44 ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



seemed to watch him like a lynx, and at his least sign 

 of playfulness pretended to fly into a violent passion, 

 chattering- and screaming till the quadruped subsided 

 like the victim of a vociferous shrew. His native pride 

 upheld him for three or four days, but before the end 

 of the week he was glad to conclude an armistice on 

 the Manki's own terms, and submitted to anything that 

 would secure him the privilege of eating his meals in 

 peace. 



Most monkeys are masters of the art of bullying their 

 fellow-beings by intimidating gestures, especially a sud- 

 den erection of the scalp-bristles, combined with the 

 attitude of a bull-dog crouching for a spring. In reality 

 the average small monkey is a poor fighter : his finger- 

 nails are blunt, and his teeth frugivorous and short; but 

 dogs, as well as cats and raccoons, are generally imposed 

 upon by his impudence, apparently concluding that so 

 much assurance must be backed by some occult martial 

 resources. But even upon their retreat before an un- 

 doubted physical superior the little half-men yield only 

 under protest: when the Mexican bush-panther con- 

 tinues his forays after daylight, the capuchin-monkeys 

 keep up an incessant chattering, jumping to and fro, as 

 if they defied him to a climbing-match through the tree- 

 tops. Should he happen to catch one of them, the rest 

 will risk their own necks rather than forego the satis- 

 faction of pursuing the murderer hour after hour with 

 furious screams. 



