454 



SIR WILLIAM JAR DINE ON MONKEYS. 



they chew, swallow the juice thereof, and reject the indigestible part. They are 

 easily tamed ; and when first taken show no disposition to bite, unless provoked 

 to anger, and even then manifest a reluctance to defend themselves, preferring to 

 retreat into some corner than attack their enemy. They walk erect ; and, when 

 placed upon a floor or in an open field, balance themselves very prettily by raising 

 their hands over their head, and slightly bending their arm at the wrist and elbow, 

 and then run tolerably fast, rocking from side to side ; and if urged to greater 

 speed, they let fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward, 

 rather jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly erect ; if 

 they succeed in making their way to a grove of trees, they then swing with such 

 astonishing rapidity from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, that they are 

 soon lost in the jungle or forest. 



" The individual in question became so tame and manageable in less than a 

 month, that he would take hold of my hand and walk with rne, helping himself 

 along with the other hand applied to the ground, as described above. He would 

 come at my call, and seat himself in a chair by my side at the breakfast-table, and 

 help himself to an egg or the wing of a chicken from my plate, without en- 

 dangering any of my table furniture. He would partake of coffee, chocolate, 

 milk, tea, &c. ; and, although bis usual mode of taking liquids was by dipping his 

 knuckles into the cup and licking his fingers, still, when apparently more thirsty, 

 he would take up the vessel from which I fed him with both hands, and drink 

 like a man, from a spring. His principal food consisted of boiled rice, boiled 

 bread and milk, with sugar, plantains, banana, oranges, &c, all of which he ate, 

 but seemed best pleased with bananas. He was fond of insects ; would search 

 in the crevices of my house for spiders, and if a fly chanced to come in his reach, 

 he would dexterously catch him in one hand, generally using his right hand. Like 

 many of the different religious castes of this country, he seemed to entertain an 

 antipathy to an indiscriminate use of animal food, and would not eat of either the 

 flesh of the cow or hog ; would sometimes taste a little piece of beef, but never 

 eat of it. I have seen him take dried fish, which he seemed to relish better than 

 almost any other description of animal food, with the exception of chicken, and 

 even this he would eat but very sparingly of, preferring his common diet, bread 

 and milk, with sugar, fruit, &c. In temper he was remarkably pacific, and 

 seemed, as I thought, often glad to have an opportunity of testifying his affection 

 and attachment for me. When I visited him in the morning, he would commence 

 a loud and shrill whoo — whoo — whoo — whoo, which he would keep up often for 

 five or ten minutes, with an occasional intermission for the purpose of taking a 

 full respiration, until finally, apparently quite exhausted, he would lie down and 

 allow me to comb his head and brush the long hair on his arms, and seem 

 delighted with the tickling sensation produced by the brush on his belly and legs. 

 He would turn from side to side, first hold out one arm and then the other, and 

 when I attempted to go away he would catch hold of my arm or coat tail, and 

 pull me back again to renew my little attention to him, daily bestowed. If I 

 called to him from a distance, and he could recognise my voice, he would at once 

 set up his usual cry, which he sometimes gradually brought down to a kind of 

 moan, but generally resumed his louder tone when I approached him. This 

 animal was a male, but showed no particular marks of the sex, and by a casual 



