SPIDER-MONKE YS. 163 



River. Being at the time unable to procure other animal food, this enterprising 

 traveller was fain to try the flesh, and describes it as being the best-flavoured meat 

 he had ever tasted, although it was with difficulty that he persuaded himself to 

 make the attempt. 



Brown spider- This species (A. kybridus) is a native of Colombia, and is of an 



Monkey. ashy-grey colour, sprinkled with black over the greater part of the 

 body ; the fur being very soft, with a tendency to curl, and mixed with a certain 

 number of long and stiff blackish hairs. Other parts, however, such as the crown 

 of the head, the fore-arms, the thighs, and the greater part of the tail, are black ; 

 the face being blackish, with white hairs on the lip. The inside of the thigh and 

 upper arms are greyish. This monkey is but little known in Europe. 



Black-Handed In Central America, northwards of the Isthmus of Darien, this 



spider-Monkey. g rO up of monkeys is represented by A. geoffroyi, noticeable as being 

 found at very high elevations. This species, which is also known as A. wielanochirus, 

 is the black-handed spider-monkey, readily recognised by the hands, feet, and the 

 crown of the head being of a full black, w r hile the fur of the body is generally some 

 shade of pale or reddish-brown, although more rarely yellowish, or even yellowish- 

 white, and indeed extremely variable in coloration. It is commonly found on the 

 volcanic mountain known as Orizaba, near Vera Cruz, in the south of Mexico, 

 where it ranges up to an elevation of some two thousand feet, living in troops in 

 the forests of the deep valleys. In the neighbouring district of Oajaca it reaches, 

 however, to a height of four thousand feet. 



White-Bellied With the white-bellied spider-monkey (A. belzebuth) of Brazil we 



spider-Monkey. CO me to the first of a group of two or three species of spider-monkeys, 

 distinguished from all those hitherto noticed by the under surface of the body 

 .and the inner sides of the lower legs and fore-arms being white or greyish- white. 

 'The present species is very variable in colour, shading from black to reddish, with 

 the loins paler, and the under-parts and inside of the fore-arms, together with the 

 front of the thighs, the inner surface of the legs, and the under side of the tail, 

 whitish ; the hair being rather long, and somewhat limp. 



A Brazilian monkey, w T ith rather longer hair and the under side of the tail 

 black, has been described as a distinct species, under the name of the long-haired 

 spider-monkey (A. vellerosws) ; but it may more probably be regarded as a well- 

 marked variety of the species under consideration. These monkeys have been long 

 known, and were described by Cuvier under the name of Coaita a venire blanc. 

 Besides inhabiting Brazil, they were met with by Humboldt on the Orinoco. They 

 are stated to assemble in considerable troops. 



THE VARIEGATED SPIDER-MONKEY (Ateles variegatus). 



The last of the spider-monkeys we shall notice is the species represented in 

 the figure on page 164. It is remarkable for its brilliant coloration, and 

 for its wide geographical distribution which extends from the upper reaches of 

 the Amazon in Peru to the banks of the Rio Negro, flowing from Venezuela 

 into the lower portion of the Amazon, and northwards into the Andes of Ecuador 

 and Colombia. It was originally described by the German naturalist Wagner, from 



