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Zitierempfehlung
Alexander von Humboldt: „Nocturnal Life of Animals. – A Night on the Apure“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1849-Das_naechtliche_Leben-10-neu> [abgerufen am 19.04.2024].
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| Titel | Nocturnal Life of Animals. – A Night on the Apure | ||||
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| Jahr | 1850 | ||||
| Ort | London | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Standard 7998 (1. April 1850), [o. S.].
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung. | ||||
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|Seitenumbruch|
—Below the mission of Santa Barbara de Arichunawe passed
the night as usual, in the open air, on a sandy flat,on the banks of the
Apure, skirted by the impenetrableforest. We had some difficulty in
finding dry wood to kindlethe fires with which it is here customary to
surround thebivouac, as a safeguard against the attacks of the jaguar.The air was bland and soft, and the moon shone brightly.Several crocodiles approached the bank, and I have observedthat fire
attracts these creatures as it does our crabs andmany other aquatic
animals. The oars of our boats werefixed upright in the ground to support
our hammocks.Deep stillness prevailed, only broken at intervals bythe blowing of the fresh-water dolphins. After eleveno’clock, such a noise began in the contiguous forest, thatfor
the remainder of the night all sleep was impossible. Thewild cries of
animals rung through the woods. Among themany voices which resounded
together the Indians could onlyrecognise those which, after short pauses,
were heard singly.There was the monotonous plaintive cry of the aluates
(howlingmonkeys), the whining, flute-like notes of the small
sapajous,the grunting murmur of the striped nocturnal ape(Nyctipithe-cus trivirgatus, which I was the first to
describe), the fitfulroar of the great tiger, the cuguar or maneless
Americanlion, the peccary, the sloth, and a host of parrots,
perraquas(Ortalides), and other pheasant-like
birds. Whenever thetigers approached the edge of the forest, our dog, who
beforehad barked incessantly, came howling to seek protectionunder the hammocks. Sometimes the cry of the tiger re-sounded from the branches of a tree, and was then alwaysaccompanied by
the plaintiff piping tones of the apes, whowere endeavouring to escape
from the unwonted pursuit.If one asks the Indians why such a continuous
noise isheard on certain nights, they answer, with a smile, that
“theanimals are rejoicing in the beautiful moonlight, and
cele-brating the return of the full moon.” To me, the scene
ap-peared rather to be owing to an accidental, long-continued, and gradually increasing conflict amongthe animals. Thus,
for instance, the jaguar will pursuethe peccaries and the tapirs, which,
densely crowdedtogether, burst through the barrier of tree-like shrubswhich opposes their flight. Terrified at the confusion,the
monkeys on the tops of the trees join their crieswith those of the larger
animals. This arouses the tribes ofbirds who build their nests in
communities, and suddenly thewhole animal world is in a state of
commotion. Furtherexperience taught us that it was by no means always
thefestival of moonlight that disturbed the stillness of the forest,for we observed that the voices were loudest during violentstorms of rain, or when the thunder echoed and the light-ning flashed
through the depths of the woods. The good-natured Franciscan monk
who (notwithstanding the feverfrom which he had been suffering for many
months) accom-panied us through the cataracts of Atures and Maypures toSan Carlos, on the Rio Negro, and to the Brazilian coast,used to say, when apprehensive of a storm at night, “MayHeaven
grant a quiet night both to us and to the wild beastsof the
forest!”—Humboldt’s Views of Nature.
Nocturnal Life of Animals.—A Night on theApure.