292 SCENES OF ANCIENT DAYS. 



sinks below to masticate its meal. Numberless other curious 

 creatures arc roaming through the forest, or feeding on the 



banks ; many others, having run their destined course, dis- 

 appear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by a new 

 creation of far less magnitude — the mild llama, the savage 

 jaguar, the nimble monkey with prehensile tail, the ant-eater, 

 arborial and terrestrial ; the diminutive sloth, thick-skinned 

 tapir, alligators, turtles, and manatees ; lizards, serpents ; the 

 beautiful denizens of the air with superb plumage, numerous 

 species of humming-birds, gorgeous butterflies and beetles, 

 vieing in their shirring hues with the rich rvenis hidden within 

 the bowels of the earth. 



It is of these, and of many others in wonderful variety ; 

 as well as of their master— man in his savage state ; and of 

 the curious trees and shrubs, whose fruits afford him and the 

 lower orders abundant nourishment, that some outline sketches 

 will now be given. 



