862 ZOOLOGY 



Kuwenzori,* the white hair is reduced to a minimum, the female being 

 mainly black all over. Lastly, there are two species of colobus which are 

 not black and white. One was found in the island of Zanzibar, and is now 

 nearly extinct. It was chiefly chestnut brown, with a little black and w^iite. 

 We discovered, however, another colobus in the forests of Western Torn, 

 to the east of Kuwenzori, which has no black or white on it, but is a 

 combination of bright chestnut red and pinkish grey. This I took to be 

 an animal new to science, but it appears that an identical red colobus 

 monkey w'as discovered by Dr. Peters on the Tana River. If the red 

 colobus of Western Toro (which is the only spot where it is found in the 

 Uganda Protectorate) and that of the Tana Kiver are the same species, it 

 is a rather remarkable instance of interrupted distrilnition. The red colobus 

 of Toro answers to its Greek name in the adults, which have only four fingers 

 on the hands, and the minutest trace of a thumbnail in the place where the 

 thumb is missing. But the young colobuses of this species have a complete 

 thumb, only a little smaller than this finger would be in the Cercopitheci. 

 As the animal grows to maturity, so its thumb dwindles, until in a very old 

 male there may be absolutely no trace left of the missing finger. 



All the colobuses live in dense forest. The common black and white 

 species may be found at altitudes of 9,000 feet on Ruwenzori,f and also on 

 Elgon and the Nandi Plateau ; but the same animal is equally abundant in 

 the tropical forests of Toro and Uganda. Consequently the same species 

 inhabits districts where the temperature often descends to freezing point, 

 and others where the heat is that of a luxuriant tropical forest. The colobus 

 monkeys live almost entirely on leaves, and, unlike most other monkeys, seem 

 to dislike animal food. Several native tribes in the Protectorate eat this 

 monkey, and some, like the Andorobo, make it their favourite article of 

 diet, declaring its flesh to be sweet and succulent. These monkeys do not, 

 as a rule, live long or healthily when in ca[)tivity, for a rather curious 

 reason. The creature is so absolutely used to an arboreal life that when 

 taken away from the trees and obliged to live on the ground it is per- 

 petually sitting down on its haunches. When in the trees it is accustomed 

 to defecate as it sits over a branch or as it jumps from tree to tree. 

 Consequently, when on the ground, it is unable to void the excreta in a 

 cleanly manner, and soon a pad of mud and excrement forms over the 

 nates. This breeds grubs and parasites, and very often the monkey dies 

 from a painful disease caused in this way, unless, of course, it happens to be 

 the property of a European who takes care to have it kept in a cleanly state. 



A strange-looking monkey comes from the District of Unyoro, and is 



* Named Colobus ruivenzorii by Mr. Oldfield Thomas. 



t As already related, a species of black colobus new to science was discovered by 

 us to exist in the dense forest on the north-west flank of Euwenzori. 



