T 
9fi THK AMAZON AND MADEIRA UlA'EUf?. 
Hiigmentcd, by several liundreds, by the dis(uiveri(?s of Agassiz, in 
his exploration in 18G0, and some future explori'V may, peiinips, discova'r 
as many more. It is quite a host of fresh-water fish A\'hieh inhabits 
the yellow floods of the Amazon and its tributaries. Only some of 
them spread over the whole length of its cour.se, while the mas.s 
(according to the observations of Agassiz) are restricted to certain 
localities ; everjf section of the stream, indeed, having its characteristic 
species. A temporary transgression of their proper bounds sometimes 
takes place ; on the w'hole, however, the enormous Avater-net may be , 
divided into several regions, which differ more or l(;ss sharply in m 
their fauna. Some trifling differences in the vegetation, variety of f 
formation of the banks and of the river-bed, its dcj)th, and especially * 
the greater or minor declivity, doubtless determine these restrictions. 
The mo.st constant companions of the traveller on the Amazon ■ 
are the doljjhins, or botos.* From Para to the rapids of the affluents, i 
and even to the smooths above them, they play around the boat. * 
Being mammifers, like their oceanic brothers, they are compelled ever and , 
aiioh to come to the surface, to take breath ; and they describe therefore, j 
in the water, a peculiar Avavy line or cycloid, often leaping high into | 
the air and returning, bloAA'ing and puffing, to their native element. 
One moonlight night, on the upper Madeira — it wns at the mouth of 
the Jammary — our boats were surrounded by a troop of them, that 
played about, snorting and splashing, and making such a noise, as 
though hundreds of mermaids were pursued by bearded mermen, that I 
wm could not get a wink of sleep all night long. 1 
This noisy play, those sounds that .seem so strange for animals of ^ 
fish shape, and their obAuous passion for the socict)^ of man (they 
accompany the boats sometimes for long distances, in troops of thirty 
and forty), may have given rise to the extravagant tales regarding 
them, which are stoutly believed by the Avhole population of the country, 
from the half-savage Tapnyo and Mameluco to the rich Portuguese 
vendciro. The botos are represented to have the property of assuming 
the human shape from time to time, of Avalking amongst us like 
other Christians, and of being especially dangerous to the fair sex. 
The only tokens AAfflieh might betray the monsters are their feet, Avhieh 
are turned backAvard; but such a trifle may be easily overlooked in . 
the dark, which they ahvays choose for their mischievous excur.sious. I 
11 iiimulni' 1 \irtnjrii aka ivniql. iiiirm. 
