132 TiMEHRI. 



time to note the forest-covered talus at the foot of the 

 precipice, but one's attention was more or less drawn 

 to the peculiarity of the position, and to the possibility 

 of the tree being uprooted from its rocky floor — which 

 was, however, pretty well beyond the range of proba- 

 bility. A sudden swaying of the branches which I held, 

 under a chance side pressure of my weight, as I glanced 

 down, gave me a momentary tremor which I believe will 

 be one of the most lasting impressions of my life, and 

 caused the heart to beat for some little time in a way I 

 had never previously experienced. 



The rain which had accompanied us thither, again 

 descended, even as we left the top of the mountain ; and 

 we slept at the base, with the mountain stream babbling 

 in our ears, and the rain drops beating upon the trees. 

 Throughout the night and the next day, the weather 

 continued thus unfavourable, and indicated that the 

 hope of making a colle6tion of specimens was but a 

 forlorn one. 



Besides the hair and bones of a sloth — the remains of 

 the feast of some wild animal — and a spider monkey, 

 high up in the trees, swinging himself along out of range, 

 nothing else noteworthy was seen ; and but the loud whir 

 of a maam (Tinamus) in flight, or a chance cooing of a 

 wood dove afar, nothing else was heard but the pattering 

 of the rain drops overhead. The great macaws, the 

 cocks-of-the rock, the rare chatterers and other forms that 

 frequent the mountain, were hopeless obje6ls, and the 

 Indian huntsmen put it all down to the rain : and doubtless 

 they were right. The same cause had hindered our work, 

 and hampered our movements continually, and had made 

 the creeks so swollen, that poisoning with haiari, which 



