44 



MACAQUES. 



Few monkeys can assume more outre attitudes than the Mangabeys, which seem to be, 

 among monkeys, almost the analogues of the acrobats among mankind ; and twist themselves 

 into such strange contortions, that they seem to be able to dispense with the bones and joints 

 with which other animals are furnished. They seem to be quite aware of their own accom- 

 plishments, and soon learn that their display will bring in a supply of nuts, cakes, and fruit 

 to their exchequer. So they keep a vigilant eye on the visitors, and when they conceive that 

 they have drawn attention to themselves, they execute a series of agile gambols, in the hope 

 of meeting the reward which sweetens labor. 



THE SOOTY MANGABEY.— Cercocebus fulirjinosus. 



Their attention is soon excited by any object that is more than ordinarily glittering ; 

 jewelry of all kinds being as magnets, to which their eyes and fingers are instinctively drawn. 

 My own ringers have more than once been endangered by the exceeding zeal manifested by the 

 animal in its attempts to secure a ring to which it had taken a sudden liking. The monkey 

 held out its paw as if it wanted to shake hands, seized my fingers with both its hands, and did 

 its best to remove the object of its curiosity ; fortunately, the ring fitted rather tightly, or it 

 would probably have been lost or swallowed. As it was, a few scratches on my hands, and 

 an outburst of disappointed anger on the part of the monkey, were the only results of the 

 sudden attack. 



MACAQUES. 



The various species of monkeys which are ranged under the common title of Macaques, 

 are mostly well-known animals ; being plentiful in their native lands, and frequently domes- 

 ticated, both in their own and in foreign countries. They are all inhabitants of Asia, although 



