ng every known law of gravity in their
mad evolutions.

The chorus of screams and squawks from overhead could be heard for miles
and chief among the offenders in this respect were the terns whose
shrill voices and incessant clatter were like the cries of woe of
demented souls. Below, the occasional bellow of a crocodile hidden in
the reedy bed of a marsh or the high-pitched wail of the great brown
wolf added its note to the clamor of the multitude.

Suma spent the nights only in travel. When the approach of day was
heralded by the crimson glare in the eastern sky she sought shelter in
one of the dark forest islands so liberally sprinkled over the pantenal
country. To the Jaguar these were places of delight, free from
disturbance and well suited for repose. To man, these same places would
have been an inferno.

The tall trees, mostly of a wood known as _quebracho_, eagerly sought in
other regions on account of its qualities of yielding tannin, rich dyes
and compounds of medicinal worth, grew in dense clumps, the straight
trunks packed close together and the spreading, leafy branches almost
completely shutting out the daylight. More often than not reeking pools
of black water formed the floor of these desolate places. Mosquitoes in
clouds rose from the stagnant mire; their buzzing wings made an
ever-present music for, the insects being of various kinds and sizes, the
note contributed by each species was of a different pitch. Near the
ground the din was maddening, and the bites of the ravenous creatures
were sufficient to cause death.

The wily Jaguar avoided the intolerable annoyance and danger by seeking
a partly-fallen, leaning tree-trunk, or a thick branch, fifteen or
twenty feet above the ground. This was well above the zone of perpetual
torment, for the obnoxious insects formed a stratum that hugged the
earth. Among the branches the squirrels frolicked, whisking their
plume-like tails and keeping at a respectable distance from every other
animal that was not of their own family. Some of them were of
extraordinary size, with red backs and white under parts; others
belonged to the extreme lower end of the scale and were scarcely larger
than good-sized mice; but they all seemed a good-natured, fun-loving lot
that enjoyed life to the fullest extent.

The Cebus monkeys were of a very different nature. They always wore
tragic expressions on their faces and their lives were full of suffering
and woe for they had enemi