12 MONKEYS. 



down these natural rope-ladders ; playful squirrels, 

 the monkeys of which we have just spoken, racoons, 

 bisas, and sacawinkes, rove from tree to tree ; while 

 beneath, the small ant-bear, and his larger brother, 

 remarkable for a long and bushy tail, fix their 

 abode for the sake of the wood-ants, whose little 

 hillocks appear in all directions; armadilloes bore 

 in the sand-hills, and the porcupine is occasionally 

 discovered on the lower branches. 



Monkeys are sociable creatures. They often de- 

 scend from their rocky fastnesses to bathe in the 

 mountain rivulets, and to gather the ripe fruits that 

 grow beside them ; yet they rarely venture far from 

 some steep crag, or precipice, that, in case of danger, 

 they may readily escape ; and while they are enjoying 

 the abundance of the rich alluvial valleys, sentinels 

 are stationed on elevated places, to give timely warn- 

 ing should an enemy approach. 



Those who journey through the valleys of the 

 Andes often come unexpectedly upon a company of 

 monkeys quietly congregated in some retired nook. 

 The party not unfrequently consists of forty or fifty, 

 of all ages and dispositions ; some grave and mora- 

 lizing, others playing with their young, others sport- 

 ing in the stream, and some that appear half-grown 

 pursuing one the other in playful gambols. But 

 the moment that a stranger is seen approaching, a 

 loud cry is raised by the sentinels, and off the party 

 troop, hobbling on all-fours after their awkward 

 fashion for they are not constructed to run readily 

 upon the ground or splashing through the stream, 

 or scrambling with incredible agility up the rocky 

 cliffs, which are often nearly perpendicular, and rise 



