Chapter V: The Madras Langur. Semnopithecus Priamus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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