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in the tropics, and thus masses of colour are less frequently produced. Individual objects may be more brilliant and striking, but the general effect will not be so great, as that of a smaller number of less conspicuous plants, grouped together in masses of various colours, so strikingly displayed in the meadows and groves of the temperate regions.

The changing hues of autumn, and the tender green of spring, are particular beauties which are not seen in tropical regions, and which are quite unsurpassed by anything that exists there. The wide expanse of green meadows and rich pastures is also wanting ; and, however much individual objects may please and astonish, the effect of the distant landscape is decidedly superior in the temperate parts of the world.

The sensations of pleasure we experience on seeing natural objects, depends much upon association of ideas with their uses, their novelty, or their history. What causes the sensa- tions we feel on gazing upon a waving field of golden corn ? Not, surely, the mere beauty of the sight, but the associations we connect with it. We look on it as a national blessing, as the staff of life, as the most precious produce of the soil ; and this makes it beautiful in our eyes.

So, in the tropics, the broad-leaved banana, beautiful in itself, becomes doubly so, when looked upon as producing a greater quantity of food in a given time, and on a limited space, than any other plant. We take it as a type of the luxuriance of the tropics, — we look at its broad leaves, the produce of six months' growth, — we think of its delicious and wholesome fruit : and all this is beauty, as we gaze upon it.

In the same manner, a field of sugar-cane or an extensive plantation of cotton produces similar sensations : we think of the thousands they will feed and clothe, and the thought clothes them with beauty.

Palms too are subject to the same influence. They are elegant and graceful in themselves ; they are almost all useful to man ; they are associated with the brightness and warmth of the tropics : and thus they acquire an additional interest, a new beauty.

To the naturalist everything in the tropics acquires this kind of interest, for some reason or other. One plant is a tropical form, and he examines it with curiosity and delight. Another is allied to some well-known European species, and this too


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attracts his attention. The structure of some are unknown, and he is pleased to examine them. The locality of another is doubtful, and he feels a great pleasure in determining it. He is ever examining individual objects, and confounds his own interest in them, from a variety of causes, with the sensations produced by their beauty, and thus is led to give exaggerated descriptions of the luxuriance and splendour of the vegetation.

As most travellers are naturalists, this supposition will account for the ideas of the tropics generally obtained from a perusal of their works.

If I have come to a different conclusion, it is not that I am incapable of appreciating the splendours of tropical scenery, but because I believe that they are not of the kind usually represented, and that the scenery of our own land is, of its own kind, unsurpassed : there is nothing approaching it in the tropics, nor is the scenery of the tropics to be found with us. There, — singular forms of stems and climbers, gigantic leaves, elegant palms, and individual plants with brilliant flowers, are the characteristic features. Here, — an endless carpet of verdure, with masses of gay blossoms, the varying hues of the foliage, and the constant variety of plain and forest, meadow and woodland, more than individual objects, are what fill the beholder with delight.

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locality, in order to meet with all the different kinds. I sub- join a list of the species, with the localities in which they were found.

MONKEYS FOUND ON THE AMAZON AND THE RIO NEGRO.

i. Mycetes seniculus, Geoff. ; on the Rio Negro and the north bank of the Amazon.

2. Mycetes caraya, Gray ; on the Upper Amazon

3. Mycetes beelzebub, Br. Mus. ; Para.

4. Lagothrix Humboldtii, Geoff. ; Upper Amazon and west of Rio Negro.

5. Ateles paniscus, Geoff. ; Guiana, north bank of Amazon and east of Rio Negro.

6. Cclnis apella, Erxk (?) ; Amazon and Rio Negro.

7. Ccbus gracilis, Spix ; Rio Negro and Upper Amazon.

8. Callithrix sciureus, Geoff. ; the whole Amazon valley.

9. Callithrix torquatus (amidus, Geoff.) ; Upper Rio Negro.

10. Callithrix personalis, Geoff. ; south bank of Upper Amazon.

11. Nyctipithecus trivirgatus, Humb. ; Upper Rio Negro.

12. Nyctipithecus felinus, Spix ; Upper Amazon.

13. Pithecia irrorata (hirsula, Spix) ; south bank of Upper Amazon.

14. Pithecia, north of Upper Amazon.

15. Brachiurus satanas, Br. Mus.; Guiana, east bank of Rio Negro.

16. Brachiurus oakary, Spix ; Upper Rio Negro.

17. Brachiurus rubicundus, Isid. ; Upper Amazon.

18. Brachiurus, south side of Upper Amazon.

19. Jacchus bicolor, Spix; north of the Amazon and Rio Negro.

20. Jacchus tamarin, Br. Mus. ; Para.

21. Jacchus n.s., Upper Rio Negro.

Of the above, the first seven have prehensile tails, a character only found among the monkeys of America. The howlers, forming the genus Mycetes, are the largest and most powerful. They have a bony vessel situated beneath the chin, and a strong muscular apparatus in the throat, which assists in producing the loud rolling noise from which they derive their name, and


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which appears as if a great number of animals were crying in concert. This, however, is not the case ; a full-grown male alone makes the howling, which is generally heard at night, or on the approach of rain.

The annexed list of the other larger mammalia of the Amazon district, will serve to confirm the statement of the extreme poverty of these regions in that class of animals. Owing to the loss of my notes and specimens, many of the specific names are doubtful : such are marked thus — ?

Phyllostoma hastatum. — This is a common bat on the Amazon, and is, I believe, the one which does much injury to the horses and cattle by sucking their blood ; it also attacks men, when it has opportunity. The species of blood-sucking bats seem to be numerous in the interior. They do not inhabit houses, like many of the frugivorous bats, but enter at dusk through any aperture they may find. They generally attack the tip of the toe, or sometimes any other part of the body that may be exposed. I have myself been twice bitten, once on the toe, and the other time on the tip of the nose ; in neither case did I feel anything, but awoke after the operation was com- pleted : in what way they effect it is still quite unknown. The wound is a small round hole, the bleeding of which it is very difficult to stop. It can hardly be a bite, as that would awake the sleeper ; it seems most probable that it is either a succes- sion of gentle scratches with the sharp edge of the teeth, gradu- ally wearing away the skin, or a triturating with the point of the tongue, till the same effect is produced. My brother was frequently bitten by them, and his opinion was, that the bat applied one of its long canine teeth to the part, and then flew round and round on that as a centre, till the tooth, acting as an awl, bored a small hole ; the wings of the bat serving, at the same time, to fan the patient into a deeper slumber. He several times awoke while the bat was at work, and though of course the creature immediately flew away, it was his im- pression that the operation was conducted in the manner above described. Many persons are particularly annoyed by bats, while others are free from their attacks. An old Mulatto at Guia, on the Upper Rio Negro, was bitten almost every night, and though there were frequently half-a-dozen other persons in the room, he would be the party favoured by their


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attentions. Once he came to us with a doleful countenance, telling us, he thought the bats meant to eat him up quite, for, having covered up his hands and feet in a blanket, they had descended beneath his hammock of open network, and, attack- ing the most prominent part of his person, had bitten him through a hole in his trousers ! We could not help laughing at the catastrophe, but to him it was no laughing matter.

Senhor Brandao, of Manaquery, informed me that he had once an Indian girl in his house, who was much subject to the attacks of the bats. She was at length so much weakened by loss of blood, that fears were entertained of her life, if they continued their attacks ; and it was found necessary to send her to a distance, where these bloodthirsty animals did not abound.

The wound made by them is very difficult to heal, especially in its usual locality — the tip of the great toe, as it generally renders a shoe unbearable for a day or two, and forces one to the conclusion that, after the first time, for the curiosity of the thing, to be bitten by a bat is very disagreeable. They will, however, very rarely enter a lighted room, and for this reason. the practice of burning a lamp all night is almost universal.

Tapirus Americanus. — The Tapir is common over the whole Amazon district, but is nowhere very abundant. It feeds on leaves and a great many different kinds of fruits, and some- times does much injury in the mandiocca-fields of the Indians. Its flesh is very good eating, and is considered very wholesome, and is even said to be a remedy for the ague. It is a very shy and timid animal, wandering about principally at night. When the Indian discovers a feeding-place, he builds a stage between two trees, about eight feet above the ground, and there stations himself soon after dusk, armed with a gun, or with his bow and arrow. Though such a heavy animal, the tapir steps as lightly as a cat, and can only be heard approaching by the gentle rustling of the bushes ; the slightest sound or smell will alarm it, and the Indian lies still as death for hours, till the animal approaches sufficiently near to be shot, or until, scenting its enemy, it makes off in another direction. I have accom- panied the Indians on these expeditions, but always without success.

Coassus nemorivagus.

C. rafus, — These are the small white and red deer of the


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forests, found in all parts of the Amazon. They have very small unbranched horns.

Mazama campestrisl — The " Viado galera," or horned deer of the Rio Branco, is probably of this species. It has small branched horns, and inhabits the open plains, never the thick forests.

Dicotylestaiapi. The smaller wild Hog. Taititu of the Indians.

D. labiatus ? — The larger species, called by the natives " Taiacu."

There seems to be also a third species, of the same size as the last.

Arctopitliecus flaccidus ? Preguiga real. Ai, (Lingoa Geral). The great Sloth.

Bradypus torquatus. Ai, (Lingoa Geral). — These and some other species of sloths are not uncommon. They feed entirely on leaves, preferring those of the Cecropias. They are frequently attacked by the harpy eagle, and are also eaten by the Indians.

Myrmecophagajubata. Tamandua assu, (Lingoa Geral). "The great Ant-eater." — This animal is rare, but widely distributed. During rain it turns its long bushy tail up over its back and stands still ; the Indians, when they meet with one, rustle the leaves, and it thinks rain is falling, and turning up its tail, they take the opportunity of killing it by a blow on the head with a stick. It feeds on the large termites, or white ants, tearing up with its powerful claws the earth and rotten wood in which their nests are made. The Indians positively assert that it sometimes kills the jaguar, embracing it and forcing in its enormous claws, till they mutually destroy each other. They also declare that these animals are all females, and believe that the male is the " curupira," or demon of the forests : the peculiar organisation of the animal has probably led to this error. It lives entirely on the ground.

Tamandiia tetradactylus ? The smaller Prehensile-tailed Ant-eater. — This animal is entirely arboreal, feeding on the tree termites ; it has no nest, and sleeps in a fork of a tree with its head bent under its body.

Cyclothurus didactylus. Tamandudi, (Lingoa Geral). The small Silky-haired Ant-eater, — is arboreal, and rather abundant. There is another species much smaller, and as white as cotton ; but it is rare, and I never met with it.


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Priodonta gigas? Tatuassu, (Lingoa Geral). The great Armadillo. — Rather scarce.

Tatusia septemcinctus ? Tatu, (Lingoa Geral). — This and another very small species are the most abundant in the Amazon district, but can seldom be procured except by hunting with dogs. All the kinds are eaten, and their flesh is very white and delicate.

Didelphis. Opossum. Mucura, (LingoaGeral). — Several

species are found. They frequent the neighbourhood of houses, and attack poultry. The young are carried in an abdominal pouch, like the kangaroos, and have their little prehensile tails twisted round that of the mother.

Hydrochcerus capybara. Capywara, (Lingoa Geral). — This animal is found on all the river-banks. It feeds on grass, and takes to the water and dives when pursued. It is sometimes eaten, but is not considered very good.

Cozlogenis paca. Pa'ca. (Lingoa Geral). — This animal is generally abundant. It is nocturnal, and is much esteemed for its meat, which is the very best the country produces, being fat, delicate, and very tender.

Dasyprocta nigricans, Natt. Black Agouti. Cotia, (Lingoa Geral). — This species is found on the Rio Negro.

D. punctata 1 Yellow Agouti. — This is probably the common Amazon species.

D. agouti? Cotiwya, (Lingoa Geral). — A smaller species, very widely distributed. All are eaten, but the meat is rather dry and tasteless.

Cercolabes prehensilis. The Brazilian Porcupine. — This animal is scarce. It is eaten by the Indians.

Echimys. Several species of these curious, spinous, rat- like animals are found on the Upper Rio Negro.

Cercoleptes caudivolvus. The Potto. — It is a nocturnal animal, and inhabits the banks of the Upper Amazon.

Nasua olivacea? Coati. — Two species, the "Coati" and the " Coati mondi " of the Indians, are found on the Amazon.

Lontra Brasiliensis ? The Brazilian Otter, — is abundant on the Rio Negro.

Galera barbara. Irara, (Lingoa Geral). Teeth, 1. 1 C. ^ M. g. This is a curious animal, somewhat allied to the bears. It lives in trees, and eats honey, whence probably its Indian name, — from Ira, in the Lingoa Geral, " honey."


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Viripes i A wild dog, or fox, of the forests ; it hunts in

small packs ; it is easily domesticated, but is very scarce.

Leopardus concolor. The Puma. In the Lingoa Geral, Sasurana, " the false deer," from its colour.

L. on^a. The Jaguar. Jauarite, (Lingoa Geral). — "The Great Dog."

L. onga, var. nigra. The Black Jaguar. Jauarite pixuna, (Lingoa Geral). Tigre (Spaniards).

L.pichis andZ.gr/seus. Tiger Cats. Maracaja, (Lingoa Geral).

The Jaguar, or onga, appears to approach very nearly in fierceness and strength to the tiger of India. Many persons are annually killed or wounded by these animals. When they can obtain other food they will seldom attack man. The Indians, however, assert that they often face a man boldly, springing forward till within a few feet of him, and then, if the man turns, they will attack him; the hunters will sometimes meet them thus face to face, and kill them with a cutlass. They also destroy them with the bow and arrow, for which purpose an old knife-blade is used for the head of the arrow ; and they say it is necessary not to pull too strong a bow, or the arrow will pass completely through the body of the animal, and not do him so much injury as if it remains in the wound. For the same reason, in shooting with a gun, they use rough leaden cylinders instead of bullets, which make a larger and rougher wound, and do not pass so readily quite through the body. I heard of one case, of a jaguar entering an Indian's house, and attacking him in his hammock.

The jaguar, say the Indians, is the most cunning animal in the forest : he can imitate the voice of almost every bird and animal so exactly, as to draw them towards him : he fishes in the rivers, lashing the water with his tail to imitate falling fruit, and when the fish approach, hooks them up with his claws. He catches and eats turtles, and I have myself found the unbroken shells, which he has cleaned completely out with his paws ; he even attacks the cow-fish in its own element, and an eye-witness assured me he had watched one dragging out of the water this bulky animal, weighing as much as a large ox.

A young Portuguese trader told me he had seen (what many persons had before assured me often happened) an onga feeding on a full-grown live alligator, tearing and eating its tail. On leaving off, and retiring a yard or two, the alligator


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would begin to move towards the water, when the onca would spring upon it, and again commence eating at the tail, during which time the alligator lay perfectly still. We had been observing a cat playing with a lizard, both behaving in exactly the same manner, the lizard only attempting to move when the cat for a moment left it ; the cat would then immediately spring upon it again : and my informant assured me that he had seen the jaguar treating the alligator in exactly the same way.

The onca is particularly fond of dogs, and will carry them off in preference to any other animal. When one has been committing any depredations, it is a common thing to tie a dog to a tree at night, the howling of which attracts the onca, which comes to seize it, and is then shot by a person concealed for the purpose.

It is a general belief among the Indians and the white inhabitants of Brazil, that the onga has the power of fascination. Many accounts are given to prove this ; among others, a person informed me, that he had seen an onca standing at the foot of a high tree, looking up into it: on the top was a guariba, or howling-monkey, looking down at the onca, and jumping about from side to side, crying piteously; the onca stood still ; the monkey continued descending lower and lower on the branches, still uttering its cries, till at length it fell down at the very feet of the onca, which seized and devoured it. Many incidents of this kind are related by persons who have witnessed them ; but whether they are exaggerated, or are altogether imaginary, it is difficult to decide. The belief in them, by persons best acquainted with the habits of the animal, is universal.

Of the smaller Tiger-cats, there are several kinds, but having lost my collection of skins, I cannot ascertain the species. The Puma is considered much less fierce than the jaguar, and is very little feared by the inhabitants. There are several varieties of the jaguar, distinguished by the Indians by different names. The black variety is rarer than the others, and is generally thought to be quite distinct ; in some localities it is unknown, while in others it is as abundant as the ocellated variety.

Many small rodent animals — squirrels, rats, etc.— complete the terrestrial mammalia of the Amazon district.


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The waters 01 the Amazon, up even to the base of the Andes, are inhabited by several species of true Cetacea, of which, however, we have as yet but very scanty information.

Two, if not more, species of Dolphins are common in every part of the Amazon, and in almost all of its tributaries. They are found above the falls of the Rio Negro, and in the Cassi- quiare and Upper Orinooko. They vary in size and colour, and two of them have distinct Indian names. — Piraiowara (Fish-dog), and Tucuxi.

D'Orbigny mentions their being killed by the inhabitants of Bolivia to make. oil. In the Lower Amazon and Rio Negro they are scarcely ever caught, and I was unable to obtain a specimen. The species described by D'Orbigny is probably distinct, as he mentions their being twenty feet long, whereas none I have seen could have exceeded six or seven.

Herbivorous Cetacea are also found in the Amazon ; they are called by the Brazilians, Peixe boi, or cow-fish, and by the Indians, Juaroua.

It has not yet been ascertained, whether the cow-fish of the Amazon is the same as the Manatus of the West Indies and the coasts of Guiana, or a distinct species. All the accounts of the Manatus Americanus mention it as being twelve or fifteen feet long on the average, and sometimes reaching twenty. Those of the Amazon appear to average seven or eight feet only ; of five or six specimens I have myself seen, none have exceeded this ; Lieutenant Smyth saw one on the Upper Uaycali, of the same size ; and Condamine describes the one he saw as not being larger.

The inhabitants of the Amazon give accounts of three kinds, which they seem to consider distinct, one smaller, and one larger than the common kind, and differing also in the shape of the tail and fins, and in the colour.

The West Indian species is always described as having external nails on the edge of the fin, or fore-arm. This I never observed in the Amazon species ; though in cutting the edge of the fin to take out the bones entire, I must have noticed them, had they been as prominent as they are usually described ; neither does Lieutenant Smyth mention them, though he could hardly have overlooked so singular an external character.

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one or two distinct species. Having carefully prepared a skin and skeleton of a fine male (which, with the rest of my collections, was lost on the voyage home), I did not describe it so minutely as I otherwise should have done, but have some notes, referring to male and female specimens, which I will now give : —

Manatus of the Amazon. Peixe boi, of the Portuguese. Vaca marina, of the Spaniards. Juaroua, of the Indians' Lingoa Geral.

The mammas of the female are two, one close to the base of each fm behind. The muzzle is blunt, fleshy, and covered with numerous stiff bristles ; the nostrils are on the upper part of it, and lunate. The lips, thick, fleshy, and bristly, and the tongue rough. The skin is lead-colour, with a few pinkish- white marblings on the belly ; others have the whole of the neck and fore-part of the body beneath cream-colour, and another spot of the same colour on the underside of the tail. The skin is entirely smooth, resembling india-rubber in appearance, and there are short hairs scattered over it, about an inch apart ; it is an inch thick on the back, and a quarter of an inch on the belly ; beneath it, is a layer of fat, of an inch or more in thickness, enveloping every part of the body, and furnishing from five to ten gallons of oil.

The total length of full-grown animals is seven feet. The intestines are very voluminous. The lungs are two feet long, and six or seven inches w r ide, very cellular, and when blown up, much resemble a Macintosh air-belt. The ribs are each nearly semicircular, arching back from the spine, so as to form a ridge or keel inside, and on the back there is a great depth of flesh. The bone is excessively hard and heavy, and can scarcely be broken. The dung resembles that of a horse.

The cow-fish feeds on grass on the margins of the rivers and lakes. It is captured either with the harpoon, or with strong nets, placed at the mouth of some lake, whence it comes at night to feed.

Though it has very small eyes, and minute pores for ears, its senses are very acute ; and the fishermen say there is no animal can hear, see, and smell better, or which requires greater skill and caution to capture. When caught, it is killed


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by driving a wooden plug up its nostrils. The Indian fills hii canoe full of water, and sinks it beneath the body ; he then bales out the water, and paddles home with a load which requires a dozen men to move on shore. The meat is very good, and both for it and for the oil the animal is much sought after. It ascends most of the tributaries of the Amazon, but does not pass the falls or rapids.

B. Birds.

The birds of the Amazon district are so numerous and striking, that it is impossible here to do more than mention a few of the most interesting and beautiful, so as to give some general idea of the ornithology of the district.

Among the birds of prey, the most conspicuous are the King Vulture (Sarcorhamphus papa), and the Harpy Eagle {Thrasaetos harpyia), both of which are found in the whole district of the lower Amazon. There is also a great variety of eagles, hawks, kites, and owls, and probably between twenty and thirty species may be obtained in the country around Pari

Those two fine eagles, the Spiza'etus ornatus and the Morphnus Guianensis, inhabit the Upper Amazon.

Among the smaller perching-birds, the yellow-breasted tyrant shrikes immediately attract attention, perched upon dead trees in the open grounds. In the forests the curious notes of the bush-shrikes (Thamnophilince) are often heard, and the ever- recurring vociferous cries of the great grey tyrant-flycatcher {Lipaugus simplex).

Several pretty little tanagers are found about Para" ; but the exquisite little seven-coloured tanager {Calospiza tatad), and the scarcely less beautiful scarlet and black one (Rhamphocelis nigrogularis^) do not occur till we reach the Rio Negro and the Upper Amazon.

The Chatterers form one of the most splendid families of birds, and we have on the Amazon some of the finest species, such as the Cotinga cayana, C. ccerulea, Phxnicurus camifex, and P. militaris, which are found at Para, and the C. Ponipa- doura, and P. nigrogularis on the Upper Amazon and Rio Negro.


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The hang-nest Orioles, species of Cassicus, are numerous, and by their brilliant plumage of yellow or red and black, and their curious pendulous nests, give a character to the ornitho- logy of the country.

Woodpeckers, kingfishers, and splendid metallic jacamars and trogons, are numerous in species and individuals. But of all the families of birds that inhabit this country, the parrots and the toucans are perhaps the most characteristic; they abound in species and individuals, and are much more fre- quently seen than any other birds.

From Para to the Rio Negro I met with sixteen species of toucans, the most curious and beautiful of which is the Pteroglossus Beauharnasii, or " curl-cested Aragari," whose glossy crest of horny black curls is unique among birds.

Of parrots and paroquets I found at least thirty distinct species, varying in size from the little Psittaarfus passerinus, scarcely larger than a sparrow, to the magnificent crimson macaws. In ascending the Amazon, large flocks of parrots are seen, every morning and evening, crossing the river to their feeding- or resting-places ; and however many there may be, they constantly fly in pairs, as do also the macaws, — while the noisy little paroquets associate indiscriminately in flocks, and fly from tree to tree with a rapidity which few birds can surpass.

Though humming-birds are almost entirely confined to tropical America, they appear to abound most in the hilly and mountainous districts, and those of the level forests of the Amazon are comparatively few and inconspicuous. The whole number of species I met with in the Lower Amazon and Rio Negro, does not exceed twenty, and few of them are very hand- some. The beautiful little Lophornis Gou/di, found rarely at Para, and the magnificent Topaza pyra, which is not uncommon on the Upper Rio Negro, are, however, exceptions, and will bear comparison with any species in this wonderful family.

Probably no country in the world contains a greater variety of birds than the Amazon valley. Though I did not collect them very assiduously, I obtained upwards of five hundred species, a greater number than can be found all over Europe ; and I have little hesitation in saying that any one collecting industriously for five or six years might obtain near a thousand different kinds.

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C. Reptiles and Fishes.

Like all tropical countries the Amazon district abounds in reptiles, and contains many of the largest size and most singular structure. The lizards and serpents are particularly abundant, and among the latter are several very venomous species ; but the most remarkable are the boa and the anaconda, which reach an enormous size. The former inhabits the land, and though it is often found very large, yet the most authentic and trustworthy accounts of monstrous serpents refer to the latter, the Eunectes murinus of naturalists, which lives in or near the water. The Indians are aware of the generic distinction of these creatures, for while they call the former "Jiboa," the latter is the " Sucuruju."

The largest specimens I met with myself were not more than from fifteen to twenty feet long, but I have had several accounts of their having been killed, and measured, of a length of thirty- two feet. They have been seen very much larger, but, as may be supposed, are then very difficult to kill or secure, owing to their tenacity of life and their acquatic habits. It is an undis- puted fact that they devour cattle and horses, and the general belief in the country is that they are sometimes from sixty to eighty feet long.*

Alligators of three or four distinct species abound in the Amazon, and in all its tributary streams. The smaller ones are eaten by the natives, the larger often devour them in return. In almost every village some persons may be seen maimed by these creatures, and many children are killed every year. The eggs of all the different kinds are eaten, though they have a very strong musky odour. The largest species

existence of any large enough to swallow a horse or ox is hardly credited, I append ths following account by a competent scientific observer, the well-known botanical traveller Dr. Gardner. In his " Travels in Brazil," p. 356, he says : —
 * As so few Europeans have seen these large serpents, and the very

" In the marshes of this valley in the province of Goyaz, near Arrayas, the Boa Constrictor is often met with of considerable size ; it is not un- common throughout the whole province, particularly by the wooded margins of lakes, marshes, and streams. Sometimes they attain the enormous length of forty feet: the largest I ever saw was at this place, but it was not alive. Some weeks before our arrival at Safe, the favourite riding horse of SenhorLagoriva, which had been put out to pasture not far


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{Jacare nigra) reaches a length of fifteen, or rarely of twenty feet.

The most interesting and useful reptiles of the Amazon are, however, the various species of fresh-water turtles, which supply an abundance of wholesome food, and from whose eggs an excellent oil is made. The largest and most abundant of these is the Tataruga, or great turtle of the Amazon, the Jurara of the Indians. It grows to the length of three feet, and has an oval flattish shell of a dark colour and quite smooth ; it abounds in all parts of the Amazon, and in most places is the common food of the inhabitants.

In the month of September, as soon as the sandbanks begin to be uncovered, the females deposit their eggs, scraping hollows of a considerable depth, covering them over carefully, smoothing and beating down the sand, and then walking across and across the place in. various directions for the purpose of concealment. There are such numbers of them, that some beaches are almost one mass of eggs beneath the surface, and here the Indians come to make oil. A canoe is filled with the eggs, which are all broken and mashed up together. The oil rises to the top, and is skimmed off and boiled, when it will keep, and is used both for light and for cooking. Millions of eggs are thus annually destroyed, and the turtles have already become scarce in consequence. There are some extensive beaches which yield two thousand pots of oil annually ; each pot contains five gallons, and requires about two thousand five hundred eggs, which would give five millions of eggs destroyed in one locality.

But of those that remain, a very small portion are able to reach maturity. When the young turtles issue from the egg, and run to the water, many enemies are awaiting them. Great

from the house, could not be found, although strict search was made for it all over the Fazenda. Shortly after this, one of his vaqueiros, in going through a wood by the side of a small river, saw an enormous Boa suspended in the fork of a tree which hung over the water; it was dead, but had evidently been floated down alive by a recent flood, and being in an inert state it had not been able to extricate itself from the fork before the waters fell. It was dragged out to the open country by two horses, and was found to measure thirty-seven feet in length ; on opening it the bones of a horse in a somewhat broken condition, and the flesh in a half- digested state, were found within it, the bones of the head being uninjured ; from these circumstances we concluded that the Boa had devoured the horse entire."


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alligators open their jaws and swallow them by hundreds ; the jaguars from the forest come and feed upon them; eagles and buzzards, and the great wood ibises attend the feast ; and when they have escaped all these, there are many ravenous fishes which seize them in the stream.

The Indians catch the full-grown turtles, either with the hook, net, or arrow. The last is the most ingenious method, and requires the most skill. The turtle never shows its back above water, only rising to breathe, which it does by protruding its nostrils almost imperceptibly above the surface ; the Indian's keen eyes perceive this, even at a considerable distance ; but an arrow shot obliquely would glance off the smooth flat shell, so he shoots up into the air with such accurate judgment, that the arrow falls nearly vertically upon the shell, which it pene- trates, and remains securely fixed in the turtle's back. The head of the arrow fits loosely on to the shaft, and is connected with it by a long fine cord, carefully wound round it ; as the turtle dives, they separate, the light shaft forming a float or buoy, which the Indian secures, and by the attached cord draws the prize up into his canoe. In this manner almost all the turtles sold in the cities have been procured, and the little square vertical hole of the arrow-head may generally be seen in the shell.

Besides the great tataruga (Podocnemis expansd), there are several smaller kinds, also much used for food. The Tracaxa {Emys tracaxa, Spix) and the Cabecudo {E. macrocephala, Spix) have been described by the French naturalists, Dumeril and Bibron, as one species, under the name of Peltocephalus tracaxa ; but they are quite distinct, and though their characters are perhaps not easy to define, they could never be confounded by any one who had examined them in the living state. They are found too in different localities. The tracaxa is abundant in the Amazon, in the Orinooko, and in the Guaviare, all white- water rivers, and very scarce in the Rio Negro. The cabecudo is very abundant in the Rio Negro and in the Atabapo, but is not found in the Guaviare or the Amazon, appearing to be confined to the black-water streams. I obtained ten distinct kinds of river tortoises, or Chelydidcs, and there are also two or three kinds of land-tortoises inhabiting the adjacent district.

As might be expected in the greatest river in the world, there is a corresponding abundance and variety of fish. They


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supply the Indians with the greater part of their animal food, and are at all times more plentiful, and easier to be obtained, than birds or game from the forest.

During my residence on the Rio Negro I carefully figured and described every species I met with ; and at the time I left fresh ones were every day occurring. The soft-finned fishes are much the most numerous, and comprise some of the best kinds of food. Of the Siluridce I obtained fifty-one species, of Serrasalmo twenty-four, of Chalceus twenty-six, of Gymnotas ten, and of spinous-finned fishes (Acanthopterygid) forty-two. Of all kinds of fishes I found two hundred and five species in the Rio Negro alone, and these, I am sure, are but a small portion of what exist there. Being a black-water river, most of its fishes are different from those found in the Amazon. In fact, in every small river, and in different parts of the same river, distinct kinds are found. The greater part of those which inhabit the Upper Rio Negro are not found near its mouth, where there are many other kinds equally unknown in the clearer, darker, and probably colder waters of its higher branches. From the number of new fishes constantly found in every fresh locality and in every fisherman's basket, we may estimate that at least five hundred species exist in the Rio Negro and its tributary streams. The number in the whole valley of the Amazon it is impossible to estimate with any approach to accuracy.

D. Insects.

To describe the countless tribes of insects that swarm in the dense forests of the Amazon would require volumes. In no country in the world is there more variety and beauty ; nowhere are there species of larger size or of more brilliant colours. Here are found the extraordinary harlequin-beetle, the gigantic Prioni and Dynastes ; but these are exceptions to the great mass of the Cokoptera, which, though in immense variety, are of small size and of little brilliancy of colour, offering a great contrast to the generally large-sized and gorgeous species of tropical Africa, India, and Australia. In the other orders the same rule holds good, except in the Hymenoptera, which con- tain many gigantic and handsome species. It is in the lovely


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butterflies that the Amazonian forests are unrivalled, whether we consider the endless variety of the species, their large size, or their gorgeous colours. South America is the richest part of the world in this group of insects, and the Amazon seems the richest part of South America. This continent is distin- guished from every other by having a most extensive and peculiar family, the Jfelkoniidce, of which not a single species is found in either Europe, Asia, Africa, or even North America (excepting Mexico). Another family, still more extensive, of exquisitely beautiful small butterflies, the Erychiidce, is also almost peculiar to it, a few species only being found in tropical Asia and Africa. In both these peculiar families the Amazon is particularly rich, so that we may consider it as the head- quarters of South America Lepidoptera.

Para itself, for variety of species, is perhaps the best locality for diurnal Lepidoptera; six hundred distinct kinds may be obtained within a day's walk of the city. At Santarem I had increased my collection to seven hundred species, at Barra to eight hundred, and I should have brought home with me nine hundred species had my collections arrived in safety. Mr. Bates, who has paid more exclusive attention to insects, states that he has now obtained twelve hundred species, — a wonderful collection to be made by one person, in a country without any variation of climate or of physical features, and no part of it elevated five hundred feet above the level of the sea.

E. Geographical Distribution of Animals.

There is no part of natural history more interesting or instructive than the study of the geographical distribution of animals.

It is well known that countries possessing a climate and soil very similar, may differ almost entirely in their productions. Thus Europe and North America have scarcely an animal in common in the temperate zone ; and South America contrasts equally with the opposite coast of Africa ; while Australia differs almost entirely in its productions from districts under the same parallel of latitude in South Africa and South America. In all these cases there is a wide extent of sea separating the countries, which few animals can pass over; so


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that, supposing the animal productions to have been originally distinct, they could not well have become intermixed.

In each of these countries we find well-marked smaller districts, appearing to depend upon climate. The tropical and temperate parts of America and Africa have, generally speaking, distinct animals in each of them.

On a more minute acquaintance with the animals of any country, we shall find that they are broken up into yet smaller local groups, and that almost every district has peculiar animals found nowhere else. Great mountain-chains are found to separate countries possessing very distinct sets of animals. Those of the east and west of the Andes differ very remarkably. The Rocky Mountains also separate two distinct zoological districts ; California and Oregon on the one side, possessing plants, birds, and insects, not found in any part of North America east of that range.

But there must be many other kinds of boundaries besides these, which, independently of climate, limit the range of animals. Places not more than fifty or a hundred miles apart often have species of insects and birds at the one, which are not found at the other. There must be some boundary which determines the range of each species ; some external peculiarity to mark the line which each one does not pass.

These boundaries do not always form a barrier to the progress of the animal, for many birds have a limited range, in a country where there is nothing to prevent them flying in every direction, — as in the case of the nightingale, which is quite unknown in some of our western counties. Rivers generally do not determine the distribution of species, because, when small, there are few animals which cannot pass them ; but in very large rivers the case is different, and they will, it is believed, be found to be the limits, determining the range of many animals of all orders.

With regard to the Amazon, and its larger tributaries, I have ascertained this to be the case, and shall here mention the facts which tend to prove it.

On the north side of the Amazon, and the east of the Rio Negro, are found the following three species of monkeys, Ateles paniscus, Brachiums satanas, zxidjacchus bicolor. These are all found close up to the margins of the Rio Negro and Amazon, but never on the opposite banks of either river ; nor


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am I able to ascertain that either of them have ever been found in any other part of South America than Cayenne or Guiana, and the eastern part of Venezuela, a district which is bounded on the south and west by the Amazon and Rio Negro.

The species of Pithecia, No. 14 of my list, is found on the west side of the Rio Negro for several hundred miles, from its mouth up to the river Curicurian, but never on the east side, neither is it known on the south side of the Upper Amazon, where it is replaced by an allied species, the P. irrorata (P. Mrsuta, Spix), which, though abundant there, is never found on the north bank. These facts are, I think, sufficient to prove that these rivers do accurately limit the range of some species, and in the cases just mentioned, the evidence is the more satisfactory, because monkeys are animals so well known to the native hunters, they are so much sought after for food, and all their haunts are so thoroughly searched, and the localities for the separate kinds are so often the subject of communication from one hunter to another, that it is quite impossible that any well-known species can exist in a particular district, unknown to men whose lives are occupied in forming an acquaintance with the various tenants of the forests.

On the south side of the Lower Amazon, in the neighbour- hood of Para, are found two monkeys, Mycetes beelzebub and Jacchus tamarin, which do not pass the river to the north. I have never heard of monkeys swimming over any river, so that this kind of boundary might be expected to be more definite in their case than in that of other quadrupeds, most of which readily take to the water.

Towards their sources, rivers do not form a boundary between distinct species ; but those found there, though rang- ing on both sides of the stream, do not often extend down to the mouth.

Thus on the Upper Rio Negro and its branches are found the Callithrix torquatus, Nyctipithecus trivirgatus, and Jacchus (No. 21), none of which inhabit the Lower Rio Negro or Amazon ; they are probably confined to the granitic districts which extend from Guiana across the sources of the Rio Negro towards the Andes.

Among birds it cannot be expected that we should find many proofs of rivers limiting their range ; but there is one very remarkable instance of a genus, the three known species


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of which are separated by rivers, namely, the three species of genus Psophia, P. crepitans (Linn.), P. viridis (Spix), and P. kacoptera (Spix). The P. crepitans is the common trumpeter of Guiana; it extends into the interior all over the country, beyond the sources of the Rio Negro and Orinooko, towards the Andes, and down to the Amazon, both east and west of the Rio Negro, but is never found on the south side of the Amazon.

The P. viridis is found in the forests of Para, at Villa Nova, on the south bank of the Amazon, and up to the Madeira, where it is found at Borba, on the east bank.

The P. leucoptera, a most beautiful white-backed species, is found also on the south bank of the Amazon, at Sao Paulo, at Ega, at Coarf, and opposite the mouth of the Rio Negro, but not east of the Madeira, where the green-backed species commences. These birds are all great favourites in the houses of the Brazilians, and all three may sometimes be seen domesticated at Barra, where they are brought by the traders from the different districts in which they are found. They are inhabitants of the dense forests, and scarcely ever fly ; so that we see the reason why the rivers should so sharply divide the species, which, spreading towards each other from different directions, might otherwise become intermingled. It is not improbable that, if the two Brazilian species extend as far as the sources of the Madeira, they may be found inhabiting the same district.

Of the smaller perching-birds and insects, which doubtless would have afforded many interesting facts corroborative of those already mentioned, I have nothing to say, as my exten- sive collection of specimens from the Rio Negro and Upper Amazon, all ticketed for my own use, have been lost ; and of course in such a question as this, the exact determination of species is everything.

The two beautiful butterflies, Callithea sapphira and C. Leprienri, which were originally found, the former in Brazil, and the latter in Guiana, have been taken by myself on the opposite banks of the Amazon, within a few miles of each other, but neither of them on both sides of that river.

Mr. Bates has since discovered another species, named after himself, on the south side of the Amazon ; and a fourth, distinct from either of them, was found by me high up in one


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of the north-western tributaries of the Rio Negro, so that it seems probable that distinct species of this genus inhabit the opposite shores of the Amazon.

The cock of the rock, Rupicola crocea, is, on the other hand, an example of a bird having its range defined by a geological formation, and by the physical character of the country. Its range extends in a curving line along the centre of the moun- tainous district of Guiana, across the sources of the Rio Negro and Orinooko, towards the Andes; it is thus entirely com- prised in the granite formation, and in that part of it where there are numerous peaks and rocks, in which the birds make their nests.

Whether it actually reaches the Andes, or occurs in the same district with the allied R. Peruviana, is not known, but personal information obtained in the districts it inhabits, shows that it is confined to the narrow tract I have mentioned, between i° south and 6° north latitude, and from the mountains of Cayenne to the Andes, south of Bogota

Another bird appears bounded by a geological formation. The common red-backed parrot, Psittacus festivus, is found all over the Lower Amazon, but, on ascending the Rio Negro, has its northern limit about St. Isabel, or just where the alluvial country ends and the granite commences; it also extends up the Japura, but does not pass over to the Uaup£s, which is all in the granite district.

The fine blue macaw (Ara hyacinthina) inhabits the borders of the hilly country south of the Amazon, from the sea-coast probably up to the Madeira. Below Santarem, it is sometimes found close up to the banks of the Amazon, but is said never to cross that river. Its head-quarters are the upper waters of the Tocanti'ns, Xingii, and Tapajoz rivers.

As another instance of a bird not crossing the Amazon, I may mention the beautiful curl-crested Aracari (Pteroglossns Beauharnaisii), which is found on the south side of the Upper Amazon, opposite the Rio Negro, and at Coari and Ega, but has never been seen on the north side. The green Jacamar of Guiana also {Galbula viridis) occurs all along the north bank of the Amazon, but is not found on the south, where it is replaced by the G. cyanocollis and G. maadicauda^ both of which' occur in the neighbourhood of Para.


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tations, as my first view of the real uncivilised inhabitants of the river Uaupes. Though I had been already three years in the country, and had seen Indians of almost every shade of colour and every degree of civilisation, I felt that I was as much in the midst of something new and startling, as if I had been instantaneously transported to a distant and unknown country.

The Indians of the Amazon and its tributaries are of a countless variety of tribes and nations ; all of whom have peculiar languages and customs, and many of them some dis- tinct physical characteristics. Those now found in the city of Para, and all about the country of the Lower Amazon, have long been civilised, — have lost their own language, and speak the Portuguese, and are known by the general name of Tapuyas, which is applied to all Indians, and seems to be a corruption of " Tupis," the name applied to the natives of the coast-districts, on the first settlement of the country. These Indians are short, stout, and well made. They learn all trades quickly and well, and are a quiet, good-natured, inoffensive people. They form the crews of most of the Para trading canoes. Their main peculiarity consists in their short stature, which is more observable than in any other tribe I am acquainted with. It may be as well, before proceeding further, to mention the general characteristics of the Amazon Indians, from which the particular tribes vary but very slightly.

They are, a skin of a coppery or brown colour of various shades, often nearly the tint of smooth Honduras mahogany, — jet-black straight hair, thick, and never curled, — black eyes, and very little or no beard. With regard to their features, it is impossible to give any general characteristics. In some the whole face is wide and rather flattened, but I never could dis- cern an unusual obliquity of the eyes, or projection of the cheek-bones ; in many, of both sexes, the most perfect regu- larity of features exists, and there are numbers who in colour alone differ from a good-looking European.

Their figures are generally superb ; and I have never felt so much pleasure in gazing at the finest statue, as at these living illustrations of the beauty of the human form. The develop- ment of the chest is such as I believe never exists in the best-formed European, exhibiting a splendid series of convex undulations, without a hollow in any part of it.


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Some native tribes exist in the rivers Guama, Capi'm, and Acarra, just above the city of Pari, but I could learn little definite about them. High up the rivers Tocantfns and Araguaya, there are numerous tribes of tall well-formed Indians, some of whom I have seen in Para, where they arrive in canoes from the interior. Most of them have enormously elongated ears hanging down on their shoulders, produced probably by weights suspended from the lobe in youth. On the Xingii are many native tribes, some of whom were visited by Prince Adalbert. On the next river, the Tapajoz, dwell the Mundrucus, and they extend far into the interior, across to the Madeira and to the river Purus ; they are a very numerous tribe, and portions of them are now civilised. The Maras, another of the populous tribes, are also partly civilised, about the mouths of the Madeira and Rio Negro ; but in the interior, and up the river Puriis, many yet live in a totally wild and savage state.

All along the banks of the main streams of the Amazon, Solimoes, Madeira, and Rio Negro, live Indians of various races, in a semi-civilised state, and with their peculiar habits and languages in a great measure lost. Traces of these pecu- liarities are, however, still to be found, in the painted pottery manufactured at Breves, the elegant calabashes of Montealegre, the curious baskets of some tribes on the Rio Negro, and the calabashes of Ega, always painted in geometrical patterns.

Commencing near Santarem, and extending among all the half-civilised Indians of the Amazon, Rio Negro, and other rivers, the Lingoa Geral, or general Indian language, is spoken. Near the more populous towns and villages, it is used indis- criminately with the Portuguese ; a little further, it is often the only language known ; and far up in the interior it exists in common with the native language of the tribe to which the in- habitants belong. Thus on the Lower Amazon, all the Indians can speak both Portuguese and Lingoa Geral ; on the Solimoes and Rio Negro, Lingoa Geral alone is generally spoken ; and in the interior, on the lakes and tributaries of the Solimoes, the Miira and Juri tongues are in common use, with the Lingoa Geral as a means of communication with the traders. Near the sources of the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, the Barre" and Baniwa languages are those used among the Indians them- selves.


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Rh but iniquitous scheme. The moral influence of the free elected representatives of two hundred and seventy millions of Englishmen, whose united armaments would hardly have made up 300,000 men, was sufficient to overawe the master of five millions of soldiers.

With regard to the other states of Europe vast political changes had taken place during the past century. The German-speaking peoples had become united under the House of Hohenzollern. The Hapsburg family, having abandoned the imperial title and their hereditary dominions, reigned as kings of Hungary at Buda-Pesth. Italy was united under the House of Savoy: France, that great disturber of international peace, had after two great wars been partitioned and reduced to impotence; Spain, Portugal and other minor nationalities remained in statu quo. The Grand Turk had removed his Capital to Bagdad, and the King of Bulgaria reigned at Constantinople. The despotism of the Czar, still "tempered with assassination," was otherwise supreme in his desolate dominions.

The Nineteenth Century had ended, as it had begun, in war, and since the terrible European conflict of


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The Lingoa Geral is the Tupi, an Indian language found in the country by the Jesuits, and modified and extended by them for use among all the tribes included in their missions. It is now spread over all the interior of Brazil, and even extends into Peru and Venezuela, as well as Bolivia and Paraguay, and is the general vehicle of communication between the Brazilian traders and the Indians. It is a simple and euphonious language, and is often preferred by Europeans who get thoroughly used to it. I knew a Frenchman who had been twenty years in the Solimoes, who always conversed with his wife and children in Lingoa Geral, and could speak it with more ease than either French or Portuguese; and, in many cases, I have seen Portuguese settlers whose children were unable to speak any other language.

I shall now proceed to give some account of the various tribes that still exist, in all their native integrity, among the trackless forests of the Purvis, Rio Branco, Japura, and the rivers Uaupes and Isanna, near the sources of the Rio Negro.

As I am best acquainted with the Indians of the river Uaupes, I shall first state all I know of them, and then point out the particulars in which other nations differ from them. The tribes which inhabit the Uaupes, as far as any of the traders ascend, and of which I can get any information, are the following : —

Up the main stream.

i. Queianas, at Sao Joaquim.

2. Tarianas, about Sao Jeronymo.

3. Ananas (Pine-apples), below Jauarite.

4. Cobeus, about Caruru caxoeira.

5. Piraiuru (Fish's mouth).

6. Pisa (Net).

7. Carapana (Mosquito), Jurupuri caxoeira.

8. Tapura (Tapir).

9. Uaracii (a Fish), above Jukeira Parana.

10. Cohidias.

11. Tucundera (an Ant).

12. Jacami (Trumpeter). Miriti (Mauritia Palm), Baccate Parana.

1

14. Omauas.


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On the river Tiquie.

15. Macunas.

16. Taiassu (Pig Indians).

17. Tijiico (Mud Indians).

Onjapob Para?id.

18. Arapdsso (Woodpeckers).

On the river Apafiorls.

19. Tucdnos (Toucans).

20. Uacarras (Herons).

21. Pira (Fish).

22. Desannas.

On the river Qidriri.

23. Ipecas (Ducks).

24. Gi (Axe).

25. Coua (Wasp).

On the river Codaiari.

26. Cordcoro (Green Ibis).

27. Bauhiinas.

28. Tatiis (Armadillos).

On Can't si Par and.

29. Tenimbuca (Ashes).

Juheira Parana).

30. Mucura (Opossum).

These tribes have almost all of them some peculiarities of language and customs, but they all go under the general name of " Uaupes," and distinguish themselves, as a body, from the inhabitants of other rivers. Hence the river is called " Rio dos Uaupes " (the River of the Uaupes), though the proper name of it is " Uacaiari,'' and it is always so termed by the Indians.

The Uaupes are generally rather tall, five feet nine or ten inches being not an uncommon height, and they are very stout and well formed. Their hair is jet-black and straight,


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OJ

only turning grey with extreme old age. The men do not cut their hair, but gather it behind into a long tail, bound round with cord, and hanging down to the middle of the back, and often to the thighs ; the hair of the women hangs loose down their backs, and is cut to a moderate length. The men have very little beard, and that little they eradicate by pulling it out j men and women also eradicate the hair of the eyebrows, the arm-pits, and the private parts. The colour of the skin is a light, uniform, glossy reddish-brown.

They are an agricultural people, having a permanent abode, and cultivating mandiocca {Jatropha Manihot), sugar-cane {Sacchanan officinarum), sweet potatoes {Convolvulus Batatas), carra, or yam {Dioscorea sp.), pupunha palms {Guilielma speciosa), cocura (a fruit like grapes), pine-apples {Ananassa sativa), maize ( Zea Mays), urucii or arnotto {Bixa Orellana), plantains and bananas {Musa sp.), abios (Lucuma Caimito), cashews {Anacardium occidentale), ingas {Inga- sp.), peppers {Capsicum sp.), tobacco {Nicotiana Tabacum), and plants for dyes and cordage. All, even in the most remote districts, have now iron axes and knives, though the stone axes which they formerly used are still to be found among them. The men cut down the trees and brushwood, which, after they have lain some months to dry, are burnt ; and the mandiocca is then planted by the women, together with little patches of cane, sweet potatoes, and various fruits. The women also dig up the mandiocca, and prepare from it the bread which is their main subsistence. The roots are brought home from the field in large baskets called aturas, made of a climber, and only manufactured by these tribes; they are then washed and peeled, this last operation being generally performed with the teeth, after which they are grated on large wooden graters about three feet long and a foot wide, rather concave, and covered all over with small sharp pieces of quartz, inserted in a regular diagonal pattern. These graters are an article of trade in all the Upper Amazon, as they are cheaper than the copper graters used in other parts of Brazil. The pulp is placed to drain on a large sieve made of the bark of a water- plant. It is then put into a long elastic cylinder made of the outer rind, or bark, of a climbing palm, a species of Desmoncus : this is filled with the half-dry pulp, and, being hung on a cross- beam between two posts, is stretched by a lever, on the further


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end of which the woman sits, and thus presses out the remaining liquid. These cylinders, called " tipitis," are also a considerable article of trade, and the Portuguese and Brazilians have not yet introduced any substitute for this rude Indian press. The pulp is then turned out, a dry compact mass, which is broken up, and the hard lumps and fibres picked out, when it is at once roasted on large flat ovens from four to six feet in diameter, with a sloping rim about six inches high. These ovens are well made, of clay mixed with the ashes of the bark of a tree called " caripe," and are supported on walls of mud about two feet high,with a large opening on one side, in which to make a fire of logs of wood. The mandiocca cakes, or " beijii," thus prepared, are sweet and agreeable to the taste ; but the Indians generally first soak the roots some days in water, which softens and ferments them, and gives the bread a sour taste, much relished by the natives, but not generally so agreeable to Europeans. The bread is made fresh every day, as when it gets cold and dry it is far less palatable. The women thus have plenty to do, for every other day at least they have to go to the field, often a mile or two distant, to fetch the root, and every day to grate, prepare, and bake the bread ; as it forms by far the greater part of their food, and they often pass days without eating anything else, especially when the men are engaged in clearing the forest. For the greater part of the year, however, the men go daily to fish, and at these times they have a good supply of this their favourite food. Meat and game they only eat occasionally ; they prefer jabutfs, or land- tortoises, monkeys, inambus (Tinamus sp.), toucans, and the smaller species of wild nig (Dicotyles torquatus). But they will not eat the large wild pig (D. labiatus), the anta {Tapirus Americanus), or the white-rumped mutun (Crax globiceral). They consume great quantities of peppers (species of Capsicum), preferring the small red ones, which are of excessive pungency : when they have no fish, they boil several pounds of these peppers in a little water, and dip their bread into the fiery soup thus formed.

The poisonous juice expressed from the mandiocca root, when fermented and boiled in various ways, forms sauces and peculiarly flavoured drinks, of which they are very fond. In making their bread they have a peculiarity, not noticed among the neighbouring tribes, of extracting pure tapioca from the

22


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mandiocca, and, by mixing this with the ordinary pulp, forming a very superior cake.

They use plantains extensively, eating them as a fruit, and making a mingau, or gruel, by boiling and beating them into a pulp, which is a very agreeable food. From the fruits of the Baccaba, Patawa, and Assai palms {(Enocarpus Baccaba, <E. Batazva, Euterpe oleracea and allied species), they produce wholesome and nourishing drinks.

Besides these they make much use of sweet potatoes, yams, roasted corn, and many forest fruits, from all of which, and from mandiocca cakes, they make fermented drinks, which go under the general name of " caxiri." That made from the mandiocca is the most agreeable, and much resembles good table-beer. At their feasts and dances they consume immense quantities of it, and it does not seem to produce any bad effects. They also use, on these occasions, an intensely exciting pre- paration of the root of a climber, — it is called capi, and the manner of using it I have described in my Narrative (page 205).

The weapons of these Indians are bows and arrows, gravatanas, lances, clubs, and also small hand-nets, and rods and lines, for catching fish.

Their bows are of different kinds of hard elastic wood, well made, and from five to six feet long. The string is either of the " tucum " leaf fibre {Astrocaryum vidgare), or of the inner bark of trees called " tururi." The arrows are of various kinds, from five to seven feet long. The shaft is made of the flower- stalk of the arrow-grass {Gynerium saccharinum). In the war- arrows, or " curubis," the head is made of hard wood, carefully pointed, and by some tribes armed with the serrated spine of the ray-fish : it is thickly anointed with poison, and notched in two or three places so as to break off in the wound. Arrows for shooting fish are now almost always made with iron heads, sold by the traders, but many still use heads made of monkeys' bones, with a barb, to retain a hold of the fish : the iron heads are bent at an angle, so that the lower part projects and forms a barb, and are securely fastened on with twine and pitch. Lighter arrows are made for shooting birds and other small game, and these alone are feathered at the base. The feathers generally used are from the wings of the macaw, and, in putting them on, the Indian shows his knowledge of the principle


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which is applied in the spirally-grooved rifle-barrel : three feathers are used, and they are all secured spirally, so as to form a little screw on the base of the arrow, the effect of which of course must be, that the arrow revolves rapidly in its onward progress, and this no doubt tends to keep it in a direct course.

The gravatana and small poisoned arrows are made and used exactly as I have already described in my Narrative (page 147).

The small hand-nets used for catching fish are of two kinds, — a small ring-net, like a landing-net, and one spread between two slender sticks, just like the large folding-nets of entomo- logists : these are much used in the rapids, and among rocks and eddies, and numbers of fish are caught with them. They also use the rod and line, and consume an enormous quantity of hooks : there are probably not less than a hundred thousand fish-hooks sold every year in the river Uaupes ; yet there are still to be found among them many of their own hooks, in- geniously made of palm-spines. They have many other ways of catching fish : one is by a small cone of wicker, called a "matapf," which is placed in some little current in the gapd ; the larger end is entirely open, and it appears at first sight quite incapable of securing the fish, yet it catches great quantities, for when the fish get in they have no room to turn round, and cannot swim backwards, and three or four are often found jammed in the end of these little traps, with the scales and skin quite rubbed off their heads by their vain endeavours to pro- ceed onwards. Other matapis are larger and more cylindrical, with a reversed conical mouth (as in our wire rat-traps), to prevent the return of the fish : these are often made of a very large size, and are placed in little forest-streams, and in narrow channels between rocks, where the fish, in passing up, must enter them. But the best method of procuring fish, and that which has been generally adopted by the Europeans in the country, is with the Cacoaries, or fish-weirs. These are princi- pally used at high-water, when fish are scarce : they are formed at the margin of rivers, supported by strong posts, which are securely fixed at the time of low-water, when the place of the weir is quite dry ; to these posts is secured a high fence of split palm-stems, forming an entering angle, with a narrow opening into a fenced enclosure. Fish almost always travel against the stream, and generally abound more at the sides where the


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current is less rapid : they are guided by the side-wings of the weir into the narrow opening, from which they cannot find their way out. They are obtained by diving into the weir, and then catching them with the pisa (small net), or with the hand, or sticking them with a knife. In these cacoaries every kind of fish is caught, from the largest to the smallest, as well as river tortoises and turtles. The Indian generally feels about well with a rod before entering a cacoari, to ascertain if it con- tains an electrical eel, in which case he gets it out first with a net. The Piranhas, species of Serrasalmo, are also rather dangerous, for I have seen an Indian boy return from the cacoary with his finger bitten off by one of them.

The " Gerau," is yet on a larger scale than the Cacoari. It is used only in the cataracts, and is very similar to the eel-traps used at mills and sluices in England. It is a large wooden sieve, supported in the midst of a cataract, so that the full force of the water dashes through it. All the fish which are carried down by the violence of the current are here caught, and their numbers are often so great as to supply a whole village with food. At many of the falls on the Uaupe"s they make these geraiis, which require the united exertions of the inhabitants to construct them ; huge timbers having to be planted in every crevice of the rocks, to withstand the strength of the torrent of water brought down by the winter's floods.

All the fish not used at the time are placed on a little platform of sticks over the fire, till they are so thoroughly dried and imbued with smoke, as to keep good any length of time. They are then used for voyages, and to sell to travellers, but, having no salt, are a very tasteless kind of food.

Salt is not so much sought after by these Indians as by many other tribes ; for they will generally prefer fish-hooks and beads in payment for any articles you may purchase of them. Peppers seem to serve them in place of salt. They do, however, extract from the fruits of the Inaja palm {Maxi- miliana regid) and the Jara palm (Leopoldinia major), and also from the Carurri (a species of Lacis very common on the rocks in the falls), a kind of flour which has a saline taste, and with which they season their food. The Carurii, indeed, has quite the smell of salt water, and is excellent eating,


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both boiled as a vegetable, or with oil and vinegar as a salad.

All the tribes of the Uaup£s construct their dwellings after one plan, which is peculiar to them. Their houses arc the abode of numerous families, sometimes of a whole tribe. The plan is a parallelogram, with a semicircle at one end. The dimensions of one at Jauarite were one hundred and fifteen feet in length, by seventy-five broad, and about thirty high. This house would hold about a dozen families, consisting of near a hundred individuals. In times of feasts and dances, three or four hundred are accommodated in them. The roof is supported on fine cylindrical columns, formed of the trunks of trees, and beautifully straight and smooth. In the centre a clear opening is left, twenty feet wide, and on the sides are little partitions of palm-leaf thatch, dividing off rooms for the separate families : here are kept the private household utensils, weapons, and ornaments ; while the rest of the space contains, on each side, the large ovens and gigantic pans for making caxiri, and, in the centre, a place for the children to play, and for their dances to take place. These houses are built with much labour and skill ; the main supporters, beams, rafters, and other parts, are straight, well proportioned to the strength required, and bound together with split creepers, in a manner that a sailor would admire. The thatch is of the leaf of some one of the numerous palms so well adapted to the purpose, and is laid on with great compactness and regularity. The side-walls, which are very low, are formed also of palm thatch, but so thick and so well bound together, that neither arrow nor bullet will penetrate them. At the gable-end is a large door- way, about six feet wide and eight or ten high : the door is a large palm-mat, hung from the top, supported by a pole during the day, and let down at night. At the semicircular end is a smaller door, which is the private entrance of the Tushaua, or chief, to whom this part of the house exclusively belongs. The lower part of the gable-end, on each side of the entrance, is covered with the thick bark of a tree unrolled, and standing vertically. Above this is a loose hanging of palm-leaves, between the fissures of which the smoke from the numerous fires within finds an exit. In some cases this gable- end is much ornamented with symmetrical figures painted in colours, as at Carurtf caxoeira,


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The furniture consists principally of maqueiras, or hammocks, made of string, twisted from the fibres of the leaves of the Mauritia flexuosa : they are merely an open network of parallel threads, crossed by others at intervals of a foot ; the loops at each end have a cord passed through them, by which they are hung up. The Uaupds make great quantities of string of this and other fibres, twisting it on their breasts or thighs, with great rapidity.

They have always in their houses a large supply of earthen pots, pans, pitchers, and cooking utensils, of various sizes, which they make of clay from the river and brooks, mixed with the ashes of the caripe bark, and baked in a temporary furnace. They have also great quantities of small saucer- shaped baskets, called "Balaios," which are much esteemed down the river, and are the subject of a considerable trade.

Two tribes in the lower part of the river, the Tarianos and Tucdnos, make a curious little stool, cut from a solid block of wood, and neatly painted and varnished ; these, which take many days to finish, are sold for about a pennyworth of fish-hooks.

Their canoes are all made out of a single tree, hollowed and forced open by the cross-benches ; they are very thick in the middle, to resist the wear and tear they are exposed to among the rocks and rapids ; they are often forty feet long, but smaller ones are generally preferred. The paddles are about three feet long, with an oval blade, and are each cut out of one piece of wood.

These people are as free from the encumbrances of dress as it is possible to conceive. The men wear only a small piece of tururi passed between the legs, and twisted on to a string round the lions. Even such a costume as this is dispensed with by the women : they have no dress or covering whatever, but are entirely naked. This is the universal custom among the Uaupes Indians, from which, in a state of nature, they never depart. Paint, with these people, seems to be looked upon as a sufficient clothing ; they are never without it on some part of their bodies, but it is at their festivals that they exhibit all their art in thus decorating their persons : the colours they use are red, yellow, and black, and they dispose them generally in regular patterns, similar to those with which they ornament their stools, their canoes, and other articles of furniture.


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They pour the juice of a tree, which stains a deep blue- black, on their heads, and let it run in streams all down their backs ; and the red and yellow are often disposed in large round spots upon the cheeks and forehead.

The use of ornaments and trinkets of various kinds is almost confined to the men. The women wear a bracelet on the wrists, but none on the neck, and no comb in the hair ; they have a garter below the knee, worn tight from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, which they consider a great beauty. While dancing in their festivals, the women wear a small tanga, or apron, made of beads, prettily arranged ; it is only about six inches square, but is never worn at any other time, and immediately the dance is over, it is taken off.

The men, on the other hand, have the hair carefully parted and combed on each side, and tied in a queue behind. In the young men, it hangs in long locks down their necks, and, with the comb, which is invariably carried stuck in the top of the head, gives to them a most feminine appearance : this is increased by the large necklaces and bracelets of beads, and the careful extirpation of every symptom of beard. Taking these circumstances into consideration, I am strongly of opinion that the story of the Amazons has arisen from these feminine- looking warriors encountered by the early voyager. I am inclined to this opinion, from the effect they first produced on myself, when it was only by close examination I saw that they were men ; and, were the front parts of their bodies and their breasts covered with shields, such as they always use, I am convinced any person seeing them for the first time would conclude they were women. We have only therefore to suppose that tribes having similar customs to those now living on the river Uaupes, inhabited the regions where the Amazons were reported to have been seen, and we have a rational explana- tion of what has so much puzzled all geographers. The only objection to this explanation is, that traditions are said to exist among the natives, of a nation of "women without husbands." Of this tradition, however, I was myself unable to obtain any trace, and I can easily imagine it entirely to have arisen from the suggestions and inquiries of Europeans themselves. When the story of the Amazons was first made known, it became of course a point with all future travellers to verify it, or if possible


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get a glimpse of these warlike ladies. The Indians must no doubt have been overwhelmed with questions and suggestions about them, and they, thinking that the white men must know best, would transmit to their descendants and families the idea that such a nation did exist in some distant part of the country. Succeeding travellers, finding traces of this idea among the Indians, would take it as a proof of the existence of the Amazons ; instead of being merely the effect of a mistake at the first, which had been unknowingly spread among them by preceding travellers, seeking to obtain some evidence on the subject.

In my communications and inquiries among the Indians on various matters, I have always found the greatest caution necessary, to prevent one's arriving at wrong conclusions. They are always apt to affirm that which they see you wish to believe, and, when they do not at all comprehend your question, will unhesitatingly answer, " Yes." I have often in this manner obtained, as I thought, information, which persons better acquainted with the facts have assured me was quite erroneous. These observations, however, must only be taken to apply to those almost uncivilised nations who do not under- stand, at all clearly, any language in which you can communi- cate with them. I have always been able to rely on what is obtained from Indians speaking Portuguese readily, and I believe that much trustworthy information can be obtained from them. Such, however, is not the case with the wild tribes, who are totally incapable of understanding any con- nected sentence of the language in which they are addressed ; and I fear the story of the Amazons must be placed with those of the wild man-monkeys, which Humboldt mentions and which tradition I also met with, and of the "curupira," or demon of the woods, and " carbunculo," of the Upper Amazon and Peru ; but of which superstitions we have no such satis- factory elucidation as I think has been now given of the warlike Amazons.

To return to our Uaupes Indians and their toilet. We find their daily costume enlivened with a few other ornaments; a circlet of parrots' tail-feathers is generally worn round the head, and the cylindrical white quartz-stone, already described in my Narrative (p. 191), is invariably carried on the breast, suspended from a necklace of black seeds.


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At festivals and dances they decorate themselves with a complicated costume of feather head-dresses, cinctures, armlets, and leg ornaments, which I have sufficiently described in the account of their dances (p. 202).

We will now describe some peculiarities connected with their births, marriages, and deaths.

The women are generally delivered in the house, though sometimes in the forest. When a birth takes place in the house, everything is taken out of it, even the pans and pots, and bows and arrows, till the next day ; the mother takes the child to the river and washes herself and it, and she generally remains in the house, not doing any work, for four or five days.

The children, more particularly the females, are restricted to a particular food : they are not allowed to eat the meat of any kind of game, nor of fish, except the very small bony kinds ; their food principally consisting of mandiocca-cake and fruits.

On the first signs of puberty in the girls, they have to undergo an ordeal. For a month previously, they are kept secluded in the house, and allowed only a small quantity of bread and water. All relatives and friends of the parents are then assembled, bringing, each of them, pieces of " sipo " (an elastic climber) ; the girl is then brought out, perfectly naked, into the midst of them, when each person present gives her five or six severe blows with the sipo across the back and breast, till she falls senseless, and it sometimes happens, dead. If she recovers, it is repeated four times, at intervals of six hours, and it is considered an offence to the parents not to strike hard. During this time numerous pots of all kinds of meat and fish have been prepared, when the sipos are dipped in them and given to her to lick, and she is then considered a woman, and allowed to eat anything, and is marriageable.

The boys undergo a somewhat similar ordeal, but not so severe ; which initiates them into manhood, and allows them to see the Jurupari music, which will be presently described.

Tattooing is very little practised by these Indians ; they all, however, have a row of circular punctures along the arm, and one tribe, the Tucanos, are distinguished from the rest by three vertical blue lines on the chin ; and they also pierce the lower lip, through which they hang three little threads of white beads.


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All the tribes bore their ears, and wear in them little pieces of grass, ornamented with feathers. The Cobeus alone expand the hole to so large a size, that a bottle-cork could be inserted : they ordinarily wear a plug of wood in it, but, on festas, insert a little bunch of arrows.

The men generally have but one wife, but there is no special limit, and many have two or three, and some of the chiefs more ; the elder one is never turned away, but remains the mistress of the house. They have no particular ceremony at their marriages, except that of always carrying away the girl by force, or making a show of doing so, even when she and her parents are quite willing. They do not often marry with re- lations, or even neighbours, — preferring those from a distance, or even from other tribes. When a young man wishes to have the daughter of another Indian, his father sends a message to say he will come with his son and relations to visit him. The girl's father guesses what it is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes preparations for a grand festival : it lasts, perhaps, two or three days, when the bridegroom's party suddenly seize the bride, and hurry her off to their canoes ; no attempt is made to pre- vent them, and she is then considered as married.

Some tribes, as the Uacarras, have a trial of skill at shooting with the bow and arrow, and if the young man does not show himself a good marksman, the girl refuses him, on the ground that he will not be able to shoot fish and game enough for the family.

The dead are almost always buried in the houses, with their bracelets, tobacco-bag, and other trinkets upon them : they are buried the same day they die, the parents and relations keeping up a continual mourning and lamentation over the body, from the death to the time of interment ; a few days afterwards, a great quantity of caxiri is made, and all friends and relations invited to attend, to mourn for the dead, and to dance, sing, and cry to his memory. Some of the large houses have more than a hundred graves in them, but when the houses are small, and very full, the graves are made outside.

The Tarianas and Tucanos, and some other tribes, about a month after the funeral, disinter the corpse, which is then much decomposed, and put it in a great pan, or oven, over the fire, till all the volatile parts are driven off with a most horrible odour, leaving only a black carbonaceous mass, which is


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pounded into a fine powder, and mixed in several large couches (vats made of hollowed trees) of caxiri : this is drunk by the assembled company till all is finished ; they believe that thus the virtues of the deceased will be transmitted to the drinkers.

The Cobeus alone, in the Uaupes, are real cannibals : they eat those of other tribes whom they kill in battle, and even make war for the express purpose of procuring human flesh for food. When they have more than they can consume at once, they smoke-dry the flesh over the fire, and preserve it for food a long time. They burn their dead, and drink the ashes in caxiri, in the same manner as described above.

Every tribe and every "malocca " (as their houses are called) has its chief, or " Tushaua," who has only a limited authority, principally in war, in making festivals, and in repairing the malocca and keeping the village clean, and in planting the mandiocca-fields ; he also treats with the traders, and supplies them with men to pursue their journeys. The succession of these chiefs is strictly hereditary in the male line, or through the female to her husband, who may be a stranger : their regular hereditary chief is never superseded, however stupid, dull, or cowardly he may be. They have very little law of any kind ; but what they have is of strict retaliation, — an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; and a murder is punished or revenged in the same manner and by the same weapon with which it was committed.

They have numerous " Pages," a kind of priests, answering to the " medicine-men " of the North American Indians. These are believed to have great power : they cure all diseases by charms, applied by strong blowing and breathing upon the party to be cured, and by the singing of certain songs and incantations. They are also believed to have power to kill enemies, to bring or send away rain, to destroy dogs or game, to make the fish leave a river, and to afflict with various diseases. They are much consulted and believed in, and are well paid for their services. An Indian will give almost all his wealth to a page, when he is threatened with any real or imagi- nary danger.

They scarcely seem to think that death can occur naturally, always imputing it either to direct poisoning or the charms of rome enemy, and, on this supposition, will proceed to revenge it. This they generally do by poisons, of which they have


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many which are most deadly in their effects : they are given at some festival in a bowl of caxiri, which it is good manners always to empty, so that the whole dose is sure to be taken. One of the poisons often used is most terrible in its effects, causing the tongue and throat, as well as the intestines, to pu- trefy and rot away, so that the sufferer lingers some days in the greatest agony : this is of course again retaliated, on perhaps the wrong party, and thus a long succession of murders may result from a mere groundless suspicion in the first instance.

I cannot make out that they have any belief that can be called a religion. They appear to have no definite idea of a God ; if asked who they think made the rivers, and the forests, and the sky, they will reply that they do not know, or some- times that they suppose it was " Tupanau," a word that appears to answer to God, but of which they understand nothing. They have much more definite ideas of a bad spirit, " Jurupari/' or Devil, whom they fear, and endeavour through their page's to propitiate. When it thunders, they say the "Jurupari" is angry, and their idea of natural death is that the "Jurupari " kills them. At an eclipse they believe that this bad spirit is killing the moon, and they make all the noise they can to frighten him away.

One of their most singular superstitions is about the musical instruments they use at their festivals, which they call the Jurupari music. These consist of eight or sometimes twelve pipes, or trumpets, made of bamboos or palm-stems hollowed out, some with trumpet-shaped mouths of bark and with mouth-holes of clay and leaf. Each pair of instruments gives a distinct note, and they produce a rather agreeable concert, something resembling clarionets and bassoons. These instru- ment, however, are with them such a mystery that no woman must ever see them, on pain of death. They are always kept in sone igarip£, at a distance from the malocca, whence they are brought on particular occasions : when the sound of them is heard approaching, every woman retires into the woods, or into some adjoining shed, which they generally have near, and remains invisible till after the ceremony is over, when the instruments are taken away to their hiding-place, and the women come out of their concealment. Should any female be supposed to have seen them, either by accident or design, she is invaribly executed, generally by poison, and a father


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will not hesitate to sacrifice his daughter, or a husband his wife, on such an occasion.

They have many other prejudices with regard to women. They believe that if a woman, during her pregnancy, eats of any meat, any other animal partaking of it will suffer : if a domestic animal or tame bird, it will die ; if a dog, it will be for the future incapable of hunting ; and even a man will ever after be unable to shoot that particular kind of game. An Indian, who was one of my hunters, caught a fine cock of the rock, and gave it to his wife to feed, but the poor woman was obliged to live herself on cassava-bread and fruits, and abstain entirely from all animal food, peppers, and salt, which it was believed would cause the bird to die ; notwithstanding all precautions, however, the bird did die, and the woman got a beating from her husband, because he thought she had not been sufficiently rigid in her abstinence from the prohibited articles.

Most of these peculiar practices and superstitions are retained with much tenacity, even by those Indians who are nominally civilised and Christian, and many of them have been even adopted by the Europeans resident in the country : there are actually Portuguese in the Rio Negro who fear the power of the Indian pages, and who fully believe and act on all the Indian superstitions respecting women.

The river Uaupes is the channel by which European manu- factures find their way into the extensive and unknown regions between the Rio Guaviare on the one side, and the Japura on the other. About a thousand pounds worth of goods enter the Uaupes yearly, mosdy in axes, cutlasses, knives, fish-hooks, arrow-heads, salt, mirrors, beads, and a few cottons.

The articles given in exchange are salsaparilha, pitch, farinha, string, hammocks, and Indian stools, baskets, feather ornaments, and curiosities. The salsaparilha is by far the most valuable product, and is the only one exported. Great quantities of articles of European manufacture are exchanged by the Indians with those of remote districts, for the salsa which they give to the traders ; and thus numerous tribes, among whom no civilised man has ever yet penetrated, are well supplied with iron goods, and send the product of their labour to European markets.

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arts among these people, I subjoin a list of articles which I collected when among them, to illustrate their manners, customs, and state of civilisation, but which were unfortunately all lost on my passage home.

LIST OF ARTICLES MANUFACTURED BY THE INDIANS OF THE RIO DOS UAUPES.

Household Furniture and Utensils.

i. Hammocks, or maqueiras, of palm-fibre, of various materials, colours, and texture.

2. Small wooden stools, of various sizes, painted and var- nished. (Plate XIV. d.)

3. Flat baskets of plaited bark, in regular patterns and of various colours.

4. Deeper baskets, called " Aturas." (Plate XIII. d.)

5. Calabashes and gourds, of various shapes and sizes.

6. Water-pitchers of earthenware.

7. Pans of earthenware for cooking.

Articles used in the Manufacture of Mandiocca Bread.

8. Mandiocca graters, of quartz fragments set in wood. (Plate XIII. a.)

9. Tipitis, or wicker elastic pressure cylinders.

10. Wicker sieves for straining the pulp.

11. Ovens for roasting cassava-bread and farinha. (Plate XIII. b.)

12. Plaited fans for blowing the fire and turning the cakes.

Weapons used in War, Hunting, and Fishing.

13. Bows of various woods and different sizes.

14. Quivers of curabis, or poisoned war-arrows.

15. Arrows with heads of monkey-bones.

16. Arrows, with iron heads, for shooting fish.

17. Gravatanas, or blow-tubes, from eight to fourteen feet long.

18. Wicker and wooden quivers, with poisoned arrows for them.

19. Small pots and calabashes, with the curarf or ururf poison.


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twisted and wrinkled climbers, and the elegant palms, are what strike the attention and fill the mind with admiration and sur- prise and awe. But all is gloomy and solemn, and one feels a relief on again seeing the blue sky, and feeling the scorching rays of the sun.

It is on the roadside and on the rivers' banks that we see all the beauty of the tropical vegetation. There we find a mass of bushes and shrubs and trees of every height, rising over one another, all exposed to the bright light and the fresh air ; and putting forth, within reach, their flowers and fruit, which, in the forest, only grow far up on the topmost branches. Bright flowers and green foliage combine their charms, and climbers with their flowery festoons cover over the bare and decaying stems. Yet, pick out the loveliest spots, where the most gorgeous flowers of the tropics expand their glowing petals, and for every scene of this kind, we may find another at home of equal beauty, and with an equal amount of brilliant colour.

Look at a field of buttercups and daisies, — a hill-side covered with gorse and broom, — a mountain rich with purple heather, — or a forest-glade, azure with a carpet of wild hyacinths, and they will bear a comparison with any scene the tropics can produce. I have never seen anything more glorious than an old crab-tree in full blossom ; and the horse-chesnut, lilac, and laburnum will vie with the choicest tropical trees and shrubs. In the tropical waters are no more beautiful plants than our white and yellow water-lilies, our irises, and flowering rush ; for I cannot consider the flower of the Victoria regia more beautiful than that of the Nymphcea alba, though it may be larger ; nor is it so abundant an ornament of the tropical waters as the latter is of ours.

But the question is not to be decided by a comparison of individual plants, or the effects they may produce in the land- scape, but on the frequency with which they occur, and the proportion the brilliantly coloured bear to the inconspicuous plants. My friend Mr. R. Spruce, now investigating the botany of the Amazon and Rio Negro, assures me that by far the greater proportion of plants gathered by him have incon- spicuous green or white flowers; and with regard to the frequency of their occurrence, it was not an uncommon thing for me to pass days travelling up the rivers, without seeing