492 



riage is not more than two fifths of a piastre per 

 jar *. The Indians, when they go to the cosecha 

 de huevos, bring away also a considerable quan- 

 tity of eggs dried in the Sun, or exposed to a 

 slight ebullition. Our rowers had baskets or 

 little bags of cotton cloth filled with these eggs. 

 Their taste is not disagreeable, w T hen well pre- 

 served. We were shown large shells of turtles, 

 emptied by the jaguar-tigers. These animals 

 follow the arraus toward the beaches, where the 

 laying of the eggs is to take place. They sur- 

 prise them on the sand ; and, in order to devour 

 them at their ease, turn them in such a manner 

 that the under shell is uppermost. In this si- 

 tuation the turtles cannot rise ; and as the jaguar 

 turns many more than he can eat in one night, 

 the Indians often avail themselves of his cunning 

 and malignant avidity. 



When we reflect on the difficulty that the 

 naturalist finds in getting out the body of the 

 turtle without separating the upper and under 

 shells, we cannot enough admire the suppleness 

 of the tiger's paw, which empties the double 

 armour of the arrau, as if the adhering parts of 



* First cost of 300 hotijas, 300 piastres. Expenses of con- 

 veyance: a boat, lancha, with four rowers, and a master, 

 60 p. : two cows, for the food of the rowers during two months, 

 10 p. : cassava, 20 p. : petty expenses in the camp, 30 p. : 

 total, 420 p. The 300 botijas fetch at Angostura from 600 

 to 750 piastres, according to the mean price of ten years. 



