BABE SPECIES OF MONJLEYS. 211 



belonging to the little groups of creeping monkeys called 

 matchi in the Spanish colonies ; marimcndes,* or ateles with 

 a red belly ; titis, and viuditas. The last two species parti- 

 cularly attracted our attention, and we purchased them to 

 send to Europe. 



The titi of the Orinoco (Simia sciurea), well-known in our 

 collections, is called bititeni by the Maypure Indians. It is 

 very common on the south of the cataracts. Its face is 

 white; and a little spot of bluish-black covers the mouth 

 and the point of the nose. The titis of the most elegant 

 form, and the most beautiful colour (with hair of a golden 

 yellow), come from the banks of the Cassiquiare. Those 

 that are taken on the shores of the Guaviare are large and 

 difficult to tame. No other monkey has so much the phy- 

 siognomy of a child as the titi ; there is the same expression 

 of innocence, the same playful smile, the same rapidity in 

 the transition from joy to sorrow. Its large eyes are instantly 

 filled with tears, when it is seized with fear. It is ex- 

 tremely fond of insects, particularly of spiders. The saga- 

 city of this little animal is so great, that one of those we 

 brought in our boat to Angostura distinguished perfectly the 

 different plates annexed to Cuvier's 'Tableau elementaire 

 d'Histoire naturelle.' The engravings of this work are not 

 coloured ; yet the titi advanced rapidly its little hand in the 

 hope of catching a grasshopper or a wasp, every time that 

 we showed it the eleventh plate, on which these insects are 

 represented. It remained perfectly indifferent when it was 

 shown engravings of skeletons or heads of mammiferous 

 animals.t When several of these little monkeys, shut 

 up in the same cage, are exposed to the rain, and the 

 habitual temperature of the air sinks suddenly two or three 

 degrees, they twist their tail (which, however, is not pre- 

 hensile) round their neck, and intertwine their arms and 

 legs to warm one another. The Indian hunters told us, that 



* Simia belzebuth. 



f I may observe, that I have never heard of an instance in which a 

 picture, representing, in the greatest perfection, hares or deer of their 

 natural size, has made the least impression even on sporting dogs, 

 the intelligence of which appears the most improved. Is there any 

 authenticated instance of a dog having recognized a full length picture of 

 his master ? In all these cases, the sight is not assisted by the smell. 



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