CHAP. IV] NEW YEAR'S DAY 109 



semiaquatic mode of life, have grown long, like those 

 of such African swamp antelopes as the lechwe and 

 situtunga. 



Miller, when we presented the monkeys to him, told 

 us that the females both of these monkeys and of the 

 howlers themselves, took care of the young, the males 

 not assisting them, and, moreover, that when the young 

 one was a male he had always found the mother keeping 

 by herself, away from the old males. On the other 

 hand, among the marmosets he found the fathers taking 

 as much care of the young as the mothers ; if the mother 

 had twins, the father would usually carry one, and 

 sometimes both, around with him. 



After we had been out four hours our camaradas got 

 lost ; three several times they travelled round in a com- 

 plete circle ; and we had to set them right with the 

 compass. About noon the rain, which had been falling 

 almost without interruption for forty-eight hours, ceased, 

 and in an hour or two the sun came out. We went 

 back to the river, and found our row-boat. In it the 

 hounds — a motley and rather worthless lot — and the 

 rest of the party were ferried across to the opposite 

 bank, whUe Colonel Rondon and I stayed in the boat, 

 on the chance that a tapir might be roused and take to 

 the river. However, no tapir was found ; Kermit killed 

 a collared peccary, and I shot a capybara representing 

 a colour-phase the naturalists wished. 



Next morning, January 1, 1914, we were up at five 

 and had a good New Year's Day breakfast of hardtack, 

 ham, sardines, and coffee before setting out on an all- 

 day's hunt on foot. I much feared that the pack was 

 almost or quite worthless for jaguars, but there were 

 two or three of the great spotted cats in the neighbour- 

 hood, and it seemed worth while to make a try for 



