44 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



swung our hammocks between the sturdy limbs, covered 

 them with mosquito-nets, and spent a miserable night; 

 those who attempted to sleep aboard had a harder time 

 of it by far. 



We were off with the first streak of dawn, startling flocks 

 of muscovy ducks and herons from near the banks. A 

 faint blue mist was rising slowly from the water, and the 

 ah* was chill and damp. The mantle of silence that falls 

 over tropical South America at nightfall had not yet been 

 lifted. For some little time we glided on, farther and far- 

 ther, it seemed, into a great vacuity that led to some 

 vaguely defined sanctuary of everlasting peace and obliv- 

 ion. Then, without warning, a sound so terrible rent the 

 vast solitude that it seemed as if some demon of the wilds 

 were taking a belated revenge for the few hours of quiet in 

 which the earth had rejoiced. 



At first there was a series of low, gruff roars that would 

 have done credit to the most savage of lions, and made 

 the very air tremble; but this was not all. Added to the 

 majestic frightfulness of the jungle king's voice was a 

 quality of hate and treachery, of unfathomed rage and 

 malicious bitterness. Then followed in quick succession a 

 number of high-pitched, long-drawn wails or howls of 

 tremulous quality that gradually died, ending with a few 

 guttural barks. This uncanny performance lasted a number 

 of minutes; but having perpetrated this outrage upon a 

 heretofore peaceful world, the weird chorus suddenly 

 stopped. 



The mists of night had lifted, revealing clumps of tall 

 bamboo and the beginning of heavy forest. In the top of 

 the very first trees sat a group of large monkeys, red, with 

 golden backs, properly called howling monkeys; they were 

 the authors of the terrific chorus we had just heard. How 

 an animal that rarely attains a weight of thirty pounds 

 can produce such loud sounds is most remarkable; the 

 hyoid bone is developed into a huge cup which gives reso- 

 nance to the voice. The howlers are rather sluggish and 



