74 APES AND MONKEYS. 



in a wood of Abies brunoniana ; this surprised me, as I was not prepared to find 

 so tropical an animal associated with a vegetation typical of a boreal climate." 

 Other writers have observed these langurs in the outer ranges of the Himalaya 

 in the neighbourhood of the hill stations of Simla or Mussuri, leaping from bough 

 to bough of the snow-clad pines and deodars. And the present writer was himself 

 once sufficiently fortunate to behold a similar sight when crossing a pass called 

 the Rutten Pir, in the mountains to the south of the valley of Kashmir. On a 

 sudden, when passing through a forest composed partly of pines and deodar cedars 

 and partly of rhododendrons, a whole troop of these langurs dashed across the 

 path, springing from tree to tree, and scattering in all directions the thick wreaths 

 of snow with which the dark fir boughs were concealed ; the season of the year 

 being the middle of the spring. 



In the autumn these langurs are to be found in large droves in the extensive 

 forests of the higher valleys surrounding Kashmir. Here they are a decided 

 nuisance to the hunter, as their cries will not unfrequently alarm the deer or bear 

 which he may be pursuing. Desirous of securing a skull, the writer was once 

 tempted to shoot a large male out of one of these droves; but the cries and 

 expression of the poor wounded brute were so human-like that he never again 

 could persuade himself to shoot a monkey of any kind. 



THE MADRAS LANGUR (Semnopithecus priamus). 



In Madras and Ceylon the hanuman is represented by an allied species 

 known as the Madras langur (S. priamus), distinguished by possessing a 

 distinct crest of hair on the crown of the head, and by the upper surfaces of the 

 feet and hands not being black. The following account of the habits of this species 

 is taken from Sir J. Emerson Tennent's Natural History of Ceylon, where all the 

 langurs are known as wanderus. The Madras langur " inhabits the northern and 

 eastern districts and the wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. 

 In appearance it differs both in size and colour from the common wanderu 

 (S. cephalopterus), being larger and more often greyish ; and in habits it is much 

 less reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island where the population is 

 numerous, these monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of man as to 

 exhibit the utmost daring and indifference. A flock of them will take possession 

 of a palmyra palm ; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves 

 among the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes invisible 

 in an instant. The presence of a dog excites, however, such an irrepressible 

 curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray 

 themselves. They may frequently be seen congregated on the roof of a native 

 hut ; and, some years ago, the child of a European clergyman stationed near Jaffna, 

 having been left on the ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them 

 as to cause its death." 



The Malabar langur (S. hypoleucus), which is common not only in the forests, 

 but likewise on the cultivated lands fringing the Malabar coast, is the last member 

 of the group in which the hair of the crown of the head radiates from a single 

 point on the forehead. 



