. `_Carpe diem_' should be
the motto of all who desire to gain information."

I agreed to accompany the doctor and Gerald; and before retiring to rest
that night we made arrangements. Tim, also, on hearing of our plan,
begged to go--being afraid that Gerald would get into some scrape.

The doctor of course intended to take Jumbo. I asked him if Gab was to
go also.

"I have not tried him yet, and I think it is possible, if I put a gun
into his hands, that he might shoot me instead of a jaguar, should one
appear before us," he replied.

I confess I thought that possible, for I did not particularly like the
appearance of Mr Heliogabalus.

My father employed a number of blacks on his estate, as did my uncle;
for they found them far more trustworthy and industrious than the
so-called Christianised natives. Gab soon made himself at home among
his fellow-blacks, but they from the first looked upon him with some
degree of suspicion, for which I could not account; they very probably
had more insight into his character than either his master or I had.

We started early the next morning, with a small quantity of
provisions,--consisting chiefly of flour and biscuits,--a pot in which
to boil our cocoa, and some cups to drink it out of; some condiments,
such as pepper and salt; and plenty of powder and shot. We expected to
kill sufficient game to supply ourselves with substantial food. We were
all mounted, as we could leg-strap our horses while we shot, or leave
them under charge of a black servant, who accompanied us with a
sumpter-horse to carry our larger game, as also the skins of any animals
the doctor might wish to preserve. We agreed to camp out for a couple
of nights, and then return home.

I must not stop to describe the numerous birds we saw on the lake along
the shores of which we took our way--the flamingoes, spoonbills, herons,
and several varieties of water-fowl. Among others, we saw some little
herons as white as snow, which the doctor assured me were great friends
of the alligators. Before long we caught sight of a number of these
saurians lying on a bank in the sun; and while we were watching them,
several of the beautiful birds perched on their backs, and went walking
composedly along, as if they mistook them for trunks of trees. The
alligators were much smaller than those I had seen in the Magdalena, and
both Gerald and Tim assured us that they never attacked human beings.

Having left our horses