TROPICAL AMERICA. FISH. REPTILES. 83 



plumage, yellow bill, and crimson frontlet, renders it 

 one of the most elegant of aquatic birds. The spur- 

 winged water-hens (Parra), walking on the broad leaves 

 of aquatic plants, appear as if they trod upon the sur- 

 face of the water, and relieve the solitude of such dreary 

 tracts. 



(117-) Our information on the fish peculiar to these 

 seas is very defective, and not generally interesting. 

 The species materially differ from those of similar lati- 

 tudes in the Old World ; while the beautiful chaetodons, 

 which form such a prominent feature in the ichthyology 

 of India, are but sparingly distributed in the American 

 seas. The genus Anableps has been named the double- 

 eyed loach, from what appears to be the real eye being 

 covered with an elevated membrane : it is found in the 

 rivers and fresh waters of Surinam* The Brazilian 

 gar-fish is much smaller than ours, and is distinguished 

 by the excessive length of the lower jaw, and the ex- 

 treme shortness of the other. The fish generally ob- 

 served by us in the markets of Pernambuco and Bahia 

 were small ; nor did we taste any that could be com- 

 pared to the cod, turbot, or salmon of our own seas. 



(118.) The most extraordinary reptile of South 

 America is the Surinam toad, disgusting and hideous 

 in appearance, but interesting from the manner in which 

 Nature has provided for the safety of its young ; the 

 back of the mother being excavated into little hollow 

 cells, within which the young retreat, and are carried 

 about, until able to shift for themselves. The some- 

 what marvellous adventures of a recent author, among 

 the Cayenne crocodiles of Demerara^ are very amusing ; 

 but we cannot tell of such " moving accidents : " those 

 we observed in Brazil were small, timid, and more 

 anxious to escape from man than to call forth his 

 prowess. Another reptile, the horned toad (Ceratophrys 

 dorsata Max., fig.34>.) is one of the most singular rep- 

 tiles of Brazil. Its colours are beautiful; the back being 

 bright green, with stripes of deep black, and the sides 

 are variegated with orange : over each eye is a short 

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