And at this moment the laboratory rings with click of hammer, and nails, and iron hoops. As usual, there are a number of uninvited spectators watching the breaking up of the scientific establishment, which has been, during the past month, a source of constant entertainment to the vagrant population of Teffé. In this country of open doors and windows one has not the same protection against intrusion as in a colder climate, and we have had a constant succession of curious visitors hanging about our premises. I have dwelt especially on the fish collection; but we do not go away empty-handed in other respects. Mr. Dexter has prepared a large number of the forest birds for mounting,—papagaios, toucans, and a great variety of smaller species of very brilliant plumage, not to speak of the less showy water-birds. He has been often in the woods shooting, with Mr. Hunnewell and Mr. Thayer, and has employed several sportsmen of the place to assist him. Turtles, jacarés, and snakes are also largely represented in the collections; and Mr. Agassiz has obtained, by purchase, a large and well-preserved collection of insects, made by a Frenchman during a several years’ residence in this little town. In Teffé and its neighborhood we constantly tread in the footsteps of the English naturalist, Mr. Bates, “Senhor Henrique,” as the people call him here, whose charming book, “The Naturalist on the Amazons,” has been a very pleasant companion to us in our wanderings.[75] [Illustration: Head of Alexandrina.]