At one plantation, where they resolved to spend a few days, the owner
had a pond which was much frequented by alligators. These he was in the
habit of hunting periodically, for the sake of their fat, which he
converted into oil. At the time of their arrival, he was on the eve of
starting on a hunting expedition to the lake, which was about eight
miles distant; so Barney and Martin determined to go and "see the fun,"
as the latter said.

"Martin, lad," remarked Barney, as they followed the Negro slave who had
been sent by Senhor Antonio, the planter, to conduct them to the lake,
while he remained behind for an hour or two to examine the bales of the
old trader; "this is the quarest country, I believe, that iver was made;
what with bastes, and varmints, and riptiles, and traes, and bushes, and
rivers, it bates all creation."

"Certainly it does, Barney; and it is a pity there are so few people in
it who know how to make use of the things that are scattered all around
them. I'm inclined to think the hermit was right when he said that they
wanted the Bible. They are too far sunk in laziness and idleness to be
raised up by anything else. Just look," continued Martin, glancing
round, "what a wonderful place this is! It seems as if all the birds
and curious trees in Brazil had congregated here to meet us."

"So't does," said Barney, stopping to gaze on the scene through which
they were passing, with an expression of perplexity on his face, as if
he found the sight rather too much even for _his_ comprehension.
Besides the parrots and scarlet and yellow macaws, and other
strange-looking birds which we have elsewhere mentioned, there were
long-tailed light-coloured cuckoos flying about from tree to tree, not
calling like the cuckoo of Europe at all, but giving forth a sound like
the creaking of a rusty hinge; there were hawks and buzzards of many
different kinds, and red-breasted orioles in the bushes, and black
vultures flying overhead, and Muscovy ducks sweeping past with whizzing
wings, and flocks of the great wood-ibis sailing in the air on noiseless
pinions, and hundreds of other birds that it would require an
ornithologist to name; and myriads of insects,--especially ants and
spiders, great and small,--that no entomologist could chronicle in a
life-time: all these were heard and seen at once; while of the animals
that were heard, but not so often seen, there were black and spotted
jaguars, and pacas, and cotias, an