BABOONS, OR DOG-HEADED MONKEYS. 55T 



shade the great legal chiefs consider judgment. The hair on the top of the head is black, but 

 the great beard that rolls down the face and beneath the chin is of a gray tint, as if blanched 

 by the burden of many years. In some instances this beard is almost entirely white, and then 

 the Wanderoo looks very venerable indeed. 



It is not a very mischievous animal in its wild state, and withdraws itself from the habi- 

 tations of men. When in captivity it is of a tetchy and capricious disposition, sometimes 

 becoming mild in its demeanor, and presently, without the least apparent motive, bursting 

 into a fit of passion, and indulging in all kinds of malicious tricks. But, as is the case with 

 so many of the monkey tribe, as the creature becomes older, it loses the gentle part of its 

 nature, and develops the brutality alone. Thus, a Wanderoo may be quiet, docile, and even 

 affectionate at a year old, and appear quite a model of monkey nature; at two years of age the 

 same animal will be full of lively caprice, at times playful, and at times cross and savage ; 

 while at full age, the creature will be surly, inert, savage, and revengeful. 



From the form of the tail, which is of a moderate length, and decorated with a hairy tuft 

 at its extremity, the Wanderoo is also known by the name of the Lion-tailed Baboon. 



The greater part of the fur of this animal is of a fine black, but the color assumes a lighter 

 hue on the breast and abdomen. The callosities on the hinder quarters are of a light pink. 



It is not a very large animal, being rather less than three feet from the nose to the tip of 

 the tail. 



The name Silenus is appropriate enough, for the white beard and whiskers bear some 

 resemblance to those facial ornaments attributed to the aged companion of the youthful 

 Bacchus. And the specific title of " Veter," signifying "old," is well earned by the veteran 

 aspect of the animal. The eye is a bright brown, and looks knowingly out of the hairy mass, 

 from which it peers inquisitively at the bystanders. 



Probably on account of the sapient mien, for which it is indebted to the mass of circum- 

 fluous locks, the Wanderoo is considered by the inhabitants to be a personage of great distinc- 

 tion among its own people. All other monkeys of the same land are said to pay the most pro- 

 found reverence to their bearded chief, and, in his presence, to humble themselves as subjects 

 before an emperor. 



When feeding, the Wanderoo has a discreet custom of filling its cheek pouches before it 

 begins to eat, thus laying up a provision against future emergencies before it has begun to 

 satisfy the actual present wants of hunger. This habit presents a curious analogy with the 

 peculiar stomach of the ruminating animals, when in the act of eating ; a portion of the food 

 passes into a series of pockets or pouches, where it is retained until the creature is possessed 

 of time and leisure for re-mastication. 



In its earlier youth, the Wanderoo is susceptible of education, and can be trained to per- 

 form many ingenious tricks, preferring those of a grave and sedate cast to the mercurial and 

 erratic accomplishments displayed by the generality of learned monkeys. 



BABOONS, OR DOG-HEADED MONKEYS. 



A WELL-MAKKED group of animals now comes before us, popularly known by the name of 

 BABOONS. In more learned language they are entitled "Cynocephali," or Dog-headed animals,, 

 on account of the formation of the head and jaws, which much resemble those of the dog tribe. 



One distinguishing characteristic of these creatures is that the nostrils are situated at the 

 extremity of the muzzle, instead of lying nearly flat upon its base, and just under the eyes, as 

 in the apes, and other quadrumanous animals. The muzzle, too, is peculiar in its form, being, 

 as it were, cut off abruptly, leaving a round and flattened extremity, which is well shown in 

 the engraving of the Gelada, on p. 57. This extreme projection is not so conspicuous in the 

 young baboon as when it attains a more mature age, and, indeed, is sometimes so little devel- 

 oped, that the young baboons have been taken for adult Macaques. 



Of all the Quadrumana, the baboons are the most morose in temper, the fiercest in charac- 

 ter, and the most repellent in manners. 



