When living at the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent’s Park, this
pretty Monkey, with a red chest and belly, and slim tail, was very
timid, but it liked to be petted by the keeper, being somewhat
distrustful of its more romping companions. It would take food out of
his hand, and seemed pleased, and generally played with, his fingers,
without attempting to bite. The canine teeth were very moderately grown.
This Monkey inhabits western Africa, and is at once known by the red
belly and chest, the white beard and whiskers, and the black band
across the forehead. It has, moreover, a yellow crown.
THE RED, OR PATAS MONKEY.[46]
The delicate red ground-colour of this Monkey readily distinguishes
it from its more favoured allies. One in the Zoological Gardens
is wonderfully human in the expression of its face and beautiful
sad-looking large eyes. Its pale lips, eyelids, and cheeks, and the
broadish pale forehead, with a slightly ridged nose, add to its
appearance of suffering. It has a moustache, a few hairs on its nose,
and whiskers, which are very cleanly kept in the proper whisker-line.
The hair of the forehead forms a counter-curve, whose peak is just in
the centre. Altogether it is a very pretty animal.
Bruce, the African traveller, when in Western Africa, took that trouble
which is very rarely done by distinguished travellers in Africa, and
observed Monkeys in a state of nature--the Red Monkey in particular.
It is strange, considering the omnipresence of the Monkey element,
that one may look over volume after volume of African travels, and
very rarely meet with a note or word about them; but such is the
case. So our obligation to Bruce is great. He says they descended in
troops from the tops of the trees to the extremities of the branches,
earnestly noticing, and apparently much amused by, the boats, as they
passed along the river. They then began to take courage, and pelt the
passengers with pieces of wood, this provoking a most unequal combat.
When fired upon, they uttered the most frightful cries, and although
many fell, the survivors seemed by no means willing to relinquish the
contest; on the contrary, they redoubled their efforts. Some flung
stones at their adversaries, while others collected something very
nasty as a missile; all, in short, displayed a determination of spirit
which must at all times render them formidable to opponents of weaker
powers than themselves.
The last group of the Guenons are often called the Mangabeys, from
a mistaken notion that they come from Madagascar. But there are no
Monkeys in that great island, whose forests are peopled by Lemurs
instead.
[Illustration: RED-BELLIED MONKEY. (_From the Proceedings of the
Zoological Society._)]
THE MANGABEY, OR WHITE-EYELID MONKEY.[47]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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