Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1885-08-05
A MONKEY-lNFESTED CITY
The "City of the Gods" where
Apes are Sacred.
Twenty Thousand of Them Allowed to
Roam at Will Through the Town.

A railroad company in India has de-
,llned to carry ten thousand monkeys.
Most railroad companies probably
would. That such an undertaking,
nowever, should ever have been sug-
gested to a Board of Directors is a
curious incident in railroad history,
yet 1t is a fact. The Brahmans of
Benares, anxious to get rid of several
thousand superlluous monkeys, asked
;he company to carry them away for
hem to distant spot, but the rail
.Oad authorities showed no enthusiasm
n closing with the offer of such a
multitude of singular passengers 1t
S Il matter of common knowledge
hat in Benares, the "City Of the
iods,' there is very large ard very
sacred colony of monkeys. Not only
lave they a temple, properly furnish
I'd with shrines and priests, specially
dedicated to them, but they are free Of
all the others besides. In Benarcs
;hey can 60 where they like, and,
although this liberty is qualified by Il
certain measure of respectful opposi-
lion when they abuse their privileges
90 outrageously, the monkeys are vir-
.ually free of the whole city, private
dwellings, and public buildings. Thus
.ircumstanced, with every favorable
condition for longevity in individuals
and fecundity in the species, it is no
wonder that the fOur-handed folk
lave become redundant. Even the
Brahmans themselves have at last
confessed that there are too many
monkeys in Benares, and are now try
ng to rid themselves of Il portion of
;he intolerable burden of the sanctity
which such host of reverend quadru-
1eds imposes upon them. The COM
non people, in spite of the sacredness
)f the creatures, have long ago begun
20 think that 50 large a population of
dlers has its unsatisfactory side, and,
when we rccOllect that a monkey will
very day eat and waste as much
grain or fruit as an average Hindu re-
llires for his weekly sustenance, and
hat the mischief in which these crea-
llres pass their time-having nothing
Else, poor bored divinities, to do--must
entail Il substantial appreciable loss
lpOn their human tellow-citizens, it is
aot dlflicult to sympathize with the
ape-ridden men and women of the
Holy City. Without contributing in
any way to the material welfare of
:he sacred place, these animals, twen-
ty thousand or 50, constitute a very
serious tax upon the working pObula-
zion and divert from other charities a
'ast quantity of good food Each
handful of grain which II monkey
wastes would suffice for the meal of Il
nendicant fakr. At last, therefore,
t has been decided to take steps to
reduce tie tailed population. The
monkey, however, is at ali times an
intelligent person. lie knows us well
AS any body else when he is well off.
In Benarcs he is especially c6ntented.
Plenty of good water, unlimited vege-
tables, fruit and grain, delightfully."-
shady hooks, verandas, temple corri-
doris, etc, commend themselves to him
as acombination of attractions not to
be easily matched elsewhere, 50 that
he scouts all suggestions of emigra-
ton. Once or twice the pious and
benevolent old Rajall has invited the
four handed hosts to come across the
river from the city to his Palace of
Ramnuggur, and the priests have
actually ferried boat-load after boat
load from one bank of the Ganges to
the other. But the monkeys pretend
ed to misunderstood the arrangement.
They affected to think the trip 4 mere
outing-a days picnic. So, though
they allowed themselves to be taken
over in the morning with the utmost
complacency, they always insisted on
being brought back again in the even
ing. Boats ply in large numbers upon
the river, and. without asking for per-
mission or offering to pay any thing,
they used to ship themselves as pas
sengers and return to sleep in the city.
On another occasion certain lands a
short distance off were specially set
apart by the princely Rajah for their
maintenance, and an immense number
of the animals were respectfully con-
Quoted to their new quarters and
invited to settle there. But no; the
found there were no sweet
meat stalls in the fields, no cake-shops
in the groves, and they courteously,
yet firmly, declined the Rajah's prof
tered hospitality, and came strolling
back into the city at their leisure.
They had tasted the pleasures of a
rural life, and deliberately arrived at
the conclusion that they preferred
those of the town; so they gave up the
cornlields and the mango trees for the
cool courts of the many-templed city,
and the bazaars where lollipops were
always to be had for the stealing. The
present effort, however, this of deport- |
ing by train to such distance as Sah-
arunpore such large number as
10000. is by far the most serious that p
has been made, and if the four-handed
ones submit to he drportel this time, /
hpv pust nulgC IN tlpir minds fnr