Slow Signal Fade ebooks

Once or twice a week we had
fowls and rice; at supper, after sunset, we often had fresh fish
caught by our men in the evening. The mornings were cool and
pleasant until towards midday; but in the afternoons, the heat
became almost intolerable, especially in gleamy, squally weather,
such as generally prevailed. We then crouched in the shade of the
sails, or went down to our hammocks in the cabin, choosing to be
half stifled rather than expose ourselves on deck to the
sickening heat of the sun.
We generally ceased travelling about nine o'clock, fixing upon a
safe spot wherein to secure the vessel for the night. The cool
evening hours were delicious; flocks of whistling ducks (Anas
autumnalis), parrots, and hoarsely-screaming macaws, pair by
pair, flew over from their feeding to their resting places, as
the glowing sun plunged abruptly beneath the horizon. The brief
evening chorus of animals then began, the chief performers being
the howling monkeys, whose frightful unearthly roar deepened the
feeling of solitude which crept up as darkness closed around us.


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