inutes served to bring the
tree down, and down it came, the ais screaming as it fell. Guapo now
approached to seize them, but about this he used some caution. Both
finding themselves without hope of escape, prepared for defence. Buffon
asserts that they make none. That is not true, as was seen by all the
party. Throwing themselves on their backs, they struck out with their
fore-arms in a sort of mechanical manner. These with the long horny
claws they kept playing in front of their bodies, striking alternately
with them, and rapidly, as a dog will do when suddenly plunged into
water. Guapo did not put his hands near them. He knew they would not
bite, but he also knew that he might get a scratch with the sharp claws,
and that he did not wish for. But Guapo had a way to take them, and
that he now put in practice. Lopping a couple of branches from the
tree, he held one out to each of the ais, and touched them with it on
the breast. Each, as soon as it felt the branch, clutched it tightly
between its powerful fore-arms and held on as if for life and death. It
would have taken a stronger man than Guapo to have pulled either of the
branches away again. The thing was now done. Giving his axe to Leon to
carry for him, Guapo lifted an ai, still clinging to the branch, in each
hand, and carried them off as if they had been a pair of water-pots. He
did not wish to kill them until he got them home, alleging that they
were better for eating when freshly butchered.

The bark-hunters now continued their route, and shortly after entered a
little glade or opening in the forest, about an acre in size. When they
had reached the middle of this, Guapo threw his ais upon the ground and
marched on.

"Why do you leave them?" inquired the others.

"No fear for them," replied Guapo; "they'll be there when we come back.
If I carried them into the woods, they might steal off while we were at
work, but it would take them six hours to get to the nearest tree."

All laughed at this, and went on, leaving the ais to themselves. Before
passing out from the glade, they stopped a moment to look at the great,
conical nests of the termites, or white ants, several of which, like
soldiers' tents, stood near the edge of the glade. It was yet early,
the air was chilly, and the ants were not abroad; so that, after gazing
for a while on these singular habitations, the bark-gatherers pursued
their way, and were soon under the shadow of the cinc