228 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD We now baited a sha^k-hook with a large fish, 



JOURNEY. 



and put it upon a board about a yard long, and 



one foot broad, which we had brought on purpose. 

 This board was carried out in the canoe, about 

 forty yards into the river. By means of a string, 

 long enough to reach the bottom of the river, 

 and at the end of which string was fastened a 

 stone, the board was kept, as it were, at anchor. 

 One end of the new rope I had bought in town, 

 was reeved through the chain of the shark-hook, 

 and the other end fastened to a tree on the sand- 

 bank. 



It was now an hour after sunset. The sky was 

 cloudless, and the moon shone beautifully bright. 

 There was not a breath of wind in the heavens, 

 and the river seemed like a large plain of quick- 

 silver. Every now and then a huge fish would 

 strike and plunge in the water ; then the owls 

 and goatsuckers would continue their lamenta- 

 tions, and the sound of these was lost in the 

 prowling tiger's growl. Then all was still again 

 and silent as midnight. 



Noiseofthe The caymen were now upon the stir, and at 



Caymen. . i . i ' -1-11 T i i i 



intervals their noise could be distinguished amid 

 that of the jaguar, the owls, the goatsuckers, and 

 frogs. It was a singular and awful sound. It 

 was like a suppressed sigh, bursting forth all of a 

 sudden, and so loud that you might hear it above 

 a mile off. First one emitted this horrible noise, 

 and then another answered him ; and on looking 



