90 Through the BraziHan Wilderness 



was then really funny to see their surprise and disap- 

 pointment 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 gently 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 capy- 

 bara 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 surroundings make it in- 

 teresting. 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, imder 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 armadillo. We were riding with the pack 

 through a dry, sandy pasture country, dotted with clumps 

 of palms, round the trunks of which grew a dense jungle 

 of thorns and Spanish bayonets. The armadillos were 

 feeding in an open space between two of these jungle 

 clumps, which were about a hundred yards apart. One 

 was on all fours; the other was in a squatting position, 



