s woman made an effort to seize it; he thrust her away with his
hands and feet, recovered it, and brandishing it furiously over her
head, dealt her two wounds in the upper part of the left arm. She
thought she was lost, but despair nerved her to use her own knife; she
made a thrust at his breast, but succeeded only in wounding him severely
in the hand. At the same moment, her companion, Count Berchthold, sprang
forward, and while he seized the villain from behind, Madame Pfeiffer
regained her feet. All this took place in less than a minute. The negro
was now roused into a condition of maniacal fury; he gnashed his teeth
like a wild beast, and brandished his knife, while shouting fearful
threats. The issue of the contest would probably have been disastrous,
but for the opportune arrival of assistance. Hearing the tramp of
horses' hoofs upon the road, the negro desisted from his attack, and
sprang into the forest. A couple of horsemen turning the corner of the
road, our travellers hurried to meet them, and having heard their tale,
which, indeed, their wounds told eloquently enough, they leaped from
their horses, and entered the wood in pursuit. Two negroes afterwards
came up; the villain was captured, securely pinioned, and, as he would
not walk, severely beaten, until, as most of the blows fell upon his
head, Madame Pfeiffer feared the wretch's skull would be broken.
Nothing, however, would induce him to walk, and the negroes were
compelled to carry him bodily to the nearest house.

Our traveller was much impressed by the beauties of the tropical
scenery. In one of her rambles she crossed a small waterfall; she struck
right into the depths of the virgin forest, following a narrow path
along the bank of a little stream. Stately-crested palms waved high
above the other trees, which intertwining their inextricable boughs,
formed the loveliest fairy-bowers imaginable; every stem, every branch,
was garlanded with fantastic orchids; while ferns and creepers glided up
the tall, smooth trunks, mingling with the boughs, and spreading in
every direction waving curtains of flowers of the rarest fragrance and
vividest hues imaginable. With shrill twittering cry and rapid wing
flashed the humming-bird through the transparent air; the pepper-pecker,
with glowing plumage, rose timorously upwards; while parrots and
parroquets, and innumerable birds of beautiful appearance, enhanced, by
their voices and movements, the loveliness of the sc