ORDER OF QUADRUMANA, 
559 
Saint-Hilaire declares, however, that he has never seen these 
animals using their tail to carry food to their mouth, as some 
travellers assert. 
Dampierre and Dacosta relate that, to clear a river or to pass 
from one tree to another, the Ateles hook on to each other 
Fig. 246. — Group of Spider Monkeys. 
by the tails, and thus form a long chain, to which they give 
an oscillating movement towards the place they wish to reach, 
until at last the end of the file is in a position to gain it. 
The animal at the loafer end being fixed, the one at the 
