BACK TO BARRANQUILLA. 



133 



willow-like bushes overhanging the water, I saw in one of them a 

 large mud ball, about the size of a man's head. Cabell pulled it 

 down, and found it to be a nest of some kind. It had a little hole 

 in one side, and was lined with strips of bark. In it he found what 

 I thought at first was a rat ; but a glance at the thumb on the fore 

 paws showed it to be a 'possum. It was smaller than a rat, yellow- 

 ish brown above, paler beneath, with a black stripe on each side of 

 its head, from its nose to its ear, embracing the eye {Dldelphys 

 murinus). It was a female, I think, and had no pouch that I could 

 discover ; but its teats were arranged in a circle at the lower part 

 of its belly. At this place we saw a number of large alligators, 

 but got no shots at them, as they were all swimming. We went 

 ashore here, and I shot one of the smallest-sized kingfishers [Ceryle 

 americana). It was just a miniature of the one that we got on 

 our way up the river, glossy green above, white below, a white 

 collar, and a chestnut-red belt. This was a male. The female 

 which I saw was without the belt. We saw numbers of iofuanas 

 and of the large brown hooded lizards. The latter were called 

 " lobos," or wolves, by our boatmen. 



It had now become too hot to remain out longer, so we turned 

 back, and reached the market about eleven. On our way we passed 

 several dug-outs loaded almost to the water's edge with mangoes, 

 which are eaten here in great quantities. We saw birds too numer- 

 ous to mention : great flocks of parrakeets, numbers of kites, herons, 

 ducks, etc. 



In the market we found some men skinning a manati, which they 

 had just harpooned in the river. It was upon its back, and was 

 half skinned, so I could not get a good look at it. It was about 

 seven feet long and as thick through as a small horse. Its color 

 was that of a hippopotamus, its skin very thick with a few coarse 

 hairs, its flesh like coarse beef in appearance and covered with heavy 

 blubber. Its tail was flat and fan-shaped, with no divisions, and not 

 so pointed as in the figure given. Its fore flippers were like long 

 paddles and smooth, but when skinned, the difi^erent bones were 



