e ground, the large curassows, and gurns, and the "gallo," with
his plumage of bright red. Upon the trees, the macaws, and parrots, and
toucans, and trogons. In the waters, the scarlet flamingoes, the ibises,
and the tall herons; and in the air, the hawks, the zamuros, the
king-vultures, and the eagles.

We shall see much of the reptile world, both by land and water. Basking
upon the bank, or floating along the stream, we may behold the great
water lizards--the crocodile and caiman; or the unwieldly forms of the
_cheloniae_--the turtles. Nimbly running along the tree-trunk, or up the
slanting lliana, we may see the crested iguana, hideous to behold. On
the branches that overhang the silent pool we may see the "water-boa,"
of huge dimensions, watching for his prey--the peccary, the capivara,
the paca, or the agouti; and in the dry forest we may meet with his
congener the "stag-swallower," twined around a tree, and waiting for the
roebuck or the little red-deer of the woods.

We may see the mygale, or bird-catching spider, at the end of his strong
net-trap, among the thick foliage; and the tarantula, at the bottom of
his dark pit-fall, constructed in the ground. We may see the tent-like
hills of the white ants, raised high above the surface, and the nests of
many other kinds, hanging from high branches, and looking as though they
had been constructed out of raw silk and pasteboard. We may see trees
covered with these nests, and some with the nests of wasps, and still
others with those of troupials and orioles--birds of the genus _icterus_
and _cassicus_--hanging down like long cylindrical purses.

All those, and many more strange sights, may be seen in the great forest
of the Amazon valley; and some of them we _shall_ see--_voila_!

CHAPTER II.

THE REFUGEES.

Upon a bright and lovely evening, many years ago, a party of travellers
might have been seen climbing up that Cordillera of the Andes that lies
to the eastward of the ancient city of Cuzco. It was a small and
somewhat singular party of travellers; in fact, a travelling
family,--father, mother, children, and one attendant. We shall say a
word of each of them separately.

The chief of the party was a tall and handsome man, of nearly forty
years of age. His countenance bespoke him of Spanish race, and so he
was. He was not a Spaniard, however, but a Spanish-American, or
"Creole," for so Spaniards born in America are called to distinguish
them from the n