20 ASPECTS OF TROPICAL NATURE 



emluwed several plants and animals. Along with the fruits of 

 Ceres, the horse and the ox have followed man over the whole 

 earth, from the Granges to the La Plata, and from the coast of 

 Africa to the mountain-plain of Antisana, which is more elevated 

 than the lofty peak of Teneriffe. Here the northern birch- 

 tree, there the date-palm, protects the tired ox from the heat 

 of the mid-day sun. The same species of animal which con- 

 tends in eastern Europe with bears and wolves, is attacked in 

 another zone by the tiger and the crocodile." 



But it is not the jaguar and the alligator alone which lie in 

 wait for the South American horse, for even among the fishes 



he has a dangerous enemy. The 

 rivers and marshes of the Llanos are 

 often filled with electrical eels, whose 



Eiectncal Eel. (Gymnotus ^limy, ycUoW-pUUCtured body Seuds 



eiectncus.) forth at will from the under part of 



the tail a stunning shock. These eels are from five to six feet 

 long. They are able, when in full vigour, to kill the largest 

 animals when they suddenly unload their electrical organs in a 

 favourable direction. All other fishes, aware of their power, 

 fly at the sight of the formidable gymnotes. They stun even 

 the angler on the high river-bank, the moist line serving as a 

 conductor for the electric fluid. The capture of these eels 

 affords a highly entertaining and animated scene. Mules and 

 horses are driven into the pond, which the Indians surround, 

 until the unwonted noise and splashing of the waters rouse 

 the fishes to an attack. Gliding along, they creep under the 

 belly of the horses, many of whom die from the shock of their 

 strokes; while others, with mane erect, and dilated nostrils, 

 endeavour to flee from the electric storm which they have 

 roused. But the Indians, armed with long poles, drive them 

 back again into the pool. 



Gradually the unequal contest subsides. Like spent thunder- 

 clouds, the exhausted fishes disperse, for they require a long 

 rest and plentiful food to repair the loss of their galvanic powers. 

 Their shocks grow weaker and weaker. Terrified by the noise 

 of the horses, they timidly approach the banks, when, wounded 

 with harpoons, they are dragged on shore with dry and non- 

 conducting pieces of wood ; and thus the strange combat ends. 



The Llanos are never more beautiful than at the end of the 



