650 QUADRUPEDS. 



but by killing the mother j for she never abandons it. When she is 

 killed, it falls from her, and may be seized. 



As they feed only on fruits, pot-herbs, grain, and some insects, 

 their flesh is reckoned not bad eating. It resembles mutton, or the 

 flesh of a hare. One of them is a meal for six persons. They are 

 the most common game, and the most agreeable to the taste of the 

 Amazon Indians ; they roast one part, and boil the other : " We 

 lived upon them," says a French writer, " during all the time we re- 

 mained there, because we could procure no other food ; and the 

 hunters supplied us daily with as many as we could eat. I went to 

 see this species of hunting, and was surprised at the sagacity of these 

 animals, not only in distinguishing particularly those who make war 

 upon them, but also in defending themselves, and providing for their 

 own safety when attacked. When we approached, they all assembled 

 together, uttered loud and frightful cries, and threw at us dried 

 branches which they broke off from the trees. I likewise remarked, 

 that they never abandon one another ; that they leap from tree to 

 tree with incredible agility ; and fling themselves headlong from 

 branch to branch, without ever falling to the ground j because, be- 

 fore reaching the earth, they always catch hold of a branch, either 

 with their hands or tail ; so that if not shot dead at once, they can- 

 not be seized ; for, even when mortally wounded, they remain fixed 

 to the trees, where they often die, and fall not off till corrupted. 

 Fifteen or sixteen of them are frequently shot, before three or four 

 of them can be obtained. What is singular, as soon as one is wound, 

 ed, the rest collect about him, and put their fingers into the wound, 

 as if they meant to sound it; and when it discharges much blood, 

 some of them keep the wound shut, while others make a mash of 

 leaves, and dexterously close the aperture. This operation I have 

 often observed with much wonder." " After I have shot at one,'' 

 says Dampier, Ct and broke a leg 'or an arm, I have often pitied the 

 poor creature, to see it look at and handle the wounded limb, and 

 turn'it about from side to side." When the savages shoot them with 

 arrows, they extract the arrow out of their bodies with their own 

 hands, like human creatures. 



When these creatures are embarrassed, they assist each other in 

 passing a brook, or getting from one tree to another. 



[Margraave. Pantologia. 



