OUR FOUR-HANDED RELATIVES. 



35 



vague, but he is evidently gratified at the reversion of 

 the order of mental precedence between himself and the 

 big biped. After a flagrant breach of the domestic by- 

 laws he will often forego a couple of meals rather than 

 leave his hiding-place, and only curiosity will bring him 

 out at such times. 



In regard to their rank in the scale of intelligence the 

 various quadrumana might be classified after the degree 

 of their curiosity ; and I cannot help thinking that man 

 himself owes his supremacy as much to the inquisitive- 

 ness as to any moral virtue of his primogenitor. The 

 American sapajous are rather incurious creatures in com- 

 parison with their Oriental congeners : no special cor- 

 respondent in the Divan of the Padisha can be more 

 wide-awake than a macaque in the presence of a stranger 

 or upon his first arrival in a new lodging. Nothing 

 escapes his restless eye : the swaying of an ivy-leaf at 

 the window, the vibration of the teapot-lid, the slightest 

 movement of a strange dog, at once attract his attention 

 and become objects of his vigilant interest. If I am 

 going to refill my mucilage-bottle, I must take care to 

 divert the macaque's attention to the opposite end of the 

 room ; when I am sealing a letter, I have to touch sun- 

 dry other articles on the table, or Buddha will try to find 

 out what I have been hiding in that envelope with such 

 particular care. He had devised a way of opening his 

 cage by sticking his fingers through the bars and lifting 

 the bolt from below ; but I baffled his ingenuity by plug- 



