146 A PERILOUS EXCURSION. 



white as snow, walked along their backs, and even 

 upon their heads, as if they were passing over 

 trunks of trees. The crocodiles were of a greenish- 

 gray, half covered with dried mud ; from their 

 colour and immobility, they might have been taken 

 for statues of bronze. This excursion had nearly 

 proved fatal to me. I had kept my eyes constantly 

 turned toward the river ; but, on picking up some 

 spangles of mica, agglomerated together in the 

 sand, I discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger, 

 easily distinguishable from their form and size. 

 The animal had gone towards the forest, and turn- 

 ing my eyes on that side, I found myself within 

 eighty steps of a jaguar, lying under the thick 

 foliage of a ceiba. No tiger had ever appeared to 

 me so large. I was extremely frightened, yet 

 sufficiently master of myself to enable me to follow 

 the advice which the Indians had so often given 

 us, how to act in such cases. I continued to walk 

 on without running ; avoided moving my arms, and 

 thought I observed the attention of the brute was 

 fixed on a herd of capybaras which were crossing 

 the river. I then began to return, making a largo 

 circuit towards the edge of the water. As the dis- 

 tance increased I thought I might accelerate my 

 pace. How often was I tempted to look back, in 

 order to assure myself that I was not pursued ! 

 Happily I yielded very tardily to this desire. The 



