Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals | Page 2

forget the malignant
scowl which passed over the man's features at my heedless comparison.
No apology, no kindness, not even the gift of a smart waistcoat, which
he greatly coveted, ever restored me to his good graces; and I was not
sorry when his Chief summoned him from my vicinity, for I dreaded
his revenge.
A few years after, I stood lost in admiration before Sir Edwin
Landseer's inimitable picture of "the monkey who had seen the world,"
in which nature and truth lend their tone and force to the highest efforts
of art; when a voice exclaimed, "How can you waste your time looking
at that thing; such creatures ought never to have been painted;" and
although the speaker was a religious man, he muttered to himself, "I am
not sure they ought ever to have been made." The voice proceeded
from one of the finest instances of manly beauty; one famed also for
talent and acquirement. Rapoynda started into my recollection; and as I
slowly left the talented picture, I could not help smiling at the common
feeling between the savage and the gentleman, thereby proving its
universality.
Never did any one start for a tropical climate with a greater antipathy
towards these "wild men" than I did; I lived years in their vicinity and
yet contrived to avoid all contact with them, and it was not till I was
homeward-bound that my conversion was effected. The ship in which
Mr. Bowdich and myself took a round-about course to England, was
floating on a wide expanse of water, disturbed only by the heavy swell,
which forms the sole motion in a calm; the watch on deck were seated
near the bows of the vessel, the passengers and officers were almost all
below, there was only myself and the helmsman on the after-deck; he
stood listlessly by the binnacle, and I was wholly occupied in reading.
A noise between a squeak and a chatter suddenly met my ears; and

before I could turn my head to see whence it proceeded, a heavy, living
creature jumped on to my shoulders from behind, and its tail encircled
my throat. I felt it was Jack, the cook's monkey; the mischievous,
malicious, mocking, but inimitable Jack, whose pranks had often made
me laugh against my will, as I watched him from a distance, but with
whom I had never made the least acquaintance. Whether from fear or
presence of mind I do not pretend to say, but I remained perfectly still,
and in a minute or two Jack put his head forward and stared me in the
face, uttering a sort of croak; he then descended on to my knees,
examined my hands as if he were counting my fingers, tried to take off
my rings, and when I gave him some biscuit, curled himself compactly
into my lap. We were friends from that moment. My aversion thus
cured, I have ever since felt indescribable interest and entertainment in
watching, studying, and protecting monkeys. We had several on board
the above-mentioned vessel, but Jack was the prince of them all.
Exclusively belonging to the cook, although a favourite with the whole
crew, my friend (a Cercopithecus from Senegal) had been at first kept
by means of a cord, attached to the caboose; but, as he became more
and more tame, his liberty was extended, till at last he was allowed the
whole range of the ship, with the exception of the captain's and
passengers' cabins. The occupations which he marked out for himself
began at early dawn, by overturning the steward's parrot-cage whenever
he could get at it, in order to secure the lump of sugar which then rolled
out, or lick up the water which ran from the upset cup; he evidently
intended to pull the parrot's feathers, but the latter, by turning round as
fast as Jack turned, always faced him, and his beak was too formidable
to be encountered. I was frequently awakened by the quick trampling of
feet at this early hour, and knew it arose from a pursuit of Jack, in
consequence of some mischief on his part. Like all other nautical
monkeys, he descended into the forecastle, where he twisted off the
night-caps of the sailors as they lay in their hammocks, stole their
knives, tools, etc., and if they were not very active in the pursuit, these
purloinings were thrown overboard.
When the preparations for breakfast began, Jack took his post in a
corner near the grate, and when the cook's back was turned, hooked out

the pieces of biscuit which were toasting between the bars for the men,
and snatched the bunches of dried herbs, with which they tried to
imitate tea, out of the tin mugs. He sometimes scalded or burnt his
fingers by these tricks,