Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
- Page 445 of 779 - First - Home
The Face Of The Araguato Is Of A
Blackish Blue, And Is Covered With A Fine And Wrinkled Skin:
Its
beard is pretty long; and, notwithstanding the direction of the
facial line, the angle of which is only thirty degrees, the
araguato has, in the expression of the countenance, as much
resemblance to man as the marimonde (S. belzebuth, Bresson) and the
capuchin of the Orinoco (S. chiropotes).
Among thousands of
araguatoes which we observed in the provinces of Cumana, Caracas,
and Guiana, we never saw any change in the reddish brown fur of the
back and shoulders, whether we examined individuals or whole
troops. It appeared to me in general, that variety of colour is
less frequent among monkeys than naturalists suppose.
The araguato of Caripe is a new species of the genus Stentor, which
I have above described. It differs equally from the ouarine (S.
guariba) and the alouate roux (S. seniculus, old man of the woods).
Its eye, voice, and gait, denote melancholy. I have seen young
araguatoes brought up in Indian huts. They never play like the
little sagoins, and their gravity was described with much
simplicity by Lopez de Gomara, in the beginning of the sixteenth
century. "The Aranata de los Cumaneses," says this author, "has the
face of a man, the beard of a goat, and a grave demeanour (honrado
gesto.)" Monkeys are more melancholy in proportion as they have
more resemblance to man. Their sprightliness diminishes, as their
intellectual faculties appear to increase.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 445 of 779
Words from 120661 to 120910
of 211363