The Naturalist on the River Amazons [214]
and seldom survives a passage down the river to Para.
Marmosets.-It now only remains to notice the Marmosets, which form the second family of American monkeys. Our old friend Midas ursulus, of Para and the Lower Amazons, is not found on the Upper river, but in its stead a closely-allied species presents itself, which appears to be the Midas rufoniger of Gervais, whose mouth is bordered with longish white hairs. The habits of this species are the same as those of the M. ursulus, indeed it seems probable that it is a form or race of the same stock, modified to suit the altered local conditions under which it lives. One day, while walking along a forest pathway, I saw one of these lively little fellows miss his grasp as he was passing from one tree to another along with his troop. He fell head foremost, from a height of at least fifty feet, but managed cleverly to alight on his legs in the pathway, quickly turning around, gave me a good stare for a few moments, and then bounded off gaily to climb another tree. At Tunantins, I shot a pair of a very handsome species of Marmoset, the M. rufiventer, I believe, of zoologists. Its coat was very glossy and smooth, the back deep brown, and the underside of the body of rich black and reddish hues. A third species (found at Tabatinga, 200 miles further west) is of a deep black colour, with the exception of a patch of white hair around its mouth. The little animal, at a short distance, looks as though it held a ball of snow-white cotton in its teeth. The last I shall mention is the Hapale pygmaeus, one of the most diminutive forms of the monkey order, three full-grown specimens of which, measuring only seven inches in length of body, I obtained near St. Paulo. The pretty Lilliputian face is furnished with long brown whiskers, which are naturally brushed back over the cars. The general colour of the animal is brownish-tawny, but the tail is elegantly barred with black. I was surprised, on my return to England, to learn from specimens in the British Museum, that the pigmy Marmoset was found also in Mexico-- no other Amazonian monkey being known to wander far from the great river plain. Thus, the smallest and apparently the feeblest, species of the whole order, is one which has, by some means, become the most widely dispersed.
The Jupura.--A curious animal, known to naturalists as the Kinkajou, but called Jupura by the Indians of the Amazons, and considered by them as a kind of monkey, may be mentioned in this place. It is the Cercoleptes caudivolvus of zoologists, and has been considered by some authors as an intermediate form between the Lemur family of apes and the plantigrade Carnivora, or Bear family. It has decidedly no close relation ship to either of the groups of American monkeys, having six cutting teeth to each jaw, and long claws instead of nails, with extremities of the usual shape of paws instead of hands. Its muzzle is conical and pointed, like that of many Lemurs of Madagascar; the expression of its countenance, and its habits and actions, are also very similar to those of Lemurs. Its tail is very flexible towards the tip, and is used to twine round branches in climbing. I did not see or hear anything of this animal while residing on the Lower Amazons, but on the banks of the Upper river, from the Teffe to Peru, it appeared to be rather common. It is nocturnal in its habits, like the owl-faced monkeys, although, unlike them, it has a bright, dark eye. I once saw it in considerable numbers, when on an excursion with an Indian companion along the low Ygapo shores of the Teffe, about twenty miles above Ega. We slept one night at the house of a native family living in the thick of the forest where a festival was going on and, there being no room to hang our hammocks under shelter. on account of the number of visitors, we lay down on a mat in the open air, near a shed which stood in the midst of a grove of fruit-trees and pupunha palms. Past midnight, when all became still, after the uproar of holidaymaking, as I was listening to the dull, fanning sound made by the wings
Marmosets.-It now only remains to notice the Marmosets, which form the second family of American monkeys. Our old friend Midas ursulus, of Para and the Lower Amazons, is not found on the Upper river, but in its stead a closely-allied species presents itself, which appears to be the Midas rufoniger of Gervais, whose mouth is bordered with longish white hairs. The habits of this species are the same as those of the M. ursulus, indeed it seems probable that it is a form or race of the same stock, modified to suit the altered local conditions under which it lives. One day, while walking along a forest pathway, I saw one of these lively little fellows miss his grasp as he was passing from one tree to another along with his troop. He fell head foremost, from a height of at least fifty feet, but managed cleverly to alight on his legs in the pathway, quickly turning around, gave me a good stare for a few moments, and then bounded off gaily to climb another tree. At Tunantins, I shot a pair of a very handsome species of Marmoset, the M. rufiventer, I believe, of zoologists. Its coat was very glossy and smooth, the back deep brown, and the underside of the body of rich black and reddish hues. A third species (found at Tabatinga, 200 miles further west) is of a deep black colour, with the exception of a patch of white hair around its mouth. The little animal, at a short distance, looks as though it held a ball of snow-white cotton in its teeth. The last I shall mention is the Hapale pygmaeus, one of the most diminutive forms of the monkey order, three full-grown specimens of which, measuring only seven inches in length of body, I obtained near St. Paulo. The pretty Lilliputian face is furnished with long brown whiskers, which are naturally brushed back over the cars. The general colour of the animal is brownish-tawny, but the tail is elegantly barred with black. I was surprised, on my return to England, to learn from specimens in the British Museum, that the pigmy Marmoset was found also in Mexico-- no other Amazonian monkey being known to wander far from the great river plain. Thus, the smallest and apparently the feeblest, species of the whole order, is one which has, by some means, become the most widely dispersed.
The Jupura.--A curious animal, known to naturalists as the Kinkajou, but called Jupura by the Indians of the Amazons, and considered by them as a kind of monkey, may be mentioned in this place. It is the Cercoleptes caudivolvus of zoologists, and has been considered by some authors as an intermediate form between the Lemur family of apes and the plantigrade Carnivora, or Bear family. It has decidedly no close relation ship to either of the groups of American monkeys, having six cutting teeth to each jaw, and long claws instead of nails, with extremities of the usual shape of paws instead of hands. Its muzzle is conical and pointed, like that of many Lemurs of Madagascar; the expression of its countenance, and its habits and actions, are also very similar to those of Lemurs. Its tail is very flexible towards the tip, and is used to twine round branches in climbing. I did not see or hear anything of this animal while residing on the Lower Amazons, but on the banks of the Upper river, from the Teffe to Peru, it appeared to be rather common. It is nocturnal in its habits, like the owl-faced monkeys, although, unlike them, it has a bright, dark eye. I once saw it in considerable numbers, when on an excursion with an Indian companion along the low Ygapo shores of the Teffe, about twenty miles above Ega. We slept one night at the house of a native family living in the thick of the forest where a festival was going on and, there being no room to hang our hammocks under shelter. on account of the number of visitors, we lay down on a mat in the open air, near a shed which stood in the midst of a grove of fruit-trees and pupunha palms. Past midnight, when all became still, after the uproar of holidaymaking, as I was listening to the dull, fanning sound made by the wings