Chap. V. AN INDIAN HUNTER. 189 



well occupied during the hot hours of the day collecting- 

 insects in a neighbouring clearing. He had obtained 

 no less than six species new to me of the beautiful 

 family of Longicornes belonging to the order Coleo- 

 ptera. Our kind hosts gave us a cup of coffee about 

 five o'clock, and we then started for home. The last 

 mile of our walk was performed in the dark. The 

 forest in this part is obscure even in broad daylight, 

 but I was scarcely prepared for the intense opacity of 

 darkness which reigned here on this night, and which 

 prevented us from seeing each other, although walking 

 side by side. Nothing occurred of a nature to alarm us, 

 except that now and then a sudden rush was heard 

 amongst the trees, and once a dismal shriek startled us. 

 Petzell tripped at one place and fell all his length into 

 the thicket. With this exception, we kept well to the 

 pathway, and in due time arrived safely at Caripi. 



One of my neighbours at Murucupi was a hunter of 

 reputation in these parts. He was a civilised Indian, 

 married and settled, named Raimundo, whose habit 

 was to sally forth at intervals to certain productive 

 hunting grounds, whose situation he kept secret, and 

 procure fresh provisions for his family. I had found 

 out by this time, that animal food was as much a neces- 

 sary of life in this exhausting climate as it is in the 

 North of Europe. An attempt which I made to live 

 on vegetable food was quite a failure, and I could not 

 eat the execrable salt fish which Brazilians use. I had 

 been many days without meat of any kind, and nothing 

 more was to be found near Caripi, so I asked as a 



