QUADRUMANA. 19 



the untutored natives of a wild and newly-discovered 

 land. 



" I broke a sugared almond in two, and as he was 

 eating one half, placed the other while he was watch- 

 ing me in a little card-box, which I shut in his pre- 

 sence ; as soon as he had finished the piece of almond 

 which he had, I gave him the box. With his teeth 

 and hands he pulled off the cover, took out the other 

 half, and then laid the box down. He ate the ker- 

 nel of this almond, rejecting the greatest part of the 

 sugary paste in which it was encased, as if it had 

 been a shell : but he soon found out his error, for, 

 another almond being presented to him, he carefully 

 sucked off the sugar, and left the kernel. 



" I then produced a wine-glass, into which I pour- 

 ed some racy sherry, and further sweetened it with 

 sugar. He watched me with some impatience, and 

 when I gave him the glass he raised it with his hands 

 to his lips, and drank a very little. It was not to his 

 taste, however, for he set down the glass almost as 

 full as he had taken it up, and yet he was thirsty, for 

 I caused a teacup, with some sugared warm milk and 

 water, to be handed to him, and he took up the cup, 

 and drained it to the last drop. 



" I presented him with a cocoa-nut, to the shell of 

 which some of the husk was still adhering : the tender 

 bud was just beginning to push forth; this he imme- 

 diately bit off and ate. He then stripped off some of 

 the husk with his teeth, swung it by the knot of ad- 

 hering husk-fibres round his head, dashed it down, 



