SOUTH AMERICAN TRAILS 



29 



camp, so completely lost both his way 

 and his head that he forgot to signal, and 

 spent the afternoon tearing through 

 brush and brake in a direction still 

 farther away from camp vuitil finally 

 he heard a far-off signal from the others, 

 who were getting anxious at his non- 

 arrival. 



There were no wild animals of a kind 

 to be feared by man along this route. 

 Along the banks of the Chapare we found 

 evidences of tapir, paca, cap^^bara, 

 jaguar, tiger cat, peccary, deer, coati, 

 agouti and others, but the high water, 

 which varies sometimes forty feet be- 

 tween seasons, had driven game to the 

 highlands making hunting possible only 

 at the highest points along the Mamore. 

 Bird life was most abundant in Bolivia; 

 a collector could spend several seasons 

 to advantage in these little traversed 



routes across the South x\merican states. 

 When the incidental mishaps and in- 

 conveniences are forgotten, the Bolivian 

 Yungas between Todos Santos and the 

 Chapare may well be compared with 

 other natvu'al wonders. Daily the vistas 

 of palm, fern and floral growth, with 

 cascades, waterfalls and freshets, make a 

 delightful background for the abundant 

 bird and other animal life. 



At the beginning of the Chapare the 

 Yungas disappeared and oiu- arriero 

 now led the way down the river bed, 

 or througii the cane and bamboo brakes, 

 pushing on through mud and water. 

 Due to good chance our camps remained 

 above water except in two instances. 

 One night in particular the rains filled 

 the Espirito Santo and San Antonio 

 rivers and left us in three feet of water 

 at davbreak. 



Gutting out a new trail live liundred I'eot up the face of a cliff where a slide had obliterated the path. This 

 point in the trail is known as " Sal-si-puede " ("Get out if you can") 



