“I don’t think—I hardly believe they will,” Professor Bigelow said, but this was a statement of hope rather than of conviction.
Bob and Joe constantly took motion pictures of the country they were passing through, and often they took the cameras with them on hunting trips, to photograph not only wild life but any adventures that they might have. The number of feet of exposed film had grown to nearly a thousand, and they intended to make it several more before they “closed” the picture. They were allowed four thousand feet and fully expected to use all of it.
The next day after the fracas with the traitorous Indians, they were paddling swiftly along when suddenly there was a jar and a crash, and the foremost boat was sent aside and heading in the opposite direction. At once the explorers were on their feet and had their rifles in ready grasp. They cautiously peered over the side into the river, half expecting to see a dozen or more savages leap out and make for the boat.
But no savages came. Instead there arose a large black body, nearly ten feet long, shaped like a seal, with the faintest suggestion of fins protruding from its side. For a moment it glanced about, then swam on up the river.
“A manatee,” said Mr. Holton. “Or sea-cow, if you prefer that name.”
“Sure is a whopper,” observed Joe. “Looks like it might be dangerous. Is it?”
“No,” his father replied. “One of the most harmless animals of South America.”
Mr. Lewis raised his rifle to bring the creature down as a specimen, but just as he prepared to pull the trigger it darted below the water and swam off at a rapid pace, leaving a thin streak of ripples behind. Then the naturalists saw that shooting would mean only a waste of bullets.
A few miles on they came upon another rapids and saw that it would be necessary to lay a portage of logs along the river bank in order to get the boats through. Anxious to make time, they worked untiringly and had the task completed in a short time.