ght; and then, pretty well
tired out, lay down to rest. Every now and then Captain Laffan or I got
up to change the position of our horses, but we dared not leave them far
from the fire, lest some jaguar might spring out and kill one of them,
although it might not be able to carry off its prey. Great as was our
anxiety, we by turns got some sleep; and at dawn, again mounting, we
rode forward. The sky, however, was cloudy, and we had greater
difficulty than before in guiding our course.

We rode on for some hours, until the pangs of hunger and the necessity
of resting ourselves made us resolve to stop. I was fortunate enough to
kill a good-sized monkey, which was grinning down at us from a bough
close above our heads; and we also found as much wild fruit as we
required. So, having reached the banks of a stream, where we and our
horses could get water, and where there was abundance of grass, we
halted, and quickly had a fire lighted, and part of our monkey roasting
before it. The other part I had given to Lion, who was quite ready to
eat it uncooked.

We again moved forward, but we both felt very doubtful whether we were
going right. For my own part, I know but few sensations so disagreeable
as the idea that one has lost one's way. We were passing along a low
sandy spot, with high bushes and trees on either side, when Captain
Laffan's horse gave a sudden start; and looking down, we saw a small
shiny snake gliding away. The horse had evidently been bitten, for we
could see the mark of the creature's fangs above the fetlock, and soon
the leg began to swell. The poor animal proceeded with the greatest
difficulty. What remedies to apply we neither of us knew, but we had
heard of the existence of a small snake called the aranas, the poison
from whose fangs is so subtle that animals bitten often die within an
hour; and even when remedies are applied, few are ever saved.

"The creature might have bitten either of ourselves," I observed.

"I do not think this species ever attacks man,--though I should not like
to put the matter to the test," answered Captain Laffan.

There was no use in our stopping, especially as there might be other
snakes of the same kind in the neighbourhood. We therefore, as long as
the poor horse could move, pushed forward; but its pace became more and
more sluggish, as the limb continued to swell. At length the animal
stopped altogether, and my companion, feeling it tremble, leaped off.
S