218 MANATEES. 
monks among fishes. The fat is used for lamps in 
the churches, as well as for cooking ; while the hide 
is cut into slips to supply the place of cordage. Whips 
are also made of it in the Spanish colonies for the 
castigation of negroes and other slaves. The fires 
lighted by the boatmen on the shore attracted the 
crocodiles and dolphins. Two persons kept watch 
during the night. A jaguar with her cub approach- 
ed the encampment, but was driven away by the 
attendants ; and soon after the dog was os in the 
nose by a large bat or vampire. 
On the 4th they intended to pass the night af 
Vuelta del Palmito ; but as the Indians were going 
to sling the hammocks they found two tigers con- 
cealed behind a tree, and-it was judged safer. to re- 
embark and sleep on the island of Apurito. Mul- 
titudes of gnats made their appearance regularly 
at sunset, and covered their faces and hands. On 
the 5th they were much struck by the diminution 
the waters of the Apure had undergone, which they 
attributed chiefly to absorption by the sand and eva- 
poration. It was only from 128 to 170 yards broad, 
and about twenty feet deep. Humboldt estimates 
the mean fall of this river at 14 inches in a mile. 
The canoe touched several times on shoals as they 
approached the point of junction, and it became ne- 
cessary to tow it by means of a line. 
