MAITE LOSES HIS REASON 273 



us. How we did take care not to make any noise, and 

 how we tried by signs to impress Freddy, who landed to 

 kill it, to be careful. After what seemed hours of waiting 

 we heard a shot. Two of the men scrambled on shore, 

 and when they returned a few moments after they had 

 plucked the bird. We lighted a fire on the spot and in a 

 short while nothing remained of the half-roasted bird but 

 its bones. The river being flooded, the place was quite 

 different in appearance to what it had been some two 

 months ago. It was about five o'clock when we decided 

 on stopping for the night. We had all landed, and those 

 who had hammocks were slinging them between trees, 

 when the dogs who had wandered into the forest began 

 to bark furiously. Almost immediately a large tapir slunk 

 through the bush and plunged into the river quite close 

 to us. Before the men could pick up their paddles and 

 loose the boat he had got half-way across. Eamon and 

 Laureano, who went with me, being weak from hunger, 

 were unable to gain on him, so that the two shots I fired 

 just as he landed were long ones and I missed. The 

 men insisted on following his track for some distance in 

 the hope that he might have been wounded, but they 

 retm*ned without having seen him. This was the only 

 tapir we had come across since the one killed the day we 

 eft Ameha. 



May 16. — It rained heavily the greater part of the 

 night and when day broke it was still pouring. We 

 waited for some time to see if the weather would clear up, 

 but no change taking place, we started. Maite, although 

 he complained bitterly of cold and weakness, insisted on 

 taking his place at the stem. He was terribly emaciated 

 ^nd his eyes had a fixed stare unlike anything I had seen 

 before. After we had gone 100 yards it was evident that 



T 



