off into the air. In the spring he
would give himself such an impetus as would cause the branch to revolve,
and his body following this circular motion, with the long thin arms
thrown out in front, he would grasp the first branch that he could
reach. This, of course, would land him on a new tree, and over that he
would soon spring to the next.

Among the troop several females were perceived with their young. The
latter were carried on the backs of the mothers, where they held on by
means of their own little tails, feeling perfectly secure. Sometimes the
mothers would dismount them, and cause them to swing themselves from
branch to branch, going before to show them the way. This was witnessed
repeatedly. In other places, where the intervening space was too wide
for the females with their young to pass over, the males could be seen
bending down a branch of the opposite tree, so as to bring it nearer,
and assist them in crossing. All these movements were performed amidst a
constant gabble of conversation, and shouting, and chattering, and the
noise of branches springing back to their places.

The grove through which the troop was passing ended just by the edge of
the promontory. The palm-trees succeeded, with some trees of large size
that grew over them.

The marimondas at length reached the margin of the grove, and then they
were all seen to stop, most of them throwing themselves, heads down, and
hanging only by their tails. This is the position in which they find
themselves best prepared for any immediate action; and it is into this
attitude they throw themselves when suddenly alarmed. They remained so
for some minutes; and from the chattering carried on among them, it was
evident that they were engaged in deliberation. A loud and general
scream proclaimed the result; and all of them, at one and the same
instant, dropped down to the ground, and were seen crossing over among
the palm-trees.

They had to pass over a piece of open ground with only some weeds upon
it; but their helplessness on the ground was at once apparent. They
could not place their palms on the surface, but doubled them up and
walked, as it were, on the backs of their hands in the most awkward
manner. Every now and again, they flung out their great tails, in hopes
of grasping something that would help them along; and even a large weed
was a welcome support to them. On the ground they were evidently "out of
their element." In fact, the _ateles_ rarely