84 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



througli the doorways, over the walls, and from the top of the 

 banyan, as about a hundred and fifty monkeys of all ages, sizes, and 

 degrees of fatness came crowding around us to be fed. Some im- 

 pudent rascals snatched handfuls of gram and scampered oflf, cram- 

 ming it into their cheeks as they ran ; some took the food timidly 

 and with suspicion, but when we threw handfuls of it on the floor 

 there ensued a vigorous game of "grab-and-snatch-it." So long as 

 the gram held out we were the centre of attraction, and each pair 

 of watchful brown eyes was fixed upon us. Some fat old fellows 

 sat and gravely looked at us, others made wry faces, some winked, 

 and some giinned from ear to ear. A few were quarrelsome, and 

 there was continuous biting and squealing, while, after the feeding 

 was over, others busied themselves in examining each other's heads 

 for vermin, just as I remember seeing people do in the streets of 

 Naples more than once. 



What a fine lot of monkey skins and skeletons are here run- 

 ning to waste ! Here are specimens with a vengeance, but one 

 might better risk shooting a native than one of these sacred pets. 

 These monkeys are very sacred, next to the Brahmin bull in fact, 

 because they are descendants of Hunuman, the famous monkey-god 

 of Southern India, "who aided Rama in the conquest of Ceylon by 

 forming a bridge of rocks opposite Manaar. The figure of the 

 monkey who thus greatly distinguished himself is often found in 

 Hindooi temples in the guise of a man, with a black monkey-face 

 and a long tail." * 



The species which infests this temple is the grayish-brown, 

 short-tailed Inuus rhesus, which has conspicuous red callosities and 

 is the common monkey of all Northern India. In this region, one 

 must know the temper of the natives pretty well before venturing 

 to shoot a monkey, for although this charming animal is not wor- 

 shipped, he is greatly reverenced in many districts, and to kill one 

 would precipitate a row with the natives, the net results of which 

 would be highly uncertain. Some Anglo-Indians have assured me 

 that at Benares any one kiUing a monkey would be almost torn in 

 pieces by the natives. But Benares is the headquarters of fanati- 

 cism. 



In the bazaar we met a big Brahmin bull stalking along the 

 narrow street, crowding the people right and left, and sticking his 

 nose into one basket of gram after another as freely as if he owned 



* Jerdon. 



