690 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



needle. One would hardly suppose these fragile missiles capable of inflicting the 

 slightest wound at any distance, and yet they strike more surely and effectually than 

 the rifleman's bullet, for their point is dipped in the deadly juice of the Strychnos 

 Urari, whose venomous powers are not inferior to those of the dreaded bushmaster or 

 the fatal cobra. 



The savage tribes of the South American woods know how to poison their arrows 

 with the juices of various plants, but none equals this in virulence and certainty of 

 execution, and yearly the Indians of the Orinoco, the Rio Negro, and even of the 

 Amazon, wander to the Camuku Mountains to purchase by barter the renowned 

 Urari or Wourali poison of the Macusis. How they made the discovery of its powers 

 is unknown ; at all events the combination of so many means for the attainment of 

 the end in view — the preparation of the poison, the blow-pipe, the arrows — denotes 

 a high degree of ingenuity, and shows at once the infinite superiority of the savage 

 over the monkey. In a less concentrated or diluted form the wourali poison merely 

 benumbs or stuns the faculties without killing, and is thus made use of by the Indians 

 when they wish to catch an old monkey alive and tame him for sale. On his falling 

 to the ground they immediately suck the wound, and wrapping him up in a straight- 

 jacket of palm leaves, dose him for a few days with sugar-cane juice, or a strong solu- 

 tion of saltpetre. This method generally answers the purpose, but should his stubborn 

 temper not yet be subdued, they hang him up in smoke. Then after a short time his 

 rage gives way, and his wild eye, assuming a plaintive expression, humbly sues for 

 deliverance. His bonds are now loosened, and even the most unmanageable monkey 

 seems henceforward totally to forget that he ever roamed at liberty in the boundless 

 woods. 



In general, however, the American siraise are distinguished by a much milder dis- 

 position than those of the eastern hemisphere, and retain at an advanced age the play- 

 ful manners of their youth. They are commonly more easy to tame, and learn many 

 little tricks which are taught with much greater difficulty to their restless Asiatic or 

 African cousins. Their weakness, their short canine teeth, their good temper, render 

 them harmless play-fellows, and thus they are generally preferred in Europe to the 

 Old World monkeys, though they are not so lively, and constantly have a more or less 

 dejected mien, as if they still regretted the primitive freedom of the forest. 



The American monkeys may be conveniently divided into two large groups ; with 

 or without a prehensile tail. To the first great subdivision belong the Howling 

 Monkeys or Aluates {Mycetes), the Spider Monkeys (Ateles), the Sajous, and several 

 other intermediate genera. 



The Aluates are chiefly remarkable for their stentorian powers, which no other 

 animal can equal or approach. When the nocturnal howl of the large red Aluate 

 {Mycetes ursinus) bursts forth from the woods, you would suppose that all the beasts 

 of the forest were collecting for the work of carnage. Now it is the tremendous roar 

 of the jaguar as he springs on his prey ; now it changes to his terrible and deep-toned 

 growlings as he is pressed on all sides by superior force ; and now you hear his last 

 dying moan, beneath a mortal wound. Some naturalists have supposed that these 

 awful sounds can only proceed from a number of the red monkeys howling in concert, 

 but one of them alone is equal to the task. In dark and cloudy weather, and just 

 before a squall of rain, the aluate often howls in the day-time ; and on advancin?^ 



