EXPEDITION TO SURINAM. 



Having defcribed thefe two contrafts in appearance, I 

 muft add, that neither they, nor any of thofe birds in 

 Guiana which are remarkable for their beautiful plumage, 

 ever fing with any degree of melody, three or four per- 

 haps excepted^ w^hofe notes are fweet, but not varied. 

 Of thefe I fhall fpeak at a proper opportunity. 



" For Nature's hand, 



" That with a fportive vanity has deck'd 

 " The plumy nations, there her gayeft hues 

 " Profufely pours. But if fhe bids them fhine, 



Array'd in all the beauteous beams of day, 

 ** Yet, frugal Hill, fhe humbles them in fong." 



One bird more I fliall only mention in this place, which 

 may be confidered as the rival of the mock-bird, viz. the 

 Caribbean wren. This bird, which is called by the Su- 

 rinam colonifts Gado fowlo, or the bird of God, probably 

 from its familiarity, inofFenfivenefs, and its dehghtful 

 mulic, is rather larger than the Englifli wren, which in. 

 its phimage it much refembles ; it frequently perches 

 upon the window-fli utters with the familiarity of the 

 robin. From its enchanting warbling, it has been ho- 

 noured by many with the name of the South Americaru 

 nightingale. — But to proceed with my narrative. 



On the aift died Mr. Renard, one of our befc furgeons, 

 who was buried the fame afternoon, a procefs quite ne- 

 ceflary in this hot country, where putrefadlion fo in- 

 flantaneoufly takes place, and more efpecially whe^i the- 



patient 



