This animal (_fig. 209._) is the most common of the monkey tribe; we kept one of them alive for many years, which, with the magot, seems to agree best with the temperature of our climate. This alone is sufficient to prove the mona is not a native of the southern countries of Africa and India. In fact, it is met with in Barbary, Arabia, Persia, and other parts of Asia which were known to the ancients, who denoted it by the name of _kébos_, _cebus_, and _coephus_, because of the variety of its colours. The visage of this animal is of a brown hue, with a kind of white beard, mixed with yellow and a little black. The hair on the top of the head and neck is yellow and black intermixed; that on the back red and black; the belly and the inner parts of the thighs and legs whitish, though the external parts of the two latter are black, and the tail of a deep ash colour, marked with two white spots, one on each side, at its insertion. On its forehead there are some grey hairs in the form of a crescent; from the eyes to the ears there is a black stripe, as there also is from the ears to the shoulders and arms. Some persons have called this animal _nonne_, from a corruption of _mone_ or _mona_; others have termed it the old man, from the grey colour of its beard; but the denomination by which the mona is most generally known is that of the _variegated monkey_; and this perfectly agrees with the name of _kébos_ given it by the Greeks, and the definition of Aristotle, a monkey with a long tail, and of various colours. In general the disposition of the monkeys is much more tractable than that of the baboons, and not so sullen as that of the apes. They are extravagantly spirited, but not ferocious, for they become docile through fear the moment they find themselves subjected by restraint. The mona is particularly susceptible of education, and even attached to those persons who take care of him. That which we brought up would suffer himself to be stroaked and handled by those he knew, but would not permit this freedom to strangers, whom he would often bite. He was kept chained, appearing very desirous of liberty, for when he either broke his chain, or got loose, he would fly to the fields, but he would suffer himself to be retaken by his master. He ate every thing that was offered him, roasted meat, bread, and grain; but his favourite food was fruits; and he would also search after spiders, ants, and insects. Whenever several pieces were given him together he put them in the pouches on each side of his cheeks. This practice is common to all the baboon and monkey kind, Nature having furnished them with those reservoirs, where they can store a quantity of food sufficient to support them for one or two days. _Engraved for Barr's Buffon._ [Illustration: FIG. 209._Mona._] [Illustration: FIG. 210. _Moustac._ FIG. 208. _Callitrix._] _Distinctive Characters of this Species._