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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



vigor never equalled by any bee and 

 made the victim imagine he had been 

 struck by a snake at least. 



Concentration of animal life had 

 taken place at the rising of Gatiin Lake, 

 and most of the islands formed had 

 many inhabitants at first. The Gatun 

 Hunt Club however soon reduced the 

 population of these islands by hunting 

 them with hounds and as the quarry in 

 most instances could not leave the 

 island the result was a clean sweep of all 

 the larger species. We were too late, 

 consequently, to find abundant game 

 on any of the islands near Gatiin. I 

 accompanied this Hunt Club on one 

 occasion, securing two peccaries. 



The most efficient method of hunting 

 the Panamanian jungle was by means 

 of a headlight at night. The rays of the 



light, worn on the hunter's head, are 

 reflected by the eyes of the animal which 

 shine like two orbs of fire — red, green or 

 bluish depending on the animal "shone." 

 The hunted animal will see nothing but 

 the approaching light and falls an easy 

 victim to the rifle or shotgun. On 

 account of the danger to domestic stock 

 and to people by promiscuous shooting 

 at night, this method has been pro- 

 hibited on the Zone but beyond Zone 

 limits it is to-day the favorite mode. 



The trip resulted in a good series of 

 flash-light photographs of opossums and 

 some of the smaller mammals. The 

 apparatus for "flashing" the animals 

 was set out by some runway or water- 

 course where animals were apt to pass, 

 and consisted of a mechanism to fire a 

 magnesium flash and at the same time 



Photogr 



Flash-light picture of paca (Agouti paca virgata), one of the largest of the existing rodents, the 

 closely-related carybara alone exceeding it in size. The paca is an animal of nocturnal habits and 

 therefore can be photographed only by means of flash-light apparatus set at night. Note in the 

 animal's mouth the mango which was used as bait. This is one of the game animals of the natives 

 who call it conejo pintado or spotted "rabbit" 



