ashes, to the great joy and astonishment
of all, these ashes, which were as white as flour, had the taste of
salt! It is true it was not equal to "Turk's Island," nor yet to "Bay"
salt, but it proved to be good enough for cooking purposes, and
satisfied the craving which all had felt for this indispensable article.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE CANNIBAL FISH AND THE GYMNOTUS.

About this time an incident occurred that was very near having a fatal
termination for one of the party--Leon. The day was a very hot one, and
as the cool water looked inviting, Leon could not resist the temptation
of taking a bath. Having undressed himself, he plunged into the river
nearly in front of where the house stood, and began splashing about
quite delighted. The rest were not heeding him, as each was engaged with
some occupation within the house.

Leon at first kept wading about in a place that was not beyond his
depth, but, by little and little, he took short swims, as he wished to
practise, and become a good swimmer like Guapo. His father had not only
given him permission, but had even advised him to do so. And it may be
here remarked that all parents would do well to take the same course
with their children and allow them to acquire this healthful and useful
art. No one can deny that thousands of lives are annually sacrificed,
because so few have taken the trouble to learn swimming.

Well; Leon was determined to be a swimmer, and at each attempt he made a
wider stretch into the deep water, swam around, and then back again to
the bank.

In one of these excursions, just as he had got farthest out, all at once
he felt a sharp pain as if from the bite of some animal, and then
another, and another, upon different parts of the body, as if several
sets of teeth were attacking him at once!

Leon screamed--who wouldn't have done so?--and his scream brought the
whole household to the edge of the water in less than a score of
seconds. All of them believed that he was either drowning or attacked by
a crocodile. On arriving at the bank, however, they saw that he was
still above water, and swimming boldly for the shore--no signs of a
crocodile were to be seen!

What was the matter?

Of course that question was asked of him by them all in a breath. His
reply was that "he could not tell--_something was biting him all
over_!"

The quick eye of the mother now caught sight of blood--around the
swimmer the water was tinged with it--her piercing