176 



WANDERINGS IN 



Third " And matted woods, where birds forget to sing, 



Journey. -g^^ silent bats in drowsy clusters cling." 



The Vampire has a curious membrane, which rises 

 from the nose, and gives it a very singular appearance. 

 It has been remarked before, that there are two species 

 of Vampire in Guiana, a larger and a smaller. The larger 

 sucks men and other animals ; the smaller seems to con- 

 fine himself chiefly to birds. I learnt from a gentleman, 

 high up in the river Demerara, that he was completely 

 unsuccessful with his fowls, on account of the small 

 Vampire. He showed me some that had been sucked 

 the night before, and they were scarcely able to walk. 

 Anecdote. Somc years ago I went to the river Paumaron with a 

 Scotch gentleman, by name Tarbet. We hung our ham- 

 mocks in the thatched loft of a planter's house. Next 

 morning I heard this gentleman muttering in his ham- 

 mock, and now and then letting fall an imprecation or 

 two, just about the time he ought to have been saying 

 his morning prayers. " What is the matter, Sir," said 

 I, softly; "is any thing amiss?" " What's the mat- 

 ter?" answered he, surlily; " why, the Vampires have 

 been sucking me to death." As soon as there was light 

 enough, I went to his hammock, and saw it much 

 stained with blood. " There," said he, thrusting his 

 foot out of the hammock, " see how these infernal imps 

 have been drawing my life's blood." On examining his 



