OUR FOUR-HANDED RELATIVES. c\ 



pencils, corks, and often also pieces of meat, or eggs, 

 that became offensive in the course of time and thus 

 betrayed his depository. Buddha, too, was incorrigibly 

 addicted to this kind of nest-hiding, though so fully 

 aware of the illegality o{ the practice that he took to 

 his heels as soon as I discovered his swag. I once, to try 

 him, put a scalding-hot egg on the table, and went out 

 to watch him through a key-hole. A rumbling in the 

 corner told me that he had descended from his perch, and 

 soon after his head appeared on the farther side of the 

 table. He touched the egg, gave a grin at the door, and 

 seemed on the point of retreating, but, drawing himself 

 up once more, he cast a hurried glance over the table and 

 snatched the stopper of a vinegar-flask rather than return 

 empty-handed. At that moment I opened the door, but 

 Buddha had disappeared, evidently into his usual hiding- 

 place behind the lounge. He knew I had watched him, 

 and thought it prudent to keep out of sight till time or 

 new events had obliterated the memory of his crime. 



The English word stalwart is derived from stael-zvorth, 

 — i.e., worth stealing ; and the same criterion seems to 

 be a monkey's standard for the value of earthly things 

 in general. Any novel, movable, and portable object 

 at once excites his interest. If the digestible qualities 

 of the novelty seem doubtful, he appears to act on the 

 principle that in the mean while it can do no harm to 

 appropriate it. North of the Rio Grande most capuchin- 

 monkeys are martyrs to rheumatism, and three poor 



