of an Orchid Hunter. 



9i 



Unfortunately for me, they drank ever)' drop of the 

 fiery substance, with no worse effect than to slightly 

 intoxicate them. I only discovered the mistake when 

 I went to seek the alcohol to make my tea and found 

 instead only a bottle of native spirit which would 

 not burn. The boatmen seemed to leave their huts 

 with the utmost reluctance, and proceeded very slowly. 

 In their homes they wear some clothing, and many of 

 them even a decent suit ; but once away from the 

 village, they discard every vestige of clothing, in order 

 to be more ready to jump into the water when pleasure 

 or necessity prompts them. We had not gone far up 

 the river when the natives, struck with a fit of laziness, 

 took to the woods, and left me with one man in the 

 canoe to do the best I could. Of course, it was impos- 

 sible for me to proceed without them, so I took my 

 gun and went off into the forest to see if there was 

 anything to shoot. There are plenty of wild pigs and 

 the tapir, called by the natives La Danta, but it is 

 difficult to get a shot at it without having some dogs. 

 I was not long in coming up with some of the natives 

 engaged in fishing in a small lake, about two and 

 a half miles from the river ; the water muddy and 

 stagnant, but so full of fish that there was no need of 

 the wily patience generally employed in angling. The 

 only difficulty was to get the fish off the hooks quickly 

 enough, so eager were they to bite. In about two 



