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Alexander von Humboldt: „A night on the banks of a south american river“, 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-21-neu> [abgerufen am 25.04.2024].
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| Titel | A night on the banks of a south american river | ||||
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| Jahr | 1856 | ||||
| Ort | Glasgow | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Glasgow Herald 5687 (19. November 1856), S. 3.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz. | ||||
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Below the mission of Santa Barbara de Arichuna, we passedthe
night, as usual, under the open sky, on a sandy flat on thebank
of the Rio Apure, closely bordered by the impenetrableforest.
It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in find-ing dry
wood to kindle the fire with which it is always custom-ary in
that country to surround a bivouac, in order to guardagainst
the attacks of the jaguar. The night was humid, mild,and
moonlight. Several crocodiles approached the shore. Ithink I
have observed these animals to be attracted by fire, likeour
cray fish, and many other inhabitants of the water. Theoars of
our boat were placed upright, and carefully driven intothe
ground, to form poles from which our hammocks could besuspended. Deep stillness prevailed. Only from time to timewe
heard the blowing of the fresh-water dolphins which arepeculiar
to the Orinoco net-work of rivers (and, according toColebrooke,
to the Ganges as far as Benares), which followedeach other in
long lines. Soon after eleven o’clock such a dis-turbance
began to be heard in the adjoining forest, that for theremainder of the night all sleep was impossible. The wild criesof animals appeared to rage throughout the forest. Among themany voices which resounded together, the Indians could onlyrecognise those which, after short pauses in the general uproar,were first heard singly. There was the monotonous howling ofthe aluates (the howling monkeys); the plaintive, soft, and
al-most flute-like tones of the small sapajous; the snorting
grumb-lings of the striped nocturnal monkey (the
Nyctipithicus trivir-gatus, which I was the first to describe);
the interrupted criesof the great tiger, the cuguar or maneless
American lion, thepeccary, the sloth, and a host of parrots, of
parraquas, and otherpheasant-like birds. When the tigers came
near the edge of theforest, our dog, which had before barked
incessantly, camehowling to seek refuge under our hammocks.
Sometimesthe cry of the tiger was heard to proceed from
amidst the highbranches of a tree, and was in such case always
accompanied bythe plaintive piping of the monkeys, who were
seeking to escapefrom the unwonted pursuit. If one asks the
Indians why thisincessant noise and disturbance arises on
particular nights, theyanswer, with a smile, that “the
animals are rejoicing in thebright moonlight, and keeping the
feast of the full moon.” Tome it appeared that the scene
had probably originated in someaccidental combat, and that
hence the disturbance had spread toother animals, and thus the
noise had increased more and more.The jaguar pursues the
peccaries and tapirs, and these pressingagainst each other in
their flight, break through the interwoventree-like shrubs
which impede their escape; the apes on thetops of the trees,
being frightened by the crash, join their criesto those of the
larger animals; this arouses the tribes of birds,who build
their nests in communities, and thus the whole ani-mal world
becomes in a state of commotion. Longer experi-ence taught us
that it is by no meams always the celebration ofthe brightness
of the moon which disturbs the repose of thewoods: we witnessed
the same occurrence repeatedly, and foundthat the voices were
loudest during violent falls of rain, or when,with loud peals
of thunder, the flashing lightning illuminatedthe deep recesses
of the forest. The good-natured Franciscanmonk, who, although
he had been suffering for several monthsfrom fever, accompanied
us through the cataracts of Atures andMaypures to San Carlos on
the Rio Negro, and to the Brazilianboundary, used to say, when
fearful on the closing in of nightthat there might be a
thunderstorm, “May heaven grant aquiet night both to us
and to the wild beasts of the forest.”
A NIGHT ON THE BANKS OF A SOUTH AMERICANRIVER.(From Humboldt’s “Aspects of Nature.”)