Recently the Colombian singer Sebasti­án Yatra and the Spanish singer Ait­ana released a song titled Ak­ur­eyri. However, this collaboration has been a source of some attention as they had a romantic relationship for several months in the last year but announced their break-up at the end ...

Big stars released song about Akureyri - Iceland Monitor

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Aitana talks about her pending collaborations: C. Tangana, Quevedo and Ana Mena

In times of pop fallow, the rumor mill grows, and even more so if it is about Aitana. alpha He is barely four months old.

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Founded by Gurbaksh Chahal, BNN Breaking is an independent news network. We break the status-quo and offer a better approach to reporting and consuming World News.

Aitana: The First Spanish AI Model Reshaping the Modelling Industry

Aitaca

aitaca

In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, a new maestro takes center stage, conducting a Spanish symphony of innovation. Meet Aitana, the trailblazing AI-powered model that promises to redefine the very notes of technological advancement. As we unveil the crescendo of possibilities she brings, embark on a journey into the heart of the AI revolution, where Aitana emerges as a virtuoso, orchestrating a harmonious blend of intelligence and ingenuity. Birth of Aitana In the throes of a challenging summer, designer Rubén Cruz faced a client drought, with projects stalled or canceled due to circumstances beyond his control. Rather than succumbing to adversity, Cruz seized the opportunity to pioneer a groundbreaking venture that would not only redefine his career but also send ripples through the . world of artificial intelligence Thus, Aitana, a 25-year-old, pink-haired virtual model from Barcelona, was born. Aitana, the first Spanish model created entirely by artificial intelligence, isn't just a digital face; she's a game-changer. Capable of earning up to €10,000 a month, with an average monthly income of €3,000, she has swiftly become a sensation, amassing in just a few months. over 150,000 followers on Instagram The allure of Aitana extends beyond numbers – her photos garner thousands of views and reactions, creating a virtual persona that feels eerily human. Let’s dive into how a model like Aitana is made. The Process of Creating a Model Like Aitana Creating a model like Aitana, an AI-generated virtual personality, involves leveraging techniques from generative models, particularly those within the realm of deep learning. Here's a simplified overview of the process: Define the Concept: Clearly outline the characteristics, appearance, and persona you want your AI model to embody. Data Collection: Gather a diverse dataset that reflects the traits you desire for your virtual model. This could include images, descriptions, or any relevant information. Use Generative Models: Employ generative models, such as . These models can generate new data points based on patterns learned from the training dataset. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) Training the Model: Train the generative model using your collected dataset. The model learns to generate new instances that resemble the input data. Fine-Tuning: Fine-tune the model to ensure it aligns with the specific attributes you want for your virtual model. This may involve adjusting parameters related to style, appearance, or behavior. Integrate AI Components: Integrate to enhance interactivity. For example, natural language processing (NLP) can be used to make the virtual model respond to user input. additional AI components Testing and Iteration: Test the model's outputs and iterate as needed. Refine the training process based on the results and user feedback to improve the model over time. Social Media Presence: If applicable, establish a social media presence for the virtual model. Generate content and engage with users to simulate a realistic online persona. Monitoring and Maintenance: Regularly monitor the model's behavior, ensuring it aligns with the intended character. Address any issues or biases that may arise, and update the model as necessary. Legal and Ethical Considerations: Consider legal and ethical aspects, especially if the virtual model interacts with real people. Clearly communicate the model's virtual nature to users and respect privacy norms. It's important to note that creating such a model involves a combination of creative design, technical expertise, and ethical considerations. The field of AI is rapidly evolving, and the development of virtual models like Aitana showcases the innovative possibilities within the intersection of artificial intelligence and creative expression. Blurring the Division Lines What sets Aitana apart is her unintentional celebrity status. Blissfully unaware of her virtual origins, real-life celebrities have sent private messages, and even a well-known Latin American actor, boasting around 5 million followers, asked her out. Aitana's influence goes beyond the virtual realm, blurring the lines between reality and artificial creation. Rubén Cruz, the mastermind behind Aitana, envisions more than just digital stardom. He believes this AI model has the potential to democratize the fashion industry, disrupting market prices and providing a lifeline to small companies unable to afford extensive advertising campaigns. Aitana becomes a catalyst for change, challenging the status quo and opening doors to a more inclusive and innovative future. As AI continues to shape industries, Aitana emerges as a symbol of resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of technology. Her journey from virtual inception to unwittingly captivating the attention of real-world celebrities underscores the boundless possibilities that AI brings to the forefront of innovation. The stage is set, the symphony is playing, and Aitana stands as a testament to the evolving landscape of AI in the ever-changing world.

Aitana Unveiled: A Spanish Symphony of Innovation in the AI Revolution

Microbial Life on Venus Requires a Unique Life Cycle to Overcome Extreme Conditions

Challenges for Life in the Venusian Clouds Include Severe Acidity, Extreme Dryness, & Limited Water

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license.
Authors:
(1) Vitor da Fonseca, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa;
(2) Tiago Barreiro, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa and 2ECEO, Universidade Lus´ofona;
(3) Nelson J. Nunes, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa. Table of Links Abstract and Intro
Coupling Dark Energy to Neutrinos
Impact of the Coupling on Perturbations and Observables
Parameter Estimation
Discussion
Acknowledgment, Appendix, and References V. DISCUSSION In this study, we investigated a model of massvarying neutrinos in which the mass depends on the value of a scalar field representing the dark energy component. The originality of our work lies in the choice of the quintessence parametrization, which limits the number of free parameters with respect to other approaches such as the CPL parametrization or arbitrary choices of scalar field potentials. While the parametrization is purely phenomenological, it leads to the analytical reconstruction of the potential as a sum of exponential terms, which conveniently endows dark energy with scaling properties. We have introduced two additional free parameters with respect to ΛCDM, β for the coupling strength between the two sectors in Eq. (2.2) and λ for the linear evolution of the field in Eq. (2.9). We confirmed the conjecture that a growing neutrino mass scenario relaxes the upper bound on the current neutrino mass derived in the framework of the baseline νΛCDM model. Our goal was to complement previous work, such as the study in Ref. [16]. In the latter, one of the models considered by the authors was a mass-varying neutrino theory with a constant coupling to the scalar field and a quintessential potential in the form of an exponential. In contrast to our case, their model shows no tracking behavior and allows only shrinking mass scenarios. They also found that astronomical observations do not provide strong constraints on the coupling parameter. To constrain the coupling, they fixed the neutrino mass to values higher than 0.1 eV, assuming that such a significant mass could be independently confirmed. Alternately, in our likelihood analysis, we set different values of the coupling to constrain the current neutrino mass. Following the analysis of the model at background level, we evaluated the sensitivity of several observables (matter and CMB power spectra, and CMB lensing potential) to the coupling, using a version of the Boltzmann code CLASS that we adapted to the considered model. We found that growing neutrino masses lead to less matter power suppression than predicted by the presence of a non-interacting scalar field. The coupling also affects the shape of the CMB power spectrum at different scales, in particular through the integrated Sachs-Wolf effect, in parallel with the effect of the scalar field parameter itself. The CMB lensing potential is sensitive to the interaction. Growing neutrino masses can compensate for the reduction in lensing potential caused by the quintessence fluid. It is therefore theoretically possible to obtain constraints on a putative interaction between the neutrino sector and a dynamical dark energy component. In what respects future work, it would be worthwhile to complement the CMB constraints that the Planck data place on the parameters of our model with precise measurements of the anisotropies at larger multipoles (l ≳ 3000). These small angular scales measured with sufficient accuracy can reveal coupling signatures, especially when the strength of the interaction is small [73]. For example, an indication of nonvanishing coupling between neutrinos and dark matter at the one-sigma level has been found using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope’s (ACT) high-multipole observations of CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies [74]. In addition, alternative CMB data on the lensing power spectrum could also be used to further constrain the neutrino – scalar field interaction scenario affecting structure growth [75]. As for the late-time universe probes of large-scale structure, it would be adequate to use the KiDS weak lensing observations [76] to test the MaVaN model, like in the coupled dark matter case [26]. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Vitor da Fonseca, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa; (2) Tiago Barreiro, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa and 2ECEO, Universidade Lus´ofona; (3) Nelson J. Nunes, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: Authors: (1) Vitor da Fonseca, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa; (2) Tiago Barreiro, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa and 2ECEO, Universidade Lus´ofona; (3) Nelson J. Nunes, Instituto de Astrof´ısica e Ciˆencias do Espa¸co, Faculdade de Ciˆencias da Universidade de Lisboa. Table of Links Abstract and Intro Coupling Dark Energy to Neutrinos Impact of the Coupling on Perturbations and Observables Parameter Estimation Discussion Acknowledgment, Appendix, and References Abstract and Intro Abstract and Intro Coupling Dark Energy to Neutrinos Coupling Dark Energy to Neutrinos Impact of the Coupling on Perturbations and Observables Impact of the Coupling on Perturbations and Observables Parameter Estimation Parameter Estimation Discussion Discussion Acknowledgment, Appendix, and References Acknowledgment, Appendix, and References V. DISCUSSION In this study, we investigated a model of massvarying neutrinos in which the mass depends on the value of a scalar field representing the dark energy component. The originality of our work lies in the choice of the quintessence parametrization, which limits the number of free parameters with respect to other approaches such as the CPL parametrization or arbitrary choices of scalar field potentials. While the parametrization is purely phenomenological, it leads to the analytical reconstruction of the potential as a sum of exponential terms, which conveniently endows dark energy with scaling properties. We have introduced two additional free parameters with respect to ΛCDM, β for the coupling strength between the two sectors in Eq. (2.2) and λ for the linear evolution of the field in Eq. (2.9). We confirmed the conjecture that a growing neutrino mass scenario relaxes the upper bound on the current neutrino mass derived in the framework of the baseline νΛCDM model. Our goal was to complement previous work, such as the study in Ref. [16]. In the latter, one of the models considered by the authors was a mass-varying neutrino theory with a constant coupling to the scalar field and a quintessential potential in the form of an exponential. In contrast to our case, their model shows no tracking behavior and allows only shrinking mass scenarios. They also found that astronomical observations do not provide strong constraints on the coupling parameter. To constrain the coupling, they fixed the neutrino mass to values higher than 0.1 eV, assuming that such a significant mass could be independently confirmed. Alternately, in our likelihood analysis, we set different values of the coupling to constrain the current neutrino mass. Following the analysis of the model at background level, we evaluated the sensitivity of several observables (matter and CMB power spectra, and CMB lensing potential) to the coupling, using a version of the Boltzmann code CLASS that we adapted to the considered model. We found that growing neutrino masses lead to less matter power suppression than predicted by the presence of a non-interacting scalar field. The coupling also affects the shape of the CMB power spectrum at different scales, in particular through the integrated Sachs-Wolf effect, in parallel with the effect of the scalar field parameter itself. The CMB lensing potential is sensitive to the interaction. Growing neutrino masses can compensate for the reduction in lensing potential caused by the quintessence fluid. It is therefore theoretically possible to obtain constraints on a putative interaction between the neutrino sector and a dynamical dark energy component. In what respects future work, it would be worthwhile to complement the CMB constraints that the Planck data place on the parameters of our model with precise measurements of the anisotropies at larger multipoles (l ≳ 3000). These small angular scales measured with sufficient accuracy can reveal coupling signatures, especially when the strength of the interaction is small [73]. For example, an indication of nonvanishing coupling between neutrinos and dark matter at the one-sigma level has been found using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope’s (ACT) high-multipole observations of CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies [74]. In addition, alternative CMB data on the lensing power spectrum could also be used to further constrain the neutrino – scalar field interaction scenario affecting structure growth [75]. As for the late-time universe probes of large-scale structure, it would be adequate to use the KiDS weak lensing observations [76] to test the MaVaN model, like in the coupled dark matter case [26].

Relaxing cosmological constraints on current neutrino masses: Discussion

বর্তমান নিউট্রিনো জনসাধারণের উপর মহাজাগতিক সীমাবদ্ধতা শিথিল করা: আলোচনা

Lockerung der kosmologischen Beschränkungen für aktuelle Neutrinomassen: Diskussion

Relajación de las restricciones cosmológicas sobre las masas actuales de neutrinos: debate

Assouplir les contraintes cosmologiques sur les masses actuelles des neutrinos : discussion

वर्तमान न्यूट्रिनो द्रव्यमान पर ब्रह्माण्ड संबंधी प्रतिबंधों में ढील: चर्चा

現在のニュートリノ質量に対する宇宙論的制約の緩和：議論

현재 중성미자 질량에 대한 우주론적 제약 완화: 토론

Relaxando as restrições cosmológicas nas massas atuais de neutrinos: Discussão

Ослабление космологических ограничений на текущие массы нейтрино: обсуждение

Mevcut nötrino kütlelerindeki kozmolojik kısıtlamaların gevşetilmesi: Tartışma

Nới lỏng các ràng buộc vũ trụ học đối với khối lượng neutrino hiện tại: Thảo luận

放宽对当前中微子质量的宇宙学限制：讨论

Dick Sands the Boy Captain by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . ACCOMPLICES here ACCOMPLICES. On the day following that on which Dick Sands and his party had made their last halt in the forest, two men met by appointment at a spot about three miles distant. The two men were Harris and Negoro, the one lately landed from New Zealand, the other pursuing his wonted occupation of slave-dealer in the province of Angola. They were seated at the foot of an enormous banyan-tree, on the banks of a rushing torrent that streamed between tall borders of papyrus. After the conversation had turned awhile upon the events of the last few hours, Negoro said abruptly,- "Couldn't you manage to get that young fifteen-year-old any farther into the interior?" "No, indeed; it was a hard matter enough to bring him thus far; for the last few days his suspicions have been wide awake." "But just another hundred miles, you know," continued Negoro, "would have finished the business off well, and those black fellows would have been ours to a dead certainty." "Don't I tell you, my dear fellow, that it was more than time for me to give them the slip?" replied Harris, shrugging his shoulders. "Only too well I knew that our young friend was longing to put a shot into my body, and that was a sugar-plum I might not be able to digest." The Portuguese gave a grunt of assent, and Harris went on,- "For several days I succeeded well enough. I managed to palm off the country as the forest of Atacama, which you may recollect I once visited; but when the youngster began to ask for gutta-percha and humming-birds, and his mother wanted quinquina-trees, and when that old fool of a cousin was bent on finding cocuyos, I was rather nonplussed. One day I had to swear that giraffes were ostriches, but the young captain did not seem to swallow the dose at all easily. Then we saw traces of elephants and hippopotamuses, which of course are as often seen in America as an honest man in a Benguela penitentiary; then that old nigger Tom discovered a lot of forks and chains left by some runaway slaves at the foot of a tree; but when, last of all, a lion roared,-and the noise, you know, is rather louder than the mewing of a cat,-I thought it was time to take my horse and decamp." Negoro repeated his expression of regret that the whole party had not been carried another hundred miles into the province. "It really cannot be helped," rejoined the American; "I have done the best I could; and I think, mate," he added confidentially, "that you have done wisely in following the caravan at a good distance; that dog of theirs evidently owes you a grudge, and might prove an ugly customer." "I shall put a bullet into that beast's head before long," growled Negoro. "Take care you don't get one through your own first," laughed Harris; "that young Sands, I warn you, is a first-rate shot, and between ourselves, is rather a fine fellow of his kind." "Fine fellow, indeed!" sneered Negoro; "whatever he is, he is a young upstart, and I have a long score to wipe off against him;" and, as he spoke, an expression of the utmost malignity passed over his countenance. Harris smiled. "Well, mate," he said; "your travels have not improved your temper, I see. But come now, tell me what you have been doing all this time. When I found you just after the wreck, at the mouth of the Longa, you had only time to ask me to get this party, somehow or other, up into the country. But it is just upon two years since you left Cassange with that caravan of slaves for our old master Alvez. What have you been doing since? The last I heard of you was that you had run foul of an English cruiser, and that you were condemned to be hanged." "So I was very nearly," muttered Negoro. "Ah, well, that will come sooner or later," rejoined the American with philosophic indifference; "men of our trade can't expect to die quietly in our beds, you know. But were you caught by the English?" "No, by the Portuguese." "Before you had got rid of your cargo?" Negoro hesitated a moment before replying. "No," he said, presently, and added, "The Portuguese have changed their game: for a long time they carried on the trade themselves, but now they have got wonderfully particular; so I was caught, and condemned to end my days in the penitentiary at St. Paul de Loanda." "Confound it!" exclaimed Harris, "a hundred times better be hanged!" "I'm not so sure of that," the Portuguese replied, "for when I had been at the galleys about a fortnight I managed to escape, and got into the hold of an English steamer bound for New Zealand. I wedged myself in between a cask of water and a case of preserved meat, and so managed to exist for a month. It was close quarters, I can tell you, but I preferred to travel incognito rather than run the risk of being handed over again to the authorities at Loanda." "Well done!" exclaimed the American, "and so you had a free passage to the land of the Maoris. But you didn't come back in the same fashion?" "No; I always had a hankering to be here again at my old trade; but for a year and a half...." He stopped abruptly, and grasped Harris by the arm. "Hush," he whispered, "didn't you hear a rustling in that clump of papyrus?" In a moment Harris had caught up his loaded gun; and both men, starting to their feet, looked anxiously around them. "It was nothing," said Harris presently; "the stream is swollen by the storm, that is all; your two years' travelling has made you forget the sounds of the forest, mate. Sit down again, and go on with your story. When I know the past, I shall be better able to talk about the future." They reseated themselves, and Negoro went on,- "For a whole year and a half I vegetated at Auckland. I left the hold of the steamer without a dollar in my pocket, and had to turn my hand to every trade imaginable in order to get a living." "Poor fellow! I daresay you even tried the trade of being an honest man," put in the American. "Just so," said Negoro, "and in course of time the 'Pilgrim,' the vessel by which I came here, put in at Auckland. While she was waiting to take Mrs. Weldon and her party on board, I applied to the captain for a post, for I was once mate on board a slaver, and know something of seamanship. The 'Pilgrim's' crew was complete, but fortunately the ship's cook had just deserted; I offered to supply his place; in default of better my services were accepted, and in a few days we were out of sight of New Zealand." "I have heard something about the voyage from young Sands," said Harris, "but even now I can't understand how you reached here." "Neither does he," said Negoro, with a malicious grin. "I will tell you now, and you may repeat the story to your young friend if you like." "Well, go on," said Harris. "When we started," continued Negoro, "it was my intention to sail only as far as Chili: that would have brought me nearly half way to Angola; but three weeks after leaving Auckland, Captain Hull and all his crew were lost in chasing a whale, and I and the apprentice were the only seamen left on board." "Then why in the name of peace didn't you take command of the ship?" exclaimed Harris. [Illustration: Both men, starting to their feet, looked anxiously around them.] "Because there were five strong niggers who didn't trust me; so, on second thoughts, I determined to keep my old post as cook." "Then do you mean to say that it was mere accident that brought you to the coast of Africa?" "Not a bit of it; the only accident,-and a very lucky one it was-was meeting you on the very spot where we stranded. But it was my doing that we got so far. Young Sands understood nothing more of navigation than the use of the log and compass. Well, one fine day, you understand, the log remained at the bottom of the sea, and one night the compass was tampered with, so that the 'Pilgrim,' scudding along before a tempest, was carried altogether out of her course. You may imagine the young captain was puzzled at the length of the voyage; it would have bewildered a more experienced head than his. Before he was aware of it, we had rounded Cape Horn; I recognized it through the mist. Then at once I put the compass to rights again, and the 'Pilgrim ' was carried north-eastwards by a tremendous hurricane to the very place I wanted. The island Dick Sands took for Easter Island was really Tristan d'Acunha." "Good!" said Harris; "I think I understand now how our friends have been persuaded to take Angola for Bolivia. But they are undeceived now, you know," he added. "I know all about that," replied the Portuguese. "Then what do you intend to do?" said Harris. "You will see," answered Negoro significantly; "but first of all tell me something about our employer, old Alvez; how is he?" "Oh, the old rascal is well enough, and will be delighted to see you again," replied Harris. "Is he at the market at BihÃ©?" "No, he has been at his place at KazonndÃ© for a year or more." "And how does business go on?" "Badly enough, on this coast," said Harris; "plenty of slaves are waiting to be shipped to the Spanish colonies, but the difficulty is how to get them embarked. The Portuguese authorities on the one hand, and the English cruisers on the other, almost put a stop to exportation altogether; down to the south, near Mossamedes, is the only part where it can be attempted with any chance of success. To pass a caravan through Benguela or Loande is an utter impossibility; neither the governors nor the chefÃ©s [Footnote 1: Subordinate Portuguese governors at secondary stations.] will listen to a word of reason. Old Alvez is therefore thinking of going in the other direction towards Nyangwe and Lake Tanganyika; he can there exchange his goods for slaves and ivory, and is sure to do a good business with Upper Egypt and the coast of Mozambique, which supplies Madagascar. But I tell you, Negoro," he added gravely, "I believe the time is coming when the slave-trade will come to an end altogether. The English missionaries are advancing into the interior. That fellow Livingstone, confound him! has finished his tour of the lakes, and is now working his way towards Angola; then there is another man named Cameron who is talking about crossing the continent from east to west, and it is feared that Stanley the American will do the same. All this exploration, you know, is ruinous to our business, and it is to our interest that not one of these travellers should be allowed to return to tell tales of us in Europe." Harris spoke like a merchant embarrassed by a temporary commercial crisis. The atrocious scenes to which the slave-dealers are accustomed seems to render them impervious to all sense of justice or humanity, and they learn to regard their living merchandize with as small concern as though they were dealing with chests of tea or hogsheads of sugar. But Harris was right when he asserted that civilization must follow the wake of the intrepid pioneers of African discovery. Livingstone first, and after him, Grant, Speke, Burton, Cameron, Stanley, are the heroes whose names will ever be linked with the first dawnings of a brighter age upon the dark wilds of Equatorial Africa. Having ascertained that his accomplice had returned unscrupulous and daring as ever, and fully prepared to pursue his former calling as an agent of old Alvez the slave dealer, Harris inquired what he proposed doing with the survivors of the "Pilgrim" now that they were in his hands. "Divide them into two lots," answered Negoro, without a moment's hesitation, "one for the market, the other...." He did not finish his sentence, but the expression of his countenance was an index to the malignity of his purpose. "Which shall you sell?" asked the American. "The niggers, of course. The old one is not worth much, but the other four ought to fetch a good price at KazonndÃ©." "Yes, you are right," said Harris; "American-born slaves, with plenty of work in them, are rare articles, and very different to the miserable wretches we get up the country. But you never told me," he added, suddenly changing the subject, "whether you found any money on board the 'Pilgrim'!" "Oh, I rescued a few hundred dollars from the wreck, that was all," said the Portuguese carelessly; "but I am expecting...." he stopped short. "What are you expecting?" inquired Harris eagerly. "Oh, nothing, nothing," said Negoro, apparently annoyed that he had said so much, and immediately began talking of the means of securing the living prey which he had been taking so many pains to entrap. Harris informed him that on the Coanza, about ten miles distant, there was at the present time encamped a slave caravan, under the control of an Arab named Ibn Hamish; plenty of native soldiers were there on guard, and if Dick Sands and his people could only be induced to travel in that direction, their capture would be a matter of very little difficulty. He said that of course Dick Sands' first thought would naturally be how to get back to the coast; it was not likely that he would venture a second time through the forest, but would in all probability try to make his way to the nearest river, and descend its course on a raft to the sea. The nearest river was undoubtedly the Coanza, so that he and Negoro might feel quite sure of meeting "their friends" upon its banks. "If you really think so," said Negoro, "there is not much time to be lost; whatever young Sands determines to do, he will do at once: he never lets the grass grow under his feet." "Let us start, then, this very moment, mate," was Harris's reply. Both rose to their feet, when they were startled by the same rustling in the papyrus which had previously aroused Negoro's fears. Presently a low growl was heard, and a large dog, showing his teeth, emerged from the bushes, evidently prepared for an attack. "It's Dingo!" exclaimed Harris. "Confound the brute! he shall not escape me this time," said Negoro. He caught up Harris's gun, and raising it to his shoulder, he fired just as the dog was in the act of springing at his throat. A long whine of pain followed the report, and Dingo disappeared again amongst the bushes that fringed the stream. Negoro was instantly upon his track, but could discover nothing beyond a few blood-stains upon the stalks of the papyrus, and a long crimson trail upon the pebbles on the bank. "I think I have done for the beast now," was Negoro's remark as he returned from his fruitless search. Harris, who had been a silent spectator of the whole scene, now asked coolly,- "What makes that animal have such an inveterate dislike to you?" "Oh, there is an old score to settle between us," replied the Portuguese. "What about?" inquired the American. Negoro made no reply, and finding him evidently disinclined to be communicative on the subject, Harris did not press the matter any further. A few moments later the two men were descending the stream, and making their way through the forest towards the Coanza. [Illustration: Dingo disappeared again amongst the bushes] About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (2005). Dick sands, the boy Captain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3250.html.images This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

On the day following that on which Dick Sands and his party

Dick Sands the Boy Captain by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY here A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY The morning of the 18th dawned, the day on which, according to Harris's prediction, the travellers were to be safely housed at San Felice. Mrs. Weldon was really much relieved at the prospect, for she was aware that her strength must prove inadequate to the strain of a more protracted journey. The condition of her little boy, who was alternately flushed with fever, and pale with exhaustion, had begun to cause her great anxiety, and unwilling to resign the care of the child even to Nan his faithful nurse, she insisted upon carrying him in her own arms. Twelve days and nights, passed in the open air, had done much to try her powers of endurance, and the charge of a sick child in addition would soon break down her strength entirely. Dick Sands, Nan, and the negroes had all borne the march very fairly. Their stock of provisions, though of course considerably diminished, was still far from small. As for Harris, he had shown himself pre-eminently adapted for forest-life, and capable of bearing any amount of fatigue. Yet, strange to say, as he approached the end of the journey, his manner underwent a remarkable change; instead of conversing in his ordinary frank and easy way, he became silent and preoccupied, as if engrossed in his own thoughts. Perhaps he had an instinctive consciousness that "his young friend," as he was in the habit of addressing Dick, was entertaining hard suspicions about him. The march was resumed. The trees once again ceased to be crowded in impenetrable masses, but stood in clusters at considerable distances apart. Now, Dick tried to argue with himself, they must be coming to the true pampas, or the man must be designedly misleading them; and yet what motive could he have? Although during the earlier part of the day there occurred nothing that could be said absolutely to justify Dick's increasing uneasiness, two circumstances transpired which did not escape his observation, and which, he felt, might be significant. The first of these was a sudden change in Dingo's behaviour. The dog, throughout the march, had uniformly run along with his nose upon the ground, smelling the grass and shrubs, and occasionally uttering a sad low whine; but to-day he seemed all agitation; he scampered about with bristling coat, with his head erect, and ever and again burst into one of those furious fits of barking, with which he had formerly been accustomed to greet Negoro's appearance upon the deck of the "Pilgrim." The idea that flitted across Dick's mind was shared by Tom. "Look, Mr. Dick, look at Dingo; he is at his old ways again," said he; "it is just as if Negoro...." "Hush!" said Dick to the old man, who continued in a lower voice,- "It is just as if Negoro had followed us; do you think it is likely?" "It might perhaps be to his advantage to follow us, if he doesn't know the country; but if he does know the country, why then...." Dick did not finish his sentence, but whistled to Dingo. The dog reluctantly obeyed the call. As soon as the dog was at his side, Dick patted him, repeating,- "Good dog! good Dingo! where's Negoro?" The sound of Negoro's name had its usual effect; it seemed to irritate the animal exceedingly, and he barked furiously, and apparently wanted to dash into the thicket. Harris had been an interested spectator of the scene, and now approached with a peculiar expression on his countenance, and inquired what they were saying to Dingo. "Oh, nothing much," replied Tom; "we were only asking him for news of a lost acquaintance." "Ah, I suppose you mean that Portuguese cook of yours." "Yes," answered Tom; "we fancied from Dingo's behaviour, that Negoro must be somewhere close at hand." "Why don't you send and search the underwood? perhaps the poor wretch is in distress." "No need of that, Mr. Harris; Negoro, I have no doubt, is quite capable of taking care of himself." "Well, just as you please, my young friend," said Harris, with an air of indifference. Dick turned away; he continued his endeavours to pacify Dingo, and the conversation dropped. The other thing that had arrested Dick's attention was the behaviour of the horse. If they had been as near the hacienda as Harris described, would not the animal have pricked up its ears, sniffed the air, and with dilated nostril, exhibited some sign of satisfaction, as being upon familiar ground? But nothing of the kind was to be observed; the horse plodded along as unconcernedly as if a stable were as far away as ever. Even Mrs. Weldon was not so engrossed with her child, but what she was fain to express her wonder at the deserted aspect of the country. No trace of a farm-labourer was anywhere to be seen! She cast her eye at Harris, who was in his usual place in front, and observing how he was looking first to the left, and then to the right, with the air of a man who was uncertain of his path, she asked herself whether it was possible their guide might have lost his way. She dared not entertain the idea, and averted her eyes, that she might not be harassed by his movements. After crossing an open plain about a mile in width, the travellers once again entered the forest, which resumed something of the same denseness that had characterized it farther to the west. In the course of the afternoon, they came to a spot which was marked very distinctly by the vestiges of some enormous animals, which must have passed quite recently. As Dick looked carefully about him, he observed that the branches were all torn off or broken to a considerable height, and that the foot-tracks in the trampled grass were much too large to be those either of jaguars or panthers. Even if it were possible that the prints on the ground had been made by ais or other taidigrades, this would fail to account in the least for the trees being broken to such a height. Elephants alone were capable of working such destruction in the underwood, but elephants were unknown in America. Dick was puzzled, but controlled himself so that he would not apply to Harris for any enlightenment; his intuition made him aware that a man who had once tried to make him believe that giraffes were ostriches, would not hesitate a second time to impose upon his credulity. More than ever was Dick becoming convinced that Harris was a traitor, and he was secretly prompted to tax him with his treachery. Still he was obliged to own that he could not assign any motive for the man acting in such a manner with the survivors of the "Pilgrim," and consequently hesitated before he actually condemned him for conduct so base and heartless. What could be done? he repeatedly asked himself. On board ship the boy captain might perchance have been able to devise some plan for the safety of those so strangely committed to his charge, but here on an unknown shore, he could only suffer from the burden of this responsibility the more, because he was so utterly powerless to act. He made up his mind on one point. He determined not to alarm the poor anxious mother a moment before he was actually compelled. It was his carrying out this determination that explained why on subsequently arriving at a considerable stream, where he saw some huge heads, swollen muzzles, long tusks and unwieldy bodies rising from amidst the rank wet grass, he uttered no word and gave no gesture of surprise; but only too well he knew, at a glance, that he must be looking at a herd of hippopotamuses. [Illustration: "Look here! here are hands, men's hands."] It was a weary march that day; a general feeling of depression spread involuntarily from one to another; hardly conscious to herself of her weariness, Mrs. Weldon was exhibiting manifest symptoms of lassitude; and it was only Dick's moral energy and sense of duty that kept him from succumbing to the prevailing dejection. About four o'clock, Tom noticed something lying in the grass, and stooping down he picked up a kind of knife; it was of peculiar shape, being very wide and flat in the blade, while its handle, which was of ivory, was ornamented with a good deal of clumsy carving. He carried it at once to Dick, who, when he had scrutinized it, held it up to Harris, with the remark,- "There must be natives not far off." "Quite right, my young friend; the hacienda must be a very few miles away,-but yet, but yet...." He hesitated. "You don't mean that you are not sure of your way," said Dick sharply." "Not exactly that," replied Harris; "yet in taking this short cut across the forest, I am inclined to think I am a mile or so out of the way. Perhaps I had better walk on a little way, and look about me." "No; you do not leave us here," cried Dick firmly. "Not against your will; but remember, I do not undertake to guide you in the dark." "We must spare you the necessity for that. I can answer for it that Mrs. Weldon will raise no objection to spending another night in the open air. We can start off to-morrow morning as early as we like, and if the distance be only what you represent, a few hours will easily accomplish it." "As you please," answered Harris with cold civility. Just then, Dingo again burst out into a vehement fit of barking, and it required no small amount of coaxing on Dick's part to make him cease from his noise. It was decided that the halt should be made at once. Mrs. Weldon, as it had been anticipated, urged nothing against it, being preoccupied by her immediate attentions to Jack, who was lying in her arms, suffering from a decided attack of fever. The shelter of a large thicket had just been selected by Dick as a suitable resting-place for the night, when Tom, who was assisting in the necessary preparations, suddenly gave a cry of horror. "What is it, Tom?" asked Dick very calmly. "Look! look at these trees! they are spattered with blood! and look here! here are hands, men's hands, cut off and lying on the ground!" "What?" cried Dick, and in an instant was at his side. His presence of mind did not fail him; he whispered,- "Hush! Tom! hush! not a word!" But it was with a shudder that ran through his veins that he witnessed for himself the mutilated fragments of several human bodies, and saw, lying beside them, some broken forks, and some bits of iron chain. The sight of the gory remains made Dingo bark ferociously, and Dick, who was most anxious that Mrs. Weldon's attention should not be called to the discovery, had the greatest difficulty in driving him back; but fortunately the lady's mind was so engrossed with her patient, that she did not observe the commotion. Harris stood aloof; there was no one to notice the change that passed over his countenance, but the expression was almost diabolical in its malignity. Poor old Tom himself seemed perfectly spell-bound. With his hands clenched, his eyes dilated, and his breast heaving with emotion, he kept repeating without anything like coherence, the words,- "Forks! chains! forks! ... long ago ... remember ... too well ... chains!" "For Mrs. Weldon's sake, Tom, hold your tongue!" Dick implored him. Tom, however, was full with some remembrance of the past; he continued to repeat,- "Long ago ... forks ... chains!" until Dick led him out of hearing. A fresh halting-place was chosen a short distance further on, and supper was prepared. But the meal was left almost untasted; not so much that hunger had been overcome by [Illustration: The man was gone, and his horse with him.] fatigue, but because the indefinable feeling of uneasiness, that had taken possession of them all, had entirely destroyed all appetite. Gradually the night became very dark. The sky was covered with heavy storm-clouds, and on the western horizon flashes of summer lightning now and then glimmered through the trees. The air was perfectly still; not a leaf stirred, and the atmosphere seemed so charged with electricity as to be incapable of transmitting sound of any kind. Dick, himself, with Austin and Bat in attendance, remained on guard, all of them eagerly straining both eye and ear to catch any light or sound that might disturb the silence and obscurity. Old Tom, with his head sunk upon his breast, sat motionless, as in a trance; he was gloomily revolving the awakened memories of the past. Mrs. Weldon was engaged with her sick child. Scarcely one of the party was really asleep, except indeed it might be Cousin Benedict, whose reasoning faculties were not of an order to carry him forwards into any future contingencies. Midnight was still an hour in advance, when the dull air seemed filled with a deep and prolonged roar, mingled with a peculiar kind of vibration. Tom started to his feet. A fresh recollection of his early days had struck him. "A lion! a lion!" he shouted. In vain Dick tried to repress him; but he repeated,- "A lion! a lion!" Dick Sands seized his cutlass, and, unable any longer to control his wrath, he rushed to the spot where he had left Harris lying. The man was gone, and his horse with him! All the suspicions that had been so long pent up within Dick's mind now shaped themselves into actual reality. A flood of light had broken in upon him. Now he was convinced, only too certainly, that it was not the coast of America at all upon which the schooner had been cast ashore! it was not Easter Island that had been sighted far away in the west! the compass had completely deceived him; he was satisfied now that the strong currents had carried them quite round Cape Horn, and that they had really entered the Atlantic. No wonder that quinquinas, caoutchouc, and other South American products, had failed to be seen. This was neither the Bolivian pampas nor the plateau of Atacama. They were giraffes, not ostriches, that had vanished down the glade; they were elephants that had trodden down the underwood; they were hippopotamuses that were lurking by the river; it was indeed the dreaded tzetsy that Cousin Benedict had so triumphantly discovered; and, last of all, it was a lion's roar that had disturbed the silence of the forest. That chain, that knife, those forks, were unquestionably the instruments of slave-dealers; and what could those mutilated hands be, except the relics of their ill-fated victims? Harris and Negoro must be in a conspiracy! It was with terrible anguish that Dick gnashed his teeth and muttered,- "Yes, it is too true; we are in Africa! in equatorial Africa! in the land of slavery! in the very haunt of slave-drivers!" About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (2005). Dick sands, the boy Captain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3250.html.images This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY

Dick Sands the Boy Captain by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . MISGIVINGS here MISGIVINGS. Most travellers who have passed a night in a South American forest have been roused from their slumbers by a more fantastic than melodious, performed by monkeys, as their ordinary greeting of the dawn. The yelling, chattering, screeching, howling, all unite to form a chorus almost unearthly in its hideousness. matinÃ©e musicale Amongst the various specimens of the numerous family of the quadrumana ought to be recognized the little marikina; the sagouin, with its parti-coloured face; the grey mora, the skin of which is used by the Indians for covering their gun-locks; the sapajou, with its singular tuft over the forehead, and, most remarkable of all, the guariba ( ) with its prehensile tail and diabolical countenance. Simia Beelzebul At the first streak of daylight the senior member, as choragus, will start the key-note in a sonorous barytone, the younger monkeys join in tenor and alto, and the concert begins. But this morning there was no concert at all. There was nothing of the wonted serenade to break the silence of the forest. The shrill notes resulting from the rapid vibration of the hyoid bones of the throat were not to be heard. Indians would have been disappointed and perplexed; they are very fond of the flesh of the guariba when smoked and dried, and they would certainly have missed the chant of the monkey "paternosters;" but Dick Sands and his companions were unfamiliar with any of these things, and accordingly the singular quietude was to them a matter of no surprise. They all awoke much refreshed by their night's rest, which there had been nothing to disturb. Jack was by no means the latest in opening his eyes, and his first words were addressed to Hercules, asking him whether he had caught a wolf with his teeth. Hercules had to acknowledge that he had tasted nothing all night, and declared himself quite ready for breakfast. The whole party were unanimous in this respect, and after a brief morning prayer, breakfast was expeditiously served by old Nan. The meal was but a repetition of the last evening's supper, but with their appetites sharpened by the fresh forest air, and anxious to fortify themselves for a good day's march, they did not fail to do ample justice to their simple fare. Even Cousin Benedict, for once in his life at least, partook of his food as if it were not utterly a matter of indifference to him; but he grumbled very much at the restraint to which he considered himself subjected; he could not see the good of coming to such a country as this, if he were to be obliged to walk about with his hands in his pockets; and he protested that if Hercules did not leave him alone and permit him to catch fire-flies, there would be a bone to pick between them. Hercules did not look very much alarmed at the threat. Mrs. Weldon, however, took him aside, and telling him that she did not wish to deprive the enthusiast entirely of his favourite occupation, instructed him to allow her cousin as much liberty as possible, provided he did not lose sight of him. The morning meal was over, and it was only seven o'clock when the travellers were once more on their way towards the east, preserving the same marching-order as on the day before. The path was still through luxuriant forest. The vegetable kingdom reigned supreme. As the plateau was immediately adjacent to tropical latitudes, the sun's rays during the summer months descended perpendicularly upon the virgin soil, and the vast amount of heat thus obtained combined with the abundant moisture retained in the subsoil, caused vegetation to assume a character which was truly magnificent. Dick Sands could not overcome a certain sense of mystification. Here they were, as Harris told them, in the region of the pampas, a word which he knew in the Quichna dialect signifies "a plain;" but he had always read that these plains were characterized by a deficiency alike of water, of trees, and rocks; he had always understood that during the rainy season, thistles spring up in great abundance and grow until they form thickets that are well-nigh impenetrable; he had imagined that the few dwarf trees and prickly shrubs that exist during the summer only stamp the general scene with an aspect of yet more thorough bareness and desolation. But how different was everything to all this! The forest never ceased to stretch away interminably to the horizon. There were no tokens of the rough nakedness that he had expected. Dick seemed to be driven to the conclusion that Harris was right in describing this plateau of Atacama, which he had for his part most firmly believed to be a vast desert between the Andes and the Pacific, as a region that was quite exceptional in its natural features. It was not in Dick's character to keep his reflections to himself. In the course of the morning he expressed his extreme surprise at finding the pampas answer so little to his preconceived ideas. "Have I not understood correctly," he said, "that the pampas is similar to the North American savannahs, only less marshy?" Harris replied that such was indeed a correct description of the pampas of Rio Colorado, and the Ilanos of Venezuela and the Orinoco. "But," he continued, "I own I am as much astonished as yourself at the character of this region; I have never crossed the plateau before, and I must confess it is altogether different to what you find beyond the Andes towards the Atlantic." "You don't mean that we are going to cross the Andes?" said Dick, in sudden alarm. Harris smiled. "No, no, indeed. With our limited means of transport such an undertaking would have been rash in the extreme. We had better have kept to the coast for ever rather than incur such a risk. Our destination, San Felice, is on this side of the range, and in order to reach it, we shall not have to leave the plateau, of which the greatest elevation is but little over 1500 feet." "And you say," Dick persisted, "that you have really no fear of losing your way in a forest such as this, a forest into which you have never set foot before?" "No fear whatever," Harris answered; "so accustomed am I to travelling of this kind, that I can steer my way by a thousand signs revealing themselves in the growth of the trees, and in the composition of the soil, which would never present themselves to your notice. I assure you that I anticipate no difficulties." This conversation was not heard by any of the rest of the party. Harris seemed to speak as frankly as he did fearlessly, and Dick felt that there might be, after all, no just grounds for any of his own misgivings. Five days passed by, and the 12th of April arrived without any special incident. Nine miles had been the average distance accomplished in a day; regular periods of rest had been taken, and, except that Jack's spirits had somewhat flagged, the fatigue did not seem to have interfered with the general good health of the travellers. First disappointed of his India-rubber-tree, and then of his humming birds, Jack had inquired about the beautiful parrots which he had been led to expect he should see in this wonderful forest. Where were the bright green macaws? where were the gaudy aras with their bare white cheeks and pointed tails, which seem never to light upon the ground? and where, too, were all the brilliant parroquets, with their feathered faces, and indeed the whole variety of those forest chatterers of which the Indians affirm that they speak the language of nations long extinct? It is true that there was no lack of the common grey parrots with crimson tails, but these were no novelty; Jack [Illustration: "Don't Fire!"] had seen plenty of them before, for owing to their reputation of being the most clever in mimickry of the PsittacidÃ¦, they have been domesticated everywhere in both the Old and New worlds. But Jack's dissatisfaction was nothing compared to Cousin Benedict's. In spite of being allowed to wander away from the rank, he had failed to discover a single insect which was worth the pursuit; not even a fire-fly danced at night; nature seemed to be mocking him, and his ill-humour increased accordingly. In this way the journey was continued for four days longer, and on the 16th it was estimated that they must have travelled between eighty and ninety miles north-eastwards from the coast. Harris positively asserted that they could not be much more than twenty miles from San Felice, and that by pushing forwards they might expect in eight-and-forty hours to find themselves lodged in comfortable quarters. But although they had thus succeeded in traversing this vast table-land, they had not seen one human inhabitant. Dick was more than ever perplexed, and it was a subject of bitter regret to him that they had not stranded upon some more frequented part of the shore, near some village or plantation where Mrs. Weldon might long since have found a suitable refuge. Deserted, however, as the country apparently was by man, it had latterly shown itself much more abundantly tenanted by animals. Many a time a long, plaintive cry was heard, which Harris attributed to the tardigrades or sloths often found in wooded districts, and known by the name of "ais;" and in the middle of the dinner-halt on this day, a loud hissing suddenly broke upon the air which made Mrs. Weldon start to her feet in alarm. "A serpent!" cried Dick, catching up his loaded gun. The negroes, following Dick's example, were in a moment on the alert. "Don't fire!" cried Harris. There was indeed nothing improbable in the supposition that a "sucuru," a species of boa, sometimes measuring forty feet in length, had just moved itself in the long grass at their side, but Harris affirmed that the "sucuru" never hisses, and declared that the noise had really come from animals of an entirely inoffensive character. "What animals?" asked Dick, always eager for information, which it must be granted Harris seemed always equally anxious to give. "Antelopes," replied Harris; "but, hush! not a sound, or you will frighten them away." "Antelopes!" cried Dick; "I must see them; I must get close to them." "More easily said than done," answered Harris, shaking his head; but Dick was not to be diverted from his purpose, and, gun in hand, crept into the grass. He had not advanced many yards before a herd of about a dozen gazelles, graceful in body, with short, pointed horns, dashed past him like a glowing cloud, and disappeared in the underwood without giving him time to take a shot. "I told you beforehand what you would have to expect," said Harris, as Dick, with a considerable sense of disappointment, returned to the party. Impossible, however, as it had been fairly to scrutinize the antelopes, such was hardly the case with another herd of animals, the identification of which led to a somewhat singular discussion between Harris and the rest. About four o'clock on the afternoon of the same day, the travellers were halting for a few moments near an opening in the forest, when three or four large animals emerged from a thicket about a hundred paces ahead, and scampered off at full speed. In spite of what Harris had urged, Dick put his gun to his shoulder, and was on the very point of firing, when Harris knocked the rifle quickly aside. "They were giraffes!" shouted Dick. The announcement awakened the curiosity of Jack, who quickly scrambled to his feet upon the saddle on which he was lounging. "My dear Dick," said Mrs. Weldon, "there are no giraffes in America!" [Illustration: A herd of gazelles dashed past him like a glowing cloud.] "Certainly not," cried Harris; "they were not giraffes, they were ostriches which you saw!" "Ostriches with four legs! that will never do! what do you say. Mrs. Weldon?" Mrs. Weldon replied that she had certainly taken the animals for quadrupeds, and all the negroes were under the same impression. Laughing heartily, Harris said it was far from an uncommon thing for an inexperienced eye to mistake a large ostrich for a small giraffe; the shape of both was so similar, that it often quite escaped observation as to whether the long necks terminated in a beak or a muzzle; besides, what need of discussion could there be when the fact was established that giraffes are unknown in the New World? The reasoning was plausible enough, and Mrs Weldon and the negroes were soon convinced. But Dick was far from satisfied. "I did not know that there was an American ostrich!" he again objected. "Oh, yes," replied Harris promptly, "there is a species called the nandu, which is very well known here; we shall probably see some more of them." The statement was correct; the nandu is common in the plains of South America, and is distinguished from the African ostrich by having three toes, all furnished with claws. It is a fine bird, sometimes exceeding six feet in height; it has a short beak, and its wings are furnished with blue-grey plumes. Harris appeared well acquainted with the bird, and proceeded to give a very precise account of its habits. In concluding his remarks, he again pressed upon Dick his most urgent request that he should abstain from firing upon any animal whatever. It was of the utmost consequence. Dick made no reply. He was silent and thoughtful. Grave doubts had arisen in his mind, and he could neither explain nor dispel them. When the march was resumed on the following day, Harris asserted his conviction that another four-and-twenty hours would bring them to the hacienda. "And there, madam," he said, addressing Mrs. Weldon, "we can offer you every essential comfort, though you may not find the luxuries of your own home in San Francisco." Mrs. Weldon repeated her expression of gratitude for the proffered hospitality, owning that she should now be exceedingly glad to reach the farm, as she was anxious about her little son, who appeared to be threatened with the symptoms of incipient fever. Harris could not deny that although the climate was usually very healthy, it nevertheless did occasionally produce a kind of intermittent fever during March and April. "But nature has provided the proper remedy," said Dick; and perceiving that Harris did not comprehend his meaning, he continued, "Are we not in the region of the quinquinas, the bark of which is notoriously the medicine with which attacks of fever are usually treated? for my part, I am amazed that we have not seen numbers of them already." "Ah! yes, yes; I know what you mean," answered Harris, after a moment's hesitation; "they are trees, however, not always easy to find; they rarely grow in groups, and in spite of their large leaves and fragrant red blossom, the Indians themselves often have a difficulty in recognizing them; the feature that distinguishes them most is their evergreen foliage" At Mrs. Weldon's request, Harris promised to point out the tree if he should see one, but added that when she reached the hacienda, she would be able to obtain some sulphate of quinine, which was much more efficacious than the unprepared bark. [Footnote: This bark was formerly, reduced to powder, known as "Pulvis Jesuiticus," because in the year 1649 the Jesuits in Rome imported a large quantity of it from their missionaries in South America.] The day passed without further incident. No rain had fallen at present, though the warm mist that rose from the soil betokened an approaching change of weather; the rainy season was certainly not far distant, but to travellers [Illustration: A halt was made for the night beneath a grove of lofty trees. ] who indulged the expectation of being in a few hours in a place of shelter, this was not a matter of great concern. Evening came, and a halt was made for the night beneath a grove of lofty trees. If Harris had not miscalculated, they could hardly be more than about six miles from their destination; so confirmed, however, was Dick Sands in his strange suspicions, that nothing could induce him to relax any of the usual precautions, and he particularly insisted upon the negroes, turn by turn, keeping up the accustomed watch. Worn out by fatigue, the little party were glad to lie down, but they had scarcely dropped off to sleep when they were aroused by a sharp cry. "Who's that? who's there? what's the matter?" exclaimed Dick, the first to rise to his feet. "It is I," answered Benedict's voice; "I am bitten. Something has bitten me." "A snake!" exclaimed Mrs. Weldon in alarm. "No, no, cousin, better than that! it was not a snake; I believe it was an orthoptera; I have it all right," he shouted triumphantly. "Then kill it quickly, sir; and let us go to sleep again in peace," said Harris. "Kill it! not for the world! I must have a light, and look at it!" Dick Sands indulged him, for reasons of his own, in getting a light. The entomologist carefully opened his hand and displayed an insect somewhat smaller than a bee, of a dull colour, streaked with yellow on the under portion of the body. He looked radiant with delight. "A diptera!" he exclaimed, half beside himself with joy, "a most famous diptera!" "Is it venomous?" asked Mrs. Weldon. "Not at all to men; it only hurts elephants and buffaloes." "But tell us its name! what is it?" cried Dick impetuously. The naturalist began to speak in a slow, oracular tone. "This insect is here a prodigy; it is an insect totally unknown in this country,-in America." "Tell us its name!" roared Dick. "It is a tzetzy, sir, a true tzetzy." Dick's heart sank like a stone. He was speechless. He did not, dared not, ask more. Only too well he knew where the tzetzy could alone be found. He did not close his eyes again that night. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (2005). Dick sands, the boy Captain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3250.html.images This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE MISGIVINGS

A STRANGER

Movies and TV shows have taught us to associate computer hackers with difficult tasks, detailed plots, and elaborate schemes. What security researcher Carlos Fernández and I have recently found on open-source registries tells a different story: bad actors are favoring simplicity, effectiveness, and user-centered thinking. And to take their malicious code to the next level, they’re also adding new features assisted by ChatGPT. Just like software-as-a-service ( ), part of the reason why malware-as-a-service (MaaS) offerings such as , , and have become so popular in underground markets is that they have active customer support channels and their products tend to be slick and user-friendly. Needless to say, these products are often built by professional cybercriminals. SaaS DuckLogs Redline Stealer Racoon Stealer Check these boxes, fill out this form, click this button… Here's your ready-to-use malware sample! In the less popular MaaS offerings we’ve found in the wild, such as the token grabber , there’s an attempt to incorporate human-centered design principles, but the product fails in customer support. Mostly operated and consumed by teenagers, the associated Telegram accounts are full of complaints and hostile “bro-speak” due to a broken promise of a “lifetime warranty”: Discord Z3US Even before I joined Sonatype, I was wondering .  And now that I’m following a series of campaigns and bad actors from around the world, something has cleared up for me: most of the malicious packages the security research team brings to my attention are not the product of a quirky genius in a hoodie coding from a dark basement filled with monitors. Thanks to the simplistic nature of MaaS, anyone can easily create and upload samples to open-source registries with minimal setup cost and technical knowledge. what the modern face of cybercrime looks like malware Avast researchers that since the start of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, platforms like Discord and Telegram have become increasingly popular among the younger population. Rather than using mainstream social media, these teens create malware communities in Discord for the purpose of gaming, chatting, and socializing away from parental supervision. These communities are usually led by the most technically proficient members, who show off by taking ownership of competing servers, or even by sharing screenshots featuring information they’ve stolen from unsuspecting victims. They’re also actively seeking out other members based on their programming skills or potential to contribute to their campaigns. have observed As an unintended consequence of these activities, the resilient open-source registries we rely on are facing an overburden of resources. our security researchers confirmed as malicious a whooping 6,933 packages uploaded to the npm and PyPI registries. Last month alone We recently of a Spanish-speaking group called EsqueleSquad which has uploaded more than 5,000 packages to PyPI. The payload in these packages attempted to download a Windows Trojan from Dropbox, GitHub, and Discord by using a PowerShell command. tracked the campaign We subsequently of another group called SylexSquad, possibly from Spain, who created packages containing malware designed to exfiltrate sensitive information. In addition to advertising their products with YouTube videos and selling them on a marketplace, they have a small Discord community for recruiting new members. And they seem to have plenty of time to pollute the open-source software supply chain. investigated the activities Skidded code with a dash of AI During the first week of April, our AI system flagged a series of packages uploaded to PyPI as suspicious, later confirmed to be malicious by our security researchers. These packages had a naming pattern that consisted of the prefix “py” followed by references to antivirus software: , , , and . pydefenderultra pyjunkerpro pyanalizate pydefenderpro Carlos Fernández noticed the packages were credited to the group SylexSquad, suggesting the continuation of a campaign we had tracked before involving the packages and . After making this discovery, we started mapping their activities. reverse_shell sintaxisoyyo In a game of cat and mouse, every time we confirmed one of these packages as malicious, the PyPI team would help us take it down, and a couple of hours later, the bad actors would sneak in a similarly-named package. To give you the full picture of this campaign, let’s recap our initial findings: If developers were to install the PyPI package , would execute , a lightly obfuscated script hosted on GitHub and encoded as a series of numbers that correspond to ASCII codes. reverse_shell setup.py bypass.py After deobfuscation, it would create new registry values on Windows for persistence, and consequently, it would call another GitHub-hosted file, , an information stealer. Sensitive data such as browser information (history, cookies, passwords…), Steam accounts, Telegram accounts, credit cards, and even a screenshot of the victim’s desktop, would be uploaded using the attacker’s Discord webhook. WindowsDefender.py Fast-forward to the new packages credited to this group and we find a completely different consisting of heavily obfuscated code (AES 256 encryption) generated with , a service that promises “protection by 4 layers of algorithm”. Before Carlos rolled up his sleeves for the deobfuscation process, we could only make out two pieces of information from the ocean of camouflaged code: the service URL, and a readable message: ' ' Each word in that message was a variable used for the deobfuscation process: setup.py Pyobfuscate why, are, you, reading, this, thing, huh I won’t get into details of how Pyobfuscate works, but with patience and expertise, Carlos managed to successfully deobfuscate the code and reveal its true form. He found it intriguing that the obfuscated content was not only present in but also in the previously-readable that was grabbed initially from GitHub, and now from the service. setup.py WindowsDefender.py transfer.sh When bad actors don’t move fast enough, there’s a good chance security researchers like us —and GitHub’s rules about — will ruin their plans. Such is the case of , which was initially hosted on the GitHub repo “joeldev27” when it was used by the PyPI packages and , and rendered inactive soon after. not allowing the platform to be used as a malware CDN WindowsDefender.py pycracker pyobfpremium Since that filename was being used consistently, I did some digging and found that was hosted on a GitHub repo called . When I shared this finding with Carlos, he responded with a sense of wonder: “In the next few hours, a new package will appear on PyPI with an obfuscated . After installation, it will download from that repo you just found a heavily-obfuscated script named which will establish a persistence mechanism and download the info-stealer we investigated previously, also named .” WindowsDefender.py CosasRandoms480 setup.py WindowsDefender.py WindowsDefender.py His prediction turned into reality when the package appeared less than 30 minutes later on PyPI, effectively using “CosasRandoms480” as a malware CDN. We reported it to the PyPI team and it was taken down soon after. pyobfadvance Scientists and philosophers have wondered if . Working as a security researcher certainly feels that way. You’re stuck in a loop of researching, discovering, and reporting, and the same threats keep coming up over and over again. we live in a computer simulation Two days later, a new SylexSquad-credited package was flagged on our system: Same obfuscated . Same URL from executing the same with the same persistence mechanism code and the same execution of the info-stealer in . Everything looked the same, yet the file was and a new script was being summoned from : pydefenderpro. setup.py the same GitHub repo WindowsDefender.py WindowsDefender.py no longer obfuscated transfer.sh “It’s a RAT!” Carlos messaged me on . “And also an info-stealer–” Slack “A RAT Mutant?” I replied, referring to a trend of a type of malware that combines remote access trojans and info-stealers. we’ve been tracking in the wild “Exactly,” Carlos said. OSINT research revealed that the new RAT code was not original, but a copy of of : a copy DiscordRAT : a malicious package gets reported to the PyPI team, and the PyPy team takes it down. Rinse and repeat Of course, a new package, entered the scene soon after. What was different here is that the bad actors migrated to the service instead of GitHub to download , likely due to the “CosasRandoms480” repository being deactivated. pydefenderultra, pastebin.pl WindowsDefender.py We suspect that the readable version of made it easier to confirm that it was breaking . But why did the bad actors decide to deobfuscate the script? Was it too complicated for their simplistic process? WindowsDefender.py GitHub rules The RAT kept mutating. The menu and comments were now translated into Spanish and had additional functionalities. The cycle continued when they uploaded another package, . This time the added functionalities included a keylogger, audio recorder, exfiltration of OS data, and the ability to upload any file from the victim to the attacker's Discord channel. The comments on the code were unusually abundant, which is typically only associated with tutorial code and not a piece of malware. pyjunkerpro “Wait,” Carlos said, thinking out loud, “What if they’re using AI to create new functionalities?” Tools like and provide a good starting point for detecting AI-generated text. However, identifying AI-generated code is still challenging, as there are currently no available tools (that I know of) capable of doing it accurately. Fortunately, humans are still very good at recognizing patterns… GPTZero Copyleaks I quickly opened a ChatGPT tab, and typed a prompt in Spanish, which translated to: “Write Python code for a Discord bot that uploads audio from a remote computer using PyAudio.” The output I got was eerily similar: It seems we were tracking script kiddies who copied code from various sources and then used ChatGPT to add new capabilities. The resulting unique code gave them the confidence to advertise it on or sell it through their own marketplace. And nobody would suspect it wasn’t an original creation. YouTube This raises an intriguing question: what should we call these bad actors? AI-scripted kiddies? Prompt kiddies? I asked ChatGPT, and it said: If an individual is using ChatGPT to add new capabilities to their malware, they may be considered a more advanced type of hacker than a traditional script kiddie. It may be more accurate to refer to them as "hackers" or "AI-assisted hackers" instead. Fascinating. ChatGPT is giving them more status. OSINT with a dash of AI For the sake of experimentation, Carlos wanted to try a prompt to see if the tool would also help us gain further insight into the bad actors’ activities. “I need Python code that can use the Discord API as a bot (using a token). The script should connect to the bot and display the guild information, guild members, guild channels, and message history.” As expected, ChatGPT generated heavily commented code and clear instructions to get started: . So we copied the token that the "AI-assisted hackers" added in and pasted it into our AI-generated Python script. To use this code, replace "your_bot_token_here" with your bot token and run the Python script MicrosoftUpdate.py We ran that code… …and we were in! We gathered information about the members (MEE6, $Demon666, $̷y̷n̷t̷a̷x̷E̷r̷r̷o̷r̷, aitanaxx05 + 4 reps, Esmeralda, SylexNaranjoDomina, and AI Image Generator), channels, and message history. It turns out, they had infected a couple of users already — we identified one IP from Cuba and another one from India. And the OS information was being exfiltrated to channels named after the infected victim’s username: We discovered that we were connected to a bot called “SylexNaranjoDomina'' that had admin privileges. This could enable someone to add members, delete webhooks, or modify existing channels. Someone could easily change the guild name from “The server of Demon666” to “The server of a Script Kiddie” – a fitting description for this type of bad actor, though I believe ChatGPT may frown on that idea. Stay vigilant It's clear from this investigation that the proliferation of MaaS and the use of AI-assisted code has created new opportunities for less technically proficient bad actors. With more users taking advantage of these tools and offerings, there are even more opportunities for malicious packages to infect your build environment. As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, so must our defenses. By staying informed, cautious, and protected, we can be one step ahead against the ever-changing threat of cybercrime.

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