HUNTING MONKEYS. 155 



of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living 

 thing that moveth upon the earth." 



The hands of the monkeys are at best but (( half made up," 

 and they are generally more or less well fashioned in proportion 

 to the greater or less prehensile development of the tail. The 

 habits of the race are arboreal, and their favorite haunts are the 

 recesses of those tropical forests where they can either sport in the 

 sunbeams on the topmost boughs, or shelter themselves from its 

 scorching rays under the impervious canopy of a luxuriant vege- 

 tation. When their privacy is invaded by man, a restless and 

 constantly recurring curiosity seems to be their prevailing feeling 

 at first, and at last the intruders are frequently pelted with stones, 

 sticks, and fruits heavy and hard, more especially if they make 

 any demonstration of hostility. 



Robert Lade thus speaks of their behavior when he went to 

 hunt some of them near the Cape : 



I can neither describe all the arts practised by these animals, 

 nor the nimbleness and impudence with which they returned after 

 being pursued by us. Sometimes they allowed us to approach so 

 near them, that I was almost certain of seizing them ; but when I 

 made the attempt, they sprung, at a single leap, ten paces from 

 me, and mounted trees with equal agility, from which they looked 

 with great indifference, and seemed to derive pleasure from our 

 astonishment. Some of them were so large, that if our interpreter 

 had not assured us that they were neither ferocious nor dangerous, 

 our number would not have appeared to be sufficient to protect us 

 from their attacks. As it would serve no purpose to kill them, 

 \ve did not use our guns" (we respect the good feeling of honest 

 tobert and his companions) ; " but the captain happened to aim 

 ,t a very large one which sat on the top of a tree, after having 

 fatigued us a long time in pursuing him. This kind of menace 

 however, of which the animal perhaps recollected his having 

 sometimes seen the consequences, terrified him to such a degree, 

 that he fell down motionless at our feet, and we had no difficulty 

 in seizing him. But whenever he recovered from his stupor it 

 required all our dexterity and efforts to keep him. We tied hia 



