Wild Scenes in South America, Or, Life in the Llanos of VenezuelaC. Scribner, 1862 - 502 pages |
Contents
| 245 | |
| 247 | |
| 251 | |
| 256 | |
| 267 | |
| 269 | |
| 278 | |
| 280 | |
| 68 | |
| 69 | |
| 74 | |
| 78 | |
| 85 | |
| 99 | |
| 113 | |
| 116 | |
| 121 | |
| 133 | |
| 148 | |
| 162 | |
| 163 | |
| 175 | |
| 189 | |
| 200 | |
| 202 | |
| 219 | |
| 221 | |
| 238 | |
| 242 | |
| 289 | |
| 302 | |
| 319 | |
| 322 | |
| 335 | |
| 345 | |
| 348 | |
| 358 | |
| 361 | |
| 373 | |
| 388 | |
| 395 | |
| 404 | |
| 417 | |
| 422 | |
| 431 | |
| 435 | |
| 439 | |
| 454 | |
| 479 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abundant Achaguas animals appeared approach Apure APURE RIVER Aragua Arauca armadillo attacked banks Barinas beasts beautiful birds body brand bull Calabozo camp canoe caribes cattle cattle farm commenced companions compelled corrals creatures creek crocodiles Curaçao curandero dangerous distance enemy escape especially expedition eyes favorite fearful feet fire fish force gourd grass ground guaco Guárico hammock hand head herd horns horse horsemen hunter Indians inhabitants jaguar jaws journey lagoons land lazo Llaneros Llanos majada Maracaibo Mata midst Monagas morning mules never night occasion once Orinoco Paez palm pampas papelon pass patriots peculiar plains plant plunged poison ponchos Portuguesa possess powerful quadrupeds ranch region render reptile retreat rider river royalists saddle San Pablo savannas scene season secure seized shore side singular skin snakes soon spot steeds stream sufficient tail tiger tion traveller trees troop usually vaqueros Venezuela wild wound young
Popular passages
Page 162 - Suppose yourself in hopeless sorrow, begin with a high loud note, and pronounce "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," each note lower and lower, till the last is scarcely heard, pausing a moment or two betwixt every note, and you will have some idea of the moaning of the largest goat-sucker in Demerara.
Page 69 - By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric batteries.
Page 69 - A contest between animals of so different an organization furnishes a very striking spectacle. The Indians, provided with harpoons and long slender reeds, surround the pool closely; and some climb upon the trees, the branches of which extend horizontally over the surface of the water. By their wild cries, and...
Page 93 - The lowering sky sheds a dim, almost straw-colored light on the desolate plain. The horizon draws suddenly nearer, the steppe seems to contract, and with it the heart of the wanderer. The hot, dusty particles which fill the air increase its suffocating heat, and the east wind, blowing over the long-heated soil, brings with it no refreshment, but rather a still more burning glow.
Page 44 - Born in the rude hut, the infant Gaucho receives little attention, but is left to swing from the roof in a bullock's hide, the corners of which are drawn towards each other by four strips of hide. In the first year of his life he crawls about without clothes, and I have more than once seen a mother give a child of this age a sharp knife, a foot long, to play with. As soon as he walks, his infantine amusements are those which prepare him for the occupations of his future life ; with a lasso, made...
Page 70 - During a long time they seem to prove victorious. Several horses sink beneath the violence of the invisible strokes, which they receive from all sides in organs the most essential to life; and stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, disappear under the water. Others, panting, with mane erect and haggard eyes, expressing anguish, raise themselves, and endeavour to flee from the storm by which they are overtaken.
Page 253 - Nature has formed his fore-legs wonderfully thick, and strong, and muscular, and armed his feet with three tremendous sharp and crooked claws. Whenever he seizes an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body, and keeps it there till it dies through pressure, or through want of food.
Page 93 - The pools, which the yellow, fading branches of the fan palm had protected from evaporation, now gradually disappear. As in the icy north the animals become torpid with cold, so here, under the influence of the parching drought, the crocodile and the boa become motionless and fall asleep, deeply buried in the dry mud.
Page 254 - His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists the bite of a dog ; his hinder parts are protected by thick and shaggy hair, while his immense tail is large enough to cover his whole body. " The Indians have a great dread of coming in contact with the ant-bear ; and after disabling him in the chase, never think of approaching him till he be quite dead.
Page 351 - The spathe, too — a fibrous bag which envelops the fruit before maturity — is much valued by the Indian, furnishing him with an excellent and durable cloth. Taken off entire, it forms bags in which he keeps the red paint for his toilet, or the silk cotton for his arrows, or he even stretches out the larger ones to make himself a cap, cunningly woven by nature without a seam or joining. When cut open longitudinally and pressed flat, it is used to preserve his delicate feather ornaments and gala...