452 THE ADVENTURES OF 



An elegant bird with a long curved bill came and settled 

 down on the bank ; the boy remarked the beautiful bronze- 

 colored plumage of the wader. I informed him it was an 

 ibis. 



" The Egyptian bird which devours serpents ?" 



" One of its kinsfolk," I replied ; " the ibis feeds, gener- 

 ally speaking, on worms, mollusks, and even on sea-weed or 

 aquatic plants. It may, perhaps, sometimes eat water- 

 snakes ; but as to feeding exclusively on reptiles, or de- 

 stroying them systematically, that's quite another story." 



We now reached the bivouac, and found my companions 

 up, and 1'Encuerado in a state of high excitement over his 

 exploit. 



Having drunk our coffee, we all turned up our sleeves, 

 and set to work to skin our magnificent prizes. This diffi- 

 cult operation employed us all the morning, and was scarce- 

 ly finished when I carried our baggage on board the raft, 

 which was soon pushed off from the bank. 



Our way lay through walls of the densest foliage, which 

 often met overhead, while such was the awful stillness of 

 the solitude, that we felt oppressed, and only spoke in a low 

 voice. 



The hour for rest had long passed, and yet no one pro- 

 posed to land. The fact was, we wished some more ani- 

 mated resting-place ; and though 1'Encuerado, with his pole, 

 shoved us onward with energy, the numerous bends hinder- 

 ed our progress, and it seemed as if night would surprise 

 us still afloat. At last the palm-trees became more crowd- 

 ed, and the stream emerged from the forest, to cross a 

 prairie ; here the raft was moored under a canopy of creep- 

 ers. 



Our first cai-e was to stretch the tigers' skins on the heat- 

 ed ground, and, while I was helping 1'Encuerado, Sumichrast 

 and Lucien went off in quest of our dinners. The fire had 



