long, and going up to the spot, saw
on the branch of a low tree nearly a dozen little monkeys all rolled up
together in a heap, with their tails warped round each other as if to
keep themselves warm! Nearly another dozen were running about, whining
and apparently trying to get in among the rest. Guapo and Leon made a
sudden rush upon them, and were able to capture three or four before the
creatures could free themselves; but only one lived, and that became a
great pet and favourite. It was a beautiful little creature--a true
saimiri, or squirrel monkey, called the "titi." Its silky fur was of a
rich olive-green colour; and its fine large eyes expressed fear or joy--
now filling with tears, and now brightening again--just like those of a
child.

During the summer our bark-gatherers continued their labour without
interruption, and on account of the great plenty of the cinchona-trees,
and their proximity to the house, they were enabled to accumulate a very
large store. They worked like bees.

Although this forest life was not without its pleasures and excitements,
yet it began to _grow_ very irksome both to Don Pablo and Dona Isidora.
Life in the wilderness, with its rude cares and rude enjoyments, may be
very pleasant for a while to those who seek it as amateurs, or to that
class who as colonists intend to make it a permanent thing. But neither
Don Pablo nor his wife had ever thought of colonisation. With them
their present industry was the result of accident and necessity. Their
tastes and longings were very different. They longed to return to
civilised life; and though the very misfortune which had driven them
forth into the wilderness had also guided them to an opportunity of
making a fortune, it is probable they would have passed it by, had they
not known that, penniless as they were, they would have fared still
worse in any city to which they might have gone. But before the first
year was out, they yearned very much to return to civilisation, and this
desire was very natural. But there were other reasons that influenced
them besides the mere _ennui_ of the wilderness. The lives of
themselves and their children were constantly in danger from jaguars,
pumas, and poisonous reptiles. Even man himself might at any moment
appear as their destroyer. As yet no Indian--not even a trace of one--
had been seen. But this was not strange. In the tangled and
impenetrable forests of the Great Montana two tribes of