2% NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE,

came and inspected the trench and the palisades beyond.
A bristly old tusker was observed taking a survey of the
defences; but, after mature deliberation, he gave two short
grunts, the porcine (language), I imagined, for ‘No go,’ and
took himself off at a round trot, to pay a visit to my neigh-
bour Ram Chunder, and inquire how his little plot of sweet
yams was coming on. The jackals sniffed at every crevice,
and determined to wait a bit; but the monkeys laughed the
whole entrenchment to scorn. Day after day was I doomed
to behold my canes devoured as fast as they ripened, by
troops of jubilant monkeys. It was of no use attempting to
drive them away. When disturbed, they merely retreated
to the nearest tree, dragging whole stalks of sugar-cane along
with them, and then spurted the chewed fragments in my
face, as I looked up at them. This was adding insult to
injury; and I positively began to grow bloodthirsty at the
idea of being outwitted by monkeys. The case between us
might have been stated in this way. ‘I have, at much
trouble and expense, cleared and cultivated this jungle land,’
said I. ‘More fool you,’ said the monkeys. ‘I have
planted and watched over these sugar-canes.’ ‘Watched!
Ah, ah! so have we, for the matter of that” ‘But surely
I have a right to reap what I sowed.’ ‘Don’t see it,’ said
the monkeys; ‘the jungle, by rights prescriptive and indefeas-
ible, is ours, and has been so ever since the days of Ram
Hanuman of the long tail. If you cultivate the jungle with-
out our consent, you must look to the consequences. [If you
don’t like our customs, you may get about your business.
We don’t want you.’ I kept brooding over this mortifying
view of the matter, until one morning I hatched revenge in
a practicable shape. A tree, with about a score of monkeys
on it, was cut down, and half a dozen of the youngest were
caught as they attempted to escape. A large pot of ghow
(treacle) was then mixed with as much tarter emetic as could
be spared from the medicine chest, and the young hopefuls