IN MONKEYLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

IN MONKEYLAND.

A rOBKEsrosDEST of the Natal Witness relates an uncommon experience he had some years ago at Umgeni. a suburb of Durban at the pretty house, high up among the'trees, where .Mr. Bradley at that time superintended the manufacture of bricks. He write* : — We were most hospitably treated, and rested ourselves in long chairs, while the soda sizzed in the glares, and one of us persuaded Mrs. Bradley to call the monkeys out of the bush for our ontcrtainment. When all was ready Mrr, Bradley and her little girl took a basnet of fruit and went out to the lawn and sat down. Obedient to instructions, we crouched in cover, and "Mrs. Bradley commenced callin-- ~ , 11 i • "Monkeys, monkeys, she called, in a high monotone. The tree to my right rustled, and a big monkey pushed aside a branch to reconnoitre, afterwards, a tiny bold beast galloped out of the undergrowth, and went up to be fed. The examole had an instantaneous effect. the bush swarmed with lithe, furry lite, and a vanguard drew cautiously into the open Mrs. Bradlov called again, and the monkeys, satisfied that all was well, trooped out in numbers. They squatted amicably round the lady and the child, and beeVed, stole, and snatched sections of banana. The*- reminded me irresistibly Of the shameless Neapolitan " lazzarom —they arc such brazen, yet irresistible mendicants. ~ One was .in ancient rogue, of considerable size and inconceivable impudence. He had lest a hand somehow, but managed to purloin more than his .-hare of the fruit with none the less adroitness. V* ith him came a giant and muscular consort, to whose lean bellv clung a squealing and turbulent bahv. Big monkeys, little one*, fat ones, skinny ones, nice ones, rude ones, jostled each other in a crowd, and took food as of right from the hands of the two humans. The little girl treated with them as with dolls, and the monkeys treated her with startling familiarity. One, tapped on the head for another's sins, protested almost humanlv, and while reparation was being made the others plundered desperately. . . 1 never saw anything like it in the least. The scene was elemental, primeval. The humans and the beasts treated on common ground, as Mowgli treated with Bagheera and Baloo. It was grossly spectacular, like the pictures of the child leadin" Hie lion, or Daniel in the Den, and as little real for the time being. The actors in the scene knew one another, understood one another, and had matter in hand that cnuallv belonged to both. 'Finally, the bananas were at an end, and Mrs. Bradley rose. "That's all," she said to the congregation. "Go away." "Not much," returned the congregation, as plainly as gestures could speak. Then thev saw us and fled. Mr. Bradley didn't think very much of •' They hang round so," he complained ; "they behave as if the place belonged to them. If you leave a window open at night, they waltz in and take possession."