GEOLOGY. 



667 



After the sufferings occasioned by the heat, the dangers 

 of inundation ensue. Some steppes in America are then 

 totally submerged by the overflowing of the rivers, and 

 only look like a vast sea, which threatens the animals with 

 imminent death. Some seek a refuge, and gather in groups 

 on the heights. Many are drowned ; others are attacked 



248. The American Vampire : Vampirus spectrum (Linnaeus). 



and devoured by the crocodiles, which have now regained 

 all their vigor. A redoubtable eel, the Gymnotus electricus, 

 adds to the dangers run by the mammals, the shocks it gives 

 being powerful enough to kill even horses. 1 



1 Humboldt says that it is not only the crocodiles and jaguars that lay snares 

 for the horse. This animal has also a formidable enemy among the fish. The 

 marshy waters of Bera and Rastro are filled with electric eels, the slimy bodies of 

 which, covered with yellow spots, spontaneously emit violent shocks in every di- 



