THE DISCORD OF THE ANIMALS. 23 
tlie nigkt, where for hours after tlie sun has disappeared, 
the cicadae, toads, frogs, owls, and goatsnckers cliirrup, 
cry, croak, howl, and wail. The quietest hours are from 
midnight until about three in the morning. Complete 
silence, however, occura only during very short inten^als; 
for there is always some cause or other that prompts 
some animal to break the stillness. Sometimes the din 
grows so loud tliat one might fancy a legion of evil spirits 
w^ere celebrating their orgies in the darkness of the forest. 
The howling of the aluates, tlie whine of the little sapa- 
jous, the snarl of the duruculi, the roaring of the jaguar, 
the grunt of the pecari, the cry of the sloth, and the shrill 
voices of birdsj join in dreadful discord. Humboldt sup- 
poses the first cause of these tumults to be a contlict 
among animals, which, arising by chance, gradually swells 
to larger dimensions. The jaguar pursues a herd ol 
pecaris or tapirs, which break wildly through the bushes. 
Terrified by the noise, the monkeys liowl^ awakening 
parrots and toucans fi'om their slumber; and thus the 
din spreads through the wood, A long time passes before 
the forest returns to its stillness. Towards the approach 
of day the owls, the goatsuckers, the toads, the frogs, 
howl, groan, and croak for the last time ; and as soon as 
the first beams of morning purple the sky, the shrill notes 
of the cicadsB mix with their expiring cries. 
