SOUTH AMERICA. 151 

 tlie same tree ! How secure the wild beasts may rove in Second 



Journey. 



endless mazes ! Perhaps those mountains too, Avhich 



appear so bleak and naked, as if quite neglected, are, like 

 Potosi, full of precious metals. 



Let us now return the pinions we borrowed from Icarus, Conclusion, 

 and prepare to bid farewell to the wilds. The time 

 allotted to these wanderings is drawing fast to a close. 

 Every day for the last six months has been employed in 

 paying close attention to Natural Flistory in the forests 

 of Demerara. Above two hundred specimens of the finest 

 birds have been collected, and a pretty just knowledge 

 formed of their haunts and economy. From the time of 

 leaving England, in March, 1816, to the present day, 

 nothing has intervened to arrest a fine flow of health, 

 saving a quartan ague, which did not tarry, but fled as 

 suddenly as it appeared. 



And now I take leave of thee, kind and gentle reader. 

 The new mode of preserving birds, heretofore promised 

 thee, shall not be forgotten. The plan is already formed 

 in imagination, and can be penned down during the 

 passage across the Atlantic. If the few remarks in these 

 wanderings shall have any weight in inciting thee to sally 

 forth, and explore the vast and well-stored regions of 

 Demerara, I have gained my end. Adieu. 



CHARLES WATERTON. 



^prilQ, J8I7. 



