Providentially the storm passed over without doing them any injury, and the morning dawn. ed calm and clear. The river being still violently agitated, they determined to prolong their rest until a later hour than usual, and Philips remem. bered his promise to Denis, that in case they did so, he would give him up his hammock, from day break, in order that he might take some sleep, after having been on the watch all night. Not seeing him near, he called aloud to him two or three times, and then stopped to listen if he was coming, when he presently heard a voice similar to his own crying "Denis, Denis, Denis;" this call Denis himself heard, and answered that he would be with him directly; though hearing the voice still continuing to call out to him, he hurried up to Philips, who was standing beside his hammock, wondering where the voice came from that was imitating him; upon searching, they found, perched on the top of a tall tree close by, a bird, of that species, which is called the Mocking Bird, from its power of mocking, or imitating sounds; they stood looking at it some time, when it suddenly took its flight, making the very woods resound with the name of "Denis."

While matters were preparing for resuming the voyage that morning, Philips strolled thro' the forest, much amused with the various kinds of animals that he occasionally met with. The first object that attracted his attention, was something

hanging from the branch of a tree, which, at first, he could scarcely believe to be a living creature, but which, upon coming up to it, he perceived to be a small monkey, swinging by its tail to the bough, and fast asleep; when he touched it with his switch, the little animal awoke, and screeching at him with a shrill voice, continued swinging there, and grinning at him ; this species of monkey is called the Ring Tailed Monkey, from its manner of twining the tail round branches of trees, and thus suspending itself, even when sleeping. He saw great numbers of them afterwards through the wood, leaping from tree to tree, and the size of any of them did not exceed that of a half grown kitten.

Philips was not long in the wood, before he perceived a great serpent, lying stretched at full length, at a little distance before him, it was about ten feet long, as large round the body as a man's arm, with a prodigiously wide mouth, which it opened to an extent which would easily have taken between its jaws the head of a sheep. He stopped to observe it, for having no fire-arms with him, he did not chuse to approach it nearer; the monstrous animal turned, and looked at him, then slowly moved away, occasionally stopping to see if it was pursued, and extend, ing its great jaws and hissing, while it glided along the ground, till it entered among the bushes, and he lost sight of it.

Great numbers of parrots and other beautiful birds, were flying from tree to tree; one he ob served in particular, which had alighted on the spot where the men had eaten supper the night before, and was feeding on the bones and frag. ments of food which remained on the ground; this was a species of Bastard, its plumage not unlike the Cock Pheasant; it had a long tail of three feathers, of the most brilliant colours, and a rich top knot or tuft upon its head.

Many other curious animals did Philips ob serve in his walk that morning, and it was with regret he heard himself summoned to the shore. They sailed once more, and continued their course up the Orinoco; all along the margin of the river were seen the pelican and the crane, stretching out their long necks, and with their bills in the water catching the small kinds of fish, on which they feed. Flocks of wild ducks and geese were flying over head, and all kinds of water fowl in great multitudes. The alliga tors and large crocodiles floated by the vessel, absolutely in swarms, carried rapidly down the river by the current; nothing is more remarka ble than the lifeless appearance which these animals show, thus borne along by the stream; as they float in the water, they look more like pieces of decayed branches, of which the bark had been peeled off, than like living creatures, nor is it until they pass close alongside that the difference can be discerned. These animals

are likewise often to be seen sleeping amongst the rushes of the river, or lying on the sands basking in the hot sun they are much more courageous, however, in the water than on land, and were always observed to plunge directly into the river, whenever any thing occurred to molest them.

Some of the men caught and killed one while sleeping, and it measured, at its full length, ten feet two inches: its body was two feet in girth, and it had forty-eight teeth in the upper and under jaws.

Early on the following morning, there arose a heavy gale of wind, and the Flechera uot be ing calculated to weather out a storm, threatened every moment to upset. There were many persons on board, who had crossed the Atlantic several times, yet had never thought themselves in more danger than at this period; the boat heaved and tossed up and down, and had it overturned, the whole crew must either have fallen victims to the shoals of crocodiles and alligators, or even in the event of any of them escaping to shore, they would there have had to encounter the Tiger or the Jaguay. The Flechera, however, proved a better sailer than they expected, and in the course of a few hours the wind fell.

The pilot warned them that they were now approaching the most dangerous part of the

river. The Orinoco was at this time rising, and the current had become much more rapid than they had hitherto found it; by degrees it grew more and more violent, so that had it not been for a steady breeze in their favour, they could scarcely have made their way, and the force of the stream frequently bore down boughs and branches, and even whole trecs themselves, which every now and then obstructed the boat's passage. After stemming this torrent for some time, they came to a narrow pass in the river, which led them to where it widens into a fine open sheet of water: the current at the entrance is strong, but arrived in the center of this basin, the water is found quite calm; here they stopped awhile to look on the scene around them; all sorts of sea animals were swimming about them in greater numbers than they had found them in any other part of the river, and also, as Philips observed, of a much larger size, particularly the water-hog, and sea serpent, with which the river seemed quite alive. This basin was surrounded by rocks of the most gigantic size, and high mountains were seen rising beyond. The continuation of the course of the river was from the opposite side of the basin, and this channel, though narrow, has so rapid a current, or rather the water rushes down it with such violence, that Philips could not help enquiring if that was the course by which they were tớ proceed up the river, and how it was possible