pecies, and there is more or less
hair upon all, between the joinings of the plates.

These points were not touched upon by Guapo, but others of equal
interest were. He went on to say that he knew many different kinds of
them;--some not bigger than a rat, and some as large as a full-grown
sheep; some that were slow in their paces, and others that could outrun
a man; some that were flat, and could squat so close as hardly to be
seen against the ground,--(these were _tatou-poyous_, the sort that had
hollowed out the deer); and some again that were high-backed and nearly
globe-shaped. Such was Guapo's account of these curious animals which
are found only in the warmer regions of North and South America.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

AN ARMADILLO HUNT.

Conversing in this way, the bark-hunters, at length, reached the
cinchona-trees, and then all talk about armadillos was at an end. They
went lustily to their work--which was of more importance--and, under
Guapo's axe, several of the cinchonas soon "bit the dust."

There was a spot of open ground just a little to one side of where these
trees stood. They had noticed, on coming up, a flock of zamuros, or
black vultures, out upon this ground, clustered around some object. It
was the carcass of another deer. The first blow of the axe startled the
birds, and they flapped a short way off. They soon returned, however,
not being shy birds, but the contrary.

There was nothing in all this to create surprise, except, perhaps, the
dead deer. What had been killing these animals? Not a beast of prey,
for that would have devoured them, unless, indeed, it might be the puma,
that often kills more than he can eat.

The thought had occurred to Don Pablo that they might have died from the
poisoned arrows of an Indian. This thought somewhat disquieted him, for
he knew not what kind of Indians they might be,--they might be friendly
or hostile;--if the latter, not only would all his plans be frustrated,
but the lives of himself and party would be in danger. Guapo could not
assure him on this head; he had been so long absent from the Great
Montana that he was ignorant of the places where the tribes of these
parts might now be located. These tribes often change their homes. He
knew that the Chunchos sometimes roamed so far up, and they were the
most dangerous of all the Indians of the Montana,--haters of the whites,
fierce and revengeful. It was they who several times destroyed th