GOATSUCKER. 367 



divested of their heads and feet; and are sold from about a shilling 

 to as far as eighteen-pence a piece sterling; and it is astonishing with 

 what avidity this noisy cargo is bought up by all classes of the people, 

 the moment it reaches the town wharf ; so that a boat load of many 

 hundreds entirely disappears in the course of an hour or two. 



They have a strong and disagreeable fishy smell, but some people 

 resemble it to that of the cockroach,* and when dressed look like a 

 round lump of fat, the little flesh there is tasting more like that of a 

 sucking pig than any other, but yet with a flavour and lusciousness 

 peculiarly its own. But what is most extraordinary, that in a family 

 wholly supposed to be insectivorous, this should constitute a singular 

 and solitary exception, and be found to subsist (at least during the 

 breeding season) entirely on fruit ; for on examining the stomach ot 

 a dozen of them, young and old, no other species of food whatever, 

 but the fruit of the palm, appeared, of which the nuclei and green 

 husky skin, detached from them and rolled up, alone remained, the 

 intermediate and softer part having digested away : these nuclei were 

 about the size of the small black cherry, and belong to a palm with 

 which Mr. Thompson was not acquainted. The collector in ornitho- 

 logy will find a very troublesome task in preserving this bird, the 

 skin adhering with such uncommon closeness and tenacity to the 

 granular fat, which every where covers the body, and which liquifies 

 under the touch : it may, however, be separated, but with great 

 delicacy and perseverance.f It is to be lamented, that a specimen 

 which Mr. Thompson had prepared for the Cabinet, and presented to 

 me, was so eaten up by Dermestes, that few, besides the large wing 

 and tail feathers, remained perfect; but it is to be hoped, that some 

 future collector may be more fortunate. 



* Blatta Americana. f The grease of the young birds just killed is melted, and 



run into pots of white clay, and known by the name of Guacharo Butter ; it is so pure as 

 to keep a twelvemonth, without being rancid. At the Convent of Caripe no other is used 

 in the Monk's kitchen — De Humbolt, Trav, 



