A JAGUAR-HUNT ON THE TAQUARY 87 



few feet away from the water in the daytime. Even at 

 midday we often came on them standing beside a bayou or 

 pond. The dogs would rush wildly at such a standing 

 beast, which would wait until they were only a few yards 

 off and then dash into and under the water. The dogs 

 would also run full tilt into the water, and it was then 

 really funny to see their surprise and disappointment at 

 the sudden and complete disappearance of their quarry. 

 Often a capybara would stand or sit on its haunches in the 

 water, with only its blunt, short-eared head above the 

 surface, quite heedless of our presence. But if alarmed it 

 would dive, for capybaras swim with equal facility on or 

 below the surface; and if they wish to hide they rise gen- 

 tly among the rushes or water-lily leaves with only their 

 nostrils exposed. In these waters the capybaras and small 

 caymans paid no attention to one another, swimming and 

 resting in close proximity. They both had the same 

 enemy, the jaguar. The capybara is a game animal only 

 in the sense that a hare or rabbit is. The flesh is good to 

 eat, and its amphibious habits and queer nature and sur- 

 roundings make it interesting. In some of the ponds the 

 water had about gone, and the capybaras had become for 

 the time being beasts of the marsh and the mud; although 

 they could always find little slimy pools, under a mass 

 of water-lilies, in which to lie and hide. 



Our whole stay on this ranch was delightful. On the 

 long rides we always saw something of interest, and often 

 it was something entirely new to us. Early one morning 

 we came across two armadillos — the big, nine-banded arma- 

 dillo. We were riding with the pack through a dry, sandy 

 pasture country, dotted with clumps of palms, round the 



