DOGS 
decided to abandon the dog on the island. I called him 
for more than half an hour, trying to save his life, but 
the animal refused to come. So, much to my sorrow, we 
had to pull out without him, and undoubtedly the poor 
beast eventually must have died of starvation, as there 
was no food whatever to be obtained in the forest on the 
island. 
The dogs were quite amusing to watch while in the 
canoe, their terror when we shot rapids being quite mani¬ 
fest. They were an additional source of danger to us, 
for once or twice while shooting rapids strewn with 
rocks they would jump out of the canoe on to the rocks 
as we were shaving past them, and we lost much time on 
several occasions in order to rescue them. In going 
through the forest the poor animals had suffered much 
from the attacks of ants and all kinds of insects, many 
parasites having got inside their ears and where the skin 
was softer under their legs, causing terrible sores. 
They never became fond of anybody, no matter how 
well they were treated. In fact, unlike all other dogs of 
any other country, they never seemed even to recognize 
any of us. Alcides had become the owner of the aban¬ 
doned dog in a peculiar way at the beginning of our 
journey, when travelling with my caravan of mules. The 
dog was going along with a man travelling in the opposite 
direction to ours. Alcides, who at the time was eating 
some bread, whistled to the dog, and from that moment 
the animal left his master and came along with us. 
Perhaps Brazilian dogs do not give affection because 
they never receive any. They were so timid that when 
you lifted your hand to caress them they would dash away 
yelling, with their tails between their legs, as if you had 
been about to strike them. I tried time after time to make 
friends with them — and I am generally quick at making 
friends with animals — but I gave up in despair the hope 
of gaining the slightest affection from those dogs. 
VOL. II. — 8 113 
