Zoology of the Napo. 207 



spectively cushillo tnishhe (monkey honey) and sara 

 mishke (corn honey). It is singular these Indians have 

 no term for bees, but call them honey, and distinguish 

 them by their color. The black species is said to make 

 the most honey, and the yellow the best. The quadrupeds 

 of the Oriente are few and far between in the dry season. 

 I^ot a sloth nor armadillo did we see. But when the rains 

 descend the wilderness is a menagerie of tigers and tapirs, 

 pumas and bears, while a host of reptiles, led by the gigan- 

 tic boa, creep forth from their hiding-places. The most 

 ferocious carnivores are found in the mountains, and the 

 most venomous serpents haunt the lowlands. Darwin says 

 that we ought not to expect any closer similarity between 

 the organic beings on the opposite sides of the Andes than 

 on the opposite shores of the ocean. We will remark that 

 we obtained a peccari, a number of birds not accustomed 

 to high flights, and five reptilian species, on the Pacific 

 slope, identical with species found on the Napd. 



Breakfasting on fried yucas, roasted plantains, fish, and 

 guayusa, we set sail, arriving at Coca at 2 p.m. This 

 little village, the last we shall see till we come within sight 

 of the Amazon, is beautifidly located on the right bank, 

 twenty-five feet above the river, and opposite the conflu- 

 ence of the Rio Coca. Though founded twenty years ago, 

 it contains only five or six bamboo huts, a government- 

 house, church, alcalde's residence, and a trcvpiche for the 

 manufacture of aguardiente and sirup from the cane.* 

 The alcalde was a worthless bianco, who spent most of his 

 time swinging in a hammock slung between the posts of 

 his veranda, and plajdng with a tame parrot when not 

 drunk or asleep. This spot is memorable in history. Pi- 

 zarro having reached it from Quito by way of Baeza and 



* The trapiche or sugar-mill of the Andes is a rude affair. The cane is 

 pressed between cogged wooden cylinders worked by bullocks, and the juice 

 is received in troughs made of hollowed logs. 



