of the Upper Amazons. 3595 



have clone, issuing from the sand at a distance of more than a mile 

 from the water, and immediately tracing the direct and nearest course 

 to it. 



Besides the turtles, the river swarms with a great variety of fishes ; 

 there are also two species of porpoise, besides the manatee. But the 

 waters have tenants far more disagreeable than any of these, in the 

 shape of four or five species of alligator. In retired creeks and lakes 

 they abound to an incredible degree. Whilst I was at Cai^ara, I ac- 

 companied my kind entertainer, Senhor Innocencio de Faria, to the 

 lake up the river, on one occasion, with a large party of Indians, to 

 fish with the drag-net. At every haul of the net we captured some 

 half-dozen alligators, large and small, of the two common species, 

 Jacare-uassti and Jacare-tinga. The largest we got, however, was 

 not more than 8 feet long. I was rather surprized to see none of the 

 party injured by them, although about twenty persons, men and boys, 

 were in the water together, and began to think the alligator not so 

 dangerous a beast as it is described to be ; in fact, I waded into the 

 water myself, and assisted with the net. I got an Indian to secure 

 the largest Jacare-uassu, bind its jaws and legs, and on our return to 

 the village to let him loose among the dogs, the Indians and I irritating 

 the beast with poles. It presently seized hold of the end of the pole I 

 held, and nearly wrenched it from my grasp ; so I finished the sport 

 abruptly by rapping him smartly on the crown of the head, which kill- 

 ed him instantly. The alligator is a cowardly beast when faced boldly, 

 and knowing this feature of its character, the Indians are not afraid of 

 it ; but when an opportunity offers of seizing a person off his guard 

 at the edge of the water, it becomes bold. It most frequently carries 

 away women and children, and several sad accidents occurred whilst 

 I was in the district. 



The insects of the upper Amazons, to which I paid more particular 

 attention, are generally different in species from those of the Delta of 

 the river. In diurnal Lepidoptera, out of about 300 to 350 species I 

 noticed, 130 are peculiar to the district. In the virgin forest, on my 

 voyage up the river in the wet season, I noticed a great scarcity of 

 insect life; but at the commencement of the dry season in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Ega, a vast number both of species and individuals made 

 their appearance. The greater portion of the handsome species of 

 Papilio and Nymphalidae were attracted by the lines of sediment at 

 the edge of the water as the river retired. Besides these, many of 

 which have proved new to science, there was an incredible abundance 

 of several species of Colias : they covered the moist sandy beach in 



