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Show ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 155 Orinoco these leaden-colored rocks are considered to give out pernicious exhalations when wet; and their proximity is believed to produce fevers. (Rel. hist. t. ii. pp. 299-304.) In the Rio Negro, and generally in the South American rivers which have "black waters," "aguas negras," or waters of a coffee-brown or yellow tint, no such effects take place. No black color is imparted to the granite rock by the waters; that is to say, they do not act upon the stone so as to form from its constituent particles a black or leaden-colored crust. ( 47) p. 41.-" The rain-annmmc:ing howlings of the bearded apes." The melancholy how lings of the small apes, Simia seniculus, Simia beelzebub, &c., are heard some hours before the rain commences : it is as if the tempest were heard raging at a distance. The intensity of the noise produced by such small animals can only be explained by their number; seventy or eighty being often lodged in. a single tree. On the organs of voice of these animals, see my anatomical treatise in the first chapter of my Recueil d'Observations de Zoologic, vol. i. p. 18. ( 48) p. 41.- " Often covered with birds." The crocodiles lie so motionless that I have seen flamingos (Phoonicopterus) resting on their heads; the body at the same time being covered with aquatic birds, like the trunk of a tree. (49) p. 41.- "Down his swelling th1·oat." The saliva with which the boa covers his prey hastens the process of decomposition; the muscular flesh thus becomes softened into such a gelatinous state, th:~.t he can force entire limbs of larger, and bodies of smaller, animals down his throat without division. The Creoles call this gigantic serpent, from these circumstances, "Tragavenado," which means "Stag swallower;" they tell fabulous stories of snakes being seen with the antlers of a stag (which it was impossible to swallow) sticking in their throats. I have several times seen the boa swimming in the Orinoco, and in the smaller forest streams, the Tuamini, the Temi, and the Atabapo. It holds its head above the water like a dog. Its skin is finely spotted. It is said to |
