306 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



We did not attempt to pursue the murderer. We could 

 not legally put him to death, although he was a soldier who 

 in cold blood had just deliberately killed a fellow soldier. 

 If we had been near civilization we would have done our 

 best to bring him in and turn him over to justice. But we 

 were in the wilderness, and how many weeks' journey were 

 ahead of us we could not tell. Our food was running low, 

 sickness was beginning to appear among the men, and both 

 their courage and their strength were gradually ebbing. 

 Our first duty was to save the lives and the health of the 

 men of the expedition who had honestly been performing, 

 and had still to perform, so much perilous labor. If we 

 brought the murderer in he would have to be guarded 

 night and day on an expedition where there were always 

 loaded firearms about, and where there would continually 

 be opportunity and temptation for him to make an effort 

 to seize food and a weapon and escape, perhaps murder- 

 ing some other good man. He could not be shackled while 

 climbing along the cliff slopes; he could not be shackled in 

 the canoes, where there was always chance of upset and 

 drowning; and standing guard would be an additional and 

 severe penalty on the weary, honest men already exhausted 

 by overwork. The expedition was in peril, and it was wise 

 to take every chance possible that would help secure suc- 

 cess. Whether the murderer lived or died in the wilderness 

 was of no moment compared with the duty of doing every- 

 thing to secure the safety of the rest of the party. For the 

 two days following we were always on the watch against 

 his return, for he could have readily killed some one else 

 by rolling rocks down on any of the men working on the 

 cliff sides or in the bottom of the gorge. But we did not 



