Chap. IV. RETURN TO PAEA. 163 



her mouth and allowed her to fondle it freely, but the 

 nervous little creature would not permit strangers to 

 touch it. If any one attempted to do so it shrank back, 

 the whole body trembling with fear, and its teeth 

 chattered, whilst it uttered its tremulous frightened 

 tones. The expression of its features was like that of 

 its more robust brother Midas ursulus'; the eyes, which 

 were black, were full of curiosity and mistrust, and it 

 always kept them fixed on the person who attempted to 

 advance towards it. 



In the orange groves and other parts humming-birds 

 were plentiful, but I did not notice more than three 

 species. I saw a little pigmy belonging to the genus 

 Phaethornis one day in the act of washing itself in a 

 brook. It was perched on a thin branch, whose end was 

 under water. It dipped itself, then fluttered its wings 

 and pruned its feathers, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy 

 itself alone in the shady nook which it had chosen — a 

 place overshadowed by broad leaves of ferns and Heli- 

 conise. I thought as I watched it that there was no 

 need for poets to invent elves and gnomes whilst Nature 

 furnishes us with such marvellous little sprites ready to 

 hand. 



My return journey to Para afforded many incidents 

 characteristic of Amazonian travelling. I left Cameta 

 on the 16th of July. My luggage was embarked in 

 the morning in the Santa Eosa, a vessel of the kind 

 called cuberta, or covered canoe. The cuberta is very 

 much used on these rivers. It is not decked, but 

 the sides forward are raised and arched over so as to 



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