that the fish on eating very little of it, become so intoxicated that they float almost lifeless on the surface of the water, and the Indians have no other trouble than to take them up into their boat. It would be natural to suppose, that this might render the fish very unwholesome food, but experience proves the contrary, nor has it ever been known to injure in the least those who eat of it. The largest kind of fish that the Indians catch, is what is called the Bagree, some of which are a yard and a half long, but they are a soft fat kind of fish, only fit to be eaten when dried and salted like our ling. They also find, however, a very finé kind of large trout, called Robalo, which is well flavoured and being highly esteemed there, brings the fisherman a good price. After having remained, out on these expeditions, until the usual stock of ish has been collected, the little fleet returns to harbour, where it alway finds a ready market for its cargo, the poor men gladly exchanging what they have gained by nights and days of toil, for stuffs, cloth, and other articles of cloth. ing for themselves and families; they then return up the country to their own habitations, and there industriously cultivate their little farms, until the next return of the fishing season.

Returning one day from witnessing the landing of the fishermen, in crossing a field, Philips's attention was attracted by the appearance of a large alligator advancing towards him, he

withdrew to a short distance, and the animal passed on without molesting him, and he now perceived that this one was closely followed by a second, and that the first was the female car. rying away her young; of these she had to the number of from forty to fifty, hanging across her back and neck, and thus laden, she was speedily making her way down to the river, while the male alligator who followed her, ea gerly killed and devoured all the young ones which happened to fail to the ground, so that perhaps not five remained alive out of the whole brood. This disposition in the male, is doubt. less intended by Providence, to diminish the number of those destructive animals, which else would be in such abundance, that neither the river nor the neighbouring fields would be suffi cient to contain them, for it is not unusual for the female to deposit an hundred eggs in the Besides the hostility of their own species, the young are almost immediately at. tacked by a large bird of the hawk species, called a Gallinazo; indeed this bird sometimes discovers the place where the eggs have been laid, and lighting on the spot, eagerly tears up the sand with its bill and claws, and greedily devours the whole brood. Calves and colts, in the meadows as well as dogs and other small animals, often fall a prey to the alligator, which approaches the pastures in which they feed at night, and carries them off; but as was seen in the case of

one season.

But

Philips, the animal rarely attacks mankind, for which reason the Indians are emboldened to engage them whenever they meet them. these creatures are usually killed by means of a snare, consisting of a strong piece of wood pointed at both ends, and covered with flesh.This is fastened to a thong secured on shore.When the animal sees the flesh on the water, he darts at it, and shutting his mouth, the point runs into his jaws and he is caught.

Many of the small rivers on the coast of America, Philips observed had contracted a musky smell, from the vast number of Alligators with which they abound, and he even found that they always gave a peculiar white colour to the water which they frequented, which did not, however, in the least degree, render it unfit for use.

Guayaquil is divided into two towns, the old and the new, and contains about twenty thousand inhabitants. The air is warm and moist, and the country round about lies low and level. From December until April, the season is the hottest, and during all this time, the rains con. tinue night and day, accompanied with frequent and violent tempests of thunder and lightning. The consequence of this heat and moisture is, that the whole district swarms with venemous insects, such as musquitoes, toads, scorpions, vipers, and snakes, which sometimes find means even of getting into the houses, to the destruc tion of the inhabitants. So greatly are they

incommoded by fles, that it is impossible to keep a candle burning, except in a lanthern, above three or four minutes, numbers flying in to the flame and extinguishing it. It would be altogether uninhabitable, at least as Philips thought, if the period between May and Decem ber did not give the people rest from them.— During this interval, the heat is moderated by gentle breezes, which daily set in from the sea at noon, and continue till six the following morning. The harbour also is excellent, and the docks well fitted for building ships of war of the largest size, the wood which the neigh bouring forests produce, being of an excellent quality for ship timber.

Not long after Philips's arrival in Guayaquil, he joined a party of young men, who were going on commercial business into the interior of the country, as far as Quito, the capital of the im mense province of the same name, which extends along the north western shore of South America for six hundred miles. The river Guayaquil afforded them the means of going northwards 100 miles by water, as far as the small town of Caracol. On their arrival there, they hired mules to carry them the rest of the way, mak. ing no longer stay than was necessary for providing themselves with guides, provisions, and every thing necessary for the accomplishment of their remaining journey, which though not many miles, lay across the great chain of the Andes, the town of Quito being on the slope on

the other side. For four leagues, their road lay through thick woods of plantain and cocoa trees, when they reached the river Ojebar, which rising northwards in the mountains, runs into the Guayaquil below Caracol; along the banks of this river, they pursued their way, having to ford it no less than eight or nine times in one day, and this is attended with no small danger, from its rapidity, breadth, and depth, and especially from the bottom being so rocky as every moment to make them apprehensive, lest their mules should stumble.

The most part of their road, from Caracol until they reached the Ojebar, was so deep and boggy, that the poor animals sunk at every step almost up to their girths; along the banks of the river, they could meet with no kind of dwelling to pass the night in, but this inconvenience was in some measure removed by the surprising dexterity of their Iadian guides, who running into the woods, soon returned with branches of trees, and the leaves of a plant called the Vijahua, with which, in less than an hour, they erected several huts, large enough to contain the whole party, and so well covered, that the rain which frequently came on very violently could not penetrate them. The Vijahua leaf is generally five feet in length, and two and a half in breadth, the plant grows wild and without any stem, the leaf being smooth and green on the under side, and white and downy on the other; it is made