72 K-ATUKAL HISTORY or 



the overpowering feelings, do the inhabitants of those 

 vast nurseries resume the exercise of their daily routine, 

 and none among them .occupy a more conspicuous 

 place than this family. The more timorous attract 

 the observer's attention by their endeavours of con- 

 cealment ; and the protrusion of numerous little heads, 

 with bright arid searching eyes, from behind the thick 

 boughs and foliage, plainly tells that curiosity almost 

 overbalances the fear of self-preservation. The more 

 forward again, force attention by the shower of rotten 

 branches, fruit, flowers, and nuts, and sometimes 

 materials of a less agreeable kind, that are either 

 directed against, or unintentionally fall near, the object 

 which thus attracts the attention of this prying as. 

 sembly; while the annoyed feelings of the spectator 

 soon give way to admiration, at the light and airy 

 gambols of those which think themselves beyond the 

 reach of danger, or are amused at the grimaces, and 

 grotesque attitudes, and half threats of those in the 

 immediate vicinity. This interval of activity in the 

 tropical forest, lasts for a comparatively short period ; 

 a few morning and evening hours of milder heat, are 

 sufficient to satisfy all their wants; the blaze of a 

 vertical sun, or a short twilight, again obliges them 

 to seek a covering from its beams, or a place of rest 

 and security from depredators, whose turn it now is 

 to satisfy the cravings of nature. 



But there are some tribes inhabiting South America, 

 which reverse this order, and are nocturnal in their 



