of an Orchid Hunter. 183 



houses in which the natives live, although much 

 superior to many Indian huts:, are still very tem- 

 porary ; in fact, they have no need of substantial 

 dwellings, as they leave the low plains on the 

 approach of the rainy season and migrate to higher 

 grounds. Animals of every kind become particularly 

 daring here ; they seem well aware they have little 

 to fear from the indolent natives. The fat, unwieldy 

 alligators, which elsewhere will generally shuffle into 

 the water to hide themselves on the approach of 

 anyone, here fight for the refuse food thrown into 

 the river from the huts of the station ; the jaguars 

 and pumas, which have the reputation of being 

 cowardly, are, on the contrary, a continual source 

 of annoyance to the settlers, often making great havoc 

 among the cattle, so much so that everything likely to 

 serve as food for them must be driven into an 

 enclosure made of stout poles for the night ; the 

 jaguar, or, as the natives call it, the tiger, often 

 succeeds, however, in breaking through and taking 

 away some dainty morsel in the form of a calf or a 

 eoat. The month of March is the time when the 

 jaguars are most troublesome, and this happened to 

 be the period at which I was on the savannas. In this 

 month the turtles come out of the water during the 

 night to deposit their eggs in the sand-banks, and the 

 jaguars, actuated by some peculiar instinct, leave the 



