Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6Various
Science
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6
Various
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
the fruits; Indian corn, cassava, yams, eddoes, tannias, sweet
potatoes and ochroes are among the vegetables, while innumerable
varieties of peppers are grown and used in large quantities by all
classes. The dainty avocado pear, purple and green, grows readily. In
the lagoons and trenches many varieties of water-lilies grow wild, the
largest being the famous _Victoria regia_.
_Fauna._--Guiana is full of wild animals, birds, insects and reptiles.
Among the wild animals, one and all nocturnal, are the mipourrie or
tapir, manatee, acouri and labba (both excellent eating), sloth,
ant-eater, armadillo, several kinds of deer, baboons, monkeys and the
puma and jaguar. The last is seen frequently down on the coast,
attracted from the forest by the cattle grazing on the front and back
pasture lands of the estates. Among the birds may be mentioned the
carrion crow (an invaluable scavenger), vicissi and muscovy ducks,
snipe, teal, plover, pigeon, the ubiquitous kiskadee or _qu'est que
dit_, a species of shrike--his name derived from his shrill call--the
canary and the twa-twa, both charming whistlers. These are all found
on the coast. In the forest are maam (partridge), maroudi (wild
turkey), the beautiful bell-bird with note like a silver gong, the
quadrille bird with its tuneful oft-repeated bar, great flocks of
macaws and parrots, and other birds of plumage of almost indescribable
richness and variety. On the coast the trenches and canals are full of
alligators, but the great cayman is found only in the rivers of the
interior. Among the many varieties of snakes are huge constricting
camoudies, deadly bushmasters, labarrias and rattlesnakes. Among other
reptiles are the two large lizards, the salumpenta (an active enemy of
the barn-door fowl), and the iguana, whose flesh when cooked resembles
tender chicken. The rivers, streams and trenches abound with fishes,
crabs and shrimps, the amount of the latter consumed being enormous,
running into tons weekly as the coolies use them in their curries and
the blacks in their foo-foo.
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