shrieked out with terror; but though his
mother's ears must have caught the sound, she did not withdraw her
glance from the jaguar. She well knew that to do so would be fatal.
Duppo made signs to me to fire, but I feared that in so doing I might
miss the jaguar and wound one of his parents. Yet not a moment was to
be lost. My rifle, fortunately, was loaded with ball. I examined the
priming, and prayed that my arm might be nerved to take good aim. Again
the brute uttered a savage growl, and seemed on the point of springing
forward, when I fired. It rose in the air and fell back among the
foliage, while Illora thrust her spear at it with all her force. Not
till then did she seem to be aware of our presence. Then waving to us,
she seized the paddle and brought the canoe over to where we were
standing. Duppo leaped in and lifted up his father. The blood had
forsaken his dark countenance; his eyes were closed, his head was
fearfully torn--the greater part of the hair having been carried away.
Illora knelt down by his side, resting his head upon her arm. Arthur
and I felt his pulse. It still beat. We made signs to his wife that he
was alive, for she had evidently thought him dead. I fortunately had a
large handkerchief in my pocket, and dipping it in water, bound up his
head. He appeared to revive slightly. Illora then made signs to us
that she wished to go down the river. We did not even stop to look what
had become of the jaguar, convinced that he was killed. No time was to
be lost. Having placed Maono on some leaves in the stern of the canoe,
she seized one of the paddles and urged it out into the main stream.
Duppo took another paddle. Fortunately there were two spare ones at the
bottom of the canoe. Arthur and I seized them. Illora paddled away,
knowing well that the life of her husband depended on her exertions.
However callous may be the feelings of Indians generally, both she and
Duppo showed that they possessed the same which might have animated the
breasts of white people. Every now and then I saw her casting looks of
anxiety down on her husband's face. He remained unconscious, but still
I had hopes that if attended to at once he might recover.

"I am thankful a jaguar did not spring out on us as we were passing
through that thick underwood," observed Arthur. "How utterly unable we
should have been to defend ourselves."

"Yes, indeed; and still more so that we did not take up our abode
the