128 



loaded with fat, and a layer of fat reaches from 

 the abdomen to the anus, forming a kind of 

 cushion between the legs of the bird. This 

 quantity of fat in frugivorous animals, not ex- 

 posed to the light, and exerting very little mus- 

 cular motion, reminds us of what has been long 

 since observed in the fattening of geese and oxen. 

 It is well known how favourable darkness and 

 repose are to this process. The nocturnal birds 

 of Europe are lean, because, instead of feeding 

 on fruits, like the guacharo, they live on the 

 scanty produce of their prey. At the period 

 which is commonly called at Caripe the oil har- 

 vest # , the Indians build huts with palm leaves, 

 near the entrance, and even in the porch of the 

 cavern. Of these we still saw some remains. 

 There, with a fire of brush-wood, they melt in 

 pots of clay the fat of the young birds just 

 killed. This fat is known by the name of but- 

 ter or oil (manteca or aceite) of the guacharo. 

 It is half liquid, transparent, without smell, and 

 so pure that it may be kept above a year with- 

 out becoming rancid. At the convent of Ca- 

 ripe no other oil is used in the kitchen of the 

 monks but that of the cavern; and we never 

 observed, that it gave the aliments a disagreea- 

 ble taste or smell. 



The quantity of this oil collected little corres- 



* La cosecha de la manteca. 



