VEGETATION AND ANIMALS. 105 
of trees of stupendous size. The guides pointed out 
some whose height exceeded 130 feet, while the dia- 
meter of many of the curucays and hymendas was 
more than three yards. Next to these, the plants 
which most attracted their notice were the dra- 
gon’s-blood (Croton sanguifiuum), the purple juice 
of which flowed along the whitish bark, various spe- 
cies of palms, and arborescent ferns of large size. 
The old trunks of some of the latter were covered 
with a carbonaceous powder, having a metallic lus- 
tre like graphite. 
As they descended the mountain the tree-ferns 
diminished, while the number of palms increased. 
Large-winged butterflies (nymphales) became more 
common, and every thing showed that they were 
approaching the coast. The weather was cloudy, 
the heat oppressive, and the howling of the mon- 
keys gave indication of a coming thunder-storm. 
These creatures, the arguatoes, resemble a young 
bear, and are about three feet long from the top of ' 
the head to the root of the tail. The fur is tufty 
and reddish-brown, the face blackish-blue, with 
a bare and wrinkled skin, and the tail long and 
prehensile. 
While engaged in observing a troop of them 
cross the road upon the horizontal branches of the 
trees, the travellers met a company of naked Indians 
proceeding towards the mountains of Caripe. The 
men were armed with bows and arrows, and the 
women, heavily laden, brought up the rear. They 
marched in silence, with their eyes fixed on the 
ground. Our philosophers, oppressed with the in- 
creasing heat and faint with fatigue, endeavoured 
to learn from them the distance of the missionary 
