proceed with all the caution and regularity which could be found in men
themselves. Some of these animals are placed as spies to give notice to
the rest, in case any human being should approach the garden; and,
should that happen, one of the sentinels informs them by a peculiar
chattering, and they all escape in an instant." "I can easily believe
that," answered Harry, "for I have observed, that when a flock of rooks
alight upon a farmer's field of corn, two or three of them always take
their station upon the highest tree they can find; and if any one
approaches they instantly give notice by their cawing, and all the rest
take wing directly and fly away." "But," answered Mr Barlow, "the
monkeys are said to be yet more ingenious in their thefts; for they
station some of their body at a small distance from each other, in a
line that reaches quite from the forest they inhabit to the particular
garden they wish to plunder. When this is done, several of them mount
the fairest fruit-trees, and, picking the fruit, throw it down to their
companions who stand below; these again cast it to others at a little
distance, and thus it flies from hand to hand till it is safely
deposited in the woods or mountains whence they came. When they are
taken very young they are easily tamed, but always retain a great
disposition to mischief, as well as to imitate everything they see done
by men. Many ridiculous stories are told of them in this respect. I have
heard of a monkey that resided in a gentleman's family, and that
frequently observed his master undergo the operation of shaving. The
imitative animal one day took it into his head to turn barber, and,
seizing in one hand a cat that lived in the same house, and a bottle of
ink in the other, he carried her up to the top of a very fine marble
staircase. The servants were all attracted by the screams of the cat,
who did not relish the operation which was going forward; and, running
out, were equally surprised and diverted to see the monkey gravely
seated upon the landing-place of the stairs, and holding the cat fast in
one of his paws, while with the other he continually applied ink to
puss's face, rubbing it all over, just as he had observed the barber do
to his master. Whenever the cat struggled to escape, the monkey gave her
a pat with his paw, chattering all the time, and making the most
ridiculous grimaces; and when she was quiet, he applied himself to his
bottle, and continued the operation. But I have heard a more tragic
story of the imitative genius of these animals. One of them lived in a
fortified town, and used frequently to run up and down upon the
ramparts, where he had observed the gunner discharge the great guns that
defended the town. One day he got possession of the lighted match with
which the man used to perform his business, and, applying it to the
touch-hole of a gun, he ran to the mouth of it to see the explosion; but
the cannon, which happened to be loaded, instantly went off, and blew
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