54 Through the BraziHan Wilderness 



fishes had then eaten his body, or whether they had killed 

 him it was impossible to say. They had not hurt the 

 clothes, getting in under them, which made it seem likely 

 that there had been no struggle. These man-eating fish 

 are a veritable scourge in the waters they frequent. But 

 it must not be understood by this that the piranhas— or, 

 for the matter of that, the New-World caymans and 

 crocodiles — ever become such dreaded foes of man as 

 for instance the man-eating crocodiles of Africa. Acci- 

 dents occur, and there are certain places where swim- 

 ming and bathing are dangerous ; but in most places the 

 people swim freely, although they are usually careful to 

 find spots they believe safe or else to keep together and 

 make a splashing in the water. 



During his trips Colonel Rondon had met with vari- 

 ous experiences with wild creatures. The Paraguayan 

 caymans are not ordinarily dangerous to man; but they 

 do sometimes become man-eaters and should be destroyed 

 whenever the opportunity offers. The huge caymans and 

 crocodiles of the Amazon are far more dangerous, and 

 the colonel knew of repeated instances where men, women 

 and children had become their victims. Once while dyna- 

 miting a stream for fish for his starving party he par- 

 tially stunned a giant anaconda, which he killed as it 

 crept slowly off. He said that it was of a size that no 

 other anaconda he had ever seen even approached, and 

 that in his opinion such a brute if hungry would readily 

 attack a full-grown man. Twice smaller anacondas had 

 attacked his dogs ; one was carried under water — for the 

 anaconda is a water-loving serpent — ^but he rescued it. 

 One of his men was bitten by a jararaca; he killed the 



