Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-10-22


fire on which 1t was to have expnt.d
its rash adventure, and therefore APP
pears now with singed face and black
hands. The rest of its body is colored
whitish gray; on its forehead, cheeks,
and chin it wears long, stiff, bristling
hairs, out of which, as from frame,
peers the round black face with a lively
and peculiarly droll expression. The
pious Hindu, who will kill hardly any
animal, of course does as little harm
as possible to his ardently revered
nonlkey-saint, but gives it freely of the
fruits of his gardens and fields. He
even in literal sense let's il take the
already prepared meal from his own
mouth. Through the credulous sim
plicity of men, which has permitted
them in quiet acquiescence from time
immemorial to do their pleas
ure, the humans have become
SO bold and impudent that
they go into the houses as well as into
the gardens and steal, plumber and de-
stroy at their hearts desire.
The most prominent members of the
group Of South African short-thnmbei
apes is the guereza (Colubus guereza,
RuDp). This monkey is one of the
most famous animals, and one Of those
which are most fully and imaginatively
described in all special works and por-
| trayed in plain and in fantastic styles;
SO that every owner of a natural his
tory knows it by name, but nobody has
seen it living.
The picture makes a more detailed
description of the coloring of the
guereza unnecessary; and will only
| say that the way in which the white
appears, as in certain sense border
and trimming of the dark ground color,
varies somewhat and might probably
afford means of distinguishing be-
tween the geographical varieties Of
species that is distributed over the
whole of interior Africa. Hans Meyer,
the hardy conqueror of Africa's giant
mountain Kilima Marc, found in that
region a form which he named cauda-
is white; our specimens be-
long to a variety called occi-
dentalis in Rocheprune's monograph on
the short-thumbed monkeys. A con-
siderable number of species of monkeys
of western and central Africa are piet-
ured and described in this special work;
many of them, including the bear short
thumbed monkeys (Colobus ursinus,
Waterh.) look much like guereza
without side-mane; others, like the
devil-monkey (Colobus santanas, 0g.l,
are described as black; and still others
are red. OF all these we know little
1 H. rl- he
skulls, for they reach us living only
exceptionally. return to the guereza,
the handsomest and most interesting
species.
The guereza is not one Of the
hated field robbers, and has therefore
been hunted in Abyssinia only so much
as is necessary to get material for the
, adornment Of the small. round leather
) shields formerly in use there. These
5 shields have gone out of use since the
+ style of armor has been changed, and
: it is now molested but little, and leads
: peaceful life away from the DWELL
! ings of men In Gallaland, whence
your specimens have come, the guereza
r lives in the thick woods, especially in
: deep, moist, and warm mountain
4 ROrgeS- IL prefers nome III tue giant
e sycamore trees, or wild figs, the fruits
S of which constitute its principal food
S The Abyssinian juniper, which is from
e twenty-five to thirty metres high, and
forms whole forests there. is also much
r resorted to by it. Brehm, relying upon
r the unanimity of the accounts which
; have appeared since the discovery of
: the guereza by the Abyssinian traveller
S Ruppell of Frankfort, enthusiastically
a praises the beauty, gracefulness, and
e elegance of the outward appearance
b of the animal and the agility and grace
n of its motions, especially its colossal
}, leap, in which the body seems to be car
n ried along by its waving robe. Hans
r Never unconsciously compliments this
: sketch with description of the quiet,
r still life of the societies of four or five
r members in the secure height of their
d tree-top, and in connection with il
s mentions habit not observed before,
a by which the presence of band Of
r guerezas can be recognized from q