I was really uneasy, however: the scene was too frightful; but I never lost my presence of mind. At first I sat down on a stone that lay near, endeavoring to look as composed and confident as I could; but some rajahs then came up to me with very threatening looks and gestures, and gave me clearly to understand that if I did not turn back they would kill and eat me. Their words, indeed, I did not comprehend, but their action left no manner of doubt, for they pointed with their knives to my throat, and gnashed their teeth at my arm, moving their jaws then as if they already had them full of my flesh. Of course, when I thought of coming among the wild Battakers, I had anticipated something of this sort, and I had therefore studied a little speech in their language for such an occasion. I knew if I could say anything that would amuse them, and perhaps make them laugh, I would have a great advantage over them, for savages are quite like children, and the merest trifle will often make them friends. I got up, therefore, and patting one of the most violent, who stood next me, upon the shoulder in a friendly manner, said, with smiling face, in a jargon half Malay and half Battaker, "Why, you don't mean to say you would kill and eat a woman, especially such an old one as I am! I must be very hard and tough!" And I also gave them by signs and words to understand that I was not at all afraid of them, and was ready, if they liked, to send back my guide, if they would only take me as far as the _Eier-Tau_. Fortunately for me, the doubtless very odd way in which I pronounced their language, and my pantomime, diverted them, and they began to laugh. Perhaps, also, the fearless confidence which I manifested made a good impression; they offered me their hands, the circle of spearmen opened, and, rejoicing not a little at having escaped this danger, I journeyed on, and reached in perfect safety a place called Tugala, where the rajah received me into his house. BRAZILIAN ANTS AND MONKEYS. HENRY W. BATES. [The "Naturalist in the Amazons" of Henry Walter Bates is a work that has long held a deserved reputation for the closeness and accuracy of its observations and the interest of its narrative. The author, born at Leicester, England, in 1825, accompanied the noted biologist, Alfred Russel Wallace, to Brazil, the story of which journey is given in the work cited. From it we extract some passages concerning the animal life of that country, embracing the doings of the "leaf-cutting" ants and the monkeys. Our selections begin in the suburbs of Para.]