Then they would lie down and rest, first threshing up grass and bushes to drive away snakes, scorpions and lizards.

Sometimes they would sleep, and sometimes they would watch the monkeys and parrots darting about and chattering overhead.

Twice they saw fierce ocelots stealing among the tree trunks, stalking prey hidden from the man and boy.

The first ocelot was a tawny yellow and the second was a reddish gray.

Both were marked with black spots in streaks and in lengthened rings.