72 Travels and Adventures 



enough. About one o'clock in the afternoon, while 

 still following the track, we left the thick forest and 

 suddenly broke into what appeared to be a large 

 dried-up lake, the ground being perfectly flat, and 

 a kind of fine, powdery sand covering the entire 

 surface. The only vegetation consisted of patches 

 of miserable scrub here and there. Having no 

 exact information of the breadth of the plain, it 

 appeared to me that we had- walked about five 

 miles when we again struck into the forest. These 

 five miles we had passed with the greatest difficulty : 

 an almost vertical sun heated the sand to a great 

 degree and rendered the atmosphere stifling ; besides, 

 at each step the foot sank into the powdery mass 

 up to the ankle. Nothing living was to be seen, 

 but at short intervals we passed the tracks of wild 

 cattle, as well as many footprints of the jaguar 

 and tiger-cat, which are plentiful enough in all this 

 part. The footprints of cattle surprised me, as large 

 wild animals such as the buffalo or bison are entirely 

 unknown in these forests. However, my companions 

 informed me the race had originally escaped from 

 some settlement on the edore of the forest. After 

 some rest we again struck on the path, being anxious 

 to reach the hut before night. Darkness came on 

 suddenly about half-past six o'clock, as is usual in this 

 latitude, and, unfortunately for us, with night the 



