M O N 



very long, of a golden red colour, pretty uniform 

 over the body. The young are brown. Notwith- 

 standing these differences, it is possible that this may 

 be a climatal variety of the former, changed in its 

 covering, and dwarfed in its size by the severe cold 

 to which it is subjected. We are not aware that 

 there is any difference in its habits from those of the 

 preceding species. 



Golden-tailed Howling Monkey (M. chrystirus) has 

 been confounded with the red howling monkey, but 

 it is different, at least in the colouring. The last half 

 of the tail and the upper part of the body, from near 

 the tail to near the shoulders, are very bright golden 

 yellow ; the basal half of the tail is very bright maroon, 

 and the rest of the body, the head, and the legs, are 

 very deep maroon, passing into purple in the legs. 

 It is easily distinguished from the red one by the head 

 and limbs being of nearly the same colour, whereas in 

 the other they are of different colours. In the red 

 one, too, the tail and under-part of the body are 

 coloured alike, whereas in this they are different, and 

 the tail consists of two colours strongly contrasted 

 with each other. There is also some difference in 

 the teeth, they being longer than in the others, and 

 very regularly set, and the zygomatic arches are 

 larger than any of the rest. Still it is probable that 

 this may be the same species which is called the 

 araguato, or probably that name may be applied to 

 more species than one ; as, in various places both of 

 the east and the west, it is not unusual to call several 

 monkeys by one common name, in like manner as we 

 apply the general name monkey to all the varieties, 

 whether of the eastern continent or of America. 



The Brown Howling Monkey (M. fuscus). This 

 is a Brazilian species, of which little is known, and it 

 appears sometimes to have been confounded with the 

 ursine or bear howler, and at other times with the 

 Beelzebub species of ateles. It is indeed so like the 

 former, that it is not easy to distinguish between 

 them. Its general colour is maroon brown, pass- 

 ing into pure maroon on the middle of the back 

 and the head, and having the tips of the hairs golden 

 yellow. 



Red-handed Howling Monkey (M. rttfimanus') is 

 generally of a black colour, with all the legs and the 

 last half of the tail russet. The face and almost the 

 whole under-part of the body are quite naked of 

 hair. It is understood to be subject to considerable 

 varieties of colour, if indeed that which is described 

 under this name is not merely an accidental variety 

 of some of the others. It is said, taking the varieties 

 of colour into the account, to be very numerous in 

 the dense and damp forests of Brazil, and also in 

 those of the extensive valley of the Amazon. 



Black and Yellow Tailed Howling Monkey (M. 

 flavicaudatus). This is a well-marked species, at least 

 in so far as colour is concerned. Its general covering 

 is blackish brown, with a yellow stripe along the tail ; 

 the face yellowish brown, and very slightly covered 

 with hair. The tail is proportionally shorter than 

 any of the others, not equalling the body in length, 

 while in most of the others it exceeds it. It is found 

 chiefly in the forests in the upper provinces on the 

 river Amazon ; but in all probability it occurs in 

 other places. 



Black Holding Monkey (M. niger). The full-grown 

 male of this species is generally black, only a portion 

 of the tail and the lower part of the face are covered 

 with yellow hairs. The face of this one is altogether 



KEY. 269 



hairy, but the hairs are thin and short. The females 

 and the young differ considerably from the males in 

 their colouring. They have the lace, the under part 

 of the body, the flanks, the head and the limbs, with 

 the exception of the feet, straw-coloured. The back 

 is furnished with black hair with yellow points, which 

 make the general tint a yellowish ash colour. This 

 species is found in Brazil, and it differs from most 

 others of the genus in some well-marked particulars. 

 It is considerably smaller, not exceeding a foot and 

 a half from the muzzle to the tail, while most of the 

 others are two feet or more ; and the naked or pro- 

 perly prehensile part of the tail does not extend to 

 more than the last third of the length of that organ. 

 The muzzle is straight, as in the golden-tailed species ; 

 and the teeth are large and parallel, as in that. Still 

 it is probable that it may only be a coloured variety. 



The species of which we have now given the names, 

 and some notices, include the whole of the principal 

 part of the howling monkeys of America, as they are 

 known to European naturalists. They are a curious 

 race in their numbers, their habits, their appearance, 

 their voices, and, in short, every thing about them ; 

 and they are perhaps the most characteristic mam- 

 malia of those extensive and deep forests in which 

 they reside. Of their manners in a state of nature 

 we know but little, because the exploring of a forest 

 in the rich parts of tropical America is a hopeless 

 task, unless the traveller could, like the sloths, make 

 his way among the upper branches of the trees 

 During the rainy season all below is either stagnant 

 water of inundation, or quagmire which no foot can 

 pass, covered with withered branches, and divided by 

 natural ditches and pools of water, more offensive to 

 the sense and more injurious to the health than " the 

 reek o' the rotten fens;" while, when the subsoil gets 

 a little finer, so exuberant a vegetation springs up, 

 that the forest is impenetrable, or, when penetrated, 

 it is as dark as midnight. Tluis its inhabitants 

 cannot be examined in their strong holds, but merely 

 in those openings which now and then occur, and to 

 which the howling monkeys often resort to bask in 

 the sun. At such times, however, they are very 

 watchful, and, in all probability, some are constantly 

 on the watch ; because the instant that a traveller 

 approaches the howl is set up, the whole are in- 

 stantly on the trees, and begin their cannonade of 

 sticks and other substances, to which we have al- 

 luded. 



Our next business in regular order would have 

 been to notice the spider monkeys, or the genus 

 Ateles, which some naturalists have divided into the 

 two genera of Ateles, properly so called, and Eroides ; 

 the first comprising those in which the thumb is very 

 nearly or altogether wanting, and the second those 

 in which, though the thumb is very short, or even 

 only a tubercle, it can act against the fingers. There 

 is, however, still another genus with the tail pre- 

 hensile, with the legs very long, as in the spider 

 monkeys, arid with the head round, and thumbs on 

 all the extremities, as in the howling monkeys. This 

 is the genus. 



LAGOTHRYX. This genus, which is but a recent 

 addition to the zoology of South America, being first 

 mentioned by Humboldt and Bonpland in their re- 

 searches in that continent, has received its generic 

 name from the produced hair upon the thorax. The 

 legs are considerably shorter and stouter in proportion 

 than those of the spider monkeys, and thus the ani- 



