ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
87 
liabits the greatest resenihlance to the roebuck. AN'heu 
captured young it is easily domesticated, and may be 
seem tamely following those persons who have the care of 
it. The hesh of this animal very much rcsemldes that 
of the European deer. It is either shot from an ambus- 
cade, hunted down by dogs, or caught in an iron trap. 
The people have a plan of tying a loaded gun to an ear 
of maize or some other attractive bait, and so connect- 
ing the trigger, that as the animal eats, the gun goes 
off and sometimes kills the animal. 
In the country districts an occasional supply of these 
wild meats is to be obtained. As I have before re- 
marked, the forests stand in their pristine lieauty, and 
they form a home for deer, lapos, cuencos, monkeys, 
agouti, tatou {armadillo), land-turtle {morocoi), and (jtlier 
animals, which afibrd a means of wealth and excite- 
ment to the many hunters who leave their homes in l)odies 
to roam for twenty or thirty miles in these dense forests 
in search of game. Hunting is here no gentleman’s 
sport, but hard, dangerous, and dirty work. The men 
start from home with u'ircs, a kind of knapsack made 
of wicker-work, hung upon their backs suspended by 
straps round their arms ; these contain a cooking 
vessel, salt, lucifers, salt pork, and various little matters 
of a culinary kind wherewith to prepare the food they 
expect to obtain. They generally have one or more 
dogs with them, without whose help not much can be 
done. The weapon generally used for hunting cuenco 
and lapo is a bayonet or a sharpened piece of iron (they 
are not very particular) fixed on a pole of some strength 
about eight feet long. Sometimes a gun is found 
amongst the party, and sometimes no such thing is in 
their hands. 
Arrived at a favourable spot, a cahan or bed place 
must be erected. This is a simple affair — the work of 
a couple hours with the ever-ready cutlass ; the material 
is at hand ; small trees, and the fan-shaped leaves of the 
■carata palm, soon make a place to sleep in, sheltered 
