AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 



315 



scarcely keep it alight, and therefore waited with impatience for the 

 end of this tedious night. The next morning some people were im- 

 mediately dispatched in a boat to the forest to cut fire-wood, palm- 

 leaves, poles, and cipos, that we might build a large roomy hut. 

 The weather became indeed rather more favourable, but as our labour 

 was frequently interrupted by showers of rain, it took us this and 

 the whole of the following day to complete our dwelling. Here I was 

 in the island with four of my people and a Botocudo named Alio, who 

 had accompanied me for the purpose of hunting. Two of these 

 always remained to guard our island and attend to the kitchen, while 

 the others went over to the forest to hunt. 



One day the canoe had scarcely put off on such an excursion, 

 when I saw my hunters fire, and then immediately turn back. They 

 had seen the four legs of some quadruped projecting out of the water, 

 and taken it for a dead swine, but on approaching nearer, they saw an 

 immense serpent, which had twined itself in many coils round a large 

 capyhara and killed it. They immediately fired two shot at the 

 monster, and the Botocudo discharged an arrow into its body ; then, 

 and not before, it quitted its prey, and notwithstanding the wound 

 darted away as if nothing was the matter. My people took up the 

 capybara ( cabiai, or thick-nosed tapir), which was quite fresh, having 

 been but just killed, and returned *to give me an account of the cir- 

 cumstance. As I much wished to obtain this remarkable serpent, I 

 sent the hunters off again immediately to look for it ; but all their en- 

 deavours were fruitless. The shot had lost their force in the water, 

 and the arrow was found broken on the bank where the serpent had 

 rubbed it off ; being but slightly wounded, it had quickly retreated 

 so far, that to my great regret it was not to be found again. 



This reptile, the sucuriuba of the river Belmonte, or the sucuriu, 

 as it is called, in Minas Geraes, is the largest kind of serpent in Bra- 

 zil, at least in the above-mentioned countries ; there are many errors 



