Marcu 31, 1904] 
NATURE 
513 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF VENEZUELA.’ 
N\ Ge the title of this volume should be what it 
/ is is not apparent. We know of British, of 
French, and of Dutch Guiana, but the volume before 
us has to do with neither of these political areas, but 
is concerned solely with the central portion of 
Venezuela. The author gives an account of two 
journeys undertaken by him, from Trinidad as a 
starting point, up the Orinoco and some of its tribu- 
taries to within 5° of the Equator. It is the land 
of the fabled El Dorado, a land which excited the 
cupidity of the early adventurers of whom Raleigh 
was one, the home of alleged natives ‘‘ whose heads 
do grow beneath their shoulders,’’ as Shakes- 
peare, copying Raleigh, asserted. - 
Humboldt and Bonpland dissipated many 
of the illusions relating to this country in the 
early part of the last century, and now we 
have, from the pen of Mr. André, a plain, 
matter-of-fact narrative which adds consider- 
ably to our knowledge of the country. The 
author is well known as a collector of birds, 
insects, orchids, and other objects of natural 
history, and the account that he gives of his 
expeditions is full of interest, replete with 
incident, but told with a modesty and straight- 
forwardness which invite sympathy and beget 
confidence. 
The district traversed is mainly one immense 
forest more or less impenetrable except along 
the river-banks, interspersed here and there 
with open savannahs, and varied with 
mountains of fantastic shape and surpassing 
grandeur. The natural resources of the 
country are great, but the political state is 
such as to obstruct all progress, while the 
interior is difficult of access and the climate 
deadly. The author was foiled in his attempt 
to ascend the Améha, but, from what he tells 
cus of that mountain, its physical features 
would seem to be like those of Roraima. 
He had repeated attacks of fever, but his 
direst misfortune was in the rapids of Arichi, 
where in a few short seconds the work of 
months was lost, and for weeks thereafter the 
party had to struggle on foot to reach that 
settlement (La Prision) which some of them 
were doomed never to see. The account of 
this disaster is told in the simplest and there- 
fore most graphic manner. 
But this story of hairbreadth escapes, 
though attractive to the general reader, is not 
what will appeal most strongly to the readers 
of Nature. They will be interested in the 
numerous notices of birds, insects, mammals, 
and orchids which are scattered through the 
pages of the volume, and greatly add to its Fic. 
value. There are very interesting accounts 
of the gathering and harvesting of the tonka- 
bean, which forms one of the principal industries 
of the country, and of the collection of the balata 
and other caoutchouc containing products. Among 
the orchids, Cattleya superba, one of the most beau- 
tiful of a lovely genus, is the one most often men- 
tioned. The flowers are some five inches across, 
rich rosy purple in colour, and very fragrant. Among 
other commercial products exported from Ciudad 
Bolivar are the feathers known in the trade as ospreys. 
The swamps bordering the rivers Apure and Arauca 
1 “*A Naturalist in the Guianas.” By Eugéne André. Pp. xiv+310; 
with thirty-four illustrations and a map. (London: Smith, Elder and Co.) 
Price 14s. net. 
NO. 1796, VOL. 69] 
are the abode of numberless flocks of wild fowl, 
among which two varieties of egret are abundant. 
“Tt is from these egrets that the feathers which 
form so expensive an article of commerce are 
obtained. The small egret (Ardea candidissima) pro- 
duces the most valuable plumes; from the larger birds 
(Ardea garzetta) a coarser feather is obtained which 
is not so- much appreciated, but the wily dealer can 
sort his plumes so as to introduce a fair proportion 
of the inferior article without danger of detection. 
Quite a number of birds have to be slaughtered to 
produce a pound of feathers, only a few drooping 
plumes from the backs of the birds being taken. The 
season for collecting extends through the months 
(From “A Naturalist in the Guianas.”) 
1.—Young of the Snowy Egret. 
June, July and August; that is through the mating 
and breeding period. The egrets are wary birds and 
difficult of approach, except when they are nesting or 
rearing their young, and it is at this time that the 
collector obtains his feathers. The persistence with 
which the same localities are chosen by the birds for 
this purpose, year after year, is an instance of that 
extraordinary predilection on the part of many birds to 
repair to the spot where they themselves have been 
reared, for the purpose of nesting. These spots are 
called garceros, and as they are generally on private 
lands, the owners make quite an income by hiring 
out the privilege to kill egrets. As much as 2000 
pesos, equal to tooo dollars of United States money, 
