TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 



191 



down, and an hour or two after sun-set return to the sea. This was 

 the case with the turtle which had so amply supplied us ; when we 

 came back to the strand a few hours afterwards, it was gone ; it had filled 

 up the hole, and the broad track left by it in the sand shewed that it 

 had returned to its proper element. A single turtle of this kind can 

 furnish an abundant repast with its eggs for a whole company ; for 

 the midas is said to lay at once ten or twelve dozen, and the soft- 

 shelled from eighteen to twenty dozen. These eggs are a very nutri- 

 tious food, and are therefore eagerly sought after on this desert coast 

 by the Indians, and in the neighbourhood of the colony also by the 

 whites. 



Our frugal supper was soon finished ; we afterwards kindled several 

 small fires between the bushes of dwarf-palms, in order to keep the 

 beasts of prey from our mules. The following morning we found on 

 the sand the fresh prints of the feet of large animals of the cat kind, 

 which had been prowling about during the night. Old Simon assured 

 us that the black ounce or black tiger is not uncommon in those parts : 

 the Portuguese call it tigre or on^a preta ; Koster in his Travels also 

 mentions this formidable animal, but calls it felis discolor ; an un- 

 suitable appellation, as the whole animal is really of one colour only. 

 It seems most correct to denominate this species after its native 

 country, as it is found exclusively in Brazil ; even Azara tells us that 

 it is not met with in Paraguay, We conjectured that we heard the 

 bowlings of these animals ; but our sleep was not disturbed, and we 

 resumed our journey early the next morning. 



On the first of January, which in our own country generally comes 

 clothed in ice and snow, we had very warm sunshine as early as seven 

 o^clock in the morning, and at noon an uncommon and intolerable 

 degree of heat. The preceding evening, when we had been so incom- 

 moded by thirst, we had halted, without knowing it, very near fresh 

 water : for we had scarcely rode an hour when we reached the 



