56 ANIMAL FOOD EESOUKCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



cooked, to the human body, that with regard to some 

 savage nations, accusations against them of cannibalism 

 have been unjustly laid. 



Dr. Vidal, speaking of the mammals of Japan eaten as 

 food (Bulletin of the Society of Acclimatation, Paris, vol. 

 22, p. 436), says that the flesh of the monkey is publicly 

 sold there. A larg6 species he has seen exposed on the 

 butchers' stalls of "the markets, but he is not aware 

 whether other kinds are eaten. Monkeys are, however, 

 not very common there. 



A French writer, speaking of monkeys as a dish, says, 

 " They are excellent eating, and a ' soupe au singes ' will 

 be found as good as any other, when you have con- 

 quered the aversion to the bouillon made of their heads, 

 which look like those of little children." 



In Ceylon some of the natives feed upon them. 

 Several species of monkeys are relished as food by the 

 aboriginal inhabitants of the Malayan Peninsula and the 

 Dyaks of Borneo. 



The Indians and some of the negroes of Trinidad, used 

 to eat the flesh of the great red monkey, and reported it 

 to be delicious, and yet it is the most vociferous and un- 

 tameable of the Simian tribe. 



Father Labat, in 1700, mentions the existence of mon- 

 keys in the West Indies. It was on this occasion, the 

 good Father informs us, that he first ate monkey. " It 

 is true," he says, "I was a gpod deal shocked when I saw 

 four heads in the soup, very much resembling infants' 

 heads, but when I tasted of the dish I had no difficulty in 

 overcoming my scruples, and continued to eat with 

 pleasure ; for," he adds, " C'est une chair tendre, delicate, 

 blanche, pleine d'un bon sue, et qui est egalement bonne 

 a quelque sort de sauce qu'on la mette." 



The worthy Father feelingly dwells upon the admir- 

 able qualities of young monkey in the form of soup or 

 otherwise. The people of St. Christopher and Nevis 

 might benefit by the experience and example of good 

 Father Labat. Why not try young monkey as an 

 article of diet generally ? The planters would thus 



