THE AMERICAN MONKEYS. 



51 





and none of them has a projecting muzzle. Their 

 ■coloring is manifold, but never so bright and vivid 

 as that of some of the Old World Monkeys. 

 Where Monkeys Their native country is South Amer- 

 Liue in ica, Central America and Mexico. 



America. To the north they are bounded by 

 about the twenty-ninth degree of north latitude [as 

 far north as Chihuahua, in Mexico], to the west oy 

 the Cordilleras, [Sierra Madre and Andes Mount- 

 ains] to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and to the 

 south by the twenty-eighth degree of south latitude 

 [line of Catamaica, in the Argentine Republic]. 



All the Broad-nosed Monkeys are essentially tree- 

 climbers, and the virgin forests are therefore mainly 

 their home. Marshy regions are preferred by them 

 to dry localities. They leave the trees only in case 

 of necessity, for they do ^.*j. 



not even drink like other 

 animals ; they climb to the 

 water on boughs and 

 branches overhanging it 

 and drink without leaving 

 them. It is quite possi- 

 ble that some of these 

 Monkeys travel distances 

 of hundreds of miles, 

 without touching the 

 ground. The trees supply 

 them with everything they 

 need to eat, their food 

 being mainly vegetable, 

 though they also eat in- 

 .sects. Spiders, eggs, young 

 birds and honey. Few of 

 them are guilty of devas- 

 tating plantations. 



Most species are active 

 in the daytime, some come 

 •out in the gloaming, and 

 .some are awake only in the 

 might. They are lively and 

 active, with the exception 

 •of several exceedingly lazy 

 .species, representing, as it 

 were, the American coun- 

 terparts of the Orang-utans 

 of the Old World. 



Great Value They are all 

 of the excellent 

 Monltey's Tail, climbers and 

 know how to make very 

 :good use of their tails. 

 This tail is an indispensa- 

 ble all-in-all to some of 

 them, their clumsiness be- 

 ing such that they would 



be helpless without its useful aid. In nearly every 

 posture, even in deepest slumber, the Monkey twmes 

 his tail round something, even though it be only one 

 of his own limbs. The muscular power of the tail 

 exceeds that of the limbs, and the discriminatmg 

 sense of touch with which the tail-end is endowed, 

 enables them to put this remarkable gift of nature 

 to the most varied uses and often serves them as a 

 substitute for the greater quickness of mmd and 

 body possessed by their trans-Atlantic cousins. 

 Yet the real tree-climbing Monkeys of the Old 

 World are decidedly their superiors in climbing and 

 jumping abilities. The walk of the American Monk- 

 eys is always clumsy and tottering and is performed 

 ■on all fours. 



The maternal instinct in the females of these spe- 

 cies is as sublime as that of the Old World Monk- 

 eys. They have one and sometimes two young ones 

 at a birth, and love, pet and protect their children 

 with a solicitude and tenderness which cannot fail to 

 win for them our admiration. 



American The American Monkeys do very little. 

 Monkeys Harm- if any, damage to Man. And the vast, 



less to Man. productive forests that form their home 

 provide for them so generously that they stand in 

 no need of help from him. A few of the American 

 species sometimes make raids on plantations, but 

 the little they eat and spoil is remarkably small in 

 proportion to the robberies of the Old World Monk- 

 eys. They are hunted for their flesh and their fur. 

 Many a traveler has had to subsist on Monkey 



BLACK HOWLER MONKEYS. Found in Guatemala and have prehensile tails but no cheek-pouches or 



callosities, as the Old World Monkeys. The Black Howlers are one of ten species, which extend from Guatemala to 

 Paraeuay ' and this species is found in the mountains as high as six thousand feet. Like all of the Howlers it has 

 an unearthly yell which can be heard at a distance of two miles, the great sounds being increased by a peculiar for- 

 mation of the hyoid bone of the throat. They are the largest of the New World Monkeys, and the Indians are very 

 fond of their meat. (Mycstes niger.) 



roasts for weeks at a time, and did not find them 

 bad fare. To the natives the Monkey is a very im- 

 portant animal, for its meat forms a great part of 

 their food. They use bows and arrows on their 

 Monkey hunts, usually steeping the arrow-heads in 

 very strong poison. When a Monkey has been shot 

 by them and feels that he is wounded he tries to 

 pull the arrow out, but as the cunning natives take 

 the precaution to cut the arrow-stem half-way 

 through, before using it, the head usually breaks off 

 in the wound. 

 How Indians The Indians also use bows and arrows 

 Capture and to hunt Monkeys that they wish to 

 Tame Monkeys, keep captive. Schomburgk tells us 

 that the Arekunas, when they wish to tame an old, 



