Howling Monkeys.- 



-MAMMALU.- 



-TiiE Weepers. 



39 



hand, when the assembly indemnifies itself for the 

 previous restraint by bursting at once into clamour. 

 Marcgrave adds, that they again become silent at a sign 

 from the chief, who then resumes his howling for a 

 time. When he ceases the assembly breaks up. This 

 tale evidently contains great exaggerations; but it is 

 quite possible that one of the monkeys may commence 

 the howling, and the reports of more trustworthy 

 travellers prove that a single individual is quite capable 

 of producing a most unbearable noise. 



The structure by whicli these creatures are enabled 

 to give utterance to sounds apparently so out of all 

 proportion to their size, is of a very curious nature. 

 The two sides or branches of the lower jaw are enor- 

 mously enlarged, so that they form a pair of bony 

 plates descending vertically from the skull, and, when 

 seen from the side, appear fully as large as the latter. 

 Between these is a rounded bony case, consisting of 

 the central part of the hyoid or tongue-bone, inflated 

 into a thin hollow ball. This receives a membranous 

 pouch, which communicates with the larynx, and it is 

 l>y the reverberation of the voice in the hollow space 

 thus formed, that it acquires the tremendous power to 

 which we have just referred. 



In their habits the howlers are didl and morose ; 

 their movements are slow; and they live in small parties 

 under the guidance of a chief, wlio is always an old 

 male. The latter is said to place himself in an elevated 

 .situation, to guard against the approach of danger to the 

 little band under his care; but, notwithstanding this 

 precaution, the animals may be easily approached, 

 althotigh it would appear to be by no means safe to 

 stand under the trees occupied by them, as a sudden 

 fright sometimes produces very disagreeable effects. 

 In passing from branch to branch, the howlers, in com- 

 mon with many other American monkeys, make use 

 of their tail as a fifth hand; and so great is its pre- 

 hensile power, that, even after the animal is killed, it 

 not unfrequently remains suspended by the tail. In 

 some places they are eaten by the Indians, after being 

 roasted on a spit ; but the resemblance of the body 

 of one of these monkeys, when skinned, to that of a 

 child, always causes Europeans to regard such food 

 with a feeling of repugnance. The female produces 

 only one at a birth, which she carries on her back. 



The Red Howler {Myccics Seniculus), called the 

 Alouale by Buflbn, and the Royal Monhcy, or King 

 of the Monkeys, by the South American Indians, is 

 a native of Guiana, where it inhabits only the woods 

 in the lower gi-ounds. Its length, to the root of the 

 tail, is usually twenty-two inches, and the tail is of 

 about the same length. The general colour of the 

 i.air is a fine red, brighter on the head and limbs; 

 the face is naked and black. Several other species 

 are tcund in different parts of the South American 

 continent. Amongst these, the most abundant and 

 most widely distributed appears to be the Brown 

 Howler (M. Ursimts), which occurs in several pro- 

 vinces of Brazil. It is the monkey whose habits fur- 

 nished Marcgrave with the foundation for the story 

 given above, and this has obtained for it the name of 

 the Preacher monkey. 



THE HORNED MONKEY (Cebusfatuellus), Plate 2, 



fig. 7. The Sapajous, Sajous, or Ccqnichins {Cehiis), 

 also called Weepers, from their plaintive cry, include a 

 considerable number of American monkeys. In their 

 general form they resemble the howlers, but are always 

 of smaller stature and less robust form. Their heads 

 are short and rounded, and their tails, although prehen- 

 sile, are destitute of the naked space at the extremity, 

 which gives that organ, in the howlers and spider- 

 monkeys, such a firm grasp of any object round which 

 it may be coiled. Their hands arc furnished with per- 

 fect thumbs, both on the fore and hind limbs. 



In nearly all the species the face is bordered by a 

 profusion of long hair, which gives the little creatures 

 a most formidably-whiskered appearance, and the top 

 of the head is often similarly provided. In the horned 

 monkey the hair of this part forms two strong black 

 tufts, which give the creature the appearance of being 

 furnished with horns. Its general colour is chestnut 

 red, with the chest and belly bright red, and the 

 limbs and tail brown. It is an inhabitant of Brazil 

 and Guiana. 



These monkeys live in troops in the boundless forests 

 of the South American continent, where they feed upon 

 fruits, seeds, insects, and corn, and also upon small birds 

 and their eggs. In their turn they furnish a considerable 

 portion of the food of the small carnivorous quadru- 

 peds, such as the ocelots, which abound in the American 

 forests, and which are very arboreal in their habits. 

 The sajous are of a gentle disposition, and easily tamed, 

 wlien they may be taught a number of amusing tricks. 

 They are frequently brought to I']urope, not only for 

 exhibition in menageries, but also to be carried about 

 by itinerant musicians, who teach them to go through a 

 variety of evolutions, such as firing off a small gun, 

 and sweeping up the platform on which they are exhi- 

 bited with a miniature broom. Their intelligence is 

 very considerable : they will break a nut which is too 

 strong for their teeth by beating it between two stones ; 

 and a specimen which was living some years ago in 

 the menagerie at Paris, would liglit a lucifer match by 

 rubbing it upon the wall of his cage, and then hold it 

 in his fingers and watch it burning without the least 

 fear. Rengger, in his " Natural History of the Mam- 

 malia of Paraguay," mentions several circumstances 

 illustrative of the high degree of intelligence possessed 

 by those monkeys. They pee! oranges, and tear the 

 wings and legs off the larger insects before eating them. 

 When a living bird is given to them, they first bite a 

 bole in the skull, through which they extract the brain, 

 then pluck off the feathers, tear the bird limb from 

 limb, and finally gnaw the flesh off the separate bones. 

 On giving an egg to a young one for the fiist time, he 

 would break it very clumsily, and make a shocking 

 mess with it ; but in a short time ho learnt by experi- 

 ence to break the end gently against a solid body, 

 pick off the pieces, and then suck out the contents 

 without losing a drop. This mode of sucking eggs is 

 also adopted by the spider-monkeys, and some others. 

 But perhaps the most remarkable instance of intelli- 

 gence presented by the sajous is the following : — Reng- 

 ger had been in the habit of giving his specimens small 

 quantities of sugar twisted up in paper. One day he 

 inclosed Uving wasps in the papers, and the unfortu- 



