But these jakos were not new to him. They
have transported them into all parts of the world. On the two
continents they fill the houses with their insupportable chattering,
and, of all the family of the "psittacius," they are the ones which
learn to speak most easily.
It must be said, besides, that if Jack was not contented, Cousin
Benedict was no more so. He had been allowed to wander a little to the
right or to the left during the march. However, he had not found any
insect which was fit to enrich his collection. Even the "pyrophores"
obstinately refused to show themselves to him, and attract him by the
phosphorescences of their corselet. Nature seemed truly to mock the
unhappy entomologist, whose temper was becoming cross.
For four days more the march toward the northeast was continued in the
same way. On the 16th of April the distance traversed from the coast
could not be estimated at less than one hundred miles. If Harris had
not gone astray--and he affirmed it without hesitation--the Farm of San
Felice was no more than twenty miles from the halting place of that
day. Before forty-eight hours the little troop then would have a
comfortable shelter where its members could at last repose from their
fatigues.
Meanwhile, though the plateau had been almost entirely crossed in its
middle part, not a native, not a wanderer had been encountered under
the immense forest.
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