GUENONS. 93 



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



African monkej-s to be subsequently mentioned, are characterised bj- each individual 



hair being marked by a series of different-coloured rings, which imparts to the 



fur the peculiar mottled appearance with which we are familiar. 



In chsposition these monkeys are docile and easily- taught, and so well do thej' 



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 \n\\\ 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 largeh* to them that the monkey-house at the Zoological Societj's Gardens 



owes it popularity. 



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

 Mode of Life. , , . , ° V. *=.,,. . , "^ ... , , • 



are round in their native wilds in large troops, wmch 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 f(jrests for the gloom of an Englisli 



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 monkej-, 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, 

 bj' 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 among.st 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 realit}- 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 unaideil efforts of amateure and organ-grimlers. The negro race amongst men 

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

 docile in a state of captivitv : but it is scarcely proved to be more intelligent on 

 that account. Tiie same reasoning will doubtless applj' to animals. I have often 

 seen dogs and monkej^s 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 



