CHAPTER XXVII 



CONCLUSION 



IN taking leave of "Wild Beasts and their Ways," there are 

 certain destructive creatures which can be hardly classed under 

 this denomination, but throughout the Indian empire they exist in 

 such enormous numbers that it would be interesting to obtain 

 some approximate computation of the money value of the crops 

 which they destroy. These enemies are monkeys, parrots, and 

 flying foxes. 



The monkey is sacred ; this pest is accordingly permitted, 

 carte blanche, to pillage at discretion. The mischief committed 

 by these creatures is most serious, but as this has continued for 

 many ages, the people have become inured to their depredations. 



It is a curious fact that, although monkeys and apes are closely 

 linked with the human species, they never can be trained to any- 

 thing that is really useful. They are not companions to man, like 

 the dog, but they are simply caricatures of the human race, and if 

 every monkey and ape could be destroyed by one flash of lightning, 

 so that they ceased to exist in the world, no one would miss their 

 society, but everybody would be glad of the riddance. India 

 would feel that an incubus had been removed from her agricultural 

 industries. 



I have seen at least eighty or a hundred monkeys in one small 

 field of wheat, carefully picking every blade of corn ; this was in 

 a plot adjoining a jungle, which afforded a quick retreat. The 

 natives guard their crops more or less, and sling stones or dry 

 lumps of earth at the invaders, but they are generally regarded 

 with ridicule, and the monkeys eventually gain their ends. 



Ahmedabad, which is one of the largest cities in Western India, 

 is infested with the large gray monkeys, known in India as 

 " lougoor " (Entellus). These may be seen at all hours sitting 

 upon the tiled roofs, staring at the city throng and the crowded 



