the upper deck, and when those who were employed
in laying it upon the planks turned their heads from him, he dipped one
paw into it, and carrying it to his chin, rubbed himself with the
destructive substance. His yell of pain called the attention of the
sailors to him, and they did all in their power to afford alleviation;
the pitch was taken off as well as it could be, his pouches being
entirely burnt away, his poor cheeks were wrapped up with rags steeped
in turpentine; and his scalded hand was bandaged in the same manner. He
was a piteous sight, and seemed to look on all who came near, as if
asking for their commiseration. He was very gentle and very sad,
submitted to be fed with sugar and water through a tube, but after a few
days he laid his head down and expired.
Mr. Forbes tells a story of a female monkey, (the Semnopithecus
Entellus), who was shot by a friend of his, and carried to his tent.
Forty or fifty of her tribe advanced with menacing gestures, but stood
still when the gentleman presented his gun at them. One, however, who
appeared to be the chief of the tribe, came forward, chattering and
threatening in a furious manner. Nothing short of firing at him seemed
likely to drive him away; but at length he approached the tent door with
every sign of grief and supplication, as if he were begging for the
body. It was given to him, he took it in his arms, carried it away, with
actions expressive of affection, to his companions, and with them
disappeared. It was not to be wondered at that the sportsman vowed never
to shoot another monkey.
Monkeys are eaten in some parts of the Old World, and universally in
South America. M. Bonpland speaks of the flesh as lean, hard and dry;
but that which I tasted in Africa, was white, juicy, and like chicken.
Mr. Bowdich had monkeys served whole before him at the table of the king
of Ashanti, having been roasted in a sitting posture, and he said,
nothing could be more horrid or repugnant than their appearance, with
the skin of the lips dried, and the white teeth, giving an aspect of
grinning from pain.
The howling monkeys of South America, who make the forests resound at
night, or before a coming storm, with their hideous choruses, and whose
hollow and enlarged tongue bone, and expanded lower jaw enable them to
utter those melancholy and startling cries, are larger and fatter than
many others in the same country, and are constantly sought for as food.
They eat the thick,
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