Part 9

HABITS.--"Few, if any, wild animals," observes Dr. Blanford, "afford better opportunities for observation than the Hanuman Monkey of Northern and Central India. Generally protected and looked upon as sacred by many of the Hindu inhabitants, it has no fear of Man, and may be found in groves near villages, or even on the village trees, as often as in the depths of the forest. In many parts of India it is a common occurrence to see these Monkeys on the roofs of houses. They frequently pilfer food from the grain-dealers' shops, whilst the damage they inflict on gardens and fields, renders them a great nuisance to the natives. They feed on fruit and grain, but especially on {106}leaves and young shoots. They live in the high trees of the forest and near to water, or in rocky hills, in moderately-sized troops composed of males, females, young, and infants clasping their mothers. An old male is occasionally found solitary. Two communities often enter into deadly combat for possession of some fruit grove, an interesting account of one of which is given by Mr. J. Hughes in the 'Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal' for 1884." They are at all times very active. "Their voice," continues Dr. Blanford, whose account we have condensed, "is loud and is often heard, especially in the morning and evening. The two commonest sounds emitted by them are a loud, joyous, rather musical call, a kind of whoop generally uttered when they are bounding from tree to tree, and a harsh guttural note, denoting alarm or danger. The latter is the cry familiar to the tiger hunter, among whose best friends is the Hanuman. Safely ensconced on a lofty tree, or jumping from one tree to another as the tiger moves, the Monkey by gesture and cry points out the position of its deadly enemy in the bushes or grass beneath, and swears at him heartily."

The Hanuman is of very tender constitution, and cannot bear up against great changes of climate and temperature and necessarily of elevation; it is, therefore, entirely restricted to the warm lowland regions. There is, according to Captain T. Hutton, no true migration of this species from the upper to the lower districts of Bengal, as has been stated. "I am inclined," writes this observer, "to restrict its range, somewhat loosely perhaps, to between 10° and 25° N. lat. and 75° to 88° E. long., forming with the line drawn across the country from Allahabad to Boondee, a triangular range entirely south of the rivers Jumna and Ganges."

{107}IV. THE HIMALAYAN LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS SCHISTACEUS.

_Semnopithecus entellus_ (nec Dufr.), Hodgs., P. Z. S., 1834, p. 95; Ogilby, Madr. Journ., xii., p. 144 (1840).

_Semnopithecus schistaceus_, Hodgs., J. A. S. Beng., ix., p. 1212 (1840); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii. p. 6 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 16 (1878; with full synonymy); Blanford, Faun. Brit. India, Mamm., p. 30 (1891).

_Semnopithecus nepalensis_, Hodg., J. A. S. Beng., ix., 1840, p. 1212.

_Presbytis entellus_ (nec Dufr.), Gray, Cat. Hodgs. Mamm. Nepal, p. 1 (1846); id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., pp. 14 and 15 (1870).

_Presbytis schistaceus_, Blyth, Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 11 (1863); Jerdon, Mamm. India, p. 6 (1867); Blanford, J. A. S. Beng., xli., 1872, p. 32.

CHARACTERS.--Fur long; hair radiating on the crown; hair of cheeks long, hiding the small ears; tail slightly tufted; top and sides of head pale yellow, or whitish; face and ears, palms and soles black; back, sides, outside of limbs, tail, hands, and feet, dark slaty, or greyish-brown, sometimes washed with purple.

Aged specimens are grey or white on the head; young ones often have the feet darker than the adult.

Facial portion of the skull longer and the superciliary ridges less projected forward than in _S. entellus_. The nasal bones project beyond a line from the supra-orbital ridge to the front border of the pre-maxillaries; in _S. entellus_ they do not project beyond it.

DISTRIBUTION.--The Himalayas, from Kashmir to Bhutan from {108}5,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea, this species taking the place in those high altitudes of the lowland _S. entellus_.

HABITS.--Similar to those of the Hanuman. According to Dr. Blanford, Capt. Hutton has observed it near Simla, at 11,000 feet, sporting amongst the fir-trees that were loaded with snow-wreaths at the time. "But," writes Dr. Anderson, "there is no evidence that any species of Monkey in the Himalaya is naturally resident at those heights at which snow annually lies, as was supposed by Hodgson, and it is the rarity of their occurrence at these high elevations, and during winter, that has directed so much attention to their hibernal wanderings. In the summer, they are much more widely distributed than in the winter, when, as a rule, they are driven to lower heights and into the warmer valleys."

V. THE MADRAS LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS PRIAMUS.

_Semnopithecus priam_, Elliot, MSS.; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii, p. 470 (1844).

_Semnopithecus pallipes_, Blyth, Ann. and Mag. N. H., 1844, p. 312.

_Presbytis priamus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 732, 1271, pl. liv. (1847); xx., p. 313 (1851); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 12 (1863); Kelaart, Prod. Faun. Zeylan., p. 3 (1852); Jerdon, Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).

_Semnopithecus albipes_, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 14 (1851); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 15 (1870); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 18 (1878).

_Semnopithecus priamus_, Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 31 (1891); Anderson, Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 19 (1878; with full synonymy).

{109}_Presbytis thersites_, Tennent, Ceylon, p. 132, plate, fig. 1 (1860).

CHARACTERS.--Nearly allied to _S. entellus_. Hair on head indistinctly radiated; back of head crested longitudinally; supra-orbital hairs very long and projecting forward; ears large, not hidden by the whiskers. Fur long; face and ears black; back, sides, outer aspect of fore-limbs, upper part of the thigh, and the tail, ashy-grey, or earthy-brown, sometimes slightly washed with purple; sides of the head, nape, lower half of the thighs, hands, and feet, yellowish, as also the under surface of the body and inside of the limbs. Length of body, 21 inches; tail, 28 inches.

DISTRIBUTION.--The Coromandel coast of India, ascending to 6,000 feet; Ceylon, from the north as far as the Kandyan hills in the south.

HABITS.--The same as those of _S. entellus_ and _S. schistaceus_.

This species inhabits the northern and eastern provinces of Ceylon, and the wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. In appearance it differs both in size and in colour from the common Wanderoo, being larger and more inclined to grey; and in habits it is much more reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island, where the population is comparatively numerous, these Monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of Man as to exhibit the utmost daring and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra palm; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes invisible in an instant. The presence of a Dog, however, excites such an irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. {110}They may be frequently seen congregated on the roof of a native hut.

The Singhalese have the impression that the remains of a Monkey are never to be found in the forest; a belief which they have embodied in the proverb that "he who has seen a white Crow, the nest of a paddi bird, a straight coco-nut tree, or a dead Monkey, is certain to live for ever." This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from India, where it is believed that persons dwelling on the spot where a Hanuman Monkey, _Semnopithecus entellus_, has been killed, will die, and that even its bones are unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid underground can prosper; and Buchanan observes that "it is perhaps owing to this fear of ill-luck that no native will acknowledge his having seen a dead Hanuman."

VI. THE MALABAR LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS HYPOLEUCUS.

_Semnopithecus hypoleucos_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., x., p. 839 (1841); xiii., p. 470 (1844); Anderson, Res. Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 20 (1878; with full synonymy); Blanford, Faun. Brit. India, Mamm., p. 33 (1891).

_Semnopithecus johnii_, var., Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 489 (1841); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870).

_Semnopithecus dussumieri_, Is. Geoffr., C. R., xv., p. 719 (1842); id., Descr. An. Nouv. Fam. des Singes, p. 54, pl. xxx.; id., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 13 (1851); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 62 (1876).

_Presbytis hypoleucos_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi. (1847), p. 733.

_Presbytis johnii_ (nec Fischer), Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xxviii., p. 283 (1859); id., Cat. Mam. As. Soc. Mus., p. 12 (1863); Jerd., Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).

{111}CHARACTERS.--Similar to _S. entellus_. No crest; hair radiating on crown; back, sides, posterior aspect of thighs and tail dusky brown, darker on the middle of the back; fore-arm, front of thighs, and lower portion of legs, black; head dirty yellow; under surface yellowish-white; face, hands, and feet, black. Length of body, 21 inches; of tail, 32 inches.

YOUNG.--Sooty-brown.

DISTRIBUTION.--The forests and woods near cultivation along the Malabar coast of India, below 1,500 feet.

HABITS.--Same as those of the Hanuman. It is, however, rather more shy.

VII. THE NILGIRI LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS JOHNI.

_Simia johnii_, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., i., p. 25 (1829).

_Semnopithecus cucullatus_, Is. Geoffr. in Bélang. Voy. Zool., pp. 38, 72, pl. i. (1834); Wagner in Schreber Säugeth. Suppl., i., p. 98 (1846); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870).

_Semnopithecus johnii_, Waterh., Cat. Mamm. Mus. Zool. Soc., p. 5 (1838); Anderson, Res. Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 21 (1878; with synonymy); Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 33 (1891); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 50 (1876).

_Semnopithecus jubatus_, Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl., i., p. 305 (1840); Horsf., Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co. Mus., p. 14 (1851).

_Semnopithecus cephalopterus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii., p. 469 (1844; in part).

_Presbytis johnii_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 734, 1272 (1847).

_Presbytis cucullatus_, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xxviii., p. 283 (1859); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 14 (1863).

_Presbytis jubatus_, Jerd., Mamm. India, p. 7 (1867).

{112}CHARACTERS.--Hair long and glossy, entirely black or brownish-black; hairs of crown and sides of head very long, not radiating, yellowish-brown; lower back and root of tail grey. Length of body, 26 inches; of tail, 30 inches; a very large individual measured, body, 29 inches; tail, 37. (_Hornaday._)

Nearly allied to the next species (_S. cephalopterus_) of Ceylon, and _S. obscurus_, which inhabits the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal.

FEMALE.--With a yellowish-white patch inside each thigh. (_Davison._)

DISTRIBUTION.--In the thick, sharply circumscribed woods of the Nilgiri hills, south to Cape Comorin, above 2,500 feet.

HABITS.--This species lives in small troops of ten to twelve individuals, and is remarkable for the extraordinary leaps it can make. "It is shy and wary, the result," as Dr. Blanford states, "of human persecution. It is very noisy, having a loud guttural alarm cry, used also to express anger, and a long loud call." Jerdon relates "that when the sholas of the Nilgiri range were beaten for game, these Monkeys made their way rapidly, and with loud cries, to the lowest portion, and thence to a neighbouring wood at a lower level. In consequence of the beauty of their skins, and the circumstance that certain castes eat their flesh, these Monkeys are more frequently shot than most of the Indian species: hence their shyness."

VIII. THE PURPLE-FACED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS CEPHALOPTERUS.

_Cercopithecus vetulus_, Erxl., Syst. Régn. An., Mamm., p. 25 (1777; in part).

{113}_Cercopithecus senex_, Erxl., _t.c._, p. 24 (1777); Zimm., Geogr. Gesch., ii., p. 183 (1780); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 35 (1891).

_Cercopithecus kephalopterus_, Zimm., _op. et t.c._, p. 185 (1780); Bodd., Elench. An., p. 58 (1785); Fischer, Syst. Mamm., p. 17 (1829).

_Simia veter_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., i., p. 36 (1800).

_Cercopithecus leucoprymnus_, Otto, N. Acta. Acad. Cæs. Leop., xii., p. 505, pl. xlvi. _bis_ (1825).

_Semnopithecus fulvo-griseus_, Desmoul., Dict. Class. Hist. Nat., vii., p. 570 (1825); Geoffr., C. R., xv., p. 719 (1842).

_Semnopithecus leucoprymnus_, Desmaret, Dict. Sci. Nat., xlviii., p. 439 (1827); Wagner, in Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 25 (1825); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870).

_Macacus silenus_, var. _alba_, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., 1829, p. 28.

_Semnopithecus nestor_, Bennett, P. Z. S., 1833, p. 67; Waterh., P. Z. S., 1844, p. 1.

_Presbytes cephalopterus_, Gray, Hand-List Mamm., p. 4 (1843); Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., pp. 734, 1271 (1847); Kelaart, Prodr. Faun. Zeylan., p. 1 (1852); Tennent, Ceylon, p. 5, plate, fig. 3 (1861); Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. Beng., p. 13 (1862).

_? Presbytis thersites_, Elliot MSS.; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., p. 1271, pl. liv., fig. 3 (1847); Blanford, P. Z. S., 1887, p. 626 (1891).

_Presbytis albinus_, Kelaart, Faun. Zeylan., p. 7. (1852).

_Semnopithecus cephalopterus_, Martin, Mammif. An., p. 482 (1841); Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 51 (1876); Anderson, Rep. Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 22 (1878; full synonymy); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 34 (1891).

{114}_Semnopithecus kelaartii_, Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 52 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Hair of crown not radiating; top of head and nape dusky-brown; back and limbs darker smoky-brown; lower back, base of tail, and upper posterior surface of thighs varying from ashy-grey to greyish-white, washed, in immature specimens, with brown; hands and feet black; supra-orbital hairs black, projecting outwards, extending nearly to the ears; the long and conspicuous whiskers white, concealing the base of the ears, and forming a sort of ruff, encircling the face; chin and throat white. Face purplish-black. Tail beyond the base dark grey, tufted at the tip and whitish. Under surface dusky-grey; inner sides of the thighs anterior to the callosities pale yellow or white. Length of body, 21 inches; tail, 31 inches.

YOUNG.--Generally similar to the parents. A young female from Ceylon examined by Dr. Anderson was uniform pale-yellowish, the top of the head slightly washed with brownish, and the shoulder and mid-back washed with dusky.

A white variety (_S. senex_) sometimes occurs. "There can be no doubt," says Dr. Anderson, "that _S. cephalopterus_, _S. ursinus_, and _S. johni_ are extremely closely allied to each other"; and indeed it is doubtful whether they are not local races of the same species.

DISTRIBUTION.--The island of Ceylon.

HABITS.--Sir E. Tennent, in his "Natural History of Ceylon," has given the following account of this species:--

"Although common in the southern and western provinces, this Monkey is never found at a higher elevation than 1,300 feet. It is an active and intelligent creature, little larger than the common Bonneted Macaque, and far from being so {115}mischievous as others of the Monkeys in the island. In captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour, and for an air of melancholy in its expression and movements which are completely in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. In disposition it is gentle and confiding, sensible in the highest degree of kindness, and eager for endearing attention, uttering a low, plaintive cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in trimming its fur, and carefully divesting its hair of particles of dust.

"Those which I kept at my house near Colombo were chiefly fed upon plantains and bananas, but for nothing did they evince a greater partiality than the rose-coloured flowers of the red Hibiscus (_H. rosa-sinensis_). These they devoured with unequivocal gusto; they likewise relished the leaves of many other trees, and even the bark of a few of the more succulent ones.

"A White Monkey, taken between Ambepusse and Kornegalle, where they are said to be numerous, was brought to me to Colombo. Except in colour, it had all the characteristics of _Presbytes cephalopterus_. So striking was its whiteness that it might have been conjectured to be an albino, but for the circumstance that its eyes and face were black. I have heard that White Monkeys have been seen near the Ridi-galle Wihara in the Seven Korales, and also at Tangalle; but I never saw another specimen. The natives say they are not uncommon, and Knox states that they are 'milk-white both in body and face: but of this sort there is not such plenty.' The Rev. R. Spence Hardy mentions, in his learned work on 'Eastern Monachism,' that on the occasion of his visit to the great temple of Dambool, he encountered a troop of White Monkeys {116}on the rock in which it is situated--which were, doubtless, a variety of the Wanderoo. Pliny was aware of the fact that White Monkeys are occasionally found in India.

"When observed in their native wilds, a party of twenty or thirty of these creatures is generally busily engaged in the search for berries and buds. They are seldom to be seen on the ground, except when they may have descended to recover seeds or fruit which have fallen at the foot of their favourite trees. When disturbed, their leaps are prodigious; but, generally speaking, their progress is made, not so much by _leaping_, as by swinging from branch to branch, using their powerful arms alternately; and when baffled by distance, flinging themselves obliquely so as to catch the lower boughs of an opposite tree, the momentum acquired by their descent being sufficient to cause a rebound of the branch, that carries them up again, till they can grasp a higher and more distant one, and thus continue their headlong flight. In these perilous achievements, wonder is excited, less by the surpassing agility of these little creatures, frequently encumbered as they are by their young, which cling to them in their career, than by the quickness of their eye, and the unerring accuracy with which they seem almost to calculate the angle at which a descent will enable them to cover a given distance, and the recoil to attain a higher altitude."

IX. PAITAN LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS SABANUS.

_Semnopithecus sabanus_, Thomas, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6), xii., p. 230, pl. vii. (head), (1893).

PLATE XXXV.

{117}CHARACTERS.--Allied to _S. hosii_, _S. everetti_, and _S. thomasi_. Body, tail, and limbs grey; forehead with a high vertical median crest, commencing on the brow, black, with some white hairs; superciliary bristles long, black, projected forward over the eyes; hairs of the forehead on each side of the crest, flat against the head, white over the whole crown (with a few black hairs), but darker tipped on the back of the head; sides of the face from the orbits to the ears quite black; occipital hairs directed backward, not forward as in _S. thomasi_. Chin, sides of neck, throat, and chest greyish, not white as in the allied species. Under side of the body and inner side of the upper arms, and the legs to the ankles white, becoming greyer distally; hands and feet shining black; fore-arms to the wrists, and legs to the ankles, grizzled grey, as also the tail, above and below. Skin of face probably flesh-coloured between and across the orbits and round the cheeks, elsewhere black. Length of body, 23½ inches; tail, 30 inches.

Cranium broader and rounder than in the allied species; the ascending process of the maxillary bones articulating with the frontals, shutting out the former bones from the side of the nasals. In the allied species the skin of the face is nearly, or quite, black all over, and the chin, sides of the neck, the throat, and the chest are pure white.

DISTRIBUTION.--Paitan, N. Borneo. Discovered by the veteran Bornean traveller Alfred Everett.

X. HOSE'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS HOSII.

(_Plate XXXV._)

_Semnopithecus hosii_, Thomas, P. Z. S., 1889, p. 159, pl. xvi.; Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 10 (1893).

CHARACTERS.--Crown with a longitudinal central crest, the hairs sloping evenly backward, with no reversed tuft of hair on the back of the head; general colour of back, shoulders, outer sides of limbs, and tail (though darker above than below) {118}hoary grey, the hairs being commingled black and white; crest, centre of crown, and nape deep glossy black; all the rest of the head, forehead, temples, sides of crown and neck, cheeks, lips, septum of nose, tufted chin, front of neck, chest, under side of body and the inside of the limbs as far as the middle of the fore-arm and lower leg pure white; hands and feet deep black; face black.

Nasal bones long and thin, the profile quite straight and continuous with the line of the forehead. Length of body, 20½ inches; of tail, 26¼ inches. (_Thomas._)

This handsome species differs from all known _Semnopitheci_ in the marked contrast in colour presented by its black crest and white forehead and cheeks.

DISTRIBUTION.--Niah, in the Baram district; Mount Dulit, Mount Batu Song: all in Sarawak, Borneo.

HABITS.--"The type of this Monkey--the Bangat of the Kayans--was shot," writes Mr. Charles Hose (after whom the species is named), "at a place called Niah, in the Baram district. I have procured several specimens in different parts of the country, but although it is often seen in the low country, I think we must consider it to be a mountain species, which leaves the mountains at certain times in search of fruit. It ascends Mount Dulit to the height of 4,000 feet, but is more common at 2,000 feet. It frequents the salt-springs, which are common in the interior, churning up the mud, and it is at these salt-springs that the Punans procure numbers of specimens with the blow-pipe and poisoned arrows. From this Monkey the Bezoar stones are obtained, being found either in the gall bladder or the intestines. The noise that the animal makes is loud and distinct--_Gagah, gagah_. The young {119}resemble the colour of the adult, and are exceedingly pretty little things, but they do not live long in confinement, and would never bear a voyage to England, as they suffer severely from sea-sickness."

XI. THOMAS'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS THOMASI.

_Semnopithecus thomasi_, Collett, P. Z. S., 1892, p. 613, pl. xlii.

DESCRIPTION.--A central occipital crest sloping at first backwards, reversed on the back of the head, black on the crown; with a lower indistinct crest on each side of the white forehead. General colour above dark grey--each hair being partly black and partly white; underneath, white; a black stripe from the upper jaw to the ear, and a black central stripe on the forehead; hands and feet black. (_Collett._)

Very old males are darker in colour, with the upper part of the head brownish-black, the front whitish. Old females are smaller; the young are silky and nearly white all over.

Closely related and very similar to _S. hosii_, but the cheeks do not form a connected white area with the white forehead, the space being broken by a black band from the edge of the mouth to the ear (in the young male and in the female). In the old male the upper parts of the cheeks are quite black. Length of body, 24½ inches; tail, about 32 inches.

DISTRIBUTION.--The present species was discovered in the Langkat district in the North-east of Sumatra, by Mr. Iversen, a Norwegian traveller in that island, and is named after Mr. Oldfield Thomas, the well-known Mammalogist of the British Museum.