ARBOREAL NATURE OF THE FAUNA 47 



great disappointment we saw none, or only such as were 

 insignificant in appearance. Orchids are very rare in the 

 dense forests of the low lands. I believe it is now toler- 

 ably well ascertained that the majority of forest trees in 

 equatorial Brazil have small and inconspicuous flowers. 

 Flower-frequenting insects are also rare in the forest. 

 Of course they would not be found where their favourite 

 food was wanting, but I always noticed that even where 

 flowers occurred in the forest, few or no insects were seen 

 upon them. In the open country or campos of Santarem 

 on the Lower Amazons, flowering trees and bushes are 

 more abundant, and there a large number of floral insects 

 are attracted. The forest bees of South America be- 

 longing to the genera Melipona and Euglossa are more 

 frequently seen feeding on the sweet sap which exudes 

 from the trees, or on the excrement of birds on leaves, 

 than on flowers. 



We were disappointed also in not meeting with any of 

 the larger animals in the forest. There was no tumultuous 

 movement, or sound of life. We did not see or hear 

 monkeys, and no tapir or jaguar crossed our path. Birds, 

 also, appeared to be exceedingly scarce. We heard, how- 

 ever, occasionally, the long-drawn, wailing note of the 

 Inambu, a kind of partridge (Crypturus cinereus ?) ; and, 

 also, in the hollows on the banks of the rivulets, the noisy 

 notes of another bird, which seemed to go in pairs, amongst 

 the tree-tops, calling to each other as they went. These 

 notes resounded through the solitude. Another solitary 

 bird had a most sweet and melancholy song ; it con- 

 sisted simply of a few notes, uttered in a plaintive key, 

 commencing high, and descending by harmonic intervals. 

 It was probably a species of warbler of the genus Trichas. 

 All these notes of birds are very striking and characteristic 

 of the forest. 



I afterwards saw reason to modify my opinion, founded 

 on these first impressions, with regard to the amount 

 and variety of animal life in this and other parts of the 

 Amazonian forests. There is, in fact, a great variety of 

 mammals, birds, and reptiles, but they are widely scat- 

 tered, and all excessively shy of man. The region is so 

 extensive, and uniform in the forest clothing of its surface, 

 that it is only at long intervals that animals are seen in 

 abundance when some particular spot is found which is 

 more attractive than others. Brazil, moreover, is through- 



