THUMBLESS MONKEYS. 89 



to the Galla country, and that while they are known in the Amharic dialect of 

 Central Abyssinia under the name of Focha ; in the Tigre tongue they are called 

 Grazer ( = Guereza). At this period, and even up to the date of Salt's second journey 

 into Abyssinia in the first quarter of this century, these animals were supposed to 

 be a species of lemur. Rlippell, however, definitely assigned the guereza to its 

 proper zoological position, and has left us an account of its habits, from which the 

 following particulars are taken. 



The guereza is said to live in small companies, and usually inhabits the tallest 

 trees it can find in the neighbourhood of running water. It is restless, and con- 

 stantly on the move, but is said to be completely silent. The leaps which it takes 

 from tree to tree are described as of tremendous length. It subsists mainly on 

 various kinds of wild fruits, seeds, and insects ; and it spends the whole day in 

 collecting these, retiring to sleep high up in the trees. In Gojam, on the southern 

 frontier of Abyssinia, it is common ; and it is largely hunted for the sake of its 

 fur, which is used for covering the shields of the Abyssinian soldiers. 



There are good grounds for believing that this monkey is the true callithrix of 

 the ancients, although this name is now applied in zoology to a totally different 

 group of monkeys, as w r e shall see below. 



THE BLACK COLOB (Colobus satanas), 



In marked contrast to the pied coloration of the preceding species is the sable 

 hue of the black colob, first described from specimens obtained at Fernando Po, on 

 the West Coast of Africa, in 1838. 



The uniform black colour of this monkey, of which a representation is given 

 in the right-hand figure of the woodcut on p. 90, suffices indeed to distinguish 

 it at once from all its congeners. In addition to this black coloration, the crown 

 of the head has a crest of long hair projecting over the temples and eyes ; and the 

 whiskers are long and expanded. The whole of the body is covered with long and 

 rather coarse hair ; but the tail is short-haired throughout the greater part of its 

 length, and has no trace of a tuft at the end. The whole of the hair has a dull 

 and shaggy appearance, recalling, as an earlier writer has observed, that of the 

 sloth bear of India. The length of the head and body is 32 inches, while that of 

 the tail reaches 40 inches. 



Although this species is mentioned by Du Chaillu as inhabiting Western 

 Equatorial Africa, it is to be regretted that we have no record of its mode of life. 



THE KING MONKEY (Colobus polycomus). 



The king monkey of Sierra Leone is one of the few colobs that have been 

 exhibited alive in the Gardens of the London Zoological Society, a single specimen 

 having been purchased in the spring of 1873. It has no crest on the head, but a 

 long mane on the throat and chest ; the hair of the sides of the body being likewise 

 long. The general colour is black, but the mane, the forehead, and the sides of the 

 face, as well as the whole of the tail, are of a dazzling white. The tail has a well- 

 marked tuft at the end ; and the entire coat of hair is very glossy. 



