VENEZUELA. 637 



Strigidre, and Psittacidse are numerous. The savage alligator 

 and fearful anaconda abound in all the rivers and lakes ; 

 while the jaguar, puma, ounce, tiger-cat, monkey, tapir, 

 capybara, porcupine, wild hog, sloth, and ant-eater range 

 through its forests and savannahs. 



Numerous tribes of the aborigines, driven back by the 

 whites, exist in the remoter districts. They are generally of 

 a dark copper colour, while some are of a lighter hue ; and 

 though building huts, most of them go almost naked. They 

 exist on plantains, yucca, batatas, and the sugar-cane which 

 they rudely cultivate ; and the fish, as well as the manatees 

 and alligators, which swarm in their waters. 



The neighbourhood of the Caraccas is described as a 

 terrestrial paradise, where spring perpetually reigns. In this 

 favoured region, all the fruits of the tropics come to the 

 greatest perfection. The delicious chirimoya takes the first 

 place. It is likened to lumps of flavoured cream, ready to be 

 frozen, suspended from the branches of some fairy tree, amidst 

 an overpowering perfume of flowers for it is in bearing all 

 the year round. " He who has not tasted the chirimoya 

 fruit, has yet to learn what fruit is," says Markham. 



Here, too, the grandilla, in shape like a water-melon, hangs 

 from its delicate tendrils. When cut open, it is found filled 

 with a juice-like nectar, having the flavour of the strawberry 

 and peach. A species of cactus the nopal produces the tuna 

 or Indian fig. 



It is on the fleshy, downy stems of the cactus that the 

 cochineal insect is reared, producing the valuable crimson 

 dyes which outshine the vaunted productions of Tyre ; and 

 from the same family of plants rises the magnificent pitahaya, 

 " those flowers known for size and effulgence, which begin 



