THE COATA. 



247 



tailed nation upon the banks of the Jurua; and I sign this act and 

 seal it in affirmation of the truth of all that it contains. 



"Establishment of Castro de Avelaens, October 14, 1*768. 



"FR. JOSE DE ST A. THERESA RIBEIRO." 



M. Baena (Corog, Para) has thought proper to repeat these strange 

 assertions. "In this river," says he, speaking of the Jurua, ( p. 487,) 

 "there are Indians, called Canamas, whose height does not exceed five 

 palms ; and there are others, called Uginas, who have a tail of three or 

 four palms, (four palms and an inch, Portuguese, make nearly an Eng- 

 lish yard,) according to the report of many persons. But I leave to 

 every one to put what faith he pleases in these assertions." 



M. Castelnau says, after giving these relations, "I will add but a word. 

 Descending the Amazon, I saw one day, near Fonteboa, a black Coata. 

 of enormous dimensions. He belonged to an Indian woman, to whom 

 I offered a large price, for the country, for the curious beast ; but she 

 refused me with a burst of laughter. ' Your efforts are useless,' said an 

 Indian who was in the cabin ; 'that is her husband.'" 



These Coatas, of which I had several, are a large, black, pot-bellied 

 monkey. They average about two and a half feet of height, have a 

 few thin hairs on the top of their head, and look very like an old 

 negro. 



We breakfasted at the mouth of the river. After breakfast one of the 

 Ticunas from Tabatinga was directed by the soldier to take up one of 

 the macaws that was walking on the beach and put it in the boat pre- 

 paratory to a start. The man, in an angry and rude manner, took the 

 bird up and tossed it into the boat, to the manifest danger of injuring it. 

 I was standing in the larger boat close by, and saw his insolent manner. 

 I took up a paddle and beckoned him to come to me ; but he walked 

 sulkily up the beach. I thought it a good time to see whether, in the 

 event of these surly fellows becoming mutinous, I could count upon my 

 Sarayacu people ; so I directed two of them to bring the Ticuna to me. 

 They turned to obey, but slowly, and evidently unwillingly, when my 

 quick and passionate friend Ijurra sprang upon the Indian, and, taking 

 him by the collar, jerked him to where I was. I made great demonstra- 

 tions with my paddle, though without the slightest idea of striking him, 

 (for I always shunned, with the utmost care, the rendering myself amen- 

 able to any of the tribunals or authorities of Brazil,) and abused him in 

 English, which I imagine answered quite as well as any other language 

 but his own would have done. I think this little "fracas" had a happy 

 effect upon all the Indians, and they improved in cheerfulness and wil- 



