of the young ones we
had caught. As usual, we kept watch by turns: we had become somewhat
anxious at night, for we could not help thinking that the smell of our
roast pig might attract some keen-scented jaguar to the spot, and I can
tell you that the thought of being snatched up at any moment by one of
those beasts made us keep our eyes about us, and prevented us from going
to sleep. I know it did me, and I am pretty sure that Gerald was not
more comfortable in his mind on the subject than I was.

"It was my morning watch, and as soon as daylight returned I called
Gerald, and we crept carefully up to the capybara's hole.

"We had not long to wait before we heard her barking, for strange to
say, though she was like a pig she did not grunt. She was calling to
her solitary young one to get up, I suppose. Presently we felt a pull
on one of our lines, and directly afterwards the other was drawn taut.
We gave each of them a jerk, and then springing forward with our sticks,
we were just in time before the capybara drew back into her hole to give
her a couple of stunning blows on the head. We quickly had her out, and
a few more blows deprived her of life. It occurred to us that if we
dragged her up to our cave, the track might lead any passer-by to it.
We therefore fastened her legs together, and carried her on one of our
sticks, the little one following, wondering, I dare say, why its mother
had taken to move in so curious a fashion, and not seeming to notice us.
Desmond proposed that we should tame it, but as we could not manage to
find it food, we were obliged to kill it. Not being expert butchers, we
were employed most of the day in skinning and cutting up the beasts.
Our chief puzzle was to know what to do with the offal. At last we put
it into the skin, and carrying it down at night threw it into the river.
In the meantime our cave had the not over-pleasant odour of a butcher's
shop in hot weather, while we were in the constant apprehension of a
visit from a jaguar. Our regret was that though we had a superabundance
of meat we should soon be reduced to short commons, as it was not likely
to keep, even when cooked, for more than a couple of days. We had just
returned from the river, having accomplished the task I spoke of, and
had lighted our fire, when we heard a rustling of the leaves at the
entrance, the flames just then blazing up brightly; the next instant we
caught sight of the savage-looking head of one o