490 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



drew nearer to it, at length made a hasty attack with her bill on the 

 open jaw, and immediately retreated. She continued such attacks until 

 she had taken something from each side of the jaw, and swallowed it. 

 She then appeared to think no farther precaution necessary, but led her 

 chickens to feed close by the carcase. I had frequently observed domestic 

 fowls devouring ants and scorpions, and had watched with interest their 

 battles with centipedes; but never before saw one attack so large a 

 reptile, or seek its food from such a creature. Little did I imagine that 

 the vesicles of poison in the jaw of a snake could be delicious, or even 

 wholesome food for any living thing. 



Notwithstanding the cautions of my friends at St. John, and the 

 occasional recurrence of my guide to themes of danger, I had hitherto 

 perceived no reason for alarm. Fears of banditti, whatever ground 

 there may once have been for them, always continue long after the 

 depredations have ceased. My guide, too, I was well aware, wished to 

 attend me to the end of the journey, and might therefore think it 

 politic to bring forward such subjects. Nevertheless here it seemed to 

 me prudent to see that all my weapons were in order, and to carry them 

 so as that they might be ready for immediate use. I agreed also with 

 the guide to proceed with me, and felt the more at ease for having; 

 done so. 



From this place the first league conducts us over an uninteresting 

 plain, at the termination of which we crossed a small rapid stream, the 

 young Parapheba, and continued along its left bank, as it works its way 

 through a narrow woody glen. It must have been, I suppose, the sudden 

 transition from a wide dreary waste to a scene of so different a cha- 

 racter, which chiefly produced that feeling of awe with which my mind 

 was here impressed. Though soon emerging from the wood, the conti- 

 nuation of the deli, with a considerable measure of variety in its 

 appearance, was uncommonly soothing and pleasant. 



A hill on our left now presented a wonderful object ; it was one 

 entire mass of iron, so perfectly free from any mixture of common soil 

 as to produce no vegetable whatever, but was covered with a complete 



