DOMESTICATED
BIRDS
AND
ANIMALS.
311
climate, within the torrid z o n e , embarrassed the natives in regard t o migration in n u m e r o u s bodies, prevented settlem e n t s requiring an extensive space, and perpetuated the misery and barbarism of solitary hordes. The feeble civilization i n t r o d u c e d in o u r days b y the Spanish m o n k s pursues a retrograde course. Father Gili relates that, at the t i m e o f the expedition to the boundaries, agriculture b e g a n t o make s o m e progress on the banks o f the O r i n o c o ; and that cattle, especially goats, had m u l tiplied considerably at M a y p u r e s . W e f o u n d n o goats, either in the mission or in any other village o f the O r i n o c o ; t h e y had all been devoured b y the tigers. T h e black and white breeds o f pigs only, the latter o f which are called F r e n c h pigs ( p u e r c o s franceses), because they are believed to have c o m e from the Caribbee Islands, have resisted the pursuit o f wild beasts. W e saw with m u c h pleasure guacamayas, or tame macaws, round the huts o f the Indians, and f l y i n g t o the fields like o u r p i g e o n s . T h i s bird is the largest and m o s t majestic species o f parrot with naked c h e c k s that we f o u n d in o u r travels. I t is called in M a r a tivitan, cahuei. I n c l u d i n g the tail, it is t w o feet three inches long. W e had observed it also on the banks o f the A t a b a p o , the T e m i , and the Rio N e g r o . T h e flesh o f the cahuei, which is frequently eaten, is black and somewhat tough. T h e s e macaws, whose p l u m a g e g l o w s with vivid tints o f purple, blue, and y e l l o w , are a great o r n a m e n t to the Indian farm-yards; they do not yield in beauty to the p e a c o c k , the g o l d e n pheasant, t h e pauxi, o r the alector. T h e practice of rearing parrots, birds of a family so different from the gallinaceous tribes, was remarked b y C o l u m b u s . When he discovered America ho saw macaws, or large parrots, which served as food to the natives of the Caribbee Islands, instead o f fowls. A majestic tree, m o r e than sixty feet high, which the planters call fruta de burro, g r o w s in t h e vicinity o f t h e little village o f M a y p u r e s . I t is a new species o f the u n o n a , and has the stateliness o f the Uvaria zeylanica of Aublet. Its branches are straight, and rise in a pyramid, nearly like the poplar o f the Mississippi, erroneously called t h e Lombardy poplar. T h e tree is celebrated for its aromatic fruit, the infusion o f which is a powerful febrifuge.