144 ‘MIE FEAST OF THE FULL MOON.”

sloth, and the voices of the curassoa, the parraka,
and some other gallinaccous birds. When the
jaguars approached the skirt of the forest, our dog,
which till then had never ceased barking, began to
howl and seck for shelter beneath our hammocks.
Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the tiger
came from the top of the trees; and in this case
it was followed by the sharp and long whistling of
the monkeys, which appeared to flee from the
danger that threatened them.

‘“T notice every circumstance of these nocturnal
scenes, because, being recently embarked on the
Rio Apure, we were not yet accustomed to them.
We heard the same noises repeated during the
course of whole months, whenever the forest ap-
proached the bed of the rivers.

“When the natives are interrogated on the causes
of this tremendous noise made by the beasts of the
forest at certain hours of the night, they reply
gaily, “‘They are keeping the feast of the full
moon.” I believe this agitation is most frequently
the effect of some contest that has arisen in the
depths of the forest. The jaguars, for instance,
pursue the peccaris and the tapirs, which, having
no defence but in their numbers, flee in close
troops, and break down the bushes they find in
their way. Affrighted at this struggle, the timid
and mistrustful monkeys answer from the tops of