SUM ME E-SLEEP OE CHOCODILES. 
197 
^} an the mouth, of the Meta; while from the Mission of 
u ruana t ie mountains approach the eastern hank more and 
"tore. As the strength of the current increases in propor- 
*°n as the river grows narrower, the progress of our boat 
e came much slower. We continued to ascend the Orinoco 
H^der sail, but the high and woody grounds deprived us of 
* le wind. At other times the narrow passes between the 
fountains by which we sailed, sent us violent gusts, but of 
-it duration. The number of crocodiles increased below 
the 
junction of the Bio Arauca, particularly opposite the 
§ r eat lake 0 f Capanaparo, which communicates with the 
nnoco, as the Laguna de Cabullarito communicates at the 
j ®j?. e time with the Orinoco and the Bio Arauca. The 
dians told us that the crocodiles came from the inlands, 
e re they had been butted in the dried mud of the 
^ atl nahs. As soon as the first showers arouse them from 
lethargy, they crowd together in troops, and hasten 
e ? r d the river, there to disperse again. Here, in the 
tpr 111 oc tial zone, it is the increase of humidity that recalls 
* m to life ; while in Georgia and Florida, in the temperate 
jjj- e > it is the augmentation of heat that rouses these 
dviri 8 from a state of nervous and muscular debility, 
0r ’. n S which the active powers of respiration are suspended 
p Sln gularly diminished. The season of great drought, im- 
Vi^ly called the summer of the torrid zone, corresponds 
pid 1 the winter of the temperate zone ; and it is a curious 
Atn °^°^ ca l phenomenon to observe the alligators of North 
the eriCa Plunged into a winter-sleep by excess of cold, at 
t[ l( ■ Same period when the crocodiles of the Llanos begin 
the a r s ‘® 8 ta or summer-sleep. If it were probable that 
the 6 an ' ma l s of the same family had heretofore inhabited 
V *** northern country, we might Buppose that, in ad- 
towards the equator, they feel the want of repose 
u tlt j , !‘ av ing exercised their muscles for seven or eight months, 
to they retain under a new sky the habits which appear 
P essentially linked with their organization, 
big passed the mouths of the channels communicat- 
luhe of Capanaparo, we entered a part of the 
^ where the bed of the river is narrowed by the 
ains of Baraguan. It i3 a kind of strait, reaching 
