42 URSINE AND BLACK COLOBUS. 
These monkeys are fond of society, assembling together in large troops, and howling 
with exceeding fervour. They observe hours, regulating themselves by the sun, at whose 
rising and setting they congregate together, and perform their arborial gymnastics. 
For the preternatural ugliness of the countenance, the Kahau is partially compensated 
by the beautiful colouring of its fur, which is thick, but not woolly, nor very long. The 
principal colour in the body is a bright chestnut red; the sides of the face, part of the 
shoulders, and the under parts of the body being of a golden yellow. A rich brown tint 
is spread over the head and between the shoulders; the arms and legs taking a whiter 
tinge than the shoulders. 
The nostrils of this creature do not at all resemble those of man, although the 
animal’s nose seems to be a burlesqued edition of the corresponding feature of the human 
countenance. They are placed quite at the extremity of the nose, and are separated from 
each other by a very thin cartilage. They are therefore, as has been observed in a former 
page, quite devoid of that expressive character which is so strongly exhibited in the 
contour of the human nostril. 
We will pass on to more pleasing animals; but before taking leave of this group of 
monkeys we must observe that they are hardly deserving of the title “Slow Monkeys,” 
which has been applied to them. They sit quietly on the branches, with their tails 
hanging down, and their bodies gathered together; but they only need some exciting 
cause to make them throw off their seeming apathy. They then spring from branch to 
branch, flinging themselves towards their mark with wonderful precision, and are all life 
and enerey. 
URSINE COLOBUS.—Célobus\ Ursinus, BLACK COLOBUS.—Célobus Sdtanas. 
THE COLOBUS. 
THE scientific name which is given to this genus of monkeys, explains—as is the 
proper office of names—one of the leading peculiarities of the animals. The title 
“Colobus” is a Greek word, signifying “stunted,” or “maimed,” and is given to these 
animals because the thumbs of the two fore-limbs give but little external indication of 
their presence, so that the hand consists merely of four fingers. They are exclusively 
African animals. They are rather handsome creatures, and their hair is sufticiently long 
and silky to be valuable as a fur. 
