THE LANGURS. I I 5 



chievous as others of the Monkeys in the island. In captivity 

 it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour, and for an 

 air of melancholy in its expression and movements which are 

 completely in character with its snowy beard and venerable 

 aspect. In disposition it is gentle and confiding, sensible in 

 the highest degree of kindness, and eager for endearing attention, 

 uttering a low, plaintive cry when its sympathies are excited. 

 It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and 

 spends much of its time in trimming its fur, and carefully di- 

 vesting its hair of particles of dust. 



" Those which I kept at my house near Colombo were 

 chiefly fed upon plantains and bananas, but for nothing did 

 they evince a greater partiality than the rose-coloured flowers 

 of the red Hibiscus {H. rosa-sinensis). These they devoured 

 with unequivocal gusto; they likewise relished the leaves of 

 many other trees, and even the bark of a few of the more 

 succulent ones. 



" A White Monkey, taken between Ambepusse and Korne- 

 galle, where they are said to be numerous, was brought to me 

 to Colombo. Except in colour, it had all the characteristics 

 of Presbytes cephalopterus. So striking was its whiteness that 

 it might have been conjectured to be an albino, but for the 

 circumstance that its eyes and face were black. I have heard 

 that White Monkeys have been seen near the Ridi-galle Wihara 

 in the Seven Korales, and also at Tangalle ; but I never saw 

 another specimen. The natives say they are not uncommon, 

 and Knox states that they are * milk-white both in body and 

 face : but of this sort there is not such plenty.' The Rev. R. 

 Spence Hardy mentions, in his learned work on ' Eastern 

 INIonachism,' that on the occasion of his visit to the great 

 temple of Dambool, he encountered a troop of White Monkeys 



I 2 



