The chemeck appears to have a wider range. It possesses a thumb,
slightly projecting, and furnished with a nail--though the thumb cannot
be used like that of a human being, as it is incapable of being opposed
to the fingers. It is a gentle creature, and capable of considerable
cultivation. Although playfully inclined, it is seldom spiteful; while
its disposition is very different from that exhibited by the capricious
temper of the Old World monkeys. It soon learns to distinguish its
friends; and will playfully pretend to attack them, but never does any
real harm. It is covered with a long fur, which falls densely over the
body; as is its tail, which at once distinguishes it from its relatives.
The ear is somewhat similar to that of man, but has no lower lobe. The
nostrils open at the sides, and are separated by a wide piece of
cartilage. The habits, however, of the ateles, are so similar, that
they require no separate description.
Wandering through the forest with an Indian guide, we reach an igarape
or stream, where the lofty branches of the trees do not completely meet
overhead, but where the opening is as yet of no great width. Lying
concealed, we hear a strange chattering and rustling among the foliage
in the distance. Pieces of rotten wood, husks, and nuts come dropping
down, and we may see the boughs alive with numberless dark-haired little
creatures, their long lithe tails twisting and twirling, their active
limbs stretched out in all directions, as they make their way through
the forest. We recognise them as a troop of ateles, migrating to some
other district, or on some expedition in search of food.
On reaching the boughs above the banks of the stream, they seem somewhat
puzzled. Several of the elders of the tribe go to the outer ends of the
boughs, and appear to be measuring the distance across. As they have an
especial dislike to wetting their hairy skins--although they would
undoubtedly swim if no other means could be found of getting to the
opposite bank--they have devised a method more suited to their tastes.
They leap from bough to bough, till they find one projecting in a line
with the trunk or branch of any tree inclining over the water from the
opposite side. The larger and stronger members of the tribe now
assemble, leaving the younger ones to gambol and frisk about among the
boughs, and amuse themselves in juvenile monkey fashion. One monkey--
the Hercules probably of the tribe--twisting his tail round the outer
end of the branch, now hangs by it with his head downwards, at his full
length. Another descends by the body of the first, round which he coils
his tail. A third adds another link to the chain: and thus, one by one
they increase its length, till the surface of the water is almost
reached. The chain now begins to oscillate backwards and forwards
towards the opposite bank, each movement increasing the length of the
arc, till the lower monkey, with fore-arms outstretched, reaches the
stem of the tree on the opposite bank. He grasps it tightly, gradually
clambering up, and drawing the line composed of his comrades after him,
till the monkey immediately below him is also able to seize the trunk,
and assist in dragging up the rest. They thus form an almost horizontal
bridge above the water. The rest of the agile tribe, now summoned from
their sports, begin to cross; the younger ones, in the exuberance of
their spirits, taking the opportunity of playing all sorts of pranks
during their passage over the bodies of their self-sacrificing elders--
giving many a sly pinch of the ear, or pull of the hair, for which they
well know they cannot at the moment receive punishment. Thus the whole
party--the mothers with their infants on their backs, and the other
juvenile members--cross in safety, and assemble among the branches to
watch the further proceedings.
The great difficulty now appears to be for the individuals composing the
bridge to get across without touching the water. Trusting to the
muscular power of their tails and limbs, they appear in no way daunted.
The monkeys which have hitherto formed the lower links of the chain,
still holding on by their tails to their friends, work their way up the
trunk and along a branch of equal or greater height than that on the
opposite side, to which the long-enduring Hercules has hitherto clung.
On their attaining the point selected, he at length unwinds his tail,
and swings downwards--with a force which seems sufficient to dislocate
the limbs of those holding on above--and now becomes the lowest in the
line. The force with which he has descended enables him to swing
towards the side which his comrades have reached, and to grasp the
trunk, up which he also climbs, till his neighbour can catch hold of it.
He follows his example, till all, one after the other, have grasped it:
and thus they perform an operation which the most renowned of human
athletes would find it difficult to imitate.
A troop will cross a gap in the forest in the same way, rather than
venture down from the leafy heights they find it safest to occupy. When
compelled to descend to the ground, they scuttle over it in the most
awkward manner--their long limbs straggling out, and their tails in vain
seeking some object to grasp. On these occasions the spider-monkey
turns its hind-feet inwards, and thus walks on the outer sides, while
the fore-paws are twisted outward; thus throwing the whole of its weight
upon their inner edges. It is when thus seen that the appropriateness
of the name given to it is more especially observed. When hard-pressed,
however, the knowing little animal, finding no bough round which to coil
its tail, rears itself up on its hind-limbs, and balances itself by
curling up its tail in the form of the letter S, as high as its head;
thus--by altering the centre of gravity--being enabled to got over the
ground in a posture such as no other member of its tribe can maintain.
It will thus run on towards some friendly stem or low-hanging bough,
which it seizes with its lithe and prehensile limb, and joyfully swings
itself up in its usual monkey fashion, quickly disappearing amid the
foliage.
The ordinary size of the coaita's body is about a foot from the nose to
the root of the tail, while the tail itself is rather more than two feet
in length.