THE UAKARI MONKEYS. 179 



Habits. " This scarlet-faced monkey," says Mr. Bates, "lives 

 in forests, which are inundated during the greater part of the 

 year, and is never known to descend to the ground ; the short- 

 ness of its tail is, therefore, no sign of terrestrial habits, as it is 

 in the Macaques and Baboons of the Old World. ... It 

 seems to be found in no other part of America than the banks 

 of the Japura near its mouth ; and even there it is confined to 

 the western side of the river. It lives in small troops amongst 

 the crowns of the lofty trees, living on fruits of various kinds. 

 Hunters say it is very nimble in its motions, but it is not much 

 given to leaping, preferring to run up and down the larger boughs 

 in travelling from tree to tree. The mother, as in other species 

 of the Monkey order, carries her young on her back. Indi- 

 viduals are obtained alive by shooting them with the blow-pipe 

 and arrows tipped with diluted Urari poison. They run a con- 

 siderable distance after being pierced, and it requires an ex- 

 perienced 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. 

 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 carefully attended to, they fall into a listless 

 condition, refuse food, and die. . . . The bright scarlet of 

 its face is, in health, spread over the features up to the roots of the 

 hair on the forehead and temples, and down to the neck, in- 

 cluding the flabby cheeks, which hang down below the jaws. 

 The animal, in this condition, looks at a short distance as 



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