The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-11
An Amy of MONKEYS

A NOVEL SUSPENSION BRIDGE" They are
coming towards the bridge; they will most
likely cross by the rocks yOndcr,' observed
Raoul.
"How-swim it ~ ] asked 1T is torrent
thercw
"Oh, no." answered the Frenchman; "mon-
keys would rather 90 into fire than water II
they cannot leap the stream they will bridge it"
Bridge it and how"
"Stop moment, Captairt--you shall see."
The half human voices now SOUNDED nearer,
and we could perceive that the animals were APP
proaching the spot where we lay. Presently
they appeared upon the opposite bank, headed
by an old grey chiettain, and officered like so
many soldiers. They We're, rs Raoll stated, OF
the conaadreia, or ringtailed tribe.
One-an aid-de-camp, or chief pioneer, per-
haps-ran out upon the projecting rock, and,
after looking across the stream as if calculating
the distance, scampered back aud appeared to
communicate with the leader. This produced
a movement in the troop. Commands were is
sued, and fatigue parties were detailed and
marched to the front. Meanwhile several of the
comadrejas no doubt-ran along
the bank examining the trees on both sides of
the arroyo.
At length they all collected around a tall cot
ton wood, that grew over the narrowest part Of
the stream, and twenty or thirty of them scamp
cred up its trunk. On reaching high point,
the toremost--a strong felow--ran out upon n
limb, and taking several turns of his tail around
it, slipped off and hung his head downwurds
The next on the limb, also stout one, climbed
down the body Of the first, and whipped his
tail tightly round the neck and forearm of the
latter, dropped off in turn, and hung head down.
The third repeated this manpuvre upon the
second, and the fourth upon the third, and 80
on, until the last one upon the string rested his
forepaws upon the ground
The living chain now commenced swinging
backwards and forwards like the pendulum of
clock. The motion was slight at first, but grad
ually increased, the lowermost monkey striking
his hands violently on the earth as he passed the
tangent and oscilating 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
toe on t." opposite Dank Here, after two o.
! ;hrcC Vibrations, he cI1tGhrd q limb and held
| &;st. This movement was executed adroltiy,
! u"t at H.. cUIluGMtiiT poiUt If the oscillation,
in order t. SGvr the intermediate links from the
violence o{ Il too sudden jerk
The chain Was now fast al both ends, forming
complete suspension bridge, over which the
whole troop, to the number Of four or five hun
drcd. passed with the rapidty offhought.
IL was one OF inc most coiDltA Signs ever
behcd, to witness the quizzica expression of
countcnanccs 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 question which
suggested itself: Manifestly, by number one
letting go his tail, But then the point dappu
on the other side was much lower down. and
number one with half-a-dozen of his neighbors
would be dashed against the opposite bank, OIL
soused into the water,
Here, then, was a problem, and we waited
with some curiosity for its solution. 1t was
soon solved. A monkey was now seen attach
ing his tail TO the lowest op the bridge, another
grded him in similar nanper, 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 Il scream from the last monkey of the
new formation warned the tail end that all were
ready; and the next moment the whole chain
was swung over, and landed safely on the Oppo-
site bank. The lower-most links now dropped
off like Il melting candle, while the higher ones
leaped to the branches and came down by the
trunk. The whole troop then scampered off
into the chapparal and disappeared Capt.
Reds Adventures in South America.