through the day, and hunts for birds and insects in the night, hissing like a cat, or making the forests resound with the cry of "muh, muh!” The Capuchin (S. capucinus) of the Orinoco is brought to light by the same indefatigable naturalist. He is described as resembling man more nearly than any other of the transatlantic monkeys. Robust and active, fierce and untameable, his eyes have an expression of melancholy blended with ferocity, while his chin is hidden with a long and bushy beard. In order to avoid the danger of wetting this venerable appendage, he never puts his lips to the water, or to the vessel that contains it, but fills the hollow of his hand, and then conveys it to his mouth, at the same time that he inclines his head upon his shoulder. Hence the appellation which has been given him of Cheiropotes, or Handdrinker. This formidable creature has been seen on the banks of the Orinoco, beneath those lofty fanpalms that once supported the warlike nation of the Guaraunes, Who dwelt" aloft on life-sufficing trees, At once their dome, their robe, their food, and arms." Time was, when he who sailed by night on the Orinoco saw with astonishment a long line of mysterious lights, seemingly suspended in the air. These were fires kindled for domestic purposes in the dwellings of the Guaraunes, and kept blazing through the night, to keep off musquitoes. The dwellings were made of mats, ingeniously woven with stalks and leaves, and suspended from tree to tree; they were partly covered over with clay, and DWELLINGS OF THE GUARAUNES. 21 rendered commodious habitations. When the Orinoco overflowed its banks during the rainy season, the whole population betook themselves to their aërial habitations, and had no occasion to use their canoes for obtaining food; for not only does the fan-palm afford materials for making mats, and firm pillars on which to hang them, but before the blossoms of the tree expand, the pith of the stem contains a sago-like kind of meal, which is dried in thin cakes like cassava. The sap, when fermented, yields a sweet wine, and the fruit, which resembles a pine-cone, affords like the pisang, and many other tropical productions, a varied nourishment in its different stages. But the nations who once inhabited those trees, beside the ceaseless roar of the branching Orinoco, are now far away in the lone wilderness. So, too, has the ancient population of the North American continent receded before the influx of colonization from the East. I heard the forests as they cried Where is that red-browned hunter-race, Or soaring at his highest noon, Then in the zephyr's voice, replied They reared their dwellings on our side, A blight came down, a blast swept by, Niagara, of the mountains gray, Who gave the glorious names we bear, And then the fair Ohio charged Show me, once more, those stately forms, But they replied, Tall barks of pride And strange keels ride our farthest tide, Towns and villages now rise where the red men trod, and busy multitudes are seen engaged in the active duties of social life. Others are solely employed in rearing cattle, and hence it happens that in some of the wildest parts, rude huts attract the notice of the traveller, who sees in them the kind of habitations which sheltered our Saxon ancestors; they are constructed of stakes and reeds woven together, and covered with hides. Those men who sought their homes on the wild and uncultivated prairies, selected contiguous farms, and their log huts often rose beneath the shelter of the sugar-maples, that formed a skirt of deep and beautiful forest on the banks of the river. "I well remember the day," wrote one of the first settlers, "when our tents were pitched in the wild. Here all was fresh nature, as in our forsaken homes all had been marked with the labours of men. The sky was blue and cloudless, and the mild south wind gently rustled the trees, as it came loaded with fragrance along the flowering wilderness. The huge straight trees were covered with moss, and their gray trunks rose proudly like columns. Starting hares and deer, and the wild denizens of the woods, bounded away from our path; and eagles and soaring vultures sailed above our heads. Birds of brilliant plumage flitted among the branches, and countless millions of water-dwellers, awakened from the long sleep of winter, mingled their cries in the surrounding streams. We added to this promiscuous hymn of nature, the clarion echoes of our bugles, the baying of our dogs, and all the glad domestic sounds of birds and animals that have joined partnership with man; then came at intervals the heavy blows of the woodcutter's axe, the crash of falling trees, and the wild wood-notes of the first songs of man which these deep solitudes have perhaps heard from the creation." He who traverses the vast forests of South America, where man has not yet fixed his abode, has frequently occasion to observe the marked characteristics of the Monkey tribes. At one time he sees the Cacajao (S. melanocephala), an inactive and timid creature, hastening to hide himself in the closest covert of the forest, when annoyed by the petulance of other monkeys, which seem to delight in disturbing the natural quiet of his temper, while he expresses his displeasure by a kind of convulsive laugh. At another the Widow Monkey (S. lugens), apparently a timid and innocent creature, is seen resting on some near branch. main for hours motionless, as There she will re if absorbed in the memory of her griefs; but though remarkable for a look of pensiveness and timidity, she is mindful of her own advantage. She will not, perhaps, venture to attack you, because she well knows how to appreciate her own powers, but she is watching for prey. The moment she perceives an opportunity, she will dart like a tigress upon some small bird, or unsuspecting animal, and devour it without remorse. |