The Naturalist in NicaraguaJ.M. Dent, 1928 - 306 pages |
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Page vii
... beautiful disposi- tion ; his father , much given to hobbies , was stern and un- bending , and he himself combined an almost womanly gentleness with a quiet determination that unflinchingly faced all obstacles . With a high sense of ...
... beautiful disposi- tion ; his father , much given to hobbies , was stern and un- bending , and he himself combined an almost womanly gentleness with a quiet determination that unflinchingly faced all obstacles . With a high sense of ...
Page xiii
... beautiful in nature , and the equally valuable habit of seeking a reason for all he saw . Having found or imagined one , he went on to make fresh observa- tions , and sought out new facts to see how they accorded with his supposed cause ...
... beautiful in nature , and the equally valuable habit of seeking a reason for all he saw . Having found or imagined one , he went on to make fresh observa- tions , and sought out new facts to see how they accorded with his supposed cause ...
Page 5
... beautiful , " by the natives , and I found it afterwards growing wild in the provinces of Matagalpa and Segovia , where it was one of the great favourites of the flower - loving Indians . The land at and around Greytown is perfectly ...
... beautiful , " by the natives , and I found it afterwards growing wild in the provinces of Matagalpa and Segovia , where it was one of the great favourites of the flower - loving Indians . The land at and around Greytown is perfectly ...
Page 6
... beautiful house and grounds , with a fine avenue of coco - nut trees in full bear- ing , form one of the most attractive sights in Greytown . I found Mr. Paton , the vice - consul , equally obliging , and I am indebted to him for much ...
... beautiful house and grounds , with a fine avenue of coco - nut trees in full bear- ing , form one of the most attractive sights in Greytown . I found Mr. Paton , the vice - consul , equally obliging , and I am indebted to him for much ...
Page 7
... beautiful tanagers ( Ramphocælus passerinii ) frequent the outskirts of the forest , all velvety black , excepting a large patch of fiery - red above the tail , which renders the bird very conspicuous . It is only the male that is thus ...
... beautiful tanagers ( Ramphocælus passerinii ) frequent the outskirts of the forest , all velvety black , excepting a large patch of fiery - red above the tail , which renders the bird very conspicuous . It is only the male that is thus ...
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The Naturalist in Nicaragua: A Narrative of a Residence at the Gold Mines of ... Thomas Belt No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
amongst ancient animals ants Atlantic attacks beautiful beetles birds branches bushes butterflies carried cattle Central America Chontales colour continued couvade covered crossed dark Depilto dogs Ecitons feet flowers forest fresh-water fruit glacial period gold grass green Greytown ground hills humming-birds Indians inhabitants insects islands Jinotega Juigalpa lake land larvæ leaf leaf-cutting ants leaves Libertad live lodes longicorn look maize Masaya Matagalpa Mexico miles mines mountain mules Nahuatls natives nearly nest Nicaragua night numerous o'clock Ocotal passed plains plants prey probably quartz quartz veins rain range reached resemblance Rio Frio river road rocks rocky San Ubaldo Santo Domingo savannahs seen side slope soon Spaniards species spiders steep stones surface Teustepe tion told Totagalpa town trachyte travelling trees tropical America valley variety vegetation Velasquez wasps whilst wings yellow young
Popular passages
Page ix - And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee, Saying: "Here is a story-book Thy Father has written for thee." " Come, wander with me," she said, "Into regions yet untrod; And read what is still unread In the manuscripts of God." And he wandered away and away With Nature, the dear old nurse, Who sang to him night and day The rhymes of the universe. And whenever the way seemed long, Or his heart began to fail, She would sing a more wonderful song, Or tell a more marvellous tale.
Page 87 - I have seen the female sitting quietly on a branch, and two males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot up like JIUMMING-BIRDS a rocket, then suddenly expanding the snow-white tail like an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually to show off both back and front. The...
Page 269 - ... at Caraccas, as well as at Calabozo, preparations were made to put the place into a state of defence against an enemy, who seemed to be advancing with heavy artillery.
Page 242 - I had an opportunity of proving in Brazil that some birds, if not all, reject the Heliconii butterflies, which are closely resembled by butterflies of other families and by moths. I observed a pair of birds that were bringing butterflies and dragonflies to their young, and although the Heliconii swarmed in the neighborhood, and are of weak flight, so as to be easily caught, the birds never brought one to their nest.
Page 48 - ... less the crimsons, purples, and yellows of Canada, where the dying foliage rivals, nay, excels, the expiring dolphin in splendour. Unknown the cold sleep of winter ; unknown the lovely awakening of vegetation at the first gentle touch of spring. A ceaseless round of ever-active life weaves the fairest scenery of the tropics into one monotonous whole, of which the component parts exhibit in detail untold variety and beauty.
Page 245 - He cannot be mistaken for any other, and his flaming vest and blue stockings show that he does not court concealment. He is very abundant in the damp woods, and I was convinced he was uneatable so soon as I made his acquaintance and saw the happy sense of security with which he hopped about. I took a few specimens home with me, and tried my fowls and ducks with them, but none would touch them.
Page 48 - Great broadleaved heliconias, leathery melastomae, and succulent-stemmed, lop-sided, leaved, and flesh-coloured begonias are abundant, and typical of tropical American forests ; but not less so are the cecropia trees, with their white stems and large palmated leaves standing up like great candelabra. Sometimes the ground is carpeted with large flowers, yellow, pink, or white, that have fallen from some invisible tree-top above ; or the air is filled with a delicious perfume, the source of which one...
Page 47 - ... passing from tree to tree, entangling the giants in a great network of coiling cables. Sometimes a tree appears covered with beautiful flowers which do not belong to it but to one of the lianas that twines through its branches and sends down great rope-like stems to the ground. Climbing ferns and vanilla cling to the trunks, and a thousand epiphytes perch themselves on the branches. Amongst these are large arums that send down long aerial roots, tough and strong, and universally used instead...
Page 25 - I once saw a wide column trying to pass along a crumbling, nearly perpendicular, slope. They would have got very slowly over it, and many of them would have fallen ; but a number having secured their hold, and reaching to each other, remained stationary, and over them the main column passed.
Page 67 - ... were continually passing and repassing. Every time they came along a number of ants were crushed to death. They persevered in crossing for some time, but at last set to work and tunnelled underneath each rail. One day, when the...