266 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



Sting-rays moving at the bottom. The coloured man 

 never failed to hit them with his arrow. The weather 

 was delightful. There was scarcely a cloud to intercept 

 the sun's rays. 



I saw several scarlet aras, anihingas, and ducks, but 

 could not get a shot at them. The parrots crossed the 

 river in innumerable quantities, always flying in pairs. 

 Here, too, I saw the Sun-bird, called Tirana by the 

 Spaniards in the Oroonoque, and shot one of them. The 

 black and white Scarlet-headed Finch was very common 

 here. I could never see this bird in the Demerara, nor 

 hear of its being there. 



We at last came to a large sand-bank, probably two 

 miles in circumference. As we approached it we could 

 see two or three hundred Fresh-water Turtle on the edge 

 of the bank. Ere we could get near enough to let fly an 

 arrow at them, they had all sunk into the river and 

 appeared no more. 



We went on the sand-bank to look for their nests, as 

 this was the breeding season. The coloured man showed 

 us how to find them. Wherever a portion of the sand 

 seemed smoother than the rest, there was sure to be a 

 turtle's nest. On digging down with our hands, about nine 

 inches deep, we found from twenty to thirty white eggs ; 

 in less than an hour we got above two hundred. Those 

 which had a little black spot or two on the shell we ate 

 the same day, as it was a sign that they were not fresh, 

 and of course would not keep : those which had no speck 

 were put into dry sand, and were good some weeks after. 



At midnight, two of our people went to this sand-bank, 

 while the rest stayed to watch the cayman. The turtle had 

 advanced on to the sand to lay their eggs, and the men 

 got betwixt them and the water ; they brought off half a 

 dozen very fine and well-fed turtle. The egg-shell of the 



