WESTERN SIDE OF THE TAPAJOS 301 



alone I enumerated fully 300 species, captured or seen 

 in the course of forty days within a half -hour's walk of 

 the village. This is a greater number than is found in 

 the whole of Europe. The only monkey I observed was 

 the Callithrix moloch — one of the kinds called by the 

 Indians Whaiapu-sai. It is a moderately-sized species, 

 clothed with long brown hair, and having hands of a 

 whitish hue. Although nearly allied to the Cebi it has 

 none of their restless vivacity, but is a dull, listless animal. 

 It goes in small flocks of five or six individuals, running 

 along the main boughs of the trees. One of the specimens 

 which I obtained here was caught on a low fruit-tree at 

 the back of our house at sunrise one morning. This was 

 the only instance of a monkey being captured in such a 

 position that I ever heard of. As the tree was isolated 

 it must have descended to the ground from the neigh- 

 bouring forest and walked some distance to get at it. 

 The species is sometimes kept in a tame state by the 

 natives : it does not make a very amusing pet, and sur- 

 vives captivity only a short time. 



I heard that the white Cebus, the Caiarara branca, a 

 kind of monkey I had not yet seen, and wished very 

 much to obtain, inhabited the forests on the opposite 

 side of the river ; so one day on an opportunity being 

 afforded by our host going over in a large boat, I crossed 

 to go in search of it. We were about twenty persons in 

 all, and the boat was an old ricketty affair with the 

 gaping seams rudely stuffed with tow and pitch. In 

 addition to the human freight we took three sheep with 

 us, which Captain Antonio had just received from San- 

 tarem and was going to add to his new cattle farm on the 

 other side. Ten Indian paddlers carried us quickly across. 

 The breadth of the river could not be less than three 

 miles, and the current was scarcely perceptible. When 

 a boat has to cross the main Amazons, it is obliged to 

 ascend along the banks for half a mile or more to allow 

 for drifting by the current ; in this lower part of the 

 Tapajos this is not necessary. When about half-way, 

 the sheep, in moving about, kicked a hole in the bottom 

 of the boat. The passengers took the matter very coolly, 

 although the water spouted up alarmingly, and I thought 

 we should inevitably be swamped. Captain Antonio took 

 off his socks to stop the leak, inviting me and the Juiz 

 de paz, who was one of the party, to do the same, whilst 



