The Great Mountains and Forests of South AmericaLongmans, Green, 1904 - 306 pàgines |
Altres edicions - Mostra-ho tot
Frases i termes més freqüents
abundant agoutis Amazon anaconda ant-bear appearance Araucanians attack banks bats beautiful birds of prey bite boat Brazil Brazilian breeding canoe cats caymans colour creatures dangerous deer Diamantino distance district dogs doubt Ecuador eggs elevation escape fish forest frequently fruit ground guanaco Guiana habits height herds hundred feet inches Indians inhabitants insects jaguarondi jaguars journey killed kind lake larvæ latter least length living llanos look miles monkeys mountains mules naturalists nearly nests never night nocturnal animal noticed Obydos occasion passed peccaries Peru plains prey probably puma Purus region remarkable resembling river rocks rush scarcely seemed seen shot sight skin sloth small animals snakes sometimes South America species specimens spider-monkeys spiders spots stream suppose tail tapirs town travellers trees Trombetas trunk usually valleys vampire venomous venomous snakes wandering wild women woods wourali poison yards young
Passatges populars
Pàgina 42 - ... hats had found their way to this obscure spot [the Purus River, Brazil] and reaped a rich harvest among the beautiful feathered creatures which here swarmed in countless thousands and were as yet so tame that many of them could be knocked down with sticks or captured wholesale by means of nets. . . . On the Amazon three or four men in a boat take long journeys . . . returning with a cargo of from 3,000 to 8,000 bird-skins, all intended as ornaments for ladies
Pàgina 208 - I estimate the length of this crack at about five miles. Near the middle it widened, rather abruptly, to 200 yards; but just beyond the rocks closed together, so that there was scarcely room for us to push through. Here the rocks bulged over frightfully, as if about to cave in and crush us ; and the way became a narrow tunnel, dark as a mine. The rocks overhead probably met, leaning together, but it was too dark for us to see this ; and it was not until a torch had been lighted that we could proceed....
Pàgina 143 - ... attempted to get it out, but it broke in pieces. It was, he states, a species of guanaco of much larger size than any now living. This is, we believe, the first time that the remains of an animal of the llama group have been reported from Matto Grosso, or, indeed, from Brazil There were also bones that seemed " to have belonged to gigantic jaguars and deer, and many small animals and bats.
Pàgina 143 - I made an attempt to break out the petrified animal, but it was so firmly incorporated in the enveloping mass that it broke to pieces with it. It had been a species of guanaco, of much larger size than any now living; and in these caverns were petrified bones which seemed to have belonged to gigantic jaguars and deer, and many small animals and bats.
Pàgina 208 - ... much of which was so rotten that it went to dust under our feet ; and this dust, which was so fine that it felt soft as feathers, rose in suffocating clouds as we passed through it, having a burnt, sulphurous odour. To all appearance no drop of rain ever reached the bottom of this chasm. Everything was as dry as tinder, and had a scorched look. Nothing of life could be found, though I made diligent search for such.
Pàgina 207 - One of the narrowest which I entered was barely 200 feet wide, with perpendicular, and in places overhanging, rocks on each side, which could not have been less in height than 3000 or 4000 feet. The light in this terrible place was so dim that a watch could not be read, unless it was held close to the eyes ; and looking upward but a mere streak of dark blue sky was visible, even this being frequently shut out by overhanging buttresses. There was no motion...
Pàgina 42 - Unlikely as it may seem at first glance, there can be no doubt but that a party of those bird-exterminators had found their way to this obscure spot, and reaped a rich harvest among the beautiful feathered creatures which here swarmed in countless thousands, and were, as yet, so tame that many...
Pàgina 258 - Indians is only another name for purchase, and those of the men who are rich enough buy sometimes as many as six or seven wives, one or more of whom they are generally willing enough to sell. The morality...