Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals | Page 5

tucks it into his mouth as fast as possible,
and when his cheek pouches are so full that they cannot hold any more,
he looks at you as if he seriously asked your approval of his laying up
stores for the future. If he destroy the most valuable piece of glass or
china in your possession, he does not look as if he enjoyed the mischief,
but either puts on an impudent air, as much as to say, "I don't care," or
calmly tries to let you know he thought it his duty to destroy your
property. Savage, violent and noisy are they when irritated or
disappointed, and long do they retain the recollection of an affront. I
once annoyed a monkey in the collection of the Jardin des Plantes, in
Paris, by preventing him from purloining the food of one of his

companions; in doing which I gave him a knock upon his paws. It was
lucky that strong wires were between us, or he would probably have
hurt me severely in his rage; he shook the cage, he rolled about and
screamed, and did not forget the offence. On future occasions, the
instant he heard my voice, he put himself into a passion: and several
months after, although I had been absent the whole time, he seized on
my gown while I incautiously stood too near to him, dragged a portion
of it within the bars, and bit a great piece out of it, although it was
made of a very strong material.
A monkey, of I know not what species, was domiciled in a family in
Yorkshire to whom my mother was paying a visit of some days. A
large dinner-party was given in honor of the guest, the master of the
house helped the soup; but as he was talking at the time, he did not
observe its appearance. Presently all to whom it had been served, laid
down their spoons, or sent their plates away. This of course attracted
attention, and on inspection, the liquid was discovered to be full of
short hairs. The servants in attendance were questioned, but they
declared they were ignorant of the cause; and the wisest and politest
proceeding was, to send the tureen from the table, and, serving the fish,
make no further comment. The mistress of the family, however, when
the ladies left the dining-room, slipped away from her friends, and
summoning the cook to her presence, received an explanation of the
mystery. The woman said, she had left the kitchen only for one minute,
and when she returned, she saw the monkey standing on the hob of the
kitchen grate, with one fore-paw resting on the lid of the boiler which
contained the soup. "Oh, Mr. Curiosity," she exclaimed, "that is too
much for you, you can't lift that up." To her horror and amazement,
however, he had lifted it up, and was putting it on again after popping
the kitten in, whose remains were discovered at the bottom when the
soup was strained. The poor cook was so bewildered, that she did not
know what to do: it was time for the dinner to be served, and she,
therefore, for the look's sake, thought it best to send the soup in as it
was, even if it were sent out again immediately, "because you know
ma'am," said she, "that would prove you had ordered it. I always
thought the monkey would do the kitten a mischief, he was so jealous
of it, and hated it so because it scratched him, so he seized it when

asleep."
A much better disposed monkey belonged to my eldest daughter; and
we brought him to England from the Gambia. He seemed to know that
he could master the child, and did not hesitate to bite and scratch her
whenever she pulled him a little harder than he thought proper. I
punished him for each offence, yet fed and caressed him when good; by
which means I possessed an entire ascendancy over him. He was very
wretched in London lodgings, where I was obliged to fasten him to the
bars of a stove, and where he had no fresh air; and he was no sooner let
loose than he tried to break everything within his reach; so I persuaded
his young mistress to present him to the Jardin des Plantes. I took him
there; and during my stay in that place paid him daily visits. When
these were discontinued, the keeper told me that he incessantly watched
for my return, and it was long before he recovered his disappointment,
and made friends with his companions in the same cage. Two years
after, I again went to see him; and when I stood before him and said,
"Mac, do you know me?" he gave