MONKJSYS.1 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



35 



151. FuLL-MANED COLOBUS 



(CoJobus polycomos). Full-bottomed Monkey, Pen- 

 nant.; Guenon a Camail, Buffon. The Full-maned 

 Colobus is a native of the forests of Sierra Leone ; it 

 is called by the natives ' the king of the monkeys,' on 

 account of the beautv of its colours, and the camail, 

 which represents a sort of diadem. Its fur is in high 

 estimation, and applied to different ornamental pur- 

 poses. The head and upper part of the body are 

 covered with long hairs falling over the head and 

 shoulders, forming a sort of mane-like hood and 

 pelerine, whence the name given to it by Buffon. 

 Pennant's title is in allusion to the full-bottomed 

 perriwisr worn in his day. These long hairs are 

 mingled yellow and black ; the face is brown ; the 

 body covered with short jet-black hair; the tail is 

 snowy-white and tufted. 



152. — The Guereza 

 {Colobus Guereza). General colour black; sides of 

 the body and top of the loins ornamented with long 

 pendent white hairs, forming a fringe-like mantle ; 

 face encircled by white ; tail ending in a white tuft. 

 Native country, South and West Abyssinia. 



The Guereza, which is the Abyssinian name of this 

 species, lives, according to Riippell, in small fami- 

 lies, tenanting the lofty trees in the neighbourhood 

 of running waters. It is active and lively, and at 

 the same time gentle and inoffensive. Its food 

 consists of wild fruits, grain, and insects. It is only 

 found in the provinces of Godjam,Kulla, and Damot, 

 more especially in the latter, where it is hunted by 

 the natives, who consider it a mark of distinction to 

 possess a buckler covered with its skin, the part 

 used being that covered with the long flowing white 

 hairs. Ludolph (in the 'Hist. /Ethiop.,' lib. i.) has 

 made express allusion to this animal, but he figures 

 a different species under its name. 



Genus Cercopithecus. In this genus are compre- 

 hended the ordinary long-tailed monkeys or Gue- 

 nons of Africa. The muzzle is moderately pro- 

 minent ; the facial angle 45° to 50° ; the head is 

 round ; the superciliary ridge moderate ; the molar 

 teeth are crowned with acute tubercles; the last 

 molar of the lower jaw with only 4 tubercles : there 

 are ample cheek-pouches ; the laryngal sac is vari- 

 able ; ischiatic callosities moderate ; general con- 

 tour light, but vigorous ; limbs muscular ; stomach 

 simple; tail long; the hairs composing the fur 

 annulated. 



The Cercopitheci are all restricted to the African 

 continent, but one species only, the Vervet (C. pygery- 

 thrus ; and one species of Baboon, the Cnacma), in- 

 habits Africa south of the tropic of Capricorn; and 

 one species, the White-throated Monkey, C. albo- 

 gularis, is a native of Madagascar. These animals 

 are arboreal in their habits ; they tenant the wild 

 forests that skirt the rivers, and associate in troops, 

 being gregarious in their habits. Their actions are 

 full of energy; their disposition is restless, petulant, 

 and inquisitive. During infancy they are gentle, 

 but as age advances they become irascible and mali- 

 cious. Their displeasure is expressed by grinning 

 and chattering ; and though they seldom venture to 

 make a decided attack, yet collected in troops in 

 their native woods, they endeavour to harass and 

 annoy intruders within their territorial domains, and 

 are not to be repelled without difficulty. Their diet 

 is almost exclusively frugivorous ; and they often 

 commit great havoc in the fields of grain adjacent 

 to the wooded districts ; and that, not only by what 

 they devour on the spot, but also by what they 

 carry away in their cheek-pouches, which extend 

 below the angle of the lower jaw, and which, when 

 an opportunity occurs, they cram with food to be 

 eaten at leisure. In these Guenons the thumb of the 

 fore-hands is more developed than in the Semnopi- 

 theci, and the hands themselves are shorter, and 

 have better pretensions to the title than the long 

 slender graspers of their Asiatic relatives. The 



4 

 Dental formula is as follows : — Incisors—-, canines 



4 

 ■i 1 g g 



Of these the canines (see 



.--, molars — = 32. 



•figure 153) are very large, compressed, with a sharp 

 cutting edge posteriorly. 



154.— The Mona 



(Cercopithecus Mono). La Mone of Buffon ; the 

 Varied Ape of Pennant. The hairs annulated with 

 grey, yellow, and black, or with red and black, pro- 

 ducing the various tints of the fur. Head of yel- 

 lowish-olive colour ; a black frontal stripe above the 

 eyebrows is surmounted by another of a whitish tint, 

 more conspicuous in some individuals than in others ; 

 back chestnut-brown ; haunches and limbs exter- 

 nally dusky black ; tail black, with a white spot on 

 each side of its origin on the crupper ; under parts and 

 inside of limbs white ; whiskers very full., of a yel- 

 lowish-tint, slightly washed with black; skin of orbits 

 and cheeks bluish-purple ; lips flesh-coloured ; ears 

 and head of a livid flesh-colour ; length of head and 



body 1 foot 8^ inches; tail 1 foot 11 inches. The 

 Mona is a native of Western Africa (Guinea), but of 

 its manners in a state of nature little is known. It 

 bears our climate better than most of its congeners : 

 we have observed many adults in captivity, and 

 always found them savage and irritable. 



The term Mone, or Mona, is of Arabic origin, and 

 is the Moorish name for all long-tailed monkeys in- 

 discriminately. From Northern Africa the term 

 passed into Spain, Portugal, and Provence; nor 

 has it stopped here : it is evidently the root of our 

 word Monkey, which has exactly the same meaning, 

 but which has been supposed to be a corruption of 

 the word monikin, or manikin. To say no more, it 

 seems going out of the way 1o seek in our own 

 language for the name of a foreign animal, with 

 which our Saxon forefathers, and indeed ourselves, 

 till at a comparative late era, were unacquainted, 

 and which, when imported, was so with the name 

 also, by which it was known to the people from 

 whom it was originally obtained. 



' 155, 156.— The Green Monkey 

 (Cercopithecus Sabceus). The St. Jago monkey of 

 Edwards; Le Callilriche of Buffon; Cere, viridis 

 of Hermann. The general colour of the upper parts 

 is olive-green, the hairs being annulated with black 

 and yellow ; on the outer side of the limbs a greyish 

 tint prevails; the hands and feet are grey; the 

 under surface of the body and inside of the limbs 

 are white with a faint tinge of yellow. The hairs on 

 the side of the face are full and long, and directed 

 up towards the ears, spreading in the manner of a 

 frill ; their colour, with that of the hairs of the 

 throat, is bright but delicate yellow. The tail is 

 olive-green above, passing into yellow at the tip ; 

 the face, ears, and palms are black. 



The Green Monkey is a native of Senegal and the 

 Cape de Verd Islands. It is most probable that this 

 is the species to which Adanson refers, under the 

 name of Singe verte, as being abundant in the woods 

 of Podor along the Niger; and of which he 

 killed twenty-three in less than an hour, and in the 

 space of twenty fathoms, without one of them hav- 

 ing uttered a single cry, although they collected 

 several times, knitting their brows, gnashing their 

 teeth, and making demonstrations of an intended 

 attack. (' Voy. au Senegal,' by M. Adanson, 1757.) 



In captivity the green monkey is alert, active, and 

 intelligent, but spiteful and malicious. F. Cuvier, 

 however, describes an adult which was good-tem- 

 pered, gentle, and familiar, and expressed pleasure 

 on being caressed : such exceptions are rare. 



157. — The Diana Monkey 

 (Cercopithecus Diana), Le Roloway ou Palatine of 

 Buffon ; the Palatine and Spotted Monkey of Pen- 

 nant and Shaw. The top of the head, the back of 

 the neck, the shoulders, sides, and middle of the 

 body are of a deep grizzled ashy grey ; the hairs 

 being annulated with white and biack, and white at 

 the lips. This grey tint darkens into black on the 

 hands ; the tail is grey, becoming black at the ex- 

 tremity ; a crescent-shaped line of long white hairs 

 (surmounting a band of dusky black), and resem- 

 bling Dian's silver bow, has suggested the animal's 

 name. The sides of the face are covered with 

 long bushy white hairs, which merge on the chin 

 into a long, thin, flat, and pointed beard. The 

 front of the neck and the anterior part of the hume- 

 rus are white ; the latter with an abrupt line of de- 

 markation. 



On the middle of the back commences a mark of 

 deep chestnut, which gradually widens as it de- 

 scends to the root of the tail, forming an elongated 

 triangle with the base on the crupper. A line of 

 white beginning at the root of the tail runs ob- 

 liquely along the outer side of each thigh to the 

 knee ; the lower part of the abdomen and the 

 inner side of the thighs are abruptly of an orange- 

 yellow, orange-red, or bright rust colour. The face 

 is long and triangular, and, together with the ears, 

 intensely black. Length of head and body about 

 2 feet ; of tail about 2 feet 4 inches. This richly- 

 coloured monkey is a native of Guinea, Congo, and 

 Fernando Po. It is very rarely brought alive to 

 Europe ; nor indeed are its skins common in collec- 

 tions. We have observed only one specimen in the 

 Paris Museum, from the Gold Coast. Three speci- 

 mens are in the collection of the Zoological Society, 

 London. Of these, one died some years since in the 

 menagerie of the Society : the other two were 

 brought from Fernando Po. Of the habits of the 

 Diana in its own forests we know nothing. While 

 young in captivity it is gentle, active, familiar, and 

 very playful : its frontal crest, and " beard of formal 

 cut," give a singular aspect to its physiognomy. 

 The latter has been observed to be solicitous in 

 keeping neat and clean, holding it back when about 

 to drink, lest it should dip into the fluid. Consider- 

 ing the range of country through which this species 

 is spread, the scarcity of this monkey in the mena- 

 geries and collections of Europe is rather surprising. 



158. — The Lesser White-kosed Monkey 



(Cercopithecus Pelaurista). Blanc-nez of Alla- 

 mand ; Ascayne of F. Cuvier and Audebert. 



There are two distinct species of White-nosed 

 monkey, both natives of the forests of Guinea ; of 

 these one is the Hocheur of Audebert, the Winking 

 monkey of Pennant, the Cercopithecus nictitans of 

 Geoffroy. The general colour of the Hocheur is 

 black, freckled with white; the limbs are black; 

 the whiskers, of the general colour, are ample ; the 

 chin is beardless ; the nose, which is broad and ele- 

 vated, is white from between the eyes to the nos- 

 trils. 



The Lesser White-nosed Monkey, or Blanc-nez (see 

 Fig. 158), has only the lower half of the nose white, 

 but this colour extends to the adjacent part of the 

 upper lip ; the face is covered with short black 

 hairs, those on the cheek-bone having a fulvous 

 tinge ; the whiskers and beard are white, as also the 

 throat, chest, and abdomen. A streak of black 

 hair runs from the face below the ear, and loses 

 itself on the top of the shoulder ; and between this 

 black line and the hairs of the head a conspicuous 

 streak of white runs below the ears. The general 

 colour of the back and head is reddish olive-brown ; 

 the hairs being ranged with fulvous and black. A 

 band across the forehead above the eyes, and a band 

 traversing the top of the head from ear to ear, are 

 black ; a grey tint prevails on the limbs, deepening 

 to dusky black on the hands and feet. Tail dusky 

 grey above, white beneath. Length of head and 

 body, about 1 foot 4 or 5 inches; of the tail, 1 foot 

 9 or 10 inches. 



This species is common in Guinea, and is fre- 

 quently brought to Europe, but does not well en- 

 dure our uncongenial climate. It is gentle, grace- 

 ful, and intelligent, but not without a mixture of 

 the caprice and petulance of its race. The light- 

 ness and agility of its actions, its playfulness, and 

 beauty, certainly render it very attractive ; but it 

 dislikes to be taken hold of or interfered with : sr> 

 that though as docile as most monkeys, it becomes, 

 familiar only to a certain extent. A Blanc-nez in 

 the possession of Allamand, though usually good- 

 tempered and sportive, became angry if interrupted 

 while feeding, and also when mockery was made of 

 it. We have observed a sensitiveness to ridicule 

 or mockery in other species, and a strong desire to 

 resent the insult, which is evidently felt. 



159. — The Collared White-eyelid Monkey 



(JEthiops torquatus). Cercocebus JEthiops, Geoff. ; 

 Cercopithecus JEthiops, Kuhl. In Martin's 'Natu- 

 ral History of Quadrupeds,' p. 508, a subgenus 

 termed iEthiops is there proposed for two, if not 

 three closely-allied species (the White-eyelid 

 Monkeys), which differ on tangible grounds from the- 

 Cercopitheci, namely, in the presence of a fifth tu- 

 bercle on the last molar of the lower jaw ;* the mag- 

 nitude of the upper middle incisors; and the hairs 

 being destitute of annulations. For these monkeys, 

 with other Guenons by no means closely allied to 

 them, Geoffroy proposed his genus Cercocebus — a 

 genus, the indeterminate characters of which, from 

 the incongruity of the species thus brought together, 

 was perceived by Desmarest, who, unwilling to sink 

 it, endeavoured to reform it by the removal of some 

 species and the addition of others : so that the 

 genus as instituted by the one naturalist, and that 

 remodelled by the other, were two different assem- 

 blages ; and the characters of both equally vague 

 and indefinite. It therefore seems best to sink the 

 genus altogether, and place the White-eyelid Mon- 

 keys in a separate subgenus, to which the title 

 iEthiops has been already applied. 



The Collared White-eyelid Monkey (the Manga- 

 bey a. Collier of Buffon and F. Cuvier), like the 

 Sooty White-eyelid Monkey, is a native of Western 

 Africa. The general colour is fuliginous or sooty- 

 black, passing into black on the limbs and hands. 

 The top of the head is chestnut-coloured ; the whis- 

 kers, throat, and collar round the neck are white. 

 The upper eyelids are conspicuously dead- white. 



The native habits of this monkey are not known :: 

 in captivity it is gentle, active, and familiar, and 

 testifies by a sort of jabber and grin its recognition 

 of those for whom it has a partiality. We have ob- 

 served many individuals, and have found them to 

 be among the most diverting of their race. They 

 would play a number of amusing tricks in order, to 

 attract the attention of bystanders, and gain a share 

 of the nuts and biscuits they saw dealt out to their 

 companions ; and they testified their gratitude by 

 a quick vibratory movement of the lips, producing 

 a jabbering noise. When offended, their ill-temper 

 was transient, and they soon became reconciled to 

 the object of their anger. In their gambols with 

 other monkeys they were invariably good-natured. 



Genus Macacus. The distinctions between the 

 genus Macacus and Cercopithecus, though in some 

 points definite, are in others rather variations in 



* See ' Proceedings of Zoological Society, London,' 1838, p. 117. 



F2 



