236 NEIGHBORS WITH CLAWS AND HOOFS. 



taken captive, though they are less active than many othei 

 American monkeys." 



The Jaguar among the Howlers. 



6. In traveling toward the llanos, south of Caracas, 

 Hurnboldt came into the neighborhood of these creatures. 

 He says : " The rising of the sun was announced by the 

 distant noise of the howling monkeys. Approaching a 

 group of trees which rise in the midst of the plain, we 

 saw numerous bands of the howlers, moving as if in pro- 

 cession, and very slowly, from one tree to another. A 

 male was followed by a great number of females, several 

 of the latter carrying their young on their shoulders. The 

 howling monkeys live in societies, and everywhere resem- 

 ble each other, though the species are not always the same. 

 The uniformity with which they perform their move- 

 ments is extremely striking. Whenever the branches of 

 the trees do not touch each other, the male who leads the 

 party suspends himself by his prehensile tail, and, letting 

 fall the rest of his body, swings himself till, in one of his 

 oscillations, he reaches the neighboring branch. The 



