“But of all the monkeys in the world,” continued the gentleman, “the most comical is the long-nosed monkey of Borneo; as far as known it has been found nowhere else than in that island. He grows to the size of a large pointer dog, lives in the same forests with the orang-outang, and probably associates with him. He has a funny appearance at any age, but perhaps the funniest when young and the nose has just begun to develop. Its hair grows naturally down the sides of the head as though parted by a comb, it has whiskers but no mustaches, and it has a long tail which starts high enough up the back not to be in the way when the animal sits down.
“The Dyak natives believe that these monkeys are a race of men who have fled to the forest in order to avoid the payment of taxes!”
“And now,” said Mr. Graham, glancing at his watch, “we will drop the subject of apes and their kindred until to-morrow.”
The youths took the hint and no further questions were asked that evening about quadrumana and their strange ways. But the next day they were ready with several “monkey stories,” some of which are worth repeating.
Harry found the following, which certainly shows a reasoning power on the part of the monkey:
“There is on the coast of Java a peculiar long-tailed monkey, and a sand crab that grows to extraordinary size and possesses great strength in its claws.