Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 2

_GENUS PRESBYTES--CUVIER'S GENUS SEMNOPITHECUS_.

These monkeys are characterised by their slender bodies and long limbs and tails. Jerdon says the Germans call them Slim-apes. Other striking peculiarities are the absence of cheek pouches, which, if present, are but rudimentary. Then they differ from the true monkeys (_Cercopithecus_) by the form of the last molar tooth in the lower jaw, which has five tubercles instead of four; and, finally, they are to be distinguished by the peculiar structure of the stomach, which is singularly complicated, almost as much so as in the case of Ruminants, which have four divisions. The stomach of this genus of monkey consists of three divisions: 1st, a simple cardiac pouch with smooth parietes; 2nd, a wide sacculated middle portion; 3rd, a narrow elongated ca.n.a.l, sacculated at first, and of simple structure towards the termination. Cuvier from this supposes it to be more herbivorous than other genera, and considers this conclusion justified by the blunter tubercles of the molars and greater length of intestines and caec.u.m, all of which point to a vegetable diet.

"The head is round, the face but little produced, having a high facial angle."--_Jerdon_.

But the _tout ensemble_ of the _Langur_ is so peculiar that no one who has once been told of a long, loosed-limbed, slender monkey with a prodigious tail, black face, with overhanging brows of long stiff black hair, projecting like a pent-house, would fail to recognise the animal.

The _Hanuman_ monkey is reverenced by the Hindus. Hanuman was the son of Pavana, G.o.d of the winds; his strength was enormous, but in attempting to seize the sun he was struck by Indra with a thunderbolt which broke his jaw (_hanu_), whereupon his father shut himself up in a cave, and would not let a breeze cool the earth till the G.o.ds had promised his son immortality. Hanuman aided Rama in his attack upon Ceylon, and by his superhuman strength mountains were torn up and cast into the sea, so as to form a bridge of rocks across the Straits of Manar.[4]

[Footnote 4: The legend, with native picture, is given in Wilkin's 'Hindoo Mythology.']

The species of this genus of monkey abound throughout the Peninsula.

All Indian sportsmen are familiar with their habits, and have often been a.s.sisted by them in tracking a tiger. Their loud whoops and immense bounds from tree to tree when excited, or the flas.h.i.+ng of their white teeth as they gibber at their lurking foe, have often told the s.h.i.+kari of the whereabouts of the object of his search. The _Langurs_ take enormous leaps, twenty-five feet in width, with thirty to forty in a drop, and never miss a branch. I have watched them often in the Central Indian jungles. Emerson Tennent graphically describes this: "When disturbed their leaps are prodigious, but generally speaking their progress is not made 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 upwards again till they can grasp a higher and more distant one, and thus continue their headlong flight."

Jerdon's statement that they can run with great rapidity on all-fours is qualified by McMaster, who easily ran down a large male on horseback on getting him out on a plain.

A correspondent of the _Asian_, quoting from the _Indian Medical Gazette_ for 1870, states that experiments with one of this genus (_Presbytes entellus_) showed that strychnine has no effect on _Langurs_--as much as five grains were given within an hour without effect. "From a quarter to half of a grain will kill a dog in from five to ten minutes, and even one twenty-fourth of a grain will have a decided tetanic effect in human beings of delicate temperament."--_Cooley's Cycl_. Two days after _ten_ grains of strychnine were dissolved in spirits of wine, and mixed with rum and water, cold but sweet, which the animal drank with relish, and remained unhurt.

The same experiment was tried with one of another genus (_Inuus rhesus_), who rejected the poisoned fruit at once, and on having strychnine in solution poured down his throat, died.

The _Langur_ was then tried with cyanide of pota.s.sium, which he rejected at once, but on being forced to take a few grains, was dead in a few seconds.

Although we may not sympathize with those who practise such cruel experiments as these above alluded to, the facts elucidated are worth recording, and tend to prove the peculiar herbivorous nature of this genus, which, in common with other strictly herbivorous animals, instinctively knows what to choose and what to avoid, and can partake, without danger, of some of the most virulent vegetable poisons. It is possible that in the forests they eat the fruit of the _Strychnos nux-vomica_, which is also the favourite food of the pied hornbill (_Hydrocissa coronata_).

NO. 4. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES ENTELLUS.

_The Bengal Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 1_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Langur_, _Hanuman_, Hindi; _Wanur_ and _Makur_, Mahratti; _Musya_, Canarese.

HABITAT.--Bengal and Central India.

[Figure: _Presbytes entellus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Pale dirty or ashy grey; darker on the shoulders and rump; greyish-brown on the tail; paler on the head and lower parts; hands and feet black.

SIZE.--Length of male thirty inches to root of tail; tail forty-three inches.

The _Entellus_ monkey is in some parts of India deemed sacred, and is permitted by the Hindus to plunder their grain-shops with impunity; but I think that with increasing hard times the _Hanumans_ are not allowed such freedom as they used to have, and in most parts of India I have been in they are considered an unmitigated nuisance, and the people have implored the aid of Europeans to get rid of their tormentors. In the forest the _Langur_ lives on grain, fruit, the pods of leguminous trees, and young buds and leaves. Sir Emerson Tennent notices the fondness of an allied species for the flowers of the red hibiscus (_H. rosa sinensis_). The female has usually only one young one, though sometimes twins. The very young babies have not black but light-coloured faces, which darken afterwards. I have always found them most difficult to rear, requiring almost as much attention as a human baby. Their diet and hours of feeding must be as systematically arranged; and if cow's milk be given it must be freely diluted with water--two-thirds to one-third milk when very young, and afterwards decreased to one-half. They are extremely susceptible to cold. In confinement they are quiet and gentle whilst young, but the old males are generally sullen and treacherous. Jerdon says, on the authority of the _Bengal Sporting Magazine_ (August 1836), that the males live apart from the females, who have only one or two old males with each colony, and that they have fights at certain seasons, when the vanquished males receive charge of all the young ones of their own s.e.x, with whom they retire to some neighbouring jungle. Blyth notices that in one locality he found only males of all ages, and in another chiefly females. I have found these monkeys mostly on the banks of streams in the forests of the Central Provinces; in fact, the presence of them anywhere in arid jungles is a sign that water is somewhere in the vicinity. They are timid creatures, and I have never seen the slightest disposition about them to show fight, whereas I was once most deliberately charged by the old males of a party of _Rhesus_ monkeys. I was at the time on field service during the Mutiny, and, seeing several nursing mothers in the party, tried to run them down in the open and secure a baby; but they were too quick for me, and, on being attacked by the old males, I had to pistol the leader.

NO. 5. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES SCHISTACEUS.[5]

_The Himalayan Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 2_).

[Footnote 5: Mr. J. c.o.c.kburn, of the Imperial Museum, has, since I wrote about the preceding species, given me some interesting information regarding the geographical distribution of _Presbytes entellus_ and _Hylobates hooluck_. He says: "The latter has never been known to occur on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, though swarming in the forests at the very water's edge on the south bank.

The _entellus_ monkey is also not found on the north bank of the Ganges, and attempts at its introduction have repeatedly failed."

_P. schistaceus_ replaces it in the Sub-Himalayan forests.]

NATIVE NAMES.--_Langur_, Hindi; _Kamba Suhu_, Lepcha; _Kubup_, Bhotia.

HABITAT.--The whole range of the Himalayas from Nepal to beyond Simla.

DESCRIPTION (after Hodgson).--Dark slaty above; head and lower parts pale yellowish; hands concolorous with body, or only a little darker; tail slightly tufted; hair on the crown of the head short and radiated; on the cheeks long, directed backwards, and covering the ears. Hutton's description is, dark greyish, with pale hands and feet, white head, dark face, white throat and breast, and white tip to the tail.

SIZE.--About thirty inches; tail, thirty-six inches.

Captain Hutton, writing from Mussoorie, says: "On the Simla side I observed them also, leaping and playing about, while the fir-trees, among which they sported, were loaded with snow-wreaths, at an elevation of 11,000 feet."--'Jour. As. Soc. Beng.' xiii. p. 471.

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

NO. 6. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES PRIAMUS.

_The Madras Langur_.

NATIVE NAME.--_Gandangi_, Telugu.

HABITAT.--The Coromandel Coast and Ceylon.

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

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

Blyth, who is followed by Jerdon, describes this monkey as having a compressed high vertical crest, but Dr. Anderson found that the specimens in the Indian Museum owed these crests to bad stuffing.

Kellaart, however, mentions it, and calls the animal "the Crested Monkey." In Sir Emerson Tennent's figure of _P. priamus_ a slight crest is noticeable; but Kellaart is very positive on this point, saying: "_P. priamus_ is easily distinguished from all other known species of monkeys in Ceylon by its high compressed vertical crest."

Jerdon says this species is not found on the Malabar Coast, but neither he nor McMaster give much information regarding it. Emerson Tennent writes: "At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island where the population is comparatively numerous, these monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of man as to exhibit the utmost daring and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a palmyra palm, and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes invisible in an instant. The presence of a dog, however, excites such irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. They may be frequently seen congregated on the roof of a native hut; and, some years ago, the child of a European clergyman, stationed near Jaffna, having been left on the ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them as to cause its death."

In these particulars this species resembles _P. entellus_.

NO. 7. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES JOHNII.

_The Malabar Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 4_).

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

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

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

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

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

NO. 8. SEMNOPITHECUS _vel_ PRESBYTES JUBATUS.

_The Nilgheri Langur_ (_Jerdon's No. 5_).

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