Cuap. XI. ALLIGATORS NEST. 323 
variety. The most prevalent palm was the tall Astryocaryum Jauari, 
whose fallen spines made it necessary to pick our way carefully over the 
ground, as we were all barefoot. There was not much green under- 
wood, except in places where bamboos grew ; these formed impenetrable 
thickets of plumy foliage and thorny jointed stems, which always com- 
pelled us to make a circuit to avoid them. The earth elsewhere was 
encumbered with rotten fruits, gigantic bean-pods, leaves, limbs, and 
trunks of trees ; fixing the impression of its being the cemetery as well 
as the birthplace of the great world of vegetation overhead. Some of 
the trees were of prodigious height. We passed many specimens of the 
Moratinga, whose cylindrical trunks, I dare not say how many feet in 
circumference, towered up and were lost amidst the crowns of the lower 
trees, their lower branches, in some cases, being hidden from our view. 
Another very large and remarkable tree was the Assactii (Sapium aucu- 
parium). <A traveller on the Amazons, mingling with the people, is sure 
to hear much of the poisonous qualities of the juices of this tree. Its 
bark exudes, when hacked with a knife, a milky sap, which is not only a 
fatal poison when taken internally, but is said to cause incurable sores 
if simply sprinkled on the skin. My companions always gave the 
Assacti a wide berth when we passed one. The tree looks ugly enough 
to merit a bad name, for the bark is of a dingy olive colour, and is 
studded with short and sharp venomous-looking spines. 
After walking about half a mile we came upon a dry watercourse, 
where we observed, first, the old footmarks of a tapir, and, soon 
after, on the margin of a curious circular hole full of muddy water, 
the first tracks of a jaguar. This latter discovery was hardly made 
when a rush was heard amidst the bushes on the top of .a sloping 
bank on the opposite side of the dried creek. We bounded for- 
ward ; it was, however, too late, for the animal had sped in a few 
moments far out of our reach. It was clear we had disturbed, on 
our approach, the jaguar, whilst quenching his thirst at the water-hole. 
A few steps further on we saw the mangled remains of an alligator (the 
Jacarétinga). The head, fore-quarters, and bony shell were the only 
parts which remained ; but the meat was quite fresh, and there were 
many footmarks of the jaguar around the carcase; so that there was no 
doubt this had formed the solid part of the animal’s breakfast. My 
companions now began to search for the alligator’s nest, the presence of 
the reptile so far from the river being accountable for on no other ground 
than its maternal solicitude for its eggs. We found, in fact, the nest at 
the distance of a few yards from the place. It was a conical pile of dead 
leaves, in the middle of which twenty eggs were buried. These were of 
elliptical shape, considerably larger than those of a duck, and having a 
hard shell of the texture of porcelain, but very rough on the outside. 
They make a loud sound when rubbed together, and it is said that it is 
easy to find a mother alligator in the Ygapo forests by rubbing together 
two eggs in this way, she being never far off, and attracted by the sounds. 
I put half a dozen of the alligator’s eggs in my game-bag for specimens, 
and we then continued on our way. Lino, who was now first, presently 
made a start backwards, calling out “ Jararaca!” This is the name of 
a poisonous snake (genus Craspedocephalus), which is far more dreaded 
