72 



APES AND MONKEYS. 



though ajiparently believed by Blyth and quoted by Jerdon, I agree with Hutton 

 in regarding as fictitious, though, as the latter observer justly remarks, females 

 w'itli very young offspring may keep together, and temporarily apart from the 

 remainder of the troop to which they belong." 



In regard to the cry of these langurs, Mr. Blanford observes that " their voice 

 is loud, and is often heard, especially in the morning and evening. The two 

 commonest sounds emitted by them are a loud, joyous, rather musical call, a kind 

 of whoop, generally uttered when they are boimding from tree to tree, and a harsh 

 guttural note, denoting alai-m or anger. The latter is the cry familiar to the tiger- 

 hunter, amongst whose best friends is the hanuman. Safely ensconced in a lofty 

 tree, or jumping from one tree to another, as the tiger moves, the monkey by gesture 

 and cry points out the position of his deadly enemy in the bushes or grass beneath, 

 and swears at liim heai-tily. It is marvellous to observe how these monkeys, even 

 in the wildest foi'ests where human beings are rarely seen, appear to recognise 

 men as friends, or at least as allies against the tiger. It is a common but en-oneous 

 notion of sportsmen that tliis giittural cry is a sure indication of a tiger or 

 leopaixl having been seen, whereas the monkeys quite as often utter it mei'ely as an 

 expression of surprise ; I have heard it caused by the sight of deer mnning away, 

 and I believe that it is frequentl}^ due to the monkeys catching sight of men." 



The food of the hanum^ consists largely of leaves and young shoots, and 



also grain of all kinds, especially in the towns. In disposition the hanuman is 



gentle, and appeai-s never to attack human beings. Its constitution is delicate when 



in captivity, — probably from the want of suitable food, — but the species is generally 



weU represented in the London Zoological Society's Gardens. 



That troops of lansnirs sometimes enffatje in fierce contests is 

 Their Battles. . ^ . " . *' ^ 



proved by an interesting account given by Mi-. T. H. Hughes, from which 



the following extract is taken. Mr. Hughes sa^^s that "in April 1882, when encamped 



at the \dUage of Singpur in the Sohagpur district of the Rewa State, my attention 



was attracted to a restless gathering of hanumans in the grove adjoinmg the one in 



which my tent was pitched ; and, wisliing to form some idea as to its cause, I strolled 



to where the excitement was gi'eatest, and found two opposing troops engaged in 



demonstrations of an iinfriendly character. Two males of one troop, fair-sized 



brutes, and one of another, a splendid-looking fellow of stalwart proportions, were 



walking round and displaying their teeth. The solitary glacUator headed a much 



smaller following than that captained by the other two, and, strange to say, instead 



of the whole number of monkeys joining in a general melee, the fortune of the 



question that had to be decided appeared to have been intrusted to the representative 



champions. It was some time, at least a quarter of an hour, before actual hostihties 



took place, when, having got within striking distance, the two monkeys made a rush 



at their adversaiy. I saw their arms and teeth going \-iciously, and then tlie throat 



of one of the aggressors was ripped right open, and he lay dying. He had done 



some damage, however, before going under, having wounded his opponent in tlie 



.shoulder ; and matters then seemed pretty evenly balanced between the remaining 



strugglei-s. I confess that my sympathies were with the one champion who had 



gallantly withstood the charge of his enemies ; and I fancy the tide of victory would 



have been in his favour had the odds against liim not been reinforced by the advance 



to 



