266 COMMON BEASTS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



the only monkeys that are allowed to go loose, a 

 privilege which they owe to their gentle, inoffensive 

 habits, and to the fact that they very seldom remain 

 in good condition when closely confined. When at 

 liberty they become wonderftilly tame, and often 

 make regular rounds of calls on their friends, especi- 

 ally at times when desirable articles of food are 

 likely to be met with. One that inhabited the 

 suburb of Alipur during the time that I lived there 

 was very often about in the lanes, and more than 

 once, whilst I was riding leisurely along beneath an 

 overhanging mass of bamboos or other dense cover, 

 I was startled by finding a long slender arm suddenly 

 passed round my neck and a little cold hand clasping 

 my throat as the animal descended to take his place 

 on my shoulder until he reached a point that he 

 desired to visit, and departed with as little ceremony 

 as he had come. 



