THE LUNGOOR 



(Semnopithecus entellus) 



THE Lungoor is one of the most familiar and striking animals of 

 India, being very abundant and widely spread, and enjoying parti- 

 cular immunity from molestation as the incarnation of the monkey- 

 god Hanuman, by whose name, indeed, the species is sometimes 

 known. 



It is a large monkey, about equalling a greyhound in size, and 

 somewhat resembling one in form, owing to its light and long-limbed 

 build ; the tail is very long, more than equalling the head and body 

 in length. The colour is very constant, being alike in both sexes, 

 while the young are very similar to the adult animals. Males, how- 

 ever, are larger than females, and have more powerful canines, as is 

 usual with monkeys. 



The Lungoor is essentially a tree-monkey, being an active and 

 powerful climber, and a remarkable leaper. On the ground it is also 

 an agile animal, its bounding gallop being remarkable for grace, while 

 a touch of grotesqueness is given by the curving of the long tail over 

 the back. The monkey, however, cannot long hold his own against a 

 horse ; when the experiment was tried the poor beast was soon run to 

 a standstill, and could only lie and gaze imploringly at his pursuer, who 

 of course spared him. 



The creature, however, has not much occasion to come to the ground 

 except when travelling over a treeless space, for its ordinary food consists 

 of the leaves of trees ; of these it devours a great variety, and probably 

 eats some poisonous kinds, for it is found to be able to take with 

 impunity doses of strychnine which prove fatal to the common brown 

 monkey or Bunder (Macacus rhesus). 



Fruit and grain also form part of this animal's food, and it makes 

 no scruple of levying tithes upon its worshippers' property, not only in 



ir 



