NOCTURNAL LIFE OF ANIMALS. 199 



in the ground, to support our hammocks. Deep stillness pre- 

 vailed, only broken at intervals by the blowing of the fresh- 

 water dolphins (5), which are peculiar to the river net- work 

 of the Orinoco (as, according to Colebrooke, they are also to 

 the Ganges, as high up the river as Benares) ; they followed 

 each other in long tracks. 



After eleven o'clock, such a noise began in the contiguous 

 forest, that for the remainder of the night all sleep was impos- 

 sible. The wild cries of animals rung through the woods. 

 Among the many voices which resounded together, the Indians 

 could only recognise those which, after short pauses, were 

 heard singly. There was the monotonous, plaintive, cry of 

 the Aluates (howling monkeys), the whining, flute-like notes 

 of the small sapajous, the grunting murmur of the striped 

 nocturnal ape (6) (Nyctipithecus trivirgatus, which I was the 

 first to describe), the fitful roar of the great tiger, the Cuguar 

 or maneless American lion, the peccary, the sloth, and a host 

 of parrots, parraquas (OrtaMdes), and other pheasant-like 

 birds. Whenever the tigers approached the edge of the forest, 

 our dog, who before had barked incessantly, came howling to 

 seek protection under the hammocks. Sometimes the cry of 

 the tiger resounded from the branches of a tree, and was 

 then always accompanied by the plaintive piping tones of the 

 apes, who were endeavouring to escape from the unwonted 

 pursuit. 



If one asks the Indians why such a continuous noise is heard 

 on certain nights, they answer, with a smile, that " the 

 animals are rejoicing in the beautiful moonlight, and cele- 

 brating the return of the full moon." To me the scene 

 appeared rather to be owing to an accidental, long- continued, 

 and gradually increasing conflict among the animals. Thus, 

 for instance, the jaguar will pursue the peccaries and the tapirs, 

 which, densely crowded together, burst through the barrier of 

 tree-like shrubs which opposes their flight. Terrified at the 

 confusion, the monkeys on the tops of the trees join their 



