. Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 & 1824 : with original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc. for cabinets of natural history . thepoor animal. The manner in which they were slaughteied,viz., by inserting a hard-pointed stick up one nostril into thebrain, was also a very cruel proceeding. EXPLANATORY INDEX. 417 Perliaps this may be a cruel way of killing the Guana, but,like nearly all reptiles, it is little sensitive to pain, andwonderfully tenacious of life, and, as it must be destroyed forfood
. Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 & 1824 : with original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc. for cabinets of natural history . thepoor animal. The manner in which they were slaughteied,viz., by inserting a hard-pointed stick up one nostril into thebrain, was also a very cruel proceeding. EXPLANATORY INDEX. 417 Perliaps this may be a cruel way of killing the Guana, but,like nearly all reptiles, it is little sensitive to pain, andwonderfully tenacious of life, and, as it must be destroyed forfood, perhaps the pointed stick is the quickest mode of killingit. Not that the natives trouble themselves about the in-fliction of pain, for, besides the mode of securing the Guanaas above mentioned, they sew its lips together, in order toprevent it from biting, and keep it without food until theywant it. Here, again, they are not more cruel than our rat-catchers, who used to sew together the lips of their ferrets, orour fishermen, who used to disable their lobsters by pegging their claws as soon as caught. GuAVA {Psidium pomi/emm).—The tree which bears tinswell-known fruit, is quite a little one, scarcely larger than a. privet bush, and the fruit is small, round and green. It canbe eaten without any preparation, but is mostly made into E E 418 EXPLANATORY INDEX. jelly. It is remarkable, however, that few tropical fruits,except the orange, the cocoa-nut, the pineapple, and thedurian, can be compared with our plums, peaches, straw-berries, &c. The durian indeed, which is said by its lovers tobe the king of fruits, requires an education befoie it can beappreciated; but when it is once tasted, the eater feels as ifhe can never have enough of it There are several species of Guava, among which is thelittle, stunted-looking Water {Psidium Jluviatile). Themost valued of them is the Perfumed Guava (F. poonrferum),which grows abundantly on the banks of the Cuyuni river, itsroots
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