332 
ANIMALS OF EGA. 
Chap. Y. 
in shady places ; others cling to the trunks of trees. 
Whilst walking through the forest in the daytime, 
especially along gloomy ravines, one is almost sure to 
startle bats from their sleeping-places ; and at night 
they are often seen in great numbers flitting about the 
trees on the shady margins of narrow channels. I 
captured altogether, without giving especial attention 
to bats, sixteen different species at Ega. 
The Vampire Bat — The little gray bloodsucking 
Pliyllostoma, mentioned in a former chapter as found in 
my chamber at Caripi, was not uncommon at Ega, 
wdiere everyone believes it to visit sleepers and bleed 
them in the night. But the vampire was here by far the 
most abundant of the family of leaf-nosed bats. It is 
the largest of all the South American species, measuring 
twenty-eight inches in expanse of wing. Nothing in 
animal physiognomy can be more hideous than the 
countenance of this creature when viewed from the 
front ; the large, leathery ears standing out from the 
sides and top of the head, the erect spear-shaped ap- 
pendage on the tip of the nose, the grin and the glis- 
tening black eye all combining to make up a figure that 
reminds one of some mocking imp of fable. No wonder 
that imaginative people have inferred diabolical in- 
stincts on the part of so ugly an animal. The vampire, 
however, is the most harmless of all bats, and its inof- 
fensive character is well known to residents on the 
banks of the Amazons. I found two distinct species of 
it, one having the fur of a blackish colour, the other of 
a ruddy hue, and ascertained that both feed chiefly on 
fruits. The church at Ega was the head-quarters of 
