Jr4 THE PREACHER MONKEY. 



Dampler says that they often descend to the Sea- 

 shores to feed on shell-fish. He saw several Mon- 

 kies take up O) sters from the beach, lay tliem on a 

 Stone, and beat them with another till they demo- 

 lished the shells, and then devour their contents. 

 The same circumstance was observed by Wafer in 

 the island of Gorgonia ; '^ Their way was to lay the 

 Oyster on a stone, and with another to beat it till 

 the shell was broken to pieces *". — The females 

 produce two young ones at a birth, and in their ex- 

 cursions they always carry one of these in their 

 arms and the other on their back, clasping its two 

 fore-paws round the neck, and with the hind ones 

 laying hold of the middle of the b-ick. There is 

 no other method of obtaining the young, but by 

 killing the dam, for nothing will mduce he^^ to a- 

 bandon them while living -j-. 



Many of the voyagers describe the flesh as ex- 

 cellent eating, having a great resemiblance in taste 

 to mutton. DaPiipier even says, that he never ate 

 any thing more delicious than this and some others 

 of the Moiikey tribes. The heads are frequently 

 served up by the Europeans in soup, and the Ne- 

 groes devour these animals as the greatest delicacy. 

 There seems something extremely disgusting in the 

 idea of eating, v/hat appears, when skinned and 

 dressed, so like a child. The skull, the paws, and 

 indeed every part of them remind us, who are un- 

 liccustomed to it, mmch too strongly of the idea of 

 devouring a fellow creature. 



* Wafer, 195. t Bufibn. 



