pulp. I ride under the spreading limbs
of the mahogany-tree, marking its oval pinnate leaves, and the egg-like
seed capsules that hang from its branches; thinking as well of the
brilliant surfaces that lie concealed within its dark and knotty trunk.
Onward I ride, through glistening foliage and glowing flowers, that,
under the beams of a tropic sun, present the varying hues of the
rainbow.

There is no wind--scarcely a breath stirring; yet here and there the
leaves are in motion. The wings of bright birds flash before the eye,
passing from tree to tree. The gaudy tanagers, that cannot be tamed--
the noisy lories, the resplendent trogons, the toucans with their huge
clumsy bills, and the tiny bee-birds (the _trochili_ and _colibri_)--all
glance through the sunny vistas.

The carpenter-bird--the great woodpecker--hangs against the decayed
trunk of some dead tree, beating the hollow bark, and now and then
sounding his clarion note, which is heard to the distance of a mile.
Out of the underwood springs the crested curassow; or, basking in the
sun-lit glades, with outspread wings gleaming with metallic lustre, may
be seen the beautiful turkey of Honduras.

The graceful roe (_Gervus Mexicanus_) bounds forward, startled by the
tread of the advancing horse. The caiman crawls lazily along the bank,
or hides his hideous body under the water of a sluggish stream, and the
not less hideous form of the iguana, recognised by its serrated crest,
is seen crawling up the tree-trunk or lying along the slope of a lliana.
The green lizard scuttles along the path--the basilisk looks with
glistening eyes from the dark interstices of some corrugated vine--the
biting peckotin glides among the dry leaves in pursuit of its insect
prey--and the chameleon advances sluggishly along the branches, while it
assumes their colour to deceive its victims.

Serpent forms present themselves: now and then the huge boa and the
macaurel, twining the trees. The great tiger-snake is seen with its
head raised half a yard from the surface; the cascabel, too, coiled like
a cable; and the coral-snake with his red and ringed body stretched at
full length along the ground. The two last, though inferior in size to
the boas, are more to be dreaded; and my horse springs back when he sees
the one glistening through the grass, or hears the "skir-r-r-r" of the
other threatening to strike.

Quadrupeds and quadrumana appear. The red monkey (_Mono Colorado_) runs