140 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



CHAPTER X 



FAUNA AND FLORA OF LA PRISION — THE CLEARING 



Hornets — Butterflies — Nightjars — The wood-nightjar — Hawks — The 

 Gnaco^ — Rice-birds — Ants and ant-thrushes — Man and the other 



animals— Utopia. 



A NATURALIST might spend weeks at La Prision adding 

 daily to his collections without having to wander beyond 

 the limits of the clearing. He will find out within a very 

 short space of time after he will have taken up his quarters 

 in Dona Antonia's house that there are at least two kinds 

 of insects which were not created solely for man's pleasure 

 and glorification. Until he will have learnt to move about 

 with circumspection he will be sure to arouse the suspicions 

 of the colonies of hornets who own the ceiling of the 

 establishment, and he will not forget the circumstance 

 for hours after. When I first visited La Prision I had 

 with me as taxidermist a young Creole who was a bit of 

 a dandy and a great admirer of the fair sex. He was 

 slinging his hammock with studied grace while two of Dona 

 Antonia's daughters looked admiringly on, when he realised 

 that something had gone wrong. No man looks a hero 

 when he is boxing with a hornet. So the spell was broken. 

 ' Was it nice ? ' the younger sister, who was a bit of a 

 tease, inquired. ' Not as nice,' replied my fellow country- 

 man with the ready wit of the Creole, ' as a kiss from 

 a sweet girl like you ' ; and he scored in spite of the dis- 

 figuring marks left by the hornet's stinging caress. 



