82 BAUL AND SAN FERNANDO. 



from the turbid element, floated in clouds over our heads. 

 Guacharacas, parrots, paroquets, and guacamayas, filled the 

 heavens with their piercing cries, mingled with the wild 

 notes of countless numbers of flamingoes and spoon-bills, 

 while bright-colored birds of untold species winged their 

 way over the waters. Monstrous caimans floated in the 

 slimy floods, groups of chattering and yelling monkeys gam- 

 bolled through the forest, and iguanas, alligators in minia- 

 ture, lay basking upon every fallen tnink, and darkened 

 the trees with their ugly forms, occasionally drojjping from 

 their aerial perches into the water with a startling plunge. 

 These repulsive saurians, from three to six feet in length, 

 answer well to the descri^^tion given by one who probably 

 was not particularly charmed with their beauty of form, 

 as being " very ugly snakes, which Natui-e, after forming 

 the head and tail, had neglected, until too late, to roll 

 into shape, giving them afterward four legs, by way of 

 compensation for her oversight. " These large lizards are 

 of a variety of species and color, with a comb-like crest 

 running along the back, which the animal elevates when 

 frightened, giving it a most hideous aspect. They pass 

 a great part of their existence in trees, and may be seen 

 clinging to the branches which project over the streams, 

 into which they let themselves drop, upon the approach of 

 danger. Their flesh is esteemed a great delicacy and is 

 eagerly sought by the inhabitants. 



Finding no land whereon to build a fire, that we might 

 cook some of the game which strewed the bottom of our 

 canoe, we hauled up at mid-day beneath the shade of a 

 tree, and relieved our hunger with cassava and guarepo, a 

 favorite beverage of the natives, taken both hot and cold, 

 made by dissolving papelon in Avater. Again we floated 

 on, the banks beginning to rise, and the waters to collect 

 themselves in a single channel, until, at length, they were 

 once more united in a large and impetuous stream, which 



