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THE TKOriCAL WORLD. 



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IGARIPE, OR CANOE-PATH ON THE AMAZOK. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TEOPICAL FOKESTS.— VALLEY OF THE AMAZON. 



Characteristics of tlie Tropical Forests — Variety of Trees and Plants — Aspect During the 

 Kainy Season — Beauty After the Kainy Season — A Morning Concert — Kepose at Noon — 

 Awakening at Evening — Nocturnal Voices of the Forest. — Tlie Amazon : Course of the 

 River — Size of its Basin — The Tide at its Mouth — Eising of the River — Igaripes, or Canoe- 

 Paths — Liundations of the Amazon — Vast Variety of its Vegetation — Fishes — Agassiz's 

 Specimens — Alligators and Turtles — Turtle-Hunting — Insects — Ants — Butterflies — Spiders 

 — Lizards — Frogs and Toads — Snakes — Paucity of Mammalia — The Jaguar — Scantiness 

 of Human Population — Indian Tribes — Mundurcu Tattooing — Travelers' Accounts of the 

 Tribes — Men with Tails — Orton's Summary of their Character — His Own Experience 

 Favorable — He finds them Honest and Peaceable — Agassiz's Notices of the Indians — Their 

 Familiarity with Animals and Plants — Whites — Negroes — Mixed Breeds — Agassiz and 



Orton on the Capacity of Amazonia. 



L 



HAVING passed in review the lofty plateaus, the broad savannas, and the 

 burning deserts, which form striking though exceptional features of* the 

 Tropical World, we proceed to the forests, which constitute the most distinctive 

 feature of the regions which lie bordering the equator. Reserving for a separate chap 

 ter some of the most notable trees specially characteristic of the tropics, we propose to 





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