A DYING MONKEY. 145 



let us always except from the list of the cruel 

 those who are making collections of skins for 

 stuffing; those who have fruit-grounds, and 

 wish to keep them far away ; and above all, 

 those who are hungry, and like a tender roasted 

 monkey, which, setting prejudice aside, is as 

 good a dish as it is possible to eat. But if a 

 sportsman for mere sport's sake could see, as 

 I have seen, a monkey with a rifle -ball through 

 him, laying on his back on the ground, putting 

 his hand upon the wound, and then raising 

 the hand to the glazing eye to look at the 

 blood, together with the anguish plainly shewn 

 by the almost human distortions of the face, 

 he would never fire at one a second time, or, 

 if he did, his heart must be of strange stuiF 

 and in a strange place. 



The Baron von Humbolt, I believe, speaks 

 of a large monkey which congregates in large 

 groups on the same tree, and utters most 

 horrible groans and unearthly cries. This 

 must be the same monkey that inhabits the 

 forests surrounding the great lake of Nica- 

 ragua, and is an exception in his habits to 

 the wandering disposition of all the other 

 species. 



I have never met with this kind in any 

 other place than the above-mentioned forests, 



