104 ANT-HILLS — FISH. 



of our party had strayed before, I saw a large bus- 

 tard, but was unable to get a shot at him ; his 

 anxious and acute gaze had detected me, at the same 

 moment that I had discovered him, and he was off. 

 I thought at the time that he bore a strong resem- 

 blance to the wild turkey of the colonists in the 

 southern parts of the continent. We were lucky 

 enough to shoot several quails of apparently quite a 

 new species. In one particular they differed from 

 the members of the genus Cotumis, in having no hind 

 toe. Guanas and lizards were plentiful in this neigh- 

 bourhood, and some of the latter in particular were 

 most brilliant in colour : they ran down the tall 

 trees, in which they seem to pass a great portion of 

 their lives, at our approach, with a most marvellous 

 rapidity, and darting along the ground, were soon 

 in safety. But what, perhaps, most attracted our 

 attention, was the very surprising size of the ant- 

 hills, or nests. I measured one, the height of 

 which was 13 feet, and width at the base 7 feet ; 

 from whence it tapered gradually to the apex. 

 They are composed of a pale red earth ; but how it 

 is sufficiently tempered, I am unable to state ; cer- 

 tain is it, that it has almost the consistence of 

 mortar, and will bear the tread of a man upon the 

 top. 



The fishing over the ship's side was not less success- 

 ful than hauling the seine ; though quite a different 

 kind of fish was taken to reward the labour of the 

 salt-water Waltonians, who devoted themselves to it. 



