16 THE MARMOZET. 



succession of harsh and shrill sounds (imitated in the name 

 ouistiti), so loud, that they might be heard from the remotest part 

 of the ship. For a considerable time there was no evident change 

 in his habits, as he continued to be nearly as wild as when I first 

 got him, and showed none of the playfulness and vivacity which 

 characterize most of the monkey tribe. 



" As long as the fruits which we had on board lasted, he would 

 eat nothing else; but when these failed, we soon discovered a 

 most agreeable substitute, which he appeared to relish above 

 everything. By chance we observed him devouring a large cock- 

 roach, which he had caught running along the deck of the vessel j 

 and from this time to nearly the end of the voyage, a space of 

 four or five weeks, he fed almost exclusively on these insects, and 

 contributed most effectually to rid the vessel of them. He fre- 

 quently eat a score of the largest kind, which are two inches or two 

 inches and a half long, and a very great number of the smaller 

 ones, three or four times in the course of the day. It was quite 

 amusing to see him at his meal. When he had got hold of one of 

 the large cockroaches, he held it in his fore-paws, and then inva- 

 riably nipped the head off first ; he then pulled out the viscera, 

 and cast them aside, and devoured the rest of the body, rejecting 

 the dry wing-cases and wings, and also the legs of the insect, 

 which are covered with short stiff bristles. The small cock- 

 roaches he eat without such fastidious nicety. In addition to these 

 he was given milk, sugar, raisins, and bread crumbs. Hitherto, 

 the weather was warm, the thermometer never being below 65 

 or 60 Fahr. ; but as we reached a more northern latitude, and 

 approached England, the change of temperature affected him 

 very sensibly : his appetite failed very considerably ; and now he 

 would not even touch the cockroaches when given to him : the 

 hair, especially that on the tail, fell off ; and, at the end of the 

 voyage, this organ was almost entirely bare and naked. He kept 

 constantly in his kennel, rolling himself up in a piece of flannel, 

 which had been put in for warmth, except when he could reach a 

 sunny part of the deck, where he might bask in the heat. There 

 was a long continuance of cold north-easterly winds, the ther- 



