Other varieties of South American monkeys were more tractable, Mr Graham further explained, and he specially mentioned the little spider monkey and a sapajou as amusing and affectionate.
“Some of these American monkeys,” Mr Graham continued, “show a great deal of intelligence, bordering upon reason. A naturalist who studied them in Brazil says that when one of them received an egg for the first time he broke it clumsily and lost half the contents, but so, he handled it with the greatest care. Lumps of sugar were occasionally given to him wrapped in paper; one day a live wasp was put in the paper with the sugar, so that when the monkey tore it open he was stung. After that he always held the paper to his ear and listened intently to detect any movement within.”
“Haven't I read,” said Harry, “about monkeys organizing raids upon orchards and gardens in a very systematic manner, just as boys or men might do?”
“Quite likely you have,” was the reply, “for such things are by no means uncommon. Monkeys are gregarious animals and hunt in the second time he only broke the top and lost nothing. Ever after that when he received an egg he gently broke the top by hitting it against a hard substance, and then picked off the fragments of the shell with his fingers. After cutting himself once with a sharp tool he would not for some time touch it again, and when he finally did troops; these troops generally have their chiefs, whom they obey implicity, and there would seem to be some mode of communication among them by which orders are issued and understood.
“The monkeys of Northern Africa come down from their places of concealment in the forest and rob the gardens of the people, carrying off the fruit by wholesale. Sentinels are posted to give warning in case of danger, then one of the troop climbs over the fence followed by another and another. They form a line from the wall to the tree which is to be robbed, and as fast as the fruit is plucked it is passed from one to another with the greatest rapidity. Those at the farther end of the line and outside of the garden wall, load themselves with all they can carry and then move away; as soon as the fruit has been stripped from the tree, or at the slightest note of alarm, the whole line scrambles off and is out of reach in a moment.”
