HAPLESS MONKEYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22350, 22 February 1936, Page 12

HAPLESS MONKEYS

ANIMAIS ON MAKII'OSA ALL DIE ON VOYAGE VICTIMS OF UNKIND FATE Three American monkeys, travelling to New Zealand by the Mariposa, which arrived at Auckland yesterday, met an untimely fate at sea, two of them being victims of injuries. The monkeys were talented creatures, and joined the Mariposa at San Francisco, under the care of Mr. -A. Greenhalgh, an Australian showman, who was bringing them to the AntipodesHoused in three separate cages on the boat deck, the travellers, known as Hear Nothing, Say Nothing and Sec Nothing, chattered all day, grimacing at the crew, to whom they were a perennial source of interest.

All went well until the Mariposa called at Los Angeles. He?r Nothing, a large spider monkey, found his cage much closer than usual to the cage of See Nothing, a younger member of the monkey complement, and while most of the passengers were ashore he seized an opportunity to bite his companion severely on the leg. The bite was fatal. See Nothing was found in the evening, weak from loss of blood, and was immediately rushed to the ship's surgery, put under an anaesthetic, and operated upon. The victim never recovered, his death occurring shortly afterward. Three days later at sea, the monkeys' evil destiny overtook them again. Hear Nothing nipped out of his cage while a steward was cleaning it. The monkey, 3ft. Gin. in height, vaulted along the deck toward another steward, looking very ferocious. Terror-stricken, the steward struck Hear Nothing on the head. .The monkey collapsed, and, like his own victim, did not recover. He was buried at sea.

Say Nothing missed his companions. For a little while he mooned in his cage. Then he, too, died. It was never established whether he died from a broken heart or sunstroke.

Arrangements had been made for the ill-fated monkeys to be sent to the Auckland Zoo for quarantine, until plans had been made for their future. Three empty cages on the Princes Wharf yesterday were a poignant memorial of the hapless voyagers.