342 
We Stalk and Miss a Jaguar. 
but so long as the fruits of his held are not harvested he will only shift 
his quarters if the circumstances seem to him to be very urgent. It 
must accordingly have been some such cogent reason that had induced 
the late owners to abandon their fields when in so flourishing a rendi- 
tion and take their departure. As w T e wanted a few hours’ rest, the 
Indians scattered off into the extensive lield surrounding the hilt and 
soon returned loaded up with sugar-cane, pine-apples, bananas, and 
tobacco-leaves: in the meantime the large ripe fruit, stalks of the 
Anacardium occidentule offered new refreshment, while the Gomphrena 
globosa around the houses reminded me of my home, until the glorious 
outlook onto tlie mountain chain recalled me to my surroundings. Like 
a thick green mat the tightly entangled forest stretched away to the 
summit of the mountain system, to lie only occasionally interrupted by 
mighty sombre granite crags and rocky walls eit'ier rounded off or 
running out into pointed needles, whereby the abundant quantity of 
mica, which had been heaped in certain situations into regular layers, 
reflected the glowing sunbeams in thousands upon thousands of rays 
af dazzling brightness. I had already come across this phenomenon on 
an intensive scale at Pirara in connection with the Pacaraima Hange, 
when it generally surprised us considering that this lay a six hours’ 
journey from the village. Might not this abundance of mica with its 
reflected light prove to be one of the causes of the origin of the 
myth of El Dorado, particularly since mica, as we learnt by experience, 
is considered by the Indians to be the souglit-for gold. It was an 
uncommonly agreeable little spot and even my Indians expressed aston- 
ishment at the owners having abandoned the pretty place: Avliat was 
most surprising to them was that they, their nearest neighbours, had 
heard nothing about their removal. The cause of the residents’ flight 
remained a puzzle, though my hurried escape from the dangerous prox- 
imity was easily explained, because the houses were regularly filled 
with fleas which may have scented the long-missed presence of living 
beings. As the universally distributed tormentors are rarely able to 
live longer than a few weeks in houses abandoned by their occupants; 
these could only have been empty for a short while. 
929 (a). After satisfying our hunger and quenching our thirst, we 
trod the forest again and continued on our way, during the course of 
which I was particularly appalled by the unusual silence that prevailed. 
Here and there a Pipra or a lonely pigeon — these were the only 
creatures that I saw. We had been travelling thus for a long time 
through the voiceless and noiseless forest when a deep roar nr.d growl* 
from an interlaced thicket of Desmoncus, Astrocaryum and Baetris 
attracted our attention. The unanimously hushed exclamation 
“Teikusi” of the Indians solved my doubts: we stood in front of a 
jaguar’s lair. 'As our weapons were only loaded with coarse shot we 
added a few slugs as quickly as possible, and divided ourselves around 
the spot whence the sound proceeded. Slowly- and deliberately, just 
like the cat that we now wanted to sneak upon, we drew nearer the thicket 
and there soon shone at us from between the palms the brilliantly 
spotted skin of a jaguar: nevertheless we had been noticed already; it 
