HUNTING ALONG THE UPPER PARAGUAY 219 



pression of the gorgeous, living bird, than the dry, shrunken 

 bush at midwinter suggests the flowering rose. 



Small colonies of blackbirds dwelt in the papyrus swamp. 

 Their heads were of a fiery red color, and as they sat on 

 the swaying reeds they, from a distance, resembled brilliant 

 blossoms. However, these birds were not abundant. 



The preparation of the skins of large mammals was a 

 difficult undertaking. No provision had been made for 

 this branch of the work, as the object of the expedition 

 was not zoological but geographical. However, none of the 

 large game was thrown away ; it was skinned and preserved 

 in the best manner possible under the circumstances. 



Returning to Corumba on the evening of December 21, 

 we were joined by the other members of the expedition and 

 immediately proceeded on the up-river voyage toward Sao 

 Luis de Caceres. A short side-trip was made up the Rio 

 Sao Lourengo, with brief stops at various points where there 

 were evidences of game, but very little was added to the 

 collections. 



On January 1, early in the morning, we halted at a place 

 where there were fresh jaguar tracks on the river-bank. 

 Colonels Roosevelt and Rondon, and Kermit, accompanied 

 by a number of camaradas and the dogs, immediately took 

 up the trail and disappeared among the trees. We spent a 

 part of the day on board the steamer, and the remainder 

 collecting in the immediate vicinity. One of the men ran 

 into a nest of maribundi wasps; one of the enraged insects 

 stung him on the head and for several hours the poor fel- 

 low was in great agony. His head was swollen to an enor- 

 mous size, and his companions bathed it constantly with 

 water to relieve the pain; they feared he would die. I have 

 very good reasons for remembering these wasps. While on 

 the Chapare River, in Bolivia, one of them crawled under 

 the mosquito-net covering my cot; when I retired at night 

 I put my arm on the insect and was stung four times before 

 it could be captured. The effect of the poison was as rapid 

 as it was remarkable. It produced a kind of paralysis 



