"Oh no, Sahib; they have their troubles too," said Sree seriously, "and many of them."
"Monkeys do?" cried Harry, laughing. "Why, what troubles can they have?"
"Muggers waiting under the trees to catch any that fall, Sahib."
"Then they ought to know better than to play in the branches which overhang the river."
"That is where the best fruit grows, in the open sunshine, Sahib, and it is often when they go down to drink that the muggers catch them or sweep them into the water with their tails."
"Ugh! the beasts!" cried Harry.
"Then there are the leopards lying in wait up in the trees, and some of the big wild cats, too, staring at them. Monkeys are very quick, but the leopards are sometimes quicker."
"Yes, it's wonderful how active those spotted, cat-like creatures are. I say, Sree, have you ever seen one of the very big monkeys that live in the islands?"
"Only once, Sahib. It was when I went to Borneo with a Sahib from India. We were a long time hunting in the woods before we found one, and then it was high up in a tree, going along hanging by his hands. He seemed to be a very quiet, tame sort of beast, only trying to get away; but the Sahib shot him, and he hung from a great bough, oh, very high up, till the Sahib shot again, and then he let go and came down, dropping from bough to bough till he fell dead, nearly at our feet."
"Was it very big, Sree?"