APTER WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY 139 



up " (a literal translation of his words), and that respect- 

 able dogs and men ought not to go near them. The 

 other fazendeiros merely feared for their dogs ; a ground- 

 less fear, I believe, as I do not think that the dogs could 

 by any exertion have been dragged into dangerous 

 proximity with such foes. The ranch foreman, Bene- 

 detto, came with us, and two or three other camaradas, 

 including Antonio, the Parecis Indian. The horses 

 were swum across the river, each being led beside a 

 dugout. Then we crossed with the dogs ; our horses 

 were saddled, and we started. 



It was a picturesque cavalcade. The native hunters, 

 of every shade from white to dark copper, all wore 

 leather leggings that left the soles of their feet bare, 

 and on their bare heels wore spurs with wheels four 

 inches across. They went in single file, for no other 

 mode of travel was possible ; and the two or three 

 leading men kept their machetes out, and had to cut 

 every yard of our way while we were in the forest. 

 The hunters rode little stallions, and their hounds were 

 gelded. 



Most of the time we were in forest or swampy jungle. 

 Part of the time we crossed or skirted marshy plains. 

 In one of them a herd of half- wild cattle was feeding. 

 Herons, storks, ducks, and ibises were in these marshes, 

 and we saw one flock of lovely roseate spoonbills. 



In one grove the fig-trees were killing the palms, just 

 as in Africa they kill the sandal-wood trees. In the 

 gloom of this grove there were no flowers, no bushes ; 

 the air was heavy ; the ground was brown with moulder- 

 ing leaves. Almost every palm was serving as a prop for 

 a fig-tree. The fig-trees were in every stage of growth. 

 The youngest ones merely ran up the palms as vines. 

 In the next stage the vine had thickened and was send- 



