THE VAMPIRR BAT. 27 



hood of Rio, shells of the marine genera solen and 

 mytilus, and fresh water ampullariae, living to- 

 gether in brackish water. I also frequently ob- 

 served in the lagoon near the Botanic Garden, 

 where the water is only a little less, salt than in the 

 sea, a species of hydrophilus, very similar to a wa- 

 ter-beetle common in the ditches of England : in 

 the same lake the only shell belonged to a genus 

 generally found in estuaries. 



Leaving the coast for a time, we again entered 

 the forest. The trees were very lofty, and remark- 

 able, compared with those of Europe, from the 

 whiteness of their trunks. I see, by my note-book, 

 " wonderful and beautiful, flowering parasites," in- 

 variably struck me as the most novel object in these 

 grand scenes. Travelling onwai'ds, we passed 

 through tracts of pasturage, much injured by the 

 enormous conical ants' nests, which were nearly 

 twelve feet high. They gave to the plain exactly 

 the appearance of the mud volcanoes at Jorullo, as 

 figured by Humboldt. We arrived at Engenhodo 

 after it was dark, having been ten hours on horse- 

 back. I never ceased, during the whole journey, 

 to be surprised at the amount of labour which the 

 horses were capable of enduring ; they appeared 

 also to recover from any injury much sooner than 

 those of our English breed. The Vampire bat is 

 often the cause of much trouble, by biting the hor- 

 ses on their withers. The injury is generally not 

 so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflam- 

 mation which the pressure of the saddle afterwards 

 produces. The whole circumstance has lately 

 been doubted in England ; I was therefore fortu- 

 nate in being present when one (Desmodus d'or- 

 bignyi, Wat.) was actually caught on a horse's 

 back. We were bivouacking late one evening 

 near Coquimbo, in Chile, when my servant, noti' 



