Of all the guenons, or monkeys, with long tails, the macaque (_fig.
202._) approaches nearest the baboon. Like them his body is short and
compact, his head thick, his muzzle broad, his nose flat, his cheeks
wrinkled, and he is also larger and taller than most other monkeys. He
is so extremely ugly that he might well be looked upon as a smaller
kind of baboon, if his tail were not long and tufted; whereas that of
the baboon, in general, is extremely short. This species is a native
of Congo, and other southern provinces of Africa. It is numerous,
and subject to many varieties, with respect to its size, colour, and
disposition of the hair. The body of that described by Hasselquist was
more than two feet long; and those we have seen were not above one foot
and a half. That which we term the _Egret_, (_fig. 203._) because it
has on the top its head a tuft of hair, seems to be only a variety of
the macaque, which it perfectly resembles, excepting in this and some
other slight differences in the hair. Both of them are tractable and
docile; but, independently of a disagreeable scent which they diffuse
around them; they are so dirty, so ugly, and even so hideous when they
grimace, that we cannot look on them without horror and disgust. These
monkeys go in troops, especially to plunder orchards of the fruit and
plants. Bosman relates, that they take a quantity of millet in each
hand, the same under their arms, and some in their mouths, which they
go off with, leaping on their hind feet; if pursued they first drop
that from under their arms, then that from their hands; and this they
do that they may use more speed on their four legs, but they always
preserve that in their mouths. This traveller adds, that they examine
carefully all they pull, and what does not please them they throw
away, and tear up others: so that by this nicety they do much greater
injuries than by the quantities they consume or take away.
_Distinctive Characters of this Species._
The macaque has pouches on each side of his cheeks, and callosities
on his posteriors. His tail is nearly as long us all the rest of the
body, being about eighteen or twenty inches in length. His head is
large, and his muzzle thick; his visage naked, pale, and wrinkled;
his ears are covered with hair; his body short and compact; and his
legs short and thick. The hair on the upper part of the body is of a
greenish ash colour, and on the breast and belly of a yellowish. He has
a kind of crest of hair on the top of his head. He walks on four and
sometimes on two feet. The length of his body, including the head, is
about eighteen or twenty inches. There appears to be varieties in this
species, some larger and others smaller.
The egret seems to be only a variety of the macaque. He is about a
third smaller in all his dimensions. Instead of a small crest of hair,
which is found on the top of the head of the macaque, this animal
has it sharp and pointed. The hair on the forehead of this is black,
whereas that of the macaque is greenish. The egret also has a longer
tail than the macaque, in proportion to the length of its body. The
females are subject to the periodical emanation like women.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 204. _Malbrouck._ FIG. 205. _Black Banded Patas._]
[Illustration: FIG. 206. _Mangabey._ FIG. 207. _Chinese Bonnet._]