DOMESTICATED BIKD8 AND AMMALB. 311 



climate, within the torrid zone, embarrassed the natives in 

 regard to migration in numerous bodies, prevented settle- 

 ments requiring an extensive space, and perpetuated the 

 misery and barbarism of solitary hordes. 



The feeble civilization introduced in our days by the 

 Spanish monks pursues a retrograde course. Father Gili 

 relates that, at the time of the expedition to the boundaries, 

 agriculture began to make some progress on the banks oi' 

 the Orinoco ; and that cattle, especially goats, had mul- 

 tiplied considerably at Maypures. "We found no goats, 

 either in the mission or in any other village of the Orinoco ; 

 they had all been devoured by the tigers. The black and 

 white breeds of pigs only, the latter of which are called 

 French pigs (puercos franceses), because they are believed 

 to have come from the Caribbee Islands, have resisted the 

 pursuit of wild beasts. We saw with much pleasure gua- 

 camayas, or tame macaws, round the huts of the Indians, 

 and flying to the fields like our pigeons. This bird is the 

 largest and most majestic species of parrot with naked 

 cheeks that we found in our travels. It is called in Mara- 

 tivitan, cahuei. Including the tail, it is two feet three 

 inches long. We had observed it also on the banks of the 

 Atabapo, the Temi, and the Eio Negro. The flesh of the 

 cahuei, which is frequently eaten, is black and somewhat 

 tough. These macaws, whose plumage glows with vivid 

 tints of purple, blue, and yellow, are a great ornament to 

 the Indian farm-yards ; they do not yield in beauty to the 

 peacock, the golden pheasant, the pauxi, or the alector. 

 The practice of rearing parrots, birds of a family so different 

 from the gallinaceous tribes, was remarked by Columbus. 

 When he discovered America he saw macaws, or large 

 parrots, which served as food to the natives of the Caribbee 

 Islands, instead of fowls. 



A majestic tree, more than sixty feet high, which the 



Elanters call fruta de biwro, grows in the vicinity of the 

 ttle village of Maypures. It is a new species of tho 

 unona, and has the stateliness of the Uvaria zeylanica of 

 Aublet. Its brandies are straight, and rise in a pyramid, 

 nearly like the poplar of the Mississippi, erroneously called 

 the Lombardy poplar. The tree is celebrated for its aro- 

 matic fruit, the infusion of which is a powerful febrifuge. 



