90 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



rain of sometimes two or three weeks'* dura- 

 tion, but without regard to its being accom- 

 panied by wind or not. The reason is this : 

 the constant pattering of the rain on the 

 leaves of the trees and the droppings on the 

 ground, together, sometimes, with the howling 

 of the wind through the branches, prevent 

 the deer from retaining their usual security 

 against the panther and puma lion : this secu- 

 rity is the wonderful acuteness of their or- 

 gans of hearing and smelling. Their anxiety 

 makes them wander about in an obvious 

 uneasy state, looking about in every direc- 

 tion, and very frequently brings them under 

 the rifle of the hunter in places where they 

 are never seen in fine weather. 



A few months before I left the country a 

 pestilence (peste) broke out among the deer, 

 and they went down to the river's side by 

 hundreds to die. This murrain in general 

 spared the cattle, though some died; but 

 one could scarcely go a mile along the banks 

 of any large stream without seeing and 

 smelling the carcasses of many deer, and a 

 few cattle. The very black vultures, u Sopi- 

 lote," or John crow of the West Indies, 

 would have nothing to say to them, and, 

 though such universal scavengers, that no 



