Page:A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro.djvu/353

 THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 313

attentions. Once he came to us with a doleful countenance, telling us, he thought the bats meant to eat him up quite, for, having covered up his hands and feet in a blanket, they had descended beneath his hammock of open network, and, attack- ing the most prominent part of his person, had bitten him through a hole in his trousers ! We could not help laughing at the catastrophe, but to him it was no laughing matter.

Senhor Brandao, of Manaquery, informed me that he had once an Indian girl in his house, who was much subject to the attacks of the bats. She was at length so much weakened by loss of blood, that fears were entertained of her life, if they continued their attacks ; and it was found necessary to send her to a distance, where these bloodthirsty animals did not abound.

The wound made by them is very difficult to heal, especially in its usual locality — the tip of the great toe, as it generally renders a shoe unbearable for a day or two, and forces one to the conclusion that, after the first time, for the curiosity of the thing, to be bitten by a bat is very disagreeable. They will, however, very rarely enter a lighted room, and for this reason. the practice of burning a lamp all night is almost universal.

Tapirus Americanus. — The Tapir is common over the whole Amazon district, but is nowhere very abundant. It feeds on leaves and a great many different kinds of fruits, and some- times does much injury in the mandiocca-fields of the Indians. Its flesh is very good eating, and is considered very wholesome, and is even said to be a remedy for the ague. It is a very shy and timid animal, wandering about principally at night. When the Indian discovers a feeding-place, he builds a stage between two trees, about eight feet above the ground, and there stations himself soon after dusk, armed with a gun, or with his bow and arrow. Though such a heavy animal, the tapir steps as lightly as a cat, and can only be heard approaching by the gentle rustling of the bushes ; the slightest sound or smell will alarm it, and the Indian lies still as death for hours, till the animal approaches sufficiently near to be shot, or until, scenting its enemy, it makes off in another direction. I have accom- panied the Indians on these expeditions, but always without success.

Coassus nemorivagus.

C. rafus, — These are the small white and red deer of the