WANDEROO MONKEY.
The number of monkeys which have leonine manes is large. The manes act as capes to keep the dew and wet from their chests and shoulders.
Among the most delicate of American monkeys are the Oukaris, which have somewhat human faces, exquisite soft fur, and are as gentle as most of these forest creatures. They seldom live long in captivity, a few months being as much as they will generally endure, even in Brazil. Perhaps the rarest of all is the white-haired Scarlet-faced Oukari. This monkey has long white hair from neck to tail, sandy whiskers, and a bright scarlet face. It lives in a district of partly flooded forest, and is only obtained by the Indians using blow-pipes and arrows dipped in very diluted urari poison. The White-headed Saki is a rare and very pretty little monkey of Brazil; and there are a very large number of other species of this group whose names it would be mere weariness to mention. All these small monkeys are very quick and intelligent, while the rapidity of their movements, their ever-changing expression, and sharp, eager cries heighten the idea of cleverness given by their general appearance. Other little imps of these forests are the Squirrel Monkeys. In the common species the face is like a little furry man's, its arms brilliant yellow (as if dipped in gamboge dye), the cheeks pink, and eyes black. In habits it is a quick-tempered, imperious little creature, carnivorous, and a great devourer of butterflies and beetles.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
COMMON SQUIRREL MONKEY.
The squirrel monkeys have soft, bright-coloured fur, and long, hairy tails. They are found from Mexico to Paraguay.
The most beautiful and entertaining of all monkeys are these New World species. No person clever at interpreting the ways of animals would fail to consider them far more clever and sympathetic than the melancholy anthropoid apes, while for appearance they have no equals. Probably the most attractive monkey in Europe is a South American one now in the London Zoological Gardens. It was first mentioned to Europeans by Baron von Humboldt, who saw it in the cabin of an Indian on the Orinoco. These forest Indians of South America are gentle creatures themselves. Among other amiable qualities, they have a passion for keeping pets. One who worked for a friend of the writer, with others of his tribe, was asked what he would take in payment, which was given in kind. The others chose cloth, axes, etc. This Indian said that he did not care for any of these things. He said he wanted a "poosa." No one knew what he meant. He signed that he wished to go to the house and would show them. Arrived there, he pointed to the cat! "Pussy," to the Arawak Indian, was a "poosa," and that was what he wanted as a month's wages. Humboldt's Indian had something better than a "poosa." It was a monkey, as black as coal, with a round head, long thickly furred tail, and bright vivacious eyes. The explorer called it the Lagothrix, which means Hare-skin Monkey. The fur is not the least like a hare's, but much resembles that of an opossum. The more suitable name is the Woolly Monkey. The one kept at the Gardens is a most friendly and vivacious creature, ready to embrace, play and make friends with any well-dressed person. It dislikes people in working-clothes which are dirty or soiled—a not uncommon aversion of clever animals.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.