and a stranger seldom departed without having undergone a search, with a delicacy of touch not to be detected, and always successful. It was very affectionate; and the gentle satisfaction with which it would receive and return caresses, and its low but expressive cry of pleasure on such occasions, made it very endearing; nor was this feeling towards it checked by any of the disgusting habits too often exhibited by its congeners. One which was kept in the menagerie of the Zoological Society was, on the contrary, as ill-conditioned a brute as the worst of the Simian, or of any other family.

Cercocebus approaches in its manners very near to Cercopithecus; but the greater development of the long canine teeth, the facial angle, the large cheek-pouches, and the shortening tail, seem to lead towards the Baboons. The Mangabey, or Whiteeyelid Monkey,* and the Green Monkeyt belong to this genus. Western Africa is supposed to be the locality of the former; and the latter is known to be an inhabitant of the Cape de Verd Islands, as well as of the African continent. The Mangabey, with its upper eyelids of a dead white, was so named by Buffon, from the erroneous supposition that his specimens were brought from that territory in Madagascar. In a state of captivity it is a most unwearied droll—frolicsome and good-natured withal. Sir William Jardine mentions a female in Mr. Wombwell's menagerie that was most lively, and gives a figure of her, no easy task, for she was never at rest for one moment; and her activity was increased when she perceived that she was noticed. “She performed,” says Sir William, “many of the attitudes of the most experienced harlequins ***. She 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." Her diet consisted of bread and milk principally, and vegetables occasionally like Potemkin, she was very fond of a carrot. The large troops in which the Green Monkeys assemble have been remarked by many travellers. It was one of these societies, most probably, that afforded M. Adanson the excellent sport, on the enjoyment of which he dwells with so much satisfaction. The poor animals were surprised in the midst of their tricks; and M. Adanson declares that nothing could be more entertaining than the endeavours of the little wretches to escape from the slaughtering gun which the traveller seems to have worked most unrelentingly. Though he killed twenty-three in less than one hour, within a space of twenty toises, and wounded, we dare say, many more, not one of the sufferers screamed during

* Cercocebus fuliginosus.

+ Cercocebus sabæus.

the whole time; but the rest gathered together in companies, knit their brows, gnashed their teeth, and yelled as if they intended to attack him. We wish they had with all our hearts, and to some purpose, too, though we have great respect for philosophers in general, and for zoologists in particular.

Before we proceed to the Baboons, we must not forget a curious form which is placed by some naturalists among the Guenons. The Proboscis Monkey* unites in its person the unshapely corpulence of the Orangs, with the long arms of the Gibbons and the guttural sac of the Howlers. Its physiognomy defies description. Diego's feature shrinks into insignificance-though he had been to the Promontory of Noses and got him "one of the goodliest that ever fell to a single man's lot"-in comparison with the proboscis of the Kahau. He who has only seen stuffed specimens, can have no idea of the hideous mask that the undried face presents; for the protuberance is entirely cartilaginous, and can be inflated by the animal to a prodigious size. The Kahau is about three feet high when erect, and has a long tail. We saw one taken out of spirit in which it had been preserved, looking like one of those horrible female fiends sometimes pictured in old wood-cuts

"Not uglier follow the night hag."

A celebrated French naturalist, who was present at the opening of the casket which contained this zoological jewel, was in raptures, and, as the bust emerged, he uttered an exclamation significatory of her maternity. We looked in vain for the young imps, which had probably escaped when their poor barrelled-up mother fell. It must be startling to look round in the wildernesses of Borneo, and behold one of those horrible visages peering, Zamiel-like, from behind the trunk of some dark tree. At sunrise and sunset these animated caricatures assemble in the woods that border the rivers. Then and there they continually ply their guttural sacs and sonorous noses, till the vicinage echoes again with a cry, supposed to be expressed by the word "Kahau" often repeated; and hence their name. Their activity is energetic, and they will bound from tree to tree, clearing an intermediate space of from fifteen to twenty feet.

Passing by the Douc, or Cochin-China Monkey,† with its many-coloured coat, for its manners are little known, we must now call the reader's attention to forms in which monkey-depravity seems to reach its height.

* Nasalis larvatus, Geoffroy; Guenon nasique, Desmarest, Le Kahau, Audebert.

Lasiopyga nemæa.

The Baboons concentrate all that is fierce, malicious, and disgusting. There are two tribes of these enormously powerful and furious brutes. The first, and best, are distinguished by having their nostrils situated on the face, so to speak; the second form the group of Dog-headed Baboons, Cynocephali, and in them the nasal aperture is placed at the end of the muzzle.

Of the more gentle tribe, the Wanderow* presents itself as a good example. This "Child of the Sun," as our showmen used always to designate it-why, heaven only knows, unless, as the French have done their best for Diana, the English are determined that they will not be behind their neighbours in doing honour to her glorious brother-wears a uniform of deep black, with the exception of the ruff, beard, or mane, which surrounds the face, and varies from ashy-grey to pure white. This ornament may have assisted in fixing the parentage above alluded to, and may have reminded the Polito-people of the jolly face of Sol, looking out from his radiant circumference, over mine host's door. Father Vincent Maria, who observes that there are four monkeys on the coast of Malabar, hath executed a flattering portrait of our friend; and here is the picture, drawn by the hand of that worthy procurator-general of the Bare-footed Carmelites. "The first is perfectly black, clothed with glossy hair, with a white beard round his chin, a span or more in extent. To him all the other monkeys show such deep respect, that in his presence they are submissive and humble themselves, as if they were aware of his pre-eminence. The princes and great lords esteem him highly, for that he is, above every other, gifted with gravity, capacity, and a wise appearance. Easily is he taught to perform a variety of ceremonies and courtesies, and all these in so serious and perfect a style, as to make it matter of great wonder that they should so exactly be enacted by an irrational animal.Ӡ

We have had our eye upon one or two of these Wanderows. There was one in the Zoological Society's collection, then in its infancy, in Bruton Street, and a right merry fellow was he. He would run up his pole and throw himself over the cross-bar, so as to swing backwards and forwards, as he hung suspended by the chain which held the leathern strap that girt his loins. The expression of his countenance was peculiarly innocent; but he was sly, very sly, and not to be approached with impunity by those who valued their head-gear. He would sit demurely on his cross-perch, pretending to look another way, or to examine a nut-shell for some remnant of kernel, till a proper victim came

*Macacus silenus.

+ Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated. Vol. 1.

M

within his reach; when, down the pole he rushed, and up he was again, in the twinkling of an eye, leaving the bare-headed surprised one minus his hat, at least, which he had the satisfaction of seeing undergoing a variety of metamorphoses under the plastic hands of the grinning ravisher, not at all calculated to improve a shape which the taste of a Moore, perhaps, had designed and executed. It was whispered-horrescimus referentes -that he once scalped a bishop, who ventured too near, notwithstanding the caution given to his lordship by another dignitary of the church, and that it was some time before he could be made to give up, with much mowing and chattering, the well-powdered wig which he had profanely transferred from the sacred poll to his own. The lords spiritual of the present day, with one or two laudable exceptions, are safe from such sacrilege: now, it would be nearly as difficult to take a wig off a bishop, as it once was to take the breeks off a Highlandman.

But another Wanderow confined in the open part of the gardens in the Regent's Park was of a different temperament. There was melancholy about this creature. He would climb his pole, ascend to his elevated house-top, and there sit for half an hour together, gazing wistfully at that distant portion of the park which presented, when viewed from his position, the appearance of a thick wood, every now and then looking down, as if he were contrasting the smooth-shaven painted pole to which they had fettered him, with the rugged living "columns of the evergreen palaces" of his fathers.

It is impossible not to feel some compassion for this persecuted race. Monkeys, generally speaking, never live long in confinement. How should they? The most restless and mercurial of animals, to whose existence the balmy fresh air, constant change of place, and prodigality of exercise, seem absolutely necessary, they are shut up for the greatest part of the year in close, sickly, noisome apartments, artificially heated and miserably ventilated; or often only ventilated by the admission of a current of cold air. Their lungs, poor prisoners, soon become affected, and strumous attacks gradually render the whole organization a mass of disease under which they pine and die. Those that are suffered to go at large, whether in houses, about the streets, on board ships, or at fairs (the favoured ones we mean who skip along the ropes and poles on the outside of the shows, to attract company), are better off: but hapless is the monkey doomed to the civilization of the menagerie.

Before we arrive at the more brutalized Baboon form, we must notice the Barbary Ape,* the only European Monkey. This

* Inuus sylvanus, Cuvier; Macacus sylvanus, Lacépède; Le Magot.

species has established itself on the rocks of Gibraltar, and next to the Green Monkey is the most frequent slave of the travelling showman or Thespian, a misfortune which it owes to its superior intelligence. Though apparently without a tail, it has, nevertheless, a small tubercle in the place of that organ. This is the ape that figures so often in fable both ancient and modern, and it is extremely probable that it was the only tailless monkey known to the Greeks. There is no doubt that it was the subject anatomized by Galen, whose account has been verified by the observations of Cuvier and of M. de Blainville.

Some of our readers may not have heard of an old story, of which, by the way, there is more than one version, setting forth how a strong party of these apes, headed by a knowing old cheiroped, gave so much annoyance to a certain regiment in garrison on the Rock, that at last they set their wits to work and succeeded in capturing the ringleader. Him they shaved close, both head and face. They then let him go. Away he scampered to his party who had been watching him at a distance, eager no doubt, to place himself again at their head, and lead them down to vengeance. He was received with a volley of sticks and stones, by his own troops, who treated him so roughly that he was forced to fly for his life. In this deplorable and degraded state he was fain to sneak back to his old enemies, the -th; and presented himself at their quarters so woe-begone, and with such a rueful visage “ all shaven and shorn,” that there was no resisting the appeal. He was admitted and remained with his new allies. whom he served with fidelity, upon the same principle that secures the faith of all other allies,—because he couldn't help it.

The Cynocephalous Apes, or true Baboons, which form the second tribe above alluded to, have a very low facial angle, varying in the adult from 30° to 35°. They may be naturally separated into those which have a considerable length of tail, and those whose tail, if tail it may be called, is dwindled into a mere tubercle with a tuft of hairs by way of finish. In captivity these apes (which are not however indocile, if taught during their youth) present a more undisguised and complete development of the active animal passions than is perhaps to be found in any other creature. Of large size, and proportions fitted for the exertion of great strength and agility, their fierceness is almost incontrollable, their paroxysms of rage being so violent, it is said, as occasionally to kill them. They are evidently capable of attachment, such as it is; and the following anecdote related by M. F. Cuvier well illustrates the dominion of passion over them. A Chacma,* kept * Cynocephalus Chacma, Desmarest. It belongs to the section with long

tails.