made more than did the cook.

It was a creature of a dark color, something like a large
Newfoundland dog.

"A great ant-eater!" exclaimed Benito, as he threw it on the deck of
the jangada.

"And a magnificent specimen which would not disgrace the collection
of a museum!" added Manoel.

"Did you take much trouble to catch the curious animal?" asked Minha.

"Yes, little sister," replied Benito, "and you were not there to ask
for mercy! These dogs die hard, and no less than three bullets were
necessary to bring this fellow down."

The ant-eater looked superb, with his long tail and grizzly hair;
with his pointed snout, which is plunged into the ant-hills whose
insects form its principal food; and his long, thin paws, armed with
sharp nails, five inches long, and which can shut up like the fingers
of one's hand. But what a hand was this hand of the ant-eater! When
it has got hold of anything you have to cut it off to make it let go!
It is of this hand that the traveler, Emile Carrey, has so justly
observed: "The tiger himself would perish in its grasp."

On the 2d of July, in the morning, the jangada arrived at the foot of
San Pablo d'Olivença, after having floated through the midst of
numerous islands which in all seasons are clad with verdure and
shaded with magnificent trees, and the chief of which bear the names