The general colour of this Monkey is a reddish-brown, which becomes
decidedly red on the top of the head. There is a white band between the
eyes, which is continued to each side of the back of the neck. A second
kind has grey slaty-brown tints, without the white spot.
One thing strikes the observer at once, and that is the very affected
way in which the Monkey sits, with its eyelids half closed; and as the
upper ones are dead-white, they look almost like doll’s eyelids, and as
if they did not belong to it.
They are extremely restless, and are fond of placing themselves in
curious attitudes, and so full of antics are they that it has been
erroneously imagined that they really have more joints and muscles
than the most agile of their allies. They are fond of carrying their
tails reversed, so as to be on a line parallel with the top of
the back, and their common expression of disgust is to show their
teeth by raising the upper lip. It is always droll, frolicsome, and
good-natured. Sir William Jardine mentions a female in Mr. Wombwell’s
Menagerie that was most lively, and Broderip says:--“She performed many
of the attitudes of the most experienced harlequins, and was remarkably
cleanly and careful not to soil her person. When feeding, she seldom
put her head to the food or dish, but lifted and conveyed it to her
mouth. She was very fond of bread, milk, and vegetables, and of carrots
especially.” He gives a figure of her--no easy task, for she was
never at rest for one moment, and her celerity was increased when she
perceived she was noticed.
[Illustration: MANGABEY.]
The Mangabeys are all African, and are peculiarised by having a fifth
cusp, or point, to the last crushing tooth on each side of the lower
jaw, as in Semnopithecus. Now, they have no other resemblance to
Semnopithecus, and all their structural peculiarities are those of the
Guenons. They have, however, the web between the fingers carried as far
forward as the first joint, and the hair comes close to the knuckles
and the beginning of the short thumb. In the foot the toe-thumb is
large, and, as usual, widely separate from the toes, the second and
third of which are united by a web, which reaches almost to the last
joint near the tips, and the third, fourth, and fifth are united by
smaller webs, Evidently the peculiar crushing teeth of the Mangabey
are a relic of an ancestral character, and we must look in some lower
tribes for a corresponding arrangement, and in this we are assisted by
the nature of the face, for the muzzle is rather projecting. In fact,
they somewhat, resemble the Macaques, or Inui, which will be considered
next.
[Illustration: FOOT AND HAND OF THE MANGABEY.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account