s shoulder.

"The beast is justly mine, isn't it, Tatita, and I am still the
tiger-hunter?"

"Yes," I replied; "but let the tigers alone, if they will allow you, and
let us go to rest."

We were all going to lie down, when the roar of a tiger again shook the
air.

"Hallo!" cried my friend; "is your beast come to life again?"

"No, Tatita Sumichrast; but my tiger is a tigress, and her mate is come
to see after her."

I told the Indian not to move.

"Let him do as he likes," said my companion; "he will only disobey you."

Half an hour elapsed; all was profound silence, and we could hear the
slightest-rustling of the leaves. Suddenly there was the report of a
gun, and, five minutes afterwards, we greeted with "bravos" the
triumphant "Hiou! hiou!" of the Indian, who, streaming with water, came
to dry himself at the fire.

"I was obliged to ford the stream," he said; "but his lordship has got
the ball between his two eyes this time."

"You are a brave fellow," responded Sumichrast, shaking hands with him.

"Now I shall sleep quietly," the Indian whispered to Lucien.

Master Job, Gringalet, Janet, and Verdet, all had their eyes wide open
when I awoke at day-break. Lucien rose just as I was starting for the
water's edge and accompanied me.

An elegant bird with a long curved bill came and settled down on the
bank; the boy remarked the beautiful bronze-colored plumage of the
wader. I informed him it was an ibis.

"The Egyptian bird which devours serpents?"

"One of its kinsfolk," I replied; "the ibis feeds, generally speaking,
on worms, mollusks, and even on sea-weed or aquatic plants. It may,
perhaps, sometimes eat water-snakes; but as to feeding exclusively on
reptiles, or destroying them systematically, that's quite another
story."

We now reached the bivouac, and found my companions up, and l'Encuerado
in a state of high excitement over his exploit.

Having drunk our coffee, we all turned up our sleeves, and set to work
to skin our magnificent prizes. This difficult operation employed us all
the morning, and was scarcely finished when I carried our baggage on
board the raft, which was soon pushed off from the bank.

Our way lay through walls of the densest foliage, which often met
overhead, while such was the awful stillness of the solitude, that we
felt oppressed, and only spoke in a low voice.

The hour for rest had long passed, and yet no one proposed to land. The
fact was, we wished some more an