“I caught only a glimpse of it, as it sprang forward into the opening. It was coming at full gallop, with its head carried between its knees. The dogs were close after, and it looked not before it, but dashed out and ran towards us as though blind.
“It made for the water, just a few feet from the bow of our canoe. The chief and I fired at the same time. I thought my bullet took effect, and so thought the chief did his; but the tapir, seeming not to heed the shots, plunged into the stream, and went under.
“The next moment the whole string of dyed dogs came sweeping out of the thicket, and leaped forward to where the game had disappeared.
“There was blood upon the water. The tapir is hit, then, thought I; and was about to point out the blood to the chief, when on turning I saw the latter poising himself knife in hand, near the stern of the canoe. He was about to spring out of it. His eye was fixed on some object under the water.
“I looked in the same direction. The waters of the Xingu are as clear as crystal: against the sandy bottom, I could trace the dark brown body of the tapir. It was making for the deeper channel of the river, but evidently dragging itself along with difficulty. One of its legs was disabled by our shots.
“I had scarcely time to get a good view of it before the chief sprang into the air, and dropped head foremost into the water. I could see a struggle going on at the bottom—turbid water came to the surface—and then up came the dark head of the savage chief.
“‘Ugh!’ cried he, as he shook the water from his thick tresses, and beckoned me to assist him—‘Ugh! Senhor, you eat roast tapir for dinner. Si—bueno—here tapir.’
“I pulled him into the boat, and afterwards assisted to haul up the huge body of the slain tapir.
“As was now seen, both our shots had taken effect; but it was the rifle-bullet that had broken the creature’s leg, and the generous savage acknowledged that he would have had but little chance of overtaking the game under water, had it not been previously crippled.
“The hunt of the day proved a very successful one. Two more tapirs were killed; several capivaras; and a paca—which is an animal much prized by the Indians for its flesh, as well as the teeth—used by them in making their blow-guns. We also obtained a pair of the small peccaries, several macaws, and no less than a whole troop of guariba monkeys. We returned to the malocca with a game-bag as various as it was full, and a grand dance of the Juruna women wound up the amusements of the day.”