for when the Indians and negroes kill a snake they seldom fail to cut
off the head, and then they run no risk from its teeth. When the skin
is stuffed in the museum a wooden head is substituted, armed with teeth
which are large enough to suit a tiger's jaw; and this tends to mislead
the spectator and give him erroneous ideas.
During this fray with the serpent the old negro, Daddy Quashi, was in
Georgetown procuring provisions, and just returned in time to help to
take the skin off. He had spent best part of his life in the forest
with his old master, Mr. Edmonstone, and amused me much in recounting
their many adventures amongst the wild beasts. The Daddy had a
particular horror of snakes, and frankly declared he could never have
faced the one in question.
The week following his courage was put to the test, and he made good
his words. It was a curious conflict, and took place near the spot
where I had captured the large snake. In the morning I had been
following a new species of paroquet, and, the day being rainy, I had
taken an umbrella to keep the gun dry, and had left it under a tree; in
the afternoon I took Daddy Quashi with me to look for it. Whilst he was
searching about, curiosity took me towards the place of the late scene
of action. There was a path where timber had formerly been dragged
along. Here I observed a young coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly
moving onwards. I saw he was not thick enough to break my arm, in case
he got twisted round it. There was not a moment to be lost. I laid hold
of his tail with the left hand, one knee being on the ground; with the
right I took off my hat, and held it as you would hold a shield for
defence.
The snake instantly turned and came on at me, with his head about a
yard from the ground, as if to ask me what business I had to take
liberties with his tail. I let him come, hissing and open-mouthed,
within two feet of my face, and then with all the force I was master of
I drove my fist, shielded by my hat, full in his jaws. He was stunned
and confounded by the blow, and ere he could recover himself I had
seized his throat with both hands in such a position that he could not
bite me. I then allowed him to coil himself round my body, and marched
off with him as my lawful prize. He pressed me hard, but not alarmingly
so.
In the meantime Daddy Quashi, having found the umbrella and having
heard the noise which the fray occasioned, was coming cautiously up. As
soon as he saw me and in what company I was, he turned about and ran
off home, I after him, and shouting to increase his fear. On scolding
him for his cowardice, the old rogue begged that I would forgive him,
for that the sight of the snake had positively turned him sick at
stomach.
When I had done with the carcass of the large snake it was conveyed
into the forest, as I expected that it would attract the king of the
vultures as soon as time should have rendered it sufficiently savoury.
In a few days it sent forth that odour which a carcass should send
forth, and about twenty of the common vultures came and perched on the
neighbouring trees. The king of the vultures came, too; and I observed
that none of the common ones seemed inclined to begin breakfast till
his majesty had finished. When he had consumed as much snake as Nature
informed him would do him good, he retired to the top of a high
mora-tree, and then all the common vultures fell to and made a hearty
meal.
The head and neck of the king of the vultures are bare of feathers; but
the beautiful appearance they exhibit fades in death. The throat and
the back of the neck are of a fine lemon colour; both sides of the
neck, from the ears downwards, of a rich scarlet; behind the corrugated
part there is a white spot. The crown of the head is scarlet; betwixt
the lower mandible and the eye and close by the ear there is a part
which has a fine silvery-blue appearance; the corrugated part is of a
dirty light brown; behind it and just above the white spot a portion of
the skin is blue, and the rest scarlet; the skin which juts out behind
the neck, and appears like an oblong caruncle, is blue in part and part
orange.
The bill is orange and black, the caruncles on his forehead orange, and
the cere orange; the orbits scarlet, and the irides white. Below the
bare part of the neck there is a cinereous ruff. The bag of the
stomach, which is only seen when distended with food, is of a most
delicate white, intersected with blue veins, which appear on it just
like the blue veins on the arm of a fair-complexioned person. The tail
and long wing-feathers are black, the belly white, and the rest of the
body a fine satin colour.
I cannot be persuaded that the vultures ever feed upon live animals,
not even upon lizards, rats, mice or frogs. I have watched them for
hours together, but never could see them touch any living animals,
though innumerable lizards, frogs and small birds swarmed all around
them. I have killed lizards and frogs, and put them in a proper place
for observation; as soon as they began to stink the aura vulture
invariably came and took them off. I have frequently observed that the
day after the planter had burnt the trash in a cane-field the aura
vulture was sure to be there, feeding on the snakes, lizards and frogs
which had suffered in the conflagration. I often saw a large bird (very
much like the common gregarious vulture, at a distance) catch and
devour lizards; after shooting one it turned out to be not a vulture
but a hawk, with a tail squarer and shorter than hawks have in general.
The vultures, like the goat-sucker and woodpecker, seem to be in
disgrace with man. They are generally termed a voracious, stinking,
cruel and ignoble tribe. Under these impressions the fowler discharges
his gun at them, and probably thinks he has done well in ridding the
earth of such vermin.
Some Governments impose a fine on him who kills a vulture. This is a
salutary law, and it were to be wished that other Governments would
follow so good an example. I would fain here say a word or two in
favour of this valuable scavenger.
Kind Providence has conferred a blessing on hot countries in giving
them the vulture; He has ordered it to consume that which, if left to
dissolve in putrefaction, would infect the air and produce a
pestilence. When full of food the vulture certainly appears an indolent
bird; he will stand for hours together on the branch of a tree, or on
the top of a house, with his wings drooping, and, after rain, with them
spread and elevated to catch the rays of the sun. It has been remarked
by naturalists that the flight of this bird is laborious. I have paid
attention to the vulture in Andalusia and to those in Guiana, Brazil,
and the West Indies, and conclude that they are birds of long, even and
lofty flight. Indeed, whoever has observed the aura vulture will be
satisfied that his flight is wonderfully majestic and of long
continuance.
This bird is above five feet from wing to wing extended. You will see
it soaring aloft in the aerial expanse on pinions which never flutter,
and which at the same time carry him through the fields of ether with a
rapidity equal to that of the golden eagle. In Paramaribo the laws
protect the vulture, and the Spaniards of Angustura never think of
molesting him. In 1808 I saw the vultures in that city as tame as
domestic fowls; a person who had never seen a vulture would have taken
them for turkeys. They were very useful to the Spaniards. Had it not
been for them, the refuse of the slaughter-houses in Angustura would
have caused an intolerable nuisance.
The common black, short, square-tailed vulture is gregarious, but the
aura vulture is not so; for though you may see fifteen or twenty of
them feeding on the dead vermin in a cane-field, after the trash has
been set fire to, still, if you have paid attention to their arrival,
you will have observed that they came singly and retired singly; and
thus their being altogether in the same field was merely accidental and
caused by each one smelling the effluvia as he was soaring through the
sky to look out for food. I have watched twenty come into a cane-field;
they arrived one by one, and from different parts of the heavens. Hence
we may conclude that, though the other species of vulture are
gregarious, the aura vulture is not.
If you dissect a vulture that has just been feeding on carrion, you
must expect that your olfactory nerves will be somewhat offended with
the rank effluvia from his craw; just as they would be were you to
dissect a citizen after the Lord Mayor's dinner. If, on the contrary,
the vulture be empty at the time you commence the operation, there will
be no offensive smell, but a strong scent of musk.
I had long wished to examine the native haunts of the cayman, but as
the River Demerara did not afford a specimen of the large kind, I was
obliged to go to the River Essequibo to look for one.
I got the canoe ready, and went down in it to Georgetown, where, having
put in the necessary articles for the expedition, not forgetting a
couple of large shark-hooks with chains attached to them, and a coil of
strong new rope, I hoisted a little sail which I had got made on
purpose, and at six o'clock in the morning shaped our course for the
River Essequibo. I had put a pair of shoes on to prevent the tar at the
bottom of the canoe from sticking to my feet. The sun was flaming hot,
and from eleven o'clock till two beat perpendicularly upon the top of
my feet, betwixt the shoes and the trousers. Not feeling it
disagreeable, or being in the least aware of painful consequences, as I
had been barefoot for months, I neglected to put on a pair of short
stockings which I had with me. I did not reflect that sitting still in
one place, with your feet exposed to the sun, was very different from
being exposed to the sun while in motion.
We went ashore in the Essequibo about three o'clock in the afternoon,
to choose a place for the night's residence, to collect firewood, and
to set the fish-hooks. It was then that I first began to find my legs
very painful: they soon became much inflamed and red and blistered; and
it required considerable caution not to burst the blisters, otherwise
sores would have ensued. I immediately got into the hammock, and there
passed a painful and sleepless night, and for two days after I was
disabled from walking.
About midnight, as I was lying awake and in great pain, I heard the
Indian say, "Massa, massa, you no hear tiger?" I listened attentively,
and heard the softly sounding tread of his feet as he approached us.
The moon had gone down, but every now and then we could get a glance of
him by the light of our fire. He was the jaguar, for I could see the
spots on his body. Had I wished to have fired at him I was not able to
take a sure aim, for I was in such pain that I could not turn myself in
my hammock. The Indian would have fired, but I would not allow him to
do so, as I wanted to see a little more of our new visitor, for it is
not every day or night that the traveller is favoured with an
undisturbed sight of the jaguar in his own forests.
Whenever the fire got low the jaguar came a little nearer, and when the
Indian renewed it he retired abruptly. Sometimes he would come within
twenty yards, and then we had a view of him sitting on his hind-legs
like a dog; sometimes he moved slowly to and fro, and at other times we
could hear him mend his pace, as if impatient. At last the Indian, not
relishing the idea of having such company in the neighbourhood, could
contain himself no longer, and set up a most tremendous yell. The
jaguar bounded off like a racehorse, and returned no more. It appeared
by the print of his feet the next morning that he was a full-grown
jaguar.
In two days after this we got to the first falls in the Essequibo.
There was a superb barrier of rocks quite across the river. In the
rainy season these rocks are for the most part under water, but it
being now dry weather we had a fine view of them, while the water from
the river above them rushed through the different openings in majestic
grandeur. Here, on a little hill jutting out into the river, stands the
house of Mrs. Peterson, the last house of people of colour up this
river. I hired a negro from her and a coloured man who pretended that
they knew the haunts of the cayman and understood everything about
taking him. We were a day in passing these falls and rapids, celebrated
for the pacou, the richest and most delicious fish in Guiana. The
coloured man was now in his element: he stood in the head of the canoe,
and with his bow and arrow shot the pacou as they were swimming in the
stream. The arrow had scarcely left the bow before he had plunged
headlong into the river and seized the fish as it was struggling with
it. He dived and swam like an otter, and rarely missed the fish he
aimed at.
Did my pen, gentle reader, possess descriptive powers, I would here
give thee an idea of the enchanting scenery of the Essequibo; but that
not being the case, thou must be contented with a moderate and
well-intended attempt.
Nothing could be more lovely than the appearance of the forest on each
side of this noble river. Hills rose on hills in fine gradation, all
covered with trees of gigantic height and size. Here their leaves were
of a lively purple, and there of the deepest green. Sometimes the
caracara extended its scarlet blossoms from branch to branch, and gave
the tree the appearance as though it had been hung with garlands.
This delightful scenery of the Essequibo made the soul overflow with
joy, and caused you to rove in fancy through fairyland; till, on
turning an angle of the river, you were recalled to more sober
reflections on seeing the once grand and towering mora now dead and
ragged in its topmost branches, while its aged trunk, undermined by the
rushing torrent, hung as though in sorrow over the river, which ere
long would receive it and sweep it away for ever.
During the day the trade-wind blew a gentle and refreshing breeze,
which died away as the night set in, and then the river was as smooth
as glass.
The moon was within three days of being full, so that we did not regret
the loss of the sun, which set in all its splendour. Scarce had he sunk
behind the western hills when the goat-suckers sent forth their soft
and plaintive cries; some often repeating, "Who are you--who, who, who
are you?" and others "Willy, willy, willy come go."
The Indian and Daddy Quashi often shook their head at this, and said
they were bringing talk from Yabahou, who is the Evil Spirit of the
Essequibo. It was delightful to sit on the branch of a fallen tree near
the water's edge and listen to these harmless birds as they repeated
their evening song; and watch the owls and vampires as they every now
and then passed up and down the river.
The next day, about noon, as we were proceeding onwards, we heard the
campanero tolling in the depth of the forest. Though I should not then
have stopped to dissect even a rare bird, having a greater object in
view, still I could not resist the opportunity offered of acquiring the
campanero. The place where he was tolling was low and swampy, and my
legs not having quite recovered from the effects of the sun, I sent the
Indian to shoot the campanero. He got up to the tree, which he
described as very high, with a naked top, and situated in a swamp. He
fired at the bird, but either missed it or did not wound it
sufficiently to bring it down. This was the only opportunity I had of
getting a campanero during this expedition. We had never heard one toll
before this morning, and never heard one after.
About an hour before sunset we reached the place which the two men who
had joined us at the falls pointed out as a proper one to find a
cayman. There was a large creek close by and a sandbank gently sloping
to the water. Just within the forest, on this bank, we cleared a place
of brushwood, suspended the hammocks from the trees, and then picked up
enough of decayed wood for fuel.
The Indian found a large land-tortoise, and this, with plenty of fresh
fish which we had in the canoe, afforded a supper not to be despised.
The tigers had kept up a continual roaring every night since we had
entered the Essequibo. The sound was awfully fine. Sometimes it was in
the immediate neighbourhood; at other times it was far off, and echoed
amongst the hills like distant thunder.
It may, perhaps, not be amiss to observe here that when the word tiger
is used it does not mean the Bengal tiger. It means the jaguar, whose
skin is beautifully spotted, and not striped like that of the tiger in
the East. It is, in fact, the tiger of the new world, and receiving the
name of tiger from the discoverers of South America it has kept it ever
since. It is a cruel, strong and dangerous beast, but not so courageous
as the Bengal tiger.
We now baited a shark-hook with a large fish, and put it upon a board
about a yard long and one foot broad which we had brought on purpose.
This board was carried out in the canoe, about forty yards into the
river. By means of a string long enough to reach the bottom of the
river, and at the end of which string was fastened a stone, the board
was kept, as it were, at anchor. One end of the new rope I had bought
in town was reeved through the chain of the shark-hook and the other
end fastened to a tree on the sandbank.
It was now an hour after sunset. The sky was cloudless, and the moon
shone beautifully bright. There was not a breath of wind in the
heavens, and the river seemed like a large plain of quicksilver. Every
now and then a huge fish would strike and plunge in the water; then the
owls and goat-suckers would continue their lamentations, and the sound
of these was lost in the prowling tiger's growl. Then all was still
again and silent as midnight.
The caymen were now upon the stir, and at intervals their noise could
be distinguished amid that of the jaguar, the owls, the goat-suckers
and frogs. It was a singular and awful sound. It was like a suppressed
sigh bursting forth all of a sudden, and so loud that you might hear it
above a mile off. First one emitted this horrible noise, and then
another answered him; and on looking at the countenances of the people
round me I could plainly see that they expected to have a cayman that
night.
We were at supper when the Indian, who seemed to have had one eye on
the turtle-pot and the other on the bait in the river, said he saw the
cayman coming. Upon looking towards the place there appeared something
on the water like a black log of wood. It was so unlike anything alive
that I doubted if it were a cayman; but the Indian smiled and said he
was sure it was one, for he remembered seeing a cayman some years ago
when he was in the Essequibo.
At last it gradually approached the bait, and the board began to move.
The moon shone so bright that we could distinctly see him open his huge
jaws and take in the bait. We pulled the rope. He immediately let drop
the bait; and then we saw his black head retreating from the board to
the distance of a few yards; and there it remained quite motionless.
He did not seem inclined to advance again; and so we finished our
supper. In about an hour's time he again put himself in motion, and
took hold of the bait. But probably suspecting that he had to deal with
knaves and cheats, he held it in his mouth but did not swallow it. We
pulled the rope again, but with no better success than the first time.
He retreated as usual, and came back again in about an hour. We paid
him every attention till three o'clock in the morning, when, worn out
with disappointment, we went to the hammocks, turned in and fell asleep.
When day broke we found that he had contrived to get the bait from the
hook, though we had tied it on with string. We had now no more hopes of
taking a cayman till the return of night. The Indian took off into the
woods and brought back a noble supply of game. The rest of us went into
the canoe and proceeded up the river to shoot fish. We got even more
than we could use.
As we approached the shallows we could see the large sting-rays moving
at the bottom. The coloured man never failed to hit them with his
arrow. The weather was delightful. There was scarcely a cloud to
intercept the sun's rays.
I saw several scarlet aras, anhingas and ducks, but could not get a
shot at them. The parrots crossed the river in innumerable quantities,
always flying in pairs. Here, too, I saw the sun-bird, called tirana by
the Spaniards in the Oroonoque, and shot one of them. The black and
white scarlet-headed finch was very common here. I could never see this
bird in the Demerara, nor hear of its being there.
We at last came to a large sandbank, probably two miles in
circumference. As we approached it we could see two or three hundred
fresh-water turtle on the edge of the bank. Ere we could get near
enough to let fly an arrow at them they had all sunk into the river and
appeared no more.
We went on the sandbank to look for their nests, as this was the
breeding-season. The coloured man showed us how to find them. Wherever
a portion of the sand seemed smoother than the rest there was sure to
be a turtle's nest. On digging down with our hands about nine inches
deep we found from twenty to thirty white eggs; in less than an hour we
got above two hundred. Those which had a little black spot or two on
the shell we ate the same day, as it was a sign that they were not
fresh, and of course would not keep; those which had no speck were put
into dry sand, and were good some weeks after.
At midnight two of our people went to this sandbank while the rest
stayed to watch the cayman. The turtle had advanced on to the sand to
lay their eggs, and the men got betwixt them and the water; they
brought off half a dozen very fine and well-fed turtle. The eggshell of
the fresh-water turtle is not hard like that of the land-tortoise, but
appears like white parchment, and gives way to the pressure of the
fingers; but it is very tough, and does not break. On this sandbank,
close to the forest, we found several guana's nests; but they had never
more than fourteen eggs apiece. Thus passed the day in exercise and
knowledge, till the sun's declining orb reminded us it was time to
return to the place from whence we had set out.
The second night's attempt upon the cayman was a repetition of the
first, quite unsuccessful. We went a-fishing the day after, had
excellent sport, and returned to experience a third night's
disappointment. On the fourth evening, about four o'clock, we began to
erect a stage amongst the trees close to the water's edge. From this we
intended to shoot an arrow into the cayman: at the end of this arrow
was to be attached a string which would be tied to the rope, and as
soon as the cayman was struck we were to have the canoe ready and
pursue him in the river.
While we were busy in preparing the stage a tiger began to roar. We
judged by the sound that he was not above a quarter of a mile from us,
and that he was close to the side of the river. Unfortunately the
Indian said it was not a jaguar that was roaring, but a couguar. The
couguar is of a pale, brownish-red colour, and not as large as the
jaguar. As there was nothing particular in this animal I thought it
better to attend to the apparatus for catching the cayman than to go in
quest of the couguar. The people, however, went in the canoe to the
place where the couguar was roaring. On arriving near the spot they saw
it was not a couguar, but an immense jaguar, standing on the trunk of
an aged mora-tree which bended over the river; he growled and showed
his teeth as they approached; the coloured man fired at him with a
ball, but probably missed him, and the tiger instantly descended and
took off into the woods. I went to the place before dark, and we
searched the forest for about half a mile in the direction he had fled,
but we could see no traces of him or any marks of blood; so I concluded
that fear had prevented the man from taking steady aim.