THE MONKE Y FA MIL Y. 1 9 z 



have borne the unwelcome plaster on my rhinoceros hide without a 

 single grunt, had I not imagined that some parts of his critique were 

 detrimental to the real interests of natural history. . 



" One could scarcely imagine that, in these days of zoological 

 research, my peppery reviewer will still adhere to the antiquated and 

 preposterous notion that monkeys possess the faculty of throwing 

 stones. In support of this absurdity he quotes the following passage 

 from Acosta : ' Perhaps,' says our learned critic, ' he (Mr Water- 

 ton) will not object to the evidence of Acosta, who relates of a quata 

 (ateks paniscus) which belonged to the Governor of Carthagena : 

 They sent him to the tavern for wine, putting the pot in one hand 

 and the money in the other. They could not possibly get the money 

 out of his hand before the pot was full of wine. If any children met 

 him in the street, and threw stones at him, he would set his pot 

 down, and cast stones against the children till he had assured his 

 way. 



" Now, it were to be wished that my reviewer had ' assured ' us 

 that Acosta, with his own eyes, had actually seen the quata in the 

 act of throwing a stone. No such thing. The quotation is worth- 

 less without this declaration on the part of Acosta. No doubt, Acosta 

 had heard the story, and possibly might have believed the absurdity. 

 In Demerara, more than fifty years ago, we had a current narrative 

 of a monkey which used to fetch a pitcher of water daily from the 

 cistern to its master's house. Everybody believed the tale ; but I 

 could never find the identical house in which the monkey lived, nor 

 learn the -master's name, nor find out precisely what species of 

 monkey it was, whether from Africa or from the wilds of Guiana, 

 which performed the wonderful achievement. 



" But to Acosta's ' quata.' I was a rover in the same forests with 

 quatas for many a long month, and I can affirm that, of all known 

 monkeys, the quata is the least disposed to act the biped. Malice, 

 mischief, and malignity are its ruling powers. It could no more be 

 sent on an errand through the streets of Carthagena than I could 

 be commissioned to navigate the river Styx. The act of throwing 

 stones at the children clearly proves the account to be an idle story, 

 based, probably, on some old negro slave as ugly as a quata. 



" There is something in the whole race of monkeys perpetually 



