the manner of catching and preparing their subjects, and it is in this part of the process that the peculiar skill and courage of the serpent-charmers is shown.

But, in contradiction to this statement, we have the assertion of many travellers who have witnessed these exhibitions in the East, that the fangs are not extracted, that they have examined the animals thus exhibited, and that, at the same time that they were thus completely under the influence of the charmers and incapable of doing them any injury, their bite was as destructive as ever to the life of other animals exposed to them. Dr. John Davy, in his account of Ceylon, is certain that the only charm exerted is that of courage and confidence. Bruce, the celebrated Egyptian traveller, gives his testimony to the same effect, and more lately Tennent confirms the same statement.

CHAPTER XIII. (S.)

OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.

'THE Monkey tribes are among the most remarkable of animals, for their various indications of cunning, artifice, and even intelligence. Others may sometimes exhibit a greater amount of actual, practical wisdom, but there are none which present a nearer approach in certain respects to the human character, or a more close imitation of some of the lower faculties, propensities, and manners of our own species. Their peculiarities will be best illustrated by a variety of examples.'

Margraaf informs us, that the monkeys in Brazil, while they are sleeping on the trees, have uniformly a sentinel to warn them of the approach of the tiger or other rapacious animals; and that, if ever this sentinel is found sleeping, his companions instantly tear him in pieces for his neglect of duty. For the same purpose, when a troop of monkeys are committing depredations on the fruits of a garden, a sentinel is placed on an eminence, who,

when any person appears, makes a certain chattering noise, which the rest understand to be a signal for retreat, and immediately fly off and make their escape.

Mr. Parkyns in his late travels in Abyssinia states many interesting particulars concerning them.

""You see them," he says, " quarrelling, making love; mothers taking care of their children, combing their hair; and the passions, jealousy, anger, love, are as distinctly marked as among men. They have a language apparently as intelligible to one another as ours; and in this they scold at, and dispute with, each other, as earnestly as we do.

"The monkeys, especially the cynocephali, have their chiefs, whom they implicitly obey, and a regular system of tactics in war, pillaging, robbing orchards, &c. These forays are managed with the utmost regularity. A tribe coming down to feed from their village in the mountains, which is usually a cleft in the face of some cliff, brings with it all its members. The elders of the tribe, distinguished by the quantity of mane which covers their shoulders, take the lead, peering cautiously over the precipices, and pausing at each elevation to take a survey of the road before them. Others are posted as scouts, in flank and rear, who are equally vigilant, and call out at times, as if to keep order among the motley group that constitutes the main body, or to give notice of some real or fancied danger.

"The main body is composed of the young people of the tribe and the females. The small children are carried on their mothers' backs. Unlike the dignified march of the leaders, the rabble go along in a most disorderly manner, trotting on and chattering heedlessly, trusting entirely to the vigilance of their scouts. The young linger behind to pick berries from some tree; the mothers delay now and then, to feed, or caress, or dress the hair of their offspring; and the younger females, apparently provoked by each other's cries or gestures, pinch, scratch, and bite one another, till a loud bark of command from one of the chiefs calls them to order. A single cry of alarm makes them all halt and remain on the alert; till another in a different tone reassures them, and they then proceed on their march.

"Arrived at the cornfields, the scouts take their position on

the eminences all around, while the remainder of the tribe collect provision with the utmost expedition. They fill their cheekpouches as full as they can hold, and then tuck the heads of corn under their armpits. Now there must be afterward a division of the collected spoil according to some established principle, or else how do the scouts feed? for they never quit for a moment their post of duty till it is time for the tribe to return, or till some indication of danger renders a retreat necessary.

"They show great sagacity in searching for water, discovering at once the places where it is most readily found in the sand, and then digging for it with their hands, just as men would, and relieving one another in the work if the labor prove too great.”

'The following anecdote serves to illustrate their singular adroitness and cunning. A showman, who had several to exhibit, gave Mr. Parkyns an opportunity of witnessing the tricks of one of them, who was a most dexterous thief, and managed always to steal food enough for his own support. His keeper led him to a spot near a date-seller who was sitting upon the ground with his basket beside him, and then put him through his usual evolutions. He kept a watchful eye upon the fruit; but so completely did he disguise his intentions, that a careless observer would never have *noticed it. He did not at first appear to care about approaching the basket, but gradually brought himself nearer and nearer, till he got quite close to the owner. In the middle of one of his feats, he suddenly started up from the ground, on which he was lying stretched out like a corpse, and, uttering a cry as of rage or pain, fixed his eyes full at the face of the date-seller, and then, without moving the rest of his body, stole as many dates as he could hold in one of his hind hands, and popped them into his cheek-pouches, his victim knowing nothing of his loss, till informed of it by the laugh of the bystanders at his expense, in which he heartily joined. At this moment a boy in the crowd pulled the animal sharply by the tail. Conscience-stricken, as it were, he imagined the insult to have come from the man he had robbed, and fell upon him at once with great fury, and would have bitten him severely, except for the interference of his master. 'Their strong imitative propensity was exhibited to Mr. Parkyns in a curious and rather costly manner. He had been observed

by one of them, in reading a book, to turn over its leaves in rapid succession as he went on with it. The monkey obtained the volume; and, sitting down to imitate him, as he turned each leaf, he tore it down from top to bottom.

'The exhibitor of a monkey laid a wager with the owner of a fierce English bull-dog, that the monkey would kill the dog in less than ten minutes, with no other weapon than a small oaken ferule. His master putting it into his hand, tossed him into the ring, saying, "Look out for that dog." The ferocious animal sprang at him, the bystanders expecting nothing but that he would tear his feeble adversary to pieces at once. The monkey, however, leaped several feet into the air, alighted upon the dog's back, seized him by the neck, and beat him to death in a few moments.

'A monkey was in the habit of riding his owner's hogs, especially one to which he was particularly partial. He would leap upon its back with his face towards its tail, and, whipping it unmercifully, drive it about till it could run no longer. The hogs lived under such terror of their tormenter, that, when he first came abroad in the morning, they set up a great cry at the sight of him. A person having a very vicious horse, that no one could ride, was advised to put the animal upon him. A pad was placed on his back, and the monkey upon it, with a switch in his hand, which he applied in the most vigorous manner. The horse immediately began kicking and galloping, but the monkey kept his seat and exercised his switch. The horse lay down upon the ground; but, when he threw himself on one side, the monkey was up on the other. He ran into a wood to brush him off; but, if a tree or bush occurred on one side, the monkey slipped to the other. At last the poor victim was so sickened, fatigued, and brokenspirited, that he ran home to the stable for protection. When the monkey was dismounted, a boy was placed upon the horse, who managed him with ease, and he gave no trouble afterward!'

The Deer kind are remarkable for the arts they employ in order to deceive the dogs. With this view the stag often returns twice or thrice upon his former steps. He endeavors to raise hinds or younger stags to follow him, and draw off the dogs from the immediate object of their pursuit. If he succeeds in this attempt, he then flies off with redoubled speed, or springs off at a

side, and lies down on his belly to conceal himself. When in this situation, if by any means his foot is recovered by the dogs, they pursue him with more advantage, because he is now considerably fatigued. No other resource is now left him but to fly from the earth which he treads, and go into the waters, in order to cut off the scent from the dogs, when the huntsmen again endeavor to put them on the track of his foot. After taking to the

water, the stag is so much exhausted that he is incapable of running much farther, and is soon at bay, or, in other words, turns and defends himself against the hounds. In this situation he often wounds the dogs, and even the huntsmen, by blows with the horns, till one of them cuts his hams to make him fall, and then puts a period to his life.

The fallow-deer are more delicate, less savage, and approach nearer to the domestic state than the stag. They associate in herds, which generally keep together. When great numbers are assembled in one park, they commonly form themselves into two distinct troops, which soon become hostile, because they are both ambitious of possessing the same part of the inclosure. Each of these troops has its own chief or leader, who always marches foremost, and he is uniformly the oldest and strongest of the flock. The others follow him; and the whole draw up in order of battle, to force the other troop, who observe the same conduct, from the best pasture. When hunted, they run not straight out, like the stag, but double, and endeavor to conceal themselves from the dogs by various artifices, and by substituting other animals in their place. When fatigued and heated, however, they take the water, but never attempt to cross such large rivers as the stag does.

The roe-deer is inferior to the stag and fallow-deer, both in ' strength and stature; but he is endowed with more gracefulness, courage, and vivacity. His eyes are more brilliant and animated. His limbs are more nimble; his movements are quicker, and he bounds with equal vigor and agility. He is, likewise, more crafty, conceals himself with greater address, and derives superior resources from his instincts. Though he leaves behind him a stronger scent than the stag, which increases the ardor of the dogs, he knows how to evade their pursuit, by the rapidity with