THE MONKEY FAMILY. 



51 



narrator saw the monkeys perform the operation ; 

 and it were discourteous in me to doubt his word. 

 Wherefore, I will content myself by simply remark- 

 ing, that I believe, that he believed, that, which in 

 reality cannot be believed. 



I have now done with quotations, the contents of 

 which, neither increase my estimation of monkey- 

 ingenuity, nor tend to give me a favorable opinion 

 of the discernment of those authors from whose 

 works I have extracted them. 



They may possibly serve to put the over credulous 

 lover of natural history on his guard. Tis said 

 that the schoolmaster is now abroad. I am glad of 

 it. He is much wanted in the province of natural 

 history, both in the old and in the new world. 



Ere I proceed in my investigation of the mon- 

 key family as it roves through its own native wilds, 

 I will stop a moment or two here, and cast my 

 eye on certain individuals, whose destiny has placed 

 them under the imperative power of civilized man. 



But let it not be imagined that my description 

 of them, is to be considered as any way trenching 

 on their original habits ; or conceding to them 

 certain faculties which nature herself never intend- 

 ed that they should possess. What they have 

 learned in captivity, has been adventitious alto- 

 gether, and seems only to be of real use to us, 



H 2 



