own. Our satisfaction at having escaped
from the savages and arrived at the high road, along which we were to
proceed, was counterbalanced by our anxiety for our family. We might,
after all, have passed the spot where they were waiting for us; and yet
it was not likely they would remain in the neighbourhood of such savages
as the Majeronas had shown themselves. We agreed, therefore, at all
risks, at once to row in towards the shore, and examine it carefully as
we proceeded downwards.

We had not gone far, when we came in sight of a sand-bank, which offered
a favourable spot for landing. We accordingly rowed in, looking
carefully about for any signs of natives. As no huts or any human
beings were to be seen, we landed.

While Domingos and Arthur were collecting wood for a fire, John and I,
followed by True, with our guns, made our way through the forest, that
we might survey the country, so as not to be taken by surprise. We had
not gone far when I caught sight of three animals, which I should have
taken for young hogs, from their brown colour, long coarse hair, and
their general appearance, had they not been sitting up on their
haunches, as no hog ever sat. They had large heads, and heavy blunt
muzzles, and thick clumsy bodies without tails. They cast inquisitive
looks at me, and would have sat on apparently till I had got close up to
them, had not True dashed forward, when, uttering low sounds, between a
grunt and a bark, they rushed towards the water. I fired at one of
them, and knocked it over. The rest reached the river, though pursued
by True, and instantly dived beneath the surface. John came up, and on
examining the animal's mouth, we found it to be a rodent, and thus knew
it to be a capybara, the largest of its order. When alarmed, it rushes
to the water, swims as well as the otter, and takes its prey in a
similar manner. It is, from its aquatic habits, often called the
water-hog. It had short legs, and peculiarly long feet, partially
webbed, which enable it to swim so well.

Directly afterwards, True turned a smaller animal out of a hollow trunk.
It made off through the forest at great speed; but John shot it just as
it was running behind a tree. It proved to be an agouti, also a rodent.
It is in some respects like a hare or rabbit, with the coarse coat of a
hog, but feeds itself like a squirrel. It is classed with the
guinea-pig. It feeds on vegetables, and is very destructive to
sugar-cane