The Douc (_fig. 212._) is the last among that class of animals which we
have called Apes, Baboons, and Monkeys. This animal, without belonging
to any one of these three precisely, yet partakes of them all. Of the
monkeys by the length of his tail; of the baboons by his size; and of
the ape by the flatness of his face. By a very particular character he
seems to form the shade between the monkey and the sapajous. These two
tribes differ from the monkeys, having naked posteriors, and all the
sapajous having them covered with hair; and the douc is the only monkey
which has hair on the posteriors like the sapajous. He resembles them
also in the flatness of the muzzle; but he is infinitely nearer to the
monkey than the sapajous, from his long tail, and other very essential
characters. Besides, the interval which separates these two families
is immense, for the douc, and all the monkeys, are natives of the Old
Continent, whereas the sapajous are only found in the New. We might
also remark, that as the douc has a long tail like the monkeys, but no
callosities on his posteriors, he forms the link which connects the
orang-outang and the monkeys, as the gibbon does in another respect,
having no tail, like the orang-outangs, but only callosities on the
posteriors. Independently of these general relations, the douc has
particular characters which render him very remarkable, and distinguish
him from the apes, baboons, monkeys, or sapajous, at first sight. His
skin, which is variegated with different colours, seems to indicate
the ambiguity of his nature, and distinguishes his species in a very
evident manner. He has a purple collar about his neck, a white beard,
his lips are brown, and he has a black ring round his eyes; his face
and ears are red, the top of his head and body grey, and the breast and
belly yellow. His legs are white downwards and black upwards. His tail
is white, with a large spot of the same colour on his loins; and his
feet are black, intermixed with shades of different colours.
This animal, which we were assured came from Cochin-China, seems to
be likewise found at Madagascar, and is the same as that indicated by
Flacourt by the name of _sifac_ in the following terms: "There is,
(says he) another kind of white monkey at Madagascar, which has a
brown collar, and is often seen erect on its hind feet: its tail is
white, with two brown spots on the flanks: it is larger than the _vari_
(maucauco) but less than the _varicossi_ (vari) and this animal is
called _sifac_. It lives upon beans. There are great numbers of them
towards Andrivoura, Dambourlomb, and Ranafoulchy." The brown collar,
the white tail, and the spots on the flanks, are characters which
clearly indicate that this _sifac_ of Madagascar is the same species
with the douc of Cochin-China.
Travellers inform us that the large apes of the southern parts of Asia
produce bezoars in their stomachs, which are superior to those of the
goats and gazelles. These large apes are the ouanderou and the douc;
to them, therefore, we must refer the production of the bezoar. It is
pretended that the bezoars of the ape are always round, whereas the
other bezoars are of different figures.
_Distinctive Characters of this Species._
The douc has no callosities on his posteriors, and is cloathed all
over with hair: his tail is not so long as his body and head: his face
is covered with a reddish down: the ears are naked, and of the same
colour as the face: the lips are brown, as are the orbits of the eyes.
The colour of the hair is very bright and variegated: he has a purple
coloured collar round his neck: his forehead, body, arms, and legs, are
white, and on the chin is a kind of yellow beard: he is black on the
top of the forehead and the upper part of the arms: the parts below the
body are of an ash colour: the tail, and under parts of the loins, are
white: he as often walks on two feet as on four: he is three feet and a
half, or four feet, high when he is upright. I do not know whether the
females in this species be subject to the periodical emanation.