Chap. IV. 
A DAY'S HUNT. 
281 
Aijnissa turtles, which were making their way in an 
undeviating line to the water, at least a mile distant. 
The young animal of this species is distinguishable from 
that of the large turtle and the Tracaja, by the edges; 
of the breast-plate being raised on each side, so that in 
crawling it scores two parallel lines on the sand. The 
mouths of these little creatures were full of sand, a 
circumstance arising from their having to bite their way 
through many inches of superincumbent sand to reach 
the surface on emerging from the buried eggs. It was 
amusing to observe how constantly they turned again 
in the direction of the distant river, after being handled 
and set down on the sand with their heads facing the 
opposite quarter. We saw also several skeletons of the 
large cayman (some with the horny and bony hide of 
the animal nearly perfect) embedded in the sand : they 
reminded me of the remains of Ichthyosauri fossilized 
in beds of lias, with the difference of being buried in 
fine sand instead of in blue mud. I marked the place 
of one which had a well-preserved skull, and the next 
day returned to secure it. The specimen is now in the 
British Museum collection. There were also many foot- 
marks of J aguars on the sand. 
We entered the forest, as the sun peeped over the 
tree-tops far away down river. The party soon after 
divided ; I keeping with a section which was led by 
Bento, the Ega carpenter, a capital woodsman. After a 
short walk we struck the banks of a beautiful little lake, 
having grassy margins and clear dark water, on the 
surface of which floated thick beds of water-lilies. We 
then crossed a muddy creek or watercourse that entered 
