THE FOREST. 33 



necessary. Other protective contrivances are found 

 in every forest animal, the sloth being especially 

 remarkable for its long hairy coat and its manner 

 of hanging under a branch like one of those nests 

 of termites so common in the forest, or the cluster 

 of aerial roots of an epiphyte. Snakes are also 

 nearly invisible in the gloom, notwithstanding their 

 brilliant colours when played upon by the sunlight. 

 When the sun is high, from about eight o'clock 

 in the morning until four in the afternoon, hardly 

 a sound is heard. Every animal is asleep or quiet, 

 and not even a bird utters its characteristic note. 

 Now and again, however, a howling monkey or a 

 tree-frog breaks the silence with his prolonged 

 notes, but these only add to a feeling of utter 

 solitude, as does the baa of a sheep on some 

 mountain pasture in other climes. Then, the 

 forest is steaming with moisture like a Turkish 

 bath, and man feels inclined to lie in his hammock 

 and take a siesta. The open river glows with the 

 fervent heat, the surface is warm to the touch and 

 even the fishes retire into the depths below, so that 

 not a ripple disturbs the surface. Near the banks 

 every bush and tree is mirrored on the smooth 

 surface, and among these shadows a canoe may 

 sometimes be distinguished moving noiselessly 

 along as if it were a phantom. 



3 



