CROCODILES. 
179 
j r ° ra their want of acanliness, carried tlieir infants on their 
a cks. The thighs and legs of the infants were bound at 
certain distances by broad strips of cotton cloth, and the 
>esh, strongly compressed beneath the ligatures, was swelled 
p ,“ e interstices. It is generally to be observed, that the 
^anbs are as attentive to their exterior and their ornaments, 
r ,'t is possible for men to be, who are naked and painted 
() ,. ‘ Ihey attach great importance to certain configurations 
ir Vff and a mother would he accused of culpable 
aifierence toward her children, if she did not employ arti- 
tlr, means to shape the calf of the leg alter the fashion of 
the p 0untr . v - As none of our Indians of Apuro understood 
th! ta l ibbee language, we could obtain no information from 
In cac ique of Panama respecting the encampments that are 
at this season in several islands of the Orinoco for 
turtles’ eggs. 
j llt car Encaramada a very long island divides the river 
• 0 branches. We passed the night in a rocky creek, 
the °p l * C mo, ith the Pi° Cabullare, which is formed by 
i|! s o a ^ ar . a :ulf i the Atamaiea, and is sometimes considered 
’deaf 16 ^ i0 branches of the Apure, because it commu- 
W ag , es "’’ith that river by the Bio Arichuna. The evening 
. beautiful. The moon illumined the tops of the granite 
with ^ le heat was so uniformly distributed, that, not- 
sta nding the humidity of the air, no twinkling of the 
Va-i " as observable, even at four or five degrees above the 
a rtd i? n ' hght of the planets was singularly dimmed; 
of j ’ account of the smallness of the apparent diameter 
I ^ I had not suspected some error in the observation, 
distinol • ? ay ’ tllat here, for the first time, we thought we 
’'VaH -' 1 disk J u pi ter with the naked eye. 
v i°lent ?* du %bt, the north-east wind became extremely 
CQv er i tt brought uo clouds, but the vault of the sky was 
felt j cl , moro and more with vapours. Strong gusts were 
this wk i ,lUldc 11 s tear for the safety of our canoe. During 
an day urn had seen very few crocodiles, but all of 
^dian a ° r ^^ llar - v s ^ ze > ti'om twenty to twenty-foiu’ feet. The 
’"aj'slig assiare d us that the young crocodiles prefer the 
I'l'ir-v ( .jS ar !' the rivers that are less broad, and less deep. 
*&y otV d together particularly in the Canos, and we may 
>?m, what Abdallatif savs of the crocodiles of the 
x 2 
