Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Indians and Aboriginal Ruins Near Chachapoyas in Northern Peru: Explorations Made in 1893 Under the Patronage of the Late Mr. Henry Villard, to the Memory of Whom This Monograph Is Respectfully Dedicated
Animal life. Is more visible in this section of the eastern slope of the Andes than further South, on the declivities of the Bolivian ranges. When scarcity of rainfall during winter months sets many plants temporarily at rest, deadening the brilliancy of foliage without always causing leaves to fall, in sects and reptiles retire into the sod for sleep. The larger vertebrates then appear more numerous because they leave their lurking places ln quest of food. This so-called dry season lasts a few months only. Already in August thundershowers occur and the traveler, caught by night on the arid seashore along which he must travel some distance before striking for the in terior, is surprised at the sight of lurid lightning to the east ward. It rains in the Sierra, and the fiery writing in the clouds indicates to him the whereabouts of the Peruvian moun tains.
As soon as the first heavy rains set in in September, and thunderstorms begin to chase each other, reptiles again appear on the surface. The great bushspider leaves its subterranean resting-place. Butter?ies flit over pools and watercourses. A toad, the dweller of dense thickets, announces its presence by a cry sounding like an anvil stroke in a still night. Every foot of ground teems with life, often painfully felt, and the air swarms with stinging diptera. The eye admires the luxuriant vegetation and the dazzling colors of large winged insects; the naturalist enjoys searching for undiscovered types and observ i'ng familiar species; But human comfort longs for a less ani mated and less troublesome period of the year.
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