WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 265 



have had one eye on the turtle-pot and the other on the 

 bait in the river, said he saw the cayman coming. 



Upon looking towards the place, there appeared some- 

 thing on the water like a black log of wood. It was so 

 unlike anything alive, that I doubted if it were a cay- 

 man ; but the Indian smiled, and said he was sure it was 

 one, for he remembered seeing a cayman, some years ago, 

 when he was in the Essequibo. 



At last it gradually approached the bait, and the board 

 began to move. The moon shone so bright that we could 

 distinctly see him open his huge jaws, and take in the 

 bait. We pulled the rope. He immediately let drop the 

 bait ; and then we saw his black head retreating from the 

 board, to the distance of a few yards, and there it remained 

 quite motionless. 



He did not seem inclined to advance again ; and so we 

 finished our supper. In about an hour's time he again 

 put himself in motion, and took hold of the bait. But, 

 probably, suspecting that he had to deal with knaves and 

 cheats, he held it in his mouth but did not swallow it. 

 We pulled the rope again, but with no better success than 

 the first time. 



He retreated as usual, and came back again in about an 

 hour. We paid him every attention till three o'clock in 

 the morning ; when, worn out with disappointment, we 

 went to the hammocks, turned in, and fell asleep. 



When day broke, we found that he had contrived to get 

 the bait from the hook, though we had tied it on with string. 

 We had now no more hopes of taking a cayman till the 

 return of night. The Indian took off into the woods, and 

 brought back a noble supply of game. The rest of us 

 went into the canoe, and proceeded up the river to shoot 

 fish. We got even more than we could use. 



As we approached the shallows, we could see the large 



