UP THE PARAGUAY 51 



Joaquin de Mello Filho, and Doctor Euzebio de Oliveira, 

 a geologist. 



The steamers halted; Colonel Rondon and several of 

 his officers, spick and span in their white uniforms, came 

 aboard; and in the afternoon I visited him on his steamer 

 to talk over our plans. When these had been fully dis- 

 cussed and agreed on we took tea. I happened to mention 

 that one of our naturalists. Miller, had been bitten by a 

 piranha, and the man-eating fish at once became the sub- 

 ject of conversation. Curiously enough, one of the Bra- 

 zilian taxidermists had also just been severely bitten by a 

 piranha. My new companions had story after story to 

 tell of them. Only three weeks previously a twelve-year- 

 old boy who had gone in swimming near Corumba was 

 attacked, and literally devoured alive by them. Colonel 

 Rondon during his exploring trips had met with more 

 than one unpleasant experience in connection with them. 

 He had lost one of his toes by the bite of a piranha. He 

 was about to bathe and had chosen a shallow pool at the 

 edge of the river, which he carefully inspected until he was 

 satisfied that none of the man-eating fish were in it; yet as 

 soon as he put his foot into the water one of them attacked 

 him and bit off a toe. On another occasion while wading 

 across a narrow stream one of his party was attacked; the 

 fish bit him on the thighs and buttocks, and when he put 

 down his hands tore them also; he was near the bank and 

 by a rush reached it and swung himself out of the water 

 by means of an overhanging limb of a tree; but he was 

 terribly injured, and it took him six months before his 

 wounds healed and he recovered. An extraordinary inci- 

 dent occurred on another trip. The party were without 



