THE SPIDER-MONKEYS 161 



In Brazil this species is found all over the lowlands of the valley of the Amazon, 

 but it does not range to the southward beyond the limits of the river-plains, where 

 it is replaced by the white-whiskered spider-monkey. Like the other species, it 

 lives in small parties, and is comparatively silent. Its flesh is much esteemed by 

 the natives of Brazil, who capture it alive by shooting it with arrows tipped with 

 weak urari poison, and restoring it, when fallen, with salt. 



On one occasion when out hunting these animals on the Lower Amazon, Mr. 

 Bates remarks that his attention was first called to one of them by hearing a 

 rustling in the boughs above. "There was something human-like in its appear- 

 ance," he says, "as the lean, dark, shaggy creature moved deliberately among the 

 branches at a great height. I fired, but unfortunately only wounded it in the belly. 

 It fell with a crash, headlong, about twenty or thirty feet, and then caught a 

 bough with its tail, which grasped it instantaneously, so that the animal remained 

 suspended in mid-air. Before I could reload, it recovered itself, and mounted 

 nimbly to the topmost branches, out of the reach of a fowling piece, where we 

 could perceive the poor thing apparently probing its wound with its fingers. 

 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 for considerable distances. I once saw a most ridicu- 

 lously 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 smartly, 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 old man sat. ' ' Mr. Bates adds that the disposi- 

 tion of these monkeys is mild in the extreme, having none of the painful, restless 

 vivacity of their cousins the sapajous, and none of the surly and untamable temper 

 of their more distant relatives, the howlers. 



In the typical form of the red-faced spider-monkey, the thumb is absent. 

 There is, however, a monkey similar to it in all respects, with the exception that 

 it has a rudiment of the thumb on one or both hands. This monkey, which is known 

 as the chameck, and is represented in the figure on the preceding page, has been 

 regarded as a distinct species, under the name of A. subpentadactylus, but it seems 

 preferable to consider it merely as a variety of the red-faced spider-monkey. 



