The Naturalist on the River AmazonsJ. Murray, 1873 - 10 pages |
Common terms and phrases
afterwards alligator amongst animals ants appearance ashore Aveyros banks beautiful birds boat branches Brazilian broad cacao Cafuzo called Cametá campos canoe Cardozo channel clothed coast colour creek distance dry season Ecitons eggs farinha feet fish flocks foliage Fonte Boa forest fruit ground habits hammocks head height inches Indians inhabitants insects interior islands Japurá kind land larvæ leaves length lower main river mameluco mandioca miles monkeys montaria morning mouth mulatto Mundurucús natives nearly neighbourhood neighbouring night o'clock Obydos paddle palm Pará Pará river passed plants Portuguese ramble Rio Negro road rocinha sail sand sandy Santarem seemed seen Senhor shade shape shore side skin Solimoens species specimens stream Tabatinga tail Tapajos thickets Tocantins Toucan trees tribes trunks Tupí turtles Upper Amazons vegetation vessel village voyage walk whilst wild wind wings woods yards young
Popular passages
Page 356 - ... passing over a tract of smooth ground, occupies a space of from four to six square yards ; on examining the ants closely they are seen to move, not altogether in one straightforward direction, but in variously spreading contiguous columns, now separating a little from the general mass, now re- uniting with it. The margins of the phalanx spread out at times like a cloud of skirmishers from the flanks of an army.
Page 27 - ... incessantly. It is never either spring, summer, or autumn, but each day is a combination of all three. With the day and night always of equal length, the atmospheric disturbances of each day neutralising themselves before each succeeding morn ; with the sun in its course proceeding mid-way across the sky, and the daily temperature the same within two or three degrees throughout the year — how grand in its perfect equilibrium and simplicity is the march of Nature under the equator...
Page 249 - Vicente, who lay snoring by the helm, awoke and told me it was a " terra cahida ; " but I could scarcely believe him. The day dawned after the uproar had lasted about an hour, and we then saw the work of destruction going forward on the other side of the river, about three miles off. Large masses of forest, including trees of colossal size, probably 200 feet in height, were rocking to and fro, and falling headlong one after the other into the water.
Page 32 - The few sounds of birds are of that pensive and mysterious character which intensifies the feeling of solitude rather than imparts a sense of life and cheerfulness.
Page 335 - Nothing in animal physiognomy can be more hideous than the countenance of this creature when viewed from the front ; the large, leathery ears standing out from the sides and top of the head, the erect spear-shaped appendage on the tip of the nose, the grin and the glistening black eye all combining to make up a figure that reminds one of some mocking imp of fable.
Page 349 - Eciton rapax.— One of the foragers, Eciton rapax, the giant of its genus, whose worker-majors are half-an-inch in length, hunts in single file through the forest. There is no division into classes amongst its workers, although the difference in size is very great, some being scarcely one-half the length of others.
Page 297 - Bates) that the waters of the Solimoens are as well stocked with large alligators in the dry season as a ditch in England is in summer with tadpoles.
Page 26 - Small flocks of parrots flew over on most mornings, at a great height, appearing in distinct relief against the blue sky, always two by two, chattering to each other, the pairs being separated by regular intervals ; their bright colours, however, were not apparent at that height. After breakfast we devoted the hours from 10 am to 2 or 3 pm to entomology ; the best time for insects in the forest being a little before the heat of the day.
Page 20 - The tree-trunks were only seen partially here and there, nearly the whole frontage from ground to summit being covered with a diversified drapery of creeping plants, all of the most vivid shades of green ; scarcely a flower to be seen, except in some places a solitary scarlet passion-flower, set in the green mantle like a star. The low ground on the borders, between the forest wall and the road, was encumbered with a tangled mass of bushy and shrubby vegetation, amongst which prickly mimosas were...
Page 26 - First, the cool sea-breeze, which commenced to blow about 10 o'clock, and which had increased in force with the increasing power of the sun, would flag and finally die away. The heat and electric tension of the atmosphere would then become almost insupportable. Languor and uneasiness would seize on every one ; even, the denizens of the forest betraying it by their motions.