a slight movement of the head; when an insect flew past within a
short distance, one of the birds would dart off, seize it, and
return again to its sitting-place. The trogons are found in the
tropics of both hemispheres. The jacamars, which are clothed in
plumage of the most beautiful golden-bronze and steel colours,
are peculiar to tropical America.

At night I slept ashore as a change from the confinement of the
canoe, having obtained permission from Senor Joaquim to sling my
hammock under his roof. The house, like all others in these out-
of-the-way parts of the country, was a large open, palm-thatched
shed, having one end enclosed by means of partitions also made of
palm-leaves, so as to form a private apartment. Under the shed
were placed all the household utensils-- earthenware jars, pots,
and kettles, hunting and fishing implements, paddles, bows and
arrows, harpoons, and so forth. One or two common wooden chests
serve to contain the holiday clothing of the females. There is no
other furniture except a few stools and the hammock, which
answers the purposes of chair and sofa. When a visitor enters, he
is asked to sit down in a hammock; persons who are on intimate
terms with each other recline together in the same hammock, one
at each end. This is a very convenient arrangement for friendly
conversation. There are neither tables nor chairs; the cloth for
meals is spread on a mat, and the guests squat round in any
position they choose. There is no cordiality of manners, but the
treatment of the guests shows a keen sense of the duties of
hospitality on the part of the host. There is a good deal of
formality in the intercourse of these half-wild mamelucos, which,
I believe, has been chiefly derived from their Indian
forefathers, although a little of it may have been copied from