ABOUT MONKEYS.-BOBBY.

My first monkey was brought to me early one morning, a few years ago, at Lucknow, a great city in India. I had been a fortnight in India, but only about two days at Lucknow.

The evening before, at a dinner-party, I happened to say how much I should like to have a monkey, and immediately four voices said, "Oh ! I will give you mine with pleasure."

When I thought of this afterwards, it looked very suspicious that the owners of the monkeys should be so ready to part with them. It seemed as though they had been rather troublesome pets. But at the time I only felt how good-natured everybody was, and how much I should like to be able to accept all four monkeys. As this was impos

sible, I contented myself with selecting one whose master gave him an excellent character.

My last thought at night and my first in the morning was one of joy and impatience to see my new pet. It is the custom in India, as I dare say you have heard, to get up very early; so by six o'clock I was dressed in a loose muslin wrapper, and sitting under the shade of a beautiful clump of trees in the garden.

A few moments afterwards I saw a tall swarthy Indian servant approaching me, making low bows down to the ground at every step.

He was leading a monkey by a chain round its waist, and carrying a plate in the other hand. I could not tell the height of the animal on account of its shambling way of half walking, half crawling, but it turned out afterwards to be about as tall as the table; it was not quite black, but very glossy.

When they were within two or three yards of me, the "mater" (as that kind of low-caste servant is called in India) said, "Salaam, Bobbee," and Bobby put his black paw up to his forehead, and slapped it several times, bending low as he did so, exactly in the way the mater had been going on ever since he came in sight. It is the Indian way of saying How do you do? or Good morning!

I was delighted, of course, and thought Bobby had charming manners. But when he came closer I did not quite like his being so big and strong, or so very inquisitive. He did not seem in the least shy, but made himself at home directly;

and when his servant put the fruit and cake which he had brought for him on the table before me, Master Bobby quickly climbed up and seated himself on my knee, as if he had known me all his life.

As soon as he had finished his breakfastand he was not long about it—the mater took away the empty plate, and with many more salaams retired, leaving Bobby still on my knee, very busy examining my buckle and ear-rings, pricking his fingers with my brooch, and every now and then stroking my hair.

I was not at all easy in my mind, but sat quite still, and tried to conceal from Bobby that I disliked his company or felt frightened.

After a little while he noticed some ribbon on my sleeve, and tried to pick it off with his finger and thumb, as if it had been a flower. He next set to work diligently to roll up the wide open sleeve of my dressing-gown into a long narrow bundle: this he did very slowly and neatly, chattering softly to himself all the time.

By degrees he got it rolled up to my shoulder, leaving my arm quite bare.

I sat patiently waiting to see what he was going to do next, when he gave a sort of yell, dug his nails and teeth into my arm, and tore it down to the wrist, leaving four or five rows of bleeding scratches on it.

I jumped up with a scream which brought all the servants out to see what was the matter. Not

one of them would touch him, but some ran to call the mater, who carried Master Bobby off kicking and fighting like a naughty child.

In the meantime my arm was smarting dreadfully. It did not bleed much, but the pain was really very severe, and I had to keep wet cloths wrapped round it all day.

The servants told us that the mater had already confessed that Bobby was very bad to Memsahibs," and did not like them at all; so after our breakfast I wrote a polite little note to his former master, and returned Bobby to him with many thanks. This was the end of my first attempt to have a pet monkey; he was mine for only two hours.-Lady Barker.

Many kingdoms and countries full of people, and islands, and large continents with different climates, make up this whole world. The people swarm on the face of it like ants upon a hillock; some are black with the hot sun; some cover themselves with furs against the sharp cold; some drink of the fruit of the vine; some of the pleasant milk of the cocoa-nut; and others quench their thirst with the running stream.

ABOUT MONKEYS.-JENNY.

A YEAR or so afterwards I was on my way back to England, and the ship stopped at Ceylon for a few days.

I had been told that most beautiful little monkeys were to be bought there, and all the time we were at Point-de-Galle I tried very hard to find one to purchase; but it was too early in the spring for the young ones to be taken from their mothers, so there were none in the market.

I returned, after a week's absence on shore, very disconsolately to the ship without having succeeded in procuring a monkey; but the first person I met on board was the fat, good-natured old captain, nursing tenderly in his arms a wee monkey of a