On examination, these fish were found to be from five to five feet four inches in length, and weighed from ten to twelve pounds. Two rows of spots are placed along the back, from the head to the tail, each of which contains an excretory aperture. From these the akin of the animal is constantly covered with a mucous matter, whith is a much more powerful con.. ductor of electricity than pure water.
The gymnoti are neither charged conductors, nor batteries, nor electromotive apparatuses, but the electric shock given by the fish depends on its will ; for when one person held the head, and another the tail, one only of them received the stroke. It clear ly appeared that the discharge is made at one point only, which is that most strongly irritated. The gymnotus seemed to direct its strokes sometimes from the whole surface of the body, and sometimes from one point only. The action of this fish on the organs of man is transmitted and intercepted by the same bodies that transmit and intercept the electri cal current of a conductor. Their abundance in the pools of the plains sufficiently accounts for no other kind of fish being found in them. They kill many more than they devour ; and the Indians relate, that, when young alligators and gymnoti are taken in the same net, the latter never display the slightest trace of a wound, because they disable the young alligators before they are attacked by them. All the other animals dread their society ; and it became neces sary to change the direction of a road, because these eels were so numerous in one river, that they every year killed a great number of mules of burden as they forded it. The muscular part of their flesh furnishes a good aliment to the Indians, but the electric organs are slimy, and disagreeable to the taste, and are carefully separated from the rest of the body.
One of the most important operations perform ed by the natives is the taking the eggs of tle, and rendering them into oil, which becomes an article of extensive traffic, and is applied to the several purposes for which olive oil is used in other countries. The number of these animals that annually come to the sandy plains or islands of the Orinoco are estimated at more than a million, and they each lay generally from 80 to 140 eggs. The ground on which the nests are made is divided into portions among the natives, who each explores and takes up what is found on the land which for the season is his own property. The nests of eggs
are deposited about three feet below'the surface. The sand is removed, and the eggs are collected in small baskets. They are thrown into wooden troughs, and exposed to the sun, being frequently stirred with shovels, till the yolk, the oily part which swims on the surface, has time to separate. As fast as this oil is collected from the top, it is boiled over a very quick fire. It then becomes limpid, tasteless, and nearly colourless, and is used both in lamps and for dressing food. The produce of this harvest of eggs, as it is called in the country, is usually about 5000 jars of five gallons, and each jar is calculated to contain the yolks of 5000 eggs. These turtles do not appear to diminish, though, when young, they are the prey of herons, vultures, and crocodiles ; and, when full grown, are caught by the jaugaurs or tip* who with singular dexterity contrive to ex tract the flesh for their food, though they are un able to separate the upper from the under shell. The wild Indians also destroy many of them by re pairing to the banks of the river at the commence. ment of the rainy season, and shooting them with poisoned arrows in the head, the only part that is visible as they swim on the water.
The wild tiger cats are both numerous and fierce; but, finding abundance of prey in the flocks of the goat tribe, they are seldom rendered so voracious by hunger as to attack human beings. The num ber of venomous insects, of various species, al most exceeds belief; and are a terrible annoyance to travellers ; the more harmless races of reptiles, the iguanas, lizards, and others, almost cover the surface of even the naked rocks. The heat of the climate is such, even on the most hilly parts of the Orinoco, that it is scarcely supportable by man. The beasts of the forests hide themselves in the thickets, and the birds retire beneath the foliage of the trees, or into the crevices of the rocks. The honey of wild bees is very generally found, and their enor mous hives are suspended to the branches of the trees.—We feel some degree of impatience for the future volumes of the Personal Narrative of Humboldt, which, like those which have already ap peared, will throw much light on the natural history of this most interesting country.