CHAPTER XV.
Such was the wrath of Oboo, great monkey from beyond the Swamp, which, kindled by defeated love, against all mortals, sent many souls of heroes to the Shades, and gave their bodies a prey to beasts and birds. Unappeased it flamed in wars unquenchable, and almost sent the human race out of history, and gave back the earth to monkeys, snakes and wide-spreading marshes.
Instigated by the woman who had lost her child, and who was for a second time bereaved by the loss of its substitute, Oboo proposed the next day that Sosee be given back to the Ammi, in exchange for the child first captured. This was suggested, not because he cared for the child, but because he desired to punish the ape who had got possession of Sosee. If he could not himself have the girl, he did not want another to have her. Such jealousy was in the minds of sub-mortals.
This the swift-footed Ilo, captor of Sosee, stoutly resisted. “If you touch a hair of that maiden,” he said,“I will jump with both feet against your belly and scratch out all monkeydom. To your licking of last night I will add your death to-day. Hear me, O Shoozoo, if ever monkey was so wronged as I, and help me to avenge myself upon this insolent gusher, who has already made love to all the apes, and now wants my little and dear prize, which alone is to comfort my home, and gather my plantains in the far off forests of the uplands.”
And he walked along the shore of the loud-roaring frog pond.
In the meantime Koree, who had eluded his pursuers, was picking his way through the Swamp, carrying Orlee in his arms and Sosee in his heart, hoping that his beloved was likewise threading her way by another route to the Ammi, where they would soon meet to enjoy perpetually their love. This consummation, however, was not to be reached so soon; but many adventures must first be encountered by both.
As he journeyed on he saw a great cloud spreading over the Swamp, darkening the skies, so that he supposed that Night had suddenly settled down upon Day. Great swarms of bats came out and filled the air with their dull beatings, which added terror to the mystery.
Then followed a great rain, or flood from the skies, which, though lasting but a few minutes, came in such torrents that trees were broken in two and all the land submerged. Koree believed that the Sea had suddenly come upon the Land with the Night, and that Death had come with both to claim him and all things else.
The sun, however, soon came out, reviving his hope; but it came so hot, that though it scarcely penetrated the thick foliage, which was matted with tangled vines, it generated stifling gases, which, rising from the damp shades, nearly strangled him; so that, having escaped death from the water, he now expected it from the air.
Next came a great terror, and he expected to die from fright. There was a desperate battle between a hippopotamus and an alligator which reddened the yellow flood, and stirred it into a wilder foam than the great rain had done. The alligator he believed to be the great Dragon of Shoozoo, or Devil of the Watery World.
Soon the whole swamp was filled with animals. Called out by the rain, some had come to feed, knowing that the waters, stirred by the shower, would be alive with fish and reptiles, while others—great land animals—had been disturbed in their lairs by the washout. Among these last was a great three-toed tapir, which seemed to be lost; and, following near it, came a more graceful animal, having a long tail and two-toed feet, forming a kind of intermediate type between a hog and a deer. These two animals were closely watched by a cave lion, which, washed out of his cave by the flood, was approaching them stealthily in hope of a meal. The sight was one of mingled fear and relief to Koree; for if the lion had not his eye on some desirable game, he would have attacked him. He awaited, therefore, with anxiety the next movements of the beasts, expecting another fight like that between the hippopotamus and the alligator, when a more dreadful sight alarmed both him and the lion, as well as the game which the lion was pursuing, and started them all in different directions.
THE BATTLE IN THE SWAMP.
THE BATTLE IN THE SWAMP.
This was the appearance of a Dinotherium running at full speed, with another animal on its back, both engaged in a fatal conflict. This Dinotherium looked to Koree like a moving hill, so huge were his dimensions. He was a combination of elephant, camel and kangaroo, having a huge hunch on his back, powerful tusks issuing from his jaws, and a pouch underneath, like our Marsupials. The beast on his back was what is known to scientists as a Machairodus, a terrible, carnivorous, cat-like creature, with long saber-shaped canines in its upper jaw, fitting it to pull down and destroy the huge pachyderms (which could easily shake off a lion or tiger.) This monster and this terror of the forest, which together seemed like all the great animals rolled into one, were now united in a death deal. While the cat-like beast was fastening its fangs in the flesh of the other, the latter tried alternately to shake him off and to roll over him. But the savage beast, with great skill, defeated these attempts. The huge monster next tried to run under the horizontal limb of a tree, which, though high, was yet too low to permit him to pass under with his load. Koree thought that the beast on top would now be scraped off; but not so. On approaching the limb he jumped over it, like a circus-rider, and alighted on the running beast on the other side. The two now darted on through the Swamp, and at last plunged into a deep lake. The rider was thrown from his place, and,as he could not swim, was drowned. The other, however, which was accustomed to navigate the lakes of this region, and often entered even the open sea, swam across the lake (a deep pool in the slough,) and there, after floating awhile, like a ship unable to find a harbor, moored himself to the bank with his tusks; and in this position Koree left him.
“Where can Sosee be during this flood?” soliloquized Koree, as he started again on his way; “and will she escape the rage of all these beasts?” He remembered, however, her agility in climbing trees, and her repeated escapes from greater dangers; so that his fears were soon calmed in his confidence, and the thought of meeting her again made him quickly forget the great forces of nature and animals which he had just seen in their struggles.