130 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Sess. lv. 



from its wiklness as from an all-pervading sense of nature — 

 man and his works being conspicuous by their absence. It 

 formed a small stream only, some 60 yards or so across at 

 its mouth ; its clear and dark waters flowed with scarcely 

 perceptible current ; and its calm surface reflected as in a 

 mirror the tall steep banks rising on either side. Covered 

 with a rank growth of coarse grasses, these banks were 

 crowned by continuous forest, which varied in character 

 from point to point. Perhaps most frequently this forest 

 consisted for the most part of tall laurel -trees {Nectandra 

 ^orphyi'ia, Gr.), with smooth clear trunks, and dense leafy 

 heads of thick, dark-green leaves, which, uniting with their 

 fellows on each side, formed a continuous canopy, shutting 

 out so completely the rays of the sun as to produce a deep 

 shade and most refreshing coolness even on the hottest day. 

 The interior of these laurel woods was futher rendered agree- 

 able by the absence of noxious insects, while the ground 

 was clear of any undergrowth, covered as a rule with a 

 stratum of decaying leaves only. A very remarkable efi'ect 

 was sometimes to be observed during the night in those 

 woods, when the decaying leaves gave out an intense pale- 

 green diffused phosphorescent light. At other points the 

 forest would be composed almost entirely of small myr- 

 taceous trees of the genus Eugenia — such as E. unifiora and 

 E. cisj)latcnsis ; and at others of a more considerable variety 

 of tall forest trees, such as Quebracho, Lapacho, Guayacan, 

 &c., mingled with occasional feather-leaved palm trees. 



For the first week or two we continued to make very good 

 progress, steaming rapidly along between the forest-clad 

 banks. A constant interest was derived from the ever- 

 changing forest, and from the numbers of its animal inhabi- 

 tants which we saw every now and then. Innumerable 

 jacards were to be seen basking on the water's margin, going 

 in with a heavy splash on our approach ; numbers of large 

 otters bol)])ed \\\) and down in seal-like fashion, watching us 

 as we passed ; quiet family ])arties of staid-looking carpinchoes 

 broke up in confusion ; while an occasional jaguar, swimming 

 across the river ahead of us, would cause a little excitement 

 for the time being. ]>lack cr'fjw-like cuckoos, snowy white 

 egrets, beautifuUy-colounid kinglishers, great toucans with 

 immense yellow and scarlet beaks, and flocks of shrill-voiced 



