At another time, when these bugbears think any one inimical or injurious to them, they will threaten to change themselves into a tiger, and tear every one of their hordesmen to pieces. No sooner do they begin to imitate the roaring of a tiger, than all the neighbours fly away in every direction. From a distance however they hear the feigned sounds. "Alas! his whole body is beginning to be covered with tiger spots!" cry they. "Look, his nails are growing," the fear-struck women exclaim, although they cannot see the rogue, who is concealed within his tent; but that distracted fear presents things to their eyes which have no real existence. It was scarce possible to persuade them out of their absurd terrors. "You daily kill tigers in the plain," said I, "without dread, why then should you weakly fear a false imaginary tiger in the town?" "You Fathers don't understand these matters," they reply, with a smile. "We never fear, but kill tigers in the plain, because we can see them. Artificial tigers we do fear, because they can neither be seen nor killed by us." I combated this poor argument, by saying, "If that artificial tiger which your conjurors assume to alarm you cannot be seen, how, pray, can you tell that tigers' claws and nails begin to grow upon him?" But it was vain to reason with men in whom the extreme pertinacity with which they adhered to the opinion of their ancestors superseded all reason. Should a furious tempest arise, they will all declare the deluge caused by profuse rain to be effected by the arts of the jugglers, and whilst some attribute the flood and hurricane to one, some to another, a still more furious and louder tempest arises amongst themselves. Hear my account of an event which I cannot remember without laughter. In the month of January, a quantity of heavy rain fell in the night, and precipitating itself from a neighbouring hill, nearly overwhelmed the colony of St. Jeronymo. The immense force of waters broke the leathern door, rushed into my hut where I was sleeping, and not immediately gaining egress, increased to about five palms in depth. Awakened by the noise, I put my arms out of bed, and using them as a plumb, measured the depth of the water; and had not the wall, which was perforated by the flood, opened a way to the waters, I must have been obliged to swim for my life. The same thing happened to all the Abipones who dwelt on low ground, their huts being entirely inundated. But lo! the next morning a report was spread, that a female juggler, who had received some offence from one of the inhabitants of the town, had caused this great storm in the intent of drowning the whole horde, but that the clouds had been repulsed, the rain stopped, and the town saved by the interposition of another juggler. That dreadful flood did not extend to the neighbouring plain, where Pariekaikin, at that time chief of the Abiponian jugglers, was then living with some companions, who,