In some parts of the country the Indians bury themselves, all but their heads, in the sand while they sleep; in others, they assemble all the cows in the village, and pass their nights among them, for it is found that they are not so troublesome in the neighborhood of cattle.
Sometimes they build a kind of oven, without doors or windows, having only a little hole, through which they creep on their hands and knees. They then light a fire in it of wet brushwood, which makes a great smoke and drives off the insects; then closing the door of the oven, they go to sleep. But I could not endure the smoke as well as I could the musquetoes.
As to the white flies, they are so very small, that if you were to use musquetoe curtains, they would have to be wetted to prevent these tiny creatures from making their way through the threads. Their sting is exceedingly painful.
The termites are a sort of ant that eats paper, pasteboard, parchment, &c, so that there are no ancient records of the countries in which they are found. But there is another species of ant which devours juicy green leaves, such as salads; so that when the inhabitants wish for a few dishes of pleasant cooling herbs, they make a garden in the air.
You will smile, but I assure you that I state nothing but what I have seen. They procure an old boat, or some frame of that description, raise it on dry poles, then fill it with earth, and sow their seeds. The destructive ants, travelling as they do in bands, not knowing there is any thing growing above, pass by these bare poles or supporters, and the plants are saved.
BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS.
Some beautiful animals in South America—The Titi Monkey The Widow Monkey—End of the Journey.
By this time I fear you will begin to think that there is nothing to be found in all South America, but dangerous passes, savage men, ferocious beasts, venomous serpents and reptiles, and troublesome insects. But you are mistaken. Humboldt would tell you so. Woodbridge, too, in his geography says that “the finest fruits, the most beautiful vegetables, and the largest and loftiest trees, are found in the Torrid Zone,” and much of South America lies, you know, in this zone. He says also,—and he says right,—that it produces not only the fiercest and most dangerous animals, and the largest and most venomous serpents and insects, but some animals which are among the “most beautiful” in the world.
I think one or two of the monkey race which I saw, are among the most beautiful of the animal kingdom. One species, called the Titi, pleased me particularly. It is very small; its hair is of a beautiful golden color; and it is a more striking resemblance to a child than any thing I ever saw in my life. It is also very timid, and when any body alarms it, its large eyes fill with tears.[3]