# Handbook to the Primates/Semnopithecinae

THE GUEREZAS AND LANGURS.—SUB-FAMILY SEMNOPITHECINÆ.
The members of this Sub-family are characterised, externally, by having elongated slender bodies, with their hind pair of limbs longer than their front pair, and a very long tail. ​Internally their digestive organs differ from those of the Cercopithecinæ, the stomach being three times as large as that organ in any Guenon of the same size. Instead of being a simple rounded sac, it is elongate and composed of several pouches. These compartments are quite different, however, from those seen in a Ruminant's stomach, such as that of the Ox. In the latter, each of the various divisions is differently constructed, and its mucous membrane is peculiarly modified; in the Guenon it is divided into two portions, the left of which forms a very considerable cavity, while the right is long and narrow. Two great, strong, muscular bands run along its entire length, one along the greater, the other along the lesser, curvature, like the muscles of the great intestine, forming a series of large cells. (Otto.) In addition to this, the whole organ is twisted upon itself, so that the entrance and exit regions come to be close together. Its mucous membrane is throughout of the same character and form. The cæcum has no appendix vermiformis, or worm-shaped tube, which is the representative (as in Man) of the elongate cæcum found among the Lemuroids, as among most of the Mammals. The muzzle in this Sub-family is very short, and the nose is generally, but slightly, prominent. There are ischial callosities, but no cheek-pouches among the Langurs, though small ones have been described in certain of the Guerezas (Colobus). When laryngeal sacs are present they are formed of a single sac with a median aperture into the windpipe, in the space below its superior opening; it may have large prolongations down the front of the neck, as far indeed as the arm-pits.
The frontal region of the skull is rounded, and the facial angle is comparatively large. The ascending portion of the hinder part of each half of the lower jaw is high, and its ​hindmost molar on each side has five cusps to its crown. Their breast-bone is very narrow. The vertebræ forming the tail are much elongated. All have the central (os centrale) bone in the carpus (or wrist).
The posterior lobes of the cerebrum project beyond the cerebellum and conceal it; they are very short among the Langurs. The principal grooves and foldings seen in the human brain are represented, and there is a perfectly distinct hippocampus minor—an eminence in the cavity of the posterior lobe, which was for a long time supposed to be a character peculiar to the human brain, and the presence or absence of which was once a celebrated cause of difference between certain distinguished anatomists.
The food of the Semnopithecinæ—of which they consume a large bulk at a time—consists chiefly of leaves and young shoots of trees. For this purpose their sacculated stomach forms a necessary receptacle and store for their food during their hasty collection of it.
The Sub-family practically consists of but two genera—Colobus and Semnopithecus. One species, forming a third genus (Nasalis), is closely related to the latter. The Colobi are confined to Africa, and the Semnopitheci—of which there are a large number of species—inhabit the mainland of India, the Malayan Peninsula, and the neighbouring Archipelago as far east only as Wallace's line, which runs between the islands of Bali and Lombock, and northwards to the east of Borneo.
THE GUEREZAS. GENUS COLOBUS.
Colobus, Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm., p. 69 (1811).
The Guerezas are a group of Monkeys entirely confined to the African continent. The character which especially ​distinguishes them from the Langurs, which (with the exception of the monotypic Nosed Monkeys of Borneo) form the remaining members of the Sub-family, is the condition of their thumbs. In these animals the thumb is practically absent, being either quite invisible externally, or presenting merely a tubercle, which may or may not have a nail upon it. The hands are long and straight, and the nails of the fingers are compressed and pointed. In these animals the body is slender, though somewhat more robust than in Semnopithecus. The face is naked or covered only with a sparse and soft down, the nostrils being separated by a wide division. From this feature these Monkeys have been described by some naturalists as Platyrrhine or Megarrhine. The ears are rounded above, with the posterior upper angle pointed or square, and generally naked, but they are sometimes haired or tufted inside. All the Guerezas have a specially elongated tail, which is often tufted at the end. Their fur is long and slightly harsher than that of the Langurs, but it is not ringed with differently coloured bands. Their callosities are large and naked.
The skulls in Colobus and Semnopithecus are very similar in shape; but those of the former are often longer, larger, and have a greater cranial capacity than those of the Semnopitheci. The muzzle is short, and the hind molar of the lower jaw has five tubercles. The thumbs, even when apparently absent, are represented under the skin by a single bone, the ungual phalanx, which articulates directly with the metacarpal bone. The Guerezas differ from the Guenons in having very small cheek-pouches and no laryngeal sacs. Their stomach is transversely sacculated like the upper part of the great intestine in the human body.
The Guerezas, which represent the Langurs in Asia, inhabit ​Tropical Africa, ranging from Abyssinia and Zanzibar in the east, to Senegambia, Angola, and perhaps the island of Fernando Po on the west—between about 15° N. lat. on the eastern and 12° on the western side, to 10° S. lat. They live in small troops in the forest, both on the plains and on the mountains, their food consisting of fruits, but principally of leaves, which they eat in large quantities, as the peculiar and capacious form of their storehouse-like stomach, in lieu of cheek-pouches, would indicate.
Of their habits in their native state very little indeed is known, for they prefer to keep to the great trees of the forests far from human habitation; while, owing to their very delicate constitution enabling them to resist for a very short period the rigours of a climate cooler than their own, scarcely anything has been learnt of them in captivity. The beautiful skins of many of the species form a considerable article of commerce in Europe and America to adorn the costumes of the most refined and cultivated ladies, who vie for their possession with the semi-nude and barbarous warriors of Equatorial Africa, by whom they are also used as ornaments for their persons and for decorations for their weapons.
I. VAN BENEDEN'S GUEREZA. COLOBUS VERUS.
Colobus verus, Van Bened., Bull. Acad. Sc., Brux., v., p. 344, pl. 13 (1838); Less., Spec. Mamm., p. 70 (1840); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 503 (1841); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 17, no. 4 (1851); Wagner, in Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 37 (1855); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 182; Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 28 (1876).
Semnopithecus (Colobus) olivaceus, Wagner, in Schreber's Säugeth. Suppl., i., p. 309 (1840).
​Colobus cristatus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. (3), xvii., p. 77 (1866); id., P. Z. S., 1886, p. 182, pl. xv.; id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 19, et Suppl., p. 128 (1870).
Procolobus verus, Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm. Suppl., p. 97, pl. 1 (1887).
Characters.—Body stout; limbs robust; head oval, the muzzle slightly prominent; face and ears naked, brownish-black; thumb entirely absent; callosities large. Hair on the top of the head, forming a median crest, reddish-olive; whiskers, directed backward, pale yellow; over the eyes a frontal bar of the same colour, coalescing with the whiskers opposite the eyes; upper part of body to base of tail and down to the knees, covered with short dark olive-brown hair, finely ringed with black, and washed with rufous on the back of the neck and on the outside of the thighs; the tail long and thin, olive-brown or brownish-grey; shoulders, flanks, and outer surface of the limbs, pale greyish-green; upper sides of the hands and feet reddish-brown; throat, chest (the hair of which is elongated), under surface of the body and inner side of the limbs, ashy-grey. Length of body, 21 inches; of tail, 24¼.
Distribution.—West Africa. Forests of Fanti and Ashanti.
II. THE RED-CRESTED GUEREZA. COLOBUS RUFOMITRATUS.
Colobus rufomitratus, Peters, M. B. Akad. Berl., 1879, p. 829, pl. iA. and ii.
Tropicolobus rufomitratus, Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm., Suppl., p. 102 (1887).
Characters.—Body thick-set and covered with short hair; face ​and ears naked and brownish-black, the long superciliary hairs and the transverse crest, from ear to ear, black; front and back of the head to the nape of the neck brownish-red; cheeks and chin dark grey; back, from the nape of the neck, flanks, outer and hinder surfaces of the limbs, and the feet, dark brownish-olive; front of the shoulder, of the arm and part of the fore-arm, and the front of the thighs, pale reddish-yellow; breast, under side of the body and inner side of the limbs, of the same colour, but paler; tail coloured like the back, the tip tufted, brownish-black. Length of body, 26¾ inches; tail, 27¾.
Distribution.—This very rare species lives in East Africa. Forests at Muniuni, near Mombasa.
III. KIRK'S GUEREZA. COLOBUS KIRKI.
Colobus kirkii, Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 180, pl. xv.; id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 127 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 25 (1876); Kirk, Ann. and Mag. N. H. (5), xiii., p. 307 (1884).
Guereza kirkii, Trouess., Consp. Mamm., p. 14 (1879).
Piliocolobus kirki, Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm. Suppl., p. 112, pl. vi. (1887).
Characters.—Face and ears naked, bluish-black; tip of the nose greyish-white; head, with long divergent hairs, forming a kind of cap, bent backwards over the forehead; crown of head, back, and tail, reddish-brown, paler towards the extremity; the nape, shoulders, arms, outer and anterior aspects of the fore-arms, the centre of the outer aspect of the thighs and legs, and the hands and feet, black; forehead, cheeks, chest, front aspect of the shoulders, the whole of the under side of the body, ​and the inner side of the limbs, white; anterior aspect of the lower part of the arm, the hind-margin of the fore-arms, and the anterior and posterior aspects of the thighs and legs, greyish-white. (Gray.) Length of body, 25½ inches; of tail, 31 inches.
Distribution.—Island of Zanzibar. This Monkey was first sent to Europe by Sir John Kirk in 1868. Its discoverer, writing in 1884, says that even in 1868 the Monkey was rare, but was still to be found in many of the wooded districts of that island. He writes: "I am not aware that it has been found in Pemba Island or on the mainland; and now I discover that, if not extinct, it has become so rare as not to be procurable, even when I sent the hunters over the island. I have a report that it exists still in one spot, which they could not reach. I believe that two specimens were sent to Germany some time ago; but it looks as if the animal will be lost to science. This is due to the destruction of forest and jungle over the island."
"Colobus kirkii," writes Mr. H. H. Johnston, in 1886, "had disappeared from nearly every part of the island of Zanzibar, but a rumour prevailed that it still lingered on a clump of forest as yet unvisited by hunters. Thither Sir John sent his chasseurs to report on the Monkey's existence. After a week's absence they returned, triumph illumining their swarthy lineaments. 'Well, did you find them?' asked the British Consul General. 'Yes,' replied the men with glee, 'and we killed them every one!' wherewith twelve Monkey-corpses were flung upon the floor, and Colobus kirki joined the Dodo, the Auk, the Rhytina and the Moa, in the limbo of species extinguished by the act of man."
PLATE XXXIII.
BAY GUEREZA.
IV. THE BAY GUEREZA. COLOBUS FERRUGINEUS.
(Plate XXXIII.)
Simia ferruginea, Shaw, Gen. Zool., i., p. 59 (1800); Desm., Mamm., p. 53 (1820); Fischer, Synops. Mamm., p. 13 (1829).
Colobus ferrugineus, Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm., p. 69 (1811); Gervais, H. N. Mamm., i., p. 66 (1854); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181; Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 27 (1876); Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm., p. 25 (1883-5); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1890, p. 590, pl. xlviii.
Colobus ferruginosus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 92 (1812); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 498 (1841).
Colobus temminckii, Kuhl, Beitr., Zool., p. 7 (1820); Desm., Mamm., p. 53 (1820); Ogilby, P. Z. S., 1835, p. 99; Martin, op. cit., p. 499 (1841).
Colobus pennantii, Waterh., P. Z. S., 1838, p. 57; Martin, op. cit., p. 501; Geoffr., Dict. H. N., iv., p. 209 (1849); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181, var. 2.
Colobus ferruginea, Less., Spec. Mamm., p. 68 (1840); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 18 (1870).
Colobus fuliginosus, Ogilby, Cat. Mamm. Z. S., p. 97 (1839); Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Prim., p. 17 (1851); Temm., Esquiss. Zool., p. 24 (1853); Dahlb., Consp. Mamm. p. 95 (1857).
Colobus rufo-fuliginosus, Ogilby, Cat. Mamm. Z. S., p. 270 (1839).
Colobus rufo-niger, Ogilby, Cat. Mamm. Z. S., p. 273 (1839); Martin, op. cit., p. 500 (1841); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181, var. 1.
Piliocolobus ferrugineus, Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm. Suppl., p. 105, pl. iii. (1887).
​Piliocolobus bouvieri, Rochebr., tom. cit., p. 108, pl. iv.
Piliocolobus tholloni, Rochebr., tom. cit., p. 110, pl. v.
Characters.—Body robust, covered with rather long hairs; face naked, blackish-blue, except the tip of the nose, corners of the mouth and edge of lower lips, which are flesh-colour; ears naked, blackish-blue; nose short and somewhat prominent; frontal hairs erect, directed forward, black; top and back of the head as far as the nape, black; back, sides, outer aspect of the thighs, base and upper surface of the tail, bluish or olive-black, with whitish hairs mingled on the shoulders and thighs; sides of the face from the middle of the cheek backwards to a point behind (enclosing the ears), neck, chin, and throat, the under surface of body, as well as the whole of the limbs (except the outer aspect of the thighs), and the under surface of the tail, rich rufous; tips of the fingers and toes black. Length of body, 29 inches; of tail, 31 inches. The hairs are all uniformly coloured. The thumb is often fairly well developed, and may have a nail.
This species is extremely variable in the coloration of its fur; the back in some varieties is rufous, the cheeks and throat may be sandy-yellow or white, and the under side whitish or white, and the outside of the fore-limbs may be black, or agreeing in colour with the outside of the thighs. The well-developed fœtus shows no signs of the varied coloration of later life, but is quite white.
Distribution.—West Africa. Not uncommon along the whole West Coast.
Habits.—Like many of the other species of the genus, this species keeps to the tops of the highest trees of the forest. Its food consists of fruits and leaves.
V. THE BLACK GUEREZA. COLOBUS SATANAS.
Colobus satanas, Waterhouse, P. Z. S., 1838, p. 58; Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 497 (1841); Gervais, H. N. Mamm., p. 65 (1854); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1860, p. 246; Reichenb., Naturg. Affen, p. 88 (1862); Is. Geoffr., Dict. H. N., iv., p. 208 (1849); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181; id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 17 (1870); Schleg, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 27 (1876); Matschie, S.B. Ges. Natur. Fr. Berlin (1892), p. 226.
Semnopithecus anthracinus, Leconte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1857, p. 10.
Guereza satanas, Truess. Consp. Mamm., p. 10 (1879).
Stachycolobus satanas, Rochebr. Faun. Sénég. Suppl. Mamm., p. 114, pl. vii. (1887).
Characters.—Fur very long, coarse; face naked, black; ears rounded, black; superciliary and frontal hairs very long; hairs of the cheeks long, very coarse, and directed backwards; fur entirely and uniformly black on the body and tail; hairs on tail short; tip not tufted. Length of body, 40 inches; of tail, 59½ inches.
Distribution.—West Africa. Forests of Senegambia, Sierra Leone, Gaboon, and the Congo. This is one of the commonest species in West Africa.
VI. THE URSINE GUEREZA. COLOBUS URSINUS.
? Full-bottom Monkey, Pennant, Quad., i., p. 197, pl. 24 (1781).
? Colobus polycomus, Illig., Prodr., p. 69 (1811).
​Colobus ursinus, Ogilby, P. Z. S., 1835, p. 98; Less. Spec. Mamm., p. 70 (1840); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 495 (1841); Fraser, Zool. Typ., pl. i. (1849); Is. Geoffr., Dict. H. N., iv., p. 208 (1849); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1860, p. 245; Reichenb. Naturg. Affen, p. 86 (1862); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 24 (1876).
Colobus personatus, Temm., Mus. Lugd., fide Reichenb. t.c., p. 88 (1862).
Colobus polycomus, var., Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 18 (1870); Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Suppl. Mamm., p. 117, pl. viii. (1887), Matschie S.B. Ges. Natur. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 227.
Guereza ursinus, Trouess., Consp. Mamm., p. 10 (1879).
Characters.—Body large; fur long and glossy; face and ears naked and black; fur on neck, shoulders, and along the back forming a mantle; fur over the whole of the body and limbs deep black; front and back of head, auricular region, sides of the neck and throat, greyish-white, mingled with greyish-black; the tail long, short-haired, white at the extremity.
Young.—White, with a few scattered black hairs; tail well tufted.
Distribution.—West Africa: Sierra Leone.
N. B.—Sinoe is the most easterly region whence skins come to the coast.
Habits.—This species is often found alone, not in large troops. It is more rare in collections than C. ferrugineus.
VII. THE WHITE-THIGHED GUEREZA. COLOBUS VELLEROSUS.
Semnopithecus vellerosus, Is. Geoffr. in Bélang. Voy. Mamm., p. 37 (1830).
​Semnopithecus bicolor, Wesmael, Bull. Acad. Sc. Brux., ii., p. 236 (1835).
Colobus leucomeros, Ogilby, P. Z. S., 1837, p. 69; Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 497 (1841).
Colobus ursinus, Temm., Esquiss. Zool. Guin., p. 21 (1853).
Colobus vellerosus, Is. Geoffr., Dict. H. N., iv., p. 116 (1849); id., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 17 (1851); Gervais, H. N. Mamm., i., p. 65 (1854); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1860, p. 246; Reichenb., Naturg. Affen, p. 87 (1862); Matschie, S.B. Ges. Natur. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 226.
Colobus bicolor, Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181; id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 18 (1870); Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 26 (1876); Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Mamm., p. 24 (1885).
Guereza vellerosus, Truess. Consp. Mamm., p. 10 (1879).
Pterycolobus vellerosus, Rochebr., op. cit., Suppl. Mamm., p. 125, pl. x. (1887).
Characters.—Hair on the back, flanks, and loins, very long and silky; the fur everywhere deep black, excepting a frontal band, which coalesces with the long hair of the auricular region and sides of the neck, which are white, as well as the chin, the throat, a spot on each side of the buttocks, the external and posterior aspects of the thighs, and the short-haired tail, which is tufted at the tip; the thumbs very short, but distinct, and having a flat nail. Length of body, 28½ inches; of tail, 31 inches.
The young are similar in coloration to the adults, but the hair is not elongated.
​Distribution.—West Africa: from the Gold Coast to Senegambia, where it is not uncommon.
VIII. THE ANGOLAN GUEREZA. COLOBUS ANGOLENSIS.
Colobus angolensis, Sclater, P. Z. S., 1860, p. 245; Reichenb., Naturg. Affen, p. 88 (1862); Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 181; id., Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 18 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, p. 24 (1876); Rochebr., Faun. Sénég., Suppl. Mamm., p. 119; Bocage, Jorn. Sc. Lisb., 1889, p. 10; Matschie, S.B. Ges. Nat. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 226.
Colobus palliatus, Peters, M. B. Akad. Berl., 1868, p. 637; id., op. cit., 1879, p. 830, pl. iv.A.; Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (4) iii., p. 171 (1869); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1880, p. 68; Matschie, S.B. Ges. Natur. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 227.
Guereza angolensis et G. palliatus, Trouess. Consp. Mamm., pp. 10 and 20 (1879).
Characters.—Face and ears naked, black; hair radiating round the face, long, and directed backward, especially on the temples and sides of the face, and on the shoulders, where it forms a lengthy mantle; hairs on the top of the head shorter than on the back. General colour deep glossy black, except the frontal band over the eyes, the temporal hairs, whiskers and mantle, which are white. Tail long and black, except for the terminal third, which is white, and has a thick tufted tip; a white spot on the perinæum. Length of body, 23½ inches; of tail, 34 inches.
Distribution.—East Africa: the valley of the Pangani. Said to extend to Angola on the south-west coast.
IX. RUPPELL'S GUEREZA. COLOBUS GUEREZA.
Colobus guereza, Rüpp, Neue Wirbelth. Saügeth., p. 1, pl. 1 (1835); Lesson, Spec. Mamm., p. 68 (1840); Martin, Mammif. An., p. 494 (1841); Is. Geoffr., Dict. H. N., iv., p. 117 (1849); id., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 17 (1851); Temm., Esquiss. Zool. Guin., p. 23 (1853); Dahlb., Zool. Stud., i., p. 95 (1857); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1860, p. 246; Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 182; Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 25 (1876); Thomas, P. Z. S., 1885, p. 219; Matschie, S. B. Gesell. Natur. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 225, et seqq.
Guereza rueppelli, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 19 (1870); Rochebr., Faun. Sénégamb., i., Mamm., p. 25 (1885); id., t.c., suppl., p. 129, pl. xi. (1887).
Guereza guereza, Trouess., Consp. Mamm., p. 10 (1879.)
Guereza occidentalis, Rochebr., op. cit., Suppl., p. 140, pl. xiii. (1887).
Characters.—Face thinly covered with greyish-white hairs; nose and upper lip black; ears, naked, black; a bar across the forehead, expanding on the sides of the head, throat, sides of the neck, and chin, white; from the shoulders a mantle of long white silky hairs extending down each side and meeting on the lower back, so as to hang down over the sides of the body, the hips, and thighs; the outside of the latter greyish-white; the hinder third of the tail tufted and white, each hair ringed with numerous fine bands of brown; the whole of the rest of the body deep shining black. Length of the body, 28 inches; of the tail, 28½.
Distribution.—This remarkably beautiful Monkey inhabits North-Eastern Africa, where it is not uncommon in the ​provinces of Godjan and the kingdom of Shoa. Dr. Blanford, however, did not hear of it during his journey with the British army to Magdala. It is found also in the neighbourhood of Mount Kilimanjaro, and was shot in the forested plains near the coast by Mr. H. H. Johnston. The form of this species which has been described under the name of C. occidentalis is more or less confined to the south of Lulongo, in the Upper Congo, between 6° N. latitude and 12° East longitude.
Habits.—The "Guereza," as the natives of Abyssinia name this species, lives in small troops in the very highest trees of the forest, in the neighbourhood of streams. It is very active and lively, and quite harmless in disposition. The food of this Colobus consists of wild fruits, insects, and such like, which it searches for throughout the day only, retiring during the night. "The Colobus Monkey," observes Mr. H. H. Johnston, "is almost the only one that quite avoids the neighbourhood of Man; the other genera frequent the vicinity of native plantations, and doubtless profit by the abundance of cultivated food." The skin of this Monkey is in great request among the Masai warriors both for dresses, capes, and caps, the long white mantle of the creature forming a most ornamental costume; and also to cover their shields with.
X. THE WHITE-TAILED GUEREZA. COLOBUS CAUDATUS.
Colobus guereza caudatus, Thomas, P. Z. S., 1885, p. 219, pl. xii.; Johnston, Kilimanj. Exped., pp. 174, 388, 389, fig. 72; Matschie, S. B. Gesell. Naturf. Fr. Berlin, 1892, p. 225.
Guereza caudatus, Rochebr., Faun. Sénég. Suppl., Mamm., p. 136, pl. xii.
(Plate XXXIV.)
PLATE XXXIV.
THE WHITE-TAILED GUEREZA.
​Characters.—Very similar to C. guereza, but "characterised by having the white brush of the tail very much larger and finer than is the case in the true Abyssinian C. guereza. In the latter animal the proximal 12-16 inches of the tail is short-haired and quite black, only the terminal 8-12 inches being white and tufted, so that the white mantle hangs down from the body and hides only about one-third of the black part of the tail." (Oldfield Thomas.) In Colobus caudatus, Mr. Thomas adds, only some three or four inches of the base of the tail are black, and the remainder (with the hairs about 20 or 21 inches) is developed into a magnificent white brush, of which individual hairs are from seven to nine inches in length. The hairs of the white body-mantle—washed like the tail with yellowish cream-colour—entirely cover the black at the base of the tail, the white of the latter and of the mantle being quite continuous.
Distribution.—East Africa; very common all round the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, as Mr. Johnston—who discovered the species—reports. On Mount Kenia Dr. Gregory, of the British Museum, during his adventurous and remarkable journey, met with it at a great altitude. It has also been found at Kisongo, south-east of Lake Victoria and in Uniamuezi, where Sir Richard Burton obtained it.
Habits.—The habits of the White-tailed Guereza are very similar to those of the foregoing; but it would appear to be much more of a mountain-loving animal than the latter. A creature so strikingly—even glaringly—ornamented might be supposed to be a very conspicuous object among its native forests. Dr. Gregory, however, has informed the present writer that, notwithstanding its distinctive coloration when examined in ​the hand, he found it very difficult to detect it in its home amid the forest-trees at high altitudes, where all the branches are clothed with long grey-beard lichens, with which its fur very closely harmonizes. Mr. H. H. Johnston, in describing Mandara's soldiers, says: "On their heads were crescents made of ostrich feathers, or caps of the Colobus Monkey-skin. This last-mentioned animal also supplied them with mantles of long black and white fur, and contributed the heavily-plumed tails which these Çaga soldiers fixed on to that portion of their body where tails should rightly appear, if man had not dispensed with such appendages."
"The 'Polume,' as Dr. Livingstone calls this species, is in Uniamuezi known as the 'Mbega,' and is admired on account of its polished black skin and snowy-white mane. It is a cleanly animal, ever occupied in polishing its beautiful garb, which, according to the Arabs, it tears to pieces when wounded, lest the hunter should profit by it. The 'Mbega' lives in trees, seldom descending to the ground, and feeds upon fruits and young leaves." (Burton.)
THE LANGURS. GENUS SEMNOPITHECUS.
Semnopithecus, F. Cuv., Hist. Nat. Mammif. (1821).
Presbytis, Eschsch. Kotzeb. Entdeck. Reis., iii., p. 196 (1821).
The members of this genus have thin and elongated bodies, long limbs, and a very long and slender tail. The head is rounded, and shorter than in the Guenons; the muzzle short, depressed, and but little prominent. The thumb, although shorter than that digit among the Guenons and Macaques, is present in all the species, and forms a good prehensile finger with a flat nail. The hands and feet are long and narrow, and ​the finger-nails convex; the great-toe is thick and well-developed. The callosities are small as compared with the Guenons; the fur is abundant, and generally long, soft, and often glossy; and over the eyes they have usually a ridge of stiff hairs projecting in front. The members of this genus, as already observed, have no cheek-pouches; they have, however, a large laryngeal sac formed and situated as described above (p. 84).
The skull is round; the eye-sockets large, with a very prominent superciliary ridge projecting over them; the space between the eyes is broad, and the lower jaw is deep. The upper molars are four-cusped, and the posterior lower molar five-cusped.
The Langurs are, when young, good tempered and easily tamed; but when old they become sulky and ill-natured. They live chiefly in forest regions, in troops of considerable size. "This genus is spread over almost the whole of the Oriental region wherever the forests are extensive. They extend along the Himalayas to beyond Simla, where a species has been observed at an altitude of 11,000 feet, playing among fir-trees laden with snow-wreaths. On the west side of India they are not found to the north of the 14th parallel of latitude. On the east they extend into Arakan, and to Borneo and Java, but not apparently into Cambodia. Along the eastern extension of the Himalayas they again occur in Eastern Thibet, a remarkable species (S. roxellana) having been discovered at Moupin (about lat. 32° N.), in the highest forests, where the winters are severe and where the vegetation is wholly that of the Palæarctic region." (Wallace.)
The total number of Monkeys inhabiting the islands of the Eastern Archipelago is, according to the most recent census, as follows: In Sumatra, 12; Banka, 4; Borneo, 14; Java, 5; Celebes, 2; Natuna, Bali, Lombock, Flores, Sumbawa, and Timor, 1 each; the Philippine and Sulu Archipelagos, 1 each.
I. BARBE'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS BARBII.
Presbytis barbei, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., p. 734 (1847); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 14 (1863); id., Mamm. Burma, p. 11 (1875).
Semnopithecus barbei, Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 12 (1878); id., Cat. Mus. Calc., p. 48; Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 39 (1891).
Characters.—Nearly related to S. obscurus. Hair on the side of the head, and in front of the ears, long, projecting outwards; that on the top of the head long and directed backwards; beard short; face almost nude, bluish-black; lips thinly furnished with short yellowish hairs. General colour of the body everywhere black, except on the shoulders, the fore-limbs to the wrist, the joint of the legs, the back and sides of the head, and tail, which are washed with pale grey. Length of body, 19½ inches; of tail, 29 inches. The adult female is similar in coloration to the male. In the skull the orbits are rounded, and the inter-orbital region elongated. Dr. Anderson observes: "The differences which exist in certain dimensions between the skulls of well-authenticated examples of the two sexes are far greater than are generally found in the same sexes of different species."
Distribution.—Northern Tippera hills; Assam; and Mount Mooleyit, in Tenasserim. Dr. Anderson observed it in the Valley of the Tapeng, in the centre of the Kachin hills in Upper Burma, and in the defile of the Irawaddy.
Habits.—This species inhabits the thick forest, and is found in troops of from thirty to fifty individuals, distributed, according to Dr. Anderson, over three or four high forest-trees overhanging the mountain streams. It is generally tame and fearless.
II. THE BONNETED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS PILEATUS.
Semnopithecus pileatus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xii., p. 174 (1843); xiii., p. 467 (1844); Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 30, pl. xxvi., fig. 3 (1855); Hutton, P. Z. S., 1867, p. 946; Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 57 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 13 (1878); id., Cat. Mus. Calc., p. 40; Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 37, fig. 9 (1891).
Presbytis pileatus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xvi., p. 735 (1847); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 12 (1863); id., Mamm. Burma, p. 11 (1875).
Semnopithecus potenziani, Bp., C. R., xliii., p. 412 (1856).
Presbytis chrysogaster, Licht.; Peters, P. Z. S., 1866, p. 429; Blyth, Mamm. Burma, p. 10 (1875).
Semnopithecus chrysogaster, Licht.; Peters, M. B. Akad. Berl., 1879, p. 830, pl. iv.b; id., P. Z. S., 1866, p. 429; Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 38 (1891).
Characters.—Nearly allied to S. entellus. Face flattened and black; muzzle long and broad; head without a crest; some long superciliary hairs projecting in front, black; whiskers long, running down to the chin, and projecting outwards and backwards, partly concealing the ears, and of a reddish-yellow colour; beard short, also reddish-yellow; hair on the top of the head longer than on the back of the head and temples, black or dark ashy-grey, washed, especially on the front of the head, with rufous; neck, back, upper part of arm, lower portion of the fore-arm, outside of the thighs, and tail (except the tufted tip, which is black), ashy-grey—all these parts being slightly washed with rufous; hands and feet, black; remainder of the limbs rufous; throat, chest, and fore part of the under surface, rich ​orange-yellow, paler on the hind part of the belly and on the inner side of the limbs. Length of body, 18 inches; of tail, 28½ inches, and with the tuft, 31 inches. Cranium globular; supra-orbital ridges not prominent.
The young have the fur soft, silky, and rather long, and are much paler than the adults, and of a soft delicate grey, yellowish-white taking the place of the rufous colour of the adults. (Anderson.)
Distribution.—Northern Assam, Arracan, Upper Burma, and Tenasserim. Dr. Anderson observed a troop of this species at Tsingu Myo on the left bank of the Irawaddy, at the lower end of the first defile.
Habits.—This species lives in small troops in the forest. When young it is of a mild disposition; but, when fully adult, the males are ill-natured and fierce.
III. THE HANUMAN LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS ENTELLUS.
L'entelle, Audeb., Singes, Fam. V., sect. ii., fig. 2 (1797).
Simia entellus, Dufresne, Bull. Soc. Philom., i., p. 49 (1797).
Cercopithecus entellus, Latr., Hist. Nat. Buff., xxxvi., p. 283 (1809).
Semnopithecus entellus, Desm., Dict. Class. H. Nat., vii., p. 568 (1825); Sykes, P. Z. S., 1831, p. 199; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xii. (1843), p. 169; xiii. (1844), p. 470; Hutton, P. Z. S., 1867, p. 944; Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870); Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 60 (1876); Anderson, Rep. Zool. Exped. Yun-nan p. 15 (1878; with full synonymy); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 27 (1891).
Semnopithecus anchises, Elliot; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii. (1844), p. 470; xvi. (1847), p. 733.
​Presbytis entellus, Gray, Hand-List Brit. Mus., p. 4 (1843; in part); Blyth., op. cit., xvi., pp. 732, 1271, pl. liv., fig. 1 1847; id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 11 (1863); Jerdon, Mamm. Ind., p. 4 (1867).
Semnopithecus albogularis, Müll. u. Schl., Verh. Nat. Gesch., 1839-44, p. 58 (fide Anderson).
Characters.—Nearly allied to S. schistaceus. Crestless; hair on top of head radiating in all directions; ears large, whiskers short, not concealing the ears; prominent supra-orbital projecting hairs, black; face, ears, hands, and feet black. Head, body, limbs, and tail—which is a fourth longer than the body—pale yellowish-brown, darker on the shoulders and the outside of the limbs; under surface paler.
Female.—Smaller than the male.
Distribution.—According to Dr. Anderson, this species ranges from the Deccan northwards to the south bank of the Ganges; its distribution to the north-west, west, and south being uncertain.
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 ​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."
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 ​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).
​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. ​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).
​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).
​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).
​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).
​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 ​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 ​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.
HOSE'S LANGUR.
​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) ​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 ​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.
Habits.—These Monkeys live in small companies composed of both sexes, in the highest trees in dry spots of the forest, never descending of their own accord to the ground, nor ​visiting the rice-fields, as their food appears to consist exclusively of fruits. They may be met with, according to Mr. Iversen, the discoverer of this species, at all seasons of the year in the same parts of the forest. They hardly ever visit the more open places, but keep to the highest tree-tops, and make most astonishing leaps from one branch to another. Those observed were very shy, and, on being perceived, would seek to hide in the leafy tops of the trees, even leaving their young exposed on the lower branches. The mother carries her young one under her belly. The species was often observed in company with the Siamang (Hylobates syndactylus), but not with other Monkeys.
XII. EVERETT'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS EVERETTI.
Semnopithecus everetti, Thomas, P. Z. S., 1892, p. 582, pl. xli.; Hose, Mamm. Born., p. 15 (1893).
(Plate XXXVI.)
Characters.—Very closely allied and very similar to S. hosii in size and coloration, but the white is everywhere replaced by dull cream-colour, giving a yellowish wash to the mixed grey of the back and tail; shoulders and middle of back darker; under surface of body and light parts of head cream-colour, instead of white; whole of the forehead and top of the head black, the lower limit of the black passing across the middle of the ear; entire back of neck black; spot in the centre of the forehead above where the eyebrows meet, yellowish-white. The colour of the face, cheeks, and sides of the neck, in contrast to the dark crown, distinguish this species from S. chrysomelas. Length of body, 21¾ inches; of tail, 25¾ inches. (Thomas.)
"Since Mr. Thomas described this Monkey," writes Mr. C. Hose in his "Mammals of Borneo," "I have obtained several other specimens, ... and the marking is quite constant."
PLATE XXXVI.
EVERETT'S LANGUR.
​Distribution.—Borneo: Mount Kina Balu. Mount Dulit and Mount Batu Song in Sarawak, ranging from 3,000 to 3,500 feet above the sea.
Habits.—This species is a purely mountain form, and does not descend to the plains.
XIII. THE CROSS-BEARING LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS CRUCIGER.
Semnopithecus cruciger, Thomas, Ann. N. H. (6), x., p. 475 (1892); id., P. Z. S., 1893, p. 3; Hose, Mamm. Borneo, P. 15 (1893).
Characters.—Fur long and soft on the head and shoulders; hairs of the crown standing upright everywhere, but somewhat longer in the median line; crown chestnut; sides of the body from the axillæ, the haunches, and the outer aspect of the legs to the ankles, brilliant red, paler on the lower legs; shoulders and outer side of the fore-limb, the hands, nape, and median dorsal line, deep glossy black, sometimes broken with red and black hairs; eyebrows black; short facial hairs, whiskers, hair of the ears, the sides of the neck, chin, and the whole of the under side of the body, and lines down the inner sides of the limbs, glossy white, washed with yellow; tail at the base above, black, and duller at the tip.
The young are marked like the adults.
Distribution.—Borneo; Bakam, in the Baram district of Sarawak, where it was discovered by Mr. Charles Hose. He has since obtained it on the Batang Lupar river, in Western Sarawak.
XIV. THE URSINE LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS URSINUS.
Presbytis ursinus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xx., pp. 155, 182 (1851); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus., p. 13 (1863); Kelaart, Prod. Faun. Zeylan., p. 2 (1852).
Semnopithecus ursinus, Anderson, Rep. Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 24 (1878); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind. Mamm., p. 36 (1891).
Characters.—Very nearly allied to S. cephalopterus, but larger; hair on the sides very long. Hair more rufous on the top of the head; the back of the head greyish; the lower back and thighs wanting the grey colour; whiskers, beard, throat, and chest, whitish; beneath, of the same colour as the back.
Distribution.—The island of Ceylon, where it is confined to the mountains.
Habits.—For an account of the habits of this species, we have again recourse to the pages of that delightful historian, Sir E. Tennent:—
"The low-country Wanderoo," he records, "is replaced in the hills by the larger species, P. ursinus, which inhabits the mountain zone. The natives, who designate the latter the 'Maha,' or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it from the 'Kaloo,' or black one, with which they are familiar, describe it as much wilder and more powerful than its congener of the lowland forests. 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 a quick repetition of the sounds How, how! may be frequently heard in the ​mountain jungles, and forms one of the characteristic noises of these lofty situations. It was first captured by Dr. Kelaart in the woods near Nuera-ellia, and from its peculiar appearance it has been named P. ursinus by Mr. Blyth."
XV. THE DUSKY LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS OBSCURUS.
Semnopithecus obscurus, Reid, P. Z. S., 1837, p. 14; Martin, Mammif. An., p. 486 (1841); Murie, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 742; Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 14 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 49 (1876); Anders., Zool. Res. Yun-nan Exped., p. 25 (1878; with full synonymy); Thomas, P. Z. S., 1886, p. 66; Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 41 (1891).
Semnopithecus leucomystax, Müll. and Schl., Verhandl., p. 59 (1839-44).
Semnopithecus albocinereus, Less., Sp. Mammif., p. 65 (1840).
Presbytis obscura, Gray, Hand. List Mamm. Brit. Mus., p. 3 (1843); Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii., p. 467 (1844).
Semnopithecus halonifer, Cantor, Proc. Linn. Soc., 1845, p. 235.
Characters.—Hair on crown not radiating; longer at the back, forming a tuft of yellowish-white. Body blackish-brown, darker on the forehead, sides of face, sides of body and limbs; hands and feet black; nape of neck, and along the middle of back, brownish; tail brownish, not tufted; under surface and inside of limbs not so dark as the back or sides; face black, but the mouth and eyelids whitish; length of body, 21 inches; of tail, 32 inches.
Female.—Slightly browner than the male.
Young.—Bright golden-red, but very soon changing to the colour of the adult.
​Mr. Thomas mentions (P. Z. S., 1886, p. 66) a very remarkably coloured individual, differing from all others in having its crest, nape, arms, legs, and tail, yellow, contrasting markedly with the dark hues of the face, body, and feet. It is, however, approached by a specimen in the British Museum from Malacca, collected by Dr. Cantor, which has the crest yellow, and the limbs and tail lighter than usual. Its auditory bullæ, however, are larger and more projecting, and its teeth smaller than is usually the case with S. obscurus.
Distribution.—Siam; the Malayan Peninsula; Tenasserim, Mt. Mooleyit, at 5,000 feet.
XVI. ANDERSON'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS HOLOTEPHREUS.
Semnopithecus holotephreus, Ander., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 27 (1878).
Characters.—"Uniform dark slaty-grey passing into black on the fore-arm and hands, and also on the feet. Under surface and inner side of the fore-limbs and thighs, pale yellowish-grey. Head slightly crested over the vertex, but with only a feeble tendency to lateral compression. Supra-orbital hairs moderately long and black. Whiskers rather long, directed backwards and outwards, hiding the ears in front. Face bluish-black; area round the eyes and lips white. Length of body, 21½ inches; tail, 24½ inches." (Anderson.)
Distribution and Habits.—Unknown.
XVII. GERMAIN'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS GERMAINI.
Semnopithecus germaini, Milne-Edwards, Bull. Soc. Philom., Séance, 12, Feb., 1876; Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 27 (1878); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 34 (1876).
​Characters.—Body blackish, washed with pale silvery-grey; hands and feet black. Supra-orbital hairs, projecting outwards and backwards, black; whiskers, long and grey; hairs of flanks, long and grey; tail, grey; under surface, grey.
Young.—"Bright orange-yellow; top of head, fore-arm, and feet, blackish." (Anderson.)
Distribution.—Cochin-China, where it was discovered by M. Germain.
XVIII. THE NEGRO LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS MAURUS.
Simia maura, Schreber, Säugeth., i., p. 107, pl. xxii. B. (1775); Shaw, Gen. Zool., i., p. 47 (1800).
Cercopithecus maurus, Erxleben, Syst. Régn. Anim., p. 41 (1777).
Simia cristatus, Raffles, Tr. Linn. Soc., xiii., p. 245 (1822).
Semnopithecus maurus, F. Cuv., Hist. Nat., Mamm., pl. xii. (1822); Wagner, in Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 23 (1855); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 15 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 54 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 27 (1878; with full synonymy).
Semnopithecus pyrrhus, Horsfield, Zool. Res. Java, plate (1821); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 50 (1876).
Semnopithecus pruinosus, Desmar., Mammolog., 1820, Suppl., p. 333; Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 58 (1876); Jentink, Notes Leyd. Mus., xi., p. 215, pl. ix. (1887); id., op. cit., xiii., p. 207 (1891).
Simia ceylonicus, Desmoul., Dict. Class. Hist. Nat., vii., p. 572 (1825).
​Semnopithecus cristatus, Müll., Tijds. V. Nat. Gesch., ii., p. 316 (1835); Müll. et Schl., Verhandl., pp. 61, 77, pl. 12, fig. 1 (young; 1839-44); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 15 (1870); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 29 (1878); Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 15 (1893).
Characters.—Hair radiating from a centre, or divergent all round the face, which is reddish-black; long and bushy whiskers on the sides of the face and passing behind the ears. Hair generally long. General colour all over, deep black, the hairs tipped with silver-grey in aged individuals; spot at the under side of the base of the tail white. Length of body, 17½ inches; of tail, 23½ inches.
Young.—Uniform reddish-brown, changing soon to the colour of the adult; the rufous vanishing from the whiskers last of all. The colour of the young is said especially to be the case in females only, and to persist through life; but, as Dr. Anderson remarks, it is not a common variety, and such coloured adults are highly prized in Java.
Distribution.—Malay Peninsula. Sumatra; Padang, Bencoolen, the Lampongs. Java. Billiton. Borneo; on the Baram river, and also on Mt. Dulit.
Habits.—These Monkeys ascend the mountains in Borneo to about 2,000 feet; they are also fairly common in the low country, and are called by the Dyaks "Bigok," and by the Kayans "Chikok," from the noise they make. (C. Hose.)
XIX. THE BANDED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS FEMORALIS.
Simia maura, Raffles (nec. Schreb.), Tr. Linn Soc., xiii., p. 247 (1822).
​Semnopithecus femoralis, Horsf. App. Life Raffl., p. 643 (1830); Martin, Mammif. An., p. 480 (1841; in part); Horsf., Cat. Mamm. E. I. Co. Mus., p. 10 (1851); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 45 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 30 (1878; with full synonymy); Thomas, P. Z. S., 1886, p. 66; Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 42 (1891); Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 13 (1893).
Semnopithecus chrysomelas, Müll. Tijds., Nat. Ges., v., p. 138, plate (1838); Wagner, in Schreb., Säugeth. Suppl., v., p. 22 (1855; in part).
Semnopithecus sumatranus, Müll. und Schl. Verh., pp. 6, 73, pl. 10 bis, fig. 1 (1839-44).
Simia femoralis, Cantor, J. A. S. Beng., xv., p. 175.
Characters.—Head with a rather short vertical crest directed backward, and the hair in front directed forward over the eyes. The dominant colour is brownish-black, replaced by white on the hinder part of the belly and tail, which is slightly tufted at the tip, and more or less on the inner side of both limbs, and on the centre of the chest. Face, ears, palms, and the sides of the feet, black.
Young.—Similar to the adults, but the throat, chest, abdomen, yellowish-white.
Distribution.—The islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Habits.—This is a low-country Monkey, according to that excellent observer Mr. C. Hose, and is seldom to be found on the mountains, and then only up to about 1,000 feet. It is fond of living near the seashore, and is generally found, in numbers of from ten to thirty, sitting on the branches of tall trees in open spaces. Its Dyak name is "Bigit," and its Kayan name "Pant."
​Very nearly related to this species, if indeed it be really distinct, is the GOLDEN LANGUR, or Lootoong of the Malays, S. auratus, Geoffr. (Ann. Mus., xix., p. 93, 1812), which is synonymous with the S. chrysomelas of Wagner, for the two agree in every respect except that the latter is lighter coloured, and has black hairs intermixed among the yellowish hairs on its head, tail, and limbs.
Professor Schlegel has (Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 47) separated a specimen from Singapore, and closely related to S. femoralis, as a distinct species, under the name of S. neglectus. It is easily distinguished, as he points out, by the general hue of its fur being black turning insensibly into greyish-brown, speckled here and there with white; in the middle line of the chest, on the lower belly, and on the inner side of the fore-arm, and thighs alone, is there any white; this and the uniformly dark tail distinguish S. neglectus from S. femoralis and S. chrysomelas.
XX. THE MAROON LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS RUBICUNDUS.
Semnopithecus rubicundus, Müller, Tijdschr., Nat. Gesch., v., p. 137, cum tab. (1838); Martin, Mammif. An., p. 473 (1841); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 17 (1870); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 33 (1878; with synonymy); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 36 (1876); Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 9 (1893).
Characters.—Differs from S. rubicundus in its rich deep maroon-red colour, the radiating hair on the forehead, and its compressed, semi-erect, crest. As Dr. Anderson points out, it is the only species with radiating hair on the forehead.
Habits.—Mr. Hose observes: "This handsome red Monkey is called by the Dyaks of Sarawak, 'Jellu merah,' and by the ​Kayans 'Kaladi,' and is common everywhere. It is usually seen in large numbers, and some thirty or forty often pass one in the jungle, darting from branch to branch and making a tremendous noise. They will sometimes, when barked at by a dog, attack it and inflict a very bad bite. They ascend the mountains to the height of 3,000 feet; but at that height the colour of their hair becomes of a much deeper red. They are very destructive in the fruit gardens."
XXI. THE NATUNA LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS NATUNÆ.
Semnopithecus natunæ, Oldfield Thomas and Hartert, Nov. Zool. i., p. 652 (1894).
Characters.—Adult Male.—Size, proportions, and coloration showing a general resemblance to the S. femoralis group, the prevailing colours being black and white. While, however, the forehead, the fore-arms and hands, lower legs and feet, and tail (both above and below) are all deep glossy black, the back itself, with the occiput, nape, and shoulders, is brown. Thighs along a narrow strip on their outer aspect, ashy grey, darkening distally into the black of the lower legs, but their posterior aspect, continuous with their inner sides, is perfectly white, giving a very peculiar and characteristic appearance to the animal, and one which is quite unlike any species known to us, with the one exception that M. siamensis has whitish patches in somewhat the same position. Whole of under surface, with the sides of the neck, the hairs on the inside of the ears, and lines down the inner sides of the arms and legs, pure creamy white. Face thinly haired throughout, the hairs black, except those on the nose, where there is a whitish patch. Forehead with the hairs radiating outwards and backwards ​from a single central point about half or three-quarters of an inch behind the eyebrows; posteriorly these hairs are much lengthened, as are those on the occiput, the latter being directed forwards and upwards in such a way that the black hairs of the forehead and the brown ones of the occiput meet to form a high crest on the crown. (Oldfield Thomas and Hartert, l.c.).
Young.—Messrs. Oldfield Thomas and Hartert describe a new-born specimen as follows: "Middle line of dorsal surface from crown to anus, and whole of tail, deep black, the breadth of the black on the back being about an inch and a half; the outer sides of the shoulders greyish, and also the backs of the hands and feet commencing to become black. The whole of the rest of the animal, including the forehead, arms, and legs, wholly pure white."
"Although among the many closely allied species of Semnopithecus it is difficult to be at all sure of their mutual affinities, it would seem that S. natunæ is most nearly related to S. femoralis, Horsf., and S. siamensis, M. and S. Both of these have a similar arrangement of the hairs on the crown and nape; and, on the other hand, the former possesses the wholly black hands, feet, and tail of S. natunæ, and to a certain extent the browner tint of the back, while, on the other, S. siamensis has its whitish under side and light thigh-patch, although united with a widely different coloration."
Habits.—Mr. Everett gives the following note: "Native name 'Kĕkáh,' which is onomatopœic. These animals were common about the base of Mount Ranai, going in troops, and they commit great depredations on the native gardens. The irides are light cinnamon-brown; face livid black, the eyelids and muzzle, ​white; feet and hands very dark brown; the ears blackish externally, the outer edge and interior dull white, marbled to some extent with livid blackish spots. In an immature individual, barely half-grown, the white of the eyelids, nose, and chin was tinged with dull pink; and at the exterior angle of each orbit was a bare spot of bluish-white, showing very distinctly, owing to its different tinge of colour, the skin of the face otherwise being livid black. With maturity these naked white spots at the angle of the orbits disappear. I kept this animal alive, intending to bring it home, but it succumbed to the severity of our return passage. It fed on the leaves of sweet potatoes and tapioca, and, although it had been recently captured, in a few days it was very gentle and timid. The breeding-season with these Monkeys is either very prolonged, or is not defined at all, for I obtained them in October, when the rains were beginning, in all stages, from a fœtus three inches long, to half-grown specimens."
XXII. PHAYRE'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS PHAYRII.
Semnopithecus obscurus (nec Reid), Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xiii., p. 466 (1844).
Presbytis phayrei, Blyth, op. cit., xvi., p. 733, pl. xxxvii., fig. 3 (1847); Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl. v., p. 28 (1855); Tickell, J. A. S. Beng., xxviii., p. 428 (1859).
Semnopithecus argentatus, Blyth in Horsf. Cat. Mamm. E. I. Co. Mus., p. 7 (1851).
Presbytis cristatus, Raffl. apud Blyth, Mamm. Burma, p. 9 (nec Raffles).
Semnopithecus rubicundus, var. C., Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 17 (1870).
​Semnopithecus phayrei, Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 34 (1878); id., Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Beng., p. 49; Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 33 (1876); Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 39 (1891).
Characters.—Top of the head with a peaked longitudinal crest; hair of crown not radiating, but elongated and directed backward; whiskers long and outwardly directed, partly covering the ears; back, sides, fore-arm, hands and fore part of the feet blackish-brown, the middle of the back washed with yellowish; the chin, chest, and under surface of the body pale yellow; inside of the fore-arm and thighs brown; face livid, but the eyelids, lips, and a ring round the eyes, white, flushed with flesh-colour; length of body, 18½ inches; tail, 21½ inches.
Supra-orbital ridges of the skull not prominent, the occipital region vertical; facial region sloping downward.
The Babu Ram Bramha Lányal, writing in July, 1893, from the Zoological Gardens, Calcutta, to Dr. Sclater, says: "I am not aware whether closely allied species of Semnopitheci have ever inter-bred anywhere. They are rather exclusive in their ideas in respect to matrimonial relationship. Anyhow, such an event has just happened in this Garden. The Phayre's Langur, or as it is often called, Phayre's Leaf Monkey (Semnopithecus phayrii, Blyth) has given birth to a young one—a lovely little babe, of a delicate light orange colour. As there has been no other male in the same cage except the S. cristatus, there is no doubt of the young one being a hybrid between these two species. These Monkeys have been living together since 1880, and although they agreed very well, they were never observed to be over friendly. Even now the male does not appear to take any interest in the offspring."
Distribution.—Confined, as far as is known, to Aracan.
XXIII. RUTLEDGE'S LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS RUTLEDGII.
S. rutledgii, Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 38 (1878).
Characters.—Head with a very well-defined erect median compressed crest; frontal hairs not projecting over the face. General colour black, the hairs tipped with lustrous grey on the head, crest, trunk, and limbs. Hands and feet black. Under surface paler and the hairs more tipped with grey; tail black above, yellow below, tipped with grey; whiskers long, backwardly and upwardly divided, and broadly tipped with yellowish-grey; beard greyish; face bluish-black. Length, 17 inches; tail, 24½ inches. (Anderson.)
Distribution and Habits.—Unknown.
XXIV. THE WHITE-FRONTED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS FRONTATUS.
Semnopithecus frontatus, Müll., Tijds., Nat. Ges., v., p. 136, pls. i. and ii. (1838); Martin, Mammif. An., p. 475 (1841); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 16 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 34 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 39 (1878; with full synonymy); Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 12 (1893).
Characters.—General colour dark yellowish-brown, with a wash of red on the flanks in some specimens; the tail tufted. This species is at once recognised by the bald triangular wrinkled area between the eyebrows, of a milky-white colour, the rest of the face being deep black, except the flesh-coloured lips. It is also remarkable for the erect median crest over-arching the forehead; and by the long dependent black hairs on the cheeks from near the nose, increasing in length on ​the hindmost part of the cheek, and reaching nearly to the shoulder.
The skull has a highly arched, narrow and retreating forehead; the facial portion is short.
Distribution.—South-east Borneo, where it is very rare.
XXV. THE DOUC LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS NEMÆUS.
Simia nemæus, Linn., Mantiss. Plant., p. 521 (1771); Schreber, Säugeth., i., p. 110, pl. xxiv. (1775).
Cercopithecus nemæus, Erxl., Syst. Règn. An., p. 42 (1777); Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 8 (1820).
Pygathrix nemæus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 90 (1812).
Lasiopyga nemæus, Desm., Mamm., p. 54 (1820); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 13 (1870).
Semnopithecus nemæus, F. Cuv., Hist. Nat. Mamm., livr. 14 (May, 1825); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 459 (1841); Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl. v., p. 35 (1855); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 64; Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 40 (1878; with full synonymy).
Presbytis nemæus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xliv., p. 11 (1875).
Characters.—Head without a crest. The naked face, the callosities, and the naked portions of the hands and feet yellow; head brown, with a narrow band of chestnut passing under the ears backwards, and a second but broader one, margined with black, across the chest, from shoulder to shoulder; whiskers long and directed backwards, pale grey—the hairs ringed with black and white; upper surface of the body and sides grey; base of the neck, chest, and shoulders as well as the upper part of the fore- and hind-limbs, with the hand and feet, black; the forehead paler; the fore-arm to the middle ​of the hands, the rump, posterior region of the loins, and the tail pure white; the lower portion of the hind-limbs to the middle of the feet reddish-brown. Tail shorter than the body. Length of body, 25 inches; of tail, 20½ inches.
In the skull the forehead is low, the intra-orbital region broad and the facial portion broad at the base. (Anderson.) The thumb is well developed. The fœtus is remarkable for its motley coloration, and shows also the white rump-spot.
Female.—Like the male. The young differ but little from the parents. Aged individuals retain the coloration of their maturity.
Distribution.—Northern Cochin-China; Hainan. (Meyer.)
Habits.—The Douc goes about in large troops.
XXVI. THE BLACK-FOOTED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS NIGRIPES.
Semnopithecus nigripes, A. Milne-Edwards, Nouv. Arch. Mus. vi., p. 7 (1871); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 32 (1876); Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 4 (1878).
Characters.—Similar to S. nemæus, but differing in having the posterior limbs black, and the fore-arms grizzled, instead of white. The whiskers are short and black, the body more slender, longer, and entirely white. The hind-limbs are also more elongated. Both sexes are alike; and the young differ little from the adults.
The brain-case is depressed, the face short, and the inter-orbital swelling peculiar to so many of the crested Semnopitheci, is wanting.
Distribution.—Saigon in Cochin-China, and the forests bordering the Mekong river towards its mouth.
XXVII. THE BLACK-CRESTED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS MELANOLOPHUS.
Simia melalophus, Raffles, Tr. Linn. Soc., xiii., p. 244 (1821).
Semnopithecus melalophus (Le Cimepaye), F. Cuv., Hist. Nat., Mammif., livr. xxx. (July, 1821); Raffles, Tr. Linn. Soc., xxii., p. 245 (1822); Desmar., Dict. Sc. Nat., xlviii., p. 38 (1827); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 470 (1841); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 16 (1851); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 16 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 43 (1876; in part); Anders., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 34 (with full synonymy; 1878).
Semnopithecus flavimanus, Lesson, Cent. Zool., p. 109, pl. xl. (1830); Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 16 (1851).
Semnopithecus sumatranus, var. auratus (nec Geoffr.), Müller and Schl. Verhandl., pl. x. bis, fig. 2 (1839-44).
Presbytes melanophus, Gray, Hand. List Mamm. Brit. Mus., p. 2 (1843).
Presbytes flavimana, Gray, t.c., p. 2 (1843).
Semnopithecus nobilis, Gervais, Hist. Nat., Mammif., p. 63 (1854); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 17 (1870).
Semnopithecus ferrugineus, Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 42 (1876).
Characters.—Head crested; the crest dark-brown, tipped with dusky; forehead pale yellow; a line from the outer corner of the eye to the ear, dark brown; back, sides, and shoulders reddish, washed with pale brown; the rest of the fore-limbs, the whole of the hind-limbs, and the tail, orange-red. Length of body, 18 inches; of tail, 32 inches.
The golden variety (S. auritus) from Sumatra, is generally yellowish-red throughout.
​The skulls present a good deal of variation in the form of the internal orbital angles of the frontal, and in the occipital, bones.
Distribution.—Sumatra: Padang, Indrapoera, Bencoolen, Palembang, and the Lampongs.
Habits.—The "Simpai," as the Malays call this Langur, is very abundant in Sumatra, where the present writer has obtained it both in the north of the Palembang Presidency and in the south of the Lampongs. It is undoubtedly in part to this species that Dr. Wallace refers in his "Malay Archipelago," when, at Lobo Raman, he says that they frequented the trees overhanging the guard-house in which he was staying. "Two species of Semnopithecus were most plentiful—Monkeys of a slender form and long tails. Not being much shot at, they are rather bold, and remain quite unconcerned when natives alone are present, but when I came out to look at them, they would stare for a minute or two and then make off. They take tremendous leaps from the branches of one tree to those of another a little lower, and it is very amusing when one strong leader takes a bold jump, to see the others following with more or less trepidation; and it often happens that one or two of the last seem quite unable to make up their minds to leap till the rest disappear, when, as if in desperation at being left alone, they throw themselves frantically into the air, and often go crashing through the slender branches and fall to the ground."
XXVIII. THE MITRED LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS MITRATUS.
Presbytis mitrata, Escholtz, in Kotzeb. Reis., p. 196, cum tab. (1821).
​Semnopithecus comatus, Desmar., Mamm. Suppl., p. 533 (1822); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 468 (1841); Wagner in Schreber Säugeth. Suppl. v., p. 24 (1855).
Semnopithecus fulvo-griseus, Desmoul., Dict. Hist. Nat., vii., p. 570 (1825).
Semnopithecus fascicularis, Owen, P. Z. S., 1833, p. 75.
Semnopithecus mitratus, Schl., Essai Phys. Serp., p. 237 (1837); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 16 (1851); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 16 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 37 (1876); Anders., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 36, (1878; with full synonymy).
Semnopithecus siamensis, Müll. u. Schl., Verh., p. 60 (1841); Anders., t.c., p. 37 (with synonymy).
Semnopithecus albo-cinereus, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., xii., p. 175 (1843); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 38 (1876).
Presbytes argentatus, Blyth; Horsf. Cat. Mamm. E. I. Co. Mus., p. 7 (1851).
Semnopithecus nigrimanus et S. cinereus, Mivart, P. Z. S., 1864, pp. 625, 626.
Presbytes cristatus (nec Raffles) et P. melanolophus, Blyth, Mamm. Burma, p. 9 (1875).
Characters.—Head with a compressed blackish crest; hairs radiating from the forehead over the eyes; crown above grey, mingled with black, becoming black on the front of the crest and nape of the neck; flanks, under surface of the body and tail, as well as the inner side of the limbs, dirty white; hands and feet whitish, mixed with black or reddish hairs; upper surface of the tail dark grey, the tip paler and tufted; ears and face deep black; legs flesh-coloured; chin and throat white. Length of body, 20½ inches; of tail, 28½ inches.
The hind-most lower molar has generally only four tubercles.
​The variety of this species inhabiting Siam has a fleshy-white area round the eyes and mouth.
Distribution.—Siam; the Malay Peninsula; and Sumatra.
XXIX. THE MOUPIN LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS ROXELLANÆ.
Semnopithecus roxellanæ, A. Milne-Edwards, C. R., lxx., p. 341 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 65 (1876).
Rhinopithecus roxellanæ, id., Rech., Mammif., p. 233, pls. xxxvi., xxxvii. (1868-1874); Blyth, Mamm. Burm., p. 11 (1875).
Semnopithecus (Nasalis) roxellanæ, Anders., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 43 (1878).
Characters.—Face naked, nose depressed in the middle, the tip elevated and terminating in a singular leaf-like point; sides of the face and brows clothed with a thick ruff, which extends in a line across the face towards the nose; face green; the frontal region, sides of the face, auricular region, sides of the neck and shoulder, chin, chest, inner side of the fore-limbs, and upper aspect of the feet, yellow; top of head greyish-black washed with rufous; from the nape (with the outer aspect of the fore-limb) to the lower back silvery-grey, darker towards the neck, brightening towards the tail and front of the thighs, where it is washed with bright yellowish-grey; callosities and outer aspect of the thighs, bright yellow; under surface of the body grey washed with yellow; tail grey at the base, tufted at the tip and yellow; thumb very short. Length of body, 26 inches; of tail, 21 inches.
Female.—Similar to the male, but duller.
Young.—Also paler, with more yellowish-grey round the ears, but the top of the head not black. (Anderson.)
​Distribution.—The present species inhabits the forests of the high mountains which clothe the western region of the Principality of Moupin, in North-western China, to Kokonoor and Kansu Kinsu.
Habits.—This very remarkable animal, whose discovery we owe to the researches of that renowned traveller, the Abbé David, lives in large troops on the highest trees of the forest, in regions where the snow lies throughout the greater part of the year. It feeds on fruits, leaves, and the young shoots of the forest-trees, and of the wild bamboo. It has been placed by some systematists in a separate genus, Rhinopithecus, along with Nasalis larvatus, from Borneo, on account of the extraordinary form of its nose and of the length of the arm being greater than the fore-arm; but in its structural characters it is very closely related to Semnopithecus.
THE NOSED MONKEYS. GENUS NASALIS.
Nasalis, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 90 (1812).
This genus contains only one species,
THE PROBOSCIS MONKEY. NASALIS LARVATUS.
(Plate XXXVII.)
Cercopithecus larvatus, Wurmb., Verhand. Bat. Genootsch., iii., p. 145 (1781); Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 12 (1820).
Simia nasica, F. Cuv., Dict. Sc. Nat., xx., p. 32 (1821).
Nasalis larvatus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 90 (1812); Lesson, Spec. des Mamm., p. 66 (1840); Jacq. et Puch., Voy. au Pole Sud, Zool. iii., p. 17, pls. 2, 2A, 2B (1853); Lenz, Zool. Gart., xxxii., p. 216; Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 13 (1870); Hose, Mamm. Borneo, p. 8 (1893).
PLATE XXXVII.
THE PROBOSCIS MONKEY.
Cercopithecus nasicus, Desmar. et Virey, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat., xv., p. 574 (1817); Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl. i., p. 102, pl. x.B (1840).
Semnopithecus nasicus, Desmoul., Dict. Class. d'Hist. Nat., vii., p. 570 (1825); Schinz, Syn. Mamm., i., p. 43 (1844); Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. Suppl. v., p. 35 (1855).
Nasalis recurvus, Vigors et Horsf., Zool. Journ., iv., p. 109 (1828-9; head of young figured); Martin, P. Z. S., 1837, p. 71.
Semnopithecus larvatus, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., p. 16 (1829); Martin, Mammif. An., p. 453, figs. 279, 280-2 (1841).
Rhynchopithecus larvatus, Dahlb., Stud. Zool., p. 93, pl. iv. (1856).
Semnopithecus (Nasalis) larvatus, Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 42 (1878; with full synonymy).
Characters.—Face cinnamon-brown; ears blackish, as also the palms and soles; upper surface of the head, neck, back and sides yellowish-brown, conspicuously marked with reddish-brown and white; rump, tail and limbs yellowish-grey; tails of old specimens quite white; sides of face yellow, and a stripe of the same colour on the shoulders. Under surface yellowish-white.
Hair on the head, which is parted down the centre, on the sides of the face, neck and shoulders, long; the chin full-bearded and the tail tufted; ears small; the nose the most conspicuous feature of the face, produced into a proboscis capable of dilatation, with large nostrils opening downwards, separated from each other by a septum of thin cartilage extending to the extremity. In old males the point of the nose reaches quite below the lowest part of the chin; it is pear-shaped, and furrowed down the middle, giving it the ​appearance of being double tipped; it is widest in the middle of the free portion. The proboscis is fully developed only at an advanced age in both sexes, being much shorter in the young, and turned upwards. Vigors and Horsfield described their N. recurvus from a specimen which appeared to them to be perfectly adult. The forehead is low; the eyes are wide apart, and the neck is short and much dilated from the presence of a very large laryngeal sac. Length of the body, 29½ inches; of the tail, 26 inches.
Female.—Similar to the male, but it is smaller, and wants the greyish rump markings; while the proboscis is somewhat less developed.
Young.—Have the face blackish and the cheeks wrinkled; the back of the head, down to the shoulders and upper part of the fore-limb is dark reddish-brown. "Through a series of changes during which the red-brown of the upper parts first increases in strength, and the grey-brown of the hips and upper side of the tail change to yellowish-white, the adult pelage is reached." (Anderson.)
This extraordinary animal presents all the structural characters of the genus Semnopithecus; but the lower border of the nasal bones, forming the entrance to the nasal chamber, extends considerably below the lower border of the eye-sockets. The facial portion of the skull does not much exceed the brain-case.
The Proboscis Monkey has the sacculated stomach already described in the Langurs.
Distribution.—The Proboscis Monkey is confined to the island of Borneo. Mr. Hornaday found it along the west bank of the Sarawak river, both near the sea and two miles below the ​town. It occurs also in some abundance on the Batang Lupar river. Mr. Hose says that it is chiefly found near the mouths of the rivers in Southern Sarawak.
Habits.—The Proboscis Monkey, variously called Blanda (or White Man) and "Rasong" by the natives, is an arboreal creature living in small troops. "As usual," writes Mr. Hornaday, "they were over water, and, being swift climbers and quite shy, were hard to kill. I saw altogether, during my ramblings in the forests of Borneo, perhaps a hundred and fifty Proboscis Monkeys, and, without a single exception, all were over water, either river, lake, or submerged forest. As long as they are in sight they are very conspicuous objects, choosing the most commanding positions in open tree-tops. Once I saw thirteen in one tree, sitting lazily on the branches, as is their habit, sunning themselves and enjoying the scenery. It was the finest sight I ever saw in which Monkeys played a part. The cry of the 'Blanda,' is peculiar and unmistakable. Written phonetically it would be 'Honk,' and occasionally 'Kec-honk,' long drawn and deeply resonant, quite like the tone of a bass viol.... The Proboscis Monkey is a large animal of striking appearance both in form and colour. Taken altogether, Nasalis larvatus is, to the hunter-naturalist, a very striking object of pursuit, and were he not partially eclipsed by the Orang he would be the most famous Quadrumane in the East Indies."