168 ALARMING RENCONTRE. 



the sun, and lying in such a manner as to have their tails, 

 which were furnished with broad plates, resting on one an- 

 other. Some little herons,* white as snow, walked along their 

 backs, and even upon their heads, as if passing over trunks 

 of trees. The crocodiles were of a greenish grey, half 

 covered with dried mud ; from their colour and immobility 

 they might have been taken for statues of bronze. This ex- 

 cursion had nearly proved fatal to me. I had kept my eyea 

 constantly turned towards the river ; but, whilst picking up 

 some spangles of mica agglomerated together in the sand, I 

 discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger, easily distinguish- 

 able from their form and size. The animal had gone towards 

 the forest, and turning my eyes on that side, I found myself 

 within eighty paces of a jaguar that was lying under the 

 thick foliage of a ceiba. No tiger had ever appeared to me 

 so large. 



There are accidents in life against which we may seek 

 in vain to fortify our reason. I was extremely alarmed, yet 

 sufficiently master of myself and of my motions to enable 

 me to follow the advice which the Indians had so often 

 given us as to how we ought to act in such cases. I con- 

 tinued to walk on without running, avoided moving my arms, 

 and I thought I observed that the jaguar's attention waa 

 fixed on a herd of capybaras which was crossing the river. I 

 then began to return, making a large circuit toward the edge 

 of the water. As the distance 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 jaguar had re- 

 mained motionless. These enormous cats with spotted robes 

 are so well fed in countries abounding in capybaras, pecaries, 

 and deer, that they rarely attack men. 1 arrived at the 

 boat out of breath, and related my adventure to the Indians. 

 They appeared very little interested by my story ; yet, after 

 having loaded our guns, they accompanied us to the ceiba 



*r Garzon chico. It is believed, in Upper Egypt, that herons 

 have an affection for crocodiles, because they take advantage in fishing 

 of the terror that monstrous animal causes among the fishes, which 

 he drives from the bottom to the surface of the water ; but on the banki 

 of the Nile, the heron keeps prudently at some distance from the cro- 

 codile. 



