第65章
Coaitas are more frequently kept in a tame state than any other kind of monkey.The Indians are very fond of them as pets, and the women often suckle them when young at their breasts.They become attached to their masters, and will sometimes follow them on the ground to considerable distances.I once saw a most ridiculously tame Coaita.It was an old female which accompanied its owner, a trader on the river, in all his voyages.By way of giving me a specimen of its intelligence and feeling, its master set to and rated it soundly, calling it scamp, heathen, thief, and so forth, all through the copious Portuguese vocabulary of vituperation.The poor monkey, quietly seated on the ground, seemed to be in sore trouble at this display of anger.It began by looking earnestly at him, then it whined, and lastly rocked its body to and fro with emotion, crying piteously, and passing its long gaunt arms continually over its forehead; for this was its habit when excited, and the front of the head was worn quite bald in consequence.At length its master altered his tone."It's all a lie, my old woman; you're an angel, a flower, a good affectionate old creature," and so forth.Immediately the poor monkey ceased its wailing, and soon after came over to where the man sat.The disposition of the Coaita is mild in the extreme--it has none of the painful, restless vivacity of its kindred, the Cebi, and no trace of the surly, untameable temper of its still nearer relatives, the Mycetes, or howling monkeys.It is, however, an arrant thief, and shows considerable cunning in pilfering small articles of clothing, which it conceals in its sleeping place.The natives of the Upper Amazons procure the Coaita, when full grown, by shooting it with the blowpipe and poisoned darts, and restoring life by putting a little salt (the antidote to the Urari poison with which the darts are tipped) in its mouth.The animals thus caught become tame forthwith.Two females were once kept at the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, and Geoffroy St.Hilaire relates of them that they rarely quitted each other, remaining most of the time in close embrace, folding their tails around one another's bodies.They took their meals together; and it was remarked on such occasions, when the friendship of animals is put to a hard test, that they never quarrelled or disputed the possession of a favourite fruit with each other.
The neighbourhood of Obydos was rich also in insects.In the broad alleys of the forest a magnificent butterfly of the genus Morpho, six to eight inches in expanse, the Morpho Hecuba, was seen daily gliding along at a height of twenty feet or more from the ground.Amongst the lower trees and bushes numerouskinds of Heliconii, a group of butterflies peculiar to tropical America, having long narrow wings, were very abundant.The prevailing ground colour of the wings of these insects is a deep black, and on this are depicted spots and streaks of crimson, white, and bright yellow, in different patterns according to the species.
Their elegant shape, showy colours, and slow, sailing mode of flight, make them very attractive objects, and their numbers are so great that they form quite a feature in the physiognomy of the forest, compensating for the scarcity of flowers.
Next to the Heliconii, the Catagrammas (C.astarte and C.
peristera) were the most conspicuous.These have a very rapid and short flight, settling frequently and remaining stationary for a long time on the trunks of trees.The colours of their wings are vermilion and black, the surface having a rich velvety appearance.The genus owes its Greek name Catagramma (signifying "a letter beneath") to the curious markings of the underside of the wings, resembling Arabic numerals.The species and varieties are of almost endless diversity, but the majority inhabit the hot valleys of the eastern parts of the Andes.Another butterfly nearly allied to these, Callithea Leprieurii, was also very abundant here at the marshy head of the pool before mentioned.
The wings are of a rich dark-blue colour, with a broad border of silvery green.These two groups of Callithea and Catagramma are found only in tropical America, chiefly near the equator, and are certainly amongst the most beautiful productions of a region where the animals and plants seem to have been fashioned in nature's choicest moulds.
A great variety of other beautiful and curious insects adorned these pleasant woods.Others were seen only in the sunshine in open places.As the waters retreated from the beach, vast numbers of sulphur-yellow and orange coloured butterflies congregated on the moist sand.The greater portion of them belonged to the genus Callidryas.They assembled in densely-packed masses, sometimes two or three yards in circumference, their wings all held in an upright position, so that the beach looked as though variegated with beds of crocuses.These Callidryades seem to be migratory insects, and have large powers of dissemination.During the last two days of our voyage, the great numbers constantly passing over the river attracted the attention of every one on board.They all crossed in one direction, namely, from north to south, and the processions were uninterrupted from an early hour in the morning until sunset.All the individuals which resort to the margins of sandy beaches are of the male sex.The females are much more rare, and are seen only on the borders of the forest, wandering from tree to tree, and depositing their eggs on low mimosas which grow in the shade.The migrating hordes, as far as I could ascertain, are composed only of males, and on this account Ibelieve their wanderings do not extend very far.