Spider-Monkeys one 
whilst the dryer slopes bear melastomz and a great variety 
of dwarf palms, amongst which the Sweetie (Geonoma sp.), 
used for thatching houses, is the most abundant. About 
here grows a species of cacao (Herrania purpurea) differing 
from the cultivated species (Theobroma cacao). Amongst 
the larger trees is the “‘ cortess,” having a wood as hard as 
ebony, and at the end of March entirely covered with brilliant 
yellow flowers, unrelieved by any green, the tree casting its 
leaves before flowering. The great yellow domes may be 
distinguished amongst the dark green forest at the distance 
of five or six miles. Near at hand they are absolutely 
dazzling when the sun is shining on them; and when they 
shed their flowers, the ground below is carpeted as with gold. 
Another valuable timber tree, the “nispera” (Achras 
sapota), is also common, growing on the dryer ridges. It 
attains to a great size, and its timber is almost indestructible, 
so that we used it in the construction of all our permanent 
works. White ants do not eat it, nor, excepting when first 
cut, and before it is barked, do any of the wood-boring 
beetles. It bears a round fruit about the size of an apple, 
hard and heavy when green, and at this time is much 
frequented by the large yellowish-brown spider-monkeys 
(Ateles), which roam over the tops of the trees in bands of 
from ten to twenty. Sometimes they lay quiet until I was 
passing underneath, and then shaking a branch of the nispera 
tree, they would send down a shower of the hard round fruit. 
Fortunately I was never struck by them. As soon as I looked 
up, they would commence yelping and barking, and putting 
on the most threatening gestures, breaking off pieces of 
branches and letting them fall, and shaking off more fruit, 
but never throwing anything, simply letting it fall. Often, 
when on lower trees, they would hang from the branches two 
or three together, holding on to each other and to the branch 
with their fore feet and long tail, whilst their hind feet hung 
down, all the time making threatening gestures and cries. 
Occasionally a female would be seen carrying a young one on 
its back, to which it clung with legs and tail, the mother 
making its way along the branches, and leaping from tree to 
tree, apparently but little encumbered with its baby. A 
large black and white eagle is said to prey upon them, but I 
never witnessed this, although I was constantly falling in 
