flew across it, and after they had anchored in the evening, the air
became full of strange noises; great beasts rose and snorted near
the banks; sounds of roaring and growling were heard in the wood;
and the lads, who had been so eager before to take part in a hunt
on shore, listened with something like awe to the various strange
and often mysterious noises.

"What in the world does it all mean, Doctor?" Dick Balderson asked,
as the surgeon came up to the spot where the four midshipmen were
leaning on the rail.

"It means that there is a good deal of life in the woods. That
splashing sound you hear with deep grunts and snorts, is probably
made by a hippopotamus wallowing in shallow water; but it may be
a rhinoceros, or even a buffalo. That roar is either a tiger or a
panther, and that snarling sound on the other bank is, no doubt,
made by smaller animals of the same family, indulging in a domestic
quarrel. Some of the other sounds are made by night birds of some
kind or other and perhaps by monkeys, and I fancy that distant
vibrating sound that goes on without intermission is a concert of
a party of frogs."

"What is that?" as a shrill cry, as from a child, followed by a
confused outburst of cries, chattering, and, as it seemed to them,
a barking sound, followed.

"I fancy that is the death cry of a monkey. Probably some python or
other snake has seized it in its sleep; and the other noise is the
outcry of its companions heaping abuse upon the snake, but unable
to do anything to rescue their friend."