EXPEDITION TO SURINAM. 37 



The one (which feen:ied to have fome fmall affinity to the CHAP. 



XVII 



grafshopper kind) was what is here generally called j 

 fpaanfe-jiiferj and is without exception the moft fnigiilar 

 animal I faw in the colony. The body of this furprifmg, 

 creature, though not thicker than a quill, v/as nolefs than 

 fevei. inches and a half in length, including the tail; it 

 had no wings, and was mounted like a fpider on fix legs 

 t'lat w^ere near fix inches long; it had four antennae pro- 

 jeiSting from its head, two being nearly five inches, and 

 two triuch fiiorter ; the head was fmall, the eyes large, 

 bf vck, and prominent, and the tail articulated like that of 

 moft infe6ls : its colour was a brownifli green, and, upon 

 the whole, it feemed a monfter. This creature is found 

 near the marfliy places, where its long legs appear de- 

 Hgned to enable it to wade through the water, but not to 

 fwim (according to Mr. Farmine's opinion) for which its 

 feet are not calculated, as they terminate in two fmall 

 claws like thofe of fome beetles. The other was a large 

 fly, which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls 

 the vielkur, but which I have generally heard called the 

 Jcare-Jleep by the Dutch. Thefe wor4:ls being extremely 

 applicable, from the noife it makes towards the evening, 

 which nearly refembles the found of a cymbal, or that of 

 a razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, 

 whofe grinding noife always begins at fun-fet or Hx 

 o'clock, is alfo called the porte-lanterne or lantern-bearer^ 

 from the light it diffufes after that time, and which is 

 much ftronger than that of any of the fire-fly fpecies, 

 8 aifordine 



