It was the _Amphisboena fuliginosa_, or "slow-worm." It
lives in the chambers of the Saueba ants. We met a procession of these
ants, each carrying a circular piece of a leaf vertically over its head.
These insects are peculiar to tropical America, and are much dreaded in
Brazil, where they soon despoil valuable trees of their foliage. They
cut the leaves with their scissor-like jaws, and use them to thatch the
domes at the entrance of their subterranean dwellings.

At Napo we took possession of the governor's house. Each village in the
Napo province was obliged to build an edifice of split bamboo for that
dignitary; and, as he no longer exists, they are left unoccupied. They
generally stand on the highest and best site in the town, and are a
god-send to travelers. Immediately on our arrival, the Indian governor
and his staff of justices called to see what we wanted, and during our
stay supplied us with chickens, eggs, plantains, yucas, and fuel. His
excellency would always come, silver-headed cane in hand, though the
justices had only six eggs or a single fowl to bring us. The alcalde
also paid us his respects. He is an old blanco (as the whites are
called), doing a little traffic in gold dust, lienzo, and pita, but is
the highest representative of Ecuador in the Napo country. Here, too, we
met, to our great delight, Mr. George Edwards, a native of Connecticut,
who has settled himself, probably for life, in the depths of this
wilderness. He was equally rejoiced to see the face and hear the speech
of a countryman. His industry and upright character have won for him the
respect and good-will of the Indians, and he is favorably known in
Quito. The government has given him a tract of land on the Yusupino, two
miles west of Napo village. Here he is cultivating vanilla, of which he
has now three thousand plants, and also his patience, for six years
elapse after transplanting before a pod appears. He has been so long in
the country (thirteen years) his English would now and then run off into
Spanish or Quichua.

Napo is prettily situated on the left bank of the Rio Napo, a dense
forest inclosing it on every side. The maximum number of inhabitants is
eighty families; but many of these are in town only in festival seasons.
It was well for us that we reached the Napo during the feasts; otherwise
we might not have found men enough to man our canoes down the river.
There are three or four blancos, petty merchants, who follow the o