Next to the ouarine and the alouate, the coaita (_fig. 213._) is the
largest of the sapajous. I saw one alive at the Duke of Bouillon's,
where, by its familiarity and forward caresses, it deserved and
obtained the affection of those who had it under their care; but
notwithstanding all the good treatment and attention paid to it, it
could not resist the cold of the winter 1764. It died regretted by its
master, who was so kind as to send it to me to place it in the Royal
Cabinet. I saw another at the Marquis de Montmirail's, the latter was a
male, and the former a female, and both were equally tractable and well
tamed. This sapajou, by its gentle and docile disposition, differs
greatly from the ouarine and the alouate, which are extremely wild and
untameable. It also differs from them in not having a bony pouch in
the throat. Like the ouarine, its hair is black, but rough. The coaita
also differs from them, in having but four fingers and no thumb to
the fore paws: by this character and its prehensile tail it is easily
distinguished from the monkeys, who have all five fingers and a flaccid
tail.
The animal which Marcgrave calls _exquima_ is very similar to the
_coaita_, and, perhaps, is only a variety of that species. This
author seems to have been deceived when he said that the exquima
was a native of Guinea and Congo. The figure he has given of it, is
alone sufficient to demonstrate his error; for the animal is there
represented with a tail curled at the extremity, a character which
belongs solely to the sapajous; consequently, the exquima of Marcgrave
is not, as he tells us, a monkey of Guinea, but a sapajou with a
prehensile tail, which, without doubt, had been transported there from
Brasil. The word _exquima_, or _quima_, expunging the article _ex_,
ought to be pronounced _quoima_, and then it is not very distant from
_quoaita_, which is written coaita by many authors. Every circumstance,
therefore, concurs to prove, that this _exquima_ of Marcgrave was a
sapajou of Brasil, and only a variety of the coaita, which it resembles
in nature, size, colour, and the prehensile tail. The only material
difference consists in the exquima having a whitish hair on the belly,
and a white beard under the chin, about two inches long. Our coaitas
have neither this white hair nor the beard: but what makes me still
presume that this difference is not sufficient to constitute two
distinct species is the testimonies of travellers, who tell us, that
there are both black and white coaitas, and that some of them have
beards, and others are without.
"There are (says Dampier) in the isthmus of America, great numbers of
monkeys, some of which are white, but the most of them black; some have
beards, others none: they are of a middling size, and in dry weather
when the fruits are in season they are very fat; their flesh is then
extremely good, and we ate great numbers of them, which example was
after a time followed by the Indians, who were shy of eating them at
first. In the rainy seasons these animals have a quantity of worms in
their bowels, and I have seen some of them several feet long.--These
monkeys are very droll, and played a thousand grotesque tricks as
we traversed the woods; leaping from branch to branch with their
young upon their backs, making faces, chattering, and even seeking
opportunities to make water upon our heads. When they are unable to
leap from one tree to another, on account of the distance, their
dexterity is very surprising; they form a kind of chain, hanging down
by each other's tails; one of them holding the branch above, the rest
swing to and fro like a pendulum, until the undermost is enabled to
catch hold of the branches of the other tree, when the first lets go
his hold and thus comes undermost in his turn; and then, by degrees,
they all get upon the branches of the tree without ever coming to the
ground." All these particulars perfectly agree with our coaitas. M.
Daubenton, in his dissection of these animals, found a great quantity
of worms in their entrails, some of which were from twelve to thirteen
inches long. We cannot, therefore, have any doubt but that the exquima
of Marcgrave is a sapajou of the same, or at least of a very proximate
species to that of the coaita.
We must likewise observe, that if the animal indicated by Linnæus,
under the name of _diana_, be, in fact, as he says, the exquima of
Marcgrave, he has omitted the prehensile tail, which is the most
essential character, and which alone will decide whether this diana
belong to the sapajou or monkey genus, and of course, whether it be
found in the Old or New Continent.
Independently of this variety, the characters of which are very
apparent, there are other varieties, though less striking, in the
species of the coaita. That described by Brisson had whitish hair on
all the lower parts of the body, while those which we have seen were
entirely black, and had but very little hair on those parts, the skin
being plainly seen, which was also of a black colour. One of the two
coaitas spoken of by Mr. Edwards was black, and the other brown: they
are termed, says he, _spider monkeys_, on account of their tail and
limbs being so very long and slender.
Some years ago a coaita was presented to me by the name of _chameck_,
which I was informed came from the coast of Peru. I had it measured,
and made a description of it, in order to compare it with that which M.
Daubenton had given of the coaita, and immediately discovered that this
chameck of Peru, a few varieties excepted, is the same animal as the
coaita of Guiana.
The sapajous are very sagacious and dexterous: they go in companies,
and mutually warn and assist each other. Their tail serves them
exactly like a fifth hand; and they seem even to employ that more than
either their hands or feet. Nature by this addition seems to have
recompensed them for the want of a thumb. It is asserted that they
catch fish with this long tail, and which does not appear incredible,
for we have seen one of our coaita's lay hold of a squirrel, which had
been put into the same apartment, with his tail, and drag him out.
Russel, in his History of Jamaica, speaking of this animal, says,
"this creature has no more than four fingers to each of its fore paws:
but the top of the tail is smooth underneath, and on this it depends
for its chief actions, for the creature holds every thing by it, and
flings itself with the greatest ease from every tree and branch by its
means. It is a native of the main continent, and a part of the food of
the Indians." They have the address to break the shell of the oysters,
in order to eat them; and it is certain that many of them suspend
themselves to the tail of each other, either to pass over a brook, or
to swing from one tree to another. The females bring forth only one or
two young ones at a time, which they always carry on their backs. They
feed upon fish, worms, and insects, but fruit is their common food,
and they grow fat when it is ripe, when, it is said, their flesh is
good and exquisite eating.
_Distinctive Characters of this Species._
The coaita has neither pouches on the sides of his jaws, nor
callosities on the posteriors: he has a very long prehensile tail. The
partition of the nostrils is very thick, and the apertures are placed
on the side, and not under the nose. He has only four fingers on his
hands or fore-feet: his hair and skin are black: his face is naked and
tawny: his ears are also naked, and of the same form as the human race.
He is about a foot and a half long, and his tail is longer than the
head and body together; he walks on all fours.
The exquima is nearly of the same size as the coaita, and, like that
animal, has a prehensile tail; his hair, however, is not black, but
variegated. There are some which are black and brown on the back and
white on the belly, with a very remarkable beard. These differences,
however, are not sufficient to constitute two different species,
especially as there are coaitas not entirely black, but which have a
whitish hair on the throat and belly.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 213._Coati._ FIG. 214. _Brown Capuchin._]
[Illustration: FIG. 216. _Saki._]