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Cuap. V. SNAKES. 95 
species of Trochilinze which I found at Caripi were the little brassy-green 
Polytmus viridissimus, the sapphire and emerald (Thalurania furcata), 
and the large falcate-winged Campylopterus obscurus. 
Snakes were very numerous at Caripi: many harmless species were 
found near the house, and these sometimes came into the rooms. I was 
wandering one day amongst the green bushes of Guajara, a tree which 
yields a grape-like berry (Chrysobalanus Icaco), and grows along all 
these sandy shores, when I was startled by what appeared to be the 
flexuous stem of a creeping plant endowed with life, and threading its way 
amongst the leaves and branches. This animated liana turned out to be 
a pale-green snake, the Dryophis fulgida. Its whole body is of the same 
green hue, and it is thus rendered undistinguishable amidst the foliage 
of the Guajard bushes, where it prowls in search of its prey, tree-frogs 
and lizards. The fore part of its head is prolonged in a slender pointed 
_ beak, and the total length of the reptile was six feet. There was 
another kind found amongst bushes on the borders of the forest, closely 
allied to this, but much more slender—viz., the Dryophis acuminata. 
This grows to a length of 4 feet 8 inches, the tail alone being 22 inches ; 
but the diameter of the thickest part of the body is little more than a 
quarter of an inch. It is of light brown colour with iridescent shades, 
variegated with obscurer markings, and looks like a piece of whipcord. 
One individual which I caught of this species had a protuberance near 
the middle of the body. On opening it I found a half-digested lizard, 
which was much more bulky than the snake itself. Another kind of serpent 
found here, a species of Helicops, was amphibious in its habits. I saw 
several of these in wet weather on the beach, which, on being approached, 
always made straightway for the water, where they swam with much 
grace and dexterity. Florinda one day caught a Helicops whilst 
angling for fish, it having swallowed the fishhook with the bait. She 
and others told me these water-snakes lived on small fishes, but I did 
not meet with any proof of the fact. In the woods, snakes were con- 
stantly occurring: it was not often, however, that I saw poisonous 
species. There were many arboreal kinds besides the two just men- 
tioned ; and it was rather alarming, in entomologising about the trunks 
of trees, to suddenly encounter, on turning round, as sometimes 
happened a pair of glittering eyes, and a forked tongue within a few 
inches of one’s head. The last kind I shall mention is the Coral-snake, 
which is a most beautiful object when seen coiled up on black soil in the 
woods. The one I saw here was banded with black and vermilion, the 
black bands having each two clear white rings. The state of specimens 
preserved in spirits can give no idea of the brilliant colours which adorn 
the Coral-snake in life. 
Petzell and I, as already mentioned, made many excursions of long 
extent in the neighbouring forest. We sometimes went to Murucupi, a 
creek which passes through the forest about four miles behind Caripi, 
the banks of which are inhabited by Indians and half-breeds, who have 
lived there for many generations in perfect seclusion from the rest of the 
world, the place being little known or frequented. A path from Caripi 
leads to it through a gloomy tract of virgin forest, where the trees are so 
