WATERTON'S " WANDERINGS." 103 



received personal and special instruction from him in 

 his wonderful system of taxidermy. And, moreover, 

 ever since first reading the "Wanderings" as a boy, 

 he had neglected no opportunity of identifying the 

 various animals, &c., which are therein mentioned. 

 Sich an identification was by no means unnecessary, 

 as my father points out in the preface to the new 

 edtion. 



The book fascinated me (he says, speaking of the " Wanderings " 

 wher first they fell into his hands). Week after week I took it out 

 of th (school) library, and really think that I could have repeated it 

 verbaim from beginning to end. . . . But there vras one drawback 

 to the full enjoyment and comprehension of the book. It mentioned 

 all kiicls of animals, birds, and trees, and I did not know what they 

 were, lor was there anyone who could tell me. I did not know 

 what i Salempenta was, except that it was good to eat. It might be 

 a monley, a fish, or a fruit. Neither could I identify the Couan- 

 acouch, Labarri, Camoudi, Duraquara, Houtou, or Karabimiti, 

 except ,hat the three first were snakes, and the three last were birds. 



It Aas certainly pleasant to learn that the traveller in Guiana 

 would b awakened by the crowing of the Hannaquoi, but there was 

 no one die could tell me what kind of a bird the Hannaquoi might 

 be. Thn, as to trees, I did not know the Siloabali, or the Wallaba, 

 or even;he Purple-heart, nor how the last mentioned tree could be 

 made ino a woodskin. I wanted a guide to the " Wanderings," 

 and sue! a guide I have attempted to supply in the " Explanatory 

 Index." 



Ths " Index," although it consists of less than one 

 hundrd and fifty pages, was the fruit of an enormous 

 quantiy of labour, the real amount of which did not 

 appear owing to the fact that it had been distributed 

 over a :onsiderable number of years. The identification 



