ULLOA S VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA. 547 



There is another kind of gallinazos, foniewhat larger than thefe, only to be met with 

 in the country. In fome of thefe the head and part of the neck are white, in fonie red, 

 and in others a mixture of both thefe colours. A little above the beginning of the crop, 

 they have a ruff of white feathers. Thefe are equally fierce and carnivorous with the 

 former, and called the kings of the gallinazos, probably becaufe the number of them is 

 but few ; and it is obferved, that when one of thefe has faftened on a dead beaft, none of 

 the others approach till he has eaten the eyes, with which he generally begins, and is 

 gone to another part, when they all flock to the prey. 



Bats are very common all over the country ; but Carthagena is infefled with fuch ^ 

 multitudes of them, that after fun-fet, when they begin to fly, they may, without any ^-^ 

 hyperbole, be faid to cover the fl;reets like clouds*. They are the mofl dextrous bleeders 

 both of men and cattle ; for the inhabitants being obliged, by the excefllve heats, to 

 leave open the doors and windows of the chambers where they fleep, the bats get in, 

 and if they happen to find the foot of any one bare, they infinuate their tooth into a 

 vein, with all the art of the moil expert furgeon, fucking the blood till they are fatiated, 

 and withdraw their tooth ; after which the blood flows out at the orifice. I have 

 been afl"ured, by perfons of the fl;ridefl veracity, that fuch an accident has happened 

 to them ; and that, had they not providentially awaked foon, their fleep would have 

 been their paflfage into eternity, they having lolt fo large a quantity of blood, as hardly 

 to be able to bind up the orifice. The puncture not being felt is (befides the great 

 precaution with which it is made) attributed to the gentle and refrefliing agitation of the 

 air by the bat's wings, hindering the perfon from feeling *this flight pundure by throw- 

 ing him into a deeper fleep. Nearly the fame thing happens to horfes, mules, and afles, 

 but beaflis of a thick and hard fliin are not expofed to this inconveniency. . 



We fliall next proceed to the infedls and reptiles, in which nature has no lefs dif- 

 played its infinite power. The great number of them is not only an inconvenience to 

 the inhabitants, but health, and even fife itfelf, often fuffers from the malignity of their 

 poifon. The principal are the fnakes, the cientopes t, the fcorpions, and the fpiders ; 

 of all which there are different kinds, and their poifons of different aftivity. 



Of the fnakes, the mod common, and at the fame time the mofl: poifonous, are 

 the corales, or coral-fnakes, the cafcabeles, or rattle-fnakes, and the culebras de be- 

 juco }. The firfl; are generally between four and five feet in length, and an inch 

 in diameter. They make a very beautiful appearance, their flvirv being all over va- 

 riegated with a vivid crimfon, yellow, and green. The head is flat and long, like 

 that of the European viper. Each mandible is furniftied with a row of pointed 

 teeth, through which, during the bite, they infinuate the poifon ; the perfon bit 

 immediately fwells to fuch a degree, that the blood guflies out through all the organs 

 of fenfe, and even the coats of the veins at the extremities of the fingers burft:, fo 

 that he foon expires. The cafcabel or rattle-fnake feldom exceeds two feet, or two ta^aJn 

 feet and a half in length ; though there are fome of another fpecies, which are ■>" 

 three and a half. Its colour is brown, variegated with deeper fhades of the fame 

 tinct ; at the end of its tail is the cafcabel or rattle, in the form of a garvanzo or French 

 bean-pod, when dried on the plant, and, like that, has five or fix divifions, in each 



* They are almoft as large as rats ; and the infide of the roofs of the out-ho>ifes are generally lined with 

 them. — A. 



-|- Or hundred feet. They are very common throughout the warmer regions of America. Common 

 fait is a fpecific againli their bite, as alfo againft the fting of the fcorpion. — A. 



•^ They are called Cobras by the natives, which is their common name for all kinds of ferpents. — A. 



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