment they quitted their native element. The
net was scarcely empty when it was again filled, and a great heap
was raised in spite of the protestations of Robin, who exclaimed
that they had enough. It would be impossible to describe all the
numerous kinds of fish which were there collected. They were of
all shapes, and colours, and sizes, and would have delighted the
eye of the naturalist.

VOL. L u


CHAPTER XIV,

SCARING A TIGER.

; NGOSSO continued his fishing, although there was
sufficient collected to feed 150 persons. But having
made the creek drunk, he wished to kill all its

inhabitants. He intended to eat enough for three



or four days, so as to be able to endure the hunger perhaps
of the following week. It made but little matter. The blacks,
like the redskins, have no idea of economizing.

Among the fish was a great eel some five feet long, and who,
less drunk than the other inhabitants of the stream, was twisting
' among the grass. Robin raised his axe.

“ Don’t cut him, massa,” cried the Boni abruptly.

It was too late. Thesword fell upon the head of the eel, and at
the same moment fell from Robin’s hand, and he could not restrain
a cry of surprise—almost of pain, ©

“ Dat trembling eel,” said Cassimir, “ bad beast dat.”

“Oh, papa!” cried the children, “has it hurt you?”

“No, my dears; no, my dears. It is nothing.”

“ What has it done, then? How did it hurt you?”

“ It is the electric eel.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 163



“What?” said Eugene, “the electric eel—like the telegraph?”

“No,” corrected Harry quietly. ‘I will tell you what it is. 1
know. I read about him. He isa fish who produces electricity just
as one turns the glass disc of an electric machine between two
cushions. Then when you put your hand to him he gives youa
great shock. Well, the eel gives you a great shock, as if it had an
electric machine in its head. That’s so, papa, is it not?”

“Nearly so, my boy. Your definition is incomplete, but it is
sufficient for the moment. We shall have occasion to study this
animal at our leisure. Only remember that it is dangerous to touch
it, and that its electric discharge is a means of attack and defence
almost as terrible as the poisoned teeth of snakes. Be careful,
then, never to touch an animal or insect whatever it be, unless I
am with you.”

“Trembling eel good when he dried,” said Cassimir in his
turn.

“Oh ! that’s true. I had forgotten that ; but I see that if Angosso
says nothing, he doesn’t work the less.”

The Boni was working without ceasing. He knew that the
whites were hungry, and that their hunger, although for an instant
appeased by the yolk of eggs and the juice of the balata, would
soon begin again more sharply than ever. He drove into the earth
four forked poles, which he joined one to the other by four others,
so as to make a perfect square of twelve feet each way, rising to a
length of a foot and a half above the level of the ground. From
twenty to twenty-five rods of equal length were placed across
this light frame, which now became a sort of grill of large

M2
164 THE WHITE TIGER.



size. Leaves and small branches were placed under the parallel
bars. Then the Boni seized the dead fish one by one, and placed
them on it. The children and their mother wished to assist him in
this easy work, but he refused energetically, and for a good reason.
One cannot handle with impunity creatures like these. Sometimes
it was the large mouth of a dying aimara, which snapped sharply,
and whose grasp the Boni skilfully avoided. Sometimes it wasa
ray, which he seized delicately, and cut off the spines by a blow
from behind; sometimes an electric eel, which he decapitated.
The grill was soon garnished, and the black lit the heap of leaves
and green branches, from which a thick smoke arose. Less than
half an hour afterwards two other grills of the same dimensions
smoked like charcoal furnaces, filling the air with an appetizing
smell. This was not all. The boucanage is intended to pre-
serve the food, drying it and impregnating it with smoke. The
meat should not be cooked—not even grilled, but simply dried.
Therefore this operation is long and difficult. It demands more
than twelve hours of assiduous care. If the fire must not be too
bright, it must not burn too low. It must neither be too near to
nor too far from the meat. One may say of the boucanier that
which was said of the roaster—“ One becomes a cook, but one
is born a roaster.”

So Angosso, while attentively watching the three grills or bou-
canes, had also lit a little fire upon which was grilling a superb
aimara, in company with a dozen smaller fish and a magnificent
spiny ray. The meal was not any the less gay because bread and

salt were wanting, despite of, and partly because of, the protestas
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. . 165

tions of Nicholas, who during this succession of strange and un-
expected incidents had preserved a silence altogether unusual tc
him. Nicholas wanted bread. It seemed to himthere could beno
difficulty in finding it in the trees—bread, or even a biscuit—since
they furnish milk and hard eggs. And besides, if Harry had read
in books a description of electric eels, he (Nicholas) remembered
perfectly that he had heard speak of bread-fruit. All shipwrecked
people had eaten it. It had been printed. All possible Crusoes
had been nourished by the fruit of the bread-tree. He wished then,
as a Crusoe of Guiana, to adopt this species of food, habitually that
of his colleagues and forerunners.

‘No, my poor Nicholas. I see that your ideas of the products
of the American torrid zone are deplorably false. You imagine
that the bread-tree grows here in a wild state. It is not so, my
friend. It is a native of the southern isles. It was introduced
into the Antilles and into Guiana, but it must be cultivated, or
at least planted. If one finds them in the forest, itis upon old and
abandoned plantations.”

“Then we must go without bread for I don’t know how
long ?”

“Calm your inquietude. We shall have before long some
manioc, and you shall also make the acquaintance of cassava and
tapioca.”

* But what I am saying is more for the children and for Mrs.
Robin than for myself.”

“TJ don’t doubt it, Nicholas; for I know you think more of
them than of yourself. We shall live for a time on fish. Several
166 THE WHITE TIGER.





things will soon come. Before our provisions are exhausted, we
shall, I hope, be assured of our subsistence for the future.”

Quickly the sun sank down. The clearing where the travellers
were encamped was no longer lit up by the red fires of the boucanes
upon which the fish were still crackling.

The children were already asleep. Henry and Edmund lay in
the hammock of thé Boni. Ten minutes of exposure to the sun
had sufficed to dry this bed transformed into a net. Madame
Robin, sitting by her husband, held the little Charles asleep on her
knees.

Robin regarded with tenderness Eugene, whom sleep had
surprised with his two arms round the neck of his father. The
husband recounted the incidents of his flight to his wife, who
trembled, in spite of her bravery, at the recital of the perils run and
the fatigues endured. She in her turn, related the horrors of their
life of poverty suffered at Paris, the episode of the mysterious letter,
the careful and discreet care of which she had been the object on
the part of the unknown, the voyage to Holland, the passage of the
Atlantic, the arrival at Surinam, and the respectful attentions of the
Dutch captain who spoke French so well.

Robin listened, not less moved than puzzled. Who could be
these benefactors? Why these precautions? Why did they hide,
as if it were an evil action, this immense service? Madame Robin
could not, any more than himself, find any plausible explanation.
She had still in her possession the letter of the man of business at
Paris. The writing told nothing. The engineer thought (and his

surmise was a correct one) that those who escaped from the fate
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 167



which had befallen so many at the hands of the court-martials and
commissions, had consecrated their time and their fortune to
the service of their brethren who were still in prison. One pro-
script celebrated among them had been able to take refuge at the
Hague. Perhaps he had had some share in the escape of Robin.
As to the captain of the coaster, his athletic figure, his urbanity,
his goodness, all seemed to point him out to the fugitive as being
C——, an officer of the French navy, who had succeeded in quitting
Paris with the greatest difficulty. C—— had entered the merchant
service of Holland. He was cruising, there was no doubt, in view
of the coast of Guiana, seizing the favourable opportunity of coming
to the aid of his political comrades. This hypothesis was reason-
able. The husband and wife adopted it without hesitation, while
blessing the authors of their happiness, whoever they were.

The talk continued without their having the least idea of the
passing hours. The children slept. The Boni, attentive to the
boucanage, kept on cutting down branches and casting them on
the fires as they sank. This man seemed to be built of iron-
wood. Neither the fatigues of the day, nor the search for the nikou,
nor the work of the paddle, nor the construction of huts or grills,
nothing seemed to affect him. While continuing at his work he
cast rapid glances towards the branches above, which were dimly
lit by the fires. He seemed unquiet and uneasy. A low growl,
accompanied by a sharp cry, caused him to raise his head. It was
like the noise of a cat, but a hundred times louder. Then two
points of light were seen among the plants bordering the clear.
ance.
168 THE WHITE TIGER,



Robin spoke to him in a low voice, and learnt that the two lights
were the eyes of a tiger—hungry, no doubt—whom the odour of the
grilled fish had attracted. °

The cnimal did not seem in any hurry to attack. To judge
from his loud, purring noise, one might have thought he was
in a good humour. Nevertheless, such a neighbour disquieted
Robin. He seized the gun of the Boni, and prepared to send a
bullet into this unwelcome visitor.

“No, massa; no need gun,” said Angosso. “Gun wake chil-
dren. Me manage tiger.”

The black had a good provision of pimento—the celebrated
pepper of Cayenne, with which they season dishes under the equa-
tor. A small piece of it suffices to give to the food a sharp, biting
taste, to which they accustom themselves little by little.

Angosso, laughing quietly to himself, took a large fish nearly
dried, cut several gashes in its flesh, and introduced half-a-dozen
peppercorns. Then he threw the fish in the direction where the
tiger was. ‘“ Dere, bad beast; eat dat,” he said, laughing.

Robin was always fond of a shot, but if the animal was only
wounded, what would become of his thildren, exposed to his rage?
For the rest, scarcely had the fish stuffed with pepper touched the
ground, when the cat leapt upon it, and disappeared. He must
have eaten it at a bite, although it weighed more than four pounds.
For a quarter of an hour afterwards they heard him roaring near
the creek. The Boni shook with laughter.

“De pepper makes tiger dry. He is drinking up de water af

de creek.”






ghter.

The Boni shook with lau
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 171

“Qh, then, he will be drunk like the fish! ”

“No; nikou only poison fish, Gives great colic to men and
animals. Listen ; he very bad.”

The great cat, in fact, did seem very ill, He raised the most
plaintive cries, squealed and howled like a sick cat. Then, de- .
spairing, no doubt, of extinguishing with this abominable water the |
volcano which was raging within him, he dashed away at full
speed through the thickets. The encampment again became calm
and silent.




CHAPTER XV.

OVER A REEF,

m2 HE food of the party was now secured for several

days. Their diet, however, was purely a fish one,—



fasting, in fact, as Nicholas said on waking. Al-
though they had every reason to suppose them-
selves in safety, they took counsel as soon as the dawn broke,
so as to lose no time. They must not think of remounting the
Maroni, so as to penetrate into higher Guiana ; not indeed that
there was anything to fear on the part of the Bonis and Indians,
but the arrival of Europeans could not fail to produce some sort of
sensation, and the news would be sure to be spread as far as the
prison, even without any bad intention on the part of those who
carried it. They must then continue to push on through the wood,
The creek seemed to lead towards the west. They determined then
to go to the west, following always the route marked out for them.
They would pause not far from its source, if possible on an elevated
point and ata distance fromthe swamps. Then they would set to
work to provide food for all. Unfortunately they were at this moment
about to lose their most powerful auxiliary. Angosso had fulfilled

all his promises. He talked of returning to his village, and as he
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 172

— ee _ RN OOO



was the lawful owner of the canoe, his departure would bring about
a veritable catastrophe. It was necessary then to dissuade him,
and this was no easy matter. Our little party had nothing to offer
him which could excite the avarice of a savage. Possessed of a
complete assortment of chopping-knives, collars, bracelets, and
cotton goods, which he had obtained at the factory of Albina,
Angosso was at present a capitalist, and was desirous of exhibiting
his treasures before the eyes of his compatriots. He resisted
gently, but with firmness, all their prayers, and Robin saw with
anguish that he could not be turned from his purpose, when by the
greatest accident Nicholas came to the rescue. He had not under-
stood a word of the negro patois, but he saw by the action of the
speakers that the affair was not going well.

“This takes a long time to settle,” he said. “ Look here,” he
continued, speaking to the Boni. “ You are a good fellow, ain’t you ?
So am I; and between good fellows there’s always a means of
coming to an understanding.”

Angosso, impassible as a black image, heard without interruption,
and without understanding.

“ At Paris one can, if necessary, obtain credit by signing bills,
That’s money which won’t pass here, for I have heard them say
counters are rare; but if you will accept a payment in notes, I
will pay the carriage, and give you a fair amount for drink.”

“ Money !” exclaimed Robin ; “have you money?”

*Yes; I have some five-franc pieces in my pocket. Look here,”
he said to the Boni, showing him some five-franc pieces. “Do you

know these medals, Morsieur le Savage ?”
174 THE WHITE TIGER.
a en ee eee
Ant” exclaimed Angosso, radiant, his eyes and mouth open,
“that is a rouleau.”

“Ah ! he knows our white metal, this simple child of nature. It
is all right now.”

“Yes, estimable canoeman, a rouleau, two rouleaus, three
rouleaus, and even four rouleaus—a fortune, in fact, in exchange for
your canoe and assistance, Will that assist you?”

“ Massa,” said Cassimir, “give two rouleaus to Boni, and he
will go.”

‘Will you, master, who understand the language of this native—
will you have the goodness to explain to me a little what they mean
by their rouleaus ?”

“It is simple. The unit of money in Guiana is the decime, but
this is not the ten-centime piece which passes in Europe. It is
the old French liarde in copper to which they give the value of two
sous. They call that the marked penny. They put these in
rouleaus of fifty, and give to the rouleau the name which Angosso
has given to your five-franc piece.”

“ Give me your rouleaus, and I come,” said the Boni.

“ Certainly, my good fellow. That’s what I am offering you. Let’s
understand, however. Two down—there they are—and the other
two when we arrive at our destination. That’s how I understand
business,”

Robin translated the proposition of Nicholas. The Boni would
have liked the four rouleaus at once, but the Parisian was
inflexible.

“My friend, when I take a carriage, I pay by the hour or by dis-

tance after it’s done, and never before.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 175
ere IO ie A ea

Angosso held out for a few minutes longer, and then consented,
He took with the joy of a child the two pieces of money, sounded
them, turned them over, and examined them, and finally wrapped
them up in the corner of his cloth.

“No fool, our friend,” said Nicholas.

The instant the engagement was undertaken, Angosso set himself
to work. To begin with, he hastened to pack the fish in large leaves,
put them in the canoe, covered them with branches, rolled
up his hammock, took his paddle, and placed himself in the stern,
occasionally touching the corner of the cloth which contained his
treasure.

“ We ready to start?” he asked.

“We are ready,” replied Robin, installing his wife and children
as comfortably as the size of the boat would permite

The resources of the family were at least precarious, and could
be easily reckoned up. They did not possess, like their comrades
and forerunners, the legendary Crusoes, the vessel close at hand,
wrecked on the reefs, and in which they could find all the indis-
pensable necessaries of life.

A ship is a world. It embraces everything, and the riches it
carries constitute a fortune for shipwrecked people. But how
terrible is the situation of those in such a country, where they find
themselves as much without all the necessaries of life as the men of
prehistoric epochs with their primitive arms and utensils! Among
these eight fugitives were four young children and a woman, be-
sides an invalid—the poor old black.

Two little trunks contained a few clothes and a little linen, two
176 THE WHITE TIGER.

choppers, an axe, and a pick, without handles, the last remains from
the burning of the hut. They had, besides, a double-barrelled gun,
- a present from the Dutch captain; and for ammunition, four
pounds of powder—about 400 charges—and a little lead. It would
be necessary, then, to invent everything, to make everything.

Robin was full of hope. As to Nicholas, he had no doubt at all ;
the situation, in his mind, was not even critical. The boat glided
rapidly through the tranquil water, along the high weeds and bushes,
between which wound the little creek. From time to time a great
woodpecker, the size of a pigeon, flew away, uttering a sharp cry 3.
humming-birds in search of insects fluttered here and there like
sunbeams, while the mocking-birds, jokers like the magpies, and
as black as crows, flew hither and thither. On right and left
stretched the marvels of tropical flora. Wherever there was light
and air, flowers abounded ofa thousand different kinds, gorgeous in
' colour and strange in shape.

Robin had scarcely time in passing to give their names to his
delighted children. At every moment they wanted him to get out
and bring them some specimens, but Cassimir and Angosso had
no idea of this. Bending over their paddles, they worked with
energy, as if to fly as quickly as possible from the enchanting scene.
Questions, prayers, nothing had any effect.

“ We must go on,” grunted Angosso.

“Yes, massa, we goon. Quicker, then, Kariakow.”

“But why? Are wein danger? Tell me, old friend.”

“ Ah! massa, we have the fever if we not fly. Country bad,

All the world die in place where we are.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 177



Robin trembled. He knew well that at certain points the malig-
nity of the effluvia and the marshes is such, that it is sufficient to
stop for a few hours to contract a severe fever. He seemed to
breathe a faint odour of decayed vegetation. Invisible vapours of
mud floated in the atmosphere, and the vapours which vivify the
flowers kill men. The barque flew along the heavy water, stagnant
as that of a lake of pitch. and saturated with impalpable vegetable
remains. The travellers still further hastened their course. It was
necessary at any price to pass through this swampy zone before
night came on.

In any case, indeed, it would be almost impossible to make
a way through the thick brushwood; the damp and swampy
ground would have swallowed up the encampment, a thick mist
would have arisen, whose mortal effects gave it the name of the
shroud of the European. After having escaped from men, it was
necessary to escape the fever. They were long and painful, these
hours passed between two walls of vegetation, over a river which
seemed boiling, under a pale sky which the equatorial sun seemed
to bake. The mouth becomes parched, and the throat burning.
The lungs can scarcely breathe this air of a furnace, the ears
tingle, and the eyes become dim ; and despite the most perfect im-
mobility, an immense perspiration bursts from the body, flows in
streams from the forehead, and soaks the clothes. It is not with-
out a sort of terror that even the hardiest man perceives his strength
diminish. He is conscious of the rapid decrease of his organism,
his features become pinched and his skin blue, his weakness ap-
pears overwhelming ; then comes the fever, and seizes an easy prey.

VOL. I. uy
178 THE WHITE TIGER.



The party, great and small, bravely supported the trial. The
Boni and Cassimir, both enjoying the immunity peculiar to the
black race, seemed not to perceive the heat, They worked away
. like two human salamanders. In spite of his strength, Robin had
been obliged to lay aside the paddle. A copious shower came,
fortunately, to refresh the atmosphere; the heavy atmosphere became
more breathable, and a long sigh of relief arose from a!l their
breasts.

The creek still held towards the west. The nature of the ground
changed, and naturally the vegetable products changed too. To
the flat banks, covered with aquatic plants, succeeded plains of clay,
with sand, the product of granite rocks, and through which here
and there the points of rock showed. The waters were charged
with an abundance of oxide of iron of a deep red colour. Some
gigantic iguana, impearled with bright green sides, lay immovable
on the rocks, and regarded with a stolid eye the passage of the
** Hope.”

Angosso laid aside his paddle, seized his bow, a sharp whizz was
heard, and one of the inoffensive reptiles fell on his back, pierced by
the treble barb of the long arrow. This feat of the adroit hunter
broke the charm, and every one seemed to awake. The children
clapped their hands, and Nicholas cried, “ Bravo! Ah! you have
hit him, the ugly beast.”

“He is ugly, Nicholas, but he is delicious to eat.”

“ But, papa,” said Harry, “do they eat crocodiles?”

“ The iguana is a sort of large lizard. They’re inoffensive ; their
flesh is excellent, and we will feast on it to-night, won’t we,
Angosso ?”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 179





“Yes, massa,” replied the black, leaping upon the rock. “ Dis
beast he good roasted.”

“ Shall we stop here to camp? What
“ Ah! massa, come here a little,” he said, without replying to the
question.

Robin, in his turn, leapt upon the rock, and looked out on all
sides. The river made a sharp turn almost at a right angle
to the north. From this point, which was elevated some yards
above the level of the water, Robin could see through the gap
formed by the bend of the stream a blue hill at some leagues’
distance.

“My children, we are saved. Ina few hours we shall be at the
end of our sufferings, and safe from the horrible fever.”

The creek for the second time widened, and formed a lake more
extended than that upon which they had had their miraculous
fishery. A long reef of rocks cut it diagonally ; the waters broke
with a dull sound on the sharp points. This reef stood like a wall
at least 300 yards long by 20 feet in height. On either side, for a
vast distance, stretched swaraps, with coarse herbage, peopled by
water-snakes, crocodiles, and electric eels. All communication
seemed cut off between the upper and lower waters of the creek.
The wall constituted a great obstacle except at one point, where it
was cut by a gap a yard wide, and where the waters rushed through
with impetuosity.

“If we can pass this fortification, we shall be preserved from
every accidental visit,’ said Robin, after a moment of reflection.
“ But can we pass?”

N2
180 THE WHITE TIGER.
fe ee ee ee

“ We pass very well,” said the Boni with assurance. “ Angosso
pass everywhere.”

“ But how will you do it?” ;

“Dat my affair, massa. All can pass. Madame pass, little one
pass, all can pass soon.”

Angosso, to give riore solemnity to his operations, asked for
silence. There was a real danger in attempting such an adventure.
Alone perhaps of the inhabitants of the Maroni, the Boni was capa-
ble of carrying out such a feat. The canoe was brought to the
shore, close to the rapid, and Robin, with Nicholas and Cassimir,
got out on to the rock, and remained at the foot of the granite wall.
Angosso, without saying a word, rolled his hammock round his
waist, and then climbed with a vigour and address which would
have made the fortune of a gymnast. Clinging with his feet, his
hands, his nails, to any projection in the rock, he arrived at the top.
Without losing a moment he unloosed his hammock, fastened
one end round a rocky point, and lowered it. “Get up by that,”
he said to Nicholas.

“Ah! it is 1 who am to try this apparatus,” said the Parisian.
“That suits me,” and before he had finished speaking, to the
astonishment of the negro, he clambered up it with the skill of a
monkey, and took his place beside him on the rock.

“ Here we are, we two,” said he. “ With rope enough one could
climb the towers of Notre Dame. Now it is your turn, master.”

“No, no. We must put madame in hammock.”

Madame Robin was lifted up gently by the men, who united
their efforts, and soon she found herself on the top of the reef alsa












































































































Angosso climbed with a vigour and address which would have made

the fortune of a gymnast.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 183



Then it was the turn of the children. Robin could not follow the
same way. His strength, combined with that of Cassimir, scarcely
sufficed to maintain the boat charged with the provisions, and
which the current threatened at each moment to break away.
Angosso descended, took his place in the canoe, and beckoned
Robin to mount and rejoin his party, and to hoist the old man up
with him.

They were now reunited on this narrow spot, surrounded on
all sides by eddying waters, and awaiting anxiously while the
Boni completed his plans. This last, holding on by one hand to
the barque, and by the other to a root, struggled hard against the
current.

“Throw me the cords of the hammock.”

Robin understood, and holding one end of the cords, he threw
the other to the black.

“Hold tight, Nicholas. Our life depends upon it.”

“ Don’t be afraid, master. They shall pull out my arms before
they get me off this rock.”

Angosso fastened the cord with a turn of his hand to the boat,
and then endeavoured to direct his frail skiff fairly into the narrow
channel. The two white men, holding on by the end of the rope,
hauled gently, while the black, impassible, poled the canoe in the
furious waves, which threatened at each moment to engulf him.
One false movement of the instrument, half a second of hesitation,
and all would be lost. The cord, stretched almost to breaking,
seemed asif it would snap. The Boni saw the peril. Even if his

breast should be broken by the pole under the pressure of the flood,
134 THE WHITE TIGER.



he would pass. The brave fellow concentrated all his strength in
a last effort, bent back, and threw all his weight upon the pole,
which bent like a bow in the hands of a hunter. At the risk of
breaking the towing-rope, the two white men aided him by a sud-
den pull. The boat, pressed forward by the irresistible force, made
its way through the water, and seemed almost to disappear in a
wairlpool of foam, and then rise again, having cut a sort of trough
through the cascade. Five seconds later the Boni brought it up
close to our friends, who uttered shouts of triumph. He had ac-
complished one of those feats of which the blacks of higher
Guiana are alone capable. To understand the almost insurmount-
able difficulty of such an enterprise, it suffices to tell the reader

that the bar was not more than five yards long, and that the fall
was more than three,




CHAPTER XVI.

A HAVEN OF REFUGE.

the night upon the rock. They made choice of a

flat place on which were placed the boughs forming



the awning of the “Hope,” and after having eaten
a supper of dried fish all were soon asleep.

Next morning at dawn they saw plainly the top of the hill per-
ceived the evening before out of the shadows. The lake was passed
and the shore soon approached, for the proximity of a resting-place
gave ardour to the paddlers. Singularly enough, the vegetation
underwent a second transformation. At the end of the little bay
great palm-trees, which seemed to be cocoanut-trees, arose. Some
banana-trees showed their clumps of immense leaves, and other
trees, quite distinct in form from those which are generally found
in the forest, extended their branches almost to the earth. They
looked exactly like mango-trees. An immense profusion of para-
sitic plants, giant herbs, inextricable creepers, green plants thick
as a wall, close together as blades of corn, covered the soil, only
allowing the upper part of the trees to be visible. At last a little

break, extending in a sharp angle from the lake towards tne sum-
186 THE WHITE TIGER.





mit of the hill, was found in this wall of verdure, offering to the eye
every shade, from the pale green of the sugar-cane to the dull dark
shade of the manioc.

“Good heavens !” cried Robin, “I’m afraid I am deceiving my-
self, but these trees, which are only found in the forest when they
are brought hither by men—this invasion by parasites of a land
already cleared—all this seems to show that this has not always
been a desert. Cassimir, are we not passing an ancient clearing?”

“Yes, massa ; dis a clearing.” .

“ Dear wife, dear children, I was not mistaken yesterday before
we passed the rapids. This out-of-the-way corner has been before
inhabited a long time ago—no doubt by men who were well skilled
in cultivation. It is at present abandoned. It is for us to benefit
by the riches which it contains.”

The canoe was soon alongside of the little landing-place, shaded
by splendid cocoanut-trees. Ata spot where the ground had not
been overgrown by vegetation, Angosso, with the aid of Robin and
Nicholas, hastened to make two arbours, one of which served as a
temporary shelter for the family, and the other as a magazine for
the provisions. There he deposited the dried fish, and then they
took counsel as to the work which ought to be done next. The
council began by a question from Harry.

“ Papa, what is a clearing ?”

“ Since you have been in the woods you have seen, have you
not, my boy, that the grand and splendid trees of the forest
produce no edible fruits, and that it is impossible to plant or to

sow anything in the soil which supports them ?”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 187



- “Yes, papa ; because the plants would have no sun.”

“Just so. Man then arms himself with a hatchet, cuts down
the giants, clears the place, and at the end of three months the
wood is dry, and he sets fire to it. As soon as the soil is cool, it is
ready to receive fruit-trees or grain.”

“It seems to me, master, that cultivation is not a very difficult
matter here,” said Nicholas. “There is no need, as far as I can
see, of carts and ploughs, of manure, or even of a pick. A piece
of pointed wood is sufficient for scratching the soil. The rain and
the sun do the rest.”

“You forget the difficulties of cutting the trees to begin
with.”

“ Oh, with a good axe one would soon cut them down.”

“You will see about that ina few days; and besides, we shall
have only comparatively small work in again clearing out the wild
plants which have invaded this plantation during the last ten years
or so. Our new property is admirably situated, and very judi-
ciously planted,” continued Robin, after taking a rapid look at the
various vegetation around him.

“Are there not bread-trees?” demanded Nicholas, who had a
particular desire for this food.

“There are some bread-trees,” replied Robin, smiling, “and I
see also guavas, pear-trees, orange-trees, citrons, and many other
fruit-trees.”

“Oh, it isa paradise—an earthly paradise!” said Nicholas in
delight.

“You forget the cotton-plant,” said Madame Robin to her
188 THE WHITE TIGER.

husband, twisting in her fingers a woolly ball picked from a tree
some seven or cight feet high, and which at the same time bore
tlowers of a pale yellow with purple spots.

“The cotton you have discovered is a treasure. Now we are
sure to have clothes. This specimen is an admirable one. It is
the Gossypium Herbaceum, one of the species the most robust and
quickly grown. But as we must not lose time, and must profit by
the presence of the Boni, we will go and explore the place with
Cassimir. You, Nicholas, remain here with the children and my
wife. Although there is no danger, don’t leave them for a moment.
You have a gun. And now, my dears, don’t stray away. There
may be, perhaps, not far from here, some snake or other beast
whom it is much better to leave alone.”

“Master, rely upon me. I will guard the post until you relieve
me.”

The three men each took a chopper. The Boni in addition took
his axe, and they soon penetrated into the thick brushwood, opening
a way with strokes of the chopper. The day passed without incident,
and the sun wassinking when they returned worn out with fatigue but
joyous, their faces and hands scratched and bleeding. You may be
sure that they made grand féte with the dried fish, the banaeaet
and the ignamas brought in by the expedition. Nicholas at last
knew the joys of the bread-fruit. The young fellow was not altogether
satisfied. He had expected it would be better—not that he found
that it was bad, but he had thought it would be something special.

“ Well,” said Robin, when hunger was a little satisfied, “and how
have the party got on?”


Cassimir went in front, striking the vegetation to right and left.


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 19!

“ All have got on capitally,” said their mother. “And you, what
have you found, my husband? Are you content? Has the result
answered to your hopes? It seems to me, looking at the scratches,
as if you had been making your way through a chevaux de frise.”

“The battle has been a hard one, but the success complete.
But to-day we must say nothing about it. Don’t ask me.”

“ Then it will be a surprise for us?”

“ Yes, indeed ; but let me have the pleasure of telling you when
it is time.”

It was not long to wait. Robin and his companions were again
absent for two days in succession, and the evening of the third day
the inhabitants of the Bay of Cocoanut-trees were delighted at
hearing the simple words, “ We shall start to-morrow.”

The distance was not great, but what a road ! if you could give
that name to a track rough-cut by a chopper in the midst of an
inextricable tangle of vegetation of all sorts, and covered with reots
in the form of dogs’ears. These roots are admirably calculated to
throw down the traveller. If he does not lift his feet well, they will
catch in these half-circles, and he goes down on his face witha force
proportionate to the speed of his walk. Cassimir went in front, strik-
ing the vegetation to right and left with long boughs to drive away
the snakes, Nicholas carried the little Charles. Madame followed.
Then came Robin, carrying on his shoulders Eugene and Edmund.
Then Harry, and lastly Angosso, armed with a gun as rear-guard,

The track, which had been cut in a straight line, mounted finally
to a height of nearly a thousand feet. Although the slope was very

gentle, the journey was painful. But no one said a word, and the
192 THE WHITE TIGER.

De ER
children themselves did not let a complaint escape them. At last,
after a- march of two hours, the little troop came out into a vast
clearing situated half-way up the hill, and on a sort of terrace
200 yards wide.’ An exclamation of joy escaped Madame Robin
at the sight of a large house which stood in the midst of the opea
space. The children forgot their fatigue, and rushed forward,
shouting with joy.

“I, my dear and brave wife,” said Robin, “have been making a
little geography in your absence, and I have given to this house
your name—‘ Margaret.’”

The three men had really performed this feat. It is true the Boni
was a most expert hand at the colonial architecture, that the fingers
of the poor leper still possessed an extreme dexterity, and that the
work at the prison had made the engineer an excellent carpenter.
But still this house, into the construction of which neither nail nor
screw had entered, was a veritable marvel. It did not measure
less than forty feet long by sixteen wide, and ten feet in height to
theeaves. The light walls made of fine lattice-work, permitting the
air to pass but not the rain, were pierced with four windows and
adoor. It could brave the tempest, for the four pillars forming
the main support were four large trees standing where they
grew. These trees were united by four beams fastened by creepers.
Nails may yield sometimes, and mortices sometimes break, but
the indestructible lianas are better than galvanized iron wires. On
these walls was raised a roof of the leaves of the waie, of which
the extremely light stalks were fastened at their ends in the

same way. We have already spoken of the waie. it is a
These trecs were unitcd by four beams.


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 195

Se



handsome palm-tree with a short trunk forming a great bouquet
rather than a tree. Its leaves are composite. The central stalk of
the leaf is often thirteen feet long, and those which branch from it
from eighteen to twenty inches. The leaf, in fact, resembles a
gigantic feather. Nothing can be better than these leaves for making
aroof. They were so arranged as to project beyond each face of
the wall some six feet, 30 as to form a large open gallery. Inside,
the house was divided into three parts. One was the dormitory for
the family. That in the centre was the parlour. The third was
a magazine, and here could be stretched hammocks for Nicholas
and Cassimir. The soil, purified by fire, no longer contained any
of the insects which abound so much in grass and roots. Two
handsome mango-trees, two bread-trees, and two gourds pleasantly
shaded the house.

Robin showed his family over this house which he had raised for
them. The children and their mother were radiant with joy. The
pleasure of Nicholas was mixed with an immense deal of astonish-
ment.

‘““ Why, master, we are going to be lodged like ambassadors !” |

“Calm your enthusiasm, my lad. Ambassadors have tables,
beds, cooking utensils, and we have neither a seat nor a bottle.”

“ That’s true,” said the Parisian.

“We shall sleep on the earth ; we shall eat with our fingers, and
drink from leaves rolled up like cups. It will be funny for a while.”

“1 grant you, and I should not be sorry to have a little crockery.”

“ We will make some, Nicholas. I may tell you at once that we
have trees here which bear a veritable set of crockery.”

o2
196 , THE WHITE TIGER.



“To any one else but you, master, I should say, ‘What a good
joke.” But the moment you tell me, it is so: I have seen so many
curious things.”

“ And you will see plenty of others, my lad. Your wish relative
to the crockery shall be soon satisfied. It may not be equal to
china, but it will do for us for the present. You see that tree
which bears large green fruit?”

“T have remarked it already, and I thought that the peasant in
the fable who received an acorn on his nose would not have found
himself the better for it.”

“ Well, there are plates and dishes.”

“Yes, that is true. They call those gourds, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You are right. We will make them from them.”

“ That does not seem to me to be very difficult.”

“Try. [tell you beforehand that you will not succeed, if you
don’t possess the secret of manufacture.”

“You shail see.” =

Nicholas, without losing a moment, stood on tiptoe and seized
with both hands a gourd as big as his head. He took his knife,
and tried to make a cut on the slimy and polished skin. It was
useless. The knife glided off, merely making the finest zigzag
scratches on the green cover. Nicholas thought he should succeed
by forcing the point in as if he were aboutto cutamelon. Crack! ~
and the calabash flew into five or six pieces. There was a general
laugh. A second attempt had the same result, and the third would
have had a similar end, when Madame Robin intervened.

“Listen to me, Nicholas,” she said. ‘“I remember having read
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 197





that savages separate their calabashes very cleverly in two equal
parts by binding a string very strongly round them. Suppose you
try with a liana.”

“Thank you, ma’am, for your advice. It is sure to be good.
But I am so clumsy that I don’t think it’s any use.”

“Its my turn, then,” said Robin, who, while Nicholas had been
vainly trying, had employed the method, with which he was well
acquainted. The liana had by its pressure made a slight inden-
tation on the vegetable shcll, and the engineer had now only to
pass the point of a knife round it to obtain two hemispheres in
which there did not exist the slightest crack.

“That’s easy enough, surely,” he said.

“Iam stupid,” said Nicholas. “It was just as if I was trying
to cut a piece of glass without a diamond.”

“ The comparison is perfectly just. Now we have only to divide
a dozen of these calabashes, and then to take out the pulp that fills
them.”

“Then to put them to dry in the sun—”

“ And they will fly into pieces if you have not taken the precaution
to fill them full of dry sand. We may as well take the occasion
to make a dozen spoons. As to forks, we will see about them
later.”

“What astonishes me,” said Nicholas, “is that everything in-
dispensable to life seems in this country to grow upon the trees.”

“Yes. If these trees were to grow naturally here, the equinoctial
zone would be, as you said a little time ago, a terrestrial paradise.

Who knows at what price and fatigue this clearing, which our fate
198 THE WHITE TIGER.





has brought us to, was made? How much patient research has
there not been necessary to unite here the greater portion of the uses
_ful vegetables—natives of the country, and those which have been

introduced since the discovery of the New World! Fate, which

has hitherto been so cruel, now treats us like spoilt children. What

could we have done in the midst of this immeasurable desert of
sterile plains, without shelter, without food, and almost without

instruments? There is but little game, and the chase requires arms

and special skill. There is fishing, but it is only within the last

few days that we have known about the nikou. The land, there-
fore, will be our sole resource. We shall find healthy and abun-

dant food upon the trees and upon the ground. In a short time,
no doubt, we shall find plenty of other things upon the trees. I

have within a few hours discovered some inestimable treasures.

There are, at the top of the hill, coffee-plants and cocoa-plants.

This discovery will be of great importance to us. Besides, what

do you say to the butter-tree, to the candle-tree, and to the soap-

tree?

Nicholas passed from astonishment to stupor.

“This is not all. Among many other valuable trees we may
find the ipecacuanha-tree, the indiarubber-tree, and even the
cheese-tree.”

“ Are you really in earnest?” asked Nicholas, astounded. “It
is indeed hard to believe. Just think of a tree on which Gruyére,
Cheshire, and Stilton cheeses grow!”

“No, no; you are going too fast there. The cheese-tree does
not produce cheese.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 199



“Why, then, do you give it a name which makes my mouth
water?”

“ Because the wood of the Bombaxis white, soft, porous, and very
much like cheese. It has fruit and gum, which to us are of no use at
all, but it has long thorns as hard as steel. These will serve us for
nails. As for the soft fine covering of its seed, we can utilize it as
tinder. It is upon us two, Nicholas, that the exclusive labour
of provisioning the family will fall. The brave Boni is about to
quit us.”

“It is true. The good savage—when I say savage, I have no
intention of speaking ill of him—of course will not remain here,
By the bye, you remind me that I have some money to pay him.
Angosso! Angosso !”

“What is it, massa?” said the black.

“Come here; coime here. I have to give you two five-franc
pieces—the rouleaus.”

“Oh, yes ; I am content.”

“ And I am content, too. We are both delighted with your ser-
vices. Here is the sum, my corarade,” and he handed him the
five-franc pieces.

The black, having received his pay, remained with open mouth
before the Parisian.

4 And now,” said Robin, “ my brave Boni, return to your family.
If you should ever be short of provisions, if famine should ever-
come near you, come here with your family, and we will receive you
with open arms. You shall build a cabin near me. There will be
plenty to eat for us all.”
200 THE WHITE TIGER.





“Yes, massa, Angosso come with white tiger if he has not
manioc or fish.”

Then, having bidden “ Good-bye ” to the family by saluting ther=
individually all round, he at last shook hands with Robin.

“ Good-bye, Angosso,” said Robin. “ Above all things, never say
there are whites here, and remember always that we shall be glad
to see you back.”

“Yes, massa. Angosso comrade to all the family. He dumb 48
fish.”




CHAPTER XVII.

THE STOCKADE,

ac HE existence of the family of the Crusoes of Guiana
was an entirely material one, if one can use the

term, the concentration of all intellectual faculties



being upon the work of living. This problem
is difficult enough in a civilized country, where each man has
his portion in the general labour, and where instruments and
machines of all kinds are available. Robin, on the other hand, was
deprived of everything—even of tools of the first necessity—and had
to create all the necessaries of life. He would have to draw all the
elements of existence direct from the productions of nature. A hat,
a needle, a button, a sheet of paper, a knife, are all objects which
one finds almost everywhere at a low price; but what almost
insurmountable difficulties meet a man when he is obliged to make
for himself trifles like these! Robin had in Nicholas a clever,
intelligent, and zealous assistant. As to the negro, thanks to his
old experience in the woods, he was a most valuable partner. The
three men set themselves to work immediately after the departure
of Angosso.
Such is the immense fecundity of the equatorial soil, that a
202 THE WHITE TIGER.



clearing abandoned for a few years to itself is soon invaded by an
inextricable tangle of creepers, trees, and great plants. These
parasitic vegetables become mixed up with the cultivated plants,
and soon the whole grows into such a mass that a man placed in
this sea of foliage, of fruit, and of flowers can neither advance a foot
nor gather any fruit. It is necessary, then, to proceed with method,
to chop, to cut down, to clear, to cleave not only the unproductive
plants, but also to pick out among the useful ones the finest speci-
mens, and to sacrifice the others, whose superabundance would
exhaust the soil. It is in fact a fresh work of clearance, and ifit is
much less painful than that of clearing a new forest, it demands not
less patience than ability.

The two white men and the negro commenced, then, to clear on a
regular system. he little colony could not live indefinitely on fish
or fried bananas, or the fruit of the bread-tree. Fortunately,
Cassimir had found on the slope of the hill a great plantation of
manioc. Such was the configuration of the land that this field had
not been invaded as were the other parts of the clearing. Ina few
hours, then, an ample provision of roots was collected. A grater
was soon improvised, and a press prepared ; but an almost insur-
mountable obstacle now presented itself. They had not the great
metal: plate for cooking their flour and evaporating the poisonous
juice of the pulp, which remains even after it has been most vigo-
rously pressed.

Cassimir had not the inventive spirit. Nothing for him could
replace the metal plate in which he had always seen couac and

cassava prepared, Nicholas would, he said, give one of his eyes
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 203



to have one. Robin remained thinking for some minutes. He
mechanically turned up the hearth where the supper was cooking
with the end of a pointed stick, when he perceived among the
embers something of a red brown.

“What is that ?” he said, surprised ; “ what is that ?”

Madame Robin approached, and the children stood round.
The engineer took up the object in question. It was a rough
figure of earth made by the hand of an artist of good intentions,
no doubt, but certainly ignorant of the laws of statuary. Robin
did not preoccupy himself with the shape, but the matter interested
him.

“ Ah, it is terra-cotta,” he said.

“Yes, I madea baby, and have been cooking him,” Eugene said.
“Tt is to play with Charles.” ~

© And where did you find this earth, my Eugene?”

“There, in the house. I dug a little hole with a piece of wood.
I moistened the earth, and made the baby.”

Robin examined the little hole, and took out a specimen of the
earth, which was greasy to the touch, soft, and slightly coloured
with oxide of iron, It was clay.

“ My children,” he said joyously, “you shall to-morrow at noon
have a good cassava cake.”

“ Hooray !” shouted the children, delighted not to eat bananas any
longer. “And how will you make it, papa?”

“Look what I am going to do,” and without losing a moment
Robin dug up the earth; drew out a lump of extremely pure clay,

wetted it slightly, working it for some time. He then made it into
204 THE WHITE TIGER.

Se si en
the form of a disc, after having, as well as he could, flattened it
with a moistened hand.

“ Now some wood, and we will bake it hard. I should like to
have dried my plate in the sun, for it may break under the heat.
But if this happens, we will begin again to-morrow.”

“TI see, master,” said Nicholas with delight, “you have manufac-
tured a cooking-plate of clay.”

“Yes; and it will no doubt answer the purpose. I am really
astonished that the blacks and redskins have not thought of so
simple a procedure to replace the iron plates which they are so often
without.”

Cassimir, astonished, murmured to himself, “Ah ! dese whites,
they always know what to do. Dey always find a way out of
eberything.”

After twelve hours of baking in a fire, which at the commencement
was very slight, but which was increased little by little, the plate,
slightly warped, and less flat certainly than the surface of still
water, but hard and completely baked, was smoking under an
excellent cake. This first victory was received with all the satisfac-
tion that can be imagined. It was indeed a veritable triumph,
from which would arise a whole collection of objects of the first
necessity. All sorts of crockery could be manufactured with this
excellent clay—even bricks, and a furnace.

The work of clearing went on steadily. Around the house the
soil was now perfectly cleared, and they were talking of har-
vesting a little cocoa and coffee. It was even a question of

making an enclosed palisade round the house, and in this to


















































_* Now some wood, and we will bake it hard.”
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 207



set up such birds and quadrupeds as could be domesticated,
and which Cassimir promised in a short time to catch. The
first inhabitant of this future enclosure appeared in it before it had
been finished.

Nicholas, whose eye was always on the look-out for curiosities,
perceived at the top of a tree a grey immovable mass, It was not
an ape; he would long ago have run away.

“This fellow doesn’t pay the least attention. That’s curious.
But,” he said, continuing, “ it’s certainly an animal.”

The tree upon which the creature was, was only about twenty-
five feet high. Its top, composed of large bunches, was not more
than six feet across. The animal therefore appeared distinctly.
He held a branch tightly with his fore-feet, and seemed to be
asleep. Nicholas shook the flexible trunk—a little thicker than
his arm. The animal remained immovable. He shook harder,
and then he set to work to shake the tree backwards and forwards,
making great oscillations without the sleeper appearing to have any
idea of what was going on.

“By Jove,” Nicholas said, “this is a little too much. One would
think that he was fastened with strings of iron up there. Well,
wait a little.”

A few cuts of the axe vigorously applied on the trunk sufficed to
bring down the tree, which fell upon the ground without the mys-
terious quadruped letting go his hold. With a bound Nicholas
was upon him, ready to stun him, or at least to cut off his retreat.
It was unnecessary. The poor beast only made a plaintive groan,
and held on tighter than ever. The Parisian cut off the branch,
208 THE WHITE TIGER.





transformed it into a sledge, harnessed himself to it, and at once
took the rogue to the house. The animal from time to time gave
out his plaintive cry, and held on as tight asever. Directly he
could see his little friends in the distance, Nicholas shouted out,—~

“Harry, Edmund, Eugene—run! I have found such a curious
beast.”

Shouts of laughter welcomed his arrival, and Robin quitted for
a moment his work, followed by Cassimir.

“What have you brought us here, Nicholas?”

“That lazy sheep,” said the black.

“Yes. It is indeed a sloth, which feeds exclusively on the
leaves of the 402s canon, and that takes not less than a day to
climb up a tree, and waits there until he has devoured even the
bark.”

“Oh,” said Nicholas, proud of his capture, “this fellow is called
a sloth. I assure you that he is well named. This is indeed a
fellow who does not like changing his position.”

The sloth, when he felt he was no longer shaken or roughly
dragged along on his branch, began tounroll himself, to the great joy
of the children. He let go his hold, and rolled on his back. He
resembled closely, when in this position, a large tortoise without
the shell. He moved to and fro, very quietly and gently, his
fore-paws in search of some point by which to hold. The
fore-legs are much longer than those behind, and all four are
armed with long claws, three on each foot, curved and about two
inches long. The head was extraordinarily ugly, of the shape ofa

pear, without either forehead or chin, and of which the muzzle
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 209



came almost to a point. Instead of eyes were two little round
spots altogether devoid of expression. There was no sign of
an ear. Its mouth with its black lips opened from time to time,
and a sort of little hissing issued from between the black
teeth. The eyes winked slowly, as if the eyelids moved with
difficulty.

Nicholas turned him over, and set him on his fore-feet. The
sloth flattened himself down, and began to drag himself along on
his belly, stretching out on each side of him the legs which could
not support the weight of his body. After quite a journey ofa
yard long, he arrived at one of the beams of the house. He placed
one of his claws very gently on this, and hoisted himself up half an
inch. Then it was the turn of the other foot, which with the slightest
possible movement raised itself above the last, and another lift :
took place. The children were astounded at this extraordinary
slowness. The animal raised itself four feet in a quarter of an
hour.

“Climb, sloth! climb,” they cried”

“You must render the sloth this justice,” said the father, “that
when he takes hold, nothing will pull him away.”

Nicholas tried to pull him off the post. He seized the shoulders
of the sloth, and pulled with all his strength, but without moving
him. It hung with all its might, and did nothing. It seemed really
as if it had become a part of the post, to which it clung with the
desperate energy of a drowning man.

“That is not all,” continued Robin. “ The instinct of self-preser-
vation is so far developed in this creature that it takes the place

VOL. I. P
210 THE WHITE TIGER.



of intelligence. If he is surprised by hunters in a tree in the
middle of a clearing, he will allow himself to be riddled with shot
before he will let go. But he always prefers trees which hang
over rivers. Then when he sees himself attacked he suddenly
leaves go of his hold, falls into the water, and generally succeeds
in making his escape.” e é

“Can we keep him, and feed him?” asked Eugene.

“Certainly, my child. He is susceptible. He can be educated
—a very rudimentary education, you must understand. If you
carry him each day some fresh leaves of bamboo, he will soon
recognize you. Heis not difficult to please, and he is as moderate
as he is indolent. Five or six leaves in the twenty-four hours are
quite sufficient for him.”

* And is he to belong to me?”

“Yes, if Nicholas does not wish to keep him.”

“Ah! you are joking, Monsieur Robin. I am only too glad to
please Eugene.”

“T will get him something‘to eat,” said the child, pulling off a
leaf of the branch which had served asa sledge. ‘There, sloth ;
take it.”

But the sloth, fatigued no doubt by the efforts and emotions of
the day, was asleep, clinging tightly with one paw to the beam of
the eaves.

All, great and small, worked hard, and gradually the colony
assumed a prosperousair. If abundance did not yet prevail, at least
alitne principal wants were satisfied. Robin would, in fact, have

been perfectly happy if the remembrances of the past did not from
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 21%





time to time damp his spirits, and cause him lively apprehension
for the future. He was free for a time, but he remembered the
horrors of the gaol, and the terrible labours of the workshop, and
the horrible companionship of the convicts. He had regained his
independence ; he was able to provide subsistence for his family,
and to assure their future ; but it was of urgent necessity to place
his abode beyond the fear of a sudden attack, in case some acci-
dent should discover his retreat to his enemies. He had used
with the stinginess of a miser the ammunition which Nicholas had
obtained from the Dutch captain, and if from time to time he had
used powder, it was only to procure a little fresh meat for his
family, who were yet unaccustomed to do entirely without it. His
gun constituted a weapon of defence, which he would use in the
last extremity, and without hesitation, to preserve the liberty upon
which the general good of his family depended ; but he considered,
and rightly, that this arm would be insufficient for him alone to
defend his habitation.

It would be better to render fhe place unapproachable, and
to fortify the only weak point by whica the enemy could
penetrate. It was not a question of the system of defence ‘in
use in civilized countries, such being, indeed, altogether out of
place in the forest. St. Margaret’s, situated away off upon the
slope of a wooded hill, was unapproachable on the west ; to the
north and south there extended a wide morass, across which no
human foot could find a way; the east was open, and the way
leading from the Cocoanut Creek to the house was easy of
access.

P2
212 THE WHITE TIGER.



This was the weak point. The engineer, who could have easily
placed a town ina state of defence, was incapable of closing this
defile open to the creek. He therefore talked the matter over with
Cassimir, and asked his advice. The negro, who was absolutely
ignorant of fortification, yet found the matter very simple. A
grimace contracted the face of the poor old man at the idea that
the bad men there below might take a fancy to attack his master
and the little children.

“T know,” he said. “We make that now. Come with me and
Nicholas.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“ Wait a little, and you see.”

He would not give any further explanation. The three men,
armed with their choppers, started off at once for the Cocoanut
Creek.

The point to defend was about sixty-five yards wide. The
old man said that he could make this unapproachable in less than
three hours.

“ Do as I do, massa,” he said, digging with the point of his
chopper a trench about six inches deep. .

A few seconds sufficed for the two men to dig in the soft ground
a little hole at a distance of a few feet.

“ There, go on.”

The first line of holes was executed in less than a quarter of an
hour, then a second, and a third, parallel one to the other, and
running across the open space.

“What can he be going to plant here? Artichokes or cabe


~—__

He talked the matter over with Cassimir.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 215

bages?” asked Nicholas, bathed in perspiration, although the work
was not very hard. ;

**1 see,” said Robin, “and it’s a capital plan. Not cabbages,
‘put a.oes, aguaves, and euphorbias.”

“Dat’s it,’ said the negro. “You understand eberyting

massa.”
. “It is simple enough. We are going to cut slips from these
enormous plants, which grow in such profusion, plant 200 or 300
of them, and in two months there will be a hedge of thorns which
would drive back an army. It is the protection employed by the
Spaniards at Cuba, the French in Algiers, and also by. the Bra-
zilians.”

“JT don’t say that it is not a good plan,” said Nicholas, “but they
could soon cut a war through with a chopper.”

“White man never pass there,” said the leper, in a threatening
tone. “When dese plants grown up dey full ob snakes ob ebery
kind.”

“Then we shall never b¢ able to go out.”

Cassimir smiled.

“Old negro can make snakes come—can make them go. He
has only to say to them, ‘Come,’ and they run to him; ‘Go
away,’ and they fly.”

Nicholas shook his head with an air of doubt, and grumbled, “I
don’t say that they won’t come, but they won’t be pleasant neigh-
bours.”

Robin reassured him, and related to him how the warders had
been put to rout already by the allies of Cassimir.
216 THE WHITE TIGER.



“And you believe that, master ?”

“T believe it because I have seen it.”

“It would be rude of me to doubt you, but it certainly seers
extraordinary. But then, such extraordinary things do take place
here.”




CHAPTER XVIII,

A FIGHT UNTO THE DEATH.

the house, determined to return from time to time



to inspect the entrenchment which was about
to grow up by itself, and to see if the expected
garrison had taken up their abode there. They marched slowly in
Indian file, as usual, speaking in a low voice. A slight noise
suddenly arrested them. In these forests peopled by strange and
terrible creatures, the haunts of wild beasts and reptiles, where a
coat of green serves as a hiding-place for a population whose claws
tear, whose coils crush, where each leaf can hide an infinitely
small creature whose invisible sting kills, danger always menaces
the traveller in one or other of its many forms. Therefore
the senses are always on the watch, and acquire extreme
delicacy.

Not only the savage inhabitant of this country of eternal green,
but the European who travels there, learns to distinguish instantly
all the sounds of nature, to assign their cause, and to discover
their direction, and to decide what will be their effect. In spite

of his skill, Robin was perplexed, and knew not what to do.
218 THE WHITE TIGER.

Nicholas was naturally wholly ignorant of what it could be.
Cassimir was silent, concentrating all his faculties on the sense
of hearing.

The noise continued, vague, low, unbroken, like the sound
of a fine rain on the trees. It was not the murmur of leaves,
nor that of water. It was perhaps more like the well-known
sound produced by a flight of locusts, and this noise was caused
perhaps by the march of millions of insects over the grass or
shrubs.

“It’s ants,” said the old negro, who seemed greatly dis-
turbed,

* Ants who are on the march,” continued Robin, alarmed. “ If
they make towards the house—my wife, my children! Oh, good
heavens ! let us run.”

“Well—ants. They’re not elephants,” said Nicholas in his
turn. “If there are hundreds of thousands, one puts one’s foot
on them, and there’s an end of it.”

Without even answering this remark, which showed the pro-
found ignorance of the speaker, the two men rapidly advanced.
The murmur became more and more distinct. They were half-

way to the house. The leper, who was in front, stopped sud-
. denly, and a sigh of relief broke from him.

“ Dese bad beasts pass dis side of house.”

The ants were in fact crossing the road at a distance of thirty
yards from the three friends, and were going straight across it,
following consequently a line parallel to the house. The march

was rapid, and the lay of the ground permitted the party to see













brown body.

ity a dark

me moments Robin had regarded with curios

For so
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 221



’

this army of insects rolling on like a torrent which nothing could
arrest.

This mass of backs and bodies, black as ebony, shone, pressed
together with the undulations and movements of boiling lava. It
was almost equally devastating. Myriads of jaws, biting as they
went, cut down in their passage plants great and small. Grass
disappeared, the brushwood was cleared ; the very trunks seemed
as if they would fall. The noise which arose from this herd of little
destroyers was characteristic. The murmur was more continuous,
the crackling sound sharper. The emigrants belonged to that
species called “the fire-ant,” of which Cassimir had used the prick
to produce upon the head of the fugitive the blister which soothed
him. Nicholas, at the sight, appeared less triumphant than he had
before. He trembled on seeing enormous trees stripped of their
bark in the twinkling of an eye.

Their progress was for the time cut off. They were forced to
wait, and if the ants did not press forward they would have to make
a way across the army by setting fire to the grass. After waiting
some time they were about to put this project into execution, when
a sudden incident made them defer it fora moment. For some
moments Robin had regarded with curiosity a large brown body in
the middle of a bush which was at the edge of the zone invaded by
the insects. From time to timea sort of vast plume equally brown
raised itself and lowered itself at once, only to do the same again,
At the other end another object, whose nature the distance did not
permit him to discover, came out—long, stiff, and rigid, like the end

of the piston of a steam-engine—and dashed into the midst of the
222 THE WHITE TIGER.



_ants, to appear and disappear again and again. ‘There was, however,
nothing mysterious about it, and Robin understood it at once. The
brown mass was simply an honest ant-eater who was enjoying a
regal repast; the red body, the long tongue, which darted out

_among the insects; and the plume, its immense tail, whose move-
ments backwards and forwards showed the joy of its happy owner.
So intent was it upon this meal that the animal did not even dream
of the presence of the three men who were watching it with great
interest.

This quictude was not to last long. The breakfast of the ant-
eater had a fourth witness, who seemed to endure the very torture
of Tantalus. This was a jaguar of the finest and most threatening
aspect. The army of ants, some twenty yards across, stretched
between the two quadrupeds, and it was in vain that the jaguar
advanced its paw, like a cat fishing for a frog, and upon whom the
contact with the water produces the greatest disgust. The ants,as
closely packed as the soldiers of a Macedonian phalanx, formed
between him and the ant-eater—the object of his desire—an irve-
sistible barrier. It was necessary to decide—to take a desperate
resolution, perhaps. The famished jaguar did not hesitate. A tree
raised itself in about the middle of the phalanx. It was necessary to
reach that.

It was a leap of thirty feet to make. The jaguar sprang, and
succeeded like an accomplished gymnast. Half the work was
done, and it now only remained to calculate the distance, and to
tumble plump on the ant-eater, and not in the middle of the herd

of which he was making a meal. The ant-eater saw the
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 223

manceuvre of his enemy, and while keeping an eye upon him, he
ate away as fast as before at the ants.

The three men were greatly interested. This battle of wild
beasts would be a stirring sight. The jaguar had sharp and
strong claws, and his mouth was garnished with enormous fangs.
The ant-eater had only claws—but what claws! They were
some four inches long, and as hard as the best steel. The jaguar
sprang a second time—his great mouth open, his claws out-
stretched, his tail stiff. He described a curve, and fell exactly
in the place that the second before was occupied by the quiet
diner.

The ant-eater, without losing his self-possession, had made this
short retreat, and now found himself face to face with his anta-
gonist upon his hind feet, and those in front raised as high as
his head, in the position of a boxer.

This manceuvre did not please the jaguar, who growled furiously.
Acting on the principle well known to duellists and boxers, that it
is a good thing to give the first blow, he stretched out his paw,
made a rapid feint, and tried to strike below the arms, The ant-
eater replied with his formidable claws, so well applied that all the
skin covering the left side of the face of the jaguar was torn off
with a blow.

The wounded beast gave a howl of rage and pain. His cool-
ness abandoned him. The blood, which blinded him, fell
down in rain upon the grass, and he hurled himself upon his
enemy, who allowed himself to be thrown down upon the

ground, lowered his head, and stretched out his paws. In a
224 THE WHITE TIGER.

giv vale sne ine, at Be oe ee
moment the jaguar was grasped. The claws of the ant-eater
buried themselves deep in the body, which cracked under the
powerful squeeze. The two bodies, tightly lashed together, rolled
over and over.

The three men, who were watching this savage struggle, could
distinguish nothing. It lasted over two minutes. Then they
heard the dull sound of ‘abroken bone—then a groan. The
grasp of the ant-eater loosened, and he remained extended motion-
less, his spine broken, by the side of the jaguar, whose body was
completely torn open, and who was now struggling in his last
agony. Robin, Cassimir, and Nicholas advanced with’ caution to
the two bodies.

“Ips all over,” said Nicholas sententiously. “This ant-eater,
as you call him, master, has done well. Just only think if the
jaguar had had the fancy to attack us instead.”

Robin smiled, and shook his chopper.

“ It wouldn’t be the first it has killed,” said he. “ Now we must
skin these animals properly. Their skins will form two superb
rugs for the house. To work quickly, or the ants will not leave
anything but the bones.”

“Look,” said the Parisian, at the sight of a little ae the
size of a rabbit, who was hiding under the plants. “What is
that?”

“Dat’s little ant-eater,” said Cassimir.

“Ts it really? Poor little beast ! He looks quite lost. Master, I
have an idea. Since itis an orphan, I will carry it to the house for
the children. What do you say?”
wm

THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 22

“Certainly, my lad. We will tame it, and it will be a capital
companion.”

While. Robin was skilfully skinning the jaguar, the Parisian
attached the little ant-eater to atree. The little creature allowed
him to do it without any struggles, and witha mildness which showed
that it had an excellent disposition.

“What a curious animal !” said Nicholas, examining the dead
body. “Is this its head? Why, ithas no mouth. I don’t sce
at the top of its muzzle anything but a little hole through which
the tip of its tongue sticks out. And is this little hole all its
mouth?”

“*He certainly has no other, and indeed he has no need of it,
seeing the way in which he feeds. His teeth are similarly placed,
and forma sort of tube into which he licks, as you have seen, with
his long sticky tongue, millions of ants.”

“Ts this food enough for him?”

“Absolutely. It is for this reason that it has been given in
natural history the name of A/yrmecofhaga, from two Greek
words signifying ant-eater.”

“It is really extraordinary that an animal so large can manage
to get on with such food.” .

“JT am astonished, too. His build, indeed, is exactly in accord-
ance with the description I have read, but its size is much larger
than that generally assigned tohim. From his muzzle to the tip
of his tail, he is at least seven feet six inches long. After all, we
have one of the giants of the sort before us. What do you say,
Cassimir 2?”

VOL. L Q
226 THE WHITE TIGER.



“We hab seen many bigger dan him?” said Cassimir.

“ And what has become of the ants ?” said Nicholas.

“ Dey all gone,” said Cassimir.

“Ah, that is to say that the way is open. We will set off
with the spoils of the combatants, without forgetting our new
boarder.”

Our friends, however, did not arrive at the house without
another adventure. They had marched for a few minutes at
most, when a mewing arose from a large tuft of grass, and a
pretty animal of the size of a cat came out with the confidence of
his age, and rubbed against the legs of Nicholas.

The Parisian raised his chopper. Robin stopped him.

® Another orphan who asks for adoption,” he said. “He shall
be my pupil. I will take charge of his education. I will make of
him some day a companion in the chase, whose services will be
valuable.”

“Is it the young one of the jaguar?” asked Nicholas.

“Yes ; he is quite young, and I hope I shalltame him. As he
might be able to give some sharp scratches to the children, I shall
cut off his nails during the early months of his education. You
will see he will do me honour.”

A burst of joy welcomed the return of the three companions,
“and the father recounted the means by which the colony was
augmented by two new members. The little orphans soon made
themselves athome. Scarcely were they loosed when they began
to play together, and to frisk about with a glee which showed

their ignorance of the hate between their parents, and the cata-
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 227





strophe which had arisen from it. The two skins were soon
stretched on the trunks of the trees, to which they were fixed by
long thorns.

It was agreed at once that the young jaguar so strongly resembled

a‘cat that he should henceforth be termed “ Puss,”



2Q


CHAPTER XIX.

LIFE IN THE CLEARING,

\
oy

Uh, means of existence, paid their tribute to the power

OBIN and his family, having passed fortunately




through the dangers of hunger, and assured their

of the tropical sun.

The children were the first who adapted themselves to their new
circumstances. Their sufferings were less than those of th ir
mather. She soon lost her appetite, until the natural pallor of the
Parisian woman became of a grey and sickly tint. However, she
gradually became cured of this, thanks to he: indomitable energy
and the excellent care by which she was surrounded, and to the
prescriptions and remedies in use on the equator, and would for the
future be able to brave the effects of the climate. Nicholas
suffered greatly ; robust and full-blooded, he was hard to acclima-
tize. The insects bit him, and as he could not, when in a feverish
state, resist scratching them, he contracted a grave malady which
for a long time defied even the science of Cassimir ; and to finish
the misfortune, he was seized with a sharp access of marsh fever,
which completely prostrated him. He remained eight days between
life and death,
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 229

Robin, of course, long familiarized with this terrible climate, was
in excellent health. Moral ‘content and physical comfort seemed
indeed to have made him ten years younger. Cassimir himself
suffered a change no less complete than that of the others. Robin
had told him when they first met that certain cases of inveterate
leprosy were instantly cured by a change of climate and living, and
his assurance was fully realized. Life in a habitation situated on
a hill perfectly healthy, perfectly dry, life in the open air, and the
drinking of large quantities of sarsaparilla completely cured him.
The sores were healed, and it was difficult to see the few white
scars which alone marked the places formerly attacked by this
terrible malady. His fingers recovered their former elasticity ;
his leg was always swollen, but he was no longer repulsive in
appearance, as before he had been even to those who thoroughly
appreciated the excellence of his heart. He could be seen now
trotting along with the children, who adored him. He initiated
them into all the subtleties of savage life, teaching them how
to use their bows and arrows, how to follow a trail, and to
imitate the cries of the animals of the forest.

The children’s material education left nothing to desire, and
their instruction advanced rapidly. Books, it is true, were want-
ing, but they had the book of nature, which their father was
ever explaining to them. They could scarcely have had a better
professor, and he was well seconded by his wife, who was an
excellent teacher. The study of the living tongues was actively
proceeded with. They spoke easily French, English, and Span-

ish, without counting Guianese, which the children talked
230 THE WHITE TIGER.



—

better than their father and mother, to the profound delight of
Cassimir.

It was some time after the adoption of the young ant-eater and the
jaguar, and the two orphans were already much attached to their
master. They showed a quick intelligence. Cassimir returned one
day in a high state of delight. He carried on his head a great
basket like a chicken-coop. In this cage was a brood of
young fowls protesting by their cries against their arbitrary im-
prisonment. There were about a dozen already as big as one’s fist.
Their feathers were striped with black and white; the crest was
already stiff, and their beaks, being tinted with yellow at the base,
showed that they were young hoccoes. The old negro, moreover,
carried, fastened by the feet, a splendid bird, of the size of a goose, ;
with black plumage, and its back and belly striped with white. On
its head was a fine tuft, and it was provided with a short beak,
slightly aquiline, and seemingly encased in gold. Robin, occupied
in fastening the cords of a hammock which had been woven by his
wife with the cotton collected in preceding weeks, stopped at his
work, and said,—

“Ah! comrade, you have had good sport this time; what are
you carrying there ?”

“They are little hoccoes. This is the mother bird; she is a
treasure, and will be an addition to our poultry-yard. We shall
have game and fresh meat in future.”

The children and their mother rushed out of the house and
congratulated Cassimir.

“JT found the nest,” said the negro, delighted. “ Wait a little


He carried on his head a great basket like a chicken-coop.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 233

time, and you will see how they will grow. In the meantime we will
set to and build a shelter for them.”

“Now,” said Madame Robin, “let’s give them every liberty.
Take them out of their cage, and put them in their new
dwelling.”

“Are you not afraid that the mother will try to escape?”
asked Harry.

“I think not, my boy. The hoccoe is very easily tamed, if it
is not shut up in a small space. It soon becomes attached to
those around it. It comes and goes as it likes, and always
returns to the house; and besides, the poor mother will not
abandon her little ones.”

“What a fine bird!” said Nicholas. “He weighs at least .
eight pounds. Is he good to eat ?”

“He is indeed. The flesh of the hoccoe is perhaps the best
meat in the torrid zone. The beast is very large, and he carries
a very large quantity of flesh.”

The little creatures, when loosed in their enclosure, set to
greedily to eat some green thrown to them by the children, and
ran with outstretched neck in search of the morsels of cassava,
of which they appeared particularly fond. The mother, still fright-
ened, flapped her wings, and ran backwards and forwards in
the enclosure, and uttered low cries. The poor bird did not
try to escape from the palisade, and gradually calmed itself, and,
seeing the confidence of its little ones, even ventured to pick. a
little itself.
234 THE WHITE TIGER.



“Oh! papa, one would think that she knew us already,” said
Edmund. “Can we go close to her?”

“ In two or three days she will come and eat out of your hand, my
child. This fine bird is so gentle and trusting that its domestica-
tion will take place in two days. “These qualities are so rare in an
animal altogether wild, that certain authors attribute to it an un-
just reputation for stupidity.”

It was about this time that Robin succeeded in supplying a want
of a very indispensable character, which he had despaired of being
able to procure. He had neglected no occasion of instructing his
children, but he was grieved at not being able to teach them to
read and write. Many years would yet pass beiore his children
could take an active part in the work of the colony, and it was
most important not to let the time pass unprofitably, for afterwards
it would be difficult to learn the management of the pen, and to
read fluently. His attempts to find such a substance had hitherto
been fruitless. It was true, he said, that sheets of paper did not
grow upon trees; but in that he was wrong. His attempts were
always vain, and a whim of Nicholas was the occasion of discover-
ing what he wanted.

Nicholas was a great smoker, but he had been obliged to give
up his favourite vice from the moment when he said adieu to the
“Tropic Bird.” Cassimir, always desirous of pleasing his friend,
promised to find him some tobacco, and one fine morning Nicholas,
to his delight, received a packet of cigars, each a foot long, and
composed of a leaf of dried tobacco, rolled up in the Indian

manner in a thin substance of a light grey colour. Robin took




reccived a packct of cigars.

t

1

Nicholas, to his delig

ing

One fine morn
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 237
one and examined it with care. The sight of the wrapping
taking the place of paper suggested to him the idea of applying
it to quite another object.

“What is this?” he asked the black.

“It is the bark of the mahot,” he replied.

‘Where did you find it?”

* Down there by the side of the manioc-field.”

“Come with me. We will go and fetch a stock.”

After half-an-hour’s walk the two men found themselves in
front of a clump of magnificent trees with immense leaves, green
above and pale below. The engineer recognized the mahot, a tree
allied to the cotton-trees, and employed for many purposes. Its
soft wood, white and easy to cut, is excellent for lighting fires
by friction; it floats like a cork; its fibrous bark, very strong,
when cut into string, makes excellent cord, which lasts for an
immense time. Lastly, the inhabitants of the banks of the river
fabricate with its bark hammocks, nets, &c.

The inventive genius of Robin was about to give a new pur-
pose to this part of the tree. Without losing a moment, he
detached large pieces, and separated some twenty of the con-
centric layers with the same facility with which he would separate
the leaves of a damp book. This was done without tearing them,
and with great rapidity.

“ Here is my paper,” he cried joyously, “ if it will not run when
it is dry.”

Cassimir did not understand this, but only understood that his

friend wanted some dried leaves. He showed him several which
238 THE WHITE TIGER.



he had sct aside, and which, drying in the shade, were flat and
without creases.

“Ink will be easy to find. The juice of the jenipa will do. As
to pens, the hoccoe will furnish them.”

Returning to the habitation, without saying a word of his dis-
covery, he went towards the palisade in which the little family of
hoccoes were living. With difficulty he repressed a cry of anger
and grief at the sight of the ‘little ones huddled frightened in
a corner, and their mother torn into fragments. At the sound of
his steps, the jaguar, with his lips bloody and his tail down, as if he
were conscious of his ill deeds, disappeared through a large hole which
he had made in the palisade. The engineer did not wish to sadden
his children with an account of the evil deeds of their favourite, to
whom he promised himself to administer a severe correction. The
day was nearly done, and putting off till to-morrow the punishment
of the murderer, he collected some pens from the dead hen,
mended the palisade, and went to the house.

“My dears,” he said, “here’s good news for you. Here are
paper, pens, and ink. We are going to make a trial which I fancy
will be crowned with success.”

He at once cut one of the quills by means of a little penknife
which his wife-had by accident brought, and which she had guarded
with great care. A few drops of the juice of the jenipa were
poured into a little vase. He dipped the pen into it, and then with
a firm hand, like that in use on old parchments, wrote a few lines
on the paper.

This discovery was of immense importance. The exile had up


seizing his gun.

cried Robin,

Bie
iv:
6
GS
Sg
wn
2
as
5
:


THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 241



to that day been afraid that his children would grow up in igno-
rance. The thought that they, perhaps, would grow up little white
savages had saddened his spirit. Now he saw that he should be
able to teach them arithmetic, mathematics, and geography, which
would have been absolutely impossible without paper and pens.
In a short time all were at work trying the new means of writing.

The jaguar had not returned. The slaughter of the mother
hoccoe might have done great harm to the little ones, who were
still too young to do without her. Madame Robin was the more
anxious because the season of rain was at hand.

The following morning every one was on foot with the dawn.

The day had scarcely begun when a loud cry, like that of a
hunter’s horn, sounded close to the house in the direction of the
enclosure.

“What is that?” cried Robin, seizing his gun.

Cassimir ran out, and returned laughing.

“ Put down your gun, massa. Come and see the little hoccoes.”

At the moment when they reached the palisade a singular spec-
tacle was seen. A fine bird of the size of alarge cock, but mounted
on thicker legs, was walking gravely in the middle of the little
hoccoes, watching with a vigorous eye the group around him. He
scratched the earth, turned over the leaves, and tried to discover
for them grains and insects. Their mother could not have shown
more zeal or attention. From time to time he gave out his vigorous
call. He carried his intelligent head high, and had a long aquiline
beak. His plumage was black. A band of ochreous red surrounded

him as a belt, passing down the back and separating him nearly
VOL. L R
242 THE WHITE TICER.



into equal parts. He seemed in no way put out by the presence
of the new arrivals. They threw him some grains of couac, and
instead of picking them up, he called the chickens with the little
affectionate “ chucks” habitual to hens.

“That’s an agami—a friend of all little ones.”

“Ah, I recognize him. For sometime I have seen him round
the house. I thought that some day or other he would come near
us.”

“This is jolly,” said little Eugene. “ Will he stop here?”

“Yes, my child. He will never quit these little orphans, whom
he has adopted already, and for whom he shows the love of a
mother. He is as good as he is handsome, and there is no animal
more affectionate than he is. Not only does he recognize whoever
takes care of him, and has a strong affection for him, but he will
obey his voice, answer to his caresses, and ask for fresh ones, even
to a point of being troublesome. He is very constant in his affec-
tions, and if he is free he will give them to whoever is kind to
him.”

The agami gave from time to time his loud cry, which he makes
without opening his beak, and which has gained for him the name
of the Trumpet-bird among the Creoles. He received with an
affectionate manner the advances of Eugene. He soon became
fearless, and to the great joy of the boy took from his hand the bits
of cassava which he held out to him.

“Now it is finished,” said his father. “You are friends for
life.”

The end of this adventure was a thorough thrashing applied by














































































































































































































Cassimir at last succeeded in catching a monkey.
THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA. 245



Robin to Puss. The jaguar, ashamed, did not approach for a
long time the neighbourhood where the young hoccoes, under the
care of the agami, were growing up. Little by little the birds and
quadrupeds, grown bold by example, came to live in familiarity
with the colonists, who seemed really the kings of this Eden. The
clearance, instead of being deserted by the inhabitants of the forest,
seemed a place of reunion. The plantation, which was large
enough to nourish thirty families, nourished also the animals ; and
it was a pleasant sight to see this colony, of which all its members
seemed happy and united. Charles alone for some time was not
as happy as the rest, for he had no pets. However, Cassimir at
last succeeded in catching a monkey for him, which soon became
as great a pet as the rest.

A year had now passed from the time when the family of the
fugitives were reunited. The season of the rains was now about to
commence. Thanks to their incessant labour, the colony could
defy alike the attacks of hunger and weather. The house was ina
perfect state. The provisions of all sorts were stored in large and
well-sheltered and perfectly airy huts. A roof had been placed
over a corner of the chicken enclosure, and here a number of dif-
ferent birds lived together in concord. A certain number of
tortoises, which were excellent for making soup, were kept in an
enclosure in company with some young peccaries, whom their
mother still suckled. Their means of life, therefore, were assured.
During the enervating season of the rains, amusements of all sorts
would not be wanting to the members of the colony. The ward-

robe had need to be renewed, and an ample provision of cotton had
246 THE WHITE TIGER.



to be collected from time to time. A spinning machine had been
set up by Robin and Nicholas, and worked successfully. All
except Cassimir, who went barefoot, were provided with shoes
pliable like the moccasins of the Indians of North America. The
salacco remained as before their head-dress, the fibres of the
arouma furnishing the material. Lastly, a great quantity of paper
well dried was stored up. These long rainy days were not useless.
The intelligence of the children developed rapidly, and the Crusoes

of Guiana were not growing up little savages.

END OF THE CRUSOES OF GUIANA.