34 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Monkeys. 



Dental formula, (figure 138) : incisors, - ; canines 



; molars, z — I • The incisors are small ; the 



1—1 5—5 



canines large, broad, and compressed ; the molars 

 are bluntly tubetculate ; and as they wear down, the 

 surface shows the enamel very distinct and deeply 

 indented. The skull, as exemplified by that of 

 S. Maurus (figure 139), may be characterised as 

 round, the orbits large and squared, with an ab- 

 ruptly prominent superciliary ridge, and with boldly 

 projecting margins ; the interorbital space is broad, 

 and the face depressed ; the lower jaw, however, is 

 very deep, and the space for the masseter muscle 

 considerable; the chin recedes obliquely.' The 

 hands of the Semnopitheci are remarkable for then- 

 elongation and narrowness, and for the almost rudi- 

 mentary condition of the thumb, which cannot be 

 brought into action as an antagonist to the fingers ; 

 the feet also are narrow and elongated, but the 

 thumb is stout and well developed. 



There are no cheek-pouches, as in the ordinary 

 monkeys, but a large laryngal sac extends over the 

 whole of the throat, communicating with the larynx 

 (windpipe) by means of a large aperture. The 

 stomach is sacculated in an extraordinary manner, 

 the sacculi being in all probability preparatory re- 

 ceptacles for the vegetable aliment, which under- 

 goes digestion in an elongated pyloric portion. 

 ' Cuvier calls the Semnopitheci slow monkeys; 

 but it is only in a certain sense that they merit the 

 title. The length and slenderness of the limbs and 

 body detract, if not from their agility, at least in 

 some degree from the abruptness of their move- 

 ments, which have a more sweeping character than 

 those of the Cercopitheci. Nevertheless, they leap 

 and bound among the branches of their native 

 forests with great ease, and to vast distances, their 

 long tail acting as a director or balancer in their 

 motions. Less lively, less petulant, and, perhaps 

 less inquisitive than the Cercopitheci, they appear 

 at times as if oppressed with melancholy, and in 

 captivity, at least, sit in listless apathy. While 

 young they are very gentle ; but when adult they 

 become sullen, morose, and vindictive ; and their 

 long canines render them truly formidable. In their 

 native regions they associate in troops. In some 

 parts of India certain species, as the Entellus, are 

 regarded as sacred, and tolerated notwithstanding 

 their depredations. Many species attain to con- 

 siderable dimensions. 



The Semnopitheci are all natives of India and its 

 islands, and the Malay Peninsula. 



140, 141.— The Kahau, or Proboscis Monkey 



(Semnopithecus larvatvs). This species is the 

 Guenon a. longue nez of Buffon, the Nasalis larvatus 

 ofGeoffroy, and the Nasalis recurvus (young) of 

 Vigors and Horsfield. This monkey is remarkable 

 for the uncouth development of the nose, forming a 

 sort of proboscis capable of dilatation, with the 

 nasal apertures underneath the bent-down apex, 

 and divided from each other by a thin cartilage ; 

 along the upper surface of this singular organ runs 

 a longitudinal depression, indicating the division be- 

 tween the two canals. The ears, which are small, 

 and the face, together with the palms, are of a 

 leaden colour, with a slight tinge of yellow ; the 

 neck is short ; the throat swollen from the enormous 

 laryngal sac. On the sides of the neck and shoul- 

 ders the hair is long, compared with that of the rest 

 of the body. The top of the head, the occiput, and 

 the scapular portion of the back, are of a rich chest- 

 nut-brown ; the sides of the face and a stripe over 

 the shoulders are yellow; the general colour of 

 the body is fine sandy-red. The crupper, the tail, 

 the fore-arms, and legs are cinereous ; the under 

 parts are yellow ; the tail is somewhat tufted at 

 the tip. A full beard in the male advances forward, 

 and curls up under the chin, almost to the long 

 nose. In the young, regarded by some naturalists 

 as a distinct species, the nose is somewhat recurved, 

 and shorter than in the adult. That this distinction 

 is not specific, as we ourselves formerly believed, 

 we have fully satisfied ourselves by the examina- 

 tion of specimens in Paris. Figure 142 represents 

 the face of the adult kahau ; 143, that of the young; 

 144, the nose of the adult as seen from beneath ; 

 145 is the skull of the kahau : it has all the charac- 

 ters of a true Semnopithecus. 



The male kahau is remarkable for size and 

 strength, and, from the magnitude of the canines, 

 must~be a formidable animal. The female, how- 

 ever, is considerably smaller, a circumstance noticed 

 by Wurmb, who says these monkeys " associate in 

 large troops ; their cry, which is deep-toned, resem- 

 bles the word kahau. They assemble morning and 

 evening, at the rising and setting of the sun, along 

 the borders of rivers, and are to be seen on the 

 branches of lofty trees, where they offer an agree- 

 able spectacle, darting with great rapidity from one 

 tree to another at the distance of fifteen or twenty 



feet. I have not observed that they hold their 

 nose while leaping, as the natives affirm, but I have 

 seen that they then stretch out their paws in a re- 

 markable manner. They aTe of ditferent sizes; 

 some, indeed, are seen which are not above a foot 

 in height, but which yet have young." 



The kahau, as far as is known with certainly, is a 

 native only of Borneo : perhaps it is to be found also 

 in Sumatra. M. Geoffroy states it to inhabit the 

 Malay Peninsula, but we are not aware that it has 

 ever been seen there. The adult male measures 

 two feet in the length of the head and body, and 

 two feet four inches in that of the tail. It has never 

 been brought alive to Europe. 



146. — The Entellus, or Hoontjman 

 (Semnopithecus Entellus). The Entellus is a native 

 of India and the adjacent islands. The general 

 colour is straw-yellow, more or less inclined to ashy 

 grey; superciliary hairs black; hands and feet 

 washed with black ; face black. Length of head 

 and body of adult male, two feet two inches ; of tail, 

 three feet one inch. The adults are paler than the 

 young. 



The Entellus, or Hoonuman, is held sacred in some 

 parts of India, but not by the people of Mahratta, 

 where it is called Makur ; it occurs in large troops 

 in the woods of the Western Ghauts. In Lower 

 Bengal, where it makes its appearance towards the 

 latter end of winter (for it would seem that it 

 migrates from the upper to the lower provinces, and 

 vice versa in this part of India), the pious Brahmins 

 venerate it, supply it with food, and zealously en- 

 deavour to prevent its molestation by Europeans. 

 According to Dr. Fryar and others these monkeys, 

 in Malabar, toward Ceylon, and at the Straits of 

 Balagat, are deified. At Dhuboy (see Forbes's 

 ' Oriental Memoirs') they are, if not worshipped, 

 protected, from motives of humanity to the brute 

 creation and a general belief in metempsychosis. 

 According to the latter author there are as many 

 monkeys as human inhabitants in Dhuboy, and the 

 roofs and upper parts of the houses seem en- 

 tirely appropriated to their accommodation. To 

 strangers they are unbearably annoying. 



In Dhuboy, if a man wish to revenge himself on 

 his neighbour for any insult or injury, he takes the 

 opportunity, just before the periodical rains (about 

 the middle of June) set in, and when the tiles have 

 been adjusted to meet that season, of repairing to 

 his neighbour's roof and scattering over it a quan- 

 tity of rice or other grain. This is soon discovered 

 by the monkeys, who not only devour it, but pull up 

 all the tiles in search of what has fallen through the 

 crevices. At this critical juncture the rain com- 

 mences; no one can be found to re-set the tiles; 

 the house is deluged, the furniture ruined, and the 

 depositaries of grain, generally formed of unbaked 

 earth, soaked through by the falling torrent. 



The celebrated banian-tree on the banks of the 

 Nerbuddah is tenanted by hosts of monkeys and 

 myriads of snakes. The . antics and gambols of the 

 former are very amusing ; if they ever suffer from 

 the snakes, they repay the poor reptiles with interest. 

 When they see one asleep, twined round a branch, 

 they seize it bv the neck, and descending run to the 

 nearest stone, and on it commence to grind down 

 the reptile's head, frequently looking at it and 

 grinning at their progress. When convinced that 

 its fangs are destroyed, they toss it, writhing with 

 pain, to their young, and seem to rejoice m its 

 destruction. 



Once a friend of Mr. Forbes, on a shooting ex- 

 cursion, killed a female monkey under this tree, 

 and carried it to his tent, which was soon surrounded 

 by forty or fifty of the tribe, who made a great noise, 

 and with menacing gestures advanced towards it. 

 On presenting his fowling-piece, they hesitated and 

 appeared irresolute. But one, which from his age 

 and station in the van appeared to be at the head 

 of the troop, stood his ground chattering and me- 

 nacing in a furious manner, nor could any efforts less 

 cruel than firing drive him off. He at length 

 approached the tent door, and by every token of 

 grief and supplication seemed to beg the body of 

 the deceased, which was then given to him ; with 

 every token of sorrow he took it up in his arms, 

 embraced it with conjugal affection, and carried it 

 off to his expecting comrades. The artless be- 

 haviour of this poor animal wrought so powerfully 

 on the sportsmen, that they resolved never to level 

 a gun again at one of the monkey race. 



147. — The Black-crested Monkey 

 (Semnopithecus melalophos ; Cimepaye, or Simpcn, 

 of F. Cuvier, not Raffles). This slender and 

 beautiful species is a native of Sumatra. The head 

 is small ; the fur is long, soft, falling, and glossy ; 

 the top of the head is ornamented with a long com- 

 pressed crest. The general tint is a fine blight 

 golden rust colour, pure and rich on the limbs, but 

 slightly washed with a dusky tint on the back ; the 

 abdomen and inside of the limbs are paler than the 



other parts. The crest is washed with a dusky 

 tinge, passing into black at the tip. A black or 

 blackish line beginning over the eyes passes across 

 the temples, and turning up over each ear merges 

 into the colour of the crest. The skin of the face is 

 dusky-bluish ; the palms, soles, and nails are black. 

 Length of head and body, 1 foot 8 inches ; of tail, 2 

 feet 8 inches. 



This species has not, as far as we know, been 

 brought alive to Europe. It is said to be extremely 

 active, and to tenant Ihe remote parts of the forest ; 

 but of its exclusive habits nothing is known. 



148.— The Budeng 



(Senmopithecus Maurus). The Budeng is a na- 

 tive of Java; the general colour is black ; the fur 

 is long and silky; the hairs, diverging from the 

 crown of the head, conceal the ears. The young 

 after birth are of a pale reddish-yellow ; first a grey 

 discoloration appears on the hands ; then this begins 

 gradually to spread, extending to the shoulders and 

 sides ; as it spreads it becomes darker, and at last 

 passes into black. The budeng, according to Dr. 

 Horsfield, is grave, sullen, and morose : it is abun- 

 dant in the extensive forests of Java, where it asso- 

 ciates in large troops, often of more than 50 indi- 

 viduals. On the approach of man they set up loud 

 screams, and so violent and incessant are their mo- 

 tions, that decayed branches are often detached and 

 precipitated on the spectators. The natives chase 

 them for the sake of their fur, which is jet black, silky, 

 and employed in riding equipages and military de- 

 corations. They are seldom kept alive, from the 

 sullenness of their temper, which renders them any- 

 thing but agreeable. While young they feed on 

 the tender leaves of plants and trees ; but when adult, 

 on wild fruits of every description. 



Genus Colobus. — The monkeys of this genus are 

 restricted exclusively to Africa: in all respects they 

 resemble the Semnopitheci, but the thumb, which in 

 the latter is small, is in these wanting or reduced to 

 a mere nailless tubercle. What the Semnopitheci 

 are in India, the Colobi are in Africa. Till lately 

 only two species were known ; but the list now con- 

 tains ten accredited species, to which others will no 

 doubt be added as we extend our researches in 

 Western Africa, along the borders of the Gambia, 

 and the island of Fernando Po. 



149. — The Wiiite-thighed Colobus 

 (Colobus leucomerus, Ogilby). This beautiful mon- 

 key is a native of the banks of the Gambia. The 

 fur is long, fine, silky, and shining ; the general 

 colour is black ; a white frontal band spreads from 

 the forehead over the whiskers on the sides of the 

 face, and passing down occupies the throat, so that 

 the face is surrounded with white, which is narrow- 

 est on the forehead. The hairs covering the thighs 

 externally are white, more or Jess mixed with black, 

 and gradually merging into the general hue. The 

 tail is long and of a snowy white. 



The White-thighed CoJobus has never been ob- 

 served by European travellers in its native forests • 

 the skins, mostly imperfect and wanting the head, 

 are brought down by the negroes from the interior 

 for the purposes of barter. Nothing respecting its 

 habits has been ascertained. 



150. — Temminck's Colobus 

 (Colobus Temminckii, Kuhl, ' Beitr.,' 1820). The 

 top of the head is black, as is also the occiput, 

 which latter is slightly sprinkled with rufous ; the 

 back and the outside of the humerus and of the 

 thighs are of a sooty black, with a tinge of slate- 

 blue. The sides of the face, the chest, the sides 

 of the humerus, and the whole of the fore-arms 

 are of a rufous colour, which becomes deeper and 

 brighter on the hands ; the anterior part of the 

 thighs, the knees, and the legs are also rufous, the 

 feet being of a deeper hue ; the throat, together 

 with a line along the chest and abdomen, are of a 

 sandy-yellow ; the middle of the chest and of the 

 abdomen is abruptly of a dirty yellowish-white, 

 varying to white ; the tail at the base is black, 

 with rufous hairs intermixed ; it then assumes a chest- 

 nut red or rufous colour, becoming again darker 

 at the extremity ; an obscure dusky line runs along 

 the whole of its upper surface. Ihe naked skin of 

 the face is brown with a tinge of red purple; the 

 palms and soles are of a purplish black. It was on 

 a very pale-coloured and aged female of this species 

 in the museum of the Zoological Society, London (2G, 

 Cat., ' Mamm.,' 1838), brought from the river Gam- 

 bia, that Mr. Ogilby founded his Colobus fuligino»us, 

 afterwards termed by him C. rufo-fuliginus. 



The original of Kuhl's description was formerly 

 in Bullock's museum, but is at present in that of 

 Leyden. With respect to the native country of this 

 species, it is now ascertained to be Gambia. Length 

 of head and body, 2 feet 2 inches; of tail, 2 feet 

 6 inches. Nothing relative to the habits and man- 

 ners of this species, as it exists in its native forests, 

 has been collected. 



