Ch. XVII.] HORSE "WOUNDED. 321 



one other example amongst the vertebrata, and it was 

 also a reptile. In the woods around Santo Domingo 

 there are many frogs. Some are green or brown, and 

 imitate green or dead leaves, and live amongst foliage. 

 Others are dirty earth-coloured, and hide in holes and 

 under logs. All these come out only at night to feed, 

 and they are all preyed upon by snakes and birds. In 

 contrast with these obscurely coloured species, another 

 little frog hops about in the daytime dressed in a bright 

 livery of red and blue. He cannot be mistaken for any 

 other, and his flaming vest and blue stockings show that 

 he does not court concealment. He is very abundant in 

 the damp woods, and I was convinced he was uneatable 

 as soon as I made his acquaintance and saw the happy 

 sense of security with which he hopped about. I took a 

 few specimens home with me, and tried my fowls and 

 ducks with them ; but none would touch them. At last, 

 by throwing down pieces of meat, for which there was a 

 great competition amongst them, I managed to entice a 

 young duck into snatching up one of the little frogs. 

 Instead of swallowing it, however, it instantly threw it 

 out of its mouth, and went about jerking its head as if 



t) O 



trying to throw off some unpleasant taste. 



After travelling three leagues beyond Teustepe, we 

 reached, near dusk, a small house by the roadside, at 

 which had put up for the night a party of muleteers, 

 with their mules and cargoes. Our beasts were too tired 

 to go further, so we determined to take our chance of 

 finding room for our hammocks. Soon after we* alighted, 

 as I sat on a stone near the door of the house, a gun 

 went off close to us, and my horse sprang forward, 



