THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



697 



;s obtained of the country, from the ris- 

 ing round about half way across the waste. 

 Thence to the bottom of the valley is a long, 

 gentle, grassy slope, bare of trees. The 

 strangely-shaped hills ; the forest at their 

 feet, richly varied with palms ; the bay of 

 Mapiri on the right, with the dark waters of 

 the Tapajos and its white glistening shores, 

 are all spread out before one, as if depicted 

 on canvas. The extreme transparency of the 

 atmosphere gives to all parts of the land- 

 scape such clearness of outline that the idea 

 of distance is destroyed, and one fancies the 

 whole to be almost within reach of the hand. 

 Descending into the valley, a small brook 

 has to be crossed, and then half a mile of 

 sandy plain, whose vegetation wears a pecu- 

 liar aspect, owing to the predominance of a 

 steinless palm, the Curua (Attalea specta- 

 bilis), whose large, beautifully pinnated, rigid 

 leaves rise directly from the soil. The fruit 

 of this species is similar to the cocoauut, con- 

 taining milk in the interior of the kernel, but 

 it is much inferior to it in size. Here, and 

 indeed all along the road, we saw on most 

 days in the wet season tracks of the jaguar. 

 We never, however, met with the animal, 

 although we sometimes heard his loud 

 "hough" in the night, while lying in our 

 hammocks at home, in Santarem, and knew 

 he must be lurking somewhere near us. 



My best hunting ground was a -part of the 

 valley sheltered on one side by a steep hill, 

 whose declivity, like the swampy valley be- 

 :eath, was clothed with magnificent forest. 

 We used to make our.halt in a small cleared 

 place, tolerably free from ants and close to 

 the water. Here we assembled after our 

 toilsome morning's hunt in different direc- 

 tions through the woods, took our well-earned 

 meal on the ground two broad leaves of the 

 "wild banana serving us for a tablecloth and 

 j-ested for a couple of hours during the great 

 heat of the afternoon. The diversity of ani- 

 mal productions was as wonderful as th*H of 

 the vegetable forms in this rich locality. It 

 was pleasant to lie down during the hottest 

 part of the day, when my people lay asleep, 

 and watch the movements of animals. 

 Sometimes a troop of Aanus (Crotophaga), a 

 glossy black-plumaged bird, which lives in 

 small societies in grassy places, would come 

 in from the campus, one by one, calling to 

 each other as they moved from tree to tree. 

 Or a Toucan (Rhamphastos ariel) silently 

 hopped or ran along and up the branches, 

 />eeping into chinks and crevices. Notes of 

 solitary birds resounded from a distance 

 through the wilderness. Occasionally a sulky 

 Trogon would be seen, with its brilliant 

 green back and rose-colored breast, perched 

 for an hour without moving on a low branch. 

 A number of large fut lizards, two feet long, 

 of a kind called by the natives Jac-uaru (Teius 

 teguexim) were always observed in the still 

 hours of mid-day scampering with great clat- 

 ter over the dead leaves, apparently in chase 

 of each other. The fat of this bulky lizard 

 is much prized by the natives, who apply it 

 as a poultice to draw palm spines or even. 



grains of shot from the flesh. Othei MzanU 

 of repulsive aspect, about three feet in length 

 when full grown, splashed about and swam 

 in the water : sometimes emerging to crawl 

 into hollow trees on the banks of the stream, 

 where I once found a female and a nest of 

 eggs. The lazy flapping tt'ght of large blue 

 and black inorpho butterflies high in the air, 

 the hum of insects, and many inanimate 

 sounds, contributed their share to the total 

 impression this strange solitude produced. 

 Heavy fruits from the crowns of trees which 

 were mingled together at a giddy height 

 overhead, fell now and then with a startling 

 " plop" into the water. The breeze, not 

 felt below, stirred in the topmost branches, 

 setting the twisted and looped sipos in mo- 

 tion, which creaked and groaned in a great 

 variety of notes. To these noises was added 

 the monotonous ripple of the brook, which 

 had its little cascade at every score or two 

 yards of its course. 



I seldom met with any of the larger ani 

 mals in these excursions. We never saw a 

 mammal of any kind on the cainpos ; but 

 tracks of three species were seen occasionally 

 besides those of the jaguar ; these belonged 

 to a small tiger-cat, a deer, and an opossum ; 

 all of which animals must have been very 

 rare, and probably nocturnal in their habits, 

 with the exception of the deer. I saw in the 

 woods, on one occasion, a small flock of 

 monkeys, and once had an opportunity of 

 watching the movements of a sloth. The 

 latter was of the kind called by Cuvier 

 Bradypus triductylus, which is clothed with 

 shaggy gray hair. The natives call it, in the 

 Tupi language. AX ybyrete (in Portuguese, 

 Preguiya da terra firme), or sloth of the main- 

 laud, to distinguish it from the Bradypus in- 

 fuscatus. which has a long black and tawny 

 stripe between the shoulders, and is called 

 AYygapo (Preguipi das vargens),or sloth of the 

 flooded lauds. Some travellers in South Amer- 

 ica have described the sloth as very nimble in 

 its native woods, and have disputed the just- 

 ness of the name which has been bestowed 

 upon it. The inhabitants of the Amazons 

 region, however, both Indians and descend- 

 ants of the Portuguese, hold to the common 

 opinion, and consider the sloth as the type of 

 laziness. It is very common for one native 

 to call another, in reproaching him for idle- 

 ness, " bicho de Embauba' p (beast of the 

 Cecropia tree) ; the leaves of the Cecropia be- 

 ing the food of the sloth. It is a strange sight 

 to watch the uncouth creature, fit production 

 of these silent shades, lazily moving frem 

 branch to branch. Every movement be- 

 trays, not indolence exactly, but extreme 

 caution. He never loses his hold from one 

 branch without first securing himself to the 

 next, and when he does not immediately find 

 a bough to grasp with the rigid hooks into 

 which his paws are so curiously transformed, 

 he raises his body, supported on his hind 

 legs, and claws around in search of a fresh 

 foothold. After watching the animal fcr 

 ab*ut half an hour I gave him a charge of 

 shot: he fell with a terrific crajsh. but 



