of sight.

The lukenaine, or sunfish, was captured by my men in a singular manner.
They manufactured an exceedingly rude fly out of a bunch of silk-grass
(_Bromelia karatas_) fibre, and attached it to a large hook with a short
line and rod. Drawing it rapidly over pools among the rocks, it was
immediately taken by the lukenaine, as the artificial fly is struck by
the trout.

Sting-rays were frequently seen on the sandy bottom or grovelling for
worms in the muddy banks under water. My interpreter, William, was
unfortunate enough to step upon one, which, being of the color of the
bottom, was not observed. It drove its spine or sting into the side of
his instep, producing a jagged wound which bled profusely. I immediately
put laudanum on the wound and gave him a strong dose of ammonia. In a
quarter of an hour after he was writhing on the ground in great agony,
actually screaming at times with the pain he felt in the wounded part,
in his groin, and under one armpit. His foot and leg were so cold that
he got one man to light a fire and support his foot over it, persisting
in trying to put it in the flames. I gave him two doses of laudanum,
one shortly after the other, without relieving his sufferings in the
slightest degree. After three hours of intense pain he became easier,
but had returns of it at intervals during the night. For a week he was
unable to put his foot on the ground, and the wound did not heal
thoroughly for six weeks....

We did not see a single cayman during our stay on the Corentyne. It may
safely be inferred that there are none on that river, a singular fact
that cannot be accounted for. Small alligators, of about four feet in
length, are numerous, however, and one of them one night carried off a
young cat which the men had brought from Georgetown. Poor puss had gone
to the water's edge to drink, when the alligator with one blow of its
tail swept it into the water and carried it away. On the following
morning we saw the alligator with its snout resting on a rock near by,
so I shot it; the men dragging it out of the water and leaving it on
the rocks. On returning, some months afterwards, we camped at the same
place, and there among the bones of the alligator saw those of the cat
bleaching in the sun.

Iguanas were numerous, and on one occasion, when one in a tree overhead
was shot at with an arrow, it jumped down to gain the water, but not
calculating its distance accurately, landed on the back of one