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THE MIRIKI. 



The monkey a lady to whom the name of Sally was given, was captured in British 

 Guiana, and brought to the governor of Demerara, from whom it passed to its present 

 gallant possessor. Sally seems to be a wondrous favorite, and to take in her owner's 

 heart the place of a favorite child. There are many photographic portraits of this sable 

 pet, three of which are at present before me, one representing Sally as lying contentedly 

 in her master's lap, her little wrinkled face looking over his arm, and her tail twisted 

 round his knees, while one hind-foot is grasping this appendage. A second portrait 

 exhibits her standing on a pedestal, by the side of the captain's coxswain, to whose care 

 she was chiefly committed her left arm flung lovingly round his neck, and her tail 

 coiled several times round his right hand, on which she is partly sitting. In the third, 

 she is shown standing by the side of the same man, with her foot upon his hand, and 

 the tip of her tail round his neck, by way of a change. 



In almost every case there is a slight blur in the monkey's form, owing to the difficulty 

 in persuading so volatile an animal as a monkey to remain still for two seconds to- 

 gether. However, the proportions of the animal are well preserved, and its characteristic 

 attitudes shown clearly enough. 



She is a most gentle creature, only having been known to bite on two occasions, one 

 of which was simply in self-defence. She had got loose in the dock-yard at Antigua, 

 and had been chased by the men for some time. At last she was hemmed into a 

 corner, and would have been taken easily, had not the dock-yard laborers rather feared 

 her teeth. Her master, however, in order to prove that she was not dangerous, caught 

 her, and was rewarded by a rather severe bite on his thumb. Had it not been, how- 

 ever, that poor Sally was terrified out of her senses by the pursuit of the laborers, she 

 would not have behaved so badly. 



So gentle was she in general, that whenever she received a slight correction for some 

 fault, she would never attempt to retaliate, but only sidle away and accept the rebuke. 

 Malice does not seem to be in her nature, for she soon forgets such injuries, and does 

 not lose her kind feelings towards her corrector. Her master tells me that if 

 any one gets bitten by her, it is entirely the fault of the sufferer, and not of the 

 monkey. 



On board ship she is not trammeled by chain or rope, but is permitted to range the 

 vessel at her own sweet will. She revels among the rigging, and when she becomes 

 playful, dances about a rope in such a strange manner, and flings her limbs and tail about 

 so fantastically, that the spectators are at a loss to distinguish the arms and legs from 

 the tail. When thus engaged, the name of spider monkey is peculiarly apposite, for 

 she looks just like a great overgrown tarantula in convulsions. During these fits of 

 sportiveness, she stops every now and then to shake her head playfully at her friends, 

 and, screwing up her nose into a point, utters little, short, soft grunts at intervals. She 

 generally becomes vivacious towards sunset. 



There is a curious custom in which she is in the habit of indulging. She likes to 

 climb up the rigging until she reaches a horizontal rope, or small spar, and then, hook- 

 ing just the tip of her tail over it, will hang at full length, slowly swinging backward 

 and forward, while she rubs each arm alternately from the wrist to the elbow, as if she 

 were trying to stroke the hair the wrong way. She always must needs have her tail 

 round something, and, if possible, would not venture a step without securing herself to 

 some object by the means of that long and lithe member. 



Unlike many of her relatives, who are inveterate thieves, and with the tips of their 

 tails quietly steal objects from which their attention is apparently turned, Sally is 

 remarkably honest, never having stolen anything but an occasional fruit or cake. She 

 is accustomed to take her dinner at her master's table, and behaves herself with perfect 

 decorum, not even beginning to eat until she has obtained permission, and keeping to 

 her own plate like a civilized being. Her food is mostly composed of vegetables, fruit, 

 and sopped bread, although she occasionally is treated to a chicken bone, and appre- 

 ciates it highly. 



In the matter of food she is rather fastidious, and if a piece of too stale bread be given 

 to her, smells it suspiciously, throws it on the floor, and contemptuously ignores its 

 existence. With true monkey instinct, she is capable of distinguishing wholesome from 



