MONKEY GAMBOLS. 147 



forest ; and from province to province : they 

 are seen one day in one place and the next 

 miles off; but they always travel by night. 



There is no prettier sight than to see and 

 watch the gambols of a large troop of monkeys 

 playing in the enormous trees that grow near 

 the rivers ; and many a day while resting my 

 horse and myself during the fierce noon sun 

 (being scarcely fifteen degrees from the line), 

 laid on my back in the shade, after the mid- 

 day meal, and lighting a cigar, I have much 

 enjoyed their amusing pranks : every move- 

 ment they make in the wild state is amusing ; 

 their extraordinary bounds from branch to 

 branch, sometimes catching with their hands 

 or feet, and sometimes with the tail. I never 

 molested them except on the occasion alluded 

 to, and with any party I had any influence 

 over, used it to save them : for I am sure, 

 after witnessing the gambols of these interest- 

 ing animals for an hour or two, I resaddled 

 my horse and rode oiF with a lighter heart 

 than before. 



The affection they shew for their young is 

 very remarkable, and I once saw an instance 

 of it I shall never forget : — A person with me 

 wishing to secure a young monkey alive, fired 

 at the mother in whose arms it was, thinking 



