180 Quadrupeds. 



THE PROBOSCIS. THE DIANA MONKEY. 

 (Nasalis larvatus.) (Cercopitliecus Diana*) 



THE PROBOSCIS MONKEY is so called from its long project- 

 ing and disproportionate nose ; it is an inhabitant of the 

 island of Borneo, where it lives in troops on trees in 

 the vicinity of its rivers. It is of a savage disposition. 

 The Diana Monkey is called after the goddess of that 

 name, from the crescent of white hair which ornaments 

 its brow. It is very playful, and one of the most grace- 

 ful of the tribe ; it is found in the hottest parts of Africa. 

 Monkeys are less in stature, and more numerous, than the 

 apes and baboons. They live almost entirely in trees. 

 Their natural food is vegetable fruit of all sorts, corn, 

 and even grass ; but when domesticated, they learn to eat 

 almost anything that is served on our tables. 



There are few persons that are not acquainted with 

 the various mimicries of these animals, and their ca- 

 pricious feats of activity. Anecdotes of this kind are 

 very numerous ; we shall content ourselves by giving 

 the following : Captain Stedman, while hunting among 

 the woods of Surinam for provisions, says, that he shot 

 at two of these animals, but that the destruction to one 

 of them was attended with such circumstances as to 

 ever afterwards deter him from going monkey hunting. 

 " Seeing me nearly on the bank of the river, in the 



