6 



MONKEYS. 



tinguished for wildness and ferocity, and the bony 

 structure of their throats, which gives them such tre- 

 mendous power of sound, and adds in no small degree 

 to the terror which they are calculated to inspire. 

 He who visits their deep primeval haunts often en- 

 counters whole troops of these nightly wanderers, 

 who make the forests resound with their dreadful 

 yells. They love darkness, and rarely venture out 

 when the sun shines ; nor do they go alone, hut in 

 strong detachments ; and the moment they discover 

 an intruder, it is not the voice of either one or two 

 that calls forth the echoes. The whole troop howls 

 fearfully, and in concert. 



Humboldt, the celebrated transatlantic traveller, 

 saw, for the first time, these formidable inhabitants 

 of her ancient forests, after landing at Cumana, in 

 the province of New Andalusia. He fell in with 

 them during an excursion to the mountains of 

 Cocola, and the caverns of Guacharo, the resort cf 

 innumerable birds. Although the convent of 

 Caripe, where he rested, is situated in a valley at an 

 elevation of more than four thousand toises above 

 the level of the sea, and was in consequence very 

 cold, yet the surrounding woods abounded with 

 Howling Monkeys, whose melancholy voices were 

 heard at the distance of two miles, especially when 

 the nights were clear. 



Certain tribes of these strange foresters are with- 

 out a thumb on the fore-paw; and two species are 

 known which have this appendage in a rudimental 

 state. 



These animals are evidently designed to live on 

 trees, for nothing can be more embarrassing than 



