cry
ceased, and a man came gliding to where all the Sahibs were standing to
tell them that there was a tiger lying asleep in his den close at hand.
A consultation was instantly held; most of the party were anxious to
return to Cuttack, but Captain B---- insisted on having a shot at the
animal; accordingly he advanced very quickly, until he came to the
place, when he saw, not a tiger, but a large leopard, lying quite still,
with his head resting on his fore-paws. He went up close and fired, but
the animal did not move. This astonished him, and on examination he
found that the brute was already dead. One of his companions had bribed
some Indians to place a dead leopard there, and to say that there was a
tiger asleep. It may be imagined what a laugh there was!

Nature, ever provident, has scattered with a bounteous hand her gifts in
the country of the Orinoco, where the jaguar especially abounds. The
savannahs, which are covered with grasses and slender plants, present a
surprising luxuriance and diversity of vegetation; piles of granite
blocks rise here and there, and, at the margins of the plains, occur
deep valleys and ravines, the humid soil of which is covered with arums,
heliconias, and llianas. The shelves of primitive rocks, scarcely
elevated above the plain, are partially coated with lichens and mosses,
together with succulent plants and tufts of evergreen shrubs with
shining leaves. The horizon is bounded with mountains overgrown with
forests of laurels, among which clusters of palms rise to the height of
more than a hundred feet, their slender stems supporting tufts of
feathery foliage. To the east of Atures other mountains appear, the
ridge of which is composed of pointed cliffs, rising like huge pillars
above the trees. When those columnar masses are situated near the
Orinoco, flamingoes, herons, and other wading birds perch on their
summits, and look like sentinels. In the vicinity of the cataracts, the
moisture which is diffused in the air produces a perpetual verdure, and
wherever soil has accumulated on the plains, it is adorned by the
beautiful shrubs of the mountains.

Such is one view of the picture, but it has its dark side also; those
flowing waters, which fertilize the soil, abound with crocodiles; those
charming shrubs and flourishing plants are the hiding-places of deadly
serpents; those laurel forests, the favorite lurking spots of the fierce
jaguar; whilst the atmosphere, so clear and lovely, ab