BABOONS. 



165 



almost exclusively Asiatic, and the Cynocephali exclusively 

 African. They are not, for the most part, inhabitants of the 

 forests, but rather of mountainous or rocky districts ; and their 

 food consists at least as much of animal, as of vegetable sub- 

 stances. 



155. The genus Papio is spread over India and the Indian 

 Archipelago; and is distinguished from those species ofCercopitheci, 

 which have a similar geographical distribution, by the comparative 

 shortness of the tail. There is a difference in this respect amongst 

 its several species ; some of them having tails several inches long, 

 whilst in others this organ is a mere rudiment. But even where 

 it is longest, it is not muscular ; and it hangs down vertically as 

 in ordinary Mammals, instead of being extended horizontally as it 

 is in the Monkeys, who use it as an instrument of progression. 

 In their young state, they are docile and active, possessing 

 the playfulness of the Monkeys, with more intelligence ; but as 



FIG. 72. WANDEROO. 



they advance in age, they exhibit more of the sullen ferocity of 

 the true Baboon character, completely losing their docility, if not 

 their intelligence, and becoming alike insensible to blows or 

 caresses. As an example of this genus we may notice the Papio 

 silenus, or Wanderoo, which is a native of Malabar and Ceylon, 



