CHAPTER II 
Commence journey up San Juan river—Palms and wild canes—Planta- 
tions—The Colorado river—Proposed improvement of the river— 
Progress of the delta—Mosquitoes—Disagreeable night—Fine 
morning—Vegetation of the banks—Seripiqui river—Mot-mots— 
Foraging ants—Their method of hunting—Ant-thrushes—They 
attack the nests of other ants—Birds’ nests, how preserved from 
them—Reasoning powers in ants—Parallel between the Mammalia 
and the Hymenoptera— Utopia. 
I FOUND at Greytown the mail-boat of the Chontales Gold- 
Mining Company, which came down monthly in charge of 
Captain Anderson, an Englishman who had knocked about 
all over the world. The crew consisted of four Mosquito 
negroes, who are celebrated on this coast for their skill as 
boatmen. Besides the crew, we were taking three other 
negroes up to the mines, and with my boxes we were rather 
uncomfortably crowded for a long journey. The canoe 
itself was made from the trunk of a cedar-tree (Cedrela 
odorata). It had been hollowed out of a single log, and the 
sides afterwards built up higher with planking. This makes 
a very strong boat, the strength and thickness being where 
it is most required, at the bottom, to withstand the thumping 
about amongst the rocks of the rapids. I was once in one, 
coming down a dangerous rapid on the river Gurupy, in 
Northern Brazil, when we were driven with the full force of 
the boiling stream broadside upon a rock, with such force 
that we were nearly all thrown down, but the strong canoe 
was uninjured, although no common boat could have with- 
stood the shock. 
Having determined to go up the river in this boat, we took 
provisions with us for the voyage, and one of the negroes 
agreed to act as cook. Having arranged everything, and 
breakfasted with my kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hollenbeck, 
I bade them adieu, and settled myself into the small space in 
the canoe that I expected to occupy for six days. Captain 
Anderson took the helm, the ‘“ Caribs ” dipped their paddles 
into the water, and away we glided into a narrow channel 
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