Chap. V. TAME TJAKARI. 309 



pierced, and it requires an experienced hunter to track 

 them. He is considered the most expert who can keep 

 pace with a wounded one, and catch it in his arms when 

 it falls exhausted. A pinch of salt, the antidote to the 

 poison, is then put in its mouth, and the creature revives. 

 The species is rare, even in the limited district which 

 it inhabits. Senhor Chrysostomo sent six of his most 

 skilful Indians, who were absent three weeks before they 

 obtained the twelve specimens which formed his unique 

 and princely gift. When an independent hunter obtains 

 one, a very high price (thirty to forty milreis*) is asked, 

 these monkeys being in great demand for presents to 

 persons of influence down the river. 



Adult Uakaris, caught in the way just described, very 

 rarely become tame. They are peevish and sulky, 

 resisting all attempts to coax them, and biting anyone 

 who ventures within reach. They have no particular 

 cry, even when in their native woods ; in captivity they 

 are quite silent. In the course of a few days or weeks, 

 if not very carefully attended to, they fall into a listless 

 condition, refuse food and die. Many of them succumb 

 to a disease which I supposed from the symptoms to be 

 inflammation of the chest or lungs. The one which I 

 kept as a pet died of this disorder after I had had it 

 about three weeks. It lost its appetite in a very few 

 days, although kept in an airy verandah ; its coat, 

 which was originally long, smooth, and glossy, became 

 dingy and ragged like that of the specimens seen in 

 museums, and the bright scarlet colour of its face changed 

 to a duller hue. This colour, in health, is spread over 



* Three pounds seven shillings to four pounds thirteen shillings. 



