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the body was wetted. We are laid also upon 

 ox-hides, or skins of tigers; and the branches of 

 trees they are thrown over are painfully felt 

 through so thin a covering. The fore part of 

 the boat was filled with Indian rowers, furnished 

 with paddles three feet long in the form of 

 spoons. They are all naked, seated two by two, 

 and row in cadence wi th a surprising uniformity. 

 Their songs are sad, and monotonous. The 

 small cages containing our birds and our mon- 

 keys, the number of which augmented as we ad- 

 vanced, were hung some to the toldo, and others 

 to the bow of the boat. This was our travelling 

 menagery. Notwithstanding the frequent losses 

 occasioned by accidents, and above all by the 

 fatal effects of exposure to the Sun, we had four- 

 teen of these little animals alive at our return 

 from the Cassiquiare. Naturalists, who wish to 

 collect and bring living animals to Europe, 

 might cause boats to be constructed expressly 

 for this purpose at Angostura, or at Grand-Para, 

 the two capitals situate on the banks of the 

 Oroonoko and the Amazon, the first third of 

 which boats might contain two rows of hutches 

 sheltered from the ardour of the Sun. Every 

 night, when we established our watch, the col- 

 lection of animals and our instruments occupied 

 the centre; around these were placed first our 

 hammocks, then the hammocks of the Indians ; 

 and on the outside were the fires, that are though t 



