[Footnote W: Mona is the name this animal bears in the Spanish
and provincial languages. The English word monkey is derived from
_monichi_, and both seem to owe their rise to _mona_, or _monima_, the
primitive name of these animals.]
This animal (_fig. 209._) is the most common of the monkey tribe; we
kept one of them alive for many years, which, with the magot, seems
to agree best with the temperature of our climate. This alone is
sufficient to prove the mona is not a native of the southern countries
of Africa and India. In fact, it is met with in Barbary, Arabia,
Persia, and other parts of Asia which were known to the ancients, who
denoted it by the name of _kébos_, _cebus_, and _coephus_, because
of the variety of its colours. The visage of this animal is of a
brown hue, with a kind of white beard, mixed with yellow and a little
black. The hair on the top of the head and neck is yellow and black
intermixed; that on the back red and black; the belly and the inner
parts of the thighs and legs whitish, though the external parts of the
two latter are black, and the tail of a deep ash colour, marked with
two white spots, one on each side, at its insertion. On its forehead
there are some grey hairs in the form of a crescent; from the eyes to
the ears there is a black stripe, as there also is from the ears to the
shoulders and arms. Some persons have called this animal _nonne_, from
a corruption of _mone_ or _mona_; others have termed it the old man,
from the grey colour of its beard; but the denomination by which the
mona is most generally known is that of the _variegated monkey_; and
this perfectly agrees with the name of _kébos_ given it by the Greeks,
and the definition of Aristotle, a monkey with a long tail, and of
various colours.
In general the disposition of the monkeys is much more tractable than
that of the baboons, and not so sullen as that of the apes. They are
extravagantly spirited, but not ferocious, for they become docile
through fear the moment they find themselves subjected by restraint.
The mona is particularly susceptible of education, and even attached
to those persons who take care of him. That which we brought up would
suffer himself to be stroaked and handled by those he knew, but would
not permit this freedom to strangers, whom he would often bite. He was
kept chained, appearing very desirous of liberty, for when he either
broke his chain, or got loose, he would fly to the fields, but he would
suffer himself to be retaken by his master. He ate every thing that
was offered him, roasted meat, bread, and grain; but his favourite
food was fruits; and he would also search after spiders, ants, and
insects. Whenever several pieces were given him together he put them
in the pouches on each side of his cheeks. This practice is common
to all the baboon and monkey kind, Nature having furnished them with
those reservoirs, where they can store a quantity of food sufficient to
support them for one or two days.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 209._Mona._]
[Illustration: FIG. 210. _Moustac._ FIG. 208. _Callitrix._]
_Distinctive Characters of this Species._
The mona has pouches on each side of his jaws, and callosities on his
posteriors. His tail is about two feet long, which is longer by six
inches than both his body and head. The head is small and round, and
the muzzle thick and short. The colour of his face is a bright tawney;
a stripe of grey hairs on the forehead, another of black from the eyes
to the ears, and from the ears to the shoulders and arms. He has a kind
of grey beard formed by the hairs on his throat and breast, which is
longer than in any other part. His hair is of a reddish black on the
body and whitish under the belly. The outside of his legs and thighs
are black, and its tail of a dark ash with two white spots on each side
of its insertion. He walks on all fours, and his length, from the snout
to the origin of his tail, is about a foot and a half. The female is
subject to periodical emanations.