In the jungle of trees and coarse vegetation which surrounds many of
the old-fashioned bungalows in India, the shrill, nor very musical
call of the squirrel--half cry and half whistle--may frequently be
heard. They gambol about the trees, and run up the walls of the
bungalow, and chase each other along the eaves with apparent gaiety
and freedom from care. But as you watch them through the chinks of the
blinds made of slender reeds, which shade the verandah from the glare
of the sun, you see signs that all is not harmony even in their small
world.
The grey and black striped fur of the squirrel always appears
spotlessly clean, and in all their spare moments they are busy at
their toilet. The bushy tail is their chief beauty, and it is scarcely
ever at rest. Like so many other animals, they betray their varying
emotions by the way in which they frisk it about. Their manners are
beautiful, and when they have got hold of a choice morsel they take it
in their paws, and sitting on their haunches eat it with evident
enjoyment, but with a certain polish and grace of manner pretty to
see. Young squirrels are easily tamed, and soon get reconciled to
making their home in the jacket pocket of a schoolboy.
When I was staying in the bungalow of a country mission, an
exquisitely graceful antelope stepped into the verandah, and entering
the room where we were breakfasting, went up to my host and asked for
food. He had tamed it when young, but it was now living a semi-wild
life, and was often absent in the jungle for days together. In some
parts of India various kinds of deer may be seen from the windows of
the train. The making of a line of railway naturally has the tendency
to drive the wild creatures of the district deeper into the jungle,
but after a while they to some extent get accustomed to the passing of
the train, and delightful glimpses of animal life can sometimes be got
when travelling. Monkeys, for instance, have insatiable curiosity, and
when they have got over their first alarm the quaint sight may
sometimes be seen of a row of monkeys seated on the top of the
boundary wall to watch the train go by.
Monkeys have become lawless citizens of Delhi, and will no doubt
greatly welcome the enlarged scope for mischief which the new city
will open out to them. They travel in troops over the flat roofs, and
are very bold and mischievous, and great thieves. But monkeys must be
studied in their wild freedom in the woods to appreciate them. When
seen leaping from tree to tree with refreshing elasticity, or from
rock to rock in the open country, their spirit of fun and mischief
having full scope, the sight is a delightful one. They stick very
closely to their own districts, although now and then a solitary
monkey will detach himself from the rest and search for pastures new.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account