186 JUNGLE PEACE 



seeming to increase the heat. I slipped and 

 fell off the log, splashing into the hot water 

 and warm mud, and sat in it for a while, too 

 fagged to move. Then the rest of the party 

 came up and we clambered slowly to the top 

 of the next rise, and there caught sight of the 

 jungle's edge, and it seemed a trifle nearer and 

 we went on with renewed courage. Shortly 

 afterwards two of us were resting in a patch of 

 reeds while the third worked some distance 

 ahead, when there came a sudden low growl and 

 rush. Instinctively we rose on the instant, just 

 in time to see a jaguar swerve off on one side 

 and disappear in a swish of swaying reed stems. 

 I have never known one of these animals to at- 

 tack a man, and in this case the jaguar had 

 undoubtedly heard but not scented us, and the 

 attack ceased the moment we proved to be 

 other than deer or similar prey. The incident 

 had come and passed too swiftly for thought, 

 but now when we realized that this was a bit 

 of the real wild life of the jungle, our enthusi- 

 asm never flagged, and we kept steadily at the 

 heart-breaking work, resting only now and then 

 for our cuts to heal. 



Then a government official who was our 



