as figured by Humboldt. We arrived at Engenhodo after it
was dark, having been ten hours on horseback. I never
ceased, during the whole journey, to be surprised at the
amount of labour which the horses were capable of enduring;
they appeared also to recover from any injury much
sooner than those of our English breed. The Vampire bat
is often the cause of much trouble, by biting the horses on
their withers. The injury is generally not so much owing
to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure
of the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance
has lately been doubted in England; I was therefore
fortunate in being present when one (Desmodus d'orbignyi,
Wat.) was actually caught on a horse's back. We were
bivouacking late one evening near Coquimbo, in Chile, when
my servant, noticing that one of the horses was very restive,
went to see what was the matter, and fancying he could
distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on the beast's
withers, and secured the vampire. In the morning the spot
where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished
from being slightly swollen and bloody. The third day
afterwards we rode the horse, without any ill effects.

April 13th. -- After three days' travelling we arrived at
Socego, the estate of Senhor Manuel Figuireda, a relation
of one of our party. The house was simple, and, though like
a barn in form, was well suited to the climate. In the sitting-
room gilded chairs and sofas were oddly contrasted with the
whitewashed walls, thatched roof, and windows without
glass. The house, together with the granaries, the stables,
and workshops for the blacks, who had been taught various