OUR FOUR-HANDED RELATIVES. 



47 



men are liars, but there is no doubt that all monkeys 

 are thieves. They all steal ; in their native land depre- 

 dation forms their daily and constant employment, and 

 Nature has done her utmost to equip them for their 

 trade. The monkey Hanuman is the Indian Mercury, 

 the patron saint of shoplifters and freebooters. Light- 

 fingered, quick, and prehensile, his four hands seem espe- 

 cially adapted for pillage ; he carries a double " kit," a 

 pair of capacious cheek-pouches, for storing his plun- 

 der; his arboreal domicile furnishes him ready-made 

 ambuscades and lurking-places ; he cannot be caught 

 napping, his head moves on a versatile fulcrum, and 

 his furtive eyes are ever on the alert. It is wholly im- 

 possible to cure a monkey of his raptorial penchant: 

 you may tame him till he makes your lap his favorite 

 hiding-place, you may surfeit him with tidbits, but the 

 moment you turn your back he will ransack the room 

 from top to bottom and cram his pouches with every- 

 thing bearing the faintest resemblance to comestibles. 

 In Hindostan monkeys enjoy all the privileges of a Mo- 

 hammedan lunatic, being permitted to rob the orchards 

 with impunity, decimate the rice-crop, and rob all the 

 birds'-nests they want; but, not content with levying 

 out-door contributions, they pillage the cottages of the 

 natives while the proprietors are at work in the fields ; 

 nay, they often manage to despoil the larder of the foreign 

 residents, or blackmail their children if they leave the 

 bungalow with a lunch-basket or a pocketful of nuts. 



