FORESTS SNAKES RIO NEGRO. 227 



On the 5th May the travellers set off on foot to 

 follow their canoe. They had to ford numerous 

 streams, the passage of which was somewhat dan- 

 gerous on account of the number of snakes in the 

 marshes. After passing through dense forests of 

 lofty trees, among which they noted several new 

 species of coffee and other plants, they arrived to- 

 wards evening at a small farm on the Pimichin, where 

 they passed the night in a deserted hut, not without 

 apprehension of being bitten by serpents, as they 

 were obliged to lie on the floor. Before they took 

 possession of this shed their attendants killed two 

 great Mapanare snakes, and in the morning a large 

 viper was found beneath the jaguar-skin on which one 

 of them had slept. This species of serpent is white on 

 the belly, spotted with brown and black on the back, 

 and grows to the length of four or five feet. Hum- 

 boldt remarks, that if vipers and rattlesnakes had 

 such a disposition for offence as is usually supposed, 

 the human race could not have resisted them in some 

 parts of America. 



Embarking at sunrise, they proceeded down the 

 Pimichin, which is celebrated for the number of its 

 windings. It is navigable during the whole year, 

 and has only one rapid. In four hours and a half 

 they entered the Rio Negro. " The morning," says 

 Humboldt, " was cool and beautiful ; we had been 

 confined thirty-six days in a narrow canoe, so un- 

 steady that it would have been overset by any one 

 rising imprudently from his seat, without warning 

 the rowers to preserve its balance by leaning to the 

 opposite side. We had suffered severely from the 

 stings of insects, but we had withstood the insalu- 

 brity of the climate ; we had passed without acci- 

 dent the numerous falls and bars that impede the 

 navigation of the rivers, and often render it more 

 dangerous than long voyages by sea. 

 - " After all that we had endured, I may be allowed 

 to mention the satisfaction which we felt in having 



