A NATL h' A LIST'S NOTES ON A Til 1 1' TV THE ORINOCO 387 



found iiToat excitciiii'iit tluTc rvcrv nnr 

 supposiiiif that the jaL;'iiar had carrii'd 

 iiic away. 



Some months hiter. aeeompanicd by 

 ^Frs. (Mierrie and our three montlis' old 

 haliy. 1 ascended ilie Orinoco during 

 the hei,>:lit of the rainy season. As 1 

 liave [)i-evi()usly said, (hiring this season 

 it was very (htlieult for us to find dry 

 hind on whieli to make our camp. C(ni- 

 se(pu'ntlv. from iui(hhiy onward, we 

 wei'e on the loetkout iov a suitable place 

 to stop for the nio-ht. On one occasion, 

 when we had almost despaired of find- 

 iuii" dry land, just before dusk we came 

 to a jioiiit where the land was only a 

 few inches above the k'vel of the Avater. 

 Seeing no prospect of finding a better 

 place, we decided to try it there. We 

 were tired of pulling the heavy boat up 

 stream, it being always difficult to get 

 the necessary number of men to help 

 us. When we landed we found that the 

 water had subsided, probably within the 

 last few hours, leaving a layer of silt 

 which was still like soft mud. I picked 

 up my gun and got out of the canoe, 

 telling the men to make camp and pre- 

 pare our evening meal. As soon as I 

 stepped ashore I saw some jaguar 

 tracks, and saying to Mrs. Cherrie that 

 I would walk back into the forest and 

 try to find something to shoot, I fol- 

 lowed the trail. For quite a distance 

 the tracks seemed to grow fresher, and, 

 making as little noise as possible, I 

 peered here and there on each side ex- 

 pecting at any moment to see the ja- 

 guar which I felt was only a short 

 distance ahead, of me. Presently, how- 

 ever, the tracks seemed to turn toward 

 the river, and much to my surprise I 

 found that I had made a circuit and 

 was crossing my own trail, as well as 

 the jaguar's. But the thing that star- 

 tled me not a little was, on looking 

 down, to find by the side of my own 

 track the footprints of a second jaguar. 

 It was rather disquieting, T assure you, 

 and although I kept on for a little dis- 

 tance I often looked back, not likinir the 



idea of ha\iiig a jaguar both behind 

 and in front of inc. ^Tec^ting with no 

 success in my seai'di 1 wvni back to 

 camp. Wlicn 1 arrived 1 saw by the 

 acti<ins of my men that something had 

 crcun-ed to aiai'in them. One of them 

 approaciied and tohl me that it was 

 dangerous to hear that "young animal" 

 crying. At first I did not understand 

 his alhision so I asked him what young 

 animal he was talking about, lie re- 

 plied. "The l)al)y is crying and there are 

 many jaguars abor;t camp." The canoe 

 men had seen the jaguar tracks and 

 were very uneasy, saying that if the 

 baby cried, the jaguars would attack in 

 an attempt to steal it. They were so 

 much alarmed, not only for the sake of 

 the baby but also for their own, that 

 they had actually ceased all preparation 

 for camp or dinner. I took another 

 short walk, looking carefully for further 

 signs of the animal but could see none. 

 Eeturning, I found that the men had, 

 without orders, put back the cooking 

 utensils and were standing by the ca- 

 noe, niuch to the disgust of Mrs. Cher- 

 rie who was not aware of any danger. 

 Explaining the situation, I told her 

 that owing to the action of the men and 

 also from the fact that I, too, felt a 

 little uneasy, not having been able to 

 trace the jaguar, it would be better for 

 us not to make camp there even if we 

 had to spend the night in the tree tops. 

 So we put everything back into the ca- 

 noe and pushed oft. In a couple of 

 hours we came to an open space on a 

 sandy island, covered with rushes and 

 reeds, and there we built our camp on 

 the shore. 



Most of our time in Venezuela was 

 spent on the Orinoco and its tribu- 

 taries, particularly the Caura, the 

 Apure, and the Meta, where some of tlie 

 most thrilling events connected with 

 my explorations have occurred. Dan- 

 ger has not always been from wild ani- 

 mals; man also has been an enemy. 

 Natives em))loyed as boatmen have 

 .'iometimes proved untrustworthy, espe- 



