146 A PERILOUS EXCURSION.

white as snow, walked along their backs, and even
upon their heads, as if they were passing over
trunks of trees. The crocodiles were of a greenish-
gray, half covered with dried mud; from their
colour and immobility, they might have been taken
for statues of bronze. This excursion had nearly
proved fatal tome. I had kept my eyes constantly
turned toward the river; but, on picking up some
spangles of mica, agglomerated together in the
sand, I discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger,
easily distinguishable from their form and size.
The animal had gone towards the forest, and turn-
ing my eyes on that side, I found myself within
eighty steps of a jaguar, lying under the thick
foliage of a ceiba. No tiger had ever appeared to
me so large. I was extremely frightened, yet
sufficiently master of myself to enable me to follow
the advice which the Indians had so often given
us, how to act in such cases. I continued to walk
on without running; avoided moving my arms, and
thought I observed the attention of the brute was
fixed on a herd of capybaras which were crossing
the river. I then began to return, making a large
circuit towards the edge of the water. As the dis-
tance increased I thought I might accelerate my
pace. How often was I tempted to look back, in
order to assure myself that I was not pursued!
Happily I yielded very tardily to this desire. The