e savage monsters, a
species of alligator or crocodile. The man forced his horse into the
stream and swam on some way. Suddenly we were startled with the cry of
"A cayman! a cayman! Take care, man!" The Indian threw himself from
his horse and swam boldly to the bank, leaving his poor steed to become
the prey of the monster. The cayman made directly for the horse, and
seized him with his huge jaws by the body. The poor steed's shriek of
agony sounded in our ears, but fortunately for him the saddle-girth gave
way, and he struggled free, leaving the tough leather alone in the
brute's mouth, and swam off to shore. The cayman, not liking the
morsel, looked about for something more to his taste.

The Indian had reached the bank, but instead of getting out of the
water, he stood in a shallow place behind a tree, and, drawing his
sword, declared that he was ready to fight the cayman. The monster
open-mouthed made at him; but the man in his folly struck at its head.
He might as well have tried to cut through a suit of ancient armour.
The next instant, to our horror, the cayman had him shrieking in his
jaws, and with his writhing body disappeared beneath the surface of the
stream!

After this our journey was enlivened by all sorts of horrible accounts
of adventures with caymans, till we neared the spot where we expected to
find some buffaloes. As we rode along we heard an extraordinary cry.
"It is a wild boar," exclaimed our friend; "but I suspect a boa has got
hold of him--a great _bore_ for him, I suspect." We rode to the spot
whence the sound came. There, sure enough, suspended from the low
branch of a tree was a huge boa-constrictor, some twenty feet long,
perhaps, which had just enclosed a wild pig in its monstrous folds.
While we looked he descended, and lubricating the animal with the saliva
from his mouth, and placing himself before it, took the snout in his
jaws and began to suck it in. We had not time to wait, as our friend
told us it would take a couple of hours before he got the morsel into
his stomach. This process is performed by wonderful muscular action and
power of distension.

In half an hour we reached a plain bordered by a forest. "Here we shall
find buffaloes in abundance," exclaimed our friend; "but, my lads, be
cautious; keep behind me, and watch my movements, or you may be
seriously injured, or lose your lives. Buffalo-hunting is no child's
play, remember." We had with us a number of Ind