INTRODUCTION. ] 1 7 



there is something awful and indescribable in it; 

 it is not the tiger's growl, the bull's bellowing, 

 the lion's roar ; it is diflferent from all, and really- 

 terrific, when that soimd bursts suddenly upon the 

 ear. I might compare it to the snorting of a fright- 

 ened horse, if the strength of that snort could be 

 increased ten, — no, twenty-fold, in effect. 



The otters of Guiana, of which there are two 

 species, are more destructive to the fishes than the 

 European and Canadian otters to the finny tribes of 

 their rivers. As constant summer prevails in Gui- 

 ana, their depredations continue the whole year; 

 while, during the period when the rivers of the 

 colder zones are frozen over, the otters there are 

 obliged to feed on terrestrial animals. Old Izaak 

 Walton would have found, therefore, additional 

 reasons to bestow hard names upon those " villan- 

 ous vermin." Every rock in the vicinity of their 

 residence bears the mark of their excrements ; and 

 their feeding-places are so devoid of vegetation, if 

 we except the larger bushes and trees, that they 

 cannot be mistaken, even if the number of scales 

 and fish-bones did not point out their success and 

 frequency of their visits. A complete path leads up 

 from the water's edge to these places, which, in 

 consequence of their ascending and descending in 

 single file, is hollowed out. The smaller species 

 of otter hunt in packs of eight or ten, and they 

 swim mostly against the stream ; the larger, seldom 

 more than two together. As they dive to a great 

 distance, and are able to remain under the water 



