very spot where stagnant
water was to be found, and knew at the same time how extremely difficult
it might be to find a place offering any more advantages than did the
narrow strip of sand on which they had been thrown.

"It wouldn't be quite as bad if I knew where we are," he said to
himself. "It can't be possible that we're on the coast of South America;
but if that should prove to be the case we'd make a pretty mess of it by
trying to cross."

Then came the thought that perhaps it would be better to travel up the
coast, and as to the advisability of this he studied a long while
without being able to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion.

Two hours were spent in this profitless speculation, and then the boys
returned, bringing with them two large hoccos, birds looking not unlike
wild turkeys.

"We shan't starve while such game as this is to be found," Neal cried
triumphantly. "I believe we might have shot a dozen by staying longer;
but there was no sense in doing so just for the sake of killing. It will
be a hard job to eat all this meat before it spoils."

"How far in did you go?" Jake asked, rising to his feet quickly and
trying to banish from his face the look of dejection, lest his
companions should suspect how desperate he believed the situation to be.

"Not more than half a mile," Teddy replied.

"What is the general appearance of the country?"

"The undergrowth is very dense in places, and above here, a little to
the right, we came upon what seems to be a swamp. It was there we found
these birds, and something else which is not quite so promising."

As he spoke Teddy pulled up his shirt sleeve, and pointed to several
black specks on his skin.

"They are ticks, or garrapatas, as the Spaniards call them," Jake
replied, as he opened his pocket knife. "The sooner you get rid of them
the better, for they will make what is likely to be a bad sore unless a
cordial invitation to leave is extended."

"Are you going to cut them out?" Teddy asked in alarm.

"Not exactly; but you won't get rid of the pests without considerable
pain, for they have the faculty of crawling under the skin mighty fast."

Jake set about the work in a methodical manner, causing Teddy to cry
aloud very often as the insects were pulled or dug from the flesh.

Then Neal was called upon to undergo the same operation, and not until
nearly an hour had passed were the hunters free from the painful pests.

It was now nearly sunset, and