72 PARA. Chap. II. 



of these forests I have akeady alhided to. The most 

 intensely arboreal animals in the world are the South 

 American monkeys of the family Cebidse, many of which 

 have a fifth hand for climbing in their prehensile tails, 

 adapted for this function by their strong muscular 

 development, and the naked palms under their tips. 

 This seems to teach us that the South American fauna 

 has been slowly adapted to a forest life, and, therefore, 

 that extensive forests must have always existed since 

 the region was first peopled by mammalia. But to this 

 subject, and to the natural history of the monkeys, of 

 which thirty-eight species inhabit the Amazon region, 

 I shall have to return. 

 r We often read, in books of travels, of the silence and 



gloom of the Brazilian forests. They are realities, and 

 the impression deepens on a longer acquaintance. The 

 few sounds of birds are of that pensive or mysterious 

 character which intensifies the feeling of solitude rather 

 than imparts a sense of life and cheerfulness. Some- 

 times, in the midst of the stillness, a sudden yell or 

 scream will startle one ; this comes from some defence- 

 less fruit-eating animal, which is pounced upon by a 

 tiger-cat or stealthy boa-constrictor. Morning and 

 evening the howling monkeys make a most fearful and 

 harrowing noise, under which it is difficult to keep up 

 one's buoyancy of spirit. The feeling of inhospitable 

 wildness which the forest is calculated to inspire, is 

 increased tenfold under this fearful uproar. Often, even 

 in the still hours of midday, a sudden crash will be 

 heard resounding afar through the wilderness, as some 

 great bough or entire tree falls to the gi'ound. There 



