# A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro/Chapter 16

Contents
CHAPTER XVI
observations on the zoology of the amazon district.
"A." Mammalia.
Notwithstanding the luxuriance of the vegetation, which might be supposed to afford sustenance, directly or indirectly, to every kind of animal life, the Amazon valley is remarkably deficient in large animals, and of Mammalia generally has a smaller number both of species and individuals, than any other part of the world of equal extent, except Australia. Three small species of deer, which occur but rarely, are the only representatives of the vast herds of countless species of deer and antelopes and buffaloes which swarm in Africa and Asia, and of the wild sheep and goats of Europe and North America. The tapir alone takes the place of the elephants and rhinoceroses of the Old World. Two or three species of large "Felidæ", and two wild hogs, with the capybará and páca, comprise almost all its large game; and these are all thinly scattered over a great extent of country, and never occur in such large numbers as do the animals representing them in other parts of the world.
Those singular creatures, the sloths, the armadilloes, and the ant-anters, are very generally distributed, but only occur singly and sparingly. The small agoutis are perhaps rather more plentiful; but almost the only animals found in any numbers are the monkeys, which are abundant, both in species and individuals, and are the only mammalia that give some degree of life to these trackless forests, which seem peculiarly fitted for their development and increase.
I met with twenty-one species of these animals, some of which I had no opportunity of examining. Several others exist; but it is necessary to reside for some years in each ​ZOOLOGY. 311
locality, in order to meet with all the different kinds. I sub- join a list of the species, with the localities in which they were found.
MONKEYS FOUND ON THE AMAZON AND THE RIO NEGRO.
i. Mycetes seniculus, Geoff. ; on the Rio Negro and the north bank of the Amazon.
2. Mycetes caraya, Gray ; on the Upper Amazon
3. Mycetes beelzebub, Br. Mus. ; Para.
4. Lagothrix Humboldtii, Geoff. ; Upper Amazon and west of Rio Negro.
5. Ateles paniscus, Geoff. ; Guiana, north bank of Amazon and east of Rio Negro.
6. Cclnis apella, Erxk (?) ; Amazon and Rio Negro.
7. Ccbus gracilis, Spix ; Rio Negro and Upper Amazon.
8. Callithrix sciureus, Geoff. ; the whole Amazon valley.
9. Callithrix torquatus (amidus, Geoff.) ; Upper Rio Negro.
10. Callithrix personalis, Geoff. ; south bank of Upper Amazon.
11. Nyctipithecus trivirgatus, Humb. ; Upper Rio Negro.
12. Nyctipithecus felinus, Spix ; Upper Amazon.
13. Pithecia irrorata (hirsula, Spix) ; south bank of Upper Amazon.
14. Pithecia , north of Upper Amazon.
15. Brachiurus satanas, Br. Mus.; Guiana, east bank of Rio Negro.
16. Brachiurus oakary, Spix ; Upper Rio Negro.
17. Brachiurus rubicundus, Isid. ; Upper Amazon.
18. Brachiurus , south side of Upper Amazon.
19. Jacchus bicolor, Spix; north of the Amazon and Rio Negro.
20. Jacchus tamarin, Br. Mus. ; Para.
21. Jacchus n.s., Upper Rio Negro.
Of the above, the first seven have prehensile tails, a character only found among the monkeys of America. The howlers, forming the genus Mycetes, are the largest and most powerful. They have a bony vessel situated beneath the chin, and a strong muscular apparatus in the throat, which assists in producing the loud rolling noise from which they derive their name, and ​312 ZOOLOGY OF
which appears as if a great number of animals were crying in concert. This, however, is not the case ; a full-grown male alone makes the howling, which is generally heard at night, or on the approach of rain.
The annexed list of the other larger mammalia of the Amazon district, will serve to confirm the statement of the extreme poverty of these regions in that class of animals. Owing to the loss of my notes and specimens, many of the specific names are doubtful : such are marked thus — ?
Phyllostoma hastatum. — This is a common bat on the Amazon, and is, I believe, the one which does much injury to the horses and cattle by sucking their blood ; it also attacks men, when it has opportunity. The species of blood-sucking bats seem to be numerous in the interior. They do not inhabit houses, like many of the frugivorous bats, but enter at dusk through any aperture they may find. They generally attack the tip of the toe, or sometimes any other part of the body that may be exposed. I have myself been twice bitten, once on the toe, and the other time on the tip of the nose ; in neither case did I feel anything, but awoke after the operation was com- pleted : in what way they effect it is still quite unknown. The wound is a small round hole, the bleeding of which it is very difficult to stop. It can hardly be a bite, as that would awake the sleeper ; it seems most probable that it is either a succes- sion of gentle scratches with the sharp edge of the teeth, gradu- ally wearing away the skin, or a triturating with the point of the tongue, till the same effect is produced. My brother was frequently bitten by them, and his opinion was, that the bat applied one of its long canine teeth to the part, and then flew round and round on that as a centre, till the tooth, acting as an awl, bored a small hole ; the wings of the bat serving, at the same time, to fan the patient into a deeper slumber. He several times awoke while the bat was at work, and though of course the creature immediately flew away, it was his im- pression that the operation was conducted in the manner above described. Many persons are particularly annoyed by bats, while others are free from their attacks. An old Mulatto at Guia, on the Upper Rio Negro, was bitten almost every night, and though there were frequently half-a-dozen other persons in the room, he would be the party favoured by their ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 313
attentions. Once he came to us with a doleful countenance, telling us, he thought the bats meant to eat him up quite, for, having covered up his hands and feet in a blanket, they had descended beneath his hammock of open network, and, attack- ing the most prominent part of his person, had bitten him through a hole in his trousers ! We could not help laughing at the catastrophe, but to him it was no laughing matter.
Senhor Brandao, of Manaquery, informed me that he had once an Indian girl in his house, who was much subject to the attacks of the bats. She was at length so much weakened by loss of blood, that fears were entertained of her life, if they continued their attacks ; and it was found necessary to send her to a distance, where these bloodthirsty animals did not abound.
The wound made by them is very difficult to heal, especially in its usual locality — the tip of the great toe, as it generally renders a shoe unbearable for a day or two, and forces one to the conclusion that, after the first time, for the curiosity of the thing, to be bitten by a bat is very disagreeable. They will, however, very rarely enter a lighted room, and for this reason . the practice of burning a lamp all night is almost universal.
Tapirus Americanus. — The Tapir is common over the whole Amazon district, but is nowhere very abundant. It feeds on leaves and a great many different kinds of fruits, and some- times does much injury in the mandiocca-fields of the Indians. Its flesh is very good eating, and is considered very wholesome, and is even said to be a remedy for the ague. It is a very shy and timid animal, wandering about principally at night. When the Indian discovers a feeding-place, he builds a stage between two trees, about eight feet above the ground, and there stations himself soon after dusk, armed with a gun, or with his bow and arrow. Though such a heavy animal, the tapir steps as lightly as a cat, and can only be heard approaching by the gentle rustling of the bushes ; the slightest sound or smell will alarm it, and the Indian lies still as death for hours, till the animal approaches sufficiently near to be shot, or until, scenting its enemy, it makes off in another direction. I have accom- panied the Indians on these expeditions, but always without success.
Coassus nemorivagus.
C. rafus, — These are the small white and red deer of the ​314 ZOOLOGY OF
forests, found in all parts of the Amazon. They have very small unbranched horns.
Mazama campestrisl — The " Viado galera," or horned deer of the Rio Branco, is probably of this species. It has small branched horns, and inhabits the open plains, never the thick forests.
Dicotylestaiapi. The smaller wild Hog. Taititu of the Indians.
D. labiatus ? — The larger species, called by the natives " Taiacu."
There seems to be also a third species, of the same size as the last.
Arctopitliecus flaccidus ? Preguiga real. Ai, (Lingoa Geral). The great Sloth.
Bradypus torquatus. Ai, (Lingoa Geral). — These and some other species of sloths are not uncommon. They feed entirely on leaves, preferring those of the Cecropias. They are frequently attacked by the harpy eagle, and are also eaten by the Indians.
Myrmecophagajubata. Tamandua assu, (Lingoa Geral). "The great Ant-eater." — This animal is rare, but widely distributed. During rain it turns its long bushy tail up over its back and stands still ; the Indians, when they meet with one, rustle the leaves, and it thinks rain is falling, and turning up its tail, they take the opportunity of killing it by a blow on the head with a stick. It feeds on the large termites, or white ants, tearing up with its powerful claws the earth and rotten wood in which their nests are made. The Indians positively assert that it sometimes kills the jaguar, embracing it and forcing in its enormous claws, till they mutually destroy each other. They also declare that these animals are all females, and believe that the male is the " curupira," or demon of the forests : the peculiar organisation of the animal has probably led to this error. It lives entirely on the ground.
Tamandiia tetradactylus ? The smaller Prehensile-tailed Ant-eater. — This animal is entirely arboreal, feeding on the tree termites ; it has no nest, and sleeps in a fork of a tree with its head bent under its body.
Cyclothurus didactylus. Tamandudi, (Lingoa Geral). The small Silky-haired Ant-eater, — is arboreal, and rather abundant. There is another species much smaller, and as white as cotton ; but it is rare, and I never met with it. ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 315
Priodonta gigas? Tatuassu, (Lingoa Geral). The great Armadillo. — Rather scarce.
Tatusia septemcinctus ? Tatu, (Lingoa Geral). — This and another very small species are the most abundant in the Amazon district, but can seldom be procured except by hunting with dogs. All the kinds are eaten, and their flesh is very white and delicate.
Didelphis . Opossum. Mucura, (LingoaGeral). — Several
species are found. They frequent the neighbourhood of houses, and attack poultry. The young are carried in an abdominal pouch, like the kangaroos, and have their little prehensile tails twisted round that of the mother.
Hydrochcerus capybara. Capywara, (Lingoa Geral). — This animal is found on all the river-banks. It feeds on grass, and takes to the water and dives when pursued. It is sometimes eaten, but is not considered very good.
Cozlogenis paca. Pa'ca. (Lingoa Geral). — This animal is generally abundant. It is nocturnal, and is much esteemed for its meat, which is the very best the country produces, being fat, delicate, and very tender.
Dasyprocta nigricans, Natt. Black Agouti. Cotia, (Lingoa Geral). — This species is found on the Rio Negro.
D. punctata 1 Yellow Agouti. — This is probably the common Amazon species.
D. agouti? Cotiwya, (Lingoa Geral). — A smaller species, very widely distributed. All are eaten, but the meat is rather dry and tasteless.
Cercolabes prehensilis. The Brazilian Porcupine. — This animal is scarce. It is eaten by the Indians.
Echimys . Several species of these curious, spinous, rat- like animals are found on the Upper Rio Negro.
Cercoleptes caudivolvus. The Potto. — It is a nocturnal animal, and inhabits the banks of the Upper Amazon.
Nasua olivacea? Coati. — Two species, the "Coati" and the " Coati mondi " of the Indians, are found on the Amazon.
Lontra Brasiliensis ? The Brazilian Otter, — is abundant on the Rio Negro.
Galera barbara. Irara, (Lingoa Geral). Teeth, 1. 1 C. ^ M. g. This is a curious animal, somewhat allied to the bears. It lives in trees, and eats honey, whence probably its Indian name, — from Ira, in the Lingoa Geral, " honey." ​316 ZOOLOGY OF
Viripes i A wild dog, or fox, of the forests ; it hunts in
small packs ; it is easily domesticated, but is very scarce.
Leopardus concolor. The Puma. In the Lingoa Geral, Sasurana, " the false deer," from its colour.
L. on^a. The Jaguar. Jauarite, (Lingoa Geral). — "The Great Dog."
L. onga, var. nigra. The Black Jaguar. Jauarite pixuna, (Lingoa Geral). Tigre (Spaniards).
L.pichis andZ.gr/seus. Tiger Cats. Maracaja, (Lingoa Geral).
The Jaguar, or onga, appears to approach very nearly in fierceness and strength to the tiger of India. Many persons are annually killed or wounded by these animals. When they can obtain other food they will seldom attack man. The Indians, however, assert that they often face a man boldly, springing forward till within a few feet of him, and then, if the man turns, they will attack him; the hunters will sometimes meet them thus face to face, and kill them with a cutlass. They also destroy them with the bow and arrow, for which purpose an old knife-blade is used for the head of the arrow ; and they say it is necessary not to pull too strong a bow, or the arrow will pass completely through the body of the animal, and not do him so much injury as if it remains in the wound. For the same reason, in shooting with a gun, they use rough leaden cylinders instead of bullets, which make a larger and rougher wound, and do not pass so readily quite through the body. I heard of one case, of a jaguar entering an Indian's house, and attacking him in his hammock.
The jaguar, say the Indians, is the most cunning animal in the forest : he can imitate the voice of almost every bird and animal so exactly, as to draw them towards him : he fishes in the rivers, lashing the water with his tail to imitate falling fruit, and when the fish approach, hooks them up with his claws. He catches and eats turtles, and I have myself found the unbroken shells, which he has cleaned completely out with his paws ; he even attacks the cow-fish in its own element, and an eye-witness assured me he had watched one dragging out of the water this bulky animal, weighing as much as a large ox.
A young Portuguese trader told me he had seen (what many persons had before assured me often happened) an onga feeding on a full-grown live alligator, tearing and eating its tail. On leaving off, and retiring a yard or two, the alligator ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT 317
would begin to move towards the water, when the onca would spring upon it, and again commence eating at the tail, during which time the alligator lay perfectly still. We had been observing a cat playing with a lizard, both behaving in exactly the same manner, the lizard only attempting to move when the cat for a moment left it ; the cat would then immediately spring upon it again : and my informant assured me that he had seen the jaguar treating the alligator in exactly the same way.
The onca is particularly fond of dogs, and will carry them off in preference to any other animal. When one has been committing any depredations, it is a common thing to tie a dog to a tree at night, the howling of which attracts the onca, which comes to seize it, and is then shot by a person concealed for the purpose.
It is a general belief among the Indians and the white inhabitants of Brazil, that the onga has the power of fascination. Many accounts are given to prove this ; among others, a person informed me, that he had seen an onca standing at the foot of a high tree, looking up into it: on the top was a guariba, or howling-monkey, looking down at the onca, and jumping about from side to side, crying piteously; the onca stood still ; the monkey continued descending lower and lower on the branches, still uttering its cries, till at length it fell down at the very feet of the onca, which seized and devoured it. Many incidents of this kind are related by persons who have witnessed them ; but whether they are exaggerated, or are altogether imaginary, it is difficult to decide. The belief in them, by persons best acquainted with the habits of the animal, is universal.
Of the smaller Tiger-cats, there are several kinds, but having lost my collection of skins, I cannot ascertain the species. The Puma is considered much less fierce than the jaguar, and is very little feared by the inhabitants. There are several varieties of the jaguar, distinguished by the Indians by different names. The black variety is rarer than the others, and is generally thought to be quite distinct ; in some localities it is unknown, while in others it is as abundant as the ocellated variety.
Many small rodent animals — squirrels, rats, etc.— complete the terrestrial mammalia of the Amazon district. ​3i8 ZOOLOGY OF
The waters 01 the Amazon, up even to the base of the Andes, are inhabited by several species of true Cetacea, of which, however, we have as yet but very scanty information.
Two, if not more, species of Dolphins are common in every part of the Amazon, and in almost all of its tributaries. They are found above the falls of the Rio Negro, and in the Cassi- quiare and Upper Orinooko. They vary in size and colour, and two of them have distinct Indian names. — Piraiowara (Fish-dog), and Tucuxi.
D'Orbigny mentions their being killed by the inhabitants of Bolivia to make. oil. In the Lower Amazon and Rio Negro they are scarcely ever caught, and I was unable to obtain a specimen. The species described by D'Orbigny is probably distinct, as he mentions their being twenty feet long, whereas none I have seen could have exceeded six or seven.
Herbivorous Cetacea are also found in the Amazon ; they are called by the Brazilians, Peixe boi, or cow-fish, and by the Indians, Juaroua.
It has not yet been ascertained, whether the cow-fish of the Amazon is the same as the Manatus of the West Indies and the coasts of Guiana, or a distinct species. All the accounts of the Manatus Americanus mention it as being twelve or fifteen feet long on the average, and sometimes reaching twenty. Those of the Amazon appear to average seven or eight feet only ; of five or six specimens I have myself seen, none have exceeded this ; Lieutenant Smyth saw one on the Upper Uaycali, of the same size ; and Condamine describes the one he saw as not being larger.
The inhabitants of the Amazon give accounts of three kinds, which they seem to consider distinct, one smaller, and one larger than the common kind, and differing also in the shape of the tail and fins, and in the colour.
The West Indian species is always described as having external nails on the edge of the fin, or fore-arm. This I never observed in the Amazon species ; though in cutting the edge of the fin to take out the bones entire, I must have noticed them, had they been as prominent as they are usually described ; neither does Lieutenant Smyth mention them, though he could hardly have overlooked so singular an external character.
I am therefore inclined to think that the Amazon possesses ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 319
one or two distinct species. Having carefully prepared a skin and skeleton of a fine male (which, with the rest of my collections, was lost on the voyage home), I did not describe it so minutely as I otherwise should have done, but have some notes, referring to male and female specimens, which I will now give : —
Manatus of the Amazon. Peixe boi, of the Portuguese. Vaca marina, of the Spaniards. Juaroua, of the Indians' Lingoa Geral.
The mammas of the female are two, one close to the base of each fm behind. The muzzle is blunt, fleshy, and covered with numerous stiff bristles ; the nostrils are on the upper part of it, and lunate. The lips, thick, fleshy, and bristly, and the tongue rough. The skin is lead-colour, with a few pinkish- white marblings on the belly ; others have the whole of the neck and fore-part of the body beneath cream-colour, and another spot of the same colour on the underside of the tail. The skin is entirely smooth, resembling india-rubber in appearance, and there are short hairs scattered over it, about an inch apart ; it is an inch thick on the back, and a quarter of an inch on the belly ; beneath it, is a layer of fat, of an inch or more in thickness, enveloping every part of the body, and furnishing from five to ten gallons of oil.
The total length of full-grown animals is seven feet. The intestines are very voluminous. The lungs are two feet long, and six or seven inches w r ide, very cellular, and when blown up, much resemble a Macintosh air-belt. The ribs are each nearly semicircular, arching back from the spine, so as to form a ridge or keel inside, and on the back there is a great depth of flesh. The bone is excessively hard and heavy, and can scarcely be broken. The dung resembles that of a horse.
The cow-fish feeds on grass on the margins of the rivers and lakes. It is captured either with the harpoon, or with strong nets, placed at the mouth of some lake, whence it comes at night to feed.
Though it has very small eyes, and minute pores for ears, its senses are very acute ; and the fishermen say there is no animal can hear, see, and smell better, or which requires greater skill and caution to capture. When caught, it is killed ​320 ZOOLOGY OF
by driving a wooden plug up its nostrils. The Indian fills hii canoe full of water, and sinks it beneath the body ; he then bales out the water, and paddles home with a load which requires a dozen men to move on shore. The meat is very good, and both for it and for the oil the animal is much sought after. It ascends most of the tributaries of the Amazon, but does not pass the falls or rapids.
B. Birds.
The birds of the Amazon district are so numerous and striking, that it is impossible here to do more than mention a few of the most interesting and beautiful, so as to give some general idea of the ornithology of the district.
Among the birds of prey, the most conspicuous are the King Vulture (Sarcorhamphus papa), and the Harpy Eagle {Thrasaetos harpyia), both of which are found in the whole district of the lower Amazon. There is also a great variety of eagles, hawks, kites, and owls, and probably between twenty and thirty species may be obtained in the country around Pari
Those two fine eagles, the Spiza'etus ornatus and the Morphnus Guianensis, inhabit the Upper Amazon.
Among the smaller perching-birds, the yellow-breasted tyrant shrikes immediately attract attention, perched upon dead trees in the open grounds. In the forests the curious notes of the bush-shrikes (Thamnophilince) are often heard, and the ever- recurring vociferous cries of the great grey tyrant-flycatcher {Lipaugus simplex).
Several pretty little tanagers are found about Para" ; but the exquisite little seven-coloured tanager {Calospiza tatad), and the scarcely less beautiful scarlet and black one (Rhamphocelis nigrogularis^) do not occur till we reach the Rio Negro and the Upper Amazon.
The Chatterers form one of the most splendid families of birds, and we have on the Amazon some of the finest species, such as the Cotinga cayana, C. ccerulea, Phxnicurus camifex, and P. militaris, which are found at Para, and the C. Ponipa- doura, and P. nigrogularis on the Upper Amazon and Rio Negro. ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 321
The hang-nest Orioles, species of Cassicus, are numerous, and by their brilliant plumage of yellow or red and black, and their curious pendulous nests, give a character to the ornitho- logy of the country.
Woodpeckers, kingfishers, and splendid metallic jacamars and trogons, are numerous in species and individuals. But of all the families of birds that inhabit this country, the parrots and the toucans are perhaps the most characteristic; they abound in species and individuals, and are much more fre- quently seen than any other birds.
From Para to the Rio Negro I met with sixteen species of toucans, the most curious and beautiful of which is the Pteroglossus Beauharnasii, or " curl-cested Aragari," whose glossy crest of horny black curls is unique among birds.
Of parrots and paroquets I found at least thirty distinct species, varying in size from the little Psittaarfus passerinus, scarcely larger than a sparrow, to the magnificent crimson macaws. In ascending the Amazon, large flocks of parrots are seen, every morning and evening, crossing the river to their feeding- or resting-places ; and however many there may be, they constantly fly in pairs, as do also the macaws, — while the noisy little paroquets associate indiscriminately in flocks, and fly from tree to tree with a rapidity which few birds can surpass.
Though humming-birds are almost entirely confined to tropical America, they appear to abound most in the hilly and mountainous districts, and those of the level forests of the Amazon are comparatively few and inconspicuous. The whole number of species I met with in the Lower Amazon and Rio Negro, does not exceed twenty, and few of them are very hand- some. The beautiful little Lophornis Gou/di, found rarely at Para, and the magnificent Topaza pyra, which is not uncommon on the Upper Rio Negro, are, however, exceptions, and will bear comparison with any species in this wonderful family.
Probably no country in the world contains a greater variety of birds than the Amazon valley. Though I did not collect them very assiduously, I obtained upwards of five hundred species, a greater number than can be found all over Europe ; and I have little hesitation in saying that any one collecting industriously for five or six years might obtain near a thousand different kinds.
21 ​322 ZOOLOGY OF
C. Reptiles and Fishes.
Like all tropical countries the Amazon district abounds in reptiles, and contains many of the largest size and most singular structure. The lizards and serpents are particularly abundant, and among the latter are several very venomous species ; but the most remarkable are the boa and the anaconda, which reach an enormous size. The former inhabits the land, and though it is often found very large, yet the most authentic and trustworthy accounts of monstrous serpents refer to the latter, the Eunectes murinus of naturalists, which lives in or near the water. The Indians are aware of the generic distinction of these creatures, for while they call the former "Jiboa," the latter is the " Sucuruju."
The largest specimens I met with myself were not more than from fifteen to twenty feet long, but I have had several accounts of their having been killed, and measured, of a length of thirty- two feet. They have been seen very much larger, but, as may be supposed, are then very difficult to kill or secure, owing to their tenacity of life and their acquatic habits. It is an undis- puted fact that they devour cattle and horses, and the general belief in the country is that they are sometimes from sixty to eighty feet long.*
Alligators of three or four distinct species abound in the Amazon, and in all its tributary streams. The smaller ones are eaten by the natives, the larger often devour them in return. In almost every village some persons may be seen maimed by these creatures, and many children are killed every year. The eggs of all the different kinds are eaten, though they have a very strong musky odour. The largest species
existence of any large enough to swallow a horse or ox is hardly credited, I append ths following account by a competent scientific observer, the well-known botanical traveller Dr. Gardner. In his " Travels in Brazil," p. 356, he says : —
" In the marshes of this valley in the province of Goyaz, near Arrayas, the Boa Constrictor is often met with of considerable size ; it is not un- common throughout the whole province, particularly by the wooded margins of lakes, marshes, and streams. Sometimes they attain the enormous length of forty feet: the largest I ever saw was at this place, but it was not alive. Some weeks before our arrival at Safe, the favourite riding horse of SenhorLagoriva, which had been put out to pasture not far ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 323
{Jacare nigra) reaches a length of fifteen, or rarely of twenty feet.
The most interesting and useful reptiles of the Amazon are, however, the various species of fresh-water turtles, which supply an abundance of wholesome food, and from whose eggs an excellent oil is made. The largest and most abundant of these is the Tataruga, or great turtle of the Amazon, the Jurara of the Indians. It grows to the length of three feet, and has an oval flattish shell of a dark colour and quite smooth ; it abounds in all parts of the Amazon, and in most places is the common food of the inhabitants.
In the month of September, as soon as the sandbanks begin to be uncovered, the females deposit their eggs, scraping hollows of a considerable depth, covering them over carefully, smoothing and beating down the sand, and then walking across and across the place in. various directions for the purpose of concealment. There are such numbers of them, that some beaches are almost one mass of eggs beneath the surface, and here the Indians come to make oil. A canoe is filled with the eggs, which are all broken and mashed up together. The oil rises to the top, and is skimmed off and boiled, when it will keep, and is used both for light and for cooking. Millions of eggs are thus annually destroyed, and the turtles have already become scarce in consequence. There are some extensive beaches which yield two thousand pots of oil annually ; each pot contains five gallons, and requires about two thousand five hundred eggs, which would give five millions of eggs destroyed in one locality.
But of those that remain, a very small portion are able to reach maturity. When the young turtles issue from the egg, and run to the water, many enemies are awaiting them. Great
from the house, could not be found, although strict search was made for it all over the Fazenda. Shortly after this, one of his vaqueiros, in going through a wood by the side of a small river, saw an enormous Boa suspended in the fork of a tree which hung over the water; it was dead, but had evidently been floated down alive by a recent flood, and being in an inert state it had not been able to extricate itself from the fork before the waters fell. It was dragged out to the open country by two horses, and was found to measure thirty-seven feet in length ; on opening it the bones of a horse in a somewhat broken condition, and the flesh in a half- digested state, were found within it, the bones of the head being uninjured ; from these circumstances we concluded that the Boa had devoured the horse entire." ​324 ZOOLOGY OF
alligators open their jaws and swallow them by hundreds ; the jaguars from the forest come and feed upon them; eagles and buzzards, and the great wood ibises attend the feast ; and when they have escaped all these, there are many ravenous fishes which seize them in the stream.
The Indians catch the full-grown turtles, either with the hook, net, or arrow. The last is the most ingenious method, and requires the most skill. The turtle never shows its back above water, only rising to breathe, which it does by protruding its nostrils almost imperceptibly above the surface ; the Indian's keen eyes perceive this, even at a considerable distance ; but an arrow shot obliquely would glance off the smooth flat shell, so he shoots up into the air with such accurate judgment, that the arrow falls nearly vertically upon the shell, which it pene- trates, and remains securely fixed in the turtle's back. The head of the arrow fits loosely on to the shaft, and is connected with it by a long fine cord, carefully wound round it ; as the turtle dives, they separate, the light shaft forming a float or buoy, which the Indian secures, and by the attached cord draws the prize up into his canoe. In this manner almost all the turtles sold in the cities have been procured, and the little square vertical hole of the arrow-head may generally be seen in the shell.
Besides the great tataruga (Podocnemis expansd), there are several smaller kinds, also much used for food. The Tracaxa {Emys tracaxa, Spix) and the Cabecudo {E. macrocephala, Spix) have been described by the French naturalists, Dumeril and Bibron, as one species, under the name of Peltocephalus tracaxa ; but they are quite distinct, and though their characters are perhaps not easy to define, they could never be confounded by any one who had examined them in the living state. They are found too in different localities. The tracaxa is abundant in the Amazon, in the Orinooko, and in the Guaviare, all white- water rivers, and very scarce in the Rio Negro. The cabecudo is very abundant in the Rio Negro and in the Atabapo, but is not found in the Guaviare or the Amazon, appearing to be confined to the black-water streams. I obtained ten distinct kinds of river tortoises, or Chelydidcs, and there are also two or three kinds of land-tortoises inhabiting the adjacent district.
As might be expected in the greatest river in the world, there is a corresponding abundance and variety of fish. They ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 325
supply the Indians with the greater part of their animal food, and are at all times more plentiful, and easier to be obtained, than birds or game from the forest.
During my residence on the Rio Negro I carefully figured and described every species I met with ; and at the time I left fresh ones were every day occurring. The soft-finned fishes are much the most numerous, and comprise some of the best kinds of food. Of the Siluridce I obtained fifty-one species, of Serrasalmo twenty-four, of Chalceus twenty-six, of Gymnotas ten, and of spinous-finned fishes (Acanthopterygid) forty-two. Of all kinds of fishes I found two hundred and five species in the Rio Negro alone, and these, I am sure, are but a small portion of what exist there. Being a black-water river, most of its fishes are different from those found in the Amazon. In fact, in every small river, and in different parts of the same river, distinct kinds are found. The greater part of those which inhabit the Upper Rio Negro are not found near its mouth, where there are many other kinds equally unknown in the clearer, darker, and probably colder waters of its higher branches. From the number of new fishes constantly found in every fresh locality and in every fisherman's basket, we may estimate that at least five hundred species exist in the Rio Negro and its tributary streams. The number in the whole valley of the Amazon it is impossible to estimate with any approach to accuracy.
D. Insects.
To describe the countless tribes of insects that swarm in the dense forests of the Amazon would require volumes. In no country in the world is there more variety and beauty ; nowhere are there species of larger size or of more brilliant colours. Here are found the extraordinary harlequin-beetle, the gigantic Prioni and Dynastes ; but these are exceptions to the great mass of the Cokoptera, which, though in immense variety, are of small size and of little brilliancy of colour, offering a great contrast to the generally large-sized and gorgeous species of tropical Africa, India, and Australia. In the other orders the same rule holds good, except in the Hymenoptera, which con- tain many gigantic and handsome species. It is in the lovely ​326 ZOOLOGY OF
butterflies that the Amazonian forests are unrivalled, whether we consider the endless variety of the species, their large size, or their gorgeous colours. South America is the richest part of the world in this group of insects, and the Amazon seems the richest part of South America. This continent is distin- guished from every other by having a most extensive and peculiar family, the Jfelkoniidce, of which not a single species is found in either Europe, Asia, Africa, or even North America (excepting Mexico). Another family, still more extensive, of exquisitely beautiful small butterflies, the Erychiidce, is also almost peculiar to it, a few species only being found in tropical Asia and Africa. In both these peculiar families the Amazon is particularly rich, so that we may consider it as the head- quarters of South America Lepidoptera.
Para itself, for variety of species, is perhaps the best locality for diurnal Lepidoptera; six hundred distinct kinds may be obtained within a day's walk of the city. At Santarem I had increased my collection to seven hundred species, at Barra to eight hundred, and I should have brought home with me nine hundred species had my collections arrived in safety. Mr. Bates, who has paid more exclusive attention to insects, states that he has now obtained twelve hundred species, — a wonderful collection to be made by one person, in a country without any variation of climate or of physical features, and no part of it elevated five hundred feet above the level of the sea.
E. Geographical Distribution of Animals.
There is no part of natural history more interesting or instructive than the study of the geographical distribution of animals.
It is well known that countries possessing a climate and soil very similar, may differ almost entirely in their productions. Thus Europe and North America have scarcely an animal in common in the temperate zone ; and South America contrasts equally with the opposite coast of Africa ; while Australia differs almost entirely in its productions from districts under the same parallel of latitude in South Africa and South America. In all these cases there is a wide extent of sea separating the countries, which few animals can pass over; so ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 327
that, supposing the animal productions to have been originally distinct, they could not well have become intermixed.
In each of these countries we find well-marked smaller districts, appearing to depend upon climate. The tropical and temperate parts of America and Africa have, generally speaking, distinct animals in each of them.
On a more minute acquaintance with the animals of any country, we shall find that they are broken up into yet smaller local groups, and that almost every district has peculiar animals found nowhere else. Great mountain-chains are found to separate countries possessing very distinct sets of animals. Those of the east and west of the Andes differ very remarkably. The Rocky Mountains also separate two distinct zoological districts ; California and Oregon on the one side, possessing plants, birds, and insects, not found in any part of North America east of that range.
But there must be many other kinds of boundaries besides these, which, independently of climate, limit the range of animals. Places not more than fifty or a hundred miles apart often have species of insects and birds at the one, which are not found at the other. There must be some boundary which determines the range of each species ; some external peculiarity to mark the line which each one does not pass.
These boundaries do not always form a barrier to the progress of the animal, for many birds have a limited range, in a country where there is nothing to prevent them flying in every direction, — as in the case of the nightingale, which is quite unknown in some of our western counties. Rivers generally do not determine the distribution of species, because, when small, there are few animals which cannot pass them ; but in very large rivers the case is different, and they will, it is believed, be found to be the limits, determining the range of many animals of all orders.
With regard to the Amazon, and its larger tributaries, I have ascertained this to be the case, and shall here mention the facts which tend to prove it.
On the north side of the Amazon, and the east of the Rio Negro, are found the following three species of monkeys, Ateles paniscus, Brachiums satanas, zxidjacchus bicolor. These are all found close up to the margins of the Rio Negro and Amazon, but never on the opposite banks of either river ; nor ​328 ZOOLOGY OF
am I able to ascertain that either of them have ever been found in any other part of South America than Cayenne or Guiana, and the eastern part of Venezuela, a district which is bounded
The species of Pithecia, No. 14 of my list, is found on the west side of the Rio Negro for several hundred miles, from its mouth up to the river Curicurian, but never on the east side, neither is it known on the south side of the Upper Amazon, where it is replaced by an allied species, the P. irrorata (P. Mrsuta, Spix), which, though abundant there, is never found on the north bank. These facts are, I think, sufficient to prove that these rivers do accurately limit the range of some species, and in the cases just mentioned, the evidence is the more satisfactory, because monkeys are animals so well known to the native hunters, they are so much sought after for food, and all their haunts are so thoroughly searched, and the localities for the separate kinds are so often the subject of communication from one hunter to another, that it is quite impossible that any well-known species can exist in a particular district, unknown to men whose lives are occupied in forming an acquaintance with the various tenants of the forests.
On the south side of the Lower Amazon, in the neighbour- hood of Para, are found two monkeys, Mycetes beelzebub and Jacchus tamarin, which do not pass the river to the north. I have never heard of monkeys swimming over any river, so that this kind of boundary might be expected to be more definite in their case than in that of other quadrupeds, most of which readily take to the water.
Towards their sources, rivers do not form a boundary between distinct species ; but those found there, though rang- ing on both sides of the stream, do not often extend down to the mouth.
Thus on the Upper Rio Negro and its branches are found the Callithrix torquatus, Nyctipithecus trivirgatus, and Jacchus (No. 21), none of which inhabit the Lower Rio Negro or Amazon ; they are probably confined to the granitic districts which extend from Guiana across the sources of the Rio Negro towards the Andes.
Among birds it cannot be expected that we should find many proofs of rivers limiting their range ; but there is one very remarkable instance of a genus, the three known species ​THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 329
of which are separated by rivers, namely, the three species of genus Psophia, P. crepitans (Linn.), P. viridis (Spix), and P. kacoptera (Spix). The P. crepitans is the common trumpeter of Guiana; it extends into the interior all over the country, beyond the sources of the Rio Negro and Orinooko, towards the Andes, and down to the Amazon, both east and west of the Rio Negro, but is never found on the south side of the Amazon.
The P. viridis is found in the forests of Para, at Villa Nova, on the south bank of the Amazon, and up to the Madeira, where it is found at Borba, on the east bank.
The P. leucoptera, a most beautiful white-backed species, is found also on the south bank of the Amazon, at Sao Paulo, at Ega, at Coarf, and opposite the mouth of the Rio Negro, but not east of the Madeira, where the green-backed species commences. These birds are all great favourites in the houses of the Brazilians, and all three may sometimes be seen domesticated at Barra, where they are brought by the traders from the different districts in which they are found. They are inhabitants of the dense forests, and scarcely ever fly ; so that we see the reason why the rivers should so sharply divide the species, which, spreading towards each other from different directions, might otherwise become intermingled. It is not improbable that, if the two Brazilian species extend as far as the sources of the Madeira, they may be found inhabiting the same district.
Of the smaller perching-birds and insects, which doubtless would have afforded many interesting facts corroborative of those already mentioned, I have nothing to say, as my exten- sive collection of specimens from the Rio Negro and Upper Amazon, all ticketed for my own use, have been lost ; and of course in such a question as this, the exact determination of species is everything.
The two beautiful butterflies, Callithea sapphira and C. Leprienri, which were originally found, the former in Brazil, and the latter in Guiana, have been taken by myself on the opposite banks of the Amazon, within a few miles of each other, but neither of them on both sides of that river.
Mr. Bates has since discovered another species, named after himself, on the south side of the Amazon ; and a fourth, distinct from either of them, was found by me high up in one ​330 ZOOLOGY OF THE AMAZON DISTRICT.
of the north-western tributaries of the Rio Negro, so that it seems probable that distinct species of this genus inhabit the opposite shores of the Amazon.
The cock of the rock, Rupicola crocea, is, on the other hand, an example of a bird having its range defined by a geological formation, and by the physical character of the country. Its range extends in a curving line along the centre of the moun- tainous district of Guiana, across the sources of the Rio Negro and Orinooko, towards the Andes; it is thus entirely com- prised in the granite formation, and in that part of it where there are numerous peaks and rocks, in which the birds make their nests.
Whether it actually reaches the Andes, or occurs in the same district with the allied R. Peruviana, is not known, but personal information obtained in the districts it inhabits, shows that it is confined to the narrow tract I have mentioned, between i° south and 6° north latitude, and from the mountains of Cayenne to the Andes, south of Bogota
Another bird appears bounded by a geological formation. The common red-backed parrot, Psittacus festivus, is found all over the Lower Amazon, but, on ascending the Rio Negro, has its northern limit about St. Isabel, or just where the alluvial country ends and the granite commences; it also extends up the Japura, but does not pass over to the Uaup£s, which is all in the granite district.
The fine blue macaw (Ara hyacinthina) inhabits the borders of the hilly country south of the Amazon, from the sea-coast probably up to the Madeira. Below Santarem, it is sometimes found close up to the banks of the Amazon, but is said never to cross that river. Its head-quarters are the upper waters of the Tocanti'ns, Xingii, and Tapajoz rivers.
As another instance of a bird not crossing the Amazon, I may mention the beautiful curl-crested Aracari (Pteroglossns Beauharnaisii), which is found on the south side of the Upper Amazon, opposite the Rio Negro, and at Coari and Ega, but has never been seen on the north side. The green Jacamar of Guiana also {Galbula viridis) occurs all along the north bank of the Amazon, but is not found on the south, where it is replaced by the G. cyanocollis and G. maadicauda^ both of which' occur in the neighbourhood of Para.