LASIOPYCA 277 



monkeys affords much sport to white men who get into the forest, and 

 is the principal occupation of native hunters. They are not easily 

 approached, for they have keen sight and hearing and are shy. They 

 go about in small companies of a dozen or less, with one old male for 

 leader. Often an old male is found alone, probably a defeated candi- 

 date for the place of leader, who has gone off by himself. The leader 

 may often be heard calling in a loud, gruff, barking tone, to keep the 

 company together. Except for the occasional call of the leader, the 

 company feeds silently, and the only sound that betrays the presence 

 of monkeys is the rustling of boughs as they pluck fruits, or jump from 

 branch to branch. Only when they discover the hunter and become 

 frightened, do they utter a little cackling sort of chatter, then they 

 scurry away, and if they are in thick foliage, they hide and remain 

 hidden securely as long as the hunter has patience to wait for them 

 to come out. But if they are in an open tree they may be shot while 

 running if a man is quick enough. If the leader has passed ahead, 

 sometimes the others will venture out in plain sight in order to follow 

 him. 



"These monkeys very rarely come to the ground; I myself have 

 never seen one on or even near the ground, except when wounded. 

 They can pass from the branches of one tree to those of another, not 

 touching it, by jumping; they jump upon and grasp the swaying out- 

 most twigs, which bend far down with the weight and then spring up. 

 The monkey merely holds on as the branch sways down, but with the 

 rebound he scrambles along to the larger branches. Monkeys can cross 

 any but the largest rivers in this way, on the nearly meeting tree tops. 



"These monkeys sleep in the trees, but do not make rude beds of 

 the branches as does the Chimpanzee. I have asked many natives 

 how monkeys manage to keep from falling while asleep, and the 

 answers are various. But there seems a probability in the account, 

 that they sleep sitting, and holding on to the branches, or to each other. 



"The habits of the three commonest kinds of Cercopithecus, 

 (Lasiopyga), are very similar, and what is said above applies to all of 

 them. The 'osok' (C. cephus) seems to be the most nimble; and the 

 white nosed 'avemba' (C. nictitans) the least so; the latter kind is 

 rather oftener killed than the others. Different kinds are often 

 together in the same company. The calls of the three kinds, the two 

 mentioned and the 'esuma' *(C. erxlebeni) are very much alike, 

 but one can learn to distinguish them." 



*L. CR.wi Fraser. 



