Life and nature under the tropics: or, Sketches of travels among the Andes, and on the Orinoco, Rio Negro, and Amazons . n as the prince of tropi-cal vegetation. So expressive of elegance and grace, it isnot strange that it has been the favorite of all poets whosehome has been the home of the palm. But Floras king-dom, varied and wonderful as it is, aflbrds not all of theattractions of these regions. Animated Nature is notlacking in representatives here. Nowhere in South Amer-ica, not even in the teeming valley of the Amazons, didwe observe a greater variety of ornithic forms, or find anychara
Life and nature under the tropics: or, Sketches of travels among the Andes, and on the Orinoco, Rio Negro, and Amazons . n as the prince of tropi-cal vegetation. So expressive of elegance and grace, it isnot strange that it has been the favorite of all poets whosehome has been the home of the palm. But Floras king-dom, varied and wonderful as it is, aflbrds not all of theattractions of these regions. Animated Nature is notlacking in representatives here. Nowhere in South Amer-ica, not even in the teeming valley of the Amazons, didwe observe a greater variety of ornithic forms, or find anycharacterized by moie varied or brilliant plumage. Themarshes were whitened with aquatic birds, which alsoflecked the air. Only a few monkeys, however, were seen;for, of the eighty-six species found in the New World, notmore than three or four inhabit the forest west of the An-des. But the sluggish waters of the Guayas afford a con-genial home for alligators, of which hundreds lined thebanks with their cuirassed bodies, which, upon our ap-proach, would slowly glide into the water, their move- ,!» I iSf m mimA. ,.,:,;«. Mi, It ?^i!lii|r|| VARIED SCENES. 205 ments frequently accelerated to an ungraceful plunge bya shot from one of our rifles. Slowly we steamed up theGuayas, stopping to take aboard every native who sig-nalled us from the shores. The bed of the stream oftencompelled us to run close to the banks, so that occasion-ally our decks were swept by the overhanging trees. Wealways enjoyed these brushings, until we ran into a nestof bees, which speedily cleared the deck. After that weenjoyed it quite as much when we were steaming clear ofthe forest. But amid the varied scenes of the day was one notaltogether tropical. The desire of years was gratified bya view of the mighty chain of the Andes and one of itsgrandest volcanoes. The sun had already touched theedge of the high forest, and we were seated upon deck,watching the changing hues of the clouds as they Averetouched by thos
Size: 1125px × 2222px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectscientificexpedition
