It is a gentle creature,
but when attacked becomes a fierce opponent, and can wound dogs
dangerously with its powerful teeth. The tapir can swim and dive with
perfect ease, and abounds in the densely wooded swamps and rivers of
tropical America.
Fritz in his cajack followed for a time the direction in which the
tapir proceeded, but saw no more of it. Meanwhile the other two boys
returned to the farm by the rice-fields, and there fell in with a flock
of cranes, five or six of which they caught alive, among them two
demoiselle or Numidian cranes.
These birds they shot at with arrows arranged in a skilful and
original way, with loops of cord dipped in birdlime attached to them,
so that it often happened that the bird aimed at, was entangled and
brought down uninjured.
The young hunters seemed to have lived very comfortably on peccary ham,
cassava bread and fruit, and plenty of baked potatoes and milk.
One trial of the pemmican was sufficient, and it was handed over to the
dogs. Fritz, however, determined again to attempt the manufacture,
knowing its value when properly prepared.
After collecting a supply of rice and cotton, they took their way to
Prospect Hill, `and,' said Fritz, as he afterwards vividly described
the dreadful scene there enacted, `when we entered the pine wood, we
found it in possession of troops of monkeys, who resolved to make our
passage through it as disagreeable as possible, for they howled and
chattered at us like demons, pelting us as hard as they could with pine
cones.
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