CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 2. QUADRUMANA. 79 



wav from Ajmere, and another from the southern side of the country, and from Nepaul and Tirhoot. 

 There were hundreds of monkeys here this morning, but now I do not see one. I suppose they 

 have gone to welcome their friends.' 



"The sowars who had been deputed to follow the tribe now rode up, and reported that, in the 

 vicinity of the old temple, there was an army of apes — an army of forty thousand ! One of the 

 sowars in the true spirit of oriental exaggeration, expressed himself to the effect that it would be 

 easier to count the hairs of one's head than the number there assembled. 

 " ' Let us go and look at them,' I suggested. 



"'But we will not go on foot,' said my friend; 'we will ride the sowars' horses. In the first 

 place, I have an instinctive horror of apes, and should like to have the means of getting away from 

 them speedily, if they become too familiar or offensive. In the second place, I do not wish to 

 fatigue myself by taking so long a walk in the heat of the day.' 



" We mounted the horses, and were soon at the spot indicated by the sowars. There were not 

 so many as had been represented ; but I am speaking very far within bounds when I state that 

 there could not have been fewer than eight thousand, and some of them of an enormous size. I 

 could scarcely have believed that there were so many monkeys in the world, if I had not visited 

 Benares, and heard of the tribes at Gibraltar. Their sticks, which were thrown together in a 

 'heap, formed a very large stack of wood. 



"'What is this?' my friend said to one of the Brahmins; for since his appointment he had 

 never heard of this gathering of apes. 



" ' It is a festival of theirs, Sahib,' was the reply. ' Just as Hindoos, at stated times, go to Ilurd- 

 war, Hao;ipore, and other places, so do these monkeys come to this holy place.' 

 " ' And how long do they stay ?' 



"'Two or three clays; then they go away to their homes in different parts of the country; 

 then attend to their business for four or five years ; then come again and do festival ; and so on, 

 sir, to the end of all time. You see that very tall monkey there, with two smaller ones on either 

 side of him ?' 

 "'Yes.' 



" ' Well, sir, that is a very old monkey. His age is more than twenty years. I first saw him 

 fifteen years ago. He was then full-grown. His native place is Meerut. He lives with the Brah- 

 mins at the Soorj Khan, near Meerut. The smaller ones are his sons, sir. They have never been 

 here before ; and you see he is showing them all about the place, like a very good father.' 

 "Having at length seen enough of these 'sacred animals,' we returned to the buno-alow." 

 It appears that the entellus is an expert serpent-killer. It will steal upon a snake when asleep, 

 grasp it around the neck, and then run to the nearest stone, where it deliberately grinds off the 

 reptile's head till his poisonous fangs are destroyed. This monkey seems to be a humorist, as he 

 is said frequently to take a quizzical look at the serpent during this process, and to grin with satis- 

 faction at his impatient writhings. When its victim is rendered harmless, the monkey throws it 

 to his young ones, who amuse themselves by tossing it about, like a parcel of children, until it is 

 quite dead, and its convulsions can afford no further amusement. 



The pythons, which multiply in numbers, and grow to an enormous size in tropical countries, 

 are great destroyers of monkeys. "Winding and stealing with a noiseless progress among the 

 branches of the trees, they suddenly dart upon these animals, and crush them in their folds. 

 Alike by instinct and experience, the monkeys have a horror of these creatures, and usually fly at 

 their approach. Sometimes, however, they attack and kill them. Mr. Owen, when in the forests 

 of India, on a certain occasion, heard a great hubbub among a party of monkeys over his head. 

 Pretty soon a python, six or seven feet long, fell to the ground, nearly dead from the bites that 

 had been given him by the monkeys. 



t The Budeng, S. Maurus, has a long body, broad and robust about the shoulders ; the upper 

 part of the face nearly naked ; the callosities large and rough ; tail the length, of the body. There 

 are two species — one black and one red — the latter being called Lutung, S. Pyrrhus. Both 

 are found in Java and Sumatra. Dr. Horsfield tells us that the budeng is found in abundance in 

 )the extensive forests of Java. It forms its dwellings on trees, and associates in numerous societies. 



