and then we would whistle so as not to lose track of each other. I
regretted that I had been so careless as to leave my ammunition
at home, as it might happen that the wounded and enraged cat would
spring at us from some dark cluster of branches, and then a machete
would hardly be an adequate weapon.

We searched for over an hour until it was pitch dark, but, sad to
relate, we never found that jaguar. We went home silently. Francisco
did not secure the reward.

This incident is of no particular interest as the result of the
excursion was nil and our humour consequently very bad. But it serves
to show how the mind of man will be influenced by local surroundings,
and how it adapts itself to strange customs, and how a novice may be
so greatly enthused that he will, half-armed, enter upon a reckless
hunt for a wounded jaguar.



CHAPTER VI

THE FATAL MARCH THROUGH THE FOREST


Thus I lived among these kind and hospitable people for five months
until one day my lust for further excitement broke out again, induced
by a seemingly commonplace notice posted outside the door of the
storeroom. It read: "The men--Marques, Freitas, Anisette, Magellaes,
Jerome, and Brabo--are to make themselves ready to hunt caoutchouc
in the eastern virgin forest." Puzzled as to the meaning of this,