NIGHT- VOICES IN GUIANA. 31 



there at midnight the stranger is often startled by the 

 loud voice of a species of gecko, which is frequently 

 found in the houses. Its cry is exceedingly singular, and 

 resembles the word " tooktay," pronounced clearly and dis- 

 tinctly as if spoken by a human tongue. It is a source 

 of much alarm to the natives of India who accompany 

 Europeans to that country ; as they believe that the bite 

 of the little lizard is invariably fatal. 



None of these sounds can compare in terrible effect 

 with the deafening howls that penetrate the forests of 

 Guiana after night has fallen, the extraordinary vocal 

 performances of the alouattes or howling-monkeys. They 

 go in troops, and utter their piercing cries, which Hum- 

 boldt affirms can be heard in a clear atmosphere at the 

 distance of two miles, in a strange concord, which seems 

 the result of discipline, and incomparably augments the 

 effect. The same traveller informs us that occasionally 

 the voices of othei animals are added to the concert ; the 

 roarings of the jaguar and puma, and the shrill cries 

 of alarmed birds. "It is not always in a fine moon- 

 light, but more particularly at the time of storms and 

 violent showers, that this tumult among the wild beasts 

 occurs." 



I linger on these tropical pictures, where nature ap- 

 pears under aspects so different from those of our clime. 

 Here is another on the Amazon : " No clouds obscured 

 the sky, and the millions of starry lights, that in this 

 clime render the moon's absence of little consequence, 

 were shining upon us in their calm, still beauty. The 



