HUNTING THE JAGUAR 69 



possibly the big cat, through his varying and 

 uncertain habits, might at this very moment be 

 making a second meal from the "kill," we made 

 a wide circuit, so as to come noiselessly up-wind, 

 and thus to keep our scent from reaching him. 

 After an hour of picking our way through the 

 thick tangle of growth, exercising the utmost 

 care to avoid the slightest noise, we neared the 

 spot and looked tentatively through the mass of 

 foliage. There was neither sound nor movement 

 it was the silence of sleep, one would say death, 

 for it was high noon and the sun shimmering 

 undimmed drove all the wild dwellers to seek the 

 quiet shade, where the sun could not stab. 



Almost inch by inch we worked our way on, 

 but it was soon apparent that nothing had re- 

 turned to the "kill." There was a low branching 

 tree within a few yards of the "kill," while all 

 around the jungle grew thick, excepting for a 

 long opening caused by the fall of a giant Mora 

 that lay uprooted, where it had cleaved a rift 

 through the jungle for a hundred and fifty feet, 

 and lay there stark and naked. In the low tree 

 near the "kill" we built a platform of interlaced 

 branches called in Guiana "Wabanni," in India, 

 a "Machan." These are not built for the purpose 

 of safety, for the jaguar climbs with wonderful 



