known here, before the arrival of ;Europeaa vessels,,! as there seems* to: be no
other distinct kjnd of them in the reoiony than the bla©kt ratfndrthedsUge
brown rat, which latter are. t he m os t n utnero us jbut »d iffe r s o m e ti me sitl? the
shade o f colour ; they are particularly destructive to - the ‘sugar canes ; And
all the care which is taken to destroy them has but little effect, as the climate
is not only so favourable for their breeding,- byt nunt^ous supplies
are yearly brought by the shipping;: |
The mice at Surinam arc exactly of the same kind as,those» in Europe,
and most likely of the same origin; they are. also numerous in the
colony.
Of those animals which live on fruit, the Quadromanes are the most re*-
markable. But it must be observed that.there isneitherthepurang-outang,
nor has any species of the- ape been yet discovered in- Surinam though
there are several kinds of sapajous and sangouinsjor saccawihkees.
Amongst the sapajous, the qnatta is one of »the most extraordinary t it
grows to the height o f about three feet a n d a h a lf when, standing upright,
and is covered with black hair, but the face,- which is bare; is o f a dark
flesh colour; the animal has but four fingers on its fore paws, and instead
o f the thumb, a very small fleshy projection; but the want of the thumb is
fully compensated for by ilsqarehensile tail, which is as flexible as the trank
of an elephant, and serves the animal as a fifth hand, with which it can take
up the smallest objects. The quatta, when young, is d f ah^ extraordihary
shape; its limbs are very long -and extremely slender, whilst jthc belly-is
as big as if it was swelled; but when the animal begins to grow more, it
becomes covered with long black hair, of a silky cast, and the quatta appears
then altogether of a more proportionate shape.
The quatta is o f a very docile- disposition, and capable o f being quite
domesticated: Thave seen a pair o f them at a gentleman’s house at Paramaribo,
which were left quite at liberty; when the female negroes were
employed at their needle Work, they used to come and sit amongst- them
and play with a piece o f paper, and afterwards go-out to gambol upon the
trees, but never went over: to the neighbouring gardens; and they knew
well the usual hour of dinner at their master’s, when they would comedo
the gallery* look in at the windows, though without attempting to
enter into, the room,, being aware that this was a liberty not allowed them,
J m
they therefore patiently waited for their dinner on the outside. A gentleman
who-is fond of shooting:told jne- he was ortce in tlie iwoods, and when
about to. return, home, he met with some, quattas, and thought to fire, at on e ;
but; the moment he levelled his musket the creature erected itself,
called nut Ho ! rho ! tin aimanneEssarttiuch in. imitation of- the human spe-
ciesy-that, it limmediatelyfdisarmed him,
Df the How4ir^v:BpifeoQniidt!) Battler,; X bad ihe^pd im»ny;tf$slfbbHl
not get sight iof ;them, I therefore promised
tQsprocure me one but he told me, that tpvgfet them ali^e was .yery difficult,
and even to shoot tbem,3as thi^ sfe^wre isiftQ .'^ery-eUnning^-^ia.t op
perceiying^ia pursuer, it - retreats Ijehind»th$,trees iira^d with^sef}nns :ni^en *
tenance the mulatto ccmtinhed say^» when the baboon ift* sitting; and
pEeachmgtbefore the, others; Ewould not shoot him.” Evep> when■ one qf
them is mortally wounded he twists his tail round th%.fe^n^ nf; thet ^eei;
and thereby prevents Inst; falling down* r. p3Mf||d
together, one o f «them makes a howling rattling noise, whilst the others
seem to listen.,to it, and then afterwards they join in chorns»? th i^ h e natives
call, preaching. At last a dead one was sent Ip me, yyhich ,was. about
two feet and a half high when erected upon its hind legs */its fece was baje,
and covered with a black» skin, and had no .beard; the inside, o f the hand
bare, and*df a black colour ; its, prehensile tail was ofa considerable length;
and. the whole animal of a bright feruginous colour. The cartilaginous
organ for making the rattling noise was near five inches in circumference,
and in the form o f thecup of a wine giass,of whichtheupper part was turned
to the wind-pipe, and surrounded, with many, membranes, which .ithe
animal has the power of closing and opening at his pleasure; and producing
by them all the different modulations of his rattling voice, and which
is .heard at a considerable distance. This noise the animal begins ih general
in the morning before sun-rise, and in the>e.vening after sun-set*;but at
spring tides, it is observed they are beard almost ail might, so as. to consti-*
tute for many people a kind: o f almanack. iDr.Ditxttdd me; at; Surinam;
that a negro brought him from the woods ayoungbabaon alive,and an
old one dead, without having had a gun or any arms with him, and that
the negro: related the circumstance an: the following manner: in. passing