Indian Antiquary Vol 14

SR No.: 032506
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 418
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 18 MB

Page 315

OCTOBER, 1885.]
20. Νάρδος
21. Κόστος
22.
...
...
ANIMALS AND PLANTS OF INDIA.
Spikenard (Nardostachys jatmansi),
Costus (Aucklandia costus).
Mangrove (Bruguiera gymnorhiza).
MAMMALS.
1. MONKEY (Πίθηκος).
Inuus rhesus, Des. (?)-The Bengal Monkey, or Macacus radiatus, Kuhl.-The Madras Monkey.
According to Strabo,10 Megasthenes says, "There are monkeys, rollers of rocks, which climb precipices, whence they roll down stones upon their pursuers." There is not much to enable an exact identification of the species, but it was probably one of the above species of brown monkeys. I am not prepared to deny that this story may have originated in the title of 'monkey' which, as is well known, was freely bestowed upon the wild tribes of men who inhabited the jungles of India, and who, when attacked, often had recourse to this mode of defence against their better armed assailants." But that it is not impossible that the story may have referred to real monkeys will be apparent from the following personal experience of my own :-" When at Malwâ Tâl, a lake near Nainî Tâl, in the Himalayas, I was warned that in passing under a landslip, which slopes down to the lake, I should be liable to have stones thrown at me by monkeys. Regarding this as being possibly a traveller's tale, I made a particular point of going to the spot in order to see what could have given rise to it. As I approached the base of the landslip, near the road on the north side of the lake I saw a number of brown monkeys (Inuus rhesus), rush to the sides and across the top of the landslip, and presently pieces of loosened stone and shale came tumbling down near where I stood. I fully satisfied myself that this was not merely accidental, for I distinctly saw one monkey industriously, with both fore paws, and with obvious malice prepense, pushing the loose shingle off a shoulder of rock. I then tried the effect of throwing
10 Geographika, xv. 1, 56. Cf. Megasthenes, by J. W. M'Crindle, p. 58.
[Natives commonly believe that the English are the descendants of the monkey army of Hanuman, the ally of Rama Chandra. There are several proverbs turning on this notion, based on a prophecy said to be in the Ramayana, that a race with the characteristics of Hanu
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stones at them, and this made them quite angry, and the number of fragments which they set rolling was speedily doubled. This, though it does not actually amount to throwing or projecting an object by monkeys, comes very near to the same thing, and makes me think that there may be truth in the stories of their throwing fruit at people from trees," or at least dropping them on their heads.
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Babar in his Memoirs gives an account of several species of monkeys, both wild and domesticated, which were known in Western India in his time.
2. LONG-TAILED MONKEY (KepкOTiOnkos). Presbytis priamus, Elliot.-The Madras Langûr.
There can be little doubt that another species of monkey, described by Megasthenês, as recorded by Strabo and Elian, belonged to the genus Presbytis, and it may, I think, be identified with the Madras species priamus rather than with the Bengal species entellus. "The monkeys of India," writes Strabo,1 "are larger than the largest dogs. They are white, except in the face, which is black, though the contrary is observed elsewhere. Their tails are more than two cubits in length; they are very tame, and not of a malicious disposition, so that they neither attack nor steal." An account by Ælian is more detailed. "Among the Prasii (Sansk., Práchyas, i.e., Easterns) in India there are found, they say, apes of human-like intelligence, which are to appearance about the size of Hyrkanian dogs. Nature has furnished them with fore-locks, which one ignorant of the reality would take to be artificial. Their chin, like that of a satyr, turns upwards, and their tails are like the potent one of the lion. Their bodies are white all over, except the face and the tip of the tail, which are of a reddish hue. They are very intelligent, and naturally tame. They are bred in the woods, where also they live, subsisting on the fruits which they find growing wild on the hills. They resort in great numbers to Latagê, an Indian city, where they eat rice, which has been laid down for them by the king's orders. In fact, every day
man's monkeys would conquer India under certain conditions. The English are said to fulfil the charac teristics and their rule the conditions.-ED.]
1 Jungle Life in India, p. 537.
13 Geographika, xv. 1, 87.
Hist. Anim., xvi. 10. Cf. Megasthenés, by J. W. M'Crindle, p. 57.