The next morning we again went out hunting and exploring, and found numerous _danta_, or tapir tracks, from the forest to the river. They were very large, and we followed them until they disappeared into the inaccessible forest. Reaching the southern end of the beach, we observed several turtle tracks, but did not notice them closely, for just then we stumbled upon what looked like a jaguar trail, which we followed until it, too, disappeared in the depths of the forest. Somewhat discomfited at these repeated disappointments, we returned to the alligator pools and amused ourselves at taking pot-shots at the alligators until they discovered our game and promptly got away. A little later we shot a small bird, resembling a seagull, which we saved as bait for a fishing expedition we had planned for that evening. Returning to the canoe, we had lunch; and, then, as it was too hot to go out on another expedition, devoted the rest of the afternoon to chess: but I lost every game, although when we were on the Cauca Railway I used to beat Perkins easily. Whether my mind was distracted by our shipwreck, or whether Perkins had done some studying up, I cannot say; the fact remains that during all the time we were shipwrecked I only won a single game, and we must have played over fifty. At about seven o'clock in the evening we went down to the edge of the river and commenced fishing. At first we did not get a single bite, and we were just about giving it up in despair, when a school of enormous catfish appeared upon the scene, and in less than an hour and a half we had enough to last for a couple of days. Here we observed several more monstrous alligators, and soon so many appeared that we began to get a little nervous. They did not molest us, however, and we kept on fishing until nine o'clock, when we retired to our humble abode--the canoe. Shortly after breakfast the next morning I went out on another expedition, taking my _machete_ with me. After exploring the _playa_, without seeing anything more than tracks, I succeeded in penetrating a short distance into the forest, where I was lucky enough to kill a fine, large bird, known as the _paujil_. Returning to the canoe, I stumbled upon a large turtle track; following it some distance, I observed that it had dug up the sand, probably to deposit some eggs, so, excavating a little with my _machete_, I discovered the nest, which contained over eighty eggs. As these eggs are excellent eating, I took off my shirt, tied them up in it and carried them to camp, along with the _paujil_. At any rate, we were in no danger of starving.