1894 
Catemaco 
April 
rocky islets are found about the shores of the lake and are usually 
occupied by herons, blackbirds, etc,, as nesting places. 
Leaving Cateiaaco at 4 a,m. with a large canoe containing 10 men 
and a half dozen dogs of pretty good breed since they are direct des¬ 
cendants of hounds imported from the U.S. at considerable expense, 
i 
(fhere is a considerable number of these dogs kept for deer hunting in 
• ■* *• 
this district and a pack of 15 or 20 can be readily gathered for a large 
hunt. These dogs are good only for deer, however, and curs are used 
• . “ ’ i 
for peccaries, tigers, and similar game. Other common dogs are trained 
to hunt Coelogenys poca and Dasyprocta mexioana.- these two species 
living on dry wooded hillsides all about this locality). For an hour 
the men pulled steadily across the lake and then the day began to dawn 
gradually and the hills came out one by one and just at sunrise we 
came to the neighborhood of the opposite shore. On a rooky islet were 
a dozen or so snowy herons feeding at the water*a edge. When our canoe 
’ * V/ ■ 
was a hundred yards away they flew up and away in wild alarm and my 
companions said that they were very shy now from the fact that a year 
ago a plume hunter had been here and killed many of them. They nest on 
,v ' ; J. ■ J • , 
a rocky islet partly covered with trees and bushes on this shore. A 
little further in we caught sight of a caiman lying on a rock at the 
water's edge. We were about 80 yards away and a shot from ray rifle 
through the spine at the foreshoulders disabled it so that it could not 
move. When we drew close to it in the canoe its head was still fully 
I 
alive and made several efforts to throw itself from the rock. At the 
seme time any object presented to the jaws was snapped at viciously. 
Throwing a noose over the head and jaws, the animal (about 9 feet long) 
was dragged through the water to our landing and hauled up on shore 
where it was left with the rope still on it. An hour later when one of 
the men returned to the boat it had disappeared, rope and all. 
- 226 - 
