the
way to see the beauty of the sun-birds. No stuffed specimens of ours
will ever reproduce a hundredth part of their beauty; but people cannot
always come from England to see these things. Take care! What's that?"

We were going through rather a dense patch of undergrowth, where the
ground beneath was very soft and full of water, evidently from some
boggy springs. There was a great deal of cane and tall grass, with
water weeds of a most luxuriant growth, and the place felt hot and
steamy as we forced our way through, till, as I was going first and
parting the waving canes right and left with my gun barrel, I stepped
upon what seemed to be a big branch of a rotten tree that had fallen
there, when suddenly I felt myself lifted up a few inches and jerked
back, while at the same moment the canes and grass crashed and swayed,
and something seemed to be in violent motion.

"Is it an earthquake, uncle?" I said, looking aghast at the spot from
whence had been jerked.

"Yes, Nat, and there it goes. Fire, boy, fire!"

He took rapid aim a little to the left, where the canes and broad-leaved
plants were swaying to and fro in a curious way, just as if, it seemed
then, a little pig was rushing through, and following his example I
fired in the same direction.

But our shots seemed to have no effect, and whatever it was dashed off
into a thicker part, where it was too swampy to follow even if we had
been so disposed.

"Your earthquake has got away for the present, Nat," said my uncle.
"Did you see it?"

"No, uncle," I said.

"But you must have trodden upon it, and it threw you back."

"No, uncle; I trod upon the trunk of a small tree, that was all."

"You trod upon a large serpent, Nat, my boy," he exclaimed.

"Ugh!" I ejaculated; and I made a jump back on to more solid ground.

"The danger has passed now, Nat," he said, smiling at my dread; "but
really I could not have believed such a creature existed in so small an
island."

"Oh, uncle!" I cried, "I shall never like to go about again for fear of
treading upon another."

"You will soon get over that, Nat, and perhaps we may have the luck to
shoot the brute. I don't think we did it much mischief this time,
though I got a good sight of it as it glided amongst the canes."

"Why, we had no shot in our guns, uncle," I cried; "we took them out so
as not to knock the sun-birds about too much."

"Of course!" cried my uncle. "How foolish of me not to remember t