ANIMALS. 



143 



pleasant enough when provisions were plenty and the weather good; 

 but when there was no coffee or brandy, the cigars had given out, and 

 there was a slim allowance of only salt fish and plantains, with one of 

 those nights of heavy rain that are frequent upon the Maraiion, I could 

 not help calling to mind, with some bitterness of spirit, the comforts 

 of the ship-of-war that I had left, to say nothing of the luxuries of 

 home. 



August 6. — Started at eight. River seventy yards broad, nine feet 

 deep, pebbly bottom; current three miles per hour. We find in some 

 places, where hills come down to the river, as much as thirty feet 

 of depth. There are some quite high hills on the right-hand side, that 

 might be called mountains; they run north and south. I was sur- 

 prised that we saw no animals all day, but only river birds — such as 

 black ducks, cormorants, and king-fi^hers; also many parrots of various 

 kinds and brilliant plumage, but they always kept out of shot. We 

 camped at half-past five, tired and low-spirited, having had nothing to 

 eat all day but a little rice boiled with cheese early in the morning. 

 My wrists w r ere sore and painful from sun-burn, and the sand-flies were 

 very troublesome. Heavy clouds, with thunder and lightning, in the 

 N. W. In the night, fresh breeze from that quarter. We heard 

 tigers and monkeys during the night, and saw the tiger-tracks near the 

 camp next morning. 



August 6. — Soon after starting we saw a fine doe coming down 

 towards the river. We steered in, and got within about eighty yards 

 of her, when Ijurra and I fired together, the guns loaded with a couple 

 of rifle-balls each. The animal stood quite still for a few minutes, and 

 then walked slowly off towards the bushes. I gave my gun, loaded 

 with three rifle-balls, to the puntero, who got a close shot, but without 

 effect. One of the balls, a little flattened, was picked up close to where 

 the deer stood. These circumstances made the Indians doubt if she 

 were a deer; and I judge, from their gestures and exclamations, that 

 they thought it was some evil spirit that was ball-proof. I imagine 

 that the ball was flattened either by passing through the branch of a 

 bush or striking some particularly hard bone of the animal, or it might 

 have been jammed in the gun by the other balls. 



These Indians have very keen senses, and see and hear things that 

 are inaudible and invisible to us. Our canoe-men this morning com- 

 menced paddling with great vigor. I asked the cause, and they said 

 that they heard monkeys ahead. I think we must have paddled a 

 mile before I heard the sound they spoke of. When we came up to 

 them, we found a gang of large red monkeys in some tall trees on the 



