474 The Andes and the Amazons. 



CHAPTEE XXXVI. 



Game on the Amazons ; or, Friends and Foes in the Animal Kingdom. 



Undek this head I will give a list of animals which 

 are fit for food, and also such as are particularly obnoxious 

 or formidable to man. 



ANIMALS FIT FOR FOOD. 



Like most of the useful vegetable jM-oducts in this re- 

 gion, the useful animals have not been allowed to fully 

 develop, the normal size, as well as number, being reduced 

 by the wholesale slaughter. So the rage for the skins of 

 birds, deer, and tigei's has, in many localities, driven the 

 survivors into the depths of the forest. Nevertheless, 

 there is an immense variety of life within the valley. 

 The Maranon is a richer field, at least for commercial 

 purposes, than the Amazons below. 



Monkey-meat can not be recommended, as it borders on 

 cannibalism ; but many a traveler has been driven to it. 

 The Lower Amazonians esteem the white-whiskered Coaita, 

 one of the thumbless Spider-monkeys, which has been de- 

 scribed as four legs and a tail tied in a knot in the mid- 

 dle. The Maquisapa {Ateles ater) is also considered good 

 eating. 



The Tapir, called "Anta," " Danta," " Gran Bestia," and 

 "Yaca del Monte," is hunted by the Indians; but the 

 flesh is rather dry. This is the proboscidian of the New 

 World, and the largest indigenous animal in South Amer- 

 ica. When full grown it weighs over 500 pounds. It 

 has a thick, tough hide, and swims well. 



