FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES ON THE ORINOCO 151 



no wind it was safe to tie up to some tree; or if darkness 

 overtook us near a playa the anchor was carried ashore 

 and buried in the sand. While the cook prepared supper 

 on the brazier or over a fire built on the bank, hammocks 

 were strung in the rigging, and then we fished until time 

 to retire. 



Fish were always abundant and of many varieties. One 

 kind that was taken frequently and that was excellent eat- 

 ing was a catfish, weighing up to twenty-eight pounds, of 

 a deep brownish color with wavy bluish-gray lines running 

 along its sides, called vagre tigre; another species of cat- 

 fish, frequently of a weight of seventy-five pounds or more, 

 and of a deep slate color, was not uncommon; there was 

 also a third about eighteen inches long, with a large, narrow 

 head and "feelers" as long as the body, that was always sure 

 to be among the catch; but neither of the two last named 

 was ever eaten, as the flesh was said to be poisonous. The 

 crew was always careful to clean all fish immediately and 

 place them under cover; if left exposed to the moonlight 

 overnight they were unfit for food. 



The hoarse cough of jaguars was heard almost nightly; 

 it was the season when great numbers of turtles left the 

 river at nightfall to deposit their eggs in the sand-banks, 

 and the jaguars left the forest at dark to dig up and feed 

 on these eggs. One night, just as the boat had drawn up 

 to the high sand-bank preparatory to tying up, one of the 

 huge cats was discovered sitting ten feet above us quietly 

 surveying the scene on deck; there was a rush for the guns, 

 but when they were secured the jaguar had disappeared. 

 A clear sweep of loose sand with a low bush here and there 

 stretched back a mile from the river to the heavy forest, 

 and in the brilliant moonlight it was easy to trace the 

 animal's tracks as it started toward cover. Several times 

 its shadowy form was visible, slinking from one bush to 

 another a few rods away, but always out of range; after 

 half an hour the tracks were lost in the edge of the forest. 

 We returned to the ship. Before replacing the guns in the 



