A FORTY DAYS' RIDE 239 



his stick, inserted his arm into the hole, and with a yell 

 of triumph jumped up, holding aloft the kicking little crea- 

 ture by the tail. Then he flung it from him into the grass. 

 The animal seemed bewildered above ground and could 

 not run fast. 



The hole, after leaving the upper gallery, descended eight 

 feet, and then ran in a horizontal direction fifteen feet. At 

 the end was a small cavity, but no nest. Small bunches of 

 grass were found in the gallery which had been pulled 

 down by the roots. 



The excavation measured fifteen feet long, eight feet 

 deep and three feet wide, and it required half a day for the 

 Indians to complete the work. 



The Indians are fond of the animal's flesh, and often dig 

 them out to eat. 



At a camp named Sete de Setembro the two divisions of 

 the expedition were reunited. Captain Amilcar and his 

 party had arrived a day or two before, and a halt was 

 made to divide the equipment and provisions between 

 what were to be the Duvida and Gy-Parana parties. The 

 Rio da Duvida was only ten kilometres away, and on Feb- 

 ruary 27 we reached its banks. It is a silent, swift stream 

 about sixty-five feet wide at this point, spanned by a sub- 

 stantial wooden bridge. A number of canoes, some of 

 them old and water-logged from use, were tied at the land- 

 ing. No time was lost in loading them and making ready 

 for the start into the unknown. 



