514 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



I6ARIPE, OR CANOE-PATH ON THE AMAZON. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TROPICAL FORESTS.— VALLEY OF THE AMAZON. 



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

 Rainy Season — Beauty After the Rainy Season — A Morning Concert — Repose at Noon- 

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

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

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

 Specimens— AHigators 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 tlie 

 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. 



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 



