Our Polly: the adventures of a parrot, etc

Front matter

OUR POLLY The little animal squatted on the ground, placed a lung tube to his mouth, and a moment afterwards I felt myself to be severely struck and dropped senseless."— Page 16. OUR POLLY THE ADVENTURES OF A PARROT DURING HER LIFE OF 100 YEARS BY MRS. ROUOUETTE LONDON GARDNER, DARTON & CO. 3, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C. and 44, victoria street, S.W. NOTE I have to thank Mr. John Murray for his courtesy and kindness in permitting me to reproduce for the frontispiece an illustration from Mr. Henry Bates's book, "The Naturalist on the River Amazon." S. E. HUBBARD. Eltham.

Preface

This little story was begun some half-century ago, and was continued at intervals for the amusement of a happy schoolroom party of six boys and two girls. She who had made it one of her many pleasant tasks to write this narrative has recently passed that portal where ■' Nothing disturbs that peace profound Which her unfettered soul has found.'' Those who were once of that happy schoolroom party now publish, in sorrowing remembrance, this manuscript, in the hope that a book so replete with facts and enter taining incidents will be equally acceptable in the school rooms of the present generation. S. E. H. ELTHAM, Christmas 1S97. CONTENTS

Part I Chap

PAGE I. introductory - . . I II. EARLY RECOLLECTIONS 3 III. MY FIRST START IN LIKE 12 IV. MY

Introduction

TO THE SOCIETY OF MANKIND 1 9 V. A TALE OF HORROR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES . 24 VI. THE MISSIONARY 30 VII. ANOTHER MISSIONARY . . . 42 VIII. A VILLAGE FESTIVAL 48 IX. HUNTING THE JAGUAR . . . . -53 X. HUNTING THE TURTLE 60 XI. THE SHEPHERDS ARE SMITTEN, AND THE SHEEP ARE SCATTERED 73 XII. A NEW HOME AND NEW MASTERS . . -91 XIII. THE LITTLE ANGEL 98 XIV. JUNO'S STORY . IO4 XV. THE KIDNAPPERS I 1 5 XVI. RECORDS OF SCIENTIFIC TRAVEL . . . Il8 XVII. EEL-FISHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES . . -131 XVIII. THE EARTHQUAKE . . . . . 1 36 XIX. THE PESTILENCE 1 54 XX. MY FIRST SEA VOYAGE . . . . 1 62 XXI. THE PIRATE . . . . . . -171 XXII. NEMESIS .l8l Contents XII CHAP. PAGE XXIII. MEETINGS AND PARTINGS . . . . • '93 XXIV. COMING HOME • 2°5 2IO XXV. LIFE IN VIRGINIA 225 XXVI. WE GO FORTH AND MEET THE FOE XXVII. THE TRAGEDIES OF WAR ..... 234 XXVIII. THE JOURNEY BY DAY AND BIVOUAC BY NIGHT 245 XXIX. THE BATTLE • -bo XXX. SICK AND WOUNDED ..... 269 xxxi. love's young dream and sad awakening . 274

Part II

I. I FIND OLD FRIENDS IN RIO DE JANEIRO . 277 II. ACROSS THE OCEAN TO MERRY ENGLAND . . 294 III. A NEW HOME ....... 307 IV. THE ESCAPE AND THE REFUGE . . . -3*3 V. LIFE IN THE FAR EAST 31S VI. FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH, AGAIN I BEHOLD YOU . j^y VII. THE CROWN OF GLORY

PART I CHAPTER

I INTRODUCTORY I believe there are few children who have not seen a parrot — who have not been where a pretty green bird, with a hooked beak and bright eye, has caught their attention swinging in a gilt cage, or walking to and fro upon a lofty perch. They have perhaps spoken kindly to it, and said " Pretty Polly," though some, I fear, may have poked it with their fingers or a stick, and tried to torment the poor defenceless creature, who has been provoked to give them a sharp bite in return. Others, again, have wondered where this gay-feathered bird can have come from, remembering that in our English woods and gardens the little birds who sing so sweetly are dressed, for the most part, in sober colours, grey and black and russet brown, while this one is all green and red, and blue and yellow.

It cannot sing either, or even chirp, but will talk and scream and chatter, uttering from time to time a note that sounds like "Polly." So after thinking awhile, the little boy or girl says timidly, " Where did you get it from, ma'am?" and perhaps an old lady answers in a trembling voice, "My dear sailor-boy brought it home after his last cruise in the Pacific"; or a young lady replies, "My brother Frederick sent it me from the Cape"; or a little boy looks up and says, "Uncle John gave me this. He brought it from South America. Don't you know Uncle Johnny ? " All these countries are the home of the parrot — though A not of tlie same kind of parrot. Parrots are of many dif ferent species, from the large cockatoo to the tiny lovebird, and they inhabit regions far and wide apart. They are found in tangled swamps and thick forests, where orchids and passion-flowers drape the trees, where the monkey leaps from bough to bough, and the sloth utters its low, wailing cry.

They are found on the edge of the African desert, where the red cactus grows prickly and tall, where the rhinoceros flounders in the shallow pools, where the tall giraffe browses on the young trees, and the graceful antelope bounds up the mountain side. In the Eastern spice islands, flocks of parrots flutter among the nutmeg bushes, or rise screaming above the tree rhododendrons, as they hear the elephant come crashing through the woods below ; and in the far Australian scrub, the naked savage throws his fish bone-headed spear at the parrot, the black swan, and the nimble kangaroo. Parrots are found among the cocoa palms of the pleasant South Sea Isles, and in Java, where the upas tree sheds its deadly poison, and the snake glides silently in the long, thick grass. In burning hot countries. where the birds are without song, flowers without scent, and man without his shadow, there also dwells the parrot.

Various as these distant lands are in many ways, they are all alike in this — that they are thousands of miles away from dear old England. Every parrot, therefore, that you have seen must have travelled through many countries, and across the ocean, and have seen man}7 wonderful and strange things that some little children whom I know would like to hear about. For their sakes then, and with a view to their amusement, I have thought of writing a History of my Life, telling them of the marvellous things I have seen and heard, the stirring adventures I have passed through, and the lessons I have derived from my large experience.

Chapter II Early Recollections

I must premise that I am a very old bird ; more years than I can count must have passed since I first saw the light, softened as it gleamed through tlie thick foliage of a Brazilian forest, from a fine old ceiba tree, in the hollow trunk of which my devoted mother carefully reared me, in company with a youthful brother and sister. We were as nearly as possible of the same age, and were all very happy while we remained together under the sheltering wing of my tender parent. Of our father we saw but little, but I have reason to believe that he strictly fulfilled his parental duties in helping to rear his young brood, and that many a ripe chirimoya, juicy orange, or succulent attar, we owed to his provident care. As time passed on, and we grew up, I regret to say that we did not always live in such strict harmony as ought to exist between members of the same family.

This was chiefly owing to the conduct of my brother, who from his earliest youth was possessed by a turbulent and disobedient spirit, that rendered him impatient of the counsels of our excellent parent, and eager and obstinate in the pursuit of pleasure in his own way, totally regardless of the feelings of his affectionate relatives. I think his evil propensities were greatly encouraged by the bad advice of a neighbour of ours, a red macaw who occasionally perched upon a neighbouring tree, whence he assailed my brother with invitations and proposals that were only too attractive to a foolish young bird of his restless disposition. I never liked that scarlet macaw. The airs he used to give himself because he was a summer older than we and had seen the world ! For my part I never believed his stories, though my poor brother was so taken with them, and often accompanied him in expeditions in search of better fruits than grew in our neighbourhood, so they said.

I am sure it was quite unnecessary, for more wholesome or more delicious food for parrots could not be than those pro duced within our lovely forest home. How can I describe its beauty , In all my wanderings I have never seen aught that could surpass or even equal the gorgeous magnificence of that tropical scene ! Imagine trees of such girth and tremendous height, the bare trunks alone reaching higher than the tallest poplar ever seen in England. Their heads were often covered with the most beautiful dark-green glossy foliage, and they would sometimes burst in a night all over into bloom with large orange-coloured or scarlet flowers (as large as your head, my little man), so that in the morning sun they would look like a huge pyramid of flames. Enormous ferns stretched their graceful fronds so widely that many an English cottage might be sheltered beneath them.

Curiously-twisted lianas hung like ropes from every bough, sometimes meeting round a great firm trunk and squeezing it so tight that it squeezed it at last to death, while also on the branches were festooned a multitude of delicate creepers, passion-flowers, and many -coloured orchids, among which the humming-birds darted like sparks i.f emerald and golden light, with so quick a movement that the eye could not follow them. Here too fluttered gorgeous butterflies and gigantic moths, while innumerable beetles and other ground insects broke the stillness of the forest with a perpetual hum. There the toucans, with their large bills, would peck and tap the trunks of the trees, upon which the green tree-frog crawled lazily through the day. Golden orioles, gay trogons, and lovely lyre-birds perched upon the branches, among which agile monkeys were playing all day long, and from time to time a boa or poisonous snake would wind itself up stealthily, and pounce upon some luckless animal, driving the others frightened and screaming away.

I became intimately acquainted with one little monkey whose mother had unfortunately thus become a victim, and who was at first disconsolate for her loss. My mother and I, however, endeavoured to cheer him ; he soon recovered his spirits, and a most merry little fellow he was. I thought him a great beauty, too. The fur on his back was of a beautiful soft brown hue, his tail was barred with black and a patch of white hair on his face made him look as if he held a hall of cotton in his mouth, and he had a pair of beautiful long whiskers. He was no bigger than myself and many a jolly game we had together. It was great fun to see him spring from bough to bough, then suddenly throw himself down in a way that made me fear he would be dashed to pieces, but quickly recovering himself would hold on by his tail to the extremity of a bough at least a hundred feet from the ground.

Here he would swing for a minute or two, then as suddenly twist himself up again, and once more begin springing and jumping among the topmost branches. When the evening came, and the fire-flies began to carry their bright little lamps to and fro, and the cicadas to tune up their merry chirri, and the frogs to croak among the pools where the tapir and capybara would creep down to drink, then the night apes, who had been snoozing lazily among the trees all day long, would look alive and begin their insect hunt, and the howling monkeys set up their dismal unearthly yell, and the night-bird his plaintive note wac-o* row. That steady old soldier, Master Armadillo, in his armour of proof, would also then creep out of his hole and slowly toddle along to his feeding-ground, while the greedy little ant-eater, with its long slimy tongue extended, would lie stealthily in wait for prey.

These inhabitants of the forest were the only living creatures that I beheld during the first year of my life, when one day, as I was seated on the pendent bough of a slender liana swaying backwards and forwards in an easy manner, and picking at my leisure the seeds out of a fine ripe chirimova, I heard almost immediately behind me a sound of " Hist ! whist ! " uttered in tones that were quite foreign to my ear. I looked down, and saw two monsters of so strange and hideous an aspect that I involuntarily uttered a loud shriek, and flew from my rocking perch on the liana to a distant branch of the huge locust tree from which it depended. Then I surveyed the strange animals at my leisure. I have seen some thousands of them since that day, and have become familiar with them and their habits ; but so deep were the impressions of amazement and alarm that their first appearance excited in my bosom that I have no difficulty in recalling them.

The creatures were not alike in size, one being consider ably longer than the other. They were provided with four legs, but only used two of them for walking upon after the fashion sometimes adopted by my friends the apes, and like them also the fore-legs were armed with long claws which I expected to see them use every moment for climbing the tree upon which I perched. From one of tlieir paws depended a long straight stiff appendage that glistened in the light more than the shiniest snake I had ever seen. The most extraordinary thing, however, appertaining to these creatures was a sort of loose skin which was attached to them. It was of different colours like our feathers, but did not fit so closely or so well. Their tails, also, were not long and slender like a monkey's, but broad and short like a bird's, and were composed of the loose skin as ours might be of feathers.

But then their heads again, particularly that of the taller animal, greatly resembled my playful friends. He had as long a face and as wide a mouth, while his hollow cheeks were also garnished with a fringe. The eyes, how ever, were quite different, being of immense size and of a bright green colour, glaring incessantly without the least movement or expression. Anything more hideous could hardly be imagined. His nose, however, was a really hand some feature, bearing a strong resemblance to the beaks of our own beautiful and gifted race. I therefore at once decided that the animals I saw before me were a strange compound of the ape and the parrot. Experience has since taught me in some degree to modify this conclusion, but such is the force of early impressions that I find myself constantly recurring to the idea during my intercourse with many individuals of the species with whom I have since been acquainted.

The smaller of the two strangers was certainly a hand somer beast than the other. His eyes were of a lively blue, and were placed in his head like those of other animals ; his face was white and pink in colour like the flowers growing beside me; and the tuft of feathers on his head was almost as bright a yellow as those on my own. Al together the creature was not so ill-looking. They paused beneath my tree and looked up ; the frightful green «lare of those eyes was turned upon me ! Again I screamed with terror, and fluttered up to a higher branch. He raised up his longest fore-leg and pointed the glittering limb in my direction, when he was arrested by his companion. "Hoot mon " — these were the sounds uttered hy the pink and white animal — "bide a wee, bide a wee; dinna ye see it's only a common Angora parrot not worth your powder."

"Weiss wohl," growled the green-eyed monster. "I am aiming at a bedder spezimen higher ob." I involuntarily glanced in the direction towards which his leg pointed, and saw seated not far above me the scarlet macaw. He eyed me with his usual insolent contempt. " Well, little Polly," he said, " what do you think of the new beasts who have made their way into our territory 1 You look frightened at them, you silly child." I replied as well as I could for trembling, that I thought there was something very strange and portentous about them." " Nonsense ! " he cried, " what can they do, poor wretches, that must evidently creep along the ground. See, they have only two legs, for those fore-limbs are too short and small to he of any service, and the miserable animals have no wings." I suggested that doubtless that loose skin would stretch out into wings similar to the vampires, though they might not quite equal ours, and I hinted that it was foolish to despise creatures of whom one as yet knew so very little.

" Ridiculous young bird ! " said he loftily, as he swayed himself backwards and forwards on the topmost bough of the locust tree with an air of intense self-satisfaction and conceit. " Does your silly cowardice lead you to suppose it possible that those miserable groundlings can do us any harm?" He had hardly uttered these words when I, who had never taken my eyes off the strangers, noticed a bright light issue from the extreme end of the upraised limb of the taller animal, and it was shortly followed by a most appal ling sound of a kind similar to thunder. I heard the branches near me crack and rustle, and could not help screaming aloud, as indeed did all the parrots on every neighbouring tree — none louder than my impertinent neigh bour. But what was my surprise and alarm to see him the next moment fall heavily through the branches, and after a feeble flutter or two lie as still and dead as if a snake had crushed him.

The two strangers ran to the spot and lifted him up in their claws. "Hech, Professor, but that was no' a bad shot," said the little one; "through the breast, too, and scarce a feather broke. He will skin beautifully." " Not so much to poast of, Mr. Green. He sat quite still ; had he been on the wing, I might not have hit him at that height. He will make a goot spezimen." And so saying, the long stranger turned the once beautiful bird over and over, staring at him all the time with such horrible eagerness in his dreadful green eyes, that I could not help feeling great pity for my fallen enemy who was subjected to such a cruel indignity. "Dinna stand glowering at him all day," said his com panion; "ye can see at once it's a Psittacus Macao." " Not zo zure, not zo zure," replied the green-eyed monster.

" Do vou not see dere is less blue on de lower back and more green in de wing dan with a genuine Macao. I tink this must be another species. We shall call him, say, Psittacus Schinkenhausenensis." " Na, na ! it's a Macao, and none else, a slight accidental variety in the plumage ; that's a' — quite absurd to found another species upon so trifling a difference." "Not so, not so, my friend Green," returned the other angrily. " I maintain there is here sufficient grounds to warrant the formation of another species altogether. " Ony way ye wull," replied the other good-naturedly. " We can ask Bankes about it when we get home, but pocket your prize now, or we shall not reach the boats before dark." The green-eyed creature then, taking the dead bird in his claw, placed it upon his broad tail, where it disappeared in a manner mysterious to me then, but I could see that the appendage was in consequence much distended, so that I could have no doubt but that my late tormentor was swallowed by it !

My wonder and amazement at these strange creatures increased every moment. Animals that discharged thunder and lightning from their fore-legs to kill their prey, whicli they then swallowed whole with their tails, seemed to me such unaccountable phenomena that I was completely awestruck. Notwithstanding my fear, how ever, my curiosity respecting these strange beings was such that I could not help hovering near to watch their proceedings, and I was emboldened to do so when I saw that they did not turn their eyes at all in my direction, but were carefully examining the ground, and would every now and then seize upon some small insect with exclamations of joy that surprised me, as I thought them very insufficient to appease the appetites of such large creatures. These were chiefly appropriated by the lesser animal, who did not. however, swallow them with his tail, nor yet with his mouth.

He was provided with two extra stomachs that grew u|>on his outer skin, and these I noticed he could open and shut at pleasure with a clicking noise, another cause of wonder to me. In one of them he swallowed all the insects, in another the flowers and mosses, which he collected with almost equal avidity. But the marvel of marvels was yet to come, for after he had caught a beautiful large butterfly in his claws, he deliberately took off the top of his head (which I have omitted to say was of immense size, and shaped something like that of the umbrella bird, Cephalopterus ornatus), and, having carefully fixed the butterfly inside, he stuck it on again ! This operation I saw him repeat several times, or I should not have believed the evidence of my senses. I had hitherto watched the proceedings of the strangers with an interest so intense as to render me forgetful of everything else, but now I thought I would go and consult my beloved parent, whose greater knowledge and experience would, I felt assured, shed some light upon these mysterious creatures.

I found her seated on a fan palm, picking at the fruit in a meditative sort of way. I immediately told her of the wonders I had seen, commenting on them with no small alarm. She listened attentively, and then replied, " You have done well, my child, to consult me, for I plainly per ceive that we must lose no time in retreating still further into the depths of the forest. I have seen animals similar to those whom you describe, and know them to be among the most cruel and dangerous enemies of the feathered race. They are called Men, and their ingenuity in devising mischief equals their success in practising it. Naturally helpless and weak, they are inferior in every respect to many a strong beast or agile snake, and are not of course worthy of compari son with the far superior race to which we belong ; but by a variety of contrivances they make amends for their natural defects.

The prey that their miserable short claws cannot grasp, they reach by means of pieces of sharpened wood, which they send forth with great violence and accuracy. I have seen many a parrot even fall down dead when touched by them. And although they have not yet equalled us by making wings to rise in the air, they have got invented a kind of wing that wafts them safely and swiftly over the waters. These things I have seen," pursued she, " but far greater marvels I have heard of from my grandmother, a very wise and travelled old bird, who, having been in her youth captured by some of the man species, dwelt among them for a while, and was never tired of relating the wonders of her experience at that period. It would appear that the men whom you saw belong to the same species as those she lived with, for I remember her speaking of the loose skins or feathers that they could put on and off at pleasure, and on which they prided themselves greatly, poor foolish animals !

At the same time I must admit that several things she said impressed me favourably with those species ; for, unlike the one-skinned race that dwell near this forest, they seem greatly to admire and appreciate all kinds of birds, and to hold the family of the parrots in particular esteem. Indeed, my venerable parent was heard to declare that she was treated by them with the highest consideration, lodged in a golden house, having the choicest food brought to her daily, and that they even taught her their language, thus making her their friend and companion. This in truth seems scarcely credible ; yet I should be unwilling to suspect so excellent a bird as my revered grandmother of falsehood. It is possible that with the lapse of years her memory be came impaired or confused. Still, it appears to me certain that there exists a species of man whose sole vocation is not like the one-skinned species to kill and destroy, but who, having nobler instincts, is capable of appreciating the high qualities possessed by the parrot race.

I hinted that my new acquaintance could hardly belong to them, after what I had witnessed of their destructive powers in the case of the scarlet macaw, and of the innumerable insects that they had devoured with their outer stomachs ; but my mother suggested that having perhaps wandered far from their usual feeding-grounds, they were much pressed by hunger. To say the truth, I fear we were less impressed by their crime in killing our old enemy than we might have been in the case of another bird. We talked these matters over for a lout? time, but could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion, though we both agreed that it would be well to migrate the next morning. It being quite late, I tucked my head under my wing and was soon fast asleep. I was awakened by a terrific scream. I started up, and there in the early morning dawn witnessed the most heart rending and appalling sight.

A huge boa had coiled itself round the branch of the tree on which we were perched, and had seized upon my beloved mother, who was gradually dis appearing through his hideous and distended jaws ! In vain I shrieked aloud, and fluttered to and fro, not knowing how to help her, and dreading myself every moment to fall a prey to the monster. I would have pecked his horrid glittering eyes out had I dared ; but, alas I my parent was soon beyond the reach of any possible aid. She vanished from my sight down that dreadful devouring throat, and I was left to mourn her loss, and to feel that I was indeed alone in the

Chapter III My First Start In Life

Young, inexperienced, and surrounded by dangers on every hand, mine was indeed a most pitiable position. At first I felt quite overwhelmed by it, but gradually recovering my scattered senses, I began to reflect on the course I had better adopt, and resolved to follow that indicated by my beloved parent in our last conversation, and to escape from one threatened danger at least by instantly migrating. But whither was I to go 1 and whom should I consult ? My little playfellow the marmoset was not in sight ; and he also vas like myself, young and inexperienced, and without self flattery, I may say was far more giddy. My brother, alas ! my natural adviser and protector, was not at home ; he rarely was, indeed. At last I determined upon consulting a wise old crested toucan, of whom I knew my mother had a very high opinion, although for myself I had hitherto felt so re pelled by the austerity of his manners, that I went near him as little as possible.

After some search I found him seated on the lowest branch ofa neighbouring tree, peering curiously into the crevices of the bark, in search, as I supposed, of insects, or perhaps only of information ; for, as I before said, he was a very wise old toucan, who allowed no opportunity to pass of improving his mind. I approached, and perching myself near him in an humble attitude, wished him good morning. " Ha, Miss Polly," he said, "is that you, and how is my friend your highly estimable and respected mother ? " And while he said this very solemnly and sedately he perched himself upright on the bough, threw back his head, and shook his feathers straight — for he was a very ceremonious old bird, though exceedingly polite. I briefly related, as well as I could for tears, the dreadful misfortune that had befallen me, and concluded by asking his advice.

He appeared to be greatly touched by my narrative, and showed more feeling than I gave him credit for possessing. " Poor My First Start in Life 13 thing, poor thing!" said he. "Ah, well, we must all die one day, but it is hard to die so young, and such a dreadful ending too ! " I was startled, thinking he alluded to some awful fate in store for me. I was directly reassured, how ever, by his adding, with a pathetic rattle of his large beak, " Ah, your mother was a dear young creature ; so lively, and respectful to her seniors. I remember her when she was first hatched : she was always the same." Here he stopped, overcome by his emotions ; and I received my first lesson on the diversity of opinions caused by different points of view. I from the side of my youth already regarded my mother as an old bird, or at least quite middle aged.