APES AND MONKEYS. 



monkeys are found at an elevation of between eight and nine thousand feet above 

 the sea-level ; and it is one of the regular expeditions from Simla to ride or walk to 

 see the monkeys on their own hill, which rejoices in the appropriate name of Jako. 

 Here they are regularly fed by a fakir, who has taken up his abode on the same 

 mountain, and they come down in troops at his well-known call. Indeed, these 

 monkeys are almost invariably found in large droves ; usually in the forests or more 

 cultivated lands, but occasionally near and in the towns. Although not regarded 

 as sacred, it appears that the rhesus monkey is frequently protected by the Hindus, 

 and in Kashmir the writer has seen them forming part and parcel of the appanages 



of the temples. In several 

 parts of India the Hindus 

 have, indeed, a strong ob- 

 jection to the slaughter of 

 these monkeys. 



The rhesus is an intel- 

 ligent creature, and, if cap- 

 tured young, is docile and 

 easily taught. It is the 

 common monkey carried 

 about by itinerant jugglers 

 in Northern India, by whom 

 it is taught many amusing 

 tricks. Old animals, more 

 especially males, become 

 vicious and spiteful. 



In their wild state 

 these monkeys make a 

 hideous noise with their 

 incessant chattering, and 

 they are always mischiev- 

 ous. In addition to the 

 consumption of large quan- 

 tities of fruit and seeds, 

 they also subsist on insects 

 and spiders, and parties of them may frequently be seen carefully searching the 

 ground for these delicacies. Mr. Blanford tells us that the rhesus, like the crab- 

 eating macaque, swims well, and takes readily to the water. 



Professor Ball relates a curious anecdote of these monkeys : " When at Malwa 

 Tal [near the Himalayan Station of Naini Tal], which is one of the lakes where I 

 spent a day, I was warned that, in passing under a landslip which slopes down to 

 the lake, I should be liable to have stones thrown at me by monkeys. Kegarding 

 this as being possibly a traveller's tale, I made a particular point of going to the 

 spot in order to see what could have given rise to it. As I approached the base of 

 the landslip on the north side of the lake, I saw a number of brown monkeys 

 (M. rhesus) rush to the sides and across the top of the slip, and presently 

 pieces of loosened stone and shale came tumbling down near where I stood. I 



THE BENGAL MONKEY. 



