MY MONKEY ACQUAINTANCES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4739, 2 September 1893, Page 2

MY MONKEY ACQUAINTANCES.

SOME AMUSING STORIES. (By Stetena Vail) j I never fully appreciated a monkey's capabilities for mischief or friendship nntil a recent long sojourn among the Honduras Indians on the Carribean coast. There were no whits men about and I depended largely upon my animal acquaintances for companionship. The monkeys I had seen in th9 f< States " v^Ti^tipti^aDji^: able dirty little chap 3 that I had" formed a strong aversion to the whole tribe. But the monkey free in his native land is ! another fellow. I had two tame monkeys. Panchito was a four fingered gibbon, about two andhalf feet in height when standing eresfc, with soft silver grey far. Wuckaling was a little black imp, and his white face and piercing eyes gave him a particularly knowing look. This Wuckaling wa3 certainly a child of Satan. He often reminded me of a curious tradition the natives have regarding the origin of monkeys. They believe that when God made man Satan became jealous and attempted to rival His creation. Satan's attempt waß a failure., however, for the nearest he could come to man was a monkey, In the same way he tried to make a horse, but could only produce an ass ; disgusted he finally attempted a fish — result, the serpent. It kept me busy thinking up Borne new ideai to amuse Wuck&ling. I found it hard work to keep pace with his active mind. One of my schemes to busy him wuich worked well while new was to daub his pawß with glue &nd then hand him a light feather. He would sit down, gravely examine the feather sticking to hia paw, and then carefully pick it off; Of course it would stick to the other paw, so he would repeat the operation. Ha would afc time 3 continue picking the feather from one paw to the other for osrer an hour, until at last, tiring of his unsuccessful efforts at dislodgment, he would race off leaving the feather to remain upon whichever paw it would. His devotion to a small mirror the size and shape of a silver dollar was comical. This mirror pleased him immensely, although he often grieved t'nat he could not reach behind the glass and catcb. that other little monkey which grinned at him in Buoh tantalising manner. One day while sitting in the doorway playing with hia mirror, the sun struck it and reflected the .dfizzliag light intQ.the qjes of, my macaw which was blinking sleepily away in the branches of a neighbouring tree. With a loud squeak the ui^caw raised one claw appealingly in the air and almost tumbled off ice perch in its dismay. Wuckeling was surprised yet delighted at tlie evident discomfiture of bis ancient enemy, and gazed wonderingly from the bird to the mirror; but as he twisted and turned the gla-m the blinding light flashed into hia own eyes and with a yell of rage he dashed the offending mirror to the ground. Presently he discontnued his angry scolding, and sitting very atill j began to think; now when Wuckaling did that miechief w»b jather certain to folio w. j Suddenlj he gave a squeal of delight, and | grabbing the glass dashed madly around j and around the house chattering with joy I —be had discovered tbo secret. At ! last with a mighty effort he ■ com- ; posed himself, and sitting down ! again in the doorway held the | mirror carefully toward the macaw while lan intense look* of unholy joy. passed over his usually solemn face. Again the light flaßhed and again came that- appealingclaw and heartrending squawk. Unable to contain his joy and almoGt hysterical with happiness, Wuckaliug dashed once ! mora around tho bouse in his mad career. ! After he had worked off enough of his I ecstasy to admit of hia remaining quiet he would flit down and again dance the light into the eyes of the unhappy bird. This ! performance was repeated with variations many times, until at la9t in mercy I j was obliged to confiscate the mirror before tho macaw became a raving lunatic. j Panchito'o mischief caused me more anxie'y, for he was larger and stronger than Wuckaling 1 , and mischievous in proportion. For instance, ifc was no uncommon ! thing for him, wishing to imitate my cook in preparing a fowl for the pot, to catch one of the henn and pluck the poor thiug »lmoßt bare before I could rescue her from his clutches. In addition to my monkeys I had a bull tlagr aatand Cupid — a beauty. Cupid and my monkeys never got along well, owing to Cupid'a aversion to the monkey tribe generally in consequence of a. shock to Ids dignity he received at their hands shortly

after their arrival. It happened in this way. My house stood very near the forest, so near that troops of monkeya would often approach within a ehoit distance of it, mate faces, say bad words, and then, as Cupid would dash oufc, run shrieking and BcreatDiag back to tha friendly flnlter of the trees. One day as Cupid hotly {:ui-3ued them he succeeded in catching one old i chap by thetiil and giving it a severe nip; I the monkey turned on him and uttered a terrific scream ; instantly his companions, halting in their wild scamper, came back and surrounded Cupid. The astonished dog gazed at them with surprise at their temerity depicted on every feature of hiß face. They did not give him" lot g- to ponder, however, for with one accord chey closed in about him, and then began one of the most ridiculous scrimmages I have ever seen. They jumped on his back and tore his hair; they pulled his tail and boxed his ears ; they pinched and bit him, all the while scolding like co macy Bedlamites. Finally, one large silver gray fellow, about four feet tall, with a wonderful reach of arm, stood upright, and grabbing Cupid by the scruS of the neck and back, yanked him up and down from off the ground several times with amazing force and dexterity, while the others drew back, sat down and watched their enemy suffer disgrace. That was enough for Cupid. He had hitherto been too dazed to move ; but now with a great effort he gathered hia shaken senses together, and with one wild shriek of dismay broke away and fled madly into the house. The victorious monkeys chattered joyfully and pranced triumphantly back to the forest. The region teemed with monkeys of almost every kind and description, but I found the Alouettes or Howlers the most interesting. These Howlers were unique examples of what Nature can do when she tries her hand at something odd. These fellows were tall and slender, a little like baboons ; their fur was a reddish brown, while from their chins depended long beards. They got their name from the horrible howls they gave utterance to on every possible occasion. These howls are effected by tho peculiar formation of the hyoid bone which supports the tongue and forms a bony drum combined with the windpipe, giving their voice 3 groat resonance. They travel in bands from tree to tree, following with slow and awkward steps their leader, whoso slightest movement they imitate. I found they had no particular character, but acted like automata, and simply yelled and howled as maniacs do. Frequently of mornings a troop of Howlers would descend gravely from some tree near my house, where thgy had passed the night, gather in a huddled crowd and proceed to make ready for a social entertainment. They would choose a leafies3 tree, and then, climb it one after another with great dignity. All would eit where they pleased, excepting that one branch would be reserved for the exclusive use cf the leader. The leader raising his tail over his back in the shape of an S would pace to and fro solemnly on the branch, and at last begin to ir.tar low sounds similar to the grunt of a young hog. This prelude would grow insensibly louder, the time quicken, pauses omitted, until the tune became an uninterrupted dreadful yell. At that point the monkeys would appear to be thrown into raptures, all joining in the deafening cry and howling in conjunction. Eauh seemed to choose aome animal to mock. The powerful roar of the jaguar, the terrific growling of the panther, the wild shoutings of a crowd of drunken Indians with lamentations and groano, seemed to be combined in the infernal chorus, and their howls could b 9 heard over a mile. I was always sure these "artists" had no idea of expressing any special feeling or emotion — they simply howled for the fun of the thing. I became much interested in the warfare carried on between the monkeys and the parrots. The monkeys, I found, were addicted to plucking out the tail feathers of the parrots, and I learned that at the end of the feather is a eweetieh. substance, which is to a monkey what toffey ib to the average small boy. One would naturally euppoee that the parrots, with their ability to fly, would find little difficulty in retaining their fealliera; but curiously enough they seem to delight in silting on the branch of a tree and attempting to baffla the monkeys, when a few flapj of the wings would carry them oufc cf danger. Earely did a parrot defy a monkey with impunity, for no matter how quick were its movements or how Btrong its beak, it was but a question of time how soon the unhappy bird would be tailleis and shrieking with pain, the gleeful monkey retreating only to a safe distance to greedily suck the sweetness from it 3 gorgeous trophies. Taking them all in all, toe monkeys have proved, to my mind, tha most companionalle denizens of the animal world.