36 URSINE AND BLACK COLOBUS. 



very young, there are but few indications of the singular length to which this feature will 

 attain ; for, although it is rather more prominent than in most of the monkeys, it is rather of 

 that description of nose denominated ''retrousse." 



In size, the Kahau is about equal to the hoouuman, and seems to be an active animal, 

 leaping from branch to branch, through distances of fifteen feet or more. The natives assert, 

 that while leaping they take their noses in their hands, in order to guard that feature from 

 being damaged by contact with branches. Whether this refinement of caution be true or not, 

 it is certain that they do hold their outstretched hands in a manner unlike that of the gen- 

 erality of monkeys, and probably for the purpose just mentioned. 



These monkeys are fond of society, assembling together in large troops, and howling with 

 exceeding fervor. They observe hours, regulating themselves by the sun, at whose rising and 

 setting they congregate together, and perform their arboreal gymnastics. 



For the preternatural ugliness of the countenance, the Kahau is partially compensated 

 by the beautiful coloring of its fur, which is thick, but not woolly, nor very long. The prin- 

 cipal color 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 them- 

 selves towards their mark with wonderful precision, and are all life and energy. 



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 sufficiently long and silky to be valuable as a fur. 



The Ursine, or Bear-like Colobus, is so named because the general color of its long black 

 fur, and the form of the monkey itself, with the exception of the tail, has something of the 

 bearish aspect. The cheeks and chin of this animal are covered with white hair ; there is a 

 white patch on the hind legs ; and, with the exception of a few inches at its root, which retain 

 the black hue of the body, the tail is of a beautiful white, terminated with a long and full 

 white tuft. 



Another species, called the Full-maned Colobus, is rather a remarkable animal, not so 

 much on account of its habits, of which little is known, but on account of the huge mass of 

 long hairs which cover the head and shoulders, falling nearly as low as the middle of the 

 breast. The color of this mane, or "full-bottomed peruke," as it has also been called, is 

 yellow, with black hairs intermixed. Like the Ursine Colobos, the Full-mane possesses a tail 

 of a white color, decorated with a snowy -white tuft. 



The Black Colobus is devoid of those exquisitely white portions of the fur that are so 

 strongly marked in the Ursine and the Full-maned Colobus. The head, body, limbs, and even 

 the tail, are jet black, unrelieved by any admixture of a lighter tint. This uniform black hue 



