A forester could easily see that
no woodman had been there with his hatchet or ax, for the effects of
a clearing are visible for many centuries afterward. If the new trees
are even a hundred years old, the general aspect still differs from
what it was originally, for the lianas and other parasitic plants
alter, and signs remain which no native can misunderstand.
The happy group moved then into the tall herbage, across the thickets
and under the bushes, chatting and laughing. In front, when the
brambles were too thick, the negro, felling-sword in hand, cleared
the way, and put thousands of birds to flight.
Minha was right to intercede for the little winged world which flew
about in the higher foliage, for the finest representations of
tropical ornithology were there to be seen--green parrots and
clamorous parakeets, which seemed to be the natural fruit of these
gigantic trees; humming-birds in all their varieties, light-blue and
ruby red; _"tisauras"_ with long scissors-like tails, looking like
detached flowers which the wind blew from branch to branch;
blackbirds, with orange plumage bound with brown; golden-edged
beccaficos; and _"sabias,"_ black as crows; all united in a deafening
concert of shrieks and whistles.
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