98 



the boatmen -will be more afraid of this snake than they were of 

 the machete, Ave do not talk about the object of our search, 

 we simply row close along the banks and peer up into the foliage, 

 closely examining anything which looks like a bundle of 

 dried leaves in the forks of the branches. We have retained 

 our forward position, and the men are in the stern slowly 

 paddling the boat jilong. As she passed under some arching 

 boughs, Seaton, who is thoroughly demoralized for the time 

 being, suddenly catches sight of a richly-coloured iguana* 

 basking on a branch. lie dashes head foremost forward, and in 

 doing so butts against my chest as I rise to catch the sleeping 

 lizard, knocking me down into the bottom. The iguana, roused 

 from its siesta by the unwonted commotion, leisurely makes its 

 way out of reach, Expostulations with the iinfortunate Seaton 

 have no effect ; in vain he is told that his own people consider 

 the iguana a delicacy, he only wishes he v/as home safe once 

 more, for he will never come on such a hazardous expedition 

 again. Several alligators are now in sight, and some of them 

 must be very large ones, judging by tha size of their eyes and 

 the distance from the tip of the nose to the croAvn of the head, 

 for this is all the alligator vouclisafes to the world of his 

 presence, except when he is enjoying a bask on the mud. Now 

 and again one slides silently from the bank at our approa,ch, and 

 is lost to sight immediately, a ripple on the waters being the 

 only indication of his exit from our view. As we ascend the 

 river higher and yet higher, the scene becomes more lovely. 

 The tall graceful palms OA'-ertop all the surrounding dense, 

 matted tangle of bush, tree and creeper. Now Ave pass a ceiba 

 Avhich extends a mighty arm oA^cr the riA^er, but a hundred feet 

 above it ; from it depend rope like creepersf in huge festoons. 

 In these other plants have groAvn. and though the leaves are 

 not so l)right as doubtless they are in the wet season, yet the 

 Avhole is A'ery picturesque, forming a huge curtain to the ri^'-er, 

 of Avhich it is, certainly, one of the most beautiful sights. 

 Overhead, in the clear l)lue_ sky, the black vultures are AAdreeling 

 in untiring circles ; over there a frigate bird is describing his 

 bold curA'es, the opening and closing up his scissor-like tail, 

 can be seen as it is silhouetted against the blue. A large hawk 

 rises from a tree top, and Avings his way sloAvly Avestward. On 

 ahead, resting on the arm of a dead tree, Avatching' the Avater, 

 is a snoAV Avhite-heron.t but he, too, disappears as our boat comes 

 in vicAV. Gorgeously Aviaged butterflies flit around. One or 

 two big greenish-blue felloAvs,|| usually near the tops of the 



Tpiuina sapkUadma. \ A liaue. 



\ Ardea candidi-ssiiiiK. \\ Morplios. 



