212 THE YIUDITA MONKEY. 



in the forests they often met groups of ten or twelve of these 

 animals, whilst others sent forth lamentable cries, because 

 they wished to enter amid the group to find warmth and 

 shelter. By shooting arrows dipped in weak poison at one 

 of these groups, a great number of young monkeys are taken 

 alive at once. The titi in falling remains clinging to its 

 mother, and if it be not wounded by the fall, it does not 

 quit the shoulder or the neck of the dead animal. Most of 

 those that are found alive in the huts of the Indians have 

 been thus taken from the dead bodies of their mothers. 

 Those that are full grown, when cured of a slight wound, 

 commonly die before they can accustom themselves to a 

 domestic state. The titis are in general delicate and timid 

 little animals. It is very difficult to convey them from the 

 Missions of the Orinoco* to the coast of Caracas, or of Cu- 

 mana. They become melancholy and dejected in proportion 

 as they quit the region of the forests, and enter the Llanos. 

 This change cannot be attributed to the slight elevation of the 

 temperature ; it seems rather to depend on a greater inten- 

 sity of light, a less degree of humidity, and some chemical 

 property of the air of the coast. 



The saimiri, or titi of the Orinoco, the atele, the sajou, 

 and other quadrumanous animals long known in Europe, 

 form a striking contrast, both in their gait and habits, with 

 the macavahu, called by the missionaries viudita, or ' widow 

 in mourning.' The hair of this little animal is soft, glossy, 

 and of a fine black. Its face is covered with a mask of a 

 square form and a whitish colour tinged with blue. This 

 mask contains the eyes, nose, and mouth. The ears have a 

 rim: they are small, very pretty, and almost bare. The 

 neck of the widow presents in front a white band, an inch 

 broad, and forming a semicircle. The feet, or rather the 

 hinder hands, are black like the rest of the body ; but the 

 fore paws are white without, and of a glossy black within. 

 In these marks, or white spots, the missionaries think they 

 recognize the veil, the neckerchief, and the gloves of a 

 widow in mourning. The character of this little monkey, 

 which sits up on its hinder extremities only when eating, is 

 but little indicated in its appearance. It has a wild and 

 timid air; it often refuses the food offered to it, even when 

 tormented by a ravenous appetite. It has little inclination 



