and the remainder were of the order primates, and of the class mammalia;
or what in common parlance are called monkeys.

The first were Savoyards, and may be generally described as being
unwashed, ragged, and carnivorous; in color swarthy; in lineaments and
expression avaricious and shrewd; and in appetites voracious. The latter
were of the common species, of the usual size, and of approved gravity.
There were two of each sex; being very equally paired as to years and
external advantages.

The monkeys were all habited with more or less of the ordinary attire of
our modern European civilization; but peculiar care had been taken with
the toilet of the senior of the two males. This individual had on the
coat of a hussar, a cut that would have given a particular part of his
body a more military contour than comported with his real character
were it not for a red petticoat that was made shorter than common; less,
however, with a view to show a pretty foot and ankle than to leave the
nether limbs at liberty to go through with certain extravagant efforts
which the Savoyards were unmercifully exacting from his natural agility.
He wore a Spanish hat, decorated with a few bedraggled feathers, a white
cockade, and a wooden sword. In addition to the latter, he carried in
his hand a small broom.

Observing that my attention was strongly attracted to this party, the
ill-favored Savoyards immediately commenced a series of experiments
in saltation, with the sole view, beyond a question, to profit by
my curiosity. The inoffensive victims of this act of brutal tyranny
submitted with a patience worthy of the profoundest philosophy, meeting
the wishes of their masters with a readiness and dexterity that was
beyond all praise. One swept the earth, another leaped on the back of
a dog, a third threw himself head-over-heels again and again without a
murmur, and the fourth moved gracefully to and fro, like a young girl in
a quadrille. All this might have passed without calling for particular
remark (since, alas! the spectacle is only too common), were it not for
certain eloquent appeals that were made to me through the eyes by the
individual in the hussar jacket. His look was rarely averted from
my face for a moment, and in this way a silent communion was soon
established between us. I observed that his gravity was indomitable.
Nothing could elicit a smile or a change of countenance. Obedient to
the whip of his brutal master, he never refuse