THE MONKEYS. MAMMALIA. THE GUEREZA. 



29 



The kahau is only known to inhabit the great island 

 of Borneo, where the Dyaks assert that these monkeys 

 are men who have retired into the woods to escape 

 taxation. How they subsequently became ornamented 

 with tails does not appear. The species is also said to 

 occur in Sumatra, the peninsula of Malacca, and Cochin 

 China. From the statement of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 

 that the ambassadors sent by Tippoo Sahib to Paris, 

 just before the French revolution of 1789, recognized 

 the stuffed specimen in the museum there as an animal 

 of their country to which they ascribed a high, moral, 

 and intellectual character it would appear, also, that 

 this, or a similar species, should occur in Hindostan 

 proper. None of these localities, however, rest upon 

 any sufficient testimony ; and in the case of Tippoo's 

 ambassadors, it seems probable that they may either 

 have seen specimens brought as captives from the far 

 east, or that they may have confounded this monkey 

 with the hoonuman. 



THE GTJEREZA (Cololus Guereza}. Although the 

 majority of the African monkeys belong to a group 

 presenting well-marked differences from the Indian 

 species above described, there are, nevertheless, some 

 of them which exhibit a close resemblance to the 

 Semnopitheci, both in structure, character, and mode 

 of life, and may be regarded as the African representa- 

 tives of the Asiatic group which has hitherto occupied 

 our attention. The stomach has the same sacculated 

 structure ; the dentition is identical, and the molar teeth 

 are found to be worn down by use, indicating that the 

 creatures live upon the leaves and buds of trees, rather 

 than upon fruits ; the cheek-pouches are wanting, 

 the body and limbs are slender, and the tail long. 

 The Colobi are, however, distinguished from their 

 Indian relatives, and, indeed, from all other monkeys 

 of the Old World, by a most important character, 

 namely, the total absence or rudimentary condition of 

 the thumbs on the anterior members; in most cases 

 the metacarpal bone of the thumb is alone present, and 

 in those species in which this is followed by a single 

 small joint, the only external indication of a thumb is a 

 mere tubercle, of not the least service in prehension. 



The guereza is the only species of this group upon 

 whose habits we have any information. It is about 

 the size of a cat, and of a deep black colour, with the 

 cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck white, and with a 

 large quantity of long white hairs, growing from the 

 shoulders, sides, and rump, and hanging down in such 

 a manner as to conceal the whole lower part of the 

 body. The extremity of the tail is, in like manner, 

 concealed by long white hairs. 



This beautiful monkey, which is a native of Abys- 

 sinia, was mentioned by the old traveller Ludolf, who 

 supposes it to have been the Callithrix of the ancients, 

 a conjecture which seems very probable from the 

 description of that animal given by Pliny. Ludolf 

 says that it is called Foukes in Ethiopic, and Guereza 

 in the Amharic dialect, and these two names are given 

 with some variation by later travellers. 



Dr. Rlippell, wrio first accurately described the 

 guereza, informs us that it resides in small families in 

 the loftiest trees, and usually in the neighbourhood of 

 Borne stream. It is restless and lively in its habits, 



but not noisy; its food consists of wild fruits, seeds, 

 and insects; and, unlike the ordinary monkeys, it never 

 commits any depredations upon the cultivated grounds. 

 In allusion to its harmless nature, and to the constant 

 persecution to which it is subject, for a reason which 

 will be hereafter mentioned, Ludolf says that a curious 

 rhyme is current in some parts of Abyssinia, which 

 may be translated as follows : 



" I give no man pain 

 I eat no man's grain 

 They hate me in vain I * 



The same traveller notices the tenderness of constitu- 

 tion of this monkey, which is confirmed by other 

 observers, from whose narratives it would appear that 

 the guereza will not endure confinement, but pines to 

 death in captivity in the course of a few days. 



The fur of this animal is much prized in Abyssinia 

 on account of its beauty ; and in the provinces ot 

 Damot and Gojam, where the guerezas abound, they 

 are destroyed in great numbers for the sake of their 

 skins, which, according to Dr. Riippell, fetch as much 

 as five shillings each in the market of Gondar. Mr. 

 Salt places the value rather lower, saying that they 

 seh 1 for about half a dollar. They are chiefly employed 

 in ornamenting the shields of the native soldiers ; and 

 the distinguished traveller last quoted, states that every 

 man in Tigre wears a piece of this skin as an ornament 

 on his shield. The skins are also sometimes sewn 

 together, when they form a beautiful covering for a 

 couch, but their cost prevents their being put to this 

 use by any but the chiefs. 



Several other monkeys of this genus are found in the 

 tropical regions of Africa, especially on the western 

 coast, whence the skins of some long-haired black 

 species are imported into Europe, and used in the 

 manufacture of muffs. There is much uncertainty as 

 to the number of species, about half a dozen having 

 been described, which are considered by some authors 

 as simple varieties of one or two. This is owing in a 

 great measure to the imperfect condition of the skins 

 which reach this country. They are highly prized by 

 the Negroes, who make caps of them, and will pay from 

 twenty to thirty shillings apiece for them ; and as it is 

 only the skin of the body that is valuable as a fur, the 

 hunters never take the trouble of skinning the head and 



The great majority of the African monkeys belong 

 to the group called Guenons by French authors, forming 

 the genus CERCOPITHECUS of zoologists. These mon- 

 keys have the face somewhat produced into a muzzle, 

 but rounded at the extremity; cheek-pouches are 

 always present; the eyes are prominent, not shaded 

 by projecting eyebrows ; and the tail is long, usually 

 longer than the body. They are distinguished from a 

 nearly-allied group that of the Macaques, ah 1 the 

 species of which are inhabitants of tropical Asia by 

 the last molar in the lower jaw having only four 

 tubercles on its surface ; whilst in all the remaining 

 monkeys and in the baboons, this molar exhibits one 

 or two additional small tubercles at its posterior por- 

 tion. In all these moukeys the canines of the upper 

 jaw are greatly developed, especially in the males, in 



