THE GIANT ARMADILLO 269 



more and we should have been dragged into the whirlpool. 

 Then another difficulty arose. ' The Pirate ' refused to 

 shoot the small channel to the deep pool beyond, on the 

 banks of which the others were awaiting us. He said 

 that he preferred to walk over the hill, and that as both 

 Maite and myself were good swimmers we were the proper 

 persons to get the boat through. It was not so dangerous 

 as it looked, although I took my clothes off in case we 

 should get swamped. In a few seconds we joined Ramon 

 and his party. ' The Pirate ' came in about an hour after, 

 having had to help Jacobson over the hill. Eamon had 

 been lucky. He had taken my twelve-bore with him and 

 had killed a large quail and a giant armadillo.^ During 

 the whole of our trip this was the only one obtained, so 

 that it must be rare enough on the banks of the Caura. 

 Although it was only midday when we had breakfast, and 

 we could have covered many miles in the course of the 

 afternoon, the men refused to go any farther for the day. 

 They said that it was necessary to smoke the armadillo, 

 that there was plenty of meat, and that they meant 

 to have a good feed and a thorough rest. And so many 

 precious hours were wasted, while my thoughtless com- 

 panions gorged and lazed. The thunders of Achaba did 

 not allow us to get much sleep. 



May 12. — The difference in the appearance of the 

 river as it is now and as we had seen it a month and a 

 half ago is most noticeable. Where our boat is tied was 

 a large sloping tract of sand. Here our camp had been 

 pitched and the men had built huts of which only the 

 tops are now above water, so that the place has a desolate 

 appearance. The men spent the early hours of the 

 morning trying to finish what was left of the smoked 

 ' Dasypus gigas. 



