272 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



the house. We could just see that it was alive with 

 monkeys, before they were gone. Between monkeys 

 and dogs there is a strong feeling of antipathy ; the 

 former take pleasure in annoying the latter, and will 

 sometimes approach a house, when no one is in sight, 

 and sit at a safe distance, ft making faces" at the dog, 

 who in turn nearly goes frantic with rage in vain 

 attempts to reach them. 



At daylight, guided by a little black boy, I revisited 

 the plantain swamp. It was full of gloom, and I sat 

 down under a tree. Soon a black object descended 

 the cliff, and I was about to fire, when my little guide 

 whispered that it was only a wild-cat. Light appeared, 

 the birds awoke, and the forest was vocal with sounds. 

 The tree beneath which I had seated myself was a 

 " mammee-apple," whose huge bole swelled out above 

 me, and gnarled limbs stretched out and up, support- 

 ing a dense canopy of leaves, among which hung 

 clusters of fruit. This fruit is about as large as an 

 orange, has a large stone, a thin rind of yellowish 

 flesh, and tough, russet skin. The monkeys had left 

 the ground strewn with fruit, which they had bitten in 

 mere wantonness, and then thrown away. The many 

 fresh leaves on the ground here also attested their 

 recent visit. Behind me was the cliff, below me the 

 waving plantains, surrounded by forest so dense as to 

 hide the sky. 



A large, brown humming-bird frequently dashed at 

 me with a "whoof, whoof," of its wings, halting in 

 air to look at me, then darting off to return for an- 

 other look, regarding me with suspicious eyes. Hum- 

 ming-birds of the deep woods do not seem to be 

 familiar with the presence of man, for repeatedly in 



