The Naturalist on the River Amazons: A Record of Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature Under the Equator, During Eleven Years of TravelJ. Fitzgerald, 1880 - 774 pages |
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Page 631
... length walked onward . The road then ascended slightly , and the soil and vegetation became suddenly altered in char- acter . The shrubs here were grasses , low sedges and other plants , smaller in foliage than those growing in moist ...
... length walked onward . The road then ascended slightly , and the soil and vegetation became suddenly altered in char- acter . The shrubs here were grasses , low sedges and other plants , smaller in foliage than those growing in moist ...
Page 632
... length . The leaves , which have the ordinary pinnate shape characteristic of the family , are emitted from the stems at long intervals , instead of being collected into a dense crown , and have at their tips a number of long re- curved ...
... length . The leaves , which have the ordinary pinnate shape characteristic of the family , are emitted from the stems at long intervals , instead of being collected into a dense crown , and have at their tips a number of long re- curved ...
Page 634
... length becoming obscured . Then the rush of a mighty wind is heard through the forest , swaying the tree- tops ; a vivid flash of lightning bursts forth , thea a crash of thunder , and down streams the deluging ain . Such storms soon ...
... length becoming obscured . Then the rush of a mighty wind is heard through the forest , swaying the tree- tops ; a vivid flash of lightning bursts forth , thea a crash of thunder , and down streams the deluging ain . Such storms soon ...
Page 636
... length , after a six hours ' walk , we arrived at our destination , the last mile or two hav ing been again through second - growth for est . The mills formed a large pile of build- ings , pleasantly situated in a cleared tract of land ...
... length , after a six hours ' walk , we arrived at our destination , the last mile or two hav ing been again through second - growth for est . The mills formed a large pile of build- ings , pleasantly situated in a cleared tract of land ...
Page 642
... length of the trunk , is not described . This rare and beautiful little prehensile . The hind limbs are much larger monkey is only seven inches in length , ex- in volume than the anterior pair . The Midus clusive of the tail . It is ...
... length of the trunk , is not described . This rare and beautiful little prehensile . The hind limbs are much larger monkey is only seven inches in length , ex- in volume than the anterior pair . The Midus clusive of the tail . It is ...
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Common terms and phrases
afterward alligators anchor animal ants appearance ashore banks beautiful birds boat branches Brazilian broad cacao Cafuzo called Cametá campos canoe Cardozo Caripí channel clothed coast color creek cuberta 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 live lower main river mameluco mandioca miles monkeys montaria morning mouth natives nearly neighborhood neighboring night o'clock Obydos paddle palms Pará Pará river passed plants Portuguese ramble Rio Negro road rocinha sails sand sandy Santarem seemed seen Senhor shade shape shore side Solimoens species stream Tabatinga tail Tapajos tion Tocantins Toucans town trees tribe trunks Tupí turtles Upper Amazons vegetation vessel village voyage walk wild wind wings woods yards young
Popular passages
Page 759 - ... liquid. They soon penetrate every part of the confused heap, and then, gathering together again in marching order, onward they move. All soft-bodied and inactive insects fall an easy prey to them, and, like other Ecitons, they tear their victims in pieces for facility of carriage. A phalanx of this species, when 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...
Page 629 - ... This frontal eye is totally wanting in the other workers, and is not known in any other kind of ant. The apparition of these strange creatures from the cavernous depths of the mine reminded me, when I first observed them, of the Cyclopes of Homeric fable. They were not very pugnacious, as I feared they would be, and I had no difficulty in securing a few with my fingers. I never saw them under any other circumstances than those here related, and what their special functions may be I cannot divine.
Page 627 - Each one places itself on the surface of a leaf, and cuts with its sharp scissors-like jaws a nearly semicircular incision on the upper side ; it then takes the edge between its jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches the piece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to the ground, where a little heap accumulates, until carried off by another relay of workers ; but generally each marches off with the piece it has operated...
Page 634 - With the day and night always of equal length, the atmospheric disturbances of each day neutralizing 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 ! Our evenings were generally fully employed preserving our collections, and making notes.
Page 673 - It was lively only for two or three, and then its loud note could be heard from one end of the village to the other. When it died he gave me the specimen, the only one I was able to procure. It is a member of the family Locustidas, a group intermediate between the Crickets (Achetidas) and the Grasshoppers (Acridiidae).
Page 655 - ... part of the web was broken. and two small birds, finches, were entangled in the pieces; they were about the size of the English siskin, and I judged the two to be male and female. One of them was quite dead; the other lay under the body of the spider not quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy liquor or saliva exuded by the monster. I drove away the spider and took the birds, but the second one soon died.
Page 758 - I ascertained only after longcontinued observation, is as follows. The main column, from four to six deep, moves forward in a given direction, clearing the ground of all animal matter dead or alive, and throwing off here and there, a thinner column to forage for a short time on the flanks of the main army, and re-enter it again after their task is accomplished. If some very rich place be encountered anywhere near the line of march, for example, a mass of rotten wood abounding in insect larvae, a...
Page 756 - ... silk, and is frequently seen in the narrow alleys of the forest, suspended from the extreme tip of an outstanding leaf by a strong silken thread, five or six inches in length. It forms a very conspicuous object, hanging thus in mid-air. The glossy threads with which it is knitted are stout, and the structure is therefore not liable to be torn by the beaks of insectivorous birds...
Page 655 - I was attracted by a movement of the monster on a treetrunk ; it was close beneath a deep crevice in the tree, across which was stretched a dense white web. The lower part of the web was broken, and two small birds, finches, were entangled in the...
Page 631 - 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 passionflower set in the green mantle like a star. The low ground on the borders between the forest wall and the road, was encumbered...