SLEEPING OVER A CEOCODILE. 117 



Clods of earth were thrown into the middle of the hut. 

 Presently a young crocodile two or three feet long issued 

 from under the bed, darted at a dog which lay on the 

 threshold of the door, and, missing him in the impetu- 

 osity of his spring, ran towards the beach to gain the 

 river. On examining the spot where the couch was 

 placed, the cause of this strange adventure was easily 

 discovered. The ground was disturbed to a considerable 

 depth. It was dried mud, which had covered the croco- 

 dile in that state of lethargy, or summer-sleep, in which 

 many of the species lie during the absence of the rains 

 in the Llanos. The noise of men and horses, perhaps 

 the smell of the dog, had aroused the crocodile. The 

 hut being built at the edge of the pool, and inundated 

 during part of the year, the crocodile had no doubt 

 entered, at the time of the inundation of the savan- 

 nahs, by the same opening at which it was seen to go 

 out. 



On the 25th they traversed the smoothest part of 

 the steppes of Caracas, the Mesa de Pavones. As 

 far as the eye could reach, not a single object fifteen 

 inches high could be discovered. The air was clear, and 

 the sky of a very deep blue ; but the horizon reflected 

 a livid and yellowish light, caused by the quantity of 

 sand suspended in the atmosphere. They met some 

 large herds of cattle, and with them flocks of birds of a 

 black colour with an olive shade. They had often seen 

 them perched on the back of cows, seeking for gadflies 

 and Other insects. Like many birds of these desert 

 places, they feared so little the approach of man, that 

 children often caught them in their hands. In the valleys 

 of Aragua, where they were very common, the travellers 



