ior
of the province, which may account for the many curious specimens of
wild living animals which we met with at that place. Indeed the city
seemed one vast menagerie, well stocked with birds, beasts, and creeping
things.

Of the birds, the parrot tribe held the most conspicuous place. They
were of all colors and sizes, from the large, awkward-looking mackaw,
with his hoarse, discordant note, to the little, delicate-looking
paroquet, dumb as a barnacle, and not bigger than a wren. The monkeys,
of all sizes, forms, and colors, continually chattering and grimacing,
as fully represented the four-footed animals as the parrots did the
bipeds. We found there the mongoose, but little larger than a squirrel;
an animal almost as intelligent as the monkey, but far more interesting
and attractive. The hideous-looking sloth, with his coarse hair,
resembling Carolina moss, his repulsive physiognomy, his strong, crooked
claws, his long and sharp teeth, darkly dyed with the coloring matter of
the trees and shrubs which constituted his diet, was thrust in our
faces in every street; and the variegated venomous serpent, with his
prehensile fangs, and the huge boa constrictor, writhing in captivity,
were encountered as desirable articles of merchandise at every corner.

But the MOSQUITOES at the mouth of the Amazon were perhaps the most
remarkable, as well as the most bloodthirsty animals which abounded in
that region. They were remarkable not only for size, but for voracity
and numbers. This insect is a pest in every climate. I have found them
troublesome on the bar of the Mississippi in the heat of summer; and at
the same season exceedingly annoying while navigating the Dwina on the
way to Archangel. In the low lands of Java they are seen, heard, and
felt to a degree destructive to comfort; and in certain localities in
the West Indies are the direct cause of intense nervous excitement, loud
and bitter denunciations, and fierce anathemas. But the mosquitoes that
inhabit the country bordering on the mouths of the Amazon must bear away
the palm from every other portion of the globe.

Every part of our brig was seized upon by these marauding insects; no
nook or corner was too secluded for their presence, and no covering
seemed impervious to their bills. Their numbers were at all times
incredible; but at the commencement of twilight they seemed to increase,
and actually formed clouds above the deck, or to speak more correctly,
one contin