8 4 



THE COAITA. 



almost serve as a sketch of the other. Each is gifted with discriminating faculty of 

 touch, and therefore able to pick up any small object ; while at the same time its mus- 

 cular powers are so great, that it can endure severe and prolonged exertion. 



The proboscis of the elephant can seize a tree-branch and tear it from its parent 

 trunk. The spider monkey has no such gigantic strength, but it can sling itself from 

 a bough by its tail, and remain suspended for almost any length of time. There is a 

 beautiful formation of the tail of this creature, by means of which the grasp of that 

 member retains its hold even after the death of the owner. If a spider monkey is mor- 

 tally wounded, and not killed outright, it curls its tail round a branch, and thus sus- 

 pended yields up its life. The tail does not lose its grasp when the life has departed ; 

 and the dead monkey hangs with its head downwards for days, until decomposition sets 

 in and the rigid muscles are relaxed. 



We may here trace another curious analogy between this automatic contraction of 

 the tail, and the well-known structure by which a bird is enabled to hold itself on its 

 perch during sleep. If the spider monkey's tail be drawn out till it is straightened, the 

 tip immediately curls round, and remains so until the member is suffered to return to 

 its usual curve. Perhaps one reason for this provision may be, that it is for the 

 purpose of retaining the animal in its arboreal residence, and guarding it against 

 a fall. 



Still, it is a curious fact, and cannot be wholly accounted for on those grounds ; for 

 the monkeys of the Old World, although not gifted with prehensile tails, are quite as 

 arboreal as their brethren of the New, and consequently as liable to Eutychian casualties. 

 It may be remarked, en passant, that there are Preacher Monkeys in America, and con- 

 sequently that an especial provision against such misfortunes may be more requisite 

 in Brazil than in Africa. 



In their native country, the spider monkeys maybe seen in great profusion, swinging 

 from the tree-branches in groups, like bunches of enormous fruits. 



They are very lazy animals, and will sit, swing, or recline for hours in the strangest 

 attitudes without moving a limb ; just as if they were striving to emulate the Hindoo 

 Fakirs in their motionless penances. Such a propensity is the more curious, because 

 the slight forms of the animals, their long and slender limbs, and above all, their won- 

 derful tail, would lead us to anticipate the same singular swiftness and activity that are 

 found in the gibbons. In the American monkeys, however, we do not find the capa- 

 cious chest and thin flanks which mark out the character of the gibbons. 



Yet, when aroused by hunger or other sufficient motive, the spider monkeys can move 

 fast enough ; and in such a manner, that nothing without wings can follow them. In 

 their native land, the forests are so dense and so vast, that if it were not for the rivers 

 which occasionally cut their path through the dark foliage, the monkeys could travel 

 for hundreds of miles without once coming to the ground. 



Not that the monkeys care very much for a river, provided that the distance between 

 the banks is not very great ; and as they detest going into the water, they most ingeni- 

 ously contrive to get over without wetting a hair. The manner in which they are said 

 to achieve this feat of engineering is as follows. 



When a marching troop, often amounting to a hundred or more, arrives at the bank of 

 a river, the principal body halts, while the oldest and most experienced of their band 

 run forward, and carefully reconnoitre the locality. After mature deliberation they fix 

 on some spot where the trees of the opposite banks incline riverwards, and approximate 

 nearest to each other. 



Running to the overhanging boughs, the most powerful monkeys twist their tails 

 firmly round the branch, and permit themselves to hang with their heads downwards. 

 Another monkey then slides down the body of the first, twines his tail tightly round his 

 predecessor, and awaits his successor. In this way a long chain of monkeys is gradually 

 formed, until the last, who is always one of the strongest of the troop, is able to plant 

 his paws on the ground. He then begins to push the ground with his hands, so as to 

 give the dependent chain a slight oscillating movement, which is increased until he is 

 able to seize a branch on the opposite side of the river. 



Having so done, he draws himself gradually up the branches, until he finds one that 



