32 TIMES AND SEASONS. 



stream where we were anchored was narrow ; tall trees 

 drooped over the water, or mangroves shot out their long 

 finger-like branches into the mud below. Huge bats 

 were skimming past ; night-birds were calling in strange 

 voices from the tree-tops ; fire-flies darted their mimic 

 lightnings ; fishes leaped above the surface, flashing in the 

 starlight ; the deep, sonorous baying of frogs came up from 

 distant marshes ; and loud plashings inshore suggested all 

 sorts of nocturnal monsters/'* 



Yet another, by the same pleasant writer, on the banks 

 of the same mighty river : " The flowers that bloomed 

 by day have closed their petals, and, nestled in their leafy 

 beds, are dreaming of their loves. A sister host now take 

 their place, making the breezes to intoxicate with per- 

 fume, and exacting homage from bright, starry eyes. A 

 murmur, as of gentle voices, floats upon the air. The 

 moon darts down her glittering rays, till the flower- 

 enamelled plain glistens like a shield; but in vain she 

 strives to penetrate the denseness, except some fallen tree 

 betrays a passage. Below, the tall tree-trunk rises dimly 

 through the darkness. Huge moths, those fairest of the 

 insect world, have taken the places of the butterflies, and 

 myriads of fire-flies never weary in their torchlight dance. 

 Far down the road comes on a blaze, steady, streaming 

 like a meteor. It whizzes past, and for an instant the 

 space is illumined, and dewy jewels from the leaves throw 

 back the radiance. It is. the lantern-fly, seeking what he 

 himself knows best, by the fiery guide upon his head. 



* Edwards's Voyage up the Amazon, p. 27. 



