TAPIR HUNTING 207 



gave rise to a good deal of contention whenever tapir 

 hunting formed the subject of conversation. 



The men remained avv^ake nearly the vi^hole night 

 gorging and talking. It vi^as a weird scene — the ruddy 

 log-fire surrounded bj' half- naked men, the uncouth head 

 of the tapir on the huge gridiron, the bits of meat stuck 

 on twigs hanging over the flames. Anyone coming 

 suddenly upon us would have believed that he had 

 lighted on some cannibal feast. All the hard work of 

 the past three weeks was forgotten, even the grumblers 

 being happy. It is incredible what amount of food my 

 men could consume. The four legs of a tapir represent 

 a good deal of meat, yet in the morning nothing remained 

 of what had been brought in but the head, reserved as a 

 tit-bit — to me, massive and unsightly ; to the men, delicate 

 and savoury. The rest of the carcase was brought in 

 early, and having been cut in strips and salted, was 

 stretched on poles to dry in the sun. Meanwhile the 

 boats were loaded and it was arranged that we should 

 start immediately after the midday meal, so as to reach 

 before nightfall a difficult spot necessitating a portage. 



