ACTIVITY OF THE SQUIRREL MONKEY. 235 



a coat of mail ; for so conscious are they of its advan- 

 tages, that some of them will leap backwards and for- 

 wards over the snakes, when they are reposing, with- 

 out discovering the least sign of fear. 



Stedman, who wrote an account of Surinam, mi- 

 nutely describes the gambols of the squirrel monkey, 

 called by the natives keesee-keesee, an elegant little 

 animal about the size of a rabbit. He saw numbers 

 of them daily passing along the sides of the river, 

 skipping from tree to tree, regularly following each 

 other, like a little army, with their young ones at 

 their backs, which have no unapt resemblance to 

 knapsacks. The leader walks to the extremity of a 

 bough, from which it springs to the end of an opposite 

 one, belonging to the next tree, often at a most asto- 

 nishing distance, and with such wonderful activity 

 and precision that it nevers misses its aim : the others, 

 one by one, and even the females with their little 

 ones at their backs, which stick fast to the mother, 

 follow their guide, and make the same leap, with equal 

 certainty and ease. 



This leads me to mention the extreme affection 

 of the females for their young : they suckle, caress, 

 and cleanse them of the vemmin that harbour in their 

 fur ; then, crouching on their hams, observe their 

 gambols with each other with great delight. Whilst 

 the little ones are at play, wrestling, throwing each 



