avor. These birds inhabited
the deepest recesses of the woods, and, although seldom molested, were
exceedingly shy.

Few animals are found in the forests and mountains of Grenada. The
agouti, the armadillo, and the opossum, are sometimes, though rarely,
seen. The only quadruped I ever met with in my rambles was an opossum,
which I shot as it was climbing a tree. Of reptiles there are none in
the mountains. There are several kinds of snakes in the island, some
of which have never been described by naturalists. The species which
is most common is a black snake (constrictor) of large size, being
frequently eight or ten feet in length, and three or four inches
in diameter. These snakes are treated not only with forbearance but
kindness by the planters, and in return render important service on the
sugar plantations, being most persevering and successful RAT CATCHERS;
rats are abundant, and exceedingly destructive to the sugar cane, on
which they subsist during a considerable portion of the year. None
of the serpents in Grenada are poisonous, but in some of the islands,
particularly St. Lucia, there exists a snake which resembles the
rattlesnake in the ferocity of its attacks and the deadly venom of its
bite. Having no rattles, no warning of danger is given to the unwary
traveller until the snake darts from its ambush and inflicts a fatal
wound; hence the name given to this dangerous reptile is the LANCE DE
FER.

In penetrating those mountain gorges, and climbing those mountain
ridges, steep and thickly covered with forest trees and vines of many
kinds, and of luxuriant growth, I sometimes passed hours without meeting
any sign of life, except the flitting and hum of the humming-bird, and
the loud and musical coo of the ramee. That mountain wilderness seemed
the chosen home of the humming-bird. I there met with many varieties,
some of which were exceedingly beautiful. My appearance in those forests
caused them much surprise, and to gratify their curiosity they sometimes
flew towards me, and hovered within a few feet of my face, as if eager
to examine my appearance and learn what object led me to intrude on
their mountain haunts.

There were, however, other and less interesting inhabitants in that
region, as I one day discovered to my great consternation. I was passing
up the bed of a small stream, where the water, by attrition during many
ages, had worn a chasm or "flume" through the solid basaltic rock, the
walls of whic