296 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



members of the community; then they change into howling and 

 roaring, and they end as they began. If one looks at the long- 

 bearded, serious singers one can scarcely keep from smiling; but 

 soon the indescribable discords they produce become as wearisome 

 as their monotonous climbing, or rather creeping movements. What 

 one does another imitates, but whatever they may do, howsoever 

 they may act, their behaviour is always monotonous. Very much 

 like these, or not essentially different, are all the monkeys with 

 prehensile tails; though a few prominent members of the family, 

 the Capuchin monkeys for instance, are rather more free and in- 

 dependent. In general, they are as heavy mentally as physically — 

 usually very gentle, good-natured, and confiding, but stupid, peevish, 

 fretful, and some of them obstinate, malicious, and spiteful. They 

 thus stand considerably higher than the marmosets, but far below 

 the Old- World monkeys. Probably it would hardly be doing them 

 injustice to say that they possess the bad qualities without the good 

 qualities of their Old- World cousins. Their gentleness and good- 

 nature — apart from the fact that these are not found in all the 

 species, do not in the least make up for their general lack of enter- 

 prise, boldness, cheerfulness, liveliness, and decision, circuraspection 

 and ingenuity — qualities which place the Old- World monkeys so high 

 — while their everlasting whining and complaining counterbalance, 

 in our eyes, all the qualities which might attract us to them. 



The monkeys of the Old World, like those of the New, fall into 

 two groups to which the rank of families may perhaps be granted, 

 although the dentition is essentially alike in both. ' We call the one 

 type Dog-like, the other Man-like, and we may go the length of 

 saying that the former teach us what monkeyhood really is, while 

 the latter rise above it. For the first group especially, my opening 

 remarks hold good. Among them we find monkeys beautiful and 

 ugly, attractive and repulsive, lively and serious, good-natured and 

 malicious. Eeally misshapen monkeys there are none, for we must 

 admit that even those which appear to us ugly are symmetrical in 

 form. Yet some of them are, in many respects, odd-looking creatures. 

 Their chief external characteristics are, the more or less protruding 

 muzzle, reminding one of a dog's, the proportionately short arms. 



