GUENONS. 



93 



the nearest approach to the langurs and their allies. All of them, like the other 

 African nmnkrys to br subsequently mentioned, are characterised by each individual 

 haii' bring marked by a series of different-coloured rings, which imparts to the 

 fur the peculiar mottled appearance with which we are familiar. 



In disposition these monkeys are docile and easily taught, and so well do they 

 thrive in captivity that it is not uncommon for them to breed in menageries. In 

 consequence of this docile disposition, and their comparatively hardy constitution, 

 as well as from the facility with which they learn tricks, and to obey the word of 

 command, they, or the representatives of the next genus, are generally chosen as 

 companions by the peripatetic organ-grinders. Mischievous as a monkey, is truer 

 of the guenons than of any other members of the order to which they belong; 

 and it is largely to them that the monkey-house at the Zoological Society's Gardens 

 owes it popularity. 



Like the langurs, the guenons are essentially arboreal ; and they 

 are found in their native wilds in large troops, which reveal their 

 proximity by their incessant chattering. Not only, therefore, is the solitary 

 monkey of the London organ-grinder to be commiserated for having exchanged 

 the sunny atmosphere of his native African forests for the gloom of an English 

 winter, but likewise for the loss of the merry companions with which he was wont 

 to associate. 



In saying that the guenons are docile, we should guard ourselves by adding, 

 docile for a monkey, since in the strict sense of the word all monkeys are far less 

 docile and less susceptible of education than many other Mammals. This, however, 

 by no means implies that monkeys have not a very high degree of intelligence. 

 In regard to this point we may quote a very suggestive paragraph from Mr. 

 Blanford. " It is the commonest mistake," he writes, " amongst superficial observers, 

 and even amongst naturalists, to confound docility and intelligence among animals, 

 and to measure their intellectual powers by the facility with which they can be 

 taught. Hence the very common, but, as it appears to me, very incorrect notion, 

 that monkeys are of inferior intelligence to such animals as dogs and elephants. 

 In reality they are less docile, less willing to learn, and less adapted to captivity ; 

 moreover, being of but little use to man, far less trouble has been taken in studying 

 their habits. Thus while dog- and elephant - breaking engage all the time and 

 mental resources of particular classes of men, the instruction of monkeys is left to 

 the unaided efforts of amateurs and organ-grinders. The negro race amongst men 

 appears to be far better adapted for slavery than most savage races, being more- 

 docile in a state of captivity ; but it is scarcely proved to be more intelligent on 

 that account. The same reasoning will doubtless apply to animals. I have often 

 seen dogs and monkeys kept together, and in every instance it has appeared to me 

 that the monkey ruled the dog, and that the dog, although the more powerful 

 animal, feared the monkey; and I can only account for this by the superior 

 intelligence of the monkey." 



In their native condition the guenons go in separate families or droves, each 

 under the leadership of an old male ; and it appears that each drove has its own 

 particular limits of territory beyond which it cannot go without intruding on the 

 domains of another drove, an invasion which is treated as at once being a casus 



