A DAY AND NIGHT ON THE AMAZON. 32ilj 



displayed, and then the mingling of the two complementary 

 colours, red and green, in the evolutions of flight, surpasses; 

 description. Even the brilliant elaters, however, will scarcely 

 enable the traveller to find his way amid the darkness through 



the forest. I 



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Wallace describes a midnight walk he was compelled to| 



i 

 take. He was barefooted, every moment stepping on somej 



■projecting root or stone, or treading sidewa^^s on something! 



which almost dislocated his ankles. Dull clouds could just be! 



distinguished in the openings amid high-arched, overhanging: 



trees, but the pathway was invisible. Jaguars, he knew,; 



abounded, deadly serpents were plentiful, and at every stepi 



he almost expected to feel a cold gliding body under his feet,' 



or deadly fangs in his leg. Gazing through the darkness, he 



dreaded momentarily to encounter the glaring eyes of the! 



jagaur, or to hear his low growl in the thicket. To turn! 



back or stop were alike useless. Unpleasant recollections of] 



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the fangs of a huge dried snake's head he had just before I 

 examined, would come across his memory ; and many a tale o^ 

 the fierceness and cunning of the jaguar would not be forgotten. ; 

 Suddenly he found his feet in water, and then he had to grope! 

 for a narrow bridge it was necessary to cross. Of its height' 

 above the water, or the depth of the stream, he was utterly! 

 ignorant. To walk along a plank four inches wide, under such! 

 circumstances, was a nervous matter. He proceeded, however, 

 placing one foot before the other, and balancing steadily his 

 body, till he again felt himself on firm gTOund. Once or 

 twice he lost his balance, but happily he was only a foot or 

 two from the ground and water below— though, had it been! 

 twenty it would have been all the same. Half-a-dozen such| 

 brooks and bridges had to be passed, till at length, emerging] 



