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Whe n we are in port there is no breeze to blow away the smell of the animals, and the barnyard odor creeps down corridors, and permeates everything in our stateroom.  Bill has solved the water problem beautifully (he thinks) by attaching a hose to our bathroom faucet, running the hose along our floor and out the porthole onto the animals' deck.  It is fine for the animals, but makes just one more inroad on the privacy one usually expects in one's own bedroom.

Daveron brought his collection aboard, or at least all the Bill would take of it - a tapir, opossum, eyra, ducks, curassows and a lizard.  The Zoo sent down a tapir, two king vultures and twelve lizards.  We didn't want any more stuff, but there was no way out of taking these.  We sailed at four-thirty, with a lingering look at the famous harbor which was all we saw of Rio this time.  There was still land in sight when the sun went down.

June 15 - At Sea

No news, except that on tapir is not eating very well, and has skinned his nose; neither capybara eats; and a nutria escaped in the night.  Bill went out sleepily in his nightshirt caught it, and I heard him say to the sailors "Pardon my evening clothes, boys."

June 16 - At Sea

The nutrias, having found their way out of the cage, keep popping out at intervals.  One was out at two this morning, and again at seven.

The passengers, when they are not complaining about the animals, come down to visit them, and feed them, and get in the way of us working men and women, and ask dumb questions.  "Is it true llamas spit?"  "Well, is it [[underline]] harmful?" [[/underline]] (meaning the spit) "Isn't it cute!"  "Hear the little birds singing to me!"  "Is that a rabbit?"  And so on.

June 17 - At Sea

A viscacha got out, also a whole box of frogs.  Frogs keep turning up in unlikely places all over the ship now, one having been found on the deck above ours, in the passengers' quarters.

June 18 - At Sea

We crossed the Equator today, but no notice was taken of it.  Presumably the South American going north is not as keen on tomfoolery as the North American going south.