Astonishing Find op Cacao Trees. 
B49 
me a fright as we scared them out of their cosy muddy beds and they, 
crawling through the dense under! »nsli, would make a dash for the 
forest, when cei'tainly many a straggler would be stopped short l>y the 
well-aimed ai-rows of my friends. .Tiisl as jdentiful were tlie parties 
of Cchu^. some of wliich were br-stin iiig t lu'iiisclvcs u])(>n the trees, wliile 
others would be on the ground seareliing for insects or quenching their 
thirst at tlie creek. Wlu'uever 1 lia])i>cnefl to sneak ujton one of these 
simian conununities unnoticed, I liad to exert my utmost endeavour to 
repress the burst of laughter aroused in me by the comical capei-s of the 
youngsters, as well as by the seriousness and earuest behaviour of 
animals already bleached with age. If T found this impossible, and 
gave vent to uiy feelings, tlie result was the most precipitate flight and 
the most extraoi'dinary noises. At oite of such scenes T was again wit- 
ness of a truly touching example of a mother's self-sacrificing affection. 
I was just about getting back to my boat when the excited voice of a 
young monkey in the tree overhead signified that it had been forgotten 
its mother as she hurrierlly made her escai)e. One of my Indians 
climbed after it, but hardly had the little creature seen the strange 
figure than its fright gave rise to still louder cries which were suddenly 
answered from the next tree by the returning mother. INTo sooner did 
the anxious little thing hear her voice but it answered her in quite a 
different key which now on the othei' hand found its echoing Avail in the 
attracted mothei'. Keen on seeing what she was ."^oing to do in view 
of our having surrouiided the tree on which her youngster was located, 
I had not paid any attention to the Indians. A shot wounded the poor 
mother, who was certainly pre]iared to make a l>olt for it, but imme- 
diately turned back on ihearlng her youngster piteously screaming 
agiiin : in spite of a second shot that missed she made a big effor- 
and sprang onto the very lindi whicli the Availing offspi'ing 
occupied. She quickly imt it on her back and was just about to get 
away when, in spite of my strict orders, a third shot killed her: even in 
her death struggle she held it tightly pressed and sought escape but, in 
the attempt, fell to the ground. On returning to the boat, an Indian 
pointed out to me a large snake beautifully marked with black and 
yellow, Cohihrr r(ii'!(ihi]i.<< Kuhl. which was sunning itself on a bush. 
A' shot Avith the gun ])ut me in possession of it. It measured Ti feet. 
It is interesting to watch the almost incredible rapidity with which 
snakes wind their Avay oA^er the bushes and on the branches of the trees. 
In the thicket along the banks I Avas astonislied to find a nundier of 
cacao-trees, laden Avith their beautiful yelloAV fruits. As settlements 
had never advanced as far up as we now were, the seeds must have got 
here at all events through some other agency, foi" I hardly believe that 
they are to be found wild on the coastJ and in this latitude. 'A s_pecial 
reason for this assumption is further-, that the- coastal tribes have no 
particular name for the tree, but also call it cacao. In the neighl»onr- 
hood of the equator, on the tributaries of the upper Amazon stream 
and of the Corentyn, my brother frequently came across great 
stretches of wild cacao-tees. A dull rumble in the West, like the 
