The constant plash of falling fruit showed that birds were feeding overhead.
Sometimes a flock of parrots or bright blue chatterers swept from tree to tree, or atrogon swooped at a falling bunch of fruit and caught it ere it reached the water; while ungainly toucans plumped clumsily down upon the branches, and sat, in striking contrast, beside the lovely pompadours, with their claret-coloured plumage and delicate white wings.
Vieing with these birds in splendour were several large bright-yellow flowers of the creeping-plants, which twined round the trees.

Some of these plants had white, spotted, and purple blossoms; and there was one splendid species, called by the natives the flor de Santa Anna--the flower of St.Ann--which emitted a delightful odour and was four inches in diameter.
Having traversed this part of the wood, they once more emerged upon the main stream of the Amazon.

It was covered with water-fowl.

Large logs of trees and numerous floating islands of grass were sailing down; and on these sat hundreds of white gulls, demurely and comfortably voyaging to the ocean; for the sea would be their final resting-place if they sat on these logs and islands until they descended several hundreds of miles of the great river.
"I wish," said Martin, after a long silence, during which the travellers had been gazing on the watery waste as they paddled up stream--"I wish that we could fall in with solid land, where we might have something cooked.

I'm desperately hungry now; but I don't see a spot of earth large enough for a mosquito to rest his foot on." "We'll jist have to take to farhina and wather," remarked Barney, laying down his paddle and proceeding leisurely to light his pipe.