TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 



217 



a young MeDian Indian * who accompanied him, spoke the language 

 of those savages. 



The banks of the Mucuri, every where bordered with thick woods, 

 present, from the frequent windings of the river, which on the whole 

 is narrow, a great diversity of picturesque forest scenery. We had 

 to push forward our boat with much difficulty against the current 

 which was high and rapid, a labour the more fatiguing, as the noon- 

 day sun darted his scorching beams on our heads, and the wood of 

 the boat became so heated that we could scarcely bear to handle it. 

 The green kings-fisher, with the belly of a dirty red, ( alcedo bicolor. 

 Linn.) and the beautiful whitish green swallow (hirundo leucoptera) 

 were very frequent here : the latter perches on dry branches and low 

 trees in the water, or hovers over it ; on land it is only found near the 

 banks of rivers. We here saw, on old trunks bending over the water, 

 and on rocks, great numbers of a kind of grey bats-f-, which sit there 

 in the cool during the day : they are distinguished by their projecting 

 nose. From a tree on the bank we shot the beautiful pigeon, which 

 is called on the east coast pomba trocaes, and near Bahia pomba ver- 

 dadeira ; it is the columba speciosa% (the scallop-necked pigeon) ol 

 naturalists. 



In the afternoon we reached the last plantation, belonging to Mr. 

 Joao Antonio, where some days before Captain Bento Lourenzo had 

 saluted us with a/ew dejoie; he had now proceeded, with his people, 

 farther into the forest. When the evening twilight arrived we landed 



• The Menians, who live at Belmonte, are a degenerated relict of the Cdnacan Indians, 

 whom we shall have occasion to notice in the sequel. 



t Vespertilio naso, a new species, with a snout almost like a trunk, which projects a 

 full line beyond the upper jaw. Whole length of the animal two inches four lines. The 

 membrane of the wing very hairy ; external ear narrow ai)d very pointed : the hair on the 

 upper part of the body dark yellowish brown ; on the lower side pale yellowish grey. 



J Temminck, Histoire Naturelle des Pigeons, et des GaUinacees, vol. I. p. 208. 



2 F 



