ARAGUATO, OR URSINE HOWLER.—Mycétes wrsinus. 
howlings of the Alouattes are but nocturnal serenades addressed by the amorous monkeys 
to their arboreal lovers. It is proverbial that good taste, both in beauty and art, are 
dependent entirely upon race and date, and so the deafening yells of a band of howling 
Araguatos may be as pleasing in the ears of their listening mates as Romeo's loving 
words to Juliet in her balcony ; or as, to bring the matter nearer our home and sympa- 
thies, the tender plaints of our favourite Tom-cat upon the housetop to his inamorata in 
the neighbouring garden. 
The howling monkeys are said to be less gentle than the spider monkeys, and 
to partake more of the baboon nature than any of their American brethren. From 
the fact of their large size, their formation of head and face, together with one or 
two other peculiarities, some naturalists have considered the Alouattes to be the 
Western representatives of the baboons that inhabit the Eastern continent. 
There is rather an ingenious mode of capturing these monkeys, which is worthy 
of notice. 
A certain plant, the “Lecythis,” produces a kind of nut, which, when emptied 
of its contents, becomes a hollow vessel with a small mouth. Into one of these hollowed 
nuts a quantity of sugar is placed, the nut left in some locality where the monkey is 
likely to find it, and the monkey-catchers retreat to some spot whence they can watch 
unseen the effect of their trap. 
So tempting an object cannot lie on the ground for any length of time without being 
investigated by the inquisitive monkeys. One of them soon finds out the sweet treasure 
of the nut, and squeezes his hand through the narrow opening for the purpose of emptying 
the contents. Grasping a handful of sugar, he tries to pull it out, but cannot do so 
because the orifice is not large enough to permit the passage of the closed hand with its 
prize. Certainly, he could extricate his hand by leaving the sugar and drawing out his 
hand empty, but his acquisitive nature will not suffer him to do so. At this juncture, the 
ambushed hunters issue forth and give chase to the monkey. At all times, these monkeys 
are clumsy enough on a level surface, but when encumbered with the heavy burden, which 
is often as big as the monkey’s own head, and deprived of one of its hands, it falls an 
easy victim to the pursuers. 
