1 68 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



applies) are distinguished by their long silky black and 

 white coats, which are much sought aft> I by the natives 

 of Africa as articles of costume and for purposes of deco- 

 ration. In the typical Abyssinian guereza, the greater part 

 of the fur of the body and limbs is of a deep shining 

 black, but from the shoulders there depends a mantle of 

 long white silky hairs extending down each side and 

 meeting on the lower part of the back, so as to hang down 

 over the sides of the body as well as over the hips and 

 thighs. The terminal third of the tail is also clothed with 

 long white hairs. Strikingly handsome as is this species, 

 it is excelled in this respect by the East African guereza, 

 in which the base of the tail is alone black, the whole of 

 the remainder of that appendage being developed into a 

 magnificent white brush, which may be compared to an 

 Indian chowri, or fly-whisk. 



Black and white is a type of coloration so conspicuous, 

 and, at the same time, so rare among the larger mammals, 

 that whenever it occurs we may be quite sure it is developed 

 for some special purpose, although, unless we have an 

 opportunity of seeing the animals in their native haunts, 

 it is almost impossible to divine what that purpose may 

 be. It is met with elsewhere in the zebras, and also in 

 the great panda (Aeluropus) of Tibet. Although the former 

 animals are conspicuous enough in a stall at the " Zoo" 

 or when stuffed in a museum, travellers tell us that when 

 seen in the haze of an African desert their black and 

 white stripes fade at a very short distance to an almost 

 invisible grey. This may even be observed in a hot 

 summer, when the grass is burnt brown, in the Duke of 

 Bedford's seat at Woburn Abbey, where several of these 

 beautiful animals roam at will in the park during the 

 summer months. 



