rtunity of anatomically
examining him at his leisure. While he was thus employed, Gerard and I
agreed that it would be a good opportunity to prepare dinner, assisted
by Pedro. The natives preferred sleeping in their canoe. While we were
engaged over our fish, I on a sudden looked up, and saw a huge animal of
the tiger species stealing catlike towards the doctor, attracted
probably by the carcass of the alligator. The creature seemed at that
moment about to make its fatal spring. I had my gun providentially by
my side. I shrieked out to the doctor to be on his guard, and at the
same moment raised my weapon to my shoulder to fire. He had the large
knife with which he had been cutting up the alligator in his hand.
Resting on my knee, I fired, and though I did not flatter myself that I
was a good shot, happily hit the animal on the head. He fell backwards,
stunned but not dead; and the doctor, rushing forward with his knife,
deprived the creature of existence, thanking me in the same breath for
the service I had rendered him.

"Come, we are meeting with adventures now, I do think, indeed!"
exclaimed Jerry, as we sat round our repast, after the enthusiastic
doctor had cut up the tiger. "Hurrah! it's great fun."

Soon after embarking to proceed on our voyage, we looked into a curious
little nook under the trees, where, in the centre of the stream, lay a
canoe with two people, a man and his wife, in it. They were not
over-encumbered with garments, but the man had some curious feather
ornaments on his arms. At first they seemed inclined to paddle away,
but a shout from one of our canoemen brought them alongside, and from
the affectionate greeting which was exchanged between the parties we
found that they were relations, or at all events great friends. Pedro
informed us that they invited us to their dwelling. We were delighted
to accept the invitation, as we particularly wished to see the way of
life of the aborigines. We paddled on some little distance, when our
new friends, leading the way pushed in among the tall reeds till we
found ourselves close to some long poles with a platform on the top and
a ladder leading to it. We followed them up the ladder, when we found
ourselves in a sort of hut, thickly thatched over with palm-leaves.
Looking out, we saw several similar habitations. It seemed something
like living up in trees. We concluded that the object the natives had
in view in placing their habitations in