Monkeys and their Prey in the Strars Settlements.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 11 April 1890, Page 2

Monkeys and their Pr ey in the Strars Settlements.

The way in which monl,eyg catch lend cva'is isdesoribe'dbyaspo^bßn who made an expedition t6 Mhe jnngles atouna Singapore, and,, there enjoyed spo.i; which makes the* contemporaneous re«wdg;Qf, Indian experiences pale into insignificance, The inonVey l : es down fla^ on ita stomach, feigning death. F/ona.the countless passages pieroingithe mud in evt.y (•: cotion thousandg of little zed aud yellow crabs soon make the:v appearance, end after suspiciously eyeing for & few minutes ,the brow.i ft r of the. monkey they slowly and cautious^ sidU up ' to" him, in great glee at the prospect : of.,a rb'g feed off the .bone* of -Master Jneko. Tho loiter, peepa througli his half ol sed eyelids, and fix.s upon the biggest of the assembled multitude, W,ura the crab corner within .roach, out dashes the monkey's .crm.y.f

off he acarapers iuto the jungle with a cry of delight to tiiscuss at lesnre his cleverly earned dinner.-. .-?', Rarely did the monkeys seem to mis 3 their pray, " adds the deicriber of this •ceoe. I saw, however or« old i«llow do so, aud it wda ludicrous, in the extreme to see the rage it put him in. Jumping for fully a minute ttp'and down on all fours at the mouth of the hole into which the crab had eseapad, he positively howled with vexation. Then he set to work poking the mud about with hid fingers at -the ent; ance the pasiage fruitlessly trying every now 1 and again to peep into it. " These B«n« m mkeys the so called pig tail rariety, aie taught by the Malays jMot fruit for th«^m the^'lovcst^. ■Themonkeys'selectthei ripe'st fmit, and their mastera, by following their movements, catch them in a cloth

_ fcafore they reach the ground. The « monkey is too well ' .trained to attempt to ;. «gt any froit wh?t« at ' Wflrk, but when sufficjaat are gAthersd he. is duly rewarded for his aaff'denial. J '