We finished our meal, and when the sun was setting we saw the paroquets fly by in couples, and humming-birds flitting about among the bushes; suddenly a formidable roaring made us all tremble. "Oh! what is that dreadful noise?" cried Lucien. "A tiger!" said l'Encuerado, whose eyes glittered with excitement. "Not a tiger, but a jaguar (_Leopardus onca_)," said I; "the former animal is found only in the Old World." The king of the American forests again saluted the setting sun. Gringalet, with his tail between his legs, came crouching down close to us; a second fire was lighted, and we lay down to sleep with the indifference which familiarity gives even in regard to the very greatest dangers. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXVII. L'ENCUERADO AND THE PARROTS.--GRINGALET MEETS A FRIEND.--THE COUGAR, OR AMERICAN LION.--A STREAM.--OUR "PALM-TREE VILLA."--TURTLES' EGGS.--THE TANTALUS.--HERONS AND FLAMINGOES. The parrots that we heard chattering were quite sufficient to wake us up in the morning. The sun rose red and angry; a perfect concert soon greeted its appearance. The hoccos set up their sonorous clucking, and birds of every kind came fluttering round us. Lucien, now reconciled to the virgin forests, was never tired of admiring the varieties of trees, shrubs, or bushes, and the infinite number of the winged inhabitants which enliven them. We slowly descended into the plain; even now the heat was too much for us, and long marches would soon be impossible. A flock of cardinals, with crested heads, flew around us and settled on a magnolia, which then looked as if it was covered with purple flowers. Farther on, some paroquets, no bigger than sparrows, greeted us with their varied cries. L'Encuerado, after tossing his head several times, and shrugging his shoulders, at last stopped, and could not refrain from answering them. "Come and carry it yourselves!" he cried; "come and carry it yourselves, and prove that you are stronger than a man!" "What are you asking the birds to do?" demanded Lucien. "They are making fun of my load, Chanito; a set of lazy fellows, who all of them together would not be able to move it!" Sumichrast made his way into the forest, cutting away the creepers with his _machete_ in order to clear a passage. In less than an hour we had crossed five or six glades. Suddenly I noticed that Gringalet had disappeared. I called him, and a distant barking answered me. "Can he have met with a stream?" said Sumichrast. I advanced in the direction in which I had heard the voice of our four-footed companion, and suddenly came upon him baying furiously at a young cougar, which Sumichrast ran towards, but the animal fled into the wood. "Where did you turn out this fellow, Gringalet?" asked l'Encuerado, quite seriously. "Don't trust too much to his friendship, for it might be the worse for you; lions seldom fondle any thing without hurting it." "Was it a lion?" asked Lucien.