180 WANDERINGS IN 



JOURNEY. 



THIRD tree, and every now and then the blossoms, which 



OTTDTWT^V 



they had broken off, fell into the water. They 

 certainly did not drop off naturally, for on ex- 

 amining several of them, they appeared quite 

 fresh and blooming. So I concluded the vam- 

 pires pulled them from the tree, either to get at 

 the incipient fruit, or to catch the insects which 

 often take up their abode in flowers. 



The vampire, in general, measures about twenty- 

 six inches from wing to wing extended, though 

 I once killed one which measured thirty-two 

 inches. He frequents old abandoned houses and 

 hollow trees ; and sometimes a cluster of them 

 may be seen in the forest hanging head down- 

 wards from the branch of a tree. 



Goldsmith seems to have been aware that the 

 vampire hangs in clusters ; for in the " Deserted 

 Village," speaking of America, he says, 



" And matted woods, where birds forget to sing, 

 But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling:" 



The vampire has a curious membrane, which 

 rises from the nose, and gives it a very singular 

 appearance. It has been remarked before, that 

 there are two species of vampire in Guiana, a 

 larger and a smaller. The larger sucks men 

 and other animals ; the smaller seems to confine 

 himself chiefly to birds. I learnt from a gentle- 

 man, high up in the river Demerara, that he 

 was completely unsuccessful with his fowls, on 



