306 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



that on the occiput and at the top is directed forward, while 

 that of the forehead is directed the contrary way, making 

 a toupet on the top of the head. The lips which are capa- 

 ble of considerable extension, and the tip of the nose are of 

 a reddish white, the rest of the face is naked and black ; 

 the belly, inner sides of the limbs, and under part of the 

 tail are covered with yellowish red hair, the points of which 

 when viewed in the sun have a slight golden tint. 



This animal is in general about two feet nine inches in 

 height when erect ; Humboldt observes that to the east of 

 Mount Duida, in the fertile country comprehended between 

 the small rivers, the Sodemoni and the Gehette, all the pro- 

 ductions of nature, animal as well as vegetable, attain large 

 dimensions, and that he saw accordingly in this part a 

 specimen dried for the purposes of a festival, which was 

 much larger. 



The Marimonda, like the common four-fingered monkey, 

 (Simia paniscus) is extremely slow in its movements, of a 

 gentle character, melancholy and fearful. In the excess of 

 its fears it frequently bites those who caress it ; its passing 

 anger is bespoke by its closing the lips to utter a guttural 

 cry ore-o. Naturalists have compared the tail of the Ateles 

 in general to the proboscis of the elephant ; they have as- 

 sured us that the animal fished with its tail, that it could 

 ta,ke up a straw with it, and that its touch was so delicate 

 that it appeared as if the eyes of the animal were seated 

 at the end of this organ. Humboldt thinks that the tail of 

 this species is the most perfect in this respect, but he never 

 observed that the animal used the tail as a hand to convey 

 fruit to the mouth. When the Marimondas are collected in 

 numbers, they embrace each other, and form a knot in a 

 very whimsical manner. Their attitudes bespeak the ut- 

 most listlessness, and idleness. Their joints are so free that 

 they appear from the attitudes the animal assumes, to be 

 dislocated. Exposed to a vertical sun they will lie on the 



