THIRD JOURNEY. 



155 



me. The pod hangs from the tree in the shape of a 

 little scabbard. Yayna is the Spanish for a scabbard, 

 and Vanilla for a little scabbard. Hence the name. 



In Mibiri creek there was a Cayman of 



Shoots a n • • 1 r> p 



Cayman in the Small spccics, measurmg about live leet 

 in length ; I saw it in the same place for 

 months, but could never get a shot at it ; for the 

 moment I thought I was sure of it, it dived under the 

 water before I could pull the trigger. At last I got an 

 Indian with his bow and arrow ; he stood, up in the 

 canoe with his bow already bent, and as we drifted past 

 the place, he sent his arrow into the cayman's eye, and 

 killed it dead. The skin of this little species is much 

 harder and stronger than that of the large kind ; it is 

 good food, and tastes like veal. 



Negto ser- ^^J friend, Mr. EdmonstonCj had very 

 vant. kindly let me have one of his old negroes, 



and he constantly attended me ; his name was Daddy 

 Quashi ; he had a brave stomach for heterogeneous 

 food ; it could digest, and relish too, caymen, monkeys, 

 hawks, and grubs. The Daddy made three or four 

 meals on this cayman while it was not absolutely 

 putrid, and salted the rest. I could never get him to 

 face a snake ; the horror he betrayed on seeing one 

 was beyond description : I asked him why he was so 

 terribly alarmed ; he said it was by seeing so many 

 dogs, from time to time, killed by them. 



Here I had a fine opportunity of examin- 

 the^^capri-^ iug Several species of the Caprimulgus. I 

 muigus. ^^^^^ persuaded that these innocent little 



birds never suck the herds ; for when they approach 

 them, and jump up at their udders, it is to catch the 

 flies and insects there. When the moon shone bright, 



