333 



ATELES. 



ATELES. 



331 



procured for. them the appellation of Spider-Monkeys, by which they 

 are commonly known. Like the other Quadrumana of the New World, 

 they are destitute of cheek-pouches and callosities characters which 

 approximate them in some measure to the real Apes. The skull of the 

 Ateles is rounder and the brain larger than in the common monkeys ; 

 the forehead also is more elevated, and the muzzle less prominent. 

 The eyes are widely separated from one another by the base of the 

 nose ; the nostrils open laterally, and are separated by a thick carti- 

 laginous partition ; the ear only differs from that of man in having no 

 inferior lobe ; the mouth is small, the lips thin and extensible, and the 

 hair generally long, coarse, and of a glossy appearance. 



But they are chiefly distinguished by the organs of locomotion. The 

 anterior extremities, in particular, are by their length and the slender- 

 ness of their form out of all proportion with the other parts ; they are 

 in general, as above observed, destitute of thumbs ; or if some species 

 are provided with this organ, it is only in a rudimentary form, and 

 consists merely of a flat nail, or at most of a siugle joint. On the 

 posterior extremities, on the contrary, the thumb is largely developed, 

 placed far back towards the heel, and is completely opposeable to the 

 lingers. But these animals possess, in their long _and muscular tail, 

 an organ of prehension much more powerful than the other extre- 

 mities ; it executes in fact all the functions of a fifth limb, though 

 probably, on account of its distance from the seat of sensation, it is not 

 endowed with a very delicate sense of touch. For six or seven inches 

 from the point it is naked and callous on the under surface ; and it is 

 by this portion that the animal hangs suspended from the branches, 

 or swings itself from tree to tree with an ease and velocity almost 

 incredible. 



Their entire organisation is adapted exclusively to an arboreal life; 

 on the earth nothing can be more awkward and embarrassed than 

 their motions. They trail themselves along with a slow and vacillating 

 gait, sometimes using then* long fore-arms as crutches, and resting upon 

 their half-closed fists whilst they project the body and hind legs forward ; 

 at other times walking in a crouching position on the hind legs only, 

 balanced by the long arms and tail, which are elevated in front and 

 rear respectively, and always ready to take advantage of any object by 

 which to avail themselves of their natural powers of progression. 

 But in proportion to their embarrassment on a plain sm*face is their 

 dexterity and agility among the trees of their native forests. Here 

 they live in numerous troops, mutually support one another in danger, 

 beat and expel the less favourably organised Sakis from the vicinity of 

 their cantonments, and exercise a perfect tyranny over all the other 

 arboreal mammals of their neighbourhood. Though leaves and wild 

 fruits compose the principal part of their food, yet they do not reject 

 flush, but hunt after insects and the-eggs and young of birds, and are 

 even said to adopt the stratagem of fishing for crabs with their long 

 tails. They are exceedingly intelligent, easily domesticated, and soon 

 become strongly attached to those who treat them kindly : they exhibit 

 none of the petulance and insatiable curiosity of the common monkeys ; 

 then- character, on the contrary, is grave, and approaches even to 

 melancholy : but if their passions are less violent, and more difficult 

 to excite, their affections are infinitely stronger ; and if they are without 

 the amusing tricks of the monkeys, so likewise are they without their 

 fickleness and mischief. 



Dampier relates, that when a troop of Ateles have occasion to pass 

 any of the larger rivers of .South America, they select a situation in 

 which the trees are highest and project farthest over the stream ; then 

 mounting to the topmost branches, they form a long chain by grasping 

 one another's tails successively. This chain being allowed to hang 

 freely at the lower end, whilst it is suspended from the top, is 

 put in motion, and successively swung backwards and forwards till it 

 acquires an impetus sufficient to carry it over to the opposite bank. 

 When this is accomplished, the animal at the lower end catches the 

 first branch which comes within his reach, and mounts to the highest, 

 where as soon as he is firmly attached, the other end of the chain is 

 permitted to swing, and thus the whole troop are passed over. The 

 Atelet, as well indeed as all the other American Quadrumanes, are 

 esteemed as an article of food by the native Indians; and even Euro- 

 whom curiosity or necessity has induced to taste it, report their 

 flesh to be white, juicy, and agreeable. The only thing disgusting 

 about it is a strong resemblance which the whole body, and particularly 

 the head and hands, bear to those of a young infant. Nor is it without 

 being strongly disposed to question the nature of the act, that Euro- 

 portsmen, unaccustomed to shooting monkeys, witness for the 

 first time the dying struggles of these animals. Without uttering a 

 complaint, they silently watch the blood as it flows from the wound, 

 from time to time turning their eyes upon the sportsman with an 

 expression of reproach which cannot be misinterpreted : some travellers 

 even go so far as to assert that the companions of the wounded individual 

 will not only assist him to climb beyond the reach of further danger, 

 hut will even chew leaves and apply them to the wound for the pur- 

 pose of stopping the hemorrhage. The following species of Atelea have 

 been distinguished and characterised by naturalists ami travellers : 



1. A. panitcvA (Geoff.), the Quata, or as the French write it Coaita, 



rg& species, covered with long coarse hair of a glossy black 



i- ; the belly is protuberant, the head small and round, the 



lollgillld sli'll'li-r. tin' f'uri' linllilri Mtiivly i|r|H'i vi'il nt' tliuuili-'. 



I v.liiMt ami powerful, thu eyc.< :nn.l i.'li v sunk, and 



the face copper-colour. On the back and outsides of the limbs the 

 hair is very long and thick, but the belly and groins are nearly naked, 

 and the mamma? of the females are placed in the armpits. The hair 



The Quata (Atrles jxtniscua). 



of the head is directed forwards, and the ears, concealed beneath it, 

 differ from those of the human species only in having no inferior lobe. 

 This species is very common in the woods of Surinam and Brazil. It 

 is active and intelligent, and unites considerable prudence and pene- 

 tration to great gentleness of disposition. They go in large companies, 

 and when they meet with a mau or any animal which is strange to 

 them, come down to the lower branches of the trees to examine them, 

 and having satisfied their curiosity, begiu to pelt them with sticks, and 

 endeavour to frighten them away. They cannot leap, but exhibit the 

 most surprising agility in swinging from tree to tree. Acosta, in his 

 ' History of the West Indies," relates the following anecdote of a 

 Quata which belonged to the Governor of Carthagena : " They sent 

 him," says he, "to the tavern for wine, putting the pot in one hand 

 and the money in the other ; they could not possibly get the money 

 out of his hand before his pot was full of wine. If any children met 

 him iu the street and threw stones at him, he would set his pot down 

 and cast stones against the children, till he had assured his way, then 

 would he return to carry home his pot. And what is more, although 

 he was a good bibber of wine, yet he would never touch it till leave 

 was given him." 



2. A. maryinatui (Geoff), theChuva, closely resembles the Quata in 

 physiognomy, size, and proportions. The quality and colour of the 

 hair are also the same in both, except that the face of the Chuva is 

 surrounded with a rim of white, which on the forehead particularly 

 is broad, and directed upwards, so as to encounter the hair of the 

 occiput and form a low crest on the top of the head. The hair of the 

 forearm is directed partially towards the elbow ; like that of the body 

 it is long and coarse, and though perfectly black, has not the glossy 

 appearance of the Quata's covering. The face is nearly nuked, and 

 tan-coloured ; the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and callous 

 part of the tail are violet-black, and the whole skin beneath the hair 

 appears to be of the same hue. The disposition and manners differ in 

 no respect from those of the Quata. 



3. A.ater(P. Cuvier), the Cayou, is considered by Messrs. Geoffroy and 

 Desmarest as a variety of the Quata ; but F. Cuvier, from observa- 

 tions which he made upon the living animal, has recognised and 

 described it as a distinct species. It must however be confessed that 

 it approaches so nearly to the Quata as to render further observations 

 necessary to determine the question of their specific difference. The 

 size, form, and colour are the same in both, and the only marked 

 distinction reported by M. Cuvier consists in the colour of the face, 

 which is black in the Cayou and copper-coloured in the Quata. " The 

 hair," says M. Cuvier, "is long, and of a harsh silky quality. It is 

 rather shorter on the head and tail than on the rest of the body, 

 where it falls backwards in the ordinary way, but on the head it is 

 directed forwards, and falls over the face." 



4. A. Bdzcbub (Geoff.), the Marimonda, has the top of the head, 

 thu back, sides, and external surface of the extremities black, and all 

 the under parts, the cheeks, throat, breast, belly, inside of the limbs, 

 and under surface of the tail for its fii-st half, white, with a slight 

 shade of yellow. The naked parts are violet-black, except immediately 

 about the eyes, which are surrounded hy a flesh-coloured circle. 



Tliis spi'i-i"*. '; rding tn Hmiiliol.H, ivplouRH the common Quata in 



Spanish (Juyana, where it is extremely common, and is eaten by the 



