SIMIAD^E. 463 



to occur in large troops in the woods of the western Ghauts ; but it 

 is not venerated by the Mahratta people ; nor do they object to its being 

 killed. Its Mahratta name is Makur. In other parts of India, however, the 

 Entellus is regarded with profound veneration, and is often to be met with 

 tame, in the houses of the natives, into which, even wild ones, assured by 

 experience, sometimes enter in search of food ; while gardens and fields 

 are frequently devastated by troops of them with impunity. 



M. Duvaucel,in a communication to Fred. Cuvier, says : " This species 

 is much venerated by the Hindoos, who have deified it, and who give it one 

 of the first places among their thirty millions of deities. Its appearance in 

 Lower Bengal takes place principally towards the latter end of winter ;* 

 but I have not been able to procure one ; for, zealously as I devote myself 

 to my researches and pursuits, they have always been of no avail, in 

 consequence of the assiduous care, with which the Bengalese have prevented 

 my killing so revered an animal, the destruction of which is followed 

 within the year by the death of the party. The natives drove away the 

 Monkeys as soon as they saw my gun ; and, for more than a month, during 

 which seven or eight individuals dwelt at Chandernagore, and which came 

 even into the houses to seize the offerings of the sons of Brama, my 

 garden was surrounded by a guard of pious Brahmins, who played on the 

 tom-tom (a sort of gong, or drum) to drive away the deity when he came to 

 eat my fruits. The most that I know about this species is its mythological 

 history ; but, as this will be too long to relate here, I will only say that 

 the Houlman (for such is its Bengal name) was a hero celebrated for 

 strength, spirit, and activity, in the voluminous collection of the mysteries 

 of the Hindoo people. They owe to it, here, one of the most valued fruits, 

 the mango, which it stole in the gardens of a famous giant established at 

 Ceylon : as the punishment of this theft, it was condemned to be burnt, and 

 it was in extinguishing the fire that it singed its face and hands, which have 

 ever remained black since that time. At Gouptipara (a sacred place on 

 the Hoogly, inhabited by Brahmins, and covered with pagodas, in one of 

 which is preserved the hair of the goddess Dourga) I saw the trees 

 covered with long-tailed Houlmans, which took to flight, uttering frightful 

 cries. The Hindoos, on seeing my gun, guessed the cause of my visit, as 

 well as the Monkeys, and twelve of the former approached me in order to 

 apprize me of the danger I incurred by firing on creatures which were 

 nothing less than metamorphosed princes. I had no great fancy to listen 

 to these charitable advocates ; nevertheless, pretending to be half 

 convinced, I was going forward, when I met on my road a princess, so 

 seductive, that I could not resist the desire to contemplate her more 

 nearly. I fired, and I then beheld a scene truly touching ; the poor 

 animal, which carried a young one on her back, was shot near the heart ; 



* It appears to migrate from the upper to the lower provinces of this part of India. 



