l," she said in a low voice
to me. "I thought of him a great deal last night, out in the fierce
tempest, with only two young Indians to assist him; and he is not so
strong as you are, and has no gun to defend himself. I could not help
thinking of fierce jaguars roaming in search of prey, or those dreadful
boas, or the anacondas we have heard of."

"Oh, drive all such thoughts from your mind, Ellen," I answered.
"Arthur, if not so strong, has plenty of sense and courage; and, depend
upon it, the Indians will have found some hollow tree, or will have
built a hut for themselves, in which they would have taken shelter
during the night. I should not have minded changing places with Arthur.
It is all right. We will bring him back safe enough."

With these words I hurried after John and the recluse. We had not gone
far, when I saw them looking up into a tree. True darted forward and
began to bark, when, in return, a chorus of terrific barks, howls, and
screeches proceeded from the higher branches, and there I saw seated a
group of several large monkeys with long tails and most hideous faces.
Every instant they threw up their heads, and the fearful sounds I had
heard issued forth from them. I could scarcely suppose that animals of
such a size could make so much noise.

"You have there some of my friends who serenaded you last night,"
observed the recluse, when, after a few minutes, the monkeys ceased
howling. "These are the _mycetes_, or ursine howlers. The creature is
called in this country _araguato_, and sometimes by naturalists the
_alouatte_. It is known also as `the preacher.' If he could discourse
of sin and folly, and point out to benighted man the evil of his ways,
he might howl to some purpose but his preaching is lost on the denizens
of the forest, who know nothing of sin, and are free from the follies of
the world. Observe that with how little apparent difficulty he gives
forth that terrific note. It is produced by a drum-shaped expansion of
the larynx. The hyoid bone, which in man is but slightly developed, is
in these monkeys very large. It gives support to the tongue, being
attached to the muscles of the neck. The bony drum communicates with
the wind-pipe, and enables them to utter those loud sounds."

Had Arthur been with us, I am sure we should have indulged in a hearty
laugh at the curious faces of those thick-jawed creatures as they looked
down upon us inquisitively to ascertain what we wer