240 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



wild man of the woods would succeed by means 

 of a very simple process; and thus prove to his 

 more civilized brother that, notwithstanding books 

 and schools, there is a vast deal of knowledge to 

 be picked up at every step, whichever way we 

 turn ourselves. 



In the morning, as usual, we found the bait 

 gone from the shark-hook. The Indians went 

 into the forest to hunt, and we took the canoe to 

 shoot fish and get another supply of turtle's eggs, 

 which we found in great abundance on this large 

 sand-bank. 



We went to the little shallow creek, and shot 

 some young caymen, about two feet long. It was 

 astonishing to see what spite and rage these little 

 things showed when the arrow struck them; they 

 turned round and bit it, and snapped at us when 

 we went into the water to take them up. Daddy 

 Quashi boiled one of them for his dinner, and 

 found it very sweet and tender. I do not see 

 why it should not be as good as frog or veal. 



The day was now declining apace, and the In- 

 dian had made his instrument to take the cayman. 

 It was very simple. There were four pieces of 

 tough hard wood, a foot long, and about as thick 

 as your little finger, and barbed at both ends; 

 they were tied round the end of the rope, in such 

 a manner, that if you conceive the rope to be an 

 arrow, these four sticks would form the arrow's 

 head; so that one end of the four united sticks 

 answered to the point of the arrow-head, while 

 the other ends of the sticks expanded at equal 

 distances round the rope. Now it is evident, that 

 if the cayman swallowed this (the other end of 



