CURASAO AGAIN. ' Ml 



phonetic derivation from Spanish with a mixture of Dutch (as in 

 the word winkel above), but in many cases there is an omission of 

 syllables, as, for instance, " tur lo ke ta " is in Spanish " todo lo 

 que esta." Whilst I am on the subject of languages, I am reminded 

 to say that in Colombia a good Spanish is generally spoken. There 

 are a few peculiarities that I noticed. The letter c is generally pro- 

 nounced as in English without the lisping th sound that I had been 

 taught was proper in Spain. The d in such words as lado, pescado, 

 Colorado, etc., is generally omitted in pronunciation, thus making 

 the word lao, pescao, etc. The letters h and v are interchanged in 

 a hopelessly confusing way ; 6 is in general pronounced but the 

 rule to the contrary is sometimes observed, as, for instance, the 

 word for twenty, veinte, I heard pronounced beinte. There are 

 some delicate shades of meaning expressed by uses of the aug- 

 mentative and diminutive terminations. Temprano means early, 

 tempranito means very early, or soon in the morning : " Esta todo 

 arreglado ? " means. Is all arranged, or ready ? " Esta todito arre- 

 glado ? " Is every single thing ready ? The ordinary appellation 

 for servants is hombre, in preference to mozo. . „ 



Wednesday, July 27, 1892. Cabell and myself went out early 

 this morning to the same place that we visited the day before. 

 When we reached the spot where we had seen the pigeons, I crept 

 up cautiously, got a long flying shot and killed one, a male. It 

 was a large bird, the size of a common pigeon, its beak light flesh- 

 color, the nostrils pinkish, eyes reddish, skin around them blue, 



around this a circle of brown rouofhened skin lookino: like the sand- 

 ed o 



paper on a match-box. It was of the usual dove-color, becoming 

 bluish on the rump, lighter below, the tail plain grayish with no 

 bars or marks, the scapulars brownish gray, a diagonal white band 

 from the wrist-joint to the scapulars, the primaries and secondaries 

 sepia with fine white edges. The feathers of its iris were prettily 

 marked ; each was something like a miniature turkey's feather ; a 

 narrow band of black at the tip, and above this a strip of metallic 

 color, giving the neck a barred appearance. The feet were large 



