SOUTH AMERICA. 315 



reader, this sudden deviation. Methinks I hear F URT H 



JOURNEY. 



thee saying to me, 



" Tramite quo tendis, majoraque viribus audes." 



I grant that I have erred, but I will do so no 

 more. In general I avoid politics ; they are too 

 heavy for me, and I am aware that they have 

 caused the fall of many a strong and able man ; 

 they require the shoulders of Atlas to support 

 their weight. 



When I was in the rocky mountains of Ma- cocks of 



,.., i / T P the Rock. 



cousma, in the month of June, 1812, 1 saw four 

 young Cocks of the Rock in an Indian's hut; 

 they had been taken out of the nest that week. 

 They were of a uniform dirty brown colour, and 

 by the position of the young feathers upon the 

 head, you might see that there would be a crest 

 there when the bird arrived at maturity. By 

 seeing young ones in the month of June, I 

 immediately concluded that the old cock of the 

 rock would be in fine plumage from the end of 

 November to the beginning of May; and that 

 the naturalist, who was in quest of specimens 

 for his museum, ought to arrange his plans in 

 such a manner as to be able to get into Ma- 

 coushia during these months. However, I find 

 now, that no exact period can be fixed ; for, in 

 December, 1824, an Indian, in the river Demerara, 

 gave me a young cock of the rock not a month 

 old, and it had just been brought from the 



