The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1855-03-03
THE PERRYSBURG JOURNAL.

first scanned these ours in their fanciful
coats Picture to yourself a pack of scar
let, and orange, and purple dogs.
Well we were soon in the ubas, and pad
ding up stream. The tuxava and occupied
canoe to ourselves. His only arms were
light fusil, which had given him as pres
ent in our barter. 1t was good piece, and
he was proud of it, This was to be its first
trial had rifle for my own weapon
The rest were armed variously; some had
guns, Others the native bow and arrows
some carried the gravatana, with arrows
dipped in curari poison; some had nothing
but nachetcS, or cutlasses for clearing the
underwood, in case the game had to be drv
en- from the thickets.
| There was a part of the river, some two
or three miles above the malocca, where the
channel was wider than usual--Several miles
in breadth at this place. Here it was stud
ded with islands, known to be a favorite
resort Of the tapirs. This was to be The
scene of our hunt. We approached the
place in about an hour; but on the way
could not help being struck with the pictur
esqueness of our party. No "maet,' in the
hunting field of civilized countries could have
equaled US in that respect. The ubas,
strung out in long irregular line, sprang up
stream in obedience to the vigorous strokes
of the rowers, and these sang in sort Of
irregular concert as they piled their paddles.
The songs were improvised they told the
feats of the hunters already performed, and
promised others yet to be done. | could
hear the word "tapira," tapir, often repeat
ed. The women lent their shrill voices to
the chorus and now and then interrupted
the song with peals of merry laughter. The
strange looking flotillo-the bronzed bodies
of the Indians, more than half nude-their
their waving black hair--their blue bead
belts and red cotton armlets--the bright
tdngaS, aprons Of the women--their massive
necklaces--the macaw feathers adjoining the
heads of the hunters--their odd arms and
equipments--all combined to form picture
which, even to me, accustomed TO such
sights, was full of interest.
At length we arrived among the islands,
and then the noises ceased. The canoes
were padded as slowly and silently as pos
sible. | now began TO understand the plan
of the hunt it was first to discover an
island upon which tapir was supposed to
be, and then encompass it with the hunters
in their canoes, while a party landed with
the dogs, to arouse the game and drive II
toward the water. This plan promised fair
sport. The canoes now separated; and in a
short while each of them was seen cOursing
quietly along the edge Of some islet, one of
its occupants leaning inward, and scrutiniz-
ing the narrow belt of sand that bordered the
water. In some places no such sand belt
appeared. The trees hung over, their bran ches
even dipping into the current, and forming q
rooted and dark passage underneath. In
such places tapir could have hidden him
self from the sharpest eyed hunters, and
herein lies the chief difficulty Of this kind Of
hunt.
1t was not long before low whistle was
heard from one of the ubas, sign for the
others to come up. The traces of a tapir
had been discovered. The chief, with a
stroke or two of his palm wood paddle,
brought our canoe to the spot. There, sure
enough, was the sgn--the tracks of tapir
in the sand-leading to hole in the thick
underwood, where beaten path appeared
to continue onward into the interior of the
island, perhaps to the tapir den. The tracks
were fresh--had been made that morning in
the wet sand-no doubt the creature was in
its lair.
The island was small one, with some
five or six acres of surface. The canoes shot
off in different directions, and in few min
utes were deployed all around it. At a Civ
en- signal, several hunters leaped ashore, fol-
lowed by their bright-colored assistants--the
dogs; and then the chopping of branches,