Chapter I: Front Matter

POPULAR ADVENTURE TALES

Popular Adventure Tales

COMPRISING

_THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS_ OR, THE BOY HUNTERS IN THE NORTH

_THE FOREST EXILES_ OR, ADVENTURES AMID THE WILDS OF THE AMAZON

_THE BUSH-BOYS_ OR, ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

By

CAPTAIN MAYNE REID

AUTHOR OF "_The Rifle Rangers_" "_The Wood Rangers_" _&c., &c._

_ILLUSTRATED_

LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO. GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MORISON

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Captain Mayne Reid was born at Ballyroney, County Down, on the 4th April, 1818, and was the son of the Rev. Thomas Mayne Reid. Mayne Reid was educated with a view to the Church, but finding his inclinations opposed to this calling, he emigrated to America and arrived in New Orleans on January, 1840. After a varied career as plantation over-seer, school-master, and actor, with a number of expeditions in connection with hunting and Indian warfare, he settled down in 1843 as a journalist in Philadelphia, where he made the acquaintance of Edgar Allan Poe.

Leaving Philadelphia in 1846, he spent the summer at Newport, Rhode Island, as the correspondent of the _New York Herald_, and in December of the same year, having obtained a commission as second lieutenant in the 1st New York Volunteers, he sailed for Vera Cruz to take part in the Mexican war. He behaved with conspicuous gallantry in many engagements, and was severely wounded and disabled at the storming of Chapultepec on the 13th September, 1847.

Returning to the United States in the spring of 1848, he resumed literary work. But in June, 1849, he sailed for Europe in order to take part in the revolutionary movements going on in Hungary and Bavaria, arriving however too late, he turned his attention again to literature, and in London in 1850, published his first novel "The Rifle Rangers," in two volumes. Between this date and his death, he produced a large number of volumes, which indeed no one else was capable of writing, for in them are avowedly embodied the observations and experiences of his own extraordinary career.

Unfortunate building and journalistic speculation and enterprises involved him in financial failure, so he returned to New York in October, 1867. There he founded and conducted _The Onward Magazine_, but owing to recurring bad effects of his old Mexican wound, he had to abandon work for sometime and go into the hospital, on leaving which he returned to England in 1870. During the later years of his life he resided at Ross in Herefordshire where he died on the 22nd October, 1883, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Mayne Reid wrote in all thirty-five works, chiefly books of adventure and travel. As in the case of all authors, the books vary much in merit, but most of them are of a high order in their own department of literature. Many of them have been extraordinary popular and have become standard works. Reid has not been surpassed by any other writer in combining at one and the same time, the features of thrilling adventure and great instruction in the fields of natural history. Many of the works have been translated into Continental languages and are as highly esteemed among the French and Germans as at home.

CONTENTS

THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS

OR

BOY HUNTERS IN THE NORTH.

_CHAPTER I_ PAGE
THE FUR COUNTRIES 13

_CHAPTER II_
THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS 16

_CHAPTER III_
THE TRUMPETER SWAN AND THE BALD EAGLE 22

_CHAPTER IV_
A SWAN-HUNT BY TORCHLIGHT 29

_CHAPTER V_
"CAST AWAY" 34

_CHAPTER VI_
A BRIDGE OF BUCKSKIN 37

_CHAPTER VII_
DECOYING THE ANTELOPES 41

_CHAPTER VIII_
"A PARTRIDGE DANCE" 45

_CHAPTER IX_
BASIL AND THE BISON-BULL 48

_CHAPTER X_
THREE CURIOUS TREES 52

_CHAPTER XI_
HOW TO BUILD A BARK CANOE 56

_CHAPTER XII_
THE CHAIN OF LAKES 59

_CHAPTER XIII_
WAPITI, WOLVES, AND WOLVERENE 62

_CHAPTER XIV_
A PAIR OF DEEP DIVERS 69

_CHAPTER XV_
A GRAND SUNDAY DINNER 73

_CHAPTER XVI_
THE MARMOTS OF AMERICA 79

_CHAPTER XVII_
THE BLAIREAU, THE "TAWNIES," AND THE "LEOPARDS" 82

_CHAPTER XVIII_
AN ODD SORT OF DECOY-DUCK 86

_CHAPTER XIX_
THE SHRIKE AND THE HUMMING-BIRDS 91

_CHAPTER XX_
THE FISH-HAWK 94

_CHAPTER XXI_
THE OSPREY AND HIS TYRANT 97

_CHAPTER XXII_
THE VOYAGE INTERRUPTED 102

_CHAPTER XXIII_
FISHING UNDER THE ICE 105

_CHAPTER XXIV_
AN ODD ALARM 107

_CHAPTER XXV_
ENCOUNTER WITH A MOOSE 113

_CHAPTER XXVI_
LIFE IN A LOG-HUT 117

_CHAPTER XXVII_
TRAVELLING ON SNOW-SHOES 121

_CHAPTER XXVIII_
THE BARREN GROUNDS 125

_CHAPTER XXIX_
THE ROCK-TRIPE 130

_CHAPTER XXX_
THE POLAR HARE AND THE GREAT SNOWY OWL 133

_CHAPTER XXXI_
THE JUMPING MOUSE AND THE ERMINE 138

_CHAPTER XXXII_
THE ARCTIC FOX AND WHITE WOLF 140

_CHAPTER XXXIII_
THE JERFALCON AND THE WHITE GROUSE 145

_CHAPTER XXXIV_
THE HARE, THE LYNX, AND THE GOLDEN EAGLE 147

_CHAPTER XXXV_
THE "ALARM BIRD" AND THE CARIBOU 151

_CHAPTER XXXVI_
A BATTLE WITH WOLVES 155

_CHAPTER XXXVII_
END OF THE "VOYAGE" 160

THE FOREST EXILES,

OR

ADVENTURES AMID THE WILDS OF THE AMAZON

_CHAPTER I_
THE BIGGEST WOOD IN THE WORLD 162

_CHAPTER II_
THE REFUGEES 164

_CHAPTER III_
THE POISON-TREES 169

_CHAPTER IV_
THE SUPPER OF GUAPO 173

_CHAPTER V_
THE PUNA 175

_CHAPTER VI_
THE WILD BULL OF THE PUNA 179

_CHAPTER VII_
THE "VAQUERO" 181

_CHAPTER VIII_
LLAMAS, ALPACOS, VICUÑAS, AND GUANACOS 184

_CHAPTER IX_
A VICUÑA HUNT 187

_CHAPTER X_
CAPTURING A CONDOR 189

_CHAPTER XI_
THE PERILS OF A PERUVIAN ROAD 191

_CHAPTER XII_
ENCOUNTER UPON A CLIFF 194

_CHAPTER XIII_
THE LONE CROSS IN THE FOREST 197

_CHAPTER XIV_
THE DESERTED MISSION 201

_CHAPTER XV_
THE GUACO AND THE CORAL SNAKE 203

_CHAPTER XVI_
THE PALM-WOODS 207

_CHAPTER XVII_
A HOUSE OF PALMS 209

_CHAPTER XVIII_
TRACKING THE TAPIR 212

_CHAPTER XIX_
THE POISONED ARROWS 216

_CHAPTER XX_
THE MILK-TREE 221

_CHAPTER XXI_
THE CANNIBAL FISH AND THE GYMNOTUS 224

_CHAPTER XXII_
THE CINCHONA-TREES 227

_CHAPTER XXIII_
A PAIR OF SLOW GOERS 231

_CHAPTER XXIV_
THE BARK-HUNTERS 233

_CHAPTER XXV_
THE PUMA AND THE GREAT ANT-BEAR 236

_CHAPTER XXVI_
ATTACK OF THE WHITE ANTS 239

_CHAPTER XXVII_
THE ANT-LION 242

_CHAPTER XXVIII_
THE TATOU-POYOU AND THE DEER CARCASS 246

_CHAPTER XXIX_
AN ARMADILLO HUNT 248

_CHAPTER XXX_
THE OCELOT 251

_CHAPTER XXXI_
A FAMILY OF JAGUARS 255

_CHAPTER XXXII_
THE RAFT 259

_CHAPTER XXXIII_
THE GUARDIAN BROTHER 262

_CHAPTER XXXIV_
THE VAMPIRE 265

_CHAPTER XXXV_
THE MARIMONDAS 269

_CHAPTER XXXVI_
THE MONKEY MOTHER 274

_CHAPTER XXXVII_
AN UNEXPECTED GUEST 276

_CHAPTER XXXVIII_
THE CROCODILE AND CAPIVARAS 279

_CHAPTER XXXIX_
FIGHT OF THE JAGUAR AND CROCODILE 282

_CHAPTER XL_
ADVENTURE WITH AN ANACONDA 284

_CHAPTER XLI_
A BATCH OF CURIOUS TREES 288

_CHAPTER XLII_
THE FOREST FESTIVAL 291

_CHAPTER XLIII_
ACRES OF EGGS 295

_CHAPTER XLIV_
A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO VERY SCALY CREATURES 298

_CHAPTER XLV_
A PAIR OF VALIANT VULTURES 301

_CHAPTER XLVI_
THE "GAPO" 304

_CHAPTER XLVII_
THE ARAGUATOES 306

_CHAPTER XLVIII_
BRIDGING AN IGARIPÉ 308

_CHAPTER XLIX_
THE MANATI 311

_CHAPTER L_
THE CLOSING CHAPTER 314

THE BUSH-BOYS,

OR

ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA.

_CHAPTER I_
THE BOERS 317

_CHAPTER II_
THE KRAAL 319

_CHAPTER III_
THE SPRING-HAAN 322

_CHAPTER IV_
A TALK ABOUT LOCUSTS 325

_CHAPTER V_
THE LOCUST-FLIGHT 329

_CHAPTER VI_
"INSPANN AND TREK!" 333

_CHAPTER VII_
WATER! WATER! 335

_CHAPTER VIII_
THE FATE OF THE HERD 339

_CHAPTER IX_
A LION COUCHANT 341

_CHAPTER X_
THE LION IN THE TRAP 345

_CHAPTER XI_
THE DEATH OF THE LION 348

_CHAPTER XII_
THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED 351

_CHAPTER XIII_
THE TREK-BOKEN 354

_CHAPTER XIV_
SPOORING FOR A SPRING 359

_CHAPTER XV_
THE TERRIBLE TSETSE 361

_CHAPTER XVI_
THE LONG-HORNED RHINOCEROS 364

_CHAPTER XVII_
A HEAVY COMBAT 367

_CHAPTER XVIII_
THE DEATH OF THE ELEPHANT 371

_CHAPTER XIX_
TURNED HUNTERS 375

_CHAPTER XX_
JERKING AN ELEPHANT 377

_CHAPTER XXI_
THE HIDEOUS HYENA 379

_CHAPTER XXII_
STALKING THE OUREBI 382

_CHAPTER XXIII_
LITTLE JAN'S ADVENTURE 388

_CHAPTER XXIV_
A HOUSE AMONG THE TREE-TOPS 390

_CHAPTER XXV_
THE BATTLE OF THE WILD PEACOCKS 393

_CHAPTER XXVI_
UPON THE SPOOR 397

_CHAPTER XXVII_
A ROGUE ELEPHANT 400

_CHAPTER XXVIII_
THE MISSING HUNTER, AND THE WILDEBEESTS 405

_CHAPTER XXIX_
THE ANT-EATER OF AFRICA 409

_CHAPTER XXX_
HANS CHASED BY THE WILDEBEEST 411

_CHAPTER XXXI_
BESIEGED BY THE BULL 414

_CHAPTER XXXII_
A HELPLESS BEAST 416

_CHAPTER XXXIII_
THE ELEPHANT'S SLEEPING ROOM 420

_CHAPTER XXXIV_
MAKING THE ELEPHANT'S BED 423

_CHAPTER XXXV_
THE WILD ASSES OF AFRICA 425

_CHAPTER XXXVI_
PLANNING THE CAPTURE OF THE QUAGGAS 429

_CHAPTER XXXVII_
THE PIT-TRAP 433

_CHAPTER XXXVIII_
DRIVING IN THE ELAND 436

_CHAPTER XXXIX_
A WILD RIDE ON QUAGGA-BACK 439

_CHAPTER XL_
THE GUN-TRAP 444

_CHAPTER XLI_
THE WEAVER-BIRDS 447

_CHAPTER XLII_
THE SPITTING-SNAKE 450

_CHAPTER XLIII_
THE SERPENT-EATER 452

_CHAPTER XLIV_
TOTTY AND THE CHACMAS 456

_CHAPTER XLV_
THE WILD HOUNDS AND THE HARTEBEEST 460

_CHAPTER XLVI_
CONCLUSION 465

[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors, (missing accents, missing letters, etc) including punctuation, have been silently corrected.

All other inconsistencies including archaic spellings have been left as they were in the original.

Added a List of Illustrations.]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS ON THE RED RIVER. Frontispiece

THE TRUMPETER SWAN AND THE BALD EAGLE. 28

BASIL AND THE BISON-BULL. 50

THE WAPITI AND THE WOLVERENE. 67

THE BLAIREAU AND THE MARMOTS 84

THE OSPREY AND WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 99

BASIL AND THE MOOSE BULL. 116

THE WOLVES AND THE PEMMICAN BAGS. 129

THE LYNX AND THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 150

THE FLIGHT OF THE REFUGEES. 167

GUAPO'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE BULLS. 196

GUAPO AND THE 'NIMBLE PETERS.' 230

THE ESCAPE OF THE ARMADILLO. 250

THE VAMPIRE BAT. 266

ADVENTURE WITH AN ANACONDA. 287

THE SHOWER OF LOCUSTS. 332

THE LION IN A FIX. 350

A DEADLY ENCOUNTER. 370

HENDRIK DECOYING THE OUREBIS. 386

SWARTBOY IN A PREDICAMENT. 404

HANS BESIEGED BY A WILDEBEEST. 417

THE QUAGGA AND THE HYENA. 432

HENDRICK BLINDING THE QUAGGA. 443

TOTTY IN TROUBLE. 459

Popular Adventure Tales.

THE YOUNG VOYAGEURS

OR

BOY HUNTERS IN THE NORTH.