Blake Sculpt.
The Quato & Saccawinkee Monkeys.
London, Published Decr. 2nd, 1793, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.
On the 21st, Fourgeoud reviewed with pleasure his recruited little army, where I was sorry the rangers did not appear. He now dispatched one hundred men as a patrole to reconnoitre the skirts of his new encampment, of which number I had the honour to be one. During this time nothing remarkable happened, except meeting with a large company of quatas, which being one of the most remarkable species of monkies in the world, from their affinity to the human race, I cannot tacitly pass over. One evening walking with my black boy Quaco without the camp, they came down so low to look at us, and threw small sticks and excrements at us, that we stopped, and I had an opportunity thoroughly to examine them. The quata, or quato, is very large, with an enormous tail: their arms and legs being covered over with long black hair, they make a very hideous appearance indeed; the more so, as the creature’s face is quite naked and red, with deep sunk eyes, which gives it much the appearance of an old Indian woman. It has short ears, and only four fingers without a thumb on its hands or fore feet, but it has five toes on the hinder feet, all of which have black nails. The extremity of its tail has a spiral turn inwardly; it is naked and callous, by its frequently [[11]]hanging to the branches of the trees; for when so employed, it serves the animal as a fifth limb. Most wonderful is the agility of these monkies in swinging from one tree to another, but I never saw them leap. Their throwing short sticks and excrements seems to be no more than a mimicking of the human actions without any purpose, as they neither have strength to throw far, nor dexterity to hit their objects, and if they befoul them it is by accident only. But what appears peculiarly remarkable is, that when one is hurt by a musket or arrow, the poor animal instantly claps its hand on the wound, looks at the blood, and with the most piteous lamentations ascends to the very top of the tree, in which he is assisted by his companions; where, hanging by the tail, he continues to bewail his fate, till by the loss of blood he grows totally faint, and drops down dead at the feet of his adversaries.
It is not so extraordinary that one of this species, when wounded, should be assisted by his companions in climbing; but that they should have so much knowledge in botany, as to procure vulnerary herbs, and chew and apply them to the wound, is what I cannot credit, though it is so confidently asserted by a late traveller: and as to the assistance they give in passing a river, by holding each other’s tails, and swinging till the lowermost is thrown up to the branch of a high tree, though I have a great opinion of Ulloa, who relates it, and has given a print of [[12]]it in a vignette; since he does not say he saw it himself, I must take the liberty to doubt this fact[1], and even what he says he witnessed.
I must here mention another monkey that I saw at Colonel Fourgeoud’s house, which is in Surinam called the wanacoe, and is covered over with long black hair, like the quato; but its limbs are shorter and more hairy, and its face is a kind of dirty white. This monkey is the only one of the species that is not sociable, being constantly found alone; and so despicable is this solitary animal, that he is continually beaten and robbed of his food by all the others, from whom he is too lazy to escape, though too cowardly to fight.
Of the long-haired monkies, the saccawinkee is the smallest; indeed, I may say of all the monkies in [[13]]Guiana, if not in the world, being not much larger than a Norway rat.
This is a beautiful little animal, with blackish grey frizzled hair, a white face, and very bright shining eyes; its ears are large and naked, yet they are not very perceptible, being covered by the very long and white whiskers that grow round the whole visage of this little creature: its feet are not unlike those of a squirrel, and its tail is bushy and annulated. So very delicate is the saccawinkee, and so sensible of the cold, that scarcely one of them is brought to Europe alive, and if they are they very soon pine and die. The Dutch call them the shagarintee, from their being chagrined at the smallest trifle. In the annexed plate, I have delineated both those monkies, the large quato, and the small saccawinkee, thus endeavouring to correct with my pencil the deficiency of my pen.
On my return to the Magdenberg, I narrowly escaped being crushed to death by an enormous tree, which dropped by age just at my feet. These accidents frequently happen in the forest; this, however, only slightly wounded two or three of our marines. During this trip we had much rain, and were obliged to cross over a small creek. We cut down one of the palm-trees on the water’s edge, which falling across the river formed a temporary bridge.
I now paid a visit to the miserable negro who had been found with his throat cut, and who was so well as to [[14]]be able to converse; when he declared to me, that he committed this violent action with his own hand. The suspected officer and sentinel were, therefore, instantly acquitted. I asked him by what reason he had been incited to suicide? and he answered—“None.”