XXII 



MONKEYS 



" There he quaff d the undefiled 



Spring, or hung with apelike glee, 

 By his teeth or tail or eyelid, 

 To the slippery mango-tree." 



Fly Leaves. 



"A troupe of Fawnes and Satyres far away 

 Within the wood were dauncing in a round." 



The Faerie Queene. 



BIRDS form the most conspicuous feature in the 

 vertebrate Fauna of Indian gardens, but almost every 

 garden of any considerable size is inhabited or visited 

 by mammals of various kinds. Monkeys are rare in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Calcutta. Were 

 they as abundant as they are in many other parts of 

 India, gardening would have been rendered well-nigh 

 impossible, for to contend with them as well as with 

 the local crows would have been a hopeless task 

 indeed. During all my time in Calcutta I never 

 saw wild monkeys of any kind on that side of the 

 river Hugli on which the town proper is situated, 

 but in the suburbs of the farther bank, although the 



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