THE MONKE Y FAMIL Y. 



alone. In other animals a man may be deceived. Thus, it would 

 require a keen and knowing eye to distinguish the feet of some 

 wolves from those of some dogs ; and the feet of jackals may occa- 

 sionally be confounded with the feet of foxes. But there is no mis- 

 taking what are usually termed the hands or the feet of a monkey. 

 There is nothing like them in any other animals throughout the 

 whole range of animated nature. From the huge ape of Borneo, in 

 the east, down to the minute sacawinki of Guiana, in the west, we 

 may be quite assured that they can be recognised most easily on the 

 very first inspection. 



Let the enterprising young naturalist pause a little here, and bring 

 to his mind the singular formation of a monkey. Omnipotence has 

 given various shapes of feet to various animals, and these feet sup- 

 port the respective animals on the ground with most admirable ease 

 and aptness. But with the monkey it is not so. We can find nothing 

 in the economy of its feet, so called, to demonstrate that they are in- 

 tended for the ground. The projecting thumb, and the long toes or 

 fingers, argue that they are inadequate for a journey on land, or even 

 to make it a temporary abode, now and then, for pleasure or for 

 ease. Indeed, their delicacy and tenderness show beyond dispute, 

 that they have not been in the habit of coming in contact with the 

 sand and the flints on the paths which nearly all other animals 

 pursue. 



These considerations force one to conclude that monkeys, although 

 gifted with astonishing power of limb, are destined, by the wisdom 

 of Providence, to have a region of their own. And when I shall 

 have placed them in it, I trust that I shall be able to prove by the 

 very nature of tropical forests, that trees can support, and do sup- 

 port, the entire family of monkeys, apart from the ground, in evident 

 security, and with a never-ending supply of most nutritious food. 



By way of varying the dull monotony of hackneyed description, 

 I will introduce here, a conversation betwixt an ant-bear and a 

 howler or preacher monkey, although, most probably, at the risk of 

 displeasing scientific compilers, and of incurring their monitory cen- 

 sure. Still, methinks, it will not be altogether lost upon the general 

 reader. It will .tend to show the true habits of two animals hitherto 

 but imperfectly known. 



