Chapter 5

Dr. Anderson remarks on the skull of this species, that it can be easily distinguished from _entellus_ by its larger size, the supraorbital ridge being less forwardly projected, and not forming so thick and wide a pent roof, but the most marked difference lies in the much longer facial portion of _schistaceus_; the teeth are also larger; the symphysis or junction of the lower jaw is considerably longer and broader, and the lower jaw itself is generally more massive and deep.

NO. 6. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES PRIAMUS. _The Madras Langur_.

NATIVE NAME.--_Gandangi_, Telugu.

HABITAT.--The Coromandel Coast and Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Ashy grey, with a pale reddish or _chocolat-au-lait_ tint overlying the whole back and head; sides of the head, chin, throat, and beneath pale yellowish; hands and feet whitish; face, palms and fingers, and soles of feet and toes black; hair long and straight, not wavy; tail of the colour of the darker portion of the back, ending in a whitish tuft.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--About the same as _P. entellus_.

Blyth, who is followed by Jerdon, describes this monkey as having a compressed high vertical crest, but Dr. Anderson found that the specimens in the Indian Museum owed these crests to bad stuffing. Kellaart, however, mentions it, and calls the animal "the Crested Monkey." In Sir Emerson Tennent's figure of _P. priamus_ a slight crest is noticeable; but Kellaart is very positive on this point, saying: "_P. priamus_ is easily distinguished from all other known species of monkeys in Ceylon by its high compressed vertical crest."

Jerdon says this species is not found on the Malabar Coast, but neither he nor McMaster give much information regarding it. Emerson Tennent writes: "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 irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. They may be frequently seen congregated on the roof of a native hut; and, some years ago, the child of a European clergyman, stationed near Jaffna, having been left on the ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them as to cause its death."

In these particulars this species resembles _P. entellus_.

NO. 7. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES JOHNII. _The Malabar Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 4_).

HABITAT.--The Malabar Coast, from N. Lat. 14 degrees or 15 degrees to Cape Comorin.

DESCRIPTION.--Above dusky brown, slightly paling on the sides; crown, occiput, sides of head and beard fulvous, darkest on the crown; limbs and tail dark brown, almost black; beneath yellowish white.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Not quite so large as _P. entellus_.

This monkey was named after a member of the Danish factory at Tranquebar, M. John, who first described it. It abounds in forests, and does not frequent villages, though it will visit gardens and fields, where, however, it shuns observation.

The young are of a sooty brown, or nearly black, without any indication of the light-coloured hood of the adult.

NO. 8. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES JUBATUS. _The Nilgheri Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 5_).

HABITAT.--The Nilgheri Hills, the Animallies, Pulneys, the Wynaad, and all the higher parts of the range of the Ghats as low as Travancore.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark glossy black throughout, except head and nape, which are reddish brown; hair very long; in old individuals a greyish patch on the rump.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Length of head and body, 26 inches; tail, 30.

This monkey does not, as a rule, descend lower than 2,500 to 3,000 feet; it is shy and wary. The fur is fine and glossy, and is much prized (Jerdon). Its flesh is excellent food for dogs (McMaster).

Dr. Anderson makes this synonymous with the last.

NO. 9. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES PILEATUS. _The Capped Langur_.

HABITAT.--Assam, Chittagong, Tipperah.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour dark ashy grey, with a slight ferruginous tint; darker near head and on shoulders; underneath and on the inside of the limbs pale yellowish, with a darker shade of orange or golden yellow on the breast and belly. The crown of the head is densely covered with bristly hairs, regularly disposed and somewhat elongated on the vertex so as to resemble a cap, whence the name. Along the forehead is a superciliary crest of long black bristles, directed outwardly; whiskers full and down to the chin: behind the ears is a small tuft of white hairs; the tail is long, one third longer than the body, darker near the end, and tufted; fingers and toes black.

SIZE.--A little smaller than _P. entellus_.

This monkey is found in Northern Assam, Tipperah and southwards to Tenasserim; in Blyth's 'Catalogue of the Mammals of Burmah' it is mentioned as _P. chrysogaster_ (_Semnopithecus potenziani_ of Bonaparte and Peters). He writes of it: "Females and young have the lower parts white, or but faintly tinted with ferruginous, and the rest of the coat is of a pure grey; the face black, and there is no crest, but the hairs of the crown are so disposed as to appear like a small flat cap laid upon the top of the head. The old males seem always to be of a deep rust-colour on the cheeks, lower parts, and more or less on the outer side of the limbs; while in old females this rust colour is diluted or little more than indicated."

Dr. Anderson says that a young one he had was of a mild disposition, which however is not the character of the adult animal, which is uncertain, and the males when irritated are fierce, and determined in attack. No rule, however, is without its exception, for one adult male, possessed by Blyth, is reported as having been an exceeding gentle animal.

NO. 10. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES BARBEI. _The Tipperah Langur_.

HABITAT.--Tipperah, Tenasserim.

DESCRIPTION.--No vertical crest of hair on the head, nor is the occipital hair directed downwards, as in the next species. Shoulders and outside of arm silvered; tail slightly paler than body, "which is of a blackish fuliginous hue."

More information is required about this monkey, which was named by Blyth after its donor to the Asiatic Society, the Rev. J. Barbe. Blyth considered it as distinct from _P. Phayrei_ and _P. obscurus_, which last is from Malacca.

Dr. Anderson noticed it in the valley of the Tapeng in the centre of the Kakhyen Hills, in troops of thirty to fifty, in high forest trees overhanging the mountain streams. Being seldom disturbed, they permitted a near approach.

NO. 11. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES PHAYREI. _Syn_.--SEMNOPITHECUS CRISTATUS. _The Silvery-Leaf Monkey_ (_Blyth_).

HABITAT.--Arracan, Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo.

DESCRIPTION.-Colour dusky grey-brown above, more or less dark, with black hands and feet; a conspicuous crest on the vertex; under parts white, scarcely extending to the inside of the limbs; sides grey like the back; whiskers dark, very long, concealing the ears in front; lips and eyelids conspicuously white, with white moustachial hairs above and similar hairs below.

SIZE.--Two feet; tail, 2 feet 6 inches.

This monkey was named by Blyth after Captain (now Sir Arthur) Phayre, who first brought it to his notice; but he afterwards reconciled it as being synonymous with _Semnopithecus cristatus_. The colouring, according to different authors, seems to vary considerably, which causes some confusion in description. It differs from an allied species, _S. maurus_, in selecting low marshy situations near the banks of streams. Its favourite food is the fruit of the Nibong palm (_Oncosperma filamentosa_).

NO. 12. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES OBSCURUS. _The Dusky-Leaf Monkey_.

HABITAT.--Mergui and the Malayan Peninsula.

DESCRIPTION.--Adults ashy or brownish black, darker on forehead, sides of face, shoulder, and sides of body; the hair on the nape is lengthened and whitish. The newly-born young are of a golden ferruginous colour, which afterward changes to dusky-ash colour, the terminal half of the tail being last to change; the mouth and eyelids are whitish, but the rest of the face black.

SIZE.--Body, 1 foot 9 inches; tail, 2 feet 8 inches.

This monkey is most common in the Malayan Peninsula, but has been found to extend to Mergui, where Blyth states it was procured by the late Major Berdmore. Dr. Anderson says it is not unfrequently offered for sale in the Singapore market.

NO. 13. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES CEPHALOPTERUS. _The Ceylon Langur_.

NATIVE NAME.--_Kallu Wanderu_.

HABITAT.--The low lands of Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour cinereous black; croup and inside of thighs whitish; head rufescent brown; hair on crown short, semi-erect; occipital hairs long, albescent; whiskers white, thick and long, terminating at the chin in a short beard, and laterally angularly pointed; upper lip thinly fringed with white hairs; superciliary hairs black, long, stiff and standing erect; tail albescent and terminating in a beard tuft; face, palms, soles, fingers, toes and callosities black; irides brown.--_Kellaart_.

SIZE.--Length, 20 inches; tail 24 inches.

Sir E. Tennent says of this monkey that it is never found at a higher elevation than 1,300 feet (when it is replaced by the next species).

"It is an active and intelligent creature, little larger than the common bonneted macaque, and far from being so 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."

NO. 14. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES URSINUS. _The Great Wanderu_.

NATIVE NAME.--_Maha Wanderu_.

HABITAT.--The mountainous district of Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur long, almost uniformly greyish black; whiskers full and white; occiput and croup in old specimens paler coloured; hands and feet blackish; tail long, getting lighter towards the lower half. The young and adults under middle age have a rufous tint, corresponding with that of the head of all ages.

SIZE.--Body about 22 inches; tail, 26 inches.

The name Wanderu is a corruption of the Singhalese generic word for monkey, _Ouandura_, or _Wandura_, which bears a striking resemblance to the Hindi _Bandra_, commonly called _Bandar_--_b_ and _v_ being interchangeable--and is evidently derived from the Sanscrit _Banur_, which in the south again becomes _Wanur_, and further south, in Ceylon, _Wandura_. There has been a certain amount of confusion between this animal and _Inuus silenus_, the lion monkey, which had the name _Wanderu_ applied to it by Buffon, and it is so figured in Cuvier. They are both large monkeys, with great beards of light coloured hair, but in no other respect do they resemble. Sir Emerson Tennent says: "It is rarely seen by Europeans, this portion of the country having till very recently been but partially opened; and even now it is difficult to observe its habits, as it seldom approaches the few roads which wind through these deep solitudes. At early morning, ere the day begins to dawn, its loud and peculiar howl, which consists of quick repetition of the sound _how-how!_ may be frequently heard in the mountain jungles, and forms one of the characteristic noises of these lofty situations." This was written in 1861; since then much of the mountainous forest land has been cleared for coffee-planting, and the Wanderu either driven into corners or become more familiarised with man. More therefore must be known of its habits by this time, and information regarding it is desirable.

NO. 15. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES THERSITES.

NATIVE NAME.--_Ellee Wanderu_ (Kellaart).

HABITAT.--Ceylon.

[Figure: _Presbytes thersites_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Chiefly distinguished from the others by wanting the head tuft; uniform dusky grey, darker on crown and fore-limbs; slaty brown on wrists and hands; hair on toes whitish; whiskers and beard largely developed and conspicuously white.

The name was given by Blyth to a single specimen forwarded by Dr. Templeton, and it was for a time doubtful whether it was really a native, till Dr. Kellaart procured a second. Dr. Templeton's specimen was partial to fresh vegetables, plantains, and fruit, but he ate freely boiled rice, beans, and gram. He was fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out his limbs in succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his ribs might be reached by the finger, closing his eyes during the operation, and evincing his satisfaction by grimaces irresistibly ludicrous.--_Emerson Tennent_.

Dr. Anderson considers this monkey as identical with _Semnopithecus priamus_, but Kellaart, as I have before stated, is very positive on the point of difference, calling _S. priamus_ emphatically the crested monkey, and alleging that _thersites_ has no crest, and it is probable he had opportunities of observing the two animals in life; he says he had a young specimen of _priamus_, which distinctly showed the crest, and a young _thersites_ of the same age which showed no sign of it.

In Emerson Tennent's 'Natural History of Ceylon,' (1861) page 5, there is a plate of a group in which are included _priamus_ and _thersites_; in the original they are wrongly numbered--the former should be 2 and not 3, and the latter 3 and not 2. If these be correct (and Wolf's name should be a voucher for their being so) there is a decided difference. There is no crest in the latter, and the white whiskers terminate abruptly on a level with the eyebrow, and the superciliary ridge of hair is wanting.

NO. 16. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES ALBINUS (_Kellaart_). _The White Langur_.

HABITAT.--Ceylon, in the hills beyond Matelle.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur dense, sinuous, nearly of uniform white colour, with only a slight dash of grey on the head; face and ears black; palm, soles, fingers and toes flesh-coloured; limbs and body the shape of _P. ursinus_; long white hairs prolonged over the toes and claws, giving the appearance of a white spaniel dog to this monkey; irides brown; whiskers white, full, and pointed laterally.--_Kellaart_.

The above description was taken by Dr. Kellaart from a living specimen. He considered it to be a distinct species, and not an Albino, from the black face and ears and brown eyes.

The Kandyans assured him that they were to be seen (rarely however) in small parties of three and four over the hills beyond Matelle, but never in company with the dark kind.

Emerson Tennent also mentions one that was brought to him taken between Ambepasse and Kornegalle, where they were said to be numerous; except in colour it had all the characteristics of _P. 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. An old writer of the seventeenth century, Knox, says of the monkeys of Ceylon (where he was captive for some time) that there are some "milk-white in body and face, but of this sort there is not such plenty."--_Tennent's 'Natural History of Ceylon,' page 8_.

NOTE.--Since the above was in type I have found in the List of Animals in the Zoological Society's Gardens, a species entered as _Semnopithecus leucoprymnus_, the Purple-faced Monkey from Ceylon--see P.Z.S.

PAPIONINAE.

This sub-family comprises the true baboons of Africa and the monkey-like baboons of India. They have the stomach simple, and cheek-pouches are always present. According to Cuvier they possess, like the last family, a fifth tubercle on their last molars. They produce early, but are not completely adult for four or five years; the period of gestation is seven months.

The third sub-family of _Simiadae_ consists of the genera _Cercopithicus_, _Macacus_, and _Cynocephalus_, as generally accepted by modern zoologists, but Jerdon seems to have followed Ogilby in his classification, which merges the long-tailed Macaques into _Cercopithecus_, and substituting _Papio_ for the others.

_GENUS INUUS_.

Cuvier applies this term to the Magots or rudimentary-tailed Macaques. The monkeys of this genus are more compactly built than those of the last. They are also less herbivorous in their diet, eating frogs, lizards, crabs and insects, as well as vegetables and fruit. Their callosities and cheek-pouches are large, and they have a sac which communicates with the larynx under the thyroid cartilage, which fills with air when they cry out.

Some naturalists of the day, however, place all under the generic name Macacus.

NO. 17. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS SILENUS. _The Lion Monkey_ (_Jerdon's No. 6_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Nil bandar_, Bengali; _Shia bandar_, Hindi; _Nella manthi_, Malabari.

HABITAT.--The Western Ghats of India from North Lat. 14 degrees to the extreme south, but most abundant in Cochin and Travancore (_Jerdon_), also Ceylon (_Cuvier_ and _Horsfield_), though not confirmed by Emerson Tennent, who states that the _silenus_ is not found in the island except as introduced by Arab horse-dealers occasionally, and that it certainly is not indigenous. Blyth was also assured by Dr. Templeton of Colombo that the only specimens there were imported.

[Figure: _Macacus silenus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Black, with a reddish-white hood or beard surrounding the face and neck; tail with a tuft of whitish hair at the tip; a little greyish on the chest.

SIZE.--About 24 inches; tail, 10 inches.

There is a plate of this monkey in Carpenter and Westwood's edition of Cuvier, under the mistaken name of _Wanderoo_.

It is somewhat sulky and savage, and is difficult to get near in a wild state. Jerdon states that he met with it only in dense unfrequented forest, and sometimes at a considerable elevation. It occurs in troops of from twelve to twenty.

NO. 18. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS RHESUS. _The Bengal Monkey_ (_Jerdon's No. 7_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Bandar_, Hindi; _Markot_, Bengali; _Suhu_, Lepcha, _Piyu_, Bhotia.

HABITAT.--India generally from the North to about Lat. 18 degrees or 19 degrees; but not in the South, where it is replaced by _Macacus radiatus_.

[Figure: _Macacus rhesus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Above brownish ochrey or rufous; limbs and beneath ashy-brown; callosities and adjacent parts red; face of adult males red.

SIZE.--Twenty-two inches; tail 11 inches.

This monkey is too well-known to need description. It is the common acting monkey of the _bandar-wallas_, the delight of all Anglo-Indian children, who go into raptures over the romance of _Munsur-ram_ and _Chameli_, their quarrels, parting, and reconciliation, so admirably acted by these miniature comedians.

NOTE.--For _Macacus rheso-similis_, Sclater, see P.Z.S. 1872, p. 495, pl. xxv., also P.Z.S. 1875, p. 418.

NO. 19. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS PELOPS. _Syn_.--MACACUS ASSAMENSIS. _The Hill Monkey_ (_Jerdon's No. 8_).

HABITAT.--The Himalayan ranges and Assam.

DESCRIPTION.--Brownish grey, somewhat mixed with slaty, and rusty brownish on the shoulders in some; beneath light ashy brown; fur fuller and more wavy than in _rhesus_; canine teeth long; of stout habit; callosities and face less red than in the last species (_Jerdon_). Face flesh-coloured, but interspersed with a few black hairs (_McClelland_).

NO. 20. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS NEMESTRINUS. _The Pig-tailed Monkey_.

HABITAT.--Tenasserim and the Malay Archipelago.

[Figure: _Macacus nemestrinus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--General colour grizzled brown; the piles annulated with dusky and fulvous; crown darker, and the middle of the back also darker; the hair lengthened on the fore-quarters; the back stripe extends along the tail, becoming almost black; the tail terminates in a bright ferruginous tuft. This monkey is noted for its docility, and in Bencoolen is trained to be useful as well as amusing. According to Sir Stamford Raffles it is taught to climb the cocoa palms for the fruit for its master, and to select only those that are ripe.

NO. 21. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS LEONINUS. _The Long-haired Pig-tailed Monkey_.

HABITAT.--Arracan.

DESCRIPTION.--A thick-set powerful animal, with a broad, rather flattened head above, and a moderately short, well clad, up-turned tail, about one-third the length of the body and head; the female smaller.--_Anderson_.

Face fleshy brown; whitish round the eyes and on the forehead; eyebrows brownish, a narrow reddish line running out from the external angle of the eye. The upper surface of the head is densely covered with short dark fur, yellowish brown, broadly tipped with black; the hair radiating from the vertex; on and around the ear the hair is pale grey; above the external orbital angle and on the sides of the face the hair is dense and directed backwards, pale greyish, obscurely annulated with dusky brown, and this is prolonged downwards to the middle of the throat. On the shoulders, back of the neck, and upper part of the thighs, the hairs are very long, fully three inches in the first-mentioned localities; the basal halves greyish; and the remainder ringed with eleven bands of dark brown and orange; the tips being dark. The middle and small of the back is almost black, the shorter hair there being wholly dark; and this colour is prolonged on the tail, which is tufted. The hair on the chest is annulated, but paler than on the shoulders, and it is especially dense on the lower part. The lower halves of the limbs are also well clad with annulated fur, like their outsides, but their upper halves internally and the belly are only sparsely covered with long brownish grey plain hairs, not ringed.

The female differs from the male in the absence of the black on the head and back, and in the hair of the under parts being brownish grey, without annulations. The shoulders somewhat brighter than the rest of the fur, which is yellowish olive; greyish olive on outside of limbs; dusky on upper surface of hands and feet; and black on upper surface of tail.

SIZE.--Length of male, head and body 23 inches; tail, without hair, 8 inches; with hair 10 inches.

The above description is taken from Dr. Anderson's account, 'Anat. and Zool. Res.,' where at page 54 will be found a plate of the skull showing the powerful canine teeth. Blyth mentions a fine male with hair on the shoulders four to five inches long.

NO. 22. INUUS _vel_ MACACUS ARCTOIDES. _The Brown Stump-tailed Monkey_.

HABITAT.--Cachar, Kakhyen Hills, east of Bhamo.

DESCRIPTION.--Upper surface of head and along the back dark brown, almost blackish; sides and limbs dark brown; the hair, which is very long, is ringed with light yellowish and dark brown, darker still at the tips; face red; tail short and stumpy, little over an inch long.