265 
PAL 
is purchafed at the rate of two ftivers per lb. The Dutch 
company likewife take about 1000 carats of rough dia¬ 
monds, and a confiderable quantity of canes and rattans. 
Forthefe commodities, a large fum in fpecie is yearly re¬ 
quired to balance with the king. In 1771 the Dutch 
company rebuilt there an old ruined fort, in a pentagonal 
form, at the charge of about 7322I. Iterling. Lat. a. 50. S. 
Ion. 104. 59. E. Marfdcn's Sumatra. Stavorinus's Voyage, 
vol. i. 
PALAMBU'AN. See Balambuan. 
PALAMCOT'TA. See Tinevelly. 
PALAMEDE'A,^! the Screamer. ; in ornithology, a 
genus of birds of the order grallae, of which the gene¬ 
ric characters are—Bill conic, the upper mandible hooked; 
noftrils oval ; feet four-toed, cleft, a very fmall mem¬ 
brane connecting the toes at the root. There are only 
two fpecies of this genus ; both natives of South Ame¬ 
rica. 
1. Palamedea cornuta, the horned fcreamer: wings 
with two fpines at the bend ; the front is horned ; hence 
its fpecific name. 
Amidlt the difcordant founds of the aquatic birds and 
croaking reptiles of the marlhes of Guiana, there is heard, 
at intervals, a powerful note which drowns the reft, and 
rebellows from the diftant Ihores : it is the deep and tre¬ 
mulous voice of the fcreamer, a large dulky bird, diftin- 
guilhed by the Angularity of its armour. On its head 
itands a pointed horn, three or fourinches long, and two 
or three lines in diameter at the bafe : this horn, which is 
inferted on the top of the forehead, rifes ftraight, and ter¬ 
minates in a fharp point bent fomewhat forward ; near 
the bafe it is Iheathed like the quill of a feather. Be- 
fides the horn which grows out of the head, it has in 
each pinion two fpurs, which projeCt forward when the 
wing is clofed. Thefe fpurs are the apophyfes of the me¬ 
tacarpal bone, and rife from the anterior part of thefe 
extremities ; the upper fpur is largeft, of a triangular 
form, two inches long, and nine lines broad at the bafe, 
fomewhat curved, and terminating in a point; it is alfo 
in veiled with a lheath of the fame fubftance at the bafe of 
the horn. The lower apophyfis of the metacarpal bone 
is only four lines long, of the fame breadth at its origin, 
and limilarly fheathed. With this furniture of offenlive 
arms, which would render it formidable in combat, the 
fcreamer never attacks other birds, but wages war only 
againft reptiles. Itfeems even to have a gentle and feel¬ 
ing difpofition ; for the male and female keep conftantly 
together. Love binds their affeClions by an indifloluble 
chain : if one happens to die, the furvivor can hardly 
fupport the lofs of its companion ; it wanders, perpe¬ 
tually moaning, and confumesthe wretched remainder of 
its life near the fcenes of tender recolleCtion, and of paft 
joys. - 
If .the affectionate character of this bird forms a con- 
trait to its mode of life, a like oppofition obtains in its 
phyfical ftruCture. It fublifts on prey, and yet it has the 
bill of a granivorous bird; and, notwithftanding its fpurs 
and its horn, the head refembles that of a gallinaceous 
bird. Its legs are (hort, but its wings and tail are long; 
the upper mandible projects over the lower, arid bends 
fomewhat at the point; the head is clothed with fmall 
downy feathers, briftled and crifped, intermixed with 
black and white ; the fame curled plumage povers the 
top of the neck ; the lower part is covered with broader 
thicker feathers, black at the edge, and grey within; 
the mantle is brownilh-black, with greeniih reflections, 
and fometimes mixed with white fpots ; the Ihoulders 
are marked with rufous, and that colour extends on the 
edge of the wings, which are fpacious ; they reach almoft 
to the end of the tail, which is nine inches long. The 
bill is two inches long, eight lines broad, and ten thick 
at the bafe ; the leg joins to a fmall naked part of the 
thigh, and is feven inches and a half high ; it is covered 
with a rough and black Ikin, whofe fcales are ftrongly 
marked on the toes, which are very long; the middle 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1241. 
PAL 
one, including the nail, is five inches, and the nails are 
half-hooked, Icooped out below; the hind nail is (lender, 
almoft ftraight, and very long. The total length of the 
bird is three feet: we could not perceive the great dif¬ 
ference, in point of fize, noticed by Marcgrave, between 
the male and female. They appear to be nearly of the 
magnitude of the turkey-cock. 
Willughby juftly remarks, that nature has bellowed 
extraordinary qualities on this bird ; the horn, which 
projeCls from its head, would alone difcriminate it from 
the whole clafs of birds. Barrere was miftaken, therefore, 
in ranging it with the eagles; fince it has neither their bill, 
their head, nor their feet. It builds its neft in the form of 
an oven, at the foot of fome tree ; it walks with its neck 
ereCt and its head lofty, and haunts the forefts ; but it is 
moftly found fearching for its prey in the favannas. It 
lays two eggs, the fize of thole of a goofe ; yet in this 
authors differ. Bacon fays alfo, that it makes the neft 
both in thickets, at fome diftance from the ground, and 
often among the rulhes. Fertnin tells us, that it builds 
on high trees. The young are brought up in the neft till 
able to fhift for themfelves : they have but one neft in 
the year, which is in January or February, except the 
firft eggs are taken, in which cafe they make a fecond in 
April or May. The young birds are frequently eaten by 
the natives, though the colour of the flelh is very dark ; 
that of the old ones is tough and ill-tailed. By fome au¬ 
thors, this fpecies is faid to feed on crabs and birds, fucli 
as pigeons, poultry, &c. and even to attack Iheep and 
goats ; but this is denied by others, who fay that its 
principal food is reptiles. In the ftomach of one which 
M. Bajon diffeCted, there were only found herbs and 
feeds of plants ; however, he adds that the bird has no 
gizzard. This is a rare fpecies, found hitherto only in 
certain diftriCts in Guiana, Surinam, and other parts of 
South America, chiefly in the marfhes and wet favannas, 
and for the moll part near the fea. Thefe feem to be the 
birds mentioned by Ulloa, which are called, by the inha¬ 
bitants of Quito, difpertadores or awakeners, from their 
giving notice to others of the approach of danger; as, 
on hearing the leall noife, or feeing any one, though at 
a great diftance, they rife from the ground, and make a 
loud lereaming noife, hovering over the objeCt which 
caufed the alarm, whereby the reft of the birds, taking 
the hint, are able to efcape impending danger. This 
fcreaming noife, which fome authors relate as being ex¬ 
ceedingly loud and terrible, occafioned Mr. Pennant to 
give the genus the name it bears. In the Hunterian Mu- 
feum there is a fine fpecimen of this bird, brought from 
Cayenne. See the annexed Plate, fig. 1. 
2. Palamedea criftata, the crefted fcreamer : a creft in- 
llead of a horn ; no fpines at the wings. This (doubt¬ 
ful) • fpecies is about the fize of a heron. The bill is 
Ihort, bent like that of a bird of prey, and of a yellovv- 
ilh-brown; irides gold colour. On the forehead, juft 
above the bill, is a tuft of black feathers, variegated 
with alh-colour: the head, neck, and body, are grey, 
mixed with rufous and brown, moll inclining to the laft 
on the wings and tail; the legs are pretty long, and of a 
dull-yellow : claws brown ; the hind toe is placed high 
.up, lo as not to touch the ground in walking. This bird 
inhabits Bralil. Linnteus places it in the fcreamer genus, 
perhaps for its cry,'for it is find to be heard far off. None 
of our later writers feem to have feen it, all of them rely¬ 
ing on Marcgrave, both for defcription and figure. It is 
faid to feed on the fame food as the heron tribe : the flelh 
is good, and the bird by fome kept tame. 
PALAME'DES, a Grecian chief, foil of Nauplius, king 
of Eubcea. He was fent by the Greek princes who were 
going to the Trojan war, to bring Ulyffes to the camp; 
who, to withdraw himfelffrom the expedition, pretended 
infanity ; and the better to impofe upon his friends, ufed 
to harnefs different animals to a plough, and low fait in- 
ftead of barley into the furrows. The deceit was foon 
perceived by Palamedes; he knew that the regret to part 
3 Y from 
