A Jaguar-Hunt on the Taquary 69 



I could fire without risk of hitting a dog. We carried 

 our prize back to the bank and hoisted it aboard the 

 steamer. The sun was just about to set, behind dim 

 mountains, many miles distant across the marsh. 



Soon afterward we reached one of the outstations of 

 the huge ranch we were about to visit, and hauled up 

 alongside the bank for the night. There was a landing- 

 place, and sheds and corrals. Several of the peons or 

 gauchos had come to meet us. After dark they kindled 

 fires, and sat beside them singing songs in a strange 

 minor key and strumming guitars. The red firelight 

 flickered over their wild figures as they squatted away 

 from the blaze, where the light and the shadow met. It 

 was still and hot. There were mosquitoes, of course, 

 and other insects of all kinds swarmed round every light ; 

 but the steamboat was comfortable, and we passed a 

 pleasant night. 



At sunrise we were off for the "fazenda," the ranch 

 of M. de Barros. The baggage went in an ox-cart — 

 which had to make two trips, so that all of my belongings 

 reached the ranch a day later than I did. We rode small, 

 tough ranch horses. The distance was some twenty 

 miles. The whole country was marsh, varied by stretches 

 of higher ground ; and, although these stretches rose only 

 three or four feet above the marsh, they were covered 

 with thick jungle, largely palmetto scrub, or else with 

 open palm forest. For three or four miles we splashed 

 through the marsh, now and then crossing boggy pools 

 where the little horses labored hard not to mire down. 

 Our dusky guide was clad in a shirt, trousers, and 

 fringed leather apron, and wore spurs on his bare feet ; 



