PLAN Or OUE ENCAMPMENT. 407 



of its beak, to swallow its food by throwing it up into the 

 air. It raises it indeed with some difficulty from the 

 ground, but, having once seized it with the point of its 

 enormous beak, it has only to lift it up by throwing back 

 its head, and holding it perpendicularly whilst in the act of 

 swallowing. This bird makes extraordinary gestures when 

 preparing to drink. The monks say that it makes the sign 

 of the cross upon the water; and this popular belief has 

 obtained for the toucan, from the Creoles, the singular name 

 of diostede* 



Most of our animals were confined in small wicker cages ; 

 others ran at full liberty in all parts of the boat. At the 

 approach of rain the macaws sent forth noisy cries, the 

 toucan wanted to reach the shore to fish, and the little 

 monkeys (the titis) went in search of Father Zea, to take 

 shelter in the large sleeves of his Franciscan habit. These 

 incidents sometimes amused us so much that we forgot the 

 torment of the mosquitos. At night we placed a leather 

 case (petaca), containing our provisions, in the centre; then 

 our instruments, and the cages of our animals ; our ham- 

 mocks were suspended around the cages, and beyond were 

 those of the Indians. The exterior circle was formed by the 

 fires which are lighted to keep off the jaguars. Such was the 

 order of our encampment on the banks of the Cassiquiare. 

 The Indians often spoke to us of a little nocturnal animal, 

 with a long nose, which surprises the young parrots in their 

 nests, and in eating makes use of its hands like the monkeys 

 and the maniveris, or kinkajous. They call it theguachi; 

 it is, no doubt, a coati, perhaps the Viverra nasua, which I 

 saw wild in Mexico. The missionaries gravely prohibit the 

 natives from eating the flesh of the guachi, to which, 

 according to far-spread superstitious ideas, they attribute 

 the same stimulating qualities which the people of the East 

 believe to exist in the skink, and the Americans in the flesh 

 of the alligator. 



On the llth of May, we left the mission of San Fran- 

 cisco Solano at a late hour, to make but a short day's 

 journey. The uniform stratum of vapours began to be 

 divided into clouds with distinct outlines : and there was a 



DIM if di, God give* it thee. 



