34 



QuADEUMANA. MAMMALIA. Simiad.e. 



ascend the Himalayas nearly to the region of perpetual 

 snow. According to Father Vincent Maria, a Carmelite 

 monk, this monkey would appear to occupy quite an 

 aristocratic position amongst the otlier quaJruraanous 

 inhabitants of the Malabar coast. The old missionary 

 tells us that " the other monkeys pay such profound 

 respect to this species, that they humiliate themselves 

 before him, as if capable of appreciating his superiority 

 and pre-eminence," and the magnificence of his wig 

 seems even to produce an impression on the human 

 inhabitants of Malabar, for the worthy father adds, that 

 " the princes and great lords hold him in much esti- 

 mation, because he is endowed above every other with 

 gravity, capacity, and the appearance of wisdom. lie 

 is easily trained to the performance of a variety of 

 ceremonies, grimaces, and affected courtesies, all which 

 he accomplishes in so serious a manner, and to such 

 perfection, that it is a most wonderful thing to see 

 them acted with so much exactness by an irrational 

 animal." Mr. Ogilby is probably in the right when he 

 attributes the submission of the other monkeys to the 

 wandcroo, rather to his pliysical than to his moral 

 superiority, and the behaviour of several specimens 

 which have from time to time been exhibited in this 

 country has proved that the wanderoo is not superior 

 1o his congeners in sagacity. Robert Knox, another 

 old traveller, tells us, that in Ceylon this monkey does 

 little mischief, but Hves in the woods, feeding on the 

 leaves and buds of trees. 



THE BKUH {Macacus Nemestrimis), described by 

 liullbu under the name of the Maimon, is of a more 

 robust form than the wanderoo, and has the tail much 

 shorter, slender, nearly naked, and slightly curled, which 

 has given origin to the name of the Pig-tailed Monkey, 

 originally applied to this species by Edwards. The 

 bruh is of a blackish-brown colour on the back, becom- 

 ing lighter beneath and on the limbs ; its face is flesh- 

 coloured. It is an inhabitant of Sumatra and Borneo, 

 and is described as being more docile and intelligent 

 than its nearest allies ; but this amiability of character 

 would seem to disappear with age, although even old 

 specimens are said to exhibit less ferocity and sul- 

 lonnoss than the other large macaques. According to 

 Sir Stamford Raffles, the natives of Sumatra are fond 

 of domesticating the bruh, whose docility they turn to 

 good account. They train it to climb the cocoa-nut 

 trees for the purpose of picking the fruit, and it is said 

 to show great discrimination in selecting the ripe nuts, 

 of which, moreover, it picks no more than its master 

 requires. 



THE BHUNDEE {Macacus Rhcsvs) is a species very 

 nearly related to the bruh, with which it was indeed 

 confounded by Cuvier. It is, however, furnished with 

 a rather longer tail; and this appendage, instead of 

 being slender and naked, is thick and well covered with 

 hair ; the upper surface of the body is of a gi'oenish- 

 grey colour, the individual hairs being annulated with 

 light dun and dark brown ; the lower surface and the 

 inside of the limbs are light grey, and the callosities 

 are bright red. The skin is remarkably loose and 

 ilaocid, hanging in folds even in the young animals ; 

 and this peculiarity, which occurs, although to a some- 

 what less extent, also in the bruh, enables these men- , 



keys to be fattened to such a degree as to exhibit an 

 enormous corpulence. 



The bhunder is a native of continental India, where 

 it occurs abundantly in Bengal, and is also found in 

 Assam, Kepal, and Simla. The hoonuman is the only 

 other monkey which lives in these provinces, and the 

 bhunder appears to share with this sacred species in 

 the respect of the natives. Captain Williamson tells 

 ns that in many places revenues are allotted for feeding 

 whole tribes of bhunders under the charge of a fakecr, 

 or other mendicant priest, who ekes out the regular 

 revenues attached to his office by charitable contribu- 

 tions levied upon travellers principally by the mon- 

 keys, who show themselves most accomplished beggars. 

 They never molest any one, unless some cause of 

 offence is given ; but then they bite severely, and a 

 trifling circumstance may produce the necessary irrita- 

 tion. Mr. Johnson also confirms these statements, and 

 mentions that at a place called Bindrabun, " more than 

 a hundred gardens are well cultivated with all kinds 

 of fruit, solely for the support of these animals, which 

 are kept and maintained by religious endowments from 

 rich natives." The same writer tells us on good 

 authority, " that in the district of Cooch Behar, a very 

 large tract of land is actually considered by the inha- 

 bitants to belong to a tribe of monkeys which inhabit 

 the neighbouring hills, and when the natives cut their 

 dilTerent kinds of grain, they always leave about a tenth 

 part piled in heaps for the monkeys. As soon as their 

 portion is marked out, they come down from the hills 

 in a large body and carry oS all that is allotted for 

 them, stowing it under and between the rocks in such 

 a manner as to prevent vermin from destroying it. On 

 this grain they chiefly live ; and the natives assert that 

 if they were not to have their due proportion, in ano- 

 ther year they would not allow a single grain to become 

 ripe, but would destroy it while green. It does not 

 appear whether this singular and primitive paj'ment of 

 tithes lias been settled by mutual agreement between 

 the natives and the monkeys ; but in other places, 

 where no such arrangement is described as existing, the 

 monkeys come freely in search of their dues into the 

 houses, and carry off whatever they prefer with perfect 

 impunity. In fact, the destruction of one of these 

 animals is looked upon as a heinous crime by the Hin- 

 doos ; and the writer last quoted mentions that tv.-o . 

 young ofScers who had shot at a bhunder, were pelted 

 with sticks and other missiles by the fakeers and other 

 inhabitants of Bindrabun, where the supposed outrage 

 took place, until the elephant on which they rode was 

 driven into the river, where both the young men, as 

 well as the driver of the elephant, were drowned. 

 Nevertheless, the respect thus manifested for the mon- 

 keys does not prevent the jugglers who swarm in India 

 from teaching these animals numerous tricks ; and, 

 according to Captain Williamson, " it is very diverting 

 to see these little mimics counterfeiting the gait and 

 motions of various professions, and especially corrobo- 

 rating by their actions the deluge of flattery which the 

 jugglers pour forth in praise of everything relating to 

 the English character. Their antics are so excellently 

 just on these occasions, that many human profes- 

 sors of the mimic art might, without the smallest 



