675 



the great heats of summer, in the time of 

 drought, these animals remain hidden, without 

 taking food, beneath stones, or in the holes 

 which they have dug. They issue from their 

 shelter, and begin to eat, only when they per- 

 ceive the humidity of the first rains penetrate 

 into the earth. The terekays, or tajelus, turtles 

 that live in fresh water, have the same habits # . 

 I have already spoken of the summer sleep of 

 some animals of the tropics *f\ As the natives 

 know the holes in which the tortoises sleep amid 

 the dried lands, they get out a great number 

 at once, by digging fifteen or eighteen inches 

 deep. Father Gili says, that this operation, 

 which he had seen, is not without danger, be- 

 cause the serpents often bury themselves in sum- 

 mer with the terekays. 



From the island of Cucuruparu, as far as the 

 capital of Guyana, vulgarly called Angostura, 

 we were but nine days on the water. The dis- 

 tance is a little less than ninety-five leagues. 

 We seldom slept on shore ; but the torment of the 

 moschettoes diminished sensibly in proportion 

 as we advanced. We landed on the 8th of June 

 at a farm (hato de San Rafael del Capuchino), 

 opposite the mouth of the Rio Apure. I obtain- 

 ed some good observations of latitude and longi- 



* Gili, vol. 1, p. 257. 

 t See above, vol. iv, p. 380, 381 ; and my Tableaux de la 

 Nature, vol. i, p. 50 and 183. 



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