258 LIFE OF AMERICAN FORESTS. 



is wholly at fault therefore here; these American Monkeys 

 being in so far as hands are concerned not jwadrumanous but 

 Zumanous, that, however, being a designation, which, as a scien- 

 tific term, is restricted exclusively to the human race. The 

 Monkeys of America are all confined to the southern half of 

 the continent, and even there do not extend beyond the twenty- 

 fifth parallel of south latitude, being chiefly restricted to the 

 countries drained by the Orinoco, the Amazon, and their tributary 

 streams. Almost the entire area over which they are thus dis- 

 tributed is covered with dense and almost impenetrable forests, 

 which, we are assured by Humboldt, are in many parts so thick 

 and uninterrupted, that, were it not for the intervening water- 

 courses, the Monkeys, the principal inhabitants of these regions, 

 might pass along the tops of the trees for hundreds of miles 

 together, without touching the ground. 



In these " vast contiguities of shade " the most perfect silence 

 reigns by day, broken only by the occasional scream of a parrot, 

 that rings through the stillness of the forest, or the rustling over- 

 head of some Monkey disturbed in his dreams amongst the 

 crowded foliage. The animated tribes sink to rest, and all nature 

 seems to pant and perspire in the fierce sun-glare, which pours 

 down upon the impervious roof of foliage, and makes the atmo- 

 sphere tremulous with vapoury exhalations. But at nightfall 

 these same forest solitudes are vocal with a " barbarous disso- 

 nance " of sounds, in which the cries of birds, the croaking of 

 frogs, the loud chirping of cicadas and crickets, and the scream 

 of the jaguar, combine in wildest discord ; while, high above all 

 other noises, sound the terrific calls of the Howling Monkeys, 

 than which, according to Mr. Waterton, nothing can sound mora 

 dreadful. 



The nearest approach to the Lemurs among these American 

 Monkeys is seen in a singular little creature discovered by Hum- 

 boldt, known as the Douroucouli (Nyctipithecus trivigratus), and 

 which in some respects is not a little cat-like in its behaviour. 

 It has a large round head, and very large eyes with white eye- 

 lids, which give it a peculiar owl-like appearance. The tail of 

 the Douroucouli is long and covered with hair, but is not pre- 

 hensile. The animal is strictly nocturnal in its habits, hiding 

 itself by day in holes and fissures, where it remains buried in 

 profound sleep till the approach of dusk, when it shakes off all 



