May 27, 1880] 



NATURE 



11 



into mud, which stained our whitewashed walls a reddish brown. 

 I see that it fell in Sicily on March 29 and 30. . . . It is 

 quite a different colour from the dust the sirocco occasionally 

 brings us. 



Monkeys in the West Indies 



YotJ have recently had communications in Nature (vol. xxi. 

 p. 131 and 371) from two gentlemen residing in the Island of 

 Dominica, in the West Indie-, Messrs. Edmund Watt and John 

 Imray, on the incorrectness of Prof. Mivart's statement, in his 

 paper on "Tails," regarding the non-existence of monkeys in 

 these islands. 



These gentlemen are quite as much in error as Prof. Mivart in 

 asserting that the only islands where monkeys are to be found 

 are St. Christopher and Nevis, and Mr. Imray especially, who 

 says, "It certainly appears remarkable that no species of monkey 

 should exist in the wild state in any of these islands along the 

 whole range from Grenada to Jamaica," with the exception of 

 the two already named. 



Not only are there monkeys in the Island of Grenada, but 

 they exist in large numbers, and enjoy all tlie wildness that the 

 deep forests of the mountains secure to them. 



Riding across the country over the mountain ridges, these 

 animals are frequently to be seen skipping amongst the branches 

 of the surrounding trees, and they liave often been shot by 

 sportsmen who have ventured into the " high woods." 



Exciting reticonlra have been met w ilh by those who have 

 gone in pursuit of the monkeys. When one is shot at it sets up 

 a " hoiip, hmip," that, like the whistle of Roderick Dhu, — ^ 



"... garrisons the glen. 

 As if the yawning hill to heaven 

 i host had given," 



and from all sides you are pelted wiili ntits and seeds and boughs 

 gathered fi-om the trees by the offended tribe. Should you 

 succeed in maiming or killing one of them, the sm-vivors assume 

 s,o threatening an attitude that, being as a rule singlehanded, 

 you are quite content to retire from the scene of the contest, 

 consoling yourself with the reflection that discretion is the better 

 part of valour. 



It is even difficult to secure the skin of one of these animals, 

 for if there are numbers present, when one is shot the others 

 bear away their injured brother beyond your reach. 



It can therefore be readily understood how difficult it is to 

 obtain one alive. Not long ago, however, I thought I had 

 secured a prize. One of these "natives " was brought into the 

 town for sale. He was such a handsome fellow, and looked so 

 interesting, that I determined to purchase him. What I was 

 particularly struck with was his being so tame, as he allowed 

 me, without moving a muscle, to place my hand upon his head 

 and about his face. Having been called away for an instant, I 

 missed my opportunity, as he was taken by another gentleman 

 who had come up in my absence. That same evening I saw 

 him again, and on a closer examination I discovered the cause of 

 his docility. He was blind ! That was the reason he had been 

 caught so easily. 



It is not at all to be wondered at that neither Rochefort, Du 

 Tertse, nor La Bat, the three e.irhest writers on these islands 

 quoted by Mr. Imray, mention the existence of monkeys in 

 Grenada. They had no opportunities of knowing it. La Bat 

 alone travelled about the island a little, but this was only on our 

 western coast, and the Caribs, who might have informed them 

 on this subject and on many otliers, had been most carefully 

 exterminated by their countrymen. D. G. G. C. 



Grenada, April 27 



I.N" a letter that appeared in N.^TURE, vol. xxi. p. 371, on 

 "Monkeys in the West Indies," I observed that it seemed 

 remarkable "that no species of monkey should exist in the wild 

 state in any of the West India Islands along the whole range 

 from Grenada to Jamaica," &c. Since writing the above I have 

 discovered that monkeys are abundant in Grenada in the wild 

 state, and that they are very destructive to the growing crops. 

 Mr. Watt (now at Cape Coast Castle), who took exception to 

 Prof. Mivart's statement in regard to the existence of monkeys 

 in the West Indies, called my attention also to this fact. 



Have these Grenada apes been introduced, or are they indi- 

 genous ? is the question, if indeed it be a question. The historic 

 evidence points, I think, conclusively to their introduction, 

 though I have not been able to ascertain the when and the how, 



as in the case of St. Kitts. The two old French authors quoted 

 in my former letter — Rochefort, 1665, and Du Tertse, 1667 — 

 enumer.ate the mammalia at that time existing in the Antilles 

 as known to them, and Du Tertse was well acquainted with 

 Grenada ; but no species of ape is amongst the number. 



A letter from Mr. Sclater in N.^ture, vol. xx. p. 153, proved 

 that the St. Kitts Monkeys were referable to the green monkey 

 [Cercopit/icais callitrkhus, Geoffr.) of Western Africa. Can Mr. 

 Sclater or any of your readers give similar information regarding 

 the species of the Grenada ape ? 



I have been informed that apes are also to be found wild in 

 Mcntserrat. 



Sir Robert Schomburgk, in his "History of Barbados," says, 

 with reference to the Quadrumana : "The most interesting [of 

 the mammalia] is the Barbados monkey, now nearly extinct, 

 although formerly so frequent that the Legislature set a price 

 upon its head. I have much to regret, on account of natural 

 history, that my endeavouisto procure a specimen for the pur- 

 pose of determining the species have entirely failed. From the 

 outer appearance of a living specimen I consider it to be Cepis 

 [Ceius ?] cafucimis, Geoffr., the Say, or Weeper, or a very 

 closely-allied species. It is not likely that it was introduced, as 

 the first settlers found it in large numbers on their arrival." 



Prof. St. George Mivart, who stands'in the foremost rank as 

 an authority on all such matters, in an article on "The Geo- 

 graphy of Living Creatures," in the Contemporary Rezicw for 

 February last, makes the following remarks: — "The West 

 Indian Islands, again, are admirably suited for such creatures as 

 apes, yet none are indigenous to that region, though they rapidly 

 increase w hen they have been introduced." He says in a note : 

 " Trinidad is really a detached part of the continent of South 

 America." 



As all the historic facts go to prove that no species of the 

 Quadrumana existed in the Lesser Antilles when first settled, it 

 certainly does appear much more probable that the apes stated to 

 have been found in Barbados by the first settlers had been intro- 

 duced from Trinidad or the Souih American continent than that 

 they existed as native to the island. John Imrav 



Dominica, April 24 



The Recent Volcanic Eruption in Dominica 

 I AM indebted to Mr. Thomas Raine, of the Colonial Bank, 

 Barbados, for the follow ing analysis of the volcanic dust which 

 fell in Roseau — the capital of that island — and the surrounding 

 country during the eruption from the crater of the " Boiling 

 Lake " on January 1 1 in the present year. The analysis was 

 made in the Analytical Laboratory, Barbados, on January 19, 

 by Mr. George Hughes, formerly senior assistant to Dr. A. 

 Voelker, F.R.S., the sample of volcanic dust having been 

 collected during the eruption and forwarded immediately after- 

 wards to Barbados. Mr. Hughes thinks that the dust "has not 

 been exposed directly to the action of fire to any extent, or the 

 percentage of oxide of iron would have been higher and the 

 pyrites less — oxide of iron being one of the products from the 

 combustion of pyrites." 



Aluminia '64 



Moisture 3'26 



Oxide of iron '45 



Sulphate of iron I4'46 



Sulphate of lime I"42 



Carbonate of li.i)e '39 



Magnesia "i- 



Alkaline sal-s, loss in analysis, &c '47 



Insoluble siliceous matters 7S'59 



lOD'OO 



Edmund Watt 

 Government House, Cape Coast, West Africa, April 23 



Cup Stones, Cup-Marked Stones, or Cups and Rings j 



The interesting paper on " A Scottish Crannog" in NATURE, : 

 vol xxii. p. 13, i" illustrated on p. 16 by an engraving (Fig. 3) 

 which exactly represents the " Cups and Rings " that have long 

 excited the curiosity of anthropologists on Rombald's Moor, near 

 Ilkley, West Yorkshire. These markings, which I have ex- 

 amined within the past week, are on detached flattish rocks of 

 millstone grit, immediately to the south-west of the village of 

 Ilkley, and near to what are known as the Panorama Rocks. 



