erfection, and that is
something in his favour."

I had not long taken my seat when Dr Stutterheim appeared at the door.

"What! still at breakfast, gentlemen!" he exclaimed, with a look of
surprise.

"You must have been up early, to have had the advantage of us," observed
the commandant.

"Except in the matter of obtaining an appetite, I cannot acknowledge
that such is the case," said the doctor, advancing farther into the room
towards a vacant chair.

"Sit down, then," said the commandant, "and satisfy your hunger, my
friend."

"Ten thousand thanks," answered the doctor, gliding into the chair. "As
in duty bound, I willingly obey your orders;" and he forthwith began
shovelling scraped salt beef, fried eggs, and plantains, of which our
breakfast was composed, at a rapid rate into his capacious mouth, adding
half a basketful of tropical fruits, and washing the whole down with a
bowl of thick chocolate. "I follow the advice of a great philosopher,
who insists that no men can be considered wise who fail when they have
an opportunity early in the day to lay in a store of provision, lest
they should be unable to secure a further supply," he observed.

Turning to my uncle, he inquired whether he purposed remaining any
length of time at Cervanos; and on hearing that he did not intend to
start till the following morning, invited me to accompany him on a
shooting excursion along the shores of the lake.

"I go for two reasons," he said: "to increase my knowledge of the
natural history of the country, and likewise to fill my pot. Senor
commandante, I shall have the honour of presenting you with the result
of our sport."

I was naturally eager to accept the invitation of my new friend, and my
uncle making no objections, I agreed to accompany him.

After smoking his meerschaum for the best part of an hour, he declared
himself ready to start. When I went to get my gun, Tim said that he
would go too--not that he distrusted the doctor, but that, as I was
unaccustomed to sporting in that region, he might assist me. I might by
chance be pounced upon by a jaguar, or, should I venture into the water
in search of wild-fowl, be carried off by an alligator.

We at once set out with our guns and game-bags, accompanied by the
doctor's dog, Jumbo, who was almost as curious-looking as was his
master--a perfect nondescript; but the doctor boasted that he had not
his equal, was afraid of neither quadruped nor biped, and would fa