144 " THE FEAST OF THE FULL MOON." 



sloth, and the voices of the curassoa, the parraka, 

 and some other gallinaceous birds. When the 

 jaguars approached the skirt of the forest, our dog, 

 which till then had never ceased barking, began to 

 howl and seek for shelter beneath our hammocks. 

 Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the tiger 

 came from the top of the trees ; and in this case 

 it was followed by the sharp and long whistling of 

 the monkeys, which appeared to flee from the 

 danger that threatened them. 



" I notice every circumstance of these nocturnal 

 scenes, because, being recently embarked on the 

 Rio Apure, we were not yet accustomed to them. 

 We heard the same noises repeated during the 

 course of whole months, whenever the forest ap- 

 proached the bed of the rivers. 



" When the natives are interrogated on the causes 

 of this tremendous noise made by the beasts of the 

 forest at certain hours of the night, they reply 

 gaily, " They are keeping the feast of the full 

 moon." I believe this agitation is most frequently 

 the effect of some contest that has arisen in the 

 depths of the forest. The jaguars, for instance, 

 pursue the peccaris and the tapirs, which, having 

 no defence but in their numbers, flee in close 

 troops, and break down the bushes they find in 

 their way. Affrighted at this struggle, the timid 

 and mistrustful monkeys answer from the tops of 



