CHAP. XIII. A FISH DINNER. 255 



From the Machachi specimens I selected young and old, and 

 those presenting most variety ; and at Cayambe made friends with 

 the schoolmaster, and induced him to send his scholars to scour 

 the streams and ponds. Nothing could have suited the urchins 

 better. Pimelodus cyclopum began to arrive from all points of 

 the compass. They filled a bucket, and I had to cry " StojD ! ^' 

 Again I made a selection, and enquired ^^What shall we do with 

 the rest ? ''^ ^' Eat them,"'' said the Jefo-politico ; and they were 

 cooked and consumed, and were found not to be more nasty than 

 other small fry composed principally of heads and tails. Here 

 again slight differences could be noted, but no one could venture 

 to say that there were two species. At Chillo, and Kiobamba, 

 I again procured a large number, with similar results. 



Out of the many hundreds which passed through my hands, 

 none exceeded four inches in length. Fifty-one were preserved, 

 and submitted upon my return to the independent examination 

 of the late Dr. F. Day, who coincided with the views expressed 

 by Dr. Putnam, and therefore upheld the statement originally 

 made by Humboldt.^ Pimelodus cycloj^um (proposed by Dr. 

 Putnam to be called Cyclopium cyclopiwi) is found throughout 

 the interior of Ecuador generally, from 8500 to 10,000 feet above 

 the sea ; ^ in streams flowing both into the Atlantic and Pacific ; 

 and in ponds, pools and lakes quite disconnected. It swims with 

 a wriggly action ; comes frequently to the surface to breathe ; 

 and often appears to be blind, or at least to see very imperfectly. 

 It should be repeated, however, that a number of Ecuadorians 

 stoutly maintained that there were other fish in the streams, as 

 much as a foot in length ; and I have no reason to doubt their 

 sincerity, although they failed to produce examples. 



^ Dr. Day's remarks will be found in the Supplementary Appendix^ pp. 13T-9, 

 accompanied by figures of this fish seen from above, below, and in profile. 



2 And perhaps much higher. I was unable to investigate the numerous ponds 

 and pools on Antisana, the small lake at the foot of the cone of Cotopaxi, and 

 the larger one upon Mojanda. 



