Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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In The Real Bed Of
The Latter River, Above The Mission Of San Fernando, There Are No
Crocodiles:
We find there some bavas, a great many fresh-water
dolphins, but no manatees.
We also seek in vain on these banks for the
thick-nosed tapir, the araguato, or great howling monkey, the zamuro,
or Vultur aura, and the crested pheasant, known by the name of
guacharaca. Enormous water-snakes, in shape resembling the boa, are
unfortunately very common, and are dangerous to Indians who bathe. We
saw them almost from the first day we embarked, swimming by the side
of our canoe; they were at most twelve or fourteen feet long. The
jaguars of the banks of the Atabapo and the Temi are large and well
fed; they are said, however, to be less daring than the jaguars of the
Orinoco.
The night of the 27th was beautiful; dark clouds passed from time to
time over the zenith with extreme rapidity. Not a breath of wind was
felt in the lower strata of the atmosphere; the breeze was at the
height of a thousand toises. I dwell upon this peculiarity; for the
movement we saw was not produced by the counter-currents (from west to
east) which are sometimes thought to be observed in the torrid zone on
the loftiest mountains of the Cordilleras; it was the effect of a real
breeze, an east wind. We left the conucos of Guapasoso at two o'clock;
and continued to ascend the river toward the south, finding it (or
rather that part of its bed which is free from trees) growing more and
more narrow.
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