114 



APES AND MOXKEYS. 



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 approjiriate name of Jako. 

 Here they are regularly fed bj' a fakir, who has taken u]i his abode on the same 

 mountain, and they come down in troops at liis well-kno\^■n call. Indeed, these 

 monkeys are almost invariablj^ 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 moukcj' is frecjuently protected by the Hindus, 

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



of tlie temples. In sevei*al 

 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 monkej^ carried 

 abovit \iY itinerant jugglere 

 in Northern India, by whom 

 it is taught manj- 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 alwaj's mischiev- 

 ous. In addition to the 

 consumption of large quan- 

 tities of fruit and seeds, 

 the}' also subsist on insects 

 and spiders, and parties of them maj- frequently be seen careful!}' searching the 

 ground for these delicacies. Mi-. 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 : " Wlien at Malwa 

 Tal [near the Himalaj-an Station of Xaini Tal], which is one of the lakes wliere 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. Regarding 

 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 

 (i¥. 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 P.E^■GAL !:0>'KET. 



