y the axe of
the lumberer, and in many places untrodden even by the foot of the
hunter. Here its denizens--quadrupeds, _quadrumana_, birds, reptiles,
and insects--might be seen following out their various habits of life,
obedient only to the passions or instincts that had been implanted in
them by Nature herself, but little modified by the presence of man. Now
would appear a flock of _capivaras_--or _chiguires_, as they are also
called--the largest of rodent animals, basking upon some sunny bank,
raising their great rabbit-like heads, and gazing curiously at the
passing _periagua_. Perhaps before the travellers had lost sight of
them, the whole gang would be seen suddenly starting from their
attitudes of repose, and in desperate rush making for the water. Behind
them would appear the yellow-spotted body of the jaguar--the true tyrant
of the Amazonian forest, who, with a single blow of his powerful paw
would stretch a _chiguire_ upon the grass, and then, couching over his
fallen victim, would tear its body to pieces, drink its warm blood, and
devour its flesh at his leisure.

If by good fortune the flock might all escape, and reach the water, the
jaguar, conscious of their superior adroitness in that element, would at
once abandon the pursuit; and returning to his ambush, lie waiting for a
fresh opportunity. But for all that, the poor chiguires would not be
certain of safety; for even in the water they might encounter another
enemy, equally formidable and cruel, in the gigantic _jacare_--the
crocodile of the Amazonian waters. Thus assailed in either element, the
poor innocent rodents are driven from land to water, and from the water
back again to the land; and so kept in a state of continual fear and
trembling. The puma, too, assails them, and the _jaguarundi_, and the
fierce _coatimundi_; and not unfrequently the enormous _anaconda_
enfolds them in its deadly embrace; for the innocuous creatures can make
no defence against their numerous enemies; and but for that fecundity
which characterises the family to which they belong--the so called
"Guinea pigs"--their race would be in danger of total extirpation.

The chiguires were not the only gregarious animals observed by our
travellers in their ascent of the Napo. Others of a very different
order appeared in the _peccaries_, or wild pigs of the _montana_. These
are true pachyderms, and in reality pigs; though naturalists have seen
fit to separate them from the gen