Malbrouck (_fig. 204._) is the name of this animal in its native
country, Bengal, and Bonnet Chinois (_fig. 207._) is a term given to
the long tailed monkey, which has a kind of trencher cap on the crown
of the head, like the Chinese bonnets.
These two monkeys seem to belong to one species; and this species,
though somewhat different from that of the macaque, is nevertheless,
so far bordering on it, as to make us doubt whether the macaque, the
egret, the malbrouck, and the bonnet chinois, are not merely four
varieties, or permanent races of the same species. As these animals
do not propagate in our climate, we have not been able to acquire any
knowledge respecting the unity or diversity of their species, and
therefore are obliged to judge only by the difference of their figures,
and other external attributes. The macaque and the egret, appeared to
us so similar, that we presumed them to be of one and the same species.
It is the same with respect to the malbrouck, and the bonnet chinois;
but, as they differ in a greater degree from the two first than between
themselves, we thought it best to separate them.
With respect to the diversity of these two species, our presumption is
founded, 1. On the difference of their external form; 2. On the colour
and disposition of the hair; 3. On the difference which is found in
the proportion of their skeletons; and 4. On the first two mentioned
being natives of the southern countries of Africa, and the two that we
are now treating of, being natives of Bengal. This last consideration
is of as great weight as any of the rest, for we have had sufficient
proofs, that in wild animals the distance of climate is a sufficient
mark of the remoteness of the species. Besides, the malbrouck and the
bonnet chinois, are not the only species or breeds of monkeys which
are found in Bengal. By the testimonies of travellers there seem to be
four varieties, white, black, red and grey; they likewise tell us that
the black kind are more easily tamed than any of the rest. Those we saw
were reddish, and appeared very docile and familiar.
"These animals, according to travellers, plunder whole fields of
grain, and plantations of sugar-cane; and while one stands centinel
on a tree, the others load themselves with the booty. If any person
appears, the centinel gives notice by crying _houp, houp, houp_, which
the rest perfectly understand, and all at once throw down the plunder
which they hold in their left hands, and scamper off upon three legs;
if close pursued they also throw down what they have in their right,
and save themselves from their pursuers by climbing up trees, which
is their general abode. They leap from tree to tree, and even the
females, though loaded with their young ones, leap like the others;
but they sometimes, in their haste, miss their aim and fall. They are
very difficult to render in any degree docile, and are never so far
tamed as to be suffered to go unchained. Even in their own country
they will not produce unless at perfect freedom in the woods. When
they cannot procure fruits they feed upon insects, and sometimes go to
the sides of the rivers, for the purpose of catching fish and crabs,
the latter of which they take by watching the opening of its claws
and then putting their tails between; the crab instantly closes them,
when they, with all speed, drag it ashore, and eat it at leisure. They
are fond of cocoa-nuts, and are very expert in extracting the juice
for drink, and afterwards getting at the kernel, the shell of which
is generally made use of as a snare to catch them; a small hole being
made in one of them, the animal who meets with it thrusts his paw in
with difficulty, when those who have laid the trap run and seize him
before he can disengage himself. They sometimes place bamboos on the
tops of trees for the purpose of extracting the _zari_, which drops
from them, and which they drink. In the provinces of India, where
the Bramins reside, and whose religious tenets do not allow them to
kill any animals, the monkeys are almost numberless. They assemble in
large troops, come into the towns, and enter the houses with perfect
freedom, and hesitate not to take such provisions, fruits, or herbs as
they can meet with, and which it is very difficult to preserve from
them." There are three kinds of hospitals in the town of Amadabad,
which is the capital of Guzarat, for animals, and where not only the
lame and sick monkeys but also such as are well, if they chuse to live
there, are plentifully supplied with provisions. It is said that the
monkeys in the neighbourhood regularly assemble twice a week in the
streets of the town, that they go to the tops of the houses, which have
a sort of terraces or flat roofs, where they lie in the sun; and that
on these days the inhabitants are careful to lay upon these terraces
rice, millet, sugar-canes, and other fruits in season; for if by chance
they omit to do so, these animals pull off the tiles from the other
part of the house, and do great damage to the inside. They do not eat
a single thing without smelling at it for a long time, and when they
have satisfied their hunger they fill the pouches on the sides of their
cheeks for another occasion: they destroy the nests of birds, and
never fail to throw the eggs on the ground when they want appetite or
inclination to eat them.
The most formidable enemy these animals have is the serpent; no other
animal of the forest being able to surprise them, as they are so
exceedingly swift and subtle, that they climb up and seat themselves on
the tops of the highest trees. "The apes, says a traveller, have it in
their power to be masters of the forest, for neither tigers nor lions
are able to dispute the possession with them. The only animal they have
to fear is the serpent, which attacks them both night and day. There
are some serpents in those forests of a prodigious size, which wind up
the trees where the monkeys reside, and when they happen to surprise
them sleeping, swallow them whole before they have time to make a
defence."
_Distinctive Characters of this Species._
The malbrouck has pouches on each side of his cheeks, and callosities
on his posteriors. His tail is nearly as long as both the body and
head. The eyelids are of a flesh colour, and the face a cinereous grey;
the eyes are large, the muzzle broad and turned upwards; the ears are
large, thin, and of a flesh colour. They have a line of grey hairs
on them like the mone, but the other parts of their bodies are of a
uniform colour, a yellowish brown on the upper and a yellowish grey on
the lower. He goes on all fours, and is about a foot and a half long
from the muzzle to the insertion of the tail.
The bonnet chinois seems to be a variety of the malbrouck. They differ
in the hair on the crown of the head, which in the latter is disposed
in the shape of a cap or flat bonnet, and in the tail which is larger.
The females of both are subject to a periodical emanation.