Chap. VII. RATTLESNAKES. 295 



boiirhood of Para a reddish-coloured species prevails 

 (M. Belzebuth) ; in the narrow channels near Breves I 

 shot a large, entirely black kind ; another yellow-handed 

 species, according to the report of the natives, inhabits 

 the island of Macajo, which is probably the M. flavimanus 

 of Kuhl ; some distance up the Tapajos the only howler 

 found is a brownish-black species ; and on the Upper 

 Amazons the sole species seen was the Mycetes ursinus, 

 whose fur is of a shining yellowish-red colour. 



In the dry forests pf Villa Nova I saw a rattlesnake 

 for the first time. I was returning home one day 

 through a narrow alley, when I heard a pattering noise 

 close to me. Hard by was a tall palm tree, whose head 

 was heavily weighted with parasitic plants, and I thought 

 the noise was a warning that it was about to fall The 

 wind lulled for a few moments, and then there was no 

 doubt that the noise proceeded from the ground. On 

 turning my head in that direction, a sudden plunge 

 startled me, and a heavy gliding motion betrayed a large 

 serpent making off almost from beneath my feet. The 

 ground is always so encumbered with rotting leaves and 

 branches that one only discovers snakes when they are 

 in the act of moving away. The residents of Villa 

 Nova would not believe that I had seen a rattlesnake 

 in their neighbourhood ; in fact, it is not known to occur 

 in the forests at all, its place being the oj)en campos, 

 where, near Santarem, I killed several. On my second 

 visit to Villa Nova I saw another. I had then a 

 favourite little dog, named Diamante, who used to 

 accompany me in my rambles. One day hfe rushed into 

 the thicket, and made a dead set at a large snake, whose 



