t leisure; and then, as there was no wind,
and Earle did not wish to impose upon his crew the labour of sweeping
the raft up-stream against the current if it could be avoided, the two
white men took the canoe, a repeating rifle and a smooth-bore, and went
ashore, effecting a landing at the spot where the jaguar had been shot
on the previous night, and which they now saw had been formed into a
tiny bit of beach through the breaking down of the bank by the animals
which evidently came to that particular spot to drink. They had no
difficulty in finding the spoor of the lost jaguar, indeed it was the
first thing to attract their attention upon stepping ashore, and as
Earle gazed down upon the deep indentations in the plastic mud he
execrated the thieving alligator afresh, for the prints were as big as
the palm of his hand, indicating that the beast must have been a
particularly fine specimen.

At first they experienced very little difficulty in making their way
through the dense undergrowth, their plan being simply to follow the
path beaten down by the animals; but after travelling about a hundred
yards this path became merged into a number of others, evidently not
quite so much used, and in these the going was much more difficult, the
scrub not being so completely beaten down. So difficult of passage did
they at length find it that they were seriously discussing the
advisability of giving up the attempt and turning back, when Earle, who
was leading the way, suddenly declared that he saw light ahead, and
pushing resolutely on, the explorers presently burst their way into a
wide open space of some ten or twelve acres extent, in which, for some
unknown reason, no trees were growing, save a few scattered saplings,
the tallest of which was not more than nine or ten feet high.

As they emerged into the open the pair involuntarily came to a halt,
entranced by the extraordinary beauty of the scene that met their gaze.
The open space, roughly circular in shape, was completely hemmed in on
every side by trees, some of which were of enormous size, while the
tints of their foliage varied through every shade of green, from that of
the young bud to a depth of tone that was nearly black. Nor was green
by any means the only tint displayed; for some of the trees appeared to
be clothed with flowers of vivid flaming scarlet, instead of leaves,
while the leaves of others, instead of being green, were of a deep, rich
crimson hue, or a fine