88 THE MIRIKTI. 
The monkey—a lady—to whom the name of Sally was given, was captured in British 
Guiana, and brought to the governor of Demerara, from whom it passed to its present 
gallant possessor. Sally seems to be a wondrous favourite, and to take in her owner’s 
heart the place of a favourite child. There are many photographic portraits of this sable pet, 
three of which are at present before me, one representing Sally as lying contentedly in her 
master’s lap, her little wrinkled face looking over his arm, and her tail twisted round his 
knees, while one hind-foot is grasping this appendage. A second portrait exhibits her 
standing on a pedestal, by the side of the captain’s coxswain,—to whose care she was 
chiefly committed—her left arm flung lovingly round his neck, and her tail coiled several 
times round his right hand, on which she is partly sitting. In the third, she is shown 
standing by the side of the same man, with her foot upon his hand, and the tip of her 
tail round his neck, by way of a change. 
In almost every case there is a slight blur in the monkey’s form, owing to the difficulty 
in persuading so volatile an animal as a monkey to remain still for two seconds together. 
However, the proportions of the animal are well preserved, and its characteristic attitudes 
shown clearly enough. 
She is a most gentle creature, only having been known to bite on two occasions, one 
of which was simply in self-defence. She had got loose in the dock yard at Antigua, and 
had been chased by the men for some time. At last she was hemmed into a corner, and 
would have been taken easily, had not the dockyard labourers rather feared her teeth. 
Her master, however, in order to prove that she was not dangerous, caught her, and was 
rewarded by a rather severe bite on his thumb. Had it not been, however, that poor 
Sally was terrified out of her senses by the pursuit of the labourers, she would not have 
behaved so badly. 
So gentle was she in general, that whenever she received a slight correction for some 
fault, she would never attempt to retaliate, but only sidle away and accept the rebuke. 
Malice does not seem to be in her nature, for she soon forgets such injuries, and does not 
lose her kind feelings towards her corrector. Her master tells me that if any one gets 
bitten by her, it is entirely the fault of the sufferer, and not of the monkey. 
On board ship she is not trammeled by chain or rope, but is permitted to range the 
vessel at her own sweet will. She revels among the rigging, and when she becomes 
playful, dances about a rope in such a strange manner, and flings her limbs and tail about 
so fantastically, that the spectators are at a loss to distinguish the arms and lees from the 
tail. When thus engaged, the name of spider monkey is peculiarly apposite, for she 
looks just like a great overgrown tarantula in convulsions. During these fits of sportive- 
ness, she stops every now and then to shake her head playfully at her friends, and, 
screwing up her nose into a point, utters little, short, soft grunts at intervals. She 
generally becomes vivacious towards sunset. 
There is a curious custom in which she is in the habit of indulging. She likes to 
climb up the rigging until she reaches a horizontal rope, or small spar, and then, hooking 
just the tip of her tail over it, will hang at full length, slowly swinging backward and 
forward, while she rubs each arm alternately from the wrist to the elbow, as if she were 
trying to stroke the hair the wrong way. She always must needs have her tail round 
something, and, if possible, would not venture a step without securing herself to some 
object by the means of that long and lithe member. 
Unlike many of her relatives, who are inveterate thieves, and with the tips of their 
tails quietly steal objects from which their attention is apparently turned, Sally is 
remarkably honest, never having stolen anything but an occasional fruit or cake. She is 
accustomed to take her dinner at her master’s table, and behaves herself with perfect 
decorum, not even beginning to eat until she has obtained permission, and keeping to her 
own plate like a civilized being. Her food is mostly composed of vegetables, fruit, and 
sopped bread, although she occasionally is treated to a chicken bone, and appreciates it 
highly. 
In the matter of food she is rather fastidious, and if a piece of too stale bread be given 
to- her, smells it suspiciously, throws it on the floor, and contemptuously ignores its 
existence. With true monkey instinct, she is capable of distinguishing wholesome from 
