366 



OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



As I have said the east bank of the river is for the most 

 part clear of growth, save for the reeds and grasses of the 

 savanna. Along the western bank is a dense shrubby or 

 bushy line of vegetation; occasionally rising to a height of 

 twenty or thirty feet or again appearing only two or three 

 yards above the reeds beyond. The brush grows altogether 



FIG. 150. NEST or A HOATZIN IN THE MUCKA-MUCKA ON WHICH THESE 

 BIRDS FEED. 



in the water and consists chiefly of a species of tall Arum, 

 or mucka-mucka, as the natives call it, frequently bound 

 together by a tangle of delicate vines. Here and there is a 

 low, light-barked tree-like growth. This narrow ribbon of 

 aquatic growth was the home of the Hoatzins, and from one 

 year's end to another they may be found along the same 



