it swims by, holds it in a
vice-like grasp, from which in spite of its strength it in vain
endeavours to escape.

Those who have voyaged on the ocean, know the solemn feeling and the
idea of vastness which is conveyed during a calm at night, when monsters
of the deep are heard far and near as they come to the surface to inhale
the air, or "blow," as it is called. The same feeling is experienced by
the traveller up the Amazon when on board his montaria at anchor, when
he hears the splashing and snorting sounds of its numerous inhabitants,
as they rise through the mirror-like plain, in which countless thousands
of bright stars are reflected. Here fresh-water dolphins roam in great
numbers. In the Lower Amazon are two species; one of which,--the
tucuxi,--when it comes to the surface to breathe, rises horizontally,
showing first the back of its fin, and then, drawing an inspiration,
generally diving down head-foremost; and another, called the bonto by
the natives. When it rises, it first shows the top of the head, and
then floating onwards, immediately afterwards dips its head downwards,
its back curving over--exposing successively the whole dorsal ridge
without showing the tail-fin; the well-known mode in which the
sea-porpoise swims, which makes it appear to pitch head over heels. The
natives regard the bonto or largest species with especial awe, and will
never kill one voluntarily. Though their fat yields an excellent oil
for lamps, they believe that blindness would result from its use.

The bonto is supposed to possess the characteristic of the malign
water-nymphs of the Old World. They have a legend that a bonto was in
the custom of assuming the shape of a beautiful woman, with hair hanging
loose down to her heels; who, going on shore, endeavoured to entice
young men to the river. When any unhappy youth, smitten with her
charms, was induced to follow her to the water's edge, she would grasp
her victim round the waist, and plunging beneath the waves with a
triumphant shriek, disappeared with him for ever.

PIRANHA.

There are several kinds of piranha, many of which abound in the waters
of the Tapajos. The piranha, called also the caribe, is a kind of
salmon (Tetragonopterus). They are caught with any kind of bait, their
taste being indiscriminate, and their appetite most ravenous. They
frequently attack the legs of bathers near the shore, inflicting severe
wounds with their strong triangular teeth.

TH