monkey managed to catch him and carry 

 him along to its tree-top. There the dog 

 was tormented by all the monkeys, being 

 passed from hand to hand and finally 

 thrown down a precipice. 



While the Rhesus is an intelligent crea- 

 ture and easily taught while young, it 

 it a question whether one really wishes 

 this monkey for a pet, for when old, they 

 become vicious and spiteful and can bite 

 and scratch in a dangerous manner. 



In addition to the fruit and seeds which 

 they eat, they are also fond of insects and 

 spiders, and frequently large parties may 

 be seen searching the ground for these 

 delicacies. 



Professor Ball relates an interesting an- 

 ecdote of these monkeys. He said that 

 when at Malwa Tal, a lake where he 

 spent a day, he was warned that when 

 passing under a certain landslip which 

 slopes to the lake, he would be liable to 

 have stones thrown at him by the mon- 

 keys. As he thought this might be only a 



traveler's tale, he took pains to go to the 

 spot in order to see what had given rise 

 to the story. As he approached the base 

 of the landslip, he saw a number of Rhe- 

 sus monkeys rush to the sides and across 

 the top, and presently pieces of loosened 

 stone and shale came tumbling down 

 where he stood. He soon satisfied him- 

 self that this was not accidental, for he 

 distinctly saw one monkey, industriously 

 with both forepaws, push the loose 

 shingle off a shoulder of rock. He then 

 tried the effect of throwing stones at 

 them, but this made them quite angry and 

 the amount of fragments which they set 

 rolling was speedily doubled. This ad- 

 venture caused Professor Ball to be- 

 lieve that there may be some truth in the 

 stories related in regard to monkeys 

 throwing fruit at people from the tree 

 tops, and yet even about monkeys it is 

 not always best to credit all one hears. 



John Ainslie. 



AN ANIMAL TORPEDO. 



The gymnotus, or electric eel, is a com- 

 mon denizen of the stagnant pools and 

 sluggish lagoons of the Llanos of Vene- 

 zuela. It is known to the natives under 

 the more suggestive name of arimna or 

 something that deprives of motion. 



Our first experience with this curious 

 Animal Torpedo was on the borders of the 

 Llanos, a few days' journey to the south 

 of Valencia. The pack mules, usually 

 very slow, had preceded us, during the 

 noon hour, while we had leisurely taken 

 luncheon. In the course of an hour, we 

 caught up with them, as they had reached 

 a sluggish estuary of a neighboring 

 river. Before we were in hailing dis- 

 tance, we could see, from the wild and 

 frantic gesticulations of the muleteer, 



that something unusual had occurred. It 

 proved to be an attack of electric eels 

 upon the first mule, which had attempted 

 to ford the lagoon. The animal had 

 nearly reached the opposite shore before 

 the attack was made, and thus, the first 

 mule had escaped with only a few shocks 

 from the invisible torpedoes. The other 

 pack mules, just entering the stream, 

 were turned upon savagely by the con- 

 cealed serpents, and were wildly and 

 frantically turning back, when we came 

 upon the scene. Their distended nos- 

 trils and bulging, terrified eyes, with ex- 

 cited snorting and plunging, would have 

 made a perfect picture of agonized ter- 

 ror. Their suffering, fortunately, was of 

 short duration, as they soon gained the 



226 



