103 



OUR SEARCIi FOR A WILDERNESS. 



were trying to photograph. He ahvays saw the funny side 

 of our mishaps. 



Max showed plainly in what esteem he held naturalists. 

 The first day he went out with us he was neatly dressed in 

 dark blue jeans. When he appeared on the second morning 

 we did not recognize him. A small ragamuffin stood before 

 us, stamping like a pony to drive away the flies, which hovered 



Fig. 53. Sheath in Fio. 52, covering the Flower of a Palm. 



about his ankles. His clothes were a mass of rags — it was 

 impossible to say what had been the original color or mate- 

 rial. Max had taken our measure and decided that people 

 who tramped through the " bush " as wc did were not worthy 

 of anything better than rags. 



Sometimes in the jungle we would meet Indian women 

 who, living far in the interior, were on their way to Guanoco 

 to buy machetes, fish-hooks and other articles of civilization. 



