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MONKEYS.


tration. It is nearly three feet in length, ex- clusive of the tail; the long rough hair is of a golden red hue, paler at the circumference of the face. It is spread over the forests of Brazil and Venezuela.

Humboldt has described the terrific effect produced by the Howling Monkeys of Cumana. The forests resound with the frightful yells of a whole troop, the sound of which can be heard at a ‘distance of two miles. They have been charged with a habit of assailing an intruder with sticks and fruits, but this is denied by Mr. Waterton. Their flesh is good food; the flavour being like that of kid.

Genus Ateles. (Groff.)

With the prehensile tail of the preceding genus, the Spider-monkeys, as the species of Ateles are termed, have a small, round head, with a more elevated forehead; a corpulent body, and very long and slender limbs. The fore hands have, generally, no thumbs, but, in two species, there is a rudimentary one beneath the skin.

Exclusively arboreal, the Spider-monkeys are slow and vacillating on the ground, dragging them- selves along by using the fore-arms as crutches, the fist being half closed; or walking in a crouching posture, on the hind feet only, balanced by the long arms and tail extended in front and rear, and ready to seize any object which may _ help progression. But among the branches of the trees their agility is almost equal to that of a bird: the sensible tip of the long tail seizes a branch with the facility and security of a fifth