CROCODILES AND CHIGUIRES. 181 



and related the history of a young girl of Urituco, 

 who, by singular presence of mind, made her escape 

 from one. Finding herself seized and carried into 

 the water, she felt for the eyes of the animal, and 

 thrust her fingers into them ; when the crocodile let 

 her loose, after biting off the lower part of her left 

 arm. Notwithstanding the quantity of blood which 

 she lost, she was still able to reach the shore by 

 swimming with the right hand. Mungo Park's 

 guide, Isaaco, effected his preservation from a croco- 

 dile by employing the same means. The motions 

 of these animals are abrupt and rapid when they 

 attack an object, although they move very slowly 

 when not excited. In running they make a rustling 

 noise, which seems to proceed from their scales, and 

 appear higher on their legs than when at rest, at the 

 same time bending the back. They generally ad- 

 vance in a straight line, but can easily turn when 

 they please. They swim with great facility, even 

 against the most rapid current. On the Apure they 

 seemed to live chiefly on the chiguires (Cavia capy- 

 lara), which feed in herds on the banks, and are of 

 the size of our pigs. These creatures have no 

 weapons for defence, and are alternately the prey 

 of the jaguars on land and of the crocodiles in the 

 water. 



Stopping below the mouth of the Cano de la Fi- 

 guera, in a sinuosity called La Vuelta del Joval, they 

 measured the velocity of the current at its surface, 

 which was only 3*4 feet in a second. Here they 

 were surrounded by chiguires, swimming like dogs, 

 with the head and neck out of the water. A large 

 crocodile, which was sleeping on the shore in the 

 midst of a troop of these animals, awoke at the 

 approach of the canoe, and moved slowly into the 

 stream without frightening the others. Near the Jo- 

 val every thing assumed a wild and awful aspect. 

 Here they saw an enormous jaguar stretched beneath 

 the shade of a large zamang or mimosa. It had 

 Q 



