138 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



not long afterward one of the paddlers who had been 

 watching the river called out to us that there was a tapir 

 in the water, a good distance up-stream, and that two of 

 the other boats were after it. We jumped into the canoe 

 and the two paddlers dug their blades in the water as they 

 drove her against the strong current, edging over for the 

 opposite bank. The tapir was coming down-stream at a 

 great rate, only its queer head above water, while the dug- 

 outs were closing rapidly on it, the paddlers uttering loud 

 cries. As the tapir turned slightly to one side or the 

 other the long, slightly upturned snout and the strongly 

 pronounced arch of the crest along the head and upper 

 neck gave it a marked and unusual aspect. I could not 

 shoot, for it was directly in line with one of the pursuing 

 dugouts. Suddenly it dived, the snout being slightly 

 curved downward as it did so. There was no trace of it; 

 we gazed eagerly in all directions; the dugout in front came 

 alongside our canoe and the paddlers rested, their pad- 

 dles ready. Then we made out the tapir clambering up 

 the bank. It had dived at right angles to the course it 

 was following and swum under water to the very edge of 

 the shore, rising under the overhanging tree-branches at a 

 point where a drinking-trail for game led down a break 

 in the bank. The branches partially hid it, and it was in 

 deep shadow, so that it did not offer a very good shot. 

 My bullet went into its body too far back, and the tapir dis- 

 appeared in the forest at a gallop as if unhurt, although the 

 bullet really secured it, by making it unwilling to trust to 

 its speed and leave the neighborhood of the water. Three 

 or four of the hounds were by this time swimming the 

 river, leaving the others yelling on the opposite side; and 



