SACRED BABOONS. x *^ 



would have been less serious in regard to the neophytes 

 of the flock, but the college of presbyters included an 

 old grayhead with a milk-white tail, — an infallible sign 

 of Jana-Ghitra, or canonical dignity of the fifth degree. 

 And, grievous to say, this dignitarian was afflicted with 

 an uncontrollable hankering after "jungle cocktails," 

 a mixture of rum, sugar, and citron-juice, supposed to 

 possess a prophylactic value in the treatment of jungle- 

 fever. In vain did the dhevadar wrestle with him in 

 prayer, in vain had he loaded him with amulets ; nearly 

 every Saturday night the whoops of a well-known voice 

 from the direction of the hotel told him that the old 

 man had been indiscreet again, — not drunk exactly, for 

 as soon as the mixture began to take effect the waiters 

 used to hustle him out. But one idle morning the 

 officers found him prowling around the fence, and, 

 guessing at the nature of his wants, took him aside and 

 treated him to a bottle of Nordhauser's Best, — or worst, 

 from a moral point of view. Before the waiters could 

 lay hold of him, the dignitarian, bottle in hand, jumped 

 out of the window and hastened to the esplanade, where 

 the officers received him with cheers that soon at- 

 tracted an astonished crowd of Hindoos and honumans. 

 The animal of superior sanctity retreated to the top of 

 a gatepost, and — but the details of the scandal are too 

 painful to relate, — suffice it to say that two messengers 

 from the mahakhund were so shocked at the impro- 

 priety of his conduct that they could hardly muster the 



