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.
CONCLUSION OF THE APES OF THE OLD CONTINENT.
[THE SAPAJOUS AND THE SAGOINS.]