The Woodville Republican. [volume] (Woodville, Miss.) 1847-1853, 1850-08-20
AN ARMY OF MONKEYS.

A NOVEL SUSPENSION BRIDGE-"They
are coming towards the bridge they will
mcst likely cross by the rocks yonder" OBJ.
served Raoul
"How-swim :" asked at is tor
rent there |"
"Oh, no" answered the Frenchman;
'monkeys would rather go into fire than wa
ter. If they cannot leap the stream they
will bridge it"
Bridge it and how ?"
"Stop moment, Captain--you shall see" +"
The half human voices now sounded near
er, and we could perceive that the animals
were approaching the spot where we lay.
Presently they appeared upon the opposite
bank, headed by an old grey chieftain, and
oiiicered like so many soldiers. They were,
as Raou stated, Of the c0m0areja, or ring
tailed tribe.
One-an aid-de.camp, or chief pioneer,
perhaps-ran out upon the projecting rock,
and, after looking across the stream as if cal
culatlng the distance, scampered back and
appeared to communicate with the leader.
This produced movement in the troop.
were detailed and marched to the front
Meanwhile several of the comadreas--en-
gineers, no doubt-ran along the bank, ex
amining the trees on both sides of the orroyo
At length they all collected around tall
cotton wood, that grew over the narrowest
part OF the stream, and twenty or thirty of
them scattered up its trunk On reaching a
high point, the toremost-a strong fellow
ran out upon limb, and taking several
turns of his tail around it, slipped off and
hung his head downwards The next on
the limb, also stout one, climbed down the
body of the first, aud whipped his tail tight
ly around the neck and fore arm Of the lat
ter, dropped off in turn and hung head down
The third repeated this manGvre upon the
second, and the fourth upon the third, and
SO on, until the last one upon the string rest
ed his fore paws upon the ground
J The living chain now commenced swihg-
ing backwards and forwards, like the peudu-
lum of clock. The motion was slight at
first, but gradually increased, the lowermost
monkey striking his hands violently on the
earth as he passed the tangent and oscla-
ting curve. Several others upon the limbs
above aided the movement
This continued, until the monkey at the
end OF the chain was thrown among the
branches OF tree on the opposite bank
Here, after two or three vibrations, he
clutched limb and held fast. This move
ment was executed adroity, just at the cul-
minating point of the oscillation, in order to
save the intermediate links from the violence
of a too sudden jerk
1t was one OF the most comical sights |
ever beheld, to witness the quzZical cx.
preston CT countenances along that living
chain.
The troop was now on the other side, but
how were The animals forming the bridge to
, get themselves over? This was the ques-
, ton which suggested itself Manifesty by
number one letting go his tail But when
the paint dappat on the other side was
much lower down, and number one, with
haIf-a-dozen of his neighbors, would be dash
ed against the opposite bank, or sotsed into
the water.
Here, then, was problem, and we wait!
ed with some curiosity for its solution. 1t
f was soon solved. A monkey was now seen
attaching his tail TO the lowest on the
bridge, another girded him in similar man
ner, and another, and so on, until dozen
more were added to the string, Those last
, were all powerful fellows and running up
, to high limb, they lifted the bridge into a
, position almost horizontal.
Then scream from the last monkey of
{ the new formation warned the tail end that
all were ready aud the next moment the
whole chain was swung over, and landed
, safely on the opposite bank. Tie lower
most links now dropped off like melting
, candle, while the higher ones leaped to the
r branches and came down by the trunk.
|. The whole troop then scampered off into
. the chapparal and disappeared !--CaptaiR
Reids AdUentares in South America.
SLAVE Colony IN CAL1FoRNIA.-The
!, Jackson Mississiprian, of tie 9th il1st, has
+ the following paragraph
i The skeleton Of q plan for planting a
|. slave colony in California, south of 800 30'
has been submitted to us by several public
spirited gentlemen who are ready to embark
Q in ttre well conceived enterprise. That the
plan is eminenty worthy Of public attn
ton, we entertain not a doubt. 1t is no
s. the creation of hair-brained visionaries but
k suggestion which addresses itself to every
E Southern statesman and philanthropist. /
e will claim the early consideration of every
q. slave owner, and the patronage Of South
o ern legis latures.
!. In China, physicians are always un