INDISCRIMINATE FIRING 
“ Why did you shoot? ” I inquired, as the man, evi¬ 
dently surprised to see me standing before him, ejaculated 
disconnected words. 
44 1 saw a huge onpa " (a jaguar) ... 44 it was there 
... I saw its two eyes shining like fire . . .” 
44 Did you kill the onpa? " 
44 No, it leapt away.” 
I advised the man, patting him paternally on the back, 
not to startle everybody again. If he should see another 
onga, he had better come to me. I seldom missed when 
I fired at all, as I had been able to show them a few days 
before. I did not wish my men to behave like so many 
timid young girls, as I wished to be able to tell people 
in Europe that Brazilians were brave and noble. 
44 Firing in such a fashion indiscriminately,” I ex¬ 
plained to him, 44 you might have even killed one of your 
companions! Now go to sleep like a good fellow, and do 
not fire again! ” 
I spoke to the rascal in the gentlest of ways, never for 
one moment letting him suspect that I knew he had 
intended that bullet to go through my head. Nor did I 
ever take any of the other men into my confidence. When 
they asked what the commotion was about, I told them 
that their companion had fired at a jaguar, and the jaguar 
had leapt away. There is only one effective weapon you 
can use with scoundrels. It is the greatest calm and 
kindness. 
The man, hiding his face in his hands, threw himself 
upon his hammock and began to sob. He sobbed and 
sobbed and sobbed until the morning, much to the incon¬ 
venience of everybody in camp. At sunrise he had been 
seized with a severe attack of rheumatism, which had 
contracted a leg badly. It was pitiful to see him walking 
— but when he was not aware of being looked at, he 
walked as well as anybody else. 
From that day that fellow never dared look me 
149 
