ere in
the distance. Through the trees I could perceive that it was a big
dark-grey monkey, which we had alarmed. He was scrambling up a tall
tree when I fired at him. I evidently missed, for I could see him
prepare for a mighty jump to a lower tree where he would be out of
sight. But in the jump he got another load of pellets, which struck
him in the back. His leap fell short of the mark and he landed headlong
among some bushes, kicking violently as I came up to him. As he seemed
strongly built and had a rather savage expression, it did not seem
wise to tackle him with bare hands, therefore, as I desired to get him
alive, I ran back and procured my focussing cloth, which I tied around
his head. Thus I got him safely back to the camp, where he was tied
to a board and the bullets extracted from his flesh. Then his wounds,
which were not serious, were bound up and he was put into a cage with
a bunch of bananas and a saucer of goat's milk to cheer him up a bit.

The suddenness with which these monkey delicacies disappeared,
convinced me that his complete recovery was a matter of only a short
time, unless perchance some hungry rubber-worker, surreptitiously,
had removed these viands while nobody was looking, for bananas and
milk are things which will tempt any Amazonian from the narrow path
of rectitude; but it was not so in this case. The conviction as to
recovery proved right, and with the improvement of his health he
displayed a cheerful and fond disposition that decided me to take
him back with me to New York when I should go. I have since been
informed that he belonged to the Humboldt Sika species. I watched him
for several months and came to like him for the innocent tricks he
never tired of playing. One night he managed to liberate himself from
the tree near the hut where he was tied. He disappeared for two days,
but on the third he returned, chains and all. He had doubtless found
life in the jungle trees not altogether cheerful with a heavy chain
secured to his waist, and he had returned reconciled to captivity
and regular meals. There is at present one specimen of this kind of
monkey at the Bronx Zooelogical Gardens in charge of the head keeper.

At the time of low water, the so-called _prayas_ appear at the bends
of the river; they grow with the accumulation of sand and mud. They are
wide and often of a considerable area, and on them the alligators like
to bask in the sunshine of early morning and late afternoon,