"What is the general appearance of the country?"
"The undergrowth is very dense in places, and above here, a little to the right, we came upon what seems to be a swamp. It was there we found these birds, and something else which is not quite so promising."
As he spoke Teddy pulled up his shirt sleeve, and pointed to several black specks on his skin.
"They are ticks, or garrapatas, as the Spaniards call them," Jake replied, as he opened his pocket knife. "The sooner you get rid of them the better, for they will make what is likely to be a bad sore unless a cordial invitation to leave is extended."
"Are you going to cut them out?" Teddy asked in alarm.
"Not exactly; but you won't get rid of the pests without considerable pain, for they have the faculty of crawling under the skin mighty fast."
Jake set about the work in a methodical manner, causing Teddy to cry aloud very often as the insects were pulled or dug from the flesh.
Then Neal was called upon to undergo the same operation, and not until nearly an hour had passed were the hunters free from the painful pests.
It was now nearly sunset, and all hands set about preparing the hoccos for roasting, by first plucking the fowls, removing the intestines, and sticking them on a sharpened stake in front of the fire.
It was not an entirely satisfactory method of cooking, for while one portion was done brown, another would be hardly warmed through; but, as Teddy said, "it went a long way ahead of nothing," and all three worked industriously, turning the game or piling on the fuel until, about an hour after sunset, the task was completed.