250 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



we judged it to be a larval form, but we were none of us 

 entomologists — bore a resemblance to a partially curled 

 dry leaf which was fairly startling. The tail exactly re- 

 sembled the stem or continuation of the midrib of the 

 dead leaf. The flattened body was curled up at the sides, 

 and veined and colored precisely like the leaf. The head, 

 colored like the leaf, projected in front. 



We were still in the Brazilian highlands. The forest 

 did not teem with life. It was generally rather silent; we 

 did not hear such a chorus of birds and mammals as we 

 had occasionally heard even on our overland journey, when 

 more than once we had been awakened at dawn by the 

 howling, screaming, yelping, and chattering of monkeys, 

 toucans, macaws, parrots, and parakeets. There were, 

 however, from time to time, queer sounds from the forest, 

 and after nightfall different kinds of frogs and insects ut- 

 tered strange cries and calls. In volume and frequency 

 these seemed to increase until midnight. Then they died 

 away and before dawn everything was silent. 



At this camp the carregadores ants completely devoured 

 the doctor's undershirt, and ate holes in his mosquito-net; 

 and they also ate the strap of Lyra's gun-case. The little 

 stingless bees, of many kinds, swarmed in such multitudes, 

 and were so persevering, that we had to wear our head-nets 

 ^ when we wrote or skinned specimens. 



The following day was almost without rain. It was 

 delightful to drift and paddle slowly down the beautiful 

 tropical river. Until mid-afternoon the current was not 

 very fast, and the broad, deep, placid stream bent and curved 

 in every direction, although the general course was north- 

 west. The country was flat, and more of the land was 



