THE MONKEY TRICE. 



nenr. Presently a broken twig drops upon you, then 

 another ; you raise your eyes, and find that hundreds of 

 other eyes are staring at you. In another minute you 

 see the grotesque faces to which those eyes belong, 

 making grimaces, as you suppose, but it is no such 

 thing, they are solemnly contemplating the intruder ; 

 they are not pelting him in play, it is their business to 

 drive him from their domain. Raise your arm, the 

 boughs shake, the chattering begins ; and the sooner 

 you decamp, the more you will show your discretion. 



Watch the ape or monkey with whom you come into 

 closer contact : does he pick up a blade of grass, he will 

 examine it with as much attention as if he were deter- 

 mining the value of a precious stone. Do you put food 

 before him, he tucks it into his mouth as fast as pos- 

 sible ; and when his cheek pouches are so full that they 

 cannot hold any more, he looks at you as if he seriously 

 asked your approval of his laying up stores for the 

 future. If he destroy the most valuable piece of glass 

 or china in your possession, he does not look as if he 

 enjoyed the mischief, but either puts on an impudent 

 air, as much as to say, ' I don't care,' or calmly tries to 

 let you know he thought it his duty to destroy your 

 property. Savage, violent, and noisy are they when 

 irritated and disappointed, and long do they retain the 

 recollection of an affront. I once annoyed a monkey in 

 the collection of the Jardin des Plautes, in Paris, by 

 preventing him from purloining the food of one of his 

 companions ; in doing which I gave him a knock upon 

 his paws. It was lucky that strong wires were between 

 us, or he would probably have hurt me severely in his 

 rage ; he shook the cage, he rolled about and screamed, 

 and did not forget the offence. On future occasions, 



