Hunting Monkeys

iNo country in the world, perhopi, offers such temptations for (he true sportsman as In dia. The quantity of game, particulurly ii Beneal, exceeds the most sanguine ideas o an untraveled Briton. The sport itself is considera bly more majestic und more imposing. The wild peacock. the flo.-ikin, the black cock of' Iüdia, are ncoinparably beyond the puny game of the West. The travpler, who has hunied the tiger, the 'ion, nnd the wild boar, may almost venture to look down on fox-hu. .ting ae a clnldish amusement. The vpry dangt'rs which environ tho Eastern chase give it an excitement ss superior to that of Grat Bri '"in, ae the fox hunt bosts over the capture of n.B."!e"t' ürtlie desiruction of a harmlees raDDit. Kemember I am an ludían; I speak as an lndian; I write as an Indan. Were I an Apperly or Nunrod, 1 might then view the subject m a different light. The whole face of the country n the East seems alive. A thousand species of birds tinittown in Eurov- a thousand differeut kiads , 11 of anímala, omitted bysi=me of our best zo ologists-a thousand venomous, but beauiifu 'eptiles, vivifying the scène. Vith a gur oier tne shoulder, a host of objects, besides ihose which are styled 'legitímate game,' offer tbemfielves to tempt a shot, (not that I ev er had tne craving desire which sume men feel merely to kill and des-troy.for t ie sake of wan ton cruelty,) from their gay plumage and curi ous fom. I wae strolling through a wood high up the country,' with my Mantón on my ehoulder, my thtttigbte all centred in Europe, when I beard a curious noise in a tree al most immediately above me. I looked up, nnd fonnr that the sound proceeded from a white monkey, who skipped from branch to branch, chattering away with delight atbeholding a 'fellow creature of a larger growth,' for so he seerned toconsider me. Fora few moments I took no notice of his antics. and walked 1ly al mg, till suddenly a large branch ffeH at my ieet. narrowly escaping my head. I again paused, and found that the ruisaile had been droppcti by my talkative friend. Without confiideration I inatantly turned rojnd, and fired at liim. 'l'he report had scarcely sounded, when I heard the most piercing, the most distressmg cry that ever reachcd my ears. The agonisell sliriek of a young infant burst from the little creature vhom l had wounded. It was wilhin thirty pacea of me. I could see the wretched animal, already stained w;lh blood, point to its wound.and ogam hearits dreadful moan. The laat agony of the hare is harrowing to the tyro, and I have sfien a yonng sportsman turn pale on hearing it. The present cry wus, however, more distiessing. I turned round, end endeavored to hurry away. This, however, I found no eat,y task; for, as I moved forward, (he unhappy creaiure followed me, springing us well bs it could from bongh to boughjuttering a low wailing moan, and"pointing at the same time to the spot w henee the blood trickled. Then regarding dip Bteadily but mournfullv in the face. it siPtm.rl n m_proach me with my wanton cruelty. Again I hastened on, but still it pureued me. When I stopped, ii stopped; when 1 attempted to go forward, it accompaniod me. Never in the whole course of my life did I feel so much for a dumb animal; never did I so keenly ropent an act of uncalled-for barbarity. Determined not to allow the poor monkey thus to linger in torture, and at once to end the annoying scène, I suddenly carne to a halt, and lowering my gun, which was only single barrelled, I was about to re -load it for the purpose of dispatching the maimed creature, when, spnngmg from the the tree, it ran to within about dozen paces of me, and began to cry eo piteously, and roll ilseif fa agony, occasionally picking up earth, with which it attempted to s-anch the blood by stuffing it into the wound, that, in spite "of my resolution, when Í lired, 1 was so nervous I almost missed my aim.inflicting another wound which broke the animal's leg, but. nnthinp more. Again its piercing shriek rang in rn ears. Ilorrified beyond endurance, I thre down my gun, and actually fled. In about hnlfan hour I returned, for th purpose of fetcliing my Mantón, fuily expect ing that the poor animal had left the spot.- What. then, was my surprise to find a crow ofmonkeyssurrounding thewretched sufibrer As I advanced under the shade of some trees I stole almost cli6c to them before they per ceived me. I took advantage of this circum stance to pause for a moment, and watch thei mnvements. The slricken monkey was cry ing out in the most piteous menner; the oth ers were busily employed in tearing open th wound, trying to desfroy the already maimed crealure. A shout drove them all away, save the dy ing animal. I advanced- the little monkey was rolling in agony. 1 took up mv gun, which lay beside him I fancied he cast one look of supplication on me, one prayer to be reuevcd from his misery. 1 did not hesitatewith one blow of the butt-end I dashed out his brains. Then turning round, Í slowly returned to my quarters, more profoundly dis pinied tban'I had feit for many months. Take my advice gentle reader, if you must Jivfi m Indin, never shoot a monkey.