TREED BY WILD PECCARIES. 159 



falling ; but, projecting from a rent in the rocks, not 

 more than twenty feet away, I saw a large tree, over- 

 hanging the bed of the stream. If only I could 

 secure refuge in that tree ! There I should be safe, 

 at least for the time; but the trouble was to get 

 there, without slipping and falling into the midst of 

 that herd of savage pigs beneath me. 



Slinging my gun over my shoulder, I began the 

 perilous experiment. My motions, of course, at- 

 tracted the attention of the herd, and they all dashed 

 wildly at the rock, but the foremost fell short by 

 nearly a foot, despite his most frantic efforts. My 

 feelings, at that moment, were indescribable ; but 1 

 shut my eyes to the possibility of a fall, and concen- 

 trated all my powers in my finger tips, clinging to 

 the wall of rock like a limpet, and worming my way 

 along inch by inch. My porcine guard below con- 

 tinued to inform me of their presence, grunting their 

 disapproval of my flight, and gnashing their teeth in 

 expectation of a chance to whet them on my bones. 

 I was keenly aware of their every motion, yet dared 

 not look in their direction, but kept my eyes fixed 

 upon a friendly limb which reached out toward me ; 

 and this I finally grasped, after what seemed to me 

 an age of anxious expectation. 



Safe in the tree at last, I seated myself among a 

 spongy mass of wild pines and dripping, broad-leaved 

 plants. It was not the pleasantest seat in the world, 

 and I felt, as Crusoe once said, that I had found a 

 " dreadful deliverance," though I had escaped imme- 

 diate . death. From its almost horizontal position, 



