404 Information respecting Zoological Travellers, 



I was yet considering how many of them might have told, I heard a 

 rushing noise like a whirlwind approaching through the bushes to- 

 wards the place where I stood : the peculiar growl and that awful 

 chattering of the teeth, did not leave me long in doubt as to its cause; 

 it was evident that the herd had divided and were coming directly 

 towards me. I stood alone, unarmed ; these were my last thoughts ; 

 the next image which stands fixed in my memory is, that I stood on 

 the Lower part of a mora-tree and looked down upon a herd of about 

 fifty Kairunis rushing by in full speed, their rough bristles standing 

 erect, their muzzles almost sweeping the ground, and their white 

 triangular tusks clapping in concert. They came and passed like a 

 whirlwind, and before I had recovered from my astonishment, I 

 heard them plunge into the river to swim across. How I came on 

 that tree I know not ; to the rapid execution of what I must have 

 considered my only means of escape I owed my life. The other 

 hunters had not been so fortunate as I expected ; excitement or fear 

 made them miss, where it would have appeared almost impossible. 

 Including the one which I had shot, three more had been killed with 

 guns, and one by Akuritsh with bow and arrow : they w r ere a most 

 welcome addition to our reduced Commissariat. 



I had never a better opportunity of watching their proceedings 

 when on march than offered itself while traversing from the river 

 Berbice to the Essequibo. We had fallen in with the herd and shot 

 two, of which we took as much as w r e could carry, and continued our 

 journey. A preconcerted signal called us shortly after back to our 

 camp at the banks of the Berbice, where only a case of urgency could 

 have induced those who w r ere left in command to fire that signal. 

 Anxious to learn the cause, I had distanced my party, and unaware 

 and unperceived I fell in with the herd of the Kairunis ; they were 

 in regular line of march, and walked with slow step, though single, 

 nevertheless so that the preceding covered partly the following ; the 

 young w r ere walking under the belly of the mother. We shot two 

 more, which as time did not permit to carry with us, we hung up on 

 a tree, to send for them if circumstances permitted. A large party 

 of Caribi Indians had arrived at the camp, which had been the 

 reason of firing the signals for our return ; they came, however, as 

 friends ; and we returned next day for our hogs, and were not a 

 little astonished to see no vestiges of them. They had been car- 

 ried away by a Jaguar. After some search we found them, how- 

 ever, dragged to a thicket, where they were yet untouched, and 

 of course we put an end to any further question as to who should 

 possess them. Their meat is justly esteemed, and many prefer 



