46 



JOURNEY FROM RIO DE JANEIRO 



neus), the bite of which is said to cause a painful sweUing. It lives, 

 as already stated by Langsdorf, chiefly under ground. Besides this 

 singular animal, I saw a number of large broad toads, but not 

 however in such quantities as in the Serra, which we had just left, 

 for there, as soon as evening came, the ground was entirely covered 

 with them. Among others, I observed a species that has probably 

 never been described ; it has two large dark spots on the back. Un- 

 usually long ribbons of the beard-moss hung down from the lofty 

 white trunks of the mimosa. On the top of a withered branch, our 

 attention was attracted to a white bird, whose loud voice sounds 

 exactly like the blow of a hammer on an anvil : it belongs to the 

 genus which Illiger calls proc?iias, and is denominated araponga, on 

 the whole Eastern coast : in colour it has a great resemblance to the 

 ampelis caruncidata of Linneus ; though of a different species, as 

 its naked green throat and the want of the fleshy excrescence on the 

 forehead sufficiently indicate. 



The shady forest through which we now passed was extremely 

 pleasant ; flocks of parrots flew around us uttering loud screams ; 

 among these, the most conspicuous was the handsome parroquet, 

 having its tail of a pointed form, and called tiriba in this country. 

 I also shot a squirrel of the only species we saw on the whole journey ; 

 it is distinguished by a mixture of brownish grey and yellowish hair. 

 Many of the natives who passed, conducting their animals heavily 

 laden towards the capital, seemed astonished at our cavalcade ; nor 

 could they comprehend the cause of the firing which was heard on both 

 sides of the road from our hunters who had dispersed in search of game. 



After we had proceeded through several burnt forests, marshes, 

 and savannas, surrounded by rocky mountains, covered with woods, 

 we came to extensive meadows intermixed with marshes and reedy 

 pools, where the white heron, American lapwing, chesnut^'aca;m, or 

 spur-winged water-hen, and plovers in abundance, were either flying 



■3 



