TAME UAKARI 



441 



pierced, and it requires an experienced hunter to track 

 them. He is considered the most expert who can keep 

 pace with a wounded one, and catch it in his arms when 

 it falls exhausted. A pinch of salt, the antidote to the 

 poison, is then put in its mouth, and the creature revives. 

 The species is rare, even in the limited district which it 

 inhabits. Senhor Chrysostomo sent six of his most skilful 

 Indians, who were absent three weeks before they obtained 

 the twelve specimens which formed his unique and princely 

 gift. When an independent hunter obtains one, a very 

 high price (thirty to forty milreis^) is asked, these mon- 

 keys being in great demand for presents to persons of 

 influence down the river. 



Adult Uakaris, caught in the way just described, very 

 rarely become tame. They are peevish and sulky, re- 

 sisting all attempts to coax them, and biting anyone 

 who ventures within reach. They have no particular 

 cry, even when in their native woods ; in captivity they 

 are quite silent. In the course of a few days or weeks, 

 if not very carefully attended to, they fall into a listless 

 condition, refuse food and die. Many of them succumb 

 to a disease which I supposed from the symptoms to be 

 inflammation of the chest or lungs. The one which I 

 kept as a pet died of this disorder after I had had it 

 about three weeks. It lost its appetite in a very few 

 days, although kept in an airy verandah ; its coat, 

 which was originally long, smooth, and glossy, became 

 dingy and ragged like that of the specimens seen in 

 museums, and the bright scarlet colour of its face changed 

 to a duller hue. This colour, in health, is spread over 

 the features up to the roots of the hair on the forehead 

 and temples, and down to the neck, including the flabby 

 cheeks which hang down below the jaws. The animal, 

 in this condition, looks at a short distance as though 

 some one had laid a thick coat of red paint on its coun- 

 tenance. The death of my pet was slow ; during the 

 last twenty-four hours it lay prostrate, breathing quickly, 

 its chest strongly heaving ; the colour of its face became 

 gradually paler, but was still red when it expired. As the 

 hue did not quite disappear until two or three hours 

 after the animal was quite dead, I judged that it was 



^ Three pounds seven shillings to four pounds thirteen 

 shillings. 



