CHAPTER XV.
Animals which never die.--A Wonderful Tip to his Tail.-- Thunderstorm.--Swan's Nest.--Bearded Tit.--Reed-wrens and Cuckoo.
The next day they sailed down the Waveney, until they came to Haddiscoe,and then, instead of continuing down to Breydon Water, they went alongthe New Cut, a wide channel which unites the Waveney with the Yare,joining the latter at Reedham. They found the channel of the Yare verymuch broader than the Bure or the Waveney; and as they had a favourablebreeze for the greater part of the way, and there was plenty of room totack in the reaches where it was against them, they made rapid progress.
As they sailed quietly along, Dick lay on the roof of the cabin readinga number of _Science Gossip_ which they had bought at Lowestoft.Presently he cried out,--
"Do you know that there are animals which never die?"
The others laughed at the idea, but Dick proceeded to read out asfollows:--
"Will the reader be astonished to hear that there are exceptions to theuniversal law of death, that there are animals, or at any rate portionsof animals, which are practically immortal. Such, however, is really thecase. I allude to a species of the genera Nais and Syllis, marine wormsof no special interest to the ordinary observer, but those who havewatched their habits closely, tell us of the almost extraordinary powerof spontaneous division which they enjoy. Self-division, as a means ofpropagation, is common enough among the lower members of both animal andvegetable kingdoms, but the particular kind to which I refer now, is, Ibelieve, peculiar to these singular worms. At certain periods theposterior portion of the body begins to alter its shape materially, itswells and grows larger, and the transverse segments become morestrongly marked. At the last joint, at the point where it joins thefirst segment of the body, a true head is formed, furnished withantennae, jaws, and whatever else goes to make a marine worm "perfectafter its kind," and forthwith the whole drops off, a complete animal,capable of maintaining a separate existence. Whether the process goes onfor ever--that is to say, throughout all generations--of course, no onecan tell; but if it does--and there is no reason to suppose thecontrary--then it is self-evident that the posterior portion of one ofthese worms is, as I observed before, practically never dying. It issimply fitted every now and then with a new head! In fact, the tail ofthe first Syllis ever formed, provided it has had the good luck toescape external accident, must still be in existence--a truly venerableanimal, and without controversy the 'oldest inhabitant' of the seas."
"It strikes me," said Frank, "that that animal would be something likethe Irishman's stocking, which he had worn for a score of years. It hadbeen re-footed and re-legged several times, yet he always asserted thatit was the original stocking, although there was not a particle of theold stuff in it."
"What a wonderful tip to his tail some animal has got then, if that istrue," said Jimmy.
I cannot say whether the statement of the writer in _Science Gossip_ isstrictly accurate, for who can decide when doctors disagree; but itseems plain enough that the process of generation by sub-division is farnearer the longed-for perpetual life, than anybody has been able to getto the coveted solution of the problem of perpetual motion.
"Do you know that the water we are sailing on is higher than the marshesaround us?" said Frank.
"Yes, and all those windmills are to pump the water up from the drains.They look very funny twirling away all by themselves."
Early in the day they reached a public-house surrounded by a littlegrove of trees, which gave an agreeable variety to the landscape. Thiswas Coldham Hall, and as the sky was clouding over and the wind sighingfitfully through the reeds and the trees, and there was every symptom ofa violent storm, the boys decided to remain there until the morrow, andthen sail up to Norwich.
During the afternoon they amused themselves by fishing for eels, whichwere biting very freely. The heavens grew black, and the thundermuttered at intervals, but the storm held off until the evening, andthen as it was getting dark it came on most violently. The rain camedown in torrents. The lightning lit up the marsh for miles most vividly,and each flash was succeeded by an intenser blackness, while thebellowing of the thunder made the very earth shake. The boys stood atthe door of the inn, gazing at the storm and awe-struck by its mightypower.
"I don't like the idea of sleeping on the river to-night," said Jimmy."The landlord has a bedroom vacant, and I vote we sleep here instead ofgoing on board."
The others willingly consented, and Dick and Jimmy had a double-beddedroom between them, while Frank slept in a small attic. As the night woreon the storm passed away, but its mutterings could still be heard. Jimmydid not like thunder, and felt very nervous while it was about, as manyotherwise brave people will. He could not for the life of him go tosleep, and lay tossing about in a most uncomfortable state for half thenight, while Dick was slumbering peacefully. Jimmy could stand it nolonger, and got out of bed with the intention of arousing Dick, andgetting him to talk to him. He stole across the room, and by the faintstarlight which came from the sky, which had partially cleared after thestorm, he saw that Dick had kicked all the bed-clothes off, and lay verydeep in slumber. He touched him lightly on the foot to awake him gently.To his amazement Dick lifted his leg and began to wave it slowlybackwards in the air, at the same time whistling softly. Jimmy was sostruck with the oddity of this procedure in a sleeping man that he burstinto a peal of laughter. Even this did not wake Dick; and Jimmy, havingnow something to occupy his mind, went back to bed and laughed himselfto sleep. When he detailed the incident to the others in the morningthey would not believe him, but said that he must have been dreaming.
SWAN'S NEST.]
The morning broke sunny and with a wonderful freshness in the air, whichput the boys into the highest spirits. They sailed a little way up theriver to Surlingham Broad, which they wished to explore. They sailedpast the main entrance to the broad, thinking there was a wider passagefurther on. Finding they were mistaken, they attempted to take the puntthrough a narrow and sinuous dyke which appeared to lead into thebroad. They pushed their way along this for some distance until itbecame so narrow and shallow that they could scarcely get on. Just thenthey came round a corner of reeds, and to their dismay found that theyhad come suddenly upon a swan's nest. The female swan was sitting upon ahuge pile of sticks placed on a small reedy island. Round this islandthe male swan was swimming in a very stately fashion, and when he sawthe boys coming so near his beloved, he swam towards them, with hiswings and tail raised and set out in a way that unmistakably told themhe meant war. They hastily pushed back, but the punt stuck in the mud,and Frank had to take an oar and keep the swan at bay with it, while theothers pushed the punt off and back again.
SWAN.]
"Pray, look sharp," said Frank, "I cannot keep him at bay much longerwithout my hurting him or his hurting me."
"We're doing our best," said Jimmy, and missing his footing as he spokehe fell into the mud and water.
"That's no help," said Frank, giving the swan a sharp poke with the oar.Jimmy scrambled into the boat, and the swan, satisfied that they were infull retreat, gave up the pursuit.
They went back to the yacht, where Jimmy changed his clothes, and thenwent on to the broad by the proper channel.
Their object in visiting this broad was to find the nest of the beardedtit, which Bell had told them bred there in great numbers. Thisbeautiful little bird is now becoming very rare. Its home is among thereed-beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, but it has been so shot down wholesaleby bird-stuffers, and its eggs collected for sale, that it has becomeexceedingly rare. It is a very pretty bird, having a long tail,fawn-coloured back, and white belly, but its distinguishing feature isthat it has a pair of moustaches in the shape of black tufts of feathersdepending from either side of its mouth. Very properly, too, it is onlythe males which have this appearance. In Norfolk it is called the reedpheasant. It is very interesting to see a flock of them flitting aboutthe reeds. Like all the tit family, they are very lively, jerking up anddow
n the reed-stems in all sorts of positions, and as often as not withtheir heads down and their tails up.
Apart from the open water of the broad, there were numerous channelsamong the reeds which latter rose to the height of seven or eight feetabove the water. Along these channels the boys made their way, listeningattentively to the chirping of the birds, which they could hear but notsee. By keeping very still they could at length distinguish two or threeof the birds they sought, flitting about the reeds, and by the aid oftheir glass they could perceive the birds with great distinctness. Themovements of one bird led them to its nest, and pushing their way withsome difficulty they were fortunate enough to find it. It was built ofdry stems of grass and sedges, and was placed about a foot from theground (or water, for it was a compound of both), in the midst of athick clump of reeds. It contained five eggs as large as those of agreat tit, pinkish-white in colour, spotted and streaked with reddishbrown, something like those of a yellow-hammer. While they were debatinghow many of the eggs they should take, Frank saw a tit fly from a tuftof reeds a few yards off, and on going there they found another nestwith four eggs in it. This was lucky, for it enabled them to take twoeggs from each nest without feeling any compunction.
CUCKOO AND EGG.]
They found several of the beautiful purse-like nests of the reed wrensattached midway up the tall reed-stems. In one of them there was a youngcuckoo, the sole occupant of the nest. What had become of the littlereed-wrens was plainly to be seen by the bodies which strewed the groundbeneath. The poor little fledglings had been ousted from their home bythe broad-backed cuckoo. I suppose we ought not to call him cruel,because it is the instinct of self-preservation which makes him behaveso badly. If the young birds, the legitimate owners of the nest, hadbeen allowed to remain, the old birds could not have fed them all, andthe young cuckoo must have starved. The boys watched the nest for sometime to see the old birds feed it, and they were greatly delighted tosee the way in which the reed-wrens managed it. _They perched on theyoung cuckoo's back_ while they placed the food in its broad mouth. Itwas the only standing room there was, for the cuckoo more than coveredthe whole of the nest.
"Who wouldn't be a naturalist!" said Frank, "when he can see such thingsas that?"
Dick replied, "I did not know that life could possibly be so jolly,until I learnt something of natural history. I do wonder that so fewfellows take to it. I suppose it is because books make it appear so dry.Books don't seem to me to go into the _sport_ of the thing. They onlyshow you the surface of it, and not the life. I will try to write a booksome day when--" and he hesitated.
"When you get more conceited, eh, Dick?" said Frank laughingly.
Then they sailed up to Bramerton, and when they brought up at theWood's-end public-house they found a number of old school-fellows there,and the racing four-oar belonging to the school club.