264 



by Villa de Cura and San Juan, to the little 

 village of Ortiz, placed at the entry of the 

 steppes. We left the valleys of Aragua on the 

 6th of March before sunrise. We passed over 

 a plain richly cultivated, keeping along the 

 South-West side of the lake of Valencia, and 

 crossing the ground that the waters of the lake 

 had left uncovered. We were never weary of 

 admiring the fertility of the soil, covered with 

 calebashes, water-melons, and plantains. The 

 rising of the Sun was announced by the distant 

 noise of the howling monkeys. Approaching a 

 group of trees, that rise in the midst of the 

 plain, between the ancient islets of Don Pedro 

 and La Negra, we perceived numerous bands 

 of araguatoes going as in procession from one 

 tree to another, with extreme slowness. A 

 male was followed by a great number of fe- 

 males, several of which carried their young on 

 their shoulders. Naturalists have very often 

 described the howling monkeys, that live in 

 society in different parts of America. They 

 every where resemble each other in their man- 

 ners, though the species are not always the 

 same. The uniformity with which the ara- 

 guatoes execute their movements is extremely 

 striking *. Whenever the branches of neigh- 

 bouring trees do not touch, the male that leads 

 the band suspends himself by the callous 



* Simia ursina. (See chap, viii, vol. iii, p. 170.) 



