THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS OF VENEZUELA
The glamour of the South American forests—Hidden
treasures—Temples of Nature—“A dim religious
light”—_Bejucales_—Forest giants—Brazil
nuts—Tonka-beans—Rubber—Quinine—Arctic and tropic
forms—The Llanos—_Tierra caliente_—Natural
hothouses—Colour and coolness—_Páramo_
plants—Monkeys—An old friend—Cannibalism—Vampires
and bats—“Tigers” and “lions”—“Handsome is as
handsome doesn’t”—Wild horses—Dolphins—Prickly
mice—The “water-hog”—Sloths—Birds—Many-coloured
varieties—Umbrella-bird—“Cock-of-the-rock”—Toucans—Cuckoos—
Humming-birds—“Who are you?”—Oil-birds—Parrots
and macaws—Eagles and vultures—A national
disgrace—Game-birds—Snakes—Lizards—From the Orinoco to a city
dinner—A cup-tie crowd—Ferocious fish—When is a mosquito not a
mosquito?—Agricultural ants—Gigantic spiders—Ticks—A pugnacious
crustacean—A rich field.
Most of us, if possessed of imaginative faculties, have been impressed in
our youth by the thought of those vast virgin forests of South America,
inhabited, as we often used to think, only by huge boa-constrictors and
anacondas which lived to an immense age and continued to grow throughout
their lifetime; and even in later years, when experience at first or
second hand has taught us that the supposed silent forest of the tropics
is generally noisy with the chattering of monkeys and birds or the
perpetual hum and chirp of insects, and is often far from a desirable
place on account of these last, the glamour of the vastness and
fertility of these great untrodden temples of nature remains with us.
More than half of Venezuela is covered by forest, and, indeed, comes
within the forest area of South America; what botanical treasures and
zoological curiosities may yet be discovered, when some explorer is
found to succeed Humboldt and Schomburgk, are not to be guessed at, and
it is not our purpose to give a scientific account of what has been
done towards classifying and enumerating the many plants and animals
already known to live in Venezuela, but to briefly describe what is most
interesting and important to the general reader who may be interested in
the country as a whole.
Richest in quantity, and probably in variety, of vegetable life is the
little-known land of Guayana, with its vast forests, hot climate, and
heavy rainfall. Within it the plants range from the alpine shrubs and
reindeer moss of some of the higher plateaux and hills to the bamboos
and orchids of the river banks. The simile which compares the tropical
forest to those darkened lofty cathedrals of Europe has been often used,
and is, perhaps, somewhat trite, but its aptness is incontrovertible.
The huge timber-trees grow fairly close together, and their spreading
tops, fifty, eighty, or a hundred feet from the ground, with the abundant
hanging lianes and flowering creepers, keep all but a feeble light from
the ground, whence it comes that the under-growth is usually sparse or
absent, and progress on foot is comparatively easy. Sometimes, however,
there are stretches of _bejucal_, full of tangled ground creepers, and it
may take a day to cut a path for one mile through such growth as this.
Of all the forest giants of Guayana, Schomburgk considered the mora the
most magnificent; the average diameter of the trunk is about three feet,
and it seldom branches at less than forty feet from the ground. The
dark-red, fine-grained wood is said to be excellent for shipbuilding
purposes. Mahogany or _caoba_, the _palo de arco_, whose wood is very
like mahogany in colour, and a big tree called in Venezuela rosewood,
which it resembles, are among the timber trees of the region known to
us in Europe. The huge _ceibas_, with their buttress-like roots, have
a soft, easily worked wood, excellent for the dug-out canoes of the
Indians, and the equally large _mucurutu_ or cannon-ball tree furnishes
a beautiful but hard and fine-grained timber. Unfortunately, the very
fertility of the soil becomes a drawback in the exploitation of these
timber resources, for all trees grow with equal freedom, and the
particular kind for which the lumber-man is searching may only be found
at rare intervals; on a large scale, when all the valuable woods are
utilised, this difficulty would, to some extent, disappear.
There are two fruit-trees whose products are well known in European
markets, and though these grow all over Guayana, they are particularly
abundant in certain regions. The Brazil nut was first described
by Humboldt, but since his time it has become a common article of
merchandise in Europe; the tree which bears it is itself large, and
the fruit, with its fifteen or twenty nuts, is tremendously heavy, and
generally breaks in falling from the tree when ripe, not infrequently
cracking the shells inside, when the birds and monkeys are able to
enjoy the oily kernel; otherwise the exterior usually proves too hard.
The other fruit we have referred to is the _sarrapia_, or tonka-bean,
not so well known to the general public of to-day as formerly, though
extensively used in perfumery. The trees grow in greatest abundance and
excellence, according to André, in the Caura and Cuchivero valleys.
The gums and resins of Guayana include the balatá, copaiba-balsam, and
rubber-producing trees, the latter chiefly varieties of Hevea, while
_cinchona_ or quinine with innumerable creepers and trees possessed of
medicinal or toxic properties are found everywhere. The 2,450 species
of plants referred to by Schomburgk have since been added to, and it is
obvious that in such an assembly there must be many of value, as yet
undiscovered and unused.
The vegetation of the higher exposed peaks and plateaux is quite
different from that of the forests, and here Schomburgk found such
an alpine, or rather Arctic, form as reindeer-moss, associated with
semi-tropical rock-orchids and aloes.
The forest plants and trees of Guayana also flourish in the Delta region
and in the forests bordering the Llanos of Maturín, but the vegetation of
northern Venezuela is generally very different from that of the south.
The great green or brown plain of the Llanos is often beautified by small
golden, white, and pink flowers, and sedges and irises make up much of
the small vegetation. Here and there the beautiful “royal” palm, with
its banded stem and graceful crown, the _moriche_, or one of the other
kinds, forms clumps to break the monotony, and along the small streams
are patches of _chaparro_ bushes, cashew-nuts, locusts, and so forth.
The banks of the rivers often support denser groves of ceibas, crotons,
guamos, &c.; the last-named bears a pod covered with short, velvety hair,
within which, around the beans (about the size of our broad beans),
is a cool, juicy, very refreshing pulp, not unlike that of the young
cocoa-pod. Along the banks of the streams in front of the trees are
masses of reeds and semi-aquatic grasses, which effectually conceal the
higher vegetation from a traveller in a canoe at water-level.
[Illustration: IN THE UPPER TEMPERATE ZONE: THE CHAMA VALLEY.]
As might be expected, when we enter the region of the Cordilleras, we
find very different types of vegetation in the various zones. The _tierra
caliente_ has generally a heavy rainfall, and then supports thick
forest, but along the coast there are barren stretches with only cactus,
acacia, croton, and similar plants, picturesque, but hardly beautiful.
The mangroves and their associated forms line the shore in a belt of
varying width, but behind follow, according to the climate and soil,
lowland forests or plains and hills covered with cactus of all shapes
and sizes, some being so large that the woody stems are used locally in
building.
In the _tierra caliente_ we have the plantations of cacao, sugar,
bananas, plantains, maize, and cassava, which produce the staple foods of
the inhabitants, and the highly profitable coconuts, if not cultivated,
are at least encouraged and exploited. In addition, there are the many
valuable products of the forests, chief of which are the dye-woods and
tanning barks, including logwood, dividive, mangrove, indigo, and many
others. A good deal of valuable timber grows in parts of the forest, the
chief woods exported being mahogany and “cedar.”
As we rise into the cooler regions, we find, naturally, a mixture of
the hot-country plants and those of the mountains; particularly is this
so in the case of cultivated kinds. One may see in the same valley,
within a short distance of one another, bananas, potatoes, sugar-cane,
wheat, yuca or cassava, peas, maize, cotton, cocoa, and coffee, all
flourishing, and a single orchard may contain guavas and apples, peaches
and oranges, papayas and quinces, not to mention many other fruits; the
garden adjoining will have a mixture of roses, carnations, violets,
and dahlias with bougainvilleas, dragon’s blood, magnolias, and other
tropical flowers. Strawberries, mint, bulrushes, nasturtiums, and other
of our garden plants have been successfully naturalised in these mountain
regions within 10° of the equator.
The higher part of the _tierra templada_ exhibits the greatest variety
of plants peculiar to this zone. As one travels along the mountain roads,
in addition to new kinds of palms, one sees screw-pines and beautiful
tree-ferns, splendid white rock-orchids and purple parasitic varieties,
red and white rhododendrons and heaths, cranberries, blackberries, ivy,
passion-flowers, yews, quinine-trees, aloes of all kinds, small bamboos,
silver-ferns, and all manner of beautiful flowering shrubs and plants,
for it is here and not in the hotter tropical regions that we have the
greatest variety of colour and the most beautiful floral scenery.
Nor is the _tierra fria_ of the Cordilleras without its beauty and
interest to the botanist. The small woods of the temperate zone gradually
die out, and towards the snow-line we have the alpine grasses, heaths,
and lichens of the _páramos_, amongst which are scattered those peculiar
white or yellow, thick-leaved, aloe-shaped plants which, strangely
enough, have lumps of resin clinging to their roots, and seem in this
respect to supply the place of the pines and firs which are not found in
Venezuela.
There is at least one animal found in the forests of Guayana which is
familiar even to the untravelled Cockney, namely, the prehensile-tailed
capuchin monkey or _sapajou_, of which several species are known in
Venezuela, while they are the most common tame kind brought to Europe.
Humboldt’s woolly monkey, which is nearly allied, is dark grey, the
capuchin being generally reddish; its flesh is said to be excellent
eating for those who feel no qualms at nearing the verge of cannibalism.
Many other kinds are found in the forests, including the black thumbless
spider-monkeys, but the variegated spider-monkey, of which the first
specimen brought alive to England came from the Upper Caura in 1870,
is a gorgeous beast, with black back, white cheeks, a band of bright
reddish-yellow across the forehead, and yellow under-surface to body and
limbs. The banded douroucouli also occurs in southern Venezuela, and Mr.
Bates has described how, on the banks of the Amazon, a person passing by
a tree in which a number of them are concealed may be startled by the
apparition of a number of little striped faces crowding a hole in the
trunk. Their ears are very small. The graceful little squirrel-monkeys,
with dark fur shot with gold, the titi, reddish-black, with a white spot
on the chest, the white-headed and other sakis, and the abundant and very
noisy howlers are all denizens of the Guayana forests. Nor must we omit
to mention the pretty little marmosets, which are often kept as pets.
Bats, and their objectionable cousins, the vampires, are abundant in
Venezuela, but the true blood-sucking vampire does not seem to be very
common.
There are, of course, no tigers or lions, properly so called, in the New
World, but the names have been usurped by similar beasts, the jaguar and
the puma. The tan-coloured fur of the former, with its large rosette-like
spots, is very beautiful, and quite equals that of the tiger in large
specimens, while for agility it more than rivals its Asiatic relative,
being credited with climbing trees and living there in times of severe
flood, to the great danger and annoyance of the usual inhabitants,
the monkeys. The tawny puma is also said to chase the monkeys in the
tree-tops, even in ordinary times. The other large cats of Venezuela
include the ocelot, jaguarondi, and margay, and there is the one fox-like
“Azara’s” dog.
The peculiar-looking “spectacled bear” is found up in the Andes, and the
kinkajou represents the raccoon tribe, while the weasels include the
tayra and grison, and their relative, the handsome but most objectionable
skunk, occasionally pollutes the atmosphere with his presence. The big
Brazilian otter, with chocolate-brown fur, is found in the rivers of the
Llanos.
Amongst the hoofed animals, the red Brazilian and Ecuador brockets
represent the deer, and there are two species of _vaquira_ or peccary, in
addition to the now acclimatised European pig. Horses and donkeys live in
a semi-wild state on the Llanos, though their nearest relative native to
the country is the tapir or _danta_, a very different beast in appearance.
The nailless manati of the Orinoco mouth is fairly common, and higher up
the river there is a fresh-water dolphin: the author observed a fish-like
beast in the Lake of Maracaibo, which may be the same species, though out
in the salt water of the Caribbean the common dolphin is found, as well
as the cachalot, and another species of whale is said to have been seen
there.
The rodents include a number of species of great scientific interest,
but for the ordinary individual one rat or shrew is much like another,
and the squirrels, mice, rabbits, hedgehogs, and allied animals are very
similar to those of Europe. One of the mice has flattened spines mingled
with the fur, and the coypu or _perro de agua_ has a very harsh coat,
though it is rather like a beaver in appearance and habits, while some
near relatives of smaller size have the same peculiar flattened spines on
the back. The peculiar Brazilian tree-porcupine is a Guayana species. The
gracefully formed aguti or _acure_ is common in the Venezuelan forests,
and its near relative, the _aguchi_, is found there with the _lappa_ or
_paca_, the flesh of which is excellent eating. The big “water-hog,”
_chiguire_ or _capybara_, familiar to Zoo visitors, occurs in Guayana and
elsewhere.
There are several sloths common in the low-lying parts of the Guayana
forests and similar regions of northern Venezuela, and the great-maned
ant-eater or “ant-bear,” with the lesser ant-eater, is as often seen in
Venezuela as in any part of South America, while Guayana is the centre
of the small district in which the peculiar two-toed ant-eater is found.
The _cachicamos_ or armadillos are much esteemed as food in the forest
districts.
The marsupials are represented by the _rabipelados_ or opossums and the
_perrito de agua_ or water-opossum.
The birds, being more commonly seen, are perhaps of greater interest than
the mammals, and certainly many of the Venezuelan birds are beautiful,
though, as frequently happens, what they gain in plumage they lose in
song, and few have even a pleasant note.
Beautifully coloured jays, the peculiar cassiques, with their hanging
nests, starlings, and the many violet, scarlet, and other tanagers, with
some very pretty members of the finch tribe, are all fairly abundant
in Venezuela. Greenlets, some of the allied waxwings, and thrushes
of various kinds, with the equally familiar wrens, are particularly
abundant, nor does the cosmopolitan swallow absent himself from this
part of the world. The numerous family of the American flycatchers
has fifty representatives in Venezuela, and the allied ant-birds
constitute one of the exceptions to the rule, in possessing a pleasant
warbling note. The chatterers include some of the most notable birds of
Venezuela, and we may specially notice the strange-looking umbrella-bird
which extends into the Amazon territory, known from its note as the
fife-bird; the variegated bell-bird, which makes a noise like the
ringing of a bell; the gay manikins, whose colour include blue, crimson,
orange, and yellow, mingled with sober blacks, browns, and greens;
the nearly allied cock-of-the-rock is one of the most beautiful birds
of Guayana, orange-red being the principal colour in its plumage,
while its helmet-like crest adds to its grandeur; the hen is a uniform
reddish-brown. The wood-hewers are more of interest from their habits
than the beauty of their plumage.
The beautiful green jacamars, the puff-birds, and the bright-coloured
woodpeckers are found all over Venezuela in the forests, but their
relatives the toucans are among the most peculiar of the feathered
tribe. With their enormous beaks and gaudy plumage they are easily
recognised when seen, and can make a terrible din if a number of them
collected together are disturbed, the individual cry being short and
unmelodious. Several cuckoos are found in Venezuela, some having more or
less dull plumage and being rare, while others with brighter feathers
are gregarious. With the trogons, however, we come to the near relatives
of the beautiful quezal, all medium-sized birds, with the characteristic
metallic blue or green back and yellow or red breasts. The tiny, though
equally beautiful, humming-birds are common sights in the forest, but a
sharp eye is needed to detect them in their rapid flight through the dim
light; some of the Venezuelan forms are large, however, notably the king
humming-bird of Guayana; and the crested coquettes, though smaller, are
still large enough to make their golden-green plumage conspicuous. The
birds which perhaps most force themselves, not by sight but by sound,
upon the notice of travellers are the night-jars; the “who are you?” is
as well known in Trinidad as in Venezuela. The great wood night-jar of
Guayana has a very peculiar mournful cry, particularly uncanny when heard
in the moonlight. The kingfisher-like motmots have one representative
in Venezuela, but the other member of the group, which includes all the
preceding birds, constitute a family by itself. This is the oil-bird or
_guacharo_, famous from Humboldt’s description of the cave of Caripe in
which they were first found. The young birds are covered with thick
masses of yellow fat, for which they are killed in large numbers by the
local peasantry. They live in caves wherever they are found and only come
out to feed at dusk.
Other birds which are sure to be observed even by the least
ornithological traveller are the parrots and macaws which fly in flocks
from tree to tree of the forest, uttering their discordant cries.
The macaws have blue and red or yellow plumage, but the parrots and
parraquets are all wholly or mainly of a green hue. The several owls are
naturally seldom seen, and, in the author’s experience, rarely heard.
There are no less than thirty-two species of falcons or eagles known
from Venezuela, and of these many are particularly handsome, such as
the swallow-tailed kite and the harpy eagle of Guayana. Their loathsome
carrion-eating cousins, the vultures, have four representatives.
In the rivers and caños of the lowlands there are abundant water-birds,
and the identified species include a darter, two pelicans, several herons
or _garzas_, the indiscriminate slaughter of which in the breeding season
for egret plumes has been one of the disgraces of Venezuela, as well as
storks and ibises. Among the most beautiful birds of these districts are
the rosy white or scarlet flamingoes, huge flocks of which are sometimes
seen rising from the water’s edge at the approach of a boat or canoe.
There are also seven Venezuelan species of duck.
The various pigeons and doves possess no very notable characteristics,
and one or two of the American quails are found in the Andes. Other
game-birds include the fine-crested curassows of Guayana, the nearly
allied guans, and the pheasant-like hoatzin. There are several rails,
and the finfeet are represented. The sun bittern is very common on the
Orinoco. There are members of the following groups: the trumpeters (tamed
in Brazil to protect poultry), plovers, terns, petrels, grebes, and,
lastly, seven species of the flightless tinamous.
Descending lower in the scale, we come to the animals which are, or
used to be, most often associated in the mind with the forests of South
America. The snakes are very numerous, but only a minority are poisonous.
Of the latter the beautiful but deadly coral-snake is not very common,
but a rattlesnake and the formidable “bushmaster” are often seen. Of the
non-poisonous variety the water-loving boas and _tigres_ or anacondas are
mainly confined to the Delta and the banks of the Guayana rivers. The
_cazadora_ (one of the colubers) and the Brazilian wood-snake or _sipo_,
with its beautiful coloration, are common; the blind or velvet snake is
often found in the enclosures of dwellings.
One of the lizards, the amphisbæna, is known in the country as the
double-headed snake, and is popularly supposed to be poisonous, but there
are many species of the pretty and more typical forms, especially in the
dry regions, while the edible iguana is common in the forests. There
are eleven species of crocodiles, of which the _caiman_ infests all the
larger rivers and caños. The Chelonidæ include only two land tortoises,
but there are several turtles in the seas and rivers, and representatives
of this family from the Gulf of Paria often figure on the menus of City
companies.
There are some six genera of frogs and toads to represent the Amphibians,
and the evening croaking of the various species of the former on the
Llanos is very characteristic of those regions; one, in particular, emits
a sound like a human shout, and a number of them give the impression of a
crowd at a football match.
[Illustration: CLOUD-DRIFTS IN THE ANDES.]
[Illustration: TORBES VALLEY AND THE COLOMBIAN HILLS.]
Fish abound in rivers, lakes, and seas, but, considering their number,
remarkably little is known about them. Some are regarded as poisonous,
and others are certainly dangerous, such as the small but ferocious
_caribe_ of the Llano rivers, which is particularly feared by bathers, as
an attack from a shoal results in numbers of severe, often fatal, wounds.
The _temblador_ or electric eel is very abundant in the western Llanos,
and is as dangerous in its way as the _caribe_.
The insects are too numerous for more than casual reference, but it
may be noted that the _mosquito_ of the Spaniards is a small and
very annoying sandfly; the mosquito as we know it is, and always has
been, called _zancudo de noche_ by the Spanish-speaking inhabitants
of Venezuela. The gorgeous butterflies and the emerald lights of the
fireflies are in a measure a compensation for the discomforts caused by
their relatives, but of the less attractive forms, the most interesting
are the hunting ants, which swarm through houses at times devouring all
refuse, and the parasol ants, which make with the leaves they carry
hot-beds, as it were, for the fungus upon which they feed.
One of the most unpleasant of the lower forms of life in the forests is
the _araña mono_ or big spider of Guayana, which sometimes measures more
than six inches across; it is found in the remote parts of the forest,
and its bites cause severe fever. The better-known tarantula, though less
dangerous, can inflict severe bites. The extremely poisonous scorpions
and the _garrapatas_ or ticks must be seen or felt to be appreciated.
We may leave the lower forms of life to more technical works, but the
amusing “calling-crab” deserves special mention. With his one enormous
paw of pincers the male if disturbed will sit upon the mud or sand
and apparently challenge all the world to “come on” in a most amusing
fashion.
A host of interesting birds, beasts, and plants have already been found
in Venezuela, and it still presents an almost virgin field for the
botanist and zoologist, to whom the technical literature given in the
bibliography will prove of more use than this necessarily brief sketch.