"Good-bye, Kookooburra!" cried Dot, as they left the cave; and the bird
gave her a nod of the head, followed by a wink, which was supposed to mean
hearty good-will at parting. He would have spoken, only he had swallowed
part of the Snake, and the rest hung out of the side of his beak, like an
old man's pipe; so he couldn't speak. It wouldn't have been polite to do
so with his beak full.
Dot was so rested by her sleep all night that she did not ride in the
Kangaroo's pouch; but they proceeded together, she walking, and her friend
making as small hops as she could, so as not to get too far ahead. This
was very difficult for the Kangaroo, because even the smallest hops
carried her far in front. After a time they arranged that the friendly
animal should hop a few yards, then wait for Dot to catch her up, and then
go on again. This she did, nibbling bits of grass as she waited, or
playing a little game of hide-and-seek behind the bushes.
Sometimes, when she hid like this, little Dot would be afraid that she had
lost her Kangaroo, and would run here and there, hunting round trees, and
clusters of ferns, until she felt quite certain she had lost the kind
animal; when suddenly, clean over a big bush, the Kangaroo would bound
into view, landing right in front of her. Then Dot would laugh, and rush
forward, and throw her arms around her friend; and the Kangaroo, with a
quiet smile, would rub her little head against Dot's curls, and they were
both very happy. So, although it was really a long and rough way to the
little creek where the Platypus lived, it did not seem at all far.
The stream ran at the bottom of a deep gully, that had high rocky sides,
with strangely shaped trees growing between the rocks. But, by the stream,
Dot thought they must be in fairyland; it was so beautiful. In the dark
hollows of the rocks were wonderful ferns; such delicate ones that the
little girl was afraid to touch them. They were so tender and green that
they could only grow far away from the sun, and as she peeped into the
hollows and caves where they grew, it seemed as if she was being shown the
secret store-house of Nature, where she kept all the most lovely plants,
out of sight of the world. A soft carpet seemed to spring under Dot's
feet, like a nice springy mattress, as she trotted along. She asked the
Kangaroo why the earth was so soft, and was told that it was not earth,
but the dead leaves of the tree-ferns above them, that had been falling
for such a long, long time, that no Kangaroo could remember the beginning.
Then Dot looked up, and saw that there was no sky to be seen, or tops of
trees; for they were passing under a forest of tree-ferns, and their
lovely spreading fronds made a perfect green tent over their heads. The
sunlight that came through was green, as if you were in a house made of
green glass. All up the slender stems of these tall tree-ferns were the
most beautiful little plants, and many stems were twined, from the earth
to their feather-like fronds, with tender creeping ferns--the fronds of
which were so fine and close, that it seemed as if the tree-fern were
wrapped up in a lovely little fern coat. Even crumbling dead trees, and
decaying tree-ferns, did not look dead, because some beautiful moss, or
lichen, or little ferns had clung to them, and made them more beautiful
than when alive.
Dot kept crying out with pleasure at all she saw; especially when little
Parrakeets, with feathers as green as the ferns, and gorgeous red breasts,
came in flocks, and welcomed her to their favourite haunt; and, as she had
eaten the berries of understanding, and was the friend of the Kangaroo,
they were not frightened, but perched on her shoulders and hands, and
chatted their merry talk all together. The Kangaroo did not share Dot's
enthusiasm for the beauties of the gully. She said it was pretty,
certainly, but a bad place for Kangaroos, because there was no grass. For
her part, she didn't think any sight in nature so lovely as a big plain,
green with the little blades of new spring grass. The gully was very
showy, but not to her mind so beautiful as the other.
Then they came to a stream that gurgled melodiously as it rippled over
stones in its shallow course, or crept round big grey boulders that were
wrapped in thick mosses, in which were mingled flowers of the pink and red
wild fuchsia, or the creamy great blossoms of the rock lily. Dot ran down
the stream with bare feet, laughing as she paddled in and out among the
rocks and ferns, and the sun shone down on the gleaming foam of the water,
and made golden lights in Dot's wild curls. The Kangaroo, too, was very
merry, and bounded from rock to rock over the stream, showing what
wonderful things she could do in that way; and sometimes they paused, side
by side, and peeped down upon some still pool that showed their two
reflections as in a mirror; and that seemed so funny to Dot, that her
silvery laugh woke the silence in happy peals, until more green-and-red
Parrakeets flew out of the bush to join in the fun.
When they had followed the stream some distance, the gully opened out into
bush scrub. The little Parrakeets then said "Good-bye," and flew back to
their favourite tree-ferns and bush growth; and the Kangaroo said, that as
they were nearing the home of the Platypus, they must not play in the
stream any more; to do so might warn the creature of their approach and
frighten it. "We shall have to be very careful," she said, "so that the
Platypus will neither hear nor smell you. We will therefore walk on the
opposite shore, as the wind will then blow away from its home."
The stream no longer chattered over rocky beds, but slid between soft
banks of earth, under tufts of tall rushes, grasses, and ferns, and soon
it opened into a broad pool, which was smooth as glass. The clouds in the
sky, the tall surrounding trees, and the graceful ferns and rushes of the
banks, were all reflected in the water, so that it looked to Dot like a
strange upside-down picture. This, then, was the home of that wonderful
animal; and Dot felt quite frightened, because she thought she was going
to see something terrible.
At the Kangaroo's bidding, she hid a little way from the edge of the pool,
but she was able to see all that happened.
The Kangaroo evidently did not enjoy the prospect of conversing with the
Platypus. She kept on fidgeting about, putting off calling to the Platypus
by one excuse and another: she was decidedly ill at ease.
"Are you frightened of the Platypus?" asked Dot.
"Dear me, no!" replied the Kangaroo, "but I'd rather have a talk with any
other bush creature. First of all, the sight of it makes me so
uncomfortable, that I want to hop away the instant I set eyes upon it.
Then, too, it's so difficult to be polite to the Platypus, because one
never knows how to behave towards it. If you treat it as an animal, you
offend its bird nature, and if you treat it as a bird, the animal in it is
mighty indignant. One never knows where one is with a creature that is
two creatures," said the Kangaroo.
Dot was so sorry for the perplexity of her friend, that she suggested that
they should not consult the Platypus. But the Kangaroo said it must be
done, because no one in the bush was so learned. Being such a strange
creature, and living in such seclusion, and being so difficult to approach
was a proof that it was the right adviser to seek. So, with a half
desperate air, the Kangaroo left the little girl, and went down to the
water's edge.
Pausing a moment, she made a strange little noise that was something
between a grunt and a hiss: and she repeated this many times. At last
Dot saw what looked like a bit of black stick, just above the surface of
the pool, coming towards their side, and, as it moved forward, leaving two
little silvery ripples that widened out behind it on the smooth waters.
Presently the black stick, which was the bill of the Platypus, reached the
bank, and the strangest little creature climbed into view. Dot had
expected to see something big and hideous; but here was quite a small
object after all! It seemed quite ridiculous that the great Kangaroo
should be evidently discomposed by the sight.
Dot could not hear what the Kangaroo said, but she saw the Platypus
hurriedly prepare to regain the water. It began to stumble clumsily down
the bank. The Kangaroo then raised her voice in pleading accents.
"But," she said, "it's such a little Human! I have treated it like my baby
Kangaroo, and have carried it in my pouch."
This information seemed to arrest the movements of the Platypus; it had
reached the water's edge, but it paused, and turned.
"I tell you," it said in a high-pitched and irritable voice, "that all
Humans are alike! They all come here to interview me for the same purpose,
and I'm resolved it shall not happen again; I have been insulted enough by
their ignorance."
"I assure you," urged the Kangaroo, "that she will not annoy you in that
way. She wouldn't think of doing such a thing to any animal."
As the Kangaroo called the Platypus an animal, Dot saw at once that it was
offended, and in a great huff it turned towards the pool again. "I beg
your pardon," said the Kangaroo nervously. "I didn't mean an altogether
animal, or even a bird, but any a--a--a----." She seemed puzzled how to
speak of the Platypus, when the strange creature, seeing the well-meaning
embarrassment of the Kangaroo, said affably, "any mammal or Ornithorhynchus
Paradoxus."
"Exactly," said the Kangaroo, brightening up, although she hadn't the
least idea what a mammal was.
"Well, bring the little Human here," said the Platypus in a more friendly
tone, "and if I feel quite sure on that point I will permit an interview."
Two bounds brought the Kangaroo to where Dot was hidden. She seemed
anxious that the child should make a good impression on the Platypus, and
tried with the long claws on her little black hands to comb through Dot's
long gleaming curls; but they were so tangled that the child called out at
this awkward method of hairdressing, and the Kangaroo stopped. She then
licked a black smudge off Dot's forehead, which was all she could to tidy
her. Then she started back with a hop, and eyed the child with her head
on one side. She was not quite satisfied. "Ah!" she said, "if only you
were a baby Kangaroo I could make you look so nice! But I can't do
anything to your sham coat, which gets worse every day, and your fur is
all wrong, for one can't get one's claws through it. You Humans are no
good in the bush!"
"Never mind, dear Kangaroo," said the little girl; "when I get home mother
will put me on a new frock, and will get the tangles out of my hair. Let
us go to the Platypus now."
The Kangaroo felt sad as Dot spoke of returning home, for she had become
really fond of the little Human. She began to feel that she would be
lonely when they parted. However, she did not speak of what was in her
mind, but bounded back to the Platypus to wait for Dot.
When the little girl reached the pool, she was still more surprised, on a
nearer view of the Platypus, that the Kangaroo should think so much of it.
At her feet she beheld a creature like a shapeless bit of wet matted fur.
She thought it looked like an empty fur bag that had been fished out of
the water. Projecting from the head, that seemed much nearer to the
ground than the back, was a broad duck's bill, of a dirty grey colour;
and peeping out underneath were two fore feet that were like a duck's also.
Altogether it was such a funny object that she was inclined to laugh, only
the Kangaroo looked so serious, that she tried to look serious too, as if
there was nothing strange in the appearance of the Platypus.
"I am the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus!" said the Platypus pompously.
"I am Dot," said the little girl.
"Now we know one another's names," said the Platypus, with satisfaction.
"If the Kangaroo had introduced us, it would have stumbled over my name,
and mumbled yours, and we should have been none the wiser. Now tell me,
little Human, are you going to write a book about me? Because, if you
are, I'm off. I can't stand any more books being written about me; I've
been annoyed enough that way."
"I couldn't write a book," said Dot, with surprise inwardly wondering what
anyone could find to make a book of, out of such a small, ugly creature.
"You're quite sure?" asked the Platypus, doubtfully, and evidently more
than half inclined to dive into the pool.
"Quite," said Dot.
"Then I'll try to believe you," said the Platypus, clumsily waddling
towards some grass, amongst which it settled itself comfortably. "But
it's very difficult to believe you Humans, for you tell such dreadful
fibs," it continued, as it squirted some dirty water out of the bag that
surrounded its bill, and swallowed some water beetles, small snails and
mud that it had stored there. "See, for instance, the way you have all
quarrelled and lied about me! First one great Human, the biggest fool of
all, said I wasn't a live creature at all, but a joke another Human had
played upon him. Then they squabbled together one saying I was a Beaver;
another, that I was a Duck; another, that I was a Mole, or a Rat. Then
they argued whether I was a bird, or an animal, or if we laid eggs, or
not; and everyone wrote a book, full of lies, all out of his head.
"That's the way Humans amuse themselves. They write books about things
they don't understand, and keep the game going by each new book saying the
others are all wrong. It's a silly game, and very insulting to the
creatures they write about. Humans at the other end of the world, who,
never took the trouble to come here to see me, wrote books about me.
Those who did come were more impudent than those who stayed away. Their
idea of learning all about a creature was to dig up its home, and frighten
it out of its wits, and kill it; and after a few moons of that sort of
foolery they claimed to know all about us. Us! whose ancestors knew the
world millions of years before the ignorant Humans came on the earth at
all!" The Platypus spluttered out more dirty water, in its indignation.
The Kangaroo became very timid, as it saw the rising anger of the Platypus,
and whispered to Dot to say something to calm the little creature.
"A million years is a very long time," said Dot; unable at the moment to
think of anything better to say. But this remark angered the Platypus
more, for it seemed to suspect Dot of doubting what it said.
It clambered up into a more erect position, and its little brown eyes
became quite fiery.
"I didn't say a million; I said millions! I can prove by a bone in my body
that my ancestors were the Amphitherium, the Amphilestes, the
Phascolotherium, and the Stereognathus!" almost shrieked the little
creature.
Dot didn't understand what all these words meant, and looked at the
Kangaroo for an explanation; but she saw that the Kangaroo didn't
understand either, only she was trying to hide her ignorance by a calm
appearance, while she nibbled the end of a long grass she held in her fore
paw. But Dot noticed, by the slight trembling of the little black paw,
that the Kangaroo was very nervous. She thought she would try and say
something to please Platypus; so she asked, very kindly, if the bone ever
hurt it. But this strange creature did not seem to notice the remark.
Settling itself more comfortably amongst the grass, it muttered in calmer
tones, "I trace my ancestry back to the oolite age. Where does man
come in?"
"I don't know," said Dot.
"Of course you don't replied the Platypus, contemptuously, Humans are so
ignorant! That's because they are so new. When they have existed a few
more million years, they will be more like us of old families; they will
respect quiet, exclusive living, like that of the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus,
and will not be so inquisitive, pushing, and dangerous as now. The age
will come when they will understand, and will cease to write books, and
there will be peace for everyone."
The Kangaroo now thought it a good opportunity to change the subject, and
gently introduced the topic of Dot's lost way, saying how she had found
the little girl, and had taken care of her ever since.
The Platypus did not seem interested, and yawned more than once whilst the
Kangaroo spoke.
"The question is," concluded the Kangaroo, "whom shall I ask to find it?
Someone must know where it is."
"Of course," said the Platypus, yawning again, without so much as putting
its web foot in front of its bill, which Dot thought very rude, or else
very ancient manners. "Little Human," it said, "tell me what kind of bush
creatures come about your burrow."
"We live in a cottage," she said, but seeing that the Platypus did not
like to be corrected, and that the Kangaroo looked quite shocked at her
doing so, she hurriedly described the creatures she had seen there. She
said there were Crickets, Grasshoppers, Mice, Lizards, Swallows, Opossums,
Flying Foxes, Kookooburras, Magpies, and Shepherd's Companions----
"Stop!" interrupted the Platypus, with a wave of its web foot; "that is
the right one."
"Who?" asked the Kangaroo and Dot anxiously, together.
"The bird you call Shepherd's Companion. Some of you call it Rickety Dick,
or Willy Wagtail." Turning to the Kangaroo especially, it continued,
"If you can bring yourself to speak to anything so obtrusive and gossiping,
without any ancestry or manners whatever, you will be able to learn all
you need from that bird. Humans and Wagtails fraternise together.
They're both post-glacial."
"I knew you could advise me," said the Kangaroo gratefully.
"Oh! Platypus, how clever you are!" cried Dot, clapping her hands.
Directly Dot had spoken she saw that she had offended the queer little
creature before her. It raised itself with an air of offended dignity
that was unmistakable.
"The name Platypus is insulting," it remarked, looking at the child
severely, "it means BROAD-FOOTED, a vulgar pseudonym which could only have
emanated from the brutally coarse expressions of a Human. My name is
Ornithorhyncus Paradoxus. Besides, even if my front feet can expand, they
can also contract; see! as narrow and refined as a bird's claw. Observe,
too, that my hind feet are narrow, and like a seal's fin, though it has
been described as a mole's foot."
As the Platypus spoke, and thrust out its strangely different feet, the
Kangaroo edged a little closer to Dot and whispered in her ear. "It's
getting angry, and is beginning to use long words; do be careful what you
say or it will be terrible!"
"I beg your pardon," said Dot; "I did not wish to hurt your feelings,
Para--Pa--ra--dox--us."
"ORNITHORHYNCHUS Paradoxus, if you please," insisted the little creature.
"How would you like it if your name was Jones-Smith-Jones, and I called
you one Jones, or one Smith, and did not say both the Joneses and the
Smiths? You have no idea how sensitive our race is. You Humans have no
feelings at all compared with ours. Why, my fifth pair of nerves are
larger than a man's! Humans get on my nerves dreadfully!" it ended in
disgusted accents.
"She did not mean to hurt you," said the gentle Kangaroo, soothingly.
"Is there anything we can do to make you feel comfortable again?"
"There is nothing you can do," Sighed the Platypus, now mournful and
depressed. "I must sing. Only music can quiet my nerves. I will sing a
little threnody composed by myself, about the good old days of this world
before the Flood." And as it spoke, the Platypus moved into an upright
position amongst the tussock grass, and after a little cough opened its
bill to sing.
The Kangaroo kept very close to Dot, and warned her to be very attentive
to the song, and not to interrupt it on any account. Almost before the
Kangaroo had ceased to whisper in her ear, Dot heard this strange song,
sung to the most peculiar tune she had ever heard, and in the funniest of
little squeaky voices.
The fairest Iguanodon reposed upon the shore
Extended lay her beauteous form, a hundred feet and more.
The sun, with rays flammivomous, beat on the blue-black sand;
And sportive little Saurians disported on the strand
But oft the Iguanodon reproved them in their glee,
And said, "Alas! this Saurian Age is not what it should be!"
Then, forth from that archaic sea, the Ichthyosaurus
Uprose upon his finny wings, with neocomian fuss,
"Oh, Iguanodon!" he cried, as he approached the shore,
"Why art thou thus dysthynic, love? Come, rise with me, and soar,
Or leave these estuarian seas, and wander in the grove;
Behold! a bird-like reptile fish is dying for thy love!"
Then, through the dark coniferous grove they wandered side by side,
The tender Iguanodon and Ichthyosaurian bride
And through the enubilious air, the carboniferous breeze,
Awoke, with their amphibious sighs, the silence in the trees.
"To think," they cried, botaurus-toned, "when ages intervene,
Our osseous fossil forms will be in some museum seen!"
Bemoaning thus, by dumous path, they crushed the cycad's growth,
And many a crash, and thunder, marked the progress of them both.
And when they reached the estuary, the excandescent sun
Was setting o'er the hefted sea; their saurian day was done.
Then raised they paraseline eyes unto the flaming moon,
And wept--the Neocomian Age was passing all too soon!
Oh, Iguanodon! oh, earth! oh, Ichthyosaurus
Oh, Melanocephalous saurians! Oh! oh! oh!
(Here the Platypus was sobbing)
Oh, Troglyodites obscure--oh! oh!
At this point of the song, the poor Platypus, whose voice had trembled
with increasing emotion and sobbing in each verse, broke down, overcome by
the extreme sensitiveness of its fifth pair of nerves and the sadness of
its song, and wept in terrible grief.
The gentle Kangaroo was also deeply moved, seeing the Platypus in such
sorrow, and Dot mastered her aversion to touching cold, damp fur, and
stroked the little creature's head.
The Platypus seemed much soothed by their sympathy, but hurriedly bade
them farewell. It said it must try and restore its shattered fifth pair
of nerves by a few hydrophilus latipalpus beetles for lunch, and a sleep.
It wearily dragged itself down to the edge of the pool, and looked
backwards to the Kangaroo and Dot, who called out "Good-bye" to it. Its
eyes were dim with tears, for it was still thinking of the Iguanodon and
ichthyosaurus, and of the good old days before the Flood.
"It breaks my heart to think that they are all fossils," it exclaimed,
mournfully shaking its head. "Fossils!" it repeated, as it plunged into
the pool and swam away. "Fossils!" it cried once more, in far, faint
accents; and a second later it dived out of sight.
For several moments after the Platypus had disappeared from view, the
Kangaroo and Dot remained just as it had left them. Then Dot broke the
silence.
"Dear Kangaroo," said she, "what was that song about?"
"I don't know," said the animal wistfully, "no one ever knows what the
Platypus sings about."
"It was very sad," said Dot.
"Dreadfully sad!" sighed the Kangaroo; "but the Platypus is a most learned
and interesting creature," she added hastily. "Its conversation and songs
are most edifying; everyone in the bush admits it."
"Does anyone understand its conversation?" asked Dot. She was afraid she
must be very stupid, for she hadn't understood anything except that Willy
Wagtail could help them to find her way.
"That is the beauty of it all," said the Kangaroo, "the Platypus is so
learned and so instructive, that no one tries to understand it; it is not
expected that anyone should."
