ANTS.—SNAKES, AND OTHER REPTILES.—RIVER OF IGUARAÇU.—BUILDING A HOUSE.—SEVERAL SPECIES OF TIMBER TREES.—THE PINHAM, MUTAMBA, AND GAMELEIRA TREES.—THE WHALE.

I HAVE said that the lands of the Engenho Velho were much infested by the red ants; but indeed scarcely any part of the island of Itamaraca is free from these most noxious insects. They are of a dusky red colour, and vary from one quarter of an inch to one inch in length. Their bite is painful, and they will sometimes fix themselves so firmly with their antennÆ, as to leave the points of them in the wound which they have made. Their food is entirely vegetable. I found them extremely troublesome during the continuance of the rains. They would often make their way between the bricks of the floor of my house, and pick up any particles of flour or any grains of maize which might chance to be strewed upon it. On one occasion, two large bags of maize of equal size were placed in the room at night; but in the morning one of them was considerably lower than the other; for this I could not account until, on a nearer examination, I saw one of the red ants coming out of a small hole which there was at one side of the bag, with its load upon its back, and soon another followed, and so forth. I now accidentally put my hand upon the bag, and it fell still lower; so that an arch must have been formed within, either by a very singular chance, or by the management of these most extraordinary insects.

Upon another evening, they made their appearance in such great numbers as to darken the floor of the corner of the room from which they proceeded. I sent for some dried leaves of the coco-tree, and only got rid of the enemy by making in the house a bonfire upon the spot of which they had taken possession. I had some pomegranate trees at the back of the cottage, which I was preserving with great care; and I had one evening particularly admired the beauty of one of these plants, which was covered with red blossoms. In the morning the flowers were still upon the tree, but scarcely any leaves remained; these were upon the ground, and some of the destroyers were cutting off the few which still were left, whilst their companions were occupied below in conveying away the spoil. I could not avoid watching them for some minutes, and admiring their ingenuity and systematic manner of going to work; but soon I vowed vengeance upon these enemies, and immediately commenced operations. There was a steep bank a little below the cottage, which had every appearance of harbouring these insects, for the red earth which lies at some distance below the surface of the ground, was thrown up all around it. I placed four negroes below the bank, to cut it away perpendicularly. They had not worked long before the war commenced, for a war it was when some of the nests were laid open. The ants came out in great numbers, but torches of dried coco leaves were ready and a large fire, and with these weapons we had much the advantage of them. The bank contained a vast number of circular holes of about six inches diameter, which were placed at unequal distances from each other, and many of them were without subterraneous communications from one to the other. Every one had a passage to the surface of the ground, and some of them had more than one leading upwards. These nests or holes contained a substance of a grey colour, which bore the appearance of thick cobwebs pressed closely together; and on being squeezed in the hand it had a liquid feel, that is, the skin was moistened by it. When put into water it swam upon the top. We had placed a large brass basin upon the fire, and filled it with water for the purpose of putting this substance into it. In some of the circular holes there were no ants, but others were crowded with them. Great numbers were destroyed; and the cottage and its neighbourhood enjoyed for a short time some respite, but another horde from a different quarter discovered that the place was untenanted, and we were again persecuted.

There is another method of destroying the ants, which has only of late years been introduced; but this is more particularly adapted to their destruction when they are undermining a building. A mixture of brimstone, and of any other substances which create a considerable degree of smoke, is burnt at the entrance of the ant-hill, a hole being in the first place dug around it, that the combustible matter may be laid rather lower than the surface of the ground immediately surrounding. Then a large pair of bellows is made use of to blow the smoke down the aperture; now it is necessary to observe, that all the crevices by which the smoke is again ejected, should be stopped up. If the operation is conducted with due attention it has been found successful. It is likewise a means of discovering the several communications of the same ant-hill, and thus being able with less uncertainty to judge of the situation of the chief pot (panella) or nest.

The red ant is particularly destructive to the mandioc plant, and in many parts it is almost impossible to preserve the plantations of it from them[117]. I recollect having planted a considerable quantity of it in some low marshy ground, upon hillocks, and the land was so moist that water remained in the furrows round the bottom of each hillock, after the manner of dykes. On this account, I thought it superfluous to desire that any precautions should be taken against the ants; however, I rode one afternoon to see the field, and was surprised to find that the plants upon some of the hillocks were deprived of their leaves. I knew by whom this must have been done, but could not for some minutes discover how the insects had been able to reach the mandioc. I soon saw an ant-track and a few of the ants going along it; I followed the track, and observed that they had formed a bridge of leaves across one of the furrows, upon which they were going over. Some of them crossed to and from the hillock, as I stood watching them.

There were several other species of ants of less bulk, which were occasionally seen. The small red ant and the small black ant, both of which feed on animal substances, would sometimes crowd around a fly, a spider, a small lizard, or any other small animal or insect which might lie dead upon the floor; and by degrees, a number sufficient to move their prey would assemble, and they would convey it slowly along, even up a white-washed wall, if the load was not heavier than usual. It was a most unpleasant sight to watch these insects clinging to their burthen on all sides of it, and so closely packed as to appear to be one shapeless mass of moving substance. All species of ants have a disagreeable smell; but the carnivorous small red ant is that which is the most offensive. There is also another kind of small black ant; it makes its nest in trees, and not near to and among the timbers of houses. Though the size of this ant is very diminutive, being smaller than any other species, it is a dreadful enemy to the large red ant, owing to the numbers and determined courage of the black ant. These small insects are sought after, and encouraged to build upon orange and other fruit trees, which are liable to destruction from the large red ant; and they effectually defend their appointed posts from the dreaded invaders, if time has been given for their numbers to be equal to the task. I have sometimes seen the entrance to the nest of the red ants surrounded by the dead of both parties; but notwithstanding that the number of black ants which are engaged is always much greater than that of the red ant, still I observed that the slain of the latter always out-numbered the former.[118]

The house in which I resided at Jaguaribe, had been in former times a barn in which the sugar was put into chests for exportation; and I had heard from the neighbours that the ants about it were numerous; and particularly a small black ant called the formiga douda, or foolish ant, owing to its not appearing to have any track, but to wander about the spot upon which the horde has appeared, running fast to and fro, and irregularly. These are distinguished from the black ant of the orange trees by this name of douda. One evening I had been asleep in my hammock, and was not a little surprised on waking, to see that part of the wall opposite to me, which was white-washed, appeared to be covered with a piece of black cloth; I got up, and approached it with the lamp in my hand. I soon saw what it was, and could not help shuddering, for the sight, I may say, was horrible; myriads of these ants were marching along the wall, and their numbers were rapidly increasing. I had scarcely recovered from the first surprise, when on looking round, I saw that the other side of the room was in the same state; I left the place quickly, and calling to some of the negroes, desired them to bring coco and palm-leaves in abundance; this was done, and operations being actively set on foot against them by applying lighted leaves to the walls, we soon got rid of the major part of the ants; however many of them escaped by retreating into the numerous cracks in the walls. The next morning the walls were again white-washed, and as many of the crevices filled up as possible. On another occasion, I was awakened in bed in the middle of the night, by a sensation in my feet as if they had been pricked gently by many pins. I jumped up, and as there was a light in the room, I soon perceived what had caused the uneasy sensations; several of these black ants were running about my legs, and upon the bed and floor they were every moment becoming more and more numerous. I escaped, and as soon as the bed cloaths were removed the scene of burning the host of enemies was re-acted.

There yet exists another description of ants, called the tioca; these are black, and on the whole are even larger than the destructive red ant; but I never saw the tioca in great numbers; and when I have observed them, it has been near to where sugar is kept, running to and fro without any settled path and seemingly without any plan of operations. Their bite is still more painful than that of the red ant.

The ants were not my only persecutors at Itamaraca, for these were assisted by the copim, (termes arborum), who build their enormous nests, called in Brazil panellas (pots) among the rafters of houses, which they destroy in the course of time; and likewise they form their settlements upon trees. They oftentimes made their covered ways along the white-washed walls of my house, or up the door posts; but I took every precaution against them, which was more particularly necessary in this instance, as my dwelling was not built of the best kinds of timber. I was advised to besmear the places in which they persisted in attempting to build with treacle, and I found that this was successful in making them alter their proceedings. It is well known in that country by all those persons who have paid any attention to the subject, that there are certain kinds of timber which are more liable to be attacked by these insects than others. However, a person who was about to build a house, chose to think that the distinction which the carpenters made in the several kinds of timber which they recommended him to obtain, either proceeded from some sinister views in the men, or from prejudices which they had imbibed. Therefore, contrary to the advice of his workmen and of his friends, he purchased any kinds of timber which were presented to him for sale, not attending to the quality but to the price. The house was built, and he had already either removed to it or was upon the point of so doing, when it was discovered that the copim had attacked some of the principal timbers; and at last it was judged expedient to pull down a considerable part of the building, without which the whole would have fallen a sacrifice to the insects. A solution of the substance of which the nest of the copim is formed, is used as an injection by the peasants in aguish disorders.[119]

I have not yet mentioned all the persecutors; for besides those which have been here named, and the famous chiguas, of which I have elsewhere spoken, there are the moribondos, a black insect, resembling somewhat the large red and the tioca ant in shape; the moribondo is supplied with wings, and has a most painful sting in the tail. It forms its nest upon the trunks and branches of trees; and in clearing lands, the negroes always proceed with much care, that they may not be taken unawares by these insects; for on a nest being disturbed, they fly out in great numbers; notwithstanding every precaution, this will occasionally happen; and I have known a negro to be unable to work for several days after he has been stung by them. The parts which are affected swell and become inflamed, and the sufferer experiences for a day or two the alternate sensations of violent cold and burning heat, similar to the symptoms of aguish disorders. When the negroes discover the nest without disturbing its inhabitants, dried palm leaves are lighted, and the nest is destroyed by fire. The insects are not often all killed, but those which escape appear to be stupified by the fire and smoke, and do not leave the nest. I have handled them when they have been in this state, for they become harmless; however, after a short time, their activity returns. There are three species of moribondo; the black, of which I have treated; the white, which are so called, although they are only partially white; and the moribondo formiga, which are distinguished from the black moribondo, in bearing a still greater resemblance to the large black ant.

The bats also failed not here to annoy me, for they persecuted my horses. They fasten upon the ears of the beasts, or upon their backs, if there is any spot from which the skin has been rubbed. I have in travelling sometimes been made particularly uneasy at their attacks upon the horses; for unless we had some animals above the requisite complement, it was necessary to load them with the wound open. The skin of an owl is often hung up in a stable for the purpose of scaring the bats.

In laying open the ant-hill which I have above-mentioned, we discovered a couple of the cobras de duas cabeÇas, or two-headed snakes or worms; each of them was rolled up in one of the nests. These snakes are about eighteen inches in length, and about the thickness of the little finger of a child of four or five years of age. Both extremities of the snake appear to be exactly similar to each other; and when the reptile is touched, both of these are raised, and form a circle or hoop to strike that which has molested it. They appear to be perfectly blind, for they never alter their course to avoid any object until they come in contact with it, and then without turning about they crawl away in an opposite direction. The colour is grey inclining to white, and they are said to be venomous. This species of snake is often found in ant-hills, and I have likewise killed them in my house; they frequent dung-hills and places in which vegetable matter has been allowed to remain for a length of time unremoved.

The island of Itamaraca is said to be less infested with snakes than the main land, and perhaps this opinion is founded on experience; but some of those which are generally accounted venomous certainly exist upon it. A rattle-snake was killed at Amparo two years previous to the period of which I am speaking. A horse died one night in my neighbourhood, and his death was attributed to the bite of a snake; there was a wound upon him, and his body was much swoln. Manoel killed a cobra de veado, or antelope snake (Boa Constrictor) which he brought home to shew me. It was a young one, of seven feet in length, and about the thickness of a man’s arm. The name which it bears of antelope snake proceeds from the destruction which it causes among these animals. The full-grown snake of this species lies in wait for the antelope and other animals of the same size; it entwines its tail around a tree, and patiently expects that its prey will pass within its reach; when this occurs, it encircles the unfortunate animal with its enormous body, thus securing it. I never could discover, after much enquiry, that it had ever been found in a torpid state, digesting its food. Men have sometimes been caught by them; but if the person so situated can draw his knife, his escape is very possible, though he will probably receive several wounds. The opinion is general in the country that the person who receives the bite of one of these snakes, has nothing farther to fear from that of any other snake of whatever description.

One of the negroes whom I had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribe, had one leg much thicker than the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a rattle-snake; he said, that he had been cured from the bites of snakes by a Curador de cobras or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died; but that “as the moon was strong[120],” he had not escaped receiving some injury from the bite. He had frequently violent pains in his limbs, at the full and change of the moon particularly, and sometimes the wound opened, and remained in this state for weeks together; but if he was careful in not exposing it to the early dews of the morning, it would again heal without any medicinal applications being made use of.

The most beautiful reptile which I saw was the cobra de coral, or coral snake or worm. It is about two feet in length, and of the thickness of a man’s thumb; it is marked with black, white and red stripes transversally. The general opinion is that it is venomous.[121]

But the snakes do not cause so much annoyance as the smaller species of vermin which I am about to mention; because the former seldom enter the houses, nor are they very frequently to be seen in the paths or roads. But the aranha caranguejeira, or crab-spider, (aranea avicularia); the lacraia or scorpion, and the piolho de cobra, or snake louse, (scolopendra morsitans), are to be met with in the houses and in all situations. They should be carefully avoided, for their bites are painful, and are said to cause inflammation. An instinctive recollection of the chance of meeting with these or other vermin of less importance became so habitual with me (and indeed is so with most persons) that when I was about to begin to read, I closed the book in the first place violently so as to crush any thing that might have crept in between the leaves; when my hat, or boots, or cloaths were put on, some precaution was taken, as a thing of course; this was not done from a direct idea of the likelihood of finding any thing unpleasant in that immediate instance; but the precaution was entered into from habit, unconsciously. I was one day bit by a lacraia; I had mounted my horse, and had taken my umbrella in my hand for the purpose of shading me from the sun when I had advanced farther upon my ride; when I was in the act of opening it, I felt suddenly a violent pain upon the fleshy part of the inside of one of my hands; on looking down I soon saw what it was that had bitten me, upon which I turned back, and rode home. I applied the juice of lemons to the part, and in about half an hour, not finding any particularly disagreeable sensations, again mounted my horse. The only effect which I experienced from the bite was a numbness in my hand for the remainder of the day, and a redness about the point which was immediately affected; but on the following day the former was removed, and the latter did not last long. Labat mentions an instance in which the bite of a scorpion caused as little inconvenience as that which I have related. When I mentioned to some of my neighbours the slight consequences of the bite, they ascribed it to the state of the moon.

In the month of September, I went up the river in a canoe to IguaraÇu. The distance from my residence was two leagues. The river or creek has two mouths, which are situated in the bay of the village of Camboa, which is immediately opposite to Conception. In the river there are several islands which are covered with mangroves, and are too low to be cultivated; the banks of the river are likewise lined with the same description of plant, excepting at one point to the left in going up, where the bank is high and perpendicular, and projects considerably. At this place the forest trees come down to the edge of the bank. Near to the town of IguaraÇu the mangroves have been destroyed, and perhaps upon some particular spots they did not originally grow. When the tide is out, the quantity of water which remains in the river is trifling, and in some parts it is nearly dry; indeed, were it not for two places of inconsiderable breadth, where the water is always deep, a man on foot might walk along its bed from about one mile above Camboa to the town. I came down from IguaraÇu one day at the ebb of the tide in a small canoe, which held one man besides myself; it was with difficulty that he could find a channel in which there was sufficient water to float our vessel. It was to Conception that the Portugueze came down from IguaraÇu for provisions, during the siege of the latter place by the savages in 1548, as is related by Hans Stade. I also observed one of the spots at which the savages attempted to sink the boat as it returned, by means of letting a large tree fall upon it[122]. The town of IguaraÇu was plundered, and the inhabitants slaughtered by the Dutch in 1632, under the direction of the dreadful mulatto Calabar.[123]

The mangroves entirely destroy the beauty which it is natural to suppose that the rivers of the country of which I am treating would possess. Until they are destroyed a dull sameness presents itself, for the eye cannot penetrate beyond them. Upon the banks of the Capibaribe they have given place to houses and gardens, and the alteration is most pleasing; upon the banks of the Maria Farinha, the mangroves are beginning to give way to cultivation at the settlements (sitios) of Jardim and Olaria; but the IguaraÇu is without any break, and the Goiana is, I understand, in the same state. There are plantations along these rivers, but the owners content themselves with merely cutting a path through the mangroves down to the water’s edge, so that to a stranger who goes up the rivers the country appears to be uninhabited, until he passes some of these small openings, at which a canoe or a jangada is moored; but the openings are very narrow, and are only to be seen on coming immediately opposite to them. The mangroves grow as far down as low water-mark, and when the tide is out their entangled roots and sprouts, and their stems covered with oysters and besmeared with mud, are left uncovered; but at the height of the tide these are concealed, and the water reaches up to the branches of the trees, so that those which bend downwards are partly wetted, presenting to the beholder the view of a forest growing in the water. This species of mangrove sometimes attains the diameter of fifteen or eighteen inches, and the height of twenty-five or thirty feet. There are two species with which I am acquainted, the mangue vermelho or red mangrove, of which I have been speaking, and the mangue bravo or wild mangrove. The bark of the former is used for tanning, and the timber is much esteemed for beams and rafters in building, but it cannot be used as posts, for under ground it decays very quickly; nor as railings, for it does not bear exposure to the weather. A considerable trade is carried on from Itamaraca, and from some other parts to Recife, in the wood of these plants, which is used as fuel. The tree grows again as often as it is cut down if the root is not injured, and with such rapidity that the supply of the wood will, for a length of time—I mean unless the destruction of the plant becomes more extensive than it is at present—be fully adequate to the demand for it. The fish forsake those parts to which the trees are brought to be cut up for firewood. This may be judged to proceed from the properties of the bark. In a fish-pen, (cural de peixe) near to my place no fish was caught after the fuel-cutters had established themselves at the bridge hard by; of this I heard much, as there was some squabbling upon the subject. The ashes of the mangrove plants are used as temper in the sugar boiling houses.[124]

As I did not, in 1814, suppose that on the following year I should be recalled, I began to make some addition to my cottage, for it was too small for me; and besides it was old, and was constructed of bad timber, which caused it to be much infested by the ants and the copim. I had a considerable quantity of timber of excellent quality at Jaguaribe, which had been prepared by me for building there, and therefore I determined to send for it. Permission was also obtained from the owner of the Engenho Novo, to cut down some trees in his woods, for which he ultimately refused to be paid. The woods of his plantation came down nearly to the water’s edge near to Camboa, and were consequently very conveniently situated for my purpose. The building was to be constructed of wood and mud,—that is, of thick posts supporting the roof and smaller posts at fixed distances between the principal ones, and the openings between each of them were to be filled up with mud. I could not help regretting that such beautiful woods as those which were used should be employed in purposes so much beneath their worth. The pao ferro or iron wood, which is also called the coraÇam de negro or the negro’s heart[125], was the most valuable of those which I employed. The outward coat of the wood of this tree is not particularly hard, but the heart destroys many hatchets. I have seen some of this timber taken out of the ground after standing for many years as a supporter to the roof of a house; and though the outward coat was crumbling into dust, the black heart seemed to be literally of iron, or to have increased rather than decreased in hardness[126]. This wood admits of considerable polish; but the black wood, which is most esteemed for furniture, is the jacaranda; this is also hard, but is much more penetrable than the pao ferro, and the polish to which it may be brought is more complete.[127]

The pao d’arco is another valuable wood, and is so called, I imagine, from the use which the Indians made of it for their bows; it is much used in building, and is accounted almost as durable as the pao ferro. It admits of being cleft into splinters, which are flexible without breaking. The pao d’arco has the property of retaining fire for a long time without being stirred, and of yielding a bright light if the log be occasionally touched. The peasantry take advantage of this, and cleave the logs into several narrow splinters, of which they form a bunch; this being lighted, serves them as a flambeau. Formerly, likewise, when every thing was in a ruder state even than it is now in Brazil, the sugar-works were lighted with logs of pao d’arco instead of oil; indeed I have heard that some of the mills in the back settlements still continue this practice. The ashes of this tree are used as temper in the boiling houses of the mills. The number of fine species of timber in Brazil is very great, but I am myself acquainted only with a few of them.[128]

The louro is a large tree, and of it there are three species, all of which are used principally for the beams of houses, for the timber of them rots quickly under ground or if it be exposed to the weather. The most esteemed timber for doors, window-shutters, floors of houses, &c. is the pao amarello or yellow wood. This is a large tree, and the name which it has obtained, continues to be sufficiently appropriate for the first six months after it has been cut down; but the yellow colour is after this period lost, and the wood becomes of a dirty brown. The canoes are almost exclusively made of the pao amarello. The pao santo or holy-wood is scarce, and is much sought after for certain purposes, as it is not liable to split, bend, or break; it is particularly required for the teeth of the sugar-rollers. The wood is beautifully veined with yellow and brown, but becomes after some time of a dusky brown colour. There is likewise a tree which is called cedro, but whether it is the cedar or not I cannot determine; the wood is hard, and is much esteemed for building.[129]

I cut down all the mangroves which grew along the borders of my piece of land, and likewise some other kinds of trees which grew just beyond the reach of the salt-water; among these was the aroeira, a small irregular tree, of which the wood is soft, and not even fit for timber; the only use to which the plant is put, is, that as the leaves have an aromatic smell, they are used in curing fish, to which they impart a slight portion of their odour; they are placed upon the girau or boucan, and the fish is laid upon them; fish is likewise packed in the leaves of the aroeira when about to be sent to a distance[130]. The tree only grows in situations near to the sea. Good fences might be made of it for the stakes take root; I used some of the trees for this purpose. The molungo and the pinham have likewise this last property; and as the former is supplied with strong sharp thorns, this advantage renders it preferable to the aroeira. The molungo grows spontaneously in moist situations, but the stakes take root even if the soil is dry, unless no rain falls for some time after it has been planted. Great numbers of the molungo grew near to my house, just below a spring of water which oozed from the side of the hill. The cow-itch was also found here in abundance; it is called by the peasants machonan.

The pinham requires less rain and grows quicker than the molungo, but it is without thorns, and the plant is not nearly so large. The seed of the pinham is used as an emetic by the peasants, and is violent in its operation, a very small quantity being sufficient even for an adult. The fruit incloses three seeds, and is about the size of the common hazel-nut. During the third attack of ague which I had whilst I was at Jaguaribe, I placed myself under the direction of an old mulatto woman, than whom I never saw any one more like a witch; and indeed poor old Antonia had the reputation of being somewhat of a mandingueira. However she gave me a dose of pinham, which, I think, consisted of four seeds, but they were picked out from a heap of others for their superior size. The dose acted most violently and effectually produced vomiting, and although excessive weakness followed the disorder was removed. I begged her to give me a quantity equal to what she had administered, that I might take it to Recife; this I shewed to a practitioner, who answered that he should have imagined that such a dose would have killed any one; but the old reputed sorceress knew full well, that a dangerous disease requires to be severely attacked[131]. After the ague left me, my nurse would not be satisfied until she applied the bark of the mutamba tree to my stomach; or rather the application was made just below the ribs, which she said was to prevent dureza; this she described as a hardness immediately under the lower rib of each side, which sometimes was produced by the ague, and which, if precautions were not taken in time ended in dropsy. I did not suffer her to continue the mutamba for many days, for I found that I was well, and wanted no more nostrums. The mutamba is a small tree, having a straight stem; it grows to the height of eighteen or twenty feet, and to the diameter of twelve or eighteen inches. The bark is easily torn off, and is extremely glutinous.

The Gameleira preta (black,) so called from the dark colour of its bark, is a large tree which grows in low marshy grounds; the stem contains a white juice, which is much sought for as a medicine in all eruptive complaints and in dropsy; it is likewise given inwardly. The juice is obtained by making an incision in the stem, and leaving a vessel into which the liquid may drop. There is another species of the same tree, which is distinguished by the name of white gameleira, and this is useless.

I was obliged in September to forsake my house for three days from a most unexpected cause. A whale was stranded upon one of the sand-banks at the mouth of the harbour; this being the third time that the inhabitants of Itamaraca had been favoured with visitors of this description. Jangadas were sent out to it, and when the tide came in, it floated, and was towed into the harbour, where the persons who were employed in the business landed it, as near as they could at high water mark, in front of and distant from my house about three hundred yards. Many of my neighbours were occupied in making oil; for any one who pleased was at liberty to take as much of the blubber as he could make use of; and one man fairly got into the whale, and ladled out the fat which was melted by the heat of the sun. When the people left the carcase, either at mid-day or at night, it was attacked by numerous flights of urubus, and was literally covered by them. The trees round about the spot were occupied by these enormous birds, which were waiting for an opportunity of satisfying their boundless appetites. The urubu is nearly twice the size of the common crow of England; it is quite black, excepting at the point of the beak, which is white, as I have been told, but this I did not observe. Wherever there happens to be the carcase of an animal, these birds assemble shortly after the death of the beast, and they seem to arrive in greater or less numbers according to the size of the carcase. The peasants tell many stories about the king of the urubus, who has a tuft of red feathers upon his head, but I never heard any coherent account of this sovereign.

The stench proceeding from the whale became in a few days so intolerable as to render a removal necessary, and therefore I applied to an old creole black, a carpenter, to allow me to reside in his cottage, which was neat and clean. To this he agreed; whilst he went to live with some of his friends.