MARMOSETS. 19, 



was not steady a moment, but was constantly tiu-ning its head round from side to 

 side, eyeing every person with the most suspicious and angry look. Its sense of 

 hearing apjiearcd to be excessively acute, so that the slightest whisper was sure 

 to arouse it. The voice of this little animal was peculiarly sharp and disagi-eeable, 

 consisting of a very quick succession of harsh and shrill sounds (imitated by the 

 name ouistiti), so loud, that thej^' might be heard from the remotest part of the 

 ship. 



" For a considerable time there was no evident change in its habits, as it 

 continued to be nearly as wild as when I tirst got it, ami showed none of the 

 playfulness and vivacity which characterise most of tlie monkey tribe. As ion"- 

 as the fruit which we had on board lasted, it would cat nothing else; but, when 

 these failed, we soon discovered a most agreeable substitute, which it appeared to 

 relish above everytliing. By chance we observed it devouring a large cockroach 

 whicli it ha<l caught running along the deck of the vessel; and from this time 

 till nearly the end of the voyage — a space of four or five weeks — it fed almost 

 exclusively on these insects, and contributed most effectually to rid the vessel of 

 them. It fre(piently ate a score of the lai-gest kind, which are 2 or 2i inches 

 long, and a very great number of the smaller ones, two or three times in the course 

 of the daj". It was quite amusing to see it at its meal. When lie had got hold of 

 one of the large cockroaches, he held it in his fore-paws, and then invariably 

 nipped the head off first ; he then pulled out the viscera and cast them aside, and 

 <k'voured the rest of the body, rejecting the dry elytra and wings, and also the 

 legs of the insect, which are covered with short, stiff bri.stles. The small cock- 

 roaches he ate without such fa.stidious nicety. In addition to the.se, we gave him 

 milk, sugar, rai.sins, and crumbs of bread. Hitherto tlie weather was warm, the 

 thermometer never being below Go' or GO Fahr.; but as we reached a moi-o 

 northern latitude, and approached England, the change of temperature affected 

 the nionkej' 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 almo.st (juite bare and naked. He kept constantly 

 in the 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 considerable continuance of cold north-easterly 

 winds, the thermometer ranging as low as from 42' to 86°, and as the monkey ate 

 little or nothing, and was quite inactive, I hardly expected to have kept it alive. 



" When I got it on shore I kept it for some days in a warm room ; it gradually 

 recovered its nimbleness, running about the room, and dragging its kennel after 

 it. Even then it would not eat any insects, and its food consisted of milk and 

 crumbs of bread ; it was particularly fond of any sweet preserve, as jelly, and of 

 ripe fresh fruits." 



Mr. Bates, who compares the ouistiti to a kitten, banded with black and 

 grey all over the body and tail, and having a fringe of long white hairs around 

 the ears, only observed this marmoset in the neighbourhood of Para. On a certain 

 occasion he observed one of these animals comfortably seated on the shoulders 

 of a mulatto girl, whom he met walking in Para ; and, on inquiry, learnt that it 

 had been captured in the island of Jlarajo, at the mouth of the Amazon. 



