428 EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA 



quenching his thirst at the water-hole. A few steps 

 further on we saw the mangled remains of an alligator 

 (the Jacaretinga). The head, fore-quarters, and bony- 

 shell were the only parts which remained ; but the meat 

 was quite fresh, and there were many footmarks of the 

 Jaguar around the carcase ; so that there was no doubt 

 this had formed the solid part of the animal's breakfast. 

 My companions now began to search for the alligator's 

 nest, the presence of the reptile so far from the river 

 being accountable for on no other ground than its maternal 

 solicitude for its eggs. We found, in fact, the nest at the 

 distance of a few yards from the place. It was a conical 

 pile of dead leaves, in the middle of which twenty eggs 

 were buried. These were of elliptical shape, considerably 

 larger than those of a duck, and having a hard shell of the 

 texture of porcelain, but very rough on the outside. 

 They make a loud sound when rubbed together, and it is 

 said that it is easy to find a mother alligator in the Ygapo 

 forests, by rubbing together two eggs in this way, she 

 being never far off, and attracted by the sounds. 



I put half-a-dozen of the alligator's eggs in my game- 

 bag for specimens, and we then continued on our way. 

 Lino, who was now first, presently made a start back- 

 wards, calling out ' Jararaca ! ' This is the name of 

 a poisonous snake (genus Craspedocephalus), which is far 

 more dreaded by the natives than Jaguar or Alligator. 

 The individual seen by Lino lay coiled up at the foot of 

 a tree, and was scarcely distinguishable, on account of 

 the colours of its body being assimilated to those of the 

 fallen leaves. Its hideous, fiat triangular head, connected 

 with the body by a thin neck, was reared and turned to- 

 wards us : Frazao killed it with a charge of shot, shattering 

 it completely, and destroying, to my regret, its value as 

 a specimen. In conversing on the subject of Jararacas 

 as we walked onwards, every one of the party was ready 

 to swear that this snake attacks man without provocation, 

 leaping towards him from a considerable distance when 

 he approaches. I met, in the course of my daily rambles 

 in the woods, many Jararacas, and once or twice very 

 narrowly escaped treading on them, but never saw them 

 attempt to spring. On some subjects the testimony of 

 the natives of a wild country is utterly worthless. The 

 bite of the Jararacas is generally fatal. I knew of four 

 or five instances of death from it, and only of one clear 



