Chapter 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.

{99}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 {100}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 {101}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.

{102}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.

{103}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 {104}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.