RAPIDS AHEAD 247 



ease on a slight scaffolding. The honey was in a hollow, 

 and had been made by medium-sized stingless bees. 

 At the mouth of the hollow they had buUt a curious 

 entrance of their own, in the shape of a spout, of wax, 

 about a foot long. At the opening the walls of the 

 spout showed the wax formation, but elsewhere it had 

 become in colour and texture indistinguishable from 

 the bark of the tree. The honey was delicious, sweet, 

 and yet with a tart flavour. The comb differed much 

 from that of our honey-bees. The honey-cells were 

 very large, and the brood-cells, which were small, were 

 in a single instead of a double row. By this tree I came 

 across an example of genuine concealing coloration. 

 A huge tree-toad, the size of a bullfrog, was seated 

 upright — not squatted flat — on a big, rotten limb. It 

 was absolutely motionless ; the yellow brown of its 

 back, and its dark sides, exactly harmonized in colour 

 with the light and dark patches on the log ; the colour 

 was as concealing, here in its natural surroundings, as 

 is the colour of our common wood-frog among the dead 

 leaves of our woods. When I stirred it up it jumped 

 to a small twig, catching hold with the discs of its 

 finger-tips, and balancing itself with unexpected ease 

 for so big a creature, and then hopped to the ground, 

 and again stood motionless. Evidently it trusted for 

 safety to escaping observation. We saw some monkeys 

 and fresh tapir sign, and Kermit shot a jacu for the pot. 

 At about three o'clock I was in the lead, when the 

 current began to run more quickly. We passed over 

 one or two decided ripples, and then heard the roar of 

 rapids ahead, while the stream began to race. We 

 drove the canoe into the bank, and then went down 

 a tapir trail, which led alongside the river, to reconnoitre. 

 A quarter of a mile's walk showed us that there were 



