CHAP. IV] A HARD DAY'S WORK 111 



and holding our rifles aloft. One result of the swim, 

 hy the way, was that my watch, a veteran of Cuba and 

 Africa, came to an indignant halt. Then on we went, 

 hampered by the weight of our drenched clothes, while 

 our soggy boots squelched as we walked. There was no 

 breeze. In the undimmed sky the sun stood almost 

 overhead. The heat beat on us in waves. By noon I 

 could only go forward at a slow walk, and two of the 

 party were worse off than I was. Kermit, with the 

 dogs and two camaradas close behind him, disap- 

 peared across the marshes at a trot. At last, when he 

 was out of sight, and it was obviously useless to follow 

 him, the rest of us turned back toward the boat. The 

 two exhausted members of the party gave out, and we 

 left them under a tree. Colonel Rondon and Lieu- 

 tenant Rogaciano were not much tired ; I was some- 

 what tired, but was perfectly able to go for several 

 hours more if I did not try to go too fast ; and we 

 three walked on to the river, reaching it about half-past 

 four, after eleven hours' stiff walking with nothing to 

 eat. We were soon on the boat. A relief party went 

 back for the two men under the tree, and soon after it 

 reached them, Kermit also turned up with his hounds 

 and his camaradas trailing wearily behind him. He 

 had followed the jaguar trail until the dogs were so 

 tired that even after he had bathed them, and then held 

 their noses in the fresh footprints, they would pay no 

 heed to the scent. A hunter of scientific tastes, a 

 hunter-naturalist, or even an outdoors naturalist, or 

 faunal naturalist interested in big mammals, with a 

 pack of hounds such as those with which Paul Rainey 

 hunted lion and leopard in Africa, or such a pack as the 

 packs of Johnny Goff or Jake Borah, with which I 

 hunted cougar, lynx, and bear in the Rockies, or such 



